IoT & Embedded Development Services

End-to-end IoT and embedded systems

An IoT product is several pieces of software that must work together: firmware on a microcontroller, a connectivity layer such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LTE-M or LoRaWAN, a cloud platform that ingests and stores data, and dashboards or mobile apps that people actually use. Problems usually appear at the boundaries between these pieces.

We build across the stack, or slot into your team where you need help — for example writing firmware for hardware your engineers designed, or building the cloud platform and apps for devices you already ship. We do not design or manufacture hardware, but we work closely with electronics engineers and contract manufacturers.

Common IoT challenges

• Prototype devices that work on the bench but fail in the field
• No secure way to update firmware once devices are deployed
• Device data arriving in the cloud with nobody able to use it
• Connectivity drop-outs that lose readings or drain batteries
• Separate vendors for firmware, cloud and apps who blame each other

What’s included

How we deliver IoT projects

1. Discovery1–3 weeks

   Use cases, environment, power budget, connectivity, data volume and compliance.

2. Architecture1–2 weeks

   Device, gateway, cloud and app design, including security and update strategy.

3. Prototype4–8 weeks

   Working end-to-end slice on development boards or your hardware.

4. Pilot4–12 weeks

   Small field deployment to learn how devices behave in real conditions.

5. ScaleOngoing

   Fleet management, monitoring, updates and feature releases.

Security and lifecycle

Connected devices are a common entry point for attackers, and regulation is catching up: the US Cyber Trust Mark programme, the EU Cyber Resilience Act and the UK PSTI regulations all set expectations for device security. We design for them from the start rather than retrofitting.

• Unique device identities and certificates — no shared default passwords
• Encrypted communication and signed firmware updates
• Secure boot where the hardware supports it
• A documented way to report vulnerabilities and a defined support period
• Fleet monitoring to spot offline, misbehaving or compromised devices

Devices often stay in the field for years. We plan for that lifecycle: remote diagnostics, staged rollouts of firmware updates and the ability to roll back if an update fails.

Timeline and budget

Typical ranges to help you plan. Your written estimate comes after a free discovery call.

Build, buy or combine?

Not every connected product needs a fully custom stack. Managed services such as AWS IoT Core or Azure IoT Hub handle device identity, messaging and scaling; off-the-shelf modules handle cellular certification; and existing dashboard tools can cover internal monitoring. We usually recommend custom work where it differentiates the product — the firmware behaviour, the user experience and the analytics — and proven building blocks everywhere else.

• Use pre-certified radio modules to avoid lengthy wireless certification
• Use managed IoT platforms unless volume or cost makes self-hosting worthwhile
• Keep device messages small and versioned so firmware and cloud can evolve independently
• Plan manufacturing provisioning — certificates, serial numbers and test firmware — before the first production run

Anatomy of a connected product

An IoT product is a chain of systems, and it is only as reliable as its weakest link. Most project delays come from treating these layers separately rather than designing them together.

We cover both ends of the chain: embedded software on the device and IoT apps and cloud platforms for the people who use the data.

Choosing connectivity

General characteristics; real range and battery life depend on hardware, environment and data volume.

From prototype to fleet

1. Proof of concept4–8 weeks

   Development boards and off-the-shelf sensors prove the idea and the data.

2. Engineering prototype2–4 months

   Custom firmware, cloud ingestion and a first app; hardware partner designs the board.

3. Pilot2–4 months

   Small batch in real conditions to test reliability, battery life, connectivity and updates.

4. Production & certificationVaries

   Manufacturing, provisioning at the factory and radio or safety certification through accredited labs.

5. Fleet operationsOngoing

   Monitoring, over-the-air updates, support and analytics.

Durations are typical ranges for a moderately complex device. We work with your hardware and manufacturing partners rather than designing or certifying hardware ourselves.

Security checklist for connected devices

• Unique credentials per device — never a shared default password
• Secure boot and signed firmware updates
• Encrypted communication with certificate-based device identity
• Debug ports and test interfaces disabled in production
• A way to revoke a compromised device
• A documented vulnerability-reporting and patching process for the product’s lifetime
• Awareness of applicable rules and labels in your target markets, confirmed with your compliance advisers

Questions that shape cost

• How many devices in the first year, and how many in five years?
• Battery-powered or mains-powered?
• How often must data be sent, and how quickly must alerts arrive?
• Will devices be installed by professionals or by consumers?
• Must the system keep working when the internet is down?
• What existing systems — ERP, maintenance, billing — need the data?

Over-the-air updates done safely

The ability to update devices in the field is what keeps a connected product secure and improving for years. It is also one of the riskiest features to get wrong: a bad update can disable thousands of devices at once.

• Signed update packages that the device verifies before installing
• A/B partitions or another rollback mechanism if the new firmware fails to start
• Staged rollouts — a small percentage of devices first, then wider release
• Updates that tolerate power loss and poor connectivity mid-download
• A dashboard showing firmware versions across the fleet
• Clear rules for when updates install so they never interrupt critical operation

Managing data from thousands of devices

Device data arrives continuously and grows quickly. Designing the data pipeline well keeps cloud costs predictable and makes the data genuinely useful.

• Process at the edge where possible — send summaries and events, not every raw reading
• Store recent data in a time-series database and archive older data cheaply
• Separate device telemetry, device state and business data in the model
• Define alert rules carefully to avoid alarm fatigue
• Feed clean data to analytics and, where valuable, machine learning for predictive maintenance

Data from connected devices often powers data engineering and machine learning projects once enough history exists.

Taking over an existing IoT product

Connected products often outlive the team that built them. When we take one over, we start with a structured assessment of firmware, cloud services, update mechanism, security and documentation, and we confirm we can build and deploy every component ourselves before changing anything.

Typical early priorities are restoring a reliable build and update pipeline, closing urgent security gaps, adding fleet monitoring and documenting how the system works — so the product becomes maintainable again before new features are added.

How to evaluate an IoT partner

Connected products span hardware, firmware, connectivity, cloud and apps. Few teams are strong in all of them, so ask directly where each piece will come from:

• Who designs or selects the hardware, and who manages certification such as FCC?
• How will firmware be updated securely over the air, and how is a failed update recovered?
• Which cloud platform will devices connect to, and how is each device identified?
• How will you test with real devices in real conditions, not just simulators?
• What is the plan for supporting devices for their full service life?
• Will we own the firmware source, signing keys and cloud accounts?

Specialist services include embedded software and IoT apps.

Life after launch: a roadmap for connected products

1. First weeks

   Watch fleet health closely: connection rates, battery levels, error logs and support requests.

2. First months

   Release firmware and app fixes in small, staged rollouts; refine alerts and dashboards.

3. First year

   Use real usage data to plan features, reduce cloud costs and improve power consumption.

4. Ongoing

   Security patches, certificate rotation, OS and SDK updates, and planning for hardware revisions.

Connected products stay in the field for years. Budgeting for that lifetime from the start avoids devices that become insecure or unsupported long before customers expect.

IoT terms explained

Signs your connected product needs specialist help

• Devices go offline and nobody knows why until customers complain
• Firmware updates are done by hand, device by device
• Battery life in the field is far shorter than in the lab
• Cloud costs grow faster than the number of devices
• Security reviews keep finding default passwords or unencrypted traffic

Each of these points to a gap in firmware, connectivity, cloud design or operations that can be fixed without starting over.

We often start with a fleet health review that looks at device logs, firmware versions, cloud costs and support tickets to find the highest-value fixes first.

Fixes are then rolled out to a small group of devices first.

Related services

Explore IoT app development, embedded software development, manufacturing software and energy software.

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