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Plan

Why Choose Blues?

Inevitably, when you propose a connected product initiative, someone will ask the question: why do we need Blues at all? Why not build this ourselves, or stitch together hardware, connectivity, and cloud services from multiple vendors?

The answer is simple: focus and confidence.

note

Key Takeaways

Blues solves the hard connectivity problems so your team can focus on building product value, not managing wireless infrastructure.
A single device-to-cloud platform replaces fragile multi-vendor stacks of SIMs, contracts, certificates, and custom glue code.
Blues supports every stage: prototype in days with starter kits, pilot with remote management and firmware updates, and scale to production with enterprise fleet tools.
Enterprise-grade security is built in by design with off-public-internet cellular, hardware security modules, and no manually-provisioned keys.
Predictable, transparent pricing with bundled cellular data eliminates carrier contracts and surprise bills.
Hands-on support through the I2M program, complimentary design reviews, and a partner network helps teams at any experience level.

In This Guide

This guide helps you answer the platform question with confidence:

The Blues Advantage: How platform choice affects execution risk, scalability, security, and total cost of ownership.
Prototype, Pilot, and Production: How to move from validation to scale while reducing technical and financial risk.
Addressing Common Concerns: How to respond to objections around expertise, cost, integration, and security.

The Blues Advantage

Building a connected product means solving two hard problems at once: creating the business value your customers need, and connecting devices reliably, securely, and at scale. That second problem (wireless connectivity, security, device management, data routing) is genuinely difficult to solve well. Blues exists to solve it for you, so your team can focus on the product itself and the business value it creates.

Blues delivers six key advantages:

Accelerated time to market: Get to working hardware and real data quickly. Blues customers develop products in days, pilot in weeks, and scale in months; validating assumptions early instead of discovering issues deep into a project.
Reduced complexity: A single, integrated device-to-cloud system replaces a fragile stack of vendors, contracts, SIMs, certificates, and custom glue code. Focus on your product, not the technical hurdles of connectivity.
Flexibility and adaptability: Choose the wireless technologies right for your application (cellular, satellite, LoRa, or WiFi) and rely on your preferred development tools and cloud providers. When requirements change, swap anything out without costly redesigns.
Scalability: The same platform you use to prototype a single device scales to support full production fleets. Remotely manage and adapt your products at any scale.
Enterprise-grade security: Blues builds security in from the start, with off-internet private cellular communications, an embedded hardware security module (HSM), an identity-based security model with no manually-provisioned keys or certificates, and secure device provisioning and firmware updates. Your host MCU is virtually air-gapped by design, so you can be confident that your customers' products and data are protected.
Predictable, low total cost of ownership: Blues' transparent, pay-as-you-go model lets you scale connected products predictably and cost-effectively. Bundled cellular data eliminates carrier contracts, pre-certified Notecards reduce certification expense, Notehub's shared infrastructure reduces cloud costs, and Notecard customization options help optimize your BOM. All leading to minimizing up-front investment and eliminating surprise bills.

Blues isn't just a connectivity provider—it's a device-to-cloud system that accelerates your time to market, reduces complexity, adapts to your needs, and allows you to scale with confidence and security.

How Blues Works

The advantages above come from a single, integrated architecture. Here's how the pieces fit together — from your device through Blues Notecard and Notehub to your cloud application — and why this design delivers the speed, security, and scalability described throughout this guide.

Prototype, Pilot, and Production

The following sections walk through each stage of the connected-product journey (prototype, pilot, and production) and show what Blues offers at every step.

Prototype

The first material value-add you'll encounter on your Blues journey is speed. Our starter kits are the fastest way to get a product running on all common radio access technologies (cellular, satellite, LoRa, and WiFi).

Our customers consistently tell us they were able to get prototypes running in days that would normally take weeks or months.

Here's what David Mackenzie, VP of Product Development at Prodigy, said about his team's experience:

Partnering with Blues has been a game-changer for Prodigy. Their plug-and-play connectivity solutions have allowed us to rapidly integrate robust IoT capabilities into our product designs without the traditional complexity. We can now deliver more innovative, more interconnected products to our clients faster than ever before.

There are several reasons why Blues is uniquely suited for rapid prototyping:

Crazy-simple connectivity: Blues Notecard is a system-on-module that makes it effortless to connect your products over cellular, satellite, LoRa, and WiFi.
No cellular plans or SIM management: When using Blues for cellular connectivity you don't need to sign up for a cellular plan or bring your own SIM. The Blues Notecard Cellular works out of box and has no monthly subscription costs.
No satellite plans: Similarly, when using Blues for satellite connectivity there are no separate satellite plans required. Blues Starnote pricing is usage based, and there are no monthly subscription costs.
No cloud infrastructure required to start: Blues Notecard knows how to connect to its secure cloud backend, Notehub, out of the box.
Data bundled: All cellular Notecards come with 500MB of bundled data and 10 years of services included. On the cloud side, each Notehub billing account is topped-up to 5,000 event credits per month.
Developer friendly: Blues uses modern, future-proof technologies such as JSON, and provides SDKs for common development environments. Our development boards, Blues Notecarriers, make integrating with your hardware and sensors straightforward.

Pilot

When your project reaches the pilot stage, Blues brings even more capabilities to help your pilots succeed.

Fleet management: In Blues Notehub you can track and manage device health, connectivity, data usage, and behavior across your entire set of pilot devices including sub-fleets for different deployment stages, customers, or geographies.
Configurable device-level behavior: Configurability is key during pilots, and the ability to tweak behavior without rework lets you learn quickly. Blues makes it trivial to configure and parameterize remote devices through environment variables.
Remote firmware updates: Going one step further, with Notecard Outboard Firmware Update you can remotely replace the entire firmware of your connected devices, allowing you to fix issues or add features without physically visiting each device.
Hardware swapability: All Blues Notecards share the same form factor and same programming API. If you want to try different cellular bands during your pilot, or even want to switch to a different radio access technology (e.g. cellular --> WiFi), you can do so without changing your hardware or firmware—all you have to do is swap in a new Notecard.
Flexible location tracking: Similarly, Blues Notecard and Notehub make it possible to get a device's location via onboard GPS, WiFi triangulation, or cellular triangulation. As you begin deploying devices, you can experiment with each option to see which delivers the best results for your project.

These capabilities let you reliably validate your product in the field and prepare it for production use.

Production

Moving into production means shifting from experimentation to repeatability. Devices need to be dependable, efficient to operate, and cost-effective at scale. You need hardware and platform maturity to make that leap with confidence.

Here are some of the ways Blues helps:

Fleet management at scale: Blues Notehub offers robust features for managing projects with thousands or tens of thousands of devices, including a comprehensive API, smart fleets, configurable alerts, sub-fleet segmentation, and more.
Enterprise-grade security at scale: The same security architecture described above extends to production fleets with no additional configuration. Read Blues Security, Reliability, and Governance for a comprehensive overview of our multi-layered approach.
Low, predictable total cost of ownership: With bundled data, no per-device subscriptions, and an Enterprise Service Agreement, your connectivity and cloud usage are simple to forecast. Volume pricing is also available. See Blues Pricing for more information.
Remotely control devices at scale: With environment variables or Notecard Outboard Firmware Update, you can confidently update thousands of devices in production without requiring manual hardware changes.
Future-proof connectivity strategy: As radio access technologies evolve, you can rely on Blues to stay on top of the market and help you through whatever comes next. (We already have our eyes on 5G, new satellite technologies, and more!) And because all Notecards share the same form factor and APIs, when those new technologies arrive, you can start using them without throwing away your hardware design or firmware.

Together, these capabilities make Blues a production-ready foundation for your connected product, and a trusted partner from prototype to scale.

If your stakeholder still isn't convinced, let's end by addressing some common concerns we often hear.

Addressing Common Concerns

"We don't have the expertise"

Not every company has deep hardware, firmware, security, or cloud experience, and that's okay. Blues abstracts away much of that complexity while still giving you full control where it matters.

And we have a few additional offerings that can help you out:

The Blues I2M (Idea to Market) program is designed to help teams go from concept to connected product quickly—providing guidance, resources, and hands-on support to accelerate your path to market.
Blues Design Review is a complimentary service for customers building Notecard- and Notehub-based solutions. Our experts review your product's architecture, schematics, PCB layout, and component selection—and offer guidance to ensure your product is robust and ready to scale.
Through the Blues partner network we made it easy to bring in external expertise in areas such as firmware development, manufacturing, PCB and antenna design, cloud architecture, and more. Just reach out, and we'll connect you with the right experts.

"We can't afford it"

Blues helps teams validate ideas sooner and avoid over-investing in concepts that may not prove out, saving both time and budget.

And when you do find an idea worth investing in, Blues delivers a low, predictable total cost of ownership. Cellular data is bundled with every Notecard with no per-device subscriptions or surprise bills. Notehub event credits scale with your usage, and volume discounts are available through Enterprise Service Agreements. See Blues Pricing for details.

"I need to integrate with my existing systems"

Blues Notecard works with virtually any host microcontroller or single-board computer using simple serial or I2C communication, making it easy to plug into existing hardware designs or build new ones without redesigning your stack.

On the cloud side, Notehub offers pre-integrated routes to AWS, GCP, Azure, Snowflake, and other popular platforms, plus general HTTP/MQTT support for any custom backend—so Blues fits into the systems you already rely on.

"I'm worried about the security of my deployed devices"

Security is built into Notecard from the ground up, not added as an afterthought. Before a Notecard may connect to our Notehub service, it is validated through a unique cryptographic key and certificate contained within a tamper-proof HSM embedded in each Notecard. Similarly, Notecards validate that they are connected to the authentic Blues Notehub using TLS server certificates. Notecards typically connect to Notehub via private networks, off the public internet. Once a Notecard is connected, we encrypt all configuration settings during transfers.

Resources and Next Steps

When stakeholders ask "why this platform?", you now have a clear answer: Blues reduces execution risk, accelerates time to market, and delivers predictable costs from prototype through production. Use the advantages, stage-by-stage capabilities, and objection responses in this guide to defend your platform choice with confidence.

Additional Resources

Getting Help

If you have additional questions about choosing Blues for your connected product:

Post questions on the Blues Community Forum
Contact Blues sales for enterprise-level support

Making the Business Case Cloud Architecture Guide

lightbulb

Plan

Why Choose Blues?

The answer is simple: focus and confidence.

note

Key Takeaways

Blues solves the hard connectivity problems so your team can focus on building product value, not managing wireless infrastructure.
A single device-to-cloud platform replaces fragile multi-vendor stacks of SIMs, contracts, certificates, and custom glue code.
Blues supports every stage: prototype in days with starter kits, pilot with remote management and firmware updates, and scale to production with enterprise fleet tools.
Enterprise-grade security is built in by design with off-public-internet cellular, hardware security modules, and no manually-provisioned keys.
Predictable, transparent pricing with bundled cellular data eliminates carrier contracts and surprise bills.
Hands-on support through the I2M program, complimentary design reviews, and a partner network helps teams at any experience level.

In This Guide

This guide helps you answer the platform question with confidence:

The Blues Advantage: How platform choice affects execution risk, scalability, security, and total cost of ownership.
Prototype, Pilot, and Production: How to move from validation to scale while reducing technical and financial risk.
Addressing Common Concerns: How to respond to objections around expertise, cost, integration, and security.

The Blues Advantage

Blues delivers six key advantages:

Accelerated time to market: Get to working hardware and real data quickly. Blues customers develop products in days, pilot in weeks, and scale in months; validating assumptions early instead of discovering issues deep into a project.
Reduced complexity: A single, integrated device-to-cloud system replaces a fragile stack of vendors, contracts, SIMs, certificates, and custom glue code. Focus on your product, not the technical hurdles of connectivity.
Flexibility and adaptability: Choose the wireless technologies right for your application (cellular, satellite, LoRa, or WiFi) and rely on your preferred development tools and cloud providers. When requirements change, swap anything out without costly redesigns.
Scalability: The same platform you use to prototype a single device scales to support full production fleets. Remotely manage and adapt your products at any scale.
Enterprise-grade security: Blues builds security in from the start, with off-internet private cellular communications, an embedded hardware security module (HSM), an identity-based security model with no manually-provisioned keys or certificates, and secure device provisioning and firmware updates. Your host MCU is virtually air-gapped by design, so you can be confident that your customers' products and data are protected.
Predictable, low total cost of ownership: Blues' transparent, pay-as-you-go model lets you scale connected products predictably and cost-effectively. Bundled cellular data eliminates carrier contracts, pre-certified Notecards reduce certification expense, Notehub's shared infrastructure reduces cloud costs, and Notecard customization options help optimize your BOM. All leading to minimizing up-front investment and eliminating surprise bills.

How Blues Works

Prototype, Pilot, and Production

The following sections walk through each stage of the connected-product journey (prototype, pilot, and production) and show what Blues offers at every step.

Prototype

Our customers consistently tell us they were able to get prototypes running in days that would normally take weeks or months.

Here's what David Mackenzie, VP of Product Development at Prodigy, said about his team's experience:

Partnering with Blues has been a game-changer for Prodigy. Their plug-and-play connectivity solutions have allowed us to rapidly integrate robust IoT capabilities into our product designs without the traditional complexity. We can now deliver more innovative, more interconnected products to our clients faster than ever before.

There are several reasons why Blues is uniquely suited for rapid prototyping:

Crazy-simple connectivity: Blues Notecard is a system-on-module that makes it effortless to connect your products over cellular, satellite, LoRa, and WiFi.
No cellular plans or SIM management: When using Blues for cellular connectivity you don't need to sign up for a cellular plan or bring your own SIM. The Blues Notecard Cellular works out of box and has no monthly subscription costs.
No satellite plans: Similarly, when using Blues for satellite connectivity there are no separate satellite plans required. Blues Starnote pricing is usage based, and there are no monthly subscription costs.
No cloud infrastructure required to start: Blues Notecard knows how to connect to its secure cloud backend, Notehub, out of the box.
Data bundled: All cellular Notecards come with 500MB of bundled data and 10 years of services included. On the cloud side, each Notehub billing account is topped-up to 5,000 event credits per month.
Developer friendly: Blues uses modern, future-proof technologies such as JSON, and provides SDKs for common development environments. Our development boards, Blues Notecarriers, make integrating with your hardware and sensors straightforward.

Pilot

When your project reaches the pilot stage, Blues brings even more capabilities to help your pilots succeed.

Fleet management: In Blues Notehub you can track and manage device health, connectivity, data usage, and behavior across your entire set of pilot devices including sub-fleets for different deployment stages, customers, or geographies.
Configurable device-level behavior: Configurability is key during pilots, and the ability to tweak behavior without rework lets you learn quickly. Blues makes it trivial to configure and parameterize remote devices through environment variables.
Remote firmware updates: Going one step further, with Notecard Outboard Firmware Update you can remotely replace the entire firmware of your connected devices, allowing you to fix issues or add features without physically visiting each device.
Hardware swapability: All Blues Notecards share the same form factor and same programming API. If you want to try different cellular bands during your pilot, or even want to switch to a different radio access technology (e.g. cellular --> WiFi), you can do so without changing your hardware or firmware—all you have to do is swap in a new Notecard.
Flexible location tracking: Similarly, Blues Notecard and Notehub make it possible to get a device's location via onboard GPS, WiFi triangulation, or cellular triangulation. As you begin deploying devices, you can experiment with each option to see which delivers the best results for your project.

These capabilities let you reliably validate your product in the field and prepare it for production use.

Production

Here are some of the ways Blues helps:

Fleet management at scale: Blues Notehub offers robust features for managing projects with thousands or tens of thousands of devices, including a comprehensive API, smart fleets, configurable alerts, sub-fleet segmentation, and more.
Enterprise-grade security at scale: The same security architecture described above extends to production fleets with no additional configuration. Read Blues Security, Reliability, and Governance for a comprehensive overview of our multi-layered approach.
Low, predictable total cost of ownership: With bundled data, no per-device subscriptions, and an Enterprise Service Agreement, your connectivity and cloud usage are simple to forecast. Volume pricing is also available. See Blues Pricing for more information.
Remotely control devices at scale: With environment variables or Notecard Outboard Firmware Update, you can confidently update thousands of devices in production without requiring manual hardware changes.
Future-proof connectivity strategy: As radio access technologies evolve, you can rely on Blues to stay on top of the market and help you through whatever comes next. (We already have our eyes on 5G, new satellite technologies, and more!) And because all Notecards share the same form factor and APIs, when those new technologies arrive, you can start using them without throwing away your hardware design or firmware.

Together, these capabilities make Blues a production-ready foundation for your connected product, and a trusted partner from prototype to scale.

If your stakeholder still isn't convinced, let's end by addressing some common concerns we often hear.

Addressing Common Concerns

"We don't have the expertise"

Not every company has deep hardware, firmware, security, or cloud experience, and that's okay. Blues abstracts away much of that complexity while still giving you full control where it matters.

And we have a few additional offerings that can help you out:

The Blues I2M (Idea to Market) program is designed to help teams go from concept to connected product quickly—providing guidance, resources, and hands-on support to accelerate your path to market.
Blues Design Review is a complimentary service for customers building Notecard- and Notehub-based solutions. Our experts review your product's architecture, schematics, PCB layout, and component selection—and offer guidance to ensure your product is robust and ready to scale.
Through the Blues partner network we made it easy to bring in external expertise in areas such as firmware development, manufacturing, PCB and antenna design, cloud architecture, and more. Just reach out, and we'll connect you with the right experts.

Post questions on the Blues Community Forum
Contact Blues sales for enterprise-level support

Making the Business Case Cloud Architecture Guide

Why Choose Blues?

In This Guide

The Blues Advantage

How Blues Works

Prototype, Pilot, and Production

Prototype

Pilot

Production

Addressing Common Concerns

"We don't have the expertise"

"We can't afford it"

"I need to integrate with my existing systems"

"I'm worried about the security of my deployed devices"

Resources and Next Steps

Additional Resources

Getting Help

In This Article

Why Choose Blues?

In This Guide

The Blues Advantage

How Blues Works

Prototype, Pilot, and Production

Prototype

Pilot

Production

Addressing Common Concerns

"We don't have the expertise"

"We can't afford it"

"I need to integrate with my existing systems"

"I'm worried about the security of my deployed devices"

Resources and Next Steps

Additional Resources

Getting Help

In This Article