Tim Cullen, senior security solutions architect at Adapture, a Norcross, Ga., solution provider, said building up a business development practice for IoT is part of his company's five-year plan. "Looking at our five-year plan, business [application] development in IoT will be huge," he said. "IoT devices have opened the market for app development, and customers are realizing they can use apps to track devices or create analysis engines."

Solution providers aren't the only ones recognizing the significance of application development for the Internet of Things. Vendors have also set up programs and created industry standards to enable app developers to flourish in IoT.

Intel, for instance, has established a developer program for IoT, comprised of resources including an Intel-based toolkit, a cloud-based analytics platform, and membership in the IoT Developer Zone community forum. IBM and wireless sensor network hardware provider Libelium last fall jointly introduced an IoT starter kit to aid developers in building sensor-based apps.

And more than 51 vendors, including Microsoft, Qualcomm and Panasonic, are part of the AllSeen Alliance, a cross-industry consortium that aims to enable interoperability between the billions of devices, applications and services that will make up IoT.

Michael Rasalan, director of research for Evans Data, said that IoT empowers developers to "branch out from concepts centered on wearables to applications for more complex tasks," creating many opportunities for developers worldwide.

"We're seeing how in the space of just a year, the possibilities introduced by the Internet of Things has attracted many developers," he said. "This transition to IoT, while not without barriers, is rapid because developers are able to leverage … expertise in complementary technologies like cloud and mobile to create entirely new use cases."

Note: This is part of CRN's IoT Channel Chronicles series, which is an in-depth interview with solution providers to dig into opportunities and challenges the channel is facing with the Internet of Things.