Survey shows hardware plays a growing role in IoT design process

element14 has published new research on the Internet of Things which confirms that hardware platforms have become an essential part of the early-stage design process, enabling engineers to test their designs quickly and cost-effectively — and to rapidly deliver proof of concept as a result.

The Premier Farnell Global IoT Survey 2018 was conducted between September and November 2018, with 1042 respondents across Europe, Americas and APAC. The results clearly show that design engineers use a range of hardware platforms to accelerate development pace and shorten time to the market.

Results show that 50% of developers use single-board computers such as the Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone Black, as they provide ready-to-use embedded development platforms for building end products. Other developers advised that they used their own design platforms (27%) or development platforms provided by the silicon vendors (19%).

Respondents also advised that they prefer to design a complete solution for edge-to-cloud-security themselves (58%), rather than relying on third-party providers. Security continues to be top on the list of developer considerations (52%). Developers understand the critical importance of choosing an IoT platform that efficiently, securely and economically supports their IoT applications, rather than relying on external parties which can sometimes cost more to run and maintain.

The need for common standards and policies was also highlighted as key to accelerating the benefits of IoT. Interoperability (certified standards), connectivity standards, open standards and common privacy policies were all high on the list of developer wishes.

Research also suggested that opportunities within the Internet of Things will continue to grow. Key application areas expected to grow in the next five years include home automation, industrial automation and control, and artificial intelligence. The greatest perceived opportunity for benefits is seen in professional and industrial applications, with operational applications, including opportunities to collate data across entire operations to optimising workplace resources, reducing costs and driving business profitability.

“Opportunities within the Internet of Things have grown as developers gain greater access to hardware and software solutions that allow them to bring products to market quickly,” said Cliff Ortmeyer, Global Head of Solutions Development for Premier Farnell and element14.

“element14 provides access to an extensive range of development tools for IoT, and works with innovative providers to bring the latest for AI and security, including the SmartEdge Agile, adding intelligence at the edge with zero-code, to the Zymbit ZYMKEY 4i security module for plug-in security in connected devices.”

Full results of the survey, with additional insights on programming language use, communication method type, hardware components, cloud service providers and sensor technology, are available to view at https://au.element14.com/global-iot-survey-2018/.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/zimmytws

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