# Key Criteria in the Choice of IoT Platforms in Spanish Companies
## 1 Introduction  
The Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to revolutionize the business sector as it develops as a technology (providing new solutions) and as companies bet on its implementation. It is said that the revolution of the arrival of the IoT to companies is and will be similar to the revolution caused by the arrival of computers in that sector, as its arrival will change the way in which companies do business, since it will create new ways of communication between companies with customers, and increase companies' productivity and efficiency [1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6]. The IoT is a technology that allows the interconnection between devices in order to collect, transmit, and store data. Its value in the business sector goes beyond the sensors and devices by which most users know this technology; its true value arises from the data it collects and the use of that data through different applications [7]. For companies, this technology can have the following advantages [8; 9; 10; 11]:  
* Savings in energy consumption, thanks to intelligent infrastructures and their sensors. * A reduction in costs, since it can predict failures in machinery and production lines, eliminating downtime caused by these failures, thanks to the possibility of monitoring these machines and production lines. * Greater production efficiency, since it allows evaluation of demand in real time. * Better use of changing markets, since it allows improvements in strategies thanks to the collected data to be marked. * A greater understanding of customers, in terms of their behavior. The collected data make it possible to identify preferences and trends among customers, which can help companies to provide more personalized services and products to their customers and detect business opportunities. Better service to customers, facilitating transactions and monitoring their purchases. * Greater security for employees, including both physical and property, due to the monitoring of the companies' workplaces, which allows them to receive notifications of any security risks. * Greater security and privacy of company information: IoT technology allows employees' personal devices to be configured; thus, when consulting information from their devices, employees' security and privacy is not compromised. * Better decision making and strategy planning, thanks to the data collected by the interconnected devices. The increase in the use of IoT in society is quite visible globally, and 2021 is expected to be the year with the highest growth compared to the previous year (with an increase of 68.5%) and the year with the highest spending on this type of technology (in the years 2019-2022, an increase in spending of 34.23% is expected compared to 2018, reaching one trillion US dollars) [12]. Within the European Union, Spain has the fifth largest IoT market share (6% in 2020), which means that 16.8% of Spanish companies have used interconnected devices that can be remotely monitored or controlled through IoT in 2020 [13]. The level of implementation of this technology in Spanish companies is not low for a novel technology, but there are concerns that hinder its level of implementation from being higher. Spanish companies that implement this technology do so by automating processes in 26% of cases, by reducing operation costs in 24% of cases, and by improving the customer experience in 23% of cases. Among the difficulties in betting on its implementation, companies cite initial costs in 29% of cases, security concerns in 25% of cases, and privacy problems in 17% of cases [12]. These difficulties could be solved with the choice of an appropriate IoT platform, which makes such a choice important when deciding on the use of IoT in companies, since these platforms are necessary for the implementation of the IoT including receiving, connecting, storing, and analyzing data.