As people and businesses continue to accelerate their adoption of IoT devices it is important that your IoT Architecture is designed around four key principles. These being Usability, Scale, Security and Reliability.
All four have the ability to make or break your business and all four should warrant significant attention both during initial design and frequent reviews.
Over time user needs change, loud technologies advance and new features are introduced. It is therefore critical to take a thorough architectural review of your IoT solution at least once per year.
The four key principles of IoT Architecture
- Usability — used to describe the user-friendliness or usability of IoT devices and systems. In the context of IoT, where devices are often interconnected and involve user interaction, ensuring a positive user experience is crucial.
- Scale — refers to the ability of an IoT system to efficiently and effectively handle a large number of connected devices, data points, and interactions. Scaling in IoT involves designing and implementing solutions that can accommodate the growing demands of a network with numerous devices and sensors, ensuring seamless communication, data processing, and management.
- Security — refers to the measures and protocols implemented to protect IoT devices, networks, and data from unauthorised access, manipulation, or malicious activities. IoT security is a critical consideration due to the interconnected nature of devices and the potential vulnerabilities that may arise in the diverse ecosystem.
- Reliability — refers to the consistent and trustworthy performance of interconnected devices, systems, and networks. A reliable IoT infrastructure ensures that devices operate as intended, communicate seamlessly, and deliver accurate and timely data.
AWS IoT Well-Architected Framework Review
If you use AWS as your cloud provider a great way to get an independent vendor to take stock of your IoT architecture is to engage with an AWS Partner on an AWS Well-Architected Framework Review.
Advanced AWS Partner and IoT Specialist Green Custard also offer an AWS IoT Well-Architected Framework Review which has been specifically developed for IoT. (AWS funding is often available to offset the cost of this too).
Alternatively, you can use the AWS Well-Architected Framework tool to undertake your own assessment of your architecture.
Whether you engage with another party to undertake your review or whether to you decide to complete a review yourself it is crucial to continue to ensure your architecture is at its optimum regularly.