An idea for an Internet of Things (IoT) device often looks simple: a sensor, some electronics and an app on the phone. The problems tend to show up later: the battery lasts a week instead of a year, the signal doesn't get through walls, and the unit cost eats the margin. A feasibility check finds these risks while they are still cheap to fix, on paper and on a prototype board, not in a warehouse full of finished devices.
In short
- An IoT product combines electronics, firmware, connectivity, cloud and an app, so it has far more unknowns than ordinary software.
- A feasibility check answers the key questions about sensors, connectivity, power, security, certification and unit cost before development starts.
- At the end you get a risk map, an architecture, a budget and timeline estimate and a prototype plan, so you can decide on facts.
Why IoT has more unknowns than ordinary software
A website or mobile app runs on devices that already exist and are well understood. In an IoT project you build the device itself and own five layers at once: the hardware with its sensors, the firmware (the software running inside the device), connectivity, the cloud side and the app people use.
Each layer has its own limits, and they affect each other. The choice of radio module changes power consumption, and with it the battery size, the enclosure and the unit cost. Firmware can still be updated remotely, over the air (OTA), if that was planned from the start. A mistake in the circuit board can only be fixed with a new hardware revision.
So starting an IoT project with code is a bet that all five layers will fit together on their own. A feasibility check replaces that bet with calculation.
What gets checked before development
Here are the main questions the check answers, layer by layer.
- Hardware and sensors. Which sensors give the accuracy you need, which microcontrollers or ready-made modules fit, and whether there are proven reference designs to build on.
- Connectivity. Wi-Fi is convenient indoors but power-hungry. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is frugal but short-range, and usually works through a phone or a gateway. Cellular LTE-M and NB-IoT give coverage where there is no Wi-Fi, but their availability depends on the operator and the country. LoRaWAN sends small amounts of data over long distances on very little power, but needs gateways.
- Power and battery life. How much energy the device uses when active and asleep, how often it connects, and how long the battery will last. This is often where the idea gets adjusted: data is sent less often, or the power source changes.
- Data and cloud. What data to collect, how often to send it, where to store it and what the infrastructure will cost at scale.
- Security. How the device proves it is genuine, whether the connection is encrypted, how firmware is updated safely and what happens if a device falls into the wrong hands.
- Certification and regulation. Radio equipment sold in the EU must meet the Radio Equipment Directive (RED) and carry CE marking, and in the US it needs authorisation from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Pre-certified radio modules make this easier but don't remove the need to test the finished product.
- Unit cost and supply. What one device will cost at different production volumes, and whether key components are available in the quantities you need.
What you get at the end
The result is material you can base a decision on: start development, change the concept or stop.
- A risk map. Technical, regulatory and commercial risks, how critical each one is and how to reduce it.
- A proposed architecture. Which components, connectivity, cloud services and apps make up the product, and how they work together.
- A budget and timeline estimate. A range for the cost and duration of development, plus an indicative cost per device.
- A proof of concept (PoC) plan. The smallest working prototype that tests the riskiest assumption, for example whether the battery lasts a year or the signal gets out of a basement. The plan sets out what is measured and what counts as success.
Even "the idea needs to change" is a useful result, because you learn it before spending on development.
The cost of skipping it
Without a check, the team discovers the limits during development. The board is redesigned because the chosen radio module doesn't suit the target country. The enclosure changes because the battery doesn't fit. Certification is delayed because the radio section was designed without the requirements in mind.
Each hardware change means new samples, new tests and waiting for components. A software bug can often be fixed in a day, but a hardware one can push the launch back by months.
A feasibility check doesn't remove every risk, but it moves them to a stage where a change costs days of analysis, not a new batch of boards.
Checklist
- Describe the use case: where the device works, how often it sends data and who uses it.
- Choose your target markets early to cover CE marking, FCC authorisation or other requirements.
- Compare connectivity options by coverage, power use and cost.
- Calculate the power budget and expected battery life.
- Build in data protection and remote firmware updates from the first version.
- Estimate the unit cost and the availability of key components.
- Test the riskiest assumption on a prototype before you order a batch.
How we do it at IANKO
We offer IoT research and a feasibility check as a separate service, starting from $6,500. For us, it is the "find the purpose" stage for a device: our Business Analyst works with you to describe the use cases and market requirements, while our Chief Technology Officer (CTO) compares hardware, connectivity and cloud options and proposes an architecture. Our Project Manager brings it all together into a budget and timeline estimate and a prototype plan. If the product needs an app, we design and build it for iOS, Android or the web.
The bottom line
In IoT, the most expensive decisions are made before the first line of code: when you choose sensors, connectivity, power and components. A feasibility check turns those assumptions into calculations and a plan. Before you order boards, make sure the idea works somewhere other than on a slide.