A guide to software-defined and multi-source IoT
Why you should choose your IoT software platform before hardware
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When embedded devices first began to emerge in the 1990s, the prevailing development model was to start by selecting hardware, then add software on top. In the intervening decades, this approach has largely remained the status quo. But while a hardware-first strategy made sense 30 years ago, the modern IoT landscape is very different, and software now plays a far more important role.
In today’s IoT projects, costs, regulations, ROI and time-to-market are all primarily driven by software factors. On average, organisations developing IoT products will spend 50% more resources on software than hardware, and hardware specialists account for less than 20% of a typical embedded engineering team.
This is why leading developers of IoT devices should consider moving away from the traditional hardware-first paradigm and embracing a software-defined, multi-source model.
Prioritising software offers a host of advantages and solves many long-standing IoT challenges. It can help businesses get IoT products to market more quickly, reduce vulnerability to hardware supply chain issues, avoid vendor lock-in and unlock savings through reusable technology stacks.
This whitepaper takes a closer look at the IoT landscape to demonstrate why software-led development is the optimal strategy for modern businesses, and offers practical guidance on how to go about selecting an IoT software platform.