Ever wonder what actually comprises an IoT platform? One would think the elements of an IoT platform should be pretty simple and relatively standard, especially with the IoT still in its early stages of adoption. The truth is there probably couldn’t be more confusion when it comes to this topic. Maybe this is because so many vendors are offering IoT platforms of their own creation. In fact, as far back as 2017, IoT Analytics noted that were over 450 IoT platforms on the market. With all these offerings from vendors that play in different spaces of the technology market, it stands to reason that there have to be marked differences in what elements are in each. And this also begs the question about what each one does for the end user of each platform. The article that follows does an excellent job of trying to cut through the confusion.
So, what is an Internet of Things (IoT) platform? Observers don’t always agree — in fact, they don’t always agree with themselves! For example, from that same Hackernoon post: “An IoT platform is an integrated service that offers you the things you need to bring physical objects online.
But in 2019, a newer Hackernoon post had this to say: “The term ‘IoT Platform’ is really too broad to be useful to most people.” Worse, it cites the 2018 edition of Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies: IoT platforms have crested passed the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” and are ready to fall into the “Trough of Disillusionment.”
IoT for All, meanwhile, says: “IoT platforms are the support software that connects everything in an IoT system.” In this model, IoT platforms:
