Interconnected vehicles, smart home appliances, fitness performance-tracking sensors, devices designed for service dogs and their owners, you name it – folks’ daily lives are being filled with Internet of Things (IoT)-centric improvements, and the number of individuals, families, communities and businesses adopting IoT is spiking tremendously.
But with great power, there must also come great responsibility.
Look to any industry taking the reins of IoT, and you’ll find experts ensuring that IoT-powered solutions are being used responsibly; proactive safety testing for real-world applications is a must, as are responsible approaches to amping up IoT-based features in deployments, particularly as rising costs and constant demands for innovative features put greater pressure on developers. Unaddressed risks allowed to slip through the cracks – insufficient operational insights that lead to equipment malfunctions, a lack of cybersecurity that bad actors take advantage of, and so on – can seriously damage customer trust and brand reputation.
“IoT devices have become so intertwined into our daily life that, in many cases, it is a challenge to find a non-connected device. It is critical that businesses remember that software and connectivity are the lifeblood of their IoT product. Without a means to monitor products or the ability to push out updates, support effectively ceases upon deployment,” warned François Baldassari, CEO of IoT reliability platform Memfault. “This isn’t acceptable, and IoT developers must do better.”
Baldassari’s is completely correct; in fact, it’s what Memfault’s mission is built upon. Its founders understand that reactively investigating connectivity issues and unexpected breakdowns are time-consuming inefficiencies; hence, Memfault’s end-to-end observability platform enables more productive engineering for those designing IoT systems.
And just earlier this morning, Memfault took its defenses for more reliable IoT one step further:
Memfault has officially released its inaugural benchmark report, The State of IoT Software Development. This report, replete with global survey data, points to a few startling notables:
- One in three IoT teams don’t believe their organization adequately tests the cybersecurity of its products.
- Only 8% of these teams satisfy industry recommendations when it comes to promptly releasing software fixes following defect detection.
- A whopping 50.3%, unfortunately, take more than a full week to find defects in the field; 19.6% reportedly take several months.
So, what can be done?
According to Baldassari, “It’s time for companies to long-term plan for product support and maintenance.”
“Even governments are taking notice,” he added. “Beginning in 2026, the EU will require all new IoT devices to have over-the-air capabilities by 2026. Across industries and around the world, teams must do better. Embracing a proactive stance is essential, and it doesn’t have to be challenging – you simply require the appropriate tools.”
To access Memfault’s full IoT report, click here.
Edited by
Greg Tavarez
