IoT Application Development Company

Connected devices generate data. Most of it sits in silos, a fleet tracker that doesn't talk to your dispatch system, sensors on a production line with no integration to your MES, smart meters with no customer portal to surface the data.
We build the software that makes connected devices useful. IoT platforms, device management layers, real-time data pipelines, and the dashboards and alerts that turn sensor data into operational decisions. Fixed cost, production-ready.

See our work
  • IoT platforms connecting devices, data pipelines, and downstream systems

  • Real-time dashboards and alerting built around your operational workflows

  • Device management, OTA updates, and fleet monitoring for connected deployments

  • 100+ products shipped including IoT and connected device systems

Recent outcomes

IoT platform · Fleet logistics operator

Built a real-time fleet tracking platform connecting 500+ GPS devices to dispatch and billing systems, eliminating manual reconciliation.

12 weeks to production

Remote monitoring · Healthcare equipment

HIPAA-compliant IoT platform for medical device monitoring. 150+ devices provisioned in the first deployment. 20% faster clinical response times.

150+ devices in 12 weeks

Industrial IoT · Manufacturing

Connected 200+ production line sensors to a SCADA integration layer with real-time alerting and predictive maintenance triggers.

24-72 hrs earlier fault detection
4.9 / 5 on ClutchSee all work

Recognition

Sound familiar?

  • Device data sitting in manufacturer portals with no integration to your operations systems?

  • No real-time visibility across your connected fleet, just periodic exports and manual reconciliation?

In short

RaftLabs builds custom IoT platforms, device management layers, real-time sensor data pipelines, and operational dashboards for clients in the US, UK, and Australia. Most IoT builds ship in 12-16 weeks at a fixed cost. 100+ products delivered since 2020.

Trusted by

Vodafone
Nike
Microsoft
Cisco
T-Mobile
Aldi
Heineken
GE

Software delivery, by the numbers

software products shipped
100+
average time to first production release
12 weeks
rated by clients on Clutch
4.9/5
years delivering software for established businesses
9+

Device data is only valuable if something acts on it

A GPS tracker that logs location to a database nobody checks isn't worth the hardware cost. A production line sensor that emails a CSV weekly doesn't prevent the downtime it detects too late. A smart meter that shows consumption in a manufacturer portal your customers never log into wastes the meter.

The value of connected devices comes from closing the loop, device to data to decision, in time to matter.

Capabilities

What we build

IoT platform development

End-to-end IoT platforms connecting device hardware, data pipeline, and application layer into a single operational system. Device provisioning and certificate-based authentication via AWS IoT Core or Azure IoT Hub, MQTT message routing with quality-of-service guarantees (QoS 0 for fire-and-forget telemetry, QoS 1 for at-least-once critical events, QoS 2 for exactly-once high-stakes commands), time-series data ingestion at scale using InfluxDB or TimescaleDB, and the web or mobile application interfaces your operations team uses daily.

Platform architecture designed for the specific failure modes of IoT systems: intermittent device connectivity handled by message persistence at the broker layer so telemetry sent during reconnection is not lost, device clock drift compensated by timestamping at the broker using server-side receive time when device clocks cannot be trusted, duplicate message deduplication using device-generated message IDs with Redis SETNX at the ingestion layer. TLS 1.3 mutual authentication (mTLS) between devices and the MQTT broker means only provisioned devices with valid certificates can connect, not just any device that knows the endpoint. Each device certificate is unique and can be individually revoked without affecting the fleet. AWS IoT Core message routing rules forward messages to S3 (cold storage), InfluxDB/TimescaleDB (live dashboards), and Lambda/ECS (real-time alerting logic) simultaneously in a single pipeline step. Multi-tenant architecture for platforms serving multiple customers or industrial sites, with tenant-level data isolation, customisable alert thresholds, and white-label dashboard options. Every platform built around your specific hardware protocol (MQTT, HTTP, CoAP, LwM2M) and your operational workflow, not a generic IoT template that requires your process to adapt to the software.

Device management

Device registry with full lifecycle management: provisioning (generating unique device certificates at manufacture), status monitoring (connectivity state, last-seen timestamp, battery level, signal strength), and OTA firmware update management that delivers updates in staged rollouts to catch regressions before they reach the full fleet. Fleet-level dashboards show health status across thousands of devices, with drill-down to individual device telemetry for diagnostics. Alerts fire when devices go offline, report anomalous sensor readings, or fail a health check, routed to the right team rather than flooding a shared inbox. Decommissioning workflows revoke device credentials and archive telemetry history when units are retired, keeping your registry clean and your security posture intact.

Real-time data pipelines

High-frequency data ingestion pipelines designed for the access patterns of time-series device data, thousands of devices reporting every 10-60 seconds produces a different write load than a transactional database handles well. MQTT broker integration (Mosquitto, EMQX, AWS IoT Core), message queuing via Kafka or AWS Kinesis for durability and consumer fan-out, stream processing with Apache Flink or AWS Lambda for real-time aggregations and threshold detection, and time-series storage in InfluxDB or TimescaleDB where queries like "average temperature per device per 5-minute window over the last 7 days" run in milliseconds. Data normalization transforms device-specific payload formats into a unified schema so analytics and alerting logic works regardless of which device type is reporting. Pipelines are designed to handle burst traffic from simultaneous device wake-ups without dropping messages.

Operational dashboards and alerts

Real-time dashboards designed for the operational staff who act on device data, not for executives reviewing reports, but for the operations manager who needs to see which units are out of threshold right now, the fleet dispatcher watching 200 vehicle positions update every 30 seconds, and the field engineer diagnosing why one sensor on a production line has drifted. Live maps using Mapbox or Google Maps for location-aware fleet views, time-series trend charts for sensor reading history, threshold-based alert banners for exception queues, and configurable alert rules per device type, site, or operating condition. Alert routing sends SMS via Twilio, email, or Slack notifications to the right role based on severity and equipment type. Mobile-responsive dashboards let field teams access real-time status without returning to a desktop.

Industrial IoT and SCADA integration

Integration between modern IoT platforms and industrial systems that were designed before IoT was a category: SCADA systems (Ignition, Wonderware, Siemens WinCC), MES platforms, CMMS systems (IBM Maximo, SAP PM), and ERP backends. Legacy equipment communication via Modbus TCP, OPC-UA (the standard protocol for secure industrial data exchange between PLCs, SCADA systems, and cloud platforms), Profibus, and proprietary PLC protocols, translated to modern MQTT or REST APIs so the data flows into your cloud platform without replacing operational hardware.

Edge computing nodes (Raspberry Pi, industrial gateways from MOXA, Advantech, or Siemens SIMATIC) handle local data aggregation, protocol translation, and preprocessing in environments where cloud connectivity is intermittent (cellular in remote sites, satellite in offshore facilities) or where round-trip latency to the cloud is too high for real-time control loop decisions. Edge-to-cloud sync uses a store-and-forward pattern: data is persisted locally during connectivity gaps and uploaded in sequence when the connection recovers, so no telemetry is lost during outages. Predictive maintenance pipelines connect vibration, temperature, and current draw sensor data to maintenance work order triggers in your CMMS, surfacing equipment anomalies 24-72 hours before failure rather than after the unplanned downtime. Anomaly detection models trained on historical sensor patterns from your specific equipment identify the deviation signatures that precede bearing failures, motor overheating, and seal degradation, with enough specificity to reduce false alarms that create maintenance fatigue.

Connected product development

Complete software stack for physical products that ship with connectivity as a product feature: consumer IoT devices, commercial equipment with remote monitoring, and smart building systems. Cloud backend handles device state management (shadow/twin pattern so the app always shows current device state even if the device is offline), user account management and multi-device ownership, remote control commands with delivery confirmation, and firmware update delivery. iOS and Android companion apps provide the end-user control interface, with real-time state sync via MQTT or WebSocket. Usage telemetry and event analytics feed product improvement decisions, which features are used, which device states correlate with user churn, which firmware versions have elevated error rates. The full software layer that turns your hardware from a standalone product into a connected product service.

How we work

From scope to shipped

Every IoT project follows the same four phases. Scope is locked and price is fixed before development starts.

  1. Week 1
    01

    Discovery and scope

    We map your device types, data volumes, communication protocols, and the operational workflow that needs to act on the data. You leave week 1 with a written scope document and a fixed-price quote. No development starts without your sign-off.

  2. Weeks 2-3
    02

    Architecture and design

    Data architecture decisions made here cost ten times less than the same decisions in week 8. We design the ingestion pipeline, message broker configuration, storage schema, and dashboard wireframes before writing production code. The spec is locked before the build starts.

  3. Weeks 4-12
    03

    Build, integrate, and QA

    Working data flowing into a staging environment by the end of sprint one. Bi-weekly demos. QA runs in parallel with every sprint covering device connectivity edge cases, message durability under burst load, and integration correctness.

  4. Weeks 12+
    04

    Launch and post-launch support

    Production deployment with monitoring activated on launch day. 8 weeks of post-launch support included in every project. OTA update delivery and fleet health monitoring set up before handover.

Why us

Why teams choose RaftLabs

  1. Senior engineers build what they scope

    The engineers who assess your IoT problem also build the solution. No bait-and-switch, no offshore handoff after the contract is signed. The team you meet in week 1 ships in week 12.

  2. Fixed price before development starts

    We scope the work, calculate the cost, and lock it in writing before any development starts. A scope change is a change request: priced, agreed, or dropped. It never absorbs into the project and appears on the final invoice.

  3. 9 years and 100+ products shipped

    Clients include Vodafone, T-Mobile, Aldi, Nike, Cisco, and Lockheed Martin. Track record across IoT, AI, SaaS, mobile, and enterprise platforms across healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, and energy.

  4. Compliance built in from the start

    GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2 -- compliance requirements are scoped in week 1, not retrofitted before launch. We have shipped HIPAA-compliant IoT systems for US healthcare clients and GDPR-compliant connected products for European markets.

Tell us about your connected devices and what you need them to do.

Device type, data volume, and the operational problem you're solving. We'll design the platform and give you a fixed cost.

Frequently asked questions

IoT application development is the process of building the software layer that connects physical devices, sensors, machines, vehicles, meters, and equipment, to the systems that use their data. This includes the device management platform (provisioning, authentication, OTA updates), the data ingestion pipeline (handling high-frequency time-series data at scale), the processing layer (rules, aggregations, anomaly detection), and the application layer (dashboards, alerts, and integrations with ERP, CRM, or operational systems). The hardware is your devices. The software is what makes the data from those devices actionable.

We build the software layer and integrate with your hardware via its communication protocol. Common protocols we work with: MQTT (most common for IoT messaging), HTTP/REST (for devices with higher power budgets), CoAP (constrained devices), WebSockets (real-time bidirectional), Modbus and OPC-UA (industrial equipment), BLE and Zigbee (short-range sensors). We don't manufacture hardware, but we work alongside your hardware vendor to integrate their device firmware with the platform we build. We've connected GPS trackers, smart meters, industrial sensors, and building management systems.

Device data is fundamentally different from transactional data, it's high frequency, time-series, and often arrives in bursts. We use message queue architectures (MQTT broker + message queue) to handle ingestion at scale without data loss, time-series databases for efficient storage and querying of sensor data, stream processing for real-time aggregations and alerting, and edge processing where bandwidth or latency constraints require processing close to the device. We scope the data architecture around your device count, message frequency, and retention requirements before writing a line of code.

Yes. Most IoT projects involve integrating device data with an existing system of record, a SCADA system, ERP, CMMS, fleet management platform, or custom operations tool. We scope the integration approach during discovery, what the existing system exposes via API or database, what data needs to flow in each direction, and where the authoritative source for each data type lives. Integration with legacy industrial systems (Modbus, OPC-UA) and modern cloud platforms (AWS IoT, Azure IoT Hub) are both in scope.

A focused IoT platform, device management for one device type, real-time data ingestion, a dashboard, and basic alerting, typically runs $30,000--$70,000. Full IoT platforms with multiple device types, complex data processing, ERP integration, and mobile apps run $70,000--$180,000. Cost depends on device count, data volume, integration complexity, and application requirements. We scope every project before pricing it.

Yes. We sign NDAs before any scoping conversation. IoT projects often involve proprietary device firmware, hardware designs, and industrial operational data. All project deliverables, source code, and architecture documentation are assigned to the client on final payment. RaftLabs retains no rights to your IP or your device data.

Work with us

Tell us what you need. We'll tell you what it would take.

We scope IoT Application Development Company in 30 minutes. You walk away with a clear cost, timeline, and approach. No commitment required.

  • Scope and cost agreed before work starts. No surprises. No obligation.
  • Working prototype within 3 weeks of kickoff.
  • Pay by milestone. You see progress before each invoice.
  • 60-day post-launch warranty. Bug fixes, UI tweaks, and deployment support. No retainer.
  • All conversations are NDA-protected.