Think about the last software program you purchased for your employees. You may have needed only one or two of its features, so you kept the previous program that your employees used before as well. After that was implemented, you noticed that a few essential features of your business’s analytics software don’t work with the new software. As a result, you purchased a data and analytics add-on specifically for the latest software. To complicate matters even more, your BI team must keep using the previous data tool since it offers features the new one does not.

If that situation sounds chaotic, that’s because it is. Tech sprawl is a real problem. Tech sprawl can be defined as the process where companies overload different, overlapping software programs, cloud applications, or technology products in order to fill a gap. Companies end up having one, two, or three of every type of software imaginable, using each one only for one or two features.

The negative impact of tech sprawl

Eighty percent of IT leaders believe that tech sprawl is one of companies’ biggest problems. (https://www.idginsiderpro.com/article/3614785/the-battle-to-combat-data-sprawl-what-cios-need-to-do-now.html). The following adverse effects stemming from the phenomenon are examples of how it slows down digital transformation. Learn what they are and how to avoid falling victim to tech sprawl.

1. Tech sprawl is expensive. Purchasing numerous programs or products to use one or two features from each one isn’t only impractical but also costs money. The licensing fees can quickly add up, and new tech tools are generally pretty pricey. Many times, the software a company purchases becomes buried under newer programs and is easily forgotten. An estimated 40 billion dollars a year is spent on unused software. When businesses seek to cut costs, they inadvertently inundate themselves with more debt by purchasing too many technology-related products.
2. Tech sprawl is risky. When companies use too many programs in their workflow processes, they leave private data vulnerable to cyber-attacks. It can be impossible to track and secure every single program employees use. As employees incorporate new cloud-based programs into their workflows, their IT department must learn new security measures for those applications. As tech sprawl grows, the average IT department simply cannot handle the high demand. This leaves many unprotected files at risk for data breaches.
3. Tech sprawl leads to siloed data. Siloed data is a major problem in companies that use various programs in their operations. Since not all software programs “speak” to each other, employees must learn how to use different applications and save login details for each one. When this problem arises in a contact center, agents could find themselves trying to access a program they accidentally uninstalled or forgot the password. This can lead to very unhappy customers if this type of scenario occurs while on the phone with an agent.
4. Tech sprawl hinders good communication within the company. Many software applications allow users to easily communicate with one another by simply tagging them within the app and relaying the message they wish to send. Problems could arise when the recipient does not use that program and fails to get a notification. Sometimes, they haven’t learned how to use it. In other instances, employees may send each other files that can only be opened with a program that the recipients do not have. This can become a more significant problem if several employees use different programs and run into the aforementioned scenarios daily. Messages get lost, employees become confused, and frustration builds up as simple projects take too long to execute.

One platform changes everything

Now that so many companies offer work-from-home options or have converted to 100% remote, tech sprawl is a problem that they definitely want to avoid. Transforming your contact center into a fully digital one is much easier when all agents need is one program to work.

Implementing a unified and customizable omnichannel cloud platform (livevox.com/what is a cloud based) in your contact center’s workflows is exactly how companies avoid falling into the tech sprawl trap. An omnichannel platform brings all the central components of a contact center’s operations under one roof. The RoI numbers speak for themselves: companies saw a 229% return on their investments after eliminating wasteful programs and using the platform.

Unlike other hosted programs, a cloud-based platform employs top cybersecurity talent to ensure customer data is safe and secure from cyberattacks. They also boast several certifications, such as PCI DSS and (AICPA) SOC 2.

Since the platform houses all the tools an agent needs to do their job, the extra software programs or cloud applications aren’t necessary anymore. Those additional cybersecurity risks are eliminated because all your operations stem from one highly secured platform.

Siloed data is no longer a problem once companies switch over to an omnichannel platform. The platform provides everything a contact center needs, from analytics to quality management and sales support to agent performance tools. Agents do not have to worry about navigating different programs; everything will be easily accessible in one place.

Watch your company’s productivity increase as communication improves. A cloud-based platform offers personalized notifications for users. All communication can be done through the platform that everybody has access to. Since it provides major departments of a contact center with all they need to do their jobs, the concern over communicating through various different programs is eliminated.

Tech sprawl is undoubtedly a problem now that most companies have moved to cloud-based solutions. With some due diligence and the use of one omnichannel platform, wasteful programs and overspending are much better controlled. Your contact center will benefit as your agents provide a positive experience for your customers with the help of a cloud-based omnichannel platform.

Featured Image Credit: Aleksandar Pasaric; Pexels; Thank you!

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In today’s digital age, business efficiency is not just beneficial; it’s essential. Organizations need to stay ahead of the curve with rapidly evolving markets and increasing competition. One way to achieve this is through custom software services.

Custom software development tailors software to specific user or organizational needs. It can range from creating a system to run your finance department to a customer-centric app for your sales team.

The Role of Custom Software in Business Efficiency

In the realm of business efficiency, custom software development plays a key role. It enhances processes by automating repetitive tasks, minimizing room for error, and enabling teams to focus on their core competencies. For instance, a custom CRM system streamlines customer management, enhances sales forecasts, and personalizes interactions.

Significant Benefits of Custom Software for Business Efficiency

The benefits of employing custom software development services for business efficiency are numerous. For instance, automation reduces manual labor and boosts productivity. Scalability allows businesses to adapt to growth and change. Integrating existing systems leads to streamlined operations, and enhanced security measures protect sensitive business data.

Indeed, let’s enumerate a few key benefits of custom software for business efficiency:

• Automation: By automating repetitive tasks, custom software reduces manual labor and boosts productivity.
• Scalability: Custom software is designed to grow and adapt with your business, ensuring it stays relevant and efficient as the organization evolves.
• Integration: Custom software can seamlessly integrate with your existing systems, ensuring a streamlined workflow and reduced disruptions.
• Security: Custom software can be built with enhanced security measures to protect sensitive business data, providing you with peace of mind.
• Competitive Advantage: Custom software can provide unique features specific to your business needs, giving you an edge over competitors who rely on off-the-shelf software solutions.
• Cost-Effective: While the initial investment might be higher, custom software can prove more cost-effective in the long run due to its adaptability, exclusivity, and long-term usability.

Comparison with Off-the-Shelf Software

While off-the-shelf software may provide immediate solutions, custom software outshines it in terms of efficiency. Custom software is built specifically to cater to your business needs, offering features that generic software often lacks. It’s the difference between a one-size-fits-all approach and a tailored solution that fits like a glove.

Sure, let’s expand on the comparison with additional bullet points:

• Personalized User Experience: Custom software allows for a user interface specifically designed for your employees’ workflows, improving usability and efficiency.
• Future-Proofing: With custom software, you’re not dependent on a vendor’s roadmap. You control the updates and improvements to ensure the software continues to meet your business needs.
• Ownership: You own the custom software. This means no ongoing license fees and the flexibility to modify the software as you see fit.
• Support and Maintenance: With custom software, you’ll receive dedicated support and maintenance from the developers who know the system inside and out, leading to quicker resolution of issues.
• Integration Capabilities: Custom software can offer superior integration capabilities with your existing tools and software, reducing friction in your operations.

Implementing Custom Software Development for Business Efficiency

Custom software development demands careful planning, considering cost, time, and company needs. Establishing a clear set of objectives and communicating them effectively with your software development team is crucial.

• Cost Efficiency: Custom software can become more cost-efficient over time than off-the-shelf solutions. Though the upfront cost is higher, adaptable software can save on future expenses.
• Competitive Advantage: Custom software provides unique functionality tailored to your business processes, which can give you an edge over competitors using generic software solutions.
• Scalability: Custom software can be modified and scaled to accommodate increased workload or expanded operations as your business grows, ensuring seamless growth.
• Security: Custom software can be designed with specific security needs in mind, reducing vulnerabilities and enhancing data protection.
• Customer Satisfaction: Custom software can improve customer service by automating processes, providing timely responses, and personalizing customer interactions.

How to Choose a Custom Software Development Company for Your Business

Choosing the right custom software development company is essential in streamlining your business operations and driving efficiency. Here are some considerations to bear in mind:

1. Expertise and Experience: Evaluate the company’s custom software development services expertise. Consider their years of experience, the complexity of projects they’ve handled, and their knowledge in your business domain.
2. Portfolio: Inspect the portfolio of the custom software development company. Look at the range of projects they’ve completed and their success rate.
3. Technical Skills: Ensure the company is proficient in the technologies and platforms relevant to your project. This includes programming languages, software architectures, database technologies, and more.
4. Communication: Clear, timely communication is crucial. The custom software development company should be able to articulate complex technical concepts in simple terms.
5. Budget and Timeline: Consider your budget and project timeline. The company should be able to deliver within your budget and meet your deadlines.
6. Client Testimonials and Reviews: Look at client testimonials and reviews to understand the company’s reputation and reliability.
7. Post-Development Support: After-sale support is crucial. The company should provide maintenance, updates, and troubleshooting after deploying the software.

Consider these factors when choosing a company for tailored software solutions.

Conclusion

Custom software development services are a powerful tool for businesses aiming to improve efficiency. Despite potential challenges, the benefits make it a worthwhile investment.

Choosing the right custom software development company is key to a tailored, powerful solution for your business. It’s more than just a transaction; it’s a partnership where shared visions, open communication, and expert technical skills mesh to create a software solution that propels your business to new heights of efficiency. Undoubtedly, the journey may present challenges, but with a competent software development partner, these can be navigated and overcome. Custom software is an investment with long-term dividends: streamlined operations, lower overhead, and increased productivity. Therefore, it’s paramount to be meticulous in your selection process, ensuring your chosen partner aligns with your budget, timeline, and business objectives to reap the benefits of custom software development.

Featured Image Credit: Provided by the Author; Thank you!

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In today’s digital era, video content has become the dominant medium for communication, entertainment, and education. Whether running an online business, hosting webinars, or sharing knowledge through eLearning platforms, efficient video delivery is crucial. Enter the world of “Video Streaming Engine,” a versatile solution that can revolutionize how you handle video content. In this blog, we’ll dive deep into the concept of a video streaming engine, its benefits, features, platforms, and how to harness its potential for your needs.

What is a Video Streaming Engine?

A Video Streaming Engine is a powerful server software designed to facilitate the efficient and secure delivery of video content over the internet. It is the backbone of video streaming services, providing the infrastructure required for encoding, transcoding, storing, and distributing video files. A streaming engine solution is essential for video hosting platforms and organizations that require seamless, high-quality video streaming.

Benefits of Using a Video Streaming Engine:

1. High-Quality Video Delivery:

• Optimized Streaming: Video streaming engines are equipped to handle various formats and codecs, ensuring your viewers experience high-quality playback.
• Adaptive Streaming: Implement adaptive bitrate streaming to adjust video quality based on viewers’ internet connections, providing uninterrupted playback.

2. Enhanced Security:

• Content Protection: Utilize encryption and Digital Rights Management (DRM) to secure your videos against unauthorized access and piracy.
• Access Control: Set access permissions, authentication, and IP restrictions to control who can view your content.

3. Scalability and Performance:

• Server-Side Scaling: Streaming engines can scale horizontally, allowing for the distribution of load and ensuring smooth performance even during peak usage.
• Low Latency: Achieve low-latency streaming for real-time applications like live broadcasting and interactive content.

4. Analytics and Insights:

• Viewer Analytics: Gain valuable insights into viewer behavior, engagement, and preferences, allowing for data-driven decisions.
• Content Monetization: Implement analytics to track revenue-generating content and maximize ROI.

5. Cross-Platform Compatibility:

• Multi-Device Support: Ensuring video content is accessible across various devices, including desktops, smartphones, and smart TVs.
• Content Delivery Networks (CDN): Streamline content distribution across a global network of servers for faster delivery to viewers worldwide.

Platforms for Video Streaming Engines:

Several popular video streaming engines and solutions are available in the market, catering to diverse needs and budgets. Some notable platforms include:

Muvi Flex:

• Overview: Muvi Flex is a comprehensive and customizable video streaming platform that caters to businesses and content creators. It offers various features for video monetization, content management, and user engagement.
• Key Features:
  • • White-label Solution: You can create your branded streaming service.
    • Monetization Options: Supports various revenue models, including subscription, pay-per-view, and advertising.
    • Multi-Device Support: Ensures video playback on smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs.
    • Analytics: Provides detailed viewer analytics to help you understand your audience better.

Wowza Streaming Engine:

• Overview: Wowza Streaming Engine is a popular, versatile, and scalable video streaming server software. It is known for its robustness and flexibility, making it suitable for various streaming needs.
• Key Features:
  • • Low Latency Streaming: Enables real-time streaming for interactive applications.
    • Security: Offers security features like encryption, DRM, and access control.
    • Scalability: Can scale horizontally to handle high traffic loads.
    • Live Streaming: Ideal for live events and broadcasts.

Adobe Media Server:

• Overview: Adobe Media Server is a comprehensive streaming solution focusing on interactive and real-time streaming applications. It’s particularly well-suited for media and gaming companies.
• Key Features:
  • • RTMP and HLS Support: Supports multiple streaming protocols for maximum compatibility.
    • Dynamic Streaming: Provides adaptive streaming for various devices and bandwidths.
    • Real-Time Messaging: Enables interactive applications, chat, and gaming.
    • Multi-Platform Support: Works with Flash, HTML5, and mobile devices.

Nginx with the RTMP Module:

• Overview: Nginx with the RTMP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol) module is an open-source option for building a video streaming server. It’s known for its high-performance and flexibility.
• Key Features:
  • • Cost-Effective: Being open source, it’s a cost-effective solution.
    • High Performance: Nginx is known for its speed and efficiency.
    • RTMP Streaming: Supports the RTMP protocol for live streaming.
    • Community Support: Active community provides updates and support.

JW Player:

• Overview: JW Player is a widely-used video player and streaming platform known for its ease of use and robust features.
• Key Features:
  • • Cross-Platform Playback: Supports a wide range of devices and browsers.
    • Customization: Highly customizable video player to match your branding.
    • Ad Integration: Monetization through advertising.
    • Analytics: Provides detailed video performance insights.

Kaltura:

• Overview: Kaltura is an open-source video platform focusing on managing, distributing, and monetizing. It’s widely used in educational institutions and enterprises.
• Key Features:
  • • Video Management: Easily manage and organize video content.
    • DRM Support: Provides Digital Rights Management for content protection.
    • Interactive Video: Allows for the creation of interactive and immersive video experiences.
    • Integration: Integrates with various content management systems and platforms.

How to Use a Video Streaming Engine:

1. Installation and Setup:

• Choose a suitable video streaming engine based on your requirements and budget.
• Install the software on your server or cloud infrastructure.
• Configure settings, including video storage, encoding parameters, and security measures.

2. Video Ingestion:

• Upload your video content to the streaming engine.
• Configure video profiles for different resolutions and bitrates.

3. Content Security:

• Implement encryption, DRM, and access controls to protect your content.
• Set up authentication mechanisms and user access rules.

4. Encoding and Transcoding:

• Use the engine’s encoding capabilities to ensure compatibility with various devices and bandwidths.
• Transcode videos into adaptive streaming formats like HLS or DASH.

5. Content Delivery:

• Utilize Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to optimize video delivery.
• Monitor performance and make necessary adjustments for scalability.

6. Analytics and Optimization:

• Implement analytics tools to gather insights on viewer behavior and content performance.
• Optimize video content based on data-driven decisions.

In conclusion, a Video Streaming Engine is an indispensable tool for video content delivery. Whether you’re a video hosting platform like muvi dot com slash flex — or an eLearning provider, or running live events, a well-chosen streaming engine can provide a seamless, secure, and high-quality viewing experience for your audience. It’s time to embrace the power of video streaming engines and take your video content to the next level.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by istockphoto; Provided by the Author; Thank you!

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With the rapid shift in the digital space, there has been a high demand for skilled software developers. Interestingly, the traditional hiring model is no longer the only option to get your team, as the emergence of remote work has ushered in a new era of talent acquisition, where geographical boundaries no longer limit your choices. Hence, this article will explore the concept of remote software development teams, their advantages, and how they differ from dedicated teams while providing a step-by-step guide on building your own remote dream team. Now, let’s delve in.

What is a Remote Software Development Team?

You might probably know what remote work means. Now, let’s define what a remote software development team entails. Simply put, it’s a group of highly skilled software developers, designers, and other tech professionals who work together on projects from different locations, often spread across the globe. This implies they collaborate on a project without being in the same physical office and wondering how to communicate and collaborate. They typically use communication tools such as video conferencing, project management software, and messaging apps to stay in touch. Incredible, right? Let’s look at some benefits of a remote software development team.

Benefits of Remote Software Development Teams

Below are some benefits of remote software development teams:

• Global Talent Pool: A major merit of remote teams is access to a broader talent pool of professional developers. Why? This is because you’re not limited to hiring developers from your local area. Hence, you can search for experts with specific skills and experiences needed to handle the development of bespoke software for your projects.

• Cost-Efficiency: Do you have a limited budget for your projects? Do you want to save some extra bucks? You need not worry. Remote teams often offer cost savings compared to in-house teams. More so, you can benefit from competitive pricing based on the region you hire from, which will reduce operational costs.

• Flexibility: Based on the demands of your project, remote teams provide flexibility in scaling your workforce up or down. This is particularly helpful for startups and businesses with unstable workloads. Again, remote teams don’t have to adhere to traditional office hours. A significant advantage if you have team members in different time zones, right? Absolutely!

• Diverse Perspectives: Leveraging different experiences is a major gain of hiring a remote software development team. It increases your chances of getting more creative and innovative solutions.

• Improved productivity: There have been studies done that reveal that remote workers are often more productive than in-house office workers. And this is not unconnected to the fact that they have fewer distractions and can work in a more comfortable environment.

Remote Software Teams vs. Dedicated Software Teams. Is There a Difference?

Of course, these terms may sound alike, but key differences exist. Why? Dedicated teams are often a subset of your in-house team, while remote teams work independently from various locations. Below is a table summarizing the key differences between remote software teams and dedicated software teams:

How to Hire a Remote Software Development Team in 10 Steps

Before hiring a remote software development team, you must understand it requires careful planning and execution. Below are ten essential steps to guide you through the hiring process, from defining your project needs to onboarding your team members:

• Define Your Project Goals

It’s essential to define your project requirements. What kind of software do you need developed? How about the specific features and functionality that you need? What are your budget and timeline constraints? All of these questions have to be answered.

• Legal and Compliance Considerations

This is very important and must be taken seriously. For your project, you need to be aware of the compliance regulations. This will help to assure you that your project is carried out within the confines of the law.

• Create a Detailed Job Description

The job description should clearly state the position’s requirements, including the skills, experience, and qualifications you are looking for. This is important for specifics.

• Post the Job Description

Check out the different platforms where you can post your job description. You could post on job boards, social media, and your company’s website.

• Screen and Select the Best Candidates

As soon as you have received applications, it’s important to screen the candidates to find the best fit for your team. This may involve reviewing resumes, conducting phone interviews, and scheduling in-person interviews.

• Conduct Technical Interviews

Using technical interviews, you can assess the skills and experience of the candidates. It’s an avenue to ask questions about the candidate’s experience with specific programming languages, frameworks, and technologies.

• Make an Offer

Are you satisfied with any candidate? Then, you will need to make an offer. However, negotiate the salary and benefits package to ensure a fair offer for both parties.

• Onboard the New Team Member

If the new team member accepts your offer, you will need to onboard them to your team. This includes providing them with access to the project, the team’s communication tools, and any other resources they may need.

• Manage the Team

To manage the team effectively, you have to set clear goals and expectations, provide regular feedback, and resolve any issues that may arise.

• Evaluate the Team’s Performance

It is important to evaluate the team’s performance regularly to ensure they meet your expectations. This may involve reviewing their work, conducting performance reviews, and providing feedback. Evaluation would allow you to monitor the progress status of your project adequately.

Best Countries to Hire Remote Development Teams From

Remote software development teams are not created equally. Location matters, as it can significantly impact the quality of talent, cost, and communication. Check out some of the best countries to consider when hiring a remote development team based on their strengths and specialties. Of course, there are many great countries to hire remote development teams from. Here are a few of the top contenders:

India: India is a leading destination for outsourcing software development, with a large pool of skilled and experienced developers. The cost of living in India is also relatively low, making it a cost-effective option for many businesses.

Nigeria: Nigeria is an African country with a fast-growing IT sector. The country has a large pool of skilled developers fluent in English. Nigeria is also a good option for businesses looking for developers familiar with the European market.

Poland: Poland is a European country with a strong IT sector. The country has a large pool of skilled developers fluent in English. Poland is also a good option for businesses looking for developers familiar with European standards and regulations.

3 Examples of the Best Remote Software Development Teams to Hire

For your hiring process, below are three examples of renowned remote software development teams that have significantly impacted the tech industry. These teams have demonstrated excellence in various domains, and you can leverage them for your project.

Wazobia Technologies: If you need to create bespoke software applications for your business or projects, you should check out this top firm. Wazobia Technologies has a reputable team of developers spread across the globe to help with your projects. Their services are unique and reliable.

Fiverr: This is a giant online marketplace where you can hire freelancers for various projects. Fiverr is a good option for finding affordable developers, but it is essential to be aware that the quality of the developers on Fiverr can vary.

Toptal: This is a global network of top freelance developers. They have a rigorous vetting process to ensure that their developers are the best of the best. Toptal also offers a satisfaction guarantee, so you can be sure you are hiring the right team for your project.

Conclusion

The era of remote work has reshaped the way we build software. Remote software development teams now offer many benefits, from accessing global talent to cost-efficiency and flexibility. Following the steps outlined in this article and considering the best countries and examples, you can assemble a remote dream team capable of turning your software visions into reality. However, while hiring a remote software development team, remember that success hinges on careful planning, clear communication, and facilitating a culture of collaboration.

Featured Image Credit: Provided by the Author; Pexels; Thank you!

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Later today, at the “Sneak” Adobe Max event, Adobe will introduce its latest innovation, Project ResUp. According to The Verge, this AI-driven tool is capable of upscaling low-resolution videos, enhancing their quality and clarity.

Enhancing video quality with AI

Project ResUp, still in its preview stage, uses artificial intelligence to upscale videos, making them sharper and clearer. The technology aims to transform low-quality footage into high-definition content, a game-changer for video editors and content creators.

Adobe is expected to demonstrate the tool’s capabilities during the event, showcasing its potential in enhancing older, grainy videos. The Verge, having had an early look at the tool, reported significant improvements in the clarity and detail of upscaled videos.

The anticipated announcement of Adobe’s Project ResUp is yet another glimpse at the future of the tech industry — and at the company’s intention to leverage AI in its suite of tools. As video content continues to dominate online platforms, the demand for high-quality visuals has never been greater. Adobe’s new tool could be a boon for creators looking to revitalize older content or enhance current projects.

While Project ResUp is still in the pre-launch phase, its potential impact on the video editing industry is exciting. As major industry players continue innovating with AI, tools like this highlight the expanding possibilities of technology on the horizon.

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I’ll start by taking you to the world of Startup X, a passionate team of entrepreneurs who believed they had the next big thing in the world of software as a service (SaaS). They poured their hearts and souls into creating an innovative product fueled by the desire to make a difference in the lives of their target audience.

However, despite their best efforts, they struggled to gain traction. They faced the disappointment of seeing their hard work go unnoticed and the frustration of feeling like they were missing something crucial. That’s when they realized they needed help.

Do you find yourself and your project in a similar position? Pouring your heart and soul into a project only to see it fall flat? It’s disheartening, but sadly, this is one experience that many startup founders face. The good news is that there’s hope!

Startup X reached out to a product design services provider, and with their help, they were able to turn their fortunes around. The product design team helped them identify their users’ pain points and redesign the product to provide a more seamless customer experience. The impact was nothing short of miraculous.

I understand the struggles that come with being a startup founder. I know how it feels to be passionate about an idea and watch it struggle to take off. In this article, I’ll share some best practices and real-life examples of successful product design for SaaS companies. The goal is to create products that meet but exceed the expectations of your audience.

Why Is Design Important for SaaS?

Design plays a crucial role in the success of SaaS products, whether it is a SaaS application or SaaS website. It makes the product more user-friendly and can also help build trust with customers and differentiate the product from competitors in the SaaS market.

Research has shown that good design can impact a company’s financial performance!

According to a design study spanning 10 year conducted by the Design Management Institute, design-driven companies outperform the S&P 500 by 228%!

So, if you’re running a SaaS company, never skimp on design! Here are some more reasons why design is essential for any SaaS model:

1. User experience

The success of a SaaS software product largely depends on how well it meets the needs of its users.

Design helps create an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, making it easier for users to navigate the product and perform the desired actions.

A well-designed SaaS application can reduce the learning curve, enhance user satisfaction, and increase the chances of retaining customers.

1. 2. Branding

The design of a SaaS product can help communicate the brand’s value proposition, personality, and identity.

A visually appealing and consistent design can help create a strong brand image and differentiate the product from competitors.

3. Functionality

Good design helps ensure a SaaS product is visually pleasing and functional. A well-designed product takes into account usability, accessibility, and scalability, which are all essential for a successful SaaS product.

4. Trust and credibility

A poorly designed software-as-a-service product can create a negative perception of the brand and reduce trust and credibility. On the other hand, a well-designed product can build trust and credibility with users, making them more likely to recommend the product to others.

How to Design a SaaS Product for Startups (A 6-step Approach)

To successfully design a SaaS product, you must understand your users deeply. Here is a 6-step approach that can help you achieve that:

1. Understand the User

A SaaS design done without the user in mind is an effort in futility! It’s the most reliable recipe for disaster!

Here are what to do on the journey to design a SaaS product to be able to understand your user:

• Conduct user research: By doing this, you can better understand what your users need and what challenges they face. You can conduct user research through surveys, interviews, or usability testing. And it’s a great way to get direct feedback from your potential customers2.
• Create user personas: User personas are fictional representations of your target users. They can help you understand their goals, motivations, and behaviors. Creating user personas can also help you design a product that meets the needs of your prospective audience.
• Use data analytics: Data analytics can provide valuable insights into how users interact with your product. By analyzing user behavior and usage patterns, you should be able to identify areas for improvement and make data-driven design decisions.

2. Make an Appealing User Interface Design

• The user interface is the face of your software-as-a-service product. And it’s often the first impression users have of your brand.
• A well-designed UI can make it easy for users to navigate your product, complete tasks, and achieve their goals. In contrast, a poorly designed user interface can lead to frustration, confusion, and, ultimately, user churn.
• Investing in UI design can also help differentiate your product in the SaaS market. By creating a unique and visually appealing interface, you can capture your audience’s attention and stand out in a crowded marketplace.

3. Best practices for UI design

When it comes to designing UI for your SaaS product, there are a few best practices to keep in mind:

• Keep it simple: A cluttered and confusing interface can lead to frustration and user churn. Keep the interface simple, intuitive, and easy to navigate.

• Prioritize user experience: Focus on creating an interface that meets the needs of your audience and provides a seamless customer experience. Conduct user testing and gather feedback to ensure your interface meets user needs.
• Consistency is key: Maintain consistency throughout your interface regarding design elements, layout, and interaction patterns. This will help create a cohesive and familiar user experience.
• Pay attention to visual design: A visually appealing interface can significantly impact the user experience. Use color, typography, and imagery strategically to create a unique and memorable interface.

Some examples of effective UI from top SaaS companies

Some SaaS software services have achieved great success through effective user interface design. Here are a few examples:

• Asana: Asana’s UI design is clean, simple, and easy to navigate, making it a favorite among users. The design of the SaaS platform is consistent, with straightforward typography, whitespace, and a cohesive color scheme.

• Slack: Slack is one of the best digital products on the market. Part of the reason is that the SaaS website is visually appealing, with a vibrant color palette and playful illustrations. The interface is intuitive, with a straightforward layout that makes it easy for users to find what they need.

• Canva: Canva, a graphic design SaaS platform, has a visually stunning UI design with design that emphasizes the user’s creative output. The interface of the SaaS website is easy to use, with straightforward navigation and a consistent design.

By following best practices and drawing inspiration from effective user interfaces, you can create a SaaS platform with an interface that meets and exceeds user expectations.

Build a Seamless User Experience

User experience design is creating a user-centric product that meets user needs and goals, according to Techloging.com. A well-designed user experience can increase user engagement and drive customer loyalty. A SaaS UX design that is intuitive, efficient, and enjoyable can significantly impact user satisfaction, retention, and overall success.

Investing in UX design can also help differentiate your product from competitors. By providing UX that exceeds user expectations, you can create a memorable and positive experience, encouraging users to stay and recommend your product to others.

Best practices for UX design

Here are some best practices to keep in mind when making a seamless UX design for your SaaS product:

• Conduct user research: Conduct user research to understand your audience’s needs, goals, and pain points. Use this information to inform your design decisions and create a product that meets user needs.

• Create user personas: Create user personas that represent your targets. This can help you better understand your users and design a user experience that meets their needs and goals.

• Prioritize usability: Prioritize usability by creating an easy-to-use, efficient, and intuitive product. Focus on building a user experience that allows users to complete tasks quickly and without confusion.

• Feedback and guidance: Provide users feedback and advice throughout the customer journey. This can help users understand what actions to take next and reduce frustration and confusion.

• Continuously iterate: Iterate and improve the user experience based on customer feedback and the most relevant data. This can help you create a UX design that evolves with user needs and expectations.

Some examples of effective user experiences

Some SaaS platforms have achieved great success through effective UX design. Here are a few examples:

• Dropbox: Dropbox provides a seamless user experience by making it easy to store, share, and access files across devices. The user interface is intuitive, with straightforward navigation and feedback throughout the customer journey.

• HubSpot: HubSpot provides a comprehensive user experience with marketing, sales, and customer service tools. The UI of the SaaS website is consistent, with a clean and easy-to-navigate design that prioritizes usability.

• Zoom: Zoom provides a user experience that lets users quickly and easily join and host video meetings. The interface is straightforward, with clear instructions and feedback that guide users through the process.

Develop a Unique Brand Identity

As a SaaS startup, you’re entering a crowded and competitive market. And one of the best ways to stand out is by developing a solid brand identity that resonates with your targets.

Your brand identity is more than just a logo or a name. It’s the essence of who you are as a company. It sets you apart from the competition and helps you connect with your customers.

Think about it – when you hear the name “Apple” or “Google,” what comes to mind? Their brand identity is so strong that it’s immediately recognizable. And it’s helped them become some of the most successful companies in the world.

However, developing a brand identity isn’t just about creating a logo or picking out some colors. It’s about understanding your target audience, defining your values and mission, and creating a consistent voice and tone across all touchpoints. It’s about building trust and connecting with your customers beyond just your product.

By developing a strong brand identity, you can differentiate yourself from competitors, build brand loyalty, and establish a unique and recognizable presence in the market. So don’t underestimate the power of a well-crafted brand identity – it could be the key to your success as a SaaS startup.

Best practices for developing a brand identity

Here are some best practices to consider when developing a brand identity for your SaaS platform:

• Define your brand values: Define your SaaS business model, brand values, mission, and vision. This will help you create an authentic brand identity that resonates with your audience.

• Understand your target audience: Understand your target’s needs, preferences, and pain points. This can help you create a brand identity that speaks directly to them and differentiates you from competitors.

• Choose a brand name and logo: Choose a brand name and logo that are memorable, distinctive, and easy to recognize. Ensure your brand name and logo align with your brand values and messaging.

• Develop a brand voice and tone: Develop a brand voice and tone that aligns with your brand values and resonates with your target audience. Use this voice consistently across all marketing materials and communication channels.

• Create brand guidelines: Create brand guidelines that outline your brand identity elements, including color palette, typography, imagery, and tone. Ensure that these guidelines are followed consistently across all touchpoints.

Some examples of effective brand identities

Below are examples of SaaS products that have developed effective brand identities:

• Slack: Slack has developed a brand identity that is playful, friendly, and approachable. The brand name and logo are simple and memorable, and the brand voice and tone are conversational and engaging.

• Mailchimp: Mailchimp has developed a brand identity that is playful, colorful, and distinctive. The brand name and logo are memorable and easily recognizable, and the brand voice and tone are fun and approachable.

• Canva: Canva has developed a brand identity that is creative, inspiring, and empowering. The brand name and logo are simple and memorable, and the voice and tone are upbeat and enthusiastic.

How to design SaaS UX?

SaaS UX is about making your SaaS software or website as easy and enjoyable as possible. Following these tips, you can create a SaaS UX that your users will love.

• Put the user first: Always keep the user in mind when designing your SaaS UX. What are their needs? What are their pain points? How can you make their experience as easy and enjoyable as possible?

• Keep it simple: Don’t overload users with too much information or features. Focus on the most important things and ensure they are easy to find and use.

• Use clear and concise language: Avoid jargon and technical terms that users may not understand. Use plain language that is easy to read and understand.

• Use consistent design elements: Use the same fonts, colors, and icons throughout your software-as-a-service user experience. This will help create a cohesive and user-friendly experience.Test your UX with users: Get feedback from users early and often. This will help you identify any usability issues and make improvements before you launch your SaaS product.

Design for Scalability

Imagine you’re building a SaaS product. You’ve put in the hard work, and it’s starting to take off. You’re getting more users, more traffic, and more demand.

But as your product grows, so do the challenges. How do you keep up with the increasing demand? How do you ensure that your product is always available and reliable? And how do you do all of this without breaking the bank?

The answer is to design your product for scalability.

So, what is scalability?

Scalability is the ability of a system to handle increasing demand without sacrificing performance, reliability, or user experience. In other words, your product can grow without breaking.

Factors that ensure scalability

Several factors contribute to scalability, including:

• Design: The way your product is designed can have a big impact on its scalability. A well-designed product will be easy to scale, while a poorly designed product will be more challenging.

• Infrastructure: Your product’s infrastructure can also impact its scalability. A scalable infrastructure can handle increasing demand, while a non-scalable infrastructure will not.

• Processes: The processes you use to manage your product can also impact scalability. A well-defined and efficient process will make it easier to scale your product, while a poorly defined or inefficient process will make it more challenging to scale.

How to design for scalability

There are several things you can do to design your product for scalability. Here are a few tips:

• Use a modular design: A modular design is where the product is broken down into smaller, independent components. This makes adding new features, fixing bugs, and scaling the product easier.

• Use cloud infrastructure: The cloud infrastructure is a scalable and reliable way to host your product. There are several different cloud providers to choose from, so you can find one that meets your needs.

• Use load balancing: Load balancing is a technique for distributing traffic across multiple servers. This helps to ensure that your product is always available, even if there is a sudden increase in demand.

• Use a scalable data storage solution: A scalable data storage solution is a solution that can handle large amounts of data. This is important for products that collect a lot of data, such as social media platforms or e-commerce sites.

• Automate repetitive tasks: Automating repetitive tasks can help to improve efficiency and reduce the risk of human error. This can free your team to focus on more critical tasks, such as developing new features and improving the product.

Measure for Success

So, how do you know if your SaaS design project is successful?

It’s a question that every SaaS startup founder or product manager wants to be able to answer with confidence. After all, you’ve put a lot of time, effort, and money into building your product, and you want to ensure that it’s meeting the needs of your users and generating revenue for your company.

SaaS startups can track several key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of their product design projects. Some of the essential KPIs include:

• Monthly recurring revenue (MRR): MRR is the total revenue a company generates from its monthly SaaS subscriptions. MRR is a crucial metric for measuring the growth of a SaaS business.

• Customer churn rate: Customer churn rate is the percentage of customers who cancel their monthly SaaS subscriptions. A high customer churn rate can indicate problems with the product or that the company is not effectively marketing its product to potential customers.

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC): CAC is the money a company spends to acquire a new customer. A high CAC can indicate that the company is spending too much money on marketing or its inefficient sales process.

• The average revenue per account (ARPA): ARPA is the company’s average revenue from each customer. ARPA can be used to measure the profitability of a SaaS business.

• Customer lifetime value (CLV): CLV is the total amount of revenue that a company expects to generate from a customer throughout their relationship with the company. CLV can be used to measure the long-term value of a SaaS customer.

Tools for measuring success

In addition to tracking KPIs, SaaS startups can also use various tools to measure the success of their product design projects. Some of the most common tools include:

• User surveys: User surveys can be used to gather user feedback about the product and its features. This feedback can improve the product and make it more user-friendly.

• A/B testing: A/B testing compares two different versions of a product or feature to see which one performs better. This can improve the product’s conversion rate and increase the number of new users who sign up for a free trial or purchase a subscription.

• Heatmaps: Heatmaps represent how users interact with a website or app. This information can be used to identify areas of the product that are confusing or difficult to use.

• Session recordings allow you to watch a video of a user interacting with your product. This can identify areas of the product that are frustrating or difficult to use.

FAQs

How to build a SaaS product architecture?

The standard procedure needed to design a SaaS product architecture includes the following:

• Define your goals and requirements. What do you want your product to do? Who are your target users? What are their needs?

• Choose the right technology stack. What programming languages, databases, and cloud platforms will you use?

• Design your architecture. How will your SaaS product be structured? What are the different components? How will they interact with each other?

• Implement your architecture. Build your software using the technologies you’ve chosen.

• Test and deploy your product. Make sure it works as expected and that it’s secure.

• Monitor and improve your SaaS product. Collect feedback from users and make changes to improve the product over time.

That’s it! Following these steps, you can build a SaaS architecture to help you achieve your business goals. Here are some additional tips to keep in mind:

• Use a cloud-based platform. This will make it easier to scale your SaaS product as your user base grows.

• Use microservices architecture. This will make your service more scalable and resilient.

• Implement security measures. Make sure your SaaS design is secure from unauthorized access.

• Monitor your SaaS product. Collect data on how existing and new users use your SaaS application or website and make changes to improve the user experience.

Conclusion

Creating a successful SaaS startup product can be challenging. I’ve helped you navigate the twists and turns of the product’s design with a deep understanding of your users.

By identifying the pain points of your target customers and creating a product that addresses their needs, you can now make a seamless user experience that will set your startup apart from the competition.

Featured Image Credit: Provided by the Author; Thank you!

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Continuous delivery (CD) is an essential software development practice involving frequent, automated deployment of software changes to production environments. It is a methodology that extensively uses test automation, seeking to make the release of new features and bug fixes a routine activity and reducing the risk and time involved in software delivery. The goal of CD is to enable a constant flow of changes into production via an automated software production line.

Essentially, the CD is about automation and monitoring. It’s about removing manual bottlenecks in the software delivery process and making sure that if something goes wrong, the team knows about it immediately. The aim is to make software releases boring and non-eventful, allowing software teams to focus on what really matters: delivering value to the customer.

Why Is It Important to Stay Updated With CD Trends?

In the rapidly changing world of software development, staying up-to-date with the latest advancements in Continuous Delivery is critical. Here are a few reasons why you should learn about and adopt the latest Continuous Delivery technology and practices.

Make Software Release Cycles Even Faster

The core purpose of Continuous Delivery is to speed up software release cycles, making them more efficient and reliable. As new tools and practices emerge, these cycles can be completed even quicker, delivering features and bug fixes to customers more rapidly. Staying updated with the latest trends ensures your organization can leverage new techniques and technologies to keep this cycle as streamlined as possible.

Achieve Competitive Advantage

A slow release cycle can be a critical disadvantage in today’s fast-paced software development environment. Companies that are agile and can quickly respond to customer needs are often the ones that succeed. Adopting the latest Continuous Delivery practices and technologies can give you a substantial edge over competitors who are slower to adapt.

Adapt to Technological Shifts

Technological advancements can introduce both new opportunities and challenges. Being informed about trends in Continuous Delivery can prepare you for changes in associated technologies, such as containerization, serverless computing, or advancements in AI and machine learning. This helps your organization adapt more smoothly to the changing technological landscape, mitigating risks and leveraging new opportunities.

Continuous Delivery Trends to Watch For in 2024

The world of software development is perpetually evolving, and Continuous Delivery is no exception. In the next few years, we’re likely to see several significant trends emerge that will reshape the landscape of Continuous Delivery. Let’s delve into these trends.

1. AI-Driven CD Pipelines

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to permeate various sectors, it is also set to overhaul the CD pipeline. AI-driven CD pipelines can predict potential issues, identify bottlenecks, and suggest solutions even before developers become aware of them. This proactivity will drastically reduce the time spent on troubleshooting and debugging, accelerating the deployment process.

Furthermore, AI can automate many routine tasks in the CD pipeline, such as code reviews, testing, and environment setup. This will free developers to focus on more complex tasks, fostering innovation and efficiency. AI is poised to play a pivotal role in the evolution of Continuous Delivery in 2024.

2. Shift to “Everything as Code”

Another key trend to observe is the shift towards “Everything as Code.” This concept pertains to managing all aspects of the software delivery process, including infrastructure, configuration, security, and even data, in a codified manner. This transition is expected to streamline the software development process and foster better collaboration among development, operations, and security teams.

By treating everything as code, teams can leverage version control systems to manage changes, audit trails, and rollback capabilities. This approach will also facilitate automation and ensure consistency across different environments.

3. Comprehensive Security Integration

Security can no longer be an afterthought in the software delivery process. With the increasing prevalence of cyber threats, there is a growing emphasis on integrating security measures within the CD pipeline. This practice, often called DevSecOps, ensures that security is considered at every software development and deployment stage.

In the coming years, we can expect to see more sophisticated and comprehensive security integration in CD pipelines. This will entail automated security checks, vulnerability scanning, and threat modeling as part of the deployment process. Such measures will bolster applications’ security and foster a culture of security within development teams.

4. Enhanced Monitoring and Observability

Monitoring and observability are essential facets of Continuous Delivery. They provide insights into the performance of applications and the health of the CD pipeline. As we move towards 2024, we can anticipate significant enhancements in this area.

Advanced monitoring tools will offer real-time visibility into the CD pipeline, enabling teams to identify and rectify issues promptly. Moreover, these tools will provide granular insights into application performance, user behavior, and system health. On the other hand, improved observability will facilitate a better understanding of the system’s internal state based on its external outputs.

5. Sustainability and Green CI/CD Practices

Growing environmental concerns have led to a shift towards sustainability in various sectors and software development is no exception. Green CI/CD practices, which aim to reduce the environmental impact of software delivery processes, are likely to gain traction in the coming years.

These practices may include energy-efficient coding, carbon-neutral hosting, and using renewable energy in data centers. By adopting such practices, organizations can reduce their carbon footprint and enhance their reputation as responsible corporate citizens.

6. Seamless Multi-Cloud Deployment

In 2024, we can expect to see more robust and versatile CD tools that facilitate seamless deployment across various cloud providers. These tools will offer features such as multi-cloud compatibility, automated environment provisioning, and configuration management. This will enable organizations to leverage the best features of different cloud providers and ensure optimal performance of their applications.

7. CD in Edge Computing

Edge computing, which entails processing data near its source, is another area where we can anticipate significant advancements in Continuous Delivery. As more devices connect to the internet, the need for rapid, localized data processing and analysis is becoming more important.

CD in edge computing will involve deploying updates and new features to edge devices swiftly and efficiently. This will entail unique challenges such as managing many devices, ensuring security, and handling intermittent connectivity. However, with the advent of sophisticated CD tools and practices, we will likely see effective solutions to these challenges in 2024.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the landscape of Continuous Delivery in 2024 will be markedly different from what it is today. With advancements in AI, the shift to “Everything as Code,” comprehensive security integration, enhanced monitoring and observability, green CI/CD practices, multi-cloud deployment, and CD in edge computing, the future of CD promises to be exciting and transformative. As we navigate these changes, it’s imperative to stay abreast of the latest trends and continually adapt our practices to stay ahead of the curve.

Featured Image Credit: Provided by the Author; freepik; Thank you!

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Outsourcing software development can bring numerous benefits  —  from access to a larger talent pool to cost efficiency. Still, it comes with its challenges. Before selecting a vendor with a hands-on role in your project, carefully considering the possible pitfalls is essential.

In this article, we interviewed Ilya Boroda, Head of Pre-Sales at Timspark, to share his vision on the four key challenges commonly encountered when choosing a custom software development partner and solutions practice based on the company’s outsourcing model.

Challenge 1

Outsourcing vs. in-house development: Choose your path

According to Deloitte’s 2018 Global Outsourcing Survey, 59 percent of companies opt for outsourcing as a means to decrease expenses. Yet companies who solely focus on this factor overlook other crucial aspects that could shape their decision.

Keeping certain functions in-house may not save you any money. But it gives you more control over the quality of work and the ability to better define and preserve your company culture.

Solution

Not to be caught in a double bind, one should try not to overlook new outsourcing models. Thus, the last 5–7 years show an evident shift in outsourcing from cost reduction optimization toward created value. Organizations can acquire the necessary technology and process guidance through collaboration with third-party providers and tap into their profound industry knowledge.

The vendor should not necessarily limit their role to executors acting by prescribed instructions from the client. On the contrary, they can bring expertise  — the idea of how the business problem can be solved, even if the customer is not aware of the solution yet.

With a clear understanding of business needs, the vendor can provide a broader solution scope, and measure success with the impact on the business, not with the number of projects won over other vendors. Resources saving, maximizing value, and improving business performance all boil down to client satisfaction as the ultimate goal.

Challenge 2

Development team expertise: Do the check

The team for your project should ideally have prior experience working on similar projects. However, the challenge arises when a customer chooses a vendor for custom software development based solely on the company’s portfolio without considering the experience and expertise of the specific team the project. The project’s future success greatly depends on the skills and capabilities of the team working on it.

Unfortunately, in most cases, companies showcase their overall portfolio rather than providing insight into the individual team members’ portfolios. As a result, the customer has limited visibility into their past projects. And once the contract is signed and the project begins, vetting the team’s experience becomes irrelevant.

To address this challenge, one might thoroughly scrutinize the vendor’s portfolio, looking beyond the number of projects and instead focusing on the complexity and variety of cases handled. This can provide some insight into the vendor’s overall expertise and capabilities. However, it still does not guarantee that the specific team assigned to the project possesses the necessary skills and experience.

Ultimately, the challenge lies in ensuring that the chosen vendor has an impressive company portfolio and assigns a team with relevant experience in projects similar to the customer’s requirements.

Solution

Open communication with the vendor throughout the selection process can increase the chances of a successful software development partnership.

Actions steps may look as follows:

– ensure that the development team is compliant with the quality requirements and can provide the expertise needed

– make the development team transparent for the customer regarding processes, workflow, and available certifications

Showcasing the portfolio with a complete description of our framework and the team’s expertise, which has already undergone a thorough vetting process, may be the key to building the foundations for transparency.

Challenge 3

Business goals and vendor’s expertise: Get them aligned

As a customer searching for a custom software development partner, you aim to choose a vendor who aligns with your project requirements and can deliver high-quality results in a reasonable time and with feasible costs. Fast feedback from the vendor at an early stage on their expertise, capabilities, possible solutions, and overall future performance is crucial.

By considering vendor feedback, customers can mitigate risks, gain confidence in their selection, and establish a solid foundation for a successful software development partnership.

Yet the outsourcing model does not imply that the development team should be aligned with the business goals and problems, even at the development stage. The solution that the customer is requesting is rarely or hardly ever challenged by the vendor, with business goals in mind. Therefore additional time and human resources for implementation may be revealed later, possibly resulting in increasing costs and longer time to market.

Solution

How can you mitigate this challenge? The answer boils down to aligning the development team with the customer’s business goals early on.

This approach ensures that the end product meets the latest technical requirements and provides value to the customer’s business. The vendor can contribute their expertise to enhance the software’s effectiveness and address the customer’s challenges at the same time.

As teams obtain this vision at an early stage, they can keep the business needs in focus. The team can propose a technological solution based on their background, and they might consider how to implement the solution throughout the development cycle, with possible roadblocks and additional expenses. Thus, the ultimate solution may vary from the customer’s initial request. Yet it ensures that the team strives to address the business goals most effectively, not just comply with their commitments and deliver.

For business, getting fast feedback means handling possible pitfalls and getting a precise estimate of the scope of work, time, and costs.

Challenge 4

Knowledge transfer from customer to vendor: make it transparent

A lack of knowledge transfer is a frequent problem in a traditional team augmentation model. Such gaps may occur between the delivery team and potential clients and between the presales and delivery teams. While executives do not have a vision of the system, and goals are not transparent to them, this can backfire. Costly proposals, reduced motivation among technical experts, lower performance and quality of the end product, and delayed time to market are possible negative results.

Solution

It is not a direct correlation, yet effective consultations may equal cost and time savings for the client. By involving specialists from development teams already at the presales stage, one can achieve clear knowledge transfer about the client’s needs before the project starts and avoid the long communication pipeline and back-and-forths from client to vendor.

The presales team responsible for transferring the proper guidelines and vision to the delivery may significantly bridge the gap. As a result, all the development team members are fully aware of the agreements and committed.

Conclusion

Choosing a custom software development partner comes with its challenges. However, by carefully considering and addressing them with a strategy, businesses can increase their chances of successful delivery. Focus on value creation, open communication, aligning teams with the company’s goals, and effective knowledge transfer may be possible answers.

Featured Image Credit: Sora Shimazaki; Pexels; Thank you!

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Unity remains undeterred in its plan to implement new install fees despite backlash from game developers. According to the platform holder, “more than 90% of our customers will not be affected by this change.”

Unity’s response on X (formerly Twitter) comes a day after the popular game engine announced it would begin charging a runtime fee on Jan. 1, 2024 — provoking questions about multiple installs and Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass, among others.

The platform holder has since clarified that it will only count “net new installs” starting Jan. 1 and that developers won’t pay fees on re-installations, fraudulent installs, game trials, streams and charity-related installs. It also said fees for Game Pass installs will be passed on to Xbox.

Game devs remain unhappy about new Unity fees

Despite Unity’s response, game developers continue to urge Unity to change its plan — which many argue affects smaller indie titles the most.

“Buy Cult of the Lamb now, because we’re deleting it on Jan. 1,” the well-received game’s official X account stated.

“I bet Steam, Epic, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft will love having waves of developers pulling their games,” Among Us developer Innersloth’s Forest Willard wrote, adding: “Innersloth has always paid Unity appropriately for licenses and services we use. I’m not a discourse guy, but this is undue and will force my hand.”

Willard also responded directly to Unity’s X account by stating that “Unity now needs to give this up and make obvious reparations in the opposite direction if there can be any hope of regaining trust in the future.”

Among Us is one of the most successful games that use Unity. Other popular titles using the engine include Genshin Impact, Beat Saber and Pokémon Go.

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Mozilla fixed a critical zero-day vulnerability affecting its Firefox web browser and Thunderbird email client via emergency security updates.

The security flaw in question — CVE-2023-4863 — stemmed from a heap buffer overflow in the WebP code library.

“Opening a malicious WebP image could lead to a heap buffer overflow in the content process,” Mozilla said in an advisory published on Tuesday, adding: “We are aware of this issue being exploited in other products in the wild.”

The not-for-profit software developer addressed the zero-day exploit for:

• Firefox 117.0.1
• Firefox ESR 115.2.1
• Firefox ESR 102.15.1
• Thunderbird 102.15.1
• Thunderbird 115.2.2

The details surrounding the WedP flaw being used in attacks have not been shared, but users have been strongly advised to update their versions of Firefox and Thunderbird.

Google already patched Chrome

Mozilla software was not alone in using the vulnerable WebP code library version.

Google patched its Chrome web browser on Monday while warning that “an exploit for CVE-2023-4863 exists in the wild.” Its security updates have been rolling out and are expected to cover its entire user base in the weeks ahead.

Apple and The Citizen Lab identified the flaw

Apple’s Security Engineering and Architecture team first reported the flaw on Sept. 6, alongside The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School — the latter famous for identifying and disclosing zero-day vulnerabilities.

Citizen Lab recently identified two zero-day vulnerabilities used to deploy NSO Group’s infamous Pegasus mercenary spyware onto up-to-date iPhones. Apple patched the vulnerabilities last week before backporting them to older iPhone models — such as the iPhone 6s, iPhone 7 and iPhone SE.

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The demand for full stack development has been on the rise in recent times. It refers to the end-to-end development process of applications, including both front-end and backend development.

When it comes to full stack development, you would want to hire software developers from the top full-stack development companies in India. However, as several companies are out there, finding the best one can be challenging. To simplify your task, we have compiled a complete list of India’s top 10 full-stack development companies.

List of 10 Trusted Full Stack Development Companies in India 2023

1. eSparkBiz

eSparkBiz is one of the top full stack development companies in India. With more than 12 years of rich experience and expertise in the industry, the company offers the most reliable services. Since its inception, eSparkBiz has successfully delivered top-notch development services to hundreds of clients.

The company has a team of skilled and highly experienced full stack developers. They are passionate and committed to delivering exceptional solutions to meet the unique needs of different clients. They work closely with different clients to understand their development requirements and offer them services accordingly.

eSparkBiz extends its full stack development services to more than 20 countries. The client retention rate of the company is 95%. Moreover, the company also has excellent ratings on popular platforms like Hubspot and Clutch. While it has a rating of 5 on HubSpot, it is rated 4.9 on Clutch.

2. TechAvidus

TechAvidus is another reputed full stack development company in India. With more than 80 proficient in-house developers, the firm aims to provide the best development services to clients. They focus on delivering custom software development solutions and enhancing the end-users’ experience.

TechAvidus has over 190 clients around the globe. Moreover, the job success rate of the company is 96%. They have been successful in achieving 5-star reviews on several platforms.

TechAvidus understands that no two companies are the same. Therefore, professional experts leverage a unique approach for every client. From simple applications to complex ones, experienced developers can handle all types of full stack development projects.

3. Sundew Solutions

Next on the list is Sundew Solutions. Sundew is popular as a digital consulting and transformation company helping clients discover new opportunities and develop impactful solutions. The company has a Clutch rating of 4.9. That clearly indicates the level of services they offer.

Sundew Solutions has a team of professional developers with technical expertise and rich experience in the industry. They focus on exceeding the clients’ expectations and enabling their software development applications to stand out in the competitive landscape. The top industries that the company serves include baking and financial services, travel and hospitality, healthcare, insurance, real estate and infrastructure, and much more.

Sundew Solutions aims to deliver value to clients by providing reliable full stack development services. The professionals assist the clients from the beginning till the end of the development process.

4. Aumbre

Aumbre is also one of the top full stack development companies in India. With more than five years of experience in the industry, the firm is dedicated to delivering unparalleled development services at affordable prices. The team of 20 professionals has relevant knowledge, experience, and expertise in the domain.

Aumbre has successfully completed nearly 300 projects and has 300 satisfied customers. They work in close association with the clients to deliver the best results. The professionals understand the clients’ exact goals, infuse their unique vision in the development process, and provide exceptional outcomes.

Each full stack development project is approached by the team with meticulous attention to detail. They ensure that every element aligns well with the key objectives of the clients. Moreover, the company operates with utmost transparency and integrity.

5. W3 SpeedUp

W3 SpeedUp is a reputed name when it comes to full stack development. The firm has a team of experienced and highly skilled full stack developers passionate about providing reliable solutions to clients. Irrespective of the clients’ requirements, they focus on delivering the best possible results.

The professional experts leverage the latest technologies and tools to deliver outstanding development services. Affordable pricing sets the company apart in the industry. W3 SpeedUp believes in providing high-quality development services and ensuring optimum customer satisfaction.

The firm offers a fast turnaround time, enabling the company to get a competitive edge in the market. Moreover, they also provide excellent support and services to fix any issues after the development of applications.

6. Whorv

Whorv is a leading full stack development company with more than 11 years of experience in the industry. The company has been successful in delivering over 1,000 projects to diverse clients. They work closely with the clients to understand their exact requirements and provide solutions accordingly.

Whorv takes pride in having more than 100 happy clients. Professional developers combine their expertise with the best-in-class technologies to deliver exceptional results. The core aim of the firm is to create long-lasting values for its clients.

The company has a very transparent and systematic development process. They keep the clients in the loop and inform them about the progress of the development projects. Through seamless communication, the experts focus on providing unique experiences to clients.

7. A2ZFrame

A2ZFrame is a reputed full stack development company offering top-notch services to clients around the globe. They have been in the business for over ten years and are well aware of the latest trends in the industry. The company takes pride in having more than 350 happy clients.

A2ZFrame offers its full stack development services in over 15 countries. Since its inception, the firm has developed and delivered more than 500 apps. The company has a team of 50+ technical experts with in-depth experience and expertise in the domain.

The development professionals specialize in building bespoke applications using modern technologies. They embrace the latest trends to provide unmatched development services to clients. The company’s development methodology is based on logically and meticulously planned strategies. Moreover, the experts also consider the industry standards to enable businesses to stay ahead.

8. Squash Apps

Squash Apps is yet another full stack development company in India. The firm specializes in building world-class solutions to meet clients’ specific needs. They are dedicated to delivering the best possible IT solutions for the customers.

Squash Apps provides full stack consulting services, from designing applications to marketing and IT security solutions. The company’s development process starts with deep analysis and finally ends with the delivery of the software applications.

The firm guarantees faster development time to help customers stay ahead in the competitive era. The low-cost development of the company allows it to be the preferred choice of a majority of clients. The technical team is always ready to provide the required support and services 24/7.

9. AlignMinds Technologies

AlignMinds Technologies is a full stack development company with more than 13 years of experience in the industry. The company promises to deliver the best development services according to the clients’ specific needs. The team of professional developers has extensive experience in the domain.

The experts know the latest trends in the industry and are familiar with the in-demand development tools. They use modern tools and technologies to build feature-rich applications at affordable prices.

The flexible engagement models of the company allow the clients to select the packages that suit their budget. Moreover, the certifications of AlignMinds Technologies ensure the delivery of reliable solutions for clients.

10. Dreamer Technoland

Finally, in the list of top full stack development companies in India, we have Dreamer Technoland.  The company specializes in providing innovative solutions to meet the specific needs of businesses. The firm has successfully delivered more than 500 projects.

Ensuring the absolute satisfaction of the customers is the core aim of Dreamer Technoland. The firm follows a systematic approach to deliver precisely what the business wants. It all starts with understanding the business needs.

With a clarity of the business requirements, the professional experts start developing the prototype and ultimately deliver the desired solution. The customer-centric approach of the firm sets Dreamer Technoland apart in the industry.

Conclusion

The need for full stack development is on the rise continuously. It will increase even more in the coming years. To ensure the best outcomes, it is always a smart decision to hire a Web development companies . The full stack developers simplify everything, from MVP development to UI/ UX creation and app development.

By now, you must be well aware of the top full stack development companies in India. Depending on your business’s budget and specific needs, you can hire the right full stack development company. Collaborate with the experts, discuss your development requirements, and get competitively competitive services.

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The latest trend observed among businesses of all sizes is the integration of Enterprise Software Development into day-to-day workflows. Enterprise Software is software built to cater to the administrative functions of an organization. Such software helps automate day-to-day menial tasks of HR, Payroll, Data entry, Marketing, etc. Enterprise software can help save companies vast amounts of money in the long run and improve productivity and efficiency within the organization. This is why businesses need to find a tech partner for Software development best suited to their needs.

There are a huge number of companies that can help businesses reinvent themselves into more technologically advanced versions of their existing business models. To help companies select the right tech partner, here is a list of leading Enterprise Software Development companies that have set the benchmark for quality in software development. Each company is vetted for its projects, quality, assistance, and consistency, among other parameters.

List of Top 10 Enterprise Software Development Companies in 2023

Nous Infosystems

Nous Infosystems has made it to the top of our list of Top 10 Enterprise Software Development Companies of 2023, and rightly so. The company is known for delivering quality technology solutions and services to customers across the globe. These solutions are innovative, cost-effective, and reliable. Nous Infosystems has worked for various industry verticals focusing on Digital transformation, UI/UX design, Big Data Analytics, UI/UX Cloud, and more while providing end-to-end services in banking, healthcare, retail, etc. The company is CMMI Level 5 certified and a dedicated innovator in the IT industry.

OpenXcell

OpenXcell is the next reliable enterprise software development company based in India and the USA to have made it to our list of companies. The company has developed and deployed 1000+ IT solutions globally. With more than 14+ years of experience and world-class infrastructure, the company’s team of experienced enterprise software developers has left an indelible mark in Enterprise development market scenarios.

OpenXcell has delivered quality enterprise development services to numerous (700+) clients globally. This popularity can be attributed to the company’s various client-friendly engagement models. Their services include development, testing, UI/UX design, deployment, post-launch maintenance, and more. The company also boasts a rich roster of highly skilled developers who tailor software products according to business requirements. OpenXcell’s quality services are availed by various business models, including SMEs, startups, and big conglomerates.

Kainos Group

The following company on our list is Kainos Group, a high-growth, UK-based IT services, consulting, and software solutions provider. The group specializes in state-of-the-art software solutions in digital technology, agile software development, integrations and implementation services, and automation of workflows across all channels. The company is a full-service delivery partner that provides end-to-end development and deployment until launch. The company has created a holistic ecosystem for innovation, skills development, and creativity as a reliable Microsoft Solutions Partner and AWS Advanced Consulting Partner. This further ensures continuous development and growth for its clients and sustainable digital solutions for the organization.

Vincit

A purpose-driven, people-centric software development company, Vincit is yet another company to have made its mark in Enterprise software development. The company is quite popular for its software development, having won more than 32 awards and counting. Custom solutions built by Vincit have robust UI and extensive backend functionalities and are built for many, including finance, education, healthcare, banking, etc. The company has worked with big conglomerates like GE Healthcare, NPR, The New York Times, etc.

Headquartered in Finland and the USA, the company boasts multiple offices in Orange County, CA, and Scottsdale, AZ. Its latest feather in the hat has been to be recognized as an Inc. Magazine’s Fastest Growing Company.

Beyondsoft

Beyondsoft has also made it to our list for its consistent quality solution over the long span of 20 years. The company offers a wide range of high-quality IT services of cloud, big data and analytics, business process outsourcing, automation, testing and debugging, digital transformation, and much more.
BeyondSoft’s team of experts thrives on creativity, innovation, and challenges. They are known for their customer-centric approach to dealing with clients’ problems and providing services. With over 29,000 experts in 70 delivery centers across 14 countries, the company has ample resources and personnel to meet its client’s requirements.

DEPT

DEPT is the next full-service digital agency that is gaining popularity for the services rendered. DEPT® is known to deliver end-to-end digital experiences for brands such as Google, KFC, Philips, Audi, Twitch, eBay, etc. Its team of 3500+ digital specialists across 30+ locations and five continents is skillful, resourceful, and well-equipped to handle all client’s needs and wants. The company has been climate-neutral since 2021 and has been dedicated to sustainability.

Synoptek

Synoptek is yet another IT services provider and System integrator, which leads in providing IT management and consulting services to businesses. With expertise from 20 more years ago, the firm has partnered with customers of all sizes, from small and medium enterprises to Fortune 100 companies. In return, the company has maximized business value manifold, mitigated risks early on, and helped these businesses gain a competitive edge in the saturated market.

Having won numerous industry awards, Synoptek is continually recognized for being a leader in software development. Most recently, the company has secured recognition as a leading service provider by Channel Future’s Global Top Managed Services Providers and the top cloud services provider by Talkin.

Credera

The next company on our list of top enterprise development companies is Credera. Credera is a full-service provider of technological solutions, user experience consultancy, and management consulting. The company has worked with numerous Fortune 500 organizations and small and medium enterprises. With round-the-clock support and developmental services, Credera resolves its clients’ difficulties. Its strategy, organization, process, analytics, and user experience are client-trusted and rely on the company to fulfill all its requirements.

CheckMarx

The following company on our list is Checkmarx, a leading application security provider offering the industry’s most comprehensive cloud-native platform, Checkmarx One, along with many other services. Checkmarx balances the needs of the entire organization. Its end-to-end services, from DevSecOps to CISOs, include delivering seamless security throughout the entire Software development life cycle. The company’s integrated security solutions and outstanding global services ensure frictionless, secure enterprise software development and unparalleled visibility for applications built.

Elisoft

Last but not least, Elisoft Ltd is a company that is significantly making waves in the enterprise software development markets. With a dedicated team engagement model and competitive pricing for custom software development services, Elisoft provides solutions ahead of their time, innovative, and in sync with the latest technological trends.

Elisoft’s competency includes project developments in Telecommunication, Healthcare, Management, Enterprise Planning, Network and Data visualization, Social networking, and many more. Each solution delivered is well-crafted, resourceful, and robust.

Conclusion

With almost all markets moving online, it has become imperative for businesses to own an effective digital presence. To do so, businesses should adequately research the software development companies that can help them create an interactive and clean digital experience for their customers. With many companies offering such services, searching for the right technology partner becomes daunting for businesses.

This list of Top 10 Enterprise software development companies comprises reliable companies with a rich portfolio of quality solutions and a great work ethic. Each company mentioned in the list has been sorted through stringent parameters and metrics.

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In the world of software development and operations, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) and DevOps have emerged as dynamic allies, forming an unbeatable alliance for building and maintaining robust, high-performing systems. Together, they bridge the gap between development and operations, fostering a reliability, agility, and collaboration culture. This unique partnership unleashes the true potential of modern IT organizations, ensuring seamless user experiences and unparalleled business success.

SRE and Its Role in DevOps

In a survey conducted by Blameless, it was revealed that an astounding 50% of participants adopted the SRE model, employing either dedicated infrastructure-focused engineers or embedding full-time SREs directly into their services.

Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) is a pivotal discipline, harmoniously partnering with DevOps to ensure unparalleled success. SRE’s unwavering reliability, availability, and scalability focus perfectly aligns with DevOps goals.

Key principles of SRE

Error Budgets and Service Level Objectives (SLOs): Balancing innovation and stability through defined performance targets and acceptable unreliability thresholds.

Automation and Monitoring: Core to SRE, enabling faster and consistent deployments aided by proactive real-time system health data.

Incident Management and Post-Mortems: Prompt, collaborative responses to disruptions and learning from failures to prevent recurrence.

SRE’s primary objective is reliable, highly available, and scalable systems, enhancing user experience, customer satisfaction, and trust in the product.

SRE and DevOps unite with shared objectives. DevOps focuses on rapid development and continuous delivery, while SRE infuses reliability from the outset. SRE’s post-mortems offer valuable feedback to enhance the development and deployment processes, fostering a collaborative and robust product.

DevOps and Its Role in SRE

DevOps’s core is the commitment to harmonize software development and operations seamlessly. Utilizing CI/CD, developers continuously integrate and deploy code changes in small increments, promoting rapid, low-risk releases. SRE benefits from this approach, embracing a controlled, measured approach to system changes in pursuit of service reliability.

Collaboration and communication form the bedrock of DevOps culture, fostering cross-functional teamwork and ownership. For SRE, this results in faster incident resolution and heightened system resilience.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and configuration management are invaluable tools for DevOps and SRE teams. Automating infrastructure provisioning ensures consistency and minimizes manual errors.

DevOps’ agility, speed, and collaboration seamlessly align with SRE’s reliability mission, preserving innovation and swift delivery. The marriage of these methodologies guarantees SRE goals without compromising DevOps’ efficiency.

The Benefits of SRE and DevOps Collaboration

When superheroes unite, a formidable force emerges, and in the realm of technology, the dynamic duo of Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) and DevOps epitomizes this success. This perfect partnership brings forth an array of astounding advantages, propelling organizations to unparalleled efficiency and dependability.

Improved System Reliability and Uptime

Visualize a world where systems never falter and uptime is assured. SRE and DevOps collaboration makes this vision a reality. The teams prioritize system reliability by defining crystal-clear Service Level Objectives (SLOs) and error budgets. Vigilant monitoring and seamless automation nip potential issues in the bud, warding off catastrophes before they materialize. The result? Resilient systems and seamless user experiences.

Faster Incident Resolution and Recovery Times

In times of crisis, every second counts. SRE and DevOps collaboration empowers swift incident resolution and recovery. The teams respond promptly to incidents by using advanced monitoring tools and shared communication channels. Blameless post-mortems foster continuous improvement, enhancing their agility in sustaining services.

Enhanced Collaboration Between Development and Operations Teams

No more friction or finger-pointing between development and operations teams. SRE and DevOps collaboration fosters a culture of cooperation. Developers prioritize code maintainability and stability, while operations offer insights for optimizing pipelines and infrastructure. The result is a harmonious symphony of teamwork, facilitating a smooth and resilient development lifecycle.

Increased Automation and Efficiency in the Software Development Lifecycle

Automation enthusiasts, SRE, and DevOps together wield the power of efficiency. Repetitive tasks vanish as automation takes the stage, freeing up time for innovation. CI/CD pipelines streamline development, minimizing human error. IaC enables effortless environment creation, ensuring consistency throughout development stages. The result is an impeccably tuned machine driving organizational growth.

Best Practices for Integrating SRE and DevOps

Nurturing a collaborative culture is the cornerstone of successful integration. Break barriers between teams, fostering open communication and knowledge sharing. Form cross-functional groups, combining SRE and DevOps expertise for better understanding, empathy, and problem-solving.

Define reliability goals with SLOs and error budgets. Set clear thresholds and align efforts for system performance.

Automation is key. Implement automated deployment, IaC, and monitoring tools. Swiftly respond to incidents, learning and improving without blame. Drive continuous improvement and enhance resilience.

Tools and Technologies for SRE and DevOps Collaboration

Reliable monitoring and observability are the bedrock of SRE and DevOps collaboration. These tools provide real-time insights into the health and performance of applications and infrastructure. With comprehensive dashboards and alerts, teams gain a clear understanding of system behavior, enabling them to detect anomalies and respond swiftly to potential issues.

Popular tools in this category include:

Grafana

Grafana is an open-source analytics and visualization platform that allows users to query, visualize, and understand data from various sources. Here’s a brief overview of how Grafana works:

Data Sources

Dashboards

Querying and Aggregation

Templating

Alerting

Plugins and Integrations

Community and Support.

Datadog

DataDog is a popular monitoring and analytics platform used by businesses to gain insights into their applications and infrastructure. Here’s a brief overview of how DataDog works:

Data Collection

Data Aggregation

Visualization

Alerting

APM (Application Performance Monitoring)

Infrastructure Monitoring

Log Management, and Collaboration and Integrations.

SigNoz

Signoz is an open-source distributed tracing system designed to monitor and troubleshoot complex applications in real-time. It provides insights into the performance of microservices, helping developers and operations teams identify bottlenecks, latency issues, and errors within their systems. Here’s a brief explanation of how Signoz works:

Instrumentation

Spans and Traces

Distributed Context Propagation

Data Storage

Visualization and Analysis:

Alerting and Monitoring:

Integration with Other Tools.

CI/CD Pipelines and Version Control Systems:

The harmonious synchronization of SRE and DevOps is propelled by the gears of CI/CD pipelines and version control systems. These pipelines automate the code deployment process, ensuring swift and dependable software delivery. Git, a widely-used version control system, enables seamless code management and rollbacks. Integration of these tools ensures a smooth release process, minimizing deployment-related incidents.

Configuration Management Tools:

Configuration Management Tools maintain consistency and repeatability across the infrastructure. Automated setup and configuration of servers prevent configuration drift and ensure system reliability. Tools like Ansible, Puppet, and Chef allow SRE and DevOps to manage infrastructure efficiently and with standardized practices.

During incidents, efficient incident management and seamless communication are vital. Platforms like PagerDuty and VictorOps enable real-time alerting and collaboration among teams. Chat tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams foster cross-team communication, aiding SRE and DevOps in collectively resolving issues.

Conclusion

The convergence of SRE and DevOps orchestrates an exquisite symphony, harmonizing reliability, scalability, and agility. This fusion, intertwining SRE’s system stability and incident mastery with DevOps’ collaborative automation, begets heightened reliability, swifter deployments, and elevated customer elation. Embracing this potent alliance heralds the genesis of resilient and efficient systems amid the relentless rhythms of modern technology.

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Personalization platforms are a new must-have for all businesses, but sometimes they look like a Christmas tree covered with decorations. To help everyone who has experienced this pain, here is a how-to guide for choosing a retail personalization platform.

In this article, I will share my opinion about why marketing personalization has become so popular, what principles should be followed when choosing a personalization platform, and what a typical decision tree might look like.

Why marketing personalization is so popular

Nobody likes spam and unnecessary offers. However, spam, robotexts, and robocalls will increase dramatically in 2023. If a store makes marketing at least a bit more human by remembering previous purchases and personalized messages, the customers’ attitude towards it changes. This approach is often called “human2human marketing” or “marketing with a human face.” This means: do not spam; do not pressure a buyer; help them make an informed choice based on personalization.

Below is the data I’ve collected on the added revenue from personalized campaigns among Mindbox clients. The dark green bar is the lowest added revenue among the companies in a particular industry. The light green bar is the highest one.

For example, newsletter personalization can add 3-16% in revenue among retailers selling home goods and furniture.

When brands realized the potential of personalization, the marketing tech sector exploded.

The number of martech companies increased from 150 in 2011 to 9.9 thousand in 2022.

There are now so many viable technologies to pick from, each with its own functions and merits.

So, how do you choose the right personalization technologies without losing your mind

Marketing personalization (automation) technology is a complex tool. Be ready for the fact that the preparation and selection of a platform will take longer than implementation.

Here are my top five tips for successful implementation:

1. Formulate the implementation goal: a metric of success and expectations for it. Decide who will use the tool and if such people are in your company.
2. Describe examples of scenarios for using the technology.
3. Decide if you need customer data integration.
4. Estimate the speed of implementation and changes.
5. Estimate the ROI.

Principle 1. Formulate a metric of success and outline your expectations for it

The goal of platform implementation is the most important. If your team cannot agree on a clearly defined goal, you’ll never reach success. So it’s better to postpone the purchase of automation technology until everyone is aligned. Strong goals include success metrics, timelines, and a chain of responsibility that everyone agrees on.

Essential points about the metric

• Agree on the method of calculation. Make sure that it is challenging to simulate its achievement without seeing real benefits.
• Formulate expectations for the metric. A metric without expectations doesn’t work.

For example, the team implements a website personalization technology and makes a statement about success: Conversion has increased by 0.5%. What is this measured against? Is this a large or small amount?

Examples of bad or ineffective metrics

• Revenue growth from an email channel measured by Google Analytics’ last-click attribution model

This metric is easy to inflate: improve the campaign design and the number of emails sent. Sometimes this is precisely what is hidden behind flashy terms like “growth hacking.” You will receive more orders attributed to the email channel using this metric.

The reason for the apparent growth in this case is traffic redistribution. Customers will often visit the website using a link from an email with a new design rather than typing a URL or using a search engine.

The changes may not affect the turnover and marginality of the business.

• Share of customers who are members of the loyalty program or a higher average order value from members of the loyalty program

Real-life example: A chain of canteens inside business centers has implemented a loyalty program. Both metrics show excellent growth, but the company’s turnover and revenue are not increasing. Why is this happening?

The problem is that no new customers have appeared in the canteens since people from the outside simply cannot get there. The same employees from the same business centers continue to go to the canteens that they used to go to before. Only now, the audience has been divided into layers—people who spent more money registered in the loyalty program first. As a result, both metrics look rather good.

The number of program participants is growing, and the average check per participant is higher than for ordinary customers. However, there are no real benefits for the business. Moreover, there are drawbacks. The marginality of sales fell because regular customers began to buy at a discount.

Look at examples of good metrics

The examples below qualify as good measurements because it’s easy to quantify the results and challenging to inflate or misrepresent them.

• Revenue or margin growth

United Colors of Benetton used this metric and looked at segment creation, increase in conversions and average order value to measure progress. INCANTO looked at automated recommendations based on consumer behavior to track this.

• Decreasing costs

Reducing the company’s workload is the primary thing that affects this metric, as shown in the cases of Burger King and Olant. Another factor that impacts these results is reducing total marketing costs, see United Colors of Benetton.

• Increasing transparency and rate of change

Here, the use of control groups and the number of new monthly campaigns are the two main factors that can influence this goal. Flower delivery service Blossom Flower Delivery leveraged both of these to get real, quantifiable data to improve their processes.

Examples of well-defined goals

Examples of ineffective goals

Such goals in practice can mean that the team or a particular marketer does not really understand what to do.

Principle 2. Describe use cases

Are you familiar with the situation in the table below?

This is a classic situation when a large company tries to compare several technologies. Sometimes completely different ones. A giant table is created, sometimes containing several hundred lines, where different departments enter their functionality “wish list.”

Unfortunately, the final decision about which platform to use is often left to the people who are either too busy or unqualified. As a result, they fill out comparative tables based on shallow information like basic presentations or site descriptions. Sometimes they even ask contractors to fill out the tables for them.

However, even in a best-case scenario where everyone is qualified, does great research and creates a high-quality table, there’s still a high probability that it won’t lead to a good choice.

Business Examples of Well Define Goals and Metrics

Imagine you are an advanced marketer: You want to build RFM segments and launch targeted campaigns and promotions based on them. This requires technology, so you decide to do a side-by-side comparison of platforms that each perform very different overall functions:

• One is a gateway for email campaigns;
• Another is a niche technology, such as a big data trigger service;
• The third is a marketing automation system.

When you look at the line “Ability to send campaigns by RFM segments,” all three are marked “yes.” Thus, at first glance, it seems the question of choice comes down to price.

However, there’s a problem: What did they really mean by “Yes?”

1. The specialists presenting the gateway for email campaigns assumed that you would collect data on your side, clean it up, segment it, then send a list of email addresses, newsletter templates, and related data to the gateway for each segment.
2. Colleagues from the big data trigger platform meant they would utilize their programmers according to your wishes, e.g., writing a code that segments data and sends campaigns.
3. The employees of the marketing automation platform meant that their task was to provide a user-friendly design interface in which your marketer would build segments and launch campaigns with a manager who would help integrate and use the platform.

Therefore, you need to decide whether a particular technology suits you based on an assessment of use cases and not on functionality comparisons.

What if you formulate the “wish list” in the form of a workflow

Workflow 1: Our programmers developed a system that counts RFM. I just want to email address lists corresponding to the desired segments.

Solution: An inexpensive email gateway is better suited for the workflow.

Workflow 2: I want to try making targeted campaigns for RFM segments, but I don’t really understand what effect it will give or how it should be done, and I definitely won’t do it by myself.

Solution: You need an agency or a niche service that will quickly and cheaply do everything for you ‒ with a certain degree of transparency.

Workflow 3: I regularly recalculate and edit RFMs. The segment is used for email, SMS, mobile push notifications, and promotions. Each time a new marketing mechanic is launched takes a lot of time from analysts and programmers; it just doesn’t make sense!

Solution: An automation platform is needed here.

A list of workflows (future marketing campaigns) is critically important for making a conscious choice.

Ask potential candidate platforms to do the following:

• Evaluate workflows that are important to you and show implementation in each platform (for example, in a trial version). This way you will understand which product is suitable for your tasks. After, you can filter out companies that cannot help you conveniently or effectively reach your goals.
• Provide contacts of three to five companies (ideally from your industry) that have already implemented similar workflows on the chosen platform. Make sure that your needs are likely to be achieved based on their experience.

I have also prepared a list of essential things to consider when choosing an automation platform.

Principle 3. Think about data integration

Companies that sell their products across online and offline outlets or use several different channels of communication with their customers face a problem called “data integration.”

Customer information is spread piecemeal across several systems and databases, often with considerable overlap.

Buyers’ personal data, behavioral data, purchase history, and promotional points are stored in any or all of the following locations:

• The accounting system of retail points of sale;
• The website database;
• The platform for managing commodity promotions and bonus points;
• The CRM.
• Email services: campaigns, open rate, click rate, emails;
• Gateways: SMS, push notifications with similar data;
• The website: views of products and categories, cart, tags;
• Google Analytics: traffic sources, sessions, tags;
• Call center systems;
• Niche personalization services: your own specific pieces of data.

Synchronization of all of this is not a trivial exercise

First, you have to cleanse and unify customer data. This process should consider possible errors and typos in the full name, cities, and addresses, and the confirmation of contact information (email and phone number). It must also be secure so that when combining the two records, access to the account with the loyalty program bonus points does not get into another person’s hands.

Next, relevant information from different systems should be collected, classified, and merged around this “cleansed” record, e.g., what product a person clicked on in the email, what they looked at on the website, what they bought in the end, how much it cost, how they used bonus points, and so on.

Changing data for a specific person

Ideally, when changing data for a specific person, it is necessary to recalculate the segments they were previously placed in and use common sense when changing communications tactics. For example, after combining duplicates in the database, two supposedly different customers who made a single purchase may now be a single loyal customer with a much higher average order value. This is good news for you, but you do not want to immediately send them an email with promotions and discounts on expensive goods if they received completely different offers to one of their accounts before that.

All of this should work in real-time on large amounts of data (hundreds of millions of events for an average retailer), and it should be possible to manage external systems such as gateways or website personalization technologies.

Data cleansing

Data cleansing and unification (and its sequences for business) is a complex thing from a technical, marketing, and business point of view. Because of this, data integration and systems often don’t receive the attention needed. Instead, businesses simultaneously buy and launch separate niche personalization services, which leads to chaos.

All of the above systems should coexist in harmony with one another

Do you regularly face the following situations?

• You get an offer to buy something at a promotional price, but when you click on the link, you find out, “Oh, this promotion is not available for online customers.”
• You cannot use bonus points from the loyalty program on the website.
• You receive campaigns promoting products that are out of stock, or the prices in the email don’t correspond to the actual ones.
• The store is chasing you with retargeting and social media ads, even though you’ve already bought the product from the store.
• You receive conflicting offers in different channels: for example, a discount in an email, and at the same time a “buy one, get one free” (BOGO) campaign via SMS.

All these are different manifestations of “integration chaos.”

Algorithms

The second, less obvious consequence of ignoring the importance of data is how it affects the usefulness of the algorithms, big data, and neural networks that so many rely on. Algorithms and big data are susceptible to data quality. If you feed them with fragmented and unclean data, the results will be fragmented, messy, and unusable.

The highest efficiency of automated product recommendations, for example, from Amazon, is associated with a large array of uniform, clean, and reliable data that the retailer has collected for many years.

Data integration is the cornerstone of meaningful and effective personal marketing. Without it, there is no point in investing in personalization tools – the result will likely be random.

The problem of effective data integration is so essential that a separate class of platforms to solve this problem was created: the CDP, or customer data platform. In the United States, the market for such systems is one of the fastest-growing, with the CDP Institute forecasting CDP industry revenue will reach $2.3 billion in 2023.

Therefore, if you are:

• A company with online and offline points of sale;
• Using several channels of communication with customers;
• Building a complex, personalized communication, and discount scheme;
• Planning to actively use big data algorithms;

Data integration is essential

Be sure to take time to evaluate the CDP functionality on the platforms you are going to choose. Information on how to consider your options can be taken from this file.

As for interesting resources that talk about CDP (and where there is a directory of platforms, for example), I recommend cdpinstitute.org.

One of the relatively new trends in this industry is the emergence of integrated Customer Engagement Platforms (such as Mindbox). Platforms solve not only the problem of centralizing data, but also include marketing engagement tools. Such a products can significantly reduce the cost of marketing technology and accelerate the marketing team’s productivity by streamlining time-to-market hypotheses and new workflows.

Principle 4: Evaluate the speed of implementation and change – TTM

Time-to-market (ТТМ) is a metric of the speed o f implementation and the “ease” of managing changes in the solution.

One of the largest companies in Eastern Europe uses a German enterprise marketing management system. The transactional email the brand’s online store sends after placing an order is simple text, very primitive, and without any kind of personalization. As we now know, the reason for this is not poor marketing.

To personalize this email, the platform needs to be improved. However, modifications can only be purchased from a system integrator company. The approximate work estimate is $44,000 with a six-month lead time.

Time-to-market changes in the example above are not acceptable.

Unfortunately, this is a classic situation with implementing enterprise solutions according to a technical assignment. One person made the decision, the technical assignment was written by someone else, and a third person implemented these decisions.

Ultimately, specialists who have to use the implementation results find themselves alone with a clumsy monster that has lagged behind the real state of affairs for a couple of years and an integrator company that builds its business on change requests.

The ability to adapt

One of the most critical aspects of personalized marketing is the ability to adapt quickly.  Fashion retailer 12 STOREEZ provides an excellent example of this approach by frequently conducting A/B tests to improve engagement and key metrics. For instance, one test revealed that addressing customers by name in push notifications did not enhance their response rates, contrary to the team’s prior assumptions.

Marketers should be free to take independent action without relying too much on IT, analysts, approval processes, or work plans. This enables them to pivot quickly and seize opportunities as they arise.

RFM segment example

Let’s go back to the RFM segment example and try to understand how it can influence the choice in terms of TTM changes.

The first situation: RFM is calculated by internal development; an email gateway sends newsletters

• To change the logic, you must involve developers: ticket, technical assignment, deadlines, money, project management.
• Pain and suffering

The second situation: RFM is programmed somewhere within a niche solution like a big data trigger service or implemented by an agency

• Changes cost time and money;
• Fast but not flexible;
• The cycle of change is relatively slow;
• Not always transparent;
• Acceptable with restrictions.

The third situation: Marketing Automation Platform

• The logic is rebuilt in the platform interface in just a few minutes;
• A smart marketer is needed (surprise!);
• The fastest, most transparent, and flexible way to manage changes;
• More expensive if we compare only the price of the technology without taking into account the costs of development, project management, etc.

Principle 5. Estimate ROI

So, we have completed all of the previous steps: We formulated a goal and expectations for it,  developed a preliminary scenario and chosen a suitable platform (including CDP) with an acceptable TTM for implementation and changes. We now have to assess ROI.

To estimate ROI

• Summarize expectations by implementation metrics (revenue, savings, speed);
• Estimate costs for platform and integration resources;
• Estimate the costs of people who will use the platform and help achieve the result;

I believe it is risky to implement technologies with integration time frames of six months or longer before any chance of seeing benefits or with a return horizon of more than a year.

This is because:

• By the time the implementation is ready, the current use cases are likely to change significantly.
• There is a high risk of changing the marketing team, potentially bringing a radical new approach. During the trial period, a new team is unlikely to want to deal with a large and complex legacy project from the previous team.
• If the integration assessment period for launching the first scenario is several months, then expect surprises. Most likely, the implementation period delays at least twice (this is not a joke).

Bad example of estimated ROI

One of our clients, a mid-sized retail company, has been trying to implement a marketing automation platform for the second year in a row.

• After the start of implementation, it turned out that they underestimated the amount of data integration work that the retailer had to do on its own. As a result, the customer’s development team has been working for almost a year.
• During the integration period, the retailer’s costs increased. This is because there is a need to pay for both the integrated platform and the current services.

The direct and indirect switching costs start from $500,000 to a million or more.

From an outside perspective, this is a symptom of an insufficiently developed implementation solution.

On the other hand, it may well turn out that there is a plan. For example, to use the platform to increase site conversion by 2%. Then, the economy of implementation will most likely look very good.

A good example of the estimate of ROI

A company that completed all the steps listed above is Blossom Flower:

• The team set out clear goals: launch direct marketing communications, set up automated reminders for existing customers, and acquire new leads using pop-ups.
• The marketing department proposed workflows and ideas. After they implemented it during a demo, they also assessed integration risks.
• The team assessed the chosen platform to ensure sufficient data integration functionality for their goals.
• Calculated ROI.

Results

• 426% ROI within the first five weeks
• Nine workflows with 38 automated campaigns launched, along with behavior-based lead capture pop-ups
• +200,000 “lost” customers

Decision tree:

Step-by-step scheme for decision-making and technology choice

Final thought

Choosing the right personalization platform for retail marketing can be a daunting task. With so many technologies available and each one offering different features and benefits, it can be challenging to determine which one is the best for your business.

However, by following the right principles and taking the necessary steps to prepare for implementation, you can ensure a successful outcome. This includes setting clear implementation goals and metrics, defining use cases for the technology, integrating and cleansing data, evaluating the speed of implementation and changes, and estimating the ROI.

Ultimately, personalization can greatly benefit your business. Provide proper marketing that doesn’t spam or pressure buyers, increasing revenue, customer loyalty, engagement, and satisfaction.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Canva Studio; Pexels; Thank you!

The post How to Choose Marketing Personalization Technologies Without Overwhelming Yourself appeared first on ReadWrite.

In today’s fast-paced digital world, businesses must stay competitive to make their marketing efforts more effective. Keeping up with technological advancements and trends is crucial for maximizing marketing success. Marketing automation is a game-changing tool in achieving this, revolutionizing how companies engage with their audience.

By harnessing sophisticated software solutions, marketing automation empowers organizations to streamline processes, enhance customer experiences, and drive growth. This article explores the realm of marketing automation, specifically emphasizing SaaS marketing automation and the prevailing trends shaping the industry.

Understanding Marketing Automation

Marketing automation utilizes technology and software platforms to automate and optimize marketing tasks and workflows. It enables businesses to deliver personalized, targeted messages to their audience at the optimal time, across multiple channels, thereby enhancing customer engagement and boosting conversion rates.

1. The Surge of SaaS Marketing Automation

SaaS marketing automation platforms have witnessed impressive growth in recent years. Unlike conventional software, SaaS solutions operate on the cloud, providing businesses with enhanced flexibility, scalability, and accessibility. Let’s delve into the key benefits of leveraging SaaS marketing automation.

2. Simplified Implementation and Integration

SaaS marketing automation tools are typically straightforward to implement and integrate with existing systems, eliminating the need for extensive IT support or infrastructure investments.

SaaS solutions have gained significant popularity among businesses of all sizes owing to their cost-effectiveness. These platforms typically employ a subscription-based pricing model, which offers substantial advantages in terms of affordability and budget management. By opting for SaaS marketing automation, businesses can access powerful tools and features without incurring hefty upfront costs, making it a financially feasible choice that delivers value and maximizes return on investment.

This allows companies to access powerful marketing automation capabilities without incurring substantial upfront costs associated with traditional software.

3. Scalability and Flexibility

SaaS platforms provide scalability, enabling businesses to adjust their marketing automation capabilities as their needs evolve. This freedom to operate and leverage valuable resources from anywhere and at any time brings unparalleled convenience and agility to marketing professionals, enabling them to stay connected and responsive in today’s fast-paced business environment.

Key Trends in Marketing Automation

In today’s digital landscape, consumers expect personalized experiences. Marketing automation increasingly focuses on delivering tailored content, product recommendations, and offers to meet these expectations. Marketers can create hyper-targeted campaigns by leveraging customer data and behavior patterns, fostering stronger relationships, and driving customer loyalty.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Harnessing the Potential

Embracing Omnichannel Marketing

Marketers are adopting an omnichannel approach due to digital channels. They aim for consistent messaging across multiple touchpoints. Marketing automation platforms help integrate campaigns across various channels. Channels include email, social media, and SMS. This enables businesses to engage customers wherever they are.

Integration with Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Integration between marketing automation and CRM systems has become paramount for businesses seeking to optimize their marketing and sales alignment. By connecting these two systems, organizations can track customer interactions, nurture leads, and deliver personalized experiences throughout the customer journey, ultimately driving revenue growth.

Empowering Enhanced Reporting and Analytics

Robust reporting and analytics capabilities within marketing automation platforms are crucial in measuring campaign performance, identifying trends, and making data-driven decisions. Advanced analytics provide marketers with actionable insights into audience engagement, conversion rates, and ROI, enabling continuous optimization and campaign refinement.

Conclusion

Marketing automation continues to shape how businesses interact with their audience and drive revenue growth. SaaS marketing automation platforms have brought enhanced accessibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness to the table. Personalization, AI, omnichannel marketing, CRM integration, and advanced analytics are emerging as key trends as the industry evolves. By embracing these trends, companies can unlock the full potential of marketing automation and stay ahead of the competition.

While AI assistance was used in generating this article, it is essential to note that it aims to provide high-quality, human-like content that addresses the requested topic. The intention is to assist and supplement human creativity, rather than replace it entirely.

Featured Image Credit: Provided by the Author; Thank you!

The post Maximizing Marketing Success: The Power of SaaS Marketing Automation appeared first on ReadWrite.

The software as a service industry has become integral to how successful organizations run their business. SaaS has repeatedly proven useful, enabling businesses to manage accounting, procurement, risk management, and more from one cohesive platform. The result is organizational consistency that provides value to customers and gives companies a competitive market advantage.

The Wide SaaS Net is Hard to Calculate Cost and Value

SaaS pricing is a complex and challenging process that needs to consider several factors, including market segmentation, security, and IT infrastructure requirements.

Organizations in the SaaS business may struggle to correctly price their solutions and effectively communicate the reasons for those prices to prospective clients.

The Importance of Finding a Pricing Sweet Spot

In this industry, pricing is a delicate balancing act. Too low, and you risk overextending your resources. Too high, and you price yourself out of the competition. But the path to finding your pricing Goldilocks is far from simple and requires juggling many different considerations.

Customers, regulators, and competitors all play a role in SaaS pricing, as does the evolution of technology itself. Artificial intelligence, for example, is already changing the game in terms of what SaaS companies can offer and what clients are looking for. It’s not just these myriad factors that influence pricing either. Your particular priorities will be different depending on the pricing strategy you choose to pursue.

Common Pricing Strategies SaaS Companies Should Consider

While the most common strategy — and the one you’re already likely familiar with — is user-based pricing, it isn’t necessarily the best approach for your business. To ensure you’re making the right pricing decisions for your organization, you must get familiar with all the techniques you can pursue and the pros and cons of each.

1. Value-Based Pricing

This is a customer-centric approach used by companies such as Adobe and HootSuite. It bases the price on the value a solution brings to clients. Value-based pricing can highlight how you outshine your competitors regarding features and functionality and boost a client’s emotional attachment to your services. Value-based pricing can open the door to customers paying a premium for your products, leading to more significant profits.

However, if you choose to go this route, you must know that you’ll face increased competition in a smaller market. Since not everyone can afford the prices that come with a value-based model, you’ll have a smaller target audience — one that will be highly sought after, given their ability to pay higher prices.

2. Competition-Based Pricing

Popular among newer SaaS companies, competition-based pricing is exactly what it sounds like. It looks at what competitors charge for similar products and uses that as the basis for pricing decisions. By knowing what your competitors are charging, you’ll better understand where your product should stand in the market.

You can choose to match competitors’ prices or charge more and highlight where you go above and beyond. You might also want to go the other direction and undercut the competition’s pricing to aggressively build a customer base. The competition-based pricing strategy is less risky and more straightforward than other options, but it isn’t necessarily a good long-term solution. Make sure not to rely too much on what your competitors are charging. Otherwise, you might make the same mistakes they do while failing to differentiate yourself in the market.

3. Feature-Based Pricing

Feature-based pricing and value-based pricing are similar; they spotlight the features your particular solution brings to the table. This à la carte approach also makes it easy for your clients to pay for only what they want, providing an efficient and budget-friendly alternative to subscription and usage-based models.

However, this strategy can be challenging to keep track of on a large scale, making the billing process somewhat of a convoluted nightmare for your business. You could end up either undercharging or overcharging customers. A feature-based approach also doesn’t necessarily communicate the full value of your offer, potentially centering your business as a budget brand rather than a premium one.

Customers Need to Feel Like They’re Getting a Fair Price

Whatever pricing strategy you choose, it’s crucial never to forget how the customer feels about your pricing. If your clients think they’re not getting enough value out of what they’re paying, or if they’re paying for more features than they need, chances are you’ll end up with one less customer.

However, if you can strike the right balance between your business’s needs and your client’s desires, you’ll reach the right price point.

Featured Image Credit: Tima Miroshnichenko; Pexels; Thank you!

The post To Understand SaaS Costs, You Must Know What Goes Into It appeared first on ReadWrite.

Micro Focus, a UK-based IT software vendor and consultancy, made headlines when Canadian enterprise technology giant OpenText acquired it for a staggering $6 billion. The deal, which closed on January 31, has raised questions about the future of Micro Focus’s extensive patent portfolio and its potential impact on the intellectual property landscape. In this article, we will delve into the details of the acquisition, explore the significance of Micro Focus’s departure from the LOT Network, and discuss the potential implications for OpenText and the wider industry.

In August 2022, OpenText announced its plans to acquire Micro Focus, a move aimed at diversifying its product suite and solidifying its position in the market. With Micro Focus’s assets, OpenText sought to expand its offerings and become a more comprehensive solution provider for its customers. The acquisition presented an opportunity for OpenText to tap into Micro Focus’s extensive patent portfolio, which it had amassed over almost five decades through a combination of internal research and development and strategic acquisitions.

Micro Focus’s patent portfolio includes a wide range of technologies and innovations, from machine learning-based network device profiling to blockchain-based transaction methods. These patents, obtained through years of investment and development, have the potential to generate significant value and give OpenText a competitive edge in the market.

One aspect that adds complexity to the situation is Micro Focus’s membership in the LOT Network, an organization dedicated to protecting its members from patent assertion entities (PAEs), commonly called “patent trolls.” By joining the LOT Network, companies commit to cross-license their patents, ensuring that PAEs cannot use them for litigation or licensing purposes. This arrangement provides a level of protection for member companies and fosters an environment of collaboration and innovation.

However, Micro Focus’s impending departure from the LOT Network raises concerns about the fate of its patents. Once it officially exits the network, OpenText will have the freedom to utilize these patents as it sees fit. While OpenText is not a PAE itself, there is a possibility that it may choose to sell the patents to a third party, including a PAE. This raises the prospect of future litigation or licensing activities involving these patents.

OpenText has a history of patent litigation, having been involved in numerous cases over the years. While the company primarily generates revenue through its technology solutions, it has not shied away from asserting its patent rights when necessary. This aggressive approach to patent licensing has drawn criticism from some industry observers, who have accused OpenText of behaving like a patent troll.

Given OpenText’s track record and its acquisition of Micro Focus’s patent portfolio, it is reasonable to assume that the company has a specific plan in mind for these patents. The decision to withdraw Micro Focus from the LOT Network suggests that OpenText intends to use the patents strategically, potentially for litigation purposes. However, pursuing patent litigation can be costly and comes with inherent risks, including uncertainty and potential damage to a company’s reputation.

Alternatively, OpenText may choose to sell some of the patents to a third party, such as a PAE. This could help reduce the administrative costs associated with maintaining a large patent portfolio while also generating additional revenue. However, such a move would expose the patents to potential litigation or licensing activities by the acquiring entity, which may have implications for other companies in the industry.

OpenText’s acquisition of Micro Focus for $6 billion has raised questions about the future of Micro Focus’s patent portfolio and its potential impact on the intellectual property landscape. As Micro Focus prepares to exit the LOT Network, the fate of its patents remains uncertain. OpenText, known for its aggressive patent licensing approach, may choose to assert or sell these patents to a third party, including a PAE. The implications of these decisions could have far-reaching consequences for OpenText, the wider industry, and the ongoing battle against patent trolls.

While the specifics of OpenText’s plans are still unknown, it is clear that the acquisition of Micro Focus has significantly bolstered OpenText’s patent trove. The company’s actions in recent years, combined with its extensive patent portfolio, suggest that patent litigation is a distinct possibility. However, these developments’ ultimate outcome and impact will only become apparent in the coming months and years.

As the industry awaits further updates, companies need to stay informed and prepared for any potential changes in the IP landscape. The acquisition of Micro Focus by OpenText serves as a reminder of the importance of proactive IP management and the need to navigate the complex world of patents with diligence and strategic foresight.

First reported on TechCrunch

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the significance of Micro Focus’s acquisition by OpenText?

OpenText’s acquisition of Micro Focus for $6 billion aims to diversify its product suite and strengthen its position in the market by tapping into Micro Focus’s extensive patent portfolio and innovative technologies.

2. What does Micro Focus’s patent portfolio comprise?

Micro Focus’s patent portfolio encompasses a wide range of technologies and innovations, including machine learning-based network device profiling and blockchain-based transaction methods, acquired over nearly five decades.

3. What is the LOT Network, and how does it relate to Micro Focus’s patents?

The LOT Network is an organization that protects member companies from patent assertion entities (PAEs) or “patent trolls” by cross-licensing their patents. Micro Focus’s impending departure from the LOT Network raises questions about the fate of its patents and their potential use by OpenText.

4. How might OpenText utilize Micro Focus’s patents after the acquisition?

OpenText’s history of patent litigation suggests that the company may assert Micro Focus’s patents itself. Alternatively, OpenText may choose to sell some of the patents, including to a PAE, to generate additional revenue or reduce administrative costs.

5. What are the potential implications of OpenText’s actions regarding the patents?

OpenText’s decisions regarding Micro Focus’s patents could lead to patent litigation or licensing activities, which may have far-reaching consequences for OpenText, other companies in the industry, and the ongoing battle against patent trolls.

6. How can other companies prepare for potential changes in the IP landscape?

Other companies in the industry should stay informed and proactive in their IP management strategies to navigate the complex world of patents and potential changes resulting from the acquisition. Diligence and strategic foresight will be crucial in this regard.

7. What does the future hold for Micro Focus’s patents and OpenText’s patent trove?

The specifics of OpenText’s plans for Micro Focus’s patents are currently unknown, but the acquisition has significantly bolstered OpenText’s patent trove. The impact of these developments will become apparent in the coming months and years as OpenText’s actions unfold.

8. How important is proactive IP management in the tech industry?

Proactive IP management is of utmost importance in the tech industry, as it allows companies to protect their innovations, navigate patent complexities, and respond strategically to changes in the IP landscape.

9. What are the potential risks associated with patent litigation for OpenText?

Patent litigation can be costly, uncertain, and may damage a company’s reputation. OpenText must carefully weigh the risks and benefits of asserting or selling Micro Focus’s patents to third parties.

10. What can we learn from this acquisition about the dynamic nature of the IP landscape?

The Micro Focus acquisition by OpenText underscores the dynamic nature of the IP landscape and the importance of staying adaptive and prepared for changes resulting from strategic business moves and patent troves.

Featured Image Credit: Markus Winkler; Unsplash; Thank you!

The post Micro Focus Acquisition Could Spark IP Lawsuits appeared first on ReadWrite.

First reported on The Verge

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is GitHub Copilot Chat, and how does it differ from GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot Chat is an AI-powered code-centric chatbot and an evolution of GitHub Copilot, the code completion tool. While GitHub Copilot offered code suggestions based on context, Copilot Chat takes it a step further by providing real-time guidance, code analysis, concept explanations, and troubleshooting assistance, all integrated within the developer’s preferred Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

Q. How does Copilot Chat offer real-time guidance to developers?

As developers type code into their IDE, Copilot Chat continuously analyzes the context and offers tailored suggestions and prompts to streamline the coding process. This real-time guidance allows developers to execute complex tasks with ease, resulting in significant time savings.

Q. How does Copilot Chat analyze and explain complex coding concepts?

Copilot Chat possesses a deep understanding of the code being written and the surrounding context within the IDE. When developers encounter unfamiliar code or complex coding concepts, they can turn to Copilot Chat for detailed explanations and insights. Copilot Chat equips developers with the knowledge and understanding to navigate through challenging coding scenarios.

Q. How does Copilot Chat simplify the debugging process?

Copilot Chat assists in the debugging process by analyzing error messages and code snippets to pinpoint potential issues and suggest solutions. This feature expedites the debugging process, enhances overall code quality, and improves code reliability.

Q. How does Copilot Chat democratize coding expertise?

Copilot Chat’s capabilities enable developers of varying skill levels to accomplish complex coding tasks efficiently. Even inexperienced developers can leverage Copilot Chat to build applications or debug extensive codebases within minutes, fostering accelerated software development and increased innovation within organizations.

Q. What are GitHub’s plans for further enhancing Copilot Chat’s capabilities?

GitHub intends to integrate “Hey, GitHub!” voice-to-code interactions into the software, known as Copilot X. This will provide developers with an alternative mode of interaction, allowing them to execute tasks and receive guidance through voice commands. The specific timeline for this feature’s release is yet to be announced, but GitHub’s dedication to continuous improvement ensures further enhancements in the near future.

Q. How can developers access GitHub Copilot Chat?

GitHub Copilot Chat is available as a limited public beta for all business users. Enterprise companies and organizations can access this feature via Microsoft’s Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code apps. By providing Copilot Chat to business users, GitHub aims to empower development teams and boost productivity across organizations of all sizes.

Featured Image Credit: Unsplash

The post GitHub Copilot Chat: The AI That Could Make You a Better Programmer appeared first on ReadWrite.

A fatal crash involving a 2018 Tesla Model 3 in California has prompted the NHTSA to launch a new special crash investigation. Experts believe that high-tech safety features contributed to the crash. The last special crash investigation into a Tesla vehicle accident was in March, so this one follows on the heels of several others.

Twenty people have died in crashes where advanced driver assistance systems like Autopilot were suspected, leading the NHTSA to open more than three dozen special crash investigations involving Tesla vehicles since 2016. A fatal California crash involving a Tesla Model S prompted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to launch a new special investigation in February. There was speculation that a high-tech driver assistance system had been used.

Several fatal accidents have involved Teslas, and many of them involved assisted driving technology. A driver using Autopilot on his Tesla Model S crashed into a semi-truck in Florida in May 2016, killing the driver instantly. A fatal accident occurred in March 2018 in California involving an Autopilot-enabled Tesla Model X.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opens more than a hundred special crash investigations each year into new technologies and other potential auto safety issues, some of which have led to the creation of regulations for things like airbags. The federal agency’s defect investigation into 830,000 Tesla vehicles with driver assistance system Autopilot and crashes with parked emergency vehicles like fire trucks was upgraded to an engineering analysis in June 2021. The government agency couldn’t demand a recall until that happened.

Some experts have criticized Tesla’s Autopilot system, saying that the company hasn’t done enough to make sure drivers know its limitations. The company insists that its system is meant to aid drivers, not replace them.

In the wake of fatal accidents involving Tesla vehicles, the company has revised its Autopilot system in a number of ways. The company released an update in 2016 that mandated drivers’ hands must remain on the wheel at all times. A new 2019 Tesla feature, “Navigate on Autopilot,” allows the car to switch lanes and exit highways without any input from the driver.

In conclusion, the NHTSA’s probe into the fatal California Tesla crash is the latest in a series of such probes into accidents involving Tesla vehicles. Although the company has made improvements to the Autopilot system as a result of these mishaps, concerns remain about the system’s suitability for use on public roads.

For the time being, Tesla owners should use caution when operating their vehicles with the Autopilot system engaged. Keep your hands on the wheel at all times, and be ready to take control of the vehicle if necessary. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is currently investigating the fatal crash and will likely release additional details about the accident’s cause and potential preventative measures at a later date.

First reported on Economic Times

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What has prompted the NHTSA to launch a special crash investigation into a fatal Tesla Model 3 crash in California?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has initiated a special crash investigation into a fatal crash involving a 2018 Tesla Model 3 in California due to the concerns surrounding high-tech safety features in the vehicle. The crash has raised questions about the role of Tesla’s Autopilot system, an advanced driver assistance system, in the incident. Given the potential implications of such technology in automotive safety, the NHTSA has taken the initiative to thoroughly examine the circumstances and determine any contributing factors to the tragic accident.

Q. How many special crash investigations involving Tesla vehicles have been conducted by the NHTSA?

The NHTSA has undertaken more than three dozen special crash investigations involving Tesla vehicles since 2016, signifying a considerable level of interest and scrutiny on the safety performance and reliability of Tesla’s vehicles. These investigations were prompted by concerns about advanced driver assistance systems, particularly Tesla’s Autopilot feature, which has been linked to several fatal accidents.

Q. What were some of the fatal accidents involving Tesla vehicles and assisted driving technology?

Several fatal accidents involving Tesla vehicles have been associated with the use of assisted driving technology, most notably the Autopilot feature. For example, a Tesla Model S using Autopilot crashed into a semi-truck in Florida in May 2016, resulting in the driver’s death. Another fatal accident occurred in March 2018 in California, involving an Autopilot-enabled Tesla Model X. Furthermore, a recent tragic incident in Florida involving a Tesla Model 3 and a semi-truck has raised further concerns about the safety of the Autopilot system.

Q. What actions has Tesla taken to address concerns about its Autopilot system?

In response to concerns and accidents related to its Autopilot system, Tesla has taken measures to enhance safety and user awareness. In 2016, the company updated the Autopilot system to include a mandatory requirement for drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times while using the feature. This update aimed to ensure that drivers remain actively engaged and ready to take control of the vehicle if necessary. Additionally, Tesla introduced the “Navigate on Autopilot” feature in 2019, enabling the vehicle to autonomously switch lanes and exit highways, but still requiring driver supervision.

Q. What are some concerns and criticisms about Tesla’s Autopilot system?

Despite Tesla’s efforts to promote the Autopilot system as a driver assistance tool, there have been concerns and criticisms from experts and safety advocates. One major criticism is that the company may not have adequately communicated the system’s limitations to users. As a result, some drivers might place excessive trust in the system, assuming it can handle all driving tasks, which could lead to potentially dangerous situations. Experts argue that clearer communication and user education are essential to ensure responsible usage of such advanced driver assistance systems.

Q. What cautionary advice is given to Tesla owners using Autopilot?

Tesla owners using the Autopilot system are advised to exercise caution and adhere to the company’s guidelines for its use. Drivers should keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times, maintain active supervision, and be prepared to take control of the vehicle whenever necessary. It is essential to remember that while Autopilot can assist with certain driving tasks, it is not a fully autonomous system and requires human oversight and intervention.

Q. What can be expected from the ongoing NHTSA investigation into the fatal California Tesla crash?

The NHTSA’s ongoing investigation into the fatal California Tesla crash will likely involve a comprehensive examination of various factors that may have contributed to the accident. This includes analyzing the vehicle’s data logs, conducting crash reconstruction, and assessing the role of the Autopilot system in the incident. The investigation aims to identify any safety issues or deficiencies in the system and, if necessary, recommend corrective actions or improvements to prevent similar accidents in the future. The findings of the investigation are likely to be shared with the public and could potentially impact the development and regulations of advanced driver assistance technologies across the automotive industry.

Featured Image Credit: Unsplash

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Two new features have been added to GitHub, the most popular software development platform in the world, to improve developer safety and efficiency. New features in GitHub’s public beta release include passkey authentication for password-free account access and a merge queue for automated branch management.

The two most common methods of account security are passwords and two-factor authentication (2FA). However, these approaches are not failsafe and can result in security holes in your accounts. In order to access your GitHub account, you no longer need a password or two-factor authentication if you use passkey authentication.

Passkeys are a more secure and trustworthy alternative to traditional passwords because they consist of a private-public key pair generated on a per-domain basis. In the words of GitHub’s staff product manager, Hirsch Sighal: “passkeys offer the strongest mix of security and reliability and make accounts significantly more secure without compromising account access, which remains an issue with other 2FA methods like SMS, TOTP, and existing single-device security keys.”

It is much more difficult for hackers to guess or phish a passkey than a traditional password. Users don’t have to remember anything, so they’re less likely to forget it and lose it. Instead, the devices do the identity verification for the user before sending them on to authenticate with the website.

A common problem for GitHub users is losing access to their accounts when their devices break or are replaced. Passkeys allow for cross-device syncing, and trustworthy passkey providers like iCloud, Dashlane, 1Password, Google, and Microsoft make this possible. These companies have set up safe methods for syncing passwords between devices and the cloud, making it impossible to lose access to your account.

With GitHub’s merge queue, multiple developers can make code commits at once, and the platform will automatically merge any pull requests that are compatible with the changes. If you have multiple pull requests in the queue, the merge queue will create a temporary branch that merges the most recent changes from the base branch with the changes from the other pull requests.

In the past, developers often went through a loop of updating their pull request branches before merging. This was essential to guarantee that merging their changes into the main code branch would not cause any issues. Each change required a new set of CI tests to be run before the developer could move forward with the merge. In addition, every developer had to start over if another pull request was merged.

The merging of code pull requests is orchestrated by merge queue to improve efficiency. Clicking “merge when ready” on the pull request page or via GitHub Mobile will add a pull request to the merge queue when it is destined for a branch that makes use of a merge queue.

When a user submits a pull request, the changes from the base branch, any other pull requests in the queue, and the user’s own pull request are all merged into a temporary branch within the queue. When a pull request reaches the front of the queue, it is automatically removed if it has merge conflicts or fails any required status checks. The user receives a notification at the same time. Once the problem has been fixed, the pull request can be resubmitted.

Instead of risking code conflicts and endless rework by merging directly onto a busy branch, GitHub provides a merge queue to handle these situations. Because of the merge queue, you won’t have to constantly run CI checks and update pull request branches. It helps to manage and streamline the development process by providing insights into the number of merged pull requests and tracking trends over the last 30 days.

In summary, passkey authentication and the merge queue are two major new features on GitHub that improve developer safety and efficiency. Passkeys provide easy-to-use and hard-to-lose passwordless and secure account access by doing away with the need for both passwords and two-factor authentication. A merge queue is a type of automated branch management system that helps to streamline the development process by systematically orchestrating the merging of code pull requests.

GitHub’s reputation as a trustworthy and user-friendly platform has been bolstered by these changes. GitHub has become a go-to for industry professionals thanks to its dedication to improving the user experience.

First reported on VentureBeat

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What are the new features added to GitHub in the public beta release?

GitHub has introduced two new features in its public beta release. The first feature is passkey authentication, which provides password-free account access through the use of private-public key pairs generated on a per-domain basis. The second feature is a merge queue, which automates branch management and allows multiple developers to make code commits simultaneously, merging compatible pull requests in a systematic manner.

Q2: How does passkey authentication work on GitHub?

Passkey authentication is a more secure alternative to traditional passwords and two-factor authentication (2FA). Instead of relying on passwords, passkeys consist of private-public key pairs generated on a per-domain basis. Passkeys are more difficult to guess or phish, making them a more secure option. Users don’t have to remember anything as the devices handle the identity verification before authenticating with the website. Passkeys also enable cross-device syncing, ensuring access to the GitHub account even when devices are replaced or broken.

Q3: What are the advantages of using passkey authentication on GitHub?

Passkey authentication offers a stronger mix of security and reliability compared to traditional 2FA methods like SMS and TOTP, as well as existing single-device security keys. It reduces the risk of compromised accounts while maintaining convenient account access. Passkeys are harder to guess or phish, and users are less likely to forget or lose them. Additionally, passkey providers like iCloud, Dashlane, 1Password, Google, and Microsoft offer safe methods for syncing passwords between devices and the cloud, ensuring users don’t lose access to their accounts.

Q4: How does the merge queue feature work on GitHub?

The merge queue feature in GitHub allows multiple developers to make code commits simultaneously, and the platform automatically merges pull requests that are compatible with the changes. When multiple pull requests are in the queue, the merge queue creates a temporary branch that combines the most recent changes from the base branch with the changes from the other pull requests. This automated process helps streamline the development workflow by reducing the need for manual updating of pull request branches and running CI tests for each change.

Q5: What issues does the merge queue on GitHub address?

The merge queue on GitHub addresses the challenges developers face when updating pull request branches and ensuring compatibility with the main code branch. Previously, developers had to go through a loop of updating their pull request branches and running CI tests to avoid potential conflicts. If another pull request was merged, developers had to start over. The merge queue eliminates these issues by managing the merging of pull requests in a systematic manner, reducing the risk of code conflicts and streamlining the development process.

Q6: How do passkey authentication and the merge queue improve developer safety and efficiency on GitHub?

Passkey authentication enhances developer safety by providing a more secure and reliable account access method. It eliminates the vulnerabilities associated with traditional passwords and certain 2FA methods. The merge queue improves efficiency by automating branch management, allowing multiple developers to work simultaneously, and systematically merging pull requests. It reduces the need for manual branch updates and CI tests, making the development process more streamlined and productive.

Q7: How do these new features contribute to GitHub’s reputation and user experience?

These new features contribute to GitHub’s reputation as a trustworthy and user-friendly platform. By introducing passkey authentication, GitHub addresses security concerns and offers an easy-to-use and hard-to-lose passwordless access method. The merge queue feature enhances the development experience by simplifying branch management and providing insights into merged pull requests. GitHub’s dedication to improving user experience and introducing innovative features has solidified its position as the most popular software development platform in the world.

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