The Internet of Things (IoT) spawned technologies for realizing connected smart environments. It enables highly scalable and distributed monitoring of vital resources by interconnecting numerous everyday objects and artifacts (sensors, appliances, meters, etc.) with low-power networks. Deploying IoT networks, however, is challenging. In this chapter, we analyze two complementary use cases to highlight both the opportunities and the challenges of employing low-cost, low-power, and lossy networks. We particularly focus on deployments in harsh environments since they challenge the quality of sensing and wireless signal propagation. Based on the use cases, we identify a set of requirements and make specific recommendations for their implementation.