Selecting an IoT cloud platform is one of the most consequential technology decisions an enterprise can make. Architecture decisions become difficult to reverse at scale, and the wrong choice can mean years of vendor lock-in, rising costs, and limited flexibility.
The Lock-In Problem
Most IoT platforms create lock-in through three mechanisms: proprietary protocols, platform-specific device SDKs, and data formats that don't transfer easily. Once you've deployed thousands of devices running vendor-specific firmware and storing data in proprietary formats, switching costs become prohibitive.
Evaluating for Flexibility
Protocol Support
Look for platforms that support standard protocols - MQTT, HTTP, CoAP, LoRaWAN - rather than proprietary alternatives. Standard protocols mean your devices can communicate with any platform.
Data Portability
Your telemetry data should be exportable in standard formats. Ask vendors about data export capabilities, API access to historical data, and whether you can run your own analytics on raw data.
Multi-Cloud Capability
The best IoT platforms can run on any cloud provider - or across multiple providers. This gives you negotiating leverage and disaster recovery options.
The CloudIQ Approach
We built CloudIQ to be vendor-agnostic by design. Standard protocols, open data formats, multi-cloud deployment, and modular architecture mean you're never locked in. Your IoT investment grows with your business, not your vendor's roadmap.