From manufacturing and wearable technology to smart homes and smarter appliances, the Internet of Things (IoT) has gone from a tech buzzword to a fast advancing everyday reality. IoT has generated interest from many industries for years but not all IoT implementations in the industries go as per the plan. Many of the projects fall off course and fail to meet the expectations due to the complexness of the connected ecosystem required for IoT success and the development techniques used. The profundity and richness of the connections have changed the market, and the development method, in exhaustive and effective ways. The customers desire frequent updates to IoT products and feature upgrades, placing enormous volumes of pressure to come up with creative IoT solutions, immediately launch an app or a solution, and consistently provide feature updates and upgrades post-launch as well.
A successful IoT effort requires much more than a software installation — it entails pairing a solution with a plan that best fits company processes and culture. More than anything else, IoT success relies on a business plan that won’t overwhelm the people involved in getting the actual work done.
There are two main IoT project development methodologies — Agile and Waterfall. The Waterfall method takes a linear approach to project development. Engineers follow a sequence of events for each distinct stage of the development process. An Agile methodology is a nuanced approach to IoT implementation that can successfully address the complexities of connecting culture and technology. With Agile development, teams break each feature into the smallest discernible chunk of work and produce incremental value over time. The idea is to keep track of things along the way and make small course corrections as needed. Following an agile process creates a system where component parts can respond and be adaptable to change. The agile model can work, to the joy and betterment of the project team.
We discuss the two most prominent IoT development methodologies in the market today. Here we will learn about their differences, pros, cons and ultimately know which is ideal for our next IoT project.
Let’s get started.
The Waterfall Development Model
For decades, software and hardware were mainly developed according to the Waterfall model of product development. The waterfall project management approach follows a linear, sequential formula. It’s like a waterfall cascading over a series of steep drops. This method entails a clearly defined sequence of execution with project phases that do not advance until a phase receives final approval. Once a phase is completed, it can be difficult and costly to revisit a previous stage.
Additionally, when a team is fully focused on the next phase of work, resolving technical debt or fixing bugs can be painful if the team is fully allocated to new feature work and always pressing forward to the next stage. Basically, its structure is highly inflexible. If you encounter a major issue or decide to expand the project’s scope, you might have to start over. It also has no room for making updates or revisions based on feedback from clients and users. Testing is only performed once the project is nearing completion. Project members can’t be sure that they have a viable working product until very late in the life cycle. This makes the Waterfall model highly risky.
Below is an illustration of a standard waterfall project with rigidly segmented blocks of time.
The advantages of waterfall project management:
- Requires less coordination due to clearly defined phases sequential processes
- A clear project phase helps to clearly define the dependencies of work
- The cost of the project can be estimated after the requirements are defined
- Every single step and action here is precisely documented
- The design phase is more methodical and structured before anything is developed
The disadvantages of waterfall project management:
- Harder to break up and share work because of stricter phase sequences teams are more specialized
- Risk of time waste due to delays and setbacks during phase transitions
- Testing does not happen simultaneously and commences only after the design phase is complete
- It is completely internal, making it more opaque in terms of collaboration
- It fails to acknowledge scope creep
The Agile Development Model
Agile project management takes an iterative approach to IoT project development by creating several incremental steps with regular feedback intervals. This promotes adaptability since a team can adjust throughout the product development process, rather than being confined to a linear path. Agile prioritizes flexibility, speed, working with cross-functional teams, and continual improvement through iterative development.
Agile separates the development process into discrete time periods called sprints, which typically last between 1 and 4 weeks. Each team member has a set of tasks that must be completed during the sprint. These tasks are delegated during a planning meeting at the beginning of the sprint. In addition, team members hold daily “stand-up meetings” to discuss their progress and brainstorm solutions to any problems they encounter.
These changes in how product development is practised have a radical effect on the final results. Unlike Waterfall, Agile development is built to withstand change and even embraces it. Agile produces a working product as quickly as possible and places a heavy emphasis on user testing and feedback.
Agile principles
- An agile project is segmented into several incremental steps that include regular feedback intervals.
- A project requirement is segmented into smaller pieces, which are then prioritized by importance.
- Promotes collaboration, especially with the customer.
- Adjusts at regular intervals to ensure a customer’s needs are met.
- Integrates planning with execution, which allows a team to effectively respond to changing requirements.
The advantages of agile project management:
- Faster feedback cycles
- Identifies and fixes bugs early
- Higher potential for customer satisfaction
- Time to market of IoT solutions is dramatically improved with no compromise in quality.
- Better visibility / accountability
- Dedicated teams drive better productivity over time
- Flexible prioritization focused on value delivery
The disadvantages of agile project management:
- Critical path and inter-project dependencies may not be clearly defined as in waterfall
- It’s comparatively more expensive to implement than the waterfall model
- There’s a learning curve involved as managers and team members should be aware of agile development methodologies and sprint strategies
Why Agile is best fit for IoT development
Agile, rather than Waterfall, is the clear choice for developing IoT products. IoT development is evolving dynamically towards Agile methodology for many reasons.
1. Agile helps validate MVP
In particular, Agile is the preferred development model when building a minimum viable product (MVP). IoT solutions require continuous testing and deployment to validate product functionality. The market is in a good place at the moment and any innovative idea will drive the business to launch the product to be the pioneer. Companies want to race against the clock with methodologies that can help them reduce time to market and compete with other companies. Agile is the perfect fit.
2. Agile methods help quick development
In the IoT world, consumer expectations are fueling the need for more communication between project teams. The agile methodology truly focuses on collaboration between teams. By harnessing the power of newly available tools—mainly the idea of provisioning, manipulating, and debugging systems virtually—teams are able to collaborate on products in brand new ways. This results in shorter lead times, faster overall development efficiency, and more product updates and releases. With agile focusing on more rapid development and feedback loop, developers can more quickly fix bugs and contribute new code that has been tested and validated.
3. Agile is Beyond build it and forget it
In the past, the development process stopped with deployment. But with the IoT, you can’t just ship it and forget it. The growing expectation for post-deployment content and updates means that not only do organizations need enhanced change and management solutions, but they also need to think about testing over an even greater development cycle.
4. Agile methods support continuous delivery
Agile methods are particularly well equipped for dealing with the demands of the connected device. With agile, frequent updates are essentially a requirement. This satisfies the end user’s desire for a constantly updated device, the developer’s need for a manageable development schedule, and the business requirements to respond quickly to market needs.
5. Agile methods support the use of automating the software delivery pipeline
From software builds, testing, and all the way through deployments and product updates. This is useful in the world of connected devices for two reasons. First, it means that many tests (particularly those required for security purposes) can be automated, which leads to a reduced risk of security flaws and to a better, more stable end product. Second, by automating releases of software updates and simplifying the operations that go into deployments, the developer’s time is freed up to create new features to improve the product.
Wrapping up
Agile project management is an innovative approach and a clear winner for IoT projects. The clear-cut reason why agile works today is because the market is agile as well. Tons of changes are happening in terms of consumer behaviour, market conditions, volatility, economies, and more. If such massive changes have to be incorporated into your IoT project and your solution still has to function well and stay relevant, agile is the key. By providing the flexibility to respond to change during the development lifecycle, agile allows teams to ship higher quality products that meet customers’ needs. Agile empowers teams, builds accountability, and encourages innovation while promoting continuous improvement. Agile gives you the ability to respond to change without going off the rails. And that’s great for any IoT project.
Let’s talk agile!
Thank you for reading!
From manufacturing and wearable technology to smart homes and smarter appliances, the Internet of Things (IoT) has gone from a tech buzzword to a fast advancing everyday reality. IoT has generated interest from many industries for years but not all IoT implementations in the industries go as per the plan. Many of the projects fall off course and fail to meet the expectations due to the complexness of the connected ecosystem required for IoT success and the development techniques used. The profundity and richness of the connections have changed the market, and the development method, in exhaustive and effective ways. The customers desire frequent updates to IoT products and feature upgrades, placing enormous volumes of pressure to come up with creative IoT solutions, immediately launch an app or a solution, and consistently provide feature updates and upgrades post-launch as well.
A successful IoT effort requires much more than a software installation — it entails pairing a solution with a plan that best fits company processes and culture. More than anything else, IoT success relies on a business plan that won’t overwhelm the people involved in getting the actual work done.
There are two main IoT project development methodologies — Agile and Waterfall. The Waterfall method takes a linear approach to project development. Engineers follow a sequence of events for each distinct stage of the development process. An Agile methodology is a nuanced approach to IoT implementation that can successfully address the complexities of connecting culture and technology. With Agile development, teams break each feature into the smallest discernible chunk of work and produce incremental value over time. The idea is to keep track of things along the way and make small course corrections as needed. Following an agile process creates a system where component parts can respond and be adaptable to change. The agile model can work, to the joy and betterment of the project team.
We discuss the two most prominent IoT development methodologies in the market today. Here we will learn about their differences, pros, cons and ultimately know which is ideal for our next IoT project.
Let’s get started.
The Waterfall Development Model
For decades, software and hardware were mainly developed according to the Waterfall model of product development. The waterfall project management approach follows a linear, sequential formula. It’s like a waterfall cascading over a series of steep drops. This method entails a clearly defined sequence of execution with project phases that do not advance until a phase receives final approval. Once a phase is completed, it can be difficult and costly to revisit a previous stage.
Additionally, when a team is fully focused on the next phase of work, resolving technical debt or fixing bugs can be painful if the team is fully allocated to new feature work and always pressing forward to the next stage. Basically, its structure is highly inflexible. If you encounter a major issue or decide to expand the project’s scope, you might have to start over. It also has no room for making updates or revisions based on feedback from clients and users. Testing is only performed once the project is nearing completion. Project members can’t be sure that they have a viable working product until very late in the life cycle. This makes the Waterfall model highly risky.
Below is an illustration of a standard waterfall project with rigidly segmented blocks of time.
The advantages of waterfall project management:
- Requires less coordination due to clearly defined phases sequential processes
- A clear project phase helps to clearly define the dependencies of work
- The cost of the project can be estimated after the requirements are defined
- Every single step and action here is precisely documented
- The design phase is more methodical and structured before anything is developed
The disadvantages of waterfall project management:
- Harder to break up and share work because of stricter phase sequences teams are more specialized
- Risk of time waste due to delays and setbacks during phase transitions
- Testing does not happen simultaneously and commences only after the design phase is complete
- It is completely internal, making it more opaque in terms of collaboration
- It fails to acknowledge scope creep
The Agile Development Model
Agile project management takes an iterative approach to IoT project development by creating several incremental steps with regular feedback intervals. This promotes adaptability since a team can adjust throughout the product development process, rather than being confined to a linear path. Agile prioritizes flexibility, speed, working with cross-functional teams, and continual improvement through iterative development.
Agile separates the development process into discrete time periods called sprints, which typically last between 1 and 4 weeks. Each team member has a set of tasks that must be completed during the sprint. These tasks are delegated during a planning meeting at the beginning of the sprint. In addition, team members hold daily “stand-up meetings” to discuss their progress and brainstorm solutions to any problems they encounter.
These changes in how product development is practised have a radical effect on the final results. Unlike Waterfall, Agile development is built to withstand change and even embraces it. Agile produces a working product as quickly as possible and places a heavy emphasis on user testing and feedback.
Agile principles
- An agile project is segmented into several incremental steps that include regular feedback intervals.
- A project requirement is segmented into smaller pieces, which are then prioritized by importance.
- Promotes collaboration, especially with the customer.
- Adjusts at regular intervals to ensure a customer’s needs are met.
- Integrates planning with execution, which allows a team to effectively respond to changing requirements.
The advantages of agile project management:
- Faster feedback cycles
- Identifies and fixes bugs early
- Higher potential for customer satisfaction
- Time to market of IoT solutions is dramatically improved with no compromise in quality.
- Better visibility / accountability
- Dedicated teams drive better productivity over time
- Flexible prioritization focused on value delivery
The disadvantages of agile project management:
- Critical path and inter-project dependencies may not be clearly defined as in waterfall
- It’s comparatively more expensive to implement than the waterfall model
- There’s a learning curve involved as managers and team members should be aware of agile development methodologies and sprint strategies
Why Agile is best fit for IoT development
Agile, rather than Waterfall, is the clear choice for developing IoT products. IoT development is evolving dynamically towards Agile methodology for many reasons.
1. Agile helps validate MVP
In particular, Agile is the preferred development model when building a minimum viable product (MVP). IoT solutions require continuous testing and deployment to validate product functionality. The market is in a good place at the moment and any innovative idea will drive the business to launch the product to be the pioneer. Companies want to race against the clock with methodologies that can help them reduce time to market and compete with other companies. Agile is the perfect fit.
2. Agile methods help quick development
In the IoT world, consumer expectations are fueling the need for more communication between project teams. The agile methodology truly focuses on collaboration between teams. By harnessing the power of newly available tools—mainly the idea of provisioning, manipulating, and debugging systems virtually—teams are able to collaborate on products in brand new ways. This results in shorter lead times, faster overall development efficiency, and more product updates and releases. With agile focusing on more rapid development and feedback loop, developers can more quickly fix bugs and contribute new code that has been tested and validated.
3. Agile is Beyond build it and forget it
In the past, the development process stopped with deployment. But with the IoT, you can’t just ship it and forget it. The growing expectation for post-deployment content and updates means that not only do organizations need enhanced change and management solutions, but they also need to think about testing over an even greater development cycle.
4. Agile methods support continuous delivery
Agile methods are particularly well equipped for dealing with the demands of the connected device. With agile, frequent updates are essentially a requirement. This satisfies the end user’s desire for a constantly updated device, the developer’s need for a manageable development schedule, and the business requirements to respond quickly to market needs.
5. Agile methods support the use of automating the software delivery pipeline
From software builds, testing, and all the way through deployments and product updates. This is useful in the world of connected devices for two reasons. First, it means that many tests (particularly those required for security purposes) can be automated, which leads to a reduced risk of security flaws and to a better, more stable end product. Second, by automating releases of software updates and simplifying the operations that go into deployments, the developer’s time is freed up to create new features to improve the product.
Wrapping up
Agile project management is an innovative approach and a clear winner for IoT projects. The clear-cut reason why agile works today is because the market is agile as well. Tons of changes are happening in terms of consumer behaviour, market conditions, volatility, economies, and more. If such massive changes have to be incorporated into your IoT project and your solution still has to function well and stay relevant, agile is the key. By providing the flexibility to respond to change during the development lifecycle, agile allows teams to ship higher quality products that meet customers’ needs. Agile empowers teams, builds accountability, and encourages innovation while promoting continuous improvement. Agile gives you the ability to respond to change without going off the rails. And that’s great for any IoT project.
Let’s talk agile!
Thank you for reading!
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