As more businesses develop IoT applications, it’s changing the way physical products are being developed. One of the areas most impacted by this shift is requirements management, and its ripple effects can be felt at all levels of an organization.

1. How IoT Initiatives are
Changing Product Development

2. As more businesses develop IoT applications, it’s
changing the way physical products are being
developed. One of the areas most impacted by this
shift is requirements management, and its ripple
effects can be felt at all levels of an organization.

3. Flexibility with scope
For those businesses beginning to develop IoT
applications, a fair amount of flexibility with
requirements is needed. That’s because, often, the IoT
product you set out to make isn’t the one that hits the
market. Customer research, technological limitations,
opportunities, and collaboration amongst engineers
from different disciplines can all wind up altering the
final state of your IoT product. And influence from
those variable elements need to be accounted for in
the original product’s scope.

4. Simple collaboration
Since teams of engineers working on connected
products usually have disparate areas of expertise —
like mechanical, electrical, and software — it’s critical
they’re all speaking the same language when working
together. Simplification tactics, such as avoiding
insider jargon and keeping things at a high level, can
help strengthen IoT requirements tracking. Also,
storing software and hardware requirements for
various stakeholders in an easily-accessible space is a
good idea. That way, everyone working on the
project can fully grasp the obstacles and priorities
facing each team member.

5. Expanded capabilities
Advancing the skill sets of those overseeing IoT
product design and development is another critical
component. When IoT technology is added to the
development mix, for example, a manager who’s
used to releasing physical products on an annual
schedule, for instance, must adjust to the dynamic
nature of continuous software updates. Part of that
process will also include gaining the ability to balance
things like the changing nature of industry, needs of
the business, desires of the customers, and fluidity of
technology and software testing.

6. One last attribute IoT product managers must master
is being highly collaborative. That’s because their role
will require synthesizing feedback from different
members of the organization, placing it into
requirements if needed, and effectively
communicating that information to staff, or vice
versa.

7. Powerful tools
Using the right tools to manage IoT requirements will
also make a big difference in the final product.
Legacy programs, for instance, are usually serviceable
for basic data management but limited in direct use to
just a handful of stakeholders. Alternately, relying on
simple document software for complex collaboration
can result in miscommunication headaches, limited
collaborative functionality, and general rampant
disorganization.

8. Alternately, apps are great for ordinary tasks and
messaging, but they’re not built to track
dependencies or run change impact analysis. Hybrid
models also fall short, since no combination of tools
has been expressly crafted for IoT product design and
development.

9. Instead, consider investing in a single platform that
understands the needs of IoT developers and what
they’re trying to accomplish. A quality product
development platform will transform your processes
by facilitating multi-functional team alignment,
assisting with requirements management,
maintaining traceability evidence, and more. This will
go a long way in improving the quality of both
engineers’ lives and the products they create.

10. Smarter products
One final process to consider with IoT product
development is collecting usage data and employing
it to inform future iterations. Since connected
products utilize embedded software, you can receive
data on usage in the wild. Integrating that
information into your product requirements can lead
to amazing opportunities. And once you begin
designing and fine-tuning products based on how
your users are interacting with them, you may begin
to wonder how you ever did it otherwise.

11. Given the array of changes IoT brings to product
development, some of these practices will be easier to
implement than others. Unfortunately, time is a
precious resource for companies entering the IoT
space. While you shouldn’t rush your organization
into connected technologies, don’t count on your
competitors conceding ground to make their
integrations either. If you don’t act quickly on IoT,
you risk losing the edge.

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