IoT device management allows you to track and control the lifecycle of interconnected devices within an ecosystem. The world has seen 18.8 billion IoT device connections so far. The estimated IoT devices number by 2029 is 19.4 billion. Managing such a massive number of devices in various remote places to ensure their safety and operational efficiency is tough.
IoT devices are susceptible to security risks because they generally lack enough built-in protective features. Additionally, manufacturers hardly provide firmware updates after releasing new IoT devices. This puts them in danger of potential cyberattacks.
Without proper management, these devices can become vulnerable and interrupt normal business operations. In this article, you will discover the importance of managing IoT devices, the steps of the device management lifecycle and the best practices.
Why is IoT Device Management Important?
IoT device management entails monitoring and controlling the harmonious interactions between devices to achieve proper syncing and flawless performance. It is an important process because of these reasons:
- Ensures IoT Device Security – IoT device management is vital because it enables you to identify and address cybersecurity issues. IoT device security involves taking measures such as device authentication, data encryption, regular firmware updates and patching, device segmentation, and incident response planning.
- Reduces Operational Costs – With IoT device management, you can detect security issues early and solve them before they worsen and disrupt your operations. This can prevent downtime, increase the endpoint efficiency, and lower your overall operational costs.
- Better Connectivity – The management of the device lifecycle includes the monitoring step. It allows you to check the current performance and condition of each IoT device in real-time. You can then take quick measures to secure it from an impending cyber-attack.
- Optimal Apps Use – When you manage IoT devices, you ensure that only secure and updated apps are in the network. This can prevent malware that often leads to dangerous attacks such as DDoS and Ransomware.
- Facilitates Remote Monitoring – Interconnected IoT devices scattered in remote places require constant monitoring and maintenance to operate smoothly. IoT device management promotes remote access, saving you time and money.
- Ensures Scalability – If you understand the art of device management in an IoT ecosystem, you can easily expand and scale it. Even if you increase the devices, you can still organize, monitor, and control them without affecting office operations or security.
- Promotes Decision Making – Constant data collection and analysis enable the management software to reveal patterns and trends that serve as insights for decision-making.
- Automated Updates – Another advantage of IoT device management is the automation of firmware updates, patching, and data analysis. This saves time for IT workers, which allows them to do other urgent business tasks.
- Easy Device Tracking – Lastly, proper management of IoT devices can help you locate an individual device quickly if it is in an extensive network. You only need to use its unique attributes to find, retrieve, and troubleshoot to restore efficient performance.
What are the Steps of the IoT Device Management Lifecycle?
The IoT device management lifecycle has the following steps, including:
- Onboarding New Device and Provisioning – The first step is onboarding, which involves the introduction of a new device into an IoT network. You must configure it to convert its factory settings into the ones you need for your IoT network. It also entails assigning new devices unique digital identifiers.
- Authentication – This management step involves the verification of device identity before giving it access to sensitive information.
- Configuration – IoT device management centralizes device visibility, enabling the IT admin to check the real-time status. The admins can then alter the device settings and update the firmware to maintain a consistent behavior across the IoT ecosystem.
- Monitoring – The next step is real-time device monitoring to assess its operational efficiency and health. Advanced monitoring capabilities offer automated fault detection and response, automatic maintenance alerts, and performance analytics.
- Maintenance – This IoT device management step entails any activity done to correct issues with the system. These include troubleshooting the devices, updating the software version, and performing hardware diagnostics.
- IoT Security Management – To safeguard IoT device networks from cyber and physical attacks and maintain data integrity and privacy, you need to take security measures. These include end-to-end encryption for data, patching, software updates, role-based access control, device authentication, and incident response planning.
- Updating Firmware – Firmware and software updates enable patching security risks. This not only addresses malware and bugs but also introduces new software features that enhance operations.
- End-of-Life – When a device becomes obsolete, your IoT device management staff should retire it without creating security issues or increasing the cost. Moreover, it should have replacements ready to ensure no downtime or data leakage when retiring the older ones.
Three Best Practices When Managing IoT
To succeed in IoT device management, you must create a strategy. Ensure your management strategy has all the steps of a device management lifecycle. Further, you should implement these IoT device management practices:
- Execute Device Monitoring and Control Techniques
If you monitor and control your IoT device networks in real-time, you can spot and respond to potential cyber threats before they strike. Additionally, you can enable your devices to operate at peak performance throughout the day.
You need remote monitoring solutions that can identify anomalies and assess device performance status and health in real-time. With these tools, you can practice proactive device maintenance. Another reliable technique is to set up alert systems that can notify you about critical anomalies or events.
You can configure these alerts to inform you when critical issues occur, such as poor connectivity, fluctuations in sensor readings, and security breaches. Implement control mechanisms for monitoring and controlling remote device behaviors.
- Secure an IoT Device throughout its Lifecycle
Your chief priority when practicing IoT device management is to secure your devices. You should safeguard sensitive data from unauthorized interception and extraction during transit or at rest. The best IoT security measures you can add to your management strategy are many.
The first one is device authentication, giving access only to authorized users. Choose strong passwords and multi-factor authentication to discourage unauthorized users from accessing your IoT networks.
Another way is to encrypt data, adding a protection layer that makes it invisible to criminals. Lastly, update your firmware and software regularly to patch security vulnerabilities.
- Track and Manage Remote IoT Devices
IoT device management can be problematic if you have deployed several devices across many locations. Use asset tracking systems such as RFID or GPS to monitor IoT device locations live.
Keep an inventory of every device in your IOT environment, recording its ownership details, specific location, and settings parameters. Lastly, manage the end-of-life of each obsolete IoT device.
What is IoT Device Management Example?
What are the use cases of IoT device management? There are many application examples, including international shipping. Picture how global shipments work. The exporter must package merchandise, deliver it to the departure port in a truck, ship it in a container via an ocean carrier, and wait a few weeks for its arrival in the destination port.
After customs clearances, a truck should transport the merchandise to the importer. You need a robust IoT device management system to track the entire shipment process remotely. Still asking this question: What is remote IoT device management examples? Another application example you should learn about is smart home technology.
You can remotely inspect and monitor your household appliances via smart home technology. A central getaway that can indirectly link your appliances to a cloud-based backend system is all you need.
This getaway can connect to several interconnected IoT devices and support different users without increasing their vulnerability to cyber-attacks. Still, you can apply IoT device management in the administration of linked cars. It can help you track deliveries and check if they will arrive on time or late.
Final Word
IoT device Management can shield your devices from cyber-criminals. If you implement the device management lifecycle stages correctly and create a suitable strategy, your IoT environment will be immune to cyber threats. Data transfers will be flawless; as device management will help you monitor the network and remove threats before they strike.