5 Key Factors to Choose the Right IoT Platform for Your Business

In today’s rapidly evolving interconnected world, why scout outdated business methods? Embrace digital transformation and technological advancements to unlock the potential of connected devices and data. All converges into one term: the Internet of Things (IoT) - an innovation shaping the present, future, and beyond for enterprises. 

IoT has already created a lot of abuzz in the market, with sensors, database, connectivity, analytics application that outlines the IoT platform. It is designed with an aim to create unprecedented value for both the consumer and enterprises in terms of efficient operation management, reduced maintenance costs, higher productivity, etc. Catering to vertical of businesses ranging from smart utilities to smart buildings and everything in-between for mundane tasks that can be done automatically, connecting smart objects, managing your assets, and so on.

As per the IoT Analytics’ latest research, the IoT offering company has become more competitive and there are around 600+ IoT platform providers. With the IoT platforms growing exponentially, companies are struggling to find the perfect match platforms with security features, protocols, security data analytics, visualization capabilities, and much more. However, once you've landed to pick the right one, it becomes the binding channel - operations, unified infrastructure, applications. 

So, here are the factors listed below that will guide you to pick the right IoT platform and add value to the life of your customers.

Keep an eye on the security

Security is one of the most important factors to consider because any device connected to the internet is always at a risk of data threat. Any connected device is vulnerable to cyber threats, so your platform must prioritize data protection, encryption standards, and secure communication protocols. However, it is always possible to identify and monitor any upcoming risks and sort out your existing bugs. The IoT security check is to ensure the availability and confidentiality of your IoT solution. 

Key components of the IoT platform include everything from hardware devices to software applications in the field. The checklist that the developers and decision-makers should consider is as follows: 

• Application security: operating system, modern encryption of data, cloud storage, two-factor authentication, and profile-based access control to access specific modules and location hierarchy.
• Devices communication security: Protocol support ( HTTP,  MQTT, CoAP, etc.) to communicate, secure layers, token-based authentication, client-based authentication, GDPR compliant, and client certification authentication. 

Mitigating and preventing the risk threats can help any enterprise realize the full potential of IoT solution. For example, you can monitor your data center across multiple locations which can be taken care by the IoT platforms using profile-based access. 

Example: With profile-based access control, an enterprise can monitor IoT-enabled data centers across multiple locations, improving compliance and operational transparency.

By ensuring the platform offers robust cybersecurity for IoT, you safeguard your business and unlock the full potential of IoT solutions.

Provide better device management

Efficient IoT device management ensures that the platform can support and scale with diverse hardware across various environments. Any IoT solution requires continuous innovation, which can be done by device compatibility. It enables you to establish an active connection with multiple other devices, network connectivity, and sensors. In other words, Look for device-agnostic platforms that support a wide range of devices and communication protocols. 

A few of the key factors that you can keep in mind when thinking about choosing the device compatibility are the memory footprint, network stack support, programming language support, configuration, multi-protocol, integration, interoperability, easy-onboarding, etc. 

• Device SDKs: The IoT Device SDK is designed to quickly establish a connection with our platform to help you work on your own edge logic. The IoT device SDK supports C, Java, and Arduino.
• Edge data flow agent: It makes it easy for you to build a scalable ecosystem by placing a block of code to write your own edge logic with zero coding knowledge.
• Direct application: As a device developer you can directly integrate with the existing business model on your own. 

For example, A smart building using IoT can connect door locks, lifts, cameras, and motion sensors to a single dashboard for real-time alerts and remote control, demonstrating true multi-device interoperability.

Offers scalability and flexibility

Choose an IoT platform with scalable architecture to handle large volumes of data, devices, and users without performance degradation. Businesses grow, and so should your IoT infrastructure.

Why scalability in IoT matters:

• Supports future expansion and changing business needs
• Handles increased data loads from connected devices
• Enables multi-device deployments across departments or locations

The platform should also offer flexible integrations with existing systems and modular deployment models to customize as needed.

Example: Integrating multi-brand sensors and third-party gateways into a single network creates a flexible IoT ecosystem that supports predictive maintenance, asset tracking, and workflow automation.

Customize widgets as per your needs

IoT applications can never be one size fits for all models as every business requirements are different. The ultimate aim of an IoT application is to collect and analyze data to automatically respond based on the data insights collected. 

Companies should prefer choosing IoT platforms that can be leveraged to scale across multiple business lines - not just two or three specific requirements and integrate seamlessly with other existing applications. 

The platform should offer customizable dashboards and widgets that allow you to personalize the data views and analytics.

Why customization in IoT platforms is critical:

• Aligns with specific KPIs or workflows
• Enhances user experience and decision-making
• Allows integration with existing business tools

For example, A smart energy management system can use custom widgets to monitor temperature, energy consumption, or CO₂ levels in specific rooms, optimizing HVAC usage and reducing utility costs.

Look for platforms offering drag-and-drop dashboard builders, widget templates, and custom rule engines.

Provides cloud infrastructure

Choosing the right IoT platform is also about choosing a centralized infrastructure to manage your data and backend functions by enabling enterprises to boost overall IT performance.  

Cloud infrastructure is much more user-friendly when it comes to cost-effectiveness, data mobility, flexibility, co-worker collaboration, data management, recovery solutions, and much more. You are allowed to choose any cloud model - public, private, and hybrid based on your requirements. The bottom line of the platform is to fit in accurately with your existing IT system because of its multitenancy features.

For example, healthcare industries can automatically collect all the patient's data and reports in a unified platform to keep a check on the health condition and regulate accordingly.

Bonus Feature: Transparent & Flexible Pricing

One often overlooked, but critical aspect of choosing an IoT platform is its pricing model. Many platforms charge based on device count, data usage, or API calls often resulting in unpredictable costs.

Look for platforms that offer:

• Clear pricing slabs based on usage tiers 

• No hidden costs for data retention or overages

• Flexible plans that grow with your business

A transparent pricing model ensures you're not penalized for scaling, and gives you peace of mind when budgeting for growth. It also makes the comparison across platforms simpler and more objective.

Key features to look out for before choosing an IoT Platform

There are numerous IoT platforms in the market, each have their unique propositions and it makes it difficult for businesses to choose a right product that fits their requirement, the best thing to do is check out if the platform offers not only the features you need but also the features you would require as the business grows, if that feature is not readily available do check if they have that featured scoped in the feature pipeline. Here are few features you must consider before choosing the right IoT platform.

• Low-code platform:Build IoT application using IoT platform that provides both easy to use drag and drop functionality and ability to add feature through custom code. This would ensure the platform is easily customisable and scalable to accommodate all business needs.
• Tech-agnostic: The platform with this features would support data acquisition from any device, sensor, asset, manufacturer, and gateways, ensuring seamless communication with multiple protocols and devices.
• Edge Agent: Enables IoT ecosystem take decisions quickly by refining data right at the edge, closer to the source, without relying on the cloud, yet with cloud like control. Data processing at the Edge ensures faster computation, improved security, and reduced latency.
• Alerts & Notifications: IoT platform is not just monitoring data, but also it should notify and raise alerts to business when there is a bottleneck in the process, behaviour changes of the machine, real-time issues and much more. The platform should be able to let users create custom conditions to trigger alerts.
• Integrations: Today businesses are using multiple platforms for seamless business operations. So do look our for IoT platform that can offer two way communication and integrate with other application using APIs or build in plugins.

As you can see, IoT has slowly gazed the attention of business owners who wish to accelerate the digital transformation because the end goal of it is innovation and connection. Leveraging IoT platform can be game-changing in many aspects such as scalability, seamless connectivity to sensors, devices, & gateways, cost-effectiveness, data processing, simple deployments, and the list goes on

By considering all the above factors, you can be sure you're choosing the right IoT platform optimized for performance, security, and reliability. 

Zoho IoT: The Ideal IoT Platform for Your Team

With a saturated market of over 600+ platforms, Zoho IoT stands apart by offering a unified, low-code, technology-agnostic platform that adapts to your use case, be it manufacturing, utilities, logistics, or smart buildings.

Why Zoho IoT?

• End-to-End Solution: From device provisioning to edge computing to advanced analytics — all under one roof.

• Scalable Architecture: Designed to handle millions of devices and terabytes of data effortlessly.

• Secure by Design: With built-in encryption, authentication protocols, and profile-based access.

• Fully Customizable: Dashboards, widgets, and workflows tailored to your business logic.

• Transparent Licensing: Clear, flexible pricing without any cloud vendor lock-in.

Whether you're a system integrator, OEM, or enterprise looking to supercharge your digital transformation, Zoho IoT gives you the tools to connect, manage, and act on your data like never before.

Ready to take your IoT strategy to the next level? Let’s talk. Get in touch with our team or book a free demo today.