2020 IoT Developer Survey

Key Findings

October 2020
Executive Summary
> In 2020, Agriculture has emerged as the leading industry focus area for 26% of
respondents

> Security (39%), Connectivity (27%) and Data Collection & Analytics (26%) are
still the top three concerns for IoT developers in 2020

> Artificial Intelligence (30%) was the most frequently selected edge computing
workload

> Privacy is a growing concern selected by 23% of respondents, as awareness of

the issues increases among organizations and consumers alike
Executive Summary (Continued)
> Communication Security (43%) and Data Encryption at rest (41%) are the most
widely used techniques for securing IoT solutions again this year

> Distributed Ledgers have gained momentum as a way to secure IoT solutions

> Java is the most widely used programming language at the Edge (20%) and in
the Cloud (24%)

> In 2020, the IoT Middleware market is dominated by AWS IoT (35%), Microsoft
Azure IoT (31%), and Google Cloud IoT Platform (30%)

> Amazon AWS with 40% (+6% in 2020), Microsoft Azure with 31% (+8% in 2020),
and Google Cloud Platform with 26% (+6% in 2020) keep dominating the public
IoT and Cloud Platforms in 2020
Introduction
The objective of the survey is to provide essential insights
about the IoT industry landscape, the challenges IoT
developers are facing, and the opportunities for enterprise
IoT stakeholders in the IoT open source ecosystem. For the
first time, the survey probes respondents about their use of
edge computing, which will help influence the roadmap of the
Eclipse Edge Native Working Group. From May 28 until July
10, 1652 individuals participated in the 2020 edition of the
survey.

The survey was heavily promoted on social media, on

iot.eclipse.org, edgenative.eclipse.org, sparkplug.eclipse.org,
on various IoT (developer) websites, in newsletters, blogs,
LinkedIn groups, and it was shared with members of the
Eclipse IoT, Edge Native, Sparkplug, and Tangle EE Working
Groups, as well as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
influencers.
Survey Partners
Thank you for sharing the survey with your communities!
KEY FINDING 1.1

Key Industry Focus Areas

26%
24%
21% 19% 21% 21% 21% 21% 21%
18%

Agriculture Industrial Automation Education Automotive Smart Cities

2019 2020
 KEY FINDING 1.2

Smart Agriculture is growing

● Agriculture leaps into first place (from 21% in 2019 to 26% in 2020) for industry focus
areas. The growth of smart farming reflects the rise in adoption of IoT-based solutions to
increase yields, lower costs, reduce waste, among other driving factors.

● Industrial Automation, Education, Automotive, Connected / Smart cities are tied at #2 (21%
each).

● There is less interest in home automation (from 22% in 2019 to 19% in 2020). Consumers
may have been burned by providers who abruptly discontinued their products and services
(or suddenly started charging for them when previously free).
 KEY FINDING 2

It’s a Linux and FreeRTOS World Top Operating System Landscape

● Linux (43%), FreeRTOS (35%) and

Windows (31%) are the top OSes for
constrained devices and edge nodes

● Windows usage grows from 20% in

2019 to 31% in 2020 - probably driven
by Azure IoT

● Surge by Zephyr (from 3% in 2019 to

43% 35% 31% 8%
8% in 2020) Linux FreeRTOS Windows Zephyr
KEY FINDING 3

Top Edge Computing Workloads

Artificial Intelligence Control Logic Data Exchange Sensor Fusion

30% 29% 27% 27%

Artificial Intelligence (30%) was the most frequently selected edge

computing workload in the survey. Control Logic (29%), Data
exchange between multiple nodes (27%) and Sensor fusion (Data
aggregation and filtering) (27%) followed.
KEY FINDING 4

Top Edge Computing Artifacts for IoT Solutions 2020

Container images (36%), native

binary (33%), and script files
(30%) are the leading edge
computing artifacts for IoT
solutions in 2020. The high
percentage for native binary is an
indication that they own the edge.
36% 33% 30%
Container Images Native Binary Script Files
KEY FINDING 5

Top Ways for Deploying Artifacts of IoT and Edge

Computing Solutions 2020

Cloud-managed over Locally-managed Network Cable

the air updates over the air updates 38%
48% 42%

Cloud-managed over the air updates (48%), locally-managed over the air
updates (42%), and network cable (38%) are ranked top ways for deploying
artifacts for IoT and edge computing solutions.
KEY FINDING 6

IoT is Synonymous with Open Source

65% of respondents either

experiment with, use or
65% contribute to open source
projects.
KEY FINDING 7.1

The Top Concerns for IoT Developers

39%
37%

27% 26%
24% 23%
22% 21% 21% 19%

Security Connectivity Data Collection Performance Privacy

& Analytics

2019 2020
KEY FINDING 7.2

● Security (39%), Connectivity (27%) and Data Collection & analytics (26%) are still the
top three in 2020

● Significant increase for connectivity means that figuring out the right connectivity
solution for the use case is tricky

● The growing interest of IoT Developers in Data Collection & Analytics can be linked to
the rise of privacy. Although analytics tools are mature, it is difficult to determine how
to collect and manage data in accordance with regulations while protecting the
customer privacy. Operational technology specialists fear that sending raw telemetry
streams outside of the corporate firewall could compromise industrial secrets

● Performance as #4 (24%) shows that the market is getting past PoCs and initial
deployments and focusing on optimizing production systems for user experience and
to deliver business value, among other reasons

● Privacy as #5 is on the rise (from 18.75% in 2019 to 23% in 2020) as awareness of the
issues grows among organizations and consumers alike
KEY FINDING 8.1

Programming Languages: The Usual Suspects Strike Again

● C, C++, Java, Python and JavaScript dominate the IoT

space, as they dominate the rest of the IT market.

C (20%) is number one Java (20%) is number one at the

for constrained devices. Edge and in the Cloud (24%).
KEY FINDING 8.2

Programming Languages: Top 4 by Tier

IoT Constrained Device IoT Gateway/Edge Node IoT Cloud

1. C - 20% 1. Java- 20% 1. Java - 24%

2. Java - 19% 2. Python - 17% 2. Python - 17%

3. C++ - 15% 3. C - 13% 3. Javascript - 16%

4. Python - 10% 4. C++ - 12% 4. C++ - 8%

KEY FINDING 9

Top Communication Protocols in 2020

● Are dominated by HTTP/HTTPS

(51%), MQTT (41%), and TCP/IP
(33%)

● Eclipse Sparkplug has significant

7% traction (7%).
51% 41% 33%
HTTP/HTTPS MQTT TCP/IP Sparkplug
KEY FINDING 10

Top Connectivity Protocols in 2020

WiFi Ethernet Cellular Bluetooth/Bluetooth

44% 39% (LTE, 4G, 5G, etc) Smart
37% 37%

Top Connectivity Protocols in 2020 are WiFi (44%), Ethernet (39%),

Cellular (LTE, 4G, 5G, etc) and Bluetooth/Bluetooth Smart with
equally 37%.
 KEY FINDING 11

Top Security Technologies ● Communication Security (43%, +5% in

2020) and Data Encryption at rest (41%,
43% +3% in 2020) are the most widely used
41%
38% 38% techniques again this year.
30%
26% ● JWT tokens are popular for
22% authentication (30%, +4% in 2020). They
are easier to deploy in integration
14% scenarios while OAuth is more targeted
at human-centric scenarios.

● Distributed Ledgers grew to 22% in

2020 (as opposed to 14% in 2019). This
demonstrates the relevance of the
JWT Distributed
Communication Data Encryption
tokens Ledgers
Eclipse TangleEE Working Group to the
Security at rest
market.
2019 2020
KEY FINDING 12

Development Tools: Rise of the Cloud-based IDEs

Top IDEs or text editors Eclipse Desktop

IDE (eg. Eclipse JDT, Eclipse CDT) - 38%,
Visual Studio Code (35%), and Notepad++
are still dominant in 2020.

Eclipse Cloud Development tools have

great momentum! Eclipse Che grows
significantly (+6% in 2020) while Eclipse
38% 35% 15% 9% Theia reaches 9%.
Eclipse Desktop Visual Studio Eclipse Che Eclipse Theia
IDE Code
KEY FINDING 13

Open Source Databases Rule IoT

● MySQL/MariaDB (31%), MongoDB

(22%), and PostgreSQL (21%) are
prevailing as top Database
Technologies in 2020

● The deployment of MySQL has

decreased from 2019 (40%) with 9%
31% 22% 21% 9% ● Only 4% of respondents stated they
MySQL/MariaDB MongoDB PostgreSQL Deployment of rely on a proprietary database
MySQL
KEY FINDING 14

IoT Middleware: The Race is Still Young

● In 2020, the top IoT Middleware are dominated

by AWS IoT (35%), Microsoft Azure IoT (31%),
and Google Cloud IoT Platform (30%)

● The market is much more competitive than in

public cloud platforms, with the leaders packed
within 5% of each other.
35% 31% 30% ● The diversity in responses shows this specific
AWS IoT Microsoft Google Cloud market segment is still young and competitive.
Azure IoT IoT Platform
KEY FINDING 15

Public Cloud and IoT: The Big Three Cement their Lead

Amazon AWS with 40%

(+6% in 2020), Microsoft
Azure with 31% (+8% in
2020), and Google Cloud
Platform with 26% (+6% in
AWS Azure Google Cloud Platform 2020) keep dominating the
40% 31% 26% public IoT and Cloud
Platforms in 2020.
KEY FINDING 16

Top Organizations Relevant for IoT Strategies

Apache Software Eclipse IoT Linux Foundation IEEE

Foundation 49% 49% 41%
51%

Apache Software Foundation (51%), Eclipse IoT/Eclipse Foundation (49%), Linux

Foundation (49%), and IEEE (41%) are the top organizations developers consider relevant
for IoT strategies.
Demographics
Regions
What region are you located in?

North America

20% Europe,
Middle East
46% & Africa

Asia Pacific

29%
6%
South America
Roles
What best describes your role?

12%
10%
8% 7%
32% 5% 5% 5% 3%
Developer Student Architect Development Researcher Product Executive Testing Independent
Manager Manager Consultant
Experience
How much experience do you have developing IoT solutions?

IoT is attracting new developer

interest - 45% of our survey
respondents have 0-2 years of
IoT experience. This means there
are a lot of newcomers in the
domain. Over 20% of respondents
have 5 years of experience or more,
which reflects the continuing
17% maturation and growth of the IoT
17%
11% 10 % market.
45%
0-2 years 2-5 years No developer 5-10 years 10+ years
experience
Employees
How large is the organization you work for?

12% 11%
50% 9%
15% 2%
Less than 100 100-500 501-1,000 1,001-5,000 5,001-10,000 10,000+
Project Participation
Which of the following statements best describe your open source project participation?

Report bugs and feature enhancements to open

source projects that provide IoT technology 15%
Use integrated IoT open source
projects in a testbed environment 17%
Have experimented with IoT open source
technologies, but don’t use it in IoT solutions 20%
Their organization uses open source
technology in their IoT solutions 25%
Have no experience with IoT
open source projects 34%
Committers on an open source project
that builds technology for IoT solutions 37%
 Thank you!
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