IoT platform modernization rarely starts with the devices. It usually starts with the web app on top of them, where years of quick fixes make every new feature slower to build. That was the situation at Amatis, which builds wireless lighting controls for commercial buildings, when its team decided to move its web application from a mix of jQuery and React to Next.js.

Key takeaways

• The devices and the data were fine. The bottleneck was a front end split between jQuery and React.

• Amatis moved 100% of the web app to Next.js: one framework and one way to build screens.

• The product stayed the same for users. What changed was how easy it is to change it.

• Modernizing beat rebuilding because the platform and its data were already proven.

Why IoT platforms end up with a mixed jQuery and React front end

Amatis's platform handles real volume. At one point it processed around 14 million requests a day from 88,000 connected devices. Platforms like this grow in layers. The first dashboards are written in jQuery because it is fast to ship. Newer screens are built in React. Each choice makes sense at the time, but together they leave two ways of doing the same thing.

For Amatis, that showed up in three ways:

• The older jQuery code was hard to maintain and risky to touch.

• New features had to work across two front-end models, which slowed every release.

• Performance suffered because of older, less efficient code paths.

  
  

What IoT platform modernization looked like at Amatis

One framework instead of two

The whole web application moved from jQuery and React to Next.js. Next.js is built on React, so the team kept the React knowledge it already had and retired the jQuery layer completely.

A modular codebase the team can change safely

The refactor reorganized the code into smaller modules, using current JavaScript practices. A change in one screen no longer risks breaking another.

Same product, new foundation

Users kept the platform they already relied on to control their lighting. The modernization happened underneath, so the Amatis team didn't have to retrain customers or relaunch the product.

When to modernize an IoT platform instead of rebuilding it

A full rebuild is tempting when a codebase feels old. Modernizing is usually the better call when:

• The core product works and customers depend on it.

• The data model and back end are sound, and the friction is in the front end.

• The team spends more time working around the code than building on it.

If those are true, a migration lets you keep what's proven and replace only what slows you down.

Results: what changed for Amatis

The web application now runs on a single, modern stack. It performs better, it's easier to maintain, and new features can be built without fighting two frameworks at once. It also joined a broader modernization at Amatis: the mobile app moved from Cordova to React Native, and the infrastructure moved to Kubernetes.

"The Melt team is an extension of the internal Amatis team because of their personal investment with our product." — Rana Mohamed, Amatis

FAQ: IoT platform modernization

Should we rebuild our IoT platform or modernize it?

Modernize when the product and data are proven and the pain is in how hard the code is to change. Rebuild only when the core model itself no longer fits the business.

Can jQuery and React run together during a migration?

Yes. Many teams migrate screen by screen and retire jQuery once nothing depends on it. The goal is to end with one framework, not two.

Why Next.js for an IoT dashboard?

It's built on React, so React skills carry over. It also adds routing and build tooling in one framework, which reduces the number of decisions a team has to maintain.

How long does an IoT platform modernization take?

It depends on the size of the app and how much legacy code is left. Scoping the migration screen by screen before writing code is what makes the timeline predictable.

If your platform feels slower to change than it should, let's look at it together. → Book a call

Thx for reading. With Love, MS.