The latest connected devices are hitting the market every day. IDC expects 1.23 billion smart home devices will be shipped in 2027, up from 871 million in 2022, as consumers continue craving smarter and more connected experiences. 

Whether you’re a consumer device manufacturer starting from scratch or looking to add video streaming and storage capabilities to your IoT solutions, or an insurance carrier working to build a smart home program, having the right IoT application development team in place will make all the difference. In fact, the right IoT expertise means your team can focus on designing innovative and engaging experiences for consumers, which will ultimately determine IoT market success.  

Of course, designing and maintaining a successful IoT application takes time, budget, resources and skillsets across a wide range of disciplines. And juggling all of that internally can take a toll. Let’s take a look at three ways to open your IoT development team’s capacity and achieve better results in the process. 
 

1. Consider how your connected app experience can affect your business strategy, internal team, and end-users 

   For many consumers, the apps used to control their IoT devices are their only point of engagement with your product. Their in-app experience could determine how satisfied they are with their devices regardless of functionality. If the app isn’t easy-to-use, it could reflect negatively on the product itself. And with consumers buying more IoT devices than ever, they’re becoming increasingly frustrated having to switch between multiple apps to control everything from smart lighting to speakers. 
   
   

   Building a custom, multi-device app from scratch that hits on all the right notes is extremely time consuming. Instead, consider leveraging a white-labeled application that can be custom branded for your unique experience. Not only will you be investing in an app that is proven to work, but you can take advantage of additional services like customer support and customer relationship management and offload those tasks from your internal IoT team.
   
   

   Not only will this give your team valuable time back, but you may even be able to take advantage of value-add services like video service subscriptions, embedded cyber insurance opportunities and more that can help you grow your MRR. 
    

2. Prioritize security and data privacy within your IoT application development processes

   Security should never be viewed as set it and forget it, and that certainly applies to IoT. With devices installed in consumer homes, all that data must be kept safe. To operate a secure IoT platform and solution, constant updates and attention must be given to the security of connected devices, eating up your IoT app development team’s capacity. 
   
   

   Prioritizing consumer protection, the White House recently announced a program to add labels to consumer device packaging, helping Americans choose devices less vulnerable to cyberattacks. While this is an important move, that secure mindset must be taken beyond just the IoT hardware devices to also include IoT platforms and apps. Security requires constant updates, varying regulations by state and country, and ever-evolving threats that must be monitored. And it can be tough to find the right security skillset in-house. A secure, reliable IoT platform can handle that burden for you, freeing up valuable time and energy to streamline work and drive better results. 
   
   

3. Partner with a reliable IoT Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) for IoT app development  

   IoT app development isn’t easy or inexpensive. It’s clear which devices on the market today were built from the ground up with the right expertise and infrastructure in place from the beginning. If your team is stretched too thin, timelines and budgets will be blown. Ultimately, your team may become burnt out and the project could fail before it ever reaches the market.  
   
   

   Partnering with a reliable IoT platform vendor can eliminate concerns in areas where your team may be stretched thin. Maybe designing a great piece of hardware is your team’s specialty, but you lack the right expertise in mobile app UX and video streaming. Or perhaps you’re looking for a new platform to take your connected devices to the next level. 
   
   

   That’s exactly what Merkury Innovations did while gearing up for a major retail launch. In search of a secure, U.S.-based IoT platform that would elevate their user experience and reach market on time, Merkury partnered with Pepper. Pepper provides end-to-end support for Merkury’s growing portfolio of smart solutions including firmware development and revenue share from subscription services. Together, this partnership has resulted in a newly branded smart home application leveraging Pepper’s secure, multi-device platform. For users of Merkury devices, this means an elevated user experience built right into a single app. 
   
   

   Partnering with an IoT PaaS solution allows your team to focus on what they know best, while working alongside experts in those areas to augment your team and provide insights you otherwise wouldn’t have visibility into. Don’t put unnecessary strain on your IoT development team when a partner can lend a helping hand and take your solutions across the finish line and beyond. 

Boost Productivity with Pepper by Your Side 

Opening your IoT app development team’s capacity may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! Working with a Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a way to achieve the benefits described above – and more.  

With Pepper’s PaaS, you can tap into an extension of your team to boost productivity. Pepper takes the guess work out of IoT and provides a comprehensive framework for managing the entire lifecycle of IoT applications and devices, handling the underlying infrastructure so your company can focus on competitive differentiation. 

Pepper’s PaaS frees up your IoT team’s capacity by providing: 

• Turnkey IoT solutions to get to market faster 
• Award-winning and customizable user experience that’s tailored to partner needs 
• An easily scalable solution that works with any device and any protocol 
• Secure, U.S.-based platform with 24/7 managed and monitored cybersecurity 

• Low operational costs and access to revenue-generating services
  
  

IoT doesn’t have to consume your team’s resources and capacity. Learn how Pepper can help alleviate those constraints and elevate your IoT strategy to an industry leading solution.