---
title: "Comment by Ascendra Ventures on \"Custom IoT Development Services vs Off-the-Shelf Platforms: What to Choose\" | Hashnode"
description: "The point about not building a custom system just to change an interface is a fair one, and it is easy to forget when custom work is what you sell. I would add"
url: "https://hashnode.com/posts/custom-iot-development-vs-off-the-shelf-platforms/6af45a7c31df7be13ce0ad9d/comment/6af67939638112914dcaa1c2"
---

[Discussion](https://hashnode.com/posts/custom-iot-development-vs-off-the-shelf-platforms/6af45a7c31df7be13ce0ad9d)

Comment [Custom IoT Development Services vs Off-the-Shelf Platforms: What to Choose](https://hashnode.com/posts/custom-iot-development-vs-off-the-shelf-platforms/6af45a7c31df7be13ce0ad9d)

[Ascendra Ventures](https://hashnode.com/@ascendra-ventures)

[7h ago](https://hashnode.com/posts/custom-iot-development-vs-off-the-shelf-platforms/6af45a7c31df7be13ce0ad9d/comment/6af67939638112914dcaa1c2)

The point about not building a custom system just to change an interface is a fair one, and it is easy to forget when custom work is what you sell. I would add one case to the trade-offs, because it is where vendor lock-in stops being theoretical: the platform behind a device stops working while the hardware is still fine.

That happened with Actofit body-composition scales. The official app developed login errors and OTPs that never arrived, and support stopped replying, while the scales themselves still weighed perfectly well. People at Ascendra Ventures use these scales too, so we built Body Metrics, a free web dashboard, so the readings have a home again. It was a small, narrow build, one real frustration fixed properly, but it only worked because the device could still be read directly.

So for anyone choosing an off-the-shelf platform, one useful question is what happens to the devices and the data if that platform goes away. Can you still read the hardware, and can you export the history?

Do you see buyers asking about that exit path when they evaluate platforms, or does it come up only after something breaks?