The process of launching a connected product is enormously complex, spanning many areas of technical expertise. From embedded product design, connectivity, and cloud software to security, dev/ops, and apps, adding connectivity to consumer products has numerous implications across an organization.
As OEMs move beyond the Proof-of-Concept phase and towards scaling their deployments, the challenges of IoT can easily compound, creating bottlenecks and disrupting business models.
In light of IoT development and deployment so far, lack of tech skills within consumer OEMs have become a chief concern. As the Wall Street Journal recently pointed out here, many of these gaps are difficult to fill, particularly for companies whose core business has not traditionally been high-tech.
According to Stack Overflow’s 2016 Developer Survey, only 3% of software developers have experience in embedded software development, and software engineering jobs now rank as the second most in-demand role in manufacturing. This is one of many reasons why consumer product companies prefer to engage outside experts to help with their IoT platform rather than building their own solution from the ground up.
At Droplit, we’ve built our business around being that partner, and we’re helping companies get their products to market in a fraction of the time it would take to build an in-house solution. Given our sole focus on consumer products, our clients can expect a partner that is uniquely sympathetic to the specific challenges they face. Our philosophy is grounded in a simple belief (which our competitors may take issue with) that companies can (and should) solve their connectivity and interoperability challenges without breaking the bank. So far, we’ve made good on that promise.
Given the multitude of open source standards and readily accessible software tools today, we understand how tempting it can be to build a solution internally. But that process can cost companies two to three million dollars and anywhere from 18 to 30 months of time, during which the IoT technology landscape will undoubtedly change rapidly.
With Droplit, you can get your first connected product from idea to launch for less than the cost of two full-time software engineers, while simultaneously benefiting from the expertise of a team dedicated exclusively to consumer products with years of experience in IoT product development.
