Managed IoT Connectivity: Build vs Buy (and What It Means for Your Next Deployment)

Connected products live or die on something most teams don’t demo at launch events: connectivity. Your devices can have brilliant hardware, elegant firmware, and a polished cloud application—yet still fail in the field because roaming breaks, SIMs can’t be managed at scale, billing is chaotic, or coverage assumptions were wrong.

That’s why more organizations are moving from “we’ll figure out SIMs later” to managed IoT connectivity as a core part of their product strategy. The big question becomes: Do you build your own connectivity stack, or buy it as a managed service?

Below is a practical, decision-focused guide for teams evaluating Build vs Buy—with examples, hidden costs, and a few suggested services from Anvil Mobile.

---

What “Managed IoT Connectivity” Actually Includes

Connectivity is not just “a SIM with a data plan.” In modern deployments, managed IoT connectivity typically bundles:

• Multi-network coverage & roaming (often via multiple carrier relationships)
• SIM / eSIM lifecycle management (provisioning, activations, suspensions, replacements)
• Centralized management portal & APIs (usage, status, alerts, automation)
• Rate plans optimized for IoT (pooled data, low-usage devices, burst scenarios)
• Security controls (private APN, IP allowlists, VPN integrations, IMEI lock, etc.)
• Diagnostics & support (why is this device offline? which network is it on?)
• Billing & reconciliation (one view across regions, currencies, and carriers)
• Compliance & operational processes (KYC, local regulations, shipping constraints)

If your roadmap includes scaling from pilot to thousands (or millions) of devices, these capabilities stop being “nice to have” and become the work.

---

The “Build” Path: Owning the Connectivity Layer

When companies say “build,” they usually mean assembling connectivity through direct carrier contracts and stitching together systems to operate it.

What building typically looks like

• Negotiating contracts with one or more carriers (per region)

• Managing SIM procurement, warehousing, and shipment logistics

• Implementing provisioning workflows and internal tooling

• Building dashboards (or integrating carrier portals—often multiple)

• Creating alerts and automation around usage, offline events, and throttling

• Handling support escalations and troubleshooting with carriers

• Managing invoicing across carriers and geographies

Why teams choose to build

• Absolute control over contract terms, routing, and data policies

• Highly specific requirements (e.g., regulated environments, private network constraints)

• Massive scale where savings can justify internal operating cost

• A strategic belief that connectivity is a competitive differentiator

The hidden cost: your ops team becomes a carrier interface

The connectivity layer has a lot of “unplanned work”:

• Carrier portal inconsistencies, changing policies, and manual steps

• Edge cases in roaming behavior (especially cross-border)

• Different diagnostics and terminology per operator

• Support tickets that bounce between your team and the carrier

• Device behavior differences by geography and radio conditions

For many organizations, this turns into a quiet tax: you need internal expertise across telecom operations, roaming, procurement, billing, and security—not just engineers.

---

The “Buy” Path: Managed Connectivity as a Service

“Buying” means choosing a managed IoT connectivity provider that already has the carrier relationships, platform tooling, and support model in place.

What buying typically looks like

• One commercial relationship (instead of many)

• A single portal and API for device/SIM lifecycle actions

• Multi-network coverage built into the product

• Support that’s used to debugging IoT connectivity issues

• Consolidated billing and reporting

• Optional security add-ons (private APN, static IP, VPN, etc.)

Why teams choose to buy

• Speed to deployment: move from pilot to scale without building tooling

• Predictable operations: fewer “telecom mysteries” to debug internally

• Global scale: easier multi-region rollouts with consistent management

• Better resilience: multi-network options can reduce single-carrier risk

A good managed service also helps you make fewer early mistakes—like picking a consumer-like mobile plan that looks cheap in the pilot but becomes financially painful at scale.

---

Build vs Buy: The Questions That Decide It

If you only take one thing from this article, take this: the right choice depends less on engineering capability and more on operational maturity and scale.

Here are the deciding questions.

1) How many regions will you operate in within 12–24 months?

• One region, stable footprint: building is more plausible.

• Multiple regions: buying usually wins, because global carrier management gets complex fast.

2) Is connectivity a differentiator—or just a dependency?

If your advantage is “our device works in more places with fewer outages,” then connectivity is strategic. If your advantage is the product itself, buying keeps you focused.

3) What is your tolerance for downtime and support escalation cycles?

If outages create safety risk, SLA penalties, or customer churn, then the ability to troubleshoot quickly and fail over networks matters. Many teams buy because they want a mature support model.

4) Do you need advanced security controls?

Private networking, static IPs, VPN, strict access control, and compliance needs can push you either way:

• Some managed providers offer strong security options out of the box.

• Some regulated environments require building around strict internal policies.

5) What does “total cost” mean for you?

Compare total cost of ownership, not the data rate alone. Include:

• Headcount and on-call burden

• Carrier negotiations and renewals

• Tooling development and maintenance

• Support escalation time

• Billing reconciliation overhead

• Lost time in debugging and shipment mistakes

A “cheap” plan can become expensive if it creates operational drag.

---

A Simple Rule of Thumb

Buy if:

• You’re moving from pilot to production and want to scale quickly

• You want predictable operations with one platform

• You need global coverage and roaming without complex contracts

• You’d rather invest engineering time in product features than telecom tooling

Build if:

• You operate at very large scale with a dedicated telecom ops function

• You have unusual constraints that managed providers can’t meet

• You’re willing to carry the operational load long-term

• You can negotiate carrier terms that truly change unit economics

Most teams start by buying, then selectively build pieces later once they have scale—and real data about what they actually need.

---

Common Hybrid Approach: Buy Now, Build Selectively Later

A practical middle ground is to buy managed connectivity but keep a pathway open to deeper control:

• Use APIs to integrate connectivity events into your ops tooling

• Standardize device identity and provisioning workflows

• Design your firmware to handle network variability and failover

• Keep metrics that quantify downtime and roaming issues by region

This keeps your early-stage risk lower while preserving optionality.

Closing Thought: Connectivity Is a Product Decision

Connectivity is one of the few parts of an IoT system that touches every stage: manufacturing, logistics, activation, operations, support, and billing. The Build vs Buy decision isn’t just procurement—it shapes how fast you can ship, how reliably you can scale, and how much operational noise your team will absorb.

If you’re designing for real-world deployments (not just demos), managed connectivity often gives you the fastest route to reliability. Building can make sense—but only when you’re ready to run connectivity like a business function, not a side quest.