Smart deployments: Best practices for reliable IoT systems

At the recent SREday NYC 2025 event hosted at Viam's office, a panel of industry experts discussed the intersection of IoT and SRE. The panel featured Viam's Director of Engineering, Ale Paredes, alongside Jessica Garson (Elastic), Brian Annis (Place Exchange), and Vinny Ruia (Firefly Automatix). Below are key insights from their discussion on building reliable, scalable IoT systems.

Reliability strategies for resource-constrained IoT environments

Unlike cloud environments with virtually unlimited resources, IoT systems operate with significant constraints. Successful reliability strategies must account for limited computing power, storage capacity, and intermittent connectivity.

Three key approaches for managing these constraints:

Edge-first computing enables devices to operate autonomously without constant connectivity
Asynchronous data synchronization allows devices to store data locally and sync when connectivity returns
Modular architectures provide flexibility to adapt to different use cases and environments

The stakes for reliability are particularly high in IoT because physical intervention is costly and sometimes logistically impossible. This reality requires more rigorous quality control than traditional cloud deployments.

Smart update strategies for IoT fleet management

Deploying updates across distributed IoT devices requires strategies that account for their unique characteristics.

Effective segmentation approaches:

Break fleets into manageable groups to reduce risk during deployments
Use feature flags to control functionality for specific device segments
Implement canary deployments to test updates on small subsets before wider rollout

Explore best practices for managing fragment versions in IoT fleets.

Contextual update windows allow devices to update only when:

Connected to reliable networks
Powered by stable sources
Operating during off-peak usage hours

Optimize updates by aligning with maintenance windows for better reliability and performance.

Technical safeguards to ensure smooth updates:

Introduce random jitter in update check-ins to prevent overwhelming servers
Build fallback mechanisms for environments with unreliable connectivity
Implement verification processes to confirm successful update completion

Building resilient self-healing systems

When hardware components fail or connectivity drops, IoT systems need built-in recovery capabilities.

Ways to enable multi-layered recovery mechanisms:

Software-level detection and reset to known good states
Hardware failsafes that force system restarts when software becomes unresponsive
Graceful degradation pathways that maintain critical functionality with limited resources

Strategic redundancy for critical components:

Duplicate essential sensors
Implement multiple connectivity pathways
Include backup power systems where feasible

Data-driven approach to resilience:

Document each manual intervention required
Identify patterns in common failure modes
Prioritize automation based on frequency and impact of failures

Build resilience with a data-driven approach to identifying and automating common failure patterns.

Improving developer experience for IoT teams

Bridging the gap between software development and physical deployment is crucial for IoT teams.

Virtual testing environments provide:

Digital twins of physical devices to accelerate development
Simulations focused on essential functionality
Abstraction of complex physical interactions into manageable interfaces

Simplified development workflows include:

One-command setup procedures
Automated pipelines from development to deployment
Minimized hardware requirements for routine development tasks

As IoT reliability engineering evolves, several emerging trends will shape future approaches, including AI-enhanced observability, edge containerization, advanced recovery mechanisms, and better connectivity simulation.

By implementing these core strategies for reliability, updates, resilience, and development, organizations can build IoT systems that maintain reliability even in challenging environments. As hardware and software continue to converge, these practices will become increasingly essential for teams building the next generation of connected devices.

Find out more about how Viam can help your business with fleet management and OTA firmware updates by requesting a demo.