There are some special challenges that come along with IoT data. The data was created by devices operating remotely, sometimes in widely varying environmental conditions that can change from day to day. The devices are often distributed widely geographically.

The data is communicated over long distances, often across different networking technologies. It is very common for data to first transmit across a wireless network, then through a type of gateway device to be sent over the public internet–which itself includes multiple different types of networking technology working together.