Networking for the "Rest of Us"

Whatever other options are used for local connectivity, TCP/IP protocols are required to leverage the power of the internet backbone and today's device marketing teams need to have a strategy for supporting internet connectivity. Increasingly, humble connected devices are being added to high speed LANs and require relatively sophisticated options for management and security to play well on the corporate IT backbone. This requirements trend presents the developer community with a whole new range of challenges. What does a development team new to this networked world need to look for in protocols that will internetenable their low cost devices, meet their ever present needs for optimized size and performance and not compromise adherence to important standards?