Borrowing Best-of-Breed Software Delivery Techniques for the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is changing the landscape of the traditional consumer electronics market. More and more electronic devices—from lightbulbs to thermostats to wrist watches—are now capable of being monitored and controlled from anywhere in the world. The increasing market demand for cloud-connected IoT devices is encouraging cohesion within traditionally disparate cloud- and hardware-oriented engineering organizations. While cloud-oriented organizations are well-suited to rapidly or even continuously delivering cloud-based software, hardware-oriented organizations historically follow more rigid product plans with longer development cycles. Gavin Gray describes how IoT organizations can adopt and apply best-of-breed software delivery techniques to improve quality and reduce time-to-market. Specifically, Gavin explores the possibility of continuous delivery, not only in the context of software but for iterations of embedded firmware and hardware as well. As a case study, Gavin shares his experiences building a cloud-connected network of thousands of portable mobile device chargers at Oomf, Inc.