by Angela Guess
Pragati Verma of CenturyLink recently wrote in Forbes, “It’s an exciting time to be a developer. As the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) accelerates, companies are looking for experts to help them create apps and services that take advantage of real-time data collected from millions of connected devices. More than 5 million developers are active in IoT, according to Stijn Schuermans, a senior business analyst at VisionMobile and co-author of the report IoT Megatrends 2016. By 2020, that number will double to 10 million, VisionMobile predicts. But building apps for IoT comes with a unique set of challenges. Gartner warns that three out of every four projects are likely to face schedule extensions and cost overruns, suggesting an unstable ecosystem that may linger in adolescence for some time.”
Verma goes on, “Here are three major challenges facing developers working in the Internet of Things: (1) Hardware Vs. Software: The biggest difference between traditional app development and development for the Internet of Things is the ‘thing’ that gets connected. Many developers have a pure software background and must learn how to manage different combinations of hardware. ‘Hardware is a conundrum for most software developers,’ Schuermans said. He expects developers to soon realize the potential of hardware engineering skills and learn a broad range of devices. It might also make sense for them to build apps on top of a cloud platform that receives and organizes the streams of data coming from these devices.”
Photo credit: Flickr/ Tim Green aka atoach