He who buys what he doesn't need steals only from himself

The question of whether or not something you obtain is a good deal or not, should never be about price, but always about value. Getting a good price is essential, but it is not the benchmark for what constitutes a good deal or not. A good price is a good price, it is not a good deal. 

In order to truly evaluate what kind of deal you have, you first need to understand what kind of deal that you need... Especially when it comes to Connectivity.

So many variables come into play that it would be almost impossible to define a good deal until all of them have been considered, evaluated, and accommodated. Only then, can you honestly claim to have something of value. Below are just some of the variable factors that you need to consider.

This mays seem like an obvious one to start with but so many clients I speak to are using a method of connectivity that is not fit for purpose let alone ideal for their particular product.

NB-IoT is not suitable for moving objects, and 4G/5G is not particularly suitable for devices that are power sensitive. So choosing the right technology in the first place is key. Obvious I know, but I've seen clients who have settled for an imperfect solution because it was cheap to start with. 

Whether your devices are fixed or mobile is a massive variable and has a big impact upon your choice of Connectivity. Are they localised to a small area, town, City, Country, Region or Global?  Will they cross over international borders? Intentionally or otherwise? Do they operate in areas of poor or limited cellular reception, are they underground, under water, up a mountain, or in the air? 

Again, these may seem obvious, but less so is the consideration that your initial deployment may change with or without your knowledge. Devices get stolen, get moved, customers change their requirements. You need to account for these eventualities no matter how improbably they may seem if you want to maintain a good service.

What happens if your chosen connectivity fails? (and it does fail, more than you think).

If your product or solution cannot operate without connectivity, then the impact of losing it MUST be considered and accounted for within any connectivity solution. There is currently a large range of connectivity solutions that account for this kind of resilience, yet they are not widespread yet and clients are still falling short in this area. In fact, it's one of the most mis-sold and highly confusing areas currently within the sector,  and it's probably the single biggest problem area that I am asked about.  

This is bit more of a grey area but it is still something that needs to be considered at the start if possible. 

What are your options if you need to swap a connectivity vendor or solution? Can you do this easily, cheaply or most of all remotely? Deploying 10,000's if not 100,000's of devices all over the world is no easy task, but if you do not make allowances now on how you can reach, update or replace the connectivity easily, then the potential for disaster is significant. New technologies, new commercials, new solutions all need to be roadmapped carefully in order to avoid future issues that could wipe out any short term financial gains.

How your connectivity is commercialised and how you pay for it, is one of the biggest areas of concern for me. And it is one of the most blatant ways in which clients are being misled and mis-sold. 

Bundled and pooled data costs are one of the most devious, and manipulative marketing mechanisms in existence within the IoT Connectivity space today.  They are a direct hangover from the consumer cellphone sector and are designed specifically to provide you with a misplaced sense of value. In order for these models to have any real chance being value for money, you have to be so precise on your forecasting that almost any error in judgement and you will be out of pocket.

Yes, they hold some value in terms of being easy to manage and forecast costs etc, but on a simple value for money ratio, they are pointless. On top of that, most of these mechanisms actually penalise you for over-using the service. 

This is one of the quickest, simplest and easiest changes I suggest to my clients and it is so effective that most incumbent connectivity vendors try to avoid adopting it at all costs.