# SoftTeco

> SoftTeco provides custom software development services to enterprise clients worldwide and consistently delivers outstanding quality of software products.


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### Cybersecurity Audit Checklist 2025

Every year, cyber threats grow in complexity and severity but an alarming number of businesses still follow the reactive approach to security. However, the modern digital environment requires organizations to become proactive instead of waiting for a breach to occur so they can get down to patching it. In this article, we discuss the state of modern cyber security, the importance of regular and proactive cybersecurity audits, and the most popular tools of a cybersecurity checklist that companies can use to perform security checks.







The state of modern cybersecurity landscape



According to the IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report of 2025, the global average cost of a data breach is approximately $4.4 million - in contrast to the $1.9 million cost savings among those companies that use AI in security. Meanwhile, the Verizon report on data breach investigations of 2024 states that roughly 68% of breaches involved a human element, such as phishing or weak credentials. 



That being said, it’s obvious that cyber threats remain the top concern for businesses that process sensitive data and operate in digital environments. At the same time, we now see new and more advanced security measures as a counterpart to AI-driven threats. Below we list the core factors that shape modern cybersecurity:



Impact of AI on both threats and defenses



We’ve all heard of AI deepfakes and the ways they can be used to defraud employees. As per Deloitte’s report on generative AI, 25.9% of executives stated that their organization experienced one or more deepfake incidents. Examples of AI deepfake scams include the fake Elon Mask, named the biggest Internet scammer by the New York Times and a fake Chief Financial Officer from Hong Kong. The latter scam resulted in $22 million stolen from the company. 



Deepfakes are not the only threats powered by AI. The technology is now used to create more sophisticated malware and phishing attacks, automate the attack launch process, and analyze stolen data to identify high-value targets. And when an organization faces such a threat, legacy security policies are no longer relevant as they simply were not designed to resist such attacks.



Naturally, the use of AI in developing malicious software led to its use in defense systems. The most prominent examples include:




Detection of fraudulent activity by analyzing user behavior, system logs, and network traffic



Automated vulnerability scanning



Identification and verification of trusted users



Enhanced detection of spam and phishing attacks




Download free cybersecurity checklist



Rapid evolution of threats



In addition to AI-powered attacks, other threats also keep evolving. Think of ransomware-as-a-service or the growing number of supply chain attacks that have now become a big problem for organizations, partnering with several vendors. Another distinctive feature of modern threats is their precise aim: most of them target specific systems or components, thus increasing the chance for a successful attack. A good example is an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), which is a long-term and highly coordinated form of a cyber attack. Unlike more common attacks like DDoS, the APT implies that a hacker remains unnoticed within the system for a period of time and aims to steal specific sensitive data. 



Increase in regulatory pressure



In response to the evolution of cyberthreats, regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, and NIS2 continuously release updates to their existing regulations and industry-specific templates. Companies that do not meet compliance standards and requirements might face significant fines and even loss of their business. It is therefore important not only to implement security measures but consistently monitor and update them, which is most effectively done through regular cybersecurity audits.



Most dangerous cyber threats of 2025



We’ve briefly covered AI deepfakes and how they can hurt an organization - but other cyber threats keep evolving as well. By knowing the possible vectors of attack, it will become easier for you to implement corresponding lines of defense during the security risk assessment .



AI-powered phishing



Phishing is a well-known form of social engineering where hackers deceive users into revealing sensitive information, most often via emails. Due to technological advancement, the frequency and volume of phishing attacks has grown by 12% in 2024 and these attacks cause over 60% of ransomware infections. And with the rise of AI, the phishing issue has become as acute as ever. Not only do these phishing emails look incredibly realistic but they also bypass traditional filters.



Ransomware and double extortion



Another common threat for organizations, ransomware keeps evolving too. At its core, it means that malicious software is injected into the company’s system, blocking access to certain files or the whole system until money is paid. But today, we observe:




Ransomware-as-a-service: ransomware developers write malicious code and send it to affiliates 



Double extortion ransomware: hackers not only encrypt the data but also exfiltrate it, threatening to publish it.




The severity of ransomware attacks is very high and they bring significant reputational and legal risks to companies. Backups alone are not enough anymore - holistic data containment is required.



Supply chain attacks



One more growing area of concern is the supply chain & third-party attacks. Even if your business is well-protected, you can’t be 100% sure that all your vendors follow the same security measures. Hence, your data can be accidentally (or intentionally) exposed by a third party and the breach is often highly difficult to detect. 



Insider threats



Insider attacks come from the company’s employees and can be intentional or unintentional. From weak passwords and downloaded malware to intentional data leaks, the human error factor is among the leading causes of data breaches in organizations. To minimize the damage and mitigate the possibility of an insider attack, an organization should implement strict access control, monitor user activity, and regularly perform security training among employees. It is also important to implement a reliable ISMS (Information Security Management System) in correspondence with the ISO 27001 framework.



Exploitable APIs 



Since many businesses operate in complex digital environments with multiple interconnected systems, APIs have become the primary target for attackers. And when an API gets compromised, it harms several systems at once, thus increasing the severity of the data breach for all involved parties.



These and other threats call for implementation of cybersecurity on all levels of an organization. But to ensure long-term security, it is important to constantly review and update your system - this is where cybersecurity audits come in place.



What is a cybersecurity audit and what does it include?



A cybersecurity audit is a structured risk assessment and analysis of an organization's security measures and defenses. The main goal of the cybersecurity assessment is to proactively identify vulnerabilities, ensure that the sensitive data is protected, and assess organization’s alignment with regulatory requirements.



A cybersecurity audit normally covers the following aspects:




Technical infrastructure: assesses the existing firewalls, servers, routers, endpoints, and the architecture. Also evaluates your network segmentation and patch management.



Data protection: focuses on the way the sensitive data is stored, processed, and transferred within your organization and between its components. Also checks whether the sensitive data is encrypted and whether your backups are effective.



Access controls: checks identity and access management, meaning the way users and admins interact with the system and the alignment of their permission level with their user roles.



Incident response: checks the ability of your organization to react to occurring threats and the ability to recover quickly.



Regulatory compliance: checks whether your organization complies with necessary regulations, both international and local.



Employee behavior: covers user behavior in terms of employee awareness on cybersecurity, whether they receive IT security training, and whether security measures against insider threats are in place.



Penetration testing: tests whether there are any vulnerabilities in the system that can be exploited and is usually performed by an external vendor. 




Types of cybersecurity audits



Since cybersecurity within a company is formed by several aspects, there are also several types of security audits, dedicated to each:



External product audit: is performed by a third-party audit company and checks the product aka the company’s software, hardware, and network. Security testing includes the assessment of existing vulnerabilities, penetration testing, exploitable APIs, etc.



Internal company audit: is performed by the company itself and covers such aspects as employee behavior and security training, access controls, incident reporting.



Regulatory audit: is included in the internal audit and focuses on regulatory compliance of the company. During the regulatory audit, it is mandatory to check the alignment with industry-specific requirements and local regulations.



Cybersecurity audit checklist for businesses: a step-by-step guide



Below we discuss the stages of both external and internal security audits to provide you with a more holistic view of the processes. Note that each stage should be tailored to your specific organization in alignment with defined objectives and audit needs.



1. Check infrastructure and device security



Evaluate the security of all components, endpoints, and connected devices of the system. This stage often involves making up the inventory of all your IT assets since you can’t secure something that you are not aware of. You will also perform a vulnerability scan and penetration testing to check the resilience of your system and how prone it is to potential attacks.



Check the following:




Configuration and security of your firewalls and routers



Update status for the OS system and third-party apps



Performance of endpoint protection tools



Remote access and VPN configurations



Network security assessment




Pro tip: you can use automation tools to speed up and facilitate certain processes at this stage. Use centralized tools like WSUS or Intune for automated patch management and deploy tools like Nessus or Qualys for automated vulnerability assessment.



2. Enhance access control & identity management



Check how users and administrators can access the system and whether their user role covers only needed resources or allows them to access unwanted sensitive data. One of the biggest issues that companies often face are inactive or dead user accounts. Such accounts may belong to employees that left the company and can still pose a threat, including compromised credentials or privilege escalation.



Check the following:




Password policies and authentication methods in use



Role-based access controls



The processes of account provisioning (and deprovisioning)



Presence of inactive or dead accounts



Audit logs and their management




Pro tip: implement the least privilege access by default and regularly review user roles and their level of privilege. We also recommend using a password manager to minimize the chances of using weak passwords and to pair it with multi-factor authentication (MFA).



3. Encrypt the data and maintain strong access controls



Ensure that your organization collects, stores, processes, transfers and deletes the data in a secure and sustainable manner. If you are using cloud storage, double-check the shared responsibility model that your vendor follows and see whether everything is also in place on your side. Also check whether there are any open APIs and misconfigured buckets that are easy to be overlooked when configuring your cloud storage.



Check the following:




Encryption for the data at rest and in transit



Effective backup strategy and several backup options 



Access control in cloud platforms



Proper data retention, archival, and deletion policies



Proper access logs and Data Loss Prevention policies




Pro tip: follow the 3-2-1 rule, meaning you need to have 3 copies of your data, stored on 2 different media types and with 1 copy stored offsite.



4. Test incident response and threat detection



Check how well your organization is prepared to respond to occurring incidents and how effective your security monitoring systems are. It’s always best to follow a proactive approach and minimize the chances of an attack than fixing what’s already happened. Numerous reports confirm that reactive approach is more costly than proactive one and it’s not only because of financial damage but also due to missed opportunities and forced downtime. In fact, missed opportunities and system downtime can cost the companies around 9% of their annual revenue, not to mention reputational damage. Hence, it’s best to implement reliable monitoring tools and create a scalable incident response strategy.



Check the following:




Real-time monitoring systems (tools like Splunk, Sumo Logic, etc.)



Performance of intrusion detection systems



Log monitoring and alerting configurations



Documented IRP (incident response plan)



Assigned roles in case of a data breach



Reports on past incidents & disaster recovery plan




Pro tip: Make sure that everyone knows their assigned roles in case of an incident and their scope of responsibility. Use frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK to simulate possible attacks and evaluate how well your system detects them.



5. Perform compliance audits



Evaluate the level of maturity of your organization in terms of regulatory compliance and its adherence to the internal security policy. Note that this stage of the information security audit also includes the assessment of vendors and existing data processing agreements. Otherwise, you risk facing supply chain attacks, associated with third-party vulnerabilities.



Check the following:




Internal security policies (especially the ones applicable to remote employees)



Adherence to compliance frameworks (GDPR, HIPAA, NIST, CIS)



Documentation of version control management



Vendor and third-party security reviews




Pro tip: use tools for automated compliance monitoring which are especially useful during quick scaling or when processing sensitive customer data. 



6. Provide employee security training



Dedicate enough time and resources to check how well your employees are trained in cybersecurity and whether they follow internal policies on a daily basis. Since a human error is a frequent cause of most data breaches, it is vital to ensure that all users with access to the system know what they are doing and operate within assigned privileges.



Check the following: 




Availability of security training programs



Phishing and social engineering susceptibility



Measures against insider threats



Guidelines for on-premises and remote work



Reporting in case of suspicious activity




Pro tip: use regular phishing simulators to display real examples of possible attacks and check how employees react to them. To check how well your organization is prepared for possible attacks and whether your existing vulnerabilities can be exploited easily, use penetration testing. It’s best to request a certified vendor to perform it in order not to compromise the existing security measures.



The most popular tools used in cybersecurity audits: features, comparison, pricing



ReviewBest used forUse cases & featuresPriceBurp SuiteA tool for all-around web security testingPenetration testingVulnerability scanning, proxy interception, manual testing, authentication testing, API security testingOffers free trial; starts with a yearly subscription for $475Tenable NessusA tool for comprehensive vulnerability assessment All-round vulnerability detectionPenetration testing, compliance audits, incident response, vulnerability scanning, patch managementOffers several annual licensing plans, starting with Tenable Nessus Professional for ~6,100$. Also offers a free trialMetasploitA powerful penetration testing frameworkPenetration testingPenetration testing via a variety of tools, such as Metasploit unleashed, Wireshark, Aircrack, NetsparkerOffers an open-source version and a commercial Metasploit Pro (by custom quote)MobSFA research platform for mobile app security that covers iOS, Android and Windows Mobile platformsMobile app security assessmentMalware analysis, penetration testing, privacy evaluation, static analysis, interactive dynamic analysisOpen-sourceSplunk EnterpriseA SIEM solution for security data analysis and incident responseData analysis and threat responseSecurity analytics, threat detection, regulatory compliance, risk-based alerting, treat intelligence integrationCustom quoting



Why businesses should consider working with a trusted audit partner



Cybersecurity audits help maintain long-term stability of your business in multiple ways: from reducing costs associated with data breaches to strengthening client trust and reputation. In a perfect world, organizations should conduct a full IT security audit every three years and a brief IT security assessment on an annual basis. In light of this, the question arises: what to do if a company does not have enough resources / skills / knowledge to perform a detailed cybersecurity audit?



We highly recommend partnering with a reliable audit partner like SoftTeco for the following reasons:



Faster recovery and tailored recommendations



Frameworks like OWASP, SOC 2, or PCI DSS provide general guidelines and can be applied by any company - but it’s important to consider the specifics of your business (size, domain of operation, etc.). By delegating security audits to a third-party vendor, you will receive a personalized list of best practices based on your specific needs and available assets. This will help protect your organization from industry-specific threats that a generic audit might overlook.



Real-world threat modelling



IT vendors usually work with real-life threats on a regular basis, implementing security protocols in all their software projects. This hands-on experience helps vendors base their security audits on real-life knowledge, providing actionable recommendations to their clients. 



Long-term security



When you work with an audit partner, they not only check your organization’s resilience but can also help improve existing weak areas and eliminate bottlenecks and pain points. This combined approach contributes to enhanced and prolonged security, granting you peace of mind and uninterrupted operation.

### What is Agentic AI? Meet the AI That Thinks, Plans, and Gets Things Done

What is agentic AI, and why does it matter today? 



We’re entering a new phase of AI where machines don’t wait for instructions. Instead, they plan, decide, and act on their own. In this article, we’ll break down how agentic AI works, what makes it different from traditional AI, and why it’s becoming a game-changer for business.



What is Agentic AI, and how does it work?



Agentic AI refers to goal-driven intelligence that acts with minimal human oversight. It understands the objective, plans the steps, makes decisions, and adapts to changes in real time without waiting for instructions. Agentic AI systems ensure faster automation and act like your teammate, rather than a tool.



Let’s break down the key stages that make this type of goal-driven artificial intelligence work:







Perception 



Agentic AI first gathers the data from its environment. This can include inputs from sensors, APIs, databases, or even direct user interactions via natural language processing. Think of it like a digital “nervous system.” Whether it’s pulling real-time inventory data from a warehouse system or listening to customer voice input through a chatbot, the agent must first perceive the world before it can act.



For example, in a logistics company, an agentic AI might monitor GPS feeds, temperature sensors in trucks, and API data from traffic systems to understand current delivery conditions.



Reasoning 



Once the AI collects data, it interprets and analyzes it. This reasoning phase is often driven by large language models like OpenAI’s GPT or Anthropic’s Claude. These models help the system understand what the user said and what it means. The models read between the lines, spot patterns in the noise, and infer intent, even in messy, real-world situations.



Goal setting



Agentic systems start with clear objectives. These goals might come from a prompt, a user’s request, or a system-level directive. The agent uses them as its compass for decision-making.  But when multiple objectives conflict, advanced agentic AI evaluates the options, applies business logic, and chooses the best path forward based on what matters most.



For example, in a finance app, if the goal is to reduce unnecessary expenses, the AI may identify recurring charges, review spending categories, and suggest where to make cuts. It follows the logic of the goal and adapts as new data appears.



Planning and decision-making



Here’s where agentic AI shifts from smart assistant to strategic thinker. Once a goal is defined, for example, reducing shipping delays or increasing ad conversion, it breaks the work down into multi-step plans and evaluates possible actions. It compares options, forecasts results, and selects the best path forward, all while adapting to new information as it becomes available. This kind of real-time reasoning is what separates agentic systems from rule-based automation.



Execution 



Now that the AI has a plan, it executes the tasks. This could mean calling an external API, updating a record in a CRM, or even controlling a robot in a manufacturing plant. Execution is dynamic, so the agent adjusts its actions in real-time based on system feedback.



Learning and feedback 



After each task, agentic AI systems look at what happened and learn from it. They then try to analyze whether the outcome met the goal and whether it was fast and accurate. With every success or failure, the AI gets a bit smarter, adjusts its methods, and avoids making the same mistakes twice.



Take a support chatbot as an example. If it misunderstands a certain type of question, human reviewers can step in, fix the issue, and train the system to handle it correctly next time. With each correction, the AI becomes sharper, more reliable, and more useful.



Orchestration across multi-agent workflows



In complex systems, agentic AI rarely works alone. Instead, it runs as part of a multi-agent system, where different AI agents handle different parts of a bigger task. But here's the catch: these autonomous agents must talk to each other and stay in sync. That’s where orchestration steps in. This looks like that: one agent, the orchestrator, oversees everything and makes sure tasks happen in the right order and problems are flagged fast.



Imagine a software development pipeline. One agent writes the code. Another tests it. The third one checks for security and compliance. And the orchestrator makes sure the testing agent doesn’t run before the code is ready, routes issues back to a human if something goes wrong, and keeps the whole system moving without delays. This coordination lets agentic systems handle complex, multi-step workflows smoothly without the need for micromanagement.



What is the difference between Agentic AI and traditional AI?



While both use machine learning and natural language processing, their purpose and power differ: one reacts, the other leads. Here’s how they diverge in both logic and impact:



Traditional AI 



Traditional AI responds to inputs but doesn’t act independently. It’s a good tool when you want to perform specific, complex tasks under predefined rules in narrow use cases. Think about spam filters, recommendation engines, or basic chatbots. These models work on historical data, follow programmed logic, and generate outcomes based on predictable patterns.



For example, a customer support chatbot might answer FAQs by matching keywords to answers in a script. Or a fraud detection algorithm might flag suspicious banking transactions using fixed parameters. These systems are deterministic: if you feed them the same input, you’ll get the same output every time. That makes them reliable, but only in stable, controlled scenarios.



Agentic AI



At the same time, agentic AI takes the initiative. These systems set goals and make decisions. It uses powerful tools like large language models and multi-agent systems to plan, coordinate, and adapt in real time. This is especially relevant for dynamic business environments, where you must ensure quick and flexible problem-solving.



For example, agent systems can handle an entire business trip booking, from checking your calendar and finding flights to booking hotels and adjusting meetings. In vendor sourcing or performance analysis, it scans data, evaluates options, and takes action on its own. Its ability to reason, iterate, and learn from outcomes allows it to manage complex workflows with minimal human oversight.



For companies that want more than basic automation, the shift to agentic AI starts with the right AI development services. These services help businesses build custom agents that match your internal logic, connect to existing systems, and follow compliance rules. Therefore, you experience the operations that are smarter, faster, and more aligned with how your business actually runs.




 


Expert Opinion



Agentic AI is transforming the way companies automate and scale operations, significantly moving AI from passive tools to proactive decision makers. 



In my experience building complex agent-based systems using LangChain and LangGraph, I have seen how multi-agent orchestration and real-time adaptability enable organizations to achieve very high efficiency and responsiveness and automate routine processes. LangChain’s flexible integration and LangGraph’s intuitive orchestration framework have enabled me to successfully develop intelligent workflows that autonomously perceive, reason, and adapt to complex scenarios in real time. 



However, successful deployment relies heavily on clearly defined goals, rigorous oversight, and continuous improvement to prevent unintended consequences. Sometimes business logic requires going beyond standard AI workflows, meaning we cannot rely solely on AI solutions. 



That is why I like designing and implementation customized unique logic, including custom pipelines, data extraction, ETL processes using LLM, and other customised solutions that reflect specific business requirements. Companies that embrace this dynamic partnership between human strategy and AI execution will undoubtedly lead their industries forward.





ML Engineer at SoftTeco



Yauheni Kavaliou






 




Where does Agentic AI make the biggest impact?



Below are the key agentic AI use cases across industries:




Customer support: Agentic AI goes beyond scripted responses. Powered by large language models, it understands natural language, resolves customer queries in real time, pulls relevant data from CRMs or external tools, and takes action without human help. For example, it can issue refunds or book follow-up reminders.



Healthcare: In hospitals and clinics, agentic AI monitors patient data, flags unusual health patterns, and recommends next steps that fit each case. When new test results arrive, it updates treatment paths automatically. Doctors stay in charge, but the AI makes things faster.



Finance: Smart AI agents analyze data and transaction patterns to detect fraud. They generate autonomous performance reports, adjust portfolios based on user risk profiles, and operate independently within compliance frameworks, which helps reduce errors and make more accurate decisions.



Supply chain management: Agentic systems monitor inventory levels, track logistics flows, and react to disruptions, like shipment delays or supply shortages, in real time. They place orders, reroute deliveries, and adapt forecasts using machine learning, which helps companies maintain agility across complex workflows.



Software development: Specialized AI agents write, test, and review code. One agent might generate functions based on documentation, another runs automated tests, while a third checks for security issues or licensing conflicts. These multi-agent systems help teams ship faster and reduce technical debt.




What are the benefits of Agentic AI in business?



Agentic AI offers the following benefits:







Automates complex, multistep workflows 



Agentic AI can complete entire processes and repetitive tasks, like onboarding a new client, managing procurement, or updating compliance documents, from start to finish. It breaks each goal into steps, executes these steps across multiple systems, and adapts when changes occur. That means fewer bottlenecks and more momentum.



Works across systems with minimal human input



It connects directly to tools like CRMs, ERPs, and cloud APIs, where agentic systems fetch data, update records, or kick off tasks. Instead of humans bouncing between platforms, the agent flows through them all. This brings clarity to tangled tech stacks and stops the need for constant handholding.



Improves response time, accuracy, and scalability



Agentic AI reacts in real time. It monitors, detects, and acts before most teams even notice a problem. From resolving customer tickets to flagging financial anomalies, it moves faster than manual teams ever could, and from feedback. As a result, you get fewer errors, quicker fixes, and systems that scale effortlessly.



Drives cost efficiency through better decision-making



Agentic AI helps you spend smarter. Unlike across-the-board cuts that often hurt long-term performance, agentic systems analyze real-time data to target what truly drives waste. They spot unused software licenses, underperforming ad spend, or slow-moving inventory and act.



McKinsey’s research echoes this: companies that use data‑driven, targeted cost management can eliminate 10–20 % of inefficient spending, then redirect it into areas that deliver 5–10 % growth, boosting resilience and ROI.



Enhances customer experience via real-time AI agents



It spots patterns, tracks preferences, and solves problems on the spot. Whether a shopper needs the right product or wants an account update mid-chat, agentic systems deliver fast, tailored responses. The result: seamless support, more satisfied customers, and higher retention.



Enables innovation and frees humans for strategic work



Agentic AI removes the manual work that slows teams down. It means they don’t need to fix recurring errors, chase data, or manage routine steps. Agentic systems eliminate time sinks like administrative overhead, which allows professionals to focus on high-value thinking and strategy. Thus, businesses move faster, test ideas sooner, and adapt without delay.



Challenges of Agentic AI that you shouldn’t ignore



Opaque decision logic or “black box” reasoning



Agentic AI often relies on deep learning and LLMs, which can produce useful outcomes, but their internal reasoning is hard to trace. This lack of transparency makes it difficult for developers or regulators to understand how or why a decision was made, especially when things go wrong. It undermines trust, slows adoption, and raises ethical concerns.



Autonomy without sufficient human oversight



While autonomy is a key strength, agentic systems that operate without regular human intervention can make decisions that are technically “correct” but contextually inappropriate. In high-stakes domains like healthcare or finance, this can lead to serious consequences.



Poorly defined goals



If an agent is given a vague or overly narrow objective, it may pursue that goal in unintended or unsafe ways. For instance, an agent asked to “reduce costs” might cut critical safety measures unless explicitly told not to. This is especially risky in open-ended or dynamic environments where assumptions quickly break down.



Security risks in multi-agent, multi-system orchestration



As agentic AI systems grow more complex, they rely on multiple agents coordinating with external tools, APIs, and datasets. This broad surface area introduces risks such as data leakage, unauthorized access, and vulnerability propagation across systems, especially when third-party services are involved.



Reward hacking and edge-case exploitation



Agents trained with reinforcement learning may find ways to “game” their reward functions, delivering results that technically fulfill the prompt but violate the spirit of the task. For example, an agent tasked with maximizing engagement could flood users with clickbait. These failures often arise in edge cases that the system wasn’t designed to handle.



Compliance and accountability



Agentic systems can act on their own, but someone still has to take responsibility when things go wrong. What if an AI agent approves a fraudulent transaction, mishandles personal health data, or makes a biased hiring decision? These are real risks. And when they happen, legal and ethical questions follow fast. Who’s liable: the company, the developer, or the machine itself? That’s why businesses must enforce clear oversight. This means traceable decision logs, strong audit mechanisms, and the ability to pause or shut down agents instantly.



Is your business ready for Agentic AI?



To determine whether your business is ready for agentic AI, consider answering the questions below.



Do you have a data infrastructure in place?



Think of agentic AI like a smart assistant. To work effectively, it requires clean and organized data. If your records are messy, outdated, or missing key details, the AI may become confused or even make incorrect decisions. 



For instance, organizations in a high-stakes field like healthcare may face a critical situation: when patient data is scattered or mislabeled, AI agents can’t recommend the right treatment. Thus, good decisions start with good data.



Are your workflows well-documented?



Agentic AI needs context. If your business processes live in someone’s head or are scattered across teams, AI can’t follow them. Take a logistics company, for example. Without a clear shipping workflow, the AI might reroute packages the wrong way or miss local rules. You want systems to know what to do at every step without having to guess.



What’s the ROI of automating key tasks?



Agentic systems should solve real problems. When AI takes over tasks like invoice matching or contract review, teams recover time and reduce human error. The ROI shows up in faster cycles, fewer mistakes, and reallocation of skilled staff toward high-value work. Without these clear use cases, however, automation efforts stall or fail to scale.



How will you integrate oversight?



Even the smartest AI needs supervision. What happens if a price gets set too low, a transaction gets flagged by mistake, or a rule gets broken? If you don’t have audit logs, alerts, or override buttons, you won’t know until damage is done. Smart systems require smarter guardrails that you can establish, such as real-time alerts, traceable logs, and the ability to pause or override actions when necessary.




 


Expert Opinion



In my experience, not all companies are ready for Agentic AI right away. Many companies get caught up in the hype and buzz, often without fully understanding the real benefits, limitations, and complexities of AI and LLM-based solutions. From a practical standpoint, I’ve found it helpful to start with a Proof of Concept (POC) and then develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). This structured approach helps stakeholders deeply understand both the benefits and potential pitfalls, more closely aligning expectations with reality. Only after validating the results and gaining clarity through the MVP can companies confidently move on to full-scale product development.





ML Engineer at SoftTeco



Yauheni Kavaliou






 




How Agentic AI turns humans from task doers into strategic directors







Humans set strategic goals and AI figures out how to execute



You no longer need to spell out every step. Instead, you describe the goal, outline the constraints like budget, timelines, regulations, and the AI decides how to achieve it. Imagine that you want to increase conversion rates or reduce customer churn.



This shift means humans now focus on what should be done, not how. But if the goal is unclear, the AI might go in the wrong direction.



Micromanagement is obsolete



Humans no longer need to watch every step the AI takes. Instead, they build smart guardrails, e.g., rules and alerts that keep things on track. These systems only step in when something unusual happens. For example, if an AI makes an unusual decision or approaches a policy boundary, it triggers a signal for human review. That way, people can step in, make changes, and keep things safe.



Nuance still belongs to humans



Agentic systems lack emotional intelligence, social context, and ethical reasoning; that’s why they struggle with nuance and subtlety. That’s where we come in: when instructions are vague, when decisions affect people’s lives, or when multiple goals conflict. In these cases, contextual judgment is critical. A human might weigh brand reputation, tone of voice, or emotional cues; these are elements machines often miss. Thus, strategic thinking becomes the core of human input.



Humans provide feedback to fine-tune Agentic AI



Human involvement doesn’t end after AI setup. In fact, that’s when the real teamwork begins. People provide ongoing feedback, correct mistakes, fine-tune performance, and help the AI get better at what it does.



In a customer service center, for example, specialists review chatbot interactions and spot incorrect answers or emotional misreads. Their feedback helps refine how the AI handles tone and urgency. In finance, analysts might train AI to flag transactions as fraud, but over time, they review false positives and tune the model to reduce friction for legitimate users. In healthcare, clinicians guide diagnostic agents by addressing edge cases, such as rare symptoms or patient history gaps, which ensures that decisions reflect real-world nuance.



The dangers of over-reliance on Agentic AI



Below, we explore key concerns that show why smart human oversight still matters, even with the smartest AI:



Blind AI trust causes poorer performance and decisions



When teams follow AI suggestions without questioning them, performance drops. A study by MIT Sloan revealed that even skilled professionals perform worse when they stop questioning AI-driven decisions. 



For example, in financial services, traders who relied entirely on algorithmic advisors underperformed those who applied critical review. Why? Because even a goal-oriented AI model using reinforcement learning doesn’t understand nuance. That’s why people must stay in the loop to catch errors, add context, and challenge flawed outputs.



Hype-driven decisions lead to misaligned workflows



Agentic AI works well for task automation and team coordination. But when companies chase trends instead of strategy, it backfires. Without clear intent, systems optimize the wrong thing. And when that happens, service quality crashes while efficiency becomes meaningless.



Lack of governance leads to risky AI behavior



We need autonomous systems to achieve specific goals, but if the goals are poorly scoped, things spiral. This is known as reward hacking, where AI agents exploit loopholes in their objectives. A system designed to “maximize engagement,” for example, may flood users with clickbait rather than meaningful content.



When multi-agent systems optimize for one KPI without human intervention, they can over-prioritize efficiency at the cost of ethics, compliance, or customer trust.



Conclusion



Agentic AI is already here and acts independently. It thinks, plans, and executes across complex systems with minimal human help, but that autonomy demands responsibility. The truth is, agentic AI can’t work in a vacuum. It needs clear goals, smart oversight, and human judgment to deliver real value.



The most successful use of agentic AI doesn’t come from treating it like a plug-and-play solution. It’s a partner that’s incredibly capable, but still learning. As we define the why, it figures out the how. And that balance between human intent and machine execution is where we need our strategic thinking even more.

### How to Build a Cloud Migration Strategy That Actually Works

At first glance, a cloud migration strategy might look easy: all you have to do is plan how to move workloads from one environment to another. But once the migration process begins, companies often encounter unexpected challenges, such as delays, budget adjustments, integration issues, or misaligned expectations between teams. These difficulties usually stem from treating migration as a purely technical task, rather than the strategic business shift it represents.



If implemented correctly, cloud migration can unlock powerful advantages, including greater flexibility, real-time scalability, and smarter cost structures. But these benefits only come when backed by a clear, well-structured strategy.







In this article, we break down what a strong cloud migration strategy really looks like. You’ll learn how to align your cloud goals with business priorities, pick the right models and partners, manage risk, and avoid the pitfalls that derail so many transitions. Whether you're planning your first migration or refining your current approach, this article will help you move forward with clarity and control.



What is cloud migration?



At its core, cloud migration involves transferring digital assets, such as data, applications, and IT processes, from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud environment. It also includes migration from one cloud provider to another. This shift allows organizations to reduce IT costs, increase the scalability and flexibility of operations, and modernize their processes.



Migration requires careful planning around system architecture, data integrity, compliance, and long-term business objectives. Hence, companies that plan cloud migration will need a solid cloud migration strategy. 



A cloud migration strategy refers to a comprehensive plan that describes the process of an organization moving its digital assets into a cloud environment. It ties every step to actual business objectives, so you can prevent chaos, reduce downtime, and maximize your investment.



Cloud deployment models



Before moving to the cloud, it’s important to decide how you’ll deploy your infrastructure. Cloud deployment models define where your data and applications will reside and who manages the underlying environment. The right choice depends on your business goals, data sensitivity, compliance needs, and technical resources.



Here’s a breakdown of the four main models and how to choose the one that fits:



Public cloud



Public cloud platforms offer a shared infrastructure to multiple organizations and are managed by a provider like Amazon. While public clouds usually come with low upfront costs, the main concern is the security of your sensitive data and the lack of customization. 



Public cloud platforms are architected for dynamic scalability. It’s provided by major vendors like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud, and gives you access to powerful computing resources without the overhead of managing hardware. It’s an ideal choice if you’re looking for:




Low upfront costs



Flexible pay-as-you-go pricing



Quick provisioning and scalability.




However, the trade-off is that you’re sharing that infrastructure with other businesses. For many, that’s totally acceptable. However, if your organization handles sensitive data, such as healthcare records, financial transactions, or intellectual property, you may encounter compliance roadblocks.



Private cloud



In contrast, a private cloud is like owning your own estate. It can be hosted on-site or by a third party, but only you control all the resources. This model provides you with full control over your infrastructure, tighter security protocols, and greater customization for niche business needs.



If your business works in a highly regulated industry like healthcare, finance, or law, a private cloud can offer the control and security you need. You manage where data lives, who accesses it, and how systems operate. But with that level of control comes responsibility. Costs are usually higher, and managing infrastructure demands skilled in-house teams to keep everything secure, compliant, and running smoothly.



Hybrid cloud



The hybrid cloud model combines advantages from both environments. Think of it as a smart blend: you keep critical or sensitive workloads in a private cloud while moving the rest to a public cloud for cost efficiency and agility. This setup is great if your needs fluctuate, or if you want to:




Start small in the public cloud and expand gradually



Run legacy apps privately while launching new services publicly



Create a bridge between innovation and compliance.




Hybrid clouds offer strategic flexibility, but they also demand strong orchestration. Without the right architecture and management tools, your hybrid environment could become fragmented or hard to scale.



Multi-Cloud



The multi-cloud approach means working with more than one cloud provider at the same time. It’s a strategic way to stay agile, reduce vendor dependency, and fine-tune your setup to meet business needs precisely.



Let’s say you want the best of everything:




You rely on AWS for its machine learning capabilities.



You choose Azure to stay deeply aligned with enterprise tools, such as Microsoft 365 or Dynamics.



You leverage Google Cloud for its robust data analytics engine.




Each platform has its unique strengths, and when combined, they create a balanced cloud ecosystem. Such a mix-and-match approach enhances performance, keeps you cost-effective, and adds resilience that one vendor alone may not provide.



But juggling multiple environments means added complexity. You’ll face challenges around interoperability, data consistency, and unified security. Without a carefully defined strategy, your cloud infrastructure can turn into a tangled web that is costly to maintain and difficult to scale.



That’s why successful multi-cloud setups require more than just selecting providers. You need strong governance, a clear interoperability plan, and tight alignment across teams and tools.



Benefits of cloud migration







Cloud migration brings measurable value across cost, performance, security, and resilience. Below are the key benefits that organizations typically unlock with a well-structured migration:



Cost savings and operational efficiency



In the cloud, you pay only for the resources you use, which means no upfront investments and no idle servers.



Cloud platforms also reduce the ongoing cost of maintenance. Automatic updates, resource optimization tools, and infrastructure-as-code practices eliminate many manual tasks. As a result, your IT team can focus on innovation instead of upkeep, while your operations become faster, lighter, and more cost-efficient overall.



Enhanced scalability and performance



Cloud environments offer elastic scaling — the ability to expand or shrink computing resources in real time, based on actual needs. Whether you're launching a product, managing busy times of the year, or serving users around the world at different hours, features like load balancing and auto-scaling ensure steady performance even during high demand. This flexible management of resources supports business expansion and helps maintain smooth user experiences, even when traffic fluctuates unexpectedly.



Improved security and compliance



Major cloud providers build their platforms with robust, multi-layered security, including encryption at rest and in transit, identity and access management (IAM), continuous vulnerability assessments, and threat detection systems. These built-in safeguards help protect your workloads from day one.



That said, security in the cloud follows the shared responsibility model. While providers secure the infrastructure, it’s up to your organization to protect data, applications, and user access.



Compliance is also easier to manage in the cloud. Whether you're working with GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2, or similar frameworks, most platforms offer built-in controls, logs, and certifications, which reduce your audit burden and keep you compliant by design.



Business continuity and disaster recovery



Unexpected downtime, caused by hardware failure, a cyberattack, or a natural disaster, can disrupt operations. But cloud solutions minimize this risk with built-in business continuity features. With automatic backups, failover systems, and data stored across multiple locations, you stay up and running even when something goes wrong.



If a server fails or a disaster occurs, your apps and data stay safe. You can recover quickly, reduce downtime, and keep serving your customers without major disruption.



Why a cloud migration strategy matters



It helps align technology with business goals



Unlike traditional infrastructure, cloud platforms give you instant access to scalable compute power, global reach, and modern technologies like AI, analytics, and automation. A well-defined cloud migration strategy turns the cloud into a business enabler, helping you enter new markets faster, launch digital services with minimal delays, and adapt quickly to changing customer demands.



Without a strategy, organizations risk investing in the wrong services, overspending, or running into compliance and integration issues. A solid plan ensures that your cloud setup supports your specific business goals, whether that means reducing time-to-market, enhancing agility, or maintaining compliance across regions.



It helps avoid costly mistakes



Jumping in without planning can lead to more expenses: prolonged downtime during switchover, inconsistent data transfer and loss, mounting costs from duplicated services, staff confusion, and misaligned priorities.



A cloud migration strategy helps prevent these issues. It sets priorities, timelines, and responsibilities and helps identify risks early on, which reduces chaos and keeps your teams aligned from day one.



A proper cloud strategy forces you to confront tough questions upfront: What workloads should move first? What’s the rollback plan? How will legacy systems integrate? Think of the strategy as a GPS: it maps the journey, highlights roadblocks, and helps you course-correct before you're stuck.



It helps maximize ROI and minimize downtime



Every minute of downtime costs money and reputation. A structured cloud migration strategy includes detailed scheduling, fallback procedures, and testing protocols to ensure critical services stay online during the move. It also establishes success metrics early on: performance benchmarks, cost baselines, and security parameters.



In the post-migration stage, the same strategy acts as a foundation for optimization. It allows you to identify overprovisioned resources, automate operations, and right-size your infrastructure based on actual usage, which may lead to long-term cost savings and a higher return on your cloud investment.



Cloud migration strategies: The 7 R’s framework



The 7 R’s framework presents seven unique strategies for migrating applications and workloads to the cloud. Each option helps you assess what to do with a specific system, whether to move it as-is, rebuild it entirely, or retire it. This framework helps companies choose the most efficient migration path for each workload based on technical complexity, business value, and cost. Let’s break them down:



Rehost 



This strategy means that you migrate your existing systems to the cloud with minimal or no modification. This is a practical option when speed is the priority or when legacy systems are too complex to refactor immediately.



Rehosting is often chosen during early-stage migrations when teams need to quickly validate that the cloud works properly. While it doesn’t unlock full cloud-native benefits, it’s a reliable first step that reduces the immediate need for redesign.



Replatform



Replatforming means making small but meaningful changes, like swapping out a database for a managed service or containerizing your app so it behaves better in the cloud. The architecture remains mostly the same, but you get better automation, scalability, and cost control.



Refactor 



Refactoring refers to redesigning an application's code and architecture to fully leverage cloud-native services. This often includes breaking a monolith into microservices or using serverless components. Although refactoring requires significant development effort, it provides long-term benefits in scalability, flexibility, and maintainability. It is best suited for critical business applications that need to grow and adapt quickly.



Repurchase



In this strategy, a company swaps its current software for a cloud-based SaaS solution. Instead of managing your own system, you pay for a ready-to-use product. This is often the case with CRM, HR, or accounting systems. This method lowers the need for internal upkeep and speeds up deployment. However, SaaS tools might offer limited customization and could result in vendor lock-in.



Retire



Some systems require no migration. The IT team identifies outdated or unnecessary systems that have lost their business purpose and removes them from the infrastructure. This action reduces costs and eliminates security risks associated with unsupported software.



Retain



Not all workloads are ready for the cloud. Some systems may need to stay on-premises due to regulatory requirements, technical limitations, or unclear business value. These systems can be retained temporarily and revisited in the future. Retaining apps supports a hybrid approach but requires clear planning to avoid integration issues.



Relocate 



This strategy applies in scenarios where organizations must perform large-scale data center exits. IT teams transfer complete infrastructure stacks, such as virtual machines, system images, and entire network configurations, into a cloud environment. They typically use virtualization-focused solutions like VMware Cloud on AWS or Google Cloud VMware Engine to ensure compatibility and continuity.



6 cloud migration steps







Step 1. Assess your current environment



The migration process begins with a complete inventory of servers, applications, data flows, network setups, and dependencies. When your IT, compliance, and business teams collaborate, it becomes easier to grasp the importance and interconnectedness of each workload.



Step 2. Set goals and KPIs



Set clear KPIs to track how well your migration is going. They can include the number of migrated systems, migration velocity, rollback rate, post-migration performance, and cost optimization. Moreover, these metrics help detect issues early and fine-tune your approach on the fly and ensure the migration stays aligned with your technical and business goals.



Step 3. Choose a cloud service provider



When weighing the benefits that numerous providers deliver, factors such as their security measures, compliance certifications, uptime records, global data center presence, and ease of integration become critical. 



Your team should also evaluate how well the cloud provider fits into your current setup. Look at how easily their platform connects with your existing infrastructure. See if the provider supports hybrid or multi-cloud setups, and if they offer tools or services to help with migration. This can save your team time, reduce mistakes, and make the whole move to the cloud much easier.



Don’t forget to review their pricing options. Whether it’s pay-as-you-go, reserved capacity, or extra charges for moving data out of the cloud, if you know the cost structure upfront, you will plan better and avoid budget surprises later.



Step 4. Design a migration roadmap



At this stage, your team should decide which applications and systems to move first, based on their business value and technical complexity.



Your migration roadmap should cover prioritization, planning, and risk management. Classify your systems and sort them by business value, complexity, and dependencies (like databases or third-party integrations). Then sketch a phased timeline that assigns owners, milestones, and resource needs (personnel, tools, budget) to each migration wave. 



A solid migration roadmap builds in security measures. For example, routine backups safeguard your data, sandbox testing identifies problems before going live, and clear rollback procedures enable quick recovery in case of errors. These measures reduce disruptions and maintain smooth operations, even if a deployment fails.



Step 5. Execute the migration



We recommend starting the process by migrating low-risk assets to the cloud and closely monitoring their performance to ensure optimal results. You can consider it a pilot migration, the main goal of which is to test and monitor the migration process. You can then gradually migrate remaining assets, but don't forget to constantly validate and test security configurations and data integrity. 



Using trusted tools like AWS Migration Hub, Azure Migrate, or Google Cloud Migrate can make a real difference when it’s time to move. These platforms help your team stay on track, reduce the chance of costly mistakes, and ensure each piece of your system lands where it should. When execution runs smoothly, you can set up your cloud environment for long-term performance, resilience, and growth.



Step 6. Test, monitor, and refine



Once your workloads land in the cloud, your migration process doesn’t end. At this stage, performance testing confirms whether your new setup can truly support the demands of your users. And tools like Apdex scores, real-time monitoring dashboards, and log analyzers provide early signals when something is amiss, whether it's a sluggish API call or a spike in memory usage. 



This post-migration stage appears as follows:



Monitoring performance and cost usage



You need to know what’s happening where, when, and why. Tools like AWS CloudWatch, Azure Monitor, and Google Cloud’s Operations Suite provide real-time data on performance metrics, including system health, latency, error rates, and resource usage. Due to this knowledge, your team can respond promptly, identify possible problems early, and change tasks before the situation worsens. In addition, you will keep track of both the results and the funds being used.



Implementing cloud governance policies



With systems stabilized, governance comes into focus. This means putting policies in place that define who can access what, how data is handled, and how resources are deployed. Tools like AWS Organizations or Azure Policy allow for structured role management, tagging, and cost allocation. In general, strong governance ensures compliance with internal standards and external regulations, and at the same time, it prevents configuration drift and shadow IT.



Continuous improvement in the cloud



As new services emerge and business needs change, your cloud setup should evolve too. That might include modernizing specific workloads, automating backup routines, or introducing CI/CD pipelines to accelerate development. Continuous improvement keeps your systems agile, secure, and ready for the future, without falling into the trap of “set it and forget it.”



Common cloud migration challenges







Downtime risks



Unexpected downtime often happens when teams try to switch everything at once, i.e., they turn off on-prem systems and launch the cloud environment in a single move. The risk typically arises when legacy systems are shut down before the cloud environment is fully tested and validated. As a result, if something goes wrong, there’s no immediate backup, which can lead to service outages, lost revenue, and frustrated users.



To reduce this risk, it’s best to use phased rollouts that gradually shift workloads while keeping core systems operational. Implement real-time data replication and live migration tools to keep data synchronized during the transition. Combine this with sandbox testing to safely validate each phase and automatic failover systems to ensure service continuity if issues arise. This is how you can move to the cloud without putting your business operations at risk.



Data migration and synchronization



Transferring data securely and accurately presents one of the most complex challenges of cloud migration. Issues like data corruption, semantic errors, and large volumes pose threats to integrity and compliance. To solve these problems, use backup-first approaches, perform multi-stage data validation, and employ incremental sync strategies before committing to cutover. These steps reduce data loss, latency, and compatibility issues and help maintain consistent systems throughout the migration process.



Skills gap and training 



If your in-house team lacks hands-on experience with cloud architecture, security, or cost management, you're not alone. This kind of skills gap is one of the most common reasons cloud migrations get delayed, budgets overrun, or environments end up misconfigured.



But you don’t have to solve it alone. You can partner with a company that provides cloud migration services, as it gives you access to seasoned experts who can guide your team through best practices, lead workshops tailored to your workflows, and help you avoid critical missteps.



At the same time, many companies can invest in cloud certification programs (AWS, Azure, GCP), role-based training, and peer mentorships. Together, these efforts empower your team to move faster, make smarter decisions, and confidently manage your cloud environment long after the migration is complete.



Strategic gaps in migration planning



Every application comes with its dependencies, security rules, and performance targets. When teams skip a tailored cloud migration strategy, workloads end up in ill-suited environments, and project goals become unclear.



A more effective approach starts with a detailed plan. First, define the business case for each workload. Next, rank those workloads by priority. Finally, map each one’s technical needs to your organization’s long-term objectives. By breaking migration into phases, you ensure that every application and dataset reaches the cloud in the most efficient and secure way possible.



Cloud cost control



Many migrations fail to establish KPIs for spending thresholds, usage patterns, or cost-saving targets. As new cloud services emerge and usage grows, budgets grow, and it gets harder to measure ROI. Clear budget targets tied to actual resource use make a big difference. You should use built-in cost dashboards or third-party tools, as they give you a real-time view of spending. Pair that with alerts for unexpected spikes and regular budget check-ins, and your cloud costs stay under control.



Vendor dependency



While using a single cloud provider might seem efficient due to their proprietary APIs and tools that speed up development, it can also have limitations.



Once you’re locked in, switching providers often means rewriting code, reformatting data, and rethinking architecture. That kind of vendor dependency limits your flexibility and can slow you down just when agility matters most.



In this situation, blend multiple clouds or adopt a hybrid setup. With open-source tools and container platforms like Kubernetes or Terraform, you create a layer of flexibility that prevents your systems from vendor lock-in. Your team can mix and match the best services from different providers, keep workloads portable, and maintain the leverage to shift or renegotiate if your business needs change.



Cloud data security



Cloud providers supply robust security tools, but configuring them correctly falls on your shoulders. You should enforce encryption in transit using TLS and VPN tunnels to keep data private between on-premises systems, devices, and cloud services. For data at rest, enable AES-256 encryption and use a dedicated key management service to store and rotate keys securely. Layer on strict identity and access controls, continuous security monitoring, and automated key rotation to build a defense-in-depth model that protects your data and ensures compliance.



What factors influence cloud migration costs?







Let’s walk through what really drives cloud costs and where hidden expenses often sneak in.



Infrastructure and compute resources



Cloud providers charge for every virtual machine (VM), container, or compute instance you deploy. The bigger the instance and the longer it runs, the more it costs. Oversized VMs, unused environments, and redundant systems quietly inflate your bill. Therefore, you should plan to allocate right-sized resources based on actual usage patterns to keep costs under control.



Migration tools and third-party licenses



Many cloud migrations need tools for data transfer, orchestration, or application modernization. These tools can come with licensing costs or pay-as-you-go pricing models that aren’t always clear at the start. Moreover, the cost of enterprise software (like databases or operating systems) may shift depending on the cloud deployment model. Check licensing terms early to avoid unplanned expenses.



Labor and consulting fees



Unless your internal team is fully cloud-proficient, you’ll likely need external support, whether it’s temporary consultants, a dedicated migration partner, or a company offering cloud migration services. These professionals reduce the risk of failure and accelerate delivery, but they come at a price. Still, expert guidance often costs far less than redoing a failed or incomplete migration.



Training and change management



Cloud migration often requires your team to develop new skills in areas like DevOps, cloud security, cost control, and automation. We recommend investing in certifications and training (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) to build internal expertise and reduce your reliance on outside consultants. Though this increases initial costs, it sets your organization up for long-term self-sufficiency.



Post-migration optimization and monitoring



To avoid unnecessary spending after the migration, you’ll need cloud cost monitoring tools, usage reports, and resource tagging systems in place. Initial cloud bills often include over-provisioned resources, duplicated workloads, or idle test environments. Optimizing in the first few weeks can reduce ongoing cloud expenses, especially if you implement auto-scaling, reserved instances, or spot pricing models.



Dealing with hidden migration expenses



Even with a solid plan, it’s easy to overlook hidden costs that don’t appear in your initial projections but emerge once migration begins. These indirect costs include:




Orphaned resources, such as unused virtual machines or unattached storage volumes, which quietly accumulate costs.



Licensing surprises occur when legacy software requires new contracts under cloud terms.



Security and compliance integrations, which may involve separate tools or services to meet regulatory standards in the cloud.



Data transfer inefficiencies, especially during lift-and-shift migrations or when syncing hybrid environments.




How to avoid hidden migration costs?



Make sure your team knows how to track expenses. One simple way is to use tags that show which team or project is using each cloud resource. You can also set alerts that warn you when costs suddenly increase.



There are helpful tools that show where your money is going. AWS has Cost Explorer. Azure and other cloud providers have their own dashboards. Some companies use independent platforms (called FinOps tools) to get an even clearer view.



And here’s something important: managing cloud costs isn’t just something your IT team should worry about. Finance, engineers, and business managers all need to be involved. When everyone understands how cloud usage affects the budget, your company can make faster, smarter decisions and avoid surprises later.



Conclusion



Strategy is the line between a successful cloud migration and a costly failure. Too many organizations dive into the cloud hoping for speed and savings, only to face delays, security gaps, and runaway costs. Why? Because they treated cloud adoption as a technical switch, not a business transformation.



A well-defined cloud migration strategy reframes the entire process. It acts as a safeguard against costly downtime, a framework for prioritizing workloads, and a bridge that connects IT execution to business goals. That’s why companies can reap a great deal of benefits if they turn to a specialized cloud migration consulting provider to get expert guidance and avoid costly missteps. Ultimately, your long-term success in the cloud depends on the tools you select and how you design your cloud migration strategy.




 


Expert Opinion



As mentioned in the article, migration is a strategic business initiative rather than a simple technical transition. This perspective is crucial, as many real-world projects fail due to poor alignment between IT execution and business objectives.



In addition, the 7 R’s framework is widely adopted for good reason. By evaluating each workload individually, teams avoid the risks of a one-size-fits-all lift-and-shift approach. However, strategies like “Refactor” often seem simpler on paper than they are in practice. Refactoring typically exposes hidden technical debt that remained invisible in tightly coupled, on-prem systems.



And one area that deserves even more emphasis is the use of infrastructure as code (IaC). IaC should ideally be implemented from the very beginning of the migration process. When combined with automated pipelines, it greatly improves consistency and repeatability across environments. It also enables static code analysis, cost estimation, and version control, which reduces surprises during the provisioning process.



Disaster recovery (DR) planning is crucial for any cloud architecture. Unlike traditional setups, cloud services provide specific DR options at the service level instead of the system level. This requires teams to carefully set up replication, backups, and failover processes across different zones or regions. To ensure these setups are effective, it’s beneficial to use chaos engineering to simulate real failure situations. This way, recovery plans become more efficient in practice.





DevOps engineer at SoftTeco



Roman Haiduchik

### Zero Downtime Deployment: Strategies, Tools, and Best Practices

Uninterrupted service is now a baseline expectation. Whether it’s a banking app, a video platform, or an online store, users expect everything to work instantly and without interruption. So, downtime is no longer just an inconvenience — it’s a real risk to business, reputation, and user trust. That’s why zero downtime deployment is now a core strategy for any team serious about stability and scale.



In this article, we will explain what is zero downtime deployment, its benefits and challenges, and explore the strategies, best practices, and tools that make it possible.







What is zero downtime deployment?



Zero downtime deployment (ZDD) is a deployment strategy that enables the release of software updates or infrastructure changes without causing any service interruption to users. The goal is simple: updates should be invisible to the end user. Whether it's a minor bug fix or a major feature rollout, the system keeps running.



Zero downtime isn't just about uptime percentages. It's about ensuring that every deployment avoids failed transactions, broken sessions, or service hiccups.



Why zero downtime deployment matters



Zero downtime is a cornerstone of modern DevOps practices. It complements Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD), allowing organizations to automate and streamline delivery pipelines without user-facing breaks. Users grow to trust platforms that are always there when needed. A single downtime incident, particularly in sensitive domains (like healthcare, ecommerce, banking, or cybersecurity), can harm brand perception for a long time.



Of course, downtimes and outages can happen for different reasons. However, it doesn't change the fact that it is a solid business concern. In 2014, Gartner estimated that downtimes cost companies $5,600 per minute. For example, due to a 12-hour Apple store outage in 2015, the company lost $25 million. 



Today, the numbers are even higher. In 2024, Splunk released its "The Hidden Costs of Downtime" report and interviewed top executives from Global 2000 companies. According to the report, downtimes now cost companies approximately $9,000 per minute. Not to mention that you lose not only revenue but users. Bringing back their trust and redeeming the company's reputation is also a costly venture.



Aside from saving companies from financial losses, zero downtime deployment brings a lot of other benefits. That includes: 




Faster release cycles: Teams gain confidence to release smaller and more frequent updates. This means quicker feedback loops, accelerated innovation, and better agility in responding to market needs.



Reduced risk: Deploying small changes more frequently limits the blast radius if something goes wrong. This enables faster root cause analysis, easier rollbacks, and lower recovery time.



Operational efficiency: If your platform serves a global user base, there’s no good time for maintenance windows. ZDD removes the need to schedule downtime, enabling updates around the clock. Teams avoid the overhead of working odd hours or managing complex communication plans with stakeholders. Deployment becomes a regular, non-disruptive routine.



Enhanced user trust: Seamless user experience builds confidence. Users can rely on your service even during development transitions, which is particularly important for customer-facing platforms.




How zero downtime works



To achieve zero downtime, deployments must be carefully planned and executed while the system continues to serve users. Here's a simplified look at how it works in general:




Preparation. All code changes, infrastructure updates, and database changes are prepared in advance. This includes making sure updates are backward-compatible and safe to run multiple times.



Parallel deployment. The new version of the app is deployed alongside the current one, either in a separate environment or on the same servers.



Gradual traffic shift. A small portion of user traffic is routed to the new version to test it in real conditions, while most users still use the stable version.



Monitoring and health checks. The system continuously checks for problems like slow performance or errors. Monitoring tools help detect issues early.



Cutover or rollback. If the new version works well, all traffic is switched over. If not, traffic is sent back to the previous version.



Final checks. After the switch, logs, and metrics are reviewed to confirm everything is working correctly.




Common zero downtime deployment strategies



There are several strategies used to enable zero downtime. Each has its trade-offs, and choosing the right one depends on your application's architecture, scale, and team maturity. Let’s consider some of the core strategies in detail. 



Blue-green deployment



In a blue-green deployment, you have two production environments (blue and green) that exist simultaneously. Only one environment (blue) is live at any given time; the other is idle and ready to receive the next deployment. The new version of the system is deployed to the idle environment (green) while users continue to interact with the live one (blue). Once the deployment to green is complete and passes all checks, traffic is rerouted from blue to green. If you discover any problems in the process, you can quickly switch back to blue.



Blue-green is ideal when your application must stay available at all times (ecommerce platforms, financial systems, SaaS products, etc). Because the new version is deployed to an idle environment, users experience no service disruption. Moreover, if your team deploys changes less frequently but in larger batches (monthly releases), blue-green offers a safer way to test and cut over the entire update at once.



Rolling updates



Rolling updates are one of the most frequently used strategies for achieving zero downtime during deployments. This method involves gradually replacing instances of the old application with instances running the new version so the system stays available while the update is in progress. Unlike blue-green deployment, rolling updates don’t require a duplicate environment. 



These updates are often managed by orchestration tools like Kubernetes, making the process consistent and efficient. Any issues can be caught early during the phased rollout, minimizing risk. However, if a serious issue is discovered late in the process, reverting may be difficult. Moreover, the system may temporarily run a mix of old and new versions, which can cause issues if they’re not fully compatible. 



Canary releases



The canary release strategy pushes a new version to a small subset of users first. If all goes well, the rollout will continue gradually until the new version serves all users. This approach allows developers to monitor the system in real time, collect performance metrics, and gather user feedback under actual production conditions — without exposing all users to potential bugs or failures.



In other words, canary releases allow you to test how new features or configurations impact performance, error rates, or user behavior, enabling data-driven rollouts. This strategy is ideal for controlled experiments. You can compare performance or engagement metrics between users on the old and new versions before committing to a full release. 



Feature flag toggles



Feature flags, also known as feature toggles, are conditional statements in the code that allow developers to enable or disable features without requiring a redeployment of the application. Think of a feature flag as a switch: when the switch is on, the feature is active and visible to users; when it’s off, the feature is hidden, even though the underlying code has already been deployed.



With feature flags, teams can deploy new features to production without exposing them to users immediately. For example, if a company is launching a new user interface, they can deploy the code but keep the feature toggled off until they are ready for users to see it.



Zero downtime deployment best practices



There are several best practices developers should follow to execute flawless zero downtime deployments. That includes: 




Planning and staging your releases. Before deploying to production, every release should be carefully planned and tested in a staging environment that mirrors your live system. This helps identify bugs, compatibility issues, or performance bottlenecks early on. Define clear goals for the deployment, including success criteria and rollback triggers.



Automating rollback mechanisms. Despite best efforts, deployments can fail — so having an automated rollback process is essential. These mechanisms should detect critical failures and trigger a reversion to the last stable version without manual intervention. Automating this step reduces response time and limits the impact on users. 



Load blanchers and proxies. Load balancers and reverse proxies route incoming traffic to healthy application instances only. During deployment, they can gradually shift traffic to new instances to reduce risk and ensure a smooth transition. If any new instance fails, it’s automatically removed from the traffic pool. This traffic control is key to maintaining uptime while changes are rolled out.



Monitoring and observability during deployment. Observability tools help teams track system health in real time using logs, metrics, traces, and dashboards. Monitoring performance indicators like latency, CPU usage, error rates, or failed requests allows quick detection of deployment issues. With automated alerts in place, teams can act immediately if something goes wrong. This visibility is critical to making informed go/no-go decisions during rollout.



Ensuring backward compatibility with database changes. Database changes must be compatible with both old and new versions of the application to prevent downtime. For example, instead of deleting a column right away, it’s safer to first add a new column, let both versions use the database, and only remove the old one after full migration. This phased approach prevents schema-related crashes or data inconsistencies. It also supports smoother rollouts, especially when doing canary or rolling deployments.




Challenges in achieving zero downtime



Even though zero downtime deployments bring numerous benefits, achieving them can be pretty challenging, especially when working with vast amounts of data. Here are some of the difficulties teams may face, along with key factors to consider when planning for zero downtime.



State management and session persistence



One of the foremost challenges in zero downtime deployments is managing state and session persistence. In many applications, user sessions and states need to be maintained during updates. When an application is updated, ensuring that user sessions do not get interrupted or lost is crucial for providing a seamless experience. This can be particularly challenging in stateless architectures, where sessions might be distributed across multiple servers.



To tackle this issue, developers often implement session replication or sticky sessions. However, these strategies can introduce latency and complexity. For instance, if sessions are not properly synchronized across servers, users might experience inconsistencies, leading to a frustrating experience. 



Deployment costs



Achieving zero downtime often comes with increased operational costs. The need for additional infrastructure to support redundancy—such as maintaining two versions of an application simultaneously can strain budgets. Organizations must weigh the benefits of uninterrupted service against the financial implications of maintaining multiple environments.



Furthermore, training staff on new tools and strategies necessary for implementing zero downtime deployments can add to costs. Organizations must invest in upskilling their teams to navigate these complexities effectively, which can be a significant financial commitment.



Handling schema migrations safely



Database schema changes pose a unique challenge in the context of zero downtime deployments. Making alterations to a database schema while the application is running can lead to inconsistencies or downtime if not managed correctly. For instance, if an application expects a new column that has not yet been added to the database, it could crash or produce errors.



To mitigate this risk, organizations often adopt a strategy of backward-compatible changes, where new features are introduced gradually. This allows the application to operate with both the old and new schema versions during the transition period. However, the complexity of managing these migrations safely increases the risk of errors and requires careful planning and testing.



Coordination across distributed systems



Ensuring that all components are updated simultaneously without causing service disruption requires robust orchestration strategies. The challenge is magnified when different teams manage various services, as miscommunication or lack of synchronization can lead to cascading failures.



To address these challenges, organizations can leverage tools designed for service orchestration and monitoring. Implementing practices such as canary deployments or rolling updates can also help minimize risks by allowing teams to test new versions incrementally rather than all at once. However, these strategies require a high level of coordination and collaboration across teams to be effective.




 


Expert Opinion



ZDD is becoming not just a desirable option, but a necessary requirement in today’s software development landscape. I believe that particular attention should be paid to testing and rollback mechanisms — an automated rollback can save a company’s reputation and finances.



The choice of a specific deployment strategy depends on the application architecture and the team, so there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Regardless of the chosen approach, investing in deployment automation tools is essential for successfully implementing ZDD. Automation tools help simplify and accelerate the deployment process, reduce the likelihood of errors, and ensure repeatability and predictability of outcomes. These investments pay off by ensuring stable and reliable application performance and maintaining business competitiveness.





DevOps Engineer at SoftTeco



Dmitry Plikus






 




Tools that enable zero downtime



Achieving zero downtime requires more than just good practices — it demands the right tooling. Modern DevOps and cloud-native tools help automate, orchestrate, and monitor deployments to ensure seamless updates. Here are some of the essential tools that you can use for zero downtime deployment: 




Jenkins. It is a widely used, open-source automation server that allows you to build flexible CI/CD pipelines. It supports a broad range of plugins, making it easy to integrate with version control systems, testing frameworks, cloud services, and deployment tools. For zero downtime, Jenkins can automate multi-step deployments including blue-green, rolling, and canary releases. It’s best suited for teams that need high customization and control over the deployment process.



GitHub Actions. GitHub Actions is a CI/CD tool built directly into GitHub, ideal for teams already using GitHub for source control. It allows you to define workflows as code and trigger them based on repository events (like a push or pull request). You can use it to automate deployments with staging, testing, and traffic shifting. While simpler than Jenkins, it integrates well with Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud providers to support zero downtime strategies.



Kubernetes. Kubernetes is a container orchestration platform that natively supports zero downtime deployments through features like rolling updates, canary deployments, health checks, and auto-scaling. It allows you to update services incrementally while keeping them available. With built-in liveness/readiness probes and traffic routing, Kubernetes helps ensure updates happen without impacting the user experience.



ArgoCD. It is a declarative GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. It syncs the desired state of applications (stored in Git) with the live state in your Kubernetes cluster. This enables safe, automated rollouts with version control, rollback options, and approval gates. It’s particularly powerful for zero downtime deployments in Kubernetes environments using strategies like progressive delivery or canary releases.





AWS CodeDeploy automates code deployments to Amazon EC2 instances, on-premises servers, Lambda functions, or Kubernetes clusters. It supports blue-green deployments, rolling updates, and canary strategies with built-in health monitoring and rollback features. It integrates smoothly with AWS services like CloudWatch and Auto Scaling, making it easy to maintain availability and performance during deployments.



Docker Swarm. It is a lightweight container orchestration tool that makes it simple to deploy and manage services in a cluster. It supports rolling updates out of the box, allowing services to be upgraded one task (container) at a time. It’s a good choice for smaller teams or simpler applications that don’t need the complexity of Kubernetes but still want basic zero downtime features.




Final thoughts



Zero downtime deployment isn't magic. It's the result of careful engineering, good tooling, and mature processes. It takes work — but the payoff is huge: faster development cycles, happier users, and more resilient systems. Whether you're operating at startup scale or managing a global platform, the ability to deploy safely and silently is a competitive advantage. 



However, implementing zero downtime deployment can be complex, especially in environments with legacy systems, tight coupling, or limited automation. In such cases, you don’t have to do it alone. You can always turn to a trusted DevOps service provider to help design, build, and maintain robust deployment pipelines tailored to your needs. 

### Monolithic vs Microservices: Which Architecture Best Suits Your Software Project?

When building software, architecture isn't just a behind-the-scenes decision; it's a core strategic choice that shapes everything from team structure to time-to-market. Two architectural styles dominate the conversation: monolithic and microservices. Each has its benefits, drawbacks, and best use cases. 



In this article, we compare monolithic vs microservices to provide a better understanding of each approach and to help you decide what will be a better architecture choice for your next project. 







What is monolithic architecture?



Monolithic architecture is a traditional approach to software design where an application is built as a single, unified unit. That means that all its components are interconnected and operate within one codebase. Therefore, when you deploy the app, you're deploying the whole thing at once. 



This architecture is often likened to a "big box," where all functionalities are bundled together. So, any changes or updates, even the small modifications, require rebuilding the entire system to implement them.



Although many companies today prefer to move away from monolithic architecture in favor of microservices due to certain limitations, monoliths still offer several advantages that make them a valid choice for specific use cases. The key benefits of monolithic architecture include:




A monolithic application is typically easier to develop, especially at the beginning, because all components are part of a single codebase.



Deployment is straightforward since there’s only one deployable unit, reducing coordination and complexity.



Testing a monolithic application is generally simpler due to the absence of inter-service communication and the use of a single runtime environment.



Initial development and hosting are usually less expensive, making it suitable for startups or MVPs.



No need for container orchestration, inter-service communication management, or network resilience strategies.




However, the limitations are still there. Some of the drawbacks of monolithic architecture include:




You scale the entire application, even if only one part needs more resources.



As the codebase grows, it becomes more complex and harder to manage.



Minor changes can require full redeployment.



Since the entire application is deployed as a single unit, a small change in one part can potentially affect the entire system.



The need for complete integration and end-to-end testing before each deployment hinders frequent releases and automation.




What is microservices architecture?



Now that we answered the “what is monolith” question, let’s continue with microservices. The microservice architecture breaks an application into a collection of smaller, loosely coupled services. Each service focuses on a specific business function and, unlike monolith, can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently. These services communicate with each other through well-defined APIs. 



The main advantages that draw businesses toward the microservices approach include:




As we mentioned, microservices can be developed, tested, deployed, and updated independently without affecting the entire application.



Services can be scaled individually based on demand.



Failures in one microservice typically don’t crash the whole system.



Services can be scaled individually based on demand.



Different services can be written in different programming languages or use different databases, depending on what suits each best.



Microservices are well-suited for automation pipelines, continuous integration, and continuous delivery.



Multiple teams can work on different services simultaneously, speeding up development and feature delivery.




However, there are also some drawbacks of the microservices as well. 




Microservices break down applications into many smaller services, which adds architectural complexity.



Managing inter-service communication, data consistency, and service dependencies requires careful planning and tooling.



Although services can be deployed independently, changes that span multiple services must be carefully coordinated.



Requires investment in DevOps tools, container orchestration, and API management.



Teams need expertise in distributed systems, containerization, orchestration tools, and advanced monitoring.




Microservices vs monolithic: key differences



Understanding the key differences between microservices and monolithic architectures is essential for making informed decisions in software development. We’ve already briefly discussed these approaches, so it’s time to compare microservices vs monolithic in more detail.



Development



Development in monolithic systems is straightforward. Since all components reside in a single codebase, developers can quickly understand the flow, debug, and implement features. However, the larger the system grows, the more cumbersome it becomes to make even minor changes. 



Development in microservices is distributed. Teams can work on different services independently without stepping on each other’s toes. This independence allows for faster feature delivery but requires a strong foundation in version control, API contracts, and inter-team communication.



Deployment



As we mentioned, the monolith is packaged and deployed as a single unit. This makes deployment simpler at first but risky — small changes to one part require redeploying the entire application, potentially introducing downtime or unforeseen issues elsewhere.



On the other hand, each service in a microservices architecture is a deployable unit. This makes deployments more agile and localized. Rolling out changes or hotfixes can be done quickly, with minimal impact on the rest of the system. However, managing the deployment of multiple services requires orchestration tools and CI/CD pipelines.



Scalability



Microservices are designed to handle scalability more effectively than monolithic architectures. In a microservices architecture, an application is divided into smaller, independent services that can be deployed, updated, and scaled individually. This means that if one component of the application experiences increased demand, it can be scaled independently without affecting the rest of the system. For instance, an ecommerce platform can scale its payment processing service separately from its inventory management service, optimizing resource allocation based on specific needs.



Monolithic architecture typically requires scaling the entire application as a single unit. This can lead to inefficiencies, as developers may need to allocate resources based on the most demanding components, even if the rest of the application does not require additional capacity. As a result, scaling a monolithic application can be more complicated and less efficient, particularly for large-scale systems.



Growth



When considering growth, microservices provide a more flexible framework for evolving applications. The modular nature of microservices allows teams to adopt new technologies and frameworks without overhauling the entire system. 



In contrast, growth in a monolithic architecture can be more challenging due to its tightly coupled components. Adding new features or making changes often requires significant modifications to the entire codebase, which can lead to increased development time and the risk of introducing bugs. Additionally, as the system grows, it may become more challenging to manage and maintain, potentially leading to technical debt.



Technology stack



The technology stack used in each architecture also presents a significant difference. In a microservices architecture, teams have the flexibility to choose different technology stacks for each service. This means they can leverage the best tools and frameworks suited for specific tasks, optimizing performance and efficiency. For example, a team might choose a lightweight programming language for a data processing service while using a more robust language for a user interface service.



On the other hand, monolithic architectures typically rely on a single technology stack throughout the entire application. While this can simplify development and reduce the learning curve for teams, it may also limit flexibility. Teams are often constrained to a specific set of languages and tools, making it harder to adapt to new technological advancements or to integrate with modern tools.



Complexities and maintenance 



As we mentioned, when monolithic applications grow, they often become increasingly complex. A larger codebase can lead to challenges in understanding, modifying, and debugging the application. The tightly coupled nature of monolithic systems makes it difficult to isolate issues or update individual components without affecting the entire application. Maintenance becomes a daunting task, particularly when changes necessitate extensive testing across the entire system.



While microservices offer modularity that can simplify certain aspects of development, they introduce their own complexities. The distributed nature of microservices can lead to challenges in managing inter-service communication, data consistency, and deployment orchestration. Teams must handle the added overhead of managing multiple services, which can complicate debugging and monitoring.



Here is a comprehensive comparison table of microservices vs monolithic architecture that clearly highlights their key differences. 



FeatureMonolithic architectureMicroservice architectureArchitectureSingle, unified application.Distributed system made up of independent services.DeploymentDeploy all at once.Deploy independently.DevelopmentCentralized codebase, usually one team.Multiple teams can develop services in parallel.ScalabilityScale entire app.Scale individually.SecurityEasier to manage security, as everything is in one place.More exposed to security risks due to resilience on API. Technology flexibilitySingle technology stack, uniform choices.Each service can use a different language or technology.CommunicationInternal method or function calls within one app.Communication over APIs or messaging protocols.Data managementCentralized.Decentralized and service-specific.MaintenanceHarder to update specific parts as the app grows.Easier to maintain and update individual services.TestingEasier unit and integration testing.Complex testing; requires end-to-end, contract, and service-level tests.



Monolithic vs microservices: which one to choose? 



The choice between microservices and monolithic architectures hinges on various factors. Microservices offer a modular, scalable approach that aligns well with modern development practices, making it an attractive option for many organizations. However, monolithic architectures may still be suitable for smaller applications. 




 


Expert Opinion



Regarding this topic, I can add one more vital approach: hybrid architecture - it combines the stability of a core monolith for established functionalities with independently scalable microservices for rapidly evolving or highly demanding areas. This approach is particularly effective during gradual migrations or when specific application parts require distinct scalability, but it necessitates careful management of both architectural styles.





Head of Backend Department PL at SoftTeco



Nickolai Pershai






 




Overall, It’s not about which is better — it’s about what’s right for your current stage, goals, and team. The decision between monolithic vs microservices architecture should be based on:




Project size and complexity. For smaller projects or MVPs (Minimum Viable Products), a monolithic approach can be more practical. It simplifies development and reduces initial costs. On the other side, for larger, enterprise-level applications, microservices may offer the scalability and flexibility needed to handle complex requirements.



Team expertise. The existing skill set of the development team is crucial. A team experienced in microservices can leverage its benefits effectively, while a less experienced team may find a monolithic architecture easier to manage.



Long-term growth plans. Organizations should consider their future needs. If you anticipate rapid scaling and frequent updates, microservices may be the better choice. However, if the project scope is well-defined and unlikely to change significantly, a monolithic architecture may suffice.





 


Expert Opinion



If you are experiencing any of the issues on that list, it is the right time to consider migrating to a microservices architecture (or at least a hybrid approach).




You see scalability challenges;



You need to increase the development velocity;



You want to have easier maintenance and updates;



You have an overcoming of technical debt.




These points are the primary drivers and "pain points" that often lead organizations to move away from a monolithic architecture and towards microservices. 



Anyway, there's no one-size-fits-all answer. Choosing between monolithic and microservices architectures is a strategic decision that depends heavily on your organization's specific context.





 Head of Backend Department PL at SoftTeco



Nickolai Pershai






 




To sum it up



Every system is different, so consider your options and business needs to choose the architectural decision that best suits your goals. Start small, build smart, and scale responsibly. If you're starting out, a well-structured monolith is often your best bet. If you're scaling up or hitting structural roadblocks, microservices can offer the agility you need — but only if you're ready for the complexity they bring. 

### Inside a Dedicated Development Team: A Smarter Model to Scale Your Business

A dedicated development team is a partnership model where the software development team focuses solely on one client's product. This approach saves lots of time and effort, as it helps companies avoid lengthy hiring processes and quickly upscale their team with the necessary talent. 







This article will explain what a dedicated development team is, when you should use it, and how to hire a reliable IT vendor.



What is a dedicated software development team?



A dedicated development team is a model where a vendor provides a group of software professionals who work exclusively on a client’s project. This group may include specialists like project managers, developers, QA engineers, designers, business analysts, etc. Unlike traditional outsourcing, where teams juggle multiple clients, dedicated teams act as your exclusive partner. This usually means the team focuses more closely on your project and internal processes.



Benefits of a dedicated software development team 







Let’s consider the key benefits that make this model such a valuable choice for businesses across industries:



Less project management on your side



It can be challenging to manage numerous operational tasks, especially in smaller teams and startups. However, a dedicated team usually consists of experienced members, so you can entrust tasks such as daily check-ins, task prioritization, and tracking deadlines to an experienced project manager. 



That means you don't need to be in every meeting or micromanage every sprint. Instead, you get structured updates, clear timelines, and a single point of contact who keeps everything organized.



Cost-effectiveness



With in-house teams, salaries are not the only thing you pay for. You must also cover recruitment, onboarding, training, office space, hardware, benefits, and sometimes relocation. With dedicated development team services, your company can skip all of that. 



Whether you need two developers, a single QA engineer, a UI/UX designer, or a full 10-person product squad, the vendor takes care of hiring, HR, legal matters, and infrastructure. In addition, you can choose your dedicated team in cost-effective regions across the globe to reduce the financial outlays of development.



Accelerated time to market



Speed matters when developing an MVP, handling customer feedback, or launching new features before your competitors do. 



With this engagement model, your company doesn’t need to spend weeks or months hiring and onboarding new staff. Your dedicated team arrives fully equipped and ready to integrate into your environment, adapt to sprint rhythms, and deliver value from day one. This prompt integration speeds up delivery schedules and enhances adaptability to change.



Focus on your project



Unlike traditional outsourcing teams, where developers might work on several projects simultaneously, a dedicated team is entirely at your disposal and committed only to your project. So, your developers don’t switch between different contexts or get distracted by other projects’ pressing needs. That undivided attention usually leads to higher code quality, faster turnaround, and fewer delays. 



Scalability



As your project progresses through stages such as building an MVP or scaling to serve enterprise-level customers, you might have different demands in terms of team size, skill sets, and resources. But with a dedicated team, you can easily scale up and down, without having to change contract terms, renegotiate rates, or manage HR logistics. 



This benefit appears promising compared to traditional in-house team setups, where adding new developers takes weeks or months between job postings, interviews, onboarding, or training. This, in turn, slows down your development and adjustment of the team structure.



Access to global talent and niche expertise



Finding the right developer for your industry and tech stack can take months, as highly skilled professionals are in short supply, especially if you’re hiring within your local market. Such delays can cost businesses an opportunity. 



This is where a team of dedicated developers can handle this pain point, as vendors already have access to a global pool of vetted professionals like senior developers, solution architects, DevOps experts, QA specialists, and more. These individuals often have experience working in domain-specific areas, such as fintech or healthcare. And when it comes to hiring, vendors can match you with experts who fulfill your technical needs as well as your preferences for communication, working style, and time zones.  



Risk mitigation



Imagine your backend developer resigning when you’re mid-sprint on a critical release. Finding a replacement for this role might take weeks, which leaves your roadmap stalled and the team overburdened. But if you opt for a dedicated development team model, your vendor takes care of all administrative, legal, and HR-related issues. Even when someone leaves or becomes unavailable, your dedicated team vendor typically has established processes to backfill the role in a short time, often with a specialist familiar with the project or product type. This way, you can concentrate on developing your product while the vendor manages the risks in the background.



Who does a dedicated software development team consist of?







Let’s take a look at the core roles and responsibilities of a dedicated development team:



Project manager



Being a central coordination point between the client and the development team, project managers’ responsibilities include:




overseeing the project's day-to-day operations 



ensuring all tasks are completed on time, within scope, and according to agreed quality standards 



managing communications



handling risks 



prioritizing features 



aligning business goals with business objectives. 




In a dedicated team model, project managers take on much of the client’s operational workload, which allows them to stay focused on high-level priorities, like product vision, stakeholder alignment, and go-to-market strategies.



Developers



Developers are the technical pillar of the team. They write, test, and maintain the code for applications and platforms. A dedicated team may include frontend developers, who work on user interfaces, backend developers, who handle server logic, APIs, and databases, and full-stack developers, who do both. 



In simple words, developers work with designers, QA specialists, and business analysts to turn technical specifications into software features.



QA engineers



These specialists maintain product performance and reliability. To make software operate seamlessly, they need to detect bugs at the early stages of development before the product reaches end users. QA engineers write test cases, perform manual and automated tests, and ensure software meets quality standards and requirements. As testing helps spot critical defects and outages, you can protect your company and product from damage to your reputation.



UI/UX designers



UI/IX designers work with the interactive and visual aspects of the product. They design intuitive, aesthetically appealing interfaces that deliver a seamless user experience, develop wireframes and prototypes, choose color schemes and icons, and ensure that layouts are responsive, which means they can be used on various devices.



Apart from that, UX designers need to understand user behaviors and needs. That’s why they conduct user research, create detailed user personas, map out user journeys, and even perform usability testing. These activities help determine whether the product meets the target audience’s needs and is easy to navigate.



DevOps engineers



These engineers bridge the efforts of developers who write code with operations that run the system, so that updates and new features can be delivered quickly and without bottlenecks. 



Their main job is to automate and manage how software is built, tested, and deployed. They establish continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipelines, set up automated tools that help test and deploy code, and make sure the infrastructure is secure, cost-effective, and scalable.



Moreover, DevOps engineers also take care of your software technical environment. That means they monitor system health, implement logging and alerting mechanisms, and respond instantly to incidents to maintain system stability. In cloud-based environments, they manage resources, containers, and serverless architectures.



In short, DevOps engineers help your team deliver faster, reduce bugs, and keep everything stable for a smooth user experience.



Business analysts



Business analysts help the dev team and designers understand the needs and requirements of project stakeholders. Analysts gather and analyze business requirements, document specifications, prioritize features by their business value, and conduct feasibility assessments. In many cases, they also help perform user acceptance testing, refine the product backlog, and ensure that every technical aspect serves a clear business goal. 



With an experienced business analyst in your dedicated software development team, you’re more likely to build software that solves the right problems, stays on budget, and delivers real results for your business and users. 



The strategic advantage of a dedicated development team resides in its adaptability. You obtain precisely the expertise and roles necessary when your project demands them. Furthermore, you shape the team's structure according to your current needs.



Calculate your dedicated development team budget





When should you consider a dedicated development team model?



There are situations in which you should hire a dedicated developers team that can solve various problems. This model is an option to consider in the following cases:



Long-term projects



Consistency becomes critical when you’re building a product that requires ongoing development over many months or years. If you hire a dedicated software development team, the same professionals stay on the project throughout its lifecycle.   



Startups and MVPs 



Startups often face pressure to build and launch quickly with limited resources. If you work on a minimum viable product and aim to enter the market faster, it will take a lot of time and resources to assemble your in-house team. But a dedicated team gives you immediate access to skilled engineers, designers, and testers, which helps boost development speed and quality. 



Lack of in-house expertise



Many companies don’t always have the required technical skills within their internal teams, especially for emerging technologies or complex projects. Hiring full-time engineers can be burdensome and time-consuming, while freelancers tend to lack long-term commitment. In this context, a dedicated team model offers access to a pre-vetted pool of professionals who already have the necessary skills, and you don’t spend resources on onboarding and recruitment.  



Projects with ever-changing requirements



In dynamic environments, where startups test new features or a product evolves based on user feedback, requirements shift frequently. In this scenario, a team of dedicated developers easily adapts to new priorities, scales up or down as needed, and adjusts the timelines without revising the entire contract. 



How to hire a dedicated development team: best practices







You should approach the recruitment process with a clear plan and realistic expectations, and consider the following steps to select your vendor wisely:



Define your requirements



Before you negotiate with vendors, take the time to define your project's needs, goals, key features, and timelines. A vendor should discuss these aspects with you and help you create detailed scope documentation and technical requirements. During the process, consider the technologies you plan to use, such as programming languages, platforms, tools, and frameworks. After that, it will be crucial to determine the skill gaps of your current internal team, how many specialists and what roles you need to work on your product. Then, you can set clear timelines and a budget to communicate your requirements to potential partners more effectively. 



Search for a partner with a proven track record



Search for vendors who have a proven track record of delivering similar projects. It usually includes case studies, client testimonials, and information about their industry expertise.



To better understand what partner will match your expectations, learn how they recruit talent, assess technical and soft skills, and whether they’re compatible with your time zone and offer flexibility in scheduling meetings.



Assess candidates 



Even though your vendor can assemble a team, you should actively participate in the process and assess the candidates' skills. Ask to review CVs and portfolios, and schedule video interviews with key team members. You can give them short technical tests or coding assignments to check their skills and see how they think in a working scenario. 



Hard skills are not the only thing you should pay attention to. Evaluate how well candidates communicate, ask questions, and show interest in your product. A technically strong developer may not be the right fit for your team dynamics if they struggle to collaborate and adapt.



Establish communication channels and goals



As teams work remotely, it’s vital to establish channels for effective communication. That’s why you must agree on how and when to communicate — Slack, Microsoft Teams, email, or other platforms. Define the frequency of meetings, whether they are daily stand-ups or weekly reviews, and clarify your team’s roles and responsibilities, so everyone knows how to present their views and information about a project.



Also, set workflows that align with your preferred methodology, be it Scrum, Kanban, or a hybrid model. The more structure you provide upfront, the easier it will be for your dedicated developers to integrate and deliver faster results. 



Set up metrics and KPIs



To track how well your team is performing, establish metrics. Common KPIs include sprint velocity, delivery timelines, number of defects found by QA engineers, deployment frequency, and code review quality. 



Start with a trial period



One of the advantages of a dedicated team is flexibility. You don’t have to start a collaboration with a year-long contract immediately. Many vendors allow you to begin with a trial period, perhaps a 4- or 6-week sprint, which helps you evaluate the team’s performance, communication efficiency, and overall fit for the project.



Use this time to monitor how your dedicated team handles challenges, adapts to feedback, and meets deadlines, then decide whether you can proceed with further engagement.



Top red flags to watch out for in a dedicated development team



While this partnership model provides various advantages, it’s essential to pay attention to potential red flags that may arise in future collaborations. Consider these important warning signs:



They offer suspiciously low pricing



Suppose a vendor offers pricing noticeably lower than the industry average. In that case, it may indicate potential hidden issues, such as the use of less experienced talent, overlooked requirements, or hidden extra fees. Since development often comes at a price, you should always request a detailed cost estimate and compare it with other providers.



They lack process transparency



Avoid working with teams that are vague about their development practices, timelines, or how they manage your code. A reliable team should walk you through their workflow, collaboration tools, and delivery expectations. If they’re hesitant to share this information, it may indicate inexperience or a reluctance to be held accountable. Transparency builds trust, and without it, collaboration often suffers.



They have poor communication skills



Even the most skilled developers can struggle if communication breaks down. If the team seems disorganized, slow to respond, or unclear in how they interpret your requirements, you could face major delays and misunderstandings. Strong communication practices—like regular check-ins, clear documentation, and responsiveness—are as important as technical skills when working with a remote team. 



They have high turnover rates



Frequent staff changes during a project can lead to inconsistent progress, knowledge loss, and missed deadlines. Before hiring, ask about team stability and how the vendor handles transitions when a team member leaves. If developers keep quitting, it’s usually because something’s broken behind the scenes—and your project will pay for it.





Looking for a reliable dedicated development team?



Hire SoftTeco's dedicated development team that works only on your product. Our engineers align with your roadmap, tech stack, and timeline — delivering consistent results and long-term value.




Learn more






They always agree without question



“Yes” isn’t always a good answer. Be careful if a team agrees to every feature, timeline, and demand. Experienced developers speak up when something doesn’t make sense. They ask questions and propose better solutions. If a team never questions your ideas, suggests better options, and just nods along—even when your deadlines or requests don’t make sense—they’re not focused on building the best product. They want to get you to hire them, so they'll tell you what you want to hear. Therefore, honest, thoughtful feedback is a sign of professionalism and what leads to great results.



What influences the cost of dedicated development teams?



Here’s a breakdown of the core factors that can influence the rates of dedicated teams:



Location of teams



The location of your potential partner is the thing to consider, as based on their region, the rates can vary widely. Teams based in North America and Western Europe tend to have higher rates due to living costs and local salaries. Meanwhile, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and some parts of Asia can offer access to skilled professionals at more competitive rates.



In this case, the cheapest option doesn't always mean it's the best deal. This is because, in addition to rates, things like time zone compatibility, language skills, and cultural alignment also affect your project’s success.  



Team composition



The cost also depends on the number of people you need, as larger teams cost more than smaller ones. However, the headcount is not the only factor to consider. The types of specialists you hire matter as well. If we take senior developers, solution architects, DevOps specialists, and AI/machine learning experts in AI, they typically command higher rates.



Project duration



Long-term contracts of over six months often provide discounted rates, as they ensure financial stability and reduce administrative workload. In contrast, short-term contracts have higher hourly rates due to the temporary nature of work. So, longer collaborations will be more beneficial, as you get better rates, and your team has enough time to get to know your product and business goals.



Product complexity



The more complex your project is, the more resources it requires. For instance, a basic content management platform with standard features will be cheaper to build than a SaaS product with real-time data processing, multi-language support, and third-party integrations.



Complexity increases costs in multiple ways: more development hours, more specialists involved, and more time spent on planning. It may also require custom infrastructure, tighter security measures, and compliance with specific regulations, which further contribute to the total price.



Management and communication



Some vendors offer all-inclusive services where project management, sprint planning, QA processes, and reporting are built into their rates. Others may treat these activities as add-ons and separate options, so it’s better to clarify early whether your rate covers a dedicated project manager, QA engineers, and others. 



Ensuring communication channels, providing regular updates, and streamlining workflows also come at a cost but save budget in the long run as they help avoid misunderstandings, scope creep, and delivery delays.



Legal and administrative costs



Depending on your engagement terms with a vendor, you may need to account for legal expenses such as handling contracts, signing NDAs, covering licensing fees (for software like Jira, Stack, GitHub, or Figma), and managing intellectual property registrations. If your project involves sensitive data, you may need to budget for compliance with GDPR or HIPAA. While these expenses may be a small portion of the overall budget, they are still essential to safeguard your business and should not be overlooked, especially at the early stages. 



Challenges that dedicated developer teams might face 



Communication barriers



As dedicated developers work from various locations and time zones, it can lead to miscommunication, delays, and a lack of real-time collaboration. That’s why you should choose sustainable communication methods (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack, etc.), schedule regular meetings during overlapping work hours, and maintain documentation, such as project requirements, technical specifications, sprint logs, etc. This will help keep your team aligned even across time zones.



Scope creep



Clients often request additional features, but the development process has already begun. In this case, changes to the project scope have to be made, which results in increased costs, missed deadlines, and greater pressure on team capacity. 



To solve this problem, project managers must create the project scope and set boundaries with the client from the beginning. They should discuss any potential changes to the scope at the early stages, so that the development team has more time to adjust their timelines. 



Technical debt



Developers may take shortcuts like writing messy code, skipping the refactoring of outdated code, or not testing thoroughly. At first glance, these shortcuts save time, but can result in bigger issues later. Technical debt slows the development process, creates bugs, and makes it much harder to add new features.



To avoid this, teams should start writing clean, well-organized code from the start. That’s why regular code reviews, automated testing, and scheduled refactoring are go-to ways to keep technical debt under control.




 


Expert Opinion



We all prefer having “our own” trusted hairdresser, dentist, car mechanic, or cleaner. So why should building software be any different?



That’s exactly why most of my clients eventually choose the dedicated team model. Explaining the same things over and over again, re-aligning expectations, and re-making decisions drains both time and energy. That’s what a committed team is for.



A dedicated team means you have a Project Manager who acts on your behalf, and developers who know your product like the back of their hand. And in today’s world, where we can tap into top-tier talent anywhere on the planet, why settle for less? I always encourage my clients to take advantage of this and build the best possible team for their product or MVP — one that feels like their own, because it is.





Head of Presale and Lead Generation 



Department at SoftTeco



Natalia Atamaniuk






 




Final thoughts



Companies can turn to a vendor that offers a dedicated software development team model to address such challenges as delayed hiring cycles, talent gaps, rising development costs, and inconsistent delivery. In return, they get a team of dedicated and skilled professionals fully committed to their project that provides the structure and discipline of an in-house team combined with the flexibility of an outsourced team.

### A Guide on the Principle of Least Privilege: Benefits and the Implementation Process

Cybersecurity is a highly acute issue for all modern organizations that rely on digital technologies. Unfortunately, a great deal of breaches and data leaks happen because of internal threats, including employees’ lack of knowledge, lack of cybersecurity awareness, or simply ignorance of security basics. As a result, the stored and processed data as well as the company’s reputation might be at risk.



The principle of least privilege (PoLP for short) is one of the cornerstones of enterprise security. Below we explain how it impacts the security of the data and how to set it up without disrupting the normal operations.







What is the principle of least privilege?



The least privilege principle is a cybersecurity concept which means a user has access only to those resources and data that are needed to complete an assigned task. In this way the access is limited to the scope of work of a specific user and does not allow to exceed permissions outside this scope.



The PoLP is one of the most important cybersecurity principles as it directly impacts the security of sensitive information and the way it can be managed. Organizations that implement the PoLP significantly increase their security and see fewer security incidents than companies with poor security policies and methods.



Note that the principle of least privilege is not as strict as it might seem. An organization can configure various access levels based on the user’s location or even time of the day, thus making the process flexible and customizable.



Key components of the principle of least privilege 



After answering the “what is the principle of least privilege” question, let’s look at its core components:




Role-based access control: just as the name implies, this security model is used for granting access to various data and resources based strictly on the predefined user role. 



Time-bound access permissions: in this model, the admittance is either limited by time (i.e. is valid for a certain period of time) or is granted only on specific dates and hours.



Just-in-time (JIT) access: a user can access the needed resources only during a specific time period and once it ends, the access will be denied.




As you can see, all these components are aimed at making the access granular and precise instead of allowing a massive number of users to access critical data at a wide scale. 



Why is the principle of least privilege important?



While we will walk through the core benefits of PoLP a bit later, let’s quickly review a few real industry examples that showcase the importance of PoLP implementation.



The first is quite old but still remains a good example of the importance of cybersecurity. Back in 2017, the Equifax company had permissive access controls combined with an open network architecture. Hence, every user was considered as trusted and that, as you can guess, led to massive cyberattacks and data theft. 



Another example is Uber data breach during which the hackers managed to access users’ credentials in the code repository. The reason for this attack was poorly managed admittance to the repository and the lack of PoLP implementation.



And one more example, highly relevant to any company operating in a digital environment: phishing attacks. Let’s first look at some numbers: since 2021 and due to the rise of AI, the number of phishing attacks has grown by 49% and 65% attacks target organizations and their sensitive data. So imagine a scenario: an employee opens a suspicious email, clicks on the link, and loads malware in the system. If the least privilege access is not implemented, the malware will spread across the whole network - but if the PoLP is in place, the attack surface will be reduced greatly.



Examples of neglected PoLP at the workplace



Let’s also have a look at how the neglected principle of least privilege looks at a workplace and how your employees might violate it:




A laptop or a PC is left unattended and not locked: allows unauthorized access



A document with sensitive information is left unattended: reveal / breach of the sensitive data



A single account for several users: makes it impossible to identify the person responsible for a malicious or wrong action



Personal data is used for corporate use: an employee is added to a project via their personal account. 




These cases clearly show how poorly configured access can enable the breach of sensitive information and its ensuing misuse by threat actors. Now let’s look at the way the principle of least privilege works and the core concerns related to it.



How does the least privilege access work?



The principle of least privilege operates on the basis of limiting admittance to specific resources, data and applications to an extent that a user needs to perform a specific task. In other words, if an employee needs to do a certain task and requires access to specific resources, they will be able to access only these resources - and nothing else.



It is recommended that organizations implement the principle of least privilege by default as part of the Zero Trust Network Access model. By doing so, you will be able to avoid having overprivileged users and prevent the privilege creep from happening.



What is privilege creep?



It often happens that an organization grants excessive privileges to users and with time, simply forgets to revoke these privileges. This creates a security loophole that later leads to potential attacks and an increased possibility of risks. Hence, privilege creep occurs: the unnoticed spread of granted privileges among unauthorized users.



To prevent privilege creep from happening it is recommended to regularly perform audits of your resources and access configurations as well as of current and outdated users. In this way, you will be able to timely identify if any user is overprivileged and fix it.



Core benefits of implementing PoLP



The least access principle contributes greatly to protecting sensitive information and assets and brings an array of benefits to organizations:



Minimized attack surface



Since PoLP greatly limits access to resources and data, it creates a highly secured digital environment and leaves a very little area for potential attacks. So if a hacker cannot access valuable resources, the impact of a potential attack would be much less compared to the one where privileges are granted to unauthorized users. 



Prevented spread of malware



One of hackers’ main areas of interest is infecting the organization’s resources with malware. Hence, the logic is simple: if hackers cannot access resources, they cannot corrupt them. In this way the principle of least privilege significantly contributes to the prevention of malware spread across the organization and minimizes the occurrence of potential risks.



Improved productivity



If employees can access only those resources needed for completing assigned tasks, they will be more productive in their work as they won’t get distracted by irrelevant information or apps. Also, the fewer number of errors leads to less troubleshooting which also increases the level of overall productivity in the company.



Minimization of human errors



A human error is a frequent factor of cybersecurity breaches because sometimes employees are simply not aware of doing something wrong or do not pay enough attention. As a result, human errors create vulnerabilities that might transform into massive security incidents. But with the principle of least privilege in place, employees are less likely to make an error simply because they will operate in a limited digital environment.



Improved compliance



Regulatory compliance like HIPAA or GDPR is a must for the majority of tech companies. And while the process of achieving compliance is complex enough, it becomes even harder if the default security configurations are lacking. The principle of least privilege can significantly facilitate and speed up the compliance process since it directly impacts the security of your data and the way it can be accessed and managed.



How to implement the principle of least privilege at your organization?



The PoLP is a multi-stage process that should be tailored to the specifics of each company. But to give you a general understanding of the process, we will list the basic stages of PoLP implementation - you can use them as a blueprint for your own strategy.



Conduct privilege audits



The first thing you’ll have to do is conduct a thorough audit of your existing privileges. This includes checking authorized and unauthorized users and the levels of admittance that they have. This is important because you need to precisely know your current assets and configurations before introducing any changes



Reorganize your access management



After performing privilege audits, the next step is to review your access management policies and reorganize them. Here are a few things to start with:




Set all accounts to least privilege 



Eliminate unnecessary privileges



Isolate privileged user sessions



Add privileges gradually and only according to the required access




Enable just-in-time access model



As we already wrote, the JIT access model is highly valuable for protecting sensitive information. We recommend identifying resources for which this model might be suitable and enable just-in-time access for each. 



Conduct regular security checks



One more thing worth considering is the performance of regular security checks. Even after configuring access privileges and permissions there still might be a chance of a vulnerability or privilege creep happening. To ensure that your system remains secure, you need to regularly test it and review existing access privileges to timely identify risk areas.




 


Expert Opinion



Following the principle of least privilege does not limit your abilities. It removes unnecessary tools and keeps only the most effective ones that best fit your daily tasks. It also makes team work smoother and more organized by clearly defining responsibilities and protects you from unnecessary mistakes. Additionally, it reduces the risk of vulnerabilities like "man-in-the-middle," making work more predictable and results closer to what you expect.





Head of QA Department at SoftTeco



Sergei Konon






 




Main challenges of PoLP implementation



Finally, let’s talk about potential roadblocks that you might face when introducing the least privileged access in your organization. By understanding and mitigating them in advance, you will be able to significantly reduce any potential negative impact that they may have.



Potential issues with productivity



Remember we talked how the principle of least privilege increases productivity? The other side of the coin is that it can also decrease it - here is how.



When employees face limited access to certain resources, they can become frustrated. This is especially relevant for fast-paced environments like DevOps teams. So what you can do here is try and establish a balance between robust security and sufficient flexibility for employees.



Complexity of digital environments



Many modern companies operate both in the cloud and on-premises, and each computing environment requires its own configuration of access privileges. The complexity and size of digital systems may be a big challenge for security as you need to ensure that all systems in use operate both smoothly and securely. Also note that cloud environments require a specific set of security settings, unique for each provider.



Need for continuous monitoring



One more important thing is the need for continuous monitoring and auditing. Since digital environments are highly dynamic, new and unexpected threats may occur on a regular basis. To proactively mitigate and prevent them from disrupting your operations, you should perform regular monitoring and audits and ensure that all access privilege configurations are relevant and updated.



Final word



In today’s digital environment, it is critical that companies take a proactive approach to cybersecurity. This involves setting up robust access controls and limiting access to sensitive data. The principle of least privilege is among the basic steps that one has to take in order to enforce cybersecurity on all levels of an organization. While it may seem complex, a step-by-step approach can greatly simplify it and provide greater control over the whole process. However, if you still have any questions left, don’t hesitate to contact SoftTeco. Being an ISO 27001 certified company, we know how to set up robust security measures and how to ensure that new implementations align well with your established processes.

### What Is Digital Insurance? Benefits, Challenges, and Key Technologies

The insurance industry has traditionally been known for excessive paperwork, lengthy processes, and in-person consultations. But that’s changing — and fast. Digital insurance is reshaping how insurance is bought, sold, and managed. It's more than just moving services online. It’s a full transformation of the insurance model through the use of digital technologies that help to improve customer experience, streamline operations, and create more efficient, scalable solutions.



In this article, we’ll break down what digital insurance really means, what technologies are driving it, and what challenges it faces. 







What is digital insurance?



Digital insurance is a term that refers to the use of diverse technologies to enhance and automate the entire insurance process. Basically, it's the shift of every traditional insurance service to online. This includes everything from the initial purchase of insurance policies to claims processing and customer service.  



The main goal of digital insurance is to make the process simpler, faster, and more transparent. It helps insurance companies save time and reduce costs while giving customers more control over their policies.



With digital insurance, you don’t need to make an appointment and visit in person to fill out the documents or get a consultation. For example, if someone wants to buy car insurance, they can go to a company’s website or app, enter their information, and get a quote in minutes. They can choose the coverage they need, pay online, and receive their digital policy instantly. If they have an accident, they can file a claim by uploading photos, filling out a form, and tracking the claim status in real time, and all that without leaving their home.



EIOPA's 2023 Eurobarometer Survey shows that 40% of Europeans are already using digital insurance services. Considering current digitalization trends, this percentage is likely even higer today.







There are several types of digital insurance providers: 




InsurTech startups. These are tech-driven companies that offer insurance entirely through digital platforms. They often focus on specific niches within the insurance market, offering tailored solutions that traditional insurers may overlook. 



Traditional insurers with a digital presence. As simple as that, many traditional insurance companies have embraced digital transformation, enhancing their existing services with online platforms and digital tools. These companies leverage their established brand equity while introducing new technologies to improve customer engagement.



Platform-based insurance. A lot of companies sell their insurance together with their product or service. For example, Tesla offers its own auto insurance tied to its car’s performance data, or Apple with their AppleCare+ device insurance.




Technologies that shape digital insurance



The rise of digital insurance would not have been possible without advancements in cutting-edge technologies. From AI-driven virtual assistance to fraud detection and blockchain-secured contracts, modern tech helps to make insurance faster and highly personalized. Let’s take a closer look at the technologies driving insurance digital transformation.



Artificial intelligence and machine learning



AI and machine learning algorithms are a crucial part of digital insurance.   It helps insurers work faster, smarter, and with fewer mistakes. For example, AI is used to check customer data and quickly decide who is eligible for a policy. It also helps process claims automatically, saving time and reducing the need for manual work. 



Many insurance companies now use AI-powered chatbots to answer customer questions 24/7. These bots can handle simple tasks, such as updating contact information or explaining coverage, without human help. 



Machine learning is also broadly used for fraud detection. It can find unusual behavior in claims and alert the company, helping to stop false claims before they’re paid. Moreover, with the help of machine learning, the chatbots give better answers by learning from past conversations.  



Internet of Things (IoT)



The Internet of Things refers to smart devices that collect and share data over the internet. In digital insurance, IoT is used to help insurers better understand and manage risk. For example, in car insurance, small devices called telematics are installed in vehicles to track how someone drives, measuring things like speed, braking, and distance. Safe drivers can get discounts based on their habits. In home insurance, sensors can detect water leaks, fires, or break-ins, allowing problems to be fixed early before major damage happens.



Health insurance companies use wearable devices like fitness trackers to monitor exercise, heart rate, and sleep. This information can help people stay healthy and sometimes lower their insurance costs. IoT makes insurance more personal and proactive. Instead of waiting for problems to happen, insurers can act early to prevent them. Customers also benefit from better service and more accurate pricing. 



Cloud computing



Insurers can leverage cloud services to store and process data without the heavy investment in physical servers. Moreover, cloud solutions enable insurers to launch new products quickly and respond to market changes with agility.



The cloud also facilitates collaboration among various stakeholders, including insurers, brokers, and customers. By using cloud-based platforms, they can seamlessly share data, enhancing communication and streamlining processes. The accessibility of cloud services ensures that employees can work remotely and access information from anywhere, which is an important factor in today’s work environment.



Blockchain technologies



Fraud is one of the major challenges in the insurance industry. Blockchain technology can help mitigate this issue by creating an immutable record of transactions. When claims are made, insurers can verify the legitimacy of the data against the blockchain, significantly reducing fraudulent activities.



Blockchain also enables the use of smart contracts — self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement directly written into code. In insurance, this means that claims can be processed automatically when predetermined conditions are met. For instance, if a flight is canceled in travel insurance, a smart contract can automatically trigger compensation, streamlining the claims process.



Big Data and analytics



Digital insurance, like any other industry, thrives on Big Data. By analyzing the vast amounts of information that insurance companies receive, they can tailor their policies and improve their offerings. 



Big Data also accelerates underwriting, replacing weeks of paperwork with AI-powered instant approvals by cross-referencing credit scores, public records, and even geolocation trends. Fraud detection becomes smarter, too, as machine learning flags suspicious claims by spotting anomalies in photos, repair estimates, or claimant histories.  



Advantages of digital insurance



Digital insurance transformation brings a lot of advantages not only for consumers but for insurers as well. Here are some of the key benefits of using digital insurance solutions:



Faster service and response time



One of the most valued benefits of digital insurance is the remarkable improvement in service speed. Traditional insurance processes often involve lengthy paperwork, extensive phone calls, and tedious waiting periods. Digital platforms, however, allow for instant communication and automated workflows.



For instance, claims processing can be expedited through digital channels. Customers can submit claims via mobile apps, attach necessary documents, and receive updates in real-time. This swiftness not only enhances customer satisfaction but also fosters trust between insurers and policyholders, as clients feel valued and prioritized.



More personalized services



Traditional insurance often uses broad categories to set prices and coverage, which means many people end up paying for things they don’t need or being underinsured. Digital insurance changes that by using advanced technology to better understand each customer’s unique situation. With the help of data analytics, AI, and machine learning, insurers can analyze information like driving habits, health data, and previous claims. This allows them to create insurance policies that match individual needs more closely.



Accessible 24\7



Unlike traditional insurance services that typically operate within fixed business hours, InsurTech companies allow users to access their services anytime. Whether through mobile apps, self-service portals, or AI-powered chatbots, you can immediately receive assistance without waiting for office hours or speaking to a representative. It’s not only convenient for customers in different time zones but especially valuable in case of emergencies.



Cost reduction



Digital insurance helps both insurers and customers save money by reducing many of the costs found in traditional insurance processes. In the past, insurance companies had to spend a lot on paperwork, office space, face-to-face meetings, and large customer support teams. With digital tools, much of this work can now be done online, automatically, and with fewer people involved.



Customers can fill out forms, receive quotes, and buy policies directly through websites or apps. Chatbots can handle customer inquiries, providing instant assistance without the need for human intervention. This not only saves time but also allows human agents to focus on more complex customer needs.



Improved risk assessment and fraud detection



As we mentioned, digital insurance leverages data analytics to enhance risk assessment and fraud detection capabilities. By analyzing vast amounts of data, insurers can develop more accurate risk profiles for potential clients. This not only helps in tailoring insurance products to meet specific needs but also ensures that premiums are appropriately priced based on risk levels.



Furthermore, advanced algorithms can identify patterns indicative of fraudulent activity. Insurers can now use predictive analytics to detect unusual claims, significantly reducing fraudulent payouts.  



Scalability and flexibility in product offerings​



Another notable advantage of digital insurance is its scalability and flexibility in product offerings. As consumer needs evolve, digital insurance platforms can quickly adapt to market demands. Insurers can launch new products or adjust existing ones with relative ease, ensuring that they remain competitive and relevant.



Challenges of insurance digital transformation



The adoption of new technologies and systems rarely comes without challenges. Therefore, alongside the many benefits of digital insurance, it’s important to be aware of some of the difficulties as well. 



Data privacy and cybersecurity concerns



As insurance companies increasingly rely on digital platforms, they become more vulnerable to data breaches and cyber-attacks. The sensitive nature of the data they handle, ranging from personal health information to financial records, makes them prime targets for cybercriminals.



The consequences of a data breach can be dire, leading to financial losses, reputational damage, and regulatory fines. Therefore, insurance companies must invest in robust cybersecurity frameworks and establish comprehensive data privacy policies to protect customer information.



Regulatory and compliance hurdles



The insurance sector is heavily regulated, with strict compliance requirements varying by country and region. Digital transformation initiatives often involve changes in data handling, customer onboarding, and even the use of artificial intelligence, each of which must comply with existing regulations. 



Customer trust and digital literacy



Some customers still prefer talking to a human, especially for complex products like life or business insurance. Moreover, varying levels of digital literacy can create barriers to engagement. Older generations, in particular, may struggle with new technologies, leading to a disconnect between insurers and their customers. To bridge this gap, companies must prioritize user-friendly digital platforms and invest in educational initiatives that enhance digital literacy among their client base.



Integration with legacy systems



Many insurance companies have long relied on legacy systems that are often outdated and not designed for digital integration. These systems can hinder the adoption of new technologies, making it challenging to implement innovative solutions. Moreover, integrating modern digital tools with legacy systems can be complex and costly. 



Conclusion



Digital insurance isn’t just a trend — it’s a transformation. It's rethinking how insurance works, making it faster, more personalized, and more aligned with today’s digital lifestyles. While challenges remain (especially around trust, regulation, and data privacy), the benefits are too good to ignore.

### HIPAA Compliant App Development: A Comprehensive Guide

According to Statista, the global mobile health market reached $172 billion dollars in 2024 and will keep growing to $258 billion by 2029. Such growth of mobile healthcare (mHealth) is driven by technological advances - wearable devices, telemedicine - and the demand for remote care and more personalized services. This rapid growth comes with a heavy responsibility: protect sensitive patient data and maintain its privacy.



At the center of this obligation is HIPAA - the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. For any business developing a healthcare app, HIPAA compliance is a must requirement that helps ensure strong data protection, avoid costly penalties, and build long-term trust with users and partners.



In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything about “how to make an app HIPAA-compliant”, including the law explanation, detailed development process and best practices to ensure your app meets all regulatory rules.







What is HIPAA?



HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is a federal law established in 1996 to protect the privacy and security of personal health information in the U.S. Simply put, HIPAA sets out strict rules on how and who can access, manage, transmit, and store protected health information (PHI) to ensure its confidentiality and security. 



The law also outlines penalties for non-compliance with HIPAA rules. HIPAA is structured around key standards that uphold the confidentiality, integrity, and security of health information, which ultimately strengthens the healthcare system. They include:




Privacy rule



Security Rule



Enforcement Rule 



Breach Notification Rule 



Omnibus Rule 




Let’s consider each of them closely below.



Primary rules of HIPAA law



The primary rules of HIPAA law include:



Privacy Rule (2003): it ensures the protection and privacy of all health information and grants individuals rights over their data. It also regulates how covered entities (e.g., healthcare providers) and business associates may use and disclose PHI. 



Security Rule (2005): set standards for protecting electronic health information (ePHI) by covering three types of safeguards:




Administrative: policies and procedures to manage security measures, including employee training, risk assessments, and contingency plans.



Physical: measures to protect electronic systems, equipment, and data from physical threats, unauthorized access, or data breaches - such as facility access controls, workstation security, and device management.



Technical: measures to control and protect PHI access - like access controls, encryption, audit controls, multi-factor authentication (MFA) and secure communication channels.




Unlike the Privacy Rule, which covers all PHI, it is used only for ePHI to ensure its confidentiality, integrity, and security both in storage and during data transmission. 



Enforcement Rule (2006): procedures for investigations, penalties, and non-compliance related to HIPAA. Depending on the severity and circumstances of the breach, fines for HIPAA violations can range from $100 to $50,000\violation.



Breach Notification Rule (2009): requires covered entities (organizations) and business associates to notify individuals\patients, of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the event of a breach due to unsecured PHI. Notification must be provided within 60 days of discovering the breach. 



Omnibus Rule (2013): it strengthens all HIPAA rules and expands the responsibilities of businesses that handle healthcare data, including Business Associates (BAs) and their subcontractors.



Who must comply with HIPAA?



HIPAA also provides information about who is strictly required to comply with its regulations. Compliance is mandatory for two key groups of organizations:




Covered Entities: organizations that are directly involved in the creation, use, or transmission of protected health information (PHI). Examples include healthcare providers (doctors, hospitals), health plans (health insurance companies), and healthcare clearinghouses.



Business Associates: individuals or organizations that perform services involving PHI on behalf of covered entities, such as IT services, billing companies, or third-party vendors.




Business associates must sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) to confirm their compliance with HIPAA rules. Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is an agreement that sets the specific responsibilities and obligations that each party must fulfill to comply with HIPAA.



For example, a small doctor’s office (covered entity) hires a cloud storage company (business associate) to store patient records. Both must sign a BAA, follow HIPAA rules, and regularly review and update the agreement as needed. In some cases, subcontractors who handle PHI must meet HIPAA as well. This ensures that PHI is protected, regardless of who processes it.



PHI, ePHI and CHI: what is the difference?



PHI, ePHI and CHI are widely used terms in healthcare but they differ in scope and regulatory coverage. Recognizing the differences between these terms is essential for ensuring appropriate data protection in healthcare and beyond.



Protected Health Information or PHI: is any information related to an individual’s health that is collected and maintained by a covered entity (healthcare organizations) under the HIPAA law. It specifically includes data that can be used to identify an individual, for example:




Name



Address



Email address



Social Security number



Medical record numbers



Insurance info



Account numbers



Medical info



Device identifiers and serial numbers



Certificate/license number



Web URLs



Biometric data




Examples of PHI:




Medical records



Insurance claim data



Diagnostic test results 




PHI is strictly regulated by HIPAA to ensure its privacy and security. 



Electronic Protected Health Information or ePHI: is a type of PHI that is stored, transmitted, or accessed electronically. In other words, it's the digital version of Protected Health Information (PHI) that is protected by the same Privacy and Security rules under HIPAA.



Examples of ePHI:




Electronic medical records (EMRs)



Electronic health records (EHRs)



Billing and insurance data stored in digital form



Test results, prescriptions, and diagnoses transmitted electronically




Because ePHI is stored and transmitted digitally, it requires additional security measures like encryption, secure networks, to protect it from unauthorized access, breaches, or cyberthreats  and to comply with HIPAA’s Security Rule.



Consumer Health Information or CHI: is a broader term for any health-related information that is considered private or sensitive. Unlike PHI and ePHI, it’s not always covered by HIPAA. It can include health data shared in non-healthcare settings, like wellness applications. 



Examples of CHI:




Fitness tracker data 



Non-identifiable medical data 



Health-related data disclosed outside of healthcare systems




Although CHI may not always be regulated by HIPAA, it could still fall under other privacy laws or standards, like GDPR.



Thus, PHI and eHPI are specific legal terms in the healthcare industry with strict HIPAA rules, while CHI is a more general term related to confidential health-related information, which might not always fall under the same regulatory protections. 



When does an application need to be HIPAA-compliant?



Once we've covered what HIPAA is, its primary rules, and who must adhere to them, the common question may arise: "when exactly does an application need to comply with HIPAA?" The answer is clear - an application must comply with HIPAA if it:




Stores, processes, transmits, or shares PHI



Works with or on behalf of healthcare providers or other covered entities



Involves third parties that handle PHI



Provides healthcare-related services involving PHI




In short, if an application interacts with PHI in any way, it must follow HIPAA regulations to protect the privacy and security of that data.



Importance of HIPAA compliance



HIPAA strikes a balance between efficient healthcare delivery and the protection of patient privacy and data security. Thus, it benefits patients, healthcare providers, and startups alike in the following ways: 



For patients:




Protect privacy: it ensures that patients' medical data, diagnoses, and treatments remain confidential and secure. HIPAA limits who can access or share a patient's health data, giving them control over their information.



Reduce security risks: by requiring strong security measures - like encryption, access controls, and audits -  HIPAA reduces the risk of data breaches, unauthorized access, or cyber threats. 



Control over data: patients are granted access to their medical records and know how they are used, ensuring they are informed and engaged in their care.



Improved quality of care: secure information sharing between authorized providers, leading to better coordination and personalized treatment.




For hospitals:




Avoid reputation damage: non-compliance with HIPAA regulations can result in severe fines, legal issues, and reputation damage. Hospitals can avoid these risks by meeting HIPAA regulations.



Streamlines operations: by implementing standardized processes, hospitals can improve data sharing, billing, and communication within the healthcare system.



Reduce risk of cyberthreats: HIPAA regulations require healthcare providers to set and comply with security measures to protect electronic health information, reducing the risk of data breaches and cyberattacks.



Improve patient trust: patients are more likely to trust healthcare providers if they trust that their data will remain confidential and secure. HIPAA fosters transparency between providers and patients, leading to stronger relationships.



Supports interoperability: compliance ensures that hospitals securely share patient information with other providers, improving care coordination.




For startup owners: 




Build trust with investors and partners: investors and business partners prefer to work with startups compliant with regulations such as HIPAA as it demonstrates expertise and builds trust.



Reduce legal and financial risks: by complying with HIPAA, startups will avoid hefty fines, lawsuits, and potential reputational damage, protecting their business and future growth.



Enhance security: HIPAA compliance helps implement necessary security measures for protecting health data, ensuring you have the right infrastructure in place to prevent any problems.



Long-term growth: HIPAA compliance lays a solid foundation for future growth, allowing a startup to scale without worrying about regulatory issues later on.




To sum up, HIPAA regulations help reduce security and financial risks and build trust with partners and patients, ensuring sustainable business growth in the healthcare industry.



How do you make the application HIPAA-compliant?



When it comes to answer the “how to build a HIPAA-compliant app?” question, you must follow all the rules - Privacy, Security, Enforcement, Breach Notification and Omnibus - set by HIPAA. As your app will handle electronically protected health information (ePHI), you must implement three key safeguards outlined in the Security Rule: administrative, physical, and technical - let’s talk about them below.



Technical safeguards:




Encrypt all patient data (both storage and transmission) using algorithms like AES-256;



Use strong authentication mechanisms, like biometric recognition or multi-factor authentication;



Use secure coding practice like input validation;



Use monitoring and logging systems;



Regularly update your mobile app.




Physical safeguards:




Implement access controls;



Regularly back up patient data;



Check your app supports encryption and protection for mobile devices;



Train your staff about physical security;



Ensure secure disposal of outdated devices with healthcare data;



Update physical security measures.




Administrative safeguards:




Develop and implement security policies for dealing with PHI including rules for the use of mobile devices.



Develop procedures for responding to security incidents;



Provide regular training to employees on HIPAA regulations and best practices;



Assign a HIPAA Compliance Officer to monitor compliance with security measures and conduct regular risk assessments;



Conduct regular audits and risk assessments.




To help you not miss anything important, we provide a step-by-step HIPAA app development process.



HIPAA compliance application development process: key steps  



Here are the key steps toward HIPAA-compliant app development :







Step 1: Select and implement a reliable a backend service



You can start by choosing the most appropriate backend provider that meets HIPAA standards, like AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google, or IBM Cloud. Each provider offers HIPAA-eligible services, including relevant services and data centers. For example, AWS provides EC2 for computing, S3 for storage, and RDS for databases.



When selecting a provider, verify that their infrastructure meets HIPAA security and privacy rules, including built-in encryption, role-based access control, and backup requirements. You can verify a provider's HIPAA compliance by reviewing their business associate agreement (BAA) to ensure they follow the law.



Step 2: Separate PHI from other app data



You need to separate protected health information (PHI) from other data types. For that, start by categorizing all the data that your app processes - which data is PHI and which is not. PHI includes health-related info that can be tied to an individual, like medical records, diagnoses, treatment, and payment details. Non-sensitive data can consist of user preferences, analytics, or marketing data. 



Next, store PHI and non-PHI data separately - in databases or storage services. This will help you ensure the security and proper handling of sensitive health data.



Step 3: Encrypt all sensitive data



Under HIPAA, organizations handling ePHI must implement proper security measures, and encryption is one of the most effective methods to protect data both at rest and in transit. It prevents data breaches and unauthorized access to the data. So, during this stage, you’ll need to:




Encrypt data at rest: ensure that all PHI stored in databases, file systems, or cloud storage is encrypted using strong encryption standards, such as AES-256.



Encrypt data in transit: use Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 or higher to encrypt PHI during data transmission over networks. This will ensure that data is protected while being sent between the app and servers or between different components of a system.




Don’t use older protocols like SSL or TLS 1.0/1.1, as they are more vulnerable to attacks. Also, check that any third-party services your app uses follow secure protocols for encrypting data.



Step 4: Conduct security testing



Security testing is a crucial part of app development, especially when ensuring HIPAA compliance. Unlike standard QA, it involves more advanced procedures such as penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, and code reviews. These activities help detect and fix potential security flaws early on, protect sensitive data, and prevent breaches.



You can delegate this task to experienced third-party vendors, like SoftTeco, that specialize in security testing. We use automated tools such as Nessus, Qualys, or OWASP ZAP, which focus on HIPAA compliance specifically. These tools scan your application for vulnerabilities and provide reports on areas needing further attention. 



Note: your developers can use tools, such as the HIPAA Security Risk Assessment Tool and HIPAA Audit Protocol - offered by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) - which provide clear steps for assessing and analyzing data security.



Step 5: Implement logging and monitoring



HIPAA requires tracking and monitoring all access to PHI to keep data secure. This is needed to detect potential threats and suspicious activities in real-time. How to do it:



You need to log every interaction with PHI, including who accessed it, when, and what they did. Store these logs in a centralized location with encryption (both in transit and at rest) to simplify monitoring and analysis. You can use real-time monitoring tools to catch suspicious activity, like failed login attempts.



Also, you need to set up automated alerts to notify your team if something unusual occurs. Define an incident response plan to handle detected breaches promptly. You must conduct regular audits and review logs to find and fix security gaps proactively.



Step 6: Manage access of authorized users



When developing a healthcare app, controlling data access is crucial. To do this, you need to set up identity and access management policies (IAM). It’s a system that includes all processes, tools, and policies to control access to data. It ensures that only authorized users can view, edit, or delete medical information - with permissions granted based on their roles. 



Key measures include:




Role-based access control (RBAC): limit access based on user roles.



Multi-factor authentication (MFA): add extra security by verifying user identity.



Real-time access control: monitor and control access as it happens.



Regular access reviews: check and update user permissions.




You can also use tools like Auth0 or Okta to help you configure IAM systems to meet HIPAA requirements. By managing user access carefully, you can minimize security risks.



Step 7: Ensure data integrity



Ensuring data integrity guarantees that health information remains accurate, complete, and unaltered over time. It’s vital in healthcare, where even a small data error can affect diagnosis, treatment, or compliance. To maintain data integrity within your app, you must implement measures like:




Data validation: verify that all input data is accurate, consistent, and meets predefined formats or rules.



Error detection: use checksum or hash algorithms to identify and prevent data loss during storage or transmission.



Maintain audit logs: maintain detailed logs of data access and changes to detect any unauthorized alterations.



Real-time monitoring: deploy monitoring tools to detect and respond to problems immediately.




With these measures, you can protect sensitive data from accidental errors and security threats and meet compliance requirements.



Step 8: Develop a data disposal policy



Under HIPAA, you need a clear data disposal policy that outlines the processes and methods for securely deleting or destroying PHI. Your policy should specify how long different types of PHI must be kept based on legal and business needs. For example, medical records may need to be stored longer than administrative docs.



Once PHIs have reached the end of their retention period, you must permanently remove them from your systems. For this, use secure destruction methods, like cryptographic erasure (which makes data unreadable) or physically destroying storage media (such as shredding hard drives). 



After the PHI is securely disposed of, document the destruction process to prove compliance. You must regularly review and update your disposal practices to ensure they meet HIPAA standards and keep PHI secure over time.



Step 9: Sign a HIPAA-compliant Business Associate Agreement (BAA)



The final step to ensure HIPAA compliance for your app is to sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with any third-party vendors or service providers who handle, process, or store PHI on your behalf. 



A BAA is a legal contract between a healthcare provider (or covered entity) and a third-party vendor (business associate) that outlines how both parties will protect and properly use PHI, following HIPAA rules. If your app works with PHI and uses vendors (cloud hosting, analytics, payment processors), you must have a signed BAA with them.



Key points that must be in a HIPAA-compliant BAA are:




Permitted uses and disclosures of PHI: limits how the vendor can use PHI.



Data safeguards: include administrative, physical, and technical safeguards.



Breach notification: obligates the BA to report breaches within 60 days.



Subcontractor compliance: ensures any subcontractors (sub-BAs) also follow HIPAA.



Audit and inspection rights: allows the covered entity to check the vendor’s compliance.



HIPAA compliance: confirms the vendor will follow all HIPAA rules, including privacy, security, and breach notification requirements.



Data return/destruction: specifies how PHI is handled when the contract ends.




By signing a BAA, you safeguard PHI and make sure all parties comply with HIPAA regulations as well.



As you can see, developing a HIPAA-compliant app requires a structured approach but there is one more critical factor to pay attention to - selecting the right features.



Key features of a HIPAA-compliant application







Even though any software is unique, and healthcare is no exception, there is a basic set of features every healthcare application must have to meet HIPAA law. They include: 



User authentication



The feature requires users to log in with a unique account using strong credentials - complex passwords, biometrics (fingerprint, facial recognition), or multi-factor authentication. It prevents unauthorized access to protected health information (PHI).



Data encryption



Encryption is a must to protect sensitive healthcare information, as it does so at rest and in transit using strong algorithms like AES-256 and TLS. It prevents unauthorized access in case of data breaches or interception.



Emergency access



The feature instantly makes critical patient data available in urgent situations, like medical emergencies or system failures. It balances security and the need to respond quickly in critical situations without violating HIPAA.



Shareable data 



Standardized data formats like HL7 (Health Level Seven) and FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) are used for secure data exchange for interoperability between different systems. This ensures real-time access to data and better collaboration between healthcare settings.



Data anonymization



This removes or replaces personally identifiable information (PII) in datasets to prevent individuals from being identified. It enables you to analyze and research datasets when needed while still complying with privacy regulations. 



Access control



The feature restricts access to data based on roles, in combination with multi-factor authentication (MFA) and the principle of minimum privilege. This ensures that only authorized users can access and modify PHI.



Audit logs 



Audit logs, or audit trails, track and record all user interactions with PHI, including access, modifications, and data transfers. The feature helps ensure compliance, detect suspicious activity in real-time, and enhance security by providing regular monitoring and detailed analysis.



Automatic session logout



It automatically logs users out of the app after a period of inactivity to prevent unauthorized access from unattended devices. It enhances security by requiring reauthentication for continued access.



Data backup and recovery



The feature regularly backs up PHI and ensures quick recovery in case of system failures, cyberattacks, data loss, or other unexpected issues. This allows you to maintain data integrity and availability of your health data at all times - a key requirement of HIPAA.



Secure communication



The feature encrypts all communication channels to transmit data between providers, systems, and patients. It prevents eavesdropping and tampering with PHI during communication and ensures protected data in real time.



Remote data wiping 



The feature allows you to remotely wipe data from a device if lost or stolen. It helps prevent possible data breaches and keeps PHI from being compromised.



Limited data retention policies



The feature automatically deletes or archives data that is no longer needed after a set period of time. It reduces the risk of exposing outdated or unnecessary data by supporting the HIPAA principle of minimum necessary use.



User consent management



The feature allows patients to give, withdraw, and manage consent to share data and make treatment decisions. It places control in the hands of the patient and ensures that all data use is legally authorized and properly documented.



Technology stack for HIPAA compliance app development



When it comes to selecting a technology stack for an app with HIPAA in mind, you need to balance security, scalability, and compliance requirements. A well-chosen tech stack will help you protect sensitive patient data, speed up development, simplify audits, and reduce the risk of costly violations. Here is a recommended tech stack for building a HIPAA-compliant app:




Frontend: React, Angular, Vue.js, React Native, Swift, Kotlin



Backend: Node.js, Python (Django/Flask), Java, .NET., Ruby 



Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Amazon RDS or Google Cloud SQL, Oracle DB



Cloud services: AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud



Encryption: AES-256, TLS 1.2/1.3.



Authentication: OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)



Monitoring & Auditing: Splunk, ELK Stack, Datadog



API Management: AWS API Gateway, Apigee, AWS, RESTful API, GraphQL, OAuth 2.0



Compliance tools: HIPAA secure messaging, compliance tracking tools




Note: Use cloud providers that offer HIPAA-compliant services and support. They typically offer specialized services, such as secure storage, managed databases, and compliance monitoring tools. With it, your development team can focus on delivering expected functionality instead of reinventing compliance from scratch.



Always sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with your cloud provider and vendors, even if they seem trustworthy to you. It’s not a useful tip - it’s one of the requirements of HIPAA.



Best practices to achieve HIPAA compliance



As we said above, developing a HIPAA-compliant software is a complex process that involves a lot of steps and aspects (technical, physical, and administrative) to keep in mind. Here are best practices that will help you ensure HIPAA compliance.



Partner with experts



Achieving HIPAA compliance requires a deep understanding of legal and technical requirements. Partnering with experts in healthcare law, IT security, and HIPAA compliance will provide invaluable guidance throughout the development process and align with the latest regulatory updates. This will save your time, mitigate risks, and help avoid costly violations. 



Audit partners and providers (BAA agreements)



HIPAA-compliant app development often involves third-party services, and any vendor that handles PHI must sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). Managing these agreements can be time-consuming, but skipping or using outdated ones puts your data at serious risk.



To stay protected, you must sign a current BAA with every vendor who has access to PHI. And review and update agreements regularly, especially when laws or best practices change.This will help you avoid data leaks and remain compliant.



Regular risks assessment



HIPAA requires you and your partners to regularly review how you handle, store, and share protected health information (PHI). These risk assessments help identify security gaps early on and avoid data breaches. Skipping or delaying risk assessments can put your organization at risk of cyberattacks and HIPAA violations.



To avoid this, you must regularly conduct a full risk assessment, especially after major system changes. Review all systems, workflows, and third-party vendors that handle PHI, and update your policies to improve your defenses over time. 



Documentation and training



To stay HIPAA compliant, having the right tools is not enough - you also need proper documentation and a well-trained team. Each employee who handles PHI should be trained in HIPAA laws, security best practices, and how to cope with incidents. By training your team regularly, you reduce the risk of accidental breaches.



Keeping a detailed audit log is equally important. Ensure your system tracks every access to PHI and all modifications or activities. These logs will allow you to quickly detect and prevent suspicious behavior and prove compliance during audits. Investing in training staff and processes today - protects your patients and your organization tomorrow.



Backup and secure data disposal 



HIPAA requires that you and your partners have a disaster recovery plan in place. Encrypt backups during transfer and storage and store them in secure environments. Also, test your backups to ensure data can be quickly and fully recovered when needed.



When PHI is no longer needed, it must be securely deleted using tools that meet industry standards like NIST SP 800-88. Don’t overlook devices like printers, USB drives, or employee laptops before disposal or reuse.



Cost of developing a HIPAA-compliant application



The cost of developing a HIPAA-compliant application can range from $60,000 to +$300,000 and depends on multiple factors, like the app's complexity, timeline, developers' location, expertise, and security level needed. Partnering with an experienced HIPAA-compliant mobile app development company will help you keep your budget under control and stay compliant.



Core factors influencing the total cost a HIPAA-compliant app are:







Let's consider each of them in-depth. 



Application complexity



The cost of developing a HIPAA-compliant application depends heavily on its complexity. The more functionality an app has, the more value it will bring to its users and healthcare providers, but it will also raise development expenses. For example:




Basic app: from $50,000 to $100,000 over 3 to 5 months with limited features and user interactions.



Mid-level app: from $100,000 to $300,000 over 6 to 9 months with advanced features.



Complex app: from $300,000 to $500,000+ over 10 to 13 months with multiple-platform support and advanced features. 




Each additional feature adds development time and security complexity. This is why healthcare applications are among the most expensive to build. 



When planning your app, you’ll also need to choose an iOS, Android, or hybrid platform. Hybrid HIPAA compliance application development is more cost-effective than separate iOS and Android ones. So select the right platform based on your budget and target audience.



Development team location



The cost of HIPAA development depends on the location of the development team. When choosing between offshore and nearshore companies, it's important to consider both cost and experience. If you decide to outsource to a low-cost region, check its experience with healthcare and HIPAA compliance to avoid security risks and legal issues. Below are the hourly rates of developers by location:




North America (USA, Canada): $100 - $250\hour



Western Europe (UK, Germany): $80 - $200\hour



Eastern Europe (Poland, Romania): $40 - $80\hour




The balance of cost, expertise in healthcare, and HIPAA compliance experience are key when selecting the right development team.



Type of the development team



Besides location, you need to select the types of developers for your HIPAA-compliant app. You can choose from in-house developers, freelancers, and development agencies. 



Hiring an in-house team is a great choice if you have an unlimited budget and want to retain full control over the project and security. However, it comes with high salaries, training, and equipment costs, especially if they lack HIPAA expertise. The average price of in-house developers is $80,000 to $150,000\year.



Freelancers are a more affordable choice, allowing you to hire specialists for specific project tasks. But managing multiple freelancers can be challenging, and there's a higher risk of missing HIPAA compliance. Freelancers are suited for short-term projects with clear scope and the ability to manage external ones. The average cost of a freelancer is $50 - $150\hour.



A development agency is a perfect option for balancing costs, healthcare expertise, and fast delivery. They offer access to skilled teams with experience in HIPAA compliance and a proven process for managing it. With a large pool of specialists and resources, they ensure end-to-end healthcare services and fast project delivery, like SoftTeco. 



These agencies can be more expensive. However, you won't have to worry about privacy regulations. The average cost of a developer from development agencies is $75 - $250\hour.



Number of features



As mentioned earlier, the number of features in the app directly impacts its cost. Each additional feature increases app complexity, requiring more time and resources, which increases overall costs. But there are basic features that each HIPAA-compliant app must include: 




For access controls: authentication and authorization, role-based access controls (RBAC), multi-factor authentication 



For data security: encryption, data anonymization, data integrity.



For audit controls: audit trails, logging, and monitoring tools.




If you want to add advanced features for better functionality and security, you can consider secure messaging, emergency access, and biometric recognition. The cost of features can vary widely, typically ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 per feature.



Number of user roles



The more user roles, such as patient, admin, and doctor, the more complex the app will be. This is because each role requires specific permissions, interfaces, and features. Apart from that, different roles may need varying t levels of authentication, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) or single sign-on (SSO). It increases security risk by requiring more stringent security protocols and adds to design and development costs.



Hence, it is recommended to carefully determine the number and scope of user roles to balance functionality and cost while meeting HIPAA standards. The estimated cost per user role ranges from $5,000 to $30,000.



Third-party integrations



Third-party integrations, such as cloud services, EHRs, or IoT - is a great option to extend your app functionality. But integrations with external systems can also pose additional security risks, which requires additional testing steps. Hence, every integration must support secure data exchange and comply with HIPAA regulations. To achieve this, you will likely spend a lot of development time and costs. 



It is recommended to integrate only those ones that are the most essential for your app. The approximate cost of integrating third-party services ranges from $10,000 to $50,000.



Security and quality assurance requirements



Often, security and quality assurance costs make up a big chunk of the cost of an app. As HIPAA regulations impose strict security and privacy standards, the app must meet them. Essential testing includes security testing, compliance testing, performance testing, penetration testing, and functionality testing.



Basic security measures cost a few thousand dollars. More advanced measures such as vulnerability scanning and continuous monitoring will increase costs. Hiring developers with HIPAA expertise or working with third-party security vendors can also increase expenses. On average, security services may add $20,000 to $50,000 to the overall app development budget, based on the level of complexity and security required.



Compliance consulting and legal fees



Compliance consulting and legal fees are crucial for ensuring an app meets regulations like HIPAA. Consulting experts help with audits, policy reviews, and advising on compliance, while legal fees cover contracts, privacy policies, and other documentation.



These services can cost around $5,000 and $30,000, depending on the ongoing support needed.



Common myths about HIPAA compliance



Below we look at common myths related to HIPAA during app creation that you should be aware of and dispel them:



Myth 1



Every healthcare app must be HIPAA-compliant. False.



Why: Not all healthcare apps are required to comply with HIPAA. HIPAA is only necessary when the app deals with protected health information (PHI) for a covered entity (such as a healthcare provider) or serves as a business associate (BA) for them.



For example, a fitness tracker that stores step counts for personal use isn’t subject to HIPAA. But an app that shares patient data with a doctor or hospital likely is. To better understand it for your app, evaluate its features and data handling practices to determine if HIPAA applies to them, or get a consultation from compliance experts.



Myth 2



Cloud services automatically make an app HIPAA-compliant. This is false. 



Why: Using a HIPAA-compliant cloud service provider does not automatically make your application compliant. Compliance depends on how you configure and use the services. Even if your vendor offers a HIPAA-compliant infrastructure, you need to make sure it is:




Having a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) in place



Data is properly encrypted



Access is restricted and logged



Complying with HIPAA privacy and security rules




Cloud providers simply offer tools. Your responsibility is to use them in a HIPAA-compliant way.



Myth 3



Encryption alone guarantees HIPAA compliance. This is false.



Why: While encryption is an important safeguard, it’s only one part of HIPAA compliance. The HIPAA Security Rule outlines a broad set of administrative, physical, and technical safeguards. In a nutshell, encryption is major but not enough on its own. To be fully compliant, organizations must also conduct risk assessments, implement access controls and audit logs, etc. 



Myth 4



HIPAA compliance is a one-time process. This is false and false again.



Why: HIPAA compliance is an ongoing process, not a task that can be accomplished once. As technology changes, threats evolve, and organizations grow so your HIPAA compliance procedure must adapt accordingly. HIPAA regulations require ongoing monitoring, regular risk assessments, and updates to ensure your security and privacy measures stay effective and up to date.



Myth 5



HIPAA compliance is too expensive. False.



Why: Of course, HIPAA compliance requires some investment, but it doesn't have to be expensive. In most cases, HIPAA compliance can be achieved with a varied budget, especially with a consistent and strategic approach. Many of the measures required by HIPAA are based on already existing security best practices. For example, сloud providers offer built-in security mechanisms, such as encryption, log auditing, or access control.



Remember, the implementation costs are much lower than the potential fines (up to $50,000 per year for each violation) not to mention the financial and reputational damage.



Conclusion



HIPAA compliance application development is a complex process that involves careful planning, investment, and regular review. By following the strict rules set by HIPAA, using secure technologies and setting up strong security measures, you can create an app that meets legal standards and builds user trust. As mobile health solutions continue to grow, knowing how to build a HIPAA-compliant app is key for the future growth.



If you need professional guidance with HIPAA compliance, contact SoftTeco - we will advise you on how to make an app HIPAA-compliant so you can focus on your business without worrying about legal risks.




 


Expert Opinion



From my experience leading healthcare software projects for clients across the U.S. and Europe, I can confirm that HIPAA compliance is not just a checklist - it’s a culture of security, transparency, and continuous vigilance.



We’ve seen cases where vendors assumed compliance based on infrastructure alone, only to discover gaps during audits. A compliant cloud setup is only as good as its configuration and the operational controls around it.



Security testing, logging, and monitoring tools have proven indispensable in our own HIPAA projects. But what often matters most it’s how well a company follows HIPAA policies, trains employees, and regularly checks for compliance. HIPAA is a continuous process so aligning technology with the company’s processes is key to long-term success.





Sales Manager at SoftTeco



Serge Baikov

### MVP Development Cost: How Much Does It Take to Build an MVP in 2025?

With current market competition and high user expectations, MVP remains as the number one method for testing the app's relevance for target audience. Building an MVP is not only faster than developing a fully-fledged product but also more cost-effective. However, even a lean product can exceed its budget.







In 2025, the average MVP cost ranges from $15,000 to $150,000 or more. The overall price depends on multiple factors, like team structure, technology choice, and project complexity. Besides, unplanned expenses can quickly add up, which is why it’s crucial to understand what else can influence the price and set a realistic budget upfront. In this article, we will break down the MVP development cost and discuss these factors to help you adjust your budget.



What does MVP stand for in software development?



Before we get to the cost breakdown part, let's briefly define what MVP is. An MVP is a version of your product built with just enough core features to satisfy early users and collect feedback for future improvements. In other words, it’s the fastest way to find out what really matters to the audience. 



Why is proper budget planning crucial for MVP development?



Many of the now successful and popular apps like X (Twitter), Instagram, Airbnb, and Amazon started as MVPs. But for every success story, countless startups fail because they either:




Ran out of money by overspending on unnecessary features;



Spent resources in the wrong areas, ignoring user feedback;



Underestimated costs for hosting, compliance, or post-launch fixes.




This is why smart budget planning is non-negotiable if you plan to develop your MVP. A well-structured budget:




Ensures you don't burn through funds before validating your core idea.



Forces to prioritize features that truly matter. 



Helps to build trust with stakeholders and draw investments. 



Helps you be prepared for hidden costs, etc.






Bring your idea to life with a market-ready MVP



SoftTeco delivers functional, testable MVPs that give your product the foundation it needs to grow. Validate your idea at a reasonable cost and turn early feedback into long-term success!




Explore our services






How to build an MVP app



Minimum viable product development is not so different from developing a full-fledged application. However, it requires a more focused and strategic approach. Understanding and defining the development stages is also important for your budget planning. The MVP development process stages include:




Stage 1: Define your target audience and research the market. The success of your MVP heavily depends on your audience, so you need to know your ideal customer and what pain points they want to eliminate with the software product. A thorough market research will help you with that.



Stage 2: Prioritize features. Based on your research, list all potential features that will resolve identified user problems, then narrow them down to only essential ones.



Stage 3: Map out the user journey. Create user flows or storyboards that will show how users interact with the product. This will help you ensure that the MVP delivers a coherent and usable experience.



Stage 4: Develop an MVP. Choose suitable technologies and develop the actual MVP. Remember that the main goal is to test your business idea, so your product must be appealing, user-friendly, and functional. 



Stage 5: Launch and collect feedback. The feedback from early users is the most important part. It will show whether the idea has potential and is worth further iterations or if you should abandon it for good.    




MVP development cost breakdown



Now that we have clarified what does MVP mean in software development and how to build it, let’s explore the MVP development costs in detail. Mind that all the cost numbers we give in this article are approximate and can vary depending on the factors we will discuss later. 



To better understand all the minimum viable product app development expenses, we will divide them into pre-development, development, and post-development costs. 



Pre-development costs



These costs include the initial steps of the MVP development process, such as discovery, prototyping, and UX\UI design. Let’s look in more detail.



Project discovery and market research



As we mentioned, project discovery involves defining the problem your MVP aims to solve and identifying your target audience. Thus, it’s crucial to conduct a thorough market research. It involves analysis of your competitors, industry trends, and audience pain points. This phase can take from 1 to 2 weeks. The cost can range between $2,000 and $8,000, depending on the complexity of the project and research. 



Prototyping 



Prototyping involves creating a visual representation of the product, such as wireframes or interactive mockups, to test user experience and design. The cost of this phase also depends on the complexity of the MVP and can approximately be up to $5,000. The timeline can take from 1 to 3 weeks.



Product design



A well-executed UI/UX design does more than capture attention; it drives engagement and retention. The costs from this stage cover the UI/UX design, branding elements creation, and iterative changes based on feedback. Again, depending on the complexity and number of iterations, it can take 2 to 4 weeks to finish. The approximate cost can range from $1,000 to $10,000. 



Development costs



Once the pre-development phase is complete, the actual MVP development begins. The overall timeline for the development phase varies from 4 to 6 months, depending on the project requirements and complexity. That phase includes:




Frontend development. Frontend development focuses on building the user interface (UI) and ensuring a seamless user experience (UX) across different devices. The complexity depends on design intricacy, animations, and responsiveness.



Backend development. Backend development handles the server-side logic, APIs, and database interactions, ensuring the MVP functions smoothly and securely. The cost depends on the complexity of features, scalability, and security requirements.



Database setup. The database stores and manages user data, transactions, and other essential information. The cost depends on the type of database (SQL, NoSQL) and the complexity of the data structure.



Third-party integrations. Many modern MVP applications rely on external services, such as payment gateways, analytics tools, or CRM software. Integrating these systems can enhance functionality and user experience, but it often comes with additional costs. The cost depends on the number and complexity of integrations.



QA testing. Quality assurance testing ensures the MVP functions correctly, without errors and disturbances, and provides a smooth user experience. It includes manual and automated testing for performance, security, and usability.




Here’s the approximate development costs breakdown tablet:  



CategoryApproximate costFrontend development$5000 - $30000Backend development$5000 - $40000Database setup$1000 - $10000Third-party integrations$1000 - $20000QA testing$2000 - $15000



Post-development costs



Post-launch costs cover keeping your MVP running and attracting users. That includes:



Launch and deployment



The first step after developing your MVP is ensuring a smooth launch and deployment. This phase often incurs costs that can be easily overlooked during the initial budgeting process.



To host your MVP, you’ll need a reliable server or cloud service. Providers like AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure offer scalable solutions, but costs can vary based on the traffic and data storage needs. For example, a sudden spike in users may require upgrading to a more robust plan to ensure seamless performance, which can significantly impact your budget.



Launching an MVP often involves various administrative and operational expenses. These can include:




Domain registration. Acquiring a domain name can range from $10 to several thousand dollars, depending on the name's popularity.



SSL certificates. Ensuring that your site is secure is crucial; SSL certificates typically cost between $10 to $500 annually.



Deployment tools. Software or services for deployment, such as CI/CD tools, may also incur monthly fees.




Support and maintenance



Once your MVP goes live, it requires ongoing support and maintenance to address bugs, implement updates, and ensure user satisfaction. Software is never truly "finished." Regular updates are crucial for improving user experience and maintaining security. Budgeting for ongoing development will help you manage costs more effectively. 



Marketing advertising



Promoting an MVP is essential to attract early adopters and generate traffic. Marketing efforts may include social media campaigns, paid advertising, SEO, influencer partnerships, and PR outreach. Therefore, the approximate costs for marketing, depending on the scale, can be up to $50,000. 



Use our calculator to estimate the cost to build MVP app for 2025







Major factors influencing MVP cost 



As we mentioned, the MVP building costs and timeframe depend on various factors. Considering them while planning your budget for MVP development is crucial, or you may face expenses you weren’t planning to spend. These factors include:



Scope and complexity of the MVP



The complexity of the product is perhaps the most significant factor affecting MVP costs. A simple app with basic functionalities will naturally require less time and resources compared to a complex platform that integrates multiple features. 



For instance, a straightforward ecommerce website may only require basic user interfaces and payment functionalities, while a data-driven application with machine learning capabilities will need more advanced development skills and longer timelines.



Thus, the approximate costs and timeframe for the MVP development can be:



ComplexityFeaturesCostDevelopment timeSimple MVPBasic features to test the initial concept, simple UX\UI design, usually single platform. $5000 - $150002-4 monthsAverage MVPCore functionality, improved UX\UI, may include payment integration, registration features, analytics and simple profile management.$15000 - $450003-6 monthsComplex MVPAdvanced functionality, integration with AI and third-party APIs, custom design, multiplatform.$45000 - $150000+6-12 months



Development team structure



You have several options regarding your MVP development team structure:




Gather your in-house team (if you don't already have one).



Outsource MVP development to a trusted software development company.



Hire freelance specialists for the project. 




Each option has its pros and cons, which also influence the overall MVP building price. Let's discuss them in more detail.



Building an in-house team



This can be the most straightforward route if you already have an in-house team. Your existing team is likely already familiar with your company's culture, goals, and vision. Additionally, collaboration is often smoother when team members are physically present, allowing for real-time communication and quick iterations.



However, if you don't have a team yet, this will be the most expensive option. When you hire full-time specialists, aside from salaries and benefits, you need to provide them with equipment and office space. Moreover, you need to invest in training, which is time-consuming and slows down the development process.  



Outsourcing MVP development



Outsourcing MVP development allows you to tap into a pool of specialized talent without the overhead costs associated with hiring full-time employees. Software development companies often have established processes, experienced teams, and a portfolio of past projects that can provide insights and inspire your product's development.



On the downside, outsourcing can lead to communication barriers, especially if the development team is located in a different time zone or country. Moreover, you may have less control over the project's day-to-day management, which can be a concern for some founders.



Hiring freelancers



Freelancers often charge lower rates than established companies, making this option more budget-friendly, especially for startups. You can hire specialists on an as-needed basis, allowing you to manage costs effectively.



While freelancers offer many advantages, managing a dispersed team can present challenges in communication and coordination. Freelancers often juggle multiple projects, which may affect their availability and commitment to your project. Thus, It's crucial to communicate expectations upfront and establish timelines that work for both parties.



Development platforms



The choice of development platform significantly influences the overall MVP cost. Each platform has its own set of requirements, complexities, and development timeframes.



Web applications



Web applications are typically more cost-effective to develop than mobile or desktop applications. They are accessible via browsers across various devices, reducing the need to develop separate versions for different operating systems. However, the cost can still vary widely based on:




Complexity. The more features and functionalities you want, the higher the cost. A simple web app might cost anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000, while more complex applications can range from $30,000 to $100,000 or more.



Technology stack. The choice of technologies can also affect costs. Some technology stacks require highly skilled developers, which can increase labor costs.



Hosting and maintenance. Budgeting for ongoing hosting, updates, and maintenance is essential, as these costs can add up over time.




Mobile applications



Mobile applications can be more expensive than web applications due to the need for platform-specific development (iOS and Android) or the use of cross-platform tools. Key cost factors include:




Platform choice. Developing for both iOS and Android increases costs significantly. An MVP for a single platform may start around $15,000 to $50,000, while cross-platform development can range from $30,000 to $150,000.



Design and user experience. Mobile apps require a focus on user experience and interface design, which can involve additional costs for graphic designers and UX/UI specialists.



Testing. Mobile applications require extensive testing on multiple devices and screen sizes, adding to the overall development costs.




Desktop applications



Desktop applications are generally less common in MVP development today but can still be relevant for specific use cases. The cost factors include:




Platform diversity. Developing for multiple operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux) can increase costs. A desktop MVP may range from $20,000 to $100,000, depending on features and platforms.



Performance requirements. Desktop applications often require optimization for performance, which can necessitate additional development time and resources.




Location and hourly rates of developers



The geographical location of your development team plays a significant role in determining the cost of your MVP. Developers in different regions have varying hourly rates based on local market conditions, cost of living, and demand for tech talent.



In regions like North America and Western Europe, developers often command higher rates, averaging between $50 to $200 per hour. Eastern Europe and Latin America offer a more cost-effective solution, with hourly rates typically ranging from $30 to $100. This outsourcing avenue can yield high-quality work without breaking the bank, making it an attractive option for startups.



Regions like Asia and Africa feature some of the lowest hourly rates, often between $15 to $60. However, there can be some communication difficulties and time zone differences, which can affect project timelines and quality.





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Agreement type



Before you start the MVP development process, it's important to decide on the type of contract that you will follow. They represent the payment models and show how costs are managed and structured throughout the work. Here are three main types of contracts that you can choose:




Fixed-price. In a fixed-price agreement, the IT provider and client agree on a set price for the entire project upfront. This type of contract can provide certainty in budgeting, making it appealing for businesses with limited funds. However, it also requires a well-defined scope of work. If changes arise during development, they can lead to additional costs or delays. 



Time and material. It involves billing based on the actual time spent and resources used. This model can offer flexibility, allowing for adjustments as the project evolves. While this can be advantageous for startups needing to iterate frequently, it may lead to higher overall costs if the project expands beyond initial expectations. 



Dedicated team. A dedicated team agreement involves hiring a group of professionals who work exclusively on your MVP. This model can be cost-effective in the long run, especially for projects requiring specialized skills. However, it often requires a larger initial investment.




Technology stack



The choice of technology stack is another critical factor. It encompasses all the programming languages, frameworks, and tools used to build the product. Some technologies are more expensive to implement than others due to licensing fees, server costs, or the need for specialized skills. For instance, building an MVP using a popular framework like React or Angular may offer faster development times, while a custom solution could lead to higher costs.



Industry specifics



The cost of an MVP can also depend on the industry it is designed for, primarily due to regulatory compliance. Industries such as healthcare, insurance, banking, and finance are highly regulated, requiring additional expenses for strong security measures and industry-specific features. 



Therefore, to avoid legal issues that can cause significant financial losses and reputational damage, you must ensure that your MVP meets all necessary requirements from the start. So, make sure to include it in your budget planning. 



Localization and internalization



If you plan to bring your MVP solution to the global market, consider the expenses for localization. Adapting your product for an international audience often requires: 




Design changes to match local preferences;



Language support (translation and multi-lingual interface);



Legal compliance with the local regulations and data privacy laws.




These adjustments will help you make your MVP more appealing for the users in new markets but also incur additional costs for the development. 



Tips to optimize your MVP budget



Now that we know approximately how much does it cost to build an MVP, you can use some tips that can help you cut expenses. For example: 




Set your priorities. Outline clear objectives for your minimum viable product app. It will help you determine which features are crucial for your MVP application and which can be added later. Therefore, you will not waste resources on non-essential functionality. 



Use open-source solutions. Leveraging open-source tools and frameworks can significantly reduce development costs. Platforms like WordPress for websites or React Native for mobile applications offer robust functionalities at little to no cost. This will allow you to allocate your budget toward other important areas like user experience or marketing.



Low code\no-code development. It’s a great option for businesses with tight budgets and simple projects. These types of platforms, like Webflow, involve minimal or no coding at all, speeding up MVP development. Therefore, you can launch your solution faster, saving some costs and effort.



Outsource wisely. Outsourcing is a good option if you have resources and a great idea for your future app but don’t have an in-house team. It is a cost-effective way to access skilled developers, but you must choose carefully. Look for IT providers with a proven track record that can offer you a fixed-price contract to avoid unexpected expenses. Besides, you can opt for offshore companies from regions with low labor costs (like Eastern Europe or Southeast Asia), which can also save you some money. 



Iterate based on feedback. After launching your MVP, listen to user feedback. Use their input to make changes, focusing on what works and fixing what doesn’t. This will help you spend your budget on the most important updates.




Conclusion



Estimating the MVP development cost in 2025 depends on multiple factors, including the chosen platform, team structure, location of developers, and the complexity of features. While a basic MVP can cost as little as $15,000, more advanced solutions with custom features, security compliance, and third-party integrations may reach $150,000 or more.

### Ride Sharing App Development in 2025: Features, Monetization Models and Cost

As Business Research predicts, the ride-sharing market will probably reach the volume of $157.02 billion in 2025, proving its stable and consistent growth throughout the years. These numbers clearly indicate that ride-sharing apps are in high demand and will remain so in the near future. That being said, now is the best time to invest in a high-performing application but the question is how to create a rideshare app that will bring value both to users and drivers?



In this guide, we will walk you through the specifics of the ride sharing app development and will discuss its potential cost, must-have features, and main things to consider.







The rise of ride-sharing apps: an overview of the market



Before diving deeper into the topic of app development, it is important to review the current state of the ride-sharing market and the biggest players out there so let’s get started.



The continuing popularity of ride-sharing can be explained by the ultimate benefits these apps bring and the way they transform urban mobility. Users can get a car in a few taps and get to their destination for a convenient price while drivers receive pretty good earnings and can organize their own schedule. Hence, it comes as no surprise that new ride-sharing apps emerge on a regular basis despite brands Uber, Lyft, or Via remain strong in their positions.



Here are some more numbers from Business Research on the current and expected state of the ride-sharing market:




The expected CAGR for the period 2024-2025 is 19%;



The expected market volume for 2029 is approximately $341.1 billion.




The statistics clearly show that the market is now experiencing high popularity and users across the globe actively use ride-hailing and ride-sharing services. 



Ride-hailing vs ride-sharing



It is also important to differentiate between the two similar terms: ride-hailing and ride-sharing. Ride-hailing is the process of hiring a personal driver for a single person. The best example is Uber when a user simply requests a drive and does not share it with anyone.



Ride-sharing, on the other hand, is a more sustainable option when one ride is shared with several people. In this way, a car makes several stops and the cost is usually more affordable than for ride-hailing services.



In general, both services are very similar and the only difference is in the number of riders. Now let’s move on to discussing the main features of a user-centric ride-sharing app.



Key features of a ride-sharing app



A ride-sharing app consists of three main components: apps for passengers, drivers and administrators. Each app will have its distinct features and thus should be discussed separately.



Passenger app



A passenger (rider) app is used by those that wish to request a ride-sharing service and pay for it. While these apps are quite simplistic on the first glance, they normally include several critical features that create a holistic and satisfying user experience:



Registration and profile creation: this is an essential feature for any mobile application as it allows users to see the history of their activities, store important information (such as payment data), and manage their profile settings. In ride-sharing apps, user profiles usually display one’s personal data, the history of rides, and preferred payment methods as well as user ratings. 



Note that the app should offer various registration methods, including sign up via a social network of choice. This will significantly speed up the registration process and will encourage users to complete it.



Notifications: inform users in real time about accepted, upcoming, or cancelled rides and sends important information like messages from drivers. Notifications are a must-have feature of any ride-sharing application as they help both drivers and riders manage their time and plan the trip correspondingly.



Geolocation and routing: passengers need to have access to an integrated map to select the needed destination and correctly mark their location for the pickup. As well, many passengers prefer monitoring their ride and its current location in real time, which is why geolocation and routing are a must.



Payment options: a successful ride-sharing app typically offers several payment methods for the convenience of its users. Passengers should also be able to change the payment method settings, easily switch between credit card and cash payments, and tip the drivers.



Messages & calls: this feature helps passengers and drivers communicate either via text messages or calls. Riders often call drivers (and vice versa) to clarify the exact location of the pickup so it’s important that both parties can get in touch via the app.



Driver app



The driver’s part of a ride-sharing app helps drivers track and accept requests and manage their earnings. Though the functionality of driver and passenger apps is similar, there are also some differences. The core functions of a driver app include:



Profile and registration: same as for the passenger app but should also include a driver’s license number and other important information related to his work (i.e., might be compliance with local regulations).



Request management: this option allows drivers to manage requests such as accepting or declining them as well as viewing. 



Trip data: the app should display information about the upcoming trip, such as precise pickup location, information about the passenger, and expected duration of the trip. This feature is important so the drivers can effectively manage their workfload throughout the day.



Geolocation and routing: same as for passengers, this feature is critical for drivers as it lets them navigate, correctly identify pickup locations, and create faster and more secure routes. 



Payment receival: drivers should be able to monitor their income, access payment history, and receive payments and tips.



Notifications & messaging: this feature helps notify drivers about important information (like an upcoming pickup) and get in touch with the riders via the preferred communication method.



Admin app



An admin app is usually a web portal that enables drivers to register for work and allows administrators to monitor their work, resolve issues, and manage the overall workflow. In Via, for example, there is a separate online portal that provides easy enrollment for drivers and stores important information such as drivers’ personal data and licenses. You can tweak the admin panel exactly how you need: make it a customer support hub, a drivers’ hub, or merge several functions into a single solution. 



Examples of features that an admin app might have:




Customer service and 24/7 support



Tracking of rides and of drivers’ activity



Enrollment process for drivers



Payment management system and accounting




How to create a rideshare app: a step-by-step guide



Considering the high demand for ride-sharing apps and the high competition in the market, it is critical to deliver a secure and highly functional product to end users. Below we list the essential steps of the app development process that help ensure that nothing is missed.



Research the market and competition



When you want to create your own rideshare app, you naturally expect it to bring value to both passengers and drivers, so it is important to understand the market, the current needs and wants of both user groups, and the current competition. The competitor analysis is highly important as it allows businesses to understand what the competitors do wrong and what they do right. In this way, app developers can avoid the most common mistakes while bringing something new and innovative to the market.



If you partner with an IT outsourcing company, note that market and competition research is often performed together with the business analyst from the company. SInce IT providers usually have rich experience in specific industries, they can often propose the most suitable solutions and approaches.



Definition of the app functionality and user flow



The next step after the market research is the definition of the app’s functionality and user flows aka steps that a user will take to achieve the needed goal. You want your app to be valuable, user-centric, and intuitive in terms of navigation. For that, it is important to outline user journeys, perform A/B testing, and eliminate roadblocks before starting work on the UX/UI design.



As for the functionality, we recommend listing down all the features that you’d like to include in the app and prioritize them. As a result, you will have must-have, nice to have, and extra features. This will serve as a base for further development process and will help you save time and finances as you won’t invest in unnecessary functionality from the start.



Pro tip: we recommend first starting with the MVP development to test your app’s idea and collect feedback from real users before officially releasing a full-fledged app version. 



Tech stack selection



The next step in rideshare app development is the selection of the suitable tech stack that will serve as the base for ride sharing software. The choice of technologies to use in the project will depend on multiple factors such as the desired features, the size and scalability of the app, its architecture, the selected platform, etc. Note that there are certain technologies that work the best as a set such as MERN stack, consisting of MongoDB, Express.js, React, and Node.js. These four technologies work together seamlessly and support each other’s functionality, hence forming the MERN stack and being recommended to use together. If you work with an IT provider, the company will advise you on the best technology selection since they will also be involved in the project analysis and will have a clear understanding of what exactly you need.



Product architecture and UX/UI design



When working on architecture and design of your app, remember two core things: scalability and focus on the user. The design of a ride-sharing app should be simplistic and intuitive, without any feature overload. If hesitant, either conduct A/B testing or use the design of your biggest competitors as inspiration. As for the architecture, it should support the growing volume of user and should allow you to expand the app’s functionality in the future (if needed).



Development and testing



During this stage, you will be creating the app’s functionality so it’s critical to ensure that developers are proficient in the design of similar applications. Also, try sticking to the initial list of features that you approved at the beginning of taxi app development process. Otherwise, it’s easy to fall into scope creep, where unapproved of unexpected features appear constantly, thus expanding the project scope in an uncontrollable manner. Remember we recommended starting with the MVP? This will be your starting point to deliver a fully functional yet minimalistic product. 



Also, don’t forget about continuous testing, meaning you will be testing the app throughout its development. This approach minimizes the number of bugs and issues before the release and ensures that any new feature won’t disrupt the functioning of the product.



Launch and marketing



Once everything is tested, the app is ready for launch - but work does not end here. After the release, the development team closely monitors the app in order to timely react to unexpected glitches and errors. As well, the team can add extra functionality or tweak the existing one based on the user feedback, which is also important for the app’s success.



And don’t forget about marketing which should take place before, during and after the app release. Since the ride-sharing market is highly competitive, you want to make sure that users know about your app in advance and are willing to try it.



The cost & duration of ride-sharing app development



Now, the big question is how much does it cost to create a ride-sharing application and how long does it take?



There is no definite answer to this question as the final cost will heavily depend on the following factors:




Development method: in-house development or outsourcing. Overall, IT outsourcing is more cost-effective than in-house development so we highly recommend this approach.



Selected platform(s): will your app be native (iOS, Android) or cross-platform? The choice of the platform will impact the cost of taxi application development, with native development being more expensive than cross-platform.



Team size: depending on the app’s complexity, your development team will consist of several software engineers, QA engineers, a business analyst, a Project Manager, and a UX/UI designer. You might also involve copywriters and SEO specialists for app promotion online and for creation of in-app content.



Design complexity: a design that is too complex has several advantages. First, it costs much more than the simplistic one and second, the overload of elements will confuse users. Hence, we recommend going for minimalistic and user-centered design.



Functionality: the cost of an app directly depends on the complexity of its functionality as the addition of any new features will increase the costs.



Integrations: same as functionality, the number of integrations also impacts the final cost of the app so we recommend starting with essential ones first.



Licensing: you might need to pay for software licensing so make sure to discuss this with the development team before starting work on the project. 



Support and maintenance: the price and terms for the app support and maintenance is discussed individually with the IT provider.




The average cost of developing a ride-sharing app is approximately $30,000 - $50,000 and the average duration is between 4-7 months. 



Monetization models for a ride-sharing app



Another important issue to discuss is the way you will monetize your app. There are several models to choose from - let’s briefly review each below:



Commission fees



The most common monetization model, used by such ride-sharing behemoths like Uber or Lyft, implies charging a certain service fee from every transaction. That means that a certain percentage of the ride cost goes to the app owner and the driver receives the rest. Note though that the service fee can be charged from either the driver, the passenger, or even both. 



Advertisement & partnership



Advertisement has always been a popular way of monetization but is less popular in ride-sharing apps - here is why. Ads tend to irritate users and slow down their user journey or distract them from the conversion. So while certain apps actively user ads (i.e., games), in ride-sharing apps it is more common to use collaborations with relevant brands, like Lyft did with BMW.



The use of advanced technologies in ride-sharing software



Remember we talked about the importance of standing out from the competition in order to gain users and become successful in the market? One of the ways to do so is implementing advanced technologies in your ride-sharing app. Technologies like IoT and Artificial Intelligence can not only add an extra layer of functionality but also greatly improve user experience through speed and efficiency of services. Here are the top examples of how technology benefits ride-sharing:



AI and machine learning



Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are used in a variety of industries due to the ability of these technologies to quickly process massive data sets and building accurate forecasts based on the data. In ride-sharing, AI and ML can help with the following:




Demand forecasting: ride-sharing apps use dynamic pricing which means prices for the ride are adjusted with the demand for them and the availability of drivers. AI can help forecast when the demand will be high, moderate, and low, and therefore can assist in better adjustment of prices.



Route optimization: one more important use case for AI in ride-sharing is route optimization via the analysis of historical data and real-time traffic conditions. By analyzing this data, AI-powered systems can propose the safest and shortest routes, thus minimizing spent time and fuel.



Customer service: ride-sharing apps can incorporate smart bots to speed up the customer service process and provide 24/7 support. 




Internet of Things



Another important technology for the ride-sharing industry is Internet of Things. IoT helps business owners better manage their fleets through remote monitoring via smart sensors. By always knowing the exact location of vehicles, owners can allocate them in a smarter manner. IoT also helps with predictive maintenance and immediate response to any malfunctions. Since smart sensors can monitor vibration, tire pressure, and other important indicators, they play a great role in notifying business owners about any deviation from the standard. And powered with ML, IoT sensors can help predict upcoming maintenance or failures.



Case study from SoftTeco: Via



SoftTeco has played a big role in developing Via - one of the leading ride-sharing apps. Our team joined the project back in 2014 and since then has been assisting the in-house team with functionality improvements and enhancements.







Via is a sustainable ride-sharing app that allows users to share rides with other passengers. The product consists of several parts: a driver application, a passenger application, a registration portal for drivers, and a business portal for effective work with Via partners. When SoftTeco first joined the team, our main responsibility was the development of the registration portal and later, we became involved in other sub-projects such as Activities, Referrals, and CashOut portals. 



Among Via’s key features are extensive integrations with Salesforce, flexible rules management, and integrations with several external services such as DocuSign and CheckR. SoftTeco continues working on the app together with the in-house team and provides 24/7 technical support.







Final word



Ride-sharing app development is a highly beneficial niche to enter but there are several hidden rocks to consider before beginning the development process. First, it is important to thoroughly analyze your current local market and come up with a solution that will bring real value to users. Second, it is highly recommended to partner with an experienced app development company like SoftTeco that will not only guide you through the development process but will also take care of all technical aspects, thus enabling you to focus on marketing and promotion. If you still have any questions left about the nuances of creating a stellar ride-sharing app, don’t hesitate to contact us - our team will gladly help you.

### Best Applications for the Internet of Things in Business

The Precedence Research estimates that the global IoT applications market will reach approximately USD 618.37 billion in 2025 and exceed USD 3,644.20 billion by 2034. These numbers reveal the increasing value of the Internet of Things for business and the growing demand for IoT services in the coming years. But what makes IoT so popular and valuable for businesses across industries? This article discusses top IoT applications in various fields in 2025, their benefits, trends, and steps for businesses to adopt the technology smoothly.







Understanding IoT: how does it work? 



First, let’s clarify what IoT is and how it works. The Internet of Things is a network of connected physical devices with sensors that collect and exchange real-time data. Consider medical sensors that can collect real-time patient vitals, like blood pressure, send the data to a centralized storage, and alert doctors immediately. This is just one example of IoT in healthcare, and obviously, the technology can be used in many other industries.



Typically, IoT devices have built-in sensors that gather data, such as temperature, motion, GPS location, or other relevant information. The devices then transmit the collected data to a cloud server or a central storage for processing, where it is analyzed and transformed into actionable insights. These insights are then displayed to the end user through an application, dashboard, or other interface, enabling real-time monitoring and decision-making. 



Key IoT components







IoT comprises various components that help applications and linked devices function correctly:



Sensors



The first and most crucial parts of any IoT system are devices and sensors that collect data from the environment. These devices come in many types. On the simpler side, we have basic sensors that measure things like temperature, humidity, or light levels. On the more complex side, industrial IoT robots with multiple sensors and actuators can carry out detailed tasks.



These devices primarily gather the data, no matter how simple or complex it is. For instance, a temperature sensor records the temperature in a room, while an industrial robot checks its working status and looks for issues. After collecting the data, it is usually processed locally before being sent to other devices or central systems for further analysis.



Connectivity



Once the data is collected, it must be sent to the cloud or the on-premises data storage for processing and analysis. IoT connectivity includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular networks, and satellite connections. The collected data is then transferred over the Internet via one of these technologies. Every connectivity method has its pros and cons in terms of power usage, range, and bandwidth. So, the optimal choice depends on the particular IoT use case. However, all methods ultimately serve the same purpose: secure data transfer to the storage.



Data processing



The transmitted data then undergoes some processing. Depending on the application, this processing can take place at the edge (close to the data source) or in the cloud.



Edge processing (or edge computing) minimizes delays and bandwidth consumption, as data is handled locally. This method allows systems to swiftly adapt to changes and ease the pressure on network infrastructure.



On the other hand, cloud processing provides greater computational power and more extensive storage options. It suits applications that analyze large-scale data and require long-term storage, like smart cities and healthcare systems. Think of a smart city as an example, where data from various sensors is processed in the cloud. It helps enhance traffic management, lower energy use, and improve public safety. 





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User interface



The UI provides a platform for users to visualize data, monitor performance, and manage their connected devices. A well-designed UI ensures that users can effortlessly access and understand the information they need, which is crucial for any IoT solution.  



User interfaces can take many forms, such as mobile apps, web dashboards, or voice-activated assistants. For instance, a smart home app allows users to manage their lighting, temperature, and security from their smartphones. In industrial environments, web dashboards help teams monitor machinery and production in real time, while voice assistants like Amazon's Alexa provide seamless, hаnds-free control over devices.



The effectiveness of the Internet of Things for business lies in their key components, which ensure data collection in real time, monitor different values, and help businesses make vital decisions. Yet, the real strength of IoT is also found in its capacity to automate processes, which makes tasks simpler and more effective.



How IoT is shaping the future of automation



IoT-based automation is an advantage for companies that want to optimize working processes, boost the quality of their products and services, and cut costs. There is a broad range of cases when automation helps organizations solve their pressing tasks. For example:




Smart sensors, cameras, and robotics allow manufacturers to optimize processes, improve supply chains, and manage energy more effectively, which boosts quality and productivity. The Internet of Things helps monitor parameters such as temperature, humidity, vibration, and equipment conditions so manufacturers can predict equipment failures and take care of them in advance.



IoT devices help monitor patients remotely in healthcare, especially after surgeries and other medical procedures, so patients get proper help, and doctors can adjust their treatment plans.



IoT devices also enable smart farming. They help monitor soil moisture, nutrient levels, and crop health, thus reducing resource waste, optimizing irrigation, and improving yields.



Smart city initiatives use IoT to improve urban living conditions. IoT solutions help adjust traffic lights in real time to reduce wait times and monitor neighborhoods to detect suspicious activities. They also monitor bin fill levels and track air quality, pollution, and environmental changes.




Why invest in IoT for business



Due to the versatile nature of IoT solutions for businesses, there are many reasons why companies invest in these applications. Core benefits of the Internet of Things in business include:



Real-time monitoring 



IoT in business offers organizations the ability to oversee and control devices and systems from afar. Instead of sending someone to check equipment or inventory levels, companies can use sensors to monitor data remotely. This approach not only saves time and money but also enhances safety by minimizing the necessity for employees to enter potentially dangerous areas.



Predictive maintenance



IoT sensors continuously monitor machinery conditions, analyzing data such as temperature, vibration, and pressure to detect early signs of wear and tear. Together with data analysis driven by machine learning, the Internet of Things helps predict when machines and equipment need maintenance. This means less unexpected downtime and fewer costly repairs. According to Deloitte, predictive maintenance can lower maintenance expenses by up to 10% and improve uptime by 20%. 



Depending on the business, IoT systems can help avoid accidents or unexpected events, which can save a lot of money over time. For industries where delays from issues cost a lot, being able to watch for and predict maintenance problems is vital for staying on budget.



Improved security 



IoT applications can enhance security in many ways, both inside and outside businesses. For instance, in a retail environment, IoT sensors can monitor the inventory and notify security staff if any items are missing. Similarly, in an office, access can be managed through IoT-enabled badge readers, ensuring only authorized personnel can enter certain areas.



Data-driven decision-making  



IoT devices gather real-time data, helping businesses make quick, informed decisions. By analyzing this data, companies can improve their processes, boost productivity, and react quickly to market needs. For example, IoT sensors can track production lines and provide insights that allow for quick adjustments to improve the quality of your new product.



Top 5 IoT use cases in business







The IoT offers vital benefits across industries and scenarios. Let’s explore the top five key IoT use cases that highlight its transformative impact across various sectors:



IoT in smart manufacturing



In general, IoT helps manufacturers collect and analyze data in real time, which provides better insight into machine operations and monitors safety and working conditions. The examples of IoT that revolutionize today’s manufacturing include:



Predictive maintenance and reduced downtime



Smart IoT sensors allow companies to monitor their equipment in real time. They analyze when equipment might fail and ensure regular maintenance to keep production lines running smoothly. Afterward, sensors gather essential performance data, such as vibrations and temperature, and send it to central systems for analysis. They flag deviations.



Manufacturers use the collected data to schedule maintenance during planned downtimes. This approach significantly optimizes resources and enhances equipment reliability.



Digital twins and real-time production monitoring



A digital twin operates as a virtual model and replicates a physical entity, system, or process. In manufacturing, digital twins represent the behavior and condition of objects or processes. Leveraging AI and ML, they collect and analyze the data of physical items. As digital twins are adaptive, they help manufacturers monitor, predict, and optimize operations. A notable application of digital twins is in the laser scanning and reality capture sector, where manufacturing facilities utilize laser scan data to develop versatile digital twins that visualize critical processes and equipment.



Moreover, digital twins can generate immersive virtual environments to replicate actual manufacturing conditions. These simulations help: 




train employees and instruct them on safety protocols 



evaluate emergencies



minimize workplace accidents with a risk-free training platform.




Supply chain optimization 



IoT applications optimize supply chains in several ways:




Updating the location of goods, thus ensuring timely alerts if shipments veer off course. 



Monitoring environmental factors like humidity and temperature and automatically adjusting conditions to prevent product damage.



Automating inventory tracking, enhancing operational efficiency, and safety using artificial intelligence for minimal human intervention.



Providing data analytics with real-time alerts to swiftly deal with weather events and accidents.



Understanding what products people need in the market can help logistics managers fine-tune their strategies and ensure supply chain effectiveness.




IoT in healthcare



The evolution of IoT applications in healthcare is underway. From wearable health tech that tracks health parameters to AI-driven diagnostic tools and intelligent hospital systems, we are only scratching the surface of what's possible in the future. 



Remote monitoring and wearable health tech



Remote patient monitoring is becoming an insightful tool as it provides various perks for healthcare providers and patients. 



IoT devices automatically gather health data such as heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature from patients outside a healthcare facility. In this way, patients don’t need to visit their providers for data collection. Later, when the data is processed by smart algorithms, doctors can suggest more personalized and effective treatments and instantly react to alerts.



IoT-driven hospital asset tracking and management



One more way the Internet of Things improves healthcare is through asset tracking and management. It means that healthcare providers can now use connected devices to monitor their equipment and supplies more effectively. Some real-life examples of asset tracking and management in action include:




RFID tags on medical supplies and equipment allow providers to quickly find items and handle inventory.



Sensors on hospital beds provide usage and maintenance data, which lowers downtime and increases patient safety. 



Smart refrigerators monitor temperatures and inventory levels of vaccines, medications, and other essential supplies, thus improving storage conditions.




IoT in retail



IoT solutions in retail transform the shopping experience with personalized interactions, optimized inventory management, and enhanced analytics for customer service. Below are key areas where these business solutions make an impact:



Personalized shopping experiences through IoT sensors



In-store retailers strive to connect deeply with customers by curating each purchase experience. Stores achieve this through technology that designs the purchasing journey. In this case, IoT applications may serve as the foundation for uncovering every shopper’s needs. An example is a smart camera that detects when customers traverse the same aisle multiple times. Moreover, shelf sensors ascertain which products engage a buyer based on the duration spent at a display. This information proves vital for providing personalized recommendations by matching recent successful shopping experiences with the current visit.



Consequently, the store can offer promotions and coupons to encourage a one-time visitor to become a loyal patron. This approach alleviates the decision-making burden for shoppers, who can spend less time on choices.



Smart shelves and automated inventory management



Smart shelves embody a major technological leap. These electronic shelves are built to monitor inventory in retail environments automatically. They can identify when items are purchased or taken. This integration simplifies stock tracking and makes retail operations more efficient.



IoT-based smart shelves deliver the following benefits:




Dynamic inventory management: Smart shelves with sensors monitor product quantities to maintain optimal stock levels and avoid shortages or excess.  



Automated pricing adjustments: These systems automatically update prices based on promotions or market changes.



Personalized suggestions: Advanced shelves use consumer data to recommend related items, enhancing the shopping experience.




AI-powered customer analytics for targeted marketing



AI-powered retailers see better engagement, increased sales, and important insights into customer preferences and shopping habits. AI tracks customer interactions across channels—online, in-store, and mobile apps—to identify trends like popular products and preferred shopping times. Additionally, AI reviews feedback from social media and customer comments to understand sentiment, allowing retailers to adapt their marketing strategies accordingly.



IoT in smart cities



Smart cities can use the Internet of Things (IoT) to reduce pollution, improve public safety, and improve city services. IoT devices track traffic, weather, air quality, and energy use. City planners can analyze this data to make smart choices that help everyone.



Traffic flow optimization and smart parking systems



Many cities are implementing IoT sensors to monitor parking spaces, as commuters spend about 17 hours annually looking for available spots. If residents know where to park, congestion, fuel consumption, and emissions can be significantly reduced.



Long-term analysis of traffic patterns, including vehicles and pedestrians, aids city planners in identifying transportation needs, such as additional roads, lanes, buses, and pedestrian pathways.



Furthermore, road and bridge sensors can assess the condition of the transportation infrastructure. When combined with AI, these sensors can detect problems before they escalate.



IoT-based waste management and energy efficiency



The growth of smart cities will further promote IoT integration in waste management. As urban regions work towards achieving zero-waste objectives, these solutions will be crucial in realizing these ambitions. With features like adaptive waste collection schedules and smart recycling centers, IoT will lead the way in sustainable urban living. 



Let’s take a look at how the Internet of Things helps cities manage waste and maintain energy efficiency:




Smart waste bins: Sensors check when waste bins are full and notify the collection teams. This makes the collection more efficient, reduces extra trips, and saves fuel and emissions.



Route optimization: IoT finds the easiest waste collection routes, reducing fuel costs and expenses.



Waste composition analysis: Sensors check what types of waste are present to improve recycling and support better management.



Real-time monitoring: Devices provide up-to-the-minute energy use data, helping spot waste and improve operations. This reduces energy costs and boosts energy efficiency.



Predictive maintenance: By looking at factors like vibration, energy use, and temperature, devices can predict when maintenance is needed, preventing equipment failures and cutting costs.



Integration with renewable energy: IoT helps manage renewable energy sources more effectively, increasing their use and improving sustainability.




Public safety enhancements with real-time monitoring



Sensors and interlinked devices significantly enhance public safety by gathering data that empowers city officials to react swiftly to various incidents. Smart cities leverage IoT technology in several ways:




Identify unusual behavior



Analyze traffic trends



Mitigate road dangers




Furthermore, integrated safety and security systems, such as biometric data and surveillance cameras, support a complete public safety strategy. This approach allows for effective communication and quick emergency responses.



IoT in agriculture



IoT applications in agriculture boost efficiency, optimize resource management, and enhance food safety:



Precision farming and IoT-powered irrigation systems



IoT-based precision farming employs GPS, sensors, and aerial devices to enhance crop management, boost production, and increase profitability. It optimizes resources like electricity, fuel, and water, supporting sustainable agriculture. 



IoT technologies transform precision farming by delivering real-time insights into soil conditions, weather patterns, and crop health. With this information, farmers can make smarter choices about when to plant, how much fertilizer to use, and when to irrigate. This helps manage resources better and increases crop yields. For example, IoT sensors can keep track of soil moisture levels and automatically control irrigation systems to provide just the right amount of water. This not only minimizes waste but also helps conserve precious water resources. 



Livestock monitoring and automated feeding systems



In livestock management, IoT devices like wearable sensors monitor vital signs, activity levels, and animal locations. This ongoing surveillance allows for early identification of health problems, which enhances animal welfare and lowers veterinary expenses. Furthermore, IoT-enabled automated feeding systems deliver precise feed according to each animal's needs, which boosts growth rates and feed efficiency.



Climate control and smart greenhouses



Backyard gardeners love working with their plants and carefully tend to their needs. In contrast, commercial growers rely on smart greenhouses that use automated systems to maintain healthy plants without daily labor.



Smart greenhouses with IoT sensors monitor and control factors such as light, humidity, and temperature. These systems automatically maintain optimal growth conditions, improving crop yields and quality. By adjusting climate variables in real time, sensors help consume less energy and decrease operational costs in greenhouse agriculture.





Optimize Your Business with IoT Apps by SoftTeco



Reduce downtime, cut costs, and boost efficiency with powerful and secure IoT solutions.




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Emerging IoT applications in business



IoT in financial services: fraud detection and security



As IoT solutions transform industries worldwide, the financial services sector is another example. These solutions produce large volumes of data to help detect unusual patterns and pinpoint possible fraud. Here are the ways companies can detect fraud and maintain security with IoT applications:




Transaction monitoring: IoT sensors in ATMs and point-of-sale systems track transaction patterns to detect anomalies indicating fraud. 



Authentication: Wearable IoT devices and biometrics add layers of authentication, lowering unauthorized access risks. 



Integrated security networks: IoT connects various fraud detection systems, enhancing fraud prevention and detection capabilities.




IoT in hospitality: smart hotels and automated check-ins



The hospitality industry is also harnessing the power of IoT applications to craft smart hotel experiences and streamline operations. Here are the key examples of IoT that upgrade hospitality services: 




Check-ins and check-outs automation: IoT mobile apps let guests skip the usual front desk process, which cuts down wait times and improves their experience.



Smart room management: Guests can use their devices to adjust lighting, temperature, and entertainment systems to personalize their stay.



Operational efficiency: IoT devices track the number of people in a room and the energy used. They help plan cleaning schedules and lower energy costs.




IoT in logistics: fleet management and route optimization



In fleet management, IoT integrates telematics, sensors, and networks to analyze data from connected cars and drivers. This data helps managers optimize operations, enhance safety, cut costs, and make informed decisions. Here, the IoT use cases include:




Real-time vehicle tracking: IoT telematics gives fleet managers real-time vehicle location, speed, and routes. This flexibility enables smart decisions like rerouting to avoid traffic, optimizing delivery schedules, and enhancing customer experience.



Driver behavior monitoring: IoT devices track driver behaviors like speed and braking. Monitoring these promotes safer habits, reduces accidents and insurance costs, and encourages fuel efficiency savings.



Route optimization: IoT systems analyze traffic, weather, and schedules to improve route efficiency, leading to reduced fuel consumption, faster delivery, and greater customer loyalty.




How to get started with IoT for your business



IoT projects often inspire high hopes. However, even if a company has the right people and tools, success is not guaranteed without the proper IoT implementation steps. Therefore, it is essential to understand why IoT should be used. Here is a simple guide to help you with this.



Key steps in implementing IoT solutions







Set precise business goals: Determine the specific challenges that IoT can address within your organization. Clear objectives help ensure that your initiatives align with overarching business strategies. 



You should identify: 




The short and long-term problem 



The aim for problem resolution with IoT



The best solution method



KPIs to monitor




Explore industry use cases: Research successful IoT applications in your industry to see how they can benefit you and what challenges they might present. For instance, manufacturing companies often implement IoT-based predictive maintenance systems to avoid machine failures and reduce downtime.



Select appropriate hardware: Choose devices and sensors compatible with your operational requirements and environmental conditions. For example, in logistics, GPS trackers and temperature sensors track the condition of perishable goods during transportation. 



Choose an effective IoT platform: IoT platforms centralize and control IoT devices and networks. You can obtain these platforms from suppliers or develop them in-house. An effective IoT platform serves as the foundation of the network, with everything else built around it.



Prototype a setup: Before starting your IoT project, gather a diverse team of tech experts to assess the system, including IT and telecommunications specialists and relevant engineers. Then, plan the implementation strategy and test the prototype for effectiveness. Skills your IoT team may rely on after implementation include:




Information systems expert for data storage



Data scientist for data analysis



Statistician for data quality control.




Apply necessary security measurements: IoT security breaches are common, so businesses must inform their data security officer of IoT projects to integrate data governance practices. Moreover, IoT security solutions can help minimize breaches. 



These key initiatives encompass: 




robust endpoint security 



advanced communication protocols



stringent access control



comprehensive encryption techniques



proactive fraud management.




Choosing the right IoT platform and service providers



An IoT platform serves as the core of any IoT solution. With countless IoT PaaS vendors in the market, a successful IoT solution demands an equally exceptional IoT platform. So, what essential architectural qualities should this platform have?



Scalability: IoT initiatives involve vast data and devices. To process extensive data efficiently, companies must adopt web-scale capabilities and new information management policies. This transition can be daunting for businesses facing master data management challenges.



Security: It requires effective risk management and privacy policy enforcement, monitoring, and response capabilities for potential threats, distributed access control across all IT assets 



Configurability: IoT solutions should adapt to organizational needs. 



Integration: Many organizations underestimate the complexities involved in integrating IoT projects. Key requirements include merging data and devices with enterprise IoT applications, SaaS products, mobile applications, and legacy systems.



Here are the recommendations to pay attention to when choosing the right IoT service provider:



1. Scalability



Most Internet of Things initiatives begin small, often with a pilot project. However, a scalability plan for future growth is crucial. IoT services partners must be well-equipped to scale their solutions effectively regarding device management, connectivity, and cloud services.



2. Comprehensive solutions  



Choosing the right IoT partner is key to your success. Look for a provider that offers various services, including essential hardware, different ways to connect, effective device management, cloud options, and the ability to integrate with your current systems. This approach ensures that all parts of your ecosystem work well together and provides easy access to support when you need it.



3. Industry experience  



Consider the provider’s experience in your industry. Each sector has unique IoT hardware and connectivity needs, so it's best to choose a provider with a strong track record. They can deliver individual solutions that meet your needs and offer valuable insights based on their experience.



4. Flexibility  



Flexibility is key when choosing an IoT technology provider. As your business evolves, having a partner who can adapt to your needs will be invaluable.



5. Security



Before selecting a potential partner, analyze their security protocols and determine how well their measures align with your use case.



6. Data integration



IoT data is only valuable when you can use it to enhance your business operations. Ensure your future services provider can seamlessly deliver data from the cloud to your platform for effective analytics and business insights.



7. Support



Assess the support options a potential vendor offers and how they align with your solution. Developing an IoT device solution involves more than just acquiring IoT devices; you must also consider additional expenses, such as support, when calculating your smart solution's total cost of ownership.



The journey to building an effective IoT solution is like constructing a bridge between the physical and digital worlds—precision, adaptability, and expertise are essential. While choosing the right platform and provider may seem daunting, businesses must remember that IoT is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. It demands solutions tailored to unique industry challenges, security requirements, and scalability goals. This is where experience and innovation make the difference. 



At SoftTeco, we craft intelligent, future-ready IoT solutions from the ground up, ensuring seamless integration, security, and efficiency at every step. With the right partner, IoT is not a challenge to navigate—it’s a new opportunity to redefine what’s possible.



Future trends in IoT for businesses



IoT is changing our future with many innovations. But how will the Internet of Things impact businesses? With smart systems to improve operations, blockchain to enhance security, and sustainable practices to optimize resources, companies can become more efficient, secure, and environmentally friendly.



Growth of autonomous IoT-driven systems



IoT innovations fuel the development of autonomous systems, including self-driving cars and automated industrial machinery. These technologies enhance efficiency and eliminate the need to rely on human labor. Here are some more examples of such systems:



1. Autonomous vehicles: Self-driving cars and trucks use IoT sensors and AI to navigate and make decisions on the road. For example, Volvo and DHL Supply Chain launched driverless freight trucks with advanced safety features that operate between Dallas and Houston.



2. Autonomous drones: In Hungary, researchers created a swarm of 100 drones that can make real-time decisions independently, inspired by how animals move. This technology holds exciting possibilities for meteorology, land surveying, goods delivery, and precision agriculture.



3. Autonomous robots: Devices such as warehouse robots and vacuum cleaners navigate, manipulate objects, and interact with their environment without human supervision.



Blockchain integration for secure IoT transactions



Blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) are game-changing technologies in finance. IoT allows devices to collect transaction data, while blockchain protects it to ensure security and reliability. Together, they build trust and reduce the risk of fraud, ultimately reinforcing the integrity of financial systems.



Sustainability-focused IoT innovations



The fusion of IoT technologies into sustainability efforts has led to groundbreaking solutions that effectively address environmental issues. Some notable examples include:




Smart energy management: IoT devices can monitor energy usage in buildings, helping us save money while reducing our carbon footprint.



Smart waste management: IoT sensors installed in waste bins give us real-time updates on their capacity. This allows waste collection services to better plan routes, save fuel, and reduce emissions.



Air quality monitoring: Sensors help monitor air pollution levels, allowing us to take quick action to protect public health and well-being.



Water management: Organizations can easily detect leaks and monitor water quality, which encourages citizens to use water more wisely.



Sustainable agriculture: IoT technology assists farmers by improving irrigation methods and monitoring crop health, leading to more efficient resource use in farming practices.




Conclusion



Undoubtedly, the Internet of Things in business is becoming a universal tool. It offers solutions that impact essential sectors, such as manufacturing, agriculture, smart cities, retail, healthcare, and more. These solutions help reduce costs, automate processes, and track and analyze large volumes of data critical for making informed decisions and maintaining equipment.



With rapid advancements and competitive advantages, now is the best time to invest in IoT applications, considering their benefits for business growth.




 

FAQ

### SoftTeco Has Joined the Odoo Partner Network

We are excited to announce that SoftTeco has joined the Odoo Partner Network, a collaboration that enables us to expand our services and provide cutting-edge ERP solutions to businesses of all sizes. As an official Odoo partner, we now provide a comprehensive range of platform-related services to companies choosing Odoo as their business automation solution.







About Odoo



Odoo is one of the global leaders in open-source ERP and CRM solutions. Odoo is known for its user-friendly, highly customizable suite of business applications that cover a wide array of business functions, from CRM and accounting to manufacturing and inventory management. Trusted by businesses of all sizes, Odoo has earned a reputation for delivering innovative, scalable solutions that meet the diverse needs of enterprises across industries. Its software, with more than 1,500 downloads a day, is one of the most frequently installed business suites worldwide.



Odoo Services We Offer



As part of our partnership with Odoo, we provide the following services:




Odoo Consulting: Tailored consulting services to guide your business through the process of customizing, implementing, and optimizing Odoo, ensuring it aligns with your strategic objectives.



Odoo Implementation: Expert deployment of Odoo's comprehensive suite of applications, customized to address your unique business needs.



Odoo Migration: Seamless migration from existing systems to Odoo, ensuring minimal disruption and a smooth transition.



3rd Party Integration: Expert integration of Odoo with your existing business systems, ensuring smooth data synchronization and enhanced functionality across all platforms.



Ongoing IT Support: Dedicated support services to ensure your Odoo platform operates optimally.



Planned Maintenance: Proactive maintenance to keep your Odoo system up-to-date and secure.






Unlock the full potential of Odoo with our expert services



From seamless implementation and customization to third-party integrations and ongoing support, we help businesses of all sizes optimize their operations.




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### IT Outsourcing in Healthcare Industry: Benefits, Challenges, and Use Cases

The healthcare industry is increasingly adopting IT outsourcing to address growing technological demands, enhance efficiency, and reduce operational costs. As medical institutions rely more on digital solutions, outsourcing IT services has become a great option to stay competitive while ensuring compliance with stringent regulations.



In our article, we will discuss the benefits of healthcare IT outsourcing, its potential challenges, and will give you some useful tips on how to choose a reliable service provider.







Why is outsourcing in the healthcare industry rising in popularity?



Technology is an inseparable part of modern healthcare, enhancing both the treatment methods and patient care and how patients access medical services. There are a lot of innovative solutions, such as telemedicine and mobile health apps, that help to improve operational efficiency and patient outcomes. However, developing these solutions in-house can be expensive and time-consuming.



That is where healthcare IT outsourcing comes into play. It is the practice of delegating various IT services to external vendors instead of handling them in-house. This can include services like data management, software development, cybersecurity, telehealth solutions, and more.



Overall, there are several reasons why companies choose healthcare IT outsourcing:   



Saving costs



Healthcare organizations face constant pressure to reduce costs while maintaining the highest standards of patient care. Outsourcing IT services can significantly lower operational expenses by eliminating the need for extensive in-house teams, training, and infrastructure investments.



Regulatory compliance



Healthcare organizations must comply with regulations such as HIPAA, GDPR, HITECH, etc. Outsourcing providers help ensure compliance by implementing robust security measures and following industry best practices.



Access to expertise and skills 



Through outsourcing, healthcare organizations have access to specialists in critical areas such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and cloud computing. The best part is that these experts are not only well-versed in the latest technology trends but also in industry specifics and regulatory requirements of healthcare software development. Therefore, you can implement innovative solutions without the need for in-house specialists.



Scalability



Outsourcing provides flexibility, allowing organizations to easily adjust project resources and scale up and down based on business needs. Therefore, healthcare providers can quickly adapt to changes and tech trends without permanently expanding their internal team.



Focus on core competencies



By outsourcing IT functions, healthcare professionals can concentrate on patient care rather than managing technical challenges. This enhances overall efficiency and improves healthcare outcomes.



Benefits of healthcare IT outsourcing 



Considering all these reasons, healthcare IT outsourcing is a great strategic solution that allows healthcare providers to save costs and improve patient care. Some other benefits of outsourcing in healthcare include:



Increased operational efficiency 



As we mentioned, outsourcing IT tasks like system maintenance, software management, and support frees up healthcare staff to focus on patient care. It also streamlines processes through automation and customized health systems, reducing admin work and improving patient interactions.



No need for additional workspace



Hiring new employees comes with responsibilities. You need to organize their workspace, not to mention handle their registration, taxation, onboarding, and training. Outsourcing IT services eliminates the need to maintain in-house IT specialists or a project development team. Therefore, you don’t need to organize any separate working space for them, saving it for other needs.



Faster time-to-market



Building a healthcare solution requires time, expertise, and specialized IT skills. Healthcare software development outsourcing is an excellent option for organizations looking to develop custom solutions or modernize existing systems efficiently. By partnering with experienced IT providers, healthcare companies can accelerate development timelines, reduce operational bottlenecks, and bring innovative solutions to market faster.



Types of healthcare IT services that can be outsourced



With constantly evolving technologies, there are a lot of IT services that healthcare organizations can outsource. That includes:



Cybersecurity services



Healthcare organizations frequently become targets for cybercriminals due to the wealth of personal data they manage. Healthcare IT outsourcing allows healthcare providers to partner with vendors that prioritize cybersecurity. They have the expertise and resources to provide you with robust security measures that meet strict regulatory compliance standards like HIPAA, GDPR, etc.



Telemedicine and remote patient monitoring



The rise of telemedicine has transformed patient care, providing a convenient and efficient means for healthcare providers to reach their patients. Outsourcing telemedicine services can enable healthcare organizations to implement virtual care solutions quickly and efficiently.



External providers often offer integrated platforms that facilitate virtual doctor visits, prescription services, and remote monitoring of chronic conditions. The benefits of telemedicine extend beyond convenience; they reduce healthcare costs, minimize risk of infection, and improve chronic disease management.



Electronic Health and Medical Records development and integration



Implementing Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems can be a daunting task; however, outsourcing EHR development and integration can streamline this process. Software development vendors like SoftTeco can create customized solutions tailored to the specific needs of your organization, ensuring seamless integration with existing systems and compliance with healthcare regulations.





Enhance patient care with SoftTeco’s custom healthcare IT solutions!



Outsource your IT needs to experts. We build secure, scalable, and compliant software — from EHR and CRM to AI-driven diagnostics — to help you innovate and grow.




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Internet of Medical Things



The Internet of Medical Things encompasses devices that collect and transfer patient data. By outsourcing IoMT development and management, healthcare organizations can utilize interconnected devices that enhance patient monitoring and improve outcomes. These solutions enable real-time insights into patient health, fostering a proactive treatment approach.



Cloud hosting for health organizations



Healthcare organizations often handle vast amounts of data that require secure storage and easy access. Cloud hosting provides a scalable solution that is both cost-effective and efficient. By outsourcing cloud services, organizations can benefit from enhanced data security, backup solutions, and accessibility for healthcare staff, regardless of their location.



IT infrastructure management



Managing IT infrastructure can be both complex and resource-intensive. By outsourcing this function, healthcare organizations can ensure that their systems run smoothly, which is critical for maintaining high standards of patient care. Managed IT services can monitor systems, provide 24/7 support, and quickly address any issues that may arise.



E-prescribing and pharmacy management software



By outsourcing e-prescribing software development, healthcare organizations can streamline pharmacy operations and enhance patient safety. This not only reduces prescribing errors but also simplifies the process for both healthcare providers and patients.



Supply chain management



An effective supply chain is crucial for healthcare organizations to maintain the availability of necessary supplies and medications. Outsourcing supply chain management enables organizations to leverage expert vendors who can optimize logistics, reduce costs, and improve service delivery.



Challenges of healthcare IT outsourcing you might face



Outsourcing IT services in the healthcare industry can be a double-edged sword. While it can lead to enhanced efficiency, cost savings, and access to cutting-edge technology, it also poses several challenges that you need to take into account. For example:



Data security issues



As we mentioned, the healthcare industry is one of the most regulated. With the continual rise in cyber threats, outsourcing IT services can expose sensitive patient data to potential breaches. Healthcare organizations must ensure that their outsourcing partners comply with relevant laws and regulations. Aim to partner with vendors who have proven security measures in place, such as encryption, regular security audits, and a transparent incident response plan.



Unexpected costs



One of the alluring aspects of outsourcing is the promise of reduced operational costs. However, this can quickly turn into a challenge if unexpected expenses arise. There can be hidden fees for implementation, staff training, or after-hours emergency support.



To avoid falling into this trap, you must approach outsourcing with a well-defined budget and a cautious eye. Of course, reputable healthcare IT outsourcing providers will not hide any additional fees, but it’s better to double-check everything. Negotiate clear SLAs that outline the costs for all services, including any potential extras, so there won’t be any surprises later.



Loss of control over critical systems



As healthcare organizations handle vast amounts of sensitive patient data, some IT systems cannot be fully managed by a third-party vendor. The loss of control over these systems can be really problematic. For example, healthcare organizations need to ensure that patient records are accurate, secure, and can be easily accessible by specialists.



To avoid unpleasant situations and potential regulatory breaches, it’s better to use a hybrid approach and outsource minor tasks. The control over critical systems remains with you, while the vendor handles routine maintenance and development process services.



Communication barriers



Effective communication is the key to any successful partnership. However, outsourcing IT services can raise some communication barriers. These may stem from differences in time zones, cultural misunderstandings, or even language differences.



To foster productive collaboration, it’s better to invest in building clear communication channels. This might include regular video calls, project management tools, and establishing core team members as liaisons between both parties.



How to choose the right IT partner?



There are a lot of vendor options when it comes to hospital IT outsourcing, so it’s highly important to choose the one that will best suit your needs and requirements. Don’t rush the decision; take the time to evaluate your variants. Here are some of the key factors you can consider when choosing the right IT partner to work with:




Industry experience. There's no point opting for healthcare outsourcing services from a vendor that has no clue about the industry standards and specifics. You don't trust a lawyer to fix your teeth, so make sure to choose a company that previously worked with healthcare organizations.



Reliability and proven track record. Review case studies, past projects, and client testimonials to assess the provider's reliability and success rates.



Security. Once again, security of the sensitive data is always a top priority. Ensure the provider has strong cybersecurity measures in place and follows best industry practices. For example, ISO 27001 certification is a strong indicator the provider follows global standards for data security, risk management, and compliance.



Innovative approach. Look for a partner that adopts cutting-edge technologies and innovative solutions to enhance healthcare operations.



Regulatory compliance. Verify that the outsourcing provider complies with HIPAA, GDPR, HITECH, and other relevant regulations to avoid legal and financial risks.



Transparent pricing. We've already mentioned that unexpected or hidden costs are one of the challenges with outsource healthcare software development. Therefore, thoroughly check the contract and ensure that the pricing model the vendor is suggesting is clear.




SoftTeco - a trusted partner to outsource healthcare software development



With over 17 years of experience, SoftTeco established itself as a reliable healthcare IT services provider. Whether you want to optimize your daily processes, enhance existing systems, or develop a healthcare software solution, we are ready to tackle any challenge. As an ISO-certified company, we know how to handle sensitive data and follow the best industry and security practices. 



Our developers are well-versed in modern tech trends and develop intuitive, robust solutions that will help you enhance patient care. Some of our outsourcing in healthcare industry projects include: 




Smart mirror - an innovative dental exam solution. SoftTeco developed a mobile application that connects to an innovative smart dental mirror. The app allows dentists to adjust the mirror as needed while viewing and recording the treatment process in real-time in video or photo format. This data can later be shared with patients and stored in a database.



VisitorAccess - a visitors management system for medical facilities. It is a user-friendly and efficient system designed to assess a visitor’s status and maintain records of all facility visits. We developed this solution during the COVID-19 pandemic to assist US hospitals in managing visitors and preventing the spread of the disease among patients and staff.



Aniware Clinic - a comprehensive CRM solution for veterinary business management. We helped the client to re-architect their initial platform to reduce operational costs. Moreover, we added some new features to make the application more user-centric and accessible. Clients can easily book appointments through the platform and get notifications reminding them about the scheduling. The CRM also integrates with external diagnostic laboratories, enabling clinics to order tests and receive the results within the system.




You can also try our calculator and estimate the approximate cost for the custom healthcare software development.



Calculate the price of healthcare software development outsourcing according to your needs 







To sum it up 



With all its advantages, healthcare IT outsourcing is a great way to save costs, boost operational efficiency, and use emerging tech trends to your advantage. A reliable and expert partner will enhance your team with top-notch skills and help you stay on the right side of industry regulations. Sure, there are still some challenges, and the choice is not simple. Therefore, think carefully and evaluate your options so you can enjoy all the benefits of healthcare outsourcing services.

### Path to AWS Certified Security – Specialty Certification

In the ever-evolving world of cloud computing, security remains a top priority. AWS offers a range of certifications to validate expertise in different domains, and the AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification is one of the most prestigious for cloud security professionals. It demonstrates advanced knowledge of securing AWS environments and implementing best security practices.



To gain insights into the certification journey, we spoke with our colleague, Cloud Architect Siarhei Ihnatsenka, who recently passed the AWS Security Specialty exam. He shared his experience, challenges, and preparation strategies.







Interview with an AWS Certified Security Specialist



How long have you been working in cloud security, and how did that influence your decision to get certified?



I’ve been working with IT security solutions since 2012, but my focus on cloud security started in 2021. Pursuing certification was a way to systematize my knowledge, dive deeper into the specifics of how security principles apply within AWS, and ultimately increase efficiency in addressing cloud security challenges.



So, who should take the AWS Certified Security – Specialty exam, and what experience is required?



Overall, The AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification is for professionals with at least five years of experience in IT security, specifically in designing and implementing security solutions. It also requires at least two years of hands-on experience securing AWS workloads. This certification helps build on the skills needed for roles in cloud architecture, databases, networking, and DevSecOps.



Could you tell us a bit about the AWS certification process? How was it for you?



The AWS certification process begins with defining which qualification you want to validate. In my case, after obtaining the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, which qualifies one for roles like a Cloud Architect, I determined that my next goal should be the Cloud Security Architect role. To achieve this, AWS recommends pursuing two certifications: AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate and AWS Certified Security – Specialty.



My preparation consisted of:




Purchasing multiple Udemy courses (one course alone is not enough to cover all topics thoroughly);



Studying additional AWS resources;



Taking practice exams (approximately 500 questions) and analyzing all mistakes.




To prepare for the AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C02) exam, consider the following resources:




AWS Official Resources: the Exam Guide and  Official Practice Test for SCS-C02



Stephane Maarek’s Udemy Course 



Neal Davis’s Udemy Course




What were the most challenging topics, and how did you tackle them?



The most difficult domains for me were Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Data Protection. To tackle these, I explored additional resources, including AWS blogs on security architecture, and completed hands-on labs both on training platforms and within a free AWS account.



What mistakes do you think are easy to make while preparing for the exam?



The biggest mistake one can make is relying on memorization rather than understanding. Many test-takers try to remember answers from practice exams, but real exam questions are rarely the same. Instead, it is essential to understand the concepts. Each question has a time limit of around 2-2.5 minutes, so comprehension is key.



What advice would you give to someone aiming to pass the exam within a similar timeframe?



Consistency is crucial. Set aside time for studying daily to ensure steady knowledge retention. Practical experience is also invaluable. My preparation took six months, and I can confidently say that this is a quite difficult exam.



Final thoughts



Earning the AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification is a rigorous yet rewarding journey. It requires structured study, hands-on practice, and a deep understanding of AWS security principles. For professionals looking to validate their expertise and advance in the field of cloud security, this certification is a valuable asset.



Are you preparing for an AWS certification? Share your experience with us in the comments!

### IoT Edge Computing: Key Points to Consider Before Integration 

With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), businesses are collecting more real-time data than ever. Traditionally, companies have relied on the cloud to store and analyze the data collected from IoT solutions. But, as data volumes increase, this approach comes with many challenges, such as latency, security concerns, and high operational costs. To get around these problems, IoT and edge computing bring data processing closer to end users, making it faster and more efficient.



In this article, we’ll explore what IoT edge computing is, its benefits, applications across industries, and steps for its effective integration into current workflows.







What is IoT edge computing?



IoT edge computing is the combination of two technologies: IoT and cloud computing. Let's recall what they mean first. 



The Internet of Things, or IoT, is an ecosystem of connected physical devices that collect, exchange, and process data over the Internet without human intervention. These devices include sensors, smart home devices, connected cars, wearables, and more. Edge computing is a distributed computing model that brings data processing and storage near the source of data generation, such as sensors, IoT devices, etc. It is widely used in apps like IoT, autonomous vehicles, and smart cities, where real-time processing and low latency are crucial.



Thus, IoT Edge computing is about processing data closer to the source, or "edge," where it is generated, either on IoT devices or nearby edge services. Instead of sending data to a cloud or a data center, IoT edge computing handles data locally and transmits only relevant data over the network to the cloud. For example, a smart security camera can analyze recordings locally and send alerts to the cloud only for suspicious activity. This reduces bandwidth and improves response time. 



To better understand "how does IoT edge computing work?" let's consider its architecture. 



The architecture of IoT edge computing



IoT edge computing architecture is divided into three main layers: IoT, edge, and cloud. Each has its own role in data processing:



IoT layer



The IoT layer includes smart IoT devices, such as cars, robots, and industrial machinery. These devices collect the data (like temperature or humidity) from the environment or control various operations using sensors, controllers, and gateways. 



Edge layer



The edge layer serves as a bridge between IoT devices and the cloud. Its primary function is to receive, process, and transmit data while enabling real-time services like intelligent computing and analytics. This layer is divided into three sub-layers based on their processing capabilities:




Far-edge layer (edge controller layer): located closest to IoT edge devices, this layer consists of IoT devices with built-in processing capabilities, such as smart sensors and autonomous systems. It handles initial data filtering, preprocessing, and real-time control.



Mid-edge layer (edge gateway layer): includes edge gateways that connect to both wired networks and wireless networks (5G). These gateways receive data from edge controllers, perform more advanced analytics, and ensure secure data transmission to higher layers.



Near-edge layer (edge server layer): includes robust edge services and offers more computational power and storage than the previous layers. It handles complex data processing, AI model execution, and integration with cloud services to reduce cloud dependency.




Cloud layer



The cloud layer receives data from the edge layer via a public network. It provides large-scale storage, advanced data analytics, and centralized management. This layer processes aggregated data from the edge, applies AI and ML models, and offers insights for decision-making. Also, it ensures long-term data storage, system updates, and overall network security.



These layers work together to process data efficiently - fast decisions happen at the edge, while deep analysis and storage occur in the cloud. 



Key benefits of edge computing in IoT



IoT and edge computing work together to make data processing faster and more efficient. Instead of sending all data from IoT devices to a central server far away, edge computing processes and stores data right where it is created. As a result, the usage of IoT and edge computing brings companies the following benefits: 




Low latency: processing data closer to where it is generated (at the edge) reduces the time it takes to transmit data to a central server. This results in faster response times and minimizes delays.



Bandwidth optimization: it filters and processes data locally, only sending relevant information to the central server. This reduces network traffic and lowers bandwidth costs.



Reliability: edge computing works without relying on a central data center. Even if the network goes down, IoT devices keep processing data, ensuring uninterrupted operation.



Security: by keeping more data local, edge computing reduces the need to transmit sensitive information over the network, reducing the risk of data breaches.



Reduced operational costs: with less data being sent to central servers, businesses save on bandwidth and reduce latency, leading to low operational costs.




Combining IoT and edge computing boosts the performance, reliability, and security of IoT systems. After that, you may wonder, “is it better to process data at the edge or in the cloud?” To answer this question, you need to compare two approaches.



IoT edge computing vs. cloud computing



The key difference between IoT edge computing and cloud computing is where and how data is processed. Each approach comes with its own advantages and limitations. Let's see how they compare.



Data processing location



As we said above, edge computing processes data locally. This reduces the need for cloud transmission and allows faster access to data. This is crucial for apps that require real-time decision-making, such as autonomous vehicles and monitoring systems.



In cloud computing, data is processed in centralized data centers that are often far from where the data is collected. This works well for handling large amounts of data and applications that don't need immediate responses.



Latency 



Cloud computing has higher latency due to the data transmission to and from remote servers. For this reason, centralized cloud computing is less suitable for real-time applications. But for cases where immediate responses are not needed, it can still deliver sufficient performance.



Edge computing minimizes latency since data is processed on-site without cloud dependency. This is especially beneficial for real-time applications where immediate response is crucial. For example, for industrial automation, smart cities, and healthcare monitoring.



Security



Edge computing keeps sensitive data close and doesn't have to travel over unsafe networks. This reduces the risk of data breaches and cyberattacks. This makes it a secure option for healthcare or government apps when security is a priority. Despite reduced attack risks, devices and connections remain vulnerable. So you still need robust security measures at multiple points.



When data is stored in one place (the cloud), it is exposed to potential risks, like cyberattacks, network vulnerabilities, and provider dependence. In the past, cloud computing was seen as a less secure option itself, but over time, it has improved significantly. Today, cloud providers use advanced security measures, strong protections, and conduct regular updates - all these often surpass edge computing. Thus, the best choice between both in terms of security will depend on your application needs.



Bandwidth usage



Edge computing helps reduce bandwidth usage by filtering the data before sending it to the cloud. This lowers network load, decreases data transfer delays, and cuts costs for processing large amounts of data. As a result, IoT systems operate faster and more efficiently, especially in real-time applications. This is also useful when the Internet connectivity is limited or when reducing network costs is a priority.



Cloud computing requires more bandwidth since it sends large amounts of raw data to remote servers for processing and storage. This increases network load, causes transmission delays, and adds extra costs. In some cases, it can even slow down system performance, especially for real-time data processing.



Scalability



In edge computing, scalability is limited by the physical capabilities of edge devices. If you want to expand, you will need to add more physical devices or edge nodes, which can be challenging to manage across multiple locations.



Cloud computing is highly scalable because providers offer almost unlimited resources on demand. Businesses can easily adjust capacity as needed without investing in additional hardware. This flexibility is beneficial for industries with fluctuating workloads, like ecommerce during sales events or data analytics with varying processing needs.



Cost



Edge computing requires a high initial investment in hardware, like sensors, gateways, IoT edge devices and local computing units. However, it can save money over time by reducing bandwidth usage and improving efficiency. For organizations that need real-time data processing, edge computing can be a beneficial solution, even though it requires a high initial cost.



Cloud computing is more cost-effective due to the centralization of resources in one place. It follows a pay-as-you-go model, so businesses only pay for what they use. This eliminates high upfront infrastructure costs, making it a flexible option. But costs can add up over time due to large data volumes, extra storage, and frequent data transfers.



IoT edge computing vs. cloud computing: a comparison table



In the table below, we’ve put together the key differences between IoT edge computing and cloud computing to help you with selection.  



IoT edge computingcloud computingProcessing locationLocally In centralized data centers or in the cloudLatencyLow latency due to local processingHigh latency due to data transferBandwidth usageReduced due to sending only key dataHigher due to constant data transferScalabilityLimited by physical hardwareHighly scalable with on-demand resources SecurityHighHighСostLess cost-effectiveMore cost-effective ReliabilityWorks offline, less dependent on connectivityRequires a stable internet connectionUse casesSmart cities, autonomous vehicles, industrial IoTBig data analytics, AI, large-scale apps



Many modern businesses use a hybrid approach, combining edge computing and cloud computing to balance the need for real-time processing with the benefits of centralized data analysis and storage. In this way, the hybrid approach allows businesses to create a resilient and intelligent IoT infrastructure.



IoT and edge computing use cases



Combining IoT with edge computing has revolutionized various industries by bringing data processing closer to the source. Here are some top use cases of IoT edge computing:



Manufacturing & predictive maintenance



Industrial IoT apps benefit greatly from edge computing. Edge devices can track real-time equipment conditions, like vibration, temperature, etc. It helps to predict potential failures before they happen. As a result, factories can schedule maintenance in advance, reducing downtime and preventing costly breakdowns.



Also, edge computing in manufacturing helps maintain product quality and improve production efficiency. By analyzing sensor data from production lines in real-time, edge systems can quickly identify defects and make adjustments. For example, if energy consumption is too high, the system can instantly correct it, saving resources and improving overall efficiency.



Transportation & autonomous vehicles 



Autonomous vehicles regularly collect and analyze data about traffic, street signs, and stoplights. If the car needed to stop or turn fast to avoid an accident, sending data to the cloud would be too slow. To solve this problem, edge computing processes data (from sensors, cameras, or GPS) directly in the vehicle, enabling quick decisions and actions in real-time.



Moreover, edge computing supports Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication, which provides faster data exchange between vehicles on the road. This allows autonomous vehicles to share information about road conditions, traffic, and accidents, improving overall driving safety.



Healthcare & remote patient monitoring 



Edge computing is vital in healthcare, especially with wearable devices. They can track real-time health data, like heart rate, blood pressure, and glucose levels. By processing data locally, they quickly detect issues and alert doctors when a problem is detected. This is crucial for patients with chronic conditions and those in remote areas.



Also, edge computing helps doctors analyze medical data (imaging, vitals) during remote consultations. Medical devices generate large files that usually take time to process on central servers. With edge computing, this data is analyzed directly on the device or a nearby edge server. As a result, doctors can review images almost instantly, make faster diagnoses, ultimately improving patient outcomes.



Smart cities 



Edge computing and IoT help make cities smarter by improving traffic flow, energy use, and waste management. For traffic management, it processes data from traffic lights, cameras, and sensors locally, reducing reliance on central systems. It enables real-time analysis, especially during peak hours. It helps optimize traffic lights, reduce congestion, and improve public transportation.



As a real-life example, SoftTeco developed C2 Smart Light, an IoT solution for smart lighting management. The system allows for remote control of outdoor lighting devices, brightness adjustment, real-time monitoring, and automated lighting based on time of day and natural light levels. This reduces energy consumption by 20% and lowers CO2 emissions.



For the system, we built a new backend for scalability, redesigned the interface, and introduced new features. This allowed us to greatly contribute to smart city growth, enhancing safety and improving infrastructure efficiency. 







Retail & supply chain 



IoT edge computing helps retailers maintain optimal inventory levels by processing data in real-time. For example, edge devices can automatically reorder items or change prices based on real-time demand. By processing data at the edge, retailers can make quicker decisions. This helps retailers monitor stock levels, predict demand, and reduce waste.



Edge computing optimizes the supply chain by tracking goods in real-time. IoT sensors monitor goods and environmental factors, like temperature and humidity, ensuring goods are delivered under the right conditions. If something goes wrong, like delay, edge devices quickly alert retailers so they can take action. As a result, retailers can identify problems, adjust delivery plans, and manage products better.



How to implement edge computing in IoT solutions



Implementing edge computing for IoT solutions requires a well-thought-out strategy to ensure optimal performance. Here are the main steps to achieve this:



Step 1. Define the use case



Before implementing edge computing, you’ll need to determine the goals of IoT deployment. For example, autonomous systems require low latency, while manufacturing equipment requires predictive maintenance. It’s also important to consider the type and volume of data generated by IoT devices. 



The next step is determining the technical requirements, such as security, latency, bandwidth, data processing, and storage. This data will help determine what computing resources are needed and how much capacity should be deployed for your IoT edge computing solution.



Step 2. Select the right hardware (edge devices)



You’ll need to choose hardware that meets the requirements of your IoT app. When selecting edge devices, consider such factors as sufficient processing power, memory, storage capacity, and connectivity options (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 5G). Choose from the following edge devices:




IoT gateways: connect sensors to the cloud and handle basic data processing. Examples: Cisco IoT Gateway, AWS Greengrass.



Embedded systems: they are small yet powerful devices with dedicated processors and memory for local data processing. Examples: NVIDIA Jetson, Raspberry Pi 



Edge servers: they handle complex analytics, AI processing, and large-scale industrial workloads with minimal latency. Examples: HPE Edgeline, Dell EMC Edge Servers.




Edge devices require an operating system or platform to process data without relying on the cloud. So it’s important to choose software compatible with your hardware that meets the requirements of your IoT solution. 



Step 3. Implement data processing and AI at the edge



Not all data needs to go to the cloud. So, you’ll need to implement data filtering and aggregation to process only relevant data. This will reduce the amount of data sent to the cloud. You should use local AI models for anomaly detection, predictive analytics, and automated decision-making. A great tool for edge AI is TensorFlow Lite, which helps run AI efficiently on IoT devices. 



This approach requires skilled AI specialists to handle pre-trained models, optimize them for edge deployment, and integrate AI into IoT systems. Nevertheless, with edge AI, IoT devices become smarter and faster, making real-time decisions with less reliance on the cloud.



Step 4. Ensure security and compliance



To ensure robust connectivity, you'll need to choose the right protocol built for the IoT environment - MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) or CoAP (Constrained Application Protocol). CoAP is suitable for apps with limited bandwidth and power, while MQTT is for those that require continuous messaging and reliable communication in low-bandwidth environments. They ensure compatibility across different IoT devices and networks.



You must also set up local storage so your system can handle temporary connection issues. And for extra reliability, you can consider network redundancy, like switching between cellular and Wi-Fi when needed. As data transfers between devices and the cloud, you'll need to implement strong security measures at the edge, including:




Device authentication and authorization



Data encryption (in transit and at rest)



Secure boot and firmware update




As edge devices are often in remote and diverse environments, it's essential to regularly update them with firmware patches, security updates, etc. This reduces the risk of attacks from malicious actors. You should use firewalls and intrusion detection systems (IDS) to protect edge notes. Firewalls block unauthorized access, while IDS monitors network activity and system logs for suspicious behavior, warning a security team of potential threats.



Step 5. Build a scalable architecture



A scalable IoT edge computing system must be designed with flexibility, security, and efficiency in mind. For this, you’ll need to design a layered architecture that usually includes: 




IoT devices collecting data



Edge nodes processing data locally



A cloud backend for advanced analytics and storage




Also, you’ll need to adopt containerization (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes) for flexible deployments across various edge nodes. This ensures easy scalability and efficient resource management, which is vital for future growth.



Step 6. Monitor and maintain edge devices



Once edge computing deployment is done, next you’ll need to set up tools for monitoring and maintaining edge devices. Since these devices work autonomously in different locations, tracking their performance and health is vital. Below are some tips on how you can effectively manage them:




Use real-time monitoring tools to check the health performance metrics and device health 



Set up automated diagnostics to identify issues early



Use over-the-air (OTA) updates to keep software and firmware up to date



Use centralized dashboards to manage edge devices at scale




By actively monitoring and maintaining edge devices, you can ensure your IoT solution stays reliable, secure, and efficient, minimizing downtime and disruptions. 



Conclusion



To answer the question “what is edge computing in simple terms?” - it is a technology that handles data processing near its source, reducing the need to send it to the cloud for analysis. It makes IoT devices run faster, more efficiently and more reliably, reducing the load on the network and cloud servers. Beyond this, it unlocks new opportunities for automation, predictive analytics, and seamless connectivity across industries. As IoT grows, edge computing is becoming a vital solution for future success. 



At SoftTeco, we offer a range of IoT services to help businesses harness the full potential of IoT. From consulting and system integration to software development, we ensure seamless and efficient IoT solutions tailored to your business needs. We can also help you with IoT edge computing integration to enhance your data processing capabilities and operational efficiency.

### React Native vs Flutter: A Comprehensive Comparison for 2025

It's no secret that nowadays, almost every person has several devices that they use daily. The diversity of operational systems has increased the demand for applications that can seamlessly work across different platforms, so cross-platform development has become as popular as ever before. 



Flutter and React Native are two prominent open-source frameworks for cross-platform app development that have significantly risen in popularity over the past few years. Although they share some similarities, there are far more differences between them. Below, we will compare React Native vs. Flutter so you can choose which framework best suits the needs and requirements of your project.



But first, let's overview the two frameworks to better understand their functionality and use cases.







What is Flutter?



Flutter is an open-source UI framework for cross-platform app development that was released by Google in 2017. It is built on Dart, a modern object-oriented programming language also developed by Google. Flutter contains a broad set of UI software development tools, widgets, APIs, and documentation. In other words, it provides everything developers need to build robust and eye-catching cross-platform applications.



Key features of Flutter include:




Single codebase. One of Flutter's most appealing aspects is its ability to compile applications for iOS, Android, web, and desktop using a single codebase. 



Hot reload. This feature allows developers to correct or change the code without restarting the app. You can see all the changes in the app's UI in real-time. This greatly speeds up the development process and helps to fix bugs without delays.



Rich widget library. Flutter provides a great deal of customizable widgets that follow both Material Design (for Android) and Cupertino (for iOS) guidelines. This ensures that applications built with Flutter have a native look and feel.



High performance. Flutter apps compile native ARM code, which enables high performance comparable to native applications. The framework also includes a powerful rendering engine, Impeller, that can seamlessly handle complex animations and graphics.




As with any other technology, Flutter also has its strong and weak sides. Let’s take a closer look at Flutter advantages and disadvantages.



Pros




Fast development cycle. With the hot reload feature and a single codebase for multiple platforms, Flutter significantly accelerates the development cycle.



Beautiful UIs. The extensive widget library enables developers to create visually appealing UIs with ease. The flexibility to customize widgets allows for creativity in design.



Cross-platform compatibility. The ability to deploy applications across various platforms without maintaining separate codebases is a significant advantage for both developers and businesses.



Great performance. The native compilation of Dart to native ARM code ensures that Flutter applications run smoothly, providing a better user experience.



Strong backing from Google. Being a Google product, Flutter benefits from ongoing support and frequent updates. For example, the latest framework version, Flutter 3.24, was released in August 2024. New features allow the creation of advanced graphics and 3D scenes, multi-view embedding for web apps, and other advancements. 



Easy to learn. As we mentioned, Flutter uses Dart, a programming language also developed by Google. It’s relatively easy to learn, so even novice developers can quickly master Flutter.




Cons




Heavy-weight apps. For many users, the size of the application is a crucial factor, as they tend to delete large apps to save space for more important ones. Flatter’s rendering engine and other built-in features and widgets add to the overall size of the applications.



Dart is not a popular language. Even though Dart is a great programming language, it’s not as popular as JavaScript, C#, Kotlin, or other industry giants. Therefore, not many developers are eager to learn it, and finding specialists for the project can be difficult. However, Dart is growing in popularity, so there’s a high chance that it will no longer be a problem in the near future. 



Limited developer community. As we can see, even though Flutter itself has grown more popular over the years, there are still not enough developers experienced with the framework. 



Compatibility issues with iOS. Although Flutter is a cross-platform framework, it was released by Google. Naturally, Android is more compatible with it than the iOS platform. As a result, there can be some minor issues or delays in updates for iOS apps. 






Build powerful cross-platform apps with SoftTeco!



Bring your idea to life with our mobile app development services. Whether you need a fast MVP or a feature-rich enterprise app, our developers deliver high-performance, scalable, and user-friendly solutions.




Learn more






What is React Native?



React Native is an open-source framework released by Meta in 2015 that allows developers to build cross-platform mobile and web applications. 



One of the frequently asked questions while discussing React Native is, “What is the difference between React and React Native?” First of all, React is a library for building web user interfaces, not a framework. Another fundamental difference between React JS and React Native is that the latter is built on React and JavaScript, using them to create natively rendered apps. 



Key features of React Native include:




Cross-platform development. Similar to Flutter, React Native enables developers to write code once and deploy it on both iOS and Android platforms, which saves time and resources.



Native components. React Native leverages native components rather than web components. This means applications built with React Native can achieve the look and feel of native apps. It also provides a smoother user experience and access to platform-specific features.



Hot reloading. Like Flutter, React Native also has this feature. 



Declarative UI. React Native employs a declarative programming paradigm, allowing developers to describe how the UI should look based on the application state, making the code easier to understand and maintain.



Rich ecosystem. React Native has a large ecosystem of JavaScript and React libraries and tools, which can help speed up development and enhance app functionality.




Same as Flutter, the React Native framework also has its benefits and disadvantages. Let’s have a look at its main advantages and drawbacks.



Pros 




Strong community support. Since its release, React Native has fostered a vibrant community of developers. This community contributes to the framework’s growth by sharing knowledge, creating tutorials, and developing third-party libraries, making it easier for newcomers to find support.



JavaScript ecosystem. JavaScript is one of the most widely used programming languages, making React Native accessible to many developers. For teams already familiar with JavaScript, adopting React Native can lead to a smoother transition and quicker onboarding processes.



Performance. While some may argue that native apps outperform cross-platform solutions, React Native often comes close to native performance. It compiles to native components, which allows for smooth animations and a more responsive user interface.



Small-size apps. If Flutter applications tend to be larger because of their built-in features, React Native apps are considerably smaller in size. That’s because the framework uses native platform components. 




Cons 




Performance limitations. While React Native performs well for most applications, it can struggle with highly complex or resource-intensive apps, such as those requiring extensive animations or heavy calculations. Moreover, there can be some performance issues for apps on older devices because the framework uses native UI components. 



Dependency on third-party libraries. React Native relies heavily on third-party libraries for various functionalities. While this can speed up development, it also introduces risks related to compatibility and maintenance. Some libraries may not be actively maintained, leading to potential issues when upgrading React Native or integrating new features.




React Native vs Flutter: key differences



Both Flutter and React Native offer unique advantages and cater to different developer needs. Choosing between these two frameworks isn’t easy, even when considering their drawbacks. To help you better understand the nuances and make an informed decision, let’s explore the key differences between React Native and Flutter.



Performance comparison



When it comes to performance, both frameworks deliver robust and high-performing applications. However, Flutter had a performance advantage since React Native used JavaScript bridges to communicate with native components. But, starting with version 0.74, React Native eliminates this drawback with the Bridgeless New Architecture.



Now, React Native uses the JavaScript Interface for faster communication between JavaScript and native components, reducing latency. Thanks to this architectural improvement, React Native speeds up the development process and enables developers to create more responsive user interfaces.



Flutter, on the other hand, uses its graphics engine to compile directly to native ARM code, eliminating the need for a bridge. Starting with the 3.27 release, Flutter replaces Skia with Impeller as the default rendering engine for Android and iOS. Impeller leverages advanced GPU APIs for more efficient rendering, reducing power consumption and improving overall UI performance.



Development speed and productivity



When it comes to development speed and productivity, both frameworks have their strengths. React Native allows developers to write code in JavaScript, a language familiar to many web developers, which can lead to faster onboarding. Additionally, its hot-reloading feature enables real-time feedback during development, significantly speeding up the iteration process.



Flutter also offers a hot-reload feature, but its unique widget-based architecture allows developers to create custom components. The comprehensive set of built-in widgets in Flutter accelerates UI development, enabling developers to rapidly create visually appealing applications.



UI and design capabilities



UI design is where Flutter truly stands out. Its rich set of customizable widgets allows developers to create stunning designs that are consistent across platforms. The Material Design and Cupertino styles provided by Flutter enable developers to easily implement platform-specific aesthetics.



React Native, while flexible, relies on third-party libraries and native components for UI development. That can sometimes lead to inconsistencies in design across platforms. However, React Native’s use of native components can offer a more authentic look and feel for users familiar with the platform.



Platform support and ecosystem



As we mentioned, React Native enables developers to create applications for both iOS and Android using a single codebase. The framework also has extensive support for third-party libraries and components, making it easier to extend functionality.



Flutter is also cross-platform, supporting iOS and Android, but it goes a step further by enabling developers to build applications for web and desktop platforms as well. This versatility allows teams to reach a broader audience with minimal extra effort. However,  even though Flutter's ecosystem is rapidly growing, it still lags behind React Native in terms of available third-party libraries. That said, the official Flutter packages are well-maintained and cover many common use cases, which can help developers avoid the pitfalls of using less reliable third-party solutions.



Debugging



Debugging in React Native is generally user-friendly, largely thanks to its integration with popular developer tools like Chrome DevTools and React Developer Tools. Developers can easily inspect and debug their applications in real-time, which can significantly speed up the development process.



Flutter, on the other hand, comes equipped with a rich set of debugging tools and a comprehensive widget inspector. These tools allow developers to analyze the UI components and rendering performance in great detail.



Which framework is best for your project?



Choosing the right framework for your project is really important, as it influences the performance, scalability, and maintenance of your application, as well as the speed of the development process. We’ve already discussed the key differences between React Native and Flutter, so now you need to evaluate your project requirements to decide which one will work better for you. 



Here are some key factors to consider while choosing a framework based on your project needs:




Team expertise. It's better to choose a framework your team is familiar with to minimize the learning curve and speed up development.



Performance needs. If you need deep integration with native device features, choose a framework that provides easy access to native APIs and supports custom native code when necessary.



UI\UX design. If your app requires a highly customized design, choose a framework that allows for flexible UI elements and consistent design across platforms.



Platform support. Select a framework based on the platforms you intend to target. Some frameworks support only mobile, while others also extend to web and desktop.



Ecosystem. The ecosystem of libraries and tools available can speed up development. A well-established ecosystem provides more resources and community support.



Development speed. Consider how quickly you need to build and iterate on your app. 




When to choose Flutter for app development?



Considering the advantages of Flutter and other factors, it will best suit: 




Projects with restricted budgets and short deadlines;



Applications with heavy graphics and animations; 



If you need customized UI widgets.




When React Native is the better choice?



The advantages of React and JavaScript make React Native an ideal choice when: 




You want to develop a lightweight mobile app with native components;



Your in-house team is proficient in JavaScript or React;



You want to scale your current project with cross-platform modules. 




If you have an idea for a cross-platform application but don’t have an in-house team or need a specialist skilled in Flutter or React Native, you can always turn to a reliable mobile development services provider like SoftTeco.



Calculate the cost of your custom Flutter or React Native mobile app development in 2025







React Native vs Flutter comparison table



Here’s a comprehensive Flutter vs. React Native head-to-head comparison table so you can evaluate their differences again and decide which framework will better suit your project needs.  



AspectReact NativeFlutterDeveloped byMetaGoogleRelease year20152017Programming languageJavaScript and JSXDartPopularity121k stars on GitHub (March, 2025)169k stars on GitHub (March, 2025)PerformanceImproved performance with Bridgeless New Architecture, which eliminates the JavaScript bridge. High performance. Uses its own rendering engine, Impeller, to ensure smooth graphics and animations.EcosystemMature ecosystem with a vast selection of libraries and plugins. However, some functionality may depend on third-party modules.Growing ecosystem with an increasing number of packages. Many functionalities are available out-of-the-box, reducing reliance on external libraries.UI components Uses native components of Android and iOS.Offers a rich set of its own components and widgets.Development speedFeatures like hot reload facilitate rapid development. JavaScript's flexibility can speed up coding but may lead to inconsistencies.Hot reload and a comprehensive set of widgets enable fast development. Platform supportSupports Android and iOS, Web platforms, and experimental desktop support. Supports Android, iOS and Web platforms.CommunityLarge and active community with numerous forums, libraries, and tools. Rapidly growing community with increasing contributions. 



Conclusion



As we can see, both Flutter and React Native allow you to build robust, high-performing cross-platform applications. Over the years, both frameworks have significantly evolved, making the development process faster and more convenient. Flutter excels in performance, UI consistency, and multi-platform support, while React Native offers better integration with the JavaScript ecosystem, strong community support, and seamless native app integration. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, so the choice can be challenging, but it ultimately depends on the specific requirements of your project.



However, if you have difficulties deciding between Flutter vs. React Native, you can always consult with SoftTeco. As an experienced software development company, we offer comprehensive IT consulting services to help you assess your project needs and select the right technologies to maximize development benefits.

### Ecommerce API integration: Steps, Main Types, and Best Practices

Having an ecommerce site alone isn't always enough to guarantee success. To enhance your store and streamline operations, you may need to integrate external systems that add new functionality. However, connecting these systems smoothly to your site can be tricky. This is where API integration comes into play.



These integrations help businesses simplify operations, improve the capabilities of a store, and enhance the customer experience. But, the integration of APIs isn't an easy process due to compatibility issues, security concerns, and the need for tech expertise. In this article, we'll guide you through the entire ecommerce API integration process, explore its benefits, and share best practices to make the process as smooth as possible.







What is an ecommerce API?



When it comes to answering “what is an ecommerce API?”, we can define it as a set of protocols and tools that enable an ecommerce store to communicate with different systems and apps - such as inventory management, payment gateways, and analytics tools - and share data seamlessly. These software systems help manage various aspects of your business, such as:




Point-of-sale (POS)



Content management system (CMS)



Order management system (OMS)



Enterprise resource planning (ERP)



Customer relationship management (CRM)



Product Information management (PIM)




When an ecommerce app needs specific data or actions from an external system, it sends requests to the API. The API then interacts with the system’s database and backend to handle these requests. Upon verifying the request, it returns a structured response to the ecommerce app. 



Thus, APIs allow businesses to automate processes, sync data in real-time, and extend the functionality of their ecommerce store without the need to develop everything from scratch.



Benefits of using ecommerce APIs



In short, the answer to the question "why are APIs important?" is simple: they streamline a lot of ecommerce operations. But that is not all. Other key reasons why a client may need API integration and the pain points it solves include: 




Enhanced security: APIs can provide an extra layer of protection for data transfers between systems while reducing the risk of fraud and data breaches;



Expanded functionality: APIs allow seamless integration with thirty-party platforms, such as payment gateways, CRM systems. Thus, you can easily add new features without having to build them from scratch. 



Multi-channel selling: for stores selling on multiple channels, APIs enable centralized management of inventory, orders, and customer data, ensuring consistency and simplifying operations.



Scalability: as an online store grows, APIs make it easier to scale data management, thus supporting new channels, tools, or services without significant disruption;



Improved customer experience: APIs allow real-time data sharing, ensuring faster responses, smoother transactions, and personalized services for customers.



Improved efficiency: APIs streamline communication between the systems, reducing the need for duplicate data entry and ensuring that information is consistent across platforms.




Having looked at the many benefits of using APIs for ecommerce, it’s time to consider the different types of APIs available.





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The key types of APIs for ecommerce websites



Online websites rely on various APIs to improve functionality, operations, and data exchange. Here are the key types of APIs used in ecommerce:




Payment Gateway APIs




They connect ecommerce stores with payment processors to enable secure payment transactions via credit cards, digital wallets, etc. Examples include Stripe, PayPal, and Square.




Inventory APIs




They help companies track and manage stock levels in real-time across multiple sales channels. Examples: TradeGecko API and Shopify Inventory API.




Shipping APIs




These APIs integrate with shipping carriers and logistics providers to manage the shipping process, track packages, and calculate shipping costs. Examples: FedEx API, UPS API, Shippo API. 




Customer Relationship Management (CRM) APIs




They help manage customer data (profiles, preferences identification) and order history to provide a personalized experience. Examples: Salesforce Commerce Cloud Customer API, HubSpot API.




Product Information Management (PIM) APIs




They help centralize and distribute consistent product information across multiple platforms and channels. Examples: Shopify Product API, WooCommerce REST API.




Catalog APIs




They help manage how products are displayed and organized on your ecommerce site or app. You can add, update, or remove products and manage categories and product attributes. Examples: Shopify Product API, Magento Catalog API.




Checkout APIs




They help handle the checkout process, including payment method selection, shipping options, and order confirmation, as well as manage checkout flow. Examples: Snipcart, Shopify Storefront API.




Shopping Cart APIs




They are used to facilitate the creation and management of an online shipping cart for a better checkout process. Examples: BigCommerce Cart API, Magento Quote Cart API.




Marketing APIs




They enable the creation of customized marketing communications using customer data and integrating various platforms and tools. Examples: Pardot API, Mailchimp API, HubSpot API.




Login APIs




They provide authorization for users, allowing them to create accounts, log in to an API ecommerce platform by using systems like Facebook and Amazon, and managing their profiles.



How to choose the right ecommerce APIs



In a nutshell, when it comes to choosing the most suitable and best ecommerce APIs, you need to evaluate your business needs, technical requirements, and long-term goals. Here are some steps you can follow to select APIs:



Business needs



First, you’ll need to determine what you want to achieve by adopting APIs for an ecommerce website. It might improve product management, payment processing, order tracking, and other operations. Also, think about your customer experience. APIs can speed up checkout, provide real-time order updates, and offer personalized product suggestions. By balancing your business goals with customer needs, you’ll make better decisions, leading to business growth and improved customer satisfaction.



Security



The security of ecommerce APIs is crucial as they collect and process a large amount of sensitive information, such as payment information, personal data, and purchase history. Due to this, they attract the attention of hackers. Attackers often target APIs to gain unauthorized access, steal data, or disrupt the system. As a result, an ecommerce business may suffer from data breaches, privacy violations, and, hence, financial losses. 



To prevent this, choose APIs that follow security best practices, such as encryption, strong authentication, and regular security checks. A secure API protects customer data, builds trust, and prevents cyberattacks. Constantly invest in security APIs to help you avoid costly breaches and reputational damage in the future.



Core features



Once you identify your business needs, the next step is to select APIs that provide the right features to support your goals - like the ones that we listed above. Whether it’s product management, order management, or cart management, select APIs based on required functionality. Beyond this, you need to evaluate how well an API aligns with your business processes and future plans.



Also, check whether the API allows customization - meaning if it allows changing the data fields, workflows, or endpoints to fit your processes. APIs with flexible configurations give you a competitive edge and the ability to scale as you grow.



Location



Location is another key factor when it comes to API selection. Many APIs have features that depend on the region, like payment gateway support, tax calculations, and compliance with local regulations. For example, some payment processors may not support certain countries, or some shipping APIs may not connect with local couriers. In addition, some regions have specific regulations that the selected APIs should comply with. 



Compatibility 



Compatibility is also a key factor to consider. It ensures the API integrates seamlessly with your existing systems, platforms, and workflows. If APIs don’t integrate well, you might face technical issues, frustrating user experience, high costs, and long setup times. 



To ensure high compatibility, you need to evaluate the compatibility of APIs with your current tech stack and other systems. Also, consider API data formats and protocols, versions, updates, and third-party integrations. Choosing an API that integrates smoothly will streamline operations, reduce complexity, and allow your team to focus on enhancing the customer experience.



Scalability



As your business grows, you need APIs that can scale with you.  In other words, APIs should be able to handle increased traffic, users, and data without slowing down or crashing. Ecommerce often experiences traffic spikes, especially during sales or peak seasons. A scalable API can handle these surges smoothly, keeping your site fast and reliable. It also helps optimize IT costs by using cloud resources, so you only pay for what you need. 



Thus, a scalable API ensures high performance even under heavy loads, preventing slowdowns or crashes during peak times. This keeps your website running smoothly, providing customers with a hassle-free shopping experience. 



Cost



APIs come with different pricing models: pay-per-use, subscription-based, or tiered. So, ensure you understand how these models work to avoid unexpected expenses. Beyond the main costs, keep in mind hidden fees, like overage charges, support, integration, and data storage, that add up. 



If you’re on a tight budget, free or open-source APIs might be a great option. They have no upfront costs and can be customized, but they may lack advanced features and require more development effort. Consider whether a free API meets your needs or a paid option is a better long-term investment. Also, check if the API solution has a free trial period before purchasing.





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Steps to effectively integrate an API into an ecommerce website



If you already know which APIs would be best for your ecommerce site, let's move on to the practical steps for integrating it. Here's an effective ecommerce API integration process. 



Step 1. Determine your goals and requirements



You should start by defining your business goals and selecting the right APIs. To make this process easier, you can create a roadmap that will help you:




Explore your existing processes



Identify pain points



Evaluate your tech stack



Set realistic goals around APIs




When you're looking for APIs, you may consider such factors as initial and hidden costs, functionality, ease of use, security, etc. It's recommended that you read reviews and test available free plans to ensure the API is reliable and suits your needs.



Step 2. Obtain API credentials



Once you've chosen your API provider, you must sign up for the service and retrieve the necessary credentials. This will allow your ecommerce store to connect with the chosen API. For this:




Register for developer’s accounts



Get your API keys or access tokens



Store your credentials securely




Many providers give you different keys for test environments and production environments. So make sure you use the correct one, depending on your use case.



Step 3. Read the API documentation



This stage is vital for any successful ecommerce API integration. Detailed documentation will help you understand how the API works, what features it offers, and how to connect it effectively. Below are key API documentation aspects to look over authentication, endpoints, rate limits, error codes, and troubleshooting.



Remember, reviewing API documentation is an ongoing process. As you work on your integration, you’ll often need to refer back to it. Hence, invest your time and effort in understanding the documentation thoroughly from the start.



Step 4. Develop the API integration



To successfully integrate an API in eсommerce, you will need to hire a development team and choose one of the integration methods: coding from scratch or using integration tools. 




Coding from scratch: this allows for a fully customizable solution that perfectly fits your business needs. However, this approach requires strong technical knowledge and more development time.



Using integration tools: this is a fast and simpler way to integrate APIs because it offers ready-made solutions and templates but limits customization. This method is suitable if you need a quick implementation without significant time and resource investment.




Before going live, test the API integration in a separate environment to avoid impacting your live store. This includes simulating different scenarios and using debugging\logs tools to identify and resolve any issues. Once your integration is tested well, deploy it to your live store. You can begin with a small rollout, track performance, and make adjustments as needed to ensure smooth operation.



Step 5. Maintain and monitor APIs



After integrating your ecommerce API, it's essential to regularly maintain and monitor APIs to ensure they function properly. Here's what to focus on: errors tracking, performance monitoring, security audits, docs updates, versioning and updates, as well as testing. 



By following these steps, you can integrate an API into your ecommerce website as smoothly as possible and provide improved functionality for your users. Now that we’ve gone through the ecommerce API integration process in detail, let’s look at how it actually benefits your business.



Best practices for ecommerce API integration



To ensure a smooth API integration, we’ve put together the best practices to follow: 



Prioritize security



As mentioned above, data security must be a top priority during API integration. Ensure your APIs comply with industry standards and best practices for data protection. For this, you can implement robust security measures, such as: 




Encryption, like HTTPS\ TLS for secure communication



Rate limiting and throttling to prevent abuse



Regular security audits



Logging and monitoring



API gateway and firewalls



Strong authentication, such as using tokens, two-factor authentication




Regular security testing and monitoring will help you ensure that your ecommerce platform remains resilient, secure, and capable of addressing emerging threats.



Review APIs documentation



Documenting every step of the ecommerce API integration is crucial. With the focus on documentation from the start, developers can get clear, accurate, and detailed guidance, leading to a smoother integration process. The documentation should cover the integration setup, including API endpoints, authentication methods, error handling, and troubleshooting tips. It should also include best practices for updating integrations as new API versions are released.



Well-documented APIs help non-technical teams, like customer support, resolve common issues without the need to involve developers.



Conduct regular testing



Regular testing is essential to keep your API integrations running properly. This includes performance, functional, regression, and security testing, etc. Their common goal is to ensure the stable, reliable, and secure operation of the API. Regular testing helps identify bugs early, prevent downtime, and maintain a seamless user experience.



It’s recommended to use automated testing tools to run repetitive tests efficiently and consistently. This allows for more frequent testing without increasing manual workload. Also, don’t skip test API integrations in different environments, as it can ensure consistency and detect environment-specific issues.



Regularly update APIs



Regularly updating an API's security protocols helps protect against emerging threats, such as vulnerabilities, exploits, and attacks. For this, you'll need to monitor updates to the latest versions of security protocols. Also, you might migrate from deprecated protocols (e.g., OAuth 1.0) to more secure alternatives and stay informed about new vulnerabilities (e.g., zero-day exploits).



Along with that, test API updates in a test environment before deploying to production to minimize unexpected issues. You can subscribe to security alerts from your API providers and industry organizations like OWASP to help you respond quickly to potential threats and improve your API's security.



Establish a uniform data format



To avoid common issues with API integration, use a consistent data format across all systems. This makes data transfer smoother, improves accuracy, and ensures compatibility between your API and other applications. Standardizing data also simplifies troubleshooting and reduces errors. Developers can help you convert data into the right format and set up processes to keep it updated.



Plan for failure 



Even with well-designed systems, API integration failures can still happen for reasons like network issues, bad customer data, or server downtime. These failures can disrupt operations and affect system performance. However, you can prepare for them in advance. Here’s how:




Implement robust error handling



Design fallback mechanisms



Set up comprehensive logging and monitoring



Implement retry mechanisms



Regularly test failure scenarios



Implement data recovery mechanisms




Keep in mind that failure planning is an ongoing process, so keep your strategies updated to address new challenges and system changes. This helps minimize downtime, keeps operations running smoothly, and ensures a better user experience during disruptions.



Conclusion



Ecommerce API integration is an essential process for modern online businesses. It helps to automate operations, enhance user experience, and drive growth, creating a cohesive and efficient ecosystem. However, this process is not as simple as it may seem. The implementation of an ecommerce API integration requires appropriate APIs selection, careful tech planning and following best practices. 



At SoftTeco, we offer a range of eсommerce services to meet the unique needs of your store. Our team of experts works closely with customers, guiding them through every step of the ecommerce API integration process to ensure flawless system functionality and help establish a powerful online presence.




 


Expert Opinion



API integration in ecommerce is not just a technical detail but a crucial element of a successful business. The way integration is designed directly impacts system usability, scalability, and stability.



When APIs are well-planned and properly implemented, processes are automated, data syncs smoothly, and users get a fast, seamless experience. But if integration is done superficially or without considering business logic, problems arise, such as order errors, data update delays, and even security vulnerabilities.



A solid API integration allows businesses to easily connect new platforms, work with marketplaces, manage logistics, and expand functionality without major system overhauls. This is especially critical for growing companies that need to adapt quickly to market changes.



The process of API integration requires analysis, testing, and a thoughtful approach, but the effort is well worth it. In the long run, high-quality API integration is a competitive advantage that directly impacts business efficiency and growth.





Head of Frontend PL Department



Roman Navarych

### EHR vs. EMR: Which One is Right for Your Healthcare Practice?

The majority of healthcare organizations switched to electronic recording systems long ago, improving efficiency and patient care. You’ve likely heard of Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Electronic Medical Records (EMR) — two widely used terms in digital healthcare. They are often used interchangeably, but are EHR and EMR the same thing? The answer is simple: no, they aren’t. 



While both store patient information digitally, they serve different purposes and offer distinct advantages. In this article, we will compare EHR vs. EMR, explain the main differences and benefits, and discuss their use cases to help you understand which system best fits different healthcare needs.







What is an EMR?



Let’s start by explaining what does EMR stand for in healthcare. Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) are a digital version of traditional paper health records. These records contain the medical and treatment history of patients within a practice. Overall, EMRs allow healthcare providers to: 




Track and manage patients' medical data;



Monitor patients' conditions over time;



Quickly determine which patients need preventive screenings or checkups;



Generate informed reports;



Enhance the quality of medical care;



Monitor vaccinations and other key health parameters.




There are several types of EMR systems:




Tablet EMRs. These systems leverage tablet devices to provide healthcare professionals with easy access to patient records, facilitating more efficient and effective care delivery. 



Cloud-based EMRs. These systems store patient information on remote servers, enabling access from various devices and locations. It also helps to reduce operational costs. Cloud-based EMRs use multiple layers of security to protect patient data, but operations can be disrupted if the cloud servers go offline.



On-premise EMRs. Classic EMR systems store patient information on the servers of healthcare providers. They are not as cost-efficient as cloud-based, but they offer more secure and reliable storage. 



Mobile EMRs. These systems are designed for use on mobile devices, allowing healthcare providers to access patient records on the go. Mobile EMRs are convenient and help improve the efficiency of patient care. 



Voice recognition EMRs. These systems use voice recognition technology to convert spoken words into text, facilitating faster and more accurate data entry. While they can improve efficiency, they may require additional training for users to maximize their effectiveness.




The transition from paper records to digital format enhanced both patient care and administration efficiency. Some of the key benefits of EMR include:




Improved patient care: EMRs provide healthcare professionals with instant access to comprehensive patient information, leading to better-informed decisions. With access to a complete patient’s medical history, providers can avoid medication errors and duplicate testing, ultimately improving patient outcomes.



Reduce errors in patient data: EMRs allow healthcare providers to minimize errors associated with handwritten notes, ensuring that patient data is accurate, readable, and up-to-date.



Enhanced efficiency: EMRs streamline administrative processes such as scheduling, documentation, and billing. It helps to reduce the time spent on paperwork so healthcare providers can focus on patients.



Data analysis and reporting: EMRs enable healthcare organizations to collect and analyze data more effectively. This capability supports quality improvement initiatives, helps identify trends in patient health, and assists in research.






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What is EHR in healthcare?



Electronic health record (EHR) is also a digital record system, but it includes a patient’s entire health history across multiple healthcare providers and institutions. Unlike EMRs, EHRs facilitate data sharing and interoperability, enabling different authorized healthcare providers to access and update the records. EHRs support better coordination of care, integrate with labs and pharmacies, and also have billing and insurance information.



As with EMRs, there are several types of electronic health record systems, including:




Physician-hosted EHR. Basically, it’s a traditional model where all the data is stored on on-premise servers within the organization. It can be costly, as healthcare providers must purchase hardware and software and cover ongoing updates and maintenance.



Remotely-hosted EHR. These systems store patient data on external servers hosted by the vendor. This way, healthcare providers don’t need to maintain the hardware and software themselves, as they can access all the information through the network connection. The EHR provider handles updates and maintenance.



Cloud-based EHR. These systems store all the patient data in the cloud, so healthcare providers can easily access it anytime, from anywhere, as long as they have an internet connection. Cloud solutions enhance data interoperability and reduce costs. Organizations pay on a subscription basis, and third-party providers handle the updates and security. Therefore, clinics don’t need to hire IT specialists to manage the on-premise system. 




Both EHR and EMR systems have played a significant role in the digitalization of patient medical records. However, while EMR systems have limited functionality, EHR systems generally offer more benefits to healthcare organizations. Advantages of electronic health records include:




Improved care coordination and communication: EHRs enable quick access to patient records for different authorized healthcare providers, which helps enhance communication. Doctors can securely exchange medical records through the system in real-time, coordinating patient care. This is particularly important for patients who see multiple specialists.



Reduce medical errors: EHRs help more effectively diagnose patients and reduce medical errors, contributing to safer care. They also help to enhance patients' safety with features such as alerts for allergies.



Increased efficiency: EHRs streamline documentation processes, which can improve productivity and allow healthcare providers to focus more on patient care rather than administrative tasks.



Better patient engagement: Many EHR systems include patient portals that empower patients to access their health information, schedule appointments, and communicate with their healthcare providers, promoting active participation in their own care.



Enhanced privacy and security: EHRs improve the privacy and security of patient data through advanced encryption and access controls, ensuring that sensitive information is protected.




The key differences between EHR and EMR



As we can see, the main difference between EHR and EMR lies in their uses and scope. An EMR is used within a single healthcare facility, such as a doctor’s office or a hospital. It includes medical history, diagnoses, treatments, and prescriptions but is not designed for sharing outside the organization. This makes EMRs effective for internal record-keeping, but they can be limited when a patient needs to visit multiple providers.



On the other hand, an EHR is a comprehensive, interoperable system that allows for secure data sharing across different healthcare providers, hospitals, and specialists. That means, with EHR, you don’t need to print out your healthcare records if you want to visit another specialist. They can just check all the information they need in the system.



Here are some more differences between electronic health record vs electronic medical record:



AspectsElectronic medical record system (EMR)Electronic health record system (EHR)ScopeDigital version of patient records within a single healthcare provider.Digital records shared across multiple providers and facilities.Data sharingLimited to one clinic, hospital, or practice.Designed for seamless exchange between different healthcare providers.InteroperabilityPatients’ data cannot be easily transferable to other facilities.Data can be easily transferred across different providers and facilities. Patient accessTypically not accessible by patients.Patients can access their records through portals.Use caseMainly used for diagnosis and treatment within one facility.Enables comprehensive, long-term patient care across multiple providers.Regulatory complianceFace fewer requirements due to the limited scope and internal use.Comply with stricter regulatory requirements outlined in the HITECH Act.



Why choose EHRs over EMRs?



As we discussed the differences between EHR and EMR, it's clear that EHRs offer greater flexibility, interoperability, and patient-centered care compared to EMRs, which are limited to a single provider’s system. While they both bring great benefits to healthcare organizations, helping to efficiently organize patient data and enhance treatment, hospitals and large clinics prefer EHRs over EMRs. 



EHRs are more functional and help healthcare providers to better understand patient needs and have a more detailed view of their condition. For example, if an emergency occurs, doctors can quickly access the patient’s entire medical history, including past diagnoses, medications, allergies, lab results, and previous treatments. This allows them to make faster, more informed decisions and create a treatment plan that aligns with the patient’s overall health condition.



When an EMR is the right choice for your practice



While EHRs offer healthcare organizations numerous advantages, EMRs may be the right choice in specific scenarios. It can be a good choice for:




Small, independent organizations. If a healthcare provider operates independently and does not need extensive data sharing, an EMR may be a cost-effective solution.



Minimal interoperability requirements. If a practice does not need to share records with other institutions, an EMR can efficiently fulfill its documentation needs.



Budget constraints. EMRs are generally more affordable than EHRs, making them suitable for smaller practices with limited budgets.



Simpler implementation. EMRs require less complex implementation and training compared to EHRs, making them easier to adopt for small teams.




How to develop EHR and EMR systems



The medical software development process comes with its complexities, as there are numerous technical and regulatory aspects to consider. It requires careful planning, robust security measures, and strict adherence to industry standards and regulations such as HIPAA, GDPR, and others.



You may think that EHR and EMR are the same in the development process, but there are also some differences. We've already covered a comprehensive guide on how to build an EHR system, so let's now explore the key steps of the EMR development process.



Find a reliable IT provider



As we mentioned, medical software development has its challenges. Many healthcare organizations do not have an in-house team of developers, and gathering one requires resources. Aside from technical expertise, the specialists also need to have a deep understanding of healthcare regulations. That’s why it’s better to find a reliable and experienced software development vendor. Key aspects you should consider when choosing an IT service provider: 




Proven track record of projects in healthcare technology



Expert with regulatory compliance (HIPAA, GDPR, etc.)



Offers support and maintenance services




Carefully review their portfolio and client testimonials, don’t rush things, and take the time to compare different vendors. A good IT provider will help you create a robust and secure EMR system that fully complies with industry regulations and standards.  



Requirements analysis and planning



Once you have your IT partner, the next phase is conducting a thorough requirements analysis. This step involves gathering input from various stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, administrative staff, and IT specialists. By understanding their needs and pain points, you can create a comprehensive plan that outlines functional and non-functional requirements.



As EMR holds sensitive patient information, you should pay close attention to medical regulations and compliance requirements. Your system must adhere to all necessary standards, such as:




Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA);



Health Level Seven International (HL7) standards;



International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards;



General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR);



Your local and regional regulations.




Define user roles and permissions



An important step in securing the sensitive patient data within your EMR system is access control. It is also the basic requirement outlined in HIPAA. Unlike EHR, EMR is typically used by a single healthcare organization, so role-based access control is simpler. The main user roles are: 




Doctors;



Nurses;



Receptionists;



Administrators.




Define the level of access within these roles and apply necessary limitations to ensure the security of patient data.



Select core features



Choosing the right core features is vital for the effectiveness of your EMR system. Essential functionalities often include patient registration, appointment scheduling, clinical documentation, and reporting. Prioritize features based on user feedback and industry standards to ensure the system meets current and future needs.



Create UI/UX design



Create a user-friendly design so healthcare professionals can easily navigate and use the system. Collect feedback from end users to gain a better understanding of their preferences and workflow. This will help to make an intuitive and engaging design. 



Development 



When all the preparations are complete, and an outline for the work is ready, the development team can begin coding. At this stage, they may also choose to build an MVP to release the EMR system faster and enhance it later based on user feedback. The development process focuses on core features, while QA engineers thoroughly test each one to ensure everything works correctly.



QA testing



Once the development phase is complete, it's time to put the ready EMR system through rigorous testing. This step is crucial in ensuring the reliability, security, and functionality of the system before it's deployed in a live healthcare setting.



Deployment and support



Implement the EMR system in phases, providing staff training and technical support. Regular updates and maintenance are essential to keep the system secure and efficient.



Approximate cost of developing an EHR or EMR System



“How much does developing an EMR or EHR system cost?” is a universal question with an equally universal answer: “It depends.” Like any software development project, it requires considerable resources, and the total cost always depends on several factors, such as:




System complexity and features. Creating an MVP with basic functionality costs less than developing an advanced system with various functions and integrations.



Development team location. The rates are different across various regions, so it can significantly impact the overall cost of development. For example, hiring developers in North America can cost more than in other regions like Eastern Europe. 



Deployment methods. Choosing between on-premise, cloud, or hybrid solutions affects both initial and ongoing costs. For instance, cloud-based solutions have lower upfront costs and require subscription-based pricing. On the other hand, on-premise systems involve higher initial costs for hardware, infrastructure, and IT staff.



Customization. If you don't want to opt for an off-the-shelf solution, get ready to spend extra time and money on custom development. However, as a result, you will have a system fully tailored to your needs and requirements.



Regulatory compliance. Ensuring compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, HITECH, and other healthcare standards also requires resources. You need to have robust security measures in place; either way, you risk getting penalties for non-compliance.



Further support and maintenance. Nothing ends with the launch and implementation of your system, as you need to ensure it works correctly as long as you use it. Staff training, software licensing, bug fixes, updates, and security patches are all ongoing expenses that you need to take into account as well. 




Considering all these factors, the approximate cost of developing an EHR or EMR system can range from $50,000 for a simple solution with basic functionality to $2,000,000 for a large enterprise system. Therefore, carefully evaluate your needs, requirements, and budget before looking for a healthcare IT services provider.



You can also use our calculator to estimate the EHR or EMR development cost yourself. 



Calculate the cost of your custom EHR or EMR system in 2025







To sum it up 



Choosing between EHR vs. EMR can seem a bit complicated, especially if you don’t see their differences. While both are digital versions of a patient's medical history that allow healthcare providers to make more informed decisions, EHR provides a deeper view of a patient's overall health condition. It not only helps doctors to decide on a better treatment plan but also enhances collaboration between healthcare providers. With advancements in telemedicine and other technologies, EHR systems will only become more robust in the near future. However, the development and implementation of an EHR system can be quite costly. EMR systems, on the other hand, remain a great solution for small or specialized clinics that do not require frequent data sharing between providers. 



If you have not yet decided what solution is best suited for your organization, you can always rely on an expert healthcare IT services provider such as SoftTeco. With more than 17 years of experience in the healthcare industry, we provide comprehensive consultation and software development services to help you make a shift toward digitalization and efficiency.

### What Is Interoperability in Healthcare? Core Benefits and Challenges Explained

According to the report by the McKinsey & Company, the healthcare industry generates about 30% of the international data and its amount grows on an annual basis. What it means for healthcare organizations is that they need to deploy powerful data processing solutions to provide patient-centric care and ensure that the transferred data remains intact and secured.



However, there are several challenges present in the industry that prevent secure, transparent, and effective exchange of the data. These challenges include the lack of standardization and lack of effective communication between the departments and organizations. To successfully resolve these issues and promote data-driven, patient-centric healthcare, the industry leaders encourage the implementation of interoperability. Below we explain why interoperability in healthcare is important and what standards can help you plan the implementation strategy. 







What is interoperability in healthcare?



Interoperability in healthcare refers to secure and coordinated use and transfer of electronic health data across various devices and systems. The main goal of interoperability is optimization of healthcare services and creation of a data-based and patient-centric environment. In other words, interoperability is the process of smooth data transfer across various departments in a standardized and secure manner so different users (including patients) can easily access it. Therefore, the importance of interoperability in healthcare cannot be underestimated. 



We can list several elements that interoperability is based on:




Standardization: covers data formats, communication protocols, and used terminology. Standardization is critical as it helps ensure that the data can be supported by various devices and that everyone understands the data correctly and uniformly. Also, standardized data does not require formatting, thus speeding up the process of its transfer and analysis.



Robust infrastructure: to support the transfer of EHR (electronic health records), healthcare organizations need to have a reliable and secure digital infrastructure. It is especially important for organizations with legacy systems that need to be updated.



Employee training: interoperability should be supported on all levels of a healthcare organization, which means that all employees should know how to work with new software systems and how to store and process the data in the required format. For that, organizations should provide sufficient training and education.




Four levels of interoperability in healthcare







Since interoperability is quite a vague term and its adoption requires thorough preparation, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) defined four main levels of interoperability. These levels cover the different stages of an organization’s maturity and readiness for interoperability. And while the first levels can already be achieved via an existing IT infrastructure of an average healthcare organization, other levels require more advanced technical investment and calculated approach.



Foundational



The foundational level of interoperability is also known as simple transport and refers to transferring the data from one system to another without any formatting. In this case, the receiving system doesn’t interpret the data but simply receives it. Further data processing though will most probably require manual effort.



If we talk about examples of interoperability in healthcare on the foundational level, think of sending a PDF file with the patient’s data from one system (say, a laboratory portal) to another (a nurse’s PC). In this example, the PC (a receiving system) receives the file and stores it - but is unable to automatically interpret the data and add it to the patient’s health record. For that, manual input by a nurse is required.



As you can see, this level is relatively simply and does not require any technical innovations or specialized approach. It is therefore available to almost any healthcare organization.



Structural



The structural interoperability can be called a level-up from the foundational one as it builds upon it. This level requires organizations to standardize their data to a specific format so that it can be interpreted by various systems and devices. For that, one needs to adopt such data standards as HL7 or FHIR (more on that below). 



The structural level implies that the data is not only brought to a unified format but is also organized in a specific manner. In this way, all systems in use can easily recognize various data fields and process the data correspondingly. This approach significantly speeds up the whole data processing process and brings automation and clarity.





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Semantic



Semantic interoperability refers to exchanging the data between two or more systems while the data comes in a common format and has a common meaning. In other words, different systems should be able to accurately interpret the data and the meaning of the data should remain the same across all systems and devices.



According to the AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association), semantic interoperability involves the use of specialized clinical terminologies (i.e., ICD, LOINC). This is needed to ensure that the data is both correctly interpreted and is used in a relevant manner.



Organizations that achieve semantic interoperability can seamlessly share the data between various departments and users, thus eliminating data duplication, enhancing better decision making, and cutting costs. 



Organizational



Finally, the organizational interoperability implies the secure and seamless data exchange between organizations with different goals and regulations. That being said, all organizations involved should have strict data protection policies in place and should support interoperability on all levels, including the C-level management and key stakeholders. While some say that semantic interoperability is the highest level, others argue that it’s organizational interoperability that is the most complex and multifaceted set of processes and rules.



The benefits of interoperability in healthcare 



After defining healthcare data interoperability, let’s move on to the biggest benefits of interoperability in healthcare:



Improved patient care



An electronic health record consists of the most various data, from lab results to X-ray scans. And if the smallest chunk of the data is lost or interpreted incorrectly, this can lead to the incorrect diagnoses and, as a result, insufficient patient care. And vice versa, the more acurrate and detailed the patient data is, the more personalized and data-driven the care will be.







Healthcare interoperability solutions allow doctors to obtain a comprehensive view of one’s health record, quickly share the data between various departments, and minimize miscommunication (since all the data will be interpreted in a unified manner). This, in turn, leads to more accurate diagnoses, timely data processing, and elimination of errors during the data processing.



Increased efficiency



Related to the point above, another benefit of adopting interoperability is increased efficiency of operations and processes. Not only does interoperability speed up the delivery of information but it also contributes to more accurate data analysis, thus improving diagnostics and helping medical professionals access the needed information in a quicker and more automated way. In addition, interoperability contributes to more advanced research, enabling medical professionals to study not only present but past data in detail.



Reduced costs



Automation of data delivery can help a healthcare organization reduce its operational costs in several ways. Because the data can be seamlessly transferred between the departments, employees won’t have to repeat various scans or tests because the results will be instantly available to everyone. As well, interoperability minimizes manual labor (such as data input) thus also allowing organizations to save costs and let employees focus on more critical tasks. 



Improved care coordination



Delivery of standardized information in a smooth and transparent manner greatly improves the overall care coordination. It helps medical professionals avoid unneccesary and duplicate processes, minimize miscommunication, and access needed information easily, thus granting employees more authority in decision making.



In a nutshell, interoperability enables more data-driven and patient-centric care while helping organizations cut costs and improve their processes. Now let’s dive in the terminology and talk about two things that you will hear most often when discussing interoperability: HIE and FHIR.



What is HIE?



HIE stands for health information exchange and refers to the digital transmission of health-related data across facilities and departments. It can be defined as a specialized network (a software product) that is based on interoperability and helps medical professionals exchange the data.



The main difference between HIE and healthcare data interoperability is that HIE is basically specialized software while interoperability is more of an approach towards data transmission and storage. However, it is important to understand what HIE stands for since this term is often used when talking about interoperability.



What is FHIR?



Another important term to know is FHIR aka Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources. FHIR is a standard for healthcare data exchange that was published by HL7 (Health Level Seven) - a set of international standards for secure transfer of clinical data. While there are various standards for interoperability, FHIR is probably the most well-known one. Note that it can be used both independently and together with other standards.



The official HL7 website provides a comprehensive overview of all FHIR modules. The website explains how exactly organizations can adjust their processes for successful FHIR adoption and provides actionable recommendations on where to start.



The main goal of FHIR is to help healthcare organizations establish standardized data transfer processes so that two (or more) FHIR-based systems can seamlessly communicate. The FHIR standard consists of several components, with resources being the core ones. These are the “building blocks” behind FHIR and each resource contains standardized health information, relevant to the specific context of this resource. An example would be a patient resource that contains such data as the patient’s full name, address and phone number, and health condition. Since all patient resources should contain the same data formats, FHIR-based systems will be able to easily interpret and process these resources. 



The FHIR standard also comes with informative implementation guides. As the name suggests, these guides provide all needed information for organizations to successfully adopt FHIR and include such resources as documentation, value sets, and examples. Finally, FHIR provides standardization for APIs, which also contributes to easier and more secure interaction and data transmission between different systems.



Core healthcare interoperability standards



Following the discussion of FHIR, it is important to mention other standards used to drive interoperability solutions in healthcare organizations. These healthcare interoperability standards fall under several categories, based on their purpose.



Terminology standards



Terminology standards help ensure that the data is correctly represented and interpreted by both the sender and the receiver. It means that the data should be organized in a unified manner and that organizations should use a well-structured vocabulary, terminology, and classification systems. Some of the most common terminology standards for the healthcare industry include:




National Drug Code (NDC): published by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), the NDC standard contains information about both finished and unfinished drug products and uses three-segment number codes as identifiers for each drug. These NDC numbers are updated on a daily basis on the official FDA website in the NDC directory.



ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases): a system by the World Health Organization (WHO) that classifies and codes diagnoses, symptoms, abnormalities, external causes for injuries, and more. The system is regularly revised and updated, currently being at the Tenth Revision.



Current Procedural Terminology (CPT): a code set by the AMA (American Medical Association) for medical services and procedures. CPT coding is used to bill patients in a streamlined and organized manner due to standardization of available procedures.




Content standards



This one is a bit tricky as it relates directly to transport standards that we’ll discuss a bit later. Now, content standards basically define the content of a digital message that is exchanged between the systems. By content we mean the structure and organization of the message (or a document). Content standardization helps ensure that the receiving system interprets and processes the message correctly. 



Remember we mentioned HL7? Health Level Seven is a comprehensive framework that includes various standards, including the content ones. HL7 was founded in 1987 and since then evolves continuously, offering clinicians around the world assistance with the adoption of interoperability. The content standards offered by HL7 are primary standards and they include:




CDA® Release 2: a document markup standard for defining the structure and semantics of documents;



HL7 Version 2.9.1 Messaging Standard: defines the standard and framework for messages exchanged between various systems.




Transport standards



In relation to content standards, transport standards are responsible for providing a unified manner of information exchange and transfer. They often address not only the format of transmitted messages but API standardization as well. Among the most common transport standards, in addition to FHIR, are:




Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM): the standard is used for processing and transfer of medical imaging infomation across various systems;



Direct StandardTM: provides a variety of standards aimed at secure and effective exchange of encrypted clinical data.




Security standards



Lastly, this category of standards is responsible for ensuring secure processing, storage, and transfer of the data and its protection against potential threats. Since clinical data is highly sensitive and contains lots of personal information, it is vital to safeguard it and ensure that your organization supports security on all levels.







The most popular security standards in the healthcare industry are:




HIPAA: the main goal of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act known as HIPAA is to help patients protect their sensitive information and to prevent its disclosure without the patient’s consent. 



GDPR: the General Data Protection Regulation covers all companies that process and store clinical data and operate in the EU. The main goal of the regulation is to provide individuals control over their personal data and to ensure that organizations store and process this data in the correct manner.





 


Expert Opinion



Interoperability in healthcare is not just a technological trend, but a critical need for the development of the industry. With the rapid growth of medical data it is impossible to provide truly personalized and high-quality treatment without effective information exchange.The key value of interoperability is improved interaction between different systems and organizations. Patients receive more accurate diagnoses, cases of duplication of tests and examinations are reduced and doctors can make informed decisions faster. However, in practice, the implementation of interoperable solutions faces a number of difficulties: outdated IT systems, lack of unified standards and even competition between medical institutions that are not always ready to share their data.The use of standards such as FHIR and HL7 in combination with advanced technologies like AI, blockchain, cloud computing helps to solve these problems. However, it is important to understand that the technical part is only half the process. Interoperability requires changes not only in the infrastructure of the systems, but also in management processes and regulatory aspects.In the long term, if the industry can overcome existing barriers, interoperability will become the foundation of the medical ecosystem of the future, ensuring efficient, safe and personalized healthcare.





Business Analyst at SoftTeco



Julia Baranovskaya






 




Key challenges of adopting healthcare interoperability solutions



As you can see, interoperability focuses on security, transparency, and availability of the clinical data and brings significant advantages both to clinicians and patients. However, healthcare organizations face several challenges that prevent them from more rapid interoperability adoption. Here is the list of the biggest interoperability challenges in healthcare that the industry should focus on in order to make it more accessible.



Technical barriers



The first and most common challenge among healthcare organizations is outdated software, legacy systems, and lack of standardization. While digitization seems to become more and more widespread, many healthcare facilities still work with paper documents and fill them in by hand. And if a facility uses certain software, it is often outdated and cannot support massive data sets and modern technological solutions, required by the interoperability standards. In addition, this software may not be compatible with newer tech solutions and may not support needed document formats. So for such organizations, interoperability often requires modernization or even replacement of current software in use, which might be too expensive and time consuming. Also don’t forget that the introduction of new software requires employee training, which brings in extra costs.



In addition, healthcare organizations often lack standardized APIs, which leads to failed or poor communication between the systems. 



Organizational issues



In addition to technical barriers to interoperability in healthcare mentioned above, many healthcare facilities also face organizational issues that prevent interoperability adoption. First, there is often obvious fragmentation when it comes to organizational policies and procedures. Lack of transparency, resistance and inability to share the data across departments, and lack of standardization - all this leads to the data scattered across the departments.



Second, some organizations may be hesitant to share the data due to the ongoing competition with other facilities or privacy concerns. The privacy issue can be resolved by paying more attention to the API security and the overall security of the whole data transfer process. As for the competition issue, seamless data sharing can be beneficial to all parties involved but this issue should be discussed individually.



As well, some organizations hesitate to adopt interoperability because it requires too much time, effort, and employee training. While interoperability indeed calls for the reorganization of the current processes, it is highly beneficial in the long run and can be implemented in small steps. We can therefore recommend organizations partner with reliable IT vendors and create a detailed strategy with clear deliverables and schedule. In this way, organizations will be able to adopt interoperability at a convenient pace.





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Regulatory and legal issues



Regulatory issues are probbaly the most complex ones on the list of challenges of interoperability in healthcare as they require strict adherence to the regulatory standards and requirements. In addition to international regulations, a healthcare organization also has to consider local ones, which adds complexity to the compliance process. 



Same as with technical issues, we recommend consulting with a knowledgeable IT vendor like SoftTeco who already has experience in creating secure and compliant software systems. During software development process, we ensure that all components interact with each other in a secure manner and adhere to the industry standards.



How emerging technologies drive interoperability



While the process of implementing interoperability is quite complex and consists of numerous steps, advanced technology makes it easier and more streamlined. Learn the main tech trends that will impact interoperability adoption in the near future.



Artificial intelligence



Artificial intelligence has become an integral part of many industries and healthcare is no exception. With all the opportunities it brings, AI has significantly contributed to automation and improved efficiency and accuracy of various clinical processes as well as to more patient-centric care. But how exactly does AI change interoperability?







Here are the main AI use cases in terms of interoperability:




Advanced data processing: since the clinical data usually comes in vast volumes and various formats, it requires highly powerful tools for effective analysis. AI can greatly help here not only by processing the data but also presenting it in a clear and understandable manner. 



Predictive analytics: this subset of AI is already in use in the healthcare industry as it helps predict the possibility of disease development, the potential severity of a disease, and even suggest a treatment plan. All this is relevant for interoperability as this data can be included in the patient’s EHR and considered by clinicians, thus contributing to more accurate diagnostics and decision-making.



Personalized treatment: precise healthcare and personalized treatment are becoming more and more widespread in the industry and AI plays a big role in that. Due to the capabilities of this technology, medical professionals can provide more personalized treatment plans via effective and powerful data analysis and predictive analytics.



Improved operations: in addition to improved patient care, AI can also cotribute to better operational efficiency. The technology can analyze your current workflows, suggest ways of optimization, and identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement.




Blockchain



Blockchain is steadily gaining more popularity among both organizations and users and there are several reasons for that. The biggest advantages of blockchain are its decentralized nature, 100% transparency, and a very high level of security. But how exactly do they impact interoperability? Let’s puzzle it out.



Blockchain is known for being decentralized - meaning it’s not controlled by a single entity and thus all records stored in the blockchain are controlled entirely by users. As for the transparency, users can check the validity of any record at any time, which contributes to increased trust. In addition, all blockchain records are secured by end-to-end encryption, thus minimizing the chance of fraud.



That being said, it comes as no surprise that blockchain is becoming a point of interest for healthcare organizations, willing to store and transfer the data in a secure and transparent manner.



Cloud computing



As already mentioned, many healthcare organizations still use outdated systems that are not capable of processing and storing the incoming data flow. This is where cloud computing comes into play and offers organizations scalability, automation, and efficiency.



A shift to the cloud provides organization access not only to unparalleled scalaibiltiy and security but also to an array of useful resources and tools (like the ones for data analysis). However, it is important to plan this transition in advance and preferably with a knowledgeable software provider of healthcare services to ensure that the process doesn’t disrupt the operation of your facility and that the data remains integral.



In conclusion



As healthcare organizations review and reorganize their current processes, the shift towards interoperability is inevitable. But how to improve interoperability in healthcare and how to make sure that your organization manages the generated data in a secure manner?What is important to remember is that the adoption of interoperability in healthcare requires a well-calculated approach and should be done gradually. You can start with small steps and scale up gradually as your employees get used to updated processes and new tools. And if you have any questions left or need a detailed guidance on developing specialized software, SoftTeco’s experts will gladly provide you with all needed information. Drop us a note via an email and we will discuss how we can help you with interoperability implementation and modernization of your current systems!

### The Best Ecommerce Payment Gateways: A Complete Guide

Today's consumers are increasingly leaning toward online shopping. According to Oberlo, the number of digital buyers reached 2.71 billion in 2024. This highlights the growing importance for ecommerce businesses to deliver a frictionless and secure payment process. With this in mind, selecting the right payment gateway becomes crucial, as it directly impacts both customer experience and conversion rates.



However, picking the right payment gateway can be tricky. To succeed in it, you’ll need to carefully evaluate various factors, like security, transaction fees, supported payment methods, etc. Below, we'll cover everything about ecommerce payment gateways, including how they work, main types, and tips for smooth choosing and integration, with notable examples. 







What is a payment gateway in ecommerce?



What is a payment gateway in ecommerce? Simply put, it’s a service that handles online payments. It acts as a bridge, transferring payment details from the customer to the bank and then sending back payment confirmation. It ensures that sensitive data, like credit card details, is encrypted and protected. By enabling businesses to accept various payment methods across websites, mobile apps, and physical stores, payment gateways ensure smooth, secure, and efficient transactions.



Key functions of a payment gateway in ecommerce are:




Processing payments



Authorizing transactions



Confirming payments



Managing multiple payment options



Converting currencies



Preventing fraud




In short, payment gateways ensure security, smooth checkout, and easy payment management - all necessary to create a successful online store. 



How do payment gateways work?



Here's how a payment gateway typically works:




Customers make a purchase: the customer picks items and goes to checkout, where they choose a payment method;



Encryption: the payment gateway encrypts the collected data from the customer's browser to keep it secure while being sent;



Authorization request: the encrypted data is sent to the payment processor, which forwards it to the customer's bank for authorization;



Processing: the payment processor sends the transaction to the card network (like Visa or Mastercard), which then sends it to the customer's bank to get approval for the payment;



Bank response: the bank checks the transaction details (like available funds and fraud checks) and sends an approval or decline response to the payment gateway;



Confirmation: the payment gateway informs the merchant whether the payment was approved or declined;



Transaction completion: if approved, the payment gateway settles the payment, transferring the funds to the merchant's bank account.




This process happens within a few seconds and ensures secure and efficient transactions in online shopping. Now let's look at the different types of payment gateways usually used in ecommerce.





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Main types of payment gateways



All payment gateways have one mission - to process online transactions. However, they differ in how they integrate with websites and how they handle payments. Here are the four main types:




Hosted payment gateways




This type of gateway is hosted by a third-party service provider. Customers are redirected to a third-party payment page to complete their purchase. This gateway is easy to set up but offers less control over the checkout experience.



Examples: PayPal and Amazon Pay.




Self-hosted payment gateways




Customers enter their payment details on the merchant's website, but the payment is processed by an external provider. Companies have full control over the entire checkout process and customer experience. As businesses process payments on their own websites, they must comply with data protection standards, including the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). 



Examples: Shopify, and Authorize.Net.




API payment gateways




Businesses integrate payment processing directly into their website or app using an API. It offers more control over the user experience and customization options but requires technical expertise. Since payment data is processed on the merchant’s side, businesses also must adhere to PCI DSS and other security standards.



Examples: Stripe and Braintree.




Local payment gateways




These gateways directly integrate with local banks to process payments. This type is often used in a specific region or country, as local banks are usually trusted and familiar. It redirects customers to their bank's payment platform to complete the payment. Its efficiency depends on the bank's technology and support for online transactions. 



Examples: Klarna in Europe, and Rede in Brazil.



Each payment gateway type has its advantages and is suited for different business needs. So, let's consider the core differences between them in depth. 



Differences between payment gateway types



In the table below, we list the main differences between various types of ecommerce gateways: 



HostedSelf-hostedAPILocalIntegrationEasy to integrateHighly complex and requires tech expertiseComplex and requires tech expertiseDepends on a providerPricing and transaction feesHigh fees with no initial setup feeLow fees, but high initial setupTransaction fees vary, but low setup feeHigh transaction fees, but initial setup varyTechnical complexityLowMediumHighMediumSecurityHigh (handled by a gateway)Moderate (handled by a merchant)High (gateway provides tools, but merchant must implement them securelyModerate\ High (depends on local bank)CustomizationLimitedModerateHighModerateCustom experience Redirected to the gatewayStays on the merchant siteStays on the merchant siteDepends on the integrationBest forSmall and SMB businessesLarge and medium businessesLarge and medium businessesLocal businesses



Now that we’ve considered the key differences between payment gateway types, let's look at the best options available and explore them. 



6 best ecommerce payment gateways in 2025



Here are the best payment gateways for ecommerce in 2025 and beyond, along with their pros, cons, and pricing.



PayPal



PayPal is one of the widely used payment platforms. It operates in 203 countries, with around 435 million accounts, and processes over $22 billion in transactions. It is suitable for businesses of all sizes and supports different payment options, including credit/debit cards (Visa, American Express), PayPal balances, and linked bank accounts. In some areas, it supports buy-now-pay-later services.



Established in 1998, PayPal has become a top choice among businesses and consumers due to its simplicity and customization options. Over the years, PayPal has expanded its offerings, including partnerships with major retailers (Walmart, eBay), and offers the ability to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum.



Pricing: PayPal follows a tiered pricing structure, which varies based on the location and type of transaction. The standard fee is typically 2.9% + $0.30 for domestic transactions, but international fees can go up to 4.4% + fixed fees depending on the country.




 

Pros




  
Ease of use and setup
  
Strong security with fraud prevention tools
  
Automotive recurring billing
  
Quick integration and checkout 
  
Custom support





Cons




  
High transaction fees
  
Chargeback disputes
  
Limited customization
  
Not suitable for large transactions

 




Stripe



Stripe is another leading payment gateway platform that enables businesses to accept online payments seamlessly. It operates in over 30 countries across Europe, Asia, and America. Also, it integrates with numerous ecommerce platforms, accounting software, invoicing tools, etc, providing a seamless user experience. In 2023, Stripe processed over $1 trillion in payment volume, demonstrating its global reach. 



Stripe allows businesses to accept various payment methods (credit\ debit cards, digital wallets) and supports over 135 currencies. Also, it provides features to help businesses handle recurring payments, such as subscriptions and automated invoicing. This is useful for companies that charge customers regularly (e.g., monthly or yearly subscriptions).



Also, it offers tools for managing recurring billing, subscriptions, and invoicing, suitable for subscription-based businesses. 



Pricing: Stripe uses a pay-as-you-go pricing model with flat-rate transaction fees for most of its services. Its transaction fees are 2.9% + $0.30 per successful card transaction for domestic cards in the U.S. Its additional charges include 1.5% for international cards, 1% for currency conversion, and 0.5% for manually inputted cards. 



There are no setup or monthly fees. Additional services like Stripe Radar (fraud prevention) or Stripe Connect (for marketplaces) may come at extra costs.




 

Pros




  
Quick setup
  
International payments
  
User-friendly interface
  
Recurring payment automation
  
Robust security features
  
Transparent pricing





Cons




  
High processing fees
  
Delayed responses and payouts
  
Geographic limitations
  
Requires technical expertise
  
Inadequate customer support

 




Square



Square is a complete payment processing platform for both online and in-person payments. For online payments, Square provides APIs and e-commerce tools that allow businesses to accept payments on their websites and mobile apps. For physical shops, Square offers hardware such as card readers and terminals that allow you to accept payments in person.



This platform is particularly popular among SMBs due to its easy setup and transparent pricing. Moreover, it is also known for its user-friendly system, making it a go-to solution for companies with limited technical expertise.



Pricing: Square uses a flat-rate pricing model, which is simple and transparent. It charges 2.6% + $0.10\transaction for in-person payments, 2.9% + $0.30\ transaction for online payments, 3.5% + $0.15\transaction for manually payments (via Virtual Terminal) and 3.3% + $0.30\transaction for invoices paid online. 




 

Pros




  
User-friendly interface
  
Integration with ecommerce platform and POS systems
  
Synergy with other Square tools (e.g., Square Payments)
  
Strong security 
  
Analytics and reporting capabilities





Cons




  
Limited customization options for large businesses
  
High transaction fees for large volume 
  
Limited international and customer support
  
Limited advanced features

 




Amazon Pay



Amazon Pay is the most prominent digital payment service owned by Amazon. It operates in 18 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, etc., and has processed 2.5 billion transactions globally. The platform allows customers to make purchases on external websites and apps using their Amazon account credentials. This speeds up checkout and eliminates manual entry. 



Amazon Pay provides robust security measures and supports mobile payments and different payment methods, like credit\debit cards, bank transfers, and Amazon Pay balance. It offers features, like recurring payments, one-click checkout, and voice transactions via Alexa. Also, it supports international payments with multi-currency support, helping businesses expand their presence. 



Pricing: Amazon Pay charges fees on a per-transaction basis. It does not charge setup fees, monthly fees, annual fees, or termination fees. The standard fee for web and mobile transactions in the US is 2.9% + $0.30\transaction. There is also a fixed fee per transaction based on the currency used.




 

Pros




  
Integration with ecommerce platforms 
  
Integration with Amazon services
  
Convenient checkout process
  
Mobile and voice optimization
  
Robust security
  
Discounts and cashback





Cons




  
Limited to the Amazon ecosystem
  
Limited international support
  
Transaction fees for merchants
  
Ability to freeze or hold funds quickly

 




Authorize.net



Being one of the oldest payment gateways, Authorize.net operates in over 33 countries and supports over 400,000 customers globally. It is owned and operated by Visa, the card network. One key benefit is the ability to accept credit card and electronic check payments through a website and over an Internet Protocol (IP) connection. It provides a secure way to process transactions (online, in-person, and manual) and offers features like fraud prevention, recurring billing, and customer information management.



Moreover, Authorize.net is easy to set up and use, reliable, and allows multiple integrations with other solutions. It focuses on reducing chargebacks through advanced fraud-detection algorithms to protect your business and customers. 



Pricing: it consists of a combination of setup, monthly, and transaction fees. It offers three pricing plans: All-in-One Option, Payment Gateway, and Payment Gateway & eCheck. They include a setup fee of $0.00, a monthly gateway fee of $25.00, a per-transaction fee of $0.30 + 2.9% or $0.10 (for the two last plans), and an additional daily batch fee of $0.10.




 

Pros




  
Reliability and reputation
  
Wide range of payment options
  
24/7 customer support
  
Flexible integration
  
Detailed reporting





Cons




  
Detailed reporting
  
Complex setup for beginners
  
Outdated interface
  
Not a merchant account provider (in some cases)
  
Limited international support

 




Shopify Payments



Shopify Payments is a native payment gateway that allows merchants to accept online payments directly through their Shopify store. This makes it easy to set up and manage payments without the need for third-party integrations. Also, it provides all the needed features for payment processing, order management, and analytics in one place, so you can easily track sales and manage your finances.



Shopify Payments offers lower transaction fees and supports multiple payment methods, such as credit cards (Visa, Mastercard), digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay), and buy now, pay later options via partners like Klarna. It also supports multiple currencies, allowing companies to sell in different currencies and reach a global audience.



Pricing: Shopify Payments has a transparent pricing structure that varies based on your chosen Shopify plan. You can consider the Basic plan for $39/month, Shopify for $105/month, Advanced for $384/month, and Shopify Plus (Enterprise plan) for $2,300/month. Payment processing fees start at 0.6% (varies by plan and region), and currency conversion fees are 1.5% (US) and 2% (for other countries and regions).




 

Pros




  
Integrate with Shopify
  
No extra setup
  
Easy setup and integration
  
Flexible checkout and payment methods
  
24/7 customer support





Cons




  
Limited availability
  
Dependence on Shopify
  
Account holds
  
Transaction fees on non-Shopify payments
  
Limited customization

 





  





  




The main differences between the best ecommerce payment gateways



Here's a brief comparison for each payment gateway that we’ve talked above:



PayPalStripeSquareAmazon PayAuthorize.netShopify PaymentsSetup processEasy and quickRequires codingSimpleSimple for Amazon sellersMore complexEasy and quickPricing2.9% + $0.30\transaction2.9% + $0.30\transaction2.6% + $0.10\transaction and $2.9%+$0.30 online2.9% + $0.30\transaction2.9% + $0.30 + 25\month feeVaries and based on Shopify planCurrencies25+135+5127135+International support200+ countries46+ countriesAvailable in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, and the UK20+ countriesAvailable in the US, Canada, UK, Europe, and Australia175 countiresPayout speed1-2 business days2 business daysNext business day3-5 business days2-3 business days1-3 business daysRecurring billingYesYesYesLimitedYesYesMobile paymentYesYesYes (primary focus) LimitedYesYesFraud protectionAdvancedAdvanced in-built fraud prevention toolsBasicAmazon’s fraud detectionAdvanced Fraud Detection Suite (AFDS)BasicCustomizationLimited HighLimitedLimitedModerateLimitedBest forSmall and medium businessesSmall and enterprise businessesSmall businesses, in-person and online salesAmazon customersEstablished businesses with high-volume transactionsShopify store owners



After looking at the best payment gateways around the globe, the next step is choosing the right one for your business.



How to choose the right ecommerce payment gateway



As we said above, choosing the right payment gateway for your online store can be a challenging task. To ensure a smooth and secure transaction process for both you and your customers, you’ll need to evaluate key factors, like: 



Business model and volume



To determine the right payment gateway, you need to consider your business size, transaction volume, and specific needs. For example:




For small businesses, if you just started your business or handle a low volume of transactions on a regular basis, it is best to use a hosted gateway. You can set up and maintain it easily, thus being able to focus on growing your business without worrying about complex infrastructure.



For growing businesses: as your transactions increase in volume, you may consider an API-hosted gateway. It provides more flexibility and improved customer experience and can help reduce costs compared to a hosted solution.



For large businesses: if you have high transaction volumes and need customized payment solutions, choose a self-hosted gateway. It gives you full control and flexibility to meet your specific needs. But, it comes with responsibility for security, maintenance, and infrastructure.




In a nutshell, you need to select an ecommerce gateway solution that aligns with your current and future business goals.



Security standards



Security is a top priority for all ecommerce companies. When choosing a payment gateway, it’s important to ensure it meets the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This is a widely accepted set of rules and procedures designed to secure credit, debit, and cash card transactions. Its main goal is to reduce the risk of fraud for organizations and prevent cybersecurity breaches. 



While PCI DSS is not a law, most businesses that deal with credit card transactions must follow it to maintain a secure environment for customers. Among other security standards to follow are:




Data Encryption: payment gateways use SSL/TLS encryption to secure payment data between a user’s browser and the server.



3D Secure Authentication: this adds extra layers of security by requiring customers to verify their identity through their bank during online transactions.



Tokenization: the process replaces sensitive card information with a unique identifier (token) that cannot be exploited if intercepted;



Fraud Detection Tools: features like Address Verification System (AVS), CVV checks, and fraud analytics help detect and prevent fraud.



Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): this adds additional layer of user verification, such as using one-time passwords (OTPs) or biometric verification.




Some payment gateways also offer built-in fraud detection. Be sure to choose a gateway that offers robust security features and keeps customer data protected.



Transaction fees



Transaction fees are another key factor to consider when comparing different payment gateways. These fees are charged for each transaction made through the gateway. They can vary based on factors, such as the payment method, the volume of transactions, and the service provider. Examples of such fees: 




Monthly fees



Setup fees



Transaction fees



Chargeback fees



Refund fees



Cross-border fee




Also, watch out for hidden costs, like the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR). It is a fee payment processor charge for each sale. For example, if you sell an item for $100 and the MDR is 2%, the processor takes $2, and you receive $98. This fee is usually part of the total payment processing cost and other charges listed above. MDR is important to consider when choosing a payment gateway as it can add up, especially for businesses with many transactions.



Thus, businesses should carefully consider fees to find a payment gateway that suits their transaction volume. Keep in mind that the lowest fee isn’t always the best choice, as it can come with compromised service or limited features.



Support for multiple payment methods



Not all gateways support every payment method. Hence, you need to choose a payment gateway that supports the payment methods preferred by your target customers. This could include credit\debit cards, digital wallets,  buy-now-pay-later options, or even alternatives, like cryptocurrency. A modern payment gateway must accommodate different payment preferences.



For businesses, it will help expand the customer base and improve conversion rates. For customers, it will reduce friction at checkout and make the shopping experience more convenient. 



Seamless integration 



A payment gateway should easily integrate with your website or an app. If the gateway doesn’t integrate well, it can cause errors, slowdowns, or disruptions in the service. As a result, it leads to a negative user experience and, in turn, lost sales as frustrated customers abandon their carts. To avoid these issues, choose the gateway that offers either well-documentation APIs, SDKs, or plugins for popular ecommerce platforms. This ensures smooth online payment gateway integration.



Also, if you plan to scale your business, opt for a gateway that provides flexible integration options capable of growing with your needs.



Customer experience at checkout



A complicated checkout process is a common reason why 28% of customers abandon their shopping carts. Hence, a confusing checkout with unnecessary steps can lead to a bad customer experience, reduced conversion rates, and lost revenue. To avoid negative fallout, you should select a payment gateway partner that offers a quick and simple interface with minimal steps to complete transactions. 



To help you with it, we've put together a list of features that you should look for in your payment gateway:




One-click payments



Recurring billing for existing customers



Multi-currency support



Customizable checkout pages



Support for multiple payment options



Fast processing speed



Mobile optimization




Custom support



Most businesses handle large amounts of money through their payment gateway daily. If the gateway crashes, it can lead to significant financial losses and poor customer experience. To avoid this, choose a payment provider with reliable customer support. This wil help keep operations running smoothly during potential technical issues or integration challenges. A payment provider's support should include:




24/7 availability



Multiple contact options (live chat, phone, email)



Clear, detailed documentation



A dedicated account manager



A helpful support team




Analytics and dashboards



To effectively manage customer payments and business performance, you need clear reporting and analytics. So, look for a payment gateway that provides real-time insights into sales, customer data, and transactions on your website. Focus on features like transaction reports, revenue tracking, and customizable dashboards to optimize your business strategies. 



These tools can help you monitor cash flow, identify trends, and make the right decisions to improve customer experience and profitability. Moreover, choosing a payment gateway with integrated analytics will save time by consolidating the data in one place, thus reducing the need for manual reporting.





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Steps to integrate a payment gateway into your ecommerce store



Integrating a payment gateway into your website might seem tricky, but it can be a smooth and simple process with the right approach. Here’s a step-by-step payment gateway integration process:



Step 1: Choose the right payment gateway



Previously, we've discussed the key aspects of choosing the right payment gateway for your online store. In a nutshell, you'll need to analyze factors like transaction fees, custom support, payment methods, user experience, security, global reach, and more. Each of these elements contributes to your store's efficient and secure operation.



Step 2: Set up a merchant account (if needed)



Set up a merchant account with your chosen payment service provider. A merchant account is a special business bank account that allows you to receive online payments. In some cases, you won't have to set it up. Some payment gateways, like Stripe, combine merchant account functionality and payment gateway for easy setup.



After that, you need to verify your identity before you can start accepting payments. This often includes providing additional documentation (e.g., passport, business registration).



Step 3: Obtain API credentials



Once you've set up your payment gateway account, you must obtain API keys. These keys are unique identifiers that connect your website or app to the payment gateway. They ensure secure communication between your platform and the gateway's servers. Depending on your payment gateway provider, you may have to generate or retrieve API credentials.



To set up API credentials, you need to log in to your account and navigate to the API or developer section. In this section, you'll find options for generating API keys and other authentication credentials. You must follow the instructions provided by the payment gateway to develop the necessary credentials. 



Step 4. Choose the integration method



This step involves deciding how to link the payment gateway to your website. The method that you choose will depend on your technical capabilities, the options provided by the payment gateway, and how well it works with your platform. Here are three common integration methods:




Hosted payment pages: the payment gateway handles the entire transaction process on a separate page, reducing the need for technical implementation on your site. It's easy to set up but may offer less customization.



Direct API integration: you integrate the payment gateway directly into your site or app, giving you full control over the user experience and payment flow. It requires more technical expertise but offers more flexibility.



Platform plugins\extensions: most ecommerce platforms (like Shopify Magento) offer pre-built plugins\extensions for easy integration. This method simplifies setup but may have limitations in terms of customization.




Step 5. Integrate the payment gateway



Once you've chosen your integration method, you must follow the payment gateway's guide to connect it to your website.




For hosted payment pages: follow the instructions to generate payment links or buttons. You'll usually get code snippets or HTML elements to add to your checkout page.



For direct API integration: you'll need to use languages like PHP or JavaScript to connect to the payment gateway's API. The payment provider's documentation will give you code examples and details on handling API endpoints and responses.



For platform plugins/extensions: you'll need to install the plugin\extension from your ecommerce platform's marketplace. Then, configure the plugin settings with your API credentials and other required information.




Step 6. Configure payment settings



Once the gateway is integrated, you'll need to customize the payment settings to fit your business needs. To do this, go to the settings section of your ecommerce platform or website admin panel. In the payment settings, you'll be able to:




Set supported currencies



Choose payment methods



Enable security features



Set shipping options




Ensure the payment settings align with your business needs and comply with any legal or industry requirements. 



Step 7: Test the integration



To prepare for going live, you'll need to test the payment gateway integration. Most payment gateway providers offer a "sandbox" or a testing environment that allows you to simulate transactions and check that everything is working correctly. During testing, verify that:




Payments are processed correctly



Test different payment scenarios with the gateway



Errors are handled smoothly with proper user notifications



Security measures, such as encryption and tokenization, are functioning




Testing should cover multiple devices, browsers, and payment methods to ensure compatibility and reliability. Once testing is complete, fix any issues and retest before moving to production.



Step 8. Go live and monitor transactions



Once everything is tested, you can switch to live mode. After going live, you must monitor your payment gateway's performance and transactions to spot any issues quickly. Also, update your payment gateway with the latest security features. Use the payment gateway's reporting tools to analyze data and ensure smooth payment operations. 



Ecommerce payment gateway trends for 2025



As technology continues to evolve, so too will consumer expectations and behaviors. Here’s what the future potentially holds for ecommerce payment solutions:



Contactless payments



The trend toward contactless payments has gained significant popularity, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Сonsumers prefer fast and more convenient ways to pay and do it via technologies like Near Field Communication (NFC) and mobile wallets. By touching your card or smartphone to the terminal, consumers can make a payment. This is usually used for purchases in shops, cafes, and other points of sale.



Contactless payments help buyers avoid physical contact during transactions, enhance their experience, and streamline operations. 



Digital wallets



Modern customers value speed during checkout and prefer simple transactions. Digital wallets, like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal, meet this demand. According to Forbes, 53% of shoppers use these digital wallets more often than traditional payment methods. Users can make quick purchases without entering card details each time, saving them time and effort. This approach improves the shopping experience, reduces cart abandonment, and drives sales.



Artificial Intelligence



As customers expect fast, safe, and more personalized services, AI integration in payment gateways becomes more vital. With the help of AI and machine learning, companies can detect and prevent fraudulent transactions in real-time. Also, they can analyze transaction pattern, customer behavior to identify potential risks and anomalies. This is especially important in today's tech world in which cyber threats are constantly evolving.



Also, AI helps automate customer support via chatbots and virtual assistance. They make it easier for users to resolve payment issues without human intervention. Overall, the ability of AI to predict and adapt to user preferences makes payment experiences more personalized.



Multi-currency support



As ecommerce grows, companies are increasingly looking to expand into global markets. The main thing that can help them do this is multi-currency support. In other words, customers can shop in their own currency, which makes their shopping easier and more affordable.



In order to adapt to this trend, payment gateways are offering automatic currency conversions, real-time exchange rate updates. This helps companies avoid the necessity of having to manage multiple payment systems for different countries. Thus, multi-currency support reduces barriers for international customers and streamlines cross-border transactions.



Buy now, pay later (BNPL) options



Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) allows shoppers to split payment into smaller installments, usually over weeks or months. There’s usually no interest if paid on time, but late payments may result in fees or interest charges. This payment method can encourage more purchases, especially for those who might hesitate otherwise. 



According to McKinsey, 30% of users use BNPL, and 29% say they would have bought less without it. While it may not be right for every business, it’s becoming popular as it appeals to customers seeking flexibility in payments. However, companies should carefully consider their target audience and the financial impact before implementing it.



Cryptocurrency 



Cryptocurrency provides businesses and customers with a secure, fast, and decentralized way to make transactions. With cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc., some ecommerce platforms are integrating crypto payments to cater to the needs of tech-savvy users. Its key benefits include low fees, fast processing, better security via blockchain, and cross-border transactions without intermediaries.



Big companies like Microsoft, Tesla, and Expedia have started accepting cryptocurrencies to attract more customers. However, the lack of central regulation makes both governments and businesses cautious about fully adopting it. Despite this, cryptocurrency is growing in ecommerce, driven by its speed, cost, and security.



Biometrics 



Biometric authentication is becoming a popular trend in ecommerce for payment verification. Instead of using passwords or PINs, consumers can now use secure and easy options like fingerprint scans, facial recognition, or voice identification. This makes it harder for fraudsters to replicate or tamper with, giving consumers peace of mind.



These trends reflect a push toward seamless, secure, and convenient payment experiences that meet needs of tech-savvy users globally. 




  




Conclusion



Selection and implementation of the right ecommerce payment gateway are crucial for the success and growth of your online store. Understanding the various types of payment gateways, their ins and outs, current trends, and tips for smooth integration and setup - listed in this article-  helps you better understand what is best for you. By carefully comparing options and conducting thorough research, you can make sure smooth, secure, and convenient transactions for modern users.



If you need a professional consult, turn to SoftTeco’s ecommerce services that help you effectively integrate and optimize ecommerce payment gateways. 

### Softteco Has Upgraded ISO 27001 Certification

We are pleased to announce that our company has successfully met all needed criteria to upgrade its ISO 27001 certificate to the new 2022 standard. As the software development industry continues to evolve, the ISO certification calls for new requirements in security procedures. SoftTeco has demonstrated that our information security management system meets the requirements of the new standard and remains relevant and reliable.



Sergei Konon, Chief Information Security Officer at SoftTeco, comments on this accomplishment:



"We have been following the ISO 27001 standards for many years, and upgrading to the 2022 version further strengthens our commitment to information security and best practices in software development. This certification helps us ensure that we continue to provide secure solutions to our clients and meet the ever-evolving demands of the industry. It is an important part of SoftTeco’s ongoing efforts to maintain high standards and deliver reliable, secure services."







Viktor Petrov, Chief Administrative Officer, shares his thoughts on the certification upgrade:



"By adhering to the rigorous standards of ISO 27001:2022, SoftTeco maintains a strong focus on security and operational efficiency. This certification not only addresses the requirements of many potential clients, but also strengthens internal processes by providing clear guidelines and performance metrics for employees. I would like to thank the entire SoftTeco team for their hard work and contribution to this achievement. Let’s keep moving forward."



The certificate was issued by a trusted certification body MSECB that has issued SoftTeco an ISO 9001 certification before. We are grateful to MSECB for recognizing our commitment to quality and continuous improvement and will continue delivering high-quality and secure services to our clients worldwide.

### Big Data Analytics in Finance: Applications, Benefits, and Possible Challenges

Financial institutions have always relied on data. However, the sheer amount of information they collect today is unprecedented. To stay competitive in the modern market and further grow your business, it is crucial to know how to use these volumes of data to your advantage. And that’s where big data analytics emerges as a game-changer.







According to Verified Market Reports, the global market for big data analytics in banking is expected to reach $745.16 billion by 2030. Statistics speak louder than words, so there's no doubt that big data services will continue gaining popularity in finance.



In our article, we will explore applications and advancements of big data analytics in finance, the latest technology trends that shape this rapidly evolving sphere, and the challenges you might face along the way.



The role of big data in finance



Big data analytics is a collection of techniques used to process and analyze vast amounts of information. It incorporates machine learning, predictive analytics, data mining, and natural language processing to identify patterns, relationships, and insights that traditional methods often overlook.



The financial sector is one of the most data-driven industries. Traditionally, analysts performed all calculations and market trend analyses manually. However, with the rise of digital banking, the amount of information the sector generates today is enormous. Data comes from various sources and greatly varies in format. It's not just transactional records and account statements but also:




Social media activity;



Exchange rates;



Stock prices;



Demographics;



Spending habits and preferences;



Investment activity, etc.




Analyzing such massive datasets using conventional methods is impractical. Given the rapidly changing financial landscape, the ability to process information in real time is not just an advantage but a necessity.



Big data analytics helps financial institutions to process and analyze these large bundles of data in real-time. It allows them to save the competitive edge, enhance operational efficiency and decision-making, and reduce risks. 



Key benefits of big data analytics in finance



As we can see, big data analytics offers numerous benefits to the finance industry. Here are some of the main advantages of big data in finance. 



Data-driven insights for better investment strategies



One of the great advancements of big data analytics is data-driven insights that help to develop more profitable investment strategies. With the use of machine learning algorithms, financial analysts can process and analyze historical data, market trends, and economic markers at a large scale. Therefore, they can predict stock movements and market direction to help investors make more informed decisions.



Fraud detection and anomaly identification



Financial fraud is a neverending problem. Technological advancements not only drive digitalization and optimize processes but also give scammers advanced tools for attacks.



Big data analytics helps to identify anomalies and suspicious activities, therefore preventing fraud or information theft. Through advanced algorithms and data mining techniques, financial institutions can monitor transactions in real time, flagging irregularities that may indicate fraudulent behavior.



Personalized financial products



The era of one-size-fits-all financial products is fading. With big data analytics, financial institutions can now tailor their offerings to meet the unique needs of individual clients. By analyzing customer data, including spending habits, preferences, and financial history, organizations can develop personalized financial products.



For example, robo-advisors utilize algorithms to create customized investment portfolios based on an individual's risk tolerance and financial goals. This level of personalization not only enhances customer satisfaction but also fosters stronger client relationships.



Market trend predictions and risk mitigation



Big data analytics not only helps to enhance investment strategies with data-driven insights but also predicts market trends and mitigates possible risks. Financial organizations can use predictive analytics to understand potential market volatility, adjust their strategies, and take necessary steps to minimize risks.



Regulatory compliance monitoring



Trying to keep up with constantly changing government regulations can be quite challenging for financial institutions, considering the amount of data they work with. Big data analytics can help banks and other organizations adhere to important regulations like GDPR, anti-money laundering, etc.



With advanced BI tools, they can analyze large datasets and monitor and track customer transactions in real time, detecting anomalies or potential breaches. Financial organizations can also use this to track changes in regulations to reduce the risk of penalties and reduce compliance costs.



Applications of big data in finance



As a result, big data has become an indispensable tool for financial organizations. Aside from improving efficiency and risk management, there are many other ways to use big data analytics for financial services. Let's explore some of the most significant applications. 







Credit scoring



Traditionally, credit scoring relied heavily on historical financial data and a few standardized metrics. Big data has transformed this process by incorporating a wider array of data points, including social media activity, online behavior, and even mobile phone usage. By analyzing these diverse datasets, financial institutions can create more nuanced credit profiles, allowing them to assess an individual's creditworthiness more accurately.



For example, companies can use machine learning algorithms to analyze unconventional data, resulting in higher approval rates for credit applicants who may have been overlooked by traditional models.



Fraud detection



Financial organizations work with highly sensitive data, so it's no surprise that fraud activity is pretty high there. Big data analytics allows banks to store historical information about previous transactions and provides access to real-time data. Machine learning algorithms can analyze this information and identify suspicious activities or unusual customer behavior. Therefore, organizations can mitigate risks and employ strong anti-fraud measures.



For instance, two transactions from one credit card were made simultaneously or within a short time frame in two different cities. The bank can immediately react and inform the client about the unusual activity and security threats. They can even block the transaction and the card as a preventive measure.



Asset and wealth management



Big data is revolutionizing asset and wealth management by providing a more comprehensive view of investment opportunities and risks. Wealth managers can now leverage data analytics to analyze market trends and individual client preferences simultaneously. This approach enables more informed investment strategies.



For example, machine learning algorithms can process and analyze historical data and current market conditions to identify potential investment opportunities that human analysts might overlook.



Customer segmentation



One of the most exciting applications of big data in finance is customer segmentation. Traditional methods of segmentation used to rely on demographic factors like age, income, and location. However, big data enables financial institutions to analyze a multitude of variables, including purchasing behavior, online interactions, and social media activity.



For instance, banks can use data analytics to identify specific groups of customers who may be interested in particular financial products. By examining transaction histories and customer feedback, they can create detailed profiles that allow for more targeted marketing strategies. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also boosts conversion rates.



Operational efficiency



The financial sector is notorious for its complex and often cumbersome processes. Big data analytics significantly enhances operational efficiency by automating processes, identifying inefficiencies, and streamlining workflows. For example, they can use predictive analytics to forecast cash flow needs, enabling institutions to manage liquidity more effectively.





Turn financial data into actionable insights



Gain a deeper understanding of your financial data with SoftTeco’s Big Data services. Our data scientists deliver advanced analytics to uncover trends, mitigate risks, and identify opportunities for growth.




Contact us






Technologies driving big data analytics in finance



AI and machine learning



Obviously, artificial intelligence and machine learning are the main driving forces behind the advancements of big data analytics in finance. They enable financial institutions to process and analyze massive datasets with remarkable speed and precision, uncovering patterns and insights that would otherwise go unnoticed.



AI and ML facilitate a wide range of applications in the financial sector, such as:




Predictive Analytics;



Fraud Detection;



Customer Personalization;



Risk Assessment, etc;




Importance of cloud computing in handling financial data



Cloud computing allows financial organizations to manage and safely store their massive datasets. One of its primary advantages is scalability. Financial institutions can access virtually limitless storage, which allows them to handle fluctuating data volumes without investing in on-premise infrastructure. This flexibility is particularly beneficial when data demands can increase during market volatility.



Transitioning to the cloud also offers cost savings. Traditional data centers require substantial investments in hardware and maintenance. In contrast, cloud services operate on a pay-as-you-go model, allowing firms to allocate resources more effectively.



An overview of big data analytics tools



Given the volumes of data nowadays, it is nearly impossible to process all this information manually. Real-time insights are crucial for organizations to stay competitive and make faster, more informed decisions. Luckily, numerous big data analytics tools are available on the market, so you can choose one that best suits your needs, goals, and budget. However, picking the right one can be pretty frustrating with so many options. Here are some of the key functions that you should look for in an analytics tool: 




The ability to handle large volumes of data. If the tool you choose cannot process vast amounts of data, then there’s no point in using it. Look for high-performance computing capabilities that can scale with your business as data volumes grow without sacrificing performance.



Data visualization capabilities. Our brain perceives visual information better than text. Graphs, charts, or dashboards will be easier to understand, even for nontech personnel. Make sure you choose the tool with data visualization functionality so you can present the data in a more digestible and actionable way. 



Intuitive interface and ease of use. It’s better to choose a tool with a user-friendly interface and intuitive features like customizable dashboards, drag-and-drop options, and clear reporting. Therefore, it will be easier for your team to master and use the tool efficiently.  



Seamless integration and compatibility with existing infrastructure. Ensure that the analytics tool can integrate seamlessly with your existing systems and tools, such as CRM platforms and cloud and data storage solutions. It’s also essential that the tool can connect and derive data from various data sources.



Robust security features. With the increasing risk of data breaches, it is critical to choose a tool that offers robust security features, including encryption, access controls, and compliance with industry regulations to protect your data.



Cost efficient. Define what your needs are and set the budget accordingly. This way, you will know what price options you are looking for. There are a lot of affordable tools with free or low-cost plans, but their functionality can not be enough for you. Therefore, carefully check out the pricing structure of each tool you consider. 



Collaboration features. You may need to share your insights with stakeholders or have different teams working on the analysis and report. So, it’s better if the tool has the ability to share the reports, dashboards, or data sets in real time. 




Here are some of the popular tool choices for big data analytics in finance that you can consider:



Apache Spark



Apache Spark is an open-source analytics engine recognized for its speed and ease of use. It offers in-memory data processing, which significantly enhances performance. Additionally, the platform includes several libraries to support SQL queries and provides user-friendly APIs that simplify data retrieval.



MongoDB



MongoDB is a NoSQL database, so it can handle large volumes of unstructured or semi-structured data. It is highly scalable, flexible, and categorizes documents into collections with key-value pairs. Due to its functionality, MongoDB is an excellent tool for content management and real-time analytics. It is also popular among developers because it supports multiple programming languages, including Python, Ruby, and JavaScript. 



BigQuery



BigQuery is a managed serverless data warehouse provided by Google Cloud. With its robust built-in features like machine learning, business intelligence, and geospatial analysis, the platform helps users process and analyze vast datasets. BigQuery is highly scalable and cost-efficient; its pricing is based on the amount of processed data or a flat-rate option for predictable costs. 



Snowflake



Snowflake is a cloud-based data warehouse that provides flexible and secure storage for large amounts of information. The platform separates storage and compute, allowing users to scale resources independently based on their needs. Snowflake uses a custom architecture that combines shared-storage and shared-nothing system approaches. This means all data is stored in one place and accessible to all compute nodes, but each node processes data independently. Overall, Snowflake is easy to use and also provides multi-cloud support.



Power BI



Power BI is a powerful business analytics tool with robust capabilities that helps transform raw data into interactive visualizations. It seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft services like Azure or Office 365, as well as with various data sources, such as Excel, cloud services, and SQL databases, fostering collaboration and real-time data analysis. PowerBI has a user-friendly interface and is easy to use for non-technical users. 



Tableau



Another great option of robust data visualization and big data analytics tools is Tableau. It empowers businesses to interpret and transform raw data into easy-to-understand visualizations. Tableau has a drag-and-drop functionality, which makes it accessible for users with different technical skill levels. It allows users to conduct real-time data analysis and create compelling, shareable dashboards. Overall, Tableau is a great tool for business intelligence and collaborative work.



If you are interested in Tableau and Power BI but don’t know which one to choose, you can check our Power BI vs Tableau comparison article. 




 


Expert Opinion



Big data analytics isn’t just a trend in finance - it’s a must-have for any institution that wants to keep up. With markets moving faster than ever, banks and investment firms need real-time insights to make smart decisions, manage risks, and give customers more personalized services. AI and predictive analytics are already changing the game, helping innovative firms spot trends before they happen. The ones that embrace these tools now won’t just survive - they’ll lead the future of finance.





Head of DS & ML Department at SoftTeco



Alexander Gedranovich






 








Challenges of big data analytics in finance



Although big data analytics brings a lot of benefits for the financial sector, providing valuable insights into consumer behavior, enhancing risk management and fraud detection, there are several challenges that companies may face. Let’s explore some of these issues in detail.







Data security and privacy



In the finance industry, the stakes are incredibly high when it comes to data security. Financial organizations handle vast amounts of sensitive information, from personal identification details to transaction histories. Therefore, they need to ensure robust security measures while maintaining user privacy. A breach not only compromises customer trust but can also lead to significant financial losses.



Regulatory and compliance issues



As we already mentioned, the financial sector is one of the most regulated industries globally, with stringent rules and guidelines designed to protect consumers, maintain market integrity, and prevent systemic risks.



Ensuring compliance with evolving regulations requires robust data governance frameworks. These frameworks need to encompass data quality, lineage, and accessibility. As financial institutions collect and analyze data from various sources, maintaining a clear understanding of data origins and transformations can be challenging. 



Integration complexity



Many banks and financial institutions still rely on legacy systems that lack the flexibility for sophisticated analytics. Integrating these systems with new technologies, such as cloud computing and machine learning algorithms, can lead to operational inefficiencies. Companies must ensure seamless data flow between systems while maintaining data integrity, which often requires substantial time and resources.





Turn financial data into actionable insights



Gain a deeper understanding of your financial data with SoftTeco’s Big Data services. Our data scientists deliver advanced analytics to uncover trends, mitigate risks, and identify opportunities for growth.




Contact us






 



Skill gap



Even though the importance of big data analytics is quite evident, the financial sector is in dire need of skilled specialists. The thing is, data science is a difficult field, and data analysts need a particular set of skills, such as proficiency in programming, statistical analysis, and data visualization. Data analysts must also be adept at working with various data management tools.



An additional complication is that financial institutions require specialists who possess not only technical skills but also understand the complexities of the finance sector, such as market trends, regulatory rules, risk management, and investment strategies. As a result, it's quite a challenge to find and hire a good specialist.



Data quality



If the quality of your data is poor, so are the insights you retrieve from it. As we mentioned earlier, the sources of financial data, as well as its formats, are quite diverse. Up to 90% of this data is unstructured and difficult to analyze, which can lead to misguided business decisions. So, maintaining the high quality and consistency of the information across all these sources is a critical concern. 



Future trends in big data analytics in finance



The financial sector continues to embrace digital transformation, constantly finding new ways to use big data analytics for financial services. And given the technological advancements that have surfaced in recent years, the future looks promising. Here are some trends we can expect moving forward: 



Role of blockchain in financial data management



Blockchain technology has great potential in big data analytics. It ensures transparency of financial operations, allowing all parties of financial transactions to view the same data. The decentralized nature of blockchain paired with predictive analytics can help to enhance security measures and fraud detection. Not to mention, blockchain employs cryptographic techniques to secure data, making it resistant to tampering and unauthorized access. 



Moreover, blockchain technology supports the use of smart contracts — self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement directly written into code. These contracts automate processes and reduce the need for intermediaries, streamlining operations.



Expansion of AI-powered tools



Financial organizations are increasingly adopting AI-powered tools to analyze vast datasets, uncover patterns, and make data-driven decisions. Machine learning algorithms can predict market trends, assess credit risk, and even enhance customer service through chatbots.



Moreover, AI's ability to process unstructured data, such as social media sentiment or news articles, enables financial analysts to gain insights that were previously difficult to capture. And it will only improve from there, as AI and machine learning are constantly evolving. Companies like BlackRock are already leveraging AI to optimize investment strategies, demonstrating the immense potential of these technologies.



Increasing importance of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) data analytics



As sustainability becomes a pressing global concern, the importance of ESG data analytics in finance is on the rise. Investors are increasingly considering ESG factors when making investment decisions, leading to the development of tools that analyze corporate performance based on these criteria.



Big data analytics enables financial institutions to evaluate ESG risks and opportunities more effectively. For example, companies can use data analytics to assess their carbon footprint and analyze supply chain practices and employee diversity. With this information, they can align their strategies, making them more sustainable and appealing to investment.



Conclusion



Big data is greatly reshaping the landscape of various industries, and the financial sector is not an exception. In the conditions of high competition in the market, many companies are adopting big data analytics to not only maintain a competitive edge but also evolve their business. Complex algorithms of machine learning models quickly process and analyze all sorts of data, providing valuable insights that help financial institutions enhance their decision-making, plan strategies, and evaluate operational efficiency.



As data technology further advances, companies can create more innovative products and services that meet the changing needs of consumers and investors. However, finding skilled data science specialists for the task can be quite challenging. Therefore, you can always collaborate with experienced big data service providers such as SoftTeco. With extensive industry expertise and technical skills, we can help you leverage the full potential of your big data.

### How Much Does Salesforce Cost? A Complete Pricing Guide

Salesforce is a leading cloud platform provider for businesses of all sizes. According to Statista, Salesforce's market share in CRM reached 21.7%, outperforming other vendors like Microsoft (5.9%), Oracle (4.4%), SAP (3.5%), and Adobe (3.4%). The platform offers a range of services that help companies effectively manage customer relationships and streamline business operations while driving ROI. But why doesn't every business adopt it?



Salesforce offers multiple pricing plans\editions, and selecting the right one can be confusing. To get the most out of Salesforce CRM, it's essential to understand how these plans align with your company's needs, resources, and budget. In this article, we'll answer the "how much does Salesforce cost?" question and will discuss the key features of Salesforce products, their prices, and the factors that affect the cost.







What is Salesforce CRM?



First, let's quickly recap what Salesforce is. Salesforce is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform that helps manage all aspects of customer interactions and improves relationships with them. It allows businesses to store, track, and manage their sales, marketing, and customer service, and other operations in one system. For this, Salesforce provides a wide range of cloud tools, including: 




Sales Cloud



Service Cloud



Marketing Cloud



Commerce Cloud



Data Cloud



Analytics Cloud



Einstein AI




Each product has its own subscription plan, functionality, and pricing. Hence, the cost of Salesforce ranges from $25\user\month to over $15000\user\month and depends on the edition, number of users and features you choose. Also, you need to take into account additional charges for extra users, add-ons, or third-party integrations. To understand what is best for you, let's consider the prices and capabilities of Salesforce products.



Salesforce license types



Before we get into the Salesforce pricing plans, it’s essential to understand the Salesforce licenses cost. The Salesforce license determines the level of access each user has within a plan. The type of license you choose will influence your monthly or annual cost, depending on the specific features you need. Here are some of the basic Salesforce licenses:




Basic Licenses: determine what basic features users can access. You can assign one user license to each user. 



Permission Set licenses: they allow users to access additional features that aren't included in their base user license. You can assign many permission set licenses to a user.



Feature Licenses: give users access to certain features not included in the user license, such as Marketing or Service Cloud. You can assign many feature licenses to a user. 



Usage-based Licenses: allow companies to track and control the usage of specific features or resources based on limits defined by their licenses. Often, these entitlements are associated with Salesforce product subscriptions or add-ons.




A well-chosen combination of licenses will allow you to optimize your investment, tailor Salesforce access, and ensure you meet your business needs. You can see the full list of licences on the official Salesforce website. 





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We will help you maximize your investment and take full advantage of Salesforce without having to overpay for unnecessary functionality.




Request a consultation






Salesforce pricing plans



Salesforce offers both monthly and annual pricing options for its clouds and tools. Most products come with a 30-day free trial, so customers can try out the features before buying. Salesforce pricing plans are designed to fit businesses of all sizes and maturity stages, allowing them to select the features and support they need. Let’s look at the Salesforce pricing model in detail.



Salesforce Success Plans



If you're unsure where to begin with Salesforce or want to integrate it effectively and correctly, Salesforce offers personalized support and consulting. The Salesforce Success Plan is a set of services and resources designed to help you get the most out of the platform. It includes support for planning, training, troubleshooting, monitoring, and access to experts. All to ensure long-term success. It offers three types of plans available on all Salesforce clouds:



Standard Success Plan: it gives customers access to self-guided resources that they can use anytime and anywhere and comes with all subscription licenses. The main features are:




Self-service resources, including knowledge articles, online documentation, and Trailhead learning modules



Access to the Trailblazer community




Premier Success Plan: it requires an additional 30% of net license fees and is needed for businesses that expect more robust support and expert guidance. Along with the features of a Standard plan, it includes:




24/7 support for critical issues



Personalized guidance with health checks and recommendations



Training and on-demand learning resources




Signature Success Plan: it has custom pricing and requires contact with Salesforce representatives. Customers can access the highest level of personalized service and support for complex Salesforce implementation. It includes: 




Support from a success manager for proactive advice



Customer success score



Proactive monitoring and event management



Faster 24\7 support response times 








Source: Salesforce



Salesforce Sales Cloud cost



Salesforce Sales Cloud is a complete CRM platform designed to help B2B and B2C businesses manage and optimize their sales processes. It comes with tools for lead and opportunity management, sales forecasting, contact\account management, and reporting. With it, sales teams can track every stage of the sales lifecycle, automate tasks, track customer interactions, and close deals more efficiently. 



Built on Salesforce Customer 360, Sales Cloud allows sales teams to put together all customer data continuously in real time. This makes the sales process more efficient. Also, the platform can be integrated with other Salesforce solutions, like Einstein Analytics, to provide insights for better sales strategies and performance tracking. Now let’s consider Salesforce monthly costs for Sales Cloud:



Starter Suite: it starts at $25\user\month (billed monthly or annually). It offers essential CRM functionality for small businesses to quickly organize the data, manage customer relationships, and gain valuable insights into your business. The plan includes features, like:




Simplified setup and onboarding



Lead, account, contact, and opportunity management



Email integration with Gmail or Outlook 



Task management and activity feed 




Pro Suite: it starts at $100\user\month (billed annually). It offers complete CRM for growing businesses of any size that requires advanced customization and reporting capabilities. The plan includes: 




Greater customization and automation



Enhanced, real-time chat



Forecast management 



Sales quote creation



Customizable reports and dashboard




Enterprise: it starts at $165\user\month. This plan is suitable for medium and large organizations needing extensive customization, automation, and integration capabilities to support complex sales processes. It includes all features of Pro Suite features plus:




Workflow automation



Advanced pipeline management & forecast



Conversation intelligence



AI sales agents








Source: Salesforce



Unlimited: it starts at $330\user\month. The plan suits large organizations requiring the full spectrum of Salesforce capabilities, including extensive support, customization, and scalability. It includes all Enterprise features with:




Predictive AI



Conversation intelligence & sales engagement



Premier Success plan and full sandbox



Unlimited customizations and custom apps



Additional data storage



24/7 support



Configuration services




Einstein 1 Sales: it starts at $500\user\month. It is ideal for organizations looking to improve sales performance and collaboration through advanced AI capabilities and integrated data solutions. The plan includes all Unlimited features along with: 




Generative AI



Sales programs, planning, and collaboration with Slack



Performance management



Connect and unify all data with Data Cloud 








Source: Salesforce



Salesforce Service Cloud cost



Salesforce Service Cloud is a comprehensive customer service platform that helps agents automate customer service and support. It helps handle various cases efficiently, such as technical issues, billing questions, and account updates. For this, it brings all customer interactions - email, phone, social media, and self-service portals - into one place. Thus, customers can communicate via their preferred channels while still receiving consistent support.



Built on the Salesforce Customer 360 platform, Service Cloud connects seamlessly with other Salesforce products to provide a unified view of customer data. It also integrates tools for case management, customer insights, and automation, empowering teams to resolve issues faster and work more efficiently together. Here are the main Service Cloud pricing plans:



Starter Suite: it starts at $25\user\month (annually) with transaction fees. The plan is ideal for companies just starting with CRM systems, offering an affordable way to streamline customer service. Included are:




Case and task management



Customizable reports & dashboards



Knowledge base



Integrated email support 



Custom email templates



Lightning app builder




Pro Suite: it starts at $100\user\month (annually). This plan is designed for businesses that have started scaling and require more robust customer engagement tools. It includes everything in Starter, plus customization, automation, and more advanced sales and service features, such as: 




Sales quoting and forecasting



Service contracts and entitlements



Omni-channel routing, supervisor



In-app and web messaging



Unlimited custom apps



Access to AppExchange




Enterprise: it starts at $165\user\month (annually). It is suitable for mid-sized to large businesses handling complex customer service operations. It includes all Pro suite features, plus: 




Built-in AI for customer service



Self-service help center



Workflow automation



Custom service console apps



Advanced case management



Advanced reporting features




Unlimited: it starts at $330\user\month (annually). It is perfect for enterprises with high service volumes and complex requirements requiring advanced customization. It offers all Enterprise features with:




24/7 support



AI-powered chatbots



Premier Success Plan



Chat & messaging



Einstein bots



Developer Pro sandbox




Einstein 1 Service: it starts at $500\ user\month (annually). This edition is tailored for companies aiming to leverage AI and data integration to provide the best possible customer experience. It comes with all Unlimited features, plus: 




Digital channels



Service intelligence and Slack



Einstein Copilot (Beta) powered by generative AI



Data Cloud








Source: Salesforce



Salesforce Commerce Cloud cost



Salesforce Commerce Cloud (SFCC) is a cloud-based ecommerce platform designed to help businesses deliver personalized shopping experiences across multiple channels, including web, mobile, social, and in-store. It supports B2C and B2B models and a direct-to-consumer (D2C) product option. It integrates deeply with Salesforce products and Customer 360 to integrate all customer data. Thus, all teams (sales, marketing, and support) can receive seamless and all-around customer service.



Salesforce Commerce Cloud offers three core solutions: 




B2B Salesforce Commerce Cloud



B2C Salesforce Commerce Cloud



D2C Salesforce Commerce Cloud




Salesforce Commerce Cloud pricing based on Gross Merchandise Value (GMV). GMV is the total value of all goods sold through a company's platform in a set period without returns, fees, or discounts. This means that the higher the sales volume, the higher the pricing will be. Let's review each of their pricing structure in detail. 



B2C Commerce Cloud is a Salesforce Lightning-based platform for businesses that sell directly to individual customers. It offers personalized shopping, seamless channel integration, AI recommendations, and helpful analytics to boost sales and customer engagement. The platform is available in three editions: Growth, Plus, and Premium. 



Growth: it charges 2% of Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and is billed annually. This edition is 



suitable for mid-sized and large companies seeking to scale their ecommerce efforts. Among its main features: 




5 websites



10 price books



On-demand sandbox credits (1.2 million)



AI-powered consumer experiences



Templates & composable storefronts



Integrated marketing & commerce tools



B2C ecommerce features




Plus: it charges 3% of GMV (billed annually). This is the ideal platform for large organizations with a global presence who require unlimited scalability, advanced personalization, and social commerce integration. Its core features:




Unlimited number of sites



Unlimited number of price books



On-demand sandbox credits (2 million)



AI-powered consumer experiences



Enhanced personalization



Integrated social commerce



Global scalability




Premium: its price is available upon request (billed annually). The edition is used by enterprises that need high levels of analytics, security, automation, and support. Some of its features include: 




Unlimited number of sites & price books



Full order management



On-demand sandbox credits (2 million)



Advanced analytics, automation, segmentation, & personalization



Proactive support & monitoring



Advanced customization



Data Cloud and AI capabilities








Source: Salesforce



Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud is a platform built for business-to-business transactions with more complex requirements. In contrast to B2C ecommerce, it focuses on managing complex buying processes, such as bulk orders, price negotiations, and customized catalogs for different customer groups. You can choose from its 6 editions: Starter Suite and Pro Suite, Pay-As-You-Go, Growth, Advanced, and Premium. 



Starter Suite: it starts at $25/user\month (billed monthly or annually). It includes transaction fees, which vary by region and by payment method. This plan is great for small and medium-sized companies looking to scale. It includes:




Dynamic email marketing 



Basic analytics and reporting



Out-of-the-box sales processes



Product catalog management



Personalized storefronts



Simplified storefront builder




Pro Suite: it starts at $100/user\month that is billed annually. It suits companies that need advanced ecommerce features, scalability, and integration with other Salesforce tools. This plan includes all features listed in the Starter plan plus additional ones:




Advanced AI personalization



Enhanced, real-time chat



Greater customization and automation



Sales quoting and forecasting



Managed checkout



Access to AppExchange




Commerce Cloud Pay-As-You-Go: it charges 1% of gross merchandise value (GMV) (billed monthly). This is a good option for companies with fluctuating sales and those who want to pay only for what they use instead of the number of users or features. Its features include:




No upfront costs



6 direct-to-consumer (D2C) storefronts



Order management lite



Payments




Commerce Cloud Growth: it charges 1% of your gross merchandise value (GMV) (billed annually). The plan includes advanced commerce, data, and AI capabilities and is designed for businesses that focus on growth and expanding their operations. Its features involve: 




6 storefronts



Order management lite



Analytics, automation, & segmentation



20 inventory locations



250k data cloud credits



60k Einstein requests




Commerce Cloud Advanced: it charges 2% of your gross merchandise value (GMS) (billed annually). Typically, it is suitable for companies needing an enterprise-level ecommerce solution with high sales volumes and more advanced features, such as:




10 storefronts



Full order management



Advanced analytics, automation, segmentation, & personalization



20 inventory locations



500k data cloud credits



120k Einstein requests








Source: Salesforce



Salesforce Order Management is a platform that helps companies manage the order lifecycle, from order capture to fulfillment and invoicing. It integrates with other Salesforce products to simplify sales, service, and operations. The platform enables businesses to manage orders, customer records, fulfillment, inventory, payments, and customer support. Salesforce Order Management pricing is based on two main editions:



Order Visibility: it charges 0.25% of (GMV)\order (billed annually) before fees and other costs. It benefits businesses that need to integrate Salesforce with other order management systems to get better order tracking and visibility. Its capabilities include:




360-degree view of the customer



Integration to Service Cloud



Pre-integration in B2C and B2B commerce



International localization features




Growth: it charges 1% of GMV\order (billed annually). It is suitable for companies with more complicated order management needs and extensive distribution networks and contains:




Distributed order management



Omni-channel inventory up to 50 locations



Distributed order management



Complete lifecycle management








Source: Salesforce



Salesforce Marketing Cloud cost 



Marketing Cloud is a complete marketing platform that helps companies manage and optimize every moment of a customer lifecycle across multiple channels. It provides tools for email marketing, automation, analytics, personalization - all in one place. This integrations allow companies to create targeted campaigns, improve customer engagement, and drive growth by delivering personalized experiences.



Salesforce Marketing Cloud is made up of a number of separate products to choose from, the most notable being: 




Marketing Cloud Growth Edition



Marketing Cloud Engagement



Marketing Cloud Account Engagement




Let’s consider Salesforce Marketing Cloud pricing in-depth.



Marketing Cloud Growth Edition (MCGE) is a small, cost-effective version of Marketing Cloud with fewer features at a lower price. Built on the Salesforce core platform, known as the Einstein 1 platform, it integrates seamlessly with Data Cloud and offers a unified place for managing customer data and executing marketing campaigns. It comes with the following four editions:



Starter Suite: it costs $25\user/month (billed monthly or annually). This is for small companies and startups looking to manage simple email campaigns and track basic customer engagement without complex integrations. Its main features are:




Basic email marketing and analytics



Pre-built sales workflows



Simple reporting and analytics



Customer support



Basic integrations for small businesses




Pro Suite: it costs $100/user/month (billed annually). It is suitable for companies with mid-sized teams requiring more automation and predictive analytics. Beyond all features of the Starter Suite, it also includes: 




Advanced AI tools (Einstein AI insights)



Real-time chat and service tools



Great integration and customization



Sales quoting and forecasting



Access to AppExchange




Marketing Cloud Growth Edition: it costs $15,000\organization\month (billed annually). It is a great plan for large organizations requiring robust data integration, scalability, and automation. Its core features are:




Agentforce campaigns



Multi-channel journeys



Forms and landing pages



Integration with Data Cloud 



Advanced AI tools (Einstein AI)




Marketing Cloud Advanced: it costs $3250\organization\month\ (billed annually). This plan is preferred by companies with complex marketing needs, and along with all features of the Growth edition, it comes with: 




Agentforce campaigns and AI scoring



Path experimentation



Unified conversational SMS



Advanced segmentation and personalization capabilities



Sophisticated data analytics and reporting








Source: Salesforce



Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement is a marketing automation platform designed for B2C communication. It helps businesses create, manage, and optimize personalized customer interactions across various channels, including email, targeted ads, push notifications, and social media. The platform is organized into two main modules: The Studio one is to manage content and channels and Builder is used to manage data and automate campaigns.



Together, they deliver personalized and consistent customer experiences that strengthen customer relationships. The platform offers three primary pricing tiers:



Professional: it starts at $1,250\organization\month (billed annually). It is suitable for small and mid-sized businesses that primarily focus on email marketing and basic customer data analysis. It includes such features as:




Email marketing



Content creation



Robust analytics



Integration with Salesforce Sales Cloud



Contact limit 15,000




Corporate: it starts at $4,200\organization\month (billed annually). It is suitable for mid-sized and large businesses that require more advanced customer experience management and mobile messaging features. Among its features are:




Journey orchestration



AI-powered insights



Powered by Einstein for insights



Integration with Salesforce Sales Cloud



Contact limit: 45,000




Enterprise: its price comes as a request for a quote. It is tailored to large enterprises that operate in multiple regions or have a lot of business units, offering a customizable and comprehensive marketing solution. It comes with the following features: 




Journey orchestration



Multiple business units



Global platform support



Integration with Salesforce Sales Cloud



Contact limit: 500,000








Source: Salesforce



Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (formerly Pardot), or MSAE, is a B2B marketing automation platform that generates, nurtures, and manages leads. It allows companies to track communications with contacts (leads, accounts, and partners), measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, automate tasks, personalize content, and more. In short, it helps teams connect with the right people at the right time through their preferred channels.



In terms of cost, Marketing Cloud Account Engagement platform offers four editions:



Growth: it costs $1,250\month (billed annually) and supports up to 10,000 contacts. The features that marketing teams can take advantage of include:




Lead generation



Email marketing with customizable templates



Engagement history dashboards



Campaign reporting and insights



Basic automation tools



50 forms and landing pages




Plus: you need to get the Plus package if you need automation and data analysis tools. This costs $2,750\month (billed annually) for 10,000 contacts. It includes all Growth plan features, plus advanced tools and features for growing businesses, such as:




Cross-channel marketing automation



Multitouch campaign attribution



Account-based marketing dashboards



B2B Marketing Analytics



Dynamic content personalization



Advanced user permissions




Advanced: it costs $4,400\month (billed annually) for 10,000 contacts. It is suitable for enterprises that require extensive marketing customization and AI-powered tools. It includes all Growth + Plus plan features, along with extra, like: 




AI-powered Einstein with its automation tools



Dedicated IP address 



Business unit segmentation 



Sandboxes for testing campaigns



API and external integrations




Premium: it costs $15,000\month (billed annually) for up to 75,000 contacts. It offers all Advanced plan features and contains predictive analysis to assist your business. Here are some of its top features:




Predictive analytics for data-driven decisions



Premier Success Plan for support and training



Enhanced performance with SLAs (Service Level Agreements)



Dedicated performance support








Source: Salesforce 



How much does Salesforce cost in total? Hidden costs



The total cost of adopting Salesforce includes not only its license fees but also consulting, support, and professional services, which are often overlooked. The lack of a clear strategy may cause issues that increase costs, making it harder to optimize your expenses and workflows. To accurately estimate the total price of Salesforce, you need to analyze the following points:



Identify your business needs and implement



First, identify your business needs and determine which Salesforce products (Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, or both) and features your organization will require. You should also consider how much customization, automation, and integration with other systems you'll need. Also, think about how many users will need access to Salesforce and what kind of support and training will be necessary for a smooth implementation.



For the implementation, you have several options:




Self-implementation: this method can cost upwards of +$5,000, but your team must manage the process;



Freelancers: depending on their expertise, they charge between $25 and $250\hour;



Internal hires: in-house Salesforce expert ranges from $80,000 to $170,000\year;



Consulting firms: they provide full services and typically cost between $90 and $300\hour.




Another important step is choosing the right Salesforce edition (Starter, Pro, Enterprise, Unlimited, etc), the prices of which we listed above. Your plan will depend on the features, users, and scale your organization requires and , of course, budget.



Estimate user licenses



Salesforce pricing typically follows a per-user model, with various tiers depending on the needed features. To estimate your licenses:




Identify how many users need access;



Group users by roles to assign the correct license type.




For example, 20 users will need a Sales Cloud license, while 15 users Service Cloud license.  After that, calculate monthly costs. For instance, if you have 10 users and choose the Salesforce Pro plan at $75 per user/month, you will pay $750\month for 10 users. Then, multiply the monthly total by 12 for the yearly cost: $750 × 12 = $9,000/year. This step helps you purchase the right number of licenses without overspending. On average, costs range from $25 to $300\user\month for a one license.



Data migration



If you’re already using a CRM but want to move to Salesforce, you’ll need migration services for seamless data migration. It is often considered as another hidden cost of implementing Salesforce because of the number of activities required before migration. It involves other essential steps:




Cleaning and sorting data;



Verifying data accuracy;



Identifying and correcting errors;



Mapping data to the Salesforce organization.




Sometimes, the process also includes creating automated solutions to schedule data transfers. The cost of data migration typically ranges from $10,000 to $50,000, depending on the specific needs of your business.





Unlock your business potential with our Salesforce expertise



We will help you maximize your investment and take full advantage of Salesforce without having to overpay for unnecessary functionality.




Request a consultation






Customization 



If you need more functionality but your Salesforce edition doesn’t offer enough to meet business needs, you may consider the following:




Implement add-ons: you can purchase additional add-ons, like marketing automation (Pardot), analytics (Tableau), or AI (Einstein). They come with extra costs, ranging from $25 to over $300\user\month.



Develop custom apps and functionality: you can hire Salesforce developers to create custom features, fields, and objects or automate processes. You can do this through consulting services or hiring in-house developers, both of which come with additional costs.




Overall, customization costs can range from $5,000 to $100,000, depending on the complexity of your solution and company needs. 



Integration



Salesforce is known for its strong integration capabilities. It supports over 4,000 apps and solutions via the AppExchange marketplace that seamlessly integrates with various tools, including thirty-party CRM, ERP systems, Salesforce Clouds, and add-ons. This process helps streamline business operations by uniting multiple functions within a single platform.



The cost of integrating Salesforce depends on the following:




The number of systems involved



The integration method (third-party apps, API connections, or custom coding)



Complexity of a project




On average, Salesforce implementation costs range between $3,000 and $50,000, although smaller projects may cost less. 



User training 



An effective Salesforce implementation is only as successful as your team’s ability to use it. That’s why user training is essential for adoption and long-term usage. The final training cost depends on:




Number of users



Training level 



User roles (end-user, administrator, or both)



The training method (onsite, remote, or self-learning)



Duration and depth




On average, training costs range from $500 to $5,000. For a medium-sized company with sales, marketing, and customer service teams, training may cost up to $5,000.



Post-launch support



After Salesforce implementation and training, you may require ongoing support for up to 3 months. This includes technical assistance, user support, updates, and troubleshooting. You can either hire an in-house Salesforce developer or work with a consulting firm that can provide Managed Services. If you hire a Salesforce developer, you could pay $100,000/year. But if you don't need internal support, you can outsource it instead.



Managed Services is a more cost-effective option for long-term support. It eliminates the need for recruiting and training and provides a team of experts to help optimize your Salesforce solution. Such CRM support costs typically range from $5,000 to $45,000\project, depending on the contract length and project scope.



Estimate the total cost of ownership (TCO) of Salesforce



After gathering all the costs, you should estimate the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). This calculation includes all the above costs and gives you a clear picture of the investment required. To calculate the approximate TCO of the Salesforce solution, you can consider the following formula:




Total cost = (License cost/user × number of users) + consultancy fees + additional costs (add-ons, apps, storage costs)




It’s also essential to assess the potential Return on Investment (ROI) when evaluating Salesforce. Although the last requires a significant investment, the ROI can justify the cost by enhancing efficiency, improving customer satisfaction, and driving revenue growth over time. By following these steps, you can estimate the realistic cost of implementing and maintaining Salesforce for your organization.



Comparing Salesforce costs to other CRM platforms



Salesforce is a leading CRM globally, but it’s not the right fit for everyone. Its high cost and complex features can be overwhelming for certain businesses. Thus, you can look for other CRM alternatives to meet your business needs. Let’s break down the key elements of the most popular CRMs for a brief comparison:



SalesforceZoho CRMPipedriveHubspotBest forIn-depth analyticsScalabilityAutomationScalabilityStarting price$25/user/month$14/user/month $14.90/user/monthFree (basic); paid plans from $50/user/monthFree trial30 days15 days14 daysUnlimitedFeaturesComplete functionality across sales, service, marketing in the one platformAll-in-one platform with CRM at its coreSales-centric CRM with a focus on pipeline visibility and sales Platform for inbound marketing and sales with integrated CRMStrengthsSolid functionality, scalability, customization and analytics Accessibility and affordabilityEasy to use, sales management with a visual pipelineEasy to use and a great combination of sales and marketing WeaknessesHigh cost, steep learning curve, complex features Steep learning curve for advanced featuresLimited features and integrationsFree CRM plans have limitations for large companiesTargeted usersSMBs and large enterprisesSmall and medium-sized companiesSmall sales teamsMarketing-focused organizationsVerdictHighly customizable CRM for all businessesA good platform with lots of features for a low price Core CRM features with flexible pricing make it a top value option for small firmsSimple and scalable platform with an excellent free plan



Conclusion: is Salesforce worth the cost?



In short, the answer is yes. Salesforce pricing varies greatly from plan to plan and offers different levels of functionality. This makes it suitable for both small and large businesses. Small businesses can opt for basic plans, while large ones might go for advanced plans with additional features and customization options. Also, as your business grows, you can add extra Salesforce products to enhance functionality - all within a single ecosystem for smooth integration and flawless execution.



Thus, the decision to invest in a Salesforce solution depends on your business needs, budget, technical capacity, and expertise. If you're curious, "how much does Salesforce cost for my project?" Turn to SoftTeco's Salesforce professional services that guide you through the entire process and help you find a cost-effective solution.




 

FAQ

### Ecommerce Chatbot: The Way to Transform Customer Experience with 24/7 Assistance 

With online shopping being as popular as it is today, AI chatbots for ecommerce have become indispensable, taking sales and customer support to another level. Reuters states that, according to a Salesforce report, AI-based chatbot services are used 42% more than a year ago. These clever virtual assistants operate 24/7, offering personalized recommendations and guiding users through their shopping journey any time they need it.



While ecommerce consulting can help you decide whether your business needs a chatbot, knowing how to develop one is always useful. In this article, we will talk about the benefits, use cases, and key features of ecommerce chatbots and will also discuss how to create an AI chatbot.







What is an AI chatbot for ecommerce?



Let's first define what a chatbot is so we can better understand how it works and what it's capable of.



Chatbots are automated computer programs designed to imitate humans and interact with your customers through text or voice chat. There are three main types of chatbots:




Rule-based chatbots. They follow a predefined set of rules and scripts to interact with users. These chatbots are perfect for handling simple, repetitive queries, like answering FAQs or providing basic information. They don't draw any context from previous conversations and give responses only based on the input. All the user has to do is select options from a menu or type in a specific keyword, and the bot will respond accordingly.



AI-based chatbots. They use conversational AI, natural language processing, and machine learning algorithms to process, understand, and learn from users' queries. Therefore, these chatbots can respond appropriately and engage in meaningful conversations. Machine learning also allows them to improve their answers over time as chatbots adapt to user behavior.



Hybrid chatbots. Naturally, hybrids combine features of traditional and AI-based chatbots. They start off with the rule-based foundations, handling those straightforward queries with ease. But when things get a little more complex, they can seamlessly switch to AI-driven responses, providing the best of both worlds.  




You can deploy chatbots across various platforms, such as ecommerce websites, social media (Facebook, Instagram, etc), and messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram, etc).



Types of ecommerce chatbots



When it comes to applications of AI chatbots for ecommerce, we can divide them into several categories. That includes:



Customer support chatbots



Customer support chatbots are perhaps the most common application of chatbots in ecommerce. These bots serve as the first point of contact for customers, addressing queries and resolving issues at any time of the day. That includes: 




Answering customers' questions;



Resolving simple issues like password resets;



Assisting with order placements;



Connecting customers with human agents.




Sales-focused chatbots



These chatbots are your virtual salespersons. They are designed to help customers with their purchases, helping them through the shopping process. Sales-focused chatbots use customer information, like past purchases or browsing history, to make personalized suggestions based on their needs. They also streamline the check-out process and increase conversions, as they answer the queries in real-time. 



For example, H&M uses a sales-focused chatbot for ecommerce on its website. Users can interact with the bot and answer some questions about their style. Then, based on their preferences, the chatbot sends customers several outfit pictures so they can choose what they like most. This bot can also search for matching products, saving them time for browsing and cross-selling additional items.  



Order tracking and post-sale service chatbots



It's natural that customers want to know the status of their order after making a purchase on the marketplace or any other platform. That's where order-tracking and post-sale chatbots shine, as they will keep your customers updated on every order-related query. That includes:




Updates regarding the status of the order;



Refunds in case of lost packages or any other issues;



Returns or orders;



Information about shipping delays, etc.




These chatbots can also collect customer feedback, encouraging shoppers to share their opinions about their buying experience. This feedback is invaluable for businesses looking to improve their services and products while showing customers that their opinions matter.



Benefits of using chatbots for ecommerce



According to the Research and Markets report, the AI chatbot market is expected to reach $46.64 billion by 2029. And that's not surprising, considering all the benefits that chatbots bring businesses. Let's take a closer look at all the advantages of AI chatbots for ecommerce. 



Improved customer service with quick answers 



Unlike human specialists, ecommerce chatbots don't have a working schedule and are available 24/7. Whether it's a midnight query about product features or a morning request for order tracking, they are always here to assist customers. Therefore, customers can quickly get the information they need and don't waste their time waiting. 



Personalized shopping experience



Integration with internal systems allows chatbots to draw information from customer profiles. That includes their preferences, browsing history, and purchase behavior. Besides, AI chatbots also analyze the information from their conversation with customers. Based on this data, they can provide tailored product recommendations, making the shopping process more engaging and personalized.



Reduced cart abandonment rates



Cart abandonment is one of any business's most unpleasant and costly issues. According to the Baymard Institute, the cart abandonment rate in online shops is nearly 70%.  Many customers leave without buying anything for various reasons. However, the common one is that they couldn't find the information they needed in time. 



Ecommerce chatbots can solve this problem. They answer customer questions in real-time, assisting them with any concerns they have. People don't need to wait for ages to get the information, so they can continue shopping without distractions.  



Moreover, chatbots can also remind customers about items left in their cart, offer personalized discounts, or highlight limited-time offers to encourage them to return and finish the purchase.



Streamlining routine tasks



Chatbots for ecommerce are really good at automating tasks such as answering FAQs and other routine tasks like processing returns and exchanges. This allows human agents to focus on more complex issues and provides customers with faster and more efficient service.



Multichannel conversations



As we mentioned, ecommerce chatbots can engage with customers across various platforms, including websites, social media, and messaging apps. This way, businesses can maintain consistent communication with their customers, regardless of where the interaction occurs.



Efficient order management



Nobody wants to deal with the hassle of manually processing every single order. That's where chatbots can be real lifesavers. They automate the processing of orders, track inventory, and manage shipping. Additionally, they can update inventory levels, calculate shipping details, and notify customers when their orders arrive. Moreover, chatbots are less prone to errors, so the chances of order mix-ups or delayed deliveries are quite low.



Reduced cost for customer support 



Another great benefit is that implementing chatbots can reduce operational costs related to hiring and training customer service staff. Of course, they cannot fully replace human specialists, as customers still prefer live conversations, especially if they have any issues. But chatbots can handle multiple queries simultaneously. That's much cheaper than hiring and training as many agents for the same task. 



Key features of an effective ecommerce chatbot



An effective ecommerce chatbot should come equipped with various features that cater to the dynamic needs of businesses and customers alike. Some of the essential features include:



Natural language understanding (NLU)



Natural language understanding is an integral part of natural language processing, which allows AI-based chatbots to understand not only the words themselves but also the meaning and intent behind them. This capability enables chatbots to process and recognize different sentence structures, slang, and language nuances and maintain natural, human-like conversations. That's why the majority of ecommerce chatbots are powered by large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Google's Bard, etc. Therefore, NLU helps to create a more personalized experience for your customers, providing them with accurate responses. 



For example, when a user is looking for a gift but doesn't have any ideas, they might visit an online store with a chatbot. If they type, "I want to buy a present for my mom," the AI-based chatbot can ask clarifying questions to help the customer narrow down their options and provide a personalized list of suggestions.



Besides, natural language understanding facilitates the interpretation of multiple languages. That is especially important for ecommerce because multilingual support broadens the customer base and expands the reach to a global market. 



Integration with other platforms and systems



One of the crucial features of an AI chatbot for ecommerce is the ability to easily integrate with your other systems, like CRMs, inventory management software, payment getaways, and other different third-party tools and platforms. This way, you can reduce the need for manual intervention and streamline workflows. For example:




Integration with payment getaway will enable the chatbot to handle the entire transaction process. That means customers don't need to leave the chat to make the payment, which reduces the chances of cart abandonment. Moreover, if there are any difficulties with the payment, the bot can troubleshoot those issues in real time. 



CRM integration gives your ecommerce chatbot access to the customer profiles so they can provide more personalized service based on their preferences. And the best part? The chatbot can also update the CRM with new information, keeping those customer profiles up-to-date.



With inventory management integration, your chatbot will always know exactly what's in stock, ensuring customers have the most current information as well. For example, if a customer asks, "Do you have the red dress in size M?" the chatbot can instantly check inventory and confirm availability.




The list goes on - from syncing up with marketing automation tools to connecting with shipping carriers, the possibilities for integration are endless. The more these chatbots can plug into your existing systems, the more efficient, streamlined, and customer-centric your ecommerce operations can become.



Data analytics and report capabilities



Advanced data analytics is especially important in ecommerce. It allows businesses to identify trends, create efficient marketing strategies, and make more informed decisions. Chatbots can be a great help in collecting customer behavior data, therefore providing insights into business performance. You can also use this information to enhance the work of your bot. 



For example, businesses can analyze conversational logs and identify frequently asked questions so they can optimize their FAQ section. They can also identify common pain points and develop strategies to address them more efficiently.



Omnichannel support



Today, customers do not stick to one channel for shopping and switch between devices and platforms. They engage with brands across various websites, apps and social media like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Therefore, they expect a seamless experience across all platforms they use. Omnichannel chatbot maintains consistent communication, ensuring that customers receive the same level of responses and assistance no matter where they engage.



How to make an AI chatbot for ecommerce



Building your own chatbot may seem daunting, but it's exciting at the same time. However, you can always find a reliable IT vendor that will help you with that. Let's see a step-by-step process of AI chatbot development:



Step 1: Defining business goals and customer needs



Before diving into the technical aspects, it's crucial to clarify why you want a chatbot. What problems do you aim to solve? 



For example, if you want to increase sales, you will need to tune your chatbot to be able to provide personalized recommendations, identify upselling and cross-selling opportunities, and so on. But if you just want to streamline customer support, you can keep things simple and opt for a rule-based solution, focusing on handling FAQs and basic inquiries. 



Step 2: Choosing the right technology stack



Selecting the right tools is important for seamless chatbot development. There are numerous platforms that can help you with the task. Some popular options include:




Dialogflow: A Google Сloud-based service for building chatbots using natural language processing (NLP).



Chatfuel: A user-friendly platform that allows businesses to create chatbots without coding.



Rasa: An open-source option allowing for more customization, ideal for tech-savvy teams.



Microsoft Bot Framework: Provides tools to build, test, and connect intelligent bots.




It’s better to choose the one that will best align with your goals for developing an ecommerce chatbot.




 


Expert Opinion



Creating a chatbot doesn't necessarily require third-party services; you can build one using Python and specialized frameworks. Python offers a wide array of libraries that simplify the development of chatbots. For instance, frameworks like Rasa and ChatterBot provide robust tools for natural language processing (NLP), dialogue management, and machine learning. These frameworks enable you to design and train your chatbot on custom datasets, allowing for a tailored conversational experience. Furthermore, Python's extensive ecosystem includes libraries such as NLTK and spaCy, which are instrumental in text processing and understanding. By leveraging these tools, you can create a fully functional chatbot capable of handling complex user interactions without relying on external services.



In recent years, many companies, including SoftTeco, have opted to build chatbots using a combination of Large Language Model (LLM) APIs, vector storage, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and custom APIs for frontend data exchange. This hybrid approach leverages the strengths of LLMs for generating human-like responses while using vector storage to efficiently handle and retrieve relevant information. RAG techniques further enhance the chatbot's performance by combining retrieval-based methods with generative models, ensuring accurate and contextually appropriate responses. Our custom API facilitates seamless communication between the chatbot and the frontend, ensuring a smooth user experience. This architecture not only improves the chatbot's capabilities but also provides greater flexibility and control over the data and interactions, making it a preferred choice for many modern chatbot implementations.





Data Scientist at SoftTeco



Roman Kyrychenko






 




Step 3: Training the AI with ecommerce-specific data



Training your AI with domain-specific data is vital for its effectiveness. Compile a dataset that includes past customer interactions, FAQs, product details, and promotional offers. Use this data to teach the chatbot to recognize common queries and provide relevant responses.



After that, design the conversational flow. Consider the various scenarios your customers might encounter and design responses accordingly. Here are the key components you need to address to create the conversation flow:




Greeting messages. Establish a friendly tone right from the start!



Intent recognition. Use NLP to understand what the customer is asking.



Fallback responses. Prepare for scenarios when the bot doesn't understand a query by providing helpful next steps.




Step 4: Testing and deployment



Before launching the bot, conduct extensive testing to ensure smooth functionality. Gather feedback from team members and early users to identify areas for improvement. For better testing, focus on the following questions:




Are the responses relevant and accurate? Confirm that the chatbot understands the queries accurately and provides the correct information.



Is the chatbot easy to navigate? Ensure a user-friendly interface where customers can easily transition between conversation topics.



How effective is the bot? Assess engagement metrics such as resolution rate, user satisfaction scores, and sales conversions resulting from the chatbot's assistance.




Furthermore, make sure to set proper security measures in place, as there's always a chance for a malicious attack on AI chatbots.



Step 5: Ongoing optimization and updates



Once the chatbot is live, continuously monitor its performance and gather user feedback. Regular updates and optimizations are essential to keep it functioning at its best.



Future trends in AI chatbots for ecommerce



As artificial intelligence continues to advance, AI chatbots are becoming more capable as well. They are already quite good, however there are even more exciting innovations to come in the near future. That includes: 



Integration with augmented reality 



Imagine interacting with a chatbot while trying on virtual clothes or visualizing how furniture might look in your home. AR capability can create engaging shopping experiences, making it easier for customers to make informed purchase decisions. 



Advancements in conversational AI for hyper-personalization



These chatbots are going to get smarter and more intuitive than ever before. With advancements in natural language processing and machine learning, they'll be able to engage in even more natural, human-like conversations. They are already pretty good at it, but progress does not stand still.  Imagine a chatbot that can pick up on your unique preferences, shopping habits, and even mood and use that information to provide hyper-personalized product suggestions and support. 



Final thoughts



Chatbots are surely enhancing customer experience and support services for many businesses. They help solve a variety of customer-related problems, increase customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, as well as streamline operations and reduce operational costs. With further advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning, chatbots will be even more adept at addressing complex queries. And that is what makes them essential for competitive businesses.

### Big Data in Logistics: How It Impacts the Industry and How to Implement It Right

Big data is no longer a buzzword; instead, it has become a valuable and powerful tool for companies to improve their processes and add visibility to them. The logistics industry is no exception, and for the period between 2024 and 2032, the market size of big data in logistics is expected to register a CAGR of more than 21.5%. These numbers tell us that more and more businesses in logistics are recognizing the importance of big data and are actively using it to become more competitive, sustainable, and client-focused.



In this article, we discuss the role of big data in logistics, the core steps of its implementation process, and what real-life use cases already exist in the industry.







What is big data in logistics?



Before diving into the specifics of big data in transportation and logistics, let’s first recap what it actually means and what makes it different from the regular data. Big data refers to massive amounts of both structured and unstructured information. This information is usually collected from various sources and thus comes in various formats. The main difference between big data and regular data is the size of the dataset: for big data, regular processing tools are simply not enough. 



Several important characteristics define big data:




Volume: the size of the datasets that we’ve already discussed;



Variety: comes in both structured and unstructured formats;



Velocity: implies real-time information generation and processing at high speed;



Veracity: should be kept relevant and accurate;



Value: the main purpose is to bring valuable insights to users.




Now that we’ve defined big data technology, let’s explore how it is generated in logistics. The most common sources include RFID tags, GPS devices, IoT sensors, and, obviously, financial transactions from customers. Basically, data in logistics is generated continuously at every moment when an item is stored, transported, or processed. If a business owner knows how to properly collect and analyze this data, he can enjoy an array of benefits that big data brings.



Key benefits of business big data for the logistics industry



So why should businesses in logistics pay attention to their data and set up a specialized infrastructure for its collection and processing? Here are the key advantages:



Increased transparency



With the help of big data and real-time monitoring of transported goods and inventory, business owners can always know the state and location of their assets as well as immediately learn about any issues and emergencies. This can help create a more proactive strategy where companies are able to prevent common challenges such as transportation delays or inventory overstocking.



Improved efficiency



The use of collected information can help improve a variety of processes, such as route optimization, inventory management, or risk management. In this way, the use of big data greatly improves the efficiency of your logistics business due to accurate asset distribution, automation of tasks, and preventative maintenance.



Demand forecasting



Big data is the core of predictive analytics, which is often powered by machine learning technology. The main goal of predictive analytics is to create accurate forecasts about potential future demand and customer behavior. This is possible due to the comprehensive analysis of massive sets of historical data. Hence, the more information you have at your disposal, the more accurate the forecast will be.



Route optimization



One of the biggest challenges in the logistics industry is optimizing routes. While some believe that the shortest route is the best, the safety of routes should actually be prioritized, especially when transporting fragile goods. By using big data, companies can always know the state and conditions of both the road and the vehicle, analyze which routes are the most efficient ones, and plan the logistics accordingly.



Reduced costs



Big data in logistics helps companies greatly reduce their operational costs in several ways. First, companies can distribute assets according to demand, thus eliminating the need to rely on guesswork. Second, companies can better manage their inventory and avoid surplus or understock, which also impacts costs. Lastly, big data enables companies to better plan and organize their processes and select the most fitting solutions.



How to implement big data in logistics: a step-by-step guide



As you can see, big data plays a significant role in the modern logistics industry, but some companies still hesitate to adopt it. One of the main reasons behind this hesitation is the misconception about the complexity of the implementation process. Below, we break down the process into clear steps so you can understand how it works and what has to be done at each stage:



Identify and define key objectives



Every new solution that you introduce to your business should serve a specific purpose and the same applies to big data. You cannot just start collecting and processing it - you need to have a clear understanding of the exact issue / challenge this data will be solving. Examples include:




Route optimization



Cost reduction



Delivery time reduction



Improved customer experience




Based on the goals, you will plan your big data strategy and will also set KPIs for monitoring and measurement. 



Data collection and integration 



Once you’ve defined your business big data goals, you can start collecting the data to create a rich dataset. As already mentioned, there are various sources of information in the logistics industry:




GPS and telematics for vehicle tracking in real time;



IoT sensors for monitoring the transportation conditions;



Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) and CRM systems;



External sources such as weather forecasting or reports on traffic.




Note that you need to have a data storage solution ready before starting the information collection process. We recommend cloud storage such as Amazon S3 or Google Cloud Storage due to its scalability and efficiency. We also recommend consulting with an expert IT provider who will help you set up and configure your cloud solution properly.



Select the right analytics tools



We’ve already mentioned that big data requires specialized analytics tools so the next step is to select the right ones. Some of the most popular tools for that include Apache Spark, Hadoop, and Snowflake. Let’s review the most well-known one, Apache Spark, for your better understanding of what such tools offer.



As the official website says, Apache Spark is a unified engine for large-scale data analytics. What it means is that the tool is suitable for working with big data in terms of data engineering, machine learning, data science, and analytics. This is very convenient since you can manage all your data-related projects from a single platform. Apache Spark supports Python, SQL, Scala, Java, and R, and provides an array of libraries and frameworks for convenient work with big data.



Implement data-driven strategies and operations



With the implementation of big data, you will naturally have to review your current business strategy and operations. In simple terms, you will use big data as a base for certain processes, such as route optimization, dynamic pricing, or predictive maintenance. This will allow you to optimize your current processes, replace outdated or inefficient ones, and add visibility to your supply chain.



Train the team



With the introduction of new processes, you will also need to provide corresponding training to your team. This includes training in data analytics and new tools as well as the comprehensive training in big data as a whole. One more important thing to remember is to encourage and promote data-driven decision making. Before the implementation of big data, many processes in your business were most likely based on guesswork and intuition, which naturally led to poor outcomes. Hence, it is important to change the way of thinking in your organization and gradually lead employees to rely on the data in the first place.



Ensure security and compliance



For any company working with the sensitive data, security and compliance should be top priorities. Even the smallest data breach can lead to massive financial consequences and loss of trust from the customers’ side, so companies should pay extra attention to the ways they secure their information. Some of the most common security practices include encryption, well-established access control, and use of firewalls to prevent external attacks.



Companies should also make sure that the way they store and process the information comply with the needed regulations. You might have heard of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) or HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), which are among the most well-known industry regulations regarding the protection of sensitive data and its management. Compliance with these regulations means that your organization understands the importance of data security and follows security best practices. If you don’t know where to start, the official websites of these regulations usually contain information and even frameworks on reorganizing your processes in order to achieve compliance. 



Monitor and optimize your strategies



Working with big data is a dynamic process so you will have to continuously monitor your processes and optimize them, if necessary. Based on the feedback from stakeholders and the KPI metrics that you’ve defined before, you will be able to understand how effective your newly implemented processes are and what areas can be improved. You might also need to adjust your algorithms and systems based on their performance and business needs.



Real-world examples of big data use cases in logistics



To wrap up, let’s look at the most interesting real-world examples of big data use cases in logistics and the ways it benefits the companies.



Route optimization



Example: ORION by UPS



Optimization of routes in logistics is highly important as it allows to reduce fuel consumption, speed up the delivery time, and even improve the security of the delivery. UPS (United Parcel Service), one of the biggest supply chain companies in the world, has invested a significant amount of time and resources into developing ORION - an On-Road Integrated Optimization and Navigation system. 



ORION is a delivery platform route optimization software. It uses the company’s historical data and collects a variety of information in real time, thus helping UPS significantly cut down on operational costs and efficiently organize multi-driver and multi-stop routes through data-driven planning.



Predictive maintenance



Example: Smartification by DHL



The world’s leading logistics company DHL has implemented big data in their process many years ago, thus tapping into predictive maintenance, smart facility monitoring, and asset tracking. Let’s take a closer look at the way DHL manages its maintenance processes. 



According to the information on the official website, the company uses noise sensors for predictive maintenance of sorters - machines used for automated sortation processes. DHL also uses IoT sensors for vehicle monitoring and analyzes the information in real time, thus being able to prevent the majority of maintenance-related issues and cut maintenance costs.



Inventory management



Example: Inventory forecasting by Amazon



Amazon offers business owners an innovative tool called an Inventory Manager to automate the process of inventory management by using historical big data and advanced analytical tools. With the help of the Inventory Manager, companies can not only predict their inventory needs but also prevent the risk of the understock or surplus. In this way, the tool solves one of the biggest challenges in the logistics industry aka correct management of assets and avoidance of under- or over-stocking.



Customer experience



Example: Analysis of customer feedback by FedEx



Constant improvement of services helps businesses grow and retain customers in a highly competitive environment, and FedEx knows that perfectly. The company uses big data to analyze customer feedback and, based on that, identify ways to improve its services.



Customer experience is often overlooked when it comes to the use of big data. While companies focus on reducing costs and optimizing processes, it is also important to perform thorough and detailed research and analysis of customers. This will help not only understand what works best and why but also tailor future services and products to predicted customer requests. And don’t forget that you can also use big data to forecast the approximate delivery time and notify users in case of a delay.



Real-time asset tracking



Example: IoT monitoring by DHL



One more example of companies using big data in logistics is real-time tracking of transported goods. DHL uses a variety of IoT devices to monitor its shipments and always know their statuses and location. This allows for improved transportation processes, safer transportation conditions, and improved customer service.



Final word



Big data in logistics is a powerful asset that grants companies a significant advantage over the competition and helps them understand how to make existing processes and services more efficient and customer-centric. However, you need to keep in mind that in order to benefit from the use of big data, it is important to implement specialized analytical tools. We recommend partnering with a reliable IT vendor like SoftTeco, which has experience providing various big data services, from consulting to implementation and support. In this way, you will get access to unparalleled expertise and knowledge as well as to an international talent pool. Contact us for more information and we will gladly discuss your project.

### Understanding Data Mapping: Best Practices, Tools, And Use Cases

It's no secret that to be successful in today's data-driven world, you need to know how to use the information to your advantage. Organizations collect humongous amounts of data through various sources to analyze and drive useful insights for the business. But all this information comes in different formats and standards, so making sense of it can become daunting. That's where database mapping comes into play to ease the struggles and help bridge those gaps between sources, ensuring the consistency of the data.



In this article, we will explore the importance of data mapping, its best practices, examples, and useful tools to help you with the process.



But first, let's define what exactly is data mapping.







What is data mapping?



Data mapping is the process that links information from one data source to the matching field in another source. Therefore, it shows how these data points are related and helps transfer data smoothly between different systems, maintaining its consistency and meaning.  



Let's say you install a new messenger app on your phone. The app suggests synchronizing your contacts to display them properly. If you agree, it will match your phone's 'Name' field with the app's 'Name' field. This way, you will avoid creating duplicate contacts. The same goes for data mapping.



Key components of data mapping include:




Source data. It is the information that you want to map. This data can be stored in various sources such as databases, APIs, files, applications, or external systems. You also need to understand the data's format, content, and structure to map it correctly.



Target data. This is where you want the source data to end up. It's the destination where the source data will be moved or transformed to match its format and structure. The target can be any system (like database, table, file, etc.)



Mapping rules. These guidelines explain how to change source data into the correct format for the target location. For example, 'Card' in the target will map to 'Credit Card'. It can include data type conversion, validation, cleansing, merging, or any other actions needed to ensure the source and target data match.




How does it work



As we now have an answer to the "what is data mapping" question, let's take a closer look at the process itself. It includes several systematic steps:



Step 1: Define data sources



First, you need to decide which data sources will be involved in the information exchange. These can range from databases, CRM systems, and flat files to external systems, cloud storage, APIs, and ERP software. To plan the further mapping effectively, you also need to identify the structure and format of chosen data sources.



Step 2: Map the data



Once you define data sources, the next step is to establish connections between data fields in the source and target datasets. This includes identifying attributes, relationships, and hierarchies. This ensures that each part of the information in the source system corresponds to its equivalent in the target system. For example, if a field is named 'Date of birth' in a CRM and the target is also named 'Date of birth,' you just map them without changing.



Step 3: Transform the data (if needed)



However, if the formats or structures between the source and target systems differ, you must transform the data to ensure it maps correctly. This step can involve changing date formats, merging fields, or even converting numerical values. Transformation ensures the data is compatible and ready for use in its new context. For example, a source system records dates in formats like 'MM/DD/YYYY' while the target has 'YYY-MM-DD' (a standard ISO format). So, you must use transformation to standardize them.



Step 4: Test and validate the process



Before fully implementing the data mapping, you must conduct rigorous testing to validate the mappings and transformations. This might involve running pilot tests, where a subset of data is moved to check for any discrepancies or errors. Validation checks can include verification against the original datasets, ensuring no data is lost or corrupted during the transfer. You should address any identified issues to refine the mapping process and enhance accuracy.



Step 5: Deploy



If you are satisfied with the test results, it's time to deploy the pipeline. This typically involves automating the data transfer and integration process, including data mapping, to ensure that data flows continuously and accurately between the systems. Effective deployment might require setting up triggers, schedules, or workflows that manage how and when data is exchanged.



Step 6: Maintain and update



The final step involves ongoing maintenance and updates to the mapping process. As business requirements evolve and data sources change, it's essential to periodically review and adjust the mapping configurations. This ensures the continued accuracy and relevance of the data. Regular audits and feedback loops can also help identify when the system needs adjustments.



Where can we use data mapping?



A lot of organizations actively use the information they collect to enhance their business operations. However, to leverage its full potential, this data must be easy to work with. So, data mapping is usually a part of larger data-related processes. It is a crucial step for tasks such as:







Data integration



Data integration is the practice of combining data from different sources to provide a unified view. Data mapping ensures that data fields from disparate systems align correctly, allowing for accurate data merging. For example, a company may use mapping to align customer records from its CRM system with those from its accounting software. It will help to analyze the information more efficiently.



Data migration



When organizations upgrade systems or consolidate databases, data migration becomes necessary. Data mapping identifies how data from the original system corresponds with the new system. By meticulously mapping fields, organizations can minimize data loss during migration and ensure that all significant information is transferred without errors.



Data warehousing



Data warehouses store large volumes of data from various sources for reporting and analysis. Data mapping is a vital part of the Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) process essential for warehouse creation. Mapping ensures that data loaded into the warehouse is consistent and accurately reflects the information from the source systems.



Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Exchange



EDI allows different organizations to exchange business documents electronically. Data mapping helps to align data formats between trading partners, as each often uses different standards (like XML, JSON, and Excel). Organizations can use data mapping tools to transform information into the required format and map it to EDI. That will enhance efficiency, reduce potential errors, and accelerate transaction processes.



Business intelligence 



BI tools generate reports and dashboards to provide insights into business performance. A well-executed data mapping strategy ensures consistency and accuracy in the analyzed data, enabling organizations to make informed decisions. For instance, mapping sales data and marketing campaign data maps can help accurately measure the effectiveness of marketing strategies.



Regulatory compliance 



Data mapping is crucial for ensuring compliance with regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, and others. Organizations must understand the flow of data within their systems to maintain privacy and security standards effectively. And that's where mapping shines. 



For example, according to Article 30 of the GDPR, organizations should maintain comprehensive processing activity records. Data maps document where sensitive data resides, how it is processed, and how it flows between systems. Even though data mapping is not an official law requirement, it's one of the best ways to maintain an accurate and complete record of the stored information.



Types of data mapping: an overview



There are three types of data mapping techniques that you can use: manual, semi-automated, and automated. Each has its pros and cons, so consider your goals and resources to choose the approach that suits you the best. Let's explore these techniques in detail. 



Manual data mapping



Manual mapping implies that data specialists carry out the mapping themselves, often using spreadsheet tools or mapping applications for the task. To create a data map, you will need specialized skills and code knowledge, so it's not something that everyone can do (at least without proper tools). Data specialists identify information sources and determine how data elements from one source correspond to those in another, therefore creating a data map.



Manual mapping is a fairly good option when working with small datasets. This method also allows tailor mapping to meet unique data conditions or compliance requirements. Unlike human experts, automated systems may overlook some data characteristics and nuances.



However, considering the volume of data and systems that modern businesses use, it's not really efficient to do the mapping hands-on.



Pros:




Allows for tailored solutions specific to the organization's needs.



Data professionals have complete control over the mapping process.




Cons:




The manual process can be slow, especially when working with large datasets.



More prone to errors than automated systems, which can lead to potential data quality issues.



As data volume and complexity grow, manual mapping becomes increasingly unfeasible. Organizations may struggle to keep pace with changing data needs.




Semi-automated data mapping



Semi-automated mapping combines manual work with tools or data mapping software that assists the process. A visual interface in these systems enables users to conduct mapping without coding. These tools usually also have predefined templates or algorithms, so the specialist's role here is to oversee the process, validating or adjusting it if needed.



This approach is suitable for datasets that are too large for manual mapping but not enough to need full automation. It is also useful in the initial stages of a mapping project to create a baseline that can later be refined manually.



Pros:




Semi-automated mapping provides the benefits of both manual and automated methods, which means users can automate repetitive tasks but still be able to customize the process.




Cons:




Users need a certain skill level and understanding of both the tools and data to effectively execute this approach.



Even though this approach helps to automate repetitive tasks, it requires time to set up and manage tools efficiently.




Automated mapping



Automated mapping uses advanced tools and algorithms to perform mapping with minimal human intervention. These tools can often process and map large datasets quickly, leveraging artificial intelligence or machine learning to improve accuracy over time.



Pros




It can perform tasks much faster than manual processes, allowing real-time data integration.



Automated systems minimize variability and ensure that data is mapped uniformly across datasets.



Requires less technical knowledge than manual mapping.




Cons




The initial setup of the automated system can be quite expensive.



Automated tools may struggle with intricate data relationships or unexpected data anomalies.




How does database mapping impact data quality?



As we mentioned, data mapping ensures that the information is accurately transferred across different systems, retaining its accuracy and integrity. Effective data mapping helps to maintain high-quality data by finding discrepancies and errors across datasets. Clear mapping rules allow organizations to spot inconsistencies or gaps in information early on. Therefore, they can ensure that only accurate data will be transferred. 



But that's not all. Database mapping helps to match information from different sources into one format. When data is standardized and organized in the same way, it greatly simplifies the work. Therefore, you can make better analyses and enhance decision-making.



Here are some examples illustrating the impact of effective database mapping across industries:



Healthcare. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) heavily rely on accurate and consistent patient data. It directly impacts the treatment, so mismanagement of this information can affect patient safety. For example, by properly mapping patient history and treatment protocol across various EHR systems, healthcare organizations can ensure that all healthcare providers have access to the same information. Moreover, mapping can help to track patient data access protocols. This way, healthcare providers can ensure compliance with HIPAA.



Finance. Risk assessment is especially crucial for banking and finance, as the stakes are high and the consequences of failure severe. Not to mention strict regulatory compliances. Therefore, accurate data mapping helps understand financial systems’ information flow and identify potential risks.




 


Expert Opinion



With the rapid growth of data and the complexity of today’s data processing and storage systems, the importance of effective data mapping has never been greater. Moreover, data mapping ensures that information is accurately transformed, integrated, and utilized across various platforms and systems. This foundational process is essential for maintaining data consistency, supporting analytics, and enabling seamless collaboration in today’s data-driven environments.





Data Engineer at SoftTeco



Valeryia Rudkevich






 




Common challenges in aligning databases



Aside from advantages of database mapping, there are also some challenges you need to consider:



The quality of data



Poor quality data include inaccuracies, inconsistencies, or outdated information, which complicates the integration process. For instance, if customer records in one database do not retain history while another contains historical records, aligning these databases could lead to conflicts and misinterpretations. Organizations must implement rigorous data validation processes, ensuring that data is accurate, complete, and reliable before initiating the alignment process.



Large volumes of information



As businesses grow, so does the volume of data they handle. Managing and aligning large datasets can be overwhelming, posing significant performance challenges. The sheer quantity of data may lead to longer processing times and increased complexity during integration. Organizations must adopt scalable solutions to efficiently manage and align large volumes of data without compromising performance.



Dynamic updates



In a fast-paced environment, databases frequently undergo dynamic updates, potentially leading to synchronization issues during alignment. Real-time data changes can disrupt the alignment process, resulting in inconsistencies between the databases. To tackle this challenge, organizations should utilize tools designed for real-time data integration, ensuring that changes are propagated instantly across all aligned databases.



Complex transformations



Data within different databases often exist in varied formats and structures. Aligning these data usually involves complex transformations to standardize the data. For example, an organization's sales data may be recorded in multiple currencies or unit measures across different systems. In such cases, data transformation requires careful planning and execution to maintain accuracy and integrity. Utilizing ETL processes can simplify this challenge by automating data transformations.



Duplicate data



Duplicate entries across databases not only waste storage but also lead to confusion and misinformed decision-making. For instance, if customer data exists in multiple formats (like different name spellings), aligning these databases becomes more complicated. Organizations must implement strategies to identify and eliminate duplicates before database mapping. Regular audits of data can also help minimize this issue.



Security concerns



In data mapping or integration processes, sensitive data is shared between systems. Besides, all parties that are involved in the process have access to the data. All of this can potentially introduce security vulnerability, if there are no proper security measures in place. 



Data mapping tools: choosing the right one



As we already mentioned, automating the transformation and transferring processes reduces manual work, therefore minimizing the chance of errors. Since businesses rely heavily on data integration for analytics, reporting, and compliance, finding a data mapping tool that best aligns with your objectives and needs is essential. Choosing the right one will help improve the quality of work and reduce operational costs, which is especially important for companies with small budgets. 



However, aside from aligning with your unique requirements, there are certain key features that you should consider in any data mapping tool. They include: 




Broad data source compatibility. You must be able to integrate without limitations, no matter the source you choose. Therefore, your data mapping tool should be compatible with various data sources and formats, like XML, JSON, APIs, and flat files.



Performance and scalability. With the growth of the organization, the data collection volume also grows. So, your tool must be able to scale and handle your evolving data needs without problems.



Scheduling function. This function will allow you to schedule data mapping tasks based on events or time, so you can be sure your data is always up to date, even without manual intervention.



User-friendly interface. An intuitive interface is very important for the data mapping tool. It makes the mapping process more understandable and easy to follow for users with different levels of technical knowledge.



Data transformation functions. Make sure the tool has built-in transformation capabilities. That will allow you to manipulate and prepare the data, ensuring it is in the correct format.



Security features. Considering the importance of data security, this feature is a must for every tool. The measures can include access control, encryption, and data privacy compliance.



Error handling and debugging. This feature will help you maintain the integrity of your data, as it allows users to identify, log, and report errors during mapping.



Data validation. This feature allows users to validate data right during the mapping process, ensuring it meets quality requirements or specific business rules.



Automated mapping. An important functionality that generates mappings based on matching criteria, thus making the mapping process significantly faster.



Version control and change tracking. It's important to track changes made to the mapping, especially when you work in a team on the same data project. This function ensures that you always work with the relevant information.




Some of the popular data mapping tool choices are: 




Jitterbit. It is an AI-infused integration platform with a user-friendly interface. It offers strong functionality that will help you automate data mapping tasks in SaaS applications and on-premise systems. 



MuleSoft Anypoint. A robust tool for APIs and integrations with extensive data mapping features. It allows organizations to map data between different protocols and formats. The platform helps organizations monitor data mapping in real-time so they can timely fix any appearing issues.



Altova MapForce. It is a graphical data mapping tool with support for SQL,  XML, and JSON. Altova MapForce provides robust automation features that help to organize data from different sources.



Primcore. An open-source data management software platform with a straightforward interface. It provides a customizable workflow for data mapping and transformation across systems. Especially good for custom and content management.



Informatica PowerCenter. It is an easy-to-use data integration cloud platform that provides strong performance. Informatica is known for its scalability, reliability, and powerful ETL capabilities. 



Dell Boomi AtmoSphere. Boomi excels in cloud integration and offers a drag-and-drop interface, making it accessible for users with limited technical expertise. AI-integrated features also help users develop a data mapping strategy based on previous data.




Here is a comparison table to give you a better understanding of their functionality.



Tool nameRatingFeaturesBest forUse casesJitterbit4.6/5Automation and scheduling, infused artificial intelligence; custom transformations; pre-built connections.Organizations that need flexible integrations.Data mapping, API integration, and automating workflows in hybrid cloud environments.MuleSoft Anypoint Platform4.5/5Supports mobile version; API management; flexible deployment; automated API and data security.Organizations with multiple systems and applications that require complex integrations.Integrating applications, managing API’s, and real-time data synchronization.Altova MapForce4.5/5Supports SQL, XML, JSON and XBRL;Graphic interface; Built-in data transformation functions;Organizations that need visual mapping tools.Visual data mapping, transforming data between various formats, and generating source code for data transformations.Primcore4.4/5Data import from various formats; no-code mapping; workflow automation; easy integration with other platforms.Ecommerce companies and content management.Managing digital assets, product information management, and data mapping across various platforms.Informatica PowerCenter4.4/5Automated session scheduling; supports custom code in Java and JavaScript; monitoring console; Large-scale organizations with complex data needs.Data mapping, transformation, and quality management for large-scale data projects.Dell Boomi AtmoSphere4.4/5Scalable and flexible cloud-based platform; data mapping errors handling; data integration between cloud-based and on-premise apps;Organizations that need rapid deployment.Connecting cloud applications, data integration, and automating workflows.



Best practices for database mapping



There are some best practices you should consider following to avoid any complications you might have during the mapping process.



Clearly define the main objectives



To begin with, decide the purpose of your data mapping. Whether you need it for analytics or reporting, data integration, or creating a data warehouse - set your end goals straight. This will help you effectively guide the process and ensure it aligns with your project's objectives.



Understand your source and target data systems



A key to efficient data mapping is understanding the data structure, types, and relationships within your source and target systems. Conduct a thorough analysis to identify discrepancies and avoid potential compatibility issues. Therefore, you can be sure the data will not be corrupted or lost when transferring from one system to another.



Document the mapping process



Thoroughly record all the data mapping process, including all the decisions, transformations, name changes, and logic applied during the mapping process. Keep this document clear and accurate; it is a valuable reference for future updates and troubleshooting. It will also help maintain consistency in your data management.



Besides, detailed records of your data mapping are essential to comply with the data privacy regulations.  



Streamline the mapping with automation tools



Don't hesitate to use automation tools and data mapping software to streamline repetitive tasks, especially if you're working with large datasets. It significantly speeds up the process, saving you time and reducing the errors.



Make sure the data is secure



Unfortunately, data breaches are not rare today. All the information must be handled according to legal and regulatory standards. Data mapping involves managing multiple data sources, so it's essential to implement security measures such as encryption and access controls to protect information throughout the process.



Timely maintenance



As business evolves, so do data requirements. Data mapping is not a one-time task, so set a consistent maintenance schedule to ensure everything runs smoothly. It can involve revisiting the mapping documentation, conducting data quality audits, revising rules, and updating mapping for system changes.



Database mapping in SoftTeco’s use cases



As a service company with 17+ years of experience, SoftTeco is adept at working with big data. We often use data mapping in data-related projects to assist our clients extract maximum value from their information. Here are some examples from our cases.



RMS







One of our projects, RMS, is a great example of how data mapping helps maintain accurate records and eliminate data duplications. This solution was developed to assist SoftTeco's Sales Department. Initially, we managed all client interactions through Zoho and Jira, but these systems were not integrated, which often created duplicate information, leading to miscommunications and other issues.  



Therefore, we created RMS - a comprehensive solution for managing the Request for Resources process. RMS is connected to two of SoftTeco's internal platforms: the employee and CV databases. This connection makes it easy to find candidate information. To keep historical data accurate, we connected RMS with Zoho and transferred data from it. The platform holds all necessary information in one place, so authorized users can view details about a selected RFR, its status, and the client's communication history. The RMS platform also helps employees prepare for interviews and provides easy access to project details and the client's expectations.



Brokerstar







Another good example from our practice is Brokerstar. It is a digital solution for insurance brokers with rich functionality. Through the platform, brokers can keep their contacts, documents, and tasks in one place. However, when the client turned to us, the product was not optimized. Therefore, SoftTeco worked on the functionality enhancements and optimization of the platform. With the data mapping, we synchronized system emails with the user's Outlook account so brokers could manage all the correspondence through the platform.  



Final thoughts 



Database mapping is not just a technical task; it's a vital step in any data process that helps address various data-related challenges across industries. Whether it is an integration of new systems, migration to different platforms, or setting up data analytics, proper mapping ensures your data maintains its quality and integrity, keeping it a valuable asset. However, it's not an easy task and requires strong technical skills or data scientists on your team. And that's where a reliable service provider like SoftTeco can help. With our strong expertise in data science and database mapping, we will help you unlock the full potential of your information. 

### Elearning App Development: A Detailed Guide 

Online learning is growing rapidly, especially after COVID-19 and due to technological advances and changing educational needs. According to Statista, elearning apps became the second most popular category on Google Play in 2024. Why? Elearning apps tackle key challenges in education, such as accessibility, flexibility, and delivering personalized content. Thus, they’ve changed how and where users learn and will continue to do so. 



Recognizing these trends, companies and institutions are adapting new ways to deliver content through feature-rich and modern ed apps. This is why elearning mobile app development services become an attractive investment. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about elearning app development, including its cost, step-by-step development process, essential features, real-life examples, and the latest trends. 







An elearning market overview



Before we start, let's look at elearning market statistics. As we said, the elearning market, also known as online learning or digital education, is rapidly growing and evolving. Of course, the main reason for its growth was the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced educational institutions and businesses to adopt remote learning and functioning. Even after the pandemic, the online learning market continues to expand due to emerging new technologies, a rise in mobile app usage, and a demand for personalized education. 



Over time, users recognized the value of online learning in terms of its flexibility, accessibility, and low cost. Also, online learning allows users to learn anytime, anywhere, and at their own pace. This makes elearning an attractive option for students, professionals, and organizations alike. Hence, here are some key statistics about elearning:




The global elearning market was valued at $399 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2032​ (Global Market Insights);



The market size of elearning app development is estimated at $76.08 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $230 by 2029 (MordorIntelligence);



The global corporate elearning space is projected to reach $44.6 billion by 2028 (Valuates Reports);



90% of companies offer some form of digital learning to their employees (LinkedIn);



68% of employees prefer to learn at work (LinkedIn).








These numbers clearly show the importance of online education for everyone. And as trends like AI, gamification, and AR/VR emerge, users are seeking more immersive and engaging learning experiences. To meet user demands and remain competitive, companies must develop future-proof solutions for the ed market. But what exactly does elearning app development entail? Let's explore.



What is elearning app development?



Elearning software is specialized software for managing, delivering, and tracking learning processes. It typically serves different user groups, each with specific functionalities tailored to their needs: 




Institutions: schools, universities, and companies use LMS platforms to deliver educational content, manage their curricula, and schedule classes.



Teachers/ instructors: they use LMS systems to create and manage courses, upload content, grade students, and track their progress.



Students: they use LMS platforms to learn educational materials, submit assignments, take quizzes, and engage in discussions. 




The main goal of an elearning app is to enhance the learning experience by making it more accessible, engaging, and personalized for everyone. Such apps support various learning styles, such as self-directed learning, hybrid learning, microlearning, etc. Based on goals, ed apps can be divided into cloud-based, open-source, corporate, academic, and mobile. Each type has its own unique benefits and functionality.



Hence, elearning app development is the process of creating a mobile or web app that provides users seamless access to educational content via their laptops or mobile devices. This process typically includes a lot of stages, such as planning, UX\UI design, development, and testing. It also requires attention to detail, high technical expertise, and a user-centric approach. This is exactly what you can find at SoftTeco’s mobile app development services. We are ready to guide you through every stage of development to deliver a sought-after elearning app for your audience.



Main types of elearning applications



Before you begin to develop an educational app, you need to decide on its type. The main types of elearning applications can be categorized by their functionality, audience, and learning objectives. Here are the main ones:



Learning Management System (LMS)



A software application designed to facilitate the administration, delivery, tracking, and reporting of educational courses and training programs. These apps are used by schools, universities, and businesses for various purposes, including employee training or academic learning. They support online, mobile, and hybrid learning models.



Course-based learning apps



A course-based learning app is a digital platform that delivers structured learning materials through courses and requires a subscription. The platform typically offers a series of interactive lessons (video lectures, quizzes) or modules, often focused on specific subjects or skills. They allow users to learn at their own pace and receive certifications upon course completion (Udemy, Skillshare).



Mobile learning (mLearning) apps



This application is an educational platform designed for use on mobile devices, and it offers content that can be accessed anytime and anywhere. It includes videos, quizzes, and progress-tracking features for bite-sized and on-the-go learning (Duolingo, Babbe).



Virtual classrooms



Virtual classroom apps are digital platforms that offer an online space for conducting live, interactive classes. They enable real-time connections between teachers and students for lessons, discussions, and activities, with features like video conferencing and screen sharing (Zoom, Google Classroom).



Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)



MOOC is a platform that offers online courses available for a global audience, often free or low-cost. It is provided by universities, colleges, and industry experts, covering various subjects and skills. It usually offers completion certificates, some with university affiliations, and follows a schedule, but also allows self-paced learning (Coursera, edX).



Corporate training apps



These digital platforms help companies improve employee skills and ensure professional growth. They offer features like training modules, interactive lessons, assessments, and video tutorials. Also, they provide employers with real-time feedback and analytics, allowing managers to assess employee progress (LinkedIn Learning, Skillsoft).



Educational games for children 



These apps are designed to combine entertainment with education, making learning enjoyable for children. They provide interactive activities and focus on basic skills, such as reading, creativity, and social-emotional learning. Children can learn and retain information more effectively through fun and game-based apps (ABCmouse, Osmo).



Having explored the main types of elearning applications, let’s look at how these ideas are brought to life.



Examples of elearning solutions from SoftTeco



SoftTeco created Meek-A-Moo, a language-focused education game designed for children aged 4 and up. It offers free and premium versions that are accessible via QR code and supports English and Spanish. The game combines smooth navigation, engaging visuals, and realistic sounds, making learning fun and exciting for children.







Another example is Gameinsights, a European elearning platform for the football community, which includes players, coaches, and clubs. It provides tools like session planners, game schemes, and scouting worksheets to streamline learning and practice. Coaches can design game strategies, visualize and export them for usage. Also, it encourages collaboration, making it easier to share resources and learn interactively.







If you need a fast time-to-market for your elearning solution, open-source platforms can provide it. They come with pre-built tools, libraries, and frameworks designed for elearning, saving app development time compared to building from scratch. At SoftTeco, we built high-quality elearning software using open-source platforms within the budget and time of our clients.



The next question you might have is how much it costs to develop an elearning app - let's explore it in detail.



How much does it cost to develop an elearning app?



You might guess that the cost of the elearning app development, just like any other software, depends on many factors and varies from business to business. This makes it difficult to provide an accurate estimate upfront. On average, the cost of education software ranges from $20,000 to $500,000. But you can plan a realistic budget with the help of an experienced analyst from a development agency, who can assess your requirements and calculate the costs.



Below are the key factors that influence the cost of an elearning app:




App platform (iOS, Android, or both)



Core functionality 



Desired UI\UX design



Required tech stack and tools 



Advanced technologies



The development team and its location




Let’s consider each point in depth. 



App platform



The choice of a platform (iOS, Android, or both) significantly impacts development costs, time, and complexity. Here's a breakdown of the average costs for developing an educational app based on platform selection:




iOS only: $20,000 - $60,000 for a mid-range app. iOS development is often faster because there are fewer devices to optimize. However, strict adherence to Apple's guidelines is required;



Android only: $25,000 - $70,000. Android development can be more complex due to the wide variety of devices and screen sizes that need support.



Cross-platform: $50,000 - $120,000. Cross-platform development allows a single codebase to run on both iOS and Android. But it requires additional work to ensure smooth performance and cross-platform compatibility.




To select the most suitable platform, businesses should analyze their target audience and their goals. It's worth mentioning that any platform requires regular updates to stay compatible with new OS versions and devices, which can further increase overall costs.



Core functionality 



Once you've chosen the right platform for your education app, the next step is to outline its core functionality. Keep in mind that the more features you add, the higher the development cost will be. Here's an approximate breakdown:




Basic features (user profile, communication tools): $10,000–$50,000



Advanced features (AI, gamification, AR/VR): $100,000–$500,000+




Note: The development of an admin panel is not included in these estimates. The admin panel is a backend tool for managing your platform, separate from the user-facing app features. Its cost typically ranges from $4,000 to $6,000+ depending on complexity.



UI\UX design



A well-designed UI/UX is key to the success of any educational app. It ensures smooth navigation, enhanced user satisfaction, and overall functionality for both students and teachers. Moreover, a clear and intuitive interface makes learning more engaging and boosts retention and usability. When it comes to design costs, adding custom elements, interactive features, and multi-device support can drive up expenses.



Based on complexity, elearning app design costs:




Basic design: $5,000-$10,000+



Middle design: $10,000-$20,000+



Complex and custom design: $20,000-$50,000+




Tech stack and tools



Choosing the right tech stack is crucial for building a successful learning application. A well-chosen stack ensures smooth performance, seamless user experiences, and scalability for future growth. However, a diverse set of tools and technologies will increase team size and costs. 



On the other hand, picking the wrong tech stack can lead to sluggish performance, limited scalability, and unexpected expenses. It's important to evaluate your application's requirements and budget before choosing a tech stack for an elearning app. Here is a recommended one:




Frontend: React, Vue.js, Angular



Backend: Node.js, Python, Ruby, PHP



Databases: MySQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Firebase



Mobile development: React Native, Flutter, Swift (iOS), Kotlin\Java (Android) 



Cloud services: AWS, Google Cloud, Azure



Third-party integrations: Stripe, PayPal, Google Analytics, Moodle, CRM




Note: Keep in mind that simpler stacks can reduce costs but may limit flexibility in the future. Hence, it's better to consult with an app development agency to evaluate the pros and cons of the needed technologies.



Advanced technologies



Beyond the basic functionality, you may need to add advanced technology to your app, like AI, VR\AR, or gamification. These technologies can help you stay on top of trends and meet user expectations. But they also come with higher costs due to their complexity and the specialized expertise required. Thus, their proper implementation and their use are also important to consider.



Here's the approximate cost of adopting advanced technology:




VR/AR: $10,000 - $50,000+



AI: $5,000 - $20,000+



Gamification: $5,000 - $15,000+




The development team 



Above all, the cost of your educational app depends heavily on the time developers spend working on it. When choosing the development team, it's important to understand regional cost differences to manage your budget and expectations effectively. You can choose from several options: hiring an in-house team, outsourcing, or freelancers.



Outsourcing is a simple way to develop your app. A software development agency typically handles everything, from research and design to testing and deployment. This option is often less expensive than building an in-house team while still offering high-quality products. Average hourly costs for edu app development by region:




Central and Eastern Europe: $50/h - $85/h



Western Europe: $60 - $150/h



North America: $100 - $150/h



Australia: $70 - $150/h



Asia: $20 - $50/h




When developing an elearning application, planning and prioritization are keys to staying on budget and meeting your objectives. Now, let's look at the main reasons why investing in it is worthwhile.



Core benefits of elearning app development



The key benefits that elearning solutions bring to organizations are:




Accessibility: users can access learning materials anytime and anywhere, allowing businesses to reach a global audience and make education suitable for everyone;



Cost efficiency: elearning apps lower costs associated with traditional education, like physical materials, classroom rentals, and in-person tutors. Online content can be reused and shared with many users, thus reducing expenses;



Personalized learning: apps use AI and data analytics to personalize the learning experience. This helps address the unique requirements of each learner, making education more effective and targeted;



Real-time analytics and reporting: ed apps have tracking and analytics tools that allow users to monitor learner progress for better results. Teachers also can use this data to optimize their training programs;



Increased user engagement: ed apps offer interactive features like quizzes, polls, and games that keep users motivated and engaged in their learning.




However, developing an elearning app comes with several challenges that you need to consider in advance.



Challenges in elearning app development



The key challenges that companies might face during the elearning app development are:




Integration with other tools: creating a seamless learning experience requires the integration of advanced technologies and tools that can be technically complex;



Content delivery: elearning apps must deliver relevant and consistent content across all devices and platforms. If your team has limited resources, it may be challenging to manage content effectively;



Scalability: as the number of users grows, the app must be able to handle increasing data traffic and user interactions without performance dips. This requires careful planning of the architecture and the use of cloud services;



Security: protecting user data and privacy is vital in educational apps. This requires constant attention to security measures and regular updates to comply with regulations like GDPR;



Cost: developing a feature-rich and high-quality elearning app can be expensive and resource-intensive without the help of a development agency.




The basic features of an elearning app



Every online education app is unique, but they have a common goal - educating users. Regardless of the type and purpose of your ed app, it should include the following basic features:



Account management



Users and instructors need a way to sign up and manage their accounts via an email, phone number, or password. For better convenience, you may add quick registration through social media, like Meta. Once an account is created, each user is assigned a role to define their access level: a learner, instructor, or administrator.



Search option



A search engine is essential for elearning platforms, which act as catalogs for learning materials. A well-designed search helps users quickly find relevant topics or courses based on their preferences or learning history. Key elements include a keyword search bar, category browsing, and language and skill level filters. It saves users time and minimizes frustration. 



Payment methods



For paid online courses, users need access to various secure payment methods like debit/credit cards, digital wallets, and popular payment systems. Ensuring the security of personal information is crucial to building user trust. In addition, user profiles should provide simple ways to manage, store, and edit financial settings.



Assessments and progress tracking



Because self-study is in demand among users, the app should provide the ability to track learning progress and offer assessments (tests, quizzes). This helps students track how far they’ve come and stay motivated toward reaching their learning goals. Teachers can leverage this functionality to oversee class progress and provide support when needed.



Video-based content



Video content is highly beneficial for students, letting them watch or listen to prerecorded lessons at any time. This ensures they never miss a lesson, making it a crucial feature in high-demand elearning apps that must be included.



Push notifications



Push notifications help users stay on track by reminding them of upcoming lessons or deadlines and encouraging a consistent study routine. However, it’s essential to strike a balance - send periodic updates rather than frequent alerts to avoid overwhelming users and ensure the notifications remain helpful.



Course pages



Course pages are crucial for giving learners a clear overview of the course. They should include key details like author data, syllabus, materials, and covered topics. It can be helpful to add certificates of completion and feedback from previous participants. A well-organized and easy-to-use course page helps learners make informed decisions about taking the course.



Support of multiple languages



An app should provide materials, instructions, and an interface in multiple languages to cater to users worldwide. The more languages are available in the app, the more students worldwide can use it. This feature reduces language barriers, enhances user engagement, and creates a more personalized learning.



Teacher profile functions (if needed)



These profiles allow instructors to manage courses, track student progress, and communicate directly with learners. Key features might include the ability to upload course materials, set assignments, and provide feedback. Teachers can also monitor performance and adapt their teaching strategies to better meet student needs.



If you need custom app development, you should consider a range of additional features. To help you with this, we’ll discuss the emerging trends in this market below. 



Future trends in elearning app development 



During the development of your elearning app, you should consider the following elearning top trends:







AI and ML 



Artificial intelligence is everywhere, and it’s no wonder why this technology quickly found itself useful in online learning. AI is integrated into learning platforms to provide a highly personalized learning experience and advanced learner analytics. ML models are used to customize content for learners based on their learning pace, preferences, and challenges. Also, it automates administrative tasks like grading, feedback, and suggests learning strategies, allowing educators to focus on teaching.



For example, an AI-powered language learning app that replaces a real teacher and allows users to communicate with AI to learn the language solo.



AR and VR



Augmented and Virtual Reality are changing education by providing immersive learning experiences. By using VR, learners can interact hands-on with the subject matter in realistic, 3D environments. On the other hand, AR adds digital information to the real world, enhancing the environment without a fully immersive alternate reality. These technologies work together to help learners understand concepts more deeply through direct experience.



This approach is particularly useful in corporate training programs because it's practical. However, many organizations are reluctant to adopt VR and AR due to concerns about cost and complexity. The good news is, you don’t need to buy VR headsets for every learner. Instead, you can use 360-degree videos or mobile-based VR apps to provide an immersive experience at a lower cost.



Gamification



Another growing trend in the elearning field is gamification. Education apps that incorporate game-like elements, such as simulations, leaderboards, and badges, increase user engagement and motivation. It makes learning more enjoyable and memorable, encouraging students to achieve learning goals faster. Thus, it increases assignment completion rates and promotes continuous learning.



Microlearning 



Today, mobile learning and microlearning go hand in hand, as mobile devices offer the ideal platform to deliver microlearning. It offers data in small, bite-size modules that are easy to learn. These short lessons allow learners to absorb and retain information quickly and on-the-go. Thus, learning becomes more flexible and convenient for today's busy learners.



Hybrid learning



Hybrid learning combines online and offline education, providing flexibility and in-person interaction. Its primary advantage is adaptability across different settings, such as schools, universities, and corporate training. For example, employees can learn theory online and attend in-person workshops for hands-on experience. With this blend, learners can choose their preferred learning method.



Social learning 



Since social learning became digital, working together has never been simpler, quicker, and more effective. Social learning platforms are great tools for communication-based education and team collaboration. They go beyond simply storing training materials and courses - they help learners share insights, solve problems, and build a sense of community. This creates a more engaging and supportive learning experience, especially for remote or hybrid learners. 



After you've defined your app's main features and trends, the next step is to consider how to earn from your software.



How to monetize your elearning app



Here are some effective ways to monetize your elearning app:




Course fees




The course fees model is simple and effective. Users pay a one-time fee for access to a specific course. The price can vary depending on the course's complexity, specialization, or certification. You can offer tiered pricing for basic, intermediate, and advanced courses to appeal to a wider audience.




One-time purchases




This is a simple monetization model where users pay a one-time fee to unlock specific features, tools, or content within an app. This approach appeals to users who prefer not to commit to recurring payments, such as subscriptions. With it, users can enhance or complement the core learning experience without being tied to one course.




In-app purchases




A monetization method where users buy specific items, features, or specific content directly within the app. This method generates revenue through user purchases, often without requiring a subscription.




Subscription models




The subscription model is a popular revenue option for eLearning apps. Users pay a recurring fee (monthly or annually) for unlimited access to courses and materials, ensuring steady income. You can offer tiered plans - basic, premium, and professional - to cater to different needs and budgets.




Corporate partnerships




Corporate partnerships involve working with businesses to provide specialized training for their employees. This model generates steady income through bulk subscriptions or customized training packages. Businesses may renew subscriptions or increase training requirements over time.




Freemium model




A freemium model offers users a free basic version of a product with the option to upgrade to a paid version that includes additional features. To make upgrading worthwhile, you need to find the sweet spot between free value and paid temptations. The approach works well for businesses, attracting many users who can explore the platform before paying.



For example, Grammarly offers a free version that checks basic grammar and spelling. Users can upgrade to the premium version for advanced features like style suggestions, plagiarism detection, and personalized writing tips. 




Certifications




Certifications or completion badges that learners can add to their resumes or LinkedIn profiles is a great way to attract more learners. You can charge for certifications or include them in premium course packages. 



No matter what monetization model you choose, the key is to create a course that provides real value to users. Once you've decided on the right monetization model, the next step is building your own elearning solution.



Elearning application development process



Finally, let’s consider a step-by-step education app development process that will help ensure a smooth and effective learning experience:







Idea and market research



The first step towards elearning app creation is thorough planning and research. In other words, you’ll need to determine the idea of your application that should combine educational and business goals. For this, you’ll need to conduct market research that helps you understand current trends, your targeted audience, and potential features of an app.



If you’re not an idea or want to make sure that your idea is worth having, you’ll need to conduct competitor research. With this method, you can determine the strengths and weaknesses of existing apps to see what’s working best in elearning. 



Project requirements



Once your research is complete, outline the project’s requirements to create a clear roadmap for elearning development. During this step, you need to define:




Project objectives



Tech stack



Milestones



Budget



Core functionality




Keep in mind that well-designed app functionality can either attract and engage users or drive them away. Decide on the essential features your app will include, such as simple user registration, progress tracking, or interactive components. As we said above, you’ll need to choose a development approach for your app: native (iOS, Android), cross-platform or web-based app. Your choice should depend on your goals, target audience, and budget. 



UX\UI design



The UX and UI design of the ed application will largely depend on your audience. For example, if the app is designed for kids, it should have a playful and bright design. If for older users, you should use a more subdued color palette and a clean, minimalist interface. It should be easy to navigate, intuitive, and visually appealing to keep users focused on learning. 



To make your app stand out, you may include interactive elements, a mobile-first design, and accessibility principles (customizable colors). But it’s crucial not to overwhelm users with too many features. For this, you may conduct usability testing with real users to gather feedback and identify issues or areas of confusion in the app.



Elearning app development



As soon as the planning and design stages are complete, the development phase kicks off. The app is built based on the specifications, design, and requirements established earlier. Before full-scale development, creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is recommended. It includes only the core features, allowing you to test the app's viability and gather early feedback for improvements.



Once the MVP is validated, you can begin the full development process. This involves creating the user interface, implementing the app's business logic, and integrating all planned features and tools. It’s crucial to conduct testing to identify and fix bugs before the release. In addition, this phase should involve performance optimization to ensure the app runs smoothly and efficiently across various devices and environments.



Educational content integration



Content is at the heart of any learning app. So, during app development, you need to find experts in well-structured learning materials. Then, you must integrate a Content Management System (CMS) to allow administrators to manage and update materials easily. The CMS should be flexible enough to support various content formats, like text, infographics, interactive modules, and video tutorials. The content also must cater to different learning styles and levels, ensuring accessibility to everyone. 



Another thing to take care of is regular updates. This helps keep the content fresh, relevant, and engaging, ensuring a continuous and useful learning experience.



Testing and launch



Once the full development of the elearning app is complete, the next step is thorough testing. QA testers need to conduct thorough tests at each stage to identify and fix any issues, such as glitches, usability problems, or performance bottlenecks. This phase involves multiple tests - functional, usability, security, and a user acceptance test (UAT) - to ensure the app meets quality standards and learners' expectations. 



When everything is ready, it's time to launch the eLearning app. Before becoming available for download, it is reviewed by the app stores (Google Play for Android and App Store for iOS). Make sure the app complies with their guidelines and meets quality standards. After launch, it's also crucial to maintain the app's performance, address user feedback, and release regular updates to improve its functionality.



Examples of successful elearning applications 



There are a lot of educational apps that have gained the trust of users globally, and now we’re going to break down their strengths.



Khan Academy



Khan Academy is a globally recognized elearning platform that provides free, world-class educational resources to all ages. It offers online courses, lessons, and practice exercises in various subjects like math, science, economics, programming, and more. In addition, it offers test preparation (SAT, GMAT, etc.) and personal development activities.



Its mission is to make education accessible to everyone. So, the platform follows a freemium model, in which basic features are free, while additional ones (like personalized mentoring) are paid. Other key features of Khan Academy are:




Accessibility: it reaches a global audience with multi-language support and offline access through its mobile apps;



Trusted content: with Khan Academy, learners can find trusted tutorials and lessons on different topics;



Support for teachers and parents: educators and parents can also monitor student progress, assign work, and provide targeted support based on detailed analytics;



Personalized learning: The platform uses data analytics to adapt to each student's learning pace and style. It also lets students practice skills until they fully understand them, focusing on mastery instead of traditional grades.




Udemy



Udemy is an online learning platform with over 150,000 courses, both free and paid, covering topics such as web development, machine learning, and data analytics. Various courses are available on a desktop or mobile device and created by professionals, educators, and industry experts. 



Udemy operates on a marketplace model where anyone can create and sell courses. Also, it offers a subscription service called Udemy Business, which provides companies with curated courses for employee training and development. The platform is widely used for improving skills and professional growth. Other benefits of Udemy include:




Affordability: many courses are affordable in price, and there are frequent discounts that make learning more accessible to everyone;



Diverse teaching styles: since individual instructors create courses, learners can choose from a range of teaching styles and methodologies, finding what works best for them;



Lifetime access: once you enroll in a course, you have lifetime access to the materials, allowing you to learn at your own pace and revisit content as needed.



Certification: upon completion, learners receive certificates, which can be shared on professional networks like LinkedIn to boost career prospects.




Coursera



Coursera is a global online learning platform that offers individuals access to online courses and certifications from leading universities worldwide. Coursera partners with more than 275+ leading universities and companies to bring flexible and affordable education in fields like business, technology, arts, data science, and more. 



While many courses are available for free, Coursera also offers a subscription model called Coursera Plus, offering a vast library of courses for a monthly fee. Coursera offers mostly asynchronous learning, so you can study at your own pace and fit it into your schedule. Other benefits of Coursera are:




Access to world-class education: as the platform partners with top universities and institutions around the world (Stanford, Harvard) and industry leaders (Google, IBM), students gain access to valuable knowledge from renowned experts.



Flexibility: learners can access self-paced courses anytime, with on-demand lectures available on desktop and mobile. This allows them to fit education into their schedules;



Credentials and certificates: upon completion of a course, learners can earn certificates that can be added to their CVs or LinkedIn profiles. This demonstrates subject expertise and improves job prospects.



Degrees and specializations: in addition to individual courses, Coursera offers specializations and degree programs that allow learners to gain in-depth knowledge to move up the career ladder.




Duolingo 



Duolingo is one of the most user-loved language learning applications that offers courses in over 40 languages. By using a gamified approach, it features interactive micro-lessons and a reward system to keep users motivated. Through this method, users improve their speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills while also expanding their vocabulary.



While Duolingo offers free access to its core content, the premium version (Duolingo Plus) provides extra features like an ad-free experience and offline access. More benefits of Duolingo are:




Accessibility: as it is free to use and offers multiple languages on multiple devices, allowing users to learn what and when they want; 



Engagement: the gamified approach and varied exercises make learning fun, engaging, and interactive, helping to keep users motivated and committed;



Structured learning path: it offers structured and micro lessons that gradually introduce more complex language skills and vocabulary. Users may set daily goals and receive notifications to encourage regular practice and stay on track;



Self-paced learning: it offers self-paced learning, allowing users to progress at their own speed and fit lessons into their schedules. 




Summary



As the elearning industry continues to grow, understanding the key nuances of learning app development in 2024 and beyond is crucial for companies. Education apps have made education more accessible, efficient, and easier for both students and educators. With them, learners can engage with complex topics in simple ways and through various formats that were quite tricky just a few years ago. To keep up with today’s transformation, businesses in the education sector must adopt elearning app development and innovation.




 


Expert Opinion



Indeed, elearning systems have transformed education by making learning more flexible and accessible. By incorporating tools such as videos, quizzes, and virtual classrooms, they cater to diverse learning needs while keeping users engaged. Advanced technologies, like AI and analytics, make learning more personalized. As a result, schools and businesses widely adopt these systems to train large numbers of employees efficiently. 



Building an effective elearning system requires balancing technology and learning goals. Developers need to design educational tools that are user-friendly, accessible, and meet modern users’ needs. At the same time, they need to keep in mind possible challenges during development, like supporting multiple devices or updating content regularly. To make your app more inclusive, you may add tailored features, like gamification or language options. And remember, a well-designed elearning system is one that helps learners achieve better learning results.





Project Manager at SoftTeco



Andrei Govsha

### Bank API Integration: A Comprehensive Guide

Modern banks need to be flexible and technology-oriented in order to retain and attract clients and keep up with the competition. One of the ways to do so is the integration of bank APIs that bring optimization and speed to legacy banking processes and services. 



But how do you select and implement the right solution? In this article, we talk about bank API integration in detail, discussing the way such APIs operate and the most common financial API types to consider for implementation.







What is bank API integration?



In banking, an Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of rules and protocols that connects the banking software with third-party applications and enables their communication. In this way, banks can significantly extend their services and reach while customers gain real-time access to their data and banking services without the need to visit the physical branch of the bank. Usually, banks address software development companies for professional API development services to ensure the quality and security of delivered results. 



The simplest example of using a bank API is paying for a Spotify subscription. Spotify is not a financial service but it accepts user payments - and to do so, it needs a trusted and secure payment API to connect with the user’s bank account and confirm the payment. 



Types of bank APIs by accessibility



Since APIs process and transfer sensitive information, security is their top priority. Hence, there are several types of APIs based on their level of accessibility:



Private APIs are only used within the bank’s internal system. A private API connects only the bank’s systems and is not exposed to any external parties. This allows different departments to share information in a faster and easier manner, thus optimizing the banking processes. The majority of banks consider private APIs to be an essential part of their digital environment and implement them from the start.



Partner APIs are the ones that are used between the bank and a trusted third party partner. These apps are typically used to expand the bank’s services and add new sales channels. An example would be a bank partnering with an insurance company so the latter can access the customers’ data (with their consent, obviously) to speed up its processes while keeping them secured. In most cases, partner APIs are designed specifically upon the request from the bank or from the third party and grant access to this one bank only.



Open APIs, as the name implies, are open for any developer to use and to integrate in their product. Open APIs are very popular with fintech solutions that need easy and secure access to the bank’s system. Such partnership is beneficial for both banks and third parties, since the banks increase the accessibility of their services while third parties can significantly elevate their own services through financial data integration with one or several banks. Also, open APIs are usually integrated with several banks, thus enabling a diversity of services and solutions for the users of the third-party application.



As you can see, the use of APIs allows banks to enter web and mobile domains seamlessly and to digitize their services in a user-friendly manner. Now let’s look at the biggest benefits of integrating bank APIs in more detail.



Why bank API integration is important



Bank API transforms legacy banking processes on many levels and brings an array of benefits for banks, their partners, and customers. But if we were to define the biggest advantages of using this technology, we can list down the following:



Streamlining financial operations







One of the biggest bottlenecks for many banks is the complexity of their processes. Due to the huge amount of documentation (often in paper form), manual processes, and the need to validate the requests with every party involved, banks often lack flexibility and transparency. APIs, on the other hand, eliminate these issues and grant banks the ability to speed up and streamline their operations through automation and pre-defined security measures. In this way, various departments can seamlessly share the data with each other in a secure manner, thus greatly saving both time and resources.



Real-time data access



Modern bank clients expect speed when it comes to the execution of transactions (or other financial operations). The simplest example is checking the account balance via the banking app. APIs allow real-time access to the user’s data without the need to visit the physical office and wait until the bank employee verifies your identity and provides you with the requested information. The same goes for bank employees as well: with APIs, they can use various banking systems and retrieve information immediately.



Improved user experience



As mentioned above, modern bank customers expect digitization, speed and efficiency when it comes to banking services. As well, customers prefer to have all their financial information at hand and accessible in a few taps. Since bank APIs connect banks with numerous applications, including personal finance ones, customers are able to freely manage their assets exactly how they need to. In this way, banks can greatly elevate the user experience that they provide while customers enjoy smooth and effective execution of their transactions and other operations.



Common types of bank APIs



In addition to accessibility types, bank APIs can also be divided into different types by their purpose of use:



Payment APIs



Payment APIs are the most well-known type of bank APIs, examples including Stripe, PayPal, and Amazon Pay. The main goal of payment APIs is to enable payments directly from the user’s bank account from a third-party application. So whenever you pay for something online, that’s payment API in action.



These APIs are most often used for online payments and transactions but they also support fund transfers. The use of payment APIs helps customers perform needed transactions securely and without direct interaction with the bank (which speeds up the whole process).



Note that payment APIs do not usually store sensitive information. But in order to use your data for future transactions, payment APIs replace it with a token - a unique set of characters that encrypts sensitive information and prevents its exposure to unauthorized parties. 



Account information APIs



Account information APIs enable users to access their personal information securely via a third-party application, such as a financial management app. The biggest advantage that such APIs bring is the real-time access to the required information. Other use cases include transaction monitoring and real-time notifications that add to the transparency of one’s account and operations. 



Card issuing and management APIs



These APIs help banks and financial institutions issue cards directly from their systems without the need for a third-party partner. So when a user wants to request a card, they can do so in a few simple steps instead of having to visit the physical office and fill in a pile of paper documents. Banks, in turn, also benefit from the use of card issuing APIs as they get more control and transparency over their card issuing and management processes and can collect valuable information about their customers.



Card issuing APIs can be used to issue various types of cards: physical and digital debit cards, physical and digital credit cards, prepaid cards, or corporate cards. Also note that card issuing via a specialized API is fully compliant with all needed regulations and security requirements which is another big advantage.



Lending APIs



As the name implies, lending APIs are designed specifically for lenders to help them with a number of operations, such as decisions on loan approvals, disbursal of loans, or repayment collection. Same as other financial APIs, lending APIs help automate and streamline a bunch of lending processes, allowing lenders instant access to needed information and services.





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How bank API integration works



If you decide to implement a bank integration API in your processes, it is important to understand how it works and what its core components are. This will help you select the most suitable solution and configure it properly to ensure secure data transfer.



Understanding API endpoints



Endpoints are the essential components of any API. They serve an important role, allowing applications to access the exact resources that they requested. To better understand the operating principle of endpoints, let’s once again review what an API is.



An API is a set of protocols and rules that helps applications and systems communicate with each other. However, one application can send a variety of requests to a database. For example, in Spotify, you can follow an artist, like an album, or create a playlist. All these are different requests - and each of them is performed via a specific endpoint.



An API endpoint can be defined as a digital location with its own URL where a request is sent. The endpoint defines a specific service (or action) that an API provides. It is important to remember that each endpoint performs one job only. This allows developers to scale their apps easily and to ensure that every request is performed in a secure and efficient manner.



Authentication and authorization



Other critical components of an API are authentication and authorization, responsible for ensuring secure data transfer. Here is how they work.



Authentication is the process of verifying the identity of a user or an application that makes the request. The main purpose of authentication is to verify that the user or the app is legitimate. It is done by providing a user name and a password or via a token-based system.



Authorization is the next step. It verifies that the user or the app has the rights to access the requested information. In this way, authorization helps restrict access to sensitive data and manage access rights. It is performed by using access tokens. 



Both authentication and authorization work together to let only validated and legitimate users access the resources, thus contributing to the security of the system.



Data formats



In order for the systems to understand each other during the information exchange, APIs use specific data formats - you can think of them as shared communication languages. The most common include:




JSON: a lightweight format structured as key-value pairs. Is most suitable for modern APIs due to its lightweight nature and easy parsing.



XML: is more complex than JSON and uses tags for data organization. Is often used in legacy systems.



Plain Text: a simple and unstructured text data used for basic API responses.



SOAP API: is considered a very reliable protocol for data exchange between the systems. Due to its strict implementation guidelines and a high level of security, SOAP API is often used in banks and financial institutions.




Error handling 



Error handling in APIs refers to the process of handling errors that were returned by the API upon the request. Errors happen when a request cannot be fulfilled and can be the following:




400 Bad Request: the sent request is invalid



401 Unauthorised: the user or the app that tries to access the resources does not have access or permission to do so



404 Not Found: the requested information is not found on the server




Proper error handling is crucial as it not only contributes to the app’s security but ensures clear communication between the client and the server. Some of its best practices include:




Detailed error logging: useful for diagnosing issues and enables proactive approach to resolving them.



Provide clear error messages: in order for the client to understand what’s wrong, the error message should be concise yet informative.



Use error codes: there are standard error codes used to define specific errors so it’s recommended to use them for better clarity and troubleshooting.



Use retryable errors: if the issue is temporary (i.e., the session expired), offer instructions about how to retry the action.




Steps to integrate a bank API



Bank APIs have become essential for any modern fintech solution so if you are considering their implementation, you need to understand the main stages of the process. Below, we’ll walk you through the main steps needed to successfully integrate a financial services API  in your software product.



Choose the right API



The first thing that you need to do is choosing the right API that will elevate your business and help you meet set objectives. As we already mentioned, there are various types of APIs available so you need to understand which ones your business really needs.



In addition to the API type, pay extra attention to its documentation. An API documentation normally lists such things as API endpoints, its authentication methods, or response formats. As well, the documentation should clearly explain how exactly the API works and how to integrate it properly.



Set up authentication



Proper authentication is crucial for the security of your system so the next step is authentication setup. Banks normally offer their own authentication methods, with the most common ones being the API Keys and OAuth 2.0. OAuth 2.0 is an industry-recognized security standard that implies exchanging tokens to access needed resources.



Connect to API endpoints



To ensure that the API performs the desired action, you need to connect to its endpoints. To do so, study the documentation carefully, choose one of the testing tools, and set up the request. Once everything is done, you will need to test the connection to check whether the selected API works as intended.



Perform sandbox testing



Most banks provide a sandbox environment along with their APIs so developers can test the API’s performance safely, without risking the security of the real data. There are several things to focus on during the testing process:




The process of making requests to endpoints



Validation of responses



Error handling process








Sandbox testing is used to simulate real-world scenarios and monitor how well the APIs will handle the requests and how accurately they will perform them. So in case of any issue, you can quickly fix and retest it, ensuring the high quality of the final product upon its release.



Build the integration



Before testing in production-like environment and releasing the product, it’s important to handle and configure the following processes:




Design of API requests 



Error handling setup



Handling of data parsing and responses



Data encryption




All these processes are essential for secure and effective API functioning. Also, don’t forget to check whether your app complies with regulations since it’s critical for most of bank APIs.



Test and deploy



Once you are satisfied with the results of testing in a production-like environment, you can deploy the app. It’s recommended that you perform the API integration gradually, starting with a small audience before going big. This will help you better control and monitor the performance and quickly fix any issues in case they occur.



Security considerations for bank API integration



Operation in the financial industry requires stringent security measures and standards and obviously, it covers API security as well. Below we describe the main security considerations and measures for banking API integration.



Use common encryption standards



Encryption is a must-have security practice that helps protect sensitive data by making it hard for a malicious party to understand or access it. When talking about API development, it is recommended to use the following security protocols:




TLS (Transport Layer Security): is used to encrypt the data in transit between the client and the server.



AES (Advanced Encryption Standard): a symmetric encryption algorithm that helps ensure secure data storage. 



RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman): an asymmetric encryption algorithm that is used for secure transmission of keys.




Note that the SSL protocol is still used for API encryption though it is considered outdated and is often replaced by the TLS one. Also note that there are more security protocols that you can use for encryption of your API data - please consult your developers to select the most suitable option.



Use reliable API authentication mechanisms



It’s critical to use robust authentication methods to ensure that only authorized users access specific resources in accordance with their permissions. Here are the key API authentication mechanisms to consider for your project:



API keys. These are unique strings that help control access to an API and help authenticate the apps. Each key is associated with a specific client and is generated randomly. API keys are mostly recommended for simple apps as they offer quite limited security. Note though that it is not advised to store the keys in project files so you don’t compromise their security. Instead, it is recommended to plug them in separately from a bank server via the environment, in which the app functions.



OAuth 2.0. This is a well-known authentication protocol that allows third-party apps to access needed resources without sharing their credentials. The access is granted in the following way: an app requests access and is granted a token, generated by the authorization server. OAuth 2.0 is best used for scalable apps that require third-party integrations.



JWT. JSON Web Token is a compact standard for secure transmission of the data. It’s interesting that JWT can be validated without storing its state on the server. It is recommended to use JWT for stateless APIs and modern apps.



Ensure compliance with main financial regulations



There are two core regulations in the financial industry that  bank APIs must adhere to: PSD2 and GDPR. Let’s look at each of these in more detail below.



PSD2 stands for Payment Services Directive 2. This European Union regulation is aimed at creating a more competitive and open payment landscape in the financial services while also maintaining robust security of the sensitive data. In terms of API, the PSD2 requirements include:




APIs should provide a high level of security in order to allow third-party providers access to the customer data (with the customer’s consent);



APIs should support a two-factor authentication mechanism and overall provide strong customer authentication;



APIs should provide regular reports and logs to support compliance audits.




GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation and is also a European Union regulation. Its main purpose is the protection of the customer data and privacy through strict and thorough requirements on data collection, processing, and storage. Its main requirements for APIs include:




Data protection by design, meaning security measures must be incorporated at the beginning of the development process;



Effective consent management, so the consent is obtained before the sensitive data is accessed;



Minimization of the accessed data, meaning APIs should request and process only the minimum amount of data, needed for a request;



Effective notifications in case of a data breach, so each incident is reported within 72 hours.






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Challenges in bank API integration



When planning the financial API integration and development, it is critical to first analyze your current digital environment and identify potential challenges and limitations. The most common ones normally include:



Legacy systems compatibility



Despite the rapid technological advancement, many banks still use legacy software that is not compatible with modern software solutions. Hence, when planning the API integration, you first need to check how compatible it is with your current systems in use. 



Managing latency and downtime



Incorrect configuration of APIs can lead to high latency and downtime, thus negatively affecting the performance of your application. To avoid that, you need to optimize the performance of your APIs, check for existing bottlenecks, and constantly monitor any fluctuations. Some of the best optimization tips are:




Implementation of effective error handling and retry mechanisms;



Implementation of redundancy for ensuring continuity;



Maintenance notifications;



Automatic redirection of traffic to backup servers;



Implementation of edge computing;



Use of caching and load balancing.




Maintaining security







We’ve already mentioned that banks are highly rigorous about the security of their tools and services. This means the proposed software solution should be developed in full accordance with security best practices and should also adhere to the industry standards. Such compliance requires lots of time and effort so banks need to prepare for that in advance. 



Complexity in multi-bank integration



One more challenge that many banks face is the complexity of integrating multiple APIs into a single system. Since there is not one but several APIs to properly configure and implement, the whole process can become too complex and hard to manage. In addition, banks need to make sure that these APIs work well together and do not disrupt the performance of other systems. We therefore recommend that you prepare an integration strategy in advance and thoroughly test the performance of your APIs before plugging them in.



Best practices for bank API integration



Lastly, we’d like to provide you with several best practices for API integration that can help you create a more secure and efficient digital environment:



Use coding best practices from the start



One of the most important things to keep in mind when developing and integrating APIs is to follow secure coding best practices from the beginning of the development process. By writing secure, stable and concise code and covering it with tests throughout the development cycle, you will be able to minimize potential security issues and vulnerabilities from the start. Also, stable and secure code contributes greatly to enhanced API performance and smoother data transfer.



Maintain good API documentation



Documentation often gets neglected or overlooked as software developers tend to focus on more urgent and specific tasks. However, documentation is highly important as it sets the development standards, describes all processes, and explains all specifics of a project. So when it comes to API development, it is imperative that you maintain relevant and detailed documentation that would list in detail how a specific API works, how it should be configured, what authentication methods it uses, etc. API documentation helps not only ensure smooth API performance but also understand how exactly this specific API operates.



Perform consistent monitoring and maintenance



To ensure that your APIs are reliable and available at any given time, you should perform regular health checks. Health checks are automated tests (requests) that are sent to APIs to verify their accessibility, responsiveness, and overall state. The performance of health checks has multiple benefits:




Early identification of potential issues



Proactive response to threats



Improved API reliability and operation




Effectively handle versioning



Proper API versioning helps ensure that older versions are compatible and usable for existing clients while new versions receive all needed improvements. There are various versioning strategies to consider and the choice will depend on your specific needs. Just remember that versioning is an important part of API management and should be supported by documentation so you keep track of the version history and can always roll back, if needed.



In conclusion



APIs are an integral part of any banking system but due to the specifics of the industry, their development and configuration calls for extra attention due to rigid security requirements. To ensure compliance with necessary regulations and smooth and safe operation, it is recommended to partner with a reliable software development company that has experience in bank API integration and API development for banks specifically. In this way, you will rest assured that the final product exactly matches your requirements and is compatible with your current systems in use.

### Next.js vs React: Which to Choose for Modern Web Development

Modern web development requires choosing an effective and powerful tool that can impact your project's success. Two of the most ubiquitous options today are React and Next.js. Developed in 2013, React became a powerful library for building dynamic, feature-rich user interfaces. But despite React's benefits, developers ran into several issues, including complex setup and routing. To improve developers' experience and simplify web development, Vercel introduced Next.js, which allows the creation of scalable, high-performing, and SEO-friendly applications.



This article will explore the key differences between Next.js vs. React to help you determine which one (or both) of these tools is better suited for your web project. 







What is React.js?



React.js, simply called React, is an open-source JavaScript library developed by Facebook (now Meta) in 2013. Initially, it was designed to build single-page applications (SPAs) and user interfaces (UI) with a fast, dynamic, and interactive user experience. One of React's notable strengths is its component-based architecture. Developers can create reusable UI components, which allow them to write code once and reuse it across different projects. Thus, it saves time and simplifies app development, debugging, and scaling in React development.



React uses JSX (JavaScript Syntax Extension), which combines HTML and JavaScript in a single file. This makes the code more intuitive and easier to read. Overall, React has an undeniable impact on web development. It has transformed how developers build applications and has led to the creation of React-powered frameworks like Next.js, Gatsby, and Remix. Today, React is a highly popular library due to its rich ecosystem of tools and powerful features for modern web development. 



Here are the key features of React:  




Virtual DOM 




React uses a virtual DOM, which is a lightweight in-memory representation of the real DOM. When the state of an object in the app changes, React first updates the virtual DOM and then changes only that object in the real DOM (instead of updating all objects). This approach enhances performance and makes apps faster and more responsive.




Component-based architecture




React uses a component-based architecture, where the user interface is broken down into smaller, reusable UI components. These components are independent, manageable pieces of code that can be reused throughout the application, making development more efficient and maintainable.




One-way data binding




One-way means that the data flows in one direction, from the parent component to the child component. In this case, changes in the data automatically update the UI, but changes in the UI do not automatically update the data. Instead, changes trigger events (such as user interactions) that update the state, which then re-renders the UI. This makes it easy to manage changes, debug, and understand data flow.




Declarative UI




Declarative UI allows developers to describe how UI should look based on its current state, and React updates the DOM accordingly. This helps prevent common bugs and makes it easier to understand how updates happen and debug the code.




Extensions




React offers support for extensions, such as development tools (React DevTools), custom component libraries (tailwind UI, Chakra UI, React Bootstrap), frameworks (Next.js, Gatsby), and integration with Native React. The use of these extensions greatly enhances React’s functionality. Also, these extensions enable developers to use those tools that suit their projects the best.




React Hooks




React 16.8 version introduced Hooks (functions) that allow developers to use state and other React features without the need to write class components. In this way, developers can reuse logic between components and write more concise and readable code.



At SoftTeco, we combine the latest advancements in React with our deep expertise in software development to deliver custom solutions tailored to diverse business needs. Our React development service includes everything from architecture development to system integration and migration to support so you can build interactive, scalable, highly robust apps.



What is Next.js?



Next.js is an open-source full-stack framework, meaning it is used for both frontend and backend development of web applications. It was designed by Vercel in 2016 to extend the functionality of React and build dynamic web applications and websites with ease. Next.js provides a lot of out-of-the-box features that simplify the complex aspects of web development. At its core, it combines Server-Side Rendering (SSR) and Static Site Generation (SSG) rendering, thus allowing developers to create high-performing, scalable, and SEO-optimized websites. 



Next.js works well with other tools in the React ecosystem, such as GraphQL and TypeScript, enabling developers to use their existing skills. Many top companies like LinkedIn, TikTok, Netflix, Uber, and Starbucks use this framework, which displays its popularity and reliability. Next.js is also one of the fastest-growing React frameworks due to the features and benefits that it offers.



The main features of Next.js are:




Hybrid rendering




Next.js combines server-side rendering (SSR), static site generation (SSG), and client-side rendering (CSR) in a single application. This flexibility optimizes performance by pre-rendering static content whenever possible while dynamically rendering content only when needed. The result is an improved user experience, optimized SEO, and improved performance of web apps.




Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR)




This feature allows developers to update static pages without rebuilding the entire site. It’s useful for content that changes frequently but doesn’t need to be rendered on every request​.




File-based routing




Next.js has an automatic file-based routing system that simplifies route creation. Developers can create routes by adding files and folders to the pages directory instead of relying on additional libraries or configurations. It reduces boilerplate code and makes it easier to maintain the app.




API routes 




Next.js allows developers to create backend API endpoints directly within their project. It therefore enables them to develop full-stack applications without the need for separate server infrastructure. This simplifies data fetching, processing, and handling, making it easier to build complex applications.




Built-in image optimization 




Next.js has built-in automatic image optimization. It automatically optimizes images by resizing them and delivering modern formats, thus improving page load times. This feature frees developers from manually managing image optimization and ensures a consistent UX across various devices.




Serverless and edge functions




Next.js supports serverless deployment and edge functions, allowing code execution on servers geographically closer to users. This ensures faster response times and enhanced performance. Also, it reduces the need for complex server management, making applications easy to scale.



Next.js vs. React: the main differences



To understand which option will be the right tool for your web project, let's explore the core distinctions between React and Next.js across several critical aspects.



Library & framework



First of all, we don't compare two equal technologies. We evaluate the JavaScript library (React) and the framework (Next.js) since they serve different purposes and are used in distinct ways.



As a library, React handles only the view layer of an application. It manages the UI by updating and rendering components in response to user interactions. React is unopinionated and doesn't dictate how to manage aspects like routing, data fetching, or API handling. Instead, developers can choose how to handle these areas and rely on third-party libraries. This allows developers to build apps according to the specific requirements of a project.



As an opinionated framework, Next.js gives developers all the tools needed to build production-ready apps. It handles routing, SSR, static site generation, image and font optimization, and more right out-of-the-box. Such an approach simplifies and speeds up web development.



Performance



React applications are primarily based on client-side rendering. Their performance is closely related to the user's device and network connection. Although React offers a virtual DOM feature that reduces direct updates to the real DOM, client-side rendering may lead to slower initial page loads, especially for content-heavy apps. Developers can improve the performance of React apps with techniques such as code splitting, lazy loading, and memorization. But, the implementation of these strategies requires extra setup and careful optimization.



Next.js outperforms React in terms of performance due to its server-side rendering (SSR) and static site generation (SSG) capabilities. Because pages are rendered before they reach the browser, users spend less time waiting for the content to load. 



Another essential feature of Next.js is that it offers optimization tools, like Image Optimization. It allows automatic optimization of images on demand based on the user's device and screen size. It also enhances critical web performance metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) or First Input Delay (FID). As a result, faster load times and a better user experience make the website perform even better.



SEO



Websites built with React often have challenges with SEO due to its client-side rendering approach. Since content is rendered in the browser after the initial page load, it can be harder for search engine crawlers to index your site properly. As a result, this can negatively affect your search rankings, particularly for content-heavy sites. Although search engines like Google have improved handling client-side content, React apps still need extra SEO optimizations. 



Next.js has built-in SEO capabilities and offers features like server-side rendering (SSR) and static site generation (SSG). They help ensure that pages are fully rendered on the server before being delivered to the client. This means that search engines can quickly crawl and index your content, thus boosting your rankings. Moreover, Next.js offers built-in tools for managing SEO, such as custom head components. This enables developers to control metadata, like title tags or descriptions, and customize them for each website page.



Configuration and setup



React is a library, so it requires a separate setup for routing, state management, and other features. You'll often need to manually configure tools like Webpack, ESBuild (and others) or use starter templates like Vite for some boilerplate setup. React offers flexibility in how you set up your app, but it can be time-consuming for beginners or for complex projects.



Since Next.js is a framework built on top of React, it comes with many configurations out of the box. It handles routing, server-side rendering (SSR), static site generation (SSG), and API routes without needing additional configuration, unlike React.



Also, Next.js integrates seamlessly with Vercel - a platform for easy app deployment. Plus, Next.js offers automatic scaling, caching, optimized performance, and built-in support for CI/CD to streamline development workflows.



Rendering model



By default, React uses client-side rendering (CSR), where the browser downloads a minimal HTML page along with the necessary JavaScript. This JavaScript updates the DOM and renders content dynamically, enabling faster user interactions after the initial load. Only essential data is fetched, and the page updates without a full reload, thus making React highly interactive. However, since the content is rendered after the page loads, it can negatively affect its SEO and performance. 



This CSR is preferable for applications that prioritize interactivity and dynamic user experiences, such as SPAs and real-time applications (e.g., gaming), where SEO is less critical. If you want to use Server-Side Rendering (SSR) with React, you will have to manually set up this or use a library like Next.js that abstracts away the complexities of SSR.



Next.js offers SSR, SSG, CSR, and ISR out-of-the-box, which makes it suitable for building diverse applications. Let’s consider its hybrid rendering methods more closely:




Server-side rendering (SSR)




The content is rendered on the server and is sent to the browser before any JavaScript runs. As a result, the content is available immediately when the page loads. React then hydrates the page, adding interactivity. This approach is ideal for content-heavy sites that focus on SEO.




Static site generation (SSG)




Pages are pre-rendered as static HTML at build time. This method provides the best performance because the HTML is generated once and is then reused for all users. Since it doesn’t require server-side processing, this method is great for high-traffic, content-heavy sites.




Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR)




Static pages are regenerated in the background after being built, either on a set schedule or when requested. This method combines static page speed with dynamic content updates. You can update a site frequently without rebuilding it.




Client-Side Rendering (CSR)




It is used to render pages entirely on the client side. Data is loaded via JavaScript after the initial page load, for example, by using useEffect. CSR can be combined with SSR or SSG to create a hybrid rendering approach that optimizes both initial load times and dynamic updates.



Thus, React focuses on client-side rendering for dynamic interactivity, while Next.js provides flexibility with SSR, SSG, and CSR, giving developers more control over performance and SEO.



Code splitting 



The code splitting feature is used to improve web application performance by breaking up large JavaScript files into smaller pieces (or "bundles"), which can be loaded only when needed. Both React and Next.js support this approach, but there are key differences in how they handle it. 



React offers manual control over code splitting using tools like React.lazy, Suspense and Bundlers. Developers decide which components should be split and loaded lazily, which means JavaScript is only fetched when the component is needed. However, React doesn't handle this automatically for the entire application. Hence, developers need to set it up for each component or feature they want to load lazily​.



Next.js automates the process of code splitting. By default, it splits the code for each page in the application, ensuring that users only download the JavaScript necessary for the page they are viewing. Also, Next.js supports dynamic imports using the next/dynamic function, adding additional granular control, like lazy loading specific components. This is especially useful for developers who want to load only certain parts of a rendered page. 



Thus, React requires more manual setup for code splitting and lazy loading, while Next.js does it automatically without extra configurations.



Routing



React doesn't include a built-in routing system. Developers need to integrate third-party libraries, like React Router, to manage the app navigation. While this gives developers full control over the routing logic, it also requires manual setup and configuration, which can become complex in large apps.



On the other hand, Next.js includes its own built-in file-based routing system. It is based on the file structure: each file (typically a React component) in a special "pages" directory automatically becomes a route. This makes the routing process simpler to configure and manage, as developers don't need external libraries. 



Also, Next.js has a Link component that helps optimize navigation by preloading or "prefetching" pages in the background. This makes moving between pages feel instant because the content is loaded in advance.




 


Expert Opinion



File-based routing is a "double-edged sword" - some people like it, others don’t. For me, it’s not that great. In pure React, you can choose the needed library and implement a routing the way you prefer. In Next.js, you're limited to the built-in approach, even if it's not your favorite approach. 





Frontend developer at SoftTeco



Alexander Dikusar






 




Learning curve



React has a relatively simple learning curve, especially for developers who are already familiar with JavaScript. So, it's recommended that you start small and gradually learn advanced concepts like state management and React hooks. But, as your app grows, you'll need to learn additional tools that make learning harder. Also, React has an active community and rich resources for learning, such as documentation, tutorials, and videos, which provide a solid foundation for beginners and pros alike.



As Next.js is built on React, you'll need React knowledge first. Many things are already set up in Next.js (like routing and performance optimization) that allow developers to focus more on building apps rather than configuring tools. But, as Next.js comes with additional features, like SSR and static site generation, that require extra knowledge. Thus, the learning curve of Next.js is a bit overwhelming for developers who are new to the web compared to React alone.



The comparison table of React vs Next.js



To summarize everything we’ve discussed so far, we’ve outlined a brief overview of Next.js against React in the table below: 



ReactNext.jsDefinition A JavaScript libraryA React-based framework RenderingBy default, it supports only client-side rendering (CSR)By default, it supports CSR, SSR, SSG, and ISR renderingRoutingManual routing via libraries like React RouterBuild-in file-based routingSetupRequires additional setup (tools/configs)Minimal setup with pre-configured defaultsSEONot SEO-friendly due to CSR renderingSEO-friendly due to SSR and SSG renderingPerformanceDepends on manual optimizationsHigh performance due to SSR renderingData fetchingNeed external librariesBuilt-in support Image optimizationNeed thirty-party librariesBuilt-inAPI supportRequires external APIs or libraries Built-in API routesCommunityLarge and activeGrowingLearning curveEasy to learn if you know JSDifficult without prior React knowledgeUse casesPrimarily for SPAs and interactive UIsFor full-fledged web applications



What to choose: Next.js or React?



Next.js and React are not directly comparable, but they can complement each other instead. For example, developers who are familiar with React often turn to Next.js to add more functionality to their development and improve their developer experience. Due to their unique characteristics, one tool may be more suitable than another, depending on the use case. 



Choose React over Next.js for:




Flexibility and high customization;



Enterprise-grade apps;



Mobile development;



SPAs and PWAs;



Dynamic applications;



Dashboards and other data visualization tools.




Choose or migrate to Next.js for:




SSR/SSG functionality without extra configuration;



Personalization;



Simplified deployment;



JAMstack applications;



Full-stack development;



SEO and performance are priority;



Large, dynamic web applications.




Conclusion



When choosing between React and Next.js for web development, both are top candidates (not rivals) that serve different needs. React is better for highly customized and dynamic apps that need more control and flexibility. Next.js is perfect for projects that focus on performance and SEO with ready-to-use features. Both tools constantly expand their functionality and have active community support, so you'll always have access to the latest practices and regular updates. Thus, the choice between Next.js vs React depends on the long-term needs of your project and businesses as well.




 


Expert Opinion



When thinking about a better approach to starting a new web project, you may pay attention to React in a SPA version, along with some SSR frameworks (like Next.js and Remix). Each tool has its own pros and cons. For example, Remix is especially suitable for ecommerce projects, while Next.js is beneficial when you need a full-stack application with built-in API (serverless architecture). React (in a SPA version) is mostly applicable when SEO and deep performance optimization are not a priority.



One of React's key advantages is its lightweight nature, which provides flexibility and allows developers to choose additional instruments, like a routing system. From my point of view, file-based routing is a bit controversial, so being able to use any other approach is a good-to-have feature that is not supported by popular SSR solutions like Next.js. Now, more and more web applications are using modern SSR frameworks, and they are considered a default solution and a standard for web development.





Frontend developers at SoftTeco



Alexander Dikusar

### A Guide on Securing Android Apps and Understanding Android Security

There are over 3 billion Android users worldwide, and most of them store their sensitive data on personal mobile devices, making these devices an attractive target for malicious hackers. That being said, developers must prioritize the security of their Android applications since cyber attacks remain an acute issue in the IT environment. In this article, we discuss the main aspects of securing Android apps and list the best security practices for securing Android apps.







The biggest Android security threats



Before discussing security best practices, it is important to understand the main mobile vulnerabilities and platform-specific threats that Android developers should know. Based on that knowledge, you will be able to review your current security strategy and reinforce it for better efficiency.



Common vulnerabilities



Threats listed below are not specific to the Android platform, but it’s critical to know about them in order to code securely and to ensure that your app is protected on all levels.



Malware: remains one of the most acute security issues and implies using malicious software to “infect” or hack one’s device. Due to its open system, Android is prone to various malware attacks like trojans or ransomware and thus requires developers to take extra precautions to secure the app from potential attacks.



Data breaches: happen when an unauthorized user accesses private information. This type of attack causes a significant negative impact on the organization and can result in identity theft and massive financial losses. 



Insecure data transfers: happen while transferring the data over unsecured communication channels. In such cases, it becomes easier for attackers to steal the data, especially if it is not protected by encryption.



Phishing: an attack aimed at making the user reveal their personal information. The attack often focuses on obtaining one’s credentials or credit card information. The most common phishing example is an email that asks to follow a link. By doing so, a user will most likely have to enter the password and login on a fake website and thus will reveal them to the hacker.



Security threats unique to the Android environment



Now let’s look at some of the vulnerabilities unique to the Android environment. They usually occur due to the specifics of the platform and thus require extra attention from the developers:



Changes in the OS by the manufacturer: most often occur in cheap devices where manufacturers do not pay enough attention to poorly designed apps and instead, turn off certain limitations on a system level. In this case, it becomes easy for hackers to breach the system since the updates are not received on time and the manufacturer leaves plenty of loopholes in the device’s security.



Root access: normally, on Android devices, only the kernel and a limited number of small services run with root permissions. However, it is possible to change root access configurations. In this case, users open the way to attackers and grant them access to system files, which may lead to very serious consequences.  



Custom firmware upgrades: same as with root access configuration, the custom upgrade of firmware makes the device and the system more vulnerable since you change the initial security settings. 



Apps from various sources: since it’s relatively easy to install an app from an external source on an Android device, the risks of this app being compromised or corrupted increase greatly. Users and developers have to be extra cautious about app installation, especially from non-trusted or unverified sources.



Core components of the Android app security



Now, let’s talk about the core components of Android application security solutions. It is critical to understand them and the way they function so you can build your development strategy around them.



Linux security



The Linux kernel serves as the foundation of the platform and offers several built-in security features: 




User-based permissions;



Process isolation;



A specific mechanism for secure IPC;



An option to remove parts of the kernel that seem not secure enough.




The core objective of the kernel is to isolate user resources and protect them from one another. In addition to that, isolation of resources is also achieved via App Sandbox.



App Sandbox



Application Sandbox is a critical component of Android’s security that isolates apps from each other. In this way, every app functions in its own “sandbox,” having no access to the other app’s resources or data. Hence, if there is a corrupted application on the device, it won’t impact other apps, which significantly minimizes potential damage.



App-defined and user-granted permissions



Proper configuration of permissions is critical in order to protect sensitive information and limit access to important resources. Android offers robust permissions management from the start by having predefined file-system permissions in addition to user-based ones. What it means is that in the Android environment, an application can read or alter only its files. This, in addition to permissions configured by the users, helps enhance the security of the system and safeguard the resources.



Cryptographic APIs



Cryptography is critical for protecting sensitive data and, in the case of Android, it also protects the APIs. Android uses common cryptographic primitives like AES or DSA for its APIs, thus ensuring that the information is provided and transferred between the apps in a secure manner.



App signing



App signing is a process of verifying the app’s source and ensuring that the updates are trustworthy. Apps are signed with a digital certificate and a private key that provides a unique and almost impossible-to-hack signature from the app’s author. In this way, when an update is released, its signature and the app's signature must match in order for the app to download the update. Android performs app signing via the keystore and allows signing the app in both debug or release modes.



These were some of the core components of Android app security - for more detailed information, please see the official Android documentation available online.



Android security tips: how to incorporate security measures during the app development lifecycle?



While Android offers robust security tools, it is the responsibility of developers to use them correctly and implement security on all levels of an Android application. This can be done by following Android security tips and best practices and by implementing them at every stage of the app development process:




Research and planning: this stage requires the definition of security requirements and the conduction of threat modeling so you build the future processes around them.



Mobile app development: follow secure coding practices that imply a proactive (instead of reactive) approach towards the app’s security and implement all needed measures like encryption or multi-factor user authentication.



Testing: this stage involves the performance of multiple tests with a specific focus on security. Examples of these tests are penetration testing and vulnerability scanning.



App deployment: before the app is deployed, pay attention to server security and review permissions configuration to prevent unauthorized users from accessing sensitive information.



Maintenance: introduce regular updates and patches and audits to ensure that the implemented changes do not compromise the sensitive data and the app in general. 




Best practices for securing Android apps



To create a safeguarded app from the start, it is important to follow mobile application security best practices listed below:



Secure web traffic



Since a great amount of sensitive data is transmitted via the network, attackers often try to intercept the data transfer and retrieve sensitive information. Thus, it is recommended to secure the web traffic by doing the following:




Configure the permissions of the AndroidManifest.xml file so the in-app traffic is entrusted to the network;



Use HTTPS for network connections to make them more secure and to encrypt the transmitted data;



Check and update the list of trusted certificates so a malicious program that is not on the list won’t be able to read the app’s traffic.




Protect the data



If an attacker manages to access the app and its resources, unsecured data becomes an easy target and can be stolen, compromised, or corrupted. To minimize potential risks, here are a few tips on securing your data:




Encryption: should be used for all sensitive data so the hackers cannot read and understand it. You can use built-in libraries that Android provides to facilitate the encryption process.



Minimize the use of APIs: if there are APIs that have access to sensitive data, try minimizing their use to reduce the potential risks of data theft;



Implement strong authentication: use two-factor authentication and such methods as Credential Manager or passkeys to enhance the security of user credentials.




Review third-party dependencies



When your app is using any third-party libraries, you need to double-check the dependencies carefully, as you never know how secure these libraries are. If there is a vulnerability in the library, it can be exploited by hackers to access the app’s sensitive data, which is exactly what happened with the Android Jetpack Navigation.



Android Jetpack Navigation is a tool for handling screens and navigation in the app, but upon its release, it had a flaw: the library allowed hackers to open hidden screens of the application via fake deep links. Upon investigating the issue, Google considered it a developer oversight but that’s not entirely correct - this flaw is an existing vulnerability that should be treated correspondingly. Of course, fixes are already out, and the library is safe to use, but the main point remains the same: when working with third-party libraries, carefully review the dependencies and focus on securing your app on all levels to avoid potential data breaches.



Implement code obfuscation



Code obfuscation is the process of making the code too complex for reverse engineering and is one of the security practices recommended by OWASP. The main goal of obfuscation is to make an application almost impossible to decompile or disassemble. In this way, if a code is retrieved by hackers, it will be highly difficult to parse. In Android, developers use the ProGuard tool to launch the obfuscation process in the beginning of the development.



Perform regular audits



Even though developers thoroughly test the apps before releasing them, it doesn’t mean that security audits stop once the app is launched. Because of the addition of new features and potential app modifications and upgrades, new vulnerabilities might appear. This is why it is essential to regularly perform audits and ensure that the app remains secured and that implemented changes did not cause vulnerabilities. Also, keep in mind that cyber threats constantly evolve, thus forcing developers to adjust their security practices correspondingly.




 


Expert Opinion



Judging by my experience with Android development, I can say that this OS has robust security features out of the box. By using these tools, you will be able to establish an effective security layer around the critical components of your application and will be able to protect it against the most common threats. 



However, it is also critical for developers to pay attention to third-party systems that they integrate into their apps, as this is one of the main sources of vulnerabilities. As described in the example with the Android Jetpack Navigation library, sometimes readymade solutions are released with critical flaws - and if your app is not secured in advance, these vulnerabilities can greatly impact the integrity of the data. So always double-check the tools that you want to use before installing them and try implementing security measures in advance. 





Android developer at SoftTeco



Anton Savich






 




OWASP MAVS best practices



OWASP stands for the Open Worldwide Application Security Project and is one of the most reliable organizations that provide standards and best practices for cyber security. As for mobile, OWASP offers OWASP MAVS - a Mobile Application Security Verification Standard. Mobile developers can use it to create secured applications and to ensure that the main threat vectors are taken into consideration.



This standard includes several control groups that cover the most common areas of the attack surface. Examples of these control groups:




MAVS - STORAGE: focuses on the security of the storage;



MAVS - CRYPTO: encryption of the sensitive data;



MAVS - AUTH: authentication and authorization methods in use;



MAVS - CODE: best practices for coding and data processing.




It is highly recommended to see the official OWASP documentation on mobile security and check your application against the OWASP checklist. In this way, you will be able to enhance the existing strategy and identify the biggest risk areas and vulnerabilities.



Key tools to enhance Android security



Android provides a plethora of security tools to work with, so let’s take a look at the most common ones:




Keystore: a system for storing and managing cryptographic keys, thus protecting sensitive information. It enables the keys to be hardware-protected and never leave the device.



Keychain: a system for securely managing user credentials like login information and passwords and to use them securely across the apps. 



TEE Android: a Trusted Execution Environment is separated from the main Android OS, thus allowing a more secure way to process sensitive data. TEE is often used for critical tasks such as biometric authentication or digital rights management (DRM).



StrongBox: a password manager that integrates with Android Keystore and uses a Secure Element hardware-backed security module. StrongBox is used for high-level security, such as management of critical keys.



Biometric: a framework for biometric authentication such as face recognition or fingerprint authentication. This tool enables developers to effectively implement biometric authentication in their apps across various platforms.



VCG scanner: it is an automated code security review tool that helps detect vulnerabilities and compliance issues in the app. 




Summing up



While Android provides a plethora of built-in security features and tools, developers should also take responsibility for securing Android apps and ensuring they function in a secure environment. For that, it is recommended to implement secure coding best practices and to perform regular security audits in accordance with the industry standards. In this way, you will be able to safeguard the app against potential future attacks and minimize the damage in case of a data breach.

### Svelte vs. React: A Head-to-Head Comparison for 2024

There's so much innovation happening in the web development sphere nowadays. With the current diversity of JavaScript frameworks and libraries, it can be pretty daunting to pick the one to use for the project. Among the top choices are React, a long-established leader in UI development, and Svelte, a newer contender known for its simplicity and performance. 



Both offer unique advantages for building dynamic applications and addressing common developer problems. So, if you are trying to decide between React development and exploring Svelte for your next project, we've got you covered. In this article, we'll compare Svelte vs. React, breaking down their features, strengths, and weaknesses. 



Let's start with React. 







Overview of React



React is a well-known open-source JavaScript library for building dynamic and responsive user interfaces. It was developed by Jordan Walke, a software engineer at Meta (formerly Facebook), and first released in 2013. Meta initially used it to improve their news feed, and it later became open-source, making the library available for everyone to use.



Today, it's one of the most widely used tools in web development. React is maintained by Meta and is supported by a vast developer community worldwide. It focuses on creating reusable components — self-contained pieces of UI code — making development more efficient and scalable.



React's primary goal is to provide developers with a fast and flexible way to build interactive web applications where parts of the interface can change without reloading the entire page. For example, on an online shopping site, React can make the cart update instantly when you add or remove an item without reloading the page.



Other distinctive features of React include:




Components. React applications are built using components, which are like reusable building blocks of UI. Each component represents a part of the interface and encapsulates its own logic, styling, and behavior.



JSX. JSX is a syntax extension that allows you to write HTML-like code within JavaScript and makes it easier to understand.



Virtual DOM. The Virtual DOM is React's way of optimizing UI updates. Instead of interacting directly with the browser's DOM (which is rather slow), React uses a lightweight copy of the DOM called the Virtual DOM. When the app's state changes, React updates the Virtual DOM. It compares the new version with the previous one and calculates the minimum changes, which are then applied to the real DOM.



Declarative nature. React is declarative, meaning you describe what you want the UI to look like, and React figures out how to make it happen.



One-way data binding. In React, data flows in one direction, from a parent component to its child components. This makes it easier to understand how data is being passed and updated.



React hooks. Hooks were introduced in React 16.8 and allow developers to use features like state and lifecycle methods in functional components.




Pros and cons of React



React, like any technology, has its advantages and disadvantages. The pros include:




Community support. React has a vast and active community. Therefore, developers have access to a wealth of libraries, tutorials, forums, and tools, making it easier to solve issues.



Rich set of libraries and tools. As we mentioned, React's ecosystem has been well-established over the years, with a wide array of libraries for routing, state management, form handling, and more.



Reusable components. React's component-based design helps developers reuse components. This saves time and effort. They can build a library of components to use in different projects. This method keeps things consistent and lowers the chances of bugs.



Performance optimization. With the Virtual DOM and efficient diffing algorithms, React optimizes rendering and ensures that applications run smoothly, even with large datasets or complex interfaces.




React cons include:




Larger bundle size. The virtual DOM and additional third-party libraries in React applications often contribute to larger bundle sizes. While it's insignificant for large applications, it can be critical for small or medium-sized apps with limited resources or focus on speed.



Poor documentation. One of the main issues is that the documentation often struggles to keep up with the frequent updates released for the library. This can make it challenging for developers, especially those new to React, to find accurate and up-to-date information when needed.



Requires more boilerplate code. While React is powerful by itself, it's not a full-fledged framework but a library, and its primary focus is building UI. Therefore, it often requires additional libraries and configuration to handle routing, state management, and other essential features. This can lead to more boilerplate code, increasing the complexity of the setup.



Steep learning curve. While JSX offers a simpler, more readable syntax by combining HTML-like code with JavaScript, new developers may initially find it challenging. However, with time and effort, the benefits make it worth mastering.




Overview of Svelte



Svelte is a free, open-source JavaScript-based web framework developed by Rich Harris in 2016. It evolved from Harris's earlier work on Ractive.js, a UI library designed for creating highly dynamic web applications, which was released in 2013. Harris developed Svelte with the goal of simplifying web development, making it more accessible for a broader audience by providing an intuitive and efficient way to build rich, interactive web applications. 



Svelte is unique in its performance optimization. It uses a compiler to convert HTML templates into vanilla JavaScript, resulting in smaller app bundles.



However, Svelte is not only a framework with compiler functionality, but it also introduces a specialized syntax for describing user interfaces. This syntax is tightly integrated with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, making it feel distinct while still relying on standard web technologies. Through its compiler, Svelte transforms this syntax into highly optimized JavaScript code that directly manipulates the DOM.



Key features of Svelte include:  




Reactive. Svelte has built-in reactivity, meaning you don't need to manage the state manually with hooks or external libraries. It updates the DOM automatically during build time.



Plain and simple. If you know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, consider that you know Svelte as well since it's really easy to learn. 



Lightweight and less code. Building features and functions in Svelte requires minimal coding. A few lines of code are often enough to perform the task.



Scoped styles. Svelte encapsulates CSS within components, so styles written in a Svelte file apply only to that component. This ensures that styles in one component won't unintentionally affect other parts of your application.




Pros and cons of Svelte



As with React, Svelte also has its benefits and drawbacks. The pros include:




Small bundle size. Svelte compiles only the code needed for a specific component, resulting in smaller bundle sizes than React or Angular, which include runtime libraries. Smaller bundles improve initial load times, especially for users with slower networks or devices.



No virtual DOM. Svelte does not use a virtual DOM. Instead, it turns code into optimized JavaScript and updates the real DOM directly when the application's state changes. This means the app uses less memory and runs faster.



Easy to learn. Svelte is less verbose and easier to learn than other frameworks. Its syntax is clean and intuitive, requiring less boilerplate code. 




Svelte cons are:




Smaller community. Even though Svelte's community is growing, it remains smaller than older frameworks and libraries like React or Angular. Developers may find fewer ready-made libraries and plugins for specific use cases.



Less mature ecosystem. Svelte's ecosystem is still evolving, meaning fewer tools, tutorials, and third-party integrations are available compared to older frameworks.



Limited corporate adoption. While Svelte is growing in popularity, it is not as widely adopted in the industry as React or Vue, which can limit job opportunities and community support.



Learning curve for those familiar with other frameworks. Svelte is often considered easier for beginners because of its straightforward syntax and less boilerplate code. However, developers who are already familiar with other frameworks like React or Angular can experience a learning curve when switching to Svelte.




Similarities between Svelte and React



As Svelte and React are both JavaScript-based tools, it's not surprising they share some common features. So, before we compare their differences, let's see what similarities they have. 




Component-based architecture. Both Svelte and React use a component-based approach, allowing developers to create reusable pieces of UI. Svelte components have a .svelte extension, while React uses .jsx.



Reactivity. Reactivity ensures the UI updates automatically when data changes. React achieves this with state and props, requiring explicit updates. Svelte simplifies it with reactive variables, which update automatically with minimal code.



JSX-like syntax. Both frameworks let you write HTML-like code in JavaScript. React uses JSX, while Svelte has its own syntax, which is similar in style but unique for the framework.



Server-side rendering and code splitting. React has Next.js for features like server-side rendering and code splitting. Svelte offers similar functionality with SvelteKit.



Open-source community. Both Svelte and React have active and thriving open-source communities that contribute to their growth and ecosystem.




Svelte vs. React: key differences



While both Svelte and React serve the same purpose — building user interfaces — they do so in fundamentally different ways. Therefore, let's take a closer look at their differences.



Performance



Performance is really important for any frontend framework because it affects how fast and smooth your app feels to users. Svelte and React handle performance in different ways.



As mentioned earlier, React uses a virtual DOM, which is like a temporary in-memory copy of the actual DOM (the real webpage). When a React component's state or props change, it first updates the virtual DOM, which then compares the updated virtual DOM with its previous version. This process, known as "reconciliation," determines the minimal set of changes needed to update the real DOM efficiently. By batching and minimizing these updates, React avoids unnecessary DOM manipulations, making it faster and more efficient than directly interacting with the DOM using plain JavaScript.



However, the virtual DOM still introduces some computational overhead, as React must constantly compare and reconcile the virtual and real DOM. This can sometimes slow down application performance with frequent, complex updates, especially if not optimized carefully.



Svelte, however, works differently. It bypasses the virtual DOM by compiling code into highly optimized JavaScript that directly updates the DOM. This approach leads to faster startup times and enhances runtime performance, creating a smoother, more responsive experience for users.



State management



Managing the application state is a critical consideration in building modern web apps. Effective state management ensures that the UI reflects the current state of the application and responds appropriately to user interactions. 



React uses hooks like useState and useReducer for local state management. For global state management often employed libraries like Redux, MobX, or React Context. While these tools are powerful, they can add complexity to the development process.



Svelte simplifies state management by offering built-in reactivity. Variables in Svelte components are reactive by default, and you can use stores for shared state with minimal setup. This makes it easy to manage state without relying on third-party libraries.



Bundle size



Svelte applications typically have smaller bundle sizes compared to React. Since Svelte compiles code down to efficient JavaScript, it reduces the amount of framework code that needs to be shipped to the browser. This results in faster load times and improved performance, especially for users on slower networks. 



On the other hand, while being powerful, React applications often result in larger bundle sizes due to the inclusion of the React library and its associated tools. Although tree-shaking and code-splitting can mitigate this issue, the inherent size of the framework is still quite a challenge for performance optimization. 



Learning curve



We've already mentioned that, unlike more traditional frameworks, Svelte shifts much of its work to compile time, which means developers can write straightforward JavaScript, HTML, and CSS without needing to understand complex API or lifecycle methods. This can be especially appealing to beginners or those transitioning from vanilla JavaScript.



Moreover, Svelte's syntax is intuitive and closely resembles standard HTML and JavaScript, which allows new developers to quickly grasp the concepts.



React, on the other hand, has a steeper learning curve. While it offers powerful features and flexibility, newcomers must familiarize themselves with concepts such as JSX, virtual DOM, state management, and component lifecycle methods. Not to mention hooks, which add another level of complexity.



Community and ecosystem



React has a vast and mature ecosystem, with 229k stars, 47k forks, and 1,666 contributors on GitHub. Its large community actively supports its growth and provides extensive documentation, tutorials, and third-party libraries, making it easy for developers to find resources and solutions.



While Svelte is gaining popularity among developers and boasts a high satisfaction rate, its community is still much smaller than React's. However, given Svelte's relatively young age, its growth is impressive. The official Svelte GitHub repository currently has 80k stars, 4.3k forks, and 738 contributors. Not to mention that in terms of ecosystem, thanks to its compiler functionality and small API surface, Svelte does not really need many additional tools. 



Still, React is the leader in this one.



Tooling and debugging



Svelte’s tooling is relatively straightforward. The framework comes with its own development environment, allowing developers to run and build projects with minimal setup. The Svelte DevTools extension for browsers is a great asset, providing insights into component structures and state management.



However, because Svelte is still newer compared to React, some developers may find fewer third-party tools and libraries specifically designed for Svelte. That said, the built-in debugging capabilities are often sufficient for many applications, and the simplicity of the code can sometimes make debugging more manageable.



React, on the other hand, shines in this aspect. The React Developer Tools extension is widely regarded as one of the best debugging tools available. It enables developers to inspect React component hierarchies in real-time, making it easier to track down issues in complex applications.



Moreover, React’s vast ecosystem offers a wealth of libraries and tools for state management (like Redux and MobX), routing (like React Router), and testing (like Jest and React Testing Library). This extensive support can help developers build robust applications but can overwhelm beginners with too many choices.



When to use React?




Large-scale applications with complex state management: React’s component-based architecture and the availability of libraries like Redux or Context API make it ideal for large applications where data flows are complex and need to be managed across various parts of the UI.



Projects requiring long-term support: React’s large community and mature ecosystem make it an excellent choice for applications that need long-term support and updates. The wealth of documentation, tools, and libraries ensures that React will remain relevant for years to come.



Enterprise-grade applications: Enterprises often choose React because of its stability, scalability, and the availability of a wide range of developer tools and libraries. React’s ecosystem is battle-tested and trusted by many large organizations, like Meta, Airbnb and Netflix.




When to use Svelte?




Small to medium-sized applications: Svelte is perfect for smaller applications where performance and quick development times are crucial. The reduced bundle size and direct DOM manipulation make it an excellent choice for apps that need to be lightweight and fast.



Performance-critical applications: For projects where performance is a top priority — such as mobile apps or applications with bandwidth constraints — Svelte’s faster runtime performance and smaller bundle size offer significant advantages.



Experimental or cutting-edge projects: If you're working on an experimental project or one that requires cutting-edge technology, Svelte offers a fresh approach to building UIs, with its compilation model and built-in reactivity.




Svelte vs. React: what to choose?




 


Expert Opinion



All modern frontend solutions, such as React, Angular, Vue, and Svelte, are worth considering. However, if you're deciding between React and Svelte, it can be helpful to evaluate key factors such as the size of the application, its lifecycle, and technical requirements. 



Ultimately, both solutions are suitable for modern frontend projects and can deliver excellent results. Having a clear vision of the project's business and technical details will help achieve better outcomes in the long term.





Frontend Developer at SoftTeco



Alexander Dikusar






 




Here is a head-to-head comparison table to help you evaluate the key differences between React and Svelte at a glance:



ParametersReactSvelteRelease year20132016Development approachLibrary-based; uses a runtime to manage app behavior.Compiler-based; compiles code into JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.DOM updatesUpdates through a virtual DOM.Updates DOM directly.SyntaxUses JSX, which mixes HTML and JavaScript.Simple and modern syntax with HTML-like structure.PerformanceGood for large-scale apps with frequent updates but has runtime overhead.Excellent for small-to-medium apps due to no runtime overhead.Bundle sizeLarger bundles.Smaller bundles. State managementRequires libraries like Redux or Context API for advanced state management.Built-in reactivity; no need for external tools.Learning curveSteeper learning curve for beginners, especially with JSX and ecosystem tools.Easier for beginners due to intuitive syntax and minimal boilerplate.EcosystemVast and mature ecosystem with extensive third-party tools and libraries.Smaller but growing ecosystem with fewer libraries and plugins.CommunityLarge, well-established community.Smaller, but rapidly growing community.ToolingRich tooling options.Basic but growing.



Final thoughts



As we compared Svelte vs. React, it's clear that both tools are really powerful and incredibly useful. Choosing the right one will depend on striking the right balance between ecosystem support, performance, and development experience. React is a good choice for building large, complex applications with a mature ecosystem and extensive community support. 



On the other hand, Svelte offers a fresh, simpler approach to building UIs. With smaller bundle sizes, faster runtime performance, and less boilerplate code, Svelte is a great choice for small to medium-sized applications where performance and simplicity are key. Therefore, carefully consider all their pros and cons in the context of your project's specific needs. 

### Shopify Website Cost: How Much Does It Cost to Set up a Shopify Store?

So, you’ve decided to use Shopify to set up your online store. This is a really good decision, considering that Shopify remains one of the most popular ecommerce platforms out there and is perfect for both small and large businesses. The next big question is probably: how much does a Shopify website cost?



You need to learn what factors impact the overall cost of the store so you can plan the budget correspondingly. Below we’ll walk you through the main factors that impact the Shopify website cost and will explain the available pricing plans that the platform offers. 







What impacts Shopify website development cost?



The overall price of a Shopify store is impacted by many factors, with the core ones being:




Selected pricing plan: Shopify offers several pricing options, each having its own monthly cost and a specific set of features included in the plan.



Design: business owners can either select from readymade and available themes or create a custom theme (which will be more expensive).



Integrations: the more integrations you need, the bigger the cost of your store will be.



Functionality: custom Shopify website development is always more expensive than using available templates and solutions so if you need any complex or unique features, it will cost more.



Add-ons: Shopify offers a variety of free and paid apps that allow you to extend the functionality of your store in an easy manner. 



SEO: search engine optimization is critical for any online business, especially an ecommerce store, so get prepared to spend some time and money on it. Though Shopify has built-in SEO tools, you might want to use additional ones.



Marketing: a solid marketing strategy will help you attract more traffic to the site and stand out from the competition so it’s important to invest in PR and marketing and plan your activities in advance.




You can either set up a store independently or hire someone to build Shopify store in accordance with your business needs. The latter option is recommended for medium-sized and big businesses since their online stores normally require a certain amount of customization which should be done by knowledgeable developers. 



Main stages of the development process and corresponding costs



The costs described above arise during different development stages. Here is a rough breakdown of the process and the corresponding costs:




Research and market analysis: consulting fees. If you partner with a development company, you will most probably pay for the services of a business analyst. This person will help you analyze the market and the competition and will help create a solid business strategy. 



Pre-development activities: a monthly fee, hosting. Before working with the platform, you will have to select the pricing plan and the hosting option. More about each - below.



Design: UX/UI design, usability testing, paid theme. If you decide to go with a custom theme, you will have to pay for the design services and usability testing. If you decide to select among the available and readymade themes, you might need to pay for the selected paid one.



Development: customization, integrations, add-ons. This stage includes all coding-related processes and corresponding development fees, if you delegate these tasks to a software provider.



Testing: debugging, testing. It is recommended to perform comprehensive testing to check whether the platform performs as expected and its design matches intended user journeys. 



Launch: marketing, app store fees. Though some marketing should definitely be done in advance, the main marketing activities happen during the store launch. Hence, you will be paying for marketing and promotion as well as for app store fees, in case you have an ecommerce app and decide to publish it on a store.



Maintenance: testing, debugging, fixes. Once the store goes live, the work doesn’t stop there. You will need to monitor its performance and quickly debug arising issues, so it’s best if a development team does that for you.




Available Shopify pricing plans and what they offer



While Shopify offers four pricing plans, we will focus only on three since the last one named Plus is a bit too specific. What you need to know about the Plus plan is that it is suitable for complex businesses and is available on a 1- or 3-year term only. And now, let’s look at the three plans that are the most popular among ecommerce store owners: Basic, Shopify, and Advanced.







Basic plan



Price: $32/month if charged monthly, $24/month if billed once yearly.



The Basic plan is perfect for new and small businesses that are just entering the online market. It offers just enough functionality for a solid start and helps business owners easily set up and fine-tune their store. The most interesting features included in this plan are:




Localized global selling



10 inventory locations



POS Lite



Built-in blogging engine



Competitive transaction fees



Advanced reporting




As you can see, the available functionality is perfect for small businesses that want to deliver omnichannel selling experience and establish robust online presence.



Shopify plan



Price: $92/month if charged monthly, $69/month if billed once yearly.



The Shopify plan is suitable for growing ecommerce businesses that already have an online presence and wish to enter new markets and expand their business operations. Its distinctive feature is International - a cross-border management tool for setting up and optimizing your international stores. Other notable features are:




Support for five additional staff accounts



More advanced reporting



24/7 chat support




The Shopify plan is pretty similar to the Basic plan and they share almost the same functionality. The only differences are the International feature and the number of staff accounts and locations.



Advanced plan



Price: $399/month if charged monthly, $299/month if billed once yearly.



Finally, the Advanced plan is recommended for well-established ecommerce businesses with large sales volumes. In addition to all the features from the Shopify plan, the Advanced one also offers the following:




Carrier-calculated shipping



Customized reporting



Advanced options for international commerce



15 staff accounts



10x checkout capacity




Overall, the Advanced plan offers a very high level of store customization, thus being perfect for big ecommerce companies that focus on individuality and globalization.



Main components that make up the cost of a Shopify store 



We’ve briefly discussed what factors impact the cost of setting up a Shopify store. Now let’s look at them in more detail and discuss available options and the approximate price of each. This will also partially answer the “how to build a shopify store” question since we’ll go through the main components and stages.



Store hosting and domain name



Price: included in a subscription fee



In general, there are two hosting options available: SaaS hosting and self-hosting. In case of Shopify, the platform offers hosting services and the hosting fee is already included in your monthly subscription. That being said, you don’t have to worry about the cost of hosting. Plus, Shopify hosting includes many perks like unlimited bandwidth or an SSL certificate.



Design



Price: $0 - $400



Design is critical for any ecommerce store as it forms the first impression and impacts the way users interact with your store. When talking about the design of a Shopidy store, the following options are available:




Free themes: quite simple yet user-friendly and appealing. Perfect for small businesses that are just starting.



Paid themes: offer more customization options and are more suitable for middle-sized and big businesses.




The price of paid themes varies between $180 - $400 but the good news is that it is a one-time payment. 



If the customization provided by a paid theme is not enough, you can actually deep-customize it through coding. Note that it would cost you extra since you will need a skilled developer to do the job.



Customization



Price: $5,000 - $40,000



In terms of an ecommerce store, customization means all coding activities that you do in order to make the store look and perform exactly how you need it. This is usually done in the case when the available functionality is not enough or you need to tweak certain features (most often, design).



For the best results, it is recommended to partner with a reliable software development company that has experience in Shopify customization. In this way, you will make sure that the performance and operation of your store is not disrupted while the changes are being made and that you will get exactly what you need.



Payment processing



Price: depends on the selected plan



Payments are an integral part of any ecommerce store and normally, customers expect online businesses to accept multiple formats of payment, like credit cards, PayPal, or Stripe. To minimize effort for business owners, Shopify has Shopify Payments included in all of its plans. It is a payment gateway that supports various payment processors and allows store owners to start selling immediately after the store launch. Shopify Payments supports credit cards, Apple Pay, Shop Pay, and other processors. 



Note thought that Shopify charges you a payment processing fee, the amount of which depends on the selected plan:




Basic: 2% 3rd-party payment providers



Shopify: 1% 3rd-party payment providers



Advanced: 0.6% 3rd-party payment providers




For more detailed information, please contact Shopify support.



Add-ons and applications



Price: $0 - $5,000



Though Shopify offers extensive functionality out of the box, you will most probably need a few additional features that come in the form of Shopify apps and are available in the Shopify App Store. These apps can be described as modules that you plug in the store to extend its functionality.



As for the price, there are free and paid apps available (same as design themes). The price of paid apps varies and note that most of them charge you on a monthly subscription basis. One more option that you can choose is development of a custom application. This is the most expensive option and is normally used only by those stores that need something truly unique and innovative.



SEO



Price: included in the out-of-box features



One more thing to talk about is search engine optimization which is critical for making your store visible among hundreds of similar sites. Just like most of ecommerce platforms, Shopify offers built-in SEO tools that help you start off strong. However, you will most likely need additional SEO help as your site launches and operates as SEO is a highly dynamic matter and should be performed consistently. Hence, you will need assistance of an expert SEO professional who will analyze the performance of both your store and the competition and suggest the most actionable SEO strategy.



How to build a Shopify store and save costs?



In general, Shopify is a very affordable yet powerful ecommerce solution. But in case you need to cut your budget a bit, we’ve prepared a list of tips that will help you save money without compromising the performance of your store.



Select the right Shopify plan



The first step that will help you save money is selecting the right pricing plan for your store. Some business owners tend to over-estimate the expected load and needed functionality and choose a more costly option from the start. Hence, we recommend that you clearly define the requirements for your store and see which pricing plan matches them the best. Sometimes it can be more cost-efficient in a long run to go with a cheaper plan and implement a few custom extensions than to choose a more expensive option. 



Check for unused apps



This tip is more relevant to the owners of the already running Shopify store but we’ll mention it anyways. It is a frequent case when you add too many apps to your store in an attempt to make it as user-centric and functional as possible. With time, some of these apps may become unused - but the subscription still stays and adds to the overall store cost. Hence, double-check if you really need all the apps in use or can remove a few without affecting the performance of the store.



Consider using a design template



We’ve already mentioned that a design template is the cheapest option available in terms of design. So in case of a tight budget, we highly recommend considering a readymade design template. This will help you save a significant amount of money and create a satisfactory user experience at the same time since all Shopify themes are highly user-friendly and feature-rich.



How much does a Shopify website cost? Summing up



The final Shopify website cost depends on multiple factors and may fluctuate with time as your store grows and changes. But in general, Shopify is a more cost-friendly ecommerce solution than other platforms and allows you to set up a highly functional and user-friendly store even with the Basic plan. Just choose the option that meets your business needs and budget the best and prioritize the functionality so you can plan which features to add in the future and which are the essential must-haves from the start.

### Salesforce Automotive Cloud: the Ultimate Guide

Today, the automotive industry is going through a rapid digital transformation. According to Market Research, the automotive cloud market is expected to grow from $32.8 billion in 2024 to $89.0 billion by 2032. This is driven by the growing number of connected vehicles, increased customer expectations towards better personalization, and the need for better management of operations processes. Because of these factors, more and more automotive companies are turning to cloud platforms. One such leading solution is Automotive Cloud by Salesforce, designed to optimize all automotive operations. 



In this article, we'll explore what Salesforce Automotive Cloud is, its core capabilities and benefits and what impact it can have on the industry in the near future.







Automotive industry: the statistics



Continuing our discussion about the evolution of the automotive industry, one of its main problems today is a significant gap between customer expectations and the reality of what the industry is offering. According to the Salesforce research:




50% of automotive companies are investing in activating first-party data to improve customer experience;



73% of customers expect personalized experiences from automotive companies;



78% of automotive companies cannot customize customer communications. 




So, what is stopping the industry from improving its operations? The answer lies in the usage of outdated systems and technologies, data silos, and limited access to real-time insights. It all prevents companies from taking advantage of the data at their disposal. To bridge this gap, automotive companies must invest in innovative tech solutions in their field. This is why Salesforce Automotive Cloud is flourishing today. 



What is Salesforce Automotive Cloud?



Salesforce introduced its Automotive Cloud on 13 October 2022. It is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) system designed for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), car dealers, and suppliers to improve their automotive operations. Built on existing Salesforce platforms, like Sales and Service Cloud, it is used to track and manage customer and vehicle lifecycles to provide an exceptional customer experience at every touchpoint, from purchase to post-sale service.



The platform comes with a lot of features that allow automotive businesses to not only deliver connected and personalized customer experience but also to optimize all their operations through real-time analytics. Since its launch, various companies have been using Automotive Cloud. For example, Ford is leveraging this platform to enhance fleet management and reduce operational costs. General Motors has leveraged the Auto Cloud to enhance its auto lending and leasing operations based on customer credit histories.



But, managing such a CRM solution can be tricky. To benefit from Salesforce solutions, turn to SoftTeco’s Salesforce professional services. Being a Salesforce Consulting Partner, we offer expert guidance to help you fully leverage Salesforce CRM and tailor it to your needs. Our team can assist you in implementing best practices, optimizing workflows, and integrating needed functionalities to ensure your business is well-prepared to thrive in the automotive market.



How does Automotive Cloud function?



At its core, Salesforce Auto Cloud leverages Driver 360, a system specifically designed for the automotive industry. This platform combines a Driver Console, a Vehicle Console, advanced AI and strong analytical capabilities to provide a comprehensive view of both vehicle and customer lifecycles. With AI and analytics, businesses can predict customer trends, provide insights into vehicle maintenance, and deliver automated, branded experiences, such as real-time updates on vehicle order status. 



Also, the Automotive cloud relies on Customer 360 (a broader platform for all industries). It serves as a single platform that aggregates customer data from various Salesforce applications like Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Service Cloud and helps create customer profiles that are accessible to everyone within the organization. This helps companies get a holistic view of their customers and maintain personalized interactions, break down data silos, and ultimately drive revenue by connecting through every touchpoint. Driver 360 extends the capabilities of Customer 360 by adding the features and analytics the companies need to work with cars and drivers.



Despite these capabilities, the Automotive Cloud comes with other notable features. But before we move to them, let’s consider what data it manages.



The data model of the Automotive Cloud



To help businesses create personalized interactions with customers, regardless of whether they engage online or in person, the Automotive Cloud uses a unified data model that brings together Customer 360°, Dealer 360°, Vehicle 360°, and Financial 360° solutions. In this way, the cloud collects the following types of data: 




Vehicles: information about vehicles throughout their lifecycle (model year, features, warranty, and service plans), from initial production to sale, for better control over the entire process;



Customers: data about their purchase history, contact info, service history, and personal accounts. The availability of this data helps dealerships better manage interactions and build trust-based relationships with current and potential customers;



Stakeholders: data about stakeholders involved in the automotive sales process, such as dealerships, manufacturers, and suppliers, for better coordination between all parties;



Financial relationships: data about all automotive processes, like loans and leases, transactions, charges, fees, quotes, and warranties, for precise control over pricing and financial operations. 




Key features of Salesforce Automotive Cloud



Returning to the features of the Automotive Cloud, let’s consider the most important ones and how they work:



Driver Console



The Driver Console collects all customer data about their interactions through continuous touchpoints (car browsing, purchase history) and customized alerts and sorts them automatically in one place. This allows dealers and manufacturers to easily analyze these insights and create a better customer journey. 



If companies mix this feature with Household Management, they will be able to create a holistic picture of a vehicle owner’s household and past interactions with suppliers. This allows for even better personalization of support, offers, and sales. 







Source: Salesforce



Vehicle Console



The feature gives businesses a complete overview of all vehicle lifecycle data, such as its maintenance history, warranties, vehicle market value, and delivery reports. As a result, it helps companies track and manage vehicles efficiently throughout their lifecycle, respond quickly to customer queries, and improve overall fleet management.







Source: Salesforce



Automotive Data Foundation



First of all, the feature builds on the industry standard called STAR (Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail) and serves as the backbone of the Automotive Cloud. It supports flexible, secure data processing and sharing with partners, ensuring compliance with global regulations. Also, it facilitates integration with other specialized tools and platforms in the automotive industry, such as Dealer Management Systems (DMS) or Inventory Management.



Automotive Lead Management



When it comes to lead management, the Automotive Cloud goes a few steps further than just the Salesforce Sales Cloud. The feature was specially designed to foster collaboration between dealers and automakers by providing them with more detailed customer and vehicle information, such as customer preferences, preferred seller, and brand of interest. This allows them to send the most valuable leads directly to the customer’s preferred dealership and close more deals efficiently.



Dealer Performance Management



The feature improves tracking and analysis of the dealerships performance. By accessing real-time data on dealership activities, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can adjust their strategies to maximize sales potential and ensure cohesive regional performance.



For example, dealers can report vehicle sales through retail delivery reports and submit proof-of-sales for parts and accessories. OEMs, in turn, can use that information for rebate calculations and analytics of dealers' performance. OEMs and dealers can also use CRM Analytics dashboards to show actionable insights on dealer performance, sales lifecycle, revenue trends, and many more.



Analytics for Automotive



The Analytics for Automotive feature comes with purpose-built dashboards that allow dealers and automakers to analyze the company’s performance based on sales life-cycle, revenue, inventory, and more. This feature helps companies get a clear view of:




Dealer performance: these dashboards give insights into the company’s performance to analyze sales trends, region-wise revenue trends, leads, and inventory management;



OEM performance and sales: this dashboard provides essential metrics and projections for sales analysis, inventory management, and OEM performance tracking. Also, it includes embedded analytics for monitoring sales performance;



Leads intelligence: you can use it to analyze lead conversion rates, identify high-value leads, and prioritize conversion efforts;



Vehicle portfolio insights: gain an overview of the vehicle portfolio, including information on warranty expirations, work orders, and recalls, to ensure timely action.




These dashboards become available when you create an app with the Analytics for Automotive template in the CRM Analytics Studio (a platform for building data visualizations and reports). By selecting this template, users can access pre-configured dashboards tailored to the automotive sector, thus eliminating the need to build them from scratch.







Source: Salesforce



Experience Cloud for Partners and Customers



Experience Cloud site is a platform used to manage partner relationships. Powered by Salesforce and Lightning, the site helps you and your partners work together to generate sales. By inviting partners to a site, a company can share its CRM data with them to improve sales and marketing. For example, the company can share leads with partners, allow them to register deals, and gain visibility into sales activity early on. Also, you can manage your channel sales with programs, business plans, and partner scorecards or provide training and certifications for your partners.



Warranty Lifecycle Management



The feature helps automotive companies manage their entire warranty vehicles and associated components with them with ease and flexibility. This includes capturing warranty claims from distributors and partners, managing the return process for service parts, and automating the warranty adjudication process (and many others). 







Source: Salesforce



Benefits of Salesforce Automotive Cloud



Now, let’s look at the core benefits of Automotive Cloud adoption for businesses and their customers alike:



Improved customer experience



With this CRM platform, businesses can deliver personalized customer experiences through a 360-degree view of customer interactions. This allows companies to better identify customer needs, provide timely communications, and create a more connected journey across all touchpoints. Such personalized service helps automotive businesses build long-term and trusting relationships with their customers.



Improved sales process



Automotive Cloud provides a unified view of customer preferences and vehicle data through Driver 360. It allows companies to gain access to customer profiles and purchase histories, which helps them tailor their effort and offer personalized recommendations. By automating workflows, companies also can track leads, manage follow-ups, and close deals faster, which ultimately enhances conversion rates.



Proactive maintenance and service



The integration of vehicle data and AI-driven insights enables businesses to streamline customer service operations. Companies can proactively notify customers and service teams about upcoming service needs, maintenance schedules, or recalls. It reduces downtime for customers and strengthens trust in the brand’s reliability.



Efficient inventory and dealership management



The platform effectively oversees daily dealership activities, from test drives and car sales to repairs and after-sales services. It ensures efficient information sharing between dealership networks and their partners for better sales strategies. Also, dealers can track vehicle availability, monitor stock levels, and optimize their supply chain. With real-time data, they can quickly respond to demand changes and adjust inventory accordingly. 



Scalability and integration



The platform seamlessly integrates with other Salesforce products, such as Marketing, Service, Sales Clouds, etc. This allows automotive businesses to expand their capabilities as they grow and makes it easier to incorporate new products into the system while still maintaining efficiency in client interactions.



Real-time automation



The platform comes with AI and analytics that allow businesses to analyze customer lifecycle, sales performance, and dealer metrics in real-time. This capability offers deep insights into client and vehicle data and overall automotive operations, and, based on them, businesses can make data-driven decisions promptly.



If these benefits of Automotive Cloud catch your eye and you have a question about its cost, let's move on.



Pricing plans of Salesforce Automotive Cloud 



Finally, let’s look at the available pricing plans of Automotive Cloud. While pricing can fluctuate based on customization and specific needs, the following plans are the most common: 




Enterprise: $325\month. It is suitable for both medium and large companies and has advanced customization and integration features.



Unlimited Edition: $500\month. It is perfect for large organizations with extensive needs and offers unlimited access to all features, advanced analytics, and customer support.



Einstein 1 for Service: $700\month. It is suited for businesses mainly looking to leverage artificial intelligence in their service operations.




For more information about pricing plans, additional features, add-ons, and support, you’ll need to contact the sales representative directly on the official Salesforce website.  







Source: Salesforce



The future of Salesforce Automotive Cloud: conclusion



Is Automotive Cloud a future-proof solution? Yes, because the CRM platform offers customer- and business-oriented features, integrations, advanced analytics, and AI  - all necessary to meet the evolving needs of the automotive industry. Each was designed to address the pain points of customers while driving operations forward. As we look ahead, the relevance of the Automotive Cloud solution becomes even clearer.



According to McKinsey, 95% of all new vehicles sold by 2030 will be connected cars, an increase of 50% from 2021. As the number of connected cars rapidly increases, the demand for advanced data management and customer-centric services also will grow. It means that cloud providers, like Salesforce, will play a crucial role in helping automotive companies achieve this. The ability to leverage Salesforce Automotive Cloud to analyze a lot of customer and vehicle data will be vital for creating tailored services and maintaining a competitive advantage in the future.




 


Expert Opinion



Salesforce released the Automotive Cloud in response to several challenges that the automotive market struggled with. One major issue is that dealerships found it difficult to consolidate customer data from disparate systems. They could not deliver a personalized, omnichannel experience that meets consumer expectations for seamless online and offline interactions.



Second, sales processes were often complex and lengthy, requiring improved workflows between dealers and customers. Inventory management also required changes related to real-time tracking of inventory levels. So, dealerships needed better analytics to navigate all these processes. A unified solution was required that would optimize all processes, integrate well with needed systems, and be customized. 



I suppose that the future of this platform is promising. The platform capabilities will expand, offering dealerships more predictive analytics and customers more personalization with the help of AI. It also will improve communication among automotive manufacturers and dealerships to deliver innovative automotive services. 





Salesforce developer at SoftTeco



Michael Ganzhurov

### Food Delivery App Development: Essential Features, Business Models and Cost

Food delivery has always been popular but after the pandemic, it skyrocketed in popularity. And, despite the presence of such huge players as Uber Eats, Grubhub or DoorDash in the market, it is surprisingly not oversaturated. That means the food delivery app development is a profitable venture - but you need to know the basics and prepare a solid business strategy in advance. 



Below we talk about the essentials of creating a successful food delivery application and discuss available types and approximate costs. We hope our article will give you a good idea about what a food delivery app should look like and what business model will work best for you.







The state of food delivery app development today



The popularity of food delivery apps is growing consistently and it includes both grocery delivery and meal delivery. Statista shares the following numbers:




The grocery delivery market volume is expected to reach $US$0.77tn in 2024;



There will be approximately 2.5bn users in the meal delivery market by 2029;



The online food delivery market is expected to display a 2024 - 2029 CAGR of 9.04%




As you can see, the statistics clearly show that the food delivery market displays consistent growth and is here to stay. And as we mentioned earlier, despite a big number of available solutions, the market still gladly welcomes new players, meaning you have all the chances to become the next big thing in online food delivery.



Why is food delivery so popular and beneficial for investors?



Now, the first thing that comes to mind is convenience since it’s extremely convenient to have your favorite food (or groceries) delivered right to your door within half an hour or so. But what’s in it for developers and investors and what factors make food delivery so profitable?



Rising demand for delivery services. The pandemic was probably a breaking point for the food delivery industry and today, it’s hard to imagine one’s week without at least one delivery order. What that means is that the demand for such services is still on the rise and with the right business model and reasonable fees, it’s possible to measure up to the biggest players in the market.



Beneficial for both restaurants and customers. Convenience and ease of online ordering are the key factors encouraging customers to participate in it. In fact, customers may be even willing to pay extra fees just for the sake of the convenience. As for the restaurant owners, the growing number of customers equals growing profit, so it’s a win-win for both parties.



Opportunities for personalization and automation. Online ordering (whether of meals or groceries) is a much faster and more personalized process than on-premises one. Businesses can offer their online customers such perks as gift cards, loyalty points, or discounts on special occasions. While some of these perks are applicable for on-premises ordering too, the online process just takes less time and effort for both parties since order processing is automated.



Types of food delivery apps



If you consider developing a food delivery app, you need to choose a) its type and b) its business model. Let’s start with the types first. 



Restaurant aggregators



A restaurant aggregator app provides its users access to different restaurants and allows easy ordering and delivery. If you need an example, think of Uber Eats. As a user, you get access to a list of restaurants and can use filters to select the needed one.







This type is highly beneficial for both restaurants and customers. As a business owner, you attract more customers by listing your restaurant in the app and offering convenient ordering conditions. As a customer, you can use various criteria for restaurant selection and order from several places at once, with all your information (like delivery address or phone number) being pre-filled and saved.



Restaurant-to-consumer delivery



This type offers direct delivery from a specific restaurant to its customers. The most popular example would be Domino’s delivery service. In this case, a customer orders from one restaurant only and the restaurant is responsible for order processing and delivery (same as restaurants in the aggregator model).



It is great for food chains that have a high volume of customers and orders. Also, such apps are often used as a way to attract and retain customers since restaurants provide special offers (like big discounts) to app users only.



Grocery delivery



Grocery delivery apps are similar to restaurant aggregators. They allow users to choose a store, add groceries to the cart and order delivery - all done in a few taps only. Such convenience is the main reason behind the popularity of these apps and as business owner, you can partner with several stores or create a solution for a specific store.





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B2B food delivery



One more type of a food delivery app to mention is the B2B food delivery. An example would be a delivery of products from a supplier to a restaurant. In this way, your app connects suppliers and restaurants or catering companies and offers them an easy and effective way to communicate and collaborate.



Monetization strategies for food delivery applications



The next thing to choose is the business model that your app will function upon. Your revenue will directly depend on the selected business model so invest some time into researching which one you want to implement:




Commission fees: the app charges a certain percentage of the total order value. Both restaurants and customers can be charged but in the latter case, we recommend establishing a reasonable fee (if any) so you do not discourage users from ordering via your app. 



Delivery fees: the app charges customers for getting their orders delivered. The delivery fee can either be flat rate or depend on the delivery area and the distance between the customer and the restaurant. It is recommended to use a variety of delivery fee options so you recover the investment as planned.



Advertisement:  this monetization strategy implies charging restaurants for promoting them in the app listing. In this way, you receive extra revenue and restaurants can attract more users and stand out from the competition.



Membership: Uber Eats was among the first to introduce a membership fee for its users and seems like this strategy is highly beneficial. The idea is simple: users pay a fixed monthly fee and receive certain perks in exchange. In Uber Eats example, a customer is requested to pay $9.99/month in exchange for unlimited free delivery and 5% off all orders.








Key features of a successful food delivery app



Now let’s discuss another impotant aspect, which is functionality. Since you will most likely start with the MVP development, you will need only core features - aka the must-haves that all users expect. The trick is, a food delivery app normally has three user groups: customers, restaurants, and couriers. Let’s look at the core functionality for each group.



Customer app



A customer app is the one users interact with when they order food. The must-have features for this app are the following:




Search: it should allow users advanced search of restaurants by using different filters or searching on the integrated map;



User profile: a customer should be able to set up a user profile so their information like delivery address or phone number is filled in automatically upon the order placement.



Order placing and tracking: your app should feature a streamlined and user-friendly checkout process and should allow users to track their order and contract a courier, if needed.



Push notifications:  this feature helps keep the customer updates on the status of their order. Also, push notifications can be used to deliver important information or share promo codes.



Reviews: customers should be able to leave feedback about the restaurant and the order and they should also be able to see the reviews’ history.



Payment: an app should provide several payment options (most popular are by card or by cash upon order receiving) and should support various payment methods. 




Restaurant app



A restaurant app allows restaurants to automate and facilitate order receiving and processing as well as manage their online presence effectively. Here are its core features:




Management of the listing: it should enable convenient and easy update and management of the restaurant’s listing, such as addition or removal of menu items or price change. 



Order management: this feature allows restaurants to accept (or decline) orders, process them and assign the relevant status to them. As well, order management helps restaurants better plan their workload.



Payment: restaurants need a secure and effective way to automatically generate invoices and send them to the clients.



Reviews: when customers leave orders, restaurants should be able to not only view but reply to them.




Courier app



Finally, couriers need an app with specific functionality too so they can effectively and timely pick up and deliver orders. The essential features are:




User profile: same as customers, couriers should be able to easily create user profiles. For faster registration, consider implementing social media authorization. 



Navigation: it should facilitate the whole order delivery process as much as possible so you might want to se Google Maps Platform (Android) or Location Framework (iOS) for convenient route-making.



Order management: couriers should be able to view available orders, select the ones they want to claim and view the whole order information and history (desired delivery time, customer’s location, etc.).



Tracking of earnings and expenses: since your app will most probably charge delivery fee, it’s essential that couriers can monitor and manage their earnings and track expenses.



Order history: an app should provide a detailed order history with information about all completed orders and payments.




Note that this is not a complete list of features to include in a food delivery app but the core functionality. You will adjust the functionality based on your specific needs and market research but the list above should give you a good idea of what to include in the app.



Plan your development team cost for a food delivery app







How to create a food delivery app: process breakdown



Food ordering app development includes several stages, during which you research the market, work on the design, and ensure the app both functions and looks as intended. Here is a breakdown of of the food delivery application development process:



Market research 



The first step of any mobile app development process is market research and competition analysis. This stage is important as it serves several goals. First, you get an understanding of what works best in the market and what kind of functionality your users expect and need. Second, market research helps you identify a potential problem that your users encounter and offer a solution with your app. Also, market research helps you understand your target audience and ensure that your app serves their needs. Finally, a thorough research of the competition will help you come up with a unique selling proposition (USP) which will become your competitive advantage.



Choice of monetization strategy



As we’ve already mentioned, you need to select the right monetization strategy for your app and build its functionality around it. Also, the choice of the monetization strategy will help you establish KPIs, define the expected revenue and better plan upcoming expenses. 



Select a reliable software development partner



Unless you have an experienced in-house development team, we highly recommend reaching out to a reliable IT provider for food delivery app development services. Outsourcing proves to be cheaper than in-house development and more high-quality than work with freelancers. When selecting an IT company to partner with, pay attention to their portfolio and ask whether they’ve worked on similar projects before. In our blog, we’ve written a series of articles on how to choose the right provider and how to set up the work process  check it out for more detailed information.



Choose the platform and the tech stack



The next big thing to decide on is what platform you want your app to run on. Your app can be native mobile, web, or cross-platform. The selection of the platform wil impact the selection of the tech stack. When choosing the most suitable technologies, go throught the list of app features once again and see which technologies will help you implement these features.



Develop and design



Once you decide on the platform and tech stack, it’s time to develop the app and work on its design. You can ask your development team for details on the process but the main idea is: make the app highly secure and user-centric. The navigation for all user groups should be intuitive and easy and should help users fulfill their initial goal. As for the coding part, we recommend implementing secure coding practices and testing throughout the development process.



Test and debug



Testing is an essential part of any software development process as it is aimed at identifying any potential flaws, bugs, and vulnerabilities in a product. When testing an app before its release, QA engineers normally check such aspects as the app’s performance, usability, security, an ability to handle unexpected loads, etc. In this way, users will receive a fully functioning product with no glitches or bugs.



Release and monitor



The last part of the application development process is the app’s launch to the store and its post-release monitoring and maintenance. Since real-life conditions differ from the testing environment, unexpected bugs may occur. Hence, it’s critical to dedicate some time to the app’s maintenance, which should be performed by the same development team since developers know the code inside out.





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The approximate cost of food ordering app development



The last big question that every business owner wants to know is: how much does a food delivery app cost? 



There are multiple factors that impact the app’s price: the platform of choice, app’s complexity and functionality, complexity of the design, etc. But if talking about approximate estimation, you can consider the following costs:




MVP development: $35,000 - $50,000



MLP development: $50,000 - $100,000




If talking about mobile development, you have two options: native and cross-platform app development. Naturally, native app development will be more expensive but on the other hand, it will provide a top tier user experience and rich functionality.



Cross-platform development is a valid option if you need to cut the development costs a bit. Another way to save costs is the use of readymade, open-source, or licensed components but they come with certain drawbacks. The biggest ones are the potential incompatibility of these components with the rest of the system or their limited functionality. 



As an experienced food delivery app development company, we recommend scheduling a call or setting up a meeting with the project manager and business analyst to discuss all available options and find a solution that will match your budget the best without compromising the app’s functionality and performance.



And now, in the light of the discussion, we’d like to talk about a few food delivery projects that our food app development company worked on. 



SoftTeco’s use case: Cheetah







Cheetah is a B2B ecommerce app for food distributors, according to the description on the official website. When SoftTeco joined the project, the main focus of the application was on connecting owners of small restaurants with food suppliers through direct, in-app delivery. Cheetah offered its users monthly subscription plans and provided the delivery of the order either to a stated address or to a pickup location of choice. One of the most interesting features of the app at that time was its advanced analytics realized through the Amplitude system. As for the SoftTeco’s contribution, our main responsibility was updating the iOS part of the app and its optimization. We also worked on the architecture’s redesign and ensured that it’s suitable for unit testing performed by developers themselves. The SoftTeco team also simplified the UI testing process significantly.



SoftTeco’s use case: Coco Delivery



One more food delivery app development project that SoftTeco worked on was Coco Delivery - a web platform for food delivery merchants. What makes it stand out from the competition is the fact that the service uses robots to deliver food orders to clients. Once a client places an order, it is processed by the Coco platform, which arranges for robot delivery directly to the end user. SoftTeco developed the web platform for merchants entirely from scratch. In addition, our data science experts work closely with the client's team to collect and analyze data for further insights.

### Python App Development: Is It Relevant and What Apps Can You Make on Python?

According to the TIOBE index (as of October 2024), Python remains the #1 most popular programming language, with its popularity growing steadily. And while it’s mostly known for being used in machine learning projects, this programming language can be successfully applied to the development of web and mobile applications. Below, we discuss the specifics of Python app development and review the most common frameworks that help developers create stellar apps.







Why choose Python for mobile apps and web apps?



Due to Python’s versatility, it can be used in a variety of applications, with machine learning and data analysis projects being the most common use cases. In app development, Python can be successfully used for building both web and mobile applications though it shines the most when used for backend development. But before discussing the intricacies of creating a Python-powered app, let’s first go through the main reasons for Python application development t in the first place:




Simplicity and readability: Python is well-known for its clear and understandable syntax, meaning that it’s easier for developers to understand the code and quickly debug it. This is especially valuable when one developer needs to review the other developer’s code. 



Cross-platforom opportunities: combined with a powerful framework of choice, Python brings developers various cross-platform opportunities, allowing them to create cross-platform apps with rich functionality.



Big community and a great number of available solutions: Python’s immense popularity means that the language has a very big community of developers. This, in turn, means that the language has a plethora of readymade solutions and is constantly being improved.



Perfect for building quick prototypes or PoC: Python enables quick development of Proof-of-Concept apps or prototypes since it allows quick API creation.



Rich ecosystem: it consists of a variety of powerful tools, including an array of libraries. This allows for quick app development and creation of apps of various formats.



Security: Python's frameworks come with built-in security features that bring in an additional layer of security to app development. 




What kind of apps are usually built with Python?



Though Python is known for its general use, it won’t perform the same for two different apps due to its nature and built-in features. So while you can technically use it for everything, this language has proved to perform exceptionally well in the following areas of app development:



Machine learning applications



It comes as no surprise that Python is the number one choice when it comes to ML development. Due to an array of free and powerful libraries for machine learning (Scipy, Numpy, PyTorch, Keras, etc.)  that this language provides, many ML developers choose this language for their app development. Also, such cloud providers as AWS or Google Cloud offer their ML services with native Python support, which is another big reason to choose it for your machine learning app. 



Multi-purpose business applications



Python is widely used for the development of business applications such as ERP ones as it provides robust security and rich functionality while not making the apps too heavy. However, this language is especially popular in ecommerce app development. The first reason for that is that Python has a rich ecosystem of packages and libraries, meaning it can effectively handle many important aspects of an ecommerce store, like payment processing and inventory management. Python also has built-in security features which is critical for an ecommerce store and can integrate easily with various third-party services like customer support systems or analytics tools.



Game applications



While some say that Python is not the best choice for game development, it’s not entirely true - you just need to know how exactly to use it for game app development. First, Python is great for prototyping, which is important for quick testing of a game idea. Second, its rich array of libraries asists game developers in multiple aspects: graphics rendering with Pygame to rendering with Panda3D. Finally, due to Python’s simplicity, it is often used in 2D game development since these games are usually quite lightweight, have basic game physics, and do not require any extraordinary functionality.



These were the most popular examples of apps that you can create with Python - now let’s look at the available frameworks that simplify the whole app development process.



Web scraping applications



Web scraping apps are the ones used to extract content from a website, which is important for such processes as market research or price comparison. Python is a common choice for such apps due to its versatile features and robust library support. Examples are BeautifulSoup and Scrapy. BeautifulSoup is a library used for HTML and XML documentation parsing and Scrapy (as the name suggests) is a framework designed specifically for scraping.





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Best frameworks for Python app development



Python offers several frameworks for mobile app development and web app development to choose from, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. But in general, the most popular frameworks fall into two categories:




Mobile: Kivy, BeeWare



Web: Django, Flask




Let’s see each in detail.



Kivy



Kivy is an open-source framework for cross-platform GUI apps. It enables Python mobile app development and allows developers to build their apps with a single codebase and then deploy them to a platform of choice, be it macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, or Android. 



It has a Model-View-Controller architecture and offers a rich variety of widgets and tools for creating responsive and dynamic user interfaces. Due to Kivy’s support for gesture and touch inputs, it is also known for being highly effective in developing multi-touch applications and Natural User Interfaces (NUI). With that being said, you can effectively use Kivy to build an app in Python and then deliver it to iOS and Android platforms.



Key features:




Built on OpenGL ES 2 and thus enables fast graphic rendering and creation of smooth animations;



Issued below the MIT license;



Offers a custom UI Toolkit



Uses a declarative language for defining the user interface.




BeeWare



Unlike Kivy, BeeWare is not a single framework but rather a collection of libraries that allows building native apps in Python and is also used for Python mobile development. BeeWare is able of compiling Python code into native binaries for the selected platform and in this way, allows delivering native apps across multiple platforms.



BeeWare is based on Toga - a Python-native GUI toolkit that allows the use of native UI elements. So if you are developing an app in Toga on Android, the app will use native Android’s UI components. In this way, such cross-platform apps deliver seamless native user experience.



Key features:




Toga GUI toolkit;



Availability of native UI components;



A single codebase;



Open-sourced and BSD-licensed.




Django



Django is a well-known framework for developing web applications. One of its biggest advantages is the emphasis on reusable components which greatly speeds up the development process. As well, Django offers a plethora of ready-to-use features like CRUD operations or database connection. 



Key features:




Available templates for creating dynamic pages;



A shortcut to a full integration with the app’s database;



No need to use SQL for building the data model;



Conversion of database tables into Python classes;



A built-in templating engine DTL (Django Template Language)




Flask



Flask is another Python framework for web development. It is sometimes referred to as a micro web framework since Flask has minimal dependencies and does not require the use of particular tools or libraries. But despite its lightweight nature, Flask is actually quite powerful and enables effectrive development of small and medium web applications that do not require complex functionality.



Key features:




Can be used with basically any database;



Has a high level of customization;



Very easy to learn;



A built-in Jinja2 template engine




FastAPI



One more framework worth mentioning is FastAPI, designed specifically for building APIs with ease and speed. One of its greatest strengths is the focus on high performance, making it ideal for applications where speed is critical. Additionally, FastAPI provides automatic interactive API documentation, which simplifies the development and testing processes.



Key features:




High speed due to asynchronous support



Automatic generation of interactive API docs



Type hints for data validation



Simplifies the management of dependencies in the app



Easy integration with databases




How to make an app with Python: key steps of the development process



If you plan to create an app using Python, we recommend learning about the core steps of the process. In this way, you will gain an understanding of how to plan future work and how to adjust these steps so they fully correspond to your business goals. If you don’t have an in-house development team, we recommend checking out our Python development services. As a company with extensive experience in software development, we know how to make the most of Python when it comes to developing a feature-rich and robust application.



So, how to make an app with Python?



Define your app idea



Though seemingly obvious, this step is crucial as it defines further development. You need to have a very clear understanding of the purpose of the app and its desired functionality as well as the value that it will bring to end users. Based on that, you will be able to select the most suitable tech stack, including the frameworks discussed above.



We also recommend starting with MVP development so you can test your app idea and gather feedback from real users before investing too much time and effort into development. And as already mentioned, Python is simply great for quick prototyping.



Choose the right framework to work with



When developing an application, choosing the right framework is crucial. Django is a popular choice for projects where rapid development is needed, such as a proof of concept (PoC). Its comprehensive set of built-in features, like ORM and admin panels, enables quick setup and iteration. The emphasis on reusable components further speeds up the process.



On the other hand, FastAPI excels in building high-performance APIs with its asynchronous capabilities and automatic documentation generation. It’s ideal for applications where speed and efficiency are critical.



Your framework choice should align with your project’s requirements, considering factors like performance, feature complexity, and development speed. For UI needs, frameworks like Kivy or BeeWare might be considered, depending on the desired creative control or native experience.



Set up the development environment



This step will depend heavily on the previous one since different frameworks and libraries require different installations. In a nutshell, the setup of a development environment includes the following tasks:




Select the OS that you’ll work with;



Install the needed IDE (integrated development environment);



Install all needed packages and tools;



Organize the project file and dependencies through creating a project folder.




Develop the app



This step involves actual writing of the code and the development of the core app functionality. It is critical to follow the secure coding approach and have a robust version control system so you can always roll back to the needed app version. As well, try performing regular code reviews and don’t forget to test continuously.



Test and debug



Though continuous testing is a common practice in app development, it doesn’t mean you won’t need to test the app after it is done. Once you finish its development, you will have to extensively test the app’s various parameters in terms of its functionality, security, performance, and usability. And in case you detect any issues or bugs, you’ll need to debug the app and perform testing once again to ensure that the debugging process did not interfere with the app’s functioning.



Deploy your application



Once the app is tested and is free of bugs and errors, you can deploy it and make it available to end user. Since the real-world environment differs from the testing environment, issues might occur upon the app’s launch. To ensure smooth app’s performance, request maintenance and support services from your development team and clearly define the duration and conditions of these services. In this way, you will be able to fix any unexpected bugs as soon as they occur, without disrupting the user experience.





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Main challenges in Python app development and how to overcome them



As we already mentioned, Python can be a solid choice for app development and is definitely effective in specific use cases. However, one has to be aware of the potential challenges and ways to overcome them.



Performance issues



Python is an interpreted language so it’s a bit slower than compiled languages that are normally used in app development. To address this challenge, try the following: 




Code profiling tools: Utilize code profiling tools to effectively identify bottlenecks in your application. These tools help pinpoint areas where performance can be improved.



Built-in functions: Take advantage of built-in functions, which are often implemented in C and optimized for performance.



C extensions or Cython: Consider using C extensions or deploying Cython to compile Python code into C, thus boosting execution speed significantly.



Concurrent programming: Implement various approaches like asynchronous programming or threading to run tasks concurrently. This can improve application responsiveness and efficiency.




Debugging



While Python's dynamic nature offers flexibility, it can sometimes make debugging more challenging. However, with the right strategies and tools, you can manage this effectively:




Robust testing strategy: Develop a comprehensive testing strategy before starting the development process. This proactive approach allows for quick reactions to unexpected issues and ensures that potential problems are caught early.



Use of debuggers: Leverage powerful debugging tools like pdb or integrated debuggers in IDEs such as PyCharm and VS Code. These tools help track down and resolve issues efficiently.



Automated tests: Implement automated testing frameworks like pytest or unittest to facilitate thorough and consistent testing. Automated tests can significantly improve the accuracy of bug detection and streamline the debugging process.




App packaging and distribution



Since Python was not originally created as a language for app development, the process of app packaging and distribution is more complex than the one for native applications. To successfully publish a Python mobile app on an app store, you’lll need to use specialized tools to package the Python code of your app into the needed format.



Summing up



Python is a powerful and versatile language that can be used in various applications, including web and mobile apps. However, if you decide to create a Python app, you need to be aware of potential challenges and plan your development process accordingly. In general, this language works the best for the backend development but it’s not limited to backend only. We hope our article helped you better understand where exactly Python works the best and what to expect from Python app development.

### Machine Learning in Healthcare: Statistics, Use Cases, and Benefits

Machine learning in healthcare contributes to more streamlined, effective, and organized performance of numerous medical procedures and assists doctors in their daily operations, thus bringing more personalized and proactive care to patients.







The growing role of machine learning in healthcare



The current challenges that the industry faces are the reason behind the growing adoption of machine learning and its rapid integration in clinical decision support. These challenges include the increasing demand for qualified personnel, lengthy drug discovery, or inability to recognize certain diseases at early stages. In the light of this, here are some numbers that clearly show how machine learning is becoming an integral part of healthcare:




The global AI healthcare market is expected to reach $36.96 billion, with a CAGR of 38.6% compared to the numbers from 2024;



76% of AI-enabled medical devices that are authorized for sale in the US are used in the radiology field; 



47% of healthcare organizations use or plan to use AI-powered virtual assistants;



In 2025, 340+ FDA-approved AI tools are already being used for diagnostic purposes.




Main benefits of machine learning in healthcare



Task automation  



Implementation of machine learning can automate a number of routine tasks and processes, especially in the field of hospital management. Examples of such tasks include collection of patient data or staff scheduling as well as generation and processing of medical documents. As for real-life examples, Nuance’s Dragon Medical One uses AI to capture voice-generated content right into medical systems, reducing the documentation time up to 50%.



Improved patient care



Machine learning is the cornerstone of precision medicine, aimed at delivering personalized care to every patient through careful analysis of their medical history and genetic profile. Also, ML contributes to more accurate diagnosis-making and more effective medical image analysis. AI models, designed in collaboration between the Massachusetts General Hospital and MIT, displayed a 94% accuracy in lung nodule detection, greatly outperforming human radiologists.



Better prediction of health risks



In relation to the point above, ML models not only help detect warning symptoms but also contribute to earlier health risk prediction, allowing doctors to start treatment in a proactive manner. This approach is much more beneficial for patients as it allows mitigating the disease development at early stages before it causes significant harm. Moreover, machine learning can help predict not only the disease development but the state of the patients and whether they will require specialized care in the future. Back in 2020, several US hospitals used an ML-powered solution that predicted ICU transfers within 24h. The solution proved to be of great benefit as the hospitals were overloaded due to the COVID-19 pandemic and medical professionals were not able to treat each patient efficiently enough. 



Key applications of machine learning in healthcare 



1. Disease prediction and diagnosis



Accurate disease prediction remains one of the biggest challenges in healthcare, and machine learning is used to facilitate and automate the process to a certain extent. ML-based image recognition is one of the most common use cases of this technology in diagnostics since the ML model can recognize and detect patterns that were previously unknown or unnoticed by medical professionals. This, in turn, allows early detection of diseases and their timely prevention as well as the patient outcome prediction, increasing the chances for successful treatment. 



Also, don’t forget about predictive analytics that can be used to forecast the potential disease development or for hospital readmission prediction. Machine learning models used in forecasting the outcomes of general surgeries, displayed an impressive level of accuracy, with 72% of accuracy for SSO predictions and 84% of accuracy for 30-day readmissions. 



Such forecasts are created based on the historical data of the patient combined with the newly collected one and significantly help doctors in analyzing the disease flow and the possibility of its development.



2. Medical imaging



Medical images include X-ray scans, MT, and MRI scans and help medical professionals detect diseases at various stages of development. Unfortunately, medical imaging depends heavily on one’s ability to analyze these images properly, and hence, the chance of a human error remains quite high. For example, the American Cancer Society notes that screening mammograms miss about 1 in 8 breast cancers (~12.5%), underscoring the persistence of human/technical misses in real programs.



The use of machine learning in medical imaging eliminates the possibility of human error and can detect even the slightest alterations from the norm with up to 90% accuracy, thus enabling faster anomaly detection and prevention of illnesses from progressing. For example, the cancer detection rate increased by 17.6% from using AI in CT scans analysis, as reported by Alexander Katalinic from the University of Lübeck (Germany). 



4. Personalized treatment



Personalized medicine, also known as precision medicine, is on the rise these days due to the advancement of machine learning. This practice is aimed at closely studying one’s genetic profile and medical history in order to select the most suitable treatment and to accurately predict how a specific patient will respond to certain drugs and treatment. This approach to patient care significantly increases the chances of a patient for positive immune response and successful outcome of the treatment. In this use case, machine learning helps medical professionals quickly and effectively analyze the patient’s data and detect which drugs and treatment plans would be the most compatible.



5. Drug development and discovery



Another big challenge of the healthcare industry is the process of drug discovery and development and clinical trial optimization. First, it is very expensive, and second, it might take years to develop a single drug. Machine learning greatly assists here by speeding up the process of finding combinations of components by 50% and drawing accurate predictions (with over 90% accuracy) on how a specific drug will perform. Doctors can also use ML to identify new use cases for already existing drugs, thus expanding the area of their use.



6. Virtual nursing 



The outbreak of COVID-19 served as a catalyst for many changes in the healthcare system, with virtual nurses probably being among the most prominent ones. A virtual nurse is an app with an AI bot that communicates with the patient, analyzes their medical history, and provides valuable suggestions according to their specific case. The biggest benefit of virtual nurses is their 24/7 availability and immediate response. As for their core functions, they mostly focus on remote patient monitoring, interactions with the patient, assistance in performing regular health check ups, and reminders about medication intakes or upcoming appointments.



As virtual nurses are already being integrated in healthcare facilities and telemedicine products, both doctors and patients recognize its benefits. In some healthcare facilities, the nurse turnover rate was reduced from 39% to 8.1% after the introduction of virtual nurses and the average inpatient stays were reduced by over 7%. As patients report higher satisfaction due to more personalized care, more and more healthcare facilities (52% in 2024) plan to implement virtual nurses.



7. RPA in surgery



Robotic process automation (RPA) powered by machine learning is a powerful tool that already assists surgeons in a wide range of applications. Robots can not only assist in performing a surgery but can also access specific body parts (pelvic cavity, skull base, coronary arteries, retina) with more precision than a human surgeon would. The biggest benefits of using robotic process automation services in surgery include:




Minimized surgery time: 19.1% reduction in surgery completion time with a semi-autonomous robotic control;



Reduced risks of blood loss: up to 50% less blood loss during robot-assisted pedicle screw insertions; 



Shorter recovery time for the patients: postoperative hospital stays among patients that underwent robotic-assisted surgery, were shorter by 2 days, compared to patients who underwent traditional surgery.





 


Smart care happens together: Humans + AI



While the role of machine learning in healthcare is significant, we shouldn’t forget that the technology is not perfect. Models can accurately predict which patients are at risk of getting worse or which patients will get readmitted soon, but their performance directly depends on the training data. If there is missing information, data inconsistency, or biases, the models will deliver unreliable outcomes - and it’s the responsibility of a healthcare facility to take care of its data before using it for model training.



When talking about ML implementation in healthcare, I believe it’s best to let humans and machines work together. A model can highlight high-risk patients or chances of disease development, but it’s doctors who make the final call on further treatment. And if clinicians use tools that explain the model’s reasoning, it will contribute to building trust and safety.





Data Scientist at SoftTeco



Roman Kyrychenko






 




Real-life use cases of ML in healthcare



We’ve looked at the main ways how machine learning technology can be used in the field of healthcare - now let’s look at the real-life machine learning use cases in healthcare.



AI-powered ICU brain monitoring



The Cleveland Clinic has partnered with Piramidal Inc. (an AI startup from San Francisco) to introduce an AI model for reading brainwaves among patients in the ICU. The model is trained to read the EEG (electroencephalogram) data and analyze it in mere seconds, in contrast to hours of manual data analysis that is usually performed by healthcare professionals.



The use of this model will help doctors detect seizures, strokes, and brain injuries at the early stages, thus increasing the chances of saving patients’ lives. And considering that ICUs are often too busy and lack personnel to monitor each patient closely, the use of the AI model will greatly reduce the workload while also increasing the efficiency of patient monitoring.



An AI platform for lung cancer detection



The Red Dot system, developed by the Behold.ai company and powered by AI, is used by several NHS hospitals for analysing triage chest and CT scans. The platform can flag potential lung cancer signs within 30 seconds and reduces the patient CT wait time from weeks to minutes. The platform not only speeds up the diagnosis process but also removes 15% of the workload, according to the official website.  



A smart bot for automating clinical documentation



A smart AI bot is used at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust and helps doctors write medical notes faster. Based on the patient’s diagnosis and results of medical tests, the bot creates a summary, which is then reviewed by medical professionals. The automation of medical documents generation leads up to faster inpatient discharge and reduces the workload for the doctors. 



Main challenges of implementing machine learning in healthcare



Though machine learning is a highly beneficial asset for potential investment, its implementation also comes with certain challenges and roadblocks that one needs to be aware of in advance. Below, we list the main things to consider if you plan to introduce machine learning to your organization.



Black box problem



The black box issue aka the lack of transparency and explainability is the number one pain point of any ML-powered product. The issue becomes especially critical in healthcare, where doctors hold immense accountability for their actions and must explain them.



Solution: 




When developing an ML model, use explainable AI (XAI) tools and explanation techniques like LIME (Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations), SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations), PDPs (Partial Dependence Plots) or Integrated Gradients.



Consider using interpretable models like decision trees or logistic regressions when transparency is vital.




Data privacy and security



Patient data is highly sensitive and is protected by regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA. Hence, when introducing an ML solution, it’s paramount that this solution adheres to regulatory standards and ensures clinical data anonymization.



Solution: 




Implement data encryption, access control management, and secure storage 



Use federated learning or similar techniques so raw data is not exposed during the model training process.  



Regularly perform compliance audits




Data availability and quality



The efficiency and accuracy of an ML model depends directly on the quality and quantity of data. And while healthcare organizations normally work with massive data sets, these sets are often scattered, unorganized, biased, or noisy. The lack of data availability is usually among the biggest roadblocks that prevent a healthcare organization from the ML adoption.



Solution: 




Consider using synthetic (artificially created) data for better diversity.



Partner with other institutions to build a shared and anonymous database.



Invest time and resources into organizing the existing data to build reliable, unbiased, and high-quality data sets.




Legacy systems in use



When a healthcare organization plans to introduce an ML model, it needs to be ready to review the existing infrastructure and evaluate whether the model can be integrated securely and effectively. There is often a clash between advanced tools that power the ML model and outdated technologies that hospitals use. The existing legacy systems simply cannot connect with ML models and support them effectively, not to mention the lack of scalability.



Solution: 




Review your current infrastructure and try prioritizing what components should be modernized in the first place and which ones are essential for ML implementation.



Partner with an experienced healthcare software development vendor who can help you gradually optimize your system and migrate needed components to more advanced tools and platforms.




Resistance from medical staff



One more issue that actually prevents many organizations from the ML adoption is the resistance from healthcare specialists. Some fear that AI will take their jobs and others simply don’t understand it enough to give it a try.



Solution: 




Provide comprehensive employee training that will involve not only work with the ML model but also education on its importance and use cases.



Involve clinicians and doctors in model development and validation stages for better transparency and clarity.




ML technologies used in healthcare



When discussing machine learning in healthcare, it’s also worth mentioning the most common types of machine learning models:



Supervised machine learning



The model is trained on a dataset that has been prepared through data labeling, where every input is paired with its corresponding label before training. In this way, the algorithms “learn” on the provided information and use it to make assumptions about new inputs. 



In healthcare, this model is used for medical diagnosis as it can learn on existing medical images and assist doctors in disease identification on new images.



Unsupervised learning



The model receives a dataset without any labels, independently finds patterns and structure within the given data and categorizes them correspondingly. As a result, the model groups together inputs with similar characteristics like age, date of birth, location, etc. 



In healthcare, unsupervised learning usually serves research purposes and is often used in identification of new disease causes or new groups of patients. By that we mean identification of new subsets of patients that share previously unrecognized patterns (i.e., disease subtypes, similar risk factors, etc.). 



Reinforcement learning



The model performs an action (i.e., adjustment of a medication dose) and receives feedback on the performance. Based on this feedback, the model will adjust its future actions to achieve the needed results and improve the performance. 



One of the most popular examples of reinforcement learning in healthcare is creation of personalized treatment plans. Based on the patient’s response and the medical history, the model will be adjusting the proposed plan to fully meet the patient’s needs. 



Deep learning



A subset of machine learning that operates on the base of multilayered neural networks and aims to mimic the human brain thinking. In healthcare, deep learning is especially useful in EHR (electronic health records) analysis, medical imaging, and drug discovery. The reason for that is that deep learning excels at analyzing unstructured and complex data, which is exactly what these domains are composed of. 



Summing up 



Today, the popularity of machine learning in healthcare is growing steadily though there are still several challenges that prevent its wider adoption. These limitations include lack of structured data, bias, lack of expertise, ethical issues, and poor adoption strategies. However, healthcare professionals and data scientists are already working on these challenges, striving to make machine learning an integral part of the healthcare industry worldwide. 



It is safe to assume that in the near future we will see machine learning in more and more healthcare facilities. This also means that healthcare IT services will grow in popularity since it is impossible to build a reliable and secure ML model without the external expertise of machine learning specialists. If you have any questions regarding the development of a custom ML model or simply want to assess its profitability and learn more about machine learning in healthcare, SoftTeco will gladly answer your questions and will provide you with more information upon request.

### AI Fraud Detection in Banking: An Ultimate Guide

In the past years, we’ve been observing a rapid advancement of technology and its growing use across various domains, including banking. At the same time, the advancement of technology also means that fraudulent activities have become more sophisticated and now require much more powerful tools to confront them. The AFP 2025 Survey reports that 79% of companies suffered from actual or attempted payment fraud in 2024. And according to the report by GASA, the financial losses from international scammers count up to $1 trillion in 12 months as of 2024. 



That being said, it’s obvious that both established banks and aspiring financial startups need to invest in powerful and next-gen fraud detection tools such as artificial intelligence-based ones. Below we’ll discuss the main idea behind AI fraud detection and real-life use cases of this technology in banking.







AI vs traditional methods



To understand the role of ai-based fraud detection in banking and the way it operates, it is essential to first look back at the traditional fraud detection processes and the reasons behind their flaws.



Traditional fraud detection



Before artificial intelligence entered the market, banks had been relying heavily on rule-based systems. As the name suggests, these systems operate on the basis of hard-coded rules that most often work by the “if, else” algorithm. In simple words, if a transaction meets any trigger defined in a rule, the system will flag the translation as fraudulent. 



These rules can be based on the industry’s best practices and/or on the company’s historic data of fraudulent transactions. And while the whole system sounds quite secure and robust, there are several big issues with it.



First, rules are defined by people, meaning there is a chance of human error. As well, poorly defined rules mean poor security since the system functions strictly by these rules, no alterations allowed.



Second, fraudulent activities evolve on a regular basis, meaning, the rule-based system has to keep up. For that, companies will have to retrain their systems constantly in order for it to adapt to the changing landscape of fraudulent activities. Needless to say, this can be cumbersome and quite time-consuming.



The pros of rule-based systems:




100% transparency and explainability of the system since you can always know what events trigger alerts;



No cold start: the system is fully operational right from the start;



Easier entry: for developing such a system, you’ll need just a team of backend developers.




The cons of rule-based systems:




The constant need for developing new rules in response to new fraudulent activities;



Growth of the number of rules and hence, the amount of needed maintenance;



Limitation of rules due to its manual definition and implementation.




AI-based fraud detection



Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, is able to automatically “learn” and adapt to new threats. Data scientists can also train the existing ML model on the new data without the need to redesign it. This is obviously a big advantage. Another great thing about the use of AI is its flexibility and automatic scaling: since there are no hard-coded rules, the model can actually “figure out” the reasons behind a certain event being fraudulent. Also, there are now many companies that provide excellent AI development services, meaning you won’t have to worry about assembling a team of data scientists.



The pros of AI-based systems:




Automatic recognition of fraudulent patterns and adaptation to them;



An ability to retrain existing models on new data without the need to reverse engineer the methods of fraudsters;



Automation of the majority of processes involved in fraud detection and prevention;



Efficient scalability and seamless work with massive data volumes.




The cons of AI-based systems:




Requires a big amount of historical data to train on and to start work;



The “black box” issue, meaning there might be a lack of transparency and explainability;



Requires companies to hire data scientists to design and set up an ML model.




Traditional fraud detection vs AI-based fraud detection: a comparison table







Supervised vs unsupervised machine learning



Financial institutions deploy supervised and unsupervised machine learning to teach ML models how to recognize potential fraudulent activity and flag it. 



Supervised machine learning



The supervised machine learning technique implies that ML models are trained on pre-labelled data sets. In this way, the model is “told”, which data is legitimate and which is fraudulent. The data sets usually contain both legitimate and fraudulent transitions and the goal of the ML model is to recognize suspicious transactions and independently detect them in the future. Examples of fraudulent transactions include flagged IP addresses or transfer to a fraudulent address. As a result of the training, an ML model can identify anomalies that match the known fraudulent patterns.



Unsupervised machine learning



Since fraudulent schemes are constantly evolving, supervised machine learning is not enough to recognize newly discovered threats. This is where unsupervised learning steps in. The unsupervised learning technique implies that the model analyzes raw data that is not pre-labelled. As a result, the model learns how to detect non-obvious or subtle fraudulent patterns and is therefore more likely to detect previously unrecognized threats.



Summing up, supervised learning is highly effective in detecting known threats while unsupervised learning is suitable for newly discovered or emerging ones. It is recommended to combine these two methods for higher efficiency. But before you build and start an ML model, you’ll have to collect and prepare the data that the model will work with. Remember: the bigger amount of data means more accurate results since ML is perfect for big data and huge data sets. Also, it is recommended to hire a knowledgeable team of ML experts that have rich experience in providing financial software development services. In this way, you will ensure that the designed ML model is 100% compatible with your system and is reliable and secure. 



Once the data is prepared and fed to the model, it will start analysis. Note that work won’t stop here. You’ll have to continuously feed new data to the model to ensure that the system keeps up with evolving threats and can recognize them successfully. One more strong suit of machine learning is real-time analytics that can be immensely useful, especially in cases when the system immediately alerts you upon detecting a threat.



AI fraud detection methods



Now that we’ve discussed how exactly artificial intelligence processes the data, let’s look at the most common fraud detection methods that are powered by this technology:



AI-based behavioral analytics 



One of the cornerstones of AI-powered fraud detection is the ability of ML models to analyze user behavior and transaction patterns and identify any suspicious activity or alterations from usual spending habits. Examples include transactions from unusual locations or atypical amounts of transactions. In such cases, machine learning algorithms flag the transaction as fraudulent and immediately report and block it, thus preventing potential financial losses.



To effectively train your ML model and obtain needed results, first you’ll need to collect and prepare your data set. As well, you’ll need to define the data points that are to be monitored for anomalies. They normally include the IP address, devices in use, configurations of used systems and browsers, etc. The more information you “feed” to the ML model and monitor, the more accurate the results will be.



Predictive analytics



One more important aspect of using artificial intelligence in fraud detection is predictive analytics. Predictive analytics means the analysis of big data by using machine learning models with an aim to create an accurate prediction of possible future events.



In banking, predictive analytics can help with the following:




Conduction of SWOT analysis with an aim to identify potential weaknesses and ways to resolve them;



Identification of fraudulent activities that will most likely occur based on your historical data;



Anticipation of customer behavior;



Assessment of credit risks and one’s credit worthiness.




Mostly, predictive analytics is used in lending though it can help highlight other risk areas that might be overlooked.



Simulation models 



One more powerful technique included in the process of fraud detection using AI in banking is the creation of a virtual environment that mimics the real one. By using this virtual environment, banks can safely test their fraud prevention strategies and simulate cyber attacks to see how well their environment is protected. The best part about such simulation models is that banks do not risk their financial assets but at the same time, can quite accurately predict risks and evaluate the effectiveness of their fraud detection tools.




 


Expert Opinion



The latest developments in AI have made fraud detection increasingly challenging. This is largely because generative AI models significantly enhance the ability to create fraudulent content, while offering limited assistance in combating fraud. The nature of the latest large language models (LLMs) and other generative models plays a role in this: they rely on associative rules, which are useful for creative tasks (and fraud can be seen as a creative task to some extent), but are notorious for generating hallucinations. These hallucinations pose a serious risk when working with sensitive banking data, making the application of such models highly limited due to the potential dangers.





Data Scientist at SoftTeco



Roman Kyrychenko






 




Most common cases of fraud in banking



Artificial intelligence is, without a doubt, a highly valuable asset for any banking institution. But it’s not enough to just design and implement ai in banking fraud detection. To make the most of this technology, banks first need to recognize and understand the variety of possible threats that they need to focus on. 



Generative AI and deepfakes



One of the biggest concerns in the banking industry today is the growing threat of generative AI (GenAI for short) and the creation of deepfakes. A brief recap of these terms before we move on:




Generative AI is a subset of artificial intelligence that is used to generate content in various forms, including text, images or audio.



Deepfake refers to an artificial image or video, generated (or edited) by using AI tools.




So, what’s the big deal and how do GenAI and deepfakes pose a threat to banks?



You might have heard of a case when, in January 2024, an employee of a Hong-Kong based firm transferred $25 million to fraudsters, fully believing that they were on a call with their boss. Needless to say, the boss and other people on the call were generated by AI, which is both terrifying and impressive, to be honest. And now that GenAI is rapidly evolving, banks and their customers are exposed to newly emerging frauds like deepfake videos, audio calls, or documents. According to Deloitte, the fraud losses from GenAI might reach US$40 billion in the USA by 2027, with GenAI email fraud losses singlehandedly reaching US$11.5 billion by the same date. 



Other examples of banking fraud



In addition to Generative AI and deepfakes, there are other threats that banks must consider when planning their cybersecurity strategy. These threats include:




Identity theft: implies that fraudsters steal your personal information (basically, your “identity”) to perform unlawful activities (i.e., applying for a loan under your name).



Phishing: a practice of sending fraudulent emails (or other forms of messages) that persuade a receiver to take a certain action, most often leading to the reveal of personal information.



Account takeover: similar to identity theft where a malicious agent gets access to your credentials and basically takes over your personal account.



Payment fraud: a process of performing unauthorized transactions due to the theft of one’s payment information.



Money laundering: a process of illegally concealing the origin of money from unlawful activities.




As you can see, types of fraud in banking vary but most of them are centered around accessing one’s personal information. Hence, banks need to build their security strategy accordingly and ensure that both employees and customers understand the risks and know how to respond to threats correctly.



How companies improve fraud detection using AI: real-life case studies



Below we list the most prominent use cases of companies already deploying AI and machine learning to reduce and mitigate fraud and the negative impact that it causes:



American Express



Considering the growing number of credit card frauds that cost US customers roughly $11 billion per year, American Express decided to use machine learning to improve its fraud detection processes. The company deployed deep learning models to develop a powerful AI-based fraud detection tool. The tool combines RNNs with LSTMs for immediate detection of anomalies in massive volumes of transactional data. As a result, American Express was able to improve fraud detection accuracy by 6% in certain segments and is now using an improved and more powerful ML model called Gen X. 



PayPal



Another example of a global financial company using AI for fraud detection is PayPal. Back in 2019, the company partnered with a reliable software provider to design a fraud detection solution that would function 24/7 across the globe and would be able to detect potential fraud in real time. As a result, PayPal was able to not only cover massive volumes of customer transactions but also to lower the server capacity, eventually being able to improve real-time fraud detection by 10%. Today, PayPal offers a variety of risk and fraud management solutions to ensure their clients’ data and transactions remain as safeguarded as possible. 



The US Department of Treasury



In Fiscal Year 2023, the US Department of Treasury managed to recover $375M by implementing AI in its fraud detection process. The decision was impacted by the fact that in 2021, due to the pandemic, the check fraud has drastically increased by 385%. To address the issue, the Treasure used artificial intelligence and has been enhancing its fraud detection policies since then.



Main challenges and considerations of using AI for banking



While artificial intelligence fraud detection proves to be a highly efficient tool, it also comes with certain limitations and challenges. The most prominent are:



Data privacy and regulatory concerns



Just as any other solution, financial fraud detection software based on AI needs to comply with relevant regulations, GDPR being the most known one. Needless to say that potential loss or compromised personal data can lead to major consequences, including both financial losses and a significant hit on the company’s reputation. Hence, the implemented AI solution needs to comply with needed regulations and preferably be transparent and explainable. 



Potential bias 



Another concern related to AI in banking and finance is the high possibility of biased decisions since ML algorithms are programmed by people. The possibility of bias means that certain customer segments may be treated differently or unfairly, which, in turn, will impact the company’s reputation and level of trust. A good way to minimize bias is to use diverse and representative sets of data that will help ensure fairness of the fraud detection process.



Future trends in AI fraud prevention



Let’s wrap up with a few trends that are most likely to be expected in the future of AI in banking. 



AI-driven customer awareness



Banking frauds can be corporate (like an external hacker attacking the banking system) or non-corporate. The latter includes stolen PINs, identity theft, phishing and other frauds, related directly to the customers and their personal information. In order to minimize the possibility of risks, customers should know about their nature and the reasons why these threats are most likely to occur. Artificial intelligence can be used to both alert customers immediately about any suspicious activity and to educate them on basic cybersecurity. AI-driven client awareness is an important aspect of cybersecurity that banks should not overlook.



Collaborative fraud prevention



To minimize and prevent threats, all bank employees need to work together, and the adopted cybersecurity strategy should be implemented on all levels. Even the smallest mistake made by an employee can lead to tremendous consequences in terms of security and thus, everyone who has access to personal information and the banking system should work collaboratively on fraud prevention. One of the ways to leverage security awareness is to provide employee training on a regular basis.



Focus on explainability



One more trend related to the use of AI in fraud detection is explainability and transparency. Since some ML models have the “black box” issue (meaning, the reasoning behind delivered outcomes cannot be explained properly), data scientists will work on making AI more explainable and thus, more trustworthy.



In conclusion



AI fraud detection is a powerful tool that banks can effectively use. However, the sole implementation of this technology is not enough. To successfully battle fraud, banks need to review and redesign their cybersecurity strategy, adapting it to the changing landscape of fraud attacks and becoming proactive instead of reactive.

### Robo-Advisors in Fintech: Reshaping Wealth Management With Automation

As technological advancements and global digitalization continue to reshape the financial industry, financial software development services have become increasingly popular. One of the most prominent innovations emerging from this transformation is robo-advisors. These automated investment platforms have revolutionized how individuals approach wealth management, making investing accessible, affordable, and efficient. Statista estimates that global assets managed by robo-advisors are expected to increase to $2.33 trillion by 2028







In this article, we will explore what robo-advisors in fintech are, how they work, and walk you through the process of creating a robo-advisor platform.



What is a robo-advisor?



In simple terms, robo-advisors are automated digital platforms that use algorithms to assist individuals in managing their investments and providing personalized financial advice. These platforms primarily utilize AI and machine learning technologies to make accurate predictions, create personalized investment strategies, and help you manage your finances more effectively. 



Overall, the services they provide are similar to those of human investment advisors, but they are more accessible to a wider range of investors. Many have no or low minimum account requirements, making it easy to open and manage investment accounts. This is especially beneficial for beginners or small investors. Moreover, the fees of robo-advisors are significantly lower than those charged by traditional advisors. 



As a result, the popularity of robo-advisors continues to grow. According to Statista, the number of users in the robo-advisor market is expected to reach 34 million by 2027.



How do robo-advisors work



As we mentioned, robo-advisors are digital platforms, so you can access them through a website or mobile app. They use complex algorithms and data-driven models to create investment strategies, so first of all, they need to collect the data. Here’s an overview of how a typical robo-advisor works:




You start by creating an account on a robo-advisor platform. This usually involves answering some questions about your financial goals, risk tolerance, and investment preferences.



Based on your answers, the robo-advisor uses algorithms to create a personalized investment portfolio for you. This portfolio is typically made up of different types of investments, like stocks and bonds.



Once your portfolio is set up, the robo-advisor automatically manages it. This means it regularly buys and sells investments to keep your portfolio aligned with your goals and market changes.



Robo-advisors continuously monitor your investments. If your portfolio gets off track due to market changes (for example, if one type of investment grows faster than others), the robo-advisor will rebalance it to maintain your desired investment mix.




Like traditional financial advisors, some robo-advisors are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which means they have a responsibility to act in your best interests regarding investment decisions. However, not all robo-advisors are registered as investment advisors; some operate under regulations applicable to brokerage firms.



Robo-advisors also typically insure accounts through the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). This protects users against the loss of cash and securities if a brokerage firm fails, though it doesn’t cover investment losses.



Key components of a robo-advisor platform



Robo-advisor platforms offer a variety of distinctive features that set them apart in the realm of automated investing. Therefore, let’s take a closer look at their key components.



Risk assessment tools



Understanding an investor's risk tolerance is vital for designing a personalized investment strategy. Robo-advisors employ sophisticated algorithms to assess risk through questionnaires that evaluate a user's financial situation, investment goals, and comfort with market volatility.



For example, a platform may categorize users into different risk profiles (conservative, balanced, or aggressive) based on their answers. This tailored approach ensures that investments align with individual preferences and financial objectives.



Automated portfolio management



At the heart of a robo-advisor is its ability to manage portfolios automatically. This involves asset allocation, diversification, and regular rebalancing to maintain the desired risk level. Most robo-advisors use modern portfolio theory to optimize investment strategies based on historical data.



A good example is Wealthsimple. It is a popular robo-advisor that not only offers diversified portfolios but also integrates ethical investing options, allowing users to invest in socially responsible funds that align with their values.



Investor education



While robo-advisors simplify the investment process, they also recognize the importance of educating their clients. Financial literacy is a crucial component of effective investing, allowing individuals to make informed decisions about their money. Many robo-advisors incorporate educational resources, such as articles, videos, and webinars, to enhance their clients' understanding of personal finance concepts.



Tax optimization



Many robo-advisors provide tax-loss harvesting, which helps minimize tax liabilities by strategically selling losing investments to offset gains. This feature can significantly enhance after-tax returns, making it an attractive component for investors.



For example, If an investor holds a stock that has decreased in value, the robo-advisor can sell it while simultaneously buying a similar asset to maintain the investment strategy. This strategy allows the investor to reduce their taxable income without significantly altering their portfolio's risk profile.



Additionally, a robust robo-advisor platform provides comprehensive tax reporting features that summarize all relevant information needed for tax filing. This includes detailed records of gains, losses, and distributions, making it easier for users to prepare their tax returns and understand their financial positions.





Unlock the potential of robo-advisors



Empower your fintech platform with our AI development services. SoftTeco will help you build scalable, secure, and intelligent robo-advisors for next-gen wealth management.




Learn more






Benefits of robo-advisors development



Robo-advisors offer a wealth of benefits, not just for the end-users but also for financial institutions that adopt or develop these platforms. Some of the key advantages include:




Cost efficiency: Traditional financial advisors typically charge fees ranging from 1% to 2% of assets under management. Robo-advisors, on the other hand, charge significantly lower fees, often around 0.25% to 0.50%. 



Accessibility: As we mentioned, robo-advisors are more accessible to a wider range of investors. These platforms allow individuals with modest savings to benefit from personalized financial advice, which was previously available only to wealthy investors. Additionally, robo-advisors operate primarily online, so you can access them anywhere with a phone or laptop and an internet connection.



Scalability: Robo-advisors can handle a large number of clients simultaneously without requiring additional human resources. This scalability makes them ideal for financial institutions looking to expand their client base and serve more customers efficiently.



Automation: Robo-advisors automate tasks like portfolio rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, and performance tracking. This reduces the need for manual work, ensuring faster execution and minimizing the risk of human error.



Customization: Clients can tailor their investment strategies based on their financial goals, risk tolerance, and preferences. Robo-advisors offer customizable solutions, which can lead to higher client satisfaction and loyalty.



Data-driven decisions: With access to real-time market data and historical performance data, robo-advisors can make informed investment decisions. These platforms continuously analyze data, enabling them to optimize portfolios and respond to market changes swiftly.




Creating a robo-advisor platform step-by-step



Developing a robo-advisor platform is a complex task that requires careful planning, technical expertise, and compliance with regulatory requirements. Therefore, it’s best to entrust this work to a skilled financial software development service provider. 



Nevertheless, let’s discuss the development of the robo-advisor platform in detail. Here’s a step-by-step guide to navigate the process:



Research and define your niche



Before diving headfirst into the development of your robo-advisor platform, it’s crucial to conduct thorough research to define your niche. Here are some points to consider:




Identify your target audience. That’s the very first step in building a successful robo-advisor. Understanding your audience will help you tailor your services effectively. Consider demographic factors as well as investments experience and risk tolerance. For example, if your target market is younger investors, you might focus on low-cost ETFs and education around sustainable investing. 



Analyze competitors. Take a close look at existing robo-advisors in the market. Platforms like Betterment, Wealthfront, and Acorns have established themselves by offering unique features. Identify gaps in their services or areas where you can improve. 



Define the Unique Selling Proposition (USP). What will set your robo-advisor apart from the competition? This could be anything from lower fees, superior customer service, or advanced algorithms that provide better investment strategies. 




Choose the right technology stack



The technology stack you choose will impact the scalability, security, and performance of your platform, so choose wisely. Select the programming languages, frameworks, and tools that will support your application.



Common programming languages for backend development include Python, Java, and Ruby. Python is particularly popular for financial applications due to its simplicity and the availability of libraries such as NumPy and Pandas for data analysis.



Design your platform



A seamless user interface is the cornerstone of any effective robo-advisor platform. Users should be able to navigate the platform easily, whether they are seasoned investors or novices. A clean, intuitive design enhances the user experience, allowing clients to access their accounts, view investment performance, and adjust their portfolios effortlessly. Additionally, mobile compatibility is crucial, as many users prefer managing their investments on the go.



Make a strong brand identity that will differentiate your robo-advisor in the market. Creating a logo, choose an appealing color palette, and typography that will resonate with the target audience. For instance, a robo-advisor aimed at younger, tech-savvy investors might use a modern design with bright colors and engaging visuals to attract attention.



Create the core algorithms



Develop and implement the foundational algorithms that will serve as the core of our system. These algorithms dictate how the platform will analyze data, create investment strategies, and provide recommendations. 



Ensure security and compliance



Since robo-advisors handle sensitive financial data, robust security measures are non-negotiable. Implement strong encryption, secure APIs, and multi-factor authentication to protect client data. Additionally, your platform must comply with local and international regulations, such as the SEC’s guidelines in the US or MiFID II in Europe.



Test your robo-advisor platform



Once the core algorithms are in place, it's essential to conduct thorough testing to ensure that the platform functions correctly and meets regulatory standards. Assess how the platform performs under various conditions, including peak usage times and stress scenarios. This ensures that the system can handle high volumes of transactions and data without compromising performance.



Launch and monitoring



Once testing is complete, the platform is ready for launch. Release your robo-advisor platform, but don’t forget to monitor it closely to ensure it’s working correctly. Keep track of performance, identify any issues, and make sure it handles user traffic efficiently.



Challenges you might face



While robo-advisor platforms offer significant potential, they also come with their share of challenges:




Regulatory compliance: Financial regulations are complex and vary across jurisdictions. Robo-advisors must navigate these regulatory environments to ensure compliance with laws like GDPR and the SEC’s Investment Advisers Act.



Data security: Cybersecurity threats are a constant concern for any fintech platform. Breaches can lead to the loss of sensitive financial data and damage to your platform’s reputation.



Building trust: Robo-advisors need to convince users to trust their algorithms with their hard-earned money. This can be a hurdle, particularly for older or more conservative investors who are accustomed to traditional financial advisors.



Technology development: Developing sophisticated algorithms and a secure, user-friendly platform requires substantial investment in technology. Fintech development is expensive, and getting it right is critical to success.




Costs of developing a robo-advisor platform



The cost of developing a robo-advisor platform depends on several factors, including the complexity of the platform, the technology stack, and the features offered. Overall, It can range from $35,000 to $300,000 or more. And that is not all. Some robo-advisors opt to license existing financial algorithms or data feeds, which can add to the development costs. Licensing fees vary based on the provider and the scope of services. Moreover, maintaining a robo-advisor platform, updating algorithms, ensuring security, and adding new features requires ongoing investment. 



Conclusion



Robo-advisors have revolutionized the world of financial services by making professional investment management accessible to the masses. Their rise represents a significant shift toward automation and data-driven decision-making in fintech. However, developing a successful robo-advisor platform requires careful planning, technical expertise, and a clear value proposition.



Therefore, it’s better to entrust the task to a reliable fintech software provider, such as SoftTeco. With over 15 years of experience, we have extensive expertise in financial technology development. Our skilled team is equipped to manage the entire development process, from initial concept to deployment, ensuring that your robo-advisor platform meets all regulatory requirements and user needs. If you're unsure where to start, we also offer consultation services to help you define your project goals and identify the best strategies for success. Partnering with SoftTeco means you gain a trusted ally committed to delivering innovative and effective fintech solutions tailored to your business needs.

### Python for Cybersecurity: How to Protect Your Business from Threats

As cyber threats continue to escalate in complexity and frequency, businesses of all sizes are increasingly vulnerable to attacks that could compromise sensitive data and disrupt operations. To counter these rising threats, implementing robust security measures is key. Because of this, most cybersecurity specialists use Python as part of their arsenal. The language offers powerful features and capabilities to protect and strengthen digital assets, as well as anticipate and adapt to future threats. 



So, the question arises: how can companies take full advantage of Python's security features? This article explains how to use Python for cybersecurity, its essential tools, and the best practices to strengthen security strategy.







What is Python?



Python is a high-level, object-oriented programming language created by Guido van Rossum in 1991. It is used in various fields, such as web development, data science, machine learning, and automation tasks. Python is known for its simple syntax and readability, making it ideal for rapid prototyping and development. Also, it supports multiple programming paradigms, including procedural, functional, and object-oriented, giving developers the flexibility to choose the best approach for a given task. 



One of Python's key strengths is its vast ecosystem of libraries and frameworks, which helps developers implement complex security solutions without building everything from scratch. Also, it is cross-platform, easily portable, and integrates well with other languages like C/C++ and JavaScript, making it adaptable for various projects. So its feature set, active community support, and versatility make it a go-to choice for both beginners and experienced developers. Along with that, Python greatly contributes to cybersecurity.



Why choose Python for cybersecurity?



In cybersecurity, Python is used to write code to identify potential vulnerabilities in networks and applications, automate security tasks, and develop ML models for threat detection. The key advantages of using Python for security include:




Ease of use: it has a clean and readable syntax, allowing security specialists to write code efficiently and quickly. This enables them to focus on solving problems instead of getting bogged down in syntax.



Platform-independent: it can run on various operating systems like Windows, Linux, and macOS without requiring code modifications. This flexibility is invaluable in cybersecurity, where operations often span different environments.



Extensive libraries: it offers a wide range of libraries designed for cybersecurity tasks. These libraries provide pre-build functionalities that simplify security tasks and speed up the development process;



Effortless memory management: it handles memory automatically with its garbage collector, reducing the risk of memory errors. This allows cybersecurity specialists to focus on threat analysis and defense rather than managing memory manually.



Automation: as a scripting language, Python is well-suited for automating repetitive tasks, such as log analysis and vulnerability scanning. It saves time and reduces the risk of human errors;



Integration: it can easily integrate with technologies and tools used in cybersecurity, making it adaptable to various environments and use cases.




But beyond its technical advantages, how exactly can Python be used to ensure the security of networks, applications, and data?





Strengthen Your Cybersecurity with Python



To protect your critical data and ensure advanced threat detection, rely on our Python expertise.




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The main ways to use Python for cybersecurity



Here are the main ways to use Python for cybersecurity, along with detailed explanations and examples:



Penetration testing



Penetration testing is an essential practice within cybersecurity designed to assess the security of systems, applications, and networks by simulating real-world attacks. Python is a powerful ally in this process because it can automate and simplify complex tasks, analyze results, and look for new vulnerabilities. In penetration testing, Python helps in several ways:




Automating reconnaissance and data gathering




Python can automate reconnaissance in penetration testing by collecting data like IP addresses, open ports, or emails using libraries such as requests, BeautifulSoup, or Shodan. It speeds up identifying potential attack vectors.




Vulnerability scanning 




Python allows you to write custom scripts to detect vulnerabilities and exploit them. For this, you can conduct network-based testing using libraries like Socket and Scapy, and automation tools like Nmap, OpenVAS, and Metasploit.




Developing custom exploits




With Python, you can write custom scripts to target specific vulnerabilities. This allows you to test how well systems stand up to unique threats.




Brute force attacks




Python can be used for brute force testing in controlled environments (like testing password strength). Still, following ethical guidelines is crucial, as unauthorized use is illegal.




Integration with existing tools




Python integrates with tools like Sqlmap and W3af for SQL injection and web security testing. It also interacts with APIs of security tools like Nessus and Nmap, boosting automation and customization in penetration testing.




Data processing and reporting




Python’s libraries, such as Pandas and Matplotlib, make it easy to process and visualize test data. This allows for the creation of detailed reports on vulnerabilities and mitigation strategies.



Malware analysis



Python is used in malware analysis due to its flexibility and powerful libraries, which help identify and understand cyber threats. It automates the detection of suspicious signs, such as unusual file types or IP addresses that might indicate an attack. However, its effectiveness heavily relies on how Python interacts with low-level systems. While Python helps "break down" malware, this often involves specialized scripts or frameworks built in Python.



For instance, the Pefile library helps analyze portable executable (PE) files, while YARA rules are used to detect and classify malware by defining specific patterns or "signatures" in files. With these tools, cybersecurity experts can improve the speed and accuracy of malware detection. Also, Python works seamlessly with advanced tools like IDA Pro and Ghidra, making it easier to reverse-engineer and study malware in detail.



Automate security tasks



Automation is a vital part of modern cybersecurity. It helps companies maintain strong security while efficiently managing growing amounts of data and threats. Python, with its rich set of libraries and features, helps create automation scripts quickly for tasks like log analysis, file monitoring, vulnerability and network scanning, etc. 



For example, Python scripts can automate log processing with libraries like Elasticsearch and Pandas, speeding up security log analysis. In network security, Python can automate scans using libraries such as Nmap or Masscan, running them at scheduled intervals and automatically analyzing the results. For vulnerability scanning, Python integrates with tools like OpenVAS and Nessus to automate identifying and managing security risks across an organization's infrastructure. By automating these tasks, Python reduces manual work, improves response times, and minimizes human error.



Network scanning



Python is also used for network scanning to identify vulnerabilities and plan network infrastructure. Key aspects of this process include: 




Port scanning: to identify open ports and potential entry points on a target system, you can use Python libraries, such as Socket and Nmap (via Python-nmap). Socket handles basic port scanning, while Python-nmap offers more advanced features.



Service detection: by analyzing open ports, Python helps determine which services are running and their versions to assess potential attack surfaces.



Vulnerability assessment: using tools like Nmap, you can check for known vulnerabilities in the detected services. More comprehensive assessments may require additional tools.



Network discovery: Python can automate network discovery, identifying devices and IP addresses using tools and libraries like Scapy or Arp-scan. It helps map the network and detect unknown or unauthorized devices.




Python allows for the creation of custom scripts for specific scanning needs, like automating multi-step scanning processes or correlating scan results with threat intelligence. Also, it can integrate with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems for real-time scanning and alerting, enhancing incident response and network monitoring. These features make Python a valuable tool in securing and managing network infrastructure.



Vulnerability scanning



Vulnerability scanning with Python helps identify security weaknesses in systems and apps. You can automate this process by using libraries like Nmap (which has a Python API) for network scanning and OpenVAS for in-depth vulnerability assessments.



With Nmap, cybersecurity specialists can scan networks to find open ports and services running on target systems. The framework OpenVAS is utilized to detect vulnerabilities in these systems and apps. Python not only automates the scanning process, but also generates detailed reports on the identified vulnerabilities. This helps prioritize which issues to fix first based on the severity of the threats. Thus, automation with Python saves time and ensures a systematic approach to vulnerability management, improving overall system security.



Incident response and forensic analysis



In incident response, Python allows you to build custom tools to collect and analyze system logs, monitor network traffic, and detect anomalies. This helps security teams quickly identify and respond to security incidents. For this task, they can rely on Python libraries, such as Scapy and Requests for network analysis and automation. They can also use frameworks like Volatility to analyze memory dumps. By combining these tools, companies can better identify, analyze, and respond to security threats.



In forensic analysis, Python is used to create custom tools for specific forensic tasks that improve the speed and accuracy of investigations. For instance, Python scripts can automate the extraction and examination of digital evidence, making data analysis more efficient and quick with libraries like Pandas and NumPy. Also, Python allows investigators to visualize their findings using tools like Matplotlib and Seaborn, making it easier to understand the results.



Web application security



Python provides powerful tools and libraries to help developers write secure code in web apps. For this purpose, they can use popular frameworks like Django and Flask, which come with powerful security third-party extensions. Django offers out-of-the-box protection against SQL injection, Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), and a comprehensive authentication system. 



Unlike Flask, being a micro-framework, is more lightweight and does not include these protections by default. However, it can be extended to powerful libraries like Flask-SQLAlchemy and Flask-WTF, which help mitigate SQL injection and CSRF attacks, among other security concerns.



Beyond frameworks, Python integrates with penetration testing tools such as OWASP ZAP for conducting security assessments. This helps developers automate vulnerability scanning and address security risks before they can be exploited. For secure data handling, Python provides libraries such as Requests, Scrapy, and Urllib, which make HTTP requests and web scraping safer and more efficient.



Machine learning



Python is widely used in machine learning to improve cybersecurity in several ways, and here’s how: 




Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS): Python helps create IDS to monitor network traffic and detect suspicious activities. ML models analyze data and traffic patterns to spot potential attacks or unauthorized access.



Threat detection and classification: its libraries like Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, and PyTorch allow you to develop ML models that can identify and classify various cyber threats, such as ransomware or phishing.



Malware analysis: Python can build models to analyze file behavior or structure and detect malicious code. Tools like PEfile and YARA can be combined with ML algorithms to improve malware detection.



Data collection and preprocessing: Python libraries like Pandas and NumPy are essential for collecting and preparing data. Proper data cleaning and transformation are vital for training effective ML models.




Thus, ML and Python are invaluable assets that help companies detect malicious activity and prevent threats at the earliest stages.





Strengthen Your Cybersecurity with Python



To protect your critical data and ensure advanced threat detection, rely on our Python expertise.




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Cryptography



Cryptography is essential for cybersecurity, helping keep communications and data secure by making sure only authorized users can access information. It encrypts data, so even if someone intercepts it, they can't read it without the right key.



Using Python's extensive cryptography libraries, you can create robust encryption systems using a variety of cryptographic algorithms and protocols. One of the most popular libraries is Cryptography. The library provides both high-level abstractions and low-level interfaces for cryptographic algorithms, making it easy to implement secure encryption and decryption processes. 



Also, Python is used to develop custom cryptographic solutions, including hashing (for data integrity checks), symmetric and asymmetric encryption methods. These techniques are beneficial for setting up secure authentication systems, like two-factor authentication (2FA), which help prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data.



Top Python libraries and tools for cybersecurity



The effectiveness of your security strategy heavily relies on selecting the right tools. So, we’ve compiled a list of useful Python cybersecurity libraries and tools for various needs. Here are some of them:




Scapy: a packet manipulation tool designed for network exploration and security testing. It allows you to send, sniff, dissect, and forge network packets, helping you analyze networks and conduct penetration tests.



Requests: a simple HTTP library for Python, commonly used for web scraping, API interactions, and testing web applications.



Nmap: while Nmap is a robust network scanning tool, the Python-nmap library allows you to control Nmap from Python scripts, automating network scanning tasks.



BeautifulSoup: the library is used for web scraping, which can be helpful for extracting data from HTML and XML files and vulnerability detection.



ZAP (OWASP ZAP Python API): is a tool for finding security vulnerabilities in web apps. Its Python API allows you to interact with ZAP for automated security testing tasks.



Yara-python: the library is used to identify and classify malware samples. It is highly effective in threat hunting and malware detection tasks.



OpenVAS (GVM Python): the library allows integration with the OpenVAS vulnerability scanner, enabling automated scanning, report generation, and vulnerability management within Python scripts.



Scikit-learn: the ML library provides algorithms for classification, regression, clustering, and other tasks, which can be used to analyze cybersecurity data.



PyCrypto (and its successor PyCryptodome): the tool provides various cryptographic algorithms for encryption, decryption, hashing, and secure data exchange. It is used for data protection, secure communication, and creating secure tokens.




As we discussed the main use cases of Python in cybersecurity, its effective tools, and libraries, it is time to consider a final point that will help you make the most of Python and avoid potential pitfalls.



Bonus: the best practices of using Python in cybersecurity



To ensure your Python code is efficient, maintainable, and secure, follow these best practices:



Keep Python version up-to-date



Always use the latest stable version of Python to ensure you have the most recent security patches, bug fixes, and new features. This improves both the security and stability of your code.



Use virtual environments



Isolate your project dependencies by using tools like Venv or Virtualenv. Virtual environments prevent conflicts between packages and ensure that your project remains secure. This isolation helps minimize the risk of dependency-related security issues.



Use secure coding practices



Adopt secure coding practices to minimize the likelihood of adding security vulnerabilities to your Python code. Key practices include:




Input validation: validate user inputs to prevent injection attacks and other input-related issues using techniques like whitelisting, sanitization, and parameterized queries.



Avoid code injection: don't execute code provided by the user without validation, and use Python libraries and tool designed to prevent code injection vulnerabilities.



Secure password handling: hash and salt passwords using strong algorithms like bcrypt or Argon2. Also, avoid storing plain-text passwords, and consider using a "pepper" technique along with “salt”  to further protect password data. 




Remember, secure coding practices go beyond these examples. To maintain the security of your Python code, you should always stay up-to-date on the latest security guidelines and recommendations.



Regularly update dependencies



Python projects often rely on third-party libraries and frameworks. So, to avoid security risks, it’s crucial to manage their dependencies carefully. Here are some tips to help you:




Track vulnerabilities: keep track of any reported vulnerabilities in your project dependencies to update or replace them. You can do it with tools like Safety or Snyk.



Update dependencies promptly: as soon as security patches are released for your libraries, update them to protect your project from known vulnerabilities.



Automate dependency management: use tools like Pipenv or Conda to automate the process of managing and updating your libraries. This ensures everything stays up-to-date and consistent across different environments.




Use built-in Python libraries



Python comes with built-in libraries that are well-maintained, tested, and designed specifically to handle common secure tasks. By relying on these libraries, you reduce the risk of introducing vulnerabilities compared to less-proven external libraries.



Implement logging and monitoring



To improve visibility into your system, detect and swiftly respond to security incidents,you need to implement comprehensive logging and monitoring. For effective monitoring, consider using services like AWS CloudWatch, Datadog, or Prometheus with your Python app. For logging, you can use Python’s built-in logging module or third-party libraries like Loguru and Structlog to track and analyze application behavior.



Conduct regular code review and testing



To identify potential issues and improve code quality, you need to conduct code reviews, write unit tests, and use tools for automated testing (Pytest, etc.). By doing this regularly, you make sure your Python application remains effective as your codebase grows.



Educate and train team members



To ensure everyone is aware of and adheres to the latest Python security coding practices and emerging threats, you need to provide regular training. For example, you can promote security awareness programs, encourage code reviews, participate in pair programming, and analyze static code using tools like Bandit or Pylint.



Final thoughts



The combination of Python’s simplicity, flexibility, and integration capabilities makes it an invaluable tool for tackling complex cybersecurity challenges. Its extensive ecosystem of libraries and frameworks enables businesses to craft customized solutions that meet their unique security needs. For companies, the language helps automate processes, enhances threat response efficiency, and strengthens the overall security strategy.



To fully unlock these potential benefits and integrate Python seamlessly into your cybersecurity strategy, you need expert support. That’s where SoftTeco comes in. We offer comprehensive Python developing services tailored to specific bussiness needs, from creating sophisticated threat detection systems to automating security tasks. By leveraging Python for cybersecurity, we ensure that your solution is robust, secure, and resilient against emerging threats.




 


Expert Opinion



Python's versatility in cybersecurity is impressive. It finds applications across penetration testing, malware analysis, automation, machine learning, and cryptography, making it a versatile tool for both offensive and defensive security operations. Its simplicity, platform independence, and extensive library ecosystem enable the rapid development of custom security solutions. This enhances the efficiency of threat detection, network scanning, and vulnerability management. Moreover, Python can integrate with machine learning models and automation tools, making it an essential tool for preparing infrastructure for future demands and adapting to emerging cyber threats.





Head of Data Science and ML Department at SoftTeco



Alexander Gedranovich

### Developing a Neobank from Scratch: Key Steps and Considerations

In recent years, the financial world has changed a lot due to new technology and shifting customer preferences. Neobanks have become a major player, providing a fresh approach to managing money. By 2024, they have already gained a large market share, especially among younger, tech-savvy people who value convenience, transparency, and new features. According to Statista, the number of neobank customers is expected to reach more than 39 million by 2025. Seems like a good time to consider creating one, don’t you think? 



However, developing a neobank from scratch is not an easy task. In this article, we will explain how to start a neobank, its benefits, and the key things you need to consider before its development.







What is a neobank?



Neobanks are financial technology companies that provide banking services exclusively through digital platforms, such as mobile apps and websites. These applications are designed to be simple, convenient, and accessible, especially for people who prefer managing their finances digitally. 



Neobanks operate entirely online without physical branches, so you don’t have to spend time on in-person visits. They usually offer core banking services such as checking and savings accounts, money transfers, and payment processing. However, they often differentiate themselves by offering features like:




Instant account opening with KYC compliance; 



Real-time spending insights; 



Low or no fees;



Integration with budgeting tools; 



Cryptocurrency wallets;



Peer-to-peer payment systems, etc.




Although neobanks have become especially popular in recent years, the first such bank, Simple, appeared in the US in 2009. After the launch of Atom Bank in the UK in 2014, this financial sector began to grow rapidly in Europe. Now, in 2024, neobanks have firmly integrated into the global banking sector and continue to expand. According to research, the total value of transactions through neobanks is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 13.15%, with the total amount projected to reach $10.44 trillion by 2028.



Neobanks have gained popularity because they use technology to cut costs, improve user experience, and quickly adapt to changing customer needs. This allows them to offer better prices than traditional and digital banks, as well as new products that are especially attractive to younger, tech-savvy customers and entrepreneurs.



How do neobanks work?



Unlike traditional banks, neobanks don’t necessarily need a full banking license to operate, though this depends on the regulations of the country they are based in. Instead, they may use payment or financial certifications and partner with licensed banks to offer a broad range of services and ensure regulatory compliance. 



However, as neobanks grow and scale, they may eventually decide to obtain their own credit/banking license in order to have more flexibility and control over their operations. The license also indicates that the bank is trustworthy and verified by the authorities, which will raise the credibility for the users. So, If you aim to expand in the banking sector, obtaining a license is worth considering. Though the process is costly and time-consuming, the benefits can outweigh the challenges by enhancing credibility, enabling a wider range of services, and opening doors to new markets.



Some of the prominent neobank examples include:




Current: a US-based neobank that focuses on providing features like no hidden fees, early direct deposit, and budgeting tools through its mobile app.



Aspiration: an eco-friendly and socially responsible neobank. It lets you choose how much you want to pay for banking services and offers investment options that support positive causes.



Chime: a popular neobank in the US that provides fee-free banking services, including no overdraft fees, early direct deposit, and automatic savings features.



Monzo: a UK-based neobank renowned for its user-friendly app, budgeting tools, and transparency. Monzo offers personal and business accounts with features tailored to modern banking needs.



Revolut: a UK neobank that offers a wide range of financial services, including currency exchange, global money transfers, and cryptocurrency trading. It’s known for its broad functionality and global reach.



N26: a German neobank that operates across Europe and the US. It offers a modern app for managing your money, with no hidden fees and features that work internationally.



Varo: a US-based neobank offering no-fee banking services, with features such as early direct deposit, high-yield savings accounts, and financial education tools.



Monobank: a leading neobank in Ukraine that offers digital banking services with a focus on simplicity and customer experience and provides features like instant transfers and spending analytics.




Benefits of neobanks



There are several benefits to using neobanks that make them an appealing choice for many customers. While we've already touched on some of their advantages, let’s delve deeper into these benefits to understand why they stand out in the banking sector.




Convenience: Neobanks operate entirely online, allowing you to manage your finances anytime, anywhere, through a mobile app or website. This makes banking as simple as using your smartphone.



Lower fees: Neobanks often have fewer fees compared to traditional banks. Many offer accounts with no maintenance fees, no overdraft charges, and lower foreign transaction fees, saving you money.



Technology-driven solutions: Neobanks prioritize intuitive designs and leverage the latest technology to provide innovative services, such as instant payments, virtual cards, and automated savings. This makes banking faster and more efficient.



Fast account setup: Opening an account with a neobank is usually quick and easy. You can sign up and start banking in minutes without the need for extensive paperwork or a visit to a physical branch.



Accessibility: Neobanks often have fewer barriers to entry compared to traditional banks. Many offer no minimum balance requirements, making banking more accessible to a broader audience, including younger consumers and those without established credit histories.



Transparent pricing: Neobanks are clear about their fees, making it easy to see what you’re being charged for and helping you avoid unexpected costs.






Launch your neobank with confidence



Building a neobank requires precision and expertise. Our software development team specializes in creating custom, secure, and feature-rich platforms to support your digital banking vision.




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Neobanks vs. digital banks



At this point, you might think that “neobank” and “digital bank” are the same thing, as these terms can be used interchangeably. However, let’s not get confused here - they are not similar. 



Digital banks can be either traditional banks that have moved to online services or entirely new banks that operate exclusively online. Unlike neobanks, which may not require a full banking license, digital banks must have a complete banking license and offer the same range of services as traditional banks, including loans, investments, and insurance.



As a result, their operations differ. For example, while both neobanks and digital banks offer account openings, the process can vary. Digital banks typically require guarantees from prospective customers, which involve completing forms, providing income information, and undergoing identity verification. In contrast, neobanks often offer instant account openings with no income requirements.



What about the profit?



Neobanks, like traditional and digital banks, need to generate revenue to sustain their operations and grow their business. However, their revenue models often differ from those of traditional banks. Here are some of the primary ways of how do neobanks make money:




Interchange fees: When you use a neobank’s debit or credit card for purchases, the store’s bank pays a small fee to the neobank. For instance, if you use a Revolut card to buy coffee, Revolut earns a tiny fee from the coffee shop’s bank. Although the fee per transaction is small, it can add up significantly with a large customer base.



Account fees: Some neobanks charge customers monthly fees for premium accounts that offer additional features such as higher interest rates on savings, access to exclusive financial products, or perks like travel insurance and priority customer support. For example, Chime offers a basic free account but also has a Chime Spending Account with added benefits that might involve a fee.



Lending services: Neobanks often provide loans or credit cards and make money from interest and fees, typically at competitive rates compared to traditional banks. Varo, for example, offers personal loans and earns from the interest paid by customers on these loans.



Referral and partnership programs: Neobanks frequently partner with other financial services providers, such as investment platforms, insurance companies, or budgeting apps. N26, for example, might refer customers to insurance providers or investment platforms, earning a commission for each referral.



International transactions: When you use your neobank account to make international payments or purchases in a foreign currency, there might be fees. This way, Revolut charges fees for currency exchange if you exceed certain limits, earning revenue from these transactions.



Exchange fees: Neobanks may charge fees for converting currencies or trading cryptocurrencies. Revolut also charges a fee for exchanging currencies beyond a certain limit or for trading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.




Things you need to consider before starting a neobank



Starting a neobank involves navigating a complex web of financial regulations, technological challenges, and market competition. Therefore, before embarking on neobank app development, there are certain things you need to consider.



Regulatory compliance



Regulatory compliance is essential when launching a neobank. Unlike other fintech ventures, neobanks operate in a highly regulated environment where the rules vary by country. Following these regulations is crucial not just for legal reasons but also for the success and credibility of your neobank. Ignoring them can result in heavy fines, legal trouble, or even the closure of your business.



Here are some laws and standards that regulate the banking and FinTech industries that you must follow:




Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Policy: AML policies are designed to prevent and detect money laundering activities, which involve disguising the origins of illegally obtained money. These policies require financial institutions to monitor transactions, report suspicious activities, and maintain records to comply with regulations.



Know Your Customer (KYC): KYC regulations require financial institutions to verify the identity of their customers to prevent fraud and money laundering. This process involves collecting and verifying personal information, such as identification documents and proof of address, to ensure that customers are who they claim to be.



Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS): PCI DSS is a set of security standards designed to protect card payment information. It applies to all entities that handle credit card transactions and requires them to implement measures to secure cardholder data, including encryption, secure storage, and regular security assessments.



General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): GDPR is a regulation in the European Union that governs how personal data is collected, stored, and processed. It aims to protect the privacy and rights of individuals by requiring organizations to obtain consent for data processing, ensure data security, and provide individuals with access to their data.




Navigating the regulatory requirements can be challenging, especially for startups with limited resources. Therefore, It's crucial to consult with legal experts who specialize in financial regulations to navigate the complexities. They can help ensure that your neobank meets all regulatory requirements from the onset, thus avoiding potential legal issues that could arise in the future.



Identify your niche and conduct market research 



Before starting market research, you need to define your niche. This could mean focusing on specific groups like freelancers, students, or underserved communities or offering unique features like savings tools or investment options.



For instance, if you target freelancers, your neobank might include features like automated tax savings, invoicing tools, and flexible spending accounts. Understanding their needs and problems is key.



Next, check out your competition. Analyze other neobanks within your niche, focusing on their strengths and weaknesses. Explore their marketing strategies, customer engagement, and feature sets. This will help you create a competitive application and secure a strong position in the market.



Find the best BaaS provider



Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) is a model that allows businesses to offer banking services through third-party providers. This is crucial for neobanks, especially those without a banking license. A reliable BaaS provider can facilitate account management, payment processing, compliance, and more. Research and compare different BaaS providers based on their offerings, costs, and integration capabilities.



You can consider these key criteria to choose a BaaS provider: 




Compliance and regulation. Ensure the provider adheres to local and international regulations, protecting your business from legal pitfalls. Look for providers with a robust compliance framework.



Scalability. As your customer base grows, your BaaS provider should be able to scale alongside you. Evaluate whether their infrastructure can handle increased demand without compromising service quality.



Customization. Different neobanks have varied target demographics. A provider that allows customization in terms of features and branding will help you stand out in a crowded market.



Integration capabilities. Your BaaS provider should offer seamless integration with other financial technologies, such as payment gateways and risk management tools. This ensures a smooth user experience and operational efficiency.



Support and reliability. Opt for a provider with a strong support system. Downtime or service interruptions can damage your reputation, so choose a partner that guarantees high availability.




Developing a neobank from scratch: key steps



Developing a neobank is quite similar to creating other types of applications. Let’s take a closer look at the key steps involved in how to start a neobank:



Step 1: Obtaining a license in the country of registration



The first step in starting a neobank is obtaining the necessary licenses in the country where you plan to operate. This process ensures that your neobank complies with local financial regulations and can legally offer banking services.




Selection of a legal team: Hire a legal team with expertise in the FinTech and banking sectors. They will guide you through the licensing process, ensuring that your neobank meets all regulatory requirements.



Certification of the neobank's managers: Most regulators will require that the key managers of your neobank, such as the CEO and CFO, be certified or qualified to run a financial institution. Your legal team can assist with preparing the necessary documentation to prove the competency of your leadership team.



Prepare a business plan: You’ll need to create a comprehensive business plan outlining your neobank’s structure, services, and growth strategy. This plan must be submitted to the financial regulator for approval. It should clearly demonstrate how your neobank will operate, manage risks, and remain compliant with local laws.




By completing this step, you lay the foundation for your neobank's legal and operational framework, ensuring that you can move forward with confidence.



Step 2: Gather your development team or choose a reliable IT vendor



Your development team is the backbone of your neobank. You have two primary choices: build an in-house team or partner with a reliable IT vendor. 



Building an in-house team provides better control and unity. You can handpick developers, UX/UI designers, and product managers who align with your vision. However, this route requires significant investment in recruitment, training, and ongoing support. It’s essential to find individuals who not only possess the technical skills but also have a good knowledge of the FinTech industry and compliance standards. 



Hiring an established IT vendor can be a smart choice. Vendors often bring extensive FinTech experience, pre-built solutions, and expertise in compliance. This approach can save time and resources, but it’s crucial to select a vendor who understands your vision and has a proven track record.



To make the right choice, conduct thorough research. Consider the following factors:




Ensure the vendor has experience in the FinTech industry: Look for a vendor who has a proven track record in financial technology. This experience means they are familiar with industry-specific challenges and requirements.



Check customer feedback and reviews: Read reviews and testimonials from other clients to gauge the vendor's reliability, quality of work, and customer service. Positive feedback indicates a good reputation, while negative reviews can reveal potential issues.



Assess their technological expertise: Make sure the vendor has the technical skills and knowledge needed for your project. This includes familiarity with the latest technologies, tools, and programming languages relevant to your needs.



Review their communication and project management skills: Effective communication and strong project management are crucial for a smooth development process. Ensure the vendor has a clear and efficient approach to managing projects and keeps you informed throughout.



Confirm their knowledge of security and compliance standards: In the FinTech industry, security and regulatory compliance are critical. Verify that the vendor is well-versed in industry standards and regulations to ensure your project meets all security and compliance requirements.




Step 3: Create the design of your future application



Design is more than just aesthetics; it’s about creating a seamless user experience. The goal is to make banking intuitive and enjoyable. Here are some essential points to consider:




User-centric approach: Start by understanding your target audience. Conduct surveys or focus groups to gather insights on what users expect from a banking app. Incorporate features like budgeting tools, transaction categorizations, and personalized financial advice.



Wireframes and prototypes: Create wireframes to map out the app’s layout and flow. Tools like Figma or Adobe XD can help visualize your ideas. Once your wireframes are ready, develop prototypes to test navigation and functionality before diving into detailed design.



Branding: Your neobank should have a strong brand identity. Choose color palettes, typography, and logo designs that resonate with your target market. A friendly, approachable brand voice can enhance user engagement.




Step 4: Develop the application



With the design in hand, it’s time to bring your neobank to life through development. Key considerations include:




Technology stack: Choose the right technology stack that aligns with your goals. Popular choices for neobanks include React Native for a cross-platform mobile experience and Node.js for backend services.



Agile methodology: Implement an agile development process to facilitate flexibility and continuous improvement. Regular sprints allow you to incorporate feedback and adjust features quickly.



Integration with financial services: Work with APIs from established financial institutions to ensure you can provide essential services like payments, transfers, and account management. Look into fintech solutions that can streamline this integration.




Step 5: Ensure security and regulatory compliance



Security is paramount in the banking sector. Your neobank must comply with regulations to safeguard user data. Here’s how to approach this critical step:




Data protection: Employ robust encryption methods for data storage and transmission. Use secure coding practices to protect against vulnerabilities.



Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Implement MFA to add an extra layer of security. It’s a simple yet effective way to ensure that only the rightful account owner has access.



Fraud detection systems: Utilize AI and machine learning algorithms to monitor transactions for suspicious activities. This real-time monitoring can help you mitigate fraud risks.



Licensing: Depending on your jurisdiction, you may need to obtain a banking license. The application process can be rigorous, so it's wise to consult legal experts familiar with financial regulations.



Regular audits: Make sure your application aligns with the needed regulatory compliance. Establish a routine for compliance audits. This not only helps you stay compliant but also prepares you for any regulatory inquiries.




Step 6: QA testing



Once you have established a secure and compliant framework, the next step is to ensure that your platform functions flawlessly. Quality assurance (QA) testing is essential to identify and fix bugs before your neobank goes live.



Step 7: Deployment and further support



Well, it’s finally time to launch your neobank and make it available to the public. After the launch, monitor the app closely to ensure it’s working correctly. Keep track of performance, identify any issues, and make sure it handles user traffic efficiently.



Be prepared to assist users with any problems they may encounter by setting up support channels such as chat, email, or phone for technical issues, account questions, and other concerns.



Collect feedback from users to understand their experiences and needs. Use this feedback to make continuous improvements to your neobank. Finally, regularly update the app to fix bugs, add new features, and enhance performance, ensuring your neobank remains secure and user-friendly.





Launch your neobank with confidence



Building a neobank requires precision and expertise. Our software development team specializes in creating custom, secure, and feature-rich platforms to support your digital banking vision.




Explore our services






How much does it cost to start a neobank?



The overall neobank development cost can vary based on various factors such as:




The scope and requirements of your project;



Design complexity;



Desired features;



Tech stack;



Development team’s hourly rate;



Ongoing maintenance, etc.




Considering these factors, it’s best to consult with a trusted IT vendor to get a more accurate estimate based on your specific needs. 




 


Expert Opinion



As a specialist in developing neobank services, I'd like to point out several promising areas that could become the next significant steps in the evolution of neofinancial organizations:



1. Transportation logistics and finance: Neobanks could develop specialized financial products for companies in the transportation logistics sector. Implementing solutions for automating payments between participants in the supply chain, integrating with transportation management systems, and enabling instant international payments through SEPA and SWIFT could significantly speed up operations and reduce costs.



2. Insurance using neobank services: It is also worth noting that neobanks can include insurance products in their offerings. For example, neobanks could create automated insurance solutions for clients, offering customized insurance products through mobile apps and ATMs. This would create additional touchpoints with customers and increase user loyalty.



3. Real estate transactions: The development of neobanks in the real estate sector also holds great potential. Implementing digital mortgages, enabling utility bill payments through digital wallets, and utilizing asset tokenization in real estate transactions could drive growth for both neobanks and the real estate market as a whole.



Thus, neobanks could become a useful tool for expanding opportunities in these industries by creating new financial services based on digitalization and deep data analytics.





Lead Neobank Development Consultant



Vitali Kulazhanka






 




Conclusion



As demand for digital banking rises, neobanks have the chance to shake up traditional banking and provide innovative, customer-focused solutions. But succeeding in this field takes more than a good idea—it needs the right mix of technology, expertise, and strategic planning. Starting a neobank involves a major investment of time and money, but the potential rewards can be significant, especially if your neobank meets a market need and builds a loyal customer base.



SoftTeco provides comprehensive neobank development services to help you establish a strong presence in the fintech market. With our expertise and experience in working with diverse industries, we can develop tailored solutions in accordance with your current assets and desired goals. 




 

FAQ

### Apple's Privacy Manifest: How to Implement and Align with Apple Privacy Standards

In a time when almost every app collects personal information and data breaches are becoming more common, privacy and security concerns are on the rise. To address these issues and bring peace of mind to the users, Apple has added new requirements for iOS developers to help increase user data collection transparency.







A key part of these rules is the Apple privacy manifest, an important measure for app transparency. But what exactly is this manifest, and what does it mean for iOS developers? In this article, we will discuss what the Apple privacy manifest is, how to set it up, the challenges it might present for developers, and whether it’s as daunting as it seems to be.



What are Apple privacy manifests?



The Apple privacy manifest is a file that developers must include when submitting or updating their app to the App Store. This file, named PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy, is a type of property list (plist) that outlines the privacy practices of an application or third-party SDK. It also lists all the types of data collected by the app or any third-party SDKs it uses, along with the reasons for collecting this information.



But there's more to it. Some APIs can be misused to secretly collect information to identify the user or device (fingerprinting). This is not allowed, even if the user gives their consent to collect this type of data. So, the manifest must also explain why your app or any third-party SDKs use these APIs and ensure they are only used for the reasons you’ve given.




 


Expert Commentary



Keep in mind that when you integrate a third-party SDK into your app, you are responsible for all the code it brings into your app. You need to be aware of its data collection and usage practices.



Apple provides a list of third-party SDKs whose integration into a project requires compliance with the following rules. When you submit a new app or update an existing one on the App Store, you must include a privacy manifest for any SDKs from this list. If you use one of these SDKs as a third-party binary framework, it must also have the developer's signature. Xcode will check if the SDKs are signed by the same developer who created them to ensure they are safe and secure.





iOS developer at SoftTeco



Anton Karachinskiy






 




When a developer is ready to release their app, Xcode automatically combines the privacy manifests from the app itself and all the third-party SDKs it uses. This creates a single, clear report summarizing all data collection activities, including the data you collect and the required reasons API you use in your app. This combined report helps developers create more accurate Privacy Nutrition Labels for their apps.



Privacy Nutrition Labels



Starting with iOS 14, the App Store introduced a feature called Privacy Nutrition Labels. While the privacy manifest is a document for developers, these labels show users what kind of data an app collects from their device and how that data is used. This helps them understand and make better choices about which apps to use.



You can see the labels on an app’s App Store page. They are divided into three main categories:




Data Used to Track You: This is information collected to follow you around as you use different apps and websites. For example, if you visit several websites and see the same ads everywhere, that’s because your data is being used to track you across those sites.



Data Linked to You: This is information that is connected to your identity but not used to track you across other apps or sites. For example, your email address or your home address is linked to your profile in the app, but it’s only used to manage your account or send you notifications.



Data Not Linked to You: This is information that isn’t tied to your identity and is used in a general way. For example, if an app collects data on how many people use a feature but doesn’t link that data to individual users, it’s used to improve the app without knowing who the users are.




Developers need to provide accurate information for these labels, and the privacy manifest helps them do just that.



The importance of compliance 



At this point, everyone who has an application in the App Store or is working on one to make it published already knows about this manifest. Apple introduced privacy manifests at their 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference as part of a broader effort to improve privacy for app users.



As the requirement to implement the manifest became mandatory in May 2024, Apple has long started sending out emails with a warning for those who don’t have the manifest inside their app. 



Non-compliance with Apple's privacy standards can lead to severe consequences for developers, so is for businesses. The most immediate risk is app rejection during the App Store review process. Apple rigorously checks whether an app’s privacy manifest accurately reflects its data practices, and any discrepancies can result in the app being rejected.



Additionally, non-compliance can damage an app's reputation and lead to user distrust. In a market where privacy is becoming a significant concern for users, failing to provide transparent and truthful information about data practices can result in users abandoning your app in favor of more privacy-conscious alternatives. Moreover, businesses and developers can face legal consequences if their app is found to be violating privacy laws or regulations by failing to disclose its data practices accurately. 



Implementing privacy manifests in your iOS app



Creating and configuring a privacy manifest is a multi-step process that requires careful attention to detail. As it’s more frequently used, we will consider how to create a privacy manifest in Xcode. 



Create a privacy manifest



The process of creating a privacy manifest includes a few steps:




Step 1: Open Xcode. Start by opening your Xcode project. Go to the "File" menu, select "New," and then choose "File."



Step 2: Choose the file type. In the panel that opens, select the "iOS" category. Under the "Resources" section, choose "App Privacy File."



Step 3: Add the privacy manifest. Select a destination folder for the file. The file will be named PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy by default.



Step 4: Set the target. In the target list, select the appropriate target for your application or third-party SDK.




After you create a privacy manifest file, you can add details about how your app handles user data. Depending on the product type and platform, Xcode will automatically determine where this file should go. For apps on iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, visionOS, or watchOS, the privacy manifest should be placed at the root of the app's bundle.



You can find the more detailed instructions in Apple's official documentation. 



Configure your privacy manifest file



After creating the file, you need to determine the support keys and add them to the dictionary, which will be the foundation of the property list. These keys are important for setting up the file and show the main details about how data privacy and collection practices are handled in the app or third-party SDK. 



The keys include:




Privacy Tracking Enabled (NSPrivacyTracking): Tells if the app or SDK tracks user data.



Privacy Tracking Domains (NSPrivacyTrackingDomains): If tracking is allowed, list the internet domains your app or third-party SDK connects to for tracking purposes. Tracking won’t work without permission. 



Privacy Nutrition Label Types (NSPrivacyCollectedDataTypes): List and describe the types of data collected by the app or SDK.



Privacy Accessed API Types (NSPrivacyAccessedAPITypes): List the API types your app or third-party SDK accesses that have been designated as APIs that require reasons to access.





 


Expert Commentary



To protect user privacy, Apple introduced the AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework. This means that if you want to track a user’s activity for advertising or other reasons, you must get their permission through the ATT framework. Originally, Apple planned for all tracking requests to fail if a user declined permission (via the ATT prompt). However, right now, requests to domains listed in Privacy Tracking Domains still go through, even if the user denies permission. This is expected to change in the future, so keep this in mind.



Xcode Instruments offers a tool to help you find domains in your app that may profile users. Apple also provides a detailed guide on how to use the tool to check your app’s network activity.





iOS developer at SoftTeco



Anton Karachinskiy






 




Describe the collected data types



It’s necessary to describe what types of data the app or third-party SDK collects and why. Therefore, for each type of data, you need to create a dictionary and add details to the “NSPrivacyCollectedDataTypes” list in the privacy information file. This will help to fill in the Privacy Nutrition Labels. 



The details you need to list include: 




NSPrivacyCollectedDataType: A label that describes what kind of data is collected (like location or email). You can choose a value from Apple's official list.



NSPrivacyCollectedDataTypeLinked: A yes/no value showing if this data is linked to the user's identity. 



NSPrivacyCollectedDataTypeTracking: A yes/no value showing if this data is used for tracking the user.



NSPrivacyCollectedDataTypePurposes: A list of reasons why the data is collected, using specified reasons from the provided list.




Explain the purpose of the required reason APIs



As we already mentioned, some of the APIs can be misused to collect data that could be used for fingerprinting. Therefore, choose and add the types of APIs your app uses to the Privacy Accessed API Types list. You can select the reasons and types from Apple’s official document. 



In case you have a valid reason for using an API that helps the user but isn’t included in the list, you’re not out of options. Apple regularly updates the document, so you can submit a request to have your reason added if it’s not already included.



Generate an app privacy report



You can create a privacy report after completing the manifest. It’s not a necessary step; the report can be very helpful for filling out your app’s App Store page and useful for future reference.



Challenges the developers might face



Despite the fact that Apple has provided extensive documentation to help developers create and implement iOS privacy manifests, this task is not exactly easy. One of the challenges with implementing the Apple privacy manifest is the need to update all dependencies to their latest versions and ensure that they include the necessary manifest files. 



This can be particularly time-consuming for older apps, where updating and verifying all components and changes can take considerable effort. Besides, if you’ve developed a library or framework for your project, you need to make sure it also includes a privacy manifest. Coordinating these updates and ensuring compliance across all dependencies and components can be a complex and demanding task.




 


Expert Commentary



The app might be using a library that was discontinued years ago, and no new versions with a privacy manifest will be released. In this case, one possible solution is to create a fork of the library and fill out the privacy manifest file yourself. This way, you will ensure the library meets the necessary privacy standards.





iOS developer at SoftTeco



Anton Karachinskiy






 





 


Expert Opinion



We encountered an interesting case. We’re developing an SDK that is distributed in binary form. Within our SDK, we included a repackaged SDK from Apple’s list, where the classes of the repackaged SDK were renamed to avoid name collisions with other dependencies.



In summer 2024, we had no issues publishing updates for applications that already had releases in the App Store with our SDK (prior to Spring 2024). However, when we integrated our SDK into an application for the first time in June 2024, the build was rejected with the following message:



We noticed one or more issues with a recent submission for App Store review for the following app:



Please correct the following issues and upload a new binary to App Store Connect.



ITMS-91065: Missing signature - Your app includes “Frameworks/xxxxx.framework/xxxxx”, which includes YYYYY, an SDK that was identified in the documentation as a privacy-impacting third-party SDK. If a new app includes a privacy-impacting SDK, or an app update adds a new privacy-impacting SDK, the SDK must include a signature file. Please contact the provider of the SDK that includes this file to get an updated SDK version with a signature. For details about verifying the code signature for a third-party SDK, visit: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/verifying-the-origin-of-your-xcframeworks.



So there’s no doubt that starting in Spring 2024, Apple Connect began performing intelligent analysis of binary frameworks in submitted builds to detect the presence of repackaged third-party SDKs from their list when they are first added to an application. They detect it even if you rename classes of the repackaged SDK.





Head of iOS Department at SoftTeco



Igor Sapyanik






 




Final thoughts 



The Apple privacy manifest represents a significant advancement in enhancing transparency and user control over data privacy. However, meeting the new requirements can be challenging, particularly for apps with numerous APIs or third-party SDKs. As an experienced software development company, SoftTeco can assist you with updating your app and implementing the privacy manifest to ensure compliance with Apple's policies. We understand the complexities of these privacy requirements and can provide tailored solutions to streamline the process, minimize the risk of app rejection, and help maintain user trust. Contact us for more details.

### Big Data Analytics in Retail: Biggest Use Cases and Benefits

In today's highly competitive retail landscape, big data has become a game-changer. Since retailers generate vast amounts of information on an everyday basis from a variety of sources (including online transactions and social media), they can use it to obtain valuable insights into the latest trends and customer preferences. This approach fully eliminates guesswork from decision-making and reduces risks that are normally associated with retail inventory management and demand forecasting.







In this article, we talk about the use cases of big data in retail and discuss tangible, industry-specific benefits that it brings. We will also provide real-life examples from the leading companies that have already adopted big data analytics and use it to grow their business in a smart manner.



What is big data in retail industry?



To understand the significance of using big data in retail, it is first important to understand what exactly it is and how it differs from regular data.



Big data refers to enormous volumes of information, including both structured and unstructured information. Due to its size and complexity, it requires specialized and often AI-based processing tools for its analysis. Also, big data is usually characterized by the following features:




Volume: one of the distinctive features of big data is its massive volume that is comprised of the information, collected from the most various sources.



Variety: it includes both structured and unstructured data in different formats, including JSON files and images.



Velocity: velocity implies the speed of data generation and processing, which often happens in real time.



Veracity: considering the volume and variety of collected information, it is crucial to maintain its accuracy and veracity, often with the help of specialized smart tools.



Value: the ultimate goal of big data is to bring value to users and help them make accurate, data-driven decisions. 




Big data vs traditional data



For a better understanding, let’s now compare big data with traditional data using the table below:



Big dataTraditional dataVolumeEnormous, requires specialized tools for storage and processingManageable size, can be stored and processed in traditional databasesVarietyBoth structured and unstructured, is comprised of various data formatsMost often structured and stored in relational databasesVelocityVery high, is often processed in real timeModerate, is often collected and processed in batchesVeracityCan come from the most various sources, including less trusted ones - hence, requires more accurate verification and processingUsually comes from trusted sources, thus being more accurate in generalValueCan offer highly specialized and valuable insights and can uncover hidden patterns and trendsIs effective but limited in scope and thus suitable within specific context



The benefits of big data analytics in retail



Now that we are clear on the definition, let’s talk about how big data is transforming retail industry. By understanding the main benefits that big data brings, you can plan the business strategy correspondingly by aligning your processes with big data analysis.



Holistic view of your customers



Customers are the driving force behind any retail business, and the key to success is a thorough understanding of your customers. For quite some time, retailers relied on guesswork and their own preferences when trying to forecast demand. But today, every business decision revolves around data, and that includes customer analysis.



Due to the variety and volume of big data, businesses can now create highly detailed customer profiles and accurately study their preferences and online behavior. This, in turn, helps retailers adjust their marketing strategies and offers and provide better personalization, thus serving the needs of all customer segments.



Better price optimization



Retail pricing is dynamic and changes in accordance with many factors, such as competition in the market, customer preferences and demand, and market trends. To effectively form pricing and ensure that it aligns with the current market situation, retailers can use big data for accurate forecasting. By analyzing past and current trends and price fluctuations, retailers can build future forecasts and use them to offer the best price at the right time.



Increased operational efficiency



Big data analytics for retail helps not only with customer analysis and price optimization but also with a number of critical processes, like inventory management and order management. By accurately predicting demand and always knowing one’s current assets, it becomes easier for retailers to avoid stockouts and overstocks. This, in turn, leads to higher efficiency in terms of managing the inventory and helps significantly cut down operating costs.



Competitive advantage



Lastly, the use of big data grants retailers a huge competitive advantage - here is how. Since the industry itself is highly competitive, it is critical to provide a high level of service paired with the ability to predict future trends and adjust your offerings accordingly. By analyzing massive data sets, retailers can successfully do so through deep understanding of what works the best and why. In addition, the collected information can be used for future marketing strategies and will allow companies to stay ahead of the competition.



Top use cases of big data analytics in retail industry 



By now, you might be saying: the benefits of big data analytics in retail sector are great and all, but how exactly do I apply it to my current processes? Thus, we will now walk through the biggest use cases of big data in retail, supported by real-life examples. This should help you better understand its practical applications and possible ways how you can start using it.



Targeted marketing



Marketing drives your sales forward but unfortunately, you can’t satisfy all your customer segments with a single marketing campaign. Because most probably, these different segments will have different preferences and needs and they may even prefer different communication channels, based on their demographics.



Big data in retail industry helps successfully resolve the two issues simultaneously. First, it contributes to better customer segmentation through the analysis of massive data sets. Second, it enables you to align your marketing efforts with the newly performed segmentation and ensure that every marketing campaign precisely meets the needs of specific audience. Such an approach leads to increased revenue since tailored and personalized campaigns bring more value to customers than generic ones.



Real-life example: Office Depot



Office Depot is a huge American company that provides office supplies to customers worldwide. What keeps the company relevant and competitive is the fact that it integrates offline and online data to accurately segment its customers and allocate spendings accordingly. In this way, Office Depot always hits the spot with its marketing campaigns and makes the most of the collected big data.



Inventory management



One of the biggest challenges that many retailers face is inventory management. When retailers cannot forecast the future demand for their products, it creates the issue of inventory surplus and deficit. This, in turn, leads to annoyed customers and complete confusion with order management.



Big data helps companies analyze the past demand for specific products in specific regions, track seasonal trends and fluctuations, and build forecasts based on this analysis. In this way, companies can optimize their inventory and adjust it to future product demand, thus avoiding surplus and ensuring that they have enough products to meet future customer needs.



Real-life example: Walmart



Being one of the biggest retailers in the world, Walmart makes the most of the collected information and uses it to effectively manage its numerous stores. Through extensive analysis of the information, Walmart accurately predicts demand for specific products in different scenarios and uses future forecasts to minimize excess stock and accurately meet demand.



Fraud prevention



The issue of fraud in the retail industry remains as acute as ever. A report by Exploding Topics states that ecommerce companies may be losing approximately $48 billion to fraud on an annual basis, and the global market for ecommerce fraud detection and prevention is estimated at about $57.51 billion (360i Research). So how can big data analytics in retail industry help?



By pairing big data with ML-powered tools and real-time analysis, retailers can immediately detect anomalies in users’ behavior and identify suspicious activity. This enables them to take proactive measures and safeguard their business and customers before any significant damage is done.



Real-life example: eBay



Being an ecommerce giant, it is no surprise that eBay is on the list. The company uses big data to power its fraud detection systems and ensure seller and buyer protection. In the first case of fraud detection systems, big data analytics helps in analyzing transaction patterns and online user behavior, thus contributing to the prevention of fraudulent activity. In the second case, the smart system uses big data to identify suspicious listings or suspicious activity by sellers. This, in turn, creates a safer environment for both shoppers and sellers.



Customer feedback analysis



Customer feedback helps retail companies remain relevant by timely analyzing and understanding what customers like and dislike about particular products and services. And since big data is comprised of the most diverse information, including the one collected from social media, review pages, or even customer support chats, it becomes a valuable tool for feedback analysis.



By analyzing customer feedback, companies can effectively identify areas for improvement in their service offerings and adjust correspondingly. Needless to say, this retail big data analysis is a big competitive advantage and helps companies constantly adapt and remain relevant.



Real-life example: Zara



Just as described above, Zara uses collected data to better understand its customers through their feedback. Such constant analysis allows Zara to rapidly adjust its product design and inventory and keep up with customers’ trends and preferences.



How to implement big data in retail: tips and best practices



Let’s wrap up this article with a brief overview of the process of implementing big data analytics in retail market. Though the process will be unique for every company, the steps listed below are generic and can be considered a base for your future implementation strategy.



Define your business objectives



This step is always the first one before you implement any new technology or process. The reason for that is that many companies chase the latest tech trends without a clear vision and understanding of the value that they want to get. As a result, companies face financial losses while the processes remain the same.



Hence, before starting your big data journey, ask yourself several questions:




What exactly do I want to optimize?



How can big data help me achieve this goal, and are there any alternative options that I can consider?



What are the KPIs to monitor in the future?




By setting clear goals and expectations from the start, you will be able to effectively use big data to your advantage.



Collect the information



The next obvious step is actual collection of information. You will need to use all available sources, like POS systems, social media, transactions, etc. Remember: the more information you are able to collect, the more meaningful and useful your insights will be.



When setting up your data collection process, it is important to centralize all sources into a single system. In this way, you will be able to perform a comprehensive analysis and will make use of all the collected information.



Review your data storage options



We have already mentioned that big data requires specialized tools for storage. Hence, you need to review your current storage in parallel with the collection process. This is needed to ensure that the collected information is properly stored and that your selected storage solution is scalable and powerful enough. 



Process the data



Since big data comes in both structured and unstructured formats and contains various forms, it is important to clean and preprocess it before using in analysis. For big data processing, the ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) approach is used more often than the ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) one, though there are no definite rules about that.  



Analyze and visualize



When your data is ready and processed, you can start analyzing it. There is a vast array of available ML tools out there that were designed specifically for big data analysis. Examples are Tableau, Apache Hadoop, and RapidMiner. When selecting a tool, pay attention to the included features and how they can help you achieve your particular business goals.



As for visualization, it is essential that your analytical tool can also present the newly found insights in a user-centric format. It usually means visualizing the data in the form of graphs, charts, and dashboards, so the insights are clear for all users and highlight the most important information in an effective way.



Monitor and adjust



Working with the data is a highly dynamic process, so you’ll need to constantly adjust your strategy based on the collected insights and changes in the market. Hence, make sure that you always receive relevant insights and that they reflect the current market situation. Based on these insights, you will be able to timely implement the needed changes and ensure your business remains relevant and competitive.




 


Expert Opinion



Big data analytics in the retail sector offers companies unique opportunities to improve business processes and increase profits. To achieve this, companies must initially ensure optimal data completeness while prioritizing data privacy through robust protection measures and compliance with regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.



Also, introducing analytical tools alone is not enough; it's equally important to train staff in data handling and foster a culture of data-driven decision-making. Without this, many of the potential benefits of the implemented tools will be missed.



And finally, developing a scalable and flexible data architecture is crucial to support the growing volume and variety of data. This architecture will enable companies to quickly respond to market changes, legislative updates, and rapid technological advancements.





ML Engineer at SoftTeco



Volha Hedranovich






 




Final word



There are numerous use cases of big data in retail, and big data analytics is definitely something not to be overlooked. Retailers, however, should have a clear understanding of the necessary actions to take before starting to work with big data. That includes reviewing your current assets and digital infrastructure, ensuring its scalability, and hiring data scientists, if necessary. All these things need to be taken care of in advance - and SoftTeco can gladly assist you. With extensive expertise in data science and big data analysis, we offer an array of services to offer you the best possible solution.

### AI in Manufacturing: Top Use Cases and Benefits

AI in manufacturing implies the use of artificial intelligence technology and its subsets (robotic process automation, machine learning, etc.) to facilitate, optimize, and automate common manufacturing processes. Its use helps resolve the biggest manufacturing challenges (like poor inventory management or labor shortages) and helps companies reduce operating costs through smarter, data-based strategic planning.







Numerous reports confirm the popularity of AI in manufacturing sector:




Over 40% of North American manufacturers adopt AI;



The AI in manufacturing market is projected to see a GAGR of 3.3% for the 2024 - 2030 period;



In 2023, 35% of manufacturers already used AI.




Based on these and other reports, it’s safe to assume that AI will only become more prevalent in the industry and that more business owners will implement it in their current processes. So now it’s time to discuss the biggest benefits that this technology brings to the manufacturing industry specifically.



The benefits of using AI for manufacturing



Business owners love Artificial Intelligence across multiple industries, but some adopt it simply because it’s trending. In these cases, AI won’t bring much benefit (instead, it might cause even more financial losses) since it was not implemented for a specific goal. This is why it is important to understand how exactly AI can help your business and what benefits you can expect from its adoption.



Increased efficiency



There are several challenges in the manufacturing industry that may impact the level of efficiency: too many mundane tasks, complex calculations, lack of data-based decision-making, irregular maintenance checks, etc. AI can help with all these issues, thus significantly boosting productivity and allowing employees to focus on more strategic and complex tasks, aimed at business growth and development.



By automating mundane processes and supporting every strategic decision with the data, manufacturers can greatly reduce downtime and empower their employees. And happy and motivated employees equal better performance and increased productivity, so it’s a win-win.



Improved quality



Quality control is a must for any manufacturing business but manual quality checks leave room for defects and errors. Automation of quality control significantly minimizes (and even eliminates) a chance of defects in a production line  and ultimately leads to better quality of manufactured goods. As well, automated quality control results in improved customer satisfaction and reduced number of returned products, which is another challenge that manufacturers face. 



Enhanced security and safety



Maintaining a sufficient safety level in the manufacturing environment is crucial. The implementation of AI can greatly aid with this in the following ways:




Real-time monitoring of environment



Detection of anomalies



Automation of hazardous or dangerous tasks



Employees’ health monitoring




As you can see, there are many ways how AI can help in improving safety at your manufacturing facility. The ultimate goal here is to detect the biggest challenge and research how exactly you should adopt AI to resolve it.



Better decision-making



Data should be at the heart of any decision-making process so that you don’t rely on guesswork and are guided by real-time accurate insights. However, when it comes to Big Data, standard data processing methods and techniques are not enough. This is where AI steps in. Artificial Intelligence technology is the primary option for Big Data processing as it is capable of analyzing massive amounts of data in mere minutes. As well, AI-powered tools are designed to generate user-friendly and informative reports tailored to specific requests of each organization. 



Top use cases of AI in manufacturing industry 



How is AI used in manufacturing?



In general, AI can be applied to almost any process within a manufacturing facility. To give you a more specific idea of its use, we will discuss the most prominent use cases of deploying Artificial Intelligence in manufacturing.



Cobots for assistance



Cobots, or collaborative robots, are a new generation of industrial robots designed specifically to work alongside people. Their main features are increased safety and flexibility and lower initial investment. Needless to say, the adoption of cobots has become a growing trend in the manufacturing industry.



Examples of tasks performed by cobots in the production environment are:




Welding and gluing product parts



Picking and packaging products



Material transport



Quality control




As you can see, most of these tasks are repetitive and simple and often do not require human assistance or control. Considering that most industrial cobots are affordable, their deployment can greatly increase the efficiency of your operations and free employees from mundane processes that eat up too much time.



Predictive maintenance



One more important use of AI in manufacturing is predictive maintenance. Since the maintenance and repair costs are always high, it is more beneficial for companies to reduce them through proactive and timely maintenance. Artificial intelligence can help detect any issues or defects at early stages and also helps prevent various breakdowns through computer vision and real-time data processing.



Another way AI helps with predictive maintenance is through digital twinning, which means creating a real-time digital replica of a physical facility. Companies can interact with digital twins, apply various scenarios to them, and analyze how a facility would behave in different situations. Digital twins can also highlight existing or potential problems within a facility and suggest ways of workflow optimization.



Automation of quality checks



We’ve already mentioned that one of AI’s benefits in manufacturing is improved product quality. It can be achieved through automated quality control, which has become a game changer for many manufacturing companies.



By using computer vision, AI models analyze both equipment and products, can instantly spot defects or damage and notify employees immediately. This reduces a chance for human error and greatly aids in defining improvement areas.



Automation of supply chain management



Supply chain management is a big and essential part of any manufacturing business and includes several stages: 




Planning



Sourcing



Manufacturing



Logistics



Returning




Each stage encompasses its own specific processes and challenges. Machine learning in manufacturing helps streamline and organize these processes and adds transparency to the whole supply chain in the following ways:




ML-based demand forecasting and more accurate stocking



Logistics optimization through smart route planning



Inventory automation and optimization



Automation of warehouse operations



Smart quality checks and instant defect detection




And obviously, these are not all examples. AI makes supply chain management more autonomous, transparent, and organized, enabling business owners to instantly access any needed information and seamlessly share it across departments.



Development of new products



Though the creation of new products with AI is slightly overlooked, it is becoming increasingly relevant among manufacturers. While some may argue that the creation of something innovative is a purely creative process that machines are not capable of, AI, in fact, can greatly help with the idea - here is how.



First, AI can perform extensive market research and collect all essential data (like modern trends, user demographics, competitors’ analysis, etc.) and present it in a clear report. Employees can then use this report to come up with an idea of a competitive and user-centric product. In this way, AI greatly saves time and effort on data collection and analysis.



Better order management



One more area of manufacturing where AI is widely used is order management. This technology helps with several main aspects, such as:




Smart analysis of customers’ preferences and personalized recommendations



Smart inventory management



Detection of fraudulent activity



Dynamic pricing changes




Overall, AI helps make the order management process more data-driven and user-centric while also eliminating the biggest bottlenecks that are common for the process.



The main concerns and challenges of using AI in manufacturing



Despite the benefits that AI can bring to manufacturers, many still hesitate to adopt it. In fact, only 10% of surveyed companies from the list of 3,000 (a report by MITSloan Management Review) said they were gaining financial value from AI adoption. So why do business owners see AI as more of a financial loss and what stops them from adopting it?



Lack of big data sets



It is common knowledge that for accurate results, AI models need to be trained on massive data sets. Hence, if your company lacks them, AI won’t provide the expected results and naturally will cause more financial losses than benefits.



In order for manufacturing AI to help your business grow, you need to prepare large data sets and ensure that the data is in the suitable format. On top of that, the data pools have to be maintained and updated continuously so the data fed to AI is always relevant. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is to use a MES (manufacturing execution system) that automatically sorts various data and collects it from different sources.



Lack of expertise



AI is a very powerful tool but it calls for people with strong expertise in AI and data science to handle it properly and to configure your AI model exactly as you need it. Hence, manufacturers need to be ready for the fact that the adoption of AI comes together with hiring AI and data science experts who will not only create the model but also train and configure it.



Integration with existing software



It is a common case that a manufacturing facility has legacy software that hasn’t been optimized in a long time. Obviously, when you implement AI, it needs to be integrated with your existing digital environment - this is where problems start.



If your software is outdated and can’t support AI implementation, you will have to update and optimize it. This, in turn, leads to additional costs, which some business owners may not be ready to face. 



How to implement AI in a painless manner: a checklist



Let’s wrap up this article with actionable recommendations on implementing Artificial Intelligence in your business. Though each company will require an individual plan, below we list several general steps that you can customize according to your business goals.



Define the problem and the value that you expect from AI



The first step that some business owners overlook is the definition of the existing issue, definition of the value expected from the AI implementation, and definition of KPIs. This step is essential as it helps you understand whether you really need AI or can use another, more affordable solution. Also, during this step you set clear KPIs that you will use to monitor the efficiency of the AI solution.



Hire or consult experts



As already mentioned, the implementation of AI for manufacturing calls for experienced professionals who will properly design and set up your AI model. Our best recommendation is to hire outsourced ML and data science engineers from a reliable provider. In this way, outsourced specialists will be more cost-affordable than assembling an in-house team and they will bring in their vast knowledge and skills. Another option is to simply request a consultation so an expert helps you plan your AI implementation strategy.



Gather and prepare the data



Either independently or with the help of external experts, you will need to collect and prepare the data that you will use to train the AI model. If it sounds too complex, don’t worry: today, there are plenty of specialized tools available and designed specifically for collecting and processing the data from multiple sources.



Prepare the environment



Before adding AI to your arsenal of tools, make sure that your current digital environment is ready for this integration. Hence, run a quick review of your current digital assets and optimize and update any necessary apps and services so they don’t disrupt the work of the AI model but instead, work in parallel with it.



Implement and observe



Once everything is ready, you can implement your AI model. An important thing to remember here is that after its implementation, you need to constantly monitor not only the model’s performance but also the performance of the whole system. Through continuous monitoring and testing, you will be able to timely detect bugs and issues and resolve them before they cause significant damage.




 


Expert Opinion



AI in manufacturing is progressing relatively slowly compared to other industries such as entertainment, finance, agriculture, or healthcare. This can be observed from the demand for AI solutions; manufacturing companies are rarely clients. In my opinion, there are two main reasons for this: 



First, manufacturing requires significant investments in production equipment. Consequently, companies are more conservative in investing in AI solutions because they have a smaller budget allocated for such innovations. Second, manufacturing requires precise estimates, which AI models often fail to provide due to their probabilistic nature and tendency to hallucinate. 



However, the trend is that AI is becoming more precise, and we are seeing an increasing number of domain-oriented AI solutions that are both more precise and reliable. Therefore, I believe that AI in manufacturing will become increasingly popular in the future. 



I am already familiar with two promising AI solutions for manufacturing: 



1) AI for creating 3D models of products from images. Having experience in making 3D models, I know it is a time-consuming process, and AI can help make it faster and more precise. 



2) AI for predicting overheating during the manufacturing process. This solution can improve safety during manufacturing. 



These two examples demonstrate that AI can be very useful in various aspects of manufacturing. Often, the only limit is the imagination of developers and startup founders.





Data Scientist at SoftTeco



Roman Kyrychenko






 




Summing up



AI in manufacturing industry is a powerful tool that can significantly transform one’s business and make it more adaptable to modern market demands. But as any other software solution, AI calls for a high level of expertise - otherwise, it won’t deliver expected results and will most probably cause financial losses. Hence, if you consider using AI in manufacturing, we highly recommend reaching out to a knowledgeable service provider to guide you through the process and help with the development and setup of the AI model.

### The Influence of IoT in Healthcare: How Technology is Transforming the Industry

The impact of IoT on advancing and improving patient care and operational efficiency in the medical field is unquestionable. The most active implementation of these technologies began during the COVID-19 pandemic and has only been growing since. According to Statista, the IoT healthcare market is growing at an annual rate of 9.91%, and by the end of 2026, the total value is expected to reach 103.90 billion US dollars.



In this article, we will explore today's applications of IoT in healthcare using project examples from our company and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of these technologies.







An overview of IoT in healthcare



The Internet of Things in healthcare, also known as medical IoT, refers to the network of interconnected devices that communicate and share data to monitor, diagnose, and treat patients. These devices range from wearable health monitors to sophisticated medical equipment in hospitals. The healthcare industry has been progressively integrating IoT technologies to address numerous challenges, such as:




Monitoring the health of patients with chronic diseases (diabetes, heart conditions, etc.) without the need to visit the clinic frequently;



Shortening the time spent in hospitals and preventing readmissions;



Detecting cancer at early stages and further monitoring for subtle changes;



Conducting more advanced medical examinations.




For example, remote patient monitoring systems have become a standard practice, especially in managing chronic diseases. Doctors can access all the crucial information about their patients at any time using applications on their smartphones. Furthermore, getting an appointment through a digital app instead of calling and waiting in line saves patients a lot of time and nerves. 



Importance of IoT in healthcare



The implementation of IoT connectivity in healthcare rapidly reshapes the industry, enhancing patient care and operational efficiency. Its vast applications benefit not only patients and their families but also hospitals and insurance companies.



IoT for patients



Wearable devices such as fitness bands, smartwatches, and other connected devices provide patients with access to their health data (like blood pressure, heart rate, glucose level, etc.) so that they can proactively manage their health. Not to mention these devices can also remind patients to take their medications, schedule appointments, or even perform specific health-related tasks. 



By providing real-time feedback and alerts, wearable devices empower users to make informed decisions about their well-being. For elderly people living alone and for their families, this feature is very important. Devices can be set to send alerts if there is a sudden change in the patient’s condition. This helps family members and medical professionals respond quickly to any issues.



IoT for physicians



Physicians are leveraging IoT to enhance patient care and streamline workflows. Remote patient monitoring systems enable doctors to receive real-time data on their patients' conditions, allowing for timely interventions. It also helps to create personalized treatment plans based on accurate data rather than relying solely on patient self-reporting.



IoT for hospitals



Hospitals are leveraging IoT to enhance operational efficiency and improve patient outcomes. Smart hospital systems with integrated IoT technology can track equipment usage, monitor patient flow, and manage inventory in real time. For instance, RFID tags can be used to locate medical devices, ensuring that critical equipment is always available when needed.



Moreover, IoT solutions can enhance communication between departments, reducing errors and improving care coordination. Patient rooms equipped with smart sensors can monitor environmental conditions, ensuring comfort and safety, which directly impacts the recovery process.



IoT for health insurance companies



Health insurance companies use IoT solutions for healthcare to gain valuable insights into patient behavior and health trends. By analyzing data collected from wearable devices and mobile health apps, insurers can develop personalized health plans and wellness programs. 



Moreover, they can use this data to spot suspicious patterns and identify potentially fraudulent claims. Therefore, IoT devices promote transparency between insurers and customers in pricing, claims handling, and risk assessment processes, fostering trust and providing assurance for both parties.



Key Internet of Things healthcare applications



As we talked about the advantages of IoT in healthcare, let’s take a closer look at what exactly it brings to the table.



Remote patient monitoring



Remote patient monitoring (RPM) employs IoT devices to collect and transmit patient data in real time, enabling healthcare providers to track health conditions without the need for in-person visits. This is particularly beneficial for:




Heart-rate monitoring: IoT devices can continuously measure and transmit heart rate data, helping to manage conditions such as arrhythmias, heart failure, or hypertension. This allows for quick detection of irregularities and timely medical intervention.



Glucose monitoring: For patients with diabetes, continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) can provide real-time readings of blood sugar levels. This helps manage insulin therapy, adjust dietary plans, and prevent both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia.



Depression or mood monitoring: Wearable devices and mobile apps can track physiological indicators related to mood and mental health. By monitoring changes in activity levels, sleep patterns, and other relevant data, healthcare providers can better assess and manage conditions like depression or anxiety.



Parkinson’s disease monitoring: IoT devices can track motor symptoms such as tremors, rigidity, and gait disturbances in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Continuous monitoring enables healthcare providers to adjust treatment plans and medications more effectively, improving patient outcomes and their quality of life.




According to the study referred to in Medical Economics, during the 30-day experiment, RPM reduced hospital readmissions for patients with heart conditions by 50%. And that's only some of the examples. 



Smart medical devices



Smart medical devices equipped with IoT capabilities are transforming diagnostics and treatment. Internet of Things medical devices gather and transmit data for analysis, improving accuracy and efficiency in healthcare delivery. We've mentioned some of the devices for RPM above, but there are a lot more. Some of the said devices help with surgeries and other medical procedures — for example, ingestible sensors and connected contact lenses.



Ingestible sensors



Ingestible sensors are a ground-breaking development in the realm of smart medical devices. These tiny sensors, often embedded in medication capsules, allow for the monitoring of internal health conditions by transmitting data about the patient's gastrointestinal tract without invasive procedures. They can measure things like stomach PH levels or find the source of internal bleeding. 



Connected contact lenses



Smart contact lenses represent another frontier of IoT in the medical field. These innovative lenses can monitor various health indicators, including glucose levels for diabetic patients, while also correcting vision. Additionally, they can be used to deliver medication to the eye, such as for treating allergies, glaucoma, or corneal injuries.



The latest advancements in smart lenses, patented by Google, include a micro camera that is controlled by blinking. This feature allows patients to take photos with their eyes and then process the captured data.



Clinical operations and workflow management



One of the most critical applications of IoT in healthcare is in clinical operations and workflow management. IoT devices can automate numerous administrative tasks, from patient check-ins to appointment scheduling, thereby reducing the burden on healthcare staff. For example, smart sensors can track patient flow within a facility, providing real-time data that helps staff allocate resources effectively.



Robotic surgery



Robotic surgery is one of the most advanced applications of IoT in healthcare. Some of the medical procedures are difficult to manage with human hands. Small IoT devices can help with the task. Surgical robots, equipped with IoT technology, enable surgeons to perform complex procedures with greater precision and control. Many robotic surgeries are minimally invasive, meaning they involve smaller cuts compared to traditional open surgery. This typically results in shorter recovery times, less pain, and minimal scarring. Moreover, robotic systems often include high-definition cameras that give surgeons a magnified, detailed view of the surgical area, improving accuracy.



The IoT has also transformed the training of surgical professionals. Surgeons can use virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies integrated with IoT systems to practice procedures in a risk-free environment. Moreover, IoT enables remote collaboration among surgical teams, allowing experts to assist in surgeries from anywhere in the world, thereby enhancing the expertise available during complex procedures.



Challenges and risks



Alongside all the benefits and possibilities that the Internet of Things in healthcare brings, there are also certain risks and challenges that you need to be aware of. 



Data security and privacy



The large amount of data produced by IoT devices creates major security and privacy concerns.




Data breaches: Healthcare data is a prime target for cyberattacks. It's crucial to make sure that IoT devices and the data they gather are secure. The impact of the breaches can be significant. It not only leads to financial loss but also harms the reputation and causes patients to lose trust.



Compliance: Healthcare organizations must comply with regulations such as HIPAA, which mandates the protection of patient information. Implementing IoT solutions while maintaining compliance can be challenging. Additionally, international regulations may vary, complicating the deployment of IoT solutions across different regions.




Integration with existing systems



Integrating IoT technologies into existing healthcare infrastructures also presents several challenges. Many healthcare providers rely on legacy systems that are not designed to communicate with modern IoT devices. This leads to compatibility issues, data silos, and inefficiencies.



Moreover, the diversity of devices and platforms used in healthcare complicates the integration process. For example, a hospital may utilize various IoT devices for monitoring patients, each requiring different protocols and standards for data exchange. Without a unified approach to integration, healthcare organizations may struggle to gain a comprehensive view of patient data, ultimately hindering the potential benefits of IoT applications.



Cost and infrastructure



Implementing IoT solutions in healthcare requires significant investment in technology and infrastructure.




Upfront costs: The initial costs of IoT devices, software, and infrastructure can be prohibitive for some healthcare providers.



Maintenance: Ongoing maintenance and updates of IoT systems are necessary to ensure their reliability and security, which can be quite pricey as well.




Examples of healthcare IoT solutions from SoftTeco



As SoftTeco has extensive experience working with healthcare providers, we have successfully developed various IoT solutions. Here are a few of our projects that clearly demonstrate the benefits of IoT technology in healthcare.



Smart Mirror



One of our notable IoT projects is Smart Mirror. 







Smart Mirror is an advanced dental mirror with LED lighting that simplifies dentists' work and enhances patient experience with video streaming capabilities. Our client requested us to develop a mobile application that would connect with the device. However, at the moment the dental mirror was still under development and our team worked with a simulator instead of a real device.



As a result, we successfully developed a SmartMirror mobile app that connects to the smart mirror dental device through Wi-Fi, receives the transmitted data, and displays it in video format. The app lets dentists adjust the mirror’s lighting intensity and type and manage the tool as needed. It streams real-time video, captures photos, and records videos for sharing with patients or storing in the database. The app also supports data sharing via QR codes, monitors battery life, and allows firmware updates.



VisitorAccess







During the COVID-19 pandemic, we joined other software development companies in taking action against the virus. Therefore, we developed several free IT solutions to help medical organizations and patients prevent the spread of the disease and monitor symptoms. One of such solutions is VisitorAccess. 



SoftTeco, in collaboration with Kandasoft, developed a user-friendly, HIPAA-compliant solution that is easily scalable for any medical facility. Its main goal is to prevent disease spread by quickly identifying symptoms among individuals entering the facility. The system assesses their health in real time and keeps records of all interactions.



To summarize 



There is no way to deny the importance of IoT in healthcare. These devices enable real-time monitoring and data collection, enhancing the ability to diagnose, treat, and manage patients more effectively. IoT solutions make healthcare more accessible and responsive to individual needs. And as technology continues to evolve, paving the way for further innovations, SoftTeco stands ready to assist in creating cutting-edge solutions tailored to the healthcare sector.

### Cloud Cost Optimization: Best Practices and Tips to Reduce Your Cloud Spendings

We’ve recently talked about cloud computing for small businesses and how it helps companies grow and gain competitive advantage. While operation in the cloud brings immense flexibility and scalability, the main challenge lies in its complexity and lack of transparency and control. This leads not only to increased spendings but also to poorer performance of your apps. In this article, we discuss ways how to optimize your cloud costs without disrupting your business. The tips below are universal so you can use them as a baseline for your cloud cost optimization strategy.







What is cloud cost optimization?



Cloud cost optimization is a set of practices aimed at managing cloud costs, reducing them, and ensuring that the spendings align with the business goals of a company. As well, it helps enhance the app’s performance through wise allocation of resources and rightsizing. 



An important thing to note is that cloud spend optimization is not a one-time process. Instead, it should be performed in a continuous manner due to the highly dynamic nature of the cloud environment. And obviously, whenever you decide to scale your app, you will need to review your spendings accordingly.



We can define two main vectors of cloud cost savings:




Smart use of available services: cloud offers a plethora of services and opportunities so it can sometimes be easy to sign up for something you don’t really need. Hence, the first thing to consider when planning your spendings is the available budget and the exact resources and services that you need. 



Optimization of capacity: another big thing related to cloud costs is the optimization of your current capacity. This involves assessing whether your cloud is overprovisioned or whether there are unused resources. Such things can form a significant chunk of spendings that you may not even be aware of.




The benefits of cloud spend optimization



Now that we’ve answered the “what is cloud cost optimization” question, it is important to understand how exactly the optimization of costs will benefit your business.



Smarter budgeting and reduced spendings



Every company wishes to reduce cloud costs without compromising the operational efficiency. To achieve that, it is important to constantly maintain full transparency and control over your budget - and this can be challenging in a complex and dynamic cloud environment.



The optimization of costs can help you with this issue, Through thorough review and monitoring of your costs, you can eliminate unnecessary spendings and understand where exactly and how your budget is spent. This, in turn, will set the base for future budget planning and will help avoid unexpected costs.



Improved efficiency and performance of your apps



There can be many reasons why your app is underperforming, and one of them is underprovisioning or overprovisioning. If you are paying for unused capacity while some parts of the business do not receive needed resources, this will negatively impact the whole workflow and may even cause disruptions. With the help of cloud cost optimization, you make sure that you pay exactly for what you use and that your resources are allocated wisely and in accordance with your business needs.



Better control and visibility



For accurate budget management, it is critical to know where and how your finances are spent. Cloud cost optimization inevitably leads to the review of your assets and spendings and leads to increased transparency and better control over your spendings. 



Enhanced business continuity



Lastly, optimizing your cloud costs helps ensure the most effective use of resources and enhanced financial management. This, in turn, supports operational continuity. Optimization of costs also helps improve disaster recovery and scalability, thus making your business more resilient and stable.



Understanding cloud costs



The first step in optimizing your cost is understanding what they are comprised of, what their types are, and what the most common pitfalls are. 



Types of cloud costs



Your total bill consists of several costs, each covering a specific area of service. It is important to know about these costs in advance to accurately calculate the upfront bill and avoid unexpected costs:




Compute costs: are charged for the used processing power. The price usually depends on such factors as the type and size of used VMs, use of spot instances, etc.



Storage costs: charged for storing your data in the selected cloud. To manage these costs in the most effective way, carefully review available storage options and transfer fees of various providers.



Bandwidth costs: charged for transferring the data within the cloud.



Support costs: may vary depending on the selected provider.




Note that the list may include such additional costs as managed services costs or other specific costs - you can specify the upfront bill with the provider. The good news is that there might also be discounts which you also need to closely monitor and adjust your spendings accordingly.



Top reasons for a high cloud bill



Now that you know what you need to pay for, let’s look at the main reasons why your costs might be higher than expected:




Overprovisioning: a frequent case when you lack transparency and do not monitor closely what exact resources are being purchased. In this case, you end up with more resources than actually needed, which leads to higher costs.



Idle and unused resources: often caused by overprovisioning, some of your resources may remain in idle state or remain unused for a long time. Once again, you pay for something that is not in use.



Lack of cost monitoring: since cloud is a dynamic environment, it requires constant monitoring so any changes to the app are adjusted with the resources in use. If you do not monitor your costs, you might end up with an inadequate bill.




Cloud cost optimization strategies and best practices



We’ve discussed the reasons for a high cloud bill and the biggest challenges that business owners face. Now, let’s see how you can resolve these challenges and what cloud cost optimization strategies might help you cut costs while improving the app’s performance.



Review your current pricing 



The first thing from the cloud cost optimization techniques that you can do is review your current billing and explore all areas of the bill in detail. Though seemingly obvious, we highly recommend starting with this step as it can already help you figure out how to cut down your spendings. As listed above, there are several types of cloud costs, so you need to know which ones are included in your bill and how much you pay for each. 



The good news is that there is an array of specialized tools designed to help you detect any anomalies and spending trends. As well, many of such tools also send notifications once your spendings exceed the predefined thresholds. In this way, you receive continuous monitoring and can access information about specific charges at anytime.



Set the budget in a collaborative manner



One of the most effective cloud cost optimization best practices to manage your spendings is to set an initial budget from the start and plan your spendings accordingly. Since service providers are normally very open and transparent about their fees, you can estimate approximately how much you’ll have to spend in the near future. Note though that your bill will most probably fluctuate since the fees are directly based on the use of services and resources. So one important thing to note here is that you need to decide on a budget together with your team, including developers, security experts, and cloud engineers. Together, you will be able to come up with a reasonable budget that would allow you to fully meet your current needs.



Identify idle and unused resources



As already mentioned, idle and unused resources are normally the biggest reasons for your bill to skyrocket. Examples of such idle resources are load balancers or storage volumes, created for a specific project. Once such project ends, developers may simply forget to deprovision these resources - this is where your extra costs come from.



Here are a few tips to help you resolve this issue:




Use cloud monitoring tools for regular monitoring of resources and their activity;



Watch for resources with minimal activity, especially the ones that display it for a long period of time;



Evaluate the necessity of detected idle resources and eliminate or downsize any that won’t impact your current operation.




Rightsize your cloud services



Rightsizing means aligning your resources with the current needs of your business. This includes reducing the overprovisioned resources and increasing the underprovisioned ones. And since it sounds quite obvious, let’s look at a few actionable tips:




Review and assess your workloads and identify the ones that need optimization in terms of provisioning;



Try different configurations to identify which one will suit the best for each workload;



Use heatmaps to locate cost centers and understand how the computing power is allocated and what resources lack it (or receive too much);



Deploy load balancing to evenly distribute workload and automate this process;



Continuously monitor the workload and adjust resource sizing upon the need.




You can also used automation tools like autoscaling that will monitor the workload and will automatically add or reduce provisioning in accordance with the predefined preferences. 



Limit data transfers



Service providers typically charge businesses for data ingress (the data comes into the cloud) and egress (the data is moved out of the cloud) and these fees can make up a significant amount of your bill. Hence, we recommend reviewing your current data transfer process and optimize it as much as possible.



You can start with optimizing your architecture in a way that it minimizes the amount of data transfers. For example, if you have on-premises apps that require frequent cloud access, you can simply migrate them to the cloud. As well, make sure that there are no redundant transfers, which include migration of the same data by different teams.



Use spot instances



One great way to optimize cloud costs is to use discounts and sales, and spot instances are one of them. They are usually auctioned by service providers as unused inventory and can be by 90% cheaper than on-demand instances. However, there are a few considerations that come with such available resources.



First, you cannot predict when a spot instance becomes available so you’ll have to continuously monitor the offers by your cloud service provider (CSP). Second, spot instances usually come with certain limitations, like they can be interrupted by a CPS due to various reasons. Hence,  it’s best to use them for non-critical workloads that can withstand such interruptions.



Consider using reserved instances



Reserved instances can also be considered a discount offer by CSPs since they are usually sold at a lower price than other instances. But similar to spot instances, there are a few considerations related to RIs. 



The biggest challenge is that when buying a reserved instance, you’ll need to commit to using it during a specific period of time, usually from 1 to 3 years. So obviously, you will have to thoroughly plan your future budget and adjust it correspondingly. On the other hand, providers like AWS also offer the Savings Plan program that also comes with discounts but has more flexible terms of use.



Perform regular monitoring



One more thing among the cloud cost management best practices that can help you with your cloud costs is real-time, regular monitoring of specific KPIs, such as:




CPU usage;



Memory usage;



Network traffic;



Storage usage;



Instance uptime;



Error rates level.




Any anomalies in these KPIs, like a high error rate level or high network traffic, may signal about an overloaded instance or lack of resources. Constant monitoring of these KPIs helps timely identify areas for optimization and take proactive action.



How to select the right provider for cloud cost savings



While cloud cost reduction mostly takes place after your app is transferred to the cloud, the choice of the cloud provider will predefine the amount of these costs and their flexibility. So how do you select a perfect cloud service provider among available options?



Microsoft Azure has a comprehensive list of the key areas to consider when selecting a perfect CSP. In short, they are:



Business health



A selected provider should be reliable and trustworthy and display a healthy financial position. They should also have an established risk management policy and a clear and formal management structure.



Administration support



You should expect the following from the selected CSP:




Detailed and clear Service Level Agreements (SLAs);



Regular performance reports;



Sufficient controls for resource monitoring;



Automated billing.




Technical capabilities



Obviously, you will need to look for the required services, scalability, and features, but in addition, the cloud should be easy in deployment, has standard APIs to connect with your existing digital infrastructure, and a well-documented change management process. This area is usually among the core ones that impact the final choice so make sure that the selected provider will equip you with all needed functionality to successfully grow your business.



Security



Lastly, it’s critical to pay attention to the security of the selected cloud solution. While most cloud providers operate by the shared responsibility model, they still need to have robust security policies in place and ensure protection of your assets from their side. Hence, carefully review the security policy of a selected provider and gain a clear understanding of their and your areas of responsibility.



Cloud cost reduction: summing up



In general, cloud infrastructure is more cost-friendly than on-premises one but the costs may fluctuate and one should be ready for it. Our best advice here would be to not only plan your budget in advance but also prepare for extra costs and rapid adjustments “on the go”. And obviously, don’t forget to implement autoscaling for automatic resource provisioning and real-time monitoring for effective cloud cost optimization.

### Cloud Computing for Small Businesses: A Detailed Guide

If you are a small business owner, you surely understand how important it is to combine scalability and efficiency of operations with secure data hosting. Cloud computing in small business is a perfect way to bring in more regulation and control while maintaining a high level of security and accessibility of your software. 



However, some business owners hesitate to adopt it as they fear the costs and the overall complexity of the implementation process. In this article, we explain the importance of cloud computing for small business, how to implement it in a hassle-free manner, and what providers to consider.







What is cloud computing?



The official Amazon Web Services website provides the simplest definition of cloud computing: it is an on-demand delivery of IT services and resources via the Internet. These resources can include storage, servers, databases, and even software for app development. In this way, you can transfer your core IT processes to the cloud and enjoy the multiple benefits this approach brings (more on this later).



The most common uses of cloud computing are:




Storage: you can store all needed data in the cloud and access it anytime and from any device. This storage also enables effective data synchronization and easier collaboration since multiple users can access a single file simultaneously. And if you need an example, think of Google Drive or Dropbox that can be used by both individual users and companies for corporate purposes.



Backup: considering the rise of cyberattacks and the cost of a data breach or data leak, it is vital for companies to do data backups and keep them in a secured location. Cloud backup services offer an impressive level of security and let you securely store and recover your data. Though being similar to storage services, such backup is a bit different. This option is often included in most cloud storage services.



Hosting: unlike traditional web hosting on a physical server, cloud hosting implies using virtual space for hosting your application. This approach has numerous advantages, such as perfect uptime, high scalability, and payment only for the services in use.



SaaS: with Software as a Service, companies can make advantage of ready-made software solutions available via the Internet. Examples of SaaS solutions include Salesforce or QuickBooks Online, when a company gets access to rich functionality of a specific solution without the need to develop and update it. 




Main types of cloud service models



Though there is a big variety of cloud solutions, they can be divided into three main categories according to their type and services provided: infrastructure, platform, SaaS. Let’s look at each in detail:




Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): IaaS enables companies to manage their resources (networks, storage, virtual machines, etc.) in the cloud. In this way, a company does not have to buy hardware and can build its infrastructure in the cloud instead. The biggest benefit of IaaS is that you pay only for the services that you use. Hence, as your business grows, you scale the workload and resources accordingly, also being able to downsize whenever you need to. The biggest providers of IaaS services are Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.



Platform as a Service (PaaS): PaaS helps developers build applications directly in the cloud through the use of a specialized platform - hence, the name PaaS. Platform as a Service provides APIs, gateway software, and other tools needed to create an effective app. Think of PaaS as of a miniaturized version of IaaS but for developers. Examples of PaaS are Apprenda and Google App Engine.



Software as a Service (SaaS): Software as a Service is probably the most well-known cloud service model and is actively used by both individuals and companies. SaaS is cloud-based software that is available for use over the Internet, either for a purchase or on a subscription basis. Users can also install a SaaS product on their devices, if needed, which adds to its convenience. The most prominent SaaS examples are Adobe Creative Cloud and Google Docs.




As you can see, cloud computing offers users a vast array of available services. These services can be combined or used separately, thus enabling companies to select a perfect model that would work the best for their goals.



Main types of cloud storage



One more thing to talk about is cloud storage - more specifically, its main types. It is important to consider this factor when selecting the right provider since the choice will impact the security of your data and even your app’s performance:




Public: this storage type is the most common one due to its low costs, great scalability, and high reliability. Public cloud means that all infrastructure is owned and operated by a provider. So when an organization uses a public cloud, it shares resources with other organizations. Despite that, public clouds are usually very reliable and secure.



Private: private cloud resources are used exclusively by one organization. You can host it either on site or delegate hosting to a provider. The biggest advantage of using a private cloud is a high level of customization and security, as well as full control over all available resources.



Hybrid: as the name implies, a hybrid cloud is a mix between public and private clouds. Hybrid cloud allows moving your data and apps between the two environments, which adds to better security and better regulatory compliance.




The main benefits of cloud computing for small businesses



For small business, cloud computing brings the next significant advantages: 



Greater scalability



Since the cloud is not limited in its capacity, it offers businesses unparalleled scalability. It is especially beneficial for small businesses, as they normally see rapid growth in the beginning of their lifecycle and need to adjust resources correspondingly. With the cloud, you won’t only be able to scale up and down but will also be able to tailor the budget correspondingly. 



Reduced costs in the long run



Many small business owners are taken aback by the initial cost of cloud computing services. However, in the long run, this investment tends to bring a high ROI since you will be spending only on the resources in use and will be able to effectively scale. In this way, you don’t need to pay for the hardware and network infrastructure as well as for maintenance and patching (in most cases). 



High accessibility



High accessibility is also among the top benefits of cloud computing for small businesses. Companies can use any preferred device to access their apps and data in the cloud via the Internet, which is a big benefit when it comes to collaboration and need for quick decision-making. The only challenge here is to assign proper credentials to all potential users and monitor levels of access to prevent potential attacks and threats.



Improved collaboration



Related to the point above, cloud computing helps companies improve collaboration between different departments and users since the data is centralized and available to anyone with corresponding credentials. Hence, employees can work on a single project simultaneously, leave real-time comments, and easily exchange information and feedback.



Disaster recovery



Cloud backup is one of the most reliable ways of saving your data in case of a data loss or any other emergency. By storing backups in the cloud, organizations can easily recover it if needed and rest assured that there is always a copy of the data stored securely. This is highly important as the number of cyberattacks increases at an annual rate and requires companies to establish multi-level security.



Main challenges and considerations of cloud computing



Despite its notable benefits, cloud computing may also bring in certain challenges that are especially important for small businesses. Below, we list the biggest ones that you need to consider and plan their resolution in advance.



Reliance on Internet connectivity



One of the biggest drawbacks of cloud computing is its full reliance on Internet connectivity. So in case of an emergency when the Internet goes off, the whole functioning of the app can be disrupted. Slow or unstable connection will also significantly decrease the productivity of your team and may even result in errors and downtimes. 



To prevent that, make sure that your Internet connection is secure and stable, though don’t forget to have a plan B in case the Internet goes off. That means, you need to have physical backups in place and a recovery plan to get your app up and running as soon as the Internet is back again.



Security



Another big consideration is security of cloud solutions, since some of them are fully hosted and managed by a third-party service provider. This means, a business owner may not have full control over the cloud and its internal processes and in case of a security breach, most of the app might be at risk.



This concern is not entirely true, though. Numerous studies confirm that businesses experience better security in the cloud than on-premises. In addition, big cloud providers like Amazon and Microsoft place utmost importance on security and establish robust security measures to prevent potential attacks and threats.



There is one more thing to keep in mind when talking about cloud security. Most providers operate by the shared responsibility model, meaning that both the provider and the business owner need to establish security measures and take the responsibility for a specific part of the app’s security. Hence, before adopting cloud, you need to study how exactly the provider maintains security and what will be requited from your side.



Need for employee training



Another consideration that may stop small business owners from adopting cloud is the need for employee training, which implies investing a certain amount of time, effort, and finances in the process. While some may hesitate to spend time on training, especially if their business environment is highly dynamic and busy, it is an essential step. Proper training sets a solid base for the uninterrupted work process in the future and helps prevent those issues and threats that occur due to employees’ lack of knowledge.



How to implement cloud computing services for small businesses?



Though the process of adopting cloud will be individual for every organization, there are several basic steps that one can use as a baseline for an adoption strategy. You can think of them as of a checklist and adjust accordingly to your business processes and needs. The steps for implementing cloud computing for small businesses are as follows:



Identify and assess your current business needs



Implementation of any new software solution should start with the question “Why?”. That means, you need to understand why exactly the software is needed and what existing problem / pain point it can resolve. 



Based on the answers, you will be able to identify what key features are needed in a solution and whether you really need one. In other words, you will identify what exact cloud computing services for small business will resolve your current challenge. Sometimes, organizations simply need several on-premises improvements to optimize their processes - hence, perform a feasibility study to make sure that you really need a cloud solution.



Evaluate your current assets and infrastructure



The next step of adopting a cloud technology for small business is evaluating your readiness for migration and the state of current assets, such as infrastructure, software dependencies, etc. The main goal of this step is to understand whether the whole app should be moved to the cloud and whether any features need to be added/removed. Also, you might want to reorganize your current app architecture, so the migration process goes smoothly.



Create a migration strategy



Now, a company needs to prepare a solid migration plan that normally includes the following steps:




Select the suitable storage model and the provider



Prioritize the existing apps and evaluate their complexity in order to define the migration order



Estimate migration complexity and the available budget



Identify the app migration order 




All these things need to be taken into account in advance, so the migration process goes smoothly and does not disrupt the operation of your business.



Prepare the selected cloud environment



Once you selected the needed cloud, you can’t just move your apps in there. First, you need to prepare the selected environment and configure it in accordance with your needs. That includes two main vectors: architecture design and security and compliance for cloud resources.



The main things to focus on when working on the architecture are scalability and disaster recovery, since you want your app to be stable, secure, and resilient. As for the security, we recommend implementing the core best practices like data encryption or least privilege approach to make sure that your app and the data are well protected.



Migrate the app and the data



The last step of the cloud adoption process is the actual migration of your apps and the data to the selected cloud. It is important to perform the migration gradually, starting with the least critical apps and closely monitoring their performance. After the migration is completed, you will need to perform a post-migration optimization and assessment (like metrics monitoring) to timely identify and resolve any possible issues with the app’s performance.



Cloud computing best practices



Now that we are clear about the benefits of cloud computing and the way you can implement it, we should also discuss its best practices. The tips listed below are commonly used across organizations to improve the performance of their solution and to ensure that it remains stable and reliable, as well as cost-effective.



Create backups and plan a recovery strategy



Despite being highly secure, the cloud is still prone to cyberattacks - so what can you do to ensure your app and the data remain intact?



The biggest advice we can give here is to create data backups (preferably physical) and plan an actionable recovery strategy in case of an emergency. Hence, if anything goes wrong, you will be able not only to retrieve the data but to get your business up and running in a relatively short time.



Perform regular security audits



Taking into consideration the complexity of cloud security and the ongoing evolution of cyber threats, it is important to regularly perform security audits and vulnerability checks. The cost of preventing or mitigating a vulnerability at an early stage is much lower than its remediation, hence it’s in your best interest to monitor the security of your cloud solution and apply needed security measures immediately.



Optimize costs



Once you select the perfect solution among various cloud applications for small business, it doesn’t mean you will have to pay the same amount of money every time you renew your subscription. The best part of operating in the cloud is the opportunity to optimize your spendings precisely in accordance with resources in use. Here are a few tips on that:




Take a proactive approach towards rightsizing your resources;



Monitor any occurring cost anomalies;



Select the right type of storage;



Get rid of unused EBS snapshots (if you use AWS);



Automate the rightsizing of your infrastructure.




Consider multi-cloud approach



A multicloud approach implies using several different cloud tools to achieve greater efficiency and distribute work processes among various platforms. The biggest advantage of this strategy is that you avoid vendor lock-in and use the most suitable solutions for different tasks. However, the use of several clouds also implies more complex cloud management and security, so keep that in mind.



Implement DevOps and automation



We highly recommend adopting DevOps and deployment automation for faster app delivery and a reduced number of human errors. The DevOps approach brings immense transparency and efficiency to the app development process, while deployment automation helps deliver apps faster and with a minimized number of errors.



Constantly monitor key metrics



You need to constantly monitor performance metrics such as latency or throughput to optimize the cloud and remove existing bottlenecks in a timely manner. By always knowing how well your app performs and what resources are currently in use, you will be able to rightsize effectively while also improving user experience.



Summing up



Cloud computing for small business is a great way to grow in a gradual manner and to improve the stability and security of their apps. However, the adoption of cloud computing is a significant investment and needs to be considered and planned in advance. At SoftTeco, we have extensive experience working with the biggest providers like Amazon and Microsoft. Hence, we offer companies our cloud consulting services to help you determine what will work best for you and how exactly you should implement it. So if you still wonder how can cloud computing help small businesses or need help in selecting a perfect solution, we will gladly help!

### Last-Mile Optimization: Effective Strategies for Better Delivery

Currently, last-mile delivery is undergoing a significant transformation driven by technological advancements, changing urban environments, and customer preferences. Consequently, organizations face many challenges during delivery, such as driver shortages, slow delivery times, or unfavorable weather conditions. To stay ahead of competitors, logistics and supply chain managers must reconsider their delivery strategies to reduce costs while meeting modern consumer expectations.



To help you succeed, in this article we outline some of the effective strategies for last-mile delivery route optimization and how they will help you streamline operations and level up customer service for your ecommerce expansion.







What is last-mile optimization?



In logistics and supply chain management, the "last mile" represents the final and often the most crucial step of the delivery process. It is where products reach their ultimate destination from a distribution hub or warehouse - the customer's hands. Even though it is the shortest part of the delivery process, it often takes up the largest portion of delivery costs and headaches. This is why last-mile requires optimization.



Last-mile optimization refers to the process of improving the efficiency of the delivery. It typically involves the use of technology, data analytics, and innovative practices to streamline delivery routes, reduce transit times, and keep costs low. Thus, the optimization of the last-mile process opens up many opportunities for modern ecommerce businesses.



The main advantages of last-mile delivery optimization



Here are the main reasons why last-mile optimization is worth companies’ attention: 




Enhanced customer satisfaction: real-time tracking and timely delivery meet modern customer expectations, enhancing their satisfaction and loyalty to a brand;



Competitive advantage: fast, reliable, and racking deliveries make the business stand out from its competitors, attracting and retaining buyers;



Reduced operational costs: by optimizing shipping routes, companies can lower fuel consumption and minimize labor costs, resulting in significant cost savings;



Eco-friendliness: using eco-friendly options reduces carbon footprints and encourages customers to support sustainable logistics;



Better inventory management: usage of real-time inventory data allows companies to efficiently track and manage stock levels, reducing excess inventory and warehousing costs;



Better operational decisions: last-mile systems rely on modern technology, enabling businesses to make informed decisions about route planning, delivery schedules, and resource allocation.




Despite the numerous advantages that last-mile delivery optimization offers, businesses often face a variety of challenges related to this process. 



Challenges of last-mile delivery



Understanding the common last-mile challenges is the number one step before implementing strategies for optimization. So let's consider some of them:




High costs: since last-mile delivery involves numerous small stops, that leads to increased delivery costs due to factors such as fuel expenses, labor costs for drivers, and vehicle maintenance;



Customer expectations: consumers expect rapid and dependable delivery services with real-time order tracking, which requires robust logistics and advanced technology, increasing operational complexity;



Traffic congestion: urban areas often face traffic congestion or parking issues, which can lead to delays in deliveries, customer dissatisfaction, and one else increased operational costs;



Failed delivery: theft and damage of packages during last-mile delivery is a serious and common problem that increases the risk of dissatisfied customers;



Labor shortages: lack of delivery personnel causes operational bottlenecks and delays, which increases costs and negatively impacts delivery efficiency.




These are only some of the potential problems associated with the final stage; this list goes on and on. To successfully address or mitigate them in advance, businesses need a strategy consisting of innovative solutions, technology, and careful planning of logistics operations.



Last-mile route optimization: 8 effective strategies



Ecommerce companies are constantly on the hunt to make their final delivery process as effective and efficient as possible. While some current strategies might be overlooked or not properly implemented, they remain relevant. Let's look at them: 



Optimize routes



Routes and distance are the main factors impacting last-mile costs. The longer the distance, the higher the price. That is why route optimization for last-mile operations is vital for companies.



To achieve this, companies can implement advanced route planning software powered by AI and ML algorithms. These solutions can provide real-time data on traffic conditions, weather changes, vehicle capacity, and delivery schedules. By leveraging this data, drivers can plan the most efficient delivery routes, thereby minimizing both travel time and fuel consumption.



Map features, which convert customer locations into precise geographic coordinates, are another way to optimize routes. This improves the accuracy of delivery and reduces errors in route planning. Also, companies can optimize routes by evenly distributing delivery tasks among drivers using a load balancing strategy. This prevents delays and bottlenecks, ensuring timely deliveries and efficient resource utilization.



Use advanced analytics in logistics



Advanced analytics and ML are crucial in optimizing the last-mile delivery process. By analyzing historical data, companies can predict demand patterns and adjust routing schedules and routes accordingly. Also, analytics platforms can provide insights into:




On-time delivery rates;



Root causes of long shipping times;



Performance of individual carriers;



Package characteristics and factors affecting their costs.




Regular monitoring of delivery metrics helps companies identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and opportunities for further improvement. Additionally, last-mile analytics assist dispatch managers in predicting potential risks, such as daily or monthly traffic patterns, seasonal buying trends, and possible vehicle failures. With these insights, managers can proactively address and mitigate disruptions. Consequently, companies are able to improve delivery times, reduce fuel consumption, and cut their operating costs.



Integrate innovative technologies



The last-mile process starts in a distribution center. To keep every element of your operations running smoothly and add more visibility into your last-mile delivery operations, integration of advanced technologies is crucial. They include: 




Tracking systems: you can implement GPS tracking and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to monitor the precise location of delivery vehicles and provide real-time updates to customers;



Order Management System (OMS): this solution collects order data from every channel into a single view, resulting in more accurate order capture, tracking, and fulfillment, thus reducing delivery errors;



Electronic Proof of Delivery (ePOD): companies use digital signatures, timestamps, and photos to confirm delivery in real-time, enhancing transparency and efficiency over traditional delivery methods;



Drones and autonomous vehicles: they can deliver goods faster, cheaper, and more sustainably than traditional vehicles, particularly in urban areas or remote locations;



Smart lockers: these secure, automated storage units enable users to access their packages using digital codes or apps, replacing traditional parcel delivery.




Based on these technologies, businesses can weed out bottlenecks in their last-mile delivery process and make it smooth, cost-efficient, and customer-oriented.



Offer multiple delivery options



Online buyers have different preferences when it comes to delivery methods. For example, French consumers have a strong preference for delivery to service points, while Spanish ones prefer cash-on-delivery. By offering customized shipping options, such as same-day, next-day, or day-specific, you can deliver orders in a convenient manner.



Depending on your client's needs, you may consider the following delivery options:




Express and same-day delivery: perfect for customers needing fast shipping, such as for last-minute gifts or urgent supplies;



Click and collect: a combination of online ordering and in-store pickup that allows customers to pick up their purchases from nearby stores at their convenience;



Crowdsourced delivery: improves delivery speed and flexibility, especially in urban areas or during peak shopping periods, by leveraging a network of drivers matched to orders via technology platforms.



Green delivery: focuses on sustainability, using eco-friendly options like bicycle couriers or electric vehicles that satisfy eco-conscious consumers and boost brand reputation via corporate social responsibility initiatives.




By offering multiple and convenient delivery options, you can increase your conversion rate at checkout while reducing the risk of delivery failure, which can lead to cancellations or wasted time. This way, you can not only take care of your customers, but also optimize last-mile routing.



Partner with local carriers



Local carriers excel in navigating local traffic patterns and road conditions, which directly improves your delivery operations. They coordinate routes, hire drivers, and maintain vehicles, offering a more responsive delivery service than national carriers. Also, partnering with local carriers allows businesses to extend their distribution network without significant investments in infrastructure. Therefore, companies can reach challenging or costly areas for national carriers, thus improving service coverage. 



When choosing local carriers, consider their:




Cost



Service levels



Reputation and reviews



Delivery speed 



Geographic coverage



Extra services




To further optimize the last-mile process, you can implement a multi-carrier strategy. This last-mile strategy allows you to select the best rates and maintain flexibility if a carrier faces disruptions. For this, you can use shipping platforms that integrate multiple carriers for discounted rates, find the best shipping times, and track packages efficiently.



Implement real-time visibility tools



If you're looking to enhance visibility in your logistics operations to gain better control, consider integrating real-time visibility tools, such as Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) and Transportation Management Systems (TMS).



WMS software controls warehouse operations, from receiving and storage to picking, packing, shipping orders, inventory tracking, and all the steps in between. WMS provides real-time visibility into inventory levels, storage locations, and order statuses. It automates inventory management, reducing errors and improving efficiency.



In turn, TMS software optimizes transportation logistics, selecting the best routes and carriers to deliver orders to customers promptly and cost-effectively. It includes planning, execution, and optimization of transportation activities. Together, WMS and TMS are powerful solutions for optimizing the entire logistics process and ensuring an efficient last-mile process for customers. 



Provide real-time package tracking 



Most customers value package tracking and check its updates. Implementing real-time package tracking will enhance the customer experience by offering both transparency and convenience. This visibility allows them to plan their day around delivery times, preventing missed deliveries and rescheduling. 



To achieve this, companies need to offer an intuitive tracking portal. This portal should provide not only the number of days for delivery but also a specific estimated time of arrival (ETA). In case of unforeseen delays, such as bad weather or other disruptions beyond your control, you must keep your customers informed about delivery. Consequently, this optimizes last-mile delivery by enabling dynamic route adjustments and efficient resource allocation based on the real-time location of orders.



Sustainable practices



In an era of growing environmental awareness, the integration of sustainable practices into last-mile optimization is a common but necessary practice. These eco-friendly practices may involve adopting electric or hybrid vehicles, optimizing shipment routes, using ePOD or TMS solutions, and using waste-reduction packaging options. By adopting eco-friendly initiatives into their operations, businesses can reduce their environmental impact, enhance public reputation, and, together with their consumers, contribute to a greener planet.



Final thoughts



Last-mile optimization is a vital aspect of modern logistics that requires a blend of strategic planning and technologies. By adopting one of the above-mentioned strategies, ecommerce owners can better control and plan their delivery, reduce operation costs, and greatly enhance customer service. The use of route optimization software, drones, smart lockers, and crowdsourcing delivery can all contribute to achieving these goals. But, rather than implementing everything at once, companies should prioritize and continuously adapt their last-mile delivery route optimization strategies to meet their own business goals and market needs.

### 11 Most Common UX Mistakes in Ecommerce That Impact Conversions

The ecommerce industry is a fiercely competitive one, with new online stores popping up every day. Thus, to remain competitive and attract new users as well as retain current shoppers, the minimal requirement for any ecommerce store is to be as user-centric as possible. Great user experience equals high conversion rates, so it’s essential to watch out for the UX inconsistencies that can make even the most loyal customers turn to the competition. Below, we list the biggest UX mistakes in ecommerce that impact your sales and provide actionable recommendations on remediating them.







What are UX design mistakes in ecommerce?



UX design mistakes in ecommerce are the ones that:




Introduce barriers to a natural progression of user journey



Fail to address usability issues and compromise user experience



Discourage users from taking a certain action



Cost businesses lost conversions and low user engagement




Sometimes, you may not even be aware of these issues, as most of them are not really obvious. Together with SoftTeco’s UX/UI Designer Anna Puzynovich, we discuss the top UX issues that most ecommerce stores encounter.



1. Login issues



Registration and login are among the first things that shoppers do when visiting an online store. Hence, if there are any issues with these actions, user experience will be negatively affected right from the start, and we don’t want that. So, what are the most common mistakes that are related to login and registration?



Credentials of returning users are not remembered



Once shoppers overcome the not-so-liked hassle of creating a new account and logging in, they most likely expect the platform to remember their login credentials for the future. Most ecommerce stores usually ask whether a user wishes to save their login data, but some stores overlook this seemingly minor detail. As a result, users have to enter the credentials manually upon every store visit, which can lead to them getting annoyed and discouraged from further store navigation.



No express login flow provided



Express login is among those things that make the whole process easier for those users who have forgotten their credentials and need quick access. An example would be a one-time link sent to an email, an SMS code or push notification via OTP/2FA. However, a lot of ecommerce stores lack this feature, forcing users to create a whole new password each time they can't remember a current one, reinforcing the association of login with inconvenience.







No social media login



Integrating social media logins greatly reduces the risk of failed login attempts and shoppers dropping off. So if your store doesn't offer this option, it could be one of the reasons why you don't have as many users as you'd like. Surely, the decision to offer social login options isn't always an easy one for ecommerce businesses, which have to weigh convenience against security and privacy concerns. Despite these challenges, using reputable authentication providers, adopting robust security protocols and maintaining transparency can help ecommerce sites deliver a smooth social login experience to a wider audience.



2. No guest checkout



The checkout process is a crucial stage where shoppers tend to abandon their carts, so it has to be highly convenient and prevent any challenges for the user, for example the absence of a guest checkout option.



When completing the conversion process, a user is usually requested to log into the system or create an account up front. The reason behind this is user data is pivotal for businesses in customizing marketing campaigns, learning more about their audience, and building loyalty with returning customers. However, the guest checkout creates favorable conditions for impulse and one-time purchases, because a user doesn't get distracted from actual shopping. Thus, weigh the priorities before you decide against implementing a guest checkout.



3. Complex navigation



While some users already know what they want to buy when landing on an ecommerce site, many of them are also just curious and want to see what the store offers. So if you have lots of content and pages, and they are not organized properly, you might be in trouble. Confusing and complex navigation is a big UX problem in ecommerce and is one of the top reasons for a high bounce rate and can heavily discourage users from completing their purchase. The most common issues related to store navigation are:




Overload of product categories: there are just too many categories, though most of them can be merged into one.



Overload of dropdowns: an excessive number of dropdown menus, especially when combined with an already content-heavy interface, can lead to confusion and cognitive overload.



Buttons like “Home” or “Back” are not visible: when a user is lost or confused, they most likely would prefer to go to the main page or to the one they visited before. If such buttons are not visible, users will most probably leave the site.



Breadcrumbs are not visible or clear: breadcrumbs help users instantly understand where exactly on the website they are. Unclear or poorly visible breadcrumbs will simply add to the confusion.




Google’s UX Playbook for Retail offers several valid tips on improving the navigation of your store. They include the use of a consolidated menu, organization of subcategories in alphabetical order, and order of main menu categories by traffic volume. Also, make sure that a user always knows where they are and that there are supportive elements on every page. 



4. Poor or broken search



The search option is a must for an ecommerce store or any website, to be honest, since it a) directly leads users to the desired product and b) offers cross-selling and upselling opportunities. Unfortunately, many ecommerce stores have non-optimized or broken search, which later results in a drop in conversions and reduced user engagement. Let's look into the most common issues with search.



No feature (thematic) search



The most common type of search is when a user searches for a specific item: say, a blouse. But what if a user also wants to search for an item with particular features, like a striped blouse? In case your search is not optimized for an “item + its characteristics” combo, the user may encounter an error message and will not get desired results. Hence, it’s best to include an option of searching both items and their features instead for user convenience.







Search results not returned



If a user searches for a product and the site says “Sorry, no product found”, this leaves the user dissatisfied and will most likely result in shoppers leaving the site for alternatives. Hence, it is imperative to always return search results or, if the item does not exist on the site or in the inventory, to suggest other options that might interest the user. Here, it is a good idea to implement an ML-based personalization algorithm to enhance user experience and make sure that the user is always offered something relevant.



Poor autocomplete suggestions



Autocomplete suggestions are an important search feature, as they help users find the needed item much faster and promote further website browsing. However, if you don’t have an autocomplete feature on your site, those users who are hesitant or not sure about the product will most probably abandon the store if there is no extra assistance from your side.



5. Non-responsive and non-adaptive design



Responsiveness of your store is another critical factor that impacts conversions and forms either a positive or negative user experience. By responsiveness, we mean the ability of a site to resize and rearrange itself in correspondence with the screen size and the device in use.



From a mobile usability perspective, even with flexible grids and fluid media, responsive layouts can become cramped and difficult to navigate on smaller screens. A dedicated mobile-optimized (adaptive) design is often a more effective solution. Unlike responsive design that adjusts to various screen sizes dynamically, adaptive design creates distinct layouts for specific breakpoints.




 


Expert Opinion



There's a 75% chance that your primary website audience is using a mobile phone. If you've done your research and found this to be true for your business, I'd recommend designing with a mobile-first approach and then scaling up to a desktop. This approach lets you prioritize elements and streamline the user journey for mobile-specific tasks such as product browsing.



The reason it's not the best practice to channel desktop-based design decisions into mobile interfaces is because mobile users have unique habits, interaction patterns, and shorter attention spans due to limited content view size.



Clear content hierarchy is what I'd start from. Focus on the most important info and primary actions. Breaking down complex desktop pages like product customization or checkout details into multiple, streamlined screens will also increase action success rates and overall usability. Be sure to integrate navigation patterns that are native to mobile, such as tab bars. 



Remember that mobile interactions are primarily touch-driven. Responsive designs will likely not account for larger tap targets and sufficient spacing between interactive elements. Save your users the effort by ensuring that buttons, links, and form fields are large enough to be easily tapped.



Another tip is to take advantage of mobile-specific features like camera access for quick uploads or push notifications for timely updates. These will provide context-relevant functionality that keeps users engaged.





UX/UI Designer at SoftTeco



Anna Puzynovich






 








6. Overuse of popups



If you ever shopped online, you must be familiar with pop-ups. These small windows appear on the screen during your session and propose a unique and, most often, a one-time offer. The main goal of pop-ups is to encourage users to complete a certain action: sign up for a newsletter, make a purchase for a certain amount of money, or become a member of a community. In return, pop-ups always offer certain value: a discount, unique offers, etc. So, what can possibly go wrong here?



The thing is, if you overdo your pop-ups and use too many of them, users will get annoyed due to constant distraction from shopping. Thus, the best pop-up practices are:




Timely use: if you want to offer a discount to new users, you can use a pop-up shortly after a new user lands on the main page. 



Do not make pop-ups reappear: if a user closed it once, do not show the same message again.



Ensure a popup is easy to close: even if the “cross” button for closing is not visible, a user should be able to close the popup by clicking on the outside area (anywhere on the page).




7. Hidden fees and lack of transparency



Hidden fees are probably the main reason why shoppers abandon their carts and overall decide to leave the website, so it’s important to understand what exactly it means.







Hidden fees imply the ones that are not obvious or visible from the start, like shipping fee or taxes. Some ecommerce stores display these fees only at the last step of the checkout and obviously, most shoppers get discouraged since they were initially hoping to pay a different price. 



That being said, make sure that:




Your return policy is visible and clear



Shipping can be calculated before a user proceeds to checkout



The information on additional charges is visible and is presented to users on early stages of checkout.




One more thing to remember is that if a store is international, sometimes it’s not clear in what currency the user will be charged. All information related to product pricing should be instantly accessible and visible, and the user should not have to search the whole website for it.



8. Poor sharing options



Sharing a purchase or a product of interest with friends is an important part of a shopping experience for many people. Also, many ecommerce stores encourage users to invite friends to the platform in exchange for some incentives (discounts, coupons, etc.). However, if the sharing process is inconvenient and non-optimized, it might negatively impact the user experience. Below are the two biggest sharing issues:



No social media integrations



We expect to see social media icons on almost every site we use, and ecommerce is no exception. It is recommended to enable social media sharing on product pages so users can post their purchases to their profiles, add items to a wishlist, or easily share the desired items with friends.



Broken link copying



If a product page does not have a “share” button, users will most probably copy the link to the page directly from the browser. However, some websites have issues with proper link copying: instead of leading to a product page, the link leads to a catalog instead. This is something to be 



monitored and tested, though the best option would be to simply add a “share” button.



9. Poor CTAs



Call-to-action buttons are among the primary sources of conversions, as they directly impact the actions of a user. The most common examples of such buttons are “Book now” or “Get in touch” - as you can see, both encourage a user to complete a certain action that will later possibly result in a sale (since we are talking about ecommerce). Now, what can go wrong when crafting a CTA?



Lack of value proposition and generic messaging



The effectiveness of your call-to-action (CTA) depends on the message it conveys. A CTA without compelling text is essentially meaningless and unlikely to drive users to act. An unconvincing, sloppy message is not capable of attracting and converting a user, so pay attention to how you write it. You can use the following tips to double-check your CTAs:




Clearly communicate a value proposition in exchange for a user action



Aim to make the copy unique (avoid overused templates)



Personalize the copy so that it better resonates with your target audience



Match the message’s tone to the brand voice




Dark UX



A dark pattern commonly met in ecommerce UX writing is when a user runs into the so-called confirmshaming. An example would be declining an offer: “Are you sure you don't want to save money?". As you can see, this message creates a sense of guilt and even though the proposition does not necessarily meet the user's needs, they will most likely complete a proposed action. As a result, you see conversions from people who are not interested in your offer, which brings zero benefit to them or your business.



Inadequate button design



In simple terms, a CTA button that is difficult to locate or doesn't clearly look like a button won’t get the user’s attention and for sure will not promote any action. So as you work on your CTA elements, watch for their styling, and choose color, size, and font wisely. Also consider the strategic placement of your primary action buttons that will stand out in the visual hierarchy and grab the user's attention without drastically deviating from the overall store design.



10. Accessibility issues



Any modern website should be ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible. This includes adjusting of color contrasts and textures, font sizes, providing various navigation options, video captions, etc. However, a truly inclusive e-commerce experience goes far beyond the styling patterns check-up, although it's clearly important. The foundation of accessible e-commerce is thoughtful communication between the user and the interface, and that's where accessibility goes hand in hand with great interaction design.



Every user action —  whether initiated by hand, screen reader, or keyboard —  requires a response to reassure or encourage the user to take the next step. The need for clear confirmation of key user actions is obvious here: from simply hovering over interactive controls to providing proof of products added to a cart; or requested alerts for out-of-stock items; or error messages for failed payment methods. 







There's more UX ground to cover when it comes to disabilities that rely on what's beneath the surface of a simple button: interface controls that are used programmatically. In this case, interface components designed and implemented without semantic meaning or value become difficult or impossible to operate. A well-documented library of UI components, coupled with object-oriented implementation, will pay off if shoppers with impairments can successfully navigate the most complex processes, like multi-field order placements. 




 


Expert Opinion



A checklist for an inclusive and efficient interface should include alt text, which serves as an accessible name for the product image and ensures that screen readers accurately convey the brand's message.



Controls need accessible names that match the visible label and can be navigated by voice without confusion. Users will also appreciate tooltips with names on hover for controls without accompanying text, such as icon buttons, to avoid misinterpretation.



Don't forget the accessible role attributes, which are used by assistive technologies to convey the purpose of the UI component (and how to interact with it), as well as component states and values. For example, for controls that change the visual appearance, such as a drop-down menu item or a toggle, their current state needs to reflect whether their associated content is now open or collapsed.



Make it easy to identify and correct errors. Don't go minimalist: combine color coding with clear error messages. Additionally, little things, like order status indicators, are key to ensuring that every user receives the most important follow-ups.



Finally, explore the possibility of allowing the use of alternative payment methods - such as PayPal, Google/Apple Pay - to bring the final checkout steps down to a few clicks.





UX/UI Designer at SoftTeco



Anna Puzynovich






 








11. Non-optimized forms



Finally, let's look closer at the process of filling in a form on an ecommerce site, which is already far from the top of users' favorite activities. And if your forms are not optimized for convenient and quick completion, it once again increases the chances that users will not convert. 







In general, an optimized form should be as user-centric as possible, meaning it shouldn’t demand too many actions from a user. The most common issues related to form optimization are:




No autofill functionality



Overload of fields or inconsistent grouping



Inadequate use of dropdowns for too-many and too-few options



Incorrect input methods for specific formats, such as phone numbers ​​




An example of usability best practice for drop-down menus would be to allow the user to start typing, prompting suggestions that speed up selection and let them finalize the purchase. Such things matter when talking about retaining users and leading them to conversions. 



UX issues in ecommerce: summing up



The subject of UX design for ecommerce is highly complex and consists of dozens of best practices and recommendations, not to mention personalized suggestions that depend on the site’s brand voice, general appeal, and proposed goods and services. The UX mistakes in ecommerce that we’ve listed above are the most common issues, though there are many more that one can encounter. If you want to learn more about stellar and user-centered UX ecommerce design, SoftTeco can gladly assist you by setting up a consultation with our UX design team. Or you can hold an independent research: in this case, do not forget about continuous testing to learn which areas of your site perform the best and which ones can use a bit of optimization.

### How Image Recognition Technology Benefits Businesses with Real-Life Use Cases

Alongside artificial intelligence, recognition of images has become an integral part of modern technology, enabling machines to "see" and understand visual data. Its applications span across various industries, such as ecommerce, agriculture, and healthcare, offering significant benefits to companies. According to Statista's market research, the demand for image recognition technology will steadily grow, reaching a market volume of approximately $22.64 billion by 2030.







This article covers the core concepts of image recognition, how it works, the benefits of its implementation for businesses, and some real-world use cases. 



To start off, let's take a moment to define what is image recognition and what makes it such a remarkable technology.



What is image recognition?



Image recognition is the ability of computers to identify and classify specific objects, places, people, text, and actions within digital images and videos. It allows software to detect, analyze, and understand visual content by comparing it to learned data, much like how humans interpret what they see. This technology, a key application of computer vision, operates without human supervision, enabling the automatic extraction and analysis of details from images and videos.



Image recognition is something we encounter practically every day, whether it's searching by a photo on Google or unlocking a phone using a facial recognition function. But how does it all work? 



How does image recognition work?



As we mentioned earlier, image recognition is a subset of computer vision, which is a broader field of artificial intelligence. To recognize objects and differentiate a face from a vase, it utilizes machine learning and, more specifically, deep learning. Deep learning involves neural networks — complex algorithms trained on massive datasets of labeled images. These neural networks learn to recognize patterns and extract features like edges, shapes, textures, and colors, building up a visual vocabulary piece by piece.



Deep learning models, particularly Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), are widely used in image recognition. CNNs are designed to automatically and adaptively learn spatial hierarchies of features from input images.



Here's where it gets really interesting: these algorithms don't just memorize what a cat or a tree looks like. They learn to understand the fundamental building blocks that make up those objects and scenes. For instance, a CNN might first detect simple edges and textures, then combine these into more complex shapes, and finally recognize entire objects. When these networks encounter a new image, they can break it down into its component parts and reassemble the pieces to identify what's in the picture.



The typical deep learning process for image recognition includes the following:



Data gathering and preparation



The first step in the deep learning process for image recognition is the gathering and preparation of data. This involves collecting a large and diverse dataset of images that represent the various categories or classes that the model will be trained to recognize. The quality and diversity of the dataset are critical factors that can significantly impact the performance of the trained model. Additionally, preprocessing techniques such as normalization, resizing, and data augmentation are often applied to the images to ensure uniformity and enhance the robustness of the model.



Training the neural network



Once the dataset is prepared, the next step is to train the neural network using the collected data. This involves feeding the images into the network and adjusting the network's parameters through a process known as backpropagation. During training, the network learns to identify patterns and features within the images that are indicative of the different classes. The network's parameters are optimized iteratively through the use of optimization algorithms such as stochastic gradient descent, enabling the network to gradually improve its ability to accurately classify the images.



Testing the data



After the neural network has been trained, it is essential to evaluate its performance on a separate set of images that it has not seen before. This testing phase helps to assess the model's generalization capabilities and provides insight into its accuracy and reliability.



Types of image recognition



There are three main approaches to training image recognition systems: supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and self-supervised learning. Let’s examine each.  



Supervised learning



Supervised learning is a popular approach in image recognition, where the algorithm is trained on a labeled dataset. This means that each input image is accompanied by a corresponding output label, such as identifying objects in the image. Through exposure to a vast collection of labeled images, the algorithm learns to recognize patterns and features associated with different objects. This type of learning is widely used in applications like facial recognition, object detection, and image classification.



One of the key advantages of supervised learning is its ability to make precise predictions based on the labeled training data. However, its effectiveness heavily relies on the quality and diversity of the labeled dataset. Additionally, supervised learning may struggle when faced with new, unseen data that differs significantly from the training set.



Unsupervised learning



Contrary to supervised learning, unsupervised learning does not rely on labeled data. Instead, the algorithm identifies patterns and structures within the input images without explicit guidance. This makes it useful for tasks such as clustering similar images, identifying anomalies, and extracting meaningful features from the data.



Unsupervised learning techniques enable machines to uncover hidden patterns and relationships within image datasets. While unsupervised learning can be advantageous in scenarios where labeled data is scarce, the interpretability of the learned features and the output quality heavily depend on the algorithm's capability to discern meaningful patterns from the input data.



Self-supervised learning



Self-supervised learning is a relatively newer approach that combines aspects of both supervised and unsupervised learning. In this method, the algorithm generates its own labels from the input data, effectively creating a supervised learning scenario from the raw, unlabeled images. Common self-supervised tasks include image inpainting, colorization, and predicting missing parts of an image.



This approach offers the advantage of leveraging vast amounts of unlabeled data while benefiting from the structured learning process of supervised techniques. By learning to predict missing or corrupted parts of an image, the algorithm can better understand visual features and contextual relationships within the data.



Prominent image recognition use cases



The importance of image recognition work is hard to underestimate. Now, it can even be trained to identify objects and patterns that the human eye may not catch. Powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, it has revolutionized numerous industries and processes, offering a wide array of applications that continue to shape the way we interact with the world.



Let's explore some of the prominent image recognition use cases:



Facial recognition



Facial recognition technology enables quick and accurate identification of individuals by analyzing facial features, helping in security screenings, identity verification, and access control. For example:




Facial recognition is used at airports, offices, and secure facilities to let authorized people in. It scans faces to make sure only the right people can enter.



Some security cameras use facial recognition to spot known troublemakers or missing persons. It helps keep public places safer.



Social media sites like Facebook use facial recognition to suggest tags for people in photos. It helps users identify friends in their pictures.



Some smartphones use facial recognition to unlock the device. The camera scans the owner's face and unlocks the phone if it matches the stored face data.



Police departments use facial recognition to find suspects in surveillance footage. It helps them solve crimes faster by identifying individuals.




Image search



Image recognition powers sophisticated image search engines that allow users to search for similar images based on content rather than keywords. This technology is utilized in ecommerce for visual search, where users can find products similar to an image they upload. For instance, if you see a beautiful landscape in a photo, you can use image search to find similar destinations or hotels to visit.



Medical diagnosis



In the healthcare sector, image recognition plays a crucial role in medical imaging analysis. Radiologists and doctors use this technology to interpret X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans with greater accuracy, aiding in the early detection of diseases and improving patient outcomes.



For example, image recognition helps doctors detect early signs of cancer in medical images like mammograms and CT scans. It can highlight abnormal growths or tumors that might be difficult to spot. This early detection leads to timely treatment and better chances of recovery for patients.



Quality control



Manual inspection is hard and time-consuming. Automated systems can inspect products on production lines for defects, ensuring consistency and adherence to quality standards. This reduces errors and improves overall product quality.



Content filtration & monitoring



Social media platforms and online content providers utilize image recognition for content moderation. This technology helps filter out inappropriate or harmful content, such as explicit images or hate speech, ensuring a safer online environment for users.



Fraud detection



The integration of AI-powered photo recognition tools can significantly streamline and bolster the process of detecting fraud. This technology analyzes images or videos to detect suspicious patterns, anomalies, or discrepancies that may indicate fraudulent behavior.



For example, surveillance cameras equipped with image recognition algorithms analyze customer behavior and detect unusual patterns, such as multiple returns of high-value items within a short period, signaling potential fraud.  



AI image identification is also useful in identifying deepfakes. For instance, it can distinguish unusual and inconsistent facial features, unnatural movements, and other indicators of a deepfake to prevent identity theft or other malicious actions.    




 


Expert Opinion



Nowadays, the problem of computer vision remains one of the most popular among businesses. It's not a surprise because visual detection can benefit many industries due to its high automation capabilities. If five years ago, the task was to reach people's level of visual perception (to save time and money); now the task is to make it even better (to avoid people's perception biases). Last year was also important for this branch of AI because LLMs can contribute not only to text but also to image processing. This is a huge step forward in the development of AI, impacting many industries as well.





Data Scientist at SoftTeco



Roman Kyrychenko






 




Examples of image recognition applications in real-life 



As we've already mentioned, the application of image recognition comes in many forms and offers numerous ways to improve our lives and businesses. Here are a few real projects from SoftTeco that vividly demonstrate the benefits of this technology.



BananaAi: an AI-based solution for banana leaf disease detection



The BananaAi project is a good example of how image recognition can be applied in agriculture. 







Upon the client's request, SoftTeco has successfully developed and fine-tuned an AI-powered classification model for monitoring and overseeing the growth of banana trees in greenhouses and plantations. The main goal was to streamline the tasks of agronomists by automating routine processes and promptly identifying any potential issues.



Therefore, we created a computer vision system capable of autonomously examining banana seedling leaves and identifying signs of damage. To achieve this, SoftTeco utilized advanced object detection techniques and deep learning algorithms to train a model specifically designed for recognizing damaged banana leaves. This module diligently inspects real-time photos of banana tree leaves within the greenhouse, categorizing any observed leaf damage.




 


Expert Commentary



Throughout the project, we managed data collection, processing, and annotation, crafting custom datasets tailored for training and testing our model. As a result, the model can now identify and distinguish various types of damage, generating a comprehensive report that provides a detailed assessment of the plant's overall condition based on the analyzed images.





ML Engineer at SoftTeco



Yauheni Kavaliou






 




SeeDoo: a computer vision device for target audience analysis



Image recognition technology has wide applications in the retail and ecommerce sectors. One of our projects, SeeDoo, is an excellent example of how this technology can help businesses personalize their advertisements.







Our client sought our expertise in developing an on-premises device capable of detecting individuals and delivering relevant advertisements on DOOH displays in transportation hubs and outdoor areas. The main goal was to analyze captured images, extract key attributes of the audience, and present targeted advertisements for optimal effectiveness.




 


Expert Commentary



The device itself is a compact on-premises box with a high-resolution camera. It's strategically positioned near DOOH displays to capture images of individuals within its coverage area. The device was equipped with NVIDIA's Jetson mini-computer, so we converted and optimized our machine learning models into ONNX and TensorRT formats. This optimization significantly boosted data processing speed, enabling real-time predictions.





ML Engineer at SoftTeco



Yauheni Kavaliou






 




We worked closely with the client's team and developed computer vision software for the device. This software uses deep learning for object detection, tracking, and classification. Photo recognition technology accurately analyzes visual data, identifies specific attributes, and displays targeted ads on nearby screens based on requirements. This method tailors ads directly to the audience, making them more impactful and effective.



Golf Club: an AI-powered analyzer of golf players



Image recognition technology can significantly improve the quality of products in specialized manufacturing industries. As an example, let's consider another interesting project by SoftTeco - Golf Club.







Our client, a custom golf club manufacturer, approached us with an innovative idea: to develop an AI-based solution that will analyze players' positions and strokes to help them design personalized golf clubs.



We developed an AI-powered solution that can see and measure how golfers hold their clubs and how they swing them. It then uses this information to figure out the technical specifications needed to manufacture customized clubs.



This program works by taking pictures either from a phone or a special camera. With these pictures, the client can make clubs that match how hard players hit the ball, how they stand, and how they swing.



To make this work, we developed two smart computer models. One model figures out where the player’s hand and club are, and the other model figures out the club and separates it from everything else in the picture. Together, these models get all the info needed to make a custom golf club that fits just right. This technology helps the program see the club clearly, even among other things in the picture, and know the difference between the player’s arm and the club.



To sum up



AI picture recognition is significant, offering numerous benefits like efficiency improvements and industry innovation. The future of this technology looks promising, as recognition of images provides new opportunities to leverage it to your advantage each year. If you have ideas to explore, you need a skilled partner like SoftTeco. Our team excels in AI and ML technologies and is ready to tackle any challenges.

### The Key Benefits of IT Outsourcing

With evolving market demands and the need for continuous adaptation, it is crucial for companies to quickly implement cutting-edge technological solutions, but doing so on their own can be time-consuming and complex. Building your in-house team requires significant hiring, training, and equipment costs and often requires additional external resources. This is where IT outsourcing becomes a strategic advantage.



According to Statista, the outsourcing market size will reach $541 billion by 2024, from $260 billion in 2022. Outsourcing IT services helps businesses optimize their operations, gain access to advanced technology, specialized expertise, and reduce costs - all of which might be difficult to achieve internally. This article explains the key benefits of IT outsourcing and its main phases and shows how it helps companies enhance business operations and drive business growth.







What is IT outsourcing?



IT outsourcing is the process of using service providers to deliver IT-reliant business processes, application services, and infrastructure solutions. In other words, outsourcing means transferring the entire or portion of IT operations - that may be performed by an in-house team - to an external provider. IT functions that are commonly outsourced are diverse and may include:




Custom software development;



Cybersecurity;



IoT development & maintenance;



AI & machine learning development;



IT consultancy;



Infrastructure management;



QA testing;



UI/UX design;



Cloud services, etc. 




Moreover, outsourcing is usually referred to as a method of "filling the gaps" in IT. For example, if you need to enhance your system's security, you can opt for IT outsourcing to address this specific need. This allows you to pay only for the necessary services rather than investing in a full-time, in-house team for every IT requirement.



Types of IT outsourcing



There are various types of IT outsourcing. First, let's consider outsourcing based on the scope of services:




Full outsourcing: involves transferring all IT functions and operations to an external provider. 



Partial outsourcing: involves delivering specific IT functions while maintaining others in-house, providing a flexible approach.




IT outsourcing based on geographical location:




Nearshore: partnering with a provider in a nearby country, often in the same time zone;



Offshore: partnering with a provider in a distant country, typically for cost savings and access to a global talent pool;



Onshore: partnering with a service provider in the same country. It may not offer cost advantages, but it provides familiarity with local regulations and laws. 




IT outsourcing models:




Staff augmentation: 




It refers to supplementing an in-house team with external IT professionals who work under your management. It is ideal for projects that require additional staff or specific expertise without the long-term commitment of hiring full-time employees.




Dedicated team: 




It involves a team of IT professionals dedicated to your company's projects, working exclusively on your tasks but managed by the outsourcing provider. It is better suited for ongoing projects or continuous development, where a team's consistency and expertise are essential.




Managed services: 




It includes a long-term relationship where a service provider manages specific IT functions or services, such as network monitoring or data backup. It suits companies looking to outsource routine tasks, improve operational efficiency, and ensure reliable IT performance.




Project-based outsourcing:




In this case, entire projects or specific tasks are outsourced to an external vendor who manages the project from start to finish. It suits well-defined, short-term projects with clear objectives and deliverables, such as software development or system implementation.



The main types of IT outsourcing contracts



When you consider IT outsourcing, it is essential to choose between different types of contracts available that will meet your specific business needs and budget constraints. Here are the main of them: 



Time & materials 



A client pays for the time spent working on a project (at set hourly rates for each member) and materials used (such as software licenses). This type of outsourcing is suitable for projects where requirements are not fully known or where flexibility is needed to accommodate changes and adjustments. 



Fixed price



A customer pays a predetermined, fixed price for specific services on a project. This type provides predictability in terms of budget, but may require detailed project specifications upfront and less flexibility for changing the scope. 



Dedicated team



It includes hiring a team that will work exclusively on a client's project on a full- time and a monthly basis. This type of cooperation is more cost-effective than the previous ones and is usually used in long-term cooperation.



IT outsourcing offers versatile solutions for any business. However, the selection of the most suitable outsourcing approach it is not easy. Companies must assess many factors, such as the scope of services, geographical preferences, operation needs, flexibility, project goals, and more, before decision-making.



When do you need IT outsourcing?



If you're uncertain whether it is time to seek third-party outsourcing for your IT needs, here are several indicators you should consider:




A project delays and increased downtime;



Frequent and unresolved security issues;



Insufficient IT staff;



Slow and inefficient customer support;



Lack of an effective data recovery plan;



Financial limitations hindering cybersecurity investments;



Lack of specialized expertise in emerging technologies;



High IT staff turnover;



Regulatory compliance challenges;



Performance and productivity issues.




If even one of these problems sounds familiar, it is probably worth thinking about delegating some tasks to outsourcing. Let's examine how businesses can take advantage of outsourcing IT.



Key advantages of outsourcing IT services 



Here are the main benefits of IT outsourcing for organizations of different sizes and niches:



Control IT costs



Outsourcing IT processes can significantly reduce operational and labor costs. By outsourcing, businesses can avoid the expenses associated with hiring, training, and maintaining in-house IT specialists. Companies can also reduce the costs related to infrastructure, office space, needed equipment, taxes, and software licenses. Outsourcing shifts these overheads to the service provider, leading to further cost savings​.



Additionally, many outsourcing agreements offer predictable, fixed pricing structures, making it easy to efficiently manage budgets for IT expenses and avoid unexpected costs. Businesses pay only for what they need when they need it and at a fixed price. 



Access to specialized skills and resources



Outsourcing will provide you with access to a global talent pool. Whatever your needs, you can hire specialists with expertise in cybersecurity, cloud computing, or software development. This way, businesses can access highly qualified, best-in-class experts without hiring and training their in-house staff.



Also, outsourcing providers continuously invest in the latest technologies to keep pace with evolving software requirements, security issues, and market demands. They also ensure their employees stay current with the latest technology and industry trends through ongoing training. 



Focus on core business activities 



Among other IT outsourcing advantages is the ability to concentrate on core business operations. Outsourcing less-essential functions to external service providers allows companies to focus on their core activities. They can reallocate internal resources more strategically, and thus avoid being bogged down by technical issues and routine tasks. This allows businesses to focus on what truly drives them forward, improving productivity and efficiency in their key areas.



Improve scalability and flexibility



Outsourcing allows companies to scale their services (if business grows) up or down (if business decreases) as needed. This means companies need to only pay for the resources they use. It helps companies manage their resources effectively, ensuring they have the necessary support without overspending. This is especially advantageous for startups and small businesses looking to expand operations without huge initial costs.



The ability to access specialized skills on demand gives businesses the flexibility to adapt quickly to new technologies without the lengthy process of hiring new employees. It also allows companies to adjust the number of software developers involved in the project according to their current needs and respond to problems as soon as possible. 



Improve efficiency and productivity



Outsourcing providers have specialized knowledge and leverage advanced and automated tools to handle repetitive tasks, such as system updates or monitoring. This increases accuracy and reduces the risk of human error. For this reason, companies can manage IT tasks more effectively that often may not be available in-house. By leveraging external expertise and specialized tools, companies can optimize their IT operations and minimize systems downtime. This leads to faster resolution of issues and improved performance of IT systems. 



Risk management 



Outsourcing reduces risks associated with IT projects by partnering with specialized IT providers who manage critical business operations. This can mitigate risks, such as security breaches, data loss, and project delays. Many IT providers are certified to standards like ISO 27001 and have robust quality assurance processes in place, ensuring consistently high-quality services. Thus, outsourcing helps companies proactively manage and mitigate risks, ensuring operational continuity and stability.



Gain a competitive edge



While in-house employees deeply understand business processes, this familiarity can sometimes limit innovation and growth. Without evolving internal processes, training staff, or integrating new technologies, you risk missing out on essential trends and innovations. IT outsourcing can give a company a fresh perspective, helping to overcome these challenges.



Outsourced IT services offer access to enterprise-level technology and specialized expertise tailored to your organization’s needs. By leveraging these external resources, companies can enhance their internal operations and compete effectively with larger companies using similar tools and resources. This strategic advantage enables the company to innovate faster, respond to market changes more quickly, and deliver high-quality products and services.



Regular custom support



According to HubSpot, 93% of customers are likely to make repeat purchases from companies that provide excellent customer service. Outsourcing is crucial in ensuring continuous service delivery, especially for organizations that require round-the-clock IT support. Providers offer a comprehensive suite of support options tailored to each client's needs, including technical assistance, network monitoring, or system management.



By leveraging outsourced support, businesses can provide personalized services to their customers, even during non-business hours, weekends, and holidays. This ensures that customers always have access to the assistance they need whenever they need it. Such availability eliminates common friction points in customer interactions, fostering trust and loyalty to your brand. The ability to offer customized services leads to a more loyal customer base and a higher frequency of repeat transactions. In turn, this increases revenue and overall business growth.



Bonus: the key phases of the IT outsourcing process



The IT outsourcing process typically consists of the following key phases:



Assessment and planning



During the initial phase of the outsourcing process, you will need to determine what IT functions and tasks you will outsource. This involves: 




Identify the particular areas for outsourcing;



Assess the potential benefits and risks of outsourcing;



Define clear objectives and expectations for outsourcing provider;



Create a plan for your project (budget, timeline, KPIs).




This approach ensures a logical and well-defined outsourcing strategy from the outset.



Proposal and choosing an IT vendor



In this stage, you must pick the most suitable IT vendor. We've already discussed some tips on how to choose an IT vendor (check them for a better choice). To gather detailed information from vendors and their offerings, you will need to create and send at least one of the following documents to the external market: 




Request for Information (RFI): it is used to gather general information about the capabilities, products, and services offered by potential vendors;



Request for Proposal (RFP): it is used to obtain detailed proposals from vendors outlining how they can meet your specific requirements, including their contract terms, timelines, and pricing;



Request for Quotes (RFQ): it is used to obtain a detailed quote for a specific service or set of services by vendors, focusing primarily on the terms of delivery.




Negotiate and sign a contract



During this stage, companies discuss their collaboration with their chosen vendor. It involves negotiations and settling issues related to a contract, including scope, timelines, payment, and deliverables. Once these details are worked out, the parties will sign a contract, typically one of the following:




Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), also known as a Confidentiality Agreement (CA), ensures that both parties protect confidential and proprietary data shared during their partnership. It prevents the unauthorized disclosure and misuse of sensitive business data and ensures the confidentiality of the information.



Master Services Agreement (MSA): it is one of the most common contractual agreements used in relationships where one company has to work on a project with another company. It usually covers areas such as intellectual property, confidentiality, payment, responsibilities, warranties and work standards.



Statement of Work (SOW): a formal document that defines the detailed scope, objectives, and deliverables of a project. It serves as a roadmap, guiding clients and service providers in understanding project requirements and expectations.



Service Level Agreement (SLA):  a document for support and maintenance of activities that a provider is obligated to meet. This contract includes details of services, the expected service levels, response times, and performance metrics, ensuring the vendor delivers the agreed-upon services.




Implementation of outsourcing 



After signing a contract, a company must transition resources and responsibilities to the outsourcing provider. This begins with a detailed transition plan outlining timelines, milestones, and resource allocation. During this stage, a knowledge transfer is crucial, involving a handover of system documentation and training sessions to familiarize the provider's team with company requirements.



Managing the service delivery 



During the service delivery phase of IT outsourcing, the focus is on ensuring the provider meets agreed-upon performance standards and SLAs. Key activities include monitoring performance metrics, resolving issues quickly, and managing any changes in service scope or technology. Open communication and regular reporting are essential to keeping stakeholders informed and addressing any concerns promptly. 



End of the contract & transfer 



At the end of an IT outsourcing contract, companies may renew, change providers, or bring services in-house. This final phase involves creating a detailed transition plan to ensure a smooth handover of responsibilities. Key steps include transferring knowledge to the in-house team or new provider, managing the handover of data and assets, and maintaining continuity with contingency plans. The process ends with a formal close, final payments, and a post-contract review to gather feedback for future outsourcing strategies.



Conclusion



Based on the article, benefits of outsourced IT services are numerous. Thus, IT outsourcing plays an integral and beneficial role in driving company growth. Businesses can adapt to innovate more rapidly, respond to market changes more quickly, and deliver superior products and services. However, the ultimate success of your outsourcing efforts depends on two key factors: selecting an appropriate vendor and being willing to work on required tasks for desired outcomes. Here are we can help you.



As an international software development company with over 15 years of experience, SoftTeco offers comprehensive IT outsourcing services to meet all tech needs. From IT consulting to full-cycle development, we offer our clients solutions to their technical challenges and support them at every step. Our ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certifications demonstrate our commitment to delivering secure, high-quality solutions, ensuring our clients receive efficient, modern, and reliable services.

### Drupal Ecommerce Development: Why It’s Still Relevant and How to Do It Right

Though Drupal was first introduced in 2001, it still remains relevant today and powers thousands of websites, including online stores. Its users love its built-in features (views, translations, simple admin views, etc.) and claim to have successful and busy ecommerce sites up and running on this CMS. 



But considering high competition in the ecommerce industry, some may ask whether Drupal ecommerce development is still relevant in 2024? In short, the answer is: yes. Now, let’s look at Drupal ecommerce in more detail.







What is Drupal?



As the official website defines it, Drupal is a free and open-source CMS, suitable for both simple websites and complex web apps. Due to its open-source nature, the platform provides developers with a great level of flexibility and with vast customization options - though you need to be savvy with PHP to effectively set up and configure Drupal.



The most prominent features to pay attention to include:




Queries creation: grants great control over content retrieval, thus allowing more customized web apps;



Rich toolkit: users instantly get access to an array of features, like easy content management and menu handling;



Notification system: a very streamlined and effective system of real-time notifications to keep all system users instantly updated;



Modular architecture: enables seamless integration of needed components and provides great flexibility in managing existing functionality;



Mobile-first: since version 8, Drupal strictly follows the mobile-first approach, meaning, its themes are responsive from the start;



Multilingual support: includes built-in translations for the admin interface and support for multiple languages.




What is Drupal Commerce?



So, Drupal is a highly powerful and effective tool for website development - now let’s focus on its ecommerce aspect. For successful online store development, you’ll need Drupal Commerce - its native ecommerce module. It features all core ecommerce functionality, such as creation of product types, dynamic product pages, various order types, order management, etc. 



If we compare Drupal Commerce with Magento, for example, both platforms are responsive, display a high level of performance, allow a variety of integrations, and have strong SEO capabilities. Hence, Drupal is a reliable choice for online stores, especially the ones that require extensive customization and full control over their functionality.



Benefits of Drupal for ecommerce



There are many ecommerce platforms available in the market, and each boasts to be the best option. So why consider Drupal for your online store development? Below, we list the biggest benefits of this solution over its competitors.



Headless commerce



Headless ecommerce is a growing trend, so it’s important that your platform of choice supports this architecture. The good news is that Drupal allows going headless and reaping all benefits of this approach.



Before diving deeper into this topic, let’s quickly recap what exactly headless commerce is and what makes it so attractive for business owners. Headless commerce implies that there is a platform that serves as a backend only and connects to other platforms (frontend) via APIs. This approach allows incredible flexibility in terms of customizing your frontend, since you can change it however you want without implementing changes to the backend. And also, you can add as many touchpoints and channels as needed, while having only one platform to support them all. 



Now, back to Drupal. It allows plugging in various ecommerce integrations (the frontend of your store), with BigCommerce probably being the most popular one. In this way, Drupal serves as a backend and for the frontend, you can choose whatever suits your needs the best.



Scalability



Growth is a natural state of any successful ecommerce store, and therefore, it is important that your ecommerce platform of choice supports this growth. In other words, it is crucial that the platform is scalable, and Drupal meets this requirement.



There are two core features that make this platform so scalable and effective: open-source nature and API-first initiative. Combined, they allow you to add all necessary resources and expand your store as much as you need it. At the same time, Drupal is designed in such a way that the resources in use are kept at a minimum, thus saving your budget and contributing to better performance.



Security



Even the smallest security vulnerability can cost a company millions of dollars, so obviously, nobody wants that. And considering that an average ecommerce site constantly processes sensitive information (i.e., credit card numbers, addresses, etc.), it is vital to safeguard it on all possible levels. One of the core levels of protection of an online store is the built-in security of the platform. So, what does Drupal have to offer?



First, it follows secure coding standards, meaning that the code is written in accordance with established security practices. And to ensure that everyone who works with Drupal follow these standards, it has secure coding guidelines, available on its official website. These guidelines include coding standards for:




PHP



Accessibility



CSS



JavaScript



SQL



Twig coding standards



Drupal Markup Style Guide



Spelling



YAML configuration files



Composer package naming conventions




Second, Drupal has a dedicated Security Team, whose main responsibility is monitoring Drupal software to ensure it meets the OWASP guidelines and standards. As well, the team is responsible for resolving detected security issues and for providing assistance with security-related questions. As you can see, Drupal takes its security seriously and also provides out-of-box security features that help prevent the majority of the most common cyber attacks as listed by OWASP.



Full control over the platform



As already mentioned, Drupal is an open-source solution, which means you can configure and customize the platform exactly as needed. While it’s not necessary to go through all the hassle of manual customization, this feature can be vital for businesses with unique requirements for their software. 



Also, such control and the open-source nature of the platform mean that you can extend the functionality of your ecommerce store at any time. And considering that there are more than 40,000 various modules available, you can personalize the Drupal ecommerce store as much as your business needs!



Note though that such extensive customization calls for experienced and skilled Drupal ecommerce developers, proficient in PHP. So before setting up your store, you need to assemble a Drupal development team first.



Omnichannel marketing and content delivery



If you are familiar with Drupal, you might have heard about its API-first initiative. If that’s the first time you learn about it, we’ll briefly explain. 







The API-first approach decouples Drupal’s backend from the frontend and thus, grants great freedom and flexibility in terms of customizing the frontend part and adapting it for various devices and platforms. In this way, you can store all your content in the Drupal’s backend repository but configure it however you like to use various sales channels and create an omnichannel experience for your shoppers. 



This approach brings several big benefits:




Increased reach and expansion of the audience



Increased user engagement due to a bigger number of points of interaction



Greater flexibility and creativity in terms of content creation and optimization



Automated content delivery




Experience-led commerce



User experience is a highly valuable factor that impacts the conversion rate and engagement. If customers receives smooth and memorable experiences, chances are high that they will likely return to the store and shop from you. So, what does Drupal offer in terms of delivering an excellent user experience?



Since Drupal is first and foremost a content platform, it provides an array of solutions to customize every bit of content and create a truly unique user flow. In terms of ecommerce, the logic remains the same: your products can be created the same as any other content type and thus, you are in full control of how exactly your customers interact with the store. This approach enables content-driven ecommerce experiences, which, in turn, are a big competitive advantage.



Community and support



One more important reason why businesses choose Drupal for their ecommerce store setup is the size of the Drupal community and all the support that it provides. Since Drupal is quite old (no negative meaning here), its community is naturally big, as it kept growing since 2001. It now counts approximately 45,000 developers, and the number keeps growing. And if you are not convinced yet, you can check out the official Drupal website, where the “Community” section features the “Come for the Software, Stay for the Community” slogan.



You might ask, though: why does a big community matter so much? The thing is, the bigger the community, the higher the chances that you will be able to get help with any Drupal-related issue, since somebody has most probably encountered this issue before. In addition, the Drupal community also keeps an eye on the platform’s security, ensuring that any detected vulnerabilities are quickly patched. 



How to find reliable Drupal ecommerce developers



Since Drupal is a complex and feature-rich platform that requires setup and configuration from scratch, you will obviously need help from experienced and skilled Drupal developers. The big question is where do you find such experts? 



Search marketplaces for business services



The first thing that many business owners do when looking for Drupal development services is going to such marketplaces as Clutch. This website is well-known for listing top development companies across various industries, so you can easily find experts for your specific niche. As well, Clutch shows client ratings, reviews, and testimonials for each Drupal ecommerce agency, which is also highly helpful in finding a reliable software development partner. Just select the needed services from its extensive list or simply input “Drupal” in the search bar and see a full list of trusted and experienced developers.



Ask your network



One more common way to find Drupal developers is to actually ask your network for recommendations. By doing so, you will be able to learn from the first-hands experience and ask about potential challenges and bottlenecks (if any). Usually, network recommendations are the number one factor that impacts one’s decision on collaborating with a Drupal ecommerce company, so do not overlook it.



Reach out to companies



There are many reliable Drupal Commerce development companies out there, so how do you choose the one? Once you have a list of the companies that you consider partnering up with, you can reach out to them and request a consultation or an interview. Such one-to-one interactions help understand the company’s working attitude and culture, as well as their level of expertise. Also, it’s a good idea to ask whether the company has worked with similar projects before and what exact tech stack it used. This information will give you a solid idea about the way the company operates and about its strengths and weaknesses.





Hire a Professional Drupal Developer 



Request a Quote







Best practices for Drupal Commerce development



The process of setting up and customizing a Drupal ecommerce website is not too different from the setup of any other ecommerce store in terms of adding extra features, selecting a suitable theme, or working on SEO. However, there are several best practices that can significantly simplify and speed up the whole process - see them below.



Partner with trusted developers 



Though seemingly obvious, this advice is really valid and is sometimes overlooked by business owners. The thing is, high quality of your software and its timely testing means fewer (or even zero) issues and errors after the store launch and, as a result, reduced costs related to debugging and maintenance. Thus, it is recommended to invest in Drupal development services in the beginning to minimize the chance of costly errors in the future.



Consider migrating to Drupal 9 or 10



If you are familiar with Drupal, you probably know that Drupal 8 has reached its end of life in 2021, meaning that the support for this version is officially over. As for Drupal 7, its support ends in January 2025, which is also pretty soon. Hence, now might be the best time to consider migration to Drupal 9 or 10.



The biggest reason for that is the platform’s security. The ongoing support for a certain version of software means that there are regular releases of security patches and updates. This significantly reduces the chances of a vulnerability slipping in and thus, secures the sensitive data that your store processes.



Note though that store migration is an intricate process and has to be handled by the professionals to ensure data integrity and uninterrupted performance.



Don’t forget about backups



Taking into account the rise of cyberattacks and the amount and nature of sensitive data that ecommerce stores contain, it is vital to back up your data to ensure its safety and integrity. Data backups mean that you create a copy of all your data and store it either in the cloud or on a physical carrier (which is way more secure, btw). This data then can easily be retrieved in case something happens or there is a risk of losing the data.



The most common scenarios for creating data backups include:




Editing or modification of the source code: even the smallest mistake can lead to major consequences, so it’s better to have a backup just in case;



Store migration: since the process is complex, the chances of losing even a bit of the data become quite high;



Installation of third-party apps and plugins: due to this software being external, the cyber risks are therefore growing.




Plan the store setup in advance



Drupal offers business owners a plethora of opportunities to create a truly unique and customer-centric store. However, it is also easy to over-complicate the store and, hence, ruin its performance or compromise security.



In order not to get caught up in this complexity, we highly recommend planning your store setup in advance. This includes prioritizing the features, planning all needed integrations, and thinking about design. The more you plan beforehand, the easier (and cheaper!) it will be.



Set up the environment for integrations



An average ecommerce store has dozens of integrations, with payment systems being the most popular ones. However, you can’t just select a third-party tool and plug it in. First, you need to prepare the environment, meaning, you need to install the needed software and hardware components, double-check your security settings, and ensure that the performance of the store will not be disrupted. After thorough testing, the integration will be validated, and you will be ready to use it.



Is Drupal Commerce good?



We’ve talked about what Drupal Commerce is and how to make the best of it - but is it really that good, compared to other ecommerce platforms?



There is no definite answer to that, since each ecommerce platform is suitable for different use cases. So if we talk about Drupal, let’s recap the strengths and weaknesses it has.



Drupal pros:




An option to reuse content for different pages



46,000+ modules



250 themes 



Rich and content-centric functionality



Advanced customization



Open-source nature



Great and supportive community




Drupal cons:




Steep learning curve;



Requires tech skills and knowledge;



Complex and lengthy development process



Lack of free or cheap hosting options.




To sum up, Drupal Commerce is a solid option for those who prioritize content and omnichannel delivery and want a highly customizable solution that can be configured at any time. While Drupal may not be the best choice for small businesses or startups, it’s definitely worth considering for medium-sized and big businesses that have enough resources to invest into Drupal ecommerce development.

### Understanding Risk Analysis in Software Engineering

In software engineering, it is crucial to understand various risks and effectively manage them to achieve successful software development and deployment. As software projects progress, it is common for stakeholders to request changes or additions to the initial requirements. This can lead to scope creep, where the project's scope expands beyond the original plan, resulting in schedule disruptions and challenges in resource allocation.



This article will explore the role of risk analysis in software engineering and its processes, categorize the risks a development team might face, and provide an overview of tools for efficient risk management.







What is risk analysis in software engineering?



Software risk analysis identifies, evaluates, and prioritizes potential issues that may negatively impact a project, such as technical constraints, resource shortages, schedule disruptions, and exceeding budgetary limits. This involves pinpointing risk sources, assessing their probability and consequences, and formulating mitigation or management plans to address them effectively.



Why do you need to perform a software risk analysis?



Performing a software risk analysis is essential in modern software development. As software developers incorporate new features using various technologies, the complexity of the software increases, leading to a higher likelihood of system vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities can make the software more prone to malfunctions or poor performance. Therefore, conducting a thorough analysis is like looking ahead to foresee potential problems that could arise during the development of your software solution. For example, you might identify that certain features could be challenging to code or recognize that the project timeline might be too tight to complete everything before the launch date.



By performing a comprehensive risk analysis, you can identify potential issues early in the development process. This proactive approach helps prioritize and mitigate threats, ensuring that critical areas receive the necessary attention and resources. For instance, allocating more time for risk analysis in software testing or strengthening security measures can prevent significant problems down the line.



Some other benefits of conducting risk analysis in software engineering include:




Reduced project costs and time. Avoid costly rework, delays, and budget overruns arising from unanticipated threats, leading to more efficient and cost-effective project management.



Compliance with legal regulations. Ensure your software development processes comply with legal and regulatory requirements, avoiding potential legal issues and penalties.



Enhanced decision-making. Gain important insights from risk analysis in software project management that aid in making informed decisions throughout the software development lifecycle.



Improved project planning. Realistically schedule and allocate resources to tackle potential vulnerabilities, resulting in smoother project execution.



Increase the confidence of your clients, investors, and partners in your organization's ability to manage risks effectively, fostering trust and long-term relationships.



Maintain a good reputation in the industry by addressing potential risks before the production phase, demonstrating professionalism and reliability.




Potential risk scenarios



When discussing risk, it's useful to categorize scenarios of its occurrence. Each category represents different levels of awareness and predictability regarding potential vulnerabilities. There are three scenarios:




Known Knowns. These risks are known to exist and understood in terms of their potential impact and likelihood. For example, budget constraints are a known factor. The project team is aware of the financial limits and the implications of exceeding the budget.



Known Unknowns. These risks are recognized as potential issues, but their impact and likelihood are not fully understood or determined. For instance, when integrating a new technology or framework into a software project, there may be uncertainties about how it will perform under specific conditions or interact with existing systems. These known unknowns vulnerabilities can be managed through thorough testing, prototyping, and continuous monitoring during development to address any unforeseen issues that may arise.



Unknown Unknowns. These are risks that are entirely unforeseen and unexpected. They represent uncertainties an organization is unaware of and has not planned for. For instance, a software development team might encounter an unknown vulnerability in a third-party library that leads to a critical security breach during testing, causing significant disruptions and requiring immediate remediation.




Types of risk in software engineering



Understanding your opponent is essential for victory, and the same goes for managing risks effectively. We've already mentioned the main areas where problems can arise in software development. Now, let's explore each category further.



Technical risks



Technical risks encompass a wide range of potential challenges related to the development and implementation of software. These include issues such as:




Architectural design flaws;



Using new or untested technologies;



Lack of technical expertise within the team;



Compatibility problems with existing systems;



Inadequate or faulty code;



Dependency on third-party components, etc.




Their impact can range from minor disruptions to critical failures. For instance, adopting a new programming language or framework may introduce technical complexities that could impact the project timeline, costs, and quality of the software product.



To minimize technical issues, teams should thoroughly test their software to detect and fix bugs early on. It's also important to use version control and have code review processes in place to maintain code quality and reduce errors. Moreover, ensuring up-to-date software and technologies enables teams to access new features, enhance performance, and effectively address compatibility issues.



Scalability risks



As software systems handle more work and users, scalability risks become crucial. If a system can't scale with growing data and traffic, it can slow down or crash. Examples of scalability issues include:




Inadequate system architecture;



Inefficient database design;



Limited third-party services, etc.




To manage these problems, developers should plan for scalability, use scalable designs, balance loads, and manage resources well. Regular performance tests and capacity planning are also necessary.



Operational risks



Operational risks arise from the software's day-to-day operation after deployment. These include issues related to system maintenance, user support, and the management of updates and patches. Poor operational procedures can lead to system downtime, data loss, and user dissatisfaction.



To reduce operational vulnerabilities, create detailed operational guidelines, invest in monitoring tools, and establish clear procedures for regular maintenance and updates. It's also essential to have a proactive support team and contingency plans for unforeseen events.



Security risks



In the era of frequent cyber threats and data breaches, security risks are among the most significant concerns in software engineering. Weaknesses in software code, inadequate encryption, and weak access controls can leave a system vulnerable to breaches, potentially leading to compromised data and reputational harm. These risks arise from factors such as:




Poor security practices during development; 



Neglecting updates;



Weak user authentication, etc.




Software teams should prioritize security throughout the development cycle to tackle security risks. This includes regular security audits, penetration testing, and strong encryption and authentication measures to safeguard against potential threats.



Performance risks



Performance risks relate to a software system's ability to meet specified performance requirements, such as responsiveness and performance speed. If the software is slow, unresponsive, or consumes excessive resources, it can affect user experience and lead to dissatisfaction. Performance issues can result from inefficient code, poor database design, or inadequate system architecture. 



Spotting these problems early on can make or break a project's success. To handle performance risks, developers should clearly define performance requirements, optimize code, and use testing tools to find and fix bottlenecks. Using the best database management and system design practices also ensures efficient software performance in different situations.



Budgetary risks



Budgetary risks relate to the financial aspects of software engineering projects. These include cost overruns, scope changes, inaccurate budget estimations, and unforeseen expenses. Budget overruns can threaten the project's success and result in financial losses for stakeholders.



To manage budget risks, create a detailed and realistic budget plan at the start, including extra funds for unexpected costs. Regularly review and monitor the budget to catch potential overruns early and take timely action. Good project management practices, like controlling the project scope and allocating resources efficiently, are also important.



Contractual and legal risks



Addressing contractual and legal risks when managing software development projects is essential. These may involve intellectual property rights, contractual obligations, and compliance with regulatory requirements. Beyond the potential for hefty fines, non-compliance with contract terms or legal regulations can also cause significant reputational damage to the software provider.



To reduce these risks, ensure a clear understanding of all contract obligations and comply with relevant laws, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and FISMA. Consulting legal experts during contract negotiations and regularly reviewing compliance requirements can also help minimize legal risks.



Schedule risks



Schedule problems concern project timelines and potential delays. They can result from unrealistic deadlines, unexpected tech issues, or not enough resources. Delays can lead to higher costs, missed opportunities, and upset stakeholders, ruining their trust for your services.



To handle these issues, set a realistic project timeline with doable milestones and time for unexpected problems. Track progress regularly and use agile methods like iterative development and continuous integration. Being flexible lets you make quick changes to deal with any delays.



The process of risk analysis in software engineering



To effectively manage all these risks, a comprehensive risk analysis process is essential. This process encompasses various steps, including risk identification, evaluation, analysis, prioritization, control, management planning, monitoring, and resolution.



Define the scope of your software project



The first step in the risk analysis process is to define the scope of the software project. This involves clearly outlining the project's objectives, requirements, and constraints. By establishing a comprehensive understanding of the project scope, stakeholders can more effectively identify potential risk areas and develop strategies to mitigate them.



Identify risks



Once the project scope is defined, the next step is identifying potential risks that could impact the project's success. This involves systematically recognizing and documenting any factors that could potentially impact the software project. Here are some methods commonly used to identify risks in software engineering:




Checklist analysis. This technique involves creating a checklist of common risks that occur regularly in software development projects.



Brainstorming. Brainstorming sessions involve gathering the project team members to freely and openly discuss and identify risks. This fosters active involvement from all team members and promotes the collaborative development of ideas and solutions.



Causal mapping. It is a method that involves reflecting on past failures and creating cause-and-effect diagrams to identify risks.



SWOT analysis, which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, is a method used to find risks within an organization. It involves analyzing the organization's internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as the external opportunities and threats.




Risk identification is a continuous process, so it's better to use multiple methods to improve effectiveness.



Analyze and assess risks



Analyzing and assessing risks is a crucial step in effective risk management. Once risks have been identified, it is essential to evaluate their potential impact on the project.



Project teams can utilize various techniques and tools to analyze risks. One common approach is to use a risk matrix, which assigns a probability and impact rating to each identified risk. The probability represents the likelihood of the risk occurring, while the impact indicates the severity of its consequences.



You can also employ qualitative and quantitative analysis methods.




Qualitative analysis involves evaluating risks based on subjective criteria such as expert opinions, historical data, and industry knowledge.



Quantitative analysis involves using numerical data and statistical models to assess risks.




Prioritize risk



Not all risks are equal regarding their potential impact on the project. It is important to prioritize risks based on their severity and likelihood of occurrence. This allows teams to focus on addressing the most critical one first. 



Risk mitigation planning



Once risks are identified, evaluated, and prioritized, the next step is to develop risk mitigation plans. These plans outline specific strategies and actions to address and reduce the impact of identified problems. 



When planning risk management, you can utilize three main approaches:




Risk reduction: This strategy focuses on minimizing the impact of potential losses. For example, implementing measures to streamline processes, improve efficiency, or hire additional specialists to replace employees who have given notice.



Risk transfer: This strategy involves transferring the risk to a third party or acquiring insurance coverage. For instance, outsourcing certain tasks or partnering with specialized vendors to handle complex challenges that carry potential risks.



Risk avoidance: This strategy focuses on preventing identified risks from happening. It involves taking proactive measures, such as offering competitive compensation and incentives to retain skilled engineers to minimize the risk of them leaving the organization.




Monitoring and control 



The final step in the risk analysis process involves ongoing monitoring and control of identified risks throughout the software project lifecycle. Project teams must continuously assess the effectiveness of risk mitigation strategies, monitor changes in a project environment, and adapt their risk management approaches as necessary. To do so, a software development team can:




Implement risk-tracking tools and mechanisms to monitor the status of identified risks throughout the project lifecycle.



Regularly review and update risk assessments based on changes in project conditions, new risks, or mitigation effectiveness.



Communicate risk status, updates, and mitigation efforts to stakeholders regularly to maintain transparency and awareness.




By maintaining active oversight of potential risks, project teams can quickly respond to emerging threats and ensure the successful delivery of the software project.



Best tools for risk analysis



As you can see, managing risks takes work. Luckily, numerous risk analysis software and tools simplify the process and enhance the accuracy of risk management efforts. Here are some of the recommended tools you can use:




nTask is a comprehensive project management tool that includes features for risk assessment and analysis. It helps teams identify, evaluate, and mitigate risks throughout the project lifecycle.



LogicGate is a highly flexible platform designed for comprehensive risk management. It allows organizations to effectively identify, assess, and mitigate various risks through its intuitive interface and customizable workflows. 



LogicManager is a risk management software that offers a wide range of capabilities, including risk assessment, incident management, compliance tracking, and reporting. It helps organizations streamline their risk management processes.



A1 Tracker is a web-based risk management and insurance software. It allows businesses to track risks, incidents, claims, and policies in a centralized platform, facilitating comprehensive risk analysis and mitigation.



CURA is an enterprise risk management software that provides a holistic view of risks across an organization. It offers features for risk assessment, compliance management, incident tracking, and reporting.



ServiceNow is a powerful platform that offers various modules, including risk management. It helps organizations assess, track, and manage risks in a structured and integrated manner.



Resolver is a risk and incident management software that helps organizations identify, assess, and mitigate risks. It offers features for risk assessment, incident tracking, investigation management, and compliance monitoring.



AuditBoard is a risk management and compliance platform that streamlines risk assessment, internal audit, and compliance processes. It provides tools for risk identification, assessment, and control testing.



EHSInsight is a software solution focused on environmental, health, and safety (EHS) risk management. It helps organizations identify, track, and mitigate risks related to workplace safety and environmental compliance.



EcoOnline is a cloud-based software for risk management and compliance, with a focus on health, safety, and environment. It offers features for risk assessment, incident management, chemical safety, and regulatory compliance.




To sum it up 



The search for the right approach to risk analysis in the software industry may seem complex, but it is not. If you understand which risks need to be tracked and the problems they can cause, you are on the right path to a strategy that will help prevent problems before they arise and impact your business.



Software development requires a thorough risk analysis. Errors and failures can be costly and damage the company's reputation. Effective risk management strategies and early problem identification help reduce the likelihood of delays and failures, crucial for successful business operations.



Being an ISO 27001-certified international software provider, SoftTeco is always ready to assist you with the safety of your data in every project we undertake. Whether you need consultation regarding risk analysis or want to outsource software development services, we are committed to providing top-notch solutions tailored to your needs.

### AI in FinTech: Use Cases, Benefits and Real-life Examples

Today, financial institutions and investors are increasingly seeking reliable ways to maximize their profits, reduce losses, and stay secure. This is why they turn to AI. Artificial intelligence is a breakthrough technology that transforms how companies manage finances, operations, customer interactions and far beyond these.



As the financial sector and client needs expand, plus technology becomes more advanced, AI adoption becomes inevitable. Hence, the question arises, “Which financial AI technologies should you invest in to succeed in the future?” In this article, we’ll discuss AI in FinTech, focusing on the most prominent AI applications, benefits, barriers to adoption, and real-life examples of successful financial reshaping.







An overview of AI in FinTech



Artificial intelligence is used in FinTech to automate and enhance various financial services and operations. This includes the adoption of machine learning, natural language processing, predictive analytics, and other AI techniques. By doing so, financial companies can enhance efficiency, accuracy, and speed in their processes, ultimately delivering better customer service. 



Now, artificial intelligence is used in FinTech for:




Fraud detection and prevention;



Trading and investment;



Customer service; 



Robo-advisors;



Personalized financial service;



Regulatory compliance;



Credit scoring and risk management;



Financial forecasting and planning.




FinTech meets AI: eye-opening stats



Before we go into details about each use case of AI in FinTech, let's consider some impressive statistics associated with AI usage:




The market size of AI in fintech was estimated at $42.83 billion in 2023, rising to $44.08 billion in 2024.



Currently, 11% of financial institutions have already adopted generative AI, and another 43% are actively in the process of implementing it.



According to a survey, 43% of respondents indicated that AI led to more operational efficiencies in financial services.




The statistics indicate growth and significant adoption of AI in the fintech sector. AI technologies are becoming integral to financial operations. This was largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, which has been accelerating the change in how people interact with financial services. Also, as data becomes large and deep, advancements in technology have increased the use of artificial intelligence in the finance sector. That is what it has come to.



AI benefits in FinTech



Today, financial companies of all sizes rely on digital solutions to optimize business processes. Below are the key points why it is worth paying attention to AI:




Improved customer experience: AI-powered solutions offer personalized customer support, quicker response times, and tailored financial recommendations, resulting in a better customer experience;



Advanced analytics: the use of well-trained ML models enables businesses to obtain deeper insights from their data for predictive analytics, revealing hidden patterns and trends for informed financial decisions;



Stronger security: AI detects unusual patterns, anomalies, and security threats, ensuring that customer data and internal systems are protected;



Cost-saving: by automating financial processes and optimizing resource allocation, AI helps reduce operational costs and improve overall profitability;



Improved risk management: AI analyzes big datasets in real-time for risk assessment, enhancing decision-making and regulatory compliance for financial stability.



Automation of financial processes: AI automates traditionally manual banking processes, improving efficiency, accuracy, and speed of operations;



Market innovation: competition drives continuous innovation in AI technologies, leading to market growth and enabling advanced fintech solutions.




Despite these promising benefits, artificial intelligence in FinTech faces some barriers when it comes to its implementation and integration.



Reasons that prevent AI adoption in FinTech



Since AI in FinTech continues to prosper, it is crucial to recognize and tackle the potential risks associated with it.



Data privacy & protection



Handling sensitive financial data requires stringent security measures to prevent breaches or unauthorized access. Managing and processing data with AI systems becomes more challenging as they must comply with regulations like GDPR and CCPA.



Solution:




You can use advanced firewalls and diverse cybersecurity measures at every step of AI adoption to monitor and prevent unauthorized access;



Conduct regular security audits to identify and fix vulnerabilities;



You must ensure that AI systems comply with relevant data protection laws, such as GDPR in Europe and CCPA in the US. You also need to conduct regular audits to ensure ongoing compliance with data protection laws.




Ethical & legal issues



AI models are trained on many diverse data sets, so they can generate biases, untruths, or misleading information, resulting in unfair outcomes.



Solution:




Develop and implement ethical guidelines for AI usage.



Conduct regular audits and monitoring of AI systems for ethical compliance.



Ensure transparency and explainability of AI decisions.




Lack of customer trust



AI models often operate as “black boxes,” making understanding how they arrive at specific decisions challenging. In finance, explaining AI-driven choices to customers, regulators, and stakeholders is critical to building trust.



Solution:




Use techniques such as Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations (LIME) or SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) to generate explanations for individual predictions or decisions of a model;



Provide comprehensive documentation on the AI model's architecture, data sources, preprocessing steps, and evaluation metrics;



Regularly provide reports summarizing accuracy metrics, bias assessments, and updates or changes to AI models.




Lack of skills & resources



Iplementing and managing AI systems requires strong expertise, and without it, finance companies cannot effectively deploy and advance AI technologies.



Solution:




You need to invest in training and reskilling workers;



You can hire short-term experts and AI consultants for specific projects;



Use automated machine learning (AutoML) tools and frameworks that allow coworkers with limited AI expertise to build and deploy machine learning models.




High implementation costs



AI technologies and infrastructure require significant investments, making them too expensive for most companies.



Solution:




Start with small-scale projects to test the feasibility and effectiveness of AI solutions before committing to large-scale investments;



Use cloud-based AI services and platforms (such as AWS Google Cloud) to reduce on-premise hardware and infrastructure costs;



Consider outsourcing AI development companies that can provide expertise and resources at a lower cost than building in-house capabilities.




A well-developed strategy for solving one of these problems will help financial services integrate AI technologies more effectively and fully exploit their potential.



Prominent AI applications in financial services



Despite these obstacles, AI continues to transform the financial industry, offering prominent opportunities for business growth - let’s consider them.



Fraud detection systems



In view of the continuous growth of cyber threats, fraud detection is a top priority for banks and financial institutions. Since finance companies store a large amount of critical data online, the risk of security breaches increases. Consequently, many businesses, such as Feedzai and Kount, are implementing AI solutions to improve security measures and prevent fraud more effectively.



 AI-driven fraud detection systems analyze massive amounts of financial data, such as historical transactions and customer patterns, at speeds far beyond human capabilities. They can detect suspicious activity or anomalies, such as sudden large withdrawals or atypical spending patterns, before they happen. Moreover, AI fraud detection systems are highly effective in adapting to new fraud techniques, which people often remain uninformed about, helping them stay ahead of hackers.



Thus, fraud prevention operations with AI become faster, more accurate, and more cost-effective than ever before. It doesn’t mean that AI fraud detection systems will replace traditional security ones; instead, they will complement each other for a superior level of systems security.



Algorithmic trading 



Traditionally, investment strategies were mainly based on human intuition, experience, and market analysis. However, today, AI is rapidly advancing in trading, particularly in high-frequency trading (HFT). It is a type of algorithmic trading that relies on execution speed to profit from small price fluctuations. AI-based algorithms analyze enormous amounts of financial data and execute trades in real-time with incredible speed and accuracy. 



These systems are designed to respond to market changes, news releases, or other data inputs affecting the market and execute trades accordingly. This automated approach mitigates the risks associated with human emotions in trading, ensuring that financial decisions are based purely on analytical insights. As a result, financial companies and banks can maximize their returns and minimize losses.







Credit scoring & risk management



AI-based credit scoring (willingness to repay debts) is one of the most promising and relevant applications of AI in the finance sector. According to McKinsey, AI has significantly enhanced credit-approval turnaround times and application approval rates. Financial institutions will save $31 billion by 2030 using AI in their underwriting systems.



Traditional credit scoring methods rely heavily on the collection of historical financial data, such as credit history, income level, and existing debts. They often take two to three weeks to complete and require the effort of many specialists. At the same time, AI-based credit scoring goes beyond these methods.



AI-based credit scoring apps can analyze huge datasets, including social media activity, transaction patterns, total income, credit history, work experience, and more. By doing so, ML models build a more extensive and detailed profile of a borrower. Based on these profiles, ML models identify patterns that may indicate creditworthiness or potential credit risk. Thus, AI-based credit scores let companies assess potential borrowers quickly and accurately, reduce loan risks, and even provide tailored loan options.



Accounting & reporting



One of the main use cases of AI in FinTech is in accounting and reporting. AI-enhanced solutions, particularly those powered by robotic process automation (RPA), significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of financial tasks, such as:




Document processing and data entry: AI-powered tools can process large volumes of documents much faster than humans, with near-zero errors, speeding up routine tasks;



Profit and loss (P&L) statements: AI systems can automatically compile P&L statements by summarizing a company's revenues and expenses;



Accounts payable and receivable: AI systems can process invoices, send payment reminders, and validate financial data, speeding up transactions and minimizing errors.




Beyond that, AI-enhanced RPA solutions can understand the context and handle exceptions in reports. For example, if financial reports contain inconsistencies, AI systems can detect and address these anomalies more effectively. This ensures that the financial data remains accurate and reliable. To sum up, AI helps finance companies manage their finances more efficiently, accurately, and cost-effectively. Its ability to streamline a wide range of financial processes makes it a valuable tool for modern financial institutions.



Regulatory compliance



Financial institutions must comply with numerous regulations and policies to ensure the integrity of their systems and to protect their customers. Here, AI-driven systems also come into play. This technology can automate compliance processes, monitor transactions, and detect potential violations. Also, ML models help them identify regulatory changes quickly, interpret their implications, and adjust compliance processes accordingly. 



Apart from that, AI enhances efficiency in compliance processes by automating tasks like Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML). In KYC, machine learning models analyze customer profiles, behavior, and transaction history to assess risk levels and detect potentially suspicious activities. In AML, ML models monitor transactions in real-time to identify unusual patterns, anomalies, and potential money laundering activities. 



Chatbots for customer service



The adoption of chatbots by banks and financial organizations isn't merely a trend; it's a strategic move to offer more user-friendly and hyper-personalized services. FinTech companies leverage chatbots to provide round-the-clock customer support, addressing queries ranging from budgeting tips to fee reduction recommendations. These interactions are conducted swiftly, accurately, and without human intervention, leading to significant savings in operational expenses.



Moreover, AI-based chatbots assist customers in navigating a bank's offerings and deliver targeted calls to action. This optimizes efforts to attract new customers and reduces churn rates. Additionally, AI chatbots find applications in voice-based or computer vision face authentication. Users can seamlessly integrate them into home banking or trading apps to validate transactions or access sensitive data. Overall, chatbots based on AI help FinTech companies save costs and deliver personalized, efficient customer service driving loyalty among users. 







Robo-advisors



Robo-advisory in FinTech is an online platform that provides financial and investment planning services through automated algorithms with no human intervention. Simply put, it is a financial advisor that uses an algorithm to automatically select investments for you. Also, robo-advisors are less expensive than traditional financial advisors. 



The robo-advisor gathers information about a client through an online survey and automatically invests for the client based on that data. It assesses the user’s financial goals, level of risks, and investment capabilities to build a personalized portfolio. Users enter their investment goals, and the system automatically determines the most profitable investments. Then, robo-advisors continuously monitor the portfolio and rebalance it to maintain the desired asset allocation. 



For example, an individual at age 30 wants to save $500,000 by retirement. He inputs this goal into a robo-advisor app. The platform divides its investments among assets like stocks, bonds, and real estate to help reach this goal. After that, a robo-advisor adjusts the investment strategy based on current market trends to find the best mix for long-term growth.



Some examples of the best robo-advisors:




Wealthfront: a prominent robo-advisor that offers automated investment management, financial planning tools, and tax-efficient investing strategies;



Betterment: one of the most well-known robo-advisors for experienced and beginner investors, offering goal-based investment tax-saving solutions with multiple portfolio choices (income, crypto, and cash accounts);



M1 Finance: it is a one-of-a-kind investment portal suitable for strategic investors who want access to customized expert theme-focused strategy portfolios;



Acorns: it focuses on micro-investing by rounding up everyday purchases to the nearest dollar and investing the difference into a diversified portfolio.




Real-life examples of artificial intelligence in FinTech



Here are some real and quite successful examples of the integration of artificial intelligence in a financial business.



Feedzai: a fraud detection platform



Feedzai leads the market in tackling financial crime through AI technology. The company introduced the RiskOps platform, which uses AI and ML models to detect fraudulent activities and suspicious anomalies for banks, retailers, and payment providers worldwide.



Moreover, Feedzai has introduced the groundbreaking Fairband framework to address AI bias and ensure fairness in AI models. This framework features a patent-pending AutoML (Automated Machine Learning) algorithm that discovers less biased machine learning models without requiring any additional model training cost. On average, Feedzai Fairband enhances model fairness by up to 93%. This improvement is crucial for ensuring that AI systems don’t discriminate unfairly based on factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, or location.



Axyon AI: an investment platform



Axyon AI is an Italian FinTech company that leverages AI to enhance investment management. One of its key offerings is IRIS, an investment management platform that utilizes advanced ML algorithms to improve investment decision-making.



IRIS analyzes historical data, market trends, and other relevant factors to provide predictive insights into asset performance, risks, and potential opportunities. The platform suggests optimal asset allocations based on risk tolerance, return objectives, and market conditions. Axyon AI partners with industry giants like Microsoft, IBM, and Nvidia, providing its services to commodity traders and asset managers.



Kasisto: a conversation AI platform



Kasisto is a company that specializes in conversational AI solutions for the banking and finance industry. One of its impressive products is KAI-GPT - the first banking industry-specific generative large language model. With natural language processing and advanced ML algorithms, KAI-GPT delivers intuitive, personalized, 24/7 customer support, helping customers make informed financial decisions.



This conversational AI platform is widely adopted in the banking sector to elevate client experiences and deliver personalized financial services. By offering customers self-service alternatives and tailored solutions, KAI allows banks to reduce the load on contact centers while simultaneously improving customer service.



Upstart: a credit scoring platform 



Upstart operates as an AI lending platform, partnering with over 100 banks and credit unions to predict consumer creditworthiness using non-traditional variables. The platform uses predictive modeling and ML algorithms to analyze thousands of factors to predict a borrower’s probability of default, providing lenders with more accurate credit scoring.



This predictive modeling allows Upstart to approve more borrowers while maintaining the same loss rates. It also helps reduce fraudulent applications. By leveraging AI, Upstart improves credit decision accuracy, allowing it to lend deeper down the credit spectrum without significantly increasing losses.



Conclusion 



The financial domain is experiencing unprecedented growth and development thanks to the AI technology. As you can see, it brings a wide range of solutions to FinTech, including but not limited to fraud prevention, credit scoring, algorithmic trading, risk assessment, and personalized custom service. This proves once again that the future of AI in FinTech holds immense promise and potential.



However, implementing AI technologies requires careful planning, skilled ML and data scientist professionals, robust infrastructure, seamless integration, deployment, optimization, and many more. As a software development company with extensive experience in developing AI solutions, SoftTeco provides ML development services to help financial companies address unique business issues in a professional manner. For this, our specialists will define the best ML strategy, determine feasibility, and help you select the most effective tools and technologies for your customized AI development strategy.




 


Expert Opinion



AI is making significant improvements in FinTech by enhancing fraud detection, credit scoring, algorithmic trading, and customer service through chatbots and robo-advisors. These advancements lead to better efficiency and customer experiences, indeed.



However, challenges like data privacy concerns, ethical issues, skill shortages, and high implementation costs remain. Even with these obstacles, AI's advantages—such as increased accuracy and improved service—make it a definitely valuable investment for the future of financial technology.





Head of Data Science and Machine Learning Department at SoftTeco



Alexander Gedranovich

### Mobile App Localization: An Ultimate Guide + Best Practices

There are approximately 1.96 million downloadable apps in the App Store and 2.87 million apps in the Google Play Store today. So it’s safe to say that users are really hungry for content and expect a convenient mobile app for every aspect of their lives. This is some great news for app developers and publishers since their products will most probably be relevant and in demand. 



But there is one thing that mobile app owners often overlook, thus passing up an opportunity to grow the audience and make the app popular outside its home country. We are talking about localization, a complex yet highly rewarding process of winning an international audience. In this article, we discuss how mobile app localization differs from internationalization, what steps are included in a localization strategy, and how to ensure your app is ready to go global from the start.







What is mobile app localization?



Mobile app localization (l10n) is the process of adapting all elements of your app to the cultural and linguistic requirements of a specific locale. In simple terms, it means adapting your app to users from different countries and cultures, taking into account specific requirements that they may have for the app’s look and feel.



The first thing that comes to mind when talking about localization is app translation. While translation indeed is a huge part of localization, it’s not the only thing to take care of. App localization also includes such things as adjusting images, using different colors and fonts, and sometimes even adding a whole new functionality.



If you need an example, think of the color red. In Europe, red is usually associated with warning and danger, while in China, it symbolizes luck. Hence, you will probably add more red to your app when adjusting it for the Chinese audience. 







Localization vs internationalization



Now that we’ve answered the “what is app localization?” question, let’s move on. An important thing to talk about is the difference between app localization and internationalization. While these two processes are often interchangeable, they are separate and different - yet, people tend to confuse them. Hence, to successfully adapt your app for the international market, it’s important to understand both localization and internationalization.



Internationalization (i18n) is the process of creating software that can later be adapted to different languages and cultures. That means internationalization takes place in parallel with the software development process, since it is performed by software engineers. Examples of app internationalization are:




Use of Unicode character encoding



Avoidance of hard-coding text, data, time, etc.



Creation of placeholder keys



UX design with localization in mind 



Enabled cultural formatting




By now, you may ask, why do I even need to bother if I can simply adjust my app later on? The thing is, if the app is not prepared for future application localization in advance, it will be incredibly time and resource consuming to later localize it. Internationalization, on the other hand, prepares the app’s codebase for receiving different configurations that are based on target languages. So when the app is internationalized, parts of the code are replaced with key placeholders that automatically retrieve the target language upon the need and no engineering changes are required. And since internationalization is a one-time investment, the more languages you add to the app, the bigger your ROI will be!



Why do businesses need mobile app localization?



There are many advantages in going global, though they might not seem so obvious from the start. Below, we list the main reasons why businesses decide to localize their apps and how exactly this decision benefits them.



Enter new markets and expand the audience



Though English is considered the universal language, the majority of users still prefer their native language when it comes to content consumption and use of software products. Hence, if you want to attract users from other countries and expand your market reach, localization is a sure way to do so.







Obviously, a market entry should be carefully planned beforehand. By that, we mean conducting a thorough research that will help you evaluate how well your app might perform in specific countries and how a new market entry can boost your revenue and reach.



Boost user engagement



If you already have an app, you probably have international users, too. However, their engagement might be low or medium simply because they are not motivated to explore all the content that your app offers. Also, the tone of voice of your content and visuals may be confusing (and sometimes even offensive) to people from certain cultures.



Mobile localization resolves these issues by helping the app “talk to users” in a tone and language that they are used to. In this way, the app instantly becomes more attractive and user-centric and encourages users to fully engage with it. Needless to say, high engagement results in higher conversions.



Increase revenue



If users frequently and actively interact with your app, they will be more likely to spend money on in-app purchases or view paid ads. Hence, the more attractive your app is to users, the higher your revenue will be! Localization helps monetize user engagement by helping users from different countries understand why they should spend money and how exactly they will be rewarded. As well, users tend to spend money on products that they love, and we’ve already discussed that localization is a great way to increase user satisfaction and engagement.



Types of mobile app localization



Localization is a complex process that involves many steps and requires lots of time and resources. Not all businesses can afford that - this is why app localization comes in two forms, MVL and full. Let’s look at each in detail.



Minimum viable localization



Minimum viable localization, or MVL for short, means that you do not localize the full app but only its critical parts and components, such as text, app store metadata and descriptions, and sometimes images. During the MVL process, you do not redesign the app’s UX and may not even translate all the text in the app - just the biggest elements that are critical for understanding by all audiences. 



MVL is perfect for startups and those businesses that prioritize short time-to-market. By partially localizing the app, you’ll still appeal to various audiences, though UX in this case will be somewhat limited. Note though that with MVL, you don’t just randomly select the app’s components for localization. Minimum viable localization implies localizing the key elements:




Keywords



App description



Metadata



Main content within the app




Full localization



After testing how well the international audience receives your app, you might want to consider full localization as the next logical step. Full localization is usually a natural process for companies that see rapid growth and market expansion. If you need examples, think of Airbnb or Uber. These companies went beyond simple app translation and instead, delivered a whole new user experience for each region.



So what does full localization mean? In addition to translating the app’s content and adjusting its images and icons, full localization also includes:




Adding certain functionality to the app or adjusting UX in accordance with the audience



Performing marketing activities to build a solid online presence in a new market.




A good example of great localization is the implementation of an Airbnb partnership program in Japan with an aim to facilitate the process of listing properties for potential hosts. As you can guess, it was not a matter of a few days and took lots of effort and time. But as a result, Airbnb successfully entered the Japanese market through adjusting its current processes to the specifics of the country and its rules and regulations.



If a business can afford it, the best advice for full localization would be to hire separate marketing managers for each region that you want to cover. 



Main steps of preparing your mobile app localization strategy



If you already plan localization but are not sure where to start, the steps listed below will guide you. Though this plan will require adjustment for each individual app, it will give you a good idea of what is included in localizing all app’s elements.



Create a localization strategy and set the right KPIs



Since localization is a complex and multi-faceted process, you’ll need a solid strategy to follow. You can base it on your answers to the following questions:




What markets do I want to enter?



Will my app be international from the start or do I want to target a specific region first?



What app elements will I localize in the first place?



What localization tools or service providers do I need?



How will the localization process be set up?



What KPIs do I want to track and achieve?



How will the app be tested?




Obviously, this is not a full list of questions to be answered, but you got the idea: define the desired markets, select the right tools, assign the right people to manage the process, and monitor set metrics. 



Tip: plan on how to integrate localization into the development process so it becomes part of the SDLC.



Select a suitable localization tool



There is a variety of app localization platforms out there, examples including Localise, Alconost, Protranslate, and many others. While each platform has a set of specific features, there are also those features that are expected from any good localization platform:




Collaboration: an effective localization platform should enable collaboration for different departments, so the localization process remains transparent and smooth.



Translation memory: it is a database that pairs text segments (strings) in a source language with counterparts in target languages. Translation memory allows easy reuse of strings across various projects and ensures translation consistency.



Glossary: glossaries are used to provide context to users. They explain what each term means and how exactly to translate it.



Automation: some processes involved in the localization processes can and should be automated. Examples include string extraction or screenshot generation. An effective localization platform should provide automation to speed up and facilitate the whole process.



Instant updates: a useful feature when your app frequently receives updates. With OTA (over-the-air) SDK, a powerful localization platform will enable you to update the app’s content and translations instantly.



Integrations: an ability to easily integrate with other tools in use is essential, as it allows maintaining a consistent and uninterrupted workflow. Hence, ensure that your selected platform integrates with such tools as Jira or Slack.



Good UX: a great localization tool should not require technical expertise to work with it. Hence, it should be very user-centric and intuitive, aka have great UX. This is another important feature to look for in a localization platform.



Artificial Intelligence: though not a must-have, AI is definitely a big helper when it comes to content translation. So if a platform has it, that’s a really solid advantage.  




We’ll talk about the main benefits of using a localization platform a bit later - now, let’s move on with your localization process.



Implement internationalization



We’ve already discussed app internationalization, but since it’s an integral part of localization, let’s review one more time.



Internationalization sets the base for further localization and saves you a great deal of time and effort. Since it is performed by software developers, it’s logical to start internationalization activities alongside the development process, so the two go in parallel.



Here is a list of some activities involved in internationalization:




Store UI strings in resource files: instead of storing these strings in the code, remove them to resource files, so the strings can later be easily accessed and modified as needed without changing the code.



Store time, data, and currency in variables: if you hard-code these elements, you will have difficulty modifying them for various languages later on. Instead, store them in variables for dynamic strings building in the future.



Structure app strings with pluralization in mind: different languages have different pluralization rules so naturally, your app strings should be structured in accordance with these rules to avoid UI failures in the future.



Use the Unicode UTF-8 encoding: by using this standard, you will make sure that your app supports a variety of languages and properly displays all needed characters.




Adapt UI for localization



When talking about user interface localization, many people think only about text and image translation. However, there is much more to UI localization than simple translation. 







First, you need to consider spacing. While strings in one language may be quite short, their translation may be 2X longer - and you need to prepare the user interface for that to create a consistent user experience. 



Second, ensure that your app supports both right-to-left and left-to-right language directions. This is critical because if the app is not ready for both directions, a sudden change may break the design. It includes wrong placement of buttons and incorrect navigation flow - so you surely want to avoid that.



Lastly, it’s a good idea to integrate Figma (or another tool that you work with) and your localization platform to streamline the localization process and avoid bottlenecks during design creation.




 


Expert Opinion



Localization in mobile app design is key to reaching a global audience. It’s more than just translating text; it’s about adapting design elements to fit local customs, languages, and expectations. Releasing an app in different countries means understanding their cultural specifics, much like how movies change titles and texts for international viewers.



Tailoring your app to different markets shows respect for your users' cultures and builds a stronger connection with your global audience. Consider text length, writing direction, tone, and data formats to improve user experience. Symbols and images should be culturally relevant, and regular updates are needed to keep the localization effective.



By focusing on localization, you ensure users worldwide feel understood and valued, enhancing their experience and satisfaction with your app. From my experience in UX/UI design, this thoughtful approach to localization can significantly boost user engagement and retention.





UX/UI Designer at SoftTeco



Yuliya Pisarchik






 




Translate the copy



An average app contains lots of copy, including microcopy (notifications, error messages, CTAs, etc.). All that has to be translated properly to create a comprehensive user experience. And while it sounds simple, there are several things to keep in mind.



One of the biggest pitfalls of app localization is translation inconsistency, meaning, certain terms are translated differently in different languages. To avoid that and to ensure that the correct meaning of the term is retained, localization platforms offer such features like glossaries and translation memory.  



Another critical thing when working on your copy translation is providing enough context for translators. Since it can be difficult to understand the meaning of a string out of context, translators need information that fully explains the meaning of the string. Otherwise, there may be confusing translation fails. An example of such is an error in translating the non-modular cement for knee prosthesis in Germany in 2006-2007. Incorrectly translated as just “non-cemented”, the product failed many surgeons since they believed they didn’t have to use cement for the surgery. The result? 47 people had to undergo another knee replacement since the first surgery failed.



Don’t forget image localization



Along with copy, imagery plays a big role in attracting and engaging users. Hence, if you want to go global, you need to make sure that both text and images adhere to the cultural norms and standards of the specific region.



It goes without saying that all text on images needs to be translated. To make it easier, separate text from images by creating a separate and customizable text layer for developers to work with. In this way, you will avoid extra work and will make sure that everything is displayed correctly.



Also, perform extensive research to make sure that all imagery and visuals of your app are okay to display for this specific audience. A good example is localization of one Chinese game for the Russian audience. The game featured a special event for Mother’s Day and asked players to collect flowers. Sounds cute, right? The problem is, the Chinese game displayed an even number of flowers in vases, which is considered bad luck in Russia. Such small details can ruin the whole user experience, so double-check all colors, fonts, and images in use and make sure that they align with the target audience.



Perform extensive testing



Finally, once everything is translated and adapted to the desired region, it’s time to perform testing. In terms of localization, you test not only how the app performs - but how well you translated all needed strings and how good the UX is in general. There are two main things to take care of during this step:




Linguistic testing: the main goal is to ensure that all app strings are translated correctly, all UI elements are translated, and overall, nothing is left behind in terms of translation.



Functional testing: aims to test whether the app performs properly and whether it provides expected level of user experience. During functional testing, you might detect such issues as incorrect layout, so do not overlook it.





 


Expert Opinion



When talking about localization testing, QA engineers focus not only on the translation itself, but also on contextual accuracy and linguistic quality of the content. Testers also need to verify 



that the product is culturally appropriate and provides a positive user experience in different locales. At the same time, in the scope of functional testing, QA engineers pay attention to such things as form validation, input validation, and region-specific features and regulations. As you can see, the scope of work is really wide.



For effective app localization, it is essential that QA engineers collaborate closely with experienced translators (or native speakers), and localization experts who understand the cultural and linguistic nuances of the region. For the testing phase, beta-testing is recommended as a frequent and useful practice that should be carried out by a group of native speakers within the target users. 



Automation may also be extremely helpful as it can cover a significant portion of localization testing, but it’s crucial to acknowledge that some aspects, such as cultural and context appropriateness, still require human involvement.





QA Engineer at SoftTeco



Natalia Zakharenka






 





 


Expert Opinion



When talking about localization testing, QA engineers focus not only on the translation itself, but also on its impact on the content and user interface. Testers also need to know the cultural characteristics of the regions. Localization is not just about display. In the functional part, there is also a lot of work for a quality specialist. The very first thing that needs to be checked is the initial choice of locale and the possibility of changing it, then checking the form, checking the input, not forgetting about numbers (a prime example is Indo-Arabic numerals) and unique special characters (for example, the initial question mark).



For better localization, it is important to collaborate with native speakers or localization experts. It is also useful to conduct beta testing with a group of native speakers. It is these users who can provide the most accurate information about things like naturalness or tone.



Today, there is a lot of talk about test automation. In my opinion, localization testing is one of the most difficult areas to automate. This has to do with the nature of the product being tested: “Does it sound natural?”, “Does it match the user experience?” And also only a person is able to see an error in the context of translation.





QA Engineer at SoftTeco



Irina Homenko






 




A word on localization platforms and their benefits



We’ve briefly talked about localization platforms and the core features that they should have. Since such platforms are important for the localization process and bring numerous benefits to businesses, let’s discuss them in a bit more detail.



A localization platform is specialized software that automates and speeds up the localization process. It is essential for global businesses and is overall very helpful as it resolves a number of localization challenges, like lack of transparency, lack of context, or translation updates. The main benefits of using localization platforms are the following.



Easy collaboration and data sharing



Localization involves several professionals: developers, designers, copywriters, and marketers. These departments need constant and transparent communication, and a good localization platform provides that. Any member of the team can leave a comment or a request for clarification, and the responsible person will immediately receive a notification and reply to the issue.



Facilitated project management



A localization platform provides a comprehensive overview of the whole project at a glance and thus greatly facilitates project management. At any time, you can access project metrics, monitor the status of tasks, and keep track of the budget—all from one place.



Higher velocity and shorter time-to-market



Due to the powerful features of a localization platform, businesses can significantly speed up the process of adapting their apps for local markets and thus decrease time to market. These features include task automation, the availability of glossaries and translation memory, collaboration options, and many more. 



Reduced costs



Implementation of any new software is usually done with an aim to reduce operating costs, and the localization platform is no exception. Due to its automation and efficiency, it saves you from mundane and lengthy manual work as well as allows performing comprehensive testing throughout the localization process. In this way, you reduce costs that are usually associated with post-launch debugging and manual translation.



Localization of app’s updates



One more important advantage of using a localization platform is that all app-related content instantly gets translated. This is especially relevant for translating updates since they are normally released frequently, and it’s important that users in all regions receive well-localized updates. Due to the centralization of all activities in one platform, you can easily translate the content as soon as it’s ready.



Mobile app localization tips and best practices



We’ve talked a lot about what localization is and how it is normally introduced into your processes. Now let’s discuss app localization best practices and tips, that will help you make the localization process even smoother. Though these tips are not so common, yet many companies use them and claim their efficiency.



Consider community localization



While this advice is more relevant for gaming apps, you might still want to consider it. Community localization means exactly what it sounds like: you provide copy to the community, and native speakers contribute to its translation. This type of localization may be free or paid, depending on how you want to conduct it. But its biggest benefit is that you get translation by those people that would actually use the app and know the nuances of the target language. 



Now, you might ask where to find native speakers for community translation. You can simply start with such platforms as Reddit or Quora, or search for specialized sites dedicated to community translation.



Use pseudolocalization



Pseudolocalization is among the biggest app localization tips. It is an amazing practice that can help you quickly test how well your app’s UI is adapted and ready for localization without putting the actual translated text in it. It simulates real translation by automatically replacing text with placeholder characters. Note though, that during pseudolocalization (dummy localization), the non-translatable characters are intact so you test only those elements that need to be translated.



Pseudolocalization mimics various scenarios that can happen when translating from one language to another: the change of the text direction, increased (or decreased) text length, or use of special characters. If you need an example, try to decipher the following:



[Öŕðéŕ þļåçéð šûççéššƒûļļý!————- П國カ내]



That’s right - this is an example of pseudolocalization for the “Order placed successfully” message. As you can see, the first string is significantly longer, features special characters and even has a different height. Such issues may occur during real translation, so it’s important to know whether your UI remains consistent or will break.



Another example from a free online pseudolocalization tool that you can test to get a better understanding of how the whole thing works:







Pseudolocalization helps detect the following i18n issues:




Embedded strings: the ones that cannot be translated;



UI failures due to unexpected change of the text size;



String concatenation: when two strings are kind of “glued” together in one, which results in incorrect translation and broken sentence structure;



Lack of support for multiple character sets.




In a nutshell, pseudolocalization allows testing the app’s UI while the text is not fully translated yet. This facilitates the app localization workflow and allows you to fix issues with the strings and UI in parallel with translation, so translation doesn’t wait for these issues to be resolved.



Double-check machine translation



Artificial intelligence and machine translation are great aid in localization and today, the biggest localization platforms are equipped with these technologies. While they contribute to faster translation, they also may bring in inconsistencies and errors, since a machine cannot comprehend the context as well as we do. Thus, the biggest mistake that a company can do is fully rely on machine translation without double-checking it.



An example to learn from is when Microsoft localized the Xbox gaming console for the German market with the help of machine translation. As a result, the “Save” (i.e., storing) button was incorrectly translated as “Save money”, which obviously caused lots of confusion. Hence, lesson learned: use machine translation to speed up the localization process but make sure that this translation is checked by real people, too.



Use different locales



In the world of localization and internationalization, locale is a well-known concept that helps big international brands win global audience. While many confuse locale with language, these two concepts are completely different - here is how.



Mozilla defined locale as a “set of language- or country-based preferences for a UI”. That means, a locale is localized content of a website or an app + localized UI + localized settings = adherence to the preferences and requirements of a target audience.



The most obvious example of the use of a locale is switching to a specific region during online shopping. The language of the store may remain the same (English in most cases), but you will see the currency and other elements tailored to this specific region. Here are the main ways of using a locale:




1 language, different locales: your app may retain its content in English but will have localized content for each country that you target.



1 locale, different languages: think of Belgium. The country has 3 official languages (French, German, Dutch), so you need to provide Belgian users with different language options while such details as timezone and currency remain the same for all languages.



1 locale, 1 language: this one is simple. For each target country, you provide its official language and localized content. Meaning, French for France and English for the UK.




The question you may ask is what exactly is included in the locale to take care of? Here are the core app elements to localize for each locale:




Currency and price



Shipping terms (for ecommerce apps)



Services



Local rules and regulations




Consider merging Android and iOS keys



When you develop an app for both iOS and Android platforms, it’s common knowledge that two platforms double the required effort. Thus, if you plan localization, you will obviously need to localize both apps - and keys merging is one of the ways to speed up the process.



These two platforms often have different naming schemas: for example, LoginButton for iOS vs login_button for Android. To eliminate repetitive translations, it’s recommended to merge such keys into a single entry.



Essentials of ASO localization



Finally, one more thing to cover is app store optimization and localization. A localized app store description contributes to better visibility in the app store and tends to better engage users since they are attracted to the descriptions in their native language. Now, the big question is what exactly you need to localize when it comes to ASO?



The key elements of ASO are:




Keywords: the ones that users use to search the app store and find new apps;



Metadata: involves app description, title, subtitle, etc.



Screenshots: images from your app, especially the ones featuring text;



Icons: you need to consider whether your icons are appropriate for specific regions and whether they are adjusted for both iOS and Android requirements;



User-generated content: implies reviews and ratings that users leave;



Units of measurement: if your app uses such units of measurement as pounds, it’s a good idea to convert them into kilograms for European users.




As you can see, there are lots of aspects to consider even after the app itself is translated and localized. Thus, before publishing, make sure that the app 1) adheres to the specific requirements of either the App Store or the Play Market (i.e., description length) and 2) appeals to users in the target country.



Bonus: a list of the most popular localization platforms



Now that you know how to localize an app, it’s time to talk about the top localization platforms that you might want to consider for your next localization project.



Localise



Localise is probably the most known localization platform out there, and for a good reason. It boasts to be a one-stop solution for all your localization needs and offers a rich functionality with all essential localization features. Also, Localise has a built-in AI translation, which is a great advantage for those who prioritize fast translation. 



The pricing of the platform comes in 4 plans:




Start: $120/month. Great for small companies and teams. The biggest drawback is that this plan has very limited functionality and lacks such essentials like glossary or translation history.



Essential: $230/month. Has all Start features plus advanced functionality and better project management. Suitable for both small and medium-sized companies.



Pro: $825/month. Offers highly advanced localization functionality.



Enterprise: contact the reps to learn about the price estimate. Suitable for large enterprises and businesses in highly regulated industries. 




Crowdin



Another big player in the field of localization, Crowdin defines itself as an AI-based, enterprise-grade localization platform. With more than 600 apps and integrations, this platform offers seamless and holistic localization for your content across platforms and provides easy and intuitive onboarding.



As for the pricing, the plans are:




Free: that’s right, Crowdin offers a free plan for those just starting with localization or for small projects. The plan allows working with up to 60,000 hosted words and offers a basic yet effective functionality (i.e., auto-glossary, machine translations).



Pro: $59/month. Offers an unlimited number of public and 2 private projects and provides rich functionality but does not allow collaboration.



Team: $179/month. The plan is intended for collaboration and sharing and allows inviting managers and team members to work on your localization projects.



Team+: $450/month. This plan allows getting an own private organization, gathering teams, and working on private projects at a larger scale.



Business: same as with Localise, the Business plan by Crowdin is calculated individually upon the request and is intended for big enterprises.




Phrase



One more localization platform worth mentioning is Phrase (former Memsource). The official website claims that it is a world leader in translation technology and features such clients as Puma, Uber, and Tripadvisor (which is pretty impressive). As for its functionality, it has a rich selection of products: Phrase Custom AI, Phrase Data, Phrase Orchestrator and more. For detailed information on the platform and its products, please visit the official website.



Now, to the pricing plans:




Starter: $135/month. Includes 7 Phrase products and basic platform capabilities, plus integrations with GitHub, Bitbucket, and more.



Team: in addition to increased platform functionality, this plan provides access to all Phrase plans and offers more integrations.



Business: $4,395/month. Comes with highly advanced features and access to all Phrase products. 



Enterprise: the pricing is customizable and is discussed with the Sales representative.




Summing up



Mobile app localization is a tedious yet necessary process for any business that wants to go global. To avoid any mistakes during the app translation and after its launch, we highly recommend working with specialized tools and reliable professionals, so your app is 100% ready for any new region that you are about to enter.

### How To Make An Ecommerce Website With WordPress: A Comprehensive Guide

When paired with the right tools and plugins, WordPress for ecommerce stands out as an exceptional platform that can help you create a successful online store tailored to your business needs. We've already discussed the cost of building an ecommerce website with WordPress in 2024, so now it's time to delve into the actual steps involved.



This article explains how to make an ecommerce website with WordPress step by step, from selecting a domain name and hosting provider to installing WordPress and choosing the right ecommerce plugin.







Can WordPress be used for Ecommerce?



WordPress is an excellent choice for building an ecommerce website due to its flexibility, ease of use, and extensive range of features. As one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) globally, it offers a solid foundation for creating a robust online store.



Firstly, WordPress is highly customizable. With thousands of themes and plugins available, you can design a unique storefront that reflects your brand’s identity and meets your specific needs. Whether you need advanced product filters, dynamic pricing, or a seamless checkout process, there’s likely a plugin to accommodate your requirements.



Second, it is very user-friendly. Even if you’re not a tech expert, you can easily manage your ecommerce in WordPress with its intuitive dashboard. Adding products, updating content, and processing orders can be done with minimal effort, allowing you to focus more on your business and less on technical details.



Additionally, WordPress is highly SEO-friendly. It provides numerous plugins and tools, like Yoast SEO, that help optimize your site for search engines, ensuring better visibility and higher rankings. This can drive more organic traffic to your store, increasing the potential for sales.



So, is WordPress good for ecommerce? Absolutely.



How to make an ecommerce website with WordPress



To build an ecommerce website with WordPress, you must follow several steps. Here is a comprehensive guide to help you get started:



Step 1: select a suitable domain name



The initial stage of building an ecommerce (or any other) website is to choose an appropriate domain name. A domain name serves as an online identity for your business, so you need to give it some thought before registering. With billions of websites out there, opting for something original and creative is essential to make a lasting impression. 



Here are some tips to help you select a domain name:




Keep it simple and easy to remember: A domain name that is short, catchy, and easy to spell will help customers find and remember your website.



Make it relevant: Choose a name that reflects your business, brand, or the products you sell. It should give visitors an idea of what your website is about at a glance.



Include keywords: If possible, use relevant keywords in your domain name to improve your website's search engine optimization (SEO) and make it easier for customers to find you online.



Don’t use numbers or hyphens: It can be confusing and harder to remember. Stick to letters to keep your domain name straightforward and professional.



Decide on the right domain extension: Consider using a domain extension that is relevant to your business, such as .com, .store, or .shop. The .com extension is the most popular and widely recognized, but other extensions can also be suitable for ecommerce websites.



Find out if it's available: Ensure your desired domain name is not already taken or is not too similar to an existing one. Use domain registration websites like Name.com to check availability. If your first choice is taken, think of variations or alternatives.



Consider future growth: If you plan to expand your product offerings, avoid names that are too narrow or specific.




Once you select a domain name, you must register it with a domain registrar. Domain registrars provide a platform for you to search for available domain names and register them for a specific period, usually for a year. After registering a domain name, you gain the exclusive right to use that domain for the period.  



There are several domain registrars available for WordPress ecommerce websites. First, WordPress itself offers domain registration services. You can register a new domain directly through their platform - WordPress.com. This option is convenient for those who prefer to manage their website and domain in one place.



For those who prefer not to use WordPress.com's built-in services or require specific features, opting for a third-party registrar is a practical choice. Here are some options that are suitable for WordPress websites:




Namecheap: A popular domain registrar known for its affordable pricing and user-friendly interface.



Domain.com: Another popular domain registrar that offers domain registration services for WordPress websites with a user-friendly interface and competitive pricing. 



GoDaddy: One of the largest domain registrars in the world. They also provide hosting services and a wide range of domain extensions.



Google Domains: A domain registration service provided by Google with a simple and intuitive interface. It also offers additional features like domain forwarding (which allows you to redirect visitors from one domain name to another) and DNS management.




Remember that you need to renew your domain name registration annually, or you will lose ownership. To prevent such a situation, you can request an automatic renewal reminder from your domain registrar.



Step 2: choose a web hosting provider 







After you have chosen and registered the domain name for your ecommerce website, it's time to decide on a web hosting provider. 



There are various types of web hosting, each catering to different needs and preferences. 




Shared hosting is cost-effective and popular among individuals and small businesses. Multiple websites share a single server's resources, which keeps costs low but may slow performance if one site experiences high traffic.



VPS hosting partitions a physical server into multiple virtual servers with dedicated resources, offering greater control and stability than shared hosting. It's suitable for growing businesses and websites with moderate to high traffic.



Dedicated hosting involves leasing an entire server for exclusive use, providing top performance and security. Ideal for large businesses, e-commerce sites, and high-resource applications, it offers full control over server configuration.



Cloud hosting uses a network of interconnected servers, ensuring scalability and high availability. Suitable for websites with fluctuating traffic, it offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model and instant resource scaling.



Managed hosting outsources server management and maintenance to the provider, making it ideal for those lacking technical expertise or time. The provider handles monitoring, security updates, backups, and technical support.




The choice of the best hosting provider for your WordPress ecommerce website depends on your specific business needs, budget, and technical requirements. 



WordPress.com provides all-inclusive managed hosting, which means you don't need to host your site elsewhere. Their hosting plans include features such as global CDN (Content Delivery Network) for fast and reliable performance, high-frequency CPUs, multi-datacenter failover, secure login, integrated visitor stats, and 24/7 support from dedicated WordPress experts.



However, if you want to choose a third-party hosting provider for your ecommerce website, make sure the server is compatible with WordPress. There are a lot of options, so we will consider those that are recommended by WordPress.org: 



Bluehost



Bluehost is a popular choice for WordPress hosting, offering a seamless experience for ecommerce websites. With its one-click WordPress installation and integration with WooCommerce, Bluehost simplifies the setup process for online stores. Additionally, it provides a range of features such as free SSL certificate, domain privacy, and automatic backups, ensuring the security and integrity of ecommerce platforms.



Hostinger



Hostinger stands out for its affordability and performance-driven hosting solutions. For WordPress ecommerce websites, Hostinger offers optimized servers, LiteSpeed caching, and a user-friendly control panel. Moreover, its 24/7 customer support and intuitive website builder can be advantageous for entrepreneurs venturing into the ecommerce space on a budget.



DreamHost



DreamHost is renowned for its commitment to open source technologies and offers robust hosting solutions for WordPress ecommerce websites. With features like scalable resources, SSD storage, and pre-installed SSL certificate, DreamHost prioritizes the performance and security of online stores. Furthermore, its WordPress-optimized infrastructure and responsive support make it a compelling option for ecommerce entrepreneurs.



Aside from these three, you can also opt for:




HostGator;



SiteGround;



InMotion;



WP Engine;



A2 Web;



Nexcess, etc.




Step 3: install WordPress



If your website hosting is established through WordPress.com, there's no need for a separate installation of WordPress. However, with third-party hosting, you'll need to install WordPress first. The leading hosting services will either handle the installation for you or offer a straightforward one-click-install option that you can handle in a few minutes. 



You also have an option to install WordPress manually. It gives you more control over the process and is a useful skill to learn. However, mind that manual installation does require some technical knowledge, so it can be a bit challenging for the beginners. 



Let’s explore both options for better understanding. 



One-click WordPress installation




Select a hosting provider that supports one-click WordPress installation.



Log in to your hosting account and navigate to the control panel (cPanel).



Look for the WordPress installer icon, which is typically found under the “Website” or “Software” section.



Click on the WordPress icon and follow the prompts. You’ll need to provide some basic information, such as your site name, admin username, and password.



Once the installation is complete, you’ll receive a confirmation message along with the login details for your new WordPress site.




Manual installation




Visit the official WordPress website and download the latest version of WordPress. 



Use an FTP client to upload the WordPress files to your web server. You’ll need to connect to your server using your FTP credentials, navigate to the public_html directory (or the directory where you want to install WordPress), and upload the extracted WordPress files.



Log in to your hosting cPanel and create a new MySQL database. Take note of the database name, username, and password, as you’ll need these during the installation process.



In the WordPress files you uploaded, locate the wp-config-sample.php file and rename it to wp-config.php. Open this file in a text editor and enter your database details.



Open your web browser and go to your website’s URL. You should see the WordPress installation wizard. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup, entering your site details and admin credentials when needed.



Once the setup is complete, you’ll be able to log in to your new WordPress site using the admin credentials you created.




Manual installation might seem daunting, but it’s a valuable process for those who want to understand the underlying mechanics of their WordPress site.



Step 4: select and install an ecommerce plugin







Source: WordPress.com



WordPress offers a vast array of plugins that can equip your website with all the necessary features and functionalities to become a successful ecommerce platform. 



WooCommerce is the most popular WordPress plugin. It provides a comprehensive set of features for creating and running an online store, including product management, payment gateways, shipping options, and more. 



WooCommerce is scalable, meaning it can grow with your business, handling everything from small shops to large enterprises. Not to mention, it's highly customizable and offers a wide range of extensions to enhance your store's functionality. You can check a more detailed overview of this plugin in our article comparing WooCommerce vs. Magento. 



We personally recommend to choose WooCommerce plugin. However, if you want to explore more options, pay attention to other original ecommerce WordPress plugins - Easy Digital Downloads and WP eCommerce. 



Easy Digital Downloads is a powerful plugin designed specifically for selling digital products. It provides a seamless and intuitive interface for managing digital downloads, including software, ebooks, music, and more. The plugin offers features such as customizable purchase receipts, discount codes, and a robust reporting system. With its focus on digital products, Easy Digital Downloads is an excellent choice for businesses that primarily sell digital goods.



WP eCommerce is another popular plugin that offers a wide range of features for creating an online store. It provides support for physical and digital products, as well as a variety of payment gateways and shipping options. The plugin also offers customization capabilities, allowing users to tailor their online store to their specific needs. WP eCommerce is suitable for businesses of all sizes and can be easily integrated with various WordPress themes.



Here are several other frequently used ecommerce plugins for WordPress:




Shopify. Although Shopify is not a native WordPress plugin, it is an independent ecommerce platform that can be seamlessly integrated with WordPress. Shopify offers a robust solution with a comprehensive set of tools for building and managing an online store, including customizable themes, secure payment processing, and advanced marketing features.



BigCommerce. Similar to Shopify, BigCommerce is an independent ecommerce platform that can be integrated with WordPress. It provides a wide range of features and is known for its scalability, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes. 



Ecwid Ecommerce Shopping Cart. A versatile plugin that allows you to add a shopping cart to any WordPress site. It supports multiple payment gateways, real-time shipping rates, and has a mobile-friendly interface.



WP EasyCart. A feature-rich ecommerce plugin designed for small businesses. It offers a wide range of tools for product management, payment processing, shipping calculations, and marketing.




Once you have selected a plugin, you can install it by following these steps:




Log in to your WordPress dashboard;



Go to "Plugins" and click on "Add New";



Search for the plugin by name or upload the plugin zip file if you have downloaded it;



Click on "Install Now" and follow the instructions in the setup wizard;



Then click "Activate" to activate the plugin.




Step 5: add product pages 



Once you have installed and activated your chosen ecommerce plugin, you can start adding products to your website.  



Begin by creating a product catalog that is easy to navigate and visually appealing. Organize your products into categories and subcategories to help customers find what they are looking for quickly. This can be done through the "Categories" and "Tags" features offered by most ecommerce plugins.



To add a new product using WooCommerce, for example, navigate to the WordPress dashboard and select "Products" > "Add Product." You will then be prompted to fill in details such as the product name, description, price, and images. Additionally, you can set product attributes such as size, color, and material to offer variations to your customers.



Ensure that each product has a unique and descriptive title, and include relevant keywords in the product description. High-quality images and videos can also enhance the visual appeal of your products and provide customers with a better understanding of what they are purchasing.



After you fill in all the necessary details, review it one more time and click the “Publish” button to make your product appear on your website.



Step 6: customize your theme



One of the key elements in creating a unique and visually appealing ecommerce website is to select a theme. The theme not only determines the visual aesthetics but also impacts the user experience, functionality, and performance of the site. A well-chosen theme can effectively convey your brand identity, engage visitors, and drive conversions. 



When selecting a WordPress theme for your ecommerce website, it is crucial to consider several factors. 




The theme should align with your brand identity and target audience. For instance, a minimalist, clean theme might be suitable for a high-end fashion brand, while a bold and colorful theme could be more fitting for a children's toy store.



Functionality is paramount. The theme should offer the necessary features and integrations to support ecommerce activities such as product showcasing, shopping cart functionality, secure payment gateways, and responsive design for mobile compatibility.



Prioritize performance and speed. A lightweight and well-coded theme can significantly impact the site's loading times, which directly affects user experience and SEO rankings.




Once you have a clear idea of your requirements, start exploring the WordPress Theme Directory and reputable third-party marketplaces like ThemeForest. Free themes can be a good starting point, but premium themes often provide more features and dedicated support. Pay attention to user reviews, ratings, and the update history of the themes you're interested in. A well-reviewed and regularly updated theme is more likely to be secure, efficient, and compatible with the latest versions of WordPress.



Most themes offer a live demo feature that allows you to see how the theme looks and functions in a real-world setting. This can help you visualize how your content will appear and how users will navigate your site.



Set up the theme 



Once you've selected the perfect theme, it's time to install it on your WordPress site. In case you choose one from the WordPress Theme Directory, you will need:




Log in to your WordPress dashboard, navigate to "Appearance" > "Themes";



Click on "Add New" to upload the theme file;



Choose the file and press "Install"; 



Click “Activate” to enable the installed theme.




If you purchased a premium theme, you'll likely need to upload it manually. To do this, click on "Upload Theme," choose the theme file you downloaded, and then click "Install Now." After installation, activate the theme to make it live on your site.



With the theme activated, begin customizing it to fit your brand and functionality requirements. Navigate to "Appearance" > "Customize" to access the theme customization panel. Here, you can adjust settings such as colors, fonts, header and footer layouts, and more. Many themes come with their own settings panel where you can configure specific options unique to that theme.



It is important to maintain a balance between customization and simplicity. While it can be tempting to incorporate numerous design elements, an overcrowded website can overwhelm visitors and detract from the overall user experience.



Step 7: add more plugins and extensions to enhance your website



To enhance your website, you can add more plugins and extensions that offer additional features and functionality. Here are some popular plugins and extensions that can help you take your online store to the next level:




Securi: Enhances security for your WordPress site.



Site Reviews: Allows customers to leave reviews and ratings.



Yoast SEO: Optimizes your site for search engines.



TaxJar: Simplifies tax calculations and compliance.



Optimole: Improves site speed with image optimization.



WPForms: Facilitates the creation of custom forms.



WooCommerce Google Analytics: Integrates Google Analytics for detailed tracking.



NotificationX: Provides real-time notifications and alerts to boost engagement.



WP Rocket: A caching plugin that improves site speed and performance by optimizing your site's loading times and caching static content.



WP Super Cache: Generates static HTML files from your dynamic WordPress site, enhancing speed and reducing server load.




Remember to regularly review and remove unnecessary plugins. Ensure compatibility with your theme and other plugins, and regularly update them to ensure optimal performance and security.




 


Expert Opinion



When selecting plugins, it’s important to avoid overloading your site with too many. Excessive plugins can negatively impact your site's performance, causing it to slow down and potentially introduce security vulnerabilities. It’s crucial to focus on quality over quantity, opting for highly rated plugins that are well-reviewed and regularly updated.



Consider your specific needs and goals when choosing plugins, ensuring they align with the functionality you require for your website. Prioritize essential plugins that enhance your site's security, performance, and user experience, and be cautious of adding unnecessary ones that could complicate maintenance and troubleshooting.



Most high-quality plugins come with a cost, so budget for these expenses and evaluate whether the investment will bring significant value to your site. Balancing the number and quality of plugins will help you maintain a robust, efficient, and secure ecommerce WordPress website.





PHP developer at SoftTeco



Yuliya Zhak






 




Finally, test your website thoroughly before launching. Check the responsiveness of your theme across different devices and browsers to ensure a consistent user experience. Verify that all links, buttons, and forms work correctly. It’s also a good idea to test the checkout process to ensure it’s smooth and error-free. 



That’s it, your website is ready to launch.



To sum it up 



WordPress for commerce is a user-friendly and powerful platform for creating a website. Its simplicity and wide range of customization options make it perfect for adapting your site to your business needs.



Despite the simplicity, building a WordPress site can be time-consuming and you don't have to do it yourself. SoftTeco offers comprehensive development services and brings vast experience in working with WordPress. Whether you need consultation, customization, or full-fledged development, SoftTeco is ready to be your partner in crafting a successful ecommerce website on WordPress.

### How Much Does It Cost to Build a WordPress Website in 2025?

According to W3Techs, WordPress powers over 43% of all websites on the Internet and 63% of all CMS-based sites. It means businesses of all sizes and niches choose WordPress due to its SEO-friendliness, cost-effectiveness, simplicity, and rich functionality ecosystem. But before building a website from scratch, business owners commonly ask, "How much does it cost, and what does it include?”. There is no ready answer, as each development is unique. By focusing on the key components that will make up your WordPress website, you can more precisely estimate your budget.



In this article, we'll answer the question, "what is the cost of a WordPress website creation?" and discuss how to avoid overspending and how to minimize costs, helping you plan your budget more accurately.







Why should you invest in WordPress development?



Before we calculate the cost of building a website on WordPress, let’s consider what exactly WordPress development is and why it is a worthwhile investment.



WordPress is one of the most popular, free, open-source content management systems (CMS) that allows users to create and manage a website without programming knowledge. It offers extensive ready-made and custom plugins, themes, SEO capabilities, and customization functionalities. Also, WordPress is renowned for its flexibility, making it suitable for a wide range of website types, including business websites, ecommerce stores, personal blogs, and forums. Overall, WordPress allows businesses to establish a professional online presence in a simple and efficient manner.



Other compelling benefits of WordPress websites include:




Easy-to-create and user-friendly platform;



Highly customizable;



Vast ecommerce capabilities;



Extensive theme and plugin ecosystem;



Responsive and mobile-friendly;



Cost-effective;



Complete control (front and back) over functionality;



SEO-friendly (built-in SEO features and plugins);



Multilingual capability;



Integration options;



Scalable and flexible;



A large community and support.




Before you can determine the cost of building a WordPress website, you must choose between two platforms of WordPress. If you have your own hosting, you can place the site on it. If you don't have your own hosting, you can choose between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.





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WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com



Although WordPress.org and WordPress.com share the same name, their functionality and usage differ. The main difference between them is who hosts a website. 



In a nutshell, when you use the WordPress.org software (aka self-hosted WordPress), you host your own website with a third-party hosting provider. You must purchase web hosting and a domain name, install WordPress on your hosting, and manage your website afterward. 



In contrast, WordPress.com is a platform that offers website hosting and content management services directly on WordPress servers, like a software-as-a-service (SaaS) tool. It allows users to create and manage websites without the need to download software or manage a server. The key differences between both versions are below: 



WordPress.orgWordPress.comPricingFree (pay only for hosting, domain name, and customizationVarious pricing plans: free and premium (from $4 to 45/month)HostingSelf-hostedHosted by WordPressOpen-sourceYesNoCustomizationFull access to many themes and pluginsLimited customization options; for most themes and plugins you’ll need a Premium plan EcommerceFull ecommerce functionality with needed pluginsRequires a Commerce plan which costs $45/monthControlFull control over site settings and codeLimited control over backend; data is hosted by WordPressMaintenance and supportIt is self-maintained, and community support is availableManaged updates and support provided by WordPressScalabilityScalable; can handle large websites and trafficLimited scalability; may face restrictionsSecurityIt requires manual maintenance It provides reliable security measures managed by WordPress.comMonetizationFull monetization optionsLimited options



Thus, WordPress.org is a better option if you want to control your website yourself. You'll just need to purchase and set up your own domain name and hosting provider, upload and install plugins and themes, and maintain your website's security. You can use WordPress.org for free, but you must pay for everything listed above.



WordPress.com offers an all-inclusive solution. So you won't have to worry about managing servers, paying for hosting or registering domains. Depending on your WordPress.com plan (free or paid), you can customize your website as per your needs. WordPress.com offers both free and paid versions with different capabilities. 



How much should I charge to build a WordPress website?



What is the cost of building a WordPress website? The answer varies, from $100 to $500 to $3000, or even $30,000 and more. According to Clutch, the average cost of hiring a WordPress development company on Clutch is between $25-$49 per hour. As each website is unique, its cost can vary significantly depending on various factors, such as complexity, customization requirements, specific design, features set, development needs, ongoing maintenance, and more. 



WordPress website cost depends on your business needs and the type of website you're going to build. Another say, before you calculate how much it costs to create a professional, user-friendly, and effective WordPress website, you'll need to determine precisely what it consists of.



Estimate the cost of your WordPress development team







The key factors affecting a WordPress website price



To help you find the balance between desired outcomes and budget constraints, we’ve prepared the essential factors that affect WordPress website design pricing. Let’s consider each of them in more detail for effective WordPress website planning. 



WordPress plan (only for WordPress.com)



If you want to use WordPress.org, you can skip this step and move forward. If you want to use WordPress.com, you’ll have to choose between the plans it offers: 




Free



Starter: $4\month and $48\year



Explorer: $8/month and $96\year



Creator: $25/month and $300\year



Entrepreneur: $45\month and $540\year



Cloud: $65\month and $64.99\year



Enterprise: starts at $25.000\year








Source: WordPress.com



Check out the official website for more information about each WordPress.com plan. It is important to note that if you're aiming for a professional website and want to use your own custom domain name, themes and plugins, you'll require at least the WordPress.com Creator plan. WordPress monthly cost of this plan is $25.



plan is priced at $25\month.



However, if you don't plan on using custom themes or plugins, the Starter plan is also fine, since it allows you to use your own domain name and remove WordPress.com ads. 



Domain name (WordPress.org)



Average cost: $10-$25\year.



A domain name is a URL or a website address that users type in a browser to find a website (e.g., yourwebsite.com). First of all, WordPress requires you to obtain and register your own domain name for your website. It should reflect your business, be unique, and be easy to remember. WordPress domain cost varies depending on multiple factors, one of which is domain name extensions. Extensions include many types, such as:




Top-level domains are the highest level of domain names in the hierarchy. They appear after the dot in a web address, such as .com, .org, and .net;



Generic top-level domain (gTLD): these are versatile and not tied to any specific country. Some common gTLDs include .info, .biz, and .app;



Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs): specific to individual countries or territories, for example, .us (United States) or .ca (Canada);



Sponsored top-level domain (sTLD): extensions for websites with specific owners or purposes, like .edu or .gov for educational institutions.




Typically, businesses use top-level extensions more than others. Beyond extensions, the price of a domain name is also affected by the following factors that are worth your consideration:




Domain registrar\provider (GoDaddy, BlueHost, etc.);



Domain length, uniqueness, age;



Renewal and contract length;



Premium domain;



Transferring domain;



SEO-friendliness;



Additional services (privacy and protection, SSL certificates).




Remember, choosing a reliable domain registrar is crucial to avoid scams and hidden fees. The registration of your domain name lasts one year (usually), so you'll have to renew it. Renewal prices are often higher than domain name registration. But if you renew for a longer period, some registrars offer discounts. Some popular domain name registers include GoDaddy, Name.com, BlueHost, Namecheap, and Hostinger.



For example, Name.com offers prices for .com: $11.99 for registration for one or more years, $21.99/year renewal cost, domain expiration protection, and domain transfer. Hostinger offers prices for .com: $4.99 for registration for the first year, $15.99/year renewal cost, web hosting services, AI automation, and free WHOIS privacy. 



An average estimation for a domain cost ranges from $10 to $20 per year, but the cost may vary depending on your business preferences. Explore the best domain registrars and their options and prices that will meet your business needs.



Web hosting for WordPress



Average cost: from $20 - $300\month and it depends on a web hosting provider, type of hosting, and subscription length.



Every website requires a designated space, typically a server, to store all needed data (HTML docs, images, videos, CSS files) and make it accessible to users via the Internet. Let's say a user types the domain name into a browser to view your website. Then, the user is directed to the web hosting server, a place where all your website content is stored. 



The selection of a reliable and most suitable hosting provider is crucial for your website as it largely determines the long-term performance, scalability, security, and speed. To choose a web hosting provider, you must first decide what kind of hosting you need.



The main types of WordPress web hosting to choose from:




Shared WordPress hosting: multiple websites share resources on the same server. Despite its cost-effectiveness, it may have limitations in terms of performance and customization;



Dedicated hosting: gives users the ability to dedicate an entire server to their website, offering maximum performance, control, and customization options, but it is expensive;



Managed WordPress hosting: refers to handing over server management to the hosting provider who takes care of server maintenance, security, backups, and updates. It offers excellent performance, automatic backups, and expert support, allowing an owner to focus on creating content rather than managing server infrastructure;



Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting: provides dedicated resources in a shared environment, with each website hosted on its own virtual server, offering more control and scalability;



Cloud hosting: this option uses a network or interconnected servers to host a website on multiple servers and distribute resources dynamically. It offers scalability, reliability, and agility, making it a secure choice for growing websites.




Consider shared hosting if you're trying to keep costs below a certain amount (suitable for low traffic volumes and small budgets). But if your website begins to see more traffic, dedicated server hosting would be a better fit (suitable for high budgets). Remember that the more exclusive the server, the higher the price. 



As soon as you've decided on web hosting, next (for WordPress.org), you'll need to choose your hosting provider and its plans. To succeed, website owners need to consider such factors as business needs, budget, storage space, bandwidth, performance, security features, custom support, and additional services of a web hosting provider. The total cost of web hosting maintenance largely depends on the selected subscription period. Like monthly payments, shorter subscription periods usually amount to higher total costs.



Note that Wordpress.com provides web hosting, so you don't need a third-party hosting provider. When it comes to WordPress hosting cost, there are many providers, such as SiteGround, Bluehost, Hostinger, InMotion hosting, and Scalahosting, and prices will vary. For example, Hostinger offers managed hosting from $2.99–$3.99/month, VPS hosting between $4.99-$19.99, cloud hosting from $9.99–$29.99/month, dedicated hosting may cost $80–$300/month, and WordPress hosting $2.99–$9.99/month. 



Tip: your website is likely to grow over time, so you might need additional resources, such as storage space, bandwidth, etc. In that case, consider switching to a more appropriate hosting solution to upgrade your plan whenever you want.





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Themes for WordPress



Average cost: from $0 - $200\year or one-time cost.



When estimating your WordPress site cost, carefully consider themes or templates. A theme is a collection of templates, code files, and stylesheets that refer to a website look. A well-chosen WordPress theme not only enhances the visual appeal and reinforces your brand identity but also improves SEO and user experience, leaving a lasting impression on users. Otherwise, it is possible to overuse them and get the opposite result. So, finding a balance between aesthetics and functionality is crucial.



You may choose between two WordPress options: pre-made and custom (premium) themes. 



Pre-made themes allow you to quickly set up a website, saving time and money. However, they may lack uniqueness and advanced features. They range from free to around $59 on average and may cost more. In contrast, custom themes are designed to fit your brand identity and make your website look more professional. They usually include extensive customization options, such as drag-and-drop editor support, free plugins, demo templates, and dedicated support. 



The cost of premium themes varies and depends on their options. You may find a theme for $20, $100, or $1000. A custom WordPress theme for a personal or small business website can cost between $1,500 and $5,000. A custom-built theme with additional features or plugins could cost $6,000-10,000. For an enterprise-level project, custom theme prices can exceed $30,000. Check out the WordPress themes repository to find the right solution.



Tip: use a page builder to create a custom theme, reducing the total costs and eliminating the need for freelancers or agencies.







Source: WordPress.com



Plugins for WordPress



Average cost: $0- over $300\month, year or one-time cost.



Now, let's delve into the functional aspect of a website: plugins. WordPress is renowned for its wide selection of free plugins, making it an exceptional tool for website building. WordPress plugins help website owners customize and extend the functionality of their website without coding knowledge.



Over 60,000 plugins are in the official WordPress plugins directory, categorized as free, freemium, or premium. Free plugins offer basic functionality, whereas premium ones provide more advanced features. Premium plugins can cost between $15 and $200, with pricing ranging from one-time payments to annual subscriptions. You can also install plugins from third-party sources, but ensure they are from trusted sources to prevent security issues.



While every WordPress website has specific needs, most (if not all) websites require certain plugins to cover diverse business needs. The cost of plugins depends on the types and number of plugins you select. A typical WordPress website will have anywhere between 15 to 18 WordPress plugins. Therefore, plugins typically cost between $0 and $1,000 on an ongoing or one-time basis.



Here are some must-have WordPress plugins to integrate:




Security plugins: protect your website from threats, malware, and unauthorized access (Wordfence);



SEO plugins: improve your site’s search engine visibility (Ahrefs, Semrush);



Caching plugins: enhance site speed and performance by caching content (WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache);



Backup plugins: ensure your website data is safe and can be restored easily (UpdraftPlus);



Form Builder plugins: create forms easily (WPForms);



Image optimization plugins: optimize images for faster loading times (EWWW Image Optimizer);



Page builders: design custom layouts without coding (Divi Builder, Spectra); a powerful page builder that allows you to create custom layouts and designs;



Analytics plugins: track website traffic and user behavior with (MonsterInsights);



Social Media plugins: add share buttons, social feeds, and more (Blog2Social, Social Post Feed).




Tip: the more features you need, the more you will pay. So when it comes to plugins, be careful and stick to a specific strategy. You can quickly increase your monthly costs and slow down your website by installing too many plugins. Explore the WordPress plugin repository for the best solutions and their costs.



Marketing and SEO



Average cost: $250- 1000\ month.



Initially, you may not need marketing and SEO to build a WordPress website. But if you plan for your website to rank highly in search engines, generate leads and ultimately drive sales and revenue, you’ll need to invest in marketing and SEO services. 



First, decide whether to do your own marketing and SEO or hire professionals. While hiring a digital marketer and an SEO expert may cost more, results will be better. The cost of marketing and SEO services depends on a company's niche and its competitiveness, the scope of services, the number of website pages, complexity, agency location, and more.



The cost of SEO services for a WordPress site can range from $250 to $1,000/month for freelancers, from $500 to $5,000+/month for SEO agencies, or project-based fees. As for digital marketers freelancers charge around $25 and over (+$700\month), while agencies charge up to $500/hour (from $1.000 - $20.000\month) for medium and small businesses. 



Alternatively, a more budget-friendly approach is to leverage marketing and SEO efforts through a do-it-yourself (DIY) strategy. For this, you’ll need to integrate WordPress SEO plugins with specific digital tools, ads, and more. Here is exactly what WordPress marketing and SEO costs may include:




SEO tools: to plan and monitor your SEO strategies, you can use SEO tools, such as Ahrefs (from $99/month) for backlink analysis, Semrush (from $119.95/month) for diverse aspects of online presence, and Screaming Frog (259\ year) for technical SEO analysis;



SEO plugins: you can improve your search rankings and organic traffic by using premium WordPress plugins like Yoast SEO , All In One SEO. A caching plugin like WP Rocket also improves SEO rankings and website loading speeds;



Email marketing: build an email list and send newsletters, promotional, blog posts and other data to convert more users to subscribers and track email campaigns. For this, you can use premium email newsletter plugins like Mailchimp for WordPress, MailPoet, or Newsletter;



Social media: promote your website content on social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to reach a broader audience by using social media integration plugins, like Blog2Social, Social Media, etc;



Pay-per-click (PPC) ads: promote a website by paying for clicks on platforms such as Google Ads or Bing Ads. The cost-per-click (CPC) varies depending on your industry or niche. The average cost of Google Ads and Facebook Ads is $2.69 and $3.77\click;



Content creation: hire content creators or agencies to create high-quality content based on SEO to improve the website’s visibility and drive more traffic and conversions;



Content marketing: choose relevant blog topics and develop an effective content strategy that will drive traffic;



Link building: invest in link-building strategies to enhance your website's authority and improve search engine rankings. It involves linking articles and blogs to your site, outreach, guest posting, and other tactics;



Analytics tools: use tools like Google Analytics (GA) and Google Search Console to track and analyze your website's performance, user behavior, and search visibility.




Tip: the key factor affecting the price of SEO promotion and marketing is a company's niche. Accordingly, the promotion price for each niche will be different. The more competitive the niche, the higher the price for SEO and marketing will be.



Apart from that, investing in SEO and marketing strategy will have a significant impact on your website's organic traffic, visibility and conversion, but only if it's an ongoing process rather than a one-time expense.







Website maintenance 



Average cost: from $0 - $500\month.



When you calculate WordPress website pricing, don't forget to take its maintenance into account. Keeping your WordPress website updated and well-maintained is crucial for its performance, security, and user experience. In addition, plugin providers constantly release updates to fix bugs and improve performance, so you'll need to update them, too.



WordPress maintenance cost depends on the type of website (personal, ecommerce), its size, complexity, the level of customization, hosting provider, and extra requirements. Here are some effective ways to handle WordPress maintenance:




Choose a DIY (do-it-yourself) approach;



Hire a freelancer;



Hire a WordPress website maintenance agency;



Choose Managed WordPress hosting.




Below are more details about each method.



DIY or do-it-yourself maintenance is the most affordable option for website maintenance. If you only need basic services like theme updates, plugin installations, core upgrades, and backups, opt for DIY. It requires minimal effort, as it involves maintaining your WordPress website without help from others. But the total cost of self-maintaining a website also depends on the number of features you use and how complex they are. The average cost of DIY maintenance is from $0 - $100\month.



If your WordPress website needs more maintenance, consider hiring a freelancer. For example, you might need to resolve more complex tasks, troubleshoot issues, optimize and improve the security of your website, or obtain specialized services. The freelance developer will take care of it. A developer can fix bugs or assist with custom ecommerce websites or any other development tasks. The average cost of a freelancer is $200 – $500/month.



Choose a hosting provider that offers managed WordPress services to avoid worrying about WordPress website maintenance tasks. The web hosting provider will handle all maintenance issues directly. Their services include automated updates and backups, security scans, performance optimization monitoring, and comprehensive support. The average cost of managed WordPress hosting is $30 – $200/month.



Website maintenance agencies specialize in managing and maintaining WordPress websites for clients. They provide comprehensive services, including regular updates, security audits, content management, performance optimization, and ongoing support. In other words, it's an all-in-one package. Their cost depends on the agency, scope of services, level of customization, and support you need. The average cost of WordPress website maintenance agencies is $500- over $1000/month.



Security



Average cost: $70 - $1000 / month or year.



Ensuring website security is a top priority for website owners. It is possible to either obtain SSL certificates or install security plugins. SSL, known as Secure Sockets Layer, is a protocol that ensures secure data transfer between a user's browser and a website, protecting sensitive data, like payment details, login credentials, etc. As a result, it offers reliable protection against data breaches and malicious threats, leading to increased user trust. Also, Google recommends SSL websites rank higher in search results, improving their visibility. 



There are two ways to obtain an SSL certificate. The first is to pick a website builder, a domain registrar, or a website host that provides an SSL certificate. Many hosting providers don't include SSL certificates - so double-check it. The cost of the SSL certification varies from $70 to $80\year on average. But the cost can also reach $1,000\year, depending on how far you are going to go to secure your website and the plan you will sign up for.



The second way is to purchase an SSL certificate from a Certificate Authority (CA), a company that provides SSL certificates. Various CAs offer different types of SSL certificates, feature sets, and pricing plans. Among well-known CAs are Comodo (now Sectigo), GeoTrust, Let's Encrypt, DigiCert, GlobalSign, and many more.



An additional way to secure a website is to install security plugins (free or premium). Security plugins offer additional layers of security beyond SSL encryption, such as malware scanning, web app firewall (WAFs) protection, and real-time monitoring to actively defend against threats. Plugins with free security features may be sufficient for small businesses, but premium options offer more advanced security features. Prices for premium security plugins vary, for example, Sucuri ($199.99 - $499.99/year) and Wordfence ($99 - $950/year). You can choose from the best WordPress security plugins for your specific website needs.



Development and design fees



Average cost: from $15 to $50\hour for a developer and $30 for a designer\hour.



If you need a highly customizable website with advanced features and a unique design that goes beyond the standard capabilities WordPress offers, you need to hire a WordPress developer and a designer. Due to this, a custom WordPress website cost is higher than for other business types of sites.



A WordPress developer is a full-stack specialist who is proficient in developing and customizing websites using the WordPress platform. They create custom themes, plugins, and modules, redesign websites to optimize performance and SEO, and review WordPress codebases for better performance. They are proficient in PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, cybersecurity, databases, version control systems like Git, and more.



The cost to hire a WordPress developer can also vary based on their location, skill sets, the complexity of a project, and many more. For example, the average hourly rate for a WordPress developer in the United States and Canada is $50 to $150, Europe from $40 to $100\hour, and Asia from $15 to $40 per hour. According to Glassdoor, the median hourly rate for a WordPress developer stands at $30. Typically, the hourly model is the most common pricing model developers use nowadays. Here are the hourly rates for different levels of developers in 2024:




Junior developers: $20 to $50;



Mid-level developers: $50 to $150;



Senior developers: $150 to $250.




Hiring a designer can significantly enhance a WordPress website’s aesthetics, functionality, and user experience. While basic themes, plugins, and DIY efforts may offer certain pros, they often fall short in terms of customization and optimization needed for a truly professional website. Design can help a website achieve brand consistency, intuitive navigation, and seamless performance across various platforms, helping it stand out.



WordPress web design cost also varies greatly. The average cost of web designers is $30/hour. But if you hire a web design agency, the total cost can reach $5,000 or more. For a website, you can expect to pay between $500 and $15,000, depending on the complexity of the design. These costs can increase for ecommerce sites, complex functionality, or time-limited projects.



The total cost of WordPress website building: summarizing



Although WordPress is a free platform, it still requires investment. When you’re building a WordPress website, you will encounter two types of expenses: required costs (impossible to avoid) and likely-but-optional costs. Among the required costs are a domain name, website hosting, SSL certificate (if not included in hosting), a simple premium, and plugins. Additional costs may include premium plugins and themes, customized design and development. 



Here are the most important WordPress website costs and their elements:



ExpenceAverage costFrequencyPlanFrom $0 to $25.000Month or yearDomain nameFrom $10 to $25+YearWeb hostingFrom $20 to $300+MonthThemesFrom $0 to $200+Year or one-time costPluginsFrom $0 to over $300+Month, year, or one-time costMarketing and SEOFrom $250 to $1000+MonthWebsite maintenanceFrom $0 to $500+MonthSecurityFrom $70 to over $1000+Month or yearDeveloperFrom $15 to $50+HourDesignerFrom $30 and overHour



The cost of your project will vary depending on how you prioritize key elements. For example, if your site has a lot of traffic, you'll have to pay more for hosting, but you can pair it with a free WordPress theme to cut costs on design. In contrast, if design is paramount for your brand, it may be worth investing in premium themes or hiring a designer.



Ultimately, striking a balance between essential and optional expenses is key to optimizing your WordPress website's budget.



WordPress website design prices based on business size



Depending on the size of your business, you will need to pay the different price for the key elements that go into the building of a website:







Source: HubSpot



According to this graph, the average cost of WordPress development for each type of business size ranges from:




A website with a low budget: $46 - $100\year;



A website with more features: $500 - $1000\year;



A small business website: $300 - $700\year, but it could cost up to $1,000;



An ecommerce website: $1000 - $3000\ year;



A mid-size website: $2000 - $5000\year;



An enterprise-level website: $5000 - $15,000\year;



A custom website: basic $15,000 - $25,000\year, average $30,000 - $80,000\year, difficult $30,000 - $80,000\year.




When a business grows from a small size to a corporate one, the cost increases significantly, leading to an upward price movement. 



How can you avoid overpaying while building a WordPress website?



Overspending and cutting down spending when it comes to WordPress website development is very easy. Otherwise, it could lead to exceeding your allocated budget, financial strain, reduced ROI, delayed launch, and wasted resources, among other things. To stick to a desired budget, it is crucial to strike the right balance between careful planning and project management. 



Here are some tips to keep your budget on track during the project:




Prioritize features and functionality: what you need vs. what would be nice to have;



Plan for scalability;



Consider your options: DIY vs. hiring professionals;



Consider ready-made plugins and themes instead of super custom;



Prioritize long-term investment;



Research and compare prices for themes, plugins, etc;



Regularly monitor and review expenses;



Reuse existing assets (content, design);



Optimize a website for perfect user experience (even if it is small);



Include digital marketing in your budget from the start;



Increase website functionality and size gradually.




Remember, building a WordPress website is all about finding the right balance between functionality, aesthetics, and budget management. By considering the points listed above, you can create a website that is not only effective, highly functional, and modern but also meets all your business needs without overspending or compromising on website quality.



Conclusion 



Every WordPress software development process and design need is unique, so the cost of a WordPress project will also vary accordingly. Each stage—from selecting the appropriate domain, hosting providers, and SSL certificate to customizing themes and integrating plugins—impacts the final cost of your solution. So WordPress website development cost can vary widely based on your specific project demands and business goals. If you assess your needs and future website requirements, break each component down according to its cost, you can allocate your budget strategically and plan a successful web design project.



So, if you need professional consultation to navigate all the intricacies of WordPress development, rely on our extensive SoftTeco’s WordPress services. We offer comprehensive solutions across various industries to provide highly customized products per each client's needs. Regardless of what you are looking for, starting a website from scratch, fine-tuning, and optimizing an existing one, they can answer all your questions related to "what is the cost of a WordPress website creation?" and help strengthen your online presence and boost conversions.




 


Expert Opinion



Just recently, we created a WordPress-based website for a marketing agency. That was a pretty big piece of work as we had a custom design, lots of lovely and spectacular animations, AI chat, and more than 540 website pages. The project involved many people: designers, copywriters, a business analyst, an SEO expert, and, of course, a technical team (developers, an ML expert, and quality assurance experts).



A number of things we did may be regarded as costly. We created a style guide, and the design for each component and template was based on this guide. As I said above, there were lots of animations and animated navigation effects to make the pages look live and modern. We also used custom plugins to meet all business, security, and performance requirements. Customized contact forms were created to aim the requests to the proper direction. This feature helps handle the requests more quickly and effectively. 



The website went through great SEO expertise that helped us greatly improve the effectiveness of website search results. Another huge piece of work was the implementation of an AI chat on the website. We did lots of work to make it a helpful assistant, a lively interlocutor, and a good service promoter.





Project Manager at SoftTeco



Oksana Andreyeva






 





 

FAQ

### Power BI vs Tableau: Choosing the Most Suitable Business Intelligence Tool

Data is fueling the development and growth of any business, so it’s critical to deploy the right Business Intelligence tool to make the most of it. While there is an impressive variety of options in the market, the two most popular ones are Power BI and Tableau. Both have a rich set of features for user-friendly data visualization and both are used by big brands, such as JPMorgan Chase Bank, Amazon, Walmart, and many others. 



When comparing Power BI vs Tableau, how do you choose a tool that is perfect for your specific business needs? This article aims to clarify the main similarities and differences between the two and explains the strengths and weaknesses of each.







Why Business Intelligence is critical for any modern business



To understand why the choice between Tableau vs Power BI is so important, it is essential to know what exactly is Business Intelligence and what benefits it brings. Business Intelligence (BI for short) can be defined as a process of analyzing the data and transforming it into actionable insights to help executives and managers to make data-driven and strategic decisions. With the help of these decisions, organizations are able to increase revenue, improve overall efficiency, and become more competitive since they use the data to:




Make accurate assumptions and forecasts;



Identify the company’s weaknesses and areas for improvement;



Analyze and understand customers’ behavior and needs;



Allocate resources and finances in a wiser manner.




A Business Intelligence tool is specialized software used to collect and analyze information and present it to users in a clear and concise manner via various data visualization formats. And though all BI tools share the same purpose, they also differ a lot. Hence, it is important to know about these differences so you can select a tool that will be a perfect fit for your business.



What is Power BI?



Power BI is a BI platform by Microsoft and, as Microsoft defines, “it is a set of services, apps, and connectors that work in conjunction to turn your data into valuable insights”. Released in 2015, the platform quickly became popular and has been viewed as the biggest Tableau competitor ever since.



In a simplistic scenario Power BI can be used as a no-code platform with drag-and-drop functionality. That means, you don’t need to have any preliminary tech expertise to visualize your data. Power BI is highly user-centric and intuitive, which is one of the main reasons why users love it. Also, Power BI connects to numerous data sources, thus expanding your data pool and providing more valuable insights. And obviously, since Power BI was produced by Microsoft, it is part of its ecosystem and works like a charm with other Microsoft products like Excel.



Main features of Power BI



While the functionality of Power BI is similar to the one of Tableau and other BI platforms, there are several distinctive features that set this solution apart from competition. Also, it’s worth mentioning the biggest Power BI features that bring companies the most value:




Dataset filtering: by using Power Query, users can easily filter their data at various levels, such as page filters, report filters, etc.



Auto-refresh: with Power BI, you can use both auto- and manual refresh options to regularly update your reports and work with real-time data.



DAX functions: with the help of DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) functions, you can enhance the data analytics and perform a variety of actions with your data.



Q&A tool: powered by AI technology, the Q&A smart tool enables users to ask questions in natural language and receive data-based answers. 



Data visualization: being a BI tool, Power BI by default comes with a variety of data visualization options.



Collaboration: Power BI makes data and reports accessible for multiple users and enables easy collaboration and sharing, which is essential for an organization.



Data transformation: if you worry that the collected data may not be suitable for analysis, we have good news. Power BI has tools that clean the data and prepare it for further analysis, so all data-related processes happen in one place.




There are obviously many more features but the ones above are the most interesting to know about. Now, onto the Power BI products.



Power BI products



It is essential for modern businesses to be able to access their data and reports from anywhere and anytime. Hence, Power BI offers several products that run on different platforms and vary in functionality, adding extra value to the platform:




Power BI Desktop: a free tool for standard data visualization and reporting; the feature set is rather limited.



Power BI Service: a cloud-based tool for publishing and sharing your reports and dashboards. Comes in three licensing plans: Free, Pro, and Premium.



Power BI Pro: similar to Power BI desktop, but is cloud-based and has a richer feature set.



Power BI Mobile: a mobile app that lets you access your reports and dashboards from the mobile device of choice.



Power BI Report Server: an on-premises reporting server that is available only in Power BI Premium and SQL Server Enterprise Edition plans.




Power BI pros and cons



Though Power BI is loved by many and is considered one of the best BI tools out there, it has certain limitations and challenges that you should know about. In this way, you will ensure that this tool is a truly good fit for your business, and you won’t encounter any unexpected issues while working with it.



Power BI pros:




Integration with the Microsoft ecosystem: being a Microsoft product itself, Power BI integrates seamlessly with Excel, SharePoint, and other Microsoft products that you might use.



Great UX: despite its rich functionality and seeming complexity, Power BI is actually very user-friendly and is great for both beginners and advanced researchers. The navigation  of the platform is quite intuitive and doesn’t require any tech knowledge.



Cost-effective: unlike many alternatives, Power BI is rather affordable and comes in different pricing plans, thus being suitable for businesses of various sizes.



Powerful features: Power BI boasts a ton of great features, including AI-based Q&A, Power Query, and auto-refresh.




Power BI cons:




Potential performance issues: while Power BI is really fast and effective with small datasets, it doesn’t work so well with massive datasets and has a limit of 100 TB of data.



Vendor lock-in: belonging to the Microsoft family is both an advantage and a disadvantage here because the Power BI performance may be limited on other platforms. For example, the desktop version of the platform would not work on macOS.



Limited customization: Power BI does not allow you to play around with reports and dashboards configuration and is overall not too flexible in terms of tweaking.



Limited functionality and data connectivity: despite being highly effective and feature-rich, Power BI connects to fewer data sources than Tableau and has a limited set of out-of-box features.




What is Tableau?



Tableau is a BI tool that was first introduced back in 2003, and in 2019 it was acquired by Salesforce. As you can guess, it now belongs to the Salesforce family and thus integrates seamlessly with Salesforce products.



Despite being relatively old, Tableau remains one of the top choices when it comes to Business Intelligence tools. It has an impressively vast functionality, works great with both small and large datasets, and connects to a huge variety of data sources. Add to that a big community, and you’ll understand why so many businesses still prefer working with Tableau than with alternative solutions. 



Main features of Tableau



So, what sets Tableau apart from similar solutions, including the above mentioned Power BI? Let’s take a look at its most notable features:




Vector-maps: for smooth work with map exploration and with the geospatial data, Tableau offers vector-based maps.



Data highlighter: when you work with massive amounts of data and need to investigate specific data fields or groups in more detail, you can use the data highlighter tool to highlight them.



Custom territories: in addition to built-in territories like countries or geographic regions, Tableau also allows you to create your own custom territories, which is highly valuable in certain use cases.



Customization: Tableau is generally very customizable, and thus, it can be named one of its biggest and most attractive features. Tableau allows pinpointing the configuration of dashboards and reports and adjusting it precisely as needed.



Data blending: not only does Tableau connect to multiple data sources, it also allows blending the data from different sources into a single report. 



Dashboard commenting: Tableau offers the dashboard commenting feature for enhanced and simplified collaboration. This feature allows users to leave comments and reply to them.




And obviously, Tableau comes with a set of essential data visualization and reporting tools, similar to the ones in Power BI. These tools include data modeling, data preparation, data exploration, and many others. Also, same as Power BI, Tableau comes in a variety of products, each suited for different purposes.



Tableau products



While the products mentioned below are very similar to Power BI ones, it is still important to discuss them in order to understand the extensive capabilities of Tableau and how well this platform may meet your needs.




Tableau Desktop: being the main Tableau product, this desktop app is used for data visualization, has a user-friendly drag and drop interface, and can connect to a big variety of data sources.



Tableau Server: a centralized and secure platform for storing and managing Tableau content within an enterprise.



Tableau Prep: a useful tool for preparing and cleaning the data before it can be analyzed. With the help of Tableau Prep, you can create a consistent and clear dataset with raw data from multiple sources.



Tableau Public: a free platform for public sharing of data reports and visualizations with the global community.



Tableau Online: a cloud-based platform for securely sharing data over the Internet. Can be named a Tableau Server alternative and is used to share reports within an organization.



Tableau Mobile: this mobile application grants access to your Tableau reports and dashboards from your mobile device.




Tableau pros and cons



Tableau is loved by many organizations and is still considered one of the most powerful and effective data visualization tools. However, due to its age and relative complexity, it also may pose certain challenges if not handled in advance.



Tableau pros:




Great performance: unlike Power BI, Tableau seamlessly handles massive data sets and swiftly processes small ones. 



High level of customization and great flexibility: if you need to fine-tune a specific data report or set unique configurations, Tableau lets you do so. In this way, you receive unique visualizations and reports that are precisely aligned with your business goals.



Integration with Salesforce: since many modern businesses use Salesforce, seamless integration of Tableau with this ecosystem eliminates a number of issues and allows you to get started instantly with your data.



No OS limitations: Tableau works great on both macOS and Windows platforms and can be downloaded as a mobile app. Needless to say, such versatility is a huge advantage.




Tableau cons:




Steep learning curve: due to Tableau’s complexity, it might be challenging for beginners and new users to onboard and learn the platform’s navigation and functionality. It is not as intuitive as Power BI and you’ll need some time to figure your way around it.



Limited number of default visuals: there are only 24 default visuals in Tableau and if you need more advanced ones, you’ll need to buy them.



Cost: Tableau is generally more expensive than Power BI so this might be among the decisive factors when choosing between the two.



No auto-refresh feature: unlike Power BI, Tableau doesn’t offer automatic refreshing of the data, which may lead to inaccurate or irrelevant results.



Lack of versioning and change management: one more significant disadvantage of Tableau is that the platform does not have version control or change management, which may often be inconvenient if you want to go back in reporting and track certain changes.




Key similarities between Power BI vs Tableau



To make a well-thought choice between Power BI and Tableau, it is important to understand both its similarities and differences. First, let’s look at the key areas where these two platforms overlap.



Popularity



While some may say that popularity is not valid enough to be considered a decisive factor upon the platform choice, we disagree and here is why. The popularity of a software tool usually impacts the size of its community, availability of documentation, and support for this tool. Hence, the more popular a tool is, the easier it will be to work with it since there is most probably a big community behind it, ready to help. 



According to a report by Gartner, Tableau and Power BI share the first and second place in the list of the BI products with the following numbers:



Tableau:




4.4 stars



3702 ratings



41% of 5-star reviews




Power BI




4.4 stars



3035 ratings



43% of 5-star reviews




Both platforms share a great number of users (companies that deploy these tools) and are loved by both big brands and small/medium-sized companies.







Rich visualization options



Any good Business Intelligence tool should offer a plethora of visualization options and formats, and Power BI and Tableau successfully meet this requirement. Let’s discuss them both in a bit of detail.



As already mentioned, Tableau is highly customizable and offers a rich array of visualization formats. The majority of reports in Tableau are created from scratch, which is both good and bad. Good because you can fine-tune them exactly as needed, but bad because it takes more time and sometimes requires a bit of expertise and knowledge. 



Power BI has more pre-built templates and is easier to use while also offering lots of visualization formats. For example, it has the same hierarchical drill-down and mapping features as Tableau, though they are not as customizable. 



High usability



Usability is an important feature of an effective BI tool, since that’s the whole point of data visualization: to present insights and information in a user-friendly way.



Both Tableau and Power BI are highly user-centric, though Power BI is more intuitive and less complex. With Power BI, you can start working right away and the creation of reports and dashboards does not take too much time. Tableau, on the other hand, is suitable for more experienced researchers and analysts and the creation of reports and the overall user interface may seem a bit too complex. 



Variety of data sources



The more data sources you use, the more accurate and detailed the reports will be. Hence, it’s critical that your BI tool connects to various sources and blends the data effectively. Here are a few examples of sources that both Tableau and Power BI connect to:




Amazon Redshift



Excel



Google Analytics



BigQuery



Hadoop



MySQL



IBM DB2



Oracle 



PostgreSQL




And many others. Note, though, that since these two tools belong to different ecosystems, their usability and connectivity will vary. So make a choice depending on the tools that you use within your organization. If you primarily use Microsoft, the choice will obviously be Power BI, while Salesforce adepts will find Tableau more convenient. Also, research native data connectors for each solution and see which ones you are planning to use.



Key differences between Tableau vs Power BI



Though these two BI tools are quite similar, there are also a few big differences that often help businesses make the final choice between Power BI versus Tableau. Thus, let’s answer the “what is the difference between Power BI and Tableau” question below.



Pricing



The first and most important difference between Tableau and Power BI is probably the pricing of the platforms. We’ve already mentioned that Power BI cost vs Tableau is much more affordable - now, let’s look at each tool separately and in detail.



We’ll start with Power BI. 



The great news is that Power BI has a free version, which is Power BI Desktop. It is intended for home users and allows you to create visualizations and build dashboards on your desktop device. However, you can’t share your reports, which is a drawback. 



Next, there are the following premium plans:




Power BI Pro: $10/month per user. Allows building reports and sharing them across your organization.



Power BI Premium: $20/month per user. Offers more advanced analytics tools and simplified data management, together with all the same features of the Pro plan.



Power BI Premium per capacity: $4995 - $6890 per capacity/month. Has the same functionality as the regular Premium plan but does not limit the number of users, which can be highly valuable for big organizations.




Here is a quick table to summarize all Power BI pricing plans:



Name of the planCostDescriptionPower BI DesktopFreeFor individual users and home use. Allows creating reports and dashboards but does not allow sharing them.Power BI Pro$10/month per 1 userFor users within an organization. Allows creating reports and dashboards and allows sharing them.Power BI Premium$20/month per 1 userSame as Power BI Pro but with more advanced and powerful features and easier data management.Power BI Premium per capacity$4995 - $6890 per capacity/monthSame as Power BI Pro, but allows an unlimited number of users within an organization.



 Now, to the Tableau pricing. Spoilers: it’s way more expensive.



The only free product that Tableau offers is Tableau Public - a free platform for data visualization. It can be described as a learning tool as it allows creating data visualizations and dashboards and sharing them with the public community, thus helping users improve their data management skills. However, it is not suitable for businesses and employees, so let’s keep going. Here are the paid plans:




Tableau Creator: $70/month per user. Provides good functionality for report creation and sharing, and grants access to Tableau Desktop and Tableau Prep Builder products. Also includes one Creator license for Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server.



Tableau Explorer: $40/month per user. You can explore and interact with the reports created by others but cannot create reports yourself. This plan includes a Tableau Cloud explorer license.



Tableau Viewer: $15/month per user. This plan allows only viewing reports but without any interaction. Also includes a Tableau Cloud view license.




Name of the planCostDescriptionTableau PublicFreeMore of a learning tool to shape your data analytics skills and to create visualizations and reports for the personal useTableau Creator$70/month per userEnables users to create and share reports.Tableau Explorer$40/month per userAllows only exploration of reports and interaction with them (i.e., commenting) but does not allow creation of reports.Tableau Viewer$15/month per userAllows only viewing reports that are created by others.



User interface



Though we’ve listed usability as one of the biggest strengths of both platforms, their user interfaces differ a bit, and it’s worth noting that.







Judging by the ease of use, Power BI is a clear winner. It has a very clear and intuitive interface with a variety of features to convert your raw data into meaningful insights. The dashboards are simple to understand and overall, the navigation through Power BI is very intuitive. In this way, you don’t need to have any prior experience with BI tools to work with Power BI.



The story is a bit different for Tableau. While it’s relatively easy to use, its interface is more cluttered and complex than the one of Power BI. First, many of its features are hidden behind menus, so you need to know what you are looking for. Second, since you create reports and visualizations from scratch, you’ll have to go through more steps, and some of them can be quite confusing. Overall, Tableau seems more cluttered than Power BI and definitely requires you to have previous experience with BI tools.



Performance



While both tools display a high level of performance, it differs when it comes to data sets of various sizes. Both Tableau and Power BI perform great with small data sets, and Power BI may even be more efficient. However, Power BI may slow down when processing massive data sets, while Tableau handles them perfectly. Hence, when choosing between the two, consider what type of datasets you deal with more frequently.



Power BI vs Tableau: a comparison table 



Let’s draw the bottom line with a Power BI vs Tableau comparison matrix and recap the biggest features of both.



Power BITableauRelease year20132003Owned byMicrosoftSalesforceProgramming languageDAXMDXSupported languagesR and PythonR and PythonPricing- Power BI Desktop: free, for home users only.- Power BI Pro: $10/month per user, allows creating and sharing reports.- Power BI Premium: $20/month per user, has more advanced analytics tools and better data management.- Power BI Premium per capacity: $4995 - $6890 per capacity/month, supports an unlimited number of users.- Tableau Public: a free “learning” platform to master data visualization skills.- Tableau Creator:  $70/month per user, allows creating and sharing reports.- Tableau Explorer: $40/month per user, allows only exploring and interacting with reports, without creating them.- Tableau Viewer: $15/month per user, allows only viewing reports.PerformanceGood but may have issues when processing massive data setsHighly effective in working with both small and big data setsUsabilityHigh. The user interface and available visualization options are very user-friendly and intuitive.Good but can be a bit too complex for inexperienced users.Data visualizationsRich. Provides a big variety of visualization formats.Very rich, offers advanced visualization formats.CustomizationMediumHighDeployment typeOn-premises and CloudOn-premises and CloudSecurityRow-level securityRow-level securityLearning curveLow. Does not require preliminary experience, has an intuitive drag-and-drop interface.High. Though also being a no-code platform with a drag-and-drop interface, Tableau is not suitable for new users and beginners.SQL SupportYesYes



Final word



When discussing Power BI vs Tableau, it can be hard to decide which is better for your organization. Both tools are very powerful and popular. Some businesses claim that Tableau is the best thing that happened to them, while others migrate from Tableau to Power BI and are immensely happy with the decision. So how do you make the right choice and which is better, Tableau or Power BI?



We recommend evaluating your current digital ecosystems and software tools that you most often use and assessing Tableau vs Power BI pros and cons. See how well these tools can be integrated with either Tableau or Power BI, and whether there are any specific features that you are looking for in a BI tool. Also, don’t hesitate to reach out to SoftTeco - our data scientists will gladly help you with the comparison of Tableau and Power BI and their evaluation.

### What Is Threat Hunting: Understanding Proactive Cybersecurity

Traditional security measures like firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and antivirus software are essential components of a layered defense strategy. However, they may not always be effective against advanced threats or targeted attacks. That's where cyber threat hunting comes in to complement existing security measures. 



In our article, we will take a closer look at the concept of threat hunting and explore its processes, methodologies, and challenges that threat hunters may face.







What is threat hunting?



Threat hunting, or cyber threat hunting, is a proactive cybersecurity practice where skilled professionals search for potential threats or security breaches within an organization's network. 



While automated security systems provide solid protection, they are not all-powerful. Sophisticated malicious actors can slip through the defenses and remain undetected in a network for extended periods, sometimes even months. 



Threat hunting involves human analysts who actively seek out signs of malicious activities that might have evaded automated defenses. These specialists are called threat hunters, as their main objective is to identify and neutralize potential threats before they can cause significant damage. 



For instance, let's say a threat hunter notices unusual activity in the company's network, like a sudden surge in data transfers late at night when no one should be working. This could be a sign of a potential data breach or unauthorized access. By spotting these anomalies early on, threat hunters can investigate further, prevent potential harm, and strengthen the company's defenses.



Threat hunting is usually performed by:




In-house security teams. Larger organizations may have dedicated threat hunting teams within their cybersecurity departments.



Security Operations Centers (SOCs). These teams often include threat hunting as part of their broader monitoring and incident response activities.



Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs). External providers that offer threat hunting as one of their services.



Freelance contractors and consultants. Independent professionals or firms that specialize in threat hunting and can be hired on a contract basis.




Threat hunters are typically employed by large organizations with over 1,000 employees. They are responsible for identifying new threats and closely collaborating with the SOC team and cybersecurity manager to ensure effective incident response and mitigation strategies.



Small or medium-sized businesses often opt to outsource threat hunting services due to the high cost of maintaining an in-house specialist. For instance, in the USA, salaries for experienced threat hunters can range from $118,000 to $195,000 per year per person, depending on location and expertise.



In some cases, cybersecurity analysts within the organization may also perform the threat hunting job.  



How threat hunting works 



Threat hunters utilize various techniques, tools, and methodologies to collect and analyze data, looking for signs of compromise and indicators of suspicious activities. They also collect and analyze threat intelligence, which includes information about attempted or successful intrusions, known attack patterns, and indicators of compromise (IOCs). This intelligence helps guide the hunting process and provides insights into attackers' latest tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). 



The process of proactive threat hunting cyber security typically involves three stages: trigger, investigation, and resolution.



The trigger



The journey of threat hunting commences with the identification of triggers that hint at the presence of potential threats within an organization's network. These triggers can take various forms, such as anomalies, unusual patterns, or suspicious activities that deviate from established norms. 



For instance, in 2017, Equifax, one of the largest credit reporting agencies in the United States, suffered a significant data breach that exposed the personal information of approximately 147 million individuals. They detected the cyberattack by identifying anomalies and suspicious activities within their network. Equifax's security team noticed unusual network traffic patterns and abnormal queries to their databases. These activities deviated from established norms and raised suspicions.



Investigation 



Once the triggers have been identified, the next crucial step is to conduct a thorough investigation and analysis to uncover the underlying causes and potential implications. This involves using advanced security tools, threat intelligence, and forensic techniques to examine unusual activities and determine their nature. Additionally, it requires correlating data points and exploring potential attack vectors to gain a comprehensive understanding of the threat landscape. This process helps to uncover layers of suspicion and determine the best approach to address the problem.



Resolution



Once the investigative phase is complete and actionable insights have been gathered, the next step is to develop an effective resolution strategy. This plan should include immediate actions to halt the threats and bolster the organization's defenses by addressing vulnerabilities, revising security policies, and taking proactive measures to prevent similar threats in the future. 



Types of threat hunting



Cyber threat hunting strategies typically fall into one of these three classifications:




Structured. In structured hunting, threat hunters analyze indicators of attack (IoA) and identify suspicious tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). They start by formulating a hypothesis about the attacker's methods based on a thorough examination of log data and other relevant sources to find the traces of the attack and neutralize the malicious actor. 



Unstructured. In an unstructured hunt, the cyber threat hunter initiates the search from a specific indicator of compromise (IoC). They then start to investigate historical data, searching for patterns and clues about the threat. This approach may also help uncover previously undetected threats that may still pose a risk to the organization.



Situational. Situational threat hunting focuses on high-risk events, entities, or situations (such as a recent security incident or a known vulnerability) specific to the organization. Threat hunters utilize threat intelligence, relevant data, and contextual information about network entities to identify potential threats or vulnerabilities.




Threat hunting methodologies



Although having dedicated threat hunters may be difficult for some companies, security teams can utilize threat hunting techniques to strengthen their defense mechanisms and stay ahead of cyber attackers. Let's explore some of the notable methodologies:



Hunting based on intelligence  



This approach relies on threat intelligence to guide the hunting process. Threat intelligence provides information about known threats and attacker TTPs, which security specialists can use to proactively search for similar indicators within an organization's environment. For example, if threat intelligence reports indicate a rise in phishing attacks targeting a specific industry using a particular malware variant, intelligence-driven hunting would involve searching for signs of this specific threat within the organization's network logs and endpoints.



Investigation driven by hypotheses



In this method, threat hunters formulate hypotheses or educated guesses about potential threats based on available data, trends, or security events. They then conduct targeted investigations to validate or refute these hypotheses. For instance, a hypothesis could be that an increase in failed login attempts during off-hours may indicate an insider threat attempting unauthorized access. To confirm or reject this hypothesis, threat hunters would investigate login logs and user behavior.



Investigation using indicators of attack (IoA)



Indicators of attack (IoA) are patterns or activities that suggest malicious behavior or an ongoing attack. Threat hunters use IoAs derived from threat intelligence, security research, or historical incidents to search for similar indicators within their organization's systems. For example, an IoA could be a series of network connections to known malicious IP addresses associated with command-and-control servers. Threat hunters would monitor network traffic logs to identify and block these suspicious connections.



Hybrid hunting



Hybrid hunting combines multiple threat hunting methodologies, tools, and data sources to maximize effectiveness. It integrates intelligence-driven approaches, hypothesis-driven investigations, IoA analysis, and advanced analytics to provide comprehensive threat detection and response capabilities. For example, threat hunters may use threat intelligence to identify emerging threats, formulate hypotheses based on this intelligence, investigate IoAs related to known attack vectors, and apply machine learning models to detect novel threats or abnormal behaviors.



Threat hunting tools 



Threat hunting tools are software applications and platforms designed to assist security teams in proactively identifying and investigating potential cybersecurity threats within an organization's network and systems. These tools often incorporate advanced analytics, machine learning, threat intelligence integration, and automation capabilities to enhance threat detection and response efforts. 



Here are some common types of threat hunting solutions and tools:




SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) systems. SIEM tools collect, aggregate, and analyze security data from various sources such as network devices, servers, endpoints, and applications. They provide real-time monitoring, correlation of events, and alerting capabilities to identify potential threats.



Endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools. EDR solutions focus on monitoring and analyzing activities on endpoints (e.g., workstations, servers) to detect suspicious behavior, malware, and unauthorized activities. They offer features like threat hunting queries, forensic analysis, and incident response automation.



Threat intelligence platforms. These platforms integrate external threat intelligence feeds, indicators of compromise (IoCs), and contextual information about known threats. They help threat hunters correlate security events with threat intelligence data to identify and prioritize potential threats.



User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) solutions. UEBA tools analyze user and entity behaviors across the network to detect abnormal activities, insider threats, and unauthorized access attempts. They use machine learning algorithms to identify patterns and anomalies that may indicate potential security incidents.



Threat hunting platforms. Dedicated threat hunting platforms offer comprehensive capabilities for proactive threat hunting activities. They provide advanced querying, data visualization, threat hunting playbooks, automated hunting workflows, and collaboration features for effective threat hunting operations.



Deception technologies. Deception technologies deploy decoys, traps, and lures within the network to deceive and detect attackers. They create false targets and breadcrumbs to divert attackers away from real assets and trigger alerts when attackers interact with the decoys.




Here are some examples of free and open-source threat hunting tools:




AI Engine. AIEngine is an interactive tool that can update the network's intrusion detection system. It includes features like packet inspection, DNS domain classification, network forensics, and more. It supports various systems and add-ons.



APT-Hunter. APT-Hunter is a threat-hunting tool for Windows event logs that can detect suspicious activity and track APT movements. It maps Mitre ATT&CK tactics and techniques to Windows event log event IDs and detects indicators of attack.



Attacker KB. Attacker KB provides information about vulnerabilities, exploits, and their impact. It helps threat hunters identify and rank vulnerabilities based on their relevance and potential impact.



Automater. Automater is a tool that analyzes URLs, hashes, and domains to simplify intrusion analysis. It gathers relevant information from well-known sources and can be used to search for IP addresses, MD5 hashes, and domains.



BotScout. BotScout is a tool that prevents automated web scripts (bots) from filling out forms, spamming, and registering on websites. It tracks bot names, IP addresses, and email addresses and provides a free API for evaluating forms on websites.



CrowdFMS. CrowdFMS automates the collection and processing of samples from websites that publish information about phishing emails. It triggers alerts when phishing emails reach the network and provides a framework for automating the collection and processing of samples.



Cuckoo Sandbox. Cuckoo Sandbox is an open-source tool for analyzing malware. It can analyze various malicious files and websites in virtualized environments. It allows for sophisticated memory analysis and has a modular design for customization.



DeepBlue CLI. DeepBlueCLI is an open-source tool that analyzes security events and logs from Windows systems. It provides command-line capabilities for threat hunting and incident response.




Challenges that threat hunters may face



While this practice is essential for protecting organizations from cyberattacks, it also comes with numerous challenges and considerations that require careful navigation.



Data overload



One major challenge in threat hunting is dealing with a huge amount of data. Organizations receive information from various sources like network logs, endpoint data, and threat intelligence feeds. This flood of data can overwhelm security teams, making it hard to find important irregularities. Sorting through this data to find real threats requires advanced tools and skilled analysts who can tell normal network behavior apart from suspicious activities.



Evolving threats



Cyber threats are always changing, which makes it tough for threat hunters. Attackers constantly update their tactics to avoid detection. Security teams must stay alert, understand new threats, and adjust their hunting methods accordingly to stay ahead.



Skills gap and resource constraints



Creating a strong security team needs people with diverse skills in cybersecurity, data analysis, and IT systems knowledge. However, there's a shortage of cybersecurity experts, making it hard for organizations to find and keep good threat hunters. Also, limited resources, budget issues, and other priorities can make it difficult to run effective threat hunting programs, leaving organizations vulnerable to advanced cyber threats.



Final thoughts



While threat hunting is essential for cybersecurity, the lack of skilled specialists and the high cost of their services can pose a challenge for many organizations. However, there are cost-effective solutions. Organizations can invest in training existing staff, outsource threat hunting services, or use threat intelligence platforms. Tools like threat hunting content platforms can also bridge the knowledge gap and empower analysts. Even if you haven't encountered cyber attacks or information leaks yet, it doesn't mean it can't happen at all. Therefore, implementing threat hunting as part of your cybersecurity strategy is definitely worth considering. 

### What Is SAST? Static Application Security Testing Explained

In our past article, we’ve talked about dynamic application security testing aka DAST - now, let’s talk about its counterpart, which is static application security testing.



SAST is a highly efficient method of testing your application for potential vulnerabilities and issues. While having numerous benefits, it also comes with several limitations - all explained in our article. Scroll down to learn the answer to the “what is SAST?” question and understand why SAST works the best when paired with DAST.







What is static application security testing?



SAST meaning can be defined as a process of testing the application’s source code with an aim to identify vulnerabilities. It is a white-box testing technique, meaning that the person who performs SAST has full access to the application and has comprehensive knowledge about it. 



The main thing to know about SAST testing is that it tests the app’s source code. This allows developers to implement static application security testing at very early stages of development and thus significantly reduce remediation costs. 



Key features included in the SAST definition are:




White-box testing method



Investigates the app’s source code



Can be implemented in early stages of development



Tests the app in the idle state




How does SAST work?



Now that we are clear about the “what does SAST mean” question, let’s see how it works. To perform static application security testing, you’ll need to use a specialized tool. The most popular options are Klocwork and Checkmarx, both supporting several programming languages. Note that SAST technique is technology-dependent, meaning that the selected tool should support the programming language of your application. We’ll review top SAST tools a bit later, and for now, let’s see how this method actually works.




Tool selection: you choose a specialized SAST tool based on your tech stack.



Environment preparation: during this step, you will set up access control and authorization, as well as deploy resources needed for tool implementation.



Tool configuration: SAST tools can normally be customized in accordance with your needs, so during this step, you will configure it as needed and will integrate it into your environment.



App onboarding and scanning: once the SAST tool is ready and integrated, you can onboard the apps for scanning and start the process. The tool will automatically investigate the app’s source code, following the configuration rules.



Results analysis: the tool will provide you with a list of detected vulnerabilities and will sometimes suggest solutions for their remediation. 




As you can see, the process is mostly automated and does not require human interference. Now, you may be asking what kinds of vulnerabilities are present in the source code. Examples include:




SQL injections



XXE attacks



Buffer overflows



Insecure design



Vulnerable and outdated components,




And more. To get a better idea of potential vulnerabilities and risks that might be present in your app, see the official OWASP Top 10 list. Static application security testing normally covers the majority of these vulnerabilities, with DAST covering the rest.



Choosing a perfect SAST tool



If you don’t know which SAST tool would work the best for your project, we’ve prepared a short yet comprehensive table that compares the most popular solutions.



Tool nameKlocworkCheckmarxVeracodeReshiftSupported programming languagesC, C#, C++, JavaHuge variety - see the official documentation for the full list.Examples: Java, .NET, PHP, Kotlin, C++, Swift, etc.Huge variety, including Java, . NET, PHP, PythonNodeJSBiggest features- High scalability- Effective in finding div by zero, null pointer issues- Adherence to security standards- Option to add custom checks- Identification of security issues and suggestion of solutions- Cloud-native AppSec platform- Low false-positive count- SaaS (quick launch)- Adherence to security standards- Focus on shift-left security- Various pricing optionsPossible drawbacksLack of documentationLacking UINo free trial versionLack of flexibility



The main benefits of SAST testing



With the app’s security being the ultimate goal of any testing activity, SAST code scanning brings several unique benefits to it. Here are the biggest pros of regularly conducting static application testing.



Early detection of threats



As already mentioned, SAST can be used at the beginning of the development process. This allows early detection of potential vulnerabilities and threats and allows developers to remediate them before the app goes into production. Needless to say, this approach greatly increases the app’s security and performance and contributes to a better user experience without any glitches.



Reduced costs



The earlier you are able to detect and remediate a vulnerability, the lower the remediation costs will be. Due to the SAST adoption, you can significantly lower your costs on testing and threat remediation and make sure that your application goes into production in a bug-free state.



Automation



Any testing activity takes time, especially when you need to scan through the entire codebase. Static application security testing is an automated process that scans the app in a highly efficient and quick manner. Not only does SAST scanning save your testing time but also provides accurate results and detailed analysis, which you can later use to improve your app’s security.



Integration with SDLC



Another great thing about a SAST tool is that you can integrate it in the development environment or a build system via a plugin. In this way, the tool will continuously scan the app and immediately notify developers if any vulnerabilities are detected. 



Potential limitations and challenges of SAST scanning



SAST is an integral part of the app testing process, but to maximize its value and ensure that delivered results meet your initial goals, it is important to be aware of potential limitations and challenges. Below, we list the biggest ones.



Does not work in dynamic environments



Since static application security testing covers the app’s source code, it does not test the components of the running app and, thus, can’t detect runtime and compile errors. To ensure the all-round testing of the app, it’s best to combine SAST with dynamic application security testing.



High false positive rate



Because SAST tools do not exploit detected vulnerabilities and work with the source code, there is usually a rather high false positive rate. That means the detected vulnerabilities are identified as suspicious even though they are harmless or pose very little risk. One way to combat this issue is to carefully calibrate your SAST tool - thus, pay attention to its configuration before deployment.



Need for constant updating of reports



Since SAST tests a static environment and is integrated into the development process, the generated reports become outdated really quickly as soon as anything changes in the software. Thus, if you work with SAST, make sure to update the reports and perform testing regularly. Otherwise, you can end up with a pile of new and unidentified bugs and errors that will become more expensive to remediate.



SAST best practices



Lastly, let’s review static application security testing best practices. While the process of SAST implementation will be unique to every organization, a set of processes and methods is applicable to any project.



Implement SAST early



As already stated, early integration of SAST in your SDLC helps reduce remediation time and costs and greatly improves the quality and security of the app due to immediate threat detection. Thus, implement SAST at early stages of the development process to make sure that your code is reliable and secure from the start.



Establish secure coding standards



Secure coding is the process of writing code that adheres to security best practices and follows security principles by OWASP or similar organizations. It is a highly effective preventative measure in battling potential cyberattacks and data breaches and helps maintain universal coding standards across an organization. Paired with SAST and other testing techniques, secure coding is one of the cornerstones of the app’s security.



Regularly test for common vulnerabilities



There is a great variety of potential threats out there, and organizations sometimes focus on not-so-common vulnerabilities, overlooking the common and most obvious ones. However, even the most basic and simple attack can cause great damage. We therefore recommend starting your testing activities by investigating the presence of common vulnerabilities. After ensuring that your app is secured against the most expected threats, you can dig in deeper and test for more specific vulnerabilities and threats, if necessary. 



Summing up



Now that we’ve answered the “what is SAST?” question, we can say the following. Static application security testing is a very effective way to ensure your application’s security - but it can’t provide 100% defense against all potential threats. Thus, you need to use both SAST and DAST alongside other testing methods and test and update the app regularly. Such a holistic approach to testing will yield great results and will help not only prevent but mitigate possible attacks.

### Magento vs. WooCommerce: A Comprehensive Comparison of Two Powerful Ecommerce Platforms

When venturing into the world of online retail, the choice of an ecommerce platform can make or break your success. Among the popular options in the market, WooCommerce and Magento are two feature-rich platforms that make the decision to choose between them a significant one for aspiring online retailers. 



In this article, we will compare Magento vs. WooCommerce and review their advantages and limitations to help you dispel doubts about choosing a suitable platform. 







WooCommerce overview



Before we get into a detailed comparison, let’s review both platforms, starting with WooCommerce.



WooCommerce emerged in 2011 as a WordPress plugin created by WooThemes to enable businesses to easily set up and manage their online stores. Acquired by Automattic in 2015 (a parent company of WordPress), WooCommerce experienced rapid growth and adoption. It was fueled by its integration with WordPress, which powers over 40% of all websites on the Internet.



WooCommerce is simple to use and set up, which lets you transform a standard WordPress website into a fully functional online store in minutes. It comes with many useful features, such as:




Easily add, edit, and organize products, including physical goods, digital downloads, and services;



Support for various payment methods;



Flexible shipping configurations, including flat rate, free shipping, and real-time carrier calculations;



Track stock levels set up low stock notifications, and manage product variations efficiently;



Extensive customization options through themes, plugins, and code customization;



Built-in marketing features such as discounts, coupons, and email campaigns to drive sales and customer engagement.




As an open-source platform, WooCommerce itself is free to use, with additional costs incurred only for specific extensions or premium themes. It also has a big community that offers help, resources, and lots of extra tools to make online selling easier. 



WooCommerce gets frequent updates, and the upcoming release of the 8.9 version is scheduled for May 14, 2024. 



However, if you're new to WordPress, navigating the CMS might be challenging. Therefore, you will need to learn how to use both WordPress and WooCommerce.   



Magento overview



Our previous article about Magento vs. Shopify provided a comprehensive explanation of Magento. However, let’s review this platform once again to better understand it. 



Magento, also known as Adobe Commerce, is a powerful and flexible ecommerce platform that caters to businesses of all sizes. It’s open-source and offers a wide range of functionalities to create and manage professional online stores, including:




Product management, 



Order processing, 



Payment integration, 



Marketing tools, and more.




One of Magento's strengths lies in its comprehensive feature set, which caters to the complex needs of ecommerce businesses. It provides:




Advanced product catalog management,



Flexible pricing options,



Multi-store capabilities,



Robust security features,



SEO optimization tools,  



Extensive customization options through themes and extensions.




It can handle large product catalogs, high traffic volumes, and complex ecommerce operations, allowing businesses to grow and expand their online presence without limitations.



WooCommerce vs. Magento: key differences 



Now that we've introduced both platforms, let's dive deeper and consider the key differences between WooCommerce and Magento.



Cost



In terms of cost, WooCommerce is generally more budget-friendly for startups and small businesses, while Magento may be more suitable for larger enterprises with higher budgets.



Magento has two available versions - Magento Open Source (community edition) and Magento Commerce (enterprise edition).




Magento Open Source is free to use, but you will need to cover expenses such as hosting, domain registration, security, and extensions.



Magento Commerce is a paid version that offers additional features and support. The cost varies based on your business needs and revenue.




WooCommerce, on the other hand, is a free WordPress plugin that makes it affordable for small to medium-sized businesses. However, there may be extra costs if you choose to purchase premium themes, extensions, or hosting services. Still, WooCommerce is known to be a more economical option overall.



WooCommerce is the winner here.



Payment options and transaction fees



Offering convenient payment options to your customers is crucial for enhancing their shopping experience. Both WooCommerce and Magento provide a wide range of payment methods to meet various business requirements:



MagentoWooCommerceComes with native support for payment gateways like PayPal, Authorize.net, and Braintree.Provides built-in support for payment methods such as PayPal, Stripe, checks, offline and bank transfers, and cash payments.Offers extensions for other payment options such as Stripe, 2Checkout, Skrill, Google Checkout, and more.Offers extensions for additional payment gateways like Amazon Pay, Square, Google Pay, Alipay, and more.



Additionally, WooCommerce offers its own built-in solution, WooCommerce Payments, which streamlines transaction management from a unified dashboard.



Neither Magento nor WooCommerce do not add extra transaction fees themselves; instead, the presence of transaction fees is determined by the specific payment gateway chosen by the user.



Therefore, in the case of payment options, it’s a draw!



Ease of use



When it comes to choosing an ecommerce platform, one of the key considerations for businesses is its ease of use. Many ecommerce store owners lack programming skills and seek straightforward platforms for easy setup. They also prioritize cost-effective solutions, especially if they are just starting the business. 



WooCommerce is highly praised for its beginner-friendly nature, especially for those new to ecommerce. It stands out for its simplicity and ease of use, especially if you're already accustomed to working with WordPress. For example, setting up a WooCommerce store involves navigating through familiar WordPress menus and using a guided wizard that leads you through the essential steps, such as adding products, configuring payment options, and designing your store layout.



On the other hand, Magento is more suited for developers or users with technical knowledge. It requires a deeper understanding of coding and technical terminology, making it less accessible for regular users. While Magento also offers a user-friendly dashboard and navigation system, the setup and configuration process is more complex. For instance, installing Magento may require using a command-line interface and ensuring your server meets Magento's specific requirements, which can be daunting for non-technical users.



Overall, WooCommerce is the winner.



Scalability



Regarding scalability, both Magento and WooCommerce can handle large catalogs, high traffic volumes, and complex e-commerce operations. However, they approach scalability in slightly different ways.



Magento, especially the Magento Commerce version, is renowned for its scalability. It can manage catalogs with up to 250,000 products, making it ideal for large-scale e-commerce operations. Magento Commerce is designed to handle significant spikes in traffic and orders without compromising performance. As a business grows and experiences increased sales volume, Magento's robust architecture ensures smooth operation and minimal downtime.



WooCommerce is highly scalable as well, particularly when combined with optimized hosting solutions. It supports an unlimited number of products, allowing businesses to scale their catalogs without limitations. WooCommerce's scalability is further enhanced by a vast ecosystem of plugins and extensions that cater to various business needs. However, compared to Magento, WooCommerce may require more optimization and performance tuning as the catalog size and traffic grow significantly.



Considerations for scaling each platform include the following:




Hosting infrastructure. Both platforms require robust hosting infrastructure to handle large catalogs and high traffic. For Magento, this may involve dedicated servers or cloud hosting optimized for Magento's resource-intensive operations. WooCommerce benefits from optimized WordPress hosting tailored for ecommerce needs.



Scalability plugins and extensions. Both Magento and WooCommerce offer scalability plugins and extensions to enhance performance and handle increased loads. These may include caching plugins, performance monitoring tools, and load-balancing solutions.



Technical expertise. Scaling either platform effectively often requires technical expertise in server management, performance optimization, and ecommerce best practices. Businesses may need to invest in skilled developers or agencies to ensure smooth scaling operations.




Magento vs. WooCommerce performance



Magento and WooCommerce are two popular ecommerce platforms, but they differ in their performance and optimization requirements. Magento is a robust, scalable platform designed to handle large product catalogs, high website traffic, and complex ecommerce operations. However, Magento stores can be slower compared to other platforms if not optimized correctly.



Optimizing Magento's speed requires powerful hosting solutions, such as VPS or dedicated hosting, in order for the store to perform correctly. Shared hosting plans may not be sufficient for handling the resource-intensive nature of Magento. Additionally, the extensive use of third-party extensions can impact performance. Poorly coded or conflicting extensions can slow down the store, and it is essential to ensure that all extensions used in the store are updated and compatible with the current version of Magento. Extensive customization, including heavy themes, can also contribute to slower loading times. Therefore, it is essential to use optimized themes and carefully consider customization requirements.



WooCommerce, on the other hand, generally performs better in terms of speed and performance, particularly for smaller to medium-sized stores. Although WooCommerce may not have the same level of complexity as Magento, some factors can impact its performance. WooCommerce stores can perform well on shared hosting plans, but dedicated hosting or managed WordPress hosting can further enhance speed. Excessive use of plugins can also slow down a WooCommerce store, so regularly auditing and optimizing plugins is essential. Furthermore, choosing lightweight and optimized themes can improve loading times.



In summary, both platforms have their strengths and weaknesses in terms of performance and optimization requirements. Therefore, when comparing Magento vs. WordPress WooCommerce, it's a tie!



Extensions 



Both platforms offer thousands of free and paid extensions to enhance your online store's functionality. WooCommerce has a vast collection of extensions available in its marketplace, including payment gateways, shipping methods, and marketing tools. Additionally, there are many ecommerce tools available in the WordPress Plugin Directory that can be used in conjunction with WooCommerce.  



Magento also provides thousands of extensions, offering advanced functionalities such as product customization, booking systems, and customer segmentation. Magento's extensions are often more complex and powerful due to the platform's inherent capabilities, but they can be more challenging to set up and configure.   



WooCommerce add-ons are more affordable than Magento's premium extensions. Magento's extensions are often more expensive but usually offer more comprehensive features and functionalities. However, WooCommerce plugins are generally easier to install and configure, making them accessible to users without advanced technical skills. In contrast, Magento extensions may require web development expertise for setup and configuration.



Security



Ecommerce platforms have become popular among businesses and customers alike. However, due to the nature of online transactions, security is a paramount concern for both parties. 



Magento holds an advantage in security over WooCommerce due to its tailored built-in security measures designed specifically for ecommerce. It includes features like two-factor authentication, data encryption, secure payment gateways, and protection against SQL injection attacks. In addition, Adobe consistently provides security updates and patches to maintain the platform's safety.



WooCommerce is generally secure and has no major security issues related to its core system. However, it relies on WordPress's security measures, which may pose some vulnerabilities due to outdated themes and plugins. Unlike Magento, WooCommerce has to rely on third-party plugins and extensions for security enhancements, making it slightly less secure.



Hence, Magento is winning this one.  



SEO and marketing



Magento is renowned for its SEO-friendly features that cater to the needs of online businesses looking to improve their search engine rankings. Some of the key SEO benefits of Magento include:




Customizable URLs: Magento allows users to create SEO-friendly URLs that are easy for search engines to crawl and index.



Meta tags: users can easily optimize meta titles, descriptions, and keywords for each product and category to improve visibility.



XML sitemap: Magento generates XML sitemaps automatically, helping search engines discover and index all the essential pages of a website.




Some notable marketing features of Magento are:




Promotions and discounts: merchants can create various discount offers, coupon codes, and promotional campaigns to attract customers.



Email marketing: Magento offers email marketing tools for sending personalized newsletters, abandoned cart reminders, and promotional emails.



Integration with third-party tools: Magento allows integration with popular marketing tools like MailChimp, HubSpot, and Google Analytics for comprehensive marketing strategies.




WooCommerce also offers robust SEO capabilities but may require additional plugins for advanced features. Some of its SEO features include:




SEO plugins: WooCommerce can be integrated with popular SEO plugins, such as Yoast SEO or All in One SEO Pack, for enhanced optimization.



Permalink customization: users can customize permalinks to include relevant keywords for better search engine visibility.



Schema markup: WooCommerce supports schema markup, which can enhance the appearance of product listings in search results.




Some marketing features of WooCommerce include:




Content marketing: WooCommerce seamlessly integrates with WordPress, making it easier for users to create and promote content for marketing purposes.



Social media integration: users can connect their WooCommerce store with social media platforms to share and promote products seamlessly.



Analytics: WooCommerce provides built-in analytics tools and integrates with Google Analytics to track sales, customer behavior, and marketing performance.




Customization capabilities



Every business wants to stand out from competitors and make their online store as comfortable and user-friendly as possible. Therefore, the ability to customize without much effort is important when choosing an ecommerce platform.



Both WooCommerce and Magento offer diverse customization capabilities. Let's examine both options closer to determine which is the winner in this aspect.



Customization functionWooCommerceMagentoBuilt-in themesOffers around 20 themes.Offers only two themes: Luma and Blank.Theme customizationUtilizes custom WordPress plugins for layout edits.Customize a Blank theme or use page-building tools to create your own theme.Ease of customizationRequires basic tech skills and IT literacy, but easier than Magento.Involves more technical expertise, suitable for advanced customization.



If you're looking for visually appealing themes that create a cohesive brand identity, Themeforest is the place to go. As one of the largest marketplaces for ecommerce themes, it offers a diverse selection of paid and free options designed for both WooCommerce and Magento users.



Considering all the factors, WooCommerce is more manageable for beginners and provides more customization themes. 



Support and community



Magento offers multiple support options depending on the platform version you are using. If you are a Magento Commerce user, you can access dedicated support provided by Magento's team of experts, which includes 24/7 technical support and account management services. 



However, if you are a Magento Open Source user, you can rely on community support and forums. Magento also provides comprehensive documentation, user guides, and resources to help you navigate the platform effectively. 



For WooCommerce users, the vast WordPress community is available for general inquiries and troubleshooting. They can also benefit from a plethora of free and premium extensions, themes, and plugins developed by the community to enhance the functionality of their online stores. Additionally, WooCommerce offers official documentation, guides, and tutorials to help users set up and optimize their online stores.



Overall, both platforms have their advantages and drawbacks in terms of customer service. Therefore, this round ends in a tie.



Magento vs. WooCommerce: an ultimate comparison 



Here is a comprehensive comparison tablet to sum up everything we discussed.



ParametersMagentoWooCommerceScalabilityCan support an unlimited number of products.Can support an unlimited number of products.PerformanceDiffers.Differs.Ease of useRequires technical expertise, more complex setup and configuration.Beginner-friendly, straightforward setup and management.PricingFree but has a paid version.Free.Payment optionsSupports major payment gateways, extensions available for additional options.Wide range of payment options, extensions for popular gateways.ExtensionsA great variety of paid extensions.A lot of free and paid extensions.SecurityRobust security features, regular updates, and patches.Strong security measures and updates through WordPress.SEO and marketingBuilt-in SEO tools and extensive marketing features.SEO-friendly, integration with WordPress plugins.CustomizationHighly customizable, ideal for complex requirements.Customizable with themes and plugins.SupportDedicated support for Magento Commerce, community forums, and official documentation.Community support, forums, tutorials, extensive documentation.



Final thoughts



The final decision between Magento or WooCommerce depends on your specific business requirements, budget, and technical expertise. If you need a highly customizable and scalable ecommerce platform and have the resources to invest in it, Magento might be the right choice for you. On the other hand, if you are looking for a user-friendly and cost-effective solution that integrates seamlessly with WordPress, WooCommerce could be the better option.



Both Magento and WooCommerce are powerful ecommerce platforms, each with the potential to help you create a thriving online store. By carefully considering your unique needs and priorities, you can make an informed decision that aligns perfectly with your business goals. 

### Magento PWA Development: An Ultimate Guide to Transforming Your Magento Store Into PWA

Tidio predicts that in 2024, approximately 187.5 million users will shop online via mobile, and the number of M-commerce sales will grow continuously, probably reaching $710 billion by 2027. These numbers show how important mobile ecommerce is and how people prefer shopping from their mobile devices due to the convenience of the method.



These and other ecommerce trends are among the reasons why more and more ecommerce store owners are starting to pay closer attention to Magento PWA development. Considering that Magento remains one of the biggest and most popular ecommerce platforms, it's no wonder business owners want to transform their Magento stores into progressive web applications. In this article, we discuss Magento PWA, its main benefits, and potential challenges to consider.







What is a PWA?



A progressive web application is basically a combination of a website and a native mobile application. While still being a website, a PWA brings a native-like experience to users, thus significantly boosting user experience (and conversions). Also note that the creation of a progressive web application is usually the first step towards making your Magento store headless, so if you are considering headless architecture, you need to pay attention to PWA for sure.



Getting back to the topic, a PWA is built by using web platform technologies and can operate in both online and offline modes. Its strongest advantages over traditional websites are:




Quick performance and faster page loading;



Better UX; 



Support for push notifications;



Work in offline mode.




The biggest question, however, is how a progressive web application can deliver a near-native experience if it is basically a website. Magento developers use a specific tech stack and follow several UX principles, which are essential for any good PWA.



Main UX principles and rules for a user-centric Magento PWA







Though the rules listed below are applicable to any software product, it is especially important to follow them during the frontend development of your app. Since PWAs are known for delivering seamless user experience, these UX principles will be a great aid:




Display an important action on a new screen so the user understands its significance;



Facilitate navigation as much as possible so store browsing is frictionless and intuitive;



Do not make fonts and elements too complex; instead, go for more basic ones;



Do not 100% reload pages when the data is refreshed;



Try placing tappable elements near the bottom of the screen for easier use;



Test the design on various devices to see if it looks and performs the same.




The main idea here is to make the app user-centric, not fancy or overloaded with visual elements and components. Obviously, you need to pay attention to its performance, since it’s the cornerstone of good UX.



Why should Magento store owners choose PWA?



By now, you might be wondering why Magento store owners should opt for a PWA instead of a native app or an ordinary website. Sure, a native app has a range of advantages over a progressive web application, like direct access to the device’s hardware. However, if you need a cross-platform solution and know that your customers access the store via web browsers, then PWA is a must. Here are the biggest benefits that you might expect.



Better performance



Due to the client-side rendering feature and caching, PWAs display better and faster performance than traditional websites. When a user performs an action on the Magento progressive web app, the browser responds by building cached templates without using dynamic content. In this way, the server sends only the requested data, greatly reducing server load.



Better UX



As mentioned above, PWAs follow the principles of native-like UX, like simplifying navigation or placing important and tappable elements in convenient areas. To better understand why PWA UX design is so good, let’s take a step back and look at the time when it was first introduced.



In 2015, Google came up with the concept of PWA and emphasized the importance of the mobile-first approach. That meant the mobile versions of websites had to perform and look as good as their native mobile counterparts. To achieve that, Google suggested using the same UX/UI principles for the web that were used for mobile, and this also became a gold standard for PWA development.



SEO optimization



Since PWAs are technically websites, they can be SEO-optimized for better online visibility and searchability. There is a common misconception that progressive web applications cannot be indexed because of Client-Side Rendering (CSR) due to Google's inability to crawl JavaScript. That’s not entirely true, though: for example, Googlebot can successfully crawl the Client-Side rendered JS, but it requires extra time and effort. So, the good news for PWA owners is that their stores can be crawled and indexed. While manual SEO configuration might take too much time and effort, most Magento PWA themes already have built-in and perfectly optimized SEO tools. Sounds great, right?



Magento PWA development: three main methods to consider



Now, how exactly do you turn your Magento store into a PWA? There are three ways of doing so, each coming with its pros and cons:




Design a custom solution from scratch by using frameworks like Vue.js or Angular.js;



Use Magento PWA Studio;



Use a specialized Magento PWA Theme.




To save you time and effort, let’s move on straight to the second and third methods. While custom development is valid and is sometimes preferred by store owners, it’s usually too cumbersome and time and resource-consuming. So, unless you need something truly unique and complex, it will be easier to choose between a Magento PWA Studio and a specialized Magento Theme. Hence, let’s look at each in detail.



Explaining Magento PWA Studio



The most obvious choice for building a progressive web application is Magento PWA Studio by Adobe. It is an official toolkit designed specifically for building a PWA store on Magento 2 and above. Magento PWA Studio provides you with all needed tools and libraries, and it also takes care of your app’s architecture. That means the architecture is pre-built and fully adheres to Magento coding standards, meaning you won’t have to worry about it and can use it selectively. 



Before we discuss its main pros and cons in detail, you need to consider the tech requirements needed to work with the toolkit:




You need to have a basic knowledge of React to efficiently set up and configure your store;



The installed version of Node in your development environment needs to be v.14 or higher;



The installed version of Yarn in your development environment needs to be v.1.12.0 or higher.




You can find more information about the requirements and Magento PWA Studio setup on its official website (Adobe Commerce). 



Magento PWA Studio pros



Since it’s a native development toolkit by Adobe, Magento PWA Studio obviously offers several significant benefits for both developers and store owners.



Full compatibility with Magento



Though seemingly obvious, it is actually a valid and important benefit. Magento integration with different development tools can be tricky, so full compatibility with Magento PWA Studio can save you lots of development time and effort. 



Modular nature



The solutions and components offered by Magento PWA Studio are not monolithic. This means they can be used selectively, depending on your needs, which adds a great deal of flexibility to the development process. 



Pre-configured app builder



To facilitate and speed up the development process, Magento PWA Studio offers a pre-configured application builder, thus providing you with a rich array of ready-to-use site elements. While they can be used as they are, they are also customizable if you need to make any adjustments.



Configured routing and caching



The setup and configuration of routing and caching are integral parts of any PWA development process. Now imagine how easier the development becomes when routing and caching are already configured and there is no (or at least, minimal) need to modify them. This is exactly what Magento PWA Studio offers. This feature contributes to smoother user journey and faster development.



Pre-set service workers



Service workers are essential components of any PWA, and what’s great about them in the Magento PWA Studio is the fact that they are already set up. This eliminates the need for time-consuming manual configuration and serves as an additional advantage for developers.



Magento PWA Studio cons



On one hand, the solution is highly convenient and developer-friendly. However, it does have several drawbacks that one needs to consider.



Plain theme



Magento PWA Studio uses Venia theme, which is considered to be quite plain by some Magento developers. Sure, you can adjust and customize it as needed, but 1) it will take quite a bit of time and 2) you may not be able to implement all needed changes.



Excessive code



Because Magento PWA Studio is kind of a “one size fits all” solution, it has lots of excessive code to ensure that it covers the majority of potential problems and needs. Hence, you will need to invest some time into removing the unnecessary code. Otherwise, it will negatively affect the store’s performance and will significantly slow down the loading speed.



Complex code



In addition to being excessive, the Magento PWA Studio code is also too complex and may contain the following issues:




Potential bugs;



Unnecessary abstractions;



Inconvenient solutions.




To prevent it from negatively impacting store performance, it’s recommended that the code be reviewed and that existing issues, like cutting out unwanted functionality or fixing bugs, be manually fixed.



Limited functionality



Though Magento PWA Studio was created as a ready-to-go solution, it still can’t fully satisfy all potential needs of different ecommerce businesses. Some features may be lacking and others are still under development. All that limits your customization options and may lead to extra costs in the form of custom extensions.



To sum up, Magento PWA Studio is a solid solution, but you need to be prepared for extra customization and development efforts if you want everything to work perfectly and according to your specific needs.



Top Magento PWA themes to consider



As said above, the use of a specialized Magento theme is another way to build a high-performing and user-centric Magento PWA on top of your existing store. Such themes are designed as readymade frontend solutions that you connect to your backend via the API. Often, a theme would require a certain amount of customization, but in general, it is packed with useful features and has a pretty solid functionality.



The main pros of using a Magento PWA theme are:




Saving time and costs: because there is already a fully developed frontend, all you need to do is tweak it a bit in accordance with your needs;



Ease of use: the implementation of a Magento theme does not require technical skills or knowledge, since it’s a readymade solution (though you will need some tech help for further customization).




As for the potential cons, they are:




Customization: since these themes are quite generic, you will have to customize them to adhere to your brand, plus you will also have to go through the code and remove the excessive or unnecessary one;



Limited functionality: this point relates to customization - chances are high you’ll need to add extra modules to your theme of choice due to its potential lack of features;



Risk of bugs: since you do not control the theme development process, you can’t be sure it is 100% bug-free. Thus, you’ll need to double-check the security and quality of its code and eliminate possible glitches.




Now, onto the theme overview. For the sake of brevity, we won’t be looking at Venia since it’s present in the Magento PWA Studio and we already talked about it. 



TigrenPWA themes



TigrenPWA offers three readymade PWA themes for Magento stores, each designed and fine-tuned precisely for Magento. It allows building a progressive web application in a very short time and is affordable, which makes it a perfect choice for startups and companies that need a short time to market.



Among the features present in these themes are:




An app icon on a home screen;



Push notifications;



Sticky header;



Popup manager;



Social share;



Responsive design.




These themes also support headless architecture, which is another advantage. As for the pricing, there are 3 different plans, each with a different level of customization and a different range of features. 



Vue Storefront



Vue Storefront is an open-source framework for creating Magenta PWAs. It is a Nuxt.js project and comes with certain preinstalled modules and plugins, which makes this solution highly convenient for developers. And if you wonder why choose Nuxt.js as a project base, the official documentation states that it brings the following benefits:




Plugins for resolving the most commonly met issues (internationalization, SEO, etc.);



Versatility, flexibility, and support for custom integrations;



Big and active community that can always provide help and support.




As for the theme development, Vue Storefront offers 50+ ecommerce components with its default theme and boasts a high level of customization. With this being said, Vue Storefront is a popular choice for creating responsive and user-centric PWA frontend.



ScandiPWA



ScandiPWA defines itself as a next-generation frontend for Magento 2. It is based on React and claims to support 95% of Magento features, which is quite impressive. Its biggest features include:




Use of file overrides for theme development;



App plugins for reusable extensions;



Extensible architecture;



Full customization of the theme.




Due to its broad range of Magento features, ScandiPWA is often preferred over other alternatives. This solution is also high-performing, scalable, and very developer-friendly. Plus, it has extensive documentation and a pretty active community, so if you need any help with theme installation, you will definitely find the answers.



Of course, there are many more Magento PWA themes options, but the ones listed above are the most popular and efficient. Now, let’s view the main components of a Magento progressive web application.



Key components of Magento PWA



For frictionless functioning and delivery of a great user experience, progressive web applications rely on several components.







Service workers



Remember we mentioned that PWAs can work in offline mode? Say thanks to service workers—virtual proxies between the browser and the network that cache static files and create a seamless user experience. 



Service workers are JavaScript files that run on a separate thread in the background. This makes the API non-blocking and thus sends (and receives) communication between various contexts. Service workers are also responsible for push notifications and content updates but can handle and modify network requests.



Web app manifest



A web app manifest is a JSON file that tells the browser how your app is supposed to behave. Typically, the manifest contains basic information about the PWA, such as the name of your application, the icons that should be used, and the URL that should be displayed upon the app’s launch. Using the manifest ensures consistency of the app’s performance across various platforms and devices.



App Shell 



An App Shell is another critical component for ensuring the progressive web application works offline. It is an architectural pattern that implies shipping the minimal critical resources needed for a powerful first-time load. Other non-critical resources are loaded later via the lazy loading method. This approach enables fast app loading and ensures that users can interact with the app before all of its dynamic content is rendered.



TLS protocol



The Transport Layer Security Protocol is responsible for a secure exchange of data between the server and the PWA. It is a standard protocol designed specifically to ensure data security and integrity during communications over the Internet and is used not only in PWAs but other apps. Also, you need to use the HTTPS protocol for extra data protection. 



APIs



An Application Programming Interface is an essential component of any application. It enables communication between software components, and in a progressive web application, it is responsible for the communication between the frontend and the backend parts. By using various languages like GraphQL, developers can set up various processes, such as data retrieval.



Pop-up working principle



One more critical component (though more of a working principle) is the use of pop-ups. To improve and streamline user experience, PWAs rely on pop-ups to interact with users. In this way, a new pop-up opens for every new action, and this creates a smooth user journey.



Challenges of PWA Magento



We’ve talked a lot about the benefits of Magento progressive web application, but this solution also implies several challenges that are to be considered in advance. By understanding these potential limitations and bottlenecks, it will be easier for you to plan the development process and adjust the implementation of PWA into your business strategy.



Access to hardware



Because progressive web applications are not built with the same programming languages as native apps, they do not have full access to the device’s hardware and to all of its features, like GPS or camera. While not too critical, this limitation may become an issue in the future and is, in general, something to keep in mind. Also, different operating systems provide different levels of access to PWAs. Thus, Android is more welcoming of PWAs than iOS, so consider it too.



Time-consuming and costly development



As already mentioned, Magento is already a complex environment in terms of development and customization. Thus, creating a Magento PWA will also require a significant amount of time and resources (including financial). Even with ready-made solutions, you will still need to customize them and ensure that the code is secure and consistent.



Limited support on iOS



If you want to run your progressive web application on iOS, be prepared that 1) PWAs are supported only by Safari and b) not all of its features will be available. Hence, if the majority of your customers use iOS devices to browse your store, you might want to consider developing a native iOS application instead.



High requirements for tech expertise



Lastly, working with the Magento platform and creating a Magento progressive web application requires a rather high level of technical expertise to efficiently resolve potential issues and bottlenecks. So you either need to have a knowledgeable and skilled in-house team of Magento developers or reach out to a reliable provider and request custom Magento development services.



Best practices for developing a Magento PWA



We’ve discussed the pros and cons of creating a Magento PWA and ways of doing so. Finally, let’s discuss best practices for its development. These practices aim to help you avoid common pitfalls and mistakes and focus on improving your app's performance and UX.



Avoid irrational component size



A great deal of pitfalls and bottlenecks lie in the frontend part of PWA development, and one of such issues is the irrational size of components. If your components are too large, they might 1) cause the rerendering of the whole page instead of its required parts and 2) slow down the browser load. Hence, try keeping all your components the same and small for better app performance.



Watch architectural components 



Another issue related to the work with components is the layout of architectural components. In the case when they are laid out incorrectly and when the filter is changed, other filters get rerendered too. Which, as mentioned above, slows down the app’s performance.



Actively use caching



Caching in PWAs helps save a great deal of time upon the app’s loading. Thus, don’t forget to use service workers and browser caching to store frequently used resources and to handle requests more effectively.



Consider how you use GraphQL



When working on the PWA for Magento, there are several tips on using it in the most efficient way. They are:




Avoid sending excessive GraphQL requests to prevent Magento from initializing every time a request is sent;



Deploy Varnish for GraphQL caching - it’s much more efficient than internal Magento storage;



Keep the GraphQL schema and the config cache apart.




Monitor third-party plugins



While you can fine-tune and control the performance of the app, you can not be 100% sure about the performance and reliability of third-party plugins that you add to the app. Thus, before their integration, double-check the performance of these plugins and ensure they do not impact the app and its SEO and UX.



Optimize content delivery and loading



Seamless user experience is critical for any app and Magento PWA is no exception. To improve its usability and ensure that the existing content does not slow down the performance, you can do the following:




Use lazy loading, which implies displaying only the requested content and gradually; loading the rest as the user scrolls;



Optimize images so they do not slow down the performance;



Compress your files to speed up the loading time.




Regularly review the performance of your PWA



One more thing that you can do when working on the app and its optimization is to constantly monitor its performance. For that, use specialized tools (i.e., Lighthouse) that allow not only to assess how well your app performs but also suggest areas for improvement.



Summing up



Magento PWA is a great solution for any Magento store owner who cares about delivering a seamless user experience and strengthening their online presence. However, the development of the Magento progressive web application requires a high level of technical expertise and thus, our best recommendation would be to contact a knowledgeable Magento development company and partner with it for the development of a custom and powerful PWA solution for your store.

### Exploring Product Owner vs Business Analyst Roles

A Product Owner (PO) and a Business Analyst (BA) play key roles in making businesses successful. But sometimes, people get confused about what each does. This article aims to clarify the difference between product owners and business analysts. 



We'll look closely at the roles of product owner vs business analyst, showing what makes them unique. By doing this, we'll help you understand these roles better, which can lead to a clearer understanding of how business analysts and product owners contribute differently to the success of a project or an organization. This understanding can lead to improved collaboration and efficiency within teams, better alignment with business goals, and, ultimately, more successful outcomes for projects.







Who is a product owner?



A product owner is in charge of a project's direction, making sure the team is working on the right things. They prioritize tasks, communicate with the team, and make sure the final product meets the needs of the client. Backlog management and maximizing product value are under the purview of a PO. They are the ones who own the product and are responsible for making sure that all of its features and technological aspects satisfy the needs of the user. Product owners regularly collaborate and communicate with the agile team as part of their daily tasks.



The key responsibilities include:




Prioritizing features: a product owner decides which features or tasks should be tackled first based on their importance and value to the customer.



Creating and managing the product backlog: maintains a list of tasks and requirements, known as the product backlog, and ensures it reflects the most up-to-date priorities.



Collaborating with the development team: he works closely with the development team to clarify requirements, provide guidance, and ensure that the product is being developed according to the vision.



 Making decisions: a product owner makes timely decisions on behalf of the stakeholders to resolve conflicts, remove obstacles, and keep the project moving forward.



Accepting or rejecting deliverables: this involves reviewing completed work and accepting or rejecting it based on whether it meets the agreed-upon criteria and specifications.




Who is a business analyst?



A business analyst (BA) makes sure what the client wants matches what the product delivers. Their main job is to check that the team creates the products that the client asks for and that all the requirements are fulfilled. They act as a bridge between the technical and business sides of a company, finding solutions and understanding how they affect things. Business analysts work closely with stakeholders, including product owners, to understand business requirements and translate them into actionable insights for the organization.



The key responsibilities include:




Identifying business needs: business analysts determine what the company requires for effective operation.



Defining business requirements: business analysts articulate the specific objectives the project needs to achieve.



Collaborating with stakeholders: business analysts work closely with all parties involved in the project to gather input and ensure alignment.



Analyzing and recommending solutions: business analysts assess various options and propose solutions to address business challenges.



Monitoring and reporting: business analysts keep track of implemented solutions, monitor their performance, and provide updates to stakeholders on progress and outcomes.




It's worth noting that the roles of analyst vs owner can overlap in some organizations, and there may be variations in job titles and responsibilities. However, the key distinction lies in the focus and scope of their work. While product owners primarily focus on the overall strategy and success of a product and its realization, business analysts focus on understanding the business processes and requirements in detail.



Required skills for product owner and business analyst



Product owners require a combination of hard and soft skills to excel in their roles. The most common skills are listed below:




For increased productivity, analytical skill relates to the capacity to gather and evaluate data, solve challenging issues logically, and make judgments quickly.



A product owner can communicate effectively by utilizing plain language, picking the right channels, creating messages with clarity in mind, making adjustments based on feedback, and reducing distractions during delivery.



A product owner needs to know UI, Scrum, agile methodologies, software development, coding, design, and product architecture, among other technical skills.



A product owner needs to be incredibly skilled at making decisions and solving problems. A PO must be rational and logical, and his or her judgments cannot be predicated on conjecture or opinion.



Project management abilities are crucial for a PO because they are required to oversee and guide the agile development team.




Business analysts require a diverse set of skills to effectively perform their roles. The main required skills are:




Strong communication skills to effectively interact with stakeholders, gather requirements and convey information clearly and concisely.



Strong analytical skills to analyze complex business problems, identify patterns, and propose solutions based on data and evidence.



Problem-solving skills to identify and address business challenges, find innovative solutions, and make informed decisions.



While not always required to write code, business analysts should have a basic understanding of technology and IT concepts to effectively communicate with technical teams and understand system requirements.



Business Analysts need to be proficient in documenting requirements, creating user stories, and writing clear and concise reports to ensure effective communication and understanding among stakeholders.




While there are overlapping skills between the roles, each has its unique responsibilities and areas of expertise. Both roles are essential for successful product development, effective communication, problem-solving, and client satisfaction.





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The difference between product owner and business analyst



Product owners and business analysts have different but important roles in a company. Product owners focus on ensuring a product is what users want and managing its development. They gather information from different people and help turn it into company plans. Product owners decide what the product should be, while Business Analysts figure out how to make it happen. Either a business analyst or a product owner is essential for ensuring smooth business operations. The table below clearly explains the difference between the roles of the business analyst and the product owner.



Product OwnerBusiness AnalystFocusProduct strategy and developmentAnalyzing business processesResponsibilities- Ensuring alignment with stakeholders- Defining product featuresManaging product backlog- Gathering and analyzing business requirements- Creating documentation (user stories, use cases)- Collaborating with stakeholdersSkillset- Leadership, strategic thinking- Communication, decision-making- Prioritization based on business value- Analytical, problem-solving- Documentation, communication- Understanding of business and technical domainsInteraction- Clients, development teams- Senior managementBusiness users, project managers, developersOutcomeSuccessful product delivery that meets client needsSuccessful business processes



Similarities between the BA vs product owner



Information analysis



Both may analyze data to inform decision-making, whether it's market trends for product owners or identifying trends and opportunities for business analysts.



Communication skills



These two roles require good communication. Both product owner and business analyst imply gathering specific information and translating stakeholders’ vision and requirements into specific tasks to get the message across to the project employees and avoid misunderstanding.



Shared Focus on Product Quality



Both roles are oriented toward ensuring the quality of a product. Product owners and business analysts work together to guarantee that the final product meets high standards and satisfies client expectations. 



Multitasking



Multitasking is a common similarity between product owners and business analysts, as both roles often require juggling multiple tasks and responsibilities simultaneously to effectively meet project deadlines and address evolving business needs.



The standard working day of a product owner



A product owner starts his day by planning tasks and priorities. He updates the product backlog, sets goals and objectives for the day. During the day, he participates in meetings with the development team, stakeholders, and other project participants. In these meetings, he discusses progress, solves problems, and makes decisions about product development.



The product owner spends time analyzing and managing the product backlog. He adds new tasks, removes obsolete ones, clarifies requirements, and prioritizes tasks. A PO may participate in testing new features and bug fixes. He checks whether the product meets the requirements and evaluates the quality of the work. He analyzes product data, conducts market and competitor research to make informed decisions about product development. Finally, he wraps up his day by reviewing the work done, evaluating the results achieved, and planning the next steps for product development.



The standard working day of business analyst



The first thing a business analyst usually does is check his mail and calendar to find out about the scheduled meetings and tasks for the day. The business analyst may participate in meetings with the project team, customers, or other stakeholders. These meetings discuss current problems, and project requirements, propose solutions, and plan the next steps.



The business analyst interacts with customers and other stakeholders to identify their needs and requirements for the project. He documents these requirements and discusses them with the team for further work. Based on the data analysis conducted, the business analyst creates reports and presents them to customers or management.



The business analyst works closely with developers, testers, project managers, and other team members to ensure successful project implementation. When summarizing the day, the business analyst can take notes on the work done, plan tasks for the next day, and communicate with colleagues about the project's current status.



How does the work of product owner and business analysts overlap?



The main overlaps between business analyst vs product owner within an organization are:




Stakeholder interaction



Data analysis



Problem-solving



Common goals




Product owners and business analysts share activities within an organization. They interact with various stakeholders, such as clients, team members, and supervisors, to gain an understanding of their requirements and concerns. 



Also, both roles need to analyze the information to understand what's going on and find ways to act more efficiently in this or that situation. This information could be sales numbers, what clients say, or industry trends. It helps them see where there's room for improvement and how to take advantage of opportunities.



Product owners and business analysts work closely together to solve problems that arise, whether they have to do with client happiness, operational inefficiencies, or product development. They combine their knowledge and analytical abilities to identify the underlying causes of issues and provide workable remedies. Their jobs work better together as a result of this cooperative effort, which improves organizational outcomes and allows for improved decision-making.



At the end of the day, achieving success and expansion is what business analysts and product owners have in common. Together, they support the ongoing improvement of services, systems, and general business performance.



Summing up 



Although the roles of product owner vs business analyst are often confused, they collaborate extensively. Together, they collect information, analyze data, resolve issues, and improve processes. 



Both product owners and business analysts support companies in succeeding and enhancing their operations and products. Their collaboration is crucial for understanding consumer needs, utilizing data for informed decision-making, and generating innovative ideas. In simpler terms, their combined efforts provide a significant boost to the organization, enabling it to maintain its competitive edge and continue growing in today's rapidly changing business world.

### On-Premise vs. Cloud: The Debate Over IT Infrastructure

Businesses often face the decision of choosing between on-premises and cloud computing solutions to store, manage, and process their data and applications. Understanding the differences between each option is crucial for making informed decisions as each one has its own benefits and drawbacks. In this article, we will explore the nuances of on-premise vs cloud computing to explore their various aspects and implications.







On-premise infrastructure



On-premises computing is a traditional IT infrastructure model where a company maintains its own physical servers and data centers on-site. This means the organization is responsible for purchasing, installing, and managing all the necessary hardware and software to support its IT operations, including servers, storage devices, networking equipment, and security systems.



This model provides companies with direct control and management over their IT infrastructure. By hosting software and data on local servers, companies have the flexibility to customize their infrastructure to meet specific business needs. They can also integrate new applications and systems with their existing IT environment more easily.



Since companies have direct control over their infrastructure, they can ensure that their IT environment meets specific security requirements. They can also monitor and manage the infrastructure more closely, which can improve the overall app's performance and reduce downtime.



However, on-premises computing requires a significant upfront investment in both hardware and software, as well as ongoing maintenance costs. Additionally, companies must possess the necessary IT expertise to manage their infrastructure effectively.  



What is cloud computing?



Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services, such as servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence over the Internet (i.e., through the "cloud"). These resources are hosted and managed off-site in data centers operated by cloud service providers. In simple terms, it's like renting a tool instead of buying it.



Cloud service providers maintain and update the computing infrastructure, ensuring it remains current and secure. This enables users to concentrate on their primary business functions without the burden of managing the technical aspects of their computing resources. 



Cloud computing services can be divided into three commonly known models:




SaaS (Software as a Service): provides software applications over the Internet on a subscription basis. With this, users don't need to install apps on their devices; they can access them through a web browser. Examples of SaaS include Salesforce, Microsoft 365, and Google Workspace.



PaaS (Platform as a Service) is a tool for hosting your software on a cloud, but the cloud provider manages most of the setup process. PaaS enables developers to develop, deploy, and manage applications on a ready platform without worrying about infrastructure. Popular providers include Google App Engine, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, and Microsoft Azure App Service.



IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): offers virtualized computing resources over the Internet, including virtual machines, storage, and networking. IaaS is a rawer form of cloud computing where you have more control over the cloud you are renting. Leading IaaS providers include Amazon EC2, Google Compute Engine, and Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines.




Types of cloud computing



Public clouds are owned and operated by third-party service providers. They make resources such as applications and storage available to the general public over the Internet. Users share these resources, benefiting from cost savings and scalability. Popular examples include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.



Private clouds are dedicated to a single organization and are not shared with other users or organizations. They can be located on-premises within the organization's data center or hosted by a third-party service provider. Private clouds offer greater control, customization, security, and privacy than public clouds, making them suitable for organizations with strict compliance requirements or sensitive data. Examples of private cloud solutions include VMware Cloud Foundation, OpenStack, and Microsoft Azure Stack.



Hybrid clouds combine elements of both public and private clouds, allowing data and applications to be shared between them. This setup allows organizations to enjoy the advantages of both models: keeping sensitive data secure in a private cloud while taking advantage of the scalability offered by a public cloud for non-sensitive tasks.





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The difference between on-premise and cloud computing



The difference between on-premise and cloud computing lies in how and where computing resources are deployed and managed. To have a better understanding, let's take a closer look at some of the aspects:



Cost



When choosing between on-premise and cloud computing, the cost implications can vary significantly. Cloud computing is generally less expensive than on-premise solutions because organizations don't need to spend as much on hardware, data centers, or infrastructure setups. 



Furthermore, cloud computing offers a pay-as-you-go model that allows businesses to scale resources up or down based on usage. This can lead to cost savings, as organizations only pay for what they use. 



In contrast, on-premise solutions require a significant upfront investment in hardware, software licenses, data centers, and infrastructure setup, which can lead to higher initial costs compared to cloud computing. 



Besides, organizations bear the responsibility of owning, maintaining, and upgrading their hardware and software. This includes maintenance, repairs, upgrades, and data center operations costs. There may also be additional costs associated with hiring IT personnel to manage the systems. 



It's important to note, though, that while cloud computing may be less expensive initially, costs can increase over time as usage grows.  



Control and security



On-premise solutions refer to software and hardware installed and managed on a company's own servers and data centers. This gives organizations greater control over their data, as they can monitor and manage it directly. For example, due to strict industry regulations and security requirements, Delta Air Lines, a major airline, relies on its own data centers to store a significant amount of data.



That also goes for The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), which operates the Large Hadron Collider and conducts cutting-edge particle physics research. CERN manages and stores massive amounts of scientific data on its own on-premises data centers and computing infrastructure to ensure data security and control.



Additionally, on-premise solutions provide businesses with more customization options, allowing them to tailor the system to their specific needs. This level of control is particularly appealing to businesses with specific compliance requirements or sensitive data because it allows them to implement their own security measures and protocols. They can ensure that their data is stored securely and accessed only by authorized personnel. 



On the other hand, cloud computing involves using remote servers hosted by a service provider to store, manage, and process data. While this can be more cost-effective and scalable, it also means that companies must relinquish some control to the service provider. This can raise concerns about data security and compliance, as companies must trust the service provider to keep their data secure and comply with relevant regulations.



Performance



When it comes to system performance, on-premises solutions are often perceived as more predictable and consistent. This is mainly because they rely on dedicated hardware and network infrastructure that are fully controlled by the deploying organization and are usually tailored specifically to the task.



On the other hand, cloud computing performance can be influenced by various factors, such as network latency, shared resources, and other users' activities on the same infrastructure. This can lead to fluctuations in performance, which may occasionally impact end-user experience. 



However, cloud providers offer Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that outline performance guarantees, including metrics such as uptime, response time, and resource availability. These SLAs are designed to ensure that the cloud infrastructure meets or exceeds performance standards set by the provider and agreed upon by the customer.  



Scalability



One of the advantages of cloud computing over on-premise solutions is its exceptional scalability. Cloud computing allows businesses to easily adjust their resources according to the fluctuating demands of their operations without the need for additional hardware investments. This means that businesses can scale their operations up or down quickly and efficiently as needed without worrying about investing in and managing additional hardware on their own premises. 



On the other hand, on-premise solutions may face limitations in scalability, requiring upfront planning and investment to accommodate future growth. This can put businesses at a disadvantage if they need to scale quickly and efficiently in response to market conditions or customer demands.



A good example is Etsy, an online marketplace focusing on handcrafted and vintage products. They depended on conventional on-premises data centers, yet managing and scaling became intricate and expensive with the surge in user traffic as they grew. Etsy resolved this issue by migrating to the cloud, enhancing performance and cost efficiency. 



Disaster recovery



With cloud computing, data replication is automatically done across multiple data centers, ensuring that your data is always safe and easily accessible, even in the event of a disaster. Additionally, automated backups are performed regularly to ensure that your data is always up-to-date and easily recoverable. 



On the other hand, on-premise solutions require organizations to implement their disaster recovery plans, which can be time-consuming and expensive. Organizations must also invest in redundant infrastructure to protect their data from potential disasters. This can include backup generators, duplicate hardware, and additional storage solutions.



Flexibility



Cloud computing provides unmatched flexibility, enabling businesses to access resources from anywhere with an internet connection and scale services as needed. As a result, employees can work remotely, and businesses have the opportunity to grow their operations without being constrained by physical infrastructure.



For instance, Airbnb relies heavily on cloud computing to manage its platform, which connects hosts with travelers seeking unique accommodations worldwide. With cloud-based infrastructure, they can quickly adjust their server capacity to handle the increased load during peak travel seasons or special events in popular destinations, ensuring that their platform remains accessible and responsive for users.



On-premise solutions may provide more customization options but lack the same level of flexibility and accessibility as cloud services.



Maintenance and updates



On-premise solutions require organizations to manage hardware maintenance, software updates, and security patches internally, which can be resource-intensive. 



Cloud computing providers handle maintenance, updates, and upgrades, relieving businesses of these responsibilities and ensuring systems are up to date with the latest features and security enhancements.



Cloud vs on-premise: comparison table



ParameterCloudOn-premiseCostCommonly pay-as-you-go model; reduced upfront capital investment.High upfront investment in hardware and software.ControlLess control over underlying infrastructure; control over applications and configurations.Full control over hardware, software, and data.PerformancePerformance depends on the cloud provider's infrastructure and service level agreements (SLAs).Performance depends on in-house hardware and configurations.ScalabilityOn-demand scalability: easily scale resources up or down.Limited scalability; expansion requires additional hardware.SecuritySecurity measures implemented by cloud providers.Customizable security protocols and controls.Disaster recoveryBuilt-in disaster recovery and backup options.Custom disaster recovery plans and backup solutions are required.FlexibilityGreater flexibility in resource management and deployment.Limited flexibility in resource management and deployment.Maintenance / updatesManaged by cloud provider; automatic updates and maintenance.In-house maintenance and updates require manual management.AccessibilityAccessible from anywhere with an internet connection.Access is restricted to on-premise locations.



Cloud vs on-premise: challenges and considerations 



Organizations must carefully consider the drawbacks of on-premises and cloud computing solutions before choosing between them. Both on-premises and cloud computing have unique challenges that can impact an organization's efficiency and security. We have already mentioned some of them, so let’s sum them up for your convenience. 



Cloud computing challenges include:




Dependency on Internet connectivity: cloud services rely heavily on Internet connection. Any interruption in internet service can cause downtime and hinder access to cloud resources.



Data security concerns: storing data on third-party cloud servers raises data security and privacy concerns. Organizations must implement strong security measures and adhere to regulatory compliance requirements.



Vendor lock-in: adopting specific cloud providers may result in vendor lock-in, making it difficult to switch or migrate to a different platform.



Cost management: while cloud computing offers scalability and flexibility, managing costs can be complex. Organizations need to monitor usage, optimize resources, and avoid over-provisioning.



Limited control: organizations have less control over the underlying infrastructure, software updates, and service-level agreements (SLAs) compared to on-premise solutions.



Compliance challenges: meeting industry-specific compliance requirements and data residency regulations can be challenging in a multi-tenant cloud environment.




On-premises model challenges include:




High upfront costs: on-premises solutions usually demand a substantial initial investment in hardware, software licenses, and infrastructure setup.



Maintenance and upkeep: organizations are responsible for ongoing maintenance, upgrades, and security patches, which can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.



Scalability constraints: on-premise infrastructure may have limited scalability, requiring additional investment in hardware for expansion or handling peak workloads.



Data center management: managing on-premise data centers involves physical space, cooling, power, and environmental considerations, which add complexity and operational costs.



Resource allocation: allocating resources and managing capacity planning can be challenging, especially during growth or changing business requirements.



Disaster recovery planning: developing and implementing robust disaster recovery plans, backup solutions, and redundancy measures is crucial for data protection and business continuity.






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Which one to choose for your business?



As more companies embrace cloud computing and storage, many still keep some or all of their data and IT infrastructure on-premises for various reasons. Walmart, for instance, tackled its data management challenges by investing in on-premises solutions. The company built and managed its own data centers and IT infrastructure across various locations, gaining full control over data, security protocols, compliance measures, and IT system customization.



The choice between cloud and on-premise computing depends on various factors, including specific needs, goals, budgets, and technical requirements of a business. Here are some considerations to help you decide:




Business needs: evaluate your organization's specific requirements, scalability needs, budget constraints, and data sensitivity to determine the best-fit solution.



Cost analysis: conduct a thorough analysis comparing upfront costs, ongoing expenses, scalability benefits, and potential cost savings with each approach.



Security and compliance: consider data security, privacy concerns, regulatory compliance, and the ability to implement customized security measures.



Flexibility and agility: assess the need for flexibility, agility, and rapid deployment of resources to meet changing business demands.



Risk management: evaluate risks associated with downtime, data loss, vendor lock-in, and operational dependencies to mitigate potential disruptions.



To ensure scalability and sustainability, develop a long-term IT strategy aligned with business goals, growth projections, and technological advancements.




Many organizations choose a hybrid approach that recognizes the benefits and challenges of both on-premise and cloud solutions. This approach involves integrating on-premise infrastructure with cloud services to leverage the advantages of both models. For example, organizations can keep sensitive data on-premise while using the cloud for high-demand applications or backup and disaster recovery purposes. 



In conclusion



The debate surrounding the choice between on-premise and cloud computing is not a one-size-fits-all scenario. Each organization must determine its specific requirements to make an informed decision. Whether opting for on-premise, cloud, or a hybrid model, prioritizing security, scalability, and cost-efficiency is key to establishing a robust IT infrastructure that aligns with your business's goals and objectives.

### What Is DAST and Why Does Your App Require Dynamic Application Security Testing?

Web and mobile applications are the driving force behind modern business, and it’s safe to say that their performance directly impacts a company’s revenue and profitability. On the other hand, the processing and storage of sensitive data makes software applications a preferred target for cyber criminals. Hence, one has to safeguard their apps in order to protect both the company’s and clients’ assets.



Though cybercrime grows at a consistent rate, it will skyrocket between 2024–2028, as per Statista. A report states that the global cost of cybercrime will probably reach $13.82 trillion by 2028. This being said, companies might expect more powerful cyberattacks and more risks related to cybersecurity. One of the ways to prevent or mitigate the majority of them is through implementing dynamic application security testing.







A word on application security



Before answering the “what is DAST” question, it is important to talk about application security first. For a detailed understanding, please see our article on AppSec, but for now, let’s quickly discuss its main concepts.



Application security can be defined as a set of tools, processes, and strategies aimed at securing an application throughout its SDLC (software development lifecycle). AppSec focuses on mitigating and preventing the most common cyberthreats (as listed by OWASP or CWE), and involves the use of application security controls - specialized measures for software protection. Examples of application security controls are:




Access control



Authentication



Logging controls



Data encryption




Also, application security implies regular application testing that comes in different forms: black box, white box, and gray testing. This is where the concept of DAST - dynamic security testing - belongs.



What is DAST?



DAST stands for dynamic application testing. If we address the DAST testing meaning, this process is aimed at examining the running app’s security via penetration tests and at finding potential vulnerabilities. An important thing to remember about DAST is that is applied to running applications only, and in this way, the process allows identifying both compile and run-time vulnerabilities within the app. However, DAST does not check the source code, so you’ll need to combine this testing process with static application security testing aka SAST (more on it below).



How does DAST work?



To perform dynamic application security testing, you’ll need a specialized DAST tool. This tool identifies various input fields of the app and sends to them malicious or sketchy inputs. In simple terms, a DAST testing tool intentionally tries to hack or compromise your application. Then, the tool analyzes the app’s response. Say, if an app crashes or a tool gets unauthorized access to the sensitive data, it will send a notification about the detected vulnerability. In this way, you’ll be able to quickly identify potential threats and will apply preventative measures in advance, thus eliminating the possible damage.



Key features of dynamic application security testing



Dynamic application security testing tools have a range of powerful and effective features that are worth discussing. Below, we list the most interesting ones.



Automated crawling 



As mentioned above, a DAST tool inspects an app on the subject of potential vulnerabilities. This process is called crawling and is performed automatically. Crawling includes mapping out the app’s structure, identifying inputs, and overall exploring its functionality. In this way, a tool performs a comprehensive analysis and creates a holistic image of the app and its components.



Detection of vulnerabilities



The core purpose of the DAST process is to detect vulnerabilities. While dynamic application security testing does not cover the source code, it’s enough to identify such common vulnerabilities as:




SQL injection



Cross-site scripting



Insecure authentication mechanism



XSS payloads



Long input strings




Simulation of an attack



To detect abnormal behavior of the app, a DAST tool needs to kind of provoke it. For that, it will simulate an attack and see, whether an app responds in an unusual way or whether sensitive information will become exposed.



Examples of such attacks include fuzzing, parameter tampering, and session hijacking. It is important to note that attacks are performed on a running app, thus perfectly simulating a real-world environment, where a threat agent would first start an app to later hack it.



Reporting



After detecting vulnerabilities, a DAST tool then creates a report, where it listed what exact vulnerabilities were found, what activities caused them, and where they are located. This report is highly important for the overall app security as it helps safeguard it before any actual damage is done or before a real attack happens. Also, some DAST security tools provide actionable recommendations for remediation as part of such reports.



DAST testing pros and cons



Now that we are clear on dynamic application security testing definition, let’s address its pros and cons. While dynamic application security testing is undoubtedly helpful, it has certain limitations and challenges. Thus, it is important to understand both the benefits and challenges of DAST in order to successfully implement it in your processes.



The main benefits of DAST



Though we’ve already mentioned that DAST is aimed at improving the app’s security and reliability, let’s look at the DAST automated test benefits  in more detail:




Early detention of vulnerabilities: a DAST tool can quickly and effectively detect both compile and runtime errors, thus enabling developers to fix existing issues before the app goes into production and gets exposed to potential threats.



Reduced chance of a breach: since DAST informs about existing weak areas and vulnerabilities, developers can almost immediately apply the needed preventative measures. This, in turn, greatly reduces the risks of a cyberattack and helps avoid possible breaches.



Suitable for any language and environment: due to the black-box testing technique of the DAST approach and its language agnostic nature, this method works perfectly well with an app written in any language and for any environment. 



Low false positive rate: due to actually exploiting the detected vulnerabilities, DAST ensures that the ones found really pose a threat to the app’s security.



Compliance with security standards and needed regulations: DAST serves as an additional security method for ensuring that the application meets all needed regulations and complies with the industry standards for security.




The main challenges of DAST



We’ve walked through the main pros of the DAST approach - now let’s address the main limitations and considerations of this method:




Late implementation in SDLC: since DAST is applicable only for working applications, it can’t test the software during its development. Hence, some vulnerabilities and bugs will be more expensive to remediate.



No access to source code: DAST tools do not have access to the source code, so if you use this testing method solely, some vulnerabilities may remain unnoticed.



Limited code coverage: while the app is running, some of its parts are not executed - and thus, the DAST tool might miss them.




If you want to follow a holistic and comprehensive approach to testing the application, we recommend combining both DAST and SAST methodologies, so the app is tested in every aspect.



DAST security tools to consider



We’ve already answered the “what is dynamic application security testing?” question. Now, let’s look at the specialized tools. There are many available DAST tools out there in the market - below we review the most interesting and feature-rich solutions:



OWASP ZAP



Developed by OWASP, this tool is highly recommended and is praised for its functionality, flexibility, and efficiency. Being an open-source solution, OWASP ZAP grows with the needs of its community and is constantly evolving due to regular contributions. One more great thing is that it’s a free solution, though you might need to invest in additional customization or training.



Among the drawbacks to consider are lack of performance optimization and a steep learning curve for beginners. But overall, OWASP ZAP is a powerful and useful tool for dynamic security testing.



Acunetix



The main strength of this tool is automation of vulnerability detection. This makes Acunetix a great solution for frequent security scans, which is a must in many companies. In this way, you can save a great deal of time and minimize manual interventions while the tool rapidly scans through massive apps. 



As for the possible cons, Acunetix is quite pricey. It also focuses mostly on web security, thus leaving behind specific security aspects of other types of applications.



Portswigger Burp Suite



As an opposite to Acunetix, the Portswigger Burp Suite tool was designed specifically for manual testing, as an aid for pen testing. This tool helps identify those vulnerabilities that were overlooked by automated testing. It is therefore a perfect solution for those who want to deep-dive into manual testing and explore the app from A to Z.



While it’s very powerful and feature-rich, it can also be too complex for inexperienced users or small companies with simple apps. We therefore recommend this tool for companies with large-scale and complex applications that will benefit from a manual + automated testing combo.



Rapid7 AppSpide



One more DAST tool worth mentioning is Rapid7 AppSpide. What’s interesting about it is that Rapid7 AppSpide is great for integration in the DevOps lifecycle, which is present in most software development companies. Due to smooth and easy integration with most CI/CD tools, this solution allows effective app testing throughout most of SDLC. 



DAST vs SAST



Though this article is dedicated to dynamic application security testing, it’s important to discuss static application security testing too. By understanding both testing methods and the ways they differ, you will be able to build a robust testing strategy.



DASTSASTTesting typeBlack boxWhite boxSDLC phaseIs implemented later due to the need for the running appCan be implemented at early SDLC stagesNeeded code maturityCan only test mature code of the running appCan run on partial code due to access to source codeCoverageApp components that are executed at the momentSource codeCost of remediationHigh due to late implementation in SDLCLow due to early implementation in SDLCCoverage of vulnerabilitiesHigh, includes compile errorsHigh, investigates source code



DAST best practices



Finally, let’s wrap up with a list of dynamic application security testing (DAST) best practices. While DAST itself is a powerful method for app testing, the use of these practices can improve the delivered testing results and can save you time and resources.



Select a suitable tool



Above we discussed several DAST tools and, as you can see, they vary in pricing, functionality, and even purpose (i.e., manual testing vs automated). Thus, carefully evaluate the needs and requirements of your specific application and see what tool suits these requirements the best. You can also consult with a knowledgeable software testing company to ensure that you select the most effective and appropriate DAST solution.



Consider the limitations and build the testing strategy correspondingly



Some companies rely on DAST solely when testing their apps and it leads to missed or unnoticed vulnerabilities. As a result, companies might face significant financial losses in case of a breach or another malicious attack.



To ensure all-round security, use dynamic application security testing together with other testing techniques (SAST, manual code review). In this way, you will be able to cover all aspects of the app, both the source code and components in execution.



Regularly update your DAST tools



Regular updating of any software leads to its better performance, higher reliability, and security. Thus, keep an eye on the latest updates and patches for DAST tools in use and make sure that you use the latest version.




 


Expert Opinion



DAST is a versatile tool for identifying potential vulnerabilities in web and mobile applications. It's language-agnostic and can detect both compile-time and runtime errors. However, DAST has limitations, such as late implementation in SDLC and the inability to access source code. Combining DAST with other testing methodologies can help organizations take a holistic approach to security testing and better safeguard against evolving cyber threats. DAST is an essential tool for maintaining the security and reliability of software products in today's digital landscape.





QA Engineer at SoftTeco



Svetlana Khaduskina






 




Summing up



Dynamic application security testing is an integral part of the overall testing process, aimed at improving the app’s security and closing vulnerability gaps. For maximal effect, we recommend partnering with an experienced testing team who will not only perform DAST but also provide valuable suggestions for future security improvements.

### What is Software Composition Analysis (SCA)? Benefits, Best Practices, and Required Tools

Today, the creation of modern software integrates custom code, open-source software, and third-party components. This tendency has skyrocketed due to its flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and abundance of resources and tools. According to Market Splash, 80% of companies are using open-source software. However, the reliance on external code poses challenges for organizations in terms of visibility of all software components, their vulnerabilities, and legal issues.



The understanding of what goes into your software is essential for keeping it secure. Because of this, software composition analysis (SCA) has emerged as an indispensable process for enterprises. This article answers the "what is SCA" question, explains how it works, and discusses its common benefits and best practices to ensure its effectiveness.







What is software composition analysis (SCA)?



Software composition analysis (SCA) is an automated process that tracks and analyses open-source software (OSS) components within a codebase. Its primary goal is to assess the status of OSS components, determining whether they are up-to-date, contain security vulnerabilities, or have specific licensing requirements. To achieve this, this process relies on inventory, analysis, and control procedures and is used throughout the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC).



The SCA process detects various issues, including:




Known security vulnerabilities;



License compliance issues;



Security misconfigurations;



Dependency risks;



Outdated or end-of-life OSS components;



Data exposure components (e.g., hard-coded credentials);



Cryptographic vulnerabilities (e.g., weak algorithms).




Besides ensuring external code security, SCA also emphasizes adherence to open-source license limitations and obligations. Manual tracking of these obligations can be cumbersome and may lead to overlooked vulnerabilities within the code. So the use of an SCA solution enables companies to secure the software supply chain by ensuring transparency, identifying risks, and licence compliance with open-source components.



Furthermore, early and continuous SCA testing empowers developers and security teams to enhance the quality of their applications, boosting productivity without compromising on security standards.



How does software composition analysis work?



As we said, software composition analysis (SCA) is a crucial application security process for managing risks associated with open-source software components. But how does it work? SCA operates through specialized tools, which are implemented in SDLC to ensure code security, quality, and compliance from the outset.



Let’s delve into the process of the SCA operation step-by-step:




Scanning: SCA tools run scans on the codebase to identify all third-party components, libraries, and every direct and indirect dependency. This also includes libraries, frameworks, modules, and other components used within a project;



Building an inventory: following the scanning process, the SCA tool generates an inventory or Software Bill of Materials (SBOM), listing all open-source software components, such as component versions, licensing agreements, and patch statuses;



Vulnerability scanning: the components listed in SBOM compare against various public and private databases, such as the National Vulnerability Database (NVD), checking for common and known vulnerabilities, licensing data, and other potential risks;



Risk assessment: SCA tools generate a risk assessment report based on vulnerability scanning and license analysis. This report highlights any detected security flaws, licensing issues, or other risks and prioritizes them per their threat level. Next, SCA tools offer recommendations on how to fix the uncovered issues and critical defects.




For example, an organization that needs to establish a comprehensive security and compliance plan can use SCA to achieve baseline license compliance and to identify security vulnerabilities. As the code is further developed, teams can use SCA to maintain this license compliance and ensure consistent security.



Why is SCA crucial for organizations? 



Since almost every application uses open-source components to a certain extent, SCA testing is necessary to ensure a final product is reliable, secure, and compliant. When OSS usage issues are not discovered, they can result in security threats, financial losses, legal issues, and reputational damage. Moreover, with the rising popularity of cloud-native and complex apps, SCA tools have become indispensable for meeting security and speed development. 



Lastly, the most heartbreaking problem companies face year to year is cyberattacks on OOS components. According to a report by the Synopsys Cybersecurity Research Center (CyRC) from 2024, many industries are exposed to a growing number of high-risk open-source vulnerabilities. Take a look at some of them: 




Computer hardware had 88% of high-risk vulnerabilities;



Manufacturing and robotics had 87%;



Big Data, AI, BI, and Machine Learning had 66%;



Automotive, transportation, and logistics had 33%.




Moreover, codebases with high-risk open-source security flaws increased from 48% to 74% between 2022 and 2023. These numbers show the growth of cybercrime and the need for organizations to implement effective cybersecurity measures to overcome possible OSS attacks. The SCA process refers to such a solution. 



Benefits of software composition analysis



Other reasons why organizations need to carry out open-source software composition analysis are:




Identify security risks: by scanning the software composition, organizations can uncover flaws and weaknesses that may exist in third-party libraries or dependencies, thereby mitigating the risk of potential security breaches;



Early detection of vulnerabilities: SCA detects security risks before software deployment, enabling QA teams to fix issues before they go live and influence a product;



License compliance: by using SCA, organizations are able to identify the licenses of all the components in use, allowing them to meet legal requirements;



Improved software quality: SCA can help organizations identify and fix issues early on during development, resulting in improved overall quality and reliability of the ongoing software product;



Enhanced team productivity: SCA automates a range of processes and frees developers from manual tasks. As a result, developers worry less about potential OSS incidents and may focus on more core development tasks.




However, SCA also has some challenges and limitations that organizations need to consider.



Common challenges of the SCA process



There are several challenges associated with integrating SCA, such as:




Limited scope: SCA only identifies risks in open-source components, not in custom (original) code. To ensure comprehensive security testing, teams should complement SCA with tools designed for analyzing proprietary code, such as SAST, DAST, or RASP;



Dependency management: keeping track of dependencies, versions, licenses, and security flaws can be challenging, especially in dynamic software environments where updates and changes occur frequently;



Potential lack of visibility: SCA relies on software bills of material (which include all external components), but incomplete SBOMs and nested dependencies can obscure security holes, making them challenging to detect;



Vendor lock-in: organizations that depend on a specific vendor's tools or services for SCA needs are limited in their ability to easily migrate to alternative solutions, which can result in increased costs, limited innovation, and reduced flexibility;



Maintain development speed: traditional security checks may slow development or be bypassed, setting the additional (resource-intensive) stage for a DevSecOps approach to embedding security seamlessly;



Lack of standardization: a lack of standardized practices and tools within an organization can hinder the consistency and effectiveness of SCA efforts, leading to security gaps;



False positives and negatives results: SCA tools may sometimes occasionally generate false positives (incorrectly flagging vulnerabilities) or false negatives (missed vulnerabilities). A false positive leads to unnecessary work, while a false negative leads to unaddressed security risks.




Addressing these challenges requires a combination of technological solutions, best practices, and tools to prioritize software security during development. To help companies cope with it, let's look at the best practices of SCA leveraging for success.



Best practices of (SCA) software composition analysis 



Even with a top-notch software composition analysis tool, achieving a high level of security may remain elusive without a solid understanding of how to leverage the SCA process effectively. Here are some of the best practices of SCA to pay attention to:



Create accurate SBOMs



As a software bill of material provides detailed information about the components and dependencies used in software applications, it is a cornerstone of the effective SCA process. By creating accurate SBOMs, organizations can more effectively assess potential security and license compliance issues.



To create accurate SBOMs, organizations must meticulously document all software components and their dependencies during software development. They should regularly update and maintain these inventories to reflect any changes to their software stack. Also, organizations should adopt automated tools and processes for creating and managing SBOMs to eliminate human error and ensure completeness and accuracy.



Integrate SCA into the CI/CD process



Companies need to integrate SCA tools into their CI/CD pipeline as early as possible to automate, identify, and fix vulnerabilities promptly during development. This minimizes security risks and ensures compliance with licensing requirements. It also helps development teams maintain an up-to-date SBOM to track changes and dependencies efficiently.



Automate scanning and identify actionable fixes



Regularly scan your codebase using automated SCA tools. These scans should go beyond mere detection of vulnerabilities and offer actionable recommendations for fixing identified vulnerabilities. The automation ensures consistent coverage as well as timely identification of any issues that arise.



Understand dependencies



There are two types of dependencies in open-source packages: direct and transitive. A direct dependency is a package you include in your own project, while a transitive (indirect) dependency refers to a package used by one of your direct dependencies - they are often overlooked. 



Usually, a large part of vulnerabilities in open-source packages exist in transitive dependencies that companies don't even know about. If a direct dependency introduces a vulnerability, it can propagate to all its transitive dependencies. As a result, identifying the root cause of vulnerability becomes more difficult. To overcome this and guarantee an effective SCA process, companies should choose an SCA tool that accurately inspects all the dependencies in code and examines transitive dependencies as well.



Adopt continuous monitoring



Today, periodic and manual checks may not keep up with the dynamic nature of software dependencies. Besides own code, there are many third-party components in software that are frequently updated. So the adoption of continuous monitoring helps organizations benefit from real-time insights about software security. It will enable them to detect new security flaws or changes in existing ones immediately. 



Create a remediation plan for vulnerabilities



Identifying security concerns through SCA is only the beginning of the process; the real challenge is to take action to remediate the vulnerabilities found. This is where a vulnerability remediation plan becomes indispensable. This plan should outline the steps required to mitigate each vulnerability and prioritize them based on severity and impact. Also, it should include assigning responsibilities to the appropriate team members and setting deadlines for implementing fixes. 



With a well-defined remediation plan, organizations can systematically and quickly address security issues. Moreover, rapid vulnerability response minimizes opportunities for the growth of cyber threats.



Ensure license compliance



Tracking open-source code is important for application security, but tracking open-source licenses is crucial for compliance. Licenses define the legal terms of usage for open-source packages. Organizations can use SCA tools to adhere to the licenses associated with these components to avoid legal issues and potential violations.



To achieve license compliance, organizations should first establish a clear understanding of the licenses governing the open-source components. This includes identifying the types of licenses (e.g., permissive, copyleft) and their specific terms and obligations. Next, organizations should implement processes and tools for tracking and managing licenses and monitoring their updates during development. 



Select developer-friendly SCA tools



Developers need efficient tools that seamlessly integrate into their workflow to maintain productivity. An SCA tool should be easy to set up, use, and integrate with existing development tools like version control and IDEs. When developers are made aware of the benefits of SCA, they will adopt it more readily, saving time and preventing the need for code rewrites down the road.



Choose effective tools



Having the appropriate tools is crucial to effectively implementing SCA. Organizations should carefully evaluate many factors before making a choice. In a nutshell, effective tools should be able to accurately scan and analyze the entire codebase. They should provide comprehensive vulnerability and license compliance information, along with actionable insights for remediation. They must be capable of managing complex dependencies and seamlessly integrating into the existing security infrastructure. However, that's not all.



How to choose the most appropriate SCA tools



As we said above, when choosing the right SCA tools, you must consider various factors to ensure they meet business needs and fit into your software development process. So, the most appropriate SCA tools should provide you with: 




License compliance management;



Deliver minimal false positives (incorrectly flagged vulnerabilities) and false negatives (missed vulnerabilities);



CI/CD integration;



Integration with the development ecosystem;



Automated policy governance;



Language and package manager support;



Transitive dependencies reporting;



Support both code and binary scanning;



Detailed reporting/remediation;



Access to regularly updated vulnerability databases.




Thus, well-chosen SCA tools can help organizations increase their security posture and reduce potential risks related to external code. Now, let's look at some of the best options available in the market.



The best software composition analysis tools



Here are a few of the most prominent SCA tools to integrate into your workflows:




Mend.io (ex-WhiteSource): it offers a versatile application security testing suite that includes SCA, Static Application Security Testing (SAST), and extra features. This enterprise-grade platform easily handles many apps and developers;



Snyk: it offers advanced vulnerability detection and remediation capabilities for open-source components. It provides real-time alerts and actionable insights into vulnerabilities, security risks, and licensing issues;



Black Duck: it, now part of Synopsys, provides robust SCA solutions for managing open-source risks. It offers vulnerability detection, license compliance, and code snippet analysis capabilities;



Qwiet AI: it relies on AI, and it offers vulnerability scanning for open-source packages and libraries. It helps prioritize which vulnerabilities to address first;



CAST Highlight: it combines SCA with other code quality metrics, providing detailed reports and analytics and making it easy to track progress and identify areas for improvement;



Veracode: it helps organizations identify and mitigate security risks posed by open-source components. It offers automated SCA scanning, detailed dependency analysis, and vulnerability remediation capabilities;



SOOS SCA + DAST: it provides both SCA and Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) capabilities. It offers SCA scans for vulnerabilities and automated analysis.




Before you choose among them, keep in mind your specific needs, workflow, and development environment. This list does not cover all the beneficial SCA solutions available, so explore the market for the best options.



The future of software composition analysis: conclusion 



While SCA software composition analysis was initially used to perform manual and periodic scans, today, it is an essential process throughout the software development lifecycle. Some factors have contributed to this shift, including the widespread use of OSS components, the rise of cybersecurity threats, and evolving changes in privacy and security app regulations.



Given these reasons, SCA has become even more essential for application security related to external code. Moreover, newer and more advanced SCA tools have emerged with the evolution of software development. They eliminate security risks and legal issues associated with using open-source packages, giving developers the freedom to build software with external code. Ultimately answering “what is SCA?” and its future, it is and will be a cornerstone for secure and resilient software.

### Main Ecommerce Trends 2024 to Consider For Your Business [Infographic]

The advancement of technology and fluctuations in customers’ expectations and needs are among the core factors that shape ecommerce. Every year, new trends in ecommerce emerge and set the direction for the industry’s transformation. In this article, we discuss the main ecommerce trends that we will most probably dominate the market in 2024 and beyond and will help businesses remain relevant and competitive.







Ecommerce trends 2024 and market overview



The ecommerce industry sees consistent annual growth. According to Statista, the expected numbers for current ecommerce trends and beyond are:




The worldwide ecommerce revenue in 2024 might reach US$3,178.00bn



The average revenue per user (ARPU) in 2024 in ecommerce will be approximately US$1,387.00



The amount of retail ecommerce sales worldwide might reach $6,330bn in 2024.




As you can see, the numbers are quite impressive. Let’s also toss in several ecommerce predictions by Forbes Advisor:




In 2024, 20.1% of retail sales will happen online, and by 2027, the number will grow up to 23%



Ecommerce sales will see an overall increase by 8.8% in 2024



The ecommerce market is expected to total more than $7.9 trillion by 2027




So, what’s the reason behind such rapid and consistent growth, and what impacts ecom trends?



Ecommerce growth trends



The ecommerce industry and the trends in online shopping are shaped by various factors. Adoption of new technologies, ever-changing customer behavior, the remaining impact of COVID-19, globalization - all that affects the way people shop. And considering the fact that an average user can now instantly access both local and international stores from their mobile device, it becomes increasingly hard for businesses to remain competitive. 



This is where adoption of latest online shopping trends plays its role in granting a competitive advantage to a business. By knowing these trends, an ecommerce company can significantly improve both its customer service and internal operations, thus increasing the number of conversions and gaining users’ loyalty and interest.







Enhanced onsite personalization



The concept of personalization is nothing new - but as technology advances, businesses gain more opportunities to better understand their customers and not only provide them with relevant offers but also predict what might interest them. The main driving force behind that is the use of Artificial Intelligence and its subset Machine Learning. These technologies allow efficient collection of user data and its in-depth analysis, thus providing valuable insights that can be used to shape one’s marketing strategy. This is why personalization is confidently on the list of ecommerce future trends.



According to a report by Sender, 56% of shoppers will likely return to a website if it provides personalized offers and first-time shoppers consider personalization as a great aid in navigating a website. With this in mind, businesses might want to review or redesign their onsite personalization to keep up with this ecommerce trend.



Onsite, aka “on a website”, personalization means that you dynamically adapt your website to your customers and follow an interest-based approach to provide timely and relevant offers to specific users. Though personalization itself is not a new concept, it can be constantly improved through the use of latest technologies as well as through the ongoing customer research. When talking about onsite personalization, the main areas of focus are:




Customization of dynamic content: the content on a web page changes according to the user’s actions (i.e., browsing history), thus staying relevant and gaining user’s attention.



Different approach to various user groups: it is important to differentiate between existing, new, and returning customers and provide corresponding offers to them.



Smart upselling and cross-selling: through the use of Machine Learning, you can provide relevant offers that will be unique for every user.



Personalized recommendations: based on user’s preferences and behavior, your website can offer unique recommendations specifically tailored to a user.




With the help of segmentation and data analysis, businesses can encourage shoppers to complete their conversions more effectively, since users will receive unique experiences right from the start. But to achieve that, you will first need to redefine your data collection and analysis processes, and you might also want to consider implementing an ML solution for that. Luckily, there are many ready-made ML tools available in the market - though a custom one might offer you more accurate and valuable results. 



The growth of M-commerce



Another big trend among ecommerce industry trends is M-commerce. Mobile commerce, or M-commerce for short, keeps gaining traction, meaning, people continue shopping from their mobile devices. According to Statista, 60% of online sales are attributed to mobile shopping, and mobile sales are expected to take up the 62% of all retail sales by 2027 (Forbes Advisor).



What does it tell us? That people love to shop directly from their smartphones and mobile devices. After all, it enables them to shop at any time and from anywhere, which is highly convenient. But what does it mean for businesses, though? There are several things to keep in mind if you want to be more mobile-friendly and follow the trend:




Ensure that your store is responsive and performs seamlessly on mobile devices;



Consider developing a separate mobile application for your store;



Encourage users to shop from their mobile devices by providing specialized offers and discounts;



Use advanced technologies like AI, VR, and AR in your mobile app to boost user engagement.




Omnichannel retail 



Omnichannel retail, also called hybrid commerce, is a mix of online and physical commerce, and is among the biggest emerging ecommerce trends. Hybrid commerce implies that customers receive a seamless experience both through online and physical stores and can select the most convenient shopping method by using multiple platforms and channels.



It is important to note that omnichannel commerce, in general, is not a new concept. We’ve seen it before when businesses recognized the need to provide the same user experience through desktop, mobile, and physical stores. Now, customers want even more convenience, and with that said, businesses need to consider the following ecom trends.



BOPIS



BOPIS stands for buy online, pick up in-store and implies that a customer orders a product online and picks it in a physical store at their own convenience. This model is also called a click-and-collect method and is gaining immense popularity due to its convenience.



The BOPIS approach allows customers to combine the ease and security of online shopping and payment with the freedom to choose the most suitable time and date for the product pickup. However, this business model also brings in several new challenges for store owners. In particular, it calls for potential reorganization of inventory and supply chain management so that there is no product shortage. 



Main benefits that BOPIS brings to shoppers are:




Zero shipping costs 



Speed of service



Easy product browsing



Secure and easy payments in multiple formats



24/7 access to the store




As for retailers, BOPIS adds a competitive edge and helps attract customers to physical stores. However, before implementing this model, a business owner needs to carefully review and reorganize the processes in order to support the increase in product demand.



ROPO



ROPO stands for “research online, purchase offline” approach to shopping. Same as with BOPIS, this method implies that a user browses an online store and researchers available products but buys them in a physical store. This grants a perfect opportunity for business owners to implement AR and VR, so users can remotely “try on” the products and make a buying decision in advance.



Curbside pickup



One more interesting ecommerce trend that gains popularity is a curbside pickup. It works in the following way:




A customer browses an online store and selects a product as well as a suitable pick-up store, where the product is available



A customer buys a product online 



The system notifies the store about the purchase, so employees can prepare the order



A customer receives a notification when the order is ready



A customer arrives at the store and an employee or a store representative delivers the order to them.




In simple terms, curbside pickup is something like a drive-through - but the difference is that with curbside pickup, you place the order in advance. This shopping method is also becoming popular due to its convenience, so store owners might consider it alongside other options.



Zero-party data



Modern customers are highly aware of data privacy and transparency, and the majority of them wants to control how exactly businesses gather and use their data. Add to that the fact that both Apple and Google stopped their support for third-party cookies in 2023, and you’ll understand why zero-party data is on the rise and is among the anticipated digital commerce trends.



Zero-party data is the data collected directly from users, with no third parties involved. An example of such data would be a user filling in a form directly on your website. Obviously, you still need to explain why you collect the data and how it will be used, and you need to provide an option to opt out from data collection. 



Some of the options for zero-party data collection include:




Quizzes and polls



Pop-ups



Customer surveys



Giveaways



Onboarding questionnaires



Contests




One of the most effective ways to engage users is to provide them with something valuable in exchange for their data. It can be a discount, a coupon, or a special offer - whatever your imagination is capable of.



Subscription models



Customer retention is extremely important. According to Semrush, the cost of retaining a customer is lower than a cost of acquiring a new one, while retaining customers tend to spend more and are more loyal. Hence, business owners should consider various ways to retain their customers and a subscription model is a perfect solution and one of the trends in ecommerce industry.



Here is how it works. You offer your customers a monthly (quarterly or even annual) subscription, and they receive goods from your stores. This approach contains an element of surprise (customers do not know what comes in their subscription box beforehand) and encourages shoppers to a long-term commitment to your store. Of course, they should have an option to easily cancel their subscription anytime - but in reality, most users love this approach to online shopping.



Numbers from various reports also support the growing popularity of subscription models. According to the BusinessWire report, the subscription market is expected to reach $2+ trillion by 2028, and 70% of business leaders see the subscription model as a vital part of ecommerce. This being said, if the nature of your business allows that, you might want to consider implementing a subscription model for improved customer retention and reduced churn rates.



Use of Artificial Intelligence



Artificial Intelligence has become a go-to technology for many industries, and ecommerce is no exception. While it has been around for a while already, experts predict that the number of its use cases within the ecommerce domain will increase and more companies will adopt it, thus putting AI among the most promising ecommerce trends. Below, we list the most prominent AI use cases and benefits that can be seen as B2C ecommerce trends for the future.



More efficient management of internal processes



Businesses need to adapt to changing demands of customers. For that, they need to build accurate forecasts and predict the potential demand and supply, as well as better manage their inventory and processes. Automation paired with AI creates a powerful tech combo that ecommerce businesses can use to leverage their operations while cutting costs. Here is how AI can help:




Better inventory and warehouse management;



Reduced operating costs due to more effective allocation of resources;



Reduction or elimination of surplus stock;



Data-driven business strategies, including smarter logistics and production.




And these are just a few of the examples. By using AI, ecommerce businesses can transform the way they operate, becoming more efficient, user-centric, and sustainable.



In-depth customer analysis and improved customer experience



If you are not using ML yet for customer segmentation and analysis, now it’s the best time to start. As mentioned earlier, shoppers love personalization - but you can’t provide it unless you know your customers from A to Z. Such in-depth knowledge can be gained through collection and analysis of the most various user data, and this is where ML helps.



Modern marketing tools, powered with the Machine Learning technology, offer impeccable capabilities for user analysis and creation of smart and relevant campaigns. This, in turn, leads to improved customer experience and an increase in revenue.



Smart assistants



Another one of online retail trends is related to AI and implies the use of smart assistants on a website. It can be a good old chatbot or a more complex personal assistant, but the concept remains the same. A virtual assistant is basically a robot that can perform certain tasks and aids users throughout their shopping journey. Here are a few examples of what a smart ecommerce bot can do:




Answer the questions: the level of their complexity can be determined by you in advance;



Provide information on your store, products, terms of service, etc.;



Perform routine tasks like sending emails, calling customers, or sending them notifications;



Process customer queries and complaints, thus speeding up the process and facilitating the work of your employees;



Provide customer support 24/7.



Provide recommendations based on the user’s shopping history.




By implementing a smart virtual assistant on your website, you can significantly boost user engagement, number of conversions, and revenue, as well as optimize certain processes. If you don’t know where to start, you can research available ready-made solutions or request an AI development company for a customized solution.



Augmented reality and virtual reality technologies



Online shopping has many benefits, but one of its major drawbacks is the inability of customers to try on a certain product. AR and VR technologies seem to solve this issue, so they are on the list of big ecommerce trends.



With the help of AR and VR, ecommerce store owners enable their customers to try products remotely. One of the great examples is the Warby Parker app that allows virtual try-on of the glasses - and that’s just one example. Ikea, Target, Sephora, and other big brands all follow the lead in terms of enabling a full-fledged shopping experience without the need to visit physical stores.



While the use of AR and VR technologies is not a must, it certainly helps in improving the customer experience and adding a competitive advantage to a business. Most customers have a very positive attitude towards using AR in ecommerce, and those businesses that already have it in use see a high conversion rate. With this said, you might want to explore the ways how AR and VR can help you elevate your business and provide real value to shoppers.



Social commerce



Social media has become something bigger than socializing quite a long time ago and today, it is one of the most promising spaces for online commerce. Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest now offer both business owners and shoppers an easy and effective way to purchase products online, so naturally, social commerce is among the top ecommerce trends 2024 and further.



Remember that mobile commerce is also on the rise? This might be a big factor that influences the growing popularity of social commerce. Since customers use their mobile devices to browse social media, an option to shop on these platforms is part of an intuitive and frictionless user journey. And according to the report by Accenture, the social media commerce sales are expected to reach $1.2 trillion by 2025, which is quite impressive. Hence, if you do not have official business accounts on the most popular platforms yet, now it’s the best time to start them.



Social commerce vs social selling



When talking about social commerce and ecommerce trends, it is also important to mention social selling, as these two terms often get confused.



Social selling refers to the process of establishing relationships with your target audience via social media. This includes answering their DMs or leaving comments, and the main focus is on building trust, authority, and loyalty. Social commerce, on the other hand, focuses mainly on selling the product or service.







Sustainable commerce



Modern customers are cautious about the environment, and they expect businesses to follow the lead. One of the biggest issues is the amount of CO2 emissions from freight shipping, with their amount expected to reach 25 million metric tons by 2030, which is, frankly, terrifying. 



Numerous surveys show that customers want businesses to be more environmentally cautious and to value sustainability. For example, customers want businesses to use less packaging and try to use less plastic and choose sustainable packaging instead. And since sustainability indeed is an acute issue, here are a few ideas of what your business can do:




Switch to carbon-neutral (or another sustainable) packaging



Reduce the number of used plastic 



Implement recycling



Implement zero-waste approach to warehouse management




Headless ecommerce



Last but not least on the list of the most expected ecommerce growth trends is headless ecommerce, which means that the frontend and the backend parts of the ecommerce store are decoupled and communicate via an API. This approach grants store owners several significant advantages:




Immense creative control since you can configure various frontend experiences for various platforms;



Improved performance due to faster store loading;



Selection of the most suitable and preferred tools and services.




By choosing the headless approach, you can significantly improve the omnichannel experience, speed up the development process, and integrate needed services in a seamless manner. And to support this statement with numbers, here are some from reports by Gartner and Salesforce:




80% of brands that do not have headless architecture yet plan to adopt it in the nearest future;



The use of headless architecture can bring a 20% increase in revenue.




As you can see, the numbers are quite convincing. However, before switching to headless architecture and before following the latest ecommerce trends, it is important to review your current infrastructure, identify the main bottlenecks and pain points, and determine whether going headless will really bring the expected results and benefits. For that, we recommend consulting with a knowledgeable ecommerce development company like SoftTeco and request a consultation with an ecommerce tech expert.



Summing up: online shopping trends and their future



The world of ecommerce is changing rapidly, and customers are the ones dictating these changes. To remain flexible and competitive, it is imperative for ecommerce businesses to invest in reliable and scalable tech solutions and to adopt tech innovations and latest ecommerce trends - but only after carefully analyzing whether these innovations will bring tangible benefits. We hope that our article helped you decide what your next step will be in terms of making your ecommerce store engaging, converting, and as user-centric as possible.

### Empowering Cyber Resilience: Why Application Security Is Important

Modern businesses are centered around software, whether they sell it directly or rely on it for day-to-day operations. Therefore, it is important to ensure the security and integrity of this software to reduce all possible security risks. 



An effective software application security strategy is key to mitigating these risks and remaining vigilant in the face of emerging cyber threats. In this article, we'll explore what is application security, its implementation challenges, and best practices for maintaining a secure environment in today's digital landscape.







Application security definition



Application security (AppSec) is the process of implementing measures, practices, and tools to protect software applications from cyber threats and vulnerabilities throughout the entire development life cycle. This includes identifying, repairing, and safeguarding against potential application weaknesses to prevent unauthorized access, data theft, and code exploitation.



Understanding application security



Application security is a critical aspect of an organization's overall security posture. It involves a comprehensive approach to safeguarding applications from cyber threats, including internal and external attacks. The range of applications that require security measures includes:




Web applications; 



Mobile applications; 



API and microservices;



IoT applications;



Cloud-based applications, etc.




To mitigate risks associated with app security, organizations need to develop a security strategy that aligns with their business objectives. This typically involves determining the level of security required for each application based on the sensitivity of the data it contains and the potential impact of a security breach.



Investing in security technologies is another way to strengthen application security. This includes tools such as:




Conventional firewalls;



Encryption and decryption tools;



Antivirus software;



Spyware detection and elimination applications;



Biometric authentication technologies, etc.




These security applications and technologies can help prevent and detect attacks and provide ongoing monitoring and analysis of security events. 



Why is application security important?



Applications often process sensitive user data, including personal information, financial details, and intellectual property. Securing these data assets is crucial for several reasons:




A breach or compromise of an application can damage an organization's reputation and erode customer trust. Robust application security practices demonstrate a commitment to protecting user data and maintaining trust.



As organizations embrace digital transformation and adopt cloud-based, mobile, and IoT technologies, application security becomes even more critical to protect the expanding attack surface and ensure the security of interconnected systems.



Many industries have regulatory requirements and standards related to data security and privacy. Implementing application security measures helps organizations comply with these regulations and avoid penalties or legal consequences.



A proactive approach to software application security is more effective than relying solely on reactive measures to prevent financial losses due to cyber attacks and breaches, which can entail remediation costs, legal and regulatory fines, and revenue loss.




Effective app security holds significant implications for both developers and end-users. For developers, integrating robust security measures instills trust in their products, enhances the organization's reputation, and reduces the likelihood of costly security incidents. On the other hand, end-users benefit from secure applications by entrusting their sensitive data to reliable platforms and minimizing the risk of identity theft or financial fraud.



Types of application threats and weaknesses



To effectively protect applications and the sensitive data they handle, it is essential to understand the common threats they face. There are three main categories into which these threats can be broadly classified:



Internal threads 



Internal threats refer to security risks that originate from within an organization. They can arise from employees, contractors, or anyone with authorized access to the application. Common internal threats include:




Insider attacks happen when an authorized person intentionally exploits application vulnerabilities for personal gain, resulting in data breaches, unauthorized access to sensitive information, or service disruption.



Human error. Inadvertent mistakes employees make can also pose security risks, including misconfigurations, accidental data leakage, or improper handling of sensitive information.



Privilege abuse. Unauthorized or excessive access privileges granted to individuals can lead to misuse of sensitive data or unauthorized actions within the application.




External threads



External threats originate from outside an organization's network and target its applications. These threats can come from individuals or groups with malicious intent. Common external threats include:




Malware and viruses. Malicious software can be introduced through various means, such as email attachments, infected websites, or compromised third-party applications. Once installed, malware can compromise application security and steal sensitive data.



Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. In a DDoS attack, a large number of devices overwhelm an application's server or network infrastructure, making it unavailable to legitimate users. DDoS attacks can disrupt services, impact business operations, and create opportunities for further security breaches.




Third-party threats



Third-party threats stem from the use of external services or dependencies within an application. These threats can arise from vulnerabilities in third-party software, libraries, or APIs integrated into an application. Common third-party threats include:




Supply chain attacks. Threat actors target third-party software or services vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access to the application and its data.



Data breaches. Third-party data breaches can also pose significant risks to application security, especially if the compromised data is interconnected with the application.




The most common application weaknesses 



Different organizations acknowledge and monitor the most prevalent vulnerabilities in application security. Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) and OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) are two resources that offer valuable information and guidance on common application weaknesses and vulnerabilities.



Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)



The CWE is a community-developed list of common software and hardware weaknesses that have security implications. It provides a standardized way to identify, define, and consistently categorize software vulnerabilities, enabling better understanding and communication about these issues. 



Some of the TOP 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses in 2023, according to CWE, include:




Out-of-bounds write vulnerabilities occur when a program writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. This can lead to data corruption, system crashes, and even remote code execution.



Cross-site scripting vulnerabilities enable attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users. This can lead to the theft of sensitive information, such as session tokens or personal data, and the manipulation of how a website is rendered in a user's browser. Cross-site attacks can have severe repercussions for both individuals and organizations.



SQL injection involves inserting a malicious SQL query into an input field for execution by the application's database. This can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, data manipulation, and, in some cases, complete control over the affected system. 



Operating system command injection weaknesses occur when an application incorporates user-controllable data into a command sent to a system shell. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary commands on the host operating system, potentially leading to unauthorized access or data exfiltration.



Use-after-free vulnerabilities occur when a program uses memory that has already been freed, which can cause a program to crash or potentially allow attackers to execute arbitrary code. These types of vulnerabilities have been exploited in many high-profile attacks.




Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP)



OWASP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving software security. It provides resources, tools, and guidelines for developers, security professionals, and organizations to build secure web applications and protect against common security vulnerabilities.



OWASP encourages collaboration and knowledge sharing among security professionals, developers, and researchers through conferences, meetups, and community forums. The organization's mission is to make software security visible and accessible to everyone, ultimately improving the security of web applications worldwide.



OWASP is known for its OWASP Top 10, a regularly updated list of the most critical web application security risks. 



Common application weaknesses outlined by OWASP include:




Broken access control occurs when an application doesn't enforce proper restrictions on user access to specific areas of the system. This can happen for various reasons, such as poor design, coding errors, or misconfiguration.



Cryptographic failures are a type of security vulnerability that can occur in the encryption and decryption processes used to protect sensitive information. Attackers can exploit these failures to gain unauthorized access to confidential data, compromising its integrity and confidentiality.



Injection is a vulnerability that allows attackers to inject malicious code into an application. This code can manipulate the application's behavior, access sensitive data, or even take control of the entire system.



Insecure design refers to any flaws in the system's architecture that can be exploited. These often stem from an application's inadequate threat modeling and security planning during development.



Security misconfiguration is a vulnerability that arises when an application is not set up correctly to manage its environment securely. This weakness can take many forms, such as utilizing weak or default configurations, revealing sensitive information in error messages, or neglecting to apply essential patches and updates.



Vulnerable and updated components refer to any third-party components or libraries used by the application but with known vulnerabilities that could be exploited.



Identification and authentication failures refer to weaknesses in the system's user identification and authentication processes that are not robust enough to prevent unauthorized access. These failures can result from issues such as weak passwords, compromised authentication methods, or human error while entering credentials.



Software and data integrity failures refer to vulnerabilities in the application's code or data storage. 



Security logging and monitoring failures refer to any weaknesses in the system's ability to log and monitor security events, making it difficult to detect attacks. 



Server-side request forgery refers to any vulnerabilities in the application's ability to handle requests from external servers, which can allow attackers to gain access to sensitive data or systems.




The list's current update is still in progress. However, you can already check the Top 10 Mobile Risks for 2024.



Application security controls



As we already mentioned, application security includes practices and technologies to mitigate risks and vulnerabilities. Measures implemented to protect software from security threats are known as application security controls. These controls ensure application and data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Here are some common application security controls:




Access control regulates users' access to application resources to prevent unauthorized actions.



Authentication is used to verify the identity of users before granting access to the application's functionalities or data.



Authorization is used to control and grant specific permissions and privileges to authenticated users based on their role or level of access.



Data encryption helps to protect sensitive data by encoding it in a way that can only be decrypted by authorized users with the appropriate keys.



Logging controls record and monitor user activities, system events, and security-related incidents to track and identify potential security breaches.



Application security testing helps identify and address applications' weaknesses or vulnerabilities throughout development. 




By implementing a combination of these application security controls, organizations can strengthen their defenses, mitigate risks, and protect their applications from potential security threats. To ensure comprehensive protection, it is essential to tailor these controls based on each application's specific needs and risks.



Application security is an ongoing process that involves continuous monitoring, detection of threats or anomalies, and improvement of security controls and practices. This includes staying updated with the latest security patches and trends to adapt to evolving threats.



Challenges of modern application security 



With the increasing sophistication of cyber threats and the growing reliance on interconnected systems, modern application security faces a myriad of challenges, such as:



Complexity of applications



One of the primary challenges in modern application security is the growing complexity of applications. As applications become more sophisticated and interconnected, they introduce many entry points that malicious actors can exploit. Ensuring the security of these complex systems requires a deep understanding of the application architecture, potential vulnerabilities, and the deployment environment.



Rapid development and deployment



The demand for quick delivery of new features and updates has led to accelerated development and deployment cycles. While this agile approach enhances competitiveness, it also challenges security teams. Rapid code changes can introduce vulnerabilities that may go unnoticed, especially if security testing is not integrated into the development process.



Continuous investment in security resources and training for developers and security professionals is essential as cyber threats evolve, requiring updated measures to address new attack vectors.



Zero-day vulnerabilities



Zero-day vulnerabilities are security flaws unknown to the software vendor or security community. They pose a significant risk as attackers can exploit them before a patch or mitigation is available. Detecting and addressing zero-day vulnerabilities in real time is a formidable challenge for organizations, requiring proactive monitoring and threat intelligence.



Limited resources and expertise



Many organizations struggle with a shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals and limited resources dedicated to application security. As a result, they may not have the necessary expertise to implement robust security measures or conduct thorough security assessments, leaving their applications vulnerable to attacks.



Application security best practices 



Here are some of the application security best practices that can reduce the risk of data breaches and cyber attacks:



Shift security left



Shifting security left refers to the integration of security practices and considerations at an early stage in the software development process, ideally during the requirements and design phases. Traditionally, security measures were often implemented at later stages, such as during testing or after the application was deployed. However, this reactive approach left applications vulnerable to exploitation, which resulted in costly and time-consuming remediation efforts. By shifting security left, organizations can identify and address security issues early, reducing the likelihood of security incidents and minimizing their impact.



Employ secure coding practices



Secure coding practices are crucial for preventing vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and buffer overflows. To ensure application development security, developers should adhere to secure coding guidelines, validate input data, sanitize user inputs, and avoid hard-coding sensitive information. By integrating these measures into the development lifecycle, organizations can minimize the risk of exploitation and enhance the application's overall security.



User privacy and regulation compliance 



Protecting user privacy and ensuring compliance with regulations such as GDPR and CCPA are integral components of application security. Organizations must prioritize data protection, implement encryption mechanisms, obtain user consent for data processing, and provide transparency regarding data handling practices. By upholding user privacy rights and complying with legal requirements, organizations can foster customer trust and mitigate regulatory risks.



Session management



Effective session management involves securely handling user sessions to prevent hijacking and unauthorized access. Implementing mechanisms like session tokens, secure cookies, and session timeouts helps mitigate the risk of session-related vulnerabilities and unauthorized access to user accounts.



Security patch management



Keeping software and libraries up to date with the latest security patches is imperative for mitigating known vulnerabilities. Timely patch management helps prevent the exploitation of security flaws by threat actors. Automated patch management solutions can streamline identifying and deploying patches across an organization's application landscape.



Incident response plans



Despite proactive security measures, incidents may still occur. A well-defined incident response plan is essential for effectively mitigating security breaches, minimizing impact, and swiftly restoring normal operations. Organizations should establish incident response teams, define escalation procedures, conduct regular drills, and continuously improve their response capabilities based on lessons learned from past incidents.



AI and machine learning in security



AI and machine learning technologies are a big help for security teams. They make finding threats easier, automate security tasks, and help to process the data better. These tools look at lots of data to find things that look weird, find patterns, and predict possible security problems. AI systems can find malware, phishing emails, and risky behavior by learning from past data and how people usually act. ML algorithms help determine if something is a fraud or automatically deal with security problems. This makes it easier for organizations to protect against cyber threats and keep everything secure.



Regular security testing 



Regular security testing, including vulnerability assessments and penetration testing, can help identify and address application security weaknesses. There are several types of application security testing, including:




Black box testing simulates external attackers' perspectives by testing applications without internal code or system architecture knowledge. It focuses on identifying vulnerabilities and weaknesses from an outsider's viewpoint.



White box testing involves examining an application's internal code, logic, and structure to identify vulnerabilities and ensure code quality and security.



Gray box testing combines elements of both black box and white box testing. Testers have limited knowledge of the application's internal workings, allowing them to simulate attacks with some insight into the system's architecture.




Tools for application security testing



There are various tools available for testing application security, each serving different purposes and stages of the software development lifecycle. Here are some common tools used for application security testing:




Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tools. These tools analyze the source code of applications to identify vulnerabilities and security weaknesses early in the development process. By scanning the codebase statically, SAST tools can detect issues such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and insecure coding practices.



Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) tools. DAST tools test applications in their running state to detect vulnerabilities and security flaws from an external perspective. By simulating real-world attack scenarios, these tools can uncover issues like input validation errors, configuration weaknesses, and authentication vulnerabilities.



Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST) tools. IAST tools combine SAST and DAST elements by analyzing runtime code to detect vulnerabilities. These tools provide real-time feedback on security issues as they occur, allowing developers to identify and remediate vulnerabilities more effectively.



Software Composition Analysis (SCA) tools. SCA tools scan open-source components and libraries for known vulnerabilities, license compliance issues, and outdated dependencies. By identifying and managing third-party risks, SCA tools help organizations ensure the security and integrity of their software supply chain.



Penetration testing tools simulate attacks to identify vulnerabilities and assess security controls comprehensively. These tools, often used by ethical hackers, perform in-depth assessments of applications, networks, and systems to uncover exploitable weaknesses and provide actionable recommendations for remediation.



Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools. SIEM tools collect and analyze security data from various sources for threat detection and response, including applications, networks, and endpoints. By correlating security events and identifying suspicious activities, SIEM tools help organizations detect and mitigate security incidents in real time.




Final thoughts



Application security is a complex area that involves different types of applications. Each application requires specific measures to reduce risks and safeguard against cyber threats. By adopting strong security practices, keeping up to date with emerging threats, and investing in security technologies, organizations can strengthen their applications against potential vulnerabilities and secure sensitive information. 

### What is Ethical Hacking and How Do Organizations Benefit From It?

As technology advances, cyberattacks are becoming more complex and widespread. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, the cost of cybercrime was $8 trillion in 2023, expected to reach $9.5 trillion in 2024, then will rise to $10.5 trillion by 2025. These numbers demonstrate the growth of cyber threats and the need to reinforce sensitive data and digital assets.



To identify and address weak points and vulnerabilities within systems, before they occur and cause potential damage, organizations frequently count on ethical hacking. Although ethical hackers use the same tools and techniques as malicious hackers, their purposes are different. In this article, we will explain “what is ethical hacking?”, its main types, benefits, needed skills,  certifications, and the key phases.







What is ethical hacking?



Let’s start with the ethical hacking definition. Ethical hacking is a practice of testing security with proper unauthorized access to computer systems, applications, or networks using the same techniques that hackers use. Commonly called white-hat hackers, ethical hackers intentionally penetrate organizations' systems to identify potential threats, vulnerabilities, or weak points. Their ultimate goal is to enhance security measures and mitigate risks.



Organizations hire ethical hackers to launch simulated attacks on their computer networks. While simulating real-world attacks, ethical hackers demonstrate how actual cybercriminals break into a network and what damage they could do once inside. They have the same skills and tools and tactics as malicious hackers. Still, their goal is always to improve network security without harming the network and its users.



The terms "ethical hacking" and "penetration testing" often get mixed up. However, penetration tests are only one of the methods that ethical hackers use. Their responsibilities extend far beyond penetration testing and include even more.



The main responsibilities of ethical hackers



What job does an ethical hacker perform? To provide you with the answer, let’s look at the main responsibilities of ethical hackers in detail:




Identify security threats and vulnerabilities;



Conduct penetration testing;



Conduct security assessments; 



Research security threats;



Choose the right security solutions;



Test the level of security in the network;



Document findings (potential risks, recommendations, etc);



Verify the organization's system, network, and vulnerable entry points;



Find alternatives to security features that don't work.




Obviously, ethical hackers play a critical role in organizations that strive to proactively identify and mitigate any security risks in advance, thus safeguarding sensitive data and maintaining trust in their digital systems and infrastructure. 



Types of ethical hacking 



Ethical hacking involves various types tailored to assess the security of information systems. The most common of them are:




Web application hacking: exploiting security vulnerabilities or weaknesses in web-based applications, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), or insecure authentication to assess security risks;



System hacking: gaining unauthorized access to personal computers over a network through a system by exploiting weaknesses in operating systems, software, and network configurations;



Wireless network hacking (WiFi hack): gaining unauthorized access to wireless networks or access points to steal confidential information or disrupt network operations;



Web server hacking: identifying vulnerabilities in web services hosting websites and applications to steal data, such as server misconfiguration, outdated software, or insecure file permissions;



Social engineering: manipulating individuals or employees to disclose sensitive information, such as passwords or login credentials, to exploit human vulnerabilities and gain unauthorized access to systems or data;



Penetration testing: ethical hackers try to break into systems to find the weak spots  and weaknesses in an organization's digital infrastructure. By simulating real-world cyber attacks, these assessments evaluate existing security controls and measures.




Having examined the different ethical hacking methods, let's discuss the various types of hackers and how they differ.



Types of hackers



Hackers can be both ethical and malicious, but they generally fall into three categories. Let's explore each of them and how they operate:




White hat hackers (ethical): they do not intend to harm an organization; instead, they typically collaborate with an organization to legally identify weaknesses and vulnerabilities in systems, apps, or networks. It tends to improve cybersecurity posture and prevent malicious attacks;



Black hat hackers (non-ethical): they illegally break into systems without authorization, disrupt systems, steal data, and engage in malicious activities for personal gain. Their intent is often criminal, seeking financial gain, data theft, or disruption;



Gray hat hackers (both): a combine of white and black hats hackers. They hack without any approval from the targeted organization. However, they don't have malicious intent and still avoid causing significant harm.




People often confuse so-called "good" and "bad" guys, in other words, ethical and malicious hackers. So, let's explain the main differences between them in more detail.



Ethical hackers vs. malicious hackers: the key differences



The main difference between ethical and malicious hackers lies in their purposes and actions. First, let's look at ethical hackers:




Purpose: they aim to improve security of an organization by identifying vulnerabilities in systems, apps, or networks and help them strengthen their defenses;



Actions: they perform penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and security audits with the consent of the organization;



Legality: they are authorized and legal (comply with laws, regulations, and ethical standards);



Impact: help protect organizations from cyber threats and prevent data breaches, financial losses, and reputational damage.




The main points of malicious hackers include:




Purpose: they intentionally exploit vulnerabilities in networks, apps, or systems to cause harm, steal data, or disrupt systems and compromise an organization's security;



Actions: they perform unauthorized activities such as unauthorized access, data theft, malware distribution, denial-of-service (DoS), and other harmful organization attacks;



Legality: non-authorized access and illegal activities;



Impact: their activities can lead to financial losses, data breaches, identity theft, and damage to the critical infrastructure of organizations.




In a nutshell, malicious hackers damage organizations’ security and exploit vulnerabilities for personal gain or malicious purposes. In contrast, ethical hackers protect systems and greatly contribute to enforce organizations' security. Apart from that, ethical hacking can also provide companies with other advantages - about them below.



Skills and certifications of ethical hackers



As we defined "what an ethical hacker is," it's time to think about what it takes to become one. The career path of ethical hacking is legitimate. So, it requires specific skills, knowledge, and, in turn, education. Ethical hackers must have a bachelor's degree in computer science, information security, or closely related fields. Typically, ethical hackers should be proficient in:




Scripting languages, like Python, SQL, etc.;



Operating systems and their security;



Network, both wired and wireless;



Cybersecurity tools;



Vulnerability assessment;



Cryptography;



Information security principles.




Ethical hackers must earn credentials to demonstrate cybersecurity technical skills like other cybersecurity professionals. Most ethical hackers take courses or get certifications related to their field. Among the most well-known ethical hacking certifications are:




Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)



CompTIA PenTest+



SANS GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN)



Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) Certification



Cisco's CCNA Security



SANS GIAC




Also, ethical hackers should be familiar with the same hacking tools and methodologies as malicious hackers, including network scanning tools (Nmap), penetration testing platforms (Metasploit), and specialized hacking operating systems (Kali Linux, etc.). 



Above and beyond solid technical skills, ethical hackers should have a mix of creativity, problem-solving, and attention to detail. They must analyze complex systems, identify security weaknesses, and propose effective attack solutions. As the field of cybersecurity is constantly evolving, so they must stay updated with the latest security trends, vulnerabilities, and attack techniques through continuous learning and professional growth.



The necessary tools for ethical hackers



Using the appropriate ethical hacking tools and software is half the battle of effective hacking; as they provide hackers with the necessary capabilities to identify vulnerabilities, exploit weaknesses, and assess security measures. So we've put some of the main essential ones together below.



Network scanning tools:




Nmap (Network Mapper): a free and open-source versatile network scanner that supports various scan types and protocols (TCP, UDP, SYN, etc.). It helps discover open ports, services, and potential vulnerabilities in networked systems;



Angry IP Scanner: is a free, open-source IP address scanner that identifies active hosts on a network by providing basic information about each host;



Zenmap: a free and open-source Nmap GUI interface, allowing hackers to manipulate and analyze Nmap scans effectively;



Advanced IP Scanner: a free tool that scans IP addresses and offers features like remote shutdown and wake-on-LAN;



Fping: a free and open-source ping tool for network diagnosis that sends ICMP pings to multiple hosts simultaneously, aiding in network troubleshooting;



SuperScan: a free multi-functional port scanner with host discovery and trace routing features.




Vulnerability scanning tools:




Nikto: a free and open-source web server scanner and tester that allows hackers to check for many potentially dangerous files and programs on web servers;



OpenVAS: a free and open-source vulnerability scanner that enables hackers to perform comprehensive security assessments and performance tuning;



Acunetix: a paid web application security testing tool that audits web apps by checking for vulnerabilities like SQL Injection, Cross-site Scripting (XSS), and others via a web browser and uses the HTTP/HTTPS protocol;



Qualys Cloud Platform: a paid cloud-based vulnerability management platform that monitors and visualizes networks, web apps, and endpoints in the IT ecosystem;



SAINT Security Suite: a paid security scanner and penetration testing tool with a free trial. It offers a comprehensive set of capabilities to assess network assets for the latest vulnerabilities across various operating systems, software apps, and databases, etc.




Password cracking tools:




Hashcat: a free and open-source advanced password recovery tool. As the world's fastest password cracker, it offers advanced features such as distributed cracking networks;



John the Ripper: a free and open-source password cracker tool for auditing and recovery. It supports hundreds of hash and cipher types, including Unix, Windows, macOS, WordPress, database servers, filesystems, and more;



L0phtCrack: a free and open-source password auditing and recovery tool that supports various attack techniques, like a dictionary, brute-force attacks, etc;



Cain and Abel: a free password recovery tool for Microsoft Windows operating systems that offers multiple methods for password cracking;



RainbowCrack: a free and open-source hash cracker tool using rainbow tables that is available for Windows, Linux, and GPU acceleration.




Exploitation tools:




Metasploit: it is known as the "Swiss Army Knife" of penetration testing for exploit development and testing. It allows security professionals to simulate attacks and assess vulnerabilities;



Canvas: a paid penetration testing and vulnerability assessment tool that supports hundreds of exploits for Windows and Linux;



Social-Engineer Toolkit (SET): a free and open-source penetration testing framework for social engineering attacks via Java applets, credential harvesting, SMS spoofing, etc;



Zed Attack Proxy (ZAP): a free and open-source web application security scanner and testing tool maintained by Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP). It provides features for automating web security and offers a large community of add-ons.




Web application hacking tools:




Skipfish: a web application security reconnaissance tool specifically designed for Kali Linux. It crawls websites, generates interactive sitemaps, and performs security checks;



IronWASP: is an open-source platform for web application security testing. It is highly customizable and provides users with build-in plugins and allows them to create their own ones;



Vega: is a web vulnerability scanner and testing platform that discovers security flaws by analyzing the application's structure, parameters, and responses;



WebScarab: is a Java-based proxy tool for analyzing web applications. It intercepts and modifies requests and responses, allowing security professionals to inspect and manipulate traffic.




This list can also include many other tools, such as packet sniffing and spoofing, wireless hacking, forensics, social engineering, and others. Therefore, by utilizing the right tools and obtaining the right education, ethical hackers can be a must-have for organizations for a variety of reasons.



The benefits of ethical hacking



The primary benefits that ethical hackers bring to organizations include:




Prevent malicious hacking attempts: ethical hackers can help organizations build robust systems that are better prepared to detect and prevent malicious hacking attempts;



Reduce international threats: ethical hacking can reduce international threats to organizations by protecting sensitive data from terrorists and other malicious individuals;



Reduce cybercrime: ethical hacking can help organizations and government agencies develop ways to detect and prevent cybercrime by educating them about new, malicious hacking techniques;



Enhance security: by employing the same techniques as malicious hackers, ethical hackers evaluate a system's or network's resistance to attacks so they can suggest effective improvements against potential threats;



Gain trust: organizations can gain trust between customers and investors by ensuring the high level of security of products and their sensitive information;



Reduce risks: ethical hacking allows companies to find system vulnerabilities and uncover critical weaknesses in advance, helping organizations address them proactively and reducing the risk of data breaches and financial losses;



Ensure security compliance: by conducting regular security assessments and vulnerability testing, ethical hackers ensure that their organization meets all cybersecurity requirements.




Despite possible benefits, it is essential to stay ahead of limitations related to ethical hacking that companies also can deal with.



The limitations of ethical hacking



The main limitations of the integration ethical hacking that organizations may run into are:




Limited scope: ethical hackers cannot progress beyond a defined scope to make an attack successfully tested. Consequently, they may not have a comprehensive view of all potential vulnerabilities;



Limited time: ethical hackers have limited time during attacks; they must work within predefined schedules, unlike malicious hackers, who operate without such constraints and can more carefully plan their attacks;



Limited resources: ethical hackers may face resource limitations, including budget constraints and computing power. In contrast, malicious hackers may have access to more extensive resources, making it challenging for ethical hackers to match their capabilities.



Unexpected consequences: despite good intentions, ethical hackers may accidentally corrupt files or data during testing;



Restricted methods: methods and tools used in ethical hacking may be limited. For example, some organizations prefer to avoid test cases that cause servers to crash, like DoS attacks. Due to these limitations, potential vulnerabilities in a system may not be discovered.




To avoid most of the limitations discussed above and get the most out of this process, organizations need to be aware of its main phases. So, let's consider them.



The main phases of ethical hacking



To identify and address software security vulnerabilities successfully, hackers generally follow these phases.



Reconnaissance \ Collecting data



The first ethical hacking phase is reconnaissance, also known as the footprint or information gathering phase. The goal during this phase is to collect as much information about the target organization as possible. These data are likely to contain passwords, domain names, IP addresses, employee and network details, DNS records, and other relevant data. The collection of the necessary information helps ethical hackers identify which attacks can be launched and how likely the organization’s systems are to be vulnerable to those attacks.



There are two types of foot printing:




Active: collecting data from the target directly using Nmap tools to scan the target’s network, such as port scanning and vulnerability assessment;



Passive: collecting data from public sources without directly accessing the target in any way, such as social media accounts, websites, etc.




For example, imagine a hacker trying to hack a company's server. They might use tools like Maltego or research the target website to gather all needed data, such as staff names, positions, and email addresses.



Scanning



In the second phase, ethical attackers scan the target system or network to identify and gather precise data about open ports, services, and vulnerabilities to assess the security posture. As a result, it allows hackers to identify potential vulnerabilities, misconfiguration, and weaknesses in a target network or system that could be exploited. For this, hackers use different scanning methods, such as:




Vulnerability scanning: identify vulnerabilities and weak points of a target or network and exploit them by using automated tools, such as Netsparker, OpenVAS, and Nmap. Such weak points may include outdated software, misconfiguration, or weak passwords;



Port scanning: by sending packets to specific ports on a host to analyze responses, ethical hackers discern details about running services and potential vulnerabilities. They use tools like port scanners and dialers to help identify open TCP and UDP ports, running services, and potential entry points;



Network scanning: ethical hackers conduct network scanning to gather insights into hosts, services, and active devices present within a network. This information aids in identifying vulnerabilities and potential exploit avenues.




Each of these canning methods demonstrates a specific set of vulnerabilities that a hacker can use to exploit the system's weaknesses within the target environment. 



Gaining access



During this phase, hackers design a blueprint of the target network using data collected during the reconnaissance and scanning phases. To break into a system/network, they simulate attempted unauthorized access by using various tools (Metasploit) and methods that we’ve talked about above, such as: 




Buffer overflows;



Phishing;



Cross-site scripting (XSS), 



Injection attacks (SQL);



XML External Entity attacks, etc. 




Once hackers gain access to a system, they boost their privileges to the administrator level, enabling them to install or modify applications or manipulate data. They can also control the whole or part of a system and may simulate other attacks, such as data breaches or Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS).



Against these threats, hackers can secure entry points, implement password protection across all systems, and deploy firewalls to protect the network infrastructure. Using social engineering emails, they can identify employees who are likely to fall victim to cyberattacks.



Maintaining access



Upon gaining access to the targeted systems, hackers try to maintain control over the compromised systems. They continuously exploit a system, escalating privileges, establishing backdoors, launching DDoS attacks, and setting up persistent connections to maintain access for future use. The goal of this phase is to maintain unauthorized access until ethical hackers have completed their activities.



During this phase, ethical hackers or penetration testers scan the organization's entire infrastructure to identify any malicious activities and determine their root causes. This prevents systems from being exploited.



Clearing track 



To finish the ethical hacking process, hackers must cover their tracks to avoid detection. For this, they use several tactics. Initially, they changed their MAC address and ran their attacking machine through a VPN to conceal their identity. They avoid direct attacks or “noisy” scanning techniques to remain stealthy. Once access is gained and privileges are escalated, hackers focus on hiding their activities. 



Here are some ways that ethical hackers use to hide their tracks:




Edit, corrupt, or delete logs or registry values;



Delete the cache and cookies;



Uninstall all scripts or apps;



Clear out sent emails, clear server logs and temp files;



Use reverse HTTP Shells;



Use ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) Tunnels.




While reconnaissance (the first phase) is time-consuming, the following phases require less time. Upon completion of the five mentioned phases, ethical hackers prepare a detailed report outlining detected vulnerabilities and weak points and recommendations for how to resolve them.



Conclusion



Ethical hacking is an essential practice in cybersecurity that helps organizations identify and resolve vulnerabilities before malicious attackers can exploit them. As a result, it not only mitigates risks (financial losses, reputation damage, data breaches) and enhances security, but also fosters trust among stakeholders. Also, ethical hackers provide valuable insights into potential weaknesses in security policies, procedures, and controls, allowing organizations to make informed decisions about their security investments and strategies. Briefly answering the question “what is ethical hacking?” is turning weaknesses into strengths, ensuring your systems are robust, resilient, and ready to withstand cyber threats.




 


Expert Opinion



Within one of our projects, we frequently engage the services of white hat hackers. The report generated from these tests is mandatory for numerous clients, such as banks, retailers, and large corporate entities. Hence, it is imperative to select a company that not only garners trust from these clients but also ensures that the work performed and the ensuing report are genuinely beneficial for vulnerability mitigation or addressing potential threats. It is crucial to understand that the more information and access provided to such testing entities, the more substantial the verification results will be. Therefore, a high-quality testing process, vulnerability remediation, and subsequent reevaluation are quite labor-intensive. However, this investment in security proves its worth in the future.





Co-founder at SoftTeco 



Alex Kutsko

### The Best GitHub Copilot Alternatives for Developers

Today, many industries have been impacted by the growth of AI tools, and software development is no exception. Among the notable AI-powered tools is GitHub Copilot, which has emerged as a game-changer among developers globally. Due to its ability to autocomplete code and provide explanations and chat assistance, it has greatly changed the way how developers code. Thus, developers were and are over the moon due to improved code and streamlined development processes.



However, since GitHub Copilot has moved from free to subscription-based pricing, developers are exploring its alternatives, which are largely to match it. In this article, we’ll delve into both free and paid GitHub Copilot alternatives, and explore their main features, use cases, and prices for advanced coding. 







GitHub Copilot: the definition explained 



After GitHub Copilot was released as a "technical preview" in Visual Studio Code in 2021, it only launched as a subscription-based service in June 2022 and soon became a popular tool among developers. So, let's look at what exactly GitHub Copilot is.



GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered code completion tool developed collaboratively by GitHub and OpenAI (both owned by Microsoft). It uses a generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) type of language model that has been trained on open-source code, including public repositories on GitHub. It is designed to autocomplete code by understanding the developer's context and generating code using widespread programming patterns, functions, and entire classes.



Moreover, GitHub Copilot provides a wide range of functionalities, such as code explanation, answering coding questions, refactoring code, and generation of unit tests and docs. With it, developers can automate coding tasks, improve productivity and focus more on complex coding. GitHub Copilot supports various programming languages, including JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Go, etc., and is compatible with popular integrated development environments (IDEs) such as Visual Studio Code (VS Code). It means developers can integrate Copilot seamlessly into their preferred tech stack.



According to the Copilot report, Copilot developers are 75% more satisfied with their jobs and 55% more productive without sacrificing quality than those who don't use it, thereby significantly speeding up development processes. So, what is the secret to such impressive results? To understand, let's look at what GitHub Copilot offers developers for better coding.





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The basic features of GitHub Copilot are:




Code autocompletion: Copilot offers autocompletion for chunks of code, repetitive sections of code, and entire methods and/or function based on the surrounding code;



Code suggestions: it understands the context of developers’ code and offers relevant suggestions, comments, and function names, helping them write code faster and with fewer errors:



Chat assistance: developers can ask Copilot for help with their code, providing context-aware responses and explanations;



Multi-language support: Copilot supports a wide range of programming languages and frameworks, such as Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Ruby, Go, etc., making it suitable for various projects and tech stacks;



Code exploration: developers can explore different code examples and learn new techniques by interacting with Copilot’s suggestions;



‍Documentation: Copilot generates comments and documentation automatically based on developers’ code, which saves their time and keeps codebase understandable for future teams' collaboration;



‍Collaborative coding: Copilot's features promote team-based projects, adhering to common coding standards, which makes it an excellent tool for strong collaboration.




Price: GitHub Copilot comes with its own licensing and pricing models, such as:




Individual plan: it costs $10 USD per month and $100 USD per year for individual developers, freelancers, students, and educators. For verified students and maintainers of popular open-source projects, it is free. This plan comes with a 30-day free trial;



Business plan: it costs $19 USD per user/month for organizations looking to improve engineering velocity, software quality and developers’ experience;



Enterprise plan: it costs $39 USD per user\month for companies looking to customize GitHub Copilot to their organization and infuse AI across the developer workflow.




As we said above, developers can choose from a wide range of tools similar to GitHub Copilot to improve their coding process; let's consider the best of them.



The best GitHub Copilot alternatives 



Below, we discuss the best GitHub Copilot alternatives, their features, capabilities, and prices across different companies' sizes and projects.







Codeium



Codeium is an intelligent AI-powered toolkit that helps developers to write code faster and more effectively. Like GitHub Copilot, it leverages ML models to understand written code and provide intelligent code completions. However, Codeium offers a proprietary language model and an infrastructure tailored explicitly to its platform. This model is trained on a diverse set of public codes, focusing on providing accurate and contextually relevant code suggestions during coding, as opposed to other AI tools.



Another notable feature of Codeium is context pinning. It allows developers to pin any scope of code, such as a repository, a file, or a function, so Codeium takes the code in that section more seriously when generating responses. Developers can apply this feature once and save it while they work, enhancing accuracy in coding tasks. Codeium is capable of meeting a variety of programming needs, relying on a rich set of other features.



The main features of Codeium:




Autocomplete: Codeium's autocomplete feature suggests code snippets as developers write code, reducing errors and saving time;



AI-powered chat: with this feature, developers can ask AI questions that can explain code, generate its snippets, refactor, and suggest bug fixes;



Search functionality: this feature allows developers to quickly find and use code snippets from a library;



Support over 70 languages: Codeium supports over 70+ languages, such as Javascript, Python, Typescript, PHP, Go, Java, C, C++, Rust, and Ruby, making it a versatility tool for developers;



Integration with over 40 IDEs: Codeium integrates seamlessly with more than 40+ IDEs, providing a smooth and efficient coding experience;



In-house models and infrastructure: Codeium has in-house models and infrastructure, offering autocomplete and search features;



Support for various tasks: Codeium's features have been used for many programming tasks, including Python memorization, CSS generation from comments, random generation, unit testing, data science, and regex, thus helping developers meet a lot of programming needs across diverse projects;



Data security: this model was trained on publicly available natural language and source code data, including public repositories. So, Codeium will never train its generative models on private or user code.




Price: Codeium has three plans to choose from:




Individual plan: it is a free Copilot alternative option;



Team plan: costs $12 per seat/month and includes all individual features. It is suitable for small or medium-sized teams with up to 200 users;



Enterprise plan: pricing is available upon contact via its website, and it includes all features of the previous plans. 












CodeGeeX



CodeGeeX is an AI-based coding assistant powered by a large-scale multilingual code generation model with 13 billion parameters. It is pre-trained on a vast corpus of code spanning 23 programming languages (Python, Java, C++, JavaScript, Go, etc.). It leverages large language models (LLMs) that provide various features like code suggestions, real-time assistance and more, thus helping developers write a program more efficiently and faster. 



Unlike Copilot, which is powered by OpenAI Codex, CodeGeeX trains its AI on a cluster of Ascend 910 AI processors to power its software. This allows CodeGeeX to handle large-scale training tasks more effectively, resulting in improved user performance and responsiveness. The main features of CodeGeeX are:




Code suggestions: it provides intelligent coding suggestions as developers write code based on their context, making their development process more efficient;



Code generation and completion: it can autocomplete code lines and generate multiple lines of code ahead based on the existing code or natural language comments. This speeds up coding and improves developer’s efficiency;



Code translation: it can transform a code into any language with high accuracy, making porting code to new languages easy;



Comment generation: it can automatically add line-level comments to code, significantly saving developers' time and helping them understand unfamiliar code;



AI chatbot: instead of searching the web, developers can ask CodeGeeX coding-related questions and get answers  instantly;



Compatibility: it is compatible with popular IDEs, including VS Code, IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, etc., so it seamlessly integrates into developer workflows across programming languages and IDEs.




Price: CodeGeeX is a GitHub Copilot free alternative for individual developers. If you are interested in its Pro and Enterprise plans for additional capabilities, visit their official website for more details.











TabNine



TabNine (previously known as Codota) is an AI code assistant that helps developers write code more quickly while keeping its security and safety at the same time. How exactly? It is trained explicitly on permissively licensed open-source repositories and adheres to enterprise-grade security standards, including SOC 2 and GDPR. By hosting Tabnine's AI assistant on their preferred environment - either on-premises or in a virtual private cloud - developers will benefit from high levels of security, privacy, and compliance.



Also, TabNine does not train on your code unless you choose to connect your codebase. When connecting your codebase to TabNine, your code never leaves your environment and remains completely private. Overall, it is designed to boost developer productivity and improve code quality by automating repetitive coding tasks. This is possible due to various features that TabNine brings to developers.



The key features of TabNine include:




AI code completions: it provides AI-driven code completions for relevant code snippets based on the context that significantly speeds up coding;



Code generation from comments: it generates blocks of code from comments describing the functionality, allowing developers to convert their notes directly into executable code;



Language and IDE support: it supports multiple programming languages, including JavaScript, Java, Python, TypeScript, PHP, C++, Go, etc., and is compatible with popular IDEs like Visual Studio Code, IntelliJ, WebStorm, PyCharm;



Personalized AI: TabNine's AI agents are tailored to your team's needs; they learn from your codebase without seeing any actual code and remember your coding style; 



Chat: developers can ask questions through chat assistant, get code generation and explanation, and even search the organizational codebase;



Privacy and security: Tabnine's generative AI only uses open-source code with permissive licenses for training models, eliminating privacy, security, and compliance risks.




Price: TabNine offers three pricing plans:




Basics plan: it is free;



Pro plan: it costs $12/month per user with a 90-day free trial that is suitable for individuals and small teams;



Enterprises plan: it costs $39 per user per month and provides a private, secure and uniform solution with all Pro features plus many additional ones.












CodeWhisperer 



CodeWhisperer is an AI code generator tool launched by Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2022. It was based on large language models (LLMs) and trained on a billion lines of code from open-source repositories, internal Amazon repositories, API docs, and forums. Using ML and AI algorithms, CodeWhisperer analyzes code in real-time and generates suggestions from snippets to full functions based on comments or existing code. It provides developers with highly accurate and personalized recommendations on how to optimize code for performance, security, and maintainability, speeding up development.



Also, CodeWhisperer adapts to the way developers work by offering 15 programming languages, including Python, Java, JavaScript, Python, C#, Go, and popular IDEs like Visual Studio Code, IntelliJ IDEA, or AWS Cloud. Moreover, CodeWhispererer can be used for real-time collaboration and joint code reviews in contrast to Copilot. Key features of CodeWhisperer include:




Code suggestions and completion: CodeWhisperer provides developers with real-time code suggestions (like small code snipers, complete functions) and completion within any IDE, making your coding process more efficient;



Contextual code suggestion: beyond simple completions, CodeWhisperer understands developers' natural language comments and provides relevant code suggestions based on their context;



Amazon Q: CodeWhisperer introduces Amazon Q, a conversation assistant in the IDE that helps developers explain and transform their code or get personalized suggestions;



Security scanning: it comes with a built-in code scanning feature, helping developers to identify and resolve security vulnerabilities early on; 



Reference tracker: it helps developers keep track of links to open source code to review before deciding whether to include the suggested code;



Optimization for AWS services: it makes it more efficient for developers to use AWS services by providing code suggestions that are optimized for AWS services, including Amazon EC2, AWS Lambda, and Amazon S3;



Customizations: developers can tailor CodeWhisperer to your specific needs like custom libraries and APIs, fine-tune behavior and more, thus speeding up development.




Price: Amazon CodeWhisperer offers two pricing plans:




Individual plan: it is free to use and requires a simple sign-up to create an AWS Builder ID;



Professional plan: it costs $19 per user per month and, along with Individual plan features, it offers many administrative ones for organizations.












AskCodi



Established in 2018, AskCodi is an innovative AI assistant designed to streamline the coding process and enhance developers' productivity. Powered by OpenAI Codex, an advanced AI system capable of converting natural language into code, it bridges the gap between human language and programming languages. With its extensive language support, developers can use AskCodi for various programming languages, including Python, Java, HTML, JavaScript, React, Angular, Node.js, and more.



AskCodi leverages advanced ML algorithms, and AI models trained on vast repositories of code and programming knowledge. By continuously learning and adapting to developers' coding patterns and preferences, AskCodi provides increasingly accurate and relevant suggestions. Developers can access AskCodi via either a web application or an IDE extension available for Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, and JetBrains IDE’s. Overall, AskCodi cuts developers' time and effort by automating repetitive tasks and reducing errors in code.



The main features of AskCodi:




Automated error detection: with automated error detection, AskCodi identifies potential bugs and issues in code, allowing developers to fix them immediately;



Code completion: by predicting and suggesting the next lines of code based on the current context, AskCodi speeds up the coding development process;



Seamless IDE integration: AskCodi integrates seamlessly with popular IDEs, eliminating the need to switch tabs between the editor and the AI chat interface;



Interactive Workbooks: a single environment where developers can generate code, seek explanations, write documentation, and even craft unit tests;



Codi chat: an AI chatbot that integrates directly into your IDE, such as Visual Studio Code, to help developers with their code questions;



Real-time code analysis: AskCodi analyzes written code, providing immediate feedback and suggestions to improve both syntax and logic;



Collaborative coding: AskCodi offers a collaborative coding environment, allowing multiple developers to work together on the same codebase, enhancing team productivity and code consistency.




Price: AskCodi offers the following subscription plans:




Basic: it is free;



Premium: it costs $9.99 per user per month with additional capabilities;



Ultimate: it costs $29.99 per user per month for more advanced features, and discounts are available for annual payments.






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The comparison of GitHub Copilot competitors



To put the main information about alternatives to GitHub Copilots, let's move on to comparing their main points in the table below:



GitHub CopilotCodeiumCodeGeeXTabNineCodeWhispererAskCodiLanguages support40Over 7023Over 3015Over 50IDE integrationVSCodeJetBrainsVim / NeovimVisual StudioVS Code,JetBrainsVisual StudioJupyter / Colab / DeepnoteIntelliJ IDEA, WebStorm, CLion, and PyCharmIntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, GoLand, CLion, Android Studio, and more JetBrains IDEsVS Code, JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ, PyCharm, etc.), Vim, Emacs, and moreJetBrains IDEs, including IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, GoLand, CLion, and moreVisual Studio Code, Visual Studio, and JetBrains IDE’sCustomizationLimitedLimitedLimitedCustomizableCustomizableCustomizableOn-premises optionsNoYesNoYesYesYesOpen-sourceNoNoYesNoNoNoSelf-hosting possibilityNoPaid Feature (Enterprise Plan)YesYesNoNoPriceSubscription-basedFree/SubscriptionFree for individual useFree/SubscriptionFree/SubscriptionFree/SubscriptionPrivacyIt has SOC 2/GDPR complianceIt has SOC 2/GDPR complianceUnknown It has SOC 2/GDPR complianceNo SOC 2 ComplianceIt has GDPR compliance



Final thoughts



While GitHub Copilot remains a prominent choice for developers seeking AI-powered coding assistance, the alternatives mentioned above are worth considering. If you choose between AI coding tools, you should carefully weigh the list of characteristics for each solution. These can include specific requirements of a tool, customization options, security features, pricing, and integration capabilities with your existing tools and workflows.



Obviously, AI will continue to be one of the most valuable technologies for developers to complement their skills and make their coding process as effective as possible. It is likely the AI tools will not replace developers in the near future, since their abilities may not be fully accurate and reliable in some cases. However, the emergence of new AI-based coding tools and upgrading existing ones for more advanced AI capabilities are not far away. So, the understanding of the capabilities of GitHub Copilot alternatives is crucial for any level of developer for better coding and effort management.




 


Expert Opinion



Personally, I have used Copilot daily for almost a year already, and many of my teammates do so. You can consider it as another tool to add to your toolkit, not a silver bullet. It does not replace everyday utilities like linters, formatters, etc., but adds them on top of them. The most noticeable change for me is the boilerplate it can write for a developer. Assistance with test writing is also quite neat, although it may be faulty in complex scenarios. Soon, I would like to try its competitor Codeium, which is first in the queue due to its Context pinning feature. It is quite interesting how those technologies will develop and mature over time because they have drawbacks that users should keep in mind. 



For example, hallucinations are a very well-known problem of large language models. Models are trained to output something with a maximum likelihood of being true, very simplified, and omitting many other factors. That does not mean general truth. Even to this day, the aforementioned Copilot may generate something completely wrong (best case) or “hide” error within code that looks fine at first glance and passes static checks (worst case). So, it is necessary to check code rather than rely on such tools completely. To sum up, developers should at least try using AI assistants because they might become common in the future, like using modern IDEs instead of regular text editors. Of course, you could still open one without all the modern features and work like that, but why?





Data Engineer at SoftTeco



Ilya Grozov

### What Is a Software Bill of Materials? Making an Inventory of Your Application

When working on new software (or updating the existing one), you want to make sure that it’s properly secured and that all its components are 100% transparent and manageable. But considering that an average app has both first-party and third-party components, it can be incredibly hard to track and monitor them while ensuring that all regulatory and licensing requirements are met.



A software bill of materials, an SBOM for short, aims to bring transparency and visibility into the composition of your app and helps you maintain its performance and security. In this article, we explain what exactly a software bill of materials means, what it consists of, and how to create one.







What is SBOM?



A SBOM meaning can be defined as an inventory of all components of an app. This document lists such things as both first-party and open-source components, their dependencies, and metadata and helps organizations better manage the transparency of their software. 



An SBOM comes from the BOM (bill of materials) concept in manufacturing. Similar to SBOM, a bill of materials is basically a list of all items (including their quantity) needed to create a certain product. Getting back to the IT industry, an SBOM helps organizations understand what kind of components are needed for the app and what might be a potential source of a threat or a vulnerability. 



The importance of SBOM: security and transparency



Back in 2020, there were severe cybersecurity incidents (i.e., Apache Log4j security breach) that led to President Biden issuing the Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity. The EO was issued in 2021 and was directed mainly at the companies operating in the governmental field. As you may guess, an SBOM was included in the list of recommendations, aimed at helping companies improve their safety and integrity. 



A software bill of materials is important for any organization due to several reasons:




Adds transparency to the software: with the help of an SBOM, organizations can easily see all components and dependencies of an app, as well as their sources. 



Facilitates tracking of vulnerabilities: by knowing what components are interdependent, developers can faster identify the source of a vulnerability and immediately implement preventive measures to safeguard the remaining components.



Facilitates compliance with regulatory requirements: a transparent inventory of your software helps you better maintain and manage your compliance with needed regulations.



Facilitates compliance with open-source software licenses: since open-source components are frequently used in most software applications, it is mandatory to comply with their licensing requirements. An SBOM helps understand software dependencies and corresponding licensing requirements and restrictions.



Enables easier version control: since a new SBOM is required for each updated software version, it serves as a great way of tracking and managing software versions. Companies can instantly get access to information about previous versions and can perform rollbacks faster and more effectively. 



Standardizes the listing of dependencies: a software bill of materials adds consistency to the dependencies’ listing through using a single standard for their storage.




The minimal elements of an SBOM



To understand the SBOM concept even better, let’s look at its foundational areas, also known as minimal elements. These areas are listed in a report, issued by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and explain what minimal elements are expected in an efficient SBOM. 



According to the report, the SBOM minimal elements enable an evolving approach to software transparency. These elements are:




Data fields



Support for automation



Processes and practices




Now, in more detail.



Data fields are the core of any software bill of material and contain information about every used and tracked component. The main goal of having data fields in place is to provide identification for all components of the app. The information that normally goes in the data fields includes:




Supplier name: the name of the organization or a person who created this specific component;



Component name: the name that was given by the original supplier;



Component’s version: also given by the supplier;



Unique identifiers: any relevant identifiers for this component;



Dependency relationship: explanation of the relationship between the component and the software (or other components);



Author: the name of a person or an organization that creates the SBOM information for this component.




Support for automation implies using automation for SBOM generation and data transfer. Considering the complexity of the SBOM management and generation process, automation allows easy scaling of the document across the organization and speeds up the data assembly process.



Lastly, processes and practices describe specific actions and concepts that need to be considered when working with the software bill of materials. A few examples are:




Frequency: a new SBOM must be created every time when a component is updated with a new release (or build);



Depth: a software bill of materials should contain all top-level components and their dependencies;



Access control: describes the way an organization grants access to the SBOM and its data.




There are other practices listed in the original document - please see it for more information.



What is included in the software bill of materials?



We’ve already mentioned that an SBOM lists all components and dependencies of your software, including the open-source ones. Hence, you need to list down the following:




Open-source and first-party components;



Open-source licenses;



Open-source and first-party versions;



Vulnerabilities;



Patch statuses of components.




Let’s look at each in a bit more detail.



Components



Software components can be defined as the building blocks of code that developers use to assemble an app faster and easier. These components can be either first-party (i.e., created by your company) or third-party, meaning, they were created by an external provider, correspondingly. Also, there can be open-source components that are publicly available for the use.



A software bill of materials usually presents the following information about components:




A component’s name, version, and supplier;



A component’s license.




The information on licensing is especially important, as it allows you to check whether your software adheres to the legal requirements and rights of use for a specific component.



Dependencies



A dependency is a relationship or a connection between the components. That means, components depend on each other for proper operation. And obviously, a vulnerability in one component may pose others at a risk.



This is why having a relevant SBOM in place is so important. Since this document lists all dependencies, it becomes much easier to manage them. As well, a proper SBOM helps to avoid dependency hell - a term that describes a situation where it’s impossible to add new components or programs to an app due to excessive complexity of existing dependencies.



Licenses



A license of a software component describes the way this component can be used, distributed, or customized. There are various types of licenses, including open-source proprietary ones, and each component may have its own licensing terms.



A company has to strictly follow the licensing terms for every component to adhere to its legal and regulatory requirements. Considering that there might be hundreds of components, the task seems a bit too much - this is where SBOM helps. Since the document lists all licenses for all used components, it becomes much easier to monitor and manage them and to ensure full compliance. Also, by knowing the licenses and their terms, organizations can make more informed decisions on the component selection and on the security of potential components.



Versioning



A new version of software is its modified or updated state. Each version has its own number, and version control is vital for tracking changes.



A new SBOM is normally created for every software version. In this way, developers can instantly see the changes made to a specific version, monitor software evolution, and effectively perform rollbacks or updates, if needed. 



Integration with Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and SBOM creation



By now, a software bill of materials may seem overwhelming and way too complex. Luckily, it can be generated quickly and easily with the help of specialized SBOM software tools that analyze your software composition and generate an SBOM based on this analysis. But the question is when should you create a software bill of materials?



The main recommendation is that an SBOM generation should be automated as part of the CI/CD process. In this way, updated and relevant SBOMs will be produced with every code change. Also, such SBOMs can help you with establishing release gates to double-check if a software bill of materials contains any issues like unacceptable licenses or vulnerabilities. 



In this way, you should consider generating an SBOM during the design and build stages of the SDLC. However, each stage of the SDLC will require a certain amount of interaction and work with the SBOM. Here is how it might look like:




Project planning: at this stage, you can start selecting the suitable SBOM format and the tool for its generation and integration;



Development: SBOM creation and integration happen during this SDLC stage;



QA and testing: SBOM is used to ensure both software security and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements;



Production: at this stage, a software bill of materials can serve as an additional proof of quality due to easy monitoring of software components.




As you can see, a software bill of materials is used throughout the software development lifecycle, but its actual integration happens during the design and development stage. 



An SBOM example and main formats



Each project will require its own individual SBOM so we won’t be providing specific examples. Instead, let’s briefly talk about the main SBOM formats. There are two of them: SDPX and CycloneDX. Let’s look at each in more detail.



SPDX



SPDX stands for the Software Package Data Exchange. It is an open-source, machine and human-readable SBOM project by Linux and is perfectly suited for listing all your components, dependencies, and even security references. This format places special focus on license compliance and allows easy package data collection and sharing.



CycloneDX



CycloneDX is similar to SPDX and helps companies prepare an SBOM while also allowing for compilation of components and vulnerabilities. Since it was created by OWASP, no wonder this format focuses on cybersecurity. Another valuable feature of CycloneDX related to SBOM security is that it allows links to VEX (Vulnerability Exploitability Exchange), which aids in detecting vulnerabilities.



Challenges of SBOM adoption



Now that we’ve answered the “what is SBOM?” question, let’s see what challenges are associated with its implementation. 



Integration with workflows and tools



To efficiently collect and update the information about your software, an SBOM needs to be integrated with your development processes and tools. This should be planned and executed in a careful and well-organized manner. Otherwise, the introduction of the software bill of materials can lead to the disruption of the development process.



Data consistency and accuracy



A software bill of materials needs to reflect the current state and components of the software. Hence, when any change is introduced to the application, it has to be reflected in the SBOM. Constant update and renewal of the software bill of materials may be too time and resource-consuming.



Security and intellectual property



The main goal of an SBOM is to add transparency to software development and to better manage all software components. But if your SBOM is shared across various (and external) stakeholders, it might compromise the security of your data or violate intellectual property rights. All these things need to be carefully considered before creating and distributing an SBOM.



Conclusion



A software bill of materials is gradually becoming a must-have for software development companies that care for transparency and better management of their software. It not only helps better maintain your apps but find vulnerabilities and eliminate risks in a much more efficient manner, which contributes significantly to the protection of data and reliability of your organization.

### Essential Team Leadership Skills: What Drives a Dev Team to Success?

A team lead is an essential role for any software development project. But how do you make sure that the candidate is the right fit? In this article, we discuss key team leadership skills and explain how this role differs from a tech lead and a project manager.







Defining the team lead role



Since software development is a complex process that includes the work of different departments, it’s natural that there are several roles involved in working on the project. Though being highly important, the team lead’s role often gets confused with a tech lead or a project manager. Thus, let’s first define the role and its main responsibilities.



A team lead is a person responsible for managing the development team, assigning tasks, and ensuring the deliverables are met. Most often, this person manages both frontend and backend engineers, while the tech lead manages only the team that they are responsible for.



The main responsibilities of a team lead normally include:




Defining how exactly the tasks will be performed



Assigning tasks to the right people 



Monitoring the quality of work



Managing task performance




As you can see, a team lead controls the quality of work and assigns tasks to the people who are most skilled for them. Note, though, that a team lead also performs coding or works on an architecture - thus, this person has to have solid technical skills.



Team lead vs tech lead vs PM



Software development is a highly fluctuating environment, so different roles often overlap. But for the sake of clarity, let’s also define the roles of a tech lead and a project manager.



A tech lead is very similar to a team lead but focuses more on technical tasks and their efficient performance. A tech lead does not usually work on allocating tasks or organizing a workflow. Instead, this person is normally responsible for a certain tech area: backend development, for example. Thus, a tech lead has a narrower focus.



A project manager, on the contrary, is a jack of all trades. This person should have a certain knowledge and understanding of technical aspects of the project but at the same time, a PM has a much broader focus and is responsible for various aspects of the project development. Examples of such responsibilities include:




Communication with stakeholders and translation of their vision and requirements into tasks;



Definition of milestones and deliverables;



Allocation of budget and resources;



Definition of the project scope;



Change management and risk management;



Allocation of people and resources.






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Essential team leader skills: technical knowledge



Now it’s time to discuss what team leader skills are essential, and we’ll first talk about the hard skills. Since there can be many different technical roles and a variety of departments, we’ll focus on the most general ones that answer the “what makes a good team leader” question. 



Coding



A team lead is usually a highly skilled professional in their department, so naturally, this person should have solid coding skills among other characteristics of a team leader. There are a number of reasons why coding is so important.



First, a team lead often performs a certain amount of work, and most often it involves coding. Second, this person is responsible for the quality of delivered work - and without solid coding skills, it will be impossible for the team lead to identify issues, errors, and areas for improvement. Finally, if a team lead knows how to code, it adds more authority and credibility to the role.



Architecture



Same as with coding, good architecture skills are essential. Think about the following: a project’s architecture defines the product’s scalability, reliability, and performance. Hence, it’s up to the team lead to define its components, their ways of interaction, and its structure. As well, if the product does not perform as expected, an experienced team lead can look into its architecture and see whether anything can be improved.



Development methodologies



Every software project is unique and while it’s not a must to know and master all development methodologies, a good team lead should be familiar with the most common ones, which are waterfall and Agile. Since the software development process is incredibly fast-paced, a team lead should effectively prioritize and manage the tasks to avoid the creation of bottlenecks and to ensure that the milestones are delivered right on time.



What makes a good team leader: soft skills



We’ve discussed that a good team lead is also a very professional tech expert - but it’s the soft skills that make one a truly effective leader. Let’s walk through the main soft skills expected from a person who manages a team and see why these team leader qualities are so important.



Communication



When talking about team leader characteristics and leadership, communication is often the first thing that comes to mind. There are numerous guides and courses on how to become better at communication, and every person in charge of others should know how to communicate effectively. But why is that so important?



Every person is unique and has the own preferences, ways of work, and listening and speaking skills. So when you put several people together, they most likely will face challenges when trying to exchange ideas and information, make decisions on critical issues, and interpret the requirements of stakeholders.



A team lead is a mediator between the PM and the development team and is responsible for ensuring that everyone is heard and everyone remains on the same page. For that, it is vital to be able to hear others, understand their point of view, and explain why a certain thing will work.



As well, good communication skills include the ability to provide relevant and valuable feedback to people. It is also highly important as feedback helps motivate the team and drive it forward through improvement.



Delegation



One of the primary responsibilities of a team leader is to assign the right tasks to the right people. This is where the skill of delegating comes into play.



To be able to successfully delegate tasks and ensure that work will be done in the most efficient manner, a team lead has to have a really good understanding of team members and their strengths. By knowing who excels at what, a team lead can distribute tasks in such a way that little to no mistakes and bottlenecks happen.



Delegation does not only impact the work results but also one’s productivity and motivation. When people feel valued and appreciated, they deliver great results and are often willing to take an extra step to exceed set expectations.



Problem-solving



Conflicts and issues are inevitable, especially in such complex environments as software development. If handled properly, conflicts can even fuel further progress or help find a perfect solution - and that’s the responsibility of a team lead to correctly resolve issues and mitigate conflicts.



A good team lead should know how to detect conflicts and issues at early stages and how to quickly resolve them before they cause a negative impact on the project. For that, a team lead should be aware of various problem-solving techniques and strategies, since every situation is unique and a unified approach won’t work for two different scenarios.



Motivation



People are the cornerstone of the project’s success. Their input and enthusiasm are the driving force behind outstanding results, but this motivation needs to be fueled. When talking about motivation and the role of a team lead in providing it, we can list down several responsibilities:




Detect burnouts and take necessary actions to help people overcome their struggles;



Consult people on professional growth opportunities and provide them with career advice;



Provide regular feedback and focus both on strengths and areas for improvement;



Set the own example and find factors that drive people forward.




Decision-making



While some decisions can be made collaboratively, a team lead usually has a final say in most of the decisions. That means, a team lead understands and owns responsibility for their decisions and is able to define what’s best for the project and the team.



There are various decision-making models, each being suitable for different situations. Also note that some models imply making a decision together as a group, which is often the case in software development.



Emotional intelligence



EQ, or emotional intelligence, is somewhat a buzzword - but in reality, it is a highly important skill for anyone in the managerial position. Among other qualities of a team leader, emotional intelligence defines one’s ability to understand other people and recognize their needs, but it also includes self-awareness and empathy. 



So, why is EQ important? 



With the help of this skill, a team lead can successfully recognize the state and emotional well-being of the team, identify the level of satisfaction and motivation, and effectively communicate with people. In this way, a high level of EQ helps establish relationships, based on trust, reduce the level of stress, and mitigate conflicts. And that’s what every good team lead strives for, isn’t that right?



Bonus: tips on how to be a good team leader 



We’ve discussed the essential hard and soft skills that make an effective team lead - now, let’s talk about how to be a good team leader and achieve outstanding results in work.



Never stop learning



Continuous learning and improvement is a must for one’s professional and personal development, if talking about the qualities of a good team leader. Since team leads are usually the most proficient experts on a team, it’s natural that you’d want to level up your skills. Hence, do not hesitate to learn new techniques and methods of work and try completing relevant courses in your field of work.



As for the soft team lead skills, do not hesitate to ask for advice and for feedback. It’s always valuable to hear advice from colleagues or more experienced managers, and feedback helps better understand what your own strengths are and what can be improved.



Always communicate your thoughts and ideas clearly



While this point is important for everyone, it is especially vital for managerial roles. Since you are the one managing a project, the team will depend on your decisions and ideas. Hence, if there is a slight misunderstanding or confusion, it may significantly slow down the whole development process. To avoid bottlenecks and mitigate risks and failures, always make sure that you are well understood and that everyone stays on the same page. Also, clearly set expectations both for the product and the team, as they will serve as the base for milestones and deliverables.



Be open to ideas



While you are the one who finalizes decisions, it doesn’t mean that only your decisions are to be considered. A great team lead knows how to listen to people, encourages them to share their ideas, and accepts actionable suggestions. This helps not only motivate the people, but to find new and creative approaches to tasks. Hence, a win-won both for you and for the project!



Lead by example



This point is one of the most frequently mentioned and has become somewhat a buzzword: but what exactly does it mean?



By saying “lead by example”, we imply that a team lead should take the responsibility for their actions, set high performance standards, and inspire team members through knowledge and skills. If your team sees how you manage the challenges and the overall work, they will most likely be inspired to keep up and do the same. 



Summing up



A team lead is a significant role in software development that requires a set of specific team leadership skills. Whether you are looking for a new career opportunity or need to hire such professional for your project, it is helpful to know the main team leadership skills that a person should have to successfully overtake the development of your product.




 


Expert Opinion



One thing that you need to be ready for when switching to the Team Lead position is the acceptance of your new managerial role. For everyone, it sure takes some time, and this “acceptance stage” will include both rises and falls in terms of your emotional state. A common reason for that is that when you don’t code so much anymore, it becomes harder to assess the value of your management tasks and activities. 



Another common fear is to get out of practice in terms of one’s skills, since you don’t have much time for coding. So I’d say the main challenge during the transition to the Team Lead role is finding the balance between technical and managerial aspects of the role. Just remember that everyone goes through this and that you are not the reason why a challenge or an issue occurs. Just look for the balance, keep learning, and you’ll see progress in no time.





Lead iOS Developer at SoftTeco



Pavel Vilbik

### What Is Performance Engineering? A Comprehensive Guide

In today’s competitive market, modern software must meet all needed performance-related requirements. Traditional QA testing can help you with this, but it may not suffice to achieve the desired level of reliability and long-term software performance. Due to this, most IT organizations implement the performance engineering process. It offers more than just fixing issues; it ensures optimal performance of an application as it scales and expands throughout its lifecycle.



In this article, we provide you with a comprehensive guide on “what is performance engineering?”, its main phases, benefits and challenges, tools, and best practices to help you understand this approach better and succeed in quality software development.







What is performance engineering?



Performance engineering is a proactive, continuous, and collaborative approach\practice to testing and monitoring software performance throughout the software development life cycle (SDLC). This process allows organizations to identify performance issues early on in SDLC and conduct cost-effective testing. Its main goal is to deliver high-performance, reliable, and scalable software that meets both user and business needs. Also, performance engineering helps organizations to:




Avoid system failures;



Avoid unnecessary tuning efforts;



Ensure timely deployment;



Optimize hardware costs;



Reduce maintenance costs.




Performance engineering goes beyond just testing software. It includes seamless collaboration between teams, processes, and tools to support optimal system performance through continuous feedback loops. Even though performance engineering and performance testing are two different processes, people often confuse them. So, let’s see how they differ. 



Performance engineering vs. performance testing



Software performance engineering and performance testing go hand in hand. However, the two methods have different purposes and cover different activities. Let's see the detailed differences between both, starting with performance engineering first:




Goal: to optimize app performance throughout the SDLC and maintain it at its optimal level;



Focus: performance improvement and optimization; 



Timeframe: continuous throughout the entire development lifecycle, from design to quality assurance;



Scope: it covers all engineering activities and deliverables.




Performance testing includes:




Goal: evaluate performance and scalability of an app under various conditions;



Focus: performance evaluation and validation;



Timeframe: it typically occurs after development and before deployment;



Scope: limited to specific scenarios and test cases.




If we look at a performance engineer and performance tester, their responsibilities also differ. So what is performance engineering? Performance engineers ensure that software, hardware, and systems operate efficiently. In short, they oversee the app's performance lifecycle and then recommend the right improvements. Their responsibilities include identify bottlenecks, analyze performance issues, give recommendations based on test results, and more. 



In contrast, performance testers are responsible for designing, executing, and analyzing performance tests (like loads, stress, scalability, and capacity testing) to evaluate the responsiveness, stability, and scalability of apps. They measure performance metrics, such as latency, response time, throughput, etc., and identify performance issues and bottlenecks (often in collaboration with developers) to improve app performance. 



Benefits of performance engineering 



Organizations can benefit from performance engineering in several ways:




Reduced rework and refactoring: by detecting and resolving performance issues early (before they escalate), it prevents extensive rework and refactoring code later on during development;



Improved user experience: when an app functions as users expected (fast response times, reduced latency), resulting in a seamless user experience;



Improved users' trust: high-performing systems enable companies not only to gain users' trust but also to retain them in the long-term, building strong reputations;



Reduced costs: by addressing functionality issues early in the development cycle, organizations can avoid costly rework and downtime post-deployment;



Increased revenue: increased conversions, reduced downtime and excellent UX achieved by better performance contribute to high revenue generation; 



Early detection of issues: it eliminates the risk of performance-related failures in production by detecting bottlenecks early on.




As you can see, the investment in performance engineering not only ensures better app performance outcomes but also contributes to overall customer satisfaction and keeps finances within budget. Although performance engineering brings numerous benefits to companies, it also poses some challenges.



Challenges of performance engineering 



Here are a couple of performance engineering challenges that companies may face:



A lack of understanding of the process.



A lack of understanding of the performance engineering process, including needed resources, tools, specialists, and best practices, can pose future problems for organizations. These include inadequate resource allocation, poorly fine-tuned processes, and failure to achieve the desired results.



Selecting the right tools.



Organizations may struggle to evaluate and choose tools that align with their objectives, budget constraints, and technical infrastructure. Also, a lack of expertise in using these tools can exacerbate this problem.



Time and resource costs.



Performance engineering requires significant investment in skilled personnel, specialized tools, and infrastructure. These resources are expensive to acquire and maintain. Also, optimizing this process takes time, further increasing the overall investment.



Scalability and load variability.



Scalability and load variability pose challenges in predicting and modeling realistic workloads, user interactions, and traffic. Systems must scale smoothly to cope with load fluctuations while delivering optimal performance. The inability to take scalability requirements and load variability into account can lead to the degradation of user experience during peak load periods.



DevOps optimization.



Continuous integration, delivery, and deployment are core to DevOps, so performance testing is necessary at multiple stages. However, integrating performance testing seamlessly into the iteration cycles of DevOps can be challenging. Organizations must strike a balance between speed and quality while effectively incorporating performance testing into their DevOps workflows.



Complex architecture.



Often, modern software systems have complex architectures consisting of microservices, cloud-native technologies, etc. Performance engineering of such complex systems can be challenging, as it requires understanding components' interactions, identifying bottlenecks, and optimizing resources. This complexity makes predicting and resolving performance issues problematic, requiring robust testing strategies and tools.



Addressing these challenges requires a strategic approach, informed tool selection, and a clear understanding of the main phases of performance engineering. Let's look at them.



The main phases of performance engineering



The main phases of performance engineering in software development include:



1. Requirement analysis 



In this initial phase, performance engineers gain an understanding of the overall system architecture, including its components, modules, and dependencies. They collaborate with stakeholders to pinpoint non-functional requirements (NFRs) related to performance. These NFRs go beyond functionality and include aspects like responsiveness, security, usability, and portability. Also, stakeholders gain insights into:




Anticipated user numbers;



Expected transaction volumes and traffic levels;



Potential performance bottlenecks stemming from integrated systems, etc.




The purpose of this phase is to identify and address potential bottlenecks, thus reducing the need for rework later. The performance engineering phase revolves around making well-informed decisions regarding technology, tools, and further design consideration.



2. Architecture design



During this phase, performance engineers focus on creating a system architecture with performance considerations in mind. Engineers collaborate closely with architects and developers to ensure that performance requirements are integrated into the system's architecture from the outset. This process involves considering factors such as load balancing, caching, data storage, and optimization for scalability and fault tolerance.



Moreover, engineers establish monitoring and observability strategies for proactive performance management, identify potential design flaws, and provide performance-related recommendations.



3. Performance modeling



At this stage, performance engineers create an accurate performance model that mimics real-world user loads and system responses. How does it work? Engineers use tools or mathematical models to set up a model to simulate real-world scenarios, including user loads, transaction volumes, and system interactions. This model serves as a representation of how the system is expected to perform under various conditions.



This approach allows engineers to identify areas that may require optimization, identify potential performance issues, and better understand their system's behavior. 



4. Performance profiling 



Performance profiling involves analyzing software code to identify resource-intensive sections. It aims to understand how the application behaves in terms of execution time, memory usage, runtime behavior, and other relevant metrics. During this phase, engineers use specialized tools known as profilers to gather detailed data on the execution of the software code. 



Each programming language has its profiler; for example, for Python are cProfile, Pyflame. Profilers are integrated into the development environment or deployed alongside the application to monitor its execution. Profiling code helps engineers identify bottlenecks in an application and areas for performance optimization. This may involve code refactoring, algorithm optimization, caching strategies, or other techniques.



5. Testing and validation: performance testing



As we mentioned above, performance testing is one part of the performance engineering process where QA testers evaluate how a system functions under various conditions. They evaluate speed, responsiveness, stability, reliability, and stability of a software app. Unlike functional testing (which examines individual functions of software), performance testing is non-functional and aims to determine system readiness for deployment.



During this phase, performance engineers provide guidance and expertise in designing performance test scenarios and selecting appropriate testing tools. They analyze performance test results in-depth to identify root causes of performance issues. Based on testing results, they make needed adjustments to improve the performance and reliability of a system. 



6. Optimization: analysis and fine-tuning



Here, engineers analyze the results of performance tests to provide valuable feedback and suggestions for improving code or a system. These suggestions may include recommendations for:




Architectural changes;



Code refactoring;



Adjusting configurations;



Database tuning;



Resource allocation (CPU, memory, disk I/O);



Caching strategies, etc.




Also, engineers develop customized fine-tuning strategies to target specific problem areas and maximize performance improvements. Once these optimizations are implemented, it is necessary to conduct performance testing to determine whether they have improved performance.



7. Monitoring and maintenance



Once the system is deployed, performance engineers need to regularly monitor and maintain a high level of system performance. This involves keeping track of key performance metrics, such as response times and error rates, in real-time. Based on the monitoring feedback, they must perform patches, updates, and optimizations as needed. Observability and monitoring tools are crucial in this phase, as they provide insights over the long run.



Moreover, it helps the performance engineering team identify trends, such as increased or decreased system usage. Regular maintenance and updates are necessary to keep the system performing and reliable over time.







Best practices for performance engineering



To make the performance engineering process more effective, you need to be aware of the best practices from the start. Here are some of them:



Integrate performance engineering as early as possible



By integrating performance engineering early on, engineers can identify and address potential performance issues before they occur. This allows for better optimization of the system’s architecture, code, and design from the start, resulting in a more efficient and scalable system. 



In contrast, without this process, performance issues may go unnoticed until later stages. This can lead to significant rework, refactoring, and optimization efforts, resulting in project delays and increased development costs. Moreover, it can lead to poor performance, scalability issues, and user experience as well.



Refactor rather than tune



To improve the performance of a system, it is better to make structural changes to the code or architecture, rather than tweaking or adjusting existing components\ functions. By refactoring, engineers can eliminate inefficiencies, reduce technical debt, and improve overall system performance in a more systematic and comprehensive manner. This approach leads to more sustainable improvements and the long-term maintainability of a system.



Because a tuning project focuses on adjusting existing components or functions within the current architecture, it cannot provide the same efficiency as refactoring. While it might save time for your organization, it is not an effective strategy in the long-run.



Select the right tools



Companies must stay up-to-date on emerging technologies, tools, and performance optimization strategies to automate processes and meet business needs. To achieve this, they must evaluate and invest in the appropriate performance engineering tools. These investments allow engineers to better:




Analyze vast amounts of data rapidly;



Collect precise metrics;



Identify and rectify performance issues quickly;



Streamline performance testing, monitoring, and analysis.




Continuous performance monitoring



Continuous performance monitoring throughout the app's lifecycle is essential for stable results. By monitoring key metrics regularly, engineers can stay ahead of potential issues, implement necessary optimizations, and maintain a high level of user satisfaction.



Run each test multiple times



Another recommended best practice is running tests multiple times. Engineers can verify the consistency of the results by repeating tests over and over again. Also, this practice allows engineers to identify any potential fluctuations or anomalies in the system's behavior over time.



Use visualization for anomalies



Engineers use data visualization techniques to understand the behavior of software systems. By comparing the performance of an app under test to that of a perfectly optimized version, they can detect irregularities or anomalies in various system metrics. Since anomalies may not always be apparent in raw data or reports, this method is particularly effective. It allows engineers to detect performance-related issues faster and address them more promptly.



Use realistic test setups 



Realistic test setups allow engineers to evaluate how the system behaves under real-life conditions. This process should be similar to the one used in a real production environment. For this, engineers must be certain of the following: 




Hardware: ensure that the test environment matches the specific hardware used in production;



Software versions: use the same software versions as in the live system;



Network configurations: replicate network conditions, latency, and bandwidth;



User volume: simulate the expected user load accurately;



Third-party integrations: include all third-party services or integrations used in production.




Realistic test setups in a production-like environment ensure more accurate results. When the system behaves as expected in testing, deployment can be done with confidence.



Performance engineering tools



The different phases of the performance process require different tools. So, it may be challenging to choose between available options in the market. To help you make this process easier, we’ve put together the main performance engineering tools:



Load testing tools:




Apache JMeter: an open-source Java-based load testing and performance measurement tool. With capabilities like graphical reporting and scripting, it facilitates the testing of databases, FTP servers, web apps, and more;



LoadRunner: a load testing tool available for purchase that is compatible with many protocols and technologies, such as mobile, API, database, etc. It offers features like correlation, analysis, and script recording,etc;



Gatling: a scala-based, open-source load testing framework constructed on top of Akka. It offers real-time result visualization and lets users construct scenarios using a domain-specific language (DSL);



Blazemeter: a commercial load testing platform that provides cloud-based load testing services, and is based on JMeter. It offers advanced reporting features, scalability, and connection with CI/CD processes.




Performance profiling tools:




YourKit Java Profiler: for analyzing CPU and memory usage;



JProfiler: a Java profiler with an intuitive UI.



VisualVM: free Java profiler that analyzes memory usage, CPU performance, and thread behavior;



Xdebug: a PHP extension that gives PHP programs the ability to be profiled and debugged. It can generate profiling reports showing function execution times and memory usage.




Real-time performance monitoring tools:




New Relic: offers application performance monitoring (APM) and infrastructure monitoring;



AppDynamics: monitors app performance, user experience, and business metrics.



Grafana: an open-source visualization tool that can be used for real-time monitoring and observability. It supports integration with various data sources and provides customizable dashboards for visualizing metrics and logs in real-time.




Tools for log analysis and query tracing:




ELK Stack: Elasticsearch is a distributed search and analytics engine that can be used for log analysis and query tracing. It allows users to index and search large volumes of log data in real-time, perform complex queries, and visualize results in Kibana;



Graylog: an open-source log management platform that enables users to collect, index, and analyze log data from various sources. It offers features like full-text search, stream processing, and alerting to facilitate log analysis and query tracing.




Tools to automate the performance testing process:




Jenkins: is an open-source automation server that supports building, deploying, and automating any project, providing hundreds of plugins to enhance its functionality;



TeamCity: is a general-purpose CI/CD platform offering flexible workflows, collaboration features, and integration with popular build and test tools;



Travis CI: is a hosted CI service that builds and tests software projects hosted on platforms like GitHub, GitLab, and more. It offers parallel builds, clean VMs, and auto-deployment on passing builds;



GitLab CI/CD: is an integral part of the GitLab DevSecOps platform that automates software development workflows, including building, testing, and deploying;



CircleCI: is a cloud-based CI/CD solution that provides real-time performance insights, allowing automated validation, integration, and deployment tasks with one-command automation.




Conclusion 



Performance engineering is a fundamental practice in modern software development, enhancing system performance and reliability from the beginning to beyond. By addressing performance issues proactively, you will ensure the highest level of performance, user experience, and scalability. We do not say that performance engineers replace QA testers. Instead, they complement each other to make a forward-looking solution rapidly and reliably. The answer to “what is performance engineering?” is how organizations view their core processes toward optimal performance.




 


Expert Opinion



Performance engineering is a strategic approach to ensuring software applications deliver optimal performance, scalability, and reliability. It is necessary to include performance concerns in the software development process to identify and address performance issues early on and save time and money. 



One of the key benefits of performance engineering is its ability to prevent bottlenecks and scalability limitations before they affect users. Companies may detect possible problems, make well-informed decisions, and apply focused optimizations to make sure applications can scale to meet increasing user needs by carrying out comprehensive performance testing and analysis.



In conclusion, performance engineering aids businesses in producing high-quality software products that meet user expectations, optimize return on investment (ROI), and give them a competitive advantage in the current digital environment.





 QA Engineer at SoftTeco



Anastassia Svistunova

### What is Behavioral Analytics? Decoding User Actions in the Digital Sphere

In the era of big data, businesses are constantly seeking innovative ways to leverage information to improve decision-making and enhance operational efficiency. Behavioral analytics is a powerful tool that enables businesses to understand user behavior patterns, preferences, and interactions. These data-driven insights allow companies to identify trends, predict market dynamics, and respond swiftly to changing consumer preferences.



In this article, we will explore the various aspects of behavioral analytics, including its types, benefits, and potential challenges that businesses may face when implementing this methodology.







What is behavioral analytics?



Behavioral analytics is a technique that can help businesses better understand how people interact with digital platforms, such as websites, applications, or software systems. Essentially, it's like having a detective tool that can help companies understand various aspects, such as: 




What people like;



Their user journey;



Where they may encounter issues;



What keeps them interested;



How their behavior changes over time.




Behavioral analytics involves gathering, processing, and interpreting data related to user actions, preferences, and behavioral patterns to gain valuable insights and make informed decisions based on this information. For example:




E-commerce companies use behavioral analytics to optimize their websites, improve product recommendations, and enhance customers' shopping experience;



Financial institutions use behavioral analytics to detect anomalies in user behavior, identify potential fraud, and enhance security measures to protect customer assets;



Healthcare providers analyze patient behavior to tailor treatment plans, predict health outcomes, and improve the quality of individual care.




Who should use behavioral analytics?



Behavioral analytics benefits many industries and businesses that rely on digital platforms to interact with customers, users, or stakeholders. Here are some examples of who can benefit from behavioral analytics:



Marketers 



Understanding how customers interact with products or services, as well as their purchasing habits and preferences, enables marketers to tailor their strategies more effectively. For instance, by analyzing click-through rates, conversion rates, and customer journey data, marketers can optimize their campaigns to enhance engagement and drive conversions.



Data analysts 



Data analysts play a crucial role in unraveling the insights derived from behavioral analytics. Their expertise in interpreting complex data sets and identifying trends is instrumental in extracting meaningful information from behavioral data. Their expertise in statistical and machine learning techniques enables them to reveal actionable insights that drive strategic decision-making within an organization.



Customer service



Behavioral analytics can revolutionize customer service within an organization. By analyzing customer interactions, feedback, and preferences, customer service teams can proactively address issues, personalize customer experiences, and enhance overall satisfaction. For instance, sentiment analysis of customer feedback can help identify areas for improvement, leading to enhanced customer retention and loyalty.



Product managers 



Product managers can leverage behavioral analytics to better understand users' engagement with their products or services. They can make data-driven decisions to optimize product offerings, enhance user experience, and drive innovation by analyzing user behavior, feature adoption rates, and user feedback. Behavioral analytics empowers product managers to prioritize features, identify pain points, and tailor product development strategies to meet user needs more effectively.



How does behavioral analytics work?



Behavioral analytics begins with the collection of user data. This data can include a wide range of interactions, such as:




Clicks on links, buttons, or other elements;



Data about the pages or screens users visit and the time spent on each page;



Information about specific actions, such as form submissions, downloads, video views, purchases, or other interactions;



User demographics, location, device type, and preferences;



Session information, including duration, bounce rates, and session paths;



User feedback, comments, ratings, surveys, etc.




Organizations collect data from various sources such as websites, mobile apps, social media platforms, and CRM software. This data is then processed using different tools and technologies to understand user behavior. There are a myriad of behavioral analytics tools available in the market, each offering unique features and capabilities. Some popular tools include:




Google Analytics is a widely used web analytics tool that provides a range of features for tracking and analyzing data to optimize website performance and marketing strategies;



Pendo is a product analytics platform that helps businesses understand how users interact with their software products. It offers features for analyzing user behavior, collecting feedback, and guiding product improvements;



Mixpanel is a user analytics platform that tracks user actions and behaviors within mobile and web applications. It provides insights into user engagement, retention, conversion funnels, and A/B testing to optimize product experiences;



Heap is a behavioral analytics tool that automatically captures user interactions across websites and mobile apps. It offers features for identifying user behavior patterns and optimizing user journeys without manual event tracking;



Userlytics is a user testing and research platform that allows businesses to conduct usability tests, surveys, and interviews with real users;



Hotjar is a behavior analytics and user feedback tool that helps businesses understand how users interact with websites and gather feedback through heatmaps, session recordings, surveys, and more;



FullStory is a digital experience analytics platform that captures user interactions, session recordings, and heatmaps to analyze user behavior and identify opportunities for improvement;



Tableau is a data visualization and analytics platform that allows businesses to create interactive dashboards, reports, and visualizations to analyze and present data insights. It offers features for data exploration, storytelling, and sharing insights across teams.




Types of behavioral analysis



After gathering behavioral data, you can conduct analyses and tests based on your objectives. There are various techniques that you can use to analyze user behavior. Some of the most prominent ones include:



A/B experimentation



A/B experimentation is a method used to compare two versions of a webpage, app interface, or marketing campaign to determine which one performs better. Imagine you have two pictures for your online store's homepage. You show one picture to some visitors and a different one to others. By randomly showing different versions to users and analyzing their behavior, you can identify which variant leads to higher conversions, engagement, or other desired outcomes. This type of behavioral analytics is valuable for optimizing user experiences and maximizing performance based on empirical data rather than assumptions.



Funnel analysis 



Funnel analysis involves tracking and analyzing users' steps to complete a specific goal, such as making a purchase or signing up for a service. Think of a funnel as a pathway on a shopping website. You check how many people look at products, put them in the cart, and then actually buy them. Funnel analysis also helps to see where people might be leaving the shopping journey. This way, companies can identify bottlenecks, optimize conversion rates, and improve the overall user experience.



Segmentation



Segmentation is a process of categorizing users into groups based on their shared characteristics, behaviors, or preferences. For example, if you have a game app, you might group players based on whether they are beginners or experts. This helps you understand how each group plays the game differently and makes the game more enjoyable for everyone.



By segmenting users, businesses can tailor their products, marketing messages, and services to specific audience segments, leading to more personalized and targeted interactions. Behavioral segmentation, in particular, allows companies to understand user behaviors, predict future actions, and deliver customized experiences that cater to individual needs and preferences.



Session replay



Session replay is a technique that captures and replays user interactions with a website or app, allowing businesses to observe user behavior in real-time or retrospectively. By watching session replays, companies can gain valuable insights into how users navigate their platforms, where they encounter issues or confusion, and how they interact with different features. This type of behavioral analytics is instrumental in identifying usability issues, optimizing user interfaces, and enhancing overall user satisfaction.



Customer feedback



Customer feedback is a rich source of behavioral data that provides insights into customer preferences, satisfaction levels, and pain points. By collecting and analyzing feedback through surveys, reviews, or social media interactions, businesses can understand customer sentiment, identify trends, and address issues proactively. Integrating customer feedback into behavioral analytics allows companies to align their strategies with customer expectations, improve products or services, and build stronger relationships with their target audience.



Benefits of behavioral analytics



The advantages of behavioral data analysis are vast and impactful across various industries. Here are some of the benefits of using this type of analytics:



Improved decision-making



Behavioral analytics gives organizations a deeper understanding of how users engage with their products or services. By analyzing behavior patterns, businesses can identify trends, preferences, and pain points that can inform strategic decision-making. 



For example, an e-commerce company can use behavioral analytics to track customer browsing habits, shopping cart abandonment rates, and purchase history to optimize its website layout, product offerings, and marketing strategies.



Customer satisfaction



By gaining insights into customer behavior, businesses can personalize their interactions and offerings to better meet customer needs and preferences. For instance, a mobile app developer can use behavioral analytics to identify the most popular features among users and prioritize updates that enhance user experience. This tailored approach can increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention rates.



Enhanced cybersecurity



Behavioral analytics plays a crucial role in detecting and mitigating cybersecurity threats. By monitoring user behavior for anomalies, such as unusual login times or access patterns, organizations can identify potential security breaches and take proactive measures to protect sensitive data. 



For instance, a financial institution can use behavioral analytics to flag suspicious transactions and prevent fraudulent activities, safeguarding both customer information and the company's reputation.



In addition to external threats, organizations also face risks from within. Behavioral analytics can help detect insider threats by monitoring employee activities and identifying deviations from normal behavior. This proactive approach can help prevent data breaches, intellectual property theft, and other internal security incidents before they escalate.



Competitive advantage



Ultimately, behavioral analytics can give businesses a competitive edge in the market. By harnessing data to understand customer needs, optimize processes, and strengthen security measures, organizations can differentiate themselves from competitors and drive innovation. 



For example, a retail company that uses behavioral analytics to personalize marketing campaigns and promotions based on customer preferences is more likely to attract and retain customers in a crowded marketplace.



Challenges and considerations



With the vast opportunities that behavioral analytics presents, there also come significant challenges and considerations that you need to consider.



Data privacy and security concerns



One of the foremost challenges facing behavioral analytics is data privacy and security. As businesses collect and analyze vast amounts of consumer data, there is a growing concern regarding how this information is used and protected. With regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) placing stringent requirements on data handling practices, organizations must comply with these laws to avoid potential legal repercussions. 



Moreover, the risk of data breaches and cyber attacks poses a significant threat to the integrity of sensitive consumer information, highlighting the importance of robust security measures to safeguard data.



Data silos and integration challenges



Another key consideration in the realm of behavioral analytics is the existence of data silos and integration challenges. Often, organizations collect data from disparate sources that are not easily integrated or analyzed together. This fragmentation of data can hinder the ability to derive meaningful insights and create a comprehensive view of customer behavior. 



To address this issue, businesses must invest in data integration technologies and strategies that enable seamless data flow across different systems and departments. By breaking down data silos and fostering a unified data ecosystem, organizations can enhance the effectiveness of their behavioral analytics initiatives.



Interpretation and actionability of insights



While behavioral analytics can provide valuable insights into customer behavior, the challenge lies in interpreting these insights accurately and translating them into actionable strategies. Analyzing complex datasets and identifying meaningful patterns requires specialized skills and expertise, which may be lacking within an organization. 



Moreover, even if actionable insights are derived, there is no guarantee that organizations will effectively implement changes based on these findings. To overcome this challenge, businesses need to invest in training their teams on data analysis and interpretation and foster a data-driven culture that emphasizes the importance of acting on insights derived from behavioral analytics.



Final thoughts



As technology continues to evolve, the future of behavioral analytics looks promising. Advancements in artificial intelligence and predictive analytics will enable businesses to predict user behavior with greater accuracy and precision. This predictive capability can drive proactive decision-making and enhance the customer experience. Overall, behavioral analytics is a powerful tool that offers valuable insights for businesses looking to understand and engage with their customers. However, it's crucial to acknowledge and address the challenges associated with its implementation. Companies must navigate issues related to user privacy and data security. Striking the right balance is essential to building and maintaining trust with customers.

### Couchbase vs CouchDB: The Main Differences Between Both Databases

In today's data-driven world, selecting the appropriate database is paramount for organizations striving to meet data management needs. So, most of them are switching to NoSQL databases, which can handle diverse data types, scale horizontally, and support modern app architectures. CouchDB and Couchbase are both NoSQL databases, but they have different capabilities, performance, and use cases.



This article compares Couchbase vs. CouchDB and discusses their features, strengths, and perfect use cases, so you can choose the optimal solution for app development. 







What is Couchbase?



Couchbase Server, initially known as Membase, is an open-source, distributed multimodel NoSQL document-oriented database system. It is designed to handle the demands of interactive web, mobile, and IoT applications. In essence, it enables these applications to serve numerous users concurrently, facilitating various operations, such as creating, storing, retrieving, manipulating, and presenting information in real-time. To achieve this, Couchbase offers scalable and efficient access to data in either key-value or JSON document formats, with low latency and high throughput. This versatility lets developers store and retrieve the data the way they want. 



At its core, Couchbase combines two well-known NoSQL solutions: Membase and CouchDB. Membase (a memory caching system), originally based on Memcached, aims to enhance the functionality of in-memory caching by adding features such as persistence, replication, and sharding. CouchDB (a database management system) offers robust support to store JSON documents and a simple RESTful API for data access, making it easy to integrate with apps. Thus, Couchbase gives users the best of both worlds: scalability and performance of Membase and document-oriented flexibility of CouchDB. 



Key features of Couchbase:



Flexible data model



One of the critical features of Couchbase is its flexible data model, which allows for dynamic and schema-less data storage. It means Couchbase stores data in JSON format, where users can manipulate this data using the SQL++ language, formerly known as N1QL. While it supports JSON document storage, it also offers a key-value storage model, where each document has a unique key associated with it. As a result, developers can work with varying and evolving data structures without defining a fixed schema upfront. This format provides flexibility for representing complex information.



Consistent high performance



Couchbase is optimized for consistently high throughput and low latency, achieved through a combination of in-memory caching and memory-optimized data structures. It facilitates concurrent processing of multiple requests, thus optimizing system resources and reducing latency. By distributing workloads across all servers, Couchbase maintains consistent performance and minimizes bottlenecks even under heavy loads. It allows organizations to support more users with fewer servers.



When comparing CouchDB vs. Couchbase performance, Couchbase tends to excel in terms of scalability, latency, throughput, query performance, making it a preferred choice for high-performance and scalable apps.



Easy integration



Couchbase seamlessly integrates with various programming languages, frameworks, and tools through SDKs and Client Libraries. These SDKs provide native language bindings and APIs that allow developers to interact with Couchbase using familiar programming paradigms. In other words, SDKs provide easy-to-use interfaces to perform database operations, query data, and manage indexes.



Moreover, Couchbase supports standard protocols such as HTTP/REST and Memcached, making it compatible with a wide range of apps and frameworks. The HTTP/REST API provides a simple and intuitive way to interact with Couchbase over the web, while the Memcached protocol allows for efficient caching scenarios.





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Scalability



Couchbase has a distributed architecture. Hence, when the information or workload volumes increase, more nodes can be added to the cluster seamlessly. Information is automatically sharded across nodes, evenly distributing workload and facilitating parallel query processing for high throughput.



Build-in data replication ensures high availability and fault tolerance across multiple servers, maintaining consistent performance. In this way, Couchbase scales horizontally, ensuring minimal latency as information volumes and workloads grow. 



Reliability



As mentioned above, Couchbase uses a distributed architecture with built-in data replication. Data is automatically replicated across multiple nodes in a cluster, ensuring high availability and fault tolerance. If a node fails, data can be seamlessly accessed from the replicated copies, minimizing downtime. With Cross Datacenter Replication (XDCR) feature, data is replicated across geographically distributed clusters, which provides disaster recovery capabilities.



Full-text search



Full-text search is a built-in feature of Couchbase for efficient and flexible searching of textual content within JSON documents. Its key features include:




Indexing: developers can use powerful multi-language text analyzers and index flexibility for fields, nested objects, and arrays to index and search text within any type of Couchbase docs;



Efficient search: single indexes support multi-field queries using exact or fuzzy matches and combinations of ANDs and ORs. It enables developers to directly embed full-text search queries within SQL++ queries, reducing code complexity;



Query integration: combining SQL and search queries eliminates the need to write complex code;



Build-in high availability (HA): it is included in Couchbase's partitioning and replication capabilities that allow developers to easily scale out a full-text search with Couchbase's distributed and scale-out architecture;



Bleve open-source engine: this full-text search engine is based on the Bleve open-source project. Bleve is a powerful search and indexing Go library that ensures robust and efficient search capabilities.




Thus, full-text search allows developers to perform complex text-based searches and retrieve results based on search terms without using thirty-party software.



Analytics capabilities



Couchbase provides a Spark Connector, making it easier to integrate Couchbase with Spark SQL. This connector allows users to query and analyze data using Spark SQL, perform complex data processing tasks, and build advanced analytics pipelines. This integration streamlines the data workflow and enhances the overall efficiency of data analysis. So it is well-suited for real-time analysis and insights into operational data.



Thus, Couchbase is great for modern, data-intensive apps requiring real-time responses and seamless scalability. Due to this, it is used by organizations across a wide range of industries, including retail, finance, and healthcare. 



What is CouchDB?



CouchDB, short for Couchbase Server, is an open-source document-oriented NoSQL database management system written in Erlang. It stores, transfers, and processes data using multiple formats and protocols. It uses JSON to store the information, JavaScript as its query language using MapReduce, and HTTP for an API. In this database, each document is assigned a unique identifier (_id) and a revision number (_rev) for tracking changes made to the document over time.



Known for its flexibility, scalability, and ease of use, CouchDB is suitable for many apps and use cases. Through its distributed architecture, CouchDB is able to scale horizontally and synchronize information seamlessly across multiple nodes in a cluster. It also uses a RESTful API for data access and manipulation, making it compatible with lots of programming languages and platforms. As a whole, CouchDB provides a versatile solution for modern data storage and management needs.



For a better understanding of what CouchDB is capable of, let’s look at its key features.



Key features of CouchDB



Bi-directional replication



CouchDB was designed to support bi-directional replication (or synchronization) and off-line operations. This means data can be synchronized between multiple database instances in both directions. In other words, changes made to the data in one database are automatically replicated to different databases. It helps companies maintain data consistency and availability, regardless of intermittent connectivity or network disruptions.



Moreover, a built-in conflict resolution mechanism ensures data integrity and consistency when data is modified concurrently on different nodes. As a result of bi-directional replication, enterprises can maximize systems availability, reduce data recovery times, and simplify backup processes.



Views



Views in CouchDB allow users to create custom queries and indexes to retrieve and analyze stored information. They are implemented using the MapReduce paradigm, where data is first mapped to key-value pairs and then reduced to produce a result. Such views can be written in JavaScript and executed directly within CouchDB. By supporting MapReduce views, CouchDB makes data analysis and retrieval more efficient. It makes it easier to extract valuable insights and information from large datasets.



HTTP API



CouchDB uses REST API to access the database from anywhere. It uses the HTTP methods for the four basic CRUD (Create, Read, Update, and Delete) operations on all resources. This simple and effective database connectivity makes CouchDB flexible, fast, and powerful while remaining highly accessible. This RESTful API makes it easier to integrate with mobile and web apps, allowing seamless data exchange and manipulation.



Document-oriented model



CouchDB is a document-oriented database where data is stored as self-contained JSON documents. Each document is identified by a unique ID and contains key-value data pairs. So, this schema-free approach offers developers unparalleled flexibility, enabling them to add, modify, and store data with varied structures and fields within the same database.



Build for offline



One of the prominent features of CoucnDB is its support for offline operation. It means when a device comes back online, CouchDB automatically synchronizes any changes made in the data with other devices during offline operation. In this way, you can rest assured that all copies of the data are kept synchronized and updated. The CouchDB replication protocol set the stage for the emergence of a new generation of "Offline First" apps, which prioritizes seamless functionality even when users are offline.



ACID properties



CouchDB supports ACID properties at the document level, ensuring data integrity and consistency within individual docs. However, it follows an eventual consistency model for distributed data across nodes. While immediate consistency isn’t guaranteed (like in a traditional ACID database), information eventually aligns across all nodes post-write operation. Other specific properties of ACID for CouchDB include:




Atomicity: if a transaction involves multiple operations, either all are successfully executed and committed to the database or none. Individual document updates are not atomic, but they are eventually consistent;



Isolation: CouchDB uses a Multi-Version Concurrency Control (MVCC) model that allows multiple users to read documents concurrently without being locked out or interrupted by other readers;



Durability: committed information is durable and persists even after system failures. CouchDB never partially saves or edits documents.




The following ACID properties make CouchDB suitable for a wide range of mission-critical applications where information accuracy and reliability are critical.



Compatibility



CouchDB is compatible with various platforms, languages, protocols, operating systems (macOS, Windows, or Unix-like systems), and deployment scenarios. Across that, it is compatible with plugins and extensions, which make it easy for developers to extend and customize its functionality per their needs. Due to its broad compatibility, CouchDB can seamlessly integrate into most companies' existing infrastructure and workflows.





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Сouchbase vs CouchDB: key differences



After considering the main capabilities offered by CouchDB vs. Couchbase databases, let’s compare their differences in the whole:



CouchbaseCouchDBReleaseIn 2010In 2005InteractionThrough N1QL, key-values operations, SDKs and APIsThrough HTTP requests, a web interface called Futon, client libraries Data modelSupports flexible data models, including key-value and JSON document modelSupports JSON document modelPerformanceOptimized for high throughput and low latency, suitable for enterprise environmentsReliable performance with a focus on simplicity and ease of useMain featuresAdvanced features like in-memory caching, indexing, and support for various data modelsFocuses on simplicity, data replication, and synchronizationConsistencyMore flexible options of Eventual and Immediate consistency methodsEventual and Immediate сonsistency methodsReplicationOffers built-in data replication and synchronization across nodesFocuses on data replication and offline availabilityIntegrationOffers a wide range of analytics tools and languages Offers various frameworks and tools, but with fewer options than CouchbaseQuery languageSQL++ for JSON (formerly called N1QL)JavaScript using MapReduceIn-memory capabilitiesYesNoLocking mechanismSupports optimistic and pessimistic lockingSupports only optimistic  lockingCachingIntegrated caching layer for performance optimizationNo built-in caching mechanismUse casesSuitable for high-performance, scalable apps requiring real-time data accessSuitable for apps requiring flexible document storage and offline availabilityDeploymentsFor large enterprise deployments with robust infrastructure needsFor small deployments with simple infrastructure needs



Conclusion



When deciding between Couchbase and CouchDB, consider factors like scalability, performance, data modeling, and specific use cases. Couchbase is a good choice for large-scale, distributed apps that require high performance. Originally forked from CouchDB, it has evolved into a complex system with features such as in-memory caching, indexing, and key-value and document-based NoSQL data models.



CouchDB is known for its simplicity, ease of use, and strong support for data replication and synchronization. It is a good choice for apps that require offline access or require decentralized data storage. Thus, CouchDB may be preferred for apps that prioritize data durability, consistency, and replication ease. By weighing the strengths and limitations of Couchbase vs. CouchDB, enterprises can select the optimal solution for their current needs.




 


Expert Opinion



For high-performance and scalable needs, Couchbase stands out. It handles complex queries and real-time analytics with ease, fitting well in large enterprise settings. On the other hand, CouchDB excels in environments requiring robust offline access, thanks to its effective replication and straightforward RESTful API. Essentially, choosing between Couchbase and CouchDB boils down to your specific needs around performance, scalability, and the necessity for offline data access in your application.





Head of Data Science and Machine Learning Department at SoftTeco



Alexander Gedranovich

### What Is Privileged Access Management (PAM)?

Forester predicted that by 2024, 70% of companies will have Privileged Access Management (PAM) practices in place and Gartner stated that by 2024, 50% of organizations will introduce the JustInTime privilege access model that implies elevated access only if it is absolutely necessary.Such focus on privileged access management comes as no surprise. The neglection of privilege access rules can cause companies critical financial and reputational losses in case the security is compromised. So what is PAM, exactly, and why organizations need to make it their top priority?







What is privileged access management?



Privileged access management can be defined as a set of strategies and tools that are used to protect an organization against internal and external cyberthreats via strict control of privileged access and privileged users’ actions. Since privileged users have access to company’s critical resources, it is vital to properly guard their actions and monitor who exactly has privileged access and to what extent.



When answering the “what is privileged access management” question, it is important to first understand what a privilege is. It is an authority that a certain user (account) has within a network. It can also be defined as an elevated right to perform certain functions. 



Privileges are normally built in operating systems, file systems, and applications, and are assigned to users by system administrators. It is critical to carefully select privileged users and their level of access, as misuse of privilege can lead to serious consequences such as critical data losses.



Hence, a privileged account is a user account that permits specific, high-level actions. These actions normally go beyond standard user actions and can impact the system and even its security.



Privileged access management definition: a set of processes and solutions to enhance cybersecurity within an organization through better privileged access management.



Types of privileged accounts



If we talk about non-privileged accounts, there are usually two types: standard user account and guest account. You sure have had experience with them, as you are possibly using one or both of these accounts on a daily basis. An example would be a checkout as a guest on an ecommerce website (guest account) or posting a comment on a website as an authorized user (standard account).



In both these cases, you can interact only with certain applications and certain resources, and a guest account is even more limited in actions than the standard one. As for the privileged accounts, some of their types are:




Local admin account: provides administrative access to local host only;



Domain admin account: provides administrative access to servers / work stations across the whole domain;



Emergency account: provides access to non-privileged users in case of an emergency;



Root account: also known as a superuser account, it allows everything within a system, including changing its configurations, deleting or adding user accounts, etc.



Service account: assist applications in interacting with the OS.




Since the overall PAM strategy is based around the least privilege principle (where users are granted a minimal amount of privileges to minimize security risks), privileged accounts are often used only in case of a necessity and for a short period of time. This helps organizations better control who has access to critical resources and better manage it.



What is PAM and its benefits? 



We’ve mentioned that privilege access management helps minimize the possibility of a cyber threat and helps ensure a high level of security. To be more specific, let’s look at the main benefits of PAM in detail.



Better visibility into privileged accounts 



There is a term “orphan account”, which means a privileged account without an active user. The most common example is an employee who left an organization or shifted to another role - but their privileged account remains active. Normally, companies should deactivate such accounts after a certain period of time, but sometimes, they forget to do so - and “orphan accounts” occur.



This is just one example of lack of visibility into the company’s current resources and privileges. The introduction of PAM helps an organization gain better visibility into its privileged accounts and their statuses and, as a result, take needed measures to secure them.



Reduced number of over-privileged accounts



An employee’s role within an organization is not static and can change over time, requiring more privileges for uninterrupted work. However, if there are too many users with an excessive number of privileges or if they use their privileged accounts for personal use, it greatly increases the potential attack surface. PAM helps track and monitor all privileged accounts and helps determine whether the granted privileges are really needed and whether the user overuses them.



Reduced number of shared accounts and credentials



Privileged accounts are often shared within an organization in order to maintain a seamless workflow and to quickly grant access to needed resources. However, if there are too many people sharing the same privileged account, it becomes nearly impossible to determine who exactly performed a malicious action or who compromised the privileged access management security. PAM resolves this issue by limiting the number of privileged accounts, automating their monitoring, and ensuring the credentials are not reused multiple times.



Reduced entrance for threat actors and minimized damage



Privileged access management helps limit and control the number of privileged accounts and monitor their use. In this way, organizations significantly reduce the attack surface and prevent entrance for potential malicious actors. And if the breach already happened, PAM helps minimize its negative impact by limiting its reach within the system.



Privilege threat vectors to know about



After discussing the “what is PAM in cyber security?” question, let’s look at the main attack vectors. When talking about security breaches and malicious attacks, the main types of attacks that most people immediately think of are external and internal. But what exactly is meant by them and are there any other threat vectors to consider, especially in the light of privileged access? Let’s take a look.



External threats



External threats are quite simple to understand: these are the ones coming from outside your organization. But what do they have to do with privileged access?



Attackers usually manipulate privileged users into providing information that would allow threat agents to access the system or internal resources. The most common forms of manipulation in this case are phishing and spoofed websites. As a result, the attacker is inside the system and has privileged access to critical resources - how bad does it sound?



How to manage and prevent: log in incoming requests, keep privileged credentials in an encrypted vault, implement role-based access control.



Internal threats



As an opposite to external threats, internal threats are the ones coming from inside your organization, most often from employees. Note though that many internal threats are not intentional and may occur due to various reasons, including orphan accounts or misuse of privileged credentials. However, you should not overlook the significance and damage that an intentional internal attack may cause. If an employee is seeking personal gain and has privileged access to critical resources, the damage caused by such user can be tremendous. 



How to manage and prevent: constantly monitor the activity of privileged users, implement privileged access management solutions for detecting user behavior anomalies, use threat analytics, limit privileged access.



Third parties 



Third parties, such as your company’s vendors, partners, or consultants, extend your business network and can pose a serious threat to the security of your organization. They normally have a certain amount of access to your system in order to facilitate workflows, share information, or enable collaboration. But in this case, third parties can be the same threat as external attackers, as they are located outside your organization but have access to internal resources.



How to manage and prevent: conduct regular review of privileges, introduce zero trust model, update privileged rights and access.



Forgotten and excessive privileges



Last but not least are privileges that were either forgotten or were granted in an excessive amount.  Examples include existing privileged access for an employee who left the company, or granting more privileges than necessary to a specific employee. Lack of privilege monitoring, especially in these cases, can lead to serious consequences as employees may intentionally perform a malicious action.



How to manage and prevent: implement a privileged access management solution, monitor user actions, review existing privileges.



Privilege access management best practices: an overview 



Now that we know what benefits PAM brings and how it helps protect an organization against potential threats, it’s time to discuss privilege access management best practices. Note though that the processes listed below can be tailored to your specific organization, since every company has a different approach to cybersecurity.



Review your assets and consolidate privileged accounts



The first step towards more secure environment and PAM (privileged access management) implementation is similar to inventory review: you take a look at your existing privileged accounts and bring them together in a central and secure vault. This step is aimed at identifying orphan accounts, excessive privileges, and similar issues, and at ensuring that all privileged accounts are stored together in a secure place. Note that access to the vault should be restricted and most preferably, in a time-sensitive manner.



Apply the least privilege and zero trust policies



Though these two policies often get confused, they are different and both are crucial for your cybersecurity. Zero trust implies the “never trust, always verify” strategy and aims to verify every access request. The main focus of the least privilege approach is to minimize and limit access, so a user can perform only those actions that are needed for the current task. 



Examples of implementing the least privilege include:




Defaulting all users with standard access



Reducing every user to a standard user



Eliminating excessive privileges



Limiting privileged account membership



Reducing the number of rights for privileged accounts




Segment your networks and/or systems



Some system within an organization require a higher level of security than others, and they also require different user roles to work with them. To protect such systems and networks, separate and segment them, so you can apply suitable security measures and better manage user access. 



Do not overlook password security



Password security is one of the biggest pain points in cybersecurity, and it is especially critical for PAM. To ensure that your passwords are protected, you can implement the following practices:




Centralize management of all credentials, especially privileged ones;



Enforce strong password generation parameters;



Perform regular changes of privileged passwords;



Implement unique credentials for every account and eliminate password sharing;



Eliminate hard-coded credentials.




Consistently monitor privileged activity



We’ve mentioned it, but nevertheless:  monitoring of privileged accounts and their activity remains a very important factor in the overall PAM strategy. By adding transparency and automation to the process, organizations can faster and more effectively identify whether any malicious action takes place and can quickly resolve the issue before it causes too much harm.



Summing up



After answering the “what is PAM?” question, we hope the process and its implementation became clearer to you. Privileged access management system is an integral part of one’s cybersecurity strategy and helps companies retain their reputation and avoid major financial losses, related to security breaches.

### Release Management Best Practices

The world of software development is incredibly fast-paced, and companies continuously tailor their software to the fluctuating needs and expectations of the market. Software updates are delivered in the form of releases - which, in turn, have to be managed properly.



Below, we explain the meaning behind this process and describe release management best practices that help companies remain productive and efficient.







What does release management mean?



Before jumping to release engineering best practices, let’s first define release management. It is a process of managing the development and deployment of software releases and brining them from the development to the production environment. Though being a relatively new discipline, this process is rapidly gaining traction among companies that want to add efficiency, speed and organization to heir releases.



The main benefits of release management 



We’ve mentioned that release management is a relatively new discipline - but it brings businesses several tangible benefits:




High velocity and consistency: a well-structured and automated release management process allows companies to produce releases much faster and with increased productivity. This, in turn, results in greater consistency and has a positive impact on user experience



Improved security and quality: regular updates and releases of new product versions contribute to more stable and well-protected software. Second, deployment automation leaves less room for a human error.



Increased ROI: the process significantly reduces the number of touchpoints for a project and automates testing, which leads to minimized number of bugs and errors. By being able to fix or mitigate issues in the beginning, companies greatly reduce their operating costs and are able to increase the return on investment.



Reliability of the environment: automation and streamlined processes eliminate the mess and confusion from your dev pipeline and help create a more reliable and predictable environment. 




5 stages of release management



Proper release management follows its own lifecycle and entails 5 core stages that every organization needs to follow. 



Planning



The first stage is planning and it starts with recognizing the need for a release. During this stage, stakeholders and the development team discuss the value of the upcoming release for end users and what exact features it will have. Examples of activities involved in this stage include:




A kickoff meeting to discuss the main objective of the project and its success metrics



Creation of a project summary report and its discussion



Definition of tasks to be performed



Creation of the release schedule




The main goal here is to approve the release with stakeholders and map its development. Once everything is discussed and the tasks are defined, you can move on to the next stage.



Building



During this stage, you develop the software according to the predefined requirements. Usually, testing happens in parallel with the development to minimize the possibility of an error and to catch any glitches or bugs at early stages. In addition to development, the team also creates and maintains detailed documentation, placing special focus on software risks and using a risk register to manage them.



Testing



Though testing activities already started during the building process, there is a separate stage for testing since it’s highly important for the product. Testing helps ensure that the software performs and looks as intended and fully aligns with the requirements.



For that, testers start and end UAT (user acceptance testing), detect and eliminate bugs, and perform regression testing. With all these activities combined, the team ensures high quality and security of the product and its seamless performance.



Deployment



Some organizations have a separate release preparing stage, during which they perform final testing activities. But it’s more common to either conduct them during the testing stage or in the beginning of deployment.



Once the software is thoroughly tested, the team starts transferring it to the live environment. After that, testers once again test how the software performs in real-life conditions, analyze set KPIs, and employ needed continuous integrations. 



Release management best practices



Finally, it’s time to discuss software release management best practices that you might want to implement in your organization. Though each company is unique and has a different approach to release management, these practices serve as a base and will help you build a solid strategy.



Define acceptance criteria



When you roll out a release, you want to measure and track its success and performance, with an aim to understand whether it corresponds to business goals and user expectations. For that, you need to establish clear metrics or KPIs that you will use as a baseline. Note that wrong KPIs will lead to false assumptions, so make sure to discuss them beforehand with all stakeholders.



Plan a schedule



You cannot roll out a release the moment it’s ready for deployment because it needs to fit into your company’s overall marketing strategy. Hence, plan a release schedule well in advance, taking into account all factors that might impact user experience and your business. Also, a well-defined deadline will help your team plan the overall development processes and allocate the tasks properly.



Implement version control



A release is basically an updated version of your product. In order to maintain visibility and to effectively track all changes and all product versions, it’s highly recommended to implement version control. Also, you might consider adopting merging and branching methods to enable easy parallel development and make the process more effective and swift.



Use automation



Release management includes a complex set of processes and can consume a lot of time and resources. As well, manual performance of certain processes leaves room for a human error, which in turn, might have a huge impact on software security. To speed up and facilitate the process of rolling out releases, deploy automation tools for repetitive and mundane tasks.



Consider dark launch



Another release management best practice is dark launch. Dark launch is a strategy when a development team rolls out a release to a subset of users, not to a full user group. This approach helps the team quickly react to feedback, fix the product before its full release, and gradually scale up.



Focus on risk management



Risk management is an essential part of any software development process and is relevant for release management, too. When starting the development of the upcoming release, invest some time into planing your risk management strategy. This includes definition and assessment of possible risks and ways of their mitigation and/or prevention. Among other enterprise release management best practices, this might be the one that often gets overlooked - but is actually very important.



Summary



Release management is a must for any software development company that strives for a high level of quality and consistency. Same as development of new software, release development and deployment should follow a well-organized sequence of steps, aimed at ensuring flawless quality and security of the new product version. For that, a company needs to implement release management best practices to ensure that the process is well-organized and will benefit the company in the long run.

### Understanding the Nuances: Retesting and Regression Testing

Among the various testing methodologies, retesting and regression testing are two essential techniques that serve distinct purposes in ensuring the reliability of software products. In this article, we will examine the differences between retesting and regression testing to understand their unique roles in the software testing process.







What is regression testing?





In simple terms, regression testing is like double-checking your favorite recipe each time you tweak an ingredient. When you make changes or additions to your cooking method, you want to ensure that the dish still tastes as delicious as before. Similarly, regression testing in software involves retesting the entire application to ensure that recent changes or updates haven't unintentionally "spoiled" any existing features, ensuring the software still works as expected. It's a way to catch and fix any unexpected issues that might pop up after making modifications to the code.



This type of testing is usually performed:





As software evolves with updates, bug fixes, or new features, regression testing acts as a quality assurance mechanism, providing confidence that the software remains stable and functions as intended throughout its lifecycle.



Regression testing is essential for several reasons:





What is retesting?





The development team typically performs retesting after making the necessary changes to address the reported defects. It is crucial to conduct retesting promptly to validate the fixes' effectiveness and prevent any delay in the software delivery process. 



For example, imagine you have a digital note-taking app; some users reported a problem where they couldn't save their notes. In the initial testing, the testing team found the issue and reported it. The developers then looked at the app's code and fixed the problem. In the retesting phase, testers focus specifically on the saving functionality. They perform various tests, like creating new notes, editing existing ones, and saving them to make sure the reported issue is resolved. The goal is to ensure that users can save their notes without any problems after the fix. This process of retesting helps guarantee that the specific problem users face is fixed, contributing to the reliability of the note-taking app for all users.



The key difference between retesting and regression testing



While retesting and regression testing are both important, they have different purposes, scopes, focuses, and priorities. Let's take a closer look at the key differences between retesting and regression testing to understand the two processes better:



Focus



As mentioned, retesting focuses on verifying that specific defects identified in earlier test cycles have been fixed correctly. It involves executing test cases related to the fixed bugs to ensure their satisfactory resolution. On the other hand, regression testing focuses on ensuring that new code changes have not adversely impacted existing functionalities. It involves running test cases beyond the fixed defects to check for unintended side effects.



Scope



Retesting has a narrower scope compared to regression testing. It typically covers test cases related to specific defects or areas of the software that have undergone modifications. Regression testing has a broader scope as it involves running a comprehensive set of test cases across the application to detect any unforeseen issues resulting from recent code changes.



Timing



Regression testing is conducted throughout the software development lifecycle, with iterations after each code change to verify that the application remains stable and functions correctly. On the other hand, testers typically perform retesting after fixing reported defects and before releasing the software. It occurs in the later stages of testing to confirm bug resolutions.  



Test Cases



Retesting focuses on executing a subset of test cases that are related to the fixed bugs. It aims to validate the specific scenarios that previously failed. In contrast, regression testing involves running a more extensive set of test cases that cover both modified and unaffected areas of the software to ensure overall system functionality.



Priority



The priority of retesting is higher than regression testing since it directly impacts the resolution of reported defects. Once a bug is fixed, retesting ensures that it has been effectively addressed before moving forward. Regression testing, while essential, may have a lower immediate priority as it aims to prevent future issues and maintain overall software quality.



Execution time



Retesting is usually quicker and less time-consuming compared to regression testing. Since retesting focuses on verifying specific defects that have been fixed, it allows for more efficient use of time and resources, as testers can concentrate on validating the specific areas of concern. 



Regression testing is more comprehensive and time-intensive. It involves running a full suite of test cases, including both new and existing tests, to ensure the stability of the software across multiple iterations. Due to its broad scope, regression testing can be lengthy, especially in complex software systems where changes can have far-reaching implications.



Automation



Automation plays a significant role in both regression testing and retesting processes. Automated testing tools can expedite the execution of test cases, improve test coverage, and enhance the overall efficiency of the testing cycle.



However, it may be more suitable to conduct retesting manually. It is especially true when the test case involves subjective judgment, exploration of multiple scenarios, or validation of changes in the user interface. Furthermore, setting up automated testing can require significant effort, which may not be justified for small or infrequent tests.



Regression testing, on the other hand, is a process that checks if any new changes made to the software create new issues. It involves running a large set of test cases. Automating these tests saves time and resources, as they can be repeated without manual effort. It also helps get quicker feedback on the impact of changes, making it easier to make decisions during development.




 


Expert Opinion



Regression testing and retesting are two essential concepts that testers encounter almost every day. Despite their similar names, it's crucial to understand that they are distinct types of testing, and one cannot be substituted for the other. Retesting involves verifying the correction of specific errors, ensuring their successful resolution. In contrast, regression testing ensures that recent code changes have not adversely affected existing functional capabilities. While retesting focuses on addressing specific issues, regression testing guarantees the system's overall stability after modifications. Together, these methodologies contribute to comprehensive software quality assurance, addressing both targeted error correction and broader system integrity. 





QA Engineer at SoftTeco



Svetlana Khaduskina






 




Retesting vs. regression testing: a comprehensive comparison



Here's a comprehensive comparison table between regression testing and retesting.



AspectRegression testingRetestingPurposeEnsures overall software stability post changes or updates.Validates the resolution of specific known defects.ScopeEncompasses a broad range of functionalities beyond changes.Limited to areas associated with resolved defects.TimingConducted whenever changes occur, regardless of defect status.Performed post-resolution of specific defects.FocusTakes a holistic view, checking for unintended consequences.Targets specific defects and verifies their fixes.Test casesRequires a comprehensive suite covering various functionalities.Involves using the same test cases that were used for reporting the defect.Execution timeMay take longer as it covers a broader range of functionalities.Typically quicker due to a narrower focus.PriorityCan be done in parallel with retesting, overall has a lower priority.Has a higher priority.AutomationCan be fully automated.Better done manually.



Conclusion



While retesting and regression testing share similarities in re-executing test cases, they serve distinct purposes in the software testing process. Both approaches are essential for ensuring software applications' quality, reliability, and functionality. Therefore, understanding their differences is important for effective test planning and execution. 

### Construction Technology: Trends to Watch Out for Now and Beyond

Being one of the most labor-intensive industries, construction faces long-standing challenges related to safety, cost overrun, delays, and labor shortage. But the usage of advanced technology allowed construction to solve most of them as effectively as possible. Now ConTech has changed the way how building projects are planned, built, and managed, bringing their owners limitless benefits. Whatever your needs are - reduce rework, boost productivity, or ensure safety of workers - construction tech covers them all.



As construction technology is growing and its options expand, choosing between the available technologies becomes a non-obvious choice for businesses. In this article, we will walk you through the main future trends of construction technology, its benefits and tangible use cases.











What is construction technology?



Construction technology, also known as ConTech, refers to the set of cutting-edge tools, machinery, modifications, software, and other resources used during various phases of a construction project. It includes semi-automated and automated construction equipment and various technologies, like Building Information Modeling (BIM), AI, 3D printing, sensor-based solutions, etc. Note though that these tools are not intended to replace skilled construction workers. Rather, they are intended to simplify the most complex, routine and dangerous aspects of construction work. A construction technology serves a specific purpose in the planning, design, and management of a construction project.



By integrating these tools into business processes, construction companies are able to address the challenges they face and improve overall construction operations. There are more reasons why the construction domain is thriving today. To better understand why, let's look at what ConTech provides businesses with.



Benefits of new construction technology



According to Statista, the construction technology market is expected to double from $6.4 trillion (2022) to $14.4 trillion (2030). This remarkable growth reflects the increasing integration of technology within the sector. Here are some of the most important benefits of new construction technologies that back up these numbers:




Increased productivity: advanced technologies, like AI and ML, help workers automate and streamline many processes, which means they can accomplish tasks more quickly and accurately, resulting in higher productivity; 



Improved safety: intelligent safety equipment, IoT sensors, wearable devices, and monitoring systems create safer working conditions, reducing the risk of accidents and injuries to workers;



Optimized workforce: by using drones, robots, or autonomous heavy equipment, construction companies can reduce manual labor and automate repetitive tasks;



Better collaboration: collaboration apps facilitate better and faster teamwork, ensuring that data reaches all stakeholders, and a project runs smoothly;



Cost savings: by optimizing resource utilization, minimizing waste, and improving project planning and management, ConTech helps lower overall project costs;



Sustainability: ConTech promotes sustainable building practices by using energy-efficient systems and innovative construction technologies, thus minimizing environmental impact and improving long-term sustainability;



Quality control: a Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology enables detailed visualization and simulation of construction projects, enabling early detection of design flaws and errors, resulting in higher-quality structures.




The latest technology trends in construction



Let's take a look at examples of construction technology trends that will drive the industry transformation in 2024 and further:



Digital Twinning



The digital twinning is an innovative technology that helps with operations management. As the name suggests, a digital twin is a virtual model or replica of a construction project or a physical asset. It combines real-time data from sensors and smart devices and uses it to create detailed 3D models (often derived from BIM). These 3D models allow construction teams to interact virtually with the physical property during the design and planning stages of a building’s life.



Digital twins facilitate building modeling and analysis, letting designers observe and analyze how it's performing at the moment. Engineers can test scenarios, assess structural integrity, predict maintenance needs and optimize energy consumption - all virtually. This helps stakeholders make smart decisions to improve the performance and save energy throughout its entire lifespan. This technology can be confused with the seemingly identical Building Information Modeling (BIM).  But they are quite different.







Building Information Modeling (BIM) 



Building Information Model (BIM) is a 3D digital model of a building or a project, including data about materials, dimensions, costs, and schedules. BIM is used to create and manage information for a built asset before and during the construction process. It describes how a place or system works after it has been built. Unlike digital twin, it does not provide real-time monitoring. Instead, BIM relies on data provided by designers, architects, and engineers, such as what material it is made of, how big it is, how much it costs, and when it will be completed.



In other words, BIM helps engineers plan, design, and construct a structure or building within one 3D model. This helps stakeholders make better decisions during the whole project, detect clashes early on, and estimate and schedule costs more accurately. To sum up, BIM helps in planning and constructing, while digital twinning offers real-time updates and a comprehensive view of an asset. Also, digital twinning relies on BIM data but goes beyond that. 



According to MarketsandMarkets, BIM market value is expected to grow from $5.4 billion in 2020 to $10.7 billion by 2026. It means in 2024 and beyond, the demand for the latest technologies like BIM will only increase.







Drones



In the nearest future, we will see more sophisticated AI-based drones. Drones can be used to inspect job sites for possible hazards, such as unsafe working conditions or unstable structures. They help companies resolve dangerous problems before they occur, thereby ensuring employee safety.



With high-resolution cameras and sensors, drones can capture aerial images and topographic data accurately and are less expensive than a ground crew. In this way, they allow companies to gain valuable insights for planning, designing, and managing a construction project. Drones can also gather environmental data, like temperature and air quality, for a well-planned construction process as well.



Robotics and automation



As robotics is a booming technology in the construction industry, it won’t come as a surprise to see robots at your workplace soon. Isn't that right, Elon Mask? Robotics and machinery can automate repetitive, labor-intensive, or hazardous tasks and they help companies cope with a lack of skilled workers. Robots do not tire, do not make costly mistakes requiring rework, and work faster. By doing work with or instead of humans, robots can reduce the timeline of construction projects with accuracy and improve workers' productivity and safety.



Also, robots can perform precise measurements and cuts during construction to ensure high-quality and accurate results. Here are a few types of robots that can be used:




Industrial robots: large and stationary robots designed to automate intensive manufacturing tasks; their positions are fixed, and all other tasks are focused around them;



Collaborative robots: robots designed to carry out tasks in collaboration with workers;



Robotic exoskeletons: exoskeletons increase the strength and endurance of workers, reduce fatigue, and prevent injuries, allowing them to work more safely and efficiently;



Robotic arms: mechanical arms can be programmed to perform multiple tasks, like demolition, concrete pouring, and assembly, thus increasing speed and accuracy of work.




We're going to see more robotics applications in the construction domain in the future. Even though the implementation of robots can be costly, they will save the company a lot of finances in the long run.







Autonomous heavy equipment



Autonomous heavy equipment refers to machinery and vehicles used in construction that operate without direct human control. These machines leverage technology, such as sensors, AI, GPS, and automation, to navigate construction sites and conduct site work. The machines can also be used for grading, excavation, material transportation, road construction, drilling, and many other tasks. Here are a few examples of autonomous heavy equipment:




Excavators: autonomous excavators can perform tasks without direct human control, thus enhancing precision and reducing the risk of accidents;



Dozers: earth-moving machines designed to push earth or rocks and to improve efficiency on construction sites;



Robotic Bricklayers: these automated machines lay bricks accurately and quickly, streamlining the construction process.




This machinery allows companies to accomplish the same work as before but with fewer workers. This, in turn, helps reduce labor costs and operate continuously without breaks and delays.



3D printing



3D printing technology offers a more sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective alternative construction method. The technology allows for the creation of a 3D model or components of a building using a layer-by-layer approach. It is, therefore, suitable for creating complex architectural designs and geometric shapes. This layer-by-layer approach allows for precise control over the shape, size, and properties of the printed object.



3D printing can also be used to create building materials. As a result, 3D printing reduces construction costs, speeds up construction, and allows for complex and customized designs. Beyond that, materials can be printed off-site (walls, columns) and transported directly to the construction site. The process reduces the need for on-site assembly and speeds up construction as well.







Artificial Intelligence 



AI and ML find numerous applications in construction projects as they provide meaningful insights from Big data. ML algorithms can analyze historical data, trends, and changes in the construction market to estimate project budgets more accurately. Also, AI-powered systems can identify potential risks and unsafe behaviors on construction sites with data from sensors, cameras, and wearables. By alerting workers and supervisors in real-time, AI helps prevent accidents and maintain worker’s safety.  



ML models can predict when construction machinery requires maintenance. By doing so, companies can prevent unexpected breakdowns and cut repair costs. In tandem with robots, AI helps to monitor site progress in real time. AI-powered systems and drones equipped with high-definition cameras photograph and scan the construction site daily. Then, they compare results against BIM models, 3D models, schedules, and estimates to determine how much progress has been made. Hence, AI brings to construction projects increased accuracy, speed, workflows, cost management, and a high level of workers' safety.



Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)



Companies use Virtual Reality training to simulate harsh, dangerous working conditions for employees. It helps companies minimize accidents and injuries among workers. Aside from that, VR is often combined with BIM to create an immersive experience for exploring complex buildings. In other words, BIM specialists create a 3D model of a building so customers can walk through and interact with it virtually. This allows stakeholders to see the finished project in advance and find potential flaws, eliminating changes during construction in the future.



In construction, VR and AR technologies are often used together to provide immersive simulations of buildings and structures. While some companies utilize VR headsets for more in-depth construction planning, AR allows users to overlay digital models on physical spaces, showing how the process will look when finished. The combination of AR and VR allows specialists to visualize and implement changes in real-time, making project planning more accurate.



Wearables



Wearable devices have become a buzzword technology, making construction more secure, efficient, and ultimately more satisfying for workers. Wearable tech is being incorporated into clothing and personal protective equipment (PPE) already used on construction sites. The technology uses biometric sensors, GPS trackers, Wi-Fi, a Global Positioning System (GPS), and other sensors to collect needed data about either workers or their surroundings. Using this technology, managers can monitor employees' health status, productivity, and location, which may pose a safety risk.



Moreover, wearable tech can monitor vital employee metrics like heart rate, body temperature, fatigue levels, and exposure to hazardous substances or environments. By analyzing collected data, supervisors can identify potential health and safety risks and implement preventive measures. Also, wearables can determine if workers are tired, intoxicated, or under the influence of drugs. It is possible to predict work-related accidents before they occur and make sure employee well-being during work.



As you can see, there are a variety of emerging technologies in construction today. But how do you choose between them?



Bonus: how to select the most suitable construction technology 



More and more construction companies, such as Buildots, Akselos, and Build Robotics, are turning towards technology to streamline their operations. However, the selection of the right fit for business needs requires a strategic approach. To help you make your decision-making about ConTech easier, here are some of the main points to consider:




Objective: identify the key challenges and setbacks that your construction company faces. By doing so, you'll be able to determine its primary purpose.



Features: consider what would address and improve gaps in your current processes. Thus, you will be able to decide on functionality for your upcoming construction project for current and future needs.



Cost and ROI: assess the overall cost of implementing a tech solution and evaluate the potential return on investment (ROI). Weigh the upfront cost against long-term benefits.



Product usability: determine whether a tech solution is easy for employees to learn and use.



Product support options: make sure the vendor offers comprehensive support and assistance services, such as training, troubleshooting, and ongoing customer service.



Security measures: ask vendors about security options, technical support, and updates to ensure that your data remains protected.



Compatibility: ensure technology will integrate seamlessly with your existing infrastructure. While some tools (like drones) may stand alone, others - such as software - must work seamlessly with other departments' systems.




The choice of construction technology is not just about features - it is about aligning them with a business's unique requirements. Keep in mind, regardless of the construction tech solution you choose, it should solve problems, not create them. 



Final Thoughts



In the future, the new technologies in construction are likely to become more widespread. And while some of these technologies are still in their infancy, they already show great promise for the future. Keep in mind that it is not enough to invest in the latest construction technology trends; to take real advantage of them, it is essential to choose the right ones and adopt and leverage them strategically. Whether you need a consultation about new technology, update or modify to the previous one, SoftTeco's specialists will do it all within your budget and time. As time goes on, for a company to maintain its competitiveness and grow, construction technology will become an integral part of its arsenal.

### What Is Chaos Engineering? Explaining How to Break Your System on Purpose

Distributed software systems and cloud applications are more prone to failures due to their complexity and interdependence of components. And while companies do their best to make their systems resilient, sometimes these factors are unexpected and out of your control, so you can’t really predict them. What do you do in this case?



Chaos engineering strives to resolve this issue and helps companies prepare for the unexpected. In this article, we answer the “what is chaos engineering” question and explain how controlled chaos can benefit your company.







Chaos engineering: definition



If we address Wikipedia, it defines chaos engineering as a discipline aimed at testing the system’s resilience by deliberately injecting failures into it. In other words, you intentionally break the system, observe how it behaves, and analyze what exactly causes the outage and why.



Chaos engineering can be compared to a flu shot: you introduce a harmful foreign body to your system so it becomes immune to it later on. Same with chaos engineering - you introduce a failure to make the system more resilient to similar events in the future.



In addition to making the system more stable, chaos engineering also helps train your team for potential emergencies and helps build its muscle memory in terms of responding to an emergency. Needless to say, an immediate reaction to a threat and its prompt resolution can save you from massive financial losses, caused by the system’s outage.



How does chaos engineering differ from testing?



Some may confuse chaos engineering with stress testing or fault injection, since both approaches aim to test the system’s limits and see how it behaves under stress. However, they are not the same.



Testing, in general, aims to: 




Verify if the system works as expected; 



Test one condition at a time.  




On the other hand, chaos engineering studies issues that have a near-infinite number of possible causes and does not aim to test a specific condition. Instead, chaos engineering is more about letting things loose and then examining what exactly happened and why. It therefore covers a much broader area and generates new knowledge, since chaos engineering principles are based on experimenting.



A brief history of chaos engineering



Chaos engineering dates back to 2010, when businesses started widely adopting distributed systems and shifting their operations to the cloud. The pioneer of chaos engineering is Netflix, that once suffered a three-day database corruption and then decided to move to a distributed cloud architecture. And while this decision positively affected the overall business operations, it brought Netflix new challenges regarding the complexity of the system and its interdependence. 



Netflix knew that their systems had to be more reliable and resilient and for that, the company had to test how the system would behave in abnormal conditions. This is how Chaos Monkey was designed. It is a tool that intentionally and absolutely randomly terminates VM instances or containers in a production environment. In simple words, it simulates the behavior of a monkey, let loose in a server room. You never know what instance will be terminated - and that’s exactly what Netflix engineers strived for. The main purpose of Chaos Monkey is to emulate real-world emergencies and to understand how you can make your system more resilient. 



For Netflix, the ultimate goal was to ensure that the termination of the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instance won’t have a negative impact on the overall service experience. As a result, Chaos Monkey achieved huge success and soon, many similar tools (like Gremlin chaos engineering software) appeared. Meanwhile, Netflix developed a set of additional tools called The Simian Army to inject more complex failures to the system beyond the loss of a VM instance or a container. This tool set helped Netflix implement further improvements and significantly reduce the number of outages. 



Which companies need chaos engineering?



Chaos engineering is highly beneficial, but it is not suitable for all organizations. Hence, before discussing the main benefits, let’s first look at the companies that might want to consider chaos engineering adoption:




Organizations that have high observability, digital maturity, and high resilience: such organizations have enough skills and resources to promptly and effectively perform chaos engineering experiments.



Organizations that operate in the cloud: cloud brings an additional layer of complexity, such as required coordination with the cloud provider and hence, chaos engineering can help facilitate it.



Organizations that use microservices and distributed systems: the complexity and interdependence of such systems cause additional risks in case of an emergency, since the failure of one instance can bring down the whole system.




Chaos engineering is most commonly used in fast-paced and large organizations with complex distributed systems. For them, chaos engineering serves as an effective method of increasing the resilience and stability of the system while continuously delivering stellar customer service.



Biggest benefits of chaos engineering



In general, chaos engineering helps improve reliability and resilience of a system while helping your team prepare for emergencies in advance. But if we drill down to other benefits, we can define the following:




Better availability and durability of services for customers;



Reduced financial losses due to preventative maintenance and downtime budget planning;



Improved on-call training for the teams;



Reduced number of incidents and failures due to thorough inspection of the system during testing.




As you can see, chaos engineering allows companies to become proactive rather than reactive in terms of emergencies and failures. Such approach leads to a significant reduction in financial losses as well as in the number of problems during an unexpected event.



Chaos engineering principles: how does it work?



Despite its name, chaos engineering follows a structured, step-by-step approach:




Create a hypothesis. The first step is setting the baseline and defining how a system should behave (in your opinion) in case of an emergency. In other words, you consider a potential failure and theorize about its effects on the system. An example would be something like, “if A occurs, B will happen”. 





Define the blast radius and conduct a small test. In chaos engineering, a blast radius is a number of resources targeted in your experiment. It is a common practice to start with the smallest blast radius and expand it, if the issue is not found.





Measure the impact of failure. After conducting the experiment from step 2, measure the impact of injected failure and continue, if needed. By using the obtained results, measure them against the hypothesis and determine how to fix the issues, if they happened.




The eight fallacies of distributed computing



If you don’t know where to start with chaos engineering, you can always use the eight fallacies of distributed computing, developed by L. Peter Deutsch and colleagues at Sun Microsystems:




Network is reliable;



Latency is zero;



Bandwidth is infinite;



Network is secure;



There is always one admin;



Topology doesn’t change;



Transport cost is zero;



Network is homogenous.




These fallacies are the wrong assumptions that developers tend to make about their systems, and they point out the main areas to be tested.



Chaos engineering examples



To better understand the process, let’s look at some chaos engineering examples that a chaos engineer may perform:




A failure of a micro component;



A sudden increase in traffic and a high CPU load;



Injection of latency failures;



Failure of the entire Availability Zone;



Host failure.




As you can see, all these examples mirror emergencies that companies face on a regular basis and should prepare for.



Chaos engineering best practices



There is a list of chaos engineering best practices that are applicable to every company and perfectly fit their experimenting strategy. You can use them as a baseline and as a check-list to make sure that all important aspects of the process are considered.



Know your system



You first need to understand your whole system, including its architecture, topology, steady-state behavior, and characteristics like latency or availability, for chaos engineering to be successful. When planning the experiments, you will base the hypothesis on this knowledge, since an incorrect assumption about the system can lead to wrong results.



Define steady-state behavior



You need to know how your system behaves during the uptime and what is expected from it in normal, uninterrupted conditions. For that, you can use monitoring and tracking tools to help you collect the data. These findings will later be compared against the results of chaos engineering tests and can be used as a benchmark.



Define real-world failure scenarios



Chaos engineering is not about extraordinary emergencies - on the contrary, it mimics real-world failure scenarios that your system may encounter. Thus, for accurate testing, you need to list potential real-world scenarios like power issues or traffic overload to use in your experiments. 



Conduct experiments in the production environment



We’ve already mentioned it, but let’s repeat one more time: perform your chaos experiments in the production environment for the most accurate results. Since chaos engineering strives to simulate real-world scenarios and emergencies, the production environment is most suitable for these tests. Also, the duplication of your production environment would be too costly and cumbersome, which is another reason why chaos experiments are carried out in real-world conditions.



Restrict the blast radius



Since chaos engineering tests are run in a production environment, the results can be quite disruptive, and nobody wants the whole system to go down. Hence, you always have to start with a narrow blast radius and expand it gradually, if the needed results are not achieved.  Remember: ideally, no system users should even be aware of chaos experiments taking place. Therefore, you need a high redundancy to back up the system in case of an issue, caused by experiments. 



Summing up



After answering the “what is chaos engineering?” question, we now understand that it is a highly effective method to identify vulnerabilities in a complex system and understand what causes them and how they can be avoided or eliminated. However, chaos engineering is not suitable for all organizations, so before considering it, first assess your current system and compare the pros and cons of introducing chaos experiments to it.

### Kibana vs. Grafana: An In-depth Comparison 

When it comes to logs analysis and metric visualization, Kibana and Grafana stand out as two prominent platforms, each offering powerful capabilities for companies of all sizes and needs. They help explore, analyze and visualize data in various ways and create customized and intuitive dashboards with all necessary integrations. Due to this, companies get the most out of their data by monitoring system performance, detecting anomalies, and troubleshooting upcoming issues quickly and efficiently. 



While the two platforms share a lot in common, they also have some differences. In this article, we delve into an in-depth comparison of Kibana vs. Grafana, and explore their strengths, weaknesses, and use cases to determine which is a better solution for your company.



What is Kibana?



Kibana is an open-source data visualization and analysis platform. It is part of the ELK stack consisting of three tools that work together: Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana. Kibana enables users to dynamically explore, visualize, and analyze vast amounts of log data collected by Logstash and stored in Elasticsearch. Users can perform advanced data analysis, create custom visualizations, and share insights with others easily via Kibana.



One of the main features of Kibana is its ability to display log data in various visual formats, including charts, tables, maps, and graphs. This makes it a powerful tool for monitoring system performance, troubleshooting issues, and identifying root causes. Initially developed in 2013, Kibana evolved to be the frontend interface for log management, but now its capabilities go beyond log visualization: 



Here are some of the main features of Kibana: 




Visualization: users can visualize information in different formats, such as vertical bar charts, horizontal bar charts, pie charts, line graphs, etc.;



Dashboards: users can create dynamic, adaptable, and customized dashboards and share them with other team members;



Geospatial data: Kibana provides support for geospatial data and allows users to visualize their information on maps;



Data export: Kibana allows users to export their visualizations and dashboards in various formats such as PDF, PNG, CSV, and more;



Plugins: allows users to install plugins to add custom visualizations and other enhancements, for example, plugins for 3D charts;



Search and query capabilities: allows users to retrieve, filter, and aggregate data stored in Elasticsearch efficiently with intuitive free-text and field-based searches and KQL as its default query language;



Analysis and data exploration: this feature enables ad-hoc analysis and the creation of custom views to gain deeper insights into the data to uncover trends, patterns, and anomalies.




Overall, Kibana is a versatile tool for various use cases. It provides a user-friendly interface for log and event data analysis and monitoring in domains such as IT infrastructure, security analytics, business intelligence, and more. Organizations can benefit from its flexibility, scalability, and extensive range of features, which are often compared with its main competitor - Grafana.







What is Grafana?



Grafana is also an open-source observability platform that allows users to visualize metrics, logs, and traces from diverse systems, regardless of their storage location. Unlike Kibana, which primarily focuses on log and event data analysis within the ELK stack, Grafana sets its sights on enhancing monitoring metrics. It particularly supports time-series data visualization from various data sources such as InfluxDB, OpenTSDB, and Prometheus. Created in 2014, Grafana quickly became known for its broad data source support and powerful time series data visualization capabilities.



Moreover, Grafana offers Grafana Enterprise package for large companies with complex data visualization requirements, providing customer service and training from its development team. One of Grafana's key strengths is its extensibility and flexibility. It offers a vibrant ecosystem of plugins and integrations, allowing users to customize and extend its functionality according to their unique needs.



The key features of Grafana include: 




Visualization panels: it provides a variety of visualization options, such as bar charts, heat maps, histograms, and more, enabling users to monitor systems in teal-time and detect anomalies;



Custom plugins: users can install community built-in plugins or create custom ones to extend Grafana and integrate it with other needed solutions to add new features and data sources;



Dashboard templating: templating lets users create dashboards that can be shared among teams and reused for different purposes;



Alert manager: allows users to set up alert rules based on thresholds, conditions, or patterns in their data, ensuring timely response to critical events via email, Slack, or other notification channels;



SQL data sources: Grafana allows users to turn anything in an SQL database into metric data that you can graph;



Provisioning: this feature allows users to automate the creation of dashboards, data sources, and alert rules;



Security: it provides robust security features, including role-based access control (RBAC), LDAP integration, and SSL/TLS encryption, keeping information secure and only allowing certain employees to access dashboards.




Overall, Grafana lets users monitor and analyze metrics, gain insights into systems and applications, and detect anomalies with attractive and user-friendly interfaces that are easy to navigate. 







The comparison: Kibana vs. Grafana



After examining the capabilities of both platforms, let's delve into an in-depth comparison of the differences and similarities between Kibana and Grafana.



Logs vs. Metrics 



The main difference between Kibana and Grafana lies in their purpose. Kibana is primarily designed to explore, analyze, and visualize log data stored in Elasticsearch. This makes it well-suited for logging use cases, where users need to analyze and visualize log data to gain insights into system behavior, app performance, and more. For this purpose, Kibana provides powerful search and query capabilities, interactive dashboards, and advanced analytical features.



On the other hand, Grafana is focused on metric monitoring (such as system CPU, memory, and disk) and visualization. It is used for monitoring purposes, where users need to track and visualize real-time metrics and performance indicators to ensure system security, identify trends, and detect anomalies. It supports the visualization of time-series data, alerting, and integration with a wide range of data sources, like Prometheus and InfluxDB, allowing businesses to monitor various systems and apps.



Thus, when it comes to logs, Kibana stands out as the go-to choice for problem-solving, development, and security tasks, regardless of the specific use case.



The winner: Kibana





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Setup, installation and configuration



It is easy to install and set up both Kibana and Grafana. They support installation on Linux, Mac, Windows, and Docker and can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud.



Kibana supports different installation options per operating system. From the official website, users can download the package and extract it. But Kibana's setup process may require additional configuration steps. They may include customizing settings in the kibana.yml configuration file and adjusting other settings based on user preferences. While Kibana's configuration file offers extensive customization options, users need to be mindful of syntax and formatting requirements when editing YAML files. 



Grafana's installation process is quite simple. Users can download or install the suitable package for their operating system via package managers. Once downloaded, installation typically involves extracting the package and starting the Grafana server. Users can configure data sources, create dashboards, and set up alerts via the Grafana UI or configuration files. Grafana dashboards can be configured using a .ini configuration file, which is easier than configuring Kibana. 



Both tools are relatively easy to install and set up. Still, Grafana may have a slight edge in ease of configuration due to its user-friendly web interface and simpler syntax for configuration files. 



The winner: Grafana



Data source integration



As Kibana is part of the Elastic/ELK stack, it is designed to work with Elasticsearch. Thus, Kibana does not support other data sources. But keep in mind that Elasticsearch is compatible with many different platforms. So, if you want to use Kibana to combine data from other sources, you need to import it into the ELK stack (via Filebeat or Metricbeat, then Logstash, then Elasticsearch).







Grafana can boast extensive support for various data sources beyond Elasticsearch, including Prometheus, InfluxDB, Graphite, MySQL, SQL, and more. By connecting to multiple data sources simultaneously, users can create unified dashboards that include data from various sources. Grafana has a specific query editor for each data source based on its features and capabilities.







The winner: Grafana



Access control and authentication



The Elastic Stack, which includes Kibana, provides built-in security features even with its basic (free) license. These features include role-based access control (RBAC) and various authentication mechanisms, including basic, token, and API key authentication. By using them, organizations can control data access, prevent unauthorized access, and ensure compliance with security standards without the need to invest in additional third-party solutions.



On the other hand, Grafana also offers built-in security features. It allows users to restrict and control access to their dashboards, including role-based access control (RBAC), lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), or an external SQL server. Organizations allow users to create groups and teams for different projects. Every member of an organization can access their organization's dashboards through a specific role with various permissions. Users can also set up unique API keys and assign them to particular roles.



The winner: Both



Querying



One of the best features of Kibana is querying and searching logs. Users have various querying methods, including Lucene syntax, Kuery, and Elasticsearch Query DSL (Domain-Specific) languages. With them, data stored in Elasticsearch can be searched with results displayed in chronological order in the main log display area. They can be used to filter, aggregate, and analyze data in Elasticsearch using a rich set of query operators. Although they are powerful querying languages, learning them can be difficult. In addition, Elasticsearch Query DSL is only compatible with the ELK stack.







Due to Grafana's time-series data analytics interface, it is best suited for monitoring changes over time. Compared to Kibana, it lacks optimized exploration of other kinds of data and fewer capabilities for querying and refining data. However, users can use Query Editors to perform data queries from various sources. All data sources have their own Query Editor, which means that syntax and features vary according to the data source.







The winner: Kibana



Visualization



Compared to Kibana vs. Grafana, both are powerful visualization platforms, but in terms of how dashboards are created, they differ.



Kibana offers a rich variety of visualization types, allowing users to build line graphs, pie charts, heat maps, and so on and combine all these into dashboards. Kibana dashboards are dynamic and versatile - it is simple to edit and open both full-page and edited dashboards. You can use these visualizations to identify trends and patterns and customize them to meet specific needs.



Dashboards make Grafana such a popular visualization tool due to its versatility. It offers beautiful and engaging graphs and dashboards and is more customizable and flexible than Kibana. Data visualizations are called panels; users can create dashboards containing panels from different data sources. Grafana supports graph, singlestat, table, heatmap and freetext panel types. 



As a whole, Grafana has a wider selection of customization options and also makes changing the different settings easier with panel editors and collapsible rows.



The winner: both



Alerts



When comparing Kibana vs. Grafana regarding alerts, Grafana (version 4.0) has a built-in alerting mechanism that allows users to create conditional rules on dashboard panels that trigger alerts (email, Slack, or custom webhooks). Users can also create alerts based on information from multiple sources, including Elasticsearch, Graphite, and others. Users can create personalized alerts for any time series metric and configure them. Also, they can handle special cases, like data unavailability or failed connections.







In contrast, Kibana does not offer an out-of-the-box alerting capability. However, it allows users to use third-party plugins to add alerting functionality. To do this, users can either opt for a hosted ELK Stack such as Logz.io, implementing ElastAlert or X-Pack. Moreover, users can configure alerts in Elasticsearch via the API and Watcher function. A watcher runs a query periodically and performs a specific task based on the results. The watcher history allows users to track alert activity and troubleshoot problems.







The winner: Grafana



Community



Considering Kibana vs. Grafana in terms of community, both platforms have a large and active developers around the globe. Kibana has 71178 commits, with 19.1k starts and around 800 contributors on GitHub in 2024. While Grafana has over 48283 commits, with 59k stars by over 2000 contributors on the same site. Both tools offer detailed and well-written documentation and are quite easy to navigate. Although both tools are highly active, Grafana has a slight advantage based on the frequency of commits.



The winner: Grafana



Pricing



Lastly, let’s compare Kibana vs. Grafana in terms of prices. You can run both products on your own server because they offer self-hosting options.



As Kibana is part of the Elastic/ELK stack, and you are interested in using Kibana, you will need to purchase the entire stack. The Elastic stack has four pricing tiers, where the cheapest option starts at $95 monthly. You can learn more about Kibana pricing on their site.







Grafana Labs also offers a Grafana Cloud product with three price tiers: Free, Pro, and Advanced. You can start for free and then pay for any usage beyond that. Thus, the Pro tier starts at $8 per month, which is an affordable option for small teams. The Advanced tier starts at $299 monthly and perfectly suits large enterprises. To find more information on what exactly these packages offer, visit the Grafana pricing page.







The winner: Grafana



A brief comparison: Kibana vs. Grafana 



To put the main information Grafana vs. Kibana together and help you decide what is the most suitable solution for you, we've prepared the following table:



KibanaGrafanaUsageFor log file analysis and full-text search queriesFor apps requiring continuous real-time monitoring metricsData source integrationPrimarily ElasticsearchSupports multiple data sourcesSyntaxIt uses the Lucene syntaxIt uses a Query EditorAlertsSupports but only with pluginsSupports data alerts in real-time for the priority metricVisualization typesLine, bar, pie, area, heatmap, gauge, tag cloud, region map, tile map, markdownGraph, singlestat, table, heatmap, free textPlugin ecosystemLimited plugins and integrationsRich ecosystem with extensive pluginsGeospatial supportBuilt-in support for mapsLimited supportTime series-dataLimited supportSupportsFull-text queriesSupportsDoes not supportData querying and analysis✅✅Cross-platform capabilities❌✅Community support ✅✅Visualization features✅✅Log analysis✅❌Easy of use❌✅Customization options✅✅



Final Thoughts



Both Kibana and Grafana are powerful open-source platforms that help companies analyze,  visualize and monitor vast amounts of information. But they have differences in their features that may lead you to prefer one over the other. Kibana is a preferred choice if you need to explore, visualize, and analyze log data in Elasticsearch, using a variety of visualization types, perform geospatial analysis, and combine multiple visualizations in interactive dashboards. 





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Grafana is your win-win solution for time-series data visualization and metric monitoring with various data sources integrated into unified dashboards. Grafana is often used to monitor servers and applications, unlike Kibana, which is used for ad hoc data analysis and exploration. So, the choice between Kibana vs. Grafana depends on the specific requirements of your project, priority features, and the type of data you are working with. 




 


Expert Opinion



Choosing between Kibana and Grafana isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. While both tools shine in data visualization, their strengths diverge. Kibana, tightly knit with Elasticsearch, excels at dissecting log data. In contrast, Grafana's adaptability allows it to visualize metrics from diverse sources. Your decision should rely on factors like the nature of your data (logs or metrics?), your existing data infrastructure, and future needs, as both platforms constantly evolve. Don't forget the total cost of ownership, which includes licensing, setup, and maintenance, to ensure your choice fits your budget and technical needs.





Head of Data Science and Machine Learning Department at SoftTeco



Alexander Gedranovich

### MVP vs MLP: What to Choose

In the world of software development, a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is considered a surefire way to start a project and test the idea. However, many believe that you can take it a step further and create a Minimum Lovable Product (MLP) instead. So is MVP really outdated, and when should you consider MLP development? Finally, what “minimum” product will bring you more clients and revenue?



Below, we compare MVP vs MLP and explain 




How these two product versions differ



Why MVP is still valid



What exactly is meant by “lovable”








What are MVP and MLP?



First things first, let’s define both MVP and MLP to get a clear understanding of both products and the purpose that they serve.



Defining MVP



A Minimum Viable Product can be defined as a very basic yet functioning version of your end product. Its main purpose is to validate your product idea with real users and to test how well they receive the product. An MVP contains a basic set of essential features, is usually quite simplistic in design, and does not offer any extravagant features.  



Due to its simplicity, MVP can be quickly developed and released, thus resulting in faster time-to-market and saving of development costs. And early feedback collection from users allows developers to quickly adjust the MVP and to appeal to the target audience.



Defining MLP



A Minimum Lovable Product is similar to an MVP in a sense that it is also a product prototype and has a limited set of features. But notice the “lovable” part in its name. That means, an MLP is aimed at provoking emotions and basically making users “fall in love” with the product. In business terms: the main purpose of an MLP is to stand out from the competition and to create a strong emotional connection with the target audience.



The most notable feature of an MLP is its outstanding design and user experience. Since the UX part is responsible for attracting, retaining, and engaging users, no wonder MLP places great focus on it.



What is the difference between MLP and MVP?



After defining both products, let’s discuss their differences in more detail by comparing Minimum Lovable Product vs MVP by several criteria.



Goal



The main goal of an MVP is to rapidly test the product idea and collect feedback from real users. This feedback will later be used to tweak the product and make it more user-centric and appealing.



MLP, on the other hand, aims to impress the users and engages them by provoking emotions. In this way, MLP strives to become memorable and to create a strong impression that will result in users buying the end product and anticipating its release.



Functionality



Both MVP and MLP have a limited set of essential features. These features are just enough to make the product functioning but do not offer anything extra. Note though that by limited, we mean those features that are expected by users and that help users reach their goal. For example, an MVP may have a search bar - but it won’t have an AI-powered search or voice search, as it would be considered advanced search functionality.



Design



Since the main goal of the MVP is to quickly test the product idea with users, it places the focus on usability and functionality. The simplistic nature of the MVP does now allow excessive features - nor does it allow excessive design. 



The story with MLP is different. Design is used as the main component to attract users and immediately grab their attention and serves as a core factor of user engagement. So while the feature list in MLP remains quite basic, the design is usually advanced and highly user-centric.



Time-to-market



Since both MVP and MLP can be considered as product prototypes, they allow quick time-to-market. Due to a limited number of features, the development time is significantly shorter and thus, you can release your product version relatively fast and adjust it “on the go”.



A word on emotional journey mapping



Before moving further, let’s take a break and talk about mapping user emotions and why it’s especially important for the MLP development.



In UX/UI design, a user journey is a detailed description of a sequence of steps that a user takes when interacting with an app. Creating user journeys is an integral part of developing any software product, including MVP and MLP. Without it, you won’t be able to create a smooth user flow and won’t deliver great user experience, as your product will not match the expectations of your target audience.



Emotional journey mapping takes the creation of user journeys a step further and proposes defining what emotions a user feels at a particular stage of their journey. For example, when launching an app, a user might feel anxious or irritated - if they are hungry and want to quickly order a meal. In this way, every point of interaction between the user and the app will be defined by a certain emotion. This, in turn, will help designers and UX writers adjust their content to these emotions in order to resonate with them and create a sense of understanding and support.



Mapping user emotions is critical in the creation of a Minimum Lovable Product, as it helps deliver the right message and create a strong emotional connection. Obviously, it requires extra effort, but is necessary for successful MLP delivery.



When do you need an MVP and an MLP?



Getting back to comparing MLP vs MVP, let’s talk about their main use cases. Though being prototypes, these two product versions serve various purposes, and it’s important to differentiate between them in order to develop a solution that your business really needs.



When to create an MVP



You should consider MVP development in the following cases:




When you have limited time or need short time-to-market



When you have limited budget 



When you need to quickly validate your idea with real users



When you want to resolve user pain points effectively and quickly




MVP development is all about speed. Moreover, it implies the use of limited resources, so it perfectly fits startups. However, it doesn’t mean that major companies do not love MPV. They appreciate it the same.



When to create an MLP



On the contrast with MVP, MLP is great for the following scenarios:




When you want to differentiate your product and make it stand out



When you want to interest users in the product before the final version is released



When you want to expand functionality of the existing MVP




Due to exceptional user experience and design, MLP tends to be highly memorable and attractive, which is often a big competitive advantage, especially for products in narrow niches.



What about MMP?



When discussing product prototypes, it’s also worth mentioning MMP - Minimum Marketable Product. An MMP can be defined as a blend of MVP and MLP and its main goal is to make a product “sellable” and hence, bring profit. This is achieved by augmenting the initial functionality of the MVP and making the design a bit more appealing. Note though that MMP development does not mean overloading the prototype with advanced features or creating over-the-top design. The main goal here is to make the product attractive and functional enough, so users buy it. So obviously, you will have to expand the core functionality a bit.



When to choose MMP development:




When you need the product to bring profit



When you want the product version to be sellable at early stages




The ultimate comparison: MVP vs MLP vs MMP



Let’s recap the info above and summarize it in a table, so it’s easier for you to select between the options and understand the pros and cons of each:



MVPMLPMMPFunctionalityLimited: a basic set of features to keep the product functioningLimited; same as in MVPA bit more advanced to make the product sellableDesignBasic; nothing too advancedOutstanding and complex to create an emotional connection with usersAverageGoalTo quickly validate the idea and collect user feedbackTo evoke emotions, attract users, and stand out from the competitionTo sell the product and make it profitableTime-to-marketShortAverage due to design complexityAverageCostLowAverage / HighAverage




 


Expert Opinion



Comparing MVPs and MLPs is like comparing apples and oranges—they serve different purposes. An MVP prioritizes swift product launch and idea validation, while an MLP aims for crafting a standout, engaging product. While I haven't directly handled MLP projects, I consistently inquire about clients' product expectations and objectives. Based on my industry experience, startups typically lean towards MVPs for their agility, while established firms, boasting loyal clienteles, often opt for MLPs to carve out unique offerings at a more relaxed pace.





Business Analyst



Polina Aleshkevich






 




In conclusion



The choice between MVP vs MLP will depend utterly on your business objectives and what you expect from the product. But despite the minimal set of features in both versions, it doesn’t mean you should neglect the development process. Both MVP and MLP should be developed professionally so that users receive value from using the product. Hence, we recommend partnering with a reliable software vendor who will help bring your vision to life and will ensure that your prototype aligns with your goals without consuming too much of your time, budget, and resources. 

### What Is an SRE? The Role and Significance of Site Reliability Engineer

As digital systems become more complex and users expect constant uninterrupted services, site reliability engineering (SRE) has become critical for modern tech companies. But what is an SRE? In this article, we explore what this job entails, as well as the key skills and responsibilities of site reliability engineers.



What is a site reliability engineer?



Site reliability engineers are professionals who blend the principles of software engineering with the discipline of operations to create high-performing and reliable software systems. They are tasked with designing and implementing tools, processes, and systems to improve the reliability, scalability, and performance of large-scale applications and services.



Aside from that, site reliability engineers are responsible for defining:




Service level objectives (SLOs): represent the desired level of reliability a service should maintain



Service level indicators (SLIs): measurable indicators that track the service's performance against these objectives




SLOs and SLIs are essential metrics that assess the reliability and performance of a service. Site reliability engineers precisely define these parameters to ensure the service meets required quality standards. Collaborating with cross-functional teams, SREs work to establish realistic SLOs and appropriate SLIs aligned with business goals and user expectations.



By establishing clear targets and keeping a close eye on key metrics, SREs make sure that services meet expected levels of reliability and availability. This data-driven approach allows teams to proactively address potential issues before they affect users.



Required skills and education



As for any technical specialty, if you intend to become a site reliability engineer, you’ll need a bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, or in a related field. Practical experience gained through internships, relevant projects, or work experience is equally valuable.  



However, to excel in this role, you also need a diverse set of skills that encompass technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, and effective communication. Let's explore some of the essential skills that a successful site reliability engineer should have:



Technical Proficiency



SRE specialists need a strong foundation in technical skills, such as software engineering, system architecture design, and infrastructure management. Proficiency in programming languages (at least in one), familiarity with cloud platforms, and containerization technologies, and hands-on experience with automation tools are vital. An understanding of networking, security, and scalability is also crucial for effectively optimizing and maintaining complex systems.



Automation skills



Automation is a core aspect of the SRE role. Specialists should have sufficient scripting and automation skills to create scalable solutions for tasks such as monitoring, deployment, and configuration management. Proficiency in automation not only enhances efficiency but also reduces the likelihood of human errors, contributing to a more reliable and stable operational environment.



Communication and problem-solving skills



SREs encounter diverse challenges daily, which requires strong problem-solving skills and critical thinking to analyze root causes, implement solutions, and prevent future disruptions proactively. Effective communication is also the key for SREs to collaborate with cross-functional teams, share knowledge, and address incidents promptly.



Continuous learning and adaptability



Given the fast-paced evolution of the technology landscape, site reliability engineers must keep up with the latest advancements. A dedication to ongoing learning and openness to new tools, approaches, and industry standards are essential for excelling as SRE.



SRE job responsibilities



If you are considering a career in SRE, it is essential to evaluate whether this role aligns with your skills, interests, and career goals. Here are some key tasks that site reliability engineers typically perform:




Building software to support operations. An essential task for SREs is creating software tools to simplify the work of DevOps, ITOps, and support teams. These tools include automation scripts, monitoring dashboards, alerts, and others.



Comprehensive documentation and knowledge sharing. Keeping relevant documentation is vital for smooth knowledge transfer within an organization. SREs document system architectures, operational procedures, incident responses, and post-mortem analysis, creating a repository of best practices. This comprehensive documentation is valuable for onboarding new team members and troubleshooting complex issues.



Performance optimization and scalability. SREs are responsible for optimizing system performance and scalability to meet growing demands. By conducting thorough performance analysis and capacity planning, SREs identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies that may impact service reliability. Through continuous optimization efforts, SREs ensure that systems can handle increased loads without compromising performance.



Deployment and release management. SREs closely work with development teams to facilitate software deployment, ensure smooth releases, and reduce downtime. They use strategies like canary deployments, feature flags, and rollback plans to minimize risks with new releases and keep services running without interruption.



Monitoring, incident response, and post-incident analysis. SREs are responsible for real-time monitoring of systems, identifying potential issues, and responding promptly to incidents to minimize service disruptions. Post-incident analysis plays a crucial role in understanding root causes, implementing preventive measures, and continuously improving system resilience.



On-call support and incident response. SREs often participate in on-call rotations to provide continuous 24/7 support, promptly addressing incidents. In cases of outages or service issues, these engineers work diligently to diagnose, mitigate, and restore normal service operations. The fast response is crucial for minimizing downtime and ensuring users have a positive experience.




The benefits of becoming a site reliability engineer



There are several benefits to pursuing a career in this field:



High demand and competitive salaries



One of the primary benefits of becoming a site reliability engineer is the high demand for professionals with these skills. As more and more companies transition to cloud-based infrastructure and seek to improve the reliability of their systems, the need for skilled SREs continues to grow. This high demand translates into competitive salaries and excellent job opportunities for individuals with expertise in this field.



Continuous learning and growth opportunities



As a site reliability engineer, you will have the opportunity to work on cutting-edge technologies and solve complex problems on a daily basis. This role requires a deep understanding of both software development and IT operations, providing a unique learning experience that can significantly enhance your skills and expertise. SREs are continuously challenged to improve systems, implement automation, and optimize performance, making it a rewarding and fulfilling career choice for those with a passion for technology and innovation.



Collaboration and cross-functional skills



SREs work closely with various teams, including software developers, system administrators, and network engineers. This collaborative environment fosters the development of strong communication and interpersonal skills, as well as the ability to work effectively across different functions. SREs often act as a bridge between development and operations teams, promoting a culture of collaboration and shared responsibility.



Challenges that site reliability engineers might face



As we can see, pursuing a career as a site reliability engineer is highly beneficial. However, it's not an easy job. Let's explore some of the key challenges that these specialists might face in their day-to-day work.



Balancing development and operations



It’s not easy to balance between development and operations tasks. SREs are often caught between the need to innovate and deploy new features quickly and the responsibility to maintain system reliability and stability. This dual role requires SREs to juggle priorities effectively and collaborate closely with both development and operations teams.



Complex systems and architecture



One of the primary challenges that SREs encounter is the complexity of modern systems and architectures. As organizations adopt microservices, containerization, and cloud-native technologies, the number of components and dependencies within a system can increase exponentially. This complexity makes it challenging for SREs to monitor, troubleshoot, and maintain the reliability of the system.



Furthermore, understanding the interactions between different services and identifying potential points of failure become increasingly difficult as systems grow in size. SREs must develop a deep understanding of the system architecture, dependencies, and failure modes to effectively mitigate risks and ensure system reliability.



Automation complexity



Automation is a key pillar of SRE practices, enabling teams to scale operations, reduce manual toil, and increase efficiency. However, managing the automation itself can pose a significant challenge for SREs. Developing and maintaining automation scripts, tools, and frameworks requires specialized skills and ongoing effort.



As systems evolve and new features are introduced, SREs must continuously update and adapt their automation workflows to ensure they remain effective. Balancing the need for automation with the resources required to develop and maintain it can be a delicate task for SRE teams.



Turning these challenges into chances for growth and learning is the key to success in the dynamic field of site reliability engineering.



Site reliability engineer vs DevOps engineer: what’s the difference?



While both SREs and DevOps engineers share a common goal of enhancing system reliability and efficiency, their approaches and focus areas differ. SREs focus on making sure that a website or application is reliable and available. They use automated tools to prevent issues and quickly respond to any problems that arise. For example, if a website experiences a sudden increase in traffic, an SRE might ensure that the system automatically scales up to handle the load, preventing downtime.



On the other hand, DevOps engineers work at the intersection of software development and IT operations. They aim to make the process of creating and delivering software faster and more efficient. For instance, a DevOps engineer might set up automated systems to seamlessly move code from development to testing to deployment, ensuring a smooth and continuous delivery pipeline.



Here are some key differences between site reliability and DevOps engineers.



AspectsSREDevOpsPrimary focusEnsuring reliability and stable performance of systems and services.Collaboration and automation across the entire software development lifecycle.ResponsibilitiesMonitoring, incident response, automation, and capacity planning.Continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), infrastructure as code (IaC).Workflow automationPrioritizes automation related to system monitoring, incident response, and reliability enhancement.Places a strong emphasis on end-to-end automation of the development, testing, and deployment processes.Works withClosely works with development and operations teams but with a specific reliability focus.Promotes collaboration across the entire development and operational spectrum, emphasizing shared responsibilities.



Conclusion



Site reliability engineers go beyond technical tasks. They play a key role in preserving user experiences, minimizing downtime, and contributing to the overall success of tech companies. Their focus on learning, automation, and collaboration ensures the reliability of digital services. However, it's essential to carefully think about the challenges. It's not a one-size-fits-all solution, and companies should assess their needs, structure, and readiness before adopting SRE practices.

### What Is Data Normalization: A Perspective On Database Efficiency

According to Big Data Analytics News, the volume of data created worldwide as of 2023 is 120 zettabytes and is expected to reach 181 zettabytes by the end of 2025. While this data abundance promises valuable insights, it raises a question: how can organizations make sense of this information overload?



Data normalization is crucial in managing information, especially for analytics, databases, and machine learning. It ensures that information is consistent and organized, allowing for accurate analysis and decision-making. But what is data normalization? In this article, we will explore what data normalization entails, its types, advantages and common challenges associated with this process.



What is normalizing data?



Normalize data definition



Data normalization refers to the process of organizing and structuring information within a database to reduce redundancy, eliminate anomalies, and enhance overall data integrity. 



The primary goal of normalization is to create a well-structured database that stores data efficiently and consistently.



To illustrate the concept of data normalization, consider a simple example involving a database for a library. In a single table containing both book information and author details, redundancy may occur. For instance, if an author has written multiple books, their information would be duplicated for each book entry. By normalizing the data, we can create separate tables for books and authors. The author's details are stored in a separate table linked to the book table through a unique identifier. This reduces redundancy and ensures that each author's information is stored only once.



Why normalize the data and who needs it?



Non-normalized information presents various challenges in data management. One primary challenge is redundancy, where duplicate information is stored across multiple records, leading to inefficiency in storage and data retrieval. Non-normalized data can also result in inconsistencies, update anomalies, and difficulties in maintaining information quality over time. Analyzing non-normalized data can be complex and less accurate due to the dispersed nature of information, making it challenging to derive meaningful insights.



For example, in finance, where datasets can contain a wide range of variables like stock prices, market capitalization, and earnings, normalizing information is vital for creating meaningful financial models and conducting accurate risk assessments.



In machine learning, normalizing data can significantly enhance the performance of models. Algorithms such as support vector machines and k-nearest neighbors are sensitive to the scale of input information. This way, normalizing data means that these algorithms operate effectively and produce accurate results.



Overall, normalizing data is about applying a systematic approach to structure databases, making them more efficient, consistent, and adaptable to changes, ultimately enhancing the quality and reliability of stored information. By creating a standardized and organized structure, normalization contributes to accurate analysis, reliable reporting, and facilitates the maintenance of information integrity over time.



Advantages of data normalization



Here are some key advantages of data normalization:




Elimination of data redundancy: Normalization helps to organize information into multiple related tables. This minimizes the chances of inconsistencies and anomalies that may arise when the same data is stored in multiple locations.



Improved integrity: By reducing redundancy and ensuring data consistency, normalization enhances data integrity. This means that the data is accurate, reliable, and up-to-date, leading to better decision-making processes.



Enhanced database performance: Normalized databases typically perform better in terms of query speed and overall efficiency. With data spread across multiple tables logically, database queries can be executed more quickly and with fewer resources.



Simplified maintenance: In normalized databases, updating or deleting data is more straightforward and less error-prone. Since each piece of information is stored in only one place, maintenance tasks become more manageable.



Facilitates scalability: Normalized databases are generally more scalable as they can accommodate growth and changes in data requirements more effectively. This flexibility is vital for businesses that need to expand their data storage and processing capabilities over time.



Optimized storage: Reducing data redundancy results in reduced storage footprint.




Common challenges in data normalization



As we can see, data normalization offers significant advantages in terms of information quality, integrity, and performance. However, it also presents challenges that need to be carefully considered and managed. That include:




Data integrity issues. One of the primary challenges of data normalization is maintaining information integrity. Splitting data into multiple tables can lead to issues such as insert, update, and delete anomalies, which can compromise the accuracy and reliability of the information.



Complexity of design. Another challenge of data normalization is the complexity of the design process. Normalizing data requires a deep understanding of the data model, relationships, and business requirements, which can be time-consuming and challenging to implement correctly.



Performance trade-offs. While normalization improves database performance in many cases, it can also lead to performance trade-offs, especially when dealing with complex queries involving multiple tables. Joining normalized tables can sometimes result in slower query execution times.



Denormalization dilemma. In some scenarios, denormalization may be necessary to improve performance or simplify queries. However, denormalization can compromise data integrity and lead to anomalies if not carefully managed, creating a dilemma for database designers.




It’s better to carefully consider and address these common challenges to ensure a balance between integrity, performance, and manageability in databases. A good understanding of these challenges can help businesses implement effective strategies to overcome them and optimize their information management processes.





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Forms of data normalization



There are six forms of data normalization, each building upon the previous one to ensure data is efficiently stored and maintained. However, the majority of databases are typically normalized after the third normal form. Remember, that normalization is a step-by-step process. To move from the first normal form to the second normal form, you need to meet the criteria of the previous normal form. Let's explore the different forms of data normalization:



First normal form (1NF)



First Normal Form (1NF) is the fundamental step in data normalization. In 1NF, each column in a table contains atomic values, meaning that each piece of data is indivisible. This form eliminates repeating groups and ensures that each row is unique. For example, a table storing student information should have separate columns for student ID, name, and age, rather than combining them into a single column.



Second normal form (2NF)



2NF builds on 1NF by ensuring that all non-key attributes are fully functional dependent on the primary key. This means that each column in a table should relate directly to the entire primary key, not just part of it. For instance, in a table of orders, the order details should be linked to the order ID, not just the customer ID.



Third normal form (3NF)



Third normal form further refines the normalization process by removing transitive dependencies. In 3NF, every non-key column is dependent only on the primary key, not on other non-key attributes. This form helps in reducing anomalies and maintaining information consistency. For example, in a table of employees, the employee's department should be a separate table to avoid dependencies on the employee's name.



Boyce and Codd normal form (BCNF)



Boyce-Codd Normal Form is an advanced form of normalization that addresses anomalies not handled by 3NF. In BCNF, every determinant is a candidate key, ensuring that there are no non-trivial dependencies between candidate keys and attributes. This form is essential for complex databases with multiple candidate keys.



Fourth Normal Form (4NF) and Fifth Normal Form (5NF)



These address multi-valued dependencies and join dependencies, respectively, to further ensure data integrity and reduce redundancy. Quite rarely used in most of the practical applications.



Data denormalization



As we already mentioned, there are situations where denormalization, the opposite of normalization, becomes a valuable technique. Denormalized data refers to information that has been intentionally combined into a single table, disregarding the normalization principles. Denormalization is commonly employed in scenarios where read-heavy workloads are predominant, such as in data warehousing, reporting systems, and analytical databases. By carefully identifying the access patterns and query requirements of the system, data architects can strategically denormalize certain tables to optimize performance without compromising data consistency.




 


Expert Opinion



Data normalization plays a crucial role in database management, enhancing information integrity and system performance. However, in big data scenarios, the trend often shifts towards storing data in a non-normalized format to meet the demands for flexibility and quick processing of large datasets. This approach, while diverging from traditional normalization benefits, addresses the unique requirements of big data by optimizing for speed and scalability.



To accommodate these differences, a strategic division between transactional and analytical workloads is employed. Transactional systems prioritize data consistency and are optimized for routine operations, whereas analytical systems benefit from a denormalized structure, improving query speed for analysis over vast data volumes. This bifurcation leverages the advantages of normalization and denormalization, ensuring operational efficiency and insightful data analysis.





Head of Data Science an Machine Learning Department at SoftTeco



Alexander Gedranovich






 




Conclusion



Data normalization is a fundamental process that has wide-ranging applications across various domains. As technology continues to advance, the importance of data normalization will only grow, making it an indispensable tool for extracting valuable insights from complex datasets. However, it is essential to strike a balance between normalization and denormalization, leveraging the strengths of each approach based on the specific needs of the application. Hybrid models that combine normalized and denormalized structures can offer a flexible and efficient solution to accommodate diverse data processing requirements.

### What Is an ERP System in Manufacturing

The Enterprise Resource Planning system, or ERP for short, is a valuable asset for any organization, especially in manufacturing. With its ability to bring clarity, transparency, and automation to workflows, it brings many tangible benefits and helps companies cut down costs while increasing productivity. 



Below, we answer the “what is ERP in manufacturing” question and discuss the ways this solution transforms manufacturing businesses despite their size and complexity.







What is ERP in manufacturing?



First, let’s define the ERP in general. The Enterprise Resource Planning system is a centralized platform that includes a variety of operations related to resource planning and management. It is a specialized business software with several modules, where each module is assigned to a specific task (i.e., finance management or human resources). 



Now, what is an ERP system in manufacturing? The concept remains the same, but functionality differs. Manufacturing ERPs cover all needs of a manufacturing organization and are designed specifically for this purpose. For example, ERP manufacturing software may have such features as production planning and management or procurement management - all this in addition to the modules present in generic ERP systems.



Manufacturing ERPs vs generic ERPs



To better understand the manufacturing ERP meaning and how exactly it differs from a generic one, let’s take a brief look at the table below:



Manufacturing ERPGeneric ERPPurposeTo meet specific business needs of manufacturing organizationsTo augment business processes of an organization via automation and centralizationCustomizationLimited and costlyPossible but also costlyCostHighMediumFunctionalityFunctionality of a generic ERP + specific features related to the manufacturing industryRich, covers various aspects of business operations, including sales, marketing, HRMImplementationRequires assistance from a software vendorCan be handled by the in-house team



Key characteristics of a manufacturing ERP



We’ve mentioned that ERP for manufacturing industry has a different set of features than a generic one - however, both types of systems share a set of the same characteristics that are important to mention:




Centralized information: ERPs serve as a single repository for the data and collect it from all the departments, making the data accessible and visible.



Interconnection: the data and processes within your organization are processed by the ERP system, thus connecting all departments and immediately reflecting any change in the whole system.



Automation: ERP automates a bunch of mundane tasks that require too much time and/or resources, thus speeding up the production and optimizing the processes.



Real-time data collection: ERPs collect the data in real time and immediately reflect it, thus allowing manufacturers to quickly react to changes and make better decisions.




The benefits of ERP for manufacturing



There are several big challenges that manufacturing organizations face on a daily basis: complexity of supply chains, lack of transparency, production bottlenecks, and many others. Here is how manufacturing ERP resolves them:



Effective supply chain management



With ERP systems for manufacturing in place, all supply chain processes, starting from procurement, are streamlined, automated, and optimized. Since ERP provides a transparent overview of all operations and allows handling multiple processes from a single place, it becomes much easier for manufacturers to plan, control, and manage the production process, delivery, and distribution. And with real-time data collection and analysis, decision-making becomes more accurate and effective.



Optimization of the production process



Production bottlenecks are a common case in manufacturing, and specialized ERPs aim to resolve this issue. With such features as task scheduling and production planning, an ERP system for manufacturing industry greatly aids in optimizing the production process, preventing potential issues, and maximizing the output. Also, don’t forget that the complexity of modern manufacturing processes requires a powerful and advanced tech solution instead of outdated tools.



Better quality control



Quality control is crucial, but can be quite complex, especially for those businesses that work in multiple geographical regions. An effective ERP solution helps businesses establish uniform quality control procedures and automate checks and audits to ensure consistency and high quality in every location.



Increased transparency



Due to the complexity of modern manufacturing processes and the operation of companies in multiple countries, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a holistic and transparent view over all the processes. With ERP though, manufacturers can greatly increase the transparency and clarity of their operations since all processes and all the data are reflected in a single system. 



Regulatory compliance



There is a great variety of rules and regulations for a manufacturing business to follow and sometimes, it can be hard to keep the track of them and of occurring updates. A manufacturing ERP system normally offers a plethora of tools for monitoring and managing compliance with needed regulations and helps identify areas for improvement.



Main modules of a manufacturing ERP system



Now let’s talk about the main components or modules of a specialized manufacturing ERP solution. These modules cover the core departments of a manufacturing organization and handle all related processes.



Supply chain management



Supply chain management involves numerous processes and this complexity can be difficult to manage. Hence, one of the ERP modules is supply chain management, aimed at optimizing the operations and adding transparency to them. Some of the benefits of using an ERP system to handle your supply chain involve:




Alignment of processes with business goals



Better management and allocation of resources and finances



Increased operational efficiency due to optimization of logistics



Improved workforce management



Improved supplier relationship management



Forecasting of demand and supply




This module is highly important as it allows managing both your suppliers and internal operations and makes all processes highly visible and accessible.



Financial management



Incorrect allocation of resources, improper organization of workflows and other factors can potentially lead to massive financial losses. Hence, the financial management module of an ERP helps companies manage their finances more accurately and efficiently.



By being able to immediately access information about spendings and accurately track them, organizations can better allocate their budget by applying resources precisely to where they are needed. In this way, a lot of unnecessary spendings is cut off and budget planning becomes data-based.



Inventory management



Another module of a manufacturing ERP is inventory management. The biggest issues related to the inventory are usually overstock and stockout as well as mundane and complex manual processes (like item tracking). ERP helps manufacturers automate replenishment and goods tracking and allows forecasting the demand and planning the production correspondingly.



Human resource management



HRM is an integral part of any organization, and manufacturing is no exception. As for the manufacturing ERP, this module helps with such tasks as:




Payroll management



Management of vacations, sick leaves, etc.



Tracking of employees’ certificates, training programs, etc.



Recruitment process



Monitoring of an employee’s life cycle



Attendance management




As you can see, ERP helps HR managers instantly access information about any employee, automates payroll calculations, and notifies about any important events, like the need for a certification.



Data analytics & reporting



Data is the cornerstone of all business decisions and processes within an organization, so naturally, manufacturing ERP systems provide a specialized module for data processing. This module is responsible for analyzing and visualizing the collected data (including the real-time information) and using it to create forecasts, propose business strategies, and point at areas that require attention. Also, with the help of this module, employees can easily generate and customize needed reports and share them across the departments.



Customer relationship management



One more important module to mention is CRM aka customer relationship management. It helps manufacturers keep track of their clients and their needs, contact the clients via a preferred method of communication, and automate such processes as notifications and reminders. As well, an HRM module stores all client-related information, which is highly convenient when you want to customize an offer or see purchase history.



Main challenges of implementing manufacturing ERP



While an ERP system is a great solution that adds efficiency and automation, you can’t just implement it out of the blue. There are certain challenges and limitations that organizations need to consider in advance in order to effectively introduce ERP into their processes.



High costs



One of the biggest limitations of ERP implementation is a relatively high cost. We’ve mentioned earlier that ERP helps cut down costs and that’s true - but for that to happen, you need to wait a bit and let the processes rearrange and transform. But the cost of buying and customizing an ERP solution can be quite high, and not all companies are ready for that. Also, don’t forget about such costs as employee training or consulting. 



On the brighter note - before committing to ERP, you can always calculate potential ROI and check whether the implementation of the system is actually worth it. 



Lack of resources



Another important issue is lack of needed resources. It might include infrastructure, personnel, hardware, etc. To know precisely what kind of resources you’ll need for successful ERP implementation, you need to conduct an audit of your assets. This will help you prepare a checklist of things “to do” before beginning the implementation process.



Integrations



In order for an ERP solution to deliver all expected benefits and to work as a single data repository, it should work in conjunction with other systems. Hence, you need to ensure a smooth and secure integration of ERP with your existing solutions. Your core area of focus will be data integrity during the data transfer, so you might want to consult third-party vendors on how to do it the best way.



Employee training



An ERP system is a complex solution so naturally, its users should know all it features and the most effective ways of working with it. Thus, you will have to provide sufficient employee training, so all users of the system operate it in the intended and secure manner.



Security



Speaking of security, it is a highly important issue that calls for establishment of in-house security practices and protocols. The addition of ERP to your digital environment results in additional areas of potential cyberattacks and increases the possibility of a threat. Thus, you have to ensure that your organization supports security best practices and that ERP implementation aligns with them.



Selecting the right ERP solution: tips and best practices



There is a great variety of available ERP solutions for manufacturing out there, so selecting the most suitable one can be quite challenging. Below, we list several tips and recommendations that might help you make a decision and augment your business with a powerful ERP system.



Clearly outline your requirements and objectives



Though most manufacturing ERP systems share the same set of features, they still differ in their purpose and value. Thus, to find a solution that will 100% fit your business needs, you first have to define these needs and list how exactly ERP will benefit your business. It is also important to outline KPIs for future monitoring so you understand whether ERP performs as expected or whether anything needs to be optimized.



Conduct a vendor research



For effective ERP implementation, you’ll need assistance from a reliable vendor and for that, you will first have to conduct research. You’d want to look at the vendor’s portfolio and experience, reviews and testimonials from past clients, and the overall area of operation. The more experienced a vendor is in manufacturing, the better they understand the specific requirements of the industry. In this way, you will receive a solution that will address your existing needs and will help you close all technical gaps.



Prepare for ERP implementation



As discussed above, the implementation of an ERP solution requires thorough audit of your available assets and estimation of whether your organization is ready for it in terms of finances and resources. Some of the questions that you might ask at this stage are:




Is the selected ERP scalable enough and will my business be able to scale correspondingly?



How exactly will I integrate the ERP solution with my existing system?



Is the data collection and storage process secure? Do I need to switch the database?



Do I have all needed hardware and software?




These are just a few examples of things to think about when planning ERP implementation. We recommend consulting your vendor to discuss the process step by step and define areas for optimization.



Estimate the total cost of ownership (TCO)



The total cost of ownership means the price of a purchased asset + extra associated expenses (like employee training). The TCO should be evaluated in advance so you can plan your budget and KPIs correspondingly.



Examples of expenses involved in ERP implementation are:




 Software licensing



Infrastructure setup and configuration



Consulting services



Employee training



Data migration



Support and maintenance




For a more detailed breakdown of costs, please contact your vendor. 



Conduct regular reviews of the system



After the ERP solution is implemented, it doesn’t mean the work stops here. You will have to regularly conduct audits and checks to ensure that all security measures are in place, that the processes are configured correctly, and that the data remains integral. Also, in the future you might want to add or remove certain features and that’s also part of the support and maintenance process.



Summing up



A specialized manufacturing ERP system is a highly valuable solution for any manufacturing business. As the world drives towards digitization, industries rapidly adopt advanced technologies. Considering the complexity and scale of the manufacturing industry, companies within this domain should also start reconsidering their legacy processes and tapping into a near-endless world of possibilities that high-tech solutions offer. Which, after answering the “what is ERP in manufacturing” question, should be a bit easier now.

### What Is It Staff Augmentation and How Does It Differ From Other Engagement Models

When you work on a software development project, it’s a common case that you might require a few additional people on the team or a specific talent that your in-house team lacks. Or you might need to quickly close the gap in your resources but don’t want to spend time on a lengthy recruitment process.



This is where staff augmentation saves the day. But what is staff augmentation exactly and why opt for it and not for other engagement models? In this article, we explain the main benefits and the working principle of staffing augmentation and compare it to outsourcing and T&M models.







IT staff augmentation: meaning explained



Say, you have a software project and realize you need one or two people (or more) to join the team as your resources are not enough. Or you need a person with a specific skill set for a short-term project. These and other use cases call for the team expansion for a short period of time - this is what staff augmentation definition is all about.



In other words, it is an engagement model that implies the use of external talents (resources) on a temporary basis to scale your team and close the existing skill gaps. The main features of this model are:





When do you need staff augmentation services?



Since there are a variety of engagement models out there (fixed price, dedicated teams, full outsourcing, etc.), you might ask: when exactly should I choose IT staff augmentation? Here are the most common scenarios when businesses benefit the most from this model.



Reinforcement of the existing in-house team



As already mentioned, technical staff augmentation is usually the #1 solution when it comes to adding extra resources to your team. Whether you simply need more people for the project or need a specific tech talent to join, staff augmentation can help you with that. Another great thing is that the process of hiring talents is relatively simple. Instead of going through the full-cycle recruitment process, you just need to contact the selected vendor, interview the candidates, and select the ones that meet your needs the best.



Addition of high-level/specific skills to the project



It takes a lot of time and effort to train in-house developers to master a specific skill/technology. So to speed up the process, companies often use staff augmentation services. This approach allows immediately adding a specific talent that you won’t need outside the project. 



Quick team scaling



In a fast-paced software development environment, you often don’t have time to go through the lengthy screening process. Staff augmentation makes it faster and easier to look for needed specialists, and is often more cost-saving compared to hiring and training an in-house employee.



Full control over the project



When you want to retain full control of your project, increase the visibility of processes, and improve communication with team members, staff augmentation works perfectly. It does not imply bringing an external manager to the project, and lets you control and organize all processes the way you need them.



Main benefits of staff augmentation



Though staff augmentation is a highly effective method, there are several advantages that set it apart from other engagement models. They are:



Resource-saving



Instead of going through the full-cycle recruitment process, your biggest concern would be choosing the right vendor. As soon as you select a company that provides staff augmentation services, things escalate in a swift and effective manner. The vendor will present you suitable candidates, you will conduct interviews, and select the ones that fit your project needs the best. In this way, you are free from the hassle of conducting technical interviews or screening a great number of candidates. This, in turn, greatly saves your time and resources and allows for quick onboarding of selected candidates to the project.



Easy scaling



A great thing about IT staff augmentation services is that you can hire as many or as little specialists as you need, and it’s easy to scale the team up and down, depending on the project status and requirements. With this engagement model, you and the vendor agree on a pricing method (weekly, monthly) and hourly rates and plan the workload and the budget according to the progress on the project. This allows you to easily add needed specialists to the team and precisely plan finances and project-related activities.



Increased transparency



We’ve already mentioned that with IT team augmentation, you get full control over the team and the project. That means, all team members report directly to you, and you are aware of everything what’s going on. If project control is important to you and you actively take part in project management, staff augmentation is your best choice.



“Trial run” opportunity



Finally, staff augmentation is a great opportunity for a trial run of team expansion. With more people on the team, you can check how well your organization is prepared for growth, whether current processes support team scaling, and what needs to be optimized before hiring more specialists on a full-time basis.



Main considerations and limitations of staff augmentation



By now, staff augmentation seems like a perfect solution for the majority of software development issues - however, there are certain challenges that are to be kept in mind. Also, after analyzing these challenges and benefits, you might want to consider other models - we’ll discuss them in detail later. Back to the challenges:



Timezone and language 



It is a common scenario that a company hires specialists from a different country. And while international talent pool offers a plethora of benefits, it also brings certain challenges like the potential language and time barriers. Hence, it is important to organize a transparent and effective communication process to avoid possible barriers and ensure that your working hours overlap with the ones of the team.



Security



When you work with external specialists, the risk of security issues grows, especially if these people work from a different location. To minimize and mitigate potential threats, it is recommended to establish effective security policies and regularly conducts security audits. We’ve already written numerous articles on security in our blog - but if you don’t know where to start, we recommend the one on CIS security controls.



Dependence on the vendor



With staff augmentation, there is a certain dependence on the vendor, which might bring several challenges. First, if the initial project takes longer than planned, the augmented staff may not be available anymore in the future, so you need to consider that. Second, staff augmentation leads to a certain level of vendor lock-in. You will need to select a reliable and experienced vendor with a suitable talent pool that precisely matches your needs.



Staff augmentation vs outsourcing 



Outsourcing is similar to staff augmentation and includes various models, such as fixed price, Time & Material, and dedicated teams. You can read more about each model in this article and for now, let’s briefly compare staff augmentation and outsourcing.



Staff augmentationOutsourcingDurationShort-termLong-termProject control100% project controlThe project is managed by the PM of the outsourced teamFlexibilityHighHighIntegration with the in-house teamEasyMore complexExpertiseSelective (depending on current needs)Extensive (includes QA engineers, business analysts, designers, etc.)



Final word



After answering the “what is staff augmentation” question, we hope you now feel more confident about deploying this model. Staff augmentation is a highly effective method for quickly scaling your team and adding the needed expertise to it. And if you need recommendations on how to select a reliable vendor, we have a series of articles dedicated to working with IT vendors - check out our blog or leave comments below in case you have any questions left.

### What Is Firewall in IoT: Safeguarding Your Connected Ecosystem

The rise of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has brought many benefits to different sectors, from smart homes and wearables to healthcare equipment. However, this increase in connectivity requires robust security measures to protect these devices and the data they collect. An essential component of IoT security is the IoT firewall, which plays an important role in shielding interconnected devices from potential cyber threats. 



In this article, we will answer the “what is firewall in IoT?” question and will look at the way a robust firewall works, its key features, and how it contributes to the overall security of an IoT ecosystem. 







What is a firewall in IoT?



An IoT firewall is a security tool made to protect communication and data transfer between IoT devices and the broader network. Its main job is to watch and control the traffic going to and from these devices, reducing the risk of unauthorized access, data breaches, DDoS attacks, and other cyber threats.



Internet of Things firewalls analyze data traffic from connected devices to find security risks, unusual patterns, or unauthorized access attempts. In a smart home, for instance, an IoT firewall watches devices like thermostats and cameras, spotting odd behavior that could signal a security problem. This helps prevent cyber threats and protects user privacy.



Besides checking data traffic, IoT firewalls manage how data moves in an Internet of Things system. They set rules for access, filter traffic, and use encryption to control communication between the said devices and outside networks. For example in industrial IoT, a firewall ensures that only approved devices and apps can interact with machinery.



How do they differ from regular firewalls?



Traditional firewalls focus on protecting centralized networks, managing traffic between defined points like servers and workstations based on port numbers and IP addresses. They aren't built to handle the unique security challenges of IoT devices. Consider a traditional firewall as a gatekeeper managing traffic through a single entrance to a building, allowing or denying based on specific criteria like identity cards. 



Now, envision a scenario with interconnected devices like smart thermostats, security cameras, and voice assistants. A traditional firewall, optimized for a singular entry point, may struggle to monitor and control the diverse and continuous communication patterns of these devices, leading to potential security vulnerabilities. This is where firewall for IoT devices come into play, offering tailored protection for their intricate network of communication.



IoT firewalls distinctive features include:




Granular control: IoT firewalls give detailed control for the devices, identifying and preventing unique threats like unauthorized access to sensors or devices.



Protocol awareness: firewalls understand IoT communication protocols (e.g., MQTT, CoAP), effectively monitoring and filtering their unique traffic for added security.



Behavior analysis: unlike traditional firewalls, IoT firewalls analyze device behavior continuously, proactively detecting and preventing security issues in IoT infrastructure.



Scalability and efficiency: designed for IoT networks, these firewalls work well in environments with many devices, ensuring security without slowing down the applications.



Traffic segmentation: firewalls divide devices into different network zones, keeping important systems separate from potentially risky ones. This stops threats from spreading and lessens the impact of security problems.




Several companies specialize in providing IoT firewall solutions, catering to the unique security needs of IoT ecosystems. Some prominent examples include:




Cisco. It is a global leader in networking and cybersecurity. Cisco offers a comprehensive IoT security platform that includes advanced firewall solutions. Their IoT-specific firewalls are designed to secure connected devices, enforce policies, and provide visibility into IoT traffic.



Palo Alto Networks. This company is renowned for its next-generation firewall solutions. Their IoT firewall solutions leverage machine learning and behavioral analytics to detect and prevent advanced threats targeting connected devices.



Armis. It specializes in Internet of Things security, offering a dedicated IoT firewall solution designed to safeguard connected devices and their associated networks. Armis' approach centers on continuous device monitoring, anomaly detection, and real-time threat response. 



Fortinet. It is a major cybersecurity firm with solutions designed to meet various security needs. Fortinet's IoT firewall solutions provide secure access, threat prevention, and network segmentation, protecting IoT deployments from evolving threats.



Check Point Software Technologies. Check Point is known for its comprehensive cybersecurity solutions. Their IoT firewalls include advanced threat prevention, secure connectivity, and centralized management. Check Point prioritizes reducing attack surfaces and addressing device vulnerabilities.




How does an IoT device firewall work?







As we already mentioned, IoT firewalls work by employing a range of security mechanisms to protect connected devices and networks. To better understand the process, let’s take a closer look at some of the key elements.



Packet filtering and inspection



One of the fundamental functions of IoT firewalls is packet filtering and inspection. This involves scrutinizing the data packets that flow to and from connected devices, allowing the firewall to make decisions based on predefined rules. By analyzing the source, destination, and content of each packet, the firewall can determine whether to permit or block its transmission. For instance, if a packet is found to originate from an unauthorized source or contains suspicious content, the firewall can promptly block it, thwarting potential cyberattacks such as denial-of-service (DoS) or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.



Intrusion detection and prevention



Intrusion detection and prevention capabilities are integral to the functionality of IoT firewalls. These systems are designed to identify and respond to anomalous activities that may signify an ongoing or imminent security breach. Using smart algorithms and pattern recognition, they can catch unauthorized access attempts, strange traffic, and other signs of potential threats. Once a threat is found, the firewall can act right away, like isolating the device or alerting security personnel to look into it.



Application-layer filtering for IoT protocols



IoT firewalls have a special feature for filtering at the application layer, designed for the various connected devices and their communication methods. This helps the firewall check and manage traffic in a way that fits the detailed nature of IoT communication, making sure only allowed and authorized interactions happen.



Types of firewalls for IoT devices



There are various types of firewalls designed for IoT devices, each with its own benefits and specific uses. Let's explore some of them.



Network firewalls



Network firewalls are like guards for connected devices, standing at the gateway. They watch and control the flow of data entering and leaving the network. Placed at the network's edge, they follow preset rules to filter data based on things like IP addresses and ports. These firewalls are useful in IoT setups with many connected devices, offering centralized control and a clear view of network traffic.



Cisco ASA (Adaptive Security Appliance) is a good example of a network firewall suitable for IoT deployment. It ensures network security with features like intrusion prevention, VPN capabilities, and deep packet inspection.



Cloud-based firewalls



Cloud-based firewalls are designed to protect interconnected devices using cloud services. Managed in the cloud, they offer scalable and centralized defense against unauthorized access and cybersecurity threats. Big cloud providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud offer cloud-based firewall solutions tailored for IoT devices. For instance, Amazon Web Services WAF shields IoT applications from common web attacks within the AWS environment.



Host-based firewalls



While network and application firewalls primarily focus on network traffic, host-based firewalls are deployed directly on individual IoT devices. These firewalls monitor and filter inbound and outbound network traffic specific to the host device on which they are installed. Host-based firewalls can effectively protect devices from unauthorized access, malware, and other malicious activities. Firewalls also allow organizations to implement tailored security policies for each device, accommodating diverse security requirements. For instance, Windows Firewall, part of Microsoft Windows, lets users set rules for incoming and outgoing traffic, adding an extra layer of defense for connected devices.



Embedded IoT firewalls



Embedded firewalls are made for interconnected devices with limited resources like memory and processing power. They're built right into the firmware or operating system of the device, giving lightweight protection without compromising performance. An example is the Mocana IoT Security Platform, offering a full set of cybersecurity features, including embedded firewall capabilities, for various connected devices.



Benefits of IoT security 







Implementation of an IoT firewall offers several key benefits, enhancing the security and functionality of interconnected devices and networks:




Device protection. Security firewalls safeguard the devices from potential cyber threats, ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of the data they manage.



Network security. By effectively monitoring and controlling network traffic, IoT firewalls help prevent unauthorized access and potential attacks on connected devices, enhancing the overall security of the network.



Threat mitigation. IoT firewalls employ advanced threat detection and prevention mechanisms, such as deep packet inspection and anomaly detection, to mitigate potential security risks affecting the devices and the network.



Customized security policies. Firewalls enable tailored security policies for individual devices, allowing organizations to address the diverse security requirements within their IoT ecosystem.



Regulatory compliance. By implementing robust security measures, these firewalls assist organizations in meeting regulatory compliance standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and others applicable to data privacy and protection.



Data integrity. Firewalls help maintain the integrity and authenticity of data transmitted and received by IoT devices, mitigating the risk of data manipulation and unauthorized access.




Challenges in IoT firewall implementation



While implementing a firewall for interconnected devices offers significant security advantages, it also introduces challenges and considerations that need to be addressed:




Device diversity. The wide variety of devices, each with different operating systems, communication protocols, and capabilities, complicates creating a universal security solution to address the specific needs of each device.



Limited resources. Many interconnected devices operate with limited processing power and memory, making it essential for IoT firewalls to be lightweight and efficient in their operations.



Interoperability issues. It is important for IoT firewalls to be compatible with a broad array of devices and protocols to ensure seamless integration and comprehensive protection.



Fast-paced changes. The swift evolution and continual introduction of new devices make it difficult to keep security measures up to date. Firewalls must adapt promptly to new technologies, functionalities, and potential vulnerabilities.



Standardization issues. The lack of standardized security protocols across the IoT industry complicates the establishment of consistent security measures, potentially leading to compatibility issues and hindering the creation of a unified security framework.



Integration with existing systems. Integrating IoT firewalls with existing IT infrastructure and security systems can be complex. Compatibility issues may arise, requiring careful planning and testing to ensure a seamless integration without compromising overall security.




How to implement IoT firewall for your devices



Establishing a firewall for your interconnected devices is crucial for ensuring their security and privacy. Here are some steps to consider when setting up this protective measure:



Assess your IoT ecosystem



Before implementing an IoT firewall, it's essential to assess your entire interconnected ecosystem. Identify all the devices connected to your network, including their manufacturers, communication protocols, and potential vulnerabilities. 



Analyze risks and vulnerabilities



Identify potential risks and vulnerabilities within your IoT network. Consider both internal and external factors that could pose security threats. This includes evaluating the data flow, communication protocols, and potential entry points for unauthorized access. The analysis will help you understand the weaknesses of your devices and specific security challenges your IoT ecosystem may face.



Choose the right solution



Selecting the right IoT firewall solution is important. Look for a firewall that is specifically designed for connected environments, offering features such as deep packet inspection, behavior analytics, and threat intelligence. Additionally, ensure that the firewall is capable of securing both traditional IT devices and IoT devices within the same network.



Implement access control policies



Define access control policies to regulate the communication between interconnected devices and the external network. Utilize firewall rules to restrict inbound and outbound traffic, allowing only authorized communication while blocking potential threats. Additionally, consider implementing role-based access control to manage user permissions within the Internet of Things network.



Secure device authentication



Implement strong device authentication mechanisms to verify the identity of each device attempting to connect to the network. Utilize technologies such as mutual authentication, digital certificates, and secure communication protocols to prevent unauthorized devices from gaining access to the network.



Monitor and update regularly



Continuous monitoring of your IoT firewall is essential to identify and mitigate evolving threats. Set up real-time alerts for suspicious activities and network anomalies. Furthermore, regularly update your firewall's firmware and security policies to address emerging vulnerabilities and ensure optimal protection.




 


Expert Opinion



The world of smart things is ubiquitous today. Few realize the potential risks these devices pose if compromised or inadequately protected. Malevolent actors can steal valuable personal information, inflict physical harm, or utilize your devices for further intrusion or to launch various attacks (including distributed denial-of-service - DDoS attacks) from seemingly innocuous objects. Securing oneself, protecting one's smart home, and safeguarding one's vehicle from breaches have become as essential as locking a door. 



However, if locks are readily available in any hardware store, securing IoT is not as straightforward. While traditional firewalls are predominantly employed in business settings and configured by specialists, regular individuals may encounter challenges with specialists. Therefore, IoT firewalls must be user-friendly without compromising security. Moreover, the protocols used by interconnected devices differ from those managed by conventional firewalls. Thus, in my opinion, the IoT firewall niche will develop in the coming years, welcoming new entrants to address these unique challenges.





SoftTeco Co-Founder



Alex Kutsko






 




The cost of using IoT firewalls



Businesses have the option of choosing subscription-based firewall pricing models, paying for the quantity of devices or the amount of secured traffic. Conversely, certain vendors provide perpetual licensing options for IoT security solutions. It is important to carefully assess security requirements, conduct thorough evaluations of different IoT firewall solutions, and consider the total cost of ownership. Some key considerations include:




The expenses for hardware, software, and additional security tools;



Licensing fees for commercial firewall solutions;



The scale of the deployment;



Costs associated with customization and integration;



Ongoing maintenance and support services;



External consultancy and expertise;



Employees training;



Compliance with industry-specific regulations and geographic requirements.




Conclusion



With the development of IoT technologies and their increasing integration into our daily lives, the role of firewalls in ensuring strong security becomes increasingly important. The implementation of robust IoT firewalls not only safeguards sensitive data but also fosters an environment ready for innovation, encouraging businesses and developers to explore new applications and services confidently. This drive for IoT integration extends across various domains, such as healthcare, agriculture, smart cities, and environmental monitoring. Therefore, prioritizing security and installing a firewall is essential for unlocking the full potential of interconnected technologies.

### Distributed Databases Explained: How Exactly Do They Work

If you have a powerful and scalable app and your database seems to be lagging behind, that might mean it’s time to consider a distributed database approach. Particularly valuable for work in the cloud, a distributed database is a great alternative to a traditional centralized database that often lacks the needed capacity and cannot effectively scale up and down upon request.



So what is a distributed database, exactly, and how do they work? Read below.







What is a distributed database?



As the name implies, a distributed database system is present in multiple locations; thus, it is not limited to one computer system. In other words, this database runs on multiple computers and hence, is much more scalable, effective, and powerful than a traditional database. Distributed databases have become especially popular in the cloud since cloud apps require a lot of resources and a very high level of flexibility. Obviously, you’ll need a distributed database management system to support this system.



A distributed database in DBMS can be:




Homogenous: all physical locations of the database run on the same hardware and have the same operating systems - this facilitates their management and configuration.



Heterogeneous: the hardware and operating systems of physical locations differ, which adds extra complexity and requires more resources and time.




In this way, the most commonly met distributed databases are homogenous. 



To gain an even better understanding of a distributed database and how it differs from a centralized database, let’s look at its main features:




Location-independent: since there are several machines involved, they are most often located at different sites, which adds to accessibility;



Data access: available to a ery big number of users at the same time;



Robustness: the system keeps functioning and is available even if one server fails.




As for distributed database examples, they include MongoDB, Azure Cosmos DB, Apache Cassandra, Couchbase Server, Amazon SimpleDB, and many others.



Benefits and challenges of distributed databases



In order to better understand the reason behind the popularity of distributed databases, let’s look at their main benefits – but also, at their biggest cons, so you know what kind of issues you might face. 



Benefits



As you can see, distributed databases offer several advantages over centralized ones. If we round them up, the main benefits are:



Scalability



By adding as many machines as you need, you achieve near-endless scalability and can easily scale the system up and down based on your current needs. This contributes to saving costs since you will allocate the resources precisely where and when you need them. 



High availability 



With distributed databases in DBMS, files are usually delivered to users from the nearest locations, meaning higher response time. And due to the independence from operating systems and hardware, a distributed system is much more available than a centralized database.



Fault tolerance 



As already mentioned, the data is distributed among several machines. So if one fails, it won’t lead to the whole system collapsing and the app will remain functioning. This is a significant advantage, especially for mission-critical applications requiring 24/7 availability.



Performance improvement



Being fault-tolerant and highly reliable, a distributed database ensures seamless app functioning and higher responsiveness. Hence, the performance is optimized significantly, leading to a better user experience and minimized risks.



Challenges



Despite being a highly effective solution to an overloaded database, data distribution also brings certain challenges to an organization that decides to implement it. Below, we list the main things to consider in advance if you want to adopt a distributed database.



Complexity



With great reliability and performance comes great complexity. Being a network with many independently functioning machines (that do not even share the same hardware), a distributed database calls for rigorous configuration and management. 



Cost



The more complex a software solution is, the more expensive it usually tends to be, and distributed databases are no exception. Numerous costs are associated with this database type, including maintenance, hardware, procurement, network, labor, and many more.



Data consistency



Since the data is distributed among numerous nodes, it becomes more difficult to maintain its consistency and integrity. When a small change is applied to one node, other nodes should be synchronized in order to reflect this change properly. Needless to say, data inconsistency results in data corruption and incorrect results, which is unacceptable, especially for mission-critical apps.



Security



The complex nature of distributed databases brings in one more consideration, aka security concerns. Even the smallest error in configuration can lead to major data leaks or unauthorized access. Hence, it is important to invest in robust security and ensure that every node is safeguarded properly.



Network latency



Though distributed databases claim to bring more efficiency to the database performance, they might also have network latency issues. Since data is transferred among nodes via network communication, this might result in network latency. This, in turn, might negatively impact the performance, so it’s critical to monitor and manage the speed and quality of network connections.



Types of distributed database architectures 



The distributed database architecture comes in various types:



Client-server architecture



In this architecture type, a centralized server manages all transactions, distributes load, manages data storage, and provides access control. Hence, when a client (user application) sends a request, it is received by this server, which then directs the query to the most available database machine. This approach is relatively simple regarding setup and configuration due to a two-level architecture.



Peer-to-peer architecture



In a peer-to-peer architecture, each node acts both as a client and a server. Thus, a node can act independently, including processing and storing the data as well as organizing communication with other nodes. Such an approach brings in a very high level of fault tolerance since the failure of a single load would not critically affect the performance of the whole system. 



Federated architecture



This approach to the distributed database architecture is a bit more complex than the ones mentioned above. In a federated architecture, there are several independent databases. But these heterogeneous databases are integrated via a middleware layer into a single meta−database, providing a common interface for the clients regarding data access and querying, so that they function as a single database system. 



Shared nothing architecture



A shared-nothing architecture implies that each node is responsible for a particular portion of the data - unlike in the federated architecture, where each node contains its own database. Hence, all nodes run independently, and it’s easy to add more nodes and thus scale the system. This approach is especially common with large-scale systems, like analytics platforms for big data.



How do distributed databases work? Ways of data distribution



We’ve talked about the architecture types of distributed systems - now let’s discuss how the data can be distributed across such a database. The method that you choose will depend on your business goals and needs, so we recommend studying all available options in advance.



Sharding



What is sharding? It is a horizontal scaling method that implies distributing the data across nodes (shards). The main goal of sharding is to make the load more manageable and add efficiency to the database performance. So, one way to do so is vertical scaling when the database is moved to a more powerful machine, and sharding is a horizontal distribution when there are simply more machines added to the cluster. In this way, you obtain near-endless scaling opportunities and greatly improve the reliability of your database. 



Note though, that sharding is most often used when you need to increase the read/write capacity. Also, there are various sharding types, so you’ll have to choose the one depending on the data that you store and process and what exactly you want to achieve. 



Replication



Unlike sharding, replication means that each machine contains a replica of a dataset (not part of it). This approach is mostly used for read-focused workloads, providing great data availability and effective load balancing. 



There are several approaches to data replication:




Full replication: exact copies of the dataset are stored on all machines, but this approach is quite costly in terms of storage and resource expenses.



Partial replication: only certain data pieces are replicated, depending on their relevance or on access patterns.



Multi-master replication: nodes accept read and write functions, which makes the database much faster and more fault-tolerant.




Specialized services



One more way to distribute the data in your database is by delegating part of the workload to a third-party provider. And while this approach helps improve the database efficiency, it also poses certain security risks since you won’t be in 100% control of your data.



Pros and cons of distributed databases



Now, let’s quickly wrap up the main pros and cons of data distribution:




 

Pros




  
Great scalability
  
High availability
  
High fault tolerance
  
Significant performance optimization





Cons




  
Complex setup and management
  
High costs
  
Possible data inconsistency
  
Security issues
  
Network latency

 




Summing up



What is a distributed database? Now we know the main strengths and weaknesses of this approach. If you have a complex application that demands scaling or need your database to catch up with the rest of the app, then database distribution might be the best solution. However, do not forget that before implementing it, a lot of work has to be done in advance so all your data remains secure and integral and that your app does not experience any downtime during the database transfer.

### What Is Performance Testing? Improving Stability and Reliability of Your App

Testing is an integral part of the development process as it helps ensure quality, security, and usability of software. One of its most important types is performance testing, aimed at evaluating how well your system performs in various conditions. 



So, what is performance testing? How exactly do you carry it out and what metrics are you paying attention to during the process? Read below to find out.







What is performance testing?



The performance testing meaning can be defined as a method that helps evaluate speed, responsiveness, stability, and reliability of a software application. The main goal of the process is to ensure the quality of the app and its seamless functioning in various conditions. Since you cannot predict the exact load volume that might occur, performance testing helps prepare the software for future load spikes and guarantee its failure-free operation even during extreme loads.



In addition to double-checking the quality of performance, this method also helps identify the most common performance issues and bottlenecks, such as:




Long load time: sometimes an app takes too long to load and that greatly impacts user experience;



Low response time: a low response time means a user has to wait to get a response from the app. Same as with long load time, low response time impacts user experience negatively.



Low scalability: the app cannot handle the growing load and cannot scale correspondingly, which results in failures.



Low throughput: a system cannot handle concurrent requests efficiently and thus, the data is transferred slower than needed;



Memory leaks: the consumed memory is not released properly, which leads to poor performance and potential system failures.



Database bottlenecks: occur with too slow database queries or with wrong indexing.



CPU bottlenecks: the CPU reaches its maximum capacity and cannot effectively execute tasks, thus impacting the performance.




Why performance testing is important



After understanding the performance testing definition, let’s look at its main benefits. Performance testing in software testing helps detect any existing issues and eliminate the factors that negatively affect the performance of the app. However, it’s not the only reason why organizations decide to conduct this process:




Preventing system’s failures and downtime: performance testing is a great proactive measure that helps address existing issues and vulnerabilities in advance and timely eliminate them, thus making the system more stable and robust.



Preparing for growth: if you plan to scale your app, this method is a highly effective way to check how ready the app is for future growth and what should be optimized to help it scale in a painless way.



Running software diagnostics: with the help of performance testing, organizations can regularly check their software and what kind of bottlenecks are to be eliminated.



Verifying the vendor’s claims: in order to check whether the system meets the stated specifications, organizations often run performance tests.



Collecting information for stakeholders: the results of performance tests are often presented to stakeholders as a proof of software’s stability and reliability.



Improving user experience: modern users expect their software products to be highly responsive and swift. So if an app does not meet these requirements and takes too long to load or respond, users will most likely abandon it. Needless to say that decreased user engagement has a direct and negative impact on a business.




Whatever reason you have for conducting performance testing, remember that the process requires a well-planned approach and several preparatory steps - we’ll talk about them in detail a bit later. For now, let’s look at the types of performance testing that are available for consideration.



The main types of performance tests



In order to accurately estimate the app’s performance in specific conditions, you need to emulate these conditions - this is where different methods come in. While there are two main types (load and stress testing), there are several of their variants that organizations use, depending on their specific business needs.



Load testing



This testing type evaluates how well a system performs under a specific (and anticipated) load by simulating the needed number of concurrent users and/or transactions. In this way, developers can identify potential bottlenecks that stop the system from scaling and implement needed optimizations. An interesting thing about load testing is that it can be applied to specific functionalities (i.e., a checkout) since for some parts of the app stellar performance and high responsiveness are critical.



Stress testing



Stress testing is aimed at evaluating the system’s performance under extreme and unexpected load volumes. In this way, developers estimate the app’s capacity limit and determine the breaking point where the system can no longer perform effectively. In addition to defining the app’s maximal capacity, stress testing also helps understand how long it will take the app to recover and what resources (CPUs, memory) are used the most.



There are two subsets:




Soak testing (endurance testing): the number of users (the load volume) increases gradually;



Spike testing: the number of users increases suddenly.




Scalability testing



This technique, as the name implies, tests the app’s ability to scale up and down in correspondence with the changing number of users. During this process, the number of users is specified and does not usually go beyond maximal limits. One of the biggest advantages of scalability testing is that it helps better plan the capacity addition for further performance improvement.



Capacity testing



Capacity testing is also aimed at estimating how well the app handles a specific number of users. The main difference here is that capacity testing estimates whether the system effectively handles the load that it was designed to. So in capacity testing you do not really go beyond the expected maximum - instead, you test the app’s capacity and whether anything prevents it from effective functioning.



The main metrics to consider and measure



There is a great variety of metrics that are usually measured and evaluated during the performance testing. Below, we list several examples:




Latency: the delay between the request initiation and the received response; 



Response time: the time it takes for a system to respond to a user’s request;



Throughput: the rate at which the application processes transactions or requests per unit of time;



Error rate: the percentage of requests that result in errors or failures;



Bandwidth: the volume of data (bits per second) that moves between workloads;



Memory: the amount of storage space available for a processor;



CPU interrupts per second: a number of interrupts a processor gets per second;



Peak response time: the longest time a system needs to respond while being under the peak load;



Session amounts: the maximum number of active sessions that can be open at once;



Average load time: the average amount of time it takes for a request to be delivered.




As you can see, most of the metrics revolve around the speed of a system’s response and the time it needs. Naturally, the faster the system responds, the better the user experience is. 



Performance testing process



While every software project is individual and hence requires an individual approach, there are several core performance testing stages that are to be included in every performance testing approach.



Definition of objectives and requirements



First, it is important to define clear requirements towards the testing process and establish objectives that you want to achieve. This includes understanding the expected load and defining thresholds and important metrics.



Creation of a test plan



Next, the testing team designs a test plan that normally describes the testing strategy, defines the testing environment, success criteria, and various test scenarios. By preparing a detailed test plan in advance, you ensure that your further activities will align with the business objectives and will help measure the right metrics.



Design of test scenarios



Think of test scenarios as of simulations of real-world user interactions with the system. In this way, a test scenario includes a set of actions that a user might perform and covers multiple aspects, like peak load, stress conditions, etc. This is needed to identify how an app performs in both expected and unexpected conditions. 



Configuration of test environment



Since testing does not happen in the production environment, you need to mirror it in the testing environment by properly configuring the latter. This includes configuration of hardware and software as well as network.



Execution of tests



Once everything is ready, the testing team performs the tests. The process includes the application of the simulated load and measurement and collection of defined metrics. This is important so the team later analyzes the system’s performance, assembles a report and, based on that, performs retesting.



Results analysis



As already mentioned, during the execution of tests, the team monitors real-time results and collects them. This data is then thoroughly analyzed to identify the bottlenecks and areas for improvement. 



Retesting



Once the defined improvements are implemented and the system is analyzed, the team performs retesting to see whether optimization indeed addressed the existing issues. Some of the activities involved in optimization often include changes in code, configuration tweaks, or augmentation of the infrastructure. 



Reporting and creation of documentation



After the system is retested and its performance meets all needed criteria, the team creates an extensive report where it summarizes key findings and provides recommendations for further optimization. The creation of documentation is very important as it helps monitor changes in the system behavior and serves as a source of truth for any further activities, while also adding transparency to the internal processes.



Final word



Now that we’ve answered the “what is performance testing?” question, it’s clear that performance testing is a highly effective method for understanding how your app performs and what can be improved. However, it is important to accurately design the tests and prepare everything in advance so that the testing process brings benefits, not additional challenges.

### ASP vs SaaS: Understanding The Right Software Model For You

In the realm of software delivery models, the choices that businesses make can significantly impact their operations, efficiency, and scalability. Two prominent models, application service provider and software as a service, represent distinct approaches to delivering software applications.



In this article, we will explore and compare ASP vs SaaS, shedding light on their definitions, delivery methods, limitations, and other aspects. 







Understanding an application service provider



Emerged in the late 1990s, an application service provider (ASP) refers to a model where a provider hosts and manages software applications and makes them available for the customers through the Internet or a private network. We can say that it's a way for businesses to outsource their software needs without buying and managing the hardware themselves. It's commonly used in industries needing sophisticated software solutions.



ASP services can range from simple applications like email and document editing to more complex enterprise-level solutions such as customer relationship management (CRM) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. 



ASPs can be categorized based on their primary functionality and the services they offer. There are:




Enterprise ASP: focus on providing comprehensive solutions for large organizations, offering scalability and customization to meet specific business requirements;



Local/regional providers: serve businesses within a specific geographical area, offering localized support and services tailored to the needs of that particular market;



Specialist ASP: provide specific services tailored to meet the needs of a particular industry, for example EHR systems for healthcare.



Volume business ASP: target small and medium-sized enterprises, offering cost-effective, standardized solutions that can be easily deployed and managed;



Vertical market providers: concentrate on serving businesses operating within a specific industry or vertical market, such as manufacturing, retail, etc. 




In the ASP model, the software is typically created and owned by third-party independent software vendors (ISV). ASPs specialize in hosting and managing the software developed by these external vendors. Basically, the ASP customer purchases the software and pays a provider to host and maintain it. Thus, the person installing the software might not have all the knowledge about it, which can make things less efficient and slow when solving problems. 



Traditional ASPs use a single-tenant architecture and may need users to install a lightweight client application on their computers for access. As for the payment, ASP involves a subscription-based or pay-as-you-go model. In other words, businesses pay a regular subscription fee to the service provider for accessing and using the hosted software services. The ASP distributed software is usually purchased over a long term with larger billing cycles.



Some ASPs may implement usage-based charges, where the cost is determined by the volume of usage, such as the number of users, transactions, or data storage. Besides, depending on the ASP, there might be initial implementation or setup costs as well. 



Overall, ASPs can provide many things, such as:




Software hosting and management;



Platform as a service (PaaS);



Outsource servers, storage, and networking components;



Technical support and maintenance;



Updates and upgrades;



Customization and integration.




Application service providers can easily adjust their services to meet the changing needs of their clients, whether it's about the number of users or resources. ASPs might let you choose where your data is stored, allowing you to decide whether to keep it in your business location's jurisdiction or where the host's servers are. To make a decision, you should consider factors such as data protection laws, compliance regulations, and your company's policies.





Not sure which software model fits your needs?



Our IT consulting services will help you navigate the complexities of technology decisions, ensuring you choose the right solution tailored to your business needs, goals, and growth potential.




Contact us






Understanding software as a service



SaaS, or software as a service, represents a modern software delivery model where the software and associated data are centrally hosted in the cloud. In contrast to ASP, which can require software installation on users' PCs, SaaS relies entirely on the web and can be accessed through a web browser. One of the primary advantages of SaaS is its accessibility and cross-platform compatibility. It also extends the concept of the ASP model, as SaaS vendors typically develop and manage their own software, instead of using third-party vendors.



SaaS uses a multi-tenant architecture. This means that multiple customers share the same instance of the software. ASPs, on the other hand, often involve single tenancy, which means that each customer has their own instance of the software. 



As for the cost, the payment is on subscription or pay-as-you-use basis. Besides, SaaS solutions often have a free trial period or free subscription with limited functionality. 



There are a lot of available SaaS solutions that cover functionalities from business operations and collaboration to specific industry needs. For example, Salesforce and HubSpot CRMs, Google Workspace, Trello and Shopify. 



ASP vs SaaS: key differences



There is a common belief that the SaaS model is simply a rebranded version of ASP. Some argue that ASP is merely an outdated label for SaaS. In reality, these are two distinct business models utilized for different objectives.



ASP is similar to renting a house. It allows you to fully customize the software and the environment where it's hosted. You have the flexibility to tailor everything to your specific needs.



With SaaS, it's more like having a membership to a gym. You have access to all the equipment and facilities without having to worry about maintenance, cleaning, or space. It's all managed for you. You simply pay for the membership and use the services.



Thus, when comparing SaaS vs ASP, several factors come into play, influencing their suitability for different use cases and organizational needs. Let’s take a closer look at some of the key differences between those two models.



Deployment



As we already mentioned, ASPs typically involve hosting and managing software applications on behalf of clients, often requiring installation on users' PCs. It operates on a client-server model with a focus on individualized instances.



On the other side, SaaS employs a centralized model where the software is hosted in the cloud and is accessed over the Internet. It follows a multi-tenant architecture, allowing multiple users to share the same instance of the software.



Ownership and maintenance



One of the primary distinctions between SaaS vs ASP is the ownership and maintenance of the software. In the SaaS model, the provider retains ownership of the software and is responsible for its maintenance, updates, and security. In contrast, ASP may involve the customer owning the software licenses, with the provider managing the infrastructure and maintenance.



Cost structure



SaaS typically operates on a subscription-based model, where users pay a recurring fee for access to the software. This can be advantageous for businesses as it spreads the cost over time and may include updates and support. ASP, on the other hand, may involve upfront costs for software licenses and hardware, with ongoing maintenance and support fees.



Accessibility and scalability



Accessibility and scalability are essential features of SaaS solutions. SaaS makes it easy to access applications from anywhere with an Internet connection, which is great for remote work. It's also designed to scale, so businesses can adjust how much they use based on what they need. Comparing ASP vs SaaS, ASP solutions might offer similar benefits, but their infrastructure setup can impact accessibility from diverse locations and adaptability to evolving requirements.



Data storage



In the ASP model, data storage and management typically reside on the customer's premises or in a third-party data center. This means that the customer is responsible for the security, maintenance, and backup of their data. When comparing SaaS vs ASP, it's important to note that SaaS solutions frequently employ cloud-based data storage, where the provider takes charge of data security, redundancy, and disaster recovery. This significant distinction can have implications for data privacy, compliance, and overall risk management.



Application service provider vs SaaS: challenges and limitations



Both ASP and SaaS models have their own issues and limitations. These range from concerns about data security and customization to problems related to network dependency and integration complexities. Businesses should carefully assess their specific requirements and weigh these challenges against the benefits of each model before making a decision.



Therefore, let's first consider some of the problems you may encounter when using each of the models.



First off, ASP:




Dependency on network quality. In ASP, even though the software isn't web-based, a good internet connection is necessary for smooth communication with the hosted applications. If the internet is slow or unreliable, users might face disruptions accessing applications.



Customization challenges. Some ASPs offer limited customization options, making it challenging for businesses with unique requirements to tailor applications to their specific needs.



Potential integration issues. Integrating ASP-hosted applications with existing systems can be complex, and compatibility issues may arise when trying to connect with other software or services.




As for the SaaS model, the challenges can be the following:




Limited control over infrastructure. Users have minimal control over the underlying infrastructure in SaaS models, which can be a limitation for businesses requiring specific configurations or advanced customization.



Internet dependency. SaaS applications require a reliable internet connection. Users may face challenges if they operate in areas with poor connectivity or experience internet outages.



Vendor lock-in. Adopting SaaS solutions can lead to vendor lock-in, making it challenging to switch providers due to data format differences and dependencies on the specific SaaS provider's ecosystem.




However, there are also some issues that are common for ASP and SaaS models:




Compliance and legal issues. Adhering to data protection and privacy regulations is a shared challenge. Both ASPs and SaaS providers must navigate compliance issues to ensure that their services meet legal requirements.



Transition and integration challenges. Migrating existing systems to ASP or SaaS models and ensuring smooth integration with other tools can be complex and may pose challenges during the transition phase.



Cost considerations. While ASP and SaaS models can offer cost savings, they may also incur unexpected costs, such as fees for additional features or increased usage.




SaaS vs ASP: comparison



Let's break down the comparison of ASP vs SaaS to give you a comprehensive view of each model.



FeatureASPSaaSDeploymentHosting and managing for individual clientsCentralized hosting in the cloudAccessibilityMay require dedicated software installationsAccessible via web browsersScalabilityScaling may involve setting up new instancesInherently scalable, shared infrastructureMaintenance and updatesClients may be responsible for maintenanceManaged entirely by providersResource allocationIndividually for each clientShared among multiple users



Conclusion



In simple terms, ASP and SaaS are different in how they deliver software. ASP, with a broader history, covered various internet services including software, but has evolved into more specific categories like SaaS, IaaS (infrastructure as a service), and PaaS (platform as a service). In contrast, SaaS is a modern term specifically focusing on delivering software over the internet through a subscription model. SaaS is now the more common approach for cloud-based software. Its ease of access, minimal maintenance, and predictable costs make it an attractive option for many organizations.

### Cloud-Agnostic vs Cloud-Native: Which is Better for Your Business?

According to Exploding Topics, the cloud applications market is worth more than $150 billion, and 60% of the world’s corporate data is stored in the cloud. As cloud computing adoption grows, we see more integration of cloud development in the market. Many reasons are behind this, including endless cloud capabilities that bring better scalability, flexibility, cost savings, and adoption of advanced technologies. 



But when it comes to cloud development, companies try to figure out which cloud platform will be more efficient, maintainable, and ultimately more profitable: cloud native or cloud agnostic. While both approaches offer developers impressive cloud-based capabilities, their management and design differ. This article sheds light on the differences between cloud-native vs. cloud-agnostic development and their pros and cons to help you choose the right solution.







What is cloud-native development?



Cloud-native development is a software development approach that uses cloud computing capabilities to build, deploy, and manage apps. The cloud-native architecture allows developers to build apps tailored to a specific cloud environment, whether it is public, private, or hybrid. Typically, companies use third-party cloud providers like AWS or Azure by leveraging their inherent features and plugins. It allows developers to focus on app development instead of complicated backend configurations. 



One key feature of cloud-native development is that it is based on microservice architecture. The microservice architecture distributes resources efficiently among services. These microservices work independently and take fewer computing resources, making cloud-native apps more flexible and adaptable to any changes.



At its core, cloud-native development combines advanced technologies and DevOps practices to create highly scalable, flexible, and resilient solutions. Among the key components of cloud-native development are:



Immutable infrastructure



It is a deployment model in which servers are never modified after deployment. When an update or modification is needed, a new server is built from a common image and is provisioned to replace the old one. This infrastructure leverages automation and Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) practices to achieve increased consistency, reliability, scalability, and a more predictable deployment process while reducing issues related to immutable architecture.



Microservices



Microservices are independent components that communicate with each other through well-defined APIs. Cloud-native apps are designed as a set of small, independent services, each responsible for a specific business function. Using microservices, developers can modify an application while it continues to run even if one container fails.



Containers



Containers are lightweight and portable software components containing code and its dependencies (libraries, frameworks). They provide a consistent and isolated environment of the underlying operating system and hardware for running apps. They enable seamless deployment across various environments. Containers are essential in containerization, allowing cloud-native applications to be packaged, deployed, and scaled efficiently.



API



An application program interface (API) allows apps to exchange information. In the context of cloud-native apps, APIs enable seamless integration and interaction between various microservices, allowing them to work together smoothly. Moreover, APIs promote interoperability, enabling apps to leverage third-party services or integrate with external systems.



Service mesh



A service mesh is an infrastructure layer for handling communication, management, and monitoring between microservices in a cloud-native app. It provides a range of functionalities to enhance the interaction between services, including traffic management, security, observability, and resilience.



DevOps



DevOps, short for development and operations, is a set of practices and principles that help improve collaboration and communication between software development teams and IT operations. The main goal is to streamline the software delivery lifecycle, enhance the quality of software releases, and enable continuous, reliable delivery of apps. 



Continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/ CD)



Continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) are DevOps practices that help developers deliver code changes more frequently and reliably. CI focuses on the continuous integration of code changes and the creation of deployable artifacts, whereas CD automates the deployment process, allowing for the seamless and reliable delivery of apps anywhere. Together, they enhance speed, reduce manual effort, and ensure that apps are always in a deployable state.



Serverless



Serverless computing is a cloud-native model where developers can build and run apps without managing underlying infrastructure. In a serverless architecture, the cloud provider automatically manages server provisioning, maintenance, and scaling, letting developers focus on coding.



The above components and practices make it easy for developers to build scalable cloud-native solutions that can be updated quickly, meeting changing customer needs. But there are even more reasons why this cloud development approach is so popular.



Pros and cons of cloud-native development



Adopting cloud-native development comes with many pros that align with modern software development demands. Here are some of them: 




Increased efficiency: cloud-native development supports DevOps practices that provide developers with automated tools to help them build scalable apps more rapidly.



Reduced operation cost: by adopting a cloud-native approach, companies do not need to invest in buying and maintaining expensive physical infrastructure, reducing long-term operational costs;



Automation: cloud-native development automates various processes, such as testing, deployment, and infrastructure provisioning, which results in fewer errors, improved efficiency, and a consistent development process;



Scalability: cloud-native apps are designed to scale easily based on demand, which allow them to handle varying workloads seamlessly;



Resilience: with microservices architecture, apps can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently, enabling easy updates and fault tolerance and minimizing the impact on the overall system;



Fast time-to-market: cloud-native development accelerates time-to-market by facilitating rapid development, deployment, and updates, thus helping organizations stay competitive.




Cons of the cloud-native approach include:




Complexity: apps can be more challenging to develop and manage as the microservices architecture is more complex by nature;



Cost: while apps can reduce operational costs in the long run, they also require substantial upfront investments in infrastructure, employee training, and specialized tools;



Vendor lock-in: cloud-native apps are difficult to port to other platforms/providers as they are built using custom tools and services specific to a particular cloud provider;



Security: these apps are more vulnerable to threats due to their microservice architecture. Also, they are often built with open-source software, which may lead to security issues as well;



Cultural shift: adapting to cloud-native processes requires changing organizational culture, bringing new development methodologies, collaboration models, and continuous improvement practices.




To overcome these challenges, you will need to carefully plan and monitor your operations and adhere to the best development practices. Now, let's move on to the alternative cloud software development option.



What is cloud-agnostic development?



Cloud-agnostic development refers to a software approach that works with any cloud platform. In other words, it involves designing applications and services that can migrate seamlessly between cloud platforms or on-premises and cloud without disruption. Based on that, organizations can seamlessly migrate from one platform (Azure, AWS, Google Cloud) to another based on their specific business needs, pricing, performance, and other factors.



The cloud-agnostic approach aims to support seamless portability regardless of the operating system/ It also aims to limit disruptions to workloads during migration and to reduce the risk of app downtime and cost. Companies benefit from this approach for several reasons, listed below.



Pros and cons of cloud-agnostic development 



Cloud-agnostic development provides such key benefits as:




Reduced vendor lock-in: rather than being dependent on a single cloud provider, companies can integrate tools, services, and technologies more easily, allowing them to adapt as their needs change;



Reduced cost: as cloud-agnostic does not rely on the vendor, organizations can select the cloud provider pricing that is most appropriate for them, resulting in cost savings;



Flexibility: companies can choose from multiple cloud service providers to meet their specific needs, budgets, or performance requirements;



Scalability: application and service providers that are cloud-agnostic can move between cloud platforms, allowing them to scale up quickly when needed;



Consistent performance: businesses benefit from consistent performance (speed and scale) through increased features and options, regardless of the platform or infrastructure they use;



Risk management: rather than relying on a single cloud provider, companies can efficiently and promptly address issues when one of the cloud platforms is down.




At the same time, cloud-agnostic has its cons, including:




Limited integration with services: cloud-agnostic platforms tend to integrate with multiple cloud providers, making it difficult to fully use the unique features and services offered by a single provider;



Increased management overhead: cloud-agnostic platform can be more complicated and resource-heavy, which may take more time and effort to configure, maintain, and troubleshoot;



Potential performance impact: workloads optimized for a specific cloud provider may perform less efficiently when deployed in a cloud-agnostic environment. To ensure platform compatibility, you might sacrifice the performance.



Lack of support: cloud providers offer specialized support for their services, which a cloud-agnostic approach may miss;



Security and compliance: as each cloud provider has its own security tools and compliance certifications, it can be challenging to ensure a consistent level of security;



Compatibility issues: may require frequent updates and adjustments to maintain compatibility with multiple cloud platforms.




Organizations need to weigh these drawbacks against the benefits to determine the suitability of a cloud-agnostic strategy based on their priorities. 



Cloud-agnostic vs. cloud-native: which is better?



The best way to figure out whether cloud-native or cloud-agnostic is better for your business is to understand their differences. In the table below, we compare the cloud-native approach vs. cloud-agnostic ones based on key aspects:



Cloud-nativeCloud-agnosticImplementationFaster for specific cloud providers due to direct integration with native servicesLonger due to the need for abstraction layers and compatibility checksPerformanceIncreased performance because each component works on a small segmentVariable performance depending on the capabilities of cloud providersFlexibilityLimited flexibility across different cloud providers due to tight integration with native servicesHigh to seamlessly migrate and operate on various cloud platforms PortabilityChallenging to migrate to another cloud providerEasy to migrate between cloud providersDependencyClose integration with services and features of a specific cloud providerEliminates vendor lock-in and dependency on their specific featuresResilienceDepends on the resilience features of the selected cloud providerOffers resilience through the ability to switch between cloud providers in case of issuesTime to marketFaster due to pre-built templates, tools, and infrastructure that is ready to useLonger due to additional compatibility and abstraction considerationCostOffers pay-as-you-go models based on their licensing and storage needsOffers potential cost savings via different options of cloud providersCompanies useNetflix, Spotify, AirbnbSnowflake, HashiCorp, PagerDuty



Potential benefits and risks of combining both approaches



According to Faction, 92% of organizations have a multi-cloud strategy in place or underway, and 82% of large enterprises have adopted a hybrid cloud infrastructure. These numbers show that enterprises tend to adopt multi-cloud strategies - a mix of cloud environments and providers. This approach allows organizations to build, operate, access, and secure their apps across multiple clouds. 



Combining cloud-native and cloud-agnostic approaches can offer powerful capabilities by reducing each other's limitations. For example, cloud-native apps may lack portability, while a cloud-agnostic system can improve this issue. The expansive features of a cloud-agnostic provide flexibility for tailoring cloud-native tools to specific needs and scaling them according to business conditions.



However, combining these two approaches can be tricky. One of the main challenges is complexity. Cloud-agnostic solutions can provide more flexibility but are more difficult to configure and manage than cloud-native ones. Another issue is security risks. When moving data and services between cloud providers, cloud-agnostic can pose additional security risks. Despite this, organizations can avoid possible problems by implementing a hybrid approach. This means some components of an application can be built using a cloud-native approach and others a cloud-agnostic one.



Thus, before combining both approaches into your workflows, it is essential to in-depth consider their challenges and your own business capabilities.



Conclusion



Cloud-native and cloud-agnostic solution is a compromise between the capabilities of a single provider and multiple ones. Cloud-native solutions are preferred by companies that need advanced capabilities within their own cloud platform. Cloud-native apps are based on microservices that scale based on business needs. If one component fails, the whole system will continue to function. While cloud-native architecture provides agility, it also comes with risks of vendor lock-in and platform limitations.



On the other hand, cloud-agnostic solutions are best for companies that want more control over costs and can adjust spending if necessary. In their architecture, apps run on any cloud provider independently of a particular cloud platform toolkit. Instead, they integrate with a mix of open-source and vendor-provided tools. However, it may be limited in its functionality and add complexity to system design, maintenance, and security. Ultimately, businesses must decide what type of solution to build - cloud-agnostic vs. cloud-native - based on budget constraints, time, scalability, and architecture requirements.

### The .NET 8 Release Date: Long-Awaited Updates and Improvements

We're excited to bring you .NET 8, released on November 14 at the three-day virtual event .NET Conf 2023. This highly anticipated release is not just about new features but is a step forward that expands the capabilities of .NET. The latest version provides developers with improved performance, language features, native support, AI and more, expanding development capabilities. 



Since .NET 8 is a long-term support (LTS) release, it is likely to be adopted by most .NET development teams that expect the platform to meet their needs. To help you understand what new features .NET 8 brings and why it may become a game-changer in software development, we prepared a detailed overview of .NET 8 below.







A brief evolution of the .NET framework 



.NET has a tremendous history that influences its modern updates and improvements. So before we dive into the long-awaited review of .NET 8, let's take a step back and look at the most prominent milestones in its history:



.NET Framework. Microsoft developed the .NET Framework around the end of the 1990s. It was a high-performance, multi-language environment for building and running web services. In 2002, the first version of .NET was released, and it was designed to run on Windows, primarily for desktop apps.



ASP .NET came from traditional ASP. The term "ASP" stands for Active Server Pages, a technology for creating dynamic, server-side content. Microsoft enhanced this web technology and embedded it in the .NET framework. Due to its common language runtime (CLR) technology, ASP.NET can be used with any .NET language.



ASP.NET is an open-source framework for creating dynamic and interactive web apps, services, and websites based on the .NET framework. As ASP.NET came out, web development became part of the .NET ecosystem.



.NET Core. In response to the growing demand for cross-platform development, Microsoft released ASP.NET Core in 2016. It was a modular web framework for building different types of apps. It was enhanced in terms of performance and support for cloud-based and container-based apps. By introducing .NET Core, Microsoft made progress towards cross-platform development.



.NET 5. With .NET's evolution, it faced challenges and competitors, for example, Java. But, since the .NET 5 framework was rolled out in 2020, the .NET community has grown. .NET 5 is a free, open-source, cross-platform framework for building diverse and high-performance apps. It combines the best capabilities of .NET Core, .NET Framework, and Xamarin into a single unified platform. This platform allows developers to build diverse solutions, such as web, Windows desktop, mobile, AI to gaming.



The web framework ASP.NET Core, integrated with .NET 5, has been updated with new features. With its improvements in runtime, garbage collection, and just-in-time compilation (JIT), apps run faster than before. The updated C# 9 and F# 5 languages offered developers new features, improved syntax, and enhanced capabilities.



.NET 6, launched on November 8, 2021, is a cross-platform, open-source framework that emphasizes a unified platform for diverse apps. It has a long-term support (LTS) release, ensuring three years of support across multiple operating systems. C# 10 and F# 6 are integrated into .NET 6 to enhance developer productivity and code readability.



This release came with a lot of features and enhancements. The main of them include Dynamic Profile-Guided Optimization (PGO), integration with .NET MAUI, native AOT and changes in Blazor for creating web and native UIs. The introduction of Hot Reload feature for real-time code modification without restarting an app, is also worth noting. As a result, developers can build cross-platform applications faster and more efficiently.



.NET 7, released on November 8, 2022, is a robust, open-source framework designed for building high-performance, cloud-ready apps. It follows the standard-term support (STS) model, ensuring updates and support for 18 months. This release places a significant emphasis on performance improvements, introducing features like on-stack replacement (OSR), profile-guided optimization (PGO), enhanced code generation for Arm64, Native AOT (ideal for console apps), and advancements in the Mono runtime.



Additionally, .NET 7 incorporates C# 11 language features, F# 7, and Visual Studio 17.4, contributing to overall developer productivity and supporting a wide range of modern solutions from web, mobile to cloud-native.



Now, what about .NET 8?





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What is .NET 8?



.NET 8, was released on November 14, 2023, along with C# 12 and Visual Studio 17.8. It is the latest version of the .NET development platform, which delivers performance, stability, and security as well as platform, and tooling improvements. Altogether, they level up developers’ productivity and software development speed. It is essential for enterprises that .NET 8 has a long-term support (LTS) release. Hence, it will be supported and patched for three years rather than 18 months, like standard-term support (STS), ensuring consistent support, updates, and bug fixes.



Microsoft focuses on several improvements, including cloud integration (Aspire), enhanced performance, full-stack Blazor, Artificial Intelligence, and .NET MAUI capabilities for cross-platform development. Now, .NET 8 reshapes how developers build intelligent, cloud-native apps and high-traffic services that scale on demand. It is suitable for deploying on Linux, Windows and cloud environments. Let's look at these features and improvements in more detail below.



Key updates in .NET 8



Compared to previous releases of .NET, at first glance, the latest version does not have many new features. However, .NET 8 was optimized with improved performance and simplified syntax. To make this happen, .NET 8 comes with the following updates:



Improved native AOT support



There are notable improvements in Native AOT (Ahead-of-Time) support in .NET 8, enhancing its capabilities even more. Native AOT support helps developers create self-contained apps compiled to native code, eliminating the need to install the .NET runtime. This optimization is highly beneficial for scenarios where fast startup times and lower resource consumption are critical, such as serverless or containerized environments, allowing .NET to compete with other solutions like Go. 



A new one in AOT supports x64 and Arm64 architectures on macOS. In addition, it reduces the size of native AOT apps on Linux by up to 50%. As a result of improved native AOT compilation, developers take advantage of:




Improved startup time;



Increased loading speed;



Minimized memory footprints;



Reduced executable size;



Eliminated the need for a Just-In-Time compiler;



Reduced time and cost of executing the process;



Improved user experience and satisfaction.




But native AOT also has some limitations:




Limited compatibility with certain ASP.NET Core features and libraries;



Requires careful navigation around constraints;



Not all libraries support AOT compilation.




Native AOT support in .NET 8 contributes to the platform's goals, prioritizing performance, versatility, and simplified development across diverse deployment scenarios. For developers looking to create high-performance, self-contained apps, native AOT compilation in .NET 8 offers a significant benefit. AOT compatibility and additional libraries and features will be improved in future versions.



Unparalleled performance 



.NET 8 is known for its unparalleled performance across the stack compared to previous versions. It comes from a new code generator, Dynamic Profile-Guided Optimization (PGO), by default. In .NET 8, it optimizes code based on the AVX-512 instruction set, enabling parallel operations on 512-bit data vectors for faster processing of more data in less time. As a result, the performance of apps is improved by up to 20%, providing a better user experience and reduced bounce rates.



Also, .NET 8 introduces a new formattable and parsable interface for primitive types, especially numerical types. This interface facilitates direct formatting and parsing in UTF-8 without transcoding overhead. With .NET 8, developers can work with numerical data more efficiently, which increases application speed and responsiveness. Due to this, .NET 8 is up to 24% faster than .NET 7 (according to the Fortunes benchmark).



.NET Aspire 



While .NET 8 includes some cloud-native features, the most prominent is the first preview of .NET Aspire. It is a cloud-ready stack for creating observable, production-ready, configurable cloud-native apps. It simplifies the development process by providing valuable abstractions for managing service discovery, environment variables, and container configurations without handling low-level details. For this, .NET Aspire comes with a set of components, such as:




Service discovery: to help developers discover and configure essential dependencies for cloud-native apps;



Telemetry: telemetry components that collect and analyze data about the application's performance, allowing developers to monitor and optimize their apps;



Resilience: to handle failures and provide disaster recovery mechanisms, ensuring the availability and reliability of apps;



Health Checks: health check components to help developers monitor the health of their apps and identify potential issues.




.NET Aspire is designed to work with various cloud providers, such as Azure, and is not tied to any specific cloud platform. It simplifies the complexity of building cloud-native apps by providing NuGet packages to address particular cloud computing issues. But the first preview version of .NET Aspire comes with .NET 8 and will be available in spring of 2024. 



.NET 8 container enhancements 



The container images continue to be optimized, and .NET 8 brings many containerization updates to simplify the building, deployment, and management of apps that run consistently in various environments. Among them are:




Non-root user: every .NET image includes a non-root user, enabling more secure containers through one-line configuration;



Generated-image defaults: you can use .NET containers without root access, helping your apps remain secure by default;



Build multi-platform container images: .NET 8 allows you to build multi-platform container images, improving compatibility and flexibility;



ASP.NET composite images: ASP.NET Docker images that contain a composite version of the runtime simplify deployment and make the runtime easily accessible;



Container size: .NET 8 optimizes container sizes for smaller, more resource-efficient container images;



Container publishing: the .NET SDK tooling now publishes container images without a Dockerfile and is non-root by default, making deployment faster;



Chiseled Ubuntu images: .NET 8 offers optional Chiseled Ubuntu images for versatile architecture support;



Simplified testing on Kubernetes: .NET 8 introduces an environment variable for the User Identification (UID) of the non-root, making Kubernetes testing easier.








Improved Artificial Intelligence



With .NET 8, AI integration has become more seamless, faster, and stable. .NET 8 added many features, including improved AI support for developers. Now it is easy for them to apply AI with top-notch, out-of-the-box AI features in the .NET SDK and seamlessly integrate them with multiple tools. Other AI-related features include:




Integration with generative AI workloads: .NET 8 introduces enhancements to the System.Numerics library to improve its compatibility with generative AI workloads, such as integrating Tensor Primitives;



Collaboration with AI partners: .NET 8 has collaborated with partners like Azure OpenAI, Azure Cognitive Search, and Microsoft Teams to provide easy access to various AI models, services, and platforms through their SDKs;



Open-source Semantic Kernel SDK: this SDK simplifies the integration of AI components into new and existing apps, helping developers build innovative user experiences;



Pre-built AI models: with .NET 8, developers can easily add advanced features to their apps through pre-built AI models, such as emotion, sentiment detection, or search;



ML.NET framework: developers can build, train, and deploy high-quality custom ML models for various scenarios with new metrics APIs, anomaly detection algorithms, and TensorFlow. 




These features make .NET apps more AI-ready, providing tech-savvy users with unique AI-powered experiences.



Blazor 



Improved Blazor is another update in .NET 8, offering a full-stack web UI framework that supports both server-side rendering (Blazor WebAssembly) and client-side (Blazor Server) in a single programming model. With Blazor components, developers can build any type of web UI with different rendering models for static, interactive, and hybrid scenarios. It also lets developers dynamically switch between server and client at runtime, reducing page load time. Apart from that, Blazor has the following features:




Statiс server-side rendering;



Enhanced navigation and form handling;



Data display using the QuickGrid;



Identity authentication;



Auto-select rendering at runtime;



Per-component interactivity;



Streaming rendering.




These features, along with the unified hosting models and improved project structure, make Blazor in .NET 8 a powerful tool for developers looking to build modern web apps with a rich and interactive user experience.



Enhanced .NET MAUI



.NET Multi-platform App UI extends the developer's toolkit, offering a single framework for building cross-platform mobile and desktop apps. With .NET 8, .NET MAUI prioritizes quality with a focus on enhancing performance and fixing bugs. Also, it aligns with the latest Xcode 15 and Android API 34 versions, allowing developers to build robust apps in the latest environments. Other features of the .NET MAUI include:




Controls: NET 8 includes new controls, such as drag-and-drop enhancements on Windows, Mac Catalyst, and iOS, allowing developers to create more interactive and user-friendly apps;



Type deprecation and removal: although the release notes do not explicitly mention type deprecation or removal, it is common for .NET MAUI to change its API surface, which may impact developers using specific types of features;



Behavior changes: .NET 8 brings essential high-priority fixes in areas like layout, memory leaks, and CollectionView. It also introduces new functionality, such as Controls that support text input gaining extension methods for hiding and showing the soft input keyboard, and the ContentPage class gaining a HideSoftInputOnTapped property;



Performance: there are plenty of performance changes in .NET MAUI 8, including new features, AndroidStripILAfterAOT, AndroidEnableMarshalMethods, NativeAOT on iOS, resulting in a significant increase in quality. 




These advancements improve cross-platform app performance and quality. In turn, using .NET MAUI helps developers to reduce development time and costs and accelerates time-to-market for their apps. MAUI has many out-of-the-box controls and layouts, so developers do not have to write custom controls or rely on third-party libraries. Instead, they can focus on adding more features and improving user experience.







C# 12 features: simplified syntax 



As we said above, along with the advent of .NET 8, the C# 12 programming language was rolled out. The language has several new features that aim to make code more readable and syntax simplified. Features that simplify code include:



Collection expressions: collection expressions introduce a new terse syntax to create common collection values. They allow developers to create and manipulate collections more efficiently. For example, collection-like types can be created without requiring external BCL support like Array types, such as int[], System.Span<T> and System.ReadOnlySpan<T> and types that support collection initializers, such as System.Collections.Generic.List<T>:



// Create an array:
int[] a = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8];

// Create a list:
List<string> b = ["one", "two", "three"];

// Create a span
Span<char> c  = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'h', 'i'];

// Create a jagged 2D array:
int[][] twoD = [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6], [7, 8, 9]];




Primary constructors: developers can create primary constructors in any class and struct, not just for record types:



public class BankAccount(string accountID, string owner)
{
    			public string AccountID { get; } = accountID;
    			public string Owner { get; } = owner;

    			public override string ToString() {
return $"Account ID: {AccountID}, Owner: {Owner}"; 
}
}




Optional parameters in lambda expressions: this feature allows developers to provide default values for parameters in lambda expressions:




var IncrementBy = (int source, int increment = 1) => source + increment;

Console.WriteLine(IncrementBy(5)); // 6
Console.WriteLine(IncrementBy(5, 2)); // 7




Alias any type: developers can use any keyword to create an alias of any type, making the code more readable and maintainable, but do remember to use more structural approaches when dealing with complex types:



using Point = (int x, int y);



Features for improved performance:




Ref readonly parameters: it lets developers pass variables and values as parameters without any annotations;



Inline arrays: developers can create arrays inline, simplifying the syntax for creating and using arrays;



JIT compiler improvements: C# 12 includes performance improvements in the JIT compiler for Arm64 and dynamic PGO (Profile Guided Optimization).




Experimental features:




Experimental attribute: this feature is available in preview mode and allows developers to experiment with new features before they become stable;



Interceptors: this feature enables developers to reroute method calls without changing the original code (not recommended for production).




Overall, a simplified syntax makes it easier for developers to understand code they encounter for the first time, which reduces the time spent fixing it. As a result, developers can write clear, concise, and maintainable code using the latest Visual Studio 2022 version or the .NET 8 SDK.




 

What Can We Already Expect From .NET 7?



Even though there is no official release date for .NET 7 yet, the development team has already announced... 





Read full review



 




Support of Visual Studio toolkits



One of the features of .NET 8 is support across the Visual Studio toolkits. This means developers can use the latest version of .NET 8 with Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code. As a result, they can seamlessly develop across various platforms, including macOS and GitHub Codespaces. The Visual Studio for Mac does not yet support .NET 8 previews, but it will soon. For building and running .NET apps on Linux with .NET 8, developers can download the .NET SDK from the dotnet/botnet repository. In this way, developers can use the IDE and platform of their choice.



Additionally, Microsoft released a new version of Visual Studio that supports the latest version of .NET 8 for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Visual Studio 17.8 offers a set of improvements in productivity, programming languages, and enterprise management, enhancing the working process with .NET 8. Some of the Visual Studio 17.8 features and enhancements include:




Performance enhancements: it offers improved Razor/Blazor responsiveness, enhanced F5 speed, and build acceleration for non-SDK style .NET projects;



C# 12 language enhancements: it supports C# 12 language enhancements, which bring improvements to code conciseness and expressiveness;



ASP.NET Core 8 and Entity Framework Core 8: it supports the latest versions of ASP.NET Core and Entity Framework Core, providing developers with updated tools and features.




Thus, the support of .NET 8 across the Visual Studio family of tools enables developers to work with the latest version of .NET on different platforms, providing a consistent and seamless development experience. 



A brief comparison: .NET 6 vs .NET 7 vs .NET 8



Here's a brief table to see how the .NET framework is evolving, what direction it's going in, and what the latest release has achieved.



.NET 6.NET 7.NET 8Release dateLTS (long-term support)STS (standard term support)LTS (long-term support)PerformanceImproved JIT (Just-In-Time) compilation, a code generator Dynamic Profile-Guided Optimization (PGO) and native AOT produces (with support Blazor WebAssembly)3X faster with improved PGO, Native AOT, performance improvements to the Mono runtime, which powers Blazor WebAssembly, Android, and iOS appsUp to 24% faster performance due to enhanced native AOT, code generation with vectorization and inlining, generational garbage collection and optimized ASP.NET Core and .NET MAUICloud supportImproved scalability, deployment flexibility, and performance for cloud-native appsBetter cold startup time with AOT in serverless environmentSupport .NET Aspire for resilient, observable, and configurable cloud-native appsCross-platform capabilitiesSupport of macOS Arm64 (or "Apple Silicon") and Windows Arm64 operating systems, for both native Arm64 execution and x64 emulation, Blazor for desktop Maintain compatibility and ease of development across various platforms, like Windows, macOS, and LinuxImproved support for ARM64, WebAssembly, and additional Linux distributions, and introduction of Aspire  to build observable, production-ready, configurableArtificial IntelligenceInitial support for AI and MLML.NET now includes a text classification API that makes it easy to train custom text classification models using the latest modern deep learning techniquesImproved AI support with pre-built models and collaboration with AI partners.NET MAUI integrationIntroduced .NET MAUI for cross-platform app development  (in preview)Improvements of performance on Android and reduce app size on iOSQuality of life and performance enhancements for .NET MAU, providing a single codebase for multiple platformsWeb developmentFeatures as Minimal API, support HTTP/3ASP.NET Core performance enhancements Blazor WebAssembly supporting, ASP.NET Core performance and scalability improvements



Final thoughts



.NET 8 is a meaningful release because it reflects the current and future needs of the software industry. This article listed only the most paramount updates in .NET 8 that help developers build innovative solutions, leveraging the power of the cloud and AI. .NET 8 also simplifies the development process by reducing the amount of code and configuration required. As a result of unrivaled performance, improved cross-platform compatibility, native support, and language extensions, developers will be able to create the next generation of apps. No matter what type of application you are planning to create- web, mobile, distributed, or cloud-native - .NET 8 will provide you with the needed capabilities to succeed. 



Whether it's true or not, we'll see in the future. Until then, let us know if you found something important for you that wasn't mentioned in the article.




 


Expert Opinion



As usual, November is the momentous month for each .Net developer. And the 8th version, presented in November 2023, did not disappoint. The most high-profile novelty is .Net Aspire, which helps developers to organize microservice chaos. It would be nice if a future version of .Net Aspire included support for multiple repositories, although the current version can help many programmers. Blazor has been significantly upgraded to create full-stack apps running on web and mobile devices. It looks highly competitive now with other “any-screen” solutions like Flutter. Furthermore, hundreds of changes have improved performance, stability, and functionality. 



Summarizing, the 8th version is yet another significant step in the evolution of .Net. It keeps .Net on the cutting edge of development technologies.





Head of .NET Department



Roman Ogolikhin

### What is ASR: Understanding Automatic Speech Recognition

The ASR technology is significantly transforming our daily lives and the way we engage with devices. The increasing demand for speech recognition technology across diverse industries, including healthcare, banking, and retail, serves as a significant driver for the expansion of the market, which is projected to reach US$8.53 billion in 2024, according to Statista. 



But what is ASR, exactly? In this article, we will consider the key components of the technology and the diverse applications that leverage its capabilities.







What is ASR?



Automatic speech recognition (ASR) is a technology that converts spoken language into written text. It uses complex algorithms and machine learning techniques to analyze audio signals and transcribe them into text. ASR systems are designed to recognize and interpret human speech, making it possible to convert spoken words into a format that computers can process and understand.



The development of ASR can be traced back to the mid-20th century, when researchers began exploring methods to automate speech recognition. Early systems relied on pattern matching and acoustic modeling techniques, exhibiting limited accuracy and vocabulary coverage. However, with the advent of machine learning and computational advancements, the automatic speech recognition model underwent a significant evolution. The introduction of Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) in the 1970s marked an important moment for ASR, enabling more robust speech recognition capabilities.



Recently, speech recognition has changed a lot with the use of deep learning and neural network-based models. Not too long ago, the prevailing model for speech recognition was wave2text. This technology allowed for the conversion of spoken words into text, enabling a range of applications from virtual assistants to transcribing voice recordings. However, as technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, new models and approaches have emerged. 



How does ASR work?



ASR operates through a multi-step process that involves capturing, processing, and interpreting spoken language. The following steps outline the fundamentals of the ASR process:




Audio input. The process begins with the capture of human speech through a microphone or any audio recording device. The audio input is then digitized to create a digital representation of the spoken words.



Preprocessing. The digitized audio undergoes preprocessing, which involves filtering out background noise, normalizing the audio levels, and segmenting the speech into smaller units for analysis.



Feature extraction. During this phase, the system extracts acoustic features from the preprocessed audio, such as mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs) or spectrograms. These features serve as the input for the subsequent recognition stage.



Speech recognition. The extracted features are fed into a speech recognition model that employs machine learning algorithms, such as deep neural networks and Hidden Markov Models (HMMs), to match the acoustic features with linguistic units and generate the corresponding textual output.



Language modeling. In this step, language models are utilized to enhance the accuracy of recognizing spoken words by considering the context and grammar of the language being spoken.



Output generation. Finally, the recognized speech is transcribed into written text, which can be further processed for various applications, such as generating subtitles, transcribing meetings, or enabling voice commands for devices.




Speech recognition models



For a better understanding, let’s explore some of the most influential models for speech recognition.



Hidden Markov Models (HMM)



One of the earliest and most widely used models for speech recognition is the Hidden Markov Model. HMMs are statistical models that represent the probability distribution over sequences of observations. In the context of speech recognition, HMMs are used to model the acoustic features of speech, such as phonemes and words. While HMMs have been instrumental in laying the foundation for ASR, they have limitations, such as their inability to capture long-range dependencies in speech.



Wave2Text



Wave2text, also known as the traditional model for speech recognition, is operated by converting audio waveforms into text through a series of complex algorithms. This model had its strengths, particularly in handling clear and distinct speech, but it faced challenges with understanding accents, dialects, and background noise. Furthermore, wave2text was computationally intensive and often required significant processing power to deliver accurate results.



Recurrent neural networks (RNN)



When it comes to modeling sequential data, Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) have proven to be invaluable for speech recognition. RNNs, with their ability to capture temporal dependencies, are well-suited for modeling the sequential nature of speech. Through architectures such as Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), RNNs have demonstrated remarkable success in understanding the context and dynamics of speech, leading to improved accuracy and fluency in ASR systems.



Transformer-based architectures



Transformers, originally developed for natural language processing, have also made a remarkable impact on speech recognition. These models are good at capturing extensive relationships and contextual details, which improves the understanding of spoken languages. Through self-attention mechanisms, transformers can effectively process audio input and generate accurate transcriptions.



Key components of automatic speech recognition







The development of ASR involves several key components that work together to accurately process and interpret spoken language. 



Speech signal processing



Speech signal processing is fundamental to ASR systems. It converts analog audio signals into digital form for computer analysis. Techniques like digitization, signal filtering, and feature extraction capture speech characteristics like phonemes and intonation. This conversion into a computationally analyzable format sets the stage for further ASR steps like acoustic modeling and language processing.



Acoustic modeling techniques



Acoustic modeling plays an important role in ASR by capturing the relationship between speech signals and the corresponding phonetic units. Techniques such as Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) and neural networks are commonly used for acoustic modeling. HMMs are particularly effective in representing the temporal and sequential nature of speech, while neural networks, including deep learning architectures, have shown remarkable capability in learning complex patterns and variations in speech signals. These techniques enable ASR systems to recognize and differentiate between different phonemes and spoken sounds, contributing to the accuracy and robustness of speech recognition.



Language modeling



Language modeling is essential for understanding the structure and context of spoken language. It involves the use of statistical models, such as n-grams, as well as more advanced approaches, like neural language models, to predict the likelihood of word sequences and phrases in a given language. By incorporating linguistic knowledge and contextual information, language models enhance the accuracy of ASR systems in deciphering spoken sentences and inferring the intended meaning behind the words.



Decoding algorithms 



Decoding algorithms are responsible for determining the most likely sequence of words that correspond to a given input speech signal. Techniques such as Viterbi decoding and beam search are commonly used to efficiently search through the space of possible word sequences and identify the most probable interpretation of the input speech. These algorithms are crucial for aligning the acoustic and language models, resolving ambiguities, and producing accurate transcriptions or commands based on the input speech.



Challenges and limitations



Even though the ASR system is highly beneficial, it still faces several challenges and limitations:



Background noise



A major challenge for ASR is dealing with background noise. In noisy places like crowded areas, industrial settings, or vehicles, ASR accuracy can decline. Background noise, echoes, and other acoustic interferences make it difficult for ASR to accurately recognize and transcribe speech in such environments.



Speaker variations and accents



Another significant challenge is the diversity of speakers and accents encountered in everyday communication. ASR systems may struggle to accurately transcribe speech from individuals with different dialects, accents, or speech impediments. The variations in pitch, intonation, and pronunciation among speakers also pose a considerable challenge for ASR technology. It must adapt to accurately interpret a wide range of vocal characteristics.



Contextual ambiguity



Contextual ambiguity presents a substantial challenge for ASR, particularly in understanding and interpreting natural language. Human speech often relies on context, tone, and non-verbal cues to convey meaning, which can be challenging for ASR systems to accurately interpret. Ambiguous phrases, homophones, and colloquial expressions further complicate the task of accurate speech recognition and understanding.



Handling different languages



Recognizing and understanding different languages and dialects is not easy. Multilingual ASR faces difficulties because each language has its own sounds, sentence structures, and word meanings. To work well, ASR needs special models and algorithms designed for each language, making it accurate in recognizing and writing down spoken words.



Limitations in real-time applications



ASR encounters challenges in how quickly it processes information and responds in real-time applications like live transcription, virtual assistants, and voice-controlled devices. To be useful, ASR needs to quickly and accurately change spoken words into text. But it is difficult to keep up 



with the fast pace of real-time speech. Although ASR has gotten better over the years, there is still room for improvements.



Despite these challenges, the ongoing research and development efforts aim to improve the technology and enhance its robustness and effectiveness. Nowadays, advancements in machine learning, neural networks, and data collection methodologies are contributing to overcoming some of these challenges. Several recent models have already overcome certain challenges.



Recent advancements in ASP technologies



As we can see, modern ASR systems leverage large-scale datasets, such as speech corpora and transcribed audio, to train models that can accurately comprehend diverse speech patterns and accents. Additionally, the integration of language models and contextual information has further improved the accuracy and naturalness of ASR outputs.



In 2023, ASR systems have made significant strides in contextual understanding and natural language processing, enabling them to comprehend the nuances of human speech more effectively. 



The emergence of transformers-based speech recognition models has substantially changed the standard techniques for speech recognition tasks. These advanced models have made it possible to efficiently process over 100 languages within a single model, an accomplishment that was previously unimaginable.



With the development of various models aimed at enhancing accuracy, efficiency, and adaptability, two key models that have garnered attention in this domain are Whisper and SeamlessM4T. 



Whisper



This model was introduced in the paper titled "Robust Speech Recognition via Large-Scale Weak Supervision" by Alec Radford and his team at OpenAI. It leverages electromyography (EMG) signals to capture subtle muscle movements associated with speech production, even when the speaker is whispering or mouthing words without vocalizing. By decoding these EMG signals, Whisper can accurately transcribe silent speech, offering a discreet and efficient mode of communication.



The applications of Whisper are diverse and impactful. In healthcare settings, it can facilitate communication for individuals with speech impairments or those in environments where vocalization is impractical. Moreover, Whisper holds promise in enhancing privacy and convenience for users in public spaces or during virtual interactions. Additionally, this model has the potential to augment human-computer interaction, enabling seamless control of devices through silent commands.



SeamlessM4T 



This model represents a breakthrough in multilingual and multi-speaker speech recognition, catering to the diverse linguistic landscape and communication patterns worldwide. This model is designed to accurately transcribe speech in various languages and dialects, as well as distinguish and transcribe multiple speakers within the same audio input. By harnessing advanced machine learning algorithms, SeamlessM4T has demonstrated remarkable proficiency in understanding and transcribing complex speech patterns across different languages and speakers.



The implications of SeamlessM4T extend across numerous domains, from multilingual customer service and transcription services to facilitating cross-cultural communication and language learning. Businesses can leverage this model to analyze customer interactions in different languages, while educational institutions can utilize it to develop more inclusive and effective language learning tools. Furthermore, SeamlessM4T has the potential to bridge linguistic barriers, fostering enhanced communication and collaboration on a global scale.




 


Expert Opinion



The advancements in speech recognition technology this year have laid the groundwork for a more interconnected and multilingual future. The potential applications of these cutting-edge models are vast, ranging from real-time translation services to voice-activated systems and beyond. The future of speech recognition technology looks brighter and more promising than ever before.





Data Scientist



Roman Kyrychenko






 




Applications of ASR



The versatility of ASR has led to its integration into a wide range of applications. Some notable use cases include:




Virtual assistants. ASR powers virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, enabling users to issue voice commands for tasks such as setting reminders, playing music, or fetching information.



ASR transcription services. ASR technology is extensively used for transcribing interviews, meetings, lectures, and other spoken content, providing a convenient and efficient alternative to manual transcription.



Customer service. Many businesses leverage ASR for interactive voice response (IVR) systems and customer service applications, allowing customers to communicate with automated systems for inquiries, reservations, and support.



Accessibility. ASR plays a pivotal role in enhancing accessibility for individuals with disabilities, facilitating real-time captioning, speech-to-text conversion, and communication aids.



Healthcare. In the healthcare industry, ASR is utilized for medical dictation, allowing healthcare professionals to quickly and accurately document patient information, saving time and enhancing the quality of care.



Automotive industry. ASR is integrated into vehicles to enable hands-free communication, navigation, and entertainment systems, enhancing both convenience and safety for drivers.








Ethical and privacy considerations



The widespread applications of ASR continue to expand, offering innovative solutions across various sectors. However, as with any form of advanced technology, ASR raises significant ethical and privacy considerations that need to be carefully addressed to ensure the fair and responsible use of this powerful tool.



Many ASR systems rely on recording and analyzing users' speech to improve accuracy and functionality. While this data collection is often necessary for the proper functioning of ASR systems, it raises important privacy considerations.



First and foremost, users must be fully informed about the extent of data collection and how their speech data will be used. Transparency regarding data collection practices, including obtaining explicit consent from users, is crucial in upholding privacy rights. Additionally, measures should be in place to secure and protect the collected speech data from unauthorized access or misuse.



Furthermore, the anonymization of speech data is essential to prevent the identification of individuals based on their speech patterns. Robust data anonymization techniques can help mitigate the risk of privacy breaches and ensure that users' identities remain protected.



Final thoughts



ASR is essential in modern technology, transforming how we interact with devices and enhancing communication between humans and machines. It is crucial in healthcare, education, customer service, and accessibility, making operations more efficient for everyone. ASR enables hands-free device usage, supports multilingual communication, and powers virtual assistants and transcription apps. Ongoing advancements in machine learning promise improved accuracy, expanding ASR's impact on real-time translation, voice-enabled environments, and personalized healthcare. As ASR progresses, its significance in daily life grows, shaping how we communicate, work, and access information.




 

FAQ

### What Is Sharding and How to Improve Your Database Performance?

When your software application grows in volume and size, the database will most probably become overloaded and won’t be able to handle the incoming data as effectively as before. A common solution to this problem is sharding – but you need to know all the pros and cons in advance in order not to overcomplicate your app even more. 



So, what is sharding and how do you do it right?



Below, we talk about its definition, available alternatives, and ways to realize it in order to maximize the performance and potential of your application.







What is sharding in database?



If we define sharding, it can be named as a distribution of a single dataset across multiple databases (shards) with an aim to make the load more even and manageable. In other words, it can be described as a horizontal scaling process that implies adding extra nodes (shards) to a database to improve its performance.



The most common use case for sharding in database is when your app demands a high write (together with the high read) volume and processes massive amounts of data. On the contrary, if your app is more read-focused, sharding is most often not recommended – and here is where we start talking about sharding alternatives.



Do you really need sharding in database? Looking at possible alternatives



So, you consider sharding to improve the performance of your database. While this strategy indeed can be a silver bullet, sometimes it’s best to use other options. The choice of the solution will depend on the database type, the app’s workload, available resources for database maintenance, and other factors. And here are the available alternatives.



Vertical scaling



While horizontal scaling implies adding more nodes to the database, vertical scaling implies amplifying the existing one and making it more powerful. This includes computer upgrade, addition of RAM, and similar activities. In this way, you don’t have to change the database architecture but make it capable of handling the increasing load.



Replication



Replication is very similar to sharding in a sense that you create multiple copies of your database. These copies have the same exact data as the primary database and are stored on different machines. A great advantage of replication is that it enables load balancing and increases availability of the data. This approach is most often used for read-focused workloads so if your application features a generous amount of write-focused workloads, replication may add unnecessary complexity.



Specialized services



Finally, there is always an option of delegating a certain workload to a third-party provider (like Amazon) or to a specialized service. In this way, you offload some amount of load to another database and won’t have to worry about maintaining it. On the other hand, such delegation means that you won’t be in full control of this external database security and maintenance which might be an issue in some cases.



The main benefits of sharding



Getting back to sharding, what makes this approach so popular? Below we list the main advantages that it brings:





The biggest challenges of database sharding



As mentioned above, sharding is not for everyone – and here are the main considerations and challenges that might occur.




 

Database Management Systems



Data is the core value for any company but in order to truly gain a competitive advantage from it, one has to properly organize the data so it can be easily managed.





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Potential issues with response time and latency



Since the data is distributed across multiple shards in a sharded database, that means that the query routing might take longer than usual. In addition, if the required data is horizontally distributed among several shards, the router will have to query every shard one by one and then will take some time to merge the results. Such workflow can slow down the execution of operations and can result in low response times.



Complex management



It can be quite challenging to properly manage a single database – with sharding, you have to keep an eye on several databases and on the data integrity and security. Hence, sharding adds complexity to database administration and can complicate such tasks as data analysis. Since the data is dsitrbuted across nodes, developers have to query these nodes, merge the information, and then analyze it.



High infrastructure costs



Every shard runs on a separate machine and requires additional computational resources and that means, sharding results in high infrastructure costs since you have to maintain all your shards instead of a single database on just one server. And while sharding indeed brings many benefits, you need to be aware of these costs in the beginning and plan them correspondingly.



The main sharding types



There is a great variety of sharding methods, depending on the data that you process and store and your specific business needs. Below, we look at the main sharding types and their principle of work.



Ranged sharding



Also known as dynamic sharding, this method is highly effective and is relatively simple to understand and implement. With ranged sharding, you first predefine the range and create a shard key, which is a single indexed field (or several fields covered by the compound index) that defines how the rows are distributed. Next, a field is taken as an input and, based on the predefined range, is allocated to the appropriate shard.



Though it may sound complicated, it’s actually not at all. Let’s look at an example. Say, you need to partition the data according to the customers’ first names. In this case, your shard keys and predefined range will look something like this:



RangeShard KeyFrom A to HAFrom I to P BFrom Q to ZC



So when a record is written in the database, the workflow will be as following:





Note though that it’s critical to properly define shard keys, since it’s easy to overload the data on a single node. By this, we mean that one shard can contain a much larger number of rows than others – this will obviously lead to the overload of this node.



Hashed sharding



Hashed sharding is similar to ranged sharding in a sense that a set of fields determines to which node the record will be allocated. With this sharding type, a shard key (yes, it is used here, too) is assigned to each row of a database with the help of a hash function. A hash function is a mathematical formula that is applied to a record and generates a hash value for it. The hash value is then matched with the shard key and voilà – the record is allocated to the needed physical node.



The main benefit of hashed sharding is even distribution of data across the nodes.  The drawback, however, is that shed sharding does not distribute the data based on its meaning. Hence, query operations for several records will most probably be distributed across several shards. This, in turn, will result in higher broadcast operation occurrence.



Geo sharding



Geo sharding distributes the data according to the geographic location, which is highly convenient. Since there are shards for each region (country), the latency is significantly decreased as it takes less time to retrieve the data. As well, the user experience gets better since it takes less time for the user to make a request and receive needed information.



But similar to range-based sharding, geo sharding may result in uneven data distribution, as one shard may contain a much bigger number of rows than others.



A tip on creating shard keys



By now, we know that sharding is a great way to offload your database and improve its performance, but it also comes with specific bottlenecks and challenges. To achieve even data distribution and smooth database performance, we recommend looking at the two main attributes of an effective shard key: cardinality and frequency. 



Cardinality



Cardinality means the possible number of values of a shard key. In other words, it determines the maximal number of possible shards. So if you have a shard key as a yes/no data field, the maximal number of shards will be only two. Hence, the number of possible values of a shard key = the number of shards. 



When defining a shard key, high cardinality is important as it allows you to increase the number of shards.



Frequency



Frequency refers to the probability of storing the data in a shard and to the data distribution across the possible values. Say, you have a fitness app, and you know that your target audience is mainly 25–30 years old. In this way, most of your records will be assigned to corresponding nodes and data hotspots will occur. It is therefore important to maintain a well-distributed frequency to avoid data overload.



Summing up



Now that we’ve answered the “what is sharding” question, it’s clear that sharding is an effective way to ramp up the performance of your database, decrease latency, and make your clients happier with faster response times. However, as with any other software solution, database sharding may not be for everyone and calls for thorough preliminary research and work. Without corresponding preparation, sharding may cause more problems than benefits and will slow down your app’s performance even more. Thus, consult with a knowledgeable database expert to define what sharding strategy (sharding, replication, etc.) will best meet your needs and how exactly it should be carried out.

### What Makes a Discovery Phase So Critical for Project Success?

According to Statista, 35% of startups fail due to a lack of product value for market needs, and this applies to enterprises, too. Such numbers mean that creating future-proof software takes more than a good idea alone. As project failures are often caused by poor planning, a careful and structured approach to software is what you need. A flawed plan can lead to inaccurate requirements, changing priorities, or undefined risks. Eventually, all the above will result in financial losses and a lack of audience.



To deliver a successful software solution, companies must rely on the discovery phase - the first stage of the software development process. It bridges the gap between an idea and its realization and helps create fully functional and competitive software. Below, we explain why customers need to invest in a discovery phase, what its main stages are, and how much time it takes.







What is the discovery phase of a project?



Project discovery is the initial phase of software development. It involves data collection and its analysis in order to establish a solid foundation for a project. As a result, it helps to identify the product objectives, vision, and scope before moving on to detailed software development. At its core, this phase involves:




Defining and analyzing the client's idea and business goals;



Collecting and analyzing market and user needs;



Determining the scope of work;



Creating an intuitive and engaging design;



Creating documentation;



Identifying potential risks;



Estimating budget and timeline;



Building a project roadmap.




The phase ends with the delivery of documentation, like a product requirements document (PRD), a functional requirements document (FRD), or a more detailed software requirements specification (SRS). The docs describe the product's vision, goals, functional, and technical/ non-technical requirements. To ensure product requirements and customer needs are met, all stakeholders are involved in the process. Ultimately, the project team makes accurate estimations of the project cost and deadline. It guarantees that future phases of the project are well-documented and are strategically and financially planned. 



According to McKinsey, over 70% of IT vendors invest in a discovery phase before starting a project, and now we will consider why. 



Advantages of the discovery phase



There are several reasons why customers invest in the discovery phase:




Market-driven product: rather than making assumptions, you will evaluate your project idea for feasibility and potential;



User-centric design: comprehensive research helps you understand current user needs so you can design a product that is tailored to specific audiences;



Project roadmap: the discovery phase provides stakeholders with a structured plan with main project timelines, stages, and milestones. It allows running into development smoothly and as planned;



Well-planned budget: based on a comprehensive analysis, companies can accurately calculate the budgets for the upcoming project by determining its scope, requirements, and potential bottlenecks in advance;



Reduced risks: by identifying goals, required resources, and tech aspects of software, companies are able to prevent or mitigate possible risks;



Increased trust: transparent and clear communication between project stakeholders will establish two-way trust, resulting in a desired product. As well, users will be more loyal since they will receive exactly what they need.




Despite these, at first glance, obvious advantages, some companies still think that skipping project discovery will save their time and funds. But is this really the case? 



What if you skip the discovery phase?



If you skip the discovery phase, you might run into the following problems:




Mismatch with user needs: insufficient analysis can lead to a product that does not meet the users’ expectations, resulting in low satisfaction and product failure.



Non-competitive product: lack of the discovery phase can lead to an uncompetitive product due to a lack of understanding of market trends and of competition;



Additional costs: without a clear plan for future development, you are likely to go beyond the planned budget due to unexpected issues;



Longer time-to-market: a lack of proper documentation and project preparation results in scope creep (uncontrolled growth of work), which delays project launch.




To sum up, creating a product without a structured plan will be costly and unsuccessful. So you will have to fix it, anyway. In addition, you will risk creating a product that either does not meet your customers' needs or does not match your expectations. Keeping an eye on the project discovery phase will help you avoid these (and related) problems. But who is responsible for its fulfillment?




 

Everything You Need to Know About Product Management Process



Behind every successful product is a big idea. And this idea undergoes a lengthy transformation, from being a simple “what if” to becoming a bestseller, like a #1 app in an App Store. But how do you turn your idea into a successful project loved by users? The answer is product management.





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Who is involved in the discovery phase?



A project discovery team may vary based on the nature and complexity of the project. Typically, the project discovery team includes:




Project manager (PM): manages the discovery process and coordinates communication between team members and stakeholders to align project goals with business ones;



Business analytic (BA): analyzes markets, competitors, and users, elaborates product functionality and identifies potential problems;



UI/UX designers: create wireframes, mockups, and prototypes to demonstrate to stakeholders the preliminary version of the future product;



Developers: select an appropriate tech stack, and create the product;



QAs: sometimes these specialists are involved in the discovery phase to identify possible challenges during QA testing and solution execution.




All these specialists work together, share their experiences, brainstorm, and make a concerted effort to create a list of project requirements and their estimation. As a result of such a cooperative approach, everyone can see the project from many angles. Additionally, it also promotes unity and cohesion within the team. 



The main stages of the project discovery phase



Remember that the discovery stages may differ according to the client's requirements, goals, or project methodology, etc. In general, the main stages are:



Discussion of customer needs & expectations



Often, customers bring ideas to companies that do not really fit their business goals. Project team members meet with customers to understand their problems and make sure that the software fits these goals. Together, they discuss the desired outcomes and the expectations of the project. It helps the project team evaluate whether and how the product vision will be realized. For that, team members should:




Analyze customer needs;



Define and clarify the scope of the project;



Establish communication channels;



Identify customer constraints/expectations;



Establish metrics to measure product performance (monthly revenue);



Identify deliverables.




After the discovery process, the customer and the project team must decide what deliverables they will produce. Deliverables may include Software Requirements Specification (SRS), a preliminary prototype, a roadmap, an estimate, and a proposal. Choosing one over the other depends on the size, complexity, phase, and urgency of the project. When clients have competed the research early on, the project team must put this data into action. Through this approach, customers can speed up the discovery process and save money and time.



Research and analysis



The research and its analysis help stakeholders make better decisions on future software. Moreover, it helps the team understand the product's strengths, weaknesses, and insights about similar products. After that, stakeholders can pick the best niche, financial model, and project strategy and evaluate business opportunities. For this to happen, it is necessary to complete the following: 




Interview with a client/customer: Project managers (PMs) conduct customer interviews to understand their needs, preferences, and pain points to guide the project;



Market/industry research: BAs, researchers, and PMs work closely to assess the project's place in the market/industry by analyzing trends, opportunities, and potential challenges;



User research: UX designers investigate user behaviors, needs, and pain points through surveys, interviews, and usability testing to design the most suitable solution;



Competitor research: BAs and marketing specialists collaborate to analyze competitors, helping the project team make informed decisions about upcoming development software.




Once all the information is in place, the team turns the collected data or statistics into a list of tech requirements: FRD, PRD, or SRS. It helps stakeholders come up with a marketing strategy and technical solution.



Design of the architecture



This step goes along with the previous one, including setting a clear technical vision. It refers to describing all the technical aspects of software in a detailed plan. A project architect or a senior Tech Lead is responsible for this stage, conducting:




Technical feasibility analysis: evaluate the tech aspects to ensure the feasibility of implementing the proposed solution;



Solution architecture: determine the overall structure and components of the future solution, ensuring scalability, security and efficiency;



Tech stack: choose technologies (programming languages, frameworks, and libraries) and tools that best suit the project requirements;



Backlog structure: plan the implementation of features, prioritizing them, and structuring the development backlog;



QA and testing strategy: design a thorough QA strategy early on to ensure future software is secure and bug-free.




The architectural solution stage provides a solid foundation for the project, ensuring the future phases align with the outlined technical vision. For stakeholders and developers, it will be easier to understand the final product tech aspects in clear and detailed documents.





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Creation of a Vision & Scope or an SRS document



In the discovery phase, you'll need to create a Software Requirements Specification (SRS) or Product Vision. The choice depends on the customer requirements. The vision and scope document outlines the project's overall goals, target audience, and the intended impact of the solution. It typically includes a product vision statement, project scope, constraints, and assumptions.



But as a rule, creating an SRS doc is preferred for customers since it provides a more detailed description and requirements. The components of SRS are:




Project overview, purpose, and scope;



User needs;



System requirements (functional and non-functional requirements);



Assumptions and dependencies;



System qualities, etc.




Once your team members have put the document together, you can tweak it if necessary. A well-structured SRS provides a detailed description of the project's scope. Accordingly, it helps the team remain on the same page with customers about upcoming software development. 



Create a preliminary design



As we move to the end of the discovery phase, we create a preliminary UX/UI prototype. Along with the SRS, it provides an overview of the future interface, including its visual design, navigation structure, and functionality. Typically, at the discovery stage, designers will:




Create a customer journey map (CJM): using target audience research and user personas, designers create a high-level visual representation of the user's interaction with the product;



Create wireframes and mockups: designers create preliminary mockups and wireframes of future products to visualize their layout and functionality;



Create clickable prototypes: UX/UI designers create clickable prototypes to demonstrate the product's functionality and gather stakeholder feedback.




To move forward, the prototype should be evaluated by users. The feedback collected from users will help designers improve the prototype and, if necessary, modify it. Once all the data is documented, meeting with a customer is the next stage. 



Plan a project



The final stage of the project discovery phase is project planning. It includes estimating the timeline, budget, and roadmap needed to turn an idea into a minimum viable product (MVP) or a full-featured product. First, the team develops a detailed roadmap. This document outlines realistic project timelines, stages, and critical milestones. It is a guide for how the project is going.



Most importantly, this stage gives stakeholders an accurate estimation of cost and time, including resources, technology, and other expenses. This step makes it clear how much money is needed to complete the project. Sometimes, the team can suggest alternatives to save the customer's budget. The company can begin software development as soon as the client accepts the proposal with its estimated financial and time costs.



How long will it take to discover?



There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The time needed for a discovery phase depends heavily on factors like complexity, size, documentation, and the company's expertise. Usually, a discovery phase takes between 2 and 8 weeks. Different projects take an average of:




A small project of 2-3 days;



A medium project of 3-4 weeks;



A large project takes 4-8 weeks and more.




But, as we said above, there are a few ways to speed up this phase. For example, use previously collected customer docs, hire experts in a particular field, and keep communication with stakeholders as clear as possible. One must always remember it is essential to balance being thorough and efficient when conducting discovery. Rushing is not always a good decision. In the long run, it will cost more time, costs, and headaches.



Final thoughts



At a first glance, the project discovery phase seems unneeded. But, due to its numerous advantages, it is a solid foundation for software development. Customers will be able to get a detailed software roadmap, realistic timelines, and accurate cost estimates. Also, they can identify potential problems early and avoid costly modifications later. As a result, clients can proceed to development with confidence and know they are on the right track.



Whenever you have a project idea, contact SoftTeco. Our qualified and skilled experts will be glad to conduct a discovery phase regardless of the complexity of your concept, keeping your far-reaching goals and modern software requirements in mind. 




 


Expert Opinion



The Discovery phase is like a magnifying glass in the hands of an experienced biologist, helping them dive deep enough to ensure nothing is missed. For business analytics, it is a valued research that gives insight into user needs, market challenges, and business opportunities.



Many times, customers have expressed gratitude to me for supporting discovery and for the opportunity to go through what seemed to be a clear path of product development. The discovery phase is an outside view, checking hypotheses and working out a detailed development plan, ensuring your concept is right.



Without the discovery phase, the beginning of development is like running after a train, gaining speed, and throwing suitcases into it. With a development plan in place and functionality worked out, the development process goes more effectively. As a result, customers will work with a team familiar with a product, a project will run more smoothly, the risks of missing essential points will be reduced, and users will get what they are looking for.





Business Analyst



Anastasiya Shatila

### What Is Multicloud Security? Tips and Best Practices

It’s no surprise that modern businesses tend to shift to the cloud due to its security, reliability, and efficiency. It may come as a surprise though that an impressive number of businesses operates in the multicloud environment. And with great power comes great responsibility, right?



Multicloud security is something that every business owner should adopt and follow, But, due to its complexity, it often leaves people puzzled. Below, we talk about what multi-cloud security means, why it can be hard, and what can be done to ensure your application is safeguarded.







Defining the term multicloud



To implement proper security policies, we first need to understand what exactly calls for protection. Hence, let’s define multicloud.



Multicloud implies the use of two or more cloud services by a single organization. For example, a company can use AWS for infrastructure and Google Cloud for activities related to data analytics. In this way, an organization simply leverages the strengths of each cloud provider and allocates resources in a wiser manner.



The use of several cloud solutions is more widespread than you might think. According to the report by Wiz of 2023, 57% of organizations use more than one cloud. If we turn to the report by Statista, in 2023, about 76% of individuals confirmed that their companies follow the multicloud approach.



There are many reasons for that:




Flexibility: companies can choose the most suitable services from different providers, scale up and down, and improve the overall performance of their application.



No vendor lock-in: the use of multiple vendors prevents vendor lock-in and grants bigger freedom in terms of integrations, flexibility, and change management.



Platform independence: the cloud-agnostic approach implies elimination of dependencies and creation of an independent architecture. This means, your app becomes more robust and easier to maintain across multiple cloud platforms.



Reliability and performance: because the application is distributed across multiple clouds, a failure in one will not lead to the crash of the entire application. As well, due to effective allocation of resources, you are able to maximize the app’s performance and swiftly switch between services.




What is multi-cloud security and why is it tricky?



Now that we’ve defined multicloud, let’s move forward. What is multi cloud security?



It is a set of security measures and strategies aimed at safeguarding all cloud solutions in use. The number of these solutions make multicloud security so tricky because you need to keep an eye not on one but on two and more clouds - and each has its own peculiar security requirements and policies. 



One more important thing to discuss here is the shared responsibility model. It is a security landscape in a cloud and explains how the responsibility for the security is shared between the provider and the user. Hence, the “shared responsibility” name. 



According to this model, the cloud provider ensures the security of its product - but to a certain extent. If we take Amazon as an example, AWS takes care of the virtualization layer or the operating system. In other words, it controls what’ happening inside the cloud. However, AWS does not control what’s happening outside and who is granted access. Hence, it’s the responsibility of a client to take care of such things as multi-cloud data security, access control, or firewall configurations.



The shared responsibility model is complicated enough for a single cloud and gets even more complicated in the multicloud environment. It is therefore important to carefully study the model of each cloud that you work with and tailor your security practices to its requirements.



The main challenges of multicloud security



The shared responsibility model is not the only challenge that the multicloud environment presents. Below, we list the core multi-cloud security challenges:




High complexity. One cloud can be complex enough to fine-tune and manage, and two and more clouds add up to that. Every cloud has its own specific requirements towards management tools, architecture, integrations, and obviously, security. Due to such diversity of requirements, it can be incredibly complex to develop and implement a consistent security strategy and follow it.



Poor visibility: Due to the high complexity of the multicloud system, there may be a lack of visibility into its processes and components. And without knowing the exact resources that you have and activities that are happening, it is impossible to establish a robust security layer and sufficient multi cloud network security.



Bigger area of attack. Since everything in the multicloud environment is interconnected, there is a higher risk that a malicious activity will impact not only the initial target but other components too. Hence, there is always a risk of a potential attack spreading horizontally and bringing significant damage.



Inconsistent security requirements. Every cloud has its own security requirements (even in terms of shared responsibility). It is essential not to misunderstand these requirements and establish consistent security policies, applicable to every cloud that you work with.



Integration issues. In case of integrations, the first challenge is often the actual integration in terms of ensuring that all clouds support the selected services and tools. Second, there is an incredible complexity in managing all third-party vendors, which calls for extra use of time and resources.




Tips on improving your multicloud security



As you can see, the biggest issue of the multicloud environment lies in its complexity and lack of consistency. So what can you do to improve your multicloud security and add visibility to the processes while maintaining effective security policies?




 

AWS Security Best Practices: A Comprehensive Checklist



Amazon Web Services, or AWS for short, is the world’s biggest provider of cloud infrastructure used by thousands of companies. And while it provides an unparalleled number of cloud services of excellent quality, it also gives its clients a bit of headache when it comes to security.





Read full review



 




Use specialized tools



When there is an opportunity to make your life easier, it’s better to go with it - use a specialized multi-cloud security solution that is available in the market. A good example is Cisco Multicloud Defense, which is a security as a service solution designed specifically for multiclouds. It offers quick deployment, an array of services to manage your security, and automation of certain processes. In this way, your security policy becomes unified and more organized, yet highly effective.



You can research the available solutions online and see which one fits your exact needs the best. 



Deploy automation



In terms of security, automation is great because 1) it greatly saves your time and 2) is highly reliable for such activities as threats identification. When talking about multcloud security, automation helps with the following:




Detection and elimination of threats;



Real-time notifications and alerts;



Reinforcement of security policies;



Standardized templates for better consistency;



Validation of compliance requirements.




And the list goes on. As you can see, with automation you don’t have to worry about a bunch of processes and entrust the machine to do the job.



Establish continuous monitoring



We’ve talked about the lack of visibility and how it may negatively affect the overall security of your system. You will therefore need to establish continuous monitoring of your multicloud environment to ensure that all components are visible and that there is a unified view of the whole system. 



Implement and follow standardized security policies



Though the multicloud environment consists of different clouds with unique requirements, it is still possible to establish and maintain standardized and synchronized security policies. Such policies will greatly help you maintain a sufficient level of security and will greatly ease the management of all clouds in use. 



To do so, you will first have to conduct a thorough assessment of all your clouds and see what security requirements overlap. You can then use them as a base for creating a set of uniform policies that will remain the same for all the clouds in deployment.



Use the least privilege approach



The least privilege approach implies that a user is granted the minimum level of access to the system. In other words, the user has access only to the data and functionality that are needed to complete a specific task.



The least privilege approach is highly useful in improving your security, since it does not grant access to unauthorized users and does not let users to the system’s sensitive and critical components. And while it’s not a 100% guarantee against potential attacks, this approach greatly reduces the chances for their occurrence.



Conduct regular reviews



Finally, what might help you monitor and maintain a high level of security are regular reviews. By consistently conducting security assessments across all your clouds, you will be able to increase visibility, identify threats and risks at early stages, and apply needed security measures to areas that call for attention. 



Summing up



Multicloud is awesome and nobody can deny that. At the same time, work in the multicloud environment requires extra effort, especially when it comes to security. We highly recommend carefully reviewing every security layer and applying unified security policies to your system in order to keep it not only up and running but safeguarded too. And if you have any doubts about your multi-cloud security or want to double-check how well your system is protected, drop us a note and our security specialists will gladly help you by providing extensive multi-cloud security services.

### Inside ERP for Healthcare: Streamlining Processes for Success

Although enterprise resource planning systems are traditionally linked with industries like manufacturing and retail, their recognition and use in the healthcare sector are on the rise. In this article, we will explore the role of ERP for healthcare, its advantages, challenges, and the implications for patient care.







What is ERP?



Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems help businesses organize and manage their assets and activities, like keeping track of inventory, or handling finances. Such a system acts like a central hub, making it easier for everyone in the business to work together and share information across departments.



The deployment options for them vary, including:




On-premise, which follows the traditional model of maintaining software and hardware within the organization's physical premises.



Cloud-based, where the software and data storage occur on remote servers managed by a third-party provider. Access is facilitated over the internet through web browsers or dedicated client software.



Hybrid, a deployment model that combines aspects of both on-premise and cloud-based solutions. Organizations using a hybrid approach keep some ERP components on-premise, while utilizing cloud services for others.




The choice between on-premise, cloud-based, and hybrid ERP solutions involves careful consideration of various factors, including an organization's budget, security, scalability, and customization requirements.



The role of ERP systems in healthcare management



The healthcare industry deals with various challenges that affect the quality, efficiency, and access to care. From data processing issues to regulatory compliance and technical resource limitations, healthcare professionals have to manage the most various processes and tasks in an effective and patient-centric manner.



Conventionally, health providers utilize distinct software for data management within each department. The implementation of an ERP system facilitates the collection, storage, and management of data across the entire facility, expediting information sharing and eradicating data silos. 



Medical ERP systems combine various functions, such as:




Streamline administrative and financial operations



Enhance patient care and information management



Inventory control and supply chain management



Regulatory compliance and data security




As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, the role of these systems in driving innovation and operational excellence is poised to expand further. The integration of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and interoperable data exchange empower ERP healthcare solutions to deliver more personalized, efficient, and patient-centric care.





Tap into Healthcare IT Services by SoftTeco and learn how we can leverage your processes 



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Things to consider when developing ERP healthcare solutions



Developing enterprise resource planning solutions for the healthcare industry comes with its own set of considerations, such as:



Adherence to regulations and information security.



Meeting industry standards and regulations like HIPAA and GDPR is non-negotiable. A good healthcare ERP solution should prioritize the security of data, patient privacy, and regulatory compliance to protect sensitive information. To strengthen the system against potential breaches, it is essential to implement encryption protocols, access controls, and regular security audits.



Compatibility and integration



Seamless integration with existing healthcare systems, such as electronic health records (EHR), laboratory information management systems (LIMS), and practice management software, is important. It ensures data consistency and interoperability, enabling healthcare providers to access comprehensive patient information from a centralized platform. The ERP system in healthcare should be designed to facilitate smooth data exchange regardless of the platform or system in use.



User-friendly interface



An intuitive and user-friendly interface is important for increasing user adoption and reducing training time. The ERP systems in hospitals should prioritize easy navigation, efficient task completion, and personalized user experiences to meet the diverse needs of healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurses, and administrative staff.



Scalability and customization 



As healthcare organizations evolve and expand, their enterprise resource planning solutions must be able to scale to accommodate growing volumes of data and increasing operational complexities. Additionally, the ability to customize the system to meet the specific needs of different healthcare specialties and practices is essential to ensure that it aligns with the unique requirements of the industry.



Analytics and reporting capabilities



ERP solutions should offer robust reporting and analytics capabilities that enable administrators to monitor key performance indicators, track patient outcomes, and identify areas for process improvement. Advanced analytics can also support predictive modeling and risk assessment for better clinical decision-making and resource allocation.



Change management and training



Developers need to consider the importance of change management strategies and provide comprehensive training and support to ensure that healthcare staff can adapt to the new system effectively. 



Key components of a healthcare ERP



ERP systems have become an essential tool for managing complex operations in various industries. When it comes to healthcare, the specific needs and challenges of the industry require ERP solutions to be tailored to meet those requirements. Thus, these systems encompass a wide array of modules and functionalities.



Let’s take a closer look at some of the key modules for healthcare enterprise resource planning.




Patient information management. This module focuses on streamlining patient registration and appointment scheduling. It also includes features for tracking patient demographics, medical history, treatment plans,  insurance details, and visit histories. 



Inventory management. Effective management of medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, and equipment is critical for healthcare facilities. ERP systems with inventory management modules enable real-time tracking of inventory levels, automated replenishment, expiry date tracking, and cost control.



HR management module. This component helps in managing healthcare staff, including scheduling, payroll, training, and performance evaluations, ensuring that the right personnel are available to deliver care when needed.



Financial management. ERP healthcare solutions streamline financial processes, including billing, invoicing, and claims management. These features help healthcare organizations optimize revenue cycles and ensure accurate financial reporting.



Reporting and analytics. These systems provide customizable dashboards, key performance indicators (KPIs) tracking, and real-time reporting functionalities, empowering administrators to monitor operational efficiency, financial performance, and patient outcomes.



Electronic health records (EHR) integration. Integrated EHR module digitally stores patient health info—history, diagnoses, treatments, and more. Ensures easy access, enhancing care coordination and outcomes.




Benefits of implementing ERP in healthcare



Implementing ERP in the healthcare sector brings forth a multitude of benefits that directly address the industry's unique challenges and demands. That includes:



Improved operational efficiency and cost reduction



The integration of various functions, including inventory management, billing, scheduling, and patient records, allows for the streamlining of administrative processes and the automation of routine tasks. This reduces the need for manual data entry, leading to improved efficiency and productivity. Staff can then focus on more critical tasks and patient care. Additionally, automation helps reduce operational costs and optimize resource utilization.



Enhanced patient care 



Efficient access to patient data enables healthcare providers to make informed decisions swiftly, positively impacting patient outcomes. Moreover, the system notably enhances the quality of patient service, as doctors no longer waste time on paperwork or searching for patient information, allowing them to dedicate more time to patient care. Additionally, ERP facilitates seamless communication and collaboration among healthcare teams, ensuring that critical information is readily available to those involved in a patient's treatment.



Ease in the inventory management



ERP systems provide comprehensive inventory management capabilities, allowing healthcare organizations to monitor stock levels, track expiration dates, and optimize supply chain processes. By maintaining accurate inventory records and implementing automated replenishment systems, healthcare facilities can minimize waste, reduce stockouts, and ensure the availability of essential supplies.



Preservation of patients records for future reference



The implementation of ERP in healthcare facilitates the digitalization and centralization of patient records, ensuring that critical health information is securely stored and easily accessible when needed. This not only improves the continuity of care but also enables healthcare providers to track patient histories, monitor treatment outcomes, and make informed decisions based on comprehensive and up-to-date information.




 

A Deep Dive Into Healthcare Chatbots



The healthcare industry is constantly embracing technological advancements, as every new innovation brings significant improvements to patient care and to work processes of medical professionals. And while some innovations may be too complex or expensive to implement, there is one that is highly affordable and efficient, and it’s a healthcare chatbot.





Read full review



 




Real-time multi department communication



In a dynamic healthcare environment, effective communication between different departments is vital. The system enables real-time multi-department communication, enhancing collaboration, decision-making, and the overall coordination of care, ultimately leading to a smoother and more integrated healthcare ecosystem.



Implementation challenges



The implementation of ERP in healthcare industry can encounter several challenges that need to be carefully addressed to ensure successful integration and utilization.



Data security concerns



One of the primary challenges in implementing ERP systems in healthcare settings is the need to maintain robust data security. Healthcare organizations handle vast amounts of sensitive patient data, and any breach or compromise can have severe consequences. To address this challenge, healthcare providers need to invest in robust cybersecurity measures, encryption protocols, and access control mechanisms to safeguard patient information. Additionally, compliance with data protection regulations such as HIPAA is crucial to ensure the secure handling of patient data within the healthcare ERP system.



Integration with existing systems



Healthcare organizations often have a complex network of existing systems and software applications that are integral to their operations. Integrating a new ERP system with these legacy systems can be a daunting task. Compatibility issues, data migration challenges, and interoperability concerns can arise during the integration process. To overcome this challenge, healthcare providers should conduct a thorough assessment of their existing infrastructure, develop a comprehensive integration strategy, and leverage middleware solutions to facilitate seamless data flow between the ERP system and other systems.



Lack of IT expertise



Implementing and managing an ERP system requires a high level of technical expertise, which may be lacking within the healthcare workforce. Healthcare providers often struggle to find IT professionals with the specialized skills and knowledge required to oversee ERP implementation, configuration, and maintenance. Addressing this challenge entails investing in staff training and development programs, partnering with external IT service providers, or engaging ERP vendors that offer comprehensive support and training services to bridge the expertise gap.



Limited budget



Budget constraints are a common hurdle in implementing ERP systems. The cost of acquiring, customizing, and maintaining an ERP system can be substantial, especially for smaller healthcare facilities or non-profit organizations. To address this challenge, healthcare providers can explore cost-effective ERP solutions, consider cloud-based deployment models to minimize infrastructure costs, and prioritize key functionalities that align with their operational needs and strategic objectives.



Customization challenges



Every healthcare organization has unique processes, workflows, and requirements that necessitate customization of the ERP system to align with their specific needs. However, excessive customization can lead to complexity, increased costs, and potential issues with system upgrades and maintenance. Healthcare providers should strike a balance between tailoring the ERP system to meet their specific needs and leveraging standard best practices to minimize customization challenges.




 


Expert Opinion



ERP systems in healthcare are excellent tools for optimizing processes, increasing efficiency, and improving patient care quality. However, their implementation requires significant financial investments and a professional approach to integration with existing systems. Despite the complexity, the proper use of ERP systems can significantly enhance the operation of medical institutions by increasing transparency, resource control, and compliance with regulatory requirements. It is also important to understand that an ERP system is just a helpful tool and cannot replace the professionalism of medical personnel.





Business Analyst



Julia Baranovskaya






 




Conclusion



As technology advances, the future of ERP in healthcare looks promising. Integrating advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and Internet of Things capabilities within ERP systems can improve operational efficiency, predictive analytics, and personalized patient care. However, organizations must address the unique challenges inherent to the industry to fully harness the benefits of these technologies.  

### An Overview of the Most Popular Software Development Models

Every new software undergoes through the Software Development Lifecycle which defines the main stages of product creation and states how exactly the process will be carried out. And since every project is unique (at least to a certain extent), there are various SDLC models out there to choose from.   



If you are not sure what model will fit your project best or if you simply want to learn more about the main models in software engineering, our article is exactly what you need. 







What exactly is Software Development Lifecycle and software engineering models?  



The Software Development Lifecycle can be described as a framework that lists all the activities involved in the development process, from start to finish. As for the SDLC model, it is a specific approach to creating software that describes a particular sequence of steps and a particular philosophy behind it. For example, Scrum prioritizes flexibility and speed, while Waterfall focuses on linearity and full completion of every stage.  



In general, software engineering models fall under the linear and iterative categories. As well, every SDLC model will have its own level of familiarity, flexibility, and adoption of changes. Thus, when choosing an SDLC model, you need to consider the following factors: 




The size of your project and its scalability; 



Requirements (how clear they are and whether they will be changing); 



Deadlines and time frames; 



Main goals to achieve; 



Priority of testing. 




And many more. Normally, you address a business analyst and/or a project manager and discuss the SDLC model of choice together. 



The main types of models in software engineering



Now, let’s take a look at the most popular types of models in software engineering, their pros and cons and main use cases. 



Waterfall model



The Waterfall model is probably the oldest one and was first introduced back in 1970. This model is very formal and is described as a “linear-sequential lifecycle model”. In simple terms, it consists of several phases, where each phase starts only after the previous one is 100% completed. In this way, the results of the previous phase cascade down to the next one.



There are five main stages in the original Waterfall model, though alterations are possible:




Collection of requirements



Architecture design



Implementation



Product verification and testing



Support and maintenance




As you can see, testing happens only at a particular stage, and this might be a challenge. Another issue is that this model offers very little flexibility, and you won’t be able to implement any new features at the stage of testing or maintenance. And one more thing to remember: the Waterfall model requires extensive and detailed documentation throughout all stages.



The pros of the Waterfall model:




Strict and effective control over the project;



Elimination of scope creep due to pre-defined scope and limitations;



Easy and understandable task arrangement;



Clear definition of deadlines and milestones.




The cons of the Waterfall model:




Lack of flexibility: you can’t implement changes to the completed phase;



Documentation requires a significant amount of time to be created and maintained;



Potentially long delivery time;



Testing is not continuous and thus, certain issues might be missed;



Requires little feedback from the client.




When to use Waterfall:




Simple and/or small projects with clear requirements and deadlines;



Projects that are not expected to change/grow over time;



Projects that are sensitive to rules and regulations.




V-model



The V-model (Verification & Validation) is another linear model, similar to Waterfall but with one significant difference - each development stage is followed by a testing stage. So for the requirement collection stage, you will need to perform acceptance testing before moving on to system analysis.



The main stages of the V-model are:




Requirement collection and acceptance testing;



System analysis and system testing;



Software design and integration testing;



Module design and unit testing;



Coding;



Testing;



Deployment;



Maintenance




If we turn to the model’s name, verification and validation are actually the two main phases, during which various stages take place. Verification implies evaluation of the product with an aim to understand, whether the requirements are met. This phase involves all stages until the coding one (inclusively). Next, the validation phase begins with the testing stage and its main aim is to validate that the designed product meets user expectations.



The pros of the V-model:




Increases the future accuracy of the product due to ongoing testing activities;



Has a very structured approach, is easy to use;



Easy monitoring of changes and requirements;



Focus on testing;



Effective progress tracking.




The cons of the V-model:




Has a high level of risk and uncertainty;



Is not suitable for projects with many changes and/or unclear requirements;



Lacks flexibility and does not allow getting back to the previous stage after its completion;



Requires a lot of time and calls for detailed documentation;



Does not handle concurrent events well.




When to use the V-model:




Projects with clear requirements and deadlines;



Quality-sensitive projects that do not accept failures and/or downtimes;



Small and/or medium projects.




Spiral model



The Spiral model differs from the abovementioned types of software development models by several important features. First, this model functions by iterations. An iteration consists of several phases and all of them have to be completed before moving on to the next iteration. These phases are:




Definition of the project objectives



Risk analysis and resolution



Development



Review and planning of the next iteration




With a Spiral model in software engineering, the iteration usually takes about 6 months (though the duration may vary). The number of iterations is defined by the project manager and relies heavily on the project scope and requirements. 



Another important thing to remember about this model is that its main area of focus is risk assessment. Thus, when adopting the Spiral model, the team should include people who are experienced in risk evaluation and management. And due to the model’s flexibility, the client is greatly involved in the development process, so a well-organized communication process has to be established.



The pros of the Spiral model:




Great risk management and mitigation of errors at early stages;



Flexibility in requirements and adoption of changes;



High level of client’s engagement and involvement;



Great adaptability to the changing requirements.




The cons of the Spiral model:




Complexity in terms of implementation and maintenance;



Requires too much time and resources;



Complex estimation of deadlines due to unclear requirements;



Too dependent on risk analysis.




When to use the Spiral model:




Projects with unclear deadlines and/or requirements;



Large-scale projects;



Project calls for frequent releases;



The project is of medium/high risk and needs thorough risk evaluation.




Incremental and iterative model



The Iterative and incremental model also follows the iteration-based approach. Same as Waterfall, it starts with planning and ends with deployment, but in the middle, there are several iterations (aka repeated cycles).



With the incremental approach, new modules are added with every new iteration while no (or little) changes are made to the previous modules. The iterative approach, on the other hand, implies that with every iteration, the software evolves and changes are made to all modules.



The pros of the Incremental and iterative model:




More flexibility than with Waterfall or V-model;



Implies the collection of client’s feedback and their active participation;



Relatively easy change management;



Development consistency paired with adaptability.




The cons of the Incremental and iterative model:




Can be hard to manage;



Takes longer time to detect errors since various sections are built separately;



Can become costly due to constant expansion of the project scope.




When to use the Incremental and iterative model:




Large-scale projects;



Projects based on microservices.




Scrum



Scrum is the most popular Agile framework and, alongside Kanban and Extreme Programming, belongs to the Agile group of SDLC models in software engineering. Before discussing Scrum, let’s first refresh our knowledge on Agile.



Agile is a software development methodology based on flexibility and collaboration. Unlike other methodologies, Agile does not prioritize documentation, but places focus on working software instead. This results in quicker delivery and better software quality but also calls for effective project and team management.



Getting back to Scrum - it is a project management framework that proposes an iterative approach to software development and relies heavily on team collaboration. This software development model model consists of “sprints”, which are short (2-4 weeks) iterations. During these iterations, new functionality is delivered, and many tasks can be performed simultaneously. However, it’s not as chaotic as it might sound: with Scrum, every new sprint starts after assessing the results of the previous one and after meticulous planning. 



The pros of the Scrum model:




High level of quality due to continuous testing and feedback collection;



Effective team work and strong client’s engagement;



A very high level of flexibility;



Good risk mitigation and effective risk management;



Short time-to-market;



Increased ROI.




The cons of the Scrum model:




Requires lots of training and calls for a Scrum Master to be present on a team;



Does not work well in large teams;



Is not suitable for projects that need predictability;



Is not very scalable;



Possible misalignment of goals within the team.




When to use the Scrum model:




Projects with high-priority requests and quick turnarounds;



Projects with small teams;



Complex projects that can be broken down into smaller parts;



Projects that have unclear requirements and/or deadlines;



MVPs and prototyping.




Kanban



Kanban is another SDLC model belonging to the Agile group. Unlike other models, it prioritizes task visualization and offers full transparency regarding the project and the tasks. In Kanban, the iterations usually come in the form of daily sprints, and the tasks are completed based on their level of priority. 



To keep track of all tasks effectively, the Kanban model proposes using specialized tools (boards) such as Trello or Jira. The tasks are distributed across the board based on their priority and each task has a detailed description, an assignee (a person responsible for its completion), deadline, and other valuable information. In this way, any team member can look into any task and see who is responsible for doing it. Also note that Kanban puts emphasis on effective communication and there is no separate planning stage: meaning, the changes can be implemented at any time.



The pros of the Kanban model:




High flexibility and effective change management;



High transparency of tasks;



Better team efficiency and better focus on tasks;



Quick delivery of new features.




The cons of the Kanban model:




Is rarely used independently, so you will probably need to combine Kanban with the other methodology;



Lack of clear deadlines and deliverables;



Can grow more complex and confusing over time.




When to use the Kanban model:




Support and project improvement/enhancement;



Large-scale projects with unclear requirements and/or deadlines that are broken down into smaller parts.




Extreme Programming



Extreme Programming, also known as XP, is quite an interesting SDLC model that prioritizes technical aspects of development and places great emphasis on testing. First introduced in the 90s, XP has become one of the most popular Agile methodologies and encourages developers to go beyond their limits (hence, extreme programming) during the development process.



Same as the models described above, XP consists of repeating iterations. Each iteration has 5 stages:




Planning: collection of requirements from the client;



Design: with a focus on simplicity, the design strives to bring logic and solid structure to the product;



Coding: the process of writing code with the help of such practices as pair programming, collective code ownership, continuous integration.



Testing: includes unit and acceptance testing and is performed continuously throughout the development process;



Feedback collection: involves communication with stakeholders to learn about the expected goals and value.




One more interesting thing to say about XP is that it follow YAGNI (You Ain’t Gonna Need It) and DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principles, meaning that you need to keep both the code and functionality as simple and intuitive as possible.



The pros of the XP model:




High quality of software;



Regular testing;



High level of communication and collaboration;



Simplicity and clarity;



Fast delivery.




The cons of the XP model:




Unclear deadlines and requirements;



May lack focus on design;



Can be quite stressful;



Lack of documentation;



Requires a lot of time and resources.




When to use the XP model:




Projects with a small team;



Projects that require high flexibility and adaptability;



Projects with focus on technical capabilities.




Lean



As an opposite to the Extreme Programming model, the Lean methodology can be described as “caring programming”. This model is aimed at providing developers with sufficient time for decision-making and amplifying learning. As well, the Lean methodology promotes “waste elimination”. That means, after every iteration, the team discusses what can be eliminated. The waste may include excessive code, non-effective processes, quality issues, and even bureaucracy. 



In addition to constant learning and careful resource management, this model also places emphasis on fast delivery, respect towards every team member, and maximal delays of commitments. This is done with an aim to experiment and learn as long as possible instead of rushing the processes.



The pros of the Lean model:




Enhanced collaboration;



Continuous improvement of the product;



Great efficiency and flexibility;



High quality of the delivered product.




The cons of the Lean model:




Requires team training;



Measured metrics may be wrong;



Lack of clear deadlines and goals.




When to use the Lean model:




Projects with stretchable deadlines and goals;



Projects that require constant communication between the stakeholders.




How to choose a perfect SDLC model?



As we already discussed above, the choice of a suitable software development lifecycle model will depend solely on your project, business goals, and available resources. Here is what Alexey Minkevich, SoftTeco’s member of the Board of Directors, has to say on the selection of models in software engineering:




 


Expert Opinion



The choice of a methodology depends on a specific product, project, environment, and the team that works on it. Normally, companies use a combination of methodologies and tools: something is taken from a classic approach, something from Scrum and Kanban, something from Lean. We do the same at SoftTeco. Then, by performing retrospectives, we receive feedback from the team and perform tailoring of the processes and tools so they better fit current goals. As a result, the tools and processes are in the state of continuous improvement as we adapt them to new and/or changing requirements. We add new processes, optimize existing ones, and get rid of the ones that are not effective anymore.



Hence, I can say that the best plan is not the one that was signed a month ago and remains untouched since, but the one that reflects the current environment and is adjusted accordingly.





 Member of the Board of Directors at SoftTeco



Alexey Minkevich

### Pseudocode: What Is It and How Do You Write It?

You might have already heard of such a term as pseudocode, especially if you are a software engineer. Pseudocode enables developers and non-developers to write the logic of code in a clear and free style. In spite of the fact that it does not contain real code, it is more than just a rough sketch of a software project. Pseudocode is a valuable tool to express algorithms and navigate the intricacies of coding independently of any specific programming language syntax.This is not all.



In this article, we will answer the “What is pseudocode?” question in detail. Moreover, we will discuss how to write it and how it can be helpful for addressing various programming issues.







What is pseudocode?



Pseudocode is a versatile concept that extends beyond programming and is used in numerous fields, such as mathematics or design. As the name implies, pseudocode is "fake" code. In other words, it is an informal way of designing the logic and the structure of an application or algorithm. Unlike specific programming languages with rigid syntax rules, pseudocode uses human-readable language to describe logical steps of specific actions. For this reason, it does not have a standard writing format. So, it may vary widely in style from person to person. 



Pseudocode consists of essential elements common across various algorithms:




Variables: represented using simple names to denote data storage;



Operations: basic operations such as assignment, arithmetic, and conditional statements;



Loops: described using intuitive language like "while" or "for";



Functions/Procedures: represented as named blocks of code with parameters and returns. 




Software developers often use it to formulate and build algorithms before the coding stage. Then, to turn it into machine-readable code, they must translate it into their preferred coding language. By creating it first, programmers can focus on the algorithm's design (as well as how it will function) rather than worrying about the quality of syntax. 



Often, developers use both flowcharts and pseudocode in conjunction. While pseudocode is a text-based format that provides a detailed description of the algorithm, flowcharts use a graphical format (diagram) to illustrate the flow of decisions. Thus, developers can plan an algorithm's logic effectively. So, among other advantages, it promotes a more thought-out approach to programming.



Advantages of pseudocode



It is highly beneficial to design a program in pseudocode for a wide range of reasons, including but not limited to the following:




Easy to write, understand, and read: pseudocode uses natural language structures and basic concepts, making it easy to read and understand;



Easy to convert: since it is written in a free style, it can be translated into any coding language;



Easy to collaborate: unlike scripting language that can be difficult for understanding, it provides a common ground for team members (both tech and non-tech specialists) to work together effectively;



Easy to change: it is more concise, less complex, and readable than actual code, thus offering a simpler way to incorporate changes before the product is developed;



Reduces the number of bugs: it allows developers to identify potential bugs before they occur in real programs, thus increasing the speed and quality of the development process;



Better problem understanding: using pseudocode first, developers can see the logic behind a solution before designing the actual code.




The main challenges of pseudocode



When it comes to the disadvantages of pseudocode, keep in mind the following: 




Lack of a formal standard: pseudocode can differ from one organization to another because there are no standard formats to write it. This can result in inconsistency and ambiguity in its usage, especially if it’s shared between the teams;



Time-consuming: it can be time-consuming, as the process of translating the pseudocode into actual code may require additional effort and meticulous planning;



Hard to verify: computers cannot compile or execute pseudocode, so its correctness cannot be verified;



Complex to map process: due to the lack of visual representation of the process, it can be challenging to convey complicated procedural logic clearly.




In general, pseudocode is a valuable tool that helps the team understand how the final product is supposed to function. And despite the lack of a standard format for pseudocode, there are several universal tips on how to create it - let’s take a look.



How to write pseudocode



As we said above, there is no definite and universal way to write pseudocode due to the lack of a standard format. Although pseudocode can be generated in many ways, it has certain common and structured elements that must be included. They are:




Sequence: consists of a series of steps performed in a specific order;



While: a conditional loop that runs until a certain condition is met;



If-Then-Else: a conditional statement that takes different actions depending on whether it is true or false;



Repeat-Until: a loop that continues until a specified condition becomes true;



For: a loop that repeats for a specific number of times;



Case: the generalization form of If-Then-Else.




Let’s look at a pseudocode example for a better explanation.



A pseudocode example



Before diving into coding, make sure you know what your pseudocode is supposed to accomplish. Let's say your intended program will allow users to determine whether a number is even or odd. So, pseudocode may look something like this:



1. Input number                               // User inputs a number
2. Set a remainder = number% 2    // Calculate the remainder when dividing the number by 2

3. If the remainder is equal to 0      // Check if the remainder is zero
   1. Output "The number is even"// If true, the number is even

4. Else
   1. Output "The number is odd"// If false, the number is odd



Explanation: the first step prompts the user to input a number. The number serves as the initial data for the subsequent calculations. Then, we calculate the remainder by dividing the number by 2. After that, we use an "If-Else" statement to check if the remainder equals 0. If true, the program outputs "The number is even." If false, the program outputs "The number is odd." Thus, it shows a simple decision-making process and describes how an even number is determined.



Remember, it was just an example for creating this program; the approaches may differ greatly.



The do’s of writing pseudocode



Pseudocode effectiveness comes from the ability to clearly explain the algorithm logic. So, for clear and readable pseudocode, be sure to follow these tips:




Start with a description of the purpose of the process;



Write only one statement per line;



Focus on logic, not syntax;



Use clear terminology;



Keep the proper order of your pseudocode;



Use standard programming structures, like "if-then" and "while," else";



Organize your pseudocode sections;



Double-check your pseudocode.




The don'ts of writing pseudocode



To ensure clarity, conciseness, and effectiveness of pseudocode, it is equally important to know pitfalls to prevent when designing pseudocode. Here are a few of the main considerations:




Avoid extra details that are better for actual code;



Do not skip indentation;



Do not use ambiguous or vague terms;



Do not overcomplicate;



Do not ignore structure;



Do not use programming language keywords;



Do not skip testing.




Now that we better understand the main do’s and don’ts, let's review the steps that developers may find helpful during coding.



How to solve programming problems by using pseudocode



For developers, pseudocode may simplify the development process. Rather than focusing solely on technical details like coding syntax and structure, developers can prioritize the logical part. Here are some steps that developers can take during pseudocoding:



Step 1. Understand the problem When it comes to coding, the understanding of the problem is vital (a task you need to accomplish). Pseudocode allows developers to describe their interpretation of the problem in natural language. In other words, developers will identify the problem's inputs, outputs, and specific conditions before moving forward.



Step 2. Understand the questionIf programmers understand the issue(s), they outline the steps necessary to solve the problem and hence comes to a solution. Thus, a clear understanding of all aspects of the issue is the next step towards a solution.



Step.3 Break down the problemDivide the problem into smaller sub-problems or tasks to allow you to solve it more easily. By solving a small problem, you are getting closer to solving a big one. After solving each step of the problem, check the result to see if you are on the right track. Keep solving these small problems until you find a solution to the problem.



Step.4 Bring in actual code and toolsWhen the problem is thoroughly explored and broken down into manageable steps, developers can smoothly transition from pseudocode to real coding. Pseudocode serves as a template for implementation, easing the coding process. This way, programmers can choose the most appropriate software constructs, logic flow, and algorithmic solutions. Many websites are available to help with this, such as Mozilla Developer Network, W3Schools, Stack Overflow, and others.



By following these steps, developers can leverage pseudocode as an effective tool to conceptualize, design, and explain programming solutions before diving into more detailed coding procedure.



Conclusion



Pseudocode in programming is not an indispensable solution for solving programming issues across developers. Instead, it is a helpful method for uncovering ambiguous decisions regarding a specific problem in web development, data science, design, and other fields. Therefore, the understanding of "what is pseudocode and how to deal with it" lays the foundation for crafting code that works and is concise. 




 


Expert Opinion



Pseudocode is an excellent way to describe the process without spending much time writing code. Nowadays, there are more options for describing the steps of a program. It is also a good solution to use flowcharts with pseudocode together, if time is not a problem, to help individuals see the code parts more clearly. Aside from that, I would like to emphasize that writing pseudocode can be a good way to train young developers as well.





.NET Developer at SoftTeco



Sergey Ostapuk

### Roles And Responsibilities of a QA Engineer: A Quick Overview

In the fast-paced reality of the software development world, a superior quality product is what users are looking for. To make this happen, companies rely on QA engineers - quality guardians who ensure final software meets the highest functional and non-functional standards. Their work may seem unnoticed by end users, but they are pivotal in keeping projects aligned with customers’ goals, software specifications, and users’ needs.



This quick overview provides the main highlights of a QA role, main responsibilities, needed skills, and the value these specialists bring to a project. 







What is QA in software development?



Although quality assurance (QA) is often used to refer to testing, they are not the same. QA is a systematic process of ensuring that products meet specified requirements and adhere to high-quality standards. QA ensures the final product meets customer expectations and has no defects. Testing aims to identify and fix errors or faults. While testing is a crucial part of QA, quality assurance encompasses a comprehensive set of practices to enhance overall quality.



In turn, a quality assurance (QA) engineer is a specialist responsible for testing software to ensure it meets established quality criteria and functions properly. A QA engineer is responsible for the following:




Testing: QAs carry out various tests on software to identify any problems;



Quality control: QA engineers monitor software quality to ensure it meets product standards;



Analysis: conduct an in-depth examination of software requirements and prepare a query list based on them;



Improvement suggestions: provide feedback and suggest improvements to enhance the overall software quality;



Documentation: create different types of test documentation (e.g., test cases, test reports, etc);



Collaboration: coordinate with developers, BAs, and PMs to resolve ongoing issues.




Overall, QA engineers play a vital role in a project to ensure software reliability, functionality, and usability. They can use the two main types of testing: manual and automated. Each method brings unique advantages to the testing process, contributing to its effectiveness.



Manual vs. automated testing



In a nutshell, a manual tester conducts tests manually to identify bugs and ensure that the software meets its functional requirements. The main advantage of manual testing is that it is based on a human-centered approach. It provides a more in-depth understanding of user experience and helps uncover scenarios that automated tests may overlook.



An automated tester uses specialized tools to run pre-defined test cases, enabling rapid and repetitive testing. While automation is good for specific tasks (complex scenarios, to cover regression test suite), it can lack the intuition and adaptability that are inherent in manual testing. To achieve comprehensive testing coverage, it is often best to combine both approaches because each has its own pros and cons. You can learn more about manual vs automated testing in our article.



Quality assurance roles and responsibilities



As part of quality assurance, various roles play essential roles towards achieving high-quality software delivery. Some of their roles include:




Software test engineer: focuses on executing and analyzing tests to ensure software quality;



Test analyst: examines requirements and designs test cases; 



Test automation engineer: builds scripts to run automated tests;



Test architect: designs and implements the overall testing architecture;



Test manager: oversees and coordinates the team to achieve project goals;



QA team lead: participates in QA processes, checks status, and manages the team. Often, he deals with management tasks rather than tech ones.




Each of these roles performs specific functions in the quality assurance process based on the organization, project, and QA maturity. Now, let's switch to QA engineers o understand their specific role better.





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Benefits of QA engineers for a software project



Undoubtedly, QA engineers do much more than identify, address, and prevent defects. Here are the main benefits that QAs bring to a project: 




Save costs: by detecting errors in advance in the development process, QA engineers can prevent post-deployment problems and thus reduce the additional costs;



Accelerate time-to-market: QA testers tend to quickly identify software problems, errors, or inconsistencies and provide prompt solutions, thereby speeding up the overall time to market;



Ensure compliance: QA testers help ensure software compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements;



Mitigate risks and prevent issues: QA can uncover potential security vulnerabilities, compatibility issues, and performance bottlenecks before they affect the software's functionality;



Build trust with customers: QAs ensure the delivery of high-quality software that meets security and functional standards and aligns with customers' goals, thus increasing trust and loyalty.




In general, collaboration with the QA team improves software quality, reduces security risks, and increases product reliability. And as quality engineers carry a great deal of responsibility, it is natural that they face numerous challenges daily.



Challenges faced by QA specialists



Preventing problems before they occur is an indispensable quality of a professional QA specialist. So, it is imperative to consider the possible challenges that may arise. Depending on the project, these problems may differ. Let's look at the most common ones: 




Communication gaps: miscommunication between the QA team and other team members can result in misunderstandings about requirements, which can negatively impact the final product;



Limited deadlines: QA testers have to run tests within limited time frames to meet deadlines, so balancing speed with quality can sometimes be challenging;



Wrong testing estimation: inaccurate estimation may lead to insufficient time for comprehensive QA, which will affect the overall software quality;



Missing documentation: when documentation is lacking, testers have difficulty understanding a system, requirements, and expected outcomes;



Inappropriate tools: companies might already own subscriptions or licenses for outdated tools, causing QA testers to be inefficient and introduce potential gaps;



Tests failing under real user conditions: tests may be successful in a controlled environment (emulators, simulators) but fail in a real user environment. It can negatively affect the user's experience and their trust.




Solving the challenges described above will streamline the software quality assurance process, making it more result-oriented and less time-consuming. 



The role of a quality assurance engineer: responsibilities







After considering the benefits of the role of QA engineers and challenges, let’s look at the primary quality assurance responsibilities in detail:



Analysis of requirements



First and foremost, QA specialists collaborate with stakeholders to understand and analyze software requirements (functional and non-functional). It ensures a clear understanding of what they need to test. In addition, it ensures that testing will be consistent, complete, and executable and that a product can be tested. Once this stage is over, planning begins.



Planning of tests



After testers have understood the requirements, they create a detailed test plan. A test plan should include a software strategy, scope, a project budget, and an established deadline. Apart from that, it requires identifying the testing levels (e.g., integration), test types (functional, etc.), main testing techniques (black-box, white-box, experience-based), and needed resources. 



Test monitoring and control



During test monitoring, QA engineers continually compare actual progress to planned progress using metrics defined in the test plan. Test control involves taking measures necessary to satisfy test plan objectives (which may be updated over time). QA engineers monitor and control tests based on exit criteria evaluation that includes:




Checking test results against specified coverage criteria;



Assessing the level of component or system quality based on test results;



Determining if more tests are needed, etc.




QA testers report the testing progress as planned to stakeholders in test progress reports.



Design of test cases



The main question for QA engineer testers in this stage is, “How do you test? With a testing plan, QA specialists design high\low level test cases. A test case refers to a set of actions performed on a system to determine if it meets software requirements and functions, as expected. Their activities include:




Designing and prioritizing test cases;



Identifying necessary test data to support test conditions and test cases;



Designing the test environment and identifying required infrastructure and tools, etc.




The test design may also reveal defects similar to test analysis. At this stage, QA testers set the groundwork for a robust quality assurance process.



Test implementation and setup of testing environment



During the test implementation phase, QAs address the question, "Do we now have everything we need to run the tests?". QA engineers focus on the following:




Developing and prioritizing test procedures (creating automated test scripts);



Creating test suites from the test procedures and (if any) automated test scripts;



Organizing test suites within a test execution schedule;



Building the test environment;



Preparing test data and ensuring it is properly loaded in the test environment.




In many cases, the design and implementation of tests are combined.



Execution of tests



QA engineers execute the test cases created during the test design phase under the test execution schedule. Their activities include:




Recording the IDs and versions of test items, objects, tools, and testware;



Performing tests manually or using test execution tools;



Analyzing actual results compared to expectations;



Establishing the probable causes of anomalies;



Reporting defects based on the failures;



Performing repeated test activities, etc.




QA engineers use the above procedures to validate software functionality and identify anomalies before they become problems in order to address them immediately. 



Bug reporting



Bug reporting is connected to various stages of software development. QA testers must document test failures and the results they find during the QA process. Reports must describe how the bug can be reproduced and describe the expected behavior. Bug reports need to be detailed and clear so that PMs can properly prioritize them - and, more importantly, developers can figure out exactly how to fix them. 



Re-running of tests



QA testers will retest a product to ensure it functions as expected. To achieve this, QA testers use regression testing. It ensures that changes made to correct problems have not led to new ones. It is a good practice to follow the exit criteria approved in the test plan and appropriate to the specific stage. Exit criteria may include:




A defined level of coverage (e.g., of requirements) has been achieved;



The number of unresolved defects is within an agreed limit;



The number of estimated remaining defects is sufficiently low;



The evaluated levels of reliability, performance, and other quality characteristics are sufficient.




Once problems have been resolved, QAs move to the next stage - test completion.



Test completion



During the test completion stage, QA testers gather data from completed test activities to consolidate experience, testware, and relevant information. It occurs when a software system is released or a test project is completed. QA testers perform the following activities:




Check whether all defect reports are closed;



Create a concise test summary report for stakeholders;



Finalize and archive the test environment, data, infrastructure;



Analyze lessons learned to make changes for future releases and iterations;



Using the data gathered to improve the test process maturity.




QA testers must not only close the loop on specific QA activities but also provide stakeholders with a comprehensive understanding of the quality assurance process.



The needed skills of a QA in software development 







QA specialists must possess both hard and soft skills to perform their tasks effectively. Here are some of the main ones:



Technical expertise



Solid technical knowledge is essential for any QA tester who wants to conduct effective software testing. QA testers need a variety of technical skills and expertise, including:




Programming languages: writing test scripts in commonly used programming languages like Java, Python, or JavaScript (for automation);



Database skills: understanding of database concepts and the ability to write SQL queries to validate data integrity during QA;



API testing: a solid understanding of RESTful and SOAP applications programming interfaces (APIs);



Performance testing: using tools to simulate various user loads and conditions to assess the performance of apps;



Tools: proficiency with different tools to execute various types of tests efficiently;



Web technologies: understanding web technologies, HTML, and CSS for effectively testing web apps. 




Since QA engineers' responsibilities vary from company to company, skill sets also vary. QA testers' technical skills need to constantly evolve to handle modern software development's complexities.



Attention to detail



For effective QA process, the ability to spot all inconsistencies, errors, and deviations is vital. To achieve this, detail-oriented skill is necessary for QAs at different stages of quality assurance. For example, in thorough requirements analysis, this skill ensures robust test cases. During execution, attention to detail catches even subtle defects.



Being a detail-oriented QA specialist is not just about finding bugs, but also about providing accurate documentation. Quality assurance testers with keen attention to detail contribute significantly by uncovering nuanced issues that may go unnoticed. In turn, this increases software reliability.





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Analytical thinking



Analytical thinking is an indispensable skill for proficient testers, involving assessing software and identifying potential problems. As part of defect analysis, testers must identify the root causes of issues to formulate smart QA solutions through client and developer feedback. Thus, analytical thinking enables QA testers to make informed decisions and enhance testing outcomes.



Adaptability



Being flexible is one of the core skills of QA testers. It includes the ability to react quickly to changing requirements and unexpected problems. An adaptable QA tester can seamlessly move from one QA phase to another, adjusting the strategy according to the project's needs. This skill is essential in an Agile environment where flexibility and responsiveness are paramount.



Excellent communication skill



If you work within a team, being a good team player is one of the responsibilities - QA testers are not an exception. One of the goals of QA testers is to bridge the gap between technical intricacies and collaborative teamwork. So, they need to convey complex tech information to various stakeholders in a way that facilitates collaboration and ensures alignment between them. 



Communication helps QA testers accurately inform team members about the quality assurance process, found bugs, gaps in requirements, etc. As a result, accurate information accelerates the debugging process and facilitates smooth problem resolution. 



Continuous learning



As the software industry constantly evolves, QA engineers must stay abreast of new technologies to succeed. Staying informed about emerging technologies, industry standards, and innovative testing approaches supports continuous learning. This approach helps QA testers tackle the latest challenges, stay relevant, and effectively contribute to project success. Constant learning is not just a skill for QA testers; it is a mindset that fuels professional growth.



Tools that QA testers use



Testers use various tools to ensure that software is reliable, fast, and high-quality. These tools can be divided into three main groups:



Test management tools offer centralized management of test cases, requirements, and defects, enhancing collaboration among team members. Examples include Testmo, testrail, Jira, Bugzilla, and Redmine.



Performance testing tools evaluate a software application's responsiveness, scalability, and speed. Examples include JMeter, LoadRunner, and Apache Benchmark.



Functional testing tools check individual functions, features, and components for compliance to ensure an app function as intended, such as JMetet, etc. It consists of a wide range of other tools: 




API tools: focus on validating the functionality and performance of application programming interfaces (APIs), such as SoapUI, Postman, and Charles;



Mobile tools: ensure reliability, compatibility, and overall quality of a mobile app across different devices and operating systems, such as Xcode, and Android Studio;



Multi-browser tools: assess performance and functionality of an app on different browsers, such as BrowserStack, and Sauce Labs;



Multi-device tools: testing apps on diverse devices to ensure compatibility across various platforms, such as Perfecto, and Kobiton;



Databases tools: ensuring the integrity and proper functioning of databases in software, such as MongoDB, and SQL server;



Automated tools: automate the execution of test cases and assess the performance, functionality, and security of software, such as Selenium, and JUnit.




The tools mentioned above help QA testers greatly enhance their ability to ensure software quality, security, performance, etc. Choosing between them depends on many factors, including a project's requirements, budget constraints, QA team skills, etc.



Final thoughts



What makes software unique? What makes users come back to your product? The answer is quality! Roles and responsibilities of quality assurance include many crucial activities to guarantee software quality and help maintain it over time. To accomplish this, they possess a strong knowledge of QA tools, processes, and technical expertise, combined with analytical skills, attention to detail, and excellent communication. A QA role goes beyond identifying defects; it includes finding solutions, improvement, and ensuring high product quality. Hence, QAs not only save time, improve customer service, and reduce development risks but also drive the long-term success of software.




 


Expert Opinion



The role of a QA engineer on a project is critically important for providing the high quality of a software product. QAs play a key role in identifying defects and errors in the software, contributing to the prevention of issues after the product is deployed. They also verify whether the developed product aligns with the specified requirements, which is crucial for expectations of both the customer and users.



The work of QAs is aimed at enhancing the overall quality of the product. They not only identify issues but actively participate in the process of searching for and implementing improvements, thereby contributing to the creation of a more stable and reliable product. Early integration of testing, especially in continuous integration conditions, allows to identify and resolve issues at the early stages of development. It reduces development time and avoids additional costs for fixing issues after product release. Thus, testing conserves the company's resources and enhances the economic efficiency of the project.



In conclusion, QAs are an essential part of any project, and their role is crucial for ensuring quality and successful development of the software products.





 Head of QA PL at SoftTeco



Vera Klimova

### What Is Cloud Optimization? Benefits, Tips and Best Practices

As more and more companies are shifting to the cloud, the issue of cloud optimization becomes more and more important. Without proper optimization of their cloud resources, businesses may face extra costs, poor application performance, and cybersecurity risks. 



So what is cloud optimization and how to do it right? Below, we’ll talk about the main strategies on how to make the most of your cloud solution.







What is cloud optimization? 



Cloud optimization can be defined as selecting and assigning the right cloud resources to an application. In this way, the selection and use of correct resources maximizes the app’s performance while decreasing costs.



In order to successfully perform cloud optimization, it is important to implement a robust cloud management strategy in the first place. As the name implies, cloud management is the process of controlling and maintaining cloud resources and includes the following tasks:




Resource provisioning: important to ensure that you use only those resources that are needed;



Reporting: with the use of specialized tools, you can monitor the use of resources and generate reports on their costs and performance;



Security: implies the implementation of security measures and helps you make sure that your cloud solution complies with all needed regulations;



Cost optimization: by monitoring your cloud costs, you can identify areas for optimization and see whether there are any extra costs that can be eliminated.




And that’s not all. Cloud management is a comprehensive process and calls for a regular evaluation and review of your cloud resources in use. By closely monitoring them, you will be able to gain a better understanding of whether your app performs at its full potential or whether any improvements can be made.



Why cloud optimization is important



If your business operates in the cloud, and you don’t pay close attention to the way your resources are allocated, there may be many costs and issues that you are unaware of. Though seemingly minor, these little things can eventually pile up and result in massive spendings or glitches in the app performance. Thus, cloud optimization is important due to the following reasons:




Better management of costs: by knowing precisely what resources are used and where, you can easily identify whether over-provisioning takes place and successfully resolve it.



Improved efficiency: cloud computing optimization greatly increases the efficiency of your operations, as all unnecessary processes are eliminated.



Improved productivity: with the number of issues and errors declined, your team can spend more time focusing on critical tasks instead of troubleshooting repetitive errors;



Better security: due to improved transparency and visibility, it becomes easier to monitor and manage security policies and quickly identify any warning indicators in your system




The main areas of your cloud optimization strategy



Cloud optimization involves numerous procedures, but in general, all of them can be sorted into several categories. 



Performance



Performance optimization includes all activities aimed at maintaining robust performance of your application and at minimizing the number of bottlenecks and potential downtime. When talking about cloud apps, the optimization of their performance usually depends on multiple factors, such as the architecture design, type of cloud service, or code efficiency. Thus, it is important to conduct a performance audit first in order to identity what exactly can be improved. 



As for the general tips on cloud performance optimization, they include:




Correct configuration of resources;



Use of caching for faster content loading;



Proper rightsizing of resources;



Implementation of autoscaling services;



Adoption of suitable architecture type.




Security



Security is vital because even the smallest mistake can lead to significant damages, including financial losses and damaged reputation of your organization. Thus, it is really important to establish all needed security measures and regularly review and update them to minimize the chances of a malicious activity. Also, note that while the cloud provider takes care of securing the cloud solution, it is also the responsibility of a user to establish certain security measures. This is called “shared responsibility” and implies that you cannot fully delegate the security matter to a cloud provider. Hence, make sure to study available documentation on your specific cloud solution and implement all needed security policies from your side.



Cost



As we already stated, the optimization of costs is one of the biggest areas of focus for anyone operating in the cloud. With an array of cloud solutions and tools, it’s easy to go over your budget and let extra costs slip in. This is why we highly recommend using specialized cost management tools that help track your spendings and highlight areas where you may reduce costs. And obviously, you need to implement proper resource provisioning and consider how your resources will be allocated during the app scaling. In this way, you will avoid over-provisioning and will make sure to use only those resources that are needed.



Cloud optimization best practices



When talking about the cloud optimization strategy, it is important to remember that the optimization process will vary depending on the provider. Whether you work with Amazon, Azure, or Google, each vendor offers its own set of tools, suitable for specific tasks. Nevertheless, we can still list down a set of best practices, universal for any cloud platform:




Select a suitable instance type: depending on the workload type (e.g., memory intensive, CPU-intensive), you will need to select a corresponding instance type like C5 or M5 for CPU-intensive workloads in AWS or M1 or R2 for memory-intensive workloads in GCP.



Use auto-scaling: for better resource management and automatic adjustment of instances, deploy the auto-scaling feature.



Detect and eliminate unused resources: not only do unused resources impact your costs, but they can also affect the performance of the application. Hence, it’s important to regularly review available resources and ensure all of them are used as intended.



Optimize storage: eliminate unnecessary duplication and improve your storage capabilities by optimizing it with the help of specialized tools.



Merge idle resources: if you have idle resources that are frequently underutilized, you can merge them to reduce costs while increasing the productivity of these resources.




Cloud optimization solutions to consider



As already stated, there are multiple cloud optimization solutions available to successfully manage and optimize your cloud solution. Below, we list a few examples of such tools (note that these examples are platform-specific):



AWSAzureGoogle Cloud PlatformAutoscalingAWS Auto ScalingAzure AutoscaleGCP AutoscalerCost managementAWS Budgets, AWS Cost ExplorerAzure Cost Management and BillingGoogle Cloud BillingResource monitoringAmazon CloudWatchAzure MonitorStackdriverDatabase managementAmazon RDS (for relational databases), Amazon S3 (for object storage), Amazon ECS (for container orchestration)Azure SQL Database (for relational databases), Azure Blob Storage (for object storage), Azure Kubernetes Service (for container orchestration)Cloud SQL (for relational databases), Cloud Storage (for object storage), Google Kubernetes Engine (for container orchestration)Storage optimizationAmazon S3, Amazon EBSAzure Blob StorageCloud Storage, Persistent Disk



Summing up



The question “what is cloud optimization?” is a frequent one and usually arises at the beginning of one’s cloud computing journey. In order to mitigate potential financial losses and decrease the number of possible risks, we highly recommend adopting the proactive approach to cloud optimization by implementing preventative security measures and selecting the right tools from the start. In this way, you will not only safeguard your application but will contribute to its robust and smooth functioning in the long run.

### What Is Haptics and Why Should You Pay Close Attention to It?

Haptics has successfully become part of our lives to an extent when we don't even notice it. Remember the last time your smartphone vibrated when you beat an especially tricky level in your favorite game? That’s a basic example of haptics in action - a technology that transmits tactile information during your interaction with a software application. 



But what is haptics exactly, how does it work, and where can it be used apart from entertainment? We answer these and other questions below. 







What is haptics? Explain like I’m 5  



When asking “what is haptic technology”, we can turn to TechTarget and see the following definition: haptics is the science of applying tactile sensation to a user’s interaction with software.  



When a user interacts with a software product, it provides certain feedback in response to user actions. For example, if a user successfully completes an action, the app may display a “success” message - or it can also vibrate. In this way, a user receives an additional confirmation of the success (or failure) of their actions.  



While the most well-known examples of haptics are probably game controllers, the technology is also used in healthcare, aviation, and even space. Considering that the sense of touch is the second most important way for humans to understand things (with vision being on the first place), no wonder this technology is so valuable. Some of the biggest benefits of using haptics are:




Improved user experience: haptics adds an extra layer of immersion for users, especially within the field of entertainment; 



Remote management of machinery: haptics works great when paired with robots and can be used for remote management and monitoring in complex environments; 



Better user accessibility: haptics helps users better understand what’s happening. For example, long-term vibration might indicate a phone call and if a user is too distracted to look directly at the phone, they will certainly feel the vibration. 




In general, haptics contributes to creating a holistic immersive experience and assist users in understanding the software that they use. Now let’s see the main types of this technology.



Types of haptic technology based on usage



There are various types of haptics-equipped devices, based on how they are used. The three most common types are:




Graspable devices: a prime example is a joystick. These devices generate kinesthetic feedback (i.e., resistance or vibrations) and can be used in gaming and even in manipulating robots remotely.



Touchable devices: think of a smartphone surface. With these devices, the feedback is generated as a response to a user’s touch.



Wearable devices: VR gloves are a great example. Wearable haptic devices simulate a sensation of contact and are often used to mimic real-world sensations.




As you can see, haptics can be used in various devices, depending on the use case. This brings us to the question: how does this technology work?



How does haptics work?



To receive haptic feedback (i.e., a sense of vibration), tactile actuators (tactors in short) are used. A tactile actuator is a small device that creates a specific type of motion. This motion is then used by electronic devices and software applications to respond to users’ actions.



There are several types of actuators, but we’ll look at the three most common ones.



Eccentric Rotating Mass (ERM)



An ERM actuator belongs to the group of traditional actuators and is a magnetic DC motor. This motor spins an eccentric unbalanced weight and in this way, the needed vibrations are created. ERM actuators produce motion across two axes.



The main benefits of this device are wide availability, maturity of technology, and its low cost. However, it consumes a lot of power and has a relatively slow start-up.



Linear Resonant Actuators (LRA)



An LRA actuator is also a traditional actuator but functions differently than an ERM. The LRA actuator functions like a speaker and uses a magnetic coil to push a mass up and down to create vibrations. Unlike ERM actuators, LRA actuators produce motion in one axis.



LRA actuators deliver a slightly better output than ERM ones and are widely used in smartphones, portable navigation devices, and touch screen tablets. 



Piezo Haptic actuators



Piezoelectric Benders (another name for Piezo actuators) are a more recent type of actuators. They use piezoelectric material placed in a cantilever beam configuration to generate the needed vibration. Piezo actuators are well-known for having a fast response time but the downside is that these actuators require a higher voltage for driving signals than ERM and LRA actuators.



What is haptic feedback and what are its main types?



We’ve already answered the “what is haptic feedback” question: the haptic feedback meaning implies the use of vibrations and touch to enable the interaction of software with a user. And as there are many various haptic devices, there are also various types of haptic feedback, each having its own specific use cases and benefits.



Vibrotactile feedback



Vibrotactile feedback is one of the most common and simplest forms of haptic feedback. It uses vibrostimulators to apply pressure to user’s skin and targets our skin’s definite receptors. The most well-known examples of vibrotactile feedback in devices are smartphones or game controllers. 



This feedback type is easy to be implemented, highly cost-effective and is easy to be controlled and powered. However, vibrotactile feedback affects a limited range of physical sensations and might be hard to be minituarized properly. 



Force feedback



Force feedback dates back to the late 1960s and is one of the oldest types of haptic feedback. Unlike other feedback types, force feedback stimulates not only skin but muscles and ligaments too. As for force feedback devices, they come in two types: biometric and non-biometric. Biometric devices are designed to imitate parts of a human body: think of an exoskeleton as an example. In this way, it can be rather challenging to design them since they have to replicate the movement of human limbs. 



Non-biometric devices (e.g., a steering wheel in an arcade game) are easier to develop as they don’t have to resemble parts of a human body. These devices often belong to the category of resistive devices, meaning that they restrict user movement to a certain extent.



Electrotactile feedback



This feedback type is probably the most diverse and interesting one. Electrotactile feedback applies electrical pulses to a user’s skin, impacting not only it but nerve endings too. Depending on the frequency and intensity of the stimuli, this feedback type takes many forms. The factors that shape the sensations include voltage, skin type, waveform, contact force, and many others.In this way, electrotactile feedback is great for simulating real-life situations and environments and is widely used in medical training and teleoperation.



Ultrasonic feedback



Ultrasonic feedback emits high-frequency sound waves to simulate the sensation of real-life objects and impact the user’s skin. This feedback type uses time reversal acoustics, which implies that the emitter’s location may differ from the target (e.g., skin surface). This allows for transmitting the feedback to large surface areas of a user’s body.



Another great thing about ultrasonic feedback is that it doesn’t require the use of wearables and thus allows more freedom of movement for users. However, this independence from devices comes with a drawback of being more costly than other feedback types.



The most prominent haptics use cases



While we are all familiar with such haptics applications as game controllers or smartphones, the use cases for this technology are far more diverse and interesting. Below, we collected the biggest examples.



Healthcare



While we are used to hearing about machine learning or AR in healthcare, we don’t really hear much about haptics in this industry. However, COVID-19 has changed the focus.



As a result of the pandemic, many patients and doctors were not able to interact face-to-face, meaning, an opportunity to physically examine the patient has become very limited. And since COVID-19 resulted in the rise of telemedicine, many began thinking: what if we start paying more attention to haptics, making it part of the telemedicine services?



There are several ways how haptics can be used in medicine:




Performance of physical remote exams: with the help of the haptic technology, doctors can, for example, palpate a patient’s abdomen and monitor their reaction;



Performance of neurological exams: by applying certain type of feedback on a patient, doctors can monitor how they react;



Smart prostheses: with the help of haptics, patients can gain better control over their prostheses and more freedom of movement;



Training: due to artificial resistance and relaxation, created by haptics, medical students can train for surgeries in almost real-life conditions.




As you can see, haptics can greatly aid both medics and patients, bringing more accuracy and personalization to medical services.



Aviation



Being a highly demanding field, aviation calls for the use of advanced technologies that would make the pilot’s job easier. Paired with Extended Reality (XR), aka the combination of Augmented and Virtual Reality, haptics brings in several significant benefits to aviation.



First, it enables immersive flight simulations, during which pilots can experience real-life sensations (e.g., turbulence) through the use of haptics. Second, these simulations can focus on emergency response training, general training, and cabin crew training. 



Since haptics overall is very intuitive and is easily understood by the majority of users, it can also facilitate the piloting process as the pilot will know exactly what they are doing and how. And the use of haptics in training greatly improves the quality of the process as trainees are fully submerged in the process.



Space



The use of haptics in space is actually not so new, and there have been numerous successful experiments and missions. In 2015, astronaut Andreas Mogensen remotely operated a rover and its robotic arm to manipulate objects in space. The robot was equipped with force feedback haptics and, due to the sensation of resistance, the astronaut was able to successfully move the objects to needed locations without even seeing them.



This opens many exciting possibilities for space exploration, as haptics allows astronauts to remotely operate robots in potentially dangerous or unknown environments. This means, astronauts can explore space more safely, contributing to the study of the world around us (and providing new inspiration to Ridley Scott and Denis Villeneuve).



Entertainment



When talking about haptics, we can’t forget about its use in the entertainment industry, primarily in game controllers and joysticks. Haptics adds an extra immersive layer to the overall user experience, thus engaging users in a highly effective manner.



Haptics allows players to feel the impact of their actions when playing games, e.g., resistance when firing a weapon. In mobile games, haptics is usually used to notify players about success or failure of certain actions and does so through vibrations.



Metaverse



One more big use case of haptics is its application to the metaverse, which has been gaining traction in recent years. Before getting into more details, let’s first refresh our knowledge on the metaverse.



A metaverse is a three-dimensional virtual space where users can communicate and perform various actions, from business-related to more general ones. The metaverse is based on the AR/VR technologies and usually has its own internal currency. In other words, it’s like Sims - but in real life (a bit ironic, isn’t it).



Now, haptics is considered to be the next big thing for skyrocketing the metaverse popularity and use. With its implementation, the metaverse users will be able to interact with each other and with the objects on a whole new level due to the sensation of touch. And this will be a huge benefit and a valid argument for people to engage with the metaverse.



Examples of haptics devices in real life



We’ve already talked about it, but let’s review one more time - below are the most common haptics devices used across industries:




Game controllers: provide vibrations as feedback to user’s actions and enable a more immersive experience for players;



Ultrasonic speakers: provide another layer of interaction for users by “touching” (sensing) the sound waves with the skin;



Smartphones: these devices use haptics to shape user experience and make it more intuitive, thus guiding users through the interface more effectively;



Wearables: same as smartphones, wearable devices provide users with certain notifications on information;



Steering wheels: due to the intuitive nature of haptics devices, they allow drivers to focus more on the road instead of paying close attention to the steering wheel.




And these are not all examples. Haptics can be incorporated into a wide array of devices and can be paired with various technologies - though it probably works the best with Extended Reality and Robotic Process Automation.



Final word



So what is haptics? Is it really the future? Most probably. The haptic technology is relatively simple yet fascinating as it opens brand-new opportunities for industries and businesses. The use of haptics adds a new dimension to the way users interact with the digital world and can greatly reimagine certain processes. Considering the speed of digitization and the readiness of many businesses for the adoption of new technologies, we might soon see haptics become a new reality, and it’s really interesting to see what it will bring. 

### What Is A Proof Of Concept (POC) And Why Does It Matter?

Every product begins with an idea, but not every idea will turn out to be a success. Each one needs to be tested to determine its viability and potential. That's where the Proof of Concept comes in to help us understand if the plan we have can become a profitable reality. 



But what is POC? Below, we explain the significance of designing a proof of concept, address its limitations, and offer practical guidance on creating one.







Proof of concept: definition



A proof of concept is a basic version of a product that shows how your product idea is supposed to work and look like. It's best used when testing if a new product is practical, especially in the early development stages. POCs are used across various industries and fields, including technology, engineering, healthcare, and more. The main aim is to provide evidence that the idea is valid before making substantial investments in time, resources, and finances. This often involves creating a small-scale version or a prototype to see if the concept could succeed in the real world.



A proof of concept is particularly useful for:




Testing technical feasibility. POCs are important for testing the technical feasibility of an idea and for evaluating if the proposed solution can be developed using existing technologies. This helps identify technical limitations early, thus enabling informed decisions about resource allocation, timelines, and necessary modifications.



Validating ideas and reducing risks. The primary goal of a proof of concept is to validate ideas or concepts before committing significant resources. Through small-scale prototypes or controlled experiments, businesses can assess viability and minimize risks associated with launching a full-scale product that may not meet market demands or encounter unforeseen challenges.



Attracting investors and stakeholders. Serving as tangible evidence, POCs make it easier to attract investor and stakeholder support. By showing working prototypes and requested results, businesses can effectively communicate the idea's value and increase the chances of getting financial backing.




A proof of concept is typically shared through a document or presentation and should contain:




Defined purpose. Helps obtain a clear understanding of why the product exists and assess its capability to address a specific problem or need.



Product overview. The functionality that has to be tested, provides a roadmap for the POC process.



Success criteria. Defines the criteria for success and outlines the data that will be collected throughout the testing process.



Implementation steps. Details the necessary steps for translating the concept into real-world implementation, provides a practical guide for execution.




POC vs MVP vs Prototype: what's the difference?



During the development phase, the product goes through various stages, such as prototype, MVP, and POC. While these terms may appear similar, each serves a unique purpose. We have already explained what is a POC, so now let's look into prototype and MVPs specifics and uncover their individual roles in product development.



Prototype



Let's start with the prototype. It is a preliminary version of a product that is built to test and validate its design and functionality. Prototypes are not meant to be fully functional or market-ready, but rather serve as a visual representation of the concept. They are often designed using low-fidelity materials, such as sketches, wireframes, or 3D models. Prototypes enable designers and developers to test different design choices, gather user insights, and iterate on the product's functionality. In other words, prototyping helps stakeholders understand how the final product will look and perform and align their expectations with the development team.



For instance, in the case of a mobile app, a prototype might involve creating screens that simulate user interactions, thus allowing stakeholders to experience the flow of the app and provide relevant feedback.



Minimum viable product (MVP)



An MVP is a working version of a product with a minimal set of features and is required to solve the targeted problem or meet the intended user needs. It is developed with the goal of collecting valuable feedback from early users and validating the product-market fit.



Unlike a POC, an MVP is a functional product that can be released to a limited user base. It helps in identifying and prioritizing the most critical features and validates the market demand before investing further resources.



In the table below, we compare three terms:



Proof of Concept PrototypeMVPPurposeDemonstrates the feasibility of a concept or idea before its development.A preliminary model of the proposed product or systemA scaled-down version of the final product released to the market for feedback and validation.FocusThe main focus is to test and validate the feasibility of an idea or technology.Focused on demonstrating the functionality of the intended product.Centered on assessing market viability and collecting early user feedback.User involvementTypically, doesn't involve direct user feedback and is primarily evaluated by the development team.Designed to gather feedback from stakeholders.Released to early users to collect market feedback.Development stageDesigned at early stages of project development to test a concept's feasibility.Built after the POC to illustrate the intended working model.Developed after the prototype to introduce the product to the market for user validation.



It's important to note that these stages are not mutually exclusive, and a product can go through multiple iterations of POCs, MVPs, and prototypes before reaching the final version. The key is to use these stages strategically, based on the specific needs and goals of the project.



The process of creating a Proof of Concept



The process of creating a POC involves several key steps to ensure a comprehensive and effective exploration of an idea or project. Here is a breakdown of the typical stages:



Identify the idea 



The first step in creating a POC is to clearly define the objective of the product. What problem does the concept aim to solve? What are the desired outcomes? And what user needs will the product fulfill? By identifying the objective, you can establish a clear direction for the POC and ensure that it aligns with the overall goals and vision. 



Set objectives



Establish specific goals and KPIs (success criteria) for the proof of concept. They could include technical feasibility, user acceptance, cost-effectiveness, or scalability.



Research and analysis



Once the objective is defined, thorough research and analysis are essential. This involves studying existing solutions, market trends, and potential competitors. By understanding the landscape, you can identify gaps, unique selling points, and areas for improvement. Research also helps to determine the feasibility of the concept and estimate the required resources.



Design and development



Based on the research and analysis, the next step is to design and develop the POC. This involves creating a prototype or a scaled-down version of the concept. The design should focus on showcasing the core functionalities and key features of the product or solution. It is important to strike a balance between simplicity and complexity, ensuring that the POC effectively communicates the concept's potential.



Testing and evaluation



Once the POC is developed, it needs to undergo rigorous testing and evaluation. This involves identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) and conducting tests to measure the POC's effectiveness in meeting the defined objectives. Feedback from users, stakeholders, and subject matter experts is important during this stage. 



Analyze results



Analyze the data collected during the POC to evaluate the concept's feasibility. Compare the results against predefined success criteria and identify strengths, weaknesses, and potential areas of improvement.



Documentation and presentation



A well-documented POC is crucial for stakeholders to understand the concept's value and potential. This includes documenting the research, design, development process, and testing results. Additionally, preparing a compelling presentation that effectively communicates the concept's strengths, benefits, and market potential is essential for gaining support and buy-in from decision-makers.



Iteration and improvement



Creating a POC is not a one-time event. It is an iterative process that involves continuous improvement and refinement. Feedback from stakeholders and users is invaluable in identifying areas for enhancement. By incorporating feedback and iterating on the concept, you can create a more robust and compelling POC that addresses potential concerns and maximizes its potential.



Tools that you can use when creating your POC



Choosing the appropriate tools is paramount for a smooth and effective process. Here are some tools that can enhance your POC development:




Collaboration platforms: Platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams facilitate seamless communication among team members, fostering collaboration and information sharing.



Project management software: Tools such as Trello, Asana, or Jira can help in organizing tasks, setting timelines, and tracking progress throughout the POC.



Prototyping tools: Employ tools like Figma, Sketch, or InVision to create interactive prototypes that showcase the envisioned product or service.



Data analytics tools: For POCs involving data analysis, tools like Tableau, Power BI, or Google Analytics can assist in drawing insights and conclusions.



Cloud services: Platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud can provide the necessary infrastructure for testing and deploying your POC.



Survey and feedback tools: Utilize tools like SurveyMonkey, Typeform, or Google Forms to gather user feedback and insights during the POC process.



Documentation platforms: Efficient documentation is crucial. Tools like Confluence, Google Docs, or Notion can aid in creating and organizing project documentation.




Selecting the right combination of these tools based on the specific requirements of your POC will contribute to a well-managed and successful proof of concept.



Challenges and limitations 



Despite all the benefits, POC also has its limitations. While it provides valuable insights and proof of feasibility, it does not guarantee the success or market acceptance of the final product or solution. External factors, such as competition, market dynamics, or changing customer preferences, can still influence the outcome. Therefore, POC should be seen as an iterative process that requires continuous learning, adaptation, and validation throughout the development journey.



Some of the other limitations and challenges include:




Limited scale. POCs are typically conducted on a small scale, focusing on specific aspects of an idea. This limited scope may not capture the full complexities that could arise in a larger implementation.



Limited real-world variables. POCs often operate in controlled environments, which may not accurately simulate the real-world conditions and challenges the project might face during widespread implementation.



User feedback challenges. Gathering meaningful user feedback can be challenging in a POC, as users may not fully engage or provide insights that accurately reflect real-world usage.



Risk of misinterpretation. Stakeholders may misinterpret the purpose of a POC, expecting a fully functional product rather than a demonstration of feasibility. Managing expectations is important.



Incomplete technical picture. While POCs address certain technical aspects, they may not encompass the entire technological landscape, leading to potential oversights in the broader technical requirements.



Lack of market dynamics. POCs may not fully capture the dynamics of the market or user behavior, making it challenging to predict the product's success beyond the controlled POC environment.




Additionally, conducting a proof of concept requires time, resources, and expertise. It may not always be feasible for individuals or organizations with limited budgets or capabilities. In such cases, seeking partnerships or collaborations can help overcome these challenges.



Understanding these limitations is essential if you want to effectively leverage POCs and make informed decisions about the viability and future development of a project.



In conclusion



Overall, we can define POC as the 'beta test' of a new concept, where you show it's doable and has potential. This can help businesses attract investors, gain regulatory approvals, and refine the concept. While it has limitations, when conducted effectively, a proof of concept can significantly increase the chances of success and mitigate risks in the innovation process.

### Product Designer vs UX Designer: Are They the Same?

When it comes to creating new product (let’s say, software), its design plays a crucial role in attracting the users. However, it’s not enough to make the app attractive: it should also fulfill user needs and be user-centric and valuable. So who is the person responsible for that? In this article, we discuss the main differences (and similarities) between a product designer vs UX designer and the areas where their jobs overlap.







What is a UX designer?



Let’s start with the term that most people are familiar with and understand. A UX designer is a person who is responsible for creating and delivering user-centric and smooth user experience (UX). This person plans the entire interaction between a user and a product from the first contact to the last and uses relevant visuals and microcopy to evoke certain feelings and provide a seamless experience. For example, when you download a new app, the first thing that you see is a welcome screen - and it’s the job of a UX designer to create a feeling of enjoyment and anticipation by selecting the right visual elements.



As you might guess, UX is heavily based on psychology, user research, and business knowledge as well as technical skills. All these disciplines are needed to obtain a solid understanding of their target audience, their potential behavior, and what might attract and motivate them. In this way, every design choice is based on preliminary research and understanding of a user journey and user needs.



Key soft and hard skills needed for the role



A good UX designer needs to have a solid combination of certain soft and technical skills in order to successfully deliver one of a kind user experience. 



The needed soft skills include:




Empathy: important to “put oneself in someone else’s shoes” and truly understand the user and their potential needs/behavior/motivations;



Communication: due to collaboration with various teams, it is vital to communicate thoughts and ideas effectively and listen to others;



Analytical skills: the role implies performing both quantitative and qualitative research and using the collected data to make decisions.




As for the technical skills, they include a solid knowledge of relevant tools and software (i.e., Figma, Adobe XD, Balsamiq, etc.), an ability to create wireframes and prototypes, and an ability to create an information architecture. The requirements for the hard skills will depend on the project type.



Key responsibilities of a UX designer



Below, we listed the main responsibilities and explain why they are so important.



Competition analysis



A competitor analysis is an absolute must for creating any product. By learning about your competitors and about alternatives present in the market, you are able to:




Learn what attracts users and what doesn’t work so well;



Understand what unique features might help you stand out;




User research 



User research is vital, as every element and every choice have to be user-centric. Hence, the first thing to do here would be to conduct a user research and create a buyer persona: a portrait of your perfect potential customer. This portrait usually includes not only demographic information but also information on a user’s online habits, hobbies, interests, motivations, etc. The buyer persona helps predict what might encourage users to interact with the product and what might be a turn-off.



Creation of user journeys and user flows



A UX designer is also responsible for creating user journeys and user flows. A user journey can be defined as a sequence of steps that a user takes to accomplish a high-level task: for example, to purchase the needed item online. 



A user flow, on the other hand, is a sequence of steps needed to complete a certain task, i.e., log in the system. This process is much more granular than a user journey, and each user flow focuses on a single task.



A UX designer must understand how a user will interact with the product and what emotions they will experience at every step of the user journey. This understanding will help select the corresponding visual elements and display content in a way that a user will find intuitive and helpful.



Creation of wireframes and prototypes



One more important responsibility is the creation of wireframes and prototypes to present how the final product will look like and how all its components will be allocated. And since wireframes and prototypes are sometimes mistaken for each other, let’s quickly define what each term means.



A wireframe is a low-fidelity representation of a product. A wireframe typically displays its structure, main elements, and main text and graphic blocks. In wireframes, the text is commonly replaced with the Lorem ipsum placeholder and the images are displayed as simple boxes. But since the main goal of a wireframe is to show how the product will approximately look and what will belong where, such simplicity is perfectly fine.



As for prototypes, they can be defined as an evolution from wireframes. A prototype is usually a functioning, high-fidelity version of a final product that is used for user testing. Changes to the prototype can be made after receiving user feedback.



Work with developers 



And obviously, a big part of this job is collaboration with other team members, mostly developers. UX designers have to make sure that proposed content functions as intended and aligns with the user interface. For that, UX designers need to collaborate closely with the team.



What is a product designer?



In a nutshell, a product designer is a problem solver. This person is responsible not only for the design but also for deciding how the product will fit in the market, what user needs it will solve, and what business needs it will help to achieve. In addition, this person is responsible for evaluating the product success after its launch and for any further iterations. As you can see, it’s quite a lot to deal with. 



Key soft and hard skills needed for the role



Considering the complexity of the role, a list of needed soft and hard skills would vary depending on the hiring company. Below, we list the most common ones.



Soft skills include:




Communication and collaboration: a product designer constantly communicates and collaborates with all stakeholders and hence, it’s critical to set up and maintain effective communication;



Leadership: since a product designer is the one who comes up with the concept and justifies the decision, it is important that this person has good leadership skills and knows how to manage teams;



Creativity: it takes a great deal of creativity to come up with something new and hence, this skill is highly requested;



Problem-solving: a product designer should be able not only to identify problems but effectively solve them.




As for the technical skills, the list includes knowledge of the most relevant and needed tools, knowledge of relevant collaborative tools, and strong knowledge of the industry.



Key responsibilities of a product designer



Though we’ve briefly discussed the main responsibilities above, let’s pay a bit more attention to them, so you fully understand the role.



Research of users and their needs



A product designer creates a product from scratch and hence, has to understand both users and their needs/pain points to create a solution. A UX designer, on the other hand, works with a ready concept. But what’s similar in both roles is the need to know what motivates and triggers the target audience, and what solution would fulfill their needs.



Communication with stakeholders



Since a product designer is responsible for creating a product from start to finish and has to consider both business objectives and user needs, it’s natural that this person collaborates with all stakeholders. This person works closely with developers and marketers to ensure their vision is communicated clearly and that everyone stays on the same page. 



Prototyping and wireframing



A product designer also creates wireframes and prototypes to show how the product should look and function. They can use various tools and methods to quickly craft wireframes and prototypes, especially low-fidelity ones. The use of such specialized tools greatly speeds up the prototyping process and allows faster testing of ideas, which sometimes can be crucial.



Testing and feedback collection



A product designer is responsible for ensuring that the product fully meets user needs and hence, another responsibility is post-launch testing and feedback collection. Working together with the team, a designer usually comes up with certain KPIs that help define the success of the product. So once the product is launched, a designer closely monitors its performance, measures it against set KPIs and determines what adjustments are needed. 



As well, this role implies collecting feedback from users to learn whether the product satisfies them or whether anything should be added/changed. All this information is collected for use in another iteration.



Discussing the difference between product designer and UX designer 



During the discussion of these two roles, you might have noticed that they overlap in certain areas: prototyping, user research, use of specialized tools, etc. Hence, it’s important to emphasize the core differences between the UX design vs product design to avoid any possible confusion.



Scope of work



A UX designer is responsible for user experience, from the first point of contact to the last one. To successfully deliver a smooth user experience, it is important to research target users and perform a competitor analysis to understand what will help the product stand out and to communicate the brand’s voice effectively.



A product designer is responsible for the overall success of the product. That means, the workflow starts with the research of the market, identification of opportunities, and evaluation of how the proposed solution will cover the current user needs. As well, a product designer closely monitors product performance, measures its success with the help of KPIs, and collects user feedback for future alterations.



Focus



When comparing a UX designer vs product designer, the first has a narrower focus, and here is why. In their work, a UX designer is responsible for the user experience part and does not have to calculate the product’s success or compare its performance against the competition. Most often, as soon as a UX designer finishes their part of work for a certain project, they switch to another one.



A product designer, on the other hand, has a much broader focus and has to consider not only the user experience but all aspects that define the project’s success. This person leads the process from start to finish and continues their work even after the launch.



Product development cycle



Another big difference between product designer and UX designer is the stage of the development life cycle that they work on. A UX designer normally joins the team after the concept is finalized and all preliminary research is performed. A product designer is present at early stages and participates actively in creating the product concept and performing all needed research. 



Product designer vs UX designer: salary



It’s challenging to compare the salaries of these two roles, since the numbers will heavily depend on many factors: location, experience, seniority level, etc. However, we can provide approximate numbers that illustrate the salary levels across multiple countries in general.



UX designer:




United States: $94,351



United Kingdom: $65,956



Canada: $61,998



Europe: $47,809 - $56,967




Product designer:




United States: $82,582



United Kingdom: $50,000



Canada: $45,000



Europe: $58,757 - 70,333




Whom do you need for your project: product designer vs UX designer?



When it comes to UX vs product design, both roles are highly important. In order for a product to please users and bring tangible benefits to the business, it is important not only to make it appealing but also relevant and valuable. Hence, it’s impossible to choose between the product designer vs UX designer: both should work in conjunction and communicate effectively to bring the initial product vision to life.

### How IoT in Manufacturing Makes an Impact and Leads Digital Transformation

The Internet of Things has become one of the core technologies behind the digital transformation of a number of industries. According to Exploding Topics, the IoT market is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2024 and its CAGR for the period of 2023-2030 is expected to be 12.7%. As for the IoT in manufacturing, it is one of the biggest segments among all IoT projects and more and more businesses within the industry are adopting this technology. 



So what exactly is IoT in manufacturing and in what ways does it help production facilities ? Without further ado, let’s get started.







The growth of IoT and its impact on manufacturing 



In order to fully understand the impact of IoT on the manufacturing industry, let’s first look at some general statistics:




There are approximately 15 billion connected devices globally; 



In 2023, the IoT market is worth approximately $800 billion; 



By 2030, we might expect 500 billion devices to be connected to the Internet. 




The reason for such popularity is simple: IoT offers businesses new opportunities and valuable insights into their daily operations through 24/7 collection of information. But what does it have to do with manufacturing? 



For quite a while, the manufacturing industry has been hesitant about adopting technology. There is a great 2023 report by L2L, which states that 42% of respondents (manufacturing leaders) haven’t started digital transformation and two-thirds of respondents believe that their competitors are ahead of them in terms of digitization. 



However, there is also a great number of businesses who start recognizing the value that digitization and IoT adoption bring. Today, there are many exciting examples of using IoT for manufacturing. The popularity and value of the technology resulted in a new term - Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). 



Industrial Internet of Things explained 



TechTarget defines IIoT as the use of smart devices to enhance and improve manufacturing processes. Cisco adds that Industrial Internet of Things allows businesses to derive valuable data from their operations. Hence, IIoT (we can also call it the manufacturing IoT) is aimed at helping manufacturers optimize their operations through real-time data collection and its efficient processing. 



Industrial Internet of Things can be thought of as a subcategory of IoT, aimed specifically at supply chain and manufacturing. Whereas the Internet of Things is a more general concept and has a more customer-centric approach.




Smart manufacturing IoT devices for data collection and tracking;



Cloud computer systems for data storage and processing;



Data analytics software for post-collection data analysis;



Skilled specialists who will help an organization make data-driven decisions based on the collected data and gained insights.




Note though that these components are the same for the Internet of Things in general, so the only difference here would be the type of smart devices. In IIoT, it can be digital equipment or plants tools, while in IoT it can be wearables like a well-known Mi Smart Band. 



All in all, the main thing to remember here is that Industrial Internet of Things significantly aids the manufacturing industry in making smarter, data-driven decisions and improving efficiency of operations. Now let’s see the core areas of IoT manufacturing.



The main areas of impact of IoT solutions for manufacturing 



If we say “the IIoT impacts manufacturing”, that would sound too generic. There are many levels of operation in an average manufacturing business, and different areas require different data and approaches. Below, we explain the three main areas of manufacturing and the ways IIoT impacts each.







Shop floor



In manufacturing, the shop floor is a production area of a facility. The main activities that take place there usually include:




Tracking potential issues in the production process and fixing them;



Workforce scheduling;



Alignment of the production jobs efficiently.




Even the smallest mistake in the production process can lead to a whole batch being cancelled or order picking delayed (not to mention the negative impact on customer service). Hence, the use of advanced technologies on the shop floor can greatly reduce the number of errors, increase safety, and enable more accurate monitoring of processes. Hence, the use of IIoT on the shop floor can help with the following:




Real-time updates for tracking the working conditions of workers and their safety;



Predictive maintenance for the equipment and timely identification of any issues;



Assistance in the production planning due to monitoring of the production line.




As you can see, these improvements can not only improve and speed up the production process but contribute to better working conditions and help eliminate potential risks for workers.



Field operations



The next area of manufacturing is field production, which refers to various activities “in the field”, aka outside the traditional office/facility. Examples are property management,  construction, or inventory control. Here, IIoT can help with the following:




Fleet performance monitoring;



Virtual equipment monitoring;



Reduced response time to service calls.




By timely eliminating issues with equipment and assets and by always knowing the condition and state of the equipment, manufacturers are able to provide better customer service and gain better control over their assets and their management.



Supply chain



Supply chain refers to all operations related to the creation of products/services and their shipping to end users. There are lots of logistics and product management processes involved and it’s important to maintain all segments of the supply chain well-managed and optimized.



So what are the benefits of IIoT in this case? Here are a few examples:




Monitoring of goods transportation (monitoring of temperature, humidity, etc.);



Inventory and warehouse management and better resource allocation;



Better control of storage conditions and their timely adjustment;



Effective fleet management.




Third-party and remote operators



Finally, there are always some third-party organizations that you engage with (or you might simply distribute your business across various locations). To maintain a holistic view of the whole manufacturing process and timely react to any issues, happening at a remote location, businesses use IIoT. A few examples of its use cases are:




Monitoring of processes via a centralized platform;



Real-time notifications upon any issues;



Transparent and effective data sharing.




The core benefits of IoT in Manufacturing



We’ve briefly discussed how IIoT helps throughout all areas of manufacturing. Now, let’s get more specific and take a look at the main benefits of using IoT in manufacturing industry in detail.



Increased efficiency of operations



One of the biggest benefits of IoT in manufacturing is automation of processes and, as a result, the increased efficiency of operations. Since IIoT is all about collecting real-time data, the system can independently start certain actions if triggered by the collected information. Say, if the temperature in your warehouse drops to a level below the required one, the system will receive this information and might be able to automatically turn on the heating. And this is just one example. As RPA (robotic process automation) experts say, everything can be automated - so you really just need to define the processes that will benefit from automation and apply IIoT and automation to them.



In addition, IIoT enables you to remotely monitor and control your operations, which saves your employees a great deal of time since they don’t have to be physically present to make any needed adjustments or decisions. And finally, IIoT (alongside machine learning) is the biggest driving force behind predictive maintenance. So if you are able to prevent equipment failures and immediately fix the issues, it will have a big and positive impact on your ROI in the future. This is because you won’t have to spend tremendous amounts of money on repair and will be able to avoid downtimes by timely bringing your equipment back to life.



Short time to market



As a result of increased efficiency, IIoT enables shorter time to market for manufacturers, and here is how:




The goods are produced faster due to automation and optimization of the production process;



The issues are resolved either before they occur or immediately after, meaning, they don’t make a big negative impact on the production;



The decision-making is accurate and based on the real-time, relevant data;



Communication and interaction with all involved parties is faster and more transparent;



The number of unexpected issues drops due to predictive maintenance.




Increased accuracy and fewer errors



A human error is a significant factor to consider when you try calculating risks or estimating a certain project. It is an error that is not intended by the actor and that may happen due to various reasons, but most often due to a lack of attention. However, human errors are the once causing the most significant consequences, especially in dangerous fields like nuclear power. In manufacturing, human errors are also a frequent case and they impact not only the production process but also the cybersecurity of an organization.



This is where IIoT steps in and helps reduce the number of potential errors through automation. A machine cannot be inattentive by default and hence, won’t let a single error slip. As well, a machine is capable of scanning through massive data sets much faster and more efficiently than a human and hence, it can instantly detect any suspicious activity (in case of cybersecurity). 



Increased safety



Workplace safety is a major issue that needs to be addressed on all levels, from workers on the shop floor to the ones working on distribution. To minimize and prevent potential accidents, organizations can effectively use IoT in factories.



Due to 24/7 collection of data by smart sensors, manufacturers can immediately learn about potential threats or an accident that’s happening and take corresponding actions. In addition to real-time notifications on potential threats, smart sensors can also educate and train employees on safe work practices and notify them in case anything has to be corrected.



Reduced operational costs



One of the biggest and most tangible benefits of digitization for any business is reduction of costs. So how does IIoT help manufacturers in this regard?



The use of Industrial Internet of Things helps with:




Better allocation of resources and workforce;



Predictive maintenance and as a result, mitigation of massive equipment failures;



Better understanding of the production process and opportunities for optimization;



Remote monitoring and hence, better management of equipment and processes.




All these things lead to lower costs since you will know exactly what is happening at the facility at any given time. You will therefore be able to avoid unnecessary costs (i.e., repeated and/or inefficient processes, too many resources for a single task, etc.) and at the same time, will know what specific areas call for your attention.



Main IoT use cases in manufacturing



Though we’ve briefly discussed the ways the Internet of Things is deployed in manufacturing, we’d now like to focus on specific IoT use cases that are considered the staples of IIoT. Remember though, that while all of them are great, every organization will have a specific use case for IoT, which will depend on its business objectives, needs, and technical challenges.



Digital twins







A digital twin is a digital copy of a physical object (i.e., a manufacturing facility) that fully replicates all processes that happen with this object. The main goal behind the creation of a digital twin is to monitor and study the object, as well as to set up various scenarios to see how certain changes will impact the object and its processes. For example, you want to expand your facility and properly allocate all machinery and resources. With a digital twin, you can easily map out the placement of your assets and check that the new space complies with safety regulations. Also note that there are various types of digital twins:




Digital twin prototype: created before the physical object is built and is used to test the future object’s behavior and to evaluate possible risks;



Digital twin instance: created after the physical object is built and is used to run various scenarios and tests before applying changes to the physical object;



Digital twin aggregate: is also created after the physical object is built and is used to collect information and to monitor the object’s parameters and capabilities.




So what does the Internet of Things have to do with digital twinning? The thing is, the creation of an accurate digital twin is impossible without knowing the precise characteristics of a physical object and without syncing the parameters of physical and digital objects. The IoT technology lies at the heart of digital twinning as it allows organizations to collect real-time accurate information about a physical object and immediately learn about any changes in its parameters.



Predictive maintenance



Another example of IoT use cases in manufacturing is predictive maintenance. Predictive maintenance is aimed at timely identifying any warning signals with the equipment and eliminating them before they transform into an issue. And since the repair costs can be massive, manufacturers are obviously interested in ways to cut down these costs and maintain the equipment’s proper performance for as long as possible. Also, don’t forget about the cost of downtime which falls into the category of unplanned expenses. 



The Internet of Things allow 24/7 monitoring of the equipment status and instantly notifies you in case anything goes wrong or calls for your attention. The technology helps manufacturers stay aware of the status of their assets, calculate possible repair costs beforehand, and ensure maximal efficiency of machinery.



Inventory management



In traditional inventory management, the process of monitoring and managing assets is often manual and time-consuming, which leads to inaccurate data, surplus or stockouts, and extra costs. A digital approach to inventory management, on the other hand, helps eliminate these issues and here is how.



The use of IoT in inventory management includes the use of sensors to collect the data (i.e., temperature, humidity) and RFID tags for easy item tracking and identification. With the help of these devices, manufacturers can:




Enhance the visibility of inventory by always knowing what exactly is present in the inventory at the moment and in what amounts;



Collect accurate, real-time information on both stored items and the state of the inventory;



Better plan demand and avoid stockouts/surpluses by always knowing the amount of items in the inventory;



Improve efficiency through elimination of manual processes (i.e., manual search for a certain item) and improved visibility.




Remote control



One more great example of IoT solutions in manufacturing is remote control of machinery and assets through smart devices. Even if your facilities are distributed across various locations, the collected information is all stored in a centralized hub and every approved user has access to it. In this way, it becomes easier to compare the production lines across various facilities, control the flow of assets and resources, and even fix certain issues via a virtual network. 



Needless to say, an option to remotely control your equipment and resources greatly saves time, helps streamline your operations, and adds transparency to asset monitoring.



The biggest challenges of adopting IoT for manufacturing



As with any other technology, the adoption of IoT comes with a set of certain challenges and considerations. You can’t just deploy IoT and call it quits - the successful implementation calls for preparation of your digital environment in advance. Below, we list the core things to pay attention to.



Data security



IoT devices collect and process vast amounts of data, and this data might be prone to cyberattacks, especially if you haven’t implemented corresponding security policies on all levels of your organization. Ransomware attacks, shadow IoT, and botnet attacks - all these threats occur every day and hence, every organization needs to review its cybersecurity policies and strengthen them in order to protect digital assets.



We’ve written a lot about cybersecurity in our blog, so our #1 recommendation is: start with CIS security controls and then gradually add more security layers. Also, remember that security should happen at all levels and every employee should follow the established security policies. Thus, you might want to provide security training and regularly conduct assessments of your environment and its protection.



Adoption strategy



One of the most common mistakes in implementing IoT in an organization is lacking a clear adoption strategy. As a result, you might face financial losses and won’t really see the value of IoT in both short and long term. Lack of proper planning will inevitably lead to unexpected financial losses and technical issues. Hence, before implementing IoT, you need to answer a few questions, such as:




What systems do I need to integrate with my IoT manufacturing solutions and how will I do it?



Do I have all necessary technical resources?



How will I store and process the collected data?




These and other questions need to be answered in advance so when you are ready to adopt the IoT solution, there will be no unexpected issues and the business will function smoothly without interruptions.



Lack of resources



When it comes to adopting a new technology, the lack of needed resources is probably one of the biggest bottlenecks for companies. First, there are technical resources, such as availability of a sufficient data storage solution, tools for data analysis, etc. Second, there are human resources aka specialists that know how to work with IoT solutions and properly configure them.



Those organizations that wish to adopt the Internet of Things in manufacturing either have to assemble an in-house team or outsource IoT development to a knowledgeable company. We might recommend the first option if you plan to develop IoT projects by yourself in a long run. Otherwise, it will be more cost-efficient and faster to request IoT development from a company that has experience in similar projects.



Lack of KPIs 



One more consideration that is relevant to adoption of every new technology, not specifically IoT, is lack of clear KPIs and goals. Say, if you want to “optimize a production line”, that’s a very vague definition of a business goal. A good KPI is always quantifiable and comes in numbers. So if you want to “2X speed up the production of a certain product” or “decrease the number of human errors by 30%”, that’s a measurable goal. 







The reason why it’s important to keep your KPIs and goals measurable is that you need to track the progress of your IoT adoption and understand whether anything needs to be adjusted. Hence, measurable KPIs serve as an indicator of a successful IoT adoption.



Summing up



The role of IoT in manufacturing is, without a doubt, highly significant. This technology, alongside others, can help manufacturers faster embrace digitization, take their enterprises to a new level, and create safer working environments. On the other hand, its implementation calls for rigorous planning and should be done in accordance with industry security standards. By taking care of security from the very beginning, you will be able to enjoy all the benefits that IoT brings without compromising the protection of collected data.

### Understanding the Science Behind a High-Performing Web Application Architecture

As per Statista, the global market for web application development is expected to have a volume of $234.70bn by 2028. And as the use and popularity of web applications keeps growing, the demands for the quality of web apps also rise.



The backbone of a high-performing web application is its architecture, as it orchestrates how the app’s components interact. And since there is a great variety of web applications, ranging in size and complexity, there are several approaches to designing a web application architecture, which we review below.







What is web application architecture?



There is no universal definition for the web application architecture, but most often, it is described as a model of interaction between the app’s components. In other words, it is an app’s skeleton that dictates how and where all elements will be placed and what is the underlying logic behind the communication between the client and the server.



Sometimes people confuse software architecture with software design. So to make things clear, remember the following: software architecture focuses on the development of the app’s “skeleton” and on the high-level infrastructure. Software design, on the other hand, defines the code-level design and addresses issues like the scope of classes.



Main benefits of a well-designed app architecture



There are several reasons why it’s important to pay utter attention to the design of your app’s architecture:




Improved app performance: effective architecture means that the app will be less prone to errors and issues, will handle the load well, and will effectively perform its functions without any lags or glitches. In addition, a scalable architecture enables you to expand the app’s functionality in the future, thus adding new relevant features and adapting to changing market needs.



Benefits for business: with a scalable and effective app architecture, it won’t take you too much time and resources to implement changes or add improvements. As well, a high-performing app ranks better by search engines, meaning it will bring you more traffic and hence, more potential customers.



Improved customer experience: when a user interacts with a digital product, it takes mere seconds for them to form an impression, and even the smallest issue can ruin it. With a smooth-functioning app that works equality well under different conditions, user experience will remain on the same high level. 








As you can see, a high-performing web application is a valuable digital asset for any business, and its architecture is one of the cornerstones for its success. Let’s move on to the composition of a web application architecture and the way it works.



How does the web app architecture work?



There are usually three main sides of the app architecture:




Client side: also known as frontend, this part of the architecture is responsible for user interaction with the application. 



Database server: this part sends the client’s data to the server.



Server side: also known as backend storage, this part is responsible for storing the data, processing requests from the database server and sending back the responses.




Now, let’s see how all of them interact with each other, step by step.




A user types in the URL in the browser field.



The browser sends the request to the DNS (Domain Name Server) to check whether the request is valid and the IP address is recognized.



If successful, the browser then sends the request to the server.



The server transfers the request to the data storage, so it locates the page and displays relevant data.



The user sees the requested data in the browser.




The basics of a web application architecture diagram



As you can see above, quite a lot of action takes place - but everything happens under mere seconds. And to gain an even better understanding of how the components of the architecture function, let’s look at the application architecture diagram in more detail.



Domain Name System (DNS)



The Domain Name System is often referred to as the phone book of the Internet, as it helps users find the needed domains. When a user types in a certain domain name, the DNS translates it to an IP address, so browsers can load the requested information.



Load balancer



The load balancer is needed to handle the incoming requests and distribute them evenly among the servers. When a request is received, the load balancer identifies an available (and online) server in a pool and directs the request to it. In this way, the load balancer evenly distributes the load between the servers, which is especially important during the peak times as too much load on a single server can negatively affect the website performance.



Web app servers



Web app servers process a user’s’ request and send the docs (usually in JSON, XML, or XMK formats) back to a browser. To do so, web app servers communicate with the backend infrastructure (database, cache server, etc.).



Database



As you can guess from the name, a database is an organized collection of data which provides tools for managing computations - for example, updating or organizing them. The database belongs to the backend part of the application, and there may be more than one database in the app’s architecture - we’ll talk about it a bit later.



Cache server 



The ultimate goal of a cache server (or caching service) is to save Internet content (such as web pages) locally. As it places the previously requested information in a temporary storage (cache), the process of retrieving this information in the future is greatly accelerated. This approach allows returning future requests much faster, which contributes to better user experience.



Job queue (not obligatory)



This component of the web application architecture diagram also contributes to the efficiency of request processing due to the scheduling of jobs. Since there are many minor jobs that web servers deal with, they can’t all be processed at once. Hence, they go to a list of jobs in a job queue and can be executed when certain factors are met. Note that this component is optional and does not necessarily have to be included in your web application architecture.



Full-text search service (not obligatory)



Same as a job queue, this component of the website architecture diagram is optional, but it can be quite beneficial for your specific application.  Full-text search is exactly what its name implies, and it allows performing a search through massive amounts of text by a keyword. 



Data warehouse



Some might confuse a database with a data warehouse, though these two are different things. We’ve already mentioned that a database stores the data - a data warehouse, in turn, is a database management system. Its main goal is data processing and provision of data for further analytical use.



Content Delivery Network (CDN)



A CDN can be defined as a network of interconnected servers that caches content close to the users. When it receives a request, it locates the closest server to the user and retrieves information from this server. This approach allows faster request processing and faster (and more effective) content delivery.



Main web application components 



As already mentioned, there may be different types of web app architecture, and its components may interact in different ways. However, an average app normally features two main types of its components - UI and structural.



UI app components



Even though this group of components of web application does not impact the app’s performance and is not tied to the architecture, it needs to be mentioned. User interface components belong to user experience and are part of the visual interface. They include notifications, logs, configuration settings, dashboards, etc. 



Structural components



Structural components of an application are tied to the app’s functionality and can be divided into two groups: 




Client components: the frontend part of the application that a user sees in a browser and directly interacts with. These components are created with the help of JavaScript, CSS, and HTML, and don’t request device connectivity to operate.



Server components: the backend part of the application that is designed with such technologies as Java, .NET, NodeJS, Python, or PHP. Note that server components compose the database and are overall responsible for how the data is stored, processed, and retrieved.




What is a 3-Tier architecture?



Since we discuss the two main types of the app’s components, it’s also important to discuss the different layers of an app’s architecture. In a traditional architecture, there are two layers - the client side system and the backend system. However, this approach has several concerns. First, security. Since there is a direct interaction between a database and a user’s device, there are more chances for security breaches and malicious attacks. Second, if a number of users increases, the performance decreases, which negatively impacts user experience. 



Thus, more businesses are switching to a more modern web application architecture known as the 3-Tier architecture. Unlike the traditional one, this architecture type has three layers: 




Presentation layer



Business layer



Data layer








With this architecture, the communication between a user and a database is managed by the business layer (also called an application layer), which adds to its security. And now, let’s see each layer of a 3-Tier architecture and its functions in more detail.



Presentation layer



Presentation layer is responsible for the user interaction with the server and the backend service via the browser of choice. The environment for a presentation layer is any browser, and this layer includes static content and dynamic interface. The presentation layer features UX/UI design, layout, interactive elements, dashboards, and configuration settings. The most common technologies used to design this layer are:




HTML



CSS



React



JavaScript



Vue.js



Angular.js




Business layer



This layer contains the business logic of the app, aka the sequence of events that enables users to perform specific actions. Say, you are entering your credentials to log in the system. Here is how the process would look like from the business logic point of view:




A user types in their username and password in the required fields. Note that it happens in the presentation layer.



The information is sent to the business layer and from there, is directed to the data layer to check, whether the credentials are correct. Here, the business logic states that in order for the user to log in, the credentials are to be validated against the entry in the database.



When a request gets to the business layer, the credentials are searched for in a database. If they match the ones that the user entered, the data layer of the app notifies the business layer that the credentials are correct.



Once the business layer receives the information that the credentials are validated, it notifies the user about the successful login. 



The corresponding message appears in the presentation layer.








As you can see, even the smallest login action requires a sequence of events to take place. The business layer is the one containing all these sequences that form the business logic of the application.



Data layer



This layer, also called the persistence layer, is the one where the data is stored and retrieved from. The data layer contains the database management system (DBMS) and the server. The primary role of the DBMS is to connect the app’s functionality to the storage and to ensure that the needed information is processed correctly. As for the storage, the data can be stored either in the on-premises server or in the cloud. 



Note: there are several components that exist in the app’s architecture but are isolated from these main layers. They are third-party integrations and cross-cutting functionality. Both components are critical and must be incorporated into the architecture.



Main models of web applications



Depending on the goal that you want to achieve and on the type of your application, you will choose between several different models. They differ by the number of servers and databases, so here is a quick overview of each to help you make the best decision.



One web server, one database



As you can guess by the name, this model features only one server and one database. And while this configuration seems pretty logical, the model is actually considered outdated since a single server cannot usually handle all the requests effectively. The biggest concern of this model is that if a server goes down, the app shuts down too. Needless to say, how negatively it will impact your business operations and user experience. 



Hence, this model can be recommended to a small company for a start, but is not really suitable for established businesses with massive workloads. Also, this model is often used as a testing one when you need to test your idea in the form of an MVP.



Multiple web servers, one database



This model is safer than the one above since there are several servers present. In this way, even if one crashes, there will always be a backup one that will keep the app going. However, there are still risks associated with only one database as its malfunction will impact the app’s performance too.



Multiple web servers, multiple databases



The most reliable model due to the fact that there is no single point of failure. Also, with this model, you can store your data on all servers or evenly distribute it among them (thus, storing identical data on all servers). This approach adds flexibility to the data storage process and reduces the risks of an app crashing. Note, though, that in case of a crash, you might still lose some data though the whole application will keep working. 



Main types of web application architecture



Same as with web application models, there are several different types of web application architecture. The type of app architecture defines the way the app’s components interact and shows the logic of communication between the client and the server side.



The types of web application architecture are dictated by modern trends in web development as well as your business needs and project requirements. For example, the enterprise web application architecture will differ from the one for an MVP. Hence, let’s review each type and see its main pros and cons.



Monolithic



Let’s start with the traditional approach to web app architecture, which is monolithic. As the name implies, a monolithic architecture comes in as a monolith, where three main components (database, server side, and client side) are tightly interconnected. Thus, any adjustment applied to one component impacts the other two, which might be inconvenient or even disrupt the app’s performance. 



The main pros of a monolithic architecture are:




Easier management of the app’s cross-cutting functionality since the whole app functions as a single unit;



Easier and faster testing - you test the whole app at once;



Faster deployment because of the architecture’s simplicity;



Easier management of the database.




As you can see, all pros derive from the simplicity of the architecture. At the same time, this simplicity can also raise some concerns. And here are the main cons:




Limited scalability: you can’t scale just one component of an app without scaling the others, which may not be very convenient.



Complicated implementation of changes: since it’s impossible to apply a change to a single component, it will affect the whole app and you will have to adjust other components too.



Low reliability: since all components are so tightly interconnected, one issue can result to the whole app collapsing.




It’s incorrect to say that a monolithic architecture is outdated or not used anymore. However, we do not recommend it for large and complex applications. Instead, this type of architecture can be suitable for lightweight small apps or MVP projects.



Microservices



This architecture type is the complete opposite from monolithic. With microservice architecture, there are several independent and loosely coupled units (microservices) that communicate through APIs. Each unit performs a specific task and can be built in a different programming language. Needless to say, such an approach makes the developers’ lives much easier and allows much more flexibility.



In addition to that, here are the other significant pros of the microservice architecture:




Independent deployment of every microservice;



Variety of the tech stack and easy updating of each component;



Higher reliability due to the independence of every unit;



Separate scaling and overall high flexibility of the app.




However, the microservice architecture also has several concerns to keep in mind. Here are the potential cons:




Complex management of the system due to a great number of independent units;



Complicated testing since every unit needs to be tested separately;



Potential app performance issues due to possible bottlenecks in communication between microservices;



Possible cross-cutting concerns.




The microservice architecture is a great choice for big, complex and evolving apps that handle great amounts of traffic on a regular basis. Note though that in order to manage such an app, you need to have a highly experienced team.



Single Page Application (SPA)



A Single Page Application is a web development approach towards a better user experience and a more effective page loading. Upon the user’s request, the SPA loads a single web page and refreshes the presented information via dynamically changing content. In other words, the app fetches new content from the server while the page is not reloaded. This approach allows for a more intuitive and interactive user experience and requires less time for the requested information to appear.



The main pros of SPAs are:




Very quick loading time;



Smooth and intuitive user experience;



Easy addition of advanced features to the app.




As for the cons, they include:




Possible issues with search engine optimization since there is only one page of the app;



Consumption of a great amount of browser resources;



Possible security issues, especially cross-site scripting attacks.




Progressive Web Application (PWA)



In simple terms, a PWA is a website that behaves like a mobile application and hence, delivers superior user experience. A PWA is built using such technologies as HTML, CSS, WebAssembly, and JavaScript, and takes advantage of native mobile features while working in the browser. In PWAs, the content is downloaded progressively (in parallel with the user’s interaction with the app) and thus, offers a more intuitive and convenient experience. Progressive web applications are loved mostly by the ecommerce store owners due to their lightweight and cross-platform nature, meaning, users can access these apps from any browser.



Among other PWA benefits are:




No need for installation as the app can be accessed directly from any browser;



Little amount of memory space needed;



Fast time to market because of a single codebase;



Lower development costs since you need to develop just one app;



Easy maintenance and updates.




As for the cons of progressive web applications, they are:




High battery consumption due to the fact that an app runs from the browser;



Limited functionality and personalization;



Limited access to native features of mobile devices (if accessed from mobile).




Serverless architecture



This is usually the most common choice of the architecture of modern web applications and here is why. With serverless architecture, you outsource the server and infrastructure management to a third-party cloud provider. In this way, a provider takes care of all functions, related to backend, while your team focuses solely on the frontend part of the application. The frontend code is connected to the server by the third-party infrastructure.



The main pros of this architecture are:




No need for server management as it’s handled by the third party;



Cost-saving since you don’t need to assemble the whole backend part by yourself and pay just for the use;



High scalability and reliable performance;



24/7 tech support and assistance from the cloud provider.




And obviously, there are a few considerations:




Vendor lock-in: future migration to a different provider might be challenging;



Possible security issues since you won’t be in control of it;



Reduced visibility of the backend part of the application and complex debugging.




Web application architecture: best practices



We’ve discussed the main web application architecture types and models, so let’s wrap everything up with a few actionable tips on designing the architecture. We hope they will help you during your next web app project.  



Ensure the app’s scalability



Scalability is crucial because it allows you to add/remove the app’s functionality and adjust it to your current business size and needs. As well, the app’s scalability helps ensure that the app will be able to handle the growing traffic properly. Thus, before beginning the app development, make sure that the selected tech stack ensures future app scalability.



Take care of security



Another web application architecture best practice is security management. As we already discussed, security is vital for any software project, as even the smallest breach can lead to massive financial losses and reputational damage. Hence, when designing the application, do so with security in mind. Take a look at our article on secure coding - it explains the importance of robust and secure code and how to implement secure coding practices into your organization. 



Optimize the app’s performance







In order to provide great user experience and ensure that your app is reliable and efficient, take some time to fine-tune its performance. Here are a few ideas on what you can do:




Keep the code concise to increase its readability;



Use file caching and CDNs (content delivery networks) for faster loading;



Use file compression to increase the application load time;



Use logs for app performance monitoring.




We have an article on website performance optimization that also contains valuable tips that you might find helpful.



Select the most suitable database



The choice of the database will define the future choice of the app architecture type, so you really need to research a bit and see what exact storage type will meet your needs the best. Will you need just one database or several? What kind of data are you going to store and process? These and other questions need to be answered in advance, so you carefully plan out how exactly the database (or the databases) will communicate with other app components and what resources it will require. 



Summing up



The future performance of the web application and the value that it will bring depend heavily on the web application architecture, as it dictates the way an app functions. Thus, when planning the web app development, we highly recommend investing enough time into research and into finding a reliable web application development company, who will deliver the best solution in accordance with your needs. With an extensive experience in the industry, SoftTeco is well-versed in various types of web application architecture, and we will gladly answer any questions that you may have.

### Navigating the Supply Chain Digital Transformation

The supply chain is the backbone of modern business operations, influencing everything from cost management and customer satisfaction to innovation and sustainability. As technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, companies are recognizing the importance of adopting it in order to remain competitive. According to an IBM survey, 95% of Chief Supply Chain Officers (CSCOs) recognize the benefits of supply chain digital transformation.  



But what precisely does such a transformation entail, and why does it hold such significance? Let's delve into the best practices, advantages and challenges of digitization in the logistic industry. 







What is digital transformation in supply chain?  



Digital transformation involves the deployment of advanced technologies into all aspects of a business, fundamentally changing how it operates and delivers value to customers. This entails harnessing cutting-edge technologies like data analytics, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things to simplify processes, enhance decision-making, and create new customer experiences. 



Digital transformation in supply chain management is highly relevant as it enables organizations to gain greater visibility, transparency, and control over their operations. This change is driven by various factors, including: 




Technology advancements. Rapid developments in technologies, such as IoT, AI, and blockchain, provide the tools necessary for digital transformation.



Customer expectations. Evolving customer demands for real-time tracking, transparency, and seamless experiences drive businesses to adopt digital supply chain solutions to meet these expectations.



Competitive pressure. Businesses aim to stay ahead of competitors by enhancing efficiency and responsiveness through digital transformation.



Globalization. As supply chains extend across borders, various technological tools help manage the complexities of global logistics.



Resilience. The COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a wake-up call for businesses, illuminating the critical role of resilient and agile processes in times of crisis.



Regulatory compliance. Digital tools help manage the complexities of meeting international trade regulations and standards.




The main difference between digital and traditional supply chains lies in the way information is managed and shared. In a traditional supply chain, information is often siloed and fragmented, making it difficult for different stakeholders to collaborate effectively. On the other hand, a digital supply chain leverages technology to create a seamless flow of information across the entire supply chain network. By digitizing manual processes and adopting advanced technologies, businesses can:




Reduce costs



Lower production and transportation risks



Optimize their supply chain management



Enhance collaboration with partners



Swiftly respond to market demands



Improve efficiency



Increase customer satisfaction




However, many organizations remain cautious about digital transformation due to uncertainties about the initial steps and what it entails.



Supply chain evolution through digital transformation technologies



As we already mentioned, technological advancements are the key factor that made the digital transformation of supply chains possible. These advancements have created a ripe environment for businesses to leverage technologies and reshape their operations. Let's explore how these technologies have facilitated the digital transformation of supply chains.



Internet of Things 



The IoT has significantly transformed the way data is collected, providing businesses with valuable insights and opportunities for real-time monitoring and predictive analytics. It also enables businesses to connect and communicate seamlessly through interconnected devices. 



The IoT devices can be embedded in products, equipment, vehicles, and even environmental elements. They serve several purposes:




Data collection. Sensors can monitor temperature, humidity, air quality, and more, especially relevant for industries like pharmaceuticals and food.



Asset tracking. IoT provides end-to-end visibility in real-time. You can track the location, condition, and status of goods at every point in the supply chain.



Machine health. Sensors in vehicles can detect operational anomalies, helping in preventive maintenance and reducing downtime.



Inventory management. RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) tags and sensors assist in tracking inventory levels, reducing errors, and optimizing restocking.



Immediate alerts. When IoT sensors detect deviations from predefined parameters, they can trigger alerts, allowing swift response to issues like temperature fluctuations, security breaches, or equipment malfunctions.




Artificial intelligence and data analytics 



Data analytics and AI help to transform the supply chain into a data-driven and highly efficient ecosystem. AI algorithms analyze and process vast amounts of data, and enable: 




Informed decision-making. Through data analysis, these technologies provide valuable insights and identify trends, allowing decision-makers to make informed choices.



Efficiency optimization. AI can automate and optimize routine tasks such as route planning, inventory management, and demand forecasting, leading to more efficient operations.



Pattern identification. Predictive analytics uses historical data to identify patterns and trends. For example, it can recognize when certain products are likely to have increased demand during specific seasons.




Blockchain



Blockchain technology holds immense potential to transform supply chain management. It ensures:




Immutable record-keeping. Blockchain creates a tamper-proof ledger of all transactions. Each record, or "block," is linked to the previous one, creating a chain. This ensures that once data is entered, it cannot be altered or deleted, establishing transparency.



End-to-End visibility.  All participants in the supply chain, from manufacturers to consumers, can access the same blockchain, providing real-time visibility into the journey of products. 



Traceability. With blockchain, every product is assigned a unique identifier. As the product moves through the supply chain, each transaction and transfer is recorded. In the event of a recall or quality issue, it becomes easy to trace back to the source of the problem.



Reduced fraud. Fraud in the supply chain can be significantly reduced by implementing blockchain. Any unauthorized alterations or unauthorized entries are easily detectable, making fraudulent activities less likely.



Counterfeit prevention. Blockchain enables the verification of product authenticity. Consumers, retailers, and distributors can scan a product's QR code or barcode to verify its origin. This minimizes the risk of counterfeit goods infiltrating the supply chain.



Smart contracts. Blockchain can execute smart contracts automatically when predefined conditions are met. For example, payment can be released to a supplier only when goods reach a specified location, reducing the risk of fraudulent transactions.




Cloud Computing



Cloud computing provides a scalable and flexible infrastructure for data storage, processing, and collaboration in the cloud. It offers several advantages in the context of remote access and scalability within the supply chain:




Accessibility. Cloud-based systems enable users to access data and applications from anywhere with an Internet connection. This is crucial for remote teams, especially when operations span across various geographical locations.



Scalability. Cloud solutions allow organizations to easily scale their resources up or down based on demand. This flexibility is valuable for managing fluctuating workloads and adapting to market changes.



Cost efficiency. Cloud computing often follows a pay-as-you-go model, reducing the need for significant upfront investments in hardware and infrastructure. This cost-efficiency is particularly advantageous for small and medium-sized businesses.



Automatic updates. Cloud service providers handle software updates and maintenance themselves, thus ensuring that your applications are up-to-date and secure without requiring internal IT resources.



Real-time data sharing. Cloud-based platforms enable real-time data sharing among supply chain partners, ensuring that everyone has access to the most current information. This reduces delays and miscommunications.



Collaborative tools. Cloud solutions often come with collaboration tools like document sharing and real-time chat, making it easier for teams and partners to work together regardless of their physical locations.




Benefits of Supply Chain Digital Transformation



Digital technologies and strategies unlock a multitude of benefits for businesses, such as optimization of their operations and elevation of their overall performance and competitive advantage. Let’s look at the biggest benefits in detail.



Process automation



One of the key benefits of supply chain digital transformation is process automation. By deploying technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, companies can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks, such as inventory management, order processing, and logistics tracking. This not only reduces manual errors but also improves efficiency and reduces costs. For example, robotic process automation can be used to automate the process of picking and packing goods in a warehouse, leading to significant time and cost savings.



Cost optimization



Supply chain digital transformation enables companies to greatly optimize their costs. By leveraging technologies, companies can gain greater visibility into their operations, identify inefficiencies, and implement cost-saving measures. For example, real-time data analytics can help companies identify areas of waste, such as excess inventory or inefficient transportation routes, and take corrective actions. 



Increased customer satisfaction and engagement



Digital transformation empowers companies to enhance customer satisfaction and engagement by providing a seamless and personalized experience. By leveraging technologies such as e-commerce platforms, mobile apps, and customer relationship management systems, companies can offer a user-friendly interface for customers to place orders, track shipments, and receive notifications. This improves overall customer satisfaction and loyalty. Additionally, advanced technologies enable companies to gather and analyze customer data, allowing them to gain insights into customer preferences and behavior, and tailor their offerings accordingly.



Reduced environmental impact



Another significant benefit of supply chain digital transformation is the opportunity to reduce the environmental impact. By optimizing processes and eliminating waste, companies can minimize their carbon footprint. For example, by leveraging real-time data analytics, companies can optimize transportation routes, reduce fuel consumption, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, innovative technologies enable companies to implement sustainable practices, such as paperless transactions, reducing the consumption of natural resources.



Data-driven decision-making



Technologies enable managers to gather, analyze, and utilize vast amounts of data, resulting in more efficient and effective decision-making. By implementing advanced machine learning analytics tools, businesses can extract valuable insights from their data. These insights can help identify trends, anticipate demand fluctuations, and optimize inventory levels. For example, predictive analytics can be used to forecast customer demand, allowing companies to adjust production and distribution accordingly, minimizing waste



Challenges and considerations



Implementing digital supply chains can bring numerous benefits, but it also comes with a fair share of challenges. Here are some of the most common concerns and potential strategies to overcome them.



Growth of cyber-threats



As organizations embrace technology, they become more vulnerable to cyber-threats. With the increasing number of data breaches and cyber-attacks, cybersecurity has become a critical concern for organizations undergoing digital transformation. This challenge requires organizations to invest in robust cybersecurity measures to protect their assets and customer data. Failure to do so can result in significant financial losses, reputational damage, and loss of customer trust.



To address this challenge, organizations need to prioritize cybersecurity from the onset of their digital transformation strategy. This includes implementing strong authentication protocols, encryption mechanisms, and regular vulnerability assessments. Additionally, organizations should invest in employee training and awareness programs to ensure a strong cybersecurity culture throughout the organization.



Talent and skill gap



Digital transformation requires specialized skills that may not be readily available within the organization. According to PwC’s 2023 Digital Trends in Supply Chain Survey, a lack of digital skills among employees (80%) and the availability of data and digital tools (73%) were the most commonly cited challenges to integrating ESG into company supply chains. 



To overcome this challenge, organizations can adopt a multi-faceted approach. This includes upskilling existing employees through training programs, partnering with educational institutions to develop specialized digital transformation courses, and leveraging external consultants and experts. By investing in the development of needed skills within the organization, organizations can build a competent workforce capable of driving successful digital transformation initiatives. Additionally, businesses might consider outsourcing certain specialized tasks to external experts or consultants.



High investment costs



It's important to carefully assess the costs and the expected return on investment (ROI), especially during the initial phases of technology implementation. The costs associated with acquiring new technologies, implementing infrastructure upgrades, and training employees can be substantial. This financial burden can deter organizations from pursuing digital transformation or result in budget constraints that hinder the success of the initiative. 



To address this challenge, conduct a thorough cost-benefit analysis to outline the benefits, cost savings, and competitive advantages that digitalization can bring. This analysis should assess the potential returns on investment, both in terms of financial gains and operational efficiencies. Additionally, organizations can explore alternative financing options, such as partnerships with technology vendors or seek funding. Prioritize initiatives based on their potential impact and feasibility. Monitor and track key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of technology-focused initiatives and make data-driven decisions on further investments.



Failed transformation strategy



One of the primary challenges that organizations face in their digital transformation journey is the lack of a clear vision and strategy. Simply adopting new technologies without a well-defined plan can result in a fragmented and disorganized approach. Without a clear vision, companies may find themselves implementing digital tools and systems that do not align with their overall business objectives. This can lead to wasted resources and failed attempts at digital transformation. For example, a retail company that invests in a mobile app without considering the preferences and behaviors of its target customers may end up with a low adoption rate and minimal impact on sales.



Building a roadmap for an impactful supply chain digital transformation



Building a roadmap for an impactful supply chain digital transformation requires careful planning and consideration of various aspects. Here are some key steps to help you navigate through the process:




Assess the current state of your processes. Perform a thorough evaluation of your current supply chain processes, technologies, and capacities. Recognize areas of concern, inefficiencies, and opportunities for enhancement. This assessment will establish the foundation for further actions. 



Define digital transformation value chain. Clearly define your strategic objectives and outcomes for the digital transformation. These objectives can include improving efficiency, reducing costs, enhancing customer satisfaction, or increasing supply chain visibility. It's important to align these objectives with your overall business goals.



Identify needed technology solutions. Research and identify the exact technologies and solutions that align with your objectives. Consider technologies like AI, IoT, cloud computing, big data analytics, and automation. Evaluate potential vendors, solutions, and implementation options.



Prioritize initiatives. Prioritize digital initiatives based on their potential impact and feasibility. Break them down into manageable phases to ensure a smooth implementation. It's important to focus on quick wins to build momentum and secure stakeholder buy-in.



Develop an implementation roadmap. Create a detailed roadmap that outlines the timeline, activities, and dependencies for each initiative. Define key milestones, deliverables, and KPIs to track the progress and measure the success of the digital transformation. Flexibility and adaptability are crucial as the roadmap may evolve along the way.




Remember, the roadmap for supply chain digital transformation should be tailored to your specific business needs and context. It's important to have a cross-functional team involving IT, operations, and business stakeholders for effective collaboration and decision-making.



To sum it up



The digital transformation of supply chains is not just a strategic choice but a necessity for organizations looking to secure long-term success, meet evolving customer demands, promote sustainability, enhance efficiency, and maintain a competitive edge. As technology continues to advance and market competition intensifies, embracing solutions for supply chain management is a prudent investment in the future.




 

FAQ

### A Deep Dive Into Healthcare Chatbots: Benefits, Use Cases, and Challenges

The healthcare industry is constantly embracing technological advancements, as every new innovation brings significant improvements to patient care and to work processes of medical professionals. And while some innovations may be too complex or expensive to implement, there is one that is highly affordable and efficient, and it’s a healthcare chatbot.



Today, chatbots are capable of much more than simply answering questions, and their role in healthcare organizations is quite impressive. Below, we discuss what exactly chatbots do that makes them such a great aid and what concerns to resolve before implementing one.







An overview of chatbots in healthcare: numbers and facts



To understand the role and significance of chatbots in healthcare, let’s look at some numbers. According to the report by Zipdo, the global healthcare chatbot market is expected to reach approximately $498.5 million by 2026. In addition, 64% of patients agree to use a chatbot for information on their insurance and 60% of medical professionals would like to use chatbots to save their working time.



As you can see, chatbots are on the rise and both patients and doctors recognize their value. Bonus points if chatbots are designed on the base of Artificial Intelligence, as the technology allows bots to hold more complex conversations and provide more personalized services. A great example of such bot is Babylon Health. This bot uses AI to provide personalized consultations by analyzing the patient’s medical history and while it cannot fully replace a medical professional, it can for sure provide valuable advice and guidance.



The benefits of chatbots in healthcare



By now, it’s clear that chatbots are widely used both by patients and doctors. But what are the exact benefits of chatbots in healthcare that make them so valuable? Spoiler: many of them have to do with the current challenges that an average medical establishment experiences.



Constant availability



Healthcare organizations all over the world currently face workforce shortages (with COVID-19 being one of the primary factors for that) and in such conditions, the availability of doctors might be in decline. Thus, a 24/7 available digital solution can be a perfect alternative and this is one of the main benefits of chatbots.



While a chatbot in healthcare can not be considered a 100% trusted and reliable medical consultant, it can at least help patients recognize their symptoms and the urgency of their condition or answer their questions. And the best part is that these actions do not require patients to schedule an appointment or stand in line, waiting for the doctor to respond. As for the doctors, the constant availability of bots means that doctors can better manage their time since the bots will undertake some of their responsibilities and tasks.



Faster processing of queries



A distinctive feature of a chatbot technology in healthcare is its ability to immediately respond to a request, and this is another big benefit. In traditional patient care, a patient might have to wait for quite some time to get an answer to their question. With smart chatbots, not only the patient receives a reply within seconds, but exactly when the information is needed the most. And one more great thing about chatbots is that one bot can process multiple requests simultaneously, while a doctor cannot do so. And thus, a chatbot can handle numerous requests in a much more efficient manner.



Collection of information



One of the rising trends in healthcare is precision medicine, which implies the use of big data to provide better and more personalized care. To obtain big data, healthcare organizations need to use multiple data sources, and healthcare chatbots are actually one of them.







When a patient interacts with a chatbot, the latter can ask whether the patient is willing to provide personal information. The bot can also collect the information automatically - though in this case, you will need to make sure that your data privacy policy is visible and clear for users. In this way, a chatbot serves as a great source of patients data, thus helping healthcare organizations create more accurate and detailed patient histories and select the most suitable treatment plans.



Improved user engagement



There are several reasons why chatbots help healthcare organizations elevate their patient care - let’s look at each in a bit of detail.



First, chatbots provide a high level of personalization due to the analysis of patient’s data. In this way, a bot suggests relevant recommendations and guidance and receive advice, tailored specifically to their needs and/or condition.



Second, bots reply to requests within seconds and are always available. Such fast processing of requests also adds to overall patient satisfaction and saves both doctors’ and patients’ time.



Automation of tasks



Depending on their type (more on that below), chatbots can not only provide information but automate certain tasks, like review of insurance claims, evaluation of test results, or appointments scheduling and notifications. By having a smart bot perform these tedious tasks, medical professionals have more time to focus on more critical issues, which ultimately results in better patient care.



Main types of chatbots in healthcare



A chatbot can serve many more purposes than simply providing information and answering questions. Below, we’ll look at the most widespread chatbot types and their main areas of operation.



Prescriptive



As the name implies, prescriptive chatbots are used to provide a therapeutic solution to a patient by learning about their needs and symptoms through a conversation. Such chatbot for medical diagnosis usually asks questions and encourages patients to share their symptoms in order to understand their current condition and what kind of treatment is recommended. Note though that a prescriptive chatbot cannot replace a doctor, and medical consultation is still needed. However, these bots can at least help patients understand what kind of treatment to request and what might be the issue, which is already a good start.



Conversational



Also known as informative, these bots are here to answer questions, provide requested information, and guide you through services of a healthcare provider. If such a bot is AI-powered, it can also adapt to a conversation, become proactive instead of reactive, and overall understand the sentiment. But even if the conversational bot does not have an innovative technology in its backpack, it can still be a highly valuable tool for quickly offering the needed information to a user.



FAQ



This bot is similar to a conversational one but is much simpler as its main goal is to provide answers to frequently asked questions. The questions can be pre-built in the dialogue window, so the user only has to choose the needed one. Despite its simplicity, the FAQ bot is helpful as it can speed up the process of getting the patient to the right specialist or at least provide them with basic answers.



Feedback collection



These bots are used after the patient received a treatment or a service, and their main goal is to collect user feedback and patient data. As we mentioned earlier, the collection of information is vital for the healthcare sector as it allows more personalized healthcare and, as a result, leads to more satisfied patients. Hence, these bots are really important as they help healthcare organizations evaluate their services, understand their patients better, and overall gain a better understanding of what might be improved and how.



Healthcare chatbots: use cases



After we’ve looked at the main benefits and types of healthcare chatbots, let’s move on to the most common healthcare chatbot use cases. We will also provide real-life examples to support each use case, so you have a better understanding of how exactly the bots deliver expected results.



Appointment scheduling



One of the most common processes that happens in every medical establishment is appointment scheduling. However, this process often presents a set of challenges for patients due to a number of reasons. Among them are outdated applications/systems for appointment scheduling, too long waiting lists, complex navigation, and lack of assistance. So how do chatbots battle the issue?



A chatbot is most often integrated with the CRM of a healthcare organization and thus has access to doctors’ time slots and EHRs (electronic health records). So when a patient initiates a conversation with a bot, it does the following:




Checks the doctors’ schedule for availability and matches it with the patient’s request/schedule;



Reschedules cancelled or missed appointments;



Finds and proposes the most suitable slot for a visit;



Asks a patient about their symptoms and conditions to propose the most suitable medical professional;



Integrates with the patient’s calendar to send notifications about the upcoming appointment.




And due to a fact that the bot is basically a robot, all these actions take little time and the appointment can be scheduled within minutes. In this way, a patient can conveniently schedule an appointment at any time and from anywhere (most importantly, from the comfort of their own home) while a doctor will simply receive a notification and an entry in their calendar. Looks like a win-win for both sides.



Example: Zocdoc, a chatbot used for connecting patients with right medical professionals and for appointment booking. A great thing about this bot is that it allows easy profile creation for doctors and helps them increase their online visibility and find patients.



Virtual nurses



It might be challenging for a patient to access medical consultations or services due to a number of reasons, and here is where chatbots step in and serve as virtual nurses. While not being able to fully replace a doctor, these bots, nevertheless, perform routine yet important tasks such as symptoms evaluation to help patients constantly be aware of their state.



The main function of such chatbots is checking the patient’s symptoms. It can be done via different ways, by asking questions or through a questionnaire that a patient fills in themselves. In this way, a patient learns about their condition and its severity and the bot, in return, suggests a treatment plan or even notifies the doctor in case of an emergency.



As well, virtual nurses can send daily reminders about the medicine intake, ask patients about their overall well-being, and add new information to the patient’s card. In this way, a patient does not need to directly contact a doctor for an advice and gains more control over their treatment and well-being.







Example: K Health, an AI-powered virtual assistant that provides personalized treatment recommendations. The bot uses the AI technology and the data received from professional clinicians to provide users with valuable medical advice. There are many areas of expertise to choose from, including primary care (diabetes, migraine), weight management, urgent care (cold, rashes, sinus infections), and mental health. Thus, a patient can select their condition and receive professional advice and guidance in a few taps.



Collecting data



We’ve already talked about the importance of collecting patients’ data, and this is another common use case for healthcare chatbots. A chatbot can collect the following information:




Feedback on provided services;



General information about the patient;



Medical information about the patient;



Insurance information.




By using this information, a medical organization can analyze the efficiency and quality of their services and identify areas for improvement. As well, doctors can gain a better understanding of patients and create a more personalized treatment plan for them, which will ultimately result in better patient care. And finally, all information will be added to a system and will be stored in an organized and centralized manner, thus helping clinics avoid data silos and facilitate admission and tracking of patients’ conditions.



Example: Landbot, a service that provides feedback templates in a form of smart bots and can be integrated into a messenger of choice. The service has a variety of templates and can store the collected information on the needed service, thus transferring the data to your CRM.



Documents and prescriptions management 



Another use case for chatbots in healthcare is performance of various tedious tasks. With the help of a bot, a patient can:




Navigate the process of requesting an insurance coverage;



File a claim for the reimbursement;



Track the status of their claims;



Request a prescription refill.




As for the insurance coverage and claims management, chatbots provide patients a unique opportunity to handle the whole process in a few minutes, with all the information clearly displayed and without the need to call the healthcare organization to clarify any questions. 



The automatic prescription refill is another great option as the patient does not have to go to a doctor in person and fill in lengthy forms. The bot collects all needed information, sends it to a doctor, and notifies the patient once the refill is ready to be collected. 



Example: Whizard, a chatbot for pharmacy. The bot connects patients and pharmacies and facilitates all processes, related to ordering medicine and refilling prescriptions.



Mental health



The issue of mental health today is as critical as ever, and the impact of COVID-19 is among the main reasons for the growing number of disorders and anxiety. According to Forbes, the number of people with anxiety disorders grew from 298 million to 374 million, which is really a significant increase. And since not everyone can receive sufficient help for their mental health, chatbots have become a truly invaluable asset.



The main function of mental health chatbots is to provide immediate assistance and guidance in the form of useful tips, guided meditations, and regular well-being checks. In addition, such bots can connect a patient with a medical professional if there is an acute issue. In this way, a patient can rest assured that they will receive guaranteed help and their issue will not be left unattended. 







Example: Headspace, a true giant in the field of mental health services, acquired an AI-powered Sayana bot to help users monitor their condition regularly and receive assistance and advice, if needed. In addition to the bot, Headspace provides a variety of services like sleepcasts or meditations, which the user can browse independently and according to the current needs.



Concerns and limitations of chatbots in healthcare industry



Chatbots in healthcare industry are awesome - but as any other great technology, they come with several concerns and limitations. It is important to know about them before implementing the technology, so in the future you will face little to no issues.



Lack of human interaction



Despite all the benefits that chatbots bring, many people (both patients and doctors) still do not 100% trust them. Patients may not feel comfortable explaining their issues to a machine, and doctors would rather trust a person with an intricate medical task than a robot that was trained to a certain extent and cannot act on the spot. So what would be the compromise?



When a patient with a serious condition addresses a medical professional, they often need advice and reassurance, which only a human can give. Thus, a chatbot may work great for assistance with less major issues like flu, while a real person can remain solely responsible for treating patients with long-term, serious conditions. In addition, there should always be an option to connect with a real person via a chatbot, if needed. In this way, a patient is responsible for choosing what works best for them. 



Limited information



Most chatbots (we are not talking about AI-based ones) are rather simple and their main goal is to answer common questions. Hence, when a patient starts asking about a rare condition or names symptoms that a bot was not trained to recognize, it leads to frustration on both sides. A bot doesn’t have an answer and a patient is confused and annoyed as they didn’t get help. So in case you have a simple bot and don’t want your patients to complain about its insufficient knowledge, either invest in a smarter bot or simply add an option to connect with a medical professional for more in-depth advice.



Cybersecurity concerns



A chatbot can be defined as specialized software that is integrated with other systems and hence, it operates in a digital environment. This means, chatbots and the data that they process might be exposed to threat agents and might be a target for cyberattacks.



Unfortunately, the healthcare industry experiences a rise of attacks, if compared to past years. For example, there was an increase of 84% in healthcare breaches, comparing the numbers from 2018 to 2021. Also, approximately 89% of healthcare organizations state that they experienced an average of 43 cyberattacks per year, which is almost one attack every week. 







Considering these numbers, the cybersecurity issue is acute and goes far beyond securing chatbots. In order for a healthcare provider to properly safeguard its systems, they have to implement security on all levels of an organization. And we don’t need to mention how critical a data breach is, especially in the light of such regulations as HIPAA. Hence, every healthcare services provider needs to think about ways of strengthening their digital environment, including chatbots.



Possible errors and misleading information



Chatbots are programmed by humans and thus, they are prone to errors and can give a wrong or misleading medical advice. Needless to say, even the smallest mistake in diagnosis can result in very serious consequences for a patient, so there is really no room for error.



Unfortunately, even the most advanced technology is not perfect, and we are talking about AI-powered bots here. Thus, you need to be extra cautious when programming a bot and there should be an option of contacting a medical professional in the case of any concern.




 


Expert Opinion



The healthcare industry has been rapidly adopting technology, and now, chatbots have become an integral part of many medical establishments and healthcare apps. While there are several concerns related to the use of smart bots in healthcare, their advantages still outweigh the potential limitations and challenges. By implementing robust security measures and performing advanced ML model training, you will be able to prevent such issues as cybersecurity threats and accuracy of the bot’s responses.



It is also worth noting that modern healthcare bots are highly advanced and are capable of providing truly extensive services to both patients and doctors. This being said, the implementation of a smart bot is becoming a necessity, as these bots reduce the amount of mundane work while allowing doctors to provide better and more personalized patient care.





Business Analyst



Dmitriy Karpovich






 




Final word



While being seriously impacted by the COVID-19, the healthcare industry is steadily gaining traction in terms of its digital transformation and is adopting more and more innovative technologies on a regular basis. Chatbots, being among the most affordable solutions, have become valuable assets for healthcare organizations worldwide, and their value is recognized by both medical professionals and patients.



The implementation of chatbots in medicine, however, calls for solid experience and knowledge, so it’s essential to address a professional development company for that. Having a highly skilled Machine Learning and Data Science department, we at SoftTeco have rich experience in delivering chatbot solutions for healthcare organizations in full correspondence with needed regulations. If you have any questions or simply want more information on chatbots for healthcare, don’t hesitate to contact us - we’ll gladly get in touch with you!




 

FAQ

### Data Analytics in the Telecom Industry: Use Cases, Challenges, and Trends

As new technologies like 5G continue to roll out and the number of connected devices increases, the information generated by the telecom sector keeps growing. To thrive in the data-driven world, telecom providers must use big data in a way that extracts as much value for them as possible.  



Through big data analytics, organizations can not only elevate their services and generate more revenue but also create a more customer-centric approach to stay ahead of the competitors. Towards this, we will outline how companies leverage telecom analytics to take maximum advantage of its potential.







What is big data analytics and why does it matter? 



Traditional information is relatively small in volume and has a more structured format, suitable for standard databases and tools. In contrast, big data is much more complex. It implies large datasets, consisting of different types of information (structured, unstructured, and semi-structured) that is collected from various sources. The three V3s define the concept of big data: volume (massive scale of data), variety (diverse information types and sources), and velocity (speed of information generation). However, it’s not enough to just collect the information - it is important to understand all the insights that may be hidden within it. For this purpose, a particular field of research is used - big data analytics. We can define it as a form of advanced analytics that includes different analytical techniques and methods to deal with complex and large datasets. 



The main stages of big data analytics are:




Data collection: analysts collect structured and unstructured information from various sources;



Data storage: the collected information is stored in a data lake or a data warehouse for further information management;



Data processing: includes cleaning, transformation, and integration to ensure that the information is in a suitable format for analysis;



Analysis: the process involves various techniques and processes (machine learning, data mining) to explore and extract valuable insights from complex information.




With an understanding of the basics of data analytics, let's look at what benefits and prospects it brings to the telco sector.





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The role of telecom analytics



An average telecom company collects large volumes of information regularly. This data holds valuable insights into customer behavior, network operations, equipment status, and service quality. However, a significant portion of this information remains unused or inaccurate due to many issues. It makes it difficult for organizations to exploit its full potential. Thus, lack of access to effective analytics can result in poor customer service, mistrust, and dissatisfaction. As a result, this will harm the revenue and reputation of a company.



Telecom companies adopt big data analytics into their processes to make the most of their information. Analytics helps them collect, analyze, and interpret information more deeply to eliminate their pain points and predict future outcomes, improving decision-making both in real-time and in the future. According to Precedence Research, the telecom analytics market was $6.19 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $23.66 billion by 2032.



The use of telecom analytics is widely acknowledged as one of the most important ways to improve the industry; however, it also presents a set of challenges for telecom operators to overcome.



Challenges of big data analytics in telecom



No doubt, telecom companies can benefit significantly from using large sets of information - however, companies may face some challenges when using data analytics. Before we get into the main challenges, let's look at the factor that telecom companies should consider first.



In terms of how telecom service providers use big data, different companies are at various stages of their data maturity:




Info-archive: companies that have not yet initiated efforts to leverage large information effectively, and they often face limitations in terms of analytical capabilities;



Info-familiar: companies that have begun to implement big data into their activities, but they need to strengthen coordination and create a reliable and integrated data structure;



Info-smart: companies that have successfully developed and integrated large data infrastructure and adopted a unified data strategy aligning with their business objectives and advanced analytics.




This classification gives companies an understanding of what stage of maturity they are at and, depending on the level of maturity, helps identify critical problems associated with large information. In light of this, companies are able to develop a customized strategy that will maximize the capabilities of large data. Now, let’s get back to the most common concerns to overcome when it comes to working with big data.




 

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Diverse data sources



Telecom providers collect data from various sources, including call detail records, network logs, customer history, etc. Each source produces information in different formats, structures, and protocols. Thus, effective integration and analysis of this data becomes a complex task, requiring specific processing techniques and tools. Since telecom companies often work with legacy systems, they may be incompatible with some modern data formats or integration methods. It thus poses challenges regarding the maintenance of data quality, consistency, and management.



For this reason, companies need to invest in robust and scalable data integration solutions. It enables to standardize data and make it more accessible and analytics-friendly.



Disparate and siloed data sources



The telecom industry operates extensively, encompassing various regions and countries. As a result, data is distributed across diverse physical and digital locations and is most often not centralized. So, many telecom companies store their data in isolated silos or databases. These data silos emerge due to various factors, such as legacy systems, separate departmental use of the data, or the absence of integration strategies. As sets of information are collected in varying formats, structures, and quality levels, data consolidation and analysis become more complex and time-consuming.



Data inconsistencies



Telecom information often suffers from quality issues, such as missing values, inconsistencies, and inaccuracies. Data quality issues can arise for multiple reasons, including network errors or integration problems. For example, missing values in call records or incorrect customer details can hinder the accuracy and reliability of the analysis. Thus, incomplete or inaccurate information can lead to flawed insights and incorrect decision-making.



Data preparation



Much of the collected information needs preprocessing, cleaning, and transformation before it can be used for analytics. For this reason, data cleaning and preparation can be a labor-intensive, time-consuming, and costly process. Errors are often common, and the quality of the resulting data may not always meet expectations. Analytics must analyze extensive datasets due to an ever-increasing volume of information. This challenge becomes more acute as data expands. Effective data preparation is essential for successful analytics.



High costs



Although large and complex information offers enormous opportunities to improve the telecom sector, managing its benefits requires significant financial resources. Companies must carefully plan their budgets and effectively allocate resources to work with large information. Telecommunication companies must invest in maintaining and integrating a reliable infrastructure, repairing equipment, implementing advanced technologies, and hiring qualified specialists. 



Another important aspect is that telecom companies must invest in robust cybersecurity measures to comply with industry regulations and ensure data protection. This, in turn, leads to additional costs as well.



Poor customer service



Due to the ever-changing industry and customer needs, poor customer service is a persistent challenge in the telecom sector. Reasons for this can range from ineffective call center support, slow data transfers, and billing inaccuracies to technical problems. Inadequate analysis can negatively impact customer service too, leading to customer distrust, loyalty, and the company’s reputation. 



Companies should invest in analytics of large sets of information and its solutions to identify customer preferences, needs, and behavior. This can help telecom providers create better service strategies and ensure customer satisfaction. 



Network failures 



Network downtime can occur due to various factors, including technical glitches, hardware failures, cyber-attacks, or even natural disasters. A reliable and consistent network connection is essential for an effective big data initiative. Any interruption in network service may result in data loss, processing delays, or vulnerabilities. Therefore, if companies do not have reliable software with a stable network, it may lead to problems such as bad performance or security issues.



Use cases of telecom data analytics



As the telecom industry finds ways to tackle the abovementioned issues, it simultaneously uncovers remarkable opportunities to make the most of its information. Here are some of the most compelling use cases of telecom network analytics.



Improved customer experience 



A deep understanding of customer needs and behaviors is the key to keeping current customers and winning over new ones. Think about it - your telecom provider knows exactly what you're looking for and provides you with that. But how exactly is it real? Telecom companies analyze information from call histories, Internet usage patterns, and location. They then create detailed customer profiles through analysis and provide personalized services and promotions.



Moreover, analytics is also beneficial for the prediction of future needs. With the help of predictive analytics, telecoms can forecast their customers' behavior and deliver what they want in the right place. Due to this, data analytics allows for highly personalized customer service, helps companies keep pace with customers' changing needs and helps build strong trust and loyalty among them.



Customer churn prediction



Powered by big data, predictive analytics helps telecom companies identify customer churn risks. Whether it is due to network issues or poor customer service, predictive analytics allows companies to continuously monitor and manage any problems with their services and make strategic decisions to retain customers. 



Based on the collected information, telecom businesses can detect early signs that customers may consider switching to a competitor or abandoning their service. The ability to predict churn early and solve customer problems directly contributes to increased satisfaction and to establishing long-term customer relationships.



Network optimization 



Another example of effective use of analytics is optimization of network performance, network reliability, and efficiency. Telecom companies can significantly improve their network operations by analyzing information from network equipment, user devices, and other sources. One of the ways to achieve this is that telecom providers can identify network congestion and bottlenecks to reduce downtime and ensure a smooth data flow.



Moreover, analytics of data helps in load balancing, allowing telecom companies to distribute network traffic evenly. This proactive approach helps prevent overloads on specific network nodes, resulting in consistent service quality and fewer disruptions. By identifying and resolving network issues promptly and reducing downtime, telco companies can ensure that customers receive the level of services they expect.



Fraud detection 



Telecom providers are highly susceptible to fraud due to the high volume of transactions and the complexity of their networks. SIM swapping, account seizures, and interconnection bypass fraud can cost a telecom company millions of dollars every year, putting its financial stability at risk. The International Revenue Share Fraud (IRSF) is a significant concern in the telecom industry. In IRSF, hackers create premium rate phone numbers and generate high call volumes, leading telecom operators to incur termination fees and financial losses. 



Telecom providers use advanced analytics and system monitoring to combat any security risks, also relying on analytics for timely fraud detection. Analytics helps identify anomalies in call records, financial transactions, or customer behavior, promptly detecting fraudulent activities. For example, telecom providers can monitor network activity in real-time, identify suspicious events, such as multiple login attempts from different locations, and immediately alert security teams.



Predictive maintenance



Telecom companies must maintain network reliability and constantly monitor their equipment status to prevent downtime during service delivery. Analytics allows them to analyze network performance, equipment condition, and environmental factors. This approach enables telecom providers to identify anomalies and early warning signs that precede failures and helps determine why the failures occur. 



Predictive analytics allows telecom companies to plan maintenance ahead of time. In some cases, the process involves replacing worn components, optimizing network configurations, or performing preventive maintenance on equipment. This reduces operational disruptions, minimizes equipment replacement costs, and optimizes resource allocation.



Cost optimization 



The telco industry deals with various operational costs, such as network maintenance or personnel costs. Telecom companies use analytics to gain insight into their operational expenses and identify opportunities for cost reduction. For example, analytics can monitor energy consumption across the network infrastructure. Telecom operators can optimize energy-intensive areas, resulting in substantial energy cost savings. 



Also, big data analytics is used for price optimization. Dynamic pricing algorithms leverage the power of analytics to set optimal prices for products and services. Telecom companies can maximize ROI and profitability by aligning these prices with factors like customer lifetime value, tariff plans, and distribution channels.



In light of these insights, it may be possible to determine the interdependencies between pricing, promotion, and future revenues. By optimizing pricing strategy based on profit and revenue generated, telecom providers will be able to increase sales, and, most importantly, retain customers.



Customer segmentation



As more information is generated, telecom providers use more sophisticated methods to segment their customers. Instead of relying on traditional data such as demographics, age, or location, companies also consider call records, browsing history, and social media activity to gain more sophisticated insights. And with deep learning, companies can fully understand customer needs.



Depending on the segment, companies can create detailed profiles of their customers and offer them targeted promotions, customized service plans, or specific content. This level of segmentation allows telecom providers to offer a more personalized experience, which can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.



Targeted marketing



Among other telecom network solutions is the improved effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Telecom providers harness big data's power to monitor real-time marketing efforts. By segmenting customers based on their purchase history, service preferences, and feedback, analytics can develop a comprehensive strategy to improve marketing campaigns accordingly. When a specific campaign underperforms, they can promptly make adjustments to optimize it, resulting in improved conversion rates and reduced costs.



Customer lifetime value (CLV) prediction



In today's competitive market, customers are constantly seeking the best value, making it easy for them to switch to competitors. To mitigate this, telecom providers use analytics to accurately predict customer lifetime value (CLV). Using machine learning models, historical data, and segmentation, CLV is forecasted for each customer. In these models, a variety of factors are considered, such as customer longevity, service usage, average revenue per user (ARPU), and churn likelihood.



These predictions enable telecom providers to create precise strategies to improve customer retention, boost revenue, and gain an edge over competitors.



Trends in data analytics in the telecom industry



Like many other industries, telecom is experiencing a dynamic shift driven by integrating big data and emerging technologies. Let's explore some of the main trends for the telecom sector.




Edge computing: edge computing in telecom is used to manage information at the edge and is essential to reduce latency and enhance real-time data processing;



Data as a Service (DaaS): a cloud computing service that allows telecom operators to access and use information that is stored in the cloud without the need for local data storage or management;



Advanced AI and ML: big data will call for the use of sophisticated machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms;



Hybrid clouds: hybrid clouds combine private and public cloud infrastructure to offer greater flexibility and scalability for app deployment without vendor lock-in;



5G network: the rollout of 5G technology will generate even more data, and telecom companies will use analytics to optimize network performance and ensure superior services.




Real-life examples of using telecom network analytics



There are many telecommunications companies that have already used analytics in their operations and have benefited from the results. Below are some of them.



Vodafone



Vodafone is a multinational telecom company in 21 operating countries that provides connectivity for individual customers and businesses. It offers an array of advanced technologies and digital services, including smartphones, broadband, IoT services for businesses, etc. Vodafone has launched its Vodafone Analytics platform in 2016. It was designed to collect, process, and analyze large volumes of information generated by Vodafone's operations and customer interactions. 



By using visualization tools, such as Citilogic and Carto, this platform offers its business users an easy way to access, understand, and act upon the information generated by millions of subscribers, particularly regarding location. These tools help optimize business operations, improve accuracy, and enhance return on investment (ROI) without requiring extensive in-house research.



AT&T



AT&T provides telecommunications, media, wireless networks, digital television, and technology services. It strategically invests in the development of AI-based network technologies (5G) that harness the large sets of information. The critical areas of focus for AT&T include:



Edge computing solutions for IoT devices. The company develops innovative solutions that bring computing power closer to the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. This approach allows real-time data processing of IoT apps to run quickly and efficiently, from autonomous vehicles to “smart” city solutions with reduced latency.



Intelligent Software-Defined Networking (SDN). It is a networking approach that uses software-based controllers or APIs to interact with the underlying hardware infrastructure and direct traffic on the network. Using it, networks become more flexible, efficient, and responsive to changing demands, while companies can address network-related issues proactively.



Deloitte



Deloitte is a globally recognized consulting firm that offers various services such as audit, risk and finance advisory, consulting, etc. Deloitte created a cutting-edge solution using the SAP HANA platform with the telecommunications giant SAP. SAP HANA is an in-memory computing platform and database management system. The primary features of this platform include high-speed data processing, advanced analytics, and the ability to handle both transactional and analytical workloads on a single platform.



This makes it suitable for various applications, from business intelligence and data warehousing to real-time processing and predictive analytics.



British Telecom (BT) Group



BT Group is a UK telecommunications giant operating in approximately 180 countries. It offers fixed-line, broadband, mobile, subscription TV, and IT services. The company uses data analytics to enhance its operations, including predicting service issues and optimizing call center operations. Their focus on Internet of Things (IoT) services led them to create a real-time data processing system. This platform was developed with the following models: 




SIM card management: it enables BT Group to register and assign unique numbers to SIM cards, making customer distribution easier;



Rate plans: through a custom rating engine, this module matches customers with the right rate plan for them;



Billing: provides automated invoicing, real-time data collection, and precise billing calculations;



Account management: making it easy for clients to register, view invoices, and invite other companies.




By offering this versatile platform to IoT businesses, BT Group is able to make informed decisions, optimize customer offerings, and generate revenue.



Conclusion



The question “What is the future of big data analytics in telecom?” often comes up and here is what we can say. It is unlikely that telecom providers will move away from data science; instead, they will continue to invest in it. The shift to a data-driven world is inevitable, as the world generates approximately 500 exabytes of data daily. 



For this reason, telecom analytics is an indispensable tool, and its widespread is only a matter of time. The use cases of data analytics mentioned above, from improved customer service and network optimization to predictive outcomes, have already shifted how telecom companies operate. Thus, the future of telecom companies focuses on the deep integration of big data, which will lead to a more efficient and customer-centric industry.




 

FAQ

### Reviewing the Latest Hospitality Technology Trends: What to Expect in 2024

The hospitality industry has seen many changes in recent years, and most of them were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the hospitality industry keeps growing in a steady manner and, according to Statista, the global hospitality market is projected to reach $5.8 trillion in 2027. 



Considering this growth and the fact that tourism is getting back on track, hotel owners might want to revamp their legacy software solutions and adopt innovation and automation. In this article, we’ll talk about the main hospitality technology trends that the industry witnesses now and will experience in the near future. 







What is hospitality technology? 



Hospitality technology can be defined as software used in the hospitality industry with an aim to improve client satisfaction and accelerate operations on all levels of a hotel . Whether it is a full-fledged solution covering all hospitality aspects or a specialized F&B system, it all falls under the hotel technology definition. 



Businesses have been using hospitality technology for a long time, but the old systems are usually too complex, cumbersome, and hard to integrate with newer solutions. Because of that, more and more hotel owners adopt new technology for hotels that not only facilitate the processes but add intelligence and automation by using such technologies as RPA or AI. 



The ultimate benefits of technology trends in hospitality industry



 Implementation of new software solutions brings immense benefits both to hotel owners and visitors. Among the biggest ones are: 




Elimination of paperwork and digitization of processes: with hotel technology, all processes and documents are stored in a digital format in one place and can be accessed by people from different departments. 



Advanced analytics: since specialized systems collect and store massive amounts of information on visitors, hotel owners can generate detailed reports on clients’ preferences, predict their future behavior, and better manage their room pricing, adjusting it to the customer demand. 



Better personalization and user experience: with the rise of mobile, contactless check-ins, and AI-powered bots, hotels can now deliver superior user experience and provide better personalization. 



Increased revenue: as a result of all previously described activities, hotels can get rid of unnecessary spendings, accurately adjust pricing to the demand, and provide better services. All this ultimately leads to an increase in the revenue and better brand recognition. 




Main types of hospitality software 



An average hotel usually has several departments (front office, F&B, housekeeping, marketing, etc.) and every department manages a complex set of processes. So before discussing the hotel technology trends, let’s first understand what kind of systems are present and require renovation. 



Property management system



A property management system is the core technology and a central hub of operations for any hotel. Previously, the PMS covered only the front office and was intended for helping with check-ins, reservations, and room assignments and billing. Today, a property management system includes other operations in addition to front office ones and remains an incredibly important business system. Note that PMSs vary in functionality, type, and size, so you have to choose the one that corresponds to your property type. For example, a complex Oracle Hospitality would be great for big chain hotels like Marriott while Cloudbeds would be a good choice for small, family-owned properties.



Food & Beverage (F&B) and MICE



Another important technology component for any hotel is F&B and MICE (Meeting, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) software. This system automates and facilitates such operations as full restaurant management, room service, meetings intelligence, RFPs, and event management. And since there are hundreds of processes involved in smooth F&B and MICE management, it’s better to have a system designed specifically for these kinds of operations.



Revenue management



Revenue management covers a vast spectrum of operations and can include the following systems:




Channel managers for linking a hotel with a booking engine;



Central reservation systems for managing reservations;



Market intelligence for learning about competitors and their proposals;



Upselling software for personalized offers.




And these are not all tools that belong to the revenue management - the list is much bigger. But for the sake of clarity, we won’t go into too much detail here: just remember that revenue management helps hoteliers increase their revenue by constantly adjusting their pricing to the external environment and demand.



Marketing 



Since hospitality is a highly competitive industry, hotels need to do their best to capture the guests’ interest and persuade them to book a room. Hence, hoteliers use a variety of specialized tools aimed at facilitating their marketing efforts and automating them. From direct booking tools to reputation management and customer feedback processing, these tools help hotels learn what guests want and provide them with relevant offers.



Key hotel technology trends to watch for



We’ve taken a look at the main types of hotel software - now let’s look at the latest technology trends in hospitality industry that are to dominate the industry and make the processes described above easier and more user-centric.



Contactless check-ins and check-outs



The adoption of contactless check-ins was heavily fueled by the pandemic, but even after its decline, the trend remained strong. Contactless check-in allows guests to independently check in a hotel and generate their room key without the need to stand in a line at a front desk or interact with hotel employees. The main advantages of this trend are speed of service and 24/7 availability: arriving guests can check in late at night or early in the morning, while the hotel won’t need to keep the front office staff at the desk all the time. 



Artificial Intelligence and smart bots



Another powerful member of the technology trends in hospitality list is AI. The Artificial Intelligence technology is an invaluable assistant when it comes to automation, addition of intelligence, and optimization of workflows. In hotels, AI can help with the following functions:




Analysis of the guests’ data and creation of accurate forecasts on future customer behavior and demand;



Automation of mundane tasks (i.e., sending reminders to guests, monitoring room statuses);



Addition of personalization to hotel services due to accurate analysis of each user’s profile.




And obviously, when talking about AI in hospitality, we can’t forget about smart chatbots. Being around for a while, chatbots have proved to be a great aid for any business due to multiple reasons. They are faster and more efficient than human employees (sorry!) and they provide more control to users over the services and information. Hence, if you hesitate about adopting a full-fledged AI solution, you can start small and implement a chatbot - and you’ll be both surprised and impressed at how it can affect customer experience and sales.



Robots and RPA



Even though robots are not so widespread as other technologies, they are steadily growing in popularity and taking over the hospitality industry. There are a few valid reasons for their success. First, robots still have this wow-effect, which, undoubtedly, results in better user experience and adds a competitive edge to a hotel. Second, robots are more efficient in performing certain tasks, which is a big advantage if you have a labor shortage or simply want to reduce your operating costs.



Examples of using robots in hospitality include:




Robots that are used to greet guests and interact with them;



Housekeeping robots that can perform certain functions and aid the housekeeping team;



Robotic waiters and room service robots;



Robots for luggage delivery.




And don’t forget about Robotic Process Automation (RPA) which means using robots for automating certain tasks. These tasks do not necessarily have to be big: even a smart bot falls under the RPA category. As RPA adepts say: anything can be automated. Thus, before implementing the technology, think carefully about your goals and objectives and what exact results you expect to achieve. Otherwise, you may find yourself adopting unnecessary automation which, in turn, will lead to extra spendings.



Mobile everything



According to Statista, there are approximately 7.33 billion mobile users worldwide, and the number is expected to reach 7.49 billion by 2025. Considering that mobile has become an all-in-one tool for handling our daily activities, businesses across the industries design their own apps to bring users closer and help them manage their operations. And obviously, this trend made its way into the hospitality industry and brought immense value both to hoteliers and guests.



First, there are mobile hotel applications that keep all your information in one place, allow easy reservation management, and reward the most loyal guests with incentives like discounts or special offers. Such apps are usually designed for a specific hotel brand (i.e. World of Hyatt) and are a great asset for frequent hotel visitors. There are also hotel booking apps that cover a specific region and allow you to virtually check in, contact the property, and create new bookings.



Second, there are mobile wallets and mobile ordering. Examples are scanning a QR code for the menu or paying with Apple Pay. An option to manage all payments and transactions with a smartphone is a real game changer as it not only saves time for users but increases revenue for properties.



Augmented reality and virtual reality



AR and VR technologies bring great value to many industries, especially to manufacturing and education. In hospitality, these technologies serve an educational and informative purpose and can help properties attract visitors and stand out.



Examples of how AR and VR can be used for hotels include:




Virtual hotel and room tours: visitors can “experience” their stay beforehand and learn what the hotel has to offer;



Interactive rooms: the principle is similar to using AR/VR in museums. With the help of special equipment, users can see and learn about the history of the hotel, see how it looked decades ago, and get information about items of interest.



Gamification: everyone loves incentives, and hotels can use augmented and virtual reality to engage visitors and offer them games in exchange for prizes. These games can be purely educational or serve a promotional purpose - their type will depend on what exactly you need to achieve.



Interactive training and education: lastly, AR and VR in hotels can be used for providing employee training and for educating guests on using certain amenities. 




Sustainability



Sustainability may not be considered as a tech trend, but it’s definitely a big trend that more and more hotels over the world adopt. Since hotels are quite a big source of emissions, these properties began incorporating methods to minimize their carbon footprints. Some of the ways to do so are:




Installation of on-site solar panels;



Implementation of energy management systems;



Use of energy-efficient lighting.




Technology trends in hotel industry such as the Internet of Things can help a lot here. By using smart sensors, hotel owners can always know about the rooms’ temperature and humidity levels, immediately react to any drastic changes, and overall incorporate smarter energy management based on the collected data.



In conclusion



The transition from legacy systems to new technology in hotels may sound too complex and challenging, and this is one of the reasons why some hotels prefer keeping things simple. However, the advantages of digital transformation are enormous and the implementation of hospitality technology trends is slowly becoming a must, not a need. In order for hotels to complete this transition smoothly, we recommend defining a clear list of business objectives and KPIs to achieve and to identity the main pain points that the technology is intended to solve. Only after listing down your goals and formulating what exactly you want to achieve, you will be able to create a solid implementation plan that will result in increased revenue and improved guest experience.




 

FAQ

### Logistics Management Software: Why You Need It and How to Adopt It in the Right Way

For a while, the logistics industry was labelled as unwilling to adopt digitization, but in recent years, it has been successfully embracing digital transformation initiatives. And while digitization in logistics is still extremely varied, companies operating in the industry start acknowledging the importance of deploying advanced technologies that bring scalability and automation.



A prime example of such technologies are logistics management systems. Whether you already thought about implementing an LMS or have not yet considered it, our article will explain why it’s important and how to do it properly.



What is a logistics management system?



We can define a logistics management system (LMS) as software that covers all processes related to the supply chain management and helps organizations transfer and store their goods efficiently.



When talking about logistics, keep in mind that it can be:




Inbound: the goods are moved from a supplier to a warehouse and then to a production facility.



Outbound: finished products are shipped to end customers from the warehouse.




One more thing to remember about logistics is that it can be forward and reverse. Forward logistics includes such processes as order management, preparation of the inventory, item shipping, etc. Reverse logistics includes all processes related to order returns, management of damaged/incorrect shipments, and item recycling.



The key benefits of a logistics management system



The key objective of an LMS is to bring clarity, speed, and automation to an organization. Thus, this system serves as a centralized platform for all operations involved in order fulfillment. Now, let’s look at the main advantages of having a good LMS in place.



Increased efficiency (and reduced costs)



With an LMS, organizations can receive a comprehensive overview of their operations, speed up the majority of processes (i.e., case picking), and better manage their inventory, thus avoiding surplus. This, in turn, leads to reduced operating costs and better efficiency of processes, since everything is done exactly when and as needed. An example would be warehouse management: an LMS allows smart resource allocation, depending on the volume of orders, and allows you to immediately learn whether anything calls for your attention.



Increased profitability



A logistics management system can help companies increase revenue in several ways. First, by cutting down operating costs through smart transportation and inventory management. Second, by increasing user satisfaction through improved order processing and higher order fulfillment rate. All that can help you save funds without sacrificing the quality or speed of services.



Improved tracking



Due to multiple modules included in an LMS, you can track your assets and orders at every stage, from warehouse to their delivery to end users. Due to the use of innovative technologies, which often include IoT and Artificial Intelligence, the order tracking process becomes smarter and safer. So by using an LMS, you will be able to always know and track any asset or order, from it being in a warehouse to the last mile logistics.







Smarter route planning



Due to the use of specialized route planning tools, an LMS helps organizations better plan their delivery routes and avoid traffic jamsor delivery delays. No need to say that the use of technology for route planning brings multiple benefits, such as faster delivery, increased customer satisfaction, and reduced costs.



The main components of an efficient logistics management system



Since supply chain management involve numerous operations, it’s natural that a logistics management system consists ofseveral modules, each dedicated to a specific stage of the supply chain. Let’s take a look at each in detail.



Order management



The core component of the whole supply chain is order placement, since without orders, there will be no need for other operations. T his module involves several processes, such as:




Inventory revision



Customer support



Document flow management



Processing of information from sales representatives



Fraud detection



Payment management




This module is also integrated with the CRM, so the information flows seamlessly between departments and allows seeing where the orders come from, analyzing customer behavior, and predicting future demand. The OMS module serves as a centralized hub for order processing and provides detailed information on all aspects of an order, such as its status, delivery time, etc. Also, this module processes payments and thus involves numerous accounting activities, most of which (i.e., generation of reports) are conveniently automated.



Inventory and warehouse management



Next comes inventory management, aka the management of your assets and goods. With an IMS, you are able to monitor and control the amount of products for sale, timely replenish your supplies, and effectively manage any changes in the inventory.



An inventory management system covers all possible types of goods that one might have. These goods are usually divided into 4 categories:




Raw materials: items that are needed for the production of a product. An example of a raw material would be fabric and clothes would be a ready product, correspondingly.



WIP inventory: WIP stands for work-in-progress and includes those items that are not yet ready for sale. If we continue with the clothing example, a WIP item would be a dress without buttons.



MRO items: MRO means maintenance and repair and includes those items that are used in the manufacturing process but are not for sale (with this exact manufacturer).



Finished products: implies goods that are ready for sale.








A good IMS covers all these categories of goods and can help you not only effectively manage them but also avoid overstocking, unorganized space, and disconnected data.



Warehouse management



In some LMS systems, inventory and warehouse management are united but here, we will talk about them separately. Warehouse management involves the following processes:




Flow of goods



Management of storage capacity



Movement of items around the warehouse



Management of warehouse employees



Barcode tracking



Creation of safe working conditions




As you can see, inventory is part of the warehouse management, though inventory can be managed separately. As for the WMS, its main functions are:




Design : the warehouse management system usually has a 3D map that is used for more accurate inventory management, allocation of resources, and organization of workflows within the warehouse.



Item picking : through smart barcode scanning, a WMS enables employees to quickly find the needed items and follow a short and optimized picking route, thus saving their time.



Employee management : the WMS allows businesses to track the performance of their employees, monitor their workload, automatically schedule shifts, and more. It therefore takes just a few clicks to see a full history of one’s activity and identify ways to boost productivity.




Transport management



In some logistics management systems, the transport management module includes both transport and shipment management, so below, we will discuss both processes together. Hence, this module helps organizations with the following functions:




Selection of the shipping method: the system will automatically choose the most fitting shipment method based on the nature of products (for instance, the ones that need a refrigerator), size of the order, etc.



Integration with carriers: if you are using 3PL (third-party logistics), you will need to effectively connect with the carrier (or carriers) so all the data on the order is centralized and visible both to you and the carrier.



Documentation: the system can automatically generate all needed documents and send them to needed parties to sign.



Delivery scheduling: while customers can select the preferable delivery time, the system will also be able to calculate it based on the predictive traffic density, vehicle availability and type, etc. As well, the system provides order tracking so both you and the customer know where the order is at a specific time.



Cross-docking: not a necessary feature for everyone, but might be included in your logistics management system. If you need to handle cross-docking, an LMS will help you retain control over the inventory and orders.




As you can see, this module allows companies to view their orders and their transportation process 24/7 while seamlessly handling documentation and providing transparent order tracking for customers.



Analytics and reporting



Considering the volumes of collected and processed data, it’s natural that an effective LMS has an analytics module. And while the data is analyzed at every stage of the supply chain, there is still a separate module that visualizes the needed data in an intuitive manner and allows you to instantly access it. Moreover, this module often contains Business Intelligence, which is specialized software used specifically for business data analysis.



Reports that are handled by the BI tools normally include:




KPIs;



Repair costs;



Transportation costs;



Analysis of trends;



Carriers’ reports.




And much more. With an analytics module, organizations get a holistic view of their business and all operations and make data-driven decisions without any guesswork. This, in turn, positively impacts profitability as it allows cutting down unnecessary spendings and better organizing internal and external workflows.



Reverse logistics



Finally, a great LMS features a reverse logistics module, dedicated to managing returns (or items for recycling). And since these items are sent back to a manufacturer , they require a whole different management process than the goods that are up for shipping.



A standard reverse logistics module usually assists with :




Information management: it is critical to collect such information as the reason for return, the item status (whether it was replaced, when it was returned, etc.), and similar in order to prevent potential returns in the future and be aware of what might drive customers away.



Communication with customers: there is nothing more annoying than not knowing the status of an order, especially when it’s a return. The reverse logistics module typically allows clients to access the order status, monitor its delivery and replacement, and get in touch with the manufacturer. As well, the module enables manufacturers to automatically provide feedback to customers via the preferred method of communication.



Quality assurance: if the reason for the return was low product quality, the system can automatically fill in the information and alert all involved parties (i.e., suppliers). It thus becomes easier to monitor quality assurance activities and immediately take action in case anything goes wrong.




Types of logistics management solutions



After we’ve looked at the main modules of an LMS, let’s talk about the main types of these systems. We’ll discuss various systems based on their hosting types and on implementation methods.



On-premises vs. cloud-based solutions



An on-premise LMS is hosted by your organization or by its provider on a physical server. A cloud solution, as the name implies, is hosted in the cloud and has now become widely popular with businesses in the logistics industry.




On-premises LMS: the biggest advantage is its customization, especially if you designed the solution and know your way around the code. Also, it might be easier to implement updates and maintain the solution since you are the one in control. As for the price, with on-premise solutions you pay only once when purchasing/developing it (the fee might include installation, activation, etc. - check the details with the vendor).



Cloud LMS: these solutions are highly portable, secure, and accessible. However, remember that they are fully managed by the vendor, so you won’t have control over implementing updates or adjusting functionality. As well, for cloud systems you usually pay a monthly fee so it might turn out quite costly in the long run.




Ready-made vs custom LMS



Next, you will need to choose between a ready-made or a custom LMS. A ready-made system is the one that was already developed by a vendor and is available for purchase. For example, it can be an LMS from your ERP provider. A custom LMS, on the other hand, is fully developed by your (or outsourced) development team and you fully own it.



The biggest advantage of a custom LMS is its near-endless flexibility and scalability. On the other hand, its development certainly takes some time and might be quite expensive. A ready-made solution is thus immediately available and is usually cheaper than a custom one.



A word on 3PLs



A 3PL stands for third-party logistics, and a 3PL provider handles a number of logistics operations. It can be a single service or a bunch of them, but the main point is that a company outsources its logistics (to a certain extent or fully).



Same as a ready-made LMS solution, you will need to integrate 3PL with your existing system, so all processes function seamlessly and the data exchange flow is uninterrupted. Depending on the system of choice, there are several integration options to consider:




Via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI);



Via API;



Via non-EDI format files (i.e., JSON, CVS, etc.).




You will need to consult your 3PL provider to select the appropriate option and see what will make the most sense for your business.



As for the question on what LMS type to choose, the answer will solely depend on your specific business objectives and budget. We therefore recommend you outlining the desired deliverables, must-have features of an LMS, and available tech resources and expertise. Based on that, you will be able to clearly define what exact solution meets your needs.



How to implement logistics management solutions



We now move on to the question on how to actually implement an LMS, not only in terms of connecting it with your existing services but starting from scratch. We’ve briefly talked about how to select the right LMS type - now let’s dive in a bit more detail.



Define your goals and needs







As we already mentioned above, in order to choose a suitable logistic management solution, you first need to understand why you actually need it. It’s super important to set tangible goals and clear KPIs to achieve, so you can measure the success of the LMS implementation later on.



Maybe you just need to automate several processes and thus, the implementation of a logistics management system is not really necessary. Or maybe you need to gain better control over your inventory and warehousing, but don’t need all the modules that an LMS has. Whatever your business need it, clearly outline it and then match to available LMS solutions and their features.



Select the LMS type



Once you decide what you are looking for in an LMS, you will have to decide what type of system you need. When choosing between on-premise and cloud and between custom and ready-made, once again evaluate your budget, available resources, and whether you want to be fully responsible for the product and own it or you’d rather delegate its management to a third-party vendor.



A few tips on selecting the right logistic management software vendor (if you decide to outsource LMS development):




Check vendor’s expertise and portfolio in the sphere of logistics;



Do not hesitate to reach out to the vendor’s clients and ask them for testimonials;



Schedule an introductory call with the team;



Check the vendor on such websites like Clutch to see reviews and ratings.




If a company already has experience in designing software solutions similar to yours, it will be a great advantage as the development process will go faster and smoother and the team will know what exactly works for your specific domain.



Take care of needed integrations



Whether you are building a system from scratch or are deploying an available solution, you will have to think of integrating it with all needed components and services. Examples include:




Cloud storage: if you are using a cloud platform, it will instantly boost your processes and will add scalability and speed to them. Most big LMS solutions can be easily integrated with such providers as Amazon or Google so you won’t have to worry about the efficiency of your integrated logistics management system.



Payment gateways: a good logistics management system takes care of a bunch of accounting processes and naturally, you will manage payments both from clients and partners. Hence, you will need to integrate a secure payment gateway to seamlessly manage various payment types.



Third-party services: if you use any third-party services, you will have to integrate them with your LMS of choice in order to maintain a holistic digital environment and ensure a seamless flow of data. Hence, you will have to request your team to develop sufficient APIs to connect the LMS with all needed services.




Provide employee training



A shift to a new logistics management system software is never easy and thus, you will have to provide training to your employees in order for them to quickly learn about the system and effectively manage it without causing any downtimes. Depending on the system’s complexity, you can choose from various training formats, from simple video guides to more comprehensive software training solutions. And keep in mind all user groups that are to interact with the LMS - all of them need to understand how to use it. Hence, the training may be required for other users outside your company.



The main challenges of LMS implementation



We’ve talked a lot about the value of an LMS solution - but it’s also important to mention the main challenges that one may face during its implementation.



Data security



An LMS is a software solution and, just like any other software, it might be prone to cyber attacks. And even the smallest data breach may result in critical financial losses and the loss of trust from your clients and partners. Hence, when implementing an LMS, it’s critical that you take care of your cybersecurity and ensure robust protection of both the system and your overall digital environment.







If you don’t know where to start, we highly recommend getting acquainted with the CIS security controls that vary, depending on the organization’s size and available resources. Or you can follow the ISO 27001 (or other standard) security framework to make sure that all aspects of your business are protected from potential threats.



Talent and skill gaps



Many great LMS solutions utilize advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence and are quite complex. Hence, they require knowledgeable management and a certain level of skill and knowledge from your employees. And this may come as a challenge to some organizations that lack the needed talents and cannot provide sufficient training.



When deploying an LMS, it is important to remember that you have to train users to use the system as intended. If you don’t have enough people to work with the system, lack certain resources (not necessarily tech), or have not yet planned what kind of training you will provide, you might want to resolve these issues first before setting up an LMS.



Regulatory and compliance issues



When implementing an LMS, one should keep in mind certain regulations and compliance management processes (such as data protection or employment law). The main challenges here come from the fact that an organization most often works with suppliers and vendors from different countries, and each country has its own legal regulations. Hence, one has to consider:




Variability of local regulations;



Special aspects of international trade;



Proper data management and accounting;



Constantly updated regulations.




Conclusion



Logistics management systems are a highly valuable asset that can skyrocket one’s operations and bring an impressive increase in revenue and customer satisfaction. And considering how quickly logistics adopts innovative technologies, no wonder that modern logistics management solutions come equipped with Business Intelligence or AI. But before adopting such a solution, it is important to prepare your organization for the upcoming implementation and ensure that it will not disrupt your current workflow. With extensive experience in serving the logistics industry, we at SoftTeco highly recommend consulting a reliable vendor on how to best implement an LMS and what system will work best for your business.




 

FAQ

### How To Build An EHR System: A Comprehensive Guide

Recently, the healthcare sector has undergone significant changes, mainly due to COVID-19. Advanced technologies allowed us to automate many processes and bring medical care to a new level. Among these innovations are EHR systems that have become the cornerstone of patient care. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global EHR market reached $28.1 billion in 2022 and will reach $38.5 in 2030. These numbers are understandable, as these systems are valuable to physicians and individuals alike.



However, constructing a secure and reliable EHR system is not an easy task that demands careful planning and adherence to established safety standards. Thus, let’s explore how to build an EHR system that functions seamlessly, safeguards patient data, and maintains compliance with established regulations. 







What is an EHR system?



An Electronic Health Record (EHR) system is a digital record of a patient's health data accessible by authorized users within a healthcare facility. Among the EHR data are:




Personal info;



Insurance;



Treatment;



Diagnoses;



Allergies;



Medications;



Immunizations, etc.




EHR systems integrate seamlessly with various healthcare settings, such as clinics and medical centers, to efficiently collect, store, and harness patient data. Doctors can leverage these systems to gain deeper insights into patients' medical histories. It allows them to craft well-informed and precise treatment plans. EHRs are pivotal in elevating information management, optimizing internal workflows, and, ultimately, enhancing patient care.



What is the difference between an EHR and an EMR system?



An Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is also a digital version of a patient's medical history, created and stored within a single healthcare organization or practice. They are primarily used by healthcare providers within a specific practice or facility to manage and document patient care. ERMs are designed to streamline workflows, improve accuracy, and enhance communication within the organization.



On the other hand, an EHR is a comprehensive digital record of a patient's health information that is inclusive of data from multiple healthcare organizations. EHRs are designed to be accessible by authorized healthcare providers and organizations involved in a patient's care, allowing for seamless sharing of information across different healthcare settings.



Thus, while EMRs focus on the specific needs of a single healthcare organization, EHRs provide a broader view of a patient's health information across various care settings. This allows for a more holistic approach to patient care, as healthcare providers can access and contribute to the patient's record regardless of their location or affiliation.



Types of EHR systems



With a plethora of choices available in the market, it can be challenging for healthcare providers to choose the right EHR system for their practice. The main difference between these types is where data is stored (i.e., who owns the data). There are:




Physician-hosted: the system and data are hosted on servers situated within the healthcare provider's premises;



Remotely-hosted: the data is hosted on distant servers, and healthcare professionals can access it through a network connection. As EHR provider oversee infrastructure and updates, it provides flexibility but requires continuous maintenance costs;



Cloud-based: the data is stored and handled in the cloud, allowing healthcare workers to access information from anywhere using an internet connection. Updates and system integration are automatic;



Subsidized EHR: these systems are often subsidized or even free by the government. They meet government basic requirements, but lack advanced functionality;



Dedicated EHR: the vendor stores data on separate servers at specific locations, and these systems are tailored for particular medical specialties, such as cardiology, and provide specialized features.




Each type has its own advantages and considerations, so it is essential for providers to carefully assess their practice's needs, budget, and long-term goals before making a decision. Now, let's discuss why EHR systems matter.



Benefits of EHR systems



Implementing EHR systems allows healthcare facilities to provide significant benefits to patients, including:




Better patient care: electronic medical records allow health care providers to utilize detailed and accurate medical histories resulting in better patient care;



Improved data availability: patients can easily view their health documents in order to stay informed about their health status and treatment;



Enhanced communication: EHR systems enable seamless data sharing between various stakeholders and agencies, providing seamless and quick access to data;



Convenience: patients may book appointments online or order prescriptions remotely, thus reducing the need for in-person visits;



Improved patient safety: EHRs minimize medication errors and data duplication by giving medical workers accurate patient data, thereby reducing the risk of harm to patients.




The benefits for hospitals and medical facilities include:




Enhanced treatment: EHR systems allow medical specialists to view extensive and current patient stores to make informed and timely care decisions;



Reduced errors: EHRs help minimize errors in diagnosis and treatment by providing timely clinical decisions and eliminating writing mistakes;



Data analytics: EHR systems contain data analysis and reporting tools that allow physicians to monitor patient status and take relevant action;



Lower healthcare costs: in the long-term, EHRs can save money due to decreased paperwork, less duplicate data, and better resource management;



Improved internal coordination: EHRs improve coordination among medical institutions and departments, making it easier to share patient data;



Accurate data: these systems enable healthcare professionals to review a patient's history and make necessary changes;



Improved operational efficiency: EHRs streamline internal tasks and eliminate physical record storage, improving operational efficiency.




Challenges of EHR systems



Despite the encouraging number of benefits offered by EHR systems, all stakeholders may face challenges that they need to consider before setting up an EHR solution. Here are some of them:




Compliance with standards: to avoid fines and ensure the privacy and security of data, EHR systems must adhere to key regulatory requirements, such as HIPPA and GDPR; 



Time-consuming training: healthcare staff must be trained to use the new EHR system effectively; it may requires additional resources, work, and time;



Integration with legacy systems: it is often difficult and expensive to integrate a new EHR system with legacy systems;



Poor user experience: EHRs should be easy to use, allowing clinicians to manage data efficiently. A poor user experience can make it difficult for staff to use the system and cause errors;



Data migration issues: the migration of organizations’ data from legacy EHR systems to new or updated ones requires careful planning and execution to ensure data accuracy and safety.




Now, let's consider the most critical aspects of the EHR system before designing it.







Compliances and certifications of an EHR system



Many regulations, laws, and rules in the healthcare industry vary from country to country. Among the main regulations related to EHR systems are:




GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): legal laws that set guidelines for collecting and processing personal information from individuals in the European Union;



ONC Certification: is a program that verifies whether EHR software and systems meet specific standards and criteria established by the ONC;



HL7 (Health Level Seven): this set of international standards guarantees data interoperability between various healthcare systems;



IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise): this initiative aims to integrate healthcare database systems using well-established standards such as HL7 to enhance interoperability with other healthcare systems.




Non-compliance can result in financial losses, fines, and hacked systems, damaging the reputation of medical settings. HIPAA is one more mandatory standard for EHR systems.



What is HIPPA?



HIPAA, which stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is a national standard in the US that was created in 1996. HIPAA is designed to safeguard and protect the privacy and security of individuals' health information (PHI) through the following rules:




Privacy rule: protection of health and personal data;



Security rule: protect EHRs and ensure their security;



Enforcement rule: outlines guidelines and fines related to HIPAA enforcement;



Omnibus rule: a set of updates to the HIPAA regulations;



Breach notification rule: outlines the specific requirements and timelines for reporting security incidents.




Covered entities such as clinics, private practices, individual providers, healthcare plans, clearinghouses, and insurers must comply with HIPAA requirements, focusing on a Security Rule that is highly relevant to EHR systems. The Security Rule consists of:




Administrative safeguards: focus on the administrative aspects of security to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of protected data; 



Physical safeguards: protect the equipment, facilities, and physical media that run EHR software from unauthorized access;  



Technical safeguards: ensure that e-PHI devices are effectively protected; 



Organizational standards for Business Associates (BA): ensure that Business Associates maintain appropriate safeguards to protect patient privacy and health information security.




These rules ensure patient data privacy and security in the EHR system.



How do you make an EHR system HIPAA-compliant?



Under the above-mentioned rules, you must comply with all HIPAA regulations. To achieve this, follow these best practices:




Conduct a risk assessment: identify and analyze possible security issues and vulnerabilities in your EHR software;



Implement security measures: based on the risk analysis, implement appropriate security measures such as encryption, access controls, and audit logs to mitigate identified risks and protect patient data;



Incident response plan: create a plan to notify affected parties and appropriate authorities when there is a data breach;



Staff training staff: train all employees interacting with patient data within an EHR system. It should cover HIPAA regulations and specific policies and practices;



Regular system review: implement mechanisms to periodically review and monitor systems to identify any unauthorized access or breaches;



Documentation: maintain thorough documentation of your compliance efforts, including policies, rules, training records, and audit reports;



Conduct periodic evaluations: regularly assess EHR security measures' effectiveness and, based on these evaluations, update or improve a system.




Keep in mind that HIPAA compliance is an ongoing process that requires constant monitoring, updating, and training to adapt to changing regulations. 







How to build an EHR system: the main stages



Undoubtedly, any software development is an individual process with its own set of pitfalls based on its specifications, industry needs, or desired functionality. An EHR system development is no exception; it requires careful attention to security and compliance. So, let’s look at its main stages.



Select a vendor



The first step in setting up an EHR system is finding a reliable software provider. During this process, we will consider several critical factors, including:




Compliance with diverse regulations;



Multi-device accessibility;



Certificate of EHR solutions;



Integration capabilities, etc.




Choosing the right software vendor can help ensure your EHR system's reliability, security, and compatibility over the long term. Before you decide which provider is best for you, take the time to weigh all offered options, talk to different providers, and compare prices and services.



Validation of an idea



Once you've chosen a provider, the next step is to validate the main idea of EHR software development. In other words, you need to identify how well the EHR system meets real healthcare needs. The process begins with a specific concern that an EHR system can potentially solve or improve. Consultants must conduct market research to assess demand, competition, and user preferences. To test the idea, you must gather feedback from healthcare providers, administrators, and potential users.



As a result of this stage, a system idea is validated if it aligns with industry goals and requirements. After that, an EHR system development can be started.



Discovery and design



At the discovery stage, experts gather to develop a detailed EHR roadmap. This includes project goals, desired features, and functionalities, and a timeline. A roadmap helps you determine how to bring development to life. Then, a team of experts creates a prototype of an EHR system. This includes wireframing, UI and UX design, and accessibility for different systems. A prototype shows how the system will look and function and guides coding and implementation further. 



Once the prototype is ready, you must create your MVP (minimum viable product) next. An MVP allows you to focus on basic features and functionality and create a solid basis for an EHR solution. An MVP also allows you to identify usability problems and areas for improvement. 



Development and integration



After the prototype is approved, EHR software development is handed to the developers. The development process follows a series of sprints, each delivering ready-to-use functionality. During this phase, QAs thoroughly check each feature for possible bugs and problems. When a bug is identified, it is reported to developers for resolution. Constant interaction between developers and QA is crucial to building a reliable and well-functioning EHR solution.



During the development of an EHR system, all stakeholders should be informed and able to provide feedback. An EHR system will also be integrated with thirty-party systems during this stage. Among these integrations are Health Information Exchange (HIE), Laboratory Information System (LIS), Personal Health Record (PHR), and others relevant to particular customers.



Testing



One vital stage of EHR software development is comprehensive testing that includes functionality, usability, interoperability, compliance, and performance. Testing aims to ensure EHR security, appearance, and functionality across various platforms and networks. QAs also verify software design, oversee the entire development process, and ensure compliance with industry standards.



As we mentioned above, testing goes hand in hand with development. Before going into production, every new version of healthcare software must be tested. EHR systems are tested until they meet their outlined goals to ensure flawless operation and security.



Release and support



It is launched as soon as the EHR system has been developed and tested. This process involves selecting the appropriate deployment model (hosted on-site or in the cloud) and planning a deployment schedule that minimizes disruption to healthcare operations. 



Once released, regular monitoring, support, and updates are essential to ensure its superior performance and data security. Healthcare businesses must upgrade and incorporate enhanced functionality as technology advances to maintain system reliability and relevance. 



The cost of EHR system development



According to ONC, the overall cost for EHRs can vary from $15,000 to $70,000. It depends on the features and customization of an EHR system, its accessibility across various platforms, its complexity, the team's expertise, and additional costs (licensing fees, ongoing maintenance, operating costs).



If you wonder how to create an electronic medical record system, you can choose between out-of-the-box and custom EHR software. Out-of-the-box solutions are cheaper than customized ones, and their cost depends on the functionalities and the provider. But, these types of software have limited functionality, compliance issues, and a lack of updates. Outsourcing is a popular option for creating custom EHR solutions. Typically, this type of development costs about $50 per hour. A wide range of features and functions can also influence the final cost.



Regardless of your approach, you face another significant investment. Costs differ between on-site and web-based EHR deployment (Software as a Service or SaaS). SaaS often involves a fixed monthly subscription fee, while on-site deployment necessitates ongoing expenses for maintaining on-site data servers.



It is crucial to strike the right balance between cost and quality when selecting an approach for your EHR project. Understanding the essential features and functionalities helps you initially create a minimum viable product (MVP) and keep your budget in line.



A required team to build an EHR system



Setting up an EHR system is a complex process that requires a well-organized team. The following members typically make up an EHR development team:




Frontend developer



Backend developers



QA engineers



UX/UI designers



Product manager



Project manager




You may have noticed that the list also includes roles that may seem similar, such as a product manager and a project manager. They differ, but both are extremely important.



Tech stack for an EHR software



When it comes to the tech stack for EHR software development, there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. The choice of tech stack will vary and depend on many factors, such as project goals, required functionalities, team expertise, scalability, etc. Thus, every IT company offers a diverse set of technologies that may be most suitable for one project but not suitable for another.



Furthermore, technology is always evolving, so it is important to keep up with these changes and select the suitable for your needs tech stack.



EHR system architecture 



EHR system development follows the service-oriented architecture (SOA) approach. It is a design architecture where software is divided into small and independent modules or services that communicate with each other through a set of defined APIs. The architecture's advantage is that it facilitates scalability, maintenance, fault detection, isolation, and recovery of apps. SOA typically consists of four main components:



When designing the architecture for an EHR system, the backend and frontend components play critical roles. The backend of EHR systems consists of a robust database infrastructure that ensures secure data storage and retrieval. It includes:




Programming language 



Web frameworks and libraries



Database server



Web server 



Cloud servers 




The frontend is the part of the EHR system that users see and interact with directly. It includes the following technologies, such as:




A programming language



Web frameworks and libraries



iOS SDK



Android SDK








Basic features for EHR software development



Each EHR solution is designed to meet healthcare providers' individual functionalities and needs. However, most EHR systems have these basic features:



A patient portal



A patient portal is a bridge between healthcare organizations and patients, providing secure access to necessary healthcare data. Every patient in the EHR system has a profile containing extensive details such as name, age, medical history, and a unique ID (medical record number). A select number of authorized healthcare professionals can view, download, and update patient information using this number. Based on the gathered data, healthcare professionals can make informed decisions about patient treatment through a portal.



Patient-doctor collaboration



Effective patient-doctor collaboration is a paramount feature of EHR systems that patients and healthcare professionals cherish. By utilizing messaging as a user-friendly platform, patients can seek help with their health concerns and obtain reliable insights from their physicians, enhancing their healthcare experience.



Appointment reminders



Appointment reminders are a valuable feature within EHR systems that significantly helps healthcare workers maintain an organized schedule and fosters better patient-provider communication. An EHR system allows healthcare specialists to customize appointment reminders based on patient preferences. Automated notifications ensure timely communication with patients. Its benefits include:




Improved patient attendance



Customizable notifications



Efficient medical workflow



Enhanced patient experience



Follow-up with physicians




E-prescriptions



Traditionally, patients scheduled appointments, visited the office, and received paper prescriptions. Today, this approach seems increasingly inconvenient. Instead, healthcare specialists remotely create and send prescriptions directly to pharmacies, eliminating paper prescriptions. Patients can obtain prescriptions and refill them when necessary at home. 



E-prescriptions benefit both patients and healthcare settings. They reduce errors caused by illegible handwriting, provide real-time access to medication histories, and streamline medication dispensing.



Integration with test labs



By integrating EHR systems with testing labs, healthcare specialists can order, receive, and manage test results more efficiently and accurately. It reduces paper-based processes, minimizes errors, and provides quick access to vital test results, ensuring timely diagnosis and treatment. As a result, patients are better informed, and labs can enhance their internal processes.



Charting and documentation management



One of the reasons for using EHR systems is to manage large numbers of medical records efficiently. Therefore, the best way to achieve this is to use charting and documentation functions that optimize information collection, storage, and sharing. Detailed and systemized reportings allow healthcare workers to gain insight into ongoing workflows. The system should support a variety of document formats (including industry-specific formats for CT and MRI images. Healthcare organizations can adopt advanced technologies, such as AI or cloud computing, for even greater automation of clinic management. 



Healthcare organizations with well-established documentation management systems improve data security and privacy, reduce paperwork, and guarantee the accuracy of compliance with regulations. It enhances the quality of healthcare services.



Role-based access control (RBAC)



Under privacy regulations like HIPAA and other secure standards, not everyone should have unrestricted access to medical-related data. Only authorized people must access it. For this purpose, an EHR system incorporates role-based access control. It is designed to ensure the security and privacy of patient data while allowing authorized users to access the necessary information. In addition, it is a convenient tool for assigning responsibilities.



For instance, doctors have comprehensive access to all patient data, while nurses are restricted to essential information. There are many ways to ensure the highest level of data access control, such as:




Use unique identifiers



Encryption standards support



Emergency access options



Multi-factor authentication



Blocking suspicious accounts 



User action logs (injections, prescriptions, etc.)




Invoicing features



Every healthcare organization deals with bills, treatment payments, insurance companies, and other administration elements. EHR systems should incorporate features to streamline and automate financial aspects and make healthcare services less time-consuming. As a result, invoicing features optimize revenue, reduce administrative effort, and improve financial management. Users can better:  




Access and update patient insurance details



Submit and respond to billing queries



Transition data from patient charts to bills



Review billing and payment history records




The foundational feature lays the groundwork for EHR software, allowing for customization and scalability based on specific healthcare needs. 



Final thoughts



The question "How to create an electronic health record system" is complex and requires a well-thought-out strategy. Healthcare organizations and stakeholders must work together diligently at all stages of development. An MVP is a critical detail to ensure the development process's long-term success. Compliance with regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR and investing in robust security measures are also important factors that need to be carefully considered. 



You may also need to adopt modern technologies like cloud computing and ML to optimize your EHR systems and expand their fictionality. A reliable and secure EHR system is more than a technological solution; it is a commitment to patients' well-being and healthcare advancement. So, if you need an experienced software partner to integrate an EHR into your organization, we can help. Get in touch with us to discuss your EHR idea.




 

FAQ

### IoT In The Automotive Industry: The Roadmap To The Future

The Internet of Things technology has transformed multiple industries, and automotive is no exception. With apps spanning industrial and commercial domains, automotive IoT has become a dynamic hub for diverse multifunctional uses. Smart machines we once only saw in sci-fi films are now real. They offer many advantages, including safer driving and greater efficiency in terms of maintenance and route planning.



In this article, we embark on a journey into the world of IoT in the Automotive industry, exploring its far-reaching implications, the innovations and challenges it brings, and the promising future it paints for vehicles and the ways we use them.







IoT in the automotive industry



Internet of Things refers to a network of connected devices that communicate and share collected data. For the automotive industry, this technology has unlocked numerous opportunities for introducing new services, such as enhanced navigation systems and better safety. Various automotive IoT use cases have emerged, reshaping the ways how drivers and manufacturers manage vehicles. Let’s explore each of these cases individually.



IoT use cases in automotive industry



While there are numerous use cases for the Internet of Things in the automotive industry, we will focus on the ones that are already being implemented and that bring real value to both drivers and passengers, as well as manufacturers and fleet owners.



Connected cars



Connected cars are equipped with a range of sensors that communicate with each other and that allow information collection and exchange. In this way, these cars collect and analyze the data in real-time, informing drivers on the safest decisions and allowing them to effectively plan their routes.



There are five possible communication levels for connected cars:




Vehicle to infrastructure (V2I): Cars exchange data with infrastructure like traffic lights and signs, providing real-time updates, optimizing routes, and enhancing safety.



Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V): Vehicles communicate directly, sharing safety-related information to prevent accidents by anticipating nearby vehicle actions.



Vehicle to pedestrians (V2P): Extending connectivity to pedestrians and road users, enabling alerts and warnings via smartphones or wearables, enhancing safety.



Vehicle to cloud (V2C): Vehicles exchange data with cloud-based platforms for real-time traffic, weather updates, remote diagnostics, and software updates.



Vehicle to everything (V2X): Encompassing all forms of vehicle communication, V2X creates an interconnected ecosystem for safer and more efficient transportation.






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The main advantage that connected cars bring is effective route optimization and enhanced security on the road. Through the analysis of information from diverse sources like GPS, traffic sensors, and weather forecasts, these connected vehicles can recommend the most efficient routes while steering clear of congested zones and potential risks. This not only saves time but also reduces fuel consumption and emissions.



Moreover, connected cars can improve safety by providing advanced driver assistance systems. These systems use sensors and cameras to monitor the vehicle’s surroundings and to provide warnings or take preventive actions in case of potential collisions or unsafe driving conditions. For example, a connected car can detect a pedestrian crossing the road and automatically apply the brakes to avoid an accident.



Autonomous Vehicles



While connected cars enhance safety and convenience, autonomous vehicles take it a step further by eliminating the need for human drivers altogether. These self-driving cars rely heavily on IoT technology to self-navigate and make decisions on the road.



Various manufacturers strive to create 100% self-driving cars capable of taking over all driving functions. Although significant progress has been made in this field, the development of a completely independent vehicle is still ongoing.







Thus, semi-autonomous vehicles have been introduced as a temporary solution. These cars utilize sensors, cameras, and AI algorithms to detect their surroundings and make instant decisions. They can aid drivers with various tasks, such as parking or changing lanes.



By analyzing data from various sources, such as radars, LiDAR, and GPS, autonomous vehicles can navigate through complex traffic situations and respond to unexpected events.



The impact of autonomous vehicles extends widely. They hold the potential to decrease road accidents and fatalities, considering that human errors are a major contributor to such incidents. Additionally, autonomous vehicles can enhance traffic flow by establishing communication among themselves and with the surrounding infrastructure, leading to route optimization and congestion avoidance.



Fleet management



Fleet management is a critical aspect of the automotive industry. IoT technology brought real-time data collection and insights analysis to the fleet management process. Modern trucks are equipped with a range of sensors, including those for weight measurement and location tracking. Data gathered from these sensors within a sizable fleet is stored in a cloud-based application. This information undergoes processing through a range of analytical tools, rendering it in a visual format.



Using these insights, fleet managers can:




Automatically compute optimal routes.



Keep a real-time overview of the fleet’s whereabouts.



Monitor cargo weight and volume.



Retrieve performance statistics such as fuel consumption and mileage for trucks.



Observe drivers’ behavior.



Monitor the traffic state on the road.



Evaluate vehicle performance.




As a result, fleet management has evolved into a more efficient process, reducing manual work and saving valuable time compared to traditional methods.



Car sharing



IoT in automotive industry has also played a crucial role in the success of car sharing services. As we already mentioned, IoT devices, such as GPS trackers and telematics systems, are used to gather real-time data about the vehicle’s location, condition, and performance. This data is then transmitted to a centralized platform, where it can be accessed by both the car sharing service provider and the users. This connectivity allows for efficient fleet management, ensuring that vehicles are available when and where they are needed.



One of the key challenges in car sharing is to ensure that the vehicles are in good condition and ready for use. With IoT, car sharing providers can remotely monitor the health of their fleet. For example, sensors can detect low tire pressure or engine issues and alert the service provider, allowing them to address the problem promptly.



Moreover, IoT simplifies access and authentication for car sharing users. Through a mobile app or a smart card, users can easily locate and unlock available vehicles. The IoT in car communicates with the app or the card, verifying the user’s identity and granting access to the vehicle. This eliminates the need for physical keys and streamlines the entire booking and pick-up process.



Furthermore, IoT enables real-time feedback and support for car sharing users. Sensors in the vehicles can detect aggressive driving behavior, speeding, or other violations, and provide instant feedback to the user. This feedback encourages responsible driving and promotes road safety. Additionally, IoT devices can offer assistance in case of emergencies, such as automatically contacting emergency services in the event of an accident or breakdown.



Connected Infotainment Systems



IoT has transformed infotainment systems in cars, offering a seamless and personalized entertainment experience for drivers and passengers. Connected infotainment systems provide access to a wide range of digital content, including music, movies, and online radio. Besides, they offer integration with smartphones, allowing users to make hands-free calls, send messages, and access navigation services. Moreover, these solutions can also provide instant updates on weather conditions, traffic congestion, and nearby points of interest. By integrating the IoT technology into infotainment systems, automakers are enhancing the driving experience and making journeys more enjoyable and productive.Predictive maintenance



Predictive maintenance stands as a significant IoT use case in the automotive sector. Traditional maintenance schedules rely on fixed time or mileage intervals, often proving inefficient and costly. Internet of Things technology revolutionizes sustenance by continuously monitoring vehicle conditions and forecasting maintenance needs based on actual usage and wear.



Through the collection of data from various sensors, including temperature, vibration, and oil pressure, IoT systems analyze patterns and pinpoint anomalies that may signal impending failures. This data-driven approach empowers automotive companies to schedule maintenance and repairs as needed, eliminating unnecessary downtime and reducing expenses.



Moreover, predictive maintenance can enhance vehicle safety by identifying potential issues before they become critical. For example, if an IoT system detects abnormal tire pressure, it can alert the driver and recommend immediate action, thus preventing accidents caused by tire blowouts.



Benefits of Automotive IoT







Indeed, one of the primary advantages of IoT in the automotive industry is the ability to link vehicles to the Internet, fostering simultaneous communication between vehicles, infrastructure, and drivers. But there are even more advantages of IoT in automotive industry:




Real-time monitoring and alerts. Automotive Internet of Things allows for the continuous monitoring of vehicle parameters, such as engine health, fuel levels, and tire pressure, in real-time. This enables early detection of issues, reduces the risk of breakdowns, and improves overall safety.



Enhanced efficiency. IoT devices in vehicles can provide valuable insights on driver behavior and vehicle performance. This data can be used to optimize routes, reduce idle time, and improve driver behavior, leading to increased efficiency and productivity.



Optimized route planning. IoT-enabled vehicles can access real-time traffic data and weather information. This helps drivers and fleet managers make informed decisions about route planning, and avoid traffic congestion and adverse weather conditions, ultimately saving time and resources.



Remote vehicle control and management. With Automotive IoT, vehicles can be distantly controlled and managed. This includes features like remote engine start/stop, lock/unlock doors, and even geofencing. In this way, users have more control over their vehicles, enhancing security and operational flexibility.



Fuel efficiency optimization. IoT devices can provide insights into fuel consumption patterns and driver behavior. By analyzing this data, organizations can implement fuel-saving strategies, such as reducing excessive idling and maintaining optimal speeds, leading to significant fuel cost savings.



Predictive Analytics. As we already mentioned, IoT sensors and data analytics enable predictive maintenance. By continuously monitoring the car’s condition, IoT can predict when components are likely to fail, allowing for scheduled maintenance. This minimizes downtime and reduces maintenance costs.




Challenges and concerns in automotive IoT implementation



As vehicle connectivity grows, the potential for unauthorized access to sensitive data, including personal information and driving patterns, becomes a significant concern. However, this isn’t the sole issue at hand.



Cybersecurity



IoT devices collect overwhelming amounts of data and this raises concerns about potential security breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive information.



Connected cars can be highly vulnerable to cyber-attacks, which, in turn, might have severe consequences. For example, hackers can potentially access the vehicle’s system, such as its brakes or steering, thus causing accidents.



In addition personal information collected by IoT sensors (i.e., vehicle location) can be exploited if not adequately protected. Therefore, strict security measures must be in place to safeguard both the car and the data it generates.



Interoperability



Another challenge is interoperability. Interoperability issues can arise when different manufacturers use different communication protocols or when updates or upgrades are required. Establishing standards and fostering collaboration among industry stakeholders are vital steps to ensure a seamless user experience and trouble-free interoperability.



Integration with existing infrastructure



For connected cars to fully realize their potential, they need to be able to interact with existing infrastructure, such as traffic lights and road signs. This requires a robust and reliable communication network that can handle the exchange of real-time data.



Additionally, the infrastructure itself needs to be upgraded and adapted to accommodate connected vehicles, which can be a costly and time-consuming process.



Ethical and social considerations



The IoT raises ethical and social considerations. For example, with the proliferation of IoT devices, there is the potential for increased surveillance and invasion of privacy.







Furthermore, there are concerns about the impact of the IoT on employment, as automation and AI technologies replace certain job roles. Ethical considerations also come into play when implementing IoT in automotive manufacturing. For example, self-driven cars are programmed to make split-second decisions in potentially dangerous situations. These decisions may involve weighing the risk to the vehicle occupants against the risk to pedestrians or other road users. The ethical implications of such decision-making algorithms need to be carefully considered and transparently communicated to the public.



Liability in case of accidents



As our means of transport become more interconnected and self-driven, the lines between human and machine responsibility become blurred. In the event of an accident, determining who is at fault becomes a complex task.



For instance, if a self-driving car gets involved in a collision, should the blame fall on the car manufacturer, the software developer, or the vehicle owner? This raises questions about legal frameworks and insurance policies that need to be updated to accommodate the changing landscape of liability in the automotive industry.



To address this challenge, stakeholders in the automotive industry need to work together to establish clear guidelines and regulations that define liability in the context of IoT-enabled vehicles. This includes defining the responsibilities of different parties involved in the development, manufacturing, and operation of these vehicles. Additionally, insurance companies need to adapt their policies to cover the risks associated with IoT-enabled automobiles.





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Data ownership and usage



Connected cars generate vast amounts of data, ranging from vehicle diagnostics and performance metrics to driver behavior and personal information. This data can be highly valuable to various stakeholders, including car manufacturers, service providers, and advertisers.



However, the question arises: who owns this data and how should it be used? Should car manufacturers have unrestricted access to the data collected by their vehicles, or should the owners have control over their own data? Furthermore, how can this data be safeguarded from unauthorized access and potential misuse?



To address these concerns, a comprehensive framework for data ownership and usage needs to be established. This framework should provide clear guidelines on data ownership rights, consent requirements, and data protection measures. Additionally, industry-wide standards and protocols should be developed to ensure data security and privacy.



Conclusion



Despite all the challenges, the IoT presents immense opportunities for innovation and advancement. It has the potential to transform industries, improve efficiency, and enhance our quality of life. Besides, the journey of IoT in the automotive industry is far from over. As technology continues to evolve, there are limitless possibilities to further improve safety, efficiency, and the overall user experience.



However, it is crucial that we approach the development and deployment of IoT technologies with caution, ensuring that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect privacy and security and that the benefits are distributed equitably.




 

FAQ

### Everything You Need to Know About Product Management Process

Behind every successful product is a big idea. And this idea undergoes a lengthy transformation, from being a simple “what if” to becoming a bestseller, like a #1 app in an App Store. But how do you turn your idea into a successful project loved by users? The answer is product management.   



It’s not enough to just develop a software product based on your break-through idea, and release it. Before the development process starts, there are many things to handle first - and many things to take care of after the release. In this article, we will walk you through the basics of the product management process. 







What is the product management process?



If we address Wikipedia, product management is defined as “the business process of planning, developing, launching, and managing a product or service.” If we answer the “what is product management process?” in simple terms, it is a process of launching a new product (or a new feature) or iterating the one that already exists. By that we mean the whole process from start to finish: from analyzing the initial concept to performing post-launch activities, such as collectio of user feedback and analysis.



It’s interesting that, according to the report, 52% of product managers state that their strategy is reactive rather than proactive. That means, managers react to customers’ feedback and/or C-level executives and adjust the product strategy accordingly. However, a product can also be a huge success if a project manager identifies existing pain points of a user and provides a solution without the user asking for it. We’ll talk more about the ways of defining these pain points a bit later. For now, let’s shift our attention to one of the most popular misconceptions about project management, which is “product management = project management”. 



Product management vs project management: is there a difference?



In short: yes, there is. They are two different processes, despite being closely interrelated. 



As stated above, product management encompasses all processes related to launching (or iterating) a product. Thus, project management is part of the product management process and fits into the development phase.



Needless to say, project management requires the supervision of a Project Manager who is responsible solely for the internal process of product development and makes sure that the process meets the defined deadlines and milestones. Besides, project managers usually collaborate and communicate mainly with the development and design team, while a product manager communicates with all parties involved in the delivery process. 



The benefits of effective product management



Though a product management workflow may be a complex one, it is critical to carefully follow every step of it in order to ensure that the product will meet expectations of customers and the vision of stakeholders. And to emphasize the importance of product management functions, let’s look at their biggest benefits:




Increased customer satisfaction: by understanding what exactly your customers want, it will be easier to fulfill their needs and hence, increase their loyalty and satisfaction.



Increased revenue: if a customer gets what they need, they will be ready to buy it - so you will eliminate unprofitable guesswork from your business decisions and will be able to significantly increase revenue by providing relevant products and services.



Improved collaboration: since the product management process unites different departments and roles, you will be able to identify any possible communication gaps and greatly improve collaboration and communication within your company.



Better efficiency: with a streamlined and organized process of product delivery, you will be able to improve and increase the efficiency of your internal and external processes by documenting and managing them. 








As you can see, the process creates a win-win situation for both the company and the clients. But before getting down to the main product management stages, let’s talk a bit more about the role of a product manager and what kind of skills are expected from this person.



Understanding the role of a product manager



As said above, a PM is a person responsible for the whole product delivery process, from coming up with an idea to analyzing the success of the released product. And since product management involves business, tech, and UX aspects, a good PM has to be well-versed in all three of them.



There are also several different types of PMs, depending on their specific roles and business objectives.



Growth PM



A growth product manager is responsible for the “growth” of the business through improving a defined business metric or goal. In other words, this type of PM expands and grows the business and its success through constant improvement of products and services. This is done by regularly collecting customer feedback and analyzing it with an aim to identify barriers for growth. This manager frequently performs short-term experiments to see what causes a response from customers and is usually very knowledgeable in psychology, user behavior, and advertising. 



Tech PM



A technical product manager also strives to constantly improve the company’s products and services, but instead of focusing on external factors (i.e., user preferences), these managers focus on internal factors. That means, they focus on the way products function and on their technical characteristics as well as on security. Technical PMs usually have a solid background in engineering, which allows them to implement relevant improvements and technical add-ons.



Data PM



Data product managers are working closely with the company’s data, making sure it is properly collected, analyzed, and shared. With the help of the data, these managers help companies leverage the success of their products by understanding areas for improvement and customer behavior and preferences.



The main responsibilities of a product manager



We’ve already said that a PM is responsible for releasing a product in the market and supporting its delivery at every stage of the process. But let’s be a bit more specific here and take a closer look at daily responsibilities of a PM.



Research and market analysis



In order to learn what customers need and what business opportunities exist and await to be discovered, a good PM has to do lots of research. By learning about the current market requirements and trends and about customer needs and pain points, a PM identified opportunities for introducing new problem-solving products.



Development of product vision



While stakeholders, developers, and even users definitely have their say in shaping the final product, it’s up to a PM to develop the vision and strategy and present them to all parties involved. This vision will later be used to outline requirements that the development team will work on.







Team management



Remember we said that a product manager oversees every stage of the development process? This means, a PM has to manage all teams and make sure that they follow the deadlines and deliver expected results. While a PM does not manage everyone (i.e., software engineers or graphic designers), this person manages the work of all teams in general, communicating with team leads and checking the deliverables and quality of work. Moreover, a product manager establishes smooth communication of different teams and makes sure that everyone is on the same page and understands what is expected of them.



Marketing and tests



The success of a final product depends greatly on marketing activities, such as PR, market research, and metrics analysis with an aim to define how well the product is received by users. Hence, a PM collaborates closely with marketing and sales teams to create awareness of the upcoming product, promote it across needed channels, and then analyze the success of marketing campaigns.



And obviously, the efficient PM constantly seeks ways to improve the product by collecting and analyzing feedback from customers and considering changing market requirements. In this way, the PM is able to retain the product competitive and relevant for users.



What makes a good product manager?



Obviously, every PM has certain traits and qualities that make them unique. However, there is a set of skills that can be called universal for every good PM.



Communication







Due to their nature of work, the PM constantly communicates with the most different people, from tech experts to creative marketing managers. Hence, a good PM has to be really flexible, adaptable and ready to listen to various opinions, consider them, and translate the requirements of one team to another.



Task prioritization



The whole process of turning a product from an idea into a valuable and marketable solution is incredibly complex and involves hundreds of activities. And it’s up to the PM to decide what should be done in the first place and what can wait a bit. Thus, it is essential that a product manager has high prioritization skills in order to effectively manage all tasks.



Business competence



Obviously, you can’t be a good manager if you don’t have a good understanding of a business that you work in. Without understanding the specific aspects of a certain business and industry, it is impossible to create a valuable (or even a revolutionary) product because you won’t know how best to use the available resources and what will work best for your company.



Organization



If you are a PM, it is your responsibility to make everything work smoothly - so you need to possess exceptional organizational skills. From task prioritization to resource allocation, your workflow has to be perfectly organized and you will have to constantly juggle the tasks and teams, adapting to changing requirements and conditions.



Tech and design knowledge



While the PM does not have to be a technical or design expert (though it always helps), they need to have at least some knowledge in the domains. This will help them better understand what the development and design teams want to propose and in this way, the PM will be able to evaluate whether these suggestions are valuable to a future product.



The main product manager deliverables



During the process of product management, there are several outcomes that are expected from the manager. Obviously, the manager does not work on these product management deliverables independently and collaborates with different departments to successfully meet a certain objective. And while we will look at each deliverable separately and in more detail a bit later, let’s briefly discuss them below.



Product vision 



A manager first needs to present an idea in a “tangible” and clear form - in other words, to provide a vision. It may come in various forms (a simple walkthrough reviewing the core USPs or functionality or a complex demo), but the goal remains the same. Amd it is: to explain what the product is like, how it is intended to function, and most importantly, why this exact product can solve the problem of a customer.  



Report on market and customer research



The development of functionality has to be supported by numbers (and not based on any guesswork). These numbers usually come in the form of marketing reports where the PM outlines the Total Addressable Market (TAM), the expected revenue, the approximate size of the market, etc.



Let’s take a small break and look closer at TAM metrics. The Total Addressable Market value indicates the total size of a potential market, if every customer, interested in a product, buys/uses it. It is important to note that TAM does not indicate the expected revenue for your company only, but rather shows how big the potential market. And if you want to calculate TAM, it’s pretty simple: calculate the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) times the total number of potential customers in the market. 



Strategy and roadmaps



Another important deliverable is the strategy and roadmaps. A strategy is the next step after a product vision and answers the question “How are we going to get there?”. Together with the strategy, a manager has to present a roadmap. The roadmap is a high-level document outlining the main milestones to achieve, main stages of the development process, and the ways how the vision matches business objectives. It also features time periods defined for the achievement of certain goals and people responsible for the assigned tasks.



Requirements



To successfully design a software product, it is critical to explain to the development team what you expect and need from them. But you can’t use marketing language with techies, so a manager needs to present a list of project requirements that the dev team will later work with. This list can feature functional and business requirements, and you can think of it as a vision, translated into a technical language. Requirements help the development team better understand the vision and the way the product is supposed to function. As a result, there happens little to no misunderstanding during the development phase.



Reports on execution



It is critical to evaluate the development process at every stage and thus, reports on execution will be another deliverable. These reports typically involve metrics, such as results of A/B testing or User Acceptance Testing (UAT), and help understand whether the product needs fine-tuning and in what exact areas. Thus, it is the responsibility of a manager to collect this data and present it to the stakeholders in an understandable format.



Reports on testing



One more thing that a PM keeps an eye on is testing. There is no need to say how important testing is for a product because even the smallest glitch can lead to significant security issues in the future. And obviously, testing helps identify potential flaws and issues at early stages and eliminate them before the product is presented to users. So together with execution reports, a PM also creates reports on testing activities to monitor the quality and security and to timely apply needed changes.



Marketing strategy



The success of the intended product greatly depends on the way it will be promoted. After all, no matter how amazing and valuable the product is - if nobody hears of it, customers will simply not be able to discover and buy it. Therefore, a PM is the person guiding marketing and PR activities and presenting the corresponding marketing strategy as one of the deliverables.



Reports on metrics



After the product is launched and customers start using it, the work of a PM does not stop here. The final deliverable will be reports on performance, such as user bounce rate or a number of purchases within a certain segment. Such metrics help everyone understand how well the product is performing and whether it needs any adjustments to better meet the customers’ needs.



Understanding core steps of the product management process



Finally, we’ve gotten to the most interesting part - the actual product management process. While it will be unique for every organization, the main stages of product management remain the same (though slight alterations are possible). Also note that these stages correlate with the product management deliverables described above, so now we will focus on the details of every stage and on activities that it involves.



Identifying opportunities



When planning the launch of a new product (or enhancement of an existing one), you can’t just randomly think of something and then force it to users. Every development process starts with the definition of a “problem”, also known as a user’s pain point.







But the idea does not come from nowhere. It starts with the “why”: why does the user have a specific problem and how can we solve it? In order to determine that, the manager communicates with stakeholders and involved teams to discuss potential solutions. During the process, the vision is formed and will later be used to define the strategy and roadmaps. However, you can’t form the vision based solely on the opinions of your colleagues. This is where market research and related activities begin.



User personas



If you want your product to be relevant and profitable, you have to make sure that you offer it to the right users and that it fits their needs. The first step towards that is to create user personas.



A user persona is a super-detailed description of your perfect customer: starting from general demographic info to what kind of breakfast they prefer on weekends. But why do you need to go into so much detail?



The thing is, the better you understand the motives, needs, expectations, and wishes of a certain user group, the higher the chances are that you will offer them a valuable product. You will use the created user persona to select the needed functionality and prioritize features based on the value they provide. But obviously, when working on user personas, do not forget about your real users. This brings us to the next point.



Market research



Market research implies the collection of information about potential customers, competition, the state of the market, and existing alternatives. It is a critical step of the development process as it sets the direction for further work and serves as a base for all product-related decisions.



The market research can be primary and secondary and in your work, you will use both approaches. Primary research means that you collect the information by yourself and it can be done via:




Surveys (offline and online)



Focus groups 



Interviews



Observations




Note that the primary research can also be quantitative or qualitative. In the case of quantitative research, you will collect numerical data that will answer the “how many” (and similar) questions. In case of qualitative research, you will collect information that will help you understand the motives behind the users’ actions.



As for the secondary research, it means the use of already existing information. It can be journals, published white papers and reports, or surveys by other companies. The point here is that somebody has already done the job, and you only have to research it.



Defining the strategy



The next step of the product management process is defining the strategy. Though some may confuse vision with strategy, they are not the same thing (though they are closely interrelated). If a vision explains towards which direction the company should head, the strategy describes how exactly the team will get there and what milestones it will achieve at every stage of the way. 



The strategy is also more defined and detailed and describes the core features of a product, key KPIs to achieve, and exact user needs that are to be met. A critical component of the strategy is a roadmap - let’s look at it in detail.



A perfect roadmap: what is it and how to create one?



As we already defined above, a roadmap is a high-level document that outlines the main milestones and development stages. It normally features functionality, time periods needed for achieving set goals, status markers for progress tracking, and various metrics for measuring success (i.e., bounce rate). 



Keep in mind that there are different types of roadmaps, so you’ll need to choose the one that aligns with your current project. For example, there are visionary, technology, and platform roadmaps - each having its own purpose and a set of features.



Now, how do you create a roadmap? The good news is that there are many available tools out there that are designed specifically for roadmap creation. Examples are:




OpenProject



Roadmap Planner



ProductPlan



Roadmunk




And there are many other alternatives - just do a bit of research and see what tool would fit your project the best. But obviously, all these tools should be customized for your specific project - so here are the main steps of creating a great roadmap:




Define your vision and audience: this information will help you understand what type of roadmap you need and what kind of content you will use.



Select a roadmap format: as said above, a roadmap can be visionary, marketing, technology, etc. You will need to choose the one that would help a certain team achieve their goals. For instance, a feature-based roadmap would be a great aid for your development team.



Select the metrics to track: a roadmap helps you monitor the progress and status of your product, so you will need to include them in the roadmap (but select these metrics first!).



Select the roadmap creation tool: do a bit of research on the available options and see which product best meets your needs. 




Developing the product



Now, to the most fun part of the product management process - the actual creation of the product. For that, you will need to:




Select the tech stack, meaning, tools and technologies to use;



Assemble a project development team by defining which roles are needed;



Assign a project manager to handle all managerial activities and ensure that everything is delivered on time;



Establish regular reporting processes and deploy project management tools (i.e., Jira) to effectively track the progress of the development process.








As for the development process itself, it usually consists of the following stages:




Collection of requirements: the requirements collection and definition happens beforehand, so the team already has ready requirements to work on. 



Design and architecture: designers work on creating low and high fidelity mockups and prototypes to show how the final product would look and function. Also, this stage involves creating the architecture to define how the components will interact with each other.



Development: the process of writing code and testing it in parallel. During this stage, iterations and changes may take place, and it’s important to manage them properly and to maintain the focus on the core and most important features. 



Testing: after the product is completed, the team will perform an all-round testing to ensure it looks and functions exactly as intended and that there are no bugs, issues, or glitches. 



Support and maintenance: after the release, the team may continue to work on it by implementing improvements and providing needed maintenance in case any issue occurs.




Note that the process described above is a very rough explanation of the software development process. In our blog, we have a series of articles dedicated to IT vendor management - see them for more information on the topic.



To MVP or not to MVP



When creating a software product, you always want to know whether it will be successful and whether users will love it. Well, there is a way to find out without spending astronomical amounts, and MVP is its name. 



The MVP term stands for a minimum viable product and is loved by startups for its low-risk approach, moderate investments, and great value. You can read about MVP in more detail here and meanwhile, we will walk through the main things to remember.



The main goal of the MVP is to test your idea and collect feedback from users before you develop a full-featured product. Hence, an MVP can be defined as a product version with a minimal set of essential features (without any fancy add-ons) that is tested by early adopters. In this way, users test only the core functionality and the overall product idea. Based on their feedback, you will then adjust the product as needed and only after its main concept is fully approved by end users, you can start working on additional functionality. 



The main benefit of the MVP is that you spend money only on developing a product carcass, so there are not too many risks involved. If users love your product - great, keep working on it and be sure that it will bring you profit in the long run. If users don’t like it - that’s fine, because you did not invest too much time and money into it. Note though that the selection of features for the MVP can be tricky: it’s easy to overload it or forget the essentials. But don’t worry - we have an article to help you with MVP feature prioritization.



Testing



The next stage of a product management workflow is testing. In our blog, we’ve written numerous articles on testing: manual vs automated testing, pen testing vs vulnerability assessment, unit test coverage, and more. So we won’t go into too much detail here and will cover just the basics.



Testing is vital because it’s the ultimate way to ensure the security of your product and that its looks and performance 100% match the vision that was defined earlier. And while you can perform testing throughout the development process, you will also need to perform certain testing activities after the product is complete. Here, we talk about testing the way a product appeals to users and these are the two main methods to do so:




A/B testing: as the name implies, you test A against B and see what users prefer more. In other words, you present users with two features and see which one causes the most engagement and response. You can use A/B testing to test basically anything and it’s a really easy way to understand what attracts customers.



User acceptance testing: also known as UAT, this form of testing implies creating real-life conditions for a product and test how well it will perform and what kind of issues users will encounter. This testing type is highly useful in identifying any flaws that may have been overlooked during the development and that might negatively impact user experience.




Marketing activities







Your product is developed and tested - now it’s time to finally release it in the big world and let everyone know about it. And the biggest mistake that many people make is thinking that this is when your marketing activities start. Wrong - your marketing starts way before the product is even completed in order to “heat” the users, create awareness, and grow interest so everyone knows when and what is coming to the market.



So what does marketing consist of in the product management process? We can define three main stages:




Creating awareness: includes all sorts of promo activities aimed at educating users about the upcoming product and creating buzz. Examples would be the use of various social media channels to advertise the product or pre-launch giveaways and activities. The main goal here is to make the users want something that is not even out in the market yet.



Defining pricing: it’s a bit tricky since you want the product to bring profit yet don’t want it to stand out of the competition too much in terms of pricing. After all, if the alternative is 3X cheaper, why would users buy from you? Hence, the definition of pricing calls for thorough market research.



Choosing the release time: same as with pricing, your release timing will heavily depend on the competition (and how well it performs), market conditions, readiness of users to buy your product, and similar factors. Release timing can make it or break it, so you really need to invest some time and effort into choosing the right one.




During all these stages, the manager will work closely with PR and marketing teams to ensure that all needed activities are performed on time and all goals are delivered as expected. In other words, the PM will track the success of a new product - but how exactly is it done?



Keeping an eye on the metrics



Numbers are your best friends when it comes to evaluating the product's success and user behavior. Seems strange, right? To use dry numbers to evaluate something as ethereal as one’s thoughts. However, it’s working, and various metrics are the #1 indicator of whether you are doing the right thing (or not).



There are various metrics that a PM will use:




Financial metrics: used to evaluate revenue and the most popular one is monthly recurring revenue (predictable returning income / month);



User engagement metrics: retention rate, churn rate, bounce rate, and session duration - all these metrics clearly display how interested users are in the product;



Popularity metrics: display how often users use the product, best evaluated with a sessions per user metrics;




And this is not the end of the list. However, remember that after collecting the metrics, it is critical to analyze them and draw valuable insights and conclusions. It’s not enough to just create a pretty report filled with numbers - make these numbers work for your benefit.



Production manager tools



As you can see, the product management process flow is a lengthy and complex process, filled with the most various activities. And as we already said, it’s a good idea to use ready-made tools designed specifically to facilitate the job of the PM and to make the processes more efficient through automation.



Here are the main types of product management tools to choose from:




Communication: tools that are used to keep the communication centralized and transparent between all involved parties. Examples: Slack, Gmail, Outlook.



Issue-tracking: tools used to track all issues and their statuses, assign people to certain tasks, and monitor the overall progress. Examples: Jira, Bugzilla, Trello.



Marketing: tools that are used to conduct customer surveys and collect user feedback. Examples: Usersnap, SurveyMonkey.



Business intelligence: tools for analyzing massive amounts of data and drawing valuable insights from them. Examples: Tableau, Qlik, Power BI.



Roadmapping: tools used to create roadmaps during the strategy definition. Examples: ProductPlan, Wrike.




In conclusion



Product management is an incredibly important and complex process that has to be approached with a great deal of planning and organization. Obviously, when you plan the product delivery and release within your specific organization, you will fine-tune the above mentioned steps to your particular product management process. But we hope this article will help you plan your next product delivery and will serve as a framework that you will be able to effectively use and adjust as needed.




 

FAQ

### Java vs. C#: What is the Right Choice for Your Project?

Java and C# have become the gold standard for modern software design. But as technology advances, the line between both blurs. But what is going on? C# was initially perfectly suitable for large enterprise solutions. As of now, C# has become more versatile with updated features, making it easier to create small projects. Also, being suitable for enterprise development, Java continues adding new features to expand its capabilities and thus becomes a solid alternative for C#.



The choice between them can be hard, considering their similar use cases, syntax, and OOP support. To help you decide between both, we will compare C# vs. Java and explain the main differences and similarities in detail.







A brief overview of C#



C# is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language. It was developed by Anders Hejlsberg and his team in 1999. Originally, it was known as Cool, also known as "C-like Object-Oriented Language." Since C# is based on the C family of languages, it combines their most effective functions. Microsoft's first release of C# was in 2000 as part of the .NET framework.



Due to its close integration with the Microsoft environment, C# provides developers with a wide range of functionality, and its intensive support allows rapid growth. In 2015, with the introduction of .NET Core (now .NET 7), the platform became cross-platform and can run on a wide variety of platforms, regardless of operating system. This capability has significantly expanded the reach of C#.



The language's strong typing, object-oriented syntax, component-based architecture, rich libraries, and powerful tools make it so in demand across developers. Now, C# is widely used for building web (ASP.NET), desktop, mobile (MAUI, Xamarin), and game apps (via Unity). It continues to evolve, with regular updates and enhancements from Microsoft. 



The C# ecosystem



As we already said, C# integrated with the .NET platform is a comprehensive open-source platform for building, deploying, and running apps. It provides a variety of tools, libraries, and languages, including the following main parts:




Common Language Runtime (CLR) is a runtime environment that provides code compiles and execution in a variety of languages (C#, Visual Basic, F# and others);



.NET Class Library is a vast collection of classes, methods, and APIs that provide access to operating system functionality and other system resources.






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Benefits and drawbacks of C#



Here is a list of the main benefits of C#:




Language features: C# provides developers with many modern and expressive features, like properties, delegates, LINQ (Language Integrated Query), and async/await for asynchronous programming, making developers more effective and code easier to read;



Modern improvements: .NET & C# have evolved significantly in recent years. The new versions have brought improvements in performance, cross-platform support, and framework upgrades. Java has also made progress, but .NET's transformation has been more pronounced;



Interoperability: as C# is based on the C language family, you can easily integrate it with other languages like C, C++, and JS, thus allowing more flexible development;



Integration with Windows ecosystem: C# and .NET are designed by Microsoft and seamlessly work with the Windows operating system and Microsoft products. C# and .NET provide a natural advantage with Windows-specific features or APIs;



Rich development environment: Visual Studio and Rider are highly regarded IDE for their productivity and debugging capabilities;



Clear documentation: C# provides a wealth of resources, tutorials, video series, and guidance to assist developers to efficiently write robust code and get the most out of the language.




While C# has many benefits, it also has certain drawbacks to keep in mind:




Hard learning curve: due to its broad feature set, tools and frameworks, C# provides a challenging learning curve compared to other languages;



Vendor lock-In: .NET is closely tied to Microsoft, and using C# and .NET may lead to vendor lock-in. Java is more open and has multiple implementations and vendors, reducing the risk of lock-in;



Licensing costs: some advanced features of .NET and some development tools (e.g., Visual Studio) can be costly, whereas Java has a strong open-source ecosystem with free development tools and libraries.




A brief overview of Java



Java is an extensible, high-level, object-oriented programming language that was officially released by Sun Microsystems (currently Oracle) in 1995. It was created by James Gosling, Mike Sheridan, and Patrick Naughton. At first, it was decided to use C++ to build the needed project. However, C++ is a platform-dependent language and thus cannot be used on different electronic device processors. As a solution, Gosling created Oak (the first name), a platform-independent language. It meant that code could run on various platforms without modification ( that C# couldn’t do).



The code is first compiled into an intermediate stage called the Java Byte Code. Then, the JBC is translated into the native machine code by using the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) based on the operating environment. As a result, developers can write code once and run it anywhere. The concept is known as (WORA).



In the beginning, Java was used to connect systems on networks and interactive television. Now, it is an excellent option for building complex mobile and web solutions, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, blockchain, and Internet of Things solutions. Due to its platform independence, robustness, security features, and a broad set of tools, Java has become one of the most widespread languages around the globe.



The main components of Java




Java Virtual Machine (JVM): provides a runtime environment to execute Java code. It compiles and interprets Java Byte Code into native machine code, which then runs on the specific operating system. During this process, JVM manages memory, security, and exception handling. Hence, Java apps run quickly and effectively.



Java Development Kit (JDK): an essential tool set to build Java apps. It includes the Java compiler, Java Runtime Environment (JRE), Javadoc, and various tools and libraries for development. To create, compile, and run Java apps, you must install the JDK. Users can install multiple JDK versions for effortless execution of programs on various operating systems.




JDK = JRE + Developer tools.




Java Runtime Environment (JRE): is a runtime environment to execute Java apps. As a subset of JDK, it contains class libraries, loader classes, and JVM. It does not include development tools such as Java debugger, compiler, etc. JRE is platform-dependent. In other words, you need to install a JRE compatible with your OS and architecture.




JRE = JVM + library classes.



The combination of JDK, JVM, and JRE is the backbone of Java's cross-platform compatibility and its widespread use in various apps. Now, let's look at the language's strengths and weaknesses.





Benefits and drawbacks of Java



Java comes with a number of benefits:




Platform independence: byte code can run on any platform with a compatible Java Virtual Machine (JVM), thus making the language highly portable and flexible;



Object-oriented: it supports object-oriented programming (OOP), which uses structures and a modular approach to write code. It facilitates code reuse and enhances maintainability.



Superior security: built-in security features like byte code verification and security manager enhance security against threats and risks;



Garbage collection support: automatic memory management by the JVM removes unused objects and reduces memory-related issues;



Multi-threading: it supports multithreaded environments, where tasks can be separated into threads and run independently. It increases app efficiency and performance;



Distributed: the language lets you share the data between different devices, collaborating remotely to improve performance;



A rich array of APIs: developers have a wide range of APIs to streamline the development process by using reusable parts of code;



Large community: Java's community brings continuous improvements, updates, and a lot of third-party resources and tools, increasing its versatility and capabilities.




Among Java's drawbacks are:




Poor GUI: it has many frameworks for creating GUI, but they are not developed enough to build complex GUIs;



Performance issues: it uses more memory and is slower than other languages because it interprets code into machine language. Using JVMs and automatic garbage collection negatively impacts performance;



Commercial license needed: it remains free for general use, but you need to purchase an Oracle license to access all its features;



Code complexity: while Java is not difficult to learn, it often requires more lines of code than other languages. As a result, it may not be easy to maintain codebases, especially for complex apps.



No backup facility: it focuses more on storage than backup. Due to the lack of built-in backup facilities, developers must implement their own backup procedures, which can be time-consuming and error-prone.




Now that you understand the main benefits and drawbacks of both, let's compare them to see which is best for your project. 





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The differences between C# and Java



Both languages have many things in common. The differences between C# and Java are not very significant, but it’s still important to know about them. 



Performance 



Both languages, C# and Java, offer unparalleled performance. A slight difference exists. Java code is compiled into byte code, interpreted by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), and then runs on JRE (Java Runtime Environment). So, the language has too many compilation layers, which slows down the execution time.



C# has an edge over Java due to its compiled nature. C# code is compiled into the intermediate language directly into native code and runs on CLR (Common Language Runtime). As a result, native code runs faster and more efficiently. Also, processors have shorter response time and less load.Java vs. C# performance is not significant. Performance often depends on various other factors: developers' skills, project requirements, and platform choice.



The winner: C#



Popularity



According to the TIOBI statistics 2021, Java ranked #2, and C# ranked #5 in popularity. In 2022, Java moved down to the #3 position, and C# remains at the #5 position. As for now, both languages go closely hand-by-hand. 



According to the TIOBI Index:




Java ranks #3



C# ranks #4 




According to the StackOverflow Developer Survey: 




Java ranks #7 with 30.55%



C# ranks #8 with 27,62%




So far, Java is ahead of C#. But who knows what will happen next? Popularity can vary over time. It depends on specific use cases, project requirements, and many other factors when choosing between both.



The winner: Java



The main similarities between C# and Java



Security



Both languages can boast impressive security features. The security level depends on how you design, implement, and configure your app and its infrastructure.



Java was originally designed to focus on security. Due to its statically typed nature, it significantly reduces errors caused by type, while automatic code verification ensures correctness before execution. The language has a security manager enforces various security policies. When it comes to integration with third-party libraries and apps, it is not reliable. The most notable security concern was the discovery of security flaws in the (JRE), which led to several high-profile security breaches.



C# is statically typed, too. It uses .NET security that provides robust security capabilities: authentication, authorization, and vulnerability protection. Like Java, C# has faced security vulnerabilities in the past. Security improvements and updates from Microsoft address these issues regularly.



Pay attention: regardless of the language you choose, you should always follow best practices in coding, use secure libraries and frameworks, regularly update your software, and conduct security audits.



The winner: both



Versatility 



Java offers cross-platform compatibility, which makes it a top choice for complex web and mobile solutions. Java's extensive libraries, mature frameworks, and strong community support make it suitable for: 




Enterprise apps



Desktop apps



Web development



Mobile development



Cloud-based apps



Server-side apps



AI and ML, IoT development




If you're looking for a language with solid support for OOP and modern features, C# is an excellent choice. It shines brightly in the Microsoft ecosystem, where it effortlessly integrates with technologies like .NET and Azure. You can use it to create:




Enterprise apps



Desktop apps



Web apps



Mobile apps



Cloud-based apps



Game apps with Unity




Although they are almost the same, Java has a strong position in mobile development and C# in game development.



The winner: both



Syntax



When it comes to C# vs. Java syntax, C# is similar to the C family and focuses on improved OOP support. It means C# is a collection of objects that communicate through method calls to work together. Also, the language supports automatic garbage collection and is strongly typed, which means variable declarations must be made with data types before usage. 



Java is a strictly object-oriented programming language. It is designed to be simple, portable, and secure. Compared to C#, it is a more detailed language that relies on code blocks and explicit declarations of data types. It uses a garbage collection feature to manage memory.



The other difference is that C# developers can use properties, whereas Java needs “get/set” methods instead of properties. Java has built-in annotation processing that C# lacks. As a result, you can choose what is better for you.



The winner: both



Web Development 



Both languages are widely used in web development. Java was and continues to be the perfect choice for building web apps, web services, and dynamic web content. Scalability, portability, and security make it a top choice for engineers. Frameworks like Spring and Java EE give developers strong tools for creating enterprise-level web apps.



C# uses ASP.NET as a framework for building websites and web apps. This framework offers robust security features, support complex functionality, Visual Studio development, and seamless integration with JS and Windows systems. C# also includes modern frameworks like .NET Core for cross-platform development. These advantages make C# an excellent choice for building backend services and large-scale web apps.



They both support cloud platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure.



The winner: both



Scalability



Java is often preferred in environments with platform independence since adding more servers makes it easy to scale apps horizontally. Its scalability makes it ideal for large-scale applications.



C# is associated with the Microsoft ecosystem running on Windows. With .NET Core, C# is used platform-independently and provides horizontal scaling for high scalability. For example, Microsoft Azure hosts web apps, offering excellent scalability options. Furthermore, ASP.NET, a web framework for C#, offers scalability features: load balancing and caching. 



The winner: both



A brief comparison of C# vs. Java



To put all the information together, we have combined the main aspects of C sharp vs. Java in the table below: 



C#JavaCreationBy Microsoft in 2000By James Gosling in 1991LanguageLanguage independentLanguage independentPerformanceFaster than JavaLower than C#Cross-platformYes (with .NET Core)YesArchitectureCode is compiled into intermediate language and then directly (IL) into native code and runs on CLR (Common Language Runtime)Code is compiled into byte code, which is interpreted by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and runs on the JRE (Java Runtime Environment)ScalabilityHigh scalableHigh scalableSecurityHigh levelHigh levelMobile supportYes, but it is less popularYesSyntaxit is a strongly typed and component-oriented language that supports OOPit is a class-based object-oriented programming language that supports OOP and its featuresStructureSupports micro-services and large appsEasy to create and maintain large appsKey benefitsModern features keep up with the timesRich IDEsPlatform independenceRich libraries and ecosystemKey drawbacksLicensing costsSlower startup time than native languagesUse casesWeb, mobile, desktop, and specifically game appsComplex web-based apps and mobilePopularity Based on TIOBI it ranks #4 StackOverflow it ranks  #8Based on TIOBI, it ranks #3StackOverflow it ranks #7Popular brandsMicrosoft, Stack Overflow, Intuit Airbnb, Instagram, Spotify, Netflix



Final thoughts



The C# vs. Java debate is less about picking a winner and more about choosing the most appropriate tool for a particular project. C#, compared to Java, is more dynamic and modern. Java has a long-standing reputation for its portability and robustness. Keeping up with emerging technologies and developers' needs, both languages will continue to grow. They will remain prominent "players" in software development, each focusing on a specific field. 



The choice between them will depend on your project requirements, your familiarity with the languages, and the ecosystem in which you operate. No matter what language you choose, our experienced developers will provide you with the top-quality software. Contact SoftTeco today and start your project!




 

FAQ

### Google Cloud vs AWS: A Comparative Analysis of Leading Cloud Service Providers

In today's digital landscape, cloud computing stands as the dominant force, and the showdown between industry leaders Google Cloud vs AWS commands the spotlight. Cloud computing has revolutionized data storage, management, and accessibility, impacting both businesses and individuals with its scalable and flexible Internet-based computing resources. In this article, we will embark on an extensive exploration of these two platforms, dissecting their advantages and potential limitations.







What is cloud computing? 



Cloud computing is centered on the remote utilization of computational resources such as storage, processing power, and applications over the internet. This eliminates the necessity of local storage and running applications on individual devices, as users can access these resources through servers maintained by third-party providers.



Recently, cloud solutions have gained popularity among individuals and businesses for various reasons, spanning from data storage to application development and deployment. By shifting resource-intensive tasks to expansive cloud-based computer clusters, cloud computing empowers users to reach their data and projects from any internet-connected device, regardless of where they are located.



When making your selection of a cloud provider, it's vital to possess a thorough grasp of their capabilities. This ensures that one can fully leverage the advantages of cloud computing for their enterprise. Both Google Cloud and AWS are exceptional providers that offer a diverse array of services. Nevertheless, distinctions exist between these two platforms, each possessing its individual strengths and weaknesses. 



To ease your agony of choice, let's first take a closer look at each solution.



What is AWS?



Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a comprehensive platform by Amazon. It provides a variety of services organized into categories such as:



Computing:




Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). Enables users to run apps and workloads with scalable compute capacity in the form of virtual machines.



AWS Lambda. Allows users to execute code without the necessity of deploying or overseeing servers.




Storage:




Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service).Provides scalable object storage for storing and retrieving data.



Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store). Provides block-level vaults that can be attached to EC2 instances




Networking:




Amazon VPC (Virtual Private Cloud). Enables users to provision a section of the AWS cloud-based storage that is logically isolated from others.



Elastic Load Balancing. Distributes incoming traffic across multiple entities or services for improved availability and defect tolerance.




Databases:




Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service). Provides managed relation-type database instances supporting various database engines.



DynamoDB. Offers a completely manageable NoSQL database.




Analytics and Machine Learning:




Amazon Redshift. A fully managed data warehousing service for analytics and business intelligence.



Amazon EMR (Elastic MapReduce). Allows processing of large amounts of data using frameworks like Hadoop and Spark.



Amazon SageMaker. Offers a platform for building and deploying machine learning models.




AWS AI:




Amazon Rekognition for image and video analysis.



Amazon Polly for text-to-speech conversion.



Amazon Comprehend for natural language processing.




Moreover, AWS provides a multitude of app services and development tools for both developers and management, including:




Management of APIs;



Serverless computing solutions;



Business intelligence capabilities;



CodeCommit, facilitating version control;



CodeBuild, for streamlined building processes;



CodePipeline, for efficient deployment workflows;



AWS Config, ensuring resource compliance;



AWS CloudFormation, simplifying infrastructure setup;



AWS OpsWorks, easing application management.




With the use of these instruments and services, businesses can build complex solutions that are more adaptable, scalable, and reliable.



AWS operates a vast network of information centers called Availability Zones (AZs) that are strategically distributed across different regions worldwide. Each region includes several availability zones, and they are intentionally isolated from one another to mitigate the impact of failures. This architectural design guarantees exceptional reliability, elevated availability, and fault tolerance, effectively shielding applications and services from potential disruptions.



Amazon's global presence, broad portfolio of services, and focus on achieving high levels of reliability make it a popular choice for organizations of all sizes.





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What Is Google Cloud?



Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a service that uses the same infrastructure that powers Google consumer products like Google Search or YouTube. The company provides an extensive set of tools and services that enable organizations, developers, and individuals to build, run, and manage apps and services in the cloud. 



Google Cloud offers two versions: a standard version accessible as a public cloud solution, and an enterprise version tailored for private cloud use. Additionally, the platform is accessible as a managed service named Google Cloud Platform for Business, created for organizations that want to offload their IT infrastructure management to Google.



Same as AWS, Google Cloud provides a scalable and flexible infrastructure that allows users to access computing resources on demand, without the need for upfront investments in hardware. Key offerings of the platform include: 



Compute Services:




Google Compute Engine. This service provides virtual machines which can be customized for various workloads.



Google Kubernetes Engine. Managed Kubernetes service for container orchestration.




Storage:




Google Cloud Storage. Scalable and durable object vault for data.



Cloud SQL. Managed relational databases with support for various database engines.



Cloud Spanner. Globally distributed and horizontally scalable relational database.




Networking:




Google Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). Isolated networking environment within GCP.



Cloud Load Balancing. Distributes incoming traffic across multiple instances.



Cloud CDN. Content Delivery Network for fast content distribution.




Data and Analytics:




BigQuery. Fully managed data warehousing and analytics service.



Dataflow. Managed stream and batch data processing.



Dataproc. Managed Spark and Hadoop clusters.




Machine Learning and AI:




TensorFlow. Open-source machine learning framework.



AutoML. Tools for building custom ML models with minimal coding.



AI Platform. Managed platform for machine learning model deployment.




Serverless App Development:




App Engine. Platform-as-a-Service for building and deploying applications.



Cloud Functions. Serverless computing for executing code in response to events.



Cloud Run. Managed container platform for deploying applications.




Security and Identity:




Identity and Access Management (IAM). Manage user access and permissions.



Cloud Security Scanner. Identifies security vulnerabilities in web applications.



Forseti. Open-source security toolkit for GCP environments.




Hybrid and Multi-cloud:




Anthos. Platform for managing applications across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.




APIs and Developer Tools:




Cloud APIs. Access to GCP services via APIs.



Cloud SDK. Command-line tools for managing GCP resources.




Google Cloud shines in its user-friendly approach to building and launching various types of applications, including web, mobile, and gaming. With a wide range of tools and services, it offers comprehensive support for overseeing, tracking, and optimizing app performance.



Similar to AWS, Google Cloud’s infrastructure spans across multiple geographic regions, ensuring high availability. Its pricing model follows a pay-as-you-go structure, enabling users to scale their resources according to requirements and only incur charges for the actual usage.



GCP vs AWS: Features and Functionality



AWS vs GCP stand as two leading competitors among all cloud computing platforms. Despite the similarities they share, there are also several distinct differences that can help select the most suitable platform. Exploring these contrasts can provide valuable insights for individuals and businesses seeking the optimal cloud computing solution.



Let’s start with the pricing model.



Pricing Model



When considering Amazon Web Services vs Google as potential cloud computing solutions, understanding their pricing models and cost structures is crucial. Each provider employs a distinct billing and pricing approach, where the final cost depends on numerous variables and intricacies, such as:




Workload characteristics;



Storage capacity and information types;



Data transfer costs;



Need for redundancy;



Subscription model;



Chosen support tier;



Payment model;



Geographical location of data centers.




Both providers present an array of pricing choices tailored to accommodate diverse user requirements and financial constraints. The pricing options include:



Google Cloud Platform:




Pay-as-You-Go: Google's default pricing model that charges based on actual resource usage. You pay for what you consume, offering flexibility for variable workloads.



Sustained Usage Discounts: Google Cloud rewards consistent usage with discounts. The longer you use particular resources, the larger the discount you receive.



Committed Use Discounts: Offers significant discounts when you commit to using specific assets for a longer term, encouraging cost savings for sustained projects.




Amazon Web Services Pricing Models:




On-Demand Instances: AWS follows a pay-as-you-go approach, where you are charged for resources used by the hour without any upfront commitment.



Reserved Instances: For a specific instance type and term (1 or 3 years) at a discounted rate compared to on-demand pricing.



Spot Instances: AWS provides spare capacity through spot instances, available at lower prices. However, their availability is subject to demand fluctuations.



Dedicated Hosts: Allows you to rent dedicated physical servers on an hourly or monthly basis for compliance or licensing requirements.



Savings Plans: AWS Savings Plans offer flexibility by providing discounts for a commitment to a specific amount of computing usage, regardless of instance type.




As we can see, AWS stands out for its versatile pricing choices. However, the variety of options and combinations can make it challenging to determine the most suitable model for a specific workload. Understanding the nuances of AWS's pricing models requires time and effort, especially for those new to cloud platforms.



Google, on the other hand, uses a sustainable usage model that rewards consistent usage by providing automatic discounts. For most services, Google Cloud adopts per-second billing and extends discounts to those committing to certain capacity levels over a period.



As each company charges differently depending on various factors, the only way to determine the exact costs for the services is to use the calculators provided by both cloud platforms. To choose between AWS vs Google Cloud pricing, be sure to evaluate your application's needs, cost, and future growth goals. 



Network Performance 



Network performance is a crucial factor to consider when evaluating cloud providers. AWS boasts a robust global infrastructure with multiple data centers strategically located around the world. This extensive network allows for low latency and high bandwidth connections, ensuring fast and reliable information transfer across different regions.



On the other hand, Google also maintains a vast network of data centers, interconnected by their private fiber-optic network called the Google Cloud Network. It is designed for high performance and low latency, enabling smooth communication among different regions.



In this way, both AWS and Google Cloud offer excellent connectivity and low latency. However, AWS has a slightly larger global footprint, which may be advantageous for businesses with a global presence.



Compute Instances



Compute instances are virtual machines that run applications and perform computational tasks in the cloud. AWS provides a wide range of compute instances, with Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances being the most popular ones. They are exceptionally adaptable and present an array of choices concerning processing capacity, memory, warehousing, and networking capabilities.  Moreover, AWS provides specialized instances tailored to specific workloads, like GPU instances designed for machine learning tasks.



Similarly, Google Cloud offers its own set of compute instances called Google Compute Engine (GCE) instances. They are highly scalable and can be customized to meet specific requirements. Google Cloud also provides specialized instances, such as Preemptible VMs, which offer significant cost savings for non-critical workloads.



Both AWS and Google Cloud offer reliable and scalable compute instances. Choosing between them depends on your specific workload requirements and budget considerations.



Storage 



Storage is a critical component of any cloud infrastructure. AWS offers a variety of solutions, including Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Elastic Block Store (EBS), and Glacier for long-term archival storage. S3 is highly scalable and provides high durability, making it suitable for storing large amounts of data. EBS provides block-level storage for EC2 instances, allowing for persistent and reliable storage.



Google Cloud offers its own set of solutions, including Google Cloud Storage (GCS) and Persistent Disk. GCS provides highly durable and scalable object storage, similar to AWS S3. Persistent Disk offers block-level storage for GCE instances and provides high performance and reliability.



Both AWS and Google Cloud offer robust storage solutions with high scalability and durability. 



Data Encryption



Encryption plays a crucial role in securing data in the cloud. AWS and Google Cloud both offer encryption at rest and in transit. AWS provides the Key Management Service (KMS) that allows customers to manage encryption keys for their data. They also offer the AWS Certificate Manager for managing SSL/TLS certificates. 



Google Cloud offers the Cloud KMS for managing encryption keys and the Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy for securing applications. 



Identity and Access Management (IAM)



IAM is an essential aspect of security, as it determines who has access to specific assets. AWS provides Identity and Access Management (IAM) that allows customers to manage user access and permissions. It offers fine-grained access controls and supports Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for added safety. 



Google offers Cloud Identity and Access Management (IAM) with similar features, allowing customers to control access to their resources. Both providers have comprehensive IAM solutions that help in securing customer data.





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Developer Tools 



AWS provides a comprehensive suite of developer tools that enable developers to build, test, and deploy applications with ease. One of the key tools offered by AWS is AWS CloudFormation, which allows developers to define and provision infrastructure resources in a declarative manner. This tool makes it easy to manage complex infrastructure setups and enables the use of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices.



Google Cloud, on the other hand, offers a similar tool called Google Cloud Deployment Manager. This tool also allows for the definition and provisioning of infrastructure resources using a declarative approach. However, it is worth noting that AWS CloudFormation has been around for a longer time and is more mature compared to Google Cloud Deployment Manager.



In terms of integrated development environments (IDEs), AWS provides AWS Cloud9, which is a cloud-based IDE that allows developers to write, run, and debug code directly in their browsers. Google Cloud, on the other hand, does not offer a specific cloud-based IDE but supports popular IDEs such as Visual Studio Code and IntelliJ IDEA.



Ecosystem



When it comes to the ecosystem, AWS has a significant advantage due to its extensive range of services and its dominant market position. AWS offers a wide array of services, including computing, storage, databases, networking, machine learning, and analytics, among others. This extensive service catalog allows developers to build complex and scalable applications using a variety of tools and technologies.



Google Cloud, although slightly behind in terms of the number of services, has been rapidly expanding its ecosystem and has made significant strides in the areas of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Google Cloud's machine learning services, such as Google Cloud AI Platform and AutoML, are highly regarded and provide developers with powerful tools to build and deploy machine learning models.



Customer Support 



Both Google Cloud and AWS provide varying levels of customer support, with options ranging from basic to premium tiers. These tiers often include different response times, coverage hours, and access to support engineers. 



Google Cloud offers a multi-tiered customer support structure, which includes:




Basic Support. This is the default support level and comes with every Google Cloud account. It provides access to documentation, community forums, and billing support. Response times are not guaranteed, and support is available during business hours only.



Role-Based Support. Google Cloud offers support tailored to specific roles within your organization, such as developers, operators, or administrators. This provides more personalized assistance related to your role.



Enterprise-Level Support. For mission-critical applications, Google Cloud offers 24/7 support with defined service-level objectives (SLOs). You have access to technical account managers and can expect faster response times and issue resolution.




AWS also offers a range of customer support options, including:




Basic Support. It is a free tier that provides access to AWS documentation, whitepapers, and support forums. This level of support is suitable for getting started but doesn't include direct access to AWS support engineers.



Developer Support. Designed for individual developers and startups, it includes email support and a guaranteed 12-hour response time.



Business Support. Aimed at small to medium-sized businesses, it offers 24/7 email and phone support with a one-hour response time for critical issues.



Enterprise Support. This level provides 24/7 support with a 15-minute response time for critical issues. It includes access to AWS Trusted Advisor and Infrastructure Event Management.




Deploying a new cloud service requires expertise to successfully accomplish the task. If you have any doubts, it is better to seek advice from knowledgeable professionals who can recommend the right cloud provider for your needs. Luckily, both AWS and Google Cloud offer extensive libraries of technical documentation to assist you in navigating the complexities.



Not to mention that both providers boast thriving cloud communities, where you can engage with experienced individuals who have hands-on experience with cloud deployments. Their expertise can be invaluable in guiding you toward the most suitable choice for your specific requirements.



So, whether you are considering Google Cloud or AWS, rest assured that you will find ample resources, documentation, and vibrant communities to support you on your cloud journey.



Limitations and Challenges



While Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud offer extensive capabilities, it's important to be aware of their limitations and challenges before making a decision. Understanding these aspects helps you anticipate potential issues and plan accordingly.



AWS Limitations and Challenges




Complexity. AWS is known for its vast number of services and features, which can be overwhelming for newcomers. Setting up and configuring the infrastructure requires a deep understanding of AWS services, which may pose a challenge for small businesses or those without dedicated cloud expertise.



Pricing. While AWS offers a flexible pricing model, it can be challenging to estimate costs accurately. The complexity of pricing tiers and the multitude of services make it difficult to predict monthly bills. This can lead to budget overruns if not carefully monitored.



Vendor lock-in. Once an organization invests heavily in AWS services, it becomes challenging to switch to another provider. The proprietary nature of AWS services and the complexity of migrating data and applications can limit the flexibility of businesses in the long run.



Lack of transparency. Some customers have expressed concerns about the lack of transparency in AWS pricing. The complexity of pricing models and the difficulty in understanding the cost breakdowns can make it hard to identify areas for optimization or cost savings.




Google Cloud Limitations and Challenges




Market share. Google Cloud is still catching up to AWS in terms of market share. While Google has made significant investments in expanding its services and infrastructure, it still lags behind AWS in terms of customer adoption and overall market presence.



Service maturity. While Google Cloud offers a comprehensive set of services, some customers have noted that certain services are not as mature or feature-rich as their AWS counterparts. This can pose challenges for businesses that require advanced functionality or specific features.



Documentation and support. Google Cloud's documentation and support resources may not be as extensive or well-established as those of AWS. This can make it more difficult for users to find answers to their questions or troubleshoot issues effectively.



Data transfer costs. Google Cloud charges for data egress, which can add up quickly for businesses with high data transfer requirements. This can be a significant cost consideration for organizations that need to move large volumes of data.




AWS vs Google Cloud: a detailed comparison 



In an AWS vs. GCP comparison, both platforms have similar services and features, but, as we can see, each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Here are the key differences and similarities between the two in a comprehensive chart. 



ParametersAWSGoogle CloudPricing ModelOn-demand, reserved, spot instances.Pay-as-you-go, sustained usage, committed use.Compute InstancesWide range of customizable instances.Variety of compute engine instances.Storage SolutionsAmazon S3, EBS, EFS, etc.Google Cloud Storage, Persistent Disk, etc.Network PerformanceGlobal network backbone, Direct Connect.Global network infrastructure, Interconnect.Traffic HandlingAuto Scaling, Elastic Load Balancing.Managed instance groups, load balancing.Developer ToolsAWS SDKs, AWS CloudFormation, etc.Google Cloud SDK, Deployment Manager, etc.Ecosystem SupportVast AWS ecosystem, Marketplace.Growing ecosystem, Cloud Marketplace.SecurityAWS Identity and Access Management.Google Cloud Identity and Access Management.Customer SupportVarious support plans, SLAsMultiple support tiers, SLAs



Final thoughts



After comparing various aspects of AWS and Google Cloud, it is clear that both platforms offer a wide range of services and features for cloud computing. The choice between AWS and Google Cloud ultimately depends on the specific needs and requirements of an organization.



AWS, being the pioneer in cloud computing, has a more extensive and mature service portfolio. It offers a vast array of services across multiple domains, including infrastructure, storage, databases, analytics, machine learning, and more. AWS also boasts a robust global infrastructure, with data centers located in various regions around the world. This global presence ensures low latency and high availability for users.



On the other hand, Google Cloud has emerged as a strong competitor in the cloud market. It leverages Google's expertise in data processing and analytics, offering powerful tools for big data and machine learning. Google Cloud's services are tightly integrated with other Google products, such as Google Analytics and Google Drive, making it a convenient choice for organizations already using these tools. Google Cloud also emphasizes simplicity and ease of use, making it an attractive option for developers.



In conclusion, both Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud are robust cloud platforms with comparable features, yet they diverge in their approaches. Assess both alternatives and opt for the one that aligns best with your business's objectives and requirements.




 

FAQ

### SoftTeco Becomes A Member Of The DigitalOcean Partner Pod

We are glad to announce that SoftTeco has become a member of the DigitalOcean Partner Pod. This program empowers businesses to leverage DigitalOcean's platform for building custom cloud solutions and services tailored to their customers. Through this collaboration, SoftTeco gains access to extensive DigitalOcean resources, technologies, and tools that will undoubtedly elevate the quality and scope of our services.



The official partnership with DigitalOcean reflects our dedication to delivering top-notch cloud solutions to our clients. We are excited to leverage the benefits of this collaboration and will do our best to help our clients drive business growth with a powerful and robust cloud infrastructure.

### IT Incident Response: Best Practices and Main Things to Consider

Anything may happen, especially if a system is complex and IT companies are a great example of a complex system. And while every sensible company does its best to protect its assets, employees, and clients, sometimes things go wrong, leading to the disruption of an organization’s performance.



So while “anything may happen” sounds like bad news, there is good news too. With a proper incident management strategy and an actionable response plan, companies are able to quickly recover from an unexpected event and also prevent similar events in the future. Below we’ll talk about what incident reporting and its main components are and what incident management best practices to follow.







What is IT incident reporting?



IT incident reporting can be defined as a process of documenting an unexpected event that led to the disruption of normal performance of a company (and maybe caused certain damage). Note that the document describes not only the incident, but also the way it was handled. 



In IT, most issues are related to cybersecurity and imply DDoS attacks, MITM attacks, phishing, and similar threats. It is therefore critical to react to such issues as fast as possible to mitigate potential damage.



The difference between incident reporting and incident management



When talking about reporting, it’s also important to discuss incident management for better understanding of the topic. It is a holistic strategy of an organization aimed at preventing and mitigating incidents and resolving them effectively. In this way, reporting is part of incident management.



If you need a bit more clarity, think about the following: reporting is more focused and happens after an incident only, while incident management is more broad and exists in the company all the time. And since this article is dedicated to reporting, let’s get back to the topic.



The main components of an incident report



Though the incident reporting process is unique for every company, the structure of such a report will be approximately the same. There are several main “components” that are to be included and described in detail, so all stakeholders get a solid understanding of what exactly happened:




Summary: provides a brief description of the incident, the time that it happened, the way it was resolved, and the damage it caused (if any). This section also describes the the main cause of the incident, so preventative measures can be applied later on.



Timeline: describes all related times, starting from the time when the first report of an incident was made to when it was resolved. Also note that this section should a) state the times of all related actions (i.e., what measure was taken at a particular time) and b) state the time zone, if needed.



Root cause: explains what exactly caused the incident to happen. It should be described in as many details as possible as this information will further be used to prevent such issues in the future.



Recovery: the section explains what methods were used to resolve the incident and what results they brought. An important note: even if the methods were unsuccessful (i.e., the issue was not fully resolved), you still have to describe the results in detail.



Preventive measures: provides recommendations on how to prevent similar incidents in the future and what measures to take to achieve the needed result. As well, the section might include suggestions on improving the existing reporting system, based on the information collected.




Why does incident reporting matter so much?



While it might seem as too much of a hassle to create extended documentation for a single incident (especially for a minor one), reporting brings several big benefits to a company.



Helps prevent bigger issues in the future



When you create a report, you describe in detail what went wrong and how it was resolved. That means, you collect and analyze the data about the incident and its root cause and gain a better understanding of weak areas in your processes and existing flaws. This, in turn, helps you better safeguard your organization and eliminate any issues that may cause damage or lead to major issues in the future. 



Helps measure the company’s performance



Incident reports are great sources of data about the company’s security and the effectiveness of processes. Thus, reporting helps measure the company’s performance and the level of its security over the course of time, creating a holistic view of all strengths and weaknesses. 



Helps save costs



If a company ignores reporting and does not perform the analysis of an incident, chances are high that the issue will repeat itself and will cause an even bigger damage. And there is no need to say how massive the financial losses are in case of a cybersecurity incident. According to an IBM report of 2022, the average cost of a data breach was approximately $4.35 million. Now, performing regular reporting is much cheaper and can prevent you from facing major financial losses in the future.



Helps create a company culture



One of the key components of efficient incident reporting is timely and transparent communication with all stakeholders, including employees. When an incident happens, everyone should be alarmed immediately and those responsible for incident handling - on a first-priority basis. 



In this way, when clear communication occurs at all levels and everyone understands how to act and what happened, a stronger company culture is formed where people own responsibility and understand their role in forming a safer working environment.



Top-10 best practices for incident response



As you can see, reporting is critical for maintaining a high level of security in your company. And to help you establish and maintain an effective reporting process, we will provide actionable tips on the incorporation of major incident management best practices and what needs to be considered.



Provide a clear definition of an “incident”



This incident management best practice is a simple one - yet, it’s really important. First, you will need to define what exactly an incident means to your business. In the IT industry, it most often implies a cybersecurity attack/threat, but in general, it can be any event that disrupts the operation of your business. Thus, your task here is to define and list potential issues and threats and categorize them by the level of severity. This is needed, so you state the incident category in future reports.



Create a response plan



To prepare for potential issues and threats, it is important to have an actionable plan ready at hand - and that’s what you will need to do. Such a plan usually states what steps are to be taken in case of an incident, who is responsible for what, and what methods will help to recover. Thus, if anything happens, you and everyone in your organization will know how to act and what to do to mitigate the impact of an incident as quickly as possible.



Select and implement a suitable framework



The point above brings us to the next step - the selection and implementation of an incident response framework. This framework outlines what has to be done and provides a structure for organizations to follow. If we compare the two together, a framework is more specific and suggests elements to be included in a plan, while a plan also includes the company’s mission, people, processes, and similar elements.



Getting back to the response framework, the good news is that you won’t have to create one from scratch - there are several available frameworks to choose from. The most popular are by:




NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology);



ISO (International Organization for Standardization);



ISACA (Information Systems Audit and Control Association);



SANS (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, and Security).




You can select a suitable framework based on which approach works best for your organization - for more information, check the official websites of the above listed organizations.



Build an incident response team



To timely react to an incident and handle it professionally, you will need a response team, where every person is assigned a specific role. The team may feature both internal and external members, and everyone should understand what their responsibilities are. 



Since every business is unique, you will build your response team depending on the skill sets that incident resolutions and the nature of your company will require. This is where incident definition and categorization helps a lot: by analyzing them, you will get a clear view of who will be the best fit for a specific task.



Create documentation and update it regularly



Your employees should always be able to address a standardized internal knowledge base in order to know how to react to an issue and what factors may cause it. Hence, you will need to create corresponding documentation and playbooks and update them regularly, so everyone has immediate access to the needed information. 



A tip: to ensure that your articles and documents are actually helpful, you can conduct employee surveys to learn whether they find the provided documentation useful and how to improve incident management process.



Provide sufficient training



In relation to the topic above, it’s not enough to just give out guides and playbooks - you will also need to regularly perform employee training to close the existing security gaps and allow them to independently resolve potential issues professionally.



In addition to cybersecurity training (i.e., response to phishing attacks), you might also want to consider professional certifications within the field of your interest. In this way, your employees will not only improve their technical skills but will also become more confident in their problem-solving abilities.



Review your existing process on a regular basis



Among other incident response best practices, evaluation is an important one. If an issue has not happened yet, it doesn’t mean you should forget about audits of your processes. Regular evaluation of your organization and its workflows will allow you to timely implement any needed updates and respond to any internal or external changes. 



Use specialized tools



Since the reporting process alongside is quite complex, many businesses use specialized tools for automation and easier management of processes. Examples include the automatic assignment of a ticket to a responsible person or automatic notification in case of an incident.



The deployed tools normally differ in their purpose and may include:




Tools for vulnerability assessment and management



SIEM (security information and event management) systems



Security orchestration 



Threat hunting and user behavior analysis



Attack detection




Add transparency 



We’ve already touched the topic of good communication briefly, but let’s get back to it in more detail. When an incident happens, all communication lines should be open, so everyone can immediately get in touch and pass the information. It’s also important to select the most suitable communication channels (email, messenger, etc.) so all involved parties can effectively and securely share information.



Be proactive



Though the main goal of incident management is to manage an issue that takes place, it is important to be proactive instead of reactive. This means, you need to constantly monitor your processes for any vulnerabilities and threats and implement preventative measures before anything happens. You can even perform test runs to see how well your team responses to a threat and what can be improved.



Summing up



Incident reporting and management are crucial for any company that cares about the security of its clients, employees, and the data. And while it may take quite a while to establish all needed incident management best practices, your efforts will 100% pay off in the long run. 



A bonus checklist from SoftTeco, taken from our internal incident reporting policies:




It is critical that an employee always knows whom to address in case of an incident;



It is recommended to create and constantly update the matrix of potential risks;



It is highly important to perform employee trainings during which a company models a potential incident and employees (and all involved individuals) work over their actions.




Also, don’t forget that there is always an option of outsourcing incident management to a reliable vendor who is experienced in handling external and internal threats and can provide high-quality incident management services. Being a well-recognized IT company, SoftTeco serves as a reliable partner to enterprises across various domains, bringing security and transparency to every client that we work with.

### How To Reduce Cart Abandonment: Top UX Tips

Cart abandonment is a common problem in the e-commerce industry. Typically, about 7 out of 10 orders do not result in a purchase. And while it seems quite natural for users to behave this way, it becomes a big concern for retailers because cart abandonment impacts conversion rates and reduces sales. According to Forrester, the e-commerce cart abandonment results in $18 billion losses each year. The reasons for this may vary, but we will focus on the most common one - UX design. 







This article will outline the reasons for shopping cart abandonment, how to calculate it, and will provide top UX tips on how to reduce cart abandonment and increase your conversion rate.



Cart abandonment: what is it and why does it matter?



Accodring to its name, shopping cart abandonment refers to a situation when online users add products to a shopping cart on a website but leave without finishing the purchase. Items added to a shopping cart but never purchased are considered "abandoned" by the shopper. For an e-commerce store, cart abandonment is a crucial aspect. Here are some of the most crucial shopping cart abandonment statistics:




The average order abandonment rate for shopping carts differs on various devices: desktop - 69.75%, tablet - 80.74%, mobile - 85.65% (Baymard Institute);



The average rate of checkout abandonment across all industries is 70% (Baymard Institute);



The average eCommerce cart abandonment rate in 2023 is 69.99% (Baymard Institute);



Each year, e-commerce loses $18 billion in revenue due to checkout abandonment (Forrester);



Improving checkout design can increase the conversion rate by 32.26% (Baymard Institute);



The shopping cart abandonment rates for specific industries are as follows: automotive 98.6%, hotels 87.5%, retail 84.5%, travel 79.9%, pharmaceutical 76.9%, and insurance 67.9% (Statista).




As you can see, shopping cart abandonment is an issue that affects ecommerce businesses across a wide range of industries. E-commerce companies also use a cart abandonment rate to track a website's performance. A high abandonment rate may indicate a poor user experience or a broken sales funnel. This results in lost sales, which lead to lost revenue. But the good news is that companies can control their abandoned carts by calculating their rate and determining how crucial it is. 



How to calculate your cart abandonment rate



A cart abandonment rate is often used in ecommerce as a key performance indicator (KPI) to measure how many users add items to their carts but do not complete a purchase. You can calculate your cart abandonment rate using the following formula: 



(1 - (The number of completed purchases/ the number of created purchases)) x 100%



For example, there are 500 created purchases, but only 200 have been completed. Let’s use the formula (1-200/500) X 100 = 60. The result means that 60% of your users abandon their shopping carts. This is quite high, isn’t it? 



However, a high abandonment rate may not be as bad as you may think. Keep in mind that cart abandonment rates can vary based on industry, product type, and even the type of devices. Do not forget that every unfinished purchase has a reason. So, your next step is to understand these reasons and find a way to lower the rate.



The most common reasons for cart abandonment



No doubt that every e-commerce store is unique. However, there are some common reasons why users stop in the middle of the sales funnel and drop out:




Lack of trust: when users feel uncertain about the security of their information, they are more likely to abandon their carts;



Complicated checkout process: a complex or a too lengthy checkout process can discourage users from proceeding;



Website technical issues: when users encounter slow page loading, glitches, or crashes, they receive a poor user experience;



High delivery costs: when users realize that shipping costs are too high, they might abandon their shopping carts and compare prices with competitors;



Hidden costs: users are usually discouraged by unexpected costs during the checkout process (i.e., high shipping fees, taxes, or additional charges);



Lack of payment options: limited payment options also form a poor user experience and do not allow completing a purchase;



Lack of motivation: users often add items to their carts without a solid intention to purchase, but simply to save things for later;



Complicated UX: a website with confusing navigation or too many pop-ups can lead to frustrated customers abandoning their shopping carts.




The listed above reasons can help businesses identify areas for improvement and implement the most suitable cart abandonment strategy to resolve them. Now, let's focus on the role of UX design in cart abandonment.



How UX affects shopping cart abandonment



The most successful ecommerce businesses have one thing in common: they continually strive to improve the customer experience (CX). CX covers a variety of factors such as friendly customer service, easy returns, fast shipping, and most importantly, great user experience (UX).



When shopping online, users expect retailers to deliver product information quickly and consistently. A well-designed and optimized UX design can keep users engaged on a website to achieve their goals. In contrast, poor UX makes it difficult to navigate or access product information and negatively impacts the user experience. Visitors will likely switch to another website if they have any difficulties during site navigation.



By tracking and analyzing cart abandonment rates, businesses can identify pain points in their checkout process, implement improvements, and thus, increase the likelihood of converting potential customers into sales. 



How to reduce shopping cart abandonment: UX tips



As discussed, shopping cart abandonment occurs in every ecommerce store, so retailers need a strong strategy for fixing that. If you want to keep your customers on your website, you need to provide a superior user experience (UX) and here is how you can do that.



Keep the checkout short and simple



According to Splitit, 87% of online shoppers abandon shopping carts during the checkout if the process is too complicated. It makes sense since users prefer to spend less time filling out registration forms, email addresses, or phone numbers. Thus, a less complicated checkout process with a guest checkout option may be really helpful to keep your customers engaged and prevent them from going to your competitors.



Here are some tips to achieve this: 




Reduce the number of checkout steps;



Offer social media registration;



Offer autocomplete of the form;



Implement progress indicators;



Add minimal distractions such as banners or pop-ups.




A smooth checkout process can minimize friction and encourage users to complete their purchases. Moreover, it is crucial to remember that the checkout process should work well on mobile and desktop to maximize user satisfaction.



Optimize website speed and performance



According to numerous researches, users tend to leave a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Slow-loading pages frustrate users and may result in them visiting a competitor's website. In contrast, a seamless user experience encourages users to stay on a website, explore products, and make purchases. To achieve a high website speed and performance, companies can: 




Compress files;



Optimize images;



Use specialized plugins for better performance;



Use browser caching;



Servе images in next-gen formats;



Use AMP (accelerated mobile pages) if possible




Monitoring a website's performance regularly can improve user experience. For users, it means having a pleasant, hassle-free experience when searching for information and making purchases. While for e-commerce owners, it results in a website with a lower bounce rate and a higher conversion rate.



Provide superior optimization for mobile



Mobile has the highest abandonment rate of 85% across tablets and desktops. Hence, user experience on mobile devices must be as intuitive and user-friendly as possible. In order to achieve this, companies can incorporate the following: 




App-only discounts;



Simple navigation; 



Guest log-in option;



Appealing push notifications;



Easy product filtering and sorting;



Order confirmation and tracking.




With these UX tips for mobile apps, you will not only create a seamless shopping experience but also gain a competitive edge over your competitors. Amazon, eBay, и Shopify are the most prominent examples of this. When it comes to mobile users, simplicity, convenience, and performance should be prioritized.



Use a prominent call to action (CTAs)



Many online stores do not pay proper attention to CTA buttons on their pages, believing that users will only add products to the cart if they are going to make a purchase. However, a well-placed CTA button can help capture the user's attention and push customers along during checkout. For example, by providing a "Checkout" button on every page, companies can expedite the checkout process.



Thus, designers should create clear and visible CTAs, use bright colors and clear labels to keep users engaged until they finish shopping. 



Build trust and security



Security is the second extremely important aspect that users pay attention to after a convenient and simple e-commerce website. Building trust and credibility through UX design is essential for reducing shopping cart abandonment. A well-designed website with proof of reliability makes users feel safe and confident that they can purchase from it.



Here are some tips for building trust on your e-commerce website:




Use high-quality product images;



Display SSL certificate and badges;



Provide social proofs;



Provide secure payment options and encryption;



Provide transparent pricing and shipping data;



Provide a clear return and refund policy.




With these elements in your UX design, you create a user experience that fosters brand trust. Over time, e-commerce websites will be able to build not only customer loyalty but also long-term relationships. 



Make return policy clear and visible



According to Metapark research, almost 56% of shoppers were deterred from shopping because of an insufficient return policy. Therefore, businesses should make their return policy highly visible during both browsing and checkout. A clear and easily accessible return policy provides reassurance to potential customers, building trust and confidence in their purchase decision.



To make your return policy clear and visible, you can: 




Provide free returns (if possible);



Provide various ways to return;



Clarify the refund policy;



Place a link to the return policy in a visible location;



Offering a brief summary of the return policy;



Use trust signals, such as satisfaction guarantees.




Allow easy saving and editing of shopping carts



One of the benefits of online shopping is the ability to leave your cart filled with items and return to them later to carry on with shopping. Sometimes, shoppers may need to compare products, complete a shopping cart, or take their time before purchasing. During any stage of the buying process, users should be able to save their shopping carts or edit for later. The best way to save carts is to: 




Add a "save for later" button;



Add a "save to a wishlist" button;



Keep editing features visible in a menu;



Add a "cancel" button to restore the item.




By offering website flexibility, you show appreciation for your customers and commitment to providing excellent user experiences. Therefore, satisfied users will likely return and complete their incomplete orders.



Offer multiple payment options 



Once users are satisfied with your product and website and ready to make a purchase, paying close attention to the payment process is vital. To prevent another opportunity for cart abandonment, the checkout process should be fast, simple and convenient for end shoppers. Multiple payment options and an appealing design are helpful here.



E-commerce can provide a variety of payment options, such as: 




Traditional payment options, such as credit cards; 



Alternative payment options, such as ApplePay, or PayPal;



Payment options based on region;



Auto-completing payments;



Saving the payment data;



Reduced payment fields.




If customers can find their preferred payment method on your site, and the process is easy and hassle-free, they will likely complete the purchase and come back.



Conduct A/B testing



One of the best cart abandonment solutions is A/B testing, which allows designers to identify the reasons behind cart abandonment and make the necessary changes. A/B testing is an essential part of UX design at any stage. It involves comparing two or more versions of a webpage or an app (A and B) to determine which version performs better to increase conversions or reduce cart abandonment (according to a goal). 



Remember that A/B testing is not a "do and forget"; you should do it regularly as your website and users' behaviors change. You can reduce cart abandonment and convert more customers by continuously optimizing your website based on A/B testing results. Moreover, you can test out different checkout processes and compare them to see what works best.



Final thoughts



For e-commerce retailers, abandoned shopping carts have been and will continue to be a challenge. Therefore, every business owners need a unique strategy to address cart abandonment and ensure it does not happen again. Your e-commerce strategy can benefit from the listed above UX tips to reduce cart abandonment and convert shoppers into loyal customers.



To build and implement a successful e-commerce strategy, you should turn to web development and UX experts who know how to make your website stand out among your competitors. At SoftTeco, we create UX designs for e-commerce solutions that are intuitive and user-oriented to ensure both customer satisfaction and business success.




 

FAQ

### The Evolution of a Software Engineer

In this article, Alexey Minkevich, a member of the SoftTeco’s board of directors, shares his thoughts on the direction in which modern software engineering is evolving and how tech specialists should develop their skills and knowledge to keep up with the accelerating industry requirements.



What is the main issue with modern software development approaches?



From the early days of Kanban methodology arriving at software development, there has been an issue with the Work In Progress limit. Ideally, you are supposed to limit the number of tasks on every step of the process. This approach is meant to help you avoid working on too many tasks at the same time and losing time on switching between the tasks. And if your column is full, other team members should come and help you fight the bottleneck. As an example: if the quality assurance engineers are overbooked with the tasks, developers should come and help them solve the issue. 10 years ago I could imagine how developers can help QA engineers. But what if the development team is overbooked by tasks? Should QA engineers come and help to write the code? Less likely. 







The problem is getting bigger when we plan what to do. No matter what methodology is used (Scrum, Kanban or classic), every business wants high priority tasks to get to development first. Say, your server engineers are busy for the next 2 months. Most often, business owners decide to take only mobile/web stories into the sprint in this case. So we are not doing what is needed, but what we can. These dependencies negatively impact the overall working atmosphere and result in loss of trust between the business and R&D. 



You can eliminate the issue by using one of several approaches available. Let’s take a closer look.



Functional teams



A functional team means you have a team of individuals with similar skills and expertise. In this way, you set up separate server, mobile, and web teams and manage the workload by the number of people in these teams. This option is very good for the professional growth of engineers and is more or less easy to scale till a certain point. 



But dependency management can be a nightmare that you need to invest too much time in. And from a business point of view, it’s not great either: people care less about the overall impact and outcome, and focus on their part of the job only. So it becomes hard to find who is responsible for the feature and explain changing priorities to the teams.



Cross-functional team



In this case, you as a business owner try to build a team with the right balance of skills, aka hiring server, web, mobile and QA engineers, each with their own specific skills and knowledge. But it might be hard to find this balance, as the team scope is unpredictable (i.e., it’s hard to predict whom exactly you will need and how much). And when someone falls ill or goes on a vacation, the balance in the team is ruined. 



A huge advantage of this approach, however, is how the team can own the business area(s) and share the responsibility. Scaling can be done by adding more teams and sharing the codebase ownership. But it’s hard to grow professionally in such teams, as usually there are only a few engineers of your technology stack in it. So you need to add some group events like mobile code days, so engineers can share their knowledge.



T-shaped engineering culture



This is where software engineering is going now. Imagine all your engineers being full-stack, so there is no difference in what task is coming in the future sprint. 90/10 Server/Web - fine! 15/85 Server/Web - no problem, as every engineer in the team can do both. This is a dream of every business, and engineering culture supporting T-Shaped people is helping a lot here. 



You probably heard about this concept: the vertical bar on the letter T represents the depth of related skills and expertise in a single field, whereas the horizontal bar is one’s ability to collaborate across disciplines with experts in other areas and to apply knowledge in areas of expertise other than one's own. In our world, this means that an expert server engineer is able to understand how the front end (web or mobile) works and contribute to the development of mid/low complexity tasks.



This approach helps many expert engineers to move forward. Once you are proficient with one stack, you are ready and motivated to learn something new. So you go out there and learn another stack in your vertical T or start investing in horizontal T. For example, if you are an expert in .NET - learn Go or Python and then add WEB/Mobile on the top of it. And once you master your skills enough, it really adds up to the sense of accomplishment and one’s professional worth, “Hey, I don’t need to wait for the mobile team to fix it, I can do it on my own. Cool!”



In conclusion



Modern engineering culture is focused on encouraging the growth of full stack engineers. If you are a QA engineer, you can fix simple issues in the code on your own - why not? If you are proficient in server and need to make a change in the front end - go ahead. And if you need to add one more field to the screen - add it on the server as well. Why should you wait for someone else to do it? Such an approach speeds up things a lot and makes everyone happier and more satisfied with their work.



These days, businesses prioritize hiring engineers with several tech stacks or full-stack engineers. This is what FAANG (Facebook[Meta], Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) companies are doing. If you are a strong server engineer with few stacks in the background - the project tech stack becomes less important. You will learn it in 1–2 months, so no one is looking for a specific stack on the interviews - they look for good engineers. This approach allows companies to build strong cross-functional teams and work on what is important for business, not on what we can take to work based on team load. This strongly increases the chances to win the race, so join it!

### What Is Code Smell And How To Reduce It?

In today's digital world, when having good and reliable software plays a crucial role in the operational processes of every business, the developers bear the responsibility to produce high-quality code. However, that's easier said than done. They may encounter various challenges during the development process that can lead to unintentional mistakes, resulting in what is known as code smells. But what is code smell? 







Let’s explore this concept in more detail.



What are code smells? 



Back in the late 1990s, Kent Beck, the creator of extreme programming, emphasized the importance of design quality in software development. He played a significant role in popularizing the term "code smell" to describe certain patterns or characteristics in code that indicate potential issues or weaknesses.



Just like a foul odor from the fridge suggests the presence of something unpleasant, a bad code smell suggests the presence of poor design or implementation choices. Thus, these “smells” are not bugs or errors in the traditional sense. They are not technically incorrect and do not currently prevent the program from functioning. It's like a red flag waving to grab the attention of developers and prompt them to investigate further. 



However, it's important to note that not all code smells necessarily indicate a problem. Some may be harmless or even intentional design choices. Therefore, it's crucial to conduct a thorough investigation to confirm whether the code smell signifies an actual issue that needs to be addressed. 



Why do code smells occur?



Most of the time, the issues in the codebase can be directly attributed to mistakes made by the programmer during the coding process. There are various reasons why this can happen, such as:




Poor design choices



Lack of understanding of software engineering principles 



Time restrictions



Lack of experience



Evolving requirements



Incomplete or inaccurate project documentation




The good thing is, that as with the actual smell, most often it is not so difficult to recognize. 



When a code smell is detected, there are several possible responses. 



The first option is to simply leave it alone and take no action. However, this can put organizations at risk for code rot and the accumulation of technical debt. Code rot refers to the deterioration of code quality over time, which can lead to decreased productivity and increased maintenance efforts. Technical debt, on the other hand, is the result of taking shortcuts or making compromises during the development process, which can lead to increased complexity and difficulty in making future changes.



The next option is to investigate the code smell instead of ignoring it. This involves taking a closer look to understand the underlying cause and potential impact. After investigation, a conscious decision can be made whether to address the “smell”. There may be cases where fixing the code smell is not feasible due to time or resource constraints. It's also possible that the code smell does not indicate a true problem and can be safely ignored.



However, if your investigation shows that the problem must be addressed to eliminate the possibility of code rut or other problems, the most effective option is refactoring. Refactoring is the process of restructuring code to improve its design and eliminate code smells. It involves making changes to the code without altering its functionality, with the goal of improving readability, maintainability, and performance. Refactoring is the primary way to address problematic code smells and improve code quality.



How to identify code smells?



So, how to identify the presence of a bad code smell? Of course, we cannot actually sniff it, but luckily there are some effective methods to detect it.



Code review



One of the most effective ways to identify the possible problem is through code reviews. Code reviews involve a thorough examination of the codebase by other developers or peers. During the review process, reviewers can spot potential code smells by analyzing the code structure, naming conventions, complexity, and adherence to coding standards.



This method offers the advantage of having multiple sets of eyes on the code, which increases the chances of identifying code smells that might have been overlooked by the original developer. Additionally, reviews provide an opportunity for knowledge sharing and learning from others' experiences, contributing to overall code quality improvement.



Automated analysis tools



Automated analysis tools, such as linters and static code analyzers, can be invaluable in detecting code smells. These tools analyze the codebase and flag potential issues based on predefined rules and best practices. They can spot a wide range of code smells, including duplicated code, overly complex methods or classes, and violations of coding standards.



The benefit of using automated code analysis tools is that they can quickly scan large codebases, which is quite difficult to do manually. They provide instant feedback and can be integrated into the development workflow, ensuring continuous quality monitoring. However, it's important to note that automated tools cannot catch all code smells, and human analysis is still necessary.



Experience-based knowledge



Experience-based knowledge plays a crucial role in identifying code smells. Experienced developers who have worked extensively with different codebases and projects can quickly recognize patterns or code structures that have proven to be problematic in the past.



By leveraging their experience, these developers can identify code smells that might not be explicitly defined in coding guidelines or detected by automated tools. They can also provide valuable insights and recommendations for refactoring or improving the code to eliminate the issue.



Common types of code smells



Different projects and developers may have varying standards and expectations for code quality, so code smells are a common occurrence in software development. However, there are some widely recognized types of code smells that you can learn about to minimize their occurrence in your own code:



Bloaters



Bloaters refer to code smells that make the codebase unnecessarily large and complex. These include: 




Long Methods



Large Class



Data Clumps



Long Parameter List



Primitive Obsession




Bloaters not only make the code harder to understand and maintain, but also increase the risk of introducing errors. For example, a long method may be difficult to comprehend and debug, thus leading to a higher chance of issues.



To address bloaters, it's better to create smaller and more focused methods and classes. Breaking down complex logic into smaller components not only improves code readability, but also makes it easier to test and maintain the code.



Change Preventers



Change preventers hinder the ability to make changes to the codebase easily, making it difficult to implement new features or modify existing ones without affecting other parts of the system. For instance, if a change in one class requires modifications in multiple other classes, it indicates a design flaw.



Change preventers include: 




Divergent Change



Shotgun Surgery



Parallel Inheritance Hierarchies




To mitigate this type of code smell, developers should adhere to the SOLID principles and design patterns that promote loose coupling and high cohesion. By decoupling classes and modules, changes can be made independently, reducing the risk of unintended side effects.



Couplers



Couplers are code smells that exhibit tight coupling between classes or modules. Tight coupling means that the code relies heavily on the internal details of other components, making them difficult to replace or test in isolation. Examples of couplers include: 




Feature Envy



Inappropriate Intimacy



Message Chains



Middle Man




Object-Orientation Abusers



Object-orientation abusers are code smells that violate the principles and concepts of object-oriented programming (OOP). Examples include :




Switch Statements



Refused Bequest



Alternative Classes w/ Different Interfaces



Temporary Field




To avoid object-orientation abusers, developers should follow the SOLID principles and design patterns that promote clean and modular code. Each class should have a single responsibility, and dependencies should be explicitly defined and injected.



Dispensables



Dispensables indicate redundant or unnecessary code. They can clutter the codebase and make it harder to understand. Some common types of dispensable are:




Lazy Class



Comments



Speculative Generality



Data Class



Dead code



Duplicated Code




Best practices to reduce the code smell



To ensure clean and maintainable code, developers should actively work towards reducing code smell. Preventing it is an ongoing process that requires continuous effort and collaboration within your development team. There are some common practices that will help you reduce the code smell:



Documentation



One of the fundamental practices to reduce code smell is proper documentation. Well-documented code is easier to understand and maintain both for the original developer and for future developers who may need to work on the codebase. It also helps prevent the introduction of code smell due to misunderstandings or misinterpretations of past code.



Documentation should include clear explanations of the code's purpose, its inputs, and outputs, as well as any assumptions or limitations. It is also helpful to document the rationale behind certain design decisions or any known issues or workarounds.



Refactoring 



Refactoring focuses on improving the structure, readability, and maintainability of existing code without altering its behavior. Its primary purpose is not to add new features. If you modify the behavior of a code segment during the process, it is no longer considered refactoring.



Overall, refactoring helps to:




Improve readability. By eliminating code smells, refactoring improves the readability of the codebase. Well-structured code is easier to understand, reducing the time and effort required for future modifications.



Enhance maintainability. Refactoring makes the codebase more maintainable by simplifying complex logic, reducing duplication, and improving the overall structure. This allows developers to make changes more easily without introducing new errors.



Improve collaboration. Clean code resulting from refactoring is easier to share and collaborate on. It allows team members to work more effectively together, as they can understand and modify the codebase with ease.



Increase efficiency. Refactoring helps optimize code performance by eliminating redundant or inefficient code. This can lead to faster execution times, reduced memory consumption, and improved overall system performance.




Continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD)



Continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) empower DevOps teams to track and manage small code changes efficiently. CI/CD practices not only enable quick and efficient software development but also contribute to maintaining code quality by eliminating code smells and reducing the occurrence of manual errors. With CI, any modifications made to the code by individual developers are promptly recorded, bundled, and tested. This process helps eliminate the potential for code smells to arise. By implementing continuous integration, development teams can receive faster and more frequent feedback, resulting in fewer errors and improved software quality.



Additionally, continuous deployment automates the release of code changes and updates, reducing the likelihood of manual errors that can introduce code smells. 



Consistent naming conventions



Consistent naming conventions refer to the practice of using standardized and consistent names for variables, functions, classes, and other elements in a codebase. It involves following a set of agreed-upon rules and conventions for naming, which helps improve code readability



Here are some key principles of consistent naming conventions:




Descriptive and meaningful names. Use names that accurately describe the purpose or functionality of the element. This helps other developers understand the code's intent without needing to dive into the implementation details.



Avoid abbreviations and acronyms. Unless widely understood and accepted in the domain, it's generally better to avoid excessive abbreviations or acronyms in names. Clear and explicit names enhance code readability and reduce the chances of misinterpretation.



Consistency within the codebase. Ensure that naming conventions are applied consistently throughout the entire codebase. This includes maintaining consistent naming styles for variables, functions, classes, and any other elements across different files and modules.



Follow language-specific conventions. Different programming languages may have their own established naming conventions. It's important to adhere to these conventions to ensure code consistency within the language's ecosystem.




When everyone follows the same naming conventions, it promotes collaboration and reduces confusion, ultimately leading to more efficient and effective software development.



Expert Opinion



Understanding code smell, in my opinion, is primarily about the experience. It's about grasping which solutions are sufficient in certain circumstances and which ones will cause problems in the future. Sometimes, within tight deadlines, you realize that the first solution that comes to mind already “smells” bad. And from experience, I know that it's better to let that solution sit for 1-2 hours, and in the end, a new resolution will emerge that is not only implemented faster but also avoids future problems. 



The same goes for refactoring. An engineer should understand that not everything needs to be done canonically, according to textbooks. It's always necessary to find the right level. Overengineering is the flip side of code smell, and the best solutions, as it is known, lie somewhere in between.



Pavel Vilbik, iOS developer at SoftTeco



Expert Opinion



For sure, following the best practices and keeping the code clean makes a developer's life much easier. For instance, you can easily avoid typical issues and bugs if there are no “code smells” in your project. Moreover, it makes your code more flexible, scalable, and maintainable.



Of course, the above bits of advice are not universal for 100% of languages and technologies, but there are always trade-offs on how to make something elegant and robust at the same time without writing bad code. And the good news is that there are tons of “helpers” that can assist you to write great code: from public posts and discussions on the web to built-in mechanisms in your IDE.



Aleksandr Zvonik, Android developer at SoftTeco



Expert Opinion



If you prioritize code quality from the start, it becomes much easier to maintain it clean. The growth of technical debt/code smell is like taking out loans from a bank - with each new one, it becomes harder to repay, and eventually, the payment becomes unaffordable. It's not solely the responsibility of one person but the entire team.



On the other hand, when the code is clean, tasks are completed more efficiently and smoothly. The business is satisfied, and we don't experience much trouble while working with legacy code.



Artyom Parfenenkov, FullStack developer at SoftTeco



In conclusion 



Although code smells themselves may not directly cause the code to break, it is indeed crucial to be mindful of their presence. It can serve as warning signs that something could be wrong in the code, indicating potential issues or weaknesses. 



Addressing code smells may require some additional time and effort initially, especially when making changes or adding new features. However, by taking the time to address these issues, you will ultimately end up with code that is more robust, less complex, and easier to maintain in the future. This investment in code quality will surely pay off.




 

FAQ

### SoftTeco Joins The AWS Partner Network

We are glad to announce that SoftTeco has joined the AWS Partner Network (APN) as a Select Service Partner. The APN is a vast community of cloud software and service providers who have met the rigorous criteria set by AWS to become authorized partners. This status implies that our company has proven its technical expertise in architecting and implementing cutting-edge cloud solutions to be recognized by Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a reliable partner. 







As an APN Select Service Partner, we are now equipped with enhanced technical training and support to ensure we deliver the highest standards of service to our clients. Our partnership with Amazon Web Services opens up exciting collaboration opportunities and grants us early access to the latest AWS tools and services.



This achievement reflects SoftTeco's unwavering dedication to innovation and our commitment to delivering top-quality solutions to our clients. We will do our best to empower businesses to thrive in the digital age and continue to provide exceptional cloud services.

### Machine Learning In Agriculture: Future-Proof Use Cases

Machine learning is a fast-growing technology with many promising applications in various fields, including marketing, retail, finance, and agriculture. The MarketsandMarkets report estimates that AI in agriculture will reach $4.7 billion in 2028, from $1.7 billion in 2023. The reasons for this are many. By combining reliable data and advanced technologies, machine learning helps farmers make more informed decisions, optimize resource allocation, and reduce crop loss risks. In a nutshell, ML is changing the way how agriculture operates.



In this article, we discuss the most compelling use cases of Machine Learning in agriculture and highlight its benefits, technologies, and potential for the future.







Why is Machine Learning so important in agriculture?



The agriculture sector is exposed to multiple risks and uncertainties due to weather changes, pest and disease outbreaks, financial issues, and ever-changing market demands. As a result, the industry suffers significant losses in production, waste of resources, and a decline in growth. It is where ML comes into play. The main agricultural challenges that ML technologies solve are:




Soil degradation;



Water scarcity;



Low yields;



Pest and disease outbreaks;



Weather changes.




ML can help resolve these and other issues through automation and analysis of real-time data. Machine learning can be combined with IoT devices such as autonomous vehicles, sensors, AI harvesting bots, GPS guidance and control systems. IoT-based apps enable farmers to collect real-time data, identify patterns and make informed decisions about weather changes, crops, and pests.



As ML provides valuable insights and improves decision-making processes, it promotes precision agriculture (PA). This term refers to a crop management concept using high-tech sensors and analysis tools to enhance crop yields.Thus, ML allows farmers access to more accurate data to predict demand better, improve decision-making, increase crop yields, lower production costs, and automate agricultural operations. It is only the tip of the iceberg. Let's look at the other benefits of this technology.



Benefits of Machine Learning in Agriculture



Machine learning technology brings farms the following benefits:




Risk management: farmers can use Machine learning to predict which environmental or weather-related factors might harm their business and take steps to mitigate their impact and reduce wastage;



Data-driven decision-making: ML models are capable of analyzing vast amounts of historical and real-time data to make informed decisions about plant or animal treatment and crop management;



Resource management optimization: ML enables precise and efficient resource management by analyzing diverse data rapidly and optimizing agriculture operations, resulting in fewer costs and time;



Safety enhancement: ML systems allow farmers to ensure a healthier and safer working environment by automating many tasks, such as handling pesticides and heavy machinery;



Crop resilience enhancement: by analyzing data on weather patterns, disease outbreaks, or insects, ML can provide early warnings and solutions, minimizing crop losses;



Market and price prediction: machine learning models can predict crop prices and market demand based on historical trends. As a result, farmers can maximize their profit from crop selection, volume production, and marketing strategies.




The above benefits result in more productive, profitable, and sustainable farming operations. To provide businesses with these capabilities, ML relies on a variety of technologies.



The main Machine learning technologies in agriculture



There are a lot of technologies that make up Machine learning, but the most beneficial for agriculture are: 



Predictive analytics



Being a subset of data science, predictive analytics uses historical data to predict results and improve decision-making. In agriculture, it is used to forecast demand, irrigation requirements, crop yields, and weather patterns. Moreover, farmers can discover risks and opportunities in agriculture, such as early warning signs of crop diseases.



Computer vision



As an AI field, computer vision analyzes data from digital images and videos. Unlike humans, this technology can simultaneously process unlimited amounts of data captured by drones, sensors, or apps. Computer vision systems can analyze images, identify objects, measure them, monitor crop health and soil conditions, and sort and grade the harvest.



Deep learning



This subset of ML is based on artificial neural networks, which allow its algorithms to learn from data similar to humans. Deep learning algorithms process and analyze unstructured data and predict outcomes based on complex data to extract valuable insights. Deep learning is widely used in agriculture to predict crop yields, identify diseases, forecast the weather, and create climate-resilient crops.



Needless to say, that is not all. Machine learning covers deep neural networks (DNNs), natural language processing (NLP), automation, speech recognition, and many more technologies, making it a versatile tool for various applications. Let's turn now to the most common Machine Learning use cases.



Machine Learning use cases in agriculture



Agriculture applications based on ML can be divided into four main groups:




Crop management;



Soil management;



Water management;



Livestock management.




Here is a closer look at each type.



Crop management



Weed detection



Weeds are a serious threat to agriculture because they quickly grow, spread disease, and result in lower yields. In this way, herbicides are commonly used to control weeds. With Machine learning, farmers can detect harmful plants, use herbicides only in affected areas, and modify them to make them more effective against persistent weeds. So, reducing chemical usage results in less environmental damage.



Machine learning can also automate weeding. For example, an ML robot uses pattern recognition to target unwanted plants and, in turn, eliminate weeds.



Disease detection



The other threat to agriculture is crop diseases, which significantly reduce yield quality. Farmers can manually inspect fields looking for signs of crop diseases, which is time-consuming and may be inaccurate. ML can help detect and manage diseases in agriculture in several ways. For example, using a drone or sensors to recognize images, analyzing data, assessing disease risks, recognizing patterns, and implementing early warning systems.



As a result of leveraging Machine learning technologies, farmers can improve disease control strategies, reduce crop losses, and enhance overall agricultural productivity.



Yield prediction



Predicting yields is crucial to maximize profits in the economy. However, forecasting crop yield is challenging because it depends on evaluating multiple factors, such as crops, environment, and their interaction. ML and deep learning models can accurately predict crop yields by considering different factors, such as weather, soil moisture sensors, images, etc. 



Based on that, farmers will be able to make informed decisions for better crop management and cropping during the harvest season.



Water management



Irrigation detection



Irrigation plays a crucial role in water management in agriculture. In addition to optimizing water usage and reducing water consumption, ML models can forecast weather conditions, gauge soil moisture, and adjust for soil temperature. It helps to adjust irrigation schedules accordingly, improving water efficiency automatically. 



Moreover, Machine learning systems can predict how much water a particular crop will require at a specific time. A combination of Machine learning and other advanced technologies can detect leaks in irrigation systems.



Weather monitoring 



Weather monitoring is an essential aspect of agriculture, as the weather impacts crop growth, irrigation needs, and overall farming operations. By providing more accurate predictions and actionable insights about weather, machine learning can improve operational decisions. For example, by analyzing temperature, and soil moisture levels, Machine learning systems can predict when and how much irrigation to use. 



Thus, farmers are able to cut down on the risk of crop damage due to drought and flooding by strategically irrigating them.



Intelligent spraying



Precision spraying uses intelligent software and computer vision to optimize and improve crop protection. The spraying systems use images and sensors to understand the characteristics of plants, soil, and other elements to determine which chemicals to use. It provides a more precise way to apply pesticides and fertilizers based on crop type. 



As a result, farmers are able to optimize spraying operations, reduce costs, and maximize crop yields.



Soil management



Insect detection



Insects threaten crops so early detection of insects prevents yield losses. Machine learning algorithms and computer vision technology can automatically detect insects and help farmers identify infestations more accurately. Also, Machine learning can analyze data from sensors placed in fields, which provide data on temperature, humidity, and other factors that may influence insect activity. A better understanding of insect behavior can help farmers target pest control efforts more effectively.



Thus, farmers can maintain efficient agricultural processes, ensure crop health, maximize resources, and reduce the threat of insects.



Livestock management



Livestock management can greatly benefit from machine learning apps. Farmers can use machine learning to optimize various aspects of livestock management, such as health monitoring, feed management, and breeding programs. For example, machine learning is widely used in animal disease detection. With the help of computer vision, ML-based systems can continuously assess animals' health and behavior, enabling early detection and prevention of diseases.



As well, IoT and machine learning-based tools can monitor livestock feeding habits. Farmers can use collected data to identify animals with abnormal nutrition patterns, which may indicate a health problem. Ultimately, farmers will understand how different types and food affect animals.



Final Thoughts



Therefore, Machine Learning in agriculture has many applications, from simple analytics to high-tech automated systems. Incorporating innovative technologies and Machine learning in agriculture is a future-proof step towards efficient, smart, and precision farming. ML can help farmers daily in a wide range of applications; however, it cannot replace farmworkers. By harnessing the power of Machine learning algorithms, farmers can minimize environmental impact, manage risks effectively, and optimize overall operations. 



But keep in mind that ML becomes a powerful tool only when properly implemented. Successful implementation and adoption of Machine learning in agriculture may depend on the farm's size, the available technologies, the level of expertise in ML and many other factors. If you need help, SoftTeco will be able to assist you with adopting machine learning technology smoothly and efficiently. Contact us to learn more about ML solutions and how they can be incorporated into your project.




 

FAQ

### SoftTeco Becomes a Salesforce Consulting Partner

We are glad to announce that SoftTeco has become a Salesforce Consulting Partner. After successfully undergoing all requested steps, including the acquisition of necessary certifications and realization of extensive employee training, our company was acknowledged by Salesforce as its official Consulting Partner. This status implies that our company was authorized by Salesforce as a reliable partner for providing custom Salesforce solutions, product implementations, and integrations.







The official partnership with Salesforce serves as an indicator that SoftTeco demonstrates a high level of commitment to the clients and delivers an exceptional quality of work. We will do our best to contribute to the business growth of our clients and to help them optimize their processes through technological innovation and deep knowledge of Salesforce products.

### Magento vs Shopify: What’s Best for Your Business?

According to the report by Oberlo, the worldwide ecommerce sales are expected to reach $5.9 trillion in 2023, thus marking a 1.8% increase from the ecommerce market’s growth rate in 2022. And what do these numbers tell us? They tell that the ecommerce market is blooming and if your business does not yet have a strong online presence, it’s the right time to change that.







It’s quite obvious that the success of an online store depends on the platform that hosts the store. And while there is an array of options available, when we discuss ecommerce, two names immediately pop to mind: Magento and Shopify. Both are incredibly effective and powerful and both offer an impressive range of features. So how to choose between the two and make sure that the choice is right? In this article, we compare Magento vs Shopify head to head and review the strengths and weaknesses of each.



What is Magento?



Before getting into the comparison, let’s start with the platform review, and we shall begin with Magento. 



Magento is an open-source ecommerce platform, released in 2008. In 2018, it was acquired by Adobe and is now known as Adobe Commerce, being part of the Adobe Commerce Cloud environment.



An important thing to understand here is that there are two Magento versions available: a free Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce (which is a paid platform). The main difference between these two (except for the price) is the range of features - Adobe Commerce offers much richer functionality compared to its version. 



Despite the competition in the market, Magento remains one of the most popular ecommerce platforms, ranking in the top three platforms to which merchants migrated the most in 2020 and being on top of the leading platforms worldwide, according to the report by Techliance of 2021.



As for the platform’s most notable features, they are:




Extensive customization;



A rich set of marketing and sales tools;



Great SEO tools;



Great reporting and analytics.




Overall, Magento is suitable for medium-sized and enterprise companies that are ready to invest a significant amount of money and time into its fine-tuning and development. An important note again - Magento requires coding experience! It’s not a beginner-friendly tool and might take up to 40 hours for onboarding. Hence, if you consider Magento for your business, you might want to pair with a savvy Magento development team (unless you already have an in-house tech team).



Magento’s newest features



In August 2022, a new Magento Open Source 2.4.5 version was released, and it brought several interesting features:




Enhancements to the security: Access Control List, support for Google reCAPTCHA, a MaliciousCode filter in the HTLM Purifier, supported security patches, IP-allow listing, and several others.



Enhancements to the platform itself: addition of Composer 2.2, improvements in B2B commerce catalogs, removal of Duplicate SKU data from shared catalogs.



Upgrade of available payment options: addition of Apple Pay and PayPal Later.



Improved SEO: addition of Google Tags.




As you can see, the platform continues to evolve and grow, and this constant evolution (in addition to strong functionality) is what keeps Magento competitive and worth your attention.



The pros and cons of Magento



While Magento is undoubtedly a powerful platform, it has its weaknesses (like any other software product). But first, let’s take a look at its main pros that make ecommerce store owners across the world choose Magento over alternatives.



The pros of Magento:




Vast customization options: due to the open-source nature of the platform, you can customize it exactly how you want - but on the condition that you have Magento developers to tackle the task.



Great community support: what’s awesome about Magento is its community. It’s incredibly vast, and you can rely on it whenever you face an issue.



Reliable extensions: Magento provides over 3,700 extensions available in its marketplace, and all of them are considered to be very reliable and scalable.



Solid SEO: Magento offers rich SEO features that significantly help you promote your store online without putting too much effort into it.




Now, let’s see what issues may arise from working with Magento.



The cons of Magento:




Hosting: Magento does not provide hosting, so you will have to take care of it (including all related costs).



Difficult to use and setup: as mentioned earlier, Magento is not a beginner-friendly platform and requires not only experience with ecommerce platforms but coding skills as well. Not to mention complicated onboarding if compared to Shopify.



Cost: Adobe Commerce offers several payments plans (for exact cost, please contact Adobe representatives) and don’t forget about the hosting costs which you will have to pay, regardless of whether you use Magento Open Source or Magento Commerce. 




In short, Magento is a powerful and feature-rich platform that can be customized as you wish - but in return, the platform demands solid development skills and a significant investment of time and money. Also, Magento might be slow if you don’t optimize it - more on that later.



Moving on to its biggest rival - Shopify!



What is Shopify?



Shopify is a subscription-based ecommerce platform founded in 2006 and loved by 1.75 million sellers. There are currently (as of 2023) 3.76 million websites running on Shopify, and new Shopify online stores pop up on a daily basis. 



What’s so great about Shopify? First, it’s incredibly easy to use - you can launch a store in mere minutes (thanks in no small part to the drag-and-drop interface). Second, it’s an all-in-one solution: Shopify not only offers all services needed to run an online store, but also offers its own POS (point of sale) software to effectively sell in brick-and-mortar stores. Finally, Shopify has almost all the same features that Magento offers in terms of core ecommerce functionality. So, no wonder it’s always the number one choice for store owners across the globe.



It’s important to remember that, unlike Magento, there are no free (open-source) and paid versions. However, Shopify does offer a free trial (which Magento doesn’t) and its Basic Plan starts with only $5/month, which is more than affordable.



If we need to list Shopify’s most interesting features, they will probably be:




Shopify Dropshipping;



Thousands of integrations;



Responsiveness of all themes;



Shopify POS.




While many people state that Shopify is only suitable for small and medium-sized businesses, that’s not true. What makes Shopify so loved by small business owners is its ease of setup and affordable monthly fees. However, the platform is highly scalable and rich in functionality and hence, can be used for online stores of any size.



Shopify’s new features



In 2022, Shopify also saw an update of its functionality in terms of added new features. They include:




Shopify Audiences: this app helps business owners identify customers who search for their products.



Twitter Shopping: enables merchants to sell from Twitter directly.



Shopify POS: software that enables users to sell products in brick-and-mortar stores.



B2B on Shopify: a set of features that enables merchants to sell business-to-business without the use of any third-party apps. 




As you can see, Shopify really does its best to become a one-stop ecommerce platform and suit the needs of both B2C and B2B sellers.



The pros and cons of Shopify



Though Shopify is undoubtedly a great platform, it has several cons, which is perfectly okay. Below, we’ll take a closer look at its biggest strengths and weaknesses.



The pros of Shopify:




Beginner-friendly: the main idea behind Shopify is to enable any business owner to quickly and easily set up their store without any experience in coding. Hence, Shopify is incredibly user-oriented and easy to use.



Many responsive and beautiful themes: Shopify offers both free and premium themes and the best part about free ones is that they are as responsive and good-looking as paid ones. 



Drag-and-drop interface: due to this easy interface, users experience zero issues with setting up and customizing their store. This, in turn, promotes quicker store launch.



Hosting: Shopify provides its own hosting so you 1) don’t have to worry about finding the right option and 2) don’t have to pay any hosting fees.




The cons of Shopify:




Limited customization options: Shopify is not an open-source platform and you can’t just go into its code and adjust the look of your store as you wish. 



Price: though Shopify pricing plans seem to be quite affordable, you will also have to pay for the premium features and you will have to pay transaction fees (unless you use Shopify payments).



Mediocre analytics: while Shopify provides reporting and analytics, it’s not very detailed and you might want to use a third-party provider.



Fewer features: unlike Magento, Shopify has fewer built-in powerful features and relies on apps instead. These, in turn, often turn out to be quite expensive and may even slow down the store performance.




Comparing Magento and Shopify: the key factors



As for now, both Magento and Shopify seem pretty much equal. So what factors will impact your final choice of an ecommerce platform? Let’s take a look at Shopify vs Magento.



Pricing



As already mentioned, Magento has a free open-source version and an Adobe Commerce one. While you need to contact an Adobe representative for an exact pricing of the paid version, some business owners state that the price starts with $22,000/year. Also, don’t forget about extra costs:




Hosting



Security



Customization



Domain name




You need to consider all these fees when calculating the final price of your Magento platform per year (or per month, whatever is more convenient for you).



As for Shopify, you won’t have to worry about the hosting costs since Shopify already took care of them. As well, unlike Magento, there is a free trial with Shopify and there are three available pricing plans:




Basic: $39/month



Shopify: $92/month



Advanced: $399/month




However, that’s not all. You will also most likely have to pay for premium apps, a theme (unless you select a free one), and for transaction fees.



Winner: Shopify



Even though there may be hidden fees included in your overall monthly fee, Shopify is still more affordable and flexible in terms of pricing than Magento.



Customization



Customization is one of the biggest selling points of Magento. The platform allows you to get to its code and fine-tune the look of your store exactly as you need it. As well, Magento offers plenty of customizable themes that you can play around with. 



Spotify, on the other hand, does not offer much customization. Instead, it offers many free and premium themes to choose from. 



Winner: Magento



If you have specific requirements towards your ecommerce store and customization is a high priority, Magento is the most suitable option.



Themes



A theme is basically the look of your store and creates the first impression. Hence, it’s crucial to select (or create) the right one that will represent your brand, vision, and the way you want customers to perceive you.



By default, there are two themes in Magento: Blank and Luma. Luma is a fully responsive and ready-to-use theme while Blank is basically a blank theme waiting to be customized. So if you don’t want to buy a theme from a market, you can choose between these two. However, there are also many themes designed by software developers that you can choose from and the price will vary from $0 to $200 and more - you can see the available options in the official Adobe market. 



With Shopify, there are 141 themes available, 12 free and 129 paid ones. Though Shopify does not provide as much customization as Magento, all its themes are responsive and user-centric and come between $200 - $360. 



Winner: Tie



Both platforms offer a great number of free and paid themes. We’ve already talked about customization above - so if we judge by the availability of themes only, both Magento and Shopify have many great themes to choose from.



Search engine optimization



SEO is critical for any website, especially for ecommerce. The ultimate goal of any store owner is the number of conversions and sales - but where do they come from? That’s right, they come from users who browse your store. And will the users be able to find your store among thousands of competitors if it’s not SEO-friendly? The chances are quite low.



If your ecommerce store is SEO-optimized, you increase its visibility and ranking in search results, thus, increasing the chances for users to find it. Of course, the big part of SEO is your own efforts, such as proper and SEO-focused copywriting or writing of correct and attention-grabbing title tags. But if the ecommerce platform is already equipped with some SEO features, things will be much easier for you.



Magento offers its users many SEO features aimed at making your store more visible and converting. These features include:




Customizable text for navigation links: considering that navigation links play a big part in the store’s navigation and thus impact the SEO-friendliness of a site, it’s always good for SEO to make them as specific as possible. Magento allows you to customize the anchor text of navigation links and thus improve user experience and website navigation.



Canonical tags: Magento lets you apply canonical tags to products that appear in several categories to evade duplicate content. 



Google Search Console integration: due to a seamless integration of Magento with Google Search Console, store owners can easily access information about the store performance, its crawlability, and content indexation. In this way, you always know what calls for your attention and needs to be optimized.



Header tags and alt tags: Magento allows you to use and customize header tags and alt tags to structure your content and describe it in an accurate way so search engines can understand what a speciifc page is about.




These are just a few examples of SEO features that come as pre-built in Magento. You will obviously need to fine-tune them from their default settings in accordance with your needs, but their presence, in general, greatly facilitates your SEO efforts.



Same as Magento, Shopify also comes with a set of built-in SEO features that can help store owners improve their store visibility and ranking. Some of these features are:




Auto-generated canonical tags;



Auto-generated sitemap.xml and robots.txt files;



Social media sharing for your themes;



An option to edit title tags, meta descriptions, alt texts, etc.




Winner: Tie



Both Magento and Shopify offer equally helpful SEO features, but the final result will depend on your SEO specialists and efforts invested in SEO fine-tuning. 



Apps and extensions



Ecommerce apps and extensions help you expand the functionality of your store and customize it according to your specific needs. Both with Magento and Shopify, there are free and premium options available.



Magento currently offers over 5,000 extensions to choose from. In the official marketplace, you can find extensions for both Open Source and Adobe Commerce (for both on-premise and cloud versions). Their price ranges from $30 to $15,000 and all of them are aimed at augmenting your ecommerce store. 



Shopify has approximately 7,000 free and paid apps, and their price is overall lower than the price of Magento apps. This said, Shopify has a bit more to offer when it comes to apps and extensions.



Winner: Shopify



Though both platforms have a rich variety of apps and extensions to offer, Shopify versus Magento becomes a winner with its bigger selection of options.



Ecommerce features



As we’ve already mentioned, the success of an ecommerce store greatly relies on the platform that it runs on. This is so because of the built-in ecommerce features that the platform offers, starting from the basic ones like product browsing and ending with advanced catalog management.



Magento has an impressive set of features, including:




Total revenue reports;



Import of bulk products;



Multichannel selling;



Recovery of an abandoned cart;



Catalog management;



Multiple stores.




Obviously, there are many more features than listed and all of them are designed to provide a seamless user experience and help you manage your assets and your customers in an effective and data-driven manner.



Shopify also has a solid and rich functionality, that includes:




Multichannel selling;



Partnerships with courier companies;



Auto-calculation of shipping prices;



Abandoned cart recovery;



Discount codes and gift cards;



Dropshipping.




Winner: Tie



These two platforms are pretty much the same when talking about ecommerce functionality. Both are great and both have a lot of powerful features to make your store shine.



Payment options and fees



The more payment options you can offer to your customers, the better. Thus, it’s a strict requirement for ecommerce platforms to support multiple payment options and gateways.



Magento offers approximately 150 payment gateways, most of which you’ll need to install from the official marketplace (if you really want A LOT of options). However, do not forget about transaction fees that are:




Magento Open Source: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction



Magento Commerce (including Cloud): 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction




Shopify offers slightly less payment options (around 100) but on the other hand, it has its own payment gateway called Shopify Payments. If you use it, there will be no transaction fees (excluding common credit card processing fees). But if you use other payment options, there will be a fee for every transaction:




Basic: 2% / transaction



Shopify: 1% / transaction



Advanced: 0.5% / transaction




Winner: Shopify



In this case, not only is Shopify more affordable, but is also more suitable for small and middle-sized businesses. As for payment options, both platforms support a great number of payment gateways, so they are equal.



You might find the following articles interesting:



Magento vs Shopify: an ultimate comparison



Let’s wrap everything up in a table, in which we will briefly review Magento and Shopify. Note that this table contains only core facts about both platforms, and for more details on each, we highly recommend going through the article for a more detailed Shopify vs Magento comparison.



MagentoShopifyRelease date20082006Number of live sites267,0004.5 millionNumber of apps and extensions5,700+8,000+Free trialNoYesPrice$22,000+/yearFor exact pricing, contact Adobe representativesBasic: $39/monthShopify: $92/monthAdvanced: $399/monthTransaction feesMagento Open Source: 2.9% + $0.30 per transactionMagento Commerce (including Cloud): 2.9% + $0.30 per transactionBasic: 2% / transactionShopify: 1% / transactionAdvanced: 0.5% / transactionCustomizationA high level of customizationMedium to lowResponsive designYesYesCustomer support24/7 access to live rep, email, chat, FAQs, knowledge base24/7 live chat and email



Final thoughts



When it comes to choosing between Magento vs Shopify, the choice will mainly depend on your business, its size, specific business needs, and available budget and resources. Magento is known to be a highly customizable and powerful platform, best suited for large and medium-sized businesses, while Shopify is often seen as a universal and swift ecommerce solution. What we can recommend is to calculate all costs in a long term, evaluate whether the platform will satisfy your needs for scalability in the future, and whether Shopify or Magento will provide the needed level of customer service.



Being experienced with both Magento and Shopify, SoftTeco is always ready to help you choose. Whether you have any questions left, do not hesitate to contact us, and we will gladly guide you through the process of selecting between these two platforms.




 

FAQ

### How Technology Changes Retail: An Overview

Retail digital transformation is changing the way businesses approach customer experience and sales. In the past few years, consumers have shifted from visiting physical stores to purchasing products online from the comfort of their homes. While this shift has brought many benefits to retailers, it has also introduced new risks and challenges, including economic uncertainty, changing consumer preferences, and the need for digital adaptation. To succeed in today's market, businesses of all sizes must understand the impact of digital transformation and take steps to mitigate its risks.







What is digital transformation?



Digital transformation refers to the implementation of diverse digital technologies to enhance business processes, productivity, customer service, employee experience, and risk management. This encompasses a range of tools and solutions used to develop tailored and effective digital strategies for organizations, which are crucial for maintaining competitiveness in today's business environment. 



Digital transformation is not limited to any industry, but has a significant impact on retail. 



What’s driving the demand for digital transformation in retail?



The demand for digital transformation in retail is driven by several factors. One of the most significant is the shift towards digital commerce, as consumers increasingly prefer to shop online and use their mobile devices to make purchases. This trend was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many retailers to close their physical stores and rely more heavily on e-commerce. According to Forbes Advisor, the number of online purchases is expected to rise to 24% by 2026. As a result, retailers must adapt and prioritize their online presence to remain competitive. 



Another factor driving the demand is the need to enhance the customer experience. Consumers today expect personalized, seamless, and convenient shopping experiences across multiple channels, including online, mobile, and in-store. To meet these expectations, retailers need to invest in technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics to better understand their customers and deliver more tailored experiences.



Finally, the demand for digital transformation in retail is being driven by the need to increase efficiency and reduce costs. With competition intensifying and profit margins shrinking, retailers are looking for ways to streamline their operations, automate processes, and improve supply chain management. Digital technologies such as cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and blockchain can help retailers achieve these goals and become more agile, responsive, and profitable.



Digital transformation trends in retail



As we enter a new era of retail, it's essential to explore the latest digital transformation trends that are shaping the industry.  



Omnichannel



The omnichannel trend in retail refers to the practice of integrating all available channels and touchpoints to create a seamless and consistent shopping experience for customers, regardless of where or how they choose to shop. Omnichannel retailing involves connecting and synchronizing business transactions with customers via various channels, including physical stores, online marketplaces, social media, mobile apps, and more.



Here are some examples of how omnichannel is used:




Consistent branding. Omnichannel ensures that the brand messaging and customer experience are consistent across all channels, providing customers with a seamless experience and reinforcing brand loyalty.



Cross-channel integration. Omnichannel allows customers to move seamlessly between channels, such as researching products online and then purchasing them in-store, or vice versa.



Customer service. Customers can receive support and assistance through multiple channels, such as online chat, social media, and in-store support.



Inventory management. Retailers can optimize inventory management by allowing customers to purchase products from any channel, reducing the likelihood of overstocking or understocking.




Omnichannel retailing also allows retailers to gather data about customer preferences, behaviors, and purchasing history across all channels, enabling them to provide more personalized and targeted marketing campaigns. This, in turn, can help retailers reduce the cost of marketing activities and adjust campaigns to align with changing consumer behavior.



Machine Learning



Machine learning plays a significant role in the digital transformation of retail industry. One of the key benefits of machine learning is its ability to create highly personalized experiences for customers. By analyzing data on consumer preferences and behavior, retailers can offer targeted product recommendations and promotions, improving the overall shopping experience and increasing customer loyalty.



Another benefit of machine learning in retail is its ability to optimize supply chain management. By analyzing data on inventory levels and demand patterns, retailers can make more accurate forecasts and improve inventory management, reducing waste and improving efficiency.



Overall, with the help of machine learning, retailers can:




Identify shopping patterns;



Analyze and predict buying behaviors;



Personalize product recommendations;



Adjust pricing and promotions;



Create accurate forecasts;



Detect and prevent fraud;



Optimize inventory management.




Internet of Things (IoT)



The Internet of Things in retail refers to the integration of technology into physical objects, such as products and devices, to create a network of interconnected devices that can communicate with each other. This technology has transformed the way retailers operate by providing real-time data on inventory, customer behavior, and supply chain management, among other things. 



The retail industry has seen a significant transformation in the way products are tracked in the supply chain due to the Internet of Things (IoT). The integration of GPS and RFID technology has revolutionized the way retailers operate. One of the most significant benefits is the ability to track inventory and monitor supply chain operations in real-time. This allows retailers to optimize their logistics processes, reduce costs, and improve the accuracy of inventory management. 



In addition, IoT can help retailers reduce the risk of theft and fraud by using sensors and cameras to monitor store activity and alert security personnel in case of suspicious behavior. 



Artificial Intelligence



Artificial Intelligence is another trend that is rapidly transforming the retail industry. By using algorithms and machine learning models, AI can help retailers optimize their operations, improve efficiency, and boost user experience. For example, by automating routine tasks such as inventory management and supply chain logistics, retailers can greatly reduce operational costs by always knowing what products are going to be in the highest demand. Another example are AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants that can provide customers with 24/7 support and assistance. Aside from this, AI in retail is also used for: 




Cashier-less stores;



Demand forecasting;



Inventory management;



Personalization of customer's buying journey;



Supply chain management;



Face recognition;



Online payments;



Virtual navigation;




Augmented Reality 



Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that imposes digital information onto the physical world, creating an interactive and immersive experience for users. In the retail industry, AR is used in several ways to enhance the customer experience and drive sales. By creating virtual simulations and allowing users to interact with products from the comfort of their homes, retailers can offer a more personalized and engaging shopping experience. 



Here are some examples:




Virtual try-ons. AR allows customers to try on clothes, makeup, and accessories virtually, without having to physically touch or wear the product. This can help customers to make more informed purchase decisions and reduce the likelihood of returns.



Product visualization. AR can be used to create 3D models of products, allowing customers to see them from different angles and get a better sense of their size and features.



In-store navigation. AR can be used to create interactive maps and navigation systems that help customers find products and navigate the store more easily.



Interactive displays. Augmented reality technology helps to create interactive displays that engage customers and provide them with additional information about products.



Gamification. AR can be used to create games and other interactive experiences that encourage customers to engage with products and the brand.




Benefits of Digital Transformation in Retail



With all those technological trends, there are a lot of benefits that digital transformation brings for the retail industry. Let’s take a look at some of the key advantages.



Insights into consumers preferences



In the retail industry, data analytics is essential for providing a personalized customer experience. Machine learning and AI enable retailers to gather valuable insights into customer behavior, such as which items are frequently purchased together or which are most viewed. This is achieved by 24/7 data collection across various channels and its thorough analysis by ML-powered tools that deliver higher accuracy than human analysts. 



Improved marketing campaigns



Knowing what products/services customers value the most is crucial to improving marketing campaigns. Through the use of technologies, retailers can easily collect customer data, which can then be utilized to create personalized and targeted marketing campaigns, such as showcasing testimonials or offering discount codes for specific products. This also allows retailers to reduce the cost of marketing activities and adjust their campaigns to align with changing consumer behavior.  



Better customer service



Digital transformation in retail improves customer service in several ways. One of the most significant is by providing customers with more personalized and seamless experiences. For example, retailers can use data analytics and AI-powered technologies such as chatbots and virtual assistants to provide customers with 24/7 support and assistance. This allows customers to get help whenever they need it. 



Optimized operations



Retailers can use technologies like RFID tagging and automated inventory management systems to track inventory levels, automate reordering, and reduce the need for manual stock checks. This not only saves time, but also reduces the risk of human error and improves accuracy.



Digital transformation can also help retailers optimize their supply chain management by providing greater visibility into supplier performance and enabling more effective collaboration and communication. Retailers can use analytics and AI-powered technologies to make more informed decisions about procurement, logistics, and inventory management. This not only improves operational efficiency, but also enhances the customer experience by ensuring that retailers have the right products available when customers want to buy them.



Challenges That the Retail Industry Faces With the Digital Transformation



Despite all the benefits that digital transformation brings to the retail industry, there are also some challenges to face:



Security Risks 



Ensuring the security of customer data is a crucial aspect of any business operation, especially when it comes to marketing purposes. With the rise of digital commerce, retailers are handling more customer data than ever before. This includes sensitive information such as payment details, personal information, and purchase history. 



As a result, there is an increased risk of cyberattacks, data breaches, and other security threats. Moreover, complying with industry standards such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) can be complex and expensive for retailers. Failure to comply with these standards can result in hefty fines, legal action, and reputational damage. 



Lack of specialists



Digital transformation requires specialists with complex skill sets that are not always available within an organization. The process involves the integration of various technologies, such as AI, cloud computing, and mobile development, which require specialized knowledge and expertise to implement and manage effectively.



Moreover, the demand for such specialists often exceeds the available supply, leading to a scarcity of qualified personnel in the job market. This can make it challenging for organizations to find and hire the right talent to support their digital transformation efforts.



Cost of transformation



Budgeting is another issue that arises in digital transformation projects, as they require a lot of investments before generating any profits. Implementing new technologies, upgrading legacy systems, and hiring specialized personnel can be expensive, making it a barrier for some retailers to embark on digital transformation.



Resistance to change



The process of incorporating new technology into existing operations can be challenging for many retailers. Some of them established systems and procedures that have been in place for years, and employees may be resistant to change due to fear of the unknown or a lack of understanding of how the new technology will benefit them. Overcoming resistance to change requires effective communication, leadership, and a willingness to embrace new ideas and approaches. To ensure the success of digital transformation initiatives, companies should cultivate a culture that is receptive to change. 



In conclusion



With the rise of online shopping and other digital purchasing options, digital transformation has become a necessity for any retail business that wants to remain relevant. By embracing innovation and technology, retailers can enhance the customer experience, increase efficiency, and create new growth opportunities. Thus, retail digital transformation is a crucial step to stay competitive in today's market. 




 

FAQ

### Top Features That Make a Great Messaging App

According to the Allied Market research, the value of the global live chat market is estimated to reach approximately $1.7 billion by 2030. And that’s not surprising at all, considering how popular messaging apps have become. Once being used for un entertainment and communication only, they transformed into a valuable business asset. The number of messaging app users is growing exponentially and hence, if you ever considered developing your own app, you need to approach the process very carefully in order to stand out from thousands of similar products.



So what makes a great messaging app and how not to overload it with unnecessary functions? In this article, we’ll walk you through the essentials of a good chat app and will talk about add-ons that you can incorporate for better user experience.







The main types of messaging apps



Before discussing the functionality of a good messaging app, it’s important to differentiate between the two main types of such apps: enterprise and personal. As the name suggests, enterprise apps are used by enterprises for internal (employee to employee) or external (employee to customer) communications. Such apps place special emphasis on security and usually have a number of enterprise features, such as video conferencing.



Personal chat apps are the ones most of us are well familiar with. Examples include WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger and their primary features are based around real-time chatting in different formats (video, audio, text).



But despite the app type, there are a number of features expected in any messaging app. These features are also essential for an MVP (minimum viable product) if you are planning to develop one - and we highly recommend doing so. Now, let’s see what a good messaging app is made of and why these features are important.



Key features of a messaging app that users want and love



There is a fine line between a functional and user-centric app and an application that is overloaded with features just for the sake of it. Some app developers believe that more equals better and pack the app with features that are not even supposed to be there. That’s why it is so important to create a list of features and prioritize them before starting the development process. Feature prioritization allows you to:




Cut development costs and time since you won’t be spending them on something unnecessary



Make the app user-friendly instead of confusing



Ensure good performance of the app from the start




Now that we understand why it’s critical to differentiate between essential and nice-to-have features, let’s take a look at the list of core features of a messaging app that add value and create a positive experience.



Easy sign-in and registration



Though seemingly obvious, this feature is often overlooked by app developers. As a result, poor or too complex sign-in and registration lead to users' frustration and confusion and lower the chances for further app use.



Some of the essentials of easy app registration include registration via social media and authentication via multiple methods (phone number, email, etc.). In this way, a user doesn’t have to spend too much time on filling in the necessary fields and all time-saving activities inevitably lead to better user experience. In other words, the faster the registration process goes, the better user experience is.



Integration of contacts



It makes sense that a messenger app is there for users to communicate with people whom they know, aka their contacts. Hence, it is a must that an app allows integration of contacts from the user’s device, so a user can instantly start messaging them. Imagine a nightmare where a user has to manually transfer their contacts to an app - how bad would it be for user experience and user’s patience?



Cloud storage and backup



Any messaging app involves a great amount of various data, such as texts, videos, images, or files. To effectively store all this data without losing it, messaging apps are almost always synched with the cloud. This allows to avoid clogging of the device’s memory and automatically apply changes to cloud copies of files. And in case a user changes a device or needs to restore their data, cloud backup will save a lot of time and effort in doing so.



Security



Regardless of what type of messaging app you work on, it is essential to make it as secure as possible. Messaging apps constantly process great amounts of sensitive user data and to protect it, you need to implement several security measures during the app development.



Some of the best practices of mobile app security include:




End-to-end encryption



Multi-factor authentication



Regular app updates 



Use of password managers



Enhanced server-side security




Keep in mind that we’ve mentioned the core basics and that mobile app security is a complex subject with lots of aspects to consider. To ensure that your app is protected, we recommend reviewing your current security policies, implementing security basics (i.e., secure coding) from the start of the development process, and educating users on secure app use via notifications and reminders.



Push notifications



When it comes to messaging apps, it’s natural that users want to be notified when a new message is in their inbox. Push notifications are essential for any chat app, either enterprise or personal, but there are several things to keep in mind when developing this feature.



A user should be able to configure notifications in a convenient way. By that, we mean the way notifications are displayed (as a banner, with the display of a sender’s name, etc.). As well, a user should be able to enable/disable notifications as needed, so they do not interrupt any other activities.  



Voice and video calls



Gone are the days when users were satisfied with sole text messages. Today, we want to make video calls, send voice memos, and use messengers not only for messaging but for calling, in general.



Hence, your chat app should support both voice and video messaging, and it should be a free and a standard option, not something that a user will have to pay for. There are now hundreds of messengers that provide multiple communication options for free, so why should your app be any different?



File sharing



Same as with video and audio, users do not want to share plain text. Today, users expect a messaging app to support files of various formats, be it images, MP3 files, videos, PDFs, and more. Hence, to add value to your app, make sure that it supports various file formats and allows users to freely attach and exchange them.



Dark and light modes



We are all used to light modes of our favorite apps, but the dark mode that was introduced to the UX design quite a while ago, has suddenly become a renewed trend that users now expect in their apps. For instance, over 80% of people use their devices in the dark mode and there are several reasons why a dark mode is often preferred over its light counterpart:




A healthier option in terms of an eyesight;



Enables longer battery life;



More appealing in terms of design.




Thus, we advise working on both light and dark modes if you want to make your app more appealing for users.



Bonus: extra features to add a competitive edge to your app



We’ve discussed the main features that make a great messaging apps - but they can be found in any chat app and will unlikely wow users. So what extra features can you incorporate to make your app stand out?



Some of the ideas include:




Disappearing messages: also known as self-destructive messages, these messages disappear after a certain period of time and are not stored in chat history. This adds to privacy and allows users to share sensitive information without it being disclosed.



Conversation channels: such channels are great if a user needs to translate a message to a broad audience. Channels often allow comments and reactions from its members, and channel admins can configure channel settings as needed.



AI assistants: modern chats use Artificial Intelligence to provide users with smart virtual assistants, capable of such tasks as meeting scheduling or creating meeting notes.




But the main thing to remember when designing a messaging app is usability and value for users. No matter how many pretty background themes you offer - if a user is not able to attach a file or take a photo directly from the app, they will most likely uninstall it and leave for the alternatives. Hence, before starting the development process, outline all possible user journeys and identify the real needs of users, based on your target audience.

### GPT-3 vs. BERT: Ending The Controversy

Natural language models BERT and GPT-3 thrive in the AI industry. Although GPT-3 has become extremely popular among users, and its latest version has already caused a stir, BERT is still their main competitor. Both models display high accuracy levels in performing NLP tasks due to their similar architectures and powerful performance. However, if you're unsure which is better, this article compares BERT vs. GPT-3 and analyzes their strengths and weaknesses.







What is GPT-3?



ChatGPT (and its updated version GPT-3) is an autoregressive language model that stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3 developed by OpenAI. Put simply, this autoregressive model predicts the next element in the text based on the previous ones. It uses transformer architecture (more about it later) to generate human-like text based on inputs. ChatGPT is widely used for natural language processing (NLP) tasks, such as text summarization or language translation.



ChatGPT belongs to the Large Language Models (LLM) category as it is pre-trained on 570 gigabytes of text from the Internet, enabling it to learn grammar, syntax, facts, and logic. It typically has 175 billion parameters. That sounds like a lot, isn’t it? What else makes GTP-3 so impressive is its ability to adapt to changes in a conversation, regardless of how complex the request is. 



Due to its versatility and endless capabilities, ChatGPT- 3 quickly captured the hearts of users around the world. Also, ChatGPT is used by brands like Salesforce, Duolingo, Microsoft, or Slack, and by a number of AI content-writing tools, including Jasper, Simplified, or Kafkai.



Some of the most common use cases of GPT-3 are:




Building or debugging a part of the code;



Generating machine learning code;



Providing customer support via an AI conversation platform;



Generating content;



Creating mockups of websites;



Performing malicious prompt engineering;



Translating and interpreting languages;



Providing data analysis and insights generation;




However, Open AI did not stop on that. Soon after the launch of GPT-3, the company rolled out another version of the model, and here is its brief overview.



Extension of GPT: the newest GPT-4 version 



Generative Pre-trained Transformer 4, or GPT-4, is a multimodal large language model released by OpenAI on March 14, 2023. Its main innovation is that the GPT-4 model can transform an image into text and understand it. Another interesting thing to know about GPT-4 is the number of training parameters used. While OpenAI has not disclosed how many parameters GPT-4 was trained on, some sources suggest it is close to 100 trillion. Thus, this model can handle more complex tasks with greater accuracy and precision and be more creative, intelligent, and reliable. 



Some of the most outstanding features of GPT-4 are:




Multimodal AI model: GPT-4 can analyze both texts and images as inputs. In contrast, GTP-3 processes only text inputs;



More training data: GPT-4 was trained on an enormous amount of data, including texts from books, Wikipedia, articles, and other online resources;



More input and output: GPT-4 has a maximum word count of 25.000 for both input and output. While GPT-3 is limited to 3000 words for input and output;




After the GPT-4 launch, users have shared some amazing things they've done with it, such as the creation of new languages or complex app animations. So far, some companies, including Duolingo and Khan Academy, have already integrated GPT-4 into their operations.





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What Is BERT?



BERT, short for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers, is a language model developed in 2018 by Google. It was pre-trained on many unlabeled texts, including Wikipedia (2.500 million words) and Book Corpus (800 million words). But what makes this exact model stand out?



Traditional NLP models often analyze text one-way, either left-to-right or right-to-left, which may limit their understanding of context. BERT differs because it simultaneously reads both directions, which is known as bi-directionality. Considering the words before and after a target word in a sentence can help the model better capture the context. Thus, BERT is best suited to sentiment analysis and natural language understanding (NLU).



Also, you can use BERT for a large variety of other language tasks:




Question answering;



Text prediction;



Text generation;



Summarization.




How does BERT work?



BERT is based on the transformer architecture. The key element of this architecture (in the case of BERT) is an encoder that consists of multiple layers, such as the self-attention mechanism and the feed-forward neural network. The self-attention mechanism allows the model to understand the relationships between all the words in an input sequence. The feed-forward neural network processes each input word independently and in parallel, thus enabling bidirectional understanding. As a result, the architecture based on the encoder allows BERT to capture the context of the text more accurately, leading to better performance in various tasks.



Another important aspect of BERT is its pre-training method. Using massive amounts of text data, the model is pre-trained on masked language modeling and next-sentence prediction tasks:




Masked Language Model (MLM): a model hides (masks) a word and predicts the hidden word based on its context;



Next Sentence Prediction: predicts if two given sentences have an underlying logical link or are random.




These algorithms aim to mask a word in a sentence and then have the program predict which word is masked (hidden) based on context. The process is essential for the model's success, enabling it to understand natural language just like humans do. After pre-training, BERT adapts to the growing search content and queries and can be later fine-tuned to meet the user's needs. This process is called transfer learning.



Before we compare BERT vs. GPT-3 more closely, let's discuss one more AI language giant - BART. 



BART: a brief overview



BART (bidirectional and auto-regressive transformers) is a language model developed by Facebook in 2019. It generates high-quality natural language text and performs well on various NLP tasks. BART combines both GPT and BERT components: encoder (BERT) + decoder (GPT) + noise transformations. 



BART uses a transformer-based architecture with a bidirectional (like BERT) and unidirectional (like GPT) text process. During pre-training, BART follows a two-step process: corrupts the input using various noise transformations and reconstructs the original text from the corrupted version. Using noise transformations, BART is exposed to multiple forms of input corruption, allowing it to adapt to incomplete data and learn robust patterns. Training BART to find the original input will enable it to generate high-quality text that captures the underlying language structure and meaning.



BART can be used for:




Machine translation;



Question-answering;



Text summarization;



Sequence classification.




BART can be fine-tuned for specific NLP tasks, such as creating a medical conversational chatbot or SQL queries. Because the model has 140 million parameters and has already been pre-trained on large text data, it does not require fine-tuning on large datasets. 



Now, let’s get back to ChatGPT and BERT.



Differences between GPT-3 and BERT



There are quite a few differences between BERT and GPT-3, and the most obvious are:



Main goal



ChatGPT-3 generates text based on the context and is designed for conversational AI and chatbot applications. In contrast, BERT is primarily designed for tasks that require understanding of the meaning and context of words. So, it is used for such NLP tasks as sentiment analysis and question answering.



Architecture



Both language models use a transformer architecture that consists of multiple layers. GPT-3 has an autoregressive transformer decoder. It means the model generates text sequentially from left to right and in one direction, predicting the next word based on the previous one.



BERT, on the contrary, has a transformer encoder and is designed for bidirectional context representation. It means that it processes text both left-to-right and right-to-left, thus capturing context in both directions.



Model size



GPT-3 is made up of 175 billion parameters, while BERT has 340 million parameters. It means GPT-3 is significantly larger than its competitor due to its much more extensive training dataset size.



Fine-tuning 



GPT-3 is typically fine-tuned on specific tasks during training with task-specific examples. It can be fine-tuned for various tasks by using small datasets.



BERT is pre-trained on a large dataset and then fine-tuned on specific tasks. It requires training datasets tailored to particular tasks for effective performance.





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GPT-3 vs. BERT: capabilities comparison



To answer the question which model is better, BERT vs. GPT-3, we’ve compiled all the main information in a brief comparison table. 



GPT-3BERTModelAutoregressiveDiscriminativeObjectiveGenerates human-like textRecognizes sentimentArchitectureUnidirectional: it processes text in one direction using a decoderBidirectional: it processes text in both directions using an encoder Size175 billion parameters340 million parametersTraining dataIt is trained on language modeling by using hundreds of billions of wordsIt is trained on masked language modeling and next sentence prediction by using 3.3 billion wordsPre-trainingUnsupervised pre-training on a large dataUnsupervised pre-training on a large corpus of textFine-turningDoes not require but can be fine-tuned for specific tasksRequires fine-tuning for specific tasksUses casesCodingML code generationChatbots and virtual assistantsCreative storytellingLanguage translationSentiment analysisText classificationQuestion answeringMachine translationAccuracyBased on the SuperGLUE benchmark, 86.9%Based on the GLUE benchmark, 80.5%



Final thoughts



BERT and GPT-3 language models are tangible examples of what AI is capable of and we have already benefited from them in real life. However, as these models evolve and become more intelligent, it is critical to keep in mind their limitations and pitfalls, which are and will be present. Hence, people can delegate some of their responsibilities to AI and use language models as business assistants, but these models will highly unlikely replace humans completely.



Thus, the competition of BERT vs. GPT-3 is not based on one model being better than the other. Rather, it is about understanding each model's unique characteristics and choosing the right tool for your own needs.




 

FAQ

### A Guide to Shopify Speed Optimization: Main Things to Consider

The first thing that users notice about an ecommerce store is its loading speed. If your website takes too much time to load, be sure customers will notice it immediately, and not all of them will be willing to stay. Needless to say, this will result in lost conversions, high bounce rates, and even damaged brand reputation.



While Shopify is considered to be a highly swift ecommerce platform, there may still be issues with its speed. We’ve collected the main reasons for mediocre Shopify performance and the most effective methods for Shopify speed optimization.







Why does Shopify store performance matter so much?



We’ve already stated that poor ecommerce store performance equals annoyed customers. Annoyed customers, in turn, equal low conversions and a drop in revenue. As if that’s not bad enough already, here are a few more reasons why you should treasure the performance of your store.



Poor Google Search Ranking



Since 2018, website loading speed has become a ranking factor for Google Search and ads. The reason for that is that slow loading speed impacts user experience and user experience, in turn, is a significant factor for Google to rank the website correspondingly. 



And what happens if your ecommerce store ranks low in Google? Users will not immediately see it, and you will lose a lot of traffic, which is crucial for any online business. Hence, a slow ecommerce store does not only drive shoppers away but also sinks you down in search results.



Negative impact on conversions



If your website is too slow and shoppers somehow manage to make it till the end (aka the checkout), the slow pace of the store loading process will eventually drive them crazy. That means, you will see higher cart abandonment rates and higher bounce rates while your conversions will be dramatically going down.



Negative perception of the brand



In addition to poor SEO ranking and a drop in conversions, slow loading speed also negatively impacts your brand and the overall reputation. If users are dissatisfied with the quality of provided services (aka the website speed), they will most probably be dissatisfied with the brand itself. This may heavily impact their future buying decisions in favor of your competitors.



Reasons why your Shopify store may be too slow



Okay, we now know that poor website performance is bad. The next question is what exactly impacts the speed?



There are two types of factors that affect how fast (or how slow) your ecommerce store performs: controllable and uncontrollable ones. As the name implies, you (as a store owner) can either control certain factors or not, but both types should be considered.



Controllable factors include:




Shopify Apps that you use;



The store theme and features in use;



Images and videos;



Fonts in use (yes, even that);



Existing redirects.




In other words, all the content and software that you use to manage the online store is 100% controlled by you and may be the reason why your store is slow.



As for uncontrollable factors, they may be:




User’s network, device, and even location;



Local browser and server-side cache;



Content Delivery Network (CDN).




The more you know. On to the next question!



How to measure the speed of your Shopify store?



According to Google Lighthouse, there are three types of speed score:




90 to 100: Good



50 to 89: Requires improvement



0 to 49: Poor




Say, if your store has a speed score of 35, that means it is much slower than similar stores. You can measure the Shopify page speed score either in Shopify directly or with the Google Lighthouse tool.



In the first case, you’ll need to use the Shopify Admin. Go to Shopify Admin > Online Store > Themes and you will see the current speed score atop the theme. If you click on the tab, you will see a more detailed report with such information as page type wise report, speed score over time, and day-wise score with events.



You can also use Google Lighthouse for the same purpose. In this case, you’ll need to go to the PageSpeedInsights website and simply enter the URL of your store. You will then see the current store speed and a detailed report, as well as suggestions on improvement.



10 ways how to optimize the speed of your Shopify store



Seems like we are clear on what impacts the store speed and how to measure it. Now to the most fun part - let’s discuss what exactly you can do to ramp up your store. 



So, how to speed up Shopify website?



Use a fast and responsive theme



When it comes to the design of an ecommerce store, it’s easy to fall for a rich theme with lots of customization. However, a theme of your store is among the core factors that impact its speed. The more customizations and visual elements you add, the heavier the theme becomes and the more it slows down your store.



There are several tips on choosing (and using) a suitable Shopify theme:




Try finding a balance between great style and great performance: obviously, the core goal of your theme is to reflect your brand and match its requirements. But if the theme is too heavy, users won’t really appreciate its beauty if the website doesn’t load. Thus, try choosing a theme that is both appealing and quick.



Always test the theme: to learn how the theme will perform, you can always test it in advance. In this way, you don’t pay for the theme until you publish it, which is really great.



Use the latest and licensed version of the theme: though seemingly obvious, some Shopify store owners overlook this factor. When choosing a theme, always select the latest and official version and never use pirate copies. Not only will they compromise your performance but will affect the security too.




Optimize images



Images are crucial for any ecommerce store, since they are the only way for shoppers to learn about the product and its looks (yes, description is nice, but we want to see the product, not only imagine it, right?). Hence, the better the image quality is, the more appealing the product looks. 



However, too heavy images are often the reason for a slow website, especially if you use lots of images for a single product. So how do you balance between showcasing your products and retaining the high loading speed?




Use lower resolution images where possible to maintain the speed-quality balance;



Use recommended image formats like WebP that helps save between 26-34% in file size, compared to PNG or JPEG;



Don’t hesitate to resize and compress images to make them less heavy;



Consider using fewer images if possible.




Remove unnecessary apps



Shopify Apps are basically plugins that extend the functionality of your store and allow you to customize it as needed (i.e., allowing users to play videos or see product reviews). And while most apps are essential for smooth functioning of your store and great user experience, a great number of apps can significantly slow the website down. 



Thus, review your current apps and see whether you really need all of them or your website can keep functioning without one or two. Pro-tip: use multifunctional apps instead of using a bunch of apps, each with a single function. 



Use speed optimization apps



In relation to the point above, you should eliminate unnecessary apps - but you should also consider using specific apps for Shopify speed optimization. The main features of these apps are:




SEO



Image compression



Broken link redirects



Integration with metadata and JSON-LD



Minification of CSS, JavaScript, and HTML



Speed analysis




And many more. As you can see, these apps take care of the main aspects that impact the store performance, and the best thing about them is that they are multifunctional. Examples of such apps are:




SEO, Speed & Image Optimizer



AMP app;



Swift



SearchPie



Booster




You can see more apps in the official Shopify Apps store.



Use hero images



A hero image is known in web design as an oversize banner image on top of a website. Its main purpose is to draw attention, inform users about your product/offerings/brand, and build reputation and trust (since users love high-quality images). And as you can guess, a hero image is a great option for an ecommerce website to instantly inform shoppers about what the store offers and what its overall vibe is.



However, some believe that a single image is not enough for all the information they have to offer. This is why store owners often prefer using a carousel on top of their website, meaning, several rotating images.



But the heavier images you use, the slower your store will be. Thus, you might want to replace the carousel with a hero image to achieve faster performance.



Use system fonts



When it comes to customization, store owners often prefer all visual elements to reflect the nature of their brands. This is why custom fonts are popular and are widely used in ecommerce. But a custom font may be a big bottleneck slowing your store down and here is why.



When your store has a font that is not pre-installed on the user’s device, it will take some time to load this font during the user’s interaction with the website. On the contrary, a system font is a font that is used on the majority of devices and does not require loading. Even though the process of loading a custom font takes several seconds only, it still impacts the performance. Especially considering the fact that shoppers expect a website to load in 2 to 4 seconds.



Thus, if you are heavily using custom fonts, it might be a good idea to replace them with more common system fonts - but on the condition that they align with your overall design and style.



Get rid of redirects (if necessary)



Redirects in general are quite helpful as they help users to land on the required page even if the page was moved. In this way, redirects help retain good user experience and SEO ranking.



On the other hand, redirect chains may impact the website speed significantly. If your store has many broken links, this might be one more reason for your store to perform slowly. So how do you know when to eliminate redirects and when to leave them alone?



Redirects are NOT the reason for your site’s slow speed, if:




there are fewer than 50,000 redirects specified on your .htaccess file;



redirects are specified in a database (i.e., via a WordPress plugin);



your Time To First Byte (TTFB) is low.




In these cases, redirects are most likely not the reason why your ecommerce store is slow. However, we recommend a thorough SEO review to be 100% sure.



Use lazy loading for images



Lazy loading implies downloading the content on the page gradually and not all at once. In other words, the website won’t load an image at the bottom of the page unless the user scrolls down to it. And this technique is a great helper for making your website go a bit faster.



With Shopify, you can implement the lazy loading feature by adding the lazysizes.js library to the theme assets folder. You will then have to 




include it in theme.liquid



locate the image tags in theme files



update the tags by changing src to data-source and adding the lazyload class. 




Use Accelerated Mobile Pages



Accelerated Mobile Pages, also known as AMP, is an open-source project created by Google for optimizing mobile web browsing and speeding it up. Though Shopify does not offer AMP out of the box, you can add Accelerated Mobile Pages to your store by one of the following methods:




Use available Shopify app such as AMP Sheriff



Add the AMP through custom coding.




Whatever method you choose, be sure that the use of AMP will have a very positive impact on the speed of your store so it’s definitely worth considering.



Use Google Tag Manager for code tracking



Google Tag Manager is a tag management system used to configure and instantly deploy tags on a website or a mobile app. In terms of ecommerce store optimization, GTM helps store owners manage and deploy code snippets effectively and then transfer the tracking information to Google Analytics for further analysis. So instead of having several analytics tool, you can group them in a single container aka Google Tag Manager. This approach will obviously speed up Shopify site.



An important note: Google Tag Manager is available only on the Shopify Plus plan.



Extra things to consider



All the recommendations on Shopify speed optimization listed above are highly useful but keep in mind that every store is unique. Thus, we suggest performing a comprehensive analysis of your store to identify the biggest bottlenecks and the issues that may be put aside.



There are also a few more important things that every ecommerce store owner should keep in mind:




Stick with mobile-first approach. Mobile commerce sales are expected to reach $728.28 billion by 2025 and most shoppers access online stores from their mobile devices. Even Google prioritizes mobile when ranking online stores, so it’s crucial to provide a stellar mobile experience to your users.



Do not overdo simplicity. In an attempt to slim down the content, some store owners may take it too far. Always keep in mind that your store has to be visually appealing and that content is one of its unique selling points. 



Make your store SEO-friendly. Site speed is not the only factor that impacts conversions. Detailed product descriptions, proper tags, easy navigation and many other factors impact your conversion rate and user satisfaction. Thus, when optimizing their performance of your store, keep in mind SEO best practices too.




And that’s about it. Sure, keeping your store both high-performing and content-rich is not an easy task. But hey - you will eventually be rewarded with grateful and happy customers, and that’s the ultimate goal, isn’t it?




 

FAQ

### The Big CRM Debate: Salesforce vs HubSpot - Which One Should You Choose?

HubSpot vs Salesforce is a heavyweight stand-off between the two most popular CRM platforms. While both offer powerful solutions for managing customer relationships and sales processes, each platform has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Thus, the final choice will depend on specific needs and objectives of your business.



In this article, we will compare HubSpot and Salesforce in detail, examining their strengths and weaknesses to help you determine which one is the best fit for you.







Salesforce vs HubSpot: What Is The Difference?



First, let’s briefly review what a CRM platform is so we better understand the value that Salesforce and HubSpot bring. A CRM tool allows businesses to store customer and prospect information, identify sales opportunities, record service issues, and manage marketing campaigns all in one place. By utilizing a CRM platform, businesses can gain deeper insights into their metrics and data and use dashboards to visualize them. 



Both Salesforce and HubSpot are all-in-one CRM platforms, meaning, they offer a comprehensive set of features to help managers handle their entire business more efficiently. And to effectively compare HubSpot vs Salesforce CRM, it is crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of both platforms. Let’s start with Salesforce.



What is Salesforce?



Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM platform that helps businesses manage their sales operations, customer data, and marketing campaigns. It stands out as one of the most comprehensive tools available today and offers a wide range of features, including but not limited to:





Salesforce offers several integrations with third-party applications and services, making it a highly adaptable CRM platform. It is a comprehensive tool for managing all aspects of customer interactions, from leads and contacts to sales data. With Salesforce’s extensive features, businesses can:





Although it may require some effort to set up, Salesforce provides ample support for your customization and integration needs. 



The true power of Salesforce lies in its ability to match the CRM directly to specific sales pipelines of a business, thus tailoring the platform to your exact needs and preferences. This allows you to gain a deeper understanding of the entire sales cycle, including how each process is performing at any given time. 



As a cloud-based service, Salesforce offers six types of cloud solutions:




Sales Cloud: helps businesses manage their sales and customer support operations in a more efficient manner. One of its key features is the ability to provide real-time lead status updates, which is particularly useful for sales executives. 



Marketing Cloud: offers a wide range of tools to help businesses manage and execute their marketing campaigns effectively. The cloud enables users to automatically run marketing campaigns and manage emails, messages, social media, content, and analytics, among other features.



Commerce Cloud: is a B2C and B2B commerce solution that helps brands create omnichannel digital experiences for their customers. 



Service Cloud: is specifically designed for service and support teams and provides a range of features, including workflow automation tools and self-service knowledge portals. 



Experience Cloud: enables businesses to connect with their customers, suppliers, partners, and workers through various channels. The cloud offers a range of branding and customization options, as well as seamless integration with third-party apps. 



Analytics Cloud: enables users to create detailed dashboards using available data, thus allowing businesses to gain deeper insights and analyze key metrics.




Salesforce also offers nine additional types of clouds for specific industries and applications. Aside from that, Salesforce supports more than a dozen languages and provides various training and tech support options. 



What is HubSpot?



Similar to Salesforce, HubSpot is a CRM solution that caters to all fundamental necessities of businesses seeking online success. It is designed to aid companies in attracting visitors, converting leads, and closing customers through inbound marketing and sales techniques.



The platform comprises five hubs that can be tailored to meet specific requirements. These hubs are:




Marketing Hub: provides a comprehensive suite of marketing tools and features that enable businesses to streamline their marketing campaigns and assets.



Sales Hub: enhances data organization and revenue generation speed, streamlines the sales process, and improves overall efficiency.



Service Hub: improves customer service by providing various tools, can automate responses to frequently asked questions, gathers customer feedback.



CMS Hub: is a comprehensive content management system that offers hosting, themes, and dynamic content, allowing users to create complete websites, not just landing pages.



Operations Hub: allows users to clean and synchronize customer data while automating business processes.




Note that you can purchase access to individual hubs if you don't need them all. 



HubSpot operates by integrating with an organization's website and utilizing a suite of tools across its Hubs to attract and engage leads and customers. It integrates marketing features with data from sales and other areas of your business to provide a centralized platform for running effective marketing campaigns. HubSpot offers a wide range of features, such as:





HubSpot is a free CRM with extensive features and a focus on content marketing. It is an all-in-one marketing solution, while most of the other CRM platforms require third-party integration. HubSpot includes all the tools you need to create a robust website, develop high-conversion landing pages, send customized emails, boost sales, and streamline customer service.



Although HubSpot is primarily recognized as an inbound marketing tool and Salesforce is known as sales automation software, both platforms offer similar features. However, the two also differ a lot. Choosing the right platform will ultimately depend on understanding the specific needs of your team.



Salesforce CRM vs HubSpot CRM: Features and Functionality



When deciding between Salesforce vs HubSpot for your CRM needs, it's important to consider your priorities. Are you looking for a platform with extensive CRM tools or the one that is more user-friendly? Is top-notch customer support a must-have, or are you more concerned with affordability? Also, if you plan on integrating third-party apps with your CRM, you should consider it during your decision-making process. 



Let’s take a closer look at the features and functionality of the two platforms and compare HubSpot versus Salesforce in more detail. 



Pricing



If you're looking for a cost-effective option, HubSpot is a more affordable choice compared to Salesforce. 



HubSpot offers a range of pricing plans, starting with a free plan that includes basic marketing and sales features. The paid plans are:





All paid plans include more advanced marketing and sales tools, which you won't find in a free version. The pricing for HubSpot's CRM is also included in these plans.



Salesforce CRM provides four payment options, each with additional capabilities and a higher monthly fee than the previous one. Unlike HubSpot, Salesforce does not offer a free version. However, the company does provide a free trial during which businesses can test the platform with preloaded data.



The CRM tool is also included in all of their plans. These plans are:





Overall, HubSpot's pricing is generally more affordable than Salesforce's, especially for small to medium-sized businesses. However, Salesforce's more comprehensive features may justify the higher price for larger enterprises.



Customization



Salesforce provides more flexibility and more advanced options for customization in comparison to HubSpot. For example, Salesforce users can create custom objects, fields, and workflows and have access to advanced reporting and dashboards



In addition, Salesforce offers extensive integration capabilities, which can save businesses from the endless patching cycles that may happen with HubSpot. Salesforce's scalability is due in part to its ability to integrate with thousands of other systems and platforms. 



Moreover, Salesforce's customization interface is more user-friendly than HubSpot's. It allows extensive customization through a simple drag-and-drop interface. This empowers both tech experts and non-coders to create business apps in just a few hours using the "clicks-not-code" advantage.



In comparison to Salesforce, HubSpot has a more limited set of customization options, but it still meets the needs of most businesses. Users can customize their contact records and deal stages, as well as create custom properties and fields. HubSpot also offers a drag-and-drop page builder for creating landing pages and website pages.



Marketing Automation 



Marketing automation implies using a platform or a tool to streamline and simplify repetitive marketing tasks, such as sending emails, publishing social media posts, and launching targeted advertising campaigns. The goal of marketing automation is to improve efficiency, increase revenue, and provide a better customer experience by delivering the right message to the right person at the right time.HubSpot's marketing automation platform is built into its all-in-one CRM, which means that it seamlessly integrates with other HubSpot tools like sales and service. Also, one of the standout features of HubSpot's marketing automation platform is its ease of use. HubSpot's marketing automation features include: 





As for Salesforce, its marketing automation platform is part of its larger suite of marketing tools. Salesforce's marketing automation features include:





One of the standout features of Salesforce's marketing automation platform is its ability to scale. The platform is designed to handle large volumes of data and can be customized to meet the needs of enterprise-level businesses.



When it comes down to comparing Salesforce marketing cloud vs HubSpot, both offer powerful marketing automation capabilities. The best choice for your business will depend on your unique needs and requirements.



Business Intelligence



While HubSpot does offer exceptional analytics and reporting, it does not have dedicated modules or tools for advanced business intelligence. To obtain more comprehensive insights, HubSpot suggests integration with a BI tool like Power BI or Hotjar. Both are available within the HubSpot ecosystem through the app marketplace.



Salesforce, on the other hand, has a dedicated BI tool called Einstein. First introduced in 2016, Einstein was designed to serve as a smart assistant across various departments, including marketing, sales, and service. Einstein employs artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive modeling technologies to monitor and analyze data, thus helping businesses improve their operations. The predictive modeling feature allows businesses to meet customer requirements and improve revenue by building accurate forecasts on customer behavior and needs.



Customer service



HubSpot's customer service platform is built into its all-in-one CRM, which means that all customer interactions are tracked and managed within the same system. HubSpot's customer service features include a ticketing system, live chat, a knowledge base, and more.



Salesforce excels in customer support CRM features, particularly in their Service Hub, giving them an advantage over HubSpot. The platform offers more communication and ticketing channels, as well as greater offline functionality. However, Salesforce lacks customer feedback functionality, such as surveys. 



Ease of use



A CRM that is difficult to learn and navigate can be counterproductive. Thus, a great CRM should be user-friendly and intuitive, making it easy for everyone in the organization to adopt and utilize it effectively.



Both HubSpot and Salesforce offer user-friendly onboarding processes and useful walkthroughs to help users get started. HubSpot has an intuitive platform that allows users to learn as they go. The onboarding process is straightforward, and most users can navigate it with ease. As users' needs evolve, HubSpot offers classroom training to learn new features and suggests joining the HubSpot Academy to learn more about how to enhance sales and marketing strategies.



Salesforce, on the other hand, takes a more self-guided approach, offering pop-ups and quick demos as users explore the platform. It may be more complex than HubSpot, especially for those unfamiliar with CRM platforms. To help users, Salesforce provides a helpful dropdown menu with resources specific to the page they're working on and online training resources under the Trailhead banner. These resources are well-designed and gamified for a better experience and enjoyable learning.  



Compatibility With other software



When selecting a CRM system, it's important to consider its integration with your existing software. HubSpot offers a robust set of integrations through its HubSpot App Ecosystem, with over 200 options and new ones added regularly. These integrations cover a wide range of areas, such as marketing automation, customer service, ecommerce, and more. HubSpot's integrations are designed to be easy to set up, and the platform provides detailed documentation and support to help businesses get started.



Salesforce, on the other hand, offers an extensive library of integrations through its AppExchange marketplace, which includes thousands of third-party integrations across various categories. The platform also offers native integrations with popular tools such as Microsoft Office, Google Apps, and Dropbox.



Reporting and analytics 



HubSpot and Salesforce both offer powerful reporting and analytics tools to help businesses gain insights into their sales, marketing, and customer service activities. 



HubSpot's analytics capabilities are very well visualized, making it easy for businesses to track their progress and make data-driven decisions. However, HubSpot's reporting capabilities are limited in some payment plans, and advanced features require a higher-tier plan.



On the other hand, Salesforce offers a more extensive and personalized reporting and analytics suite, making it a better choice for businesses with complex reporting needs. 



HubSpot vs Salesforce: Comparison



Comparing Salesforce and HubSpot, both platforms offer similar services and features, but each has its strengths and weaknesses. Here is a comprehensive table outlining the main differences and similarities between the two.



SalesforceHubSpotFree Trial Length30 days14 daysFree PlanNoYesPricing ModelsEssential plan ($25 per user/month)Professional plan ($75 per user/month)Enterprise plan ($150 per user/month)Unlimited plan ($300 per user/month)Free planStarter plan ($50/month)Professional plan ($800/month)Enterprise plan ($3,200/month)Ease of UseComprehensive onboarding processes and a useful walkthrough. Provides a more self-guided approach with pop-ups and demos. Can be complicated for the beginners.Straightforward onboarding and a useful walkthrough. Intuitive approach, users learn as they go. CustomizationAll features are customizableA limited set of customization optionsBusiness IntelligenceWith Salesforce Einstein, you can automatically analyze large sets of data and receive predictive insights.Does not have dedicated modules or tools for advanced BIAnalytics and ReportOffers an extensive reporting and analytics suite that allows businesses to track and analyze their sales, marketing, and customer service activities. The platform also provides powerful data visualization tools.Offers a robust analytics dashboard and a customizable reporting tool that allows businesses to create and share reports on their performance metrics. But reporting capabilities are limited in some plans, and advanced features require a higher-tier plan.Customer ServiceOffers more communication and ticketing channels, as well as greater offline functionalityAll customer interactions are tracked and managed within the same system



Salesforce vs HubSpot: Which is better?



Ultimately, the choice between HubSpot vs Salesforce depends on your specific needs and goals. Both platforms offer powerful solutions for managing customer relationships and sales processes, but they have different strengths and weaknesses.



Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM software that has been around for over 20 years and is used by businesses of all sizes and industries. It provides a comprehensive suite of tools for sales, marketing, customer service, and analytics, all integrated into one platform. Salesforce is highly customizable, making it a popular choice for businesses that require advanced customization options. It also offers robust reporting and analytics features that can help businesses gain valuable insights into their sales and marketing efforts.



On the other hand, HubSpot is a newer player in the CRM space that is known for its inbound marketing tools. HubSpot offers a wide range of features, including lead management, email marketing, and social media management, all in one platform. It is user-friendly and offers an intuitive interface that makes it easy for businesses to get started quickly. HubSpot also offers a free version of its software, making it an attractive option for small businesses that are just getting started.



In conclusion, both Salesforce and HubSpot are powerful CRM platforms that offer similar sets of features, but they differ in their approach and focus. Evaluate both options and choose what's most beneficial for your business.




 

FAQ

### Native vs Cross-Platform Development: Choosing the Best Option for Your Project

With 1.96 million apps available for download in the App Store and 2.87 million apps available in the Play Market, it’s impossible to ignore the role that mobile apps play in modern society. For businesses across industries, mobile apps have become an obligatory asset that pulls customers closer and extends the range of services while facilitating many processes.



Thus, if your business does not yet have an app, it’s time to start thinking about designing one. And the big question here is what kind of app should you opt for? The dilemma lies in the native vs cross-platform application development. In this article, we’ll walk you through the pros and cons of each method and will explain the best use cases for both.







Native app development: what is it?



Native application development means building a mobile application for a specific platform (iOS or Android) by using tools that are “native” to this platform (in other words, intended to be used on it). In this way, a native app written for the iOS platform will not run on Android and vice versa.



When developing iOS applications, developers use either C# or Swift programming language. While C# is considered outdated, some iOS apps still run on it, so don’t dismiss this language - it’s just not so popular as Swift. In addition to using a specific programming language, developers also need to use a specific set of tools when building a native mobile application. Apple provides a native SDK (software development kit) called iOS SDK and requires the use of a native IDE (integrated development environment) which is Xcode or AppCode.



As for Android, developers use either Java or Kotlin programming language. At first, Android applications were developed in Java but then Kotlin was released as a more efficient alternative. However, a great number of Android apps are still running strong in Java, so don’t think that Java days are over. And, same as Apple, Google also has a native SDK and offers Android Studio or IntelliJ IDEA as an IDE of choice.



The pros of native mobile applications



Native mobile apps are often the first choice when it comes to deciding the app development method. This is so because of a number of impressive benefits that they have:




Great performance: due to a 100% compatibility of an app and a platform, native apps work blazingly fast and are highly responsive to user’s actions.



Seamless UX: since native apps are built with specific guidelines in mind (the ones provided by Apple or Google), they offer a frictionless user experience and are highly appealing and user-centric.



Security: native apps have access to the platform-specific built-in security features, which contributes to the overall security level of your app.



Extensive functionality: native apps have access to all APIs and tools provided by the platform of choice - in this way, you have near-endless functionality possibilities.



Low chance of bugs: when a native SDK is updated, developers instantly get access to it, thus being able to apply the needed patching and updates to the app.




The cons of native mobile applications



As good as they seem, native apps also have several drawbacks worth considering:




Development costs: if you need to have apps for both iOS and Android, you will have to hire two separate teams - needless to say, it will double your costs.



Time-consuming: this relates to the point above - since two separate teams work on two different applications, it will take longer to launch the app.



Non-reusable code: the code written for iOS can be used only for this platform and the same applies to the code written for Android.




As you can see, the biggest drawback of native apps is their cost and development time - but in terms of performance and user experience, they excel. Now, let’s turn our attention to cross-platform applications and why you might want to consider them.



Cross-platform app development: what is it?



Cross-platform application development means developing a single application that can run on different platforms (on both iOS and Android). This can be achieved by using a single codebase that is then compiled natively for all needed platforms. 



Cross-platform applications are created by using cross-platform frameworks and platform-specific SDKs (that we mentioned earlier). Examples of the most popular cross-platform frameworks are React Native, Flutter, and Xamarin. 



Before the introduction of powerful cross-platform tools, cross-platform apps were limited in functionality and performance due to the lack of access to native UI elements. But modern cross-platform applications have full access to these elements due to correct compiling, and thus deliver the near-native level of performance and user experience.



The pros of cross-platform mobile applications



Even though native mobile applications offer a bunch of benefits, cross-platform applications are widely popular too and here are the reasons why:




Cost-efficient: since there is a single codebase for two platforms, your development costs get reduced significantly as you will have to hire only one team to work on the app.



Quick development: it takes less time to develop a cross-platform app than it takes to develop a native app and sometimes, short time to market is critical.



Reusable code: a single codebase does not only mean faster development but also a more consistent business logic, which is a big advantage.



Broad market reach: with a single app running on different platforms, you will be able to reach a broader target audience. This, in turn, positively impacts user engagement and increases your revenue.




The cons of cross-platform mobile applications



Same as any other software product, cross-platform applications have their drawbacks too. They include:




Lower performance: in order to make your cross-platform app interact with a specific platform, you’ll need an extra layer of computation. This makes cross-platform applications slower than native ones.



Limited functionality: unlike native apps, cross-platform applications do not have 100% access to all device’s functionality which may limit the functionality of the app.



Limited design: same as with functionality, cross-platform apps can’t access all native UX components and hence, deliver a worse UX than native applications.



Slower patching and updating: upon the release of new updates by Apple or Google, cross-platform developers have to make an extra effort to support these releases. This slows down the process of app updating.




A word on hybrid apps and how they differ from cross-platform apps



When talking about hybrid applications, many assume that this is a synonym for cross-platform applications. As you might have guessed, it’s not.



Though a hybrid application can also run across multiple platforms while having a single codebase, it differs from a cross-platform application in terms of technical execution. In order to make a cross-platform app effectively run on different platforms, developers compile the codebase natively. A hybrid app, on the contrary, is a web app wrapped in a native app container. When creating a hybrid app, developers use web-based languages (i.e., CSS, JavaScript) and frameworks like Ionic.



Hybrid and cross-platform applications share a thing in common: both can run on different platforms with a single codebase. But technically, they are not the same, so we hope we clarified that for you. Now, back to the topic of native app development vs cross-platform.



Factors to consider when choosing the app development method



Both native and cross-platform app development has its pros and cons. So how do you choose between cross-platform vs native without risking time and budget? Below, we list the core factors that will help you make the right decision. 



Time to market



Time to market means the length of time needed to bring the product from its creation to market availability (or to the product release). And sometimes, businesses need to bring the product to market as soon as possible due to a number of reasons, such as a high level of competition, the right release date (in terms of promotion, etc.). In general, the sooner you release the product, the sooner you will be able to start collecting feedback. This is why so many startups prefer short time to market - in order to start adjusting the product as soon as possible.



If your business needs short time to market, cross-platform development will be your choice. Xamarin, for example, is great for building MVPs which are highly recommended for any startup to test their ideas. Native development, on the contrary, will be too time-consuming and won’t allow you to release the prototype fast.



Development costs



This one is simple. If your budget is limited, it will be more cost-effective to develop a single app to run it on multiple platforms than to hire two separate teams for developing two different apps. Cross-platform app development allows you to have a small team of professionals to work on your product. Native development calls for two teams and thus, doubles the development (and maintenance) costs. 



App performance



Some applications (especially games) may require a more accelerated performance in terms of user flow interactivity, graphics quality, and needed computation power. If that’s the case, a native mobile app is your choice, since it will deliver fast and frictionless performance due to direct interaction with the native features and elements. Cross-platform apps, in turn, will require additional efforts and communication layers, which will slow the performance down and will negatively impact user experience.



Native or cross-platform app development?



Now that we’ve look at both native and cross-platform applications, their pros and cons, and main considerations, it will be easier for you to make the decision. Let’s sum up the points above in the following checklists.



Consider native app development, if:




Your app requires full access to all resources and services of the intended device;



You want to use the device’s hardware to its maximum;



You want unparalleled quality of performance and UX;



You want easy app maintenance and high level of security;



Time to market and budget are not an issue.




Consider cross-platform app development, if:




You need quick time to market and a limited budget;



You need an MVP to quickly test your idea;



Your application is not very CPU and GPU-intensive;



You need code reusability;



You need consistent performance across multiple platforms.




Summary



The choice between native vs cross-platform development will depend solely on your business goals, available resources, and time. But despite the method you choose, one thing remains the same for both native and cross-platform app development: it is vital to delegate the development process to skilled experts. The quality of your app will directly impact your business, so we highly recommend partnering with a reliable software vendor that has rich experience in app development. Contact us if you have any questions or if you want to discuss your app idea - we are always open for a chat!

### What Does An IT Consultant Do? The Role in Detail

To keep business operations running smoothly and efficiently, many companies rely on advanced technologies. But to reach this goal, business owners have to determine which technologies to invest in or how to optimize IT-related areas. In light of this, almost every company requires technical expertise. It is here that IT consulting has become a precious choice for businesses.



But what does an IT consultant do, and how does this role help organizations achieve tech-related and business goals? In this article, we will discuss the role of IT consultants, their responsibilities, required skills, and the pros and cons for a project.







What is an IT consultant?



In short, an information technology (IT) consultant advises companies on how to use technology to meet their business goals. In detail, an IT consultant is a technical specialist who identifies technology-related problems, develops strategies and selects and implements software and hardware solutions to optimize systems. Typically, they provide strategic guidance to organizations on what appropriate technology or software to invest in and how to resolve issues related to IT infrastructure effectively.



Overall, the role of an IT consultant is to improve organization's IT systems and business performance. IT consultants bridge the gap between technical teams and staff to understand their business goals and recommend hardware and software accordingly. Moreover, IT consultants can provide clients with updates about the latest technology as it becomes available. However, their responsibilities go beyond that.



What does an IT consultant do?



On a daily basis, IT consultants perform a variety of duties. They communicate with regular clients and implement technology solutions as needed. During a project development, the primary responsibilities of IT consultants can include:




Define objectives for a project;



Plan timescales, budget, and resources;



Gather a technical product requirement;



Choose the right tech stack;



Analyze a company's IT system and infrastructure;



Analyze IT system risks;



Design, test, and install new systems;



Work with the in-house technical team;



Train staff to use a new IT system;



Monitor performance of IT systems;



Produce detailed documentation and reports;



Identify potential clients and build relationships.




As you can see, IT consultants' responsibilities consist of many tasks and usually depend on a company's objective and project scope. Based on that, consultants may work on short-term, long-term, or multi-phase projects and carry out the above duties in general. 



The types of IT consultants 



Depending on the company and industry, the specific expectations of an IT consultant may differ and focus on various IT areas. Now let's dig deeper into some of the types of IT consultants.



An IT project management consultant



An IT project management consultant is a qualified specialist who helps organizations create, execute, and manage an IT project. To ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget, an IT project manager defines project scope, set goals, and establishes timelines. The role of IT consultants is to improve management processes and complete a project on time.



A maintenance and repair consultant



A repair and maintenance consultant maintains and repairs hardware, software, and networks. The purpose of their work is to assess a company's maintenance performance. They are responsible for:




Evaluating existing maintenance processes;



Providing maintenance and repair guidance;



Developing maintenance training programs for staff;



Establishing a maintenance and repair budget ;



Selecting the right equipment and tools.




With the assistance of this type of IT consultant, businesses can minimize maintenance costs, reduce downtime, and improve equipment performance.





Start your digital transformation now!



From strategy planning to execution, we’ll guide you every step of the way, ensuring a seamless digital transformation with no unresolved issues.




Get an IT consultation






An IT security consultant 



The role of IT security consultants is to identify vulnerabilities in organizations' systems and networks, assess security risks, and develop robust security strategies to prevent cyberattacks. They also ensure that organizations comply with relevant regulations and standards, such as GDPR and HIPAA, and keep their security policies up to date. The duties of an IT security consultant vary based on the type, such as:




Cloud security consultants;



Network security consultants;



Cybersecurity consultants;



Information security consultants;



Compliance consultants, etc.




Your business may need one of these IT security consultants to adopt a robust cybersecurity strategy. They help companies protect their digital assets and avoid data breaches. So, if you understand "what is an IT consultant and what types there are?" let's turn your attention to the value an IT specialist brings to a project.



Pros and cons of working with IT consultants



Often, organizations consider hiring in-house IT staff instead of an IT consultant. It is because companies understand the role of a full-time employee better than an unclearly titled " IT consultant." Having a consultant on board can lead to accelerating a company's growth. But in what way?



The pros of hiring an IT consultant



Here are some of the key benefits of hiring an IT consultant:




Cost-efficient: IT consulting saves time and money as businesses do not need to hire a full-time employee, which often is impractical or expensive. So, clients pay only for consulting services;



Enhanced focus on business: organizations can hire IT consultants for technology management so business owners can focus on their core operations;



Improvement of core areas: IT consultants have experience in different technologies and environments, which allows them to identify "weaknesses" in operations efficiently;



In-depth expertise: as IT consultants have various and rich knowledge in any field, they can recommend and integrate relevant technologies into business operations;



Defining future risks: consultants can anticipate and predict potential problems before they occur.




No doubt that for effective IT operations management, businesses should have well-designed IT strategies that allow them to control a situation rather than react to it after it happens. Although IT consultants can provide valuable expertise and advice, businesses should carefully weigh the potential benefits and drawbacks before hiring one.



Cons of working with IT consultants 



Business owners should consider the following potential cons of using IT consultants:




Need for newer technology: having IT consultants may lead organizations to invest in newer technology to match or expand on their existing technology;



Limited communication: as IT consultants work with third-parties so and companies may encounter a bit of downtime and misunderstanding during a project;  



Difficulty integrating with existing systems: new systems or technologies may be difficult to integrate with existing IT infrastructure, resulting in additional costs and complexity.




In order to ensure that a consultant's efforts are aligned with the goals and needs of the business, it is critical to choose an IT consultant with the appropriate skills and experience.



Required skills for IT consultants



IT consultants should have a certain skill set to match company needs with technological solutions. Here are some of them:



Critical thinking



One of the primary responsibilities of IT consultants is to identify and fix hardware, software, and networking issues. Due to this, critical thinking skill is essential to analyze situations thoroughly associated with information technology and come up with an effective solution.



Customer support



The ability to provide excellent customer service is another essential skill for IT consultants to retain clients and establish long-term relationships. When IT specialists ask questions and listen carefully to customers, they can pinpoint and determine customer needs and provide better customer support.



Technical proficiency



In-depth technical knowledge of the IT field such as operating systems, databases, and programming languages (and other aspects) is necessary to evaluate and install software and hardware properly. Moreover, to keep up with industry standards, an IT consultant must stay up-to-date on the latest trends, take online courses and connect with other IT experts. 



Interpersonal communication



The ability to collaborate effectively with‌ team members and clients is vital to ensure that a consultant understands clients' needs better and can implement a tailored solution. Honing this skill may help IT consultants gain customers' trust and improve their overall experience.



Time management



When it comes to meeting deadlines, keeping track of completed tasks, and keeping the team members up to date during a project, time management is an incredible skill for IT professionals. By using this skill, IT consultants help technical teams understand better what they are needed to do and accomplish tasks without interruptions. As a result, all team members will stay on track during the project.



Problem-solving



The primary responsibility of a consultant is to identify and solve any arising problems a client may have before or after a technology is implemented. Thus, IT consultants have to analyze data and draw conclusions from it to come up with a client with the best solution.



Needless to say, this is not the complete list of required skills since it can include many more, depending on the niche and the project requirements. However, these skills and others make sense for IT consultants to respond to clients' concerns, propose solutions, and implement them without disrupting business operations.





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From strategy planning to execution, we’ll guide you every step of the way, ensuring a seamless digital transformation with no unresolved issues.




Get an IT consultation






How to become an IT consultant



Typically, IT consultants begin their careers with a bachelor's degree in IT, software engineering, computer science, cybersecurity, or related fields - that is mandatory for many companies. However, there are many ways to succeed in this career path. Listed below are some ways to grow as an IT consultant.



Earn a bachelor's degree



As stated above, earning a degree in IT is a strong starting point for becoming an IT consultant. Even though a bachelor's degree is not always needed, employers prefer IT consultants with a degree from a university. A bachelor's degree can also help IT candidates demonstrate specific skills and knowledge that employers may be looking for - and put them ahead of competitors.



Some professionals take it a step further and receive an MBA (master's degree) too. Additionally, IT consultants often specialize in particular industries to become familiar with a specific market. For example, IT consultants may create software for healthcare facilities or offer services to non-profit organizations.



Training and certifications



Many IT professionals follow other paths to become IT consultants and prefer online resources, courses, training, and certifications. Certification and training prove to employers that IT consultants have a high level of knowledge, expertise, and experience. Having a certification demonstrates to employers that a consultant is committed to their profession and gives them an edge over other candidates.



Among the certifications IT consultants should be aware of are:




Certified Technology Consultant (CTC)



Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)



Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)



Project Management Professional (PMP)



Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE)



Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)




Gain experience



Often, employers look for IT candidates with previous work experience. Therefore, it is a good idea for newcomers to start with entry-level positions as interns to gain experience before they begin providing support and consulting services. IT experience shows clients that an IT consultant is capable of solving the real problems they are likely to face.



Build networks



The network of professional contacts or lists (from a previous job) can be helpful for IT consultants who may use it as references. IT consultants can establish an excellent reputation and earn the trust and respect of employers if they have gained good references early. 



Another way to build a career through networks is by connecting with potential employers on social media platforms like LinkedIn. Aside from that, placing a CV with details about skills, experience, and work samples will help experts find new career opportunities rapidly.



Final thoughts



Now that we are clear on the question “What does an IT consultant do?”, it is time to put it all together. IT specialists help small and medium-sized businesses develop strategies, select and implement software and hardware solutions, and optimize existing IT systems. 



However, when it comes to hiring an IT consultant, businesses need to keep several factors in mind. First and foremost, IT consultants need in-depth technical skills and a solid understanding of all aspects of the different IT fields. They also need well-developed soft skills to deal with clients and develop practical solutions. Over time, having a blend of education, work experience, specialized skills, and connections leads to a highly skilled IT consultant.




 

FAQ

### AWS vs Azure: Which Is Better and Why?

For many organizations, cloud has become a new norm due to its security, scalability, and speed. And when talking about the cloud and related services, the two names come to mind: Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft’s Azure. 



Both platforms share a very similar functionality, and both offer a wide range of impressive services. So how does a company choose between the two? And which is better, Azure or AWS? In this article, we will provide a comprehensive comparison to help you make the right decision.







What is AWS?



In order to compare AWS and Azure, it’s important to have a solid understanding of both platforms, so let’s start with AWS.



If we address the official definition by Amazon, AWS is “the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud”. It is a cloud computing platform with over 200 fully-featured services that fall under three categories:




Platform as a Service (PaaS)



Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)



Software as a Service (SaaS)




Now, what can you do with AWS (since the terms above may sound a bit confusing)? AWS offers the following options to its users:




Run web and application servers in the cloud;



Store all needed files in the cloud (with access to them from anywhere in the world);



Quickly deliver both static and dynamic files through CDN;



Use virtual environment to load the needed services and software;



Build, deploy, and manage applications.




And many more. So, AWS is basically saying, “Here is the cloud environment - you are free to use it however you like”. In addition to traditional services like app hosting or data storage, AWS also provides such services like Artificial Intelligence, data lakes, or advanced analytics.



Main pros and cons of AWS



While the biggest advantage of AWS is probably its impressive and rich functionality, there are several other features that make users choose this cloud platform over alternatives.



The main AWS pros are:




Ease of use: despite its seeming complexity, AWS is highly user-friendly and intuitive and does not require any training to start working with it. The platform was initially designed with secure and quick access in mind, so users experience no issues when starting to work with it. Moreover, AWS offers many tutorials, guides, and an extensive documentation to help users understand all available services and best ways of using them.



Security: AWS uses an end-to-end approach to secure its infrastructure, has a few compliance certifications, and adheres to international security standards with the help of several built-in security tools. A good example of an AWS security tool is the Identity and Access Management (IAM) service, which is used to control access to AWS resources. 



Scalability: AWS has a bunch of tools and features (Auto Scaling, Elastic Load Balancing) that allow easy scaling up and down whenever needed. And when scaling, you won’t have to worry about resources and computing power since AWS provides full access to all necessary resources upon the request. Also, if you need to add a couple of new servers, you can do so within mere minutes without disrupting the app’s performance.



Flexibility: AWS offers you an extensive selection of programming languages, tools, operating systems, and databases, thus allowing you to fully customize your product as needed.  You can also load all needed services and software to the AWS environment, which is another big advantage, especially in the case of an app migration.



Cost-efficiency: with AWS, you pay only for those services and tools that you use, and you do so by “pay as you go” method. AWS also charges you per hour, so keep that in mind when planning the workload.




Nothing is perfect, though - so let’s have a look at some of AWS drawbacks that you need to learn about in advance before jumping into work with the platform.



The main AWS cons are:




Limitations: AWS has limitations on both resources and security (to a certain extent) so this may come as a disadvantage for some companies. First, Amazon has resources restrictions by default, meaning, you can have only a specific amount of resources for a specific region. While you can ask for more resources, it may still come as a drawback. Second, there are certain AWS features that cannot be changed in terms of security and this may be an inconvenience too.



Cloud computing issues (temporary): due to an incredibly high workload and millions of users, AWS sometimes has cloud computing issues. Users may experience downtimes or limited control, but these issues are usually quickly resolved. However, you should be aware of the possibility of such things.




AWS certifications



Since work with AWS requires exceptional skills and knowledge as well as deep understanding of the platform itself, in 2013, AWS launched an international certification program. The main goal of the program is to grant certifications to those developers who proved their skills and knowledge in working with AWS. 



There are four main categories of AWS certifications: 




Foundational: requires no prior experience and certifies foundational knowledge of AWS;



Associate: requires prior cloud (or strong on-premises) IT experience, focuses on knowledge and skills on AWS;



Professional: requires 2 years of AWS cloud experience, validates one’s advanced skills and knowledge on AWS;



Specialty: focuses on specific specialty (i.e., Advanced Networking, Data Analytics) and allows certified professionals to act as trusted advisors.




The main benefit of receiving an AWS certification is obviously the validation of one’s skills. Certified professionals become open to much more career opportunities and are trusted by clients and organizations. Other perks include competitive salary and a certification badge that you can use to attend specialized events.



What is Azure?



Azure is a cloud platform with over 200 products and services that allows you to access and manage cloud services and resources provided by Microsoft. It is similar to AWS and also provides PaaS, SaaS, and IaaS solutions. If we drill down to the services, there are several big categories worth paying attention to:




Computing services: include Virtual Machine, service fabric, and functions;



Networking: includes CDN, Azure DNS, and virtual network;



Storage: includes disk storage, blob storage, queue storage.




As for Azure use cases, they are pretty much the same as the ones of AWS. With Azure, you can also run applications, store all needed files, use the provided virtual environment, etc. Several more Azure use cases are:




Artificial Intelligence deployment;



Work with data and its analysis;



Work with hybrid cloud and infrastructure;



Internet of Things;



Security and governance of your applications.




An interesting thing to note is that unlike AWS, Azure provides great hybrid cloud services and capabilities. In this way, Azure is quite unique, and its hybrid services are a great competitive advantage.



Main pros and cons of Azure



Now, let’s turn our attention to the pros and cons of Azure in order for you to understand the platform better.



The main Azure pros are:




Scalability: Azure allows businesses to easily scale up and down upon demand, thus providing maximal capacity during peak traffic periods. And since you also pay only for what you use, Azure offers cost-effective yet powerful and relevant solutions.



Advanced analytics: Azure has a rich selection of built-in analytical tools and offers vast opportunities of analyzing your data, thus, contributing to sustainability of your business. With the help of advanced analytics and intuitive and user-friendly data visualization, Azure users can make more accurate business decisions.



High availability: One of the biggest benefits that Azure is praised for is its high redundancy and availability. The platform runs in 55 regions globally and is available in 140 countries. Moreover, Microsoft offers a Service Level Agreement of 99.95% availability, which equals to approximately 4.5 hours of downtime per year. And this is something that most businesses struggle to achieve.



Security: Microsoft pays utmost attention to security and the Azure platform is equipped with all needed security controls. Azure also offers several compliance certifications and has advanced disaster recovery capabilities, which is a big benefit considering how big the consequences of cyberattacks are.



Cost efficiency: Azure follows the same “pay for what you need only” model as AWS, but charges per minute instead of per hour. And since users pay only for the resources they currently need, the platform enables pretty great budget management.




As good as it sounds, the platform also has certain limitations and drawbacks. Which is okay - but it’s better to know about such things in advance in order to adjust further work correspondingly.



The main Azure cons are:




Complexity: compared to AWS, Azure is more complex and is less user-friendly. The platform management requires strong expertise and may not be suitable for users without experience in cloud management.



Data transfer: one of the hidden Azure fees is the data transfer fee, which implies that you pay to transfer data in and out. Based on the volume of transferred data, the final cost may be quite high.



Complicated pricing: there are hundreds of services in Azure and each service has several complementary services, and each complementary service equals additional fees. All in all, the final cost of your solution will consist of multiple separate fees, and this may be quite complex to manage and monitor.




Azure certifications



Same as AWS, Azure also has a global certification program aimed at recognizing one’s skills and knowledge on the Azure platform. There are also four certification categories:




Microsoft Azure Fundamentals-Level certifications;



Microsoft Azure Associate-Level certifications;



Microsoft Azure Expert-Level certifications;



Microsoft Azure Specialty certifications.




There are also specialty certifications, such as Azure AI Fundamentals or Azure Data Fundamentals, that cover specific skills. Overall, software engineers certified by Microsoft can easier promote their skills to employers and are a number one choice when it comes to assembling a team for working with the Azure platform.



AWS vs Azure: what is better?



Even though both platforms share a very similar set of services and features, in some ways, AWS is better than Azure and vice versa. Below is a comprehensive table where you can see the main differences and similarities in brief.



AWSAzureRelease date20062010ProviderAmazonMicrosoftAvailability zones61140PricingPer hourPer minutePricing modelsOffers a free tier, a free trial per minute, you pay for the EBS volumeOffers a free trialStorageAWS offers the following storage services:BucketsS3EBSSDBEasy to useSQSDomainsCloudFrontAWS Import/ExportAzure offers the following storage services:Blob StorageAzure DriveStorage statsTable StorageContainersTablesDatabasesAWS offers the following database services:MySQLDynamoDBOracleAzure offers the following database services:MS SQLSQL SyncHybrid cloudIs still improving its hybrid cloud servicesStrong support for Hybrid CloudCloud typeVirtual Private Cloud (VPC)Virtual NetworkBig Data storageThe EBS storage is great for storing Big DataThe standard storage has issues with storing Big Data so you will have to buy a premium storageEcosystemBig, with many partnersLimited, with a few Linux optionsLicensingA variety of license choicesLimited, if compared to AWSMachine accessYou can access machines separatelyMachines are grouped into a cloud service and respond to one domain name with different portsSecurityHigh: offers user-defined roles with exceptional permissions controls, has granular IAM, robust security groupsHigh: offers Azure Active Directory as a single source for permissions management and authorization.MaturityHighModerate/LowLong term data archivingAllows long term data archivingDoes not allow long term data archiving



AWS vs Azure comparison



Now that we’ve briefly walked through the main differences between Azure and AWS, as well as through their similarities, let’s look at both platforms and their features in more detail. Such a comparison will help you better understand which solution will meet your needs the best.



Computing power



When talking about the cloud, the main concern about the computing power is usually its scalability. AWS resolves the issue with EC2, aka elastic cloud computing. EC2 has elastic resource provisioning, meaning, the available resource footprint may increase or shrink on demand. With the help of EC2, users can build Virtual Machines (VMs), pick pre-configured Machine Images (MIs), or modify them. In addition to EC2, AWS also offers such computational services as EC2 container service, AWS Lambda, Autoscaling, and Elastic Beanstalk. 



As for Azure, users can create a Virtual Machine from a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) that uses virtual scale sets to ensure the needed scalability. 



Note that EC2 can be customized for different use cases, and Azure VMs work together with other cloud deployment tools.



Storage



Both AWS and Azure offer an infinite number of permissible objects, but they differ in object size restrictions: Azure has a 4.75 TB limit and AWS has a 5 TB limit. Both AWS and Azure offer adequate and strong storage, but its types differ.



AWS provides Amazon simple storage service (S3), elastic block store (EBS), and Glacier. The S3 service provides high availability and automatic replication across various regions. As for the temporary storage, it starts operating every time the instance starts and stops, correspondingly.



Azure’s storage services include blob storage, disk storage, and standard archive. The block storage option in Azure serves as a counterpart to the S3 of AWS. Another interesting feature of Azure is that it has two storage types: hot and cold. The hot tier is optimized for storing the data that is accessed/modified frequently, while the cold tier is correspondingly optimized for storing the data that is rarely accessed/modified.



Databases



AWS and Azure effectively handle both structured and unstructured sets of Big Data and have multiple services for its storage and processing.



AWS has a relational database service RDS that is compatible with MariaDB, Amazon Aurora, MySQL, Microsoft SQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle database engines. There is also a variety of NoSQL AWS databases, such as Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon ElastiCache, Amazon Neptune, or Amazon Timestream. 



Azure SQL database is naturally based on Microsoft SQL. The NoSQL option that Azure offers is Azure Cosmos DB NoSQL database.



While Azure provides a more user-friendly interface, AWS has better provisioning capabilities. Both platforms offer extensive analytics services and Big Data capabilities, and they can be considered equally good in terms of database performance. Note though that AWS provides a more mature environment for Big Data in general.



Security and data privacy



AWS provides excellent built-in security but the main thing to keep in mind is the shared responsibility security model. That means that AWS takes care of the security of everything that’s in the cloud but the client also has to take security measures such as access configuration or data encryption.



Azure uses a Microsoft’s Cloud Defender service that is based on Artificial Intelligence and is highly effective in detecting and mitigating threats. However, same as AWS, Azure is not 100% secure by default, so you will have to double-check all configurations and apply security measures if necessary.



Ease of use and documentation



If we compare AWS to Azure, not only is AWS more mature, but it is also much more user-friendly than Azure and is suitable even for users with no prior cloud experience. With intuitive dashboard and extensive documentation, AWS is highly suitable both for experienced and novice users.



Azure is more complex, less intuitive, and its documentation is not so extensive and user-friendly. In this way, AWS is a clear winner.



Content delivery and networking



AWS offers Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) to create isolated private networks and enables cross-premises connectivity through API gateways. The use of VPC allows users to create subnets, route tables, and private IP address ranges. And if you worry about performance, AWS deploys elastic load balancing during network connectivity. 



Azure has a Microsoft Azure Virtual Network, which can be called a counterpart of AWS. It performs all the same functions as VPC does and shows a high level of performance.



Conclusion



When comparing the two platforms, it is impossible to say which one is better, AWS or Azure. Both platforms have their strengths and weaknesses, and both platforms are loved by hundreds of organizations worldwide. Even though AWS is considered a leading cloud platform, Azure is steadily gaining traction and is considered a great alternative to AWS. Thus, when choosing between the two, carefully analyze the exact needs of your business and see which platform will meet them best.




 

FAQ

### AWS Security Best Practices: A Comprehensive Checklist

Amazon Web Services, or AWS for short, is the world’s biggest provider of cloud infrastructure used by thousands of companies. And while it provides an unparalleled number of cloud services of excellent quality, it also gives its clients a bit of headache when it comes to security.



The thing is, cloud IT security differs from the on-premises IT one in several important ways. This, in addition to the shared responsibility security model, often leads to confusion and risks as AWS clients are not fully aware of what they are supposed to do. In this article, we will walk through AWS security best practices and will provide you with tips on how to get the maximal benefit from your AWS solution with minimal risks.







Understanding AWS cloud security



In order to understand how AWS security works, let’s first define it. AWS cloud security is a set of built-in protocols and checks aimed at securing the cloud infrastructure that you are working in. It is important to remember that Amazon secures only the cloud while the client has to secure everything outside the cloud. This model is called shared responsibility - we’ll talk about it in detail a bit later.



Taking into consideration the shared responsibility model, some may ask: how secure is AWS, really? The good news is that Amazon takes its security part very seriously. AWS invests an impressive amount of resources in maintaining an excellent level of cloud security. In this way, the security of AWS cloud itself surpasses that of many on-premises environments.



The bad news is that there is also your part of shared responsibility, and the security of everything outside the cloud will be exactly how you make it. So to answer the question: AWS is extremely secure if you invest the same amount of time and resources into security as Amazon does.



So how is AWS cloud security working?



AWS cloud security is aimed at protecting the infrastructure where the AWS services run. The infrastructure includes software, hardware, facilities and networking. And if you need examples of processes that Amazon is responsible for, think of configuration management and maintenance or patch management. As we already said, Amazon takes care of everything happening in the cloud - now it’s time to learn what the customer is responsible for.



The shared responsibility model explained



We’ve already mentioned that Amazon is responsible for everything happening in the cloud, while customers are responsible for everything happening outside the cloud. This security landscape is called “a shared responsibility model” and implies that security is divided equally between the provider and the customer.



Let’s first talk about the security provided by Amazon. AWS ensures security for the hosting infrastructure that contains cloud applications. To be more specific, it includes security of the regional data centers, the operating system, and the virtualization layer. AWS manages such operations as threat monitoring, logging, and software updates, so its IaaS remains as robust as possible.



Now, to the customer’s part of the security. AWS clients have to take care of the following:




Security of their data;



Access management;



Operating systems in use;



Firewall configurations;



Network traffic monitoring;



Data encryption;



External threat neutralization.




And the list is not even full. As you can see, an AWS user needs to do a lot of work on their side in order to establish effective defense against the possible threats. Thus, if an organization decides to shift to the cloud, it should be ready to adopt the needed policies.



Cloud vs on-premises IT security: main differences



Cloud security may sound intimidating, especially if you have not worked in the cloud before. Many people wrongly assume that a cloud requires a brand-new approach towards security and that all processes are to be redesigned.



While there are certain differences between the cloud and on-premises security, the overall pattern remains the same. You need to:




Identify your assets (what you are securing);



Define a protection plan (how you will secure the assets);



Implement security controls;



Detect threats;



Design a threat response strategy;



Design a recovery strategy.




To make things even better, you can use one of the most common security frameworks (like NIST cybersecurity framework) to protect your cloud environment. 



But now, let’s turn to the main differences between cloud and on-premises security. If not considered in advance, these differences may quickly turn into bottlenecks or escalate into breaches.



Responsibility distribution



Though we’ve already discussed the shared responsibility model, let’s review it one more time. When talking about the cloud, the responsibility for the security will always be distributed among the cloud provider and the client. 



So if employees in your organization wrongly believe that the cloud provider is responsible for a certain aspect, this may lead to big issues in the future. The reason for that is that employees will not be paying enough attention to the security, assuming they are not responsible for it. But how do you know exactly what you and the provider are responsible for?



To make things easier, AWS established a shared responsibility model and explained in detail the area of responsibility of every party involved. You can read more about on the official website. We can also add that it is highly important to conduct corresponding employee training, so everyone understands their tasks and roles when it comes to securing your cloud environment.



Fast creation and deployment of assets



One of the biggest aspects regarding the cloud environment management is the speed and ease of creation and deployment of assets. While you have full control over your on-premises IT infrastructure, and it might take a while to add any new asset, in the cloud, it may happen almost instantly. Any user with the corresponding access rights can create, add, or remove an asset in the cloud. On one hand, this makes the cloud infrastructure modification really easy. On the other, such speed may lead to vulnerabilities and calls for specific security controls.



You can’t apply traditional security checks to the cloud infrastructure, simply because the asset you are checking may not exist in a few minutes anymore. Also, every new/changed asset calls for proper configuration and users often don’t dedicate enough time to it. This is something to keep in mind when planning your security strategy.



Issues with maintaining a holistic view of the environment



Due to the speed of change of the cloud environment, it may be challenging to maintain a holistic view of this environment and to keep a relevant inventory of all assets. But if you don’t know what to secure, you won’t be able to secure it at all. And that’s one of the biggest pitfalls organizations face when working with the cloud. 



What challenges does working with AWS bring?



It may seem that shared responsibility is already a challenge that is big enough, but there are a few more things to consider. All of them are manageable on the condition that you plan ahead - so let’s dive in.



Maintaining visibility of AWS services



Remember we talked about how quickly assets can be created and deployed in the cloud? This leads to low visibility of these assets, meaning that your team may not even be 100% sure about what services are currently in use. And if you don’t know what services are in use, how can you effectively protect them?



Add to that the risk of shadow IT. We’ve written about it on our blog already, so let’s briefly walk through the main points. The term shadow IT refers to software and/or hardware that employees use without the approval of the IT department. There may be several reasons for shadow IT to occur, but the most common is that employees simply find their software easier and less confusing than a company-approved one. Shadow IT heavily impacts the company’s security and leads to possible breaches and, hence, massive financial losses. 



Getting back to AWS, in order to maintain high visibility of your cloud assets, it is crucial to develop a solid strategy on their proper management. Note that it is especially important for hybrid and multi-cloud environments.



Compliance with required regulations



Same as with on-premises IT security, cloud IT security calls for compliance with data protection regulations (i.e. GDPR). The thing is, it’s harder to manage the needed compliance when you have a hybrid or multi-cloud environment that is constantly changing and evolving. 



Thus, you will have to check the compliance of every asset and cloud solution that you use in order to establish the needed level of security. And that might take quite a lot of time and resources, so keep that in mind.



Consistent application of security policies



When talking about ever-changing environments, consistency is not the first thing that comes to mind (let’s be honest here). However, it is an absolute must and a big headache for companies operating in the cloud. By that, we mean consistent and uniform policies applied to all available apps and solutions. 



You might think now: how do I establish consistent security policies when everything can change at any time? Fortunately, AWS provides native tools to help you out, plus there are available security management systems that facilitate the process of establishing and maintaining such policies.



Why is it crucial to maintain strong AWS cloud security?



The obvious reason for maintaining strong AWS security is protection of your data and the data of your customers. According to the reports by the IBM and the Ponemon Institute, the average cost of a data breach in 2022 was $4.35 million. That means, even the tiniest vulnerability may become the cause of a massive financial loss, not to mention a hit at the company’s reputation.



With its rigorous approach towards security, AWS helps companies navigate through the main risks and establish robust defense on their side. And that means, AWS contributes greatly to keeping your data safe and to helping you cut costs, typically associated with security measures and policies.



A bit on the Security Pillar of the AWS Well-Architected Framework



To help organizations build robust and effective cloud workloads, Amazon came up with the AWS Well-Architected framework. It consists of useful guidelines, AWS best practices and recommendations on designing and operating secure and sustainable workloads. 



The Well-Architected framework is based on six pillars:




Operational Excellence: focus on running and monitoring systems and on continuous improvement of processes.



Security: focus on protecting the system and the data.



Reliability: focus on workloads’ performance and on their recovery in case of an issue.



Performance Efficiency: focus on correct allocation of resources.



Cost Optimization: focus on avoiding extra costs and on maintaining the defined budget.



Sustainability: focus on reducing the environmental impact of working cloud environments.




Though each pillar is worth your attention, we will take a closer look at the security pillar. In the official documentation, you can read about:




Security foundations: including design principles, AWS account management, and secure operation of workloads;



Identity and access management: describes identity and permissions management;



Detection of unexpected / unwanted configuration changes, and the detection of unexpected behavior;



Infrastructure protection: describes control methodologies for safeguarding your infrastructure;



Data protection: includes data classification, protection of data at rest, and protection of data in transit;



Incident response: explains how to correctly respond to an incident;



Application security: includes the best practices for building secure and high-performing workloads.




AWS security best practices checklist



As you can see, AWS provides a lot of useful information for its clients and assists in creating safe and secure environments. And now, the fun part - the AWS security best practices checklist!



Use AWS knowledge base



In order to design a robust cybersecurity strategy, you first need to get acquainted with AWS cloud security best practices. This is where the Well-Architected framework steps in and serves as your number one source of valuable information. We highly recommend studying the available documentation and using it as a base for your policies.



Create an inventory of your assets



We’ve already talked about the importance of assets’ visibility, so it’s natural that your next step will be creating an inventory for all assets in use. That means, you need to have a detailed map of all apps and storage containers, as well as the purpose of every asset listed down. You will need to define and document such things as:




Security classification of every asset;



Value of the data that the asset stores and/or processes;



Importance of the asset for everyday workflows.




Once you have all your assets mapped out, it will be much easier to assign the corresponding security controls to them. It will also become easier to detect vulnerabilities and risks, as well as expanding cloud deployments.



Design your cybersecurity baseline and enforce it



This is probably the most complex, but also a highly important step: creating a security baseline for your environment. All your teams, including the DevOps one, should define how your environment will be protected. For that, you will need to design a solid strategy to cover all needed aspects, from assets configuration to threat response. 



You might want to consider introducing DevSecOps since this approach towards security was designed specifically for DevOps teams. And if you are feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, you can always use the AWS Well-Architected Framework and CIS security controls as a baseline. 



You will also need to think about the baseline enforcement. Below are several tips that you might find helpful:




Provide infrastructure templates to your developers, so it would be easier for them to adhere to the security baseline.



Use a monitoring solution to detect cloud misconfigurations and timely respond to them - the solution can be either an AWS Security Hub or a third-party vulnerability management solution with the built-in monitoring feature.



Use a Cloud security posture management (CSPM) solution to monitor accounts from multiple cloud providers, automate visibility, remediate risks, and automatically fix misconfigurations.




Implement cloud security controls



Setting up proper AWS cloud security is a complex process, and obviously, there are many security controls involved. Below, we will focus on the most important ones to consider and implement in the first place:




Use Identity and Access Management (IAM) tools: these tools significantly help with access management as they assign temporary and role-based privileges to AWS users. In this way, you can be sure that users have access only to those resources that they need and only for the needed period of time. 



Implement multi-factor authentication: while not exclusive for the cloud, multi-factor authentication is a highly effective security control that can minimize risks of unauthorized agents accessing sensitive data. 



Encourage password hygiene: make sure that all AWS users use strong and complex passwords and that these passwords are time-limited. 



Perform scheduled privileged audits: when employees leave your company or stop working in the cloud environment, it is critical that they do not have access to assets anymore and that their accounts are inactive. You can check it with regular privileged audits.



Pay double attention to root access privilege: root access is an extremely important privilege, as it grants access to any resource and allows executing any command. Hence, you need to pay extra attention to whom you are assigning root access privilege and to the way root access keys are guarded. 



Consider implementing micro-segmentation: micro-segmentation is a network security technique used to logically divide the data center into separate segments so that each segment has its own unique security controls. In the case of AWS, micro-segmentation will allow you to keep each application in its own compartment, which, in turn, will minimize possible risks.



Pay attention to EC2 security: Amazon EC2 is a virtual machine that represents a physical server for your app. Unfortunately, EC2 breaches are a common cause, so make sure to properly control access to EC2 (i.e., by introducing the least privilege principle).




Use encryption for the data outside the cloud



Remember what we said about the security of assets outside the cloud? While AWS provides a security layer for the data resting in the cloud, it can’t protect the data that is outside. Thus, it is your responsibility to secure this data and one of the best ways to do so is by using encryption. For example, you can use client-side encryption on local WANs (Wide Area Network) or use VPNs for safeguarding remote connections. 



Use data backups



Data backups are an effective method for preventing or mitigating data loss in case of an application failure or a security breach. And since ransomware was the biggest cybersecurity threat in 2022, it comes as no surprise that companies started actively backing up their data.



You can pay attention to the AWS Backup service that allows users to schedule backups of databases, storage containers, and file systems. As well, consider implementing the 3-2-1 rule. It implies that an organization should always have three copies of the data on two different media and with one copy off-site for the disaster recovery. 



Review access rights and user roles



Even though we’ve talked a bit about user roles and permissions, let’s dig a bit deeper into the subject. The assignment of user roles and privileges is crucial, as it determines who can access what and on what conditions. A wrongly assigned role may lead to major issues, such as data breach, so you’d want to properly manage the assignment of user roles and access rights.



The good news is that AWS got your back here too. Amazon provides the AWS Identity Access Management (IAM) governing model that helps AWS clients better understand user roles, permissions, and privileges and how to work with them. 



There are several components that IAM comprises:




Users: individuals who interact with AWS;



Credentials: methods with which users access the system (i.e., passwords, logins, access keys, etc.);



Groups: collections of users (with groups, you can manage permissions for all users in a group at once);



Roles: similar to users, but with temporary access for a single session;



Policies: JSON docs that allow performing an action.




And the good news does not end up here. AWS also has a list of best practices for IAM that thoroughly describe how to manage all IAM components. This list includes such practices as user management through federated SSO, requirements for MFA, regular rotation of access keys, and many others. 



Implement a threat response strategy



When talking about cybersecurity, it is not enough to prevent a threat - you also need to know how to correctly respond to one in order to timely take the needed measures and mitigate the damage. Thus, you need to plan a robust threat response strategy that will outline whom you will need to address in case of a threat occurrence and what your steps will be.



In addition to that, do not underestimate the importance of constant threat monitoring. For that, you can use specialized monitoring tools from reliable security partners. 



Keep your AWS assets updated



Regular software updates are crucial since there are new cyber threats appearing on a regular basis, and you need to be prepared for them. Thus, you need to regularly perform application patching to eliminate existing vulnerabilities and prevent threat agents from attacking your software. And once again, AWS comes to your aid with its AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager. The tool helps with patching by enabling regular updates and allowing to perform security scans.



Capture and protect logs



Logs are highly important for the security of your applications as they contain all the activity and can help easily detect any malicious events. Log management is included in the NIST cybersecurity framework and assists not only in detecting threats, but also responding to them and recovering afterward.



AWS provides the CloudTrail service for log management. It automatically collects and stores AWS API activity and also allows creating “trails” but for a fee (so keep that in mind). “Trails” enable users to capture additional activity and send logs to S3 for storage and/or export.



Perform security training for employees



Last but not least - provide corresponding training for all your employees and C-level executives, so everyone understands the importance of cloud security and adheres to needed requirements.



Lack of understanding of cybersecurity and ignorance of needed actions (even if they seem non-significant, like logging out of one’s device) may lead to bigger problems in the future. Hence, security policies should be adopted on all levels of an organization and everyone should be informed on how to act, especially in the case of a threat.



Summing up



Cloud security may seem overwhelming at a first glance, but as you can see, AWS got you covered. With available official guidelines and documentation and our list of AWS security best practices, it will be much easier for you to define a suitable cybersecurity strategy that will be consistent, scalable, and effective. And considering the ever-growing number of cyber threats, it is critical for companies to establish a well-rounded security environment, especially if they operate in the cloud.




 

FAQ

### What is a Solutions Architect? A Deep Dive Into The Role

In today's fast-paced world of technological advancements, companies rely heavily on technology to streamline their operations and stay competitive. A solid software foundation is essential for any successful business. However, implementing and managing complex technology solutions can be a daunting task. This is where a solutions architect comes in. 



But what is a solutions architect, and what is their function in the development process? In this article, we'll explain the role of a solutions architect, including their responsibilities, necessary skills, and the importance they hold for organizations and projects.







What is a solutions architect?



A solutions architect is responsible for developing a comprehensive technical strategy to solve a specific business problem. They design complex IT solutions for organizations based on their business needs, then craft, articulate, and oversee the implementation of the solution. We can say that this person builds the bridge between a company's needs and technological solutions. The process requires regular feedback, and adjustments to properly design and implement potential solutions. It is a crucial role in the IT industry, requiring specialized expertise and skills.



Solution architect job description



The success of an IT project depends on a carefully crafted software architecture. A solutions architect must take into account various technical and customer requirements, ensuring effectiveness, scalability, and alignment with established business needs. But what does a solution architect do? 



Tasks and responsibilities 



The involvement of a solution architect comes after a business analyst has completed the process of prioritizing features and identifying constraints. The solutions architect creates diagrams and specifications, outlines the engineering requirements and limitations of the device or program, selects an appropriate technology stack, and performs other duties to guide the workflow toward achieving the desired outcomes for stakeholders.



As the specific expectations of a solutions architect may differ depending on the company or industry, these are the common expectations for the role in general. A solutions architect should be able to:




Consult and communicate with clients and internal stakeholders to develop suitable solutions;



Analyze specific enterprise requirements;



Conduct design, and performance analysis of solutions;



Participate in technology selection to identify the most appropriate tools and resources;



Provide technical leadership to a team throughout the project lifecycle;



Develop a solution prototype to test and refine the proposed solution;



Review and validate solution designs from other team members;



Facilitate brainstorming sessions to generate potential solutions for business challenges or needs;



Identify opportunities for process optimization and improvement;



Collaborate with product and delivery teams to design scalable solutions and products;



Oversee the development of the solution to ensure it meets requirements and standards.




Solution architects communicate closely with technical representatives of the customer (if the customer has any) and directly with developers, leaders, QA testers, and business analysts. Although solutions architects typically assume a leadership role, their involvement in project management activities is mostly supportive. Their main goal is to ensure that resources, risk recognition, and planning remain aligned with the solution objectives. 



Required skills and education



If you have ever wondered how to become a solutions architect, know that education and experience are crucial. 



They are highly qualified specialists that possess extensive knowledge in a specific technology area or a broad understanding of various technologies. Thus, to become a solution architect, you will likely need a bachelor’s degree or higher in information technology, computer science, software engineering, or a related field. For more senior roles, additional education, such as a master's degree or experience in particular IT areas, may be required. 



To handle all the responsibilities of a solutions architect, you must also possess specific skills:



Technical knowledge



There are several technical skills and knowledge areas that are essential to performing the roles of solution architect effectively.



Application architecture. First of all, solution architects must have a deep understanding of application architecture, including the design and implementation of application components, interfaces, and services. This includes knowledge of programming languages, frameworks, and tools.



Cloud computing. With the increasing popularity of cloud computing, a solutions architect must possess knowledge of cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. It includes knowledge of cloud architecture, deployment models, and services, such as computing, storage, and networking.



Networking. An architect must possess knowledge of networking technologies such as TCP/IP, routing, and switching. It includes the ability to design and implement network architectures that meet the requirements of the organization.



Data modeling. A solutions architect must be able to design and implement data models, including knowledge of database technologies, data warehousing, and data integration.



Security. The knowledge of security technologies and their best practices, including authentication, authorization, encryption, and security protocols – are of great importance for a solution architect. It includes the ability to design and implement secure architectures that meet the requirements of the organization.



Communication skills 



Communication skills are crucial for a solutions architect for several reasons. Firstly, these specialists need to be able to effectively communicate with stakeholders, project managers, developers, and software vendors involved in the software development process. Clear communication helps ensure that all parties involved in the project have a shared understanding of the project's goals, requirements, and constraints. This is particularly important when working with non-technical stakeholders who may not have a deep understanding of the technical aspects of the project. 



Analytical skills



Apart from the technical aspects of a project, a solutions architect must also have a deep understanding of the company's internal and external business processes, as well as its corporate strategy and goals. Software architecture and the systems integrated into it consist of numerous details that work together. An architect needs to be highly attentive to these details since overlooking any of them could impede the development process, resulting in breakdowns, or lead to an inefficient software solution. 



Project and resource management skills



A solutions architect is not typically involved in project development directly. However, they are responsible for ensuring that the project's resources are utilized efficiently and effectively. To achieve this, they should possess a business-oriented mindset and be capable of identifying the most efficient solution for every aspect of the architecture. 



Solutions architect vs business analyst: what’s the difference?



While solutions architects and business analysts share some job duties, there are also fundamental differences between these two roles. Business analysts conduct research to pinpoint areas for improvement within a company. They typically operate within specific departments to evaluate workflow processes and offer recommendations for enhancement. Using the information they gather, analysts develop strategies and plans to guide the implementation of new systems. Business analysts often work closely with stakeholders outside of IT, such as managers, executives, and departmental employees. They understand the needs and requirements of the business and translate them into technical specifications.  



On the other hand, solutions architects leverage data to identify the root cause of an organizational problem and then create a plan to solve it. They utilize their expertise in different technologies to create a solution that satisfies the company's requirements.



A solutions architect is a professional with a strong technical background, who typically deals with server infrastructure. Their role is to take a bird's eye view of a project or system, understand its various components and how they interact with each other, and then dive to the component level to determine the specific technologies required. This includes selecting the appropriate hardware and software components, designing the system's data architecture, and ensuring that the system is scalable, secure, and maintainable. In contrast, an analyst tends to focus on features, functional requirements, screens, and mockups, reflecting on these aspects of the system rather than the technical infrastructure.



Solutions architect certification



If you're a solutions architect, it's advisable to obtain certifications in relevant skills or technologies specific to your industry or field. The skills and knowledge required for the job may differ depending on the role. Employers often require certifications that demonstrate an architect's proficiency in various aspects. The most crucial certifications for solutions architects include:




AWS Certified Solution Architect;



The Open Group Certified Architect;



TOGAF certification;



Google Professional Cloud Architect;



Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE).




Enterprise architect vs Solution architect vs Technical architect



There are three different architecture-related roles in the IT industry. Each of these roles is equally essential for the success of a project they are involved in and cannot be substituted by any other positions:




Enterprise Architect



Technical Architect



Solutions Architect




Solution architecture includes a lot of processes that connect business problems with technology solutions. Its objectives are to:




Identify the optimal technological solution for current business challenges;



Describe the software's structure, characteristics, behavior, and other elements to project stakeholders;



Define features, development stages, and solution requirements;



Provide specifications that outline how the solution is defined, managed, and delivered.




However, two other architect-level positions are frequently mistaken for solution architecture. So let's clarify the primary distinctions.



Enterprise architecture



Enterprise architecture focuses on constructing complex enterprise ecosystems and solving high-level strategic issues. It defines the strategic direction of the business architecture, leading to an understanding of the necessary technical facilities to support that architecture. 



An enterprise architect is responsible for designing and overseeing the technical architecture of an organization. They work to align technology solutions with business goals and objectives, ensuring that the organization's overall technological infrastructure is efficient, effective, and secure.  



Meanwhile, solution architects have a much more practical role. They take the business requirements and turn them into new software solutions that use a company’s emerging technology.



In addition, enterprise architects are responsible for developing and maintaining technical standards, policies, and procedures, as well as ensuring compliance with industry regulations. 



Technical architecture



Technical architecture is a crucial component of enterprise architecture that concentrates on designing and implementing technical solutions that align with an organization's business objectives. A technical architect is responsible for designing the technical aspects of a software solution or system. They are responsible for developing the overall technical strategy for a software project, including selecting appropriate technologies, defining technical standards and guidelines, and ensuring that the solution is scalable, maintainable, and secure. 



Technical architects typically have a deep understanding of software development, as well as extensive knowledge of software design patterns, programming languages, and development tools. They collaborate closely with development teams to convey IT strategies and establish best practices that should be adhered to throughout the project.



The primary distinction between a technical architect and a solutions architect is that the first concentrates mainly on the engineering aspect. 



The importance of solution architects



In today's digital age, solution architects play a crucial role by bridging the gap between technical and business requirements. A robust technology foundation is essential for companies operating in all sectors, and often, it is the key differentiator that sets them apart from their competitors. This is why solution architects, who possess the expertise to make broad-ranging and impactful software and technology decisions, are in high demand and are considered a valuable asset to any organization.




 

FAQ

### What Is ETL and How Does It Differ From ELT?

ETL and ELT data integration methods help businesses facilitate the integration of diverse information sources into a single place in a consistent and reliable manner. Do not confuse them, though: while both processes are aimed at data integration, their way of work differs.



So what is ETL exactly, and what are the main things to know about it? Read below to find out.







A Brief History of ETL and ELT 



Let's look back now. ETL is a standardized data integration method that has its roots in 1970. As enterprises adopted multiple computer systems and data sources, ETL became even more critical. Businesses needed to aggregate and centralize information from transactions, payroll systems, and other systems to manage day-to-day business workflows.



Data warehouses emerged in the 1980s, making ETL even more important. Many tools were developed to help load information into the warehouses. Granted, the volume of information they handled was small compared with today's standards. Thus, ETL processes became affordable for medium-sized businesses, rather than only large companies, at the end of the 1990s.



Nevertheless, data storage and processing changed forever in the 2000s with cloud computing. Data lakes and data warehouses sparked a new evolution: ELT. Businesses could load a limitless amount of raw information directly into a cloud DWH (data warehouse system) using ELT. Therefore, engineers and analysts could perform endless SQL queries and real-time analytics to make data-driven decisions.



How does the ETL process work?



ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) is a traditional method to integrate structured or relational data from multiple sources into a cloud-based or on-premises data warehouse. ETL is used to collect, reformat and store legacy information or to aggregate it for business analysis. Here is how it works.



Extraction



During data extraction, the information is collected from siloed systems within an organization from a variety of sources and formats. Among the most common sources are:




Databases



Legacy or existing systems



Cloud systems



Sales or marketing apps



Mobile devices



Analytics tools



CRM systems




Upon extraction, data is initially held in a staging area between the data sources and the warehouse. The information is monitored and sorted here.



Transformation



All information in the staging area is raw. Thus, to transfer information to the warehouse, it's necessary to convert it into a uniform format. The transformation stage consists of many processes, including but not limited to the following:




Cleansing: removing missing values and inconsistencies;



Standardization: establishing data format rules;



Deduplication: removing duplicate or unnecessary information;



Verification: identifying anomalies and remove unused information;



Sorting: sorting the information according to its type;



Enrichment: adding external information or context (metadata) to the existing one. 



Transformation is an essential part of the ETL process. As a result of it, raw information is fully ready to use (analyze, report, etc.).




Loading



At the end of the ETL process, a large amount of information is transferred to the warehouse in two ways:




Full: deletes all existing data in a repository and replaces it with new and transformed information. Data from the incoming load may already exist in the repository but is reloaded along with the new one;



Incremental: transfers only new, unchanged information to the repository, while existing information stays unchanged and relevant. It loads faster and preserves historical data.




The big benefit of ETL is that analysis can begin instantly after information is loaded. As a result, this process is appropriate for small sets of information that require complex transformations. However, modern ETL tools can also handle big data effectively. 



Now that we’ve answered the question “What is ETL” let’s look at its most common use cases. 



How is ETL commonly used?



Organizations deploy this method to:




Extract information from legacy systems: it grants companies easier access and analysis of information;



Analyze historical business information:  it allows businesses to quickly analyze historical business information, identify trends and patterns to make more informed decisions;



Improve data quality and consistency: the ETL process involves the cleansing, standardization, validation, and incorporation of information to ensure accuracy and reliability of information;



Integrate all information into a single storage: it allows companies to consolidate all information into a unified view;



Migrate cleansed information to the cloud: companies can update their information and maintain workload scalability by moving cleaned information from on-premises to the cloud.




ETL is a highly effective way to consolidate your information for better business decisions. To make the process more straightforward and less complex, organizations need to implement suitable tools - we'll discuss them below.



What are the types of ETL tools?



Currently, there are different types of ETL tools available on the market. To decide which ETL tool is best for your company, let's review the four main categories:



Enterprise ETL tools



Enterprise ETL tools are typically built for large enterprises and are deployed on-premises or in the private cloud. They are the most reliable and usually offer the most features. The complexity of these tools makes them rather expensive and requires extensive employee training, comprehensive support and maintenance services. Examples of enterprise tools:




SAP Data Services;



Oracle Data Integrator (ODI);



Microsoft SQL.




Open-source ETL tools



Open-source ETL tools are free and can be easily customized to meet users' needs. These tools offer GUIs for creating data-sharing processes and monitoring information flow, cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and community support. However, they may require more technical expertise for their setup and maintenance. Despite the lack of commercial support, these tools are regularly updated, which adds to their security. Examples of such tools:




Talend Open Studio;



Pentaho Data Integration (PDI);



Hadoop.




Custom ETL tools



Companies can develop their own custom ETL tools that are specifically tailored to meet an organization's specific needs and requirements. They offer greater control, flexibility, and customization options than other tools. However, developing and maintaining custom tools can be time-consuming and expensive. 



Cloud-based ETL tools



Cloud-based ETL tools are deployed on cloud infrastructure (such as AWS). They are popular among businesses that need to integrate information from various cloud-based data sources, such as SaaS apps, cloud databases, and web services. These tools offer flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness compared to on-premises tools. Examples of such tools:




AWS Glue;



Azure Data Factory;



Microsoft Azure.




Now, let's switch to why companies should choose this process.



The biggest advantages of the ETL process



ETL is primarily used to consolidate and process information. But if we dig deeper, we can also define more specific advantages.



Holistic view



Since ETL helps to combine legacy information with newly collected one, such an approach offers companies a holistic view of their information. This, in term, helps better analyze internal and external processes and make more accurate business decisions.



Rapid analysis



ETL transforms the information into a unified format and thus, allows users to quickly and efficiently analyze it since the data is structured and transformed. The processed information is much easier to visualize and analyze and, thus, users can obtain more value from it.



High quality 



During the transformation stage, the information undergoes such processes as removing duplicates, error correction, formatting, and many more. Such rigorous cleansing leads to high quality of the information in use, which directly impacts decision-making.



Note, though, that despite all the benefits, the process has certain drawbacks too. 



The biggest challenges of the ETL process 



To avoid any potential issues, organizations must also be aware of ETL challenges, such as:




High cost: processes can be costly to implement and maintain, particularly for organizations that have limited resources;



Latency: high ETL workloads can lead to network latency, thus limiting your performance;



Maintenance: for ETL to function efficiently, it requires ongoing maintenance.




Thus, companies should constantly refine and optimize their ETL pipelines to maintain a high level of performance. It is now time to focus on a similar process that differs from ETL, though they share the same function. 



How does the ELT process work?



ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) process is a newer method that allows organizations to integrate information from various sources and load it into a target system for later transformation. This unstructured, extracted information is immediately available to BI systems without the need to stage it. 



One big difference between ELT and ETL is that the information loads into a data lake (instead of a data warehouse). This is due to the fact that data lakes support structured and unstructured information that comes from various sources, including SQL or NoSQL databases, web pages, and IoT systems. Thus, ELT helps handle and utilize enormous amounts of real-time information for business intelligence and analytics and often helps prevent data silos.



How is ELT commonly used?



ELT can be applied in various industries, including finance, ecommerce, marketing, and healthcare, and its most common use cases are:




Business Intelligence (BI): enables organizations to analyze their information and gain value in their operations by creating data lakes and marts;



Processing of large data volumes: it allows businesses to speed up information transfers for high-transaction volumes;



Real-time data access: allows companies to generate large amounts of information in real-time, without delays, for business intelligence purposes.




What are the tools for ELT?



Like ETL, companies can use plenty of ELT tools to manage their information better. Such tools include:




Cloud-based ELT: available as a service in the cloud;



ETL/ELT hybrids: support both ETL and ELT processes;



Data integration platforms: include ELT processing as part of their capabilities;



Data preparation: although these tools are not strictly ELT tools, they often have ELT capabilities as part of their workflows for preparing information for analysis.




It's worth considering:



The biggest benefits of ELT



ELT offers several advantages over ETL thanks to its inherent efficiency, reliability, and scalability. Here are the main reasons why ELT is so effective:



Real-time analytics



With ELT, businesses can gain insights into their data quickly, make informed decisions based on the latest information, and get access to real-time information.



Speed of loading and implementation



Since the information is loaded directly in the storage without being transformed first, ELT provides instant access to it as well as fast information capturing.



Scalability



ELT systems can handle large volumes of information and grow with data volumes over time. This is really great considering how quickly data volumes tend to grow within an organization.



Transformation as needed



In the ELT process, data transformation typically happens only when an analysis is needed, in contrast to ETL, which makes the use of resources more efficient.



Data Availability



ELT loads all information onto the data lake, so it's always available. It lets companies interact with loaded data immediately instead of waiting for it to transform.



The biggest challenges of the ELT process 



ELT has some drawbacks, such as:




Lack of support: although ELT has a growing number of tools and professionals, there is not as much community support for it;



Data security risks: since data is stored with minimal processing, you may need to take additional steps to ensure compliance with data security protocols;



Complex data integration: integrating data requires a complex process, which is challenging to maintain as information volumes increase;



Complex data transformations: due to dealing with data from multiple sources and formats, ELT can involve complex data transformations.




As information volume has grown rapidly, ELT offers better agility and lower maintenance, allowing businesses of all sizes to leverage cloud-based storage at a lower cost. 



ETL vs. ELT: how do they differ?



In the table below, we summarized the key differences between ETL and the ELT process:



ETLELTData sourceSupport structured dataSupport structured, unstructured, semi- structured and raw dataTransformRaw data is transformed on a serverRaw data is transformed inside the target systemLoadTransformed data is loaded into a destination systemRaw data is loaded directly into the target systemSpeedIt is a time-intensive processIt is faster because data is loaded into a destination system and transformed in-parallelCostHigh-cost for small and medium businessesCloud-based ELT platforms offer flexible prices at low-costStorage TypeSuitable for on-premises and cloud storageSuitable for cloud data warehousesLatencyHigh, as data must be transformed before storageLow, as minimal processing is done prior to storingHardwareA lot of tools require expensive hardwareIt relies on the cloud, no additional hardware is neededTime-maintainceHigh maintenance as users have to select data to loadLow maintenance, as data is always available



What should an organization choose?



Now that we are clear on the question “What is ETL?”, let’s see what data integration method will suit you the best. Companies need to consider many factors: budget, scenarios, tool capabilities, data resources, and specific business and technical requirements. When companies have identified their requirements, they must choose one of the processes to keep the following in mind. 



Organizations need to implement the ETL process when:




Data requires complex transformations;



There are privacy risks since the ETL process removes sensitive data before loading it;



The organization is focused on historical information to provide a holistic view of the business;



Data is in structured format as ETL does not support unstructured information;




 ELT is the right choice when: 




The availability of data is a priority, the organization needs quick access to it;



Organizations have access to data analysts of ELT experts; 



Budget isn’t a problem, as finding and onboarding ELT experts can be expensive;



Debugging and fixing errors is vital because the ELT method facilitates it. 




If a company has a large data warehouse with complex data transformations, ETL is a better option. Nevertheless, ETL is more flexible and requires more resources to clean and transform information.



However, ELT makes more sense if a company deals with big data processing and analytics. The greatest strength of ELT is its speed and support for diverse types of information. As a result, it is efficient and faster, but requires more raw data processing capability from the target system. Also, ELT facilitates automation, outsourcing, and integration with third parties.




 

FAQ

### Digital Transformation in Healthcare: A Comprehensive Overview

In 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of technology by the healthcare industry and today, the digital health market is expected to reach $170.20 billion in 2023. But while 99% of organizations are ready to explore new opportunities and tap into transformation, only 12% of the organizations are 100% digital (as per research by Salesforce).



So in what direction do healthcare organizations need to head if they want to undergo digital transformation? This article covers digital transformation of healthcare in detail.







Defining digital transformation in healthcare



In general, digital transformation implies the use of technologies to create new or modify and optimize existing processes and customer experiences in order to meet market requirements. For healthcare, it means the same and can be achieved through automation, bringing decision-makers closer to real-time data, and data integration.



In simple words, digital transformation of healthcare is about implementing technologies to make processes more efficient and to improve patient care. Note though, that it’s not only about implementing one or several technologies, but about changing the whole approach towards patient care. The main goal here is to transform existing processes on all levels, and this is where the biggest challenge lies.



Key things about digital transformation in healthcare to keep in mind



In 2021, Deloitte published an article that discusses how the adoption of technology impacts the healthcare industry and what industry leaders expect from digitization. Though it’s been two years, the key findings from the article remain relevant - let’s look at them and at healthcare digital transformation trends in more detail.



Digitization can fundamentally transform the relationship between a health system and patients



The main outcome expected by most tech leaders (92%) from digital transformation in healthcare is increased patient satisfaction and engagement. And that’s not really a surprise.



For a long time, many patients have been struggling to access certain medical services due to a number of reasons. Low income, location far from a medical facility, physical inability to visit a doctor - these and other reasons all led to low patient satisfaction and low engagement. And while a patient-centric approach was discussed before, it was the COVID-19 pandemic that forced health systems to change the way they deliver care.



Now, with people being more mobile than ever, patients expect to access certain medical services from their personal devices - and we can’t really blame them for that. Just think about the following. Before, one had to spend at least an hour not only to come to a medical facility, but to wait until their appointment (and then take all the way back home). With the rise of telemedicine, online consultations can be performed from anywhere and will take about 10–20 minutes only. And that’s just one example of how technology can not only bring medical services closer to patients, but significantly save their time too.



Focus on interim milestones is crucial



As already stated, transformation in healthcare needs to happen on multiple levels and this is what makes it a marathon, not a sprint. Since it might be hard for organizations to see the value in the long run, many tech leaders stated that their organizations focused on interim milestones to track progress and adjust the digital transformation strategy along the way.



Such an approach helps to stay focused on the primary goal, as progress tracking is a great motivator. However, an organization should have a really well-defined strategy to follow in order not to lose sight of the track during its digitization journey.



Data, KPIs, and talent are the main challenges



We will speak about the main bottlenecks preventing health systems from digitization a bit later. But for now, we can say that data, talent, and clear KPIs are the biggest challenges that healthcare organizations face and need to resolve.



The healthcare industry sees a clear lack of talent to support digital transformation. Hence, organizations see it as one of the top priorities for investment in the upcoming years. In addition to talent, organizations also need to learn to properly work with their data (including big data) and to set correct KPIs. Deloitte states that healthcare facilities need to shift from measuring general metrics to advanced ones in order to better understand their patients and identify opportunities and areas for improvement easier.



In general, organizations have a very positive attitude towards digital transformation in healthcare industry. But they also understand that it’s a long-running process and there are many areas that call for improvement.



The biggest use cases of digital transformation in healthcare



Though digital transformation of healthcare is a long-term journey, many healthcare facilities already use technology to improve their daily operations and elevate patient care. Below, we will look at the biggest examples of how digitization impacts the healthcare industry today.



Telemedicine



Telemedicine is the process of providing healthcare services via telecommunications and within a digital environment. And in recent years, this trend has been on a big rise.



The growth of the telemedicine market is estimated to reach $101.2 billion in 2023. It’s also interesting to look at the growth of telemedicine users between 2019 and 2020. While only 11% of US citizens used telemedicine in 2019 (as per McKinsey), COVID-19 increased this number by 43% in 2020. 



The simplest example of telemedicine is an online appointment via a mobile application. Other examples are:




Virtual assistants;



Online appointment scheduling;



Communication between doctors and patients via various methods (chat, video calls, voice messages, etc.);



Symptoms and disease monitoring.




The main benefit of telemedicine is speeding up the provision of medical services and facilitating the whole process for both patients and doctors. 



Automation of processes



Automation plays an immensely important role in modern healthcare as it helps reduce a chance for a human error, speeds up certain processes, and boosts productivity and efficiency. Examples of automation in healthcare include:




Digitization of paperwork: results in faster and more accurate processing;



Drug research: automation minimizes human errors and delivers results faster;



Communication with patients: allows patients to receive needed information faster and adds to personalized care.




The best part about automation is that you don’t have to automate everything at once. Even by starting with the smallest processes, you will already be taking a big step towards future digital transformation and will very soon see the benefits that automation brings.



You might find these articles interesting:



Healthcare portals for patients and doctors



Another great thing that digital transformation has brought to healthcare is the development of portals where patients can communicate with doctors and manage their health and appointments in general. Such portals usually allow to:




Schedule, make, and track appointments;



View health records;



View prescriptions;



Contact doctors for a consultation;



Receive and view laboratory results.




As you can see, such portals serve as a centralized space where patients can easily access all their health-related data. It is beneficial for doctors too, as these centralized data storages significantly facilitate and speed up data exchange.



However, such portals are used by a few organizations only and the majority of users claim that the systems are too confusing and are not really user-centric. This is something to be kept in mind when a healthcare organization decides to develop a patient portal and it’s highly recommended to contact experienced providers to handle the challenge.



On-demand care



On-demand care is a really interesting and recent trend of digital transformation for healthcare. While it has not yet gained massive traction, it is certainly something to keep an eye on.



The Nomad Health company launched an online marketplace similar to a freelance marketplace. The idea behind the platform is to connect medical professionals with healthcare units, so doctors can provide short-time medical services in accordance with their expertise and working schedule. Think of it as of freelance gigs, where doctors decide how and when they want to work and patients can select the most suitable professional for their needs.



Though the traditional healthcare model is not going anywhere (at least, for now), on-demand care is slowly becoming an integral part of digital transformation. This approach grants doctors flexibility in managing their schedule, while patients receive highly personalized care.



Wearable devices



Wearables like smartwatches or fitness trackers are nothing new, but in recent years, they’ve been on a rise, especially in the healthcare domain. There are several reasons for that. First, wearable medical devices allow users to independently monitor and manage their health - think of reminders for medicine intake as an example. Second, the real-time data collected from such devices can be efficiently used for making a diagnosis or for better understanding one’s condition.



The use cases for wearable devices in healthcare include:




Health monitoring (i.e., blood pressure);



Exercising and nutrition;



Sweat meters (for tracking blood sugar);



Patient rehabilitation;



Diagnostics of diseases.




As healthcare facilities shift towards proper collection and processing of big data, information received from patients’ wearable devices can play a crucial role in outlining a proper and personalized treatment plan.



The main bottlenecks of adopting digital transformation in healthcare



As numerous researches state, the healthcare industry is ready for digitization and acknowledges the benefits that it will bring. However, only a few healthcare facilities have started taking steps towards digital transformation. Why is that?



Lack of tech talent



We’ve already mentioned this point above. Healthcare organizations lack in people who can manage and support the implementation of new technologies. Thus, health systems may want to consider expanding their talent pool both geographically (i.e., hiring experts from different locations) and outside the healthcare industry (this may mean collaborating with software providers). According to Deloitte, hiring needed tech talents was a top investment priority for one third of survey respondents, which means health systems understand the bottleneck and aim to eliminate it.



Cybersecurity



Any healthcare organization processes massive amounts of sensitive information on a daily basis. In order to effectively store and process PHI (protected health information), health systems need to have robust security policies in place. 



However, implementation of cybersecurity policies requires a significant amount of time and resources. This might be a big stopper for many health systems. The good news is, health systems can contact consultants for advice and delegate cybersecurity-related issues to experts.



Lack of resources



Implementation of innovative technologies always calls for corresponding infrastructure, which many organizations lack. As well, these technologies need to be integrated with current systems in use. The problem is, many organizations use outdated software that is not compatible with modern industry standards and market demands. This creates a big bottleneck that many health facilities are not yet ready to address.



Lack of clear KPIs



In order to successfully undergo digital transformation, a health organization needs to clearly understand what exactly needs to be improved in the first place. It’s not enough to just list down several big technologies and implement them - it is important to outline a strategy and define milestones and goals to achieve.



Unfortunately, not all healthcare organizations do thorough planning when it comes to digitization. And since they don’t see immediate ROI and value, they might negatively view the adoption of new technologies. 



Thus, it is important to set clear KPIs and milestones and select technologies that would meet the outlined needs. In this way, an organization will be able to track down progress, see tangible improvements and adjust the digitization strategy accordingly.



Summing up



Digital transformation of healthcare is steadily gaining traction, but there is still a long way to go. Probably the best way to start the process is for healthcare facilities to partner with software vendors since the latter ones have needed tech experience and skills. And obviously, the adoption of every new technology should be performed in correspondence with the well-defined implementation plan. By taking one step at a time, health systems will be able to grow needed expertise and meet their goals within a defined timeline.

### A Trip Back in Time: the History of JavaScript

JavaScript is a programming language that has become an essential part of web development. In many ways, the history of JavaScript mirrors the history of the modern Internet. This language is everywhere, and for the tenth year in a row, it has been ranked the most commonly used programming language according to surveys by StackOverflow. 



In this article, we will take a deep dive into the history of JavaScript, from its humble beginnings to its current state. 







What is JavaScript?



JavaScript is a high-level, multi-paradigm programming language primarily used for website development alongside HTML and CSS. While HTML and CSS provide the structure and style of a website, JavaScript enables the addition of interactive features and behaviors. This allows visitors to engage with the website in more exciting ways. Also note that the language is not limited to a specific type of operating system and supports event-driven, functional, and imperative programming styles such as object-oriented and prototype-based. 



JavaScript has gained immense popularity since its release in 1995. According to Statista, 65% of developers are using JavaScript worldwide today, and it surpassed other languages such as Java and Python. What makes JavaScript so developer-friendly is the fact that it’s relatively easy to learn and allows developers to rapidly build apps with massive audiences.



You can use JavaScript to create:









Like all languages, JavaScript is constantly changing. Here's a brief overview of JavaScript's version history and how this programming language has evolved.



History and evolution of JavaScript



The history of JavaScript started with Netscape Communications Corporation - an American independent computer services company. In 1994, the company dominated the browser market with its Netscape Navigator web browser. But in late 1995, Microsoft entered the arena with Internet Explorer. They tried to take control of the emerging technology from Netscape, so Microsoft became a threat to the company. Easy to guess, Netscape lost to it and other competitors in the first browser war, but the company succeeded in another field.



To remain competitive, Netscape sought to expand its audience by incorporating a scripting language that would enable interactions with the Document Object Model (DOM). Marc Andreessen, the founder of Netscape Communications, had the vision that the web needed a way to become more dynamic. At the time, the web was very limited and slow as people used dial-up connections through telephone lines and modems. When filling out forms on websites, validation for input fields had to be done through a full round trip to the server. This was a slow process and could result in data loss if the form wasn't filled out correctly. To address this issue, Netscape Communications came up with a solution. They decided to enable validation of input fields on the client side to avoid the need for a full round trip to the server. This process required a small scripting language that would be available for both software engineers and people without extensive programming experience.



Netscape Communications then allied with Sun Microsystems. To outdo Microsoft's Internet Explorer, their collaborative plan involved incorporating Sun's Java programming language into the Netscape Navigator 2 browser. Thus, in April 1995, Netscape Communications hired Brendan Eich to develop and introduce a new scripting language for the browser. Eich had only 10 days to create a prototype yet he nailed the challenge. The new language was initially called Mocha and it was designed to resemble Java, which was important to both Netscape and Sun. To achieve this, Eich utilized syntax influenced by C and implemented naming conventions similar to Java. He incorporated the prototype-based object model from the Self language, allowing objects to inherit directly from other objects. He also added first-class functions similar to those found in Lisp. This approach treated functions as variables, resulting in a language that combined the syntax of Java, the object orientation of Self, and the functional style of Scheme. 



Near the release, the name was changed from Mocha to LiveScript, and later to JavaScript. It was mainly a marketing tactic to portray the new language as a supporting scripting language to Java. Thus, simple, dynamic, and accessible to non-developers, a new scripting language for the web was released in September 1995. 



Initially, JavaScript was not well-received. Skilled Java developers believed that the language was too basic and not up to their standards, while designers and authors found it too challenging to work with. However, JavaScript changed the way the public saw the internet and gave web designers the possibility to make creative and interactive web page designs. And for a while, JavaScript helped Netscape Navigator maintain its position as a market leader. 



JScript and ECMAScript



At the time of JavaScript's introduction by Netscape, there was intense competition among browser vendors in the market. Other vendors were creating their own versions of JavaScript using different names and syntax. In 1996, soon after the launch of Netscape Navigator 3, Microsoft released a new version of its web browser called Internet Explorer 3, which had an implementation of its version of JavaScript called JScript. Because JavaScript was open and freely licensed, Microsoft was able to reverse-engineer its implementation. Thus, there were two versions of JavaScript with no standardization in place. This became a bother for developers, as the code that worked perfectly in one browser was useless in another. 



To avoid further conflicts, in 1997, Netscape turned to the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) and asked them to standardize JavaScript. By opening up JavaScript to a wider audience, the decision to standardize the language through the ECMA committee allowed other potential implementers to have a say in its evolution while maintaining accountability. The ECMA committee created a standard known as ECMA-262, which defined a new scripting language called ECMAScript. This general-purpose scripting language was adopted by all browsers as the basis for their own implementations of JavaScript, ensuring adherence to a common standard.



ECMAScript 2 and ECMAScript 3 



In 1998 and 1999, ECMAScript 2 and ECMAScript 3 versions were released. They included editorial changes and a few new functions. The second version of the standard was released to fix inconsistencies between ECMA and the ISO standard for JavaScript. The version of ECMAScript 3 became widespread. It was backed by all major browsers of that era and remained supported for many years. As a result, ECMAScript 3 became the foundation for numerous libraries, even after the release of later versions of the standard. Despite being more popular than ever, JavaScript remained primarily a client-side language.



ECMAScript 4 and ECMAScript 5



Unfortunately, the following years were not good for JavaScript development. Work on ECMAScript 4 had begun as soon as version 3 came out and many interesting features were discussed internally at Netscape. However, the committee could not agree on its feature set, as the majority thought that many suggestions were big in scope and too complex, which was not the appropriate course for JavaScript. Thus, the release date was being pushed further and further away.



But in July 2008, the committee came to an agreement and decided to combine all relevant work and continue the development of the language. Thus, ECMAScript 5 was released in December 2009. This version brings several enhancements to the standard library and even has updated language semantics. ECMAScript 5 became one of the most supported versions of JavaScript. It was fully supported by Firefox in 2011, followed by Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer in 2012. None of these changes required major syntax updates, and it was overall a modest improvement that helped JavaScript become more usable. It became fully supported by all browsers in 2014. 



ECMAScript 2015 and further versions



By 2015, JavaScript was gradually evolving into the language we are familiar with today. It took seven years to move from the finalized version of ECMAScript 5 to the launch of ECMAScript 6, initially named Harmony, and later renamed as ECMA2015. This version was drastically different from the previous one, and it remains the most significant update to JavaScript to date. This new major version required transpilers, such as Babel or Typescript, to be compatible with older browsers. More intricate frameworks like React and Vue were also introduced, leading to the development of bundlers like Browserify and webpack to help manage dependencies.



After the 2015 big release, the committee decided to add new, smaller updates to the JavaScript language every year. Thus, in June 2022, the ECMA approved the specifications for ECMAScript 2022, which is the 13th edition of the JavaScript standard.



Ajax



In 2005, Jesse James Garrett released a paper introducing Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML) - a suite of technologies that included JavaScript. Ajax allows you to read data from a web server after the page has loaded, update a web page without reloading the page, and send data to a web server. It sends only the crucial information to the server, rather than the entire webpage, thereby reducing the load on the server. So the interactive web pages can be processed and loaded more quickly. This will help in faster processing and loading of the interactive web pages. 



The introduction of Ajax greatly improved user experience by making web pages feel more like native desktop applications. It has allowed developers to create websites where the browser would never refresh or reload a page when a link is clicked. As a result, JavaScript gained more recognition as a professional programming language.



JavaScript vs. Java



Despite the similarity in their names, JavaScript and Java are two different programming languages.



Java is an object-oriented, class-based programming language that was developed by Sun Microsystems in the mid-1990s. It is compiled into bytecode that can run on any platform that has a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) installed. Java is often used for building large-scale enterprise applications, Android mobile apps, and server-side web applications.



On the other hand, JavaScript is a high-level, interpreted programming language. It is primarily used for client-side web development and can be inserted into HTML pages. JavaScript code is written in text and can be organized, saved, edited, and operated as text files. It supports event-driven, functional, and object-oriented programming paradigms. The language is also widely used for creating interactive web pages, web applications, and mobile applications.



JavaScript was created to be interpreted at runtime, making it more dynamic. Programs made from Java can run on either a virtual machine or a browser. JavaScript programs are mostly run in a browser. Another significant difference is that both languages require different libraries and plug-ins to function. 



What makes JavaScript unique



JavaScript has several unique features that set it apart from other programming languages:




It can be fully integrated with HTML and CSS;



It is supported by all major browsers;



There are numerous frameworks written in Javascript (like React, Angular, Vue, React Native, etc.);



JavaScript allows creating actions like button clicks, form submissions, and animations;




JavaScript today



Today, JavaScript is one of the most widely used programming languages in the world, and it continues to evolve with new features and capabilities. According to Statista, JavaScript is used as a client-side programming language by 98.3% of all websites. Websites of the world’s largest web applications like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are built with the help of JavaScript. It is used for both client-side and server-side programming and has a wide range of frameworks and libraries that make it easier for developers to build complex web applications. And there are even more interesting updates that are coming in the future.




 

FAQ

### Big Data for Banks and Finance Industry: What Benefits Does It Bring?

Big Data is a valuable asset for companies across all industries as part of their digitization strategy. However, the financial industry for a long time remained quite hesitant about implementing new, innovative technologies. 



But today, the banking industry seems to have fully embraced big data and uses it to serve customers in a more efficient manner and to keep up with changing trends and requirements. This article describes the biggest use cases of big data for banks as well as the major challenges that companies face when deciding to implement business analytics.







What is Big Data in a nutshell?



While there is no single definition of big data, we can define it as complex and varied data sets that consist of various information types and are too massive to be processed by traditional tools. Hence, big data processing requires the use of specific business analytics tools as well as innovative technologies like Machine Learning. 



Getting back to the big data, there are three main types of it:




Structured: the data is well-organized and exists in a unified, fixed format;



Unstructured: the information is stored in various formats and is not organized;



Semi-structured: the information can be both structured and unstructured.




The reason for these types to exist is that big data consists of information collected from multiple and various sources. Hence, a company may own various types of information, depending on its approach towards information collection and storage.



As for the characteristics of big data, its size is not the only feature that makes it different from a regular data set. There are four key characteristics of big data:




Volume: implies the enormous size of the data;



Variety: means big data consists of various data types (see above) and is heterogeneous;



Velocity: implies high speed of data generation and its continuous flow;



Variability: means there is a possibility of information inconsistency due to various sources.




If we look at examples of big data for banks, they include one’s spending patterns, credit information, demographic information, financial position, or social media behavior. And banks and financial institutions generate such kinds of information on a regular basis.



Now the question is: how does big data really help in banking and what tangible benefits does it bring? 



Big Data for banks: the biggest use cases



The ultimate goal of any organization is to attract and retain customers and encourage them to complete conversions. With the help of big data, the banking industry now has a perfect chance to optimize its services, boost customer satisfaction, and keep up with arising FinTech startups.



Customer segmentation and profiling



It is essential to know and understand who your customers are in order to effectively server them. For a long time, banks and financial institutions used limited and basic information (i.e. demographics) to create customer profiles.



Now, thanks to the Internet and the availability of data-collection tools, banks can gather all sorts of information about their customers and use it in order to create highly accurate customer portraits. This, in turn, leads to accurate customer segmentation. And granular customer segmentation assists with the following:




More accurate and relevant marketing campaigns;



Knowledge of one’s behavior, needs and wants;



Analysis of one’s financial habits;



Reduced chances of proposing wrong offers.




In short, customer segmentation helps banks create highly detailed portraits of their customers and use them to plan marketing activities and further interactions with customers.



Personalized experience



In relation to the point above, big data can help banks take their customer service to the brand-new level through highly personalized customer experience.



By knowing what each customer exactly wants, financial institutions can provide highly relevant offers and predict one’s needs. And there is no need to remind you how much personalization matters these days. For instance, approximately 70% of customers claim that personalized offers are highly important to them when it comes to banks and financial services. However, only 14% of customers feel like they receive enough personalization. One of the reasons for that is outdated technology, according to Deloitte. Thus, the adoption of analytics platforms and machine learning may instantly take one’s financial company to the next level and make it immediately stand out from the competition.



And obviously, better customer segmentation and personalization can help banks improve their up-selling and cross-selling strategies. The more the banks know about their clients, the better options they identify to effectively sell a product or service. 





Harness big data for smarter decisions



Turn vast amounts of data into actionable insights with our big data solutions. From data processing to analytics, SoftTeco helps businesses unlock new opportunities.




Let’s talk






Risk management



Risk management is a big and critical part of any business within the industry of finances, and big data can significantly help you here. By collecting and analyzing historical information and by using corresponding predictive analytics tools, a company can assess and forecast possible risks. And by knowing about risks in advance, it becomes much easier to prevent or mitigate them. 



There are various risk management use cases for the big data in financial services:




Vendor Risk Management: by analyzing the available information, financial institutions can better assess their vendors and the severity of possible risks. In this way, organizations can indemnify themselves against threats in advance and minimize the chances of fraudulent behavior.



Fraud prevention: when you use machine learning tools for your big data analysis, you can easily detect suspicious activity that usually leads to fraud. This allows companies to timely react to any possible risk and eliminate it before any serious damage is done.



Churn detection: with the help of an appropriate risk management tool, financial institutions can analyze customers’ behavior and, hence, identify the possibility of churn at an early stage. Churn detection will, in turn, positively affect the retention rate as banks will be able to timely take necessary actions.




As you can see, the use of big data for financial services can help banks significantly cut down their financial losses that usually happen if you don’t treat risks right. But obviously, banks need to adopt corresponding analytics tools in order to make the most out of their information - more on that below.



Growth acceleration



As McKinsey puts it, the use of big data in banking promotes organizational growth and enhanced productivity. If a bank creates detailed customer profiles and builds its marketing strategy around them, it will inevitably bring profit and will result in growth. The reason for that is that customers will be more willing to buy since the bank will provide them with value and will offer something of interest. 





What stops banks and financial institutions from adopting banking analytics?



Despite all the benefits that big data brings to the financial industry, many institutions and banks are still hesitant about adopting digitization. There are several reasons for that - let’s have a closer look at them.



Outdated software



We’ve already stated that, as per McKinsey, outdated software is among the top reasons why financial organizations are unwilling to adopt innovative technologies, including banking analytics. In order to do so, a bank would have to redesign its existing system to make it compatible with the needed software solution. And this might take too much time and resources.



Lack of needed resources



Proper information processing requires many resources, including specific specialists (like data scientists), implementation (and sometimes development) of an ML model for information processing and analysis, and implementation of the selected analytics solution. Add to that the fact that an organization needs to have a scalable and robust infrastructure - and you will understand why many banks consider the process too cumbersome.



Lack of needed compliances



Financial institutions are subject to many regulations, such as GDPR, FINRA, or FinCEN. Hence, in order to effectively use the selected software, banks first need to prove they are compliant with all needed regulations. Once again, it might take too much time and resources to establish all needed procedures and successfully implement them.



Lack of short-term results



As some experts believe, one of the reasons why banks are so slow with the adoption of technological innovations is that they do not see short-term results. It might take more than 5 years to start receiving sufficient ROI from implementing a single software solution, and for some organizations, the wait is not worth it.



How can banks use big data to its fullest potential?



Though big data brings financial institutions immense benefits, we’ve mentioned the reasons why many banks and financial companies still don’t take advantage of this asset. So what does one need in order to unlock the power of the available big data?



Make sure you properly collect and store all the information



Your organization may be collecting information from numerous sources, so the first thing you need to do is identify every source and make sure the storage solution corresponds to the data type that you collect. For example, if you collect and use structured data only, you will need a data warehouse. But if you use unstructured data too, you will need a data lake. 



Ensure the data is effectively processed and analyzed



To process and analyze big data for banks, you will need an effective analytics tool such as Hadoop, Apache Spark, or RapidMiner. Such tools are specifically designed for big data analytics in banking and their features allow them to handle big loads of information, cleanse and analyze them, and present the needed insights in a user-friendly manner.



Hire needed talents



Usually, work with big data requires corresponding specialists like data scientists and data engineers. While data engineers are responsible for creating the infrastructure and data pipelines, data scientists are the ones who extract the needed insights and analyze the information. Note though that these roles are usually required when a company plans to work with Machine Learning. While this technology is undoubtedly valuable, an analytics tool might be enough.



Ensure a high level of security



If you have not yet done so, we highly recommend revising your workplace security and implementing security policies that will ensure all the information within the company is safeguarded. Thus, your organization will comply with all needed regulations and will gain more trust from the clients’ side.




 


Expert Opinion



Big data has become a natural component in the banking and finance industry, helping to enhance client segmentation, risk management, operational efficiency, and customized services. Financial firms can use big data to create detailed customer profiles, predict client demands, and enhance their marketing strategies. However, there are also significant challenges, such as outdated technology, issues with compliance, and the need for highly skilled workers and robust security measures.



To fully fulfill the promise of big data, banks should utilize pragmatic strategies, advanced data analysis tools, and industry innovations and trends. In order to enhance the effective utilization of big data in finance, case studies that emphasize practical applications and comprehensive technical insights ought to be incorporated.





Head of DS & ML Dept 



Alexander Gedranovich






 




Summary



There are many use cases of big data for banks, and now is the best time to adopt it in order to remain competitive and retain customers’ interest. With digitization becoming a new standard for doing business, banks and financial organizations need to keep up with emerging fintech companies and consider strengthening their brands with new and powerful tech solutions.




 

FAQ

### The Main Difference Between TypeScript and JavaScript to Know About

Developers often wonder whether to use TypeScript or JavaScript for their projects. Initially, JavaScript was introduced as a language for client-side development. But as the JavaScript code grew bigger, it became messier and harder to maintain and reuse. JavaScript didn’t succeed as a server-side technology due to its lack of strong typing and compile-time error checking. Because of this, TypeScript was introduced with the aim to overcome this gap. Despite their homogeneity, both TypeScript and JavaScript differ significantly. Thus, let’s have a look at TypeScript vs. JavaScript and learn the feasible benefits and drawbacks of each. 



The transformation of JavaScript into TypeScript



JavaScript is a scripting language developed by Netscape in 1995. Due to its extensive use in web development, JavaScript was eventually adapted as a server-side programming language. But, unfortunately, it could not meet the demand for all backend established requirements. Due to the difficulties related to the development of highly functional large-scale applications, companies needed a new solution and a new server-side language.



When a code becomes too big, complex, and prone to errors, it is better if the errors are caught during compilation - that's where TypeScript comes in. Microsoft released Typescript as a superset of JavaScript in October 2012 with an aim to overcome the existing JavaScript challenges and make the development more secure and easier. In this way, TypeScript has become a great alternative used to create efficient client-side and server-side apps.



In terms of comparing TypeScript vs. JavaScript, let's start with JavaScript first.



JavaScript: what is it, and when is it used?



All of us are familiar with JavaScript - a cross-platform, dynamic scripting language with first-class functions. In contrast to the most popular programming languages that require a compiler, JavaScript is converted to machine code by using an interpreter. In other words, JavaScript is a translated language, not a compiled one. 



JavaScript has gained popularity for its versatility and is commonly used to develop web pages, backend, and interactive apps. JavaScript was previously used for front-end development only. However, with virtual engines like Google V8 (Node.js) or SpiderMonkey, it can nowadays be applied to server-side development as well.. One of the main features of JavaScript is dynamic typing. It checks types and detects datatype errors during runtime. This, in turn, allows program components to adapt and change on the fly. In addition to that, JavaScript has many other interesting features, such as:





TypeScript: what is it and when is it used?



As defined, TypeScript is an object-oriented and open-source language. It is also known as a superset of JavaScript. That means any JavaScript code can run in a TypeScript environment by changing the extension from .js to .ts with the help of the TypeScript compiler. Although the language is similar to JavaScript, some differences still remain. 



TypeScript is used both for front-end and back-end development. You can run it on any browser that supports scripting languages based on JavaScript. It relies on static typing, which makes TypeScript easier to debug and to find errors early. Consequently, it is suitable for the development of complex and large-scale projects. Being an enhanced version of JavaScript, TypeScript offers impressive features, such as:




Static typing and annotations;



Compilation;



JS libraries support;



Compatibility with any device, browser, or OS;



ES6 features support (ECMAScript);



Interfaces;



Modules support;



Generics support;



Full-featured IDE support.




Must-have types of TypeScript



The type system in TypeScript is extremely powerful. It provides type safety and allows developers to scale with ease and speed. In TypeScript, a type is a way to refer to different properties and functions of a value. TypeScript inherits built-in types from JavaScript, including primitive types (string, number, boolean, null, symbol, and undefined). However, TypeScript also offers its own special types, such as:




Enum: provides a named set of constant values, which can be used to model real-world concepts, such as days of the week;



Any: represents a value of any type. It can be used to type variables dynamically, but it is often considered a last resort, as it reduces the benefits of TypeScript's type checking;



Void: represents the absence of a value typically used as the return type of functions that do not return a value;



Never: represents a value that never occurs. It is typically used as the return type of function that throws exceptions or does not return;



Unknown type: a variable type is not known. It has to be checked by a developer before it is used.




These TypeScript types allow developers to understand what values are associated with variables and help them analyze code for bugs and errors. In addition, TypeScript has ways to deal with types that JavaScript does not. Let's consider some of them:



Union Types



Developers can use union types when a value can be of more than one type. For example, when a property is a string or a number. The union type allows the TypeScript compiler to track whether the code always takes the right value. It checks type compatibility and generates type information during runtime. No matter what will be received (e.g., a string, number, or object), we can ensure that each case will be handled without unit testing.



Type Aliases



Type aliases create a new name to refer to that type that can be reused throughout code, instead of writing it by hand. Unlike type unions, where explicit type information is used repeatedly, it’s a convenient way to simplify complex or repetitive types and improve code readability.



Interfaces



TypeScript has in-built support for interfaces. An interface defines the specification of an object. It describes the contract that states what data structure should be used but doesn’t specify how it will be done. As you’ve already realized, interfaces help define a concrete plan for implementing an object. Using interfaces correctly can improve the performance of code you write.



Utility Types



Utility types are constructed to work with base TypeScript types. This is a handy tool for simplifying complicated type descriptions or changing existing ones. These types use generics, which allow developers to customize the results of their work. As a result, developers can save effort and make their code concise, which means less error-prone. So, let's take a look at simple but powerful utility types:




Pick: creates a new type based on an existing type;



Omit: creates a new type by excluding one or multiple properties from a type (opposed to Pick);



Partial: creates a type with all properties set to optional;



Require: creates a type with all properties of Type set to required (opposed to Partial);



Readonly: create a type with all properties set to read-only;



Record: constructs an object type of property keys from keys and the value of type;



Return: constructs a type from the return type of function type. 




In a nutshell, developers should use it to avoid hard-coding types. Besides the above, many other types of TypeScript documentation assist developers to write cleaner code.



The pros and cons of JavaScript and TypeScript



Now let's return to a controversial question: which is better? For that, let’s take a deep look at the pros and cons of both languages.



Benefits and drawbacks of JavaScript



In order to comprehend why developers should consider this language, let's look at the benefits JavaScript can offer:




Speed: it is not necessary to compile the code every time, which speeds up the development and debugging significantly. Also, client-side scripts run faster due to client-server connections and lower server load;



Simple: it is easy to understand and learn JavaScript due to its clear structure;



Rich interfaces: JavaScript offers developers various options for creating eye-catching webpages to improve user engagement;



Server load: as JS runs on the client-side, it is possible to validate the data on the browser itself, rather than send the data to a server;



Compatibility: the language is supported by a wide range of browsers and platforms;



Enhanced functionality: third-party extensions allow developers to add snippets of predefined code to their own code, thus saving the development time and resources. 




Among JavaScript’s drawbacks are:




Interpretation inconsistency: different browsers interpret JavaScript differently. Thus, the code must be tested on various platforms before it is published;



Poor support of old browsers: to make modern JavaScript code work in older browsers, you will need to use Babel;



Security: there is no 100% guarantee of code security since it is possible to download a library with malicious scripts or to remove/modify it;



Difficult bug discovery: the lack of a strict type makes it more difficult to detect errors at the early stage. 




Benefits and drawbacks of TypeScript



While TypeScript inherits some features of JavaScript, its main strength lies in static typing. The language offers a number of benefits, such as: 




Static type-checking: helps type-checking during the compilation time. Thus, a developer can detect errors while writing code without running the script;



Fast updates: regular upgrades are required to keep the code maintainable. TypeScript makes it easier to update or refactor the apps;



Compatibility: the language runs smoothly on any device, platform, or browser;



Decorators: with this feature, you can add new behavior, existing objects, or functions without modifying the source code;



Generic types: this feature allows creating 'type variables' which can be used to create classes, functions, type aliases with no need to specify the type explicitly. Thus, generics make it easier to write reusable code;



Readability: by adding strict types and other elements, the code becomes more readable for developers;



Rich IDE support: TypeScript is supported by many IDEs, including Visual Studio and WebStorm.




In light of the TS benefits, let's consider scenarios where it is not the right fit - in other words, its drawbacks:




Steep learning curve: developers still need to invest a lot of time and effort to learn various TS types and their specific features;



Long compilation: TS files must be compiled before they are run and, as a result, the compilation takes a long time;



Bloated code: enhanced code readability means writing more code, which can slow down the development and lead to bloated code;



False sense of security: despite common beliefs, the TypeScript compiler may miss some errors, so developers need to double-check their code.




The main differences between TypeScript and JavaScript



In order to select the most suitable language for your project, it is important to clearly understand the difference between Typescript and JavaScript. We’ve collected the main features for a head-to-head comparison in the table below.



TypeScriptJavaScriptTypingStrongly typed with static typingLoosely typed with dynamic typing only UsageUsed to develop complex and large projectsUsed to create simple and quick websites and scriptsCompilationDuring development, it identifies possible compilation errorsThe compilation isn’t requiredData bindingUtilizes terms like interfaces and types to describe the dataNo such termsLearning curveIt takes time to learn JavaScript beforehand and to understand all needed OOPS conceptsIt is easy to learn and is flexible for writing web scriptsSupportEasy support of new features in many browsers, even ES3-compatible onesA specific browser version supports only a particular set of featuresSyntaxA program uses specific syntax based on JS. But it also has type annotations, interfaces, classes, and other featuresA program contains syntax based on ECMA specificationsWell-known clientsSlack, Asana, Typeform, CanvaFacebook, Netflix, Microsoft, and Uber



Will TypeScript Replace JavaScript?



Overall, TypeScript is a suitable solution for developers dealing with a large code base and wanting to streamline it with a focus on speed. Consequently, as code grows and becomes more complex, errors become more likely, which can be detected more easily during compilation. TypeScript allows developers to write in JavaScript (if they want to) while adding new features that make it easier to work with classes and modules and build more complex programs.



When it comes to flexibility, JavaScript offers a superior alternative since it enables developers to implement functionalities without relying on a set of rules. As a result, it is easier to run, compile and debug small code chunks because the code runs directly in a browser. The most recent versions of ECMAScript provide advanced JavaScript features that improve performance and productivity. As JavaScript spreads into new domains (IoT and Artificial Intelligence), the need for refactoring and writing tools becomes even more critical.



Comparing TypeScript vs. JavaScript, both languages have their benefits and drawbacks. TypeScript helps make up for the “weaknesses” of JavaScript. Thus, the right solution for your project will depend on business and technical requirements. The verdict is that TypeScript will co-exist with JavaScript rather than take over it. In addition, the popularity of JavaScript and Typescript will flourish side-by-side.




 

FAQ

### Java Interview Questions for a Technical Interview

A technical interview is an integral part of the hiring process for a software engineer. And while some interview questions will be unique for your specific company, there is a set of common questions that are always asked with the aim to test one’s technical knowledge. In this article, we’ve collected the most common questions on Java that one might expect during the interview. We hope these Java interview questions will help you prepare for the upcoming interview or they will simply refresh your memory and knowledge of Java.







Why is String immutable?



String is not a primitive type in Java. It is defined as a public final class. So this keyword makes String immutable. Why is it necessary? String helps to keep all strings in the string pool in the Java memory and to use it as a unique key. This is very important when we use strings as keys, or when we store secure passwords in a database.



The immutability of the String helps avoid situations when a hacker tries to forge your password or other sensitive information. So instead of changing, a new line is created with a new link and a hashcode. Also, String is thread-safe due to its immutability.



What is a collection? 



The collection is a Java framework that helps to perform a lot of operations with data such as sorting, searching, manipulation, insertion, etc.



Interface Collection extends from interfaces Iterable. And the following interfaces are extended from it: Set, Queue, List. 





How does HashMap work internally?



When talking about the most common Java interview questions, it is worth mentioning the Map interface and its implementation known as HashMap which is a collection of entry points (key and value). Data is kept in 16 baskets by default. When we want to put an entry into a map, we have to calculate the hashcode for the key, and then apply hash() function for it. As a result, we get a number of busts for our value.



What is Spring?



Spring is an open-source Java framework. It is a dependency injection container. Spring helps you to create a Java application in a fast and comfortable way. This container manages your classes and class dependencies too. In addition, Spring helps to create and inject all dependencies and configurations and then put them into context, where they are kept while the app is running (or not - it depends on the bean scope).



What is Spring Boot? 



Spring boot is one of the frameworks in the Spring ecosystem. It helps to create apps quickly with special spring-boot-starters dependencies. All you need is to add it to your pom.xml or gradle.build and start to develop. You don;t need to think about any configurations like configs for Hibernate (if you use spring-data-jpa) or Tomcat. It has configurations "from the box". But if you want, you can configure that project as you wish.



How to work with Authentication in Spring Security?



When we speak about Spring Security we normally use the Authentication object. Before authentication, the field Princical keeps only the username, the field Credential keeps the password and the field “isAuthenticated” = false. After authentication, we return the Authentication object again. But in this case, Princical keeps UseDetails object, Credential = null and  “isAuthenticated” = true. 



How to secure Restful web services? 



When we want to configure access for any endpoint, we can do it with several methods:



1. In SecurityConfig - using antMathers pattern;



http.authorizeRequests()
    .antMatchers("/api/admin/**").hasRole(ADMIN)
    .antMatchers("/api/doctor/**").hasAnyRole(DOCTOR,ADMIN)



2. In the service or controller layer - use annotations like “@PreAuthorithed” or “@Secured”. 



@Secured("ROLE_ADMIN")
public String getUsername() {
    // do smth
}

@PreAuthorize("hasRole('ROLE_DOCTOR')")
public String getUsername() {
    // do smth
}



We can configure access depending on any Roles or Permissions.



What is JWT in Spring security?



JWT is a JSON object which is one of the most secure ways of transmitting information between two members. It includes a header, a payload and a signature. How does it work? 



A user sends a login and a password to the authorization server, which authorizes the user and returns JWT. The user uses it when making API calls to the App server. The server verifies JWT and invokes a call. It is important to remember though that JWT does not encrypt the payload information. It only helps to verify if the information is really sent from authorized users. 



What is Singleton?



In Spring, we are dealing with several types of bean scopes. By default, the scope of any bean is a singleton. This means that the bean is created immediately when the application is launched at the stage of creating the context. It is also fully configured and placed in the Spring container. A Singleton means that the given object has one and only one implementation. And every call to an instance of the class will be made to the same instance.



What are annotations in Java?



Annotation is a marker, which we use in classes, methods, or fields. Sometimes it’s enough (for example @Override annotation), but sometimes it also includes additional logic. In that case we must create (or use) a handler of annotations for it. For creating our custom annotations we must declare it by using the @interfase keyword. Then we add metainfo to specify the scope and the target. 



@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
@Target(ElementType.Type)
public @interface MyCustomAnnotation {
}



And finally, we must develop a handler for annotation by using Java Reflection API.



private void checkIfHasAnnotation(Object object) {
   if (Objects.isNull(object)) {
       //do smth
   }

   Class<?> clazz = object.getClass();
   if (!clazz.isAnnotationPresent(MyCustomAnnotation.class)) {
       //do smth
   }
}



Now we can use our annotation @MyCustomAnnotation in the code.



Class vs Object 



Class and object are the main things to learn in Java. Java is an OOP language. Thus, we can represent the entire code as the interaction of various objects with each other. A class is a template for implementing an object. Many objects can be created based on one class. We can describe it this way: the class is the recipe for cooking the dish, and the object is the dish itself.





What is the version of Java and what are the major changes in versions?



Among the main Java interview questions this one might be the easiest but some developers tend to overlook it. So, what do you need to know about Java versions?



The first version of Java was created in 1996. And in 2023 we now have versions from JDB Beta, JDK 1.0 to JDK 18. But we can use in production only the LTS (long-term support) versions. The following LTS versions are most common at the moment: JDK 8, JDK 11, and JDK 17. Major changes in versions:




JDK 8 - functional interfaces, lambda, stream API, date & time API



JDK 11 - HttpClient, removing Java EE modules



JDK 17-  Vector API, Memory API, deprecated Security Manager




What is an interface in Java?



An interface is a reference data type and it contains methods with and without implementation. An interface may be implemented in a class and the logic of all methods is implemented there, or existing implementations can be used. Java allows you to implement several interfaces, as opposed to class extending. An interface can also extend other interfaces. It allows you to work with abstractions and get more flexible, dynamic and less coupled code



What is lambda expression in Java? 



A lambda expression is a block of code that takes parameters and returns a value. Unlike a method, a lambda expression does not need to be given a name and can be implemented directly in the code. The syntax of a lambda expression is as follows:



(param1, param2) -> (doSmth(param1, param2))



For complex operations, you can use the block of code after the arrow:



(param1, param2) -> {
   doSmth1(param1);
   doSmth2(param2);
   return doSmth3(param1, param2);
}



Lambda expressions are widely used in the Stream API.



What is the difference between final,finalize() and finally?



final is a java modifier meaning that the class/variable is immutable (constant). A class marked as final cannot have a child class. A method marked as final cannot be overridden. 



finalize() is a method of the Object class that is called before the garbage collector removes the object from the memory. Most often, overriding this method is required when it is necessary to close some resources before deleting an object. In Java 18 the finalize() is deprecated



finally{} is a block that is used in conjunction with try/catch blocks. It contains code that will be executed on any outcome of the try-block. As a rule, the code is placed in the finally block, which closes the previously opened resources. Try-with-resources can be used instead of the finally block.



You might also find these articles interesting:



What is reflection in Java? 



Reflection is an API that allows you to get information about class variables, its constructors and methods, including private ones. Reflection is often used when writing frameworks and testing. Using reflection during development is considered bad manners and indicates that the project's architecture needs to be redesigned.



What is static in Java?



The static modifier means that the variable/method with which it was applied is shared by the entire class and can be used without creating an instance of the class. If we have multiple instances of the same class with a static variable/method, then they will all refer to the same variable/method. In addition to static variables, static{} blocks are used. Such blocks are initialized before the class is instantiated.



What is an abstract class in Java? 



An abstract class is a class that has an abstract keyword. This class can also have variable methods (defined or not), but it is not possible to create an instance of this class. An abstract class was created in order to implement functionality in its child classes. An abstract class has a lot in common with an interface in Java. It also implements one of the basic principles of OOP aka polymorphism.



What is Stream API in Java?



This API was introduced in Java 8. Its purpose is to make it easier to work with datasets such as collections. Also, lambda expressions can be used in streams. There are two types of operations in streams: intermediate and terminal. Example: 



List<String> list = List.of("anna", "alex", "fred", "alice", "alla", "alfred", "sam");
list.stream() //create stream
       .filter(s -> s.startsWith("a")) //intermediate operation with lambda-expression
       .limit(3) //intermediate operation
       .skip(1)//intermediate operation
       .forEach(System.out::println); //terminate operation








Result : “alex”, “alice” 



There can be any number of intermediate operations, but there is only one final operation. The principle of the flow is as follows: operations on the data begin only when a terminal operator is reached. This leads to the downside of threading - it takes longer than a normal amount of time for a loop.



What are exceptions in Java?



Exceptions are errors or unexpected situations that occur at the stage of compiling or running a program. In Java, all exceptions extend the Throwable class and are divided into two large groups: exceptions and errors. Exceptions, in turn, are checked and not checked (Runtime Exception). Unchecked exceptions occur during code execution and cannot be tracked down during the compile time. 



Examples of such errors are division by zero (ArithmeticException) or incorrect cast (ClassCastException). Errors, like Runtime Exceptions, are unchecked. Errors include situations after which further operation of the application is impossible: for example VirtualMachineError. Checked exceptions can be caught at compile time. They must be handled in one of the following ways: 



1. Wrapped in a try-catch block; 



try {
    //your code
} catch (Exception e) {
    //your code
}



2. Throw the exception above with 'throws'.



public String yourMethod(String str) throws Exception { 
   //your code
}



How to create custom exception?



Creating your own exception is necessary when developing the business logic of an application, when standard exceptions do not give complete information about the reason. To create your own exception, you need to create a class and extend from the Exception or RuntimeException class. Accordingly, your exception will be checked or unchecked. 



public class MyCustomException extends Exception { 
    //your code
}



Then you need to add a class constructor with a String parameter (error message) and call the superclass constructor inside. 



public class MyCustomException extends Exception { 
    public MyCustomException(String errorMessage) {
        super(errorMessage);
    }
}



That's all! You can use your exception and handle it where necessary.



How do access modifiers in Java?



Java has 4 access modifiers: public, private, protected, and default. The strictest modifier is private. Variables and methods that have this modifier are visible only at the level of the class to which they belong. Next comes the protected modifier. In this case, the data is available within the class itself and child classes. If a field or a method does not have an access modifier, then the default modifier is applied to it. This modifier gives access at the package level. The modifier with the widest access is public. Data with this modifier is available both inside and outside the package.



Summing up



We hope these Java interview questions were helpful to you and refreshed your memory on the main features of Java. Comment on th questions that you got right or list those questions that we did not include - we’d love to hear from you!

### What Is AWS Glue? An Overview and Main Features

Data has always been a critical resource for businesses to improve their processes and outperform their competitors. However, to maximize the value of information, organizations must use and store data properly. The achievement of this goal requires powerful solutions. Thus, many businesses that have huge amounts of information and use the ETL process rely on AWS Glue. 



In this article, we're going to answer what is AWS Glue. Read the article to find out more!







What is Glue in AWS?



So what is AWS Glue? It is a serverless ETL service that is integrated across a wide range of Amazon services to prepare and load information easily from multiple sources. Data engineers and developers can use the service to create, run, and monitor ETL jobs with high efficiency and ease. 



Amazon Glue allows users to search for both structured and semi-structured data in the Amazon S3 storage or other sources and gives them a 360-degree view of their assets. On top of that, the service provides customization, orchestration, and monitoring of complex jobs.



The core components 



The service relies on the interaction of various components that work together to help you design and maintain ETL processes. Let’s look at these components in more detail:





Now that we’ve figured out the main components, it’s time to put them together and see how the service operates. 



How it works



We’ve mentioned ETL processes a few times, so let’s clarify what exactly it is before moving forward. When processing their information, companies can choose either an ELT or an ETL approach.



ELT stands for Extract-Load-Transform, which means the data is extracted from the source, loaded into the database in a raw format, and transformed only afterward. ETL (Extract-Transform-Load), on the contrary, implies that the information is extracted, transformed, and only then loaded in the storage. Glue works by the ETL approach, so it’s important to keep that in mind. 



Now, back to the topic.



The service uses cloud services provided by Amazon to orchestrate ETL jobs, and to construct data warehouses and data lakes. Then, it connects these services into one management service aka the AWS Glue Console. The console allows users to monitor and create ETL jobs.AWS Glue can also automatically detect and catalog the data with the Data Catalog. To put the metadata together, the service uses Crawlers. Crawlers and classifiers scan raw data to extract needed attributes and schema information.



Once the Catalog is categorized, the information instantly becomes searchable, queryable, and ready for the ETL process. Users may schedule ETL jobs or select events that trigger a job by using a Job Scheduling System. Further, Glue extracts the information, transforms it by using the code generated in Scala and Python, and loads it into Amazon S3 or Amazon Redshift. The script runs on an Apache Spark environment.



AWS Glue: main features



The main features of the service can be divided into three key categories based on their functions:




Organize and investigate the data;



Prepare, clean, and transform the data for analysis;



Build and monitor jobs.




As you can see, Amazon Glue has all the features one may need to fully operate the information and gain all the needed insights from it. Now let’s look at its most interesting features:




Automated schema discovery: the service enables developers to automate crawlers that collect schema-related data and store it in a catalog;



Drag and drop interface: a drag-and-drop job editor allows users to easily set up their ETL process, and AWS Glue will automatically generate code to convert, extract, and upload the data;



Job Scheduling: ETL jobs can be used on-demand, on a schedule, or based on an event. Schedulers can also be used to build sophisticated ETL pipelines with dependencies between tasks;



Automated Machine Learning: there is an in-built feature called “FindMatches”.The feature detects imperfect copies of records and reduplicates them;



Integrated data catalog: combines data from disparate sources into one single repository;



Automatic code generation: Glue automatically generates scripts based on your input data to extract, transform, and load it. As well, you can use ETL libraries to write your own scripts in Python and Scala, edit existing scripts, and import scripts from external sources;



Developer endpoints: the service offers developers endpoints to edit, debug, and test ETL code. With its interactive sessions, developers can interactively explore and prepare the information using the IDE or notebook.








AWS Glue: when should it be used?



As mentioned earlier, organizations use Glue to run ETL jobs on Apache Spark-based serverless platforms. Usually, AWS Glue is used to:




Explore available data and connect to a variety of sources;



Manage data in a centralized catalog;



Create, run, and monitor ETL pipelines to load the data into data lakes;



Prepare data for the analysis. 




Is Glue suitable for all businesses? Take a look at the following: according to Enlyft, based on company revenue, 43% of companies using AWS Glue are small (under $50 million), 8% are medium-size, and 42% are large (over $1 billion). It's not all about size.



Accordingly, a company that uses AWS for running its apps should definitely consider Glue. In this case, the company needs a lot of resources, i.e. DevOps engineers. Moreover, to implement and operate Glue, developers need to be skilled in a wide range of technical expertise.



However, if a company does not use AWS cloud at all, it’s a bit less clear-cut. If a company is willing to invest time and resources in building a data lake from scratch, choosing AWS cloud services may make sense.



Use of AWS Glue: pros and cons



To decide whether to use AWS Glue or not, it is crucial to look at the strengths and weaknesses of the service. 



The pros of using AWS Glue include:




Maintenance and deployment: the service is serverless, which makes maintenance and deployment easy since it is managed by AWS;



Automatic ETL code: AWS Glue automatically generates ETL code in Scala or Python to streamline data integration operations and also enables you to handle heavy workloads;



Cost-effective solution: pay only for the resources you use during the job running process;



Job scheduling: provides easy-to-use tools to generate and monitor job tasks based on schedule, events, or on-demand;



Data visibility: by using a metadata repository for data, the AWS Glue Data Catalog helps a company keep tabs on all its informational assets;



Support: Glue easily integrates with many AWS services and supports the data stored in Amazon Redshift, Amazon S3, Amazon MSK, and others.




As for the cons and limitations, they are: 




Limited integration: AWS Glue only works with AWS services, so if you want to integrate it with platforms outside of Amazon, it may be difficult; 



Limited database support: it does not support traditional relational database queries, thereby, it only supports SQL-type queries;



Lack of testing environment: developers have to test their code on real data because Glue does not provide a testing environment. Hence, the process becomes tedious and time-consuming;



Need for a specific skill set: AWS Glue runs on Apache Spark. As a result, to modify ETL scripts, developers must know Spark, Scala and Python;



Impossible for real-time operations: when using Glue, all data is first staged on S3. As a result, incremental sync with the data source is not possible.




Now, being aware of the capabilities of this platform, enterprises may worry about the cost of this solution for their business. 



AWS Glue pricing



In addition to the question “what is AWS Glue”, businesses also want to know: how much is AWS Glue?



The good news is that with AWS Glue, you only pay for the time it takes to run your ETL jobs. You don't have to manage resources or pay for the startup or shutdown times. AWS charges you based on the number of data processing units (DPUs) that are used in your ETL job. Besides, each AWS glue component has its features. Based on that, different subscriptions offer different pricing:




ETL jobs and interactive sessions: $0.44 per DPU-Hour for a job;



Data Catalog Storage: charge $1.00 for every 100,000 objects per month. Note that 1,000,000 monthly requests cost the same;



Crawlers: charge $0.44 per DPU hourly. They charge a minimum of 10 minutes per crawl.



Databrew interactive sessions: the first 40 sessions are free, then it’s $1.00 per session;



Databrew jobs: You pay when they calculate how long it took you to clean the data. Each Databrew node costs $0.48 per hour.




It is important to note that pricing may also vary by region. In addition, bear in mind that it is a short list of the costs available on the market. You can find more information on the vendor pricing page about features, pricing subscriptions, and types of Amazon Glue jobs.



Use cases of AWS Glue



There are several common use cases for Glue listed below: 




Integration with Amazon Athena: Athena is a serverless interactive analytics service that allows for the easy creation of databases and tables that can be queried later using AWS Glue Catalog;



Integration with Amazon S3: you can use it to ingest, clean, transform, and structure your information;



Integration with Snowflake: users can manage their programmatic data integration process without worrying about physically maintaining it or maintaining any kind of servers and spark clusters to help manage the data integration process;



Integration with GitHub: allows using ETL code on GitHub;



Creating an event-driven ETL pipeline: with AWS Lambda, you can trigger an ETL job when new data is added to Amazon S3.




Conclusion



AWS Glue helps companies extract, transform, load, and move their data reliably between multiple sources. Many developers and IT experts have been able to reduce the complexity and manual labor related to ETL thanks to the service. But even though AWS Glue offers a variety of benefits, a business should keep in mind that it still has limitations that are to be carefully considered before the implementation. We hope our article answered the “what is AWS Glue” question in detail and that it will help you make a well-informed decision.




 

FAQ

### SoftTeco Has Received ISO 27001 Certification

We are proud to announce that SoftTeco has received the ISO 27001 certification from CERT International. This certificate indicates that SoftTeco is highly rigorous about information security and that we see it as top priority when processing and storing information from our partners, clients, and employees.







The ISO 27001 certification confirms that SoftTeco’s system of information security management adheres to the international standards and to the current needs of the company. As SoftTeco has grown significantly in the past years, we felt the need to adjust and optimize our current information security management system. The system prescribed by ISO 27001 fully suited our needs and hence, we used it as a framework to redesign our ISMS and to certify our physical offices in different countries.



The certificate serves as a proof of our thorough approach towards information security and we expect it to serve as an additional token of trust for our clients and business partners.

### What Is Data Loss Prevention (DLP) And What Do You Need to Know About It?

According to Statista, the average data breach cost in 2022 was $4.35 million. Many companies struggle to protect critical information, such as intellectual property or personal information. Almost 70% of small businesses close within a year because of a large data loss. That is why data loss prevention is an important component of any defense strategy for a company of any size.But what is DLP and how does one implement it properly? Let’s have a closer look at the topic.   







What is data loss prevention?



Data loss prevention (or DLP for short) is a set of tools, technologies, policies, and processes that detect and prevent the loss of sensitive or critical information in a corporate network and ensure that the information was not leaked or compromised. DLP strategies focus on both protecting the data from outside interference and from internal threats. Implementing data loss prevention solutions makes it possible to better identify, manage, and protect valuable business information and assets. Additionally, organizations use DLP to ensure compliance with different law regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS.



There are three main types of DLP solutions that you can choose as part of your information security system: 




Network DLP: secures all network communications like email and web applications. It tracks and monitors all the moving information within the given network and prevents it from leaking. For example, if someone tries to send an email with sensitive information using the company's network, the DLP system will act in accordance with its configured settings. It can encrypt, block, and audit an email or it can report a certain action to the administrator. But that works only when a computer is connected to a network so keep that in mind.



Endpoint DLP: needs to be installed directly onto the endpoint devices like laptops, PCs, or mobiles. It's not dependent on the organization's network, and thus it can protect and monitor the data even in an offline mode. Endpoint DLP can encrypt all information that is transferred to portable devices. It also detects when sensitive data is saved unencrypted in the files on the devices. 



Storage DLP: is similar to endpoint DLP, but it implements your company's rules and policies of data loss prevention on cloud-based storage like Google Workspace and others. It integrates with cloud tools and allows employees to use cloud apps in a more secure manner. 




Why is data loss prevention important?



According to the Fortinet survey, the finance department (41%), the customer access department (35%), and the research and development department (33%) are most vulnerable to internal threats and cyber-attacks. Modern security practices require a high standard of data protection and data loss prevention. Every business needs to ensure that a company's intellectual property and sensitive information are protected from negligent or malicious actions by both internal and external users. Here are three main reasons why organizations need to use DLP.



Protection of personal information



Businesses are subject to mandatory compliance standards imposed by governments. All organizations collect and store Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI), or payment card information of their employees and clients. Mandatory compliance standards require companies to protect this sensitive information. Data loss prevention is the first step in this process as it can identify, classify, and tag sensitive data and monitor activities around that data. Moreover, most DLP tools are built to address the requirements of common compliance standards.



Protection of intellectual property



Every organization owns intellectual property and strategically valuable information that must not be leaked. Losing this information can damage both the company’s finances and reputation. Therefore, you should be able to regulate the policies that safeguard your information against undesired infiltration. A DLP tool can help identify and protect this information from leaking or being abused.



Data visibility



In order to protect valuable information, a company should know where the data is stored, which users have access to it, and for what purpose. Hence, an efficient data loss prevention tool can help identify weak points and eliminate unnecessary risks. To increase the visibility of data movements, organizations can implement a DLP system which will help to track the information throughout the network, endpoints, and cloud.



How does data loss prevention work?



Modern DLP solutions combine context analysis and content awareness to identify and recognize sensitive information and further process it. In the first stage, DLP examines the context of a document (i.e. header, size, format, etc.) to see if it can be classified. If the context is insufficient, it then explores the document using content awareness. In this way, a DLP tool identifies the needed information and takes the corresponding action. It sounds relatively simple - yet, the process of inspection is a bit more complex than you might think. For instance, here are several techniques used for content inspection:




Rule-based: this technique is used to analyze a document’s content by using certain rules or regular expressions. For example, searching for credit card numbers or social security numbers. It can be very effective as a first-step filter but it is usually combined with other approaches.



Exact data matching: it is also called database fingerprinting, as it creates a “fingerprint” of the information, and searches for exact matches from a database. However, the big flaw of this technique is that creating a data dump or accessing live databases can negatively affect performance.



Partial document matching: can identify completely or partially matching files. For example, the same survey form filled out by different people will be considered a matching file. 



Statistical analysis: it uses machine learning algorithms and Bayesian analysis to identify content that violates certain policies or contains sensitive information. The more training information the algorithm receives, the better the results are.  




Remember though that the abovementioned techniques are only a part of the whole data loss prevention strategy. Adequate security also requires an experienced IT team, the right hardware, and proper protocols in place.



Best DLP practices to implement



Even though proper and robust security requires a holistic approach, it’s important to know the best DLP practices you can implement. These practices can serve as a base for further enhancement of your cyber security. Just don’t forget to adjust them in accordance with the processes within your organization.



Identify and classify sensitive data



There is a lot of different information running throughout your organization. To protect it, you need to know what kind of information you have and where it resides. You can use discovery and classification tools to scan your databases. It can help not only with locating data but also with classifying it in accordance with the level of confidentiality. In this way, you will be able to prioritize what’s most sensitive and needs protection in the first place. 



For instance, if the organization stores personal customer information, its loss will lead to severe consequences and hefty violation fines. Therefore, even if the implementation and fine-tuning of data discovery engines can be complicated, they can add more visibility to your data management. The more aware you are of the available information, the better you can protect it.



Implement DLP policies



To create a DLP policy, you need to understand what threats your business can face. DLP policies also outline how a company can protect and share its information. Policies include rules and procedures that a business implements throughout its entire network. 



While working on your policies, remember to consider all types of data:




Data at rest: refers to the information stored in databases, cloud storage, computers, and other devices that is not moved around and is in the “resting” state.



Data in motion: the information that the parties exchange with each other, such as work emails, payment details, etc.



Data in use: the information that users are working with on a daily basis. 




As for the policies implementation, follow these steps:




Establish incident management processes and ensure they are practical for each data category;



Create rules that specify the conditions for the processing, modification, copying, printing, and other use of this information;



Include business processes performed within applications and programs that access confidential information. 




Remember that since every business tends to evolve, these policies must be constantly monitored, refined, and updated according to the occurring changes.



Use encryption



Encryption is one of the most basic and vital steps in defending your data. So even if your encrypted data has accidentally leaked, it will be highly challenging for hackers to view and decipher it. Meanwhile, you can securely share your encrypted files with coworkers without worrying about the data being intercepted while in motion or ending up in the wrong mail. But make sure to balance safety with usability, or it can lower the productivity of your employees.



Educate employees on DLP



There is always a chance for human error. For example, malware can infiltrate corporate networks because an employee has clicked on an attachment to check an email from an unknown source. Thus, you should explain the DLP importance to your employees and educate them on the use of DLP software, main DLP rules, and procedures. Ensure that everyone is aware of how the company is legally required to handle the data it stores. It is also better to talk even about the most obvious security practices like not opening an email from unknown sources.



The limitations of DLP



Data loss prevention systems use a combination of security measures such as signature matching, data fingerprinting, and even intrusion detection to protect sensitive information. DLP software implemented in networks has access to all incoming and outgoing data. Thus, the DLP system must analyze all content and try to match it to block lists determined by the security team. 



But there is always a possibility that the matching can be wrong as the organizations' content is constantly changing. Besides, some DLP systems may become ineffective when the information travels outside the managed network, for example, via personal devices. And obviously, DLPs can’t predict such human factors as sabotage - which might be the case sometimes.



The main idea here is that a DLP solution is not almighty - and below, we list a few other limitations to know about.



Complex configuration and management



Traditional DLPs are not very flexible and that might be an issue. In addition, you’ll need to customize a DLP solution to fit your organization and your needs. This may be challenging as well since DLP software relies on manual data definition, classifications, and configuration of complex rules and policies. For example, you want to hire a freelancer for a specific project, so you need to share the information with this person. Your DLP software can block outside emails or websites, so it can be difficult to find a comfortable way to communicate. 



Besides, IT administrators often create different access rules for different users, which ultimately cannot scale across medium or larger organizations. Thus, DLP management becomes time-consuming and requires ongoing adjustments and optimization following the changes in your organization. As a result, this leads to DLP rules being relaxed over time which in turn results in weak security.   



High costs of certain DLP solutions



Data loss prevention covers a range of tools and software solutions to protect the information via your network, devices, and storage. While larger enterprises can afford to invest in it, this can be a problem for smaller companies. Configuring the DLP solution is time-consuming and requires expensive resources for ongoing adjustments and optimization. Even though the company can afford to buy DLP software, it may also need professional service support from the vendor, which can be expensive. 



Top DLP tools to pay attention to



There is a whole array of DLP solutions out there in the market and it might be hard to navigate through all possible choices. Luckily, many trusted organizations like Gartner regularly publish lists of the best data loss prevention tools. The ratings are normally based on clients’ reviews and list the biggest pros and cons of every tools. Let’s have a look at several of the most popular DLP solutions below.



Forcepoint DLP



Forcepoint is a solution that works on-premise and in the cloud and is aimed at preventing sensitive data from exfiltrating and at delivering unified policy management. The product claims a data-first approach to cybersecurity and is overall considered a very strong tool with rich functionality. Some of its most notable features include:




1500+ predefined templates, policies, and classifiers;



Performs several types of analysis (even the optical character recognition one);



Ensures consistency with the help of a single analysis engine;



User-friendly interface and easy installation of policies.




Mind though that the process of policies customization may be challenging and it might take some time to wrap your head around the product.



Digital Guardian DLP



Digital Guardian is a SaaS DLP that is powered by AWS and belongs to Fortra’s cybersecurity portfolio. It delivers its services in the cloud and is known for a number of interesting features, such as:




Automated data discovery;



Granular policies for better protection of sensitive data;



Integrations with a number of major tech giants;



High scalability and great customer support.




However, some clients believe that there are better alternatives in the market. Digital Guardian does not offer anything unique or outstanding - it’s just good at performing its core task. 



GTB Technologies DLP



One more tool that we’d like to talk about is GTB Technologies DLP. It is suitable for both SMB and enterprises and is available on Azure, AWS, and Google. GTB Technologies DLP works on and off-network, offers quick installation (in less than 5 minutes, according to the official website), and can run either on the provider’s or client’s cloud.



The most interesting features are:




DLP-as-a-service which means hosting by the biggest cloud service providers and the availability of the tool for on-premise use and for private clouds as well;



Additional security features (i.e. application allowlisting/denylisting);



A very high accuracy of detection capabilities;



Lowest TCO.




Overall, GTB Technologies DLP seems like a very robust and reliable solution that received a 4.9 rating on Gartner and collected multiple positive reviews from users.



Conclusion



In the modern world, all businesses are data-driven, and the number of cyber criminals has increased significantly in recent years. Organizations are responsible for the safety of their intelligence and for protecting the information provided by their partners and customers. 



So what is DLP? The answer is: a part of a cybersecurity strategy that is necessary to protect your critical data against attacks and accidents. But remember that a single DLP solution cannot solve all your security problems and you will also need a complex and well-rounded cybersecurity strategy in place. 




 

FAQ

### An Overview of API Security Best Practices

In a tech-driven world, cyberattacks are increasing, thereby businesses need to maintain robust API security as part of their cybersecurity strategy. As for now, APIs can be classified according to protocol, function, and level of access. Based on this, there are different methods to protect sensitive business data. Stay with us and we’ll shed some light on API security best practices, so you’ll take control of attacks in the future. 







What is an API?



Before we focus on API security best practices, let’s get into the question of what an API is and how it works. An application programming interface is a set of programming codes that enable the delivery of data between apps, systems, or servers without user intervention.



Thus, software that needs to access data from another program accesses its application programming interface and defines the requirements for providing data. The other software returns the data requested by the first one. Further, APIs can be called using any programming language or accessed via a webpage opened in the browser. All those ways use architectures like Representational State Transfer (REST) and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) - more below.



However, attackers can hijack API calls and get access to databases. As a result, attackers take over accounts, steal business-critical data and perform service disruption. 



What is API security?



API security is a practice used to protect an application programming interface against various malicious attacks. Moreover, it includes access control and privacy of sensitive data, and identification of attacks in advance.



Typically, application programming interfaces are available over public networks and are very commonly used by attackers. Therefore, organizations must test their APIs regularly to identify vulnerabilities and address them correspondingly. In fact, it is a necessity for any business, and below is why.



Why API security must be a priority



It's no secret that, with the rise of cyberattacks, insecure APIs pose a serious threat. If their security is insufficient, it will affect users, giving hackers access to their sensitive data. Due to this, a company can have significant financial consequences as well as lose the loyalty of customers.



Therefore, application programming interface security is crucial for their successful and secure operation. But before we move further, let's focus on the most common issues that companies usually face.



Typical API security risks



Current software systems face a wide range of threats. So, it’s wise to keep updated on the latest vulnerabilities before an attack occurs. To handle this more effectively, let's review some security risks below:




Broken object-level authorization: occurs when a request can access (or change) the data that the requestor shouldn't have access to. For example, the ability to gain access to another user's account by using a fake ID in a request;



Broken user authentication: occurs when the process can be compromised and an attacker can pose as another user;



Broken function-level authorization: occurs when applications cannot restrict confidential functions to authorized users;



Excess data: occurs when an application (via an API response) returns more data than is relevant for a user to perform a specific action;



Security misconfiguration: occurs when essential security settings are not implemented or have errors that create dangerous gaps;



Injections: occurs when hackers inject malicious elements into web applications, which are then unsafely processed.








API security best practices



Each company implements application programming interface security in a different manner. However, there is a set of best practices that can be applicable to any organization.



Authentication and authorization



For APIs to be secure, authentication and authorization are equally important. Authentication deals with verifying the user's identity. While authorization focuses on what the authorized user has access to. But together, they ensure that the right user can use the API to access the data at different levels. 



Therefore, to assure reliable access to application programming interface resources, companies need to establish solid authentication and authorization controls. Let's look at the most effective ones:




Access tokens: each API key has a unique identifier for each user and each authentication attempt;



HTTP basic authentication: relies on local usernames and passwords;



OAuth with OpenID: allows users to access corporate resources by determining their authorization. Together, OAuth and OpenID provide authentication and authorization;



JSON web token (JBT): is used to implement key-based client authentication and to transfer information between parties (using JSON format).




Overall, these four methods enable companies to define access control rules and provide the security they need without losing the ease of API management.



Select the web services API



There are two main ways to access web services via APIs. The first way is by using the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) - a highly structured message protocol that supports several low-level protocols. The second way is by using the Representational State Transfer API (REST API) based on a set of architectural principles.



Both of them support HTTP requests, responses, and the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol, but this is where the similarities end. SOAP and REST APIs use different formats and require different strategies to ensure robust security. Now, let's look at each of them in depth:



REST API:




Compatible with various data formats like HTML, XML, and especially JSON;



Doesn’t support WS web-services specification, including SW-Security; 



Lack of built-in security capabilities;



Security depends on the API design or gateway; 



Provides access to data, so it's a simpler way to access web services. 




SOAP API:




Compatible only with XML;



Has built-in security capabilities based on W3S and OASIS recommendations;



Supports Web Services (WS) specifications, which provide enterprise-grade security for web services;



Supports WS-Reliable Messaging, which provides built-in security capabilities;



Complex to implement and may require refactoring of an app.




In sum, SOAP APIs are more secure by design, but REST API security best practices allow to make it highly secure, depending on their implementation and the architecture you choose.



Keep in mind:



Assess your risks



Performing a risk assessment is another effective security practice. Early on, we've written about top risks you should be aware of. Therefore, the next step should be to establish proper security measures to prevent those risks. To perform a risk assessment, a company needs to pay attention to the following:




Determine the risk assessment: you need to determine what is in the scope of the evaluation (a business unit, or a specific aspect of the business, like a web app) by using standards like ISO/IEC 2700;



Identify threats: threat actors use tactics, techniques, and methods that can harm an organization's assets;



Analyze risks and their potential impact: identify risks and their impact on an organization;



A company can prioritize risks: by using a risk matrix that categorizes each risk. To achieve a successful security strategy, stakeholders need to accept residual risk;



Document risks: keep a safety risk register so that the company can review it regularly and update it as necessary.




It is necessary to repeat the assessment because cyber threats continue to grow, and companies need to constantly adopt updated technology systems. A successful risk assessment set up a repeatable process and patterns for future assessments. Thus, having a risk assessment will allow a security team to make informed decisions about how and where to put in place security controls.



Validation of the data



There are times when legitimate requests may be hacking attempts. Therefore, APIs need to determine whether requests are friendly or harmful. For that, validation is a perfect solution. 



Being part of the development process, validation is able to check that an application programming interface meets expectations of functionality, performance, security, and other quality attributes. In general, the validation process is carried out in one of the following ways:




Static analysis: a manual examination of API code for vulnerabilities;



Dynamic analysis: observing how an API works to find security flaws;



Fuzz testing: testing an API's response after sending any data to identify potential vulnerabilities. 




In order to validate APIs, a company needs a specification that describes how the application programming interface should work. However, a business may consider the OpenAPI Specification (OAS), which defines APIs and API contracts. As a result, validation helps to track errors and improve user experience.



Encryption



Encryption is a basic element of security. Yes, you're not wrong if you think so. Indeed, the use of encryption makes the clear text unreadable, thereby making it more difficult to compromise sensitive information.



To prevent any attacks, the transmission of data from the user to the API server must be properly encrypted. There are strong encryption methods, such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Companies may use these protocols to encrypt web pages and REST API.



As well, some CRM platforms that companies use may provide free SSL encryption. But if your platform does not offer SSL, you will need to implement one through an API or plugin. As a result of this process, your APIs are protected. Therefore, an attacker will not be able to access intercepted requests or responses.



Conduct regular security tests



It is not a good idea to wait for a real attack in order to check how secure your defenses are. Instead, you need to find time to test your security in advance. Security tests involve intentionally hacking into your application programming interface to discover vulnerabilities. On top of that, your API should be tested regularly, especially when it is updated. Let’s move on to how to complete the testing process.



The first step is to ensure that your API is working as expected. In other words, you would submit normal requests via an API client while adhering to the principles above. When you've established that your application programming interface is working well, the second step is to simulate attack scenarios like injection, DoS, or stolen passwords against your systems. Here are a few tests a company can run:




User authentication: send requests without proper authentication and see if your API returns the correct error message;



Parameter tampering: use invalid query parameters in API requests and see if it responds with the correct error codes. If the answer is no, your API likely has some validation errors;



Injection: try injecting SQL, OS, or other commands into API inputs and see if your API executes them;



Unhandled HTTP methods: try all the common HTTP methods as well as a few uncommon ones. Try sending a request with HEAD instead of GET. As a result, you should get an error code, but if not, there is a vulnerability.




Also, keep track of:



Use TLS



One way to secure your application programming interface is to ensure that it uses TLS (Transport Layer Security). During transit, TLS encrypts the information that your API sends. When a website's URL begins with HTTPS: instead of HTTP: that means it is using TLS. With TLS, a third party will not be able to intercept and read sensitive information during the transmission of, let’s say, private data or API credentials.



Pay attention to the fact that TLS requires a certificate, which provides legitimacy and protection for your API. Most cloud providers and hosting services will manage your certificates. It sounds convenient because providers will automatically secure every API call instead of you. In addition, if you're running your web server without any third-party services, you’ll need to manage your own certificates. 



Manage firewalling



With API Gateway Manager, companies can track API firewalling on API Gateway interfaces. API Gateway provides a toolkit for real-time HTTP traffic monitoring, logging, and access control. In this way, companies can mitigate application-level API threats. In order to ensure API security, you should organize it into two levels:




DMZ: the first level with an API firewall to stop intruders as early as possible (for example, SQL injections);



LAN: the second level of security, ensuring better data security.




Share data as little as possible



The last among API security best practices is to avoid "oversharing" data. It's not about being overly protective and hiding all the data. It means being overly cautious when you protect sensitive data.



API responses often contain a lot of data and may give attackers extra information. To prevent various attacks, all API responses must include data about the transmission of the requested resource or data directly related to those resources. In a nutshell, responses should contain the minimum information that is necessary.



Companies need to avoid having too much unnecessary data transfer that can expose private data. This, in turn, will provide better API security. Alternatively, organizations can use IP Whitelists or Blacklists, if possible, you can also limit access to resources. If you can limit the number of administrators or delimit access for different roles, you can maintain the interface securely.



Final thoughts 



Obviously, the proper use of application programming interface provides a tremendous amount of opportunities to a business. But there is no doubt that it's easy to get it wrong when it comes to security. As a result, a company may be exposed to serious threats. Although it is impossible to eliminate all threats, the above API security best practices are essential for any organization which cares about its brand and, primarily, about its customers. 




 

FAQ

### A New SoftTeco Office in Warsaw: An Interview With Serge Zenevich and Rafal Fiszer

As the year 2022 is coming to an end, we sat down with Rafal Fiszer, Director of SoftTeco PL, and Sergei Zenevich, SoftTeco’s Co-founder, to speak about the SoftTeco’s office in Poland and about the plans for its future development. Enjoy the reading!







Q: Please tell us briefly about the history of SoftTeco in Poland?



Serge: SoftTeco Poland has opened 2 years ago and the decision to open the Polish office was made really quickly. All decisions made within the company are based on people and this one was no exception. Considering that the geographical expansion of SoftTeco was on our to-do list, I’ve discussed it with other co-founders and Vladimir (Head of SoftTeco Poland) and we decided to give the green light for it.



Vladimir took responsibility for many major processes related to opening a new office, and we can’t thank him enough for that. First, we made sure to have a solid foundation: for that, we hired highly qualified legal professionals. After all organizational issues were resolved, we started setting up the processes and assisting people in relocation and in joining the team.



Now, SoftTeco Poland has a really great team and management and a wonderful office - I highly recommend checking it out if you get a chance. And obviously, we plan to expand the office in the future, attract new clients, and grow the team. 



Q: How do you see the future development of the Polish office?



Serge: I believe that in 2-3 years, SoftTeco Poland will become a big player in the Polish IT market. We hope to have about 200-250 employees in this office in the future and we hope our clients and partners will visit it as well.



We’ve already started building different departments in SofTeco PL - the office structure will be similar to the one in Belarus (i.e. the iOS department, the Android department, the .NET department, etc.). There will be people responsible for managing the teams and ensuring the departments’ growth and smooth operation. In this way, we can safely grow the office and ensure its scalability.



Q: Rafal, please tell us about your career path. How did you become the Director of SoftTeco PL?



Rafal: My professional experience lasts over 25 years of working for the management and finances of trade and IT companies. I have a master’s degree in Finance and Accounting and practical skills in the field of running a company including accounting principles and business-related law. SoftTeco was looking for a person who could support the development of the company in the Polish market. My person was recommended to the owners of the company and approved by them and thus, I joined the company. 



Q: What can you say about the Polish IT market and how is it transforming in recent years?



Serge: There are approximately 350,000 software developers that reside in Poland and about 900 outsourcing companies. So it’s safe to say that this area is steadily becoming one of the most prominent IT hubs in Eastern Europe. In recent years, the country also saw a significant inflow of specialists so, in addition to local developers, there is also a strong software engineering community of people who decided to relocate to Poland. As a result, we see an impressively diverse talent pool that keeps expanding.



We can definitely see a very positive shift towards growth and innovation in the Polish IT market, and we believe the demand for Polish IT services will grow significantly in the coming years. What’s also great is the location of the country. With an office in Poland, it becomes much easier to meet our clients and partners from Germany, the UK, Israel, or other countries. So this is one more reason why the Polish IT market is blooming.



Q: What are the main things to know about Poland for a person who plans to relocate? 



Rafal: Before relocation, it is vital to choose a city to live in as it would impact your expenses and the cost of renting an apartment. And while the cost of rent in various regions differs, one thing remains the same and that’s the pawn (deposit). The pawn may equal one month of rent or it may be higher. You should pay the deposit when signing up for the rental agreement. Also, keep in mind that the demand for apartments in Poland is very high so it might take a while before you find a perfect apartment. To legalize your stay, you’ll need to visit Municipal Office (Urząd Miasta). Note that internal regulations in municipalities may be different and the same applies to banks, shops, etc. These are the rules in Poland and one needs to get accustomed to them. 



A tip: you can follow the “Poland is here” Instagram page to always be updated on news and events in your city. What is more, the Russian-speaking community in Poland is pretty big so most of your questions will surely be answered in Telegram chats.



Poland is quite a bureaucratic country so you need to prepare for it in advance. In addition, Polish people are very fond of various cultural events and activities and every city hosts a lot of such events. The best part about them is that most of them are free to enter!



Q: Please name the biggest advantages of Poland as a country for relocation - what do you personally love about it?



Rafal: The country is located in the center of Europe, which will allow you to conveniently and quickly reach many countries for travel and business trips. There are plenty of historical cities and monuments (Kraków, Toruń, Gdańsk, Zamość, Sandomierz). Poland also has outstanding nature: sea (Bałtyk), mountains (Tatry - Zakopane), lakes (Mazury), and centuries-old forests (National Parks). You name it!



Moreover, Poland ranks 27th in the world in the ranking of the safest countries in 2022 and has a very well-developed infrastructure and roads. 



There is also an option to receive social and financial assistance from the State for young professionals and families with children.



Last but not least, Poland has a rich culture, that polish people are very proud of. I’m sure you’ll find it fascinating once you get a chance to experience it. For people from eastern Europe polish language is quite easy to understand and learn. What’s great a lot of polish citizens understand Russian and English. Being in Poland you can feel the friendly and welcoming European atmosphere.



Q: Can you give any advice to those planning to relocate to Poland?



Rafal: I’d first recommend choosing the city as that would serve as a base for calculating your future expenses. The demand for apartments is really high these days so you should be ready to look for one as soon as you arrive in Poland. Also, it’s a good idea to work with real estate agents as they can help you find the perfect apartment much faster.



Second, double-check the period of validity of your visa! It’s better to arrive in Poland with a newly issued one so you can apply for the residence permit in the nearest future. Note that Poland does not offer permanent resident cards but rather various types of residence permits. 



You can get permanent residence if you have Polish relatives and you’ve successfully passed the Polish history exam. Others can apply for temporary residence only. 



It is recommended to apply for a residence permit after 6-9 months of being in Poland as the inspector should understand that you are interested in staying in Poland and have valid reasons for that. As well, consider signing up for free corporate Polish language courses - that would significantly facilitate your life in the country!



Bonus: you can also read an interview Tauras Justinas Janickas, the CEO of SoftTeco, here. 

### Penetration Testing vs Vulnerability Scanning: Everything You Need to Know

It’s not enough to establish a robust security environment — it’s also important to regularly check it for potential vulnerabilities. To learn how susceptible a system is to various vulnerabilities and threats, organizations typically use penetration (pen) testing and/or vulnerability assessment. And while it’s easy to confuse the terms, every organization needs to clearly differentiate between the two. 



In this article, we compare penetration test vs vulnerability scan, list the core differences between them, and explain why they are critical for your cybersecurity. If you have not yet planned your next cybersecurity assessment, now might be a good time to plan one!







What is pen testing?



Penetration testing is a set of ethical hacking methods aimed at evaluating the security of a system. In other words, this process implies the use of hacking techniques in order to «crack» the system, assess what vulnerabilities are present, and how critical they are.



Note that the main difference between hacking and ethical hacking is that the latter is not performed with the aim to steal sensitive data or get access to it. Its main goal is to test the system and all involved parties are aware of the process and of the deployed methods.



Since penetration testing is pre-approved, it’s logical to assume that there are certain frameworks and guidelines to follow when planning a pen test. The most well-known are:




OWASP penetration testing guidelines;



Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM for short);



Cybersecurity framework by The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST);



Penetration Testing Execution Standard known as PTES.




If we take OWASP guidelines, for example, the documents provide a detailed explanation of pen test requirements, reporting, and all involved aspects. By following such standards, organizations can make sure that pen testing will be secure and will not harm it in any way.



Penetration testing types



Before moving on further, it is important to differentiate between different pen testing types. You can categorize the test types depending on your goal:




External tests: the attack is aimed at assets that are visible to people outside the organization (i.e. websites, apps). In this way, you can test the efficiency of possible external attacks.



Internal tests: are performed in a scenario when an attacker has access to internal assets and resources.



Blind tests: in this case, the attacker can obtain publicly available information but has no knowledge of internal assets.




Now let’s move on to the seven stages of a penetration test and to the processes that each stage contains.



The main steps of pen testing 



Though every penetration test will be different for every organization, there are certain guidelines to follow and certain steps to take. Below, we list the core stages of pen testing that can serve as a base to plan your strategy. Note that we used the OWASP recommendations as a base though some sources list six steps only.




Pre-engagement interactions: preparation for the upcoming pen testing and set up of all needed processes.



Intelligence gathering: in other words, collection of relevant information (i.e. about the system), as well as secure approval from the organization’s management.



Threat modeling: the process of modeling future threats and the ways they will be used on a target.



Vulnerability analysis: involves vulnerability assessment (more on it below) and the main aim is to understand whether the target is susceptible to known or expected threats.



Exploitation: the process of performing an attack on a system.



Post exploitation: involves all processes related to system recovery.



Reporting: a very important step since every pen testing requires detailed reporting once it’s finished. You can find more information on reporting in the OWASP documentation.




Now we can move on to vulnerability assessment. Is it part of pen testing or is it an independent process? Are these two processes the same? Let’s make the penetration test vs vulnerability scan clear.



What is a vulnerability assessment?



While pen testing is used to test the system’s endurance against attacks, vulnerability assessment is more of a scanning procedure. VA is used to check the system against the database of known vulnerabilities and see whether they are present in the system. As well, VA is used to categorize the vulnerabilities and mark them as critical or not.



The main goal of vulnerability assessment is to identify existing vulnerabilities and analyze how to deal with them in the most effective manner. In this way, the VA process helps companies strengthen their cybersecurity by understanding its current state and knowing what needs to be improved.



Vulnerability assessment is typically performed with the help of automated scanning tools — more on them below. As for now, let’s look at the two main types of VA:




As part of the pen testing: in this case, vulnerability assessment is included in step 4 of penetration testing and helps identify present vulnerabilities before executing the attack.



As an independent process: in this case, VA serves as a regular security check and keeps organizations updated on their security status.




Depending on the tested target, there is another categorization of vulnerability assessment:




Network-based: VA tests the organization’s network and analyzes its security; 



Host-based: analyzes workstations, servers, or other hosts;



Wireless network scanning: analyzes the organization’s Wi-Fi network;



Applications: scans web or network applications;



Database: checks databases for weak areas.




Vulnerability assessment scanning tools



As mentioned above, vulnerability assessment is usually performed by using automated scanning tools. Luckily, there is a variety of them in the market. But as with any other tool related to cybersecurity, you need to be extra cautious in order to choose a reliable one. And once again, you can rely on OWASP since there is a list of OWASP-recommended vulnerability scan tools. 



You can find the full list here and meanwhile, let’s briefly overview it. The list contains tools from A to Z and includes both free and commercial solutions. As well, it states the platforms on which each tool runs (Windows, macOS, Linux, SaaS) so you can find the one for your exact platform.  



Difference between a penetration test and vulnerability assessment



When talking about penetration test vs vulnerability scan, these two terms are often used in conjunction. However, they can be used separately as well — everything will depend on your business goal.



In the table below, we will look at the main features of each security testing type and at the differences between them. By knowing these peculiarities, it will be easier for you to adjust your testing strategy correspondingly.



Vulnerability assessmentPenetration testingGoalTo identify, categorize, and prioritize vulnerabilities that are present in the system (tested object)To test the system against an ethical hacking attack and see how susceptible and prone it is to attacksToolsAutomated scanning toolsManual testing mostly FrequencyQuarterly or after new significant implementations (i.e. installation of a new software)One or two times per yearScopeMostly detects tenuous vulnerabilities and may miss critical or complex onesCovers all existing vulnerabilities and flaws as well as assesses the level of their severityTime & resourcesDoes not require too much time and resouorces to perform itRequires a significant amount of time and resourcesValueIs sufficient as a form of regular checks but is not enough to detect serious security flawsProvides highly valuable information on the state of the target’s security and provides guidelines on eliminating them



In this table, we’ve summarized the core features to compare. However, we can also look at penetration testing vs vulnerability scanning in more detail.



Speed



In terms of execution speed, vulnerability assessment is much faster and may take a few minutes only (or a few hours at most). Pen testing, on the contrary, is a much more complex process that involves several stages. Thus, it may take a few weeks to fully complete penetration testing and assemble a detailed report.



Depth of analysis and performance



We’ve already mentioned it in the table but let’s repeat once again. Vulnerability assessment has certain limitations and may not detect certain issues, such as business logic errors. As well, the VA process is not as deep as penetration testing and may leave tiny security flaws unnoticed.



Penetration testing, on the other hand, provides a holistic view of the state of the system and offers deep insights into existing flaws and their severity. And since it implies manual testing, pen testing becomes highly efficient against difficult vulnerabilities.



Risk analysis



As you can guess from the name, risk analysis is the process of identifying and assessing risks. By risks we mean the factors that may harm the organization and negatively impact its security. And while both vulnerability assessment and penetration testing are effective in analyzing risks, their scope of work slightly differs.



Vulnerability assessment provides you with CVSS scores for each vulnerability. CVSS stands for the Common Vulnerability Scoring System and is used to measure the severity of each detected vulnerability. In this way, VA kind of tags vulnerabilities but that’s all the information it provides in regards to risk assessment.



With penetration testing, things are much more interesting. In addition to detecting vulnerabilities, pen testing also provides you with information on how much access one can get via certain vulnerabilities, how quickly and how far threat actors can escalate the privileges, and how much of a loss the exploitation of a certain vulnerability can bring. In simple words, pen testing not only tells you what’s there in terms of vulnerabilities but also how bad it is.



So, which security testing method do you really need?



In a perfect world, we’d highly recommend you perform both regular VA checks as well as annual penetration testing. However, we also understand that there are many factors impacting one’s cybersecurity strategy, such as time or availability of resources.



So how do you know which testing method you need right now (if you need any at all)? While it’s preferable to consult a knowledgeable cybersecurity expert, we’ve also assembled a small list of questions that might help you:




Does your organization process sensitive data on a regular basis, and how much sensitive data does your organization process?



How critical will it be for you and your clients if your system is under a cyber attack?



Do you have all the needed resources to perform proper security checks in accordance with approved guidelines?



Will you be able to invest a certain amount of time into educating your employees on cyber security?




The thing is, the more sensitive data your organization processes and stores, the more important it is to regularly perform security checks, including in-depth ones. In general, it is recommended that organizations of any size and within any domain implement certain security procedures — see our article on CIS controls, for example. But for certain organizations, the cost of a small mistake is much higher than for others and you need to determine in what category your company falls. After that, you will be able to make the right choice between penetration test vs vulnerability scan.




 

FAQ

### The NSA Information Sheet on Memory Safety: Main Things to Consider

On Nov 10, 2022 The National Security Agency published an information sheet on memory safety. Its aim is to bring more awareness to memory safety issues and provide developers with actionable tips on how to improve them. And since the topic of cyber security is becoming more acute every year, this CSI guide is definitely worth your attention if you want to safeguard your software applications from malicious actors.







What is memory safety and why is it so important?



Memory safety is a property of certain programming languages that does not allow developers to unintentionally introduce bugs. This is possible due to the memory management of these languages and they are typically considered safe. Examples of safe languages are C#, Go, Ruby, Java, Swift, and Rust as per the NSA.



So what makes them safe? The thing is, these languages manage the memory automatically which means, developers do not have to input code to add memory protections. In this way, safe languages come with inherent features for memory management and ensure solid protection. 



Unsafe languages, on other hand, provide developers with lots of freedom in terms of memory management. These languages rely on software engineers to take care of memory safety and thus they leave room for unintentional mistakes. Examples of unsafe languages are C++ and C.



Note though that even safe languages do not guarantee 100% protection from errors as sometimes an application has to perform unsafe functions in order to accomplish a specific task. We’ll talk more about such cases below but for now, remember that it’s preferable to use safe languages. Though the NSA does not force you to rewrite your whole legacy apps written in unsafe languages - you’ll just have to pay double attention to security.



The dangers of poor memory management



Even though memory safety may not sound like a big deal, it is a very big issue in the world of cybersecurity. Microsoft, for example, announced that between 2006 - 2018, 70% of their vulnerabilities were because of memory safety issues. Google also stated that approximately the same number of vulnerabilities was detected in Chrome and the reason for them was the same - memory safety. Thus, developers need to be aware of both memory safety bugs and the issues that poor memory management may bring.



The most common memory safety bugs



In case of poor memory management, multiple security and memory safety issues may arise and it’s important to know about them in advance. Otherwise, it would be difficult to track down the problem source and prevent/mitigate the issue.



These memory safety bugs include:




Buffer overflow: happens when the amount of data exceeds the storage capacity of the memory buffer;



Poorly managed memory allocation: may lead to unintentional memory release;



Logic errors: in this case, programs may try to use memory that has already been freed;



Race condition: happens when two threads try accessing the shared variable simultaneously;



Out of bound reads: when the software reads memory content that existed before or after the valid contents of the list.




Of course, these are not all the bugs that may occur due to improper memory management but we can consider them the most common ones. Now, as for the consequences, they are:




Agents can enter unusual inputs to the software;



Agents can get access to sensitive information;



Agents can execute unauthorized code;



Agents can crash software with the “fuzzing” technique.




To sum up, issues with memory management may lead to threat actors accessing software and making it act as they need. In order to prevent this, you need to be aware of preventative measures, including the ones recommended by the NSA.



Recommendations on secure and proper memory management 



Below we’ll look at several best practices for secure memory management, including the ones recommended by the NSA. Keep in mind though that memory safety is not the only source of potential vulnerabilities and you need to perform all-around security testing to ensure that your software is 100% safeguarded.



The use of safe languages and their fine-tuning



Remember we said the use of safe languages does not guarantee 100% security? This is because sometimes, the software has to perform unsafe memory management tasks. In order to battle that, you can pay attention to such unsafe activities as they may be the primary source of vulnerabilities. That means, in case something happens, you will at least know where to look first.



As for existing software written in an unsafe language, you don’t have to rewrite it in a safe one. Just make sure your developers understand the code and the possible mistakes that can be made. An understanding of memory safety basics will help a lot in avoiding bugs.



Application security testing



Application security testing is a set of practices that are aimed at detecting vulnerabilities in an application and helping developers fix them. There are various types of application security testing:




SAST: static application security testing implies checking for vulnerabilities in the app’s source code (while it’s at rest);



DAST: dynamic application security testing implies testing various types of attacks while the app is running;



Application penetration testing: the app is tested against the most recent and most powerful cyber attacks;



IAST: interactive application security testing implies simulating various scenarios of user activity and thus searching for known vulnerabilities;



MAST: mobile application security testing aimed at testing mobile applications;



SCA: software composition analysis is used to analyze the origin of libraries that the app uses.




While all testing types are important, the NSA pays special attention to SAST and DAST. The National Security Agency names these testing types as the ones that can help identify memory use issues and thus make programming languages in use more memory-safe.




 


Expert Opinion



When discussing memory-safe and unsafe languages, what immediately comes to my mind is Ken Thompson’s ACM Turing Award acceptance paper "Reflections on Trusting Trust”. The moral of the paper is that one can never 100% trust the code if one did not create this code by yourself. Note that this paper is dated 1984 and already back then, a well-installed micro bug was almost impossible to detect. Now imagine how hard it can be to detect a micro bug installed with the latest hacking techniques.



What I’m trying to say is that even if your program is written in a memory-safe language, you can never be 100% sure about its security. Hence, never underestimate the risk of an attack or a vulnerability, and don’t rely solely on the programming language to handle your memory’s security.





Co-Founder at SoftTeco



Alex Kutsko






 





 


Expert Opinion



It’s interesting to observe the evolution of memory management in the example of programming languages evolution. First, we had very early languages (if we can call them languages - Basic, Pascal, Fortran) that were kind of safe. That was due to the fact that they had very strict memory management and the only vulnerability that you could probably face was out of bounds. On the other hand, we had Assembler too back then and this language consists basically of memory management processes. But everyone understood that even the simplest text form for name and surname input would take too much time in Assembler



Then we got C and C++ which allowed much more in terms of memory management. And the first rule that everyone had to learn was: “make sure that the number of take-offs (new) equals the number of landings (delete)”. There is a really good book by John Viega that greatly illustrates the fact that safe code consists of 20% logic and 80% of organization of the safe space.As for today, we have “Swift and co” aka the languages that are considered highly safe and that remind of old languages in terms of memory management. So now, exiting the array border has become a complex task.



Of course, it’s much easier to write safe code now than it was before. Now, many things, including the language and the system itself take responsibility for certain things, freeing developers from doing so. A modern developer is focused more on resolving business tasks rather than on organizing a safe environment for his code to work. That’s what I can call evolution and progress.





CEO at SoftTeco



Alexey Shevchik

### The History of Salesforce and Where It Stands Now

From your point of view, what is the most powerful CRM for business in 2022? If you’re thinking about Salesforce, you’re on the right path. To attract and retain new customers, many companies across various industries rely on Salesforce's expertise. And there are solid grounds for this. Salesforce offers businesses a one-stop solution to manage customer relationships and streamline business operations. 



But what is the company's secret to reaching $26.5 billion in 2022? What is their strategy for gaining ground? If you don't know that, let's look at a brief history of Salesforce from the moment of launch till today.







A brief overview of Salesforce



Before we get into the history of Salesforce, let’s run over the basics of it. In brief, Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM platform that provides various software solutions to help companies drive sales and provide a better customer experience. 



Among various Salesforce solutions, there are:




Marketing Cloud: automates and integrates all marketing channels;



Commerce Cloud: unifies customer engagement across all channels;



Analytics Cloud: allows organizations to make accurate data-driven decisions and offers advanced analytics;



App Cloud: enables developers to build apps for the Salesforce platform quickly and without writing code;



Integration Cloud: provides a holistic view of customers across multiple cloud platforms by connecting the data;



Sales Cloud: focuses on the sales components of the CRM as well as on customer relations;



Service Cloud: allows businesses to scale their operations efficiently by providing a fast, AI-driven customer service experience.




The other tools provided by Salesforce include Slack, MuleSoft, Tableau, and Trailhead - we'll discuss them below. Salesforce's main focus, however, is on customer management. To make each customer experience more personal, Salesforce deploys streamlined workflows, artificial intelligence, cloud-based management, and real-time tracking of customer analytics.



By now, Salesforce CRM is already being used by globally prominent names like Spotify, Amazon, Toyota, Audio, and many others. To stay competitive in the market, Salesforce offers various customized solutions like:




Software As A Service (SAAS): provides software remotely instead of locally and the software is managed by a third-party vendor;



Platform As A Service (PAAS): provides a complete development and deployment environment in the cloud;



Infrastructure As A Service (IAAS): provides Internet-based computing resources for enterprise systems.




In general, Salesforce CRM provides various tangible benefits:




Ensures AI integrity with Salesforce Einstein;



Boosts business productivity with cross-cloud;



Maintains customers’ and employees' trust;



Provides world-class customer service by delivering a true 360- degree view of your customers;



Ramps up sales performance; 



Launches and scales e-commerce quickly.




As soon as we've clarified that, it's time to move forward and finally have a look at the Salesforce company history.



Salesforce history and key milestones from 1999 to 2022 



CRMs were designed to process and analyze large amounts of user data efficiently. However, some of them were difficult to use, expensive, and time-consuming to deploy on a server. Thus, Salesforce was developed as a cost-effective and affordable solution. Let's dive into how exactly.



The beginning: 1999 -2004



Salesforce was founded in 1999 in Telegraph Hill, San Francisco. Marc Benioff was the person who came up with the idea for Salesforce. He also had three co-founders: Parker Harris, Dave Mellenhoff, and Frank Dominguez. The team wanted to create a platform that was easy to maintain and update without dealing with complex software maintenance. As a result, they offered a product as software as a service (SaaS). 



Soon thereafter, SaaS revolutionized business technology and assisted big data and analytics in flourishing. 



In 2003, at the first Dreamforce conference, the founders launched their on-demand application service - Sforce 2.0. The platform became the first one in the world that allowed the creation, hosting, and execution of client-service apps. The founders held this conference (and other Dreamforce events in the future) to showcase the latest Salesforce features and to let customers experience and discuss them.



In 2004, Salesforce successfully completed its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. They made $110 million in revenue. Since that time, the company has attracted many potential customers and investors. 



Diverse technologies: 2005 - 2009



In 2005, the company launched the AppExchange marketplace for third-party developers. Using this marketplace, partners were able to create their own applications and offer them to all Salesforce customers. For Salesforce, that was an excellent opportunity to expand its vision and capabilities.



In 2006, Apex was introduced by the founders as an on-demand programming language. It was specifically designed to process and manage the data. Apex uses a similar syntax to Java. With Apex, developers could execute flow and transaction control statements on the Salesforce platform. 



Salesforce didn’t stop there. And in the same year, Visualforce was developed. It is a framework for building user interfaces based on user needs. The Visualforce platform also supports JavaScript, Flash, and other scripting languages (in addition to Apex). 



In 2008, Force.com was created as a Platform as a Service (PaaS). By using Apex and Visualforce, the platform simplifies the development and deployment of cloud-based apps and websites that are integrated into the main Salesforce.com app. To sum up, the platform has become a faster way to create applications hosted on the Salesforce architecture.



The above sounds promising, so let's continue.



Introduction to Marketing Cloud: 2011- 2013



As a result of its success in sales and customer service, Salesforce then turned its attention to marketing. Originally, Salesforce Marketing Cloud was called ExactTarget and it is the result of three acquisitions:




Radian6: a platform for monitoring social media conversations about brands;



Buddy Media: a social media marketing platform that allows businesses to manage and analyze their social media content (ads);



ExactTarget: a digital company that provides marketing automation and analytics software for B2B marketers.




Then, the rise of mobile happened in 2013, so Salesforce had to adapt to the new way of interacting with customers. This is why:



In 2013, Salesforce released its mobile development platform - Salesforce1. It was designed to let users interact with data on their phones, in almost the same way they do on desktops. Moreover, users could access Salesforce apps, user apps and integrations, and apps on the AppExchange. 



In 2014, the company released a free online platform for learning Salesforce - Trailhead. The tutorials were designed to train beginners and skilled developers on how to code Salesforce apps and use Salesforce products. Thus, users were able to learn Salesforce technology and functions.



In an ever-changing development market, both design and technology change rapidly. When it comes to Salesforce, the user interface has barely changed over the years. So to keep customers' attention, Salesforce took the following steps.



In 2015, Lightning was developed. Salesforce Lightning is a cloud-based version (PAAS) of Salesforce 1Platform. It allowed users to build applications as rapidly as possible, integrate data, and automate business processes. Essentially, Lightning enables faster sales and better customer support.



In 2016, Salesforce launched Einstein. This AI platform supports several cloud services to deal with ever-increasing data. Einstein was designed primarily to provide sales and marketing with more complete and up-to-date information about customers and potential clients. Einstein's development marked the AI adoption by Salesforce and allowed the company to add many ML-based services to its products.



Acquisitions: 2017- 2019



The company was on a roll after making some huge acquisitions in 2017-2019. Among them are:



In 2018, Salesforce acquired MuleSoft. MuleSoft is a platform that helps companies transfer their internal legacy systems to the cloud. At that time, most large companies required integration. Thus, Salesforce became a handy tidbit for enterprises.



In 2019, the second acquisition was Tableau. It was one of the world's leading companies in data visualization and business intelligence. This acquisition seemed a bit weird because the company already had an Einstein business intelligence solution. So why did the company purchase a similar solution to Tableau? The answer is - data, data, and data. 



Because data is the company's most valuable asset, Tableau enabled Salesforce to become even more data-driven, thereby allowing better focus on customers. That allowed Salesforce to make more informed decisions regarding future growth strategy.



The response to COVID-19: 2020



In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic greatly accelerated remote working trends and impacted how organizations operate. During this period, Salesforce delivered the following:




Salesforce Care: free rapid response solutions to keep customers, employees, and partners connected;



Work.com: a set of expert advice, data, and updated products to help businesses get up and running again;



Vaccine Cloud: provides support to healthcare companies in the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine.




And last but not least in the history of Salesforce, the company purchased its third big acquisition - Slack - for $27.7 billion. In the eyes of many experts, Salesforce overpaid for Slack. However, Salesforce's recent acquisitions (recap Tableau and MuleSoft) have been the main growth driver so it's safe to assume that with Slack, the company will continue to expand and grow.



The rise of the future of automation: 2021



Over the years, Salesforce has become more complex, due to the growth of its users and developers. Business operations have also become more advanced. In light of these reasons, the following events happened:



In 2021, Salesforce DevOps was picking up steam. As a result of using DevOps, developers and teams can release code faster with more quality, security, and control. To keep up with these demands, Salesforce provides the following DevOps tools:




Deployment tools: tools that make deploying and management easier and include Version Control, CI/CD, testing, reporting, and more.



Backup tools: include data and metadata in addition to CRM data;



Test automation tools: automation tools can run scheduled tests, ensuring Salesforce processes keep working despite any changes you make;



Code scanning: these tools allow developers to automate the manual review of Salesforce code and configuration.




Salesforce is actively funding the development of its DevOps capabilities. Aside from that, there were two significant events in 2021:



First, Salesforce announced its streamlined service “Salesforce+”. It was launched to provide prospects and customers with live and on-demand content. For example, the content may include interviews with CEOs of companies.



Next, Salesforce declined to use classical automation tools like Workflow Rules and Process Builder. To automate repetitive tasks and free up time for new sales and customer retention, the company chose Flow. The Flow tool facilitates complex business processes and offers more options for usage and is more powerful, among other benefits.



The NFT cloud, DevOps center, and Slack innovation: 2022



Salesforce is making a significant impact on the business world today. And to figure out why we’re going to look at some of the company’s achievements:




Revenue: Salesforce achieved a record $26.5 billion in revenue, with an increase of 25% over the previous year;



Status: Salesforce operates in 113 cities around the world and has over 78,000 employees. Currently, Salesforce is the number one of the largest enterprise software vendor (Acceleration Economy);



Interaction: Salesforce has successfully partnered with Meta Platforms. With the integration of WhatsApp into Salesforce's Customer 360 platform, consumers are now able to interact directly with companies;



Slack: has released a feature called First Customer 360. This platform connects employees, customers, and partners to the apps and workflows they need to succeed.



DevOps center: provides developers with a single set of configurations and code for applying DevOps best practices. As a result, you have more control when it comes to deploying changes.



NFT Cloud: a well-known platform for companies to create, mint, and sell digital artwork using NFT technology. 




These are all quite outstanding outcomes and, obviously, this is only a brief overview. Salesforce is among those companies that transform the software development industry, and the Salesforce story definitely won't stop there. 



Final thoughts



Over the past years of the history of Salesforce, the company has achieved many impressive milestones, but what’s more important is its impact on the world that they are trying to foster. Salesforce continues to offer enhanced services and features to its existing and new customers. Who knows where the Salesforce story will end up in the future? However, based on past performance, the future looks very promising!




 

FAQ

### What Is Air Gap and How Does It Impact Your Cybersecurity?

Nowadays, cyber security is at high stake. Organizations constantly transmit sensitive data across networks and hence, cyberattacks are on the rise. Ransomware, for example, is one of the most common cyber threats these days and Cybersecurity Ventures predicts the global cost of ransomware attacks to increase to $265bn by 2031.



The rising number of cyber attacks is the main reason why tight security is a must. In general, a secure infrastructure includes multiple layers of protection dispersed throughout computers, programs, and networks. There is also an air gap concept that is believed to be a highly effective way to protect valuable information. But is it really secure enough? 







What is an air gap?



What does gaping mean? An air gap is a network security measure that implies a physical separation between a secure network and any other computer or network. A gapped computer is not directly connected to the Internet, nor it is connected to any other system. You can only pass the data to it through a physical device like a USB, a removable media, or a firewire with another machine. Remember old spy movies where people would access laptops while hanging from the ceiling on a rope? This is kind of similar to how gapping looks.



Air gaps have been a common security measure in the critical infrastructure sector, where a cyber attack can disrupt or halt major operations. The systems that deploy gapping normally include:




Military computer systems and networks;



Governmental computer systems and networks;



Financial computer systems and networks;



Industrial control systems;



Nuclear power plants;



Aviation computers;



Medical equipment.




Gapped computers are typically located in secure places, such as in a separate server facility with tight security. As a precaution, air-gapped systems have restricted access, so only a few trusted users can access them.



Types of air gaps



There are three main types of the air gap concept. Let’s see each type in more detail.




Total physical air gaps: this type assumes complete physical separation of a system/device from the network. That means there are no network connections to the device and if you need to get or load the data onto it, you need to go to the storage place directly. You may also need to pass through the security since physical access to the environment where the device is stored is usually restricted. 



Isolated air-gapped systems: this type implies that systems/devices are not connected to a common network, but are in the same place (i.e. in one room).



Logical air gaps: are not separated physically from the rest of the system but are isolated from it through encryption and hashing. 




What is the purpose of air gapping?



Air gapping protects critical computer systems or data from potential cyber-attacks. The purpose of an air gap is to eliminate any possibility that a threat actor can infiltrate the protected system through an external connection.



Companies also use gapping to create backups for their data. Implementation of an air gap backup can be a challenge though, as it requires a high level of security and planning. However, when managed properly, gapped networks can provide one of the highest levels of security. Besides, with the help of air gap backups, companies can restore the data even if it was lost or corrupted due to a software glitch, a hardware failure, or a ransomware attack.



The 3-2-1 rule



Gapping plays an important role in the 3-2-1 backup strategy. This strategy ensures that you will always have access to your data since there will be at least 3 backups. And gapping is usually the preferred method of backing up the data in regard to the 3-2-1 rule.



Note that although air gapping can defend your data from hackers, this method is not unbreakable. Seeing gaps as a single form of defense can cause significant damage and risks. One way hackers are beating the air gap is through the use of USB malware. And the Stuntex worm incident from 2010 is a good example of how network hardware can cause damage, as that strain of malware was spread to Iranian industrial and nuclear plants via USB drives. The key point in the Stuntex case is that a determined actor infiltrated a secure facility and delivered malware that ultimately found its target despite a gapped network. 



The main challenges of gapping implementation



Despite the high level of security that an air gap provides, it’s still possible to breach gapped computers. Not to mention that there is always a possibility of a human error exposing the gapped backup to the network. Let’s look at the challenges related to air gapping in more detail.



Human errors



Gapping is exposed to a variety of human-centric risks. Air gap systems are physically unplugged from the network. So to add, modify, or download data from the system, you’ll need a portable storage device like a USB and a person with access to an air-gapped computer. Even experienced and reliable users can make mistakes and leave doors unlocked or they can lose their portable devices with the data. And an easy way for hackers to breach an air-gapped system is to use an infected USB device. 



Another way for hackers to penetrate a gapped system is by installing a virus in its updated software. Thus, the attacker can easily get through the air gap and cause irreparable damage.



Outdated software



Organizations need to ensure that air-gapped computers and networks are protected internally, and not only from the external world. And it’s quite a challenge. Most air-gapped systems must remain stable and available all the time, so it’s impossible to reboot them after a software install. Therefore, you can often find outdated systems that are still active, even though they are no longer supported by their manufacturers. This means that they are also not supported by security vendors. As a result, deploying software agents to protect systems in gapped networks is often not possible.



Also, many security solutions nowadays rely on the web connection. This leaves even fewer security options for the gapped systems.



Costs of labor and infrastructure



Working in a gapped environment can be inconvenient for computer operators. An air-gapped network has zero connection to the outside world. Hence, all remote communication, collaboration, and even a simple act of sharing files and documents become almost impossible. This limits automation and requires lots of manual work. Users also need to pass a lot of security procedures to get access to the backups, which can be time-consuming and crucial when you need to act fast to restore the data.



There are infrastructural challenges as well. An air gap may require creating a whole new network with independent servers, routers, and other management tools. It can be quite expensive to implement and operate.



How to prevent air gap breakthrough



As we can see, a gapped system is not perfect and has its flaws and vulnerabilities. To enhance your air gap security, keep the following things in mind:




Encrypt the data. Air gap backups should be encrypted to protect sensitive data from being accessed by unauthorized users. It is a good measure in case the data is stolen, as it will become useless to thieves. 



Secure the location. Backups should be stored in a secure location that is not accessible to unauthorized personnel. Enforce strict policies about where air-gapped network hardware can physically go, who can use it outside of designated physical areas, and how it can be used.



Ban phones near gapped machines. Security experts have found that innovative acoustic channels employing ultrasonic and inaudible sound waves can be used as an attack vector against smartphones capable of picking up higher frequencies. The data can also be pumped through radio signals even when Bluetooth is turned off. So it is better not to use mobile phones near the most critical systems. 




Air gap today: is it still relevant?



With its ability to preserve data from various threats and digital theft, the air gap technology seems like a valuable security measure. However, inaccessibility has always been its disadvantage. Organizations have used this technology for many years, so having the physical workforce to connect disks to the web has not been a problem. But nowadays it is no longer practical and the use of the air gap method can bring certain disadvantages. 



False sense of security



The air gap can be a very effective barrier against cyberattacks if implemented and maintained correctly. However, gapped networks are vulnerable to targeted attacks. In the modern world, there are a lot of ways to break this security measure. For instance, stealing data through analyzing the acoustic waveforms, or physical malware attacks, i.e. by implementing viruses (such as Stuntex) via a USB device. 



Besides, the software of a gapped system needs to be regularly updated, which is difficult as someone must do it manually. The inability to update air-gapped systems on time means they grow weaker and the chances of security breach increase. 



No longer practical



Air gapping causes organizations to miss out on vulnerable data. Organizations cannot benefit from the highly valuable data these systems generate. Data analyzed in real-time can help companies to improve efficiency and benefit from it. But gapping makes it difficult to access the data, which makes timely analysis of this information really hard. 



Unknown devices



With numerous devices connected to the Internet, and connections existing between devices as well, it is likely that your air-gapped system actually has an Internet connection that no one knows about. Moreover, when organizations scan the system to create an inventory of all their network-connected devices, they may discover equipment that no one knew even existed, much less had a network connection. Also note that today, hackers use highly sophisticated technologies to steal or damage data from a system even if it is physically isolated.  



Final thoughts



The air gap remains one of the critical layers of data protection against all forms of data loss despite its flaws and hidden rocks. Although it can be challenging, it is better to make sure your data backup and recovery strategy includes gapping. However, that doesn't mean your data is completely protected. So think carefully if your business really requires a gapped network as a security measure and make sure to apply additional security measures in addition to air-gapping. 




 

FAQ



 






 

### How to Create an Intranet Portal: Essential Steps and Features

Most businesses view in an Intranet portal as a solution that is able to meet the needs of both employees and enterprises. Indeed, a well-developed Intranet portal enables better employee interaction, improves teamwork, and fosters company culture. But without a clear understanding of what the intranet should include, a company takes the risk of designing a product that does not match its purpose. But how does one approach Intranet development and what pitfalls should a company avoid? Let's move to the answers.







What is an Intranet?



An Intranet portal is a private communications network used by employees to access enterprise resources. Authorized employees can access company news, policies, records, databases, and announcements whenever they need to. The use of Intranet for companies helps improve communication and collaboration among employees and to make corporate information easier to use and share.



The main goals of the Intranet are:




Improved internal communication;



Efficient management of organizational knowledge;



Employee engagement;




Thus, an Intranet can help maintain corporate culture and serves as a single point of truth. Note though that each organization designs its intranet differently based on its needs. So before discussing the process of Intranet development, let’s first look at the different types of Intranets. This can help you figure out which one is the most appropriate to your needs. 



What are the different types of an Intranet?



Perhaps you’ve heard other intranet names, which may confuse you and make you think that all of them are the same thing. But that's not true. To gather a full of understanding of different types of an intranet, let’s walk through the differences between them:




Intranet: a private internal network used by authorized employees that helps manage content, communicate, collaborate, and maintain the company culture;



Extranet: a network that is used by both employees and external parties (vendors, clients, and suppliers) to communicate or share data within an organization. Examples are universities, colleges, or franchise operations;



Portal: a digital platform that integrates with the company’s CRM, provides communication with internal employees and stakeholders, and provides access to corporate resources.




Now that you understand what an intranet is and what its main types are, let's turn our attention to its benefits.



The answer is below: 



Benefits of having an Intranet 



We’ve briefly outlined the main benefits of having an Intranet - now let’s look at them in more detail below:




Improved communication: helps HR and communications specialists to keep employees engaged and informed and prevent staff separation;



Improved productivity of employees: makes it easier to store, retrieve, and access information at any time and from any device, which boosts productivity since employees spend less time looking for the needed information;



Improved knowledge sharing: an Intranet is an up-to-date knowledge place that can help build a strong knowledge-sharing culture where employees can share and manage essential data;



Eliminated silos: an intranet comes equipped with built-in chat apps or can be integrated with necessary third-party apps that, in turn, leads to strong collaboration across departments and helps eliminate data silos;



Improved engagement: Intranet systems enable employees to efficiently interact with their company and hence increase loyalty and engagement.




While Intranet capabilities are growing over time, one thing stays the same - a company's intranet must always address the needs of employees. Hence, let’s discuss the essential features of Intranet portals.



Main features to include in an Intranet portal



Before getting down to the Intranet creation, remember that it will be unique for every company due to different needs based on how the company is structured and its business goals. However, there is a set of main features that every Intranet should have in order to help companies build strong employees relationships and meet their goals.



Integrations



A high-performing intranet should integrate with the work-critical apps and programs that coworkers use day by day. Thus, consider those intranet platforms that provide built-in integrations with tools like Google Workspace or Slack. A full integration with your business suites will make access easier for employees and will help create a unified work environment. 



Communication and collaboration



An intranet is a great place for business communication and for building a strong company culture. Most modern Intranets contain features that allow co-workers to chat in real-time or exchange files of different formats. The main idea here is that an Intranet provides a space for employees to share ideas, build networks, collaboration, and create strong brand advocates. 



Responsive design



With the diversity of devices that we use these days, it’s crucial that Intranet should be accessed from various ones. Employees should be able to connect from their mobile devices, communicate and network with a team no matter where they are. Hence, a responsive design is a must. 



CMS



A functional Intranet should have an integrated CMS to make digital content management easier. A content management system is the best platform to improve the productivity of employees and information management. So the right CMS platform for your Intranet should be be easy to manage, have an advanced functionality and offer customization options.



Analytics



Another highly valued feature of an Intranet is analytics. You should be able to track employee engagement and analyze the results to understand what works the best (and what doesn’t work at all). You can analyze the following metrics:




The number of users and sessions;



Number of page vists;



Devices and browsers used;



Most visited pages;



Bounce rate.




These metrics allow an organization to identify patterns of the Intranet usage and create and share relevant content with your staff. Hence, analytics identifies areas that need improvement to improve a communication strategy over time. 



How to create an Intranet



By now, you may be thinking: an intranet sounds great, but how exactly do you develop one? Good question! Below, we list the basic steps of Intranet development.



Determine your goals 



When building an Intranet portal, it can be difficult to know where to start. So, the first step is to define the business goals that reflect your company's needs and to understand how the intranet can help achieve those goals. The most common needs of a company include:




Establish proper document and knowledge management;



Smooth running of business operations;



Manage and support teamwork;



Enhance HR management;



Ensure easy access to information and resources;



Manage calendars, events, meetings, and important dates.




User-friendly and brand-focused design 



The name and design of a company's Intranet are all about its brand. Employees should relate to it and refer to it frequently. So when it comes to design, the simpler means the better. The design should be modern and eye-catching but also reflect the company's style. Otherwise, a company takes the risk of having an Intranet which is overloaded with unnecessary visual elements. Here are some tips on creating a user-friendly design:




Choose a simple, intuitive user interface (UI);



Test how your Intranet looks on both desktop and mobile apps;



Choose layouts, colors, and graphics that reflect your brand;



Incorporate visually dynamic content (videos, images);



Put extra thought into navigation;



Use consistent and readable fonts.




Stay focused on:



Scalability



Any organization needs to build a digital portal that continues to function well as the business grows. An increase in the number of users, the volume of content, or high simultaneous workloads can affect the performance of your Intranet. Therefore, it should have high scalability in order to withstand high loads and possible functionality expansion. If the portal cannot handle the volume of users and provide the performance that they expect, it will fail quickly.



Assemble a development team



The development of the Intranet portal requires cross-functional coordination and agreement between stakeholders. Therefore, the company needs to define responsibilities of each user. Some of the most common Intranet team roles are:




Sponsor/owner: ensures the association between the Intranet and the organization’s objectives, deals with both resource and financial requirements;



Business analyst: ensures the work of the organization on internal and external issues, identifies trends (communication with customers, analysis of business case, etc.);



Manager: manages and notifies changes that affect Intranet operations;



Architect: sets standards for how information is organized and navigated within an Intranet;



Content manager: monitors and validates updated information about business news or departments events.




Establishing clear roles for your team makes it easier for any company to manage all the elements required to build an Intranet.



Create content 



As mentioned above, the purpose of an Intranet is to facilitate your workflows. But it is pointless to have an Intranet portal if your employees don't use it because it lacks relevant information. Having good quality content increases both proposed value and employee trust. Examples of content that you might want to include are: 




Official policies, documentation;



Onboarding support;



Team-specific content;



Access to external content;



Other corporate material.




The best solution to avoid overload is to create a map of the sequence of pages of the Intranet and a site menu. As well, make sure that you update the content regularly.



Establish security



Cyber threats keep on being a significant problem. Therefore, a company should develop expertise in firewalls, encryption technology, and virus protection to ensure employees' knowledge is secured. An Intranet must be reliable and provide trustworthy information to the employees. 



Test your Intranet 



When you are ready to launch the Intranet, it’s wise to test it for functionality and user-friendliness. Any Intranet provider should be able to give you a demo or a free trial to assess the suitability of the software. Afterward, you can tweak the design and content as needed before it is made available to frontline workers. 



Let's investigate:



Pitfalls to avoid when building an Intranet



When designing an Intranet, consider possible issues that may negatively impact the usability and value of your portal. Let's break them down so you are aware of these pitfalls in advance.



Missed user requirements



The most common pitfall is lack of understanding of user requirements. The success of an Шntranet depends on users' acceptance of the system. So, if employees do not see the value in using an Шntranet, it will be a forgotten tool that nobody uses. Hence, it’s easier to listen to user requirements at the beginning of the development than to update the portal over time.



Insufficient management



The idea that an Intranet will always be successful is a huge mistake. A company needs to consider change management from the beginning of the development process. The Intranet system must be constantly updated and properly managed to provide employees with relevant and up-to-date information. 



Poor navigation 



Another pitfall a company may face is the lack of smooth navigation. If a site isn’t user-friendly and convenient, it’s difficult to find the necessary information. So employees will rarely use the Intranet portal (or never). It's important to incorporate features (i.e. search bars, drop-down menu) into your Intranet if you want employees to find what they're looking for.



Irrelevant content



One more reason why Intranets fail is useless content. Employees typically expect Intranet data to help them get work done and find it quickly when needed. However, if the information is ineffective and doesn’t produce results of the search, the risk of employees may not come back to the Intranet portal increase. It is important to have content editors and meetings to keep information fresh.



Final thoughts 



A successful Intranet portal can transform how your business connects, communicates, collaborates, and tracks progress. A user-centric approach allows the organization to keep up with modern employee requests. It is not necessary for businesses to stick to certain intranet portal development strategies and templates. Make your Intranet platform stand out and give it a shot.

### What Is Dark Data and How Do You Manage It?

Dark data is a major issue in many companies yet, not all companies are aware of it. In the course of their activities, companies process and store large amounts of data which they later use to base their business decisions. But according to a recent study by IBM, organizations use only 12% of the data that they collect, while the rest of it stays in the shadows. This unused information can cause serious problems for companies and even become the reason for a security break. However, it could become a useful aid for business decisions or for the optimization of operations if managed properly. 







Now: what is dark data?



According to Gartner, dark data is the “information assets organizations collect, process and store during regular business activities, but cannot use for other purposes” (for example, in analytics or for direct monetizing). In other words, it is hidden from view and is hard to be accessed or analyzed properly because the organization may not even know the information is being collected and exists. 



Dark data can include:




Customer information;



Log files;



Financial statements and outdated versions of documents;



Notes and presentations;



Emails and email attachments;



Call-center transcripts and customer reviews.




Now that we are clear with the dark data definition, we can look at its main types: 




Untapped Internal Data: the information that organizations collect, store, and process, but do not use more than once or for anything else except for its single purpose.



Non-traditional Unstructured Data: this type of information is usually attached and/or related to audio, video, and image files. Thus, it cannot be properly explored without special technologies, such as computer vision, advanced pattern recognition, or video and sound analytics.



Deep Web Data: is often hidden behind firewalls and requires specialized tools or techniques to collect and analyze it.




You might also find these articles interesting:  





Reasons why dark data occurs



The information can be unusable because of different reasons, such as its location, excessive quantity, or lack of resources needed to collect and/or analyze it. It also often happens that companies generate and collect much more information than they are able to process. Let’s look at all the reasons in a bit more detail.



Lack of access



Most dark data consists of information that is no longer accessible. People continuously store data on their private and company devices (i.e. USB sticks, mobile devices, or portable hard drives). So when this device is lost or when the login credentials are forgotten, the access to data is blocked and information may be lost forever. 



Another example is a proprietary file format that requires a specific program to read it. It could happen that this program can no longer be used or is no longer available in the required version. Hence, the information remains trapped. 



Lack of processing resources



Companies collect enormous amounts of data but they don’t analyze all of it due to the lack of needed processing tools. Besides, some information is available in formats that require specific tools for analysis, such as image files and spoken text in audio files. Or there might be simply a lack of knowledge and skills on how to integrate the existing information and deliver valuable insights from it.



To resolve this issue, companies need to deploy sophisticated and corresponding tools for analysis. But in addition to that, companies will also need individuals with significant data science experts who, in turn, might be difficult to find.



Lack of data governance



It often happens that different departments within an organization have their own data collection and storage processes, which may not be shared with other departments. So the information collected by one department will be unseen and unused by others even if it is relevant and can be valuable to an organization as a whole. When you don’t have proper data governance, there’s a higher chance of your organization operating in silos, which can lead to serious issues and inaccurate business decisions. 



The problems that dark data might cause



Although dark data holds potential value for organizations, it also causes some problems if not handled timely and effectively. Here are the main concerns to keep in mind.



Storage issues



As the amount of collected information grows, it requires more storage space. And if you don’t use your existing information, it turns into junk that is taking up valuable space and eats up your resources. This is when companies need to prioritize which information to utilize and which to push aside. Because as the storage space keeps growing, the storage costs increase as well.



Hidden valuable information



Companies often don’t even know what type of information they’re storing. However, dark data may contain valuable insights that an organization has always been looking for. Hence, it equals lost opportunities in terms of business decisions, a lack of holistic view of the processes, and as a result, lost revenue and resources.



You can use dormant business data to mine essential insights and patterns in internal processes and user behavior for continuous improvement. Hidden information can be crucial for business insights, as companies could lose to competitors by ignoring it.



Security issues



The part of your dark data that is not securely hidden is the most vulnerable to leaks and theft. It is very easy for hackers to access systems that use outdated software components. So it's important to know if any business-critical information is in your dark data warehouses. In order to secure your organization from possible cyber threats, it is essential to know your inventory and properly safeguard it.



Ways to manage dark data



The more information a company produces, collects, and holds across multiple systems, the more important it is to have a solid data management strategy in place. You can start implementing the following practices in the IT department to help you detect dark data and derive value from it.



Use data retention policies



Organizations use data retention tools to create and enforce storage and security policies for prescribed periods. Such policies determine which types of data should be kept and which should be deleted. In case the information is meant to be deleted when the period for its retention expires, the policies outline specific manners to do so securely. 



You also must consider the legal implications of this task. For example, if data covered by a specific mandate or a regulation appears anywhere in dark data collection, its exposure could involve legal and financial liability. So keep in mind local and international privacy requirements. 



As well, data retention policies encourage organizations to look through their databases and double-check if there is any important information they didn’t recognize at first. This allows closing the gap for any missed opportunities.



Frequently audit your data



Finding and classifying unknown data is crucial for organizations’ privacy and compliance initiatives. After all, you can’t protect what you don’t know you have (or what level of protection is needed). So to shed some light on hidden resources, you can use specific tools to help you out.



Examples are:




DeepDive: a tool developed at Stanford University which extracts data relationships and makes corresponding inferences. DeepDive uses machine learning to convert dark data into a structured format that can be combined with existing data sets. 



Snorkel: a system where a user can create large training sets by writing simple programs that label data. Snorkel can extract value by leveraging labeling functions written by domain experts to generate training sets for machine learning models. It is focused on accelerating the development of structured or “dark” data extraction applications for domains in which large labeled training sets are not available.



Dark Vision: an application for analyzing video and audio to discover its content without requiring a user to watch or listen to the materials. After processing the file, the app automatically creates a summary that contains a set of tags, personalities, and locations. This summary helps with the categorization of the content without wasting your time watching it. 




An audit should help you not only uncover the hidden information but also trace its sources (and manage them, if needed). Also, keep in mind that not all the data is useful for the business. Use audits to determine what’s worth retaining and what can be deleted in order to free the storage space.



Break the silos



It might happen that one team (or department) generates data that could be useful to others but this data remains isolated within a single team and hence, results in data silos. We’ve recently written an article on identifying and breaking down silos so we highly recommend checking it out. But in short, the exposure and elimination of silos lead to increased transparency and visibility of the data and might contribute to dark data discovery as well.



In conclusion



The amount of information that companies collect and store during regular business activities will only grow in the future as companies deploy more advanced technological tools for data collection and analysis. By managing these processes more efficiently and productively, companies can transform their dark data into an ally that will surely help to understand the needs of their customers and their own efficiencies or shortcomings.




 

FAQ

### Everything You Need to Know About Java Scanner

Even though Java Scanner was introduced long time ago in the Java SE 5 version in 2004, developers still ask questions about its use and particular use cases. In this article, we answer the most common questions related to Scanner and we hope our answers will be helpful to you — now, let’s get started!







What is Scanner class in Java?



Scanner is a class in java.util package that is used for parsing primitive types and strings by using regular expressions. Basically it is used for reading input from the command line, although this approach is not very effective for situations where time is limited. For time-sensitive cases it’s preferable to use reading values from a file.



Here is a sample of Scanner source code for a reference:



package java.util;



How to use Scanner in Java?



To use the Scanner class, you’ll need to create a class object and select one of the methods described in the Scanner class documentation.



To get the instance of Java Scanner that reads user input, you’ll have to pass the input stream (System.in) in the constructor of Scanner. 



Scanner scanner = new Scanner (System.in);



To get the instance of Java Scanner that is responsible for strings parsing, you’ll have to pass the strings in the constructor of Scanner. 



Scanner scanner = new Scanner("Hello Softteco");  



Or you may pass an object of class File if we want to read input from a file.



Scanner scanner = new Scanner(new File("Softteco.txt"));



Scanner has a lot of constructors for different types of input. You can find all of them in Scanner.java class.



Scanner(Readable source, Pattern pattern)

Scanner(Readable source)

Scanner(InputStream source)

Scanner(InputStream source, String charsetName)

Scanner(InputStream source, Charset charset)

Scanner(File source)

Scanner(File source, String charsetName)

Scanner(File source, Charset charset)

Scanner(File source, CharsetDecoder dec)

Scanner(Path source)

Scanner(Path source, String charsetName)

Scanner(Path source, Charset charset)

Scanner(String source)

Scanner(ReadableByteChannel source)

Scanner(ReadableByteChannel source, String charsetName)

Scanner(ReadableByteChannel source, Charset charset)



How to import scanner in Java?



Since Scanner belongs to the java.util package, you can import it without downloading any external libraries. There are two ways of how you can do this:



If you plan to work with the java.util.Scanner class only, you can import the Scanner class directly.



import java.util.Scanner;



If you work with other modules in the java.util library, it may be a good idea to import the full library.



import java.util.*;



The first line of code imports the Scanner class. The second line of code imports all the packages within the java.util library, including Scanner.





How to read a file in Java using Scanner?



To read the content of a file, the Scanner class provides the following constructors:



Scanner(InputStream source)

Scanner(InputStream source, String charsetName)

Scanner(InputStream source, Charset charset)

Scanner(File source)

Scanner(File source, String charsetName)

Scanner(File source, Charset charset)

Scanner(File source, CharsetDecoder dec)

Scanner(Path source)

Scanner(Path source, String charsetName)

Scanner(Path source, Charset charset)



You have to use the following Scanner methods for reading information from a file:



scanner.hasNext()  — this method verifies whether the file has another line
scanner.nextLine()  — this method reads and returns the next line in the file.



Example with File Object:



import java.io.File;

import java.util.Scanner;

public class Example {

    public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception {

        //Creating the File object

        File file = new File("D:\Softteco.txt");

        //Creating a Scanner object

        Scanner scanner = new Scanner(file);

        //verify whether the file has another line

        while(scanner.hasNext()) {

            //reads, returns and prints the next line in the file.

            String str = scanner.nextLine();

            System.out.println(str);

        }

    }

}



Example with InputStream Object



public class Example {

    public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception {

        //Creating the File object

        InputStream inputStream = new FileInputStream("D:\Softteco.txt");

        //Creating a Scanner object

        Scanner scanner = new Scanner(inputStream);

        //verify whether the file has another line

        while (scanner.hasNext()) {

            //reads, returns and print the next line in the file.

            String str = scanner.nextLine();

            System.out.println(str);

        }

    }

}



Example with Path Object



public class Example {

    public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception {

        //Creating the File object

        Path source = Paths.get("D:\Softteco.txt");

        //Creating a Scanner object

        Scanner scanner = new Scanner(source);

        //verify whether the file has another line

        while (scanner.hasNext()) {

            //reads, returns and print the next line in the file.

            String str = scanner.nextLine();

            System.out.println(str);

        }

    }

}



How to take input from user in Java using Scanner?



Java Scanner class allows the user to take input from the console. To get the instance of Java Scanner which reads input from the user, we need to pass the input stream (System.in) in the constructor of the Scanner class. 



For Example:



Scanner scanner = new Scanner (System.in);



It helps read the input of primitive types (i.e. int, double, long, short, float, or byte) and is the easiest way to read input in Java. The Java Scanner class provides the following methods to read different primitives types: 







The following example allows users to read different types of data form the System.in.



import java.util.Scanner;

class Example {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);    

        System.out.print("Enter the integer number- ");

        int a = sc.nextInt();

        System.out.print("Enter the double number- ");

        double b = sc.nextDouble();

        System.out.print("Enter any text- ");

        String c = sc.nextLine();

        System.out.println(a);

        System.out.println(b);

        System.out.println(c);

    }

}



How to close Scanner in Java?



Scanner is a class, where non-memory resources (like file descriptors) are used. So, java garbage collector cannot manage these resources and cannot free them up in order to avoid the resource leak.



There are two ways of keeping Scanner in the correct state in java.



First is using close() method after reading input in finally block. This approach is useful if you’re using a Java version that’s earlier than JDK 7.



Scanner keyboard = new Scanner(System.in);

try{

   keyboard.nextLine();

}finally {

   keyboard.close();

}



A more correct way is to use try-with-resources construction, which was introduced in JDK 7.



try (Scanner keyboard = new Scanner(System.in)) {

// do your scanner stuff

}



In this case, Java will handle the process of closing resources automatically and the developer will not have to worry about closing the Scanner implicitly.



How to import a Scanner in Java?



For importing Scanner, we’ll use a standard operator import as there is no other way to do so in Java.



import java.util.Scanner;



How to read multiple string input in Java?



There might be cases when you need to read a non-defined number of strings from CLI. In this case you can use the following example:



Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);

            while(sc.hasNextLine()){

                System.out.println(sc.nextLine());

            }



But in this case you won’t get out of the while loop, so for using this example you have to think of the condition when reading from the scanner will be finished. For instance, you would want to check if еру input string contains еру word «finish» and then break the while.



Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);

            StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();

            while(sc.hasNextLine()){

                builder.append(sc.nextLine());

                System.out.println(builder.toString());

                if(builder.toString().contains("finish")) break;

            }

            builder.setLength(0);



How to read user input in Java without using  Scanner?



Are there alternative ways of reading input from users without using a Scanner in java? Definitely, there are. For example, here is sample with InputStreamReader



InputStreamReader reader = new InputStreamReader(System.in);

BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(reader);

System.out.println("Whis is our name?");

var input = br.readLine();

System.out.println("Your input was: " + input);



But in fact it doesn’t matter which approach you’re using (either with Scanner or with InputStreamReader), because in both cases you will have to pass  System.in input stream to the constructor.



How to close Scanner in Java?



Class Scanner has a method named close(). This method does not take any arguments and returns nothing. It just closes the current scanner instance.



The invocation of this method will have no effect if the Scanner is already closed.



Why we need to close it?



Once you perform the operations on Scanner, you should close it. Otherwise, Scanner will be opened and it is available to pass any info to the application and may cause data leaks.



Example:



import java.util.Scanner;

public class ScannerExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);

        System.out.println("Enter current day");

        int day = scanner.nextInt();

        System.out.println("Enter current month");

        String month = scanner.next();

//closing Scanner instance.

        scanner.close();

        System.out.println("Date now : " + day + " " + month);

    }

}



After closing instance of Scanner you can’t use it. Otherwise you will get IllegalStateException.



Example:



public class ScannerExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);

        System.out.println("Enter current day");

        int day = scanner.nextInt();

        System.out.println("Enter current month");

        String month = scanner.next();

//closing Scanner instance

        scanner.close();

System.out.println("Enter current year");

//trying to enter current year

        int year = scanner.nextInt();

        System.out.println("Date now : " + day + " " + month + " " + year);

    }

}



The result will be:







The most correct way to close a Scanner instance is to use try/catch/finally block. Because classes which utilize non-memory resources should provide ways to explicitly allocate/deallocate those resources. We need to explicitly call close() methods for deallocation of file descriptors in finally{}, as it will execute whether or not an exception is thrown.



Example: 



import java.util.Scanner;

public class ScannerExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);

        int day = 0, year = 0;

        String month = "";

        try {

            System.out.println("Enter current day");

            day = scanner.nextInt();

            System.out.println("Enter current month");

            month = scanner.next();

            System.out.println("Enter current year");

            year = scanner.nextInt();

        } catch (Exception e) {

            e.printStackTrace();

        } finally {

            scanner.close();

            System.out.println("Scanner was closed");

        }

        System.out.println("Date now : " + day + " " + month + " " + year);

    }

}



The result:



How to clear Scanner in Java?



Honestly, you can’t really clear Scanner’s buffer. Internally, it may clear the buffer after a token is read, but that’s an implementation detail outside of the programmers' reach.



How to loop a Scanner in Java?



You have many ways to loop: using for(), while or different methods of Scanner class if you want to control data which is input by the user.



Example 1: User must input only a word and then display it. (Used while loop)



import java.util.Scanner;

public class ScannerExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        try (Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in)) {

            ArrayList<String> allWords = new ArrayList<>();

            String word = "";

    // here we use while loop to control input of user

    // and add every word to list of words 

    // when user input stop scanner closed

    // then we can see all words.

            while (!word.equalsIgnoreCase("stop")) {

                System.out.println("Input word");

                word = scanner.next();

                if (!word.equalsIgnoreCase("stop")) {

                    allWords.add(word);

                }

            }

            System.out.println("Your words:" + allWords);

        } catch (Exception e) {

            e.printStackTrace();

        } finally {

            System.out.println("Scanner was closed");

        }

    }

}



The result:







Example 2: User must input number until result of multiplying will be bigger than 100. (Used for loop)



public class ScannerExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        try (Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in)) {

            int value;

            int result;

            for (result = 1; result < 100; result = result * value) {

                System.out.println("Input number");

                value = scanner.nextInt();

            }

            System.out.println("The result of multiplying: " + result);

        } catch (Exception e) {

            e.printStackTrace();

        } finally {

            System.out.println("Scanner was closed");

        }

    }

}



The result:



Example 3: Read words from a file until they run out (Using methods of Scanner).



import java.io.File;

import java.util.Scanner;

public class ScannerExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        File file = new File("Cities.txt");

        try {

            Scanner scanner = new Scanner(file);

            System.out.println("Cities from file: ");

            while (scanner.hasNext()) {

                String city = scanner.next();

                System.out.println(city);

            }

        } catch (Exception e) {

            e.printStackTrace();

        } finally {

            System.out.println("Scanner was closed");

        }

    }

}



The result:



An important note! When you create a file object, you need to specify a pathname to this file. In example we put Cities.txt file in the root of the project. If you want to read file from directory from PC you can do something like this:



File file = new File("C:/Users/MyUser/Cities.txt");



Summing up



Whew, that was a lot of information on Java Scanner and we hope you found it useful. Let us know whether you have any other unanswered questions in the comments below — or share your ideas about development tips that we can review next!

### Data Lake vs Data Warehouse: Where and How to Store Your Data

It’s needless to say how much modern businesses depend on the data which allows them to form accurate decisions and build solid development strategies. But in order for that data to be of maximum value, companies need to take proper care of its storage and organization. This is where the battle of data lake vs data warehouse comes into play - but how do you know which one will be the best for your business?



In this article, we will look at data lakes, data warehouses, and even data marts and will give a comprehensive overview of each data storage solution.







What is a data lake?



A data lake is exactly what the name implies - it is a repository that stores structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data. In other words, data lake stores data in its raw format and it collects data from the most various sources (i.e. social media, CRM systems, etc.). Think of it as a huge pool where the data floats freely and is completely unlabelled and unstructured. 



Data lake works by the ELT (Extract - Load - Transform) approach which means, the data is first extracted from a source, then loaded into the storage, and only then is processed upon the request. The data is also updated in real-time and every data element is assigned a unique identifier and tagged with a set of metatags. This is needed for easy data lake querying and easy data search.



The main things to remember about a data lake are:




Flat architecture is used to store the data;



Data is kept for all time, meaning, data lake stores not only the data for immediate use but also data for future use and historical data;



The schema is defined after the data is stored;



All data and data types can be stored in a data lake.




The pros and cons of a data lake



If you are not convinced that a data lake can bring you certain benefits, let’s have a look at some of its biggest pros. And obviously, we will look at the cons as well because you need to know both the good and the bad of this data storage type.



The main pros of a data lake:




Unlimited scalability and effortless horizontal scaling;



High flexibility that allows you to create various environments (i.e. microservices or heterogeneous environments);



Great integration with machine learning systems and Internet of Things;



Support for complex algorithms (such as deep learning).




The main cons of a data lake:




Complex to search through and sort the data;



A high chance of turning into a data swamp if not managed properly;



Security risks due to possible data access control issues and potential leaks of sensitive data;



Possible issues with data integrity due to the lack of transaction control.




The most common use cases of data lakes



For now, you might be thinking that a data lake is a rather messy way to store data. However, it is a real gem for data scientists and data engineers as raw data can be fed to machine learning models for making accurate future predictions. Here are the most popular data lake use cases that you may not be aware of:




Smart cities: since IoT is the heart and soul of any smart city, it integrates perfectly with a data lake. A data lake, in turn, allows real-time data updating and collection as well as storage of massive data amounts that are constantly generated by IoT devices.



Healthcare: this industry can benefit a lot from using data lakes since they provide access to real-time insights and store unstructured data that is collected from wearables.



Marketing: since data lakes store a vast amount of data related to customers and their behavior and preferences, marketers can benefit a lot from such data by using it to create hyper-personalized campaigns.



Transportation: because data lakes integrate perfectly with machine learning, this allows companies within the transportation industry to implement predictive maintenance and reduce costs significantly.




Actually, a data lake can benefit an organization within any industry - but what if you need your data neat and structured? 



Now,



It’s time to talk about data warehousing.



What is a data warehouse?



A data warehouse is a repository that stores structured relational data. Before being loaded into a data warehouse, the data is cleansed and categorized. So, unlike a data lake, a data warehouse works by the Extract-Transform-Load approach (ETL). 



It is important to note that the data warehouse is extremely integrated which means the data is always processed in the same way. As well, contrary to the data lake, the data in the data warehouse is not updated in real-time but on the schedule instead.



What other important things should you know about a data warehouse? They are:




The data is extremely well-structured and easy to understand;



This storage solution is also very scalable (same as a data lake);



Data warehouse integrates greatly with Business Intelligence (BI) tools to provide valuable business insights.




The pros and cons of a data warehouse



Data warehouse is one of the most efficient and popular ways of data storage due to the simplicity of searching through data and great opportunities for data analysis. So does this repository type have any cons? Let’s have a look.



The main pros of a data warehouse:




Thorough analysis of relational data that and hence, improved business intelligence;



A very high level of data quality and consistency due to the ETL approach;



Comparison of historical data to new data and hence, an option to gain better insights into any changes;



No need for data preparation when you need to use it since the data in a DW is already processed;



Data serving as a single source of truth for the organization.




The main cons of a data lake:




Implementation of any changes may be complex;



Might take too much time to retrieve and process the data to be stored in a data warehouse;



High maintenance costs;



There may be issues with the compatibility of a data warehouse with your existing systems.




The most common use cases of data warehouses



The biggest advantage of a data warehouse is the generation of detailed reports and consistent high-quality data. Hence, this repository type is most often used by business analysts and operational users in general because the data is so well-structured and easy to understand. As for the industries and specific examples of using data warehouses, here are the main use cases.




Finances and banking: due to efficient structuring and well-organized storage of processed data, the financial industry benefits a lot from deploying data warehouses;



Marketing and PR: data warehouse offers marketers a single source of truth and access to standardized data. In this way, marketers can rely on this data to create efficient campaigns ad won’t have to worry about the data being irrelevant or inconsistent.



Integration with legacy systems: yes, you’ve heard it right. Data warehouses typically connect with legacy systems in an effortless manner and thus, allow you to retrieve the needed data and present it in a format that would be compatible with new systems.




Hold on, there is one more thing, though.



But what about data marts?



Before we move forward and compare data lake vs data warehouse, there is one more thing that we need to clarify. When it comes to discussing data warehousing, you may hear the term data mart. And since there are so many data-related terms floating around, let’s take some time and find out how data mart relates to data warehouse so we avoid any confusion.



A data mart is a subset of a data warehouse that is focused on a specific line of business. In other words, it is a simple form of a data warehouse that is used by a specific department and focuses on a particular subject. For example, marketing teams often use data marts since they need to quickly access standardized customer data and don’t have time to sift through all the data stored in a data warehouse.



Data marts are usually built from an existing data warehouse (if you have one) or they can be built from any other data source that you use. And yes, the process of building and setting up a data mart can be quite complex. On the other hand, a data mart rewards you with highly focused insights on the needed subject and provides quick and easy access to the data.



The more you know!



Data lake vs data warehouse: key differences



And now, before deciding which type of data repository will be the best for your business, let’s quickly recap the main differences between a data lake and a data warehouse.



Data warehouseData lakeData typeStructured data that is extracted from transactional systems and is cleansed and processedData in a raw, unstructured format that is collected from multiple sourcesUsersOperational users and business analystsData scientists, data engineersData integration processETL: Extract-Transform-Load. Thus, the data is ready for analysis.ELT: Extract-Load-Transform. The data is structured only when needed.Main tasksProvides insights to pre-defined questions, data visualization, data analytics, Business IntelligenceMachine learning, IoT, Big Data analytics, predictive analyticsSchemaDefined before the data is storedDefined after the data is storedStorage costsHighRelatively low



Which data storage type is more suitable for you?



Both data lakes and data warehouses are extremely valuable for organizations and more and more companies started actually deploying both solutions. But if you need to choose between data lake vs data warehouse, here are a few questions that you need to answer and that might help you decide.



Do you already have a set-up structure and do you use an SQL database?



An SQL database is a relational database and since data warehouse stores relational data, it will obviously be your choice. As well, if you already have a CRM, an ERP, or an HRM (or a similar system) in use, the data warehouse will integrate seamlessly with it.



Is your data unified or not?



If your organization works with well-structured and unified data, it’s obvious that you will need a data warehouse. But if you collect data from diverse sources and in various formats (and you don’t plan to thoroughly structure it), you can choose data lake as the preferred storage option.



Will your budget allow you to efficiently scale your data?



Storage costs may be a bit high in the case of data warehousing and they might grow as data will be increasing in volume. Data lakes offer low storage costs due to the flat architecture so you might want to consider this option. Hence, when choosing between data warehouse vs data lake, the budget will play a big role in the decision.



What kind of processes run in your company?



If you specialize in machine learning, data science, and IoT, a data lake will be perfect for you. But if you work with pre-determined data and need clear structure and organization, then you better opt for a data warehouse.



Summing up



It’s obvious that your business needs a data storage solution but when deciding between data lake vs data warehouse, choose depending on the type of data that you work with and what you want to get from it. There is no right or wrong option and both data lakes and data warehouses can bring immense benefits to a business. It may even turn out that you need to use both - but before making the final decision, ensure that you’ve analyzed your business and its processes and that the selected option will be 100% worth the investment. 

### Data Silos: What They Are and How To Eliminate Them

Organizations that generate and process large amounts of information often face data silos and executives may not even be aware of their existence. However, it’s clear that something is wrong when you encounter outdated or duplicate data or cannot access certain bits of information. 



Data silos can lead to obstructed collaboration between departments, inaccurate business reports, increased costs, and other issues. To effectively fight back against data silos, companies need to take a step back to rethink their current business operations, company culture, and IT management. In this article, you will learn what data silos are, the main reasons why they occur, and 5 efficient ways to eliminate them.







What are data silos?



Data silos, also known as information “silos”, are a set of data available to one department but isolated from other departments in the company. Such isolated sets do not extend beyond one department for whatever reason and are usually stored in a separate system. As a result, employees find it difficult to access, search, and analyze the information across the departments due to the data separation.



Let’s look at an example. Imagine a situation when a customer service department, which has information about recent customer requests, and the marketing department, which has information about customers’ buying habits, cannot combine their data. This will lead to an incomplete image of the customer and, as a result, will impact the marketing strategy of the company.



But why does it happen? 



Let’s look at the most common reasons.



Decentralized IT management



It often happens that different departments in a company use different IT technologies. Sometimes these technologies are not even approved by an IT department - read more about shadow IT here. The reason for that is that employees want to use the most convenient tools and thus can buy their own software without checking it for compatibility with the existing systems or without approving it with the IT department. As a result, departments begin to function as separate entities and limit access to their data. 



In addition, some departments may be better trained to use technologies than others, which also causes different departments not to have access to the same information. 



Corporate culture



One more reason for data silos to occur is the company culture. That means, a company may not promote and encourage data sharing or it can allow departments to create their own data processing standards. In some companies, such isolation may even lead to internal competition within the company. Hence, if a company does not have a set of principles for managing and sharing information, that might be the primary reason for a data silo to happen.



Business growth



And last but not least, when a company grows quickly, it becomes difficult to manage the data across the organization and provide access to it properly. The reason for that is that the infrastructure and processes often don’t scale and departments may not implement process updates as rapidly as necessary. 



Data silos - the hidden iceberg (and the challenges they bring)



As you can see, data silos are a consequence of how organizations are structured and managed as a whole, including their IT operations. Whatever the reason for separate data in your organization, it's clear that such isolation is not good.



But what's really so bad about it? 



While siloed data may seem harmless at a first glance, there are many ways in which it can sink companies:




Incomplete view of the business: companies cannot get a holistic view of their business. As a result, business strategies are not based on accurate data, which can lead to wrong decisions ahead;



Poor user experience: when departments don’t have a complete understanding of the customer journey due to the lack of data, it can affect brand awareness and user experience in a negative way;



Limited collaboration: teams have limited access to the information and thus cannot efficiently work together. When employees see only one part of the business process, they miss opportunities to work together toward the company's goals;



Slow company growth: with separate data, teams can spend a lot of time looking for needed information. This approach reduces departmental productivity, which can affect the growth pace of the organization;



Security risks: employees may store data sets on private devices or in repositories that are not approved by the IT department. This increases security risks, especially if the company does not have proper security controls;



Reduced data quality: isolated data quickly becomes outdated, difficult to access, and inaccurate - this can result in incorrect business decisions.




Finally, the problems caused by data silos are exacerbated when companies start to put up with data isolation or try to find workarounds to resolve this problem. Eventually, company operations become worse over time and the silos tend to build up slowly. Thus, companies need to investigate the "weak points" and bottlenecks by paying attention to the daily workflow. 



How can companies identify data silos?



Because teams can function as autonomous units within a company, detecting data silos can be difficult, yet it’s possible. Now that we know how and why these silos occur, you can identify them with the following indicators:




Lack of access to data for specific business units;



Inconsistent data reported by different departments;



Inability to find certain data or access it quickly;



Occurrence of data errors or existence of outdated data;



Cases of data negligence.




Organizations may often be reassured by a false sense of security when they see small shortcomings and thus they don’t usually worry about them too much. But these shortcomings could lead to more serious problems. In order to prevent it, use the methods below to eliminate the silos.



5 ways to eliminate data silos



Companies need to make the process of eliminating data silos a priority, supported by a well-designed strategy. So here are the top methods to help you get started.



Use effective integration tools



Data from different departments is likely located in different repositories, so proper integration of all systems and apps is one of the most effective ways to avoid data separation. Organizations can utilize several methods to move information from siloed sources into a single repository, including specialized integration software. In addition, integration software helps different teams work on the same page, thus improving cross-team collaboration. 



Here are the best data integration tools:




Scripting:  writing scripts in SQL, Python, or other languages helps move data from isolated sources to the repository. However, as data sources grow, it becomes difficult and costly to scale scripting;



On-premises ETL tools: ETL (extract, transform, and load) tools can help a company automate the process of moving data from various sources by converting it into a common format for analysis and uploading the results to a repository;



Cloud-based ETL: these tools take advantage of the cloud provider’s infrastructure and break down the silos by providing technological means to gather the data from different sources into a central repository.




Next, you might pay attention to:



Centralization



Another great way to eliminate silos is to consolidate your data into a suitable repository- either a data warehouse or a data lake but you will have to choose the platform according to your business needs. Both solutions provide centralized storage, but you need to know the difference between the two.



A data lake is a pool of structured and unstructured data that you can store on any scale. Data lakes consist of both relational and non-relational data and hence, can be used by various users and for several different purposes (i.e. machine learning or predictive analytics). 



A data warehouse, on the other hand, stores structured relational data that is highly curated. The data from this repository is used by business analysts mostly and it cannot serve as many purposes as the one from a data lake. Hence, before selecting the right platform, analyze your business needs carefully to make sure you invest in a profitable solution.



Sort legacy data



To create an effective data management system, a company needs to make sure that all its data is up-to-date and accurate. That is the reason why companies should invest some time into looking for outdated, disparate, or duplicate data that may have been stored in an organization for years. 



Nearly at the finish line:



Create a collaborative culture



To really put a stop to data silos, executives need to change an organization's culture or make adjustments to it. This may include encouragement to collaborate with different departments, promotion of data sharing, or establishment of transparency within the organization. For that, companies can kick-start new initiatives, review internal politics and entrenched cultural norms, and overall encourage employees to be open and collaborative.



Consolidate data management systems



Executives can gather information about each team's data collection methods and management systems to decide which systems should be merged and which ones discarded. The company should have a single central data management system, with flexible user rights and an option to easily share the information and generate meaningful reports. An efficient and user-friendly data management platform can reduce the number of silos and promote common data standards and policies.



Final thoughts



As organizations and data sets grow, data silos become a significant threat. For this reason, it’s important to take some time to break down the silos and address the issue at its root. Companies that are in control of their data can make accurate business decisions, benefit from more accurate analytics and reporting and uncover trends and patterns that were previously invisible. 




 

FAQ

### Everything You Need to Know About Conversational AI

We encounter conversational AI so often these days that we don’t even tend to notice it. Whenever we playfully ask Siri to tell us a joke or when we talk to especially smart chatbots in an online store, these are all examples of machines being able to respond to humans in an accurate manner. And just a few months ago (in August 2022), Google presented a robot that was able to understand spoken commands and translate them into a sequence of physical actions. 



How impressive does it sound?



With Artificial Intelligence evolving at a rapid pace, it’s quite interesting to look at where it all started and where it is heading in the future. Thus, let’s review what conversational AI is, how it differs from chatbots, and what we can expect from it in the near future.







What is conversational AI and how does it differ from chatbots?



While there is no official and universal definition, we can say that conversational AI is a set of technologies that enable machines to communicate with people by understanding and processing human inputs in various formats. In simple words, conversational AI is a type of artificial intelligence that helps machines understand human language and respond correspondingly to it.



Now, when we say conversational AI, the first thing that comes to mind is a chatbot. Some people may say it’s the same but it’s not. So what is a key differentiator of conversational AI?



Here is the thing:



An AI-powered chatbot is built on the base of a conversational AI platform but it’s just one example of conversational AI. There are also virtual assistants, automated messaging systems, and agent-assisting bots - and all of them belong to conversational AI.



However, not all chatbots belong to conversational AI. If a chatbot is human-scripted or rule-based, it will be just an ordinary chatbot without any AI involved in its design. Hence, the main thing to remember is that conversational AI always implies the use of artificial intelligence when designing a smart virtual assistant - and there can be virtual assistants without any AI under the hood.



The main benefits of conversational AI 



Companies that use conversational AI in their processes include such big names as Spotify, Wall Street Journal, The BBC, Domino’s Pizza, and Lufthansa. So there must be a really good reason for these brands to invest in conversational AI technology, right?



The biggest benefits that conversational AI brings to a business are:




Lower costs of customer service: the cost of implementing an AI-powered virtual assistant is lower than hiring and training employees to perform the same tasks.



Better customer experience: due to the ability of AI to immediately provide requested information, the use of this technology increases user satisfaction and boosts user experience greatly.



User data collection: in addition to assisting users, a smart AI bot can also collect data about their preferences, interests, online behavior, and much more. Needless to say how important such data is for one’s marketing strategies. 



Better scalability: as the number of customers grows, it might be hard for human agents to keep up with their requests. However, it’s not an issue for AI since the efficiency of the technology does not depend on the number of requests it receives.




How do I implement a conversational AI chatbot into my processes?



The easiest way to add a smart virtual assistant to your processes is by using a readymade conversational AI platform. Examples of conversational AI companies are IBM Watson Assistant, Cognigy, Senseforth.ai, Amazon Lex, and many others. The best thing about such solutions is that you don’t have to do anything related to programming - all you have to do is to set up the bot according to your needs.



However, there is also an option for custom AI software development in case you have a specific request or want to have a one-of-a-kind conversational AI chatbot. In this case, we recommend reaching out to a software vendor with experience in machine learning development so they can offer the best solution for you,



Phew, that was a bit complex but we did it. And now let’s rewind a bit and look at the history of conversational AI and where it all started.



A brief history of conversational AI



A starting point in the history of conversational AI is ELIZA - an early NLP computer program that was developed between 1964-1966 by Joseph Weizenbaum. ELIZA was among the first chatterbots to attempt the Turing test and was designed to parody "the responses of a non-directional psychotherapist in an initial psychiatric interview” and to show that “the communication between man and machine was superficial". ELIZA was realizing the technique of “active listening” which is widely used in psychological sessions. The technique implies using such methods as making pauses, repeating the question back to the patient, or paraphrasing said words. So when someone told ELIZA “I have a headache”, the machine could answer something like “Why do you have a headache?”. In this way, ELIZA kind of kept up with the conversation but did not understand the context nor provided any useful information in response to the input.



What came next?



As technology was evolving, the next big milestone was the appearance of mobile virtual assistants like Siri and Cortana. Even though there were other, simpler mobile chatbots that provided information on weather or news before, it was Siri that took a step forward and became something bigger and more personalized than an ordinary bot. And with the advancement of such virtual assistants, artificial intelligence became more available and widespread.



Today, the main focus of researchers lies within the personalization of artificial intelligence and attempts to make computers think in a human-like way. The best example that we can provide here is probably Pathways AI by Google. This is a revolutionary AI architecture that strives to make a single AI model capable of multitasking and of perceiving information through multiple senses (just like we do). And Google is already making great strides in Pathways AI development - we’ll talk more about it below. 



Now:



Let’s look at how conversational AI works.



The main components of conversational AI and the way it works



On the surface, it seems pretty simple: we enter our request into a machine (i.e. a smartphone) and the chatbot provides us with an answer. What we don’t see is what’s happening inside its little machine brain and how exactly the bot processes our input. So the full process would go in the following way:




A user puts an input (in a text or voice format) in the machine;



The machine processes the request (NLP);



The machine understands the request and user’s intent (NLU);



The machine responds back.




Now we need to decipher the abbreviations above. NLP stands for natural language processing and NLU means natural language understanding. When a machine receives a request, it uses NLP to correct spelling, interpret grammar (i.e. the tenses used in a sentence), and recognize the sentiment. As well, NLP breaks the request down into words and sentences (in case it’s a long request) to make it easier for the machine to understand what the user needs.



Once the request is processed by NLP, the machine will use natural language understanding to actually understand the request. 



What do we mean, by “understand”?



That means a machine will determine whether the message is positive, neutral, or negative, and what intent it has. This is possible due to Deep Learning and Machine Learning technologies that work together to break down a user’s request into components that can be understood by a machine. As a result of all this processing, a machine then forms a corresponding response to a user’s input with the help of the natural language generation (NLG) technique. And don’t forget that due to ML and deep learning, conversational AI keeps evolving and learning so the more inputs a machine is getting, the smarter it becomes.



As for the main components of conversational AI, they are:




Machine learning



Natural language processing



Computer vision



Speech recognition



Text analysis 




In this way, conversational AI can recognize different forms of inputs correctly and provide a very human-like interaction with users.



But it gets better.



The future of conversational AI



Even though it may seem like conversational AI is already a massive tech wonder, there is still room for improvement. And while different sources list various trends for the future of conversational AI, all of them kind of fall under the category of AI becoming smarter and more proactive. In this way, companies strive to provide better user experience, better personalization, and better services by deploying smart AI-powered assistants and using them across departments. 



But what’s meant by AI becoming smarter and more proactive? 



First, researchers hope to enable AI to predict your possible requests and provide the best responses to them before you even make an input. And second, AI is becoming more and more human-like in terms of “thinking” - remember we talked about PaLM briefly? Now it’s time to elaborate a bit more on the topic.



So PaLM is all about enabling robots to multitask - now Google is taking it a step further. In August 2022, Google held a demonstration in its robotics lab. A researcher wrote an “I’m hungry” command on a laptop connected to a robot and the robot immediately reacted by picking up a bag of chips and offering them to the researcher.



Want to know the best part?



What’s so amazing about it is the fact that the robot was not programmed in advance to respond to the researcher’s request in the way it did. Instead, it really understood the request and that was achieved by the robot previously scraping millions of pages of text on the web. That means, people won’t have to use specific wording when addressing robots - instead, they can say “I’m tired” and a robot may offer them a pillow. 



This is a real breakthrough in robotics and conversational AI as this brings robots closer to human-like natural interactions. So we can definitely say that the future will bring us intelligent AI assistants that may even be capable of making recommendations and disagreeing with us. 



Final thoughts



Conversational AI is a great asset that empowers companies with outstanding customer service and provides an excellent experience to users. It is exciting to watch its development and it’s even more exciting to see industries adopting conversational AI and thus adjusting to the ever-changing requirements of a modern customer. 




 

FAQ

### How AI Can Help Your HR Processes (and Why It Can’t 100% Replace Humans)

As the working environment changes due to technological advancement, so do the employers’ requirements and employees’ expectations. Legacy HR processes simply do not fit into the new labor market reality and Artificial Intelligence is one of the best ways to take these processes to a new level. But despite all the benefits that AI brings to the HRM industry, there are certain areas where it can never replace humans - and in this article, we will look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of AI in HR.







The current state of Artificial Intelligence in Human Resources



While everyone talks about AI invading HRM, nothing speaks better about a certain trend than numbers. Hence, before dissecting the role of AI in HR, let’s first look at some statistics:




According to Oracle, 64% of people would trust a robot rather than their manager (which is a bit upsetting in regard to the management-employee relationships);



The study by Tidio states that 68% of recruiters believe that AI would help eliminate unintentional bias;



The same study states that 44% of respondents believe Artificial Intelligence will significantly free the recruiters’ time and hence make their jobs easier and more efficient;



As per IBM, 66% of CEOs think that AI can drive great value in current human resource processes - and judging by available AI capabilities, they are not far off the mark.




Of course, many people are also worried about AI taking away their jobs or drastically transforming the existing structure of most HR departments. However, AI is not here to take away jobs and transform HR processes into heartless and automated ones. The main idea behind using artificial intelligence for HR is to elevate what’s already here and help both employers and employees meet their goals faster.



As for the current use of AI for HR, most companies use it to automate certain mundane tasks (i.e. resume screening) or use smart chatbots to answer the most common questions automatically. While there are many more use cases of AI in HR, most companies still have to embrace its adoption and use AI to its fullest potential, not just for several minor tasks. But on the contrary, there are many companies that have already unlocked the AI potential and use it at full capacity for managing their HR processes. Examples of such companies include Glassdoor, Jibe, Jobvite, Scannel Solutions, and Imaginatik.



The main challenges of modern HRM 



Even though there are hundreds of available software solutions that are aimed at facilitating HR-related processes, HR managers still struggle with several big challenges that never seem to go away. Let’s take a closer look at them.



Outdated processes



While trying to balance all the processes happening within a company, HR managers often do not notice that some of them are desperately outdated and have to be changed for the sake of better hiring and better management of employees’ well-being and satisfaction. Examples of such outdated processes are:




Massive amount of paper documentation instead of digital documents;



Interview questions that do not really bring value either to an interviewer or to the candidate;



Biased hiring decisions;



Rigid policies and inability to adapt to changes;



Rare and strict performance reviews instead of encouragement and motivation programs.








As you see, some things that worked perfectly, say, 20 or ten years ago are simply not applicable to the modern labor market. And yes, you can (and should!) review your processes and constantly improve them but AI can help you do so much faster.



A reactive instead of a proactive approach



In most cases, it comes as a surprise to an employer when an employee decides to leave the company. Of course, HR managers try to predict the possibility of one’s leave but most action is taken after an employee leaves the company - not before. And here is where another big challenge comes in.



Most companies prefer a reactive approach to their HR management, meaning, they react to an event instead of proacting and forecasting it. So if we continue with the example above, a proactive approach would imply a constant and careful analysis of employees’ performance, engagement, and motivation with an aim to prevent their leaving and to retain talents.



Biased decision-making



Bias remains of the biggest issues in modern HR processes and sometimes great candidates are missed due to bias. While AI recruitment can be biased too (more on that below), in general, it guarantees impartial evaluation of candidates and thus can help resolve related issues such as lack of diversity at a workplace.



The many ways AI transforms existing HR processes



All the challenges listed above can be resolved by implementing artificial intelligence but of course, the list of AI uses cases in HR is much bigger. Below we will list the main areas of HR where AI is widely used but first, let’s quickly review the main advantages of using AI in HR software:




Automation of manual processes: by using artificial intelligence in human resources, managers can perform specific tasks (i.e. resume screening or providing feedback) much faster;



Better personalization: due to AI’s ability to analyze massive data sets, AI-powered systems can analyze every employee in a company and, based on the current and historical data, provide personalized suggestions (i.e. on career development);



Risk management: AI-based forecasting allows companies to identify possible risks (i.e. employee’s leave) in advance and prevent or mitigate them.




Now, let’s look at the main areas of human resource management and see how artificial intelligence can transform them.



Screening and recruitment



It takes an overwhelming amount of time to manually screen through candidates’ resumes and to find the most suitable ones. And because it’s such a time-consuming process, HR managers can make mistakes (like calling the candidate the wrong name or mistaking their position) which, in turn, immediately forms a strong negative impression about a company.



AI-powered tools use smart algorithms, based on machine learning, that analyze keywords used in resumes, to find the most suitable ones. In addition, AI is unbiased so it also eliminates bias from the screening process.







When it comes to recruitment, AI can help HR managers with the following:




Chatbots for communication with candidates in order to provide the main information about the company and answer FAQs;



Creation of personalized job offers after analyzing the local market, offers by competitors, and more;



Prediction of the candidate’s performance and their likelihood of accepting the offer;



Comparison of the candidate to the company’s top performers in similar positions.




Onboarding



We’ve already written an article on employee onboarding so we won’t go into much detail about all the benefits that onboarding brings. The main things to remember are that onboarding greatly increases employee retention and engagement, forms a positive company image, increases employee satisfaction, and speeds up the adaptation process. So where does AI fit in the onboarding process?



First, AI can greatly speed up certain administrative processes, such as the delivery of necessary documents and their processing or provision of all needed credentials and information. Second, AI-powered assistants can answer most questions that newcomers often have as well as provide personalized advice and tips. And obviously, AI assistants can walk newcomers through the main steps of onboarding while also providing feedback to managers. 



Obviously, you cannot remove a human factor from the onboarding process since it’s all about people interacting with people. But artificial intelligence can greatly facilitate certain tasks that can be performed without intervention from the employee’s manager. This approach will allow managers to focus on more critical issues (i.e. performance reviews) while employees will be offered needed assistance 24/7.



Performance management and career development



Remember we talked about a proactive approach toward human resource management? This is where AI steps in and helps manage employees’ performance in the following ways:



Personalized succession planning based on employee performance and analysis of possible areas of professional development;Regular and consistent performance monitoring and feedback collection;Analysis of the market and timely proposition of relevant compensations and bonuses;Identification of flight risks and timely notifications of managers concerning the possibility of employee leave.







In terms of performance management, AI comes as a valuable assistant who helps HR managers not to miss a single thing regarding the employees’ well-being and satisfaction. Thus, AI contributes to retaining talents within an organization and assisting them to grow which, in turn, leads to a healthy work environment and robust relationship between the company and its employees.



Employee training



One more important aspect of HRM where AI can be of help is employee training. Right now, HR managers are facing several challenges, such as the fragmentation of departments (and hence, lack of transparency) and lack of time and efficiency when managing processes, related to employee learning.



Artificial intelligence can significantly leverage your training programs in several ways. First, technology can add personalization to training by analyzing one’s skills and knowledge as well as areas of interest and possible development opportunities. Second, the use of artificial intelligence for HR facilitates collaborative learning and thus increases the transparency level within the organization. Third, AI provides constant data collection and analysis regarding employees’ performance and learning progress which allows managers to timely suggest improvements, courses, and training options.




 


Expert Opinion



Using AI in HR processes has clear advantages and can revolutionize traditional HR operations, but it comes with nuances. AI’s ability to automate repetitive tasks like resume screening and candidate matching allows HR teams to operate more efficiently and focus on strategic functions like employee development and company culture. AI also enhances decision-making with predictive analytics, helping to forecast employee performance, engagement, and turnover, making retention efforts more targeted and proactive.



However, concerns around bias in AI algorithms and the loss of human touch in areas like recruitment and employee relations must be considered. While AI can enhance efficiency and decision accuracy, it’s critical that HR professionals remain involved to ensure fairness, ethical practices, and personalization in employee interactions. Balancing AI with human oversight is key to success.





HR Specialist at SoftTeco



Ilya Gorbushko






 




So can AI really replace humans in HRM?



The biggest misconception one may have is that the use of artificial intelligence in human resources will lead to the technology replacing people and fully managing all HRM-related processes. While AI is a powerful tool that can take care of many tasks, it cannot replace even the most basic human interaction simply because a machine does not have empathy and is not capable of emotions. And since human resource management is all about the well-being of employees, both mental and physical, a machine cannot fully comprehend how to take care of one’s mental health and what emotional triggers work the best in encouraging and motivating people.



One more thing to keep in mind is that the implementation of AI comes with certain challenges and risks to be considered in advance. For instance, people teach machines how to perceive certain data - and if this data is biased from the start, before entering the ML model, then the machine will have no choice but to deliver biased results. And it won’t be the machine’s fault - it will be a human error that people may not be even aware of. 



Another thing to consider is cybersecurity. The more technologies a company adopts, the bigger the cyber risks grow and that’s one thing any business should be aware of. When a company decides to adopt an AI-based solution, it should also review its cybersecurity strategy and if needed, implement new security policies. Since AI processes big amounts of sensitive data, you’d want this solution to be as secure as possible in order to prevent the possibility of a data breach.



Summing up, the use of AI for HR can significantly transform the industry and help managers review and reorganize the processes - but it’s not the only success factor. Organizations need to rework their HRM processes on all levels in order to establish long-lasting relationships with employees and ensure a sufficient level of transparency and trust.

### What Is Shadow IT and How Can It Threaten Your ISMS?

Shadow IT is something that every organization might have but only a few know about it. The tricky thing about shadow IT is that it helps people do their jobs faster and even better - but at the same time, it puts the company’s data and its information security management system (known as ISMS) at great risk. So what exactly is shadow IT and how do you know if it’s happening right now in your company? Let’s try finding out.







Shadow IT: information technology under the hood



As you can guess from its name, shadow IT is something happening behind the scenes - and something that your IT department is not aware of. Hence, we can define shadow IT as software and/or hardware that your employees use within an enterprise without approval from the IT department.



In other words, the IT department has no idea that employees are using a particular program or hardware. As Gartner puts it, shadow IT means “IT devices, software, and services outside the ownership or control of IT organizations”.



By now, you might be thinking: hey, it doesn’t seem so bad, does it? Well, Cisco would not agree with you. Take cloud computing, for example. The main benefit of cloud computing is considered to be its advanced security. But according to Cisco's estimation, on average, IT managers believe their enterprise has about 51 cloud solutions in use - but in reality, there can be up to 730. And this is quite a warning number, isn’t it?



Now, let’s get more specific and talk about the examples of shadow IT. These would include:




Software applications: Slack, Skype, Dropbox;



A personal drive, a personal messenger, a personal email;



An unauthorized server;



A personal device such as a laptop or a smartphone.




So why do employees risk the company’s security and take a detour instead of following rules set by an IT department? There are several reasons for that.



Lack of efficiency from approved tools



It often happens that tools approved by an IT department do not seem efficient enough for employees. Hence, they tend to find alternatives that allow them to work faster and better - even if these alternatives count as shadow IT. This creates a bit of controversy that we will discuss later but in short, shadow IT can increase productivity while also decreasing security.



Lack of training for approved tools



Sometimes, when a company fails to provide corresponding employee training, especially when introducing new software or/and hardware, employees may feel too stressed and confused to use the new tool. This is another reason why they might decide to use an alternative tool that would allow them to retain the speed and quality of work without too much stress.



A poorly organized process of approving new tools



One more reason for employees to choose unapproved tools is the process of approving new IT tools. If it’s too slow, complex, or frustrating, employees would prefer to discreetly use unauthorized tools instead of spending their time on the approval process (that may not even end up positively for them).



The biggest risks of shadow IT



As you can see, the main reasons for shadow IT are employees’ productivity and the convenience of using IT tools. Now let’s talk about the possible risks that shadow IT brings to an organization.



The risk of data breaches and data leaks







The first and most important risk that shadow IT poses is cybersecurity. When there is an unauthorized IT tool within an organization, there is a very high chance that this tool may be hacked. As a result, hackers will get access to sensitive information via that tool and we don’t have to remind you about the costs of data breaches that companies face these days. According to the report by IBM and the Ponemon Institute, the average cost of a data breach in 2022 was estimated at US$4.35 million. And yes, a company may face such financial consequences because employees secretly use one messenger instead of another.



Lack of control



Think about the following. The more unauthorized IT tools there are within an organization, the higher the security risks are. However, if an IT department has no idea about all the IT tools in use, it won’t be able to 100% control data processing and storage. In this way, an IT department does not have full control over the company’s security. 



As well, by not knowing about the existing shadow IT issue, the company won’t be able to control and treat other issues that are not related to cyber security, like miscommunication (for example, if employees use different messengers for information sharing). Hence, the company’s owner won’t be able to fully control and manage all internal processes within the company and thus won’t be able to prevent the issues or timely react to them.



High IT costs



Another risk that shadow IT brings to companies is the increase in IT costs due to the following reasons:




It’s always more expensive to implement a tool after some time than from the start;



If there is a duplicate or insufficient tool that is not in use, it will be draining the company’s resources;



The allocated budget for the IT department may not allow any additional tools to be used.




Lack of patching and updates



The thing with external software (aka the one not managed by your organization) is that you cannot control its patching and updates as well as its support and maintenance. However, the timely patching of a software application is one of the best ways to secure it against threats and detect possible vulnerabilities at an early stage. 



In this way, if your employees use non-approved software, you don’t know whether it has stable version control and whether it’s timely updated. Hence, you cannot know the level of security that it has and you can’t impact it.



Best practices for mitigating and preventing shadow IT risks 



Now that we explained the biggest risks that shadow IT brings, the question is how does one prevent it from happening. While you cannot be 100%, there are several best practices for preventing shadow IT risks that can help you save money, avoid cyber risks, and hopefully make your working environment a safer place.



Establish transparent communication with employees



Since shadow IT is spread by employees, they will be your first concern when it comes to mitigating shadow IT risks. First, you need to encourage open communication with employees regarding the IT tools that they use. Persuade them that there will be no punishment for using unauthorized tools and emphasize the importance of knowing about all IT tools in use. 







Second, make it clear that the company is open to a discussion about the authorization of proposed tools and the replacement of legacy tools with more efficient ones. However, you need to have a well-organized process for new tools adoption. A complex and confusing process will discourage employees from approaching an IT department for approval.



Adapt cybersecurity practices



We’ve written many articles on the topic of cybersecurity so we won’t go into much detail here. However, we can provide several recommendations. First, you can start by adopting CIS security controls if you don’t know where to start and don’t have even a basic cybersecurity layer. There are three different categories of controls for different types of organizations so every company can implement them in accordance with available resources.



Second, provide your employees with cybersecurity training - it is especially important if your organization plans to undergo ISO 27001 certification in the near future (more on that below). By understanding the importance of cybersecurity and the basic rules to follow, your employees will be able to retain secure work environments and will be more cautious about unknown or non-verified software.



Use analytical tools to monitor IT activity



There can be hundreds of shadow IT tools running in your company and while you can’t just blindly trust that all of them are harmless, it would also take a lot of time and resources to check them all. Hence, you can use specialized analytical tools powered by Artificial Intelligence that monitor your IT data activity and can instantly spot suspicious behavior or risk signals. In this way, you can always timely react to any occurring risks while performing regular security checks at a normal pace and without any stress.



But what about shadow IT benefits?



Strange as it sounds but shadow IT can be quite beneficial to a company. Some shadow IT tools can greatly improve one’s productivity and engagement, thus, bringing benefits to a company. As well, some company owners encourage their employees to be ingenious and creative about their work, and thus, the use of shadow IT tools can be actually seen as a plus in a workplace that promotes agility, innovation, independence, and creativity.



So how do you balance the risks and benefits of shadow IT and make sure it doesn’t bring harm to your company? The best way is to increase visibility and bring shadow IT into the light. In this way, it won’t remain in the shadows for too long but you will at least know what tools your employees use and how they use them.



Let us explain a bit more here. Say, you’ve discovered that your employees use an unauthorized server. Instead of taking it down and deducting a penalty from everyone’s salary, you can instead educate employees on the importance of software security and add this server to a list of tools that are monitored and managed by the IT department. In this way, you will gain control over the server, will ensure data visibility, and will always know what data is processed and managed within this particular server. And that’s where we gradually move towards the process of approving IT tools and the organization of this process.



Shadow IT and ISMS



ISMS stands for Information Security Management System and is a set of policies and security controls to manage cyber risks and threats within an organization. Implementation of ISMS is highly recommended for any company that processes and stores information (especially sensitive data) and it is advised that your ISMS is compliant with ISO 27001 which is an international standard on information security. Also, note that ISO 27001 provides a checklist on ISMS implementation which you might find helpful. 







So where does shadow IT fall within the concept of ISMS? To answer this question, let’s look at the main stages of ISMS implementation:




Define the goals that you wish to achieve with the help of an information security management system;



Outline resources that you will need for successful ISMS implementation;



Outline all areas to cover: business units, departments, processes;



Create risk assessment and/or risk mitigation policies and choose the most suitable way of treating risks, according to ISO 27001;



Document the defined policies and procedures.




The identification and management of shadow IT belong to the stages of outlining the areas to cover and the creation of risk assessments. So in order to prevent the expansion of shadow IT and create a robust information security management system, some of the things you can do are:




Create a well-organized approval process for all IT tools that employees use or plan to use;



Write clear and detailed instructions on using approved IT tools and on treating non-approved tools;



Define policies for treating non-approved IT tools.




Note that ISO 27001 does not recommend using personal devices (i.e. laptops, mobile phones) for work as users typically install personal software on them (games, mobile banking, etc.) and these applications cannot be updated or controlled by the organization (but by an external vendor instead).



Of course, there are many more policies that you might want to introduce to secure your working environment. Note that the process of ISMS implementation will be different for every company as it depends on the company’s size, available resources, and goals. One thing will remain the same though: an efficient ISMS will significantly decrease the risk of shadow IT occurring and will help mitigate the possible risks that are associated with it.



Summing up



Even though shadow IT may bring your employees more efficient tools and thus increase their productivity and even motivation, it also brings immense risks to an organization in general. Therefore, company owners should review and, if needed, improve visibility and communication so employees do not hesitate to approach the IT department concerning new IT tools. Otherwise, you may find yourself in a situation where hundreds of non-approved software and hardware tools are running within a company and you have zero idea of how to manage them.

### How to Successfully Finish a Development Phase and Structure a Support and Maintenance Project

We are ending our series dedicated to IT vendor management with an article on the efficient ending of the development phase and further project support. When the project is so close to the release, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and miss minor things that might later have a big impact on the product. Below, we will walk you through the main considerations when ending a development phase and will also explain how to properly structure a support and maintenance project.







A brief overview of software development stages



In order to understand when to prepare for the product testing and release, it is important to understand the project lifecycle and development stages. They are:




Collection of the requirements: a client approaches a software vendor and explains their product idea. The vendor then collects project requirements from the client in order to provide the best solution.



Negotiation: during this stage, the client and the vendor normally negotiate the team composition, list of features to be developed, technological stack, deadlines, and budget.



Product development: the most important stage where the product is actually created.



User acceptance testing (UAT): a highly recommended phase that we’ll talk about in detail below.



Maintenance and support: after the product is released, the development team will be supporting it to timely identify and eliminate any bugs and implement further improvements.




We’ve talked about the first stages in our previous article - now let’s focus on the end of the development phase and preparation for the product testing and release. But before that, we need to understand what’s UAT and how it can help you ensure the product is ready for end-users.



User acceptance testing and its importance 



User acceptance testing, or UAT for short, is a form of testing performed by end users to determine whether the product can be accepted. UAT comes after the end of the development phase and implies creating real-life conditions for the product. This can be achieved by performing load testing, deploying real systems that are in use, and attracting a number of users that will ensure a real-life load. The main goal of UAT is to ensure the infrastructure will handle the expected number of users and the load, that all integrations work as intended, and that there are no unexpected bugs.



Note that during the UAT stage, the development team often writes user guide documentation which can be created together with the client as well. Technical documentation is usually created during the development phase. 



Best practices for ending a development phase



It’s wrong to think you can just finish the development process and call it quits. There are several things you can do to make the transition from development to maintenance as smooth as possible - here are our best practices for it.



Do not ignore UAT



Even though UAT may sound like a lot of work (and it is, actually), it’s 100% worth it. First of all, user acceptance testing helps stabilize the product which means adjusting it to real-life load and conditions. In this way, you’ll be able to detect any unexpected bugs at an early stage before they reach end users. Secondly, user acceptance testing can help you cut down development costs since you won’t need to quickly adjust the product after its launch. In addition to that, UAT helps retain customer loyalty and trust since an unsuccessful release may result in lost customers.



Gather a focus group



Another way to test the product's usability is by gathering a focus group composed of loyal users that are willing to share their feedback and look for any ways to improve or fix bugs. When testing with a focus group, the product is already in production but it’s not announced so focus group participants can help you make sure the product quality is sufficient. Focus groups help avoid big failures after big announcements, detect inconsistencies, and overall share their ideas and feelings about the product.



An important note here: the main difference between a focus group and UAT is that a focus group discusses a product together and the main feedback would be regarding people’s emotions and feelings. User acceptance testing, on the other hand, happens one-on-one and people will be more focused on the performance of the product.



Prepare an infrastructure for feedback processing



After you release your software product, you will be receiving lots of feedback from users so you’ll need a scalable and robust infrastructure for that. Note that feedback collection will be happening during the UAT, during the focus group testing, and right after the release. Hence, chances are high that you’ll need to process massive amounts of information and you need to prepare for that in advance.



A few examples of processes to set up and take care of include:




The history of feedback and queries processing;



The way of providing a response to the feedback;



Duration and conditions of incentives (for end users who agree to test your product).




Employee training



When the product is finally ready for release, your employees also have to be ready for it. That means, they will need to learn all the intricacies of the product in order to provide support to the customers, if needed. As well, the in-house team has to efficiently communicate and collaborate with the vendor’s team in case any questions arise regarding the product.



Starting a support and maintenance project



After the development phase is over and you’ve performed UAT and/or focus group testing, it’s finally time to enter the support and maintenance phase. Typically, the development team structures an S&M project - let’s see what it is and how to do it right.



In general, there are three levels of support:




First-level support: this happens between the customer and first-line employees from the client side. An example would be consulting a customer on a banking-related issue - in this case, the bank itself can handle the situation.



Second-level support: when the client resolves issues within their own technical center.



Third-level support: when there is an issue with the software product itself and the client has to address the development team that worked on it.




An IT software vendor normally provides third-level support which implies maintenance of the software product, elimination of bugs, implementation of improvements, addition and removal of features, and similar tasks, aimed at adjusting the app to the users’ needs and the environment.  However, you can’t just perform these tasks “on the go” - there are several things to consider in advance (and some of them are negotiated as early as during the contract signing).



Define the response time for different tasks



When the development phase is over, you will naturally have fewer people for project support and they are usually not available 24/7. Hence, when negotiating the terms and conditions for the project, it is vital to agree on the response time for different tasks, depending on their priority. For example, a critical bug would call for a response within one day while non-critical bugs or tasks can wait up to several days for a response.



The terms and conditions for the response should be documented in the contract to serve as a base for future negotiations.



Create a detailed Service Level Agreement (SLA)



In addition to defining the response time, you will also have to define the maximal number of incidents that the support team will handle as well as the working hours for the support team. It might be a 24/7 support in case the product is critical or it can be supported during working hours and weekdays only. These things are also discussed during the contract negotiation stage and are included in a Service Level Agreement that you’ll need to create as an annex to the main contract.



It’s usually up to the client to decide what kind of reactions (support) he expects for different kinds of incidents and tasks. Task prioritization is also the client’s responsibility.



Note: support and maintenance project is usually defined and described in an additional agreement that comes as an annex to the main contract. This agreement describes the type of support (third-level), incidents that require a reaction from the vendor’s development team, support process (starting from level one), and responsibilities of both the client’s team and the development team.



Pay extra attention to the stabilization period



When the product enters the maintenance phase, there will be a stabilization period during which you will probably encounter many unexpected bugs and edge cases. This period usually lasts for several months and thus, to minimize the impact of bugs on the product and eliminate them, you’ll need quite many developers. Therefore, when planning your S&M project, make sure you will have enough developers during the early stage of the maintenance phase. In this way, the team will be able to quickly adjust the app based on the occurring edge cases. 



Bonus: test not only your product but your support team as well



When you are ready to release the product, you normally test it to make sure it handles the real-life workload - but what about testing your support system to see how well it will handle the same load?



It often happens that clients overlook the need for testing their in-house support system. This includes training first-level support employees and testing their work, collection, and maintenance of documentation, or feedback processing. All these processes have to work smoothly once the app is in production and thus the client has to test the in-house support system in advance so it can be adjusted immediately.

### Top Healthcare Trends to Dominate the Industry in 2022-2023

The healthcare industry has been undergoing major changes in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the advancement of technology. Probably, the biggest change that it saw was digitization in terms of electronic health records, virtual assistants, and automation of certain tasks — but there is so much more that technology can offer to the industry. In this article, we will look at the biggest digital health trends that are expected to become a commodity in the industry — though some of them are already sneaking in and are widely used across medical facilities.







Telemedicine



We’ve already written an article on telemedicine and how it was impacted by COVID-19 — you can check it out here. Meanwhile, let’s have a look at where telemedicine is heading in the nearest future.



In case you need a reminder, telemedicine refers to the distribution of medical services via electronic devices (most often via mobile). Examples of telemedicine are virtual assistants, digital health systems, or health monitoring apps. The main idea here is to empower patients with convenient means to monitor and maintain their health to a certain extent. Obviously, emergencies or acute conditions will require a physical one-on-one consultation with a medical professional — but telemedicine helps digitize certain services and procedures.



According to the McKinsey report of 2021, the use of telehealth has stabilized 38X higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic and the domain is becoming a quarter-trillion-dollar sector. The main reasons why telemedicine is on the rise are:




An option for a patient to receive remote online consultation which is great for those people who may not be able to personally visit a doctor.



Saving time and costs: online consultations help both medics and patients save their time and resources.



24/7 monitoring of one’s health so a patient can be immediately notified in case anything is wrong and contact their doctor.



Personalized health care so patients can set up the apps in accordance with their healthcare needs and receive corresponding guidance and treatment advice.



More control for patients over their data, appointments, and the choice of a medical professional.




There is one interesting thing, however, regarding telemedicine and telehealth. While patients prefer URL (virtual) healthcare to the IRL (in real life) one, physicians still recommend in-person physical visits. However, as the world transforms and patients are gaining more control over their data and over their choice of a physician, medical facilities may want to reconsider their approach to align their existing processes with the patient’s needs.



Personalized healthcare



Another big healthcare trend that is really loved by both patients and physicians is personalized healthcare or personalized medicine (PHC for short). Personalized healthcare implies individual treatment for each patient based on their medical history, current condition, and many individual factors (i.e. gender or age). A lot of personal data can be obtained via wearables (more on that below) and in this way, physicians can make the diagnosis and come up with a personalized treatment plan easier and faster.



Even though PHC sounds like a hassle, in fact, it is able to significantly cut costs for the healthcare system. Think about the following: the US spends approximately 700 $ billion every year on healthcare efforts that do not deliver expected results and do not improve patients’ well-being (according to Tiga Health). With a personalized approach, physicians can quickly come up with the treatment that will work the best for every patient and that will guarantee results. As for the patients, they won’t have to undergo numerous effortless treatments which is one of the biggest issues in the world of healthcare these days.



In addition to individual treatment plans, personalized healthcare also makes certain medical products and services more available, thus contributing to more accurate patient data collection. If you need an example, think of genomics: you can now buy a DNA testing kit for approximately 100 $ or less. Needless to say, if genetics and genomics become more available, physicians will be able to detect complex conditions like cancer or identify warning symptoms at an early stage and timely mitigate them. 



Wearable devices



Wearable technology is another big healthcare trend that’s here to stay and that is expected to rise in popularity in this and upcoming years. Let us quote Tim Cook here and remind you of his saying from 2019: «I believe, if you zoom out into the future, and you look back, and you ask the question, ‘What was Apple’s greatest contribution to mankind? ’ it will be about health.» And it seems like Apple and other brands indeed significantly contribute to the healthcare sector with their smart wearable devices that allow every user to instantly collect their health-related information in real-time.



Wearable devices include watches, headphones, implants, biometric devices, and even jewelry and help in the following ways:




Collection of health-related data;



Tracking of symptoms;



Contribution to personalized healthcare;



Monitoring and management of one’s well-being.




As people are becoming more aware of their well-being, wearable devices keep rising in popularity as they are one of the most efficient ways to quickly check in with oneself and make sure everything is right. And in case it’s not, some wearables can automatically send a notification to your doctor or inform you about the need to see one.



Focus on mental health



Mental health has always been an important topic and COVID-19 aggravated it. Now, people heavily rely on technology to assist them with issues like anxiety or panic attacks — and mental health seems to be getting more and more attention these days and is expected to become a really big trend of virtual care to observe.



Mental health falls under behavioral medicine which combines behavioral, psychosocial, and biomedical science knowledge. And while it is recommended to consult a licensed therapist if you struggle with mental problems, some applications can facilitate your daily routine and really help you throughout the day. Examples are:




Headspace: a mindful meditation app;



BetterHelp: online consultations with therapists;



Pride Counseling: LGBT-focused therapy;



Calm: an app for battling anxiety.




As mental health is being recognized more and more these days, corresponding applications enter the era of high demand. According to numerous reports, the market for these apps is expected to reach a CAGR of 16,2% between 2022-2027 and will most probably reach 10.25 $ billion in 2026. And this is something that both app developers and healthcare professionals should really take into consideration.



Use of robots



The use of robotics in healthcare is gaining impressive traction. According to the Report Linker, the size of the medical robotics market is expected to reach approximately 44.45 $ billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate of 17,1% between 2022 — 2030. So how are robots used in modern medicine and where their development is heading?



The biggest use case for robots in medicine these days is surgery, specifically minimally invasive surgery. This implies procedures that are performed by tiny incisions and such surgery is usually associated with fewer complications and less pain (as well as shorter stays at a hospital). And since robots can provide more accuracy in performing these (and other) surgical procedures, no wonder that surgical robots are becoming more and more widespread among medical facilities.



In addition to performing surgeries, robots can aid with the following tasks:




Disinfection of spaces (i.e. wards);



Carrying objects;



Drawing blood;



Assisting patients;



Assisting personnel with tool handling.




While some procedures require human intervention, a lot of tasks can be delegated to robots — and we’ll surely see more of them in the near future. 



Final word



Of course, these are not all healthcare technology trends that will be at the forefront of the healthcare field — let’s not forget about AI and all its possible use cases (i.e. medical image analysis or smart prediction of diseases) and about medical apps for doctors. However, it is also important to mention one of the biggest issues that medical organizations should consider and this is cybersecurity.



As hospitals implement more technologies, they also increase the risk of a data break or a cyber attack. Hence, medical facilities must work on their cybersecurity starting from today and we highly recommend getting acquainted with CIS controls to start with. The implementation of CIS security controls will ensure a robust level of protection that you can use as a base to further grow your cybersecurity and ensure your data and systems are protected against internal and external threats.

### 16 Questions to Answer When Building a Mobile App

Defining requirements for mobile app development can be a rather tedious process, but it’s an absolute must to make sure the team understands the client’s vision and knows exactly how the app should look and behave. Hence, to make sure that the delivered result 100% matches your expectations, it’s always a good idea to approach a software vendor with a set of prepared answers to the most common questions. This will significantly speed up the process of requirements elicitation and will help the software vendor understand what solution will be the best for your project.



SoftTeco has been designing native and cross-platform mobile applications since 2008, and throughout the years, we’ve come up with a set of questions that we typically ask our clients in order to learn what they expect and need. You can use them as a checklist to follow when thinking about your marketing strategy or you can use them to prepare a requirements specification for the first meeting with the software vendor.







Client's requirements



For easier understanding, we broke all questions into three main categories and we will start with the first one, aka customer requirements. Your answers to these questions will specify how you see your mobile application and what its main features are.



What industry and domain is the mobile app designed for?



One of the first things that the software vendor wants to learn about the app is the industry and domain for which the mobile app will be designed. Note that the industry is a broad term (i.e. healthcare, fintech) while the domain is a more specific one and rather describes the type of the product (i.e. a CRM system or a banking application). 



This question is important due to several reasons:




The vendor may already have experience with similar apps for a specific industry and/or domain and thus can use this knowledge to deliver your product faster;



The vendor should know in advance about any specific conditions that the industry/domain requires from software products (i.e. HIPAA compliance for any healthcare application);



The vendor should understand what the industry standards are.




What value is the mobile app intended to bring to users?



This question specifies the main goal of the app and what its core functionality will be. For example, it can be convenient taxi services from any location (think of Uber) or easy messaging with multiple options, or a healthcare app for patients to facilitate the process of scheduling appointments. The intended value is supposed to resolve a certain issue that users are currently experiencing, offer them something that they need, and take a marketplace across competitors. As well, the answer to this question will help list down the app’s features and prioritize them.



How do you envision the product?



The client’s vision of the product (similar to the intended value) serves as a base for further requirements elicitation. The software vendor needs to know how the client plans to position the product among the competitors, what the intended scope is, what the basic functionality is, etc. All of this will help understand the size and complexity of the mobile app as well as outline specific areas to pay more attention to.



Who are the main competitors?



When planning mobile application development, one of the important things to consider is the existing competition. Even though some may think it’s more of a marketing and business strategy and doesn’t have to do a lot with the actual development, it’s not true. By knowing and understanding the competition, the software vendor can identify the core features that your app should have and help you come up with something that will make your product stand out.



What are the unique selling points of the app?







Unique selling points (or USP for short) imply those features that will make your product stand out from the competition. These features may not necessarily be an innovation, but they may be uncommon among the existing apps - or they may be something common but with a twist. Note that unique selling points should bring the most value to users, so don’t overcomplicate the app in an attempt to make it distinctive.



What are the main features of the app, or what will the app do?



When you approach a software vendor with a mobile app idea, the vendor usually expects you to have a rough list of the main app features. It does not have to be technical or very detailed - the main point here is for the software vendor to understand how the client sees the app functionality. This list of features will later be finalized by both the client and the business analyst and the features will also be prioritized (high, medium, and low priority) so the development team knows what to do in the first place and what can be added later. As well, this list will help the development team provide an approximate estimation of the project cost and how soon it can be delivered.



Who are the primary users of the mobile app?



It is important to know the primary users of the app because you will be building the user interface and functionality around them. Different users expect different things, so in order to make your application user-centric and engaging, you need to do a bit of preliminary research and learn what your target audience wants and needs. 







What are the budget and expected timeframe for the market launch?



These questions are crucial as they will impact the development process in the following ways:




The set budget will help prioritize the features and determine which ones will be delivered first and which ones may be added later (or dismissed).



The timeframe for market launch will serve as a base for scheduling the development process and will impact the development speed.



The budget will also impact the team composition in terms of the number of people, their roles, and responsibilities.




By knowing the expected budget and timeframe, the software vendor will be able to come up with the best solution without sacrificing product quality.



What platform do you want the app to run on?



The choice of the tech stack will primarily depend on the platform that you want your mobile app to run on. The main options are iOS, Android, or cross-platform and each option has its pros and cons. Hence, before approaching the software vendor, it’s always a good idea to do some research first and see what platform(s) you will really need. The choice of the platform depends on the target audience, budget, expected performance, app functionality, and other factors. Also, note that the development team will always be able to consult you on this question, so no worries if you can’t decide on your own.



What devices the app is supposed to run on?



This question is often overlooked, but it’s as important as the one above about the intended platforms of use. There are a bunch of devices that support mobile applications these days: smartphones, tablets, watches, TVs, and many more. So if you want your app to run on any of these, you need to inform the software vendor in advance as the selected devices will impact both the choice of technologies and UX/UI design.



Mobile app development



The next category of questions relates to the actual app development and is a bit more technical than the category above. We remind you once again that the software vendor does not expect you to have in-depth technical knowledge - just the main things regarding the app’s design, functionality, and management.



What is the suggested tech stack?



We have recently written an article on how to select a tech stack for your project where we give good advice on choosing technologies for your future application. Normally, the proposal of a tech stack is the responsibility of the development team as their experience allows them to understand what technologies suit the client’s requirements in the best manner. However, it may happen that a client comes to a software vendor with an idea of a tech stack in mind - if that’s the case, make sure you clearly understand how exactly these technologies will benefit the mobile app development process.



Do you have a design concept idea?



When discussing the application design, there are usually two options: the client fully delegates the design concept creation to the vendor or already has ideas about the design (or even has certain elements ready). Whatever the case is, keep in mind the following considerations:




Even if you have a ready design concept in mind, it is recommended to discuss it with the UX/UI designer of the software company and see what can be improved. Since the designer normally has rich experience in creating the UX/UI parts of the app for different domains and different target audiences, he may advise you on something that you’ve missed.



Always make sure the design is done for all platforms and devices that the app is supposed to run on. As well, test the design on all devices to ensure it looks equally well on each.








Will there be a Product Owner?



A product owner is responsible for communicating the vision of the product to the development team and making decisions about the product's functioning. This person is considered a key stakeholder, and he usually has the final say on any decisions regarding the product. 



Usually, the product owner comes from the client’s side - but this has to be clarified before starting the project so the software vendor understands how to set up communication processes.



Product release and launch



The last category of questions that a vendor normally asks relates to the product release and launch. Even though this is the last stage of the product development process, certain things have to be clarified in advance, so nothing is missed when the app is ready.



Are there any specifications to consider before the release?







When talking about specifications to consider, we usually mean local or industry-specific ones. For example, there may be certain legislations to follow, localization requirements, or industry-specific requirements to follow. Hence, all these requirements are to be discussed beforehand, so the software vendor develops the app with these specifications in mind and so the app can be released on the due date without any delays.



Who will prepare the marketing materials for the store?



While mobile app marketing is usually the responsibility of the client, the software vendor may offer his assistance in preparing the materials. This usually implies design services but upon request, the vendor may help with marketing research, copywriting, and other marketing-related tasks.



How will the support & maintenance project be structured?



What’s important to note here is that the S&M project has to be discussed before signing the contract. In this way, the vendor understands how the client expects the development team to react to any emergencies, what the time response will be, and approximately how many people are to be involved in the project maintenance. 



Conclusion



Note that the list of questions that a software vendor may ask you is not limited by the ones above - but we’ve listed the main things to consider before entering the development stage. By thoroughly understanding and identifying project requirements and vision in advance, you will significantly facilitate and speed up the development process, not to mention transparent communication and elimination of possible misunderstandings with the team.

### Overcoming Challenges During the Development Phase: Best Practices

In our previous article from the series on IT vendor management, we discussed how to set up an efficient project kick-off. Today we’d like to talk about the most common challenges that one may face during the development process and ways to overcome them. In this article, we assembled the best practices from our experience that help not only mitigate these issues but also prevent them as much as possible.







Change request management



Change requests mostly occur with the Time & Material engagement model since it has high flexibility and allows the implementation of changes during the development process. However, one must be careful with change requests as they can promote scope creep or missed deadlines. Let’s look into it in more detail.



Change request management, as the name implies, is the process of efficiently managing change requests on a project so suggested changes do not impact the process in a negative way. There are two main types of change request management.



The first is loss of focus on a project and in this case, a project manager deals with the negative effects of change requests. This means, there might be a scope creep (project scope growing uncontrollably due to suggested changes) or the number of unexpected changes becomes too high (more than 5% of all tasks). When the project focus is lost, the team becomes working both on the changes and planned tasks simultaneously and it leads to massive confusion and delays.



The second type of change request management is predictable and controllable: for example when a client understands that the previously discussed scope is no longer relevant. In this case, the client and the vendor discuss the needed changes and implement them correspondingly. 



Whatever the reason for the change request is, it is important that both the client and the development team understand how to efficiently deal with it. Below are some of the best practices for change request management that we find highly effective.



Timely notifications about a change request 



One of the best things a client can do about a change request is to notify the team in advance. The earlier the team learns there is a change request coming, the better it will be able to plan its realization. If you want to place a change request, you should discuss it with the project manager who, in turn, will pass the request to the team and place it in the backlog (with its further prioritization).



Prioritization of change requests



As a client, you may expect proposed changes to be taken into work almost immediately as you may see these changes as a top priority. However, the priority of all proposed changes should be discussed with the project manager so they can be implemented in the current scope of work without intervening it. 



It is essential that a project manager clearly communicates the planned scope of work to the client in advance so the client understands when certain tasks are to be delivered, and what priority is assigned to each change request. In this way, the client will know the current and future status of the project and won’t have any questions about the implementation of changes. As for the team, thorough task prioritization and planning contribute to managing the team’s expectations as developers will always know what needs to be done, in what order, and by what deadline.



A few more tips on change request management:




The focus should always be on the project and what’s best for it;



If the change request is critical (high-priority), it is important for the team to be able to adapt and switch over to another task quickly;



It is important to communicate to the team that change requests at an early stage are beneficial and should be treated seriously;



The priority of the proposed change will depend on the engagement model, type of the project, deadlines, and other factors - all of them are to be considered in advance.




Avoidance of missed deadlines



Missed deadlines are a rare occurrence yet they may happen. Needless to say, a missed deadline has a negative impact on both the client and the team so it’s important to negotiate the recovery plan in advance.



The most common reasons for missed deadlines are:




Incorrect estimation of tasks;



Change requests that are not considered and are poorly allocated in the scope of work;



Lack of frequent releases (since regular releases ensure transparency and understanding of where the team is and what’s the project status at the moment);



Lack of transparency and misunderstanding of short-term and long-term goals.




As for recovery, there are several methods that prove to be highly effective when battling missed or tight deadlines.



The balance between the workload and deadlines



When working on a software project, keep in mind that it’s a marathon (even though it consists of sprints - what a play on words) and it is vital that the team retains its efficiency and motivation in a long run. So even though tight deadlines may sometimes be needed (i.e. in case of a major release), if a team works by tight deadlines 24/7, it will negatively impact productivity and efficiency.



From a long-term perspective, the constant pressure from the need to follow strict deadlines may lead to severe burnout and, as a result, the team’s performance will drop significantly. Needless to say, poor performance will not only delay the development process but will also lead to dissatisfaction from the client’s side.



Hence, it is highly recommended to retain the balance between the real-life workload and deadlines. While it is important to achieve certain milestones in a certain period of time, it is also important to negotiate whether a team can deliver certain results with a bit of delay, if needed. For that, it is important to maintain transparent and reliable two-way communication so both the client and the team understand where the project is and what goals sound the most important and realistic at the moment.



Remaining estimation



Another great way to prevent missed deadlines is the use of remaining estimation instead. Remaining estimation means a project manager regularly asks team members to estimate (approximately) how much more time they’ll need to complete a certain task. In this way, it becomes much easier to track the progress of work and one’s speed. 



Note though that the remaining estimation can replace a deadline only in case the deadline is used as a method of motivation and to understand when to expect the delivery of tasks. If timing is critical for the project, it’s better to stick with a deadline.



Replacement of team members



Even though the replacement of team members is always done for the benefit of the project, the process may be quite challenging especially if the vendor has not prepared for it in advance. There are normally three cases for replacement:




Initiated by the client;



Initiated by the vendor;



Due to unexpected circumstances.




In the first two cases, the initiator has to notify another party in advance so the replacement won’t delay the project too much. In the latter case, both parties have to think of a recovery plan in order to keep the project up and running.



And obviously, there are several best practices that help make the replacement process as smooth as possible. Let’s have a look at each in more detail below.



Detailed knowledge base



As boring as it sounds, maintenance of project documentation and a solid knowledge base can greatly help in the case of team member replacement. By having detailed project documentation at their disposal, new team members can instantly immerse themselves into the project and quickly understand what’s going on and what exactly they need to do. As well, project documentation overall helps maintain a steady focus on the deliverables and resolve any controversial points.



Detailed onboarding plan



In one of our previous blog posts, we talked about the importance of onboarding and how it impacts the engagement and motivation of a new team member. The same applies to the replacement procedure: if you have a detailed onboarding plan for a specific project, it will become much easier for new team members to get on board.



As well, it is also important to note that a project manager is responsible for making the replacement process as frictionless as possible. The main responsibility here would be to ensure a short bounce-back when the team returns to its previous productive state.



Automated tests



Even though some teams overlook the importance of automated tests on a project, they can be of great assistance when it comes to finding the root cause of a problem. This is especially helpful for new team members who don’t know the project inside out yet but need to quickly navigate through it. In this case, automated tests point out the occurring issue and its source and help monitor the performance of project functionality.



Negotiation issues & miscommunication



Finally, one of the biggest challenges every business faces is miscommunication and negotiation issues. While both parties may think that they clearly communicate their thoughts, reality may be completely opposite. So how can you improve the communication situation on your project and make sure everyone understands each other?



Here are some good tips on maintaining transparent and effective communication:




Always make sure everyone understands exactly what the other person meant: double-check and ask clarifying questions;



If there is any issue from the vendor’s side, the development team should openly talk about it with the client and propose a solution (or come up with a solution together);



The development team should hold regular retrospective meetings in order to identify any issues and ensure the team is engaged;



It is advisable for the team to regularly hold demos and involve all team members in them;



When a person creates an action item message (i.e. “feature X needs to be deployed), it is critical that the message clearly states who is responsible for the task, what exactly needs to be done, and when.




Once again, the key to successful communication is transparency and mutual trust. Both the client and the vendor should work together towards the mutual goal and hence they should not hesitate to openly discuss both positive and negative things related to the project. 



Summing up



It’s impossible to predict all possible challenges that might occur in a software development project but it’s possible to mitigate them by coming up with a corresponding action plan in advance. In this article, we’ve listed the most common issues that many people face when working on a software project but remember that every project is unique. There might be industry-specific issues or ones related to the team composition so keep all these aspects in mind and remember that efficient communication is the key to most challenges that may arise.

### Java 19: An Overview of the Main Features That JDK 19 Brings

The official release date for Java 19 is September 20, 2022, and while it seems rather exciting, it is important to note that since June 2022, Java 19 has been in a “Rampdown Phase One”. That means, no JPEs (JDK Enhancement Proposals) will be included in the release and there will be minor improvements and fixed bugs only. However, there are several preview and incubator features included in the JDK 19 worth paying attention to - let’s look at them in detail below.







New system properties



Before getting down to the feature announcements, it’s important to talk about a change that can be found in release notes only and that has not been talked about. As of Java 19, the default encoding of an operating system will be used for printing to System.out and System.err. So if you now run an existing app on Java 19, you’ll see question marks instead of special characters on the console. 



In order to change the output to UTF-8, you can either add a VM option every time when calling an app:



-Dstdout.encoding=utf8 -Dstderr.encoding=utf8



Or you can define the environment variable to globally change the settings:



_JAVA_OPTIONS="-Dstdout.encoding=utf8 -Dstderr.encoding=utf8"



Preview and incubator features in JDK 19



As stated above, JDK 19 has several preview and incubator features that the community can already test. The developers’ feedback will then be used for further work on these features and their improvement.





Structured concurrency



This feature of Java 19 aims to simplify multithread programming with the help of a structured concurrency API. If there are several tasks running in different threads, the concurrency will treat them all as a single unit of work, hence, streamlining the error handling and cancellation. 



Here are the main improvements that structured concurrency is supposed to bring:




In case of a canceled calling thread, subtasks are canceled too;



In case of an error in any subtask, other subtasks get canceled;



Visible call hierarchy between the calling thread and the subtask-executing threads that can be seen in the thread dump;



No thread pool - instead, each subtask is executed in a separate virtual thread.




Unstructured concurrency



Response handle() throws ExecutionException, InterruptedException {
    Future<String>  user  = esvc.submit(() -> findUser());
    Future<Integer> order = esvc.submit(() -> fetchOrder());
    String theUser  = user.get();   // Join findUser
    int    theOrder = order.get();  // Join fetchOrder
    return new Response(theUser, theOrder);
}



Structured concurrency



Response handle() throws ExecutionException, InterruptedException {
    try (var scope = new StructuredTaskScope.ShutdownOnFailure()) {
        Future<String>  user  = scope.fork(() -> findUser());
        Future<Integer> order = scope.fork(() -> fetchOrder());

        scope.join();           // Join both forks
        scope.throwIfFailed();  // ... and propagate errors

        // Here, both forks have succeeded, so compose their results
        return new Response(user.resultNow(), order.resultNow());
    }
}



Record patterns



Record patterns are intended for deconstructing record values and their main goal is to extend pattern matching for more sophisticated data queries as well as to eliminate the need to change the syntax or semantics of type patterns. As of JDK 19, record patterns and type patterns can be nested - this will allow for a declarative and composable form of data processing and navigation.



record Point(int x, int y) {}

void printSum(Object o) {
    if (o instanceof Point(int x, int y)) {
        System.out.println(x+y);
    }
}



Foreign function and memory API



Java 14 and Java 16 already introduced the "Foreign Memory Access API" and the "Foreign Linker API" - but these features were introduced separately and were in an incubator stage. They were combined into one feature in Java 17 but until Java 19, the “Foreign Function & Memory API" (FFM API) was still in the incubator stage. Now, with JDK 19, FFM API finally enters the preview stage.



FFM API enables interoperation with data and code outside the Java runtime and enables access to native memory directly from Java. This enhancement is supposed to improve performance, ease of use, and safety. Due to the ability to invoke foreign functions and access foreign memory in a safe manner, the API will enable Java programs to process native data and call native libraries safely and efficiently.



// 1. Find foreign function on the C library path
Linker linker = Linker.nativeLinker();
SymbolLookup stdlib = linker.defaultLookup();
MethodHandle radixSort = linker.downcallHandle(
                             stdlib.lookup("radixsort"), ...);
// 2. Allocate on-heap memory to store four strings
String[] javaStrings   = { "mouse", "cat", "dog", "car" };
// 3. Allocate off-heap memory to store four pointers
SegmentAllocator allocator = implicitAllocator();
MemorySegment offHeap  = allocator.allocateArray(ValueLayout.ADDRESS, javaStrings.length);
// 4. Copy the strings from on-heap to off-heap
for (int i = 0; i < javaStrings.length; i++) {
    // Allocate a string off-heap, then store a pointer to it
    MemorySegment cString = allocator.allocateUtf8String(javaStrings[i]);
    offHeap.setAtIndex(ValueLayout.ADDRESS, i, cString);
}
// 5. Sort the off-heap data by calling the foreign function
radixSort.invoke(offHeap, javaStrings.length, MemoryAddress.NULL, '\0');
// 6. Copy the (reordered) strings from off-heap to on-heap
for (int i = 0; i < javaStrings.length; i++) {
    MemoryAddress cStringPtr = offHeap.getAtIndex(ValueLayout.ADDRESS, i);
    javaStrings[i] = cStringPtr.getUtf8String(0);
}
assert Arrays.equals(javaStrings, new String[] {"car", "cat", "dog", "mouse"});  // true



Virtual threads



Virtual threads are a Java 19 feature that developers have anticipated for a long time and many find it to be the most exciting. These threads significantly facilitate the process of writing, maintaining, and observing high-throughput apps. Before the introduction of virtual threads, there was one Java thread corresponding to one operating system thread and since the latter one is incredibly resource-consuming, threads would often be the bottleneck in heavy-load applications.



Virtual threads are organized in a different, lightweight manner. With JDK 19, there is now a pool of carrier threads and a new virtual thread is temporarily mapped on that pool. When a virtual thread meets a blocking operation, the virtual thread is removed immediately from the carrier thread. After that, the carrier thread will execute another virtual thread and in this way, blocking operations will no longer block the executing thread.



Thread.startVirtualThread(() -> {
  // code to run in thread
});

Thread.ofVirtual().start(() -> {
  // code to run in thread
});

try (var executor = Executors.newVirtualThreadPerTaskExecutor()) {
    IntStream.range(0, 10_000).forEach(i -> {
        executor.submit(() -> {
            Thread.sleep(Duration.ofSeconds(1));
            return i;
        });
    });
}  // executor.close() is called implicitly, and waits



Vector API



The Vector API was first introduced in Java 16 as an incubator feature and now, Java 19 brings its fourth iteration. Vector API is a new API for mathematical vector computation and its mapping to modern Single-Instruction-Multiple-Data CPUs. As well, in its fourth iteration, this API now includes new vector operations and is able to store vectors in and read them from memory segments.Pattern matching for switch expressionsThe third preview of pattern matching for switch expressions in Java 19 extends pattern matching to switch thus allowing to test an expression against a number of patterns (where each pattern has a specific action). This helps express complex data-oriented queries in a concise and safe manner. 



Since this feature was already present in Java 17 and Java 18, naturally, its third iteration comes with improvements, such as replacing guarded patterns with when clauses in switch blocks. The development team also plans to expand the expressiveness and applicability of switch expressions in the future by enabling patterns to appear in case labels.



Java 17-18



switch (obj) {
  case String s && s.length() > 5 -> System.out.println(s.toUpperCase());
  case String s                   -> System.out.println(s.toLowerCase());

  case Integer i                  -> System.out.println(i * i);

  default -> {}
}



Java 19



switch (obj) {
  case String s when s.length() > 5 -> System.out.println(s.toUpperCase());
  case String s                     -> System.out.println(s.toLowerCase());

  case Integer i                    -> System.out.println(i * i);

  default -> {}
}





 


Expert Opinion



The features in Java 19 look amazing and, same as many developers, I'm particularly excited about the Virtual Threads and Structured Concurrency. I’m always looking forward to trying new things as it’s something I’ve never done before in my work - but only time will tell how well these features function and what value they truly deliver. But for now, everything looks very promising and developers behind Java seem to have done good work in terms of improving the language and listening to the community.





Senior Java Developer at SoftTeco



Denis Kuhta






 




Conclusion



Java is one of the oldest programming languages out there and yet, it continues to keep up with the pace of the ever-changing software development environment and please the community with new releases and improvements. It’s interesting to observe how the language progresses and it’s great to see the long-awaited features finally being brought to life in the Java 19 release.

### A Guide to Data Labeling: Main Things to Know

Artificial Intelligence is now widespread in all areas of human life, from banking and security to retail or sports. The success of any business often depends on the information on which AI algorithms are trained. Therefore, it is essential for companies to properly prepare their information and one of the ways to achieve accurate results is data labeling. 



Data labeling ensures that an AI model can deliver highly accurate results in correspondence with the defined tasks. However, having the right information is only half the battle because there are many other processes to take care of. So, what is data labeling and how can a company set up an efficient labeling process? Read further! 







What is data labeling and why is it important?



Data labeling or data annotation is the process of adding labels or tags to the information to train a machine-learning model to recognize objects. After training on labeled information, an ML model should then be able to recognize familiar objects in a set of unlabeled data. In this way, a machine learning model becomes “smarter” and will be able to deliver accurate predictions.



For example, a machine learning model learns to identify phones in images. The machine can be given several images of different phones labeled "phone", from which it will learn to understand the common features of each phone. It can then correctly identify what the phones are among different unlabeled images. 



We've answered: what is data labeling? After that, let’s turn our attention to why the process is so important for businesses. Since data labeling allows machine learning algorithms to become smarter, companies that use tagged information can be confident that their ML models produce accurate predictions. This, in turn, means that all data-driven decisions will be highly accurate. Now, the next question is: how do companies acquire labeled data?



Data labeling: what is the process?



The labeling process works by the following pattern:




Data collection: the process of collecting raw information is then followed by its processing which means all duplicate or incorrect information is deleted or corrected. This is needed, so the information can later be “fed” to an ML model and the model will be able to understand it.



Labeling: implies going through the information and manually adding tags or labels. Labels will later be used by the machine as a base for answering future requests and recognizing labeled objects.



Quality assurance: to create high-performance ML models, labeled information must be informative and accurate, so a robust quality assurance process is needed to verify the accuracy of the labeled information. Otherwise, there is a high risk that the ML model will not perform properly;



Model training and testing: after the quality is tested, labeled data is fed to the ML model for training. A model is usually considered successful if it makes 960 correct predictions out of 1000 examples.




The labeling process involves many automated processes, but it also requires human input - a so-called "human-in-the-loop" (HITL). HITL uses human inference to create, train, tune, and test ML models. In this way, people guide the labeling process and provide project-specific data sets to the models, while leaving the rest to the machine.



Also keep in mind that there are three main types of labeling: 




NLP (natural language processing): first you need to manually identify important sections of the text to generate a training set and then train the model to recognize certain phrases or sentiments in the speech.



Computer Vision: is used for automatic image categorization and recognition.



Audio processing: the process of converting various sounds (not speech, though) into a structured audio format.




Unlabeled data vs. labeled data



We’ve talked a lot about labeled data - but what about unlabeled data that is also used by companies for ML model training? Let’s have a closer look at it.



Unlabeled data contains no labels or names. It cannot be used for prediction and forecasting but gives a general impression of the information. For example, a list of unlabeled emails is labeled either as "spam" or "not spam. Labeled information, on the contrary, is labeled by name, type, or number. In this way, labeled data provides a much wider range of possibilities in terms of forecasting and analysis.



Since these two types of information differ by either having or not having a label, there will be different types of machine learning processes.



Supervised machine learning



Supervised learning is an approach to machine learning where a human labels the information and sends it to a machine for training. Based on the labeled data, the machine can then process unlabeled data and recognize previously learned objects. Examples of supervised learning use cases are personalized recommendations or predictions of stock market risks. 



Unsupervised machine learning



Unsupervised learning is an approach that implies using unlabeled data sets and letting the machine independently categorize objects without any previous knowledge of them. Note that a human does not interfere with the learning process, and this is why this approach is called unsupervised learning. Examples of unsupervised machine learning are exploratory analysis and consumer segmentation.



Now let's go back to the topic. The choice between the types of information depends on the company's goals, so let's summarize the main differences between labeled and unlabeled information below.



Unlabeled data:




Used in unsupervised machine learning 



Obtained through observation and collection 



Relatively easy to obtain and store



Often used for pre-processing datasets




Labeled data:




Used in supervised machine learning 



Requires a human/expert to annotate



Expensive, difficult, and time-consuming to obtain and store



Used for complex prediction tasks




The main challenges of data labeling



Despite its advantages, labeling also brings certain challenges that companies may face during the process. The most common challenges are:




Time and cost: manual addition of labels is rather time-consuming and expensive because a company needs to train employees and hire labeling specialists in a particular field;



Maintaining tools at scale: to maintain high-quality information, skilled workers and smart tools are required, like AI-enabled annotation, automation, information management, and data pipelines. AI is expected to understand more human tasks, therefore, tools requirements keep increasing;



Inconsistency: since there are often many people with different expertise and opinions involved in the process, labeling ideas may differ, leading to inconsistency;



Human errors: labeled information is subject to human errors (coding errors, manual input), which can reduce information quality. Poor quality, in turn, leads to inaccurate information processing and a lack of expected results;




Knowing what problems a company may encounter in the labeling process is essential to avoid possible negative business impacts. And quality is the biggest challenge every company faces. 



Methods of data labeling



To develop an effective ML model, data labeling is essential. Thus, companies must consider the most effective methods to structure and label their information effectively. Among these solutions are:




In-house labeling: in-house data engineers and scientists simplify information tracking, reduce errors, and increase quality. This approach requires more time and cost and is crucial for various industries, like insurance or healthcare since it often requires consultations with experts.



Crowdsourcing: it is faster and more cost-effective due to its micro-tasking capability and online delivery. But the quality of work, quality assurance, and project management differ among crowdsourcing platforms.



Outsourcing: a great option for high-level and short-term projects, but it can be time-consuming to develop and manage. This labeling method implies work with experienced staff and pre-built labeling tools.



Synthetic labeling: produces new project data from pre-existing information, thus improving quality and efficiency. It requires extensive computing power, which can increase its cost though.



Programmatic labeling: a process that automates labeling and eliminates the need for human annotations.




Data labeling is not a one-size-fits-all process. It is up to businesses to choose the most suitable method for their needs. In this regard, below are a few criteria to consider when deciding on the most fitting approach.



Things to consider when setting up a data labeling process



Data labeling may look simple, but it is not always easy to perform properly. As a result, companies should consider the following when choosing a suitable labeling method: 




The size of the company: depending on available resources, a company may either design its own solution or select the one available in the market.



Employee training: companies need data scientists who can react quickly and change the workflow during the model testing and validation phase. Therefore, employee training is an important aspect to focus on and consider when planning the information labeling process.



The purpose and goals: companies need to establish project goals, timelines, quality metrics, and other key requirements for successful labeling and analysis.




When you’ve determined the size, employee training, and duration of your project, it is important to be aware of some best practices of data labeling to use it ahead.



Best practices for data labeling 



Businesses can implement these best practices to achieve high-quality results:




Measure model’s performance: data labels can reflect how your model performs. However, you should evaluate your model's precision, recall, and other metrics using specialized tools such as Scale validate;



Collect diverse information: the more diverse the information is, the lower the likelihood of dataset bias is. Thus, by identifying bias, the model can learn better and make more accurate predictions;



Collect specific information: provide the model with the exact information it needs to operate in a particular field. For accurate predictions, your collected information must be as specific as possible;



Establish a QA process: use a QA method to assess the quality of your labels and ensure successful project outcomes;



Establish an annotation guideline: creating informative, clear, and concise annotation guidelines will help you avoid errors during labeling before they affect training;



Run a pilot project: before starting your labeling process, conduct a pilot test to determine the completion time, evaluate the labelers and quality assurance teams, and improve your guidelines and workflows.




Lastly, we have a controversial issue to discuss.



Can we do without labeled data?



AI training using labeled information is the most efficient and high-quality way to analyze information. Because of the human involvement with labeled information and massive spending of resources, the process of collecting and storing labeled data might be too expensive for some companies. Nevertheless, what can companies do with unlabeled information? 



Recall that unlabeled data is a dataset that has only attributes but no target for prediction. For example, if a dataset is unlabeled, there are a bunch of pictures of dogs and cats, and we don't know what type of animal each one represents. The ML model can still tell us if the dog pictures are similar to each other and are different from cats. 



Two common use cases for dealing with unlabeled data in unsupervised learning are:




Clustering: the process of breaking down and grouping information into clusters based on similarity (an example with cats and dogs);



Dimensionality reduction: the process of simplifying the information by combining certain similarities without loss, losing as little information as possible.




Thus, companies can use unlabeled data to extract certain information and group similar objects together. This can later serve as a base for supervised learning. In addition, companies can combine unsupervised and supervised learning elements into a semi-supervised learning model. The semi-supervised learning approach will train the AI and optimize labeling with a small set of unlabeled information, saving the company resources and time. 



Conclusion 



According to CAGR, the global data collection and labeling market was valued at $1.67 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow 25.1% through 2030. Hence, any business that’s willing to explore the value behind its information, should make itself familiar with the data labeling process and methods for its deployment.




 

FAQ

### What Is Edge Computing And Why Does It Matter?

As the number of connected devices in the world is growing, companies have to think about how to improve the quality of the data from these devices. This is where cloud computing may step aside as most of the new data capabilities lie at the "edge." 



The ability of edge computing to bring devices closer to the data source, minimize response times and eliminate latency is highly beneficial and offers companies a new way of managing and processing their data. Learn the basics of edge computing in this article.







Defining edge computing



Edge computing implies processing of the data at the edge of a network (near the data source or near the place of creation) as opposed to centralized processing in a cloud. Speaking of the network edge, this is where a device or a local network connects to the Internet. The edge is near the devices with which it communicates and is the point of entry to the network. There are 3 main elements of edge computing:




Device edge: where the edge devices reside;



Local edge: includes the infrastructure to support apps and network workloads;



Cloud: the node of the environment where all the data comes together.




Examples of edge computing include wearable devices, computers that analyze traffic flow, the Internet of Things, streaming video optimization, and various urban and global network access devices.



Due to the processing and data storage at the “edge”, edge computing provides reliable real-time data, reduces operational costs, improves response times and speeds up operations. But how does edge computing compare to cloud computing and what are the biggest differences?



Edge vs cloud computing



The main difference to remember is that cloud computing is about running workloads in the cloud, while edge computing is about running workloads on edge devices. But obviously, the difference in the approaches towards data processing unveils many other differences between these two computing paradigms.



Edge computingCloud computingReliabilityProcessing data close to the user (with and without Internet access) makes edge computing more reliable, as the risk of security threats and network failures is reduced Access to the internet is required at all times to run in the cloud and software bugs can lead to poor performanceSpeedImmediate, real-time data processingMaximum data processing speed in the cloud or on a vendor's serverPerformanceRequire more bandwidth, reduce the burden of data traffic, reduce latency and provide reliable performanceRequire rapid resource changes to meet computational needs, optimal cost of cloud services, provide reliability, and scalabilitySecurityHigh, because the data are stored at the edge, where confidentiality is very sensitive to security threatsHigh, because of the implementation of advanced cybersecurity measures by vendors and organizationsScalabilityScalabilityReliable infrastructure is needed to scale the edge network on timeScaling is fast and easy with no downtime or failures.



As we already said, the biggest difference between the two technologies is where the data is processed. Cloud computing is centralized, which means that data processing takes place in a cloud. While edge computing is decentralized, meaning the data processing is moved from centralized servers to the edge of the network or a cloud, near the data source.



One may ask, what computing paradigm is better? There is no definite answer to that, since it will heavily depend on your business needs and kind of data that you manage and process. If companies are working with big data that is not time-sensitive, it is better to use cloud platforms. However, when it comes to multiple devices, where the focus is not on the volume but on real-time data processing, then using edge computing may be a better solution.



The problems that edge computing solves



We already briefly mentioned the benefits of edge computing - now let’s look at them in more detail and see what issues this computing paradigm may resolve.



Bandwidth



The process of transferring data to the cloud requires a lot of power and high bandwidth. However, networks have limited bandwidth and there is a finite amount of data that can be transmitted over the network. Edge computing helps companies reduce bandwidth use and costs because large amounts of data are processed locally, closer to the source.



Latency 



The greater the distance between where the data is created and where it is processed, the lower the processing speed, or latency, is. Edge computing can eliminate the latency problem because it ensures that there is no discontinuity in real-time processing and thus creates a more reliable network.



Security



Even though edge devices are still vulnerable to hacking, the decentralizing edge computing approach eliminates many of the security drawbacks associated with centralized data centers. Edge computing providers can develop a multi-layered security strategy. And given that edge computing can process data across multiple nodes and even devices, it enhances and strengthens data security and privacy.



Cost



As the amount of generated data grows, the cost of moving that data increases as well. Edge computing can help companies reduce costs, or at least keep them from rising, by reducing the amount of data being moved to and from the storage and processing center.



Reliability



Edge computing can process data locally, without the need for constant Internet access which greatly impacts the performance of the system or an application. As well, edge computing improves fault tolerance since the failure of one edge device will not affect the performance of other devices.



Edge computing use cases



Due to its benefits, edge computing is suitable for almost any use case - below are the most common ones:




Smart homes: since smart homes rely on IoT devices that 24/7 collect and process such data as temperature or humidity, edge computing helps process this data with no delays. Hence, smart home equipment can immediately react to any trigger such as a change in temperature.



Smart cars: due to the ability of edge computing to process data in real-time with low latency, this paradigm contributes to safer autonomous driving since cars will immediately react to any situation.



Patient monitoring: real-time data processing contributes to more efficient patient monitoring and allows medical professionals to immediately react to any warning indicators.



Manufacturing: edge computing helps distribute sensors throughout the manufacturing plant, providing data on how each component of a product is assembled and stored, as well as how long the components stay in stock. 




Final thoughts 



Edge computing has gained notice with the advancement of IoT devices so it’s safe to say that further evolution of IoT will also impact the way edge computing is implemented and adopted. As well, the adoption of edge computing requires companies to carefully estimate their data management processes to ensure maximal security and efficiency - so before you rush into adopting this computing paradigm, evaluate whether you have all necessary resources to make the most out of it.

### Behavior-Driven Development (BDD): Behave, Will You?

In our previous article, we talked about test-driven development known as TDD and how it can make your app flawless (or nearly so). Today we’ll take it one step further and discuss behavior-driven development (BDD). This methodology combines TDD and acceptance testing practices and helps developers create apps that are centered around business needs. 



“But wait, aren’t all apps centered around business needs? Like, is that the whole point?” Indeed. However, BDD helps you achieve business goals in a more effective manner and make sure that users will 100% receive what they expect. Without further ado, let’s get started.







Explaining behavior-driven development in simple English



First, let’s clarify the following: BDD is an Agile software development methodology and can be called a natural extension of TDD. This is because with BDD, the app is also developed only after behavior-specific tests are designed. 



What it means is that the development team wants the app to behave exactly as intended and as users expect it to behave. So in order to achieve that, the team first outlines and documents desired behaviors, creates acceptance tests, and only then builds the app around it. The final goal here is for the app to pass the tests and display the needed behavior.



The main value of the BDD approach is that the development process involves not only the development team, but stakeholders as well. This expands the feedback pool and helps ensure all objectives will be met.



How to perform behavior-driven development



Say, you want to implement the BDD approach on your project. Where do you start from?



Normally, the BDD lifecycle would look as follows:




Description of the desired behavior 



Definition of requirements



Run (and fail) of behavior-specific tests



Coding/implementation of features needed for the specific behavior



Run (and success) of tests




Let’s look at these stages in a bit more detail - trust us, there are many things to be aware of.



Description of the behavior and definition of requirements



The first thing that needs to be done is the discussion of the expected app’s behavior. Involved members of the discussion normally include a business analyst, the dev team, stakeholders, and QA team. Once the expected behavior is defined, the BA lists it in a feature file that is later shared with the developers to base acceptance tests on.



You might want to stop here and ask the following questions: how do you define expected behavior to ensure it 100% hits the target? The most common methods involve creation of user stories and the 5 Whys method. We’ve already talked about user stories before, but let’s do a quick recap. 



A user story is a description of a user journey, aka the stages of interaction between a user and a product.  Users stories are written in a non-technical language, so they can be understood by anyone and normally contain a user, an action, and the value that the user receives from the action. Definition and listing of user stories helps the development team understand how users will interact with the product and what actions/features are to be implemented.



Now, what is the 5 Whys method? You might have come across it since it’s widely used not only in software development but in various domains and even in our lives. The method originated in the 1930s and was invented by Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota Industries. Its main goal is problem-solving, which is performed by asking “Why?” 5 times and thus, drilling down to the problem’s root. 



Here is an example: “Why is our sales team not meeting its KPI?” Once you get an answer, you again confront it with the “Why” question and repeat three more times till you identify what really was causing the issue. 



The 5 Whys method is useful when thinking about user behavior on an app since it helps get straight to the point without distracting on possible “but what if”.



Design of acceptance tests



The next step in the BDD methodology is writing behavior-specific tests. An important thing to remember here: the tests are written in a DSL (domain-specific language) and by using a fixed syntax. This is needed so everyone can understand the meaning of each test and what it’s supposed to do. We will look more closely at BDD frameworks below, no worries.



Now, for the tests, all of them follow a fixed format: 




Given: a condition/ a scenario



When: an action is triggered by user and is happening



Then: the result of the action.




Let’s look at an example. Say, we have a scenario where a user logs in an app. The format of the BDD test will look like this:




Given the user is on a page with a login form



And the user enters the “Test0” username



And the user enters the “Pass12” password



When the user clicks “log in”



Then the user is taken to a home page.




As you can see, a test can be easily understood by anyone, not necessarily with a technical background. Another important note: all tests will fail since there are no features implemented yet. Their implementation happens in the next stage.



Coding and secondary testing



After you created tests, it’s time to write some code, so these tests can pass. There is not much to discuss here except for the use of specific frameworks (that we will talk about very soon) and the fact that developers normally use the Gherkin programming language, which has a syntax similar to English. The main goal here is to write only those features that are needed for the defined behavior - in this way, you won’t be writing any unnecessary or extra code.



Main BDD frameworks and tools



Behavior-driven development requires the use of specific tooling, so tests can be understood not only by the machine but by humans too. As well, these tests have to follow the above-mentioned format - so here are the most common BDD tools:




Cucumber: an open-source testing framework that allows writing specifications in Gherkin. The framework also supports Ruby, .NET, and Java and platforms such as Ruby on Rails and Spring Framework.



Gauge: another open-source test automation framework which is also cross-browser. Unlike Cucumber, Gauge works with a variety of languages and integrates with several IDEs.



JBehave: an open-source framework that is used for Java-based development mostly. As well, JBehave is used for microservices testing and is very customizable.




The biggest benefits of behavior-driven development



There are several benefits that the BDD approach brings to a product - below we will look at the biggest ones.



Usability and adherence to the requirements



Because the BDD methodology is centered around app’s behavior, it’s natural that the app will have a very high usability and will 100% correspond to the requirements and user needs. As well, the app will precisely meet all business objectives and will be very user-centric.



Collaboration and inclusion



In traditional software development, it’s up to the development team to come up with user stories and decide what features to implement to meet the client’s requirements. With BDD, all stakeholders are involved in the development process and anyone on the team can write behavior scenarios since plain language is used for that. Needless to say, such inclusion significantly expands the feedback pool and offers everyone in-depth visibility of the project.



Automation



When there are hundreds of tests, you wouldn’t want to perform them all manually. BDD frameworks allow turning scenarios into automated tests easily because the scenarios outline all needed steps. The only thing a QA engineer has to do is write a method or a function to perform operations for each step.



Code clarity 



Because each scenario focuses on a specific behavior, it is always clear what each feature is supposed to do. And due to plain language used, there will be no ambiguous code or heavy tech jargon. As well, there will be no duplicate or unnecessary code which contributes to the app’s performance significantly. 



Adaptability



Simply-written scenarios can be:




Updated in accordance with product changes



Filtered by a tag name, if needed, to decide what should and shouldn’t run;



Parameterized so they can be reusable and adaptive.




In this way, BDD offers high adaptability and allows scenarios to be reused as much as needed.



Final word



Despite its advantages, behavior-driven development is not for everyone - or to put it more accurately, is not for every project. For example, BDD simply won’t work with the waterfall approach and BDD requires the dev team to have a quite high technical expertise and knowledge. As well, BDD is very demanding in terms of crafting requirements and scenarios - you can’t just let them be, you have to work on them really hard, so everything is crystal clear. And while it might seem like too much work for some teams, in a long run, behavior-driven development rewards you with amazingly user-friendly products that have been thoroughly tested even before the code was written. Now, how cool does it sound?

### How to Assemble a Project Team and Do an Efficient Project Kick Off

In our past article from the series on the IT vendor management, we spoke about where to find a reliable software vendor and how to structure a contract with a vendor. Today we’ll talk about one of the most intricate part of the project development aka the assembly of a project team and an efficient project kickoff.



When it comes to negotiation and project estimation, there might be several hidden rocks and challenges to be aware of in advance. In this article, we’ll walk you through the main steps of the process and will discuss the main things to keep in mind when discussing the team and the tech stack.







Evaluation of the project type and size



The first thing that SoftTeco does when a client approaches us with a project idea is evaluating the project type and size. For that, we use a project specification that is provided by the client - you can think of it as of an approximate project description. In case a client does not have a ready specification, we can help them assemble it by transforming the client’s thoughts, ideas, and visions into tangible deliverables.



It is also important to mention that SoftTeco pays extra attention to the client’s business goals and helps the client clearly define them so they serve as a base for further work. Judging by our experience, when the client first approaches a software vendor, they normally share their marketing and/or financial goals while business goals remain unclear or not so well-defined. Hence, it’s our responsibility to determine the business goals together with the client and help guide their vision of the product in the right direction.



Getting back to specifications, while each is different in terms of the contained details, it normally contains:




The preferred goal of an application and what it has to accomplish, what business goals are to be met;



Domain of the application (i.e. finances, healthcare, e-learning, etc.);



Expected project duration (in hours)  and the expected launch date.




By analyzing the specification, the team from the company’s side can get an idea of what kind of team is needed and how many hours will be spent on the project. Depending on the number of hours, we define the type of the project and its size. Based on that, we can also estimate the team size and the approximate composition of the team.



Definition and collection of user stories



The stage of business analysis and requirements gathering also includes the definition and assembly of user stories. Since we’ve already written an article on users stories and how they differ from use cases, we won’t go into much detail here. Let’s have a quick overview instead.



A user story is a brief description of an action that a user will perform while interacting with your product. User stories form a user journey - a path that a user will follow in order to achieve the needed result. An example of a user story is “I need to pay for my order online and directly from the app without being transferred to external services”. 



The main role of user stories is to better understand user behavior on the app and what actions the user would want to take. In this way, you will ensure the product is user-focused and caters to users’ needs. Once user stories are defined, the team will then break them down into deliverables (tasks).



After studying the client’s specification and estimating the project, the software company typically provides a high-level project plan that features the main stages of work and the proposed team composition. As well, the project plan may feature the duration and deadlines (in case the client did not provide them) and the proposed tech stack, based on the requirements and needs.



Selection and approval of the tech stack



The choice of the right technology for your project significantly impacts the product success in the future. For instance, if you face an unexpected issue, it will be easier to resolve it if the technology is mature and has a big community that can provide help. 



When it comes to choosing the tech stack, it often happens that a client and a development company may have different opinions on what technologies are best suited for the project. Some time ago, we’ve written an article on how to select a tech stack - you can read it in detail here. As for best practices, they are:




See whether the technology is mature so there are enough software developers available;



Do not trust buzzwords - double-check whether the technology is really suitable for your specific application;



See whether there are any ready solutions available so you won’t have to design one from scratch;



Consider the compatibility of technologies for better results (i.e. improved performance).




The main idea here is that both the client and the company need to clearly communicate their arguments for selecting certain technologies and choose the ones that will benefit the project the most. 



Team assembly and the definition of the needed roles



Negotiations about the team composition are usually the most challenging ones due to a number of reasons. The best team composition may be out of the client’s budget or the client may not understand why certain roles are suggested. All these things are thoroughly discussed and it is vital to always keep the business goals in focus.



The software company first presents an approximate team composition to a client after receiving a project specification (that we discussed above). The proposed team composition is based on the project size and complexity as well as on the domain and recommended technologies. For example, if a client wishes to design a fintech application, a software team with an experience in this domain will be the first and most obvious choice.



The importance of a Product Owner role



When it comes to product development, it is important to understand that the software company brings the client’s ideas to life - but generation of these ideas and the final product vision falls on the shoulders of the client. Therefore, there should be an intermediary between the client and the team who will be responsible for guiding the client’s vision in the right direction, making decisions, and communicating client’s ideas to the team.



This person is usually the product owner or PO for short. Product owner works on the client side and, together with the development team, helps the client and/or stakeholders to make the right decision by analyzing project requirements.



The main idea that we wish to translate here is that it’s best for a product owner to work with the client and/or stakeholders in order to better understand what changes or decisions to implement in a product in order to achieve the client’s business goals. Of course, the development team can always suggest a solution or an idea but it will be the PO and/or the client to have the final say.



Main aspects to consider when negotiating the team structure



We’ve already stated how important it is for the client and the vendor to find common ground on the subject of team composition. Below we’d like to share several aspects to keep in mind that will help make the right decision in the most efficient way:




If the recommended team does not fit the client’s budget, it is highly advisable to reduce the number of product features in order not to sacrifice the app’s quality by removing skilled developers;



The vendor should explain every suggested role so the client understands what each person does and how they will contribute to the project;



It is recommended to start the project with a relatively small team and then scale it up gradually - more on that below.




A kick-off call with the client



After the team and the tech stack are composed and the project is broken down into deliverables and milestones, the software vendor normally initiates a kick-off call with the client. The main goal of this call is to review the current plan in terms of deadlines, deliverables, sprints, etc. and to discuss any questions or concerns.



A kick-off call normally includes:




Requiring accesses, discussing the task management system, and clarifying the report structure.



Requiring accesses to the customer environments (Dev, Stage, Prod) and establishing a deadline. Also, assigning a DevOps engineer for the setup.



Discussing timings for such activities as daily meetings, sprint planning, demo meetings, retrospective meetings, refinement sessions. All related information should be sent to the client in the meeting notes and added to the calendar.



Setting the first spring planning - prior to that, it is important to already have tasks in the backlog and (if possible) an approximate plan for discussing with the client.



Starting the deployment in case all accesses to the environments are granted.




Tasks to do outside the kickoff (for the development team)



The organization of a kickoff meeting may take some time so it’s natural that the development team starts working on other tasks in order to be fully prepared for the kickoff. These tasks may include:




Organize a meeting with the dev team to discuss project architecture, delegate tasks, and assign roles;



Describe tasks to do so they can later be imported to the client’s Jira;



Investigate and clarify any issues that remain unresolved at this stage;



Establish control over branches (i.e. where to implement updates and how);



Connect Jira to the repository (if the repository is external);



Start working with UX/UI designers (if needed);



Start writing test documentation and test cases;



Prepare all managerial documentation (project kickoff meeting, meeting notes structure, client reports);



Prepare a project charter - a comprehensive document that describes the project in detail and states its main goals.




Hidden rocks to consider when starting a project



The development of a software project requires thorough planning and yet there still might be unexpected issues that happen after the project is launched. To minimize possible risks and help you navigate the complexity of the process, we list down the main issues to take care of in advance.



Provide access and all needed credentials before starting the project



One of the most frequent bottlenecks that we encounter when working with clients is the lack of access to the system or no credentials given in advance. So when the team starts working on a project (i.e. the start date as defined by the client and the team), it will simply not be able to do anything because no credentials or access were given. In this way, the client will be overbilling (according to the contract) but no work will be done - and there is no need to explain how negatively the situation will affect the project.



Gradual scale-up of the team



When the project is just starting, there is no need to kick it off with a big team. It’s usually more than enough to have just a technical lead, a project manager, and a technical QA for start. These people will:




Ask questions to the client about the project;



Write a detailed project specification;



Create tasks according to this specification;



Estimate project architecture and the app’s framework;



Create tickets in Jira so developers can start work as soon as they board the project.




All these tasks require a certain amount of time. So to avoid overbilling from the client’s side and idling from the dev team’s side, it makes sense to start with a small group of people and then add more specialists as the project gets bigger and tasks get clarified. 



Prepare all Jira tickets in advance



There is one thing that’s almost as bad as starting work with no credentials and that’s starting work with no clear tasks to do. This is why it’s essential to prepare all Jira tickets before kicking off the project so developers can immediately get down to work when they board the project. 



Preparation of Jira tickets and their decomposition into technical tasks is the responsibility of the Product Owner and the tech lead so they need to work together on that.



Conclusion



The process of assembling a development team might be complex but if planned in advance, everything should go well and without any bottlenecks. Just keep in mind the tips discussed above and don’t forget to maintain transparent communication with the IT company and the team so you both stay on the same page and understand each other.

### How to Structure a Contract With a Software Vendor

In the previous article from the series dedicated to managing work with IT vendors, we talked about where to find and how to select a reliable IT provider. Today we’ll talk about the next big step - signing a contract with a selected vendor.



Being an IT service provider ourselves, we know that signing a contract is a highly important step. A contract encompasses all details of a mutual agreement between a client and a vendor and hence, extra attention has to be paid to its drafting and negotiation.







The fundamentals of a contract-signing process



When it comes to signing a contract between a client and a vendor, there are normally several documents involved:




MSA (Master Services Agreement): describes the general terms and conditions for the future work;



SOW (Statement of Work): an MSA annex that describes specific tasks and specific conditions for their completion and compensation;



NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement): a document that protects commercial confidentiality.




Note that you can have one or several SOWs. And while SOWs may differ, we recommend retaining the same MSA in the context of cooperation between the two parties.



Different engagement types and how they affect the SOW



An SOW usually describes task-specific conditions of the contract, such as deliverables, due dates, team composition, etc. Within the domain of software development, the contents of SOW will depend on the engagement type that you will select for working with your vendor. We’ve already discussed the main engagement types in detail in this article, so we will provide a brief overview of each model below.



Fixed price: this contract means there is a “fixed” budget that the software vendor and the client negotiate on before starting work. When working under a fixed price model, a client usually has very clear requirements, a strict deadline, and a certain budget not to be exceeded. In this way, the client gains a lot of control over the project. The drawbacks of this engagement type are lack of flexibility, complex risk management, and expensive change management processes. A reliable vendor will often only agree to this model when starting the project from scratch and the vendor will take the responsibility for all stages of the development cycle.



Time and Material: with a T&M contract, a client pays for time and materials provided by the vendor and this means a very high level of flexibility. This engagement type is suitable for agile projects and allows you to implement changes any time you need them. As well, T&M brings a high level of scalability to a project. A possible challenge with this engagement model is that it is vital to know how to plan tasks properly - otherwise, if the team has no tasks to do, it will be disembodied. It is also important to note that the client plays only for the time that the team spent on a project and does not pay for the downtime.



Dedicated team: A dedicated team model implies that a software vendor provides a client with a team of professionals and there is a monthly fixed fee for each team member. Under the DT model, the client has the greatest control over the team and project resources and it is easier to integrate the team that way with the client's in-house team and processes. As well, this engagement type ensures that the team stays on the project for the longest term and the risk of losing valuable project knowledge is minimized. As for the possible challenges, it is important to keep in mind that it’s the client's responsibility to provide tasks for the team to work on, as the downtime is still invoiced to the client. 



You will choose the right engagement model based on your vision of the project and the needed results. The software vendor normally helps the client by consulting them and advising them on the best model depending on the project goals, available budget, and deadlines.



Key elements to focus on when negotiating a contract



As you can see, there are many intricacies involved in assembling a contract between a software provider and a client - below we will discuss the main things to pay attention to. Judging by our experience, these parts of the agreement usually cause the most discussion so it is important to understand how to make them as fair as possible for both parties.



Quality and compliance



If the performance, security, and compliance are required to meet specific standards or benchmark targets, the client can request the relevant terms and conditions to be included in the MSA or SOW in the form of corresponding benchmarks (i.e. server response speed and load capacity for performance). As well, the client can demand the project to follow certain software development best practices, for example, security-based ones (OWASP, PCI, etc) or compliance with specific regulations (HIPAA, GDPR, etc.).



All these subjects are usually included in the SOW and as soon as both parties agree on them, these conditions become key terms of the contract and must be met. It is also desirable to define as many details of the client’s requirements as possible so they can serve as a base for future changes or any discussions regarding the project.



Payment terms and late payment penalties 



The key principle to follow here is that this part of the contract has to be very detailed and accurate. As well, a unified understanding of given terms of the contract is important for both sides.



The client pays compensation based on invoices presented by the service provider. The currency of payments (from the point of view of financial discipline and requirements of monetary control) should correspond to the currency stated in the corresponding SoW. Payment on a preliminary basis may also be possible - in this case, it will confirm the start of the collaboration between the parties.



The client normally pays all fees during a certain period that follows the issue of an invoice. The vendor, in turn, is usually responsible for all bank expenses, related to the payment, which is convenient for the client.



Another important thing to note here is that the contract (either the MSA or the SOW or both) should define payment terms (time period within which the payment should be made). The payment terms are usually net30 (30 calendar days). In case of a late payment, a penalty will be applied.



Late payment penalties provide financial protection to the party that incurs expenses. A penalty is usually limited to a certain percentage of the project’s budget. The percentage ratio is established by both parties via negotiation but it should not exceed 100% of the contract amount.



Finally, it is critical to state how and where the payment will be transferred (usually it happens via wire transfer) and in what currency the payment will be performed.  



Assignment of IP rights



As a rule, the vendor transfers all IP rights created as the result of performing services under the agreement to the client, unless stated otherwise in the agreement. The transfer happens when the obligations under the agreement have been met by both parties or agreed otherwise by both parties.



An outsourcing company always transfers its rights to the created product to the client and does not claim the intellectual property objects created by the company. The intellectual property is transferred in full throughout the term of the duration of the copyright law. In this case, the client’s proprietary rights are protected by the labor contract between developers and the company. 



One more thing worth noting is that individual developers of the software product (contractor’s employees) do not have a claim to the intellectual property due to their employment contract. Therefore it is important for the client to know that the developers that will be performing the work are actual employees of the contractor. Hence, when a software company signs up a contract with the client, the client will become the owner of the intellectual property created within the terms of the agreement.



The only condition that the client must meet when talking about the IP transfer is payment for the provided services. The moment the full payment has been made, the exclusive rights of product ownership are transferred to the client. However, the vendor may agree to transfer the exclusive rights to the client before the full payment is made, which should be agreed to by both parties in writing.



Team scaling and replacement



This point relates to the Time & Material and Dedicated Team engagement models only since these two models imply budget flexibility and multilateral changes to the team during the development process.



It may happen that a client decides to scale the team (i.e. add more or remove team members) or there is a need for replacing certain specialists. In order for the vendor and the client to efficiently change the structure of the team through the engagement, it is important to negotiate several aspects in advance.



Replacement process duration



There are three cases for a replacement:




By the client’s initiative: if a client initiates a replacement, he has to notify a vendor in advance (from 1 to 3 months) and the notification time will depend on the size, duration, and complexity of the project. Expenses for knowledge transfer are usually paid by the client if the parties did not agree otherwise.



By the vendor’s initiative: if a vendor initiates a replacement, he also has to notify the client in advance and takes full responsibility for finding a corresponding replacement and minimizing possible project risks. Expenses for knowledge transfer will be paid by the vendor.



Unexpected circumstances: the client and the vendor should act in good faith and agree on an effective solution that would bring maximal value to the project.




Change requests 



Negotiation of change requests and their inclusion in the contract are relevant only for the Fixed Price engagement model since this model implies a fixed scope and budget that can not be freely changed. Hence, the contract should outline a way in which changes to the scope are approached, estimated, performed, and billed. It is important to have strict rules for managing changes to the scope to avoid scope creep and keep the team focused on delivery. 



While it might be hard to foresee all possible changes and decide in advance how to approach them, it is always a good idea to have a certain agreement on how to estimate and prioritize them. But in general, we recommend minimizing the number of change requests in order to avoid scope creep and prioritizing all proposed changes to retain the focus on the main goals of the project.



Non-solicitation and non-compete



Throughout the contract time and during a certain period after its termination, each party agrees that it will not engage contractually and will not solicit the employees of the other party unless there is a written agreement with defined terms and conditions of hiring a current or a former employee. Non-solicitation includes employees, clients, partners, or contractors (vendors). In the case of a solicitation, there are normally punitive sanctions that are defined by both parties.



As for the non-compete part of the agreement, it implies that one party does not engage in the market of the other party having a competitive advantage derived from the result of the engagement between both parties. The non-compete clause’s main objective is to protect the client’s business by not allowing the vendor to use acquired expertise and know-how at the expense of the client in order to engage the client’s market. The non-compete part of the agreement should be time bound and can have penalties.



Termination/waiver of the agreement



Termination of an agreement may be unilateral or mutual and each will go on different terms that are to be discussed and stated in the contract.



In case of a unilateral waiver, it should always go with a notice (usually from 30 to 90 days) and the party that initiates the termination should compensate for all the work performed up to the affected termination and any other compensation as listed in the agreement. However, if one party breaches any term of the agreement, the other party sends a notification with a term for remedying the breach. If the breach is not remedied in accordance with the defined term for remedying, the contract can be terminated unilaterally by the party that incurs expenses.



All possible termination scenarios should be considered in advance and should be stated in the agreement. In this case, both parties will make themselves safe from possible losses.



Final word



It is also worth noting that the vendor always remains flexible and both parties normally focus on peaceful settlement of differences so negotiations and transparent communication are keys to a mutually beneficial agreement.



And obviously, the contract should be fair for both parties: by that, we mean that both parties should be satisfied with the defined terms of the contract and should equally benefit from the delivered results. This is achieved through transparent communication and negotiation and trust between both parties.

### The Magic Behind Test-Driven Development and How to Do It Right

If you are familiar with agile, you might as well have heard of extreme programming that takes a bunch of great development practices to an extreme. This doesn’t mean anything scary - instead, extreme programming is about making the most out of proven and effective practices - and TDD is one of those.



Test-driven development, known as TDD, is considered a highly effective approach to software engineering. Yet, not all software companies use it since TDD requirements are not so easy to follow. So what is so extreme about TDD and why do some companies neglect it despite its obvious advantages? Let’s have a closer look.







What is TDD and why it’s not 100% about testing?



Test-driven development is a methodology that implies writing unit tests before writing production code. In other words, first, you write tests for a non-existing code, then you write the needed code, and then the test passes. How does this approach fit into XP (extreme programming) concept? Simple: let’s take code testing to an extreme and write tests before there is even any code written. A shoutout to Kent Beck here - the father of extreme programming and one of the 17 original signatories of the Agile Manifesto.



Now, the next question is how does TDD fit into the agile concept? The answer is actually quite simple. One of the main features of agile is the need for regular feedback since project requirements may change throughout the development process and developers need to adapt to the changes. Regular feedbacks help maintain transparency and quickly identify the source of an issue before the code goes anywhere further than the developer’s laptop.  And since test-driven development promotes constant testing, this approach provides developers with regular feedback on working and non-working parts of an application. In this way, the TDD approach prevents non-functioning parts of the code to go into production because failed tests block the deployment process. 



It is worth noting though that TDD may slow down the development process due to the need for constant testing. And if your project has many changing requirements, this will also contribute to a slower development process. 



How does TDD work? Uncle Bob’s rules



We’ve already spoken about the TDD principle of work for a bit - now let’s look at the way test-driven development is performed in more detail.



The TDD process starts with the API design of the future code and the three main phases in TDD are:




Create unit tests: a developer writes a test for a non-existent code for a new functionality. When the test is run, it will fail since there is no code yet. It is important to note that the unit test will be performed with other tests to ensure that all parts of the code function as intended.



Write code: a developer writes code for the non-existent functionality that the test is supposed to cover.



Refactor: the developer runs the test again (it must pass) and if needed, makes any adjustments to the code to improve its performance without affecting its external behavior (well-written green tests ensure that).




You can compare the process to the red/green testing where no code is written until there is a test that would fail (red). Hence, the TDD process can be described as Red, Green, Refactor. 



It’s not that simple though. Remember we said how TDD is known for its efficiency? A high level of it is supposed to be achieved by following the three TDD rules defined by Robert C. Martin in his book “The Clean Coder”:




A developer is not allowed to write any production code unless it is needed to make a failing test pass.



A developer is not allowed to write any more of a unit test than is enough to fail, and compilation errors are failures.



A developer is not allowed to write any more production code than is enough to pass the one failing test.




These rules are supposed to help developers avoid writing excessive and duplicate code and overall make the coding process easier. However, some professionals state that rule #2 could use a bit of improvement since the treatment of compilation errors as failures can mislead you in terms of understanding code quality. So if we rework Uncle Bob’s rules a bit, we’ll get:




Red: work on test code only. As well, only the test you work on should fail - others should be green.



Green: work only on the production code that will make the test pass. If the test fails after you wrote the code, have a look at your implementation. If other tests fail, you need to go back.



Refactor: refactor production code only and do not mess with the functional changes.




The benefits of test-driven development



Okay, so what are the biggest and most important advantages of implementing a test-driven development approach in your project? We’ve listed the main ones though there are actually many more!



You only write the needed code



Since TDD rules imply creating only the code needed to make a failing test pass without touching other parts of the code, you won’t write any production code when all tests pass. This helps eliminate duplicate code and contributes to keeping the code clean and simple since the simplest code will be enough to make a test pass.



Great test coverage from the start



Since there is a test for every feature, needless to say, TDD provides a pretty great test coverage. This, in turn, contributes to easier refactoring since the chances of a new feature breaking everything are pretty low.



Modular software design



The TDD approach promotes focusing on one feature at a time and developers do not move to the next feature until the first one works perfectly. This leads to code becoming modular and hence, contributes to easier bug discovery and easier code reuse. A clean modular code results in a better architecture and this impacts the overall app’s performance. 



Easy and smooth refactoring



Developers may fear refactoring because it might bring unexpected issues or break the existing code. But with TDD, refactoring is smooth and manageable since every feature is tested before being added. Hence, the chances of refactoring leading to an error become much lower than with a traditional development approach.



Other important benefits of TDD include:




Detailed specifications and well-documented code;



Clean interface and solid code;



Less time spent on debugging;



Increased productivity for developers;



The clarity in terms of understanding the code and issue sources;



Increased confidence for developers since refactoring is stress-free.




Most common TDD mistakes and considerations to keep in mind



As you can see, test-driven development promotes code clarity and efficiency of the development process - but this approach is also highly demanding. If developers lack certain skills, it will be easy to mess up with TDD and nobody wants that. So we will now have a look at the most common TDD mistakes and considerations to be aware of before deciding to go full TDD on your project.



Steep learning curve



Test-driven development requires developers to understand what they are doing and it also demands them to know how to create clean code and refactor it properly. When working by the TDD approach, developers really need to know the main development principles and design patterns - otherwise, they won’t be able to produce concise and clean code. The “hit or miss” coding just won’t work here.



Slow tests



When TDDing, you’ll want your test suits to be completed within several minutes (preferably, seconds). So one of the biggest mistakes that developers make is writing slow tests that take too much time. Another mistake here is using unit tests to do integration testing - since integration tests are slow by nature, you’ll need to put them in a separate test suite.



Infrequent testing and refactoring



Another big mistake that some developers tend to make is not testing frequently and not refactoring all the time. As a result, they do not receive early feedback (that is provided by frequent testing) and thus might let the code slip into looseness.



Summing up



Is test-driven development a good practice? Without a doubt. Is it a silver bullet that will instantly turn you into a programming demiurge? No, because you’ll need to know what you are doing.



TDD is amazing but on the condition that you have enough time and will to adopt this approach and follow it. And while TDD may not be for all, it’s definitely a practice worth paying attention to.

### What Is UX Writing? Understanding Its Role in User Engagement

There is no need to say how important UX/UI design is for a software product since it plays a critical role in creating a positive first impression and leads users towards conversions. However, not many people notice the component that really does 99% of all work and serves as a decisive point.



We are talking about UX writing here. All the microcopy that you encounter when interacting with a software product falls under the UX copywriting category and in this article, we’ll explain what exactly microcopy is, why UX writing is not the same as copywriting, and why you need to invest in UX writing asap (if you haven’t yet).







Defining UX writing



Before defining UX writing, let’s talk about your latest experience with the software product first. Think about it: was it smooth and helpful enough? If yes, then think about the following: what exactly made your experience so enjoyable?



Most probably, it was the “invisible” part of the design aka the UX writing. By that, we mean all these messages that you are interacting with, such as “learn more”, “click here”, “go back”, etc. Sure, users are attracted by bright colors and outstanding visuals but it’s the text on the image that makes them perform a certain action and suggests what kind of action to take.



Hence, we can define UX writing as the process of creating a copy that users directly interact with and that centers around user goals. This text works in tandem with the design elements and together, these two components create user experiences. 



It is important to note that UX copy is as important as UX design. Moreover, UX design supports UX writing since it’s the text that we use to communicate a message to users. Let’s look at the following example: we have a red button with a “Get your discount now” message on the homepage. If you show users only the button with no text on it, they will probably understand that the red color implies some sort of urgency or importance - but they won’t understand what exactly is meant by it. But if you show users the plain message written in words, they will always understand it, no matter what color the letters or the background is. 



The difference between UX writing and copywriting



While some believe that UX writing and copywriting are the same, in reality, these two types of copy require a completely different approach. It’s true that a skilled copywriter can be a good UX writer and vice versa but it’s still important to understand the difference between these two concepts.



The main things to remember when comparing these two types of copy are their goals, focus, and nature:




UX writing: is very user-centric, centers around user goals, and aims to provide a great user experience.



Copywriting: is used for marketing purposes, is opinion-based, uses storytelling, and helps build a brand image.




In short, UX writing is about two-way communication and is aimed at assisting users and guiding them towards user goals. While copywriting is used mainly in marketing, is more of one-way communication, and centers around company goals (i.e. to sell a certain product or service).



What is microcopy, though?



We’ve already mentioned the microcopy above so let’s talk about it in more detail. Microcopy includes small bits of copy that help users reach their goals and interact with a software product. Examples of microcopy are:




Pop-up messages;



Placeholders;



CTA text;



Buttons;



Error messages and success messages;



Help text;



Hint text and instructions;



Loading screen messages.




Basically, all content on an interface is microcopy and counts as UX writing. And even though some people underestimate its importance, even two words in a pop-up message can make a huge impact on conversions.



Main benefits of UX writing



It often happens that business owners overlook the importance of UX writing or they think that a UX/UI designer can do both. As well, UX writing often gets dissolved in an overall UX/UI design process and does not get the attention it deserves.



However, it is important to recognize the benefits that UX writing brings and the reasons why it’s so important for user experience. Let’s look at the major ones below.



Better user interaction and navigation



One of the core goals of UX writing is driving users toward their goals - hence, UX writing contributes to creating frictionless navigation through the software product. As well, since UX writing promotes two-way communication, it engages users in interaction with the product. This, in turn, increases the chances for users to complete conversions, boosts loyalty, and creates a positive experience.



Assistance in completing tasks



Even if your application has incredibly smooth navigation and UI, users may still encounter issues or require help in completing certain tasks. In this case, UX copy serves as a helpful assistant that gives a clue on what the user should do and how exactly a certain action is to be performed. An example would be entering an incorrect password format when you encounter an error message and a tip on how to create a strong password.



Increased number of conversions



If users understand what exactly they need to do and how, the chances of them completing a conversion rise significantly. A well-crafted UX copy does exactly that and hence, contributes to increased conversion and as a result, increased revenue for your company.



Establishment of a relationship with users



UX writing always feels more “human” and natural than marketing copy because UX copy is here to assist and actually talk to users. Good UX copy can invoke positive emotions in users. For example, when a page takes too long to load and the microcopy states “Sorry it’s taking so long, thank you for staying”, it emphasizes the user and shows that app developers actually care about user experience. Such little things greatly contribute to increasing trust from the users’ side and help them form a strong relationship with the brand.



The core principles of crafting a convincing UX copy



As you can see, UX writing is your number one helper when it comes to talking to users and engaging them in action. And while it’s best to assign a skilled UX writer to create microcopy for your product, you might need to create certain chunks of content on your own - below you’ll find a few best practices. But before looking at them in detail, first, let’s see the key indicators of good UX content:




Clear: the text is easy for understanding;



Concise: remember that it’s called microcopy for a reason;



Consistent: the text should retain the same tone and mood throughout the interface;



Actionable: the text should promote action and assist users;



Empathetic: the text should resonate with the user’s mood and state of mind.




Whenever you want to make sure your UX copy is effective, we advise going through this checklist and seeing whether all points are applicable. And now let’s see what you can do to make your UX copy shine.



Always provide context



One of the primary goals of good UX copy is assisting users and turning their negative experience (i.e. an error message upon incorrect task completion) into a positive one. What might level up your UX writing game is providing context and explaining what’s going on and how you can help.



An example would be explaining why loading takes so long or how a user can get to another page in case they get stuck. A user should always understand what’s going on and what their next steps might be - and for that, you need to contextualize their user journey.



Write in easy, “human” language



Because you want to initiate a two-way conversation, it’s critical that your UX copy is written in an easy language that resonates with the app’s users. Even the copy for an enterprise application can be simplified and turned into a more conversational one. On the contrary, if your microcopy is not casual enough, users might have difficulty understanding it.



Minimize your microcopy



Remember we talked about UX copy being concise? This means, try minimizing it and seeing whether anything can be cut or removed. For example, you may not notice using synonyms or repeating yourself - but this will make the copy more “massive” and harder to read. 



To make sure users understand what you want them to do, always perform A/B testing of UX copy to make sure you are going with an option that really works.



Summing up



Even though UX writing seems like no big deal, it actually takes more time and effort to create a small copy than a massive one. And since UX copy and UX design are key components of user experience, you need to pay as much attention to UX writing as you do to UX design. For that, you’ll need an experienced UX writer or a copywriter to work alongside your UX/UI team. Otherwise, your brilliant design may take a backseat while users will be stumbling upon massive and dull copy.

### How Machine Learning Impacts Logistics and Supply Chain Management

In recent years, supply chain management has changed dramatically and the pandemic is one of the main reasons behind that change. Business owners have suddenly found themselves unprepared for newly formed challenges (i.e. shortage of products or delivery delays) and some of them are still having a hard time adapting the business to a new reality. And even though many businesses managed to recover, there is also a fair number of those that struggle - and the adaption of ML may be the key for them.



Machine learning has proved to be of immense assistance to businesses across various domains and logistics is no exception. Learn how ML transforms modern supply chains and how it helps business owners enhance resilience.







Five key components of a supply chain



In order to better understand how exactly machine learning assists in supply chain management, it’s important to first define the main components of a supply chain. CIO lists five components of any supply chain that are:




Planning: includes planning not only the needed resources but also defining those metrics that will help monitor the efficiency of a supply chain.



Sourcing: involves selecting suppliers and establishing management of related processes, such as ordering or authorization of supplier payments.



Manufacturing: in addition to creating products or services, this stage also includes packaging for shipping and scheduling for delivery.



Logistics: delivering products or goods, invoicing customers, and receiving payments.



Returning: management of products that were returned back or that were defective, excessive, or unwanted.




Needless to say, every stage involves dozens of processes and every process impacts the final result and customer satisfaction. However, it’s highly challenging to manually manage all these processes and timely identify any issues or warning indicators.



The main challenges of the logistics industry



Even though every business is unique, there are several common challenges that almost every business within the industry faces. Let’s look at each of them below.



Lack of flexibility



Due to various reasons, many businesses in logistics lack the flexibility which is highly needed these days. Whether anything unexpected happens (i.e. the Ever Given container ship blocking the passage in the Suez Canal in 2021) or whether the customer demand keeps rising exponentially, some business owners are simply not ready for it and their legacy processes do not work for modern conditions.



There may be a disruption in a supply network or tariffs may go unexpectedly high - and businesses should be resilient enough for such challenges.



Organizational immaturity 



It often happens that a business is not mature enough and hence, cannot timely react (or proact) to occurring disruptions. As well, a business may not be scalable enough or may lack financial flexibility. Hence, a business owner needs to perform a constant evaluation of business maturity and its readiness for both forecasted and unexpected changes.



Guesswork in demand forecasting



Predicting customer demand is one of the biggest challenges in logistics since it impacts several other areas, like price formation or warehouse management. Even though the majority of businesses now rely on the data as a base for demand forecasting, there are still businesses out there that also rely on guesswork or do not support their decision-making with data. This may lead to significant financial losses and poor customer experience.



Machine learning in supply chain management



Now that we’ve overviewed the main challenges of the industry, let’s talk about how machine learning makes a difference. Note that you don’t have to implement ML straight away or automate everything. The main idea here is to identify the biggest problem areas and evaluate whether ML can recover the issue and bring you long-term tangible benefits.



Inventory and warehouse management



Inventory management is one of the core processes that impact the company’s revenue. If there are too many or not enough products, the company will most probably lose money - and nobody wants that. 



In a perfect world, a business always knows what products and in what quantities the customers would demand in the nearest future. Thanks to machine learning, data-based forecasting has now become a reality and businesses no longer have to rely solely on their guesswork. Therefore, the biggest benefit of ML for inventory management is data-based forecasting of the future demand for a product or service. Based on these forecasts, a company can precisely stock their inventory and avoid over- or under-stocking.



Other big advantages that machine learning brings to inventory and warehouse management are:




Detection of package defects (visual damages) by using computer vision;



Automation of warehouse operations (i.e. product sorting) with the help of robots;



Automation of manual work (i.e. work with the documents);



Monitoring storing conditions (i.e. temperature monitoring) and immediate notification in case of an issue.



Price planning: by analyzing the possible demand, business owners can better adjust their pricing.




Logistics and transportation



Another area of supply chain management where machine learning comes into play is logistics and transportation. The main benefit of ML here is route optimization and route calculation - for that, a machine learning model analyzes traffic, weather, and other conditions that impact the driving time. In this way, ML significantly speeds up the delivery process which leads to a better customer experience. 



As well, machine learning simplifies the process of tracking goods during transportation and also allows monitoring the transportation conditions (which may be highly important in the case of fragile goods). 



Production process



When it comes to product manufacturing, machine learning brings the following advantages:




Predictive maintenance: with the help of computer vision and equipment monitoring, employees can timely identify if anything needs maintenance and they can prevent equipment from malfunctioning.



Monitoring the correspondence of products to the required quality level.



Automation of the production process and faster product delivery.




In general, machine learning helps businesses produce products in a faster and more accurate way, avoiding the majority of common issues like packaging defects or recovering out-of-service equipment.



Customer service



Even though customer service is not considered a component of a supply chain, it can be called a critical part of it since excellent customer experience is the ultimate goal of any business. And with the advancement of technology, customer expectations are now as high as ever so machine learning helps businesses retain their customers and keep afloat from the competition.



Here are a few examples of how ML improves the customer experience in terms of logistics and supply chain management:




Easy package tracking in real-time;



Customized notifications on the status of the delivery;



ML-powered chatbots for 24/7 customer support;



Monitoring of online customer behavior for a better understanding of buying habits;



Collecting customer data to use for demand forecasting.




With the help of machine learning, businesses can analyze customer-related data and get a solid understanding of customer preferences, buying habits, and expectations. These insights help predict future demand for the products and this creates a win-win situation both for the customers (whose demands are met) and the company (that knows how to allocate resources).



Tips on making ML work for you



As with any other technology, you can’t just implement machine learning in your processes and wait for a miracle to happen. In order for any technology to benefit your business, first, you need to identify the “problem areas” that this technology can improve and set up certain KPIs to monitor the progress and see how the state of the business changes depending on the use of the technology.



Hence, here is a quick checklist of things to take care of before implementing ML:




Evaluate your supply chain structure: identify bottlenecks, possible risks, and the overall state of the supply chain, including its security.



Establish KPIs to monitor and set a certain ROI as a business objective.



Evaluate whether your business is ready for ML implementation: whether you have all the needed resources, whether it’s scalable enough, and whether you need to assemble a team of professionals to take care of data management and processing.



Determine how you will store the data and how exactly you will collect it.




One of the biggest issues that occur during the ML implementation is that an organization is simply not ready for it. By that, we mean lack of needed resources (i.e. lack of Data Science talents), lack of understanding of how exactly to apply ML, and lack of experience in working with the data. Therefore, your first step towards improving your supply chain management would be assessing the current state of your organization and identifying what can be improved with ML and what exact benefits it will bring in the long run. Once you have clear answers to these questions, you can proceed with implementing machine learning but make sure to have a robust team of data scientists as data management is nearly impossible if your employees lack the needed skills and knowledge.

### Serverless Architecture Overview: Is It Worth the Hype?

The software development industry is constantly looking for new ways to make the development process efficient and fast. One of these ways is using serverless architecture. Promoted by the "big three" cloud providers aka AWS, GCP, and Microsoft Azure, the serverless architecture makes its way into the development processes of many companies and becomes a great alternative to traditional architecture. But what exactly is a serverless architecture if it has a server, and why is it worth considering? 







Serverless Architecture: definition and main concepts



When talking about “serverless architecture”, it’s easy to imagine there are no servers at all and the app somehow functions by itself. Obviously, that’s not true at all. The term “serverless” implies that servers still exist, but they are abstracted from the application. Thus, serverless architecture is an approach to software development that implies using third-party servers. The biggest benefit of this approach is that it eliminates the need for infrastructure management and allows developers to focus solely on the code. 



The biggest cloud providers that offer various serverless solutions are Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. The great part about working with such providers is that they take the responsibility for server hardware maintenance, software upgrades, and security issues. 



Critical components of serverless architecture



Now that we've seen that serverless architecture is not completely serverless, let's look at the three main components of the serverless stack that are essential for developing flexible and scalable cloud apps:




API gateways: an API gateway connects multiple FaaS services and client requests to extend the functionality of an application. 



Function-as-a-Service (FaaS): a cloud-computing service that allows developers to write logic that is deployed in containers, managed by the platform, and is executed on demand. Using FaaS, developers can invoke serverless applications through APIs, which the FaaS provider handles through an API gateway.



Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS): a cloud computing services model in which developers outsource certain aspects of application development to vendors and focus on front-end development instead.




Main concepts of a serverless architecture



Because serverless architecture differs from the traditional approach, there are several concepts used in serverless architecture to keep in mind:




Invocation: a single execution of a function;



the execution time of a serverless function;



Cold start:delay that occurs when the function first starts or after a period of inactivity;



Concurrency limit: the number of functions that run simultaneously in the same region, and if the limit is exceeded, the function is blocked;



Timeout:the amount of time until the function finishes working;



Monolith:a monolithic software system that stores and manages all application functionality in one large deployment unit.




Main advantages and concerns of a serverless architecture 



The serverless architecture is indeed great and frees developers from a massive amount of work. However, in some cases, traditional architecture may be more preferable. Let’s look at the pros and cons of serverless architecture to be aware of in order to make the right decision.



The pros of serverless architecture




Reduced costs: users pay only for the time of the function execution and their number, and there is no charge for unused functions. This eliminates downtime and reduces costs.



Increased productivity: by using serverless, developers can focus on their code without having to manage servers. In this way, developers can create a better product in a shorter period of time.



Better observability: serverless architecture breaks down an application into smaller, more manageable modules, thus making it easier to monitor the development process.



Third-party support: cloud providers offer a variety of services that simplify and accelerate application development and deployment.




The cons of serverless architecture




Dependency on vendors: with a serverless architecture, companies rely on the cloud provider and any changes in the underlying technology can lead to unnecessary downtime;



Vendor lock-in: migrating an application from one vendor to another implies additional time and resources;



in serverless environments, the developer has no control over the software stack on which the code runs, and if a server failure occurs, only the cloud provider can fix the problem.




Serverless vs Traditional architecture vs Containers



In short, with serverless application development, each service can run as an independent application and is abstracted from the infrastructure. Whereas in traditional development, all components are interconnected and each development stage depends on the results of the previous stage. A containerized architecture allows developers to package software and its dependencies into an isolated unit (container) that can run steadily in any environment. 



The main differences between the three architectures are presented in this table.



ArchitectureServerlessContainersTraditionalScalabilityapps backend automatically scales according to requirementsflexible scalability through the use of an orchestration platformmanual scalability, which sometimes leads to long downtimeCostno fixed costs, companies only pay for the server capacity that is used by their appcontainers run all the time, so cloud providers have to pay for server space even when the app is not in usеrather expensive development process and bug fixesMaintenancethe vendor takes care of all the management and updating of the softwaredevelopers have to manage and update every container they deployinterruptions can occure due to hardware changes of required software configurationsDeploymentapps are easier to deploy because serverless computing adapts to changing workloadsapplications are easy to (re)deploy using containersapps are slower deploy because of software preparation or manual configuration of the softwareTestingdifficult because the backend environment is hard to replicate in a local environmenteasy because containers work the same no matter where they are deployedlong, performed in stages, and the final product is released after all defects have been eliminated



Serverless architecture use cases



Leading companies use serverless technology to deliver high-performing services and products to their customers. Here are some interesting use cases of serverless architecture:




Media transformation: one of the most common backend operations is media content conversion. Netflix uses a serverless feature to set up pipelines that convert and provide users with the media content format they want;



Real-time processing: major League Baseball uses serverless computing that provides users with accurate, real-time sports results. The Statcast website allows complex queries to be performed on data such as pitch counts, season type, and specific player names and informs users of match decisions.




Final thought



With the right approach to serverless architecture, moving from traditional infrastructure to cloud models can give companies a competitive advantage and reduce certain costs associated with maintenance and infrastructure support. However, it is important to consider the abovementioned concerns and analyze whether serverless architecture is suitable for your individual project or if you should stick with the traditional approach.

### The Challenges of Implementing Robotic Process Automation and How to Overcome Them

Modern technology has brought us to the point where robots can imitate humans in terms of performing tedious tasks. This, in turn, enables humans to concentrate on the tasks that require creativity and human intelligence. Yes, we are talking about robotic process automation aka RPA.



Today, businesses are increasingly relying on RPA services to streamline their operations and reduce operational costs. However, if implemented incorrectly, RPA can bring you more harm than good. Therefore, before investing in RPA implementation, business owners need to learn about the possible challenges and ways to successfully resolve them. 







What is Robotic Process Automation?



Robotic Process Automation (RPA for short) is a form of software technology that enables developers to design and deploy robots that can imitate certain human actions. The biggest advantage of RPA is that robots can perform work without interruption, in a much faster manner, and with greater reliability and accuracy. 



Robotic process automation is normally used to automate processes that are repetitive, involve predictable steps, and are voluminous. By automating such processes, companies significantly save time, reduce operational costs, increase overall productivity and help employees focus on more critical work. To show how widespread RPA is and why many organizations within various domains invest in this technology, we've compiled a list of several RPA use cases for various industries:




Finances:  RPA helps automate such tasks as account opening and customer knowledge checks (KYC), query processing, and fraud detection. 



Retail: companies automate pricing and inventory adjustments and use intelligent bots to collect customer data in real-time and detect fraudulent activities.



Healthcare: RPA automates complex and time-consuming tasks for payers, hospitals and health systems, and long-term care facilities while reducing necessary resources. 



Manufacturing: RPA helps manufacturers modernize production processes and business functions, including procurement, inventory management, customer communication optimization, and more.



Telecommunication: RPA helps reduce errors, speed up customer service and improve overall operational efficiency. 








RPA challenges to consider before implementing the technology



Companies can automate their tasks either with robotic process automation or with traditional solutions like Business Process Management Systems. RPA differs from traditional process automation solutions by two key characteristics:




RPA works at a user interface level: RPA software does not require internal integration with existing systems/databases because it uses existing application logic and interacts with them just like a human user.



Ease of setup for non-IT users: setting up a robot is more similar to process modeling rather than programming, so employees can quickly be trained to set up an RPA process.




These two features make RPA a more flexible and cheaper automation solution so no wonder companies take great interest in it. However, RPA is not that simple to implement. Let's take a look at the biggest challenges of RPA implementation and ways to overcome them. 



Lack of a clear RPA strategy



How can a company make sure that robotic process automation helps meet the company goals? The answer is an RPA strategy which is a comprehensive plan of how an organization will implement and manage RPA in its work processes. The implementation of RPA without a well-thought-out plan will result in mismatched expectations and can derail the success of automation. 



Solution: companies need to design a detailed implementation strategy that will articulate clear RPA goals. Such strategies normally include guidelines for defining processes as well as task evaluation and prioritization. Here is a list of actions to take in order to bring the RPA strategy to life successfully:




Department heads should determine which tasks are to be automated;



Technology teams should provide employee training on the use of RPA tools and self-deployment of robots;



Organizations should set up constant monitoring and management of processes in order to timely implement any changes;



An organization should create a plan that would address possible issues related to the RPA implementation and list down methods for their mitigation and elimination.








Lack of suitable infrastructure



Without the proper infrastructure to support RPA deployment, companies may not get the results they want. If the existing infrastructure system is outdated, inflexible, and slow, it will be difficult to adapt a modern RPA tool. Unfortunately, not all companies analyze their infrastructure before implementing robotic process automation and as a result, automation brings more harm than good.



Solution: a company needs to think about the needed capabilities and whether the existing infrastructure can support RPA. The main requirements for an RPA-friendly infrastructure are:




RPA tool support for virtual environments;



RPA tool licensing;



Application update policies;



The infrastructure must be powerful enough to run all your scenarios;



The infrastructure must work 24/7.




Also, make sure that your system is centralized, unaffected by external factors, and that any installed updates won't damage it.



Insufficient maintenance



Technical support for RPA is critical to avoid possible errors in the system. If the system is not updated and regular protocols for RPA maintenance are not followed, the system will degrade over time, causing numerous issues.  Solution: to control RPA processes and ensure they perform as intended, companies need to assign a responsible specialist who will perform the following tasks:




Ensure that all necessary changes are made to the system and that the RPA software is updated correspondingly;



Take care of the data integrity by copying data from temporary storage to larger storage.



Run endurance tests to see if the system can provide the same stable performance over an extended time.




If possible, all these processes should be automated and the specialist should monitor them and intervene when necessary.



Lack of coordination between the business and IT



Misalignment between the business and IT is one of the most frequent causes for RPA implementation to fail. When the IT department solely manages RPA, employees may not be responsive enough to business needs and may not fully comprehend them. On the other hand, when the business solely manages automation, it may not understand certain technical aspects, which leads to poor RPA tool selection and maintenance errors.



Solution: to ensure that business and IT understand each other and communicate freely, companies can create an RPA Center of Excellence (CoE). CoE allows all stakeholders to share expertise to optimize process selection, prioritization, and RPA development. While IT can focus on providing software that matches the company's technical needs, the operations department can focus on organizational support and implementation strategy.



Scalability issues



One important aspect of RPA implementation that companies tend to overlook is that their system should often support a large number of RPA robots that perform multiple processes. These processes can be difficult to scale due to regulatory updates or internal changes. According to a Forrester report, 52% of customers say they have difficulty scaling their RPA program. Therefore, companies should consider how they will scale up once the workload starts growing.



Solution: the best practices for scaling RPA automation include:




Educate and train in-house RPA developers and analysts: companies should provide an internal employee training program and, as a result, build an internal talent pool.



Scale by increasing the number of robots, not by complicating the processes: intelligent distribution of processes among robots and gradual increase of the number of robots contribute to more efficient scalability.



Consider process mining tools: data mining can help businesses optimize their processes before automation and thus facilitate scaling in the future.




Security risks



Since robots perform specific internal tasks, they normally have access to the company’s sensitive data. Consequently, managing security risks is one of the top priorities when it comes to RPA management. If access to data and validation of robots are not managed properly, this may lead to vulnerabilities in the system and the possibility of data leaks.



Solution: There are several ways to mitigate security risks related to RPA:




Separate data access by assigning different roles to the RPA team and provide access to authorized users only;



Assign a unique identifier to each robot;



Constantly check bots for vulnerabilities or inconsistencies;



Use encryption to enforce passwords.








Choosing the wrong automation process



While some companies prefer automating everything, others may automate just one or two small processes and it will lead to significant improvements. Failure to choose the right processes for automation often leads to financial losses, poor results, and a mismatch of expectations and reality. So how to select the right process for automation? Solution: proper evaluation of processes for automation is necessary, so companies should look at the following:




Frequency of changes: if the process changes frequently, it will be difficult to automate it.



Frequency of execution: it is worth prioritizing processes used frequently, weekly, or even daily.



Process complexity: if a process requires high-level cognitive tasks, it is not very suitable for automation. 



Resiliency: fault-tolerant processes are better suited for RPA than error-sensitive tasks. 



Business impact: to get quick results from automation efforts, choose processes with high business impact (time-consuming tasks that directly serve customers).




Final thoughts



Robotic process automation, along with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, is rapidly gaining popularity every day. In 2022, global spending on robotic process automation are expected to reach $2.4 billion, according to Gartner. These numbers once again prove that RPA is a highly efficient and reliable solution that companies should consider implementing. However, it’s always a company’s choice whether to rely on human employees solely or let robots do some work. 



Have you already implemented RPA in your organization or are you considering it? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!

### Top UX KPIs and UX Metrics to Measure the Success of Your Design

When developing an application, companies need to understand whether they are achieving their business goals. And one of the best ways to measure the app’s success, including the efficiency of its design, is to implement KPIs. With corresponding UX metrics, designers can track the progress and effectiveness of their work, and improve their user experience strategy. So, what are UX KPIs and how can they help improve a digital product? Let's have a look.







What are (UX) KPIs?



KPIs (key performance indicators) are quantitative performance indicators that are used to evaluate employee performance against their strategic goals. In the field of UX design, KPIs are used to track the progress and success of design activities. UX KPIs can cover design usability, brand recognition, brand loyalty, and user experience analysis. 



Designers can implement UX KPIs for the following:




to track user experience;



to compare their design against the competition;



to collect user feedback;



to optimize the UX strategy.




Why should you measure UX KPIs?



According to Intechnic UX, companies that improve their UX design report up to 83% improvement in their KPIs in terms of increased conversions. This statistic proves that data-based UX design decisions are much more effective than the ones based on guesswork. 



The main reasons why companies implement UX KPIs are:




To track progress over time: KPIs help designers understand whether their UX strategy is working and whether it’s time to make any changes;



To identify problem areas: UX KPIs help identify possible problems in specific areas. This helps determine what the company needs to change to improve the user experience;



Analyze and compare the data: the analysis of the right KPIs can help you compare your design performance to the competition and implement needed changes;




If designers rely on the wrong UX KPIs, they will make inappropriate decisions that may lead to customer churn, negative brand image, and reduced conversions. Therefore, it is important to define relevant UX KPIs for your brand and implement them depending on the type of your project and business goals. We’ll talk about how to select the suitable KPIs a bit later and for now, let’s take a look at the core UX KPIs metrics.



Behavioral and attitudinal UX metrics explained



UX metrics are a set of quantitative metrics that help analyze and monitor the user experience and user interaction with an app over time. Examples of these UX metrics are user satisfaction, user engagement, and loyalty. There are two main types of UX metrics: behavioral and attitudinal UX KPIs.



Behavioral UX metrics



Behavioral UX KPIs (what users do) represent how users interact with your product or service and what problems they encounter on their way. Most behavioral UX metrics have to do with the app’s usability (its ease of use). Good usability is an important part of UX because when users can't complete a task, they may quickly switch to an alternative solution. 



Key behavioral UX KPIs include: 




Task success rate;



Time on task;



Search vs. Navigation;



User error rate;



Misclich rate;



Conversion rate.




Attitudinal UX metrics



Attitudinal UX KPIs (what users say) measure how a user feels about a product or service. Attitudinal metrics include customer satisfaction, loyalty, trust, and convenience of app use. 



Key attitudinal UX KPIs include:




System Usability Scale (SUS);



Customer Effort Score (CES);



Net Promoter Score (NPS);



Customer Satisfaction Score (SCAT);



Standardized User Experience Percentile Rank Questionnaire.




Understanding what certain UX KPIs do and how to measure them is the key to developing a successful UX strategy. While there are many UX KPIs that you can consider, we suggest focusing on the key ones and on the ways of tracking them.



Task success rate



The task success rate metric measures how successful a user was in performing or completing a task. This KPI shows the percentage of customers who completed a particular task (i.e. completing a profile or filling in their billing information) and helps identify usability issues. 



How it is measured: 



The task success rate can be calculated by using a formula: a number of correctly completed tasks / the total amount of time spent on completing the task. For example, if a designer measures the success of tasks A and B and the rates are 70% and 80%, then the overall success rate of the task is (70+80)/2= 75%. The more respondents there are, the more accurate the success rate is. Also, consider whether this is the first time the user has completed the task so you can monitor how the user experience changes over time.



Time on task



Task completion time is a metric that describes the time it takes to complete a task. The shorter the task completion time is, the better the user experience is. Longer time can mean that users have trouble finding what they need on the page, that they got lost in the user flow, or that they don't understand how to use a product. 



How it is measured: 



There are different ways to measure time on task, depending on the evaluation method and the type of project. The most common method is by using this formula: Time on task = average time spent on task / total time spent on tasks.



The context in which this metric is written is important. While user navigation may be smooth, the KPI may show a low score. In this case, it would mean the user did not understand the task. Hence, rephrasing the question may yield better results. Note that if the goal of a designer is user retention, a longer task time may actually be helpful.



User error rate



The user error rate is a metric that determines how many times a user makes an error when performing a task. Examples of errors are clicking on a non-clickable element, entering the data in the wrong fields, or opening the wrong page. The user error rate metric allows designers to understand the main pain points and eliminate them. 



How it is measured: 



There are two common ways to calculate the error rate: if a task has one or more potential errors and you want to track only one of them, then you need to measure the average error rate. If you want to measure multiple errors, you can calculate the error rate by using the following method:




The average error rate = the number of errors that occurred/ the number of error opportunities;



Error rate = a total number of correct errors for all users/a total number of errors for all users.




User errors can show how user-friendly your site or product is. A high user error rate indicates poor user interaction with the product (i.e. confusion or misunderstanding of how to use it).



System Usability Scale (SUS)



System Usability Scale (SUS) is a standardized metric for measuring usability and perception of an application. The SUS questionnaire consists of 10 questions in which users can answer each question by using a five-point scale, from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree. SUS measures efficiency (whether users' goals are reached), effectiveness (how much effort is spent on goal achievement) and satisfaction (how satisfied the user is).



How it is measured: 



The results of the SUS form can be calculated by using the following structure: each response is assigned a score from 1 to 5 SUS points to build a table for each user:




translate the scale into numbers, e.g., "strongly disagree" corresponds to 1;



For questions with odd numbers, subtract 1 (x);



For questions with odd numbers, subtract 5 (y).



Add (x+y) and multiply by 2.5.




SUS gives a score between 0 and 100. A SUS score above 68 indicates high product usability, and a score below 68 indicates there might be a design problem. Designers can also use this metric to compare two different designs with a quick A/B test or to compare their product with the previous version.



Net Promoter Score (NPS)



Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures customer loyalty to a brand. NPS is calculated by using a survey consisting of a single question: "How likely are you to recommend a company/product/service?" With continuous and periodic Net Promoter Score measurement, UX designers can track users’ perceptions of the brand for better management of customer experience.



How it is measured: 



Calculate the NPS by using the answer to the key question on a scale from 0 to 10. After that, users who responded to the question are grouped as follows:




Promoters (score 9-10): users who will continue to buy and recommend others;



Passive (score 7-8): satisfied users who are vulnerable to competitive offers;



Detractors (score 0 to 6): disgruntled users with negative reviews.




Net Promoter Score equals a percentage of detractors minus a percentage of promoters. The percentage response can range from a minimum score of -100 (every customer is a critic) to a maximum score of 100 (every customer is a promoter). 



Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)



The Customer Satisfaction Assessments (CSAT) is a metric that measures customer satisfaction with a company's product or service. Companies can survey customers at any point during their journey to get an idea of how satisfied they are with the brand. A customer score is formed from several options, such as:




Numerical scores ( 1 to 3, 5 or 10);



Verbal indicators from 1 to 5 ( dissatisfied, unsatisfied, neutral, satisfied and very satisfied);



International symbols (i.e. emoticons).




The CSAT is a "here and now" metric that refers to a specific experience, not an ongoing relationship with customers. Even though UX designers can repeatedly solicit feedback from loyal customers, it’s not recommended to overwhelm them with requests for feedback, as this can trigger a negative experience. 



How it is measured: 



Designers collect feedback through a customer satisfaction survey and can calculate the CSAT in two ways. The first way is to calculate the average customer satisfaction score for your brand. The other way is to calculate the percentage of customers who consider themselves satisfied (4-5 points) by using the formula: (the total number of satisfied customers (4 and 5 points) / number of survey responses )x 100 = % satisfied customers (SCAT). 



What UX metrics to choose for a project?



There is no universal set of indicators suitable for every project since every project is unique. Hence, it is necessary to choose performance indicators by following the product development strategy. Because many UX KPIs are interrelated, improving one KPI can make another KPI worse and vice versa. By choosing the right KPI, UX designers can analyze and track their design decisions.



With UX KPIs, designers can collect high user ratings during users’ interaction with a brand, but that doesn't mean that users will recommend this product or that users are happy enough. It is important to supplement each of these UX metrics with other performance metrics for more accurate results. For example, a KPI such as NPS (Net Promoter Score) can be combined with a Task success rate or Time on task. The choice of the right UX KPIs and understanding of their interactions with other metrics can give UX designers an accurate picture of how their UX product is performing and what can be improved.

### A Cloud-Native Application: What is it?

To remain successful in the fast-changing software market, many companies favor cloud-native application development instead of the traditional development approach. Using cloud computing techniques, Kubernetes and Docker, and DevOps practices, companies are able to build and deliver high-quality products more quickly. Cloud-native development allows companies to abstract from many layers of infrastructure by giving them a competitive advantage and helping improve business processes.



We've prepared information about the main features of a cloud-native application, its development requirements, and the benefits that cloud-native solutions bring to companies.







What is a cloud-native application?



A cloud-native application is a software designed for cloud computing architecture. Cloud-native development includes the concepts of DevOps, continuous delivery, microservices, and containers, so applications that are run and hosted in the cloud benefit from it. The main characteristic of cloud-native development is the use of a microservice architecture. 



The microservice architecture breaks down an application into smaller parts (microservices) and efficiently allocates resources between each microservice. This approach makes native apps flexible and adaptable to cloud architecture, allowing companies to create new products faster and respond instantly to customer demands. Cloud development changes the priority from "where applications are hosted" to "how they are developed."



The main features of a cloud-native application



To  adopt the cloud-native approach, you must understand how processes and architecture contribute to the project's objectives. Cloud-native development consists of the following key features:




APIs: the API defines the interaction of microservices. Well-designed APIs simplify maintenance and security and allow microservices to exchange data in a flexible manner;



Containers: are used to deploy and manage software in a cloud. A container packages all the dependencies (files, libraries) along with a software component and runs it in an isolated environment;



Dynamic orchestration: orchestration tools are used to automatically manage containers, provide load balancing, schedule automatic container updates, restart after an internal failure, and initialize and deploy containers to the server cluster node;



Flexible DevOps processes: cloud-native microservices go through an independent lifecycle and are managed through flexible DevOps processes. Multiple continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines work to automatically test, secure, deploy and manage a cloud-native app;



Observability: proper monitoring of the application's operations allows you to detect app deviations in real-time automatically.




Cloud-native architecture: what does it look like? 



Cloud-native architecture is a design methodology that uses cloud services (e.g. AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) to develop and host applications, including a modular approach to create, run and update software using a set of cloud microservices. The cloud-native architecture allows abstracting all IT levels (networks, servers, data centers) to create an application in the form of loosely coupled services that interact through APIs and perform as a single function.



The microservices architecture allows developers to work independently on any service and to use different programming languages for various microservices. With a central repository (the role of a version control system), developers can work on various parts of the code simultaneously and update certain functions without disrupting the whole software. A microservice approach helps a development team focus on the module (microservice) and build a robust, scalable application.



How to build a cloud-native application?



A cloud-native application runs on public, private, or hybrid cloud infrastructures and is often developed using an agile approach based on DevOps practices with twelve-factor application principles. Cloud applications are built as a set of microservices that run in containers such as Docker. Docker, in turn, is orchestrated by Kubernetes and is managed and deployed with the help of DevOps and Git CI workflows. 



Docker is an open-source solution that deploys and manages application containers by virtualizing a computer's operating system (OS). This way, multiple containers can use the same operating system without contention. Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration platform that facilitates declarative configuration and automation. The use of Kubernetes and Docker allows developers to speed up application deployment and release.



The use of the 12-factor methodology is one way to ease the process of creating applications in the cloud for the developer. The Twelve-Factor Application is a methodology for creating web apps in the form of services called web applications or software-as-a-service (SaaS). The methodology involves 12 factors (code base, dependencies, configuration, etc.) that ensure applications' maintainability, portability, and resilience when deployed on the Internet.



What are the benefits of cloud-native apps?



Cloud-native architecture and flexible DevOps practices bring companies many benefits, such as:




Faster SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle): to serve customers faster, companies use DevOps to transform software delivery pipelines through automation, thus accelerating the creation of robust products. Deployment is done online and the latest updates of the software get right into the cloud where the app is deployed and running.



Ease of management: automation for feature deployment and application updates helps developers keep track of all microservices and components as they are updated;



Reduced cost and time: computing and storage resources can be scaled as needed and in the most efficient manner. Cloud-based apps can be set up and running quickly, and containers can be used to increase the number of only highly demanded microservice instances running on a host, thus saving time, resources, and money;



Independent scalability: each microservice is logically isolated and can scale independently from other services. And if some application components need to be performed faster than others, cloud architecture allows you to do so;



Reliability: a failure that occurs in one microservice does not affect the operation of neighboring services because cloud-native apps use containers, which ensure reliability through isolation;



Fast recovery: restarting the application is fast thanks to dynamic orchestration, which manages container allocation. It also minimizes downtime to ensure it doesn't hurt user retention rates.




Difference between cloud-native and traditional apps



When it comes to the web app or mobile app development, organizations should compare traditional and cloud development strategies. Traditional applications run on mainframes as monoliths. These applications are typically built using a waterfall methodology and are heavily tied to hardware and operational software. Further development of such applications usually takes longer and costs much more. Moreover, traditional development and native-cloud development differ in:



Cloud-native appsTraditional appsDesignusing a microservices architecture, applications are designed to accommodate a variety of failurestypically are built on a type of architecture called monolithicProvide softwarethe software is offered as an on-demand online service (SaaS) that can be accessed by subscriptionthe software is purchased individually for each user and requires periodic updates by the userDeploymentis faster because hardware is always available by the cloud provider and software deployment is automatedis slower because of hardware preparation or manual software configurationMaintenancedevelopers can apply changes quickly and easily thanks to architecture flexibility and zero-downtimeinterruptions can occur due to hardware changes or required software configurationsAutomationcloud-native infrastructure has automated scalabilitytraditional systems are mainly manually operated and have scaling limitations



Final thoughts



The choice to develop a cloud-native application is becoming a trend that can provide high-quality products, efficiency, and security for your future business. According to the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) report 2022, 73% of companies are currently developing cloud-native applications based on a microservice architecture. Predictions are that cloud-native apps could be the future of software design.




 

FAQ

### Apple Makes Xcode Available to All Developers: Meet Xcode Cloud

Apple first announced Xcode Cloud during WWDC 2021 and since then, the project was in the beta state and available to a limited number of developers. But on June 8th, Apple officially announced that Xcode Cloud has left the beta stage and is now available to all developers who are interested in using it. It is important to note that the system cannot be used for free and offers four different tiers, depending on the number of needed computing hours - but more on it below. For now, let’s see why the release of Xcode Cloud is such a big deal and what benefits it offers.







What is Xcode and what is Xcode Cloud?



Xcode is an IDE (integrated development environment) by Apple that is used to develop apps for macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS and to publish them to the App Store. Xcode features a wide variety of tools that are needed to create an iOS app and for now, it was available to iOS developers only.



Xcode Cloud, in turn, is a CI/CD system that is fully integrated with Xcode, App Store Connect, and TestFlight. And while most CI/CD systems require connecting workers when it comes to app assembly for iOS/macOS, Xcode does not need it. This is due to the fact that the project assembly fully happens in the cloud.



Now, let’s have a look at the most notable Xcode Cloud features and see why developers seem to love this system.



Data protection



As Apple states, Xcode Cloud was designed with privacy at its core, meaning, all of its aspects are designed with data protection in mind. This can be achieved with the following:




Temporary build environments, completely isolated workloads, and environments created from scratch between builds;



Source code is never stored in the system and is fetched within the temporary build environment;



Encryption of build data and its storage in a dedicated CloudKit database;



Full control over the data (i.e. you can delete it and it will be 100% removed from Xcode Cloud).




Workflow setup and management



A great thing about Xcode Cloud is that it has all the capabilities of modern CI/CD systems. 



It allows connecting the source control system and setting up a selection of environment variables. All branches, tags, files, and folders will be visible in the UI in the form of dropdown hints. As well, Xcode Cloud features a vast collection of built-in environment variables that one might need for a more advanced workflow setup.



You can set up the workflow launch upon the following events/conditions:




Any changes in the code, in a separate branch, or in files



By tags



Upon creating or merging the Pull request 



By schedule




Workflow supports a full list of activities:




Build



Analyze



Test



Archive




These activities are supported in any combination, can be assembled for several platforms, and can be tested across a variety of devices - all within one workflow. The stages of analysis and testing can be both blocking and non-blocking. If possible, all actions should be performed in parallel which significantly speeds up the assembly process.



The workflow results may be notifications for all the team or a group of people or the upload of a new app version to the TestFlight. Xcode Cloud supports both groups for internal testing and beta testers.



For advanced workflow setup, Xcode cloud supports custom scripts:




Post-clone



Pre-xcodebuild 



Post-xcodebuild




Support of external dependencies and internal systems



If the project has external dependencies, Xcode Cloud supports Swift packages out-of-the-box (and from private repositories as well) and other systems can be set up with the help of scripts.



For integration with internal systems, Xcode Cloud supports webhooks.



You can perform all workflows setup directly from Xcode and you can see work results there as well. As well, Xcode has a dashboard where you can see the current work status and trends of CI/CD work for a certain period of time. The dashboard is available from the App Store Connect in the web version.



Certificate management



One of the biggest advantages of Xcode Cloud is that the certificate management upon the code signing happens automatically. In external CI/CD systems, it always causes issues since the process requires sending private keys to the external services. In Xcode Cloud, the process is automatic and completely secure.



Xcode Cloud usage fees



The main disadvantage of Xcode Cloud is the fact that the system requires a fee for its usage. The fee is paid in the form of a monthly subscription and comes in four tiers:




$14.99/month: 25 computing hours/month;



$44.99/month: 100 computing hours/month;



$99.99/month: 250 computing hours/month;



$399.99/month: 1000 computing hours/month.




As Apple defines them, “computer hours are time used to execute a specific task in the cloud”. For example, if you have five tests and each runs for 12 minutes, you’d have one computer hour as a result. 



Final thoughts



We’ve asked our iOS expert Pavel Viblik to share his thoughts on the Xcode Cloud release and what it means for the developers. Here is what he has to say.




 


Expert Opinion



Xcode Cloud is an efficient solution for small teams and small projects that do not have a DevOps specialist. Xcode Cloud allows easy setup of CI/CD workflows and for that, you won’t need complex writing of scripts, the connection of workers, and certificate management. Note that even the base plan of the Xcode Cloud (aka 25 computing hours/month) can allow you to assemble a small or medium-sized project up to 4 times per day which is usually more than enough. And a good thing about that is that all work results will be directly in Xcode within easy reach. This is also convenient for those projects where test assemblies are delivered via TestFlight. And as your project grows, the Xcode Cloud will enable you to set up workflows in a more advanced manner.



Note though that the market offers plenty of free alternatives (i.e. AppCenter) with similar functionality so it will be quite challenging for Xcode Cloud to beat the competition - but we’ll see!





iOS Developer at SoftTeco



Pavel Vilbik

### SoftTeco Has Opened an Office in Georgia

SoftTeco is glad to announce that our company has opened an office in Tbilisi, Georgia. Following the opening of offices in Poland, Ukraine, and Lithuania, a new office in Georgia expands SoftTeco’s presence on the international market and marks a new milestone.



There are currently 7 employees in the Georgian office and their number keeps growing steadily. The company hires both local and international specialists and plans to expand the office significantly in the near future.







In recent years, SoftTeco has greatly expanded its geographical presence and will continue to increase its visibility and recognition among international clients. In the light of this, SoftTeco will soon be opening an office in the UK, which will bring our company closer to our existing UK clients and will solidify our presence in the market.

### Understanding CIS Security Controls: How to Implement Robust Cyber Defense

We’ve talked a lot about cyber security in our past articles - in particular, we discussed the biggest cybersecurity threats (and recommend best practices for preventing them), best practices for secure coding, and ISMS aka Information Security Management System. Now it’s time we talk about CIS controls and why they matter for any organization despite its size and domain.







The definition and the brief history behind CIS controls



The CIS controls were first developed by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) in response to a request from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Several organizations contracted by DoD fell victims to significant data loss incidents so DoD asked for the core security controls that would help organizations protect themselves from cyber-attacks.



So in 2008, a consortium of government agencies, institutions, companies, and individuals came up with a list of basic security controls that became known as CIS security controls. Before being published, the list was shared with hundreds of IT organizations for verification and finalization. Since then, the ownership of controls was first transferred to the Council on Cyber Security (CCS) in 2013 and in 2015, to the Center for Internet Security (CIS).



According to the official definition, CIS controls are “a recommended set of actions for cyber defense that provide specific and actionable ways to thwart the most pervasive attacks”. To add to this, in 2016, Kamala D. Harris (then California Attorney General) said during her speech on the data breach that CIS controls are a minimum level of security that any organization that processes personal data should meet. 



In simple words, CIS controls are a must-have for any organization that cares about the security of its data and these controls cover the most basic security needs.



Can CIS controls replace other standards like NIST or ISO?



No, they can’t - but CIS controls facilitate the implementation of other security standards and frameworks and are cross-compatible. That means an organization must implement CIS controls to ensure basic security as a starting point. And then you can proceed to implement NIST Cybersecurity Framework, ISO 27000 series, and similar standards as well as comply with regulations like HIPAA.



Categorization of CIS controls



The list of CIS controls is updated every year and in May 2021, the latest version aka CIS controls v8 was released. While version 7 contained 20 controls, version 8 now has 18 controls since some of them were merged into one and some were deprecated. According to experts, version 8 now reflects a more modern approach to cybersecurity and is more comprehensive.



Now, it is important to note the following. In version 7, all 20 controls fell under three categories:




Basic (1-16): key controls that every organization (despite its size and domain) should implement;



Foundational (7-16): security best practices that are highly recommended for implementation;



Organizational (17-20): these controls focus on people and processes involved in cybersecurity (i.e. incident management or penetration testing).




Since all organizations differ in size and resources, it’s clear that some will have more difficulties with implementing the needed controls than others. Thus, CIS defined three implementation groups that categorize organizations and help them understand what controls should be implemented and how. These groups are:




Implementation group 1: small and mid-sized businesses (family businesses, startups) that have limited resources and expertise in terms of cybersecurity.



Implementation group 2: mid-sized and big organizations with moderate resources and expertise in terms of cybersecurity. Includes organizations that are outside the IT sector and established businesses.



Implementation group 3: mature big companies with extensive resources and expertise in terms of cybersecurity.




Changes in the categorization of CIS controls v8



As you can see, CIS is very flexible when adapting its practices for the needs of every organization. For example, if we look at control 1 (Inventory and Control of Hardware Assets), it includes several recommended actions and all of them are divided by the corresponding implementation groups.



In version 8, however, controls are no longer categorized as basic, foundational, and organizational. Instead, they now fall under the IG1 (Implementation Group 1) and IG2 categories. IG1 contains almost all controls (except for 13, 16, and 18) and they are considered the basic cybersecurity hygiene controls for any organization.



The list of CIS controls in version 8



For you to clearly understand what areas CIS controls cover and what they focus on, we list down all controls of the latest version 8.




Inventory and Control of Enterprise Assets



Inventory and Control of Software Assets



Data protection



Secure Configuration of Enterprise Assets and Software



Account Management



Access Control Management



Continuous Vulnerability Management



Audit Log Management



Email and Web Browser Protections



Malware Defenses



Data recovery



Network Infrastructure Management



Network Monitoring and Defense



Security Awareness and Skills Training



Service Provider Management



Application Software Security



Incident Response Management



Penetration Testing








How to implement CIS controls



Even though the implementation of CIS security controls will be different for every organization, CIS defined several main steps that can help you get started and are applicable to any company. For more details, please see the official documentation by CIS on all controls and the best ways to implement them for each Implementation Group.



Know and understand your environment



The first two CIS controls are “Inventory and Control of Enterprise Assets” (1) and “Inventory and Control of Software Assets” (2). These controls perfectly reflect the “know your environment” concept.



As CIS put it, in order to set up efficient protection, you need to have a clear understanding of what exactly you are going to protect. Therefore, before implementing any security practices, you’ll have to do a bit of “inventory” aka:




Know what’s connected to your environment: identify and take an inventory of the data that your organization processes and stores.



Know which devices are connected to your network in order to validate them and ensure there are no possible weak areas. For device identification, you can use a network scanner and you can also use a device tracker to always keep an eye on the connected devices.



Know your software: you’ll need to assemble a full inventory of all apps that run on your system. You will also need to identify all external services that your employees might use.



Configure the levels of access and admin rights.




As you can see, the first step towards better security is identifying and validating all used hardware and software. While it may sound mundane, it is an absolute must if you want to solidify your current state of cybersecurity.



Protect your assets



The next step is quite comprehensive and involves many steps, directed at protecting both your network and educating employees on cybersecurity. Almost all controls fall under this stage and all of them are aimed at helping you create a more secure environment.



Here are several recommended practices to follow:




Timely apply necessary configuration changes;



Always update your software and regularly implement security patches;



Enable multi-factor authentication and ensure all users use strong passwords;



Use encryption for both software and hardware;



Educate your employees on cybersecurity and ensure they understand it;



Limit user access and constantly control it.




Of course, this is a rather general list of actions to take - if you check the list of CIS controls, you will get more specific guidelines on recommended actions.



Prepare your organization



Once you’ve set up a robust security foundation, you can come up with a list of actions to take in case an incident occurs. That means you need to think about a response and recovery strategy so you can get back on track as soon as possible.



The first thing to take into account is managing your backups. You need to make sure that the backups are completed and tested and that all critical files are backed up. It is recommended to perform weekly backups if possible. As well, try placing at least one backup destination outside of the network - in case of a ransomware attack, you will still maintain access to it since it won’t be accessible through the network.



Second, you need to have a detailed plan that will outline how to act in case an incident happens. This includes defining roles and responsibilities (i.e. who will serve as a lead and who should be contacted first), preparing a list of external contacts (i.e. insurance agents, legal counsels), and getting ready to contact an IT consultant in case your own knowledge and skills are not enough.



Summing up



The implementation of CIS controls will solely depend on your organization and available resources so you need to familiarize yourself with the list of controls and figure out the best ways to implement them. As you can see, all CIS controls cover the basic cybersecurity aspects and do not require excessive resources or expertise. But their implementation can significantly reduce the risk of attacks and establish the first level of defense that most organizations tend to overlook.

### Artificial Intelligence in Sports: How Does AI Impact Modern Games?

When talking about the use of Artificial Intelligence in sports, the first thing that comes to mind is the “Moneyball” movie and the use of sabermetrics by the general manager of the Oakland Athletics team Billie Beane. What does this movie has to do with AI, you may ask? The thing is, sabermetrics helps evaluate players’ performance by using objective statistical measurements - and this sounds close enough to how AI helps evaluate one’s posture or behavior through object recognition. 



“Moneyball” is based on real-life events that took place in 2002. SInce then, the technology evolved enormously so now the approach of Billie Beane is highly welcomed while back then it faced massive criticism and even hostility. How does AI influence modern sports and more importantly, will it replace some of its crucial elements that make games so enjoyable? Let’s find out.







How AI is used in sports: key use cases



In 2019, the PwC company published a comprehensive research on the use of Artificial Intelligence in sports. While this research featured many aspects worth your attention, we’d like to focus on the two main areas of AI application across the sports industry as defined by the PwC. They are:




Management and operations



Media and fan experience




Management and operations includes all processes related to sport events but not directly to the game. These processes are venue management, ticketing, club and team management, sponsorship, and payments.



Media and fan experience includes content generation, betting, fan relationship management, and eSports.



You may ask: but what about the actual games? For that, PwC defines a game lifecycle and breaks it down into four segments.




Talent selection and scouting: screening and selection of the most suitable players based on their performance and its AI-powered analysis.



Pre-game preparation: includes training and coaching, tactical and strategic game planning, injury prevention, team assembly.



In-game activities: umpiring, coaching, game analysis.



Post-game activities: game analysis, injury management, recovery, game analysis.




As you can see, Artificial Intelligence can successfully be used throughout the whole lifecyle of a sport event and caters to needs of all parties involved, including not only the team and the coach but also fans and venue owners. And while there are dozens of its use cases, below we’d like to focus on the biggest ones that already shape the world of the sports industry.



AI referees and coaches



Modern sports already sees the wide use of technology for accurate decision-making when it comes to umpiring. There is VAR (video assistant referee), hawk-eye, and slow-motion replay and all of them are aimed at judging games more accurately through computer vision analysis. VAR, for example, involves three people working together to review decisions made by the main umpire. As for hawk-eye, this technology allows tracking the trajectory of a ball so a referee can make a correct decision about the sportsman’s actions. 







Now seems like AI may come into play as well in a form of wearables (i.e. glasses) or overhead cameras in order to help referees make instant, real-time decisions during the game, without the need to pause it. In this way, Artificial Intelligence can not only provide a detailed analysis of a needed action (i.e. a goal) but may even recommend referees on the decisions to be made. And while full-fledged AI assistant are not there yet, we might see them in the near future, considering how willingly the sports industry embraces technology.



Smart training



We don’t need to say how much training impacts the success of a player’s performance and we don’t need to say how an individual training plan is better than a common one. Here is where Artificial Intelligence comes into play and offers vast capabilities for personalized and smart training.



Due to the computer vision and machine learning technologies, a specialized application can analyze the player’s physical condition, their overall well-being, a recommended diet plan, and areas for improvement. Here are the training areas that AI can cater to:




Nutrition: creation of personalized meal plans based on the goals and one’s current condition. Computer vision, for example, can analyze the products via the camera and immediately provide the user with their nutritional value as well as with recommendations. 



Physical and biomechanics: computer vision analyzes one’s posture and movements and can provide recommendations on improvement. This is highly valuable for improving one’s technique when it comes to practice.



Mental: AI-powered apps can greatly contribute to stress management and help keep one’s stress levels low. And this is one area that is often overlooked in sports.



Injury prevention and management: by analyzing one’s current state and their movements/posture, an AI-powered app can provide personalized recommendations on how to minimize or mitigate possible injuries.




AI-powered journalism



Fans crave content related to their favorite teams but unfortunately, human journalists are physically inable to cover all local games and all events happening. Considering the fact that sport events happen on a daily basis, a huge part of games remains uncovered and simply ignored in favor for bigger events.



This can be fixed with Artificial Intelligence. AI-powered platforms like Wordsmith can translate hard data (i.e. statistics or scores) into narratives and overall AI is capable of generating natural-like text that can be presented to readers. Should we also mention that such texts can be crafted within minutes while people spend hours on them?



Of course, AI-written text will lack the individual touch of the writer and may not be as engaging. On the other hand, such texts are highly similar or almost unrecognizable from the ones people write and the use of AI in journalism will allow to cover even the smallest games and local plays. And that’s something many fans will actually be delighted to see.



Scouting and talent search



If we get back to the “Moneyball” movie, Billie Beane was signing undervalued players and his scouting decisions were based solely on the sabermetrics. And as it turned out, his approach brought Oakland Athletics (and later Red Sox) many victories.







Today, scouting can be significantly facilitated by using AI for analyzing the player’s potential and predicting how they’ll perform in a game. The computer vision technology can track the player’s movements, identify their strongest and weakest areas, and forecast how they’ll perform in the future. In this way, scouts can easier find undervalued talents, better understand what roles to assign to what players, and overall, assemble robust skilled teams.



Easier ticketing with biometric recognition



Entry delays are one of the biggest challenges that venue owners face - if you need an example, search for Southampton FC refunding fans in 2021. Because there is always a great number of people at the entry, it can be difficult to quickly check their tickets and perform security scans. 



Biometric recognition (i.e. face recognition) can significantly speed up the ticketing process by immediately scanning the visitor’s face and matching it to the photo from the database. In this way, venue owners can minimize or prevent bottlenecks which is also great in maintaining healthcare standrads in regards to the pandemic. In addition, computer vision at the stadiums can be used to analyze the crows density and notify employees in case a particular area needs attention.



Better fan experience



Fans are as important to sports industry as players so great fan experience is vital. And this is one more area that can be greatly improved with using AI in sports.



First, there are smart chatbots that immediately provide users with information across a wide range of topics, from info about players to stadium logistics. Some chatbots are even equipped with the Augmented Reality technology so users can easily identify hotspots and key players in real time.



Second, there are smart video highlights that are aimed at identifying the most exciting and interesting games and showing them to fans, thus increasing their engagement. The thing is, manual analysis of games and hand-picking of the most exciting ones takes too much time and sometimes it’s hard to select games that draw the most attention. With the help of AI, it is now possible to analyze games by the crowd noise or players’ emotions in order to select the best highlights and generate the most relevant content for users. In addition, such AI-powered analysis significantly expands game coverage since it may include in highlights less known games that are still enjoyable to watch.



A case from SoftTeco: a Golf Club application



SoftTeco worked on an AI project aimed at analyzing the golf players’ postures and strokes to later design individually fitting golf clubs. The client is a golf club manufacturer and before approaching our company, he already used computer analysis for analyzing how players moved and how they held their clubs. However, the work was semi-manual and the client needed to fully automate the process of posture estimation and stroke analysis so he reached out to SoftTeco for help.



SoftTeco designed an application that uses two AI models: one for detecting the player’s position and the position of the club and the second model for segmenting the club image from its surroundings. The application delivers collects various metrics and based on them, delivers accurate results that the client later uses for designing individual golf clubs. Such individual clubs, in turn, contribute to better performance of players since they allow more powerful strokes due to the clubs fitting players by physical parameters.







Are we starting to lose human element in sports?



While AI seems to make umpiring more accurate and provides smart training plans for players, do we really need AI to invade all areas of the sports industry?



For many long-time fans, passing a turnstile is an essential part of the whole fan experience that starts the moment a fan enters a venue. As well, almost all fans anticipate those precious moments when a referee has to make a critical decision or when a minor human factor turns out to be the deciding factor for the game outcome. 







So is AI making sports too sterile and predictive and is it taking away the joy of not knowing what will happen next in terms of the game outcome and final scores? Probably yes and such concerns should be taken into consideration. Maybe the best-case scenario is to use AI in sports for assisting but not replacing certain processes and leaving the human element intact as it is. Because after all, its those small imperfections that make millions of people around the world hold their breath when watching their favorite game.

### Software Design Patterns 101: What Is It and Why Must You Learn Them?

If you run into a problem during coding or don't know how to code in a more efficient manner, there is a good chance that the solution already exists in the form of a design pattern. Knowledge of how and when to use software design patterns correctly can significantly help developers reduce code complexity and design burden. So, this article is just for you if software design patterns are still not part of your arsenal of development tools or you simply want to refresh your design pattern knowledge.







Software design patterns: the definition and composition



A design pattern describes a reusable solution to a frequently encountered coding problem in a particular context. Note that you can’t just find a suitable design pattern and copypaste it into your code, as you’d do with off-the-shelf functions or libraries. Instead, you need to follow the details of a pattern, understand the way it works, and, based on that pattern, come up with a solution. In other words, you need to figure out how and where to properly apply this approach.



The book “Design Patterns”, written by the “Gang of Four” (Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, and Jonah Vlissides), describes patterns as "problem-solving in context." Three components - the problem, the solution, and the context - are the essence of the pattern. Various authors of patterns have used many different formats to document them, and all of these formats differ in the level of detail and pattern analysis. However, there are several main sections that are usually included in a pattern description:




Pattern name and classification: a descriptive and unique name that helps identify and reference the pattern;



Intent: briefly describes the problem and solution that the pattern offers;



Motivation: a scenario illustrating the problem;



Structure: a diagram using an object modeling technique (OMT);



Implementation: implementation details to consider, language-specific issues;



Example code: executed in one of the popular programming languages, code example makes it easy to understand the idea behind the pattern.




Due to the fact that patterns describe frequently encountered issues they can sometimes be confused with algorithms. The difference between the two is that an algorithm is a clear set of actions to solve a specific problem that is broken down into steps. Whereas software design patterns are more of “blueprints” of solutions to common problems that arise when creating a software solution. 



Software design patterns are how you structure algorithms, that is, which algorithms exist in which class. Let's take an analogy with building construction. Algorithms are how the steel frames are welded together and what materials are used, and software design patterns are the architects' plans for how the structure as a whole will function. 



Classification of patterns



There are 23 basic software design patterns that have become the point of departure for many object-oriented design problems. All of them vary in complexity, level of detail, and scope of applicability to the entire system. The different types of patterns are divided into three main categories, according to their purpose and goal.



Structural patterns



Structural patterns describe how to collect objects and classes into structures while retaining the flexibility and efficiency of those structures. Structural patterns allow you to define relationships between application components and are especially useful in large development systems. Common structural patterns include Adapter, Proxy, Decorator, and Facade.



Creational patterns



Creational patterns describe different methods of creating objects that are appropriate for a particular situation. These patterns help reduce the complexity and instability of code while providing increased flexibility and reusability. There are four types of creative design patterns: Singleton, Factory Method, Prototype, and Builder. 



Behavioral patterns



Behavioral patterns define how objects should communicate and interact with each other. They help make complex behavior more manageable by defining the responsibilities of objects and ways of their interaction. Key examples of behavioral patterns are Chain of Responsibility, Iterator, Mediator, Observer, and Strategy.



Should you use software design patterns or not really?



Software design patterns are a double-edged sword: if they are used by developers in the right context, they become indispensable and effective solutions to many coding issues. However, the improper use of software design patterns can only make things worse and make your code more cumbersome.



More often than not, developers use patterns when a particular part of the system needs something that matches the design pattern available. It is not obligatory to try to fit a system to a design pattern - it is better to fit software design patterns to your system (where they are needed). In addition, it is useful to occasionally revisit the decisions previously made about software design patterns, because of deficiencies in the software, or as new experiences are gained. For a complete picture of understanding patterns, let's look at them from different angles.



The benefits of using software design patterns



Modern software development is largely based on the correct use of appropriate tools and frameworks. Many of the patterns are hidden in frameworks, and developers use patterns even without realizing it. So why should developers spend time learning about patterns? Let’s look at some benefits:




Simplified development: due to design patterns being based on the knowledge and experience of experienced developers, patterns are proven and effective solutions. 



Reusable software architecture: across projects, software design patterns provide transparency and cleanliness to the app’s design, which, in turn, provides the ability to reuse software design patterns on different projects.



Rapid and easy documentation: design templates are documented in a format that does not need to be tied to a specific problem.



Interface inheritance (particularly for C#, Java, and .NET developers): the strength of inheritance is that you can use the code of a base class in a derived class without having to rewrite it. 



Versatility: software design patterns are not limited to any single programming language, making them highly useful.




The drawbacks and criticism of using software design patterns



If you think critically about patterns before software development, you can, to some extent, save time and reduce wasted effort and make a better application. It's hard to imagine that using software design patterns in software development may have any drawbacks. Nevertheless, here are the most typical arguments against using patterns:




Irrelevant use: many developers implement design patterns everywhere without adapting them to the context of their project, which does not produce the expected results.



Excessive use: once they learn about software design patterns, developers, especially beginners, try to use them everywhere, even in situations where simpler code can be handled. In this case, the complexity of writing code only increases.



Lack of new solutions: design patterns can also lead developers to believe that all problems can be solved with existing design patterns. This can limit creativity and the desire to find new or better solutions.




Even though software design patterns are an essential part of any developer's toolkit, it is important to remember that software design patterns are no substitute for real-world problem-solving capabilities in software development. 

### Iot Device Management: Understanding the IoT Lifecycle and Its Stages

Companies often expect their enterprise IoT systems to last for years. However, there is often a chance that devices will not perform as you plan if they are not managed properly. Thus companies need to think ahead about the effective IoT device management strategy as a way to prolong the lifetime of their devices. We have put together this article to help you better understand what exactly the IoT device management is about, what the IoT lifecycle is,and  what stages it includes.







Defining the IoT lifecycle and IoT device management



IoT devices form a connected system that provides critical applications with real-time data. Hence, you’d want these devices to perform as intended and be securely safeguarded from external and internal threats. As well, it is important that an operator can access a device remotely at any needed time in case a need arises. This is what IoT device management is about - it’s about managing and maintaining the functionality of an IoT system.As for the IoT device lifecycle, it is a set of stages that IoT devices go through from their conception and design to the end of life. And since IoT device management is applicable to every stage of the IoT device lifecycle, we will look at the best practices and expected measures through the lens of this lifecycle.We can define three main stages of an IoT device lifecycle. They are:




Beginning of Life (BoL): devices are pre-configured and set up. At this stage devices still have their default schemas (i.e. default passwords).



Middle of Life (MoL): the product configuration, design, and production quality are modified with updates. During this stage, the focus lies mainly on improving the reliability, availability, and maintainability of devices.



End of Life (EoL): devices are easily and safely removed if they are broken or replaced if it is no longer worth the resources to maintain them.




Note that the lifecycle of each IoT device can vary from project to project, as the device lifecycle is highly dependent on the specific use case. Nevertheless, we can identify four basic elements of each IoT device lifecycle:




Provisioning: the process of preparing and equipping a device network.



Configuration: the process of customizing the IoT device functionality. 



Maintenance: the process of maintaining the visibility of the device deployment in order to timely react to any issues and fix them.



Decommissioning: the process of putting devices out of service or shutting them down.




The transition processes from one stage to the next are just as important as each stage individually. The reason for that is that a clear structure creates a comprehensive IoT device management and improves the overall project coordination. And now let's take a closer look at all three phases of the IoT device lifecycle.



Beginning of Life: an overview and best practices 



The beginning of life (BoL) is the first stage of the IoT device lifecycle that involves product, process, and installation design. Whether you design your own IoT devices or buy off-the-shelf ones, you need to properly incorporate them into production and support the BoL phase with the following steps: 




Connection and authentication;



Configuration and remote management;



Coordination of the device production.




At the beginning of the BoL phase, devices remain physically intact, meaning, they still have their default configurations. Hence, this stage also involves the set-up and customization of devices in order to fully prepare them for deployment. And now, let’s take a look at the BoL best practices in detail.



Secure connection and device authentication 



In order to connect to the network, devices must be authenticated first. Authentication allows companies to safeguard their networks by allowing only authenticated users or processes to access protected resources. When talking about IoT device authentication, it is the process of registering valid device credentials. Typically, each IoT device is assigned an identifier that allows to track this device throughout its lifecycle, ensuring secure interaction and preventing malicious processes. In addition, IoT devices are also assigned a certificate with unique data (i.e. a serial number or a model number). 



Proper device configuration



The authentication of new devices is followed by the process of their configuration in order for devices to correspond to your specific needs. As devices and networks almost always need further configuration beyond the initial provisioning phase, it is important to be able to configure devices efficiently, securely, and remotely. Examples of configuration include adding complexity to a device, optimizing its functions with additional code, or changing the settings to meet new requirements.



Also keep in mind that you’ll need to outline an efficient configuration management strategy since your system will most probably expand and grow in complexity. As more IoT devices become available and networks receive more and more data, configuration management becomes essential in order to timely apply needed configurations and facilitate the operation of devices. Also note that configuration changes can occur many times during a device's lifetime so it’s not an “applied once - forever stays this way” process.



Iot device management  setup



Once installed and configured, all devices must be properly controlled. The control of different devices will depend on their specific type (i.e. small microcontrollers, powerful microcontrollers, gateways, mobile devices as a gateway, or 5G edge nodes). As well, modern IoT devices vary in capabilities and connectivity, so the selected IoT solution must support different types of target platforms. 



The device management phase involves establishing links to collect device data, introducing basic configuration procedures, and providing device- or group-specific properties according to the individual needs of a specific project. From this point on, the devices should be under your full remote control.



Agent configuration 



IoT devices come with a wide range of protocols, settings, and network connectivity options. To shield applications from so many access options, security agents are used. These agents collect data from IoT devices and perform actions to secure these devices and immediately detect vulnerabilities. The configuration of a security agent can be controlled by a configurable set of module twin properties. For example, by configuring certain properties, it is possible to automatically exclude certain events or maintain a minimum level of power consumption.



Middle of Life: an overview and best practices 



Middle of life (MoL) is a stage at which devices are distributed, used, and maintained (repaired and serviced) by either a company itself or a service provider. Device history related to distribution paths, conditions of use, failures, and maintenance can be collected to create a comprehensive product status report. 



The MoL stage usually includes:




Technical maintenance of devices;



Upgrade and maintenance of software;



Monitoring and diagnostics of devices.




Middle of life is where IoT devices spend most of their time. Once an IoT device is deployed, it must perform as intended and the corresponding processes and procedures must be in place for this. 



Upgrading, patching, and troubleshooting 



Updates are an important part of the IoT device management process. By timely and regularly updating your IoT devices, you can avoid or mitigate cyber threats and troubleshoot the majority of issues related to cyber security. Scheduled or ad hoc updates are one of the most common types of updates to apply during the MoL stage. Both these updates can significantly improve the continued functioning of the devices. 



It is also important to consider maintenance, which is one of the top priorities during the MoL phase. Without proper maintenance, devices fail early or cause network failures, which in turn results in extra costs. Hence, constant monitoring of your system, regular checks, and timely fixes can significantly prolong the lifecycle of the devices.



System monitoring



Once devices are authenticated, configured, installed, and connected to the network, it is necessary to monitor them. One of the most efficient ways to do so is via a specialized software. 



With IoT monitoring, companies can analyze dynamic systems and handle billions of events and alerts seamlessly. Such monitoring systems also help address performance gaps by optimizing multiple applications, APIs, networks, and protocols to maximize the future capabilities of IoT devices.



End of Life: an overview and best practices 



End of Life (EoL) is a stage at which products are decommissioned - meaning they are returned to the company for recycling (disassembly, re-production) or disposal. While it sounds easy at first, you cannot just take an IoT device and unplug it - things are a bit more complicated:




Track the end-of-life status for any critical product component that cannot be easily replaced or substituted;



Research and develop different decommissioning options to find the most suitable one;



Collect feedback and make improvements to the lifecycle management process. 




When an IoT project comes to an end, you have to consider what will happen to the devices after the project ends or when a device reaches the end of its lifecycle. The reasons for retiring a device can be varied: complete replacement because the device does not meet expectations or simply the end of its life. However, the main reasons for retirement are partial or complete damage due to irreparable failures or age.



If the device is completely retired, it should be taken out of service by removing the authentication checks. The procedure should be quick and should not interfere with the operation of the network. If the device needs to be replaced, the system environment should facilitate and support the deployment of the new device. Also remember that the decommissioning processes must be secure in order to protect the network from data leakage and malicious attacks.



Summary



While the device lifecycle concept seems like a learned area, some businesses are still struggling with device uptime issues. Therefore, it is critical to master the key IoT device integration management skills in order to minimize possible risks as much as possible. And most importantly, proper IoT device management will help you adapt to any future changes with maximal business benefit.

### What Can We Already Expect From .NET 7?

Even though there is no official release date for .NET 7 yet, the development team has already announced .NET Preview 4 (with Preview 3 being released in April 2022). And by looking at the newly introduced features in all Preview versions, we can already get a good understanding of what .NET 7 will have under its hood. Without further ado, let’s quickly go through the history of .NET 7 Preview versions and focus on the most anticipated functionality.







From Preview 1 to Preview 4



The first beta version of .NET 7 aka Preview 1 was announced in February 2022, right in the middle of celebrating the 20 years of the .NET history and in this way, marking its further development. Being based on the .NET 6, .NET 7 Preview 1 did not bring anything revolutionary to life but it promised a simpler and more enjoyable development experience. The main areas of focus in Preview 1 included easier work with containers, specialized tools for an easier upgrade of legacy projects, support for nullability, support for hot reload scenarios, and several new APIs.



A month later (March 2022, to be more specific), the .NET team released Preview 2. In addition to the already introduced features, the new beta version included enhancements to RegEx source generators and a vast number of improvements to the “dotnet new” CLI experience. As well, the .NET team started experimenting with NativeAOT - more on it below.



In April 2022 (yes, the releases have been pretty consistent), .NET Preview 3 was announced and it had several anticipated improvements. The major one was probably a confident shift of the Native AOT from its experimental status to the mainline development. As well, Preview 3 offered developers major enhancements to observability, startup time improvements, and enablement of GC regions by default. And now in May 2022, we have a new Preview 4 version rolled out - and once again, it has several new features to test and play around with. 



As you can see, the .NET team has been consistent about releasing new Preview versions and seems like the new .NET 7 will be packed with valuable and demanded features. Let’s look at the most interesting ones that both Preview 3 and Preview 4 have to offer.



Native AOT



Native ahead-of-time compilation was first mentioned in Preview 2 but at that time, it had just been moved to the mainline development out of the experimental status. With the release of Preview 3, developers now have an option to test Native AOT for .NET and enjoy what it has to offer.



Ahead-of-time compilation implies code generation at the app’s build time rather than at run-time. This approach usually provides faster startup time, lighter apps, faster rendering, and more efficient memory usage. Even though AOT is not new for .NET, native AOT is something freshly introduced. The main idea behind native AOT is that it produces native artifacts only. In this way, the underlying OS is fully responsible for handling the executable file format parsing. And while the use of native AOT is not obligatory, this approach is recommended for projects where startup time matters the most. 



The .NET team states that console apps and native libraries are the main targets for native AOT use. The main condition for apps to be compatible with the native AOT approach is that they should be trimmable. For that, Microsoft provides detailed documentation on how to prepare apps and libraries for trimming and therefore, make them suitable for native AOT.



Observability



.NET supports observability via OpenTelemetry so several enhancements were made to continue and improve this support. But first, a quick note on OpenTelemetry. It is a set of SDKs, APIs, tools, and integrations that help you create and manage telemetric data such as logs or metrics (in other words, observe them). .NET 7 is intended to bring more efficiency and transparency to the existing observability with the following improvements:




New Activity.Current change event for receiving notifications on span context changes;



Exposed methods for enumerating Activity properties;



Trace state is now mutable for samplers.




Startup time improvements



One of the main areas of focus of the new .NET 7 version is performance so it’s no surprise that the development team is working hard on that. In Preview 3, the .NET team announced that they managed to significantly improve the startup time by reimplementing the precode and call counting stubs. This was done with Write-Xor-Execute enabled which is also a newly introduced thing. 



It’s interesting that this approach also resulted in state performance improvements in a few ASPNet Benchmarks and microbenchmarks and their performance saw improvement even with the disabled Write-Xor-Execute. However, it’s important to mention that this change resulted in several regressions that are currently being worked on. These regressions happened on Intel processors only and impacted only Orchard and Fortunes benchmarks.



On Stack Replacement for better performance



Another great contribution to the startup time and overall performance is the implementation of On Stack Replacement (OSR) which was introduced in Preview 4. With enabled OSR, the code that’s executed by currently running methods can be changed mid-execution by the runtime. In this way, the runtime can quickly jit all methods at first and then shift to more optimized ones if needed (i.e. when the methods are called frequently). As a result, developers can enjoy a great performance boost from using OSR.



Microseconds and nanoseconds in date and time structures



A really interesting innovation added to the .NET Preview 4 is the introduction of milliseconds and microseconds to the date and time implementations. Before, developers had to perform computations on the “tick” value (100ns) to determine the values of microseconds and nanoseconds. Now, a new API surface area addresses the issue and makes date and time structures more manageable. 



Bonus: the updates in C# 11 Preview



Alongside the .NET Preview development, the Microsoft team also introduced several exciting updates to the C# 11 Preview. All of them are aimed at improving the productivity of developers and making the coding process more enjoyable and fun. Here is what C# 11 Preview can already offer for testing:




Raw string literals: allow to avoid escaping content inside strings, thus contributing to increased productivity and readability.



Pattern matching with spans: boosts productivity and allows to pattern match a Span<char> or a ReadonlySpan<char> with a string literal.



UTF-8 String Literals: developers can now convert string literals that contain UTF-8 characters only to their byte representation.



Auto-default structs: allow to initialize struct values in an easier manner.



Checked user-defined operators: user-defined operators now respect the current arithmetic overflow check status.



A cached delegate for method group conversion: the feature allows caching static method groups instead of creating fresh delegate instances which improves the runtime performance.




Summing up



As you can see, the .NET team is really dedicated to bringing a superior development experience with the new .NET 7 version. By now, all newly introduced features look really exciting and seems like the development team takes all feedback into consideration and delivers corresponding changes. And while waiting for the Preview 5, you can test the Preview 4 version and see yourself how the newly implemented changes look and feel.

### Mobile App Onboarding: How Not to Mess Up and Retain Users

You’ve most likely encountered a mobile onboarding process at least once in your life. Whenever you install a new wellness app or a food delivery app, you’ll see the same pattern: a welcome screen, a sign-up form, and a brief walkthrough of the app’s core functions.



While onboarding seems like an essential part of a great user experience, in many apps it’s still far from perfect. Ths ignorance of the onboarding process results in the following numbers: 8 users out of 10 claimed they deleted an app because they did not understand how to use it. And we don’t need to remind you how much user retention matters. So if you have any doubts about whether your app offers a good onboarding process, this article will explain the do’s and don’ts of mobile onboarding and several hidden rocks to think about.







What is mobile app onboarding?



Mobile app onboarding is the process of introducing new users to an application and helping them learn about the app’s main features and the value that it offers through intuitive and clear UI. Onboarding is the first point of interaction between a user and the app and it’s one of the core parts of the user experience.



The ultimate goal of app onboarding is to help users find value in your app and get them to the famous “A-ha!” moment: a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. In terms of onboarding, the A-ha moment happens when a user understands how exactly to use your app and understands its value.







The difference between web and mobile onboarding



When talking about mobile onboarding, it’s worth mentioning how it differs from web onboarding so as to avoid any confusion.



In web onboarding, users most likely do not yet know about the product so it’s all about discovery. Hence, the main goal of web onboarding is to attract users and market the product by highlighting its value.



When it comes to mobile onboarding, things are different. When a person downloads a mobile application, they most probably already know what the app is about. Hence, the main idea here is to justify their decision of installing the app and helping them find the needed value. 



In short, website onboarding is about attracting users while mobile onboarding is more about retaining them.



The essential components of mobile app onboarding 



There are three main types of mobile onboarding:




Benefits-oriented: focuses on demonstrating the app’s values and main features. Instead of explaining how exactly users can use the app, it rather shows what an app can do.



Function-oriented: focuses on the app’s functionality and explains how users can use the app. 



Progressive onboarding: displays new information as the user progresses through the onboarding process. Can focus both on the value and the functionality.




Despite the type, all mobile onboarding processes share the same core components. They are:




Feature promotion: displays what features an app has, what the app can do, and how users can use these features. 



Customization: explains how users can personalize the app to their preferences and needs.



Instructions: teaches users how to use the app to gain maximal value from it.




Now, you’ll be choosing the needed type of the onboarding process depending on your app type and what you offer to users. But again - despite the type of your app and your target user group, there are certain things about the mobile onboarding process that are universally applicable. Let’s move on to them.



Creating a stellar app onboarding experience: the core steps of the process



Before discussing the main steps of the onboarding process, a friendly reminder: this is not an obligatory list to follow. When thinking about onboarding, always tailor it to your product and your users. It may happen that you simply don’t need certain steps or that you need to tweak them a bit. Hence, consider the points listed below but do not adopt them aimlessly.



Know your user



The most obvious piece of advice here is to identify your target audience in order to tailor the app onboarding experience to their precise needs. However, that’s not everything that you need to know about your users.



When analyzing the target audience, many app designers think about such common things as demographics, online behavior, and interests. Sure, that’s important as hell - but have you thought about how experienced your users are with technology?



We can define three main user groups based on their tech experience:




The beginner: people who do not use much of the technology and might have issues with software products. To cater to this user group, you need to facilitate the interaction with the app and explain in detail what they can do and how. 



The advanced user: this group is quite familiar with technology and mobile apps so you can play around with your onboarding, add a bit of creativity, and slightly shift the focus towards the app’s biggest benefits.



The tech-savvy one: these users have a solid understanding of the main UI elements and how an app functions so for them, the main focus of the onboarding should be on the app’s value.




By identifying which group your users belong to, you’ll be able to make onboarding more valuable for them.



Avoid overstepping



In terms of app onboarding, overstepping means pushing the users’ boundaries with too many permission requests. Sure, you want to collect personal information and ask whether it’s okay for the app to send push notifications. However, all these things need to be balanced in a very thought-out manner. 







If you bombard the user from the start, you’ll most likely discourage them from further interaction with the app. Lesson learned: let users actually explore the app before asking for information or permissions. And once the user becomes familiar with the app, you can proceed with your requests.



Add value to the sign-up screen



A sign-up screen is usually the first thing users see when they install and open an app. And since our main goal is to retain users, it makes sense to display the value of the app from the start aka incorporate it in the sign-up screen.



The most common way to add value to the sign-up screen is by simply writing it out and making the message visible. Most app designers prefer putting text boxes right above the sign-up form so a user immediately sees the copy and reads it before proceeding to the sign-up.



Allow skipping onboarding



Even though we are talking about fine-tuning your app onboarding process, one of the important things that app designers tend to overlook is the option of actually skipping the onboarding. Let us explain.



There may be several reasons why your users would prefer to skip the onboarding:




They are tech-savvy and don’t need guidance;



They simply want to jump right in and don’t want to spend time on app onboarding;



Your app is highly intuitive and clear.




Whatever the reason is, always provide an option of skipping the onboarding instead of forcing users to go through the whole process. Otherwise, you’ll just kill their joy with the “let me grip your hand and drag you through the app against your will” approach.



Incorporate a progress bar



Progress bars are wonderful as they visualize the number of steps for a user to take and the amount of time a user needs to spend on a certain process. You’ve most probably seen them in e-commerce stores upon the checkout - but have you thought about incorporating one into your app onboarding process? 







A progress bar does not necessarily have to be in the form of a bar. In fact, it can be any element to visualize the user’s progress: the number of steps to take, a checklist, or a percentage progress bar. Just remember that you want to show users how much they’ve accomplished and how much is left for them to do so choose a progress bar that corresponds to your app’s design and tone. 



A pro tip: in addition to the progress bar, you can also add visual elements to celebrate completed milestones. An example would be on-screen confetti after a user uploads a profile picture. As well, it’s also a good idea to write how much time each step of the onboarding takes so users can manage their time efficiently.



Make onboarding a personalized experience



There is no need to remind you how much personalization matters for modern users. So why not add it to your onboarding and boost user experience and engagement?



The simplest and one of the most efficient ways to add personalization to app onboarding is by addressing users by their name. An example would be greeting a user upon their sign-up before walking them through the onboarding process. 



You can also personalize onboarding with the help of the collected user data and by offering users to tailor their onboarding experience based on their goals and user roles. An easy way to do the latter is by offering users to choose from “I’m a beginner” or “I’ve been here before” options when selecting the app’s functionality.



How do you monitor the efficiency of your onboarding process?



We’ve walked through the main steps of creating a great app onboarding experience. Now the question is how do you know if it’s really good without relying on guesswork?



There are several KPIs that work like a charm when it comes to measuring the success of your onboarding. They are:




Retention rate: displays the number of users that you retain over a certain period of time. A high retention rate means you are doing well and users enjoy your product.



Churn rate: displays the number of users that stop using your app and leave. A high churn rate, as opposed to a high retention rate, means users do not like the app or something makes them leave.



Percentage of DAU/MAU: the percentage of your daily active users (DAU) and monthly active users (MAU) shows how many active users there are. If a number keeps growing, that means your onboarding (and your app) manages to interest and retain users.




Also, don’t hesitate to ask users for feedback. In this way, you’ll be able to optimize onboarding, detect hidden rocks, and create a more enjoyable experience.







Summing up



A mobile app onboarding seems easy at a first glance but as you can see, it contains many intricacies to keep in mind. When working on your onboarding, always remember that it has to be user-centric and users should find value in it. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself looking at not-so-great KPIs and asking: where did it all go wrong? 

### What Is Code Refactoring and How to Do It Right?

A while ago, we spoke about the main steps of introducing code refactoring to your project. Today we’d like to talk about the best practices for code refactoring and also highlight the main benefits the process brings. Since code refactoring may take quite some time, many teams sacrifice it for the sake of other tasks. As a result, technical debt keeps getting bigger and the project becomes messier. Code refactoring is one of the best ways to avoid these issues, but only if done right.







A quick overview of code refactoring



Even though we already defined code refactoring in the past article, let’s go through it once again. Code refactoring is a process aimed at cleaning the messy code and changing its structure without impacting its behavior and functionality. In other words, it’s a process aimed at obtaining clean code with simple design.



In some cases though, you might need to rewrite the whole code from scratch - this is what we call rewriting so don’t confuse it with refactoring. While refactoring is like general maintenance, rewriting is more like a resuscitation for your app. 



You should have a pretty solid understanding of refactoring by now so we can move on to the question of when (and when not) to refactor.



When to and when not to refactor



One of the most common issues for a software team is code rot. Code rot encompasses duplicates, tons of patches, poor classifications, and similar issues that result from sloppy coding or from different coding styles coming together in one application. Also, don’t forget about code smells, which are indicators of poor programming. It’s important not to confuse code smells with bugs: a code smell is not a mistake, but rather a characteristic of a possible issue.



Code refactoring helps efficiently combat these issues since it’s aimed directly at improving the structure and maintainability of code without affecting its behavior. And since it sounds so great, you may think you need to refactor all the time. Wrong.



There are several rules when it comes to code refactoring timing. Let’s have a look at them.



When to perform code refactoring



Since code refactoring can be called code maintenance, you’d want to do it from time to time. However, you cannot just go in there and start refactoring since wrong timing can harm your project. Here is when you should do refactoring:




When the performance goes low and you can see the processes slowing down.



When you see the same errors happening over and over again and debugging does not help.



When doing something for the third time (rule of three, graciously defined by the Refactoring Guru). After you do something for the first time, repeat the exact process for the second time and then refactor when it comes to the third time.



Before adding any new features - we’ll talk about this point in more detail below.



When implementing changes that were suggested during the code review.



After delivering the product to the market since you’ll have enough time to take a break and refactor without any hurry.




When not to refactor



We had a look at situations that call for refactoring - now let’s look at the opposite ones. So when should you hold back and leave everything as it is?




When you don’t have enough time or budget for refactoring - yes, it’s a frequent case.



The code works fine and there are no security issues with it.



During the implementation of new features.




A quick note on the last case. In the real world, refactoring is often performed in parallel with the implementation of new features. However, there is one critical condition here: new features must be isolated from old (existing) ones. As well, the team size should allow for simultaneous refactoring and adding new features: there should be separate teams working on each task. And obviously, you should have really well-organized processes if you want to combine code refactoring with adding any new functionality. 



Code refactoring best practices



Even though refactoring, without a doubt, helps improve the quality of your code, in some cases you may skip the procedure. Now that we are clear on when and when not to refactor, let’s dig into the best practices of code refactoring that might help you better organize the process and ensure refactoring does not interfere with feature development and product launch.



Refactor before implementing new features



We’ve already mentioned that you should not do refactoring during the implementation of new functionality and now is the best time to explain why.



First, you don’t want to pile up new features over the messy code. Hence, it’s always a good idea to first refactor the code, improve it, and only then add something new. Second, separation of refactoring and implementation of new functionality reduces technical debt since you apply changes to the clean code. Third, performing refactoring apart from adding new features also reduces risks and troubleshooting simply because you do not make a mess out of dirty code and new features.



Consider deadlines and timeline of the project



We’ve already stated that refactoring is important and highly beneficial - but it may happen that you simply don’t have time for it. This is a frequent case for projects with tight deadlines where you can’t afford to spend extra time on code maintenance and refurbishment. 



Therefore, before planning to refactor, consider the project timeline and deadlines first. Can you really step back and spend some time on improving the working code and do you need it in the first place? In some cases, code refactoring indeed makes a significant contribution to project performance so you need to analyze the consequences first. And don’t forget that refactoring may be quite costly so you might want to consider this factor as well.



Implement coding standards and ensure everyone understands the code



When different people work on the same project, chances are high that they have different coding styles. This may lead not only to the code becoming unreadable but also to performance issues in the future. Hence, to prevent any complications and to ensure the code (or most of its part) remains clean and clear, it will be a good idea to introduce coding standards for everyone on the development team to follow. In this way, most of the code will be written in the same way regardless of the person responsible for coding.



By maintaining proper documentation, you can unify the development, spend less time on code review, and minimize the number of potential issues in the future. As well, make sure everyone on the team actually understands the code, including all its sensitive areas like sensitive routines or variables. If you know the code inside out, it will be harder to mess it up so all team members should understand perfectly how things function. 



Focus on eliminating duplications



Duplications are often the main reason for a messy code and once you focus on duplications during the refactoring, you’d be amazed at the code quality afterward. So why duplications? There are several main reasons why duplicate functions negatively impact the quality of the code:




Duplications make the code more complex and cumbersome. This, in turn, has consequences during the debugging and testing.



Duplications waste system resources by expanding the app’s size.



Duplications call for making changes to all routines, not just one which, in turn, adds complexity to the development process.




Therefore, if you focus on battling duplications, you can significantly improve the code without going too deep into its refurbishment. That also means easier refactoring!



Leave comments in the backlog



This piece of advice may seem minor but it can make a big difference. When developers detect a code smell or know there is a complexity that needs to be fixed, they can simply create a ticket in the backlog. Such comments may include an approximate deadline for fixing the issue as well as an explanation of the complexity. In this way, backlog comments will serve as reminders and will help track down the problem source and fix it.



Refactor regularly



Finally, make refactoring a habit. Think of it as housekeeping: you don’t have to do it every day (or even every week) but it’s nice to have if not a schedule then at least some consistency. Just consider the project milestones and deadlines and plan refactoring correspondingly.




 


Expert Opinion



Refactoring is an integral and important part of the continuous development process. If you have a popular, high-demand application, it will be constantly changing and adapting to the users’ requests in order to remain competitive. Hence, a properly organized refactoring process can allow easy app scaling in the future as well as it can help fix existing issues. I can compare refactoring to an update of a vehicle model range. Same as when the car goes through updates and innovations, an application becomes more advanced and efficient with every new version, and refactoring plays a big role in the process of its optimization.





Frontend Engineer at SoftTeco



Sergey Obodovsky






 









Bonus: code refactoring KPIs



How do you know if refactoring went successfully? Below we list several KPIs that indicate the high quality of code and can serve as goals to achieve during the code refactoring process:




Code can be easily understood by any developer on the team;



New features can be implemented easily and/or quickly after refactoring;



Code is concise and its length is finite;



A limited number of classes that duplicate each other’s logic.




While seemingly simple, these goals can be quite hard to achieve especially if you do not perform refactoring regularly and your technical debt keeps growing. Hence, we highly recommend making refactoring a habit and trying to balance both the quality and tight deadlines. Another good practice is updating your documentation after refactoring since you’ll be gaining new experience and will be aware of the most efficient solutions to use in the future.

### Everything You Need to Know About Smart TV Apps Development in 2022

The good old cable TV is almost gone and it gave way to the new form of entertainment which is smart TV. Being a perfect fusion of the traditional TV and the Internet, smart TV is now one of the primary sources of entertainment and it’s popularity is growing on an annual basis. According to the Report Linker, the global smart TV market is expected to reach $186.90 billion in 2022 and the number of smart TV users is expected to be 119 million (58.3% of all connected TV users) in 2022, according to Statista. 



Smart TVs give users opportunities to connect to the Internet, play games or browse social networks in addition to traditional video streaming. And the most important thing here is that users are now in charge of the content that they consume and are free to choose whatever entertainment they want.







Given this, one of the biggest areas for software providers to focus on is the development of applications for smart TVs. And since the development process contains lots of peculiarities to consider, we assembled a guide that will hopefully help you get your head around the topic.



An overview of the most popular smart TV operating systems



Smart TV app development is exactly what it sounds like: it’s the development of applications for smart TVs. Users can browse a marketplace of choice right on their TV, then choose and install the needed application. Examples of smart TV apps are Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, or HBO Max. While most of such apps are designed for video streaming, you can also add feeds of the most popular social networks (i.e. Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube) to your smart TV to keep socializing on a big screen. Or you can listen to music or play games - the opportunities are really vast.



Same as with mobile app development, there are several smart TV operating systems that you can build your application for. The most popular OSs are:




Apple TV: tvOS;



Samsung: Tizen;



LG Smart TV: webOS;



Google: Android TV;



Amazon: Fire OS;




Hence, before starting to work on an app, the first thing you need to do is to choose a suitable operating system. Let’s have a look at each in more detail.  



tvOS



tvOS is an operating system by Apple that is used for the Apple TV digital media player. It comes with its own tvOS SDK and the apps for tvOS are written in Swift and JavaScript. In order to get started with a tvOS app development, you’ll need to install the latest Xcode IDE version which already includes the tvOS SDK as well as iOS and Swift.



Tizen



Tizen is a Linux-based OS that is used for Samsung smart TV apps.  Same as tvOS, Tizen comes with its own SDK and Tizen apps are written in C++ and HTML 5 mostly (thought it also supports C at a system level). The Tizen OS provides developers with app development tools based on jQuery and jQuery Mobile libraries. 



webOS



This operating system is used to create apps for the LG Smart TV platform. It is another Linux-based operating system and it supports C++, C and HTML 5 (pretty much similar to Tizen here) and uses Mojo Javascript Framework. 



Android TV



As you can guess from its name, Android TV is an OS for Android digital media players and it can run on smart TVs by Sony, Sharp, and Xiaomi. Same as with a regular Android application, you’ll need to know Java and/or Kotlin to create a native app or JavaScript to create a web app. There are several libraries available to create an Android TV application, including Leanback, Leanback Preferences, Leanback Paging, and Leanback Tabs.



Fire OS



FInally, we have Fire OS which is a fork of Android. This operating system is used to create apps for Amazon TV and you’ll need to know Java and/or Kotlin or JavaScript to create an app for the Fire OS. This operating system has its Fire Tablet SDK with a vast array of development tools to play around with.



As you can see, every smart TV operating system will require a certain set of technical skills and knowledge from developers. The skill set normally includes:




Knowledge of the selected SDK and corresponding libraries and frameworks;



Knowledge and experience with the select OS and platform;



Experience with the online video streaming technologies.




Hence, when assembling a development team, make sure the developers have the needed experience and know how to approach smart TV app development.



General tips for developing an app for a smart TV



Okay, so for every smart TV platform you need to have certain technical knowledge and expertise. Now, what about some general tips on developing smart TV apps?



The main thing to remember here is that you develop an app for a TV aka for a big screen that users do not interact with directly (unlike with a mobile app). Hence, you’ll need to take the following things into consideration.



Screen size and resolution



The first thing that comes to mind when talking about smart TV apps is the screen size. The screen size of a TV is obviously much bigger than the one of a smartphone or a tablet so your app and all its elements have to be incredibly visible and recognizable. 



The standard app screen resolution for a smart TV is usually 1920x1080 px with a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9. Other important things to consider in terms of the app’s screen size are:




Keep the most important content in the center of your screen since content close to edges can be hard to see;



Use proper padding between the core visual elements;



Consider the distance and the viewer’s possible position: a user may be lying on a couch at a 3-4 meter distance from the TV. In this case, all app elements should still be readable and clear.



Ensure your app can resize if used on a smaller screen.




Navigation and remote control



The main thing to remember about navigating smart TV apps is simplicity. An app should offer users the shortest way to the content and it should not force users to go through multiple steps and/or screens. For example, do not use confusing layout hierarchies where all categories are mixed up. Instead, make everything as clear and intuitive as possible so users instantly get access to the needed content.



A big difference between navigating a regular app and a smart TV app is the variety of tools that users can navigate their smart TVs with. These tools include common remote controls, smartphones, and gamepads. The selection of navigation tools usually depends on the smart TV platform so you should consider it when designing the app.



One more important thing about navigation: it should be predictable. We are used to the four-directional control when it comes to TV so when designing your app, use a grid to place all elements and see whether their placements will be familiar to users.



Focus state



When talking about UI elements, there are different states that these elements might be in: default, hover, focus, active, etc. In terms of smart TV apps, an extra attention should be paid to the focus state.



State “focus” is used to show users where they currently are and which UI element is selected. Focus state is critical for smart TV apps due to several reasons. First, unlike with regular apps, with smart TV apps we cannot just tap on the screen. Instead, we have to hover over the screen with a remote control, meaning, the navigation of a smart TV is indirect. Second, TV is less familiar to us than a smartphone so when navigating a smart TV, there is still a certain amount of guesswork involved and this is where focus state comes to help. 



A focus state highlights the selected element and points out where we are currently in terms of the app and the screen in general. Think of it as of a visual assistant that guides you through the screen. Hence, when designing focus, keep the following in mind:




Make the focus stand out from other states and make it highly recognizable;



Do not limit the focus state design to animation only - explore other ways to make it visible;



Keep the focus state consistent throughout all UI elements.




Test your app on real devices



Testing is an integral step in developing any software product and smart TV apps are no exception. However, some developers may decide to test their apps in a simulated environment instead of using real devices and that might be an issue.



In regards to smart TV apps, it’s critical to test them on real smart TVs to ensure the app functions as intended. Otherwise, users may encounter unexpected bugs that will ruin user experience for them. If you don’t have an opportunity to test all features on a real device, at least test those that are of the highest priority: video streaming, custom navigation. 




 


Expert Opinion



When it comes to developing smart TV apps, I recommend paying extra attention to the UX. It often happens that a developer is simply not used to working with a smart TV and thus he may overlook certain aspects of TV UX. Therefore, it’s a good idea for a developer to collab closely with a UX/UI designer to make sure everything looks good on the TV screen and the user has no trouble finding the elements.



As for UX/UI guidelines on developing smart TV apps, you can always check official documentation, i.e. the one by Apple. Apple always describes its development guidelines in great detail and the UX/UI ones will be useful even for those who develop an app for other platforms.





Head of iOS Development at SoftTeco



Igor Sapyanik






 




Final word



In addition to the best practices of smart TV app development mentioned above, one more thing that developers should keep in mind is the ever-changing environment of the smart TV market. According to the report by Grand View Research, the smart TV market saw the demand of 268.9 million units in 2020 and its compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is expected to be 20.8% from 2021 to 2028. Moreover, as the competition in the market is getting tighter, vendors are offering newer and more innovative smart TV models that are equipped with AI or Active Voice Amplifier. All this needs to be considered by developers and they need to quickly react to the changing market environment in order to deliver the expected quality of the apps to users.

### The Do's and Don'ts of Enterprise Application Development

Many businesses are looking for ways to automate their processes, increase employees’ productivity, and add transparency to day-to-day communications and operations. This is what enterprise application development is all about. Think of Jira or Slack - these apps have become common tools for companies worldwide.



An enterprise mobile application may bring numerous benefits to your business as well as to your employees and customers. However, you can’t just go out there and create an app - it will have to meet specific requirements that we’ll discuss below.







What exactly is enterprise application development and what makes it different?



An enterprise mobile application is a large-scale and highly secure mobile application designed specifically for an enterprise and its needs. Unlike a common mobile application, an enterprise app usually has several clearly defined user groups, a very strict access control, and a complex architecture to manage all intended flows and processes.



We can define three main cornerstones of an enterprise application:




Security: since enterprise apps process high volumes of sensitive information, security is top priority in the development of such apps.



Scalability: because an enterprise is a large and complex organization, an app needs to be scalable to grow with the needs and the development of a company.



Architecture: as already mentioned, an enterprise mobile application usually has a complex architecture to support all involved processes and workflows.




As for the types of enterprise mobile apps, there are three general types.



Employee-level



These apps are intended for internal use only and are used only by the employees. Normally, such apps facilitate communication between the employees and may assist them with completing certain tasks.



Employee-level apps usually include a small list of features and are not very complex in terms of functionality. However, they are still highly secure so don’t overlook this point. As for their main functions, they may include messaging, notifications, performance checking, or task tracking.



Department-level



Department-level apps can be used both internally (within a specific department) and externally (i.e. to communicate with customers). The main thing to remember is that these apps are designed for a specific department and their main goal is to facilitate and automate work within this department.



Hence, the functionality of such apps is usually very specific. As well, since these apps can be used by both employees and customers, there will be more user roles and different levels of access to take care of.



Company-level



The biggest and most probably the most complex type of enterprise apps is company-level. As the name implies, these apps are used within the entire organization and their main goal is to connect all departments. With the help of company-level enterprise apps, executives and employees can communicate in a transparent and efficient manner, exchange documents and information, and have access to the database and information across different departments.



The biggest benefits of enterprise application development







Usually, when an enterprise requests the development of a mobile application, it has specific goals in mind. Here are the main advantages of enterprise mobile apps that help organizations meet their business objectives:




Automation: mobile applications can automate a number of tasks, i.e. document transfer or progress tracking. In this way, an app helps boost the overall productivity and speed of work and allows users to focus on more important tasks.



Transparency: in big organizations with many departments, the lack of transparency is often an issue. A mobile application eliminates the problem by storing all needed information in one place and making it accessible for all authorized users. As well, the app eliminates and automates many steps involved in the information request process.



Streamlined workflow: an enterprise mobile application keeps all workflows in one place, automates them, and optimizes the processes to the extent needed for efficient performance.



Better and more secure data management: since any enterprise processes and stores a great amount of sensitive information, an app introduces better access control, facilitates data management and sharing, and contributes to data security.




Of course, you’ll need to write down and define all your business objectives in order for an app to bring you maximal benefit. In addition to that, you’ll also need to consider certain do’s and don’ts of enterprise application development if you want the final product to meet your standards and needs.



The Do’s of enterprise application development



Below we list down several best practices for designing a secure and high-performing application. And even though we talk about enterprise-grade applications in this article, these tips can actually be applied to mobile development in general.



Pay attention to security



Security is one of the primary things to focus on during the enterprise application development so pay double attention to it. Unfortunately, the issue often remains overlooked and, as a result, companies suffer financial losses. One of the primary reasons for an organization to become a point of a hacker attack is due to an employee downloading a malicious mobile application - and that’s just one example.



In one of our past articles, we discussed the main ways to secure your mobile application. You can read the article in full detail here and below we list the main takeaways:




Always provide high-level user authentication;



Request all app users to create and use strong passwords;



Encrypt the data that an app processes and stores;



Pay attention to your server-side security and improve it, if needed;



Regularly update the application and roll out needed security patches on time;



Enhance your corporate network security.



Design with scalability in mind




Scalability is another cornerstone of a successful enterprise mobile application. In terms of enterprise application development, scalability means the ability of an app to handle a growing number of users and a growing volume of requests to proceed.







In case you wonder why scalability matters so much, think of the following example: if the number of app users becomes too big, it will collapse the app and will crash its performance. No need to explain how this may impact your work processes. Hence, if you want to prevent such issues and if you are sure that your organization will keep growing, you’ll need to place primary focus on the app’s scalability. For that, the development team will have to properly configure both the app’s hardware and software and will have to thoroughly plan its architecture.



Enable integrations with existing systems



Any enterprise uses at least one type of specialized software, be it a payroll management system or a CRM system. Now, when you develop an enterprise mobile application, it is important that the app can be easily integrated into the current systems in use.



Why do you need that? Simply because the app will require access to the company’s information that might be stored across various systems. As well, the integration between an app and other systems will enable automation and a streamlined workflow as well as centralized information storage.



Decide on the app’s administration and user roles



A clear assignment of user roles and limitations of access is one of the ways to enhance the app’s security and prevent unauthorized use of the app. Because enterprise mobile applications imply having several user roles, hence, you’ll need different levels of permissions for each. As well, you’ll need to clearly define who will have the administrative rights and who will be managing the app. This is needed in order to protect sensitive data and to manage users properly. 



And one more important thing: if your app will be used by both the organization (and its employees) and the customers, it might be a good idea to create two separate apps. This will facilitate the app’s maintenance and will make it easier to manage access to the app.



Make sure onboarding and training are user-friendly



One of the biggest things that enterprises tend to overlook is the process of onboarding and training. In order for employees to be comfortable with using an application, they need to learn how to use it first. And if you don’t make the training process easy and user-friendly enough, you might be in trouble.



Employee training is an obligatory process that needs to be well-defined and written down during the planning stage of the app development. If the training is cumbersome and complex, not only will employees lose time trying to figure things out but they will also see a significant decrease in productivity. Hence, it is vital to pay attention to the app’s onboarding process in order to help employees quickly get used to an application.



The Don’ts of enterprise application development



We’ve talked about the best practices for developing enterprise mobile apps. Now let’s discuss the main considerations and hidden rocks that you need to know about. Otherwise, you might face certain issues after the app launch and these issues may have a serious impact on your business both in terms of finances and customer loyalty.



Do not ignore continuous testing



While some still believe that testing should be done after developing the main functionality of a software product, more and more companies are now adopting continuous testing. Continuous testing means testing the app during every stage of the development process in order to timely identify any errors before moving to the next stage. 



This approach is highly beneficial as it:




Saves the development time and resources (you don’t need to redo everything upon finding a mistake);



Provides immediate feedback on the product quality and allows implementing adjustments on the go;



Enables faster testing due to a number of automated tests at every development stage.




We’ve discussed continuous testing in more detail in this article - please have a look to get a better understanding of the approach and its implementation.



Do not chase tech trends unless needed



One of the most common challenges that we face as a software development company is a tech stack from a client that consists of trendy technologies. While there is nothing wrong with tech trends and we recommend keeping an eye on them, sometimes they are simply not relevant to the particular needs of your project.



When talking about complex and large-scale projects (like an enterprise mobile application), it’s best to rely on proven and well-tried technologies that have big communities, extensive documentation, and good support. This is important because in case of any issue that you face you’ll be able to quickly recover and fix it. With new and trendy technologies, this may often be a challenge.



Do not design for one platform only



If you plan to create and introduce an enterprise mobile application to your organization, think about all possible devices and platforms that the app will have to run on. One of the things that clients tend to overlook is the diversity of possible platforms for an app to support. 



When working on an enterprise-level application, decide whether you want a cross-platform app or two native apps for iOS and Android platforms. The choice will depend on several factors (i.e. budget, time, available resources) so if you are not sure about what option to select, we recommend consulting your software provider.



As well, the design must be responsive, meaning, it should look and function equally well on all intended platforms. This is the responsibility of a development company to deliver but you need to state what platforms the app should support.



Do not overload the app with functionality



When you have a big complex app, it might be tempting to overload it with features and fancy add-ons. But in reality, the bigger your app is, the simpler its functionality should be in order not to confuse users and provide maximal usability.







If you have a hard time selecting features for your app, you can write them all down and then sort all listed features by their priority, starting with must-have ones (high priority) and ending with the ones that can be excluded (low priority). Also, when assembling a list of features, make sure to create user stories and use cases (read about the difference between the two here). This will help you make sure that all features are used throughout the user journey and that there are no unnecessary ones.



Do not overlook the importance of UI design



This point relates to the one above - do not overlook the importance of good UX/UI. A good app design performs several critical functions:




Guides the user towards the set goal;



Assists in finding information;



Highlights areas to pay attention to;



Speeds up the user performance by navigating the user through the needed steps.




On the contrary, if the app has poor design and low usability, it will confuse the users instead of aiding them. This, in turn, may slow down the work across the department or across the whole organization, cause production delays, and other significant consequences. 



Summing up



Enterprise application development is a complex process that involves many steps and the first one is the clear definition of your business objectives. Whether you want to buy a readymade solution or decide to build a custom mobile application, you’ll need to have a solid understanding of what the app should do and what value it should bring to the users. Otherwise, you’ll put yourself at risk of spending too much time and resources on redesigning and refining the product that you might not even need in the first place. 

### SoftTeco's Head of PR Taisiya Pastuhova Received the SDG Pioneer Award by the Global Compact Network Belarus

SoftTeco congratulates Taisiya Pastuhova, Head of PR, for becoming a winner of the SDG Pioneers Global Compact contest 2022. Taisiya received the status of a SDG pioneer in recognition of her achievements in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in our company. 



The main goal of the SDG Pioneers program is to find and recognize those industry professionals who are dedicated to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals on human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption negotiations within their organization. Taisiya Pastuhova was recognized for her numerous achievements and valuable contributions towards the sustainable development of SoftTeco. 







Taisiya participated in the development and implementation of the “Green Office” program, created the project “Gender Equality in the Workplace”, which won a prize at the HR Brand Award competition, and she is involved in the implementation of the “Parent Smart” (conscious parenting) program. In 2021, Taisiya initiated the event dedicated to the "International Earth Day" and this year, SoftTeco holds the event again, making it an annual tradition. 



We congratulate Taisiya on her award and are proud to be part of such initiative as Global Compact Network. SoftTeco will continue to participate in events that are aimed at reaching sustainable development goals and will continue to promote the UN values in terms of corporate social resposibility.

### In Automation We Trust: What Is GitOps, After All?

In one of our previous articles we talked about container orchestration and Kubernetes. And before that, we explained what containers actually are and what they are used for. Now it’s finally time to talk about the main approach toward infrastructure automation - yes, we are ready to talk about GitOps.







Pull vs Push: know your model



Before discussing what GitOps is, it makes sense to first have a look at the two main models for secure and quick delivery of an application into the target infrastructure: Pull and Push.



Pull model



With the Pull model, the solution that realizes the approach takes changes from the target repository and deploys them in the infrastructure where your application works. In simpler words, as explained on Stack Overflow by one of the commentators, “Pull" is the target repository grabbing your changes to be present there”. 



This approach has the following advantages and aspects:




Security in terms of access control. Because the Pull model implies that changes are taken from somewhere and are applied, then only the solution that realizes this model has access to the infrastructure or that part of the infrastructure where the application works, without providing external access to your infrastructure.



Lightweightness: a Pull model-based solution normally consumes a little amount of resources.



A single repository to store sensitive information. Developers usually use Git as a repository of choice to store encrypted data and you can use such tools as  Sops, Helm Secrets, Sealed Secrets or others, depending on your infrastructure.



A need for DevOps engineers to be attentive when working with secrets in terms of secrets management (I.e. their updates or creation) and in terms of encryption too.



Depending on the secrets decoding solution, there might be additional costs involved.



Vendor-lock. You will be locked with a solution or an ecosystem of solutions that the Pull model realizes.



A single and most often, declarative language of describing the process of application deployment.



A weak connection between the CI (Continuous Integration) and CD (Continuous Delivery/Deployment) processes.




Push model



With the Push model, the solution that realizes the approach applies changes to the target repository where your application works. Or, if we get back to the explanation from Stack Overflow again, “A "push request" would be the target repository requesting you to push your changes”.



This approach has the following advantages and aspects:




Security in terms of access distribution. Because the Push model implies that changes will be applied to the target repository, the solution that realizes this model will have temporary or permanent access to the infrastructure (or its part) where the new app versions are to be delivered.



Lightweightness: no unprofitable resource consumption in terms of secrets management.



No vendor-lock. That means you can use any solution that realizes the Push model.



There is a strong connection between the CI and CD processes.



Data for the access to the infrastructure is stored in the CI solution that realizes the Push model.



Depending on the CI solution, there might be a need for studying aspects of its work and its syntax.




You might now have a question about what model you should use. Both Pull and Push models have their strengths and weaknesses so it will depend solely on your goal and project requirements.



Now, what do these models have to do with GitOps? The thing is, GitOps works by the Pull model so, for a better understanding of GitOps, it is important to understand the peculiarities of Pull and Push models. 



GitOps defined and explained



GitOps is often called the combination of the evolved Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and DevOps. The reason for that is because IaC implies management of the app’s infrastructure through code rather than through manual processes. However, GitOps takes the infrastructure management further as it allows you to describe the needed state of the app in a declarative manner so the GitOps operator takes care of it. 



Another critical thing to know about GitOps is that this approach to managing the application infrastructure treats Git as a single source of truth. That means that any changes made in Git will be applied to your application and the app’s configurations will always be in sync with the app’s state declared in Git. Changes in the app’s configurations are caused by a trigger which can be either a certain time period or a webhook.



What does GitOps have to do with Kubernetes?



Because Kubernetes can be managed declaratively and supports continuous deployment, GitOps is a perfect operating model for it. And since Kubernetes is often named the most popular container orchestration tool, no wonder GitOps is strongly associated with it. 



However, GitOps is not limited by K8s - this approach is applicable to any infrastructure that satisfies the abovementioned requirements for declarative management. But for an easier understanding of GitOps pros and cons as well as its operating principles, we’ll be using Kubernetes as an example of infrastructure in use.



Wait, but how does it work?



By now, you should have a general understanding of what GitOps is and why it’s often mentioned in conjunction with Kubernetes. Now let's have a closer look at the way the whole system operates.



There are four main components in the working process of a Kubernetes infrastructure:




Git: a repository where you store, for example, your Deployment, Service and Ingress manifests. Remember that Git is a single source of truth and if you want to change the state of an app, you apply these changes in Git only.



Kubernetes: a platform that manages your application and its infrastructure.



GitOps operator: a specialized tool that receives requests from Git that a change has been made and passes the information on the needed infrastructure state to Kubernetes. GitOps operator is also responsible for checking whether the states of Git and Kubernetes files are in sync.



Docker Registry: a stored and distribution system for named Docker images.




Say, you’ve described the desired state of your application in Git. When a new Docker image appears, GitOps operator pushes a new commit to the Git repository, grabs information from Git, and checks whether it corresponds to the current state of the application in Kubernetes. Whenever a change in Git happens, GitOps operator passes it to the Kubernetes and requires it to change the app’s state to the needed one.



Most popular GitOps tools



The next question you may ask: what on Earth is GitOps operator and how do I get started with GitOps?



The GitOps approach can be realized by implementing one of the following solutions that are GitOps operators:




ArgoCD: this tool places a special focus on Continuous Delivery and was designed to facilitate and automate the delivery process. As well, the tool is very lightweight and has a very well-developed UI.



FluxCD v2: this tool was developed with the GitOps Toolkit and it allows syncing an arbitrary number of Git repositories. As well, it supports multi-tenancy and overall provides easy and automated delivery.



werf: this CLI tool is used to create pipelines that can be further embedded into any CI/CD system of choice. Werf is a rather versatile tool that also allows efficient delivery of your app to Kubernetes.




To get started with GitOps, you’ll need to install one of these operators in the Kubernetes cluster and set it up for work with the Git repository where your manifests are stored.



The benefits of GitOps



Okay, so GitOps brings automation and frees you from the need to manually declare changes in Kubernetes. How else does it help? Here are its biggest advantages:




Ease of integration and use;



Automated leading of the current state of an application to the desired state under different conditions (creation, update, deletion).



Security in terms of manual intervention into the Kubernetes cluster since GitOps operator will decline any attempt for such intervention.



Repeatability: every subsequent leading of the current state to the desired one will always give the same result. Mind that repeatability is provided not by the GitOps approach but by Kubernetes itself - more about it below.



An option to receive information on whether the current state in Kubernetes matches the state in Git.




Mythbusting the biggest pros and cons of GitOps



GitOps evangelists claim that GitOps approach is beyond awesome and will bring nothing but joy to your life. While GitOps, indeed, is highly valuable and has many great benefits, it’s not 100% perfect though. Let’s have a look at its biggest pros and cons and the possible considerations.



Automation



With GitOps, automation means you won’t need to implement any manual changes to Kubernetes itself since these changes are already made to Git. As well, you won’t need to worry about manually synchronizing the states of an app in Git and Kubernetes since GitOps operator takes full care of it. Hence, automation is a big and a very significant advantage of using GitOps.



Convergence



Convergence means the system always strives to achieve the desired state and even if mal-synchronization occurs, the system gets back to the state of sync between Git and Kubernetes. It is important to notice here that mal-synchronization may happen either because of manual interventions in Kubernetes (i.e. unauthorized ones) or because the changes made to Git have not yet been delivered to Kubernetes. Whatever the case is, GitOps operator is responsible for bringing the system back to the state of synchronization (just like with automation, the operator does all the work!).



Idempotence



Idempotence means we can repeat synchronization several times and every time, the result will be the same. But in this case, the credit goes to Kubernetes and its API rather than to GitOps operator since Kubernetes is the one responsible for idempotence in the system.



Observability



In terms of GitOps, observability means the ability of a DevOps engineer at any time to learn whether the system is synchronized and to get notified in case mal-synchronization happens. However, due to the Docker Registry present in the system, we cannot say GitOps provides 100% observability. This is because GitOps operator can provide information only about whether the Kubernetes state matches the Git state - but in this equation, Docker is left behind. In this way, we observe only 50% of the state which is Git-Kubernetes.



Determinism



Determinism means the Kubernetes state is fully defined by the state declared in Git. However, it’s not fully true since the Kubernetes state also depends on the Docker Registry. So if anyone changes an image in the registry, the Kubernetes state will be affected too.



Audit



Audit implies easy and centralized monitoring of all changes made to Kubernetes. And while GitOps indeed allows monitoring changes, this relates only to changes that are made to Git - but once again, it leaves Docker Registry behind. In this way, we have a certain area of the system that is not covered by GitOps and cannot be properly monitored. Hence, GitOps does not provide a 100% audit of the system but rather an opportunity to monitor those changes in Kubernetes that come from the Git repository.



Security



This is a rather controversial point. On one hand, GitOps operator does not allow users to directly apply changes to Kubernetes so some call it an additional layer of security. But in reality, the user still applies changes to Git or to Docker Registry and this can be a weak area in terms of security. Hence, the implementation of GitOps will not guarantee 100% security to your system and it’s obligatory to watch the security of your CI pipeline in the first place.



Final thoughts



To sum up, the points mentioned above, the introduction of GitOps to your current processes will undoubtedly be beneficial and will have a positive impact on the performance of your system and delivery speed. On the other hand, do not treat GitOps like a cure-all solution that will take full care of everything, including security. You will have to pay double attention to all components of your system and it will take quite some time to set everything up so you create a truly secure and high-performing environment. 

### The Main Travel Technology Trends to Keep an Eye On In 2022

Technology has greatly changed the way we do business and the travel and hospitality industry is no exception. A host of tech solutions, from online booking platforms to virtual hotel tours, have made our traveling experience far more enjoyable. And as the industry keeps implementing new solutions, travel and hospitality companies need to keep up with these changes in order to maintain a leadership position. To do so, they may need to rethink their current business decisions and make them more tech-centric. 



Without further ado, let's dive into the cutting-edge technologies that are changing the face of the modern travel industry, and see the main benefits that they have to offer.







What is travel technology?



Travel tech is the use of technology in the hospitality and tourism industry with an aim to automate and facilitate processes and make the customer experience more enjoyable and user-centric. Examples of travel technology are flight tracking, instant access to content from anywhere, online booking, and much more.



Travel tech is not a new trend - we can call it an evolving one. The travel and hospitality industry has been using technology for quite a while but only in recent years has it put emphasis on implementing high-tech solutions. The rise of IoT and AI, robotic process automation (RPA) and the growing popularity of chatbots - all these innovations have added an exciting competitive edge to the existing processes. 



The impact of the pandemic on the travel industry



One more factor that contributed to the transformation of the travel industry is the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the World Tourism Organization, the number of international arrivals in January 2022 was 67% below the pre-pandemic level. In addition, the experts from the WTO believe that the industry will not fully recover until 2024.



Due to the need to adapt to the new conditions, hotels and tour operators are taking all kinds of measures to restore the industry. One of the ways to do so is by implementing technology to free people from certain routine operations (robots and chatbots) and to reduce risks associated with the spread of the virus (biometric recognition and QR scanning). Since the main point of focus is safety, technology plays a major role in creating safe conditions for both travelers and employees. 



The undeniable benefits of travel technology 



Due to continuous technological advancement and the arrival of the pandemic, tourists’ expectations have shifted towards safety and affordability. These demands bring changes to the travel industry and companies need to adjust to them. This is where travel technology steps in and helps companies not only meet customer expectations but exceed them:




Security: contactless technology creates a highly controlled environment, thus improving the safety of travelers and employees. 



Flexibility: tasks that used to take time (i.e.booking a room or obtaining information about a destination), are now handier due to accessibility and automation.



Reduced staffing costs: chatbots and robots as well as the Internet of Things helps reduce staffing costs and improve customer service.



Enhanced customer experience: through automation and personalization, technology can instantly and accurately fulfill customer requests and simplify the travel process.




Below, we'll focus on the major tech trends in tourism that businesses should keep a close eye on for a smart investment. Here are our top picks.



Voice search



According to Google, 27% of Internet users worldwide use voice search on their mobile devices. Given the convenience of voice search in terms of speed and accessibility, it is not surprising that this technology is gaining momentum in the travel industry.



Voice control helps improve customer service in hotels by allowing guests to control the room’s temperature or light, order a meal, make a restaurant reservation or check the weather forecast at any time, all through voice search. 



A great real-life example is Expedia Skill for Amazon Alexa, which was designed specifically for trip management. This skill helps you make traveling decisions by answering questions about transportation costs, destinations that fit your budget and interests, flight statuses, and car reservations. 



Autonomous Robots 



Another example of travel technology is autonomous robots. There are many uses for robots in the travel and hospitality industry: robot butlers in hotels or Knightscope robots in airports that are capable of detecting prohibited items. In general, the use of robots helps reduce human contact and improves service and safety, which is especially important in the era of the pandemic. 



One real-life example of using robots in tourism is the Henn-na Hotel in Japan, recognized as the world's first hotel with a fully robotic staff. In this hotel, robots work at the front desk, at customer information points, and in storage and they use voice and facial recognition and artificial intelligence technologies to provide a range of services to hotel guests.







Another great example is Travelmate - a robotic suitcase that takes the hassle out of travel. The suitcase can autonomously follow its owner by using collision detection technology and thus eliminates the need to carry the suitcase in hand. 



Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) 



What if you could offer a potential customer a virtual tour of your hotel, resort, or destination where your business operates? Today this is available thanks to virtual and augmented reality technologies. 



Virtual reality allows you to be virtually transported to any location and hotels like Marriott, Best Western, and Holiday Inn, have already taken advantage of it and now provide virtual tours to their guests. Augmented reality, in turn, enhances the traveling experience by providing details about local destinations that can be displayed on mobile devices when a tourist points their device at it. In this way, AR provides valuable information about a certain destination at the exact time when it is most relevant.



In general, AR and VR enhance the travel experience, help make the final decision at the booking stage and help overcome the language barrier. In addition, it is one of the great ways to gain a competitive edge! AI Chatbots 



According to IBM, chatbots can save companies up to 30% in their customer support costs which sounds pretty great. So how can you use chatbots in the travel industry? 



A smart AI-powered chatbot can bring the following benefits:




Improve the booking experience;



Provide support throughout the whole journey;



Provide an extra level of personalization;



Offer multi-lingual functionality.








In general, chatbots can provide assistance to tourists at every step of their journey, offer them tailored recommendations based on their preferences, and basically be their personal travel assistants. A great example of this is an FCM Travel Solutions (Sam) chatbot, based on artificial intelligence. The chatbot has real-time chat integration, an unobtrusive manner of communication, and a customizable reminder system. The chatbot alerts customers about the upcoming travel dates or the need to leave for the airport in advance, as well as provides valuable weather alerts.  All in all, it sounds like a perfect traveler's friend!



Contactless solutions (QR scanning)



The COVID-19 pandemic caused the all-around implementation of contactless solutions to keep employees and guests safe and minimize human contact. For instance, many restaurants and tourist destinations now require visitors to scan the QR code on their PCR tests in order to enter. As well, airlines such as Finnair, Delta, and British Airways have already implemented digital payment solutions to appease the contemporary traveler and they now provide a simpler QR scanning payment process.



In the light of the pandemic, AirAsia quickly introduced several contactless procedures such as a passenger reconciliation system (PRS) and contactless payments in airports. Another example of a contactless solution is IFE Zero-Touch by Qatar Airways. It is an in-flight entertainment technology that allows passengers to connect their personal electronic devices (PEDs) to IFE screens on the back of their seats. Passengers can either connect to the Wi-Fi or scan a QR code to use their PEDs to navigate and control the system from their mobile devices. 



Biometric recognition



Biometric recognition is transforming with an amazing speed and now includes recognition by finger or facial prints, by an iris, by a palm print, by a retina, or even by one’s gait. And since biometric recognition provides a high level of security in terms of user authentication, no wonder this technology has made its way into tourism and hospitality.An example of a successful implementation of facial recognition technology is the Marriott hotel in China. Visitors must scan their IDs, take a photo and enter their contact information into a specialized device. The device will then issue their room key cards after successfully verifying their identity and reservation information.







Big data and predictive analysis



Data is the fuel for the modern tourism and hospitality industry. Hotels and tour operators can use Big Data to gain valuable information about customers, predict their possible behavior, and provide them with relevant offers. As well, Big Data contributes to better revenue management since it allows to build forecasts based on past demand, past customer behavior, and various external factors.



For example, hotels can use predictive analytics to enhance their dynamic pricing strategy. Dynamic pricing means a hotel can change its rates based on a number of factors, such as the current level of demand, external events (i.e. a big festival happening nearby), and others. By implementing predictive analytics, hotels can make their dynamic pricing strategy much more accurate and provide better offers to their guests.



Another way how Big Data benefits tourism and hospitality is enhanced personalization. By studying customers’ behavior and habits in detail, companies can adjust their marketing strategy and make more personalized and relevant offers which, in turn, will lead to increased customer satisfaction and improved loyalty towards a company. 



Final thoughts



The tourism and hospitality industry is all about customer service so you need to make sure that you are providing your clients with an excellent one. And the use of travel technology can help you not only stay on top of the game but make sure your business will keep growing in the long run.

### How to Decide on Unit Test Coverage

Testing is an integral part of any software development process and unit testing is one of the fastest and most reliable testing methods to ensure your code works properly. But despite their seeming simplicity, unit tests cause many questions: do I use unit testing correctly? Should I aim for 100% test coverage and what percentage is enough?







In this article, you'll learn about all hidden gems of unit testing as well as about the sufficient percentage of code coverage and ways to measure it. Ready to up-level your unit testing game? Let’s get started.



Unit testing defined and explained



A unit test is a way of testing the functionality of the smallest components of the code that can be logically isolated in a system. These individual components can be a single function, class, or object that contains logic.The main value of unit tests is that they reveal a large percentage of defects and help to make sure that the code works as intended before it gets to the deployment stage. As well, unit tests automate and speed up the testing process, reduce the complexity of bug detection, and increase test coverage percentage since attention is paid to each tested unit. 



It’s worth mentioning a test pyramid here. This is a testing methodology that was designed with automation in mind and that helps QA engineers fine-tune their testing process. As the name implies, the framework is designed in the form of a pyramid, where unit tests are the pyramid’s base. Then come integration tests and the vertex of a pyramid is E2E (end-to-end) tests. Why are unit tests placed in the pyramid’s base? Because this testing method is faster and easier than others and thus helps save time and improve the quality of software products. 



Main benefits of unit testing



Unit testing may seem like a tedious process since developers have to write these tests themselves. But in the long run, the benefits of unit tests for a business become obvious. Unit testing is the fastest and the most direct method of detecting and fixing bugs before they affect the underlying code. As for other significant benefits, they are:




Rapid and simple testing process: any changes to the software entail additional costs and risks.  Modular testing makes it easier to make changes and helps avoid regressions, which results in a safe refactoring process. 



Reduced costs: detection of bugs and errors early on leads to greater efficiency, reduced downtime, and lower costs. This, in turn, impacts the speed of the development process. 



Simplified integration: in unit testing, separate parts of the program are tested first, and then the whole program is tested. Subsequent integration testing is therefore greatly simplified by testing individual modules first.



Early detection of bugs: unit tests help identify issues at an early stage and eliminate them without impacting other parts of the code before moving on. Such issues can be errors in the programmer's implementation or flaws in a module specification.



A better understanding of functions: by analyzing how unit tests work, developers can have a better understanding of the functions covered by unit tests.






Speed up your software development cycle!



By automating repetitive testing tasks, our experts help you increase efficiency, reduce manual errors, and ensure on-time releases.




Request a consultation






What is code coverage? 



As the project grows, it becomes more difficult to determine which code parts were tested and which were not. Code testability can be measured with the help of the code coverage metric.



Code coverage is a metric of software testing that determines the number of code lines successfully tested. This metric helps developers detect and eliminate "dead" code, as well as understand what part of the source code was tested. In addition, the metric checks for missed or uncovered test cases. Code coverage is usually measured with a specialized tool such as SonarQube, Clover, or CodeCover. Such tools will not only give you a percentage of code execution but will also allow you to drill down into the data and see exactly which lines of code were executed during testing.



Ways to measure code coverage 



The code coverage measurement tools listed above use several criteria to determine how the code was tested during the execution of tests. These criteria are:




Function coverage: the tool calculates what functions in the source code are called and executed at least once.



Statement coverage: the tool calculates the number of operators that were successfully tested in the source code.



Path coverage: the tool calculates threads that contain a sequence of controls and conditions that have worked well at least once.



Branch/decision coverage: the tool calculates decision control structures (e.g. loops) that were executed well.



Conditions/expression coverage: the tool calculates logical expressions that were checked and executed both true and false according to test runs.




The code coverage of the executable program code is calculated by the formula: the number of code lines, covered by tests, divided by the total number of lines of code and multiplied by 100%. For example: if the tested software contains 100 lines of code and the number of lines of tested code is 50, the percentage of code coverage is 50%.



By now, you are probably thinking that 100% code coverage is what you should aim for since a higher code coverage equals better code quality. But that’s not really true. So what is the perfect percentage of code coverage to strive for? About that below.



Why 100% code coverage does not equal 100% quality



Even though many people believe that 100% code coverage equals perfect code, it’s not. The truth is, a 100% code coverage does not guarantee that the covered lines or branches of code were tested correctly - it only shows that they were executed by the test.  On the other hand, a low percentage of code coverage means that large areas of your product remain completely untested. Hence, the question arises: what percentage of test coverage should you really aim for?



There is no universal answer to that question since the required percentage of test coverage will depend on your business needs and the complexity of an application. As well, it’s recommended to cover with tests those critical parts of an app (or app’s logic) that users use the most. For example, the “About us” page is not highly important for the product and does not usually get many visits from users - hence, you may skip it while performing unit testing.



As for the coverage percentage, there are general recommendations such as 60% is "acceptable," 75% is "commendable," and 90% is "exemplary." However, many developers prefer to follow the 80/20 rule, meaning 80% test coverage is quite sufficient and the remaining 20% can be tested later and upon necessity.



It is important to remember though that measuring code coverage is no substitute for good code analysis and good programming techniques. Instead of aiming for 100% code coverage, it will be better to analyze the code base and see what makes sense to try next. In general, you should set a reasonable coverage goal and aim for an even coverage percentage for all modules of your code. 



Note though that for critical systems (i.e. rocket science, healthcare, finances) the maximum code coverage is a necessity. Hence, such systems should be 100% error-free and 100% covered by tests.



When can you skip unit testing?



In general, it is recommended to implement unit tests on a regular base since they are so beneficial for the software. However, there are certain cases when unit tests do not work so well or don’t have to be applied:




Limited time: sometimes writing a test takes more time than writing code. And since unit tests are useful for testing pure business logic within a particular function, it is worth thinking twice about implementing tests when the deadlines are tight.



Integration and performance bugs: unit testing is unit-oriented and it is much more effective when combined with other testing techniques. This means that integration or system level errors will not be detected by unit tests. 



Unstable system components: code that interacts with such parts of the system as ports or timers is quite difficult to test in an isolated environment. Unit tests can still be applied in this case but overall, it’s not really recommended.




Final thoughts



The main piece of advice that we can give here is to set your priorities and decide what code area is critical for your app's performance so it can be tested foremost. After all, the primary goal is to make sure that the code meets the functional requirements. And if unit tests, for whatever reason, do not give you confidence in the quality of the product, you should find an alternative approach that makes the most sense for your project. 

### The Worst Cases of Bad UX Design and How to Recover Them

In the world, when users’ expectations are as high as ever (and they keep growing!), even the smallest mistake can be critical. This is especially true for bad UX since the design of applications forms the first impression and it can either make it or break it. In this article, we collected the most disastrous  UI fails and we also provided tips on how to fix them in case your app has similar issues.







The never-ending dropdowns and checkboxes



There once was an experiment back in 2000 when people were presented with 24 different jams to choose from - and then they were presented with 6 options only. It’s easy to guess which jam booth saw a bigger number of sales: the one where people were not overloaded with choice (aka the one with 6 jams). This jam study leads us to one of the cornerstones of good UI: do not overload users with too many options. Or, if you need to have many options, at least make the selection process convenient.



You might have come across this horrific example of a never-ending checkbox that represents bad UX design on so many levels.







We won’t even talk about the phrasing or price display here because the true jewel in the crown is the checkbox itself and the number of options that it presents.



Now, people don’t really like checkboxes. And this one might have seen a lot of user rage in particular because it duplicates the data, is completely inconvenient, takes too much time to go through, and simply makes no sense. 



Another example of bad UX is this dropdown menu.







We get it - the website really wants to approach its customers in a respectful manner and consider their possible titles. On the other hand, why make users go through this never-ending choice instead of presenting them with universally acceptable “Mr., Miss, and Ms.”?



How to recover



In order to provide users with the most user-friendly and fast selection option, consider the solutions listed below. An important note: you must always choose a selection form based on the number of options and their nature (i.e. well-specified options, frequently asked inputs, short inputs, etc.).




Checkbox: good for binary (on/off, yes/no) decisions or for multiple choice.



Toggle switch: good for binary decisions.



Radio buttons: good for a small number of options (3-4).



Steppers and sliders: for quantitative values when a user has to select a certain quantity.




Bonus tip: it often happens that it’s much easier for a user to type in a needed input instead of searching for it in a dropdown value. An example of such input would be the year of birth or a ZIP code. In such cases, replace a dropdown with an input field. And in case you want to keep a dropdown menu but it’s lengthy, allow users to search for the needed option by typing.



Making a user think too hard 



One of the deadly sins of UX/UI is making a user think too much and take too many steps in order to achieve a goal. Examples of such bad UX are:




Presenting too many options to users;



Poor structure and poor navigation;



Too many steps in a single process (i.e. complicated checkout);



Thinned content (breaking down a small chunk of content into even smaller chunks).




Now, with information overload and a plethora of alternatives available these days, users don’t want to spend their time figuring out how to use your app. Instead of filling in 10+ forms or bothering their head over finding the needed information, they will simply leave (and most probably uninstall the app too). That’s not something you want to see, do you?



How to recover



If you are not sure about whether your user journey is smooth and frictionless, take a look at the conversions. Normally, such metrics as a low number of conversions, a small amount of time spent on a page, a low task success rate, and others indicate that something is wrong with your design and users have issues with completing tasks and navigating the app.



Here are some tips on improving the bad UX situation and making the user experience more meaningful and pleasant:




Incorporate guest checkout and registration as a guest. In fact, the report by Baymard Institute states that 34% of users leave because registration is required. Now imagine how much of a revenue one would be able to see if they retained these users as guests on their website?



Rethink your structure and check if it’s user-friendly. Are all app categories organized in a logical manner and do you encounter any issues when looking for specific information? Take a user journey yourself and double-check your own product.



Minimize the number of steps that you require from the user. In order to do that, you might want to rethink your main touchpoints, clarify the user journey itself, and eliminate those steps that do not directly impact the completion of an action.




Poorly written CTAs



Call-to-action buttons are amazing. A well-designed CTA can greatly boost your conversions and encourage users to explore the needed areas of an application. On the other hand, poorly written CTAs can discourage users not only from taking action but from dealing with your brand at all.



One of the trends that seem to be taking place in recent years is CTA confirmation shaming. You might have seen such pop-ups when a website insists you sign up or subscribe for something. However, if you decide that you don’t need this incentive, you can’t just press “No thanks” - you will see a message like “No, thank you, I don’t want to make profit” or “No, I don’t want to invest in my well-being” instead. 







This form of aggressive marketing may work in some rare cases, but in general, it greatly discourages users from interacting with your brand. Other CTA fails are usually lack of value (and that’s what CTAs are all about) and bland language.



How to recover



When crafting a CTA, keep in mind its main goal: to grab users’ attention and persuade them to complete a required action (i.e. sign up for a newsletter or register on a website).  Thus, your CTA message has to be concise, informative, and engaging. And don’t forget about the number one priority aka offered value. A CTA has to propose something in exchange for action so make sure that the offer corresponds to the needs of your target audience.Content overload



Well-written concise copy can do wonders for your application. It leads users towards completing conversions, informs them about the value that your product offers, and overall contributes to a great user experience. But if you mess up your content from the start, it will immediately make a negative impact on further user experience.



A good example of bad UX design in terms of content is this website that made an attempt to explain cookies preferences. 







While the initial idea is fine (to help users better understand their options), this massive chunk of text looks intimidating and kind of makes you want to leave the website before you begin navigating it.



How to recover



First, you can always cut down your content - ask a professional editor or copywriter for help. Second, if you absolutely want to keep all of the text on the website, at least offer users an option to read it or skip it. You can hide the text under the “Learn more” button so if a user taps it, the content will become visible. In this way, you retain the content but it does not overwhelm the user upon landing on the page.



Over-the-top colors



Extreme bright colors have been gaining popularity in design - but with great power, comes great responsibility. 



Whenever you deal with something extraordinary, it’s easy to mess up. Non-traditional design approaches need to be treated carefully in order not to overcomplicate the overall look of an app, not to confuse the user, and not to affect the readability of content. The latter is the case with an old design of the Teamweek company (now known as Toggl Plan).







The mint color itself looks great. But then there is this white text in the box which becomes almost unreadable on the mint background. This leads us to the conclusion that one should carefully balance used colors and test before launching an app in production.



How to recover



When selecting colors for your app (or any other product), you need to keep in mind best practices of choosing a color palette:




Remember that a certain color represents and evokes certain emotions. Do not ignore color psychology since it’s an incredibly powerful tool that works on our subconscious level. 



Test how selected colors work with text and other elements of UI. Check for readability and clarity and ensure that colors do not cause any confusion.



Do not experiment for the sake of experimenting. When deciding to go with a non-standard solution, make sure you have a solid reason for that (i.e. stand out from the competition, grab attention, etc.).



Do not overlook a minimalistic approach. Even though minimalism is not a new design trend at all, it remains popular because it instantly adds clarity and readability to the UI.




Summing up



The main thing to remember is that UX/UI is all about users - bold colors and experiments come second. If your design does not evoke certain emotions and does not lead the customer towards the desired goal, you need to think about whether your design-related decisions were so good after all. 



Our biggest recommendation for UX/UI design would be: test, test, test, and always collect user feedback, aiming for maximal usability. In this way, you’ll eliminate guesswork and will be able to tailor your application precisely to user needs and not to some abstract ideas on what a good design should look like.

### What Is Computer Vision? Everything You Wanted to Know

Computer vision is evolving rapidly and its advancement impacts many areas of our life. Algorithms can already detect cancer and control cars and airplanes and in some cases, computer vision even surpasses people in performing certain tasks. With that said, many companies are picking up the trend and start to offer custom solutions in the field of computer vision development. But what exact benefits does this technology bring to industries? In this article, we explain what computer vision is, how it works, and how it can benefit your organization. 







Computer vision: defined and explained



Computer vision is a scientific field that focuses on training computers to interpret and understand the visual world, just like humans do. In other words, computer vision is the recognition of patterns of a visual object. 



Computer vision can perform a number of tasks: classification of objects and images, face recognition and image segmentation, and visual tracking. All of them are aimed at answering one question: what is shown in a picture? Despite the seeming triviality of the question, answering it is not really easy.



How does computer vision work?



In order to understand why computer vision delivers highly accurate results, let’s look at the way it works. Computer vision is a subset of Machine Learning which means it learns through massive data sets. 



First, an ML model receives a certain number of pictures of an item that needs to be recognized. The model then runs the images through several levels of processing that make up a neural network to distinguish your chosen item from many others, step by step.



The first levels of learning and recognition are aimed at evaluating such basic features as lines or borders between light and dark parts of an image. Further, the model explores more complex details - shapes or edges. In this way, the model analyzes the data over and over again until it recognizes the differences and eventually recognizes the image.



Benefits of computer vision



The unique selling point of computer vision is that it can imitate human vision to quickly perform monotonous or complex visual tasks. While a human eye can only process a limited amount of information, computer vision efficiently analyzes both real and virtual worlds and collects huge amounts of data faster and more accurately. Here are other significant benefits of computer vision:




High efficiency: a computer vision system can perform monotonous tasks at a high speed, surpassing human employees and the efficiency of the system is independent of external and human factors (i.e. lack of light).



Consistency and accuracy: computer vision consistently delivers the same results and significantly reduces the possibility of an error. This, in turn, helps maintain high quality of services.



Reduction of costs: due to the speed and accuracy of performance, the use of computer vision can help minimize the costs spent on image recognition. 




To sum up, the use of computer vision brings automation, accuracy, and speed into your processes. Now let’s see how this technology is applied across industries by using real-life examples.



Transportation: recognition and classification of road objects



The growing needs of the transportation sector have spurred technological development in the industry, with computer vision at its center. The most well-known example is an autopilot car, like the ones Uber and Tesla have. These cars are equipped with cameras that shoot video from different angles to detect and classify various road objects (such as road signs or traffic lights). As well, these cars are capable of creating 3D maps and estimating traffic. ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) technology researchers are combining various computer vision techniques to develop algorithms that will enable vehicles to take full control of the driving process.



But what’s the need in self-driving cars? The biggest benefit is a high level of autonomy that reduces risky and dangerous driving behavior. As well, smart cars can help reduce traffic congestion and lower the level of emissions.



Manufacturing: quality assurance



The manufacturing industry has already introduced a wide range of automation solutions based on computer vision:




Detection of product defects;



Precise product assembly process;



Safety and security standards for employees;



Barcode and text analysis.




Large-scale production sites often have difficulties with accurately detecting defects in manufactured products. This led to the introduction of computer vision into production. Pharma Packaging Systems equipment for the pharmaceutical industry is a case in point. The system is designed for automatic counting of tablets or capsules on production lines. Another example is WebSPECTOR - a surface inspection system that detects defects on products and collects metadata associated with an image to classify errors by their type and degree.



Retail: automated cash registers and cashless stores



The retail industry has also started to use computer vision solutions to meet customer needs more accurately and better manage the inventory. One of the most popular examples is Amazon Go - a chain of partially automated stores that use several technologies, including compter vision. 



A high-tech shopping experience starts at a store entrance where customers need to authorize by using a QR code in an Amazon mobile app. After entering the store, shoppers have to scan the code and after that, they can proceed to the shopping. The app runs in the background and tracks the list of purchases while a video surveillance system tracks the customer's location. RFID tags on shelves determine whether an item was taken off the shelf and if a shopper changes their mind, they can put the item back - in this case, it will be removed from the shopping list. When a customer leaves the store, the app automatically performs the transaction.



This is not the only use case of computer vision in retail. This technology also allows to study customer behavior and monitor the number of shoppers in a certain aisle or area, which is a great advantage for marketers. But overall, given the convenience of cashless payment and improved shopping experience, the need for computer vision in retail will definitely grow. 



Finance: Know Your Customer (KYC)



Financial institutions used to have a hard time breaking through with innovation. However, the industry has been slowly shifting towards digital transformation and computer vision, in particular, proved to solve certain long-standing challenges for financial organizations. 



These challenges include cybersecurity, customer experience management, and transaction identification and authentication. One great example of using computer vision in finances is KYC which stands for Know Your Customer. A spanish bank BBVA uses facial recognition to confirm client identities when clients submit their photo IDs. During a video call, a client can open a personal account on their smartphone and successfully perform user authentication. 



Traditional KYC processes typically require a lot of documentation and a lot of time. But with computer vision, the process can take a few minutes instead of an hour and this results not only in a much better user experience but also in higher accuracy.



Healthcare: disease detection



The healthcare industry was probably one of the earliest adopters of computer vision and today, the number of applications of this technology in the industry is quite impressive. One of the biggest examples is the use of computer vision and deep learning technologies for brain tumor detection. Since tumors tend to quickly spread to different parts of the brain and to the spinal cord if left untreated, their early detection is critical. As well, computer vision can efficiently recognize and detect any warning signs or indications of other diseases and hence, the use of this technology greatly elevates the healthcare services. 



Final thoughts



Technology has changed the face of the world, and computer vision plays a huge role in these changes. The examples listed above are just the tip of the iceberg and we can expect computer vision to continue being a driving force behind the transformation of industries. 



Business leaders need to assess how computer vision can impact the growth of their organization. If you have a certain challenge that you've been trying to solve for a while, maybe now is the perfect time to take a look at the innovative AI software available on the market.

### Container Orchestration 101: All Hail Kubernetes

Previously on our blog, we talked about containers and their benefits for your software project. Today, let’s take a step further and discuss the topic of container orchestration, the reasons behind Kubernetes being so popular, and whether your project really needs a container orchestration tool. 







Container orchestration explained



Container orchestration is the process of automating, scheduling, deploying, scaling, health monitoring, and managing your containers. To perform all these actions, you need a specialized tool that will take full care of container management. 



Now, you might have a question: why do I need a specialized tool when I can do it all on my own? Yes, you can if we talk about several containers. But if you use hundreds (if not more) of containers and each requires an individual set-up and management, you simply won’t be able to cope manually. This is where container orchestration steps in and saves you from spending tremendous amounts of time managing all your containers.



What exactly a container orchestration tool does and how does it help?



Automation may sound too vague so let’s elaborate a bit more on how exactly a container orchestration tool helps keep all your containers up and running.  



Most container orchestration tools follow a declarative approach. That means, you simply state the desired configuration state and the system automatically decides on the best way to achieve this state. In this way, the system makes independent decisions about:





As you can see, a container orchestration tool takes full responsibility for managing containers, monitoring their health, and adjusting necessary changes if necessary to maintain the desired state of the system. And if you are not yet convinced that container orchestration tools are a must-have, here are a few more benefits.



Scaling and load balancing



As already stated, a CO tool is responsible for monitoring load balance and scaling containers upon necessity. In this way, container orchestration helps with the following: 





Automation



Though being an obvious advantage, automation is worth being mentioned once again. Not only do container orchestration tools automate the majority of processes associated with managing containers, but they also support Agile or DevOps methodologies. In this way, teams can develop and deploy applications in a faster and smoother manner, increasing productivity and the company’s profit. 



Smart and automatic allocation of resources helps reduce financial expenses related to project maintenance, which is another big benefit for any company.



The Great and Terrible Kubernetes explained



Now that we are clear on what container orchestration is and what exact benefits it brings, it’s time to talk about container orchestration platforms and Kubernetes, specifically. 



The most popular orchestration platforms are:





Among them, Kubernetes is probably the most used and most well-known. Why is it so? Let’s have a good look at it.



Kubernetes, or K8s in short, was originally designed by Google. Fun fact: this internal Google project was first known as Borg - shoutout to all Star Trek fans out there.



Kubernetes is used for all container management activities described above and offers impressively rich functionality. But these are not the only reasons why Kubernetes is so wildly popular and why it’s on top of the list. The biggest arguments in favor of Kubernetes are:




K8s is an open-source platform: that means, it has a vast and dynamic ecosystem around it and there is a very high possibility you’ll easily find any open-source tool if needed.



Everything is done through code: by using consistent tools and formats (HELM package manager, YAML files, kubectl) you promote better control over the system, repeatability, and scalability.



Kubernetes runs everywhere: you can use it in the cloud, you can use it as a hybrid cloud platform, or run it in a colocation (or everywhere at once).



Minimal fragmentation: K8s is reusable across different environments or configurations and its deployment remains the same regardless of the Kubernetes distribution that you use.




The challenges of Kubernetes governance (and how to overcome them)



Kubernetes is so great because of its vast array of features and capabilities. At the same time, this rich functionality is the exact thing that makes it so complicated and the reason you need an experienced DevOps engineer to handle it. 



Below, we list the main challenges one might face when setting up a Kubernetes infrastructure. Don’t worry though - we also listed possible solutions to these challenges.



Security issues



When we talked about security in our previous articles, we mentioned that the high complexity of the application leads to higher security risks since there are more chances for vulnerabilities to occur. The same applies to K8S: its immense complexity leaves room for possible attacks and, if not managed properly, puts your application at a risk. 



So what can you do to enhance Kubernetes security? Here are a few ideas:




Use security modules like AppArmor and SELinux;



Enable either role-based access control or apply zero-trust approach towards user authentication;



Use separate containers so a private key is hidden.



Prevent access for the Kubernetes API server from outside.




Networking issues



Due to the high number of pods and containers, Kubernetes presents several networking issues:




Addressing: the inability to use static IP addresses and ports for communication due to the constant changes that happen in a Kubernetes environment;



Communication: since there are many network communication layers in Kubernetes, it presents several different communication challenges to take care of.



Interface: there is no native support for multiple network interfaces in Kubernetes which causes issues, especially when deploying VNF applications.




And these are just a few examples (not to mention multi-tenancy or policies). One of the most efficient ways to resolve these issues is the use of a container network interface (CNI) plugin for better integration of Kubernetes into the application’s infrastructure.



General tips on container orchestration



No matter what container orchestration tool you choose, there are some universal tips on container orchestration that are applicable to any software project. See the biggest tips below:




Establish a centralized way to manage all activities that happen in the product development pipeline and optimize the release process. A big misconception is that container orchestration platforms orchestrate releases - do not fall for that and take care of releases on your own. 



Centralize configuration management in order to avoid duplicating configurations and to keep track of all deployable units.



Implement a robust process of compliance and security checks into the development pipeline to mitigate possible risks.



It is highly recommended to use containers for mature deployment processes that require automation. Remember that containers are not a cure-all solution and cannot be used for any project, regardless of its size and complexity.




Finally, don’t forget about DevSecOps and its importance. And if you thought we are done with the “-Ops” terminology, no, we are not. In our future article, we’ll talk about the GitOps process and what it has to do with containerization and its orchestration. So make sure to subscribe to our newsletter in order not to miss our blog updates!

### Test Plan vs Test Strategy: How to Approach Your QA Process Right

Testing is an integral part of the product development lifecycle since it helps ensure that the final product does not contain bugs, works as intended, and satisfies the needs of final users. And in order for everyone on the QA team to stay on the same page and make sure that all product aspects are tested and covered, companies use test plans and test strategies.



This is where things get slightly bumpy. First, not all QA teams implement test plans and test strategies in their work. Second, there is a lot of confusion about these two documents and the biggest misconception is that a test plan and a test strategy are the same things. Hence, we prepared an overview of both the test plan and the test strategy and compared them to help clear things up.







A test plan: the definition and the main goal



A test plan is a document that describes in detail what will be tested and how. It includes all actions that will be performed during the testing process and includes such components as project description, risk description, etc. (more on the test plan components below). While many specialists claim that a test plan answers the “how” question, in reality, it’s much broader than that. A test plan not only answers the “how” (“How will the usability testing be carried out?”) but also the “what” (“What techniques will we use to achieve a set objective?”) question. In this way, a test plan is a very comprehensive guideline on how to test a certain application.



An important thing to remember about a test plan is that it is written for a specific project and cannot be applied to a different project. You can compare it to a roadmap that guides QA engineers towards the set goal. In this way, even if testers rotate on the project, they can use a test plan to pick things up easily and carry on the testing process seamlessly.



Depending on their goal, there are several types of test plans:




Level-specific: a test plan is created for each level of testing (unit testing, acceptance testing, integration testing);



Type-specific: a test plan is created for each type of testing (functional, load, security);



Master test plan: a high-level document that comprises both level-specific and type-specific plans and summarizes the testing guidelines for a project.




The main components of a test plan



In general, a good test plan includes:




Project description



Team description



Description of roles and responsibilities



List of possible risks



Deliverables



Definition of done



Testing scope



Testing schedule



Tools to be used in testing



Estimations (a benchmark for testers to stop testing activities).




However, this is a rather generic list and it might differ, depending on your company, workload, and project. If you have enough time and resources to assemble a highly detailed test plan that you are sure to use for a long time, we recommend referring to the official test plan template by IEEE 829. 



A test strategy: the definition and the main goal



A test strategy is more of an approach rather than a document if we can call it this way. An efficient test strategy is a high-level document that is applied to an organization in general. 



The main goal of a test strategy is to provide recommendations on a testing approach and explain the objectives to achieve and the test design. A test strategy answers the “what” question, i.e. “What are the testing objectives?”. 



As stated above, a test strategy is a high-level document that remains static. This is one of its big differences from a test plan: a test plan is dynamic and can be changed on the go or when needed.



There are many types of test strategies, such as:




Analytical



Model-based



Consultative



Reactive



Methodical



Regression-averse




These test strategy types differ by their goals and are designed in correspondence with the current requirements.



The main components of a test strategy



Since a test strategy is a more general and high-level document, its composition slightly differs from the one of a test plan. It features:




Project overview



Requirements scope (application scope and functional scope)



A testing approach to use during testing



Needed test coverage



Test environments



Testing deliverables



Communication and status reporting



List of risks and methods of their mitigation/prevention



Acceptance criteria for the product



Defect reporting and tracking




The key differences between a test plan and a test strategy



Though we explained both concepts in detail, it won’t hurt to compare a test plan vs test strategy and see the biggest differences between the two.



Test planTest strategyThe main goalLists all activities involved in a testing process and explains how exactly the objectives will be achievedOutlines how a testing process should be carried out, sets testing objectives, includes main testing guidelines and principles to followLevelProject levelOrganization levelStateDynamic: can be changed depending on specificationsStatic: remains the same and cannot be changed once approvedManaged byA testing manager or a testing leadA project managerScopeDefines all testing activities that need to be carried outFocuses on high-level testing methods and provides general guidelines Derives fromSoftware requirements specifications, use case documents, product descriptionsBusiness requirements specifications



Summary



Both the test plan and test strategy are important elements of a frictionless testing process. Unfortunately, there is often not enough time to create detailed documentation so many QA teams either work without a test strategy or do not pay enough attention to it. This issue is especially relevant for Agile teams where specifications and requirements may change with lightning-fast speed. Nevertheless, we highly recommend keeping at least a minimum of testing documentation to use as a reference for team members and as a base for current and future testing processes. In this way, you can rest assured everyone is on the same page and no arguments will appear out of nowhere. And if you need more tips on establishing a robust and seamless QA process, check out our interview with SoftTeco’s QA Engineer Vera Klimova.

### How to Choose a Tech Stack for Your Software Project

As a software provider with over 14 years of experience in the IT industry, we know that one of the biggest questions that most clients face is choosing the right technology stack for their project. There are many factors to consider, from project type to resource availability, and the selection process may take a significant amount of time. Leveraging our experience, we have assembled a list of recommendations that you can use when defining the technologies needed for your project. We hope our article will help you in future negotiations with the development team and will give you a clear image of what you might (or might not) need and why.







Understanding what technologies a specific project type requires



The first thing you need to define is the type of your product. This will impact the further choice of technologies since different app types require different tech stacks. We can define the following categories of software applications:




Mobile (iOS and Android are the biggest players in the market);



Web applications;



Server applications;



Embedded (think of IoT).




While each category will require a different development approach and a different tech stack, most software apps share the same set of components that they consist of. It’s important to keep them in mind as well since every component also requires specific technologies.



The main components of a software application



Whether you need to develop a mobile or a desktop application, most probably you’ll need to develop:




Frontend: the part of the app that a user interacts with and that includes UX/UI. The most common technologies for front-end development are React, Vue.js, Angular. 



Backend: the server side of the app that is responsible for launching the processes and data storage. The most common backend technologies are .NET, Java, Python, Go.



Database: the core of your app where all the data is stored and processed. Some of the most common options include Oracle, MS SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL.



Cloud: not obligatory but many projects require work in the cloud. We recommend either AWS or Azure.




Note that this is a very general list and the final choice of technologies will depend solely on your project. You might want to use containerization or you might decide to implement Machine Learning or IoT - the number of possible options is nearly endless and all of them impact the final choice of the tech stack.



Do not 100% trust buzzwords



The software development industry never stays in one place and every year there are dozens (if not hundreds) of new tech trends emerging. It’s easy to get confused with all the buzzwords that you may constantly hear from the Internet and from your network and this is where one of the biggest pitfalls hides.



Speaking from experience, the popularity of a certain technology rarely equals its correspondence to your project. We have worked with clients who approached us with a certain technology in mind simply because they heard it was trending. But after research and estimation, it often turned out that trendy technologies were not a good fit for the project and it was a better option to go with well-tried ones.



What we want to say here is do not fall for buzzwords and consider multiple options when choosing a tech stack. Sure, a trendy technology may work well but if you have a serious and long-term project in mind, we recommend going with trusted and secure ones just to make sure everything will work well and as intended. 



Look at the availability of developers



When you choose a certain technology for your tech stack, one of the main things to check is the availability of software engineers. You need to check whether the community is big enough and whether you will be able to find enough skilled specialists to work on your project. The main issue with newly emerged technologies, for example, is that there are not enough experienced developers - which means, your project will either take too much time or will be too expensive.



Look at the maturity of technology



Check the maturity of technology: whether it offers enough functionality and whether it displays sufficient performance. As well, the more mature a technology is, the bigger community and support it offers. These factors become critical when working on long-term complex projects since you want to be 100% sure you’ll receive needed updates and support at any time.



Check for available ready solutions



It often happens that someone has already developed a project similar to yours and there are ready solutions available so you won’t have to develop certain features from scratch. Needless to say, this approach can save you a significant amount of time, finances, and resources.



Based on our own experience, chances are high that there is already a licensed or an open-source solution for a certain feature that you need so you can easily use it. An important thing to note here is that this ready solution should be written in the same language as your project so you can easily integrate this feature.



And if you need examples of ready solutions that can be reused, a login form is a very common one. Most login forms function the same way, so if you approach a software provider and request an application with a login form, you’ll most likely be offered a ready solution.



Keep security in mind



The more mature a technology is, the more secure it is due to regular updates and a big community that can quickly fix an issue or eliminate a detected vulnerability. On the contrary, young technologies may not have the needed level of security against possible threats and hence, their use may threaten the security of your application in general. This is especially important when choosing a tech stack for the backend part of the application since it stores and processes all the data, including sensitive information (and we don’t need to remind you how fatal data leaks may become).



Consider the synergy and compatibility of technologies



Peanut butter and jelly, Vans and skateboarding, .NET and SQL - you got the idea. There are many pairs of tools that work perfectly well together so if you choose a certain technology, check its compatibility with other tools (i.e. Java and Oracle) for better performance and faster development. 



Estimate optimization of costs and your budget



When you start a software project, you normally have a predefined budget that you use as a base to make choices on tech stack, team composition, etc. Hence, when choosing technologies for your application, consider the long-term costs and the possible options for optimizing them. Remember we talked about using ready solutions instead of creating ones from scratch? That’s just one example of how you can optimize costs related to the tech stack.



General tips and best practices



Above, we listed the main things to consider when choosing technologies for the project. So to wrap things up, here is a short list of general best practices and tips that are too specific to be discussed separately but too important to ignore:




Let your project architect make a choice of the database since there are too many specific factors to consider;



Remember that there are four main types of databases and each type is designed for a certain task (i.e. Vertica NoSQL is designed for reporting);



Approach cloud technologies carefully since there are many hidden rocks (i.e. price, load, compatibility with other technologies, performance);



If you need containerization, Kubernetes is great - but it’s too cumbersome and complex so we advise it for larger-scale projects;



If you have a mobile app in mind, dedicate some time to decide whether you want to go with native or cross-platform development.




And one more final piece of advice: always choose the tech stack together with the development team. Since your software provider most likely has faced similar projects in the past, it will be easier for him to evaluate your idea and offer the best and most efficient solution that would satisfy your requirements and facilitate the development process.

### Docker and Friends: Why You Need Container Technology on Your Projects

Ever since Docker entered the application deployment arena in 2013, it remains immensely popular. Yet, not all development teams use containers to package their applications, which is, charitably speaking, a bit surprising. Containerization offers several unbeatable advantages over traditional application deployment and we’ll walk you through all of them in this article.







Traditional approaches to application deployment



There are currently several approaches to traditional application deployment. Normally, it looks like this: you have a server with an installed operating system and use the CI/CD pipeline to deploy your application or product.



But depending on your infrastructure, your application may work on several servers or you might need to launch different application replicas at once. This is where the traditional deployment approach displays its peculiarities.



The main features of traditional deployment



Even though traditional deployment works well, there might always be a case when you need a bit more than it can offer. In addition, there are several additional risks that it brings to an application and these risks may cause a serious threat to the application’s security and performance in the future.



Isolation



Let’s look at the following example. We have one server and for some reason, we need to start two replicas of the same backend application on this server, with the application’s source code being stored on this server as well. Or we might decide that we want to have two separate environments on one server, which is a valid use case too.



Whatever option we decide to go with, we’ll face a problem. With traditional deployment, it’s difficult to start the same version of a backend application with the same parameters or the same environment variables on one server simply because the first application replica will occupy the server port. So if you need to start a second replica, you’ll have to change the server port and free it for the second replica. This leads us to the issue of lack of isolation when application replicas cannot run on the same server.



Repeatability



If you run the next application version on a different server, chances are high that the environment of that other server will differ from the initial one. The differences may come in such parameters as installed distribution packages, dependencies versions, or runtime engine versions. This lack of consistency in terms of an application’s environment may lead to issues in its further performance because it is very difficult (in most cases) to install two identical environments on one server.



Portability



Let’s assume that the server stops working at some point - your critically important application stops working too. If you don’t have backups, the recovery process from the server crush might take a significant amount of time during which one may encounter many errors, conflicts, and corresponding issues.



 Another scenario: your application has not been updated for a year and during this year, many things have changed (i.e. dependencies and frameworks that you used before are not supported and updated anymore). Now imagine that you need to roll back to the initial version of the app and to the same parameters that it had a year ago. In this case, the recovery process becomes especially painful since some tools might become outdated and you won’t be able to work with them anymore.



Resource control



The application consumes a certain amount of resources upon and after the launch process. The quantity of consumed resources is limited by the server on which the application works. And here is where the bottleneck hides: the excessive amount of consumed resources may lead to certain consequences, such as memory leaks since the application won’t be able to efficiently cope with the load.



If we take this example further, suppose that we have several applications working on one server and a memory leak happened in one of the applications. This leak may cause the risk of stopping all applications (and even all system components) on the server. 



Most programming languages and their frameworks have mechanisms that allow stopping unwanted behavior (i.e. excessive resource consumption) to a certain extent but not everyone really takes full care of that. So it goes without saying that one has to set up monitoring and alerts for unwanted behaviors but you’ll need a dedicated and experienced specialist to perform these set-ups. 



Security



Upon the application launch, there is always a certain user who performs the launch. This user has a certain number of rights on the server and, depending on these rights, he can send different signals to the operating system’s kernel. 



But in most cases, the user does not need to have so many rights. So to enhance the security of the application and prevent vulnerabilities and risks, you should configure user rights in such a way that the user has only those rights that allow to start an application and ensure it works as intended.



But what if you have hundreds of servers and need to configure user rights for each? In this case, automation is your best friend but you’ll need an experienced specialist and a certain amount of time for that.



Containers: a new approach to application deployment



Now that we are clear that a traditional application deployment process has certain flaws, a question arises: what is a suitable alternative? The answer is containers.



A container is an executable unit of software that packages up the application’s code and creates an isolated environment for an application to run. Containers allow apps to run anywhere, from laptop to cloud, and that’s one of their biggest advantages. Examples of containerization solutions include Docker, Podman, containerd, LXC, LCD, Kata Containers, and rkt (which is now closed).



An important thing to remember here is the difference between containers and virtual machines. When you run a container, it runs on top of your operating system’s kernel and contains only an application (or applications) and certain APIs and services that function in the user mode. A virtual machine, in turn, runs a complete OS with its kernel and in this way, provides better isolation than a container which may be needed in certain use cases.



How containers fix the application deployment issues



Due to their nature, containers are able to resolve the issues with application deployment that we mentioned above. Here is how they do it.



Isolation



As we already stated, containerization allows you to launch an application (or several applications) in a container that is isolated from the server’s operating system. This isolation uses the namespaces feature to launch an application and in this way, server ports, for example, won’t intersect, especially if you decide to launch two application versions at once. All you have to do is launch two same containers that are by default isolated from each other and from the main OS.



Repeatability



Every container always functions based on a certain distributive image. A developer usually installs the needed packages and dependencies within this distributive. All these operations form the state of your application for a specific time period and this state is called an image. This method of creating an image resolves the issue of repetition. That means it doesn’t matter how much time has passed or what happened to an application - we can always roll back to the initial state of the application and the application’s source code, correspondingly.



Portability



Since the image reflects the state of the application in a certain time period, it also resolves the portability issue. That means that regardless of the server that we used to run the application in a container, it will work the same in spite of installed packages and dependencies on a server.



Unique resource control



Another advantage of containerization is that it allows controlling the resources for each application via a single interface through the mechanism of the operating system’s kernel that’s called cgroups. This mechanism allows detecting the number of consumed resources that is expected from the application and we can configure the resource consumption limits so the application does not exceed them.



The cgroups feature solves the abovementioned problem with memory leaks and their consequences due to resource control. But you’ll need to carefully configure the resource consumption so you won’t end up with reduced application performance and keep it within stated limits instead. One more important thing to notice is that containerization does not create an overhead on using resources on the server since its mechanisms use the operating system’s kernel.



Security



Isolation limits the number of capabilities that we can send to the operating system's kernel. By default, the excessive number of capabilities is limited due to security reasons (fewer user rights = fewer chances for an error to occur). But if your application does not need some of the capabilities, there is always an option to drop a capability to the container. Therefore a superuser on the server does not equal a superuser in the container.



Since containerization offers a single interface for managing containers on one local or remote server in one moment of time, this interface must be protected as well as possible.



Summing up



As you can see, containerization not only facilitates the process of application deployment but brings an additional security layer to your project. The main challenge is how to manage and orchestrate containers properly - and we’ll talk about that in our next article (and yes, there will be lots of talk about Kubernetes!)

### IoT in Smart Cities: Are We There Yet?

The concept of smart cities is nothing new, but it’s been the last several years since we started seeing its full realization. As the Internet of Things has become more of a commodity than an innovation, cities across the world have become more tech-focused. As a result, we are already seeing such examples as Dubai, Oslo, New York, or Amsterdam using IoT technology to benefit its residents. 



While the smart city concept has not yet been realized to a 100%, there is already some significant progress to observe. So why does IoT in smart cities matter? Here is what we have to say.







What is a smart city?



First, let’s define what a smart city exactly is. While there is no universal definition, we can say that a smart city is an urban area that uses technology to promote sustainable development. A smart city also uses technology to collect the data and uses this data to provide a better quality of government services and improve the welfare of its residents. Let’s look at an example to make things clearer.



Say, there is a city equipped with sensors to enable smart lighting. By collecting data with sensors, operators can better understand when lights can be dimmed, when there is a need for them to be brighter (based on occupancy and weather conditions), and what hours are best to turn them on and off. In this way, the government can significantly reduce street lighting costs by adjusting the lighting to the current conditions. And that’s just one example of using technology within a smart city concept.



If you need examples of real cities that already took a step towards being IoT-smart, they are:




Tokyo, Japan: energy-efficient building codes, real-time sensors and cameras for traffic monitoring;



Oslo, Norway: smart energy and waste management;



New York, USA: automated water meters, smart sensors for traffic management.




And many others, actually. And now that we are clear on what a smart city is, we need to look at its cornerstone - the Internet of Things.



IoT in smart cities: how do they work together?



Let’s quickly recap everything we know so far about the Internet of Things in order to understand the role of IoT in smart cities and why it fits the smart city concept so well.



The Internet of Things is an interconnected system of devices that communicate with each other via embedded sensors. The main idea behind this technology is to collect the data in real-time, send it to the server, and use this data to gain valuable insights. An example is a wearable device that collects your health data and sends it to an app which, in turn, is able to predict your condition and provide useful recommendations.



Now, let’s get back to the smart city IoT. The most common use cases of using IoT for smart city are:




Sensors: lighting, humidity, temperature, motion;



Video surveillance: monitoring of street occupancy and traffic and enhanced safety in terms of reduced street crimes.




We will look at the examples in more detail below and for now, let’s look at the reasons why smart cities should be implemented more actively and why they will become common in the nearest future.



The benefits of using IoT in smart cities



If everything seems to be functioning just fine, the question is: why do governments really need to bother with implementing an IoT system into their cities? Here are the biggest reasons:




Contribution to environmental sustainability: by better managing energy consumption due to constant monitoring, it becomes possible to significantly reduce emissions;



Optimized infrastructure management: the use of IoT helps better manage maintenance works, understand traffic flows in critical areas, and improve their safety via real-time monitoring.



Better traffic management: intelligent monitoring helps improve traffic flow, street occupancy, and hence level of residential satisfaction with the traffic functioning.



Increased public security: due to smart video surveillance, IoT allows to significantly reduce criminal activity and potential threats;



Optimized transportation: IoT helps better plan transportation routes and improve traffic flows, thus greatly reducing congestions. 




As you see, the use of IoT for smart city brings several tangible and significant results that directly impact the welfare of residents. And while it’s challenging to implement an IoT system on all levels, cities can already take minor steps towards becoming smarter. 



IoT applications in smart cities



Finally, it’s time to talk about the main cornerstones that form an IoT smart city. We can define three main areas of IoT applications in smart cities: public utilities, transportation, and residential services.



Public utilities



Public utilities cover a wide range of services provided to city residents, from lighting to waste collection. But to remain within the IoT area, there are five main categories:




Lighting: as already mentioned, the Internet of Things for smart cities allows smarter control of street lighting depending on weather conditions and street occupancy. This, in turn, leads to a reduction of lighting costs and the adoption of lighting to the real needs of citizens.



Household energy consumption: includes water, electricity, and gas. Same as with lighting, constant monitoring allows for better energy distribution and may help decrease the bills.



Waste collection and disposal: sensors can indicate when waste bins are full so community services can more accurately manage the vehicle load and arrive only when containers are full.



Infrastructure monitoring and maintenance: IoT offers such options as preventative maintenance, predictive maintenance, and instant notifications for community services to timely react to any malfunctions in the water supply or heating network.



Internet access in public areas: another important aspect of a smart city is access to the Internet in major residential areas.




Transportation



In terms of using IoT in smart cities, transportation covers both traffic and management of municipal vehicle fleets. In addition to the abovementioned fleet management and fuel consumption, here are other IoT use cases related to public transportation:




Dynamic traffic modeling: helps prevent congestion and ensures a sufficient level of traffic load.



Management of municipal vehicles: one of the most critical issues for a city government is the efficient management of municipal vehicle fleets. With sensors and video surveillance, it becomes much easier to come up with optimal routes, provide preventative maintenance, and manage fuel consumption.



Management of parking spaces: contributes to better road traffic capacity.



Connected public transport: by enhancing public transport with Internet access and tracking device, it becomes possible to decrease the waiting time for the passengers and increase the level of satisfaction among citizens.



Automatic surveillance: helps track not only the overall traffic movement but timely detect any violations and issues, allowing community services to react immediately.




Residential services



As if the abovementioned points are not good enough, there is one more example of smart city using IoT that needs to be mentioned. Residential services encompass the overall care that the government is ready to provide to the citizens and it includes:




Emergency services: IoT enables emergency teams to timely react to signals received from sensors and thus improve the quality of services.



Public security: IoT can enhance public safety with face recognition and video surveillance technologies, thus reducing the number of street crimes.




SoftTeco’s contribution to smart cities development



Throughout our experience in the IT industry, we’ve come across several projects that fit within the smart city concept. Since all these projects were based on IoT technology, every time it was an exciting challenge for us and we can gladly state that we delivered the expected results and made a contribution to the smart city development.



C2 Smart Light



C2 Smart Light is a project that we worked on together with our Finnish client. The client offers smart lighting control solutions to be used in a city (i.e. city councils, stadiums) and requested SoftTeco to update the existing system and add new features to it.



The final result is an IoT municipal street light management software. The solution allows operators to remotely turn the lights on and off, control the dimming level, monitor the status of lights in terms of predictive maintenance, and make automatic adjustments of the light intensity based on the current weather conditions. In this way, C2 Smart Light helps its users better manage energy consumption and reduce costs of public illumination.



CarSleep



Another interesting project that we worked on is CarSleep, which allows users to search for parking spaces and pay for them via their mobile devices. The application has a built-in map and uses GPS to help find the nearest available parking lot. As well, the app has a built-in payment system so users don’t have to search for a meter or kiosk but they can purchase a subscription instead. In this way, CarSleep falls within the residential services category and fits well within the concept of using IoT in smart cities.

### Working With an IT Vendor: Where to Find and How to Select a Reliable Provider

We are starting a new series of articles dedicated to IT vendor management. We know that this question remains critical for many business owners and, as a software provider, we understand the main concerns that a client might face when making a decision. 



The first article in this series will walk you through the process of finding, shortlisting, and selecting an IT vendor to work on your software project. We hope you’ll find this information useful and it will help you make an informed decision.







Where to look for IT vendors?



In order to shortlist vendors, you’ll need to find them first and, contrary to a common misconception, it’s not simple. You’ll need to dedicate a certain amount of time and effort to go through available options and make sure that selected vendors align with your business goals and required standards. Here is a quick checklist that might help you.



Do not just Google them



Of course, it’s tempting to type “best US IT companies” and enjoy search results but this approach has several flaws.



First, chances are high you’ll come across companies that got on top because of investing too much in the advertisement. While there is nothing wrong with self-advertisement, you can never be sure about the quality of services in this case since advertising is the primary reason behind the company’s top position.



Second, google search is great for gathering general information - but you’ll want a bit more expertise and reliability in case of choosing an IT vendor. This leads us to the next point.



Check recommendations platforms



There are many recommendation platforms like iTRate, Tech Behemoths, Tech Reviewer, or Selected Firms that provide a detailed overview of software development companies based on the feedback collected from real clients. These platforms also sort companies by their areas of focus (i.e. web development, mobile development, IoT) so it’s easy to go through the selected list and see which companies have the best scores.



Ask your network for recommendations



Last but not least is the word of mouth aka personal recommendations from your network. We highly advise addressing your business partners or colleagues and asking them about their own experience with different IT vendors. In this way, you’ll be able to learn about possible hidden rocks, little things to pay attention to, and the level of trust towards a specific company.





Looking for a reliable IT partner?



Choose SoftTeco to harness advanced technology, optimize workflows, and turn your long-term goals into reality with confidence.




Let’s talk






Screening process: how to shortlist IT vendors



Now that you know how and where to look for software providers, it’s time to talk about the selection criteria. We provide these recommendations based on our own experience of working with international clients from different domains and we hope they will help you as well. As a result of the screening process, you will most likely have a shortlist consisting of 3-5 companies to choose from.



Clearly define your goals and prepare a comprehensive project description



Before selecting the vendors, you’ll have to do a bit of a preliminary job aka defining your business goals and preparing a detailed project description. You’ll use this information as a reference to see whether a company corresponds to your requirements and can efficiently meet them. Plus, a company needs to know what you have in mind and what kind of project you need so a project description is an absolute must.



Check out Clutch for reviews



If you want to go into more detail about the company’s projects and methods of work, Clutch is a great place to find them. In addition to ratings, Clutch also posts detailed reviews from the clients that usually describe how a company works, the pros and cons of its approach, transparency of communication, and other factors that might impact your decision. As well, these reviews often describe projects so you can immediately see whether a company has experience in the needed domain.



Look at the vendor’s size



One of the factors that you need to look at is the size of the vendor’s company. We highly recommend going for a company that equals yours in terms of size and here is why.



If an IT vendor is much smaller than you, chances are high they won’t be able to provide a sufficient level of services, won’t be able to scale up, and they might simply lack the needed resources. If a vendor is much bigger than you, they might put you at the bottom of their list and assign “low priority” to your project. Hence, try looking for a vendor with a team size similar to yours.



Pay attention to vendor’s location



When it comes to software development, a vendor’s location actually plays a big role. First of all, it’s the question of timezone and convenience of mutual work. If a vendor is in the same timezone as you are, it will be much easier to communicate and close any appearing gaps. Second, you’ll want your vendor’s team to sufficiently speak the language of choice (in most cases, English) - once again, it’s important to keep up transparent communication and avoid misunderstandings. There is also such thing as the compatibility of mentality: if you and your vendor have opposite (polar) mentalities, it may cause communication issues.



A vendor’s location also plays an important role if you plan to take frequent business trips to meet the team and discuss the project in person. If a flight takes only a few hours and you can arrange a meeting with the team at any convenient time, it instantly takes communication to the next level. 



Why do we pay so much attention to communication? Simply because the efficiency of communication directly impacts how well a team will understand your vision and requirements. This, in turn, will impact whether a project will be delivered within set deadlines and in correspondence with your expectations.



Look at the price tiers of different vendors



Another factor that helps choose an IT vendor is a price tier. You’ll have to decide what’s the most comfortable price range for you and whether vendors within this range provide sufficient quality of services or you need to look at a different tier.



As well, we recommend not focusing on one price tier only but selecting two and comparing the quality of provided services. When it comes to software development, it’s often safer to go with a more expensive option since the provider sets up high rates for a valid reason. Also, the price range will depend on the following factors:




Vendor’s location: different countries have drastically different rates;



Tech stack: a company may focus on technologies that are way too niche and you don’t really need them;



Services included in a rate: examples are QA/PM hours. 




Check vendor’s expertise, tech stack, and business domain



Last but not least - check how well an IT vendor suits you by the following criteria:




Experience within the needed business domain: does the vendor know the specificity of the industry and what will be the best solution?



Tech stack: does the vendor work with the technologies that you want to see in your project?



Portfolio: has the vendor already worked on similar projects and how successful were they?




It’s always a big advantage if a vendor already has experience with projects similar to yours. First, it might mean that a vendor already has several ready components that can be used for your project (for the sake of development speed). Second, it means that a vendor can provide additional business value by advising on the best way to realize your idea or implement certain features.



The presale stage: selecting a perfect vendor



You will now be entering the presale stage where lots of communication will be happening. Let us walk you through its main stages.



Get in touch and introduce yourself



The first obvious step you’ll need to take is getting in touch with vendors and introducing yourself and your project. You can get in touch by email or by phone call (or by any other preferred method of communication). Be prepared to talk about your business and your project - here is where project description comes in handy. In order to propose the best solution, a vendor needs to understand what your business goals are and what exactly you need so project introduction is critical at this stage.



Observe how the communication process goes



We’ve already stated that communication is the cornerstone of IT vendor management. It’s critical for successful project development as it helps avoid missed deadlines and a wrong understanding of project requirements. Hence, when communicating with a vendor, pay attention to how the communication goes: whether it’s transparent enough, whether it’s comfortable for you and whether a vendor clearly expresses his ideas and thoughts. 



Request recommendations from past clients



If possible, it’s highly recommended to request references from the vendor’s past clients and talk to them about their experience of working with this vendor. In this way, you’ll learn about the way a vendor approaches software projects, possible hidden rocks, flaws, and other important things that should be considered in advance.



Check the company’s current status



An important thing to look at is the current status of the vendor in terms of:




Retention rate



Financial status



Legal disputes




Let us elaborate on these indicators a bit.



Retention rate indicates the percentage of employees who remain in a company for a long period of time. Naturally, a low retention rate indicates that employees are satisfied with working conditions which, in turn, means that an employer is interested in retaining employees and business partners for a long period of time.



Financial status shows how well a company is doing and whether there is any risk of bankruptcy. It goes without saying that it’s not advisable to start a mutual project with an unreliable vendor.



Last but not least - check whether the company is going through any legal disputes. This will also save you from lots of issues and risks in the future and will add to the vendor’s trustworthiness.



Ask questions to learn about the company’s interests and best practices



In order to ensure smooth collaboration, you not only need to introduce yourself - but you also need to ask questions to learn more about the vendor. Ask how a company prefers to work with its clients (what does the working process look like?), what best practices the company follows in terms of its partnerships, and what their perfect client looks like. 



As well, it’s always an advantage when a Project Manager or a Business Analyst (or both)from the vendor’s side are present during the meetings. These specialists are usually responsible for analyzing the project, gathering and clarifying requirements, and ensuring that both sides (the client and the team) understand each other. From their side, a PM or a BA can tell you about the company and its methods of work in detail, walk you through the future development process, and answer any questions related to the project (i.e. budget, deadlines, or technical aspects). 




 


Expert Opinion



The process of choosing an IT vendor hides lots of significant nuances. For example, certain countries are well known for certain expertise: Eastern Europe is the home of brilliant engineers-mathematicians. Some clients look for specific requirements, i.e. a team has to speak in their native language. And for companies within a specific industry like finances, it might be challenging to hire an international vendor due to local regulations regarding sensitive data processing, management, and storage.



Therefore, a client first has to analyze all these factors and only then begin the process of shortlisting potential IT vendors. A software provider also has to understand all these things in order to be versatile and provide the needed quality of services without sacrificing a single client’s requirement.





Head of Sales at SoftTeco



Maksim Delendik






 




Summing up



Let’s quickly brush up on the main things to remember when selecting an IT vendor:




Try collecting recommendations from your network and vendors’ past clients plus check reputable recommendations platforms;



Define your business goals and prepare a detailed project description in advance to present it to vendors;



Check if a vendor matches your needs in terms of experience, tech stack, business domain, and past projects;



Pay great attention to communication and see whether it’s transparent and clear enough.




We hope our checklist will help you make a decision and select the right business partner. In our next article, we’ll talk about the preliminary work that has to be done before starting a project so make sure to sign up for our newsletter so you don't miss any blog updates on IT vendor management!

### What Are Top 5 Cybersecurity Threats for 2022 and How to Prevent Them?

The issue of cybersecurity is as acute as ever and even the tiniest vulnerability may lead to disastrous financial losses for a company. While pilfered user credentials were the most common cause for the data breach in 2021, there are several other critical cybersecurity threats that must be addressed in 2022 and onwards. This article lists the top 5 threats to watch out for and the most efficient ways to deal with them. And as a bonus, we also included OWASP Top 10 for 2022 so make sure to read till the end.







The state of cybersecurity in 2022



In order to predict the state of cybersecurity in 2022, we need to look back at 2021 and see how things were going back then. Spoiler: not so good.



The 2021 year saw the highest average cost of a data breach in 17 years which was US$4.24 million, according to the IBM report. Another beaten record was the amount of ransomware fee demanded by the Sadinokibi ransomware when it comprised Kaseya: the amount was US$70 million.  



As for the most popular and biggest cybersecurity threats, they include ransomware, trojans, cryptocurrency investment scams, and phishing. If you need some numbers, phishing was the reason for 36% of the breaches that happened in 2021, and pilfered user credentials caused 20% of the breaches.



All in all, as companies try to reinforce their software, hackers apply equal effort to hack and compromise it. So before listing down ways how one can enhance and improve their cybersecurity environment, it’s important to understand the biggest threats that we face today.



Top 5 cyber security threats for 2022 (and how to prevent them)



Below are the most common and important cybersecurity threats that cause major headaches to companies across the globe. Note that the list is not full and includes only five threats - but there are many more than that to watch out for. We, therefore, recommend thoroughly checking your current cybersecurity environment to ensure it’s well-protected against possible attacks.



Ransomware



Ransomware is considered the biggest cybersecurity threat and costs companies billions of dollars annually. This type of malware encrypts the victim’s files (usually, databases) and the attacker then demands a fee to be paid in order to give access to files back. 



And to make things worse, not only is ransomware the biggest threat in 2022 - there is a new form of it that seems to be gaining immense traction. We are talking about triple extortion ransomware. In order to understand it, we need to talk about double extortion first.



Originally, ransomware works as follows: an attacker encrypts the data and demands a ransom fee from the company that owns this data. As a response to such attacks, companies started making backups and training their employees on cybersecurity so hackers came up with double extortion ransomware. This means, not only your data gets encrypted - hackers also threaten to leak it. 



Things don’t stop here though: we are now seeing tripe extortion ransomware. In addition to data encryption and exfiltration, there is also a threat of DDoS attacks in case a victim decides to go silent and avoid payment.



How to prevent ransomware:




Make sure you have a reliable and updated antivirus installed;



Use only authorized software and apps;



Verify all third-party services;



In case of ransomware, isolate infected devices;



Notify the IT security team immediately.




DDoS



Now that we’ve mentioned DDoS, it’s time to talk about it in more detail. A distributed denial-of-service attack is aimed at disrupting the work of a service or website by overflooding it with traffic. As a result, a service stops working and an attacker may even request money to stop the attack.



According to the Kaspersky report, the Q3 of 2021saw two new types of DDoS attacks. The first type targets “middleboxes” - security devices located between a client and a server. Examples of these middleboxes are firewalls, NATs, load balancers, or DPI tools. The second type targets any network device and as a result, an attack can take down not only individual servers but the entire network.



How to prevent a DDoS attack:




Create a DDoS response plan;



Get server redundancy (i.e. try switching to multiple distributed servers);



Have many layers of network security;



Monitor network traffic and try adding more bandwidth;



Limit network broadcasting between your devices.








Phishing



Phishing is another incredibly common form of malware when an attacker tries to obtain sensitive information by acting as a legitimate enquirer. This most often comes in a form of a malicious email that contains a link - and once a user clicks on that link, the sensitive data gets disclosed immediately.



Same as with other cybersecurity threats, phishing does not stand in one place and constantly evolves, adapting to companies' security measures. For example, attackers now deploy machine learning to create more advanced and convincing emails and to increase the chances of victims interacting with them. There is also such thing as spear phishing and whaling: spear phishing is aimed at a particular individual and whaling is aimed at a C-level executive (or a person in a similar position).



How to prevent phishing:




Install anti-phishing add-ons to your browser;



Do not disclose information to unsecured sites;



Learn about what phishing may look like;



Install all released updates and security patches.




MITM



A MITM attack stands for “man-in-the-middle” and implies that an attacker inserts himself between the sender and the receiver of the information. The main goal of the MITM attack is to steal sensitive information (i.e. user credentials) by eavesdropping on the conversation. 



There are several types of MITM attacks:




Email hijacking;



Online session hijacking;



Wi-Fi eavesdropping; 



IP spoofing;



DNS spoofing.




While not the most common, MITM attacks still pose a threat so this threat should not be overlooked.



How to prevent MITM:




Ensure the security of access points;



Consider using VPNs for sensitive data;



Ensure secure internet connections;



Deploy multi-factor authentication;



Secure your emails with SSL/TLS.




Trojans



Last but not least is well-known trojans - a type of malware disguised as legitimate software. While it’s often called a Trojan virus, the name is not quite correct. Viruses can execute themselves while a Trojan can’t and needs a user to execute it. But however you call it, a Trojan is something that can cause serious damage to your system.



There are many types of Trojans, including:




Backdoor Trojans;



Exploits;



Rootkit;



Banking Trojans;



DDoS Trojans;



Trojan-Ransom;



Trojan IM.




And the list goes on. As for its actions, Trojans can disable an antivirus, download malware, or act as part of the DDoS attack. 



How to prevent Trojans:




Download software only from trusted reputable sources;



Always install all required updates;



Never open any emails or messages from an untrusted source;



Install a strong antivirus.




OWASP Top 10 for 2021



Now that we’ve talked about the main cyber threats, we also need to talk about the most critical security risks. The list is assembled by OWASP - a non-profit foundation that is aimed at improving software security. Every three to four years, the Open Web Application Security Project publishes a document with the biggest web application security risks and provides recommendations on their prevention. You can read the document in detail on the official website - meanwhile, here is a Top 10 list of 2021:




Broken access control: users get access outside their permissions which may lead to unauthorized information disclosure.



Cryptographic failures: this risk covers all failures related to cryptography and leads to exposure of sensitive data as a result.



Injection: indicates a high risk of injection aka an untrusted input into the system.



Insecure design: OWASP stresses the importance of threat modeling, implementation of secure design patterns, and reference architectures.



Security misconfigurations: this risk became more critical with years due to the overall shift towards highly configurable software.



Outdated and vulnerable components: this category covers the issue of developers not paying enough attention to the system components and not updating them regularly. 



Identification and authentication failures: covers failures related to confirmation of one’s identity, authentication, and session management.



Software and data integrity failures: focuses on code and infrastructure that allow integrity violations and stresses out the necessity of integrity validation.



Security logging and monitoring failures: without proper logging and monitoring, it’s challenging to spot active breaches so these procedures have to be consistent and regular.



Server-side request forgery: issues with SSRF happen when an app fetches a remote resource without validating the URL supplied by the user. Developers can prevent this issue from both network and application layers.




For each risk, OWASP provides a pretty good prevention checklist. In addition, you can check out our article on secure coding best practices that provides a comprehensive guide on enhancing your security environment and your system.



Summing up



We can endlessly talk about the importance of cybersecurity and the possible risks that even the smallest vulnerabilities can bring. It is important to understand that security applies to everyone and that all team members should follow corresponding security guidelines. Hence, as the first step towards better security, incorporate security training and ensure everyone understands and follows the core best practices.

### SoftTeco Is Listed as The Number One Custom Software Development Company in Belarus by iTRate

SoftTeco is glad to announce that our company was listed as the number one custom software development company in Belarus by the iTRate organization. 







The iTRate platform collects feedback from the clients of international companies, analyzes the companies’ profiles, and, based on the collected data, assembles detailed guides on choosing the most suitable software provider in accordance with one’s needs. The platform offers extensive search through various technologies and serves as a reliable resource for finding a trustworthy business partner.



The listing of SoftTeco as the leading custom software development company in Belarus displayed a high level of trust from our clients and their acknowledgment of our work. We are grateful for this recognition and we will continue to provide the highest quality of services in full correspondence with our clients’ business needs. 

### Should You Really Switch to Day.js From Moment.js?

In recent years, many frontend developers began to look at alternatives for Moment.js, one of the most well-known and most used JavaScript libraries. The reason for the transition is simple: despite its rich functionality, Moment.js has several issues that significantly impact the app’s performance. And today, the most popular alternative to Moment.js is Day.js which surpassed date-fns on GitHub by stars (46,2k Day.js stars vs 37,7k date-fns stars).



So what’s with Day.js and can it really replace Moment.js in your project? Let’s try figuring it out.







Moment.js overview



Moment.js is an open-source time and date JavaScript library. It’s used for manipulating, parsing, validating, and displaying time and data in a human-readable format. A great thing about Moment.js is that it works both in the browser (installation via the script method) and in Node.js (installation via npm). And being the most popular time and date library, Moment.js supports all standard date formats, all standard time zones, relative time, and locales.



So what exactly does Moment.js do? Its biggest features are:




Parsing: available in string, object, or array.



Validation: you can check whether the date is valid or not by using the isValid() method.



Manipulation: Moment.js offers multiple methods for data manipulation, such as startoftime and endoftime, subtract, add, local, etc.



Display: you can display a date in different formats needed.



Internationalization: date and time are displayed based on the locale. 



Customization: you can customize created locales, like changing their abbreviations or customizing months' names.




Moment.js pros and cons



As you can see from its features, Moment.js allows you advanced date and time manipulation and is overall a convenient and efficient tool. But since we’ll compare it with the Day.js library, it’s important to look at Moment.js pros and cons in order to better understand the reasons behind its popularity and downfall.



Moment.js pros:




Rich and simple APIs;



Multi-platform compatibility;



Advanced date/time formatting;



Display of localized dates.




Moment.js cons:




Does not work with tree-shaking: results in huge bundle size and causes performance issues.



Heavy: its minified weight is 67,9Kb.



Has a mutability issue and causes bugs.



Has a complex OOP API.




As you can see, there are certain flaws in the otherwise great functionality of Moment.js. Now, let’s look at its alternative aka Day.js, and see what’s so special about it.



Day.js overview



There is not much to say about Day.js after discussing Moment.js since these two libraries are really similar. Day.js was created as a lightweight alternative to Moment.js but apart from its small size (2kb zipped), Day.js has almost the same functionality. It also works in the browser and in Node.js (the installation methods are the same as ones of Moment.js) and it has pretty good APIs. 



In general, Day.js is minimalistic, efficient, and high-performing. And one more advantage: if you already worked with Moment.js, you’ll easily understand Day.js so the learning curve is not steep at all. As for the features, Day.js shares the same ones with Moment.js: parsing, validation, manipulation, customization, etc. 



Day.js pros and cons



So is Day.js completely perfect or does it have any hidden rocks? Spoiler: it does.



Day.js pros:




High speed of performance.



Small size: only 2kb zipped.



Extensive data manipulation.



Can be included as a JS script from a CDN or a local file.



Immutable: helps prevent bugs and avoid lengthy debugging.



Internationalization: Day.js offers support for I18n.




Day.js cons:




Is less feature-rich than Moment.js 




So should you replace Moment.js with Day.js?



Overall, yes, you should if you want better app performance and better security. Below, our frontend developer Alexander Gvozd, shares his opinion and explains why the transition is needed.



Reasons why MomentJS is (almost) dead



“I have been working extensively with both libraries and, starting from 2020, I decided to completely replace MomentJS with DayJS on all the projects that I develop and support. There are many reasons for this, and one of the most significant ones is the big size of the MomentJS library. In comparison, the size of DayJS is about 2kb vs 60kb for MomentJS. Think about it: MomentJS weights 30 times more! And if my own experience is not enough, think about the following: even Chrome Dev Tools started showing recommendations for replacing MomentJS because of its size.



The second reason is the need for constant updates of the tools that developers use in their work. The goal of any software developer is to create easy and fast apps and we always strive for maximal optimization. We need to constantly update our libraries and frameworks to the latest versions to ensure the good performance of software products and to maintain their security. What does it have to do with MomentJS? Let me explain.



In 2020, the MomentJS development team announced the end of development and the transition of the project to the maintenance mode. That means, the team stopped the expansion of functionality, froze the API, and limited its activity to fixing critical errors. This is another important reason why we need to switch to DayJS. 



In addition, there are also such issues with MomentJS as its low performance, complex API, problematic debugging, no support for "tree shaking" (cutting unused code to reduce the size of a web application), and obviously the end of support for the library.



Reasons why DayJS is loved by the JS community



First, DayJS now has almost the same methods for working with dates as MomentJS. For example, there was an issue with the lack of support for internationalization in DayJS. The issue is fixed now and DayJS supports time zone via the Internationalization API in supported environments. 



Second, by using a native API, no extra bytes of timezone data need to be included in the code bundle. The development of DayJS corresponds to modern programming standards:  for instance, the latest changes in the DayJS repository date back to the current month, which indicates that its development and support are ongoing. In addition, anyone who has previously used MomentJS will have no issues with switching to DayJS which is another advantage.



Summing up



Despite its efficiency and rich functionality, Moment.js is becoming an outdated library with a lack of support from the development team. So as much as you might enjoy using it, now it’s probably the best time to consider migrating to Day.js and benefiting from its speed, quality of performance, and robust security. In addition, Day.js is rapidly expanding its functionality so we may assume that in some time, it will surpass Moment.js and will become the number one library for working with date and time.

### Recommended Secure Coding Practices to Safeguard Your Software

When it comes to cybersecurity, it's always less expensive and more efficient to implement security from the start. One of the best ways to do so is by introducing and maintaining a secure coding culture. Secure coding means developers take responsibility for the security of the code to prevent it from threat agents and malicious attacks.



While there are many secure coding practices to get acquainted with, in this article, we've collected the most common ones recommended by OWASP and CERT - let's get started.







The undeniable importance of secure coding 



"I get a window from a glass - he must get a window from a glass. I get a step, he must get a step. I get a clock radio, he cannot afford. Great success!"



Silly as it sounds, but this movie quote quite accurately represents the conflict between software developers and hackers. Due to technological advancement, we get more powerful tools to secure the software - but at the same time, hackers get more powerful hacking tools. Hence, one of the cornerstones of cybersecurity is taking preventative measures to proact rather than react to a threat.



Secure coding allows you to create robust and secure software from the start by following security considerations towards coding and encryption. This approach significantly reduces the chances of a data breach and helps mitigate and even prevent attacks. And that means you won't be facing colossal financial damage in case even a tiny bit of the data gets stolen or lost.



If you need some numbers, IBM rolled out a report that states the cost of a data breach rose from $3.86 million to $4.24 million in 2021. This number is the highest average cost in 17 years - and there is no guarantee that it won't be rising. And let's not forget the disastrous data dump by Facebook that happened in April 2021 and resulted in publishing online the data of 550+ million Facebook users.



The issue of cybersecurity is as acute as ever these days, and secure coding is one of the ways to manage it. So what does it mean and where to start? First, let's have a look at the available secure coding standards.



Where do I obtain secure coding standards and principles?



The good news is that you won't have to come up with your own standards because they are already there. The bad news is that there is quite a lot of information to research and process, but it's an obligatory step if you care about the security of your work.



There are several organizations that issue internationally applicable security standards. Below, we will cover the most well-known ones.



OWASP



OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) is a non-profit foundation that functions through hundreds of local chapters and involves software developers worldwide to improve software security. In addition to providing developers with security guidelines and strategies, OWASP also releases its annual OWASP Top 10: a research paper that contains the most critical cybersecurity risks for a given year. 



CERT CC



CERT Coordination Center is another non-profit organization that focuses on secure coding. The organization has its coding standards known as CERT, and a broad community of developers helps develop these standards. Note: the CERT coding standards support C, Java, and C++, so double-check whether these standards apply to other languages.



ISO 27001



ISO 27001 is an international standard for information security. The standard is issued by ISO, an International Organization for Standardization, and is one of the many standards that the organization provides to IT companies and businesses worldwide. A company can also become ISO certified (within the selected domain, i.e., quality management or security). This certification will serve as a valid indication that the company follows international standards and strives to provide the highest quality of services to its clients.



You can check the official documentation of these organizations to see the recommended secure coding standards in full. But for the sake of time and efficiency, we will cover the main secure coding practices below in a nutshell.



OWASP secure coding practices



OWASP provides a detailed checklist on secure coding that every IT company should consider following in its official guide. The checklist is divided into different sections, and each section addresses specific risks and vulnerabilities:




Input validation: you need to identify all data sources and classify them as trusted or untrusted. You should validate all data coming from untrusted sources.



Output encoding: all encoding should be performed on a trusted system, and all data outputs must be encoded. As well, all outputs should be sanitized.



Authentication and password management: authentication should be present for all pages and resources, and you need to use solid and robust authentication controls. As for passwords, all of them need to be complex, temporary passwords need to have a short expiration time, and multi-factor authentication should be used.



Session management: session activity should be thoroughly controlled, so expired sessions terminate completely and every new session starts with a unique identifier.



Access control: consider establishing a "deny by default" approach, meaning access is denied by default, and only users with permissions can get access. 



Cryptographic practices: you need to implement all cryptographic functions on a trusted system, and master secrets should be protected from unauthorized access.



Error handling and logging: error responses must not disclose any sensitive information, error handlers should not display debugging, and everything happening in the system should be logged for further analysis.



Data protection: establish a "least privilege" approach, meaning users can perform only limited processes needed to complete a task. Also, it's recommended to disable the autocomplete feature and remove unnecessary application and system documentation. 



System configuration: the whole system needs to be regularly updated and run on the latest approved versions of its components. 




Please note that this is not a complete checklist, and each section contains more steps than listed above. For more information, please see the official OWASP documentation on secure coding.



CERT secure coding practices



We'd also like to list a few recommendations by CERT here. Even though most of them correlate with the ones by OWASP, there are still some extra practices that are worth considering.




Keep the design simple and follow the KISS approach ("keep it simple, stupid"). The thing is, complex design means there is a higher chance of making an error or missing out on a vulnerability. In this way, small and simple design is much easier to manage and monitor.



Apply multiple defensive strategies, so you have several layers of defense. 



Use effective QA techniques. While QA does not fall into the coding domain, continuous testing may significantly prevent attacks and detect errors at early development stages.



Pay attention to compiler warnings and compile your code by using the highest warning level available.








Tips on implementing secure coding



While the secure coding implementation will vary for every business, there are a few general tips that we can give to anyone who wants to pay closer attention to security. Note that this is not a complete checklist, and you will have to develop your unique strategy depending on the current state of your team and project infrastructure.



Establish security culture



The first thing to take care of when implementing security is establishing a security culture within your organization. This implies educating your team and internal and external stakeholders on security and providing corresponding training for all parties involved. You'll also need to build threat models and create detailed plans on risk management, so you know exactly how to act in case a threat occurs. 



The general steps towards building a security culture within an organization are:




Start with the C-suite: executives of a company are the first people who need to understand the importance of cyber security and become willing to implement it on all levels.



Analyze your stakeholder communities: since security belongs to anyone, it is important to understand what each stakeholder community needs, how it behaves, and what needs to be changed.



Implement rewards into security training: people may be warned off by excessive security training so try making it engaging and rewarding (i.e. employees can get tangible rewards for reporting a detected phish).



Invest in efficient security tools: if you are not yet using security tools, it’s high time to start. Also, develop security talent within your organization and assign a security champion to help people with security training.



Consider introducing SSDLC: secure software development lifecycle that we’ll talk about below.




Implement SSDLC



SSDLC stands for Secure Software Development Lifecycle and implies injecting security into every standard software development lifecycle stage. In this way, security is addressed not after the product is developed but at the very early stages, starting from requirements gathering.



The implementation of SSDLC requires a shift of mind as most developers are used to specific work patterns, and it might be challenging to switch to another way of work. It is also important to mention that SSDLC implementation does not mean you won't have to perform your regular security checks - both practices go hand in hand.



Use effective security controls



Security controls in terms of cybersecurity are processes that you establish to protect yourself from vulnerabilities and attacks. To enhance security within your organization, you need to regularly validate the effectiveness of these controls and ensure they provide the required level of defense.



Summing up



Secure coding is a highly efficient way to maintain a proper level of security within your company and ensure that every step of the development process is safeguarded from threats. While it might not be easy to implement secure coding from scratch, the results will be highly rewarding, so it makes sense to consider what steps you can take now to build a robust security culture in the future.

### Will Future Phones Dream of Electric Sheep in 2040?

When I was ten years old, my mom would let me play a game on her brick-like Nokia. The game was simple: I had to move the rolling ball by clicking on buttons and I had to get the ball to the right spot. I remember I was mortified when I accidentally clicked the wrong button and sent the phone to sleeping mode. At that moment, I thought I forever destroyed it as the screen went all black.



We’ve come a long way with phones since the 2000ies. I don’t think my ten-year-old self would be able to comprehend the fact that I can catch Pokemon with AR and in my own neighborhood. But when it comes to predicting what a future phone will be like in twenty years, it’s actually quite real because we can rely on existing technology and the way it progresses. So let’s enjoy ourselves and indulge in making a few predictions on the state of future mobile phones in 2040 and further.







Star Trek, Dick Tracy, and more



Smartphones, as we know them now, were a big element of sci-fi pop culture back in the 1960ies. The first example that comes to mind is the flip phone that Leonard Nimoy’s character was using in Star Trek. So when Martin Cooper from Motorola introduced its first famous flip phone (that happened in the early 1970ies), many people immediately jumped to the conclusion that his invention was inspired by Star Trek. 



Cooper, however, denied that and stated that he had been thinking about the concept of the flip phone way before Star Trek portrayed it on the screen. Cooper also said that if he were to choose a pop culture piece to bring to life, it would be the wristwatch communicator (hello, Apple Watch and Wear OS!) that a comics hero Dick Tracy used. 



That brings us to the following point: we might already witness certain pop culture elements that might soon come to life, including smartphones. A great example is the movie “She”, where smart personal assistants were not only assisting but, in fact, making independent decisions and actually acting like human beings in terms of thinking and processing thoughts and emotions.



Technological advancement = smartphone advancement



The first big reason why smartphones are evolving so much is because of technological evolution. We became confident enough with AR and VR and we immediately came up with several ways to incorporate these technologies into smartphones and in our daily lives. GPS is now a core part of any smartphone and don’t even get me started on Bluetooth and 4G.



You can easily track how the progress of technology invokes new smartphone functionality. But for now, the technology is at the plateau and we don’t see strongly marked peaks of its progress. Instead, it develops in a steady and gradual manner so for now, there are no breakthroughs in smartphone development either. Sure, if we were to compare smartphones in 2010 and 2040, there would be many clear and impressive differences. But in my honest opinion, smartphones in 2030 will not differ much from the ones we use now though they will surely become more advanced and probably more ML-equipped.



Why Machine Learning? Because this technology powers lots of functions these days and is the heart of smart assistants. Hence, as ML gains traction and becomes more accurate, so will future mobile phones. We already have tiny Machine Learning - and that might be the base for a future phone.



Now, the next question is: what else impacts the evolution of smartphones in addition to technological advancement? The answer is, actually, we.



“Siri, book me a ticket”



On one hand, we would be perfectly okay with our phones being able to send and receive calls and messages only. On the other hand, it’s tempting to have a single device that combines entertainment, management of finances, taxi ordering, and many other functions that we can perform with a single tap. Therefore, one of the biggest factors that drive the development of smartphones is our laziness as well as short attention span and desire to spend as little time on certain activities as possible. This, combined with tech innovations, results in our smartphones being the center point of our lives and activities - and we might soon see smartphones evolving into Jarvis-like systems.



The future with Jarvis-like assistants is not so far away, actually. If you remember Iron Man movies, Tony Stark would use Jarvis for a great variety of activities: information search, modeling, managing home devices. And considering the fact that smart homes have become somewhat a new reality, it seems only natural that Jarvis-like systems will become common in twenty years or so.  



The biggest bottleneck with developing our own Jarvis is the state of NLP (natural language processing) today. For now, its capabilities are not enough and data scientists experiment with various deep learning approaches to obtain the maximal accuracy of a machine understanding our speech. Once scientists tackle this issue, our phones will be one step closer to bringing us to Tony Stark (or any other superhero of your choice).



Synchronous translation in real-time



When talking about the progress of NLP, we can make the following prediction: what if the real-time synchronous translation will become a new way of communication? Imagine if there are two people speaking two different languages - but they can communicate freely because their devices not only recognize the speech but convert it into a suitable language. Sure, we have dictionaries and translators but we still need to wait for translation before replying to a person. So hopefully, the NLP development will reshape the way people from different countries communicate and it will erase the language barriers - if not completely, then partially, at least.



With great power, comes great responsibility



There are actually several pretty solid predictions on the possible state of smartphones ten years from now. They include foldables, the reborn of smart glasses and modulars, interconnectivity, ambient computing, and even cameras below the display. All this will be possible on the condition that a future phone becomes more powerful as loading them with fancy technologies will require much more computational power than they have now. But will it be ethical to provide smart devices with massive amounts of personal data? Guess we might know it only after trying.



Bonus: predictions from Eugene Suzko, SoftTeco’s Marketing Manager



It’s always exciting to make predictions about new technologies, considering how they have become the core part of our lives. To spice things up a bit, SoftTeco’s marketing manager Eugene offered his thoughts on the future of smartphones - and it’s worth checking out!



Crazy smartphone designs and shapes



Smartphone design adapts to our lifestyle and needs, and you can easily track this by looking at old phone models and comparing them to modern devices. Screens became bigger, modern design allows for easier grip, and etc. So future mobile phones will most likely be designed to better fit into our everyday routines.



By that, I mean earphones, triangular phones, or even morph phones that can be turned into a wrist band, if needed. So instead of staying in one shape, a future phone will be transforming into the ones we need the most at a specific time. 



Powerful technologies that will turn the impossible into reality



We all know that the capabilities of modern smartphones depend on modern technologies. So it’s logical to assume that if technology takes one step forward, smartphones will follow.



If I were to draw some predictions, they’d include:




More powerful CPUs (and therefore, more powerful apps);



Quantum batteries (I mean, why not?);



Battery charge from the air (or from sunlight, or from another natural source);



Projection screens.




You can actually go on and on here because there is plenty of room for imagination when talking about technology development. However, I think these predictions are the ones most likely to happen simply because they are based on the existing technologies.



New and unexpected uses for smartphones



Okay, so we all know that the primary use cases for smartphones are messengers, entertainment, and assistance with our routines (i.e. Uber or food delivery apps). But since smartphones play such a big part in our lives, I believe it’s safe to predict that the list of their use cases will significantly expand in the near future.



First, I believe a future phone will become a central point of storing all our personal data and it will be efficiently used as our ID. Second, I think more and more financial operations will shift to mobile and e-wallets will very soon replace traditional wallets. In fact, all our life will reside in a single device - maybe we can even call it a digital copy of our identity?

### A Payroll Management System: Why It’s an Absolute Must and How It Works

While it seems perfectly natural to automate the process of payroll management, some companies still rely on legacy software or, God forbid, paper documentation only. But considering all payroll aspects to keep in mind (with taxes being in the first place), a payroll software system can really save the day and take your processes to a whole new level. In this article, we explain what is a payroll software system, what makes it great, and how it works.







What is a payroll system and why is it beneficial for any company?



A payroll management system is a specific piece of software that is designed to handle the payroll management in your company, automate certain processes, and keep all information in one place. Needless to say, this system brings a lot of convenience to your workflow because it eliminates a great amount of manual work and takes full care of the processes related to payroll management. Let’s quickly glance at its biggest benefits.



Automation 



The first undeniable benefit of a payroll management system is the automation of mundane manual tasks. For example, instead of manually calculating one’s wage, you simply make a few clicks and the system automatically calculates taxes, deductions, and bonuses.



Many payroll systems are equipped with time and attendance trackers which allows for easy calculation of wages. But even if this feature is not present, most systems can be integrated with the tracking system of your choice and deliver the same result. 



High accuracy



When it comes to numbers, it’s easy to make an error, especially if you manually calculate salaries for 100+ employees. But if your system is automated, it independently performs all calculations without the need for human intervention. Such an approach greatly reduces the possibility of an error, improves the speed and accuracy of calculations and reports.



Employees’ satisfaction



Every business owner knows that employees are the heart of any company and it's their motivation and involvement that impacts the company’s development. And what’s the best way to lose their loyalty and trust? The answer is to mess with their salaries.



A payroll management system helps prevent issues of such sort and ensures everyone gets paid on the stated date and with a stated amount. It brings stability to your workflow and contributes to improving employees’ satisfaction and trust towards you as a business owner. No need to say their satisfaction serves as a strong motivational factor that, in turn, positively impacts their productivity.



Correct processing of taxes 



Tax calculation can be incredibly mundane, especially when the taxes change and when you need to calculate several taxes at once. Luckily, some payroll systems automatically update the tax amounts so your payroll calculations are always in correspondence with current tax laws. But even if your system cannot update this information independently, you can always change it yourself and let the system do the rest in terms of calculating the gross and net salary amounts.



How does a payroll management system work?



Payroll software sounds awesome so by now, you might have a question: how does it actually work? While all systems will differ by functionality and specific regional requirements towards taxes, we can list the basic steps of setting up such a system.



The setup



In order to perform all calculations correctly, the system needs information - and you’ll be responsible for filling it in. Unfortunately, this stage is probably the most cumbersome and mundane but it’s obligatory if you don’t want to face any issues later.



You will need to fill in the following information:




Information about the company;



Information about employees (bio, position, etc.);



Information about payrolls;



Any other relevant information (i.e. taxes).




Please note that it’s a very basic list of the possible required information and it will heavily depend on the country where your business operates.



The pay run



Once the system has all the needed information, it can start processing it in order to correctly calculate salaries. The main processes that happen at this stage usually include the transfer of money into employees’ accounts, the actual calculation of taxes and their deduction from salaries, calculation of paid vacations and sick leaves. As well, during this stage, the system also generates reports for employees. These reports state how much time was tracked and how the salary was calculated. 



The best part about the pay run management in a specialized system is its automation. You won’t have to perform any manual calculations and all you have to do is double-check the results and approve them.



Maintenance and support



Though the payroll management system is automated and does not need human intervention to function properly, you’ll still need to keep an eye on it and introduce needed changes. They usually include:




Adding or removing employees and their data;



Implementing changes for taxes;



Updating payroll information.




Such updates are usually the responsibility of your accounting department (in-house or outsourced). As well, the accounting department is responsible for managing the system and checking the accuracy of delivered results.



Top features to look for in a payroll system



Because of country-specific regulations, the functionality of a payroll management system will differ for businesses from different countries. However, there is a set of core features that is universal for any payroll management system:




Automatic calculation of wages and budget;



Time and attendance tracking;



Taxes calculation;



Management of additional finances;



Report generation;



Integration possibilities;



Direct deposit.




It is important that the chosen system can be easily integrated with other software that you are currently using if you want to ensure smooth and accurate information exchange between the systems. And obviously, your top priority should be country-specific features, such as certain taxes relevant to the location of your business. 



Conclusion



A payroll software system is an undeniable advantage and quite a must-have for any company. While it’s up to you whether to go for a readymade or custom solution, any option that you choose will bring more clarity and organization into your processes - and hence, will contribute to improving the overall productivity. 

### Why Small and Midsize Businesses Need to Adopt Cybersecurity Strategies Before It’s Too Late

A week ago, the Internet was shaken with the Log4j vulnerability and companies started reconsidering their cybersecurity strategies. The issue became especially acute for small and middle-sized businesses since they often overlook the need to invest in the security strategy. But in modern reality, when the pandemic has opened new opportunities for hackers, it is a must to embrace cybersecurity. Without further ado, let’s get started.







The disaster behind the Log4j vulnerability



On December 9, it was announced that a critical vulnerability was found in Log4j - a widely used open-source logging framework by Apache. Log4j basically allows you to keep logs within the app and, as one Reddit user stated, “this framework had only one job to do”. Yet, here we are: with Log4j being open to attacks by even novice hackers. All that a hacker needs to do is send a worm in Log4j and it will be logged by the system. The hacker can then remotely execute code and thus gets access to all logs (as well as control over the system).



So why is it so bad? Simply because there is an astonishing number of services that use Log4j and the list includes Steam, Minecraft, and Apple iCloud. Of course, big companies are doing their best to quickly patch the vulnerability and roll out some safety measures. But since many big companies use legacy code, it slows the patching down significantly. 



As for small companies, they have troubles with Log4j vulnerability as well. Due to their size, such companies often lack the resources needed to roll out a security patch and thus they are at a big risk too. And even though small companies and startups have become a lot more flexible and tech-oriented than years ago, there are still some security mistakes that many business owners fall for.



Why small and midsized businesses are risking their security right now



Cybersecurity has always been a vital issue for any online business so why focus on small and midsized businesses? There are actually several reasons why these business types are at risk today and statistics only prove it. The Kaspersky report states that the number of small businesses that suffered data breaches rose from 30% to 36% in 2021; for small to medium-sized businesses, the number of breaches rose from 46% to 48% in 2021. 



As for the reasons, the report lists down the following:




28% of businesses who had a data breach do not have appropriate IT solutions to enable suitable security measures;



28% do not have in-house IT expertise;



25% use security software products that are for home use only.




Let’s talk a bit more about why small and midsized companies do not take their security seriously enough and what are the underlying reasons behind the certain decisions that business owners make.



Reason 1: the pandemic



It’s no surprise that the pandemic severely impacted all businesses and forced business owners to rapidly change their habits in order to adapt to the new environment. Naturally, the biggest concern for owners of small businesses was to keep their clients and stay afloat. So they invested heavily in improving their operations, enhanced their online presence, and simply tried to cut costs wherever it seemed possible. No wonder security concerns took a back seat: for many businesses, a cybersecurity strategy was either too expensive or seemed not so important. 



But after some time, this ignorance towards cybersecurity stroke back as hackers proved to be as active as ever since the pandemic started. And as the number of cyber-attacks keeps growing, businesses really need to focus their attention on security.



Reason 2: no in-house expertise



As Kaspersky stated, many small and midsized businesses lack in-house IT expertise, especially when it comes to security. There is simply no one to tell a business owner what can be done and what is done wrong. So instead of preventing data breaches, such businesses deal with the aftermath and often have no clue about how to improve. 



Reason 3: no security culture



Since many business owners overlook the importance of cybersecurity measures, there is no security culture in such companies. That means employees are not educated on the security basics and can easily make a mistake that would cost a company a great deal of money if a data breach happens.



How to improve your security without going over the top: a list of strategies



If you have not adopted cybersecurity strategies in the past, you can still fix the situation without excessive spendings. Below, we list down the most suitable security strategies for small and midsized businesses that can help you make your business safer without too much headache.



Employee training and security culture



The first thing that you can do to adopt a cybersecurity strategy is implement the security culture and employee training in your company. The possible actions that you can take include:




Inform your employees to use strong passwords and adhere to the practices of secure Internet use;



Enroll employees in cybersecurity management courses;



Implement guidelines for proper management of sensitive data;



Secure all devices that your employees use, from laptops to mobile devices;



Hold regular employee trainings on security best practices;



Deploy a firewall of choice;



Always use officially licensed software.




You can start with small things, such as replacing your antivirus home edition for the enterprise version or strengthening the passwords that employees use. By taking one step at a time, you will make great progress with your security in the future so don’t pressure yourself over enabling all possible security measures at once.



Continuous monitoring of sketchy behavior



Another thing that can greatly help with your security is the monitoring of abnormal online behavior that, in most cases, indicates a hacker attack. If it sounds too complex, don’t worry - there are plenty of endpoint detection and response tools (EDR security) out there that will automatically do the job. Of course, you’ll need to assign several specialists to operate these tools and report about the detected issues but it’s not as cumbersome as it might seem.



Expect a breach and prepare for it



It’s better to proact than react - hence, get used to constantly expecting a security breach. Now, we don’t mean to go into paranoid mode here - what we are saying is to stay alert. It may happen that a human error causes a security breach or your business might become the target of a hacking attempt. For all the possible scenarios, create an action plan on how to quickly recover from the breaches (and prevent them) and make sure all employees follow it.



Implement regular software updates



We can’t stress enough how important regular software updates are. They help patch the existing vulnerabilities, fix minor issues, and enhance the software. Therefore, it is vital to regularly roll out software updates to keep your business safe. If you are using third-party tools, it becomes a bit easier as providers automatically provide updates without the need for you to interfere.



And don’t forget to switch to enterprise software versions if you haven’t already - versions for home use are not enough at all.



Protect the network access



A network often happens to be one of the most vulnerable areas when it comes to security so make sure to implement the core security measures to it:




Deploy firewalls;



Deploy a secure router;



Use secure keys and enhance user authentication;



Use encryption;



Use WPA2;



Disable the DHCP or minimize the number of IPs assigned to it;



Update router firmware.




These are the core security measures to take for any enterprise and they should help you boost your security significantly. And obviously, secure all devices that your company uses and pay specific attention to the end-point protection.



Final word



When it comes to cybersecurity strategy, there are many things that can fail you so it’s important to establish 360-degree security monitoring and management. It might require quite a bit of resource and time to set up proper security measures but it’s an absolute necessity if you don’t want to risk losing sensitive data and paying millions of dollars for one tiny mistake.

### What Does CMS Stand For and How to Choose a Perfect One?

A content management system known as CMS is the heart of any website as it helps deliver content to end-users. If you need an example, think of Salesforce - one of the most popular CMS systems out there. But in recent years, Salesforce has gained quite a few competitors. So how does a website owner choose from a vast array of available solutions and pick the perfect CMS? This article aims to help you out with that.







Why do you need a CMS? 



As we already said, a CMS is a great and easy way to manage a website. With CMS, you can create, modify, and manage content and the way it will be delivered and displayed to users. A great example is WordPress: it offers rich functionality to design your website as you like it, starting from templates and ending with fonts. So basically, with only a few clicks (or drag-and-drops), you can change the layout of your page or add a design element to it.



In addition to managing the look of your website, CMS allows you to do the following:




Schedule the content if you need frequent publishing;



Update your website faster than with manual coding (it does not apply to all updates, though);



Enhance the security with built-in security features;



Improve your SEO with built-in SEO features;



Bring together all related stakeholders (IT, Sales, Marketing) and make collaboration transparent.




As you see, the use of CMS makes life a bit easier for you and allows your team to work together without any inconveniences and bottlenecks. Examples of CMS tools are Hubspot, Salesforce, and WordPress, but there are many more options available, and all of them differ by type, the purpose of use, and hosting.



The many types of CMS systems



Since there are so many different types of businesses, it's natural that there are also many types of CMS to suit various business purposes. We will now look at CMS classification by their purpose of use, by hosting, and by development - this should help you get a good idea of what your business needs.



CMS types by the purpose of use



CMS solutions are designed to serve a particular business goal, so the first way to classify them is by their purpose of use. There are several types of CMS:




CCMS (Component Content Management System)



DMS (Document Management System)



ECM (Enterprise Management System)



WCMS (Web Content Management System)



DAM (Digital Asset Management System).




Let’s break each acronym down.



Component Content Management System is designed with maximal content reuse in mind. It stores all content (or components like images or paragraphs) in a single repository for granular content management, and all components are stored only once. The main benefits of CCMS are reusability and traceability. Plus, you can efficiently distribute content across multiple channels.



Document Management System is what it sounds like: it helps manage all your documents in different formats. Such systems are usually highly automated and are often hosted in a cloud. 



Like DMS, Enterprise Management System also helps manage the enterprise's documentation and content. An interesting feature of this system is that it deletes files that are no longer needed after some time. In this way, EMS helps you manage the storage costs efficiently.



Web Content Management System is best for managing the digital content of your website. Unlike other CMS types, WCMS is specifically designed for web content and provides all needed tools.



Finally, Digital Asset Management System is similar to WCMS but is more of a digital content library. It serves as a central repository and allows different users to access it and view and manage content.



CMS types by hosting



Next, we have different types of hosting for your CMS. There are three main options:




On-premise



Cloud



SaaS




Now, how do you choose between these options? Here are the pros and cons of each.



On-premise CMS



This CMS is hosted on your server (or third-party server) after you buy the license. The CMS provider is responsible for its maintenance and updates, while you will be responsible for hosting and security. 



Pros of on-premise hosting:




Complete control over the infrastructure and the environment;



Better security since you are the one controlling it.




Cons of on-premise hosting:




High cost of hosting;



Possible issues with scalability;



Long time for deployment.




Cloud CMS



Cloud CMS solutions have gained popularity due to their ease of hosting, flexibility, and performance. Cloud CMS is hosted in the cloud where you lease the hosting space. You will have to install it by yourself after buying the license.



Pros of cloud hosting:




High flexibility and scalability;



Affordable costs compared to on-premise hosting.




Cons of cloud hosting:




Hosting fee.




SaaS CMS



SaaS is another popular CMS concept that implies you do not install or host anything but pay the license fee and use the readymade software. The provider takes care of everything (i.e., maintenance, updates, hosting) but security may be a risk area since you do not control it and have to rely on the provider.



Pros of SaaS CMS:




No need for maintenance, update, or hosting;



Pay-as-you-go pricing model;



Rich functionality;



High scalability.




Cons of SaaS CMS:




Low customization options;



Possible security issues;



Dependence on the provider in terms of support.




CMS types by development method



Finally, let’s talk about two CMS types by development: readymade and custom solutions.



A readymade (or stock) CMS is a solution already designed and is out there in the market. All you have to do is pay the licensing fee, decide on the hosting if needed, and you are good to go. A custom solution is designed from scratch and uniquely for your business needs. 



So which one might be a better option?



The biggest advantage of a readymade solution is its availability. You don't need to spend time on development and release - it's here and waiting for you to use it. As well, with readymade solutions you don’t have to worry about maintenance and sudden bugs coming out of nowhere - a provider takes full care of such issues. However, stock CMS solutions might lack functionality, especially if you need specific features. This flaw leads us to custom development.



Some people claim that custom development takes too much time and is too expensive. However, stock solutions may have hidden costs that will reveal themselves only after some time. Custom solutions are perfect for businesses with unique requirements as they are designed specifically for fitting them. Plus, with custom development, you get extra attention to security and updates since you are in complete control of them.



Now, it's not yet time to decide which CMS solution would be perfect for you. We also want to talk about the most critical functions to look for and about the main considerations that might impact your decision in the long run. Ready? Let's continue.



Main features to look for in an efficient CMS



Even though you will probably need several specific features uniquely for your website, there is still core functionality universal for any good CMS. It normally includes:




Content creation and management (obviously!): the process should be user-friendly and easy, so users don't spend too much time figuring how to edit text or add an image.



Customizable user administration: for better security and content management, a good CMS offers different user roles and different levels of access to content.



Built-in security: most CMS systems come with built-in security features. This helps keep your data protected and prevents the majority of threats.



Multichannel delivery: for many companies, it is important to deliver their content to multiple channels, so most CMS platforms provide this option.



Efficient workflow and publishing controls: CMS systems are here to make our lives easier, not add a challenge to the current work. A CMS facilitates and streamlines the content management workflow and offers advanced publishing features.



Versioning for rollbacks: a helpful feature that allows you to quickly roll back to the previous version of the website/page if something goes wrong.




Of course, these are not all features present in a good CMS, but it's safe to say that they are the core ones.



Things to consider when choosing a CMS 



Functionality and CMS types are not the only determining factors for selecting the right solution. Several considerations often come unexpectedly if the business owner is unaware of them. So we list them down to help you navigate through possible bottlenecks.



Pricing



When talking about the possible CMS pricing, there might be some hidden costs that many people tend to ignore. They often include:




Hosting price if you go with on-premise CMS;



Customization costs;



Updates;



Re-platforming (unless you work with SaaS);



Licensing fees in the long run (will they be better than custom development, for example?).




Such things often go unnoticed but tend to pile up after some time. Therefore, when selecting a CMS platform, first define your budget and then compare available CMS options against this budget, including long-run spendings. In this way, there will not be any unexpected costs showing up out of nowhere.



Scalability



In most cases, a website tends to get bigger, requires more content to manage, and may even grow into multiple websites. The question is whether your platform can support several websites, how well it can handle the amount of content, and can you add more features without crashing the website?



Scalability is often among the top priorities for many website owners. As the business grows, so does the website. So a CMS platform needs to handle this growth efficiently. 



Security



The primary purpose of any CMS is content management, and content includes sensitive data. It's your primary concern to keep this data safe. For that,  your CMS should be equipped with solid security features.



Of course, you'll have to throw in additional security features, especially if you are the one doing hosting and maintenance. But usually, most CMS platforms have such features as two-step authentication, firewalls, and different user permissions. Plus, all plugins and third-party tools have to be updated regularly as regular updates significantly enhance security.



Integration options



Another critical aspect is the possibility of integrating the CMS system with third-party services and other platforms in use. In addition to CMS, most companies also operate a CRM, ERP, a customer support service, email marketing, and other platforms. So for the content to be timely updated, properly collected, and well-managed, it is important to keep all platforms integrated.



Steps for choosing a CMS platform



Now that you know about the main things to consider when choosing between available CMS options, it’s time to outline the actual process of selecting one. 



Identify your stakeholders



In most cases, a CMS platform is used by different departments, like Marketing, Sales, and IT. For everyone to be content and productive, a platform has to satisfy all users - so step number one is defining all users who will have access to the CMS. 



Of course, their opinions might differ, so it's important to find common ground and the best alternative that would satisfy most needs. Without knowing who the platform users will be, it's easy to make the wrong choice and end up with a low-value solution.



Note: don’t forget that your choice of a CMS will heavily depend on the type of your business. Whether you have an e-commerce store or a news portal, research the best options for this specific field and then proceed to identify stakeholders. 



Identify business goals



It seems obvious, yet some business owners still fall into the trap of choosing the wrong solution to their business problem. Before selecting a CMS, list down all challenges you currently face and how you want to resolve them. You will need to outline tangible goals, like "I would like to automate content collection" or "I need to speed up the process of blog posting 2X". With clear goals in front of you, it will be easy to see how CMS can help with reaching them.



Prioritize needed features



Since many CMS platforms have ridiculously rich functionality, it's easy to go over the top. But remember that the number of features does not equal excellent performance or delivery of needed results. Thus you will need to go through available options and list high priority, medium priority, and low priority features. 



By doing so, you will see which features are 100% must-have and which ones can be dismissed. This list will help you decide without feeling like you are sacrificing quality for budget.



Assess available and needed resources



Lastly, before making the final choice, you'll need to go through available resources and outline the needed ones. Is your tech team knowledgeable enough to handle the CMS maintenance? Are your resources enough to ensure 100% security of the system? Such questions help determine how exactly a CMS needs to be managed and what you need for that. We recommend outlining the process of CMS implementation from the start and writing down all necessary resources for each step. In this way, you'll see whether you need to do anything else before implementing a CMS platform.



Summary



Let’s quickly review everything we’ve talked about and summarize it in a checklist:




Set the budget;



Define the stakeholders and business goals;



Outline must-have features;



Create a mockup (if you develop your CMS from scratch);



Compare available solutions and their costs;



Check the integrations.




Of course, this is a very rough and very minimalistic checklist, but it gives you a good overview of the main things to do when choosing a CMS. And remember: it all depends on your goals and business, so the choice will differ for two businesses in the same industry.

### Specificity of Mobile App Testing: Things to Keep in Mind

Since a big part of our lives now revolves around mobile devices (interaction with people, food ordering, entertainment, and even business), mobile users have become highly sensitive to the performance of the apps they use. In case of a minor bug or malfunction, most users will uninstall the app and switch to the app’s competitors. Hence, mobile app testing is now as important as ever.



It comes with many challenges though. Because mobile devices are quite intricate, there is a lot to test: Bluetooth connections, built-in gyroscopes, how the app reacts to the orientation change, and many other things. In this article, we tried to cover the biggest “smallest” things to consider when performing 360-degree testing of a mobile application.



Mobile and non-mobile testing: the main differences



Mobile app testing is very different from testing other platforms simply because of the conditions under which a mobile app performs. If we take web testing, for example, you will have to check your app for browser and platform compatibility - but with mobile, the number of possible OS + platform combinations is much bigger. Let’s have a look at other major differences between non-mobile and mobile that are to be considered before planning your testing. For easier understanding, we will be comparing mobile app testing to website testing.



Capacity and storage



While some flagship models are becoming as powerful as PCs and laptops in terms of RAM, for most mobile devices, their capacity and storage are still very limited. Therefore, an app’s performance directly depends on the phone’s RAM, and cumbersome, feature-packed apps may not perform as intended. Another important thing to note is that a cross-platform app will perform differently on web and mobile devices (which some developers forget to consider).



Connection and connectivity



Web apps can’t work in an offline mode while mobile apps (well, some of them) can. Hence, when performing mobile app testing, you are not only testing online/offline modes but also different connectivity types (Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G, 5G), the performance of an app in case of lost connection, and what features are available in an offline mode.



Variety of platforms and devices



One of the distinctive features of mobile devices is their vast availability of OS versions, platforms, and devices. Sure, web apps have to be compatible with a number of platforms, but this number can hardly be compared to a number of possible mobile platforms and devices. 



While it’s relatively easy for iOS apps (since Apple promotes the unity of functionality and design), Android is a whole different story. The latest version of Android OS is Android 12 but there are many devices out there that support 11, 10, or even earlier versions. All that has to be considered when testing a mobile application.



User interaction



Users interact with mobile apps much more regularly than with web apps and all forms of interaction have to be kept in mind. Whether it’s multitasking, performing in-app operations (i.e. payments), using biometrics, or interacting with UI elements, every process has to be thoroughly tested. This is more complex than testing user interactions with web apps and requires slightly more attention and focus.



The similarities between web and mobile app testing: main testing types



It’s worth noting that the main testing types are the same for both web and mobile. They include:




Compatibility testing



Security testing



Performance testing



Load and stress testing



Functional testing



Internationalization and localization testing



Usability testing




Note though that every testing type (both for mobile and web) will have a set of specific things to test and monitor and there can be dozens of them. These things will also depend on whether an app interacts with smart devices, what kind of access it needs, and so on. This leads us to particular qualities of mobile devices to consider.



Special aspects of mobile devices to understand and remember



When you design an application for a mobile device, you need to remember that its performance can be impacted by things that are common for mobile devices. An example would be a phone call in the middle of your next CandyCrush level. In this case, you need to think about how an app would react to such an interruption. Below we listed the biggest aspects to pay attention to when talking about mobile.



Interruption testing



Apart from all their wonderful capabilities, smartphones are phones and phones tend to make and receive calls. Hence, it’s a common thing that you can receive a phone call unexpectedly - including moments when you browse an app like Pinterest or Tiktok.



Now, the worst-case scenario would be an app crashing but we don’t want that, do we? QA engineers and developers have to make sure an app pauses (i.e. pauses a video on TikTok) and does not shut down when you receive a phone call. This is one of the primary things to consider during testing.



Screen rotation



Another feature that’s common in most smartphones is automatic screen rotation. To be honest, we don’t expect it from a PC or a laptop but we do expect some apps to automatically adapt to a screen if we twist and turn it.



An app should continue working if the screen rotates and it should automatically roll back to its default size once we turn the screen back. This brings us to another challenge: the app should not lose in quality and performance when expanding.



Battery consumption



A critical aspect for most smartphone owners is the battery consumption of their devices. It’s a well-known fact that heavy and feature-loaded apps make the battery drain much faster than it normally would. 



The battery consumption depends on multiple factors. For instance, most apps these days use geopositioning to provide users with accurate or real-time data. However, the use of geopositioning equals increased battery consumption. Therefore, you need to test whether an app needs to use geopositioning and what permissions a user can configure for the app (use geopositioning once, all the time, or only when an app is running).



Another thing to test is how the app works in the background (i.e. sends and receives the data) and how that impacts the battery life. To test the battery consumption of an app, QA engineers first check the battery status before testing, then perform various actions within the app (i.e. location services enablement, data sync launch), and see how these actions impact the battery of the device.



Variety of screen sizes and resolutions



If you build an app for iOS, things remain relatively simple - but Android development is a whole new story. There is a huge variety of possible screen sizes and resolutions so before testing, you will need to list down all screen dimensions and resolutions that the app will support. You then test against those criteria to make sure your app performs equally well on all needed devices. This puts additional effort into testing as you will need to test an app on all intended devices and watch for the design to remain consistent.



Bluetooth and NFC interactions with other devices



One more important thing to remember about mobile devices is that they often use Bluetooth (or NFC) to interact with other devices. So if you design an app that’s intended to manage a third-party device via Bluetooth, you’ll need to test how well the interaction goes and what kind of issues might arise along the way.




 


Expert Opinion



Testing applications on mobile devices is a complex process that requires special knowledge, usage of numerous instruments, and understanding of different tricky aspects. Sometimes it is not possible to check some nuances even having a bunch of the devices in your hand and simulating some circumstances.



As an example, when we tested the integration flow between IVR and SIM-card dependent phone numbers of the customer, we had to use the person in that country, as otherwise, we could not test the full flow. Such things occur from time to time in international mobile projects.





Co-founder at SoftTeco



Alex






 



The intricacies of mobile app testing



While it’s common knowledge to test an app for security, network connectivity, and usability, sometimes developers tend to forget the small things that make a big difference. Let’s see the most common examples below.



Permissions



Developers overlook the permissions settings surprisingly frequently and that may lead to certain issues with the app use. Let us elaborate on this one.



A mobile application in general, be it iOS or Android, functions in a limited-access sandbox. So when an app needs the resources of your mobile device, it has to make a request aka “ask for permission”. Sure, you’ve seen it multiple times: you open a new app and it asks “Provide access to storage?” This is a great example of permissions settings.



Now, what can go wrong here at the mobile app testing stage? Simple: QA engineers may not test all combinations of permissions. As a result, the app will not be able to function properly as it won’t be able to take a crucial step. For example, if you are working with a messenger and test all its file-sharing functions, you might miss the access to the storage set to “no”. Resulting in the app not being able to perform to its fullest potential while all its functions seem to be working.



Another good example of permissions testing is from SoftTeco’s own testing experience. We once tested a native app and we opened a Web View in it. In general, a Web View is supposed to have access to the device’s camera and files but the app’s permissions were not set correctly. So the app crashed the moment we tried to launch the Web View.



File storage 



An app can store its files in internal storage, external storage, or cloud storage. So when downloading a new file, an app needs to be told where to store it. This is another area of mobile app testing that often gets overlooked.



There are several aspects of storage testing to consider:




How will an app act if the storage is full?



Where does the app store its files and how does it access them?



What are the right permissions for accessing app storage?



What are security measures needed to keep the files safe?




All these things are highly important as they directly impact the security of the sensitive information that an app processes. 



Sensors



Modern mobile apps make the best use of all features of a mobile device, including its sensors. An example would be playing Pokemon Go or racing games - by rotating the device, you get access to the special features of these apps, such as geolocation and different dimensions.



An average smartphone has the following sensors which can be used by third-party apps:




Accelerometer



Gyroscope



Magnetometer



Proximity Sensor



Barometer



Light Sensor.




While most of them are not critical for the functioning of an app, some of them are really important and need to be tested properly. It may also happen that an app is based on one or several sensors and if a sensor does not work properly, the whole app will shut down.



An example is an application developed by SoftTeco. The product is used by road engineers to calculate road roughness on the International Roughness Index (IRI) and it uses an accelerometer and gyroscope heavily. Needless to say, without the proper functioning of these sensors, an app would be useless as it won’t be able to perform its core functions.



Memory capacity



A separate mobile app testing type that needs to be mentioned is testing the app’s performance when the device’s memory is full. In this case, the system will provide a limited amount of memory to the app and this might lead to certain issues, like time-out errors or app crashes. A QA engineer must make sure an app does not stop functioning if the device’s memory is full and he should test all the possible options of data processing in such a case. 



Traffic speed



It often happens that QA engineers test an app at medium or high traffic speeds, calling it real-time conditions. Indeed, in reality, the app will most probably work with high traffic - but what if it slows down all of a sudden?



One of the most frequent mistakes that QA engineers make is forgetting to test the app at low speed, simulating slow traffic. This is needed to see how exactly the app will perform in such conditions and what possible issues might occur. Sometimes, an app performs great in normal conditions but displays horrible performance if the traffic slows down. This is unacceptable and should be taken into consideration during testing.



Conclusion



Mobile app testing can be rather challenging since there are so many intricacies to keep in mind. When testing a mobile app, we recommend taking your time and creating a detailed checklist that outlines the process. This will help ensure that nothing is missed and that the app won’t crash after an unexpected action from a user.   have any questions left, leave a comment below - we’ll gladly answer them.

### Main Steps for Creating an Efficient DevOps Pipeline

If you want to frequently and rapidly release new product versions without fearing bugs, performance inconsistencies, or other issues, you need to adopt DevOps. Assuming you are already familiar with this methodology, we won’t speak much about it - but we will explain how to build a DevOps pipeline instead. Curious to learn what exactly it is and how one designs it right? Scroll down and get ready to bring clarity and organization to your business.







The definition of a DevOps pipeline



A DevOps pipeline is a combination of tools and processes that helps an organization adopt DevOps and enables development and operations departments to work in unison. The main idea behind the DevOps pipeline is automating and streamlining the process of product development, from coding to deploying to a production environment. This is done through the development and Continuous Integration as well as continuous testing - we’ll talk more about it a bit later.



So how exactly does the DevOps pipeline help your business or projects? Here are the biggest benefits.



Faster delivery



The implementation of a DevOps pipeline resolves one of the biggest issues for many business owners: it enables faster delivery of software products. Because DevOps implies Сontinuous Integration and Сontinuous Delivery (CI/CD), you can go from monthly releases to weekly and even daily ones.



Reduction of possible risks



When your processes are not streamlined and closely monitored, there is always a higher risk of an error or bug sliding in. But with continuous testing and DevSecOps adoption, you significantly mitigate possible risks and greatly reduce any chances for them to occur.



Automation



One of the main ideas behind DevOps implementation is the automation of the majority of your current processes. In this way, you eliminate mundane manual work, minimize the chance for human error, and let the system do the work. As a result, many tasks are performed much faster and more accurately which greatly benefits the product delivery.



Extensive logging



While some may argue about extensive logs being a benefit, they actually are. When you create new products at a high velocity, you’ll want to closely observe the process in order to understand where mistakes are coming from (if they are). Hence, if you have extensive logs, it will be much easier for you to pinpoint the main cause behind an error and prevent it next time. And with proper CI/CD, extensive logs are created at every development stage so you won’t have to worry about that.



Now that you better understand why the implementation of a DevOps pipeline is so important, we can move on to the next section aka the main pipeline components.



Components of a DevOps pipeline



When talking about components of a DevOps pipeline, we mean the necessary processes that you will need to adopt. All these processes are equally important and altogether, they enable a proper DevOps implementation.



Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery



CI/CD is often called the cornerstone of DevOps and an essential element of a true digital transformation. Setting these loud words aside, what’s CI/CD exactly?



CI/CD stands for Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery. Continuous integration implies frequent commits to the main and shared repository. The process is accelerated by the fact that these small code chunks are automatically tested for bugs and hence, there is very little possibility of an error creeping in. 



Continuous delivery implies the automation of the delivery process and checking that the main part of an app is always ready for release and is bug-free. In other words, continuous delivery automates the transfer of all changes to production. These changes might be new features, configuration changes, or fixed bugs. 



Continuous testing



It would be impossible to frequently release new versions without proper testing. So it’s logical that continuous testing is another important component of a DevOps pipeline. 



The continuity of testing is achieved by its automation. As well, testing is performed at every stage of development. This approach also significantly minimizes the chances of bugs and errors occurring during the development.



Continuous deployment



There are two things to remember about continuous deployment before elaborating on it. First, it’s not the same as continuous delivery. Second, it’s not a must and mostly happens in unicorn businesses.



Continuous deployment means that your processes are automated to such an extent that all code updates go directly to the end-user without any manual intervention. There is a flip side of the coin here: if you have not detected a bug earlier, it would go unnoticed by the end-user and might crash the application. To avoid such an issue, you can add an automatic rollback feature to the CD process. It would not work so smoothly if the database is involved though. In this case, a rollback would not be enough and you will have to act depending on the project features.



Building a DevOps pipeline: main steps



It may seem like the implementation of a pipeline is too much trouble, especially if you are new to the concept of DevOps. Luckily, there are available tools in the market (we’ll talk about them a bit later) that will automate the majority of processes and will make your transition to DevOps easier and faster. For now, let’s focus on the main steps of building a robust DevOps pipeline.



Establish CI/CD with a specialized tool



The first step towards successful DevOps pipeline implementation is the establishment of the CI/CD process via a specialized tool. A CI/CD tool usually performs the following functions:




Supports app building;



Automates processes;



Automated testing;



Ties builds, tests, and releases in one workflow;



Issue tracking;



Logging;



Security;



Automated Rollback option.




The most popular CI/CD tools are Jenkins (which is an open-source CI automation server) and GitLab CI/CD. However, there are several good alternatives: GitHub Actions, Bitbucket Pipelines, CircleCi, Travis CI.



Select your source control environment



The next step is selecting a source control environment that you’ll integrate with your CI/CD tool. A source control environment such as Git allows you to avoid merge conflicts and create different app versions in one place. This tool also allows efficient collaboration as it stores your code in a shared repository so all developers can contribute and know where exactly the code is kept.



Set up a build server



A build server is a centralized environment that retrieves integrated code from the shared repository and serves as a point of integration for the developers. A build server allows ensuring that the code works as intended. You can refer to this part of the DevOps pipeline as a stage when the code is assembled altogether and is ready to be tested.



Perform automated tests



Once your code is ready, it’s time for automated tests. There are a number of tests that are performed at this stage: unit, integration, functional, regression, e2e. The good news is that developers will only have to select the corresponding action button in a specialized tool and the machine will do the rest. An example of a good automated testing tool is TestComplete. It has a Jenkins plugin and hence can work seamlessly with your Jenkins tool to prepare the product for deployment. One more benefit of tools like TestComplete is that they provide you with test history and transfer the results directly to Jenkins or another tool of choice.



Deploy stage



The final step in the DevOps pipeline creation is product deployment into production. Now, the easiest way to do it is to configure your build server to automatically deploy the app by running a script. A build server can do it either automatically or the process can be initiated by developers. 



Bonus: deployment strategies



Automatic deployment may be risky because you have to be 110% sure your code is error-free. Hence, a good way to secure yourself is to configure the build server to run the script only after all tests are performed and passed and to select a suitable deployment strategy. The DevOps methodology offers several deployment strategies to choose from and each will depend on your available resources.



Canary strategy



With a canary strategy, you roll out an update to a small user group in order to collect the metrics and decide whether the new feature works well or not. So while the old version of the app is still running, your Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) will use a load balancer to target individual user groups and allocate a certain amount of traffic to this group. This is a safe way to test the feature with real users and use feedback to quickly fix an issue (in case it is present).



Pros of canary deployment:




The flexibility of testing updates;



Fast rollback process;



Real traffic testing;



Zero downtime;



Affordable in case of limited infrastructure spendings.




Cons of canary deployment:




Long deployment cycle;



No targeted users.




Best for: when you have limited infrastructure resources but can’t afford downtime during an update.



Blue/Green deployment



This strategy implies placing an old version of an app as a backup while running a new version in parallel. In case any bug or error is spotted in a new version, the load balancer will instantly direct the traffic from the new version (Green) to the old one (Blue). In this way, the user experience remains unchanged and consistent. Note that both the old and the new versions remain available in the production environment which means high costs.



Pros of Blue/Green deployment:




Instant rollback;



Zero downtime.




Cons of Blue/Green deployment:




High infrastructure costs;



There may be issues with user experience.




Best for: when you can afford a large infrastructure setup, have a scalable infrastructure, cannot afford downtime, and your app environment can support two app versions at once.



Shadow deployment



In simple words, shadow deployment means running a dummy application (a “shadow” of the new version) in parallel with your old version. This is quite a complex deployment strategy as it requires running two app versions at the same time. On the other hand, this strategy provides highly accurate results due to testing in the real-world environment with real traffic without impact for the response.



Pros of shadow deployment:




High accuracy of testing;



Testing of real traffic in real-world conditions.




Cons of shadow deployment:




High infrastructure costs;



Complex setup;



Possible mocking of certain services.




Best for: when you can afford high infrastructure costs and want to test in real-world production.



A/B testing strategy



This deployment strategy implies testing a new feature with a specific and targeted user group (based on common parameters though). To do so, an SRE routes a subset of users to a new functionality under specific conditions. This strategy is more effective if combined with the Canary deployment.



Pros of A/B strategy:




Testing of multiple A/B tests in parallel;



Use of real-world statistical data;



Accurate testing of user behavior.




Cons of A/B strategy: 




Need for expensive and efficient load balancer;



The high complexity of setup.




Best for: when your databases and app environment can run two app versions at once and when you have full control over the traffic.



Summary



Setting up a DevOps pipeline is not as complex as it seems once you got your planning right. Also, make sure to assemble a strong team of DevOps engineers to help you along the way, and don’t forget that DevOps only works in case everyone on the team understands its principles and importance. Hence, dedicate some time to training and take one step at a time - and you will be rewarded with a smooth development process and a significantly improved quality of service.

### What Is PWA and Should You Build It in 2022?

When Google first announced the introduction of progressive web applications in 2015, it sounded like PWAs would soon become the hottest tech trend and might even replace mobile apps. And while PWAs are still here, they did not really bring any major transformation to the world of mobile applications throughout all these years. 



Yes, many big names such as Starbucks and Pinterest, switched to PWAs to deliver a better user experience. But should you really build a PWA in the upcoming 2022? In this article, we look at the state of progressive web applications in 2021, the main PWA trends 2022, and consider the possible shifts in this state for the future.







What is a PWA exactly?



A progressive web application is an application that is delivered through the web but brings a native-like experience to users. An idea behind PWA is simple: to create a cross-platform solution that would work in both online and offline modes and provide a seamless user experience. 



There are four cornerstones of a good PWA:




Reliable: the app has to perform equally well under various network conditions. While the level of offline functionality will be different for every PWA, the main condition remains universal - a PWA should never break or become unresponsive.



Responsive: a PWA should work and look equally well on all platforms and all screens. 



Engaging: a good PWA should provide a great user experience and be valuable for the user. Push notifications and home screen icons of PWAs contribute greatly to user experience and put them on the same page as native apps.



Secure: PWAs are served over HTTPS and hence are designed with security in mind.




As for the main technologies behind a PWA, they are:




A service worker aka the heart of any PWA. A service worker is a proxy layer between the frontend and the backend and all browser requests pass through it. Service workers cache the content for the PWA and this is how PWAs can work in an offline mode.



An HTTPS protocol that ensures the security of your app - we’ve mentioned it already.



An application shell is a skeleton of your graphic interface. You can think of it as a wrapper for a native application.



Web App manifest which is a JSON file. It defines a number of things for your PWA and helps install it as a separate app on your mobile device.



Push notifications are an important feature that every PWA has. While many PWAs are overdoing their push notifications (users start seeing them as spam rather than a helpful feature), they still remain highly requested.




In terms of distribution, a PWA can be installed or simply opened in a browser. But recently, PWAs started making their way into app stores because for the majority of users, it’s the easiest way to find and install an app. On the other hand, placing a PWA in an App Store or Play Market means that the app has to correspond to strict guidelines which can be hard to achieve. Also, app owners will have to pay a certain fee to either Google or iOS if the app is paid or has in-app purchases and this is something to keep in mind too. 



A quick history of PWA distribution



The main selling point of PWAs was accessibility. Google wanted to make PWAs accessible for everyone and on every platform which is why they are cross-platform by nature. 



However, not all browsers support PWAs: Desktop Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Facebook Mobile Browser chose not to support progressive web applications. There are also certain limitations with Safari: while this browser supports PWAs, it does not allow installation, push notifications, and a full-screen mode of the app (which are basically the core PWA features). 



For a while, it was enough for PWAs to be present in your web browsers only. But as mobile began to rise, it soon became clear that it was time for PWAs to conquer mobile platforms as well. This is where issues began to appear.



PWA and mobile: are we here yet?



With the growing popularity of mobile, users began looking for apps in app stores mainly. And since the main selling point of PWAs was (and still is) accessibility, it was important that people could easily find PWAs in the mentioned app stores. 



That presented a challenge for developers: how can you take a web app and turn it into a mobile one? Plus, we all know how particular Google and Apple are about the app store guidelines. A little bit painful, this whole thing, isn’t it?



It comes as no surprise that Google was the first who welcomed PWAs into the Google Play Store. Google developed a Bubblewrap CLI tool that helps transform a PWA into a TWA: trusted web activity. Hence, the app becomes suitable for the market and can be distributed in the app store.



It was not so easy with Apple though (and it never is, to be honest). In general, Apple does not allow the distribution of PWAs in the App Store because 1) PWAs have limited functionality on the iOS platform and 2) PWAs do not meet Apple’s guidelines in terms of user experience. There are certain loopholes, of course, but in general, Apple is not really favorable of PWAs.



Now, the real question is where do PWAs stand today, and is there any sense in developing a PWA when you can go with a native app instead? 



The current state of progressive web applications



Despite the existing limitations for PWA distribution, these apps keep going strong and are adopted by such big brands as Uber, Spotify, and TikTok. As well, in many cases, PWAs prove to provide a more enjoyable user experience and a steadier performance than some native apps (and most web apps) so there is definitely a chance for great ROI if you decide to design a PWA. But in order to minimize the risks and make sure your PWA eventually makes it to the needed audience, it’s important to know what platforms accept PWAs and what are the expected trends.



Google and Microsoft work together to propel PWAs



It comes as no surprise that Google is interested in facilitating the process of making PWAs more suitable for the guidelines of Play Market and App Store. Microsoft joined Google and now two companies work together to come up with a new way of wrapping PWAs.



Google already has a Bubblewrap technology that facilitates PWA packaging for apps stores. Now, Microsoft developed a PWAbuilder that uses Bubblewrap under the hood and performs the same function. By introducing these new technologies, Google and Microsoft hope to make PWAs more accessible and facilitate their distribution so apps would correspond to the stores’ guidelines. This is especially important for distributing PWAs on iOS since Apple is very particular about what apps are allowed in the App Store. 



The Fugu project



Recently, the Chromium team started Project Fugu which takes its name after the Fugu fish: a famous delicacy from Japan. The trick is, this fish is deadly poisonous if cut wrongly. But if handled right, the result will be 100% worth it.



So how does Fugu fish relate to PWAs? The main idea behind the Fugu Project is to add new capabilities to web apps while preserving their core features (i.e. security, low-friction, cross-platform). This is done by producing new powerful APIs which, if handled wrongly, can do more harm than good (see the similarity to the Fugu fish?) The list of produced APIs includes:




Web OTP API



Web NFC



Contact Picker API



Periodic Background Sync API




As for the APIs under development, they are:




Native File System API: enabling the app to interact with files on a user’s local device.



Badging API: enhancing PWAs with a notifying badge.



App Icon Shortcut Menu: a native capability that allows triggering certain actions from the home screen.




And obviously, that’s not all that Project Fugu plans to offer. To sum up, by introducing this project, Google hopes to unlock more native device features for PWA and bridge the gap between the web and the mobile.



Apple declines 16 APIs in Safari



Last year, Apple declined to include 16 new Web APIs in Safari due to privacy concerns. What it means for PWAs is that to bring a PWA to iOS, you’ll need to wrap it as a native app and distribute it via Apple’s store. Don’t forget that Apple’s guidelines for its apps are not PWA-friendly so making a PWA app for iOS has become a big headache for developers. So the most efficient way to bypass these limitations is to use a PWA builder by Microsoft that generates an XCode package for your PWA app (you’ll need a Mac for this, though).



Summing up



While progressive web applications did not make any wow effect in recent years, they are still going strong and are here to stay. Hence, if you think about building a PWA app, it’s probably a good idea, except you might not want to target iOS users. But overall, the development of a PWA app is rewarding in the long run, as these apps provide a great user experience and stable performance. And considering how engaged Google and Microsoft have become in PWA distribution, we might assume that the future of PWA 2022 looks really bright.

### SoftTeco Colleagues Receive Professional Scrum Master I Certification

We are glad to announce that our colleagues - Leonid Tsylin, Maria Melnikova, Stas Kuzmich, and Andrei Sakovich - recently received a Professional Scrum Master™ I certification, issued by Scrum.org. The certification serves as an indicator that a specialist displays a high level of Scrum mastery, has a solid understanding of Scrum methodology, and knows how to apply this knowledge to practice.



Scrum methodology is an efficient tool for managing Agile projects and the knowledge of Scrum can significantly elevate one’s processes and deliver tangible results both in the short and long run. We spoke to our colleagues about the benefits that this certification brought them, their future intentions towards project management, and ways how the certification improved their knowledge and skills.



What’s the practical benefit of this certification?



Stas: It proves that a certified person understands Scrum values and can successfully integrate them into projects. This is great because Scrum adds a whole new dimension to project management.



Leonid: First, this certification helps make sure that Scrum Masters view the process of project management in the same way. Since most of SoftTeco projects are managed by Scrum, it’s really important. Second, it serves as additional proof of quality for our clients as they know their projects are in safe hands.



Why did you decide to pass this certification?



Stas: I currently work as a Scrum Master on a project so I decided I want to improve the processes. And for that, I needed to improve my own knowledge.



Leonid: This certification is part of the educational process for project managers in SoftTeco. We need it to systematize and officially acknowledge those skills and knowledge that we daily implement into practice for many years. 



Can you give a few examples of the most useful things you’ve learned?



Stas: I understood how to properly run retrospectives, where to obtain the options for running a retrospective, and what stages it consists of. For me, these are some of the most important things that I needed to learn.



Leonid: We systematized knowledge and understanding of Scrum values, learned about different mechanics of running retrospectives - in other words, all useful things that we’ll apply into practice asap.



How will you change your work now that you’ve passed this certification?



Stas: Right now, I’m planning to integrate advice from the coach into the project and I will change the way I get ready for the meetings in adherence with obtained recommendations.



Leonid: Now that I’ve gained new knowledge and experience on Scrum, my goal #1 is to apply it to work on a daily basis.



Congratulations once again to our talented Scrum Masters! We are proud to have you on a team and thank you for helping SoftTeco maintain the established high standards of quality and efficiency.

### What Is DevSecOps and Why Are You Doing Your Security Wrong?

The software development world has barely gotten used to the DevOps methodology (despite it being around for almost 10 years) and there is already a new trend emerging. This new trend is known as DevSecOps and it can be called a subset of DevOps. As you can guess by its name, DevSecOps emphasizes security and focuses on making software products more resilient to threats. So why might you want to reconsider your security measures after reading this article? Let’s get started.







What’s DevSecOps all about?



DevSecOps is a software development approach that encompasses development, security, and operations, and focuses on implementing and automating security at every phase of the software development cycle. In simple terms, DevSecOps ensures that you pay attention to security not at the end of the project development but from the very beginning of the process.



DevSecOps vs DevOps: what’s the difference?



It’s impossible to talk about DevSecOps without mentioning DevOps so let’s clarify things a bit.



DevOps is a software development methodology that allows an organization to deliver software products at a high velocity. This can be achieved by merging the teams together and making the development process easier by partially reducing a human factor with automation. With DevOps, there are no longer two separate teams each doing its own thing - instead, both development and operations teams work as one and share a common goal and vision. As well, DevOps brings the following to the development process: continuous development, continuous automated testing, continuous integration, and continuous delivery.



Now, as for DevSecOps, you can refer to it as a subset of DevOps. It’s basically the same approach but it places security in the center of attention. Because DevOps implies fast development, cumbersome and legacy security methods don’t work anymore - this is why DevSecOps was created. And by legacy security, we mean lack of automation and injection of security testing only before the release.



The reasons behind introducing DevSecOps (and why legacy security methods don’t work anymore)



As the IT world embraced the DevOps methodology, the development process was significantly accelerated. The new product versions are now released every few weeks (or it can be every day and even every hour) and new features are constantly added at a very high pace.



In such conditions, it became really hard to maintain the conventional approach towards development, QA, and security. Another big change was the shift to the cloud and deployment of microservice architecture. Because the apps are now broken down into smaller, independently-functioning parts, there appeared new possible ways of attacking them - and this is where conservative security methods lag behind.



Before, security was added to the project at the last stage after everything else was done. And it was considered enough in an environment where a software product was hosted on a physical server, was updated once a year (or every six months or so), and was not very scalable. But with years, the development process has changed a lot. The requirements towards infrastructure changed as well: security, scalability, and fault-tolerance have become a bare minimum.



As the number of technical solutions has grown, so has the number of potential vulnerabilities. It becomes increasingly hard to maintain the needed state of technical solutions, especially if your processes are not set up properly. So if you add security at the very last stage, you might risk redoing some parts of an app if any breach or weak spot is found. Just think about it: if you roll out new versions every few weeks and do not bother with checking their security, you are at a very high risk of a cybersecurity attack. 



This is why DevSecOps was introduced as part of the DevOps approach and an attempt to inject security checks in all stages of product development. Now to the best part - how do you implement it?



Implementing DevSecOps 101



DevSecOps may sound intimidating especially if you are not feeling very comfortable with DevOps yet. But hear us out: DevSecOps is important if you want your products to be secure. In a world where the cost of a small data leak can be up to several million dollars, one cannot really afford to ignore security. 



So what can you do right now to implement DevSecOps into your project without any stress? Here are a few good practices to start with.



“Shift left” approach



With traditional development, security was implemented in the end - or on the “right” side of the development process. DevSecOps suggests shifting it to the left, thus moving security to the beginning of the project and prioritizing it more.



What does the “shift left” approach bring to the project? In general, it helps developers code with security in mind and identify any threats or vulnerabilities at an early stage. Thus, as the product progresses, it won’t hoard hundreds of security bugs prior to the release.



Automation



Automation is your best friend when it comes to DevSecOps implementation. Due to the speed of development and release, it’s nearly impossible to physically track all vulnerabilities and detect bugs. Hence, you can use specialized automation tools for security testing.



There is a trick though. It’s not enough to just buy a security testing tool and let it loose - you need to step back, evaluate your process, and identify areas that call for automation. These are most often CI/CD pipelines, API management, operational management, release automation, and similar. So remember: first you identify areas to apply automation and only then you implement it.



Education on security



It is impossible to implement security at the beginning of the project without educating people on its importance first. One of the biggest problems that some dev teams have is the unwillingness of the team members to take on extra responsibilities and expand them beyond their customary ones. But if you want your software products to be not only high-performing but also secure, you must educate your team members on best practices of secure coding. 



In the DevSecOps environment, it’s software engineers who are responsible for detecting and eliminating security vulnerabilities and breaches. Hence, without proper training, it will be challenging to implement DevSecOps. Some of the things that you can educate the team on are OWASP top 10, application security testing, and secure coding.



Security champion



Despite the necessity to educate the whole team on security, there will always be this one person who is a bit more knowledgeable and experienced than others. Congratulations, it’s your security champion!



A security champion is a person who got advanced training on application security testing and can review the others and help them if needed. While a security champion can greatly help with DevSecOps implementation, you should not overlook the importance of general training that we just talked about. That also means a security champion should not be put in charge or assigned to a managerial position. This specialist can assist with certain things but does not do any decision-making.



The main benefits of DevSecOps implementation



We’ve already stated that security is the cornerstone of DevSecOps implementation - now let’s get more specific with all the benefits that this approach brings. But before we list down all the tangible benefits, first, ask yourself the following questions:




What is the cost of your software being inoperable for an extended period of time??



What will be the potential damage from a data loss?



What will be the potential damage from a data leak?




If you have any hesitations about the implementation of DevOps and DevSecOps, we highly recommend answering these questions and estimating whether it’s worth it or not. In most cases, it turns out that the long-run damage from potential risks is much bigger than expected and could have been easily avoided if the processes were set up properly. Now, back to the benefits!



Faster development and deployment 



Depending on the technical decision on security, you can either significantly or insignificantly slow down the release process. If one does not pay enough attention to security, in the end, you will inevitably face the need to redo certain parts of an application in order to eliminate vulnerabilities. 



With DevSecOps though, you will be taking care of security from the start. And this means you won’t be facing gruesome security errors upon the product release and the chances for the delay will be significantly reduced. As well, mind the security automation that contributes to release speed as well.



Better security



We’ve talked about it from the start but let’s repeat once again: implementation of DevSecOps equals much better security of your software product. It helps minimize and mitigate risks, takes care of routine security checks, and overall helps you produce a product that will be error-proof in the long run.



Fast patching of vulnerabilities



Because DevSecOps places lots of attention on automation, that means that new vulnerabilities will be discovered and patched really quickly thanks to integrated vulnerability scanning. It means you won’t have to manually go through all the code to look for any new risks popping out: the system will do it for you.



The main challenges of DevSecOps implementation



We’ve talked about benefits and DevSecOps seems like a magic tool to help you with all your security worries. So why don’t we see too much of it in software projects?



Reason #1: Wrong priorities



In software development, there are hundreds of tasks to keep an eye on. Hence, all of them get prioritized so the team knows what to work on in the first place. Unfortunately, security often lags behind, giving its way to speed, functionality, or design.



But here is a trick: sacrificing security absolutely doesn’t work in the long run. Think about the following example: if your database gets stolen, it kind of won’t hurt your business much but it will most probably have a tremendously bad effect in the future. This kind of thinking gets many companies in trouble and all of it happens because of poor task prioritization.



Reason #2: Laziness



Unfortunately, that’s true. Some companies simply do not wish to worry too much about implementing a whole new approach when you can have things done the old way. As a result, you get a shaggy product that screams “I’m open to cyber attacks”. 



Reason #3: Lack of general understanding



It’s hard to make changes when they don’t happen on the managerial level. When it comes to DevOps and DevSecOps, some companies still don’t understand what it’s all about and how it can bring tangible benefits when things seem to be working just fine.



As well, there is another misconception about DevOps which is: if things go wrong, a DevOps specialist will 100% save the day. Indeed, the implementation of DevOps will make things different but it may seem confusing and hard in the beginning. With time though, you will be rewarded with well-configured processes, fault-tolerant and scalable infrastructure, automation, and all needed security features which will be great both for product users and for your business.



Summing up



There is still a lot left to say if talking about DevSecOps. But to sum things up, here is what you need to remember: if you really consider enhancing your security, you need to train everyone, including both managers and developers. The integration of DevSecOps does not happen in one day and it’s a gradual process that has to be supported by everyone on the team. 



You might be having the following questions though: how much time will it take to implement DevSecOps (or DevOps), how much will it cost and what kind of resources are needed to implement these changes? Mostly, there are no answers to that as every business is unique. You can receive an approximate estimation only after a specialist has a look at your project and evaluates its current state (as well as your future goals) based on project and business requirements. Hence, if you consider transforming your processes for the better, contact us and we’ll figure out the most efficient way together.

### Machine Learning Trends 2022: What to Expect

Machine learning went quite a way from being a “wow effect” to more of a commodity. Now, as our demands towards technology grow and change, machine learning is adapting to them and surprising us with exciting new trends. While it’s impossible to make 100% accurate predictions, we still gave it a try and listed the most promising and anticipated ML trends for the upcoming 2022 with the help of our ML & Data Scientist specialist Alex Gedranovich.







No-code machine learning and AI



No-code ML is exactly what it sounds - it’s the process of building ML applications without the need to do excessive coding. Instead, you can use a drag-and-drop visual interface to assemble a machine learning application that would satisfy most of your requirements.



No-code ML comes from no-code software development. This concept is relatively new and was introduced as a way to shorten the development time and minimize the needed efforts. Instead of spending hours on manual code writing, users can use specialized programs and “construct” software applications instead of writing them from scratch. And while you can say that machine learning is too complex to be used in a drag-and-drop manner, this development method is already here and is becoming quite popular.



The main reasons behind the use of no-code ML are:




Faster development and implementation: no-code ML development is much faster than traditional one;



More affordable: if comparing no-code ML and traditional machine learning development, no-code development comes at a much lower cost;



Simple and clear interface: no-code development does not require high technical skills from the user and offers a very intuitive and clear interface to work with.




Due to its simplicity, no-code machine learning will probably be used to create not so complex solutions. But if you need thorough analysis, deep customization, and control over the ML model, of course, it will be a better idea to go with the traditional approaches.



Tiny machine learning



Another revolutionary transformation in the field of machine learning is tinyML. Tiny Machine Learning was inspired by IoT and the main idea behind it is to enable ML-driven processes on IoT edge devices and devices with low power consumption. A good example of tinyML is a wake command that you give to your smartphone: either “Hey Siri” or “Hey Google”.



The reason behind tinyML is to make machine learning more versatile and to expand its usability. Several years ago, machine learning development required high computational power to handle the processes - but today, tinyML can be implemented to almost any device that has sufficient computing power.



In this way, machine learning becomes more affordable but it also brings us lower power consumption, lower latency, and lower required bandwidth while remaining secure. Same as no-code ML, tinyML is quite a niche solution but it certainly can benefit your company if you are dealing with IoT or embedded solutions.



MLOps



Next in the list of machine learning trends is MLOps. As the name implies, MLOps was inspired by the DevOps methodology. If we address the definition, MLOps is a set of practices for transparent and seamless collaboration of data scientists (“development”) and operational specialists (“operations”). 



Before the introduction of MLOps, machine learning development has always been associated with certain challenges, like scalability, development of proper ML pipelines, management of sensitive data at a scale, and communication between the teams. MLOps is aimed to resolve these issues by introducing standard practices to ML applications deployment.



While the phases of MLOps are pretty much the same as phases of traditional ML development, MLOps brings more transparency, eliminates communication gaps, and allows better scaling due to business objective-first design. You can say that with MLOps, you pay much more attention to the process of data collection and cleaning as well as to model training and validation. Hence, enterprises with an acute need for scalability will most definitely benefit from the deployment of the MLOps approach.



Generative adversarial networks (GANs)



GAN is kind of a buzzword these days but do you really know the meaning behind it? If not, let’s quickly explain what a generative adversarial network means.



A generative adversarial network is an architecture where two neural networks kind of compete with each other. One network (generative) generates images while the other, the discriminative network, tries to evaluate them. In this way, GANs do not require human control and are instead busy with self-education. 



So what’s the reason behind the growing GANs popularity and its inclusion in the list of the biggest machine learning trends? Since GANs are capable of generating photorealistic images, it is used to create images for industrial design, computer games, interior design, etc and etc. As well, GAN systems help create 3D models of needed objects and improve the quality of available images.



Unsupervised machine learning



Another big thing that we will see in 2022 machine learning trends is unsupervised learning. Again, it’s easy to guess its meaning by its name: unsupervised learning means there is no human intervention in the machine learning process. Instead, the ML model receives unlabelled data and is free to draw any conclusions based on it.



The biggest difference between supervised learning and unsupervised learning is the data. With supervised learning, the data is labeled, meaning people already prepared it for the ML model. With unsupervised learning, the data is unlabelled, meaning it does not have any labels and is not separated into groups or categories. So why would you allow an ML model to be so independent about working with data?



The thing is, when the data is unlabelled, the ML model is free to determine any possible insights, dependencies, and relationships as it “sees it”. Such an approach often provides surprisingly efficient results and works especially well for anomaly detection, computer vision, and medical imaging, defining customer personas, and categorizing content on the website.



One-shot learning 



When talking about the learning process of an ML model, it is a well-known fact that the more data the model gets as an input, the better the results are. However, in some cases it is too complex or inefficient to use hundreds of images to teach the model to recognize a certain object. This is where one-shot learning steps in.



One-shot learning advocates learning with one image only. You read that right - you will need only one image to teach a model about a certain object. Here is how it works.



One-shot learning uses a Siamese network to teach a model. A Siamese network consists of two subnetworks that are a mirror image of each other. These subnetworks “compare” a reference image, stored in the database, with an image that needs to be identified. The output is a similarity score where the system defines how much a new, single image is similar to the reference one. In this way, in order for the system to identify a new image, it simply has to compare a new and an old one and make a decision based on the level of similarity between the two.



This approach is widely used in facial recognition and other use cases that require the use of a small number of images (e.g. the photos of all employees in the company). As well, there are also such methods as few-shot learning and even zero-shot learning and all of them share one big benefit: you don’t need too much data to efficiently train a model.



Summary



As you can see from these machine learning trends, this technology is slowly shifting towards automation, speed, and efficiency as well as becoming more specialized. Since machine learning is a valuable asset for any company, it has to become more affordable and versatile in order to benefit businesses of different sizes and types. So it’s safe to assume that in the future, we might see even more exciting applications of machine learning and new approaches to ML models development.

### Database Management Systems (DBMS): to SQL or NoSQL, That Is the Question

Data is the core value for any company but in order to truly gain a competitive advantage from it, one has to properly organize the data so it can be easily managed. For that, you’ll need a database and a suitable database management system, and here is where things get a bit tricky. Do you need a relational or network DBMS? How exactly will the files be stored? Would you need to install the DBMS on one machine or have it distributed? 



Now let’s pause for a moment and take a deep breath. Database management systems are not as scary as they might seem to be. Sure, there are many things to take into consideration but once you understand the basics, you’ll be able to make a wise decision on what kind of a DBMS you need.







Database management system: the definition



A database management system is specialized software for manipulating, storing, and retrieving the data in a database. In other words, a database management system helps you operate the data in the most efficient way, thus saving your time significantly.



Because there are many varieties of data to work with, there are also many types of DBMS, depending on how exactly the data is stored. As well, you can define different types of database management systems by:





Getting back to DBMS types according to data storage, there are four main types: hierarchical, network, relational, and NoSQL. Let’s look at each type in more detail below.



Hierarchical DBMS



The hierarchical database management system is the oldest one and was introduced back in the early 1960s by IBM. The idea behind this DBMS type is really simple - think of a tree with numerous branches. In hierarchical DBMS, the data is stored hierarchically, either bottom-up or top-down, and nodes are organized in a parent-child relationship.



In this way, a parent node can have multiple child nodes but a child node has only one parent and is not related to any other child nodes. This may come as an inconvenience since child nodes can be logically connected but you won’t be able to see it in a hierarchical database. 



The pros of hierarchical DBMS:




Suitable for easy structures;



Allows to quickly add and remove the data;



Quick search of the “tree top”.




The cons of hierarchical DBMS:




Data will be replicated because of the tree-like structure;



Search can be really slow if you want to go all the way from the top to the bottom;



No relationships between child nodes (each node has only one parent and one relationship).




Network DBMS



Unlike hierarchical databases, a network database follows the network structure to create multiple relationships between the nods. In this way, a child node can have several relationships. Also, in a network database, a child node is called a member and a parent node is known as an occupier.



Due to its nature, a network structure model is suitable for databases with complex relationships between nods. It also makes it easier to search for information.



The pros of network DBMS:




Supports “many to many” relationships;



Connects records from several tables with a single record of an owner of a different table;



Facilitates data queries.




The cons of network DBMS:




The “many to many” relationship is one-way only. For example, it can establish a relationship of one doctor with many patients or one patient with many doctors only. 




Note: both hierarchical and network DBMS solutions are quite outdated and are hardly used these days. Though we described their pros and cons, we do not recommend considering them for your project.



Relational DBMS



This is the most popular DBMS type since it’s the easiest to use and operate. In a relational database, data is organized in columns and rows. A row represents a data record, a column represents the attribute, and every field represents a data value. In this way, the database is presented in a clear and simple way and requires little or no training to work with.



It is important to remember that in a relational database, every row is individual and columns are undistinguished. The sequence of rows is not important which is another advantage. In addition, relational databases are very scalable and flexible which adds to their popularity.



The pros of relational DBMS:




Changes in the database structure do not impact access to the data;



It is easier to maintain security in comparison with other database types;



Database records can be changed without specifying the whole body.




The cons of relational DBMS:




Complex configuration of mapping between the objects;



Hard to maintain the integrity of the data;



The more tables you have, the slower the queries perform;



Requires a huge volume of physical memory.




What is SQL?



When it comes to relational databases, SQL is an integral part of them. SQL is a standard language for accessing databases and controlling them. SQL stands for Standard Query Language and is used for inserting, deleting, manipulating, and searching the data in a database.



It is important to understand what SQL is because most of the most popular DBMS solutions support it. Examples are Oracle, MySQL, MSSQL, PostgreSQL.



NoSQL DBMS



NoSQL database management systems were introduced as a counter to SQL-driven solutions. NoSQL stands for “not only SQL” and implies that the database uses a non-relational approach to data storage.



NoSQL DBMS solutions are often used for distributed data stores that have massive data storage requirements. Unlike SQL databases, a NoSQL database can store unstructured, semi-structured, and structured data which makes this solution highly versatile and scalable. The databases that require NoSQL approach include:




Graphs;



Document databases;



Column-family databases;



Key-value databases.




The pros of NoSQL DBMS:




A high level of performance since all data is stored in one table (unlike SQL);



Highly scalable.




The cons of NoSQL DBMS:




Requires more physical memory than other DBMS types since there can be many duplicates.



Complex queries to several types of entities, if compared to relational databases.




As for the most popular NoSQL solutions, we can immediately name MongoDB, Redis, Cassandra, DynamoDB. Also, note that all relational DBMS solutions are quite the same. With NoSQL, it’s a different story and we can define two main types of NoSQL DBMS: keyValue (Redis, Memcached) and documentOriented (MongoDB, DynamoDB). There is also a searchEngine and the example of a solution would be Elasticsearch. This solution is quite popular because it has a built-in engine for quick and easy data search.



Choosing a DBMS solution: how not to fail



With the great availability of readymade DBMS solutions, it can be quite hard to choose “the one”. The choice will depend solely on your business requirements and project type so the process will be individual for every company. 



But to make it a bit easier, we will list down the main considerations to pay attention to before selecting your database management system. By answering these questions, you will be able to clearly understand what kind of solution you need and why:




What kind of data are you planning to store and what is its expected volume?



What are the needed integrations that a DBMS will have to support?



What are your scaling requirements?



How will you support the DBMS? Will it be in-house maintenance or an outsourced one?



How will the system be hosted physically?




We advise consulting your development team to make the best decision that will satisfy you in terms of functionality and finances. And remember that for safety reasons, a DBMS solution and the database have to be regularly updated and constantly monitored so you will have to decide who will be responsible for that.

### Digital Twinning: How to Test Billion-Worthy Ideas with Minimal Risks

Digital twinning is nothing new. The concept was first invented in 1991 (yes, so long ago) and then introduced to the public in 2002. Since then, many things have changed but the idea remained the same: what if you could create a digital prototype of a physical object to safely test its performance and your ideas?



Today, with IoT and AI at our disposal, digital twinning has become as powerful as ever and offers a plethora of opportunities to business owners. Curious to know how to approach digital twinning and in which industries can this trend shine the most? Scroll down and let’s get started.







Digital twinning explained: the definition and a bit of history



As already mentioned, digital twinning is the creation of a digital “copy” of a physical object. This copy replicates all processes that happen with the physical copy with an aim to monitor and test it. Such replication is possible due to the ongoing collection of real-time data about the physical object and the transfer of this data to the computer model aka the digital twin.



The first person to come up with the concept of digital twinning was David Gelernter who first mentioned it in the book ‘Mirror Worlds’ in 1991. Later, the concept was actually applied in manufacturing by Michael Grieves from the Florida Institute of Technology and Grieves was the one who introduced digital twinning to the public in 2002.



As you see, digital twinning has been around for quite some time but it’s been the last couple of years when the concept started gaining traction due to technological advancement. With the help of IoT, AI, and robotics, digital twinning is now a powerful solution for those companies that wish to accurately assess risks and test their businesses in a safe environment.



Three types of digital twinning



Depending on the purpose of use, we can single out three types of digital twins:




DTP, aka the digital twin prototype, is usually built before the physical product is created. Its main goal is to test how the product might behave and assess the risks.



DTI, aka the digital twin instance, is built when the physical product is already created. This solution helps run different tests to monitor various use cases.



DTA, aka the digital twin aggregate, is used to aggregate the information about a physical product with an aim to collect and monitor its parameters and capabilities and run prognostics. 




How exactly do you build a digital twin?



The process of developing a digital twin varies according to different experts but all of them seem to agree that there are three main stages of the development process. Though these stages are known by various names, we will refer to them as toolkit development, digital twin generation, and digital twin operation.



Toolkit development



A DT toolkit is basically a collection of technologies and tools that will allow you to build digital twins in the future. In addition to toolkit development, this stage also involves gathering information about a physical object to use it later for DT modeling. This information includes both information from sensors and information collected from other sources such as CAD ( computer-aided design) systems or point clouds.



The development of a toolkit is the core stage of the DT development process and it requires experienced data scientists to work on. As a result of their work (information gathering and creation of machine learning models and algorithms), you will have a mathematical model that can be used to simulate the physical object.



Note: the skills needed for toolkit development will include applied mathematics, machine learning, statistics, data science. 



Digital twin generation



At this stage, you will create an actual digital twin with the help of the toolkit that we have described above. The main goal here is to match the digital copy with the physical object by using the collected data and ensuring it corresponds to requirements. For that, you will need data engineers that will be able to use the designed ML model to build the needed prototype. The engineers will also be responsible for troubleshooting so the DT does not have critical errors during the release.



Digital twin operation



The last stage is the release of your DT into production. Once released, the digital twin will constantly receive real-time information about its physical copy and will provide valuable insights about the behavior of a physical object, its status, and possible issues to pay attention to. 



The benefits of deploying digital twinning



Before looking at real-life use cases of digital twins across industries, let’s quickly have a look at the biggest benefits:




Accurate risk assessment due to constant object monitoring and smart IoT sensors;



Immediate notification about any issues and hence, opportunity to proact instead of reacting to an issue or risk;



Remote monitoring of physical objects in real-time;



Risk-free testing of physical objects and risk prevention;



More accurate decision-making due to testing and real-time information update.




Digital twinning across the industries



As described above, the main idea behind digital twinning is safely testing your hypotheses and estimating whether you are doing the right thing. Now, to be more specific, let’s see how DT impacts different industries.



Logistics



Logistics is among the industries where digital twinning shines at most. While there are many use case scenarios, we’ll focus on the biggest ones. By using digital twinning, you can:




Test different shipping methods and see how packaging will behave;



Check whether the shipment is safeguarded and whether there are any problem areas;



Monitor your storage and detect any problem areas;



Visualize your storage and optimize it;



Ensure the safety of goods by optimizing shipping and storage conditions.




A real-life example would be the Supply Chain Twin introduced by Google. The solution aims at making the data more visible and offering companies a more holistic view on their processes. As well, Google launched the Supply Chain Pulse module that provides real-time advanced analytics, interactive dashboards, and alert notifications. Needless to say, the module can be efficiently used together with the Supply Chain Twin and the solution is already deployed by such huge brands as Renault.



Warehousing



The use of DT in warehousing is similar to its use in logistics when it comes to storing goods: digital twinning helps optimize the storage space, receive real-time data about storing conditions, and plan the most efficient product transportation and placement.



Considering the popularity of implementing tech advancements into warehousing (RPA or driverless transportation as examples), digital twinning can help you estimate whether the introduction of such technologies would be a good idea or not. 



Healthcare



While not being so popular specifically in healthcare, digital twinning can still bring certain benefits to the industry. Digital twinning can be used in healthcare for the following reasons:




Genomic medicine for testing new drugs;



Drug dosage optimization;



Surgery simulations;



Optimizing daily hospital workflow to narrow the critical treatment window;



Optimization of supply chains;



Faster and safer drug research and development.




Manufacturing



Another big area of DT is manufacturing. Normally, there are quite many risks involved in the manufacturing process and digital twinning can help reduce these risks greatly.



You can use digital twinning in manufacturing for predictive maintenance and quality control. Considering the constant inflow of IoT data, the digital solution can immediately display whether anything is wrong and can provide you with an accurate forecast for future estimation. And obviously, a digital twin of a physical plant can help you manage your resources more wisely and streamline your processes so you save up time and money while boosting productivity.



Summing up



Digital twinning is great but is also expensive. Would we recommend it to anyone? Probably not. Taking into consideration the amount of time and resources needed to create a digital prototype, we believe it’s the perfect solution for big enterprises. In this case, the cost of risk is pretty high and it will be more efficient to create a digital twin rather than pay for mistakes. For smaller companies, though it will probably be a better idea to either create a machine learning solution for drawing future forecasts or start with thorough business analysis and move to more sophisticated solutions afterward. 

### Interview with Vera Klimova: QA Testing Above and Beyond

At SoftTeco, we always pay close attention to the Quality Assurance process as it’s one of the key success factors for any software project. We also noticed that some of the clients are not fully aware of the intricacies of QA and tend to overlook its importance when it comes to project management and team composition. Hence, we’ve held an interview with Vera Klimova, one of SoftTeco’s leading QA engineers, and asked her questions that our clients most frequently inquire about. 







What’s the biggest misconception that clients have about QA? 



For some reason, a lot of people believe that the main responsibility of a QA specialist is to find all the bugs before end-users receive the product. So if there is a bug found after the product is released, some clients are really surprised and think that QAs failed their job. 



While debugging is indeed our biggest responsibility, there are many factors to consider in order to fully understand how the QA process works. Even if the QA specialist is a great professional with amazing skills and knowledge and he covered the whole product functionality with tests, there is never a 100% guarantee that the end-user will not find a bug. Why is that? Because there are dozens of options of possible devices + Internet connection + other factors - and all of them impact the way the product will look and function.



And if new functionality is added to the existing product, there is always a risk that this new functionality (100% covered with tests!) will “overlap” the existing (also 100% working) functionality and break it. 



In order to ensure that new features do not damage existing ones, QA specialists perform regression testing but it can be quite bulky and time-consuming - and the QA process is often tightly limited in time.



What should every client know about QA, in your opinion?



I believe the main thing that clients should always remember is that the QA team has to be introduced to the project at its early stages and not after completing the development phase in order to understand if the product is ready for release or not. If you attract QA at late stages, you will risk the product’s quality and time of delivery. 



The reason for that is simple: QA specialists need as much time to prepare and perform testing as software engineers need for product development. The main processes that the QA team works on include analysis and requirements gathering and specification, planning of testing, creation of needed testing environments, preparation of documentation, and testing itself. As well, we also spend some time writing reports and this can’t be omitted because the client wants to know about the progress of testing and its results.



What are the most common issues that you faced in the projects? 



One of the most common issues that I come across is out-of-date documentation or lack of it. Here are the reasons why updated documentation is so important. First, it significantly facilitates the onboarding of new employees on the project. Second, it helps reduce the testing time because otherwise, a QA specialist will have to spend too much of it searching for the point of truth. It often happens that a QA specialist prepares test cases for documentation, starts testing, finds way too many inconsistencies, and marks them as bugs - and then it turns out that the documentation is simply outdated so there are no bugs. If such things happen, the QA specialist will have to go through the whole process once again from the start and will also have to learn about the current requirements for the system beforehand. This is why updated documentation is one of the factors that contribute to better testing.



What’s your recommendation for the clients who plan to start a software project?



For sure, my first recommendation is to work on the project documentation from the start. This documentation should contain information about product requirements and it should contain regularly updated requirements, mockups, and prototypes.



As well, it often happens that the development lifecycle gets prolonged and it takes more time to write code than was intended. In such cases, there is less time left for testing and it obviously hurts the product’s quality. Hence, my second recommendation is to always perform time estimation with QA specialists and never cut off their time in favor of coding.



With whom do you work the most: BAs, PM, engineers?



I’d say with everyone because QA specialists constantly communicate with the whole development team, including business analysts and project managers. Here I’d like to state how important communication is: it improves the overall atmosphere at the project, lifts team spirits up, and helps everyone stay on the same page.



As for more personal questions, what do you love most about QA?



I really like the importance of the QA job and the role of QA on the project. QA engineers often have the last say in making a decision on whether to release the product or not. And it’s the responsibility of a QA engineer to provide a report on performed testing and inform all parties involved whether a product is ready for release. QA specialists also provide arguments on whether a product must be fixed before the release or it might contain insignificant bugs and still be released. 



Another reason why I love QA is due to permanent communication with different professionals, from developers to clients. Such a wide circle of professional communication helps me constantly improve my soft skills and technical knowledge.



It is important to state though that some of the tasks can be quite monotonous and one has to be ready for that. You often need to check regression testing and it’s normally a big scope of one and the same cases that a QA engineer has to go through to ensure that the existing functionality works as intended. This can be quite boring but there is a solution - you can automate all possible cases so the process goes faster.



Tell us a bit about your QA course: why did you decide to start it and how was the overall experience?



(Vera started her own QA course a while ago and it’s been highly popular among those wishing to start a career in the IT industry)



I decided to start a QA course because I saw a high level of demand for this job. I’ve met many people who were interested in QA but did not know how to start or did not trust the existing courses. So I decided to start my own and I was really overwhelmed with positive feedback!



My course is suitable for people from different backgrounds: from complete novices to those who already worked in the IT industry but wants to change the direction a bit. I give both theory and practical tasks so all my students can learn on real-life examples and hence gain professional experience during the course of education.



This course was somewhat a challenge for me: I wanted to see whether I’m able to structure my knowledge and skills and present them in a clear and informative way. And I guess I succeeded because we are now starting the second group.



Manual vs automated testing: your thoughts?



The main goal of automation is to test frequently occurring cases and detect bugs in simple operations. By simple operations I mean those that do not require a manual QA specialist.



On the other hand, complex specific cases need to be tested manually. Efficient usability testing cannot be tested automatically either. So to obtain the best results, I highly recommend combining both manual and automated testing so you won’t miss a thing in complex cases but also won’t spend time on simple cases.

### Hotel Software 101: the Basics You Need to Know About

Booking a hotel room has never been easier than now. All you have to do is search either an official website or a third-party vendor like Booking.com, fill in the dates, select a good-looking place, and you are all set.



But do you know what’s going on behind the scenes? Hospitality is much more than room booking. There are hundreds of processes involved and every hotel has several areas to monitor and manage. In order for a hotel to efficiently serve its guests while managing back office and front office areas, there are specialized HMS (hotel management software) solutions.







HMS: the definition and role



As we already said, the hotel management system is a solution that is aimed at helping hotels more efficiently carry out their functions. This piece of software automates a number of processes, keeps them all in one place, and connects all departments together, making their work more visible. With the help of the hotel software, one can easily manage point-of-sales, assign tasks to the housekeeping team, obtain information about guests and so much more.



Before introducing technology to the industry, hotels had to struggle with massive amounts of paper documentation. Needless to say, this format was highly inconvenient. With the implementation of technological solutions, it became easier for hotels to manage their processes and now, specialized hotel software can be called the jewel in the crown. A good HMS solution encompasses CRM and CMS, channel management, housekeeping management, and much more (we’ll see all modules in more detail below). For now, let’s see the biggest tangible benefits of getting hotel management software for your establishment.



Better customer service



It goes without saying that a centralized and automated CRM system can do wonders. With the help of HMS, hotels can improve customer service with the following:





By offering guests various service options, hotels save their time and significantly improve the user experience which, in turn, results in customer loyalty and better ROI.



Efficiency and speed of operations



Digitization is always about speeding up and improving existing processes. The same applies to the digitization of hotel processes: by converting paper documents into electronic format and automating certain operations, hotels can significantly improve the quality of their services and save lots of time and resources. A good example is the optimization of the work of the housekeeping department by digitizing the creation and management of bills of lading and automation of tasks generation and assignment. By applying technology to existing processes, the hotel saw revenue growth, increased employees’ responsibility, and created more comfortable conditions for its guests.




 


Expert Opinion



One of the biggest problems for hotels is to keep everything in one place as there are several departments to take care of. Therefore, any hotel needs a system that would keep all processes in one place, allow communication between the departments, and allow personnel to easily obtain needed information despite the department where it’s stored. This, in turn, leads to higher efficiency and allows hotel stаff to focus on more critical tasks instead of struggling with routine processes.





Senior Consultant at PKF



Anton Obukh






 










The main modules of an HMS system



We keep saying that there are several modules in hotel software and now it’s time to describe them in more detail. Each module is designed to manage a certain department and each module is as important as others. 



Front desk



A front desk is the first point of sale and contact that guests encounter when visiting the hotel. The front desk manages a number of operations, such as:





And there are many more processes tied into the operations of the front desk department. Hence, front desk managers should have an option to easily switch between tasks and departments, receive reports on employee performance and status of tasks, and more.



Back office



This department is responsible for accounting and financial management and the main features in this module are:





Housekeeping



The housekeeping module helps housekeeping personnel keep track of their tasks, calculate laundry and materials in an easier and faster manner, and manage their schedule. With the help of this module, a front-desk manager can easily see the status of the rooms (which ones are available and which ones need cleaning asap) and housekeeping staff can save their time by enjoying the automation of certain tasks.



CRS and channel management



The central reservation system is one of the core modules of hotel software as it processes all hotel reservations. CRS contains inventory data and dates and sends information about reservations to the front desk. It is a must that your CRS is integrated with the booking engine of the hotel website and distribution channels that you use.



As for channel managers, they serve as an intermediary between the OTAs (online travel agencies), sales markets, and the HMS. Examples of different channels are wholesalers, direct booking platforms, OTAs. With the help of these modules (CRS and CM), the hotel can easily monitor and manage all distribution channels from one place and get advanced reporting on each channel, if needed.



CMS and CRM



Content management systems and customer relationship management systems are critical for any hotel. Unfortunately, hospitality CRMs and CMSs are relatively weak compared to systems in other industries as they often have integration issues and are not very convenient in terms of their management. 



Getting back to this module, its main function is storing, processing, and sharing information about guests. While it connects with the front desk and back office, this module also greatly helps in marketing and personalization, allowing the marketing team to adjust its strategy precisely to guests’ interests.



Revenue management



A revenue manager is a highly valuable asset that performs the following functions:





A revenue manager may be fully automatic or work in recommendations mode. If the manager is automatic, it independently monitors the prices and their changes and adjusts your own prices correspondingly and without any intervention. If the manager works in the recommendations mode, it simply analyzes the environment and the competition and provides daily recommendations but does not change anything. Overall, this tool is great for managing your rates and frees you from the need to worry about price changes.



Essential third-party features 



In addition to the abovementioned modules, there is also a certain number of third-party integrations that every good hotel software should support. They are:





As you can see, all these services are related to daily hotel operations and all of them have to be supported by the HMS that you use. Hence, when choosing a readymade HMS or developing your custom one from scratch, make sure it supports all needed integrations.



Modern hotel software trends: an overview



Digitization of the hospitality industry is nothing new but only in the last couple of years, there has been a technological boom in this industry. The use of AI for smart chatbots, the growing popularity of mobile apps, virtual assistants, and smart predictive systems - all that is changing the way the hospitality world functions.



When it comes to hotel software, there are several behemoths that have been dominating the market for a long time. These solutions are known by anyone related to the hotel business for their size, complexity, and functionality. However, as the clients’ demands change, these solutions become less suitable for certain users, like small family-type hotels or hostels. The biggest challenges with such platforms are that they are too big, cumbersome, and expensive. Sure, they have brilliant functionality - but it can be too hard to handle them if your hotel is relatively small. 



Therefore, we are now seeing more and more flexible cloud solutions that are driving the big brands out. The biggest benefits of these cloud solutions are their small size, a high level of flexibility, and low price. A small cloud solution is a perfect alternative to massive HMS software that is hosted on your server (imagine the load!). So unless you run a hotel chain, you might want to consider a small and cheaper solution. 



As for the requirements for hotel software, a good hotel management system must support a great number of features. They include contactless check-in via mobile apps, use of mobile devices as door keys, guest profile setup, virtual concierge, virtual check-out, and many more. There should also be a robust CRM that is seamlessly integrated with a highly functional channel manager. All these features are expected by guests and hotels should ensure to incorporate them into their processes.



Cloud vs readymade vs custom solution: which one to choose?



When it comes to the HMS choice, there are three options available: a cloud solution, a readymade “classic” HMS system like Oracle, and a custom software product. Which one would be the best for you? Let’s see the pros and cons of each.



Cloud solution



Cloud HMS systems are becoming more and more popular as they are small, flexible, and are stored in the cloud, thus not occupying your server. This will be a great solution for small hotels, hostels, and B&Bs due to its size and functionality.




 

Pros




  
Relatively small size;
  
High flexibility;
  
Cloud storage;
  
Easy and intuitive interface;
  
Low price.





Cons




  
Limited functionality (may not be enough for bigger hotels);
  
May lack needed integrations.

 




Readymade solution



Opera and Fidelio, as stated above, are the behemoths of the HMS systems that were created by the HRS company. These solutions are massive, highly functional, and support the most necessary third-party services. However, they lack flexibility and may not be the best choice for small hotels.




 

Pros




  
Rich functionality;
  
A great number of available integrations;
  
Caters to all your needs.





Cons




  
Too “heavy” and is stored on your server;
  
Need for employee training due to the complexity of the software;
  
Lacks flexibility;
  
High price.

 




Custom HMS solution



This option is great for those who need a specific solution and is not satisfied with the ones available in the market. Of course, the development of a custom HMS will be quite costly and will take a lot of time and effort but the results will be highly rewarding.




 

Pros




  
All needed functionality in one place;
  
Satisfies all business requirements;
  
Medium level of flexibility;
  
An option to store either in the cloud or on your server (according to your needs).





Cons




  
High development cost;
  
Requires lots of time and effort to develop a solution;
  
Requires you to take care of hosting.

 




Summing up



The hospitality industry, same as banking, is quite conservative and does not welcome tech innovations easily. Therefore, when developing an HMS solution, it is important to clearly understand who the end-user is and how exactly the software will be deployed. As mentioned above, big and feature-rich solutions may not be suitable for small private establishments and vice versa. Hence, the development of custom hotel software calls for a thorough analysis of the market, competition, and hotel needs. As well, always keep in mind the subtle aspects of the legal system of a certain country where the HMS product will be used. Some of its features may be useless (due to being contrary to the local legislation, for example) and such things must be considered before the development stage begins.

### What is Technical Debt and How to Manage It?

Did it happen to you that your software developers went with “good enough” instead of polishing the code to perfection? If yes, you’ve most probably encountered technical debt which is a rather frequent occurrence in the software development world. In this article, we explain the meaning behind technical debt and provide insights on how to avoid and mitigate it.







The definition of technical debt



Technical debt is exactly what we mentioned in the intro: it’s going with “good enough” code instead of writing flawless code and fixing all bugs. Thus, we can define technical debt as the cost of additional work that arises from ignoring the pending fixes for the sake of quicker production. 



Take two options as an example. Option 1 is writing messier code but achieving goals faster. Option 2 is spending more time on the code and necessary fixes and hence, moving at a slower pace in terms of development. If you select Option 1, the existing bugs and mistakes are here to stay - and they will pile up on a rolling basis. Note that technical debt is present mostly in Agile as the waterfall methodology simply excludes the possibility of it happening.



Now, you might be asking: why would anyone intentionally enroll in technical debt? Before looking into reasons, let’s first see the two types of technical debt: deliberate and inadvertent.



Deliberate technical debt



Deliberate technical debt means that you enrolled in technical debt intentionally and understanding the consequences. There are two types of deliberate technical debt:




Reckless: when there is bad software architecture and the team believes you do not have enough time to polish the product as you need to ship it ASAP.



Prudent: when you realize that the debt will be quite small and manageable and won’t severely affect the project.




With deliberate technical debt, you are aware that your code is not perfect and that you will have mistakes on the way but you allow it due to the abovementioned reasons.



Inadvertent technical debt



As the name implies, inadvertent technical debt is unintentional which means you did not suspect it until it happened. Same as with deliberate, there are two (same) types of inadvertent technical debt:




Reckless: when the development team does not have enough knowledge of Agile practices and this lack of knowledge leads to poor planning and mistakes.



Prudent: when the team understands what could have been done better after delivering the feature. In this case, the team was not prepared for technical debt but acknowledges it afterward.




Reasons for technical debt



Whether intentional or not, technical debt usually happens because of a certain reason (or several reasons) that are basically the same for any development team and any software project.



Need for faster time to market



The most common reason for technical debt is the hurry to push the product into the market as soon as possible. We won’t investigate the reasons behind such a hurry but one thing is clear: if hurried and pushed, the dev team will focus on speed instead of quality and won’t be able to pay attention to bugs and their fixes.




 


Expert Opinion



In my experience, the most common reason for technical debt is too much hurry that is often fueled by tight deadlines. If I were to work on a project with massive TD, I’d choose one of two options: If possible, eliminate the debt in a step-by-step manner (by separating it into smaller chunks) Do huge refactoring - basically rewrite everything from scratch.





Head of .NET at SoftTeco



Roman






 




Lack of experience and skills



Another common reason is simply lack of needed experience and skills as well as lack of understanding of Agile practices. All that leads to poor planning, delays, bugs, and errors. Developers simply don’t know how to approach the problem or do not even notice it, thus leaving the issues hanging behind. As a result, all these bugs pile up but nobody knows how to handle them.



Going over the established WIP limits



“Work in progress” limits usually define the amount of work that can exist in different stages of the workflow. WIP is usually used in Kanban board columns. WIP helps managers and developers see what has to be done and when it has to be done and the workload is distributed in a way to achieve maximum efficiency. But if WIP limits are exceeded for some reason, it will ruin the defined plans and will lead to confusion about the tasks’ priority and urgency of delivery. In this case, the team will sacrifice quality for quantity and speed.



Rapid growth velocity



It may also happen that your project is growing at an unmanageable rate and demands more and more new features. In this case, it becomes really hard for the development team to keep an eye on existing issues and their fixes as the team tries to implement new features simultaneously. 




 


Expert Opinion



The most common TD reasons that I can think of are poor or no testing at all, working in a constant “startup” mode (meaning, the quality is “good enough for release”), poorly written code. Sometimes, technical debt is part of a strategy: a client may decide to leave it in order not to spend too many resources and time on making the product perfect





Android developer at SoftTeco



Alex






 




“Symptoms” of a technical debt



Now that you know the reasons for technical debt, it’s time to look into its “symptoms” or indicators that warn about a problem. These indicators are usually common for the majority of projects and are highly visible to anyone working on the project.



Here are the signals of technical debt:




“Code smells”: characteristics in the source code that indicate a deeper problem. You can identify code smell by using automated code review tools.



Growing levels of complexity: several technologies overlap each other.



Expansion of backlog on a daily basis: as the backlog grows, the productivity drops, respectively.



A growing number of bugs: if the number of bugs is getting out of hand, it can be a sure signal of technical debt being present.



Rising frequency of hotfixes: if you observe that hotfixes occur more and more often, it’s a sign of a problem.



Diversified coding style: sometimes, when there is a diverse coding style, it can be another indicator of technical debt. Luckily, this particular issue can be resolved by introducing coding style guidelines.




Of course, these are not all symptoms of technical debt but the most common and obvious ones. We highly recommend monitoring your backlog constantly in order to ensure there are no pending or unnecessary items.



How to manage and eliminate technical debt



We are finally getting closer to the number one question which is how one manages technical debt. Sure, the method will depend on the severity of the debt and on your project so we will list down the most common and efficient methods.



Assess the debt



As long as your technical debt comes in the form of pending tasks in the backlog, you will ignore it for a long period of time. However, if you calculate how much it would cost developers to reduce the current debt and how much it would cost with every new day of delaying the fixes, you’ll look at it differently.



You can also use specialized automated tools to calculate technical debt or you can do it by using the TDR (technical debt ratio) formula (which is quite complicated, to be honest). Either way, once you translate pending tasks into dollar signs, the whole situation will become much clearer and easier to assess.



Acknowledge the debt



Another big mistake that a development team can make is ignoring the debt or pushing it to the farthest corner of the backlog in an attempt to “deal with it later”. Hence, what you need to do is:




Move the fixes to be done to the active tasks so they become visible;



Communicate the issue to the whole team so everyone understands there is technical debt that needs to be worked on.




As well, it is important to acknowledge stakeholders about the issue and inform them about the real cost of existing technical debt.



Choose an option of “paying the debt off”



When it comes to actually resolve technical debt, you have three options to choose from:




Ignore the debt. This is an option for the cases where technical debt is quite small and it will take more time and money to fix it.



Refactor the app. This is aimed at improving the internal structure of the code without touching the behavior of the app.



Replace the app. This is a more “global” yet highly efficient solution when you have enough time and resources to just fix everything from the start.





 


Expert Opinion



Sometimes it’s easier to rewrite the whole product from scratch. Though you can also try covering it with tests and breaking it down into smaller chunks to apply fixes to them





Android developer at SoftTeco



Alex






 




Balance sprints wisely



Another efficient way to manage technical debt is to leave one day per working week and dedicate it solely to resolving pending tasks. In this way, the team will not get distracted while working on new features and at the same time, will be addressing the existing issues.



Implement CI/CD



Continuous integration and continuous delivery can significantly facilitate the release process as they imply automation of a number of tasks and using a version control system. In this way, the project becomes more organized and more transparent, making the technical debt more manageable.




 


Expert Opinion



There were cases when we received a project with huge technical debt and had to negotiate with the client about the possible solutions. It often happens that a client is not ready for the system refactoring so we propose to synchronously work on implementing new functionality and eliminating technical debt. For that, we suggest bug fixing and refactoring of the most critical parts of the code. As well, it’s a common case when a project (system) is too old. So throughout the years of work, everything changes: technologies, approaches to writing code, opinions, and requirements, system load, even team members. In this case, technical debt is almost inevitable as old planning can not be applied to new processes.





Head of PM/BA at SoftTeco



Leonid






 




Summing up



Even if your technical debt is caused by “good reasons”, it’s still bad as it harms the project and causes your team to lose productivity and focus. While you can fix it “on the go”, the best option is to prevent it by improving your management practices and possibly introducing new ones that would help prevent the issue and keep the workload properly balanced.

### Are We Too Dependent on Technology?

Technology is everywhere and is continuing to seize more and more aspects of our lives. We already have smart deliveries, robotic assistants, and AR vision and we can only guess what’s coming next. So are all these changes really good or are we becoming overly dependent on technology? Spoiler: there is no right or wrong answer.







As written by Bradbury and Clarke



Let’s unwind back to 1950 - 1970 and remember the time with no Internet, headphones, and cell phones. This era can be called the dawn of sci-fi literature and the most well-known sci-fi authors actually predicted certain technological trends while letting their imagination roam loosely in their minds.



It makes sense to look back and remember how people lived without so much technological advancement on their side. Technology was used for manufacturing mainly and such aspects of lives as entertainment, healthcare, and finances remained tech-free. Partially, because there were no tools to replace people and partially because people believed that only they were capable of performing certain tasks.



This, however, did not stop the authors from fantasizing about the topic of our future and the role that technology would play in it. Some of the most interesting predictions are:




Earbuds: described by Ray Bradbury in “Fahrenheit 451” (published in 1953) as something a person could place in his ears and receive audio entertainment, available to him only. 



Geosynchronous satellites: the idea was first proposed by Arthur C.Clarke in 1945. He suggested that satellites could be placed in the Earth’s orbit in order to transmit signals across the globe for lightning-fast communication.



Credit cards: in his book “Looking Backward” (published in 1888), Edward Bellamy predicted that people would possess a universal card to pay for goods and services instead of paper money and coins. 



Security cameras: if you read “1984” by George Orwell (published in 1948, ironically), you might remember him talking about interconnected surveillance used for social monitoring. 




Did these authors think about how much technology would integrate with society? Probably, not. Their novels were seen as bold and hard-to-believe fiction - yet here we are, using our mobile devices to pay for digital services via the Internet. So how does it impact us?



When talking about dependency of any kind, it’s important to understand what kind of dependency is present. Is it negative and hurts the dependent person or is it positive and provides just the right amount of assistance to become integral? Let’s try to find an answer.



The status of technology today



When talking about the positive impact of technology on our lives, the first thing that comes to mind is tech-equipped healthcare and security. Technology has made (and keeps making) a huge contribution to the quality of our living and helps us safeguard ourselves against many threats. Just think about the development of medicine and the speed of drug research if we compare it to the same processes but fifty years ago. Or think about how easy it is now to track a person so you won’t have to worry about your loved ones coming home late at night.



On the other hand, technology replaces certain activities that do not, in fact, need that. Here are some examples of how technology impacts our lives and whether it’s necessary or not.



Self-monitoring



Do you know your heartbeat right now? No cheating - get your eyes off your smartwatch or MiBand. That’s what we talk about - with the blanket distribution of technology, we rely too much on our smart devices and forget to take care of ourselves without technical assistants.



Take runners, for example. Today, technology provides them with lots of valuable assets: smart devices for monitoring their state of health and distance, virtual assistants, etc. But what if you take all these goodies away? It would be really hard for a modern runner to independently monitor their distance and heartbeat rate - yet, these skills are critical in order to prevent any damage and understand their own progress.



While technology indeed helps us take better care of our health, it also minimizes our ability of critical thinking especially in regards to our own selves. Maybe this is one of the reasons why meditation is gaining popularity again - it calls upon taking a break and acknowledging our being “in the moment”.



Manufacturing



The first step towards automating the manufacturing process was the Industrial Revolution that started in 1760. It was then when people replaced manual labor with technologies for the first time and since then, the manufacturing industry has been rapidly moving towards almost full automation.



These days, it’s hard to imagine manufacturing without technology. In fact, if you eliminate technology from manufacturing, the whole industry will collapse - that’s how high the level of dependence is. However, it’s not something bad and something to worry about. Sure, there can be tech malfunctions or security breaches - but on the other hand, replacement of people by technologies led to safer and faster work with a minimized number of errors. Today people are mostly responsible for planning and analysis while leaving the rest to innovative tools. And that’s definitely a good trend to follow.



Supply chains



Related to the point above, supply chain management is an industry that heavily relies on technology in terms of manufacturing, transportation, and distribution. And same as with manufacturing, if we take technology out of the equation, the current system of supply chain management would most likely collapse without it.



Thanks to technologies, processes that used to take days (if not months) in the old times now take mere hours or even less. The introduction of technology to supply chain management significantly boosted the industry and allowed people to focus on more strategic tasks such as the identification of business opportunities or market research.



Art



Think about AI-powered machines writing novels and stories or AI-powered programs creating music. Creativity has always been a distinct feature of mankind, something impossible to be explained and defined by standards. So there is a certain amount of controversy when a perfectly balanced and programed machine, created by people, attempts at something that is impossible to be measured, calculated, and dissected. Yet, AI models actually succeed in that, and sometimes it’s really hard to tell which work of art was created by a person and which by a machine.



Remember Deep Blue - the rival of Garry Kasparov in a chess tournament. Though chess is more analytical than music or painting, it still requires a certain amount of creativity, deduction, and strategic thinking to win. Yet, here we are: a computer beats a chess grandmaster on his own battlefield. 



Another good example is the transformation of modern music under the heavy influence of technology. Today it became harder to distinguish between different music genres as almost all of them have electronic sound. Compare modern music to the one created in the 1980ies: there was a strict division between rock, pop, jazz, or R&B.



While the deployment of technology in art is somewhat amusing and wins admiration, there is no much meaning behind that. Art created by a machine is not something that would save the world one day and considering that art serves as a means of self-expression and even therapy, it’s probably a better idea to leave it to people.



If technology does not have a “wow” effect anymore, then what does?



Even in this blog, we’ve given numerous examples of how technology is used in business to woo customers and retain competitive advantage. But with time, the “wow” effect is starting to fade as customers now expect a certain tech innovation to be present everywhere, as something that goes without saying. So what may have this “wow” effect on people these days, if not technology?



In our opinion, the answer is really simple and it takes us back to the starting point: physical advertising and personal interactions. In other words, all sorts of things that are now considered old school. Think about it: if a business launches a marketing campaign online, it will most likely get lost in thousands of similar ads (short video, YouTube or TikTok, and heavily depends on whether it manages to grab attention from the first second or not). 



Let’s remember publicity stunts and the way they went viral back in the 2000s. One of the good examples is “Ma Contrexpérience” by Nestle when a group of women was riding exercise bikes placed on one of Marcel’s busiest streets (if you need more details, we highly recommend checking the ad on YouTube). Another brilliant publicity stunt is “Push to add drama” by TNT where people were caught in a real-life action/drama/romantic/comedy movie staged by professional stuntmen on the streets of Belgium.



Now, we are not saying that technology should be removed from advertisement (or other areas of our lives) but that it has become a commodity these days. Hence, it makes sense to assume that we will be now amazed by something completely opposite: quality time spent with our loved ones in real life with no gadgets around, outdoor meditation, clever publicity stunt advertisements, or pumpkin picking instead of streaming a Halloween movie on Netflix (in this case though, why not both?). 



Technology is something that makes our lives easier and better and it will continue to impact and transform them. But if you want a change of pace, visit your mom, grab your friends out for lunch, or simply learn how to bake bread. You don’t need to go 100% tech-free but a little break from the gadgets might be refreshing after all.

### Artificial Intelligence in Banking: Top 5 Solutions

Artificial Intelligence is quickly becoming a new standard for the banking industry worldwide. Though not organizations are yet ready to face the changes, experts state that the technological transformation for the banking industry is inevitable. Customers expect personalized and omnichannel services while banks have to keep up with tech giants who decide to enter the fintech sector. 



Hence, the deployment of artificial intelligence in banking is the only way for financial institutions to remain competitive, maintain a high level of services, and bring more efficiency to current processes. Below, we will have a look at the five most common AI-powered solutions that banks can already start using and the overall benefits of AI for banking.







What benefits does AI bring to banking?



You might have heard that AI adds accuracy, speed, and efficiency to processes but these are very vague descriptions. If you need more definite benefits, here are the biggest ones:




Personalization via virtual assistants, personalized recommendations, and smart money management solutions;



Better data management and storage due to automation and application of ML to data processing;



Risk mitigation and risk management due to predictive analytics.




If we drill down, these benefits can be broken down into smaller ones, depending on the area of AI deployment. It is also important to state that AI benefits all areas of banking, including the front office, middle office, and back office. Therefore, artificial intelligence in banking does not only improve the processes - it takes them to a brand new level. And now let’s talk about the most common AI-powered solutions.



AI for banking: most common solutions



While AI can benefit the banking industry in many ways, we will list the most popular solutions that can be already implemented by banks. It will still take some time and effort to properly design and implement these solutions but they will reward you with increased customer satisfaction and a significant boost in the efficiency of processes.



Personal assistants and personalized recommendations



Personalization plays a critical role in any business and numerous statistics prove that. Customers now expect all businesses to provide them personalized services and banking is no exception. Hence, personalization in banking comes mainly in the form of personal virtual assistants and personalized recommendations.



Smart virtual assistants are AI-powered chatbots that are capable of the following:




Recognizing one’s spending behaviour and suggesting certain actions based on that;



Providing the requested information to users;



Communicating with users and assisting them in decision-making.




These bots act as a liaison between users and the bank and significantly facilitate the majority of processes for customers. By instantly providing the needed information and guiding the user through processes, smart chatbots boost user experience and increase the level of trust from the customers’ side.



As for personalized recommendations, the use of artificial intelligence in banking can help learn about the online behavior of their clients and use this information to provide relevant and timely offers. In this way, customers can rest assured that all the offers they receive will be useful to them and that the company does not do “spam emailing”.



Fraud mitigation



As banks went digital, fraudulent behaviour has become one of the most severe problems. The costs of lost data can be incredibly massive and any case of fraud hurts not only the bank but disrupts customers’ loyalty as well.



Artificial intelligence can help banks resolve the issue with the help of machine learning technology. ML can recognize any warning and potentially fraudulent behaviour online and act correspondingly: i.e. automatically warn system owners or take preventative measures. As well, AI can be successfully used in lending as it helps evaluate the credibility of borrowers and contribute to decision making.



Data security



Related to the point above, data security is another critical aspect to pay attention to. It depends not only on the mitigation and prevention of fraudulent behaviour but also on the quality of data storage and its security. 



By using artificial intelligence in banking, financial institutions can significantly enhance the security of their data by applying biometric authentication, organizing and processing their data in a smarter and more structured way, and “cleaning the data” with the help of machine learning. In this way, any potentially warning behaviour can be easily detected and the AI-powered system can independently take action in order to protect the data and notify the specialists about the threat.



Omnichannel services



Mobile banking has become incredibly popular especially in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while the growth of mobile banking is itself a big step towards the transformation of the banking industry, things get even better if you add AI to it.



AI plays a big role in mobile banking apps as it offers the following:




Personalized planning;



Smart notifications;



Biometric authentication;



Virtual assistants (similar to Siri or Alexa).




And obviously, the introduction of a mobile application allows banks to embrace omnichannel services and ensure the customers can receive the same quality of service both offline and online.



Smart document processing



The banking industry has always been dealing with an overwhelming amount of documentation stored in physical format. This includes scanned and printed documents, handwritten documents, and images. With the help of optical character recognition and computer vision, banks can take their document processing to the next level.



OCR and computer vision share the same purpose: to “translate” the text on physical documents and transfer it to electronic format. Now imagine how much storage space you can clean by transferring all your paper documents into cloud storage. Not only does electronic format contribute to better-organized storage but it also brings higher document security and allows a much more convenient and better document organization and management.



Main considerations about AI implementation



Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming a must-have for any business and banks have to take action now in order to remain competitive and avoid being left behind. However, there are several challenges that prevent the implementation of artificial intelligence in banking:




Lack of technical skills and technology systems;



Lack of strategy (or poor strategy for AI implementation);



Lack of flexibility needed for AI implementation;



Lack of professional personnel.




The main challenge, though, lies in creating a uniform and holistic strategy that would cover not several but all processes within an organization, from front to back offices. According to McKinsey, banks need to review the three layers of their operations in order to become AI-first.



Customer engagement



The first layer involves customer engagement and means reimagining the end-to-end process of the customer journey. Banks need to offer their clients the following:




Seamless movement between various points of interaction: physical branches, mobile apps, call centers, websites. The interactions with each point of contact should be frictionless and a customer should be able to freely move between them.



Integration with non-financial services such as messengers. By allowing certain banking services on third-party apps, banks not only significantly expand their digital presence but provide a holistic experience to users.



Smart and personalized recommendations that resolve customers’ needs and provide valuable advice. This can include building forecasts for future spendings and smart management of finances.




Decision-making



This layer involves a majority of processes that help a bank make decisions on a daily basis (i.e. document management or customer acquisition). By bringing AI to the decision-making layer, banks can significantly improve their processes with the help of such tools as computer vision, machine learning, robotic process automation.



Banks will also have to reshape and improve such processes as code management or sharing knowledge across the team. The main goal here is to streamline, improve, automate, and reorganize all the processes so a bank can seamlessly implement AI.



Technology and data infrastructure



As we already said, the lack of needed technologies and tech knowledge is one of the biggest challenges for implementing AI in banking. Hence, banks have to adopt the tech-forward strategy and create a modern, scalable, and flexible tech infrastructure within the organization. As well, banks will have to reorganize their data management to ensure a high level of security and organization in order to protect the data from threats. And don’t forget about hiring skilled and experienced employees that will be responsible for handling new processes and teaching others.



Conclusion



While it will take quite a significant amount of time to become fully AI-first, banks need to understand that the benefits in the long run will surely outweigh the challenges that they might face in the next few years. Therefore, it is highly recommended to pay attention to either existing AI software solutions or to request custom AI development in order to make the first step towards embracing AI technology

### How Does Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Technology Work?

The Optical Character Recognition technology, known as OCR, has been around for quite a while. But have you ever thought about how exactly a machine recognizes hand-written or printed characters and successfully processes them? Below we provide an overview of the OCR algorithms working process and explain what value this technology might bring to a business.







What is OCR?



According to the most common definition, optical character recognition is an electronic conversion of typed, printed, or handwritten text into machine-readable text. Examples include processing text on road signs, hand-written documents, or photos. The OCR technology can greatly benefit some businesses, especially the ones dealing with lots of handwritten or printed copy.



OCR use cases



The industries that can benefit the most from the use of OCR technology include banking, legal, and healthcare. All of them involve thorough work with handwritten or printed documents (cheques for banking, health records in healthcare, all paper documents in legal establishments) and therefore, the use of OCR can not only add accuracy to the data processing but make it faster and much more efficient. As well, OCR can be successfully used in supply chain management as you can program the OCR tool to read barcodes and recognize expiration dates, serial numbers, and similar sorts of data.



One more common use case for the OCR technology is the recognition of license plates. The use of this technology can be a great asset for police departments as it allows instant search for the needed vehicle and eliminates the need to manually search through records.



The backstage of OCR algorithms: how do they work?



There are multiple steps involved in the process of optical character recognition. Let’s have a look at every stage of it and see how exactly the algorithms recognize the text.



Image pre-processing



Before analyzing the image and the content that it contains, the OCR tool first has to “clean” the image in order to improve the recognition process and make the text clearer. Pre-processing may include:




Image alignment: if the image is a bit tilted or was not aligned correctly, the program will align it in order to make the text lines 100% horizontal and/or vertical.



Image despeckling: this means removing positive and negative spots and making the edges more smooth.



Line cleaning: removing lines and/or non-glyph boxes.



Image zoning: the software will identify columns and paragraphs as blocks and will use them in the recognition process correspondingly.



Binarization: once the image is cleared, the program will make it black and white (binary) for easier recognition of characters.




Feature extraction and binary matrix creation



Once the image is “cleaned” from clutter and is made more readable, the OCR software will perform feature extraction aka actual character recognition. The software can do so either by evaluating distinct lines and strokes in order to define a character or by identifying the entire character at once.



Remember we mentioned binarization? Once the image is black and white, the software will then define empty (white) areas and black areas (which will be parts of the character). The image will then be converted into a binary matrix where black pixels will be 1s and white pixels will be 0s. After that, the software will use a distance formula to calculate the distance between the matrix center and the farthest 1s. 



This is needed to create a circle of the defined radius which will later be broken down into smaller segments. In this way, each segment will contain a certain number of 0s and 1s. The software can then compare each segment with the ones stored in the database and identify the corresponding character.



Verification



Since there is a huge variety of fonts and writing styles, a machine can make mistakes in recognizing the characters. This is why it’s important to perform post-processing verification and either confirm the recognition or feed corrections to the machine for further learning.



The benefits of OCR for business



There are numerous tangible benefits that optical character recognition can bring to a business. Below we discuss the most important advantages of deploying OCR technology in your processes.



Resolved storage issues



Physical storage mediums such as paper files usually take too much space in the storage. As well, it’s quite challenging to properly organize and classify them, especially if there are too many files. By using OCR technology, you can efficiently convert all physical files into electronic records and store them in the cloud (or other preferred storage). You can also apply machine learning or automation to sort and organize your electronic documents and thus save a significant amount of time.



Higher security



Storage of your documents in electronic form not only brings higher efficiency and speed but also improves the security of the data. While physical storage can be hacked or accessed quite easily, it will be much more difficult to access cloud storage. Hence, by converting your documents into electronic form, you enhance their security greatly. As well, don’t forget about reliable and secure backups that you can create for your electronic documents.



High accessibility and searchability



It may not be very convenient searching through massive amounts of paper files even if they are properly organized. But with electronic storage, the search can be completed with a few clicks only - no need to say how efficient and time-saving it is.



The OCR technology allows you to convert your physical documents into any convenient format. In this way, your files become instantly searchable and accessible and you will be able to retrieve the needed information at any time.



Summing up



An OCR-based software can become a valuable tool for a business, especially if it deals with numerous handwritten and printed documents. While there are many OCR tools available in the market, you can also request the development of custom OCR software to serve your specific and unique needs. Contact us to learn more and we will gladly answer any questions that you might still have about the implementation of optical character recognition in your business.

### Software Development Team Roles and Responsibilities: an Overview

When you assemble a team for your software project, the variety and number of suggested roles might be daunting, especially if you have not come across them before. However, any client needs to remember that every proposed role has a specific purpose and plays a crucial part in the success of your project. In this article, we list the most important roles that every software project has and explain their main responsibilities.



Product owner



A product owner is a person who has the vision of the final product and is considered a key stakeholder throughout the development phase. The product owner’s main responsibility is to communicate this vision to the development team. It is up to the product owner to decide how the final product will function and he has the final say in making any decisions, especially the ones related to the product’s functionality. Naturally, a product owner joins the project from the very beginning and closely monitors it throughout the development process. 







A product owner also closely collaborates with UX/UI designers and is the one who approves their ideas and suggestions. It is worth mentioning that a product owner can efficiently work by any project management model.



Main responsibilities of a product owner:




Establishing efficient communication between the other stakeholders and the development team;



Creating a list of project requirements



Doing market research;



Prioritizing project requirements;



Defining user stories with the help of a business analyst;



Iteration planning;



Participating in team demo and retrospectives;



Ensuring the final product meets their vision.




Project manager and/or scrum master



Another role critical to the project’s success is project manager. In projects by scrum, this role is called a scrum master - we will discuss it in more detail later.



A project manager takes a massive amount of responsibility for project planning and the organization of the workflow. A manager usually keeps an eye on the timely delivery of results, wise allocation of resources, assignment of the right people to the right tasks, and overall project execution. As well, a project manager communicates closely with the stakeholders to ensure the development process remains within the set requirements and the deadline.



Main responsibilities of a project manager:




Working with a budget and its allocation;



Resources allocation;



Communication with stakeholders and further translation of their requirements to the development team;



Management of the project workflow;



Managing project timeline and deadlines;



Change and risk management.




As the name suggests, a scrum master is a specialist who works in a scrum team only. This person teaches all team members a scrum methodology, makes sure that everyone understands scrum principles, and stays on the same page. While this role is, in a way, similar to the one of a project manager, there is a big difference between the two. A scrum master focuses on scrum only while a PM focuses on the whole project and all related business processes. You can read about the roles of a scrum master and a PM here.



Main responsibilities of a scrum master:




Assistance in working by the scrum methodology;



Monitoring the development process so it adheres to scrum principles;



Communication with the development team;



Facilitating and speeding up the work process.




Business analyst



In the IT industry, a business analyst acts as a liaison between a client and a development team whose main responsibility is working with the requirements and ensuring the development team understands the product owner’s vision and needs. A business analyst constantly communicates with stakeholders, collects their opinions, and then forms and prioritizes a list of requirements for the team. Such an approach allows everyone to stay on the same page, adds transparency to the development process, and helps avoid extra costs by eliminating vague and unclear requirements and tasks. You can read more about the role of a business analyst in this article.



Main responsibilities of a business analyst:




Project analysis;



Requirements management (collection and prioritization);



Communication with stakeholders and the development team;



Project estimation and monitoring.




UX/UI designer



A UX/UI designer in the development team is a person who is responsible for the look and feel of the application. While some clients can overlook the importance of good design, numerous studies confirm that even the smallest details can play a significant role in the number of conversions and user engagement. Therefore, it is important to pay due attention to the app’s design as other aspects of the development process.



What’s great about working with a UX/UI designer is that you don’t have to have a 100% clarified list of requirements - it will be enough to describe your overall idea, target audience, and your goal to achieve. It will then be up to the designer to do market research and come up with the most suitable solution that will stand out from the competition.



Main responsibilities of a UX/UI designer:




Creating user-friendly and smooth user interface;



Providing superior user experience;



Making the product converting and appealing;



Ensuring the user understands how to interact with the product and how to achieve their goals;



Collecting client’s requirements and feedback and conducting market research.




Architect



A software architect is a person who makes high-level decisions about product design and introduces coding and technical standards. In the development team, a software architect not only defines the high-level structure of the whole system but also the way components will interact with each other. This role is somewhat a combination of a software engineer, designer, and negotiator and requires a great amount of responsibility. 



Depending on the project size and complexity, a software architect may be a separate role or it can be performed by a senior developer. There are also different types of software architects:




Enterprise architect: the role is similar to a tech leader;



Solution architect: focuses on the business value of the solution;



Technical architect: focuses on the technical aspects of a project (its implementation, maintenance, support).




Main responsibilities of an architect:




Gathering and evaluating requirements;



Making high-level decisions on the product architecture and design;



Researching and introducing technical standards;



Making decisions about the tech stack and deployment.




Software engineers



Software engineers are the backbone of any software project. They are the people who do all work related to actual project creation past the design stage: from implementing its business logic to adding UX/UI elements. There are two main types of software engineers needed:




Backend-side developers: responsible for the server-side of the project, work with data (its collection, management, processing, and storage), and business logic of an app.



Client-side developers: responsible for the implementation of the user interface and user experience and provide efficient communication between users and the product.  




And obviously, there are dozens of programming languages and tools available and every project will require a specific set of tools, depending on the project size and complexity. When assembling a development team, a company first evaluates your project idea and then suggests corresponding specialists based on the needed skills and experience. 



Main responsibilities of software developers:




Turning client’s ideas into a working product;



Creating and implementing product features;



Ensuring users can easily communicate and interact with the product;



Ensuring the product functions and looks as intended.




DevOps engineer



The role of a DevOps engineer is becoming increasingly popular these days among companies that work by the agile methodology. In simple words, a DevOps engineer connects a software development team with an IT operations team and significantly simplifies and speeds up the development process.



The main responsibility of a DevOps engineer is building a project infrastructure and setting up CI/CD (continuous integration/continuous delivery) pipelines. This specialist focuses on automation and maintenance and can perform a variety of different tasks, such as performance testing, optimization of release cycles, processes automation, and project management to a certain extent. A DevOps engineer usually joins the project at the beginning (to set up the infrastructure) and in the end but he can be present throughout the whole development process.



Main responsibilities of a DevOps engineer:




Building a project infrastructure;



Testing the performance of the product;



Automation of processes;



Project monitoring and reporting;



Working on project security.




QA engineers



Quality Assurance is another must-have for any development team. QA specialists are responsible for the proper functioning of the product as they make sure there are no errors and bugs that cause product malfunctioning. As well, the QA team is responsible for product security which is crucial for any software product.



Here are the main aspects of the QA process:




Functional testing: testing the app’s behaviour;



Security testing: ensuring the app is protected from possible threats;



Performance testing: evaluating the performance of the app and detecting any bottlenecks;



Network connectivity testing: testing the app’s behaviour under different connectivity conditions;



Usability testing: ensuring the app is user-friendly and engaging;



Load testing: checking how the app behaves under different load conditions.




Also, note that there are manual testing and automatic testing options available - learn more about each in our article. 



Contrary to common misconceptions, QA specialists often join the development team from the very beginning and work closely with business analysts during the preparatory stage of the project. QA specialists create a test plan and help define a list of requirements and tasks for software developers to work on. As well, it is highly recommended to do continuous testing. This allows testing your app throughout the development process and implementing any needed changes right after finding any bug or error. Such an approach allows saving up both the development and testing time and ensures the final product has a minimal number of errors.



Main responsibilities of QA engineers:




Ensuring app’s security;



Ensuring app’s error-free performance and UX;



Detecting any flaws and errors and eliminating them.




Summary



The roles listed above are the most common that you’ll meet in a software project team. Note though that the composition of the development team will depend heavily on the development methodology (agile or waterfall), the project size, and complexity. In order to have the most efficient and skilled team, we advise you to first consult with the development company and discuss what kind of project you have in mind and what you hope to achieve. By knowing your business needs, a company will be able to compose a suitable development team that will 100% deliver the expected results. We also recommend checking out this article where we discuss different pricing models - it might happen that you will need extra talent during the development process (in addition to the composed team).

### Fixed-Price vs Time and Materials vs Dedicated Team: What to Choose for Your Project?

When it comes to software outsourcing, the first question that clients ask is usually about the pricing model. Most vendors provide three options: a fixed-price contract, time and materials contract, and a dedicated team. All three have their pros and cons and companies usually tend to persuade you to work by the model that they are most comfortable with or the one they think fits the project best.



At SoftTeco, we work with various projects, from small and short-term ones to huge enterprise-grade projects that last for years. For this article, we combined all our experience and knowledge to explain all three pricing models in detail and provide you recommendations on the best use cases for each.







Fixed price



As the name implies, a fixed-price contract means there is a “fixed” budget that you negotiate with the development company before starting work. Here is how it goes.



You have a clear idea of your project, well-defined requirements, clear deadlines, and a certain budget. You then approach a development company, explain your request and discuss the best ways to realize it. Obviously, a company will help you “shape” the project requirements in order to reach your business goals in the most efficient manner but the majority of business decisions will be made by you. 



Needless to say, such an approach grants you a massive amount of control over the project. As well, with fixed-price projects, a vendor is responsible for the end-to-end development cycle - this is why it is recommended to start FP projects from scratch.



A fixed-price contract is best used for:




Short-term projects that fall within a strict deadline;



MVP development (due to its limited functionality and strict timeframes);



When you have a detailed specification and clear requirements;



When you don’t plan and intend any changes during the development process.




Fixed price: pros and cons



While a fixed-price contract is not the most flexible option, it still remains very popular among software development companies. 



Fixed price pros:




The budget remains constant and there are no extra fees;



Clear and well-defined development process and project scope;



The management is done by the development company;



A high level of predictability (and lower risks).




Fixed price cons:




Expensive and rigid change management processes



Complex risk management;



Progress reports are scheduled with less transparency in between demos;



A long preparation for the project is required in advance.




Time & Material



Unlike the fixed-price contract, which is suitable for the waterfall development method, Time & Material is perfect for agile projects as it provides a very high level of flexibility. By using a time and materials contract, you will be paying for time and material only: in other words, you will be paying “on demand”.



This model does not imply any fixed budget - you pay only for the requests and tasks that you make. You can use the time and materials contract either for your current project that needs a bit of adjustment or for a new project that you plan to start from scratch. The biggest advantage of T&M is its flexibility - there are no strict deadlines or requirements.



Of course, this may add a bit of vaguery to the project so it’s important to constantly communicate with the team and make sure the project remains within your desired business goals. Without effective project management and continuous monitoring, the development cost can quickly get out of hand so it is recommended to establish budget limits that you do not wish to cross.



A Time & Material model is best used for:




Projects with multiple teams and vendors;



Project with fluctuating requirements and scope;



Long term support and maintenance projects;



Technically complex projects that are difficult to estimate.




Time & Material: pros and cons



The time and materials contract is preferred by companies that follow agile methodology and are ready to provide transparent and frequent communication to the clients. Here are the biggest advantages and disadvantages of the model.



T&M pros:




A high level of flexibility;



Payment upon the demand (you pay only for a task requested);



A quick and easy start;



A high level of scalability;



Continuous communication with the team;



An easy implementation of necessary changes.




T&M cons:




Low budget control;



A high level of involvement from the client’s side;



“First come - first serve” (you might have to wait for the team to work on your task).




Dedicated team



A dedicated team model is usually SoftTeco’s model of choice when it comes to long-term projects with complex requirements and the need to both implement changes on the go but also remain within a certain budget. When you choose a DT model, a software company provides a full team of professionals to work on your project and besides developers, the team also includes QA specialists, business analysts, designers, and project managers. 



The main thing to remember about the dedicated team is that you pay fixed fees every month, and the fee does not depend on the workload. Hence, it is important to correctly allocate the workload and ensure there is no downtime (because even if there is, you will still be paying).



What’s great about the dedicated team model is that you won’t have to worry about project management since it will be the team’s responsibility. As well, with a dedicated team, you can always be sure the team will be available whenever you need it (unlike the time and materials contract).



A dedicated team model is best used for:




Long-term projects with evolving requirements;



Projects that are to be expanded in the future;



A project where retaining a skilled engineering talent is a high priority;



Projects that will greatly benefit from a high level of flexibility, ability to experiment and make adjustments quickly.




Dedicated team: pros and cons



While we prefer the dedicated team model, we also understand that there are certain considerations related to its deployment.



Dedicated team pros:




The team takes full control of the processes and project management;



Transparent and frequent communication with the team;



The team only focuses on the project without any other distractions;



A high level of professionalism and knowledge;



A fast and flexible workflow.




Dedicated team cons:




Possible high costs in case of the downtime;



A significant amount of time is needed to select the right team.




Below is the table summarizing all three models and their features to be compared:



Fixed priceTime & MaterialDedicated teamProject sizeSmallMedium and bigBigProject durationShort-termShort-term and long-termLong-termCostAverageHighHighFlexibilityLowHighMediumScalabilityLowHighHighProject requirementsClear and pre-determinedUnclearUnclearPricingFixed budgetFixed price/hourFixed price/hourDeadline and time frameDefinedUnclearUnclear



 SoftTeco’s recommendations



As every model has its advantages and disadvantages, it can be quite hard to choose the right one for your project. Here are some recommendations based on SoftTeco’s experience in working with all three models.



At SoftTeco, we often work through a hybrid model that combines both Dedicated Team and T&M models. A hybrid model means we provide a dedicated team to a client which forms the core part of the team in the long run. We then augment it as needed with additional resources using the Time & Materials contract. Such an approach guarantees there is always a team of professionals at the client’s disposal but at the same time, if a client needs any extra set of skills, he can request it in the form of a T&M task, and once their skills are no longer required, they can be offboarded as per the T&M contract terms.



Another recommendation for work by the DT model is to assign a project manager to a team in order to control the team’s workload and ensure the team remains busy. As well, a manager can communicate with the client and inform him either about not having enough tasks for the team or about having too many (in this case, the manager would recommend expanding the team).



As for the fixed-price contract, a software company provides both software development services and is responsible for the management and QA. Hence, all aspects of work have to be discussed in advance in order to avoid any misunderstandings and possible project delays.



Do you still have any questions left or need more help in choosing the right pricing model? Contact us and we will gladly guide you through the process of project estimation and evaluation.

### What is an Information Security Management System (ISMS) and Why You Need It?

Information security is the number one priority for any company. Unfortunately, as technology advances, so do hacking tools. In April 2020, over 500K credentials of Zoom accounts were found for sale on the dark web and that’s just one example of how easily user data can be leaked. As for the costs of data leakage, IBM reports that the average global cost of a data breach is about $3.86 million. 



So what can a company do to secure itself against possible threats? The answer is implementing an ISMS.







What is an ISMS?



An ISMS stands for Information Security Management System. However, it is not a ready digital solution that you can purchase and implement immediately. Instead, it is a framework of policies and security controls for managing risks and threats and you need to come up with these policies yourself. Of course, there are many available specifications and guidelines (ISO 27001 being the most well-known one) that can help you design a solid ISMS. 



ISMS is critical for any organization that works with personal/sensitive data as it helps secure it, minimize possible risks, and mitigate internal and external threats. Here is a list of all the benefits that ISMS brings to an organization:




Security of data storage and management;



Better resilience for possible attacks;



Prevention of risks happening by timely identifying and eliminating them;



Timely and effective responses to evolving threats;



Protection of CAI: confidentiality, availability, and integrity of data.




By now, you are probably thinking: how do I implement an ISMS? We will answer that question but first, you need to understand whether your company really needs it.



What companies need a formalized ISMS?



It is a common misconception that only IT companies need to have an ISMS - any company that processes or controls personal/sensitive data needs to implement a formalized ISMS. Moreover, it can be either a small startup or a large corporation, a non-profit organization or a private company - if there is any sensitive data processed, ISMS is needed.



It is important to understand what sensitive data is. In general, it is the data that should be protected from unauthorized access in order to safeguard an individual or an organization. The most common examples of sensitive data include a phone number, address, health information (electronic health records), credit card numbers, etc. Hence, if your organization works with any kind of such data, you need to implement an ISMS.



ISMS implementation: a checklist



Because an ISMS will be unique for every organization, there is no ultimate checklist to follow to perform its implementation. However, there are certain guidelines that can help you while planning the process.



The PDCA model of ISO 27001



ISO 27001 is an internationally recognized standard on information security that we will review in more detail below. But for now, let’s focus on the ISMS implementation model proposed by it.



The PDCA model stands for Plan - Do - Check - Act and describes the main action one has to take to implement an ISMS. Here is the explanation of each step:




Plan: during this stage, you do all the planning. You identify risks, collect information that might be useful, and define the possible policies and procedures to use to combat these risks.



Do: the implementation of these policies into your work process.



Check: after implementing an ISMS, you will need to constantly monitor its effectiveness and see whether any changes are needed.



Act: this is not a stage but rather a set of actions that you’ll need to take. They include work with documentation, knowledge sharing, feedback collection, and focus on further (and continuous!) improvements.




This was a very brief explanation of the PDCA model. Now we will have a more detailed look at every step that you’ll have to take for successful ISMS implementation.



Define the goal to achieve 



The first step of your planning process should be defining the actual goal that you hope to achieve with ISMS implementation. Whether it’s implementing security policies from scratch or enhancing the existing ones, you need to have a well-defined goal.



Outline resources that need to be involved



Next, you will need to outline all resources that you will need to successfully implement your ISMS. These resources might include people, tech equipment, and finances. For instance, you might need a more powerful and efficient data storage system or you might need to expand your team to properly manage the processes.



Outline everything that needs to be covered



In addition to outlining the needed resources, you will also need to outline:




processes;



departments;



business units that need to be covered.




Note that not every business process/unit/location needs to be covered by an ISMS in order to maintain the security integrity of the organization. Only those that hold sensitive data have to be covered. As well, you will have to identify the ways in which the data can be accessed and include them too while leaving behind those areas of your organization that do not fall in the defined scope.



In addition to actual implementation, you will also need to educate your employees on new security policies and this is just one of the things that many company owners tend to overlook.



Prepare risk assessment/mitigation policies



The next step is identifying and analyzing the risks and preparing corresponding mitigation policies. Once you identified, analyzed, and evaluated possible risks, you can come up with a suitable risk treatment plan. This plan will involve security controls, needed to mitigate the risks, and ways how staff can learn about these controls and their use.



According to ISO 27001, there are four ways to treat a risk - you can choose one or a few of the following for your organization:




Risk modification: an implemented control will reduce the chances of this risk happening.



Risk avoidance: you can cease an activity that creates this risk. This method is recommended when the risk is too significant to be managed with a control.



Risk sharing: in this way, you delegate risk management to a third party either by outsourcing security efforts or buying cyber insurance.



Risk retainment: you accept the risk as its cost of treating is higher than its damage.




As for security controls, you can refer to ISO 27001. Its Annex A lists 114 controls, split into 14 sections where each section addresses a certain aspect of information security. 



Review and document business processes and procedures



Once you decide on the security controls and proceed with their implementation, you will need to constantly review them as well as document all procedures and business processes. This is needed to ensure that your controls are effective and that they handle the risks properly. Since information security management is an ongoing process, you will need to document all steps that you take to evaluate the efficiency of the taken measures. And don’t forget about internal audits of your ISMS that should be performed on a regular basis.



ISMS frameworks



Even though an ISMS will be unique for every company, there are available frameworks that provide checklists on proper ISMS implementation. The most common and internationally recognized is ISO 27001 though there are other options available as well.



ISO 27001



ISO 27001 is an international standard for information security, provided by the International Organization for Standardization. We’ve covered ISO standards in detail here so please check this article. As for ISO 27001, its main goal is to help organizations manage information securities by following a set of recommended procedures and policies. And as mentioned above, any company that works with sensitive data can become ISO-certified, not IT companies only.



The ISO 27001 certification serves as valid proof that the company takes all the necessary precautions and measures to safeguard the data and that it can be trusted by partners and clients.



Other ISMS frameworks



There are a few more reliable ISMS frameworks that are worth mentioning. The first is ITIL 4 which stands for Information Technology Infrastructure Library. ITIL 4 is a set of practices for IT activities but it has an ISM (information security management) component dedicated to securing your organization. In general, ITIL is aimed at helping a company manage its resources in the most efficient manner by providing necessary guidelines and requirements.



COBIT is another well-structured framework that helps companies better manage their processes and address risks in an efficient manner. There is not much to add here as both these frameworks (ITIL and COBIT) are quite similar to ISO in terms of their approach towards information security. The choice will depend on your personal preferences and business goals.



What’s next?



A big question that you might have after implementing an ISMS of choice is what’s next? The answer is continuous information security management since it’s a living process that requires constant monitoring and improvement.



Once you’ve implemented your ISMS, you will have to monitor it, perform regular audits, implement necessary updates, and expand the system as your business grows. As well, we highly recommend getting certified by ISO or other eligible organizations as it will significantly contribute to loyalty and trust from your partners and clients.

### Firebase with Angular: an Easy Way to Set Up the Server Side of Your App

In this article, SoftTeco’s software engineer Boris explains how you can use Google’s Firebase to set up the server part of your application written in Angular. Note though that the use of Firebase is not limited by Angular only - in fact, you can use FIrebase with almost any language and for an app of any type and complexity.







What is Firebase and why is it so good?



Firebase is a BaaS (backend as a service) platform by Google that allows developers to easily set up the whole server part of an application. Firebase weaves together a server, a database, storage, hosting, and authentication - all in one platform.



Such an approach eliminates the need to focus on many processes, related to the server setup, such as database creation or writing an API. Instead, all these processes are managed by Firebase which allows developers to save a significant amount of time and create a working module of almost any functionality in approximately a day.



Hence, the biggest benefits of using Firebase are:




Quick and easy setup;



Saving time due to automation of processes;



Scalability (suitable for different projects).




Firebase modules



The main thing to remember about Firebase is that it consists of five modules, each responsible for a specific task. Let’s look at them in more detail.



Firebase Authentication



As you can guess from the name, the Firebase Authentication module enables user authentication for your app. Its main responsibilities are:




Integration with numerous services;



Access management via guard;



Monitoring the authorization state of users.




Needless to say, Firebase Auth provides a high level of security when it comes to processing user data but we still recommend following the basic steps of app security to ensure your product is securely safeguarded.



Firebase Database



This module is a cloud-hosted database where data is stored in JSON format. The main things to remember about Firebase Database are:




This is a NoSQL real-time database;



Sampling and sorting are available;



Offline mode is available;



Indexing and scaling.




One more great thing about Firebase Database is that it can be accessed from both a web browser and a mobile device and it does not require an application server. The data is validated through the Firebase Realtime Database Security Rules.



Firebase Storage



This module is responsible for storing and managing user-generated content such as images and videos. And since this module is backed by Google Cloud Storage, you won’t have to worry about the security of the data as Firebase takes good care of it. Access control also contributes to high security as you can set up the access roles and monitor who can access the data. 



Other useful features of Firebase Storage include convenient data reception through the pipes and efficient organization of folders where the data is stored. Hence, this module is easy to operate and doesn’t require much effort to get a grasp on it.



Firebase Functions



Firebase Functions is a serverless technology that can automatically run the server code in response to events triggered by Firebase and HTTPS requests. This module processes the data and manages logs and connections between all Firebase modules. 



What’s great about Functions is that this module is private and secure and the client cannot access it. This is an advantage if you don’t want any reverse engineering or tampering on the client’s side. As well, Firebase Functions free developers from the need to manage credentials, server configuration, or new servers provisioning as the module independently matches the available computing resources with user needs.



Firebase Hosting



This module is a fully managed hosting service that can be also used for microservices. It is backed by SSD storage and works with the global CDN. Same as other Firebase modules, Hosting is very easy to manage and offers a quick and hassle-free setup and state recovery. You can integrate Hosting with Cloud Firestore if you want to build a complex and powerful app with real-time data updates.



Firebase pros and cons



As you can see by now, Firebase is an efficient solution that doesn’t require too much effort from developers. Let’s list its biggest pros and cons below.




 

Pros




  
Quick setup;
  
Ease of use;
  
Fast performance;
  
Suitable for POC, MVP, PetProjects;
  
Rich documentation;
  
A vast number of available modules and integrations.





Cons




  
Non-relational (NoSQL) database which is not very suitable for complex, massive apps;
  
Price (can be really high in case your app grows).

 








Conclusion



Overall, Firebase can be used for a project of any type and size due to its scalability but you have to keep in mind that the price will grow correspondingly to the project’s growth. Therefore, I recommend using Firebase mainly for small projects and MVPs as it will deliver the best price: quality ratio in this case.

### How to Prepare for Interview: Tips for Software Engineers

As a developer, you’ve probably encountered several interviews in your life, including technical ones. And while there are plenty of tips on preparing for a general interview, a technical interview seems more intimidating to many. In this article, we collected the best practices of preparing for a technical interview for software engineers and added advice from our colleagues who have both conducted and passed such interviews.







Refresh your knowledge and skills



Whether you are a junior or a senior developer, it is obligatory to prepare for interview and the first step is refreshing your skills and knowledge. Many middle and senior developers skip this step, firmly believing that their portfolio would be enough. However, technical interviews consist mostly of technical questions and the interviewer will make sure to ask as many details as possible about a certain technology that you work with. And don’t forget test tasks too!



With such an approach, here are a few things you can start doing in advance before your interview to maximize your chances of successfully passing it.



Read about tools related to ones you work with



While many people believe that interviewers will ask them only about technologies they work with, many interviewers also ask about related technologies (which may come as a surprise). The reason for that is to check how well-read a person is, how enthusiastic and interested they are in their work, and whether they keep aware of trends and news. Open-mindedness is valued highly and it’s one of the ways to test it.



Prepare for a test task



The main thing to remember about test tasks during tech interviews is that they are aimed at checking your critical thinking skills and the ability to quickly code. So even if you are a pro, dedicate some time to prepare for interview and get used to coding under stressful conditions and within a limited time frame. 



Brush up your knowledge of theory



While a tech interview is supposed to check your skills, an important part of it is also checking how well you know the theory. Many developers tend to underestimate the importance of theoretical questions and this leads to failed interviews. In order to not let this happen, refresh your theoretical knowledge and prepare for possible questions on every tool that you work with.



Pay attention to soft skills



Soft skills aka personal skills determine one’s ability to fit in the company’s culture and in a project team. Alongside one’s technical knowledge, an interviewer will also evaluate your soft skills such as your ability to efficiently communicate, deal with stressful situations, and be part of a team. 



When you prepare for interview, get ready for the evaluation of your soft skills in advance in order to make a good impression and to ensure an interviewer learns about you both as a person and as a professional.



Talk about the challenges you faced and how you overcame them



This is a great way to let the interviewer know about how you overcome difficulties and what methods you use for that. A challenge always implies a stressful situation of some kind so your interviewer will know that you are stress-resistant and can come up with an effective solution. Note though that you should never sugar-coat the challenge: be as honest as possible and never make up anything (as it will inevitably be revealed later).



Be honest



While seemingly obvious, this point is too important to be forgotten when you prepare for interview. In an attempt to make the best first impression, some developers tend to exaggerate their skills (both soft and technical). This is a big no because the truth will be revealed sooner or later and this may hurt your work.



While in the interview, try to do the following:




Be transparent: admit your flaws but explain how you work on them and how you plan to improve them;



List only those tools in your resume that you worked with and can talk about: do not list things that you have a vague knowledge of;



Don’t forget to talk about your strengths: it is important to acknowledge them!




Get acquainted with the company



One of the biggest mistakes that many software engineers make is ignoring the information about a company before coming to an actual interview. And while some may say that it’s useless to learn about the company’s history and the year of its foundation, in some ways, information about a company can be really valuable:




You can better understand the company’s culture and whether you like it (or not);



You can see what kind of people work there and whether it will be comfortable for you;



You will get an idea of what kind of industries/projects the company mostly focuses on.




In addition, if you attend an interview prepared and have a general idea of the company, it will save the interviewer a significant amount of time that would, otherwise, be spent on explaining the basics.



Questions about the project



Finally, one more thing to consider in advance when you prepare for interview is listing down questions about the project that you will be working on. It is in your best interest to learn as much information about the project as possible in order to avoid any misunderstandings in the future and get a clear idea of what might be waiting for you.



Here are some things you can ask about:




Project duration;



Tech stack;



The project lead and the team;



Your expected role and responsibilities.





 


Expert Opinion



I remember we had a developer who worked in a product company before and such work means a deep understanding of things, rather slow approach, a very thoughtful pace of work, etc. So when he came to SoftTeco and started working on our projects, he was completely taken aback by the quick pace of work and by constant changes and need for flexibility. Unfortunately, he did not manage to get used to it - so always ask about the kind of project you will work on and how exactly the processes happen.





.Net developer at SoftTeco



Raman






 




Ask about the future of the project



Also, remember that it’s not enough to ask about the current state of the project - you would also want to know about the future plans. It is important because a number of things may happen: a tech stack can get changed, deadlines may be postponed or shortened, the introduction of new members might happen, and so on. In order to be ready for future changes and ensure you can efficiently deal with them, don’t forget to ask these questions during the interview. If you think you might miss something important, we recommend writing these questions in advance while you prepare for interview.



Clearly define your role and ask about expectations



When discussing the project, the most important thing to talk about is probably your expected role vs the expectations of a company. Allow us to explain.



It often happens that a company plans to assign a person to a certain role, say, a managerial position. A person, on the contrary, may want horizontal, not vertical development so a clash of expectations happens. If you don’t define your desired role from the start, it will lead to many issues in the future. This is why it is a must to thoroughly talk about your position, what the company would like you to do and what you will be comfortable doing. During this discussion, you can also ask about what career and professional opportunities you may expect - this is another important thing to consider.




 


Expert Opinion



SoftTeco once interviewed a person who was a great specialist with a high level of skills and knowledge. The thing is, he did not say anything about his preferences in terms of career. So after some time, we decided to offer him a team lead position. When we started discussing his further career path, turned out we were on totally different pages. It took quite a while to sort things out - would have been much easier if he clearly defined his goals from the start. Of course, we should have informed him as well so miscommunication happened on both sides.





COO at SoftTeco



Viktor

### Data Scientist vs Data Engineer: What’s the Difference?

Data Science is trending these days and many companies see it as an opportunity to skyrocket their business. However, most of them make the same mistake: is assuming you need a data scientist when you need a data engineer and vice versa. In this article, we will review the roles of both data scientist and data engineer and their main responsibilities. As well, we will talk about the business analyst role and how a knowledgeable BA can help your business.







The process of data collection and analysis



In order to better understand each role, first, we need to understand all the processes involved in working with the data. The basic steps are:




Data collection by using external and internal sources;



Creation of infrastructure and data storage;



Data cleaning;



Data processing and analysis;



Creation of simple ML algorithms, testing;



Use of data for AI and deep learning.




As you see, each step is different, and therefore, it will require different expertise and knowledge. Now, if we get back to the roles that we discuss, they belong to different steps: data engineer to Steps 1 and 2 and data scientist to Steps 3,4,5 (Step 6 is left for the Machine Learning Engineer). Let’s have a more detailed look.



Data engineer: role explained



The primary role of a data engineer is to build the infrastructure and architecture for data collection and generation. Data engineers create efficient data pipelines that generate and collect raw data and gradually transfer it to storage for further analysis. It can also be said that data engineers set the base for data scientists as they provide the data to work with.



The main responsibilities of a data engineer are:




Design of the Big Data infrastructure;



Creation of data pipelines;



Testing and maintenance.




As for the desired qualifications, you’d expect the following from a data engineer:




Experience with distributed systems;



Experience with SQL/NoSQL database wrangling;



Working knowledge of ETL pipelines;



Experience with database design and configuration;



Working with system architecture;



Solid programming skills.




When do you need a data engineer?



If you have big plans for using your data and want to implement Machine Learning models, the first thing you’ll have to do is hiring a data engineer to take care of the data pipelines and infrastructure. This said, you need a data engineer at the very beginning of your Big Data journey - but only if you have long-term plans for the data.



The reason why we stress this point out is that work with Big Data is quite expensive and demands a significant amount of time and resources. We will talk about it in more detail below but for now, bear in mind that you need to hire data engineers and data scientists only if you are 100% sure your company will be using ML models and they will bring tangible results.



Data scientist: role explained



As mentioned above, a data engineer sets the stage for a data scientist whose primary goal is to analyze the data and extract valuable insights from it. With this said, a data scientist studies the data, does feature engineering, performs various testing, and creates simple ML algorithms. By doing so, a data scientist can later “feed” the cleaned data to an ML model and present the results to you.



The main responsibilities of a data scientist are:




Data analysis;



Data processing (“cleaning” raw data);



Making hypotheses and testing them;



Building prototype models to test their ideas and theories;



Extracting needed insights from the data.




The requirements for a data scientist are the following:




Programming skills;



Experience with cloud computing;



Experience in data visualization, wrangling, management;



Good understanding of data structures and algorithms;



Knowledge of statistical analysis;



Solid understanding of Machine Learning and deep learning.




When do you need a data scientist?



It makes sense to hire a data scientist in conjunction with a data engineer so both specialists can work together on a task. And as said above, you need a data scientist when there is available and processed data and you need to extract insights from it that you can use for further business growth.



Data scientist or business analyst (or both)?



Remember we talked about how a business analyst may actually be the person whom you need? Now it’s time to explain in more detail.



A business analyst is a person who analyzes a business and its growth opportunities and uses the available data to make valuable decisions. Note that we said available data: meaning, a BA does not go around collecting it. As well, one more important thing about a BA to remember is very strong domain knowledge. A good business analyst should know the business and its environment inside out in order to successfully navigate and guide it. 



A data scientist, on the contrary, is a person of science while a BA is a managerial position. The main task of a data scientist is to understand the data and to provide a business analyst something to work with. Of course, it’s nice if both professionals can work together but not many businesses can afford an in-house data scientist.



When do you need a business analyst?



If you feel like your business is in a state of stagnation or you lack a clear direction for further development and opportunities, a business analyst is a person whom you need. It often happens that a business needs a new perspective or a detailed market analysis to get back on track and in these cases, you don’t need a data scientist but a person who knows the industry and the best ways to find new opportunities.



Thus, you need a BA when:




You want to analyze the current state of your business;



You want to learn about potential opportunities and ways of reaching them;



You need a development and growth strategy;



You need to know the best ways to reach a high ROI.




As you see, all these goals can be reached by using available data and not necessarily Big Data. As well, a business analyst can assist any business, regardless of its domain, size, and type.



A data scientist, on the contrary, will be more useful for specific businesses whose profit depends on certain forecasts. A lending company, for example, would benefit from knowing what borrowers are trustworthy and who can be fraudulent. And in order to know that, it is obligatory to use a Machine Learning model that can draw predictions based on the data.



Conclusion



A data engineer and a data scientist are two different roles and each role is significant for your ML project. If you believe that your business requires the use of Machine Learning technology, be ready that you will need an ML team, consisting of different specialists who will take full care of the data extraction, processing, and analysis. However, if you have any doubts or suspect that business analysis is enough, a BA is your person of choice.



And if you feel like you need some guidance on making a decision, Softteco will gladly consult you and will come up with the best solution for your specific business. Contact us for more detail and we will offer you a suitable solution.

### Mobile App UI: The Most Common Mistakes

A mobile app is not only your primary source of entertainment but is also a powerful converting tool. M-commerce is on the rise, taking more than half of all e-commerce sales globally, and almost every business today owns a mobile app.



With such an overwhelming number of mobile apps available, it’s hard to keep up with the competition and to grab and retain the users’ attention. Luckily, your UX/UI can help a lot - but only if you do it right. Below we list the most common mobile app design mistakes that can ruin the whole experience and discourage users from installing and exploring your app.







The importance of good UX/UI



While app performance and functionality play a huge role in the future success of an app, it’s actually the first impression that counts most. App’s appearance and design are the factors responsible for forming the first impression but in addition to that, there are several other reasons why the UX/UI aspect is so important.



Conversions



The goal behind any mobile app is to encourage a user to take a certain action and complete a conversion. Be it clicking on an ad in a game or buying a product online, all applications guide users towards a certain action. And this would be impossible without thought-out navigation and design.



The convenience of navigation and the app’s design dictate how freely users navigate the app and how easy it will be for them to complete their goal. If an app has confusing navigation or poor CTAs, users will miss most of its features and will hardly get a chance to complete a conversion. On the other hand, a user-friendly design naturally guides users through the user flow and encourages them to take the needed action. Hence, UX/UI is responsible for your ROI.



User experience and satisfaction



Another crucial reason why you should pay attention to UX/UI is user experience and satisfaction. Considering how many options there are available, an app should provide an excellent experience to retain its users. But if your design is sloppy, the navigation is poor, and the app overall looks outdated, it will have a negative impact on user experience and will most probably lead to them uninstalling the app.



Great user experience, in turn, leads to higher loyalty towards your brand, increased number of conversions, and better user retention. Needless to say, all of these factors have a significant impact on your revenue.



Now that it’s 100% clear why UX/UI is so important, we can look at the biggest mobile app design mistakes. Note that the reason for most of these mistakes is a lack of planning at the early stages of the app development. Hence, you can avoid these mistakes by investing enough time and resources into research and preliminary work.



Lack of research on user needs



This one relates to the point above. Say, you have a brilliant idea and it does seem valuable and innovative. The next question: do users really need your product or is it you thinking they might want it?



Because the design solely depends on the app’s users, it’s crucial to first define their buying personas and interests and then base your further work upon these findings. Here are some of the questions to answer:




What value is your app supposed to bring?



What problem will the app solve for the users?



What do users expect in your app?



How will users reach their goals with your app?




By answering these questions, you will be able to create a logical and natural user flow and to build the design around users’ needs - not the other way around.



It’s not the best idea to offer too many options to users in an attempt to please them. This is usually the case when a product owner did not do any research and tries to guess what users might like. Another scenario is when a product owner has a very broad target audience that has too many needs. As a result, they make one of the biggest mobile app design mistakes aka irrelevant or excessive number of options offered.



Remember that the best number of options to provide is between 2 - 4. A bigger number will simply confuse the users and discourage them from making a choice. 



Poor user flow and sloppy architecture



A user flow is a path that users will take while on your app and it defines the main points of interaction between users and an app. The app’s architecture, in turn, defines its structure and organization of sections and elements. Needless to say, if you have a poorly defined user flow and a sloppy architecture, users will never get the intended value from the app simply because they won’t be able to reach it.



As mentioned above, a well-designed application naturally guides users towards their main goal, whether it’s conversion completion or something else (i.e. snapping a great photo, completing a game level, etc.). If a user cannot understand how to use an app and how to get the desired value, they will simply uninstall it and forget about the app.



There should be no obstacles blocking the user’s way towards their end goal. If a user has to go a few steps back after going “the wrong direction”, this is not something we can call user-friendly navigation.



Confusing navigation



We’ve already said it but let’s repeat one more time: a good mobile application should have intuitive and easy-to-follow navigation. 



One of the most painful mistakes that app designers can make is creating a great design only to pack it with confusing and complex navigation. This implies poorly organized sections of an app, poor or lacking CTAs, and misleading copy. As a result, users have no idea what they are supposed to do so they take the most logical action - they quit and never come back.



A user should not do guesswork in terms of figuring out whether a certain action would lead to certain results. Instead, a user should be presented with several options to choose from in terms of navigation and each option should clearly indicate the outcome a user will receive. 



Poor or no onboarding experience



Onboarding helps to introduce users to an app and forms a first impression, which is really important. Research by Localytics states that 21% of users leave the app after the first use - hence, you’d want to do your best to retain the users.



You can think of onboarding as a tutorial on how to use an app but the trick is to do so in an unobtrusive manner. Do not present all information and all tips at once. Instead, offer instructions “on the go”, when a user really needs them. For example, you can start by asking if a user is new to an app or has used it before, what value they’d like to receive from an app, etc. In many apps, onboarding is combined with setting up personal preferences and app creators use UX/UI copywriting to create an engaging and user-friendly copy that plays a big role in the onboarding process.



Feature overload



In an attempt to provide an excellent user experience and present all information at once, some designers overload the app with features and visual elements. As a result, they get a cluttered app that not only looks clumsy and unappealing but is also incredibly slow simply because it can’t efficiently process all available content. And this is one of the biggest mobile app design mistakes on the list.



For a long time, simplicity and clarity have been the staple marks of good UX/UI. Of course, you can incorporate unique branding or add rich animations if needed - but do not overload the app with excessive features. One of the things to prevent that is writing a list of desired functions and then prioritizing them by high, medium, and low priority. In this way, you will be able to keep your app efficient and valuable yet concise and user-friendly.



When there is too much going on the screen, it overwhelms the user with information and makes it really difficult to decide what to do and where to click. A clean and concise design is not only more visually appealing but is also more user-friendly.



Design inconsistencies



Another huge mistake that designers make is not keeping the app design consistent. By that we mean:




Different color schemes;



Text formatting out of alignment;



Unpredictable behavior of UI elements;



Color, lighting, shape inconsistency.




Design consistency is a cornerstone of a wholesome and uniform user experience that is not interrupted by a sudden change in behavior or look of a certain element. This is why it’s so important to keep everything consistent and within certain UI/UX guidelines.



Neglecting simplicity



While this point can be related to feature overload, it’s not exactly what we mean here. By neglecting simplicity we mean too much irrelevant information, visuals, or text that can easily be minimized and replaced.



The most common mobile app design mistakes related to the “heavy weight” of the app are:




Too many fields to fill in;



Too much text;



Too many actions to take;



Overloaded design.




Instead of writing “Upload profile picture”, you can simply write “Upload”. While it won’t harm the user experience (since the user perfectly understands what’s going on), it will be easier to comprehend and interact with.



Making a user work too hard to reach a goal



One more critical error that a UI/UX designer can make is forcing the user to work too hard to reach a goal. Examples are:




Critical buttons are out of reach: a user cannot reach it with a finger while holding a mobile device;



Too many input fields;



Too much information to input;



Unrecognizable icons that a user has to figure out.




As you can see, in all these cases, the design does not help a user reach a goal but, on the contrary, proposes a user makes a double effort. It’s not hard to guess that such an approach leads to poor user experience and hurts retention a lot.




 


Expert Opinion



A poor product idea is one of the primary reasons for an app to fail. If a client has a poor product idea, cannot define the value that the product will bring to the users, and wants to create an app only for the sake of having one, the app is doomed.



While there is no 100% guarantee that users will love your product, you can always do extensive research on the market and competition to analyze the current state of the market and possible user needs. As well, you can ask yourself whether you’d use your product on a regular basis. If the answer is “probably”, then it’s better to come up with another idea.



If a client has a vague definition of a product idea, the whole development/design process will take the wrong turn and team members will most likely have misunderstandings about the product. In this way, the design will suffer a lot too because there will be no foundation for it.





Head of UX/UI, SoftTeco



Alex






 




Summing up



When creating a mobile application, first you need to come up with the purpose behind it. You can then use design as a primary tool to communicate your message to users but don’t underestimate the importance of good design. When it comes to UX/UI, it’s the first impression that counts the most so make sure your app creates a good one.

### Mobile App Development Transformation

In 2008, iOS App Store and Google Play Market were launched and their introduction heralded a new era of mobile. It’s been thirteen years since then and many things have changed - but have you ever thought about the state of mobile development back then?



We spoke to Alexey Shevchik (SoftTeco's CEO) and Igor Sapyanik (Head of iOS) - the people behind the very first iOS applications developed by SoftTeco. In this interview, Alexey and Igor discuss the way the mobile development industry transformed over years and what we can expect from it in the future.







First things first - how did mobile development in SoftTeco begin?



Alexey: We started working on mobile development in SoftTeco in the late September of 2008 and it’s interesting to note that the company was launched a few months before that, in April 2008. Our mobile development story was very much like other “success stories” back then: we had a client who wanted to create a mobile application similar to existing ones and to earn money on it.



The app itself was not very complex - it was a game for the Apple iPhone platform (that’s how it was called at that time). If you are interested to learn more about the game, you can check it out here. 



The first public version of SDK was released in the summer and our team started the development process in autumn. We had almost no tools to work with, in terms of available libraries, frameworks, and engines. Because of that, we had to create many things from scratch. For example, we had to build a game engine from scratch by using C++ and we had to adjust it for launch on the Apple iPhone platform.



Development was challenging as well. Before SoftTeco got its very first Mac mini that was shipped from Canada, we were actively using the Hackintosh system on our PCs. Note that it didn’t work on all computers so there was a lot of guesswork. When I was using Hackintosh, for example, my system would completely ignore the temperature sensor (or it was simply unable to turn the cooler on) so I had to turn on the processors’ forced cooling.



Getting back to the game development, we had some really extensive plans. The company aimed for creating a Scoring Server - a server that would store all user’s games and would “recreate” the games based on the user’s activity. We successfully accomplished this - the model worked right on the server and we even have some of the debugging games saved till today. As for the game mechanics, there were spaceships that were supposed to move from point A of the map to point B. Note that all those ships had different features, no copypaste.



SoftTeco was fully responsible for working on the game equilibration: we created Excel tables with characteristics of spaceships and towers and used them for analyzing the chances of a user to pass a level. We also were responsible for the game design and for that, we had to master Photoshop.



What background knowledge did you have before starting to work on the app?



Alexey: At that time, I mostly worked with Erlang and wrote scripts on bash. So when we got our first project, we had to find a person who had experience working with iOS - that’s how Igor joined the team. 



When working on the app, I was responsible for the game engine and mechanics while Igor focused on the development itself: OpenGL graphics, menu, resources, sounds. And obviously, as the project developed, we were assembling more and more people to the project and were teaching them “on the go”. We were really lucky to have enthusiastic quick learners on the team!







Igor: Before joining SoftTeco, I spent four years working as a firmware developer in the sphere of the Semicon industry. The company was designing silicon wafers handling systems that were used by big microchip fabrication plants. While working there, I worked with Embedded C so it was really easy for me to understand Objective-C later on. A few months prior to joining SoftTeco, I explored iPhone SDK 2.0 Beta and even managed to write my own small game with a physical engine in conjunction with the accelerometer.  



Describe the mobile app development industry back then 



Alexey: In 2009-2010, the mobile development industry experienced technological hype. Every company wanted to have its own mobile app and everything was new to everyone. Developers were eagerly awaiting the releases of new OS versions since every new version offered some kind of innovation or significant improvements. Among such “breakthrough innovations” were the push feature and working in the background, for example. As well, developers were extremely happy to finally get the text copypaste feature in the iPhone SDK - before its release, it was impossible to highlight and copy the text from Safari and insert it in another application.



It's also interesting how liberal Android used to be in terms of development restraints and how it became almost as strict as iOS. When it just started, Android allowed lots of access freedom, including endless background mode use or access to the SMS mailout from one’s number. However, it had a negative impact on the battery life of a device. Now the Android system is more balanced and in some ways even more strict than Apple in terms of access and permissions.



And what about Objective-C and transition to Swift? How did it go?



Alexey: I think Igor can answer this question in more detail. But in my opinion, strictly typed Swift brought a very strict architecture into iOS development and this is one of the biggest differences for me. Developers started using efficient testable architectures (MVP, MVVM, VIPER) to write apps on Swift and they now follow strict SOLID principles in their development process.



Igor: I think Swift became a natural step in the “adulting” process of iOS technology. At some point, developers started to realize that Objective-C had quite a few limitations. It was especially notable due to the high number of checks that we inserted in the code and this is always an indication of a strictly typed language. In Swift, such things come out of the box and this is the reason why Swift’s code is more concise and readable.



As the iOS development evolved, such Objective-C features as its compatibility with C/C++ started to fade. As well, the Objective-C runtime abilities that were considered highly efficient before (i.e. method swizzling) started to be perceived as a dangerous hack tool instead. In comparison, Swift is much safer and much faster due to its static method dispatch (dynamic dispatch in Objective-C).



The syntax of Swift is more traditional so it’s easier for a developer to switch to Swift from another language. With Objective-C, a developer would spend a minimum of a week to get used to its syntax. By the way, it’s really easy to read Kotlin after Swift which is especially useful when porting a feature from the Android code to the iOS platform.



Of course, the first Swift versions were far from perfect. In the SoftTeco team, the first developers to try Swift out were Eugene Karachynskyi and Mihail Kosyuhin. It was back in 2016 while the team worked on an electronic wallet application. The first Swift versions were so slow in the compilation that the same project on Objective-C would compile faster.



The biggest pain point for our clients was adding new features to their Swift projects. We had that Swift v2 project lying on a shelf for a year and then a client asked to change a single line of code in it. He was really annoyed to find out that it would take us one hour to change the code and two weeks to take the whole project to Swift 3 because Swift 2 apps were no longer accepted by the App Store.



Getting back to the transition from Objective-C to Swift, Apple took really good care of those transitions and made sure they were as smooth as possible. The connections between Swift and Objective-C were well thought out and documented. Luckily, SoftTeco never had to rewrite the existing Objective-C project to Swift. Instead, it happened step by step: new modules were written in Swift from the start and the old ones were rewritten or tweaked only if necessary.



Note that all these inconveniences are normal for any new language. And right now, all of them are fixed.



During our hiring process today, SoftTeco sees many iOS developers who know only Swift. As for Objective-C knowledge, we state it as “nice-to-have”. Either way, it’s not so hard to learn Objective-C on the support level. But in our work, a great emphasis is placed on one’s experience with system frameworks and not on the language that you use to work with them.



Describe the biggest challenges of mobile development back then and what changed today?



Alexey: One of the biggest challenges that immediately comes to my mind is crash debugging. If an app crashed, it was a big headache for a developer because the only way to understand what happened was only by a thorough analysis (and a bit of intuition and deduction). That was at the very beginning and crash reports for the clients appeared much later. 



I remember the first time we implemented a third-party custom crash report and it worked. We were so immensely happy to finally understand where exactly the app crashed. Today, Xcode Instruments provide many tools for debugging and performance tuning that are just brilliant.



Another big challenge was the addition of new libraries and frameworks. At that time, there were big and complex guidelines on how to add a library or assemble it for different architectures. Many third-party libraries were available in C++ or for macOS only. Now we have Cocoapods, Carthage, Swift package manager, and other options available.



And one more challenge that I remember - the distribution of the binary file to the client. We had a really hard time doing so via iTunes and certificate installation. I remember how happy the team was when Apple allowed Adhoc app distribution via third-party tools (like HockeyApp). And now, of course, all these issues are resolved and there is hardly a thing left to worry about.



Was there anything in the past that was better than today?



Alexey: It’s a bit unfair to compare “now and then”, in my opinion. Back then, everything was being developed at a lightning-fast speed, the “turbulence level” was really high, and the system features were updated quicker. Now we are approaching the “plateau” level when some things still get changed but not so fast. Yes, the systems still receive new resources and possibilities but they are not so revolutionary as they were years ago.







Igor: I’d like to add that some people prefer working in a state of “high turbulence and endless opportunities” while others like to work with a technology that’s already stable and consistent. So there really is no definite answer to the question.



What is your forecast for mobile app development in the future?



Alexey: It really won’t make much sense to draw any forecasts now. If we focus on the mobile development “right here and now” - native mobile development has left the startup market and has shifted to niche verticals. Native development these days is requested only by those companies that have long-term plans for the app and who need it to be complex and feature-rich.



As for cross-platform development, it will continue its growth and it already has quite a big market share. React Native, for example, was a big hit, apps that were written in it work quite well so I personally don’t see any issues with it. I’m waiting for the Flutter to reach its fullest potential though because it seems to be stuck for a while.



I also think that Xamarin has good chances to gain popularity because it’s honestly hard to compete against the whole Microsoft .NET ecosystem. One developer is enough to work on some simple tasks on the backend, frontend, and mobile so it’s the cheapest option of a full-stack + mobile package. Note though that Xamarin will soon become part of the .NET 6 - we’ve covered the news in detail here.



Igor: And maybe there will be a brand new Apple innovation that would skyrocket? We never know!

### IoT in Agriculture: Reshaping the Farming Industry

According to Statista, the global agricultural IoT market size in 2023 was approximately $28.64 billion, growing almost twice in comparison to 2018. These numbers do not come as a surprise due to the fact that IoT has proven to be a highly valuable asset for farmers and business within the agricultural sector. The level of innovation and optimization that this technology brings is unmatched, especially combined with other advanced technologies like Machine Learning. 



But what exactly is IoT in agriculture, and how does it benefit modern farmers? Below, we discuss the topic in detail.







What is IoT in agriculture?



In recent years, the agriculture industry has seen a major digital transformation that changed the way farmers perform certain activities. These changes led to a new term emerging, which is AgTech.



AgTech, short for Agricultural Technology, implies the use of technology in agriculture to increase the efficiency and speed of processes. However, optimized production is not the only goal here. The incorporation of advanced technologies in agriculture also leads to more sustainable and environmentally friendly production. Think of smart sensors that help detect hiding animals during harvesting, or of smart use of energy that reduces the amount of harmful emissions.  



The role of IoT in agriculture is very significant and it is one of the cornerstones of precision farming (we’ll discuss it in detail a bit later). IoT is used in a number of devices like sensors and drones and helps automate and optimize various processes as well as collect real-time data. Hence, the biggest benefits that IoT brings to the industry are saving of costs, increased efficiency, and reduced harmful impact on the environment.



Explaining precision farming



Before looking at specific use cases of IoT for agriculture, let’s talk a bit about the precision farming and what exactly it means. It is a strategy that “focuses on observation, measurement and response to variability in animals, crops, and fields” (as per the definition by the European Commission). In other words, it is an approach to agriculture that is heavily based on the data. The main goal of precision farming is to eliminate waste while preserving available resources.



If you need an example of IoT in agriculture, think of the following. Precision farming uses real-time data, collected by IoT devices, to help farmers understand how many fertilizers an exact crop needs. This is possible due to evaluation of the soil and environmental conditions via smart sensors. In this way, IoT completely eliminates the guesswork and thus helps farmers better control and allocate their resources. 



Smart agriculture using IoT: top technologies



We’ve already mentioned a few examples of how IoT is integrated in the farming process via sensors. Now, let’s look at the main technologies in the agricultural sector that are powered by IoT.



Robots



Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is nothing new these days. Robots are widely used across various industries, and IoT agriculture is no exception. With the help of robots, farmers can automate and speed up many critical activities, minimize a possibility of a human error, and improve the overall efficiency. Some examples of using robots in agriculture are:




Elimination of weeds: by using computer vision and IoT sensors, robots can detect the unwanted weeds among crops and either apply pesticides or weed them out. Such automatic monitoring is far more effective than the manual one and takes less time to complete.



Harvesting: similar to weeding robots, robots use image processing and IoT to detect whether fruits and vegetables are ready to be harvested. Automatic harvesting also helps solve the problem of labor shortage, which is a great advantage.



Packing: one more great application of robots in agriculture is packing. Considering that it’s almost always performed on a conveyor belt, the use of robots adds to its speed and efficiency.



Seeding: robots can also effectively perform the seeding process, which, if done manually, can take quite a long time and lots of effort.




And these are just a few of the examples. As you can see, robots successfully take over mundane tasks and allow farmers to focus on more critical and complex ones. And IoT aids robots a lot by collecting information about the state of soil and crops, thus impacting their further actions. 



Sensors



Let’s explain the already mentioned sensors in more detail. IoT sensors are small devices that collect real-time data (like temperature, humidity) and transmit the information to the server. The server then processes the data and sends it to a smart IoT device, thus resulting in a certain action. Say, if the IoT sensors detect unexpectedly dry soil, the information will be sent to robots responsible for watering. In this way, these devices in agriculture constantly communicate with each other and create a smart, data-driven network.



In agriculture, IoT sensors are used to monitor: 




Temperature



Humidity



Soil acidity and moisture



Cattle movement



Cattle health



Plant growth morphology



Light intensity



pH values



CO2 concentration




All this information is crucial and serves as a base for precise farming, enabling farmers to always know the state of their crops and livestock and to quickly react to any incidents.



Drones



Drones have become quite widespread these days, and agriculture is among the industries that use them the most. Considering the vast size of farming land areas, it will take too much time to manually inspect them. Hence, automatic drones that do not require manpower to operate them, become priceless assistants in collecting the data, monitoring the area, and even performing simple tasks like spraying or planting crops. 



There are two types of drones used in agriculture: ground-based and aerial UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). Drones can also be either controlled remotely or act completely autonomously. Thus, considering the value that drones bring, they will most probably become one of the cornerstones of Precision Farming, allowing farmers to always be aware of the state of their farm and to act accordingly.



Computer vision 



One more technology that forms AgTech and works well in conjunction with IoT is computer vision. In simple terms, it is the ability of a machine to “understand” and process the image and retrieve valuable information from it. 



In the context of agriculture, computer vision eliminates the need to manually check crops and livestock and provides farmers with information on their current state. This is highly useful because not only do smart devices perform analysis but also notify farmers immediately in case anything suspicious is detected.



Internet of Things in agriculture: top use cases



We’ve talked about the main technologies that deploy IoT to transform agriculture - now let’s look at the top use cases and practical examples.



Livestock monitoring



The use of IoT sensors and drones allows farmers to better monitor their livestock in terms of its location, movements, and even health. By using real-time data, farmers always know where exactly the cattle is and whether all animals are healthy or not. This approach greatly reduces the amount of potential diseases, enables farmers to act proactively, and reduces labor costs since there is no need to check on animals in person all the time.



Smart greenhouses



The greenhouse management consists of many aspects and includes a great number of activities, from watering to maintaining the needed humidity levels. All this can be automated and optimized with the help of IoT. By collecting various data via smart sensors, farmers can remotely manage the greenhouse climate and thus increase the production of crops and improve their health.



Predictive analytics



Based on Machine Learning and data, predictive analytics allows building accurate future forecasts and adjust one’s business strategy correspondingly. In terms of agriculture, predictive analytics greatly helps in identifying customers’ demand, amount of crops needed for the future, possible environmental conditions, and other factors that might impact the yield. 



Crop monitoring



Same as livestock monitoring, crop monitoring includes a number of activities aimed at monitoring the health of crops and their environmental conditions. A good example of a smart agriculture system using IoT is sensors that collect information about soil acidity or humidity, thus informing farmers about necessary activities like watering or increasing the number of fertilizers. As well, farmers can use computer vision and image processing to identify whether all crops are healthy and whether there are any unwanted weeds.



Precision farming



We’ve talked a bit about precision farming, but let’s now look at what exactly it means. Precision farming uses predictive analytics, crop and livestock data, and automation to help farmers learn what exact resources are available and needed, what requires immediate attention, and how to plan further activities. In this way, by deploying IoT, smart farming includes maximized production, better allocation of resources in an environmentally friendly manner, and reduction of labor and operating costs.



The main challenges of IoT in agriculture



Though IoT in smart agriculture is highly beneficial, it also poses several challenges and considerations. Below, we list the main things to keep in mind before implementing an IoT-based solutions.



Availability of resources



Implementation of every new technology calls for the review of your existing assets and whether they are capable of supporting this technology properly. In the case of IoT, you will have to think of both hardware (i.e., sensors) and software. For example, do you have a database powerful enough to process the expected volumes of data? How will your IoT devices integrate with the existing system or with other devices? These and other questions need to be answered in advance so that the IoT implementation brings benefit, not financial losses and downtime.



Security



Since smart devices process great amounts of data on a regular basis, they call for an extra level of protection. Hence, before implementing IoT, you will have to think about your security strategy, review existing policies, and plan how you will safeguard the data and software against potential threats. Note though that security needs to be implemented on all levels of your business, and you will most probably have to provide employee training to ensure that everyone understands the importance of security and new policies that you will introduce. 



Interoperability



You expect your IoT system to bring benefit to your business - but what if it’s not compatible with your existing systems, equipment, and devices? Hence, interoperability is crucial when planning the IoT integration as it not only ensures seamless functioning of the whole system but also smooth and secure data exchange.



Scalability



It’s natural that your business grows gradually, and so do your software solutions. Hence, when designing an IoT system, make sure it is scalable (i.e., you can add sensors to it later on, etc.) and is capable of handling the growing load.



A case from SoftTeco: an IoT wildlife protection system



SoftTeco’s client requested us to develop a mobile application for an IoT system that would detect animals hiding in the grass or crops. The main idea behind this request was the fact that during the mowing process, some animals get trapped because the mower operator is unable to detect them. Hence, the client needed a solution that would timely detect an animal with sensors placed on the mower and immediately notify the operator.



SoftTeco created an iOS application that connects with the sensors via Bluetooth. With the help of this IoT app, users can receive timely notifications, configure the sensors’ sensitivity, place and save GPS marks to tag the detected animals, and create notes. The application serves as a valuable asset for the farmers and helps preserve the wildlife by ensuring wild animals do not get in the danger zone.




 

FAQ

### How to Develop a Freelance Marketplace

Experts predict freelancers to represent about 80% of the global workforce by 2030. And in 2019, freelancers earned approximately 4.8% of the US GDP (which is almost $1 trillion). Hence, it’s safe to assume that the freelance industry is developing in a steady manner and freelance marketplace solutions are gaining more and more popularity these days. Below we discuss the main factors that determine the success of such apps and the main things to consider when developing one.







Why freelance marketplaces gain such popularity



In recent years, freelance marketplaces experienced significant growth due to the following factors:





All these factors create profitable conditions for freelance marketplaces to bloom. 




 


Expert Opinion



Unlike such giants as Airbnb or Uber, platforms for more traditional services (plumber ordering, cleaning services or coaching) are more localized in their nature and usually run in a specific country or an area.



The demand for such specific localized services leads to their emergence at a high pace and on a regular basis. Hence, if you think about creating your own freelance marketplace solution, today is probably the best time to do so 





Business Development, SoftTeco



Oleg Ridchenko






 




Success factors for a freelance marketplace app development



Being in high demand today freelance marketplaces also experience high competition. Therefore, it is important to understand what factors determine the success of your digital product in order to minimize the risks when launching such products. The following factors our colleagues at SoftTeco consider the most important to take into account.



Demand awareness and marketing



While this factor may sound quite obvious, you shouldn’t underestimate its importance. Before starting to work on a freelance marketplace product, the most important questions that you need to answer are the capacity of the market, your target audience, and possible ways to approach the potential users.




 


Expert Opinion



Maybe your idea seems brilliant but in reality, there are too many similar solutions and the demand for them is low - you’ll need to consider such things beforehand.





Executive Officer, SoftTeco



Alex Shevchik






 




Obviously, it is a must to outline your marketing strategy in advance so you will be able to steadily build awareness and ensure that your product will be visible to users.



Unique Selling Points (USPs)



Another important factor that determines the future success of your product is its unique selling points. Needless to say, with valid USPs, your chances for success become much higher. Also, when thinking about the possible USPs, take some time to analyze the usability and usage scenarios of your product and whether they will be simple enough for new and existing users.



Besides USPs, there certainly should be a commonly expected set of features in place. The most successful freelance marketplaces share a common set of features and they are:





Monetization strategy



Unless you run a non-profit organization, the monetization strategy is one of the most important drivers for your business. When thinking about monetization, the following needs to be taken into consideration:





Using a Readymade vs Building a Custom Solution



When it comes to freelance marketplace development, the biggest question to answer is whether you go with a ready-made solution or develop a software product from scratch. Each option has its pros and cons so we will overview them below.



A readymade SaaS platform



A ready-made SaaS platform is a product that was already developed by a provider and is available by a subscription fee on a monthly/annual basis. 



In terms of freelance marketplaces, a SaaS platform offers a solution with an initial set of features that can be set up and customized as needed. The platform operators can set their own name, domain, and logo and configure the system for their future clients. The initial configuration usually involves such steps as setting up categories of services, pricing models, and design templates, and this significantly speeds up the process of the platform launch, hence, minimizing the initial costs.



The biggest drawback of SaaS systems is their low flexibility and high operation costs. Since a SaaS platform is a ready system with a certain set of functions, you can customize it only to the extent that the owners of the system allow. So if you want to implement some specific behavior, it may not be possible. 



As for the operation costs, they will depend on the number of users (service providers and customers) that you intend to bring to the system. The operation costs are usually a percentage of the paid amount that can challenge the profitability of low-margin business models.



Building a custom solution



A custom freelance marketplace solution is made from scratch and in full correspondence with your requirements. The development of a custom solution is an option that many startups choose in order to make sure they will get the exact functionality that they envision in their system.



The biggest advantage of developing a custom platform is 100% flexibility in terms of its functionality, design, look and feel. The trick here is to know exactly what you need, which sometimes is not the case with some entrepreneurs - but you shouldn’t worry about that. In case you opt for a custom solution, the business analyst or a project manager of your development team will help you define the project requirements.



Another important advantage of custom development is Intellectual Property (IP). In the case of a custom platform, you 100% own the IP which is not the case with SaaS solutions. 



The biggest drawback of custom development, however, is time-to-market and costs. To develop a system from scratch, you need to go through a full software development lifecycle (business analysis, implementation, and testing) and this takes quite a lot of time and resources. 



But despite that, a custom solution is still a very preferable option, especially if you care about customization. Let’s discuss its development in more detail below.



Developing a custom freelance marketplace



If you decide to develop a custom solution, you have two options to choose from: greenfield development and ready product reuse.



Greenfield development



Greenfield development means developing a new system mostly from scratch. In this case, you won’t have any restrictions or dependencies on the other components or systems architecture. Therefore, you will have to do a lot of decision-making: which programming languages and database to use, where to host the system, how to organize user registration flow, etc. You will also need to conduct an analysis phase which usually defines most of the screens and user flows of a system before you start the development.



Ready products reuse 



This option is great when 1) there is a similar system which source code you can purchase and reuse or 2) when there is an open-source system with functionality similar to the one you need and which you can base your development on. A good example would be purchasing the source code of a successful plumber ordering system and modifying it for a home nursery care professionals matching portal (or vice versa) or finding an open-source solution with 60% of features overlap and adding business-specific features on top.




 


Expert Opinion



Expert OpinionThe product reuse approach can save you a significant amount of time and costs since many standard features will be already available. The customization of such systems implies the development of specific USPs that will put your product aside from competitors and bring the most value to customers, while the rest of the functionality can be left “as-is” with minimal branding modifications.





Head of Marketing, SoftTeco



Alex Zubel






 




The drawback of the Reuse development option is the time needed to learn the existing architecture and structure before you can develop the product further. Another drawback is its limited flexibility since you will need to work on the product within its current architecture. 



However, this option is much less restrictive in customization than the SAAS one. With the Reuse approach, you can customize business-specific features as much as you need, but it can take more time than the Green Field development. 




 


Expert Opinion



If the amount of custom features is about 20% of the entire functionality (which is most often the case) and the other 80% can be reused “as-is”, the Reuse approach will still save you a great deal of time and money, compared to the Green Field one.





Head of Android Development, SoftTeco



Elena Bobrova






 




Conclusion



We have summarized the pros and cons of the  discussed approaches in the table below:



As you can see, every option has its pros and cons and hence, the choice will depend heavily on the nature of the system, your target audience, budget, and customization needs. And if you have any questions or want to learn more about custom development options, we will be glad to answer them so feel free to leave a comment or contact us directly.

### Top Causes of Poor App Performance and Tips for Fixing a Slow App

If you scroll down our blog a bit, you’ll see two infographics describing the state of the App Store and Google Play. While both of them feature several interesting insights, let’s pay attention to the number of apps in both stores: 1.96M in the App Store and about 5M in the Google Play.



These numbers clearly indicate that the mobile application industry is booming. And the basic expectation of any modern app user is seamless and frictionless app performance. So if you have a slow app and want to fix it, we assembled a list of possible solutions.







Network issues



The quality of network connectivity is something you can’t really control as an app owner but you can still improve the app’s performance in case of poor connectivity.



Use CDN



The use of a content delivery network is a great way to improve the performance of your software product, be it a mobile or a web application. A CDN makes use of multiple servers across the globe in order to efficiently distribute content to users. In this way, a user gets content delivered by the closest server in terms of geographical location and this method significantly improves the content transfer process.



Load data as you need it



On average, a mobile app processes great amounts of data on a regular basis. Hence, if an app tries loading a huge chunk of data at once, chances are high that it will impact the app’s performance. In order to resolve the issue, it’s recommended to load the data as you need it - in other words, breaking it down into smaller chunks. For that, you’ll need to use split assemblies that will do the job. Another piece of advice here is to load textual data first and the image-based content can be loaded asynchronously and on a second-priority basis.



Reduce the number of HTTPS requests



When there are millions of sessions going on at the same time, it significantly slows down the app performance. Hence, you can optimize what each request does in order to reduce the load and therefore speed up a slow app. Here are some things that will help:





UI issues



Another possible problematic area with your slow app is its user interface and its components. While interactive and rich UI is a trend, it can significantly slow down the work of your app. So how do you balance attractive design and good performance?



Compress the content



Image (and overall content) compression is one of the most common ways to improve the app’s performance. There are two ways to do it: lossless and lossy compression.









In addition to compression, you can also cache certain images so the app won’t have to load them, again and again, each time they are requested. 



Reuse templates



An app usually contains many data templates and every time they are needed, the app has to load them. So obviously, this impacts the app’s performance and slows it down. What you can do is simply reuse the templates to reduce the load a little and help the app load the content in a faster manner.



Server issues



Issues with a server are usually among the most common reasons behind a slow app. Luckily, the backend part of the application can be fully managed and controlled by your development team. So if you conducted a performance analysis and identified any problems on the backend part, it’s highly likely that the methods listed below will help you.



Use a reverse proxy server



An efficient way to handle the load is by using a reverse proxy server. A reverse proxy server sits in between the firewall and the machine that runs the app and handles the traffic. By being directly connected to the Internet, a reverse proxy server creates an internal network and hence provides an extra layer of abstraction. In this way, it ensures a smoother flow of network traffic a directs user requests to the appropriate server. 



Use a load balancer



If you use several small servers (a server farm) instead of a big one, you’ll need a load balancer. It is a tool used for keeping the response time low by distributing the load evenly across the servers. In addition to that, a load balancer can also assist with static file caching and termination of SSL. In terms of choosing the load balancer, it’s best to use the one suggested on your cloud platform.



Optimize TLS



On one hand, the use of TLS has now become somewhat a standard - but on the other, its use can have a negative impact on the performance of your app. Luckily, there is a solution and it’s the optimization of TLS. Here are some tips on it:









Also note that general-purpose web applications should only support TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3, with all other protocols disabled.Loading issues



Users expect a mobile application to load in not less than two seconds - otherwise, they grow impatient and leave with a poor user experience. Needless to say, a slow app causes poor user experience and can result in app uninstallation. So what can you do to make sure your app loads at a lightning-fast speed without harming its content?



Use caching



You are most probably aware of the importance of using caching but let’s go through it once more time. Caching means storing frequently used data in a temporary storage location aka cache and it brings the content closer to a user. 



In terms of mobile, caching allows downloading of the data from the network onto the computer’s memory. That means your app won’t have to download the requested data from the external store but will simply retrieve it from the internal memory. Needless to say, caching can increase the loading time significantly and thus leads to a better user experience.



Update the app regularly



There are several reasons why updating the app is really important. First, regular updates provide security patches to an app and contribute to safeguarding its data. And second, if the app was not updated to the latest version of the OS system, it will perform slowly (not to mention all the bug fixes that updates deliver). Note that the latest OS version of iOS is iOS 14 and the latest version of Android OS is Android 12. 



For Android apps, it’s recommended to build it with App Bundles so that Google Play can optimize the size of an update for you. An App Bundle is a publishing format that contains all your app’s compiled code and resources, and defers APK generation and signing to Google Play. iOS has the same publishing format which is iOS App Thinning and it works pretty much the same as the App Bundle for Android.



General tips



We’ve covered the major areas for improving a slow app. However, there are still a few things left to say so let’s quickly have a look at them.



Check all third-party libraries and SDKs



While your developers are in full control of the code that they write, they cannot 100% guarantee the quality of third-party libraries and SDKs that might be used for an app. However, such external tools often happen to contain different bugs and errors that can seriously harm the performance of your app in the future. To prevent any possible issues, always double-check any external tools that you use and make sure they are secure and stable.



Do real-time performance monitoring



Real-time monitoring of your app’s performance can help you quickly react to any issue detected and also identify what’s causing it. In this way, you’ll be able to proact in the future instead of reacting to occurring bugs and this will improve the performance a lot.



Shed unnecessary features



Sometimes your app performs poorly just because you over-complicated it with features. The more heavy features the app has, the slower the performance will be. Hence, if you suspect this is the reason why you have a slow app, we recommend doing a revision and checking whether you really need all the heavy features. By removing unnecessary functionality, you will make your app more lightweight and hence, more responsive and efficient.



Summing up



The performance of a mobile app directly impacts user experience so it’s in your best interest to fine-tune it and make sure the app adheres to the set quality standards. If you have any considerations related to your app or want to check whether everything is fine, you can reach out to a mobile app development company and request a performance audit. This will help you not only identify the possible issues but also detect any weak areas and the best ways to improve them.

### Medical Apps for Doctors: the Biggest Benefits and Use Cases

We’ve already talked quite a lot about the digital transformation of the healthcare industry: the use of Augmented Reality for students’ training, computer vision for diagnostics, machine learning for drug research and manufacturing. Now it’s time to talk about mobile applications that make the lives of medical specialists much easier. Below, we will review the most common features of mobile apps for medics and how exactly they benefit them.







The most common use cases for specialized medical apps



We all know about medical apps for patients that allow them to monitor their state of health, improve eating, fitness, or sleeping habits, and even provide psychological help. But what about mobile apps that are designed specifically for medical professionals?



In the light of healthcare digitization, specialized medical apps have become a new standard that allows healthcare professionals to perform their work faster. And in healthcare, every second counts so that’s a really valid argument. Below, we list down the main use cases of specialized mobile apps for doctors.



Management of information and time



It goes without saying that healthcare professionals deal with massive amounts of information on a daily basis. Hence, they can use their mobile devices for time management and note-keeping purposes. While there are native applications (like Notes on iOS) that allow writing notes and making reminders, specifically designed medical apps are more comprehensive. 



With such a specialized app, a medical specialist can do the following:





As you can see, such apps serve as organizers that help keep track of time and tasks. As well, some apps can be used together with others and that boosts up their value for users.



Easy access to patients’ information



Another useful way how mobile apps help HCPs (health care professionals) is by providing them access to the patients’ records and information, stored in a hospital’s database. Medics often need access to such information as electronic health records, scans, prescriptions, lab results, and similar. By being able to access this information remotely, they can do their work quickly without the need to search for the info or be present on site.



Needless to say, a good mobile app has to support different file formats that will be used. This includes PDF, JPEG, PNG, Word, and other most commonly used document formats. Hence, if you decide to integrate your app with the existing system, check the format in which files are stored and make sure the app supports it.



Collaboration with colleagues



An average healthcare establishment has many departments and all of them constantly communicate with each other. The lab provides results for general practitioners, who, in turn, consult with surgeons and this communication goes on and on. Before computers were introduced, HCPs spent too much time running around and obtaining information from colleagues but even with computers and digitization, communication between the departments leaves room for improvement.



That’s where mobile apps step in and provide an easy way for doctors to communicate with each other. With the help of these apps, HCPs can do the following:





Enterprise social networking apps are one of the most popular types of mobile apps to be used within an organization. Such apps promote collaboration, help doctors consult their colleagues for more accurate diagnoses, and overall contribute to the efficiency of their work.



Patient monitoring and consulting



The use of IoT and machine learning in healthcare allows doctors to monitor patients remotely and delegate patient monitoring to a smart monitoring system. This system is able to detect the most minor alerting factors and immediately notify doctors about them. And the best way to receive a notification is via a mobile device and a wearable device.



With the help of a specialized mobile app, doctors can receive real-time notifications and monitor the state of the patients and the progression of their condition. It is especially important for patients with acute conditions or diseases that require constant monitoring and immediate reaction from medics. 



In addition to remote monitoring, specialized mobile apps allow medics to conduct remote consulting if needed. One of the most common examples would be apps for remote psychological therapy and/or help. However, there are also mobile apps out there that serve as virtual nurses as they enable patients to contact their doctor and receive online consultancy.



Information gathering



Another important use case for a medical mobile application is information access and gathering. The nature of the work of medical professionals implies constant research of specialized literature in order to make more accurate diagnoses. Doctors constantly need to check on such things as drug information (dosages, interactions, contraindications, etc.), symptoms, diseases, and similar cases. And all that can be done with the help of a mobile app.



In terms of information gathering, medical apps for doctors provide the following:





All this information needs to be organized in a clear manner and the navigation has to be clear and straightforward. As well, it’s important that users can share the information and be able to access documents in different formats.



Clinical decision-making



Since a mobile application contains a great amount of useful information, provides access to medical literature, and promotes collaboration between the doctors, the use of a medical app significantly facilitates the process of clinical decision-making and diagnostics.



Most specialized medical apps have flowcharts and clinical algorithms to help HCPs correctly identify the disease and exclude the possibility of a mistake. By using such an app, a medical professional can double-check the accuracy of the diagnosis, consult colleagues, and even conduct simple examinations and tests.



The benefits of medical apps for doctors



We’ve talked about the most common use cases of mobile applications for healthcare professionals - now let’s see the actual tangible benefits of incorporating such apps into your processes.



Less time and fewer errors



On average, a medical professional saves about 18 minutes per day by using a mobile device for work purposes. Hence, one of the biggest benefits of using a specialized mobile app is a significant saving of time as all the needed information is centralized and is at immediate disposal. This, in turn, leads to increased accuracy of work as HCPs can quickly access the needed information or consult their colleagues. Research by Carestream states that there is a 30% reduction in errors made during work if a medic refers to a mobile device for information, which is quite an impressive number. 



Better patients’ experience



By being able to immediately react to alerting notifications, remotely monitor the patients, and make diagnoses faster and in a more accurate manner, medics will provide a much better patients experience. This, in turn, will have a positive impact on the medic-patient relationship as well as boost the loyalty of patients towards a medical establishment.



Better care for remote locations



Sometimes doctors are not able to timely react to emergency situations that happen in rural areas or it takes too long for a doctor to arrive at a certain location. Thanks to mobile apps, medics can offer online consultations and help to those patients who are not able to visit a physical medical establishment.



Watch the security of your app



When talking about medical apps for doctors, security should be the primary point of concern since such apps process and store great amounts of sensitive data. We’ve already written an article on mobile security, so here are the main takeaways:





Another important thing to consider is HIPAA compliance which is an obligatory requirement for any product/service that is related to healthcare. Let’s take a closer look at it.



HIPAA compliance: what is it and why is it so important?



You’ve probably come across the HIPAA compliance term but since the subject is really important, we will go through the most frequently asked questions. These questions will help you better understand what is HIPAA, whether you need to be compliant, and how to achieve this compliance.



What is HIPAA?



HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Profitability and Accountability Act and it covers the management, storage, and transmission of PHI (protected health information). 



What is PHI?



As said above, PHI stands for protected health information and is comprised of 18 classes of personal information, as defined by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Examples of these classes are patient names, emails, IP addresses, or phone numbers. In general, it’s all the data that can reveal one’s identity.



Does my app have to be HIPAA compliant?



Yes, if the collected data will be shared with medical professionals or any HIPAA Covered Entity (which are usually the cases for any medical app).



What does HIPAA-compliant mean?



It means that a mobile application meets all technical and physical safeguards of HIPAA Security Rule. Note though that when you host an app in a HIPAA environment, it doesn’t mean the app itself is HIPAA compliant too.



How do I make my app HIPAA compliant?



Here are the general steps to take in order to make your app HIPAA compliant:









The topic of HIPAA is related to the issue of an app’s security. By properly securing the app and making sure that it’s protected from possible internal and external threats, you will ensure the safety of data and will follow the HIPAA guidelines on data security.



Conclusion



A specialized medical app, without a doubt, is a highly valuable asset that allows healthcare professionals to do their work in a more efficient manner. If you decide to build such an app, take some time to find a reliable software development provider who will not only help you bring your idea into life but will also ensure the app’s safety alongside its seamless integration with needed third-party systems. As well, an experienced service provider will take full care of app’s further maintenance and support and will be able to implement any needed changes or upgrades upon request.

### SoftTeco Opens Machine Learning and Data Science Department

SoftTeco is glad to announce the opening of its new Machine Learning and Data Science department. Due to the high demand for these technologies and the great potential behind Data Science across multiple industries, we aim to help our clients resolve critical data-related issues and help them create unique ML-powered solutions.







SoftTeco’s ML and Data Science department was created through a team of five highly skilled Data specialists that have joined the company at the beginning of April 2021. As the department’s head, Alexander Gedranovich, states, “the newly created department will accumulate expertise on Big Data processing and the creation of analytical applications based on the data and modeling, starting from classic approaches and ending with applying the latest computer vision and natural language processing innovations.” SoftTeco will continue developing the new department’s capabilities by attracting top talent within the Belarusian, Ukrainian and Polish markets.



In the last few years, SoftTeco has significantly grown and expanded its geographical presence by opening new offices in Ukraine and Poland. And being a one-stop software provider, our company constantly strives to master new technologies and this was the reason for opening a new department. The addition of the Machine Learning and Data Science department is a logical step in the company’s development and we will do our best to provide the same high level of service within this domain as we do within the web and mobile development.



Curious to learn how data can transform your business? Contact us and we will gladly answer your questions.

### Assistive Technology: How to Make Your Website ADA-Compliant

According to the World Bank, approximately one billion people have some form of disability and it goes without saying that it impacts their lifestyle, including access and use of digital content. Thanks to technological advancement, it has now become possible to make web content more accessible by implementing assistive technology in your website. In this article, we will review the most popular forms of assistive technology and will list down a checklist for an ADA compliant website.







What is assistive technology?



Assistive technology incorporates assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities, according to the official Wikipedia definition. But in terms of web content, assistive technology includes all tools and software products that help people with disabilities access and use web content. If you need an example, think of CC (closed captions) or speech recognition - both are considered assistive technology and both help people better perceive content on a website. 



There are several types of assistive technology based on the types of disabilities they assist with - let’s have a look at each.



Visual disabilities



Visual disability comes in many forms, from partial loss of sight to total blindness. Hence, there is a variety of AT tools that serve people with visual impairments:




Screen magnifiers: enlarge the text and graphics (up to 20 times of original size or more). It is worth noting that almost all modern devices and OSs (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android) have built-in magnifying software.



Screen readers: allow vocalization of web content via synthesized speech. 



Speech recognition: converts users’ speech into text that appears on the screen. Users’ speech is also used to control the mouse and keyboard for easier navigation. 




As you see, the main idea behind these tools is to make the content more visible by enlarging or vocalizing it and allowing users to interact with the content without necessarily seeing it (voice recognition). 



Hearing disabilities



The most common type of assistive technology for hearing disabilities is CC aka closed captions. You must have seen it on YouTube or elsewhere: while you watch a video, you can click on the CC icon and the text will appear on the screen. You might have also noticed that CC includes not only speech but also sounds, effects, background music, etc. All this is done in order to help people with hearing disabilities get the absolute impression of the presented content.



While CC is usually created by content owners, there is also automatic transcription software that can generate captions by automatically converting audio into text. Note though that such tools may often be inaccurate and the captions may be incorrect so it’s always better to double-check them manually.



Physical disabilities



In terms of web content usage, people with physical disabilities often have issues with muscle control and the use of their hands. Hence, it is important that they are able to interact with the content and create content with minimal effort and with alternative input methods:




Joysticks for cursor movement;



Trackballs (especially suitable for people with fine motor control issues);



Head pointers for people with limited mobility.




By now, it may seem that optimization of your website in terms of accessibility might be too complex - but fear not. We will now have a look at the WCAG and ADA terms and see what their accessibility guidelines are.



WCAG and ADA



In order to better comprehend who monitors web content accessibility, we will have to roll back to 1990. This was the year when ADA, The Americans with Disabilities Act, was instituted. The primary goal of the Act was to provide protection against discrimination against people with disabilities. At that time, it led to the wide adoption of wheelchair access ramps, equal-access facilities, Braille devices, and much more. 



So how does it relate to the Internet? The thing is, ADA states that “every owner, lessor, or operator of a “place of public accommodation” provide equal access to users who meet ADA standards for disability”. And since commercial websites were considered “places of public accommodation” by courts across the US, this is how ADA became in charge of web content accessibility.



But ADA needs guidelines to base their requirements upon - this is where WCAG steps in. WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These guidelines were published by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). The first WCAG version, WCAG 1.0, was published back in 1999, and the WCAG 2.0 version was published in 2008 and became an ISO.



If it seems like too much for you, don’t worry: WCAG has official documentation that provides a compliance checklist (we will talk about it below). Now let’s move further.



Reasons for ADA compliance



Even though ADA has been around for years, it began paying special attention to websites only in the last few years. So why should one bother?



The thing is, the lack of compliance with ADA and WCAG may lead to serious issues for a company. Companies that failed to comply with the requirements later faced legal claims from dissatisfied users who were not able to use and access their web content. Needless to say, legal claims, in turn,  lead to serious financial losses as well as have a very negative impact on the company’s image.



But what’s more important is user experience and satisfaction. Since user experience plays a major part in developing loyalty and trust for your website, you’d want to cherish it. This is why it is so important to make an ADA compliant website accessible to anyone who visits it.



We are now clear that assistive technology is a must-have for any modern website. Now let’s talk about the steps you need to take in order to get an ADA compliant website.



Best practices for ADA compliance



The bad news is there are no guidelines on compliance officially defined by ADA. But the good news is that Kris Rivenburgh, Chief Accessibility and Legal Officer at Essential Accessibility. Co, came up with recommendations that any website owner will find useful:




Have full WCAG 2.1 AA compliance.



Publish an official statement on accessibility where you define your policy and list down the steps that you took to make an ADA compliant website.




Still no idea where to start? Let’s walk through these points step-by-step.



WCAG checklist



In general, WCAG recommends keeping the website design clear, user-friendly, easily navigated, and well-structured. That means any user should have no problems with navigating it and understanding its content. Hence, pay attention to the background and its contrast with the content (text, video, images), organization of content and its structure, predictability of navigation, and overall ease of website use.



But if we drill down, WCAG has specific requirements on accessibility that are related to people with disabilities. The official WCAG documentation in full is available on the official website but for the sake of brevity, we will outline its main points below.




Text alternatives to audio-only and video-only content should be provided;



The website structure should have a clear presentation with the correct use of color, meaningful order, color contrast, text resize, etc.



The user control should be diverse and user-friendly: all content should be accessible by keyboard, any time limits should be adjustable, any scrollable, moving, or disappearing content can be paused, stopped, or hidden.



All content should be understandable and the content navigation should be easy and intuitive.



Consistency and predictability: navigation should be consistent, there should be no focus or input changes, the HTML code should be free and clean.




For a more detailed checklist, you can check the post by Kris Rivenburgh on Medium where he breaks down every point in more detail.



An official statement on accessibility



An accessibility statement is an official document published by your company with an aim to describe your policy on accessibility and the step you took to ensure it. Again, there is no official template - but here are the main things to points to cover:



Describe your policy in general and suggest readers provide feedback, if relevant.



Identify the standards that you aim to meet.




Describe compatibility and possible limitations: what browsers is your website compatible with?



Cover assistance from an accessibility coordinator, if relevant.



Explain to whom your policy is distributed.



Describe your accessibility testing methods.



Describe your accessibility training and education practices.



Discuss your compliance with applicable regulations.



List helpful resources, if relevant.




This template will help you create an informative statement that will cover the main points on accessibility by your company.



The four principles of WCAG



One more thing that we need to talk about is the four main principles of WCAG, called POUR. These principles determine the quality and accessibility of content and describe it as following: 




Perceivable: the content can be comprehended and perceived by users. For that, you can use text alternatives and make sure the content can be adapted (presented in different ways) and distinguished from the background.



Operable: a user can easily operate the content. For that, try making all functions available from the keyboard, provide multiple ways to navigate the content, and ensure users have enough time to read and comprehend the content.



Understandable: the content should be easily understood by all users. Hence, it should be readable, web pages should be arranged in a predictable way, and you can also enable users to correct mistakes if they encounter any.



Robust: content should be supported and interpreted by a variety of user devices, including assistive technologies.




As you see, there is a lot to take care of. Luckily, there are services that offer accessibility testing services so you might want to check them out.



A quick recap




Web content accessibility is defined by WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and monitored by ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).



Accessible web content should be POUR: perceivable, operable, understandable, robust.



In order to make an ADA compliant website, you need to go through an official WCAG 2.0 checklist and issue an official compliance statement.




Summing up



Assistive technologies are an integral part of the majority of websites, especially commercial ones. While it might take quite a lot of time and resources to implement this technology, it will reward you with customers’ loyalty and trust and will have a significant and positive impact on your brand.



SoftTeco is currently working on accessibility and we hope that our content can be easily perceived and accessed by all users that visit our website.

### SoftTeco Discusses COVID-19 with the UNFPA and the UN Resident Coordinator Office

On March 29, SoftTeco’s CEO Alexey Shevchik participated in an expert briefing organized by the UNFPA and the UN Resident Coordinator Office. The briefing was dedicated to the COVID-19 and the necessary social-economic measures to be taken in order to mitigate the pandemic impact. 



During the meeting, Alexey spoke about SoftTeco’s “Volunteers in Action” application for the Red Cross organization. When the United Nations Population Fund of the Republic of Belarus asked SoftTeco to create an efficient technological solution to help elderly people during self-isolation, we immediately got down to work. At that time, the Red Cross organization started a volunteer activity on delivering food and medical supplies to elderly people so they can remain isolated and won’t need to go out. This was especially relevant for those people who lived alone or who had special needs.







SoftTeco developed a cross-platform feature-rich portal that works on all desktop browsers and mobile devices due to its adaptive web. The product offers easy registration to users and allows users to sign up an agreement with the Red Cross organization, complete training, and receive individual protection equipment. After completing the registration process, a volunteer receives information and instructions from their curator. A curator, in turn, can easily monitor and manage the volunteers’ work via the Admin Panel in real-time.



Our company is proud to make a contribution to the battle against the COVID-19 and we hope to collaborate with the Red Cross and the UNFPA organizations more in the future. At the end of the meeting, Alexey Shevchik expressed gratitude for the opportunity to make a difference and stated that the company will continue to follow its Corporate Social Responsibility strategy.

### How to Redesign Your Website the Right Way

In our previous article, we discussed what a website redesign is and why you might need it. Today we’ll continue talking about the redesign and will go through the actual process step by step. We hope our guide will help you create a solid redesign strategy so let’s get started!







Preliminary work



The first step in a website redesign process may seem tedious but is absolutely necessary. We are talking about research and analysis that are needed to establish redesign goals and metrics. The results of this analysis will serve as a base for further website navigation and content mapping so it’s highly recommended to invest some time and effort into it.



Define your redesign goals



Before starting to update the website content and navigation, it is important to actually define your goals. These goals may include better user engagement, a certain increase in conversions, reduced bounce rate, etc. Note: every goal should be measurable. That means it should not be “more conversions” but rather a “30% increase in conversions”. In this way, you will be able to monitor the progress and measure the redesign success.



Define target audience



In order to engage the users, you need to understand who they are and what they are looking for on your website.



Maybe you’ve been having a wrong perception about your users from the start or maybe you want to change the focus and target a different user group. Whatever the reason is, a website redesign calls for the definition of your user persona and a detailed description of their online behavior, preferences, and habits. As well, the analysis of the target audience will help you define the biggest bottlenecks that might stop the users from navigating the website.



Research your competition



While you should aim for standing out from the competition, it’s not prohibited to actually study your competitors and see their strong sides. 



Do their websites offer better navigation or are their CTA buttons much more convincing? Use this analysis to identify weak areas in your own website and fix them during the redesign process.



Document everything



After you are done with analysis and research, it’s time to document everything that you have at the moment (i.e. current metrics and pages, traffic sources, etc.). There are several reasons for that.



First, a redesign does not mean that you have to redo everything. If you have well-performing pages, you might want to retain them. Second, you want to know the current state of your website and use it to do a “before and after” analysis.



Document current metrics



As already said, you’d want to have your current website performance documented so you can use it as a basis for the redesign. We recommend creating an Excel spreadsheet where you can list all your pages and their metrics. The metrics can include:




Bounce rate;



Primary traffic source(s);



Average time spent on a page;



Conversion rate;



The main goal (i.e. fill a form, click on a CTA button. etc.).




As you see, all of them are measurable and give a good perception of a page’s current state.



Document the best-performing content



As said above, if during a redesign you decide to simply redo everything, this may lead to major SEO-related issues in the future. The thing is, your website may have certain high-performing content that already generates leads and conversions. Hence, you’d want to retain this content in order to protect the SEO and attract visitors.



Examples of such content are:




Engaging content: the most viewed, the most commented, or the most shared one;



Best-performing keywords;



Pages with high traffic;



Inbound links to certain pages.




List down and document all your valuable content and make sure to include it in your website during the redesign.



Create and document your strategy



Though being quite obvious, this step is still necessary and should not be overlooked. Before getting down to working on your website, we recommend creating a spreadsheet where you will list down:




Deliverables;



People responsible;



Estimated deadline;



Budget.




You can also create spreadsheets for your action plan and strategy trackers. In these spreadsheets, you can list down your SEO, UI, and conversion goals and assign people responsible and the desired timeline to deliver results.



Create a new sitemap



A sitemap is basically a “skeleton” of your website. It contains all the pages, shows the hierarchy and the relationship between them, and also shows the way users interact with your website. 



When doing a redesign, you will most probably create a new sitemap in accordance with your goals and based on the defined user flow. But first, document your current sitemap and analyze it with Google Analytics or a similar tool of choice. The sitemap analysis will show the current user interactions with the website and will help you see what areas of the site need improvement.



Work on the content and visuals



Content is the core of any website. Depending on the content quality, users will engage with the website and complete the needed actions. As well, outdated content is one of the biggest reasons for the redesign so you need to pay double attention to it.



Hence, you need to prepare new content for your new website. Note though that you can keep the well-performing content - we discussed it above. But if you have terribly outdated design or your articles (and other copy) are uninformative and poorly written, you’d want to replace them with something relevant and engaging.



Create a new content mockup



A new content mockup is not obligatory but you might eventually need it. By content mockup, we mean mapping the content on your website and refreshing the way it’s organized.



Maybe after researching your competition or analyzing the user persona you will come to the conclusion that you need to reorganize your content: replace or eliminate certain blocks and modules, regroup certain pieces of content, etc. All these changes need to be reflected in your content mockup.



It is also important to note that you should not follow the design-first approach but the content-first approach instead. It should be the design built around content, not vice versa. Sure, appealing imagery can attract people but only for a moment until they discover that your copy is not engaging or is straight uninformative. This is why you need to write your message first and then build the imagery to support and enhance it.



Create a website wireframe



Since you have an updated user flow and understand how your content will be placed, the next logical step would be to create a website wireframe. 



A wireframe is a “skeleton” of the website design. It’s very basic but it gives a good understanding of how a website should look and function. A wireframe usually contains:




The structure and layout of a website



The content and the way it will be placed on the website




Wireframe helps visualize the intended user flow and navigation and ensures everything looks good. The next step will be creating a website mockup which is a more advanced version of the wireframe. A mockup contains not only the structure and content placement but also advanced elements, colors, graphics, navigation buttons, etc. 



Take care of the SEO



SEO is a critical aspect of a website redesign. When you move your website to a new CMS and pack it with new pages and new content, it can be quite challenging to retain the traffic and your ranking. We highly recommend requesting an SEO audit and assistance from a reliable service provider and below are some of the most important things to pay attention to.



Use 301 redirects



The 301 redirect is basically SEO 101 that should be used by anyone who cares about their SEO. This redirect type serves two critical functions at the same time: it retains high user experience and retains the ranking and visibility of a page.



The way it works is really simple: when you move a page to another URL, you use a 301 redirect to transfer a user from the old URL to the new one. So if a user follows an old URL, they won’t see the 404 error but will see the page they expected instead.In this way, 301 redirects help improve and retain user experience as nobody wants to encounter a 404 error page when searching for something.



As for the SEO part, a 301 redirect informs search engines that the page was moved to a new location and that its visibility should be transferred to the new URL. So it goes without saying that 301 redirects help you keep a significant part of your SEO under control.



Review your keywords



Keywords are an important part of your SEO strategy. They help attract visitors to your website, inform search engines of what your website is about, and contribute to higher rankings.



When doing a website redesign, you will most probably update your content - and new content means new keywords. While you may have several well-performing keywords that you can keep (we discussed it above), we also recommend reviewing the keywords that you currently use and replacing them with more relevant ones. And don’t forget that keywords are placed everywhere around your website, including URLs and meta descriptions.



Choose the right CMS system



This is a critical step of your redesign process. The choice of a suitable Content Management System will impact the performance of your website, its speed, ease of content management, and overall user experience. So how do you choose the right tool among dozens of options available?



Here are the main factors to pay attention to when selecting a CMS system:




Ease of use and content management;



Functionality and complexity;



Needs of your team;



APIs and third-party integrations;



SEO-friendliness;



Licensing fees;



Hidden costs;



Scalability.




As you see, the choice of the CMS will depend heavily on your goals, needs of the team and those people who will use the system, your strategy (whether you plan to grow and how much), and the overall ease of management of the system. We recommend reviewing each tool’s pros and cons and weighing them against your needs. But to start with, the most popular CMS tools are Drupal, WordPress, Kentico, and Joomla!.



As well, you can find an experienced software development agency and request it to create a custom CMS system for your business. Though this option is more costly than purchasing a ready solution, in a long run a custom CMS may become more rewarding in terms of functionality, scalability, and maintenance.



Conclusion



Website redesign is a complex process that requires lots of planning and research. At the same time, it is an essential step that is needed to take your business to the next level in order to keep up with the users’ demands and changing trends and technologies.



Don’t forget to test and monitor throughout the whole redesign process to make sure nothing is missed and that there are no minor issues that will lead to big problems in the future. As well, invest some time into choosing the right software services provider as your choice will determine how well a website will perform.

### When Is the Time to Redesign Your Website?

When do I need to redesign my website? This is one of the most common questions asked by website owners and there is no definite answer to that. While some claim that a website needs to be redesigned every year, others have perfectly working websites for years and even decades.



The thing is, only you can decide when to redesign your website because the process depends on several important factors and does not fall under a planned schedule. This said, let’s have a look at these factors in more detail.







What is a website redesign?



A website redesign is a complete website overhaul that involves major changes in the code, a possible migration to a new CMS, incorporation of new modules, an update of servers, a complete change in the site UI. Hence, it is a complex process that addresses practically all components of your website.



The main goal of a website redesign is to give a website a new look, update it, improve its performance, and make it more converting. Usually, website redesign brings the following benefits:




Better brand representation and recognition;



An increased number of conversions;



Better user engagement;



Better SEO



Better performance of the site;



Improved security.




Website redesign vs website refresh: are they the same?



In addition to website redesign, there is also such thing as website refresh. Unfortunately, many site owners confuse the two terms and as a result, they do not get what they wanted.



A website refresh, as the name implies, is applying several not so major changes to your website. In other words, the core of the website (the code, servers, the CMS) remain untouched but you can change the following:




The UI part;



Website content;



New elements;



Social media integration;



Adaptation of new technology.




As you see, these changes are not so critical yet they also impact the site performance. A website refresh is usually done when you do not have the budget for the complete redesign or when you simply don’t need it.



And that leads us to the question: when do you really need a website redesign?



8 signs your website needs a redesign



In order not to lose money and time, it’s recommended to do a website redesign only if it’s really needed. But how do you know the time has come? Simply by looking at the following symptoms.



The design looks outdated or not attractive enough



As simple as that, but outdated or poorly looking design is one of the top reasons for the website redesign.



First, an unappealing website discourages the users from browsing it. If it doesn’t look good, it won’t spark any interest and, as a result, you will lose potential customers.



Second, an outdated design (especially compared to your competitors) shows that you do not keep up with the trends and do not incorporate them. This significantly reduces the level of trust towards your brand and impacts the buying decision of your customers.



Third, an outdated and unappealing website simply confuses the users. When they land on it, they usually have no idea where to start or what to look for. So they just leave and choose your competitors instead - and this is something that you’d least like to happen.



The website has a high bounce rate



If you think that everything is fine with your website looks, check the bounce rate. This is usually a reliable indicator of whether your website is performing up to your expectations.



A bounce rate means a percentage of users that only visit a single page on your website during their session, according to the definition by Google. That means they land on one page and “bounce” off it, never coming back. And the most common reason for that is lack of interest, poor navigation, or poor content.



Hence, if you have a high bounce rate, it is most probably a poor user experience. Of course, there is a chance that the user got all the necessary information from one page but it’s not very likely in most cases.



The website takes too long to load



It is a well-known fact that a good website should load in 3 seconds or less. Thus, if yours take much longer than that, you might be in trouble.



The thing is, modern users are quite impatient and they are not willing to wait for your website to load if there are other options available (and that load faster!). So a slow load equals lost users. This, in turn, leads to a drop in conversions and has an impact on your revenue.



The content is outdated or of poor quality



If your content is of poor quality or has not been updated in months, users will notice that and they will most probably lose interest in interacting with your website. As well, the content on the website (both text and visual elements) heavily impacts your branding and the message that you want to communicate to the users. 



And don’t forget that poor content also has a negative impact on SEO. There is no need to explain why SEO is critical - so keep that in mind the next time you evaluate your content.



The CMS is outdated



This point is related to the one above. If you have an outdated CMS that is no longer supported, it won’t allow you to properly add and update your content. This will lead to the issues described above.



In addition to poor content management, an outdated CMS poses security threats, does not allow marketers to properly do their job, and overall drags your website down. 



The website is not mobile-friendly



Modern users expect a website to be mobile-friendly and to work equally well on different mobile devices with different screen sizes and resolutions. Besides, don’t forget about the mobile-first indexing approach introduced by Google and you’ll understand why it is so important that your website is mobile responsive.



Poor SEO optimization



Once again, SEO is critical for any website as it makes a website more visible, attracts users, and contributes to the website ranking. Thus, a problematic SEO may be among the reasons for the website redesign.



The main issues with SEO may be as following:




Broken links that lead to a 404 page;



Lack of keywords;



Poor quality of content;



Duplicate content.




Of course, there can be more issues related to SEO and we’ve listed only the core ones. You can fix these issues in a selective manner but usually, SEO optimization is part of a website redesign.



You do too much troubleshooting



Let’s face it: if you constantly fix something on your website and spend too much time on technical issues, it will be easier and faster to perform a complete redesign. 



You may not notice it but constant work on the technical troubleshooting may result in an impressive financial loss in the long-time run. We recommend performing a website audit and detecting the major bottlenecks. After that, you will have a better understanding of what to focus on during the website redesign and how to prevent similar issues in the future.



Bonus: your business has grown and/or rebranding occurred



Finally, another valid reason for doing a website redesign is that your company has grown and changed or extended its services. So naturally, you’d want to include them in your website and probably change the main focus of your content.



The recent rebranding also implies doing a website redesign since your website should reflect your brand and its message for the users.



A website redesign strategy



If you’ve checked all or almost all of the points above, it’s probably time for your website to be redesigned. In order to do so, you’ll need to follow several steps that we will now discuss.



Analyze your current website



Remember that a website redesign affects everything quite heavily so you’d want to analyze your website before implementing any change.



You will need to analyze the following:




Your most valuable pages (and what makes them so valuable);



Your visitors and their motivation (why do they visit your website?);



The bottlenecks that stop people from navigating the site;



How your team uses the website and what their purpose is;



The best-performing pages;



The worst-performing pages;



KPIs to measure success.




This seems like a lot, yet it has to be done. We also recommend documenting your current metrics in a spreadsheet document so you can refer to them later on.



This analysis is obligatory as it will help you set goals for the new website and will help you focus on its most important areas (as well as on the weak areas of the current website).



Set the redesign goals



Based on the analysis above, you will be able to set your redesign goals. You will later communicate these goals to your team and together you can come up with the most effective ways to resolve them.



Maybe you want to reduce the bounce rate, increase the number of conversions, or grow organic traffic - list down all your goals and see how you can achieve them. This step is especially important during e-commerce development since the ultimate goal of any online store is to promote conversions among website visitors.



Define your target audience



It may happen that with a new website, you’d want to target a different audience or maybe you simply targeted the wrong audience before. Either way, before starting to work on your new website, first, take some time to define a target audience.



This is needed in order to define a user flow - a way of interaction between the users and the website. Put yourself in the shoes of your user and ask what value they will receive from your website, how they can get the needed information, and what possibly stops them on their way. This will help you significantly improve navigation and usability and will have a positive impact on the conversion rate.



Take care of your current SEO



Unfortunately, a website redesign results in certain issues related to SEO - for example, you might lose some of your traffic. In order to mitigate the risks and retain as much of your SEO as possible, we recommend the following:




Document everything regarding your most valued pages;



Map the new site structure;



Create 301 redirects;



Research keywords for the new pages and fill them in;



Use canonical tags.




Choose the right CMS to use



As mentioned above, one of the core reasons for doing the redesign is the poor performance of the old website and/or outdated CMS. Thus, you will need to do some research and choose a new CMS that will satisfy all your needs.



When choosing a content management system, pay attention to its terms of use, security, and page speed. As well, you don’t have to go with the most popular option as it may not be suitable for your business (or it might, depending on your requirements).



You can also reach out to a development company and request a custom CMS. While it’s a more costly option, it will be 100% tailored to the needs of your specific business. More and more companies switch to custom CMS development so you might consider this option as well.



Summing up



Even though website redesign is quite a complex process that demands a very careful and thought-out approach, it will reward you with an increase in conversions, better user engagement, and high performance. The two most critical aspects that we recommend paying attention to are planning and mapping out the new website and finding a reliable development partner who will take care of all technical aspects (including testing). 



We also hope that our article helped you better understand whether you really need a full website redesign or whether a refresh would be enough. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter - in our next article, we will talk about the website redesign do’s and don’ts.

### Best Practices For Outsourced Team Communication

Effective communication impacts all aspects of project development and contributes to the successful and timely completion of the project. But how do you establish efficient communication, especially if you work with an outsourced team? Learn the best practices below.







The challenges of outsourced development



Even though outsourced development has multiple benefits (such as affordable rates and a high level of expertise), it also comes with certain challenges. The most common pitfalls include:




Communication issues;



Differences in time zones;



Differences in culture;



Not enough quality monitoring.




We have actually described these pitfalls in one of the previous articles - please have a look for more details.



As you see, there are quite a few things to consider when working with an outsourced team. However, all these issues can be successfully resolved by establishing effective and transparent communication. 



The impact of team communication on a software project



Effective communication is more than creating a healthy working environment. In fact, it impacts several important aspects of project development that you may not be aware of.



Adherence to set deadlines and goals



When working on a software project, it is vital to adhere to the set deadlines, project requirements, and goals - otherwise, you may invest much more money and time than intended. However, any miscommunication or misunderstanding can lead to delays, constant prolonging, and shifts in the project release.



Efficient communication helps everyone understand set goals and requirements, stay on the same track, and follow the project schedule. It contributes to mitigating confusion and conflicts and thus decreases the risk of making mistakes.



No need to redo the tasks



When there are issues with communication, chances are high that wrong tasks will be performed. If people don’t understand what they need to do or how the product is supposed to work, there will be lots of guesswork and errors.



Hence, if a team clearly communicates thoughts and ideas, it will significantly decrease the number of errors. This, in turn, will positively impact the project’s budget and deadlines.



Expectations meet reality



As mentioned above, clear communication mitigates the risk of doing wrong tasks and ensures that deadlines will be met. Hence, if there is effective and clear communication, a client can be sure that their expectations will meet reality since everyone on the team understands the goals and the vision.



Even though outsourced team communication sounds easy, it requires a structured and thought-out approach. Here are the best practices to follow.



Get to know your team



The first step is somewhat obvious yet some clients can still miss it. When working with an outsourced development company, it is vital to do research and actually get to know the team that you plan to work with.



Referred as due diligence, preliminary and thorough research on a team is essential if you want a long-term and productive relationship. You’d want to learn about things such as:




Different countries and pros and cons of outsourcing there;



Specialties of different companies and what they focus on;



Specialties of the team members and their individual traits, strengths and weaknesses.




By learning as much as possible about a team in advance, you will eliminate many issues and questions in the future. 



Choose a suitable PM tool



Why perform lots of mundane and communication-related tasks yourself when you can entrust a specialized tool with it? That’s right, we are talking about project management tools.



A PM tool is used for project management processes and includes such features as task allocation and management, team collaboration, learning materials, etc. The biggest benefit of this tool is that it keeps all communication in one place and any authorized user can access any chat, report, or document at any time. In this way, every team member knows what’s going on in the project, who is responsible for what task, and who can be addressed on a specific issue. 



The implementation of such a tool brings transparency, eliminates miscommunication, and helps quickly find the needed information. As well, it helps coordinate both internal and external teams which is a big advantage.



Establish regular meetings and reporting



Regular meetings are a great way to ensure that everyone stays on the same page and to learn about the progress of a project. As well, these meetings can be used for asking questions, clarifying any issues, and suggesting new methods and improvements.



In order for these meetings to be as effective as possible, take a structured approach towards them:




Decide how many meetings you need and whom you will involve. You can have weekly meetings with each team (development and QA), monthly meetings with all teams, etc. Depending on the team size and its structure, identify how many meetings you need to hold and what benefits they will bring to the project.



Decide on a time and date for every meeting. If there is a timezone difference, consider that and negotiate on the most suitable time for everyone involved.



Decide on communication tools that you will use and that will be most suitable for everyone (Slack, Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom). 



Set KPIs to discuss during the meeting. These KPIs will help monitor the progress of the project and will help follow the deadline and requirements.




An important note: ensure that all meetings bring benefit to the team instead of distracting them. For example, if a minor question can be discussed in a messenger, there is no need to go through it again during the meeting. This brings us to the next point - micromanagement.



Do not micromanage the team



When you have a remote team, it can be hard to resist the urge to micromanage it. However, this can actually bring harm to the project instead of benefiting it.



When a manager focuses on small tasks that are not related to his job, this distracts him from his own responsibilities. In other words, if a manager pays attention to developers’ tasks, he cannot focus on communication, actual project management, and project goals.



One more thing about micromanagement is that it can significantly reduce the motivation of team members. If a manager tries to do everything himself, he doesn’t give a chance to others to be creative and to suggest something new. This can lead to product stagnation, lack of satisfaction and motivation from the employees’ side. Hence, a manager should just let others do their job - simple as that.



Share your vision and ensure it is well understood



Requirements gathering is an essential part of any software development project. But it’s not enough to just present the requirements - it is also important to share your vision of a final product and to make sure it is well understood.



Think about it - if you effectively communicate your vision to the developers, they may actually come up with a better way to realize your idea instead of simply following the set requirements. This, in turn, will positively affect the project and may actually save you money and resources.



Accept suggestions from the team



The cornerstone of efficient communication is the ability to listen to other people and accept their opinions even if they differ from yours. Hence, if you want your project to succeed, you will need to listen to the team members, understand, and accept their opinions and suggestions.



First, by gathering different opinions, you will be able to come up with new and efficient ways to resolve particular issues. Second, your team may have more experience in a certain industry and can actually provide valuable suggestions and information. 



Summary



Establishing effective and transparent outsourced team communication can be quite challenging but with a structured approach, it is 100% possible to achieve it. Here is a quick checklist to serve as a reminder:




Choose a suitable PM tool;



Establish regular meetings and reporting;



Set KPIs to discuss during the meetings;



Encourage people to share their ideas (and accept them!);



Avoid micromanagement.




And obviously, you will need a Project Manager and a Business Analyst on the team. These people will serve as intermediaries between you and the team and will ensure that everyone stays on the same page.

### Choosing An HR Software System: Things To Consider

An HR software system is a lifesaver when it comes to the management of numerous HR-related processes. Such systems can automate mundane manual tasks, streamline workflows, and overall significantly facilitate the work process for HR specialists. 



There are many available HR software solutions in the market so it can be quite challenging to choose the right one. In this article, we will overview the main things to consider when choosing an HR system for your organization.







What is HR software and why is it so important?



An HR software solution is designed specifically for the needs of the HR department. Though this software can vary in functionality, its main purpose is to facilitate and optimize the work of HR specialists and automate a number of certain tasks. 



Some may say: hey, we are doing things the old way and it works out pretty well! However, you can’t deny the following benefits that the implementation of the HR software brings:









We should note though that it’s not obligatory to use an HR system unless you have a medium or big team and a lot of processes going on. Small companies and startups can manage their HR processes without specialized software. However, as the company grows, the number and complexity of processes will grow as well so you might consider implementing such a system in the future.



The next question to ask is what should you look for in an HR system in case you decide to get one? First, you should choose between a readymade or a custom system.



A readymade solution is instantly available and is built with a certain set of features. Examples would be BambooHR, SAP Success Factors, Zenefits, etc. Even though such solutions may require additional setup and configuration, it doesn’t take much time to get started.



Custom solutions are the ones built from scratch and in accordance with your specific requirements and needs. Though it will obviously take a while to design such a solution and it will be more expensive than a readymade one, this option has several undeniable benefits. We will look at them in more detail a while later.



Three main types of HR software



Another important thing is choosing the type of HR software that you need. Since HR is a very broad area that involves multiple aspects, there are three main types of HR software systems out there:




HRIS: Human Resource Information Software



HCM: Human Capital Management



HRMS: Human Resource Management Software<




Let’s start with HRIS. This type of system involves all major HR-related processes such as applicant tracking, HR workflow management, training, reporting, etc. In a nutshell, this system manages people, policies, and procedures.



The next is HCM which can be called a more advanced version of HRIS. In addition to all HRIS functionality, an HCM system also features talent management and caters to global talent (country-specific procedures, multi-currency, etc.).



Lastly, we have HRMS. This system type has all the features of HRIS, may have some features of HCM, and includes payroll management and time & labor management.



The choice of the necessary system type will depend on the size of your organization, the needs of your business, and the future plans for growth (whether a solution should be scalable or whether you’d need certain features in a few years).



Essential features that any HR software system should have 



But be it a readymade solution or a custom one, a good HR system should have certain features that help manage the core HR processes. 



Detailed profiles of employees



A good HR system must have a directory of detailed employee profiles. These profiles usually contain such information as name and occupation, job history, disciplinary history, performance feedback. The whole idea behind this directory is that an HR specialist can access all the information about a certain employee at any time and with a few clicks only (instead of manually searching for information).



Another thing about this directory is that it can be integrated with other systems that an HR department uses. In this way, all information will be automatically collected in one place.



Automation of recruitment and hiring 



Even though HR software cannot assist in decision-making when it comes to recruitment and hiring, it can significantly facilitate the related processes. A specialized HR solution can automate the following processes:









The automation of these processes allows HR specialists to focus on more significant tasks such as improving the working environment or increasing productivity and satisfaction.



Reporting



HR specialists deal with lots of reports and it usually takes a great amount of time to generate them. Such reports may include official reports for governmental institutions, internal reports for the company’s management, etc. 



With the help of a specialized system, an HR specialist can easily generate the needed report in one click only. This, again, contributes to the speed and efficiency of one’s work and eliminates mundane manual tasks.



Management of employees’ benefits



Another significant part of the HR department’s work is managing all employees’ benefits: compensations, insurances, sick leaves, vacations, and others. If a company has over 100 employees, it becomes difficult to track and manage all these additional benefits. A specialized system not only automates certain tasks but helps to ensure that all the data was entered timely and correctly.



Onboarding



Onboarding is a complex and important process that involves many steps. An HR software can not only streamline but even automate some of them. From profile creation to generation of a welcome letter and contract templates, a specialized tool can efficiently help HR specialists manage several onboarding processes simultaneously. 



A custom HR system: why you might need it



Human resource management is immensely broad and differs from country to country. While one HR system can be perfectly suitable for the US, it may not adhere to the European rules and regulations. So what do you do if you can’t seem to find a suitable solution?



The answer is custom HR software development. By building an HR system from scratch, you can include all necessary features that are specific to your company and country. For instance, the HR departments in some countries have to manage the military registration cards of their employees and it’s a rather big part of their job. As well, if a company has several offices in different countries, it will need a system that would cater to the requirements of each.



Even though the development of a custom HR software system will cost you more than buying a readymade solution, it will pay off in the long run. Thus, if your company is growing and you have specific requirements, we highly recommend that you consider this option.




 


Expert Opinion



Right now the SoftTeco’s HR department is getting acquainted with a new specialized HR software and I am very excited to work with it as soon as we set everything up. The system of our choice has an extended package that is perfectly suitable for our needs (information on employees’ children, employees’ education record, etc.). It also automates a number of tasks related to the reporting procedures in our country. So all we have to do is click a button and the system will immediately generate a report of a needed format, display all information on an employee, and let us exchange the data in a matter of seconds.



I like how such systems automate all the tasks that you’ve spent hours on previously. Another big benefit is that it also automates the process of exchanging the information between our company and a governmental institution. It was really cumbersome and took a lot of time before - but now it will all be automated. And we will be able to spend time on working with employee retention and satisfaction, employees’ engagement - all the things that impact the company’s well-being.





Head of HR Department



Olga






 




Conclusion



Specialized HR software is a valuable asset for any company that wishes to optimize its processes and transform the HR department into a smoothly functioning unit. Whether you choose a readymade or a custom solution, we recommend that you consider not only the current state of your company but its future state as well. Its growth, number of employees, and potential needs will be the factors that will impact your decision.

### How to choose devices for mobile app testing?

Testing is an integral part of the mobile app development process. During the testing process, you make sure that the app works equally well on all selected devices.



But how do you choose devices for testing, considering how many available options are out there? Read below to learn SoftTeco’s process of selecting devices for mobile testing.







Narrow the scope



The first step would be narrowing down the scope and coming up with a list of the devices that you are 100% sure you want to use. Let’s see how we create this list step by step.



Collect the requirements 



It may happen that you have zero ideas about the devices that you want to use - or the situation may be the opposite. In fact, many clients already have certain devices in mind when they come to a software development company. So step number one would be to collect all the requirements for the product and see if there is any device (or devices) that you 100% want to include. Maybe you want to cover the iOS market only: in this case, the situation is really easy. Or you may want to cover specific Android devices - think about it when talking with a business analytic or a project manager.



Identify the market share for different platforms



The next step is to analyze the market and your potential users in order to identify the market share for different platforms. 



Every country will have a different market share for different devices and platforms and your task is to identify this share. For that, you can use the available statistics from trusted sources.  In this way, you will know what devices your target audience is most interested in and you will be able to target the users more efficiently. 



Establish testing goals and constraints



One more aspect of testing to keep in mind includes your testing goals and possible constraints. Let’s see how it relates to the device choice.



Testing goals usually include:




Usability testing



Performance testing



Security testing



Network connectivity



Functionality testing



Compatibility testing




It is obligatory to define your testing goals in advance so you can base your further work on them. And once you define the goals and prioritize them, you can assess how many devices you will need for testing.



This is how it works. Say, you have a mobile banking application. In this case, the security of the app will be your top priority. Thus, you will need just a few devices to test the app on since the app’s security does not depend much on the device’s hardware/firmware.



However, if the performance of the app is your top priority, things will be different. Since the performance of the app will differ drastically based on the device’s hardware, it will be important to test the app on as many devices as possible.



As for the constraints,  the biggest and the most common one would be budget. If you want to test the app on many devices, it would take much more time, and hence, it would result in a big number of working hours for the QAs. So any budget limitations will directly affect the number of devices that you can test on. If this is the case, we recommend going with the most popular devices for your target audience and get back to the second picks later (if needed).



Consider using simulators or emulators



Simulators and emulators are used when you, for some reason, do not have access to the real device. You can think of them as virtual testing devices that mimic the software and the behavior of a device on your PC. For Android you use emulators and for iOS it will be simulators, correspondingly.



Simulators and emulators are a suitable alternative in case you have a limited budget. However, we do not recommend using them because the testing results on emulators and simulators are less accurate than the ones on real devices. As well, real devices have a much higher processing speed and are much more reliable.



Identify parameters for choosing the devices



Now that you know what devices you are interested in, it’s time to identify the parameters for choosing them.



Identify the needed OS versions



With Apple products and their unified hardware and software, things are relatively simple. If you decide that you want your app to run on an Apple product, you normally consider the latest and the second latest versions to support.



With Android, things get more complicated. In 2020, the most popular Android OS versions were:







As you see, there are not one or two but six popular versions and each of them must be considered in accordance with your target audience and the desired market to serve.



So how do you decide which OS versions do you need? For that, you need to identify the following:




Your target audience - who will be using your app?



The countries of residence of your potential users.



The share of different OS versions in these countries.




By identifying who your users are and what devices they use the most you will clearly see which OS versions you need to focus on.



Choose the needed screen sizes and resolutions



If you want your app to seamlessly run on different devices, you need to ensure that its UI is compatible with different screen sizes and resolutions.



Things are relatively simple with Apple products. Since they have a somewhat unified UI, you will only need to consider a few devices aka different versions of iPhones and iPads. 



With Android, things get complicated. Due to the big variety of available devices with all sorts of screen sizes and resolutions, we highly recommend checking the statistics to see users’ devices’ DPIs. Such data is vital when choosing the devices for testing as it reflects the preferences of real people who will be using your app.



Consider the device’s hardware



It may happen that an application requires specific hardware in order to function properly. In this case, you will need to choose specific devices that can provide such hardware to be tested.



To illustrate this point, we'll use the RoadLab project by SoftTeco as an example. The product is used to assess the quality of the road surface on the International Roughness Index (IRI) based on the gyroscope and accelerometer data. Hence, when testing the RoadLab application, the SoftTeco QA team needed to test it on the devices with a built-in gyroscope.



When you develop a mobile application with specific requirements for the device’s hardware, it is obligatory to test it on real devices that have this type of hardware. 



What also relates to considering the device’s hardware is the processor architecture. There are three Android processor architectures: ARM, ARM64, x86. When you test your app, you need to ensure that it works equally well on all processor architectures.



Consider the device’s software



Some apps may require the devices to have specific built-in features: support of biometrics, 5G, etc. If your app is built around these features (or at least uses them on a regular basis), it is a must to find the devices with the needed functionality. Otherwise, it may turn out that the app does not perform as intended and you might be in trouble.



Create a device coverage matrix



After you’ve created a list of the required devices to use during testing, it’s time to prioritize them. For that, you will need to create a device coverage matrix.



There are multiple ways to create this matrix: you can categorize and sort the devices by popularity, dpi, platform version, screen size, etc. A step-by-step process would be the following:




Create tables for the OS of choice and include all important parameters to consider.  If we take Android as an example, table 1 may include the OS versions (Pie, Marshmallow, KitKat) and their market distribution by percentage. The most popular dpi with their market distribution will go to table 2, correspondingly.




Table 1



10.0 Q42.77%9.0 Pie21.87%8.1 Oreo10.11%6.1 Marshmallow6.06%



Table 2



xhdpi45%xxhdpi28.1%hdpi17.9%mdpi6.2%



Combine both tables into one. That means the vertical row will have the most commonly used OS versions and the horizontal row will have the most common dpi. 



xhdpixxhdpihdpimdpi10.0 Q9.0 Pie8.1 Oreo6.1 Marshmallow



And in the empty cells, you will place the devices that correspond to both the version and the dpi requirements. 



Once the table is filled, you can create your matrix. There are usually three tiers: 




Tier 1: most popular devices that support the most popular OS version and the most preferred dpi. 



Tier 2: less important devices that still can be tested (or used in regression or sanity testing).



Tier 3: devices that you don’t need to test (you can though).




By using this matrix, you can easily see the device (or devices) that are your top priority. In this way, you can efficiently distribute your testing time and resources.



Other things to consider



The steps listed above are the most common and well-known methods to identify the devices for mobile testing. However, there are a few minor things that are still worth considering as they may significantly impact the choice of devices.



Remember about particular qualities of different brands



You’ve probably heard of the Huawei Google ban that happened back in 2019. The ban implies that Google cuts Huawei's license from their digital products, meaning that Huawei does not have access to such popular apps as Gmail, Google Drive, and even YouTube.



But what does it have to do with testing? In fact, quite a lot. Huawei does not use Google API and has its own instead. And obviously, this has to be considered when testing a Huawei device.



This is an example of a peculiarity that a device may have. Though seemingly minor, such things have a big impact on the app’s performance and thus must be remembered and tested.



The annual release of new OS versions



Both Apple and Google release a new OS version every year and both the development and testing team should be ready for that. The new versions usually come with open and closed betas of the new versions and the brands announce the release at the beginning of summer. So if you have an approximate release date for your app, you might consider aligning it with the new OS version releases.



While the testing of new iOS versions usually goes smoothly, there is a limited choice of devices for testing when it comes to Android beta testing. They normally include Google Pixel, Samsung, Xiaomi, and Nokia smartphones so the QA team should keep that in mind.



Summing up



We can go on and on about the choice of devices for mobile testing. But in the end, it all comes down to two main points: the budget and market share. You want to make sure that you select the devices that are most popular with your target audience but you also want to adhere to your budget and not go over the top too much.



However, we highly recommend not to cut the costs of testing since it’s vital for further success and distribution of an application. Even the smallest malfunction or error can significantly impact users’ satisfaction and lead to the app uninstallation. And this is the complete opposite of what you aim for, isn’t it?

### SoftTeco Is Opening a New Development Center in Ukraine

Due to the steady growth of the company in recent years, SoftTeco has been expanding its geographical presence and is now opening a development center in Kyiv, Ukraine. Right now the company is actively hiring developers to join the team in the new office in Kyiv and hopes to form a robust team of professionals who will effectively address the software development needs of our current and future clients.







Last year, SoftTeco successfully adapted to the pandemic and continued to deliver high-quality services to our clients worldwide. This quick adaptation and correspondence to the established performance standards allowed us not only to maintain the existing customers but to attract new ones as well. This, in turn, led to a significant team expansion and to a decision about opening new offices, with the one in Kyiv being first.



SoftTeco is planning to hire about 30 developers for the Ukrainian office this year. We look forward to tapping into the well known Ukrainian IT talent pool and augmenting the existing development capabilities at SoftTeco.

### The Benefits of Healthcare Processes Automation

The healthcare industry requires rapid and accurate decision making and smooth organization of all processes as they directly impact people’s lives and their well-being. Hence, it is obligatory to deploy the latest technologies in the sphere of healthcare in order to improve and optimize it.







Automation in healthcare contributes to better customer care, optimizes administrative processes, and helps create accurate and insightful data sets. In this article, we will have a look at the most distinctive benefits of automation in the sphere of healthcare and at the main challenges, one may face when implementing automation within their organization.



Better customer care



The healthcare industry is aimed at providing the needed customer care in a prompt and efficient manner. Hence, the automation of healthcare processes should bring benefits to customer care in the first place.



Faster service delivery



One of the biggest problems in many medical facilities is a slow and inefficient process of scheduling appointments and managing patients at the reception. Automation can efficiently resolve these issues and contribute to faster and better service delivery. Here is how it can do it: 




Automated reminders about the appointments that are sent to patients in a timely manner and via the preferred method of communication.



Faster and more accurate processing of patients’ information at the reception.



Less chance for human error or inaccuracy in the data due to automated data processing.



Significant reduction of waiting time (leading to better patients’ experience).




Efficient communication with patients



Another area that can be improved by automation is communication between a medical facility and its patients. 



First, there are several options for communication: phone calls, text messages, messengers, etc. And each patient probably requires an option that suits them best. Second, each patient needs to be contacted at a specific time and on a specific day and this schedule needs to be carefully managed and kept up with. Now imagine how easy it can be to confuse not only the communication method but time and date if you are a medical specialist with dozens of other tasks running in the background?



Automation takes full care of managing the communication between the medical facility and the patient by automatically sending scheduled messages and reminding medical specialists about the scheduled calls. As well, a specialized automated system can also send out not only personalized messages but also newsletters and messages that contain important information (i.e. discounts, announcements of events, etc.).



In this way, medical specialists can stay focused on the critical tasks without the need to double-check whether a message has been sent and patients will always receive the needed information on time.



Increased efficiency of administrative operations



If we talk about the administrative aspect of work in healthcare facilities, paperwork would probably be the biggest problem. First, there is an ongoing transit from paper to electronic format of document keeping and it’s already causing a lot of confusion in many medical facilities. Second, there is a constant flow of incoming information that has to be processed and arranged in the needed format. Third, many medical facilities still suffer from bureaucracy when it comes to the information exchange between the departments and this leads to a significant slow-down of work.



The automation of these processes can significantly facilitate the way administrative tasks are performed. Instead of manually filling in numerous forms and manually collecting information, medical specialists can leave these mundane tasks to automated tools. As well, automation reduces the chances for an error to appear and adds transparency to the way information is exchanged between the departments.



Increased efficiency of medical procedures



One more area where automation brings immense benefits is the one that involves medical procedures. Even though it’s very intricate and often requires not only skills but intuition and empathy, there are some things that an automated solution is capable of doing.



Screening and diagnosis



One of the most notable applications of AI and automation in healthcare is probably the automation of screening and diagnosis. A good example of it would be the detection of cancer at early stages or the discovery of severe diseases on the x-ray. This is possible due to the ability of Machine Learning and computer vision to detect the smallest patterns and dependencies and to analyze them by using all existing data. In this way, AI provides better screening and more accurate diagnostics which can be a real life-saver.



Better monitoring



Some patients require constant monitoring and that means doctors not only have to be aware of their condition 24/7 but they also need to receive immediate notifications in case of an emergency. Automation provides an efficient solution to this issue.



An AI-based monitoring system is capable of independently monitoring the patients’ state and sending timely notifications to medical specialists. As well, due to the inbuilt sensors that track certain health indicators, such a system contributes to creating a solid and comprehensive database that can later be used for diagnosing or determining the best treatment option.



Data analysis



Like any other industry, healthcare immensely relies on data. A well-structured and clear data enables medical specialists to make a diagnosis, order correct treatment, do research within pharmacology, and overall the data impacts all the activities within the healthcare system. Hence, it is critical that data is collected, processed, and analyzed in a proper way. But is it really possible without automation?



Imagine how much data a medical facility processes on a daily basis. Now imagine how much work a medical specialist has to deal with if the data were to be collected and processed manually. In the conditions of work overload and constant stress, a chance for errors and data inconsistencies increases immediately.



Automation of data management and storage is an extremely valuable implementation. By automating the data-related processes and enabling Artificial Intelligence to process it, medical establishments will receive clear and detailed reports which they can later use for the patients’ benefit.



Increased security



With manual data entry, there is a high chance of security breaches. As well, if data is collected or processed manually, it also increases the chances of the data leak. And considering the consequences of the data leak in the form of major financial losses, an organization has to ensure the data is securely protected.



An automated data management system significantly increases the security of the data and efficiently prevents external and internal threats. Such systems usually have multi-factor authentication, different access privileges, and data encryption. These and other security practices ensure that the data will not be affected by threat agents and will be stored securely.



Potential challenges of healthcare processes automation



Despite numerous benefits, every new technological advancement has certain considerations to keep in mind. Even though the automation of healthcare processes indeed brings many valuable benefits, it comes with certain risks and challenges that any medical facility should be aware of:




Lack of universal ethical standards on using the AI technology in healthcare,



Lack of technological resources for successful implementation of automation,



Lack of interoperability of automated tools with the existing technology in a medical facility,



Lack of emotional empathy for the patients,



High requirements for staff training and skills.




All these things have to be considered before a medical facility takes steps towards automation. Otherwise, the inconsiderate automation will lead not only to financial losses but also to possible security risks.



Conclusion



The dynamic growth of the healthcare industry inevitably leads to its digitization. While indeed automation has proven to become a huge break-through in certain areas (i.e. medical screening or data management), the healthcare sector still needs and will need human employees to carry out certain tasks that require empathy, intuition, and critical decision-making. A thing to remember here is that technology is not here to replace people - it’s actually here to help people do their job better and this is something all medical facilities should keep in mind. 

### Tech Review Series: .NET

If there is a framework that seems perfect for enterprise applications, that would be .NET. With an extensive set of features, language and platform interoperability, and various integration options, .NET has become one of the most popular frameworks to use when developing enterprise-grade products.



In this article, we will have a close look at .NET, its most distinctive features, pros and cons, and use cases. After the reading, you will be able to better comprehend why to use .NET for developing your next enterprise product and what issues to keep in mind.







.NET: a brief history and the current state



Back in the early 2000s, Microsoft had an ambitious idea to create a “foundation for the Internet of the new generation” as stated by Bill Gates himself. And even though the branding campaign did not succeed, the .NET framework remained.



The main idea behind the .NET strategy was to assemble all Microsoft products and add a .NET ending to each. And in the 2000s, .NET was known as the Next Generation Windows Services - but since the whole .NET strategy failed, the NGWS name bit the dust. 



Microsoft released the first beta version of .NET in the early 2000s and the latest one, .NET Core, was released in 2019. Throughout almost 20 years, the .NET framework saw some significant changes, all aimed at improving its functionality and performance.



It is important to note the appearance of the .NET Core that was introduced in 2014. Since .NET was not able to work on any other platform than Windows, Microsoft fixed it by creating the .NET Core - a cross-platform rebuild of the original .NET., .NET Core allows developers to create applications for different platforms and to install different app versions on a single device.



Today .NET is widely used for the development of enterprise applications due to the great performance that it delivers. Below are the main design principles of this framework:




Interoperability: older versions can gel with the newer versions easily (meaning, your app on an older .NET version will run on a machine with the newer version).



Portability: .NET apps work on a variety of platforms, such as Windows, Linux, iOS.



Security: .NET has an inbuilt security mechanism that assists in validating and verifying the applications. 



Memory management: almost all work on memory management is performed by the Common Language runtime.



Simplified deployment: .NET offers a set of tools that can be used to package the apps that are built on .NET.




As can be seen from these principles, .NET is a very developer-friendly framework that is aimed at the convenience and security of work.



.NET overview: technology type



 .NET is a free and open-source development framework that allows building high-performing and secure mobile and web applications.  It supports the following programming languages:




C#: an object-oriented programming language that is easy to use and has a bunch of developer-friendly features (including garage collection or versioning).



F#: a cross-platform language that has functional programming (as well as object-oriented and imperative programming) capabilities.



Visual Basic: used to build object-oriented applications. 




There are three main components of the .NET framework: Framework Class Library, CLR (Common Language Runtime), and app models. Let’s see each component in more detail.



Framework Class Library



The Framework Class Library (FCL for short) is a class library that provides a library of clean and reusable codes for the developers. It also has an object-oriented class library that is capable of performing such programming functions as file access and data collection.



The FLC can be roughly divided into three categories: utility features, wrappers around the OS functionality, and frameworks. Note that this is just a rough division and there are many classes that can belong to more than one category.



In general, FLC takes care of the system functionality in the .NET framework and performs a variety of functions, including database interaction, XML document management, graphic rendering.



Common Language Runtime



This component of the .NET framework is responsible for the execution of the programs that are written on .NET. Here are some of the services that it provides:




Memory management,



Execution of code access security,



Garbage collection,



Allows server-side apps to host run-time,



Verification of code safety.




It is worth mentioning that after Microsoft moved to the .NET Core in 2014, the CLR is now known as CoreCLR.



App models



There are three main app models in the .NET framework: 




WPF (or Xamarin): used for creating forms-based applications that are used on end-user devices.



ADO.NET: used for creating applications that interact with the databases.



ASP.NET: used for creating web-based applications that run on browsers.




The use of .NET: most common cases



We’ve already mentioned that .NET is perfect for building enterprise applications - but there are more use cases for this framework. Below we list the most popular ones.



Web and mobile applications



.NET is great for building web and mobile applications due to a number of reasons.



First, .NET is a platform-independent framework and that means it is perfect for building cross-platform applications. Hence, the deployment of .NET significantly simplified the developers’ work when working on the app that would be suitable for multiple platforms.



Second, .NET is known for delivering a great performance of its products. It has a just-in-time compilation process which contributes to high speed and efficient performance. As well, .NET has four main principles in its core: reliability, compatibility, scalability, security. This also ensures that .NET applications always perform at their best.



IoT applications



Since .NET supports a plethora of devices and platforms, it also supports a variety of sensors and IoT-related devices. Hence, .NET is a very suitable framework for creating high-performing IoT solutions.



In addition to that,  C# allows developers to build embedded applications by using Meadow - an IoT platform with defence-grade security. And since Meadow is an open source platform, developers can use it with any IDE of choice, including Visual Studio.



Game development



Another hot area of .NET application is game development. Since the gaming industry continues to steadily grow, this industry might be very beneficial for the developers, especially if they have experience with .NET.



Due to the ability of .NET to run across many platforms, game developers widely use this framework to enable safe cross-platform scripting. In this way, developers can efficiently reuse their skills and code in a familiar environment of choice.



Some of the popular cross-platform game engines that support .NET include Unity, MonoGame, Godot, Wave Engine, Cryengine. As well, Microsoft offers a good variety of game services (Microsoft Azure PlayFab) and tools (Microsoft Visual Studio) to create game hits of any kind.



.NET Pros and Cons



.NET indeed is a great framework that grants developers numerous capabilities for creating high-performing and secure applications. But, as any other framework, .NET has certain flaws that should be considered. Let’s have a look at both.




 

Pros




  
Cross-platform: .NET apps run on any platform
  
High reliability & minimum number of bugs
  
Support by cloud platforms: AWS, Axure, GCP
  
Ease of deployment: support by GitHub, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps, App Center
  
Advanced IDE Visual Studio
  
Support of all types of databases: ADO .NET, ORMs, LINQ
  
Detailed documentation and huge community





Cons




  
High entry threshold: requires a lot of time to learn
  
Possibility to work with legacy technologies
  
Some tools and libraries are not open-source and not free

 





 


Expert Opinion



.NET is rightly considered to be the most suitable choice for an enterprise project. But apart from that type of applications, modern .NET is also good in other fields. Mobile applications and web apps, backend and frontend, machine learning and functional programming - all that is possible to develop by using the high standards of the .NET framework.



No other framework has a similar set of existing functionality and is able to keep the same speed of evolution. Proven throughout the years, .NET remains incredibly relevant among the developers across the industries.



.NET is rightly considered to be the most suitable choice for an enterprise project. But apart from that type of applications, modern .NET is also good in other fields. Mobile applications and web apps, backend and frontend, machine learning and functional programming - all that is possible to develop by using the high standards of the .NET framework.



No other framework has a similar set of existing functionality and is able to keep the same speed of evolution. Proven throughout the years, .NET remains incredibly relevant among the developers across the industries.





Head of .Net Department



Roman






 




Conclusion



Node.js is a really versatile development tool that provides immense efficiency and scalability to developers. At SoftTeco, we actively deploy it to create high-performing custom solutions for the clients across different industries and every time Node.js proves to be a great choice.



Our next article will be dedicated to Go - an open source programming language that was designed to make the development process easier, especially for products with complex architecture. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter and stay tuned!

### The Most Important Features For a Mobile Banking Application

There is no need to remind you that the mobile industry keeps growing and modern users expect all the industries to transition their services to mobile. The banking industry is no exception and almost every bank nowadays has a mobile application for its clients.



But what features make a really good banking application that users would want to use on a daily basis? And what are the most important aspects to consider when working on the banking app’s functionality? Let’s find out.







The importance of mobile banking applications



Before we talk about the essential functionality of mobile banking apps, it’s important to cover the benefits that they bring both to the companies and their clients.



The most ultimate benefit of such applications is that they eliminate the necessity to visit the physical branch of a bank in order to perform a certain operation. All that the user has to do now is open their mobile device, make a few taps, and voila - a transaction is completed. This transition to digital made a significant contribution to the user experience and satisfaction which, in turn, has a positive effect on the bank’s profit and the client base.



Another important benefit of mobile banking is the speed and ease of operations. All the information and available services are available on the home screen of an app and, instead of filling in lots of papers, the users can perform almost any financial operation right from home and with a few taps only. 



Finally, the transition to mobile made banking more convenient and “approachable”, especially among younger users. Before, people used to think that banking is something incredibly complex - but now banking is made easy and people are more interested in learning more about the services offered.



If we sum up, mobile banking engages more users, leads to higher user satisfaction, and attracts new clients to the bank. Sounds valid enough to get an app for your bank. So now it’s the perfect time to move on to the core part of our article - the essential features that any banking app should have in order to please its users.



Top must-have features of a user-friendly banking app



We came to the conclusion that an efficient banking application has to be user-friendly, fast, and secure. Now let’s see which exact features of mobile banking help achieve a high level of quality in terms of the app’s performance and usability.



Secure and user-friendly sign-in



Security is the number one priority of any banking application as such apps process huge amounts of sensitive information, including personal and financial data. Hence, you need to make sure that the authentication procedure is as secure as possible.



Multi-factor authentication, for instance, is a great way to enhance the sign-in process but it has a significant drawback - it usually takes too much time. Therefore, when working on your app, you need to come up with a solution that would combine both ease of use and a high level of security.



Biometric sign-in (like a fingerprint) is a really good option since it’s hard to be hacked and provides a really good level of security. By incorporating such a solution into the app, you can rest assured that the clients’ data is safely protected and the users can quickly access the app in one step only.



Simple design and navigation



We already stated above that one of the reasons people choose mobile banking apps is that these apps speed up and facilitate a number of banking services. Hence, another important feature to be added to your app is easy navigation and design.



A typical banking app usually contains a big variety of features, from the basic services (i.e. card management) to more advanced ones (i.e. tracking of spendings). Hence, it’s important that the user clearly understands how to navigate all the functionality and how to quickly find the needed information or service.



Tip: put the most popular and frequently used mobile banking services on the home screen. Display all the important information (credit card balance, for example), on the home screen as well. You can use bottom navigation design (placing the main categories at the bottom of the screen) for easier category navigation.



Various options for customer service 



Some may say that physical bank branches have an undeniable advantage in the form of customer service. But in the era of the Internet, we have multiple options of how to serve the clients digitally. And these options should be considered for implementation for your banking app.



Probably the most demanded feature that many clients expect to see in a mobile app is the chatbot. Chatbots have drastically grown in popularity and there are a few reasons for that:




Immediate response to the client,



Assistance with multiple operations,



Speed and accuracy of service.




In a banking app, a chatbot can assist clients with providing information on their account, performing certain financial transactions, and even opening a new account. In this way, the chatbot serves as a personal assistant and contributes to improving user experience from using the app.



Other ways of incorporating customer service are an option to call the bank via the app, send an email, or a text message via a messenger of choice. Such a variety is a big benefit as it covers different types of users and offers to choose the most convenient communication method.



Easy bank account management



A banking app helps keep all the information in one place and makes this information accessible and understandable. Hence, another feature to add to the app is easy account management. This includes:




Monitoring of cards and bank accounts,



Monitoring of transactions and balances,



Money transfers,



Placement of investment orders,



Saving of frequent payments.




Easy management of these processes significantly adds to the app’s value and encourages users to use the application on a regular basis.



Customizable notifications



Push notifications are an important part of any mobile application. They help engage the user with the brand, efficiently transfer the needed information, and notify the user about any important events that should not be missed. In a banking app, notifications play a big role too. They can notify the user about their balance, about the payment received, or even about the important news from the bank.



An important thing to keep in mind is that these notifications must be customizable. That means a user should be able to configure them and decide what kind of information they want to receive in the form of push notifications.



An ATM locator and an integrated map



Despite the opportunity to digitally manage their bank account, people still use cash - so you need to add an ATM locator and a map with the ATMs to your app.



An ATM locator is a basic yet very demanded feature. It helps users immediately find the nearest ATM or see a map with all the ATMs in the selected area. And some banks even take it a step further and implement a virtual reality solution that makes the process of locating the ATM more engaging and convenient.



QR code payment



QR has become a quick and convenient way to request or receive a payment. This code can be easily shared across messengers and serves as a one-tap payment option. 



Therefore, you need to add the following features to your app: an option to create a QR code to send an invoice and an option to scan a QR code in order to pay for a product or service.



Tracking and management of spendings



This feature can be considered advanced as it focuses not on the basic needs but more on personalization. The tracking of user’s spendings includes such options as:




Establishment of saving goals and their management,



Customized reports on spendings,



Setup of different budgets and their customization,



Scheduling of payments and/or bills.




As can be seen, these features are highly personalized and customizable. While not all users may need them, it might be a great add-on to the basic functionality of your banking app.



Description of transactions



 Another useful feature to be implemented is the detailed description of transactions. While most banking apps describe the transactions (i.e. the recipient, the amount, etc.), this description often comes in an unclear form and contains too much information.



In order for these descriptions to be useful for the app users, they need to put the most important information (the amount of payment, the name of the receiver, time and date) upfront and state any additional information below. In this way, the user will be able to instantly understand what the transaction was about, when and how it was made. This information, in turn, can be used in further tracking of spendings or account management.



Mobile app security best practices



We already mentioned that security is the primary point of concern for any mobile application, especially the one that deals with massive amounts of sensitive information on a regular basis. In one of our articles we already covered the best practices for mobile security so we will list the main points below:




Ensure high-level authentication,



Encrypt the data,



Always verify third-party code,



Pay attention to server-side security,



Roll out regular updates and security patches,



Secure your data storage,



Establish limited privileges in terms of access to the app.




For more detailed information, read the article. We strongly recommend following these principles if you want your application to be protected from internal and external threats and to prevent any data leaks or misuse.



Summing up



A mobile banking application is a must-have for any bank that wishes to retain its clients and offer them a superior service in a convenient format. When developing such an application, it is important to focus on usability in order to engage the clients and make them want to actually use the app. As well, note that the features listed above are not obligatory - in the end, the functionality of your application will depend on your audience and its preferences. What we also recommend is finding a reliable mobile app development company that will be able to transform your idea into a reliable and high-performing product that your clients will love.

### 5 Ways How Enterprise Messaging Benefits Your Business

Enterprise messaging has now become a common thing. Almost any professional team uses Slack (or similar messaging tools) and even has some sort of an enterprise messenger that was designed for a specific company.



But are business messaging apps really needed so much considering there are already emails, live meetings, and regular personal interactions? Actually yes, they do bring lots of tangible benefits to a company. Below we list the most notable ways how enterprise messengers impact your business.







Enterprise messaging: definition and examples



If we go with the official definition, the enterprise messaging platform is an interface that enables “program to program” messaging between the systems within an enterprise. But in simple terms, it is a secure messenger that is used within an enterprise for internal communications.



Good examples of enterprise messengers would be Slack, Microsoft Teams, Twist, Zoho Cliq. Such messengers usually support not only the chat option but also the file exchange, different messaging formats (audio and video calls), in-built notifications, and other useful features. 



So what are the biggest benefits that make companies all over the world opt for the enterprise messengers? Let’s have a closer look at each.



Increased efficiency and speed



Communication via email or in-person is something traditional - but unfortunately, it has several serious cons. First, people simply may take too much time to open and read an email. That means important or even urgent information may go unnoticed. Second, personal meetings may consume too much time, a person may forget to tell important information, or the meeting may simply be poorly organized.



Messengers efficiently solve all these problems. The most convincing argument to keep in mind is probably the fact that emails have about a 23% average open rate while messengers have about a 90% average open rate. Therefore, if an employee receives a notification on a messenger, chances for immediately reading it and sending a reply become much higher. This is especially useful if a person is out of office or away from a workplace: in this case, they can immediately notify the colleagues about the absence,



As well, messengers help people communicate their thoughts in a clear and concise manner by avoiding unnecessary information and staying focused on the topic of discussion. All that leads to faster and more efficient communication which, in turn, has a positive impact on overall productivity.



Communication transparency



Another important aspect that impacts the overall business productivity and work efficiency is the transparency of communication.



It often happens that there are many departments working together on the same project. If communication between these departments is not organized well enough, there will inevitably be misunderstandings and communication issues, leading to delays and mistakes in the project.



An enterprise messenger successfully resolves this issue by uniting all parties involved in one place. In this way, every team member knows what others are doing and what are their responsibilities. As well, it becomes easier for every team member to track the project progress and to always know the status of tasks and scope of work.



Security



It goes without saying that messengers, in general, process and store huge amounts of sensitive data. Thus, the primary point of concern for any messenger would be data security. Due to the sensitive nature of processes data, enterprise messengers usually provide a high level of security.



The whole point of enterprise messaging systems is to enable secure internal communication within the company. For that, developers need to follow best security practices for enterprise applications development - you can read a detailed article by the CTO of SoftTeco here. 



If we sum up, enterprise messengers can guarantee a high level of security for your company and you can rest assured that all the data and information are protected.



Use of chatbots and AI



Automatization a big benefit as it significantly speeds up the work processes and eliminates minor errors that often hurt user experience. So with the rise of enterprise messaging, such technologies as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning also rose in popularity and have become an integral part of enterprise messengers.



The most popular use of AI in enterprise messaging is probably the use of chatbots. Chatbots have already claimed their value across various industries, from medicine to e-commerce, and now they have become an important part of enterprise messaging as well.



With chatbots, messenger users can obtain the needed information and perform certain operations in a much faster and more efficient manner. This has a significant impact on overall user satisfaction, leading to better productivity.



Increased user satisfaction and engagement



One more big benefit of enterprise messengers is better user satisfaction and engagement. Though these aspects are not as “tangible” as app security or increased work efficiency, they are still very important.



Due to the nature of messengers (such as immediate notifications and responding), it becomes easier for the users to track the internal news and events and to always stay informed. Teams can collaborate on a more efficient level too, ensuring that everyone stays on the same page.



Second, messengers can quickly and efficiently share not only information but files and geolocations as well as they can provide assistance via the chatbot. Thus, users do not need to spend too much time searching for information, issue resolution, or negotiation. This has a huge impact on user satisfaction which, in turn, contributes to increased loyalty and satisfaction.



Conclusion



Enterprise messenger is a useful tool that offers efficient information exchange in a highly secure way. But in order for the enterprise messenger to truly bring value to an organization, it is important to include not only basic messaging features but also those features that are needed for a specific company. 



SoftTeco has rich experience in building enterprise-grade software products, including enterprise messengers. We will gladly create a robust solution that will 100% adhere to the needs of your company and will make a tangible contribution to the overall business process.

### 5 Practices That Will Help You Develop Secure Software

Software security is the number one priority these days. Considering the tremendous costs of a security breach or data theft, it’s in the company’s best interest to develop robust and 100% safeguarded software.



Even though there are many proven ways to secure your software, we can outline the 5 main practices that are obligatory for any software provider. Follow these secure software development best practices to ensure your software product is protected from possible internal and external threats.







Validate data input



Your software application may be collecting data from many external sources or clients. Hence, you need to validate data input from all external sources in order to eliminate a number of software vulnerabilities.



Here are some of the recommendations that OWASP provides for input validation:




Identify all your data sources and classify them (trusted and untrusted). Data from the untrusted sources must be validated.



Establish a centralized input validation procedure.



Parameterize SQL Queries.



A validation fail must result in input rejection.



Data should be encoded to a common character set before validation.



Data from redirects should be validated.



Data length and data range should be validated.



Implement additional controls in case there are any potentially hazardous characters that must be allowed.




Input validation helps ensure that only properly formed data enters the system. Note that input validation is not the main method of preventing an SQL injection or an XSS but it can play a big role in minimizing potential damages and eliminating vulnerabilities.



Control access to the app



It goes without saying that you should grant access to the app only to authorized users. As well, it is highly recommended to allow the least possible access to the least number of users in order to prevent any threat agents from entering the system. This relates to the Principle of Least Privilege described by OWASP. It states that only those permissions should be granted that are needed to complete the requirements and nothing more than that. 



Here is what you can do to ensure strict control over the access to the app:




Filter the requests made by third-party services via individual and dedicated accounts.



Enforce access controls for all app’s activity.



Restrict access to protected URLs, protected functions, app’s data, and services to authorized users only.



Ensure that server-side implementations and presentation layer representations match.



Limit the number of transactions that a single user (or a device) can perform within a certain time period.



Use encryption and integrity checking in case the state data must be stored on the client.




Error handling and logging



When a threat actor tries to penetrate your system, the first thing they do is attempting to acquire information about the target, such as the name and version properties. Hence, you need to have a proper error handling procedure in order to prevent hackers from acquiring any information about the system. Here are some helpful practices:




Always trap and release error conditions.



Never disclose sensitive information in error responses (i.e. system details, session identifiers).



Implement generic error messages.



Free the allocated memory when an error condition occurs. 




It is also important to have consistent and well-organized application logging. Application logs provide an immense amount of valuable data for such procedures as identification of security incidents, the establishment of baselines,  defense against vulnerability identification, and many others. The practices to follow include:




Implementation of all login controls on a trusted system.



Constant monitoring of logs for any irregularities or intrusion.



Logging both successes and failures.



Limit access to the logs to authorized users only.



Establish a mechanism to conduct log analysis.



Utilize cryptographic hash function for validating the integrity of log entries.




By logging both successes and failures, you will be able to better understand the performance of your system and therefore will be able to timely identify any alerts or potential risks.



Design with security in mind



There is a term “secure by design” and it implies building secure software from the start and not adjusting it once everything is built. Such an approach is very beneficial as it allows to create secure and robust product architecture from the start. This, in turn, significantly minimizes the possible threats.



The first step of secure design development will be the identification of the data that the app will process. Then, based on this data, the developers will come up with the corresponding security controls. For example, compare a banking application and a blog on WordPress - the first product handles much more sensitive information than the second one and will need stricter controls.



As well, the developers need to understand the possible types of attacks and to take preventative measures against them. Note that there is always a possibility of a staff member or a programmer to intrude the app so take precautions against that as well.



The design of the system architecture also has to be security-centered. A developer should think about every feature of the app and estimate whether it is:




Surrounded by safe processes?



Possible to be attacked and how exactly?



Default? If yes, how can it be protected?




Here are the main security principles stated by OWASP that relate to design security:




Minimize the surface area for the attack: meaning, every new feature added to the app is an additional area that can be targeted by a hacker. If the feature is absolutely needed, minimize access to it only to the authorized users.



Establish secure defaults so the users’ authentication and logins are as secure and verified as possible.



Follow the principle of the least privilege as discussed above.



Follow the principle of defense in depth: there should be multiple security controls for approaching risks in different ways.




Other recommendations include avoiding sophisticated architecture in order to minimize the risks and always double-checking the validity of any third-party services being used.



You might find this article interesting:




Vulnerability Assessment vs Penetration Testing




Secure the database



The database is probably the most vulnerable part of the application and therefore it should be guarded at a double rate. However, the rules for database security are not as complex as they may seem. The basic principles are: never grant write access if read access is enough, make sure the variables are strongly typed, ensure that all queries are prioritized, and use stored procedures as much as possible.



These rules are considered the basic ones for securing the database. However, there are additional practices recommended by OWASP:




Use input validation and output coding.



Grant the lowest level of privilege to the app when it accesses the database.



Always use secure credentials for database access.



Close connections as soon as possible.



Either remove or change the default database administrative passwords.



Do not hard code the connection strings within the application.



Disable all default accounts that are not needed and disable all unnecessary database functionality.




Follow cryptographic practices



It’s common knowledge that encoding is one of the most efficient ways to secure the data. Hence, when designing a system, follow the cryptographic practices that will help keep the data safe and secure:




Store the keys in secure key vaults.



Make sure that cryptographic models fail securely.



Ensure that master secrets are protected from unauthorized access.



Implement all cryptographic functions on a trusted system only.



Ensure that deployed cryptographic modules comply with FIPS 140-2 (or an equivalent standard).



Establish a policy for managing cryptographic keys.




Summary



The abovementioned practices are some of the basic practices of secure coding. However, this is just the top of the iceberg and there are many more practices to follow. We highly recommend checking out the OWASP security coding guidelines for a more detailed explanation of each practice. By acknowledging and implementing secure software development best practices, you can be sure that your system is safely protected from possible threats.



Being a software development provider with over 12 years of experience, SoftTeco always follows security coding principles and security standards established by the industry when creating software applications. In this way, we can always guarantee that our clients do not experience any security-related issues and that their applications function as intended. 

### SoftTeco is recognized as one of the Top Mobile App Development Companies by TopDevelopers

SoftTeco has been listed among the top mobile app development companies of 2020 by the TopDevelopers organization.







TopDevelopers is a company that does research and analysis of software development firms with an aim to present the best providers to the clients. Through careful selection process, TopDevelopers is able to present the most reliable and experienced providers to the seekers and ensure that a software development company fully fulfills the requirements of the client.



In a press release that was published on October 14, TopDevelopers lists those software development companies that display a high level of professionalism and reliability in building mobile applications. SoftTeco is glad to be included in this list and we will continue providing high-quality services to our clients worldwide.

### DevOps Roles and Responsibilities

DevOps has become an essential extension of the agile methodology and now DevOps seems to be more and more popular. This methodology is aimed at optimizing and facilitating the whole production process, from coding to release, so no wonder companies are willing to make very attractive offers to knowledgeable DevOps engineers.



But who exactly is a DevOps engineer and how do you know whether you need to hire one? In this article, we discuss DevOps roles and responsibilities and the main reasons to assign such a person to a project.







What is DevOps?



In general, DevOps is a whole methodology that is aimed at bridging the gap between the development team and the IT operations team. One of the most common problems in the IT industry is that the two departments work in silos. As a result, it leads to delays in terms of product release, poor communication, frequent occurrence of errors, and similar issues.



Hence, the DevOps methodology was designed to unite the development and operations teams and therefore improve the overall work processes. The main principles and practices of DevOps include the facilitation of the communication between the development and the operations teams, continuous product improvement, continuous delivery of high-quality products.



Who is a DevOps engineer?



Though there is no universal definition of a DevOps engineer, we will come up with the one that seems the most descriptive. A DevOps engineer is a person who oversees the life cycle of a product, gathers all processes into a single system, and optimizes them with an aim to shorten the development and delivery processes and increase its efficiency at the same time.



It may sound complicated and it is complicated indeed. A DevOps engineer must have an excellent knowledge of many aspects of software development and IT operations, including:




Coding basics,



Knowledge of different operational systems, 



Knowledge of cloud providers and cloud services,



Experience with CI/CD,



Knowledge of different networks,



Experience with visualization and containers, 



Experience with a script language (or few!).




All these thighs are essential for a good DevOps engineer since he will be the person responsible for finding the most efficient solution to a certain problem and optimizing the whole development process. To get an even better understanding, let’s look at the DevOps engineer’s main responsibilities.



The main responsibilities of a DevOps engineer



The list of responsibilities of a DevOps engineer is really extensive so we will now focus on the most important things that any DevOps specialist takes care of:




Creation, planning, and testing of project infrastructure,



Automation of processes and identification of such processes,



Incident management: the resolution of any urgent tasks,



Work with cloud solutions: minimization of risks and efficient management of cloud tools,



Continuous integration in order to keep the code fresh and to check that the code works properly after it's changed by any member of a team.



Continuous delivery to automate deployment of new releases.




As you can see from the list above, all these responsibilities are united by a single goal - to maximally improve the efficiency of a work process while maintaining clear communication between the development and the operations team.



Top reasons why you need a DevOps engineer on your project



By now, you have already understood that a DevOps specialist removes the collisions between the development and the operations teams and contributes to increasing the efficiency of work processes. Now let’s look at the more specific and definite benefits of having a DevOps engineer on your team.



Continuous integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD)



Continuous integration is a DevOps practice that puts emphasis on regular merging of the changes of the code to the central repository. After the code is merged, it is automatically run through the unit tests and builds. In this way, any error is immediately detected and developers receive an error-free code prepared for the release.



Based on the CI practice, the DevOps methodology introduced continuous delivery. Continuous delivery implies having all the code changes ready for the release with the help of automated tests. Under continuous delivery, all code changes are deployed to all environments (such as testing and production) after the build stage. In this way, developers can rest assured that all code changes are thoroughly validated and released.



The deployment of CI and CD significantly speeds up the development process and helps minimize errors and detect them in a more efficient manner. In this way, developers are able to release the product faster.



Speed of operation



As said above, DevOps methodology is focused on speeding up the development process. This is achieved not only by CI/CD but also by automating mundane manual tasks (such as tests, for example) and enabling transparent and smooth communication.



A DevOps engineer is concentrated on eliminating all possible drawbacks that prevent the team from quick delivery. Hence, if you have a DevOps engineer on your team, you can rest assured about the increased speed of the work process.



Cost reduction



In addition to a quicker and smoother work process, DevOps methodology also contributes to wiser resource allocation and cost reduction.



Since the DevOps engineer knows about the cloud tools, possible infrastructure options, and the best tools to use (not to mention the maintenance and updates management), it’s safe to say that your budget will be wisely allocated. So by assigning a DevOps engineer to a team, you minimize potential financial losses that are usually caused by sudden changes, the choice of the incorrect tools or infrastructure, and similar issues.



Increased productivity



Another important aspect to consider is the increased productivity of the team.



First, DevOps automates manual tasks that require lots of time, energy, and attention. This allows team members to focus on more important issues and come up with efficient ways of resolving them instead of combatting the same minor tasks over and over again.



Second, DevOps significantly improves communication between the team members. This leads to fewer misunderstandings and eliminates miscommunication. In this way, the atmosphere within the team improves and people become more focused and involved.



How to know when to hire a DevOps specialist



Without a doubt, the presence of a DevOps engineer on a project team leads to much better and faster results. But do you really need this specialist for every project and when should you hire one? Let’s discuss this



If you follow the agile methodology which requires lots of flexibility in terms of development, the adoption of DevOps would be the next logical step. As well, DevOps is great if you plan to have rapid and frequent release cycles.



To sum up, DevOps is highly suitable for supporting large-scale and long-term software development projects. A DevOps engineer is a valuable asset to any team that wishes to optimize the work process and deliver high-quality results in a timely and well-organized manner without any delays, errors, or issues.

### SoftTeco is taking part in the United Nations Global Compact Event

SoftTeco was invited to take part in an event organized by the United Nations Global Compact. The event is dedicated to the non-financial reporting and is aimed to emphasize the importance of non-financial reporting among the companies and to provide guidelines on introducing the non-financial reporting within an organization.







Being a member of the United Nations Global Compact of Belarus, SoftTeco pays close attention to sustainable development as a part of its social responsibility strategy. We understand and recognize the importance of non-financial reporting as it provides reassurance to our clients and partners in terms of the company’s sustainable development and growth. In addition, non-financial reporting contributes to the enhancement of the brand’s recognition and value.



The event will be held in the online format on October 7, with Deloitte company being an official partner. During the event, the participants will discuss the benefits of non-financial reporting, standards to follow when preparing the reports, ways of integrating the Sustainable Development Goals in the reporting, and other relevant issues. 



SoftTeco looks forward to taking part in the event and will continue to follow the sustainable development strategy and to expand its area of social and environmental responsibility.

### JavaScript Spread Operator: What Does It Bring to JS Community?

The JavaScript ES6 standard was a breath of fresh air for the whole JS community back then as it provided a new neat syntax which enabled developers to write more maintainable and accurate code. As well, the new standard introduced a lot of important features and one of the most significant ones was the spread operator. It proved to be so valuable that it is now impossible to imagine the current day-to-day development routine without these magical three dots.







What is a spread operator?



As can be guessed from its name, the spread operator is ‘spreading’ the iterable objects into a list of its elements. in other words, it gives you the “content” of these objects. By iterable objects we mean the structures that can be looped through - arrays, objects and strings. If it sounds a bit tricky, don’t worry - we will elaborate it in examples below. Let’s see how exactly a spread operator benefits JavaScript developers and where it can be applied.



Dynamic function arguments



Spread operator is extremely useful for passing dynamic parameters count to functions. A good example is the push array method. Let’s imagine that you have a dynamic array of values that needs to be passed as parameters to the `push` function. Before the ES6 era, developers had to do it via calling `apply` or `forEach` loop.



let basket = [];
let products = ["bread", "milk", "bread"];

Array.prototype.push.apply(basket, products)
console.log(basket); // ["bread", "milk", "bread"];

basket = [];
products.forEach(product => { basket.push(product); })
console.log(basket); // ["bread", "milk", "bread"];




Even though it works, it looks quite complicated. Hopefully we have the spread now. Compare how neat and handy it looks after using the spread:



let basket = [];
let products = ["bread", "milk", "bread"];

basket.push(...products);
console.log(basket); // ["bread", "milk", "bread"]




Operations with arrays



The spread operator is often used for manipulations with arrays. A very common use case is the concatenation of two arrays. It can be done through our well-known method - the `concat` function:



let fruits = ["banana", "apple"];
let vegetables = ["tomato", "cucumber"];

let basket = fruits.concat(vegetables); // ["banana", "apple", "tomato", "cucumber"] 




However we can do the same operation with `...` and it looks much more expressive:



let fruits = ["banana", "apple"];
let vegetables = ["tomato", "cucumber"];

let basket = [...fruits, ...vegetables]; // ["banana", "apple", "tomato", "cucumber"] 




The `...` can be used for copying arrays as well:



let fruits = ["banana", "apple"];
let copyFruits = [...fruits]; //["banana", "apple"]




Operations with objects



The ES standard from 2018 introduced the spread operator for the objects. It was a predictable enhancement and a great replacement for `Object.assign` in terms of copying and combining the objects. Compare how it looks with `Object.assign:



let cat = { 
  age: 3,
  sex: 'male'
};

let copyCat = Object.assign({}, cat, { age: 5, color: 'brown' }); 
// { age: 5, color: "brown", sex: "male" }




And how the same piece of code looks with spread:



let cat = { 
  age: 3,
  sex: 'male'
};

let copyCat = { ...cat, age: 5, color: 'brown' }; 
// { age: 5, color: "brown", sex: "male" }




As you can see, with the spread operator the code looks cleaner. Most importantly, the spread operator lets you use the same construction for manipulation with objects and arrays.



Convert string to letters



Another usage of the spread operator implies splitting the string:



const text = 'split me';
const letters = [...text];
console.log(letters); // ["s", "p", "l", "i", "t", " ", "m", "e"]




It might look a bit unusual and the built-in string “split” function seems to be a more straightforward way to perform this operation, but it’s good to know that there is one more option to do so.



Summary



The introduction of the spread operator was a great step forward for the whole JS community. It allows various manipulations with the core JS structures by using compact and expressive syntax and it also allows to build a common mental model for such operations. This, in turn, significantly simplifies the process of reading the code and improves the overall maintainability of the projects.

### What You Need to Know About E-Learning Development

The e-learning industry has been rapidly growing throughout recent years and in 2020 it became especially popular. People are now used to the fact that they can study almost everything online - and it opens a whole lot of new opportunities for developers who want to create a valuable product.



Now is a good time to develop an e-learning portal but you have to take care of multiple aspects before designing an online course. To help you, we’ve collected the best practices on e-learning development that will ensure that your e-learning portal attracts many students and provides them with all the needed services.







The different models of e-learning portals: an overview



Before jumping to the development of an e-learning portal, it is important to know the differences between the various models and their approaches. Below are some of the most common examples of e-learning websites.



A self-learning platform



This type of platform offers a self-learning approach. This implies that a user can choose their own courses and a convenient learning pace, can pause and come back whenever needed and can monitor their own progress. The content provided on such a platform comes in different forms: audio and video lessons, vocabulary, downloadable content, etc.



An online tutoring platform



This platform offers an individual (or group) tutoring with a teacher. If a user opts for this way of learning, they will have more strict and structured learning and will be graded by the teacher. As well, a user will be able to receive personal feedback throughout the learning process.



A web conferencing platform



These platforms are used to facilitate the online learning process for a group of students by providing them with a centralized e-learning environment. Such platforms are especially popular with universities and colleges and are designed to seat big groups of students.



Of course, can combine these options as needed but still you need to use one of the models as a base for creating your e-learning platform as it will impact the functionality and UX.



The essential features that any e-learning platform needs to have



Despite the platform that you are going to choose, there are some essential features that every e-learning portal has. These features ensure great user experience and contribute to providing value to the users.



Secure authentication and user cabinet



One of the most important things that you need to take care of is secure and multi-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication requires two pieces of evidence (i.e. a password and a code sent to the phone) to prove that the user is who they say they are. It is a secure way to guard one’s personal information and credentials and is widely used by websites. As well, it’s always a good idea to include several authorization options (via email, social networks, etc.) to provide users with a choice and save their time.



Another feature related to the user’s data is the user cabinet. A user needs to have an option to create and customize a personal profile, manage its settings and privacy as needed, and see all the courses and related information in there. 



Easy and advanced search



Whether you decide to create a self-learning portal or the one that offers personalized tutoring, a user will need to search through the e-learning courses and be able to find the most suitable one. Therefore, a portal needs to have really good search filters and user-friendly navigation.



The portal should provide options to filter the courses by:




Languages



Price



Levels



Categories and subcategories



User ratings




In this way, a user will be able to quickly find a course of interest among the variety of options. And obviously, you need to wisely categorize the courses so the users do not get confused.



Dashboards



There are two types of dashboards - a student dashboard and a teacher dashboard - and both should be present in any e-learning portal.



A student dashboard provides a detailed overview of the current courses, received awards/recognitions, interaction with the teacher, and other useful information relevant to e-learning resources. With the help of the dashboard, a student can easily manage their courses, change the subscription plan, contact the teacher, and monitor the progress.



As for the teacher dashboard, it helps tutors monitor the number of students enrolled, check and manage the course fees, see the statistics for each course, and set up and edit the courses and notifications.



Various interaction options



Whether a user prefers a self-learning course or the one with a tutor, they will still need to interact with the portal and other students and/or tutors. Thus, a good e-learning platform has to provide numerous interaction options.



These options may include:




A forum for topic discussions



A chat with the portal representative 



An option to leave comments under lessons



A video/audio call option




By providing various interaction options, you create a real classroom-like experience in your e-learning classes. This also adds to the personalization which equals better user experience.



Different payment options



An integrated payment system is essential for any e-learning portal. In order for both students and teachers to conveniently manage their payments and earnings, it is important to implement numerous payment options to your portal.



The most popular payment methods include:




Credit (or debit) cards



PayPal



Stripe




It is important to consider who your target audience is as different countries may have different preferred payment systems. In the US, for example, PayPal is incredibly popular and common while European users may prefer paying with a credit card. All these aspects have to be considered when planning the payment system integration.



Customization 



Customization is a really important aspect. It contributes to user satisfaction and shows that you truly care about the diversity of your students and are ready to offer different e-learning methods to them. Here are some customization ideas that you might want to incorporate:




Support for multiple languages



An option to turn on tracking notes



Integration with social networks



Synchronization with the calendar



Profile customization




All these things help make a learning process more enjoyable and personalized. As a result, students are happier with it and hence will more likely stay on your portal and explore more courses.



Things to consider before developing an e-learning portal



We’ve walked through the essential features of an e-learning platform - but there are also some things to keep in mind before designing e-learning courses. By taking these aspects into consideration, you will be able to design a high-quality product that caters to the needs of the users.



Know your audience



Research of a target audience is critical as it serves as a base for adding functionality and working on the UX. When designing an e-learning product, you need to consider what are the preferences and habits of your potential students, what courses may interest them the most, and what method of studying they prefer. All these things must be considered when planning your e-learning program and the defined target audience will also dictate the choice of the tutors and the overall learning process.



Engage good teachers



Once you understand your target audience and its needs, you can start looking for knowledgeable and professional tutors to work with you. Of course, you’d expect all the tutors to show a high level of expertise and knowledge so you can ask for certifications and hold interviews to see whether this person will fit in the team.



Depending on the portal model, you will need to collaborate either with an educational establishment or assemble a team of freelance tutors who have the required certifications and experience.



Make the portal user-centric



Usability is rule number one for those online products that are aimed at conversions. And the concept of e-learning implies offering students an option to choose the most comfortable studying pace and program. Therefore, when creating an e-learning portal, try to make it as user-friendly and intuitive as possible.



Enable clear and intuitive navigation and categorize the courses wisely. As well, work on your call-to-action buttons - try personalizing and optimizing them in order to increase the number of conversions. And don’t forget to invest in high-quality video production for the lectures as poorly filmed lectures can discourage the users from engaging.



Enable user ratings and feedback



Testimonials are really important as they greatly impact one’s opinion about an online product. Hence, if you want to increase reliability and trust in your courses, it will be a good idea to enable user ratings and reviews.



By doing so, users can not only search for the courses by their ratings but will also be able to see the comments and opinions of real users, with all the pros and cons. This, in turn, will greatly increase a level of trust and will serve as an additional factor in attracting the user to roll in the course.



Find an experienced development team



When creating any software product, it’s not enough to have amazing ideas only - you also need to find a reliable development team that will realize them as needed. Thus, we recommend looking for a service provider on websites like Clutch that offer testimonials and reviews from the past clients of a company.



When looking for a development agency, look at their portfolio to see whether the company worked with the e-learning projects in the past. You can also request an interview with the team and ask them more about the way they can design your product. Look for a team that offers transparent communication and a flexible approach and you will be rewarded with a high-quality e-learning software product.

### 5 E-Commerce Features Your Potential Customers May Want

The ultimate goal of any e-commerce store is to increase the number of conversions. Thus, store owners constantly look for new ways to engage the users and encourage them to buy. What they often miss is the fact that conversions are heavily impacted by such common things as a correctly placed CTA button or intuitive navigation. These core features of any e-commerce store tend to be overlooked and therefore they result in poor user engagement and lower sales.



This article reviews the essential e-commerce features that contribute to better user engagement and help persuade the user to buy. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel - just follow this checklist and see which features are already implemented on your site and which ones should be.







Clear navigation



Navigation is one of the biggest pain points for many e-commerce stores. Confusing and complex navigation not only annoys the users but discourages them from exploring the store and making a purchase. Clean and intuitive navigation, on the other hand, is capable of guiding the user towards the desired purchase and helps find the needed product or service fast. So what can you do to improve the navigation in your store?







Have consolidated menu



A consolidated menu is the navigation menu on top of your page. When a user scrolls down, this menu remains fixed and thus a user can easily get back to the needed section without the need to scroll all the way up.



Remember that this menu does not have to be huge in order to be noticed - it will be enough to make it 1/5 from the page’s size. And research by Google shows that the implementation of a consolidated menu significantly impacts the page visits and increases their number.



Order categories wisely



For sure, there are some categories in your store that get most of the users’ attention - so make sure to display them on the home page and order the most popular categories by traffic. This approach will result in the traffic increase and a possible increase in the users’ interest.



As for the subcategories, make sure they make sense. It often happens that there are too many subcategories and the users simply do not understand which one will contain the needed product. So we highly recommend reviewing your existing categories in order to check if they are understandable and accessible.



Follow the UX standards



In e-commerce, there are certain UX standards that need to be followed in order to facilitate and improve navigation. These standards include:




The placement of the cart icon in the upper right corner



The navigation (consolidated) menu on the top



Dropdown menu for categories browsing




These UX examples can be met in almost any e-commerce store. Therefore, if your users have browsed several other stores before visiting yours, they would expect the same navigation and same element placement. Imagine how you might confuse them if you place the shopping cart icon on the left side so they will spend time searching for it on the right.



When designing an e-commerce store, it is important to make it as user-centric as possible so the whole navigation and browsing process is fast and as hassle-free as possible.



Easy search



The search option is essential for any e-commerce store. If a user visits your website for the first time, a search bar will help quickly navigate to the needed item. And if a user visits your store with a clear intention in mind, the search bar once again will immediately take them to the needed page. 



Even though the search seems like an obvious feature, there are a few tricks on how you can optimize it.







Replace a search icon with a search bar



This is not a solid rule but more of a recommendation: try replacing the search icon with a search bar. According to Google, a search bar promotes engagement and results in higher engagement than the use of a search icon. You can test both options and see which one resonates the best with your users.



Provide automatic suggestions



Automatic suggestions are a very user-friendly feature. When a user starts typing “leggings”, for example, the page may offer suggestions like “sport leggings” and “color leggings”. In this way, a user can immediately see what kind of products you can offer. As well, it saves the user’s time since the user does not have to type the full keyword but a few letters only.



Always return search results



It may happen that your store does not have an item that the user searches for. So what do you do in this situation?



A common mistake that many store owners make is just putting “404 not found” or “Sorry the item is not found” message on the page and leaving it like that. However, the golden rule of e-commerce states: always return search results!



At this point, a question may arise: what do I put on the page if the item is not in my store? Actually, you can do a lot! You can put there:




Top product categories



Best-selling products



Favorite products of other users



Products with the most promising reviews




The main idea here is to avoid the user leaving the site and to encourage him to keep exploring. And by putting a certain offer to the “404 not found” page, you will significantly increase your conversions and sales as most users willingly check out what else you can offer them.



Optimized checkout



The checkout page is another pitfall that may lead to lost sales and customers. The biggest problem of many e-commerce stores is that the checkout process is too complex, lacks transparency, and thus leads to cart abandonment. To minimize the risks and resolve the problem, we provide the following solutions.



Enable guest checkout



The key to a successful checkout is the minimal number of steps that a user needs to take in order to complete the purchase. However, if a user must register before starting the checkout, it may actually be a major turn-off. 



One of the most efficient ways to speed up and facilitate checkout is to enable guest checkout. This means a user does not have to create an account - all they have to do is enter their email and they will immediately be able to proceed to the checkout page. This option significantly 



reduces the cart abandonment rate and is a real lifesaver when it comes to customer retention.



Minimize the number of steps in the checkout



As we already said, the faster the checkout process is, the higher the chances are that a user will complete the purchase. Hence, have a good look at your checkout process and see whether there are any unnecessary steps that can be minimized or eliminated.



Some stores have a two-page checkout and it does not work so well as a one-page checkout. Another common mistake is that the checkout page has too many fields that can be consolidated. For example, instead of having “Name” and “Surname” fields, you can simply ask users to fill out the “Full Name” field. Such a minor change actually has a big impact on the user’s behavior.



A good idea is adding a progress bar to the checkout. The progress bar serves as a visual representation of the customer’s progress and encourages them to complete the checkout.



Make the checkout transparent



Imagine a situation when a user chooses an item and is satisfied with the price. They then proceed to the checkout only to find that the price was doubled by taxes, shipping, and other fees. With no doubt, the customer will be upset and will most probably will cancel the purchase.



Unfortunately, this is a rather common situation when there are hidden fees popping out all of a sudden. To avoid misunderstandings, make the checkout as transparent as possible. By that we mean: always provide all the financial information to the customer before they start the checkout process. You can also add a calculator to a checkout page so the customer can calculate the final price of the product and see what kind of charges are there.



Good product photos



Your costumers are coming to your store for certain products or services so you want to make these products as appealing as possible. And since the customers cannot touch and feel the products in an online store, product photos become a critical part of the buying decision. Here are a few tips on making the best out of the product photos.



Watch the quality and size



When uploading product photos to your store, make sure they are of good quality. As well, ensure that this quality does not get lost if a user opens the store page on their mobile device. Responsive design is an absolute must for any website so you need to watch for the images’ size, dimensions, and quality.







Show product details



This trick can actually persuade customers to buy! What you need to do is not only show your product from different angles but also add the photos of product details, such as shoelaces, engravement details, close view of the material. Such photos help create a better and more “immersive” impression of a product as if the user actually sees and tries it.



Optimize the images for better performance



E-commerce websites tend to have many photos so naturally, all these photos may take quite a while to load. In order to speed up your website performance and improve user experience, you need to optimize the images. You can do it by optimizing the image size, deploying lazy loading, or using a CDN (Content Delivery Network). Just remember that slow and heavy loading leads to low user experience - and online shoppers are not willing to wait for longer than 3 seconds for the site to load.



Care about the customer



Every customer wants to feel special - so how can you add more personalization and show that you truly care? Here are a few tips.



Support different payment options and multiple languages



When an e-commerce store is launched, it often happens that it’s a small local store for certain customers only. But if such a store grows and gains more and more clients, a store owner might start considering the possibility of going international. Or you may consider making the store international from the start - either way, you need the store to support different languages and different payment options.



If you accept only one or two payment options, that might be the reason why your conversions are low. Remember that different countries prefer different payment systems so keep that in mind when thinking about your target audience. As well, it’s always nice to offer different languages to different user groups. This will show that you care about their user experience and want to make it as enjoyable as possible.



Optimize the CTAs 



A CTA (call-to-action) button is a sales booster if implemented right. These buttons grab the customer’s attention and encourage them to complete a certain action that will bring value. 



So what’s the key to a converting CTA? First, the design. A CTA button should be big and visible enough to stand out from the rest of the content on the page. However, some store owners opt for ghost buttons (with transparent background) or the ones that almost merge with the page. Thus, to find the best option, we recommend to A/B test your buttons and see which ones cause the most engagement from the users. As well, remember about the placement. A CTA button can be placed:




In the upper part of the page for the users to see it



Near the important elements (such as product price)



In the form of a pop-up 




Second, work on the button’s message. Research shows that personalization of a CTA button message results in much higher engagement than cliche messages like “Click here”. So how do you personalize a CTA button?







Try relating its message to your products and services. If you sell fragrances, you can write something like “Find your perfect scent” instead of “Browse the catalog”. The more you alter the CTA message to the website content, the more interest it will provoke in the customers.



Offer additional value



Another efficient method to engage the customer and show that you cater to their needs is offering additional value. This can be:




A FAQ page with all the common questions answered



A blog with the articles describing the best and most creative ways of using your products



Top-notch customer service (live chat, social media, an option to order a call).




By adding a few extra touches, you instantly show how much you care about your clients and how you want to offer them something else in addition to the products. And this will result in a sales increase and a boost in customer loyalty and satisfaction.



Summing up



These are just a few features that the customers look for in an e-commerce store - and there are many more of them that need to be considered. The creation of an e-commerce store requires a significant amount of dedication and time as well as the investment of finances and resources. However, if everything is done right, you will be rewarded with the store expansion, loyal customers, and steady sales growth.

### Choosing a Database Management System: HBase vs Cassandra

A database management system is a key to the efficient functioning of a software product and security of the processed data. It can be challenging though to choose the right solution due to a big number of available options in the market.



In this article, we are going to overview the two most popular database management systems for Big Data projects: HBase vs Cassandra. Despite sharing certain similarities, these two solutions also have some differences that need to be considered in order to choose the best option for your specific product.







Why do you need a database management system?



Before looking at HBase vs Cassandra in detail, first let’s see why you need a reliable database management system in the first place:



A centralized data repository: with a database management system, businesses can rest assured that all the data is kept in one place, is being monitored, and that everyone has access to it.




Easier data analysis and easier decision-making: sine the data can be easier analyzed, it can also be easier visualized. This, in turn, promotes faster and easier decision making as business owners get access to all needed insights in a suitable format.



Better customer relationship management: with more accurate and structured data, businesses are able to better manage their customers since all the information is present, up to date, and stored in one place.



Great data organization and consistency: a database management system allows to store the data in a structured and consistent format. This leads to higher data accuracy and impacts the ease of its use.




As you can see, an organization can benefit a lot from using a database management system. But considering there is quite a variety of options to choose from, it might be confusing to select the perfect one. With HBase and Cassandra being one of the most popular database management systems, it’s worth having a detailed look at both.



What’s HBase?



HBase is a database management system built atop the Hadoop file system. HBase can be integrated with Hadoop both as a source and a destination.



HBase is a distributed and column-oriented system and it provides low latency batch processing. Other features of HBase are:




The system has linear scalability



Consistent reads and writes



Data replication across clusters



Automatic failure support




Speaking about HBase pros, the first one will be its ability to manage and store large datasets which makes HBase great for heavy applications with massive amounts of data. As well, HBase has quite fast processing and good consistency of reads and writes.



There are certain cons though that make developers doubt the use of HBase:




No transaction support



No handling of JOINS



No built-in authentication



Possibility of failure (if only one HMaster is used)




Despite these cons, HBase is a reliable and good choice for certain software products. So let’s have a look at Cassandra and see the main features and pros that it offers.



What’s Cassandra?



Cassandra is a distributed database management system, much like HBase. Cassandra was first developed by Facebook and became open-sourced in 2008. The main purpose of Cassandra is to handle massive data sets and to offer high availability. These and other features of Cassandra make this system favored by many developers and businesses.



Some of the Cassandra features are:




Ability to process massive data volumes



No single point of failure



Horizontal scalability



Operational simplicity




As for the benefits, Cassandra is praised for its flexible data distribution, ACID support, and flexible data storage. As well, Cassandra displays a fast and reliable performance which is great for e-commerce and real-time sensor data handling. 



The similarities between HBase and Cassandra 



As we said, HBase and Cassandra have certain differences - but they also share several similarities. 



First, the database: both HBase and Cassandra are open-source NoSQL databases. This means both systems can efficiently handle Big Data and non-relational data and have similarities in the database structure.



Second, the two systems have high linear scalability which is also a great benefit for working with massive datasets. So if you need to increase the amount of data, you just increase the number of nodes in a cluster.



As well, both HBase and Cassandra have special features that help prevent data loss. This is possible due to the replication mode.



The difference between HBase and Cassandra: an overview



Now that we’ve observed HBase vs Cassandra and their similar features, it’s time to see how they differ.



Data Model 



Both Cassandra and HBase are column family based stores, which are based on Google BigTable principles. 



HBase does not really have data types, all the data is considered as bytes, thus when working with HBase records developers should rely on business logic, which defines data types.



If we compare the components of both data models, they will have quite a difference: for instance, a column in Cassandra is more like a cell in HBase. As well, Cassandra allows its primary key to contain multiple columns while HBase has a one-column row key.



As for the similarities, the databases of both Cassandra and HBase include a lack of joins and the possibility of having no value in a column or a cell for better storage usage.



Data Storage and Infrastructure



The key point to remember here is that HBase utilizes Hadoop cluster infrastructure and it is built on top of the HDFS filesystem. It means that HBase should be a choice for those systems that already have Hadoop infrastructure. On the contrary, Cassandra uses its own nodes and clusters, which makes it independent from the system infrastructure. Also, Cassandra provides better support for geographically distributed applications.



Query Language and APIs



HBase and Cassandra are open-source, implemented in Java, and have Java APIs. Unlike Cassandra, HBase does not have its own query language and that means that you will have to deploy the JRuby-based HBase shell alongside additional technologies such as Apache Drill or Apache Hive. These technologies allow making SQL queries to the HBase.



Cassandra, on the other hand, has its own query language which is CQL (Cassandra Query Language). As well, C* has better documentation which is often essential for software development.



Architecture



The architecture of HBase is master-based, meaning that it has a single failure point. This type of architecture implies that the HBase client can communicate directly with the slave-server with no need to contact the master. Such an approach provides a working time if the master is down.



Cassandra has a masterless architecture and does not have a single point of failure. And though the HBase architecture displays good performance, the constant availability of Cassandra’s cluster makes it a really significant advantage. So in this case, when considering Cassandra vs HBase, Cassandra comes as a clear winner.



Scalability and Replication



Both Cassandra and HBase are very efficient in horizontal scaling. If a system developer wants to increase the number of nodes, they just need to adjust the cluster’s configuration. In this way, both Cassandra and HBase are a perfect fit for a big data project. 



Also, by default in the datastores, all the data is replicated several times for redundancy. Cassandra and HBase both use a configurable Replication Factor which allows to control the number of replicas.



CAP theorem and application areas



According to the CAP Theorem (Consistency, Availability, Partition Tolerance), HBase provides more Consistency with its mechanisms of transaction support (though there are no full ACID transactions). Cassandra provides more Availability, and both of them for sure are partition-tolerant as all the scalable NoSQL databases. 



Cassandra is designed to support a massive number of writes, which are faster than reads. It is widely used in the IoT systems, real-time monitoring, and collection of massive amounts of analytics data. HBase is a solution mostly for processing huge volumes of data as the Hadoop cluster has MapReduce functionality. HBase has good support for random reads and writes as well. All this makes HBase highly suitable for such use cases as online analytics systems or user recommendation engines.



When to choose HBase and when to choose Cassandra



Both Cassandra and HBase are designed to handle BigData (TBs/PBs of data) but each database has its own use cases that work the best for this specific database management system.



Cassandra 



Cassandra suites better for write-oriented (the fewer updates the better, deletes are also updates in C*), geographically distributed large scale systems, in which availability and performance are a preference and no full transactions needed. 



Cassandra use cases:




Transaction logging;



Development of messengers and messaging systems;



E-commerce development;



Storage of time-series data;



Storage of real-time sensors data (i.e. the data from health trackers)’



Telematics.




Note though that when working with Cassandra, it is critical to choose the right partition keys and to use it with a corresponding database. Let’s elaborate a bit more on that.



You need proper partition keys due to the principle of Cassandra’s work. Since it distributes the data across multiple nodes, it hashes a partition key (a part of every table’s primary key) and assignes tokens to specific nodes. Hence, when choosing partition keys, consider the following:




There are enough partition key values to spread the data evenly across the nodes;



The data that you might want to retrieve should be kept in single read (and within a single partition);



Avoid making partitions too big.




As for the use of a corresponding database, Cassandra does not work well with databases that have:




Aggregates;



Transactions;



Tables with multiple access paths;



Joins;



Updates (and deletes).




HBase



HBase will be a good choice for existing Hadoop infrastructure and for systems that require extensive reads, along with random reads and scans/querying of row ranges, random updates for processing large sets of consistent data. 



HBase use cases:




Online log analytics;



Large-volumed apps;



Write-heavy applications;



Data query with millisecond latency.




But same as Cassandra, HBase is not perfect and has its limitations that you should be aware of. They are:




No support for transactions;



HBase is indexed and sorted only on key;



Lack of built-in authentication;



No support for the SQL structure.




Of course, these are not all limitations that HBase has but some of the most significant ones. Hence, when choosing between the HBase vs Cassandra, we highly recommend basing your decision on the type of the database that you use and the type of data as well.

### Questions To a QA Engineer: Things to Know About Testing

Quality Assurance is essential for any software product. By performing QA tests, a development company can be sure that the product corresponds to the requirements, performs as intended, and is secured from the possible threats.



Everyone understands the importance of QA - but it often happens that clients do not really know what steps the process involves and how exactly a QA team manages it. To clarify the issue, we spoke to the SoftTeco’s Head of QA and asked him the most common questions from the clients about the intricacies of Quality Assurance.







How can I be sure that you will properly test my product?



This is a really good question. The thing is, many QA teams pay too much attention to technical aspects of a product and forget about its intended business value and purpose. As a result, they may neglect the features that are really important to the product in terms of business value. 



A good QA team will always keep a close focus on the clients’ needs and ensure that all projects are very customer-centric. It is important to thoroughly analyze the mindset of both the clients and the potential customers and therefore, ensure that the software product brings the intended value by creating relevant test cases. As well, it is an absolute must to always consider all the platforms and devices that the product is supposed to work on.



And obviously, there are certain industry standards to adhere to. Make sure that the team knows and adheres to them as this will serve as a guarantee of quality.



What is your experience in QA and what kind of responsibilities did you have?



An obvious answer would be: the more experience, the better!



If a company has extensive experience in QA and has worked with different projects, this indicates a good level of knowledge and skills. However, it is also important to understand what kind of projects the team worked with in the past. A QA team may have excellent experience with the native applications but may lack experience in cross-platform ones. So you will need to find a company that has worked with the projects that are similar to yours and ask about the QA process.



As for the responsibilities, the most common tasks that a QA team works with include:




Gathering of the requirements for the project



Creation of a test strategy and business scenarios



Creation of test cases and their assignment to different scenarios



Choice and application of relevant test design techniques’



Testing



Creation of the environment and test matrices




These are the general requirements for a QA team that must be carried out to ensure the testing process goes smoothly and does not miss anything.



When do you perform testing: during or after the development process?



This will depend on what kind of development methodology you choose: the waterfall or the agile (or something else).



The waterfall approach is a more “traditional” one where testing is performed after completing a certain development phase. This is a rather linear process with clearly outlines phases, a strict order of implementation, and well-defined documentation.



The agile methodology, on the contrary, is much more flexible and allows to always “roll back” once the issue is detected. The development process is broken down into small iterations and it’s up to the client and the project manager to prioritize them.



Therefore, there are two options: either testing is performed after the development process is completed (the waterfall) or during it (the agile approach).



Judging by our experience, we recommend the waterfall method for large and complex projects that need a thorough organization. Agile, on the other hand, grants you much more flexibility and is more suitable for smaller and middle-sized projects. 



How exactly do you test software products?



Some of the responsibilities mentioned above are the stages of software testing. Let’s see the process in more detail.



Gathering and analysis of requirements



In order to ensure that your software functions as intended, the QA team will need to gather functional and non-functional requirements for the product. As well, the team will need to analyze them to make sure that every requirement is clear and can be properly tested.



Creation of a test plan



A test plan is a document that lists down all the steps that the QA team is going to take, testing deliverables and scope of work, testing environment, and main objectives. The purpose of the test plan is to guide the QA team through the process in an organized and planned manner to ensure nothing is missed.



Creation of test cases



A test case defines how a test will be executed. A test case usually describes the inputs, test execution conditions, testing process, and the results that are expected. So basically, test cases are the steps that need to be taken in order to perform the testing of a piece of software. With the help of detailed test cases, QA engineers ensure that everything is tested as planned.



Retesting the fixed bugs



After the test cases are created and executed, the QA team will once again test the system to ensure that it now functions correctly. As well, the team usually performs regression testing to ensure that fixed bugs did not cause any new bugs to appear.



What test design techniques do you know?



This is a really broad question to ask so I suspect that if a client asks such a question, they want to make sure that your team is aware of different testing methods and their use cases.



A test design technique is a process of determining testing conditions, test cases, test data. I would say the most popular and common types of test design techniques are:




Equivalence partitioning



Use case testing



Decision table testing



State transition diagrams



Statement coverage



Condition coverage



Decision coverage



Pairwise testing



Domain Analysis Testing



Boundary Value Testing




It’s not enough though to know these techniques - one has to understand how to choose the right technique to use. The choice will depend on the type of application, requirements and objectives, the overall knowledge and skill level of the team.  



How do you ensure product security and quality?



Again, this is a really broad question but there are some things that can help you make the right decision.



If we talk about an outsourcing development company, I would recommend looking at certifications such as ISO. The ISO 9001 standard is the most common certification among software development companies and covers such aspects as leadership and planning, the competence of the employees, operation, and performance evaluation. You can read more here.



As well, there is ISO 29119 standard that covers software testing only. The main idea behind this standard is that testing is your first step in risk mitigation and hence one needs to follow thorough testing procedures to ensure the quality of software products.



Apart from the ISO standards, you can also look at the way a company organizes its work and communication with clients. If all the processes are well-organized and the communication is transparent and prompt, these are the signs of an experienced and reliable company.

### The partnership of UNICEF and SoftTeco: UNICEF Volunteer Digital Platform

The United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF and SoftTeco collaborated on creating a robust web application that connects UNICEF and its volunteers. The main goal of the platform is to provide volunteers with an easy and secure way to sign up and participate in different activities. As for coordinators, the solution enables them to easily manage volunteers and promptly communicate with them.



SoftTeco has already worked on a similar solution when creating an application for the Red Cross Organization. So when UNICEF requested SoftTeco to participate in the project, our team used the well-established Angular 9 for the user interface and Java 14 Spring Framework for the server-side of the application. These technologies guarantee the smooth performance of the application and secure data processing and management.







The application offers users a quick and easy registration. After registering, the users can create their personal profiles and get access to the upcoming UNICEF events to take part in. As for the coordinators, they can see personal information of users, create new events, and see who is taking part in specific events.



SoftTeco is glad to be part of this program and to contribute to developing the UNICEF network and helping the organization facilitate communication with its volunteers. 

### An Overview of Hybris Commerce Platform

Commerce Platform



When it comes to developing complex and heavily loaded products such as an e-commerce store, you need to prepare a “foundation” for it. This foundation can consist of universal reliable frameworks and ready-to-use products that significantly ease the development process. 



When choosing an e-commerce platform to use, the owners of the web stores should ask themselves questions such as: do I need my platform to be multi-regional, support multiple languages and currencies, have a huge stock and several warehouses inside it?



If the answer is yes, then Hybris Commerce platform can be your choice for building heavy-loaded e-commerce-based products.



Hybris platform: an overview



Hybris is a SAP platform for building comprehensive and international e-commerce stores. Its open and extensible set of “out of the box” features helps to lower development efforts, improve customer service and sales, and speed up the development process. 



Hybris is suitable for international businesses due to such features as multi-warehouse, multi-currency and multi-languages support (which, in comparison, do not come out of the box in many e-commerce solutions).



The main benefits of SAP Hybris Commerce 



Though SAP Hybris has not yet gained such popularity as Magento or Shopify, it has several advantages that make e-commerce owners choose Hybris over other platforms.



Availability of extensions



Hybris comes available with a number of plugins and extensions for better platform customization (Adobe Analytics or Certona Platform as an example). In this way, Hybris allows fast and easy customization from the start, enabling you to add the necessary amount of personalization to the platform.



Variety of out-of-the-box features



While Shopify may be quite limited in terms of available features, Hybris offers its users a wide choice of out of the box functionalities. They include built-in tools for SEO optimization, pricing simulation, financial management, support for multiple languages and currencies, and many others.



Omni-channel solution



The omni-channel delivery is probably the biggest Hybris benefit. With Hybris, store owners can sell their products and services across multiple channels such as mobile, desktop, and in-store. Hybris performs equally well on all devices and therefore expands one’s digital and physical presence.



Support for internalization



As already mentioned, SAP Hybris is highly suitable for international businesses due to the functionality that it offers. Hybris comes with ready support for multiple languages and currencies and in addition it is highly scalable and capable of handling a massive load. Thus, if you want to set up several stores in different countries, Hybris will significantly facilitate and optimize the process.



Now that we’ve had a look at the competitive advantages of Hybris platform, let’s look at the platform from the technical point of view. This will allow you to better understand how Hybris can benefit your business and how it competes against other e-commerce solutions.



Architecture



While many e-commerce platforms are built using different languages (such as .Net, Perl, C++), Hybris is built on Java only. SAP Hybris can be deployed in any Java EE Servlet container (like Apache Tomcat). The platform itself consists of different modules and Spring allows easy wiring and configuration for each of them.  



If needed, new extensions can be easily added in order to extend or replace the existing functionality. This is done by creating Spring Beans. The extensions are provided by the platform itself, or can be created from the available templates (the so called custom extensions). By adding a new extension, you can rewrite the UI experience, expose REST endpoints, or simply extend business logic. 



There is a set of templates for the new extensions provided by Hybris. A new extension can be created from the command line by using an extension generator and an ant/maven command. 



Building and platform startup are also provided in separate commands.



The backoffice plays the role of an admin panel where users with appropriate roles can manage server data, restart business processes, start cron jobs, generate a wide range of reports, check server load and fulfill many more options .



Business and Persistence layer



The Hybris commerce suite is divided into four separate packages that serve as an essential core for further customization: Commerce, Content, Channel and Orders. Let’s see each in more detail.



Content



From the name of this package you can guess that it provides the core information for the site. It describes Product Catalogs, Categories and Media data for your product.



Catalogs in SAP Hybris come in two versions: staging and online. When you add a new product to the staging version, you need to synchronize it with an online catalog in order to see your products available on the website.



Orders



This section contains all logic related to Order fulfillment management, Promotions payments and Order history. 



The Order fulfillment is organized with a business process engine. The logic/steps for fulfilling the order are described with xml files. These files represent the flow of actions needed to perform it. 



Channel



Channels offer you various options of how to reach customers. Hybris omni-channel support means that you don’t need to create separate strategies. If you want your Catalog to be available on multiple devices and platforms, Hybris takes care of it and unties all the channels that you need in one solution.



Commerce



There are two types of components available for customization in Hybris:




B2B – Business to business



B2C – Business to customers.




They are located in separate packages and you can choose either of them depending on the type of your clients.



Persistence layer



By default, SAP Hybris uses the pre-configured HSQL database. But for better performance, we recommend that you you choose one of the databases that are supported by Hybris:




Oracle



MySQL



SQL Server



SAP Hana




Flexible search query support is used for easier interaction with the database in the DAO layer. Hybris uses its own ORM. Types and their relations are predefined in separate items.xml files and are added to the database during a system update or initialization.



Frontend layer



Presentation-oriented



A common choice for the controller layer in Spring environment is the usage of Spring MVC framework. But technically, a Java Framework (like JSF or Struts) can also be integrated by Hybris clients. 



Presentation-oriented web applications generally use dynamic web-pages. JSP is often the main choice. 



WCMS (Web content management system) Cockpit which is built by using the ZK framework and the next generation Framework is used to manage frontend templates. Hybris comes with the CMS pages feature in order to provide flexible and extensible frontend pages that can be managed by a non-developer inside the Product Cockpit. Backoffice (or hmc which is deprecated in latest hybris versions) is used to import data and media types for further usage inside the Cockpit GUI. 



Service oriented



Service-oriented web applications provide web-server endpoints. The Omni Commerce Connect (OCC) offers RESTful web services that make Hybris logic completely open to any frontend technology that you prefer. This approach significantly simplifies the development process and allows you to make the best use of the platform.



Summary



Being a product of SAP, Hybris is a reliable and robust solution that solves many issues of available e-commerce platforms. Hybris has rich functionality, supports internationalization, and offers vast customization options. Therefore, it is a really good choice for the store owners who plan to go international and want to have many customization options. Please note that Hybris has received complaints about its analytics so you might want to consider a third party solution. 




 

FAQ

### Group Interview: the Importance of Soft Skills in IT

There are numerous articles on the Internet that list down the most important soft skills for IT professionals. But in order to not only know about these soft skills but also understand their importance and roles, it is essential to provide real-life examples from one’s own experience. Thus, we’ve asked SoftTeco’s specialists from different departments to share their thoughts and ideas about the most essential soft skills for any IT professional and explain their significance. 







Questions to the Project Manager: Aleksei Shevchik



A Project Manager is responsible for managing the team and working with several different specialists at once. With this in mind, it’s natural to ask a PM about the soft skills expected from good developers and how these skills help during work.



Q: What are the most needed soft skills for any developer?



A: Judging from my experience and from observing the people in different teams, I would say they are communication, empathy, team work, and self-motivation. In the IT industry, it is common to be able to work independently but to help your teammates as well. Therefore, a good software developer needs to be both an independent individual and a good team player who knows how to communicate with different people.



As well, it is vital that a developer is willing to understand the client’s problem and to find the best solution for it. So even if a person is a brilliant developer, their arrogance and unwillingness to understand other people will not allow them to create an efficient software product simply because this product will not bring the intended value to the client.



Q: In what areas do soft skills help the most? 



A: The most obvious answer would be communication with the client. All developers will communicate with the client at some point of time, be it a daily meeting or a face-to-face one. And during these meetings, the client may want to require certain changes, ask why something does not work as supposed, or other questions that may take a person aback. So in order to keep the client satisfied and the project up and running, one needs to know how to successfully resolve any issues and create a win-win situation for all the parties involved.



As well, let’s not forget about the skill of self-organization and motivation. If a developer is truly passionate about their work and shows a certain level of interest for it, they will be constantly learning about new technologies and methods and will be able to efficiently organize their time.  



Overall, I strongly believe that a good developer should have two out of four PAEI code qualities - they are Producer and Administrator. Being a Producer means that a person can bring tasks to a conclusion and Administrator role implies that a person is self-organized and accurate. In my opinion, these are the critical traits of any good software developer.







Q: What soft skills do you look for in your team members and which ones are unwanted and why?



A: The most unwanted ones: laziness and narrow-mindedness. If a person is lazy and narrow-minded, that means they won’t be willing to learn anything new because they will be overconfident in their skills (which are often quite poor!).



On the contrary, I’d gladly welcome an enthusiastic, smart, and self-motivated person who displays high interest towards learning new things. Such people tend to consistently increase their expertise with time and prove to be reliable professionals.



Questions to the Sales Manager: Maxim Delendik



Even though sales managers mostly interact with the clients, they also communicate with developers a lot as sales managers basically “sell” the developers’ skills and knowledge. Thus we decided it would be a good idea to interview our Sales Manager and get his point of view on the role of soft skills in IT.



Q: Were there any cases when particular soft skills were helpful and, on the opposite, were harmful to a project? 



A: I can’t remember any particular cases but overall I do agree that soft skills are highly valuable and important. The core of the sales department work is remote communication with the clients. If we worked with the clients in one office or even in the same city, it would be much easier as face-to-face communication is more efficient. But since we talk to people from different countries and different time zones, we need to master our communication skills. Our ability to negotiate, clarify tasks, actively listen, manage our and the clients’ emotions, and timely provide the needed feedback - all these factors impact the success of the project and the level of comfort that a client experiences when working with us.



And on the opposite, the lack of such skills usually leads to poor results: misunderstandings, frequent arguments, non-clarified tasks that demand to be redone, and other issues that harm the project.



Q: Are there any particular soft skills that clients demand developers to have?



A: In general, all clients expect developers to efficiently cope with their tasks, be communicative, be able to explain their technical experience in detail (but at the same time, without overloading with information), and be active listeners. As well, it is desirable that developers are non-confrontational, can ask the right questions (to get the right and needed answers, be proactive, and offer efficient solutions. 



What is also highly valued is the developer’s ability to resolve not only tech tasks but also understand and even offer a solution to a business problem. Such an ability will help any developer better understand the client, get a birds-eye view of the project (instead of concentrating on one small part of it) and hence understand the client’s expectations and deliver the corresponding results.



Questions to the HR Manager: Ulia Oborina



In the IT industry, the people who assess one’s technical skills are usually project managers. But when it comes to soft skills estimation, no one knows more about them than an HR Manager.



Q: What soft skills do you pay attention to during the interview and probation period?



A: I usually do not detect any specific skills but rather try evaluating the overall person’s behavior: the way they respond to questions, how comfortable they are, whether they suppress any emotion, and things like that. I try to understand whether this person will fit well in the team and whether there are any warning signs in their behavior. But obviously, I pay lots of attention to one’s communication skills and I can usually tell if a person is a driven individual or if they prefer to be led and managed. Please note that there are no “bad” soft skills: for example, if a person is shy, it doesn’t make them a poor developer. However, if we are looking for a Project Manager, I’d expect the candidates to be assertive and self-motivated.







Q: Are there any soft skills that are specific to the IT industry?



A: I cannot say that different soft skills are specific to different industries. But certainly, there are some soft skills that will be incredibly helpful if you work in the IT industry.



For example, if a person is able to successfully interact with the team, it allows them to easier cope with any issues. And if a person can successfully communicate with the client, this often means that a person will quickly grow as a professional - all due to the ability to listen, ask the right questions, explain one’s point of view and accept the point of view of other people.



Below are the soft skills that I consider to be the most important for any IT professional:




Efficient communication



Ability to work in a team



Proactivity



Self-organization, ability to solve problems



Willingness to learn new things




Q: What skills are a red flag during the interview and how to work on them?



A:  During an interview, it is quite easy to notice if a person cannot suppress stress or anxiety and if a person has difficulties with transferring the intended message and thoughts. Of course, I can give feedback and recommend working on certain skills - but the person should also be willing to do so. In order to improve one’s soft skills, I recommend reading books on soft skills improvement, take part in educational webinars, take part in internal activities. For example, in SoftTeco we regularly organize mini-lectures where anyone can talk on a certain topic (Java development, copywriting, microservices - anything!). So if a person wishes to level-up their public speaking and communication skills, it will be beneficial for them to hold such a lecture.



A question may arise: how do I know if I need to improve my soft skills? This is a really good question, I must say, as one may be completely oblivious to the need to improve certain skills. So in order to learn if you need to improve anything, you can ask your teammates or a project manager for feedback. 



At SoftTeco, we actually started to work on an initiative to help employees learn more about their soft skills and to help them improve these skills. So our first step will be introducing a survey. This survey will be filled both by a person (a responder) and their team members. This is done to help employees get a 360-degree view of their personal skills and to suggest possible ways of improvement. And after the survey, we will organize a series of lectures to guide employees through the challenging process of self-improvement!



One more important thing that I should say: do not rush! The improvement of one’s soft skills takes quite a lot of time and effort so do not expect things to change in a few days. Be patient, set clear goals, get a good understanding of what you really need to work on and why and the results will appear!



Questions to the Developer: Roman Kashanok



If we talk about the necessity of soft skills in the IT industry, it is essential to talk with developers. We’ve asked Roman Kashanok to share his view on the most important soft skills for any developer and to share some tips on how to master them.



Q: In your opinion, what are the obligatory soft skills for a software developer?



A: That’s a tough question! I can actually name a lot of important skills, but if to choose the most essential ones, they would be communication, time management, self-organization, and self-education.



Communication is an absolute must since developers usually communicate with many different people: team members, people from other departments, clients, sales managers. So it’s really important to know how to communicate efficiently: meaning, one should be able to successfully express thoughts and opinions and, at the same time, understand and hear what other people say. It often happens that developers and a client or a sales department have a different opinion on certain things - so we need to resolve the issue with both parties coming from the conflict as a winner. That’s why communication and negotiation are critical - otherwise, we’d never come to a common denominator! And of course, we often have to explain complex technical things in simple words - and that’s part of efficient communication as well.



Then we have time management. It is important as I often need to multitask or to organize my work in a way to meet the set deadlines. So if I have zero time management skills, I’d be in trouble. Being able to properly manage one’s schedule and working hours is a great skill that can help you out in times of high workload. And I think we can add here the skill of self-organization as well. Not only do I need to organize my time wisely but I also need to properly allocate my tasks and prioritize them. Otherwise, as I’ve said, I’d get lost in all my tasks and this will lead to chaos and missed deadlines.



And finally, self-education. Though some developers can be hesitant about it, all the professionals whom I’ve met throughout my career are always looking for ways to improve their skills and gain more knowledge. Let me explain why it’s so important. First, the new tools for development are released at a very frequent rate so you want to keep up with the releases. Second, the development methods get outdated really fast and new and more efficient methods take their place. So in order to create high quality and secured software, one needs to know the most efficient tools and development methods. And of course, if you invest in self-education, you are becoming a much more valued professional.







Q: How do you improve your soft skills?



A: I honestly never did any specific research on improving my soft skills so I can say I learned through experience. I have significantly improved my communication skills when I started teaching Java courses. During this time I met many different people and I learned how to communicate with them, efficiently express my thoughts, and how to do public speaking (from speaking in front of 10 people in a classroom to holding a lecture in front of a whole conference room).



As for time management, I tried learning its basics due to my own inability to organize my time properly but I didn’t succeed. So I manage my time with the help of tools like Jira and, of course, I use the client’s requirements as the main motivation to keep up with the set time frames.



Self-organization was also quite a challenge for me. Since we now work remotely due to pandemic, I really had to learn how to manage my time, workload, and tasks by trial and error approach. I can even say I had to learn self-organization - because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to efficiently cope with my tasks and therefore I’d harm the project.



As for self-education, this (unlike previous skills) has never been a big problem for me. I face lots of new technologies, methods, and approaches throughout my work. And I actually realized that it’s better to actually learn something new and confidently use it rather than spending time to copy and pick up configurations for correct performance within a specific project.



Summary from CTO: Sergei Zenevich



I believe that soft skills are vital for people in any domain, be it an IT industry or any other. Soft skills dictate how we interact with each other and they directly impact the company’s well-being. 



As a CTO of a software development company, I notice certain tendencies in the employees’ personalities and I 100% agree with my colleagues above. I would say we expect our team members to be enthusiastic, proactive, communicative, and self-organized. Of course, we gladly assist with the employees’ education and we offer help and all the necessary tools and guidance. But unless a person themselves is motivated and willing to learn and try new things, there won’t be much progress in terms of professional and personal growth. Therefore (as trivial as it sounds) I highly recommend finding an area of interest that truly fascinates you -  so you can apply all your passion towards becoming a top-tier professional.

### The Importance Of Using a CRM System In The Healthcare Industry

Healthcare is one of the biggest and fastest-growing industries in the world. And as it evolves rapidly, it is obligatory for healthcare professionals to use the latest technology available in order to provide a more efficient treatment to patients.



A CRM system is a valuable tool that helps provide better and more personalized service as well as optimize the workflow of a medical establishment. However, it seems that not all healthcare organizations fully understand the concept of CRM deployment and its benefits. This article explains why it is important to use a CRM system within your healthcare organization and how it can improve the quality of services.







What exactly is a CRM and how does it apply to healthcare?



CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management so a CRM system helps a company manage its relationship with the customers. While CRM systems are a common thing for many industries, especially the ones involving sales (i.e. e-commerce), healthcare has not fully adopted them yet. The main reason for this is, probably, the misconception that CRM is associated with sales only and thus cannot be used by a healthcare facility. 



However, that’s not true. A healthcare organization can successfully use CRM in its daily operations not only to sell its services (medications, new treatments, etc.) but also to better connect with the patients and provide them with better care quality.



What companies use CRM software?



CRM systems can be used by the following types of healthcare organizations:




Hospitals



Retail health clinics



Pharmaceutical companies



Emergency departments




And that’s not all! In general, an efficient CRM system can be used by any healthcare organization that wants to better manage its patients and provide more efficient and accurate services powered by automated tools.



The benefits of using CRM in healthcare



CRM is mostly used for managing one’s relationship with customers but there are many more ways how a good CRM system can help an organization, particularly in the healthcare industry. Let’s have a more detailed look at these benefits.



More personalized care



The core of any CRM system is a database that contains all the needed information about customers. And in the case of healthcare, a CRM system contains detailed information about patients. Such information usually includes past or chronic diseases, current medical state, prescriptions, past treatments, and any other data that might be of use for medical professionals.



By getting access to the system, a medical specialist can get a wholesome picture of a patient and their state. Based on this data, a medic can provide accurate and relevant treatment as well as personalized services such as sending a reminder to take medicine or get a vaccination. 



In addition to that, a CRM system offers a holistic view of all patients in the system. Such a view helps a medical organization evaluate its processes and their efficiency and understand what can be improved.



Better communication with patients



A good CRM system provides information on the best communication methods for every patient in the system. It can suggest whether a doctor should contact a patient via an email, text message, or phone call. And this approach significantly increases the chances to successfully pass the message from a doctor to a patient and therefore make communication more valuable and well-timed.



As well, the system can analyze if a specific patient needs a certain reminder and it can send a corresponding message without any human intervention. In this way, doctors can always be sure that their patients receive all the necessary information and as for patients, they will be receiving only the information that is relevant and valuable for them.



Better communication between medical organizations



Say, a patient is admitted to a hospital and is about to receive treatment. Their doctor would like to know about the past treatments and medications prescribed in the past. So naturally, a doctor would contact other doctors or other medical facilities for this information.



Now, the process of exchanging such information will take time, especially if some records are stored in paper format and others are in a digital form. But with a CRM system, the communication becomes faster and more transparent since all the parties involved have access to the system and can always find the needed information or update it.



Better marketing



Since the CRM system stores all the information about the patients, you can easily analyze it and discover new marketing opportunities, ways to optimize your current marketing strategy, and the most efficient communication channels for different groups of patients. An example would be sending relevant and personalized emails to customers (i.e. about a new medication or with a special offer) or sending automated reminders about scheduling an appointment.



In addition, CRM systems can be integrated with other systems that you might be using. In this way, you will receive a generalized overview of your business and will be able to identify any weak or problem areas as well as potential areas for improvement and growth.



Security and HIPAA compliance



The primary concern for any medical organization is HIPAA compliance. HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and its primary goal is to ensure the absolute security of the patients’ sensitive data.



There is no need to explain how important security is for any company that processes big amounts of sensitive data such as medical records. So obviously, when you start researching the available digital tools you want them to be HIPAA compliant. The good news is that many popular CRM systems are HIPAA compliant and thus you don’t need to worry about security. In addition, these systems have many useful features such as data encryption or multi-factor authentication that contribute to keeping the data safeguarded and protected from external threats.



How to choose a CRM system for your business



There are many available CRM solutions for healthcare, from the well-known Salesforce Health Cloud to Veeva CRM or Zendesk solution. So how does one choose a tool that will bring real value to both the company and the patients? Below are a few recommendations that might help.



Look at functionality



Even though different CRMs have different functions, there are some basic features that any efficient healthcare CRM tool should have:




Management of patients’ appointments



Storage of patients’ data



Management of documents of different formats (options to upload, download, and edit them within the system)



Automated follow-ups and messages



Different communication methods (email, text messages, etc.)



Advanced analytics



Detailed patients’ profiles



Integration with third-party systems




Of course, this is not the full list of the needed features. You need to make sure that the functionality of a CRM system corresponds to your goals and needs and will allow you to realize them.



Check the integration options



It’s natural that you might be working with other third-party systems prior to deploying a CRM solution. In order to keep all the data in one place and avoid losing any information, it is critical that your CRM system can be easily integrated with other external systems.



By integrating CRM with other systems, you will be able to collect all the information in one place, streamline the operations, and ensure transparency of the processes. The possible integration options include integration with the help desk, accounting system, scheduling application, and others.



When choosing a healthcare CRM, it is important to understand the scope of your organization, your goals and business needs, and outline the main ways how a CRM implementation will assist you. And in case you do not find a suitable solution on the market, you can always request a development agency to design a custom solution with specific functionality. Even though it will be more costly than ready-made tools, a custom solution will significantly outperform the ready-made ones in the long run since it will precisely correspond to specific needs.

### SoftTeco Is a 2020 Clutch Leader

SoftTeco was ranked among the Top B2B Belarus Companies by Clutch. The organization has released its latest ranking of the B2B companies in several categories and SoftTeco is among the leading providers of software development services.







Overall, there are 150 companies in 3 categories: development, agencies, and IT & Business services. It is worth noting that Clutch carefully analyzes and reviews each company before making a decision about whether to place it in the annual ranking so all companies in the list have proved their expertise and quality of services.



The ranking decision is based on five main criteria:



- Services offered by a company- Former clients and their reviews- Case studies- Social media presence- Received awards



As for the review collection, Clutch representatives hold in-depth phone conversations with the company clients and request them to fill out an extensive online form. Such a thorough approach helps Clutch make unbiased and valid decisions and acknowledge the most distinguished companies in the sphere of software development and IT services.



SoftTeco is glad to be listed among the biggest and most reliable software providers in the country and will continue to deliver high-quality services to the clients worldwide.

### What Does a Business Analyst Actually Do?

The business analyst role is one of the “hidden costs” when outsourcing an IT company. Business owners often do not understand why they need a business analyst on a team while their primary goal is to develop a software product.



However, forward-thinking entrepreneurs know all the benefits that business analysts bring to a business and understand that this role is crucial for project success. In this article, we will try to define the business analyst role and explain why it is so important.







The definition of the business analyst role



If you look for the definition of the business analyst role on the Internet, you will most probably see the one presented by CIO: 



“Business analysts (BAs) are responsible for bridging the gap between IT and the business using data analytics to assess processes, determine requirements and deliver data-driven recommendations and reports to executives and stakeholders”.



However, this description does not quite fit the role of a business analyst in the IT industry. The main thing to remember about the IT business analyst is that this role can also be called the requirements analyst. So if we define the IT business analyst, the following description will be more accurate:



“A requirements analyst determines the needs of a project and acts as a liaison between managers, stakeholders, and the software development team”.



In the IT industry, a business analyst is a person responsible for translating the client’s needs and requests into understandable requirements. As well, by constantly communicating with all stakeholders, the business analyst can get a holistic view of the project and offer a more effective solution to the problem.



Some may ask still: but why do I need a business analyst? There are so many tools like Slack or Trello that will help me communicate with developers without any third-party intervention.



While it may sound true, the reality is the opposite. Let’s see how exactly a business analyst supports the development of software projects. 



Reduction of costs



When developing a software project, one has to be ready for change requests, alteration of the initial requirements, redesign, and other issues that result in additional costs. However, if you have a business analyst on a team, you can avoid paying extra while retaining the needed quality and functionality.



One of the core functions of a business analyst is communication with all stakeholders and the development team. The aim of this is to ensure that stakeholders reach the common ground and that the development team understands exactly what has to be done. Therefore, when discussing a project with the stakeholders, the business analyst can always remind about the taken decisions, notify whether something has been discussed before, and suggest a more suitable solution.



In this way, the business analyst presents a clear and cost-efficient solution while avoiding double costs and eliminating unnecessary spendings and discussions. 



Bridging communication gaps



Communication is one of the most intricate and important issues in software project development. And one of the most common communication issues is the misunderstanding between the stakeholders and the development team when it comes to the project realization. 



Communication issues, in turn, lead to such problems as wrong requirements or lack of information. As a result, the team has to redo the work while the deadline is being prolonged and stretched. Add to this the fact that the whole team is annoyed and frustrated - not the best thing to have when creating a software product.



A business analyst serves as an intermediary between the development team and the stakeholders. After meeting with the stakeholders and collecting their requests and opinions, the business analyst then transforms these ideas and requests into understandable and clear requirements that software team members will understand. 



In this way, the business analyst ensures that everyone stays on the same page and that the designed functionality aligns with the business goals.



Requirements management



We have mentioned that above but this topic is too important. A business analyst, alongside a Project Manager, helps to efficiently manage the requirements and to ensure that the client receives exactly what he intended to.



During software product development, the requirements for the project tend to evolve and change at a constant pace. By having a BA on a team, a client always knows there is a person whom he can contact regarding any changes. As for the main BA responsibilities related to requirements management, they include:




Requirements elicitation and prioritization



Requirements modeling



Validation of the collected requirements



Prioritization 




Depending on the company size, a BA can take some of the responsibilities of a Project Manager or work together with the PM. Sometimes a PM is the one responsible for the communication and requirements management but it’s always better to have a business analyst for such kind of tasks. 



Business analyst responsibilities and requirements



The benefits listed above cover the majority of the business analyst’s responsibilities. But in order to better understand this role, it is important to look at the regular and more specific tasks that BAs perform on a daily basis.



The typical responsibilities of a business analyst include:




Analysis of the project,



Project estimation,



Definition of high-level (core) requirements



Definition of low-level requirements,



Communication with all the parties involved,




And these are not all the tasks that a business analyst works with. Depending on the company size and project scope, the BA can perform different functions.



From these responsibilities, it’s easy to guess that a good business analyst has to have excellent organizational, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills. As for the required soft skills, they are:




Communication and negotiation



Listening



Interviewing 



Observation



Attention to detail and creativity




All these skills help a business analyst not only to be efficient but also proactive enough to work on the best possible solution.



Summary



The role of a business analyst is critical for project development if you wish to have clear requirements, avoid unnecessary spendings, and overall improve the initial product concept. Being in the IT industry for over 12 years, SoftTeco always emphasizes the importance of the business analyst role on a team and explains its benefits. In this way, we make sure our clients receive a product that precisely fits their needs and looks and functions as intended.

### 3 Common Misconceptions About IT Outsourcing

Outsourcing has become a common practice in the IT industry due to the numerous benefits that it brings. However, there are still some companies that hesitate to hire an outsourced development team due to the common misconceptions about IT outsourcing.



In this article, we will review the biggest misconceptions about outsourcing and will explain why they are incorrect.







Myth #1: Outsourcing is too expensive



Probably the most popular myth about IT outsourcing is that it’s too expensive. This misconception often prevents companies from partnering with outsourcing providers. But as a result, companies might end up paying even more. How does it work? Let’s have a look.



First, when you hire an outsourcing company, you get a team of qualified and experienced professionals who do not require any training. Nor do they require any additional spendings such as vacations, sick leaves, etc. However, if you choose to assemble an in-house development team, you will have to pay not only their salaries but all additional expenses. As well, the in-house team might require training since your developers may not be familiar with the needed technology. As a result, you will spend more time and money on hiring and training an in-house team instead of hiring professionals who can do the needed work in a short period of time.



Second, the hourly rates of an international outsourcing company can be much lower than the hourly rates of your local developers. In this way, you can receive high quality without overpaying for it.



Myth #2: Outsourcing is for big companies only



This point can be related to the one above. When considering outsourcing, many small or middle-sized companies think that outsourcing is suitable for big companies only due to high costs and scope of work. That’s not true at all.



Today, there is a huge variety of outsourcing companies to choose from, be it a one-stop provider or a development agency that focuses on one or two technologies only. It is possible to find a suitable outsourcing company for the project of any size and complexity. As well, you can find a company that specializes in the needed technology or has experience with projects similar to yours.



And, as stated above, outsourcing is not as expensive as many people believe it is. Thus, it makes sense to estimate the costs and see which option (outsourcing or in-house) will be more beneficial for you.



Myth #3: Outsourcing implies the loss of control



Another common misconception about hiring an outsourcing IT company is the loss of control that you will face once you handle the project to the third-party providers.



There are, of course, certain risks that you might encounter when working with a third-party company. However, you can successfully avoid them if you follow certain rules:




Prepare the documentation that describes in detail the management of sensitive information and access to it. 



Prepare the documentation that states your intellectual property and the conditions on which the third-party company might use or manage it.



Negotiate and document the allocation of roles, levels of responsibility, and planned deadline. 



Negotiate and document planned deliverables and deadlines.




If there is a project aspect that you worry about, it’s best to write it down in the contract. In this way, you will be legally protected from a number of risks.



As for the control over the project, outsourcing companies usually offer great flexibility in terms of communication and project monitoring. The common practices are regular meetings and calls and regular reporting on the project status and the tasks. By establishing regular communication with the team, the client can rest assured that the project is carried out as intended.



What else you need to know about outsourcing



In addition to the above-mentioned misconceptions, there are other issues related to outsourcing that have to be considered.



First, there are certain pitfalls associated with outsourcing and they include the difference between the time zones, possible communication issues, risk of low code quality, and others. Note that such issues arise due to the lack of research from the client’s side and incompetence from the side of the outsourcing company. In order to avoid them and mitigate the risks, one has to set strict search criteria and ensure that the selected company fully corresponds to the quality standards.



Second, there are certain costs in outsourcing that many clients are not aware of. When choosing an outsourcing company, the client might consider the possible costs of software developers and QA engineers - but there are also business analysts and project managers, for example. As well, every new implementation and product updates will add to the overall cost too.



Thus, when planning the budget for the project, it is important to consider all possible spendings. To ensure that you did not miss anything, it’s best to discuss the project with the team’s manager and discuss all possible spendings and possible budget allocation.



Conclusion



Outsourcing is a great practice as it provides clients with:




Wide choice of experienced professionals: you can choose the exact specialist that your own team might lack, 



Flexibility in development: the team will adjust to your needs and will adapt the development process to the changing requirements,



Low cost: outsourcing is very cost-saving,



High quality: outsourcing companies usually specialize in a certain area so you will partner with experienced professionals.




Thus, if you approach outsourcing wisely, conduct thorough research, and invest time and effort into communication and negotiation, you will successfully mitigate the biggest risks associated with outsourcing and will receive a high-quality product within the needed time frame.



Got any questions left about outsourcing? Contact us and we will gladly walk you through the process of working with a certified outsourcing company.

### Java Debugging Best Practices

Debugging is a rather cumbersome process in the opinion of many developers. Though it’s aimed at detecting and fixing errors in the code, the process itself can be rather time-consuming and complex.



In order to facilitate the debugging process and make it more efficient, it is important to know about the best debugging methods available to the developers.







Debugging: special features and hidden rocks



When there is a bug that cannot be found and solved from the first look, the most obvious thing to do is to debug the executed part of the code. Most modern Java IDEs provide rich sets of tools for debugging an application. However, not every Java developer knows all the features provided by the debugger tool and all the debugging methods that make the developer’s life easier and the bugs’ life shorter.



Another thing to focus on - there are some pitfalls in debugging that developers need to know about. Due to its interactive nature, the code debugging process can be misleading. For example, multi-threaded applications do not behave in a way that a debugger shows us because the code is not really executed line by line. Instead, the execution flow is handled by many different threads and depends on their priority and different scenarios. This results in “underwater rocks” that can later transform into an issue.



Below I will talk about the most efficient debugging methods for Java applications. Please note that some of these methods can significantly slow down the execution. Thus, each method should be used wisely. 



Inside the debug mode



The most common instruments used for debugging a Java application are: step over, step into, and step out. 



Step over is used for debugging the code line by line. If it encounters a method call, it won’t go inside of this method but rather jump over it and continue the execution in the current context (the method is called, of course, but we won’t enter it in the debug mode). 



Step into is a way to accomplish this. When you stop on the line with the method call, click step into and the debugging will continue inside of this method. 



Step out is the way to exit the current method in order to get back to the parent context. During the debugging session, we can track the variables and objects’ values. This can help in resolving the bugs that are quite obvious. But for more complex issues, this method is not the most efficient one. 





Conditional breakpoint



During the code execution, we can set up a conditional breakpoint. This means that the application will stop its execution if a certain condition is satisfied. Thus, you won’t need to loop until the end to find the error condition.



Such breakpoints can help narrow down the investigation and check the current stack trace. Modern IDEs (such as Intellij IDEA and Eclipse) can provide a conditional breakpoint instrument for developers. All you need to do is to create a condition for a breakpoint. Multiple statements, including declarations, loops, and anonymous classes, can be used inside. 



Watch expression



Inside a debug window you can see a current context frame. Frames are added to a stack and contain watch expressions. When your application is stopped at some breakpoint, you can add a watch and see the current value of a specified variable. 



Watch is one of the most commonly used features provided by IDE’s debuggers. It indicates the value of the inserted statement represented by the current context. The values are updated every step through the application. When you exit the debug mode, frames are removed in the ‘last in - first out’ order. 



Exception breakpoint



When you see an exception that occurred during the program execution, the most common practice is to check a line where it occurred and to set up a breakpoint. But when this exception is thrown inside a loop that contains a thousand items, it’s better to use an exception breakpoint. 



An exception breakpoint is a breakpoint that stops an application on a specified line when an exception occurs. Thus, you need to specify the type of the exception inside your loop with a bug and set such a breakpoint. You will then be able to see the item that caused the issue. 



Field watch-point and Method breakpoint



The watch feature can also be used for class fields. All the field interactions will be “caught” by a debugger and the application will stop at a line where the usage of this field occurred. This option is especially helpful if you know or suppose what the issue might be. 



There is also a possibility to set a breakpoint on a method so that the debugger will track down and stop on each method call.



Debugging of long-running code



While being really helpful, features like field watchpoint or method breakpoint can also slow down the code execution. Even the conditional breakpoint can slow down the performance when processing the execution of the same code for a long time. 



Considering the fact that the code compiled by JVM is the fastest, we can introduce a condition to pause an application when a specific condition occurs. In order to do that we will use a simple endless loop. Here is an example: 



while (errorCondition(msg))
{
    System.out.println("condition met!");
    try
    {
        Thread.sleep(1000);
    }
    catch (InterruptedException e)
    {
        //ignore
    }



When an “errorCondition” returns true, the console will be bombarded with “condition met!” logs. Set a breakpoint inside to pause the application. This will allow you to see the stack trace and the current context. Then you can use watches to observe the values of the current execution frame.



There are multiple ways to exit a loop at the end:




Use another feature of the debugger – Evaluate expression to modify the value returned by “errorCondition()” method.



Another way is HotSwap presented by the Intellij IDEA debugger tool. This feature allows us to modify the running code during a debug session, compile it, and then the IDEA will swap the debugged classes with a new version.




Conclusion



In this article, we have observed the most efficient debugging methods for Java applications. I believe it should help you use the debugger tool more efficiently. And by doing so, you will be able to resolve the issues in a faster manner, better concentrate on building the architecture, and overall remain less stressed about the potential bugs.

### Angular and React: What Are Their Differences?

Any good front-end developer should be familiar with Angular and React. These development tools both have an excellent set of features that helps create highly user-friendly interfaces. However, your choice between Angular and React will depend on the type of application that you plan to develop. In this article, we review the differences between Angular and React and the most distinctive features of each.







A framework vs a library



First things first - we need to define both Angular and React as they are not the same thing at all. 



Angular is a TypeScript based MVC framework. Angular offers rich functionality a ready structure for the intended app. That means developers do not get much flexibility with Angular even though it’s packed with powerful features. Some of them are:




XSS protection



Dependency injection



@angular/forms 



@angular/router 




As for React, it is a JavaScript library. In terms of an MVC (Model View Controller) model, it provides the V only - and it’s up to developers to come up with the M and the C. On one hand, it gives developers great freedom, but on the other hand, it becomes easier to make a mistake when working on the architecture. Some of the out-of-the-box React features are:




XSS protection



Utilities for the unit testing components



JSX




Both Angular and React provide great functionality for front-end development but it’s important to understand their core features and differences in order to choose the best solution for a specific application.



DOM usage



DOM stands for the Data Object Model of an app and can be either regular or virtual. A virtual DOM can be called a simplified and much faster version of a regular DOM. This is because a virtual DOM allows you to change any element incredibly quickly without rendering the whole DOM. Just compare the two options: rendering 100 items upon changing a single item vs rendering only the changed item. The difference in performance will be quite obvious. 



Angular uses a regular (or browser’s) DOM while React uses a virtual DOM. This is what makes React so fast and adds to its popularity among developers.



Data binding 



Angular deploys two-way data binding which means that the changes made to the model will affect the view and the other way round. For example, the change of a UI element will lead to changes in the corresponding model status. 



As for React, it uses one-way data binding. That means that the changes made to the model will affect the view but the changes made to the view will not affect the model. So when you change a UI element, you will have to figure out the model state by yourself. 



Even though two-way data binding is easier for understanding, one-way data binding can be a better option as the project grows. So if you choose between the two, consider the impact of a specific data binding method on your framework.



App performance



As discussed above, the use of a virtual DOM by React guarantees smooth and fast performance. 



Angular, in turn, can speed up the loading process with its MVVM. But Angular apps, overall, are quite complex so they will perform slower if compared to React applications.



Languages



Angular uses TypeScript which is a statically typed language. That means that a developer has to define most of the variables (array, string, etc.). TypeScript offers a good level of consistency in examples that are found online and is known as a superset of Java.



React uses JavaScript which is more popular than TypeScript so this can be called an advantage. As well, React recommends using JSX which is JavaScript but with an extended XML syntax. 



Therefore, a developer will need to learn either TypeScript or JSX when choosing either Angular or React. This leads us to the learning curve comparison.



Learning curve



Before choosing a suitable tool, developers need to clearly understand the learning curve and estimate whether they can afford to invest enough time and effort into learning. 



Angular



Angular offers quite a lot of topics to learn, including the basic ones:




Directives



Decorators



Modules



Components



Pipes



Dependency injection




Once you master these, you will move on to the advanced ones like:




AoT compilation



Rx.js subscription management



Change detection




Overall, Angular might seem quite confusing due to many new concepts and various aspects to always keep in mind. 



React



React, in turn, is considered to be much easier if compared to Angular. The main thing to learn in React is JSX. As well, you will need to become familiar with internal state management, components writing, and use of props for configuration. The good news is that you won’t need to learn new logical structures or loops.



After you feel confident about these basics, you will learn:




A routing library of choice



State management (either with Redux or MobX)




And that’s pretty much it when it comes to React!



Recap



In the recap, we will summarize the comparison of Angular and React and describe the best use cases for each.



Angular



Angular is a framework that uses a regular DOM, deploys the two-way data binding method, uses Jasmine and Mocha for testing, has high scalability and a relatively high learning curve.



Angular is great for developing:




Cross-platform mobile applications: Angular 2 has really good support for mobile apps and resolves a number of issues such as various screen sizes or navigation through touch.  



Enterprise software: the MVC architecture of Angular allows building high-performing enterprise-level applications.



PWAs and hybrid apps: the combination of Angular 2 and Ionic 2 enables developers to build user-friendly and performing hybrid and progressive web applications. 




Angular is a good choice if you need to quickly get started with a robust and holistic framework. Angular is also suitable for projects of any range and size.



React



React is a library that uses a virtual DOM, deploys the one-way data binding method, uses Jest and Enzyme for testing, and has a quite low learning curve. 



React is highly suitable for developing:




Dynamic apps: due to the use of a virtual DOM, it gains the necessary speed that is needed for dynamic apps creation.



Single-page apps: due to the ability of React to display the applied changes without reloading the page.



Native apps: React enables developers to create apps with a native feel and look due to the use of JavaScript or Objective-C.




Due to its speed and flexibility, React is incredibly popular with developers and delivers really good performance and layout.



Conclusion



Both Angular and React have their pros and cons which have to be considered when choosing the right tool. Therefore, we highly recommend studying Angular and React in more detail and see how each of them impacts the development process and which one will bring the desired result in a faster and more efficient manner.

### 4 Types of Data Analytics Which Can Help Your Business

In the modern digital world, data is the core of every business, and only by understanding this data and extracting valuable insights from it, businesses can grow and satisfy the customers with relevant services and offers.



Data analytics is a set of processes of analyzing raw (unprocessed) data and extracting valuable insights from it. In order to obtain the most accurate results, it is recommended to follow the data quality management standards so your data is always consistent, error-free, and accurate.



Since the process of data analysis can be extremely complex, there are four main data analytics types, each with a specific role. Below we will describe all four types, their purposes, and the needed tools. But first, let’s see the exact benefits that data analytics brings to a company.







The benefits of data analytics



Some business owners might say: why would I need to implement costly data analytics tools if my business is doing just fine? 



While it sounds reasonable at first glance, this assumption is not very correct. Just think about the speed at which customers’ decisions and behavior changes. Add to this the fact that the world is becoming more and more digital and you will understand why it is so important to quickly adapt to the changing needs and demands of the market.



The implementation of data analytics can bring the following benefits to your business:




Accurate business decisions based on the actual customers’ needs - not on the assumptions and guesswork,



Timely preventative measures instead of fixing occurred mistakes,



Mitigation of financial risks and/or fraud,



Delivery of relevant products and services (and revenue increase as an outcome),



Ability to pinpoint the problems and knowing how to fix them.




To sum up, data analytics helps business owners stay aware of the customers’ preferences and behavior, better understand their business and its internal and external processes, foresee potential risks and find the most suitable ways to avoid them.



But to receive the maximal value from data analysis, it is important to use the right data analytics type. Below we will overview each type in detail.



Descriptive analytics



Question answered: what happened?



Descriptive analytics is the simplest form of data analytics. It answers the “what happened?” question and presents just the facts without any assumptions about them. 



This type of analytics is often met in the reports and graphs, showing the most profitable marketing channels, the peak tourism seasons, or the most popular product among the customers. It is important to remember that descriptive analytics does not explain why a certain event happened - it simply states the event and nothing more than that.



Despite being the simplest type, descriptive analytics is used in lots of daily business operations and serves as a base for more advanced analytics types.



Descriptive analytics techniques:




Data mining



Data aggregation




Descriptive analytics tools:




MS Excel



SPSS



MATLAB



STATA




Diagnostic analytics



Question answered: why did it happen?



The next and more advanced form of data analytics is diagnostic analytics. This analytics type provides the reason for an event and explains why it actually happened. It is important to note though that the reasons provided are only the assumptions based on the history data. 



Diagnostic analytics can help understand certain outliers, identify patterns and relationships, and receive advanced insights into an issue. For example, diagnostic analytics can help understand what caused a sales peak or why the revenue was low in the last month.



Diagnostic analytics techniques:




Principle components analysis



Sensitivity analysis



Training algorithms



Conjoint analysis




Predictive analytics



Question answered: what might happen?



Unlike descriptive and diagnostic analytics, predictive analytics is a much more advanced data analytics type that not only describes an event but also provides a possible future outcome. Please note that predictive analytics does not give a definite judgment or a 100% accurate forecast. Instead, it uses historical data to make an assumption of what might happen if certain conditions are met. 



Some of predictive analytics use cases include:




Customer churn and lifetime value



Predictive maintenance



Risk modeling



Fraud mitigation



Customer segmentation




By using predictive analytics, companies can better understand what kind of results they might expect in the future and what kind of actions might bring these results. Due to its complexity, predictive analytics demands the use of advanced tools such as machine learning and therefore is not applied by a big number of companies due to high costs.



Predictive analytics techniques (included in machine learning algorithms):




Confidence intervals



T statistics



P values



K-S statistics 



Random forests




Prescriptive analytics



Question answered: how to make something happen?



Based on the outcomes drawn by predictive analytics, prescriptive analytics provides recommended actions to take. This is the most complex type of data analytics that constantly keeps “learning” through the received feedback and incoming data. 



A prescriptive analytics model simulates a situation that will most possible happen and provides information about this situation and the conditions that should be met. In this way, business owners receive a data-supported recommendation and can better identify opportunities that might bring value to their business.



Prescriptive analytics is the most complex and most expensive analytics type to implement. Predictive analytics techniques include:




Artificial intelligence



Machine learning



Neural network algorithms




How to choose the right data analytics type for your business



As said above, each data analytics type differs in purpose and complexity. In order to choose the most suitable option and avoid the loss of finances and resources, you should answer the following questions:




What kind of complexity do you expect from your data insights? 



Why do you need to analyze the data? What goal are you setting for your company?



What is the current data analytics state of your company?



How are you planning to use the obtained insights and what is your future strategy?




If you just want to better understand the customers or analyze your business decisions, descriptive and diagnostic analytics should be enough. However, if you are a big (or even a medium-size) business that wishes to make major and impactful decisions that will play a critical role in your future growth, you need to implement predictive or even prescriptive analytics to help you align future strategy.



As well, remember that you can combine different data analytics types in accordance with your business needs - but make sure you assign an experienced professional to help you with that.



Final word



Data analytics is a valuable asset that helps companies make accurate decisions, mitigate risks, and better understand their customers and internal processes. From our own experience, we would say that data analytics is a must for any modern company but the analytics type that you choose will depend heavily on the available budget and resources and the set business goals.

### SoftTeco is in Top-50 biggest IT companies in Belarus

Belorussian IT-portal dev.by has published its annual report on the biggest IT companies in the country and SoftTeco once again got on the list. This report includes those companies that have more than 210 employees and states not only the overall number of employees but also the number of technical specialists for every company.







By now, there are 215 employees working in SoftTeco among whom 186 are technical specialists. And comparing with the numbers from the 2019 report, our team grew by 53 newcomers.



We are glad to be listed among the biggest providers of IT services in the country and we will continue expanding the team in order to undertake more new and exciting projects in the future.

### Java 14 Version and Its Features

As an avid Java adept, SoftTeco constantly monitors all trends and changes that happen in the Java world. So obviously, we could not miss the release of Java 14 that happened on March 17, 2020. 



For now, some of the features of the new version remain in the preview mode. That means that they are under consideration and may be removed or changed in the future. However, developers are encouraged to test them and leave feedback but it’s not recommended to use these features in the actual development.



So what are the most interesting new features that Java 14 brought to developers? The SoftTeco team reviews them below.







Pattern Matching for instanceof (preview mode)



Java 14 offers us an improved and shorter version of pattern comparison, which includes a predicate and related variables. The scope of various variables is limited to the block in which it is declared.



Object object = new User("Alex", 30, "male",

       new Address("Belarus", "Minsk"));

// Java 13 and previous

if (object instanceof User) {

   User user = (User) object;

   System.out.println(user.getName());

}

// Java 14. Pattern Matching for instanceof (Preview)

if (object instanceof User user) {

   System.out.println(user.getAddress().getCity());

}



Now we can define the variable in the predicate and when the object matches, we can immediately use the variable as a typed object.



Helpful NullPointerException



Another great feature of a new Java 14 version is a more informative NPE. 



An NPE can occur anywhere in the program and developers rely on the JVM to determine the line number of this error. But if the line involves calling several nested objects, it becomes impossible to determine which of them was not generating an error.



public class User {

    private String name;

    private int age;

    private String gender;

    private Address address;

}

public class Address {

    private String country;

>    private String city;

}

public class ExampleNPE {

   public static void main(String[] args) {

       User user = new User("Alex", 30, "male", null);

       System.out.println(user.getAddress().getCity());

   }

}



In order to find the intermediate variables before, developers had to resort to debugging or enter local variables. With Java 14, it is now possible to pinpoint the exact source. The NPE must use the command line parameter:



-XX:+ShowCodeDetailsInExceptionMessages

In this mode, the error message will look like this:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "com.softteco.project.Address.getCity()" because the return value of "com.softteco.project.User.getAddress()" is null

at com.softteco.project.ExampleNPE.main(ExampleNPE.java:8)



In the first part of the message, we see to which line this error belongs and in the second part of the message, we can see what exactly caused it.



Such messages are more readable and developers do not have to resort to debugging. However, it is important to note that in this form, the NPE poses a security risk since this approach reveals the code structure and the names of the local variables (if javac -g debugging information is included in our class). Therefore, it is advisable to use this mode in a test environment only and not to display this NPE format in the Production mode.  





Record (preview mode)



Records are a new type that was designed to store data. This type does not carry any functional load. 



During the development process, it often becomes necessary to create classes that essentially only declare the data. But in order to work with this data, one needs to create special methods (getters, setters), constructors, redefine hashCode(), equals(), toString() methods. 



Record classes eliminate this syntax load and make the classes less verbose without using any additional libraries (such as lombok). All you have to do is specify the necessary variables in the record definition. You won’t be able to add additional fields in the body of the record though as it is only possible if they are static. By declaring a record, you will explicitly indicate that this record is used for data storage only.



public record Person(String name, int age, String country) {

}



However, you need to understand that a record is an immutable type and is implicitly inherited from the Record class. Thus, the record above will cause an error «Classes cannot directly extend 'java.lang.Record'». That means you cannot inherit from this record and cannot extend it, but you can implement interfaces. 



Records are not abstract so you will need to override the interface methods. Despite the fact that Records are created to store the data, you can also define your own methods.



If we look at our class after compilation, we get an immutable class with final variables, getters, a canonical constructor, and overridden methods hashCode (), equals (), toString ().



public final class Person extends java.lang.Record {

   private final java.lang.String name;

   private final int age;

   private final java.lang.String country;

   public Person(java.lang.String name, int age, java.lang.String country) { /* compiled code */ }

   public Person(java.lang.String country) { /* compiled code */ }

   public java.lang.String toString() { /* compiled code */ }

   public final int hashCode() { /* compiled code */ }

   public final boolean equals(java.lang.Object o) { /* compiled code */ }

   public java.lang.String name() { /* compiled code */ }

   public int age() { /* compiled code */ }

   public java.lang.String country() { /* compiled code */ }

}



At the same time, the writing mechanism overrides these methods to get the correct value. For example, the use of the toString() method for the regular User class and for writing Person will result in the following output to the console:



Person person = new Person("Alex", 30, "Belarus");

System.out.println(person.toString());

User user = new User("Alex", 30, "male",

       new Address("Belarus", "Minsk"));

System.out.println(user.toString());

Result: 

Person[name=Alex, age=30, country=Belarus]

com.softteco.project.User@277050dc



When creating a Record, we get a canonical constructor. You can also define constructors with a different number of fields if you have optional fields or if you use the default values for them by defining this moment in the constructor. You can also override the canonical constructor if you need to add your own logic to it. For the canonical constructor, you can use the simplified syntax without specifying the parameters:



public Person {

   //your logic for canonical constructor

}

public Person(String name) {

   this(name, 0, null);

}



It should also be said that two additional methods for writing were added to the java.lang.Class: isRecord(), which returns a Boolean value if our object is a record, and getRecordComponents (), which returns an array of fields with information such as the field name and the data type.



Person person = new Person("Alex", 30, "Belarus");

System.out.println(person.getClass().isRecord());

RecordComponent[] array = person.getClass().getRecordComponents();

for (RecordComponent component : array) {

   System.out.println(component);

}

Result:

true

java.lang.String name

int age

java.lang.String country



Switch Expressions (standard)



Below is a common example of a Switch structure:



public static int getDay(Day day) {

   int numberDay = 0;

   switch (day) {

       case MONDAY:

           numberDay = 1;

           break;

       case TUESDAY:

           numberDay = 2;

           break;

       case WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY:

           numberDay = 3;

           break;

       case FRIDAY:

           numberDay = 5;

           break;

       default:

           numberDay = 7;

   }

   return numberDay;

}



There is a potential risk here though. In case a developer forgets to specify the break statement in some Case, he will get wrong values.



The improvements in Switch construction started to appear in Java 12 when Switch became available for use as an expression and when the new  L -> syntax was introduced. This syntax eliminates the need for a break statement though it can be used to return a value, several commas could be specified constants, and the expression itself can be passed into variables. 



In Java 13, the Switch expression was improved by replacing the word «break» (used to return the value) with the word «yield», which was logically more understandable and correct. Thus, it became possible to use the Switch expression in its usual form or in lambda syntax.



public static int getDay(Day day) {

   int numberDay = switch (day) {

       case MONDAY: yield 1;

       case TUESDAY: yield 2;

       case WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY: yield 3;

       case FRIDAY: yield 5;

       default: yield 7;

   };

public static int getDay(Day day) {

   int numberDay = switch (day) {

       case MONDAY -> 1;

       case TUESDAY -> 2;

       case WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY -> 3;

       default -> {

           System.out.println(day);

           yield 7;

       }

   };



If any of the blocks is multi-line, we use the keyword «yield» to indicate the return value.



In both Java 12 and 13, Switch Expressions were included in the preview. In Java 14, the improved version of Switch Expressions is included in the standard JDK build.



It is important to highlight another Switch feature. If you use an enum for the case block and you did not specify all the values, you will receive an error saying «'switch' expression does not cover all possible input values»:



public static int getDay(Day day) {

   int numberDay = switch (day) {

       case MONDAY -> 1;

       case TUESDAY -> 2;

       case WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY -> 3;

       case FRIDAY -> 5;

   };



To avoid this error, you must either use all the values from the enumeration or specify the default block, which will be used for all unused options:



public static int getDay(Day day) {

   int numberDay = switch (day) {

       case MONDAY -> 1;

       case TUESDAY -> 2;

       case WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY -> 3;

       case FRIDAY -> 5;

       case SATURDAY, SUNDAY -> 7;

   };

public static int getDay(Day day) {

   int numberDay = switch (day) {

       case MONDAY -> 1;

       case TUESDAY -> 2;

       case WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY -> 3;

       default -> 7;

   };



Text Blocks (preview mode)



Text blocks are a multi-line string literal that forms our string in an expected format and eliminates the need to use many escape sequences. Text blocks solve the issue of multiple escaping and concatenation by using sql, html, json and other injections into the code.



String sql = "SELECT * FROM users\n" +

" WHERE city = 'Minsk'\n" +

" ORDER BY last_name;";

The Text block syntax looks like this:

String sql = """

                   SELECT * FROM users

                          WHERE city = 'Minsk'

                          ORDER BY last_name;

                   """;



We include the necessary string literal in the three pairs of quotation marks. In this position, the text should be on the next line after the opening quotation marks and each transition to a new line is a line break. The trailing quotation marks determine text formatting, namely the indentation at the beginning of the line. Let's try to display this block in the console:



SELECT * FROM users

       WHERE city = 'Minsk'

       ORDER BY last_name;



We can also use text blocks to concatenate with strings:



String query = "new query: " +

       """

             SELECT * FROM users

             WHERE city = 'Minsk'

             ORDER BY last_name;

             """;



This feature was already introduced in Java 13 and received several upgrades in Java 14. For example, two delimiters were added in Java 14: cancellation of a new line «\» and a single space «\s», for the case when we need to explicitly indicate a space since random problems at the end of the line are removed during the compilation.



//language=SQL

String sql = """

       SELECT * FROM users\

       WHERE city = 'Minsk'\s\

       ORDER BY last_name;

""";



The «\» character must be the last in the line, or an error will be displayed. Pay attention to the output of this block to the console:



Result:



SELECT * FROM usersWHERE city = 'Minsk' ORDER BY last_name;



The absence of a space results in merged strings in the sql-query, which, in turn, leads to an error in the query. We can see this by using the automatic syntax highlighting.



But we also need to monitor the spaces, since the implicit spaces at the end of the line are deleted after the compilation and result in an error. The explicit «\s» character helps in this case:



//language=SQL

String sql = """

       SELECT * FROM users

       WHERE city = 'Minsk'\s

       ORDER BY last_name;

""";



With text blocks, the code becomes more clear and readable, but in Java 14 the text blocks remain in a preview mode.



Result:



SELECT * FROM users



WHERE city = 'Minsk' 



ORDER BY last_name;



Packaging Tool (incubator)



The last feature that I’d like to discuss is the packaging tool based on javapackeger JavaFX. This tool allows you to package Java applications in platform-specific formats: Windows — msi and exe, Linux — deb and rpm, MacOS — pkg and dmg. In this way, developers can install and uninstall Java applications in a familiar way.



The resulting container includes the necessary runtime and application. The installer does not include a graphical interface; all work is done through the terminal.



For a non-modular application, the command looks like this:



$ jpackage --name app --input lib --main-jar app.jar



Here, app is the name of the received package, lib is the application location directory, app.jar is our jar file. The file will be created in the current directory in the standard format of the current OS.



By using the --type option you can specify the format of the output file.



$ jpackage --name app --input lib --main-jar app.jar --type msi



If the application does not have an attribute of the main class, it must be specified by using the --main-class option (Main is the class name):<



$ jpackage --name app --input lib --main-jar app.jar\--main-class app.Main



For a modular application, the command looks like this:



$ jpackage --name app --module-path lib -m app



where all the modules are in the lib folder.



If the main module app does not identify its main class, it must be specified:



$ jpackage --name app --module-path lib -m app/app.Main



When creating a package, we can specify various attributes, like metadata. You can also use details for a specific OS, such as the installation path when creating a shortcut. After starting the package, the application is installed, and then a standard launch for a specific OS is possible, for example, by double-clicking on the shortcut of the exe-file for Windows.



This functionality is presented in an incubator module, meaning that it can be modified or removed in the future.



Final word



It’s nice to see how Java keeps evolving and constantly receives new features that help create robust and reliable Java applications. In case you want to try out the new Java 14 features, you can download the open-source JDK 14 here (available for Windows, Linux, and macOS). Let us know what you think about the new Java version in comments - we want to hear your thoughts and opinions!

### What Should be Included in a Project Specification?

A well-written project specification is an integral part of the software development process. It helps everyone in the team stay on the same page and understand what the product is about and how it is intended to function. The biggest question is what exactly one should include in a project specification so that it brings value instead of confusion.







What is a project specification?



A project specification can be called a project’s blueprint as it describes what the project is about, how the product is intended to function and look, what features it should have, and how the users will interact with the product. Even though a project specification describes the technical aspects of the product, the intended users of this document are not limited to developers only - they also include internal and external stakeholders such as QA engineers, product owners, and any other people involved in the development process.



Why do we need to write a project specification?



This is the most popular question that clients tend to ask so it’s really important to explain how a good project specification contributes to the project’s success. 



Since the project specification lists down all the product features and describes the intended design, it gives the team a clear view and understanding of how the final product should look and function. Think of a specification as of a written guide on what should be done. In this way, everyone understands their roles and scope of work. As well, the listing of all product features helps project managers create an accurate backlog and efficiently manage it. 



One more benefit of a well-written project specification is that it helps a customer and a development team stay on the same page. Because the specification is available to all the parties involved, everyone can access it at any time and get a clear view of the project’s phases and requirements. And if a new person joins the project, they can immediately catch up on work by going through the specification. 



Therefore, if we sum up, a project specification helps the team understand what needs to be done and helps everyone stay informed about the future scope of work. But what are the essential components of a good project specification? SoftTeco BA department lists them down below.



Project description



This is an introductory part of a project specification that contains the following sections:




The challenge (what caused the client to start the project?)



Project background (work that has already been completed)



The solution (how the project solves the challenge)




The main goal of this section of the specification is to inform the readers about the project and give them an overview of its intended application. As well, this part of the project specification often contains a glossary, describes the intended audience for the specification, lists user types, and provides other relevant information.



It is important to remember that the project specification should be written in a clear manner and be easily understandable for all the readers. All changes to the project specification should be well documented and traceable through change date, version number and contributor. Despite being written by technical professionals, a specification should be easily understood both by the developers and the client. An informative project description section offers a clear and detailed overview of the project without overloading the reader with unnecessary technical terms.



Application architecture & components description



This section provides readers with a general overview and understanding of the system: how it is intended to function, what modules and components it contains, etc. For example, this section may include requirements for a specific database type, integration with certain payment systems, communications with external services and devices. The listing of all external services that the product is integrated with is important in order for the team to think about the most suitable and efficient integration methods.



Another important aspect discussed in this section of specification is the architecture type that is planned to be used. It is crucial to define the right architecture type from the start as it navigates all further work. The choice of the architecture type will later define the possible future modifications, the way the system components interact with each other, and the way the system will behave. As well, software architecture contributes to a better understanding of the product’s functioning and helps developers plan their work correspondingly.



List of all functional requirements



Here, the author describes all user scenarios, meaning, all the interactions between a user and a system. This section lists down all the functionality of the product and all the actions triggered by the user. Depending on the project scope, size, and goals, this section may include:




User stories



Use cases



User scenarios



User paths




The writing of user stories and use cases is really important. Both user stories and use cases help understand the possible behavior of the users and predict all the possible ways of their interaction with the product. Note that a user story and a use case are two different things - you can read more about their differences in our previous blog post. The choice of the right tool will depend on the project and its complexity and size: for example, complex projects with extensive functionality will require both use cases and user stories while for simpler projects, user stories will be enough.



This section may also feature a general diagram for all the user paths and later in the document, the author might include diagrams for separate user stories. The availability of these diagrams in the specification will help better comprehend user scenarios and clarify any questions or issues the team members may encounter.







Design mockups or wireframes



This point relates to the one above. A project specification should contain the basic structure of all the screens of the product, UI elements for every screen, user functionality, and design mockups or wireframes.



Visual representation of the intended functionality helps developers better understand how to design and connect product components. It might also happen that a good visual representation of a future product can help developers find a better solution in terms of UI and avoid possible mistakes and remodeling. A large part of the efforts of putting together a project specification goes into creation of these visuals. However, it is one of the most important components for understanding a project’s functionality and scope.



Technical requirements 



The quality of the final product depends on its adherence to industry standards such as security or performance standards. Therefore, a project specification must include technical requirements, such as:




Security requirements



Data storage requirements



Performance requirements



Availability requirements



Robustness requirements




Please note that technical requirements will be different for every project, depending on its scope, complexity, and domain. While some projects demand all of these requirements to be included, other projects will require a completely different structure and different requirements.



Technical requirements are also called non-functional requirements. They help oversee the correspondence of the project to the set quality standards and ensure flawless performance upon the product launch. Let’s briefly review each of these requirements.



Security requirements



Security requirements are aimed at keeping the product secure by safeguarding access to it and protecting it from both external and internal threats. Software product security is based on three principles which are integrity, availability, and confidentiality. Software security requirements cover such areas as:




Authentication and authorization,



Password management,



Network security,



Data security,



Code integrity,



Data validation,



Validation testing.




In order to cover all needed areas and ensure that the product is reliably protected, one needs to answer such questions as what exactly needs to be secure, against whom is the product secured, who or what should provide the product’s safety, etc. As well, list down the risk categories (i.e. fraud or denial of service) and state their possible impact. This will help you prioritize the preventative measures and understand what exactly needs to be implemented in terms of security.



Data storage requirements



Secure data storage is another critical thing to pay attention to. This encompasses a set of requirements towards proper data collection, processing, and storage. Such requirements are necessary in order to ensure that the sensitive data is securely stored and cannot be stolen, substituted, or damaged. 



To ensure proper data management and storage, IT companies are requested to follow certain data storage regulations. The most common ones are:




GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)



HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)



PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)



CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act)




All these regulations cater for the data to be processed in an appropriate manner without breaching or violating it.



In addition to listing the regulations to be compliant with, the project specification also describes what data storage practices will be followed.



Performance requirements



Performance of a software product directly impacts the users’ behavior and perception of this product. If the product takes too much time to respond, cannot handle high loads, or displays errors, users will simply look for an alternative solution.



To ensure seamless performance, specify the following:




Workload



Scalability



Response time




Depending on the project’s scope and complexity, there will be different performance requirements. For example, a multi user application will require stating both the number of users per machine and the total number of users expected. 



Availability and robustness



Availability requirements are aimed at specifying when the software product will be available for use and on what conditions. As well, these requirements specify when the product will be under maintenance so that other requirements do not conflict with this one.



As for robustness, these requirements specify the product’s behavior under such conditions as stress, invalid inputs, and similar issues. The product should perform equally well under any possible stressful conditions so the requirements describe the actions to take to ensure that.



Conclusion



The process of writing a project specification consumes quite a lot of time but in the end, it serves as a valuable asset to all team members. It is important to keep the specification updated throughout the development process so any new member of the team can easily understand the project concept from the start. 

### The Difference Between Offshoring and Outsourcing: What’s Best for Your Business?

Globalization and the advancement of technology granted businesses all over the world a possibility to expand their talent pool, discover new business opportunities, and decrease their production costs while retaining high quality of products and services. All that can be achieved by either outsourcing or offshoring.



While having different meanings and approaches, these two terms get confused a lot. In order to help you choose the best option for your business and gain the maximal benefit from it, we will explain the exact difference between offshoring and outsourcing and the ways each can benefit your business. 







The definition of outsourcing



Outsourcing means obtaining services from a third-party provider to complete or accompany the internal operations of your company. The simplest example of outsourcing would be hiring a design agency to assist you in developing a new product.



Note that outsourcing does not necessarily mean working with a provider from another country - in the case of outsourcing, the location of a third-party provider does not matter. What matters is the quality of services this provider offers and the way they match your business needs.



The top benefits of outsourcing



There are a few reasons why outsourcing is so popular. First is the cost of services. When comparing the cost of outsourcing with the cost of hiring and maintaining an in-house specialist (or a team of specialists), outsourcing turns out to be much more affordable. Mind the hidden costs though - there are several things to consider when getting ready to outsource certain processes. 



The second reason is quality. Many third-party providers specialize in certain services and constantly master them. In this way, a company can get a high-quality service at an affordable price.



Finally, outsourcing offers great flexibility of operation. Companies and specialists that provide outsourcing services are usually very flexible in terms of working hours and days which can be a big plus (especially if you need to release a new product as soon as possible).







The definition of offshoring



Offshoring means moving a business process of your company to another country while retaining full control over it. Unlike outsourcing (which implies passing control to a third-party provider), offshoring allows you to keep control over all the processes.



The biggest reason why companies choose to offshore is that the performance of certain operations in a different country turns out much cheaper than its cost in the country of origin. As well, different countries have different (and often very favorable) tax policies which are another big reason for companies to offshore.



The top benefits of offshoring



As said above, offshoring offers a better cost for the production of certain goods and services. A popular example would be manufacturing car parts or hardware components for an American company in an Asian country such as Taiwan. As well, some countries offer very attractive tax and tariff regimes so a company might want to take advantage of them. 



Last but not least - offshoring allows companies to retain full control over their operations, without the need to share policies, sensitive data, or granting access to a company’s database. While outsourcing might be a bit risky in terms of sharing a company’s data with a third-party provider, offshoring does not have such risks at all.



Comparing outsourcing and offshoring: the key differences



In order to better understand the differences between outsourcing and offshoring, we will compare them head to head and see the key features of each:




Service provider: in case of outsourcing, there is a third-party service provider while offshoring implies that the company performs its own operations.



Location: offshoring means moving the company’s operations to another country while outsourcing is independent of the geographical location.



Cost of services: both options are quite favorable.



Control over operations: when offshoring, you retain full control. In the case of outsourcing, you delegate certain operations to a third-party provider.



Primary goal: when outsourcing, a company usually strives to get a high-quality service or product (and often at a cheaper price). In the case of offshoring, a company wants to cut down the costs and/or benefit from a local tax system.




As you see, despite having a few things in common, these two practices have significant differences as well.







Things to consider when choosing the best option



To help you make the right decision and choose the most suitable option for your business, we have listed down several things to consider that will impact your decision.



Project duration



For short-term services, outsourcing is a great option. It allows to quickly get everything done within a specified (and often quite short) time frame. An example would be hiring a freelance SEO specialist to help finetune your website and perform an audit.



As for offshoring, this usually implies having a long-term project that requires the investment of a significant amount of time and resources. The manufacturing of certain details or components on an ongoing basis is a good example.



Amount of control



If you want to perform quality assurance checks and closely monitor the process, then offshoring is your choice (since control over the project remains within a company). In the case of outsourcing, you will have to rely on a third-party provider in terms of quality and you will not be able to closely monitor the production process (though you might request regular reporting). We have actually discussed the biggest pitfalls of outsourcing in our blog and lack of quality monitoring is one of the issues mentioned in it. 



Time-to-market



If you need to get everything done quickly, outsourcing is your choice due to its high flexibility and readiness of a provider to work on your project right after receiving a request. Offshoring, on the other hand, not only takes longer to realize the project but might also require additional training for the employees.



Final word



When choosing between outsourcing and offshoring, put your business goals in the first place and make the choice based on them. But note that if you opt for outsourcing, take your time to choose a reliable service provider with proven experience within the necessary domain. By conducting thorough research, you will be able to minimize the risks and receive guaranteed high quality of work.

### Virtual Healthcare: What You Need to Know

Virtual healthcare is an innovative way for both medical specialists and patients to enjoy the advancement of technology and use it to their own benefit. It allows patients to receive support without sitting for several hours in a waiting line while medical professionals can better manage their schedules and appointments. 







But what exactly does the term virtual healthcare mean and what are the real-life examples? In this article, we will discuss what services fall under the virtual healthcare definition and what benefits it brings to medical professionals and patients worldwide.



The definition of virtual healthcare



There is a bit of confusion when it comes to defining virtual healthcare and differentiating it from telemedicine or telehealth.



Virtual healthcare is a process of delivering healthcare services to a patient via a mobile device. You can refer to it as to virtual visits of a patient to a doctor. The main thing to remember about virtual healthcare is that the services provided cover mostly consulting and non-clinical care, such as mental health support, health state monitoring, or management of chronic diseases like diabetes.



Now, if we compare virtual healthcare and telemedicine, there is a difference. Telemedicine includes remote clinical services and caters to more serious diseases. Telehealth, in turn, is a more global term that implies the use of electronic tools and telecommunications to provide long-distance medical care and support.



There are a few reasons for the rapid growth of virtual healthcare popularity. People expect the services to be delivered via their mobile devices so the industries worldwide have to adapt. As well, the advancement of technology allows the healthcare industry to offer better support and services to the patients, at the same time providing better working conditions for the medical specialists. 



The ultimate benefits of virtual healthcare



It is quite obvious that the option of remote medical support has its benefits. Below are the ways how virtual healthcare changes the healthcare industry landscape.



Faster interaction and support



The biggest issue for patients when visiting a doctor is the waiting time. People can spend up to a few hours in a line - and what if some of these patients are elderly, children, or simply in a poor condition?



As for medics, big queues and an overwhelming number of patients create a huge distraction and cause the doctor to deviate from the set schedule. This, in turn, poorly affects one’s productivity and quality of work.



Virtual healthcare eliminates these issues by granting both patients and medics an option to provide and receive immediate help from any place. By seeing a number of waiting patients in an application, a doctor can better tailor their schedule. As for the patients, all they have to do is to log in and choose the needed professional in the app - simple as that.



Cost efficiency



Depending on the country, medical care can be quite expensive and many people cannot afford certain medical services. In this way, virtual healthcare can become a cheaper and more efficient analog of many medical services such as regular health monitoring, psychological help, and others.



If we take mobile virtual assistants as an example, patients will only need to pay once (or every month, depending on a plan) to get access to all its features. This might be significantly cheaper than regularly visiting a doctor and paying for every visit.



As for medical specialists, the use of advanced technology may also be a more cost-efficient solution in the long term.



Flexible scheduling of appointments



One of the biggest issues for doctors worldwide is the inflow of patients and the inability to manage their appointments in an efficient manner. When a patient books an appointment at a hospital, it rarely happens that they visit a doctor at the exact time of the appointment and the appointment itself rarely takes an expected amount of time. In reality, patients can get late, a doctor may still be busy with another patient, and the meetings take much longer than intended. All this leads to an increase in stress levels among the doctors and the decrease of the quality of their work.



The introduction of virtual healthcare solutions can change the game by granting doctors an option to independently manage their time and schedule and thus tailor the appointments in accordance with their workload. As for the patients, they can choose the most suitable time and the date and be sure that the appointment will happen at this exact time.



Increased convenience for patients



Going to a doctor can be stressful enough for a patient, not to mention the fact that the patient may simply be lacking time or unwilling to disclose all the symptoms due to personal reasons. Virtual healthcare offers an opportunity to receive a remote consultation or other medical services at practically any time and from any place, meaning, a patient can stay at home and still receive the needed advice.



An option to contact a medical specialist remotely or to enter the medical data in the app without direct interaction with the medic can be a really huge benefit for some patients. Remote healthcare is especially important for those who are disabled, have a poor health condition, or simply cannot adjust their schedule to the available appointment times. In this way, the implementation of virtual healthcare will encourage the patients to better monitor their health on a regular basis.



Centralized approach



A common problem across practically all medical facilities is the massive amount of paperwork and patient records that are distributed among dozens of specialists. Such a record-keeping method can be quite confusing and can actually lead to data loss or theft.



With virtual healthcare, the way of keeping the patients’ records become more centralized. All the data is kept in an electronic format and in one place while being available to all the authorized users. As a result, electronic document management becomes much easier and requires less time than regular paperwork.



A real-life example from SoftTeco - SmartMonitor



SoftTeco has excessive experience in developing healthcare solutions and virtual healthcare is no exception. We worked on a project that was intended for doctors and nurses to monitor patients with multiple sclerosis. The main idea of the app was to collect health-related data from the wearable devices of the patients and to present it to nurses and doctors in forms of clear charts and graphs.



The developed solution runs on ReactJS and Auth0 and has two dashboards: for doctors and for nurses, correspondingly. While nurses monitor small groups of patients, doctors can monitor the entire group or an individual patient. SmartMonitor is a great way for the medics to monitor the health state of their patients, track the efficiency of prescribed treatment, and access the patients’ data anytime and from any place.



Summary



Virtual healthcare is still in the state of development and growth but we can already see the ready and available solutions that are aimed at making the lives of doctors and patients better and easier. When developing a virtual healthcare solution, it is critical to pay attention to security as such solutions process massive amounts of sensitive patients’ data. As well, mind the functionality as your solution needs to bring value to the users and there may be multiple user groups for your product.

### Part 2: Code Review - How to Improve the Process

Use automation to save time







When performing a code review, a reviewer needs to stay focused and concentrated in order to detect critical and important issues and inform an author about them. Unfortunately, almost every code contains a large number of small issues like whitespace errors that make the reviewer lose concentration and focus.



In order to facilitate the review process and help the reviewer focus on more important things, an author can use a formatting tool that can automatically fix such minor issues as:




Whitespace errors



Code builds verification



Identification of unused imports 



Identification of unused variables




The most popular automated tools for code review are Travis or CircleCI but you can choose other options.



Introduce a style guide



Disagreements between an author and a reviewer are quite a common thing that can lead to bigger conflicts in the future. The introduction of a style guide for developers is a great way to resolve disagreements especially when it comes to code review.



A style guide is a collection of rules that defines how the developers in your company should write their code. It may include such things as naming conventions or the use of specific programming languages.



The introduction and deployment of a style guide will save lots of time during code review as both the author and the reviewer will no longer need to argue over certain things. You can either use an existing style guide (i.e. from Google), write your own or merge the two options.



Split huge changes into smaller ones



When an author submits a big feature, it might take a few days for a reviewer to review it. In order to speed things up, an author can split this big change into several small ones. For example, one change will define the API for a submitted feature and the other change will be adding implementation for the interfaces.



The review of small and medium changes is more efficient since reviewers are able to maintain concentration. A study by a SmartBear studio revealed that the maximal number of lines of code to review at a time is 400. The same study recommends reviewing for no longer than an hour before taking a break. Otherwise, a reviewer will lose focus which will result in poor review results.



Write high-level feedback first



One of the most common mistakes that reviewers make is writing too many low-level notes instead of writing high-level ones. While such an approach seems reasonable, it has a few drawbacks.



There may be too many low-level notes and the author will spend too much time on resolving the issues. As well, the number of low-level notes can simply confuse and overwhelm the author, resulting in stress and possible conflict.



If a reviewer writes high-level notes first, he will kill two birds with one stone. First, the number of high-level notes is usually smaller than the number of low-level notes. That means, the author will not be stressed too much. Second, the resolution of high-level issues will most probably resolve a number of low-level ones, meaning, the review will be completed faster.



Provide examples to an author



When reviewing code, a reviewer often leaves suggestions on how to improve certain areas. What many reviewers tend to overlook is the fact that the author might not be aware of the suggested techniques and methods. So when an author receives such a note, they will have to spend time on research instead of focusing on fixing errors.



Instead of simply writing a suggestion, try providing an example. In this way, you will show that you are supportive and it will help the author quickly learn a new method.



Do not ignore the importance of good communication



Communication is one of the cornerstones of efficient code review that often gets overlooked. Due to the number of tasks and deadlines, most developers do not have enough time to craft lengthy feedback or patiently explain obvious things to an author. An author, in turn, gets stressed and annoyed and, as a result, a conflict is inevitable.



In order for everyone to benefit from code review, it is important to follow certain guidelines on communication. Here are a few things to consider:




Try avoiding negative comments and don’t forget to emphasize good decisions that the author made



Replace “you” with “we” or dismiss it (i.e. “can we use X instead of Y?”)



Phrase your notes as requests and suggestions, not direct commands



Retain a positive attitude and try to educate instead of picking up mistakes




A positive code review culture implies that everyone understands its importance and is ready to receive and provide feedback. Thus, we highly recommend that you promote and adopt code review and nurture a positive code review culture for the benefit of the employees and the company.



Tools for code review



As we already said, there are plenty of tools that can help you perform code review. Here are some of the most popular ones.



Collaborator



This tool allows team peer code and document review and helps development, testing, and management teams work together on the same task. In this way, the task becomes transparent and everybody stays on the same page. 



Most notable features:




Easy integration with different SCMs and IDEs



Option to build custom review templates



Automatic notifications



Configuration of peer reviews rules




Gerrit



While Collaborator is suitable for teams of any size, Gerrit is recommended for small and medium-sized teams. It is a free and web-based tool for code review that is known for its close integration with Git.



Most notable features:




Integration with Git and repository management option



Option to manage multiple repositories



Very configurable hierarchy



Side-by-side difference viewing




Crucible



Since 2007, Crucible belongs to Atlassian and is among the most popular tools for code review. This web-based tool is suitable for teams of any size and is rather light-weight which is another advantage.



Most notable features:




Inline comments and discussions



Activity streams with real-time updates and comments



Integration with Jira



Charts and reports for stakeholders




As for SoftTeco experience, we used GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket for performing code review for our iOS applications. However, you are free to explore the options and choose the one that would be most suitable for you.



Summary



Code review is a must-have practice that contributes to better code quality and ensures that developers collaborate and communicate in an ongoing manner. At SoftTeco, we have our code review guide that is available to all developers and describes all the needed steps, style guides, and approaches in detail. In this way, we ensure that all developers focus on quality and can always address this guide in case any question arises.



We highly recommend that you follow the above mentioned code review guidelines in order to speed up the development process and save time and effort of your developers. And if you know other valuable code review practices please feel free to share with us!

### Workhealth Application for Medical Facilities

In the light of COVID-19 pandemic, SoftTeco and Kanda Software developed a SaaS-like solution for monitoring the health state of the employees of medical facilities. The aim of the product is to help medical specialists timely identify any warning symptoms before starting their work shift and thus mitigate the spread of the disease.



The solution is freely distributed under the MIT license and is intended for use by hospitals and medical facilities worldwide. We hope our product will help many organizations keep their employees healthy. 



What is Workhealth?



Workhealth is a web and mobile application for iOS and Android platforms that helps medical specialists accurately monitor their health state. The app is intended for everyday use, specifically, before starting a work shift. 



The application has an easy interface and does not demand employee training or education. Therefore, it is suitable for any user.



How It Works



The application has an in-app survey with health-related questions. Upon launching the app, a user has to go through the survey and answer the questions. Based on the answers, the application will determine whether an employee is eligible for work in accordance with the described symptoms. 



In case the employee is allowed to go to work, they receive a personal one-day code that needs to be shared with the administrator or security guard upon arrival to work. The guard or the administrator will check the code validity in order to permit access to the workplace. The codes are generated on a daily basis so a user cannot use the same code for more than one day.



How can Workhealth benefit your organization?



Due to its free distribution and clear user interface, the Workhealth application can be introduced to all employees of your organization, regardless of age and work experience. The app can be successfully installed on any mobile device with modern OS (2010 and higher) which is an advantage, considering that the majority of people own at least one mobile device.



An option to complete a survey on a daily basis significantly minimizes the risk of the disease spread since any employee with warning symptoms will not be permitted for work by the system. In this way, the application will serve as a bridge between the medical facility employees and the administration, taking the responsibility of monitoring the employees’ health state and permitting them to work.



Technological Breakdown



Front-end and mobile: React / React Native, React Navigation, Redux, Redux-Persist.



Back-end: Express, Sequelize, Swagger, MySQL, LDAP, SAML, OAuth 2.0



Integration of Workhealth in your system



Because the application is designed by following SaaS principle, the integration needs to be performed as follows:




The technical specialists need to access the repository on GitHub.



Contact SoftTeco so our team can enter your organization in our database.



Provide us with your LDAP URL so we can set it up for you. If you do not have LDAP, we can perform common integration (i.e. shifting the backend to your base).



Once your organization is added to our database, we will send you the credentials for login. After login, you can start using the system.




SoftTeco will gladly assist you with the application’s installation and will consult you on any questions that occurred. We invite you to use the Workhealth application and offer our assistance at any stage of the application use process. For any questions, please contact us on info@softteco.com.

### SoftTeco Has Developed an Application for Belorussian Red Cross

To help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and help the vulnerable population, SoftTeco has developed a “Volunteers in Action” web application for the Belorussian Red Cross and UNFPA free of charge. With the help of the application, the Red Cross organization can now more efficiently manage its volunteers and communicate with them in a more transparent manner.



The main idea behind the application was to create a product that would connect volunteers and coordinators and allow the latter access to real-time information about all volunteers. As for the volunteers, the application allows them to easily register in the Red Cross database and become a volunteer in just a few steps.



If a user wishes to become a volunteer, they need to register in the system and answer a short survey. Once this is done, a person is added to the database and the regional coordinator will be able to see them in the volunteers’ list. Coordinators are able to see all information that is relevant for task assignment: volunteers’ location, age, free time, availability of a car, etc. As well, coordinators can see the status of a volunteer: whether they are already occupied, signed up an agreement, or are free and waiting for a task.



One of the challenges that the SoftTeco team faced during the development was a tight deadline with narrow time frames. To speed up the release process and, at the same time, make the application accessible to everyone, the team selected the web type of the application. This allowed us to skip the approval process from Apple or Google stores and made the application suitable for any device or browser. To ensure smooth performance, the development team used Angular 9 framework, JavaScript, and Spring. 



SoftTeco is glad to partner with Red Cross and to support the activity of this organization with our technological solutions.

### Code Review - a Brief Guide

Code review is a common practice in every software development company as it helps monitor the code quality and promotes self-education. Even though the process of conducting a code review seems obvious and clear, many developers still struggle to perform it on time and in a proper way. As a result, the benefits of a code review get completely eliminated by a poor approach and lack of knowledge.



In this article, we have collected the code review tips and practices that will help you structure this process and approach it in a wise manner that will result in a win-win for both an author and a reviewer, resulting in a quality bar raise across your company. For better readability, we split the article into two parts. Part one will give you an overview of code review, its types, and the overall process while part two will provide code review best practices and tips.







The types of code review



The review process may come in different formats, be it an over-the-shoulder review or a formal meeting with a detailed discussion of every line of the code. However, there are only two types of code review: lightweight and formal.



Lightweight code review



A lightweight code review is a process that does not take much time and corresponds to the agile methodology. The main goal of a lightweight review is to provide almost instant feedback in order to save time. There are four types of a lightweight code review:




Over-the-shoulder: meaning, a reviewer simply sits near an author and comments on the code while it’s being written. It is also known as a synchronous review. 



Pass-around by an email: the code for a review is distributed among reviewers via an email. This approach is not recommended as it is rather hard to track down the changes in numerous emails.



Tool-assisted: an author and a reviewer use various tools for code review performance. The tools may automate some of the code review processes or notify an author about the comments left by a reviewer. This is the most popular approach these days.



Pair programming: can be called an elevated form of over-the-shoulder review. Pair programming takes more time and effort from both an author and a reviewer and also calls for preparation (while over-the-shoulder review can be done at any time).




Formal code review



A formal code review is a pre-planned meeting that is attended by an author and reviewers. At the meeting, the code is reviewed line by line and the review is performed in an extremely thorough way.



Even though formal code review is effective due to high attention to detail, it takes too much time and does not fit the agile methodology. But if you work by the waterfall methodology, it is a really good option.



Why is code review so important?



In short, code review significantly raises the quality bar across the company - now let’s see how exactly it does that.



When an author prepares code for submission, it instantly boosts their motivation to “polish” the code in order for it to look good and function as intended. Because an author knows that their work will be evaluated by another person, they tend to consolidate TODOs, eliminate loose ends, and review the code independently before presenting it to a reviewer. In this way, authors become more attentive and are encouraged to take better care of their code instead of hoping that someone will fix the bugs for them.



Another critical benefit of code review is knowledge sharing. If code is reviewed by an experienced developer, they may share some useful or innovative insights so an author can learn. As for junior developers, they might perform code review as well - it gives them a chance to see the insights of their peers’ work and overall, learn how to review someone else’s code.



As well, when code is reviewed by other people, it’s easier to focus on bugs and errors from an outside perspective and find the issues that an author might otherwise miss. This also contributes to producing better code and significantly raising its quality.



Last but not least - code review contributes to better teamwork and communication. By learning how to provide and accept feedback and communicate with peers, employees become more professional, flexible in terms of negotiation, and learn how to resolve and prevent conflicts caused by differences in ideas and approaches.



The process of performing a code review



Judging from our experience, we see the following common practice: an author creates a pull request which is a request to merge his branch into the main branch. The request is created in a GitHub or Bitbucket. Once the request is created, an author tags a person whom he wants to see as a reviewer. The reviewer will automatically be notified of the created request and will be able to see all the changes that occur.



The code review process happens in rounds. A round is a full-cycle process that starts with an author sending the request to a reviewer and ends with an author receiving feedback from a reviewer. There are usually several rounds and the review process is considered complete when a reviewer approves the request and does not suggest any further edits.



When submitting a request for a review, the author must self-review and self-test it before sending it to a reviewer. It is highly recommended to break down large chunks of code into smaller parts so the code review process can go faster and easier. Also, it is important to write informative commit messages so reviewers can easily understand what a specific change is about.



As for the reviewers, they should check the code’s security, scalability, performance, and correspondence to the style guide. Reviewers also check whether code accomplishes the purpose that the author stated in the commit message.



While the general process of code review is clear and understandable, many developers often ask questions such as what exactly needs to be reviewed, how to choose a reviewer, and when should a team perform code review. Since the code review process is unique in every development company, we will provide the answers based on our own experience. 



What exactly needs reviewing?



There is no universal answer to this question. It might be a review of every change that is merged into a branch or it might be a review of a huge chunk of code that contains dozens of features. 



As for the things to look for in code, here are the most common ones that the reviewer focuses on:




Correspondence of proposed changes to the task that is specified in a ticket



Potential problem areas (bugs/crashes, performance issues, scalability issues, complexities)



Correspondence to the team coding style and/or style guide



Clearness of the code, proper naming, architecture design (if it’s a feature), correspondence to SOLID principles



Test coverage (if deployed on the project). 




An important thing to remember: code review is an obligatory practice for every developer, whether they are junior or senior. So do not ignore it even if you believe your code is nearly perfect.



When do I do code review?



Usually, teams do it after completing automated checks and before merging the code to the main branch. 



Once a pull request is created, CI automatically runs code style checks and unit tests to test it. The tool (GitHub or Bitbucket) will allow to close the pull request only if all reviewers approved changes and all tests from the CI side have been successfully completed.



Who should perform a review?



This is decided by a team lead. The assignment of a reviewer will depend on the team and the established rules. The options may be a fixed list of potential reviewers, a review performed by everyone, one reviewer only or a specific number of reviewers. Code review is normally performed by developers only - no QA specialists or PMs involved.



In this article, we have looked at the code review process, the roles involved, and its main benefits. In part two, we will discuss code review best practices that will help you significantly save time and effort as well as optimize the review process and increase the quality level across your company.



Code review is a common practice in every software development company as it helps monitor the code quality and promotes self-education. Even though the process of conducting a code review seems obvious and clear, many developers still struggle to perform it on time and in a proper way. As a result, the benefits of a code review get completely eliminated by a poor approach and lack of knowledge.



In this article, we have collected the code review tips and practices that will help you structure this process and approach it in a wise manner that will result in a win-win for both an author and a reviewer, resulting in a quality bar raise across your company. For better readability, we split the article into two parts. Part one will give you an overview of code review, its types, and the overall process while part two will provide code review best practices and tips.



The types of code review



The review process may come in different formats, be it an over-the-shoulder review or a formal meeting with a detailed discussion of every line of the code. However, there are only two types of code review: lightweight and formal.



Lightweight code review



A lightweight code review is a process that does not take much time and corresponds to the agile methodology. The main goal of a lightweight review is to provide almost instant feedback in order to save time. There are four types of a lightweight code review:




Over-the-shoulder: meaning, a reviewer simply sits near an author and comments on the code while it’s being written. It is also known as a synchronous review. 



Pass-around by an email: the code for a review is distributed among reviewers via an email. This approach is not recommended as it is rather hard to track down the changes in numerous emails.



Tool-assisted: an author and a reviewer use various tools for code review performance. The tools may automate some of the code review processes or notify an author about the comments left by a reviewer. This is the most popular approach these days.



Pair programming: can be called an elevated form of over-the-shoulder review. Pair programming takes more time and effort from both an author and a reviewer and also calls for preparation (while over-the-shoulder review can be done at any time).




Formal code review



A formal code review is a pre-planned meeting that is attended by an author and reviewers. At the meeting, the code is reviewed line by line and the review is performed in an extremely thorough way.



Even though formal code review is effective due to high attention to detail, it takes too much time and does not fit the agile methodology. But if you work by the waterfall methodology, it is a really good option.



Why is code review so important?



In short, code review significantly raises the quality bar across the company - now let’s see how exactly it does that.



When an author prepares code for submission, it instantly boosts their motivation to “polish” the code in order for it to look good and function as intended. Because an author knows that their work will be evaluated by another person, they tend to consolidate TODOs, eliminate loose ends, and review the code independently before presenting it to a reviewer. In this way, authors become more attentive and are encouraged to take better care of their code instead of hoping that someone will fix the bugs for them.



Another critical benefit of code review is knowledge sharing. If code is reviewed by an experienced developer, they may share some useful or innovative insights so an author can learn. As for junior developers, they might perform code review as well - it gives them a chance to see the insights of their peers’ work and overall, learn how to review someone else’s code.



As well, when code is reviewed by other people, it’s easier to focus on bugs and errors from an outside perspective and find the issues that an author might otherwise miss. This also contributes to producing better code and significantly raising its quality.



Last but not least - code review contributes to better teamwork and communication. By learning how to provide and accept feedback and communicate with peers, employees become more professional, flexible in terms of negotiation, and learn how to resolve and prevent conflicts caused by differences in ideas and approaches.



The process of performing a code review



Judging from our experience, we see the following common practice: an author creates a pull request which is a request to merge his branch into the main branch. The request is created in a GitHub or Bitbucket. Once the request is created, an author tags a person whom he wants to see as a reviewer. The reviewer will automatically be notified of the created request and will be able to see all the changes that occur.



The code review process happens in rounds. A round is a full-cycle process that starts with an author sending the request to a reviewer and ends with an author receiving feedback from a reviewer. There are usually several rounds and the review process is considered complete when a reviewer approves the request and does not suggest any further edits.



When submitting a request for a review, the author must self-review and self-test it before sending it to a reviewer. It is highly recommended to break down large chunks of code into smaller parts so the code review process can go faster and easier. Also, it is important to write informative commit messages so reviewers can easily understand what a specific change is about.



As for the reviewers, they should check the code’s security, scalability, performance, and correspondence to the style guide. Reviewers also check whether code accomplishes the purpose that the author stated in the commit message.



While the general process of code review is clear and understandable, many developers often ask questions such as what exactly needs to be reviewed, how to choose a reviewer, and when should a team perform code review. Since the code review process is unique in every development company, we will provide the answers based on our own experience. 



What exactly needs reviewing?



There is no universal answer to this question. It might be a review of every change that is merged into a branch or it might be a review of a huge chunk of code that contains dozens of features. 



As for the things to look for in code, here are the most common ones that the reviewer focuses on:




Correspondence of proposed changes to the task that is specified in a ticket



Potential problem areas (bugs/crashes, performance issues, scalability issues, complexities)



Correspondence to the team coding style and/or style guide



Clearness of the code, proper naming, architecture design (if it’s a feature), correspondence to SOLID principles



Test coverage (if deployed on the project). 




An important thing to remember: code review is an obligatory practice for every developer, whether they are junior or senior. So do not ignore it even if you believe your code is nearly perfect.



When do I do code review?



Usually, teams do it after completing automated checks and before merging the code to the main branch. 



Once a pull request is created, CI automatically runs code style checks and unit tests to test it. The tool (GitHub or Bitbucket) will allow to close the pull request only if all reviewers approved changes and all tests from the CI side have been successfully completed.



Who should perform a review?



This is decided by a team lead. The assignment of a reviewer will depend on the team and the established rules. The options may be a fixed list of potential reviewers, a review performed by everyone, one reviewer only or a specific number of reviewers. Code review is normally performed by developers only - no QA specialists or PMs involved.



In this article, we have looked at the code review process, the roles involved, and its main benefits. In part two, we will discuss code review best practices that will help you significantly save time and effort as well as optimize the review process and increase the quality level across your company.

### Containers or VMs: What's Better for Microservices?

Today more and more companies are resorting to using microservice architecture on their projects. One of the benefits of this approach is its independent deployment which means that each individual component can be deployed independently. This allows you to release new features quickly and with less risk. But as you choose to deploy microservices, you will also need to choose between containers and virtual machines. Let’s have a look at each and see the principles of their operation to better understand all potential pros and cons.







VMs and containers: an overview



Both containers and virtual machines eliminate the need for a physical server. This method allows for more efficient use of computing resources in terms of both energy consumption and cost. In addition, the use of either containers or virtual machines allows you to isolate the application and its dependencies into a standalone unit that can work anywhere.



A virtual machine is a system that behaves like a computer and is capable of running applications and operating systems. To start a VM, a hypervisor is used. The hypervisor manages resources and their separation between different operating systems isolates running operating systems from each other, and can also ensure their interaction.



Virtual machine architecture



















Containers



As for the containers, it is a form of OS virtualization that kind of abstracts the “user space” and contains all the dependencies required to execute the software applications. Containers provide isolation on the OS level



Container architecture



















The main difference between a Virtual Machine and a container is that each virtual machine uses its own operating system. In fact, many container environments use VMs as the server’s operating system and do not work directly on equipment, especially when working with containers in the cloud. There are several factors that we can use to compare VMs and containers - let’s have a look at each.



Cost



You can reduce server and license costs by using containers. Unlike a virtual machine, where the OS and the necessary virtual equipment are emulated, the container contains only the application and the required minimum of system libraries. Therefore, containers are more lightweight and you can fit more containers on one physical server. In comparison, a virtual machine takes up much more system resources such as RAM and processor cycles. 



If you decide to run each microservice on a separate VM, then you will have to buy a license for each machine. It is possible to run several microservices on one VM, but this will negate the main advantage of microservices - isolation. This, in turn, may lead to the problem of conflicts between the libraries and components. Containers offer OS-level isolation which means that a single operating system can support multiple containers with separate environments.



Winner: containers.



Speed of Deployment and Execution



Containers are created faster than VMs due to the absence of a hypervisor because the latter needs to do a lot of configurational decisions at the start — the guest OS for running the application, amount of storage space needed. Container images are stored in a repository from where they can be pulled as required through a few quick commands. Thus, the startup time for Docker containers ranges from a few milliseconds to a couple of seconds which makes it much swifter than a VM. Also, аny modifications to a VM snapshot can take significant time to regenerate and to validate that they behave as expected. Since virtual machines include an operating system, their size can be several gigabytes while the size of containers is calculated in megabytes.



Winner: containers.



Isolation



Containerization provides the isolation of processes. That means the system can be decomposed into levels and the internal processes become inaccessible for microservices that are responsible for external communications. If the compromise occurs on the external circuit of the application, the attackers will still not be able to penetrate deeper into the system into its lower-level services. But be careful when downloading images, they can compromise host security. One can crack the operating system if the client (user or application) of the container has root privileges. 



While hypervisors are considered a safer option than containers, this does not mean that there are no security issues with them. For example, hackers can theoretically take malicious control over a hypervisor. This process is known as hyperjacking and is more difficult to identify. This is because these malicious programs can intercept OS operations (for example, entering a password), and the antivirus software may not notice them because the malicious code runs under the OS.



Winner: VMs (but have their issues).



Memory allocation



For containers, memory is not allocated rigidly but is managed by the base OS. Therefore, the number of client modules that can interact simultaneously with the software is higher than for VM. For VM, the interaction is more complicated and the number of the clients that are simultaneously launched to it becomes smaller since the memory is rigidly allocated to the VM resources.



Winner: containers.



Nevertheless, with all the abovementioned advantages, container virtualization has its disadvantages. The process of packaging more resources in the container than required by application leads to the increased size of the image and the container. As well this will lead to the problem of quality assurance in case of the increasing the number of containers, including issues with distribution workload



Conclusion



Considering all the advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches, containers are a better option for microservices, since they are more suitable for a scalable and flexible architecture. Also, containers are better in terms of continuous delivery. But remember to take extra care of safety and consider all pros and cons before adopting an approach of choice.

### Agile QA Process: Main Benefits and Principles

As agile software development is becoming more and more popular due to its flexibility and ability to change things right on the spot, other disciplines need to adjust as well. Agile QA has now become a common thing and it enables QA specialists to participate in all stages of the product development and focus on superior quality and user experience.



Since agile QA is not so common as waterfall QA, we decided to explain it and emphasize its benefits and the principles that it is based on.







What is agile QA?



Agile testing is a process of testing software that follows the principles of agile methodology. With agile testing, every iteration will have its own testing phase which differs drastically from the waterfall approach (where testing occurs only after completing the development phase).



Because the main goal of agile methodology is focusing on the quality and functionality of software instead of focusing on documentation, agile testing follows the same approach. During the agile development, the testing is ongoing and is not so thoroughly planned as the QA process during the waterfall development.



The key things to remember about agile QA are: the QA team is cross-functional and self-organized and the testing process is ongoing throughout the development process.



Other principles of agile testing are:




The QA team constantly provides feedback to the development team which ensures that all requirements are met



Testing can be performed by developers and BAs alongside the QA team



The issues and errors, detected by the QA team, are usually fixed within the same iteration which results in higher code quality



A little amount of documentation



Testing is performed during the implementation, not after it




The main benefits of agile QA process



Even though some people may claim agile QA as “chaotic”, it actually has several very valuable benefits.



First, it significantly saves time and financial resources. Because the testing process is ongoing and occurs in parallel with the development process, it allows detecting any bugs at an early stage. This, in turn, eliminates the need to redesign the whole piece of a product as it usually occurs during the waterfall development. 



Second, as we already said, agile testing and development processes require a little amount of documentation. This helps the team focus more on the quality, functionality, and usability instead of working with endless documents and papers.



Also, agile testing implies receiving immediate feedback from the product users and thus, adjust the product “on the go”. In this way, the product remains in a constant state of improvement and displays high quality upon its completion.



The differences between agile and waterfall testing



In order to better understand the peculiarities of agile QA, we will compare it with waterfall QA side-by-side.




Process structure: agile QA is less structured compared to waterfall QA



Scale: agile QA is more suitable for small projects while waterfall QA is applicable to projects of any size



Changes implementation: in agile testing, changes are implemented during the development process. In waterfall testing, all changes are implemented after completing the development phase.



Features delivery: the agile method implies that ready features are delivered to the user at the end of every iteration. The waterfall method implies that the user receives a full and completed product.



User acceptance: is performed at the end of every sprint in agile development and at the end of the project in waterfall development.



Involvement: in agile, QA specialists are involved in all phases of the project and developers take part in testing. In waterfall, the development and QA teams work separately and focus on separate areas of work.



Testing method: agile QA relies heavily on automated testing while waterfall QA focuses more on manual testing.




What’s great about agile testing is the fact that all project team works together and every team member knows the project inside out. This helps detect the tiniest issues and deliver seamless quality to the end-users.



Agile test plan and lifecycle



Before looking at the components of an agile test plan and lifecycle, it is important to remember that the test plan will be written and updated for every release. As well note that testing may not be completed by the end of an iteration - and that’s OK in agile testing.



Here are the main phases of the agile QA lifecycle:




Impact estimation: by gathering feedback from stakeholders and users, QA specialists can use it as a feedback for the next iteration.



Planning: all stakeholders are involved in planning the testing process schedule, frequency of deliverables, etc.



Release readiness: review and approval of features that are ready for the deployment.



Daily meetings: helps everyone on the team stay on the same track and be aware of the testing status and future goals.



Weekly reviews: the meeting with stakeholders helps assess whether the set requirements and milestones are met.




As for the testing plan, it normally includes such parts as:




The testing scope 



New functionalities to be tested



Types of testing to use



Planning of possible risks (and their prevention)



Infrastructure considerations



Resource planning



Determination of milestones and deliverables.




The role of QA specialists in the agile development process



We already mentioned that agile QA implies the participation of QA specialists in all phases of the development process. Here are some examples of how the QA department can contribute to a better understanding of a product and smoother development.



During the generation of requirements, QA specialists can help identify missing user stories or features and also detect dependencies between the stories. As well, QA specialists can help generate acceptance criteria and identify any gaps in the story documentation due to their excellent knowledge of a product. As for the estimation phase, QA specialists can help identify missed functionality, consult on the peculiarities of a system, and provide specific knowledge. 



When participating in the planning, QA specialists ensure that releases are planned in a way that retains the expected QA workload without exceeding it. Sometimes, the QA department takes part in creating documentation which includes writing user guides and/or acceptance criteria.



As for the day-to-day operations, the QA department closely interacts with the developers and BAs which allows the whole team to better monitor the product quality and faster identify any bugs or missing elements. 



Final word



Agile QA process is a very customer-centric approach that reduces the project costs and ensures all project requirements are met. While the waterfall approach may be better for huge projects that require excessive documentation, agile testing is great for small and medium-sized projects with a focus on quality and user experience.

### Which ISO Certification Does Your Company Need?

The IT industry is an incredibly competitive one. Software development companies have lots of things to keep in mind: processes optimization, faster operation, high quality of software products, and customer satisfaction. In order to keep up with the set standards, many companies obtain certification, with ISO being the most prestigious and well-known. However, there are several ISO certifications that are applicable to software development companies - so which one does your company need?







What is a software development standard?



A software development standard is any standard, protocol, or similar document that describes the rules and procedures for developing software. Such documents are typically present at any development company and are intended for use by this specific company.



However, there are also international standards that help software companies worldwide better organize their processes by an established and efficient guideline. The most well-known software development standards are ISO and IEEE.



ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization and IEEE means the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. These standards include a set of rules and practices that help software companies increase the quality of the services, improve the organization of processes, and deliver better results.



Today, ISO standards are the most common ones and there are a few ISO standards that provide certification. Let’s see them in more detail below.



ISO standards: an overview



The ISO is an international standard-setting body that covers multiple industries, from software development to food and beverage. The main goal of ISO is to help the company optimize its processes and thus, increase the quality of its services by providing a set of requirements and rules to follow.



There are over 21,000 ISO standards so of course, the companies choose only those that are relevant to their activity. And since ISO certifications are known to be extremely time-consuming to obtain, here are the main pros and cons of becoming ISO-certified.



The benefits and challenges of ISO certification



ISO certifications are known to be extremely detailed, time-consuming, and it might take several years for a company to obtain one. So why does a company decide to become ISO-certified?



The main benefit of ISO certification is the focus on quality. The 9001 quality management standard is based on seven quality principles:




Focus on the customer



Leadership



Relationship management



Engagement of employees



Approach to the processes



Constant improvement



Evidence-based decision making




Therefore, if an organization wishes to receive the certificate, its processes need to correspond to these principles.



Other benefits are the improvement of operations and services and, as a result, an increase in customer satisfaction and higher revenue.



Seems like an ISO certificate is a must-have for every software company - so what are the biggest restraints that make the companies think twice before getting one?



First, the process of obtaining a certificate is really complicated. It might take up to several years for a company to complete all the requirements and it involves a great amount of paperwork. As well, it might be too expensive to become ISO-certified. Hence, this certification is more common among big companies and serves as a competitive advantage.



As mentioned above, there are over 21,000 ISO standards to follow. Among them, software development companies normally adhere to ISO 9000, ISO 2700, ISO 12207, and ISO 29119. Let’s have a look at each.



ISO 9000: Quality Management Systems



ISO 9000 is the most well-known family of ISO standards. It caters to quality management and is most often chosen by software development companies.



There are 14 standards in ISO 9000 family and ISO 9001 is the only one to be certified to. This standard is incredibly customer-focused and aims to help the company bring constant quality and value to the customers throughout well-organized processes.



In order to better understand ISO 9001, here are a few sections included in the standard:




Context of the organization (external and internal issues, relevant interested parties, the processes, etc.)



Leadership (quality policy, the establishment of responsibility and authority)



Planning (consideration of issues and requirements, determination of risks and opportunities, the establishment of quality objectives, planning of changes)



Support (provision of resources, the competence of employees, determination of external and internal issues, creation and updating of documentation, etc.)



Operation (planning and control of operations, communication with customers and determination of their requirements, establishment and maintenance of design and development process, etc)



Performance evaluation (internal outfit program, monitoring, management reviews).




And these are not all of the sections included in the ISO 9001 standard. 



The ISO 9001 is applicable to any organization despite the industry or size. In order to obtain a certification, a company needs to do the following:




Follow the steps to implement the ISO 9001 QMS



Receive the audit of your performance by a Certification Body



Upon passing the audit, you will be registered to ISO 9001 for three years (and will have to get re-certified every three years if you wish to maintain the certificate)




ISO 2700: Information Security 



Another popular standard among software development companies, the ISO 2700 family includes the standards of information security within an organization. The main goal of ISO 2700 is to protect the company’s assets and improve its security practices. 



The most popular standards in ISO 2700 family are ISO 27001 and ISO 27002. ISO 27001 is focused on a robust management-based system while ISO 27002 is more of a technical document and places emphasis on the individual and establishment of a strict code of conduct. The ISO 27001 standard also provides certification for an organization that wishes to follow it.



The biggest benefit of the ISO 27001 certificate for a company is the guarantee of security of the processes and the data within this organization. In this way, a company seems more reliable and trustworthy among the clients while retaining a competitive advantage among the businesses alike.



Some of the main ISO 27001 clauses are:




Information security leadership



Planning of an information security management system



Risk assessment, risk treatment



Review of the system’s performance



Planning and adopting the approach to corrective actions




While the ISO 27001 certification is not obligatory, the nature of your business might require you to obtain it. In this case, you will need to perform the same steps as for the ISO 9001: follow the steps for implementation and pass the audit. 



ISO 12207: Software life cycle processes



Another standard applicable to software development companies is ISO 12207. It covers all aspects of software development and maintenance and overall, defines 43 system and software processes. These processes, in turn, are separated into three categories: basic, for support, organizational.



The main sections of the ISO 12207 standard are:




Organizational project enabling (lifecycle management, infrastructure management, HR management, quality management)



Project (planning process, assessment and control, decision management, risk management, information management, etc.)



Technical (analysis of system requirements, system architectural design, implementation, integration, software installation, etc.)



Software implementation (implementation process, requirements analysis, architectural design, construction process, etc.)



Software support (documentation management, configuration management, quality assurance, verification and validation, review and audit, etc.)




The great benefit of ISO 12207 is its flexibility. That means you can choose the processes that are required for your specific project.



Another note on ISO 12207: this standard should be followed in order to achieve the ISO 9001 certification for a software development company.



ISO 29119: Software Testing



One more family of standards that is applicable for software development companies is ISO 29119 that focuses on software testing. While there are many development companies that provide various services, some of them are focused on testing only so this standard should be taken into consideration.



ISO 29119 is comprised of five parts for software testing:




Keyword-driven testing



Test documentation



Test technique



Test processes



Concepts and definitions




The main idea behind ISO 29119 is that testing is the primary approach to risk mitigation and prevention. Therefore, all the standards follow the risk-based approach and encourage companies to focus on the most important functions.



Who can grant your company an ISO certification?



One of the common misbeliefs is that the only organization eligible for ISO certification is ISO itself. However, there are several registrars and Certification Bodies (CB) who can grant a company an ISO certificate.



The primary condition for an organization that wishes to become a registrar or a CB is to be a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and to be ISO/IEC 17021:2015 certified. In order to become internationally recognized, a CB has to become accredited by a member of IAF. You can see a complete list of accredited registrars here.



Do you need an ISO certificate?



In some countries, ISO certification is required by law or contractually so in this case, the answer would obviously be a yes. But if it’s not obligatory in your country, we recommend that you carefully evaluate all pros and cons of becoming ISO-certified.



The ISO certificate will grant you better management of processes and will enable you to keep a close focus on the quality of your services. As well, ISO certification is a significant competitive advantage, especially in the IT industry.



However, as we stated above, this certification might take too much time and resources so you need to evaluate whether it will pay off. For small companies and startups, we recommend applying the CMMI model for process optimization which is much more flexible. Though CMMI is a process model (while ISO is an audit standard), it is widely used in the US and provides useful and detailed information on processes improvement.



As for the established and mature software development companies, we can say that ISO certification is absolutely worth it. Being ISO 9001- certified, we can say that it contributes to better organization of processes, increases the trust among the clients, and indicates high quality.

### VisitorAccess Application for Medical Facilities

In the light of COVID-19 pandemic, SoftTeco and Kanda Software developed a solution for monitoring the access of visitors to the patients. The aim of the product is to prevent the spread of the disease among patients and employees of healthcare establishments by timely identifying symptoms among visitors.



The solution is freely distributed under the MIT license and is intended for use by hospitals and medical facilities worldwide. We hope our product will help your organization keep both patients and employees healthy. 



What is VisitorAccess?



VisitorAccess is an application that runs on desktop and mobile devices. The intended users of the application are hospital guards and/or administrators who monitor and control visits to the patients.



The application has an easy interface and does not demand employee training or education. Therefore, it is suitable for any user and does not require the investment of additional resources.







How It Works



Below is the description of a visitor control process.<




A visitor approaches a security guard or an administrator (an app user) and asks for permission for a visit.



A security guard or an administrator opens an application and logs in.



A security guard or an administrator asks the visitor the details about the patient – either a name or a floor where the patient is.



A security guard or an administrator searches for a patient in a system. Upon finding the patient, a user can see whether the limit of people per hospital room is reached or whether a patient has another visitor.



If the number of visitors is not reached or the patient does not have any visitors, the user then uses an in-app survey to ask visitor questions regarding their state of health. The questions are designed to determine whether a visitor might threaten the health state of patients.



After ticking off the visitor’s answers in the system, a security guard or an administrator will then see if the visitor is allowed to visit or no (based on the answers).




If the visitor is granted access, the system will automatically track the time of the visit and the person responsible for granting access. 







How VisitorAccess can benefit your organization



VisitorAccess is an easy and efficient tool for monitoring the density of visitors and tracking down the exact time when every visit occurred. 



The use of this product alongside a short yet efficient survey can help hospitals and medical facilities increase the safety of their patients and employees and mitigate the possibility of a disease spread.



Technological Breakdown



Front-end and mobile: React / React Native, React Navigation, Redux, Redux-Persist.



Back-end: Express, Sequelize, Swagger, MySQL.\







Integration of VisitorAcces in your system



To integrate VisitorAccess in your system, you need to perform the following steps:




The technical specialists need to access the repository on GitHub.



Read the README backend file and perform the described actions (Start server and db)



Go to your server and deploy the application by using the commands from the “Start server” section.



Go to the “Visitor Access Frontend” folder.



Enter your URL in the entry. Once this is done, you can deploy the application.




SoftTeco will gladly assist you with the application’s installation and will consult you on any questions that occurred. We invite you to use the VisitorAccess application and offer its assistance at any stage of the application use process. For any questions, please contact us on info@softteco.com.

### Data Quality Management: Everything You Need to Know About It

Every conscious company makes its business decisions based on the data. By knowing the exact state of a company at the moment and having correct information about the market, competition, and customers, a business can adjust its strategy and grow in a steady manner.







But in order to bring value, this data should be accurate and trustworthy. So how does one know that the deployed data is suitable for the use? This is where data quality management steps in. To bring out the maximal value from the available data, every company needs to follow the data quality management standards - read the article to learn about them.



What is data quality?



There is no uniform definition of data quality since it might differ for different companies. While company A deals with just one Excel sheet, company B would consider a huge database not enough. Obviously, these companies will be using different approaches to evaluating their data.



But since we need a definition, we can say that data quality is the match value of the data to the intended business use. In other words, it’s the level of the correspondence of the data to the business tasks. If we cannot fulfill a task because of the data, it will indicate its poor quality and vice versa. For example, if your marketing campaign fails because the demographic data about the customers was incorrect, that means the data quality was insufficient.



Data quality attributes



Because business data comes in different sizes and formats, one needs several attributes to evaluate it. Let’s have a closer look at each:




Consistency: the data is the same across the database (the data is the same in two different systems).



Completeness: the data has no missing elements or values (a customer profile has a full name, gender, date of birth, address, etc.).



Accuracy: the data is correct (the name of a customer is not misspelled).



Orderliness: the data is in the required format (full name of a customer is written in two words, each from a capital letter, with space in between).



Uniqueness: there is only one (unique) data record across the database (there are no duplicates).



Auditability: you can access the data anytime and you can track down the changes made to the record (you can enter the database and see that the changes to a customer’s address were made).




It is important to remember that every company will prioritize these attributes in an individual manner. A 100% score for each data attribute is more of a perfect than a real-life scenario. In reality, companies usually aim for something like 80% uniqueness, 90% consistency, 75% accuracy, etc. These thresholds are set in accordance with business goals and requirements and they may be changed in the future.



The importance of data quality



We have already stated that the quality of the data impacts business decisions and the company’s growth. Here are a few more real-life benefits that highlight the importance of data quality.



Marketing purposes



The activity of any company revolves around its clients since they directly impact profitability. Therefore, it is crucial to adjust one’s marketing strategy to the customers, their behavior, and preferences.



However, if the data is incorrect or missing certain values, this might lead to critical errors, such as a wrong demographic portrait of the audience, irrelevant digital advertising, and similar issues. As a result, the company will lose both time and finances as well as customers’ loyalty by presenting them irrelevant offers based on incorrect data.



Inventory and supply chain management



Inventory and supply chain management are other critical aspects that demand careful and accurate management. In order to wisely balance the demand and the offer as well as other related processes, a company needs to have precise information on its inventory, customers’ demand, state of the goods, etc. 



Financial reporting



Financial strategy is an essential part of managing a company. In order to grow, retain employees, and remain competitive, an entrepreneur must know all financial aspects of his company from cover to cover. Now, you can imagine the outcome if the financial data is presented incorrectly or misses certain values. Even the tiniest mistake in financial reports can lead to serious consequences in the future so it is important to keep all the information updated and regularly checked.



The stages of data quality management



After we are clear with the definition of data quality and the attributes that are used to assess it, we can move to the actual process of data quality management. It involves several steps and each requires thorough attention.



Defining data quality rules



We already stated that a 100% score for each data attribute is not a common case at all for the majority of companies. The reason for that is that it is incredibly cost- and time-consuming to achieve such a level of compliance so companies usually identify the most important attributes and adjust their data quality management procedures correspondingly.



So how do you set the data quality rules?



First, select a certain piece of data to set the rules for. Let’s take a customer’s full name as an example. If it is the most important information, you would want it to be as accurate as possible. Therefore, you can set a 90% quality threshold for the customer's full name. Once you decide on the data to evaluate, you can choose the attributes to measure - let’s take accuracy and consistency. That means that the accuracy and consistency attributes for the customers’ full name should both meet the 90% quality threshold. 



Once you have done that, you will need to set certain rules that will help evaluate the data. In case of a full name, they might be as following:




The full name should contain a space in between the two words



Both words in the full name should start with the capital letter



The full name should not contain any figures




The rules should be set for every piece of data evaluated and the same goes for the quality thresholds.



Evaluating the quality of the data in accordance with the set rules



Once the rules and the thresholds are set, you can assess your data and see whether it falls under the quality standard that you established.



Getting back to an example of a customer’s full name, we will measure the accuracy of this data with the help of the three rules, described above. And this is where things get interesting.



Once we measured the data, it might turn out that 95% of the full names contain a space between the two words, 70% of the data start with the capital letter, and 80% of the data contain letters only. So if we calculate the average value, it will be 81.6% which is below the 90% set threshold. And that means, your data is not accurate enough. Remember that you will need to repeat the process for every selected piece of data.



Data remediation



After completing the data evaluation process, you will most probably find out that your data needs to be remediated or, in other words, cleaned. Here are the most common steps that you will have to take:




Analyzing the root cause: identifying the source of the incorrect data and isolating or fixing it.



Data parsing: implies data standardization and checks that it corresponds to the standards.



Matching: detecting data duplicates and either merging them into one or deleting the unnecessary data.



Data enhancement: adding the data from other sources to make it more accurate and valid.



Monitoring: the process of keeping the data in correspondence to the standards and requirements.




If that sounds like too much, do not worry - there are plenty of available data quality management tools. For better results, it is highly recommended to use several tools at once as most of them are designed for a specific purpose (like data matching) and they cannot perform other functions.



Data quality management team: the main roles 



Even though it is not obligatory to have a dedicated data quality management team, it would be much easier to handle the data if you assign the key roles. Though the composition might vary, the most common roles are:




Data owner: a senior-level executive who controls data quality and ensures it corresponds to the standards.



Data consumer: a person who uses the data but also reports about the errors and defines data standards.



Data producer: a person who captures the data and makes sure it complies to the requirements of data consumers.



Data analyst: a person who is responsible for analyzing and assessing the data.




Data quality management: general guidelines to follow



The process of managing the quality of your data is rather complex and does not end on data assessment and remediation. In order to always have correct and accurate data at your disposal, it is recommended that you follow certain guidelines on data quality management.



Emphasize the importance of data quality management on all levels



It’s not enough if only a few people in the company understand the importance of data quality and the possible risks that incorrect data brings. In order to mitigate these risks and derive more value from the available data, it is critical to make data quality a top priority and ensure that everyone understands that.



To start with, you can create an enterprise-level strategy on data quality management and make it available for all the employees. Next, assign user roles and assemble a data quality team that we mentioned above. You will also need to work on a data quality management process that will be designed specifically for your company. And obviously, you will need an efficient system to manage these processes.



Automate the data entries



Human errors are a common thing especially if that means manual data entries and a massive number of records. Therefore, one of the simplest yet most efficient ways to prevent the appearance of errors is to automate the data entries. For different companies, the automation would be different so you need to carefully think about what you can really automate and whether you have resources to do so.



In addition to that, you can also implement duplicate prevention by creating certain duplicate detection rules and applying them to your system.



Focus on preventing errors



Instead of reacting to an issue, smart companies do their best to prevent the occurrence of the issues. As a result, they are able to minimize the number of data-related errors and significantly improve their processes.



Some of the preventative methods in terms of data quality management include:




Always do the root cause analysis for every issue in order to identify the source of the problem and eliminate it,



Try keeping a data quality issue log to stay well-informed about the issue itself and its resolution,



Come up with data quality KPIs and try linking them to the business KPIs.




Summing up



Data quality management is an obligatory practice for any company that relies on the data and wants to enhance its strategy with accurate business decisions. But due to the complexity of the process, it is highly recommended to create a solid strategy on implementing the data quality management and find the necessary tools that will help you seamlessly manage it. 



Data is the driving force of the modern business world, so do not miss the chance to get the maximal value from it. But in order to do so, you will need a reliable technological partner who will be able to offer the most suitable solution for your business needs. SoftTeco has over 10 years of experience in working with the data and its management and we will gladly design a custom data management solution specifically for your business.

### Retaining Business Growth During Crisis: Things to Consider

As businesses worldwide are now experiencing the impact of pandemic, this can be a good time for many companies to rethink and enhance their strategy. Sure, any crisis is closely related to certain negative outcomes but it will also be a wake-up call for companies across many industries.



SoftTeco would like to support and encourage the companies worldwide and offer our view on crisis management and business continuity strategy that will help entrepreneurs make the right decisions and overcome the crisis with a minimal negative effect.







Analyze all aspects of your current state



When a crisis hits, it is essential to know where your business stands at the moment. This includes knowing all profitable aspects, weak areas, and possible opportunities.



In order to adequately evaluate your current position, answer the following questions:




Which departments are critical for the company’s well-being and distribute resources accordingly



What are the biggest risks and problem areas at the moment?



Do you have a plan to manage your P&L, liquidity, balance sheet?



Do you know the state of your suppliers and partners and the possible risks they might face?



Are there any new opportunities you can explore?




In the conditions of a crisis, it is common to count up variations, from best-case to worst-case scenarios. Your primary task at this point is to identify the areas that need the most attention and the dead weight that can be shredded.



Work on long-term strategic projects



Almost every company has projects that are put on a back burner. These projects are usually long-term ones and require a significant amount of time and resources to look into them. So when a company faces a crisis, it also becomes a good time to pay attention to these long-term strategic projects and consider preparing for their implementation.



Such projects tend to bring highly beneficial outcomes but the only drawback is that they demand much time in terms of implementation. But since the crisis is the time when you rethink your strategy and consider new options, it’s a good idea to start working on such projects.



As well, in time of crisis, it’s worth checking your hypotheses with an aim to strengthen the business and optimize the processes. It is a good opportunity to check hypotheses which were postponed or put on hold due to a lack of time. 



Optimize processes



When crisis strikes, it often turns out that many processes are outdated, underperforming, or unnecessary. Thus, if you were considering their optimization this can be a good time to get it done.



One of the key issues to consider when going through the crisis is to remain competitive. In the modern tech-focused environment, the most efficient way to achieve a competitive edge is digitization. It allows automation and facilitation of processes while keeping them centralized and well-organized. 



As well, you can review the allocation of resources. It may turn out that certain processes require fewer resources while others might need a bit more. Wise resource allocation can help your company mitigate the impact of the crisis and save finances in the long run.



Pay attention to financial resources



It goes without saying that crisis management implies careful work with financial resources. Some of the actions to take include:




Create macro scenarios for every market to see how your revenue can fluctuate,



Focus on the balance sheet and cash flow,



Revisit variable costs and capital investment plans,



Make necessary “break glass” decisions,



Come up with the required spend handbrakes,



List down cost-saving opportunities.




It is highly recommended to freeze certain activities while increasing the investment into others. Review of budget allocation is a common practice during the crisis and you need to prepare a long-term financial plan for all the possible outcomes.



Strengthen the team



Last but not least is team management. A team is a backbone of any company so in terms of the crisis, it is essential to optimize your team management, improve communication, and increase transparency.



It is natural that people might feel confused or even scared. Therefore, the utter goal of any company owner is to provide safe and secure working conditions. This includes both safety of the working space (i.e. regular sainitization) and healthy atmosphere within the team.



If necessary, provide training and any needed assistance to the employees and try retaining as many of them as possible. Loyal and motivated employees will account for half of your future success so you might want to invest in gaining their trust and support.



Get your IT Systems and Projects Streamlined



SoftTeco’s VP of Business Development Oleg Ridchenko believes that focusing on the current and future IT projects may be the best way for companies to spend their time as efficiently as possible and prepare for a fast recovery.



What business can do in the situation of the strict isolation of their employees and global home office?



Focus on preparing technical specifications for your product or support system



Managers, subject matter experts, sales, and other specialists now have enough time to formulate their needs and requirements and spec out the systems and modules that will boost their work. It is also possible to set up distributed remote groups within the organization in order to develop such specifications in written form or in form of clickable mockups. These  mockups can be shared among all stakeholders to collect feedback and outline necessary changes.



To facilitate the process of creating technical specifications, one can hire a remote business analyst (BA). This person will be able to organize the requirements gathering sessions, analyze similar systems and competitors, and build interactive mockups which can be shared and discussed with the rest of stakeholders.



Develop a Proof of Concept (POC) or Minimal Viable Product (MVP)



A POC or MVP can be developed in a fully remote mode and can be used to demonstrate key features of the system and to collect feedback from real users. It is also possible to develop several different versions and find out what works best through A/B testing. 



The development of a POC or an MVP will prepare you for a fast and full-scale start of the production-ready development once your business is back to normal operations.



Provision your development team in advance



Once operations in your region are back to normal there will be a high deferred demand for resources as many businesses will need to catch up with the delayed projects and KPIs. To be well prepared, it makes sense to set up your team in advance: 



- pick the provider with matching expertise,



- conduct interviews with key specialists, 



- share technical specifications to optimize the learning curve.



These activities will help you and your colleagues stay productive even during remote work and ensure you are well-prepared to get ahead of the competition when the crisis is over.

### Health Information Exchange Best Practices

The healthcare industry has been transforming in accordance with the advancement of technology and one of the primary points of concern is the safe and efficient exchange of sensitive information. Even though the concept of electronic health information exchange was introduced almost 10 years ago, there are still many issues to take care of, such as storage security or proper EHR platform installation.



In order to keep sensitive information safe and secure and optimize the processes of its exchange and storage, it is important to follow the HIE best practices that we collected in this article.







Health Information Exchange: definition and main benefits



Health Information Exchange is the process of transmitting healthcare information in electronic format (i.e. the transmission of electronic health records). The information can be shared between a healthcare organization and a patient, between two healthcare organizations, between medical specialists, etc. 



The main goal of HIE is to make the process of transmitting information faster and easier. Instead of a mundane manual transmission (including filling in the record and then passing it to a recipient), HIE allows the patient’s data to be transmitted in mere seconds in a highly secure manner.



Health Information Exchange brings multiple benefits both to the medical specialists and the patients:




Elimination of paperwork and, as a result, faster and more accurate data processing,



Elimination of unnecessary or duplicate testing by providing all the necessary information that is kept in one place,



Providing a complete view of a patient’s state,



Significantly saving time on receiving critical information,



Centralization of the patient’s health information,



Providing immediate access to the data to the allowed parties.




Types of HIE and forms of information storage



There are several types of Health Information Exchange:




Directed exchange: exchange of healthcare information between the medical specialists or healthcare establishments in order to enable coordinated care.



Query-based exchange: when a medical specialist can find the information about the patient in a database or request it from other specialists or establishments (i.e. make a query).



Consumer-mediated exchange: when a patient can access and control their information.




As well, there are also different forms of healthcare information storage: decentralized, centralized, and hybrid. Decentralized storage means that healthcare records are stored in independent repositories and thus the access to the data is strictly controlled. Centralized storage implies data collection from all HIE participants and its further storage in a single repository. Hybrid storage combines the features of both decentralized and centralized storage.



Electronic Health Records: what are they?



Before looking at the HIE best practices, it is important to discuss electronic health records first.



Electronic health records are the cornerstone of HIE. These are the patients’ records that are stored in electronic format and contain all the information about the patient, including past visits to the doctors, prescriptions, conditions, etc.



Even though there are still many healthcare facilities that have not yet switched to EHR, the majority of institutions recognized the benefits that EHR brings. However, the transition to the use of EHR also imposes certain obligations. For example, the biggest point of concern for any medical establishment that uses EHR is its compliance with HIPAA which stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. HIPAA heavily focuses on the privacy and security of the patients’ data and the way it is stored and processes so any company that works in the healthcare industry should ensure that its services comply with HIPAA.



Considering the amount of sensitive patients’ data stored electronically, it is important to define a few practices to follow to ensure the security of information storage and transmission between the parties.



Best practices to secure the data and its transmission



HIE deals with massive amounts of sensitive patients’ data that needs to be secured. In order to do so, one needs to follow certain security practices that are aimed at protecting the data from both internal and external threats.



Protection of data in transit



When we talk about data security, there are two data states to account for: data at rest and data in transit. While data at rest includes all data storage objects, data in transit is actually the data that is being transmitted. As you might guess, the Health Information Exchange deals with data in transit a lot.



The most common and surefire recommendations on the security of data in transit include:




Use of SSL/TLS protocols,



Use of VPN,



Isolation of communication channel,



Use of ExpressRoute for moving large datasets.




Luckily, there are many available solutions like Microsoft Azure that can help secure the transmission of data between the parties.



Authentication and access roles



HIE involves a great number of people who have access to the data and the authority to manage it. Hence, another critical aspect to consider is user authentication and distribution of corresponding user roles.



In order to enhance user authentication, one should implement the following:




Store user passwords in an encrypted format and use special tools for it (such as bcrypt),



Mark cookies as secure to prevent cookie theft,



Enable deletion of all cookies upon logging out,



Enable session expiry,



Implement one-time login links (not necessarily though),



Limit the number of login attempts,



Use two-factor authentication.




As for the user roles, it is a must to have different access levels for different user roles so that sensitive data will not be managed and processes by all the users who have access to HIE.



API security



Since HIE involves many channels and recipients, it is important to have multiple APIs for seamless data processing. Therefore, developers should secure the APIs as well in order to prevent any possible intrusions.



One of the primary points of concern is the vulnerability of the APIs in the face of such external threats as injections. The most common injection threats include SQL Injection, XML Injection, RegEx Injection. Therefore, when designing an API, a developer should implement the necessary threat protection and never release a non-protected API.



Another thing that can help enhance the APIs is implementation of proper authentication. There are available mechanisms such as OAuth/OpenID Connect that, together with TLS, can help secure the APIs. As well, it is highly recommended to introduce a two-factor authentication followed by an authorization step.



Because HIE deals with sensitive data, it is also critical to encrypt the data to minimize the possibility of data theft. Some of the data encryption methods include data masking and the use of tokenization. 



Finally, use the REST API for better API protection. The REST framework itself implies a set of certain guidelines that enhance security by design. In this way, you will be able to minimize the risk of such threats as DDoS attacks, for example. 



Summary



Health Information Exchange is a complex process that involves many parties and massive amounts of sensitive data. In order for HIE to be beneficial both for the medical specialists and the patients, it is critical to make the data transmission process efficient and secure so it fully compensates the costs that were invested in the development of an HIE software solution

### The Best Examples of Location-Based Services

Location-based services are growing incredibly popular these days. Such applications bring great value to the users and allow companies to target their customers in a more precise manner. 



In this article, we will review the best examples of location-based services applications that have won the hearts of millions of users and became an integral part of their daily life.







What are location-based services?



Location-based services use the realtime geodata from a user’s mobile device in order to provide a corresponding service to a user. It might be a location identification, a push notification from a nearby coffee shop, or public transport monitoring. It is important to note, though, that a user has to allow an application to track and collect the GPS data - otherwise, the app developer will fall under the legal issue.



The use cases of location-based services are:




Locators of stores, restaurants, similar places,



Location-based marketing,



Provision with valuable information (i.e. weather, traffic),



Fraud prevention (by linking a credit card with a user’s location).




The biggest benefit of location-based services in terms of marketing is the ability to target specific users at a precise period of time that the marketer needs. For example, when a user passes a coffee shop, he might get a push notification about a special offer or a discount that this shop offers. Such an approach helps make marketing more relevant and reach only those people that might be potentially interested in the offer.



Another great thing about location-based services is the fact that they cater to the real-time needs of the users such as the immediate need to learn about the weather, traffic, or the best possible route. This is the reason so many people use LPS applications on a daily basis.



The difference between LPS and GPS



Because some people tend to confuse LPS and GPS, we thought it would be a good idea to clarify the question and provide the definitions for both.



A GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It uses a network of orbiting satellites in order to identify the user’s location.



A location-based service, as the name implies, is a service. While GPS provides a location and actually obtains it, the LPS uses this location in order to provide a specific service. 



Examples of location-based services worth paying attention to



Now that we are clear on what exactly location-based services are and what value they bring, it’s time to look at the examples of LPS applications and the ways they serve the users.



Google Maps



Google Maps is the most popular navigation app in the world. It allows users to monitor traffic conditions in real-time, find the best route to a stated destination, and simply navigate around the area with zero problems. With such a massive amount of data presented to a user, how does Google Maps app manage to collect and process it?



Here are the methods that the app uses for data collection:




Partnership with external providers via the Base Map Partner Program,



Taking photos with the help of vehicles and later using the GPS coordinates of the vehicles to create Google Street View,



Collection of information by satellites,



Collection of information via the users’ mobile phones (if the option is enabled).




The secret to the immense popularity of this application lies in the value that it brings to the users. Thus, if a company is thinking of developing a similar navigation app, it should first list down what kind of value it will bring and design the app correspondingly.



Foursquare City Guide



Foursquare is one of the most popular location-based applications out there. Being originally released as Foursquare, in 2014 the app was split into two different ones: Foursquare City Guide and Swarm. The City Guide app functions as the original Foursquare application and helps discover new locations while Swarm allows users to share their locations.



The City Guide app uses the device’s GPS to identify the user’s location and, based on it, provides corresponding suggestions like nearby eateries. What’s great about the app is that all the recommendations and ratings are provided by the community which makes the app reliable and trustworthy.



The more the user interacts with the City Guide, the better the app learns about the user’s preferences. Thus, it provides more accurate recommendations in the future. The application has four main sections:




Search: when a user searches for something (i.e. vegetarian restaurant), the app will provide an automatic suggestion. As well, a user can search for a specific place anywhere on the map and not necessarily within a nearby area.



Lists: this section contains featured places that are loved by the majority of users. This feature is useful when you want to discover a new place with a high ranking.



History: here a user can see the information about the past visits. 



Me: this section summarizes the user’s recent activity such as the recent visits, tips, and taken photos.




As for the Swarm app, it allows users to check in to the places and plan the visits together with the friends who also use Swarm.



Uber



Uber is probably the most popular ride-sharing application that inspired hundreds of businesses alike. The app consists of two parts: Uber for Drivers and Uber for Passengers and has different functionality, correspondingly. 



However, the app’s mode of operation remains the same for both parties: it identifies the user’s location (either the driver’s or the passenger’s) and, based on it, calculates the rate. As well, the application plans a route for the driver and serves as an accurate navigator.



There are a few valid reasons for Uber’s popularity: low price, increased convenience of use, and high quality of service. And since Uber now operates in about 65 countries, it keeps expanding its services in order to make it more enjoyable for both the riders and the drivers.



Glympse



Last but not least - a very smart location-based application called Glympse. It allows users to share their location and estimated time arrival in real-time and it does not require the location recipients to download the application.



Glympse uses the GPS of a user’s device to determine the location and calculate how much time it will take to get from the user’s current location to the destination point. A great thing about the app - it offers partnership to businesses (such as grocery delivery) in addition to serving regular users. As a result, businesses are able to deliver a better customer experience and minimize customer rescheduling and cancellations.



Final thought



Location-based services are a high-potential niche due to the growing demand for such applications. However, it is important to conduct a thorough market research and identify the key value that the app will bring to the users. Because location-based applications can be quite complex in terms of development, it is important to outline and prioritize their features to avoid loss of time and resources in the future.

### SoftTeco’s Statement on Business Continuity and Employee Safety During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Key Message







The purpose of this document is to provide a clear and actionable strategy on preventing the COVID-19 impact on the SoftTeco work processes. The document assembles the measures that SoftTeco implements with the aim to minimize the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s processes and to protect the employees by ensuring a safe and healthy work environment.



Remote Work 



SoftTeco strongly encourages its employees to work remotely to minimize the risk of contamination and to reside in a safe environment. 



In order to preserve the integrity of processes and to meet the set deadlines and requirements, the company provides remote employees with all the needed equipment and assistance. This includes:




Opportunity to take home the necessary equipment (i.e. laptops, test devices),



VPN and static IP addresses setup,



Optimization of supporting systems for the deployed devices,



Videoconferencing for  team meetings,



Provision of network availability to the employees,



Support and assistance from management in terms of documentation and communication.




All the managerial personnel remains available 24/7 in order to assist the employees with any questions or concerns. Because the company has a solid IT infrastructure and elaborate security plans that address all the integrated processes, documentation, and back-ups, we can be confident that the workflow will not be interrupted and that we shall continue the timely delivery of the projects to the clients.



Regular Disinfection of the Work Area



In order to minimize the possibility of contamination, all three offices are regularly disinfected. This includes:




Disinfection of main points of contact (door handles, fingerprint scanners),



Provision of hand sanitizers,



Regular airing of the office rooms,



Regular wet cleaning.




As well, the company provided a clear and informative guideline on the main precautionary measures. The guideline is published on the company intranet and is available for all employees.



Rescheduling of Business Trips



SoftTeco reschedules and postpones the international business trips of employees with an aim to minimize the possibility of contamination and prevent the employees from getting an infection.



SoftTeco is working on replacing the scheduled business trips with online meetings instead. This allows us to retain the regular work process and deliver the expected results on time.



Mandatory Self-Isolation



SoftTeco’s employees returning from overseas are required to self-isolate for 14 days before returning to the office. This is done in order to prevent the virus spread and minimize the risk of contamination.



The employees staying at home are expected to work remotely so that the work process is not interrupted. 



As well, SoftTeco restrains all incoming visits to the company in order to protect the employees and retain a healthy work environment.



Our Strategy and Vision



In regards to the COVID-19 situation and its impact on the global economy and our clients, in particular, SoftTeco has optimized its strategy in order to prepare for the various scenarios. We understand the possible changes and risks that both we and the clients might face and thus, the company puts a strong emphasis on flexibility and adaptability. We keep a close focus on reliable data and will adjust our development plan and strategic priorities accordingly with an aim to continue bringing value to our clients while keeping our employees safe and protected.



Conclusion



SoftTeco will continue to monitor the condition of its employees and provide further assistance on all the needed matters. Our primary goal is the health of both our employees and our clients and we will do everything that lies in our power to ensure a stable and safe work environment while retaining a regular work process and timely product delivery.

### Order Management System: Definition and Key Benefits

The secret of stable growth and development lies in the ability of a company to utilize the right tools for process automation and optimization. Not only do such tools help facilitate the work process but they also contribute to increasing customer satisfaction as all the processes are carried out in a smooth and efficient manner.



The order management system, or OMS for short, is one of such tools. It manages the end-to-end cycle of order processing, starting from its reception and ending with the order delivery to a customer. Due to its rich functionality, the system is a valuable asset for any company that deals with customer orders. In this article, we will review the main benefits of the OMS and will provide a few useful tips on choosing the most suitable system for your business.







The definition of the OMS



As we already said, an order management system takes care of the end-to-end order placement process, including inventory management, invoice generation and management of the customers’ information. OMS can also be combined with business intelligence tools in order to improve the processes and make smarter business decisions.



Some of the basic functions of any OMS are:




Order tracking



Inventory management



Order fulfillment



Management of returns



Update of information on the order and its status




While some e-commerce entrepreneurs use their e-commerce platforms as order management systems, it might not be very correct. Even though an average e-commerce platform has all the necessary functionality for order management, it may not be enough if a company has a complex order fulfillment process, many warehouses, or several sales channels. In these cases, a company will absolutely need an OMS in order to grow and expand the business.



The main benefits of the OMS



Even though OMS is common among entrepreneurs, some of them do not understand all the benefits that this system brings. Below we list down the most important advantages of the OMS to consider.



Automation of processes



Imagine how many orders go through an average e-commerce store or any other goods-based website on a daily basis. It would require a tremendous amount of resources and time to process every order correctly and without making a mistake. This is where OMS steps in and significantly speeds up and optimizes the order processing by automating a variety of related tasks. And since the order management process becomes faster and more efficient, it also increases customer satisfaction.



Easy access and centralized view



With OMS, an entrepreneur will be able to access the inventory, order history and other data from any place and at any time. This can be really useful in specific circumstances and overall, it grants business owners more control and flexibility over the business processes.



As well, by keeping all the processes in one system, the entrepreneur gets a centralized view of the business. This, in turn, helps adjust the development strategy, identify problem areas and improve optimization methods.



Scalability



Every business aims for future growth so scalability is crucial. As mentioned above, an average e-commerce platform cannot efficiently deal with the growing number of sales channels and warehouses but the OMS seamlessly takes care of this issue. As a result, the business can keep growing and expanding without harming the processes and profitability.



Efficient inventory management



The OMS manages inventory data in real-time and that means, business owners always know what’s going on with the goods in their inventory. This helps make better decisions in terms of goods, for example, preventing the company from overselling or, on the contrary, stocking too many unpopular goods. In this way, businesses gain immense flexibility in terms of adjusting to the customers’ needs.



How to choose your perfect order management system



After looking at the OMS definition and its key benefits, it’s time to have a look at the essential features that are expected of your perfect OMS. Of course, the key factor in choosing an OMS would be your business (its scope, goals, number of sales channels, etc.) but there are still a few questions to ask when looking at the possible solutions.



Does this OMS integrate with your existing website?



When you plan to deploy any new tool, the number one question is whether it can be integrated with your existing system or whether you need to invest time and resources into its integration. Even thorough most of the OMS systems are designed with integration in mind, you still have to check it to avoid issues in the future.



As well, pay attention to the integration with the warehouse and fulfillment partners - the system should seamlessly integrate with them as well.



Scalability



Even though the order management system is tailored to serve growing companies, it still may have certain limitations. Therefore, one needs to learn about these limits and the available functionality so that the system will perfectly match the business goals.



Reporting



An efficient order management system not only automates and facilitates the processes but also helps the user make accurate decisions based on reporting. Thus, look for the reporting feature in your OMS.



Reporting includes the tracking of the performance, reports on revenue and shipping, demographic information, etc. All this data helps business owners better understand the state of their business and timely make the necessary adjustments.



Summary



An order management system is an essential tool for any company that provides goods or services to the customers. Even though there are many available solutions, sometimes your business may require designing a custom solution from scratch in order to fully correspond to the requirements and needs of your business. 



SoftTeco has rich experience in developing comprehensive and user-friendly order management systems for clients of different sizes and from various industries. We will gladly help you grow your business by providing a scalable and robust solution tailored precisely to your needs and customers’ requests.

### A Guide to Corporate Network Security

Any company that uses a corporate network for both internal and external interaction needs to pay utter attention to its security. The possibility of data leaks or cyber-attacks may cost a company millions of dollars and a ruined reputation.



In order to protect sensitive data and prevent possible threats, companies need to follow the basics of corporate network security. We collected the most common practices that will help safeguard one’s corporate network and prevent the threat actors from intruding it.







The most common types of risks



Before discussing the best practices of combatting cyber threats, it is important to understand the most common types of these threats. In this way, you will have a clear picture of what might be threatening your network and thus will be able to build a solid security strategy.



A brute force attack



Even though this is a relatively old method, it is still quite efficient and remains a big threat. A brute force attack is a trial and error method of guessing the user’s credentials (meaning, login and password). Most often, a hacker uses the already known credentials to conduct a brute force attack and try guessing the correct combinations.



The brute force attacker normally succeeds when a user has a weak password or uses the same password across different accounts (i.e. different social media platforms). What makes it worse is the fact that today, there is a big variety of automated hacking tools, such as Brutus or THC Hydra, that can find the necessary password or user name in mere seconds. Therefore, it is an absolute must to use strong passwords and two-factor authentication to minimize the risk of such an attack.



A DDoS attack



This type of attack aims to disrupt a network or a system with tons of traffic such as messages, queries, etc. Such an attack is usually performed with the help of botnets that overload the target and result in the exhaustion of the target, service disruption and other unpleasant consequences. So in order to avoid the DDoS attacks, one needs to deploy powerful tools and resources in order to differentiate between normal and malicious traffic.



A malware attack



Malware is malicious software that hackers use in order to disrupt the system and access the network. It comes in many forms and the most common are:




Worms, Trojan horses, and viruses



Ransomware



Spyware



Adware



Hybrids




The defense strategy has to be comprehensive, with consideration of all possible attacks and problem areas of the network.



A phishing attack



Another common hacking attack is phishing. It implies tricking the users into doing a certain action that would allow hackers to intrude the network. Such actions may be clicking on a suspicious link or opening an email that contains a virus.



Some of the methods that help avoid phishing are checking the email or website security, having anti-virus software and using firewalls. It is also critically important to educate the users about the possibility of such an attack and explain that they should treat any suspicious email or website with extreme accuracy.



Now that we had a look at the most common attack types, it is time to see the basic network security practices.



Deploy network defense methods



Even though the methods below may seem quite common, not all the companies deploy them to safeguard their network:




Firewalls: come as both software and hardware solutions and serve as the first line of defense in a network. It is heavily recommended not to disable personal firewalls but rather configure them in accordance with the needs of your company. As for purchasing a corporate firewall, carefully analyze its features and whether it can provide the needed defense.



IDS and IPS: use Intrusion Detection System and Intrusion Prevention System to timely identify a potential intruder and take preventative measures to avoid the network breach. Even though the deployment of these systems (or at least, the IPS one) may be costly, it will still cost you less than recovery from an attack



NAC: Network Access Control is a tool that restricts access to the network only to those devices that comply with the company’s security policy. However, NAC is the most useful in a static environment and is not a very suitable solution for networks with a diversity of users and settings (i.e. healthcare or education).



Web filters: prevent users from loading certain web pages that seem suspicious. There are many types of web filters, including the ones for enterprise use, so a company can easily select the most suitable one.



Load balancers: these devices direct computers to individual servers with an aim to minimize the server load and balance the bandwidth.




Perform network segmentation



Network segmentation means segmenting the network into smaller segments which are called zones. Zones are functional units and every zone can be used for a different purpose: a sales zone, a research zone, etc. You can perform network segmentation by using either switchers or VLANs.



The main benefit of network segmentation is the minimization of potential damage by breaking down one target into several. In this way, a hacker will either need to treat each segment as a separate network or jump from a comprised zone to another. But in either case, a hacker will have to spend too much time and resources and will most probably not succeed in intruding the network.



Another benefit of network segmentation is data protection and classification. Each zone can be assigned different classification rules and therefore it will have an appropriate security level.



Use VPNs



A Virtual Private Network is a secure network connection that creates kind of a “tunnel” through which the data securely travels. To ensure data security, VPNs normally use such protocols as Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol, IPSec, Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP). As well, VPNs encrypt the data which is an additional bonus of using this solution.



It is important to note though that VPNs alone do not protect the network from phishing attacks or similar threats. So it’s best to combine VPNs with other security methods to ensure 360-degree network security.



Enhance authentication and user access



While trying to secure the network, companies pay close attention to external threats such as malware and tend to overlook internal threats such as unauthorized users.



Two-factor authentication is one of the most common and efficient ways of securing the network. It requires not only the credentials (login and password) but also access to an external device (another mobile device, email, etc.) in order to confirm the user identity.



As well, pay attention to the user roles and levels of access. Different users should have different levels of access to the network and it should be thoroughly monitored. Among other practices of authentication optimization are session expiry, password encryption, disposal of cookies upon logout, limited login attempts. All these practices add to the network security and minimize the possibility of a threat actor logging in the system.



Automate the responses to attacks



A company may actually prevent or at least mitigate a number of hacker attacks simply by automating the responses to the attacks. This feature is provided by a number of software solutions and devices and includes the following actions:




Block of the IP address (can be performed by a firewall or IDS),



Disruption of the connections,



Collection of information about the potential intruders.



Identification of the way the malicious software was used.




By automating certain processes, it will be much easier for the company to timely identify and react to the threats and minimize their effect.



Final thoughts



Network security is a comprehensive subject to discuss. It involves many aspects: both external threats that need to be addressed and internal threats related to the employees’ knowledge of security basics. Therefore, any company that wishes to safeguard its network and protect the data needs not only to deploy suitable tools but also to educate the employees on the basic practices of network security. In this way, the company will create a secure working environment and will minimize the potential risks of the network intrusion.

### SaaS Development Best Practices

Software as a Service applications are loved by both software providers and users. For providers, it’s an efficient way of monetization while users benefit from extensive functionality and ease of use. The popularity and high demand for SaaS are the reasons why more and more software development companies started developing their own SaaS products.



However, the development of a SaaS app has its own pitfalls that must be considered. Otherwise, the app will not bring the intended profit and value.







A quick intro: what exactly is SaaS and why is it so popular?



Software as a Service is a form of software when users receive a completely ready-made product that does not require installation or download. All the users have to do is pay for its use and that’s it. Hosting, upgrading, debugging, and other issues are all handled by the provider. And if you need real-life examples, think of MailChimp, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft, Shopify, Salesforce.



So what makes SaaS so popular? Here are the biggest advantages of this software model:




Low expenses for the users. When purchasing a SaaS app, customers pay only for the subscription, while the provider takes full care of maintenance, hosting, licensing, and upgrading. The customer does not even have to install the product and can freely manage the subscription (i.e. cancel it if needed) which is a really big benefit. As for the providers, they develop one solution for multiple users instead of developing multiple products in accordance with unique user requirements.



Cloud storage. SaaS applications are usually stored in cloud which ensures security and efficient data management. 



Regular updates and maintenance. Users do not have to worry about updating their apps as providers roll out all the necessary updates on a regular basis. The updates are also available for all the users and on all devices.



Limited access to source code. While users can customize their app to a certain extent (i.e. change the layout), they cannot access the source code. This, in turn, minimizes the risks of hacker attacks and fraud.




These benefits combined with relative ease of development make SaaS applications an attractive target for software development companies. However, SaaS development process has certain pitfalls that must be considered in order to build a high-performing and valuable product.



Multi-tenant architecture



When speaking of SaaS, most developers immediately think of multi-tenant architecture and there is a reason for that. Because SaaS apps have a big number of users, all of them need their data to be stored securely and (preferably) in isolation. Multi-tenant architecture is the perfect solution for that.



The multi-tenant approach means that a single instance of software serves multiple tenants aka customers. With such architecture, each tenant is isolated and that contributes to better data security.



The biggest advantages of multi-tenant architecture are scalability, cost efficiency, and pay-for-what-you-need pricing model. Even though multi-tenant apps may not be so flexible as single-tenant apps and multi-tenancy architecture calls for stricter authentication, it still remains the number one choice for the SaaS app development. However, there are several ways to build a multi-tenant architecture. The preferred option will depend on the team’s skills, security requirements, app type, and complexity, etc.:




Each tenant has an isolated infrastructure and a separate database. This approach ensures easy coding, does not provide high scalability and comes with high costs but shortest time-to-market.



Each tenant has a separate database but the infrastructure layer is shared between the tenants while the application layer is not. Similar to the method above in terms of perks.



Each tenant has a separate database and both application and infrastructure layers are shared between the tenants. Despite longer time to market and harder coding, this method implies high scalability and lower costs.



All layers are shared. The highest scalability and the lowest costs come at the price of the most complex coding here.




Thus, when you start planning the development of your SaaS application, one of the first things to decide on would be the type of multi-tenant architecture.



Customization options



As we already mentioned, users of SaaS applications cannot access the source code but they can customize the app to a certain extent. Therefore, when developing such an app, the developers need to consider the user groups and define the possible needs of the users in terms of personalization.



However, do not go over the top in terms of the app’s personalization. Remember that the primary goal is not to provide a custom solution for each client but a universal application for all the possible users.



Data security



Considering the average number of tenants of a SaaS application, it’s easy to imagine the amount of sensitive data that is stored and processed within such an app. Therefore, another key consideration for the developers would be data security. Here is what the development team can do to enhance the app’s security:




Different user roles and corresponding access levels,



Data encryption,



Limitations to APIs data handling capacity,



Backup of sensitive data with the help of encryption,



Regular security testing.




Application scalability



Scalability is a signature feature of any SaaS application and can be divided into application scalability and database scalability. Let’s see the application scalability first. It can be achieved either through switching to a bigger server or by attaching additional servers to the application. In case you choose the latter option, consider the points below.



It is recommended that your application should be stateless. That means that the client’s data is stored on a user’s device and is passed to the server upon request. In this way, you can easily connect your app to another via the APIs, scale it out and redeploy if needed. As well, it is recommended to set up asynchronous input and output so the task completion will be more efficient.



Database scalability and performance



SaaS application will inevitably experience the data growth which, in turn, might affect the app’s performance. Therefore, when designing SaaS applications, developers should keep in mind the database scalability.



Some of the most common practices for database optimization are data partitioning and regular upgrades. As well, it’s a good idea to use the Application Management Tools so you are always timely updated about any upcoming or existing issues that need to be addressed.



Integration with third-party services



One of the most common requirements for SaaS applications is the ability to integrate them with third-party services. For that, you need to have a set of standard APIs so your app can seamlessly connect with the required services.



However, some of the industry experts state that a good SaaS product is not the one that just integrates with other services but the one that attracts other developers and users to come and experience it. Therefore, when thinking about the integration of your app with other services, consider the following:




Provide real value both to the users and third-party developers



Provide seamless development experience in terms of onboarding, deployment, etc.



Provide a reliable technical environment



Make sure the platform is easy to use



Have a good marketing and sales mechanism in order to attract new customers




When creating a SaaS application, it is important to think about both the platform users and your potential collaborators. If you design with innovation and value in mind, you will attract platform users, third-party developers, and partners in no time. Therefore, invest time and effort into careful strategic planning and business plan development to ensure your product will fill the right market niche.

### Big Data in Healthcare: the Ultimate Guide on its Application and Benefits

Big Data is one of the hottest trends in the healthcare industry as it brings multiple benefits to both the medical specialists and the patients. However, the subject of Big Data in healthcare is quite broad and involves many aspects. Thus, we prepared a detailed guide that explains how exactly Big Data can be used within healthcare and what challenges the companies might face when adopting it. 







Big Data explained: what is it and where does it come from?



Big Data is a whole field of study that focuses on the collection, processing, and analysis of the data sets that are so big they require specific tools such as Machine Learning, for example. 



In healthcare, Big Data includes all the data that is collected from numerous sources:




Electronic health records,



Existing research studies,



Wearables (i.e. Apple Watch, MiBand),



Public records,



Patient portals,



Governmental institutions.




And this is not the full list of sources where healthcare data comes from. One more thing to know about Big Data is that it is based on the three Vs: 




Volume: Big Data comes in incredibly large data sets.



Velocity: this implies the high speed of the data generation.



Variety: Big Data is comprised of the most different data formats such as audio, images, text, etc. All this data needs to be structured and unified for further processing.




Before we discuss the benefits of using Big Data in the healthcare industry, we also need to mention the most common tools used for its processing and management. Without a doubt, that would be Artificial Intelligence and its subsets like computer vision, Internet of Things or Machine Learning. The biggest advantage of AI is its capability to quickly process massive data sets while minimizing the possibility of an error. As well, AI can identify hidden or non-obvious dependencies and patterns that are often missed by human employees. This is why the companies that wish to study their Big Data need to deploy machine learning and similar tools.



Now that we are clear on the definition of Big Data and the tools that are needed for its management, let’s move on to the benefits that Big Data brings to healthcare.



Better diagnostics



When making a diagnosis, doctors sometimes do guesswork as they cannot always be 100% sure in the accuracy of the diagnosis. Now, thanks to the Big Data and the availability of tools for its mining and processing, medical specialists can make more accurate diagnoses based on the past patient’s records



For example, if a doctor examines a patient, the analysis of the past patient’s records can show a liability to a certain disease or the possibility of the disease’s occurrence. In this way, the doctor’s decision will be backed by data and it will reduce the possibility of an error such as the wrong diagnosis. Another example is computer vision technology and its ability to pinpoint any problem areas on the patient’s X-ray image (or similar), thus providing additional information to the doctor. 



Predictive analytics



Predictive analytics allows medical specialists to build accurate forecasts regarding the patient’s future state of health or the possibility of a disease. In this way, medical specialists can take preventative measures to avoid serious consequences and to timely treat the patient’s condition. It is especially important for detecting such conditions like cancer when even the slightest delay can lead to serious consequences. 



As an example, Google Health and Imperial College London conducted research and designed an AI-powered model that 6X times outperformed radiologists in mammograms reading. This, in turn, proved that the implementation of the latest technology combined with the use of Big Data can greatly optimize the work of the medical specialists and become the number one tool in combatting the diseases.



Another good example of a predictive approach is a recent collaboration between Apple and Stanford University. The two parties work together on determining whether Apple Watch can efficiently detect atrial fibrillation among the users of the device. In case the research proves successful, Apple Watch will be capable of timely identifying the user’s condition and notifying the user about it.



Optimized research 



The capability of Machine Learning tools to search through Big Data and extract the necessary insights within mere seconds is a highly valuable asset, especially if we talk about finding new treatments and conducting medical research. The biggest issue that medical specialists face while during research is the necessity to go through the overwhelming amounts of data either manually or with the help of legacy tools. As well, do not forget about testing the newly discovered treatments and holding multiple experiments before the product can actually be released in the market.



With AI and Big Data, the process speeds up significantly. Not only can the ML-powered tool quickly find the necessary information but it can also suggest the most suitable and cost-saving option. And that means the costs for healthcare treatment can drop down, making the medical services more available. 



Minimization of errors and negative effects



In relation to the point mentioned above, the deployment of Big Data in medical research also helps minimize errors and eliminate or minimize the negative effects of the treatments or medications. Because the ML tool searches through the data, it can easily predict whether a certain medication or treatment would cause a negative effect among the patients and it can suggest a more suitable alternative.



In this way, Big Data can contribute to making healthcare services safer for the patients which is one of the key advantages that medical specialists strive for.



Expanded functionality of wearables



Companies need data in order to use it for the patients’ and medical specialists’ benefit and wearables are one of the best sources for data mining. First, wearables do not interfere with the user’s activity and second, the data that they collect is extremely accurate as it comes directly from the user. Therefore, the deployment of wearables as a primary data source is becoming a very emerging niche for the companies to fill in. 



One of the best examples is the above mentioned Apple Watch that might be used for heart condition monitoring. And considering the rising demand for smart and healthcare-focused wearables, we might soon see other devices picking up the initiative.



A few challenges to consider



Even though Big Data is highly recommended for use, companies need to know about a few challenges related to it.



Data aggregation



We already mentioned that healthcare data comes in many formats and sizes. Hence, when a company decides to collect the data and process it, the following questions must be answered:




How will you pull all the needed data from all the sources together?



What kind of data format will you choose to unify the data?



How exactly will you store the data?



How will you cleanse the data and ensure it does not contain errors?




Make sure that your company has all the resources needed for resolving these issues. Otherwise, you will have a hard time collecting and processing your data and, most likely, it will not bring you much value.



Compliance with regulations



Another important thing to take care of when working with Big Data is following the principal healthcare regulations such as HIPAA and PHI (Protected Health Information). This means companies should watch how they store and transmit the data, control the access and user roles, how data is authenticated and similar issues. 



The good news is that the biggest software providers such as Amazon AWS offer their services that are already compliant with HIPAA and PHI. However, not all the companies will be using such services so compliance with regulations becomes an additional task to resolve.



Final word



Big Data is an incredibly valuable asset for the healthcare industry but it should be treated in the right way in order to maximize its benefits. The use of Big Data opens a whole lot of new opportunities for the software development companies to fill in the niche and offer an efficient solution to maximize the Big Data benefits and contribute to the healthcare industry transformation.

### The Biggest Fintech Trends to Expect in 2020

The industry of finances and banking has long been hesitant about undergoing digital transformation. Yet, with the intrusion of technology in all other industries and aspects of our lives, it became impossible to follow the old school legacy practices and, at the same time, remain customer-centric and competitive. This, in turn, led to the rapid development of fintech technologies that are designed to facilitate the operations of banks and financial institutions and help them serve their clients in a better and more efficient manner.



There are several interesting fintech trends that have already been taking place and are expected to come in full force in 2020 and in the upcoming years - read about them below.







Serving the underserved



It’s no surprise that many people do not receive sufficient banking services, starting from not having a bank account to being a predefined untrustworthy borrower. A report by the World Bank states that more than 1.7 billion people are invisible to the formal financial system. Thus, the fintech industry is going to address this issue and come up with solutions that will provide the required financial and banking services to certain groups of people.



Uber Money is an excellent example of this initiative. Considering that Uber drivers are the representatives of a gig economy and do not have a stable and fixed income within a certain period of time, they have specific economic needs. So when the company did research, it found out that many drivers go negative on their bank accounts about six times per month, have issues with sending the earned money to their home country, or cannot save money in an efficient manner. Hence, at the end of last year, Uber announced the Uber Money fintech initiative aimed at closing these gaps and helping drivers manage their earnings in a more efficient manner. Some of the features of Uber Money are:




Immediate access to the earnings right after the trip with no need to wait for the weekly payment,



Introduction of Uber debit account with certain cash-backs,



Introduction of Uber Wallet which will allow managing money in one place,



Enablement of international money transfers through the driver’s app,




These are just some of the features that Uber is going to bring to its drivers and this clearly shows that the company is well-aware of the rise of the gig economy and is doing its best to keep up with it.



Another good example is the use of Machine Learning technology to design sophisticated credit scoring solutions. The main idea behind such systems is that they are 100% non-biased and tend to give more accurate results than legacy scoring systems. In this way, lending will become available to those groups of people that used to be underserved before: people of color, non-married, young people, etc. Because Machine Learning is able to identify hidden dependencies and patterns in the data, it will be able to effectively evaluate a borrower and its creditworthiness. 



The rise of the gig economy and the growing independence of one’s financial solvency from the demographic factors serve as a perfect opportunity for the fintech companies to occupy this niche and take the lead in serving the underserved demographic cut.



Case study from SoftTeco: Sadad payment solution



SoftTeco partnered with Sadad, a company founded in Bahrain, in order to create a convenient mobile payment solution. The main idea was to design a user-friendly application that would allow its users to perform the majority of financial transactions (i.e. mobile invoice payment) via their smartphone, without the need to open a bank account. A user simply has to go to the physical Sadad kiosk and use it to add cash to their Sadad e-wallet. After that, the Sadad app grants access to multiple operations and transactions.



This project is a good example of providing banking services to the unbanked. Sadad launched its app mainly in Bahrain and Philippines where almost everyone has a smartphone but a really small number of people have a bank account. With the introduction of the Sadad payment app, these people now got access to multiple financial operations that can be performed via the mobile phone and that were unavailable before.



Transition to mobile



While Millenials and baby-boomers are still OK with going to the physical bank branches and paying with physical money, Gen Zers somewhat oppose this idea and expect financial services to be digitized. So in order to serve the needs of this really big population, companies need to come up with corresponding solutions such as mobile wallets, online services, and virtual personal assistants. 



The value for mobile payments set for 2019 was $1 trillion and is expected to keep growing in the future. As for the contactless payments, the expected number for 2020 is 760 million (while it was 440 million in 2018). Judging from this data, it can be said that digital financial operations gradually replace physical ones and we can expect more and more banking and financial services to be digitized in the future. As well, mobile will most probably become the single point of interaction between the users and the financial establishments and this is one more thing that companies should keep in mind.



Case study from SoftTeco: Sberbank mobile application



SoftTeco collaborated with Sberbank to create a mobile application that would allow the bank’s clients to access banking services via their PCs or mobile devices without the need to visit the bank’s physical branch. Sberbank strived to update its legacy software with a more modern and efficient one and serve the growing needs of its clients.



As a result, we designed a comprehensive solution with rich functionality that enables the bank clients to manage their cash flow and loan payments, easily handle all the necessary financial transactions, and access the needed information within a few clicks. The application became widely popular with the customers and completely satisfies all the bank’s requirements.



Use of innovative technologies



Some of the biggest bottlenecks for the financial companies have always been the amount of paperwork and mundane processes and a massive amount of clients’ queries that demand immediate processing. All this takes too much time and resources and stops the company from development and growth. Therefore, this is another niche for fintech companies to occupy and offer efficient solutions based on innovative technologies.



One of the examples is the introduction of Robotic Process Automation (or RPA, for short) to a company’s processes. This technology automates legacy processes and can be applied to any task, which makes RPA an incredibly efficient and cross-functional tool. 



Robotic Process Automation is basically the use of robots in a variety of tasks, like local policy issuance processes. By using RPA technology, a company can significantly minimize the possibility of a human error, free the employees from mundane tasks and allow them to focus on more complex issues instead, and also provide a better customer experience by speeding up and optimizing the quality of services.



One more innovation that banks started adopting is the use of chatbots and virtual assistants. Usually, when a user visits a bank’s website or needs to perform a certain operation, it might take too much time, the website seems too confusing or the user feels insecure because he does not know much about the way the bank functions. Chatbots and virtual assistants are designed to resolve these problems by providing immediate assistance, performing particular tasks and navigating the user through the financial intricacies. This, in turn, greatly improves the customer experience and educates users about the financial operations, their own account, baning procedures, etc.



Better risk management



Banks and financial companies use legacy systems to assess one’s creditworthiness. However, these systems often tend to be biased and leave a massive share of borrowers behind. In order to make the lending process less risky and more accurate, companies started using solutions powered by machine learning. Such platforms identify the most trustworthy borrowers, reduce non-performing loans, and increase loan portfolio. Thus, by adopting such a system, a bank will not only benefit itself but will also increase the number of clients.



Another popular solution offered by fintech companies is financial forecasting based on machine learning. These forecasting models use machine learning technology to process massive data sets and make accurate forecasts based on this data. Not only does this approach minimizes the number of errors but it also tends to provide financial specialists with more accurate results than their colleagues make. As well, ML-based forecasting takes away such tasks as data compiling and reconciling, thus, enabling the specialists to pay attention to more important issues such as the research and understanding of key business events, microeconomic and macroeconomic factors, research of operational drivers, etc.



Focus on cybersecurity



Adoption of technology is great but cyber threats are the reverse side of the coin. In 2020, companies will need to leverage their cybersecurity practices and focus not only on efficiently eliminating the risks but also mitigating and predicting them.



One of the primary things that companies will have to pay attention to is the use of Artificial Intelligence to fight cyber threats and timely identify them. And because threat actors deploy AI as well, companies have to strive harder in order to protect sensitive data.



Another emerging trend that is related to cybersecurity is the transition to cloud environments and the use of business applications that mimic cloud environments. By using such applications, companies will be able to gain more control over their data and manage it in a more efficient and secure manner.



Finally, companies need to pay attention to the vulnerability of IoT devices. There are numerous ways how hackers can gain access over them so it’s critical to come up with efficient ways of protecting the devices and the stored and processed data.



Side note: compliance with regulations



While all the emerging fintech trends are aimed at facilitating and optimizing the processes of banks and financial institutions, there is one thing for the fintech companies to keep in mind. This is the compliance with all the necessary regulations such as  GDPR, Open Banking and PSD2 directive, or specific local regulations. So if a fintech company wants to roll out an innovative solution, it has to make sure that the product 100% meets all the legislative requirements. 



Otherwise, 2020 seems to be a great year for fintech companies to come up with game-changing solutions that will allow banks and financial institutions to make their services more customer-centric and user-friendly while automating and optimizing a number of internal processes.

### Telemedicine App Development: Basic Functionality to Implement

As technology advances, it continues to transform the industries and make them more customer-oriented, at the same time, bringing valuable benefits to the professionals as well. Telemedicine is one of such new trends and it sparks interest among the companies worldwide.



In short, telemedicine is the process of distributing healthcare services via telecommunication technologies and within the digital environment. Online appointment via a mobile device is a perfect example of a telemedicine product.  Considering the valuable benefits that such products bring to both the medical specialists and the patients, the development companies now face a high demand for the telemedicine app development. In this article, we will have a look at the essential features that every telemedicine app should have.







The benefits that telemedicine applications bring to the doctors and patients



Before dissecting the telemedicine app’s functionality, it is first important to understand what exactly makes these apps so popular and in demand. As an example, we shall use an average mobile phone application with an option to remotely communicate with a doctor, make online appointments and receive recommendations on further treatment.



The flexibility of making an appointment



In physical medical centers, patients typically have to wait in long queues for hours in order to get to the doctor’s office. Or they have to book an appointment and wait for weeks (if not months) until the doctor is available.



The telemedicine app takes away this inconvenience and offers a win-win option instead. By using such an app, the patient can simply choose the desired time and date of appointment and wait for the doctor to approve it. In this way, both the patient and the doctor get to choose the most convenient time and adjust their schedule correspondingly.



Time-saving



A telemedicine app eliminates the need to go to the medical center, call, wait for the appointment and for the results. Instead, it allows an almost immediate connection with the available and required specialist and automates many processes. In this way, the app significantly saves time for the patients and doctors and facilitates the process of diagnosing.



Better access to medical records



Due to secure cloud storage, the app keeps the patient’s medical records organized and in one place. What is more important is that these records can be easily accessed by the patient himself and by the doctor. If we compare it to the legacy record keeping when the patient could hardly access his own data and the doctors had to go through numerous papers in order to find the needed one, the cloud storage can be called a revolutionary approach towards medical record management.



These are the biggest benefits of telemedicine mobile applications. As you can see, they are mostly centered around time-saving and automation of processes. The thing is, the biggest issue with current medical services is that many patients do not actually need a physical visit to a doctor’s cabinet in order to receive advice or professional help. We are talking about such common issues as flu, nausea, headaches, allergies, etc. In these cases, the patients only need to describe the symptoms to a doctor and get advice on the corresponding treatment. Hence, a telemedicine app becomes a perfect solution for such situations.



Now that we are clear about the benefits of telemedicine applications, we can overview the basic and essential features that must be considered when developing a telemedicine app.



An option to create a profile



Though seemingly easy, this option is critical for every telemedicine application. The main idea behind it is that the patient’s profile organizes, centralizes and stores all the information about the patient: medical records, scheduled appointments, medical prescriptions. In this way, the patient can manage his data and share it with the doctors. As for the doctor, he can track and analyze the patient’s historical data and better examine the current state of the patient.



Multiple communication options



A good telemedicine app should offer the following communication options to the users:




In-built live chat



Video calling



Audio calling




It goes without saying that all these options should be highly secured in order to prevent any possible external threats and possible data leaks. As well, because the consultations happen in real-time, the app should display seamless performance in different conditions (Wi-Fi, 3G, poor Internet connection, etc.).



An option to share files



A telemedicine application implies that users will share files of different formats - images, documents, videos, etc. For example, a patient can take a photo of a body area (with acne or other skin condition) and send it to the doctor for a diagnosis. Therefore, it is important that the app supports different file formats and allows users to easily accept and open them. 



Same as with messaging, the process of sharing files should be highly secured in order to guarantee the safety of the patients’ sensitive data. It is recommended to obtain highly secure and reliable cloud storage in order to keep all the data safeguarded and with an option to manage it from any place and any time.



Geolocation and an integrated map



One more obligatory feature that every telemedicine app needs to have is geolocation and an integrated map. 



First, such apps often show nearby pharmacies where patients can buy the medications, prescribed by the doctor. Second, the apps also show nearby doctors or needed hospitals, create the shortest routes and recommend where to find the needed specialists. Thus, this is a very user-friendly feature that adds value to app usage and facilitates the user’s search.



Convenient and secure payment options



There are many options of monetization in a telemedicine app:




A fixed fee per consultation,



Subscription like a monthly or annual fee,



SaaS model,



Distribution of a product as a franchise.




It is safe to assume that there are hundreds (if not thousands) of financial operations going through the application on a daily basis. Therefore, when developing a telemedicine application, it is important to include multiple payment options and design a secure and reliable payment gateway.



A quick case from SoftTeco: the E-Health platform



In relation to the above mentioned features, we can mention one of our projects - the E-Health platform. 



The solution is aimed at providing patients with secondary medical opinions from professionals worldwide. All the patient has to do is to upload his or her medical records and vaccination records in the app and describe the symptoms. After that, the patient submits the information and receives professional advice and consultation from certified medics. As well, the specialists recommend the most suitable course of treatment and provide other useful recommendations.



When developing this solution, we made sure to include all the basic functionality and make the app as user-friendly as possible. The E-Health platform allows users to easily manage their documents and share them directly with medical specialists. As well, we equipped the product with a secure payment gateway and implemented seamless integration with the requested third-party services. 



As an outcome, the SoftTeco team developed a highly efficient platform for connecting patients and medics worldwide. Judging from our experience, we can say that the development of telemedicine applications requires a high level of expertise and a deep level of understanding of the users’ needs. Thus, if you have a similar project in mind, do not hesitate to contact us  - we will happily discuss your project and offer you a suitable solution in alignment with your business goals.

### Software Development Team Structure: Things To Consider

When a client wants to develop a software product, be it an enterprise-level system or a mobile app, he wishes for the tasks to be completed as fast and accurately as possible as time and budget are the primary points of concern. And what exactly impacts the quality of work? The answer is the development team.



The structure of a development team is one of the first things to think about when planning a software project development. Should you opt for a big team that might be hard to manage or choose a small team that may lack some critical skills? And is there the best possible number of people in a software development team?







SoftTeco has worked with both big and small projects and in this article, we share our thoughts on the process of assembling a perfect development team for your next project.



Outline the project goals and use them as a starting point



When planning a software project, the first thing that you need to consider is the definition of your business goals. Not only do these goals set the direction for the whole development process but they also give you an idea of who you need on the team in terms of experience and skills.



For example, if it is a big project from scratch, you will need not only the developers but also QA engineers, a designer, a project manager and other specialists if needed. If the project is relatively small or you just need to implement certain changes to an existing one, you will only need a specific set of skills and can assemble a small team that would consist of domain experts.



The definition of business goals helps not only to assemble the team but also outline the deadlines and get an idea of the needed resources such as the needed management tools. This, in turn, has an impact on budget planning and resource allocation.



Choose the right size and type of your team



As Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos once said, “if you can’t feed a team with two pizzas, the team is too big”. So a “two pizzas” rule became an informal standard of evaluating a sufficient team size.



The more people there are on a team, the harder it becomes to manage them, assign roles and responsibilities and keep the communication going in a seamless and transparent manner. On one hand, a big team means a diverse variety of skills and this is absolutely true. On the other hand, it is recommended to have either a single team of 5-8 people or assemble a big team and break it down into smaller sub-teams. Here are the pros and cons of each option.



A “generalist” team: one team for all tasks



A “generalist” team is a relatively small team (up to 8-10 people) that consists of different specialists and can manage only one project at a time. Due to a small number of people in a team, the “generalist” team is suitable for small or middle-size projects that do not require a big number of different specialists.



The pros of a “generalist” team are:




Clear structure,



Easy communication,



Transparency of processes,



Everyone is on the same page,



Easy management.




However, there are also certain cons to keep in mind:




A limited set of skills,



Possible issues with assigning requirements,



Not enough for complex projects.




Due to the team size, everyone on a “generalist” team understands what is currently going on in the project and who is responsible for what tasks. However, in such small teams, it is easy for the responsibilities to become somewhat blurry and unclear.



A “specialist” team: a one-dimensional squad



A “specialist” team consists of certain specialists (i.e. only front-end developers) that aim to solve specific task types. You can either break down a large team into smaller squads or assemble several “specialist” teams from the start. 



“Specialist” teams are great when you have a complex project that requires a variety of different skills. In this case, every sub-team works on a specific task and does not get distracted by other things.



Here are the advantages of a “specialist” team:




Strict focus on a specific area,



High level of expertise,



Availability of all the needed skills,



Exchange of knowledge and experience between team members.




As we mentioned above, the team’s size impacts the complexity of its management. Hence, “specialist” teams have the following cons:




Possible issues with communication due to a number of sub-teams,



More complex management,



Complex team structure.




A “specialist” team cannot solve the business goal of a project but rather aims to work on a specific project area. Despite the potential communication issues, such teams are a perfect solution for certain projects.



Team composition: the must-have roles



Once you decide on suitable team size, the next step is to determine what kind of specialists you need for a project.



On average, a software development team usually consists of the following specialists:




Project Manager



Team Lead



Business Analyst



Front-end developers



Back-end developers



QA engineer



UX/UI designer (if needed)




Of course, the number of people on the team can vary depending on the project scope and its complexity. As well, a common practice is to divide the development team into a front-end sub-team and back-end sub-team if the project involves a great number of software engineers.



Team management



While developers are the backbone of a team and are responsible for the realization of a client’s idea, a manager is a person who guarantees efficient work and adherence to the deadlines and budget. And here is where the opinions start to vary.



The biggest dilemma is probably whether you need a scrum master or a project manager on a team. We have already covered the topic in the past so we will just give you the main takeaways.



A scrum master is a person who makes sure the scrum practices are followed and understood by all team members. The main goal of a scrum master is to facilitate the work process, explain scrum to the team members and help them if needed. As well, a scrum master can manage the project requirements and backlog together with the product owner. So while a scrum master manages the team in a certain way, he is not responsible for the whole project in terms of budget or communication with the shareholders.



A project manager, on the other hand, is a more encompassing role. This person oversees the flow of the project, assigns the specialists to the tasks, manages the budget and deadlines, and negotiates with both shareholders and the team members.



So if we compare the two roles, we can say that a scrum master is a more narrow-focused role while a project manager has a wider and more general scope of responsibilities. Another important difference is that a scrum master role is applicable only to projects in scrum while a PM is relevant to any methodology. But the main idea is that every project needs a manager who will organize the workflow and ensure everyone is on the same page.



The importance of Business Analyst role



Any client wishes for a project to be completed in a timely manner and in full compliance with business goals and requirements. To ensure that, a project requires a Business Analyst who will take care of transforming the client’s ideas into clearly defined requirements.



A Business Analyst is responsible for understanding and defining the project goals and then transferring them to the team. In order to do that, the BA would conduct the analysis of a company and the desired product, analyze the competition and evaluate the market and the users’ demand for similar products. In this way, BA will help the client tailor the product to the needs of the target audience. 



Clearly defined tasks, in turn, help the client to better define the needed team structure, establish the project deadlines and allocate the budget. 



Side note: watch the organizational climate



One more thing that needs to be considered is the organizational climate - in simple terms, how well the employees get along. When assembling a team, make sure that there are no conflicts between the team members. Otherwise, that would lead to poor work quality, missed deadlines and numerous issues.



As well, constantly evaluate the team’s performance, conduct regular meetings and discuss the next steps and the ideas of team members on work optimization and improvement. Regular meetings with the team help to avoid potential issues with communication, contribute to resolving conflicts, and ensure everyone understands their tasks and remains on the same track. 



Final word



When approaching a software development company, try to outline the project goals and estimated requirements so that you and the manager can immediately start planning the necessary team size and composition. As well, remember that there is always more than one option in terms of choosing a development team for your project - for example, you can go with a “specialist” team and additionally hire a freelancer or assemble a full outsourced development team instead. In the end, the team composition will depend on the defined goals and your budget.

### The Best Practices On How to Build a Data Warehouse

The ability to collect, process, and analyze the data is a valuable asset that comes as a big competitive advantage. This is why companies need to build a data warehouse. A data warehouse helps keep all the data in one place in an organized manner and helps analyze it in order to extract useful insights.



In this article, we will have a look at the step-by-step process of building a data warehouse and its best practices.







Data warehouse: what is it?



A data warehouse is a system that stores all historical data from multiple sources and analyzes this data to provide valuable insights to all parties involved (company owners, different departments, etc.). This is actually the main difference between a data warehouse and a database since the database stores real-time data related to a particular area of your business.



There are several reasons how a data warehouse can benefit your organization:




Quick access to the needed data,



Fewer chances for errors and data inconsistency (since the data is processed automatically),



Easy data analysis via visualization,



A high level of security.




Even though a data warehouse seems to be a complex and comprehensive solution, its design process is actually quite simple. Below we listed down the essential steps to follow in order to create an efficient and high-performing data warehouse.



Define your business requirements



Each data warehouse is unique for every company. Why is that? Because data warehouses are built in correspondence with the business requirements.



Hence, before starting to plan the data warehouse design, the first thing you need to do is to define the business requirements for your specific company. Why do you really need a data warehouse, what kind of information do you need, and who will be using the data warehouse? These questions must be answered in order to understand the architecture of your future data warehouse and to manage the permission rights properly.



Some of the tips to help you during the requirement gathering stage:




Identify the departments that will work with the data and their goals,



Create a disaster recovery plan,



Think about all needed security layers,



Analyze your data needs and your current tech stack.




Set up separate physical environments



It’s a common thing for data warehouses to have three separate physical environments: for development, testing, and production. And there are several reasons to keep these environments separated:




With testing and production environments separated, it’s easier to test any changes.



Limited access to production data contributes to better security.



The workload on the production environment is usually bigger than in other environments.



It’s easier to track data integrity over three different environments.



Running tests can interfere with the environment performance so you need separate environments to avoid performance breakdowns in the production environment.




Remember that some companies prefer to have more than three environments and it’s completely okay - but these three are considered the core ones and should definitely be implemented.



Choose the right data modeling approach



When designing a data warehouse, you can go with the following approaches:




Top-down: a central repository is designed first and the data marts are created next.



Bottom-up: data marts are built first and are then combined to create a warehouse.



Hybrid: this approach recommends first creating a central repository in third normal form and then create several data marts in third normal form. In this way, dual modeling takes place.




Each approach has its pros and cons. For example, the top-down approach is recommended for those companies that wish to obtain a general picture of the business. As well, this approach provides flexible and integrated architecture. The bottom-up approach, in turn, is more suitable for those companies that wish to retrieve specific data first. This approach also puts emphasis on creating very user-friendly data structures.



Hence, we highly recommend studying the possible options and its pros and cons in order to choose the most suitable option.



Choose the proper ETL solution



ETL stands for Extract, Transfer, Load and is basically the main concept of data warehousing. First, the data needs to be extracted from the source, then it has to be transferred into the right format, and finally the data is loaded into the system. 



The good news is that there are plenty of available ETL tools out there that will significantly speed up the data processing and management. The bad news - some ETL tools deliver poor performance and can negatively impact the whole data warehouse performance.



When choosing an ETL solution, look for high speed, good visualization, and the creation of consistent data pipelines. In this way, you will ensure that the tool will contribute to efficient performance and not the other way around.



Data warehouse design: best practices



Opt for custom-made solutions



Even though there is a great number of one-stop solutions that promise a quick start and a rich variety of features, it’s always best to choose a custom solution. Why is that? 



First, a custom-made solution guarantees to cover all your business needs - while a generic solution is aimed at the most common needs that may not necessarily match your business goals. 



Second, as your business grows, your needs will expand and change too. However, not all one-stop solutions are scalable enough so it will result in critical issues in the future.



And finally, custom-made solutions guarantee 100% data ownership for you which may not be the case for some of the one-stop solutions.



Use specialized tools



While we recommend using custom solutions, it does not necessarily mean that you have to create everything from scratch. Specialized tools such as ETL tools do not only save a significant amount of time but also help produce faster and better results.



Mind though that such specialized tools should be used for certain purposes only. For example, if you have a classic three-layer data warehouse architecture, it is recommended to deploy a tool per layer. It is done in order to minimize further risks or issues. For example, if you have a tool that works on several different tasks (i.e. BI and data transformation) and if for some reason you decide to change your BO vendor, you will need to find a reliable and efficient alternative to the previous tool.



Pay attention to the reporting tools



The main purpose of creating a data warehouse is to provide data to different departments and this data should be presented in an understandable format. The thing is, most marketers or sales specialists are non-technical professionals so the data should be presented to them in a clear and useful manner.



Hence, you need to pay utter attention to the BI or reporting tools that you plan to use. Here are a few tips:




Think about who will be using the solution and how?



What kind of reporting format will you need?



What is the best solution you can get within the determined budget?




Thinking about data visualization is really important as data reporting is the whole point of establishing a robust data warehouse.



Don’t forget the after-deployment support



After-deployment support and maintenance are incredibly important so make sure you don’t forget about them! When your data warehouse is built and launched, take care of the following aspects:




Change management: educate and train your employees on how to use the data warehouse properly,



Establish clear data administration procedures,



Establish performance monitoring procedures,



Test the data warehouse performance in order to identify any weak or problem areas and prevent any issues.




Summing up



A data warehouse is a must for any company that wants to make data-driven decisions that will lead to further company growth and development. As already mentioned, a custom-made solution is a preferred option as it precisely covers all business needs of a company and is built with scalability and security in mind. As well, such a solution should be easily integrated with the needed third-party tools in order to achieve maximum efficiency.

### How to Find an App developer: Reviewing Available Options

Users love mobile, and that’s a fact. If a business does not have a mobile application, customers will most probably consider it outdated and turn to the competition instead.



Thus, the main point of concern for entrepreneurs is finding a reliable app developer who can provide them with an efficient and robust application. There are several options to choose from: hiring an in-house development team, hiring a freelancer, or hiring an outsourced development agency. We will review the pros and cons of each option so you can decide on the most suitable one for your project.







In-house development



An in-house development team consists of full-time employees who work in your company. Since in-house developers work side by side with other specialists, it enables close communication across the departments which is a big benefit for the project.



The pros of working with an in-house development team



Though an employer does have certain responsibilities when working with an in-house development team, such collaboration has several major benefits.



Better team management



When a team is in the same office as the employer, it becomes easier to manage it and communicate with it. A project manager can approach the team at any time and always be informed about the project status and details. As well, there are no communication lags or misunderstandings as everything can be discussed in person.



Increased loyalty



When a person becomes a member of a team, it increases their loyalty and interest towards the company due to the sense of involvement and belonging. Loyalty, in turn, is a powerful motivator that helps employees deliver better and high-quality results because the person is more engaged in a project on a personal level.



A better understanding of a project



The development of a good software product requires a good understanding of the brand, its values and the message that it communicates to the customers. Because the in-house development team works side by side with PR, marketing and design specialists, it will be easier for the developers to understand how the app should look, function and behave and what kind of users it targets.



The cons of working with an in-house development team



If you consider assembling an in-house development team, there are certain pitfalls that you need to be aware of in order to minimize the risks.



Extra expenses



Hiring an in-house team means you will have to pay taxes, provide vacation and medical insurance, pay for the paid leaves, pay for the rent of the office space and purchase the needed equipment. All these things must be considered in advance so you can allocate your budget correspondingly.



Productivity



Full-time work in the office implies that the employee will spend there at least eight hours - and you cannot expect anyone to work eight hours straight without making a break. One of the most common issues that many employers face is the employees getting too distracted by social media or colleagues. This, in turn, has a big impact on one productivity and work results.Limited skillset



When you assemble an in-house development team, you choose the development skills that are required for the current needs of a project. But what if you need a different skill set in the future or your budget does not allow hiring the needed specialists? This results in a limited skillset of the in-house team which may cause issues in the future.



In-house development: conclusion



Hiring an in-house development team is a good option if you have a long-term project in mind and plan to work on similar projects in the future. In this case, the investment into finding and assembling a team of developers will be fully compensated in the future. However, the in-house development teams often lack flexibility and you might need to hire a freelance specialist in case you need a different expertise in the future.



Freelance developers



Freelancers are remote developers who work as independent contractors. The biggest advantages of working with freelancers are their flexibility, access to the wide talent pool and relatively low rates.



The pros of working with freelance developers



While some business owners hesitate to work with freelancers, others recognize and enjoy all the benefits that collaboration with freelancers brings.



Flexibility



Freelancers are usually very flexible in terms of applying changes to a project or working on weekends or holidays because they create and manage their own schedule. This makes their approach to work very flexible and convenient and enables the client to change the project requirements on the go.



Wide talent pool



While in-house development means having a limited set of skills in a team, work with freelancers enables the employer to choose from an incredibly wide range of available skills. That means you can assemble a dream team of the specialists that you need at the current moment without paying any extra fees.



Low rates



The biggest advantage of freelance developers is that they normally charge less than in-house developers or outsourced agencies. And since the budget is the key point of consideration for many entrepreneurs, this is the reason they prefer working with freelancers.



The cons of working with freelance developers



As good as it sounds, working with freelance developers also has certain pitfalls that every business owner needs to know about.



Lack of loyalty



A freelancer often manages several projects simultaneously so you cannot expect a high level of loyalty for your specific company. While it does not affect the quality of work, some employers prefer their employees to display loyalty for the company so it might be an issue.



Low reliability



Another common issue that prevents many entrepreneurs from working with freelancers is a low level of reliability from the freelancers’ side. There is no 100% guarantee that a freelancer will not disappear or will deliver the required amount of work in time. Thus, one needs to be really careful when selecting from the possible options. It is recommended to look at the freelancer’s reputation and see the testimonials from the past clients.



Difficult management



Because freelancers work remotely, it can be really difficult to manage their work, especially if they are located in a different city or even country (in this case, there will be an issue with the time zone shifts). The inability to manage and monitor the freelancer’s work may lead to quality issues in the future and the necessity to add certain changes to the project which will bring extra costs.



Freelance developers: conclusion



Collaboration with freelance developers is a perfect option if you need to quickly complete a specific scope of work or need a certain set of skills for the project. Freelance developers are suitable for short-term projects with changing requirements due to their flexibility and availability.



Outsourced software development agency



Outsourced software development agency is a company that focuses on specific technologies and provides high-quality solutions in accordance with the project requirements. The core feature of an outsourced development agency is its level of expertise which is the reason why many entrepreneurs opt for hiring an outsourced development company.



The pros of working with an outsourced development agency



Outsourced development agencies provide several valuable benefits that no other option can offer.



Level of experience



In order to ensure seamless quality, outsourced development agencies usually have a very narrow focus on specific tools and technologies. Such an approach allows them to constantly master their skills which adds to the company’s reliability and reputation. As well, expert development companies usually have an extensive portfolio of successful projects which is also an indicator of their experience and quality of work.



Self-organization



One of the great things about outsourced development companies is that they are incredibly self-organized. They independently manage all development-related processes and do not require management from the client’s side. Another benefit is that such companies also have well-organized and transparent communication processes which enables the client to always be informed about the project and its status.



Flexibility



Finally, an outsourced agency is also very flexible in terms of work. That means, you can request the needed changes to a project at any time and be sure the agency will deliver them in an organized manner without affecting the project deadlines.



The cons of working with an outsourced development agency



Though an outsourced development company is a great option with many benefits, there are a few things to consider in advance in order to meet the set deadline and budget.



Hidden costs



Outsourcing implies paying not only for the developers (and other specialists) hourly rate but for some extra costs as well. Such costs may include the services of business analysts and project managers or the purchase of subscriptions and tools. While all of these expenses are needed, many business owners are not aware of them which often leads to misunderstandings in the future.



Communication issues



Another common issue when working with an outsourced company is communication management. Because the agency works in a different location (or even in a different country), a client cannot approach the team any time he wants. This, in turn, leads to such problems as misunderstandings, lack of information, missed deadlines, or unclear requirements. To avoid these issues and minimize the risks, it is recommended to organize the communication in advance and discuss such things as reporting frequency, communication channels, etc.



Quality-related risks



When working with a remote development team, there is always a possibility of poor code quality. In order to avoid the possible scammers or non-experienced developers, make sure to do the following:




Always ask for a portfolio,



Send a test task to check the code quality,



Reach out to the past clients and ask their opinion about the team,



Conduct a tech interview and hold a meeting with the team.




The main thing to keep in mind when choosing an outsourced development company - do not opt for the cheapest option. Do research, see the average hourly rates for different countries and choose your provider correspondingly.



Outsourced development agency: conclusion



Outsourced development companies take the best from both worlds (in-house development and freelance developers). Such agencies are flexible. highly experienced and reliable and some of them can offer additional services such as marketing. The rates of an outsourced agency can be rather high but in the end, you receive the second to none quality.



So which option should you choose for your project?



In order to help you decide, we will use a few factors to evaluate each option:




Price: the cheapest option is freelance development while in-house is the most expensive one. Outsourced development stands in between and many agencies offer relatively affordable pricing for their services.



Time: both outsourced agencies and freelancers can quickly deliver the needed result while in-house developers might need some time to switch between the projects.



Quality: due to a narrow focus on specific tools and technologies, outsourced agencies and freelancers tend to provide a high level of quality while in-house developers may not be so experienced or may lack certain skills that are needed for the project.




Judging from these factors and own experience, collaboration with an outsourced software development company is the most suitable option if you have a long-term project and need excellent quality but do not want to pay extra costs or be responsible for the team management. Working with freelancers is great for a short-term project when you need to quickly complete a certain task and hiring an in-house development team is recommended when you plan to constantly work on the software products and be fully responsible for the management and product control.



In general, an outsourced team is usually the best choice for developing a mobile application due to the work specifics and the team’s experience. An agency will provide full care of your app, from suggesting the most efficient solution to helping with its design and testing the application. In this way, you can be sure to receive a high quality product that will bring tangible benefits to your business.

### The Essentials of a Converting B2B Website Design

Judging by our experience from working with clients from various industries, we can confidently state that website design is one of the key elements that help attract and retain new customers. The product might be incredibly efficient or beneficial for the client but it’s the design that catches the attention and creates the first impression of the brand.



The biggest mistake that B2B entrepreneurs make is requesting a bland and characterless design in an attempt to make the website look more professional and persuading. But in reality, it’s the brand’s personality and seamless website appearance that make the customers want to explore the products and eventually complete a conversion.







Design in accordance with the user journey



The primary thing to keep in mind when working on the B2B website design is that you design for people. Thus, your first step would be to create a user persona and then outline the user journey in accordance with this persona.



By a user persona, we mean a fictional portrait of an ideal client that would most probably visit your website. It is also possible to have several user personas. In this case, you will need to think about the user journey for each of them.



One of the pitfalls that many entrepreneurs and designers fall for is the inability to differentiate between the lead generation and lead conversion. Lead generation is the process of acquiring new customers who have not yet heard of a brand while lead conversion is the process of actually converting the existing leads into the brand’s clients.



By understanding this difference, you will be able to map out your website more efficiently and achieve the set business goals instead of trying to do everything at once.



Facilitate navigation



In a survey held by HubSpot, 76% of the people said that ease of navigation was the most important factor for them in website design. Thus, you need to facilitate and optimize your navigation in order for the users to quickly find what they need.



Intuitive website design includes:




A rational number of categories or sectors (so the user does not get confused),



Relevant dropdowns,



The standard placing of common elements (i.e. a shopping cart in the upper right corner),



Correspondence of the design to the user flow,



Rational and relevant use of popups (so the user is not distracted).




B2B websites, in general, tend to be more professional-looking than B2C ones. Thus, it is recommended to keep it simple, uncluttered and self-explanatory so the user immediately understands your value proposition and quickly finds the needed information.



Add primary and secondary offers



The average visitor of a B2B website is not ready to buy right away due to the nature and the cost of a product offered. Thus, it is your goal to catch the user’s attention and initiate the interaction so the user gets involved with the product. For that, you can use primary and secondary offers.



A primary offer is usually a call-to-action that is aimed at making the user interact with you. This offer is almost impossible to resist as it proposes high value at a low (or zero) risk. An example would be a free audit of a website.



The secondary offer also provides great value to a user but in exchange for their contact information, like a phone number or an email address. You will be able to use this information to contact the person in the future. An example of a secondary offer would be a useful PDF, whitepaper, or similar type of information.



Creat visible and engaging CTAs



CTAs make the important information on your website stand out so you need to consider certain rules when designing the CTA buttons:




Placement: the higher the better. Do not “hide” the CTAs but also strike a balance and place them in accordance with the user’s viewpoint. 



Color: use a bright color that would contrast with the page’s main color so the CTA is visible. Note: use ghost buttons (aka buttons with transparent background) carefully. While some designers recommend avoiding them, others use these buttons as CTAs so test them and see what works best for your specific website.



Content: instead of using cliches (i.e. “Buy now!”), try personalizing the CTA message so it relates to the offered product. 




Make the contact information visible and clear 



Many B2B websites do not disclose the product pricing on the website but instead, offer the users to contact a sales representative to get more information. While it sounds reasonable, many entrepreneurs make a crucial mistake by overlooking the “Contact” section of the website and leaving the user confused and annoyed.



For the B2B segment, the contact page of a website is one of the most important. This page is a logical endpoint of a user journey and it converts the site users into leads. Here are a few things to watch for when optimizing the contact page:




Make it easy to find: a user should not roam the website in an attempt to find your phone or company address.



Offer a few contact options: add an email, a phone, messengers, and a contact form.



Add your social media buttons like LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook.




As well, you can place several Contact Us buttons across the website in case the user reads the product description and decides to get more information right away.



Ensure the content is top-quality



When it comes to website design, many people tend to forget that content is an integral part of it. As a result, they do not really pay attention to content quality which results in a stellar design combined with a floppy copy.



As Nigel Green said, your best sales rep ought to be your website”. And one of the key traits of a professional salesperson is the ability to persuade to buy and to outline all the values of a product in an engaging and informative manner. Thus, it is your primary objective to fill in your B2B website with relevant, informative, and valuable content.



The features of high-quality content include:




Lively style of writing: remember that professional tone does not equal dry,



Proven facts: do not use number one product descriptions unless you can prove them,



SEO-friendliness: it is obligatory to use relevant keywords in order for your website to be visible in search engines,



Unlocking of the key product features: their description should provide a solution to the user problem.




Optimize the website performance



B2B clients value their time. They come to a website for a specific purpose and expect to promptly find the needed information. So if your website takes more than 5 seconds to load, does not fully load the images, or gives an error to a user’s request, you might be in trouble.



Optimization of website performance is the number one thing to pay attention to. Some common pitfalls that many websites share are:




Too heavy images



Lack of caching



Unnecessary plugins, extensions, or even pieces of code,



Non-compressed files,



Poor hosting provider.




If your analytics shows a high bounce rate or a dropdown in the number of visitors, it would be a good idea to run a performance audit and fix the problem areas as soon as possible so they stop hurting the conversions.



Summary



The design of a B2B website is a perfect opportunity to visualize the core strengths and values of a brand and present it to potential customers in an engaging and appealing manner. However, the design process should be well-structured and thought out so one needs to invest a certain amount of time and effort into it.

### Android State Machine Pattern: Implementing State Machine Design Pattern in the Android Applications

While Android apps are mostly built by MVP (Model-Viewer-Presenter) or MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel) architectural patterns, state machines are something not many developers actually think of. However, the state machine design pattern brings far more benefits and make the application more predictable, easier to debug, and much more maintainable.



The implementation of a state machine in the Android application is actually easier than many may think. But in the end, it will provide you with a stable and high-performing application with great usability and easy maintenance.







What exactly is a state machine?



If we address the definition provided by Wikipedia and similar resources, we will learn that a state machine is a mathematical model of computation. It originates from computer science and its main purpose is reading a series of inputs and switching to different states after reading a new input.



A state machine consists of the following components:




State: basically a status of the machine. While being in a state, a machine waits for the event that will trigger a transition to a different state.



Event: the actual inputs that the machine reads. If we speak about a mobile application as an example, an event would be an action performed by the user.



Transition: the movement of the machine from one state to another after a certain event occurs.




We can describe the work of a state machine with the following pattern: a state machine is in a certain state, then it receives input and transitions to another state. Usually, the number of states is finite and this is what makes the machine predictable.



A good example of a state machine in a mobile application is a ride-sharing app. When the user launches the app, he sees a home screen with a map - this is the first state of the application. Once the user selects the destination, the app shows available ride options - this is another state. The app switched to it after receiving an input in the form of choosing and entering a destination.



The benefits of using state machine pattern in your mobile application



The deployment of a state machine allows developers to focus only on the configuration of states and transitions without digging into the “how” aspect of the process. In simpler words, once a developer configures the needed states and the conditions for the transitions, the work is done and the machine will function in accordance with the set conditions.



Such well-defined work ensures a high level of predictability and eliminates the possibility of any malfunctions since every action is predefined. As well, it allows developers to visualize the work and makes the whole system more transparent.



Other benefits of using state machines in mobile application development include:




Elimination of hard coding conditions in the code,



Easy tracking of the processes due to the finite number of states and machine’s predictability,



An option to isolate certain pieces of code due to the independency of every action,



High stability of the system.




However, it won’t be correct to list down the benefits and ignore the possible flaws of having a state machine in your application. Here are some of the disadvantages of this pattern:




Not very suitable for asynchronous execution,



Possibility to have complex code if several transitions are executed from one state,



Limited support from the community,



Tricky data management and storage,



A possibility to obtain your own persistence layer in order to load balance properly.




Building a state machine for Android app: the breakdown of the process



In order to clearly explain the step-by-step process of building a state machine-powered Android app, we will have a look at the most simplistic made-up example of an app with 3 screens only.



Let’s say that we want to build a planner where a user can see the upcoming events. The screens will be as following:




Home screen with a list of the upcoming events>



A screen where a user can choose a new event from the existing templates



A screen where a user can name the chosen event and submit it, thus, adding to the list on the home screen




Judging from the screens, a user will be able to take the following actions:




Click on “Add event” and switch from the home screen to the screen with the event templates



Choose a template and switch to a screen where the user can name the event and submit it



Name the event and submit it in order to get back to the home screen and see a renewed list of events




In order to make the whole machine work, here are the steps to follow.



Step 1: Define the states



Every screen of the application will have a State and we will have three states as a total: EventsList for the home screen, AddEvent for the screen with event selection and NameEvent for the screen where the user can name and submit the event.



Step 2: Define the actions



The next step is defining the actions that the users will take within the app. In this way, we will set up a certain pattern of behavior for the users which will contribute to the machine’s predictability and stability.



When on the home screen, the only action that the user can take is AddEventClicked Action. On the next screen, the user can select an event from the available templates so it will be EventSelected. Finally, the user can submit the new event and thus the action would be SubmitEventClicked.



Note: in state machine, an Action is not only the action by the user but it can also be a notification or a similar external event that can trigger the transition to another state.



Step 3: Connect the events with actions



Once you have a list of events and actions ready, it’s time to set up the equations and define the relations between them. At this stage, you define the user behavior patterns and give directions to the machine. Within our scenario, we will have the following equations:




EventList+ AddEventClicked = AddEvent



AddEvent + EventSelected = NameEvent



NameEvent+ SubmitEventClicked = EventList




In this way, we have built a framework for the state machine - now it is time to do the actual coding.



Step 4: Write a bit of code



For the sake of saving the space, we will not write the actual code but will outline the needed actions:




Create an interface for EventState in the state machine. Once this is done, every state with this interface will supply a new state after an action happens.



Model every Action as a sealed class. This is needed so we can use Kotlin when statement later.




Step 5: Implement the states and build the activity



For every state, you will need to create a class that implements the above-mentioned EventState. At this stage, you will specify what kind of action happens during each state, what the user sees at the screen (i.e. a list of events) and how the machine proceeds to the next state.



Be careful when writing logic for every state as the machine will work exactly as you define it. Once you define every state, you can connect the state machine to the Activity so it can independently carry out the needed tasks.



If you have a Model-View-Presenter architecture, you will need to write a contract in order for the View and Presenter to interact with each other. A contract specifies the way the two interfaces communicate and describes what kind of actions cause transitions to different states.



The trickiest part of designing a state machine is clearly defining all the intended states and events that will cause the machine’s transition. Otherwise, the actual implementation of this pattern is not very challenging but if done right, it will result in a very user-friendly and high-performing application that will also save you some time of coding.



SoftTeco’s real-life experience: building a state machine for an Android project



An example mentioned above describes a very abstract and simplistic state machine. In reality, a state machine for a mobile application is a complex and high-profile solution that demands careful maintenance and management.



We created a state machine for one of our projects which is a ride-sharing solution. While in the example above there are only three states and three actions, in reality, we got a complex tree of states that consists of more than dozens of states.



There is a base BaseState and we have several parent states such as IdleState or PickUpState. Each of these parent states corresponds to a screen a user sees upon performing a certain action. Next, every parent state has several child states that can be described as interstitial states between the primary transitions. For example, when choosing a destination, a user can check out the demand for the cars - and that would be a separate child state under the parent DestinationState (as an example).



The state tree is basically a state hierarchy: it allows us to easily switch between the states, see which state is the parent and which is the child one, and enables easy state and event monitoring and tracking. For every state, we write a set of events that can occur and we can also list down the restricted events.



Data storage in states and events



While some developers recommend decoupling the data storage from the state machine, our experience proves that this is the wrong decision that often leads to numerous issues. In fact, we prefer storing the data in states and events and here is why.



There must be one data source in order to ensure data veracity and stability. So if you isolate the data and store it elsewhere, this will result in confusion and possible bugs and errors as well as asynchronous operations. 



All data fields are stored in the BaseState and descend by inheritance. All parent states have a certain data set that remains the same for all the child states of a parent state. In this way, one state stores only the data that is needed for this specific state and this, in turn, facilitates data management and storage.



Unit testing for state machines



One of the greatest advantages of the state machines that we noticed throughout our work is the possibility to conduct automated unit testing of all the states and events (events and states are tested separately). For the states, we test the set parameters and whether they are maintained and for the events, we test whether the states support them and whether they are received or not.



With the state machine, we get 95%-100% test coverage which is really great. This is achieved due to the stable and clear architecture of a state machine - while many software projects with poor architecture and badly written code cannot be tested automatically and require manual testing. When everything is in one place and written in clumsy code, it becomes hard to test the product’s performance and dependencies.



Among other advantages of the state machine is its actual nature. A state machine is the data, not the data display - and that means, a developer can rewrite the state machine in another programming language in no time.



Speaking about the data, nothing except for events can change the data in the state. So when the event arrives in the event handler, we can easily monitor that and instantly perform any debugging or testing.



One more interesting thing that we have in our state machine is state history. When a mistake occurs (i.e. there are no available rides at the moment), a state history takes the user back to the latest state which is recovered with all the data saved.



And last but not least - we use annotations for code generation. That means, when we define how the events are supported in a state, we get automatically generated method stubs for events processing and method stubs for unit testing. This helps developers to ensure that they implemented all the needed features and did not leave anything behind.

### The Hidden Costs of Outsourcing that Every Client Needs to Know About

Outsourcing is a great practice that allows clients to get access to a wide talent pool and receive a high-quality software product at an affordable price. In order to retain a maximal value from the collaboration with an outsourced software development team, one needs to know not only about its benefits but also about the hidden costs that may come unexpectedly throughout the development process.







The cost of implementing changes



Unexpected changes in requirements are inevitable in any software project. There are just too many factors that impact their occurrence: the client’s change of mind, the decision of stakeholders, the possible changes in the market requirements, a need for additional features, etc. All that leads to the necessity to add extra features or change the existing ones - and this means additional costs.



Unfortunately, many clients overlook the real cost of such changes. Some of them think that the change implementation comes included in the project estimation or they do not understand the potential scope of work that is needed to add these changes.



In addition, any new thing that is proposed for inclusion in the project will most probably lead to the deadline shifts and confusion unless the change management process is organized correctly. This also needs to be considered when proposing any new features.



The key thing to remember: extra features equal extra resources and hours, hence, leading to higher development costs. This is one of the most important things to keep in mind when planning the development of a software project.



The value of business analysts, QA engineers, and Project Managers



When assembling an outsourced team, many clients overlook the importance of such roles as a business analyst, project manager, and even a QA engineer. Thus, when there appears a need for these specialists, a client may be surprised by an unexpected cost for their services. However, due to the value that each of these professionals brings to a project, it is recommended to plan the inclusion of these team members in advance and plan the budget correspondingly.



Quality Assurance



Any software project requires QA and testing. It is impossible to “create a project in such a way that everything functions perfectly”. There will always be human errors, minor bugs and other risk factors that will eventually impact the performance of a product.



This is why it is important to perform constant testing throughout the project development in order to ensure there are no bugs and everything functions in accordance with the requirements. As well, keep in mind that testing reveals not only issues with performance but also the product’s usability, its ability to cope with different load, and other important factors.



Business analyst and project manager



The work results of these managerial positions may not seem as tangible and visual as the developers’ work but that does not mean that you don’t need a BA and a PM.



A business analyst is a person who analyzes your project and its requirements and comes up with the most suitable and efficient solutions. Without a BA, it will be much harder to estimate the hours and deadlines and formulate business goals.



Aproject manager is responsible for managing the whole project, including the assignment of the right specialists to the right tasks, management of the budget and timeframes, seamless and transparent communication between the involved parties. Without proper project management and analysis, a client will most probably experience the following problems:




Misunderstanding with the team



Confusing requirements



Missed deadlines



Incorrect allocation of budget and resources




All this will inevitably lead to the growth of the final project cost so it will be a better decision to invest in knowledgeable specialists at the beginning in order to avoid serious issues in the future. Because these professionals take care of managing the requirements and watching the quality of the delivered results, their work will directly impact the compliance of the project with the deadlines and the level of the users’ satisfaction with the final product.



The cost of keeping the software product up to date throughout the development cycle



While the product is undergoing development, the updates of the OS or the development tools may be released. And that means you will need to update the product correspondingly so that it functions without any bugs or delays which is especially relevant for mobile and desktop products.



If the OS is updated, the app needs to be updated as well in order for it to run on all intended OS versions (as an example, different OS versions may have different requirements for the image dimensions). In the case of the development tools updates, you simply will not be able to work on an outdated product with new tools and this will result in multiple issues. Thus, when developing a software product, it is important to keep in mind the possible costs of future updates.



The dependency between the requirements and the cost



Project estimation depends solely on the client’s requirements. The clearer they are, the more precise the cost will be. And this is one common pitfall that many clients tend to ignore.



We already mentioned the importance of the business analyst. This specialist helps the client better formulate the requirements based on the analysis of the future project, its potential, strengths and weaknesses, competition, market demands, and other factors. Hence, the creation of clear project requirements is an absolute must if a client wants to receive an accurate estimation and get a clear understanding of future spendings. Otherwise, blurred requirements will lead to questions and issues throughout the development process, causing the BA to do the double work which, in turn, will increase the development costs.



The cost of the needed subscriptions and tools



One more thing that the clients need to remember about is the potential cost of the needed development tools (i.e.libraries) or the cost of any needed subscriptions like Apple.



In order to work in a faster and more efficient manner, developers use ready development tools like libraries and frameworks. While most of them are available for free, sometimes there might be a need to buy a certain tool to resolve a specific issue. Thus, a client should be ready to spend a bit of extra budget on the purchase of these tools or the necessary subscriptions (for example, publishing an app on the App Store implies an annual subscription of $99).



Summary



Outsourcing brings numerous benefits to clients, such as:




Access to the wide talent pool,



An opportunity to find a specific specialist for a particular task/project,



Affordable cost (cheaper than in-house development),



Flexibility and high quality of work.




Therefore, if you learn about the above-mentioned hidden costs and take the necessary preventative measures, you will be able to enjoy the benefits of working with an outsourced software development team and successfully bypass the potential risks at the same time.

### The difference between manual testing vs automated testing and the benefits of each

The testing of a software product is an absolute must. It helps identify whether the product functions as intended and whether it performs in accordance with the requirements and user needs.



Because software testing itself is a vast area, it is usually divided into two principal categories: manual and automated testing. Each has its pros and cons and most suitable use cases so it is important to differentiate between these methods in order to apply the needed one to your project.







Manual testing



As the name implies, this testing method is conducted manually by human testers with no use of automated scripts and tools. Though manual testing consumes quite a big amount of time, it is essential in certain use cases and demands a very good knowledge and experience from a tester.



Manual testing use cases



Manual testing is perfect for the projects at an initial stage of the development when the system is yet to be explored, understood and configured. In this way, a tester can manually test the product and point out the specific areas that call for improvement. This is part of the exploratory testing which is all about product discovery and learning about its features and functionality.



As well, manual testing is the only method to test and assess a product’s usability. Because manual testing is performed by a person, this person can assess the product from the user’s point of view and not only analyze its functioning but also evaluate its user-friendliness, ease of use, and similar aspects. This is usability testing, aimed at understanding if the product is intuitive and clear for the user.



Lastly, there is also ad-hoc testing which happens absolutely simultaneously with no preparation at all. This testing use case does not follow any guidelines or rules and sometimes allows to identify rather curious bugs that otherwise would have been left unnoticed.



Another case when manual testing is the method of choice is the lack of time and/or resources to write automated testing scripts. In this way, manual testing is a more time-saving method.



Manual testing types



Below are the testing types that are usually performed by a tester in a manual way:




Black box testing: a testing method when testers do not look at the internal code structure and test the functionality in a somewhat



White box testing: because in this method the testers interact with the code, they are required to have programming skills in order to create test cases.



Unit testing: testing a single unit (component) of a system



System testing: testing a complete system to evaluate whether it functions in accordance with the requirements.



Acceptance testing: this testing is performed at the pre-production stage and is aimed to validate the functioning of a product.




Automated testing



Automated testing means testing the product by special tools that run test scripts and generate results. This testing method does not need any testing done by a person as everything is performed by automated tools.



Due to automation of the process, automated testing requires significantly less time than manual testing and also tends to be more accurate as there is no chance of a human error in case of automated testing.



Automated testing vs testing automation



An important thing to remember is the difference between automated testing and testing automation. Many people mistakenly use the term “automation testing” when talking about the testing method but it’s not correct.




Automated testing is a process of testing software with automated tools.



Testing automation is a process of automating the tools for the further testing process.




Thus, if you want to compare manual testing with automated, do not use the term automation testing and use automated testing



Automated testing use cases



Automated testing is great for the systems that are already established and require regular testing by the same patterns. One of the most popular use cases for automated testing is regression testing.



Regression testing is performed after the system (and hence, the code) is slightly modified so testing is aimed at ensuring the system functions well after modification and there are no issues and bugs. Due to the high frequency of the code changes, manual testing is impossible for regression testing and automated testing allows to perform all the needed tests in a timely and regular manner.



Load testing is one more use case for automated testing. Load testing is aimed at analyzing the system performance during the normal and peak loads and is best executed by automated tools.



As well, the automated testing method is perfect for performance testing. In this case, automated tools analyze the system speed, responsiveness, and stability. Because performance testing implies the simulation of hundreds (or even more) of concurrent users using the system, it will be impossible to test it without automation.



Automated testing types



Automated testing is suitable for the following testing types:




System testing,



Unit testing



Acceptance testing.




As you can see, these testing types are the same as the ones for manual testing. So the choice of the right testing method will depend on the system’s complexity, timeframe, required frequency of testing, and budget.



Manual vs automated testing: the biggest differences



In order to capture the essence of both manual and automated testing and better understand the pros and cons of each, we will compare the two methods and see how they differ:




Accuracy: automated testing is more accurate and reliable due to the elimination of the human error factor.



Investment: automated testing demands higher investment due to the necessity of creating the testing tools.



Needed time: manual testing is more time-consuming than the automated one.



Exploratory testing: not possible with automated testing and possible with manual testing only.



User-friendliness: impossible to evaluate with automated testing, demands manual testing only.



Performance testing: not possible with manual testing.



Programming skills: required for automated testing, are not necessary for manual testing.




Which testing method should you choose for your project?



When choosing a suitable testing method, assess your project’s status (initial development stage or a well-established one), deadlines (whether you need to do the testing ASAP), and testing goals (usability, performance, system testing, etc.). Once you clearly outline the goals and requirements, you can easily choose a testing method that will allow you to achieve the desired results within a set timeframe and available resources.

### The Different Types of CRM: Choosing the Most Suitable One For Your Business

The different types of CRM: choosing the most suitable one for your business



The different types of CRM software: an overview of features and benefits



The ultimate goal of any business is to serve its customers and bring them the most relevant and valuable offers. While some companies prefer to take a guess, others make data-powered business decisions and automate the majority of the processes in order to provide prompt and customer-oriented service.



A customer relationship management system is a must-have tool for any business that wishes to grow, remain competitive and eliminate the guesswork from the business decisions. However, there are different types of CRM software so it’s important to differentiate between them in order to maximize its value and bring tangible benefits to your business.



What is CRM and why do you need it?



A CRM system is a tool that does a whole lot of useful functions and significantly facilitates the everyday activities of the marketing department and sales team. Due to the automation of processes, the CRM system enables the users to keep the focus on the most important information and operation, leaving minor or mundane tasks to the system. 



The key features of a CRM system are:




Automation of processes: i.e. automated follow-ups with no need to manually monitor the customer’s activity



Centralization of data: the system keeps all customer-related data in one place and displays it upon request



Tracking of processes: the system tracks customer’s activity and all interactions of an employee with the customer



Data analysis: analysis of the customer’s behavior and suggestions of the most efficient activities based on this data



Distribution of the data between the departments 




So how exactly does a CRM system optimize one’s business and make it more efficient? Let’s have a look.



Keeping everything in one place



It’s already hard enough to remember all the interactions that your sales rep had with a customer and to plan the time for a future follow-up (or a few). Imagine how harder it gets when you have hundreds of customers and each of them demands a timely follow-up, a provision with the necessary information or materials, or a change in a request. 



The CRM system automatically tracks the customer’s activity, notifies the employee whether it is time to call, follow-up, or send an email. As well, the system shows the customer’s status so the specialist can immediately understand at what sales stage the customer currently is. So in general, a CRM system provides an immediate and informative overview of a single customer and all past, present and future interactions.



Detailed analysis of the customers and their behavior



CRM systems are capable of tracking and analyzing the customers’ behavior (such as purchase history) and providing informative detailed reports. Such reports help the marketing and sales specialist to better understand how exactly the customers interact with the business, how they respond to the placed offers, the possible reasons for customer retention, and the biggest touchpoints. In this way, a company can provide a more relevant offer, which, in turn, leads to an increase in customer satisfaction.



Better organization of processes



When all the processes are automated and kept in one place, it becomes much easier to monitor them and to take action at the right time. The use of CRM enables the specialists to easily find the needed information, plan an action, see its efficiency and follow the best practices recommended by the system.



What are the different types of CRM systems?



Before talking about such Goliaths of the CRM world as Salesforce or SugarCRM, we need to talk about the three common types of CRM systems:




Operational



Analytical



Collaborative




Each serves a specific purpose and is suitable for specific business needs. It is important to differentiate between the three in order to find the most suitable solution for your business.



Operational CRM



Operational CRM is responsible for operations aka all the customers’ activities and interactions between the specialists and the customers. This CRM type automates and streamlines marketing and sales processes and helps provide a better customer experience.



Key features



Operational CRMs facilitate communication with the customer due to a number of features:




Tracking of all interactions and their centralization: the system provides a specialist with all the records about the past interactions notifies about the customer’s status, displays all customer-related information.



Scheduling of sales activities: this includes scheduled follow-ups, calls, and emails. The system can notify the specialist when it is time to contact the customer and suggest the best way to do so.



Optimization of marketing and sales processes: operational CRMs can automatically add new leads or prospects to the system, automatically contact them (after a certain action is taken), and identify the new possible leads. 



Better team management: in addition to the customer-related data, the system also stores the information about all the activities performed by the team. This helps managers monitor the team’s efficiency and analyze the actions.




Who should use it?



Operational CRMs are great for businesses that rely strongly on marketing and sales and have multiple complex processes going on. Because operational CRMs help streamline and automate the majority of the processes, they are suitable for almost any company and especially for the ones with a strong customer focus.



Analytical CRM



Analytical CRM focuses primarily on the data and provides users with deep insights into the efficiency of marketing campaigns, sales data, customer behavior and preferences, demographics, etc. The use of analytical CRM helps better understand the marketing and sales efforts, measure the customers’ response and align the strategy in correspondence with the collected data.



Key features



Here is all the data that analytical CRM takes care of:




Customer’s profile: analytical CRM provides an advanced look at the demographics of your customers, including their age, gender, location, occupation, etc. 



Insight on the products and efficiency of campaigns: the system users get access to the advanced reports on the efficiency of the marketing and sales campaigns, best-working ones, the most popular and the least popular products.



Employee performance: the system provides the data on the performance of the team members and allows to monitor it.



Data storage and integration: the system collects the data from different integrated sources, stores and processes it.



Data mining: the system automatically identifies certain patterns and provides clear reports on them. An example of such a pattern would be a record on the main reason for the customers’ dissatisfaction after analyzing all customers’ profiles.




Who should use it?



Companies with a data-driven approach that value metrics and want to make data-powered business decisions. As well, this type of CRM software is recommended to companies with a big data record so it might not be the best choice for startup and new businesses.



Collaborative CRM



Collaborative CRM helps share the information across the company’s departments and makes this information transparent and available to multiple users. With the help of a collaborative CRM system, users can get immediate access to the customer’s data and see all the past and present interactions.



Key features



Here is how collaborative CRM benefits the company:




Recording the method of communication preferred by the customer: allows specialists to contact the customer in a preferred way



Transparency of customer-related activities: every employee with access to the system can see the interactions with the customer and the current status of the deal



Improvement of the customer experience: with the help of the record on customer activities and interactions with the company, specialists can optimize their way of communication with the client and improve his experience



Centralization of data: this CRM type collects and unites all the data on customer’s behavior and activities, presenting it to specialists in a well-organized manner




Who should use it?



Collaborative CRM is perfect for companies with multiple departments or offices or if there is a need to share the information in a quick and efficient manner across multiple users.



How to choose the right CRM for your business



There is a big variety of CRM systems to choose from and it’s quite easy to get confused in all the options. Though the choice of CRM is individual for every company, we can give you a basic checklist that can serve as a starting point in the process of choosing your perfect software:




Define your business and goals: do you want to steadily grow through building customer loyalty or you need an explosion of growth? What do you plan to achieve with the CRM implementation? Based on the answers, you can have a look at different options.



Define who will be using the CRM. For example, if it’s only for marketing or sales purposes, then you can most probably exclude collaborative CRMs from your list.



Research the available options and create a list in accordance with the presented features and price.



Try different CRMs by requesting a trial in order to get a better understanding of the system and evaluate whether it is user-friendly and intuitive.




You need to clearly understand your goals and business objectives before implementing any new software. This will significantly narrow down your options and facilitate the search for the most suitable CRM.



What are the top 5 CRM systems for small and medium businesses?



To facilitate your search, we collected five CRM systems for small and medium businesses that combine advanced functionality with suitable pricing and easy navigation.



Zoho



Zoho CRM comes in different plans: Standard, Professional, Enterprise. Each plan has a different set of features, with the Enterprise plan being the most advanced. In this way, Zoho is suitable for business of any size and comes at an affordable price that starts with $12/month (Standard Plan). 



Among some of the most praised Zoho features are great ticketing, tracking of the customers’ activity, notifications, scheduling tools, different service automation options.



Agile CRM



Agile CRM is a great choice for small and medium businesses as it offers a Free plan (for 10 users) and affordable prices for other plans, like $8.99 for a Starter. 



Agile CRM has a strong focus on marketing and has quite impressive features, including 50+ plugins, drag-and-drop marketing automation, integration with the most popular third-party services (i.e. Google, Shopify), and gamification of the sales processes.



Hubspot



Probably one of the most well-known CRMs, Hubspot is a free tool designed specifically for small businesses. Hubspot covers marketing, sales, and services needs and provides all the basic features that help companies automate and streamline their processes.



In addition, Hubspot is easily integrated with Shopify and Salesforce and has an informative blog with useful tips on growing one’s business.



SugarCRM



SugarCRM is focused on customer experience and provides all the necessary features that help optimize and improve it. The system allows to map the customer journey, track all the interactions between the customer and your company (providing the interactions management feature), perform drag-and-drop automation of processes and more.



Though pricing might be a bit tricky and starts from $40/per user/per month (reaching $1000 per month for 10K contacts), SugarCRM is an efficient solution that can be quite affordable for small and medium businesses.



Salesforce 



Salesforce is one of the most well-known CRM systems out there and has a solution specifically for small businesses. Its Essentials plan starts from $25/month and is packed with all the essential customer relationship management features.



Salesforce is one of a few CRM tools that combine the features of analytical, collaborative and operational CRMs in one comprehensive solution. As well, Salesforce can be easily integrated with an array of third-party services.



Summing up



Apart from CRM integration, many companies often need additional services related to CRM. Judging from our experience, the most common requests include:




Integration of a CRM system with the existing or third-party software  



Development of an interface for a CRM-connected application



CRM fine-tuning




Thus, when choosing a CRM system, also pay attention to the ease of its integration with additional services and think about the possible future optimizations that will call for the help of experienced developers.

### How Long Does It Take to Develop a Mobile App?

Mobile applications help businesses enhance their digital presence and deliver a better experience to the clients. So the biggest question that entrepreneurs usually ask: how long does it take to develop a mobile application? 



There is no ultimate answer because the process of developing a mobile app depends on many factors that will be specific for every business. But if you know the main stages of the development process, it will be easier for you to estimate the approximate time needed to develop a suitable mobile application.







Differentiating between the app types



Mobile applications differ by their complexity and functionality so we can single out the three main types:




Small



Medium



Complex




If we take a social media app as an example, a small application will have a rather limited set of features like an option to create a profile, connect with people, a newsfeed, an option to post and share the news. A medium application may include integrated GPS, support of the device’s camera, an option to record videos. A complex app, in turn, will have diverse functionality, with advanced settings, personalized content, support of multiple languages, etc.



The complexity of the application directly impacts its cost and development time. Thus, companies need to consider what kind of an app would suit their business the best. A good option is to start with the MVP development in order to receive feedback from the users and assess the product performance. After successful MVP launch, a company can then gradually add more features to the product in accordance with the set goals.



Choosing the platform



Another thing to consider when developing a mobile application is choosing the right platform. Depending on your target audience and desired exposure, it will be either iOS, Android or cross-platform application. 



The platform choice impacts the development time and cost. It will obviously be cheaper and faster to write one app for one platform than create two apps for two platforms. Plus note that iOS development is usually faster due to the fact that all Apple products have practically the same hardware so one app will suit them all. In the case of Android, the diversity of devices and their hardware demand the creation of highly versatile Android apps that will run equally well across all the intended devices.



Another factor to keep in mind when choosing the platform is target audience. Users from different countries prefer different platforms (i.e. the USA loves Apple) so it’s important to do the target audience research before getting down to the application development.



Once you are clear with the app’s scale and platform, you can move on to the actual development and estimate how much time each stage requires.



Stage 1: Research



Research is crucial as it helps companies evaluate their ideas, analyze the competition and market and come up with unique product features that will make the app more competitive. Here are the questions to ask during this stage:




Who is your target audience?



What are your business goals?



What will your unique competitive advantage be?



What is something that your competition lacks and that you can propose?



What value will the app bring to the users?




At the research stage, you will need to invest quite a lot of time and effort into business analysis. Do not underestimate its importance: if you don’t know about the preferences of the target audience or if you develop a product that’s already in the market, it will bring you zero profit. At this stage, it is important to make sure that you will be offering the right product to the right audience.



Approximate time: from 1 - 2 weeks (small app) to 3 - 4 weeks (complex app).



Stage 2: Planning and scoping



Once you have researched the market and the target audience, you can start planning the functionality and design of the app. At this stage, you will closely collaborate with the development team in order to pass them the requirements for the project and ensure there are no misunderstandings. As well you will estimate the duration of the development process, negotiate on the reporting frequency and the development method (waterfall or Agile). It is important to clearly define the budget and the desired deadlines as well as establish solid communication processes so that everyone on the team stay on the same page.



Planning helps determine the features to include in the app and the desired layout. In order to exclude unnecessary features and ensure the app’s value for the users, it is recommended to write user stories. A user story is a description of an action that the app user will take. Writing of such stories helps the team see the possible user actions and come up with the best way to implement them.



Once the development team receives the requirements, it can move on to the next stage - the actual development.



Approximate time: 2 - 4 weeks.



Stage 3: Development



The quality of the code will impact the future app’s performance so it is vital for the entrepreneur to find a knowledgeable development company to work on the app. As well, it is always better when the company is capable of providing full-cycle development, including design, as it significantly reduces the development time and minimizes misunderstandings and delays.



Backend development 



Backend is the “invisible” part of the application as it is managed and can be seen by developers only. It is responsible for the functioning of the whole application and incorporates such processes as database management, business logic, API development, server-side logic, push notifications.



It is recommended to start with the backend development and then begin working on the frontend. And, since backend development can be rather cumbersome, many software development companies like Kinvey offer MBaaS, which stands for Mobile Backend as a Service. 



MBaaS providers offer developers a readymade backend for their mobile application via the available APIs and SDKs. So mobile developers only need to take care of the frontend while the backend part is ready and waits for integration with the frontend. Such an approach allows clients to save a significant amount of time and money by purchasing the available solution that will be 100% compatible with the designed frontend.   



Frontend development



The frontend is everything that the user sees and interacts with. It incorporates user interface and user experience, synchronization, caching, and wireframing.



The frontend is tightly linked to the backend so both development processes need to be performed simultaneously. The frontend is responsible for the user experience so it is crucial that developers ensure the seamless performance of the app and make it interactive and engaging. Despite the great idea behind the app, it may fail if the app’s appearance does not attract the users and vice versa: if the app looks great but does not provide the necessary functionality, the user will delete it and switch to the competitors.



Approximate time: from 6 - 7 weeks for small apps to 20 - 21 weeks for the complex ones.



Stage 4: Testing



Even though you might have a brilliant development team, you can never be 100% sure about the absence of bugs, errors, or mistakes. Thus, another crucial part of the app development process is testing.



A 360-degree mobile app testing includes the following stages:




Functional testing



Security testing



Usability testing



Network connectivity



Compatibility with devices



Performance testing



Testing of interruptions by third parties




In this way, the QA engineers can ensure that the app performs equally well under different conditions, like loss of connection to the Internet, incoming calls, etc. 



Approximate time: from 1 to 3 weeks.



Stage 5: Release



The release is the most exciting part of mobile app development but there are still many things to be taken into consideration.



First, you need to learn the guidelines by either Apple or Google on the app submission to the store. Both companies have different rules and provide useful and clear documentation for developers and entrepreneurs.



Second, make sure you have a solid marketing and PR strategy. It is recommended to start working on marketing in advance so by the time the application is ready, users are already aware of it. 



Finally, before the release, it is obligatory to perform beta-testing to ensure the app runs smoothly and does not have any bugs.



Approximate time: about 1 week



To sum up, mobile application development includes many intricate processes that have to be treated with professionalism and experience from the developers’ side. If you do not have a robust in-house development team, pay attention to the outsourced development companies. From our own experience, such a collaboration is more cost-efficient yet it guarantees high results that correspond to the set expectations and business goals.



SoftTeco has developed over dozens of mobile applications for clients from the most various industries. Contact us to learn what we can offer specifically for your mobile project.

### 5 Things to Ask About Before Funding an App

What every investor needs to know about the project before funding it



The rapid development of an IT industry leads to hundreds of innovative software products appearing on a regular basis. This is especially true for the mobile application industry since mobile is growing exponentially and almost every business these days has its own app. For investors, that means that if you invest in the right product at the right time, chances are high it will bring you numerous benefits in the future. 



However, investment in mobile applications can be quite risky as there are several major pitfalls that should be taken into consideration. We listed down the obligatory questions to ask before finding a mobile app.







Is there a detailed business plan?



A business plan is a must for absolutely every company. It serves as a guideline for the development, helps allocate resources, align the strategy, and ensure the product meets the set business objectives.



So naturally, an investor would like to learn whether the startup has a ready and detailed business plan that includes the competition analysis, market research, product evaluation, and allocation of resources. As well, the business plan should state the company’s mission and goals and showcase the unique competitive advantages that will gain users’ interest. 



By seeing a business plan, an investor can better understand how the startup will allocate his money and what it will be spent on. However, watch for the business plan to be realistic. Inflated expectations from the entrepreneur’s side will lead to major problems in the future. So it’s better if a business plan looks convincing with the help of realistic (even though not very big) numbers rather than having bloated figures that will be impossible to achieve.



Who is the management team?



One of the first things that an investor would probably like to know is the composition of the management team. Some founders may have an already known record of success and thus, it will add to the startup’s reliability and potential from the start. As well, the investor will be able to assess the team’s knowledge and skills and see whether the team members have all the needed experience. In most cases, investors research the founders and their previous business so they can predict the product’s success right away.



Another important thing to look at here is the team’s passion and enthusiasm for the product. It is important that the founder is not a “money-maker” but a person who is genuinely interested in the product and wishes to develop and launch it. This will not only contribute to the app’s future success but will also make the investors more confident.



Who is developing the product?



The quality of the product and its future success heavily depend on the development team and its level of expertise. If the developers are not professional enough, this will result in a poor product performance, low usability and low level of interest from the users. It is therefore crucial that the startup has qualified developers who can create a product that fully corresponds to the business requirements and user needs.



As well, keep in mind that the product will grow and expand its functionality so developers will have to build a scalable solution and support it in the future. This, as well, depends on the team’s skills and experience in creating such products.



A startup may either have an in-house development team or work with an outsourced team of developers. While both options have their pros and cons, more and more companies prefer working with the outsourced developers as such collaboration comes at a lower cost but delivers excellent results in terms of quality. SoftTeco, for example, has rich experience in building mobile applications for clients from different domains and every time we delivered the same high quality of the product. Judging from our experience, work with an outsourcing company allows the client to focus on business goals and product realization with no need to worry about technical aspects and similar issues.



Is there any positive early traction?



Early traction means the first wave of users and can be measured by a certain success that the startup obtained with the help of these first customers. Examples of early traction include:




User reviews (testimonials, feedback)



Pilot users



MVP (or released beta version)



Partnerships with trustworthy partners




Early traction is a good indicator of the product value. If the users got interested in the product during its development stage, chances are high the product will become a success and will bring value to the users. This, in turn, is another factor that impacts the investor’s decision on whether to fund this app or not.



What do metrics say and are there any financial forecasts?



As an investor, look for metrics-driven founders who truly understand their business and can explain its value in numbers. If a person can draw financial forecasts, estimate customer churn and knows the basic metrics (customer acquisition rate, customer retention rate, monthly recurring revenue, etc.), you will immediately get a clear sense that the entrepreneur knows what they talk about.



To assess a startup, investors can use the unit economics approach. Unit economics implies the evaluation of a company and its potential profitability based on the units (i.e. a customer or a transaction). Because a startup cannot display general positive metrics, the unit economics model helps investors evaluate whether it will bring profit in the future. So for startups, positive unit economics metrics are something they need to strive to achieve. 



Overall, building financial forecasts does not only impact the investor’s decision but helps the founders reasonably evaluate the business, align the development strategy and consider all possible risks and pitfalls in order to avoid them.



Summary



When assessing a mobile application, look for a unique and valuable idea that has potential. Although all entrepreneurs claim their idea is the “next big thing”, you can easily see whether it’s true or not judging by the level of professionalism of the management team. 



A startup that prepared a business plan, took its time to work with numbers and realistically analyzes the competition and the market has high chances for success especially if it is backed by an experienced development team that has rich experience in building scalable mobile applications.

### Best of SoftTeco Clutch Reviews

Reviews of SoftTeco by Clutch: the Most Interesting Cases



With over 20 years of experience in the IT industry, SoftTeco creates software products for clients from various domains. Even though every project differs in terms of size and complexity, our team consistently delivers high quality of the products and helps clients achieve their business goals. We are glad to contribute to the development of the clients’ business with our products and are honored to be recognized and trusted by the industry leaders. 



Due to the successful completion of the project, our company received numerous positive reviews on Clutch that we would like to share with you. Below are the reviews on three completely different projects and all of them are positive which is a great indicator of SoftTeco quality of work.



Review #1: a comprehensive Business Intelligence solution



The client worked on a SaaS BI solution and needed an experienced team to take over the admin panel development and assist with the project. Because the product is incredibly comprehensive, the client had certain issues with development capacity and thus contacted SoftTeco for help.



Our team was fully responsible for admin panel development. We created the user-management portal in HTML5 and the admin functionality to enable the panel users to create their own workflows. After successfully implementing the panel, SoftTeco started working on the graphical editors for the workflows.



The client was especially impressed by SoftTeco’s experience in terms of project management and by the team’s dedication and enthusiasm: “They hold themselves accountable and truly take ownership of the work despite being an external partner. It would have been easier for them to just sit and wait until something happened, but they’ve kept pushing in an aggressive and proactive manner. The sense of dedication makes them feel like a real part of our team and business”. 



SoftTeco continues to work on the project and is proud to be part of such a product. Read the full review here.



Review #2: mobile and web app development



The client works with several startups and assists them with software development services. When one of the startups required the development of mobile and web applications, the client chose SoftTeco as the service provider.



SoftTeco team created a custom solution atop the existing one and ensured that the application had all the required functionality. In addition, the team managed to deliver the product in four months only. 



Apart from this project, SoftTeco continued working with the client on the numerous projects and for all of them, delivered excellent quality within a stated period of time. The client trusted us with so many projects due to SoftTeco technical competency and was impressed with our experience and level of skills. As the client said: “ I couldn’t justify moving to another team because SoftTeco was performing so well and deserved our business”.



For SoftTeco, collaboration with the client has been a great experience and an excellent chance to showcase our skills and knowledge. We look forward to more mutual projects and are glad to leave such a good impression of our work. Read the full review here. 



Review #3: cross-platform mobile application



 SoftTeco is responsible for developing an award-winning mobile application for the client from Saudi Arabia. The application runs on iOS, Android and Blackberry platforms and received very positive feedback from the users.



The client needed a reliable development company to create an efficient mobile application with the use of the latest technologies, like voice recognition. He chose SoftTeco due to our proven record of experience in mobile app development and deep knowledge of the latest and most efficient technologies.



As a result of our collaboration, the client received a high performing mobile application with integrated GPS, voice search, direct calling, and coupon functionality. The client noted the quality of SoftTeco’s work and was greatly satisfied with the product. SoftTeco, in turn, is happy to work on such projects as they bring value for both our clients and the end-users. Read the full review here.



Summary



SoftTeco is immensely honored to be part of the amazing projects that bring value to the users and help clients optimize and leverage their business processes. With every project, we get new valuable experience and thus continue growing in a steady manner with the aim to deliver one-of-a-kind quality of products. 

### Business Analysis of a New Product: Understanding the Process

The development of a new software product can be rather complex and involve dozens of processes, with each process having a huge impact on the final result. And the first stage in developing a fully functioning product that corresponds to the client’s requirements is business analysis.



Business analysis refers to the stage of the new product development process. It is usually the first stage to complete as such an analysis helps clarify the project requirements, establish the budget and deadlines, define the project scope and come up with the best way to implement the client’s idea. 



Business analysis is a comprehensive process that contains many steps. Even though different software development companies have their own set of practices regarding business analysis, there are a few basic steps that can serve as canvas and help you make sure nothing important is missed.







Step 1: Learn the project’s background



When a business analyst meets with the client for the first time, he will not ask about the project goals and tech stack right away. The first thing an analyst will learn about is the project background.



At this stage, the analyst will probably ask the following questions:




What is the project’s domain?



What is the state of the project: is it brand-new or is there any work that is already done?



Are there any systems that are implemented in the project (or need to be)?



What is the client’s request?




The analyst may also use Porter’s Five Forces framework to determine the possible impact on the project by such factors as current competition, new entrants, buyers, suppliers, substitutes (similar to SWOT analysis). 



The collection of information is vital because it helps the analyst better understand at what stage the project currently is and what kind of work needs to be done. 



Step 2: Determine business objectives and project goals



Every software product is based on a business objective and every product has a goal. So once the analyst learns about the project, the next important thing to determine is the actual business objective.



A business objective is basically a result that the client wants to achieve. The first question to ask at this stage: why do you need this project? Is it to grow revenue, attract users, improve the existing system or anything else?



To better understand the business objective and the general goal of the project, it is recommended to interview the stakeholders. Stakeholders are all the people involved in the project that have a certain impact on it. Stakeholders may be product owners, managers, users, domain experts, suppliers, partners, and even competitors. 



When interviewing the stakeholders, the business analyst learns more information about the project (i.e. milestones, estimated scope and deadlines, preferences on workflow, possible constraints). This information, added to the determined business objective, helps the business analyst see the project in more detail and learn some important facts about it.



Step 3: List down the possible options



Depending on the current project state and business objective, the analyst will then need to list down the possible options for the client to choose from. These options will depend on the project state and its needs.



It may be:




Customization



Development from scratch



Integration with a third-party system



Other option




At this stage, the business analyst will most probably start discussing the budget, deadlines, and feasibility. The choice of the most suitable option is important because the analyst will base the proposal upon it. As well, depending on the chosen option, the analyst will also be able to plan further work and allocate resources and budget.



Step 4: Outline the project scope



The project scope includes the negotiated goals, deliverables, deadlines, budgets and tasks. It can be called a summary of all the information that the business analyst received and it will further be used as a guideline for the project development.



Business analysts may use the SMART concept to see whether the project scope was efficiently defined: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bounded. As you see, all these features can serve as KPIs to track and monitor the project’s state during the development process.



Alongside the project scope, the business analyst will also prepare and present a delivery plan to the client. 



Step 5: Collect the requirements for the development team



Once the project goals, budget, and deadlines are defined, the business analyst will get down to more specific things which are requirements for the development team.



As we mentioned above, the interview with the stakeholders often helps to learn about certain project requirements so this is a step that should not be missed. In general, project requirements are usually divided into functional (use cases, prototypes, wireframes) and non-functional (scalability, security) ones. When collecting the project requirements, the analyst will also write project specifications that will serve as guidelines for developers.



At this stage, it is important to decide whether to develop the project by waterfall or Agile methodology. Both have their pros and cons and it really depends on the project and its scope. A professional business analyst will be able to recommend you the best option for your specific project.



Step 6: Negotiate on communication methods and reporting



Any client wants to know what’s going on with the project at every stage of its development. To keep the client informed and ensure everyone on the team is on the same track, the business analyst will need to negotiate on the methods of communication and reporting. It is especially important for the clients that work with the outsourced development companies.



Clear communication and established reporting hours, frequency and methods. In this way, a client will always know when to expect the results and the team will be able to plan work correspondingly. In Agile development, a team usually works by sprints but the business analyst can still suggest additional ways of monitoring the project status.



Step 7: Support and manage project implementation



Once the project gets going, the business analyst will continue to work on it. At this stage, the analyst’s task is to ensure that the technical implementation corresponds to the requirements. As well, the analyst closely communications with the QA team to make sure the product is tested as needed. 



Software development is very flexible and there are always some changes that appear during the development process. So the business analyst has to keep his finger on the pulse to timely inform the developers about any changes needed.



Conclusion



Business analysis plays a significant role in the project’s success and quality. Business analysts work with documentation, translate the client’s requirements to the development team and assess the project to provide the client with the most suitable solution.



SoftTeco firmly believes that business analysis is an integral part of project success. It does not only facilitate the work of our development team but helps keep our clients satisfied with the delivered results.

### User Stories vs Use Cases for Agile Development

Agile development is all about adapting to the changes and keeping the client’s needs in the first place. It includes many frameworks and practices that are aimed at facilitating the development process (i.e. the well-known SCRUM) and clarifying the client’s requirements.



User stories and use cases are among the tools that help the developers deliver the expected results and make sure they correspond to the requirements. However, these tools often get confused or misused and, instead of the value, they bring additional problems to the development process. 







As a company that actively works by Agile, SoftTeco will explain the difference between user stories versus use cases and will clarify when and how they should be used.



What is a user story?



In simple words, a user story is a short description of an action that the user will take on the website or in the application. It is also called a scenario as it displays the intended user’s journey – but not the whole one. A user story is basically a step in the user journey and all user stories are independent.



User stories are written in simple and understandable language with no technical phrases and consist of:




The user: the person who performs the action



The action



The value: the reason for the user to perform the abovementioned action




If we take a mobile banking app as an example, it could feature the following user story: as a user, I want to pay my mobile bills online to save time. In this example, the user is the physical person, the action is the option to pay the bills via the mobile app and the value is that the user can do it in mere minutes from any place, without going to the office of the mobile service provider.



There is a concept of INVEST that is considered a must-have attribute for every user story. INVEST stands for: Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, Testable. These are all the features that a good and efficient user story should have.



The main goal of a user story is to help the client better communicate his ideas and requirements to the development team. As well, the user stories help the team understand the client’s vision, outline the desired functionality and ensure it works as intended.



To write a good user story, you need to do the following:




Define the target audience and the possible needs



Define the possible actions that the users will take during the interaction with a product



Come up with a few options of the best implementations of the actions




Now that the concept of user stories seems clear, we can move to use cases and see what this tool is about.



What is a use case?



While a user story is a definition of a certain user’s goal, a use case describes how the user will achieve this goal. A basic use case model has an actor (the performer of the action) and the use case itself (the steps that the user takes to complete an action). 



However, use cases are usually written in a more descriptive manner. A detailed use case may contain:




a summary (the action itself)



a rationale (why the action happens and what the previous actions were)



users (action performers)



a primary course of the event and the alternative courses of the event. 




The alternative paths are needed to fully understand the user’s actions and consider all the potential actions too.



Same as user stories, use cases need to be written in plain and clear language. The main goal of this tool is to explain how exactly the user will perform an action and give developers certain guidelines to follow.



Comparing a user story and a use case



Though these two tools are independent and different, we can still compare use cases versus user stories for better understanding and clarification.




Main point: a user story is about the user’s needs while a use case is about the user’s behavior.



Complexity: a user story is less complex as it’s a simple description of a single user need. A use case, on the contrary, is more comprehensive and detailed.



Content: a user story describes one action only while the use case incorporates primary and alternative actions.




It is important to understand that the user story and the use case are not interchangeable. And there is actually a bit of controversy about using these tools for the project.



While some development teams use either user stories or use cases, others claim that it is essential to use both. Judging from our point of view and experience, we can say that it really depends. Some projects need user stories only while other, more complex ones, would demand the use of both user stories and use cases. 



Do you actually need Agile?



Sure, many companies work by Agile methodology – but does your company actually need to adopt it?



It all depends on the current state of a company and whether there are any issues that you wish to fix. For example, the top three reasons why companies switched to Agile include the wish to accelerate software delivery, enhance the ability to manage changing priorities, and wish to increase productivity, according to DZone.



As you can see, all three are quite common for the majority of software development companies and all three can be fixed by switching to Agile. However, there is a trap in this transition. 



If you adopt Agile only because it’s trending, do not understand its core values, do not provide any training or education, then Agile will do more harm than good. As well, some projects cannot be broken into chunks so Agile will not be applicable for them either.



SoftTeco has been successfully working with both Agile and Waterfall methodologies. What we can say from our experience: estimate the project and identify the main pain points. It may turn out that it will be more cost-saving to actually work by the waterfall. The main thing to keep in mind is the project’s success and timely delivery of the expected results to the client.

### Pitfalls in Software Development Outsourcing

Software development outsourcing has become a common practice in recent years. An experienced and knowledgeable outsourcing partner brings numerous benefits to the client, including access to a wide talent pool, high quality of services, and an opportunity to save the budget.



At the same time, there are several hidden rocks in software development outsourcing that not all clients are aware of. The pitfalls that should be carefully explored before outsourcing include issues with communication and project management, differences in cultures and time zone shifts and others. To help you prevent such situations, we collected the biggest pitfalls that software development outsourcing hides and recommendations on successfully preventing them.



Below you will see the biggest pitfalls that outsourced software development may bring. However, do not perceive them as cons but rather as potential risks that may occur.







Communication issues



Communication is the cornerstone of project success. It all starts with requirements specifications and, throughout the development process, communication helps both parties (the client and the development team) stay on the same track and ensure that they share the same vision.



The biggest issue with outsourcing the development team is the potential risk of poor communication and hence, problems on the software project. While you can approach your in-house development team at any time, things are different with the outsourced team. There may be different time zones, the team members may not be available at the time you need it, or there are issues with an Internet connection and you cannot get in touch when you need it. All that may result in missed deadlines, unclear requirements, and misunderstandings.



It is, therefore, critical to establish reliable communication practices and follow them. This includes negotiation on the preferred method of communication, frequency of reports on the project status, etc. As well, it is recommended to have a Project Manager on every project to ensure there is always a person who knows all project aspects and can be reached at the bespoken time.



Differences in time zones and/or culture



Outsourcing implies hiring specialists from a different country. So if we were to explain the ethical pitfalls, this would include the potential problem with the culture of an outsourced team that may drastically differ from yours. And don’t forget about the time zone shifts either.



Time zone shifts may be a problem if you want to contact your team at any time or there are some emergencies that need to be resolved as soon as possible. However, if your communication processes are well-aligned and organized (as discussed in the point above), the time zone shifts should not be a problem.



Things are a bit more complex with cultural differences. Different cultures have a specific attitude towards work. A five-minute delay in the Skype call may incredibly annoy the client but will be absolutely normal for the development team. 



Therefore, when looking for an outsourced development team, it is important to select the developers with the attitude towards work that is similar to the one of a client. Otherwise, there will constantly appear minor issues regarding the deadlines and quality of work that will inevitably lead to project failure in the future.



Risk of poor code quality



The project's success greatly depends on the code quality. Sloppy code will not only prolong the estimated deadline but will also result in bugs and product malfunctioning. As a result, the project fails and the client loses time and money. Unfortunately, poor code quality is among the pitfalls of outsourcing programmers.



While the client can constantly monitor and check the code quality of your in-house developers, the process becomes more complex when working with an outsourced team. It’s the first time that you work with these developers and you have not checked their code quality before. So there are very vague guarantees that the code quality will be sufficient for your requirements.



One can estimate code quality by seeing how many bugs there are, whether other developers can easily understand the code, whether it is neat and well-written. To prevent unpleasant surprises after starting the actual work, it is recommended to give a test task to the potential outsourced team and hold a technical interview to check whether skills and knowledge correspond to your requirements. As well, do not forget to regularly perform quality assurance tests to see if software matches the requirements.



Lack of quality monitoring



The quality of the project depends not only on the code but on other factors as well. Timely testing, proper development methodology, and availability of clear software requirements specifications heavily impact the quality of the final product.



When working with an outsourced team, it is relatively easy to fall for the promise of the team to deliver the result and patiently wait for it with no monitoring. This is quite a common mistake that should be avoided at all costs.



It is recommended to work by Agile methodology in order to timely implement any needed changes, constantly monitor the project status and ensure that at every stage the product performs as intended. As well, make sure to perform 360-degree testing and code review and do not forget about the project management tools that facilitate the project management process.



No groundwork



Before starting any new initiative, like a long-term collaboration with an outsourced development team, it is an absolute must to prepare for it. Preparation may include research of the company’s current status and its processes, market research, writing of the specifications, the definition of business goals, etc.  



When a company approaches an outsourced development team with a ready list of business goals and the issues to be resolved, the future collaboration will bring benefits to both parties. But if you are trying to cut down the development costs and this is the only reason you chose outsourced software development, the results may disappoint you.



Conclusion



Outsourced software development is a practice that needs to be approached carefully. On one hand, there are significant benefits that such work brings to the software development projects. At the same time, if the client ignores the offshore outsourcing pitfalls described above, this development method will not only shift the project deadlines but can mess it up so bad it will take a lot of time and resources to recover. Add to that the possible pitfalls in software development company infrastructure and the results will be disastrous.



However, a professional outsourced company knows about these possible risks and takes initiative in preventing them. In SoftTeco, for example, we always suggest a certain plan to the client after carefully studying their request. In this way, we ensure that there is no clash of opinions and that the team understood everything in the right way.

### AI for Credit Scoring: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Artificial Intelligence for Credit Scoring 



The financial industry is known to be quite a conservative one. Companies have been using traditional scoring methods for decades and remain quite hesitant about any innovations.



However, numbers state that it’s time for a change. Even the slightest mistake in the data can lead to huge consequences. In 2016, an Asia-Pacific bank lost $4 million - all due to some data-entry errors.



As well, traditional scoring limits the opportunity to apply for credit for a vast number of people, like people of color, young adults, etc. Such a biased approach towards credit scoring led to the FinTech companies developing innovative AI-powered solutions that are designed to minimize the scoring bias, lower the number of bad credits and increase the acceptance rate.







But, like any innovation, AI in credit scoring has both pros and cons. We will have a look at both and see how this technology slowly transforms the prudent industry of finances.



The good: benefits of using AI for credit scoring



As mentioned above, one of the biggest problems of traditional scoring methods is biased results.



There are certain standards that have always been defining trustworthy credit borrowers: gender, age, occupation, average income, etc. However, as credit companies continue seeing a high rate of bad loans, it becomes clear that this data is not enough. This is where AI steps in and offers a brand-new approach towards scoring.



Artificial Intelligence technology is capable of analyzing and processing massive data sets and identifying hidden and non-obvious patterns that may actually serve as a decisive factor upon granting a credit. Due to this capability, AI can use much more diverse data for the analysis. For example, AI-powered scoring tools can analyze one’s social media data to form a decision about granting credit.



Such an alternative approach towards lending empowers more people to actually receive credit and improve their credit record. At the same time, the increased accuracy of defining trustworthy borrowers will lower the risks for the credit companies and will let them make data-based and better decisions.



In addition, AI in credit scoring can help to identify the fraudulent behavior and thus, minimize the potential risks and save the company’s revenue.



The bad: the “black box” problem



While AI, indeed, can become a great aid for many financial companies, it also brings certain controversy in terms of data privacy and transparency.



Last year went under the GDPR sign. The EU General Data Protection Regulation states: “You have to explain how you process data in “a concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible form, using clear and plain language”.



In other words, every person has the right to demand an explanation of how personal data is collected and processes and the purposes for using it. But how does one explain the processes inside an ML model?



The “black box” problem is the inability to explain how exactly the Machine Learning model determines the creditworthiness of a borrower and decides who is reliable enough. This brings an array of questions: should we make simpler ML models that can be easily explained but sacrifice results accuracy? Is it possible to design a model that would be 100% GDPR compliant?



While many ML models are yet to be optimized in order to become more transparent, there are already some practices that ML engineers should follow to make their products more GDPR-compliant:



1) Describe and document every process2) Identify all the measures used for risk management3) Assess all the possible risks (i.e. the right to privacy)



As well, all AI products related to data collection and processing should be made in collaboration with data protection experts to ensure product reliability from the very start.



The ugly: biased decisions



Another big problem of AI-powered solutions for credit scoring is biased results.



On one hand, this statement seems irrational. If Artificial Intelligence can make more accurate and precise decisions, it should mean that they eliminate bias, isn’t that right?



On the other hand, AI models make these decisions based on the data that is “fed” to them. And this data consists of decisions that were made by people - and, most of the time, these decisions were biased. In addition, people set certain definitions for the model - and these definitions for data assessment can be biased, too.



In order for the solution provider to design a non-biased AI model for credit scoring, the company needs to take into consideration all the ethical issues from the start and invest some time and effort into coming up with the right rules and definitions for the model. As well, the data scientists should carefully select the data for model training: if the historical data is biased, the results will be biased too, despite the pre-set definitions and rules.



Conclusion



Artificial Intelligence technology can bring many advantages to credit scoring in terms of accuracy, better assessment, and speed. However, an AI-powered solution also needs to be transparent and explainable in order to comply with the GDPR.



Thus, software development companies need to pay close attention to the quality of the data that they use to train the models and need to set precise and clear goals in order to set up the needed requirements for the model so that it delivers the expected results.

### 8 Tips on Site Speed Optimization

Site speed optimization is a hot button topic for any website owner.



On one hand, there are users that are not willing to wait longer than 3 seconds, according to Google. On the other hand, there is Google itself that considers the site speed as one of the primary ranking factors. So if you want your website to generate conversions and have a good SEO ranking, you need to optimize its performance to deliver a superior user experience and delight Google.



Because every website is unique, there will be a unique set of bottlenecks that slow the performance down. However, all websites are built with a standard set of tools so there are several ways of optimizing the performance that will be applicable for any website. We have collected the top 8 recommendations and broke them down in two articles for easier read.







Compress the files



There may be thousands of files on your website and every file takes some time to load. The bigger the files are, the longer the loading time will be, thus, dragging the site performance down.



One of the best ways to deal with the issue of site speed optimization is file compression. By minifying the files, you will speed up the site load and improve the performance significantly.



Before the actual compression, first, run the compression audit to see the uncompressed size of your page and compare it to the compressed result. To run an audit, go to GIDNetwork and enter the URL of your site. In the results, you will see the current size of your page and suggestions on possible compression.



After the audit, use Gzip to compress the files. According to Yahoo, Gzip is the most effective compression method which is capable of reducing the response size by 70%. This application locates similar strings of code on your site (mostly CSS, JavaScript and HTML) and replaces them, thus, making the file smaller.



There are a few ways to enable Gzip for your site:




For W3 Total Cache: check the “Enable HTTP (gzip) compression.” box



Enable Gzip in .htaccess file 



Add this code <?php if (substr_count($_SERVER['HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING'], 'gzip')) ob_start("ob_gzhandler"); else ob_start(); ?> at the top of HTML/PHP file



Use plugins to enable Gzip




And if your site already uses Gzip, you can check out the saved size here.



Minify JavaScript and CSS



Every time your site downloads a certain element (i.e. image or script), an HTTP request is made for every element. So if your website is complex and has many components, you can imagine how many HTTP requests are made upon every site load.



In order to cut down the number of HTTP requests and boost the load speed, you can minify and combine your JavaScript and CSS files. In this way, you will reduce the file size and the actual number of files, thus, minimizing the number of HTTP requests.



The process of file minifying implies the removal of any whitespaces, extra line breaks or unnecessary pieces of code. And in case you have several JavaScript or CSS files, you can combine them into one. 



There are several plugins which you can use for minifying your files:




WillPeavy 



WP Rocket 



BWP minify (for WordPress only)




You will need to install the preferred plugin and set it up according to the guidelines.



Fix render-blocking JavaScript



Your browser may encounter a render-blocking external JavaScript file in the above-the-fold area of your page. This file will slow down the page load and thus will hurt the overall performance.



Here are several methods of dealing with the issue.



Use specialized plugins



There are two most popular plugins that can help you get rid of blocking JS (and CSS): Autoptimize and W3 Total Cache. 



Autoptimize is simpler and W3 Total Cache demands a bit more work. The W3 Total Cache is mostly recommended for those users who already have experience with this plugin.



Inline blocking JavaScript



As recommended by Google, you can inline the external blocking scripts content directly in the HTML document (upon the condition these scripts are small enough). This will eliminate the request latency and will fix the issue.



It is important to remember that inlining will increase the size of the HTML document, though, and the same script content may need to be inlined multiple times. To prevent the risk of hurting the performance, it’s recommended to stick with the small script inlining only.



Use the async attribute



To make the JavaScript asynchronous and prevent it from blocking the parsing, use the async attribute on the external blocking scripts. Example: <script async src="my.js">



Remember though that asynchronous scripts would not execute in a specific order. As well, they should not use document.write.



Enable browser caching



Every time a user comes to your site, the browser will load its full content, including all images, stylesheets and more. Now, imagine how many times the users hit your site on a daily basis and how many times a browser has to load the same content again and again.



To speed up the content loading process for returning users, enable caching for your site. In this way, the elements will be stored in a temporary database, waiting for their turn to be loaded. By using caching, you can reduce the load speed from 2.5 to 0.9 seconds, which sounds pretty impressive.



Note that caching will save load time for returning users only as first-time users will have an empty cache and will be loading your content for the first time ever. However, it is still recommended to enable a full browser cache to speed up the performance and provide a better user experience.



Tools to use for different websites:




WordPress: W3 Total Cache



Static HTML sites: enable cache in .htaccess file



Drupal: Varnish




As well, configure the settings on how long you want the content to be cached - for that, you can use this module.



Integrate CDN



Content Delivery Network is a network of distributed servers that speeds up the content delivery time. CDN locates the user and finds the closest server, thus, routing your request to it. Because the server is nearby the user, it significantly cuts down the response time and optimizes content delivery.



In addition to faster content delivery, many CDNs come with several built-in features that are aimed at optimizing the website performance:




Minify CSS, HTML



Code restructuring



Image optimization




Even though the usage of CDN can be quite expensive, the benefits that come with its integration overlay the cost and make a difference in terms of the website performance.



Optimize images



This is one of the most obvious yet overlooked reasons for slow website performance and one of the best methods of site speed optimization. 







Heavy images can eat up the load speed so it’s best to compress them to reduce the size. For the WordPress site owners, there is a WP Smush plugin that automatically compresses the images right after you upload them to the media library. There are also plenty of other compression tools that will help you get the image size right. 



Use CSS sprites



CSS sprites are basically the method of combining several images into one big image for the sake of faster loading. So, instead of loading multiple images, the browser will have to load only one.



Some may say: but the summarized weight of the several images is still smaller than the weight of a single big file, so what’s the point in using CSS strings? Here is the trick. Every single image requires a separate HTTP request and this eats up bandwidth while one big image generates only one HTTP request. In the outcome, the big image loads faster than several small images.



Use lazy loading



Lazy loading is a pattern that loads the images as they enter the user’s viewpoint. That means, the page and its content will not load at once - but the content will load as the user scrolls down.



Such an approach helps speed up the page load and improves the performance of the site. In addition, lazy loading brings a few more benefits:




Reduces memory usage



Prioritizes the content to be loaded



Eliminates unnecessary code execution



Improves user experience




It is important to note that the use of lazy loading means adding some extra code to your existing one so the code will become slightly more complicated. However, this is not a pitfall to worry about, especially if you consider the benefits that the technique brings.



Eliminate the ballast



Another simple yet effective way to deal with slow website performance is to get rid of all the dead weight on your site.



You may not even be aware of it but your site may contain lots of unused scripts, outdated extensions and unnecessary plugins. All this ballast drags the performance down while bringing absolutely zero benefits.



To detect the unused elements, perform a code audit and look through all your extensions. If you don’t recognize some of them, it most probably means that you can easily eliminate it.



Fine-tune the database



Just how much data does your database process on a daily basis? Probably, a lot. In order for the database to manage the data in an efficient manner without causing any delays in the load time, you need to fine-tune the database to improve its performance.







Optimize MySQL queries



One of the most common problems is the poor performance of SQL queries. When you start optimizing the issue, you’ll soon find yourself facing many choices, like using IN or EXISTS.



To make it easier for you, there are several query optimizers that are available, with EverSQL Query Optimizer being one of the most popular. What makes this tool so good is that it not only fixes the issue but also explains them and gives useful recommendations so you know what’s going on and why certain things happen.



Indexing



Indexing is an incredibly efficient method of optimizing database performance. An index is a data structure that works by a similar method as a book index in the library: the database index facilitates the data retrieval process by providing easy access to the ordered records. With index, you can select/sort the rows much faster and easier.



Note: if there are too many INSERT, DELETE, AND UPDATE statements in your tables, this may actually lead to the productivity dropdown because the indexes should be modified after these operations.



Expand the memory



Lack of memory is another common reason for poor database performance. To check whether you have this problem, see the number of page faults that your system has - a high number of faults indicates that you need more memory.



Another way to fix the database performance problem is to actually get a more powerful hosting solution. As websites grow and get more traffic, this problem will become critical and will demand to switch to a better hosting provider.



Final thoughts on site speed optimization



Optimization of website performance is a multi-faceted approach that depends on the site and its contents heavily. The methods listed above are the most common ways to fix the slow website issue. However, it is highly recommended to perform a website performance audit to identify the bottlenecks first and come up with an actionable site speed optimization plan. In this way, you will eliminate the guesswork and will ensure that all problem areas are addressed.



SoftTeco team will gladly assist you with the performance audit and further corrective actions to achieve the seamless performance of your website.

### Java 13 is Here: the Biggest Features that the Release Brings

Oracle finally introduced Java 13, thus, steadily following the recently adopted strategy “less is more”.



With Oracle’s plan to release new features every six months, the arrival of Java 13 cannot be called groundbreaking – but it was anticipated, for sure. Such a granular release strategy is aimed to facilitate the development process by offering developers easier and predictable management of the new features. In this way, developers will not have to tackle dozens of brand-new features at once but are able to digest the innovations in a steady manner with no rush.



As for Java 13, Oracle has added five new features to it which are designed to make the development process faster and more reliable.



Dynamic CDS Archives



Oracle introduced the Class Data Sharing feature in Java 5 version and it was designed to store the information about classes in the CDS archives. This data could be used by a few Java Virtual Machines and till Java 10, the archives were available for the Bootstrap Class Loader only. With Java 10 arrived the update on extending the CDS with Application Class Data Sharing and now, in version 13, we see dynamic CDS archives.



The main goal behind this update is to facilitate the development process by eliminating the need to do trial runs to determine the class lists that helped identify which classes were loaded. Now, all loaded application and library classes that are not present in the default CDS archive will be archived, with no need to run trial tests. And Oracle plans to make the archiving process completely autonomous in the future.



ZGC: return of unused storage



For better memory management, Oracle introduced the Z Garbage Collector in Java 11. Its primary goal was to shorten the time needed to clean up the heap memory.



In Java 13, the ZGC is now able to return the unused heap memory to the operating system and the pause time (between heap memory cleaning) is 1 millisecond only. This update, alongside dynamic archiving, is also aimed at speeding up the performance.



Update of legacy socket APIs



The problem with the java.net.Socket and java.net.ServerSocket APIs is that most of them consist of legacy Java or C code and thus are incredibly hard to maintain and debug.



To solve the problem, Oracle replaced the existing PlainSocketImpl with a more modern implementation called NioSocketImpl. The NioSocketImpl can be used for work with user-mode threads and is overall much simpler and easier than the outdated implementation. In addition, the newly introduced NioSocketImpl will be 100% compatible with future extensions.



Switch Expressions



Switch expressions were first introduced in Java 12 with an aim to facilitate the coding process and in Java 13, switch expressions came as a new feature in accordance with the users’ feedback.



The extended switch expressions in Java 13 allow using switch either as a statement or an expression. This update makes the coding process easier and prepares the ground for the future pattern-matching feature which is currently under development.



Text blocks



This update adds text blocks to the language, thus, bringing numerous benefits:




Eliminate the need for most escape sequences



Automatical string formatting



Enhanced strings readability



Support of migration from string literal




The introduction of text blocks simplifies the coding process and contributes to better development experience.



Summary



It’s great to see Oracle accurately releasing the new Java versions in accordance with the promised plan. While the updates may seem minor at first glance, they actually have a big impact on the performance and significantly ease the coding process.



As a company with rich experience in Java development, SoftTeco keeps an eye on every update. We love delivering high-quality products to our clients – and for that, we need high-quality tools for the successful realization of the most complex projects.

### The Main Security Issues in the Mobile App Development

The Main Security Issues in the Mobile App Development



The advancement of technology allows software providers to create more secure and robust solutions but, at the same time, it also provides opportunities to design more advanced tools for hacking.



The issues of security breaches and data leaks are of utmost concern for any software development provider. Last year, the average cost of a data breach was $3.8 million. The same figures were reached by the third quarter of 2019 and are expected to climb up to $6.5 million by the end of the year.



No company would like to face such costs, hence, it is vital to follow certain security practices to prevent any hacker attacks. It is especially important for mobile app developers since mobile applications tend to be the most vulnerable. SoftTeco collected the main security issues to keep in mind when developing a mobile application.



Provide high-level authentication



The process of authorizing a mobile app user can be one of the primary points of attack. There are numerous ways how hackers can bypass the app authentication, including the brute force attack and “Fake Finger” to bypass the biometric authentication.



Considering the advanced hacker tools, no one can guarantee 100% security of an app – but a higher authentication level implies higher chances for retaining the data safe and protected.



The basic authentication form that most mobile apps have is the password, either a 4- or 6-digit one. To enhance the authentication, you can implement the following additional methods:




Biometric authentication (face or fingerprint scan)



Confirmation via the SMS



A certain number of login attempts



Obligatory strong password




It is critical to store passwords and PIN codes either encrypted or hashed. As well, never store sensitive data in the source code as it increases the risk of a hacker attack. The best option would be to store the passwords on the server. However, in the case of biometric authentication, the PIN is stored in the device. To secure it, store such data only in the verified local storage: Keychain for iOS and Keystore for Android apps.



Make sure the data is encrypted



If the sensitive data is stored in a simple text format, your app might be in huge, huge trouble.



Data encryption is an absolute must for any software product that stores and manages sensitive data, like users’ passwords. There are certain rules to follow when encrypting your data, as OWASP states. But before getting down to them, one should first know about the different cryptographic algorithms:




Symmetric: implies that there is only one key for data encryption and decryption,



Asymmetric: there are two different keys, one for data encryption and the other for its decryption,



Hashes: make it highly difficult (and even impossible) to generate the original input (i.e. a password).




Each of these algorithms has certain standards to follow in order to protect the data from any potential attacks. For example, different key and hash sizes are required for different algorithms – learn more on the official OWASP page.



Verify third-party code



Depending on the app’s complexity and purpose, the process of its development can take quite a while. To save some time, engineers often use available tools like libraries or frameworks to speed up the process. And this is a danger zone.



Some third-party tools can contain malware, intended to attack your app. Or they can simply be written in a poor and vulnerable code, prone to the attacks. To avoid risks, either do not use third-party tools at all or thoroughly test and verify them. 



Enhance the server-side security



The primary method of securing the server-side of your mobile app is to use the SSL protocols, preferably recommended by OWASP. The Security Socket Layer (SSL) certificate secures the data in a number of steps known as “SSL Handshake”:




Exchange of certain information between the SSL certificate and the server



Authentication of the server and the client-side



Exchange of the encryption keys




As you see, SSL can significantly secure your server. The sites that have SSL certificate will have HTTPS instead of HTTP.



However, SSL does not guarantee 100% security either. To optimize it even more, you can use certificate pinning. That means the certificate is embedded in the code of the app, making the app independent of the certificate store of its OS. This way, you can prevent MITM attacks. 



Remember about updates and security patches



Updates are not just some random recommendations from the developers’ community. They are actually a powerful aid in battling the hackers’ attacks and securing your app. 



Both iOS and Android provide developers with regular security updates and patches, aimed to fix the bugs and secure the app. Such updates may provide safer backup, enhanced network security, or prevention of asses to your sensors for the malware and are overall aimed at eliminating the vulnerabilities of the software products.



While updates and patches will not protect the app from major forms of attack, they serve as an additional line of defense.



Perform thorough and regular security testing



360-degree testing is an absolute must when it comes to the development of any software product and secure testing is the precautionary measure that will keep your application safe from hacker attacks.



When testing an app for any security breaches, keep an eye on the main areas:




Authentication (including password testing, stateful authentication, etc.)



Session management and timeout (it is recommended to limit the session duration and is obligatory to create a new session every time the old one expires)



Logout (shows whether the logout leads to the session termination)



Login activity (whether the app notifies the user about it)



Security of network communication (testing for different kinds of attack)



Data encryption (verification of the correct data encryption)



Code quality (whether it’s strong enough and does not have any breaches)



Data storage (must be securely stored)




Because mobile applications are the most vulnerable to hacker attacks, it is important to regularly perform security testing and implement the latest security updates.



Secure the data storage



Did you know that insecure data storage is the most common issue for both iOS and Android mobile apps? With 76% of the apps storing the data in a non-secure manner, these apps are at a huge risk of the data leak.



The mobile device stores a great amount of sensitive data, like geolocation or financial data. The leak of such data may lead to serious consequences: identity theft, fraud, and similar issues. To prevent them and enhance the security of your application, check for the following:




The way the app’s OS caches the data, buffers, logging,



The way HTML5 stores data



The way data is sent to the third parties



The way sensitive data is masked in the background.




OWASP covers insecure data storage in full and provides useful recommendations on the best practices.



Enable limited privileges



It is common practice to have different levels of access for different user roles in order to keep sensitive information secure. In terms of app development, you should check whether the app has a limited number of users that can access the admin function controls.



If privileged information can be easily accessed by a big number of users or even by non-authorized users, that will lead to big problems. Thus, double-check the access configurations on a regular basis and perform testing to ensure the access is available for authorized users only.



Summary



Depending on the app’s complexity and intended usage, you will most probably need a unique combination of techniques that will help secure the data and your app. However, the methods mentioned above can serve as a solid base, aimed at securing the app and preventing the majority of hacker attacks. Any mobile developer should consider these practices during the app development and deploy them by default.

### Top 7 Most Demanded Features in Real Estate Management Software

Real estate management involves dozens of complex workflows and all of them need to be well-organized. To facilitate the process, development companies design real estate software that offers centralization and automation of these workflows. 



SoftTeco has experience in developing applications for real estate management. While every client had different set of requirements, there were certain features that were essential for every solution. 







CRM functions



A client is the centerpiece of real estate management so it’s crucial that you have all client-related processes organized perfectly. Thus, a good property management app should have advanced CRM functionality to help you leverage communication with the clients.



Contact storage



A real estate management application serves as a central hub for all your contacts and potential leads. Thus, it is important that the app can store all the information in a clear and organized manner and provide access to it at any point of time.



Client information should include the name, contact details (phone, email), and home address. There should also be an option of easy data editing and a possibility of uploading documents of different formats (like contracts or property photos).



Automated follow-ups  



It’s not enough to just store the client’s information in the app – you should also be able to timely contact the clients and send them regular follow-ups.



For that, the application needs to have automated follow-up functions and the option to set up and schedule reminders and emails. As well, the app should display the preferable mean of communication for every contact in your list and synchronize the follow-ups correspondingly.



Property management and matching



Another essential element of any real estate management system is property management and matching options.



A manager wants to make a perfect offer to the client and also be updated on the status of all the properties in the directory. This is how a well-designed app can help.



Matching a property to client’s requirements



There might be thousands of properties in your directory – imagine how much time it will take to find the perfect one for only one client. Even with advanced filtering, it will take too much of an agent’s time to search through the whole list. 



This is why many property management solutions offer automated property matching. The system is able to independently match the client’s requirements to the property’s features and present an option to an agent.



Property management



A variety of properties in your directory calls for well-organized management. The options that a good property management app offers can include:




Easy update of records and information



Assignment of managers to the properties



SEO optimization of property descriptions



Easy access to any property and option to edit it as you need




Automated property management is a big time-saver and facilitates the agent’s work exponentially.



Lead management



It’s not enough to have a list of contacts in the business app – you would want to turn them in the leads. A well-designed application can help you with that.



Personalized offers



It takes a significant amount of time to create and tailor a unique offer for the client. The real estate management application eliminates this problem by providing readymade templates that take little time to fill.



In addition to proposals creation, such an app also helps in designing a sales funnel, personalized emails, and similar offers to enhance user experience and promote conversions.



Better interaction with the clients



Timely follow-ups and automated reminders help agents retain a constant flow of communication with clients and react to any additional requests or change of plans. 



As well, the app keeps all the data centralized and displays it in a clear and understandable form. This way, agents can better understand when and how to approach a client and what kind of marketing strategy will be the best for them.



Accounting optimization



Besides managing the leads and building a solid marketing strategy, you will also need to operate numerous accounting operations, like invoicing. Many software development companies consider that when designing their products. As a result, most of the property management applications come with the built-in set of accounting features:




Easy and fast creation of invoices



Optimized account management



Automated creation and sending of statements to the clients 



Optimized disbursements




The automation and optimization of these processes can save up to a dozen working hours per week and minimize the possibility of any errors or data leaks.



Built-in analytics



Every business decision that you make should be based on the data. For that, you will need analytics and clear reporting in order to understand the state of your business, sales dynamics, clients’ behavior, and other important aspects of real estate management.



Thus, a good property management application should have a robust reporting system, including:




Advanced analytics to track the performance of your managers, see the status of sales and track them



Sales and marketing metrics



Graphs, charts, or similar visuals



Clear dashboards




In order to grow the business and ensure your clients receive valuable offers, you have to analyze the state of your business and its performance and see whether there are any areas that can be improved or certain processes that need to be eliminated.  



Operations management



Another important aspect is the management of all operations and processes related to real estate management, especially the optimization of creating and managing contracts and transactions.



For that, the app usually has ready templates for creating contracts and an automated transacting. This allows agents to both save their time and eliminate the possibility of human error upon work with the documents.



As well, such an app can automate almost any process that you wish, upon a request. This will be especially beneficial for big companies that have multiple complex workflows that need to be organized and centralized.



Tools for collaboration



Last but not least – the availability of options and tools for collaboration.



Because the app will most probably be used by numerous agents and managers, it is important that everyone understands what other people do. Thus, the app should provide transparency and easy navigation through the tasks. As well, the app should allow the company owner or the senior manager to assign roles and tasks, easily track them, generate reports, and set up reminders and emails for all the team members.



Summary



Even though these features are common for most of the real estate management application, they are not obligatory. The functionality of an app will depend solely on your business and its type. 



Some companies focus on marketing while others specialize in automation of all financial operations. So before looking for a software development company, list down the preferable application functionality to have an outline of a future product.



At SoftTeco, we have experience working with real estate companies and we know what kind of requirements and pitfalls such apps may have. Our team will be glad to consult you and provide a custom solution in full compliance with all your requirements and needs.

### Top Three Programming Languages for IoT Projects

The Internet of Things is practically everywhere now. From smart homes to tiny devices collecting data on the water acidity, the use cases for IoT are close to endless.



As some developers say, IoT can be used to gain data about anything that can be measured. This opens a whole lot of opportunities for those entrepreneurs that wish to develop an innovative product that will bring tangible benefit to the users and will correspond to high requirements in terms of quality.







To achieve the desired result, one has to choose the right programming tools that will guarantee the high performance of the product. In the case of IoT, there are three areas to consider when choosing the development tools: data collection, data organization, and data processing. Each of these phases requires a different set of tools due to the nature of the processes involved.



In this article, we will focus on server-side IoT development. A cloud is a place where collected data is analyzed and processed so it’s critical you work with suitable programming languages.



The Top Three Programming Languages for Cloud IoT



In 2018, an IoT developer survey was conducted. The findings revealed that for each area of IoT development, there are certain languages that suit the best:




Data collection (devices): C, C++, Python,



Data organization (gateways): Java, Python, C,



Data processing (server/cloud): Java, JavaScript, Python.




Based on the finding, the most suitable languages for server-side IoT programming will be Java, JavaScript, and Python.



Though each of them is different and has own pros and cons, there are some common features that make these languages so suitable for server-side IoT development:




The stable response over specified time constraints,



Efficient management of a high number of requests,



Availability of modules with advanced repositories designed to work with IoT projects,



Ready-made solutions with predefined IoT software set.



Great support and a big community.




Now let’s have a look at each of the three languages in detail and see what makes them so good for server-side IoT development.



Java



While it may sound quite surprising, Java is actually excellent for the IoT development due to its nature and functionality.



Platform independence



Everyone knows that Java is “write once, run anywhere” programming language. And for IoT, that’s an immense advantage. Imagine how many different devices and platforms are involved in a single IoT operation. Now, it would be much easier to work with a versatile language that allows you to take the code to any platform with the help of the Java Virtual Machine and makes the transition between the platforms smooth and hassle-free.



Interoperability



IoT involves a dozen technologies: cloud computing, different hardware, sensors, etc. It is therefore crucial that a programming language can bring them all together. Java is known for high interoperability and this makes it perfect for most of the IoT solutions. Java helps devices communicate in a more efficient manner and contributes to their better integration.



Object-oriented



Java has an impressive built-in library of APIs that let it call from a generic code and create embedded applications, which is another benefit for the IoT development. One more thing about the Java native features is its ability to upgrade itself. This contributes to a longer life cycle of the IoT product and saves the developers’ time significantly.



JavaScript



JavaScript is a language of choice for work with HTML and Internet browsers but recently it claimed its right to become included in the list of top languages for IoT development.



Node.js and its IoT-friendly features



Node.js is a JavaScript server environment that seems like a perfect match for IoT-related projects. As mentioned above, any IoT project involves many processes and a variety of devices, each generating high data volumes. Node.js is capable of handling a large number of requests efficiently. Node.js also has built-in NPM package manager that has quite a number of IoT modules for robust app development. Finally, many IoT applications use MQTT protocol and standard Sockets and Node.js seamlessly supports them.Node.js is scalable, reliable, and fast, and allows real-time execution. Altogether, this makes Node.js a perfect choice for IoT projects.



Available tools and features



First, Java is packed with awesome tools and libraries: Underscore.js, Async, server-side APIs, testing tools (FireUnit, SugarTest), etc. Such an array of tools significantly expands the possible areas of language application and grants developers more flexibility and freedom in the development process.Second, JavaScript has a few frameworks that are perfectly suited for IoT development: CyclonJS, JerryScript, IoT.js.



Support by IoT hardware



There are a few IoT hardware solutions like Raspberry Pi that are used by thousands of IoT developers on a regular basis. For better development, it is desirable that your programming language of choice is supported by this hardware. In case of JavaScript, most IoT hardware solutions support Node.js which is another major reason to work with this language on your IoT projects.



Python



Last but not least – Python.



This programming language is probably the most well-known language for IoT development. It is easy to learn, has a growing community, and has a wide array of tools that can be applied for different IoT-related tasks.



An advanced set of tools



Python is equipped with a set of tools and libraries that are designed specifically to solve IoT-related issues:




TensorFlow for Machine Learning,



Matplotlib for data visualization,



NumPy and SciPy for scientific computing,



OpenCV for computer vision.




Combined with intuitive and clear code, Python is an easy yet powerful language to tackle the most challenging IoT tasks.



Suitable for microcontrollers



As we said in the beginning, the IoT processes start with data collection which happens on small devices. In order for these devices to communicate with the app and transfer the data, they need microcontrollers.Now, Python is suitable to operate on such microcontrollers. A MicroPython board is a small circuit board that runs MicroPython on bare metal and turns out as a great solution for microcontrollers.



Core features



The native features of the Python language are already suitable for work with IoT projects. Python is very clear and intuitive and provides a code that is simple for understanding. As well, the code is portable, meaning, one code can run on different machines. As well, Python can be integrated with other languages: for example, Python code can be inserted in the C++ code. Altogether, that makes Python a convenient language to work with.



A side note on other IoT-friendly languages



In addition to the abovementioned languages, there are a few other programming languages to consider when drafting an IoT project.



C is the language of choice for microcontroller development because it is suitable for writing low-level code. However, there is a risk of a syntax becoming bulky so C developers must know the best coding practices to avoid that.



PHP is also slowly finding its way into the IoT development, alongside with Swift. However, Java, Python and C are leading the way and grant developers immense flexibility and plenty of options to work with.

### Pros and Cons of Outstaffing

What is outstaffing?



Outstaffing is a type of remote employment in a company when some of the staff is taken out of it. An intermediary, who is an outstaffer, settles the employment relationship between the employee and the company.



Outstaffing involves hiring experienced professionals from other firms to carry out all the job tasks for a company under the control of the business owner. The client company offers tasks and assignments to the employee while the company that withdraws its staff outside the company acts as an employer. Thus, the company is responsible for the wages, bonuses and equipment provided to a worker.



Outstaffing Mechanism



It is a simple mechanism where you basically hire experienced employees who work at their regular workplace. The only difference is that you are their employer for the duration of the project. These professionals are generally developers, designers, analysts and others who carry out the task you have assigned to them.



Companies often come across a point in their development when they require the services of remote experts in order to fulfil their needs. Thus, outstaffing can meet the company’s expectations, depending on the type of business and its goals. The essence of outstaffing is hiring employees while the employment contract states all the terms, conditions and requirements.



Outstaffing Pros



It comes with its own set of advantages which will greatly benefit a business who was to implement this type of remote employment.




Ability to hire amazing professionals in the required field without having to pay high taxes, insurance, facilities and salaries etc.



Outstaffing rates are the lowest and most reasonable in comparison to other business models.



As your chosen outstaffing firm acts as the employer of your remote team, you have no employees legally.



Ability to use workers for seasonal work only instead of making them permanent staff.



Ability to modify the schedule.



Increase in investment attractiveness for the firm.






Looking to expand your team with top tech talents?



SoftTeco provides highly skilled professionals ready to seamlessly integrate with your team and deliver impactful results.




Learn more






Outstaffing Cons



While it can effectively solve your business goals, outstaffing has its own risks and drawbacks.




Contractors may also not be able to handle the duties if they receive vague instructions.



Disloyal treatment by workers towards a company that is their unofficial employer.



High quality communication channels needed which may induce extra costs.



Since you have complete control over managing the development team, you need a software development process and corresponding qualifications.



More control requires more responsibility so you have much more responsibility over the final result.



All delivery concerns are under the control of the client and his team.




Conclusion



Outstaffing will provide profitable and effective results if they are properly performed with business initiatives. However, you need to be prepared to take on greater responsibility of the remote development team as you will have full control of the software development process. Therefore, outsourcing is a more preferable option for you as it looks at your requirements to hire a company. You do not have to worry about the equipment, qualified team and resources. Outsourced software development is best for startup businesses or companies that do not have a development department. In addition, it is easier to explain your needs to an outsource software development provider, delegate the process to the partner and discuss budget and time estimates.



Outstaffing of the workforce is a new idea that has recently become quite common among the business industry in order to promote business ideas via technology. Most software businesses based in the United States or the United Kingdom use the services of software development companies in remote countries.



You need a qualified team of people to turn a unique idea into a working product. IT staffing industry faces new challenges as finding qualified candidates is very hard. Thus, several firms opt to outstaff their projects.

### New Features in Python 3.8

This summer (June 2019, to be more precise) Python released a beta version of Python 3.8. There are four beta release previews planned and their main goal is to let the community test the new features and report on any bugs found.



While you can check out the full list of the new features here, we will focus on the most exciting ones that you can test right now.







Position-only arguments



Python 3.8 will let developers specify position-only arguments with the new syntax “/”.



This new feature is aimed at helping library authors to ensure correct API usage. Positional-only parameters let library authors express the intended API usage and also contribute to language consistency. 



With the introduction of the new syntax, library authors will be more flexible in changing the name of position-only arguments without breaking callers. 



Assignment expressions



With this feature comes a new operator (:= expr.) which is also called a walrus operator. It will let the developers assign the variables within an expression. The feature is available in list comprehensions and statement forms.



The main idea behind the introduction of this feature was to reduce the bulky boilerplate that can be spotted in some of the programming patterns.



It is important to notice that an assignment expression will not introduce a new scope. In the majority of the cases, the scope will be self-explanatory.



Python Initialization Configuration



This feature will provide better control over the configuration and better reporting, according to the Python developers.



The Python Initialization Configuration will introduce new functions to the Python Initialization C API so that developers will be able to configure Python in a more reliable and clear manner. The benefits that the innovation will bring also include:




Opportunity to read the configuration and then override some parameters before applying it



Opportunity to completely override the way Python computes the module search paths



Easier building of a customized Python due to the new Py_RunMain() function




Vectorcall



Vectorcall is a fast calling protocol for CPython and is based on the “fastcall” convention, which is not new for Python developers. 



The vectorcall feature is aimed at optimizing calls of objects, which is important for the performance of your code. Due to the generalization of calling convention, all calls will benefit from a more efficient performance. 



Runtime audit hooks



Python 3.8 will bring two new APIs: Audit Hook (for arbitrary events) and Verified Open Hook (specific to the module import system). These APIs will be available in all Python implementations.



The runtime audit hooks will grant you the insights into the running Python app. This opportunity, in turn, will make it easier for developers and system administrators to integrate Python into their monitoring systems.



New pickle protocol version



The pickle module helps serialize and deserialize the data structures. Different Python versions support different levels of the pickle protocol, so it makes sense that the most recent version aka Python 3.8 will support a bigger range of capabilities and provide better serialization.



The new protocol is supported by NumPy and Apache Arrow external libraries and comes as an add-on for Python 3.7 and 3.6.



Other improvements that will come with Python 3.8:




Increase of speed of built-in methods and functions: from 20% to 50%



New opcode cache for faster instructions’ performance in the interpreter



The smaller size of the newly created lists (by approximately 12%)



Certain file-copying operations now use platform-specific calls for faster performance.




Conclusion



The Python 3.8 version is strongly focused on delivering better and faster performance and make the developers’ experience more enjoyable and smooth.



We strongly recommend you to check out the new Python 3.8 and try out its brand-new features. Judging by the presented features, this new Python will be more consistent, concise and efficient, which is a big plus for all the Python developers out there.

### A Brief History of .NET Framework

.NET is a framework by Microsoft that helps developers create web and desktop applications easier and faster. It is extremely reliable and scalable and drives such industry giants as Starbucks or UPS.  Considering the justified popularity of this framework in the developer’s community, we decided to write a quick overview of how .NET evolved throughout the years and see the biggest milestones in its history.







Microsoft .NET strategy



In the late 1900s, Microsoft started working hard on its .NET Strategy. Back then, Bill Gates said that Microsoft would “lay foundations for the Internet of the new generation”. Sounds quite ambitious but well, it’s Bill Gates.  The main idea behind the project was to encompass all Microsoft products and add the .NET ending to the existing product names, i.e. Windows.NET.  In the 2000s, the .NET framework was known under the Next Generation Windows Services name or NGWS in short. However, as the initial .NET strategy failed, so did the name and since then, we all know the .NET framework as it is.



2000 – 2007



The first beta versions of the .NET framework were released in the late 2000s and on February 13, 2002, the first version .NET 1.0 was released. Its main feature was CLR and it supported the object-oriented development of the web apps.



Throughout the years, from 2002 to 2007, the following versions were released:




.NET 1.1 (April 2003): featured an array of enhancements (i.e. security enhancement for ASP.NET), support for Internet Protocol Version 6, ODBC.



.NET 2.0 (November 2005): had generic collections, iterators, new features for ASP.NET, nullable types, etc.



.NET 3.0 (November 2006): featured WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), WCF (Windows Communication Foundation), WWF (Windows Workflow Foundation).




2007: source code made available



Before releasing the .NET 3.5 version in November, in October Microsoft made an announcement that the source code for the libraries of the upcoming version would be available under the Microsoft Reference Software License. The repository became available at the beginning of 2018.



The .NET 3.5 version included the following key features:




Support for AJAX,



Dynamic data,



LINQ 



ASP.Net MVC




Until 2014, Microsoft released a few more versions of the framework:




.NET 4.0 (April 2010): Managed Extensibility Framework, DLR, task parallel library, Razor view engine.



.NET 4.5 (August 2012): support for Async, better ASP.NET support, support for Zip compression, improved CLR 4.0



.NET 4.5.1 (October 2013): better performance and debugging, advanced support for Windows Store application development.




2014: the beginning of the .NET Core



.NET had many advantages but one of its biggest flaws was the inability to work on other platforms rather than Windows. To fix that, in 2014 Microsoft announced .NET Core: a cross-platform re-build of .NET framework.



.NET Core enabled developers to create apps for other OS like Linux or OS X and install different versions on one device. .NET Core was officially released in 2016. At the same time, .NET kept getting new updates and features that would help it advance and stay preferable by the developers:




.NET 4.5.2 (August 2014)



.NET 4.6 (July 2015): new JIT compiler, open source packages, support for both TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2, better event tracing



.NET 4.6.1 (November 2015): better performance, better support for Digital Signature algorithm, distributed transactions in Azure SQL DB. 




What about Mono?



Mono is an open-source project that is aimed at running the .NET apps across different platforms and offer Linux developers better tools.  The thing is Mono is that incorporates parts of .NET Framework – and these are covered by the Microsoft patent (while Mono is free and open-source). So in 2016, Microsoft announced that Mono will be going under a total relicensing – MIT License, to be more specific. MIT is a permissive free software license and for Mono, it means that Microsoft will not assert any patents against companies that interact with Mono (i.e. using, selling, distributing, etc.). Mono is a free elf now.



Summing up



Being released by such a giant as Microsoft, .NET Framework could not be anything else than an awesome tool for developers around the world. While many people wrongly believe that .Net framework is outdated, there are many reasons to remember about .NET in 2019:




C# is a primary language for Unity – and game developers love Unity. As well, Microsoft developed C# within the .NET initiative.



.NET Core is faster than Java and shows really good performance



Visual Studio is a development tool for .NET Framework and is one of the best IDEs in the world




For now, there is no more information about further .NET Framework versions – version 4.8 is under development but we don’t have any information about it yet.




 

FAQ

### In-House Development vs. Outsourcing: Honest Comparison

Outsourcing is an efficient method of cost-saving used both by big and small companies. Outsourcing is the practice of hiring an outside firm, unrelated to your own business, to perform work that the company itself would perform. Because of its effectiveness, outsourcing has become an industry on its own which is how the outsourcing market reached 104.6 billion dollars in 2015 (according to Statista research).



Big companies use outsourcing as a method to save costs. Companies that perform jobs on their own increase costs on every face, marketing, development, employee training and so much more. All of these costs end up affecting the cost of the actual service or product you’re selling and that deters customers. A company saves a huge chunk of these costs by outsourcing and this provides the company the opportunity to sell a product they can feasibly produce.







A smaller company might outsource work for some its specific operations, by hiring remote candidates with narrow expertise. The rare specialists can be founded and interviewed in a short time which helps to cover all small company’s needs. This way it helps keep it toe to toe with the bigger companies it’s in competition with.



Today we look at the real pros and cons of outsourcing as compared to in-house production and hopefully you as a company can decide what option fits your business objectives best.



The Pros and Cons of In-House Production



Pros:




The most immediate advantage of having in-house production is having your employees on site. The employees that are responsible for creating the product or providing the services are aware of the nature of the job almost from day one. Any issues that may arise can be dealt with immediately and there isn’t a delay or lag should an issue occur.



The employee you hired went through your training and you probably hired after a tough vetting and interview. They should be therefore extremely capable of doing the job you want them to.



All development is under one organizational structure and under your supervision. Therefore the development cycle can be observed for improvement at every step to ensure good quality. Feedback time is very quick.




Cons:




There are a lot of hidden costs. Costs you never would have thought of. Costs of setting up, buying equipment, finding a production house. The cost of maintaining employees too is immense and probably unforeseen by ambitious business people when starting businesses Expenses such as payroll taxes, health insurance, paid time off, traveling, vacations and sick leaves, pension contributions, and other expenses.



The overall costs of operations of business is always going to be higher.



Scaling is difficult. Letting go of employees maybe cost a lot because of severance packages and long-term contracts.



Hiring new employees is a task in itself. Going through application, spending time with training them and the potential of losing them to competitors after all that. It can be extremely frustrating.




The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing



Pros:




The biggest advantage and factor business owners consider when choosing outsourcing is saving costs. Outsourcing cuts the fixed costs into variables and the business can start to run without having too many hiccups in the early stages. Investment can be focused on the revenue-producing factors of the business which is a good thing for investors themselves.



The labors costs mentioned to hire and maintain an employee are reduced. An employee might not even fulfill your expectations even after training. If you’re running a project-based business, hiring employees for that project and then figuring out what to do with them after its done is pretty frustrating.



New projects can be started almost immediately. If you’ve hired a capable outsource firm, they’ll be capable of starting right away as compared to in-house production where you’ll have to find the right employees, train them, find an actual ‘house’ to produce in (if operations aren’t handled in your building)



Small business that would otherwise be swamped with costs can compete toe to toe with larger companies. Outsourcing allows them to have availability to of the same resources presented to larger companies.



Risk is assumed by the outsourcing company. Market competition, regulations, financial conditions and resource availability are all variables that affect a business. An outsourcing company probably knows a lot more on how to avoid risks in their fields of expertise.



Highly Scalable. Outsourcing is a great option when you need to hire more people to keep up with the project, but you have a bounded budget. Partner company takes responsibility for the appropriate specialists’ selection and onboards them quickly. The same applies when you achieve certain milestones and need to scale back the size of the team.




Cons:




Feedback time and method is higher than in the in-house model. Often outsourced companies are in different time zone and if an issue were to occur, you’d have to wait a certain time to solve it.



An outsourcing company is managing different projects at a time that means team works in the operative mode.








The cost of in-house development varies state to state, country to country and so does the cost of outsourcing. Consider all possibilities when starting a business like whether or not you’ll have a close and frequent relationship with your client, the nature of your product as well as your own abilities such as cost and expertise. However, if the outsourcing company is reliable and has good reputation all the outsourcing problems disappear and company gets an excellent service without the headache that comes from acquiring, managing and maintaining resources internally.

### 6 Steps of the UX Design Process

As the “UX Design Trends” book says, “The UI is the paint, the canvas, the types of strokes and colors. The UX is the wonder you feel when you see the girl in the pearl earring”. And this quote captures the essence of UI and UX perfectly. 



While user interface implies the way a user interacts with a software product or service, user experience focuses on the overall experience from using it. Thus, it is important to have a well-structured UX design process in order to ensure the end product meets the customers’ expectations and business goals.







The main UX design process steps



Below we list down the core steps of the UX design process that are essential to follow if you want to deliver a truly stunning user experience. It is highly recommended to work with an experienced designer who will not only bring your ideas int life but will also make sure they align with user needs.



Research



The first step towards creating a perfect UX is collecting the data in order to understand what exactly the client wants. The data collection includes:




Study of brand identity: this is important for understanding the nature of the brand and the message that needs to be communicated to the users,



Study of existing products: for better understanding of the desired style and visual elements,



Business goals: it is important to learn what exactly the client wishes to achieve with the help of this product and what value it is intended to bring to the users.




At the stage of data collection, a designer or a business analytic learns about the brand and tries to capture its essence in order to come up with a suitable visual solution.



Analysis



Once the data is collected, the next on the list of UX design process steps is the analysis performed by a designer or a BA. At this stage, the main goal is to get a 360-degree view of a product, understand its potential, strengths, and weaknesses and get a clear portrait of an average customer.



The competition analysis 



The UX design should bring a unique experience to the users. Thus, it is important to analyze what products are already in the market and how you can make your product different. For that, one needs to have a look at the competition, its benefits, and weak points. Based on this research, a designer can come up with an innovative solution that will correspond to the brand’s identity and make the product stand out from the competition.



User persona



A user persona is a fictional portrait of a potential product user. By creating a user persona, a designer can better understand the possible interests of a user, his or her motivation, possible behavior and goals.



The creation of a user persona requires extensive user research, starting from the basics like demographics and moving on to more advanced characteristics like hobbies, fears, typical activities on the weekend, favorite shows, etc. Once you have a detailed portrait of a target audience, you will be able to design a product that will perfectly suit this specific category of the users.



Outline of the product’s logic



At this stage, the business analyst (or the designer) already collected the information about the brand, did research on the competition and the market and created a portrait of a target audience. Now it is time to start outlining the product’s logic and build user journeys.



Information architecture



The information architecture implies the logic of interaction between the content of the product. It helps structure the product’s elements in a user-centric manner and understand how the users will navigate through these elements and how these elements are related.



Sitemap



A sitemap is a visual representation of a product structure that shows the hierarchy of the elements. When having a sitemap at their disposal, user experience designers can better understand the user journeys and see the key points of interaction between the user and the product. As well, a sitemap helps better arrange the visual elements according to the desired structure.



User flows



Once having a ready information architecture and a sitemap at the disposal, a designer or a business analyst can create user flows to outline the possible customer journeys.



A user flow is a visual representation of a possible customer journey: from the starting point when the user taps on the “Start app” button to quitting the app. Despite all the possible journeys a user can take, every user flow should include the visual representation of touchpoints and outline the key decision-making points.



Wireframing and prototyping



When the information is collected and assembled in a certain logic, an analyst or a designer can start with wireframing and prototyping.



A wireframe is a visual representation of an intended product. It can be in the form of a sketch on paper or in the digital format. As well, a wireframe can be a low-fidelity (with little details) or a high-fidelity (highly detailed) one. It is recommended to start with lo-fi wireframes in order to save time and resources on implementing any needed changes.



After the wireframe is done and the designer understands how a product should look and function, the next step would be the creation of a prototype. A prototype is a basic functioning version of a product and its main purpose is to test the product with real users. Same as the wireframe, a prototype can be either a lo-fi or a high-fi one.



Both the wireframe and the prototype provide the concept of the product and give the designer a better idea of the intended functionality and appearance. By studying the wireframe and the prototype, the designer sees what can be optimized in terms of UX and how to improve the product in a way that will bring value to the end-users.



Realization of the requirements



The abovementioned UX design process steps can be performed by either a designer or a business analyst, depending on the company and the availability of the specialists. But the stage of the requirements’ realization is solely the designer’s responsibility. 



After receiving the information about the brand identity, target audience and competition and after studying the wireframes and prototypes, a designer can identify the areas that call for UX optimization and arrange the visual elements in a way that best serves the users’ needs. At the same time, the designer needs to keep the UX in correspondence with the brand’s identity so it translates the right message to the users.



Testing and product launch



Throughout the process of design creation, you will need to constantly test your product in order to ensure that everything functions as intended and there are no pain points left behind. Designers especially love the A/B tests and the reason for that is simple - the perception of the designer and the user may differ drastically. In order to satisfy the user (and not their own sense of beauty), a designer needs to test his ideas with the real users and see the responses in order to adjust the product correspondingly. Usability testing is also a must: it helps make sure that the product does not only look good but is also easy and comfortable for using.



Once everything is done, the product is ready for the launch - though edits and corrections may still take place. 



Final word



The key thing to remember when working on the UX design process is that UX and UI go in conjunction and one cannot be implemented without another. As well, in order to create a really interesting and engaging product, a designer must always keep the brand’s values in mind as well as work closely with the development team to ensure the product looks and functions equally well.

### 5 Great Apps that Failed

Designing, building and launching an app business from zero can be a risky endeavour.



The statistics may not be in app startups failure, but there are reasons for these failures that can be accounted for.



Here are 5 notable app failures to help young startups avoid some of the mistakes.







1. Everpix



Everpix was a good project. While traveling around Asia, the founder of Everpix Mr. Latour got annoyed with how fast hundreds of pictures became a mess. Looking for one particular photo took forever as you had to dig through all the shots taken before. Latour came up with a decision to build the app that will sort and organize pics, while storing them online. The team of designers and developers built the app based on the algorithm that sorted and pulled the best shots.



By 2012 Everpix had 55,000 of active users and substantial investment. By 2013 they shut down.



Why did that happen? There were two major reasons. The team wanted to get everything right. But good apps don’t come cheap. As reported by Verge, who did the bankruptcy analysis, $1.4 million out of $2.3 million raised was spent on employees.



There was a more serious reason for failure ― company didn’t sell its product. They knew the app was amazing and relied on it to sell itself ― what never happens. There were no salespeople in the team and it was a huge mistake. App stores are a highly competitive environment, where even the best apps need serious promotion and constant advertising.



2. Auctionata



Online, live-streamed auctions could have changed the world of selling fine art and collectibles. It was an ambitious project designed to attract greater audience to art auctions by delivering the bidding hype through the devices. The early attempts at broadcasting events failed to meet the expected level, limited by slow broadband speeds, poor customer service, problems with online payment and delivery concerns.



With almost $96 million raised since its foundation in 2012, Auctionata closed down in February 2017 after experiencing crucial financial difficulties.



3. Hailo



Hailo was a mobile app that allowed getting a taxi from your device. It stormed NYC in the beginning of 2013, with over $100 millions being invested in the app. By October 2014 they were broke.



When e-taxi got legalized in NYC, number of business including Uber and GetTaxi were intensively competing to conquer the market of the Big Apple. The Hailo planned to win that competition by offering good prices for yellow taxis, while yielding the higher niche of black classic cabs to Uber. Unfortunately for Hailo, Uber had great plans for the whole market, not just premium segment. Uber was able to offer even greater fares and won the price race.



The final thing that destined Hailo to fail was the ignorance of NYC reality ― most of the yellow cab drives didn’t carry mobile devices. That meant the lower level of cars available for service. Hailo business model worked great in London, where it originally came from. But what works in one place, doesn’t guarantee success in other.



4. Yik Yak



Developed as an anonymous network, the app became very popular among the attendants of schools and colleges. Launched in 2013, Yik Yak had raised almost $75 million in investment. In 2014 the market value of Yik Yak was almost $400 million.



For the network like that, facing threats of abuse and cyberbullying in the app was a matter of time. Solution to the issues was never found. That made many users to turn their backs on Yik Yak. The end of 2016 unveiled a disastrous tendency — the number of downloads dropped dramatically by 75% within a year. At that time the company decided to lay off 60% of the employees.



The once well-known messaging space Yik Yak said goodbye to its users in May 2017.



5. Quixey



May 2017 became the last month for another massively funded app.



With $165 million raised in venture capital and its market valuation of $600 million, a mobile search company was developing a digital assistant app. The main functionality of Quixey was helping users to find content in the apps installed on their devices.



With Alibaba being the leading shareholder ― the Chinese company invested almost $80 million ― Quixey became a good example of how dangerous debt is, when you are backed by venture capital. In February 2017 Alibaba refused another round of investment. Right after that most of the team was dismissed. According to the announcement by Alibaba, Quixey didn’t meet expectations and the board decided to shut the project down.



Concluding note



Apps rise and fall, but the experience gained through hundreds of failures can help to make your app another story of success.



If you’re about to invest tens of thousands of dollars in launching a business app, take every possible action to avoid mistakes already made by other companies and startups. Carefully analyze every constituent of the app marketing plan. Target the audience, find the right niche, consider sales and promote your app at all times. Keep everything clear. Is one sentence enough to explain why one should download your app? Well, it should be.



And one last thing, react to changing circumstances. What worked for one company, or a particular product may become a straight path to failure for another.

### Java vs .NET for Long Term Use in the Enterprise

Choosing the right technology for one’s business will depend on a number of factors. They might include the core reason and functions of the app, its scalability, connectivity and security requirements, and the current technology the client is using.  Personal preferences, current budget, compatibility, and legacy applications should also be considered.







Similarities: Java And .NET



Both Java and .NET are two well-known big technologies utilized for large applications. These technologies have changed over the years to offer support and improve server-side and desktop app development.



Very often, developers and organizations will have to choose between these 2 ones. Since there’s never a perfect platform out there, there are pros and cons of using either of them. Therefore, one will need to see the differences and similarities between them.



Both Java and .NET are similar to each other fundamentally. Both have been created to simplify app development by offering a system consisting of standardized and modular services and components.



Such standardized components let developers concentrate on business logic instead of doing programming at a basic level. There’s an assistance of visual tools that aid in the development of application known as RAD (Rapid Application Development).



Multi-Tiered Computing:



Java and .NET were purposely used to help programmers create “tiered” web apps. These tiered apps consist of a client tier, a database tier, and a server tier. All of them can offer services to help with transactions where business logic can be used and data recorded.



Development at Enterprise Level:



Both Java and .NET are fantastic technologies that can achieve the main aim of enterprise application development. Their origins lie within the C# (.NET’s main language) and C++ and C (Java). These platforms are object-aimed, have an automated garbage collection, and are type safe. While they’re making use of different syntax, they do their best to attain the same result.



Web Service Integration:



Java and .NET contain improved abilities to create and integrate web services, which allows apps to be widely operable and extensible. At the same time, both platforms provide similar components and functionality that offer a standard approach of conducting specific tasks such as scripting pages, gaining database access, dealing with messages, and linking to connect resources.



Making the Right Choice



Java and .NET have existed for a long while now. Both are popular development technologies utilized all over the globe. However, when one is going to decide which one to use, there are certain considerations that one must keep in mind. These include:



   1.    Application complexity.



One basic perception is that Microsoft has a bit of an edge over Java in making apps that require a wealthy GUI in offering online content. Java, on the other hand, has an advantage of offering intricate applications supporting more complex data or user volume.



   2.    Platform compatibility.



Java is compatible with more than one platform. It gives one enough freedom to choose their preferred vendor. Organizations would agree with customized Java development whenever both interoperability and integration are of utmost important.



  3.    Current developer skillset.



Think about what one’s current tech capabilities and skillset of one’s workforce mean. One must question themselves if they have developers that have preference to a certain technology. Getting developers trained and completely replacing the current infrastructure may appear to be costly.



Usage Preferences



Having a .NET-based solution may be the preferred option for an enterprise-grade application which entails high-end security and top-notch integrity of data. A Java-based solution would be perfect when the main need is multi-platform operability that’s in-line with the saying “writing things once and deploying it just about anywhere.”

### Top 5 Open Source JavaScript Projects

Today, JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages in the world. While it was originally used to developing client-side web pages and applications, thanks to its new frameworks it can now effectively develop server-side applications as well.



Due to its efficiency in handling scalable and real-time situations, it is being used to develop some of the most anticipated applications online.  To help you stay up to date with the vast amount of JavaScript projects, we’ve done the research for you to bring you the top 5 opensource JavaScript projects you’ll definitely want to keep an eye on.







1. Parcel



Parcel is a brand new web application bundler that drastically reduces the time it takes to bundle web applications. Using multicore compilation along with a file system cache, it delivers unrivaled performance while making it easier and simpler bundle applications. Hate managing configurations?



With Parcel, you’ll never have to worry about spending hours if not weeks of your time managing configurations. All you have to do is point it at the entry point of your application, and it’ll handle the rest on its own. Parcel designed to support JS, CSS, HTML, images, file assets, and more without having to rely on any plugins.



2. Vue.JS



If you’re looking for something to help you make truly impressive UI then Vue.JS is definitely worth your time. It’s designed to be incrementally adoptable making it exceptionally versatile and allowing it to work with other JavaScripts easily which opens doors for many more options to create amazing user interfaces. Thanks to its simple core and incrementally adoptable stack, it has proven exceptionally useful for developing simple applications that can be run directly through the browser.



3. React



Just like Vue.JS, React is another UI developer that allows you to create truly stunning pages and applications on the front end. What makes React different is that it relies on Components that are reusable, easy to implement and best of all can be used to create anything from an online application to a front end UI like Netflix, Dropbox and more! React is fast, simple and easy to implement which is why it has become a mainstream open source project anyone can use and support.



4. Rough.js



Currently, one of the most popular Github JavaScript projects, Rough.js lets you make graphics that look like hand-drawn sketches. While it may sound like a simple thing, the amount of work that’s been put into it to make it exceptionally special. You can create anything you want in code and Rough.js will convert it into a reasonably accurate representation of hand-drawn art that looks surprisingly authentic.



5. TensorFlow.js



TensorFlow.js is by far one of the best opensource JavaScript project of 2018 that’s gaining traction incredibly fast. Using TensorFlow.js you can build and train machine learning models in your browser and it also offers GPU acceleration support.



What makes it so special is the fact that you don’t need to install any libraries or drivers. Simply open your browser and you’ll be ready to make your model. If you already have a single or multiple pre-trained models, TensorFlow.js will convert it to be ready to use with your browser.

### 10 Reasons Why Your Small Business Needs a Mobile Application

10 Reasons for Small Business Owners to Finally Get a Mobile App



Mobile devices have become an inalienable part of an everyday life worldwide. An average person is reported to spend around 3 hours a day engaged with portable devices. Obviously, a “mobile” life caused tremendous changes in the way business operates.







10 Reasons for Small Business Owners to Finally Get a Mobile App



Despite the widely spread opinion that mobile apps are for big players dealing with CMS development, more and more small business owners already have or consider having tailored mobile solutions. Such companies are definitely ahead of the game, as having a custom mobile app brings marketing and sales to the next level.



Here are good 10 reasons explaining how mobile apps help small businesses grow.



1. Offer a Quick and Easy Purchase



Mobile apps are considered to be the fastest way to buy. Even compared to mobile websites. The properly tailored app easily guides the customer through the whole purchase process. Integrated payment systems allow easy and quick order placement. The end result ensures that your users get a seamless and fast checkout tool, resulting in higher sales while reducing customer care costs.



2. Differentiate From Competitors



Despite the proven benefits, small business apps are still rare. While competitors hesitate, demonstrate deep understanding of users’ preferences and habits. These days customers love doing business through smartphones and tablets. So be the first in the area to offer clients a comprehensive, user-friendly application to increase audience engagement and, as a result, purchasing action.



3. Be Noticeable 24/7



The downloaded mobile app constantly reminds users about you. Your app is always “in the way”, even when not used directly. Users will note the icon every time unlocking or scanning their devices. It’s a fact that human brain records everything it sees, even if it happens unconsciously.



4. Display Products and Services



The dedicated mobile app becomes a 24/7 available handy shop window,



where customers will find all products and services at one place ―



under their fingerprints.



5. Boost sales



Increased involvement brings increased action. When it’s about driving purchasing actions from highly targeted audience, mobile apps are definitely ahead of other sales techniques and tools.



6. Open a Direct Communication Channel



Mobile apps offer many communication tools ― news, booking forms, help desk, personal accounts, etc. Those features allow you to constantly stay in touch with users, providing them with all desired news ― for example, promoting sales and special offers. Direct push notifications will keep customers posted on the latest events and remind them of the products and services you offer.



7. Build a New ROI Instrument



In order to make profit from money invested, a custom mobile application can be easily converted from a promotional and sales tool to a revenue channel. Attach a price to it, offer in-app advertising or simply introduce paid features to monetize company’s mobile platform.



8. Digitalize Individual Approach



Have you ever thought how many clients would rather text you then call? The mobile app with a booking feature can change the usual way you interact with customers. Many people would rather make an appointment or place an order with several clicks than making a phone call.



Go further, help customers forget carrying point-collection cards and coupons by offering reward collecting programs via mobile apps. No doubt, environmentally friendly steps are always appreciated by consumers.



9. Improve Loyalty and Customer Service



People love when you think about their convenience and always appreciate that, no matter what you are selling ― pizzas or grooming services. These days everyone is on the run, and saving customer’s precious time pays back. A mobile app allows final consumers for a delivery or a quick pick-up while avoiding lines and unnecessary delays. That will make people return to you and spread the word about your business.



10. Get Strong Analytics



One of the benefits about presence in customers’ devices is that it’s much easier to collect data. Track downloads, audience engagement, see what products are the most popular. Data analyzed can help make goods and services more customer-oriented.



Summing Up



In the world moving towards M-commerce, “being mobile” can actually define if you will be in the game tomorrow. No one says a mobile app will guarantee your business a fast growth or save it from fail, but it’s a great toolset and a way to stay closer to already existing customers ― right at their fingertips and just a few clicks away from another completed order.

### Fernflower Java Decompiler

java -jar fernflower.jar mms-stubs.jar mms-stubs-sources.jar





Kotlin Development Company

### Scala development in NetBeans

Functional languages are cool in terms of making application parts running in parallel. This brings you great scalability of an application when running on multicore systems or in the cloud. So I’ve started looking at the direction of Scala which is based on Java and adds all benefits of the functional programming.



I plan to see how Java integrates with Scala and vice versa in the next post. This one just describes problems of a newbie when trying to run the first Scala project in NetBeans.



So I’ve used the latest NetBeans 6.8 with the installed Scala module and Scala 2.7.7.



So started NetBeans, created Scala project and began starring at the file trying to understand the source of the problem.







Why the hell I see errors immediately after the creation of the project? But the files are really correct. I’ve verified this according to the manual. So I decided to compile and see how it works.



Compilation failed with an error.



You must set SCALA_HOME or environment property and append 



“-J-Dscala.home=scalahomepath” property to the end of “netbeans_default_options” in NetBeansInstallationPath/etc/netbeans.conf to point to Scala installation directory.



Started searching for UI to specify path to the Scala installation – haven’t found any. Okay, specified SCALA_HOME and restarted NetBeans. Tried to compile again:



/home/andrey/Temp/ScalaApplication1/nbproject/build-impl.xml:236:



scala doesn’t support the “fork” attribute



Nice, passed to build-impl.xml and removed fork attribute. Compiled again:



/home/andrey/Temp/ScalaApplication1/nbproject/build-impl.xml:236: Parameter ‘-make:transitive’ is not recognised by Scalac.



Well, removed parameter from build-impl.xml. This time I was able to compile and run application.



Okay, let’s now try to create java application which calls Scala code.



But this code compiles nicely. 



Exception in thread “main” java.lang.RuntimeException: Uncompilable source code        at javaapplication1.Main.main(Main.java:18)Switch off “Compile on Save”



Thank you for the nice message. Let's follow it. Wow, finally it runs fine.



Okay, but I can see it and application runs.



So what can I say – currently developing Scala in NetBeans is not very smooth. NetBeans is my favorite IDE but now I’m a bit disappointed with the Scala integration which was considered to be “Full Featured”:



Full-featured Scala editor providing syntax and semantic coloring, source file navigator, code folding, mark occurrences, go to declaration, instant rename, indentation, formating, pair matching, error annotations, code completion, and in addition: project management (build/run/debug project), debugger, interactive console, JUnit integration, Maven integration.



Plan to try out Scala integration in Eclipse and IDEA. Hope it would be smoother. I’m still a newbie to spend much time on configuring my IDE to work with Scala. 

### How to Create Keystore From Certificate and Private Key

It is impossible to imagine a modern web application that is not using TLS connections. So, regardless of the programming language that we use, we need to know how to configure our production environment in order to have encrypted communication with clients. 



Let’s take a look into the Java world and see which options we have on Apache Tomcat, one of the most popular web application servers. But first, we need to understand what a keystore is. 







A keystore is a storage facility where cryptographic keys and certificates are stored. According to Java Cryptography Architecture, there are several types of keystores: KS, JCEKS, PKCS12, PKCS11 and DKS. In this article,  we’ll talk about the JKS one, although, starting from JDK 9, the default keystore is PKCS12.



To narrow down the focus, we are interested in one specific case when we have a private key and a CA-signed certificate and we have to configure the JKS keystore on the Tomcat. This case is more complicated than creating a keystore with a self-signed certificate (which is good for testing purposes). But the thing is, if you’re preparing a production environment you’ll rather use a CA certificate from a known CA authority than a self-signed one. This will increase trust in your application. 



NOTE: a guide below will be relevant only if you have a standalone Tomcat, which is quite rare nowadays. Usually you’ll be faced with a set up when Tomcat is sitting behind the Apache web server or nginx. In that case, you’ll have to handle TLS instead of Tomcat. Hence, this guide will become irrelevant for you. So pay attention and check and backup your setup accurately before implementing any changes.



A step-by-step guide on how to create keystore from certificate and private key



Now, getting back to the topic. Say, we have a private key and a CA signed certificate of this private key. Our goal is to set up the JKS keystore on a standalone Apache Tomcat application server. This is how you can do it.



Step 1. Create a PKCS 12 file:



openssl pkcs12 -export -in [path to certificate] -inkey [path to private key] -certfile [path to certificate ] -out keystore.p12




Your private key may have a password. If so, this step will be a bit longer, because you will have to set a password for the PKS12 file as well:



monowheeller@localhost:~/applications/tmp/keystores/signedca$ openssl pkcs12 -export -in prodsecret.pem -inkey prodserver.pem -certfile prodsecret.pem -out prodkeystore.p12
Enter pass phrase for prodsecret.pem:
Enter Export Password:
Verifying - Enter Export Password:
monowheeller@localhost:~/applications/tmp/keystores/signedca$






Step 2. Create a JKS file using the keytool command (a command line tool which can generate a public key / private key pairs and store them in a Java keystore).



keytool -importkeystore -srckeystore prodkeystore.p12 -srcstoretype pkcs12 -destkeystore prod.jks -deststoretype JKS



Step 3 (not required). You will probably want to change the password of the private key file in the keystore.



keytool -keypasswd -alias [Alias name for private key] -keystore [path to key store]





Step 4 (not required). If you want to modify the alias name of the private key entry:



keytool -changealias -keystore [path to key store] -alias [current alias]

That’s it! Thanks for reading.

### Android, decoding click low level event

Hello everybody, I have completely decoded today the click event, so we can manipulate with all click parameters.



# X,Y will be set pair: where 0048 – X will be set, 104 – square of finger, touched the screen!

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 0048 000000104
# X,Y will be set pair: where 50 – Y will be set, 10 is a constant value. This event is optional.

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 0050 000000010

# SET X,Y pair: where 53 – set X, 122 is X coordinate

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 0053 000000122

# SET X,Y pair: where 54 – set Y, 312 is Y coordinate

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 0054 000000312

# X,Y WAS SET MARKER

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0000 0002 00000000

# FINGER TOUCHED THE SCREEN (FINGER DOWN): 0018 optional, 0020 – finger down.

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 0018 00000047

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 0020 00000001

# Finger touched screen at 122,312 with 104 square of the touch (I think 10.2*10.2 px square)

# All zero values event should separate logical parts of events and means that finger down

# event is completed

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0000 0000 00000000

# Duplicated events for finger down. Finger is going up with zero touch square

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 0048 00000000

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 0050 00000010

# Duplicated events for finger down. Finger is going up at 122,312

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 0053 000000122

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 0054 000000312

# Duplicated separator

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0000 0002 00000000

# Duplicated events for finger up. 0020 with 0000000 arg means finger is releasing.

# Same with finger down, only 0020 0000000 instead of 0020 00000001

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 0018 00000032

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 0020 00000000

# Event is over

sendevent /dev/input/event2 0000 0000 00000000



Main information here is that 000000104 – square of the touched area. I think all other stuff is well known.



I have debugged this value, and normal thin fast click should be near <50. Also I think this value is used somehow to compute difference for x,y when swipe or slide occurs. Because 122,312 point – it is just 1px. But finger touched 104 pixels!



I have used sendevent /dev/input/event2 in example, to allow you immediately check the click on the screen using shell script.



Basic tutorial how to reproduce motion events using low level shell commands



Happy decoding (:



Best regards,



Yahor

### Android, writing events low level touch screen automated shell test, part #1

Hello everybody,



Some information I have already covered in the article:



How to click screen using shell script (Froyo)



– In the beginning of this article you will find how to reproduce click for before Froyo Android



So lets start from the beginning, for implementation of automated test you need only 2 simple and essential shell commands:



~$ adb shell getevent



~$ adb shell sendevent $device $command $argument $value



First command is dumping all events from all interfaces (usually /dev/input/event0-4) in real time into the terminal output. For high usability you can use grep with regular expression to set a filter for output (it is so useful because of there are a lot of events out of our interest) for example, we need to trace only touch interface events:



— Assume /dev/input/event2 is a touch screen interface



~$ adb shell getevent | grep event2



or we need to get only click coordinates:



~$ adb shell getevent | grep event2: 0003 003[56]



By this way we can very simply determinate UI elements position at the screen! Sure, after we will conver hexa values of getevent to the decimal. For this you can use a pretty nice online tool with various converters on the board: easy calculation converter



For checking consistency of your regular expressions, you are using with grep command, you are welcome to use: my favourite regexpal, sure you can use your favourite tools.



Okay, lets try to determinate what roadblocks you may have firing this commands:




“adb is not a command” or something like this




– Check in what folder you are, and change it to the …/android_sdk_location/tools



– adb (Android debug bridge) is situated here




“adb server is not running” or something like this




– try to start adb daemon using command adb start-server




You have fired an event, all was properly set, but nothing happens!




– Make sure you are not using HEXA args/values, when you are using sendevent command



– you must specify all data in the decimal format (0-9)



Let me provide you with some examples:



~$ adb shell getevent | grep event2



-> I’m doing single tap on the screen



Following events sequence will be dumped:



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0030 00000068



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0032 0000000a



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0035 0000022e



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0036 00000039



/dev/input/event2: 0000 0002 00000000



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0012 0000002f



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0014 00000001



/dev/input/event2: 0000 0000 00000000



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0030 00000000



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0032 0000000a



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0035 0000022e



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0036 00000039



/dev/input/event2: 0000 0002 00000000



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0012 00000020



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0014 00000000



/dev/input/event2: 0000 0000 00000000



Okay, now we can analyse it and determinate what these numbers mean:




Finger is touching the screen:




/dev/input/event2: 0003 0030 00000068



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0032 0000000a




At screen coordinates:




/dev/input/event2: 0003 0035 0000022e



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0036 00000039




Still not recognized part, but I assume it describes number of pointers and its ID:




/dev/input/event2: 0000 0002 00000000



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0012 0000002f



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0014 00000001




Pure event separator:




/dev/input/event2: 0000 0000 00000000




Finger is releasing the point at the screen:




/dev/input/event2: 0003 0030 00000000



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0032 0000000a




At the screen position:




/dev/input/event2: 0003 0035 0000022e



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0036 00000039




Not recognized series, possibly describing number of touches and ID of the current touch:




/dev/input/event2: 0000 0002 00000000



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0012 00000020



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0014 00000000




Pure event separator, always should close events sequence




/dev/input/event2: 0000 0000 00000000



So what information can we extract from these dump?



A lot of information!




How to set X,Y coordinate of the click:




/dev/input/event2: 0003 0035 0000022e



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0036 00000039



Convert it to decimal and you will get the valuable ids:



Where 0003 53 and 0003 54 set x and set y commands



accordignaly. 558 is X, 57 is Y, to reproduce it you can



send these events:



~$ adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 53 558



~$ adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 54 57




I think it will be interesting for you to reflect other events




by yourself. Please let me know if you do not succeed to do



something yourself.



INFO: Click all params decoded. Shell script sample.



PART 2: implementing simple shell script with ClickOnScreen(x,y) function.



Happy clicking (:



Best regards,



Yahor

### ANDROID, LOW LEVEL SHELL CLICK ON SCREEN

Guys, nowdays, approach in this article is really senseless.



Use: input tap x y

(also input text, swipe, keyevent are available)

adb shell input tap x y

adb shell input swipe x1 y1 x2 y2

adb shell input text Hello!

adb shell input keyevent ID



By this way you do not need to care about hardware implementation. Using events you will have to imeplemnt them for each device. All these commands could be executed on device or on PC via ADB.



Happy testing! (:



To send touch event you need to do:



1 Set coordinates:



adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 3 0 x

adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 3 1 y



2 Send touch event (must have 0 0 0 pair):



adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 1 330 1



adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0 0 0



3 Send release finger event (must have 0 0 0 pair):



adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 1 330 0



adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0 0 0



Please note:



1 You can record events:



adb shell getevent



2 if you use getevent all event values are in hex.



CONFIRMED, THIS WAY IS NOT WORKING ANYMORE, at least for Android 2.2.



I have rechecked, Android low level events signature was changed starting from Android 2.2 Froyo.



I just dumped single click:



/dev/input/event2: 0003 0030 00000068

/dev/input/event2: 0003 0032 0000000a

/dev/input/event2: 0003 0035 0000022e

/dev/input/event2: 0003 0036 00000039

/dev/input/event2: 0000 0002 00000000

/dev/input/event2: 0003 0012 0000002f

/dev/input/event2: 0003 0014 00000001

/dev/input/event2: 0000 0000 00000000

/dev/input/event2: 0003 0030 00000000

/dev/input/event2: 0003 0032 0000000a

/dev/input/event2: 0003 0035 0000022e

/dev/input/event2: 0003 0036 00000039

/dev/input/event2: 0000 0002 00000000

/dev/input/event2: 0003 0012 00000020

/dev/input/event2: 0003 0014 00000000

/dev/input/event2: 0000 0000 00000000



It has obviously another structure.. I’m investigating right now this situation, solution will be here tomorrow ;)



After a quick investigation I have reproduced the click for Froyo Android:



Perl script (click on screen at 558, 57 point):



system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 48 104“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 50 10“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 53 558“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 54 57“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0000 2 00000000“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 18 47“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 20 00000001“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0000 0000 00000000“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 48 00000000“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 50 10“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 53 558“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 54 57“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0000 0002 00000000“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 18 32“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0003 20 00000000“);

system(“adb shell sendevent /dev/input/event2 0000 0000 00000000“);



How I did it:



1. Start dump motion event you need to reproduce:



~$ adb shell getevent | grep event2



grep is very useful to filter output.



2. Do motion event you want to reproduce;



3. Than just convert all values from hex in dump to decimal values! :)



To find what eventX is working for you do following:



1. Start terminal and type



~$ adb shell getevent



You will see quickly moving traces with for example /dev/input/event4 ……



2. Touch screen once



You must see between event4 few eventX and these eventX right in the moment of the touch



will be yours input interface for reproducing motion events! :)



Please check my tutorial for low level interaction with device



Happy motion events reproducing! (:



Best regards,



Yahor


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AI Software Development Process at SoftTeco



Learn how our AI development company designs and delivers your next-gen AI solutions, tailored perfectly to your requirements:




01
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SoftTeco’s business analysts and ML engineers will help you define the existing pain points and goals and determine how exactly AI can help. We then determine the most suitable AI implementation strategy, which includes the selection of the AI model, evaluation of available data, and definition of KPIs.Expected deliverables: a project brief with outlined goals, a feasibility study, and a high-level architecture of the proposed solution.




02
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SoftTeco’s data engineers and data analysts will identify available data sources and set up data pipelines for further collection. In case you do not have enough training data yet, we can start with synthetic data or public datasets. Our experts use tools like Roboflow and CVAT for dataset annotation and then split it into training and validation sets for further work.Expected deliverables: data documentation (including its format, structure), initial EDA.




03
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Once the data is ready, we will design and train the AI model on the annotated data. To achieve the most accurate results, we will set up preliminary evaluation metrics such as model precision and recall and will continuously tune hyperparameters.Expected deliverables: a model prototype, training logs, documentation with algorithm choices and their justification.




04
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Together with ML experts, SoftTeco’s QA engineers will test the designed model on real-world scenarios to see how its performance measures against the defined metrics. This might include A/B testing for performance comparison and validation loop for uncovering model drift.Expected deliverables: validation and testing reports, approval for deployment.




05
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This step involves full integration of the developed model with your business logic and the configuration of the model's monitoring. During this stage, our ML engineers work together with frontend and backend developers to ensure seamless integration with all parts of the system.Expected deliverables: a detailed deployment plan, API implementation, a rollback plan.




06
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After the model is launched, we will closely monitor it for any possible issues as well as for the need for retraining. We will also update the model based on the new data (upon the request) and will perform scheduled model evaluations and revalidations.



Expected deliverables: an incident response guide, version history and change logs, a monitoring dashboard.













 





 

Don’t Rush with AI, Plan Your Moves Wisely



 







Many organizations are rushing to implement AI features simply to gain a competitive edge. While early adoption can indeed bring advantages, the key question is not whether to use AI but where to use it. Randomly inserting AI into products or processes may create short-term buzz, but true value emerges only when AI addresses the right problems. Strategic adoption matters more than speed.The businesses that thrive will be those that move beyond the race to simply “add AI”. Instead, they will ask deeper questions: Which processes in our organization truly benefit from AI? Where does automation free people to do more valuable work? How can AI enhance—not replace—human creativity and judgment?




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The Proof of Concept development involves the creation of the product’s prototype with an aim to study the feasibility of the idea. It normally includes a small-scale preparation of the dataset, basic algorithm selection, design of the prototype model and the initial evaluation of its performance.Average cost: $10,000 - $50,000Duration: 4-8 weeks





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The core principles of DevSecOps are:





Shift left: security is integrated from the very start during planning, design, and coding. This “shift left” approach helps catch issues early, when they’re faster and cheaper to fix.

Infrastructure security: covers security of cloud environments, infrastructure as code (IaC), containers, and runtime configurations.

Supply chain enhancement: security measures cover not only your organization but third-party vendors too, thus preventing vulnerabilities from their side.

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Statistics 





13.2%



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50%



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Our specialists work with tools like Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and cloud-native platforms to embed security testing, code analysis, and infrastructure as code (IaC) policies into your CI/CD. This enables continuous integration with real-time feedback and automated enforcement of your security thresholds, which turns reactive measures into proactive defenses.





Continuous Monitoring



SoftTeco’s DevSecOps services include real-time monitoring of runtime environments using tools like Datadog, AWS CloudTrail, or custom alerting dashboards. By continuously monitoring application behavior, configuration drift, and compliance deviations, we ensure early detection and mitigation of security threats.





DevSecOps Strategy And Assessment



Our DevSecOps services company helps you define a long-term roadmap. We assess your business goals, infrastructure, team readiness, and compliance needs to build a practical implementation strategy. From initial advisory to full-scale rollout, our DevSecOps as a service model supports continuous improvement across the entire software development lifecycle.





Threat Modeling & Compliance Engineering



Our DevSecOps consulting company helps you identify potential risks early through structured threat modeling and define the right security controls based on your industry and architecture. Whether you're aiming for ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, or GDPR compliance, we assist in aligning your development and infrastructure practices with applicable standards without overengineering.



 






 

We Deliver DevSecOps Services Across Industries

 








 

DevSecOps Implementation Process at SoftTeco




01
Discovery And Assessment



We start with threat modeling to identify likely attack vectors based on your architecture and data flows. Then, we review your architecture and dependencies to uncover structural risks and technical debt. Finally, we prioritize risks by evaluating business impact, data sensitivity, and compliance exposure.




02
Security Toolchain Setup and Integration



Our specialists help you choose and implement the right security tools based on your tech stack, cloud infrastructure, and threat landscape. This includes both selecting new tools and integrating your existing ones into the CI/CD pipeline. Whether you're using proprietary platforms or open-source options, we guide licensing decisions, configuration, and automation.




03
CI/CD Pipeline Integration



We integrate security controls directly into your continuous integration and continuous delivery workflows and ensure every code change is tested, scanned, and approved before reaching production. In the CI phase, we embed pre-merge security scans that run automatically during pull requests or code commits, automatic gates that block merges if vulnerabilities exceed severity thresholds, and real-time feedback loops that notify developers directly in their IDE or CI tool. In the CD phase, we configure custom security stages in tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, or GitHub Actions, fast-fail deployment triggers to prevent insecure builds from shipping, and audit-ready logging and traceability across test and release pipelines.




04
Monitoring And Response



SoftTeco integrates real-time monitoring and incident response into your DevSecOps pipeline to give your teams full visibility into security posture. This includes setting up dashboards, log collection, and anomaly detection tools that alert you when something goes wrong, whether it's a failed DAST scan, a misconfigured firewall, or unexpected behavior in production.



To speed up response time, we automate incident handling with predefined workflows, notifications, and remediation playbooks. These continuous feedback loops help your security evolve with your infrastructure and ensure your systems stay secure, scalable, and compliant.













 





 


Calculate Team Cost



Quickly estimate your team’s cost in just 4 simple steps. Fill out a short questionnaire to get an approximate budget based on hourly rates and estimated workload. Start now — it's free and instant!



Calculate Team Cost




 





 

Our DevsecOps Tech Stack





Observability and Visualization




Datadog



ELK Stack



Prometheus



Grafana



Loki






Continuous Security Testing




SonarQube



Checkov






Automated Response and Remediation




StackStorm



AWS Systems Manager Automation



Torq / Tines / XSOAR (Cortex)






Threat Detection and Hunting




AWS GuardDuty






Alerting and Incident Notification




Uptime Kuma



Datadog



Prometheus Alertmanager






Threat Intelligence Aggregation




MISP (Malware Information Sharing Platform)



OpenCTI



ThreatConnect / Anomali






Attack Simulation and Modeling




Red Canary's Threat Simulation Tools



MITRE CALDERA



Atomic Red Team



SCYTHE




 





 

Benefits You Get From SoftTeco’s DevSecOps Consulting Services











 



 




01 / 06



Faster Delivery with Fewer Bottlenecks




Our automated DevSecOps pipelines remove the guesswork and manual checks that often stall releases. You ship faster without sacrificing security, thanks to pre-commit security gates, IaC policies, and real-time code analysis integrated into your CI/CD. This reduces friction and lets your engineers focus on delivering value.






02 / 06



Improved Software Quality Through Automation




We integrate automated vulnerability scans, license compliance checks, and misconfiguration detectors directly into your development pipelines. That means fewer bugs, fewer late-stage reworks, and better code in every release.






03 / 06



Real-Time Visibility and Policy Enforcement




By leveraging infrastructure-as-code and runtime monitoring tools, we enforce fine-grained compliance and governance policies across your infrastructure. Your security posture stays intact, even as teams scale and iterate rapidly.






04 / 06



Measurable Risk Reduction




Our threat modeling, compliance mapping (ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR), and open-source dependency checks help you identify and mitigate risks before they reach production. With risk scoring dashboards and automated alerting, you're always in control.






05 / 06



Stronger Compliance and Governance




From secure secrets management to audit-ready logs and federated identity controls, our services are designed for businesses that need to scale securely. Whether you’re in fintech, healthcare, or logistics, we tailor DevSecOps to meet your regulatory and architectural demands.






06 / 06



Dev-Focused Security Training




Our engineers provide hands-on enablement to your DevOps teams on secure coding, SAST/DAST usage, and CI/CD hardening. At the same time, we train your security specialists on DevOps tooling, so security becomes part of the build process, not an afterthought.



 





 

Why SoftTeco Is the DevSecOps Services Company You Can Trust





Certified Expertise in DevOps, Security, and Cloud Engineering



Our engineers hold industry-recognized certifications, including AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C01), Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), GitOps at Scale & Fundamentals, Cisco Networking & Routing (CCNA, SRWE), Linux Essentials.These credentials reflect our practical ability to design secure, scalable, and automated pipelines that align with your compliance and infrastructure needs.

















Scalable DevSecOps Software Tailored to Your Stack



Our specialists design scalable DevSecOps solutions that align with your cloud stack, CI/CD, and compliance needs. Whether you run Kubernetes, AWS, or hybrid cloud, we secure every layer from IaC to open-source components.

















Focus on Usability, Speed, and Governance



By integrating automated security testing, policy-as-code, and compliance checks into your CI/CD pipelines, we eliminate manual bottlenecks and speed up delivery. Real-time dashboards give your teams actionable insights, while built-in controls ensure governance at every step. The result is faster time to market, fewer production issues, and secure software that scales confidently..

















Transparent Process and Measurable Outcomes



From the first security audit to full implementation, we provide complete visibility into every stage of your software development lifecycle. You’ll see measurable improvements through KPIs like reduced mean time to resolution (MTTR), vulnerability detection rates, and audit readiness. Every fix, policy update, and threat mitigation is tracked and aligned with your business goals, which reinforces your security posture.













 





 

Frequently Asked Questions



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Generative AI Development Services

Generative AI Development Services



We offer generative AI development services to help you automate content creation, streamline decision-making, and launch intelligent products faster. From strategy to post-launch tuning, SoftTeco turns AI ambition into cutting-edge solutions.



Discuss Your Project Idea



 





 




17




  





Years on The Market






500




  





Employees






300




  





Customers Worldwide






450




  





Successful Projects 



 









 

SoftTeco Generative AI Development Services





01



AI Chatbot Development



SoftTeco builds intelligent chatbots powered by large language models like GPT and Claude. These bots handle support, sales, and onboarding across apps, websites, and mobile. Our chatbots improve customer experiences and reduce manual workload by offering context-aware, real-time answers.





02



Gen AI Model Engineering



We offer end-to-end model development for generative AI solutions. Our team builds and customizes models that power content creation, workflow automation, and advanced decision support. In case you need model fine-tuning, training, or custom pipelines creation, you will get high-quality performance tailored to your domain.





03



Gen AI Software Integration



We support full-cycle application development and ensure seamless integration of generative AI tools into your business systems. Whether it's a CRM, ERP, or a custom platform, we connect Gen AI models to your existing infrastructure without disrupting workflows. This eliminates data silos, improves automation accuracy, and streamlines operations.





04



Fine-Tuning for Gen AI Models



We fine-tune generative AI models with your internal data, domain logic, and business-specific goals. Our team adjusts hyperparameters, applies task-specific evaluation metrics, and optimizes training strategies to improve accuracy, brand alignment, and compliance. This approach delivers high-quality outputs that reflect your brand and reduce hallucinations in sensitive tasks.





05



Machine Learning Extensions for Generative AI



Our experts extend your existing Gen AI solution with machine learning features like predictive analytics, anomaly detection, and recommendation systems. These hybrid pipelines give you both generative power and actionable insights that are fast, secure, and scalable.





06



Gen AI Infrastructure & MLOps Setup



Strong infrastructure is the backbone of any AI development initiative. We build your tech stack for scalability, reliability, and compliance, that is complete with MLOps pipelines, compute optimization, and monitoring.





07



Lifecycle Maintenance for Gen AI



Artificial intelligence models need regular support, just like any high-performance system. That’s why our team handles model training, tracks performance drift, and steps in with retraining when signals shift. With SoftTeco’s lifecycle maintenance, your generative AI solutions stay accurate, aligned with real-world business needs, and free from creeping tech debt, so your team can work with confidence after deployment.



 





 

Gen AI Use Cases





Document Processing & Summarization



Generative AI solutions handle dense paperwork with contracts, policies, compliance reports and convert them into structured, usable insights. These models extract essential points, flag anomalies, and highlight areas of risk. This improves review speed, ensures consistency, and reduces the chance of human oversight, so your teams respond faster and make better decisions with smart automation.





Predictive Data Analytics



Generative AI helps you forecast demand, predict risks, and simulate outcomes before decisions are made. Retailers can spot sales spikes before they happen. Banks can flag fraud in seconds. And supply chains can fix themselves before anyone notices a delay. You get fast insights, less guesswork, and smarter action, backed by real-time data that speaks your language.





Text-to-Image & Video Generation



Our text-to-media solutions generate images, explainer videos, product renders, or branded assets on demand and in your voice. Whether for marketing, prototyping, or training, you turn ideas into polished content in minutes with no production bottlenecks.





Speech Recognition & Synthesis



Voice AI converts speech to text and replicates a natural language and a human tone for a smoother user experience. Models like WaveNet and ElevenLabs allow businesses to build lifelike voice agents, perfect for customer support, virtual assistants, or accessibility tools. This makes interfaces hands-free, multilingual, and hyper-responsive.





Fraud Detection & Risk Management



Generative models simulate realistic fraudulent behavior by generating synthetic transactions and edge-case scenarios. Fintechs and insurers use this to train more resilient risk models. As a result, they experience better fraud detection, fewer false positives, and stronger defenses against evolving threats.





Retrieval-Augmented Generation Systems



For businesses with large knowledge bases, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines combine language models with internal data to produce reliable, context-aware answers. Sales teams surface key contract terms, and analysts pull insights from thousands of documents instantly. With custom generative AI solutions, you get reliable responses, grounded in your own data.





Automated Code Generation



AI coding agents assist developers with smart suggestions, testing, and deployment scripts. Tools like GitHub Copilot or custom GPT-based agents accelerate builds, improve quality, and reduce bugs. Teams launch products faster and focus on system architecture.





Synthetic Data Generation



When real data is scarce or sensitive, Gen‑AI creates safe, realistic datasets. This supports robust model training in areas like healthcare or autonomous driving where privacy or rarity makes data limited.







Document Processing & Summarization



Generative AI solutions handle dense paperwork with contracts, policies, compliance reports and convert them into structured, usable insights. These models extract essential points, flag anomalies, and highlight areas of risk. This improves review speed, ensures consistency, and reduces the chance of human oversight, so your teams respond faster and make better decisions with smart automation.





Predictive Data Analytics



Generative AI helps you forecast demand, predict risks, and simulate outcomes before decisions are made. Retailers can spot sales spikes before they happen. Banks can flag fraud using AI in seconds. And supply chains can fix themselves before anyone notices a delay. You get fast insights, less guesswork, and smarter action, backed by real-time data that speaks your language.





Text-to-Image & Video Generation



Our text-to-media solutions generate images, explainer videos, product renders, or branded assets on demand and in your voice. Whether for marketing, prototyping, or training, you turn ideas into polished content in minutes with no production bottlenecks.





Speech Recognition & Synthesis



Voice AI converts speech to text and replicates a natural language and a human tone for a smoother user experience. Models like WaveNet and ElevenLabs allow businesses to build lifelike voice agents, perfect for customer support, virtual assistants, or accessibility tools. This makes interfaces hands-free, multilingual, and hyper-responsive.





Fraud Detection & Risk Management



Generative models simulate realistic fraudulent behavior by generating synthetic transactions and edge-case scenarios. Fintechs and insurers use this to train more resilient risk models. As a result, they experience better fraud detection, fewer false positives, and stronger defenses against evolving threats.





Retrieval-Augmented Generation Systems



For businesses with large knowledge bases, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines combine language models with internal data to produce reliable, context-aware answers. Sales teams surface key contract terms, and analysts pull insights from thousands of documents instantly. With custom generative AI solutions, you get reliable responses, grounded in your own data.





Automated Code Generation



AI coding agents assist developers with smart suggestions, testing, and deployment scripts. Tools like GitHub Copilot or custom GPT-based agents accelerate builds, improve quality, and reduce bugs. Teams launch products faster and focus on system architecture.





Synthetic Data Generation



When real data is scarce or sensitive, Gen‑AI creates safe, realistic datasets. This supports robust model training in areas like healthcare or autonomous driving where privacy or rarity makes data limited.



 





 

Benefits You Get From SoftTeco’s Gen AI Solutions



SoftTeco helps businesses unlock fresh opportunities and advantages. With our models, your teams can launch content faster, personalize customer journeys, generate reports in real time and many more. Below, we highlight how our Gen AI solutions drive measurable impact, streamline operations, and support long-term business growth:





New Revenue Streams



SoftTeco’s generative AI development services give your business the tools to build new products, automate creative output, and shorten the time from concept to launch. With models that support text, image, video, and code generation, you open entirely new channels for monetization. Your teams can launch campaigns faster, test product ideas in real time, and unlock content strategies that scale. These advantages push you ahead of competitors and expand your digital transformation roadmap.





Improved Decision Quality



Raw operational data often hides the patterns that matter most. Our AI-powered platforms extract those signals and turn them into clear business intelligence. Instead of reacting late, you act early with real-time insights that guide pricing, inventory, and resource strategy. If you face market shifts or internal inefficiencies, the system brings predictive models to the front line, which provide data-driven decisions that sharpen performance across every department.





Personalized Customer Support



Fine-tuned language models deliver support that matches each customer’s needs. They understand tone, intent, and history, so responses feel human and natural. This kind of customer experience wins loyalty while your team redirects attention to high-priority issues. In the end, you get smoother workflows, lower wait times, and better operational efficiency at scale.





Automated Compliance and Reporting



Our custom generative AI development services let you draft compliance reports, summarize dense legal text, and document actions with precision without wasting time on formatting. The system captures audit trails, reduces legal exposure, and ensures full transparency in every report. When the pressure is on, your team focuses on the decisions that count, not the paperwork.



 





 

































    
      
        
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
    
      
        
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
    
      
        
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      
    
    
      
        
          
            
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
  



Ready to innovate with Generative AI?



Contact our AI experts and discover how SoftTeco 



can turn your biggest challenges into AI-powered wins.



Contact Us



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Generative AI Development Company





Cross-functional Gen AI Expertise



Seasoned ML engineers, data scientists, and domain experts collaborate under one roof, backed by a decade of product development success.





End-to-End Delivery



Our team designs every system around your business goals. From RNNs and transformers to modern diffusion models, we shape architectures, tune hyperparameters, and build data pipelines that match your KPIs.





Security



SoftTeco, an ISO 27001-certified company, follows strict security protocols, from access control to encryption, so your data stays safe and your operations stay compliant. You experience full transparency at every step of the way.





Continuous Support And Upgrades



Our engineers retrain models, run performance audits, and update algorithms to match new data and evolving use cases. That’s how we keep your solution accurate, reliable, and ready to outperform the market.



 









 

Tech Stack













01 / 06



Foundation Models & APIs





OpenAI (GPT-5, GPT-4, GPT-4o)



Anthropic Claude



Google Gemini



Meta Llama (Llama 2, Llama 3



Mistral, DeepSeek, Qwen, Gemma, Phi







02 / 06



Open-Source Frameworks & Runtimes





PyTorch



Hugging Face Transformers & Diffusers



Ollama



vLLM



LM Studio







03 / 06



Agent Frameworks & Orchestration





LangChain, LangGraph, LangFlow, LangFusion



LlamaIndex



n8n (workflow automation)







04 / 06



Vision & Multimodal AI





Stable Diffusion / SDXL



ControlNet, ComfyUI, Runway ML



GANs (StyleGAN, BigGAN)



Veo (API), Sora







05 / 06



Speech & Audio





WaveNet (Google DeepMind)



Kimi-Audio



Whisper



Tortoise TTS, Bark







06 / 06



MLOps & Infrastructure





Docker, Kubernetes



MLflow, Weights & Biases



TensorBoard, ClearML



AWS SageMaker, Azure ML, Google Vertex AI





 






 

We Deliver AI Development Services Across Industries

 








 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Golf Club



The AI-powered analyzer of golf players




  




Web













Beeguard



An AI-Based Beehive Tracking System




  




Web



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									We are very happy with our collaboration with SoftTeco as they always deliver on time and they have helped us create a truly competitive and user-focused application.
								
								
									
										Founder, POSTR 
									
									
										Audun Kvalvaag
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

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Learn more about AI

 




 

What we do

 



 


AI Development



AI Consulting



Generative AI Development







Machine Learning Consulting



Machine Learning Development



Data Science Consulting







Computer Vision Development



Robotic Process Automation


 



 

What we think

 



 


AI in FinTech



AI in Banking



AI Fraud Detection in Banking



AI for Credit Scoring



AI in Manufacturing



AI in Sports



Conversational AI



Agentic AI



AI for HR Processes







ML in Healthcare



ML in Logistics and Supply Chain



ML in Agriculture



ML Trends



GitHub Copilot Alternatives



GPT vs. BERT







What is Computer Vision?



Optical Character Recognition (OCR)



Image Recognition Technology



Automatic Speech Recognition



Data Labeling



Digital Twinning


 



 

 




 

+ Show more

 




 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services
		
	
	
		
		
	





 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Roaming Hunger

Roaming Hunger



Food truck search and booking app







Type



Web, Mobile





Industry



Food & Drink





Country



USA




 





 

Highlights




Integrated map and a zoom-in feature



Responsive design for various iOS versions



Advanced filtering and search 



A vendor booking feature




Challenge



Roaming Hunger Inc. is a startup company that launched its services in order to help people find and monitor their favorite mobile food vendors and explore new ones around them.  The company now provides information on over 5,000 street food vendors in West Hollywood, including information on their current location and schedule. The app also facilitates the truck booking process and offers various services, including corporate and public catering.



The project started as an iOS application in 2011 and in 2014, the client launched an Android app. At the same time, the client contacted SoftTeco to help expand the functionality of the existing iOS application, optimize its design, and make it more user-centric.





 





  








 

Do you have a similar challenge?



Contact us and let’s discuss how SoftTeco can help your business grow through the power of innovation and digitization.





Let's get started



 






 

Solution



Roaming Hunger is a user-friendly and intuitive application that connects users with food trucks in the area. The app features several sections, such as vendor search and filtering, vendor list, real-time vendor locations displayed on an integrated map, and vendor booking. Users can access menus with photos and add trucks to the “Favorites” list.





 





 

Tech Stack





Components




UIKit



FacebookSDK



AFNetworking



CocoaPods



XSDK



GPS






How it works



For its time, the application was considered highly innovative as it was written in custom code and had several interesting features. Since its main goal was to connect users with vendors in a specific area, the app needed to have an integrated map and an option to sort through vendors. To carry that out, SoftTeco used the Core Location framework that helped display the real-time location of vendors on the native Apple map. Users were also able to zoom in and out to get a better view of available vendors and their locations.





 





  









 

Once a user found a needed vendor, they could add a vendor to the “Favorites” list and see the full menu with images. For improved user experience, our team ensured that the app design is responsive and supports several iOS versions (iPhone 5 and older versions, more specifically). Considering the drastic difference in screen sizes and resolutions between iPhone 5 and iPhone 4, our team was extra attentive to the app’s design.



SoftTeco incorporated the search and filtering feature so users can look for specific vendors in the truck listing. We also added the push notification feature so users are notified when a specific truck is in the area or is available. 



Results



Today, Roaming Hunger is a popular food truck booking app that provides its services all over the USA and in several other countries. We were glad to be part of this ambitious project during its early development stages and to help the client shape his vision of the app.





 





 

Need a high-performing solution to augment your business?



Let SoftTeco handle your tech challenges and design a software solution tailored precisely to your unique requirements. 





Request a quote



 







 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Data Science Consulting

Data Science Consulting Services





SoftTeco’s data science consulting services are aimed at transforming your data into a valuable business asset. No more guesswork during strategic decision-making - instead, always know what’s happening in your company and how to optimize every inch of its processes.



Book a consultation



 





 




17




  





Years of experience






450




  





Projects






300




  





Customers worldwide






500




  





Employees



 





 

SoftTeco’s Data Science Consulting Services



SoftTeco offers an extensive range of data consulting services - find out how exactly we can elevate your business:

 



 

Data Science ConsultingData Collection & PreparationData Science Solution DeliveryData Science Solution ModernizationData Science SupportDataOps

 

Data Science Consulting



Not sure where to start with data science consultancy or what data science solution will fit your business the best? No worries, we got you covered. SoftTeco’s data science consultancy services help business owners define the main pain points that need to be addressed and set requirements for the data science implementation.




Project roadmap design



Analysis of your business and the market



Selection of a suitable tech stack


 





 

Data Collection & Preparation



If your information is scattered all over the organization and you lack a centralized and scalable storage solution, we will gladly help. SoftTeco assists in collection and preparation of information using advanced tools and technologies. We will ensure that the collected information is processed in correspondence with your needs and the selected storage solution.




Design and setup of data lakes and data warehouses



Structuring and enrichment of data



Elimination of corrupted, duplicate, or irrelevant information


 





 

Data Science Solution Delivery



SoftTeco delivers intelligent solutions in full alignment with your business needs and pain points. Whether you need to investigate customer behavior, optimize efficiency, or increase workplace safety and productivity, we can help. Starting with an MVP or a PoC (upon the request), we will gradually build up the solution, testing and tweaking at every stage.




Development of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)



Setup and configuration of a custom ML model



Integration with your current systems in use


 





 

Data Science Solution Modernization



If you already have a data science solution and need to optimize it in correspondence with evolving business needs, SoftTeco will help. We offer modernization services that include the analysis of your current solution, its reinforcement, and integration of any extra services and systems.




Addition of new features



Implementation of new ML models



Code and architecture review


 





 

Data Science Support



Once your solution is deployed, our work doesn’t end there. We offer post-launch support and maintenance services that include performance monitoring and fine-tuning, debugging, and further solution improvement. By partnering with SoftTeco, you can rest assured that your solution performs as intended and brings tangible benefits to your business.




Immediate issue resolution



Proactive performance monitoring



Implementation of improvements


 





 

DataOps



Set up a transparent and effective data flow across your organization with our DataOps services. This approach helps companies get more accurate insights and share the information efficiently across the departments. From planning to continuous improvement, SoftTeco will handle your information in the best way.




Setup of data pipelines



Automation of the infrastructure



Use of advanced tools and technologies


 



 





 

Additional Services That SoftTeco Offers



To make the most of your data science solution, we offer a range of additional services:





01



Machine Learning Development



SoftTeco’s engineers and data science consultants offer the design and development of advanced ML models for faster and more accurate information processing. Our ML services cover a range of use cases, such as predictive analytics, computer vision solutions and root-cause analysis. 





02



Big Data Management



Not sure where to start with your big data? Provifing big data services, SoftTeco will help you manage it properly, identify new data sources, and set up smooth data flows. Upon the request we can also recommend the most suitable storage solutions and processing tools.





03



Business Intelligence



To centralize your information and ensure that the collected insights are available in suitable formats, we offer the development of advanced BI systems. By blending intelligence and automation, we create a centralized data processing platform, integrated perfectly with your system.





04



Data Storage



If your current storage solution does not support the growing requirements of your business or does not fully meet your needs, we can help optimize it or migrate the information to a more effective solution, including cloud-based platforms.





05



Analysis & Reporting



SoftTeco can help you implement advanced analysis and reporting so your information always remains accessible, understandable, and transparent. We can set up regular and automated report generation and will help tweak the analysis rules so you receive the needed insights.





06



Data Visualization



Our data science consulting company offers a variety of data visualization tools that help make the information more understandable and, as a result, facilitate the decision-making process. No more guesswork when it comes to strategic planning - rely on the information, presented in a user-friendly format.





Partner with SoftTeco for advanced data science services and turn your data into the driving force of your business.



Request a custom quote



 





 

Data Science Applications Across Industries




01
User Experience Enhancement



Identify user behavior patterns, get better customer insights, and adjust your marketing efforts correspondingly.




02
Predictive Maintenance



Prolong the lifecycle of your software through a proactive approach, brought to you by predictive maintenance.




03
Inventory Management



Minimize inventory surplus and deficit and manage your assets in a smart manner while cutting costs and precisely meeting customer demand.




04
Quality Management



Reinforce quality management processes in your organization through deep analytics and intelligent monitoring.




05
Security & Compliance



Facilitate regulatory compliance through automated quality management systems, smart fraud reporting, and minimized human errors.




06
Enhanced Diagnostics



Elevate your healthcare services with precise, ML-based diagnostics and provide better and more personalized patient care.




07
Price Optimization



Reduce operating costs and manage your assets more effectively with a detailed analysis of your current spendings, areas for improvement, and excessive costs.




08
Precise Farming



Collect real-time information from smart devices and use the insights to automate processes, improve crop health, and proactively monitor your livestock.




09
Personalized Patient Treatment



By knowing and analyzing the patient’s medical history and individual characteristics, you can pinpoint the root cause and provide the most suitable treatment.













 





 

Business Benefits of Data Science 



Learn the real benefits of implementing a data science solution that SoftTeco’s clients across industries report:





Reduced Operational Costs



When you get a holistic view of your organization, all current assets and spendings, it becomes easier to identify opportunities for stretching the budget and to improve asset management. Add to that predictive forecasting and you will be able to avoid unnecessary spendings while maintaining the high quality of services.





Solid Growth Strategy



Every business decision that you make should have good reasoning - ideally, based on relevant information. By eliminating guesswork and relying on real-time insights, you will significantly elevate your development strategy and will become more confident in making decisions that impact the company’s growth and customer satisfaction.





New Revenue Streams



Data can provide valuable insights on multiple aspects of your business that are related to revenue: customer behavior and interests, quality of your services and goods, employee efficiency, and many others. By owning this information, you can identify new revenue streams and new opportunities for growth.





Improved User Experience



To provide personalized and relevant services, it is critical to know and understand your customers and their real needs. Data science allows a much deeper analysis of generated customer information and helps businesses reshape their marketing strategy in full correspondence with their target audience.



 





 

Our Expertise 



Our data science consulting firm uses a variety of methods and technologies when implementing your solution - and we choose exactly the ones that help us deliver the requested product in the most effective way:

 





 



Agentic AI



SoftTeco builds intelligent systems capable of autonomous decision-making and action. These agent-based architectures can reason, plan, and adapt dynamically in complex environments. Our solutions automate entire data and decision pipelines - from information gathering and processing to task execution - using AI agents that operate independently or in coordinated groups.





Statistical Programming



Our team leverages statistical computing tools to extract insights from data, design robust experiments, and build predictive models. Whether it’s hypothesis testing, time series analysis, or Bayesian inference, we ensure that every decision is backed by solid quantitative analysis.





Supervised Machine Learning



We develop and deploy models that learn from labeled data to make accurate predictions and classifications. This includes everything from explainable classic regression models to cutting-edge deep learning techniques. Supervised ML can be applied to domains such as customer segmentation, risk modeling, diagnostics, demand forecasting, natural language processing (NLP), and computer vision.





Unsupervised Machine Learning



For projects where data lacks labels, we apply advanced techniques such as clustering, dimensionality reduction, representation learning, and anomaly detection to uncover hidden patterns and latent structure in data. Our expertise includes contrastive learning, self-supervised pretraining, and fine-tuning language models using techniques like LoRA and PEFT to adapt them efficiently to domain-specific tasks without labeled examples. This approach powers applications in customer behavior modeling, intelligent search, document understanding, and foundation model alignment — all without the need for costly annotation.





Neural networks



We utilize modern neural architectures including CNNs, Transformers, and more, to solve highly complex problems in computer vision, natural language processing, and sequential data modeling. Our deep learning expertise enables us to build scalable, high-performing AI systems for real-world deployment. We also tailor architectures to meet specific domain requirements - from lightweight edge models to large-scale distributed systems - and select or design evaluation metrics that align precisely with our clients’ business goals, whether it’s accuracy, latency, precision/recall, or custom KPIs.



 





 

Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!





Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Why SoftTeco as Your Data Science Consulting Company?



A setup and deployment of a data science solution require a sufficient level of experience and knowledge - and our team has all that. Learn what makes us different and how SoftTeco retains high quality of services with speed of delivery.






  





Deep Expertise



With a strong in-house team of data scientists and data engineers, SoftTeco has rich expertise in big data processing, development of custom ML models, setup of data pipelines, and DataOps. Whether you need a slight tweak in your current processes or want to design an AI-driven solution, SoftTeco can do that. We will not only suggest the most fitting tech stack but will also provide recommendations and ideas for the best performance.







  





Industry Experience



SoftTeco has been operating in the IT industry for over 17 years - and throughout this time, we’ve worked with clients from the most various domains. Our portfolio includes projects from healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, retail, education, and other industries. That being said, we know exactly what each industry requires in terms of quality and security and we ensure that the delivered solution meets these standards.







  





Wide Talent Pool



SoftTeco is an international company with over 500 employees, each being an outstanding professional in their domain. Our employees are proficient with an array of technologies, including the latest ones, and constantly improve their skills and knowledge by undergoing certifications and courses. So whether you need to assemble a full team, close a specific technical gap, or request data science consulting services, we have just the right experts for your project.







  





Transparency & Support



We understand the importance and value of transparent and effective communication and to ensure that, we follow established processes that guarantee regular reporting, timely response to any potential issues, and smooth collaboration between departments. We also focus on data science support throughout and after the development process, assisting you at every stage.




 





 

Featured projects







View all cases

 



 







Gameinsight



An e-learning platform dedicated to European football




  




Web













C2 SmartLight



A system for managing smart outdoor lighting solutions




  




Web



 





 

Learn more about AI

 




 

What we do

 



 


AI Development



AI Consulting



Generative AI Development







Machine Learning Consulting



Machine Learning Development



Data Science Consulting







Computer Vision Development



Robotic Process Automation


 



 

What we think

 



 


AI in FinTech



AI in Banking



AI Fraud Detection in Banking



AI for Credit Scoring



AI in Manufacturing



AI in Sports



Conversational AI



Agentic AI



AI for HR Processes







ML in Healthcare



ML in Logistics and Supply Chain



ML in Agriculture



ML Trends



GitHub Copilot Alternatives



GPT vs. BERT







What is Computer Vision?



Optical Character Recognition (OCR)



Image Recognition Technology



Automatic Speech Recognition



Data Labeling



Digital Twinning


 



 

 




 

+ Show more

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Computer Vision Development Services

Computer Vision Software Development Services





Reduce costs, automate processes, and unlock new levels of operational efficiency with SoftTeco’s computer vision development services. From minimizing manual overhead to improving product security and compliance, our AI-driven solutions help businesses scale with confidence.



Schedule a call



 





 

Computer Vision Trends You Can’t Ignore 





32.6%



estimated CAGR for the Global AI in Computer Vision market between 2025-2032





$3.18 billion



projected market size for computer vision in healthcare





53%



the number of financial institutions licensing generative AI software



 





 

Our Computer Vision Software Development Services 





Consulting Services



We understand that the implementation of a custom computer vision software solution sounds quite complex and you might not know where to start. To help you, SoftTeco offers consultancy services that include analysis of your business and its current needs, suggestion of the most suitable solution, planning of implementations, and a walkthrough of the development process.





Computer Vision Development



We offer end-to-end development services for the requested computer vision solution, starting from the analysis and ending with post-deployment support. SoftTeco will ensure that every aspect of the software is thoroughly tested and that it integrates securely with other components of your system.





Computer Vision Model Optimization



SoftTeco’s optimization services are aimed at refining your existing computer vision solution through advanced technologies and techniques. We use pruning, quantization, hyperparameter tuning, GDO, and other methods to improve the performance and accuracy of your model, reduce memory usage, and speed up its operation.





MVP & POC Development



We recommend MVP and POC development for those companies that want to test their idea first, gather feedback, and overall test the waters. With this type of development you will receive a fully functioning solution with all the core features present and will be able to estimate its feasibility without heavy investments.





Data Preprocessing



To ensure accurate outcomes from an AI solution, it is critical to prepare the data first. SoftTeco helps organizations process their data and prepare it for further analysis and work with ML models. The process includes data cleansing and elimination of duplicate or corrupted data, as well as making sure that the data is in the right format and is reliable and relevant.





Computer Vision Integration



We want all components of your system to function seamlessly and for that, SoftTeco offers integration services. Once the computer vision model is developed, we will integrate it in your current system, ensuring that it does not disrupt the operation of your business and does not interfere with the performance of other solutions.



 






 

Industries That We Work With

 








 

SoftTeco’s Featured Computer Vision Case Studies

 




 

SeeDoo




Seedoo is a smart advertising solution based on computer vision technology. It runs on a small on-premise device that is installed on DOOH displays and is equipped with the camera. Using techniques such as object recognition, detection, and tracking, the solution can “recognize” specific target audience on the street and display corresponding ads on displays. SoftTeco used Python and PyTorch for model design and later transformed it into ONNX and TensorRT formats for more effective data processing.



Read More




 



 

Banana AI




Banana AI is a computer vision system that inspects banana seedling leaves for signs of damage or disease. After analyzing the captured images, the system automatically generates a plant’s health report that includes care recommendations. SoftTeco used Python and PyTorch while working on the model and was also responsible for the model’s fine-tuning for more accurate image classification.



Read More




 



 

BeeGuard




BeeGuard is an application that uses computer vision to count the number of bees in beehives. The solution helps beekeepers predict the bee population growth and manage the beehive health more effectively. Our team was responsible for data mining, neural network training and iOS app development. As a result, beekeepers can take photos of the beehive from the app and send it to the server, where data processing happens.



Read More




 



 

Golf Club




SoftTeco delivered a computer vision solution for a manufacturer who designs custom golf clubs. The main idea behind the solution was to use artificial intelligence to analyze players during the game and, based on collected data such as their movements and consistency of strokes, design a perfectly fitting golf club for them. Our team not only designed the ML model but also collected and labelled the data to effectively train the model.



Read More




 













1 / 4 






 

SoftTeco’s Computer Vision Expertise



We deliver powerful computer vision solutions that help companies handle complex business challenges and speed up their digital transformation. From thorough research to development and deployment, SoftTeco handles every aspect of the solution delivery, ensuring that our expertise brings value to your business.











 



 




01 / 06



Image Recognition & Detection




We combine machine learning, deep learning, and convolutional neural networks to process and classify your data, achieving accurate image recognition and detection results. Whether you need a solution for recognizing X-ray scans at your healthcare facility or an intelligent enhancement to your secure systems, we can deliver the right model for you.






02 / 06



Face Recognition




A subset of image recognition, the face recognition technology is an important part of such processes as app security (biometrical face recognition for user login) or customer identification for better user experience. Based on advanced technology and accurate big data processing, our face recognition models enhance personalization, automation, and security of your services.






03 / 06



Data Labelling




Properly labelled data is the core of a successfully functioning ML model - but the labelling process is quite complex and requires expertise and technical skills. SoftTeco’s ML experts offer data labelling services that include data validation and annotation. In this way, we deliver not only ML models but also help prepare the data for the most accurate results.






04 / 06



OCR & ICR




Our computer vision software development company is well-versed in Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) technologies, offering their implementation for automation, faster document processing, and digitization. Depending on your needs, we will propose either an OCR- or ICR-based solution with the corresponding implementation.






05 / 06



GAN




Our team has rich experience with Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN), using it as a base for a variety of use cases, such as data augmentation, image generation, and text generation. Paired with our data processing services, SoftTeco’s GAN development and deployment services help companies generate high-quality content.






06 / 06



Spatial Analysis




Need location-based insights for enhanced user experience or process optimization? We perform spatial analysis based on spatial data and specialized techniques to help you upgrade your location-based services. Our computer vision developers use methods like dispersion, central tendency, and spatial distribution for precise measurements and accurate results.



 





 

Use our expertise to create a next-gen software solution and scale your business without holding back.





Book a call



 





 

Our Tech Stack

 



 

Computer Vision Tools and FrameworksModels and APIsMachine Learning, AI, Data Science, Big Data

 

Computer Vision Tools



















































 





 

Models and APIs























 





 

Machine Learning, AI,Data Science, Big Data



















































 





 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Computer Vision Development Company?

 



 



Custom AI Models Trained on Your Industry Datae





Continuous Model Optimization





Skilled Experts





Structured Approach to Project Management





Security & Quality From the Start



 



 



Custom AI Models Trained on Your Industry Data



Our data engineers design and fine-tune computer vision models based on your datasets and environments. This approach provides a high level of outcome accuracy and relevance from the start and makes the model domain-aware.





Continuous Model Optimization



We don’t stop the work once your model is deployed. Instead, we help it evolve through continuous training and optimization using feedback loops. As a result, your model adapts to new data and always delivers accurate results.





Skilled Experts



SoftTeco’s Data Science & Machine Learning department consists of 35+ talented experts. Most of them have academic publications and hold Master’s and PhD degrees in various fields.





Structured Approach to Project Management



SoftTeco follows Kanban and Scrum methodologies which allow us to scale easily, implement change management without disrupting the workflow, and mitigate risks, often associated with software development.





Security & Quality From the Start



SoftTeco is an ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified company. That means our computer vision development services meet industry standards for quality management and software security.



 





























































 

Curious Minds Ask…



 






 

Learn more about AI

 




 

What we do

 



 


AI Development



AI Consulting



Generative AI Development







Machine Learning Consulting



Machine Learning Development



Data Science Consulting







Computer Vision Development



Robotic Process Automation


 



 

What we think

 



 


AI in FinTech



AI in Banking



AI Fraud Detection in Banking



AI for Credit Scoring



AI in Manufacturing



AI in Sports



Conversational AI



Agentic AI



AI for HR Processes







ML in Healthcare



ML in Logistics and Supply Chain



ML in Agriculture



ML Trends



GitHub Copilot Alternatives



GPT vs. BERT







What is Computer Vision?



Optical Character Recognition (OCR)



Image Recognition Technology



Automatic Speech Recognition



Data Labeling



Digital Twinning


 



 

 




 

+ Show more

 




 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Elgie AI Chat

Elgie AI Chat



An AI-powered chatbot for enhanced customer service







Type



ML





Industry



IT Services





Country



Lithuania




 





 

Highlights




Complex and configurable priority levels



Use of the RAG system for bot training



Logging of bot interactions with users



Reporting and dashboards






 





  









 

Client



SoftTeco is a multinational IT consulting software development company that provides a wide range of services, including web and mobile development, machine learning and data science, quality assurance, and UX/UI design.





 





 

Challenge



As part of the broad-scale website redesign, the company decided to implement the Artificial Intelligence technology to provide faster and more accurate customer service, thus increasing trust and delivering enhanced customer experience to website visitors.





 





  









 

Tech Stack





Components




Lamaindex



Gunicorn



Flask



FastText libraries



GPT-4






How it works



The Elgie AI chatbot is a signature component of SoftTeco’s website landing page that provides a 24/7 customer service and support. The hallmark of the product is the style of its responses: the bot was specifically trained and designed to resemble a SoftTeco’s employee. The bot functions on the base of GPT-4 and uses the company’s own data as the primary source of information. In addition to customer service, the bot serves as a valuable marketing tool as it helps analyze the needs and interests of the target audience and provides detailed reports on the users’ request history and their interactions with the bot. In this way, the company can adjust its marketing efforts and ensure their relevance and value.The development team used a powerful RAG system for bot training and Large Language Models for information processing. We also used langdetect and FastText libraries for multilingual support (the bot can understand various languages) and deployed an advanced priority system to configure the bot’s ranking of the priority of information sources.





 





 

Have a project in mind?



Let us know what kind of software solution you need, and our specialists will provide an estimate cost and deadline. 





Start digital transformation



 





 

Results



The bot allowed our company to 2X speed up customer service and increase the accuracy and relevance of replies by 25%, therefore leading to a 14% increase in generated leads. We continue monitoring and improving the quality of the bot performance and plan to add new features to it in the future.





 







 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Alex Kutsko

Alex Kutsko








Co-founder





Alex Kutsko is a member of the board of directors in SoftTeco. He is responsible for the company’s strategic development and monitoring of financial indicators, and also works on several projects as a software engineer and a team lead. Alex has started his career in the IT industry in 2002 and since then has gained significant experience not only in corporate governance but also in software engineering and project management.



His hobbies include



Alpine skiing, hockey, swimming.



Fun fact



Alex participated in the Le Défi de Monte-Cristo competition and has a record of 115km/h in Alpine skiing.












Favourite Quote



It is important to both grow as a professional and be a reliable person in the company that you work for. When working on your growth, remember that it is possible to achieve goals only by dedicating enough time and effort. Think of your brain and your creative potential as of a muscle, and constantly train them. Your uniqueness and pursuance of growth are the key factors will move you forward.




 





 



















 





 

Board of Directors

 



 








Tauras Janickas








CEO










Serge Zenevich








Co-founder










Alexey Shevchik








CTO and Co-founder










Aliaksei Minkevich








Member of Directors Board

### Software Product Development Company

Software Product Development Company





Partner with our software product development company and turn your ideas into competitive and secure software solutions, fueled by innovation.





Request a custom quote








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 






 




17




  





Years on the market






500




  





Employees






300




  





Customers worldwide






450




  





Successful projects



 





 

Software Product Development Services by SoftTeco



From IT consulting to full-cycle software development, our company caters to all business needs, delivering excellence in every phase of the project lifecycle. Discover a full range of our product development services:





Software Development Consulting




If you have an idea but are not sure where to start, we will gladly help you. SoftTeco provides software development consulting services that are aimed at understanding your current business needs and proposing the most suitable solution.




Business requirements collection and analysis



Tech stack selection



Creation of the development strategy



Definition of the deliverables







Full-Cycle Product Development




Our product development company offers full-cycle software development, starting from business analysis and ending with the product rollout and support. Based on the project requirements, we will assemble the most suitable team and will ensure that the delivered solution meets all industry standards and regulatory compliance requirements.




Adherence to quality management standards



Continuous testing throughout the development process



Full transparency and accountability



Post-launch support







Product Optimization




If your legacy software product is underperforming, cannot integrate with required software, or does not scale efficiently, SoftTeco can help. We offer product optimization and modernization services to help turn your legacy software into a powerful tech asset.




Code refactoring and architecture redesign



Implementation of required integrations



Migration to a different platform or programming language



Design of custom APIs for secure connection







UX/UI Design




Instantly grab the attention of your customers and seamlessly lead them to conversions with intuitive and user-centric design. SoftTeco’s design team offers a range of software services, from website and app redesign to complete rebranding to give your brand a frew new look.




Rebranding and brandbook creation



Creation of responsive design from scratch



User journey analysis and optimization



Addition of new elements







MVP Development




MVP is the best way to quickly test your product idea with real users. SoftTeco can deliver a fully functional MVP in just a few months, supporting you at every stage of the development process, starting from the requirements collection and prioritization.




Creation of mockups and wireframes 



Feature prioritization and implementation



Quick prototyping



Quick time-to-market







Security & Compliance




SoftTeco helps businesses ensure that their software is secure and complies with industry and local regulations. Being an ISO 27001 certified company, we understand the importance of data privacy and follow a well-tried security framework during software development.




Automated compliance checks



Design of custom secure APIs



Secure data processing and storage



Data encryption







API Design




We create custom and secure APIs to seamlessly connect your product with other systems of choice. In this way, you can rest assured that all needed systems and services will connect and interact efficiently, not losing an ounce of data during the process.




End-to-end API implementation



Testing of the system functioning



Suggestion of the most suitable APIs



Thorough API management







Support and Maintenance




SoftTeco offers support and maintenance services to ensure that your product functions as expected after the release. We will also monitor its performance for possible glitches and can provide employee training upon the request.




Post-launch support



Team and user training



Timely troubleshooting



Implementation of improvements









Software Development Consulting



If you have an idea but are not sure where to start, we will gladly help you. SoftTeco provides software development consulting services that are aimed at understanding your current business needs and proposing the most suitable solution.




Business requirements collection and analysis



Tech stack selection



Creation of the development strategy



Definition of the deliverables






Full-Cycle Product Development



Our product development company offers full-cycle software development, starting from business analysis and ending with the product rollout and support. Based on the project requirements, we will assemble the most suitable team and will ensure that the delivered solution meets all industry standards and regulatory compliance requirements.




Adherence to quality management standards



Continuous testing throughout the development process



Full transparency and accountability



Post-launch support






Product Optimization



If your legacy software product is underperforming, cannot integrate with required software, or does not scale efficiently, SoftTeco can help. We offer product optimization and modernization services to help turn your legacy software into a powerful tech asset.




Code refactoring and architecture redesign



Implementation of required integrations



Migration to a different platform or programming language



Design of custom APIs for secure connection






UX/UI Design



Instantly grab the attention of your customers and seamlessly lead them to conversions with intuitive and user-centric design. SoftTeco’s design team offers a range of software services, from website and app redesign to complete rebranding to give your brand a frew new look.




Rebranding and brandbook creation



Creation of responsive design from scratch



User journey analysis and optimization



Addition of new elements






MVP Development



MVP is the best way to quickly test your product idea with real users. SoftTeco can deliver a fully functional MVP in just a few months, supporting you at every stage of the development process, starting from the requirements collection and prioritization.




Creation of mockups and wireframes



Feature prioritization and implementation



Quick prototyping



Quick time-to-market






Security & Compliance



SoftTeco helps businesses ensure that their software is secure and complies with industry and local regulations. Being an ISO 27001 certified company, we understand the importance of data privacy and follow a well-tried security framework during software development.




Automated compliance checks



Secure data processing and storage



Design of custom secure APIs



Data encryption






API Design



We create custom and secure APIs to seamlessly connect your product with other systems of choice. In this way, you can rest assured that all needed systems and services will connect and interact efficiently, not losing an ounce of data during the process.




End-to-end API implementation



Testing of the system functioning



Suggestion of the most suitable APIs



Thorough API management






Support and Maintenance



SoftTeco offers support and maintenance services to ensure that your product functions as expected after the release. We will also monitor its performance for possible glitches and can provide employee training upon the request.




Post-launch support



Team and user training



Timely troubleshooting 



Implementation of improvements




 





 

Engagement Models That SoftTeco Offers



Softteco promotes flexible approach to software development and provides various engagement models to ensure that your development needs are aligned with the budget and business goals:

 



 



Team Augmentation



This model is perfect for businesses that wish to quickly close specific skills gaps or add extra talents to the in-house team. This approach allows you to easily scale the team up and down based on project needs and enables almost instant onboarding. We recommend it to businesses that want to retain control over the project and require specific skill sets.





Dedicated Team



If you need a full team of specialists to develop your software product from scratch, SoftTeco can assemble a dedicated team specifically for your project. In addition to software development, SoftTeco also takes the responsibility for project management, quality assurance, and reporting, thus enabling you to focus on other critical tasks.



 





 

Plan your digital transformation with SoftTeco - your trusted software development provider.  





Contact us



 





 

Software Products That SoftTeco Delivers to Businesses



SoftTeco delivers a range of software solutions, from enterprise-grade applications to MVPs. Learn about our product range below:

 



 



Mobile Applications




Optimize your services and level up user experience with high-performing and user-centric mobile applications. At SoftTeco, we design both native and cross-platform solutions, ensuring that your app perfectly meets business goals and drives engagement and business growth.














Web Applications




SoftTeco builds robust and feature-rich web applications to enhance your online presence or add extra functionality to your existing systems and services.Whether you need a user-centric portal or an advanced CRM system, our team is ready to bring your idea to life.














AI and ML Applications




Tap into the power of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning and bring intelligence and automation to your systems. SoftTeco’s machine learning and data science department offers a range of services that can be tailored to specific needs of any organization.














ERP Platforms




Elevate productivity and collaboration with a custom ERP solution designed specifically for your organization. We pair the core functionality of ERP systems with custom features not only to optimize your workflows but to add the needed competitive edge to them.














Ecommerce




Planning to launch a converting store? SoftTeco knows the perfect success formula. We work with various CRM platforms and offer innovative solutions for your ecommerce store to ensure that the clients remain satisfied and the conversion rate grows consistently.














Enterprise-Grade Solutions




SoftTeco delivers enterprise software solutions built with security and scalability at their core. Whether you need to bring transparency and automation to your processes or wish to undergo a full digital transformation, our team is ready to help.














01 / 06











 





 

Key Technologies to Fuel Innovation



Discover the advanced technologies at the core of our software products that drive competition and bring additional value to our clients:

 



 



Artificial Intelligence





Data Science





Cloud Computing





Internet of Things





Analytics & Reporting





AR & VR



 



 



Artificial Intelligence



SoftTeco offers a variety of AI-powered solutions, from advanced predictive analytics models to smart chatbots and robots. Through AI we bring companies automation, speed, and efficiency, allowing them to significantly cut operational costs while maintaining a high level of services.





Data Science



Discover the full potential of your data with SoftTeco’s data science services, ranging from data lakes design to advanced analytics. We can help you derive valuable insights,uncover hidden patterns, and make your data work for your benefit.





Cloud Computing



Being a certified partner of AWS and Google Cloud, SoftTeco helps companies set up their processes in a secure cloud environment of choice. Whether you need migration, optimization, or customization, our team will help smoothly carry out the defined challenge.





Internet of Things



Connect your smart devices and securely collect data in real time with our customly configured IoT applications. We will connect, set up, and test the requested IoT system to launch a seamless and secure flow of valuable data.





Analytics & Reporting



SoftTeco uses a variety of tools for advanced reporting and analytics, including various formats of data visualizations. By transforming collected information into actionable insights, we help companies better understand the market, internal processes, and areas for improvements.





AR & VR



SoftTeco works with Augmented and Virtual Reality technologies to assist companies in employee and user training and to add the gamification element to their software products. We will not only design but also implement a complex and performing solution for your business.



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									They work not only for the benefits, but genuinely invested in delivering the best possible results.
								
								
									
										CEO, Eläinklinikka Linnunmäki Oy
									
									
										Gisle Sjöberg
									
								
							
						
					

 





 


Calculate Team Cost



Estimate the approximate cost of requested software product development services
with SoftTeco’s calculator




Calculate Team Cost




 





 

Benefits of Software Product Development for Business 



Learn how custom product development can elevate your business through innovation and tech advancement:





Enhanced Development Team



By partnering with a reliable product development company, you get access to a wide talent pool and can therefore quickly close the skill gap in your in-house team or assemble a perfect team from scratch.





Solid Growth Strategy



Software product development adds a significant competitive advantage to your business, optimizes and improves your workflows, and brings transparency and automation. Altogether, this contributes to faster and consistent business development.





Minimized Risks



Our team performs the detailed business analysis and assessment of your current digital environment to mitigate potential threats, take a proactive approach towards risks, and ensure that the proposed business strategy is focused on ROI growth.





Competitive Edge



In today’s competitive landscape, technological advancement is a necessity that can greatly elevate your services, speed up the production process, and improve customer satisfaction, especially if the product is custom-tailored to your specific business needs.





Self-Management



The process of software development can be tedious so it’s best to delegate it to an experienced provider. SoftTeco’s project managers take care of all aspects of the software product development process, while maintaining high transparency and regular reporting.





Risk Management



Our expert team will help you mitigate the majority of risks associated with software development. By carefully planning the development process beforehand and through continuous testing, we ensure that no unexpected issues pop out before the release.



 





 

Why Partner With SoftTeco for Software Product Development Services



Being in the industry since 2008, SoftTeco has diverse experience working across multiple industries and serving businesses of various sizes. We bring clarity, efficiency, and value to all our projects - learn what exactly makes us different:





Flexible Approach



We work with projects of various sizes and levels of complexity and for that, we offer several engagement and development models to choose from. In this way, we can select the most suitable option for every client and tailor the development process to their requirements.

















Industry Expertise



Throughout the years of operation, SoftTeco has delivered projects to businesses across fintech, healthcare, ecommerce, manufacturing, and other industries, That being said, we understand the specifics of each and know what software solution will bring the most value to your business, depending on its field of operation.

















Quality and Security



SoftTeco is an ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified company, meaning that we prioritize quality and security management and follow industry best practices and standards, thus ensuring that all our software products are reliable and secure.

















Transparent Communication



Our software product development company follows established procedures for communication and reporting that allow us to timely provide detailed information about the project status to the client, inform them about any changes, and offer 24/7 support in case of urgent issues.













 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Aniware clinic



A comprehensive CRM solution for veterinary business management




  




Web













Bubcon



A next generation mass-market messenger app




  




iOS



Android



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Application Support and Maintenance Services

Application Support and Maintenance Services





SoftTeco helps your app run at its peak performance with our application maintenance and support services. No more downtime costs or unexpected crashes - we help minimize the risks in a proactive and confident manner.





Get a custom quote








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 






 




>95%




Incident response rate






>400




Tech experts






 >4.90








CSAT Score






<3




Min incident detection



 





 

Maintenance vs Support



These services are closely interconnected and each service plays its specific role in ensuring the app performs in a smooth and secure manner. It is important to differentiate between the two so you know what exactly your app requires at a specific time:Support services focus on resolving issues that end users might experience, such as app crashes or lack of information. This service includes troubleshooting, user training, provision of needed documentation and FAQs, and management of user permissions.Maintenance services focus on ensuring the consistent quality of app’s performance through regular health checks, updates, compliance monitoring, and debugging. 

 





 

Application Support Services



SoftTeco offers several tiers of support services, depending on your specific needs and the severity of detected issues:





L1



Perfect for basic user issues such as password reset or proper app installation. The L1 support is also the first point of contact for users that need help with the app. For this tier, SoftTeco offers per ticket pricing. That means, you pay for the number of resolved tickets on a monthly basis.




Basic troubleshooting of common user issues



Request registration and prioritization



Focus on speed and efficiency of ticket resolution






L2



Covers in-depth troubleshooting and requires deeper technical knowledge than L1.  L2 also acts as a bridge between L1 and L3, detecting escalating issues just in time before they become too complex. Same as L1, L2 support services are charged by the per ticket pricing system.




Investigation of logs for root cause analysis



Use of advanced tools for resolving complex issues



Administration of the app environment






L3



The most complex line of support, intended for advanced issues that require code-level fixes. The L3 tier focuses on issues on the product side instead of the ones on the user side and requires a high level of expertise and product knowledge from software developers that work on the fixes.




Resolution of critical software bugs



Quick rollout of hot fixes



Implementation of changes to the codebase




 





 

Application Maintenance Services



SoftTeco ensures that your product displays peak performance 24/7 and for that, we offer a variety of options for various levels of app’s maturity and complexity:

 



 

App ModernizationSecurity ManagementPerformance EnhancementCompliance Management

 





App Modernization



If your app underperforms due to outdated components or lacks features that drive conversions, we can help. SoftTeco modernizes legacy apps by updating existing components, implementing new features, and adding needed integrations securely.




Architecture redesign for scalability and security



Secure implementation of integrations



Development of new app features


 





 





Security Management



The dynamic environment of app software development requires consistent and timely security updates in order for the app to be protected against emerging security threats and vulnerabilities. SoftTeco provides comprehensive security management services that cover every aspect of your app and don’t let a single threat pass.




Penetration testing and vulnerability prioritization



Detailed reports on performed tests



Regular security audits and updates


 





 





Performance Enhancement



We help improve the way your app operates through elimination of bottlenecks, replacement of underperforming components with more advanced ones, and app redesign. We also analyze all factors that impact the app’s performance and extend our services to database optimization or migration to another platform.




Cloud migration



Proactive monitoring and usability testing



Redesign and user journey optimization


 





 

Compliance Management







SoftTeco makes sure that your app securely stores and processes data via rigorous compliance management services. We take into account both local and international regulations (GDPR, HIPAA, PSI DSS) and perform a comprehensive audit of the app, followed by actionable recommendations on further improvements.




Detailed reporting on compliance checks



Implementation of suggested improvements



Regular health checks and security audits


 



 



 



App Modernization









If your app underperforms due to outdated components or lacks features that drive conversions, we can help. SoftTeco modernizes legacy apps by updating existing components, implementing new features, and adding needed integrations securely.




Architecture redesign for scalability and security



Secure implementation of integrations



Development of new app features








Security Management









The dynamic environment of app software development requires consistent and timely security updates in order for the app to be protected against emerging security threats and vulnerabilities. SoftTeco provides comprehensive security management services that cover every aspect of your app and don’t let a single threat pass.




Penetration testing and vulnerability prioritization



Detailed reports on performed tests



Regular security audits and updates








Performance Enhancement









We help improve the way your app operates through elimination of bottlenecks, replacement of underperforming components with more advanced ones, and app redesign. We also analyze all factors that impact the app’s performance and extend our services to database optimization or migration to another platform.




Cloud migration



Proactive monitoring and usability testing



Redesign and user journey optimization








Compliance Management









SoftTeco makes sure that your app securely stores and processes data via rigorous compliance management services. We take into account both local and international regulations (GDPR, HIPAA, PSI DSS) and perform a comprehensive audit of the app, followed by actionable recommendations on further improvements.




Detailed reporting on compliance checks



Implementation of suggested improvements



Regular health checks and security audits




 





 

Calculate Team Cost



Get a quick team cost estimate in just 4 simple steps — answer a few quick questions to get started!





Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Innovative Technologiesthat We Use 

 



 



Web





Native iOS and Android





Cross-platform





PWA





Cloud apps





Database apps



 





 

Additional Services that SoftTeco Offers





IT Infrastructure Support



Reliable and scalable infrastructure is the foundation of the app’s success. SoftTeco offers infrastructure support services that include infrastructure redesign, introduction of new components to the system, and infrastructure modernization so it can support the growing needs of your business without holding it back.

















DevOps Implementation



Our DevOps experts can set up CI/CD pipelines and oversee deployment automation for easier app management, mitigation of gaps between the IT and operations teams, and improved software quality. From automation to server setup, we offer extensive DevOps services aimed at helping you deliver the software in a faster and smarter manner.

















Cloud Migration



Operation in the cloud brings unparalleled security and scalability - but it’s important to select a suitable provider and organize a secure migration process. Being a certified partner of AWS and Digital Ocean, SoftTeco has deep expertise with cloud platforms and can help you select the perfect solution and migrate your app without disrupting its performance.













 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco knows how to provide a good match of candidates to our professional and personal/cultural requirements. I highly recommend SoftTeco for anyone who is looking for a good partner to grow their organization with.
								
								
									
										СTO, Be the Bank
									
									
										Koby Ben Yechiel
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Our Pricing Options



SoftTeco offers several pricing options that you can choose from, depending on your business needs. In this way, we can come up with a development strategy for any budget without compromising the quality of your project:




 

Per-Ticket





Time & Material





Fixed Price

 



 

This approach means that we charge a fixed price for an individual ticket that we work on. The monthly charge will consist of the overall number of tickets that we resolved. The per-ticket pricing is most suitable for the L1 tier that requires ticket resolution and for minor fixes.




PT




Fixed scope





Volume-based billing





Ideal for L1







When you plan long-term work on a project or don’t have a strict budget and deadline in mind, the T&M pricing option is your best bet. With Time&Material, you can scale the team up and down and pay monthly based on the amount of time and effort spent on the project.




TM




Flexible budget





Extensive scope





Pay-as-you-go







The Fixed Price model is most suitable for projects with defined timeline, budget, and deliverables. Before starting the project, you define the budget and the team works strictly within it. This provides clarity and is suitable for regular and planned support.




FP




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support



 


 





 

Tangible Benefits for Your Business

 










Seamless Operation



Unexpected or overlooked issues and bugs disrupt the performance of your app, ruin user experience, and impact the app’s security. But if you use automated monitoring tools, perform regular security checks, and resolve issues before they escalate, the app will always function at its peak, just as expected.











Reduced Downtime



Downtime always costs businesses money and negatively impacts user experience. But with consistent software maintenance and support, the downtime rate can be reduced significantly. That means, you can greatly save your costs, ensure 24/7 access to your app for users and protect the reputation of your brand.











Proactive Debugging



When bugs are left unattended, they become more and more expensive to fix and might cause technical debt. By implementing app support and maintenance services, you switch from a reactive to proactive debugging. Our team will design a detailed testing strategy and will immediately work on any detected issue, leaving it no chance for escalation.











Increased App Usage



Users want to engage with software products that look and act flawlessly. If you keep your app updated and eliminate glitches before users notice them, this will significantly increase the user satisfaction rate and will positively impact the way users interact with your app. And happy users equal increased app usage and, as a result, increased conversions!






 









1 / 4

 





 

From hotfixes to version upgrades, SoftTeco helps in all aspects of your app’s evolution. Partner with our mobile app development team and let us do the hard work while you focus on growth.





Talk to an expert 



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your IT Vendor?



SoftTeco has been operating in the IT industry since 2008, and throughout this time, we have been mastering our application development skills, bringing excellence to every mobile project that we work on. Learn what makes our company different:





Deep Expertise in Mobile Development



SoftTeco delivers seamlessly functioning native (iOS, Android) and cross-platform mobile apps, covering a wide range of needs for clients across industries. Our portfolio features mobile projects in such domains as fintech, healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, and marketing. We understand the specific requirements of various industries and know what solution will work best for your business.





Custom Approach to Every Project



At SoftTeco, we don’t believe in generic solutions. Every business is unique and we always take that into consideration when approaching your project. From initial planning to implementation, we always try finding unique solutions to your request. This approach brings in a competitive edge to your product and ensures that not a single aspect is missed.





Saved Costs in the Long-Run



We want your product to function seamlessly even after it’s complete. For that, we ensure that since day 1, the quality and security of your solution are at their peak. When preparing the project for the release, we perform extensive testing to make sure that there are no bugs. And once it goes live, we offer extensive application maintenance and support services.



 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Formic



All-round support for a complex Robots-as-a-Service system




  




Web, Mobile













C2 SmartLight



A system for managing smart outdoor lighting solutions




  




Web



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### IT Infrastructure Support Services

IT Infrastructure Support Services



Struggling with slow networks, frequent downtime, or underperforming apps? SoftTeco’s IT infrastructure support services are designed to eliminate these pain points, ensuring your digital environment functions seamlessly and scales with your business. Whether you need a quick health check or a full infrastructure redesign, our experts are ready to help.



Optimize my IT infrastructure



 





 

IT Infrastructure Challenges That We Resolve



An unoptimized IT infrastructure can negatively impact your business in various ways - see the most common IT pains below and learn how Softteco resolves them:

 



 



Poor app performance



We perform code-level reviews, check network latency and database efficiency to identify possible bottlenecks and eliminate them.













Lack of visibility



Our experts eliminate data silos, simplify complex environments through component reorganization, and bring clarity to your system.













High costs of infrastructure management



Our team reviews your current infrastructure and suggests resource allocation, cloud migration, or renewal of hardware and software components. 













Low availability of resources



SoftTeco reviews your resources in use and proposes their optimization or replacement. We also implement resource monitoring and assist with IT support, if needed.













Security and compliance issues



We perform security and compliance audits and checks and suggest actionable ways of enhancing your system.













Lack of disaster recovery strategy



SoftTeco helps you prepare for the unexpected by crafting a detailed and proactive disaster recovery strategy, based on your current and potential vulnerabilities. 













01 / 05











 





 

Get ready for the next big step with SoftTeco’s IT infrastructure support services



Expertise is the cornerstone of security and reliability and we at SoftTeco are ready to bring it to your infrastructure to ensure that your business growth is fully supported by your system.



Get a custom quote



 





 

SoftTeco’s IT Infrastructure Support Services





Infrastructure Troubleshooting




If you experience common infrastructure issues, such as prolonged downtime, app crashes, or lack of capacity, our experts are ready to help. SoftTeco performs a comprehensive analysis of your existing infrastructure and suggests suitable troubleshooting methods. We also work with emergencies, instantly jumping in to get your system back on tracks.




Analysis of existing IT infrastructure components



Implementation of software updates



Integration of new infrastructure components



Optimization of outdated components







Network Management




SoftTeco enables seamless connectivity between all devices in your system and brings in enhanced security and improved use of resources. No more guesswork of what went wrong and why - instead, we perform thorough testing of your network, identify pain points, and resolve them in a timely manner.




Network configuration management



Security audit and enhancements



Capacity planning for better scalability



Use of network monitoring tools







Server Management




We understand that data is the most valuable asset of your organization and we do our best at keeping it safe and secure. Our team will check that your servers can handle the current and anticipated data loads and that the resources are used effectively. If needed, we can optimize or fine-tune your servers or help you migrate to a more suitable data storage solution.




Implementation of security measures (i.e., firewalls, intrusion detection, etc.)



Use of automation tools for faster performance



Tracking of server performance metrics



Creation of regular backups







Infrastructure Optimization




SoftTeco reviews your current infrastructure and, based on identified issues, proposes a suitable optimization strategy. That might include the implementation of automation for certain processes, optimization of legacy hardware and software, and reduction of costs through elimination of unused resources.




Implementation of CI/CD pipelines



Virtualization of resources



Team training upon the request



Optimization of cloud resources







Cloud Migration




Operating in the cloud grants your business an unmatched level of scalability and security. But it also comes with the need of correct configuration and correct allocation of resources. SoftTeco can help you migrate your current on-premises infrastructure to the cloud or select a new cloud solution that will better meet the growing demands of your business.




Delivery of a detailed migration plan 



Configuration of the cloud infrastructure



Selection of the suitable cloud provider



Migration of apps to the cloud







Data Backup & Recovery




We understand that anything can happen and your data can be compromised or exposed to potential threats. To safeguard it, we provide extensive data backup and recovery services aimed at maintaining the integrity of your sensitive data. Through regular security audits and a combination of various backup types, we ensure that your information is safely protected.




Definition of RTOs and RPOs



Comprehensive penetration testing



Selection of the most suitable backup method



Isolation of backup systems







Technical Support




SoftTeco provides extensive technical support (Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3) upon request. The details are negotiable and we will provide you with a team of professionals who will handle interactions with customers, issue resolution, and even deep code-level troubleshooting. Whatever help you might need, we are ready to step in.




Ticket and knowledge management for T1 support



Delivery of a detailed help desk plan



Selection of the outsourcing model for T2 and T3 support



Advanced troubleshooting







Security & Compliance




With lots of components in your digital ecosystem, it is critical to maintain a high level of security and meet regulatory requirements. SoftTeco helps companies manage their security and compliance in an organized and automated manner. We set up data pipelines, implement automation, and perform testing to ensure that every aspect of your system is protected from threats.




Vulnerability assessment



Regulatory compliance management



Penetration testing



Enhancement of security measures in place









Infrastructure Troubleshooting



If you experience common infrastructure issues, such as prolonged downtime, app crashes, or lack of capacity, our experts are ready to help. SoftTeco performs a comprehensive analysis of your existing infrastructure and suggests suitable troubleshooting methods. We also work with emergencies, instantly jumping in to get your system back on tracks.




Analysis of existing IT infrastructure components



Implementation of software updates



Integration of new infrastructure components



Optimization of outdated components






Network Management



SoftTeco enables seamless connectivity between all devices in your system and brings in enhanced security and improved use of resources. No more guesswork of what went wrong and why - instead, we perform thorough testing of your network, identify pain points, and resolve them in a timely manner.




Network configuration management



Security audit and enhancements



Capacity planning for better scalability



Use of network monitoring tools






Server Management



We understand that data is the most valuable asset of your organization and we do our best at keeping it safe and secure. Our team will check that your servers can handle the current and anticipated data loads and that the resources are used effectively. If needed, we can optimize or fine-tune your servers or help you migrate to a more suitable data storage solution.




Implementation of security measures (i.e., firewalls, intrusion detection, etc.)



Use of automation tools for faster performance



Tracking of server performance metrics



Creation of regular backups






Infrastructure Optimization



SoftTeco reviews your current infrastructure and, based on identified issues, proposes a suitable optimization strategy. That might include the implementation of automation for certain processes, optimization of legacy hardware and software, and reduction of costs through elimination of unused resources.




Implementation of CI/CD pipelines



Virtualization of resources



Team training upon the request



Optimization of cloud resources






Cloud Migration



Operating in the cloud grants your business an unmatched level of scalability and security. But it also comes with the need of correct configuration and correct allocation of resources. SoftTeco can help you migrate your current on-premises infrastructure to the cloud or select a new cloud solution that will better meet the growing demands of your business.




Delivery of a detailed migration plan



Selection of the suitable cloud provider



Configuration of the cloud infrastructure



Migration of apps to the cloud






Data Backup & Recovery



We understand that anything can happen and your data can be compromised or exposed to potential threats. To safeguard it, we provide extensive data backup and recovery services aimed at maintaining the integrity of your sensitive data. Through regular security audits and a combination of various backup types, we ensure that your information is safely protected.




Definition of RTOs and RPOs



Comprehensive penetration testing



Selection of the most suitable backup method



Isolation of backup systems






Technical Support



SoftTeco provides extensive technical support (Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3) upon request. The details are negotiable and we will provide you with a team of professionals who will handle interactions with customers, issue resolution, and even deep code-level troubleshooting. Whatever help you might need, we are ready to step in.




Ticket and knowledge management for T1 support



Delivery of a detailed help desk plan



Selection of the outsourcing model for T2 and T3 support



Advanced troubleshooting






Security & Compliance



With lots of components in your digital ecosystem, it is critical to maintain a high level of security and meet regulatory requirements. SoftTeco helps companies manage their security and compliance in an organized and automated manner. We set up data pipelines, implement automation, and perform testing to ensure that every aspect of your system is protected from threats.




Vulnerability assessment



Regulatory compliance management



Penetration testing



Enhancement of security measures in place




 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Blueprint



A SaaS-based business intelligence solution




  




Web













RoadLab



Autonomous Road Roughness Measuring app for World Bank




  




iOS



Android



 





 

Benefits of SoftTeco’s IT Infrastructure Support Services





Smart Cost Optimization



Our IT infrastructure support services can help optimize your costs in several ways. First, we reduce the unused or excessive resources and replace them with more cost-effective solutions (if needed). Second, we free you from the costs of hiring and training an in-house team as all activities related to your IT infrastructure are provided by our team of experts. And the best part is that you can scale the team exactly as needed.





Consistent IT Support



Based on your current IT infrastructure and business needs, we offer several options of tech support, including team training and T3 support. When SoftTeco starts working on your project, we stay with you until it is confirmed that everything functions as expected and all issues are resolved. In this way, you can rest assured that your infrastructure remains stable and secure in the long-run and that you won’t encounter unexpected bugs in the future.  





Enhanced App Performance



Lack of infrastructure optimization is a common reason for poor app performance, which, in turn, negatively impacts user experience and your brand. By investing in IT infrastructure optimization and support, you ensure smooth functioning of your apps through optimized bandwidth, smart resource allocation, and update of legacy software.





Documented Deliverables



Detailed and relevant documentation serves as a knowledge base for your in-house team, contributes to effective onboarding, and helps you quickly navigate your system and identify potential bottlenecks. SoftTeco provides extensive documentation deliverables on your IT infrastructure support, including improvement plans, compliance guides, and health check reports.



 





 

Tech stack

 







 

Why Choose SoftTeco for Your IT Infrastructure Support?



SoftTeco is an international provider of IT services, bringing excellence and reliability to every project. Learn what makes us different and why clients from more than 75 countries select us as their vendor of choice:





01



Hands-On Expertise



Since 2008, our company has successfully delivered numerous projects within the network infrastructure support services, and each project was contributing to our ability to solve problems, anticipate risks, and fine-tune systems for long-term performance. This extensive experience now helps us speed up the response time of your system, reduce the number of disruptions, and ensure that the proposed solution will augment your business without causing unexpected crashes.





02



Custom Solutions



Every business has its unique infrastructure challenges, so we tailor proposed solutions accordingly. That includes development of system components from scratch, optimization of legacy systems, or implementation of non-standard solutions. We take an individual approach to every project, working closely with you to build flexible, future-proof systems that actually fit your specific business needs. 





03



Quality & Security



SoftTeco is an ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified company, meaning we pay utter attention to the security of our software solutions and their quality management. By following proven methodologies and in-house frameworks for quality management, we ensure that all our projects are secure and comply with industry standards.



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Health Rhythms

Health Rhythms



Data-powered application for mental health assessment and monitoring







Type



Web, Mobile





Industry



Healthcare





Country



USA




 





 

Highlights




Two interconnected applications: mobile for patients and web for specialists



HIPAA-compliant cloud architecture and infrastructure as code



Manual QA for mobile and web (iOS, Android, Web)



24/7 support with professional care specialists



Seamless integration with native health apps on iOS and Android




Challenge



The client - Health Rhythms, a US-based digital health company, approached SoftTeco with the idea of developing a platform to help users monitor their emotional state and build healthy habits. Since the healthcare domain is highly regulated, one of the key challenges was to create an application fully compliant with HIPAA requirements.



Moreover, the functionality envisioned by the client required integration with numerous third-party APIs, which posed potential risks to the platform’s performance and compliance with security standards.





 





  









 

Solution



SoftTeco developed the solution from scratch, delivering two interconnected products: a cross-platform mobile app for users and a web portal for healthcare professionals. The mobile app enables users to complete psychological self-assessment questionnaires, monitor their mental and physical well-being, receive 24/7 support from licensed professionals, and build sustainable habits.The specialist portal enables care coaches to monitor patient activity, analyze test results, and provide tailored support. Communication is facilitated through CometChat, ensuring real-time engagement in a secure environment.



To meet strict healthcare data regulations and ensure data protection, the infrastructure leverages AWS services within a secure and isolated architecture. We also employed industry-standard encryption practices and implemented all necessary HIPAA safeguards across infrastructure, storage, and communication layers.In addition to full-cycle software development, SoftTeco was responsible for preparing and reviewing test documentation, including test cases for both verification and validation. The team used Swagger and Postman to test APIs, verified data integrity directly in the AWS-hosted database, and monitored application logs via Datadog to ensure stability and transparency across environments.





 





 

Tech Stack





Backend




NestJS



PostgreSQL



Redis






Frontend




React



Next.js



TypeScript



JavaScript



Tailwind CSS






Mobile




React Native



JavaScript



TypeScript






Infrastructure




AWS



Terraform






How it works



Health Rhythms offers continuous mental health support for individuals dealing with anxiety, depression, and other emotional challenges. Built with NestJS, the backend uses PostgreSQL for structured data, Redis for caching and sessions, and BullMQ for background task processing. Mobile and web apps connect via secure APIs managed through AWS API Gateway, while infrastructure is provisioned with Terraform using an Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) approach. The platform operates within AWS Cloud across multiple environments.





 





  









 

The user-facing mobile app gathers data through clinical tests, sensors, and passive tracking, which mental health specialists use to assess well-being and deliver personalized support. To provide real-time health metrics, the app integrates with Apple Health and Android Health Connect, ensuring user privacy and HIPAA compliance.



The coach-facing web portal serves as a central hub for interpreting assessments and interacting with users. Integrations with Braze and Amplitude enable behavioral tracking and personalized communication. All data is encrypted and managed within a secure, HIPAA-compliant AWS environment.





 





 

Results



SoftTeco successfully launched version 1.0 of Health Rhythms and shortly after prepared an updated version 2.0, introducing additional features and enhancements. Despite initial technical challenges, the platform was launched on schedule and fully aligned with the client’s original concept and requirements. Moreover, version 1.0 exceeded the planned KPI for app downloads by more than twofold. The client was satisfied with the collaboration and praised the professionalism and performance of the SoftTeco team.





 





 

Have a project in mind?



Let us know what kind of software solution you need, and our specialists will provide an estimate cost and deadline. 





Start digital transformation



 







 

		
						
						
					
			
						
				
					

 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Artificial Intelligence Consulting Services

Artificial Intelligence Consulting Services



Want to speed up operations, reduce costs, and make smarter decisions with less guesswork? SoftTeco provides AI consulting services to help you leverage artificial intelligence with confidence. From strategy planning and system readiness assessment to custom AI development, we guide you step-by-step so you can implement AI that works — not just on paper, but in the real world.



Request a consultation



 





 




17




  





Years of experience






450




  





Successful projects






300




  





Customers globally






500




  





Employees



 





 

AI Consulting Services That We Offer



SoftTeco delivers result-focused AI consulting services that help businesses like yours streamline operations, unlock smarter decision-making, and stay ahead through custom-built, intelligent solutions. That includes:





AI Strategy and Roadmapping



Our AI strategy consulting services will help you build a clear, results-driven roadmap. We align artificial intelligence with your business goals to streamline operations, improve customer experience, and boost efficiency across your supply chain.





Readiness Assessment



Our consulting team will review your systems, data, and team skills to see if you're ready for AI implementation. Then, we find what’s missing — like weak data quality or security risks — and explain how to fix it. As a result, you’ll get a report with clear action steps.





Custom AI Solution Development



As a trusted AI consulting agency, SoftTeco can help you design and develop custom AI solutions — from predictive models for churn forecasting to chatbots and NLP tools that automate document processing. Whether it’s computer vision for manufacturing or anomaly detection in financial services, we build learning models that align with your business model. 





Generative AI Consulting



Our team specializes in generative AI consulting and helps clients leverage platforms like GPT and Midjourney. We explore where generative platforms make the most business sense, implement responsible usage frameworks, and develop tailored Gen AI agents that support your specialists.





Intelligent Automation (RPA)



Through intelligent automation and robotic process automation (RPA), our consulting specialists help eliminate repetitive, low-value tasks, freeing up your employees to focus on what they do best. From invoice processing to document handling, our AI-powered solutions deliver measurable cost savings, fewer errors, and faster cycle times.





Integration Services



If you already use tools like Salesforce, SAP, or NetSuite, we ensure that your new artificial intelligence capabilities integrate seamlessly with your existing systems, not against them. Our team integrates models, dashboards, and workflows directly into your CRM, ERP, or BI tools to maintain a seamless user and IT team experience.





Data and Analytics Services



Our data engineers will help you modernize your data architecture, build pipelines for analytics, and support data-driven decision-making through advanced dashboards and forecasting engines. From data transformation and cloud migration to real-time dashboards and predictive analytics, we give you the tools to act, not guess.





AI Governance and Compliance



The use of artificial intelligence might introduce risks like data privacy, algorithm bias, and model drift. That’s why SoftTeco embeds AI governance from day one. Our specialists will help you develop internal policies, align with global regulations (GDPR, HIPAA), and document how your models work. Therefore, you’ll always know where your data is, how it’s used, and how your AI systems make decisions.





QA Services



We go far beyond standard validation—we stress-test, simulate edge cases, and benchmark performance under real-world pressure. Whether it’s a predictive engine or an automation bot, we ensure it runs smoothly, securely, and accurately. As a result, you gain a production-ready solution that performs in real time and scales with confidence.





Support and Maintenance



Our consulting team offers proactive, real-time maintenance that keeps your AI solutions sharp, compliant, and ready for change. We monitor system health, retrain models when patterns shift, and adapt architectures as your business grows. Think of us as your behind-the-scenes AI team, always optimizing, so your results stay ahead of the curve.







AI Strategy and Roadmapping



Our AI strategy consulting services will help you build a clear, results-driven roadmap. We align artificial intelligence with your business goals to streamline operations, improve customer experience, and boost efficiency across your supply chain.





Readiness Assessment



Our consulting team will review your systems, data, and team skills to see if you're ready for AI implementation. Then, we find what’s missing — like weak data quality or security risks — and explain how to fix it. As a result, you’ll get a report with clear action steps.





Custom AI Development



As a trusted AI consulting agency, SoftTeco can help you design and develop custom AI solutions — from predictive models for churn forecasting to chatbots and NLP tools that automate document processing. Whether it’s computer vision for manufacturing or anomaly detection in financial services, we build learning models that align with your business model.





Generative AI Consulting



Our team specializes in generative AI consulting and helps clients leverage platforms like GPT and Midjourney. We explore where generative platforms make the most business sense, implement responsible usage frameworks, and develop tailored Gen AI agents that support your specialists.





Intelligent Automation (RPA)



Through intelligent automation and robotic process automation (RPA), our consulting specialists help eliminate repetitive, low-value tasks, freeing up your employees to focus on what they do best. From invoice processing to document handling, our AI-powered solutions deliver measurable cost savings, fewer errors, and faster cycle times.





Integration Services



If you already use tools like Salesforce, SAP, or NetSuite, we ensure that your new artificial intelligence capabilities integrate seamlessly with your existing systems, not against them. Our team integrates models, dashboards, and workflows directly into your CRM, ERP, or BI tools to maintain a seamless user and IT team experience.





Data and Analytics Services



Our data engineers will help you modernize your data architecture, build pipelines for analytics, and support data-driven decision-making through advanced dashboards and forecasting engines. From data transformation and cloud migration to real-time dashboards and predictive analytics, we give you the tools to act, not guess.





AI Governance and Compliance



The use of artificial intelligence might introduce risks like data privacy, algorithm bias, and model drift. That’s why SoftTeco embeds AI governance from day one. Our specialists will help you develop internal policies, align with global regulations (GDPR, HIPAA), and document how your models work. Therefore, you’ll always know where your data is, how it’s used, and how your AI systems make decisions.





QA Services



We go far beyond standard validation—we stress-test, simulate edge cases, and benchmark performance under real-world pressure. Whether it’s a predictive engine or an automation bot, we ensure it runs smoothly, securely, and accurately. As a result, you gain a production-ready solution that performs in real time and scales with confidence.





Support and Maintenance



Our consulting team offers proactive, real-time maintenance that keeps your AI solutions sharp, compliant, and ready for change. We monitor system health, retrain models when patterns shift, and adapt architectures as your business grows. Think of us as your behind-the-scenes AI team, always optimizing, so your results stay ahead of the curve.



 





 

Artificial Intelligence Solutions SoftTeco Specializes In



Our AI consulting services are backed by practical solutions designed to solve industry-specific challenges, automate operations, and unlock intelligent insights. Below are the areas where our expertise turns innovation into tangible results:





Intelligent Virtual Agents







SoftTeco develops AI-powered chatbots and domain-specific assistants that provide instant, context-aware support. These solutions streamline customer service operations and reduce operational loads by automating routine interactions.





Predictive Intelligence Engines







Our team transforms historical and real-time data into actionable insights through predictive and prescriptive analytics. These tailored solutions help businesses anticipate trends and make informed decisions.





AI Interfaces for Conversational Activities







We implement advanced natural language interfaces, including speech recognition and voice assistants, enabling more human-like interactions across various platforms. This enhances user engagement and accessibility.





Creative AI and Generative Systems







Leveraging tools like GPT and DALL·E, our specialists create content generation and design automation solutions. These are ideal for industries such as marketing, media, and creative sectors, facilitating rapid content creation and innovation.





Smart Business Process Automation







We build AI-powered automation systems that handle everything from data entry to complex decision trees. Using advanced RPA and machine learning models, we streamline business operations, cut human error, and free up your team for work that really moves the needle.





Smarter IT Operations with AIOps







At SoftTeco, we turn your IT ecosystem into a self-aware machine. With our AIOps solutions, artificial intelligence scans logs, monitors systems, detects anomalies—and acts. From preventing outages to streamlining support, we help you run leaner, faster, and more resilient operations.





AI for IoT Systems







SoftTeco’s AIoT solutions combine machine learning with sensor networks to detect trends, optimize workflows, and automate decisions across sectors like logistics, agriculture, and manufacturing.





Visual Intelligence







SoftTeco develops computer vision solutions that interpret visual input, detect patterns, and trigger smart actions. These applications are versatile, ranging from quality inspection to security surveillance.





Autonomous Systems and Copilots







We empower vehicles and complex platforms with vision-based artificial intelligence, decision automation, and semi-autonomous control features. This is crucial for mobility solutions and industrial applications requiring advanced automation.





Fraud and Risk Detection







As part of our AI consulting services, we implement AI systems that identify and prevent fraud in real-time across digital and physical channels. By analyzing patterns and detecting anomalies, we help businesses safeguard against fraudulent activities.



 





 

































    
      
        
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
    
      
        
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
    
      
        
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      
    
    
      
        
          
            
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
  



Looking for AI Consultation?



Let’s start a new project together!



Contact Us



 





 

Some of Our Artificial Intelligence Projects

 




 

SeeDoo




SeeDoo is an AI-powered device for real-time audience analysis and ad targeting on DOOH displays. SoftTeco built a lightweight computer vision solution optimized for Jetson Nano and Xavier, enabling accurate detection and classification despite limited hardware. As a result, the client got smarter, location-based advertising that boosts engagement.



Read More




 



 

Banana AI




Banana AI helps growers spot plant disease before it spreads. Using advanced deep learning and computer vision, the tool scans banana seedlings and flags damage early. SoftTeco overcame a lack of data by creating a custom image library, then trained a classifier to detect subtle leaf issues. With automated alerts and tailored treatment tips, the system keeps plantations healthy and allows growers to proactively prevent damage.



Read More




 



 

BeeGuard




An AI-powered mobile app that helps beekeepers track hive health by automatically counting bees and forecasting population growth using computer vision. SoftTeco developed a custom neural network model, tackled challenges in data labeling and object detection, and built a scalable cloud-based solution. The result: inspections that once took an hour now take minutes, backed by smart insights, visual analytics, and significant time savings for sustainable beekeeping.



Read More




 



 

Golf Club




An AI-powered analyzer that helps custom golf club manufacturers design better gear by analyzing players’ postures and strokes. SoftTeco developed a computer vision solution to detect hand positions, joint angles, and club placement. The system collects motion data via mobile or kiosk cameras, enabling precise, personalized club design. The MVP delivered accurate results and fully automated a previously manual process.



Read More




 













1 / 4 






 

How AI Consulting Services Benefit Your Business



From unlocking smarter decisions to minimizing operational risks, here’s how our AI consulting services help your business:











 



 




01 / 05



Clear Strategy and Faster Implementation




Our expert artificial intelligence consultants work closely with your business to craft a roadmap rooted in your business goals. We work with you to define measurable goals, map your business challenges, and identify high-impact use cases. Once the strategy is in place, we accelerate implementation, moving from discovery to development faster than traditional in-house efforts.






02 / 05



Access to Top AI Talent




With an established AI consulting company like SoftTeco, you access a global talent pool of seasoned data scientists, machine learning engineers, and AI strategists—no lengthy recruitment cycles required. These experts bring real-world experience across industries, from finance and healthcare to supply chain and ecommerce.






03 / 05



Smarter Decisions Powered by Data




Our AI business consulting services help businesses transform messy, disconnected data — scattered spreadsheets, siloed systems, sprawling cloud platforms — into useful insight. From predictive analytics that forecast sales trends to real-time dashboards that monitor operational health, our AI models do one thing well: they make decisions easier, faster, and sharper.






04 / 05



Better ROI Through Automation




With our help, you can automate repetitive workflows, eliminate manual errors, and simplify complex processes through AI-powered solutions like robotic process automation (RPA), intelligent bots, and self-optimizing algorithms. From invoice processing to document handling, our AI-powered solutions deliver measurable cost savings, fewer errors, and faster cycle times.






05 / 05



Minimized Risk With Governance and Compliance




We help organizations adopt ethical AI by building governance frameworks that ensure transparency, accountability, and fairness. From bias detection in training data to GDPR-compliant model deployment, we reduce legal and reputational risk before it becomes problematic. And with privacy regulations evolving rapidly, our experts stay ahead, ensuring your AI solutions are secure, compliant, and future-proof.



 






 

Industries We Safeguard

 








 

Choose Future-Proof AI Strategy Consulting



At SoftTeco, we believe that artificial intelligence success starts with clarity. Our AI strategy consulting process is designed to help organizations uncover the “why,” “what,” and “how” behind AI adoption. We don’t throw models at problems. We develop meaningful and measurable strategies that connect artificial intelligence with your business objectives. Here’s what sets our approach apart:













01 / 05



Understanding Your Business Landscape



We start by analyzing your operations, goals, and challenges. This helps us align AI initiatives with real business needs — so you invest where it matters most.





02 / 06



Defining Measurable AI Objectives



Our consultants help you set clear KPIs tied to real outcomes — like faster processing, reduced costs, or better customer service. No vague goals — just results.





03 / 06



Assessing Readiness and Risks



We check if your data, infrastructure, and team are ready for AI. We also flag risks — like poor data quality or compliance gaps — to help you move forward confidently.





04 / 06



Creating the AI Roadmap



You get a clear step-by-step plan from idea to rollout. We map key phases, allocate resources, and build in change management to keep things smooth.





05 / 06



Ensuring Long-Term Scalability



Once live, we help monitor, retrain, and scale your artificial intelligence solution. Your strategy stays flexible—so your AI keeps delivering as your business evolves.



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco As Your AI Consulting Company?





01



Experienced AI Team



SoftTeco brings together data scientists, machine learning engineers, and AI strategists with proven experience in delivering scalable, domain-specific artificial intelligence solutions — from predictive analytics in finance to NLP in healthcare.





02



Long-Term Partnership



We don’t stop at deployment. SoftTeco provides full lifecycle support: model retraining, MLOps optimization, risk monitoring, and continuous improvement, so your AI evolves with your business.





03



Built-In Compliance



As an ISO 27001-certified company, we embed transparency, fairness, and accountability into every solution. You stay aligned with GDPR, HIPAA, and responsible AI guidelines from day one.





04



Seamless Integration



Whether it’s CRM, ERP, or custom platforms, our consultants ensure your AI integrates smoothly into existing systems, boosting process automation and decision-making without disrupting daily workflows.





05



Tailored AI Strategy and Fast Delivery



Our AI consulting services start with your business goals and end with measurable outcomes. We craft data-driven roadmaps, launch high-impact pilots, and turn them into real-world results — fast.



 





 

Our Tech Stack

 











 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        What is Agentic AI? Meet the AI That Thinks, Plans, and Gets Things Done
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        Machine Learning in Healthcare: Statistics, Use Cases, and Benefits
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
		
		
	
	

		
				
					
		
					
		
				
		

 






 

Learn more about AI

 




 

What we do

 



 


AI Development



AI Consulting



Generative AI Development







Machine Learning Consulting



Machine Learning Development



Data Science Consulting







Computer Vision Development



Robotic Process Automation


 



 

What we think

 



 


AI in FinTech



AI in Banking



AI Fraud Detection in Banking



AI for Credit Scoring



AI in Manufacturing



AI in Sports



Conversational AI



Agentic AI



AI for HR Processes







ML in Healthcare



ML in Logistics and Supply Chain



ML in Agriculture



ML Trends



GitHub Copilot Alternatives



GPT vs. BERT







What is Computer Vision?



Optical Character Recognition (OCR)



Image Recognition Technology



Automatic Speech Recognition



Data Labeling



Digital Twinning


 



 

 




 

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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Sportlinker

Sportlinker



Mobile recruitment platform for sports clubs







Type



Mobile





Industry



Sports & Lifestyle





Country



Denmark




 





 

Highlights




Full-cycle development: from ideation to functional prototype



Custom cross-platform application



Scalable real-time chat with anonymous-to-public messaging flow



Role-based user system: players, scouts, coaches, administrators



Custom UI/UX tailored for sports talent recruitment






 





  









 

Challenge



The client is a Danish entrepreneur with a vision to digitalize the way sports clubs recruit and manage team members. We had already worked with the client on several successful projects, including an application that won a Danish Tech Award. Given the strong partnership and proven results, the client turned to us once more with a new idea: to build a mobile app that would serve as a social and recruitment platform for sports clubs and players.



The initial concept was focused on handball but was later expanded to accommodate multiple sports. The platform needed to support player discovery, anonymous communication between scouts and players, team management, and profile showcasing — all within a secure, scalable, and user-friendly environment.The client had no technical documentation or designs, only a rough idea of the product's goals.





 



 

Solution



Our mobile development team started with a discovery phase to turn the client’s high-level idea into a clear product vision. Through several workshops, we defined user roles, core features, and scalability needs, resulting in a functional proof-of-concept.



The app was built from scratch with React Native for cross-platform compatibility and Firebase for backend services, including Authentication, Realtime Database, Storage, and Messaging. Real-time chat was implemented using Firebase, with custom logic for anonymous-to-public messaging. We also integrated Algolia to enable fast and efficient search functionality.



To support the development process, we used App Center for CI/CD and conducted manual testing throughout the project to ensure performance and reliability. Although the application wasn’t publicly launched yet, we delivered a fully functional solution with a scalable infrastructure designed for high volumes of real-time communication.





 





  









 

Tech Stack





Frontend




React Native



App Center



Firebase Cloud Messaging



Google Sign-In



Algolia






Backend




Firebase Authentication



 Firebase Realtime Database



Firebase Functions



NoSQL






How it works



The mobile app provides separate user experiences for different roles — players, coaches, scouts, and club administrators.




Players can showcase achievements, connect with teammates, and receive anonymous recruitment messages from scouts.



Scouts browse ranked player profiles, initiate chat anonymously, and convert to public messaging if the player agrees.



Clubs can create teams, assign roles such as coach or physiotherapist, and customize their public-facing page.



Administrators manage user roles, push notifications, and club-level settings.




The real-time chat is central to the app’s functionality and was built to work without refresh delays. Firebase’s backend infrastructure ensures that all messages and updates are delivered immediately. Push notifications keep users informed of new messages or invitations.



SoftTeco’s team built the data structure on a NoSQL model, allowing flexible relationships between users, teams, and chats. Despite limitations in Firebase’s throughput, the app was designed with proxy fallback logic to ensure message delivery even under high load.





 





 

Have a project in mind?



Let us know what kind of software solution you need, and our specialists will provide an estimate cost and deadline. 





Start digital transformation



 





 

Results



Although the app wasn’t publicly launched yet, the technical and design work was successfully completed. SoftTeco developed a fully functional cross-platform application with robust chat functionality, role-based access, and scalable architecture.





 







 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Data Engineering Services

Data Engineering Services





Transform raw data into business value with SoftTeco’s end-to-end data engineering services. From cloud migration to pipeline optimization, we offer a full range of intelligent and scalable solutions and help turn your information into a strategic asset.



Request a quote



 





 

What Is Data Engineering Consulting? 



Data engineering is a set of processes aimed at structuring and processing raw information and building efficient data pipelines. It helps organizations increase the transparency of their information, set up frictionless information exchange between the systems, and ensure security and integrity of stored information. Hence, data engineering consulting helps companies select the most suitable solution based on their business needs and available assets.



Key benefits:





Accurate decision making

Elimination of data silos

Improved information quality

Competitive edge

 





 

SoftTeco’s Data Engineering Services



Our experts help companies across industries set up their information processing and build secure and scalable storage solutions. Discover the full range of our data science engineering services:











 



 




01 / 07



Data Lakes & Warehouses




SoftTeco sets up effective and secure storage solutions, suitable for both structured and unstructured information. Whether you need to scale quickly with a powerful data lake or use a data warehouse for better analytical insights, our team will deliver the requested solution and will implement it smoothly with other components of your system.






02 / 07



Machine Learning Engineering




SoftTeco proposes the use of the machine learning technology for faster and more accurate information processing, automation, and creation of valuable forecasts for better analysis. From ML model development and training to its smooth deployment and management, our ML engineers are ready to elevate your processes.






03 / 07



ETL / ELT Setup




For more accurate and faster information processing we offer a setup of ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) and ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) pipelines. We will help you select the right method based on your business needs and existing processes and will ensure that all information sources are included so not a single ounce of information is lost.






04 / 07



Data Visualization




Data visualization helps translate complex information into clear and understandable insights. Our data engineering company offers an array of visualization tools and helps with their configuration and setup. In this way, the information becomes accessible to all stakeholders and can drastically impact the speed and accuracy of decision making.






05 / 07



Cloud Migration




Migration to the cloud offers unparalleled security and agility, allowing you to seamlessly scale your business in a robust environment. Being a certified partner of AWS, Google Cloud and DigitalOcean, SoftTeco can help you select the most suitable cloud solution and will assist in smooth migration of your business to the selected cloud platform.






06 / 07



DataOps




Enhance your data management with streamlined and automated DataOps operations. By implementing an advanced set of practices and technologies, SoftTeco transforms your current data flow into a perfectly orchestrated process, aimed at promoting high quality and security of your information as well as its continuous improvement.






07 / 07



Data Engineering Consulting




Not sure where to start with your data engineering journey? Our team is ready to help with our extensive data engineering consulting services. We will thoroughly discuss potential solutions and roadblocks, assess your current infrastructure and will advise on the best way to implement data engineering in your business to maximize the value of collected information.



 





 

Use SoftTeco’s expertise to integrate an intelligent data engineering solution and grow your business through advanced analytics.





Discuss my project



 





 

SoftTeco’s Cloud Partners



SoftTeco is a certified partner of biggest cloud providers, thus bringing security, scalability, and reliability to every project that involves cloud. Learn more about our partners and opportunities: 





AWS Cloud



Being an AWS Select Service Partner, SoftTeco proves its solid technical expertise with the AWS Cloud and the design and implementation of complex yet swift cloud solutions. We recommend AWS Cloud for those companies that already have an established Amazon ecosystem, focus on scalability and cost-effectiveness, and have a complex flow of operations.















DigitalOcean Cloud



SoftTeco is a recognized member of the DigitalOcean Partner Pod which empowers organizations to unlock the full potential of the DigitalOcean platform and create high-performing cloud solutions. DigitalOcean is a great choice for anyone looking for fast performance, greater cost-efficiency, and a focus on user-centric development.















Oracle Cloud



Our company expertly manages the Oracle cloud platform and is a member of the Oracle Partner Network. That being said, we know how to leverage its full potential and help our clients undergo digital transformation in a seamless manner. You should consider Oracle if you need reliable, enterprise-grade software combined with impressive performance.













 





 

Hire Experienced Data Engineers



Data engineering has many benefits but due to the complexity of the development and implementation processes it is critical to partner with experienced data engineers. Being in the IT industry since 2008, SoftTeco understands the specifics of creating and delivering reliable and secure data-centric solutions. Our experts use the most suitable technologies and tools and constantly improve their skills and knowledge through certifications and courses.



Partner with our data engineering company to avoid the hassle of assembling a team from scratch and see the first results delivered within a few weeks. And the best part? We have a variety of engagement models and development methodologies to choose from. In this way, we ensure an individual approach to every client and guarantee that the project perfectly fits your budget and project requirements. 



Discuss my project



 





 

Business Benefits of Data Engineering Services



Information is at the heart of any organization that wants to offer the right products and services to the right customers. So how exactly can data engineering impact your business and fuel its growth?





Improved Quality & Visibility of Information



Even if an organization collects vast amounts of information, it is critical to properly store and analyse it - otherwise the gathered information won’t bring much business value. Hence, if you have well-established data pipelines, you can rest assured that your information is always relevant, updated, and accessible.





Zero Guesswork



No business decisions should be based on guesswork - and data engineering can help with that. Through thorough organization of information and analysis organizations can develop strong business strategies and ensure that their next move is based on real information. This approach lays the foundation for solid business growth where every aspect is justified by the data.





Reduced Operating Costs



Unnecessary or over-complicated operations often cause excessive operating costs. When you optimize and automate the majority of your data-related processes, you can almost instantly see a significant reduction of your costs and can allocate your resources more efficiently.





Improved Efficiency



Finally, data engineering greatly increases the productivity of your team since the needed information is available across the department and can be instantly accessed. It also eliminates data silos which is a frequent problem in organizations with diverse teams and non-stop data flow. 



 





 

Our Data Engineering Development Process



To deliver a solution that precisely meets your business needs, SoftTeco follows an established development approach that consists of several steps. Note that our data engineering as a service is fine-tuned for every client individually and below we describe the general framework.

 




 

01



Planning & Requirements Analysis



The first stage of developing an intelligent solution is requirements analysis and planning. During this phase, our team communicates closely with the client and their development team, collects project requirements, and defines KPIs and milestones. As a result, we get a clear roadmap for the development process and can suggest relevant tech stack and team.





02



Current Assets Analysis



To design and implement a suitable solution, we need to analyze your current infrastructure and the existing assets that we can use as a base. We will then decide whether we should optimize the existing solution, integrate it with external services, or build something brand-new that would support your evolving business needs.





03



Implementation



Our next step is the implementation of the designed solution in your system. If needed, we will develop custom APIs and will also perform continuous testing to ensure that the implemented solution does not interfere with the operation of the whole system. During this stage, SoftTeco normally implements not only the selected storage but sets up data pipelines too.

 



 

04



Deployment & Automation



Once everything is ready, we deploy the data pipelines and automate all necessary processes for seamless functioning of the whole system. Automation allows us to focus on more critical tasks and fine-tuning as well as on system monitoring and quick debugging.





05



Monitoring



When partnering with SoftTeco, you can rely on 24/7 support and assistance after the solution goes live. We will test, monitor, and optimize the implemented product and will provide actionable recommendations on further improvements and system enhancements. In this way, we also train your in-house team for future efficient work with collected insights.





 





 

01



Planning & Requirements Analysis



The first stage of developing an intelligent solution is requirements analysis and planning. During this phase, our team communicates closely with the client and their development team, collects project requirements, and defines KPIs and milestones. As a result, we get a clear roadmap for the development process and can suggest relevant tech stack and team.





02



Current Assets Analysis



To design and implement a suitable solution, we need to analyze your current infrastructure and the existing assets that we can use as a base. We will then decide whether we should optimize the existing solution, integrate it with external services, or build something brand-new that would support your evolving business needs.

 



 

03



Implementation



Our next step is the implementation of the designed solution in your system. If needed, we will develop custom APIs and will also perform continuous testing to ensure that the implemented solution does not interfere with the operation of the whole system. During this stage, SoftTeco normally implements not only the selected storage but sets up data pipelines too.





04



Deployment & Automation



Once everything is ready, we deploy the data pipelines and automate all necessary processes for seamless functioning of the whole system. Automation allows us to focus on more critical tasks and fine-tuning as well as on system monitoring and quick debugging.

 



 

05



Monitoring



When partnering with SoftTeco, you can rely on 24/7 support and assistance after the solution goes live. We will test, monitor, and optimize the implemented product and will provide actionable recommendations on further improvements and system enhancements. In this way, we also train your in-house team for future efficient work with collected insights.

 










 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Data Engineering Company?



Learn what makes our company different and why we remain the top choice for data science engineering services for clients around the globe:





01



Industry Expertise



SoftTeco is an international software development company with over 16 years of experience in IT. Through constant innovation and improvement, we make sure to follow the industry trends, monitor and apply the latest technologies, and deliver value-centric solutions. Whether you operate in financial services, healthcare, or manufacturing, we know the requirements of each industry and ways to make your product stand out.





02



Vast Tech Stack



Our data engineering service providers display a wide range of technical skills, forming a solid tech stack for projects of any complexity and scale. Among the technologies that we use are Python, Snowflake, Amazon Redshift, Python Flask, and many others. When approaching a new project, we thoroughly evaluate its requirements and then propose a tech stack that enables smooth and quick delivery.





03



Flexibility & Transparency



We value open communication and transparency and to maintain that throughout the development process, we’ve established a test and tried framework for project management. Our specialists use a variety of communication tools and are well-versed in change management, which greatly increases project flexibility and allows us to implement changes without disrupting the development process.





04



24/7 Support



We understand that the development and implementation of new software in your current digital environment is a complex process. Hence, we offer our assistance at every stage of the project, from planning and analysis to post-launch support. In this way, we ensure that any unexpected issues are timely resolved and everything functions as intended. SoftTeco also offers employee training so your team can independently manage the product once it’s delivered.



 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Seedoo



A computer vision device for target audience analysis




  




Web













Simcall



An application for managing prepaid wireless cellular connectivity




  




Web



 





 

Frequently Asked Questions



 





 

More about Data

 




 

What we do

 



 


Big Data Services



Big Data Consulting



Business Intelligence Consulting







Data Engineering



Data Visualization







Data Science Consulting



Database Development


 



 

What we think

 



 


Big Data in Healthcare



Big Data in Retail



Big Data in Logistics



Big Data in Finance



Big Data in Banking



Data Analytics in Telecom



4 Types of Data Analytics



Behavioral Analytics







How to Manage Dark Data



Data Quality Management



Kibana vs. Grafana



Data Lake vs. Data Warehouse



How to Build a Data Warehouse



ETL vs. ELT



Power BI vs Tableau







Data Mapping



Data Normalization



Data Loss Prevention



How to Eliminate Data Silos



Data Sharding



Distributed Databases



Couchbase vs. CouchDB



Database Management Systems



HBase vs. Cassandra


 



 

 




 

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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
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### Synder App

Synder App



Penetration testing for AI-Driven Accounting Platform







Type



Web





Industry



Business & Finance





Country



United States




 





 

Highlights




Conducted manual and dynamic application security testing (DAST) using OWASP ZAP



Utilized SqlmMap to detect and confirm SQL injection vulnerabilities in backend data handling processes



Applied sslscan to assess SSL/TLS configurations and detect cryptographic weaknesses



Generated a comprehensive report detailing findings, risk levels, and actionable remediation steps to enhance the application’s security posture






 





  









 

Client



CloudBusiness is a software development firm that provides cloud-based solutions for businesses, accountants, and bookkeepers. The Synder App is one of their core offerings. It is an accounting automation tool that synchronizes and reconciles transactions across multiple sales channels and payment platforms.





 





 

Challenge



Since the platform processes large volumes of confidential financial data, ensuring strong security and resilience against potential cyber-attacks is especially important. The client is in the process of obtaining SOC 2 certification and has engaged SoftTeco’s security team to conduct penetration testing and evaluate the security posture of the Synder App.





 





  









 

Tech Stack





Components




OWASP ZAP



Acunetix



JWT_Tool



Burp Suite



SqlmMap



slscan






How it works



Our security testing team began with automated vulnerability scanning using OWASP ZAP, Acunetix, SqlmMap, and sslscan tools. Based on the results and the tester’s expertise, the security team also performed manual testing to uncover any issues that the automated tools may have overlooked. Penetration testing was conducted using the Black Box testing model, following the PTES, OWASP Web Security Testing Guide, and NIST 800-115 methodologies.





 





 

Have a project in mind?



Let us know what kind of software solution you need, and our specialists will provide an estimate cost and deadline. 





Start digital transformation



 





 

Results



Penetration testing did not result in a system breach, but SoftTeco’s team found several potential vulnerabilities and delivered a comprehensive report with suggested improvements. The client istaking steps to enhance security and has requested a retest after implementing the necessary changes.





 







 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Business Intelligence Consulting Services

Business Intelligence Consulting Services





With SoftTeco’s business intelligence consulting services, not a single ounce of your data remains unnoticed. Eliminate data silos, improve decision making and use advanced analytics to drive your business forward.



Get a consultation



 





 

Why Partner with SoftTeco’s Business Intelligence Consultants?



Business intelligence consultancy helps companies streamline and optimize their data processing workflows and use collected information to maximize revenue and drive the business forward. A scalable BI solution brings all your information in one place, enhances data-driven decision making, and presents insights in the form of user-centric reports.





Unparalleled Expertise



Being in the IT industry since 2008, we understand the importance of the data and its role in business development. All our BI solutions are powered by rich expertise in delivering powerful and data-centric software that helps our clients grow.





Scalability & Transparency



At SoftTeco, we always make sure that our software solutions are scalable and support the expansion of your business. We also ensure that you always stay updated on the project status through regular reporting and transparent communication.





Regulatory Compliance



SoftTeco delivers software solutions that are compliant with all required regulations, thus ensuring security of the processed information. This approach significantly increases customer trust and contributes to maintaining reliability of your brand.





Quality & Security



SoftTeco is an ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certified company, meaning we view the security and quality of our software solutions as top priorities. We follow established security and quality management processes that serve as frameworks for all our projects.



 





 

Partner with a reliable BI consultant from SoftTeco and make your data work for you!





Contact us



 





 

SoftTeco’s Business Intelligence Consulting Services



SoftTeco’s business intelligence consultants will guide you through every step of the BI implementation journey. Learn more about our BI consulting services:





Strategy Planning & Requirements Analysis



A starting point for BI adoption is the definition of the strategy and the analysis of your business requirements. This is important so we can better understand what exactly your business needs and how a BI solution can help. We will also help you outline the implementation or optimization strategy and will propose the most suitable tech stack and specialists.





Security Audit



Security of the data is critical in modern digital environment as even the smallest data breach can lead to significant consequences. To help you avoid potential issues and safeguard the data processed by your organization, we conduct thorough security audits. Our experts will check all your data pipelines and storage configurations so not a single issue goes undetected.





BI Infrastructure Analysis



Our business intelligence consulting firm will perform a comprehensive analysis of your current infrastructure and available resources so we can identify areas for improvement and main bottlenecks. We will also perform a detailed data source analysis to form an understanding of where your information comes from and in what format.





BI Deployment



If you are ready to deploy a Business Intelligence solution, we are here to help. Our team will assist in selecting the most suitable deployment environment, cloud solution, and BI tools. We will also take care of all needed integrations to ensure smooth and secure exchange of data between all systems in use.





Data Visualization



The main value of the data lies in your ability to understand it and for that, you need advanced visualization tools. As part of our data visualization services, SoftTeco develops powerful and user-centric dashboards to present your information in a clear and understandable manner, thus enhancing the decision-making process in your organization.





Predictive Analytics



Use the power of the Machine Learning technology to build accurate forecasts and adjust your growth strategy correspondingly. By combining powerful ML models with massive sets of data, SoftTeco delivers comprehensive predictive analytics services. Eliminate guesswork and transform your approach from reactive to proactive.



 









 

Discover More BI Services by SoftTeco



SoftTeco provides an array of BI-related services to support your data-centric business:













01 / 06



BI Implementation



Our team will help you implement the selected solution in full correspondence with the industry security and quality standards. As part of our business intelligence implementation services, we will also take care of the integrations, ensuring all systems operate smoothly without interfering each other’s work.





02 / 06



BI Optimization



If you already have a BI solution and it’s underperforming, we can help. SoftTeco offers modernization and optimization services for BI tools, from minor fine-tuning to full-fledged code rewrite and architecture redesign.





03 / 06



BI Support



SoftTeco offers support and maintenance services for when your BI tool needs extra monitoring and management. In addition to ensuring its smooth functioning, we can also implement improvements and eliminate bugs and issues.





04 / 06



Cloud Development



SoftTeco can develop and configure a selected cloud solution to migrate your BI tools for better performance and security. Being a certified partner of AWS and Google Cloud, our business intelligence consulting company brings a deep understanding of these platforms to our BI projects.





05 / 06



Big Data Development



Need better management of your big data? SoftTeco’s Data Science department offers a plethora of services aimed at maximizing the value of your big data. From data lakes design to creation of powerful ML models, we will make the most of your collected information. 





06 / 06



Mobile BI



SoftTeco brings the power of Business Intelligence at your fingertips via the development of user-centric and feature-rich mobile applications. Such apps allow you to instantly access the needed reports, search the information through advanced filters, and share insights seamlessly.



 





 

Industries That We Serve



Discover how Business Intelligence solutions can benefit businesses in various industries and find a perfect BI product for your specific company:

 



 

HealthcareBanking & FintechManufacturingRetailHospitality & TourismEducation

 

Healthcare




Detection of health trends



KPI tracking for medical professionals



Optimization of hospital staff levels



Forecasting for treatment outcomes


 





 

Banking & Fintech




ML-powered fraud detection



Customer behavior analysis



Smart credit scoring



Operational intelligence across departments


 





 

Manufacturing




Supply chain optimization



Predictive maintenance



Improved inventory management



Minimized production delays


 





 

Retail




Customer behavior analysis



Optimized product placement



Demand forecasting



Advanced marketing analytics


 





 

Hospitality & Tourism




Staff KPI monitoring



Data-driven personalization



Optimized dynamic pricing



Better insights into customer behavior


 





 

Education




Optimized resource allocation



Feedback analysis



Improved user experience



Analysis of marketing activity


 



 





 

BI Processes & Components That We Deliver





Data lakes: store both structured and unstructured data securely

 Visualization: present information in a clear and informative manner

Data warehousing: store your structured data for better reporting

Data science: deploy the power of AI for advanced analytics

ETL/ELT pipelines: set up effective data extraction processes

Data security: safeguard your data from potential threats

Data reporting: get instant access to relevant and valuable insights 

Data quality management: ensure your information is always consistent and relevant



Request a consultation



 





 

Core Benefits of BI Consulting Service



Thinking about implementing a Business Intelligence solution in your organization? Learn how a well-tailored BI tool can transform your business:





Data-Driven Decision Making



BI helps organizations tap into a wide pool of opportunities, such as more accurate customer segmentation and behavior analysis, fraud detection, predictive analytics, and more. In this way, all business decisions are based strictly on the data, including historical, and result in increased operational efficiency and revenue.





Enhanced Data Security



The use of Business Intelligence tools implies maintaining a well-organized inventory of your assets such as data resources. By knowing exactly where the information comes from and who can access it, you can take needed preventive measures and ensure that there is not a single point of entry for potential malicious agents.





Efficiency & Transparency



The deployment of a powerful BI tool grants you better control over your data and leads to increased transparency and data management efficiency. By maintaining a well-organized inventory of your data assets and making them accessible to all authorized parties, you enable smooth and secure data circulation within your organization.





Accelerated Business Growth



Having critical data at your fingertips inevitably leads to more accurate business decisions and less errors in the process of forming a development strategy. Hence, it’s safe to say that business intelligence consulting services are a significant factor in the company’s business growth as they help avoid costly mistakes by timely analyzing the needed information.



 





 

Tech stack

 



 

BackendFrontendMobileDatabaseCloud SolutionsDevOpsMachine Learning, AI, Data Science, Big DataSalesforceCMSQA Automation

 

Backend































 





 

Frontend































 





 

iOS















Android















Cross-Platform























 





 

SQL































NoSQL























 





 

Cloud Solutions



















 





 

DevOps











































 





 

Machine Learning, AI,Data Science, Big Data



















































 





 

Salesforce



















 





 

CMS



























 





 

QA Automation



















 





 





 

Featured projects







View all cases

 



 







Gameinsight



An e-learning platform dedicated to European football




  




Industry




Web














Caajoo



A freelance marketplace to connect clients & local service providers




  




iOS



Android



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									I would like to thank SoftTeco for the exceptional quality of services and for their impressive dedication to work. The product perfectly matches our vision and I would definitely work with them again.
								
								
									
										Co-Founder & CTO, Supersapiens
									
									
										Gagan Chaudhari
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

More about Data

 




 

What we do

 



 


Big Data Services



Big Data Consulting



Business Intelligence Consulting







Data Engineering



Data Visualization







Data Science Consulting



Database Development


 



 

What we think

 



 


Big Data in Healthcare



Big Data in Retail



Big Data in Logistics



Big Data in Finance



Big Data in Banking



Data Analytics in Telecom



4 Types of Data Analytics



Behavioral Analytics







How to Manage Dark Data



Data Quality Management



Kibana vs. Grafana



Data Lake vs. Data Warehouse



How to Build a Data Warehouse



ETL vs. ELT



Power BI vs Tableau







Data Mapping



Data Normalization



Data Loss Prevention



How to Eliminate Data Silos



Data Sharding



Distributed Databases



Couchbase vs. CouchDB



Database Management Systems



HBase vs. Cassandra


 



 

 




 

+ Show more

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Application Modernization Services

Application Modernization Services





Remove the roadblocks caused by your legacy software and tap into consistent business growth with SoftTeco’s application modernization services. Whether you need to fine-tune an existing application or undergo a complete redesign, our team is ready to help you grow.





Request a custom quote








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 







 

When Do You Need App Modernization?



Not sure whether you need legacy app modernization services? Below we collected the most common cases when a business needs to fine-tune its application:



Your app is too slow and frequently crashesYou observe low conversion or low user engagementYou experience frequent security issuesYour app does not support required functionalityYour app doesn’t handle the current load volume



All these issues indicate that your app does not have enough capacity and capability to handle your increasing business demands. Hence, if you observe one or more of the described cases, now is the best time to modernize your app so it corresponds to market and business needs.

 






 

SoftTeco’s Legacy Application Modernization Services



Discover the full scope of our application modernization services and see which ones perfectly fit your business needs:





01



Application Modernization Consulting



If you don't know where to start upgrading your digital systems, SoftTeco’s consulting service is here to help you. We will analyze your current IT infrastructure, business goals and risks, and then propose a phased modernization strategy, tailored to your company's goals, budget and resources.





02



Application Modernization Assessment



If you want to understand how outdated your application is and what improvements will bring the most value, then we recommend starting with an assessment. Our experts will perform a technical analysis of your existing application, identify bottlenecks, and create a detailed upgrade plan based on risks and priorities.





03



Application Refactoring



If your application is too slow or the code has become too difficult to maintain, refactoring is what you need and our application modernization company is glad to help you. Our skilled developers will optimize the architecture or rewrite legacy code without changing its core functionality, thus making your application more stable, scalable and easy to maintain.





04



Legacy App Migration to Cloud



If you are looking to reduce infrastructure costs and get rid of the limitations of the old infrastructure, choose cloud migration. We will help you migrate your applications to a modern cloud environment (AWS, Azure, or GCP), optimize the architecture and ensure stable operation with minimal downtime.





05



UI\UX Modernization



If the interface of your app is outdated and doesn't meet modern usability standards, SoftTeco is here to take it on. Our designers will update the design of your app, providing a modern, intuitive interface that both improves your users experience and meets business outcomes. From wireframes creation to full rebranding, our design services meet all your possible needs.





06



Application Containerization



Integrate applications into containers for faster development, testing, and deployment. We adapt your applications to Docker and Kubernetes, helping you migrate from a cumbersome monolithic architecture to modern and high-performing microservices for better flexibility, manageability, and environment independence.





07



Application Reengineering



If your application is outdated, performs poorly, has security or technical issues, reengineering is what you need. We will help you perform an in-depth analysis of your application and develop a plan for its updates, including code optimization, architecture improvements or integration of modern technologies.





08



Architecture Redesign



If your application is difficult to scale and is unable to support the growing business requirements, SoftTeco proposes architecture redesign services. Our engineers will review your current architecture, identify the main bottlenecks, and will suggest recommendations on improving its performance, scalability, and maintainability.





09



Data Modernization



If you have outdated storage and limited integration capabilities, you might consider data modernization. Our specialists can help you migrate your data to modern platforms such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, will improve its availability and will simplify the use of data for analytics and reporting.





10



DevOps Integration



If you plan to streamline your software development and product delivery, DevOps integration is essential. We will help you automate your current processes, implement CI/CD practices, and keep your services running smoothly so you can release new features faster with minimal risk and maximum stability.



 





 

Request SoftTeco’s application modernization services and start transforming your app!



Contact us



 





 

Benefits of App Modernization Services



Here are the core reasons why an optimized application is beneficial to your business:





Improved User Experience



A lagging and glitchy app discourages users from interacting with it - thus resulting in lost conversions and a significant drop in engagement. An optimized app, on the other hand, grants secure and instant access to needed resources, swift performance of needed operations, and seamless user experience.





Improved Security



Legacy software is highly prone to cyber attacks due to the lack of needed security patches and updates. To prevent the leak of sensitive data and minimize the possibility of the attack, it is critical to keep your applications updated in correspondence with the industry and security standards.





Better Scalability & Growth



As your business grows, so does your application. A modern and robust architecture can support not only the app’s growth but also the implementation of new, advanced features. This, in turn, helps your business remain competitive and adhere to the demands of modern customers that expect sleek performance and seamless usability.





Lower Maintenance Costs



Legacy software is usually associated with high maintenance costs as there is always something that requires attention. An optimized app, on the other hand, does not require frequent maintenance and by investing in its modernization once, you will be able to greatly cut the maintenance costs in the long run.



 





 

App Modernization vs. Digital Transformation



When businesses face the need to optimize their software, one of the most frequent questions that they ask is “what’s the difference between modernization and digital transformation?”Application modernization is a process of updating or improving existing software applications without completely rewriting systems to meet current and future technology and business requirements. To achieve this, organizations follow the 7R strategy, which outlines seven approaches to modernizing legacy applications.




Legacy application modernization




Legacy application modernization services include:




Updating existing applications to run on modern platforms and technologies;



Focus on improving performance, security, scalability;



Often includes cloud migration, architecture upgrades (e.g., moving to microservices).







Digital transformation




Digital transformation includes:




Global changes in business processes using digital technologies;



Includes the creation of new digital products, services and business models;



Goes beyond IT: Affects company culture, strategy and customer interactions;



The goal is to completely change the way the business operates to increase competitiveness.




 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Application Modernization Company?
































01 / 04



Quality & Security



SoftTeco is an ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified company, meaning we follow rigorous approaches towards quality management and security. During the development process, we ensure that all cybersecurity policies are in place and we perform continuous testing to minimize risks and prepare the app for a bug-free release.





02 / 04



Industry Knowledge



Our company has been delivering high-quality software solutions for businesses across manufacturing, fintech, healthcare, ecommerce, logistics, and other domains. We understand the requirements of various industries and know what to add to your application to make it competitive and compliant with industry standards.





03 / 04



Development Flexibility



Whether you are a fast-developing startup or an established enterprise, we can offer a suitable solution tailored precisely to your business needs, budget, and deadlines. SoftTeco offers various engagement models and follows both waterfall and Agile development methodologies to choose the best option for your project.





04 / 04



Rich Experience



SoftTeco has been operating in the IT market since 2008, thus gaining unmatched expertise in the development of secure, scalable, and user-centric applications that adhere to industry standards. When working on your project, we evaluate it from all aspects, including user needs and business requirements, thus achieving a perfect balance between profitability and usability.




 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Formic



All-round support for a complex Robots-as-a-Service system




  




Web, Mobile













C2 SmartLight



A system for managing smart outdoor lighting solutions




  




Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Hire iOS Developer

Hire iOS Developer





Need to hire iOS developer experts? SoftTeco delivers high-quality apps for all Apple devices, blending innovation with proven expertise. Our certified iOS developers use the latest tools to build fast, scalable, and user-friendly apps tailored to your goals and Apple’s standards. No matter how challenging your project is, we’re here to help you stand out in a crowded marketplace. 



Calculate Team Cost



 





 




75




  





Сlient locations






17




  





Years on the market






500




  





Employees






450




  





Successful projects



 





 

SoftTeco’s iOS App Development Services





Custom App Development



Your app should be as unique as your business. Our iOS specialists design and build custom applications that fit your needs. We combine experience with deep tech expertise and creativity to develop functional and scalable apps, providing engaging experiences for your target users across Apple devices.





iOS Development For IoT



Our team builds smart, secure iOS apps that power IoT ecosystems. Whether it's smart homes, wearables, or industrial automation, we ensure seamless communication between your iOS app and connected devices, creating powerful, real-time user experiences.





Native App Development



We specialize in native iOS app development, building applications specifically optimized for Apple platforms. Using Swift and the latest Apple frameworks, we ensure high performance, smooth integration with device features, and superior user experiences.





iOS Application Redesign



SoftTeco offers professional iOS application redesign services to improve the look, feel, and functionality of existing apps. Whether you need a modernized UI, enhanced performance, or new features, our specialists revitalize your application based on current iOS standards, user feedback, and market trends to deliver better engagement and usability.





iOS Enterprise App Development



We know that businesses need more than just an app — they need a reliable tool that fits into complex workflows. Our enterprise iOS solutions are built with security, scalability, and performance in mind. From employee apps to customer platforms, we deliver tools that drive real business results.





UX\UI Design For iOS Apps



Our UX/UI experts specialize in crafting intuitive, beautiful iOS interfaces that users love. We follow Apple’s design standards closely while adding our creative touch, ensuring every interaction feels smooth, natural, and genuinely enjoyable for your customers.





Testing and Quality Assurance



We conduct end-to-end testing and quality assurance for iOS apps to guarantee flawless performance. Our QA specialists test for bugs, performance bottlenecks, security vulnerabilities, and user experience gaps. Through manual and automated testing, we help you launch a stable, responsive, and secure app across the entire Apple device ecosystem. 



 






 

Industries That We Work With

 








 

Choose a Cooperation Model That Suits Your Needs





Staff Augmentation



Boost your existing team with our experienced iOS developers exactly when you need them. Staff augmentation offers flexibility, allowing you to scale your team quickly without long-term commitment while maintaining full control over project management and delivery.





Dedicated Team



Get a full, ready-to-go team of iOS experts working exclusively on your project. Our dedicated team model ensures deep involvement, strong collaboration, and full accountability. It’s a perfect choice for long-term projects or when you need a team fully aligned with your vision and goals.



 





 

Some Of Our iOS Projects 

 










Meek-A-Moo



SoftTeco developed a colorful, cross-platform educational game for children ages 4+, transforming the classic peek-a-boo concept into an interactive learning experience. Designed for iOS and Android, the app combines fun gameplay with educational value through two engaging modes.











BubCon



SoftTeco developed a secure iOS messenger (with widget and Apple Watch support) for BubCon, transforming their Android MVP into a full-featured corporate communication tool. The app enables professionals to collaborate safely with end-to-end encryption, GDPR compliance, and seamless group interactions.











Evoz



SoftTeco developed a high-performing cross-platform mobile application (compatible with iOS and Android) for the Evoz baby monitoring device. The app allows parents to monitor their baby’s well-being in real-time and respond quickly to any concerns.











Goal Station



SoftTeco developed a Flutter-based sports training app for iOS and Android. The app connects via Bluetooth to sensors on Rebounder platforms, analyzing hit force to track performance. Coaches can customize workouts and broadcast sessions to TVs while players receive real-time feedback.






 

1 / 4









 





 

Let’s turn your vision into a standout iOS application — hire dedicated iOS app developers who excel in quality, performance, and results!





Tell us about your project



 





 

How To Hire an iOS Developer From SoftTeco




01
Submit Your Request



Start by filling out our online form with your project details and specific requirements. It’s quick, easy, and sets the foundation for a successful collaboration.




02
Initial Consultation



Once we receive your request, we’ll schedule a consultation to dive deeper into your project needs, goals, and technical expectations. This helps us ensure the perfect match.




03
CV Review



After the consultation, we’ll handpick and share profiles of qualified candidates who best fit your requirements. Our rigorous screening process ensures that you only meet skilled, experienced professionals.




04
Interview With The Candidates



You’ll have the opportunity to interview shortlisted developers directly. Evaluate their technical expertise, communication skills, and cultural fit before making your final choice.




05
SLA Preparation



After you select the right candidate, we prepare a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that clearly defines the project scope, deliverables, timelines, and responsibilities for complete transparency.




06
Onboarding



With everything in place, we’ll guide you through a smooth onboarding process. Our team will facilitate the transition, ensuring your new iOS developer is fully equipped and ready to contribute to your project from day one.













 





 

Technologies We Use For iOS App Development







Programming languages






Swift



Objective-C








UI Development






SwiftUI



Combine



SpriteKit








Architectures






VIPER



MVP



MVVM



Clean Swift








Libraries






CoreData



Realm








Communication






VoIP



RTP



WebRTC



Sockets








Bluetooth & IoT






BLE








AR & ML






ARKit



MLKit








Graphics & Media






GPUImage



Metal



AVComposition








API Handling






RxSwift



Sockets




 





























































 

What our clients say



 









It was a pleasure working with SoftTeco, as they met all my expectations. Their developers demonstrated deep technical expertise during the app development. I was fully satisfied with the final result and I’m willing to hire them again.




Co-founder & CTO, Boutiq



Shai Ben-Tovim


 

 





 

Why Hire an iOS Developer From SoftTeco?





01



Expert iOS Developers



Our developers are seasoned professionals with extensive experience in building high-quality iOS applications. They are well-versed in Swift, Objective-C, and the latest development frameworks.





02



Transparency



We believe in open communication and complete transparency at every stage of development. You’ll always have clear insight into project progress, timelines, and challenges, helping you stay informed and confident in the results.





03



Personal Approach



We understand that every business is unique. That's why we take the time to understand your goals and requirements, delivering a product that aligns perfectly with your vision.





04



Agile Processes



Our developers follow an agile methodology, allowing for flexibility and adaptability throughout the project. This ensures that we can respond promptly to any changes or feedback, keeping your project on track.





05



Fast Delivery



We are committed to delivering projects on time without compromising quality. Our streamlined processes, expert project management, and proactive communication help us meet tight deadlines and keep your project moving forward efficiently.





06



Reliable Security



Protecting your data and your users is our top priority. We implement strong security measures across the entire development process, from secure coding practices to robust data protection strategies, ensuring your app is safe and compliant.



 





 


Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!



Calculate Team Cost




 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Healthcare IT Consulting Services

Healthcare IT Consulting Services





SoftTeco offers comprehensive healthcare IT consulting services to help you modernize workflows, secure patient data, and streamline patient care. With over 17 years of experience in the healthcare industry, we understand all key pain points and assist with the integration of IT solutions that are fully compliant with HIPAA and other regulations.



Request a consultation



 





 

SoftTeco’s Healthcare IT Consulting Services











 



 




01 / 08



Medical IT Consulting




SoftTeco conducts an initial analysis of your current processes and business needs to determine which areas most depend on IT. Based on the results, our specialists will help you plan an IT strategy that aligns with your organization’s goals, optimizes workflow, and supports high-quality patient care.






02 / 08



Healthcare Software Consulting




As a healthcare IT consulting firm, SoftTeco provides consulting services to help you determine which software solution best meets the needs of your healthcare facility. Our experts can assist you in selecting ready-made software or offer guidance on developing custom solutions. We support every step of your healthcare software development.






03 / 08



Modernization of Healthcare Software




We enhance legacy healthcare systems by refactoring outdated code, upgrading technologies, and improving system architecture. Our modernization services aim to boost performance, scalability, and usability while reducing maintenance costs and aligning systems with modern regulatory and technological standards.






04 / 08



Security & Regulatory Compliance Consulting




SoftTeco team conducts audits and risk assessments to ensure your IT systems meet key healthcare regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, and HITECH. We also set correction measures for discovered vulnerabilities to prevent cyber threats and help you keep your IT infrastructure secure.






05 / 08



Integration of Healthcare Solutions




We ensure seamless integration between EHRs, diagnostic tools, patient portals, and billing platforms. SoftTeco ensures data consistency, streamlines workflows, and improves interoperability to support coordinated care and data exchange.






06 / 08



Custom Healthcare Software Development




SoftTeco develops custom software solutions tailored to your organization’s needs. From EMRs, EHRs, and telemedicine apps to scheduling and analytics platforms, our solutions are built with compliance, scalability, and usability in mind to support both providers and patients.






07 / 08



Healthcare Data Analytics




We provide analytics services to help you unlock actionable insights from clinical, financial, and operational data. Our data analytics will help you implement BI tools and predictive models to support data-driven decisions, improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, and ensure compliance reporting is accurate and timely.






08 / 08



Cloud Migration & Integration Services




SoftTeco supports the secure and efficient migration of healthcare applications and data to HIPAA-compliant clouds. Our team will help you select a reliable cloud provider, plan migration, and ensure minimal disruptions during the process. Maintain compliance while cutting expenses with scalable cloud resources. 



 





 

Let’s Discuss Your Project



Take the next step toward enhanced performance and compliance with SoftTeco's healthcare IT consulting services. We deliver tailored, secure, and fully compliant solutions designed to optimize your unique workflows and achieve your strategic goals.



Contact us



 





 

Healthcare Technology Solutions That We Offer



With our years of expertise in healthcare software consulting, we provide robust technology solutions that cater to diverse industry needs. That includes:





Healthcare Mobile Applications



Empower your patients with user-friendly mobile apps that enable easy access to health information, appointment bookings, and medication reminders.





Telemedicine Software



Break boundaries with our secure telemedicine solutions that allow healthcare providers to connect with patients anywhere, anytime.





EMR\EHR Systems



Our Electronic Medical Record and Electronic Health Record systems simplify patient data management, ensuring seamless information flow between providers.





Remote Patient Monitoring



Keep a close watch on your patients with our remote monitoring tools. Track vital signs and health metrics in real-time, ensuring timely interventions and personalized care plans that improve patient outcomes.





Internet of Medical Things



Integrate cutting-edge IoMT devices to gather actionable health data, enhance diagnostics, and facilitate better patient management.





Management Software for Pharmacy



Streamline your pharmacy operations with our specialized software. Manage prescriptions, inventory, and patient information effortlessly, ensuring safe and timely medication delivery.





Laboratory Information Systems



Minimize turnaround times and enhance communication between labs and healthcare providers with our information systems.





Patient Engagement Platforms



Cultivate stronger relationships with your patients through our engagement platforms. From educational resources to feedback systems, keep your patients informed and involved in their health journey.





Image Analysis Software



Enhance diagnostic accuracy with our advanced image analysis tools. Leverage AI-driven insights to interpret medical imaging results swiftly and accurately.





E-Prescribing Software



Transform the prescription process with our e-prescribing solutions. Reduce errors, improve medication adherence, and enhance communication between providers and pharmacies.







Healthcare Mobile Applications



Empower your patients with user-friendly mobile apps that enable easy access to health information, appointment bookings, and medication reminders.





Telemedicine Software



Break boundaries with our secure telemedicine solutions that allow healthcare providers to connect with patients anywhere, anytime.





EMR\EHR Systems



Our Electronic Medical Record and Electronic Health Record systems simplify patient data management, ensuring seamless information flow between providers.





Remote Patient Monitoring



Keep a close watch on your patients with our remote monitoring tools. Track vital signs and health metrics in real-time, ensuring timely interventions and personalized care plans that improve patient outcomes.





Internet of Medical Things



Integrate cutting-edge IoMT devices to gather actionable health data, enhance diagnostics, and facilitate better patient management. 





Management Software for Pharmacy



Streamline your pharmacy operations with our specialized software. Manage prescriptions, inventory, and patient information effortlessly, ensuring safe and timely medication delivery.





Laboratory Information Systems



Minimize turnaround times and enhance communication between labs and healthcare providers with our information systems.





Patient Engagement Platforms



Cultivate stronger relationships with your patients through our engagement platforms. From educational resources to feedback systems, keep your patients informed and involved in their health journey.





Image Analysis Software



Enhance diagnostic accuracy with our advanced image analysis tools. Leverage AI-driven insights to interpret medical imaging results swiftly and accurately.





E-Prescribing Software



Transform the prescription process with our e-prescribing solutions. Reduce errors, improve medication adherence, and enhance communication between providers and pharmacies.



 





 

IT Consulting For Healthcare Step-By-Step

 



 



Discovery and Analysis





Strategy Development





Implementation





Compliance & QA Testing





Ongoing Support & Optimization



 



 



Discovery and Analysis



We begin with a thorough analysis of your current IT systems and processes. Understanding your specific challenges will allow us to identify opportunities for improvement.





Strategy Development



Next, we develop a customized IT strategy that aligns with your goals. Whether it’s implementing an EMR system or optimizing cybersecurity measures, we have the expertise to create a roadmap for success.





Implementation



Our dedicated team will guide you through the implementation process, ensuring a smooth transition. We provide training for your staff, empowering them to use new technologies effectively.





Compliance & QA Testing



SoftTeco ensures that your IT systems meet all regulatory requirements. We conduct thorough QA testing to identify and address any potential issues before they impact patient care.





Ongoing Support & Optimization



SoftTeco offers ongoing support and optimization services to ensure that your IT systems continue to serve you effectively, adapting to your evolving needs.



 






 

Smart Mirror





SoftTeco developed a mobile application to help dentists manage and adjust the lighting of a smart mirror dental device via Wi-Fi while also transmitting real-time video of the treatment process. The app stores data and allows doctors to share photos and videos of the treatment process with patients. Users can connect to the app via a QR code and switch to another mirror if necessary.

 



 

Aniware Clinic





During our long-term collaboration with the client, SoftTeco enhanced and modernized a CRM platform for veterinary clinics. We used PostgreSQL to re-architect the system into a monolithic architecture, helping reduce operational costs. Additionally, we broaden the app's functionality to help optimize veterinary clinics' work. This included a scheduling system with FullCalendar2, SMS appointment reminders, and integration with diagnostic labs for in-system test ordering and results. To improve accessibility and global reach, we also localized the CRM into 12 languages. SoftTeco continues to provide ongoing support, maintenance, and updates upon request.

 
















 

Clients Who Can Benefit From Our Expertise In Medical IT Consulting





Hospitals & Health Systems



Streamline operations, enhance patient care, and improve overall efficiency.





Public Health Organizations



Utilize data-driven insights to promote community health and respond to public health challenges.





Mental Health Providers



Implement secure, user-friendly platforms for better patient engagement and care delivery.





Healthcare Software Product Companies



Collaborate with us to optimize your software solutions and ensure compliance with regulations.





Veterinary Practices



Enhance patient management systems and improve client communication.





Pharmaceutical Manufacturers



Leverage technology for efficient data management and regulatory compliance.





Long-Term & Post-Acute Care Providers



Integrate innovative solutions for better patient outcomes and operational efficiency.





Health Tech Startups



Transform your vision into reality with our expert guidance and technology expertise.





Laboratories, Diagnostics & Research Facilities



Optimize workflows and enhance data management for better research outcomes.





Medical Device Manufacturers



Ensure your products meet industry standards and integrate seamlessly into healthcare systems.





Healthcare Payers & Insurance Companies



Improve claims processing and customer service with advanced IT solutions.





Fitness & Wellbeing Firms



Promote health and wellness with integrated technology solutions designed for modern lifestyles.



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Software Maintenance Company





01



Rich Expertise In Healthcare IT



With more than 17 years of experience and numerous projects in the healthcare domain, we are well acquainted with the intricacies of the industry. SoftTeco delivers high-performing, customized solutions that align with both our clients’ goals and the strict standards of the healthcare sector.





02



Compliance Without Compromise



The healthcare industry is highly regulated, and organizations face challenges in maintaining compliance with evolving standards. At SoftTeco, we help businesses meet the demands of regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, and HITECH, while keeping IT systems agile and innovative.





03



Cost-Efficient Solutions



Through our healthcare software consulting, we help businesses streamline operations and eliminate inefficiencies to reduce costs. Our consultants guide you in selecting reliable open-source technologies and optimizing data storage to support scalability and performance.





04



Flexibility



SoftTeco offers optimal pricing and engagement models so you can choose the one that best suits your budget and requirements. Whether you need a short-term consultation or a long-term partnership, we ensure the quality of our services remains high, regardless of the scale.





05



High Level Of Security



SoftTeco is an ISO 27001-certified company, so we always place your data security first. We follow strict security guidelines and conduct audits to ensure that your medical software and IT infrastructure have the necessary security measures in place.





06



End-To-End Services



As an experienced healthcare IT consulting company, SoftTeco offers a full cycle of services, ready to assist you with everything from initial planning and strategy to custom software development, deployment, and ongoing support.





07



Strong Technical Expertise



Over the years, SoftTeco has built a team of talented professionals who are well-versed in advanced technologies. We stay up-to-date with the latest tech advancements and emerging trends, delivering innovative solutions that keep your product future-proof.





08



Transparency In Every Step



We deeply value the trust that we’ve built with our clients and partners over the years. Therefore, we keep maximum transparency in our processes and communications so you’re always updated on what’s happening with your project.



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									Working with SoftTeco was an enjoyable experience as we had zero communication issues and everything was delivered right on time and exactly as I envisioned.
								
								
									
										Co-Founder and CTO, Visionary.ai
									
									
										Yoav Taieb
									
								
							
						
					

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Robotic Process Automation Services

Robotic Process Automation Services





Add efficiency and speed to your processes and automate repetitive tasks with SoftTeco’s robotic process automation services. We design sophisticated and powerful robotic process automation solutions for any industry, helping you cut down costs while increasing efficiency.



Get a custom quote



 





 

What Is Robotic Process Automation? 



Robotic process automation is the deployment of automation technologies (bots) to perform repetitive tasks instead of human workers. Examples of such tasks include data extraction and analysis, customer service, order processing, payroll processing, etc. RPA is also widely used in manufacturing, when robots are responsible for specific parts of the packaging or quality control processes. Note that RPA can also be powered by Artificial Intelligence, resulting in the development of smart robots that are capable of learning.According to the Flobotics report, the value of the global RPA market in 2024 was $22.79 billion and the expected growth for 2025 is forecasted to be at a CAGR of 43.9% from 2025 to 2030. These numbers clearly indicate that RPA is widely popular - and here are the core reasons why:





Increased productivity: robots can perform tasks faster and in a more accurate manner than humans

Improved compliance: automation of security and quality control leads to improved compliance

Reduced costs: minimization of manual labor for mundane tasks can help significantly cut down operating costs

 





 

Ready to boost your operations through automation and speed? Contact SoftTeco.





Discuss my project



 





 

SoftTeco’s Robotic Process Automation Services



Discover an array of RPA services that our robotic process automation services company provides:





RPA Consulting 



SoftTeco offers RPA consulting services aimed at assessing your current infrastructure and identifying areas that can be improved with the RPA implementation. We will also create a detailed implementation plan with core milestones and will suggest the most suitable tech stack and development methodology.

















RPA Implementation



Our experts will prepare and set up an infrastructure for RPA implementation and will ensure that the selected solution interacts seamlessly with your existing system. We will also monitor the performance of your bot and will eliminate any detected bugs or glitches while improving its scalability and security.

















AI Automation



If you need a more advanced and powerful bot, SoftTeco is here to help. We design intelligent AI-based bots that can not only process massive amounts of data but learn on the go and provide useful recommendations. AI-enhanced models can perform more complex tasks, including computer vision or processing of unstructured data.

















Maintenance & Support



SoftTeco provides maintenance and support services to manage and monitor your RPA solution after its launch and ensure its seamless operation. Our specialists will not only eliminate detected issues but will also help improve the bot for future scaling, thus supporting the growth of your business.













 









 

Industry-Specific Robotic Process Automation Solutions













01 / 06



Banking & Finance




RPA brings clarity and speed to banking operations, improving customer satisfaction and facilitating the performance of repetitive yet important tasks.




Fraud detection



Automated processing of payrolls



Faster processing of customer queries



Accurate data entry and processing







02 / 06



Customer Service




Enable 24/7 customer service via the implementation of smart chatbots and help your clients access needed information and operations faster.




Decreased time to resolution



Improved customer satisfaction



More accurate query processing



Personalized recommendations







03 / 06



HR Automation




RPA serves as a valuable assistant to HR professionals, helping them scan through CVs in a faster and more efficient manner and speed up the onboarding process.




Faster CV scanning



Improved employee onboarding



Automated calculation of salaries, vacations, etc.



Faster talent acquisition







04 / 06



Manufacturing




Let intelligent robots handle monotonous or dangerous tasks and create a safer and more efficient working environment for your employees.




Decreased manual labor costs



Streamlined supply chain management



Improved warehouse management



Increased accuracy and productivity







05 / 06



Security & Compliance




Facilitate compliance with all required regulations through automated check-ups and intelligent disaster recovery and ensure that the processed data is always safe.




Automation of KYC and AML procedures



Secure data backups



Automated compliance checks



Improved data security and integrity







06 / 06



Sales




Elevate your sales through advanced personalization and streamline the whole customer experience process from the starting point to the conversion.




Automation of data entry



Faster query processing



Personalized recommendations



Minimized number of errors





 





 

Business Benefits of RPA Implementation





Increased Operational Efficiency



Across any industry, the use of RPA significantly increases the operational efficiency because robots do not require breaks, can work 24/7, and are immune to human error. That being said, the introduction of robots in your working environment can greatly boost productivity while also allowing human employees to focus on more critical tasks.





Minimized Errors



Robots are not capable of making an error simply because they are programmed to do specific tasks. Their use in any working environment instantly increases the accuracy of results, thus leading to better user experience and smoother workflows. One more important thing is that minimized errors equal higher quality and as a result, higher revenue.





Increased ROI



You may not suspect how many expenses go into maintenance, elimination of errors, or manual labor. With RPA, you will be able to significantly minimize current expenses, thus freeing resources for better allocation. Add to that enhanced productivity and you will observe an increase in ROI in no time.





Enhanced Security



RPA not only automates certain tasks but can also perform secure data extraction and processing, leaving zero room for malicious attacks. This and automated compliance checks tick the box when it comes to maintaining security standards and compliance with all requested regulations.



 





 

Our RPA Implementation Process



Learn how SoftTeco brings your RPA project to life, starting from the idea to deploy:

 




 

01



Strategy & Analysis



We start by collecting and analyzing your project requirements and assessing your current processes. The main goal of this stage is to identify how exactly an RPA solution can benefit your business and how it should be integrated in your existing systems.





02



Design & Implementation



The next stage is the creation of the solution blueprint and technical documentation and further implementation of the robot in your workflow. Throughout the process, our team will monitor and test its performance to ensure it operates as expected.





03



Optimization



If you feel like your robot is underperforming or lacks certain features, our team can help. We will review the bot’s operation, identify flaws if they exist or will simply adjust its functionality so it better aligns with your business goals.

 



 

04



Maintenance & Support



Once the bot is deployed, our work is not over. Being a reliable RPA services provider, SoftTeco offers maintenance and support services aimed at monitoring of the bot’s performance, debugging and elimination of errors, and improvement of bot’s work if needed. We also provide employee training upon request.

 





 

01



Strategy & Analysis



We start by collecting and analyzing your project requirements and assessing your current processes. The main goal of this stage is to identify how exactly an RPA solution can benefit your business and how it should be integrated in your existing systems.





02



Design & Implementation



The next stage is the creation of the solution blueprint and technical documentation and further implementation of the robot in your workflow. Throughout the process, our team will monitor and test its performance to ensure it operates as expected.

 



 

03



Optimization



If you feel like your robot is underperforming or lacks certain features, our team can help. We will review the bot’s operation, identify flaws if they exist or will simply adjust its functionality so it better aligns with your business goals.





04



Maintenance & Support



Once the bot is deployed, our work is not over. Being a reliable RPA services provider, SoftTeco offers maintenance and support services aimed at monitoring of the bot’s performance, debugging and elimination of errors, and improvement of bot’s work if needed. We also provide employee training upon request.

 










 

Why Choose SoftTeco for Robotic Process Automation Services?



With a proven track record of successful RPA projects, we birng innovation and clarity to business across any industry. Learn why companies across the world choose SoftTeco as their trusted RPA partner:

 



 



Individual Approach




We believe that each project is unique and hence, we design a tailored development strategy for every RPA service and every client. Starting from requirements gathering and analysis to solution deployment, we ensure that every decision aligns with your business goals.














Solid RPA Expertise




SoftTeco’s team is comprised of experienced data scientists, ML engineers, and software developers, thus forming a highly skilled RPA hub. From implementing basic bots to designing sophisticated AI-powered solutions, our portfolio features projects of various complexity levels.














Variety of Services




Whether you need RPA consulting or full-cycle robotic process automation services, our team can help. We offer a range of RPA services to fit any budget and business need without compromising the quality of delivered results.














Use of Advanced Technologies




At SoftTeco, we always focus on innovation and aim to use the latest technologies that fuel growth. Hence when partnering with us, you can rest assured that your RPA project uses the most suitable tech stack, comprised of advanced tools.














01 / 06











 





 

Our Projects







View all cases

 



 







Formic



All-round support for a complex Robots-as-a-Service system




  




Web













C2 SmartLight



A system for managing smart outdoor lighting solutions




  




Web



 






 

Learn more about AI

 




 

What we do

 



 


AI Development



AI Consulting



Generative AI Development







Machine Learning Consulting



Machine Learning Development



Data Science Consulting







Computer Vision Development



Robotic Process Automation


 



 

What we think

 



 


AI in FinTech



AI in Banking



AI Fraud Detection in Banking



AI for Credit Scoring



AI in Manufacturing



AI in Sports



Conversational AI



Agentic AI



AI for HR Processes







ML in Healthcare



ML in Logistics and Supply Chain



ML in Agriculture



ML Trends



GitHub Copilot Alternatives



GPT vs. BERT







What is Computer Vision?



Optical Character Recognition (OCR)



Image Recognition Technology



Automatic Speech Recognition



Data Labeling



Digital Twinning


 



 

 




 

+ Show more

 






 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Salesforce Development Services

Salesforce Development Services





Extend the capabilities of your Salesforce solution and amplify its functionality with SoftTeco - a recognized Salesforce development company. We bring innovation, expertise, and focus to every project, securing the success of your business.



Get a custom quote



 





 




17




  





Years of experience






450




  





Projects






300




  





Customers globally






500




  





Employees



 





 

SoftTeco’s Salesforce Application Development Services



SoftTeco provides a wide range of Salesforce CRM development services for businesses across various stages of Salesforce maturity. Whether you need CRM migration or want to fine-tune your existing solution, our team is ready to help. Discover our Salesforce professional services:





Custom Salesforce Development



Every business has unique requirements, and our team can help you adjust your solution to your current needs for maximum efficiency. With solid knowledge of Apex and rich experience in Salesforce products, we deliver highly customized and powerful solutions. Examples of customization include the development of custom objects and fields as well as custom workflows and user interfaces.





Salesforce App Development



Extend the out-of-box functionality of your product with SoftTeco’s Salesforce application development services. We create custom apps that complement your existing solution and help you enhance your online presence, better manage your data and internal operations, and centralize all workflows in a unified and perfectly orchestrated hub.





AppExchange Development



SoftTeco helps design high-performing web and mobile apps for the Salesforce AppExchange marketplace to help businesses generate additional and consistent revenue. From planning to marketplace launch, we will help you with every step of the app development process and will ensure that it corresponds to quality and security standards set by Salesforce.





Salesforce Integration



Connect all your systems in use to create a unified and secure digital environment and make Salesforce its integral part with our integration services. We will propose the most suitable connectivity method, including custom API development, to ensure that your data is secured during the exchange.





Lightning Component Development



Accelerate the performance and look of your with custom Lightning development from SoftTeco. By leveraging pre-built elements that Lightning framework offers, we create custom components and help businesses make the most of their apps. This is possible due to the extensive experience in Apex and SOQL that our developers bring to every Salesforce project.





Migration



Planning to migrate your business operations to Salesforce but not sure where to start? We will help you outline a detailed migration plan that will include the analysis of your current CRM, definition and listing of needed integrations, and the selection of the most suitable Salesforce solution for your exact business.



 





 

Get the most of your Salesforce Cloud with SoftTeco - a certified Salesforce partner and a recognized software provider since 2008.





Discuss my project



 





 

Our Salesforce Expertise





Discover the range of products that we work with:





Sales Cloud

Service Cloud

Commerce Cloud

Marketing Cloud

Community Cloud

Health Cloud

Experience Cloud

Nonprofit Cloud

 





 

SoftTeco’s Salesforce Development Process



SoftTeco proposes a test and tried framework for our Salesforce development services that can be adjusted according to your specific project requirements. Learn more about its core phases:

 




 

01



Analysis & requirements collection



To offer you a suitable solution, we first need to understand your current business challenges, roadblocks, and opportunities. For that, we conduct interviews where, together with SoftTeco’s business analysts and project managers, discuss how your goals can be achieved and what resources will be needed.





02



Planning & Design



The next step is planning the development roadmap and creating the solution’s design. Based on the defined project requirements, we will list down core milestones and a reasonable timeline for each. We will also plan our work on the design of your solution, taking into consideration the smallest aspects, including UI customization (upon the request).





03



Development



Depending on the defined requirements for the project, the development phase may include the development of web and mobile applications, apps for the AppExchange marketplace, or customization. During this stage, we also carry out all needed integrations and ensure that all connected systems work in a seamless and secure manner.

 



 

04



Deployment



Before rolling out the ready product, our team performs extensive testing to ensure there are no bugs or malfunctions. We also perform CRM data migration and closely monitor the performance of the product to timely detect any issues and fix them before they cause damage, like unauthorized access or data leaks.





05



Support



SoftTeco provides support and maintenance services aimed at ensuring robust performance of your Salesforce solution. These services include the implementation of improvements, debugging, and employee training upon the request. In this way, we help ensure smooth product functioning and its further consistent enhancement.





 





 

01



Analysis & requirements collection



To offer you a suitable solution, we first need to understand your current business challenges, roadblocks, and opportunities. For that, we conduct interviews where, together with SoftTeco’s business analysts and project managers, discuss how your goals can be achieved and what resources will be needed.





02



Planning & Design



The next step is planning the development roadmap and creating the solution’s design. Based on the defined project requirements, we will list down core milestones and a reasonable timeline for each. We will also plan our work on the design of your solution, taking into consideration the smallest aspects, including UI customization (upon the request).

 



 

03



Development



Depending on the defined requirements for the project, the development phase may include the development of web and mobile applications, apps for the AppExchange marketplace, or customization. During this stage, we also carry out all needed integrations and ensure that all connected systems work in a seamless and secure manner.





04



Deployment



Before rolling out the ready product, our team performs extensive testing to ensure there are no bugs or malfunctions. We also perform CRM data migration and closely monitor the performance of the product to timely detect any issues and fix them before they cause damage, like unauthorized access or data leaks.

 



 

05



Support



SoftTeco provides support and maintenance services aimed at ensuring robust performance of your Salesforce solution. These services include the implementation of improvements, debugging, and employee training upon the request. In this way, we help ensure smooth product functioning and its further consistent enhancement.

 










 

Tech stack

 







 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Salesforce Development Company?



SoftTeco is a certified Salesforce partner and an international software development provider for over 16 years. Learn what makes us the number one choice for industry leaders across industries:





Salesforce Expertise



Our company has extensive experience in customizing, deploying, and integrating various Salesforce products, thus assisting companies in their digital transformation journey. And being a Salesforcer Consulting Partner, we possess strong knowledge of the Salesforce ecosystem and understand how to use it to serve our clients in the most effective manner.





Quaity and security  compliance



SoftTeco is an ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified company that follows industry-set standards for quality management and security. Our clients can therefore rest assured that we at SoftTeco understand the importance of maintaining your data safe and secure and use reliable frameworks to guarantee the highest quality of our software solutions.





Focus on the client



SoftTeco values individual approach so for every client we offer a highly personalized solution that will bring them the maximum benefit. We try avoiding standardized approaches as we always strive for innovation and believe that the primary focus should always be on the client and their business.





Transparency and efficiency



Our clients can access information about the project and monitor its progress anytime as we set up various communication and reporting methods beforehand. Whatever your timezone is, we will adjust our meetings and reporting so you can always make an inquiry, contact the team representative, and know the current status of the project.



 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Formic



All-round support for a complex Robots-as-a-Service system




  




iOS



Android



Web













Artlist



An all-in-one platform for video creators




  




Web



 





 

Frequently Asked Questions



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Salesforce Customization Services

Salesforce Customization Services





Salesforce customization helps businesses grow their sales and productivity through advanced tailoring of Salesforce products to specific business needs. Tap into SoftTeco’s Salesforce customization services and make your business smarter, faster, and data-driven.



Request a quote



 





 




17




  





Years of experience






450




  





Projects






300




  





Customers globally






500




  





Employees



 






Salesforce Configuration vs Customization



Both Salesforce configuration and customization are aimed at tailoring the CRM to the particular requirements of one’s business. To select the most suitable option, it is important to understand the core differences between these two approaches.



 

Salesforce customization is a more specific approach to adjusting out-of-box functionality and includes changes to the initial code. The main goal is to add business-specific features to the selected Salesforce solution by modifying the default functionality. Examples of a Salesforce customization service include creation of custom fields, implementation of custom UI components, and creation of templates.                      





Development of custom code to add new functionality, integrations, and business logic to the Salesforce solution

High due to custom code development

Creation of custom objects and fields, addition of workflows, creation and implementation of custom UI components, integration of third-party solutions

Requires experienced Salesforce developers

Suitable for businesses with highly specific requirements





Salesforce configuration means changing existing functionality without changing the code. In other words, you select the needed functionality and adjust it within the scope, offered by Salesforce. Examples of Salesforce configuration services include setting up workflows, creating reports, or configuring objects and fields.





Modernization of existing functionality without changing the code and through available settings

Moderate level of modification limited to capabilities allowed by Salesforce

Creation of reports, configuration of available objects and fields, setup of workflow rules, interface configuration and setup

Requires Salesforce consultants or administrators

Suitable for moderate changes in default functionality

 






 

SoftTeco’s Salesforce Customization Services



We propose a variety of Salesforce customization options, making sure that the proposed solution aligns with your business goals and with your established processes and resources:





Creation of custom objects and fields



If your business requires management and storage of specific information (i.e., industry-specific data), our team can create custom objects with custom fields to conveniently store, manage, and track this data.





Workflow automation



Boost your employees’ productivity via automation of daily and mundane tasks like data entry. We use Apex triggers to automate custom actions and add new rules to existing workflows, thus streamlining them across the departments.





Bulk data processing



Process massive data sets at once via the custom bulk data processing feature and benefit from automated and regular data updates. We will set up automated processing of the required data so you always get the most recent insights for data-driven decisions.





Custom email templates



For improved and personalized communication between your employees and the clients SoftTeco offers design and development of custom email templates. Manage attachments and style sheets exactly how you need in an easier and faster manner.





Custom UI components



We help customize the user interface of your Salesforce solution to enhance its navigation, appeal, and usability and to match it precisely to your brand voice. For that, our team utilizes Lightning Components and Visualforce Pages alongside other tools.





Integration with other systems



Extend the capabilities of your Salesforce CRM via secure integrations with needed third-party systems. SoftTeco will select the most suitable integration approach and will ensure secure exchange of the data.





Reports & dashboards 



Pinpoint valuable insights from the collected data via custom reports and dashboards and gain better understanding of specific figures for different departments. Our custom reports offer an array of data visualization options and contribute to more accurate decision making.







Creation of custom objects and fields



If your business requires management and storage of specific information (i.e., industry-specific data), our team can create custom objects with custom fields to conveniently store, manage, and track this data.





Workflow automation



Boost your employees’ productivity via automation of daily and mundane tasks like data entry. We use Apex triggers to automate custom actions and add new rules to existing workflows, thus streamlining them across the departments.





Bulk data processing



Process massive data sets at once via the custom bulk data processing feature and benefit from automated and regular data updates. We will set up automated processing of the required data so you always get the most recent insights for data-driven decisions.





Custom email templates



For improved and personalized communication between your employees and the clients SoftTeco offers design and development of custom email templates. Manage attachments and style sheets exactly how you need in an easier and faster manner.





Custom UI components



We help customize the user interface of your Salesforce solution to enhance its navigation, appeal, and usability and to match it precisely to your brand voice. For that, our team utilizes Lightning Components and Visualforce Pages alongside other tools.





Integration with other systems



Extend the capabilities of your Salesforce CRM via secure integrations with needed third-party systems. SoftTeco will select the most suitable integration approach and will ensure secure exchange of the data.





Reports & dashboards 



Pinpoint valuable insights from the collected data via custom reports and dashboards and gain better understanding of specific figures for different departments. Our custom reports offer an array of data visualization options and contribute to more accurate decision making.



 





 

Need a reliable Salesforce consulting and development partner to customize your CRM? With over 16 years of experience, SoftTeco assists businesses across the globe with their Saleforce customization and configuration needs.





Discuss my project



 





 

Salesforce Clouds That SoftTeco Can Customize





Being a certified Salesforce partner, SoftTeco offers customization for various Clouds:





Sales Cloud

Service Cloud

Marketing Cloud

Community Cloud

B2C Commerce

Salesforce CPQ

Automotive Cloud

 





 

Benefits of Salesforce Customization by SoftTeco



Though Salesforce offers rich functionality out of the box, some of the features can be improved even further to bring the maximum value to your specific business. Here are the core benefits of Salesforce customization:

 



 



Increased ROI & Revenue




Customized Salesforce ERP can significantly increase your revenue and ROI due to more organized and automated workflows and thoroughly fine-tuned functionality. By eliminating the existing roadblocks, improving communication with customers, and plugging in all needed integrations, you will greatly facilitate the work of your employees and, as a result, generate more sales.














Increased Productivity




Free your employees from mundane tasks and improve communication between the departments through customization of your product. By introducing organized and custom workflows and adjusting the default functionality to the specifics of your business, you equip your employees with powerful and data-driven tools to deliver expected results faster.














Improved User Experience




Offer superior user experience to your employees through clear navigation, custom UI components, and configured workflows. By  customizing the default CRM to the exact needs of your business, you equip your team with powerful and intuitive tools that do not require technical expertise or extensive training.














Data-Driven Business Development




Transform your Salesforce CRM into a unified and well-organized ecosystem with seamless and secure data flow and gain better insights into your operations and customer behavior. By adjusting out of the box functionality to your requirements, you will be able to better manage and store the data, using it as a base for strategic decision making.














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Hire a Salesforce Customization Consultant



Not sure what Salesforce customization services you need or what Salesforce Cloud will work best for your business? SoftTeco’s Salesforce consultants will gladly help you make the right decision through careful analysis of your business and project requirements.Contact us to request a custom quote or simply learn more about Salesforce and our services!



Get in touch



 





 

SoftTeco’s Approach to Salesforce Customization



The quality of our software solutions lies in a thought-out and organized approach to the development process. Discover the main steps that we follow when delivering high-grade Salesforce customization services:

 



 

Collection & Analysis of RequirementsDesign & DevelopmentIntegrations & Migration of DataTestingDeployment & Post-Launch Support

 

Collection & Analysis of Requirements



The first step towards a successful project is thorough understanding of its specifics and main requirements. SoftTeco’s business analysts will discuss your business needs and current bottlenecks and will propose the best solution to help achieve set goals.




Discussion of budget and schedule



Definition of needed functionality



Tech stack selection


 





 

Design & Development



After agreeing on the desired functionality, our team starts architecture and user interface design and functionality development. We perform continuous testing during the process and make sure to follow secure coding practices to maintain high quality of the solution.




Development of custom UI components



Implementation of complex business logic



Development of custom functionality


 





 

Integrations & Migration of Data 



To ensure seamless functioning and interaction of all systems in use, we implement integrations through secure API development. We will also securely migrate your data to the Salesforce cloud without disrupting the operation of your business.




Implementation of requested integrations



Development of custom APIs



Safe data migration 


 





 

Testing



We perform 360-degree testing to ensure secure and seamless functioning of your solution and to prevent potential roadblocks and issues. By implementing continuous testing in the development process, we minimize the number of errors before the product is launched.




Manual and automated testing methods



Wide testing scope



Timely resolution of detected bugs


 





 

Deployment & Post-Launch Support



Once your project is deployed, our work does not stop there. Our Salesforce customization company provides support and maintenance services aimed at ensuring that everything works as intended and at timely issue resolution. We also provide employee training upon the request.

 



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Salesforce Customization Company? 



Being in the IT industry since 2008, SoftTeco is now an internationally recognized and trusted software development company and a certified Salesforce partner. Learn more about what makes us different:





Extensive Experience



With a track record of successful Salesforce projects, SoftTeco offers its extensive experience to clients across the industries. We have worked with various Salesforce Clouds and provided customization, configuration, and integration services to both small and large businesses.





Industry Knowledge



SoftTeco delivers top-tier software services to clients from healthcare, fintech, logistics, manufacturing, advertising, and other industries. We therefore understand the specifics of every industry and can propose the most suitable solution for your exact business.





Vast Talent Pool



SoftTeco’s Team includes over 500 talented professionals that can bring tangible value to your project. Whether you need a tech-savvy developer, a QA engineer, or a Salesforce customization consultant, we will gladly assemble a perfect team.





24/7 Support



Our team provides 24/7 support for our clients and helps with post-launch maintenance and timely issue resolution. We believe that the project does not end after the release and offer our assistance in every aspect that you might need.



 






 

Industries We Serve

 








 

Featured Projects







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Formic



All-round support for a complex Robots-as-a-Service system




  




iOS



Android



Web













MomenZ



A personal assistant in finding nearby restaurants with discounts




  




iOS



Android



Web



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Salesforce Implementation Services

Salesforce Implementation Services





Being a Salesforce certified partner, SoftTeco helps businesses leverage the full potential of Salesforce CRM through a professional package of solutions. Our Salesforce implementation services will help you ensure a seamless CRM transition, optimizing your marketing, sales and service operations.



Request a consultation



 





 




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Years of experience






450




  





Projects






300




  





Customers globally






500




  





Employees



 






 

Our Salesforce Implementation Services











 



 




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Consultation & Strategy




Whether you’re adopting Salesforce for the first time or optimizing an existing setup, we will help you with everything. Our Salesforce consultants will analyze your business needs and create a detailed roadmap to help you get the most of your Salesforce investment. 






02 / 07



Implementation




Our Salesforce implementation consultants will help you plan a smooth Salesforce rollout. From initial planning and full deployment to ongoing support, we’ll help you at every stage of Salesforce implementation to bring the most value to your business. 






03 / 07



Customization




To maximize Salesforce’s efficiency, our experts tailor the platform to fit your actual business needs. Our specialists customize objects, fields, workflows, and automation to perfectly align them with your processes, thus ensuring seamless operations. 






04 / 07



Integration




We will help you seamlessly integrate your Salesforce platform with needed thirty-party systems, like ERP, accounting, and ecommerce platforms. By connecting all your systems in one platform, you’ll get smooth data flow, automated workflows and deeper customer insights. 






05 / 07



Data Migration




We will migrate your data from legacy systems to Salesforce, ensuring a hassle-free transition. Our experts will handle the entire process, from data extraction to validation, ensuring data integrity, security and compliance to keep your business running smoothly. 






06 / 07



User Training




We provide teams with hands-on training, documentation, and ongoing support to simplify Salesforce adoption. Our tailored sessions cover everything from navigation to advanced features, ensuring your users gain the skills they need to drive productivity. 






07 / 07



After-Launch Support




After launching your Salesforce solution, we offer continuous support to ensure its uninterrupted performance. Our experts handle consistent system monitoring, troubleshooting, and enhancements to ensure well Salesforce functioning over time.



 






 

Unlock the full potential of our expert Salesforce B2B implementation services. We’ll help you empower your business with a scalable, high-performance CRM, providing ongoing support and strategic guidance at every stage.





Contact us



 





 

Salesforce Products That We Implement



At SoftTeco, we implement a range of Salesforce products to help businesses leverage its power - whether it’s optimizing operations or enhancing customer relationships. Here are the core Salesforce products that our developers implement for the clients:





Sales Cloud



Sales Cloud is a full-fledged platform for everyone in sales (sales managers, reps, presales specialists) that helps optimize sales operations. It provides tools for lead management, 360-degree view of customers, automation, and AI. It also helps our clients find new customers, and close the deals as fast as possible.





Service Cloud



Service Cloud is a powerful platform built to provide timely, more personalized customer support across multiple channels. It comes with features, like case and field service management, automation, Einstein AI and self-service options. By setting it up, our client has improved customer retention and increased productivity by fast service reply.





Marketing Cloud



Marketing Cloud is a platform for marketing and sales teams built to automate, personalize, and optimize marketing campaigns across many channels. It provides tools for email marketing, social media management, customer data, and AI. With it, you can engage customers at the right time, on the right channel, with the right message - increasing conversion and ROI.





Analytics Cloud



Analytics Cloud is a business intelligence (BI) and analytics platform designed to analyze huge amounts of data. It offers interactive dashboards, AI-powered analytics, and predictive modeling - all to turn raw data into actionable insights for current and future decisions. With it, our clients can proactively strategize and, when changes occur, adjust on its feet.





B2B Commerce



Salesforce B2B Commerce is a powerful platform built for (B2B) transactions. It is used for creating self-service online storefronts where businesses can buy in bulk, manage accounts, and automate purchasing processes. By integrating with Salesforce CRM, it helps sales and service teams to track and manage orders efficiently.





Einstein Cloud



Einstein cloud is an integrated set of AI tools both predictive and generative. From sales and marketing to service and support, Einstein enables data-driven decision-making for everything. It helps clients generate actionable insights, streamline operations, and personalize customer interactions within the Salesforce platform.





Experience Cloud



Experience Cloud is a platform that helps businesses securely share data and communicate with teams, customers, and partners. You can use it to build mobile apps, portals, and communities - all to manage customer interactions across different channels. It blends CRM, CMS, and pre-built apps, giving you the tools to create custom solutions for various needs.





CPQ Salesforce



Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) Salesforce is a tool that helps sales agents automate the pricing, configuration, and quoting of their products and services. It offers features such as automated pricing, quote generation, and integration with CRM & Billing, etc. By using it, businesses can streamline the sales process and accelerate deal cycles.





Nonprofit Cloud



Nonprofit Cloud is a suite of tools and applications built for nonprofit organizations to manage operations (fundraising, grantmaking), engage with donors, and measure their impact. By integrating with various Salesforce apps and third-party tools, it enables organizations to streamline operations and maximize their social impact.







Sales Cloud



Sales Cloud is a full-fledged platform for everyone in sales (sales managers, reps, presales specialists) that helps optimize sales operations. It provides tools for lead management, 360-degree view of customers, automation, and AI. It also helps our clients find new customers, and close the deals as fast as possible.





Service Cloud



Service Cloud is a powerful platform built to provide timely, more personalized customer support across multiple channels. It comes with features, like case and field service management, automation, Einstein AI and self-service options. By setting it up, our client has improved customer retention and increased productivity by fast service reply.





Marketing Cloud



Marketing Cloud is a platform for marketing and sales teams built to automate, personalize, and optimize marketing campaigns across many channels. It provides tools for email marketing, social media management, customer data, and AI. With it, you can engage customers at the right time, on the right channel, with the right message - increasing conversion and ROI.





Analytics Cloud



Analytics Cloud is a business intelligence (BI) and analytics platform designed to analyze huge amounts of data. It offers interactive dashboards, AI-powered analytics, and predictive modeling - all to turn raw data into actionable insights for current and future decisions. With it, our clients can proactively strategize and, when changes occur, adjust on its feet.





B2B Commerce



Salesforce B2B Commerce is a powerful platform built for (B2B) transactions. It is used for creating self-service online storefronts where businesses can buy in bulk, manage accounts, and automate purchasing processes. By integrating with Salesforce CRM, it helps sales and service teams to track and manage orders efficiently.





Einstein Cloud



Einstein cloud is an integrated set of AI tools both predictive and generative. From sales and marketing to service and support, Einstein enables data-driven decision-making for everything. It helps clients generate actionable insights, streamline operations, and personalize customer interactions within the Salesforce platform.





Experience Cloud



Experience Cloud is a platform that helps businesses securely share data and communicate with teams, customers, and partners. You can use it to build mobile apps, portals, and communities - all to manage customer interactions across different channels. It blends CRM, CMS, and pre-built apps, giving you the tools to create custom solutions for various needs.





CPQ Salesforce



Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) Salesforce is a tool that helps sales agents automate the pricing, configuration, and quoting of their products and services. It offers features such as automated pricing, quote generation, and integration with CRM & Billing, etc. By using it, businesses can streamline the sales process and accelerate deal cycles.





Nonprofit Cloud



Nonprofit Cloud is a suite of tools and applications built for nonprofit organizations to manage operations (fundraising, grantmaking), engage with donors, and measure their impact. By integrating with various Salesforce apps and third-party tools, it enables organizations to streamline operations and maximize their social impact.



 





 

Our Salesforce Implementation Process



Implementing Salesforce solutions requires careful planning, tech expert guidance, and flawless execution to ensure it aligns with your goals and workflows. To keep you informed at every stage, we follow a well-structured and clear Salesforce implementation process.

 





 

01



Discovery



We analyze your needs and define key business challenges that Salesforce will solve. Then, we identify the right Salesforce edition, features, customizations, and integrations to fit your requirements. Afterward, we create a detailed implementation plan to ensure everything is completed on time and within budget.





02



Customization & Configuration



Our developers can tailor your Salesforce solution in two ways, depending on complexity, cost, and level of modification. For configuration, we adjust Salesforce settings using built-in tools without coding. For customization, we use coding with Apex to make deeper changes for large-scale needs. Our team will help you determine the best approach for you.





03



Integration



Our certified developers flawlessly integrate your Salesforce solution with needed third-party systems, like ERP, ecommerce platforms, or payment gateways. By using APIs, middleware, or pre-built connectors, we enable real-time data sync to ensure smooth data flow and unified operations across integrated apps.





04



Data Migration



Our developers will migrate your data from legacy CRM to Salesforce without data loss, corruption, or system downtime. Before migration, we carefully analyze and structure your legacy data to keep it well-organized and ready to use immediately. We also set structuring rules to maintain your data organized, consistent, and accurate.

 



 

05



Testing & Deployment 



Before going live, we thoroughly test your Salesforce solution and resolve any issues before deployment. Once everything is set, our tech specialists will deploy your Salesforce solution, either through a phased rollout or full deployment, based on your strategy. Then, we move it to User Acceptance Testing (UAT) to confirm it functions as expected. Once approved, we will launch it in the production environment and make it available to your staff.





06



Employee Training



We organize training sessions for end-users and administrators to ensure effective Salesforce adoption. This will help your users to make the most of Salesforce, automate tasks, and make data-driven decisions, improving productivity. We regularly review and optimize the platform to align with changing business needs and the latest Salesforce features.





07



After-Launch support



If you want to ensure that your Salesforce solution functions properly after its deployment, SoftTeco provides after-launch support. We will monitor system performance, address potential issues, and implement necessary updates to keep your Salesforce solution running smoothly over time.





 





 

01



Discovery



We analyze your needs and define key business challenges that Salesforce will solve. Then, we identify the right Salesforce edition, features, customizations, and integrations to fit your requirements. Afterward, we create a detailed implementation plan to ensure everything is completed on time and within budget.





02



Customization & Configuration



Our developers can tailor your Salesforce solution in two ways, depending on complexity, cost, and level of modification. For configuration, we adjust Salesforce settings using built-in tools without coding. For customization, we use coding with Apex to make deeper changes for large-scale needs. Our team will help you determine the best approach for you.

 



 

03



Integration



Our certified developers flawlessly integrate your Salesforce solution with needed third-party systems, like ERP, ecommerce platforms, or payment gateways. By using APIs, middleware, or pre-built connectors, we enable real-time data sync to ensure smooth data flow and unified operations across integrated apps.





04



Data Migration



Our developers will migrate your data from legacy CRM to Salesforce without data loss, corruption, or system downtime. Before migration, we carefully analyze and structure your legacy data to keep it well-organized and ready to use immediately. We also set structuring rules to maintain your data organized, consistent, and accurate.

 



 

05



Testing & Deployment



Before going live, we thoroughly test your Salesforce solution and resolve any issues before deployment. Once everything is set, our tech specialists will deploy your Salesforce solution, either through a phased rollout or full deployment, based on your strategy. Then, we move it to User Acceptance Testing (UAT) to confirm it functions as expected. Once approved, we will launch it in the production environment and make it available to your staff.





06



Employee Training



We organize training sessions for end-users and administrators to ensure effective Salesforce adoption. This will help your users to make the most of Salesforce, automate tasks, and make data-driven decisions, improving productivity. We regularly review and optimize the platform to align with changing business needs and the latest Salesforce features.

 



 

07



After-Launch support



If you want to ensure that your Salesforce solution functions properly after its deployment, SoftTeco provides after-launch support. We will monitor system performance, address potential issues, and implement necessary updates to keep your Salesforce solution running smoothly over time.

 









 

Request a project



 





 

SoftTeco’s Industry Experience with Salesforce



SoftTeco’s Salesforce engineers work with different domains, including:

 



 

HealthcareFinanceRetail and CommerceManufacturingAutomotiveTelecom

 



      
        
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
    






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





Healthcare



With our Salesforce healthcare CRM, medical institutes centralize patient data, automate mundane tasks, and stay compliant with regulations. As a result, they offer personalized treatments, facilitate secure data sharing among specialists, and improve overall care quality.



 





 



      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    






Finance



We help financial institutions leverage Salesforce Cloud to create personalized customer journeys, analyze their behavior, and tailor products accordingly. As a result, they optimize their customer management, risk assessment, and a lot of financial operations.





      
  
  
    
      
    
  



 





 



    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
  






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





Retail and Commerce



We offer Salesforce Sales and tailored solutions for brick-and-mortar businesses and online retailers. Our solutions aim to bring sales, marketing, and customer data together in one place  to improve the shopping experience and optimize sales strategies.



 





 



      
        
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
        
      
    






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





Manufacturing



Manufacturing businesses rely on Salesforce CRM to manage sales, track customer relationships, and forecasting. Integrating with the ERP system, it streamlines order processing, automates quotes, and improves supply chain visibility.



 





 



    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    
  






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





Automotive



We set up Salesforce CRM for the automotive industry by integrating marketing, sales, and customer service into a single platform. This helps dealers and manufacturers personalize the buying process, increase sales, and improve communication with partners and customers.



 





 



    
      
        
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
    
  






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





Telecom



With Salesforce CRM, telecom companies efficiently gather and analyze customer, product, sales, and service data across multiple channels. Tailored Salesforce implementations also help streamline contract and subscription management with Salesforce CPQ and Billing solutions.



 



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as your Salesforce Implementation Partner?
































01 / 04



Strong Salesforce Expertise



As an official Salesforce partner, we bring over 17 years of experience in delivering secure and high-performing software. Our certified experts, including consultants, developers, and architects, provide deep tech knowledge and follow best practices. This enables us to deliver trustworthy services to all industries regardless of project complexity.





02 / 04



Client-first Approach



Every Salesforce project is unique, with various budgets, cooperation models, and project scopes. At SoftTeco, we understand this, so each developer is handpicked to work with a deep understanding of your needs. By combining your vision with our expertise, we ensure result-driven solutions that meet your goals.





03 / 04



Quality & Security



As an ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified company, SoftTeco focuses on providing the highest security and quality standards in every solution. Our Salesforce implementation services adhere to strict industry standards and comply with international and local regulations, including GDPR and HIPAA.





04 / 04



Proven Outcomes



Over the years, SoftTeco has a strong track record of delivering software, with a portfolio of 450+ successful projects, including Salesforce. Our expertise spans multiple industries, like fintech, healthcare, manufacturing, etc. This enables us to tailor our Salesforce CRM implementation services to diverse business and tech needs.




 





 

Our Client Testimonials




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco knows how to provide a good match of candidates to our professional and personal/cultural requirements. I highly recommend SoftTeco for anyone who is looking for a good partner to grow their organization with.
								
								
									
										СTO, Be the Bank
									
									
										Koby Ben Yechiel
									
								
							
						
					

 





 


Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!



Calculate Team Cost




 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Odoo Consulting Services

Odoo Consulting Services





Scale and optimize your business with SoftTeco’s Odoo consulting services. Being a certified partner, we offer full support in making Odoo ERP part of your digital ecosystem.



Get a custom quote



 





 

What Is Odoo ERP? 



Odoo is a modular and open-source ERP software that provides a vast set of business applications such as accounting, inventory, PoS, social marketing, or field service. It is suitable for both large enterprises and small businesses.



Core benefits that set it apart from other ERP solutions:





Scalability



It allows easy addition and removal of its modules, depending on your business needs. Scale up and down without any hassle and let your business grow in a gradual and convenient manner.





Easy installation



One-click installation of apps enables you to immediately react to market trends and changes and quickly gain an upper hand among the competition.





User-friendly



This ERP offers a user-centric and intuitive interface, making it easy to navigate the platform for all categories of users. Whether you are a tech-savvy professional or an aspiring business owner, you will be able to seamlessly navigate and manage the system.





Variety of business apps



Odoo features a rich suit of apps that cater to every business need. Whether you need to automate your inventory management, gain better understanding of your customers, or introduce better project management, Odoo can help. 





Cost-effectiveness



Compared to other ERP solutions, it is highly cost-effective and offers several pricing options for different business needs.



 





 

Need an expert consultant to assist with your Odoo adoption process? Explore a full range of SoftTeco’s Odoo consulting services!





Get in touch



 





 

Why Do You Need Odoo Consulting?



Even though this ERP is a very user-friendly solution, it might be tricky to determine which exact set of apps will be the best fit for your business. Odoo consulting services can help you in both selecting the perfect business application but also design an actionable implementation strategy. Here are the top reasons why you should consider Odoo consultation:





01



Clear definition of goals



With an extensive set of available business applications that Odoo offers, it might be challenging to select the ones that will bring tangible value to your business. Consulting, on the other hand, helps clearly define your goals and deliverables and align them with available solutions.





02



Smooth implementation



Though Odoo is not as complex as other ERP systems, it still requires a certain level of technical knowledge to properly fine-tune and implement the needed modules. SoftTeco’s consultants can advise on the most suitable implementation strategy specifically for your digital environment.





03



Cost-effectiveness



It is a common case when a business deploys a software solution without considering all potential costs in the long run. To maximize the effectiveness of the deployed system without going over the budget, we recommend our Odoo consultancy services.



 





 

Finding a Perfect Odoo Consultant



SoftTeco’s consultants possess solid technical knowledge and vast experience in both project management and implementation of software solutions. We understand the importance of offering customized solutions to our clients and therefore we ensure that our consultants are highly skilled in Odoo ERP and can analyze the business requirements for every SoftTeco’s customer.



How SoftTeco’s consultants help grow your business:





Maximized software potential: a knowledgeable consultant analyzes what exact solution fits your business the best and proposes suitable customization options.

Assistance with both new and existing projects: our Odoo ERP consultant can help both new users and those who already use this ERP.

Experience with various industries: SoftTeco’s consultants have worked with projects in such domains as healthcare, fintech, manufacturing, logistics, and many more.

Minimization of risks: by leveraging SoftTeco’s expertise with Odoo, our clients can significantly minimize business risks associated with the introduction of new software.



Get assistance now



 





 

SoftTeco’s Odoo Consultancy Services



From Odoo implementation to fine-tuning and optimization, SoftTeco’s consulting covers a broad range of services. Here is how we help companies benefit from this business suit:

 



 



Business Analysis





SoftTeco’s consultants will carefully analyze your business to define the best implementation strategy, key areas for improvement, and the most suitable set of business apps to install.




Detailed analysis of your business and the market



Actionable recommendations on app selection



Implementation strategy with clear milestones and deliverables




 



 



Odoo Implementation





We assist not only in implementing Odoo but also ensure that it connects seamlessly to other components of your current system. During the implementation process, we perform continuous testing to make sure that everything functions properly.




Management of all technical aspects of deployment



Integration with other services in use



Testing and post-launch maintenance




 



 



Odoo Customization





Every business is unique - that’s why you need customization once the ERP is connected to your system. Our specialists will modify the selected modules precisely for your business needs to maximize their value.




Advanced customization of selected components



Adherence to secure coding standards



Optimization of the system in use




 




  








 



Module Development





Due to its open-source nature, Odoo allows vast room for customization, including the development and implementation of custom modules. Need some extra functionality to match your workflows? We got you covered!




Design of custom modules



Integration of modules with other components



Setup and configuration of the system




 



 



Odoo Migration





If you are planning to switch to Odoo ERP, SoftTeco will gladly assist you with the migration process. We will ensure your data is safe and the performance of your business is uninterrupted during the migration process.




Secure transfer of the data



Maintenance of robust business performance



Immediate reaction and elimination of issues




 



 



Employee Training





Though Odoo is considered a user-friendly ERP, it still takes time to learn the system. Speed up the process with our employee training services aimed at making your team Odoo-savvy in no time.




Personalized training based on the selected apps



Design of specialized training software upon request



24/7 support and assistance for the team




 



 



Support





Once your ERP system is all set and ready, our work does not end here. SoftTeco offers support and maintenance services aimed at monitoring the performance of your solution and timely resolution of any issues.




Instant troubleshooting



Seamless and planned migration to a new Odoo version



Recommendations on system improvements




 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Odoo Consultant?



With a proven track record of excellence in delivering IT solutions since 2008, SoftTeco is a reliable Odoo consulting partner. Learn what makes our approach different:

 



 



Solid Expertise



SoftTeco has rich experience in installing Odoo systems for our clients worldwide and across the industries. We also use it for the needs of our company and therefore know the specifics of both implementing and using the system. This allows us to be more flexible and considerate when recommending and optimizing Odoo ERP solutions













Official Partnership



Being an official Odoo partner, SoftTeco has proven its deep understanding of this ERP and solid knowledge of managing the system. The recognition of our expertise motivates us to further consolidate our work with Odoo through successful partnerships with our customers across the globe. 













Quality & Security



Being an ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified company, SoftTeco places utmost importance on the security and quality of our software solutions. We provide our Odoo consulting services in strict alignment with the industry security standards and with both international and local regulations, including GDPR and HIPAA. 













Individual Approach



Each project that we deliver is thoroughly aligned with the specific needs of every client. To achieve that, we perform thorough business analysis and offer extensive customization services.













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What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									The team managed to achieve impressive results in a short period of time and they flawlessly handed unexpected glitches during the development process.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, Kumba
									
									
										Amit Kadosh
									
								
							
						
					

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### EMR and EHR Software Development Services

EMR and EHR Software Development Services





Elevate your processes and deliver seamless patient care with SoftTeco’s EMR and EHR software development services, designed for efficiency, transparency, and scalability.





Get a custom quote








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 






 

How EMR and EHR Systems Revolutionize Healthcare



Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Electronic Medical Records (EMR) are two critical components of modern healthcare as they store vital patient information and ensure transparent and secure transfer of medical data. The main difference lies in the scope. An EMR is used within a single healthcare facility, cannot be shared with external providers, and cannot be accessed by a patient. An EHR is a more holistic and comprehensive system that is composed of various digital health records and is shared across multiple facilities. EHR and EMR play a vital role in facilitating access to patient data and delivering more personalized and data-driven patient care.



Why choose SoftTeco for EHR & EMR software development?




16+ years of experience in custom software development



Deep understanding of the healthcare industry



Innovative solutions delivered via advanced technology


 





 

SoftTeco’s EHR and EMR Software Development Services



SoftTeco provides a variety of services related to EMR and EHR development. Whether you need to develop a custom solution, modernize the existing one, or add a few integrations, we are ready to help. Discover our services:

 



 



EMR and EHR Consulting








    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  





Not sure about what system better fits your business goals? Our specialists will guide you through the main differences between EMR and EHR and will help you decide which solution meets your needs the best. We will also help you define its functionality and will assist in creating the implementation strategy.






Collection of business requirements

Creation of the implementation strategy

Planning of needed integrations

Budget and timeline calculation based on selected solution




 



 



Custom EHR and EMR Development








    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    






SoftTeco creates intelligent medical systems aimed at facilitating the work processes of healthcare professionals and assisting patients in accessing and managing their data. We offer full-cycle software development services, starting with requirements gathering, selection of tech stack, and thorough testing throughout the development process.






Selection of the most suitable technologies

Implementation of custom features

Integration of requested services and tools

Adherence to secure coding standards




 



 



System Optimization & Modernization








    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  





Is your legacy system not keeping up with modern tech requirements anymore or does it lack support for essential integrations? SoftTeco’s developers offer optimization and modernization services aimed at improving the performance and design of your current product. Whether you need minor fine-tuning or major improvements, we've got you covered.






Architecture redesign for better performance and scalability

Codebase review and migration to another programming language

Migration to another infrastructure

Addition of new features and integrations




 



 



EMR and EHR Integration








    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  





Our EHR/EMR developers can help you smoothly integrate the EMR or EHR solution with your current systems and devices in use, ensuring secure data transfer and frictionless interaction between the systems. We offer a variety of integration approaches to choose from and will help you select the one that will best fit your technical needs.






Analysis of compatibility of the systems

Selection of the integration method

Analysis of the infrastructure specifics

Post-integration performance testing




 



 



QA & Testing








    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  





To ensure top-notch security and functionality, SoftTeco offers QA and testing services for our EMR and EHR systems. We perform all-round testing of various aspects to make sure the system adheres to the industry standards and regulatory requirements. By using both manual and automated testing, our QA engineers guarantee that no single issue will remain overlooked.





Compliance testing (GDPR, HIPAA)

 Manual and automated testing

 Post-launch support and maintenance

Detailed documentation with actionable recommendations







 





 

Key Features of EMR / EHR Software



An effective EMR/EHR is a user-centric software solution with a variety of features for process automation, improved patient care, and increased efficiency. Discover the core features that SoftTeco offers for our EHR and EMR systems:

 



 



Patient Management





Comprehensive patient’s medical history



E-prescription feature



Chronic disease management



Appointment scheduling and reminders















Clinical Management





Convenient record-keeping via templates



Informative and customizable dashboards



Revenue and billing



Task tracking for employees















Analytics and Reporting





Reporting on treatment efficiency



Informative dashboards with patient data



Individual analytics for every department



Visualization of symptomatic patterns















Financial Management





Automation of processes (billing, invoicing, etc.)



Facilitated revenue management



Revenue Cycle Management



Fraud detection and risk management















Security





Multi-factor authentication for system users



Advanced access control



Regulatory compliance



Data encryption and secured APIs














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Types of EMR and EHR Solutions



Our EMR & EHR software development company designs high-performing and intelligent MedTech solutions, powered by the latest technologies such as machine learning, IoT, and blockchain:





SAP EMR & EHRSAP-based medical software with extensive integration capabilities

Custom EMR and EHRWeb, desktop, or mobile software compatible with platforms of choice

IoT EMR & EHRInterconnected systems that use IoT sensors for real-time data collection

Blockchain EMR & EHREnhanced security and transparency of the data transfer and storage

 







EMR and EHR Systems for Various Medical Specialties

































01



General and Primary Care





02



Cardiology





03



Oncology





04



Chiropractic Care





05



Geriatrics





06



Nutrition





07



Obstetrics/Gynecology (OBGYN)





08



Pediatrics





09



Dental Clinics





10



Psychiatry and Behavioral Clinics







 

Looking for a reliable EHR and EMR software development company to start your digital transformation journey? SoftTeco is here to help!





Get in touch



 





 

EMR/EHR Integrations That SoftTeco Provides



Connected healthcare starts with connected systems and seamless data flow. To provide you with a holistic view of your data and add transparency to your organization, we offer a variety of possible EMR/EHR integrations:





Integration with Financial Management Systems



Facilitate the process of invoicing, provide patients with various payment options, and store all your financial records in one place with the integrated financial management system. Rest assured that only authorized personnel can access and manage the financial information.





Integration with Telemedicine Applications



Connect your telemedicine applications with the EHR/EMR system for easier patient data access and management for both doctors and patients. Enable automated upload and exchange of documents between the systems and maintain the records that are updated and relevant.





Integration with Patient Portals



Connected patient portals enable patients to view their health data, access it in a secure manner, and schedule appointments - all in one click. Grant your patients better health data management and increase their trust via transparency and automation.





Integration with Laboratory Management Systems



Speed up the lab results processing, increase the accuracy of results with task automation and boost your diagnostics via improved data exchange. Eliminate interruptions and connect your laboratories with other departments seamlessly and securely.





Integration with Clinical Decision Support Software



Back up and enhance your clinical decision support system with real-time and relevant data from the connected EMR/EHR solution. Eliminate data silos, set up smooth data flow, and improve your patient care through data-driven decision making.





Integration with Practice Management Systems



Streamline and automate administrative and billing processes through the integration between your practice management system and the ERM/EHR solution of choice. Centralize document storage and enable authorized users to easily access data.



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your EMR & EHR Software Development Company
































01 / 04



Rich Expertise



Our company has been delivering high-grade custom software solutions since 2008.  Throughout this time, we have gained deep knowledge and understanding of the healthcare industry and the specific requirements that it places on software. This allows us to deliver truly innovative solutions that bring tangible value to healthcare facilities and patients.





02 / 04



Individual Approach



We don’t believe in standardized solutions - instead, we aim to offer a custom product based on the individual needs of every client. For that we carefully study not only your business but also the overall competition and the current market to gain an understanding of what will fit your organization the best.





03 / 04



Regulatory Compliance



Being an ISO 27001 and 9001 certified company, SoftTeco meticulously follows security and quality standards set by the industry, including compliance with such regulations as HIPAA and GDPR. When developing software, we also consider local regulations to follow and always ensure that our products are compliant with them.





04 / 04



Advanced Technologies



At SoftTeco, we always strive to keep up with innovation and the latest industry trends. We therefore deploy the power of advanced technology to serve our customers and bring value and efficiency to their business. Being proficient in ML, Data Science, IoT, and cloud computing, we ensure that every project has an innovative and competitive edge.




 





 

EHR / EMR Software Development Process



Learn how SoftTeco approaches the development process for EMR and EHR systems and combines speed of delivery with impeccable quality:

 




 

01



Requirement Analysis



The first step in our EHR / EMR development process is requirements gathering and project planning. During this stage, we usually define the most suitable tech stack, outline the functionality, and plan the timeline and budget scopes.





02



Design & Development



We create our solutions with scalability and usability in mind. Therefore, we carefully design the product’s architecture and ensure that it can scale up upon the need. Our team also pays close attention to UX/UI design and ensures that the product performs and looks equally well.





03



Integration



To ensure connectivity and seamless data exchange between the departments and systems, we implement all required integrations. We will use the integration method of choice and will test it thoroughly to ensure the security of transferred data.

 



 

04



Testing



Our QA team performs all-round testing of the system to ensure it is secured against potential vulnerabilities and does not contain any bugs or glitches. We combine manual and automated testing methods to achieve the best outcomes and guarantee security.





05



Deployment and Post-Launch Support



Once the system is tested and everything functions as intended, we deploy it and carefully monitor its performance. SoftTeco provides post-launch support and maintenance services to eliminate any bugs in a timely manner and ensure stable performance.





 





 

01



Requirement Analysis



The first step in our EHR / EMR development process is requirements gathering and project planning. During this stage, we usually define the most suitable tech stack, outline the functionality, and plan the timeline and budget scopes.





02



Design & Development



We create our solutions with scalability and usability in mind. Therefore, we carefully design the product’s architecture and ensure that it can scale up upon the need. Our team also pays close attention to UX/UI design and ensures that the product performs and looks equally well.

 



 

03



Integration



To ensure connectivity and seamless data exchange between the departments and systems, we implement all required integrations. We will use the integration method of choice and will test it thoroughly to ensure the security of transferred data.





04



Testing



Our QA team performs all-round testing of the system to ensure it is secured against potential vulnerabilities and does not contain any bugs or glitches. We combine manual and automated testing methods to achieve the best outcomes and guarantee security.

 



 

05



Deployment and Post-Launch Support



Once the system is tested and everything functions as intended, we deploy it and carefully monitor its performance. SoftTeco provides post-launch support and maintenance services to eliminate any bugs in a timely manner and ensure stable performance.

 










 

Featured Projects







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Innovative dental exam solution




  




iOS



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VisitorAccess



Visitors management system for medical facilities




  




iOS



Android



Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Telemedicine App Development Company

Telemedicine App Development Company





As an ISO-certified telemedicine app development company, SoftTeco designs HIPAA-compliant software solutions that connect doctors and patients across the globe and make healthcare services more accessible, transparent, and secure. Partner with SoftTeco and deliver borderless patient care paired with unparalleled security.





Get a telemedicine consultation








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 







 

What Is Telemedicine?



Telemedicine is the distribution of certain medical services (i.e., consultations) remotely with the help of technology. It always includes real-time, two-way communication between the doctor and the patient and helps provide healthcare-related services to those patients who cannot visit an on-premises medical facility.



Telemedicine got especially popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, medical professionals have recognized the benefits that it brings both to medics and patients:



Faster communication and better availability of doctorsCentralization and secure transfer of patient informationPersonalized treatment plans and disease managementAutomation of processes for medical specialists



Development of a specialized telemedicine application can significantly facilitate daily processes of your employees (appointment scheduling, data collection) and improve the quality of patient care. Learn how SoftTeco uses advanced technologies to drive innovation in the digital healthcare domain.

 






 

Planning telehealth app development? 



SoftTeco will guide you all the way through the development cycle





Request consultation



 





 

SoftTeco’s Telemedicine App Development Services



We provide a variety of telemedicine app development services to drive your digital transformation and ensure secure and patient-centric care delivery. Whether you are considering a full-cycle telemedicine app development or need fine-tuning of your existing product, our team will gladly help.





Whether you need professional help to choose the best-fit software to scale your business to a new level, rely on SoftTeco’s software engineering consultancy. Our dedicated consulting team will analyze your company goals, workflows, and challenges to provide you with the most suitable software, keeping users and market trends in mind.



Telemedicine app consulting





Telemedicine app development



If you need to perform an assessment of your current technology stack to identify any gaps or opportunities for improvements, let SoftTeco help you. Our team will analyze your business goals and current software stack to detect flaws/inconsistencies and recommend upgrades to improve workflows and stay competitive.





Telemedicine app modernization



At SoftTeco, we specialize in full life cycle product development and will help you plan your future project per your needs. Based on our extensive expertise, we craft custom development strategies and carefully plan them to deliver high-performing, intuitive, and secure solutions on time and within budget.







Telemedicine app consulting



Not sure where to start? We analyze your needs and help define the best solution. SoftTeco can help you identify what kind of a telemedicine app will bring the most value to your organization and how it will resolve the existing challenges and bottlenecks.





Telemedicine app development



Based on the defined requirements and the roadmap, SoftTeco provides a full-cycle custom healthcare app development. This includes not only the functionality development and UX/UI design but also integration of the app with all needed services and systems for seamless and secure data exchange.





Telemedicine app modernization



If you already have a telemedicine app but it doesn’t perform as needed, our telemedicine app developers will test and analyze it and will then propose an optimization strategy. This might include architecture and UI redesign, platform migration, and addition of new features and integrations. We will also make sure the app integrates well with other elements of your system.



 





 

Core Features of a Telemedicine App



While each telemedicine project is individual, we have assembled a list of core features that are essential to any telemedicine application:

 



 



Appointment Scheduling






One-click scheduling and cancelling of appointments



Automatic reminders about upcoming appointments



Built-in calendar / Google Calendar integration




 



 



Doctors Catalog






Advanced filtering and search



Ratings and reviews by patients



Multiple communication methods




 



 



In-App Communication






Live chat & messaging



Video call support



Support of various file formats




 




  








 



Disease Management






Integration with wearables for data collection



Symptoms tracker



Medication intake reminders




 



 



Treatment Planning






Personalized treatment plan



Management of the patient’s EHR



Digital consultations via text, voice or video




 



 



Prescription Management






Easy application for prescriptions



Generation of digital prescriptions



Access to patient’s prescription history




 



 



Analytics






Predictive analytics based on historical data



Data-driven diagnoses



Immediate alerts in case of abnormal symptoms




 



 



Billing






Integrated payment gateways



End-to-end data encryption



Support of various payment methods




 





 

Custom Healthcare App Development Process



At SoftTeco, we use a tried and tested framework that serves as a base for our telemedicine app development process. Below, we list the main steps included in the process - note that the duration and stages of the development plan may vary depending on the scale and complexity of your project.













01 / 06



Requirements Collection



The first step includes the requirements collection and planning of the project in general. We start by discussing your goals and objectives, defining KPIs, and understanding what issues the software solution will resolve. 



Calculation of the approximate budgetCollection and definition of product requirementsCollection of compliance requirements for needed regulationsListing of needed integrations and licenses





02 / 06



Project Planning



Once we define the main project idea and goals, we begin the planning process. During this stage, we create the approximate timeline and corresponding deliverables and we also assess potential risks. Based on them, our team will create a robust risk management plan.



Selection of the suitable software development modelDefinition of the project scope and core deliverablesRisk assessment and creation of a risk mitigation planDefinition of main KPIs and milestones to track





03 / 06



Architecture & Design



SoftTeco creates a scalable and reliable architecture that will enable your telemedicine app to support the expected user volume and will allow you to scale up or down upon the need. We will also create design mockups and wireframes to visualize the desired app’s functionality.



UI and UX design of the appArchitecture designCreation of supportive documentationCreation and mapping of user journeys





04 / 06



App Development & Testing



At this stage, SoftTeco develops the app’s functionality and implements needed integrations. Our team also performs continuous testing to minimize the number of potential bugs and to ensure the app’s seamless performance and design upon its release.



Full-stack application developmentManual and automated testingCompliance checkPilot app launch for feedback gathering and testing





05 / 06



Launch & Support



When the app is ready for release, SoftTeco continues to support it and provides maintenance services to ensure the application performs correctly and there are no unexpected crashes or errors. We can also add extra features and perform needed updates upon the request.



Monitoring of the app’s performance and timely debuggingSecurity and performance auditsImplementation of updates and maintenance services24/7 support from SoftTeco



 





 

How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Telemedicine App?



The cost of developing a telemedicine application is calculated individually based on your specific business needs, required functionality, and application’s size and complexity. However, we can give you an approximate estimate based on the telemedicine projects that we have completed in the past:



Average duration: 4-6 monthsAverage cost: $120,000 - $250,000



Features that impact cost:





Selected platform (web, desktop, mobile)

Type of the selected platform (iOS, Android)

Number and complexity of requested features

Number of needed integrations

Selected tech stack and cloud tools

Required data storage capacity

Licensing

Complexity of design

 





 

How much will your project cost and when can SoftTeco deliver it? Contact us and we will calculate the approximate cost based on the initial requirements.





Get a quote



 





 



Regulatory Compliance & Security



SoftTeco prioritizes the security of our clients’ data and follows in-house and industry best practices for software development to ensure the integrity of our telemedicine app development solutions.

















HIPAA and GDPR Compliance



All software products that we create for the healthcare industry are 100% compliant with HIPAA and GDPR regulations. We also check the required compliance with your local regulations and ensure that the delivered software aligns with the requirements.

















ISO-Certified System



SoftTeco is certified with ISO 9001 for quality management systems and ISO 27001 for information security management certifications, which means that our company rigorously follows industry best practices for developing secure and robust software.

















Cloud Security



SoftTeco partners with AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Digital Ocean providers, thus offering our clients unparalleled scalability and security. We have an expert cloud development team that is ready to roll out your project in the cloud environment of choice.













 





 

Available Outsourcing Models




 

Staff Augmentation





Dedicated Team





Full IT Outsourcing

 



 

If you need to quickly cover specific skill gaps or require a few extra specialists on the team, SoftTeco can help you. With our staff augmentation model, you can easily scale up and down based on your project’s needs.




SA




Extensive scope





Flexible budget





Pay-as-you-go







Assemble a team of experienced telehealth app developers under the guidance of SoftTeco’s Project Manager and let us handle your technical challenge. Our telemedicine software development company will independently manage the software development process and will deliver the product right on time and within the set budget.




DT




Large pool of talent





Cost savings





Transparentpricing model







Under this model, SoftTeco not only provides full software development services but also performs decision-making, risk management, and quality assurance. Just tell us your idea and we will propose the best way to realize it!




FO




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support



 


 





 

Hire SoftTeco’s Telehealth App Developers



Driven by innovation, SoftTeco is an international software development company with over 500 employees and 450+ successfully delivered projects, including the ones in the healthcare industry. So what makes us different?





Domain expertise



Since 2008, SoftTeco has been delivering powerful and secure software solutions for clients from various industries, including healthcare. We understand the specific requirements of this domain and know how to create solutions that bring value to both doctors and patients.





Security



Being an ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certified company, SoftTeco follows a rigorous approach towards the security of our software products. We implement continuous testing and deploy tried and tested cloud solutions to create a secure digital environment.





Individual approach



At our telemedicine app development company, we treat each project individually, aiming to bring value to every client and helping them grow their business in a sustainable manner. Our team will carefully analyze your requirements and will propose a solution that will match both your vision and your business needs.



 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Smart mirror



Innovative dental exam solution




  




iOS



Android



Web













VisitorAccess



Visitors management system for medical facilities




  




iOS



Android



Web



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### IT Staff Augmentation Company

IT Staff Augmentation Company





Enhance your team with the technical expertise that your project needs through SoftTeco’s IT staff augmentation services. Whether you have an innovative idea or need to scale up the existing team to meet deadlines, we’ve got you covered!





Get a consultation








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 






 




17




  





Years in the IT industry






500




  





Specialists






74




  





Client locations






450




  





Successful projects



 






What Is IT Staff Augmentation? 



IT staff augmentation is a flexible outsourcing strategy that helps businesses bridge skill gaps in their development teams by hiring external talents. You can access top-tier IT talent on a temporary or long-term basis to tackle business and development tasks while optimizing your resources.






 

Benefits of IT Staff Augmentation



Software development staff augmentation not only allows you to enhance your in-house team with external talent but also saves you the efforts of sourcing, hiring, and training. Other benefits include:

 





 











01 / 06



Cost efficiency



With IT augmentation services, you pay only for the amount of performed work. You can thus reduce your company’s spending on hiring and retaining a full-time employee, as well as on work equipment and training.





02 / 06



Access to qualified specialists



Skill shortage is no longer a problem, as you get access to a variety of seasoned specialists with diverse skills and experience. Whether your project needs another developer, QA engineer, data scientist, or designer, you can quickly fill the gap through an IT staff augmentation agency.





03 / 06



Flexibility and scalability



No matter if it’s a short-term project or a long-term engagement, IT staff augmentation services give you the freedom to easily scale the team up or down, adjusting its size according to your business needs.





04 / 06



Fresh perspective



If your project requirements grow over time, or if you have a tight schedule and your team is already overwhelmed with tasks, IT staff augmentation can help reduce their workload. An extra pair of hands to handle routine tasks will also accelerate the development process, allowing you to stay within the timeframe.





05 / 06



Reduced workload for your team



An experienced external expert can bring a fresh perspective and offer new ideas or creative solutions that your team may have overlooked.



 





 

Hire SoftTeco’s Top-Tier Experts to Bridge the Tech Gap in Any Domain



As an IT staff augmentation company with more than 17 years of expertise, SoftTeco understands all the challenges you may face when scaling your project team. That’s why we provide flexible hiring solutions to help you close any tech talent needs. Our IT resource augmentation services include:





Team Extension



Add an extra force to boost your project team with our IT team augmentation. With SoftTeco’s experts on board, you can accelerate development cycles and deliver products faster. From frontend and backend developers to data scientists and QA engineers, our professionals can fill any required role.





Short and Long-Term Services



Whether you need a skilled developer for a month or an entire team for a year, our flexible engagement models allow you to choose the duration that fits your project lifecycle. Scale your team up or down according to the requirements of your business.





Vendor Transition



Transitioning between vendors doesn’t have to be a headache. SoftTeco can assist you in smoothly transitioning from one provider to another and taking over your project at any stage of the process with minimal disruption. 



 





 

Looking for niche experts to handle intricate aspects of a high-stakes project or need additional expertise to meet deadlines? SoftTeco's software development staff augmentation services provide the perfect solution to strengthen your team and ensure success.





Let’s start collaboration



 





 

Software Development Staff Augmentation Services That We Offer



SoftTeco has established a vast pool of talented and reliable professionals who are highly skilled in modern technologies and ready to take on projects of any scale and complexity. No matter how many specialists you need, we will help you select and onboard the right talent for any role within 2 to 4 weeks.





Software Development




Over the years, the SoftTeco team delivered more than 450 software development projects in various domains such as Healthcare, Fintech, IoT, Ecommerce, etc. Our developers are experts in creating top-notch solutions that align with customer’s business goals, industry-specific standards, and requirements.






Web Development




SoftTeco has 125 frontend and 200 backend developers that can help you bridge the tech gap in your web development. Whether you are making a corporate website, ecommerce platform, or a CMS system, our specialists deliver robust, dynamic, and responsive web applications.






Mobile App Development




Augment your team with mobile developers from SoftTeco who specialize in creating versatile native and cross-platform applications. With our pool of 85+ skilled iOS and Android developers, you can easily find specialists who will deliver top-notch applications fully aligned with your requirements.






UI/UX Design




Our talented UX/UI designers understand the importance of creating intuitive and visually captivating interfaces that appeal to users and drive conversions. Whether you need a specialist to redesign your app, improve certain elements, or create a brand visual identity, count on SoftTeco’s IT staff augmentation services.






Quality Assurance




SoftTeco has 50+ QA engineers who are well-versed in automated and manual testing. They will meticulously test your software across different devices and platforms, promptly resolving any issues that can impact the work of your solution. 






Machine Learning & Data Science




SoftTeco gathered a team of 20+ AI and machine learning experts with broad experience of developing intelligent software solutions across various industries. If you need to analyze large datasets, or develop a chatbot or predictive analytics tool, our specialists are ready to help you elevate your business processes. 






DevOps Services




As one of the top IT staff augmentation firms, SoftTeco has a team of certified DevOps engineers who provide various services tailored to your project needs. Our specialists are advanced with the latest technologies to ensure your development process is agile, scalable, and efficient.






Business Analysis




Use SoftTeco’s IT resource augmentation services and leverage our business intelligence expertise to make more informed decisions. Our specialists will closely work with you to identify your goals, uncover hidden opportunities, and optimize your business processes.






Project Management




SoftTeco offers comprehensive project management services to help you manage your software development process without unnecessary complexities or delays. Our experienced project managers ensure smooth coordination between teams, oversee progress and mitigate risks to keep your project on track and within budget.






Salesforce Services




SoftTeco has a professional team of 10+ Salesforce experts that can help you streamline your management processes and sales. As a certified Salesforce partner, we provide a wide range of services, including Salesforce implementation, customization, integration, and support. 








Software Development



Over the years, the SoftTeco team delivered more than 450 software development projects in various domains such as Healthcare, Fintech, IoT, Ecommerce, etc. Our developers are experts in creating top-notch solutions that align with customer’s business goals, industry-specific standards, and requirements.





Web Development



SoftTeco has 125 frontend and 200 backend developers that can help you bridge the tech gap in your web development. Whether you are making a corporate website, ecommerce platform, or a CMS system, our specialists deliver robust, dynamic, and responsive web applications.





Mobile App Development



Augment your team with mobile developers from SoftTeco who specialize in creating versatile native and cross-platform applications. With our pool of 85+ skilled iOS and Android developers, you can easily find specialists who will deliver top-notch applications fully aligned with your requirements.





UI/UX Design



Our talented UX/UI designers understand the importance of creating intuitive and visually captivating interfaces that appeal to users and drive conversions. Whether you need a specialist to redesign your app, improve certain elements, or create a brand visual identity, count on SoftTeco’s IT staff augmentation services.





Quality Assurance



SoftTeco has 50+ QA engineers who are well-versed in automated and manual testing. They will meticulously test your software across different devices and platforms, promptly resolving any issues that can impact the work of your solution.





Machine Learning & Data Science



SoftTeco gathered a team of 20+ AI and machine learning experts with broad experience of developing intelligent software solutions across various industries. If you need to analyze large datasets, or develop a chatbot or predictive analytics tool, our specialists are ready to help you elevate your business processes. 





DevOps Services



As one of the top IT staff augmentation firms, SoftTeco has a team of certified DevOps engineers who provide various services tailored to your project needs. Our specialists are advanced with the latest technologies to ensure your development process is agile, scalable, and efficient.





Business Analysis



Use SoftTeco’s IT resource augmentation services and leverage our business intelligence expertise to make more informed decisions. Our specialists will closely work with you to identify your goals, uncover hidden opportunities, and optimize your business processes.





Project Management



SoftTeco offers comprehensive project management services to help you manage your software development process without unnecessary complexities or delays. Our experienced project managers ensure smooth coordination between teams, oversee progress and mitigate risks to keep your project on track and within budget.





Salesforce Services



SoftTeco has a professional team of 10+ Salesforce experts that can help you streamline your management processes and sales. As a certified Salesforce partner, we provide a wide range of services, including Salesforce implementation, customization, integration, and support.



 





 


Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!



Calculate Team Cost




 





 

Choose Pricing Model That Best Suits Your Needs



We understand that every project is unique, and so are your budgetary needs. Choose the pricing model that suits you best:




 

Dedicated Team





Fixed Price 





Time and Material

 



 

Assemble your dream team of experts who are exclusively focused on your project. It's a perfect choice if you require a long-term partnership for a complex project that needs close attention to detail and high expertise




DT




Large pool of talent





Cost savings





Transparentpricing model







If you need to quickly and efficiently resolve a tech challenge and already have a set budget and clear project requirements — this model is your ideal choice.




FP




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support







Pay for the actual time spent and materials used — perfect for projects with evolving requirements.




TM




Extensive scope





Flexible budget





Pay-as-you-go



 


 






 

Our Industry Expertise

 








 

SoftTeco’s IT Team Augmentation Process

 




 

01



Requirements Collection



First of all, we collect and analyze your project and technical requirements, timescale, budget, and your preferences, to understand what skills and technologies you will need for the project.





02



Selecting Candidates



Then, we handpick the most suitable candidates from our talent pool and send you their CVs so you can choose which specialist best fits your criteria.





03



Interview



After your approval, we schedule an introductory interview with the chosen candidates, where you can evaluate their tech skills and experience. If needed, you can also give them a test task.

 



 

04



Finalizing an Agreement



Once you select the specialists you want to see on your team, we will negotiate the terms of the agreement and create a Service Level Agreement with the conditions and the outlined scope of our services that we agreed upon.





05



Onboarding and Integration



After all the preparations are complete, we establish clear two-way communication between you and specialists on our side to ensure seamless integration into your project.





 





 

01



Requirements Collection



First of all, we collect and analyze your project and technical requirements, timescale, budget, and your preferences, to understand what skills and technologies you will need for the project.





02



Selecting Candidates



Then, we handpick the most suitable candidates from our talent pool and send you their CVs so you can choose which specialist best fits your criteria.

 



 

03



Interview



After your approval, we schedule an introductory interview with the chosen candidates, where you can evaluate their tech skills and experience. If needed, you can also give them a test task.





04



Finalizing an Agreement



Once you select the specialists you want to see on your team, we will negotiate the terms of the agreement and create a Service Level Agreement with the conditions and the outlined scope of our services that we agreed upon.

 



 

05



Onboarding and Integration



After all the preparations are complete, we establish clear two-way communication between you and specialists on our side to ensure seamless integration into your project.

 










 

Tools and Technologies We Work With



As a software development staff augmentation company, we strive for innovation and efficiency in our work. Therefore, we use modern technologies and tools to create advanced solutions. With over 500 specialists on board, our technical expertise includes:

 







 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your IT Staff Augmentation Agency?





01



Certified Developers



Competence is one of our core values. Therefore, SoftTeco’s specialists regularly undergo internationally recognized certifications to maintain the high quality of our services.





02



Optimal Pricing



As a staff augmentation services company, SoftTeco offers clear and flexible pricing models, so you can choose the one that best aligns with your budget. We ensure cost-effective services without compromising on quality.





03



Transparency



We prioritize the trust of our clients and establish clear communication during all the steps of the development process. We will keep you updated on the progress as frequently as you require and in your preferred format.





04



Rich Industry Experience



With more than 17 years of software development expertise, SoftTeco has worked with projects from diverse industries. Therefore, we have a deep understanding of various industry trends and specific aspects, which makes us proficient in tackling any challenge.





04



Security and Reliability



With more than 17 years of software development expertise, SoftTeco has worked with projects from diverse industries. Therefore, we have a deep understanding of various industry trends and specific aspects, which makes us proficient in tackling any challenge.





04



Rich Industry Experience



With more than 17 years of software development expertise, SoftTeco has worked with projects from diverse industries. Therefore, we have a deep understanding of various industry trends and specific aspects, which makes us proficient in tackling any challenge.



 





























































 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									I’m really happy I got to work with SoftTeco as the team was super understanding, supportive and professional. Many thanks!
								
								
									
										Co-Founder & CTO, Supersapiens
									
									
										Gagan Chaudhari
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Cheetah



Food delivery service for small business




  




iOS













Bubcon



A next generation mass-market messenger app




  




iOS



Android



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Fractional CTO Services

Fractional CTO Services





Propel your startup’s growth and discover new revenue streams with SoftTeco’s fractional CTO services. You tell us your vision - we bring to the table excellent technical knowledge and rich expertise in team and project management.



Get custom quote



 





 

What is a Fractional Chief Technology Officer?



A Fractional CTO is a part-time Chief Technology Officer who provides strategic technical leadership and solutions to the companies. It is a perfect option for companies that lack technical expertise, need improvement in the area of project management, or want to quickly deliver a fully functional MVP to the market.



Since a Fractional CTO operates on an on-demand basis, it allows companies to effectively close the current tech gaps and consolidate the team while saving costs and targeting specific areas for improvement.



Top benefits of hiring a Fractional Chief Technology Officer:




01
Reduced costs



Collaboration with this specialist is more affordable than hiring a full-time technology leader, but the level of expertise and knowledge is the same.




02
Quick delivery



SoftTeco’s Fractional CTO immediately starts working on specific issues that you highlight and delivers results within the first few weeks of work.




03
Rich experience



Proficient in a wide range of domains and technologies, our experts can handle any tech challenge of yours and apply their skills and knowledge to leverage your business.




04
Optimization and reorganization of processes



A part-time chief technology officer provides an expert evaluation of your current processes, identifies bottlenecks and suggests actionable recommendations.




05
Innovative vision



We offer a fresh take on your business through innovative ideas and a comprehensive analysis of its main strengths and areas for improvement.




06
Access to technical talent



Fractional CTO acts as a technical leader, playing a major role in defining technologies and proposing the most suitable tech solutions for your specific company.













 





 

Who Can Benefit From This Service?



Not sure whether you need to hire a Fractional Chief Technology Officer? If your company matches one or more points, the answer is a definite “yes”:





You have a limited budget but need strong technical leadership and support

Your in-house team doesn’t have sufficient technical expertise

You are in the stage of rapid growth and need assistance with further development

You need a CTO for a specific project

You want to try working with a part-time CTO before hiring a full-time expert

 





 

Need a quick technical boost or expert guidance to leverage your business?



Tap into SoftTeco’s Fractional CTO services and start putting your ideas into shape through top-tier project management and optimization of internal processes.





Hire a Fractional CTO



 





 

What Does a Part-Time CTO Do?



A Fractional Chief Technology Officer performs the same tasks as a regular Chief Technology Officer - but unlike full-time involvement, Fractional CTO focuses on a specific task that you need assistance with. Be it team management, selection of technologies, or definition of the short-term strategy, SoftTeco’s experts will tackle your challenge.



Learn more about SoftTeco’s Fractional CTO services:

 



 

Development of a Technology StrategyManagement of Vendors and BudgetsTeam and Project ManagementQuick MVP DeliveryStrategy Definition and Company Enhancement

 

Development of a Technology Strategy



Not sure which technologies will work best for your project or how to evaluate your assets? Our Fractional CTO will shape your technology strategy and will take an active part in outlining a clear and actionable product roadmap.




Definition of the tech stack and the project roadmap



Definition of needed resources



Design and implementation of project architecture and processes 


 





 

Management of Vendors and Budgets



Management of multiple vendors and correct budget estimations may seem confusing, especially for fresh startups. A Fractional CTO can help you set up scalable processes and frameworks for effective management of your vendors and for accurate and reasonable budget calculations.




Selection and management of the right vendors



Budget calculation and allocation of resources



Definition of the compensation criteria


 





 

Team and Project Management 



Consolidate your team, attract top talents, and establish transparent processes with SoftTeco’s fractional Chief Technology Officer. Our experts have years of experience in team and project management and will apply their skills and knowledge to your project.




Team management



Project management



Cross-department collaboration


 





 

Quick MVP Delivery



An MVP is an effective way to test your product idea, collect real feedback from users, and start the development at a convenient pace - but it also has several hidden rocks. An expert Fractional CTO will advise on the best tech stack for your MVP and will oversee its coherent delivery.




Definition of MVP features and tech stack



Product design



Definition of the implementation strategy


 





 

Definition of the short-term strategy and company enhancement



Define a clear and actionable strategy and learn how to leverage your company through right positioning and talents with the help of a Fractional CTO. Based on careful analysis and strong industry knowledge, our specialist will set a strong foundation for your future growth. 




Comprehensive analysis of the company



Assistance in hiring top talents



Development of a short-term strategy 


 



 





 

Advantages of a Fractional CTO



Fractional CTO services are becoming increasingly popular with the companies - here are the top reasons why:





Great expertise at a lower cost



The only difference between a part-time CTO and a full-time Chief Technology Officer is the engagement model. Otherwise, a Fractional CTO has the same skills and knowledge as a full-time professional and can perform the same duties but at lower costs.

















Quick delivery of results



A Fractional CTO is usually hired for a specific project in your company. Hence, this approach leads to immediate action and quick delivery of results since the Fractional CTO focuses solely on one task.

















Improved efficiency



Is your company a hidden gem that has not yet unleashed its full potential? An experienced Fractional CTO will skillfully define your potential opportunities and create a detailed strategy for growing your company with the most suitable assets and technologies.

















Discovery of hidden opportunities



Is your company a hidden gem that has not yet unleashed its full potential? An experienced Fractional CTO will skillfully define your potential opportunities and create a detailed strategy for growing your company with the most suitable assets and technologies.

















MVP creation and delivery



A high-functioning MVP can become a starting point for your company’s success - and a Fractional CTO can help you quickly deliver it. Our specialist will not only design the architecture and functionality of the product but will also take an active part in its launch and promotion.













 





 

When to Hire a Fractional CTO?





Check whether any of the points below meet your current situation - if yes, it might be the best time to hire a Fractional CTO:





Your team lacks a technical leader or a technical founder

You have a product idea but don’t know how to best implement it

You want to upgrade your MVP but lack strategy and vision for that

Your departments cannot collaborate effectively, thus creating bottlenecks

You don’t know how to build up an effective partnership with vendors

You plan to secure the next round of funding and need a strong technical backup

 





 

Engagement Models






1




Fixed price



If you have a fixed budget and need assistance with a specific project, SoftTeco offers the fixed price engagement model. It is perfect for projects with clear deadlines and deliverables when you clearly understand how exactly a Fractional CTO can help you.












2




Time & Material



If you have a long-term or complex project or need ongoing assistance with various tasks, we recommend the T&M (Time and Material model). You pay exactly for the work done and can upscale or downscale the Fractional CTO service as needed.









 





 

How SoftTeco Can Help













01 / 03



Vast experience and strong technical knowledge



SoftTeco’s experts have strong technical and leadership skills and experience in various domains and in projects of different size and complexity. We can therefore recommend the most suitable Fractional CTO for your individual project.





02 / 03



Flexibility and adaptability



Our Fractional CTOs can seamlessly adapt to fluctuating business needs or environments, implementing changes on the go. Such flexibility allows us to easily scale in accordance with your business and offer only relevant solutions.





03 / 03



Custom and innovative approach



When working with our clients, we always adapt to their requirements and business needs. Hence, you don’t have to worry about standardized services - instead, you will receive a customized solution tailored precisely to your company.



 





 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Service Voucher Program

Service Voucher Program



Whether you need to fine-tune your system before the release, develop a prototype, or receive expert consulting, our service vouchers are the perfect way to experience SoftTeco’s services. Get high-quality support at no extra cost and accelerate your business progress with expert assistance tailored to your needs.



Redeem voucher



 





 

How Does Our Service Voucher Program Work?

 



 

 

Receive Your Voucher



Our clients receive service vouchers as part of their ongoing collaboration with SoftTeco. The voucher is distributed in an electronic format and includes details such as the type of service it provides, the number of hours available, and the validity period. You can use it yourself or transfer to a third party who might be interested in utilizing this service.

 



 

Redeem Your Voucher



Enter the voucher code in the special form provided below to activate the service. 

 



 

Specialist Selection



Once the voucher is redeemed, the account manager will contact you. SoftTeco will then start the process of selecting the appropriate specialist for your business needs. It may take up to 2 weeks depending on the specifics and availability of the right specialist.

 



 

Utilize Your Service



That’s it! After the specialist is selected, you can start utilizing the service hours included in your voucher. 

 

 





 

Don’t have a voucher yet? Click to request your voucher and access our specialized services.





Contact us



 





 

Voucher form containerTo make it work, add the voucher-container CSS class to the WordPress block.

### Team Calculator

Team Budget Calculator





Plan Your Perfect Development Team in 4 Simple Steps



Easily estimate the cost of your development team based on your project’s unique needs. This calculator helps you select the right specialists, define project details and calculate an approximate budget.

### Hire Docker Developers

Hire Docker Developers





Looking for a way to optimize your infrastructure, scale applications, and ensure they can be seamlessly deployed across on-premise and cloud environments? Leverage our top-notch DevOps services and hire Docker developers from SoftTeco to elevate your project to a new level of efficiency.



Get a consultation



 





 




300




  





Customers worldwide






17




  





Years on the market






500




  





Employees






450




  





Successful projects



 





 

Docker Development Services That SoftTeco Offers



As a software development company with extensive experience in the market, SoftTeco provides a wide range of Docker consulting and development services. That includes:





Docker Consulting Services



Are you new to Docker development and not sure where to start? SoftTeco provides insightful Docker consulting to help you utilize the full potential of this containerization technology. Our specialists will assess your requirements and create a personalized Docker implementation guide catering to your business needs and ideas. 





Implementation Services



Integration of the Docker environment requires rich expertise. With a track record of successful DevOps projects, SoftTeco's specialists will help you install Docker within your systems and maximize its efficiency. Our developers handle everything, from setup to configuration, ensuring a hassle-free DevOps experience.





Microservices Design and Architecture



Hire Docker developers from SoftTeco and say goodbye to monolithic applications. Our experts excel in building and designing microservices with Docker containers, creating modular and scalable solutions that enhance application performance and reliability. 





Docker Containerization Services



With extensive Docker tooling, our specialists will help you transform your applications into lightweight, portable containers. We use Docker Swarm and Kubernetes to convert monolithic structures, thus modernizing legacy apps and infrastructures. Deploy, run, verify, and test applications seamlessly across any environment.





CI/CD Pipeline Integration



Streamline your development workflow with Docker-based Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. Our specialists use GitLab and Jenkins tools to help you automate testing and deployment processes, allowing for faster releases and higher-quality code.





Performance Optimization



SoftTeco’s Docker developers can help configure and optimize Docker Swarm clusters to ensure efficient resource utilization and seamless deployment of containerized applications. Our specialists will analyze your current setup and implement effective container orchestration, enabling smooth deployment both on-site and in the cloud.





Docker Migration Services



Thinking about migrating to Docker? SoftTeco is here to help! Hire our Docker developers to smoothly transition your existing infrastructure to the Docker environment with minimum downtime. Our methods guarantee the consistency and security of your data during the migration process





Support and Maintenance



SoftTeco provides comprehensive support and maintenance services to ensure seamless operation of your environment after Docker implementation. Our experts are always ready to assist with your queries and troubleshoot any bottlenecks that interfere with the smooth workflow of your applications.





Docker Security



For SoftTeco, the security of your applications and data is always a top priority. As an ISO 27001-certified company, we ensure regulation compliance and implement robust security measures to safeguard your Docker applications. Rest assured, our developers will maintain the integrity and confidentiality of your data. 



 





 

Benefits of Using Docker





Faster Deployment Cycles 



Docker packages applications and their dependencies into standardized units, ensuring consistent software performance across different environments. That helps to elevate the development process, facilitating faster time-to-market. It's a great benefit for companies that focus on quick delivery.

















Improved Scalability and Efficiency



Scalability is especially important for high-traffic applications and cloud-native environments. Docker containers are lightweight, packaging only necessary components, so you can quickly replace or replicate them to adjust to changing workloads. 

















Seamless Integration with DevOps Practices



Integrating Docker with DevOps workflow greatly enhances the development process, making it more agile and faster. It helps to automate testing and infrastructure management and set up efficient CI\CD processes.

















Version Control



Docker has the version control function, so developers can revert the previous configuration if needed. That way, they can effectively manage dependencies, reduce compatibility issues, and ensure easier maintenance.













 





 

Dedicated Docker  Developers



Are you looking for a way to enhance deployment speed and implement DevOps? Hire Docker developers from SoftTeco! Our professionals skillfully handle container orchestration and infrastructure optimization, ensuring smooth deployment of your app across various environments. 



Hire Docker developer



 





 

Pick A Collaboration Model That Best Suits Your Development Needs



Working with SoftTeco is easy: tell us your requirements and objectives, and we will provide you with a pool of specialists to choose from. We offer flexible cooperation models so you can easily align your budget according to the specifics of your project.




 

Staff Augmentation





Dedicated Team





Full IT Outsourcing 

 



 

Strengthen your existing team with SoftTeco's Docker developers. You can easily scale your in-house team, hiring as many specialists as your project requires. Our professionals will help you close any skill gaps and finish the project on time.




SA




Extensive scope





Flexible budget





Pay-as-you-go







Hire a team of dedicated developers from SoftTeco to work exclusively on your project. Our PM will oversee the workflow and provide you with regular progress updates. We take full responsibility for delivering expected results within the set timeframe.




DT




Large pool of talent





Cost savings





Transparentpricing model







Trust SoftTeco with your entire project and let our team of experts handle it from start to finish, including risk management and quality control. We will ensure that the final product fully aligns with your requirements and is ready for release, providing further maintenance afterward.




FIO




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support



 


 





 

Hire a Docker expert from SoftTeco and scale up your development efficiency.





Contact us



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco’s Docker Developers for Your Project?
































01 / 04



Fast Development



Our team proficiently elevates all the advantages of Docker's built-in tools to streamline and optimize the development process. We ensure that the project will be finished precisely on time and within budget.





02 / 04



Transparent Work Process



We at SoftTeco highly value the trust we build with our clients, so we keep our workflow 100% transparent. Our team will provide regular updates throughout the Docker development process, informing you about work status and further estimations. 





03 / 04



Strong Security



Quality and security always come first in our every project. As an ISO 27001-certified software development company, we strictly follow the highest security standards, ensuring your data and infrastructure are always protected. 





04 / 04



Expert Team



Throughout the years, SoftTeco gathered a great team of seasoned developers with strong experience in Docker across diverse industries. We are always up to the challenge and can handle projects of any complexity, ensuring the final product fully aligns with your vision and business requirements. 




 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco has been our go-to software partner for several projects. We don't have to worry about deadlines since all projects are completed on time and exceed our expectations. The results are unmatched - huge respect for SoftTeco!
								
								
									
										CTO & Co Founder, Workiz
									
									
										Saar Kohanovitch
									
								
							
						
					

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Hire Kubernetes Developers

Hire Kubernetes Developers





If you face challenges with scaling your applications or managing complex containerized environments, you need help from DevOps experts. Hire Kubernetes developers from SoftTeco to optimize your infrastructure, streamline deployments, and ensure your applications run seamlessly at scale.



Request a consultation



 





 




300




  





Customers worldwide






17




  





Years on the market






500




  





Employees






450




  





Successful projects



 





 

SoftTeco’s Kubernetes Development Services





Application Containerization



Make your application deployments simpler and more efficient with containerization powered by Kubernetes, and let SoftTeco help. Hire remote Kubernetes developers who will guide you through the entire process, from initial setup to optimization, ensuring seamless software deployment, optimal resource utilization, and simplified management.





Kubernetes Set Up and Management



Partner with SoftTeco to help you set up and manage Kubernetes for seamless application scaling and deployment. Our team of experts will design, configure, and deploy a robust Kubernetes environment that meets your unique needs so you can focus on growing your business while we manage all complexities.





Build Microservice Architecture



If you want to optimize resource allocation with greater system flexibility and performance, adopt Kubernetes as part of your microservice architecture. Hire Kubernetes engineers from SoftTeco to help you design, implement, and manage Kubernetes clusters and ensure seamless management of your microservices.





CI/CD Pipeline Integration



Automate code building, testing, and deployment for reliable software release with the integration of CI/CD pipelines. Our developers will design and implement CI\CD pipelines using tools, such as Jenkins and GitLab, that will help you reduce deployment risks and speed up time-to-market.





Monitoring and Logging



If you're seeking a complete solution for tracking the health, performance, and security of your Kubernetes clusters and applications, turn to SoftTeco. Our developers implement advanced monitoring and detailed logging tools, like Prometheus and Grafana, enabling you to identify potential issues and maintain the stability and efficiency of your app.





Kubernetes Security



Protecting applications from potential threats is key to ensuring their security and reliability. For this, we follow Kubernetes best practices, including RBAC, network policies, and Pod Security Policies (PSP). We also provide continuous vulnerability monitoring and maintain compliance with industry standards to protect your apps and data from threats.





Managed Kubernetes Services



Focus on app development while we manage your Kubernetes environment. SoftTeco offers fully managed services, including cluster management, support, scaling, and updates - either directly or via cloud providers - ensuring high app availability, security, and performance without the need for in-house expertise.





Autoscaling and Load Balancing



Autoscaling and load balancing in Kubernetes are essential for traffic management and ensuring application reliability under varying traffic conditions. At SoftTeco, we create scalable solutions that adjust resources and balance traffic automatically, ensuring optimal system performance and resilience during high-demand periods.





Kubernetes Migration



To seamlessly migrate your applications and workloads to Kubernetes with minimal disruption and to maintain the app’s optimal performance, and secure data transfer, rely on SoftTeco. We will expertly assess your existing infrastructure, design a customized migration plan, and ensure a flawless transition to a robust Kubernetes environment.





Disaster Recovery and Backup Strategies



Disaster recovery and backup solutions keep your business running and prevent data loss and downtime, and SoftTeco can handle it expertly. Our developers implement these strategies within Kubernetes to ensure automated backups and quick recovery solutions with minimal impact on your business operations.





Consulting and Training



SoftTeco offers guidance on Kubernetes adoption strategies and can effectively train your team on how to use Kubernetes. We integrate Kubernetes in a way that aligns with your business needs and the technical environment while building an in-house team capable of managing Kubernetes solutions independently.







Application Containerization



Make your application deployments simpler and more efficient with containerization powered by Kubernetes, and let SoftTeco help. Hire remote Kubernetes developers who will guide you through the entire process, from initial setup to optimization, ensuring seamless software deployment, optimal resource utilization, and simplified management.





Kubernetes Set Up and Management



Partner with SoftTeco to help you set up and manage Kubernetes for seamless application scaling and deployment. Our team of experts will design, configure, and deploy a robust Kubernetes environment that meets your unique needs so you can focus on growing your business while we manage all complexities.





Build Microservice Architecture



If you want to optimize resource allocation with greater system flexibility and performance, adopt Kubernetes as part of your microservice architecture. Hire Kubernetes engineers from SoftTeco to help you design, implement, and manage Kubernetes clusters and ensure seamless management of your microservices.





CI/CD Pipeline Integration



Automate code building, testing, and deployment for reliable software release with the integration of CI/CD pipelines. Our developers will design and implement CI\CD pipelines using tools, such as Jenkins and GitLab, that will help you reduce deployment risks and speed up time-to-market.





Monitoring and Logging



If you're seeking a complete solution for tracking the health, performance, and security of your Kubernetes clusters and applications, turn to SoftTeco. Our developers implement advanced monitoring and detailed logging tools, like Prometheus and Grafana, enabling you to identify potential issues and maintain the stability and efficiency of your app.





Kubernetes Security



Protecting applications from potential threats is key to ensuring their security and reliability. For this, we follow Kubernetes best practices, including RBAC, network policies, and Pod Security Policies (PSP). We also provide continuous vulnerability monitoring and maintain compliance with industry standards to protect your apps and data from threats.





Managed Kubernetes Services



Focus on app development while we manage your Kubernetes environment. SoftTeco offers fully managed services, including cluster management, support, scaling, and updates - either directly or via cloud providers - ensuring high app availability, security, and performance without the need for in-house expertise.





Autoscaling and Load Balancing



Autoscaling and load balancing in Kubernetes are essential for traffic management and ensuring application reliability under varying traffic conditions. At SoftTeco, we create scalable solutions that adjust resources and balance traffic automatically, ensuring optimal system performance and resilience during high-demand periods.





Kubernetes Migration



To seamlessly migrate your applications and workloads to Kubernetes with minimal disruption and to maintain the app’s optimal performance, and secure data transfer, rely on SoftTeco. We will expertly assess your existing infrastructure, design a customized migration plan, and ensure a flawless transition to a robust Kubernetes environment.





Disaster Recovery and Backup Strategies



Disaster recovery and backup solutions keep your business running and prevent data loss and downtime, and SoftTeco can handle it expertly. Our developers implement these strategies within Kubernetes to ensure automated backups and quick recovery solutions with minimal impact on your business operations.





Consulting and Training



SoftTeco offers guidance on Kubernetes adoption strategies and can effectively train your team on how to use Kubernetes. We integrate Kubernetes in a way that aligns with your business needs and the technical environment while building an in-house team capable of managing Kubernetes solutions independently.



 





 

Looking for professional Kubernetes developers for hire? SoftTeco offers a team of highly skilled developers who will handle complex deployments, ensure smooth container orchestration, and optimize your infrastructure. 



Contact us for details



 





 

Why Choose Our Kubernetes Development Services?





High availability and reliability



Kubernetes ensures application reliability through features like self-healing, load balancing, and automated failover. It automatically detects and replaces failed containers, ensuring application availability and reliability. Also, it maintains stable performance by evenly distributing traffic between containers.





Cost reduction



Kubernetes can significantly reduce your costs due to several reasons. It optimizes resource use and lowers spending by automating app deployment and scaling and eliminating the need for manual checks. It also prevents vendor lock-in, letting businesses choose the most affordable cloud provider, which can also lead to significant cost savings.





Flexibility and scalability



Kubernetes can automatically scale applications up or down based on demand, ensuring optimal performance and resource utilization. Moreover, it supports moving apps across multiple cloud providers - public, private, or on-premises - offering flexibility to adapt to your infrastructure without being tied to one provider.





Improved DevOps workflows



Kubernetes streamlines DevOps processes by automating many manual tasks, such as deployment, scaling, and monitoring software. This reduces the burden on operations teams and allows them to focus on more essential tasks. It also integrates smoothly with CI/CD pipelines, making it easier for developers to continuously build, test, and deliver apps





Efficient resource management



Kubernetes helps manage resources automatically, ensuring efficient use of CPU, memory, and storage. Its features, such as real-time resource adjustments, autoscaling, and self-healing, optimize infrastructure and reduce operational tasks. This approach tackles scalability and cost challenges while freeing up operations teams.





Fast time-to-market



Kubernetes accelerates time-to-market by automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. This allows teams to focus better on even complex software development and work effectively rather than on managing infrastructure, leading to faster product releases.



 





 

Our Kubernetes Development Services Process



At SoftTeco, we specialize in delivering customized Kubernetes solutions that help businesses scale and optimize their applications. We follow a structured and clear process to ensure that your project receives the attention it deserves.




01
Planning & requirements gathering



Our Kubernetes development process starts with a thorough consultation, during which we take the time to understand your business and technical requirements. We assess your current infrastructure, identify potential bottlenecks, and evaluate your scalability needs. This helps us create a Kubernetes strategy that aligns perfectly with your project.




02
Architecture design



Our development team designs a scalable and secure Kubernetes architecture tailored to your application. We collaborate closely with your team to determine the optimal Kubernetes setup, ensuring high availability, fault tolerance, and efficient resource management. We consider factors such as application complexity, traffic volume, security needs, and future scalability.




03
App Development 



During this phase, our developers containerize your applications using Docker for easy deployment across different environments. After that, we create Kubernetes manifests and Helm charts to define, manage, and automate the deployment process, ensuring consistency and efficient resource use across all clusters.




04
Deployment



Our engineers deploy your applications within the Kubernetes environment, ensuring seamless integration with clusters. Also, we set up automated deployment pipelines for continuous delivery, reducing manual work and ensuring smooth rollouts. We follow best practices for resource allocation, scaling, and security to ensure your application is ready for production.




05
Testing & Optimization



Once the deployment is complete, we thoroughly test your application in the Kubernetes environment to ensure it runs smoothly. We conduct various tests, including load, stress, fault, and recovery testing, to identify any potential issues. Based on the results, we optimize Kubernetes for maximum resource efficiency, minimal latency, and improved scalability.




06
Support & Maintenance



After all, we will continue to support your Kubernetes environment, monitor performance metrics, and identify areas for optimization. This phase includes continuous monitoring, troubleshooting, and fine-tuning to ensure your Kubernetes environment remains stable over time and adapts to evolving demands.













 





 

Tech Stack Used by Our Kubernetes Experts




Containerization and orchestration




Docker



Kubernetes



Containerd






Infrastructure and automation




Terraform



Helm



Kustomize



Ansible



Bash/Python/Go






Continuousintegration anddeployment




Jenkins



GitLab CI/CD



CircleCI



Argo CD



Flux






Networking and service mesh




Calico



Istio



Linkerd



Python



Pyramid



TensorFlow



FCM






Observability and security




Kube-bench



Kube-hunter



Aqua Security



Falco



Prometheus



Grafana



ELK Stack



Fluentd






Storage and backup




Ceph



Rook



Velero






Cluster managementand visualization




Kubectl



K9s



Lens






Cloud integration




Amazon EKS



Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)



Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)







 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco’s Kubernetes Developers for Hire?
































01 / 04



Expert team



We have a team of skilled developers with strong experience in Kubernetes across various industries. We handle projects of any complexity, ensuring efficient setup and long-term performance. In addition, our developers are highly experienced in cloud services, like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure and will guarantee smooth integration with your existing infrastructure.





02 / 04



Seamless scalability



Kubernetes is built for scalability, and SoftTeco makes sure your infrastructure is ready to grow effortlessly. Whether you need to scale globally or manage fluctuating traffic, our developers develop Kubernetes solutions that help you meet your growing needs, both now and in the future.





03 / 04



Custom solutions



At SoftTeco, we understand that every project has unique requirements. So we don't just implement Kubernetes. Instead, we take the time to understand your infrastructure, challenges, and goals. Our team customizes the infrastructure to 100% fit your workflow and, at the same time, meet business and budget demands.





04 / 04



Rigorous security



SoftTeco prioritizes both quality and security in every project we undertake. As an ISO 27001-certified consulting firm, we adhere to the highest security standards, ensuring the utmost protection of your data and infrastructure. Hire our Kubernetes developers to implement strict security protocols and protect your solutions from potential threats and cyberattacks.




 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									I’m glad that I was able to make the working process of my employees easier and more efficient thanks to SoftTeco’s software development abilities.
								
								
									
										CEO, Eläinklinikka Linnunmäki Oy
									
									
										Gisle Sjöberg
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        In Automation We Trust: What Is GitOps, After All?
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        Container Orchestration 101: All Hail Kubernetes
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
		
		
	
	

		
				
					
		
					
		
				
		

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### White Label IoT Solution for Healthcare Device Control

White Label IoT Solution for Healthcare Device Control





Unlock seamless and secure management of your medical IoT devices with SoftTeco’s customizable cross-platform mobile solution.



Request a demo



 





 

SoftTeco offers a ready-made iOS and Android mobile app and backend, fully customizable and connectable to your IoT devices in weeks, not months.You’ll get the complete source code along with the flexibility of on-premises installation to meet all deployment needs.





 





 

What We Offer




A full-fledged mobile app with customizable source code



App branding and publishing on the App Store and Google Play under your brand name



Device discovery and pairing feature for easy IoT connectivity



Secure user authentication for device access



Various visualization formats of the data collected by IoT device



HIPAA-compliant data storage and adherence to OWASP best practices



Multi-device support and offline access



Complete backend source code deployable on public (AWS, Azure, GCP) or private server



Advanced reporting and data analysis upon request


 





 

How It Works




1 We’ll establish a fast and reliable connection with your IoT devices.



2 The app will be customized to meet the specific needs of your project.



3 We’ll bring your app to Google Play and the App Store in just a few weeks.


 





 

Let’s Discuss Your Project



Whether you’re planning to start your Healthtech MVP project or already have a stable infrastructure that needs optimization, we can help. Contact us to learn more about our solution and how SoftTeco can enhance your operations.



Get in touch



 





 

Benefits of SoftTeco’s IoT Solution for Healthcare





Out-of-the-box secure application 



HIPAA, OWASP















Full control over the source code



no third-party No-Code or Low Code dependencies















Quick Proof of Concept (POC) development















Fast time-to-market
 



Weeks rather than months















Tailored customization for your device















Saved costs and development time













 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Smart mirror



Innovative dental exam solution




  




iOS



Android



Web













Supersapiens



An energy management system for athletes




  




iOS



Android



Web



 





 

Other Healthcare IT Solutions

 



 



ML & AI-Driven Healthcare Software









Leveraging AI, machine learning, and data science to enhance healthcare data management, improve diagnostic accuracy, and deliver advanced analytics for personalized treatment plans.






Predictive analytics for disease diagnosis

Private LLM-based analysis and chat solution

Medical image analysis via X-rays, MRIs, and CT

Remote patient monitoring via devices and apps




 



 



Mobile Health (mHealth) Solutions









Developing mobile healthcare applications and mobile versions of existing software to enhance patient connectivity and support personnel in their daily operations.






Remote patient monitoring and consulting

Appointments management and scheduling

Integration with a needed third-party systems

Customizable reminders and alerts




 



 



Advanced EMR / EHR Software









Creating EMR and EHR software to support healthcare facilities in managing patient records efficiently and improving transparency and interoperability across departments.






Full patient history, including prescriptions

Security, privacy, quality control, and governance

Automatic reminders and appointment scheduling

Smooth data transfer between EHR systems




 



 



HIPAA-Compliant Cloud Solutions









Delivering HIPAA-compliant cloud solutions to securely manage sensitive healthcare data.Whether you need to build new apps, migrate existing ones, or modernize legacy systems, SoftTeco is ready to assist at every step.






Certified Cloud Partners

Public, private, hybrid, and multi-cloud solutions to meet all infrastructure needs

Fast delivery through CI/CD, automation, and ready-made tools

Seamless integration with existing systems




 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### DevOps Consulting Services

DevOps Consulting Services





Experiencing issues with environment configurations or lacking the needed speed and scalability for consistent releases? SoftTeco’s DevOps consulting services will help you identify the existing bottlenecks and eliminate them through effective DevOps implementation.



Request a consultation



 





 




300




  





Customers globally






17




  





years in the IT market






500




  





Employees






450




  





Successful projects



 




 

When Do You Need DevOps Consulting?



We recommend DevOps consulting service if you are currently facing one of the following issues:



Lack of proper communication and collaboration between the teamsDifferent configurations of development, testing, and production environmentsA concerning number of post-release bugs and issuesSlow and ineffective debugging and insufficient testing



These are the most common challenges that businesses face when their processes lack automation and organization. DevOps is aimed at bringing clarity and efficiency to your IT infrastructure and can help close the gap between the development and operations teams.

 






 

Gear up for greater efficiency and scalability with SoftTeco’s DevOps consulting solutions. Together, we will create a detailed roadmap to success and will help you make DevOps an integral and effective part of your business.



Contact for more information



 





 

SoftTeco’s DevOps Consulting Services



SoftTeco provides DevOps consultation services for any aspect of your current operations, be it DevOps implementation from the start or optimization of existing processes:

 



 



 Implementation Consulting









SoftTeco offers end-to-end DevOps implementation at any stage of your product lifecycle to leverage your development, testing, and deployment. The first step in that process is DevOps strategy consulting, during which we explain and implement the core DevOps aspects, such as IaaC and module containerization.






Discussion of Infrastructure as a Code implementation

Setup of CI/CD pipelines

Implementation of containerization

Implementation of test automation




 



 



 Launch Consulting









Once you are ready for DevOps implementation, we will walk you through every step of the process, starting from strategic planning. Together, we will plan a detailed launch strategy and will create an implementation roadmap with clear deliverables.






In-house team training and upskilling (upon the request)

Creation of the implementation plan

Assessment of your existing infrastructure

Selection of tools for successful DevOps implementation




 



 



 Tech Consulting









For successful DevOps solution launch, you will need a suitable tech stack that would correspond to set project requirements. Our experts will help you select the most effective tools and will oversee their integration with your systems in use.






Assistance with selecting the needed tools

Assistance with configuration and installation of selected tools

Team training (upon the request)

Monitoring of the correct performance of selected tools




 



 



 Optimization Consulting









Have you already adopted DevOps but it doesn’t meet your expectations yet? Our team will gladly help you optimize your current processes and investigate what bottlenecks might disrupt or slow down your operation.






Performance of audits to identify and eliminate issues

Identification of knowledge gaps and corresponding training

Assistance with resolution of identified issues

Actionable suggestions on further improvements




 



 



 Project Recovery Consulting









If you need to quickly recover your DevOps project or it needs extra technical knowledge, SoftTeco is ready to help. We will help you get your systems up and running and will identify the biggest risk areas and ways of improving them.






Thorough evaluation of your system and processes

Identification of the biggest bottlenecks and issues

Assistance with improving your processes

Definition of new DevOps goals and suggestions for achieving them




 





 

Our DevOps Implementation Strategy



When you decide to implement DevOps in your business, SoftTeco will assist you in every step of the process, ensuring that the implementation goes smoothly and that your business remains functional while we integrate new tools and processes. Below is a detailed breakdown of the whole process:




01
Planning



The first step of the DevOps implementation process is planning and assessment of your current systems and resources. SoftTeco’s experts will evaluate the readiness of your system and will identify possible bottlenecks and ways to resolve them. We will also map out your business expectations to make sure that the delivered results are aligned with them in the future.




02
Roadmap design



The next critical step is the creation of the implementation roadmap that outlines the main deliverables, a plan for the CI/CD implementation, and a containerization strategy. Our team will also propose a test automation strategy to ensure consistent and effective testing throughout the implementation process.




03
Project realization



The execution of the predefined strategy starts from introducing the Infrastructure-as-a-Service model into your processes and from setting up and configuring the selected tools. Next, we implement the CI/CD pipeline and automate the testing process. Our team will work closely with your in-house experts and will provide needed support and assistance.




04
Security Integration & Support



To ensure that your systems are secured against potential threats, we follow the DevSecOps approach that helps us design a highly secure DevOps implementation process from the start. And once the DevOps solution is successfully adopted, our team will closely monitor its performance and immediately fine-tune or fix any issues.













 





 

Main Challenges in DevOps Adoption & How We Resolve Them



DevOps adoption is a complex process that might bring specific challenges - here is how SoftTeco resolves them through our DevOps consulting and managed cloud services:





Lack of in-house knowledge



It is a common case that organizations lack needed technical experience, especially if they have not followed the DevOps approach before. SoftTeco offers extensive training for all involved teams and makes sure that by the end of the project, your specialists are proficient in selected technologies and tools.

















Legacy integrations



Some legacy systems may not be fully compatible with modern solutions but we know how to work with it. SoftTeco will not only select the most suitable tech stack but will also modernize your legacy systems to make them 100% compatible with the proposed solution.

















Incorrect selection of tools



The selection and configuration of tools are an important part of the DevOps adoption process, and SoftTeco is ready to assist you with them. Together, we will select not only the needed tech stack but will also set up all needed processes, such as IaaC and CI/CD.













 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Blueprint



A SaaS-based business intelligence solution




  




Web













RoadLab



Autonomous Road Roughness Measuring app for World Bank




  




iOS



Android



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your DevOps Consulting Firm?





01



Rich experience



Being a highly experienced DevOps consulting company, SoftTeco helps clients from various industries reach their business goals in an efficient manner through successful DevOps implementation. We approach every project individually and propose a personalized solution to every client, ensuring that every smallest aspect of the project is taken care of.





02



Calculated approach



DevOps implementation requires a well-crafted strategy and thorough planning. Using our extensive knowledge of the methodology and rich experience in designing custom IT solutions, we approach our DevOps projects in a holistic manner. That being said, we ensure that your organization is ready on all levels before starting the implementation process.





03



Rigorous security



SoftTeco is an ISO 27001-certified DevOps consulting firm that puts a primary focus on the security of our custom software solutions. We follow the DevSecOps approach that enables continuous security from the very beginning of the development process and thus safeguard our clients’ products against malicious attacks.





04



Variety of engagement models



Due to the individual approach to every project, SoftTeco offers several engagement models to suit different business needs. Whether you need end-to-end DevOps implementation, lack certain technical skills, or need DevOps consulting services, we will propose a solution that will 100% fit your requirements and budget. 



 





 

Tech stack

 







 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        In Automation We Trust: What Is GitOps, After All?
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        Container Orchestration 101: All Hail Kubernetes
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
		
		
	
	

		
				
					
		
					
		
				
		

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Digital Transformation Consulting Services

Digital Transformation Consulting





In today's fast-paced digital landscape, businesses must continually evolve to stay competitive. Digital transformation is essential when your organization faces challenges such as outdated technology, inefficient processes, poor customer engagement or the need for rapid scalability. Whether you're looking to innovate, streamline operations or enhance customer experiences, digital transformation can propel your business into the future.



Request a consultation



 





 

Our Digital Transformation Consulting Services



At SoftTeco, we provide comprehensive digital transformation consulting services that are meticulously tailored to meet the unique needs of your business. Our services encompass every aspect of digital transformation, ensuring that your organization can seamlessly transition to a more efficient, innovative, and customer-centric operation.











 



 




01 / 06



Business Process Analysis




We start by conducting an in-depth analysis of your current business processes. Our team of experts identifies inefficiencies and areas for improvement, providing a clear understanding of where digital transformation can have the most significant impact.






02 / 06



Technology Assessment




Our specialists carefully review your current technology stack to identify outdated systems and recommend modern, scalable solutions that will support your business goals. 






03 / 06



Strategy Development




We develop a customized digital transformation roadmap tailored to your business goals. Our strategy includes clear objectives, key performance indicators (KPIs), and a detailed plan for implementation, ensuring that your digital transformation is strategically aligned with your overall business vision.






04 / 06



Implementation Planning




Our implementation planning service involves developing a comprehensive plan that outlines timelines, resources, and risk management strategies. We ensure that every aspect of your digital transformation is meticulously planned for seamless execution.






05 / 06



Change Management




At SoftTeco, we provide robust change management support to guide your team through the transition. Our experts work closely with your staff to ensure minimal disruption and maximum adoption of new processes and technologies, fostering a smooth and quality transformation experience.






06 / 06



Continuous Improvement




Digital transformation is an ongoing process, and our commitment to your success doesn’t end with implementation. We provide continuous support and optimization to keep your business ahead of the curve, helping you adapt to new challenges and seize emerging opportunities.



 





 

How Can a Digital Transformation Consulting Firm Benefit Your Business?



Partnering with a digital transformation consultancy like SoftTeco brings numerous benefits to your organization:





Expert Guidance & Strategic Planning



Gain access to seasoned professionals who provide expert guidance and strategic planning tailored to your business needs. Our specialists will help you navigate the complexities of digital transformation, ensuring a clear and effective path forward.





Cost Efficiency



Optimize your resources and reduce operational costs through streamlined processes and automated solutions. Our digital transformation consulting services identify inefficiencies and implement cost-effective strategies that enhance productivity and profitability.





Enhanced Customer Experience



Transform your customer interactions with personalized and seamless digital experiences. By leveraging the latest technologies, we will help you meet and exceed customer expectations, fostering loyalty and satisfaction.





Competitive Advantage



Stay ahead of your competitors by adopting innovative solutions and practices. Digital transformation enables you to respond swiftly to market changes, capitalize on new opportunities, and maintain a competitive edge.





Data-Driven Decision-Making



Harness the power of data analytics to make informed, strategic decisions. Our consulting services provide you with actionable insights and a deeper understanding of your business performance and market trends.





Scalable Solutions



Implement scalable solutions that grow with your business. We ensure that your digital transformation strategy is adaptable and capable of supporting future expansion and evolving business needs.





Risk Management



Mitigate risks associated with digital transformation through comprehensive risk management strategies. Our experts identify potential challenges and develop contingency plans to ensure a smooth and successful transition.



 





 

At SoftTeco, we know that digital transformation is key to staying ahead. Partner with us to unlock unparalleled efficiency and innovation for your business.





Contact Us



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco for Digital Transformation Strategy Consulting






  





Deep Dive into Client's Business Processes



One of SoftTeco's key strengths is our ability to immerse ourselves in your business. We take the time to understand your unique processes and challenges, ensuring that our solutions are perfectly aligned with your needs.







  





Comprehensive Implementation



SoftTeco is not just a consulting firm. We offer end-to-end digital transformation services, from strategy development to full implementation. We're committed to seeing your project through to completion and beyond.







  





Full In-House Expertise



We pride ourselves on our in-house capabilities. Unlike many firms, we don't rely on contractors. Our large team of skilled IT professionals is adept at implementing digital transformation solutions quickly and effectively, ensuring consistency, quality, and accountability.







  





Established Communication



Strong communication between architects and implementation teams is crucial for a successful transformation. The vision conceived during the design and architectural stages is precisely realized in implementation, leading to a more efficient and successful digital transformation process.







  





Global Reach & Experience



With extensive experience in global digital transformation projects, we have the knowledge and expertise to handle complex, large-scale initiatives. No matter where your business is located, we're ready to help you transform.







  





Agile Team Deployment



Our ability to quickly assemble a team of experienced IT developers means we can start your project without delay. Our team is ready to implement digital transformation swiftly and efficiently.







  





Transparency & Tracking



We ensure complete transparency throughout the transformation process. You'll have full visibility into every step, with the ability to track progress and outcomes in real-time.







  





Ongoing Support



Digital transformation is an ongoing journey. SoftTeco provides continuous support to help you adapt to new challenges and opportunities, ensuring sustained success.




 






 

Industries that We Work With

 








 

Our Digital Transformation Consulting Process



Transitioning to digital transformation with SoftTeco involves a structured and transparent approach:




01
Discovery



We start by understanding your business, challenges, and objectives through workshops and stakeholder interviews.




02
Analysis



Conduct a thorough analysis of your current processes, technology, and organizational readiness.




03
Strategy



Develop a comprehensive digital transformation strategy with clear goals and a roadmap.




04
Implementation



Execute the strategy with a focus on seamless integration, user adoption, and minimal disruption.




05
Optimization



Continuously monitor, evaluate, and optimize to ensure long-term success and scalability.




06
Support & Maintenance



Post-implementation, we offer ongoing support to ensure sustained success.













 





 

Our team of experts is ready to transform your business with cutting-edge solutions. Choose SoftTeco for a partner who truly understands your needs.





Request a Quote



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									Their great programming skills and effective communication processes are what sets them apart from other companies. Highly motivated engineers who learn fast and deliver.
								
								
									
										Co-founder & CTO, Boutiq
									
									
										Shai Ben-Tovim
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Featured projects







View all cases

 



 







Gameinsight



An e-learning platform dedicated to European football




  




Web













C2 SmartLight



A system for managing smart outdoor lighting solutions




  




Web



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Ecommerce Consulting Services

Ecommerce Consulting Services





SoftTeco provides ecommerce services for businesses of any size and domain. By focusing on both functionality and visual appeal, we help you bring your customers closer through omnichannel presence and innovative user-centric tools.



Request a quote



 





 

SoftTeco’s Ecommerce Consulting Services





Technology Consulting



SoftTeco will consult you on the most preferable ecommerce technologies to use, so the selected tech stack works flawlessly within your existing system and brings you maximal benefit.





SEO consulting



It is critical that your ecommerce store is visible to shoppers and for that, we offer SEO consulting services to help you fine-tune the store in correspondence with search engine requirements.





Security and Compliance Consulting



To make sure that your store is well-protected against potential threats, we provide security and compliance consulting and assist you in incorporating security best practices.





UX/UI Consulting



The design of an ecommerce website is one of its unique selling points. SoftTeco’s UX/UI design team can help you select the most suitable design based on your brand and vision.





Data Management and Analytics Advisory



SoftTeco can help you effectively manage your shoppers and assets via extensive data management consulting. By uncovering the full potential of the data, you get access to in-depth insights.





CMS and Cloud Migration Consulting



Tap into new business opportunities by migrating your ecommerce platform to a new CMS or to a cloud and let SoftTeco guide you through the intricacies of the migration process.



 





 

Ecommerce Development Services













01 / 06



Ecommerce Platform Launch



SoftTeco will help you launch the ecommerce platform of your choice through careful integration with your existing services and accurate fine-tuning. Before the launch, we will make sure that the platform supports the needed workloads and is fully functioning, thus providing an ultimate user experience.





02 / 06



UX/UI Design



Visual appeal is a critical component of any ecommerce solution, so let SoftTeco help you with creating an eye-catching and user-centric design. Our UX/UI design team has rich experience in creating stunning visuals and rich user interfaces that encourage interaction and promote conversions.





03 / 06



Web store customization



As an experienced ecommerce services provider, we understand that every business is unique. Thus, we provide customization services for the ecommerce platform of your choice. Our developers will customize the platform in full accordance with the needs of your business and will ensure the final product captures the essence of your brand.





04 / 06



Platform integration



In order to provide seamless user experience and establish smooth workflows, you will need to integrate your ecommerce platform with existing services and SoftTeco is here to help. We will make sure all your systems work together as one so you benefit from omnichannel presence and centralized data collection and processing.





05 / 06



Platform migration



SoftTeco helps business migrate from their legacy systems to new and powerful ecommerce platforms. When performing platform migration, we place primary focus on data integrity and make sure to retain and optimize all your existing processes.





06 / 06



Testing and audit



Ecommerce solutions require constant testing and auditing to ensure their seamless performance. SoftTeco offers ecommerce testing and auditing services to timely identify any risk areas, find opportunities for improvement and identify reasons why your conversions might be low and how to improve that.



 





  









 

Integration With the Most Popular Payment System



Lack of sufficient payment options is one of the top reasons why users abandon their carts - and we don’t want that. SoftTeco offers secure integration with the most popular payment systems, so your customers never think twice about hitting the “Buy now” button.





Stripe



Being one of the most popular and secure payment methods, Stripe is featured in 98% of ecommerce websites that we create. Our development team uses specialized tools provided by Stripe to seamlessly integrate it in your website.















PayPal



PayPal offers a variety of integration options, depending on the type and size of your business, so don’t worry - SoftTeco will find the most suitable solution exactly for your ecommerce store. Just tell us what you need, and our team will get on the task immediately.















Square



Not only does Square offer a high-performing platform to set up your ecommerce store, but it also integrates easily with the most popular platforms, including Shopify, Magento, and WordPress to provide superior customer service.















Stax



Stax is a reliable provider of various ecommerce tools, including payment processing, that can be easily integrated with your existing store. In addition, Stax offers the creation of a custom shopping cart that can also be added to your store, if needed. 













 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									I’m glad that I was able to make the working process of my employees easier and more efficient thanks to SoftTeco’s software development abilities.
								
								
									
										CEO, Eläinklinikka Linnunmäki Oy
									
									
										Gisle Sjöberg
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Our Ecommerce Solutions





01



Online Stores









SoftTeco is an ecommerce solutions company that is highly experienced in designing online stores for various industries and of any level of complexity. We are driven by a desire to create a consistent and positive customer experience and to ensure that we use the most sufficient tools and follow the industry’s best practices.





02



B2B Trade Portals









We design high-performing B2B trade portals to help you manage all your B2B interactions in a highly efficient manner. Enhance your business relationships, solidify partnerships, and cooperate with local and international traders via a centralized and secure solution.





03



Ecommerce Aggregators









SoftTeco creates ecommerce aggregators that bring together multiple vendors and consolidate their offers in one place in an organized and user-focused manner. Manage and host various brands through intuitive and easy interface and offer vendors various promotional options. 





04



Magento Development









SoftTeco offers Magento ecommerce solutions for medium-sized and large businesses that value advanced customization, rich functionality, and multiple integration capabilities. We help with Magento store launch, fine-tuning, and support as well as with Magento migration.





05



Drupal Development









Drupal is perfect for startups and small businesses that need a free and easy to set up ecommerce solution. SoftTeco can help you properly set up and launch your Drupal store, so you seamlessly enter the market and bring your customers closer.





06



Shopify Development









SoftTeco is highly experienced with Shopify - a perfect solution for businesses of all sizes and from various industries. Shopify provides incredibly easy setup, has rich functionality, and has a very intuitive user interface. 





07



M-commerce Development









Help your customers interact with your business in a convenient manner through an appealing and high-performing mobile ecommerce solution. SoftTeco can design either a native or a cross-platform mobile ecommerce application to fulfill your business needs and bring your customers closer.





08



Ecommerce Analytics









Always be aware of the state of your business and drive conversions with SoftTeco’s ecommerce analytics services. We offer advanced analytics tools to help you track down every activity on your ecommerce store and to use the collected data as a driving force behind your marketing efforts.



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Ecommerce Solutions Company?



Solid securityQuick deliveryRich experience in the IT industryPitch-perfect UX/UIFast response time

 





 

Set up a high-performing online store and attract customers via captivating design and user-centric functionality. With a variety of options available, SoftTeco will make sure you get the most out of your ecommerce platform of choice.





Contact us to learn more



 





 

Tech stack

 







 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Cheetah



Food Delivery Service for small business




  




iOS













Movado



A web portal for international watchmaking conglomerate




  




Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 

All about Ecommerce Service

 



 



​​Magento Development



5 E-Commerce Features Your Potential Customers May Want



Last-Mile Optimization













An Overview of Hybris Commerce Platform



Top ecommerce trends 2024



11 Most Common UX Mistakes in Ecommerce













 



 

+ Show more

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Shopify Development Services

Shopify Development Services





Open new market opportunities and develop a robust, revenue-focused ecommerce store with SoftTeco’s Shopify development services.



Request a quote



 





 

Shopify Website Development Services by SoftTeco



With over 15 years of experience in the IT industry, SoftTeco provides various Shopify ecommerce development services to help you reach your objectives. Whether you're launching a new online store or looking to enhance your existing site, our experienced developers can help you create a seamless, engaging, and high-performing shopping experience for your customers.

 





 



01



Store Set-Up



Let us help you kickstart your online store with our seamless Shopify store development services. Our experts will ensure that your ecommerce website is visually appealing, user-friendly, and optimized for conversions right from the start. Count on SoftTeco to bring your ideas to life.





02



App Development



Enhance the functionality of your Shopify store with SoftTeco’s custom app development tailored to your specific business needs. From improving customer experience to streamlining operations, we create apps that drive results.





03



Integration Services



Streamline your business processes by integrating essential third-party tools and services with your Shopify store. Whether it's payment gateways, shipping solutions, CRM, or marketing automation, SoftTeco ensures seamless integration for maximum efficiency.





04



Shopify Migration Services



Looking to migrate your existing online store to Shopify? Leave it to us! Our experts will handle the entire process smoothly, ensuring that your data remains secure and your new Shopify store is up and running in no time.





05



Custom Theme Development



Stand out from the competition with a unique, eye-catching theme that reflects your brand identity. Our team creates responsive, memorable, and engaging themes for your ecommerce store that will convert visitors into customers and support your future growth.





06



Support & Maintenance



Our commitment to your success doesn't end with the launch of your store. We provide support and maintenance services to help you keep your store running smoothly, address any issues promptly, and ensure optimal performance at all times.



 





 

Discover how SoftTeco can help you leverage the full Shopify potential and create a pitch-perfect ecommerce website as you picture it. Contact us to learn more about our Shopify ecommerce development services. 





Tell me more



 





 

Our Development Process



At SoftTeco, we follow a structured development process that ensures transparency, efficiency, and quality in every project we undertake.




01
Project Discussion



To create a successful Shopify website, we start with a one-on-one discussion where we delve into your vision, goals, and target audience. We aim to understand your brand inside and out so that we can tailor a solution that resonates with your customers and meets your business objectives.




02
Design Creation



Using the gathered requirements, our team will develop low- and high-fidelity wireframes to illustrate the project's design and functionality. Once we have your approval, we'll move forward with developing the architecture and refining the UX/UI elements of your solution.




03
Development



During this stage, our skilled developers will create a fully functional Shopify store. We ensure the site is responsive, fast, and equipped with all the necessary features to facilitate seamless transactions and customer interactions.




04
Testing



Quality is non-negotiable, so we rigorously test every aspect of your store using various testing techniques and approaches. From functionality to security, we leave no stone unturned to ensure flawless work of the final product.




05
Launch



After finishing testing your Shopify solution, we start a deployment process, ensuring a smooth and successful launch. From setting up your domain to optimizing for search engines, we've got you covered.




06
Post-Launch Support



Post-launch, SoftTeco provides comprehensive support and maintenance for your project to prevent glitches and unexpected errors. We also handle requests for new features and updates to keep your site current.













 





 

Hire SoftTeco Developers for Shopify Web Development Services



To ensure your ecommerce store performs at its best, partnering with reliable developers is essential. At SoftTeco, we understand that website performance and design are key to user engagement and experience. Our Shopify development team pays close attention to every detail, ensuring your website reflects your brand and meets your expectations perfectly, minimizing any risk of lost conversions.



Contact us



 





 

Choose an engagement model that fits your Shopify development needs




 

Staff Augmentation





Dedicated Team





Complete IT Outsourcing

 



 

Our staff augmentation model is the perfect solution when your in-house team needs an extra pair of hands or a specific skill set. SoftTeco can provide you with experienced and skilled professionals who seamlessly integrate into your team to cover the existing resource gap.




SA




Extensive scope





Flexible budget





Pay-as-you-go







We assemble self-organized teams based on your needs to expand your business's development capabilities. These teams manage comprehensive projects such as store development, setup, and migration. Our Project Manager will oversee the project, ensuring the team meets deadlines and requirements.




DT




Large pool of talent





Cost savings





Transparentpricing model







Free up your time and resources by entrusting your entire Shopify development to our capable hands. Our full IT outsourcing model allows you to offload the entire responsibility of your ecommerce platform, from development and maintenance to support and optimization. Let us handle the technicalities while you concentrate on propelling your business forward.




CIO




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support



 


 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco As Your Shopify Ecommerce Development Company?






  





Rich Expertise



SoftTeco harnesses years of experience working with Shopify to create robust ecommerce websites for businesses in different industries. Whether you're launching a new store or upgrading an existing one, we have the skills to deliver results that exceed expectations.







  





Commitment to Quality



For us, quality is a standard. As an ISO 9001:2015 certified company, SoftTeco is committed to providing top-notch Shopify development services. Our team brings professionalism and passion to every project, ensuring the final result fully aligns with your requirements.







  





Quick Delivery



At SoftTeco, we have well-defined work processes and deliver solutions on time without compromising quality. Launch your store faster and start generating revenue sooner with our efficient project execution.







  





Transparency



We believe in open communication and transparency at every stage of development. You'll always be informed and involved, with clear insights into progress and timelines. Trust and clarity form the foundation of our client relationships.




 





 

Our work







View all cases

 






			
				
					
				
					BubCon
					A next generation mass-market messenger app
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					Communication
					Mobile
				
			
		
			
				
					
				
					Elgie AI Chat
					An AI-powered chatbot for enhanced customer service
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					IT Services
					ML
				
			
		







 

All about Shopify Service

 




 


​​Shopify Website Cost











A Guide to Shopify Speed Optimization







Magento vs Shopify


 




 

+ Show more

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Neobank Development Company

Neobank Development Company



Deliver comprehensive banking services across any digital channel without the need to establish physical bank branches. With SoftTeco’s neobank development services, you can effortlessly tap into digital banking and establish a strong presence in the fintech market.



Request a quote



 





 




300




  





Customers worldwide






17




  





Years on the market






500




  





Employees






450




  





Successful projects



 





 

Why Partner With SoftTeco for Neobank Development?













01 / 03



Quick delivery



After we receive the confirmation of your registration in the charter bank, we start the infrastructure deployment and will deliver the requested solution in several months only.





02 / 03



Concurrent digital transformation



We can work on the digital transformation of your current IT environment without disrupting the main operational flow, thus ensuring that your business remains functioning during software optimization.





03 / 03



Unique solutions for every client



We precisely tailor every solution to the unique needs of our clients by conducting thorough audits and using our deep industry knowledge to propose the best solution in accordance with your current assets and desired goals.



 





 

How Can SoftTeco Help You Tap Into Fintech Digital Transformation?



We understand that our clients have different IT environments and thus, have different needs when it comes to digital banking. SoftTeco therefore offers two main service categories:

 



 



Custom Neobank Platform Development









Perfect for those who request developing a neobank solution from scratch and do not have an existing fintech environment. In the case of custom neobank development, SoftTeco provides you with a white-label fintech solution, equipped with core banking features, that can be personalized exactly how you need it. 






Core banking features

Integrations with needed services 

Mobile app development

Ongoing support




 



 



Digital Transformation of an Existing Environment









If you already use a fintech solution or have digital banking processes in place but want to streamline and expand them, SoftTeco offers digital transformation of your current environment. After assessing your available resources and matching them with your business goals, we perform a setup of a full-featured neobank based on your existing system.






Audit of your current assets

Compliance check 

Implementation of needed features

Addition of integrations




 





 

Launch your neobank platform in 70 business days and establish a strong digital presence in the fintech industry with SoftTeco





Discuss my project



 





 

Fintech Services for Neobank Development



Discover a full range of services that we deliver to fintech companies and individuals to help them build a neobank that would precisely meet their needs:

 



 

Custom product developmentNeobank development consultingReal-Time Digital Twin Creation Optimization and ModernizationMaintenance & SupportCompliance

 

Custom product development



SoftTeco offers custom development of a neobank solution, including the implementation of all required features and neobank app development. We will also take care of ensuring the platform’s compliance with core regulations and will offer you ongoing consulting services and support.




Platform design and development



Integrations with core banking systems



Mobile application development 



Testing & QA services


 





 

Neobank development consulting



If you are considering neobank solutions development but are not sure what exactly would be the best option for your business, SoftTeco offers consulting services, aimed at clarifying your goals and selecting the best solution to meet them.




Analysis of available resources and markets to enter



Definition of your business goals and KPIs



Creation of a business strategy



Estimation of the neobank development cost


 





 

Real-Time Digital Twin Creation 



In accordance with the Digital Operational Resilience Act, SoftTeco offers development of a real-time digital twin to safeguard the operation of your business in case of a market disruption. In this way, you receive a comprehensive backup of all your data and processes that are easy to recover. 




DORA compliance



Effective risk management



Real-time digital twinning



Quick business recovery 


 





 

Optimization and Modernization



Is your current digital banking solution falling short of expectation? If you feel like it’s underperforming, our team is ready to help you out. We will modernize your legacy software, eliminate bottlenecks and useless components, and improve the performance in correspondence with the industry standards.




Refactoring and redesign



Infrastructure optimization



Implementation of new features



Platform migration (upon request)


 





 

Maintenance & Support



A neobank solution is a highly complex platform that requires constant updates and improvements. SoftTeco’s maintenance and support services are aimed at ensuring the constant high level of security and performance of your platform. 




24/7 support



Software patching and updating



Elimination of technical issues 



Implementation of improvements


 





 

Compliance



SoftTeco can help you ensure the regulatory compliance of your software and double-check that it meets the requirements of the major fintech regulations, such as DORA, MiCAR, and ISO. Our compliance services are aimed at ensuring security of the data and operational resilience of your neobank solution.




Compliance with core fintech regulations



Audit of your neobank solution



Actionable recommendations on platform improvements



Assistance with implementing needed changes


 



 





 

Custom AML and KYC System Development 



Anti-Money Laundering and Know-Your-Customer systems are critical for any modern fintech business. To enhance the security of your neobank solution, SoftTeco offers custom development of AML and KYC systems.





Anti-Money Laundering



Our intelligent, AI-based AML screening helps financial organizations comply with core regulations and timely detect any fraudulent activity with its further successful elimination. We offer constant monitoring and ensure full compliance with KYC and FATF’s recommendations on the risk-based approach through our advanced AML solution.



Real-time monitoring of transactionsML-powered behavioral analyticsCustomization of alertsAutomated generation of Suspicious Activity Reports





KYC



SoftTeco offers the development of a powerful Know-Your-Customer system to help you establish a secure digital environment and timely detect any potential threats. We can seamlessly integrate our KYC solution in your current system and fine-tune it in full accordance with your business requirements.



Secured transmission of dataML-based user verificationSupport of electronic digital signaturesAdvanced analytics and reporting 



 





 

Regulatory Compliance





Cryptocurrency regulation and digital operations compliance



MiCAR, DORA















Customer identification and anti-financial crime adherence



AML/CFT, KYC, FATF and OFAC SCP















Compliance with financial standards



SEC Regulation SCI, SOX















Security regulation mechanisms



OWASP, SAMA, NYDFS















Data encryption methods



SSL/TLS, EV SSL, code signing certificates















Data protection compliance



GLBA, GDPR, CCPA, PIPEDA















Accessibility standards adherence



WCAG, ADA















Payment security requirements



PCI DSS, PA DSS, PSD2















Assurance of third-party integrations and services security















Integration of information security 
and quality management standards



ISO 27001, ISO 9001















Software license  compliance













 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco for Neobank Development Services?





Unparalleled quality and security

A wide range of services

Transparency at every stage

High resources availability and low attrition

Full compliance with core banking regulations

Flexible and efficient development process



Request a consultation



 





 

Our Delivery Models




 

Outstaffing Services





Dedicated Team





Full IT Outsourcing

 



 

Hire as many professionals as your project requires without the need to assemble a full team. This delivery model is great for those who have an existing skill gap and need to close it as quickly as possible.




OS




Extensive scope





Flexible budget





Pay-as-you-go







Hire a full team of professionals to manage and deliver your digital banking project within the defined time period and budget. Managed by SoftTeco’s Project Manager, our team will expertly handle your requests and bring your idea to life in the most efficient manner.




DT




Large pool of talent





Cost savings





Transparentpricing model







SoftTeco offers a full IT outsourcing model, meaning we will plan out and deliver your project from start to finish. From full-cycle neobank development to IT infrastructure support and compliance check, we will manage every aspect of the project. 




FIO




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support



 


 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 






			
				
					
				
					Synder App
					Penetration testing for AI-driven accounting platform 
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					Business & Finance
					Web
				
			
		
			
				
					
				
					Simcall
					An application for managing prepaid wireless cellular connectivity
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					Telecommunications
					Web
				
			
		







 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									The team managed to achieve impressive results in a short period of time and they flawlessly handed unexpected glitches during the development process.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, Kumba
									
									
										Amit Kadosh
									
								
							
						
					

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### BigCommerce Development Services

BigCommerce Development Services





Build your perfect ecommerce store with SoftTeco's BigCommerce development services and establish a robust online presence. Our technical expertise and industry knowledge ensure the development of a customized, high-performing solution that will increase your revenue and propel future business growth.



Get a consultation



 





 

BigCommerce Development Services by SoftTeco



As a BigCommerce development company, we have extensive experience with this robust platform and offer a comprehensive range of BigCommerce development services designed to help your business thrive in the digital marketplace. Our services include:









01



Custom Website Development



Rely on SoftTeco’s BigCommerce website development services to build a user-friendly ecommerce store that will drive revenue, attract new customers, and retain existing ones. Our experts perfectly handle all aspects of setting up a feature-reach website from scratch, ensuring all required integrations and plugins are in place.





02



BigCommerce App Development Services



Enhance the usability of your store with bespoke applications tailored to your specific business needs. Our team can help you develop high-performing cross-platform or native apps that will seamlessly integrate with your BigCommerce store, improving the overall shopping experience for your customers.





03



Theme Design & Customization



Differentiate your brand with visually appealing themes to reflect your unique identity. SoftTeco provides expert theme customization and development services to make your store eye-catching and user-friendly. Whether you need adjustments to an existing theme or a brand-new design, we have you covered.





04



Plugin Development



Enhance your BigCommerce store by integrating custom plugins crafted to streamline operations. Our developers design robust plugins that introduce unique features and functionalities to expand the capabilities of your store. Whether it's payment gateways or inventory management systems, we ensure seamless integration for everything to work in harmony.





05



Consulting Services



Looking to gain a deeper understanding of BigCommerce capabilities? Benefit from SoftTeco's expertise and unleash the complete potential of the BigCommerce platform with our consulting services. Our specialists not only offer strategic guidance but also help you set up your website with BigCommerce, ensuring that you make the most of the platform's features.





06



API Integration



SoftTeco’s experts can seamlessly integrate third-party applications with your BigCommerce store to unlock new capabilities and drive efficiency. Our deep understanding of BigCommerce allows us to incorporate any custom solution of your choice to enhance the selling and functionality of your store.





07



Performance Optimization



Our team will help you maximize the speed, reliability, and overall performance of your website. By fine-tuning key aspects, we ensure that your online store loads faster and ascends to higher ranks on search engines, bolstering its visibility and driving increased traffic.





08



Migration to BigCommerce



Migrate your current ecommerce platform to BigCommerce with SoftTeco. Our team guarantees a secure data transfer, whether from another platform or upgrading within BigCommerce itself. With minimal downtime and a focus on data integrity, we make the transition hassle-free and efficient.





09



Support & Maintenance



Count on SoftTeco for reliable support and maintenance services to keep your BigCommerce store running smoothly and stable, especially during crucial hours. Our dedicated team offers continuous assistance to maintain optimal performance and promptly resolve any issues that may arise.



 





 

Whether you're launching a new store or seeking to enhance your existing BigCommerce platform, SoftTeco has the right expertise to make it happen!





Get in touch



 





 

Benefits of BigCommerce Development



From seamless customization to advanced marketing tools, BigCommerce offers everything you need to create a captivating online store and drive growth. At SoftTeco, we leverage all the benefits of BigCommerce store development, which include:




01
Mobile-Optimized



Most people prefer to use smartphones for online shopping. With BigCommerce, your store is fully optimized for an uninterrupted user experience on mobile devices. Their layouts automatically adjust to fit any device, ensuring customers have a consistent and enjoyable shopping journey with smooth navigation and viewing.




02
Build-in SEO Tools



In the expansive online marketplace, visibility is crucial. BigCommerce is equipped with SEO-focused features that propel stores to the top of search engine results. This helps businesses attract more organic traffic, boosting the chances of conversions.




03
Customization & Scalability



BigCommerce provides an array of themes and templates that can be personalized to match your brand's distinct appearance and atmosphere. Besides, its strong infrastructure guarantees that site performance remains unaffected even as traffic and sales increase, perfectly accommodating the growth of your business.




04
Security



Security is always a top priority. BigCommerce offers top-notch security features to safeguard your ecommerce website, including implementing SSL certificates for secure data transfer and following PCI compliance standards to protect payment data. This helps establish a safe shopping environment for vendors and buyers alike.













 





 

Hire BigCommerce Developers



Choose SoftTeco's tailored BigCommerce web development services for a strategic advantage. With 17+ years of experience, our expert team delivers cutting-edge solutions to meet your goals and attract customers. We work closely with you to bring your vision to life, optimizing every aspect of your ecommerce store for top performance, seamless user experience, and stunning aesthetics.



Hire a BigCommerce Developer



 





 

Why SoftTeco is a Trusted BigCommerce Development Company?









Rich Expertise



With our profound knowledge and experience in BigCommerce development, we deliver top-notch solutions tailored to your needs.





Fast Delivery



We prioritize efficiency without compromising quality, delivering projects promptly to meet your timelines.





Comprehensive Services



From store setup to ongoing maintenance, we offer a full range of BigCommerce development services to support your ecommerce journey.





Result-Driven Focus



Our team is committed to driving tangible results for your business, whether it's increased sales, improved user experience, or streamlined operations.





Transparency



We maintain clear and open communication throughout the development process, ensuring you are informed and actively involved at every stage.





Solid Security



SoftTeco prioritizes data security and implements robust measures to safeguard your BigCommerce store and customer information. 



 





 

Our work







View all cases

 






			
				
					
				
					Formic
					All-round support for a complex Robots-as-a-Service system
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					RPA
					WebMobile
				
			
		
			
				
					
				
					COCO Delivery
					A web platform for food delivery by robots
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					Delivery & Logistics
					Web
				
			
		







 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Drupal Ecommerce Development

Drupal Development





Deliver content-driven, omnichannel experiences and create a powerful ecommerce store with SoftTeco’s Drupal development services.



Request a consultation



 





 

Our Drupal Web Development Services



At SoftTeco, we recognize the power of this platform and know how to work with it to yield the best results to your business. Discover our Drupal CMS development services below:





01



Full Website Development









The platform requires extensive technical expertise, so if you need to build a powerful ecommerce store from scratch, our Drupal web development company is ready to help. We use our experience to set up and configure feature-rich stores and take care of all needed integrations and plugins.





02



Theme Customization & Design









Need to stand out from the competition and create engaging digital experiences across various channels? Our design services are aimed at making ecommerce stores shine through captivating design, smart user flows, and customized themes.





03



Plugin Development









Add extra functionality to your ecommerce store and make it more powerful and user-centric with custom plugin development. We offer not only this Drupal development service but also the seamless integration of plugins into your store.





04



Headless Drupal









Deliver incredible omnichannel experiences and customize the looks of your store precisely as needed with headless Drupal development. At SoftTeco, we know how to effectively decouple a store to maximize its power and how to use Drupal for both backend and frontend development.





05



Store Migration









Since version 8 is not supported anymore and the support for Drupal 7 ends on January 5, 2025, it might be the best time to plan your migration strategy - and SoftTeco is here to help. We will migrate your store securely to the needed version without losing an ounce of data.





06



Support & Maintenance









Once your store is launched and configured, the work does not end here. Our Drupal CMS development company offers its support & maintenance services to help you with troubleshooting, debugging, and continuous maintenance of the store to ensure its seamless performance.





07



Consulting









If you are just planning a store setup or don’t know where to start, we recommend our consulting services, aimed at helping you make the right decision. We will walk you through the main milestones and challenges of the development process and explain how exactly we can help.



 





 

Choose a cooperation model that fits your Drupal development needs



Our Drupal website development services can be easily scaled up and down, depending on your current needs and objectives. This approach provides great flexibility for businesses and allows aligning your budget with requested Drupal development solutions.









Staff Augmentation



If you already have a functioning store that needs a bit of fine-tuning or customization, you can easily hire SoftTeco’s Drupal developers and quickly cover the existing resource gap. Hire as many developers as needed, starting from one, and effortlessly scale up and down.





Dedicated Team



Our Drupal development company provides dedicated teams to handle and manage full-fledged projects, like store development and setup or store migration. Our Project Manager will manage the project and ensure that the team meets set deadlines and requirements.





Full IT Outsourcing



With our full IT outsourcing services, you get a self-managed and efficient team of professionals who will be responsible not only for the project delivery but also for risk management and quality control, thus ensuring the product is fully ready for the release.



 





 

Benefits of Drupal for Ecommerce



Since 2001, this platform remains one of the top choices for ecommerce businesses worldwide - here is why:





Customization: the platform can be fine-tuned as much as your business needs

SEO: it provides extensive SEO options for great visibility and ranking 

Content Management: you can easily add and manage content of various formats  

Security: it is known to be one of the most reliable and secure platforms



Get a quote now



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Drupal Web Development Company?



Learn why our Drupal development consulting company is your best bet: 





01



Rich Expertise



SoftTeco has extensive experience in working with Drupal, including design and setup of powerful ecommerce stores for businesses across industries.





02



Rapid Delivery



We follow the Agile methodology to streamline project delivery and to immediately eliminate any bottlenecks in the development process.





03



Transparency & Trust



Our Drupal website development company uses your preferred methods of communication to keep you updated and notified on the project status in a consistent and clear manner.



 






Hire SoftTeco’s Experts for Drupal Development 



Drupal is an incredibly powerful tool - but it’s also very demanding in terms of technical expertise and knowledge. To get the most out of this platform and to ensure that your ecommerce store performs at its best, you need to partner with reliable developers. SoftTeco’s talented team of Drupal engineers is ready to help you tackle your project challenges, be it full store development, store redesign, or store migration. Our specialists will not only fulfill your project requirements but will also consult you on the best approaches and methods to follow, taking into account the specifics of the industry where your business operates. Contact us to learn more about our Drupal development services and how we structure the work process.






 

Are you looking for power, speed and scalability in your ecommerce store? SoftTeco offers unparalleled Drupal web development services tailored precisely to your business needs.





Contact Us



 





 

Our work







View all cases

 






			
				
					
				
					Synder App
					Penetration testing for AI-driven accounting platform 
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					Business & Finance
					Web
				
			
		
			
				
					
				
					Health Rhythms
					Data-powered application for mental health
assessment and monitoring
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					Healthcare
					WebMobile
				
			
		







 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Dive Live

Dive Live -ScoresAndMore.live



A feature-rich application for divers and coaches







Type



Web, Mobile





Industry



Sport





Country



USA




 





 

Highlights




Automated dive sheet management



Real-time competition streaming



Live diving events ticketing



Various user roles with different levels of access




Challenge



The client, an American company Scores & More LLC, wanted to develop an application for the diving community. The main goal of the app was to facilitate communication and collaboration between divers and coaches. Hence, the client needed a reliable development team to create an application from scratch and to ensure it meets high industry standards. After searching through vendors, the client approached SoftTeco and requested our team to create a web application with its further adaptation for iOS and Android platforms.





 





 

Have a project in mind?



Let us know what kind of software solution you need, and our specialists will provide an estimate cost and deadline.





Start digital transformation



 





  









 

Solution



The client, an American company Scores & More LLC, wanted to
develop an application for the diving community. The main goal of the app was to facilitate communication and collaboration
between divers and coaches. Hence, the client needed a reliable
development team to create an application from scratch and to
ensure it meets high industry standards. After searching through
vendors, the client approached SoftTeco and requested our team
to create a web application with its further adaptation for iOS and Android platforms.





 





 

Tech Stack





Backend




Java



PHP



Maven



Docker



Kafka



Stripe






Frontend




React.js



Chart.js






Mobile




Kotlin



Swift






Database




PosrgreSQL



Redis








 





  









 

How it works



The main pain point of the diving community was lengthy and cumbersome dive sheet management.
Dive Live successfully resolves the issue by allowing
divers to fill in their dive sheets from their profile,
rearrange the dive order as needed, and change it at
any time. In addition, the app automatically
validates the divers’ dive sheets and informs
whether it does not adhere to the meet’s
requirements and what exactly has to be changed.



The application has 8 user roles, each with their own level of access. Upon registration, the user has to join a team and select a corresponding role. The two main roles are divers and coaches. Coaches can create and configure meets, approve pending requests from divers, and assign administrators and judges.





 






  










 

The app is free but offers in-app purchases that allow expanding its functionality and getting access to premium features, like video archive storing or insights. Another monetization method is via meetings, due to their entrance fees and extra costs. The entry fee management panel for admins is written on WordPress and displays all payments, statistics, methods of payment, etc. There is also an option to add a spectator’s fee to the meeting, so divers can buy tickets for their friends and family to observe the competition.



The main benefit of the app is its high usability. When a diver fills in their dive sheet, the information is automatically added to the meet and can be accessed by judges and coaches. As well, the app supports a great number of real-time activities: from live competition streaming to checking the results in real-time. The application is connected with Google Cloud Platform for easier use.





 





 

Results



SoftTeco delivered expected results on time and in full correspondence with set deadlines and requirements. Currently, our team provides ongoing maintenance and support services.





 







 

		
						
						
					
			
						
				
					

 




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	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Melio

Melio



A secure B2B payment solution







Type



Web





Industry



Business & Finance





Country



Israel





Website



meliopayments.com




 





 

Highlights




Integrations with QuickBooks Online and Xero



Optimization of the Quickbooks Desktop service



Implementation of multi-factor authentication



Feature flags implementation for A/B testing




Challenge



The client, an aspiring fintech startup, needed assistance transforming the existing MVP into a full-fledged solution. Based on our skills and experience, the client selected SoftTeco as their software vendor to work alongside the in-house development team.





 





 

Solution



Melio is a secure and effective B2B payment solution that allows users to easily send and request payments, control money flow, generate PDF invoices, and configure the payments in the needed way. It frees the users from the need to use paper checks since the app independently manages their generation and distribution (upon request from vendors). Melio also supports international payments and streamlines a number of processes due to its integration with QuickBooks Online and Xero services.





 





  









 

Tech Stack





Backend




Node.js










Frontend




TypeScript



React.js



Chakra UI



Storybook



Jest



Express



Sequelize






Database




MySQL






Cloud Solutions




AWS



Datadog






How it works



The main task for our team was to expand the apps’ functionality and to add needed integrations for automation and streamlining of processes. By working together with the client’s team, SoftTeco implemented interactions with QuickBooks Online and Xero to help the client avoid data duplication and manage all accounting processes in one place.



Our team was also responsible for optimizing integration with the QuickBooks Desktop legacy application. For this integration, we significantly improved the development experience, fixed a number of bugs, and optimized the code base.





 





  









 

Have a project in mind?



Let us know what kind of software solution you need, and our specialists will provide an estimate cost and deadline. 





Start digital transformation



 





 

Since Melio started as a startup project, it was important for the client to monitor its performance and fine-tune the app on the go. SoftTeco implemented new features by using feature flags for A/B testing, thus allowing the client to selectively show certain features to a certain target audience. We also improved the app’s analytics by adding events and using Segment to pass these events to Amplitude and Braze services for further analysis and processing.



As a next development stage, Melio is planning to work on its white label product, aimed at allowing clients to customize the app in accordance with their particular business needs. Customization will include various aspects, from shifts and colors to specific features to be included. This approach will help Melio be more user-centric, thus bringing more value.





 





  









 

Among the challenges that our team faced was lack of structured processes and the need to effectively integrate with the client’s team without causing downtimes on the project. SoftTeco successfully adapted to the client’s processes, so everyone was on the same page and the work of both teams was fully aligned.





 





 

Results



SoftTeco joined the project in the early startup phase in 2018, and today, with the help of our team, Melio has become a unicorn startup, included in the Forbes Fintech 50 for two years in a row. We successfully optimized the existing application and significantly extended its functionality, precisely meeting all project requirements. The client is satisfied with the results of our work and will continue to collaborate with SoftTeco to further improve the product.





 





 

Our work







View all cases

 






			
				
					
				
					Formic
					All-round support for a complex Robots-as-a-Service system
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					RPA
					WebMobile
				
			
		
			
				
					
				
					Evoz
					An advanced solution for baby monitoring and activity tracking
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					Smart Home Apps
					Mobile
				
			
		







 

		
						
						
					
			
						
				
					

 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Artlist

artlist



An all-in-one platform for video creators







Type



Web





Industry



Media and Entertainment





Country



Israel





Website



artlist.io




 





 

Highlights




Different types of subscriptions and licenses



Advanced search based on tags and filtering



An ML-powered recommendation system



Integration with HitFilm and Imerge apps



Integration with an FXhome discount system






 






  










 

Challenge



A client from Israel offers two web platforms, Artlist and Artgrid, for license-free digital content creation, editing, and distribution. Recently, the client also acquired FXhome software for VFX, (visual effects) and video editing and added it to Artlist.



The main challenge that the client faced was the need to update Artlist's architecture, expand its functionality, and improve overall performance. Moreover, FXhome required modifications to align with the Artlist brand. When the client approached SoftTeco, our data scientists, designers, and development teams were glad to accept the challenge.





 





 

Solution



Artlist is a subscription-based platform that offers royalty-
free music, sound effects (SFX), and stock footage. The
platform provides two interfaces for users and creators.
Artist has a regularly updated library with a wide range of
content and advanced search based on tags. Moreover, the
platform offers a personalized experience via app integration
and a recommendation system created from scratch by SoftTeco. To align with Artlist's brand identity, SoftTeco built FXhome from scratch, redesigned it and integrated many new features.





 





  









 

Tech Stack





Backend




PHP



.Net






Frontend




React.js



Angular






Cloud Solutions




AWS



Microsoft Azure     






How it works



With the client's team, SoftTeco updated
Artlist's architecture, rewrote the backend and
frontend using React.js and. NET. The platform
provided two user interfaces: for a creator and
a user, each with its own admin panel. A free
user account allows users to access unlimited
assets to test with watermarks. A subscription
offers unlimited access to license-free content
with multiple payments. A creator account
allows users to track uploaded content,
manage it, and receive royalties from their
works.



Hence, SoftTeco enhanced both interfaces for initiative navigation for a smooth user experience. Our team improved Artlist's features to make it more user-friendly by adding a regularly updated library with a wide selection of content and advanced search based on tags. To empower users and provide cutting-edge tools, we integrated HitFilm and Imerge apps into Artlist, available through a Max subscription. The
platform is equipped with an ML-powered recommendation system created from scratch by our data scientists. It analyzes users' profiles, hypothesizes, and offers more relevant products. With an ML-powered and semi-automated MMM package, we build ML models for this system, deploy them in the cloud, and update them automatically. Thus, Artlist offers a highly personalized user experience and enables companies to allocate marketing budgets accordingly.





 





  









 

Do you have a similar challenge?



Contact us and let’s discuss how SoftTeco can help your business grow through the power of innovation and digitization.





Let's get started



 





 

To align with Artlist's identity, SoftTeco completely redesigned FXhome and integrated many new features. We also built a personal profile with many subscriptions for video making and payment options, where users can receive discounts for Artlist. Our team built a reward system for FXhome to encourage video creators for their work. We also created part of the onboarding process for its editing application and maintained it after launch.





 





 

Results



SoftTeco effectively collaborated with the client's in-house development team, and together we updated architecture and improved Artlist's overall functionality per the client's requirements. We built a recommendation system from scratch and integrated it into the platform. To align with the Artlist identity, we also completely redesigned FXhome and added many new functions. Now, SoftTeco provides ongoing support for Artlist and will continue to enhance its functionality.





 





 

Our work







View all cases

 






			
				
					
				
					POSTR
					A Social Networking Platform for STEM Professionals
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					Communications
					WebMobileTablet
				
			
		
			
				
					
				
					BubCon
					A next generation mass-market messenger app
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					Communication
					Mobile
				
			
		







 

		
						
						
					
			
						
				
					

 




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### Goal Station

Goal Station



A smart football training system







Type



Mobile





Industry



Sport





Country



Denmark










 





 

Highlights




Drill management and setup via a mobile device



Connection with hardware (Ignite Trainers sensors) via Bluetooth



Built-in default drills and drill customization option



Sensor sensitivity management via a mobile device



Built-in Event feature






 





  









 

Do you have a similar challenge?



Contact us and let’s discuss how SoftTeco can help your business grow through the power of innovation and digitization.





Let's get started



 





 

Challenge



A client from Denmark, who is passionate about football, came up with an idea of a mobile app for training football players. The product was initially available for Android OS only. Over time, the product became outdated, and the design was not appealing enough. This is why the client approached SoftTeco and requested us to develop a cross-platform application for both Android and iOS and to perform an application redesign.

 





 

Solution



Goal Station is a mobile application available on both iOS and
Android. The app helps players improve specific football skills,
such as a first touch, a short pass, and a first pass. The app
connects with Ignite Trainers interactive sensors placed on a
rebounder platform that is used to set up and manage drills.
Based on the vibration and the force of a hit, a sensor determines whether the hit should be counted as a successful one.



The application includes two user roles: a coach and a player. The
coach can use a range of default drills or create custom ones. In addition, a coach can access the Event feature and track players'progress during training sessions. Ultimately, the app boosts football players'abilities and facilitates better training.





 





  









 

Tech Stack





Mobile




Swift



Flutter



Objective-C



Kotlin



Google Firebase






Cloud




Google Cloud Platform






How it works



SoftTeco has developed a cross-platform (iOS and Android) mobile application from scratch using
Flutter. The main issue with an old version of the app
was the outdated architecture and the fact that the
app was available only for Android. SoftTeco made the
architecture consistent by rewriting the code from
scratch in Flutter and rewriting certain parts in Kotlin
and Swift. We have developed the SDK on Android
and optimized an iOS SDK to enable the connection
of sensors with hardware and enhance the app's
functionality. Consequently, over 5,000 existing users
were migrated to the updated database.



The application connects to Ignite Trainers Interactive sensors via Bluetooth. Sensors are installed on the
Rebounder platform and are used to read the vibration and
determine the force of a hit made by a player and, based on
this, count the hit or not. After an exercise, the results are
analyzed by sensors and sent to a mobile app.





 





  









 

The application contains two user roles: a coach and a player. This app allows a coach to select default drills or create their own.



Moreover, a coach is able to set up the desired force of the hit and manage the sensor's sensitivity. Using the Event feature, coaches can also create different workouts and enable the broadcast of drills on the TV screen to track players' progress during training sessions



We also significantly updated the architecture and improved the design of the application to make it more user-centric.





 





 

Results



SoftTeco efficiently designed a cross-platform application for Android and iOS, provided an updated design, and optimized the application. Thus, we
delivered a robust and highly functional product in full
compliance with the client's requirements. SoftTeco
continues to provide updates and will be glad to
expand the application in the future.





 







 

		
						
						
					
			
						
				
					

 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### EasyRegister

EasyRegister



A platform for assembling a talent pool in one secure place







Type



Web, Mobile





Industry



Professional Services





Country



Lithuania




 





 

Highlights




Responsive design (runs on most common mobile platforms)



Text message authentication upon repeated login attempt



Storage on Amazon AWS



Generation of unique tokens for every user record



Limited access to the server




About the Product



EasyRegister is a white-label product that is designed to help companies assemble a pool of needed talents in an easy and swift manner. It is a web application with responsive design that runs equally well on the most popular mobile platforms (iOS, Android, Windows Phone). The solution uses advanced tools to guarantee complete safety of the users’ personal data and to mitigate any risks of the data theft.



EasyRegister was designed to empower organizations with a tool that allows quick assembly of talents in a secured database. The client has complete control over the server and can select the needed APIs for access restriction. The system is highly scalable and can fit an organization of any size and type. The opportunity to add any needed functional grants complete customization in accordance with the business needs.





 





 

Server Security









The system is hosted on Amazon AWS server and has limited number of APIs that have access to it. The client can change the APIs with access at any time.



As well, the client can choose the preferred location for server hosting in accordance to the business needs.







 





  









 

How it Works



Upon signing up, every person receives a unique token generated in the back-end. The token is connected to the user’s record in the database and cannot be stolen or used for two users.



The user needs to enter personal information (phone number) to become a member of the database. After successful registration, the user will have to complete a survey that will determine future assigned tasks for this user.



In case the user has to skip the session in the middle, the system will send a confirmation code to the registered phone number upon the next login attempt. This is done in order to enhance the security of a user’s profile and personal data. The system uses HTTPS protocol for secure communication and PostgreSQL as the database of choice.





 





 

Success Case



Solution for Red Cross







The Red Cross needed a solution that would allow to assemble a pool of volunteers and securely store their data. SoftTeco tailored the product precisely to the needs of the organization and ensured it corresponds to the needed quality standards. The developed application allows the Red Cross to assemble a pool of volunteers and assign them to the tasks, based on the user’s profile, location and set of skills.



As a result, the Red Cross received a solution that fully corresponded to its needs and facilitated the interaction between the organization’s representatives and its volunteers.





 





  









 

Need a high-performing solutionto augment your business?



Let SoftTeco handle your tech challenges and design a software solution tailored precisely to your unique requirements. 





Request a quote



 







 

		
						
						
					
			
						
				
					

 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Simcall

Simcall



An application for managing prepaid wireless cellular connectivity







Type



Web





Industry



Telecommunications





Country



USA




 





 

Highlights




Setup of an AWS backup database



Creation of migrations to add new database objects



Implementation of new APIs on the backend application



Addition of a new set of queries to Retool




Challenge



The client is a communications carrier who takes a long-term or short-term lease on wireless cellular connectivity and resells it both to individual users and businesses. For businesses, the main advantage in purchasing from the client is that a business owner can simulate various scenarios (i.e., a massive volume of phone calls) and test how well their system performs under such load.



When the client approached SoftTeco, he already had an application for collecting and analyzing information on postpaid wireless cellular connectivity. The application was built on Retool and the client requested us to design a similar solution for the prepaid wireless cellular connectivity. The main challenge was, however, that the client needed the application to consist of two parts: one for viewing the general information on all lines and the other for the grouped view.





 





  









 

Solution



Simcall is an application for managing and monitoring prepaid wireless cellular connectivity on the base of the Retool tool and the Postgres database. The application consists of two parts: one is used for managing general information on all prepaid wireless cellular connectivity, and the other provides a comprehensive grouped view. The grouped view is intended for when a carrier has one main line and several sublines, belonging to the main one. In this way, users can find the needed subline easily and in a faster manner, as well as finding how many spots are left in the group to fill them up.





 





 

Tech Stack





Backend




Python



AWS RDS (Postgres)






Frontend




Retool



React



JavaScript



Tailwind



Vite






How it works



The application is based on the Retool platform and the Postgres database. Since the SoftTeco’s team designed the app from scratch, we had to take care of both frontend and backend parts of the application. For the frontend, we had to redesign the app’s logic (using the existing application for postpaid lines as a base) so it enables general data scanning for all lines and a drill-down for the grouped view. The new application also required new indications for the database (whether the line is main or not) and new filters, which we enabled by using JavaScript.





 





  









 

Need a high-performing solution to augment your business?



Let SoftTeco handle your tech challenges and design a software solution tailored precisely to your unique requirements. 





Request a quote



 





 

In order to switch from using Retool to creating an independent frontend application, the team used Vite, React and Tailwind. We also created new views (i.e., pages) by following a specific and updated business logic and added a new set of queries to the Retool service.



As for the backend part of the application, SoftTeco first stabilized the existing production database and disclosed multiple potential transaction lockers on the database. We then created migrations to add several new database objects according to the provided business logic. To ensure that the product functions as intended, the team added a staging database to test the migrations before running them on the production database. In addition, we added an Excel adapter to convert Google Sheets tables into database entries and added a separation of environments. This enabled the application to make requests to the production and staging databases independently.





 





 

Results



The SoftTeco team delivered a high-performing application that fully meets the client’s requirements and allows him to effectively manage both prepaid and postpaid lines. Right now, we continue working on the project, adding enhancements and improvements.





 







 

		
						
						
					
			
						
				
					

 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Banana AI

Banana AI



An AI-based solution for banana leaf disease detection







Type



Web, ML





Industry



Agriculture





Country



Israel




 





 

Highlights




Object detection for advanced monitoring



Object classification with deep learning



AI-based software module for image extraction



Comprehensive reports on the plant’s condition




Challenge



The client has reached out to SoftTeco with the aim of developing an innovative AI-driven solution for monitoring, controlling, and observing the cultivation of banana trees in greenhouses and plantations to automate the routine tasks of agronomists and promptly detect issues.



The client’s idea revolved around developing a computer vision system capable of automatically inspecting banana seedling leaves for signs of damage and characterizing them. However, the main challenge was the lack of suitable data to train the algorithm.





 





  









 

Solution



SoftTeco employed object detectors and deep learning techniques to create and train a model capable of identifying damaged banana leaves. Our specialists have scrupulously collected the essential dataset required for model training.



Next, Softteco designed a specialized software module aimed at inspecting and categorizing the possible leaf damage. Following the analysis of the captured images, this module generates a comprehensive report that offers a detailed assessment of the plant's condition.





 





 

Tech Stack





Components




Python



Pytorch



OpenCV



Pandas



NumPy



Streamlit






How it works



At our recommendation, the client strategically placed object-detecting cameras within the greenhouse, primarily positioning them above and to the side, to capture periodic snapshots of banana seedlings. The client can adjust the frequency of these image captures according to their preferences.





 





  









 

Using Python and PyTorch, SoftTeco's team designed and implemented a software module that extracts images of detected leaves and forwards them to the classifier model for further in-depth analysis. SoftTeco’s specialists developed and fine-tuned the classifier model, ensuring it meets the unique requirements of this project.



Once the classifier model receives the images, it engages in a systematic classification process, meticulously distinguishing between damaged and healthy leaves. After this analysis, the model generates an exhaustive PDF report that provides a comprehensive overview of the plant's condition. Furthermore, it offers valuable care recommendations to guide agronomists in optimizing the growth of banana seedlings.





 





 

Results



SoftTeco has not only built and fine-tuned the classifying model but has done so with meticulous attention to detail, aligning closely with the project's unique requirements. The client is fully satisfied with the result and continues to work with us on further projects.





 





 

Have a project in mind?



Let us know what kind of software solution you need, and our specialists will provide an estimate cost and deadline. 





Start digital transformation



 







 

		
						
						
					
			
						
				
					

 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### White Label Application for IoT Device Management

White Label Applicationfor IoT Device Management





Tap into easy and secure management of your IoT devices with SoftTeco’s white label cross-platform mobile solution.



Request a demo



 





 

SoftTeco offers a white label cross-platform mobile application that runs seamlessly on both iOS and Android and helps your end-users, employees and partners easily connect to and manage your IoT devices. Enjoy the business benefits of our 100% customizable solution and publish it to Google Play & App Store in a few weeks, not months.





 





 

How It Works






1




Connect



Establish a quick and reliable connection with your IoT devices.












2




Customize



Tailor the application to the unique requirements of your project.












3




Publish



Bring your app to Google Play and App Store in just a few weeks.









 





 

Benefits of SoftTeco’s White Label App for IoT





Rapid Launch



SoftTeco provides you with a full-featured mobile solution that requires only a few weeks to be customized and connected to your IoT devices. This approach grants incredibly short time-to-market and saves you 80% of development time and costs.





Full Control



Our white label application does not depend on any third-party No-Code or Low-Code providers, thus granting you full control over its source code and the data that it collects and stores. Thus, you can ensure a high level of security and implement any changes exactly when you need to.





Security & Compliance



We develop all our software products with security and regulatory compliance in mind. Our white label mobile application is based on OWASP best practices to ensure its tight security and corresponds to HIPAA and GDPR regulations regarding data protection and access.





Quick POC Development



If you are kick-starting your IoT startup and need to present your project to stakeholders, our app provides quick Proof of Concept development. With reduced development time and costs, you can quickly validate your idea and its market value.





Domain variety



Our white-label app is a universal solution that can be used across various industries: healthcare, industry 4.0, energy, transportation, fintech, logistics, etc. Just tell us how you need to customize the app and we will tailor it to industry-specific requirements.





Scalability & Flexibility



SoftTeco offers seamless app scaling upon your request, so it aligns with the development of your business and effectively handles the growing load. We also offer extensive customization options to fully adhere the application to your unique brand.



 





 

Let’s Discuss Your Project



Whether you are just planning to start an IoT MVP project or already have a stable IoT infrastructure and want to facilitate and optimize its management, we can help. Contact us to learn more about the solution and about the ways SoftTeco can help you with its customization and support.



Tell me more



 





 

Out-of-the-box Features





Full-fledged Mobile Application



A ready app with customizable source code and with multiple options for modification from our side.





Branding & Publishing



You will be able to easily publish the branded app in App Store and Google Play under your name.





Device Discovery& Pairing



Device discovery and pairing feature for easy IoT devices discovery and seamless connectivity.





Secure User Authentication



Secure user authentication helps ensure that only authorized users can access and control your IoT devices.





Data Visualization



The app visualizes the data collected by IoT devices in a chronological timeline form view and through various visualization formats.





Regulatory compliance



HIPAA-compliant data storage and adherence to OWASP best practices for unparalleled data security





Multi-device support



Multi-device support enables easy access from several devices and seamless and secure data synchronization.





Offline mode



Offline mode provides uninterrupted app operation without Internet connection and provides automatic synchronization upon connection restoration





Full-fledged backend



Full-fledged backend comes with the source code that you can deploy on a public cloud or your private server.





Advanced reporting



The app performs detailed data analysis upon the request and provides clear and informative reports



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### CV Builder

CV Builder



A web platform for centralized creation and management of employees’ resumes







Type



Web





Industry



IT Services





Country



Lithuania




 





 

Highlights




Integration with ChatGPT for resume optimization



Generation of email notifications upon CV expiration



Search by tags and key skills to quickly find specialists



Default skill sets that automatically match specific positions for easier resume filling






 





  








 

Do you have a similar challenge?



Contact us and let’s discuss how SoftTeco can help your business grow through the power of innovation and digitization.





Let's get started



 






 

Challenge



Due to the constantly growing size of our company, SoftTeco processes a
great number of resumes on a daily basis. We needed a convenient tool to
efficiently create and update them and keep all employees’ resumes in one
place. In addition, we needed to convert CVs into different formats to send
them to the clients without losing a bit of information. This is how the
SoftTeco team came up with an idea of developing an internal tool for CV
management.





 





 

Solution



CV Builder is a tool for managing all resumes
within a company. With its help, employees
can easily create their resumes via a
user-friendly template that automatically
fills in certain fields, depending on the
selected position. As well, CV Builder allows
managers to access the CVs of their team
members and monitor whether they are
filled correctly. In this way, we ensure the
high quality of the resumes and their
correspondence to the current level of
employees’ skills and knowledge.





 





  









 

Tech Stack





Backend




MongoDB



Strapi.js






Frontend




React



Lodash



I18n











Postcss







Tailwindcss



Material UI







Redux






QA




Jest  



SuperTest






How it works



At first, the functionality of CV Builder was limited to the creation and export of resumes only. But after some time, for the purpose of maintaining high CV quality, the
team added an option for managers to monitor and edit the CVs of their team members. Hence, we expanded the number of user roles of the platform and assigned different levels of access to them.



In order to ensure seamless circulation of employee
data within the company, CV Builder is integrated with Statics - an internal system of keeping records of all employees (including the ones on the bench). In this way, the information about an employee’s availability and their stack of technology is always available.





 





  









 

To make the process of CV creation easier for employees, we incorporated several useful functions. First, there is an option of searching for a resume by selected keywords or tags. These tags can later be saved in Statics and can be used to search for employees for a specific tech stack..



CV Builder is also integrated with ChatGPT for easier and faster resume optimization. The two services communicate via SoftTeco’s and Open AI’s APIs. There
is a specific button on the CV page that allows users to improve the “Summary” and “Projects” sections of their resumes. The original text serves as a base for improvement, but ChatGPT can also generate the needed copy from scratch, thus assisting users in filling in the needed CV areas.





 





 

Results



Right now, SoftTeco is actively using the CV Builder tool and we have seen great improvement in the quality of our employees’ resumes. Our clients are also satisfied with the convenient and universal format of the resumes and they left positive feedback on it. SoftTeco is now planning to expand the functionality of the platform and add new features to it to add more automation to the current process of CV management.





 







 

		
						
						
					
			
						
				
					

 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Resource Management System

Resource Management System



An enterprise platform for Request for Resources process automation







Type



Web





Industry



IT Services





Country



Lithuania




 





 

Highlights




Advanced analytics on client demand and employee availability



Integration with the internal employee and CV databases



Email notifications for all user roles



Knowledge base for employees



Automated skills match calculator




Challenge



SoftTeco is an international software development company that provides a wide range of services, including web and mobile development, machine learning and data science, Quality Assurance, Salesforce, DevOps and UX/UI design. Before implementing Resource Management System (RMS), the SoftTeco’s Sales Department was working with two external systems, Zoho and Jira, to manage all interactions with clients and to create Request For Resources (RFRs). However, the systems were not integrated, and their simultaneous use often lead to duplicate data, miscommunication, and similar issues.



Considering the amount of sales data that the company generates and processes on a regular basis, we decided to develop our own platform that would contain all needed information about both our clients and employees and would allow automating all steps of the RFR process, from request creation to its successful completion.





 





 

Do you have a similar challenge?



Contact us and let’s discuss how SoftTeco can help your business grow through the power of innovation and digitization.





Let's get started



 





  









 

Solution



RMS is a comprehensive solution for managing the Request for Resources (RFR) process easily and to add more transparency and visibility to your sales operations. The platform allows easy creation of the RFR request, automated candidate selection, training of employee’s soft skills, and interview scheduling. With the help of the platform, all authorized users (sales representatives, team managers, CTOs, DMs) can instantly see the details of a selected RFR and its status and the history of communication with the client. As for employees, the RMS platform helps them prepare for upcoming interviews and easily access information about the project and the client’s expectations.





 





 

Tech Stack





Backend




Node.js



NestJs






Frontend




TypeScript



React.js






Database




PosrgreSQL






How it works



The main idea behind RMS development was to eliminate the use of two separate systems (Zoho and Jira) and replace them with an all-in-one solution. RMS is integrated with two of SoftTeco’s internal platforms: employee database and CV database for easy retrieval of the information on needed candidates. As soon as the sales representative receives a request from a client, they can create an RFR in the system to start the selection process. To ensure all historical data remains integral, we integrated RMS with Zoho and transferred the data from the latter.



The RMS system has several user groups: sales representatives, bench managers, team leads, etc. They can follow certain technologies in the system and thus receive an email notification that candidates are needed for this specific technology. The email also contains a link, by clicking on which a user can add candidates to a project. The sales representative then checks the proposed candidates and can send their CVs to the client directly from the platform. In order to make the RFR proposal as accurate as possible, the SoftTeco’s development team implemented an automated calculator that evaluates how well the candidate’s skills match the client’s requirements.





 





  









 

In addition to request processing, the RMS system also helps employees prepare for interviews and polish their hard and soft skills. The system contains various documents and useful links that employees can access freely. When an employee is selected for a project, they see the client’s requirements in the system and can prepare for the upcoming work correspondingly. In this way, SoftTeco maintains a high level of quality of services and ensures there is no mismatch between the client’s expectations and the team.



The RMS platform contains all SoftTeco’s projects in a form of case studies. We therefore can showcase our expertise to the clients, which is especially useful when the past project has a similar functionality to the new one. As well, RMS offers advanced analytics on bench employees, most demanded technologies, and overall clients’ demands. With its help, we can allocate the candidates more accurately and precisely match the skill gaps with suitable talents.





 





 

Results



The SoftTeco team has successfully developed and implemented an advanced platform for internal use that integrates with other internal systems and provides a holistic and transparent view on our sales process. We will continue to expand the platform’s functionality and are now working on implementing the competence matrix that will be used for planning one’s individual professional development and growth.





 





  











 

		
						
						
					
			
						
				
					

 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Mobile Banking App Development Services

Mobile Banking App Development Services





SoftTeco's mobile banking app development leverages 17+ years of IT experience. Our team excels in developing robust solutions, enhancing user experience, boosting security, and introducing new features to help you realize your vision.



Request a consultation



 





 

Mobile Banking Solutions That SoftTeco Creates



SoftTeco utilizes the latest technologies and trends for smooth banking app development,  providing our customers with modern and feature-rich applications. Our expertise includes various languages and platforms, covering native development, cross-platform technologies, and hybrid solutions. We develop:

 



 

Digital Payment ApplicationsMoney Transfer AppsExpense Tracking ApplicationsDigital WalletsBlockchain-Based WalletsEmbedded Banking SolutionsP2P Payment AppsInvestment Applications

 

Digital Payment Applications



SoftTeco develops seamless custom-built digital payment applications that make it easier than ever to make secure and convenient transactions, allowing you to make payments with just a few taps on your mobile device.





 





 

Money Transfer Apps



Experience the convenience of instant money transfers with just a few simple steps. SoftTeco designs and develops swift and secure money transfer apps, providing users with a seamless financial experience for effortless fund transfers.





 





 

Expense Tracking Applications



Take control of your spending with SoftTeco’s intuitive expense tracking applications. Our solutions empower users to monitor expenses, set budgets, and gain valuable insights into their financial habits, providing insights into spending patterns.





 





 

Digital Wallets



SoftTeco develops digital wallets that combine security and convenience, allowing users to store, manage, and transact with their digital assets. Make purchases in-store or online with ease, knowing that your financial details are protected.





 





 

Blockchain-Based Wallets



Wallets for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others enable users to store, send, and receive digital currencies directly from their mobile devices. SoftTeco's team develops blockchain-based wallets, offering secure and user-friendly experiences.





 





 

Embedded Banking Solutions



Integrate banking functionality seamlessly into your existing applications with our embedded banking solutions. SoftTeco will help you enhance the user experience and provide comprehensive financial services within your platform, creating a one-stop solution for your customers.





 





 

P2P Payment Apps



Simplify group payments and eliminate IOU hassles with our user-friendly peer-to-peer payment solutions. SoftTeco's P2P payment apps guarantee rapid and secure transactions, emphasizing innovation and reliability in mobile banking app development.





 





 

Investment Applications



SoftTeco's expertise extends to crafting investment applications that provide users with tools to manage and track their investments, fostering informed decision-making in the financial sphere. Access investment opportunities, track your portfolio, and stay informed about market trends—all from the palm of your hand.





 



 





 

Transform your business with SoftTeco's expertise in mobile banking app development. We aim to elevate your financial services, providing a seamless digital experience for both you and your customers.





Get more information



 





 

SoftTeco’s Banking Mobile App Development Services



At SoftTeco, we understand the dynamic nature of the banking sector and the increasing demand for secure and user-friendly mobile banking solutions. That's why we offer a comprehensive suite of mobile banking app development services tailored specifically to meet the needs of banks and financial institutions looking to elevate their digital presence and provide unparalleled customer experiences.





Mobile Banking App Development



As a finance app development company, we specialize in creating cutting-edge mobile banking applications. SoftTeco’s developers excel in building intuitive, feature-rich mobile banking applications that empower users to take control of their finances on the go, ensuring a seamless and secure banking experience.





Business Analysis



At SoftTeco, we conduct in-depth business analysis to ensure that your app aligns with your business goals and meets the needs of your customers. Our business analysts will work closely with you to understand your specific requirements, identify opportunities for improvement, and devise a tailored strategy for your mobile banking app development.





QA Testing



As a financial app development company, SoftTeco prioritizes delivering high-quality mobile banking apps. Our rigorous QA testing processes ensure that your app functions seamlessly across all devices and platforms, giving your customers the confidence to manage their finances anytime and anywhere.





App Modernization



Stay ahead of the curve with our app modernization services. SoftTeco can help you upgrade your existing banking app to meet the evolving needs of your customers. Our specialist will ensure that your applications remain competitive, efficient, and capable of meeting evolving industry standards.





UX/UI Design



We at SoftTeco understand the importance of creating an app that not only works well but looks great too. Our designers will craft a visually stunning and intuitive user interface, ensuring a seamless and visually appealing banking experience for your customers.





Support and Maintenance



SoftTeco provides ongoing support and maintenance services to ensure the continuous functionality and optimal performance of your mobile banking apps. Our team is dedicated to promptly addressing issues, implementing updates, and offering assistance as needed.



 





 

Key Features of Our Finance Applications





Intuitive User Interface



Our mobile banking apps are designed with a user-friendly interface, making it easy for customers to effortlessly navigate and access various services.





Account Management



Users can view account balances, transaction history, and manage multiple accounts from a single platform, providing a comprehensive overview of their financial standing.





Bill Payments and Transfers



Customers can pay bills, schedule payments, and transfer funds between accounts or to other individuals securely and conveniently.





Personalized Alerts



Users can set up custom alerts for account activities, ensuring they stay informed about important transactions and account changes.





Customer Support



Our apps provide easy access to customer support through chat, phone, or secure messaging for any assistance or inquiries.





Voice-Activated Financial Assistants



SoftTeco can integrate advanced voice recognition into your app, enabling seamless transactions, account checks, and personalized financial insights through simple voice commands.





Biometric Authentication



With our advanced biometric authentication features, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that your financial data is protected by your unique biometric identifiers.





Blockchain-Based Transactions



By using blockchain technology, our apps make sure every financial transaction is secure and cannot be changed, offering you unparalleled trust and reliability.





Smart Contracts



SoftTeco’s applications enable you to create, execute, and enforce digital contracts automatically, saving you time and reducing the risk of human error or manipulation.





Integration with IoT Devices



SoftTeco can develop apps to link with IoT devices, offering real-time financial data, automated transactions, and optimized financial activities based on the information from your connected devices.





Security and Privacy Controls



From data encryption to customizable privacy settings, our applications empower you to manage and safeguard your financial information according to your preferences.







Intuitive User Interface



Our mobile banking apps are designed with a user-friendly interface, making it easy for customers to effortlessly navigate and access various services.





Account Management



Users can view account balances, transaction history, and manage multiple accounts from a single platform, providing a comprehensive overview of their financial standing.





Bill Payments and Transfers



Customers can pay bills, schedule payments, and transfer funds between accounts or to other individuals securely and conveniently.





Personalized Alerts



Users can set up custom alerts for account activities, ensuring they stay informed about important transactions and account changes.





Customer Support



Our apps provide easy access to customer support through chat, phone, or secure messaging for any assistance or inquiries.





Voice-Activated Financial Assistants



SoftTeco can integrate advanced voice recognition into your app, enabling seamless transactions, account checks, and personalized financial insights through simple voice commands.





Biometric Authentication



With our advanced biometric authentication features, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that your financial data is protected by your unique biometric identifiers.





Blockchain-Based Transactions



By using blockchain technology, our apps make sure every financial transaction is secure and cannot be changed, offering you unparalleled trust and reliability.





Smart Contracts



SoftTeco’s applications enable you to create, execute, and enforce digital contracts automatically, saving you time and reducing the risk of human error or manipulation.





Integration with IoT Devices



SoftTeco can develop apps to link with IoT devices, offering real-time financial data, automated transactions, and optimized financial activities based on the information from your connected devices.





Security and Privacy Controls



From data encryption to customizable privacy settings, our applications empower you to manage and safeguard your financial information according to your preferences.



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Finance Mobile App Development Company?





17+ years of experience in finance app development

Swift mobile banking app development and on-time project delivery

High level of security with ISO 27001 certification

Management quality with ISO 9001certification

200+ partners and clients all over the world

A client-centered and transparent approach

500+ highly skilled developers

User-friendly UX/UI design

 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									We were looking for a partner who would not only develop our product but would also share our passion for innovation and technology and SoftTeco turned out to be the perfect fit.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, BrandShield
									
									
										Elad Falckovitch
									
								
							
						
					

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### HR Software Development Services

HR Software Development Services





Human resources software is an essential tool for businesses of all sizes. SoftTeco is dedicated to providing top-of-the-line HR software development services to help businesses automate the hiring process, increase productivity, and improve the quality of recruitment.





Request a quote








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 






 

Why Do You Need HR Software? 



The significance of human resource development software lies in its ability to uphold the confidentiality and security of sensitive employee data, including personal information like addresses and bank details. Additionally, it plays a crucial role in facilitating the growth of businesses by enabling managers and administrators to automate fundamental functions, freeing up time for more pressing matters.



Benefits of Custom HR Software Development



As an HR software development company, SoftTeco can help you create a customized software solution that can simplify and automate various tasks. That will help you to:





Streamline HR processes, such as recruiting, onboarding, and performance management, which can save time and reduce errors.





Have a system that fits your unique requirements, tailored to your business needs.





Provide employees with self-service portals that allow them to access important information, manage their own data and submit absence requests.





Track working hours and manage overtime to avoid legal issues.





Store documents in a secure, centralized location.





Monitor employee performance and work KPIs.



 





 

Make use of SoftTeco’s HR software development expertise to accelerate and streamline your company's recruiting, onboarding, payroll, and learning processes.





Contact us to learn more



 





 

HR Software Development Services That SoftTeco Offers











 



 




01 / 05



Consulting Services




SoftTeco’s consulting services include market analysis and competition research for human resource software. Our specialists can help you conceptualize HR solutions, define product differentiation and Unique Selling Proposition (USP), and provide guidance for tech stack selection.






02 / 05



Mobile and Web HRM Applications




Recruit new talents and manage tasks at any time. SoftTeco’s development services cater to both web and mobile platforms, ensuring that your application is responsive, user-friendly, and accessible from anywhere.






03 / 05



Modernization of Legacy HRM Applications




Modernize your existing systems and meet the changing needs of technology. Our specialists can help set up your new HR system, migrate legacy data, and integrate the solution with other enterprise applications. Transform your recruiting strategy, reduce operational costs, and enhance employee experience with SoftTeco.






04 / 05



Custom HR Software Development




SoftTeco creates robust and functional HRM, HCM, and HRIS solutions equipped with the necessary features to meet your organization's objectives. Our developers utilize a cutting-edge technology stack to ensure the highest quality product.






05 / 05



Optimization and Maintenance




SoftTeco offers continuous support and regular updates to ensure your HRMS software solutions function seamlessly. Our team will monitor your application's performance, provide optimization & hardening, and track and process timely upgrades to keep your system up-to-date.



 





 

SoftTeco’s HR Software Integration Capabilities



As a company with over 15 years of experience in the IT industry, SoftTeco excels in collaborating with various existing HR systems. Our commitment to compatibility ensures a seamless experience for our clients, enabling them to leverage their existing HR infrastructure. The SoftTeco team can create software solutions that effortlessly integrate with a range of prominent HR systems, including:

 































































 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									The team managed to achieve impressive results in a short period of time and they flawlessly handed unexpected glitches during the development process.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, Kumba
									
									
										Amit Kadosh
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        Best Employee Engagement Ideas to Keep Your Team Happy
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        How AI Can Help Your HR Processes (and Why It Can’t 100% Replace Humans)
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
		
		
	
	

		
				
					
		
					
		
				
		

 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your HR Software Development Company?





Protecting your data in accordance with GDPR

Rich experience in HR software and the IT industry

Full-cycle development with quick delivery

User-friendly software solutions with pitch-perfect UX/UI

Flexible support model that reach any customer need

Solid security

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Google Cloud Development Services

Google Cloud Development Services 





SoftTeco’s Google Cloud offers a range of cloud platform services that can help you build, deploy, and manage applications easily, but not only that. You can use GSP cloud services to build apps with generative AI, deploy apps quickly, and analyze diverse data in seconds, all with Google-grade security.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

SoftTeco’s Google Cloud Platform Services





GCP Consulting



To maximize the benefits of Google Cloud for your business, choosing the suitable cloud software model and architecture is fundamental, which is where SoftTeco comes in. Our experts conduct a full assessment of your environment to gain valuable insights into your business and craft a forward-looking strategy that will help you meet all your goals.





GCP App Development 



If you need a power-packed cloud infrastructure to meet your business goals for scalability, security, and cost-efficiency, rely on SoftTeco's developers. Our team's extensive knowledge of tools and frameworks allows us to rapidly build highly secure, feature-rich, scalable cloud-based web and mobile applications.





GCP Migration



SoftTeco specializes in migration services, helping businesses seamlessly migrate their applications, data, and workloads to the GСP. We will assist you in leveraging the scalability, reliability, and performance of the GCP with minimal disruption and data loss, empowering your business to thrive in a cloud-native environment.





GCP Automation



Whether you need to streamline business processes and redirect your focus towards company growth, trust SoftTeco’s GCP cloud services. Our specialists design and implement the most suitable solutions for automation of routine tasks and orchestration of complex workflows to enhance productivity and significantly reduce costs.





GCP Management & Support



Count on SoftTeco's services team to manage and maintain your business for smooth operations so you can concentrate on the company's growth. We conduct infrastructure audits, comprehensive monitoring, and support to address any issues and ensure increased ROI resilience and a high-performance environment.





GCP Analytics



Whether you're seeking real-time analytics or predictive modeling for full data value and strategic advantage, SoftTeco's GCP services ensure your business goals are met. Our analysts leverage powerful tools to process, analyze, and visualize your data effectively, extract meaningful insights, and drive informed decision-making.





AI & ML Services



To help businesses solve their most pressing problems, SoftTeco provides cutting-edge AI and ML solutions through GCP. From predictive analytics and natural language processing to image recognition and recommendation systems, our specialists help businesses unlock the data's full potential and drive innovation.





GCP Integration



If you're seeking seamless, secure and fast integration with Google Cloud Platform (GCP), SoftTeco offers expert assistance tailored to your needs. Our experts seamlessly integrate GCP with ML and IoT applications and third-party services used by businesses, optimizing their business performance.





GCP Security & Risk Management



If you need to ensure the high security of your infrastructure and data, you can count on SoftTeco. Using advanced security tools of GCP, our experts will guard you from cyber threats and ensure compliance with industry regulations while providing complete risk management and mitigation to safe business now and in the future.







GCP Consulting



To maximize the benefits of Google Cloud for your business, choosing the suitable cloud software model and architecture is fundamental, which is where SoftTeco comes in. Our experts conduct a full assessment of your environment to gain valuable insights into your business and craft a forward-looking strategy that will help you meet all your goals.





GCP App Development 



If you need a power-packed cloud infrastructure to meet your business goals for scalability, security, and cost-efficiency, rely on SoftTeco's developers. Our team's extensive knowledge of tools and frameworks allows us to rapidly build highly secure, feature-rich, scalable cloud-based web and mobile applications.





GCP Migration



SoftTeco specializes in migration services, helping businesses seamlessly migrate their applications, data, and workloads to the GCP. We will assist you in leveraging the scalability, reliability, and performance of the GCP with minimal disruption and data loss, empowering your business to thrive in a cloud-native environment.





GCP Automation



Whether you need to streamline business processes and redirect your focus towards company growth, trust SoftTeco’s GCP cloud services. Our specialists design and implement the most suitable solutions for automation of routine tasks and orchestration of complex workflows to enhance productivity and significantly reduce costs.





GCP Management & Support



Count on SoftTeco's services team to manage and maintain your business for smooth operations so you can concentrate on the company's growth. We conduct infrastructure audits, comprehensive monitoring, and support to address any issues and ensure increased ROI resilience and a high-performance environment.





GCP Analytics



Whether you're seeking real-time analytics or predictive modeling for full data value and strategic advantage, SoftTeco's GCP services ensure your business goals are met. Our analysts leverage powerful tools to process, analyze, and visualize your data effectively, extract meaningful insights, and drive informed decision-making.





AI & ML Services



To help businesses solve their most pressing problems, SoftTeco provides cutting-edge AI and ML solutions through GCP. From predictive analytics and natural language processing to image recognition and recommendation systems, our specialists help businesses unlock the data's full potential and drive innovation.





GCP Integration



If you're seeking seamless, secure and fast integration with Google Cloud Platform (GCP), SoftTeco offers expert assistance tailored to your needs. Our experts seamlessly integrate GCP with ML and IoT applications and third-party services used by businesses, optimizing their business performance.





GCP Security & Risk Management



If you need to ensure the high security of your infrastructure and data, you can count on SoftTeco. Using advanced security tools of GCP, our experts will guard you from cyber threats and ensure compliance with industry regulations while providing complete risk management and mitigation to safe business now and in the future.



 















 

Get the most out of our Google Cloud development services to gain flexibility, security, and the newest capabilities that will help you transform your business.





Let's get started



 





 

Why Use the Google Cloud Platform



As so many large companies like Nintendo, eBay, PayPal, and Bloomberg are moving to GCP, there are many reasons for this - take a look at some of them:











 



 




01 / 07



Cost Savings




GCP operates on a pay-as-you-go pricing model, enabling businesses to pay only for the resources they use. This cost-effective approach allows for better budget management and resource optimization.






02 / 07



First-Rate Security Level




The platform provides robust tools for identity management, encryption, and data protection. It can control resource access using Identity and Access Management (IAM) tools. Thus, GCP adheres to the best secure methods to provide businesses with a safe environment for power and secure development.






03 / 07



Innovation




GCP supports cutting-edge technologies. Thus, businesses can take advantage of advanced services, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, using strong tools for analytics to embrace innovation seamlessly and keep pace with their competitors.






04 / 07



Fast Deployment




Google Cloud services platform allows companies to develop, deploy, manage, and scale applications rapidly with services like Google Kubernetes Engine and App Engine.






05 / 07



Simply to Use




GCP is easy to use due to its user-friendly interfaces and streamlined services. The platforms’ Console provides a centralized dashboard for managing resources, while Cloud Functions lets developers focus on code without worrying about infrastructure.






06 / 07



Global Reach




GCP's global network of data centers allows businesses to deploy apps close to their users, reducing latency. It improves the overall user experience, especially for a geographically dispersed audience.






07 / 07



Hybrid Cloud Capabilities




GCP supports hybrid cloud deployments, allowing businesses to integrate on-premises and cloud environments seamlessly. Using it, organizations can optimize their infrastructure and IT operations, including flexibility, scalability, and security.



 





 

Google Technologies thatWe Use

 

































































































 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Google Cloud Development Company?





Cross-Industry Expertise



SoftTeco's extensive experience spans a diverse range of industries, including but not limited to healthcare, finance, and e-commerce. It equips our teams with a comprehensive understanding of different business ecosystems, allowing us to offer solutions that are both industry-specific and beneficial.





Rich Experience



With over 17+ years of experience in the IT industry, SoftTeco has extensive experience in Google Cloud development and related tools and technologies. We will navigate any issues that deal with GCP, optimize performance, and implement best practices to assist you in meeting established goals.





Proven Security



Being an ISO 27001 certified and reliable Google cloud service provider, SoftTeco puts security at the top of our priority. Using a security-first approach, we ensure that all aspects of your software are thoroughly tested and safeguarded before being delivered.





Client-Centric Approach



At SoftTeco, we follow a client-centric approach to Google Cloud platform service delivery. We work closely with our customers to understand their specific needs and keep them informed throughout development. Your opinions and feedback are crucial for us!



 






 

SoftTeco’s Industry Focus

 








 

Hire Google Cloud Developers from SoftTeco



Hiring Google Cloud developers from SoftTeco is more than just investing in technical expertise; it is gaining a dedicated partner committed to your project's success. With over 17 years of experience in software development and 450 successful projects, we will provide you with the best cloud solution you are looking for.We have certified developers who have designed, built, and deployed cloud solutions. Whatever you need - they also provide smooth migration, integration with advanced technologies, and ongoing optimization. Rely on SoftTeco's developers and harness the benefits of swift execution, elevated security standards, and unparalleled service quality - all in line with Google Cloud's unique advantages.



Hire google app developers



 





 

Tech stack

 









 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									We have been working with SoftTeco for more than 7 years and throughout all this time, they never missed a deadline and always displayed the highest level of professionalism.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, Blueprint
									
									
										Irina Lunin
									
								
							
						
					

 





 


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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### DigitalOcean Services

DigitalOcean Services





At SoftTeco, we understand the power and potential of the cloud. That's why we offer a comprehensive range of DigitalOcean services to help you harness the full benefits of cloud technology. Whether you are looking to streamline your cloud development, enhance your DevOps practices, or optimize your cloud infrastructure, we have the expertise and the solutions to meet your needs.



Calculate Team Cost



 






Official Partnershipwith DigitalOcean



DigitalOcean is a cloud infrastructure provider that offers a range of cloud computing services. It enables developers and businesses to deploy, manage, and scale applications through its platform. 



 

Due to our commitment to provide top-notch cloud solutions, SoftTeco became a member of the DigitalOcean Partner Pod. We have earned approval from DigitalOcean as a reliable partner capable of delivering secure and customized solutions for each client. This partnership provides us access to advanced tools and resources, enabling us to offer extensive DigitalOcean services to businesses aiming to embrace cutting-edge cloud technologies and achieve their strategic goals.





Our team of skilled professionals, well-versed in DigitalOcean services, ensures the implementation of best practices to help the development of your business. By choosing SoftTeco, you gain a partner dedicated to delivering tailored solutions based on your unique requirements, all supported by exceptional customer service. 

 






 

DigitalOcean ServicesThat SoftTeco Offers

 



 

Cloud Development DevOps ServicesConsultingSupport and MaintenanceDigitalOcean Migration ServicesCloud OptimizationDigitalOcean Managed Services

 

Cloud Development 



Our cloud development services are customized to cater to your unique business needs, enabling you to harness the full potential of the DigitalOcean. From building scalable applications to optimizing infrastructure, our team of experts is dedicated to ensuring that your cloud environment is agile, reliable, and primed for success.

 





 

DevOps Services



Empower your development and operations teams with our comprehensive DevOps services. Our approach is centered on automation, we'll help you streamline your processes for maximum efficiency. From continuous integration and deployment to infrastructure as code, empower your business to adapt to market demands swiftly and seamlessly with SoftTeco.

 





 

Consulting



Navigating the complexities of DigitalOcean can be daunting, but with our expert consulting services, you can confidently make informed decisions. Our team will work closely with you to understand your objectives, identify opportunities, and craft a tailored strategy that aligns with your business goals.

 





 

Support and Maintenance



Our commitment to your success doesn't end with implementation. SoftTeco provides comprehensive support and maintenance services to ensure that your managed DigitalOcean hosting environment operates at peak efficiency, allowing you to focus on propelling your business forward.

 





 

DigitalOcean Migration Services



Experience a seamless transition to DigitalOcean with our DigitalOcean migration services. Our meticulous approach ensures minimal downtime and maximum data integrity, enabling you to unlock the full potential of DigitalOcean without disruptions.

 





 

Cloud Optimization



Leverage our expertise to optimize your cloud environment for peak performance and cost-efficiency. Our solutions are designed to maximize resource utilization, enhance scalability, and drive overall operational excellence.

 





 

DigitalOcean Managed Services



Trust SoftTeco for the management of your DigitalOcean services. From routine maintenance tasks to continuous monitoring and optimization, our managed services ensure the reliability and performance of your infrastructure.

 



 



 



Cloud Development








Our cloud development services are customized to cater to your unique business needs, enabling you to harness the full potential of the DigitalOcean. From building scalable applications to optimizing infrastructure, our team of experts is dedicated to ensuring that your cloud environment is agile, reliable, and primed for success.






DevOps Services








Empower your development and operations teams with our comprehensive DevOps services. Our approach is centered on automation, we'll help you streamline your processes for maximum efficiency. From continuous integration and deployment to infrastructure as code, empower your business to adapt to market demands swiftly and seamlessly with SoftTeco.






Consulting








Navigating the complexities of DigitalOcean can be daunting, but with our expert consulting services, you can confidently make informed decisions. Our team will work closely with you to understand your objectives, identify opportunities, and craft a tailored strategy that aligns with your business goals.






Support and Maintenance








Our commitment to your success doesn't end with implementation. SoftTeco provides comprehensive support and maintenance services to ensure that your managed DigitalOcean hosting environment operates at peak efficiency, allowing you to focus on propelling your business forward.






DigitalOcean Migration Services








Experience a seamless transition to DigitalOcean with our DigitalOcean migration services. Our meticulous approach ensures minimal downtime and maximum data integrity, enabling you to unlock the full potential of DigitalOcean without disruptions






Cloud Optimization








Leverage our expertise to optimize your cloud environment for peak performance and cost-efficiency. Our solutions are designed to maximize resource utilization, enhance scalability, and drive overall operational excellence.






DigitalOcean Managed Services








Trust SoftTeco for the management of your DigitalOcean services. From routine maintenance tasks to continuous monitoring and optimization, our managed services ensure the reliability and performance of your infrastructure.


 





 

Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!





Calculate Team Cost



 






 

We Help To Manage DigitalOcean ServicesAcross Various Industries

 








 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your DigitalOcean Development Partner?





Rich Experience In The IT Industry



Benefit from SoftTeco's extensive 17+ years of experience in the IT industry. Our experienced professionals bring a wealth of knowledge to tackle diverse challenges and deliver top-notch solutions tailored to your needs.





Expertise You Can Trust



SoftTeco is a member of DigitalOcean Partner Pod. Our professionals have extensive experience in managing DigitalOcean services and easily handle cloud infrastructure intricacies. When you choose SoftTeco, you can rest assured that your DigitalOcean experience is in the hands of experts who are dedicated to delivering the best solutions for your business.





Cost-efficient Solutions



SoftTeco offers tailored solutions that are designed to optimize your DigitalOcean usage and minimize unnecessary expenses. Our goal is to help you get the most out of your investment in DigitalOcean, without breaking the bank.





Quick Cloud Deployment



With SoftTeco’s DigitalOcean customer service, you can count on quick and efficient cloud deployment. Our efficient processes ensure rapid deployment, enabling you to scale and adapt to changing business needs with speed and precision.





Transparency Every Step Of The Way



We believe in building trust with our clients through transparency and open communication. When you work with SoftTeco, you can expect full visibility into the services we provide, including clear and detailed reporting on your DigitalOcean usage.





Solid Security



As an ISO 27001-certified company, SoftTeco prioritizes the security of your data. Our commitment to compliance ensures that your information is safeguarded, meeting the highest standards of data protection and security in the industry.



 





 

Tech stack

 







 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									I am writing to wholeheartedly recommend the services of SoftTeco, with whom we have had the pleasure of working for the past 2+ years on various resourcing projects. As CIO at Communications International Group, I have had the opportunity to observe SoftTeco’s professional conduct and the outcomes of our collaboration closely.
								
								
									
										CIO, Communications International Group
									
									
										Pete Robbins
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### GDPR Compliance Services

GDPR Compliance Services





Facilitate and speed up the process of achieving GDPR compliance with SoftTeco’s GDPR compliance services.





Request an audit








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 






 

What Is GDPR?



The General Data Protection Regulation is a privacy and security law that defines how businesses can control and process personal data of users. Put into effect in 2018 by the European Union, the law covers EU citizens and businesses that either operate in the EU or work with EU residents.GDPR defines the following basic data subject rights that every user has:




Right to be informed



Right to rectification



Right to restrict processing



Right to object



Right of access



Right to be forgotten



Right to data portability




It is also important to mention two different roles - controllers and processors. A data controller determines the purposes and means of information collection and processing and is the one who is granted the permission to collect the information from a user.A processor engages in data processing only on behalf of the controller and does not receive the permission of information processing directly from the user.

 





 

GDPR Services by SoftTeco





Gap Analysis 



SoftTeco performs a gap analysis that involves assessing your current data protection and processing practices against the requirements. In this way, we identify areas of non-compliance and weak points and provide a short report on your current compliance status.





Data Mapping



Our team helps review the flow of personal data within your organization and document it with an aim to understand what information is stored and processed, how, and why. It grants a comprehensive view of the information and helps better assess potential risks.





Data Policy Review & Optimization



Data policy is a vital component for GDPR compliance, and SoftTeco offers assistance with its review and optimization. We will assess your existing data policy (if you have one) and identify areas for improvement, or will help you outline a new version.





Data Privacy Management



Our team will review and assess how well your organization supports data subject rights. In case optimization is needed, we will propose a solution that will help you meet both your goals and GDPR requirements.





Development of Documentation



SoftTeco will help you prepare and assemble the documentation needed for GDPR compliance: privacy policy, terms and conditions, consent forms, cookies policy, and privacy notice. We can also assist you in creating documentation for the GDPR audit.





Incident Management



With this GDPR compliance service, SoftTeco will establish a functional, convenient and most importantly, compliant incident management system aimed at helping your organization manage any incidents in a swift and secure manner.





Employee Training



Among our GDPR services, SoftTeco provides comprehensive employee training on data privacy best practices to ensure that your employees understand how to securely manage the information and how to safeguard themselves against internal and external threats.





Consulting



Whether you need guidance on GDPR compliance or want to review your existing policies and procedures, we can help. SoftTeco offers GDPR compliance consulting services (either upon the request or on a regular basis) to help you navigate the process of obtaining compliance.





Ad-Hoc Support



Sometimes you might need help with such issues as documentation updates or DPIAs (Data Protection Impact Assessments). SoftTeco provides ad-hoc services aimed at swiftly resolving your existing issue.







Gap Analysis 



SoftTeco performs a gap analysis that involves assessing your current data protection and processing practices against the requirements. In this way, we identify areas of non-compliance and weak points and provide a short report on your current compliance status.





Data Mapping



Our team helps review the flow of personal data within your organization and document it with an aim to understand what information is stored and processed, how, and why. It grants a comprehensive view of the information and helps better assess potential risks.





Data Policy Review & Optimization



Data policy is a vital component for GDPR compliance, and SoftTeco offers assistance with its review and optimization. We will assess your existing data policy (if you have one) and identify areas for improvement, or will help you outline a new version.





Data Privacy Management



Our team will review and assess how well your organization supports data subject rights. In case optimization is needed, we will propose a solution that will help you meet both your goals and GDPR requirements.





Development of Documentation



SoftTeco will help you prepare and assemble the documentation needed for GDPR compliance: privacy policy, terms and conditions, consent forms, cookies policy, and privacy notice. We can also assist you in creating documentation for the GDPR audit.





Incident Management



With this GDPR compliance service, SoftTeco will establish a functional, convenient and most importantly, compliant incident management system aimed at helping your organization manage any incidents in a swift and secure manner.





Employee Training



Among our GDPR services, SoftTeco provides comprehensive employee training on data privacy best practices to ensure that your employees understand how to securely manage the information and how to safeguard themselves against internal and external threats.





Consulting



Whether you need guidance on GDPR compliance or want to review your existing policies and procedures, we can help. SoftTeco offers GDPR compliance consulting services (either upon the request or on a regular basis) to help you navigate the process of obtaining compliance.





Ad-Hoc Support



Sometimes you might need help with such issues as documentation updates or DPIAs (Data Protection Impact Assessments). SoftTeco provides ad-hoc services aimed at swiftly resolving your existing issue.



 





 

Benefits of GDPR Compliance Consulting





Increased Trust



GDPR compliance indicates that you place strong focus on information security and privacy, and thus can be trusted with the sensitive information of your clients and partners.





Improved Data Management



GDPR compliance services help increase transparency and get a better understanding of your data with improved and automated information management processes.





Protected Reputation



By being compliant with the GDPR, your organization shows that it is dedicated to protecting the clients’ information, which, in turn, contributes to protecting their own brand image.



 





 

Why SoftTeco?



Solid securityQuick deliveryRich experience in the IT industryPitch-perfect UX/UIFast response time

 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									Their iOS development skills are really good. The app works and looks great and I am very happy with the support the team was able to provide post launch.
								
								
									
										Co-Founder & CTO, Supersapiens
									
									
										Gagan Chaudhari
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Azure Consulting Services

Azure Consulting Services





Unlock the full potential of cloud capabilities to fulfill current and future business needs with SoftTeco's Azure consulting services. With in-depth knowledge and experience, our consultants provide you with the required expertise, guidance, and support to optimize your operations, implement effective strategies, and grow beyond the cloud.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Our Microsoft Azure Consulting Services





Cloud Infrastructure Consulting



If you are looking for a reliable partner to navigate the complexities of Azure, optimize infrastructure, and boost your business, SoftTeco will help you. Our consultants assess your current infrastructure, identify opportunities for improvement, and provide comprehensive technical guidance on optimizing your Azure cloud infrastructure.





Legacy App Modernization



If you are looking for a reliable partner to trouble-free modernize your applications with Azure, SoftTeco consultants are the right fit for you. We can help you analyze your current situation, providing recommendations to upgrade and update legacy systems, ensuring they are compatible with modern technologies and meet business needs.





Cloud Migration



If you need a comprehensive strategy to migrate your existing apps, data, and architecture to Azure or do a hybrid model, rely on SoftTeco's consulting services. We deliver customized migration strategies and ensure an affordable, scalable, high-performance cloud environment that aligns with your goals.





Azure IaaS



If you are looking for a comprehensive solution to leverage computer, storage, and network resources without maintaining an on-site IT infrastructure, SoftTeco is here to help. We provide you with strategic planning to help you leverage Infrastructure as a Service from Azure to increase your operational efficiency, flexibility, and scalability.





Azure PaaS



If you need to build, deploy, and manage your apps without worrying about the underlying infrastructure, SoftTeco's PaaS consulting is what you need. Our experts provide unparalleled technical assistance, advice, and ongoing support to help you meet your objectives and leverage the benefits of specialized industry services and apps.





Azure SaaS



Use SoftTeco's expertise to create a website for any business size with unlimited functionality on the Magento platform. Our website development agency helps you build visually engaging websites with advanced customization and multiple integration capabilities to boost your business.





DevOps



Whether you want to adopt or host your own Azure DevOps platform, SoftTeco can help you with expert consultation, migration, and many more. Our DevOps consultants will identify, select, and implement needed tools to achieve more efficient and reliable software delivery using Microsoft Azure DevOps, boosting company growth.





Managed Services



Focus on your business while our managed services team takes care of a stable, secure, and optimized Azure environment. To minimize infrastructure costs and manage risk and governance in the cloud, our experts provide help in working services to streamline monitoring and address any issues that may arise.





Data Analytics



Elevate your business decision-making with advanced technologies like AI, IoT, ML, and data analytics available on the Microsoft cloud platform. To help you make informed decisions based on your data, our experts provide expert guidance on IoT Hub, Azure Stream Analytics, and Azure SQL Database, among other options.





Cloud Security



If you need to ensure the highest level of security of their cloud environments hosted on Microsoft cloud for your business, let SoftTeco step in. We thoroughly assess the existing Azure cloud infrastructure and establish robust security strategies to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities, ensuring your data's confidentiality, integrity, and availability.





Optimization



Whether you are looking to control costs better, enhance performance, or adapt to changing business needs, SoftTeco's team can help. We assess the current Azure infrastructure, identify areas for improvement, and craft customized strategies to help companies in resource allocation, cost management, and efficiency of operations.





Database Management



SoftTeco provides extensive database management services, aimed at optimizing and improving the performance of your Azure database. We offer performance fine-tuning, patch management, recovery support, and security management to ensure that there are no bottlenecks that prevent your database from functioning at its maximal capacity.







Cloud Infrastructure Consulting



If you are looking for a reliable partner to navigate the complexities of Azure, optimize infrastructure, and boost your business, SoftTeco will help you. Our consultants assess your current infrastructure, identify opportunities for improvement, and provide comprehensive technical guidance on optimizing your Azure cloud infrastructure.





Legacy App Modernization



If you are looking for a reliable partner to trouble-free modernize your applications with Azure, SoftTeco consultants are the right fit for you. We can help you analyze your current situation, providing recommendations to upgrade and update legacy systems, ensuring they are compatible with modern technologies and meet business needs.





Cloud Migration



If you need a comprehensive strategy to migrate your existing apps, data, and architecture to Azure or do a hybrid model, rely on SoftTeco's consulting services. We deliver customized migration strategies and ensure an affordable, scalable, high-performance cloud environment that aligns with your goals.





Azure IaaS



If you are looking for a comprehensive solution to leverage computer, storage, and network resources without maintaining an on-site IT infrastructure, SoftTeco is here to help. We provide you with strategic planning to help you leverage Infrastructure as a Service from Azure to increase your operational efficiency, flexibility, and scalability.





Azure PaaS



If you need to build, deploy, and manage your apps without worrying about the underlying infrastructure, SoftTeco's PaaS consulting is what you need. Our experts provide unparalleled technical assistance, advice, and ongoing support to help you meet your objectives and leverage the benefits of specialized industry services and apps.





Azure SaaS



If you need a fully complete software solution hosted and managed by Microsoft Azure, allowing you to focus on core business processes and turn digital, let SoftTeco step into it. Regardless of your needs, our experts help you find the most suitable SaaS solutions and provide guidance on integration, customization, and cost optimization across others.





DevOps



Whether you want to adopt or host your own Azure DevOps platform, SoftTeco can help you with expert consultation, migration, and many more. Our DevOps consultants will identify, select, and implement needed tools to achieve more efficient and reliable software delivery using Microsoft Azure DevOps, boosting company growth.





Managed Services



Focus on your business while our managed services team takes care of a stable, secure, and optimized Azure environment. To minimize infrastructure costs and manage risk and governance in the cloud, our experts provide help in working services to streamline monitoring and address any issues that may arise.





Data Analytics



Elevate your business decision-making with advanced technologies like AI, IoT, ML, and data analytics available on the Microsoft cloud platform. To help you make informed decisions based on your data, our experts provide expert guidance on IoT Hub, Azure Stream Analytics, and Azure SQL Database, among other options.





Cloud Security



If you need to ensure the highest level of security of their cloud environments hosted on Microsoft cloud for your business, let SoftTeco step in. We thoroughly assess the existing Azure cloud infrastructure and establish robust security strategies to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities, ensuring your data's confidentiality, integrity, and availability.





Optimization



Whether you are looking to control costs better, enhance performance, or adapt to changing business needs, SoftTeco's team can help. We assess the current Azure infrastructure, identify areas for improvement, and craft customized strategies to help companies in resource allocation, cost management, and efficiency of operations.





Database Management



SoftTeco provides extensive database management services, aimed at optimizing and improving the performance of your Azure database. We offer performance fine-tuning, patch management, recovery support, and security management to ensure that there are no bottlenecks that prevent your database from functioning at its maximal capacity.



 









 

Use our Azure professional services to determine where you are in your cloud transformation journey and how you can drive your business forward.





Contact us



 





 

How You Benefit from Azure Professional Services by SoftTeco





With our Microsoft Azure consulting services, your business can reach its full potential by gaining the following advantages:











 



 




01 / 07



Expertise




With over 15 years of experience in the IT industry and in Microsoft Azure consulting services, we can assist in various areas, including cloud migration, security, disaster recovery, and app development. Thus, your company will benefit from an efficient and cost-effective IT solution.






02 / 07



Superior Security




Relying on Microsoft Azure's advanced security tools and technologies, such as information protector, treat analytics or multi-factor authorization, our consultants help you establish a secure cloud environment and protect sensitive data, boosting client and partner trust.






03 / 07



Cost Savings




Reduce development costs with our cost-effective strategy to move to Azure. Using automated resource orchestration and carefully selecting cloud services, we reduce cloud consumption costs. This approach will help you achieve optimal results while keeping within your budget and resource allocation.






04 / 07



High App Performance




Besides setting up auto-scaling routines, our consulting services also design performance-testing processes to ensure that your apps are stable, fast, and reliable.






05 / 07



Continuous Optimization




Our Microsoft Azure consultants provide more than just initial guidance for Azure services. They monitor performance, adjust configurations, and recommend improvements to help companies optimize cloud infrastructure over time and stay competitive.






06 / 07



Increased Development Speed




Under SoftTeco's expert guidance and assistance, you can set up Azure services efficiently and effectively, reduce development efforts, and design CI/CD pipelines to speed up development.






07 / 07



Hybrid Capabilities




You can create hybrid or multi-cloud solutions with our Azure cloud consulting services. This flexibility allows you to leverage a combination of on-premises, and other cloud services, enabling you to customize your IT environment to suit specific business needs.



 





 

Our Azure Consulting Process



Our Azure cloud consulting services adhere to a structured and iterative approach to make collaboration with customers as transparent and clear as possible. Here are the main phases of our consulting process:

 




 

01



Assessing Azure Adoption



First of all, SoftTeco’s consultants evaluate the organization’s current infrastructure and determine where Azure can help businesses address their pain points and meet current needs (reduce costs or increase efficiency).





02



Creating a Strategic Plan



Based on the assessment, we craft a strategic plan for adopting Azure, addressing specific business challenges and goals. For this, consultants prioritize challenges and mitigation strategies, as well as outline a timeline and milestones.





03



Building Architecture



During this phase, our experts create a customized architecture according to your needs. This process includes network configurations, the selection of appropriate Azure services, defining security measures, and the creation of a deployment plan.

 



 

04



Deploy and Optimize



After all, our team deploys a cloud architecture, migrates apps and data to Azure, monitors performance, and adjusts for continuous improvement. This ensures optimal performance, security, and cost-effectiveness of your cloud solutions.









 





 

01



Assessing Azure Adoption



First of all, SoftTeco’s consultants evaluate the organization’s current infrastructure and determine where Azure can help businesses address their pain points and meet current needs (reduce costs or increase efficiency).





02



Creating a Strategic Plan



Based on the assessment, we craft a strategic plan for adopting Azure, addressing specific business challenges and goals. For this, consultants prioritize challenges and mitigation strategies, as well as outline a timeline and milestones.

 



 

03



Building Architecture



During this phase, our experts create a customized architecture according to your needs. This process includes network configurations, the selection of appropriate Azure services, defining security measures, and the creation of a deployment plan.





04



Deploy and Optimize



After all, our team deploys a cloud architecture, migrates apps and data to Azure, monitors performance, and adjusts for continuous improvement. This ensures optimal performance, security, and cost-effectiveness of your cloud solutions.

 












 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Azure Consulting Company?



Project delivery on-time500+ experienced specialists200+ partners globallyFlexible pricingSalesforce official partnerAWS official partnerOver 15 years of experience in Azure consulting servicesHigh level of security with ISO 27001 certificationManagement quality with ISO 9001 certification

 





 

Tech stack

 







 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									The experts from the SoftTeco team have fulfilled the high bar that we have set for our development partners. Slpendid job!
								
								
									
										CTO, Upcoming Health
									
									
										Vytis Valentinavičius
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        AWS vs Azure: Which Is Better and Why?
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!



Calculate Team Cost




 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Performance Testing and Load Testing Services

Performance Testing & Load Testing Services





Flawless app functioning drives memorable user experiences, and SoftTeco can help you achieve that. With our performance testing and load testing services, we make sure that your app is responsive, scalable, and swift and can handle both current and expected load.



Get a quote



 





 

SoftTeco’s Performance Testing and Load Testing Services



Performance testing services are crucial for any software product as they help identify bottlenecks, evaluate how well the app handles the load, and help assess the app’s stability. There are several types of tests provided by SoftTeco.

 



 



Load Testing



When providing load testing services, our team will put your system under several load variations to evaluate how well the app handles the expected load and how stable it remains. In case we face any bottlenecks, we will identify their causes and will provide you with actionable solutions.













Scalability Testing



It’s critical that your system is able to scale up and down as the load varies in volume. SoftTeco will test the scalability of your app with an aim to identify at which point the scaling stops during the sudden load spike and how we can fix that to ensure consistent performance. 













Endurance Testing



This performance testing service implies evaluating how well your system handles excessive load over an extensive period of time. During the process, we identify how the consistent load impacts the app’s response time and whether the system needs to be optimized.













Stress Testing



Sometimes the load exceeds the expected maximum - hence, SoftTeco tests how your system behaves under the extreme load. We monitor error handling, robustness, and availability of the system in “stress conditions” and identify what can be optimized and how. 













Stability Testing



It is crucial that your application delivers equally high performance under specified conditions. SoftTeco tests the app’s stability to evaluate how well the system performs over an extended period of time and what maintenance activities might be required in the case of downtime.













01 / 05











 





 

Deliverables That We Provide



To maintain a holistic approach to the app evaluation and ensure that nothing is missed, our performance testing company provides the following deliverables before, during, and after the process:





Detailed strategy



Includes the definition of requirements, metrics, project scope, design of performance tests, etc.





Defect tracking log



A detailed report on found bugs and defects that facilitates the process of debugging and improves overall visibility.





Performance test scripts



A simulation of user’s actions on the app with an aim to better control the performance of the system.





Test results report



A detailed report on results with actionable recommendations on further improvements.



 





 

Maintain a consistently high response time and ensure performance excellence with SoftTeco’s performance testing services. 



Discuss my project



 





 

The Main Steps of Our Performance and Load Testing Services



Here is how we carry out software performance testing services at SoftTeco.




01
Requirements Analysis



Since every software project is individual, our first step is to analyze requirements and understand what exactly you want to achieve. This information will serve as a base for further activities and will help us define the deliverables. 




02
Planning and Test Design



The next stage involves choosing the most suitable tools, definition of performance testing scenarios, definition of metrics, and team assembly. In other words, we determine how exactly we will test your system and how the results will be measured.




03
Test Environment Configuration



Our team carefully sets up the testing environment and configures it in the needed way. During this stage, we ensure that your app will be tested exactly how we need it and that the environment will properly emulate real-life scenarios.




04
Running of Test Scripts



During this stage, the actual testing happens. At SoftTeco, we use both manual and automated approaches to achieve maximal results and use a combination of tools that allows us to effectively achieve the defined deliverables.




05
Results Analysis



The analysis stage is very important as it helps us identify the existing bottlenecks, areas for improvement, and events that slow down the response time. By using this information, we decide how your system can be optimized further.




06
Recommendations



After analyzing the test results, we provide you with detailed recommendations on future improvements. These recommendations are aimed at augmenting the seamless functioning of your system, eliminating weak areas, and making your app more reliable.




07
System Retesting



After suggested recommendations are implemented, SoftTeco offers to retest your system to check whether the performance improved. We will once again collect the data and analyze it to see whether any additional adjustments are needed.













 





 

Benefits of Our Performance Testing and Load Testing Services



Regular audits bring numerous benefits, both to your business and your customers. Learn what impact performance testing service can have on your application and your business objectives.





Performance Review



When a system faces an unexpected load spike, in most cases you can’t predict how it will act. Performance of tests sheds light on the overall functioning of your app and helps understand whether the system is capable of scaling and remaining responsive and reliable.





Seamless Quality



Whether you need to prepare an app for a release or want to double-check an already launched product, SoftTeco can help you with optimizing its performance and identifying bottlenecks and issues that prevent your app from functioning at a maximal capacity.





Budget Optimization



Performance testing not only helps identify the existing issues but also helps prepare for future unexpected events and mitigate them. And with the help of a reusable testing suite, you can independently evaluate the performance of your app without the need to hire external experts.





Robust Security



The more reliable and consistent your app is, the higher is its security. When performing various tests, you minimize the chance of a malicious attack since your system will remain responsive and functioning under any given condition.





User Satisfaction



Seamless performance equals great user experience. And happy users are more likely to continue engaging with your software product. Application performance testing services ensure a positive user experience, resulting in increased conversions and increased loyalty.



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco for Application Performance Testing Services?





Rapid StartBeing an experienced performance testing and load testing company, we have established a time-tested approach that allows us to quickly dive into the specifics of your project. It will take us from 1 to 3 days to study your system and 2–3 weeks to deliver the first results.

Rich ExpertiseWith over 15 years of experience, SoftTeco has a solid experience and knowledge of the most advanced and effective techniques and methodologies. We always treat each project individually and strive to equip you with actionable tips for further independent implementation.

Flexible PricingSoftTeco offers several pricing models (T&M, fixed price, dedicated team) to help the clients adjust their budget with needed load and performance testing services. Before the beginning of work, we will discuss the project and together, come up with the most suitable pricing model.

Innovation-DrivenInnovation is at the heart of everything we do, and our performance testing and load testing services are no exception. At SoftTeco, we closely monitor the latest trends and tools and implement them in our process, thus improving the quality of our services.

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Stress Testing Services

Stress Testing Services





Ensure the stability and robustness of your software even in the conditions of extreme loads with SoftTeco’s stress testing services. By conducting precisely calibrated tests, we help optimize your app’s performance and ensure its stellar performance under any circumstances.



Test my software



 





 

What Is Stress Testing?



Stress testing is an activity that belongs to the performance testing group and aims to identify how well software performs under extremely heavy loads. The main goal is to ensure that software remains robust, stable, and responsive both when the load is normal and exceeds expected volumes.



In this way, stress testing services help organizations prepare their software products for potential excessive loads and ensure their application will function properly without failing. This, in turn, contributes to great user experience and helps save the budget since you won’t react to an unexpected load but be ready for it.

 





 

Contact us to learn more about our stress testing service and how exactly SoftTeco carries out the process. 



Request a consultation



 





 

Our Stress Testing Process




01
Requirements Collection and Analysis



In order to successfully test your software, we need to understand what exactly you want to test and what deliverables are expected. This will help us plan further actions correspondingly.




02
Creation of a Load Profile



For a successful stress testing, it is important to outline the load volume that will be used, its nature (continuous or spike-like), and functionality to test.




03
Definition of Metrics and Test Scripts



In parallel with the load profile creation, SoftTeco’s team will also define the metrics that are to be measured and will create the needed test scripts.




04
Test Environment Setup



Next, we will set up the test environment where the tests will be performed. This environment allows us to effectively emulate the load and monitor the app.




05
Running Test Scripts



During this stage, the actual testing happens. We will monitor the system’s performance closely and will identify when and why it fails and at what load volume.




06
Analysis of Results



The data collected during the previous stage helps us create a detailed report on the testing results. This report will contain actionable suggestions on how to improve the performance.













 





 

When Do You Need Stress Testing Services?



While you can stress-test your software at any time, there are several cases when these services come in especially useful:





When your app is in pre-production



Test how the system will act in unplanned situations and during load peaks.





After implementing big updates



Test if these updates/changes brought any unexpected issues and whether the app remains stable.





When migrating to a new infrastructure



Evaluate how the app acts in a new environment and whether there are any compatibility issues.





During the scaling process



Evaluate how well the system handles the growing load volume and what should be optimized.



 





 

Safeguard your mission-critical application against potential failures with our stress testing services and benefit from 24/7 security and stability.





Contact our team



 





 

Stress Testing Deliverables



SoftTeco pairs our stress testing services with detailed documentation, which adds visibility to our services and makes them measurable:





A list of performance requirements

User scenarios

Required load profiles

Test scripts

Selected tools

Metrics & report

 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco for Stress Testing Services?





01



Experience



With over 15 years of experience in the IT industry and in software testing, SoftTeco combines best practices and gained expertise to deliver unparalleled services to our clients.





02



Quality



SoftTeco deploys a recognized quality management system recognized by ISO 9001 certification to ensure the highest quality of our services.





03



Security



Security is the cornerstone of all our projects. Being an ISO 27001 certified company, we guarantee the integrity and security of your data during our stress testing services.





04



Innovation



SoftTeco is driven by innovation and we bring it to all our projects. We help companies undergo a digital transformation in a hassle-free manner, bringing them to new heights.



 





 

Answering the Main Questions About Stress Testing



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Ember.js Development Services

Ember.js Development Services





SoftTeco's Ember.js development services will help you create powerful and reliable web applications with advanced features for optimized, fast-rendering, and efficient solutions. Elevate your online services and enhance business performance with our expertise.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Why Choose Ember.js?



Ember.js is a widely recognized JavaScript framework for building scalable, efficient, and user-friendly web applications. Its advanced features and intuitive design make it easy for developers to create complex applications quickly and effectively, which is essential for businesses looking to stay ahead of the competition.

 





 

Take your projects to the next level with our Ember.js development services. SoftTeco's team of experienced engineers will help you build efficient and scalable applications that meet your business needs.



Contact us to learn more



 





 

Ember.js Development Services That SoftTeco Offers













01 / 04



Ember.js Consulting



SoftTeco offers Ember.js consulting services to help businesses that are looking to optimize their web services and products. Our team of experienced Ember.js engineers will collaborate with you to create effective solutions that can enhance your business performance and scalability.





02 / 04



Web Application Development



Whether you need a new web application or want to upgrade an existing one, SoftTeco’s Ember.js development services can help you achieve your goals. Our developers are skilled in creating responsive web designs that work seamlessly across all devices, ensuring a consistent user experience.





03 / 04



Mobile Application Development



Our specialists have rich experience in developing user-friendly mobile apps that drive business growth. With our full-stack development process, the SoftTeco team can efficiently create scalable and cost-effective mobile solutions tailored to your business needs.





04 / 04



Ember.js Migration Services



As an Ember.js development company, SoftTeco offers businesses a simplified and streamlined migration process to upgrade their technological capabilities and transfer their applications to the most current version of the framework. Our team empowers clients to make the transition with minimal disruption, ensuring a seamless and efficient process.



 





 

Tech stack

 







 

Hire Ember.js Developers



When you choose SoftTeco’s Ember.js development services, you can rely on a team of skilled developers who are capable of handling projects of any size and complexity. Our specialists have extensive experience in multiple languages used in the framework, including JavaScript, CSS, and Angular.js. With our team of skilled developers, we can help you build rich and user-friendly applications that meet your specific business needs.



Tell us about your project



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Ember.js Development Company?



Solid securityQuick deliveryRich experience in the IT industryPitch-perfect UX/UIFast response time

 





 

Benefits of Ember.js





01



Ember has a powerful routing system that allows developers to create complex applications with ease.





02



It is scalable and can handle large amounts of traffic and data without compromising performance.





03



Provides a simple and intuitive way to access data in your application.





04



The framework's website categorizes packages, providing ratings and documentation for each one, making it easy to find what you need.





05



Designed to be fast and efficient, which makes it ideal for building large-scale applications.





06



Provides a set of tools that make it easy to get started and build complex applications quickly.





07



The framework uses a string-based template system that allows developers to create dynamic and interactive user interfaces without having to write a lot of code.





08



Enhances the user experience by providing a range of user-friendly features, such as animations, transitions, and other interactive elements.



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco continues to be a true partner. Responsive account management providing highly skilled engineers. Highly recommended.
								
								
									
										Owner, Neptune Consulting
									
									
										John McNair
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Vue.js Development Services

Vue.js Development Services





If you're seeking a top Vue.js development company to create stunning UIs or single-page applications for both mobiles and desktops, SoftTeco can be your all-in-one choice. Our Vue.js Development Services help clients build robust web solutions with interactive elements and rich animation efficiently and on time.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Why Choose Our Vue.js Development?



At SoftTeco, we work with different types of projects - Vue.js is a good choice for the vast majority. If you need to enhance your existing project or to create interactive web interfaces, rely on our company. Vue.js is a fully fledged JS framework with powerful feature sets. It allows us to provide our clients with single-page apps (SPAs), CMS platforms, web apps, and interfaces that work flawlessly on desktops and mobiles.Due to its simplicity, flexibility, and high performance, Vue.js is great for small projects with limited deadlines. Whether you need app development or migration, our skilled development team is ready to tackle the challenge.

 





 

Vue.js Development Services That SoftTeco Offers

 



 



Consulting



SoftTeco offers Vue.js consulting services to help you develop a solid development strategy that fits your company's individual requirements. Our specialists will evaluate your business needs and the market environment to find the perfect solution or resolve pain points. 













Custom Application Development



As a client-centric company, SoftTeco provides tailored software solutions that meet unique business needs of our clients. To achieve it, our developers oversee every step of the custom development process, from the initial planning to the final delivery.













Web Development



If you need to establish a strong online presence and get maximum ROI from your web solutions, SoftTeco is here to step in. As a trusted Vue.js company, SoftTeco delivers intuitive web applications optimized for different devices and browsers.













Cross-Platform Application Development



SoftTeco builds mobile applications with an intuitive user interface and powerful feature sets. With our Vue.js development team, you will get a sleek and responsive application running flawlessly on Android, iOS, and desktops.













Migration and Integration



Is your software solution underperforming? Our experienced developers will easily migrate your existing application from an older framework to Vue.js or provide third-party integration, ensuring high performance of your app.













Support and Upgrade



To maintain your app’s high security and performance, you will need to update it constantly, and this is where SoftTeco comes in. We offer post-launch support and maintenance services with regular updates and patches to ensure your solutions stay at their peak performance.













01 / 06











 





 

Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!





Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Benefits of Vue.js Through Our Development Services











 



 




01 / 05



Flexibility and integration




Even if you already use Angular or React, you can still use Vue, as it integrates easily with many frameworks. Due to its lightweight nature and component-based architecture, it is adaptable to various projects.






02 / 05



High speed and performance




Due to its virtual DOM, reactive data blinding, and many other built-in features, it provides mobile and web apps with high performance and speed.






03 / 05



Versatile




Due to its flexibility and rich adoption ecosystem, Vue is compatible with a wide range of platforms and technologies, resulting in cost-effective and versatile apps.






04 / 05



Fast development




In-build features and well-organized documentation make it easy to build component-based apps and quick prototypes, thus speeding up the development process.






05 / 05



Large support and ecosystem




Vue.js has a thriving ecosystem with lots of plugins, libraries, and extensions supported by a large community. Thus, developers can take advantage of the latest features, updates, and ongoing support.



 





 

Tech stack

 







 

Why Choose SoftTeco As Your Software Development Company?



500+ experienced developersProject delivery on-timeHave gained the trust of 300+ partnersA transparent and personalized approachOver 15 years of experience in developing softwareIn-depth QA testing prior to go-live

 





 

Hire Vue.js Developers



SoftTeco offers an experienced team of developers ready to work on projects of any size and complexity. No matter what you need, we have it covered: interactive SPAs, web apps with engaging interfaces, PWAs, cross-platform apps, or dynamic website development.Let our developers create a custom solution that works flawlessly across all platforms and provides an exceptional user experience with speed and efficiency. By collaborating with SoftTeco, you will receive high quality of our Vue.js Development Services paired with our extensive expertise.



Learn more



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									Their iOS development skills are really good. The app works and looks great and I am very happy with the support the team was able to provide post launch.
								
								
									
										Co-Founder & CTO, Supersapiens
									
									
										Gagan Chaudhari
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

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Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!



Calculate Team Cost




 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Web Development Consulting

Web Development Consulting





Are you seeking a robust web strategy to drive more leads and sales? Rely on SoftTeco’s websites consulting services. Before, during, and after the development of web solutions, we help businesses come up with a profitable web strategy to grow their online presence.



Request a consultation



 





 

Website Development Consulting Services That We Offer





01



Website Development



If you aim to create a highly functional and responsive website that aligns with your business goals and attracts a global audience, we can help you. Our website development consulting experts will validate your idea, build a prototype, and define your tech stack to provide a future vision of a product.





02



Web Application Development



If you need extensive expertise before building robust, user-friendly, and secure web applications with SoftTeco, you are on the right track. Our web application consulting service keeps up with the latest trends and best practices to provide expert advice at any stage of your web app project.





03



Web UI/UX Design and Redesign



Whether you want a responsive web design or an update for an existing web solution, let SoftTeco help you. Using low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototyping, our experienced designers bring your ideas to life and ensure an extremely intuitive user experience.





04



Technology Advisory



Trust our web development consultants to choose the right technology stack for your business solution. No matter what programming language, platform, or technology you want to invest in, we help businesses evaluate the pros and cons of technologies before undertaking a project.





05



DevOps Setup



If you are looking for a trusted way to speed up software delivery and enhance collaboration across teams, let SoftTeco help you. By providing DevOps with best practices and suitable methodologies based on each business's needs, we help companies achieve their development goals.





06



Website Speed Optimization



If you are struggling with improving a website's performance and loading speed, SoftTeco will do it efficiently. Our consultants perform a detailed analysis of your website to identify performance bottlenecks, implement improvements, and improve the website's performance.





07



Testing



If you need to identify potential risks for the flawless functionality of your web solution, SoftTeco is here to help you. Our consultants can conduct A/B testing to analyze different components of your website to improve performance and reduce bounce rates.





08



Maintenance and Support



SoftTeco offers in-depth expertise and support to manage and maintain their websites, so web solutions are always secure, functional, and up to date. We provide ongoing website maintenance, updates, and optimization to ensure your website or application performs well over time.





SoftTeco understands that one size does not fit all. So we provide businesses with a wide range of website consulting services that help them drive traffic, leads, and sales.



Request a consultation



 





 

Benefits of SoftTeco’s Web Development Consulting Services



Businesses looking to capture current and potential customers' attention should consider website development consultants, as they bring many benefits.




01
Increased Revenue



A strategically designed and friendly website will attract more users, convert them into prospects, and generate more sales over time.




02
SEO Optimization



By having a well-designed website with SEO optimization, companies can enhance their visibility and drive more organic traffic to their websites.




03
Reduced Bounce Rates



Consulting provides businesses with engaging content, fast loading speeds, and responsive design, thereby improving overall user experience and getting users to stick to a website.




04
Enhanced Brand Identity



Outstanding web design increases company awareness, builds customer trust, and creates a positive first impression in users' minds.




05
Cost and Time Efficiency



Rather than trying various approaches to boost web presence, hiring a web development consultant offers expert assistance and solutions, reducing businesses' resources and time.




06
Efficient Project Management



Web development consultants help with project planning, task allocation, timelines, and budgets, which reduce delays and ensure smooth project delivery.













 





 

Tech stack

 







 

Why Choose SoftTeco as a Web Consulting Company?



17+ years of expertise in web consulting and developmentA team of experienced developers, QA, BI and SEO expertsHave gained 300+ partners' trustA transparent and collaborative approachProject delivery on-timePitch-perfect UX/UISolid security

 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									Their great programming skills and effective communication processes are what sets them apart from other companies. Highly motivated engineers who learn fast and deliver.
								
								
									
										Co-founder & CTO, Boutiq
									
									
										Shai Ben-Tovim
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

FAQ



 





 

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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Software Development Consulting

Software Development Consulting





SoftTeco provides top-notch software consulting services, guiding companies through every obstacle during software development lifecycle. With our highly qualified experts, you'll get industry-specific knowledge, strategic planning, optimized processes and customized solutions to boost your business growth.



Get a consultation



 





 




450




  





Projects delivered






17




  





Years of experience






500




  





Team members






75




  





Client locations



 









 

SoftTeco’s Software Consulting Services





Software Selection



Whether you need professional help to choose the best-fit software to scale your business to a new level, rely on SoftTeco’s software engineering consultancy. Our dedicated consulting team will analyze your company goals, workflows, and challenges to provide you with the most suitable software, keeping users and market trends in mind.





Software Stack Assessment



If you need to perform an assessment of your current technology stack to identify any gaps or opportunities for improvements, let SoftTeco help you. Our team will analyze your business goals and current software stack to detect flaws/inconsistencies and recommend upgrades to improve workflows and stay competitive.





Software Development Consulting



At SoftTeco, we specialize in full life cycle product development and will help you plan your future project per your needs. Based on our extensive expertise, we craft custom development strategies and carefully plan them to deliver high-performing, intuitive, and secure solutions on time and within budget.





Custom Development Consulting



If you need professional assistance with a CMS platform, mobile, e-commerce, or other custom solution, SoftTeco is willing to help you every step of the way. Our specialists provide customized insights and strategies to address specific business challenges, optimizing efficiency and driving growth.





Software Compliance Consulting



If you seek a reliable consulting firm to safeguard your business against potential risks or legal issues and comply with international security standards, trust SoftTeco’s consulting services. Our experts will help you assess, advise, and implement strategies to ensure your software meets the highest legality, security, and quality standards.





Project Management Consulting



When you need clear project management with transparent processes, SoftTeco's software consultation will help you. Focusing on industry best practices and Agile methodologies, our consultants will assess your current processes for improvement or create a new detailed software plan to help your project succeed.





DevOps Consulting



If you need consulting to set up a DevOps process properly or assess your existing DevOps one for improvement, SoftTeco is ready to help. Our DevOps consultants will give you recommendations to speed up development efforts, improve collaboration between development and operations teams, and minimize your time and costs.





Software Modernization & Migration



If you want to migrate to modern frameworks, adopt cloud-native architectures, or enhance overall system performance, we've got you covered. Our consultants identify legacy systems and create a strategic plan to modernize or migrate your solutions effectively without interrupting business operations.





Data Analytics Consulting



Whether you're looking to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, or enhance customer satisfaction, SoftTeco can do it. Our business analysts assess, analyze, and offer available insights and actionable strategies to identify bottlenecks, facilitate cross-team collaboration, and streamline the overall business workflows.





QA Process Setup



Whether you need to establish robust testing processes or improve overall QA efficiency, SoftTeco is your trusted choice. Our experienced consultants will bring in-depth expertise to assess your current testing practices, identify weaknesses, and craft a strategic plan for improving quality assurance.





Managed IT Services Consulting



If you need help to manage your IT infrastructure properly and get the most out of it, trust SoftTeco's team of experts. Our software consultants offer proactive monitoring, effective problem solving and strategic planning to ensure a reliable and secure IT environment that meets your unique business needs.





UX/UI Consulting 



If you need seamless and engaging UX/UI design for your new project or to enhance a current one, SoftTeco's design consultancy is suitable for both. Our expert consultants analyze user behaviors, design intuitive prototypes, and provide strategic insights to enhance your product and help you elevate your digital experience.





Software Architecture Assessment & Redesign 



Whether you face scalability challenges, security concerns, or need to adapt to evolving business requirements, rely on SoftTeco's consultancy services. We evaluate their current architecture, identify areas for improvement, and redesign architecture for enhanced efficiency, scalability, and performance.





Support & Maintenance Consulting 



If you ensure that your application is up-to-date, secure, and performs as expected, SoftTeco's consultants can assist you in doing so. We offer ongoing monitoring, timely updates and improvements, and expert guidance to keep your software running efficiently and smoothly.







Software Selection



Whether you need professional help to choose the best-fit software to scale your business to a new level, rely on SoftTeco’s software engineering consultancy. Our dedicated consulting team will analyze your company goals, workflows, and challenges to provide you with the most suitable software, keeping users and market trends in mind.





Software Stack Assessment



If you need to perform an assessment of your current technology stack to identify any gaps or opportunities for improvements, let SoftTeco help you. Our team will analyze your business goals and current software stack to detect flaws/inconsistencies and recommend upgrades to improve workflows and stay competitive.





Software Development Consulting



At SoftTeco, we specialize in full life cycle product development and will help you plan your future project per your needs. Based on our extensive expertise, we craft custom development strategies and carefully plan them to deliver high-performing, intuitive, and secure solutions on time and within budget.





Custom Development Consulting



If you need professional assistance with a CMS platform, mobile, e-commerce, or other custom solution, SoftTeco is willing to help you every step of the way. Our specialists provide customized insights and strategies to address specific business challenges, optimizing efficiency and driving growth.





Software Compliance Consulting



If you seek a reliable consulting firm to safeguard your business against potential risks or legal issues and comply with international security standards, trust SoftTeco’s consulting services. Our experts will help you assess, advise, and implement strategies to ensure your software meets the highest legality, security, and quality standards.





Project Management Consulting



When you need clear project management with transparent processes, SoftTeco's software consultation will help you. Focusing on industry best practices and Agile methodologies, our consultants will assess your current processes for improvement or create a new detailed software plan to help your project succeed.





DevOps Consulting



If you need consulting to set up a DevOps process properly or assess your existing DevOps one for improvement, SoftTeco is ready to help. Our DevOps consultants will give you recommendations to speed up development efforts, improve collaboration between development and operations teams, and minimize your time and costs.





Software Modernization & Migration



If you want to migrate to modern frameworks, adopt cloud-native architectures, or enhance overall system performance, we've got you covered. Our consultants identify legacy systems and create a strategic plan to modernize or migrate your solutions effectively without interrupting business operations.





Data Analytics Consulting



Whether you're looking to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, or enhance customer satisfaction, SoftTeco can do it. Our business analysts assess, analyze, and offer available insights and actionable strategies to identify bottlenecks, facilitate cross-team collaboration, and streamline the overall business workflows.





QA Process Setup



Whether you need to establish robust testing processes or improve overall QA efficiency, SoftTeco is your trusted choice. Our experienced consultants will bring in-depth expertise to assess your current testing practices, identify weaknesses, and craft a strategic plan for improving quality assurance.





Managed IT Services Consulting



If you need help to manage your IT infrastructure properly and get the most out of it, trust SoftTeco's team of experts. Our software consultants offer proactive monitoring, effective problem solving and strategic planning to ensure a reliable and secure IT environment that meets your unique business needs.





UX/UI Consulting 



If you need seamless and engaging UX/UI design for your new project or to enhance a current one, SoftTeco's design consultancy is suitable for both. Our expert consultants analyze user behaviors, design intuitive prototypes, and provide strategic insights to enhance your product and help you elevate your digital experience.





Software Architecture Assessment & Redesign 



Whether you face scalability challenges, security concerns, or need to adapt to evolving business requirements, rely on SoftTeco's consultancy services. We evaluate their current architecture, identify areas for improvement, and redesign architecture for enhanced efficiency, scalability, and performance.





Support & Maintenance Consulting 



If you ensure that your application is up-to-date, secure, and performs as expected, SoftTeco's consultants can assist you in doing so. We offer ongoing monitoring, timely updates and improvements, and expert guidance to keep your software running efficiently and smoothly.



 





 

At SoftTeco, we understand that exceptional software is the core of your success. Whether you're a startup or a large enterprise, our software development consulting services can help you resolve any software-related issues and achieve long-term success.





Contact us for details



 





 

Our Software Consulting Process



A software consulting firm can help customers find the right solution to complex issues and confidently navigate software development. To achieve this, at SoftTeco, we follow a structured and effective software consulting process to ensure nothing is missed:

 




 

01



Discovery



First of all, SoftTeco's consultants work closely with each client to understand their business model, goals, and problems. To achieve this, our specialists conduct a comprehensive assessment of the client's needs, current software, IT infrastructure, and overall workflows via extensive research.





02



Analysis



During the analysis stage, our consulting team examines the client's existing processes, identifies bottlenecks, and evaluates the current system's effectiveness. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the situation, we collect all needed data, conduct interviews, and perform various analyses.





03



Strategy Creation



After gathering all necessary information and its analysis, SoftTeco's consulting team craft a strategic plan. This plan encompasses the estimation of timelines, required resources, budget considerations, and milestones. As a result, it will be easy for you to track the previously discussed deliverables and progress of the project.

 



 

04



Implementation



Once the strategic plan is in place, we begin carrying out the proposed changes and recommendations. This may involve implementing new tools or technologies, and adjusting workflows to align with the agreed-upon strategy. Also, we ensure that new software solutions are seamlessly integrated with existing ones.





05



Improvements



As soon as the implementation is complete, our focus turns to ongoing improvements. We proactively implement updates, address any issues that may arise, and provide continuous support to the client. For this, consultants conduct reviews, gather feedback, and identify areas for further improvement. 





 





 

01



Discovery



First of all, SoftTeco's consultants work closely with each client to understand their business model, goals, and problems. To achieve this, our specialists conduct a comprehensive assessment of the client's needs, current software, IT infrastructure, and overall workflows via extensive research.





02



Analysis



During the analysis stage, our consulting team examines the client's existing processes, identifies bottlenecks, and evaluates the current system's effectiveness. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the situation, we collect all needed data, conduct interviews, and perform various analyses.

 



 

03



Strategy Creation



After gathering all necessary information and its analysis, SoftTeco's consulting team craft a strategic plan. This plan encompasses the estimation of timelines, required resources, budget considerations, and milestones. As a result, it will be easy for you to track the previously discussed deliverables and progress of the project.





04



Implementation



Once the strategic plan is in place, we begin carrying out the proposed changes and recommendations. This may involve implementing new tools or technologies, and adjusting workflows to align with the agreed-upon strategy. Also, we ensure that new software solutions are seamlessly integrated with existing ones.

 



 

05



Improvements



As soon as the implementation is complete, our focus turns to ongoing improvements. We proactively implement updates, address any issues that may arise, and provide continuous support to the client. For this, consultants conduct reviews, gather feedback, and identify areas for further improvement. 

 











 

Industries That We Work With

 










 

How Can Software Development Consulting Company Benefit Your Business?



Software consulting services provide companies with a number of benefits before, during and after development. Here are some of the main ones:





Strong Technical Expertise



Software design consulting brings companies extensive tech expertise and knowledge, providing valuable insights and best practices before they invest significant resources in development. This way, you'll make sure your software development aligns seamlessly with business goals.





Project Delivery On-time



Consulting with a software development company can help you create a well-defined project that aligns with all business requirements. By reducing errors and identifying complex issues early on, you will be able to deliver projects on time with high-quality results.





Cost-effective



With consulting services, businesses can streamline development processes, choose the right technologies wisely, and eliminate inefficient processes, ultimately saving their money in the long run.





Customized Solutions



By collaborating with stakeholders, development consultancy creates a custom solution tailored to their business goals, needs, and inner capabilities, providing a systematic and focused approach to software development.





Access to Latest Technologies



Consultants are always up-to-date with the latest technologies and trends in software development. It allows you to provide customers with fresh insights and innovative ideas to keep your product successful for a long period of time.





Flexibility



Hiring a software consultant enables companies to increase the scalability and flexibility of their software solutions, allowing them to adapt to changing requirements and expand smoothly as the business grows.





Risk Management



Software consultants can identify and mitigate potential risks associated with software design, outdated architecture, and poorly tuned processes. Early detection of any problems related to software ensures a smooth project development and a timely delivery.



 









 

Our Certifications




Information Security Standard - ISO 27001




Information security is a top priority at SoftTeco when handling data from partners, clients, and employees. Our certification proves that we are committed to upholding the highest standard of safety throughout every aspect of our business operations.










Quality Management Standard - ISO 9001




SoftTeco continuously strives to enhance our processes and exceed customer expectations through regular feedback, reviews, and audits. This certification serves as a testament to our dedication to continuous improvement, customer satisfaction, and adherence to international standards.







 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									I’m really happy I got to work with SoftTeco as the team was super understanding, supportive and professional. Many thanks!
								
								
									
										Co-Founder & CTO, Supersapiens
									
									
										Gagan Chaudhari
									
								
							
						
					

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Ecommerce App Development Company

Ecommerce App Development Company





Looking for a reliable ecommerce app development company to expand your digital presence and bring your customers closer? SoftTeco is a one-stop provider of powerful ecommerce solutions used by retail businesses worldwide.



Request a quote



 





 

Types of Ecommerce Apps That We Develop



SoftTeco offers ecommerce app development services for all types of retail businesses, making the selling process much more enjoyable, faster, and effective. Whatever solution you need, we will make sure to cater to the specific needs of your business and provide you with the product that will help you grow.




Business to Business















Business to Consumer















Consumer to Сonsumer















Consumer to Business












 





 

SoftTeco’s Ecommerce App Development Services





Market Research and Analysis



If you don’t have an ecommerce business yet and want to know where to start, SoftTeco offers research and consulting services to help you. Together, we will identify the market needs and your competition, unique selling points of your product, and the most suitable software solution.





Custom Application Development



Our ecommerce application development company designs both native and cross-platform ecommerce applications to help businesses bring their customers closer while also optimizing internal and external processes. Manage your inventory in one click, access advanced reporting, and see the conversions growing!





Migration to M-commerce



Our team can help you migrate your e-commerce store to mobile while retaining its full functionality and design. We work with several ecommerce platforms, including Magento and Shopify, and know how to create an appealing mobile ecommerce solution.





Support and Maintenance



If you have any issues with your current mobile application or simply need assistance with maintaining it, our team can gladly help. We offer support and maintenance services to ensure your product functions as intended and to eliminate any risks before they become a problem.



 





 

Key Features of Our Ecommerce Mobile Apps




User Panel


User Panel







Easy onboardingOur apps provide several onboarding options, including social media login, which makes the whole registration process easier and faster.

Guest checkoutFacilitate the biggest bottleneck during the checkout process by allowing shoppers to use guest checkout, thus eliminating the need for registration.

Real-time order trackingCustomers can monitor and track their orders in real-time while also receiving notifications on the order status.

Push notificationsWith push notifications, you can send your customers news, promotions, and reminders, thus providing them with relevant content only.

Multiple payment optionsFacilitate the payment process for your shoppers by offering them multiple payment options and watch your conversion rate grow.

Social media integrationLet your customers share their shopping experience with their online friends by integrating various social media platforms with the app.your users’ needs.

Ratings and reviewsOur applications allow users to rate products and service and leave reviews, thus helping build the shopping community.

24/7 customer supportWith our apps, it’s easy to provide a 24/7 customer support via a built-in live chat and preferred communication methods. 






Admin Panel


Admin Panel







Inventory managementSeamlessly manage your inventory in a few taps, always know its status and collect information from vendors effectively.

Advanced reportingWith our advanced reporting and analytics, you will be able to see all historical data in one place, thus being able to adjust your strategy correspondingly.

Product managementEasily manage your catalog and products with an intuitive interface and choose how you want to display the products in the store.

Discounts and special offersAttract and retain customers with special offers and promotions that you can manage directly in the app.

User managementManage both your employees and customers via a single interface and assign various user roles and rights as needed.

AnalyticsLearn about online behavior of your shoppers, see how your campaigns perform, and adjust your strategy in accordance with your users’ needs.





 





 

Enter the ecommerce market with a captivating mobile application and win the hearts of your customers with unique proposals and an array of powerful features. Contact us to learn how SoftTeco can leverage your business!





Tell me more



 





 

How Our Ecommerce Apps Stand Out From the Competition



With millions of apps available in the market, it might be challenging to create a truly outstanding product. At SoftTeco, we always strive to design applications that are both memorable and high-functioning and that captivate users right from the start.













01 / 04



Intuitive Navigation



When designing our apps, we always follow the user-first approach. It allows us to create apps that are built around the user and that provide a highly intuitive navigation, which is especially critical for ecommerce products.





02 / 04



Easy Filtering and Search



Though seemingly simple, there are many things that can go wrong with designing the search bar and product filtering. At SoftTeco, we will ensure that users get exactly what they search for when using your ecommerce app.





03 / 04



Easy Checkout



Complicated checkout is among the most common reasons for shoppers to abandon their cart - this is why we pay extra attention to making the checkout process as swift and enjoyable as possible. 





04 / 04



Seamless Design



SoftTeco’s UX/UI design team will make sure that your ecommerce app fully embodies your brand and its main values through captivating visual elements. We want your app to look good, and we will make sure it stands out.



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Ecommerce Application Development Company?





Experience



With over 15 years of experience in the IT industry, our ecommerce app development company understands how to create memorable experiences with state-of-the-art software solutions. We know how to deliver tangible value to business owners by thoroughly analyzing their needs and proposing the most suitable solutions.





Transparency



All our processes are built around efficiency and transparency, so our clients always know the status of the project and milestones achieved. In this way, we eliminate the need to redo certain parts of work after they are completed, since you can always suggest improvements on the go without sacrificing quality.





Speed of Delivery



We usually follow the Agile methodology and use continuous testing to detect any issues at an early stage and apply all needed changes during the ecommerce app development process. This approach plus the combination of ecommerce application development best practices allows us to deliver the product exactly on time and without delays.





Individual Approach



We are proud to say that SoftTeco approaches every new project in a highly individual manner. We understand that the project success depends on its USPs and its individuality, and our team is passionate about making your product shine.



 





 

Tech stack

 







 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Node.js Development Company

Node.js Development Company





As a Node.js development company with over 17 years of experience in custom software development, our team excels in delivering reliable and feature-rich solutions. Whether you need a robust web application or a scalable API, our expert Node.js developers bring a high level of skill and expertise to every project, ensuring swift delivery and top-notch quality.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Why Choose Node.js For Your Project Development?



Node.js has gained immense popularity in the world of web development due to its numerous advantages and capabilities. This server-side runtime environment is built on Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine and has a non-blocking, event-driven architecture, making it a preferred choice for developing scalable network applications.One noteworthy feature of Node.js is its compatibility with popular frontend frameworks like Angular and React. This allows developers to seamlessly integrate server-side and client-side components, fostering a cohesive and efficient development process. Whether for full-stack development or specific server-side functionalities, SoftTeco's specialists excel in Node.js, utilizing its power to deliver high-performance solutions.

 





 

Node.js Development Services That SoftTeco Offers





Consulting Services



As a Node.js application development company, SoftTeco provides expert consulting services. Whether it's optimizing your current Node.js implementation, reviewing code for best practices, or scaling for future growth, our specialists are here to help.





Node.js Migration Services



Experience seamless transition with SoftTeco's services. Whether upgrading or migrating applications, our professional team ensures a smooth process, minimizing downtime, and optimizing performance.





Mobile Application Development



Elevate your mobile presence with our Node.js development services. Our skilled team specializes in creating robust and scalable mobile applications, ensuring optimal performance across platforms.





API Development



Unlock seamless integration capabilities with our Node.js API development services. SoftTeco ensures the creation of robust APIs, facilitating efficient and secure communication between different software systems.





Web Application Development



As a Node.js web development company, SoftTeco delivers high-performance solutions that enhance user experiences. Our development team will help you realize your digital vision by crafting robust web applications and providing expert guidance throughout the development process.





Node.js Integration Services



SoftTeco's integration services are designed to seamlessly integrate Node.js applications with existing systems, databases, and third-party services, ensuring interoperability and data consistency.





IoT Application Development



As a Node.js app development company, SoftTeco will steer your IoT vision to reality. We use our expertise in Node.js to seamlessly integrate data streams, connect with cloud services, and deliver scalable solutions that improve efficiency in your IoT projects.





Node.Js Microservices Development



Node.js aligns seamlessly with the microservices architectural pattern. This enables the development of modular, independent services that are easily scalable and maintainable. SoftTeco can help you create a cutting-edge microservices ecosystem, providing expertise in crafting scalable, independent modules tailored to your business needs.



 





 

Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!





Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Benefits of Node.js Development



Node.js has emerged as a powerful platform for building scalable and high-performance applications, favored for the benefits it offers to developers and businesses.

 



 



High Performance





Compatibility with JavaScript





Scalability





Quick Development Cycle





Cost-Effective





Cross-Platform Compatibility





Rich Ecosystem



 



 



High Performance



Node.js is renowned for its ability to handle a large number of concurrent connections with minimal overhead, making it an ideal choice for real-time applications such as chat platforms, gaming servers, and collaborative tools.





Compatibility with JavaScript



Node.js is inherently compatible with JavaScript as it is built on the same language. This compatibility enables developers to run JavaScript code on the server side, expanding its usage beyond the traditional client-side execution in web browsers.





Scalability



With its event-driven, non-blocking I/O model, Node.js enables developers to create highly scalable applications that can accommodate a growing user base without compromising performance.





Quick Development Cycle



Node.js facilitates a rapid development cycle with features like a fast startup time and the ability to easily deploy changes. This agility is particularly beneficial for projects with evolving requirements.





Cost-Effective



Node.js allows for building scalable applications with fewer server resources compared to traditional server-side technologies. This can lead to cost savings in terms of hosting and infrastructure.





Cross-Platform Compatibility



Node.js applications can be easily deployed and run on various platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. This cross-platform compatibility enhances flexibility and makes it easier to develop applications that can be deployed across different environments.





Rich Ecosystem



Node.js has a vast ecosystem of packages and modules available through NPM (Node Package Manager). This extensive library of pre-built modules simplifies development, as developers can leverage existing solutions for various functionalities.



 





 

Choose an Engagement Model for Your Project




 

Full Project Outsourcing





Dedicated Team





Staff Augmentation

 



 

Delegate your project or specific tasks to our expert team with our full outsourcing model. With SoftTeco's expertise, focus on your strengths while we manage the rest, ensuring seamless collaboration, timely delivery, and cost-effective solutions.




FPO




Extensive scope





Flexible budget





Pay-as-you-go







Set the course for excellence with SoftTeco. Our highly skilled individuals focus solely on your project, ensuring enhanced efficiency, effective communication, and flexible scaling options for optimal results.




DT




Large pool of talent





Cost savings





Transparentpricing model







SoftTeco offers a pool of talented professionals with diverse skill sets, seamlessly integrating into your existing team. Effortlessly scale your workforce, ensuring increased productivity and the success of your project.




SA




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support



 


 





 

Hire Node.js Developers



Choose SoftTeco and benefit from the expertise of our skilled Node.js developers, who have years of experience in developing customized digital solutions. Our skilled team is ready to bring your visions to life, offering expertise in crafting high-performing and scalable applications.With a focus on delivery speed, quality solutions, and a track record of 17+ years in the global software development market, SoftTeco is your trusted ally for transformative digital experiences. Delegate your Node.js project to us and unlock the expertise needed to turn your vision into reality.



Tell us about your project



 






 

Node.js Developmentfor All Industries



Node.js is an incredibly versatile platform, making it a fantastic choice for all sorts of industries.

 








 

Why Choose SoftTeco as a Node.js App Development Company?



Over 17 years of expertise in ITA transparent and personalized approach500+ experienced developersPitch-perfect UX/UIHave gained the trust of 300+ partnersIn-depth QA testing prior to go-liveProject delivery on-time

 





 

Tech stack

 







 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco is always able to find necessary resources very quickly; whether for short term project or longer term engagement, they seem to have access to a broad set of talent. All resources from SoftTeco are really dedicated to project success and often go above and beyond to reach the goal. They take pride in their work and are always proactive in surfacing improvements to the code. SoftTeco's team communication skills are very strong. They integrated really well with our team and were able to adjust working hours to allow for longer overlap with US engineers.
								
								
									
										VP of Engineering, Formic
									
									
										Mika Saryan
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Related Articles



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			


		
				
					
		
					
		
				
		

 





 


Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!



Calculate Team Cost




 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### PHP Development Company

PHP Development Company





Need a high-performing and robust tool for your web project development? Tap into an array of opportunities that PHP offers. We make the most of PHP capabilities, using it to create dynamic web apps, complex CMS systems, and many more. Learn about SoftTeco’s PHP development services and start your digital transformation today.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

SoftTeco’s PHP Development Services



SoftTeco is an experienced PHP application development company that has been delivering robust and secure software solutions since 2008. We provide the following PHP development services: 





Custom PHP Development



SoftTeco offers full-cycle PHP web application development services, aimed at strengthening your business and delivering the requested objectives. We work with web-based solutions of any complexity and make sure your product grows in parallel with your business. 

















Full-Stack PHP Development



Our PHP development company takes care of both backend and frontend development of your apps, delivering security, scalability, and high performance. We will select the most appropriate tech stack to ensure that we deliver the expected results precisely on time. 

















Optimization and Modernization



If your legacy PHP solution is underperforming or needs fine-tuning, SoftTeco is ready to help. We provide optimization services for existing PHP apps and systems and improve not only their performance but security and design as well.

















Maintenance and Support



After your project goes live, our work doesn’t stop here. Our PHP web development company offers support and maintenance services that include implementation of updates and changes, debugging, and employee or user training.

















Migration



PHP is constantly evolving, and every new version brings better security and expanded functionality. Our team can help migrate your existing web solution to the latest PHP version while maintaining the high performance of your application.













 





 

Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!





Calculate Team Cost



 






 

SoftTeco’s Industry Focus

 








 

Solutions by Our PHP Web Development Company



PHP is used for a variety of applications, and SoftTeco can help you choose the one that will bring the most value to your business. 





API Development & Integration



Easily connect with all needed third-party services via our custom API development and integration. Whether you need to create an API from scratch or need to integrate an external API in your solution, we are here to help.





Ecommerce Solutions



By combining PHP with the most suitable tech stack, SoftTeco delivers swift and feature-rich ecommerce websites. Being supported by the biggest ecommerce platforms, PHP offers a plethora of opportunities for creating a reliable and user-centric ecommerce store.





Custom Portal Development



SoftTeco creates complex and scalable web portals, designed precisely to meet the needs of your organization. Be it a CMR, ERP, CMS, HRM, or a similar B2B solution, we will make sure it has all needed functionality to automate and optimize your processes.





Web Development



Our PHP development team offers the creation of responsive and powerful websites and web applications. By meeting all needed requirements, we make sure that our PHP web application development augments your online presence and brings tangible value to your business.





Social Network Development



If you want to create the next big thing in the world of social networks, PHP is one of the best choices. By using PHP and a set of corresponding tools and technologies, our developers design highly engaging, user-centric, and functional social websites.



 





 

Select Your Engagement Model



Whether you need help on your current project or want to assemble a full development team, SoftTeco offers a variety of engagement models to choose from. After carefully considering your project requirements and current tech and professional assets, we will offer one of the following models:




 

Staff Augmentation





Dedicated Team





Full IT Outsourcing

 



 

When you need to cover a specific skill gap or need an extra hand for your project, we offer staff augmentation. Hire as many developers as you currently need and quickly resolve your business objectives with the help of our specialists.




SA




Extensive scope





Flexible budget





Pay-as-you-go







Our PHP website development company offers a full team of professionals to manage your project from start to finish. We will take care of all aspects of project management, business analysis, design and development, delivering the requested solution precisely on time and within budget.




DT




Large pool of talent





Cost savings





Transparentpricing model







Delegate full delivery of your project to our development team with our full IT outsourcing services. Not only will we develop and deliver the project but will also take care of risk management, elimination of bottlenecks, and quality control.




FIO




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support



 


 





 

Hire Dedicated PHP Developers



Delegate your PHP project to SoftTeco’s expert developers and benefit from speed of delivery, high level of security, and unparalleled quality of PHP web development services. We put our 17+ years of experience into creating one of a kind software solutions that are used across various industries, from healthcare and e-learning to logistics and finance.



Start my project



 





 

Our PHP Development Process

 




 

01



Requirements Collection



The first stage of SoftTeco’s software development process is collection of requirements. Together with the client, we discuss the product vision, desired deliverables and milestones, and based on that, define the requirements.





02



Design & Architecture



After finalizing the project scope and requirements, our team starts working on the project architecture and design. With a focus on scalability and usability, we create low and high-fidelity wireframes to present how the final product will look and function.





03



Development



The next stage is product development. When coding, we make sure that our code is concise and secure, and that all selected technologies are highly compatible. In this way, we deliver the high quality and robust performance of your solution.

 



 

04



Testing



To mitigate potential risks, secure the data, and ensure that the product functions as intended, we perform manual and automated testing. We also follow the continuous testing approach so any potential vulnerability is detected at an early stage.





05



Post-Launch Support



After the project is released, our PHP software development company offers support and maintenance services to help you manage any unexpected issues and implement new features and updates. We also offer user and employee training and provide actionable recommendations on product improvement.





 





 

01



Requirements Collection



The first stage of SoftTeco’s software development process is collection of requirements. Together with the client, we discuss the product vision, desired deliverables and milestones, and based on that, define the requirements.





02



Design & Architecture



After finalizing the project scope and requirements, our team starts working on the project architecture and design. With a focus on scalability and usability, we create low and high-fidelity wireframes to present how the final product will look and function.

 



 

03



Development



The next stage is product development. When coding, we make sure that our code is concise and secure, and that all selected technologies are highly compatible. In this way, we deliver the high quality and robust performance of your solution.





04



Testing



To mitigate potential risks, secure the data, and ensure that the product functions as intended, we perform manual and automated testing. We also follow the continuous testing approach so any potential vulnerability is detected at an early stage.

 



 

05



Post-Launch Support



After the project is released, our PHP software development company offers support and maintenance services to help you manage any unexpected issues and implement new features and updates. We also offer user and employee training and provide actionable recommendations on product improvement.

 










 

Tech stack

 







 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your PHP Software Development Company?





Industry Knowledge



SoftTeco works with clients from various industries, including healthcare, fintech, logistics, e-learning, agriculture, manufacturing, and many others. Our experience gives us a solid understanding of current demands of each industry and what product would be the best fit.





Rich Experience



Being in the IT industry since 2008, SoftTeco has rich experience in creating custom PHP solutions and modernizing outdated ones. We know our way around PHP, what technologies work best with it, and how exactly it can benefit your specific business.





Security



SoftTeco is an ISO 27001 certified company and has a set of in-house security policies that we rigorously follow. This approach helps us ensure that all our software products are protected against potential threats and that your data is safeguarded against malicious actors.





Professional Attitude



Our employees are our biggest asset and we are proud to state that every SoftTeco employee is a highly professional individual. Driven by innovation, our team is ready to find the most effective solution to your tech challenge and to offer extensive PHP development services.



 





 


Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!



Calculate Team Cost




 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Wordpress Development Services

WordPress Development Services





Strengthen your online presence and boost the number of conversions with a powerful and robust WordPress website, delivered by experienced industry experts. From full website development to fine-tuning and optimization, SoftTeco offers extensive WordPress development services to make your business stand out.



Get a quote



 





 




17




  





Years of experience






450




  





Projects delivered






500




  





In-house developers






75




  





 Client location



 





 

SoftTeco’s WordPress Development Services



Discover a variety of WordPress website development services that we offer. From beautification of your website to its custom development, SoftTeco is here to help you with any technical challenge you might have. If you have any questions - don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss your project and what exact services will be the best solution for your business.

 





 



01



WordPress Consulting



SoftTeco helps you select the most suitable WordPress solution for your business by providing consulting services. We will evaluate the current bottlenecks and available resources and will propose a corresponding service that will align with your goals and objectives.





02



Custom WordPress Development



To make your website reflect your brand, our WordPress web development company offers the development of custom themes, plugins, APIs, and integrations. Whether you need a small tweak or a full website redesign, our team is ready to handle the challenge.





03



WordPress Design



The design of your website directly impacts the number of conversions and user experience, so it’s critical to make it both memorable and high-performing. Our UX/UI designers help companies transform generic WordPress themes into a unique representation of their brand.





04



WooCommerce Development



If you want to set up an engaging and feature-rich WooCommerce store, SoftTeco will gladly help you. We will take care of the store development and setup and we can also migrate your store to WooCommerce from the platform that you are currently using.





05



Plugin Development and Customization



To extend the functionality of your website and add extra capabilities to it, SoftTeco offers custom plugin development and customization. Whether you need to design a custom WordPress plugin from scratch or fine-tune an existing one, we will help you out.





06



Security



At SoftTeco, we understand how critical cybersecurity is, and we offer extensive security services to help ensure that your website is protected against potential threats. We perform thorough security audits and help implement security policies on all levels of your organization.





07



Support and Maintenance



After your website is launched, the work is not over - you need to make sure that it performs as intended. Among other WordPress services, SoftTeco provides support and maintenance services to help you quickly respond to any issues, promptly fix them, and implement needed updates and changes.





08



Search Engine Optimization



No matter how good your website is - if it’s not SEO friendly, users will simply not see it in their search results. By performing SEO optimization services, SoftTeco can help you become more visible online, significantly increase organic traffic, and stand out from the competition.



 





 

WordPress is easy enough - SoftTeco can make it even easier for you. Trust us with your WordPress website development and benefit from ultimate performance, memorable design, and unique features, developed specifically for your business.





Start my project



 





 

Why Choose SoftTecoas Your WordPress Website Development Company?






  





Experience



With over 15 years of experience in the IT industry, SoftTeco has worked extensively with the WordPress platform and knows its way around it. We use our rich expertise to help companies thrive in the competitive online marketplace and showcase their brand identity through robust WordPress solutions.







  





Security



Being an ISO 27001 certified company, SoftTeco places utmost importance on security of software solutions that we deliver. Following a security-first approach in development, we ensure that all aspects of your website are thoroughly checked and safeguarded and that all necessary security policies are in place.







  





Professionalism



Our team is our biggest asset. It is composed of talented and professional individuals who are passionate about their work and are always ready to go an extra mile in order to achieve set goals. Our WordPress developers are extremely experienced and self-organized, and are always open to novel approaches in development.







  





Support



Once our team develops and launches your website, we will continue to support it and provide maintenance services upon request. We know that there might be unexpected glitches and our team is ready to help via this particular WordPress website development service. We also offer implementation of needed updates or new features and customer or employee training.




 






 

Industries That We Work With

 








 

SoftTeco’s WordPress Development Process



To deliver a truly valuable and robust WordPress solution, we follow a thorough development process, designed with maximal efficiency in mind. Learn how we bring your idea to life:




01
Definition of goals



The first step of successful WordPress development is clear definition of your business goals and deliverables. Together with our Business Analyst and Project Manager, you will discuss the project and let us know about your vision, expectations, and other aspects.




02
Design creation



Based on the collected requirements, our team will create low and high fidelity wireframes to show how the project will look and function. Once approved, we will get down to working on the architecture and UX/UI aspects of your solution.




03
Development



During this stage, we develop your solution, using the secure coding principles. We will choose the most suitable software development model based on your goals and requirements and will make sure that all results are delivered precisely and on time.




04
Testing



To make sure that the product looks and performs flawlessly, we implement continuous testing, using a variety of testing techniques and approaches. By combining both manual and automated testing, we ensure that every aspect of the solution works as intended.




05
Launch



When your WordPress solution is thoroughly tested, we launch it and provide additional support and maintenance services. These services are aimed at timely identifying any issues, quickly adding new features, and fine-tuning the product, if needed.




06
Post-Launch Support



After launching your WordPress project, SoftTeco provides support and maintenance services to ensure there are no glitches or unexpected errors. Our support services also include implementation of extra functionality and updates upon the request.













 





 

Our Tech Stack

 







 

Hire SoftTeco’s Developers for WordPress Design and Development Services



Website performance and design are key factors that impact user experience and engagement. Even the smallest mistake can lead to lost conversions, and we don’t want that. At SoftTeco, our WordPress development team pays utter attention to the smallest details and makes sure that your website 100% reflects your brand and lives up to your expectations.

 









 

Security, reliability, and trust are the cornerstones of partnering with our company, and we can’t wait to take your business to new heights with our extensive WordPress website development services.





Contact Us



 





 

How Can Custom WordPress Development Services Benefit Your Business?



WordPress is loved by many companies due to its availability, simplicity, and short time-to-market. So why bother with custom development if WordPress is already offering an array of tools to work with? Here is how our custom WordPress development services can make your business shine among thousands of websites alike:





Alignment with the brand



With our WordPress development services, you can create a website that reflects your brand through the smallest details and showcases your individuality.





Reliability and security



With custom-made elements, you can rest assured that they are 100% secure and adhere to quality standards.





Ease of maintenance



Entrust our WordPress website development company with the maintenance of your website and enjoy rapid updates and instant debugging.





Full control



Be the one who decides what exactly is needed on the website and how it will be implemented.



 





 

All about Wordpress Development Service

 




 


​How Much Does It Cost to Build a WordPress Website







WordPress for ecommerce










 






 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Current Job Openings

Current Job Openings



Are you ready to skyrocket your career and join our international team? Explore this page to see all current job openings, and don’t hesitate to get in touch in case you have any questions or want your CV to be added to our internal database. Looking forward to meeting you!

 





 

Job Openings





  
    All Locations
    



    
  
  
    
      All Locations
    
       
      Bulgaria
    
    
      Georgia
    
    
      Kazakhstan
    
    
      Kyrgyzstan
    
    
      Latvia
    
    
      Lithuania
    
    
      Moldova
    
    
      Montenegro
    
    
      Poland
    
        
      Romania
    
    
      Serbia
    
    
      Turkey
    
    
      EU
    
  

  
    
      All Roles
      
  
  
  
      
    
    
      All Roles
      Backend Developer
      Data Engineer
      Business Analyst
      Data Analyst
      Python (Backend) Developer
      Full Stack Java Developer
      Full Stack Developer (.NET and React)
      Database Developer
      DevOps Engineer
      Senior DevOps (Architect DevOps)
      Frontend Developer
      Full Stack Developer
      Full Stack Python Developer
      Full Stack Developer (Java and Angular)
      Full Stack Developer (Python with Angular or React)
      Full Stack Developer (Node and React)
      Full Stack Developer Intern
      Scala Developer 
      Embedded Developer 
      Microsoft Dynamics 365 Developer 
      Microsoft Dynamics NAV Developer 
      Lead Full Stack Developer
      Senior Full Stack Developer
Elixir Developer
.NET Full Stack Developer
Network Engineer
Software Engineer (Go)
      .NET Software Engineer
      Link Builder Specialist
      Machine Learning Engineer
      Mobile Developer
      Project Manager
      Sales Manager
      System Analyst
DevOps Engineer (Network & Security)
      QA Engineer
      QA Automation Engineer (Java or JS)
      QA Automation Specialist (Mobile Testing)
      Test Automation Engineer
      UX/UI Designer
      Business Analyst (System Analyst)
      Recruiter Assistant (Researcher)
      IT Copywriter
      UI/UX Designer
      SEO Specialist
      Python Developer
    
  





Full Stack Developer

















Senior



React, Node, CI/CD, SQL




All Locations






Full Stack Developer (React and Node)

















Middle+



TypeScript, React, Node, CI/CD, MySQL, Sequelize ORM, AWS Services, Unit tests




Georgia, Cyprus, EU






UI/UX Designer

















Photoshop, Illustrator, Sketch/Figma, English (B2 or higher)




All Locations






QA Engineer

















Middle



QA Engineer




Georgia, Poland






Project Manager

















Middle+ / Senior



Agile Management, P&L Responsibility, Pre-Sale Work, Scope & Team Management




All Locations






Business Analyst





















Business Analysis, Data Model Tools, Business requirements, User stories, Agile




All Locations





Show More





Sorry, no matches found





Seems like right now we don’t have an open vacancy that matches your search criteria. However, you can send us your CV via a form below. We will add it to our talent pool and as soon as a new vacancy matches your skills and experience, our recruiter will reach out to you.







 









 

Application Process




01
Apply for a vacancy



Fill in the needed form, attach your resume and send it to us.




02
Receive feedback



Our recruiters will carefully review your career expectations and experience and then will provide feedback on available positions.




03
Agree upon the interview time and date



The recruiter will contact you and will provide detailed information about the company. You will also select the suitable time and date for your interview.




04
HR interview and English check



During the interview (about 30 min), our HR specialist will discuss your expected career goals, experience, and your expectations from the company. We will also check your level of English.




05
Technical interview



The technical interview (about 1 hour) will be conducted by our team lead. Depending on the position, we may also present a spontaneous challenge to solve.




06
Offer review



Upon successful interview completion, you will receive a formal job offer. It will outline the details of the position, including the agreed-upon terms, salary, benefits, and other relevant information.













 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Submit your CV via the form below and we will consider you for the future open positions that match your skill set and experience.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Aliaksei Minkevich

Aliaksei Minkevich








Member of Directors Board





Aliaksei Minkevich is a member of the board of directors in SoftTeco and his main area of focus is establishing robust software engineering culture across the company and increasing the proficiency level of employees. With an Executive Master of Business Administration degree from the IPM Business School and an extensive experience in project management, Aliaksei helps SoftTeco identify and establish main areas of growth through the improvement of employees’ skills and knowledge.In 2015, Aliaksei became a co-founder of the Project Management School and later, he published a book on project management that has become one of the staples for anyone interested in actionable recommendations on managing their teams and projects.



His hobbies include



Water sports, motor sports.



Fun fact



Aliaksei is a three-time national champion in the TimeAttack competition and won BMW monocup in rally as a pilot.












Favourite Quote



The team and the people are the core foundation of success for any project. This is why it is important to make the processes convenient for the team, and the company’s culture should encourage people to learn and grow.




 





 











 





 

Board of Directors

 



 








Tauras Janickas








CEO










Serge Zenevich








Co-founder










Alex Kutsko








Co-founder










Alexey Shevchik








CTO and Co-founder

### Alexey Shevchik

Alexey Shevchik








CTO and Co-founder





Alexey Shevchik holds the position of SoftTeco’s CTO and is among the members of the board of directors. His main responsibilities include the development of actionable strategies for the company’s growth, implementation of technical innovations, and control of the tasks assigned to C-level executives. With a strong technical background, Alexey plays a vital role in expanding SoftTeco’s services and overseeing the steady development of the company’s departments.



His hobbies include



Guitar, kayaking, basketball. 



Fun fact



Every year Alexey collects about 100 liters of honey from his own bee garden.












Favourite Quote



Do what you must and come what may.




 





 











 





 

Board of Directors

 



 








Tauras Janickas








CEO










Serge Zenevich








Co-founder










Alex Kutsko








Co-founder










Aliaksei Minkevich








Member of Directors Board

### Serge Zenevich

Serge Zenevich








Co-founder





Serge Zenevich is a chairman of board of directors at SoftTeco and is responsible for the development strategy of the company. He works closely with all SoftTeco’s departments and oversees the ways they communicate and collaborate between each other. This allows Serge to constantly optimize internal workflows and identify and eliminate any pain points while seizing opportunities for growth and improvement. In 2014, Serge received an MBA degree from the Kozminski University and is constantly expanding his skills and knowledge in the field of leadership.



His hobbies include



Motorcycling, running, DYI.



Fun fact



Serge is a frequent participant of semi-marathons and usually completes the 10.5 km distance.












Favourite Quote



Personal growth happens when one’s goals become bigger.




 





 



















 





 

Board of Directors

 



 








Tauras Janickas








CEO










Alex Kutsko








Co-founder










Alexey Shevchik








CTO and Co-founder










Aliaksei Minkevich








Member of Directors Board

### Tauras Janickas

Tauras Janickas








CEO





Tauras Janickas is a Director at SoftTeco. With a Master's degree in the ISM University of Management and Economics and a solid background in managing and directing complex enterprises, Tauras helps SoftTeco solidify its presence on the international IT market. Though the main area of his responsibilities is SoftTeco’s Lithuanian office, Tauras also oversees the expansion of the company’s international client base and establishment of long-term partnerships with enterprises.



His hobbies include



Golf, whitewater slalom.



Fun fact



He was inspired to enter the IT industry by his son, who sold an established company to foreign investors and later successfully established an edON Academy, aimed at helping people discover their IT specialty.












Favourite Quote



Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.




 





 











 





 

Board of Directors

 



 








Serge Zenevich








Co-founder










Alex Kutsko








Co-founder










Alexey Shevchik








CTO and Co-founder










Aliaksei Minkevich








Member of Directors Board

### Working at SoftTeco

Working at SoftTeco



Connecting smart people with top-tier projects.



Finding the right job is essential, but so is enjoying your work with great colleagues. At SoftTeco, we hold each team member in high regard and are dedicated to fostering a positive, fulfilling workplace that supports our employees' professional growth.

 





 



17










years in the IT industry






500










employees






12










countries where our team members are based






90



%




employee retention rate






78



%




of employees with3+ years of job tenure






92



%




of employees are willing to recommend us on Glassdoor



of employees  recommend us on Glassdoor


 





 

Our Values

 



 



Trust



At SoftTeco, we prioritize trust right from the start, emphasizing mutual support during challenging times. We consciously reject check-in/check-out systems, time trackers with screenshots, and micromanagement.Instead, SoftTeco embraces rules and policies that encourage self-organization, transparency, honesty, and mutual respect. We believe in collaboration over competition and are committed to providing equal opportunities for all.























Competence



At SoftTeco, we provide an extensive knowledge base with around 100 courses spanning various technologies. We also foster collaboration through 25+ internal communities and competence centers. All our managers hold higher technical education and MBA degrees, reflecting our commitment to excellence. SoftTeco’s management is eager to discuss your professional goals, aligning your career path with task and project selection. Our team is diverse, with 37% Senior, 38% Middle, and 25% Junior professionals, ensuring a dynamic and balanced workforce.























Integrity



We prioritize a work environment that consciously avoids micromanagement, excessive control, and unnecessary bureaucracy. Our workplace at SoftTeco is characterized by friendly management that is open to dialogue.We believe that management’s role is to support you in performing your job effectively. SoftTeco provides convenient time management tools and offers services for direct dialog with managers at all levels. Moreover, within our company, it is customary to address everyone casually, fostering a culture of openness and equality.























Community



We value professionalism over appearance, age, or nationality as we create a collaborative and empowering workplace for all. Our commitment extends to caring for our colleagues’ health through programs such as flu and Covid vaccinations and the Smart Office initiative.Our corporate services are designed for convenience, and we maintain a flat organizational structure with minimal rules and procedures, ensuring equal treatment for all. We have a relaxed dress code and provide a flexible schedule to promote work-life balance.























Involvement



At SoftTeco, we place a strong emphasis on employee engagement, which is evident in our impressive statistics. We boast a remarkable 90% employee retention rate, with a substantial 78% of our workforce having dedicated more than three years to our company.Our commitment to employee satisfaction is further underscored by the impressive 87% level of engagement we achieved in 2022, surpassing the threshold for good engagement, which is considered to be 70% or higher.



















 



















 

Work Formats




01
Office Work



You frequently visit one of SoftTeco's development centers where you are provided with a desk, a comfortable chair, and a monitor. Feel free to personalize your space with a picture of your cat or bring your favorite ficus, making it a welcoming and motivating work environment.




02
Hybrid Format



You have the flexibility to choose when to work from the office, allowing you to spend less than 51% of your time on-site, while also providing access to free desks in our collaborative co-working zone. 




03
Remote Work



You work from home or a place of your choice with a secure, stable, and high-speed internet connection. SoftTeco can provide full or partial coverage of co-working expenses if necessary.  













 





 

Regardless of the work format you choose, SoftTeco ensures that you receive various benefits.






  




Comfortable working environment & flexible hours; opportunity for remote work.






  




Holidays based on the official calendar of your country, regardless of the client.






  




Relocation opportunities or options to work from SoftTeco’s offices based in other countries.






  




Health insurance, compensation packages for sports; and corporate discounts from SoftTeco’s partners.






  




Mentoring, internal knowledge sharing, all-hands meetings, and our corporate English courses.






  




Comprehensive Career Pathway system designed to facilitate employees’ professional growth and development within the organization.






  




Corporate events for employees and their families, sponsored by the company; gifts on working anniversaries and professional holidays.



 





 

Reasons to Join SoftTeco













01 / 05



Long-term partnership



When you sign a contract, you do so with SoftTeco and we are responsible for your workload. That means, when a project comes to an end, the company will find another task for you. We are interested in maintaining long-term relationships with all our employees and always give them an opportunity to learn, try other roles, or switch departments, if needed.





02 / 05



Lack of bureaucracy



The main goal of SoftTeco’s managers is to help you work effectively and in an uninterrupted manner. Thus, we ensure that every employee focuses on their tasks instead of never-ending reporting and bureaucracy. The company provides various opportunities to communicate directly with our C-level executives. This allows us to quickly adapt to changes, receive direct feedback, and eliminate guesswork from the communication between the company and employees.





03 / 05



Strong engineering culture



Our professional development programs ensure continuous knowledge transfer and education. We strongly encourage mentoring, participation in meetups and external conferences, and self-education via suitable courses. SoftTeco’s unique corporate culture centers around engineers, and we strive to help them excel their skills in every possible way.





04 / 05



Room for mistake



Everyone can make a mistake. What’s really important is that you realize why it happened and how to make it better the next time. At SoftTeco, employees know there is always room for improvement - so they ask questions, express one’s opinion, and move forward without fearing disapproval. And if SoftTeco makes a mistake, point it out, and we will do our best to fix it.





05 / 05



Virtual bench



If you have successfully passed an interview with SoftTeco and there is no suitable project for you yet, we will transfer you to the Virtual bench (upon your agreement). That means, your profile is added to our internal system. Next, we will propose you to the clients in the same way we propose our employees. If a suitable project appears, we will offer it for your review.



 





 

Current Job Openings



SoftTeco constantly expands its expertise and as we do so, we are in need of top industry talents to help us resolve complex technical challenges and bring innovation to our clients. If you are looking for the next step in your career, we encourage you to explore our Job Openings page and see if your perfect vacancy awaits you.



Join our team



 





 

Career Start





SoftTeco is always willing to work with aspiring talents who are ready to grow and master their professional skills. If you are a junior specialist, do not hesitate to contact us via the form below - we will carefully evaluate your resume and will get in touch with feedback. If there is a training program suitable for your level of skills, expertise and career aspirations, we will invite you for an interview and, if you meet the criteria, make you an offer. SoftTeco is dedicated to actively supporting and investing in the development of young professionals.





Read more

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Submit your CV via the form below and we will consider you for the future open positions that match your skill set and experience.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Career Start

Career Start



A strong foundation is essential for a successful IT career, encompassing theoretical knowledge, practical skills, linguistic proficiency, motivation, and intellectual capabilities. By nurturing these elements, individuals can pave the way for a rewarding journey in the IT industry.

 





 

Key Selection Criteria for your Strong Start at SoftTeco







Demonstrated English Proficiency





Motivation & Self-Discipline





Technical Competence





Practical Experience



 





 

Getting Started



To secure your first job or internship at SoftTeco, it's crucial to demonstrate your ability to deliver results. For us, this is far more important than adhering to formalities.

 





 

Send us a resumeEnglish level evaluationInterview

 

Your resume will look more noticeable and appealingif you describe your relevant IT experience in detail:




List the projects you've participated in, including training or personal projects. Mention the project's nature, duration, team size, and your specific responsibilities.



Highlight your hands-on experience with technology stacks, not just theoretical knowledge or video tutorials.



We recommend including a brief cover letter that specifies the position you’re applying for and explains why you believe you’re the ideal candidate for the role.


 





 

As we collaborate with international clients, it's crucial for all our team members to engage in effective communication with them. If necessary, our in-house English tutor will contact you to evaluate your English proficiency. You should be capable of:




Engage in conversations on diverse topics.



Describe academic or work-related projects effectively.



Elaborate on the challenges you've faced and solutions you've implemented.



Share your career aspirations and more.


 





 

We'll set up an online interview where we can chat about your professional interests and experience in the IT field. Plus, we'll give you a sneak peek into what it's like to be part of the awesome SoftTeco family!



We may advise you to brush up on certain knowledge and try again in a couple of months or suggest completing a test assignment. Regardless of the interview's outcome, you will have the opportunity to:




Ask for recommendations, including literature and other resources.



Receive answers to your technology-related questions.



Enhance your self-presentation skills.



Receive an evaluation of your knowledge and skills to gain clarity on your next steps.


 



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Submit your CV via the form below and we will consider you for the future open positions that match your skill set and experience.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Website Design Services

Website Design Services





Add visibility to your brand and turn your users into loyal customers via captivating and engaging design. Explore SoftTeco’s web design services to learn how we can help your website rank high in Google and transform user journeys into conversions.



Let’s get started



 





 




17




  





Years in The IT Industry






500




  





Employees






300




  





Customers Worldwide






450




  





Successful Projects



 





 

Make Your Business Shine Through Stellar Web Design

 



 

There are approximately 1.13 billion websites on the Internet, and the number keeps growing on a daily basis.



Design plays a crucial role not only in attracting, but also in retaining users and promoting conversions. A thought-out design with intuitive navigation will encourage the interaction of users with a website. And vice versa, a poorly crafted design will discourage users from navigating the website and will be among the top reasons for them to leave.





According to numerous researches, product design forms 94% of first impressions & 38.5% of users’ opinions of a business are based on its website.



To make your website visible and to make it stand out from the rest, it is important to invest time and effort into its design. SoftTeco offers top-tier website design services that unveil the true value of your brand and translate it to users through memorable visuals and stellar content.

 



 

Request web design



 





 

Website Design Services From SoftTeco



Our design team strives to bring excellence to your software product in all aspects, from the selection of fonts to fine-tuning the website for search engine optimization. Learn more about our professional web design services.

 



 

Logo and BrandingCreation of Visual ElementsCreation of Functional ElementsUX Writing & Content CreationSEO OptimizationWebsite AnalysisCRO Optimization

 





Logo and Branding



SoftTeco can help you create a unique logo and will take full care of branding, keeping your website in correspondence with your values and positioning. We will carefully analyze your brand, studying its mission and the core message that you want to convey to your clients. Based on that, we will craft a memorable logo and a full branding package.




Thorough analysis of your brand and the market



Creation of a brand identity and a brand book



Creation of a unique logo for your business


 





 





Creation of Visual Elements



Visual elements make the first impression of your website, so it’s important to approach their creation with a thought-out strategy. Our design team will consider the tiniest details of all visual elements included in your website to make sure nothing is overlooked. In this way, your website will deliver a holistic user experience from start to finish.




Selection of fonts, colors, and shapes



Creation of the content layout



Selection of images and videos to use



Crafting of copy for the website


 





 





Creation of Functional Elements



Stellar content is not all when it comes to creating a holistic and user-centric website design. It is also important to take care of functional elements, and our professional web design company has rich experience in their proper design and allocation. Our team will carefully analyze your users and their user journeys and will design the website correspondingly to follow the natural path of users.




Creation of intuitive navigation



Allocation of main touchpoints



Optimization of website performance



Site mapping and creation of site structure


 





 

UX Writing & Content Creation







While visual elements attract attention, it’s content and microcopy that talk to users and encourage them to take specific action. SoftTeco’s copywriting team will craft engaging and meaningful content aimed at delivering the right message to your customers. Our UX microcopy will be A/B tested to ensure users will interact with it as intended.




Creation of UX microcopy



Research of competitive landscape



Creation of copy for service pages



A/B copy testing with real users


 





 

SEO Optimization







Search engine optimization plays a major role in website visibility, and all content has to be created with SEO in mind. SoftTeco offers SEO optimization services aimed at fine-tuning the structure and content of your website to SEO guidelines, so Google instantly sees and recognizes it, bringing it to the top of search results.




Optimization of website structure 



Insertion of needed keywords



Creation of SEO-centered copy



URL optimization


 





 

Website Analysis







Website design is one of the most effective tools to boost conversions. SoftTeco offers website analysis to identify what kind of bottlenecks you might be experiencing and what the opportunities for conversions are. Based on the analysis, we will suggest the corresponding design, considering all aspects, such as touchpoints or CTA buttons.




Analysis of weaknesses and current bottlenecks



Identification of opportunities for improvement



Analysis of the site speed and SEO



Analysis of the site functionality and usability


 





 

CRO Optimization







CRO stands for conversion rate optimization, and this is a web design service that SoftTeco is highly proficient at. Our web design services company can help you move the site visitors to the top of the sales funnel through all-round site optimization. We will take care of website performance, CTA buttons, and site navigation to lead users to completed conversions.




Redesign of the site navigation



Creation of clear and convincing CTAs



Elimination of unnecessary elements



Site testing with real users


 



 



 



Logo and Branding









SoftTeco can help you create a unique logo and will take full care of branding, keeping your website in correspondence with your values and positioning. We will carefully analyze your brand, studying its mission and the core message that you want to convey to your clients. Based on that, we will craft a memorable logo and a full branding package.




Thorough analysis of your brand and the market



Creation of a brand identity and a brand book



Creation of a unique logo for your business








Creation of Visual Elements









Visual elements make the first impression of your website, so it’s important to approach their creation with a thought-out strategy. Our design team will consider the tiniest details of all visual elements included in your website to make sure nothing is overlooked. In this way, your website will deliver a holistic user experience from start to finish.




Selection of fonts, colors, and shapes



Creation of the content layout



Selection of images and videos to use



Crafting of copy for the website








Creation of Functional Elements









Stellar content is not all when it comes to creating a holistic and user-centric website design. It is also important to take care of functional elements, and our professional web design company has rich experience in their proper design and allocation. Our team will carefully analyze your users and their user journeys and will design the website correspondingly to follow the natural path of users.




Creation of intuitive navigation



Allocation of main touchpoints



Optimization of website performance



Site mapping and creation of site structure








UX Writing & Content Creation









While visual elements attract attention, it’s content and microcopy that talk to users and encourage them to take specific action. SoftTeco’s copywriting team will craft engaging and meaningful content aimed at delivering the right message to your customers. Our UX microcopy will be A/B tested to ensure users will interact with it as intended.




Creation of UX microcopy



Research of competitive landscape



Creation of copy for service pages



A/B copy testing with real users








SEO Optimization









Search engine optimization plays a major role in website visibility, and all content has to be created with SEO in mind. SoftTeco offers SEO optimization services aimed at fine-tuning the structure and content of your website to SEO guidelines, so Google instantly sees and recognizes it, bringing it to the top of search results.




Optimization of website structure 



Insertion of needed keywords



Creation of SEO-centered copy



URL optimization








Website Analysis









Website design is one of the most effective tools to boost conversions. SoftTeco offers website analysis to identify what kind of bottlenecks you might be experiencing and what the opportunities for conversions are. Based on the analysis, we will suggest the corresponding design, considering all aspects, such as touchpoints or CTA buttons.




Analysis of weaknesses and current bottlenecks



Identification of opportunities for improvement



Analysis of the site speed and SEO



Analysis of the site functionality and usability








CRO Optimization









CRO stands for conversion rate optimization, and this is a web design service that SoftTeco is highly proficient at. Our web design services company can help you move the site visitors to the top of the sales funnel through all-round site optimization. We will take care of website performance, CTA buttons, and site navigation to lead users to completed conversions.




Redesign of the site navigation



Creation of clear and convincing CTAs



Elimination of unnecessary elements



Site testing with real users




 





 



 





 

Benefits of Professional Web Design Services



What if we told you that 89% of users switch to competitors after facing a poor user experience? And since design plays a crucial role in user experience, it’s easy to guess that a crowded website with poor navigation will most likely discourage users from navigating it. A swift and appealing website, on the contrary, is an incredibly powerful tool for growing your revenue and building long-lasting relationships with customers. It takes only 0.05 seconds for uses to form an opinion about a site, and 75% of a site credibility comes from design. Below are the core benefits that a good website design brings to your business:

 



 



Better User Experience





Increased Search Ranking





Expanded Reach





Increased Conversions 





Brand Reputation 



 



 



Better User Experience



A responsive and user-centric design instantly boosts user experience due to the lack of bottlenecks and the ability to quickly provide users with what they need. If a user browses a site and finds it quick, appealing, and helpful, chances are high that they will become a loyal customer and will be encouraged to explore the website instead of leaving it.





Increased Search Ranking



A SEO-optimized website has good chances of ranking in top of search results. And this means more traffic, better site visibility, and improved brand recognition. With thousands of alike websites as your competitors, you want to stand out from the crowd and make your site clear and attractive both for users and for search engines.





Expanded Reach



The higher you rank in search engines, the more people can see your site. This, in turn, instantly expands your reach and allows you to target more potential customers. And not only a good website allows attracting more people, it also helps target the right people - meaning, the ones who will be interested in your services from the start.





Increased Conversions 



When a user navigates a website, they want their experience to be frictionless and intuitive. If also supported by engaging CTAs and attractive visuals, users are much more likely to complete a conversion (i.e., make a purchase or sign up for a newsletter). Hence, the more you work on your website design, the more you will be able to increase your conversion rate.





Brand Reputation 



Your website is a reflection of your brand and if it’s sloppy, users will form a corresponding opinion about your brand. On the other hand, a smooth and appealing website is a clear indicator that your brand takes all its products seriously and that it can be trusted. Needless to say, users love trustful businesses and are likely to become their loyal customers.



 





 

Spark users’ attention with stellar website design and boost conversions through intuitive navigation. No idea where to start? SoftTeco will gladly help! 





Make my website shine



 





 

Website Design Solutions That SoftTeco Offers



As a one-stop provider of professional website design services, SoftTeco offers a variety of solutions suitable for all your businesses needs. We work with companies across industries and understand a full range of possible requirements needed to become successful in a field. Hence, all our solutions are carefully tailored to fit your unique needs and highlight the core strengths of your brand.

 



 



Custom Design Solutions





SoftTeco offers the creation of custom and authentic design solutions aimed at making your brand more visible and recognizable. We start by analyzing your brand and your current position in the market, as well as the competition and target audience. In this way, we understand how to make your website adhere to the users’ expectations while also standing out from similar digital products. We offer full-cycle website design, from conceptualization to brand book creation.






Highlight unique selling points of your brand

Boost user engagement and experience

Create a solid and appealing brand image

Increase recognition of your brand




 



 



WordPress Design





Being one of the most popular solutions for website hosting and development, WordPress offers a rich array of tools to customize your website to your liking and needs. However, if you need a bit more personalization, our design team is here to help. We offer extensive WordPress design services, from full website setup to customization of specific elements and their development. As a result, you receive a secure and scalable website with one of a kind design.






Frontend development by SoftTeco’s tech experts

Performance tests of the website design

Transparent and smooth project management

Regular reporting and analytics on website performance




 



 



Ecommerce Design





If you own an ecommerce website, conversions are your ultimate goal - and design can greatly help you in increasing their number. The main bottlenecks of ecommerce stores are usually poor navigation, cluttered catalogs, and complicated checkouts. With SoftTeco’s ecommerce design services, you can rest assured that your online store will be as user-centric and engaging as possible.






Checkout design for better user experience

Redesign of the site navigation 

Creation of engaging CTAs

Analysis and redesign of user journeys 




 





 

The Power Behind Professional Web Agency Services




A responsive design implies that the development team creates a single site for all devices but, depending on the screen size of the device, the site adapts correspondingly. This means, it will automatically change its layout and appearance depending on the device’s requirements.







Today, users are not willing to wait for a website to load - and especially, if there are any issues with loading a website on their mobile devices. With 72% of users preferring mobile-friendly website navigation, it’s critical to design a site with responsiveness in mind.



But how do you achieve that?



Contact us to learn more





This is where SoftTeco steps in and offers its website design services aimed at making your website not only visually appealing but delivering the same level of quality and performance across various platforms and devices. All our software products are designed with usability and responsiveness in mind in order to deliver a seamless experience with zero bottlenecks.


 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Professional Web Design Company?



Website design should be approached in a thoughtful manner and its creation requires a perfect blend of creativity and skill. At SoftTeco, we know how to make your website both captivating and valuable for users. Here are the reasons why SoftTeco is your perfect provider of web design services.





01



Experience









With over 15 years of experience in the IT industry, SoftTeco has always been committed to the best practices of web design. We closely follow the latest trends and use the most innovative tools to deliver state-of-art solutions. And by serving clients from the most various industries, we are highly knowledgeable about specific demands and requirements of each.





02



User-Centric Approach









A user is at the center of everything we do, from wireframe creation to selection of colors and fonts. When working on the design of your site, we try to make it as user-friendly as possible since the success of your business depends on your customers. And an extensive list of our projects serves as a good indicator that we are on the right track.





03



Responsiveness









We want your website to be accessible from anywhere and thus, design responsiveness is among our top priorities. Before starting the design process, we perform through analysis of your audience to understand what devices and platforms they prefer. We then adjust your website correspondingly to deliver the ultimate experience across platforms.





04



Creativity and Passion









Good design always comes from creative people who are not afraid to push boundaries and test new ideas. At SoftTeco, we always pair creativity and passion with precision and technical knowledge to deliver stunning designs in full correspondence with your requirements. By constantly analyzing design trends and tools, we bring innovation to every project.



 





 

Our Portfolio







View all cases

 



 







MomenZ



Energy Management System for Athletes




  




iOS



Android



Web













Caajoo



A system for managing smart outdoor lighting solutions




  




Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Corporate Responsibility

Corporate Responsibility



As an international software development company, SoftTeco is committed to Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability. Our sustainability goals, ethical operations, and social initiatives positively impact society, the environment, and the well-being of our employees. We foster trust and transparency with all stakeholders who, together with us, contribute to sustainable future development.



Learn more about SoftTeco



 





 

SoftTeco’s Mission

### Information Security

Information Security



As an ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified international IT company, SoftTeco has been safeguarding businesses against cyber threats since 2008. Our adherence to regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and FISMA demonstrates the trustworthiness of our services and mitigates potential hazards associated with data breaches or external dangers.








Certified Information Security Management System


 





 

What Is Information Security? 



Information security refers to the implementation of measures, policies, and procedures to protect sensitive and confidential data from diverse threats, including cyber attacks, theft, espionage, and natural disasters.



At SoftTeco, we understand the critical importance of protecting the IT assets we handle, including the information and infrastructure involved in our projects. Our goal is to ensure that data and information systems remain confidential, intact, and available.

 





 

SoftTeco's ApproachTo Information Security





Ensure IT Assets Are Managed Securely



Our experts conduct thorough risk assessments to detect possible weak points and develop effective asset protection strategies. We employ industry-leading technologies and best practices to keep all the data confidential, intact, and available.





Safe Working Environment



To protect employee intelligence and owned devices used in the corporate IT infrastructure, SoftTeco conducts periodic audits. We also take a number of steps to ensure the physical security of our facilities.





Ensuring Operation Security 



SoftTeco uses cutting-edge technologies like intrusion detection and prevention systems to protect our business operations from unauthorized access. To ensure the safety of data both at rest and in transit, we utilize robust encryption algorithms and safe lines of communication.





Rising Awareness



SoftTeco provides employees with tips and guidelines on how to protect themselves and the organization from cyber threats. By raising awareness and promoting a security-conscious culture, we ensure our employees are mindful of their roles in managing security.



 





 

How SoftTeco Implements ISMS



To ensures that all the data remains protected from unauthorized access, leaks, and breaches, our team of experts follows a comprehensive approach to implementing ISMS:




1 Conduct a Risk Assessment



2 Develop a Security Plan



3 Prepare Mitigation Policies



4 Implement Security Controls



5 Review & Continuous Monitoring


 









 

Compliance and RegulationsThat SoftTeco Follows



SoftTeco understands the importance of adhering to industry standards and follows strict guidelines to ensure transparency, integrity, and security of your sensitive data. Our company works in full compliance with such regulations as: 













01 / 03



GDPR



The General Data Protection Regulation protects the privacy and personal data of individuals within the European Union. At SoftTeco, we take the necessary steps to secure data. This includes obtaining proper consent, notifying data breaches, and establishing data protection roles within the organization.





02 / 03



FISMA



The Federal Information Security Management Act is a comprehensive framework that helps federal agencies to maintain effective information security programs. SoftTeco covers every aspect of FISMA compliance to make sure that the software solutions we provide comply with the strictest safety requirements.





03 / 03



HIPAA



The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a regulation that focuses on securing the Protected Health Information (PHI) of patients in the United States. SoftTeco ensures the reliability of our healthcare software solutions and follows the necessary practices to guarantee full HIPAA compliance.



 





 

Our Certifications




Information Security Standard - ISO 27001




Information security is a top priority at SoftTeco when handling data from partners, clients, and employees. Our certification proves that we are committed to upholding the highest standard of safety throughout every aspect of our business operations.










Quality Management Standard - ISO 9001




SoftTeco continuously strives to enhance our processes and exceed customer expectations through regular feedback, reviews, and audits. This certification serves as a testament to our dedication to continuous improvement, customer satisfaction, and adherence to international standards.







 





 

Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        Path to AWS Certified Security – Specialty Certification
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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        What Is Threat Hunting: Understanding Proactive Cybersecurity
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Home Page

Custom Software Development



We deliver engineering and IT consulting services across multiple domains to solve your business and technology challenges.



Contact us
  


















 





 


	
    

        
            
            
                
            
        
    
    
        
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Explore the Services We Offer as a Software Development Company



From enterprise software development to implementation of complex machine learning solutions, SoftTeco offers an array of services to cover all your technical needs. Due to rich experience in the industry, we can offer a software solution that will work best for your business.

 



 

IT ConsultingSoftware DevelopmentWeb DevelopmentMobile App DevelopmentUI/UX DesignQuality AssuranceMachine Learning, AI,Data Science, Big DataSalesforce DevelopmentDevOps ServicesSupport and Maintenance

 



      
        
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
    






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





IT Consulting



SoftTeco can help define your core technical needs and the most effective solutions. We will also identify the main challenges and bottlenecks that slow down your digital transformation and will advise on how to overcome them.



 





 



      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





Software Development



SoftTeco designs custom enterprise-grade software solutions aimed at augmenting your business through innovation. Built with scalability and security in mind, our products stand the test of time and deliver tangible value.



 





 



    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
    
  






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





Web Development



We design robust and secure web applications that can bring a competitive edge to your business and extend your digital presence. Whether you need a CMS system or a web portal, our team is ready to tackle your tech challenge.



 





 



      
        
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
        
      
    






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





Mobile App Development



Bring your customers closer and improve the efficiency of your operations with a sleek mobile app, designed by our experienced team. We create native and cross-platform applications with a focus on usability and responsiveness.



 





 



    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    
  






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





UI/UX Design



Make your brand shine through innovative and bold design solutions delivered by our UX/UI team. With the user being at the center of our design, we ensure that your software product will be both appealing and engaging.



 





 



    
      
        
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
      
        
          
          
            
              
              
            
          
        
      
    
  






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





Quality Assurance



SoftTeco provides extensive Quality Assurance services to ensure that your software product looks and functions in a seamless, bug-free manner and that it is secured against possible threats and vulnerabilities.



 





 



    
    
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    
  






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





Machine Learning, AI, Data Science, Big Data



SoftTeco creates state-of-art ML solutions that can cover any of your tech need and will bring automation and intelligence to your processes. Our services include computer vision, RPA, Big Data processing, and many more.



 





 



    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    
    
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    
  






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





Salesforce Development



Whether you need Salesforce fine-tuning or full setup and configuration, our Salesforce team is on it. SoftTeco has rich experience in working with Salesforce and will readily deliver a solution to suit your unique needs.



 





 



    
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    
  






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





DevOps Services



Eliminate the gap between your IT and operations teams and speed up product delivery with our DevOps services. Our team will bring clarity and accuracy to your development process through automation and CI/CD pipeline setup.



 





 



    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
    
  
  






      
  
  
    
      
    
  





Support and Maintenance



SoftTeco offers support and maintenance services to help you manage your software product after its release and ensure its smooth functioning. We will closely monitor the performance and will provide needed training upon request.



 



 








 

Industries that We Work With

 








 

Why Choose SoftTecoas Your Software Development Company?

 



 


Advanced Expertise















SoftTeco constantly expands its expertise and provides a rich array of services, aimed at meeting any software-related business needs. With top tier professionals on the team, we make sure to bring innovation and value to everything we do.





Technology Leadership















With over 500 experts in the company, SoftTeco offers a diverse set of technologies that we are proficient in. We work with both time-tested and innovative technologies, and select the tech stack for every project uniquely.





Rich Experience Across Industries















SoftTeco serves clients across various industries, including healthcare, logistics, retail, finances, and education. With such a diverse expertise, we know particular demands of each industry and propose the most value-driven solutions.





Proven Success















We always strive for transparency between our company and the clients and hence, we encourage you to discover our most interesting projects in a portfolio. Learn how we transform ideas into advanced tech solutions.





Transparency & Integrity















We always strive to fulfill the client’s requirements in a way that brings maximal value and efficiency to your business. Hence, we pay great attention to your contentment with our products and services and are always 100% transparent about our work.





Confidentiality And Security















Being an ISO 27001 company, SoftTeco places utmost importance on the security of your data and your software products. We strictly follow in-house and international standards in software security and regularly conduct security training and audits within the company.


 






 

Proven Process, Real Results



Our success starts with sourcing best-in-class developers and ends with exceeding our clients' every expectation.

 



 




2008




Founded






500




  





Employees






300




  





Customers Worldwide






450




  





Successful Projects



 






 

By constantly pairing innovation with time-tested practices, we are able to deliver results that exceed expectations and stand the test of time, bringing real value to our clients. And we are excited and proud to be a part of our clients’ digital transformation.



CEO, SoftTeco



Tauras Janickas

 









 

Empower your business with state-of-art software solution and delegate its full-cycle development to our experts. 





Let’s get started



 





 

Tech stack

 















































 

Discover Our Projects







View all cases

 






			
				
					
				
					EasyRegister
					A platform for assembling a talent pool in one secure place
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					Professional Services
					WebMobile
				
			
		
			
				
					
				
					Caajoo
					A freelance marketplace to connect clients & local service providers
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					Communication
					Mobile
				
			
		







 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									We have been working with SoftTeco for more than 7 years and throughout all this time, they never missed a deadline and always displayed the highest level of professionalism.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, Blueprint
									
									
										Irina Lunin
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Latest From Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        Cybersecurity Audit Checklist 2025
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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        What is Agentic AI? Meet the AI That Thinks, Plans, and Gets Things Done
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!



Calculate Team Cost




 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### MongoDB Professional Services

MongoDB Professional Services





With a focus on innovative mobile & web app development with Big Data, a single database with powerful data management features is vital.With hands-on experience in MongoDB services, SoftTeco offers first-grade solutions from MongoDB consulting to development and deployment. You will have unparalleled flexibility to manage massive and distributed datasets in real-time, anywhere.





Contact our experts








       
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

 






 

MongoDB Services That We Offer





MongoDB Сonsulting



If you need extra help with your MongoDB projects - we can guide you at all stages. Our MongoDB consultants work closely with clients to determine the necessary solutions, from consulting to design development, deployment, optimization, performance, and maintenance.





MEAN Stack Development



When it comes to the development of web and cloud-based applications with greater scalability and performance, the MEAN stack is indispensable. Our full-stack MEAN developers work with MongoDB, Express.js, Angular, and Node.js to develop high scalable web apps and websites quickly.





Web Application Development



SoftTeco develops high-performing and user-centric web applications that bring ultimate value to end-users and serve as a helpful asset for businesses.





Progressive Web Applications Development



We use Angular to build effective PWAs that can effortlessly run on all needed devices from a single codebase thus cutting down your development time and costs.





Single Page Application Development



SoftTeco designs powerful and dynamic SPAs to bring end users the ultimate user experience while retaining high performance of the app.





E-commerce Development



Take your e-commerce business to the next level with an interactive and user-friendly application powered by Angular.





Plugin Development



If you need a specific plugin for your software, SoftTeco can offer you Angular plugin development for maximal efficiency and performance.



 





 

Harness the power of your data by hiring our developers to create powerful, high-tech, scalable apps with next-gen databases.





Hire our developers



 





 

Our Solutions















01 / 04



CMS



We build compatible CMS solutions on MongoDB that provide access to content on a single database. Our MongoDB CMS solutions allow businesses to handle growing audiences within data centers and across regions easily.





02 / 04



IoT



We offer MongoDB solutions to maximize the full power of IoT devices by speeding up the operation and delivery of IoT devices.





03 / 04



Real-time analytics



Our MongoDB solutions help organizations make data access effortless and streamline data gathering from various sources. Consequently, organizations can analyze data in real-time and handle multiple transactions simultaneously.





04 / 04



Mobile and web applications



We offer future-proof mobile and web apps with scaling capabilities, flexible schema, and quick launch capabilities. A fully managed backend service lets us build, deploy, and scale mobile apps effortlessly with real-time data synchronization of a mobile database and a cloud.



 





 

Benefits of MongoDB 





Horizontal Scaling



MongoDB is a highly scalable database. Users can spread data management across multiple systems and handle large data sets as it expands horizontally via sharding and replica sets.





Schema-free



MongoDB allows users to work with different data structures within a database, making modifying data models based on application requirements easier.





Exceptional performance



Ad hoc queries, real-time indexing, and aggregation allow users to manage and handle large amounts of data quickly.





Document-oriented



MongoDB is a document-oriented database; it is incredibly flexible since data is stored as documents. It makes it easy for developers to store large amounts of structured or unstructured data in JSON/BSON formats.





Fast indexing



MongoDB allows users to create various types of indexes to sort, filter and aggregate big data in multiple ways more rapidly.





Powerful queries



MongoDB provides users with fast retrieval and complex big data analytics with a few lines of code.





Cost-effective



MongoDB provides flexible costs for clusters. It allows keeping prices low while still handling sudden spikes in traffic. Users can choose an instance that fits their current needs and set it up to scale automatically.



 





 

Real-Life MongoDBUse Cases

 










Forbes



With MongoDB, Forbes has built a real-time and dynamic CMS for contributors to upload their content efficiently. It allowed Forbes to accelerate building times for existing products by 58%, release cycles by 4x, and subscriber numbers by 28%.











Toyota



Toyota has created a smart and automated Factory with MongoDB Atlas and Azure. By analyzing big data collected from vehicles on a cloud platform, the company has elevated the customer experience and reduced TCNA's annual costs by 20%.











eBay



As an e-Commerce platform, eBay uses MongoDB to offer search suggestion features, making it easier for customers to find relevant products. Now, the company runs many MongoDB solutions like product categorization, cloud management, metadata storage, and search suggestions.











MetLife



Known as a world leader in employee benefit programs and insurance, MetLife relies on MongoDB to power its advanced customer service application, The Wall. The app stores 24 terabytes of data across six servers and gives the company a 360-degree view of its customers, policies, and transactions.






 

1 / 4









 





 

Why Hire MongoDB developers from SoftTeco?



Certified MongoDB expertsGet end-to-end MongoDB consulting servicesIntegration with your apps, BI, and ETL toolsAn in-depth quality assurance (QA) testing prior to go-live24/7 managed services and DBA supportData Security solutions

 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									We have been working with SoftTeco for more than 7 years and throughout all this time, they never missed a deadline and always displayed the highest level of professionalism.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, Blueprint
									
									
										Irina Lunin
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        Couchbase vs CouchDB: The Main Differences Between Both Databases
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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        What Is Data Normalization: A Perspective On Database Efficiency
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Machine Learning Consulting

Machine Learning Consulting 



We’re committed to delivering top-quality services, high involvement, and dedicated support — every step of our way!



I Want a Free Сonsultation



 





 




17




  





Years of experience






450




  





Successful projects






300




  





Customers globally






500




  





Employees



 





 

SoftTeco’s Machine Learning Consulting Services





Analysis and Advisory



At SoftTeco, we will analyze your current situation to provide you with the best machine learning solution. Our team of expert data scientists and ML specialists will help you select the right technologies and build your own machine learning strategy on time and professionally.





Data Preparation



SoftTeco provides data preparation services to ensure that data is collected, cleaned, and transformed in a format suitable for further machine learning processing. Our data experts analyze existing data sets, and prepare them to ensure high-quality, accurate, and relevant results of a machine learning model.





Build and Implementation of Models



If you plan to build and implement ML models in your operations and systems smoothly, rely on SoftTeco’s constants. By building, deploying, integrating, and fine-tuning machine learning models, we help companies avoid common pitfalls and maximize the outcomes of leveraging the technology.





Machine Learning Process Improvement



As you strive to improve and optimize internal workflows, SoftTeco will help you. We assess your current ML process and provide actionable suggestions to improve ML models' efficiency, accuracy, and effectiveness for smooth integration into your processes.





Model Evaluation



If you need to assess the performance and effectiveness of your ML models, SoftTeco will gladly help you. By checking the performance, robustness, and provenance of your model, we provide helpful suggestions and assist businesses in making informed deployment decisions as well as ensure that models meet their objectives. 





Proactive Support



If your existing solutions do not meet your outlined objectives or need to be updated, our consultants can help you. We will analyze your solutions, outline optimization methods, and provide troubleshooting and proactive support, so you can focus on your core operations.



 





 

Our Expertise In Machine Learning Consulting Services 











 



 




01 / 07



Robotic Process Automation




We build RPA solutions to help organizations integrate automated processes into their daily operations with minimal disruption.




Customer service systems



Payroll management



Customer data management



Enterprise data management and reporting







02 / 07



Computer Vision




We develop computer vision algorithms that process and analyze real-time data for object labeling, face, and behavior recognition to understand and predict actions.




Biometric authentication



Picture-based medical diagnostics



Social distancing tracking



Real-time traffic monitoring







03 / 07



Natural Language Processing




To make your company's workflow efficient, our team creates NLP solutions that decipher, interpret, and extract value from unstructured written and oral natural language.




Sentiment analysis



Chatbots and AI-assistants



ROI analysis



Smart search systems







04 / 07



Predictive Analytics




We provide analytics solutions based on machine learning to help enterprises gain valuable insights out of disparate enterprise data and improve decision-making.




Trend prediction and identification



Financial risk forecasting



Corporate performance analysis



Market trend forecasting







05 / 07



Business Intelligence




We help companies collect, understand, and visualize their data to gain meaningful insights and make better business decisions.




Market and competitor analysis



Trend analysis



Sales analysis



Price optimization







06 / 07



Recommendation Systems




We build ML-based recommendation systems by using customer data and behavioral patterns to provide highly personalized content and products for users.




Product recommendations



Personalized content



Improved product search



Targeted advertisement







07 / 07



Fraud Detection




By identifying patterns in large data, we use ML to find anomalies indicative of fraud, which enables companies to protect their customers and prevent financial losses.




Verification of identity



Data collection and integration



Transactions and activities monitoring



Anomaly detection




 





 

































    
      
        
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
    
      
        
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
    
      
        
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      
    
    
      
        
          
            
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
  



Looking for Machine Learning Consultation?



Let’s start a new project together!



Contact Us



 





 

Industry-Specific Machine Learning Solutions by SoftTeco

 




 

Healthcare




SoftTeco provides machine learning solutions for healthcare to extract insights from massive medical data sets and to enhance medical decision-making, improve patient outcomes, and automate daily healthcare workflows. Among our offers:




Early disease detection



Personalized treatment recommendations



AI-based medical assistants



Hospital management optimization



 



 

FinTech




Using vast data that banks collect, we use ML to understand their consumers and internal processes better. Financial institutions can improve fraud detection, credit underwriting, regulatory compliance, and customer service. Our solutions include: 




AI assistance with wealth management



Fraud detection



Dynamic product recommendations



Risk management



 



 

Retail and Ecommerce




From marketing and customer service to logistics and security, we help retail and ecommerce businesses create a customer-centric experience across their digital and physical sales channels for digital transformation. Here is what we offer: 




ML-based recommendation systems



Dynamic pricing optimization



AI-based shopping assistance and chatbot



Demand forecasting and inventory planning



 



 

Manufacturing




By deploying ML solutions in manufacturing, we help enterprises make informed and automated decisions about equipment maintenance and product quality and address anomalies in production processes on time. We provide: 




Intelligent process automation (IPA)



Equipment failure predictions



Quality control and inspection of automated products



Demand and supply forecasting



 



 

Logistics 




SoftTeco provides ML consulting services to logistics, so companies can deliver complete supply chain transparency and resolve any issue, be it a vehicle breakdown, a sudden drop in demand, or shipping delays, as soon as possible. We offer: 




Vehicles and equipment breakdowns



Vehicle predictive maintenance



Dynamic route optimization



Supplier relationship management



 



 

Education




We help educational institutions adopt machine learning capabilities. It allows companies to transform the learning process and provides educational institutions with tools to track and improve students' performance and engagement. We provide: 




Corporate training platforms



AI tutor and chatbots



Administrative tasks automation



Adaptive learning



 



 

Agriculture




We help agricultural organizations adopt the machine learning technology to enable the security of remote facilities, better yields, minimize environmental impact, manage risks effectively, and optimize overall operations. Our solutions include: 




Yield detection



Intelligent spraying



Disease detection and treatment



Crop quality detection and classification



 













1 / 7 






 

Our Tech Stack

 







 

Our Case Studies 







View all cases

 



 







Golf Club



The AI-powered analyzer of golf players




  




Web













Beeguard



An AI-based beehive tracking system




  




iOS



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Machine Learning Consulting Company?





Over 15 years of experience in ML consulting

ISO 900-certified to ensure management quality

500+ highly skilled developers, data scientists, and ML experts

ISO 27001-certified to ensure a high level of security 

Have gained 200+ partners’ trust

In-depth expertise in ML technologies

A transparent and personalized approach

Project delivery on-time



Get assistance now



 





 

Clients’ Testimonials




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco is the first IT vendor that I’ve worked with and I am 100% satisfied with our partnership. The team was very professional and always put an extra effort to ensure the final product adheres to the expectations.
								
								
									
										Founder and CEO, AERIS-Consulting
									
									
										Eric Jesse
									
								
							
						
					

 







 

FAQ



 





 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        What is Agentic AI? Meet the AI That Thinks, Plans, and Gets Things Done
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        Machine Learning in Healthcare: Statistics, Use Cases, and Benefits
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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Learn more about AI

 




 

What we do

 



 


AI Development



AI Consulting



Generative AI Development







Machine Learning Consulting



Machine Learning Development



Data Science Consulting







Computer Vision Development



Robotic Process Automation


 



 

What we think

 



 


AI in FinTech



AI in Banking



AI Fraud Detection in Banking



AI for Credit Scoring



AI in Manufacturing



AI in Sports



Conversational AI



Agentic AI



AI for HR Processes







ML in Healthcare



ML in Logistics and Supply Chain



ML in Agriculture



ML Trends



GitHub Copilot Alternatives



GPT vs. BERT







What is Computer Vision?



Optical Character Recognition (OCR)



Image Recognition Technology



Automatic Speech Recognition



Data Labeling



Digital Twinning


 



 

 




 

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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Big Data Consulting Services

Big Data Consulting Services





Are you struggling to navigate the vast landscape of big data? SoftTeco’s big data consulting services will help you gain valuable insights and make informed decisions to empower your business.



Request a consultation



 





 




17




  





Years on the market






450




  





Projects






300




  





Customers globally






500




  





Employees



 





 

Unlock Hidden Opportunities with Data-Driven Insights



Big At SoftTeco, we specialize in helping businesses unlock the true potential of their customer data through advanced big data analysis. Our team of data scientists and machine learning experts uses sophisticated algorithms and predictive models to analyze complex datasets, uncover hidden trends and provide actionable insights.



With our data analysis services, we identify offbeat solutions to complex business challenges, enabling clients to make informed decisions, reduce risks and boost profitability.





 





 

Benefits of Leveraging Big Data Consultancy



Whether you're a small startup or a large enterprise, our experts will work closely with you to identify your specific goals and difficulties. Our big data analytics consulting services cover a wide range of areas, including data strategy, architecture, data integration, and predictive analytics. By leveraging our expertise, you can:

 



 




Optimize your data infrastructure







Improve operational efficiency






Allocate resourcesmore effectively





Identify potential risks and fraud patterns





Make informed decisions





Enhance customer experience





Identify markettrends



 





 

Ready to unlock the power of your information? Partner with SoftTeco, a trusted big data consulting company, and explore our services to harness the insights that drive transformational growth.





Enhance your business



 






 

Driving Digital Transformation Across Diverse Industries



SoftTeco, as one of the big data consulting firms, has extensive experience working with diverse companies and possesses a comprehensive understanding of industry-specific demands and distinctive necessities. Our consultation services aim to guide you towards the optimal solution that not only suits your company's needs but also enables you to differentiate yourself from your industry's major competitors.

 








 

Big Data Consulting Services That SoftTeco Offers 





Strategy Development







Leverage our extensive experience in big data strategy development to devise a roadmap that will align with your business goals. SoftTeco will help you identify key opportunities for data-driven growth and provide actionable insights to drive innovation. Our specialists will assess your current capabilities, industry trends, and potential challenges to develop a comprehensive strategy that maximizes the value of your information assets.





Comprehensive Data Analysis







Our big data consulting services start with a deep dive into your data to understand the nuances of your business. We analyze vast datasets using machine learning, AI, and predictive analytics to uncover non-obvious patterns that can drive significant business improvements. Whether it's customer behavior, sales trends, or operational inefficiencies, we provide clear insights that empower your business decisions.





Anomaly Detection & Risk Mitigation







By leveraging anomaly detection, we identify potential issues before they impact your business. For instance, SoftTeco helps telecommunication companies detect fraudulent calls, reduce customer churn, and predict risks in real-time. With our expertise, we can help you mitigate potential threats and minimize business disruptions by spotting irregularities and outliers that could indicate fraud, operational inefficiencies, or system malfunctions.





Behavioral Analysis & Customer Segmentation







SoftTeco uses behavioral analysis and customer segmentation techniques to understand your customers at a granular level. By analyzing interactions, purchase patterns, and engagement metrics, we help businesses personalize their offerings, improve customer retention, and drive sales. Whether you are an e-commerce platform or a healthcare provider, understanding your customers' behavior allows you to offer tailored experiences that increase satisfaction and loyalty.





Integration of Big Data Solutions







When it comes to big data implementation, SoftTeco has you covered. We will support you in integrating big data solutions into your existing infrastructure and will ensure a smooth transition and optimal utilization of data processing and storage capabilities. Our experienced team of developers will handle the entire implementation process, from data integration to system deployment.





Security & Compliance Consulting







Security and compliance are top priorities for any business dealing with big data. Our experts will assess your information security and compliance needs and help you implement robust security measures and industry best practices to protect your intelligence from unauthorized access and ensure compliance with relevant regulations. Protect your valuable information with our comprehensive security and compliance consulting services.





AI & ML Consulting







When it comes to big data implementation, SoftTeco has you covered. We will support you in integrating big data solutions into your existing infrastructure and will ensure a smooth transition and optimal utilization of data processing and storage capabilities. Our experienced team of developers will handle the entire implementation process, from data integration to system deployment.





Data Engineering Consulting







SoftTeco’s data engineering consulting helps design and optimize your data pipeline, ensuring efficient data flow, ingestion, and transformation. Our expert team of engineers will assist you in choosing the right technologies, frameworks, and tools to build a scalable and robust data infrastructure and guide you through the complex process of information collection. Ensure data quality and integrity with SoftTeco.





Architecture Design







Our skilled architects will conduct a review of your current big data architecture, or help you design an efficient solution that can handle large volumes of structured and unstructured data. SoftTeco strives to optimize every aspect of the architecture, providing you with a solution that delivers exceptional results while being robust, scalable, and hassle-free to manage in the long run.





Data Visualization







SoftTeco provides data visualization services to help you derive meaningful insights from your information. Our team of data scientists and visualization experts will help you build interactive dashboards and reports that make it easy to understand and interpret complex data sets. SoftTeco will help you identify trends, patterns, and correlations that can drive business growth and competitive advantage.



 





 

Our Approach to Big Data Consulting





01



Customized Solutions for Your Business Needs



We begin every project by thoroughly understanding your business objectives and unique challenges. SoftTeco works closely with your in-house team to design a tailored solution that aligns with your goals, whether you're looking to optimize customer experience, improve operational efficiency, or identify new revenue opportunities. Our solutions are crafted specifically for your business, ensuring that every recommendation and insight is relevant and actionable. 





02



Data-Driven Problem-Solving



At SoftTeco, we don’t settle for conventional solutions. We specialize in finding creative and unexpected ways to address business problems. Using big data analytics, we explore all available datasets to reveal non-obvious insights and uncover patterns that are often hidden from traditional analysis. This approach helps our clients discover new ways to enhance their operations and profitability.





03



Continuous Optimization & Improvement



Our commitment to your success doesn’t end with the initial implementation. We continuously monitor and optimize the models and algorithms that our team deployed, ensuring they remain aligned with your evolving business needs. As new data comes in, we refine and adjust the models to keep your business ahead of the curve and ensure long-term success.



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Big Data Consulting Company?






  





Data-Driven Revenue Growth



Our expertise helps uncover hidden patterns and insights that lead to non-obvious conclusions, enabling your business to seize new opportunities and generate additional revenue.







  





Dependable security of your data



At SoftTeco, we adhere to the highest security standards to safeguard your intelligence from both internal and external threats.







  





Expert Guidance



Our team of specialists will provide you with the knowledge and expertise needed to navigate the complexities of big data.







  





Customized Solutions



We understand that every business is unique, which is why we tailor our services to meet your specific needs and goals.







  





Cutting-Edge Technologies



Our experts stay up-to-date with the latest tools and technologies to ensure you're always one step ahead of the competition.







  





Established history of success



Over the years, SoftTeco has successfully completed various projects and served 200+ customers worldwide.




 





 

Tech stack

 







 

Featured projects







View all cases

 



 







Beeguard



An AI-based beehive tracking system




  




iOS













Golfclub



The AI-powered analyzer of golf players




  




Web



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco has demonstrated an exceptional level of expertise, commitment, and professionalism. Their approach to understanding our unique business needs has been meticulous, ensuring that the solutions they provide are not only tailored to our requirements but also consistently exceed our expectations. Their teams have displayed a remarkable proficiency in SDLC, providing us with top- notch talent and resources that have been pivotal to our success. SoftTeco’s staff members are not just technically skilled, but they also bring a level of enthusiasm and dedication that has greatly contributed to a positive and productive working environment.
								
								
									
										CIO, Communications International Group
									
									
										Pete Robbins
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

FAQ



 





 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        What is Agentic AI? Meet the AI That Thinks, Plans, and Gets Things Done
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        Machine Learning in Healthcare: Statistics, Use Cases, and Benefits
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
		
		
	
	

		
				
					
		
					
		
				
		

 





 

More about Data

 




 

What we do

 



 


Big Data Services



Big Data Consulting



Business Intelligence Consulting







Data Engineering



Data Visualization







Data Science Consulting



Database Development


 



 

What we think

 



 


Big Data in Healthcare



Big Data in Retail



Big Data in Logistics



Big Data in Finance



Big Data in Banking



Data Analytics in Telecom



4 Types of Data Analytics



Behavioral Analytics







How to Manage Dark Data



Data Quality Management



Kibana vs. Grafana



Data Lake vs. Data Warehouse



How to Build a Data Warehouse



ETL vs. ELT



Power BI vs Tableau







Data Mapping



Data Normalization



Data Loss Prevention



How to Eliminate Data Silos



Data Sharding



Distributed Databases



Couchbase vs. CouchDB



Database Management Systems



HBase vs. Cassandra


 



 

 




 

+ Show more

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Data Visualization Consulting Services

Data Visualization Consulting Services





SoftTeco’s data visualization services help companies translate massive data sets in actionable recommendations for innovation and growth. Transform your information into meaningful insights and empower all users within your organization. 



Tell me more



 





 

Why Businesses Need Data Visualization 



Data visualization helps organizations unpack all historical and real-time information and organize it in a clear manner through intuitive visuals. In this way, companies become empowered to make accurate forecasts and eliminate guess work from the decision-making process.



Use innovative BI tools to:





Discover hidden patterns and dependencies 

Improve the quality of your information

Identify areas for improvement

Make business decisions faster

Base your business decisions on facts

 





 

Let your data serve your business needs through intuitive and informative visuals. You provide us the information - SoftTeco translates it into strategic insights.





Request a quote



 





 

Data Visualization Services that SoftTeco Offers





BI Development and Implementation



SoftTeco offers the development and implementation of Business Intelligence platforms to help businesses manage their information in the most effective manner. Our team will set up the needed reporting while maintaining a high level of integrity and security.





Dashboard and Reporting



We offer the development and optimization of dashboards and reports, so you always have the information presented to you in the most suitable manner. We develop dashboards for a vast range of users, so all members of your organizations take part in decision-making processes. 





Data Visualization Services



SoftTeco uses a vast range of visualization techniques, including line charts, heat maps, and many others. After collecting and processing your information, we will provide you a solution that will best address your needs, leaving no questions unanswered.





Data Preparation and Collection



The value of data visualization services comes from the quality of the information in use, and we understand that. SoftTeco can assist you in collecting and processing your information to make sure it is structured, cleansed, and ready for the analysis. 



 





 

Data VisualizationUse Cases 



As an experienced data visualization company, SoftTeco helps organizations across industries set their information in order and meet their business needs through accurate decision-making. Here is how we help industries thrive:

 










Finances




Track revenue and expenses



Identify and manage risks



Monitor financial flows












Manufacturing




Monitor equipment performance



Predict customer demand 



Identify areas for improvement












Logistics




Optimization of route maps



Reduction of operational costs



Optimization of space utilization












HR




Identification of performance gaps



Identification of recruitment needs



Analysis of employee productivity












Marketing




Forecasting of customer behavior



Better customer segmentation



Customer profitability analysis












Healthcare




Accurate information interpretation



Improved patient care



Recognition of disease trends







 

1 / 6









 





 

Our Projects







View all cases

 



 







Blueprint



A SaaS-based business intelligence solution




  




Web













C2 SmartLight



A system for managing smart outdoor lighting solutions




  




Web



 





 

Data Visualization Consulting Services by SoftTeco



In order to get the maximum benefit from your available information, it is important to ensure its quality, define the right data management process, and choose the most appropriate visualization and reporting tools. SoftTeco can help you resolve the challenge by providing consulting services that involve identification of your business needs, selection of the most suitable tools, and further setup of processes.



With SoftTeco, you get:





01



A clear understanding of what information you need for your business challenge





02



A selection of tools best suited to your requirements





03



A team of professionals with profound knowledge and experience



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									BTB's SoftTeco team is working on strategic and high profile projects, they demonstrate strong professional and interpersonal skills, they move fast, and are fully accountable to the projects under their responsibility. I have full confidence in the team's capabilities and expect to expand the collaboration with SoftTeco in the future.
								
								
									
										CTO, Be the Bank
									
									
										Koby Ben Yechiel
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Data Visualization Company?





Rich experience

Fast response time

Solid security

Quick delivery

Pitch-perfect UX/UI



Contact us



 





 

Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        What is Agentic AI? Meet the AI That Thinks, Plans, and Gets Things Done
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        Machine Learning in Healthcare: Statistics, Use Cases, and Benefits
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
		
		
	
	

		
				
					
		
					
		
				
		

 





 

More about Data

 




 

What we do

 



 


Big Data Services



Big Data Consulting



Business Intelligence Consulting







Data Engineering



Data Visualization







Data Science Consulting



Database Development


 



 

What we think

 



 


Big Data in Healthcare



Big Data in Retail



Big Data in Logistics



Big Data in Finance



Big Data in Banking



Data Analytics in Telecom



4 Types of Data Analytics



Behavioral Analytics







How to Manage Dark Data



Data Quality Management



Kibana vs. Grafana



Data Lake vs. Data Warehouse



How to Build a Data Warehouse



ETL vs. ELT



Power BI vs Tableau







Data Mapping



Data Normalization



Data Loss Prevention



How to Eliminate Data Silos



Data Sharding



Distributed Databases



Couchbase vs. CouchDB



Database Management Systems



HBase vs. Cassandra


 



 

 




 

+ Show more

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Machine Learning Development Services

Machine Learning Development Services



Enhance efficiency, automate workflows and unlock new revenue opportunitieswith SoftTeco's Machine Learning Development Services —your partner in driving business innovation!



Discuss Your Project Idea



 





 




17




  





Years of development experience






500




  





Employees






300




  





Customers Globally






450




  





Successful Projects 



 





 

SoftTeco’s Machine Learning Development Services



As a reliable Machine Learning development company, SoftTeco has completed ML projects for  businesses across the globe. We strive to provide quality, safe, and innovative solutions through our strong expertise. Learn more about our professional machine learning development services.





Machine Learning Consulting



SoftTeco will help you implement and optimize the most suitable ML solution in the specific domain. Our consultants will define the best machine learning strategy based on your ROI, assess data availability, determine feasibility, and will help you select the most effective tools and technologies.





Machine Learning Engineering



Our experienced engineers and data scientists work closely with clients to understand their needs and build custom apps. We ensure robust development and deployment of intelligent and data-driven apps that enable better business decision-making.





Machine Learning Integration



We provide seamless integration of machine learning models into existing systems, applications, or workflows, ensuring optimal performance. Whether in the cloud or on-premises, we fine-tune your models to provide advanced analytics and automation to improve decision-making capabilities.





Deep Learning Development 



SoftTeco will help you integrate deep learning to create robust, automated solutions that analyze unstructured data and provide actionable insights. With our deep learning solutions, companies can enhance their foresight, customer experience, and decision-making capabilities.





Predictive & Real-Time Data Analytics



Using ML and predictive algorithms, we help businesses predict possible risks and outcomes based on historical and real-time data. Our experts collect, clean, process, and analyze the data to uncover patterns and trends and forecast business outcomes for better decision-making.





Data Migration 



We offer data migration services to transform legacy and big data systems into usable datasets. Partnering with our experts allows businesses to build and analyze machine learning models using high-quality and reliable data, minimize business risks, and realize the full potential of their data.





Machine Learning Operations (MLOps)



By implementing MLOps practices, we help businesses speed up their machine learning model development, deployment, and maintenance. By providing reliable maintenance for machine learning models, we improve operational efficiency, facilitate collaboration, and ultimately drive business success.





Business Process Automation 



SoftTeco eliminates repetitive tasks with efficient and accurate automated tools. Using modern AI and ML technologies, SoftTeco's professionals can make your business processes more efficient and effective, improving overall performance and saving significant costs.





Optimization



Organizations can use SoftTeco's optimization service to make their machine learning models more accurate, efficient, and scalable. We design and optimize models that enhance business performance, risk mitigation, and performance monitoring to boost revenue and improve overall operations.







Machine Learning Consulting



SoftTeco will help you implement and optimize the most suitable ML solution in the specific domain. Our consultants will define the best machine learning strategy based on your ROI, assess data availability, determine feasibility, and will help you select the most effective tools and technologies.





Machine Learning Engineering



Our experienced engineers and data scientists work closely with clients to understand their needs and build custom apps. We ensure robust development and deployment of intelligent and data-driven apps that enable better business decision-making.





Machine Learning Integration



We provide seamless integration of machine learning models into existing systems, applications, or workflows, ensuring optimal performance. Whether in the cloud or on-premises, we fine-tune your models to provide advanced analytics and automation to improve decision-making capabilities.





Deep Learning Development 



SoftTeco will help you integrate deep learning to create robust, automated solutions that analyze unstructured data and provide actionable insights. With our deep learning solutions, companies can enhance their foresight, customer experience, and decision-making capabilities.





Predictive & Real-Time Data Analytics



Using ML and predictive algorithms, we help businesses predict possible risks and outcomes based on historical and real-time data. Our experts collect, clean, process, and analyze the data to uncover patterns and trends and forecast business outcomes for better decision-making.





Data Migration 



We offer data migration services to transform legacy and big data systems into usable datasets. Partnering with our experts allows businesses to build and analyze machine learning models using high-quality and reliable data, minimize business risks, and realize the full potential of their data.





Machine Learning Operations (MLOps)



By implementing MLOps practices, we help businesses speed up their machine learning model development, deployment, and maintenance. By providing reliable maintenance for machine learning models, we improve operational efficiency, facilitate collaboration, and ultimately drive business success.





Business Process Automation 



SoftTeco eliminates repetitive tasks with efficient and accurate automated tools. Using modern AI and ML technologies, SoftTeco's professionals can make your business processes more efficient and effective, improving overall performance and saving significant costs.





Optimization



Organizations can use SoftTeco's optimization service to make their machine learning models more accurate, efficient, and scalable. We design and optimize models that enhance business performance, risk mitigation, and performance monitoring to boost revenue and improve overall operations.



 





 

Solutions By Our Machine Learning Development Company 



As a machine learning services company, we cater to a wide range of industries including transportation, automotive, oil & gas, customer electronics, and healthcare to deliver customized machine learning solutions, such as:





Conversational AI & Chatbot







We build powerful conversation AI and chatbots for a wide range of messengers, websites, and mobile applications. By supporting users and improving their experience during the product journey, our chatbots can analyze conversational patterns, decode natural language, and provide valuable insights.





Natural Language Processing







Our NLP solutions can optimize any business workflow: leverage smart search systems, customer services, autonomous cars, or healthcare. Our advanced NLP software solutions help businesses analyze and understand any format of human language.





Robotic Process Automation







Integrating AI and ML with robotic process automation (RPA) allows us to create highly functional, cost-effective automation tools to streamline business workflows. Our automotive RPA solutions include diverse data processing, cognitive automation, intelligent decision making, and continuous monitoring and improvement. 





Data-Driven IoT







SoftTeco offers intelligent IoT solutions based on ML to help businesses leverage IoT devices and improve decision-making. Using IoT data collection and machine learning algorithms, we extract valuable information, detect patterns and anomalies, and automate intelligently.





Cybersecurity







With our ML-based cybersecurity solutions, businesses can mitigate risks and safeguard sensitive data. Machine learning models allow businesses to stay updated on the latest threats, vulnerabilities, and attack techniques by analyzing vast amounts of threat data. This allows them to adjust their security strategies.





Business Intelligence 







We expertly build data warehouses, ETL systems, cloud, on-premise solutions, advanced data visualization, and reporting solutions for BI processes. Relying on our BI solutions, businesses can forecast the market and competitors, analyze trends, and optimize operations in a secure and effective manner.





Computer Vision







Our specialists use computer vision technology for a variety of business tasks: object detection and recognition, image classification, 3D reconstruction, and other use cases. Analysis of images or videos allows companies to extract relevant and accurate data for better decision-making.





Voice & Speech Recognition







We provide businesses with accurate and efficient speech and voice recognition, language translation, and voice-enabled applications. Additionally, we integrate business apps with voice recognition services such as Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa.



 





 

































    
      
        
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
    
      
        
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
    
      
        
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      
    
    
      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      
    
    
      
        
          
            
          
        
        
          
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
          
          
            
            
          
        
      
    
  



Ready to harness the power of Machine Learning?



Let’s kick off your next project together!



Contact Us



 





 

Our Machine Learning Tech Stack

 







 

Machine Learning Platforms That We Work On



As a trusted machine learning development firm, we keep up with cutting-edge technologies and industry security standards during the collaboration with our clients. Along with a wide variety of programming languages and frameworks, our team uses industry-leading platforms to ensure the quality of our work.




Microsoft Azure Machine Learning




Microsoft Azure ML is a cloud-based platform offering a wide range of integrated tools and services to build, deploy, and manage ML models and apps faster and confidently. It offers data storage and preprocessing capabilities, pre-built AI capabilities, model training, open-source interoperability, and a scalable infrastructure.



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AWS Machine Learning




Amazon Web Services ML is a cloud-based service that allows developers and data scientists to build, train, and deploy ML models at scale. It provides a range of tools and services to facilitate the entire ML workflow, empowering us to build sophisticated machine learning models and apps easily.



Read More














Google Machine Learning




Google Machine Learning is a suite of advanced tools, services, and infrastructure available on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP). It offers a combination of pre-built tools, APIs, and services to empower developers and data scientists to build, train, and deploy ML models. We also help companies set up their systems to take advantage of Google's powerful analytics and prediction tools.



Read More











 





 

SoftTeco’s Machine Learning Automation Solutions




Marketing Automation




SoftTeco integrates machine learning with CRM & marketing tools to help companies optimize their marketing efforts, improve customer engagement, and increase sales. Our ML-based solutions for optimization marketing include: 




Customer segmentation and targeting



Predictive user behavior analytics



Forecast demand 



Automated reporting and insights







Finance Automation




We engineer and implement financial automation solutions. As a result, organizations automate time-consuming financial processes, improve decision-making, and drive efficiency. Our automotive finance solutions include:




Expense finance management



Fraud detection



Risk assessment



Financial forecasting







Healthcare Automation




SoftTeco offers healthcare automation solutions based on ML technologies to help healthcare organizations streamline processes, improve patient care, and enhance operational efficiency. Here are some of our offerings:




Multimodal biometric verification systems



Medical image analysis via X-rays, MRIs, and CT



Predictive analytics for disease diagnosis



Remote patient monitoring via devices and apps




 







 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Machine Learning Services Company?





Over 15 years of experience in ML development

In-depth expertise in machine learning technologies

500+ highly skilled developers, BIs, data scientists, and ML experts

A transparent and personalized approach

Have gained 300+ partners’ trust

High-level security

Project delivery on-time



Contact us



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									We have been working with SoftTeco for more than 7 years and throughout all this time, they never missed a deadline and always displayed the highest level of professionalism.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, Blueprint
									
									
										Irina Lunin
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Our Case Studies 







View all cases

 



 







Golf Club



The AI-powered analyzer of golf players




  




Web













Beeguard



An AI-based beehive tracking system




  




Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        What is Agentic AI? Meet the AI That Thinks, Plans, and Gets Things Done
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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        Machine Learning in Healthcare: Statistics, Use Cases, and Benefits
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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Learn more about AI

 




 

What we do

 



 


AI Development



AI Consulting



Generative AI Development







Machine Learning Consulting



Machine Learning Development



Data Science Consulting







Computer Vision Development



Robotic Process Automation


 



 

What we think

 



 


AI in FinTech



AI in Banking



AI Fraud Detection in Banking



AI for Credit Scoring



AI in Manufacturing



AI in Sports



Conversational AI



Agentic AI



AI for HR Processes







ML in Healthcare



ML in Logistics and Supply Chain



ML in Agriculture



ML Trends



GitHub Copilot Alternatives



GPT vs. BERT







What is Computer Vision?



Optical Character Recognition (OCR)



Image Recognition Technology



Automatic Speech Recognition



Data Labeling



Digital Twinning


 



 

 




 

+ Show more

 




 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Telecom Software Development Services

Telecom Software Development Services



As your trusted telecom software company, SoftTeco provides technological assistance to telecommunication companies across the globe. You know what tech innovations your company needs to excel - we know how to implement them.



Request a consultation



 





 

The telecommunications industry is an incredibly fast-growing one and telecom companies need to adopt digital transformation if they wish to remain competitive and retain their customers while attracting new ones. Despite being centered around technology, many telcos need yet to embrace the tech innovations that the IT industry has to offer - and this is where SoftTeco steps in.



With over 17 years of experience in the IT industry, our company knows how to augment telecom enterprises with state-of-art solutions.



We know about the possible pain points and are ready to propose effective solutions. Contact us and we will gladly walk you through.



Get in touch



 





 

SoftTeco’s Telecom Software Services



We know that a telecommunications industry is a demanding one, and SoftTeco has the needed expertise and skills that can help you configure the network and operations exactly how you need. Discover a range of services that SoftTeco provides:





01



Custom Enterprise Development









SoftTeco creates enterprise-grade solutions for telecommunication to meet the needs of telecom companies in the most effective manner. We provide API development, third-party integrations, and custom telecom software development - just name your business objective, and we will find the right solution.





02



OSS (Operations Support System) Development









SoftTeco offers a variety of telecom software solutions for your operational support system to assist you in seamlessly managing and configuring your network. From survive provisioning to network planning, we take care of all aspects of OSS, so you can establish a robust and secure network.





03



BSS (Business Support System) Development









Benefit from automated and intelligent management of your operations with SoftTeco. We make your processes more organized, accurate, and effective by using state-of-art technologies which can also help you better manage your clients.





04



Business Intelligence and Analytics









As a trusted telecom solution provider, SoftTeco can help you gain better control over the data by designing and implementing complex data warehouses and by offering powerful BI tools for in-depth data processing. Always know the state of your business with our tech assets.



 





  









 



05



IoT Development









Provide better connectivity to your customers and improve the visibility of assets via remote, IoT-based monitoring. SoftTeco designs sophisticated and powerful IoT apps to help you connect all needed devices into a single and seamless digital system.





06



DevOps Engineering









Our DevOps engineers will help you eliminate the gap between your IT and operations departments and will speed up the delivery, automate testing, and increase the overall quality of your services by streamlining all requested processes.





07



Cloud Development









Tap into security and scalability with SoftTeco’s cloud development services. Being a certified Amazon partner and having solid experience with AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Digital Ocean, we deliver superior cloud experience. Our team assists with cloud migration, infrastructure setup, optimization, and maintenance to ensure smooth operations and minimal downtime.





08



AI Development 









We help telecom companies automate routine tasks, enhance customer service with AI-driven chatbots, improve network management through predictive analytics, and gain deeper insights with machine learning models. Whether it's optimizing operations or personalizing user experiences, our AI expertise brings tangible value to your business.



 





 

Discover new opportunities for growth and augment communications with SoftTeco’s advanced tech solutions, aimed at delivering excellence.





Let’s get started



 





 

Telecom Software Solutions That We Deliver



The telecommunications industry calls for the use of advanced solutions that help organizations meet their clients’ expectations and remain competitive. Here are the main solutions that SoftTeco offers - and remember that we can tailor them precisely to your objectives:





OSS Solutions



We design solutions for your OSS to help you easily manage all technical aspects of the network and its infrastructure.




Custom VoIP solutions 



Network inventory



Service provisioning



Protection against fraud



Network component tracking






BSS Solutions



SoftTeco helps telcos seamlessly run their business and customer-related operations by deploying technology for running daily processes.




Custom CRM systems



Billing systems



Self-service portals for clients



Revenue management



Customer order management






Data-Driven Solutions



Discover the full power of your data and use it to make more accurate business decisions and manage clients in a personalized manner.




Multiple data visualization formats



ML-based predictive analytics



Secure and powerful data warehousing



Business Intelligence tools



Advanced reporting and analytics




 









 

Value That SoftTeco Delivers





Enhanced Customer Relationships



Implementation of technology allows telcos to speed up the delivery of services to end customers, gain a better understanding of clients’ needs, and provide excellent customer service. Altogether, this leads to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.





Improved Network Management



Proper network management includes dozens of complex processes - technology makes them more organized and effective. By leveraging automation and DevOps, telecom companies can significantly cut down their operational costs while increasing ROI and employee engagement. 





Reduced Operating Costs



Automation of processes and wise resource allocation and planning allow telcos to better manage their resources and, as a result, reduce operating costs. Those companies that invest in technology tend to see an increase in ROI and in customer loyalty since they manage to provide better services at lower costs.





Competitive Edge



In today’s digitization era, it is crucial to not only keep up to clients’ expectations but exceed them, and technology is a way to do so. By investigating the available data and collecting valuable insights, telecom companies can use these insights to their advantage and build up a solid marketing strategy.



 





 

FAQ



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Telecom Software Company?





Solid security

Pitch-perfect UX/UI

Rich expertise

Fast response time

Quick delivery

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Ecommerce Web Development

Ecommerce Web Development





As a well-recognized software vendor, SoftTeco provides top-notch Ecommerce website development services for diverse industries and niches. With us, businesses will get bespoke, highly functional, secure, and omnichannel ecommerce solutions to reach wide audiences and grow their digital presence globally.



Request a consultation



 





 

Our eсommerce Website Development Services

 



 

Ecommerce ConsultingCustom Ecommerce DevelopmentUI/UX Design Platform IntegrationPlatform MigrationMaintenance and SupportTesting and AuditAnalytics

 

Ecommerce Consulting



Part of our ecommerce web development services is consulting for creating long-term web strategies. Our specialists conduct an in-depth analysis of existing and upcoming web solutions and guide the most suitable tools, tech stack, and best security practices to meet specific business objectives. This service includes:




Defining business goals



Analyzing ecommerce solutions



Providing advice on CRM system and tools 



Advising on digital marketing strategies



Providing security compliance advice


 





 

Custom Ecommerce Development



If you want your unique website to attract more traffic, boost sales, and stand out from the crowd, SoftTeco comes in. Our developers craft custom eCommerce software development solutions, helping companies engage target audiences and customize digital solutions to meet their needs.




Frontend development



Backend development



M-development



Headless development



Deployment and post-launch support


 





 

UI/UX Design 



Visual appeal is critical to any website, so let SoftTeco help you create a user-centric design. When providing our ecommerce web design services, the team conducts in-depth user and competitor analysis, UI kit design, and usability testing to deliver a stunning, initiative design that will convert users. 




User research and analysis



Wireframing and prototyping



Visual design and branding



Website redesign 



Usability testing and iteration


 





 

Platform Integration



To provide a smooth user experience and streamline business operations, you'll need to integrate your web solution with third-party systems. This is where SoftTeco steps in. We can help you achieve omnichannel visibility and centralized data processing by integrating all your systems.




Payment gateway integration



Social media integration



Order management integration



Email marketing Integration



Analytics and reporting integration


 





 

Platform Migration



When you need to migrate your legacy system to the newest web platform painlessly, SoftTeco will do it. We analyze your current environment through platform migration, focusing on data integrity and ensuring you retain and optimize all your existing processes. 




Ecommerce platform assessment



Functionality migration



Secure data migration



Transferring metadata and URL structures



Post-migration support


 





 

Maintenance and Support



If you need a trusted company to keep your website running smoothly and up-to-date, SoftTeco can help. Our maintenance and support service resolves software issues and updates with minimal interruptions, so you can focus on your business.




Performance monitoring and optimization



Security updates and patches



Data backup and recovery



Platform improvements and updates



Ongoing technical assistance 


 





 

Testing and Audit



To ensure that your ecommerce website works smoothly and effectively over time, rely on SoftTeco's service. By partnering with us, businesses can identify potential risk areas, security vulnerabilities, improve conversions, and find opportunities for improvement on their website. 




Functional testing



Security testing



Compatibility testing



Accessibility testing



Audit and code review


 





 

Analytics



SoftTeco implements and fine-tunes analytical platforms to help you collect, analyze and understand data on your online store's performance and user behavior. By relying on us, businesses will gain valuable insights and will be able to make data-driven decisions to optimize their strategies. 




Data collection and tracking



Customer journey analysis



Conversion rate optimization 



Data visualization and reporting



Sales and revenue analysis


 



 





 

Make your online store stand out and attract customers via engaging design and user-centric functionality. With a variety of services available, SoftTeco ensures you get the most out of your ecommerce solution.





Get more information



 





 

Our Ecommerce Web Solutions



Having 17+ years of experience in ecommerce website design services, SoftTeco creates bespoke, feature-rich ecommerce web solutions individualized to each client.

 



 



PWA



SoftTeco offers progressive web apps (PWA) that provide seamless, engaging, and accessible shopping on any device. By adding another digital touchpoint, companies will maintain and expand their web presence, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and conversions.













Marketplaces



As an ecommerce website development service, SoftTeco delivers customized marketplaces to facilitate sales and customer relations. By offering special features to marketplace owners, vendors, and customers, we facilitate easy and enjoyable sales and purchases for your users.













Web Portals



SoftTeco's web portals address diverse business needs: vendor management, customer engagement, and safe transactions. Our team implements portal functionalities, such as content management tools, self-service options, and chatbots, to streamline customer support.













B2B Store



We design powerful B2B solutions to help you manage all your B2B interactions as effectively as possible. With our centralized and secure B2B solutions, businesses can enhance their operations, build strong partnerships, and streamline sales and inventory management.













B2C Store



To make your B2C store more visible, we create appealing UIs, highly personalized content, SEO, and marketing automation tools. By leverage of our expertise in B2B products, we enable businesses to engage target audiences, generate sales, and ultimately establish a strong online presence.













Ecommerce Aggregators



SoftTeco offers ecommerce aggregator platforms that help businesses sell their products online quickly by aggregating them into one place in an organized and user-focused manner. Businesses can concentrate on creating and marketing their products by reducing costs and time.













01 / 06











 





 

Platforms That We Work With



Building an ecommerce website takes an appropriate set of tools, technologies, and platforms. We are experienced in working with a wide range of ecommerce web development platforms to create your custom online shop.

 










Magento



Magento is an open-source platform used by both small and large businesses. It is ideal for your online business if you want advanced personalization, versatile out-of-the-box features, and multiple integration capabilities.











Drupal



Drupal is suitable for startups, and small businesses who need a free and easy to set up solution. This platform allows you to create and manage content, customize website layouts, and add functionality. The flexibility, scalability, and broad feature set make it ideal for various web apps and websites.











Shopify



Shopify is a widely used ecommerce platform for businesses of all sizes, from startups to well-known brands. With its user-friendly, scalable, and feature-rich platform, you can create and manage stores efficiently. Moreover, with built-in SEO features, you will be able to optimize your content and make your brand more visible.











WordPress



WordPress is a highly versatile content management system CRM and website creation platform designed for individuals, small and large enterprises. This platform has a user-friendly interface, a wide range of plugins, and a number of tools that make it easy to build and manage websites of all sizes and complexity.








 

Advanced Technologies For Custom Ecommerce Development



By combining cutting-edge technology with our ecommerce development services, you can gain a competitive edge and establish a long-term digital presence.













01 / 03



AR/VR




We create memorable AR/VR experiences that give your users confidence in their purchase choices and make them feel closer to your brand. Our AR/VR-enabled solutions include: 




A virtual replica of a real-world store



Virtual fitting rooms



Virtual auditions



AR catalogs with product descriptions







02 / 03



IoT




We combine ecommerce development expertise with IoT technologies to streamline business operations, enhance customer experiences, and boost sales. Our IoT-based ecommerce solutions include: 




Apps for wearables



Sensors for effective marketing



IoT payment gateways



Product delivery tracking







03 / 03



Artificial Intelligence




We add AI features to ecommerce solutions that enable us to track and analyze customer behavior to create a highly personalized digital experience for them. Our ecommerce solutions based on AI include:




AI-based shopping assistants and chatbots 



Search engines and recommendation systems



Interactive display systems 



AI-based supply chain management solutions





 





 

Payment Systems for Your Ecommerce Store



At SoftTeco, we understand the importance of a variety of payment methods and their impact on customer satisfaction and cart abandonment. Hence, we offer integration with the most popular payment systems to keep your customers happy and engaged.





Stripe



Stripe is acknowledged as a highly reliable payment system by both startups and large-scale enterprises, and SoftTeco can effectively integrate it in your ecommerce store. With our rich experience in working with Stripe, we deliver seamless and secure integration.















PayPal



PayPal is one of the most popular payment options and is used in almost every ecommerce store. At SoftTeco, we integrate it via one of the available methods: PayPal Buttons (for small stores only), PayPal Payments Standard, or PayPal API integration.















Square



Square is another popular payment option for ecommerce store owners and offers a variety of services and tools, including the addition of secure Square payments to your existing store. Square provides all needed tools for seamless integration, and we provide solid expertise.















Stax



Being a full-fledged ecommerce service provider, Stax offers integration of its native payment processing system into your existing store. In addition, we can create a custom Stax shopping cart and add it to your store.













 





 

Hire Our Ecommerce Developers



As one of the leading ecommerce development company, SoftTeco offers an extensive talent pool, comprised of highly skilled frontend and backend developers who work across various tech stacks needed to complete your project on time and regardless of its complexity. SoftTeco has successfully completed a wide range of ecommerce projects - from bespoke solutions to stores from scratch - across a wide range of industries and niches. With our experience, you will get a secure, feature-rich, and user-friendly online solution that is highly functional and visually appealing for users and will drive profits and growth.



Get assistance now



 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Supersapiens



Energy Management System for Athletes




  




iOS



Android



Web













Movado



A web portal for international watchmaking conglomerate




  




Web



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Ecommerce Development Company?



+500 highly skilled developersHave gained the trust of +300 partnersA transparent and personalized approachOver 17 years of experience in ecommerce developmentDiverse platform expertiseIn-depth QA testing prior to go-liveProject delivery on-timePitch-perfect UX/UI

 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco is the first IT vendor that I’ve worked with and I am 100% satisfied with our partnership. The team was very professional and always put an extra effort to ensure the final product adheres to the expectations.
								
								
									
										Founder and CEO, AERIS-Consulting
									
									
										Eric Jesse
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

FAQ



 





 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        AI in Ecommerce: Effective Use Cases and Step-by-Step Integration
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        Last-Mile Optimization: Effective Strategies for Better Delivery
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
		
		
	
	

		
				
					
		
					
		
				
		

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Cloud Migration Consulting

Cloud Migration Consulting





SoftTeco helps business owners securely move their data and applications to the cloud while retaining the data integrity and maintaining zero downtime. To select the right solution for your business needs, we provide cloud migration consulting services to better understand the scope of work and create a detailed migration plan



Request a consultation



 





 

SoftTeco’s Cloud Migration Consulting Services

 



 



Strategy Consulting








    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  





In order to select the best solution for your individual needs, we need to understand your business objectives and goals as well as evaluate your existing product. 






Assessment of the existing product 

Definition of the client’s goals and objectives

Definition of the required skills and training

Analysis of the available options




 



 



Infrastructure Assessment








    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    






Infrastructure migration may be challenging if not approached properly. To ensure there will be no glitches during the migration, we carefully evaluate your current infrastructure and outline the resources and skills needed for a seamless transition.






Assessment of the existing infrastructure and software

Planning of the new infrastructure integration into the existing system

Evaluation of the needed resources 

Creation of a risk management plan




 



 



Cloud Cost Optimization Consulting








    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  





It often happens that the current client’s solution drains too much budget and resources. The SoftTeco’s team can help you select a cloud solution that will optimize your current costs while retaining the same, if not higher, level of performance. Learn more about our Cloud Consulting Services.






Monitoring of current expenses in order to define areas for improvement

Feasibility assessment

Calculation of expected ROI and TCO

Definition of KPIs and ways of achieving them




 



 



Technology Selection








    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  





With a variety of available providers, it might be challenging to select the one perfect for your specific business need. During your cloud migration consulting, SoftTeco will carefully evaluate your existing product, align it with your business goals and will propose a solution based on your needs. See all our Technologies/Cloud Solutions.






Evaluation of the current project and its analysis

Proposal of the most suitable tech stacks 

Definition of the migration approach and strategy

Definition of roles and responsibilities




 





 

Migrate your business to the cloud and tap into unparalleled security and efficiency. SoftTeco will help you not only choose the most suitable solution but will take full care of the migration process, thus allowing you to focus on other critical tasks.





Request a quote



 





 

Technologies that We Work With

 










Amazon Web Services



SoftTeco is a certified partner of the AWS Partner Network and excels at delivering enterprise-grade cloud solutions via extensive AWS capabilities.











Microsoft Azure



SoftTeco has rich experience in using Microsoft Azure services and recommends this option in the first place when your project involves the .NET tech stack. It is also suitable for projects with Machine Learning and IoT.











Google Cloud



When you need access to a variety of cloud services, Google Cloud might be your platform of choice. Our team perfectly knows its way around the platform and can quickly deliver the required solution.











DigitalOcean



SoftTeco is highly experienced in using the DigitalOcean services and can effectively design and deliver the needed solution. This option is the most affordable one and is great for POC and MVP projects.








 

Why Choose SoftTeco for Cloud Migration Consulting?



Solid securityQuick deliveryRich experience in the IT industryPitch-perfect UX/UIFast response time

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Cloud Integration Services

Cloud Integration Services





Cloud integration allows you to work with different data formats across multiple data systems. It has changed the way businesses approach data and app integration forever. With the help of SoftTeco's cloud integration services, you can launch new products, services, and applications faster and more quickly respond to changing market environments to stay competitive.





Request a consultation








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 






 

SoftTeco’s Cloud Integration Services




Consulting


Cloud Integration Consulting





With 15 years of experience in cloud computing, SoftTeco utilizes reliable cloud integration services to ensure data security, scalability, and availability. That includes consulting on the: 




Tech stack selection according to your needs;



Integration architecture design;



Construction of the cloud app integration project roadmap;



Security, performance, data quality requirements preparation;



Compliance with required security standards (such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, FISMA and others) and regulations guide.







Implementation


Implementation of Cloud Integration Solutions





SoftTeco’s specialists will help you with cloud integration solutions to break down data silos, improve connectivity and visibility, and ultimately optimize business processes:




Application and infrastructure analysis;



Integration architecture design;



Integration development, implementation and testing;



After-launch support, user and admin training;



Map and transfer data between applications and systems across any cloud environments;



Implementing IaaS model to externalize APIs for digital consumers and developers through a secure platform on the cloud;






 



 

Types of Cloud Integration

 



 



Data Integration 









Data integration is a synchronization of data between repositories (both cloud-based and physical locations). Data can be processed, transported, and transformed during the integration. SoftTeco will help you integrate your information into the cloud platform to prevent data silos, improve communication, and ease access to relevant data.




Cloud data integration also gives you the ability to:




Batch process large volumes of data



Prepare information for analysis



Apply data quality measures



Protect and mask data to keep it secure





 



 



Service and Application Integration









Application integration is a process of connecting different applications to ensure their uninterrupted functionality. When applications can communicate and interact with each other, new cloud computing and business processes become possible. SoftTeco can assist you with the process to help your business widen its possibilities. 




Cloud application integration provides several benefits, including:




Real-time data discovery, connection, access, and utilization



Improved workflows



Infrastructure modernization



Development of data-driven models



Creation of AI and machine learning programs for predicting future behavior





 





 

Learn more about our cloud integration services



Take advantage of the benefits of cloud integration for your business. SoftTeco can help you increase efficiency and reduce costs. Our team of professionals will integrate your existing system with cloud-based solutions, so you can access your data from anywhere and at any time.





Contact us



 





 

Cloud Integration Tools and Platforms













01 / 05



JitterBit



JitterBit has strong integration capabilities, allowing thousands of applications from various platforms to be integrated into a single interface as quickly as possible. This platform includes powerful app and API integration tools that enable businesses to not only streamline key processes but also collect intelligence data on demand.





02 / 05



Zapier



Zapier offers a simple way to connect and share data with various web-based applications, including Google Drive and Facebook. It can also automate virtually any business process you need to use.





03 / 05



MuleSoft Anypoint Platform



If you want to manage all of your integrations on a single platform, the MuleSoft Anypoint Platform is an excellent choice. Its cloud integration tools enable you to create and integrate your own APIs, as well as connect to any app, device, data, etc. It provides high security by managing gateways and encryption.





04 / 05



Dell Boomi



With the help of Dell Boomi, you can quickly create workflows and manage data quality governance, application integration, and B2B networks. In terms of applications like CRM, it can be a significant asset and allows for innovation on the go.





05 / 05



IBM App Connect



With IBM App Connect, you can integrate your data between on-premises and cloud-based applications, build APIs on an intuitive, code-free interface, and build workflows that automate your business processes within different apps. Furthermore, you can set up IBM App Connect in any on-premises or cloud environment.



 





 

Cloud Solution Options That SoftTeco Offers

 










Amazon Web Services



Amazon Web Services offers cloud-computing services at very affordable rates without losing the quality. SoftTeco is a certified partner of the AWS Partner Network and delivers top-notch cloud solutions for enterprises by leveraging a wide range of AWS capabilities.











Microsoft Azure



With its support for multiple programming languages, tools, and frameworks, including both Microsoft-specific and third-party software and systems, Microsoft Azure offers diverse capabilities. SoftTeco has extensive experience in utilizing Microsoft Azure services.











Google Cloud



Google Cloud is a cloud computing platform that offers a wide range of services and provides a highly scalable and reliable infrastructure with global coverage and advanced security features. SoftTeco team is well-versed in the platform and can efficiently deliver the required solution.











DigitalOcean



DigitalOcean offers a simple pricing model with no hidden fees and allows you to scale your resources up or down as needed, making it easy to handle traffic spikes. It suits businesses looking for a simple, affordable, and reliable cloud-computing service. SoftTeco has extensive experience using DigitalOcean services and can efficiently design and deliver the required solution.









 

Industries that We Work With

 








 

Benefits of CloudIntegration 

 



 



Improved operational efficiency





Reduced operational costs and increased revenue





Increased flexibility and scalability





Better internal communication





Improved customer service, support & retention





Fastertime-to-market



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									I’m really happy I got to work with SoftTeco as the team was super understanding, supportive and professional. Many thanks!
								
								
									
										Co-Founder & CTO, Supersapiens
									
									
										Gagan Chaudhari
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Our portfolio







View all cases

 



 







Supersapiens



Energy Management System for Athletes




  




iOS



Android



Web













COVR



Advanced cybersecurity platform for banking and retail




  




iOS



Android



Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 

Related Articles



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Cloud Consulting Services

Cloud Consulting Services





Tap into endless cloud possibilities and reimagine the way your organization functions with SoftTeco’s cloud consulting services. From migration to full app development, we will support you at every step of your digital transformation journey.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

SoftTeco’s cloud computing consulting services help businesses across various industries start their digital transformation and redesign their workflows in a more secure and scalable manner. By following industry best practices, we help you adopt the solution of choice without intervening with the performance of your business and without infringing the integrity of your data. We take care of all cloud-related activities, be it migration, integration, or optimization of an existing app - just tell us what you need and we will find the best solution.



SoftTeco’s Cloud Services Solutions





Consulting and Strategy



SoftTeco offers cloud services consulting to help you understand what exact solution will meet your needs the best and whether you are receiving the maximal value from your current solution. Our experts perform a thorough audit of your infrastructure and digital assets to evaluate how ready your organization is for cloud adoption and what exactly needs to be done.





Cloud Migration



If you are ready to migrate your existing application to the cloud, SoftTeco will readily set up the process and will assist you at every step to maintain the data integrity and to ensure that the app’s performance is not disrupted. We can also set up the CI/CD process for faster delivery and can review the app’s infrastructure for better scalability and performance.





Cloud Development



As a dedicated cloud services company, SoftTeco designs native applications from scratch by following the industry best practices and established in-house procedures. With rich experience in working with various cloud providers, we create apps that are 100% compatible with requirements of a specific cloud platform and that have all requested functionality.





Application Modernization



Do you have a legacy cloud application that is underperforming, or do you need to review your current infrastructure? SoftTeco offers modernization services aimed at reviewing your existing solution and proposing the best ways to improve its performance and security. We also offer UX/UI design and audit of your resources so you use them to their fullest potential.





Cloud Security



Security is a crucial aspect to focus on when creating cloud solutions, and SoftTeco follows a rigid security strategy to make sure your app is safeguarded against potential internal and external threats. We follow security guidelines from cloud providers and in-house security best practices to implement security at every stage of the development process.





Disaster Recovery



Anything might happen - and you must be ready for it. This is why SoftTeco offers disaster recovery services to enable you to immediately react to any issue and recover as fast as possible. The services include the development of a risk management strategy, security training, and backup creation - all set up to get your business going without any major losses.



 





 

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Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!





Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Cloud Types That SoftTeco Works With



At SoftTeco, we understand that different businesses have different requirements and needs. Hence, we offer various types of cloud deployment that you can choose from:













01 / 04



Public Cloud




Delegate infrastructure setup and security to a third-party provider and benefit from a variety of available services with public cloud. SoftTeco has rich experience in working with AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Digital Ocean, and can help you select and set up a perfect cloud solution at minimal costs and efforts. 




Near-endless scalability



Automated updates and patches



Cost-efficiency



High accessibility







02 / 04



Private Cloud




If your organization calls for the ultimate security level and you need to have zero-latency applications, then private cloud is your product of choice. Our cloud consulting company can design and set up a private and fully customizable cloud for your specific organization, making sure its functionality meets your needs and that you have full control over its access and user roles.




Unparalleled level of security



High customization and flexibility



Full control over the product



Business-specific functionality







03 / 04



Hybrid Cloud




Enjoy the best of two worlds by deploying a hybrid cloud solution. By combining your own private cloud, public clouds, and your on-premises setup, a hybrid cloud offers both great security and scalability together with cost efficiency and full control. Trust SoftTeco with implementing your solution and benefit from the value it brings.




A high level of security



Great flexibility and scalability



Unified management of all services



Efficient traffic management







04 / 04



Multi-Cloud




If you need a siloed workload but still want to benefit from both private and public clouds, then multi-cloud is your choice. A multi-cloud combines approaches from private and public clouds but manages vendors separately and does not share the data across processes. This adds up to the level of security and brings immense flexibility.




Various services for various departments



Easy switching between vendors



Strategic location of data centers



Reduced downtime and costs





 





 

Benefits of Our Cloud Computing Consulting Services





Reduced Costs



When planning your migration or app development strategy, we always do it in a way to avoid any extra unexpected costs at the end of the project. That being said, we focus on quality and security from the very beginning, so there is no need to redesign or re-develop certain elements when the product is ready for the release. 





Security 



Being an ISO 27001 certified company, SoftTeco pays utter attention to security of our solutions. We have rich experience in setting up cloud services and we consider specific aspects of every provider when doing so. In this way, we follow a unique approach to every project in terms of security and thus guarantee robust protection against threats.





Fast Delivery



Due to CI/CD implementation, SoftTeco’s processes are set up in a way to guarantee fast delivery without any delays. We perform continuous integration and delivery, paired with automation of processes, to achieve the best results in minimal time. Also, we use available ready-made tools to speed up the development process in case the project allows so.





Reliability



When working on your cloud solution, SoftTeco pays extra attention to its architecture in order to ensure high reliability and security. We use time-tested development tools and methodologies that help us build robust applications that are able to scale as needed and are fault-tolerant in a long run. In this way, the app will also be able to quickly recover in case of any unwanted issues.



 





 

Clouds That SoftTeco Works With





Amazon Web Services



Being a certified partner of the AWS Partner Network, Softteco has rich expertise in delivering enterprise-grade solutions via extensive capabilities that AWS provides.















Microsoft Azure



We recommend deploying Microsoft Azure services when your project is designed around the .NET tech stack - in this way, you will achieve the best performance. Azure is also great for Machine Learning or IoT projects.  















Google Cloud



Google Cloud is a great platform with a rich variety of services. You might want to consider it for building scalable and robust applications and SoftTeco will quickly deliver the required solution.















DigitalOcean



SoftTeco has solid experience with DigitalOcean services and can effectively deliver the requested solution. This platform is the most cost-efficient and is great for POCs and MVPs.













 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Cloud Services Company?





Solid security

Pitch-perfect UX/UI

Rich experience in the IT industry

Fast response time

Quick delivery

Certified cloud partners



Contact us



 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Evoz



Advanced solution for baby monitoringand activity tracking




  




iOS



Android



Web













MomenZ



A personal assistant in finding nearby restaurants with discounts




  




iOS



Android



Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 

All about Cloud Service

 




 


​​Cloud Migration Consulting



Google Cloud Development







AWS Managed Services



Cloud Integration Services







DigitalOcean Services



Azure Consulting Services


 



 

Blog

 



 


​​How to Build a Cloud Migration Strategy



Cloud-Agnostic vs Cloud-Native



A Cloud-Native Application







Cloud Computing for Small Businesses



What Is Cloud Optimization?







Cloud Cost Optimization



On-Premise vs. Cloud


 




 

+ Show more

 





 


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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Xamarin App Development Services

Xamarin App Development Services





Bring the near-native user experience to your customers while saving on development costs with our Xamarin app development services. We deliver excellence - you scale your business as needed.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Why Xamarin?



With a variety of powerful built-in tools, Xamarin is a great solution for those who need high-performing cross-platform applications. The platform delivers a truly native user experience and is especially great when building desktop applications and MVPs.

 





 

Xamarin Development Services That We Offer

 



 



Full-Cycle App Development



SoftTeco offers full-cycle Xamarin development services. Starting with requirements collection and project analysis, we proceed to the app design and development and will provide post-launch support to ensure your app functions as intended.













Consulting



If you are thinking of developing a cross-platform app but want to know how exactly it can leverage your business, our specialists will gladly consult you. Our Xamarin consulting services include walking you through the development process and identifying opportunities for your business growth via a reliable app.













App Optimization



Is your app underperforming? We can fix that! With our app optimization services, the SoftTeco team can quickly detect the underlying issues and eliminate them, thus speeding up the app’s performance and improving its usability.













Support & Maintenance



Once your app is launched, our work does not stop here. Our Xamarin app development company offers support and maintenance services to ensure that your app seamlessly functions and that no issues or bugs come in the way. We also offer user and employee training, if needed.













01 / 04











 





 

Deliver Stellar User Experience With .NET MAUI



.NET MAUI is an open-source evolution of Xamarin.Forms and is used to create native mobile and desktop applications with the help of C# and XAML. Being highly reliable and efficient, this framework has proven to be a great software development tool, especially considering the fact that Microsoft stopped support for Xamarin in 2022.Hence, if you are looking for a sleek and high-performing tool for your mobile or desktop app or wish to migrate from Xamarin, SoftTeco will gladly assist you. Our representatives will explain the main strengths of .NET MAUI in detail and will help you find the most suitable solution for your specific project.

 





 

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Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!





Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Benefits of Xamarin 





Fast Development 



The cross-platform development implies using a single codebase for multiple platforms, which significantly speeds up the development process and reduces the costs. Also, the compatibility of Xamarin with the .NET framework is another big advantage.





Near-Native Performance



The availability of various UI frameworks allows Xamarin to bring a near-native performance to its applications, which greatly impacts user experience. In this way, users get an experience that is very close to the one that the native apps bring.  





Simplified Maintenance



Due to the use of a single codebase, when you implement any updates, you apply them to both Android and iOS applications simultaneously. This greatly speeds up and simplifies app maintenance, as you don’t have to worry about implementing different updates to different apps.





Open-Source



Xamarin is an open-source platform with big community and extensive documentation. This means, you can always get support and quickly find a solution to any issue that might arise. The open-source nature of the platform also makes it highly customizable.



 





 

Hire Xamarin Developers



Xamarin is a complex platform that requires solid knowledge and expertise to effectively work with it. By partnering with SoftTeco, you will get access to our extensive knowledge base and rich expertise needed to develop a secure and scalable solution. Note that in May 2023, Microsoft released .NET MAUI - the evolution of Xamarin.Forms. Our developers are proficient in both platforms and will gladly consult you on which tool will best fit your needs.



Tell us about your project



 





 

Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        Native vs Cross-Platform Development: Choosing the Best Option for Your Project
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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        Tech Review Series: Xamarin
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Flutter App Development Company

Flutter App Development Company





We take Flutter mobile app development to the next level and put performance and speed at the center of the focus. Create powerful and memorable cross-platform apps and entrust SoftTeco with bringing your idea to life.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Benefits That Flutter Brings





Quick app development



Since Flutter is used for cross-platform development, this approach significantly speeds up the process because you don’t have to write two separate applications. In addition, this language has many powerful features like hot reload that allows to instantly make changes to the code and thus deliver the final product faster.





Great Design



Flutter helps create captivating and user-centric design thanks to Cupertino (iOS-style) widgets,  Material Design, and custom widgets. With the help of these features, it helps developers create stunning design and visuals and it supports animation and motion design too.





Less Testing



With Flutter apps, the same tests can run on both iOS and Android platforms and most of the tests can be automated. Thus, you won’t need two separate QA teams and will be able to significantly reduce the needed testing time.





Flutter Doctor



The Flutter Doctor feature allows developers to quickly diagnose the app, detect any errors, understand what configurations are needed, and what dependencies have to be installed. This feature contributes to the quality of the final product and facilitates the development process a lot.



 





 

Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!





Calculate Team Cost



 







 

Our Development Process




01
Discovery



The first step is understanding your functional and business requirements for the project. We do so by conducting interviews with all involved stakeholders and by performing thorough research. In this way, we get a solid understanding of your vision and expectations.




02
Requirements Collection



Next, the SoftTeco team collects project requirements to base the development process on them. Clearly defined requirements help our developers understand what has to be done and in what exact manner and order.




03
Design and Architecture



Creation of app’s design and its architecture is an important Flutter app development service. In order for your app to function and look perfectly, we pay utter attention to the app’s architecture and design. When working on the architecture, we focus on scalability and reliability. Our UX/UI design team makes sure the app 100% corresponds to your brand and translates its values and overall spirit.




04
Development



The Flutter cross-platform mobile app development implies writing the code for the application and bridging it to life. The length of the process will depend on many factors, such as complexity of the application or the number of needed integrations. We discuss all these things in advance in order to plan our work correspondingly.




05
Testing



Testing is an integral part of any software development process. As an experienced Flutter app development company, SoftTeco uses both automated and manual testing in order to cover all aspects of the app and ensure it performs and looks as intended.




06
Product Launch



Once you are 100% satisfied with the application and after we’ve performed all needed testing, we will launch your application. As part of the Flutter mobile app development process, SoftTeco offers post-launch support and maintenance services to help you eliminate any issues and ensure the application handles the load well.













 





 

What Makes SoftTeco a Professional Flutter App Development Company?





Solid security

Fast response time

Pitch-perfect UX/UI

Quick delivery

Rich experience in the IT industry

 






 

Industries That We Work With

 








 


Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!



Calculate Team Cost




 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### React Native App Development Company

React Native App Development Company





Deliver native-like experience to your customers through powerful cross-platform applications written in React Native. Empower your business with a robust mobile application delivered by SoftTeco - a company that specializes in React Native app development services.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Why Choose React Native App Development?



React Native is a powerful solution that brings native-like look and feel to cross-platform applications and enables developers to write a single code that can be run on multiple platforms. This framework is a perfect choice for those organizations looking for a mix between quality and cost-efficiency, and SoftTeco is here to deliver the requested solution exactly how you need it. Be it app development, migration, or design, our experienced team of mobile developers will handle the challenge flawlessly.

 





 

React Native Development Services that SoftTeco Offers

 










Consulting



SoftTeco will walk you through every step of the app development and will help you define the product vision alongside its main requirements. We will analyze both the provided information and the market environment in order to develop a solid development strategy.











Cross-Platform App Development



Our mobile development team designs React Native applications for iOS and Android that boast exceptional UI and provide a stable and robust performance. By using out-of-box tools and technologies, we deliver high-quality apps on time and in accordance with the requirements.











Migration and Integration



If you need to migrate an existing application to React Native, SoftTeco is here to help. With our migration services, you can rest assured that your app’s performance remains glitch-free while we are handling its migration.











Support and Maintenance



To maintain your app’s high security and performance, you will need to constantly update it, and here is where SoftTeco steps in. We offer post-launch support and maintenance services that include regular updates and patching, as well as functionality adjustments.






 









1 / 4

 





 

Benefits of React Native 





Speed and performance



Due to a flexible structure of threads and many other built-in features, React Native offers an impressively fast performance.





Fast building



Due to out-of-box tools and extensive documentation, this framework is fast to build and thus reduces the development time.  





Reusable code



The JavaScript codebase can be reused to build apps on all needed platforms, including web and mobile.





Versatile



The code that you write runs equally well on all platforms of choice, thus, making React Native apps highly versatile and cost-efficient.



 





 

Hire React Native Developers



Delegate the development of your application to skilled developers who excel at delivering seamless performance and user experience to all platforms of choice. By partnering with SoftTeco, you can rest assured in the quality and security of our React Native app development services, as we use our extensive experience and knowledge to make truly unique software products.



Tell us about your project



 





 

Why SoftTeco?



Solid securityQuick deliveryRich experience in the IT industryPitch-perfect UX/UIFast response time

 





 

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What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									The team managed to achieve impressive results in a short period of time and they flawlessly handed unexpected glitches during the development process.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, Kumba
									
									
										Amit Kadosh
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        Native vs Cross-Platform Development: Choosing the Best Option for Your Project
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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        Tech Review Series: React Native
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Kotlin Development Company

Kotlin Development Company





As a Kotlin development company, we at SoftTeco possess in-depth knowledge and hands-on expertise in leveraging the power of Kotlin to deliver exceptional Android applications for our clients. 



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Why Choose Kotlin for Android App Development?



Native Android apps can be delivered either on Java or on Kotlin, and the latter is becoming more and more popular. So why should you opt for a newer language when you can go with a time-tested Java? Here are some key reasons why you might choose Kotlin for your native app development:





Increased Productivity



Kotlin offers a concise syntax, reducing the amount of code you need to write. This means faster development cycles and increased productivity for your team.





Safety and Reliability



Its null safety feature helps prevent null pointer exceptions, a common source of crashes in Java apps.





Official Language for Android Development



Google officially endorsed Kotlin as a first-class language for Android app development.





Cross-Platform Development



It can be used for cross-platform mobile app development, which allows developers to share code between Android and iOS applications.





At SoftTeco, we leverage the power of Kotlin app development to create innovative and high-performing native Android applications. Our team of Kotlin experts has a deep understanding of the language and its ecosystem, allowing us to deliver exceptional solutions that meet your specific requirements.

 





 

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Kotlin Development Services That SoftTeco Offers





Custom App Development



Our custom app development services cater to businesses of all sizes and industries. SoftTeco understands that each business has unique requirements, and we tailor our Kotlin app development services to meet those needs. Our team of experienced developers is dedicated to collaborating closely with you to gain a deep understanding of your goal and deliver a fully customized application that seamlessly aligns with your distinct business objectives.





Kotlin App Migration



If you want to leverage the benefits of Kotlin for your existing Android app, SoftTeco can help you with application migration. Our skilled developers will seamlessly migrate your legacy app to Kotlin, ensuring a smooth transition without any disruption to your business operations. With Kotlin's concise syntax and interoperability with Java, SoftTeco can help you unlock the full potential of your application.





Application Optimization



SoftTeco offers optimization services to enhance the performance and user experience of your Kotlin app. Our team will conduct a thorough analysis of your app's codebase and identify areas for improvement. We will then optimize your app's performance, reduce load times, and address any bottlenecks to ensure a seamless user experience. The main goal here is to help you deliver a fast, responsive, and reliable app that keeps users engaged.





Support and Maintenance



After the successful development and deployment of your Kotlin application, SoftTeco offers comprehensive support and maintenance services. Our dedicated team of professionals is available to address any issues, provide timely updates, and ensure your app remains up-to-date with the latest industry standards. With our support and maintenance services, you can focus on your core business while we take care of your app's ongoing needs.





Kotlin Integration



As a Kotlin app development company, SoftTeco can seamlessly integrate Kotlin into their existing software ecosystem. Whether you want to integrate Kotlin with your Java-based applications or leverage compatibility with Android, our experienced developers will ensure a smooth integration process. SoftTeco will help you harness the power of Kotlin's modern features and improve the overall efficiency of your software.



 





 

Benefits of Kotlin App Development

 



 



Ease of Use





Interoperability





Solid Security





Support from the Community



 



 



Ease of Use



Kotlin is designed to be user-friendly and easy to learn, making it an ideal choice for both seasoned developers and beginners. Its intuitive syntax and comprehensive documentation enable you to write clean and concise code with ease.





Interoperability



One of the standout features of this language is its seamless interoperability with Java. You can easily integrate Kotlin into your existing Java projects and leverage your existing Java codebase while taking advantage of Kotlin's modern features.





Solid Security



Security is a top concern for any developer, and Kotlin got you covered. With its highly secure features and robust architecture, this programming language ensures that your applications are protected from potential threats and vulnerabilities.





Support from the Community



Kotlin has gained immense popularity since its release, and its vibrant community continues to grow. You'll find a wealth of resources, tutorials, and libraries to help you get started and overcome any challenges you may face.



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco’s Kotlin App Development Services?



Choosing SoftTeco for your Kotlin development needs comes with a range of advantages:





Expertise



Our team of Kotlin developers has extensive experience in building successful applications across various industries.





Quality



We follow industry best practices and rigorous quality assurance processes to ensure that your app is of the highest standard.





Flexibility



We adapt to your project requirements, whether you need a dedicated team or require resources on-demand.





Timely Delivery



Our team understand the importance of meeting deadlines, and our streamlined development process ensures on-time delivery without compromising on quality.





Cost-Effectiveness



SoftTeco’s competitive pricing model ensures that you get the best value for your investment.



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco is the first IT vendor that I’ve worked with and I am 100% satisfied with our partnership. The team was very professional and always put an extra effort to ensure the final product adheres to the expectations.
								
								
									
										Founder and CEO, AERIS-Consulting
									
									
										Eric Jesse
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Our Project Portfolio







View all cases

 



 







MomenZ



A personal assistant in finding nearby restaurants with discounts




  




iOS



Android



Web













Supersapiens



Energy Management System for Athletes




  




iOS



Android



Web



 





 

Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        Tech Review Series: Kotlin
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        Java vs Kotlin: An Honest Comparison
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Objective-C Development Services

Objective-C Development Services





SoftTeco offers Objective-C development services to meet global clients' needs and keep up with the requirements of the iOS market. Whether you need to rewrite legacy applications or build custom and robust iOS software compatible with a wide range of devices, trust us to get it right.



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Why Choose SoftTeco’s Objective-C Development Services?



React Native is a powerful solution that brings native-like look and feel to cross-platform applications and enables developers to write a single code that can be run on multiple platforms. This framework is a perfect choice for those organizations looking for a mix between quality and cost-efficiency, and SoftTeco is here to deliver the requested solution exactly how you need it. Be it app development, migration, or design, our experienced team of mobile developers will handle the challenge flawlessly.

 





 

Objective-C Development Services That We Offer

 



 



Custom iOS Software Development



As a customer-focused company, SoftTeco delivers high-quality bespoke iOS applications and OS X software customized for each client. Our developers will guide you through all steps of iOS development, from testing to post-support, ensuring the desired results.













Mobile App Development



SoftTeco offers Objective-C app development services to create apps that run smoothly on iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices, adhering to clients’ needs. Our skilled developers build highly dynamic and intuitive apps that are suitable for businesses of all sizes.













Enterprise Application Deployment



Businesses can rely on SoftTeco to build highly secure and reliable enterprise iOS applications to meet their unique needs. Our developers build industry-specific iOS apps to streamline internal operations and improve multi-user accessibility.













Migration



If you want to migrate your Objective-C codebase to Swift or other platforms, SoftTeco will assist you with that. By utilizing our qualified developers, we can ensure a seamless and hassle-free migration process while helping to modernize your applications.













QA Testing



With our QA testing service, we can ensure your software is fully tested and ready to be deployed on time. Our QA specialists perform in-depth testing to ensure your iOS software is secure, reliable, and high-quality, with excellent user experience.













Maintenance & Support



If you need to update your software or ensure it is running flawlessly, let SoftTeco assist you. Our long-term support and maintenance service will analyze your system and update or troubleshoot it to keep your software performance high over time.













01 / 06











 





 

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Benefits of Objective-C





Compatibility



The language is highly compatible with C, C++ libraries, and the latest XCode versions, which enables developers to maintain and update apps with less effort and time.





Function-rich libraries



There is a sizable collection of libraries with many built-in features that make development easier.





Easier private API usage



If you need a specific custom solution for your product, Objective-C is easier to connect with private APIs without consuming many internal IT resources.





Stability



Objective-C has been used for decades and has a mature ecosystem, so it is highly reliable. Thus, developers build stable iOS apps without investing much time and money in migration.





Support for older versions



Unlike Swift, this language supports older versions of iOS and macOS, which increases versatility of apps.



 





 

Hire SoftTeco’s Objective-C Developers



Relying on our Objective-C development services, you will get a skilled team of iOS developers ready to work on projects of any complexity and size. With over 17+ years of experience, we have developed a wide range of iOS solutions for customers worldwide. To ensure we're on the same page with our clients, our developers follow a transparent iOS development process.Our developers have rich expertise in Objective-C environments, libraries, and tools that allow them to create profoundly adaptable and robust applications that run on multiple iOS platforms or rewrite software in Swift. Our dedicated and skilled developers will ensure your iOS project development is done on time, professionally, and with high quality.



Learn more



 





 

Featured projects







View all cases

 



 







Evoz



Advanced solution for baby monitoring and activity tracking




  




iOS



Android



Web













Roadlab



Autonomous Road Roughness Measuring app for World Bank




  




iOS



Android



 





 

Why SoftTeco?




Over 17 years of experience in developing iOS software



Project delivery on-time



+ 500 experienced developers



A transparent and personalized approach



Have gained the trust of +300 partners



In-depth QA testing prior to go-live


 





 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        Apple Makes Xcode Available to All Developers: Meet Xcode Cloud
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Swift App Development Services

Swift App Development Services





SoftTeco provides top-notch Swift app development services to help businesses create exceptional applications in record time. With 17+ years of experience, we are proficient in creating highly functional and efficient applications to help you bring your vision to life. 



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Why Use Swift for Your Project?





01



Open-Source Language









Swift's open-source nature allows any programmer to contribute to its development, whether it's fixing errors, adding new features, or sharing knowledge with others. Since becoming an open-source solution, the language has gained a strong and supportive community, as well as an extensive range of additional tools.





02



Interoperability









Due to its similarities with Objective-C, Swift is highly compatible with the language. This allows for easy integration of Swift code into Objective-C and vice versa, making it advantageous when porting an application or platform from one language to the other. Additionally, Swift's compatibility with Objective-C APIs provides greater versatility during development, allowing you to incorporate a wider range of features into your project. 





03



Fast Development and Safety









Swift application development prioritizes high performance, speed, and safety. The language is built with the LLVM compiler framework, which optimizes the code and accelerates the development process. Additionally, Swift's robust typing system reduces the risk of code crashes, allowing developers to quickly identify and resolve errors.





04



Effective Memory Management









Swift uses Automated Reference Counting (ARC), a garbage collector function that enables developers to define instances that are no longer in use and delete them. This results in increased app performance without causing any memory lag.





05



Easy Scaling









By choosing Swift for iOS development, you're securing your product's future and capability of implementing new features as required. This is a wise, long-term investment that facilitates scaling your team and hiring a dedicated Swift developer, resulting in a quick onboarding process.



 





 

Swift App Development Services That SoftTeco Offers

 




 

Enterprise App Development



Our team is proficient in developing enterprise applications using Swift, which can enhance your organization's efficiency and streamline operations. The language's flexibility allows developers to deliver exceptional outcomes for your enterprise while meeting your specific business requirements.

 



 

Swift App Porting



As a Swift app development company, SoftTeco will help you keep your app relevant and competitive in today’s market. Our team of experts is proficient in porting applications to Swift for Apple OS compatibility, enabling your app to reach a wider audience and increase its potential for success. With our services, you can rest assured that your application's functionality and user experience will remain consistent across all platforms.

 



 

Consulting



We at SoftTeco understand the importance of delivering a seamless user experience across all Apple devices. Our team of specialists is here to provide comprehensive support for your application development journey, from ideation to deployment. SoftTeco’s skilled analysts and developers have the expertise to create a custom roadmap that aligns with your business objectives and customer expectations. 

 



 

Custom App Development 



SoftTeco specializes in creating visually appealing, user-friendly, and engaging applications using Swift. Whether you're looking to develop a new app from scratch or add new features to an existing one, we are here to help you achieve your goals. With our custom Swift app development services, you can be confident that you are getting a solution that is perfectly suited to your business needs.

 



 

Application Supportand Maintenance



Our support team is dedicated to ensuring that your systems run smoothly and efficiently, minimizing downtime, and addressing performance issues before they impact your users. If you need to add new features to your application, SoftTeco is here to help you stay up-to-date with the ever-changing demands of your customers. 

 



 

QA Testing



SoftTeco offers full-cycle quality assurance and testing services to guarantee that your application is released without a hitch. Our team of QA engineers is dedicated to maintaining high-quality standards for your product. Trust SoftTeco to take care of all the necessary testing before launch, so you can rest assured that your customers will have a seamless experience.

 













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Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Swift Development Company?



Solid securityPitch-perfect UX/UIQuick deliveryFast response timeRich experience in the IT industry

 





 

Hire Swift App Developers From SoftTeco



Our team of experienced developers can help you build high-quality, efficient, and user-friendly iOS applications that meet your business needs. SoftTeco has a proven track record of delivering successful projects for clients in various industries, including healthcare, finance, e-commerce, and more. With our expertise in Swift programming language and knowledge of the latest development tools and technologies, we can deliver custom-made solutions that are tailored to your specific requirements. 

 






 

Swift Development Services For All Industries

 








 

Our Project Portfolio







View all cases

 



 







Beeguard



An AI-based beehive tracking system




  




iOS













Cheetah



Food delivery service for small business




  




iOS



 







 

What our clients say



 







Their iOS development skills are really good. The app works and looks great and I am very happy with the support the team was able to provide post launch.




Co-Founder & CTO, Supersapiens



Gagan Chaudhari


 

 





 

Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        Apple Makes Xcode Available to All Developers: Meet Xcode Cloud
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Cross-Platform App Development Service

Cross-Platform App Development Service





Expand the possibilities of your business and your digital presence with SoftTeco’s cross-platform app development services. Our skilled team of developers uses cutting-edge technologies to create applications that are fast, reliable, and compatible with a wide range of devices. 



Calculate Team Cost



 





 




17




  





Years on the market






500




  





Employees






300




  





Customers worldwide






450




  





Successful projects



 





 

Cross-platform App Development Services That SoftTeco Offers

 



 



Consulting



SoftTeco’s team will guide you through the entire development process. Our specialists will assess your business requirements, analyze market trends, and provide valuable insights to help you make informed decisions. With our cross-platform application development services, you can be confident in achieving your business goals efficiently and effectively. 













Cross-Platform App Integration



SoftTeco can help you integrate cross-platform applications with your existing systems and software. Our experts will seamlessly connect your app with various platforms, ensuring smooth data flow and optimal performance. 













Support and Maintenance



As a cross-platform app development company, we at SoftTeco understand the importance of continuous app performance and user satisfaction. Our support and maintenance services ensure that your application remains up-to-date, secure, and functional. Our team will provide regular updates and performance optimizations to keep your app running smoothly. 













Cross-platform Solutions



Our custom cross-platform mobile app development services are tailored to meet your specific business needs. We leverage the latest tools and technologies to create intuitive, user-friendly, and visually appealing solutions that leave a lasting impression on your users. Enhance user engagement, increase conversions, and drive business growth with SoftTeco. 













UX/UI Design 



SoftTeco focuses on user-centric design principles, seamless navigation, and visually appealing graphics to make your application stand out from the crowd. Our talented designers create captivating and intuitive user interfaces that ensure a delightful user experience. 













QA Testing Services



Our dedicated QA experts conduct rigorous testing to ensure your app functions flawlessly across different platforms and devices. The team performs comprehensive testing, including functionality testing, compatibility testing, performance testing, and security testing, to deliver error-free and high-performing applications. 













01 / 06











 





 

Benefits of Cross-platform Development



Having a mobile app for your business is essential in today's digital world. However, creating separate applications for different platforms can be time-consuming and costly. Cross-platform development solves this problem and comes with a lot of benefits, such as:




Allows developers to write code once and deploy it on multiple platforms



Reduces resources required for the development, resulting in substantial cost savings



Significantly reduces the time required to develop applications for different operating systems



Helps in building brand loyalty and customer satisfaction, as users can easily switch between devices without any noticeable differences in the app's functionality or design



Allows streamlining the maintenance and update processes since the codebase is shared across platforms; 



Allows to share code with the backend app


 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Cross-Platform App Development Company?





Solid security

Fast response time

Pitch-perfect UX/UI

Quick delivery

Rich experience in the IT industry

 





 

Calculate Team Cost



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Technologies That We Use For Cross-platform App Development



SoftTeco's specialists possess extensive knowledge of cutting-edge technologies that ensure the effectiveness and success of cross-platform application development projects. Our expertise extends to a wide range of frameworks, including:




React Native




React Native is a versatile and robust framework that enables developers to create high-quality, native mobile applications for both iOS and Android platforms using a single codebase. The framework's ability to render code natively on the device is responsible for the fast processing speed and seamless user experience associated with React Native apps. 



Read More
















MAUI (ex-Xamarin)




MAUI leverages the power of the C# programming language to empower developers to create fully native apps with a shared codebase, eliminating the need for repetitive coding and promoting efficient development. One of the standout advantages of MAUI is that it offers access to native APIs and UI controls, making it easier to create high-quality, consistent user interfaces across a range of platforms.



Read More
















Flutter




Flutter empowers developers to build high-performance, natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop using a single codebase, making the development process more efficient. Additionally, Flutter offers a rich set of customizable widgets that can be tailored to create visually stunning and interactive user interfaces.



Read More













 





 

Hire Our Cross-Platform App Developers



Harness the power of cross-platform applications with the help of our expert developers. At SoftTeco, we understand the importance of reaching a wider audience and maximizing your business potential. Our team of experts is ready to help you bring your idea to life, no matter what platform you're targeting. With a focus on quality and accountability, we'll work closely with you to ensure that your application meets your specifications and exceeds your expectations. 



Tell us about your project



 





 

Choose an Engagement Model for Your Project




 

Staff Augmentation





Dedicated Team





Full Outsourcing

 



 

When you require additional resources for a specific project or task, our staff augmentation model is the perfect solution. SoftTeco offers a pool of talented professionals with diverse skill sets, ready to seamlessly integrate into your existing team. Scale your workforce effortlessly and enjoy increased productivity.




SA




Extensive scope





Flexible budget





Pay-as-you-go







Need a team that exclusively works on your project? Our dedicated team model is designed to provide you with a group of highly skilled individuals who are solely dedicated to your project's success. Benefit from enhanced efficiency, effective communication, and flexible scaling options.




DT




Large pool of talent





Cost savings





Transparentpricing model







Our full outsourcing model allows you to entrust the entire project or a specific task to our team of professionals. By leveraging our expertise and resources, you can focus on your core competencies while we handle the rest. Experience seamless collaboration, timely project delivery, and cost-effective solutions with SoftTeco.




FO




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support



 


 






 

Cross-platform App Development Services For All Industries

 








 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									The team managed to achieve impressive results in a short period of time and they flawlessly handed unexpected glitches during the development process.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, Kumba
									
									
										Amit Kadosh
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

FAQ



 





 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        Tech Review Series: Xamarin
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        Tech Review Series: React Native
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
		
		
	
	

		
				
					
		
					
		
				
		

 





 


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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### iOS App Development Services

iOS App Development Services





SoftTeco has gained rich experience in app development for all Apple devices - iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. We provide iOS App Development Services focused on the client's ultimate outcomes and user satisfaction. Our certified iOS developers use cutting-edge tools and technologies to keep up with Apple updates. You will have unparalleled iOS solutions that attract tech-savvy users and achieve higher ratings in the App Store. 



Calculate Team Cost



 





 




450




  





Projects delivered






17




  





Years of experience






500




  





In-house developers






75




  





Client locations



 





 

SoftTeco’s iOS Development Services





iOS Development Consulting



No matter what stage your iOS application is in, SoftTeco will assist you. If you rely on our iOS consultants and business analytics, you will find the right solutions to iOS-related issues beneficial to your business.





Full-cycle iOS App Development



If you have an idea for an iOS app but need a reliable development team, let SoftTeco step in. Our iOS application development service will assist you with concepts, tech stack selection, software development, and support.





Custom iOS APP Development



Are you seeking customized iOS applications explicitly tailored to your business demands? If yes, then SoftTeco can handle it. With our iOS app development company, you will get bespoke iOS software that is feature-rich and interactive, boosting profits and sales.





iOS Enterprises App Development



Whenever you have trouble with business processes, so enterprise-level apps are imperative. Our dedicated developers will craft personalized intuitive interfaces and excellent integration of iOS apps, enabling companies to achieve advanced user management.





iOS App Development for IoT



When it comes to creating the best customer experience for your IoT product, SoftTeco is at your service. We have experienced iOS developers who use advanced tools, techniques, and technologies to ensure reliable IoT applications tailored to your business needs.





iOS App UI/UX Design



Our designers follow the Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) to create an engaging user experience with smooth navigation. Our iOS design team offers stunning and functional designs optimized for Apple's market and various screen sizes.





iPhone App Development



When you need an iPhone apps development service to create unique software for all Apple devices, SoftTeco's experts are ready to help. Our skilled app developers will assist with all aspects of the iPhone app development process, including design, development, and maintenance.





iPad App Development



Our developers are skilled in Swift, which allows them to create one-of-a-kind applications for iPads. With our iOS application development, your apps will be carefully designed to maximize functionality while remaining intuitive and usable.





iOS App Redesign & Redevelopment



If your app needs to implement new features, revise its design, or assure app compatibility with the latest iPhone and Apple capabilities, contact us. Our specialist will update your existing app to the latest version or redesign it to reduce app downtime as much as possible.





iOS App Test Automation



Our QA engineers carry out all kinds of software tests, including bandwidth and security testing,  to ensure your software functions properly. By working with our qualified QA specialists, we guarantee that the final version of your iOS app will be glitch- and bug-free.





iOS App Support and Maintenance



Once your app has been completed and released, you might need full support and maintenance. With SoftTeco's iOS support services, you will achieve App Store compliance and maintain your app's performance over time.







iOS Development Consulting



No matter what stage your iOS application is in, SoftTeco will assist you. If you rely on our iOS consultants and business analytics, you will find the right solutions to iOS-related issues beneficial to your business.





Full-cycle iOS App Development



If you have an idea for an iOS app but need a reliable development team, let SoftTeco step in. Our iOS application development service will assist you with concepts, tech stack selection, software development, and support.





Custom iOS APP Development



Are you seeking customized iOS applications explicitly tailored to your business demands? If yes, then SoftTeco can handle it. With our iOS app development company, you will get bespoke iOS software that is feature-rich and interactive, boosting profits and sales.





iOS Enterprises App Development



Whenever you have trouble with business processes, so enterprise-level apps are imperative. Our dedicated developers will craft personalized intuitive interfaces and excellent integration of iOS apps, enabling companies to achieve advanced user management.





iOS App Development for IoT



When it comes to creating the best customer experience for your IoT product, SoftTeco is at your service. We have experienced iOS developers who use advanced tools, techniques, and technologies to ensure reliable IoT applications tailored to your business needs.





iOS App UI/UX Design



Our designers follow the Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) to create an engaging user experience with smooth navigation. Our iOS design team offers stunning and functional designs optimized for Apple's market and various screen sizes.





iPhone App Development



When you need an iPhone apps development service to create unique software for all Apple devices, SoftTeco's experts are ready to help. Our skilled app developers will assist with all aspects of the iPhone app development process, including design, development, and maintenance.





iPad App Development



Our developers are skilled in Swift, which allows them to create one-of-a-kind applications for iPads. With our iOS application development, your apps will be carefully designed to maximize functionality while remaining intuitive and usable.





iOS App Redesign & Redevelopment



If your app needs to implement new features, revise its design, or assure app compatibility with the latest iPhone and Apple capabilities, contact us. Our specialist will update your existing app to the latest version or redesign it to reduce app downtime as much as possible.





iOS App Test Automation



Our QA engineers carry out all kinds of software tests, including bandwidth and security testing,  to ensure your software functions properly. By working with our qualified QA specialists, we guarantee that the final version of your iOS app will be glitch- and bug-free.





iOS App Support and Maintenance



Once your app has been completed and released, you might need full support and maintenance. With SoftTeco's iOS support services, you will achieve App Store compliance and maintain your app's performance over time.



 





 

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Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!





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Why Should You Develop Native Mobile Apps?





01



High Performance



Native applications are created for the specific operating system and use its primary programming language and APIs. Thus, iOS applications run extremely fast and more efficiently





02



Top-Notch Security



Native apps use the security features built into the operating system and encrypt data within a single infrastructure, which reduces security-associated risks





03



More Bug-free



Native app development maintains two separate codebases using platform-specific SDKs, which allows developers to make fewer errors





04



Advanced Customization



Native applications take advantage of iOS's separate operating system with its features, which allow developers to create highly customized solutions





05



Flawless User Experience



Native apps adhere to UI/UX guidelines that enhance and align the user experience with the operating system. Hence, developers don't have to adjust graphics sizes and resolutions for a better user experience





06



Improved Scalability



As native applications use existing hardware, they reduce failures caused by memory limitations or slowdowns due to advanced app functionality. Thus, the product is more scalable for future growth





07



Easier Launch to the Market



Launching a native mobile app is easier because developers use native tech stack and align the code to follow the operating system guidelines from the beginning





08



Instant Updates



Native mobile apps allow developers to immediately implement new features since they’ve got quick and easy access to the updated SDKs



 







 

iOS Application Development Industries That We Work With



For 15 years of iOS applications development, SoftTeco has established long-term partnerships and delivers tailored iOS software across various industries and niches. We help our clients achieve maximum client retention with exceptional experiences and boost profits as a result













01 / 06



Finance and Banking




Internet mobile & web banking apps



Money transfers apps



E-payment apps



Budget management apps






02 / 06



Healthcare




Doctor appointment booking apps



Medicine delivery apps



Remote patients’ health apps



Well-being habits & goals apps






03 / 06



Retail & E-commerce




Online store apps



Search products by photo apps



Price comparison apps



Build the brand apps






04 / 06



E-learning 




Online training and courses apps



Language learning apps



Learning activities management apps



Conducting online teaching apps






05 / 06



IoT




Monitoring Smart Home apps



Monitoring Smart City apps



Health tracking apps



Retail management and automation apps






06 / 06



Travel & Hospitality




The Smart Room system apps



Contactless hospitality apps



Tickets and hotel booking apps



Trip planning apps




 








Swift for iOS Development



Swift is the go-to, powerful, compiled programming language for building robust and user-oriented iOS apps. Our skilled developers use Swift as one of the primary programming languages, which works with Apple frameworks and combines the best features of both C and Objective-C. Thus, it is a top priority for modern iOS app development.







Objective-C for iOS Development



Our developers use Objective-C - a general-purpose, object-oriented language - to build iOS and MacOS X software for all devices. As a reliable language, we will create apps that work well on earlier iOS versions without constant updates. Thus, Objective-C provides unparalleled support for rewriting existing legacy and creating reliable iOS apps.















1 / 2 






 

Our Technologies & Features



iOS Technologies and libraries that we use:



Core BluetoothSwiftUISocketsGPUImage  CombineImage/Video Processing (GPUImage, Metal, AVComposition)VoIP (WebRTC, CallKit)RxSwiftSocial Media APIs AVComposition Cocos2DXFramework Development (Swift Package Manager, Cocoapods)CoreAnimation   SpriteKitClean ArchitectureWebRTC    Apple PayExtensions DevelopmentMLKit  BluetoothCryptographyARKit  WiFi



15 more +

 





 

Hire an iOS Developer



As a software development company since 2008, SoftTeco has a wealth of experience developing powerful and secure iOS software for all Apple devices - iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Our certified iOS engineers are proficient in cutting-edge iOS technologies and work with apps from a wide range of industries



Hire an iOS Developer



 





 

Why is SoftTeco the best option for iOS apps development?





Expert iOS Developers



With over 15 years of iOS development, SoftTeco offers certified and highly qualified iOS developers with extensive experience working on commercial projects of various complexity





Cutting-edge Technologies



SoftTeco’s iOS engineers are proficient in the most widely used and reliable frameworks, including Swift and Objective-C, libraries and cutting-edge tools





Transparent Approach



When working on an iOS project, we focus on client requirements and ensure maximum transparency to keep stakeholders up-to-date at every project stage





High Efficiency and Speed



With our effective work processes, SoftTeco never prioritizes speed over quality. It means we successfully combine both fast delivery and high-quality iOS solutions





Strong Security



We deliver highly secure iOS software due to our in-depth expertise in encryption techniques, coding practices, regular security audits, and compliance with industry standards like HIPAA



 





 

Featured projects







View all cases

 



 







Bubcon



A next generation mass-market messenger app




  




iOS



Android













Beeguard



An AI-based beehive tracking system




  




iOS



 





 

What our clients say



 







Their iOS development skills are really good. The app works and looks great and I am very happy with the support the team was able to provide post launch.




Co-Founder & CTO, Supersapiens



Gagan Chaudhari


 

 





 

FAQ



 





 

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        Apple Makes Xcode Available to All Developers: Meet Xcode Cloud
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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### Android App Development Services

Android App Development Services





Being a well-recognized Android development company, SoftTeco offers a full cycle of Android app development services for all industries. Using our deep understanding of your business and market standards, we deliver secure, feature-rich, and cutting-edge Android solutions for companies to attract global attention.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 




17




  





Years on the market






450




  





Successful projects






300




  





Customers globally






500




  





Employees



 





 

Our Android Application Development Services





Android App Consulting 







As part of our Android app development services, SoftTeco offers Android consulting services for mid-size, large, and startup companies to meet their needs. Our consultants carefully conduct user, market, and business analyses to suggest the most suitable strategy to help each business reach its goals. 





Android UI/UX Design







If you need to build an unforgettable and easy-to-use UX and UI design across all Android devices and versions, count on SoftTeco's professional designers. With strong attention to every detail, our designers will create a stunning interface and flawless navigation for any mobile solution.





Custom Android App Development







Whenever you need a tailor-made mobile app that aligns with your specific objectives and caters to your desired audience, SoftTeco is the right choice. Our Android app development agency builds custom apps with a user-friendly interface and all the necessary features to help meet your goals and make your application stand out.





Native Android App Development







If you need superior performance and a truly native experience, SoftTeco's native Android development service will help you. By using cutting-edge technologies, our highly skilled developers build stunning native applications with limitless capabilities that run seamlessly on all Android versions and devices.





Cross-platform App Development







If you want to build an application that runs on various platforms using a single codebase, let SoftTeco help you. We have engineers who are proficient in a range of frameworks so that we can build apps compatible with multiple operating systems, making them accessible to a wider audience.





Web-based App Development







SoftTeco offers web app development, providing mobile-friendly web applications optimized for Android devices. By leveraging the latest web technologies and design principles, we create engaging web applications with a seamless user experience across various screen sizes and resolutions.





Android TV App Development







To reach a broader audience through intelligent TV platforms, trust SoftTeco. Our developers build interactive and user-friendly smart TV applications that provide seamless experiences and open new opportunities for various industries, such as media and entertainment, e-commerce, e-learning, etc.





Wearable App Development







If you need innovative and user-centric wearable applications for Android, count on SoftTeco. Our skilled developers create feature-rich and highly personalized mobile solutions that perfectly connect with users' devices such as a smartwatch or a fitness tracker and collect all the necessary information.





Android App Porting







When it comes to ports of Android apps to iOS or updating existing ones to support newer OS versions, SoftTeco offers a seamless porting process. We ensure the app's functionality and user interface are optimized for various device sizes, providing a seamless user experience on all devices.





Android App Testing & QA







To ensure Android applications function smoothly and are ready for the market, turn to SoftTeco. We conduct different types of testing across various Android devices, screen sizes, and OS versions to deliver high-performance apps that run smoothly and adhere to industry standards.





Maintenance and Support







SoftTeco offers post-launch maintenance and support to ensure peak performance and continuous updates for your solution. With regular monitoring and updates, our engineers keep apps up-to-date with the latest OS versions and device requirements, ensuring a superior user experience and durability.



 





 

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Industry-Specific Android App Development Solutions at SoftTeco

 



 

With over 10+ years in Android mobile app development, SoftTeco has accumulated expertise across a wide range of domains and industries. Our Android apps development service has been providing Android mobile applications for the following fields:











 



 




01 / 11



Healthcare





Well-being habits



Remote medical care



Health awareness



Electronic health record







02 / 11



FinTech





Mobile banking 



Digital wallet 



Stock trading



Fraud detection 







03 / 11



Retail & Ecommerce





Grocery lists



Online store



Search of products by photo 



Price comparisons of grocery







04 / 11



Travel & Hospitality





Booking solutions



Travel and expense management 



Trip planning



Mobile hotel 







05 / 11



Education





Online training



Language learning



Learning progress tracking



Conducting online teaching 







06 / 11



Insurance





Policy management



Virtual Insurance agent



Insurance risk assessment



Customer engagement and support







07 / 11



Transportation





Maps and navigation



Public transportation 



Freight and logistics 



Parking systems







08 / 11



Manufacturing





Inventory management



Quality Control and inspection



Production monitoring



Supplier and vendor management 







09 / 11



Oil & Gas





Emergency response



Environmental monitoring of oil



Field data collection



Safety training







10 / 11



IT & Telecom





Helpdesk and support 



Telecom expense management



Video conferencing



Project management







11 / 11



Construction





Material inventory management 



Remote cooperation 



Building information modeling



Equipment tracking




 





 

Technologies That We Use for Android App Development





Languages




Kotlin



Typescript







Java



C#







Dart



JavaScript






Frameworks




Android SDK



React Native



Apache Cordova 



Jetpack Compose



Xamarin



Ionic



Flutter






SDKs and Libraries




Android Studio



Wear Os 



Dagger



NDK



RxJava



Hilt



Android Jetpack



Coroutines



Retrofit



Okhttp



WebSocket



Moshi



Firebase



Google Services



Google Fit SDK



ARCore



BLE



JUnit



Mockito



Detekt



Ktlint



Codepush



Moment



i18n



RN-Reanimated



React-navigation



RN-WebView



Redux



Mobx



BLOC



Google Assistant SDK



OpenGL



ML Kit






Build tools, CI/CDand Automation




Ant



Gradle



Jenkins



AppCenter



Azure Pipelines



Bitrise



CircleCI



Travis CI



Bitbucket



GitLab



GitHub



Google Play



TestFlight




 





 

Our Android App Development Process 




01
Analysis and Research



At SoftTeco, we gain expertise in the field for which we create an application. To collect all the necessary information for an upcoming project, we carefully analyze the market and the target audience's needs. 




02
Ideation and Planning



Our team carefully reviews the client's objectives and defines the app's goal. We create a detailed project plan, including timelines, milestones, resource allocation, team composition, and qualifications.




03
Design and Prototyping



Our professional designers create basic wireframes and low- and high-fidelity prototypes to visualize how the app's UI and UX designs will look in the future. It includes the creation of an app's layout, navigation, and visual elements to ensure top-notch designs.




04
Development



Our developers choose programming languages and design tools for coding an app. In accordance with the design and requirements, they implement the app's features and functionalities, taking into account the specifics of each device.




05
Testing and QA



We conduct various tests, including functional testing, usability testing, and performance testing, to ensure high app quality. Our team also tests Android apps on different Android devices and screen sizes to ensure compatibility.




06
Launch and Support



At the final stage, we upload an application to Google Play or other platforms. Our team regularly updates the app to add updated features, enhance performance and keep it compatible with the latest Android versions and devices.













 





 

Our Project Portfolio







View all cases

 



 







Bubcon



A next generation mass-market messenger app




  




iOS



Android













Caajoo



A freelance marketplace to connect clients & local service providers




  




iOS



Android



 





 

Hire Our Android Developers



With over 10+ years of Android app development, SoftTeco is well-versed in top-notch mobile solutions. Our highly certified developers are proficient in cutting-edge technologies like Kotlin, Java, Flutter, React Native, Xamarin, tools, and trends. We have successfully completed many projects globally and developed various apps in various fields.We deliver high-quality, industry-standard solutions by combining our customer-focused approach with the Android engineer team. Whether you need a native Android application, a cross-platform application, or an upgrade to your existing solutions, our developers will handle any project from start to finish.



Hire our developers



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Android Application Development Company?





Over 15 years of experience in Android app development

ISO 27001-certified to ensure a high level of security 

A transparent and personalized approach

ISO 9001-certified to ensure management quality

500+ highly skilled developers

Official Partnership with AWS

Have gained 200+ partners’ trust

Salesforce partner

Project delivery on-time

 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									We have been working with SoftTeco for more than 7 years and throughout all this time, they never missed a deadline and always displayed the highest level of professionalism.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, Blueprint
									
									
										Irina Lunin
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

FAQ



 





 

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        Tech Review Series: Kotlin
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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        Java vs Kotlin: An Honest Comparison
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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All about Android Development Service

 




  



 


​​Kotlin Development



Android State Machine Pattern







Android, decoding click low level event







ANDROID, LOW LEVEL SHELL CLICK ON SCREEN


 




 

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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Backend Development Company

Backend Development Company





SoftTeco offers full-cycle backend development services aimed at strengthening your business. We can help you seamlessly scale while keeping your data secured, and we know how to make your application work in order to bring you maximal profit.



Calculate Team Cost



 











































 

SoftTeco’s Backend Development Services





Mobile App Backend Development



SoftTeco designs backends for both native and cross-platform mobile applications as well as for wearables and smart devices. Whatever domain your app belongs to, we will make sure that its backend part follows the industry standards for quality and security so your app functions seamlessly and the data is stored and processed safely.





Web Backend Development



Web performance is one of the biggest challenges and we can help you resolve it with our web backend development services. Our team can significantly speed up your web product via a stable and scalable backend. We can also optimize the performance of your high-load system so it handles all requests efficiently.





Cloud Migration / Backend Development



Whether you need to migrate to the cloud or to build a cloud backend solution from scratch, we are here to help. SoftTeco has extensive experience in working with the biggest cloud providers and our software engineers regularly undergo certifications from Amazon and Microsoft to constantly level up their skills and knowledge.





API Integration and Development



SoftTeco can develop custom APIs to integrate your system with all needed third-party applications and services. Our API integration and development services can help you enhance your business by bringing together all needed software products without a hassle.





Custom Backend Development



If you need a specific custom solution, we at SoftTeco are always ready to help. With an extensive experience in various backend tools and technologies, we know how to create robust infrastructures, secure APIs, and databases that are able to handle massive loads of various data types and formats.





IoT Backend Development



We understand how important it is to have a stable backend for an IoT system and we are highly experienced in working with such systems. Our team can develop a solution that would seamlessly store and process all your heterogeneous data from multiple connected devices and will effectively analyze it to generate high-value reports.



 





 

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Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!





Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Benefits of Working With SoftTeco





01



Cutting-Edge Technologies



To ensure the highest quality of our backend services, we use the latest and time-tested backend development technologies that help us realize your ideas and speed up the development process





02



Full-Cycle Development



SoftTeco offers full-cycle backend development services. Starting with business analysis and ending with post-launch support, we will make sure your backend solution is designed in full correspondence with your business goals





03



High Level of Security



At SoftTeco, we follow security best practices to ensure our solutions are protected against internal and external threats. In this way, you can rest assured that your data is safeguarded and that an app can be accessed by authorized users only





04



High Scalability



As your business expands, so do our solutions. When entrusting SoftTeco with backend software development, you can rest assured our software products will expand in accordance with your natural business growth



 







 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







COVR



Advanced cybersecurity platform for banking and retail




  




iOS



Android



Web













Golf Club



The AI-powered analyzer of golf players




  




Web



 





 

Hire a Backend Developer



Being in software development industry since 2008, SoftTeco has gained rich experience in developing robust and secure backend applications. Our backend engineers are well-versed in the most common backend technologies and have rich experience working with apps from the most various domains.



Hire a Backend Developer



 





 

Choose YourEngagement Model




 

Staff Augmentation





Dedicated Team





Complete IT Outsourcing

 



 

Close your skill gaps with our staff augmentation model and quickly add any needed resources to your team.  




SA




Extensive scope





Flexible budget





Pay-as-you-go







Hire a full team of expert software developers that will be managed by a PM from SoftTeco’s side and let us take the responsibility for the project’s management and deadlines.




DT




Large pool of talent





Cost savings





Transparentpricing model







Delegate SoftTeco full control over team management, risk management, and bottlenecks mitigation and let us carry out your project from start to finish.




CIO




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support



 


 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									Working with SoftTeco was an enjoyable experience as we had zero communication issues and everything was delivered right on time and exactly as I envisioned.
								
								
									
										Co-Founder and CTO, Visionary.ai
									
									
										Yoav Taieb
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

FAQ



 





 

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        Java 19: An Overview of the Main Features That JDK 19 Brings
        
             
    
        
         
        
            
			    
			        
			            
			                
			            
			            
			                
			                
			            
			            
			        
			        
			            10
			        
			    
			                           
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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        Fernflower Java Decompiler
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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​​Java Software Development



Node.js Development







.NET Development



PHP Development







Python Development


 




 

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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Python Development Services

Python Software Development Company





With over 17 years of experience on the market, SoftTeco provides a wide range of top-notch Python development services.  Be it web application design or data analysis and visualization, you can rely upon SoftTeco specialists to meet your unique business needs.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Our Python Software Development Services





AI and Machine Learning Solutions



The SoftTeco team leverages the power of Python to develop large-scale AI and Machine Learning systems for a wide range of applications, including data mining and analytics, business intelligence, natural language processing, and computer vision. 





Python Custom Development



As a Python development firm, SoftTeco specializes in Python custom development to build dynamic applications across a wide range of industries. Our team designs, develops, and maintains Python-based solutions tailored to your specific business needs, ensuring that each product is sustainable and ready to expand with new functionalities.





Application Development



SoftTeco's dedicated Python developers are committed to bringing your vision to life and creating the best possible application for your business. By prioritizing your unique needs and goals, we can help you achieve success and provide your customers with an exceptional user experience.





Backend Development



Python is the top choice for product owners looking to create robust backend systems that support critical day-to-day operations in their enterprise. The SoftTeco team employs various frameworks and libraries for server-side coding for applications of all sizes and purposes. 





Python for Enterprise Solutions



As a Python web development company, SoftTeco helps clients gain a competitive edge by revealing hidden opportunities for growth and improvement. Our specialists are highly skilled in creating advanced Python frameworks that simplify content management, system administration, and database interaction for large-scale projects.





Hybrid Python Programming



Python's interoperability with a variety of programming languages enables our engineers to seamlessly integrate Python with other languages, such as Java, JS, or .NET, to provide our clients with the best of both. The SoftTeco team can also integrate Python scripts into C/C++, Java, and C# for customizations and third-party integrations. 





Data Engineering



SoftTeco’s data engineers excel in utilizing cloud services to guarantee the handling and maintenance of immense data sets. Using Python custom development solutions, our specialists can create ETL data pipelines and streamline the functioning of data warehouses and data lakes to help your business efficiently use valuable information.





Big Data Analytics



Thanks to its extensive library offerings and powerful analytics tools, Python is an ideal solution for processing and analyzing large data clusters. SoftTeco’s Python development service will help your business gain valuable insights into current trends and future possibilities.





Python Migration Service



SoftTeco offers seamless and secure migration services for your existing websites and web applications to the Python framework. Our expert Python developers will guide you through the entire migration process, ensuring that your app is secure, fast, and reliable. Whether it's upgrading to newer Python versions or engineering custom connectors for complex migrations, SoftTeco has the expertise to scale your app. 





Prototyping



SoftTeco's specialists will evaluate your project requirements, create an implementation strategy, and develop a prototype of your future solution. Leveraging Python's flexibility and easily adaptable code, our developers can quickly build prototypes and run multiple iterations until achieving a functional design.







AI and Machine Learning Solutions



The SoftTeco team leverages the power of Python to develop large-scale AI and Machine Learning systems for a wide range of applications, including data mining and analytics, business intelligence, natural language processing, and computer vision. 





Python Custom Development



As a Python development firm, SoftTeco specializes in Python custom development to build dynamic applications across a wide range of industries. Our team designs, develops, and maintains Python-based solutions tailored to your specific business needs, ensuring that each product is sustainable and ready to expand with new functionalities.





Application Development



SoftTeco's dedicated Python developers are committed to bringing your vision to life and creating the best possible application for your business. By prioritizing your unique needs and goals, we can help you achieve success and provide your customers with an exceptional user experience.





Backend Development



Python is the top choice for product owners looking to create robust backend systems that support critical day-to-day operations in their enterprise. The SoftTeco team employs various frameworks and libraries for server-side coding for applications of all sizes and purposes. 





Python for Enterprise Solutions



As a Python web development company, SoftTeco helps clients gain a competitive edge by revealing hidden opportunities for growth and improvement. Our specialists are highly skilled in creating advanced Python frameworks that simplify content management, system administration, and database interaction for large-scale projects.





Hybrid Python Programming



Python's interoperability with a variety of programming languages enables our engineers to seamlessly integrate Python with other languages, such as Java, JS, or .NET, to provide our clients with the best of both. The SoftTeco team can also integrate Python scripts into C/C++, Java, and C# for customizations and third-party integrations. 





Data Engineering



SoftTeco’s data engineers excel in utilizing cloud services to guarantee the handling and maintenance of immense data sets. Using Python custom development solutions, our specialists can create ETL data pipelines and streamline the functioning of data warehouses and data lakes to help your business efficiently use valuable information.





Big Data Analytics



Thanks to its extensive library offerings and powerful analytics tools, Python is an ideal solution for processing and analyzing large data clusters. SoftTeco’s Python development service will help your business gain valuable insights into current trends and future possibilities.





Python Migration Service



SoftTeco offers seamless and secure migration services for your existing websites and web applications to the Python framework. Our expert Python developers will guide you through the entire migration process, ensuring that your app is secure, fast, and reliable. Whether it's upgrading to newer Python versions or engineering custom connectors for complex migrations, SoftTeco has the expertise to scale your app. 





Prototyping



SoftTeco's specialists will evaluate your project requirements, create an implementation strategy, and develop a prototype of your future solution. Leveraging Python's flexibility and easily adaptable code, our developers can quickly build prototypes and run multiple iterations until achieving a functional design.



 





 

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Python Custom Development is The Perfect Choice For:

 



 



Finance and FinTech





Data Science





Big Data





Artificial Intelligence





Machine Learning and Deep Learning





Research





Blockchain





Modern Software Development



 





 

Hire Python Developers From SoftTeco



SoftTeco's Python developers are highly skilled and experienced in the language and its frameworks and deliver high-quality solutions tailored to your specific needs. Our team prioritizes timely delivery and always completes projects within budget. With 17+ years of experience in the global IT market, SoftTeco has a proven track record of successful projects in various industries and domains. We are confident in our ability to provide you with the expertise you need, as SoftTeco specialists work closely with clients to ensure their needs are met throughout the development process. 



Hire Python Developers



 





 

Choose an Engagement Model for Your Project




 

On-Demand Python Development





Dedicated Team





Outsource Python Development

 



 

At SoftTeco, we understand the importance of having the right talent to empower your in-house software development capacities. Our experienced developers can seamlessly integrate into your project team and work under your direct management to fill skill gaps and enhance your team's capabilities at any stage of the project. SoftTeco's large talent pool includes experts in backend development, machine learning, data engineering, and other domains, ensuring that we can provide you with the exact skills and expertise your project requires.




OPD




Extensive scope





Flexible budget





Pay-as-you-go







The dedicated team model involves a long-term agreement between the client and the service provider, where a dedicated team of software development professionals exclusively works on the client's project. SoftTeco selects experts based on the client's specific requirements and skillset needs. Our skilled Python programmers comprehend your business objectives and deliver end-to-end software solutions, from product architecture to testing and support. SoftTeco experts rapidly and efficiently provide exceptional value to your business.




DT




Large pool of talent





Cost savings





Transparentpricing model







SoftTeco offers end-to-end software development services and provides outsource Python development services. A team of experienced IT specialists who can cater to your specific needs will take full responsibility for managing your project and ensuring the highest quality of the final product. Our outsource Python development teams prioritize transparency and effective communication, so you can have full control over the project's execution.




OPD




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support



 


 





 

Why Use Python as The Programming Language For Your Project?





Simple and Powerful







The simplicity and readability of Python's syntax allow developers to write high-quality code more efficiently. Its formatting rules for scripts also save valuable time when tackling complex problems.





Versatility and Efficient







Python's flexibility in software development makes it suitable for projects of any size and complexity, thanks to its numerous frameworks, tools, and resources. It is widely recognized as one of the most versatile technologies.





Open-source







Similar to other popular programming languages, Python is an open-source and freely available language for everyone to use. Nonetheless, developing complex applications requires the expertise of highly experienced developers.





Compatibility







Thanks to its cross-platform compatibility, Python can be used on various operating systems like Windows, Linux, and macOS. This feature empowers Python developers to reuse code across different platforms without the need for recompilation.





Fast Development







Python's clear syntax and readability allow development teams to collaborate, share, and create code at a rapid pace, making software development in Python fast and efficient.





Great for Data Science







Compared to other technologies, Python excels in data manipulation and automating repetitive tasks, making it a preferred choice for data science applications such as artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions.





Easy to Integrate







Python is often referred to as a "glue language" due to its seamless integration capabilities with various components including other programming languages, frameworks, external services, and pre-existing infrastructure elements.





Stable and Secure







Python is a reliable and secure technology, making it an ideal option for financial applications that handle sensitive data. Its stability and trustworthiness are well-established in the technology market. 



 





 

Python Most Used Frameworks













01 / 06



Django



Django, a widely-used web development framework, is recognized for its comprehensive features that simplify the creation of intricate web applications. Its implementation of DRY and MVT architecture patterns streamlines the Python application development process, reducing the time required.





02 / 06



CherryPy



CherryPy is an open-source micro framework that has been around for a long time and is compatible with all operating systems. It comes with a built-in multi-threaded web server and takes advantage of Python's dynamic nature to create APIs. This object-oriented framework supports various technologies for data access and templating. CherryPy's user-friendly interface and dependable scaffolding make it an excellent choice for quickly creating smaller codebases.





03 / 06



Flask



Flask is a micro framework for web application development in Python. It is highly regarded for its built-in server and debugger, as well as its integration of RESTful request dispatching. Flask is commonly used to incorporate specific components into web applications.





04 / 06



Tornado



Tornado is an open-source Python framework and asynchronous networking library tool specifically designed for building high-concurrency user applications. With the ability to scale to 10,000+ open connections, Tornado is an ideal choice for applications that require long-lived connections to each user. Unlike most Python web frameworks, Tornado operates with only one thread per process and is not based on WSGI. This unique feature makes Tornado an excellent tool for building apps that prioritize high performance and simultaneous user traffic.





05 / 06



Web2Py



Web2Py is a cross-platform web development framework for Python, which is widely recognized for its self-contained features such as a code editor, debugger, and deployment tool. It streamlines the Python app development process with its built-in components and supports the MVC pattern.





06 / 06



Bottle



Bottle is a highly popular micro framework for Python, ideal for building small web applications quickly. It's a lightweight, WSGI-compliant framework that's distributed as a single-file module. Originally designed for creating APIs, Bottle streamlines development by implementing all its features in a single source file, including routing, templating, and more. Bottle's simplicity and flexibility make it an excellent choice for those seeking to build simple applications.



 






 

Python Development Services For All Industries

 








 

Benefits of Choosing SoftTeco as Your Python Development Company





Advanced Applications



Our professionals develop next-generation applications that integrate scientific computing, data science, statistics, and analytics to create powerful machine learning solutions.





Expert Developers



SoftTeco's Python developers are highly skilled and experienced in the language and its frameworks and will write clean and simple yet high-performing code for your project.





Timely Delivery



We focus on developing applications that are scalable, feature-rich, and reliable, prioritizing timely delivery and always striving to complete projects on time.





Excellent Customer Service



The SoftTeco team provides excellent customer service, working closely with clients to ensure their needs are met throughout the development process.





Customized Solutions



We provide customized solutions that are tailored to your specific business needs, ensuring that you get the most out of your investment.





Flexible Engagement Models



SofTeco offers flexible engagement models that allow you to choose the level of involvement that works best for your business.



 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Golf Club



The AI-powered analyzer of golf players




  




Web













Beeguard



An AI-based beehive tracking system




  




iOS



 





























































 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco's exceptional service that provided seamless onboarding and top-quality engineers showing dedication to our company's goals, is an important part of our secret sauce.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, Kumba
									
									
										Amit Kadosh
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

FAQ



 





 

Related Articles



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
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All about Python Development Service

 




 


Python App Develoment







Python for cybersecurity



New Features in Python 3.8










 






 


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### .NET Development Company

.NET Development Company





With over 15 years of experience in the industry, SoftTeco offers unparalleled .NET development services, aimed at delivering secure and scalable apps. Expand your business with a state-of-art digital solution and enjoy increased ROI and better user engagement.



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What Is Custom .NET Development?



Custom .NET development is aimed at creating custom software solutions based on the .NET technology. This open-source and cross-platform tool is widely known for its interoperability and portability and is used in various apps, from web and mobile development to IoT.SoftTeco has been working with .NET since 2008, and this framework has always been among our core competencies. We can create a custom solution specifically to your request and we can help you understand what exact product will serve your needs the best. Contact us to get a no obligation consultation and to learn how exactly SoftTeco’s .NET software development services can help you achieve your business objectives.



Tell me more



 





 

SoftTeco’s .NET Development Services

 



 

Business Analysis and ConsultingCustom .NET DevelopmentApplication IntegrationApplication Migration.NET Application OptimizationUX/UI DesignQuality AssuranceSupport and Maintenance

 

Business Analysis and Consulting



Our team will conduct a thorough assessment of your project and its scope with an aim to define the most suitable tech stack and the most effective development methods. Whether you need to optimize an existing product or need to create one from scratch, we will walk you through all stages of the development process and will discuss all aspects of it in detail.

 





 

Custom .NET Development



SoftTeco’s development team is ready to augment your business with a powerful and swift custom solution designed precisely for your business needs. We have solid experience in developing web, mobile, desktop, cloud, and IoT applications for both enterprises and aspiring startups and will deliver the expected product on time and within the budget.

 





 

Application Integration



If you need to integrate your solution with your existing systems, count on SoftTeco. Our developers will ensure a secure and stable connection between all needed elements of your digital ecosystem either with custom integration points or with ready-to-use solutions. And we will make sure that the implementation process does not disrupt the performance of other applications.

 





 

Application Migration



Our .NET application development company can help you migrate your legacy application to .NET for better efficiency and speed, or we can migrate your existing app to the cloud. Whatever option you choose, our team will support you throughout the process and will ensure that all data remains secure and integral.

 





 

.NET Application Optimization



It’s a common case that a legacy app calls for modernization, and SoftTeco is here to help you. We work with apps that were launched more than a decade ago, and we use all our extensive skill set and experience to make these apps work faster, increase their security, and integrate seamlessly with needed digital products.

 





 

UX/UI Design



We understand the importance of good design for conversions and user engagement and hence, our UX/UI design team offers extensive design services, from usability testing to prototype creation and complete rebranding. We will carefully analyze your application to outline the best design strategy and to deliver memorable and intuitive user experiences.

 





 

Quality Assurance



To ensure that your application functions and looks seamlessly, SoftTeco offers extensive QA services. We perform both manual and automated testing and are well-versed in various test types. In this way, we help you reduce costs by identifying risks at an early stage and increase the app’s security by timely implementing needed patches and updates.

 





 

Support and Maintenance



Once the app is launched, you want to make sure that there will be no bugs or glitches - and for that, SoftTeco provides support and maintenance services. We will discuss what exact support your app requires and will provide corresponding services, that include employee and user training and debugging.

 



 





Business Analysis and Consulting







Our team will conduct a thorough assessment of your project and its scope with an aim to define the most suitable tech stack and the most effective development methods. Whether you need to optimize an existing product or need to create one from scratch, we will walk you through all stages of the development process and will discuss all aspects of it in detail.





Custom .NET Development







SoftTeco’s development team is ready to augment your business with a powerful and swift custom solution designed precisely for your business needs. We have solid experience in developing web, mobile, desktop, cloud, and IoT .NET applications for both enterprises and aspiring startups and will deliver the expected product on time and within the budget.





Application Integration







If you need to integrate your .NET solution with your existing systems, count on SoftTeco. Our developers will ensure a secure and stable connection between all needed elements of your digital ecosystem either with custom integration points or with ready-to-use solutions. And we will make sure that .NET implementation does not disrupt the performance of other applications.





Application Migration







Our .NET application development company can help you migrate your legacy application to .NET for better efficiency and speed, or we can migrate your existing .NET app to the cloud. Whatever option you choose, our team will support you throughout the process and will ensure that all data remains secure and integral.





.NET Application Optimization







It’s a common case that a legacy app calls for modernization, and SoftTeco is here to help you. We work with apps that were launched more than a decade ago, and we use all our extensive skill set and experience to make these apps work faster, increase their security, and integrate seamlessly with needed digital products.





UX/UI Design







We understand the importance of good design for conversions and user engagement and hence, our UX/UI design team offers extensive design services, from usability testing to prototype creation and complete rebranding. We will carefully analyze your application to outline the best design strategy and to deliver memorable and intuitive user experiences.





Quality Assurance







To ensure that your application functions and looks seamlessly, SoftTeco offers extensive QA services. We perform both manual and automated testing and are well-versed in various test types. In this way, we help you reduce costs by identifying risks at an early stage and increase the app’s security by timely implementing needed patches and updates.





Support and Maintenance







Once the app is launched, you want to make sure that there will be no bugs or glitches - and for that, SoftTeco provides support and maintenance services. We will discuss what exact support your app requires and will provide corresponding services, that include employee and user training and debugging.







 

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Our .NET Development Solutions





Custom Applications







SoftTeco offers custom .NET development to help businesses meet their needs and speed up their digital transformation process. From enterprise-grade portals to swift mobile solutions, we deliver outstanding results and unparalleled quality.





Web Applications







We design powerful web portals, enterprise applications, ecommerce solutions, and online services to meet the needs of your employees, business partners, and clients and to help you provide services in a faster and more transparent way.





Cross-Platform Applications







SoftTeco creates cross-platform mobile applications that run on all platforms of choice and display an equally excellent level of performance and design. With cross-platform development, we help companies reduce costs and speed up the delivery process.





IoT Applications







.NET is known for supporting a vast number of devices and platforms as well as a variety of IoT sensors. This makes the framework a perfect choice for developing innovative and performing IoT applications that would collect and process massive amounts of data in real-time.





CMS and CRM Platforms







Content Management Systems and Client Relationship Management platforms are the cornerstones of any business, and .NET is a great choice when it comes to their development. The framework comes with a rich set of tools that allow creating scalable custom systems.





Embedded Systems







SoftTeco offers the development of stable and reliable embedded systems based on the .NET framework, so you can bring the needed firmware to your devices and machines for their automated performance.





Databases







Data is the cornerstone of any business and it’s crucial to store and process it in a secure and frictionless manner. SoftTeco develops relational databases based on the ASP.NET Core to help you effectively handle your information.





Cloud Applications







SoftTeco creates fast and cloud-based applications to bring you scalability and speed. We have solid experience with Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, and Digital Ocean, and are ready to create a native application for the platform of choice.





APIs







Our .NET development company offers custom API development services to seamlessly connect your applications and systems and ensure their stable and secure communication. From API consulting to full design and implementation, we got you covered.



 






 

Discover the Many Areas of .NET Application

 































 

WebMobileDesktopGamingInternet of ThingsMachine Learning




1 / 6 










 






 

Hire SoftTeco’s Developers for .NET Development Outsourcing



The development of a reliable and feature-rich application calls for a high level of skill and expertise, and here is where SoftTeco steps in. With over 15 years of experience in .NET development, we maintain a strong focus on delivery speed and quality of our solutions.By partnering with SoftTeco, you get access to top tech talents and can can fully delegate project management to our professionals. Trust us with your project and benefit from increased ROI paired with digital transformation.



Request a consultation



 





 

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COVR



Advanced cybersecurity platform




  




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A SaaS-based business intelligence solution




  




Web



 





 

The Benefits of .NET Development



The .NET framework is a powerful development tool that can bring multiple benefits to your project - learn about them below.





Versatility



.NET runs on various platforms, and due to its multi-platform design, it allows developers to create apps for different operating systems. This approach can help you reduce costs as you won’t need to develop a different app for each platform.





High Reliability



The framework is known to have a minimal number of bugs, has built-in advanced UI features for better app quality, and has a very reliable caching system. All this and other features make .NET a highly reliable framework to work with.





Easy Deployment



Apps built on .NET can be broken down into small modules in case a developer needs to fix a particular issue. In this way, developers can debug the apps much easier and faster and hence, speed up the overall deployment process.





Documentation and Support



This framework has extensive documentation, which means one can always find the necessary information available and ready to use. As well, the framework has a huge community which also contributes to problem-solving.





Cloud Support



The framework is supported by multiple cloud platforms, including AWS, Azure, and GCP. Thus, you can create native cloud apps without worrying about their implementation and deployment as well as of performance.



 





 

FAQ



 





 

All about .Net Development Service

 




 


​​A Brief History of .NET Framework



Tech Review Series: .NET







The .NET 8 Release Date







What Can We Already Expect From .NET 7?


 






 


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### ReactJS Development Company

ReactJS Development Company





If you're seeking a professional ReactJS development company to build high-performing, interactive, and scalable UIs customized to your business requirements, SoftTeco is the right partner. Our ReactJS development services can help you seamlessly integrate ReactJS into your workflows or provide web solutions packed with cutting-edge features and stunning design.



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17




  





Years on the market






450




  





Successful projects






300




  





Customers globally






500




  





Employees



 





 

Why Choose ReactJS For Your Project?



ReactJS is an open-source JavaScript library used for building dynamic UIs. Software engineers can create reusable and modular UI components with their component-based architecture. This approach of code reusability saves both companies’ time and costs during designing process. As for React Native, its companion framework, it uses the same ReactJS codebase to build native mobile apps for both iOS and Android platforms.ReactJS has a vast community that provides developers with open-source libraries and tools to solve problems and create complex web apps. Maintained by Facebook, it is continuously updated for security, reliability, and compatibility. Its versatility makes it suitable for various products such as gaming, healthcare, financial, single-page applications (SPAs), CMS, social media and e-commerce platforms, etc. Due to its benefits and extensive feature set, this library is a preferred choice for modern development. See it for yourself by partnering with SoftTeco!

 





 

Our ReactJS Development Services





Consulting



SoftTeco provides ReactJS consulting, during which our specialists will analyze your existing solutions and requirements to determine how best to implement ReactJS. Our ReactJS agency will provide the most effective development strategy to meet your business objectives.





Custom Development



SoftTeco offers state-of-the-art, interactive web solutions that align perfectly with your specific business requirements and goals. Our team of experienced engineers will provide you with innovative and fully customized web applications that deliver an excellent customer experience and fulfill your business goals.





Web App Development



If you need a single-page web application (SPA), a progressive web application (PWA), or any other web solution, SoftTeco is up to the project. With a strong focus on functionality, our skilled engineers build scalable and responsive solutions with an intuitive user experience and smooth navigation.





Mobile App Development



With SoftTeco's app development services, your mobile idea can become a reality on iOS and Android operating systems and will provide a seamless user experience. We create feature-rich, cross-platform solutions and quickly update existing functional components, ensuring high-quality results.





Plugin Development



If you would like to add new capabilities and features to enhance your existing solution, SoftTeco is always willing to assist. Our ReactJS developers use various technologies and frameworks, like React Router, Redux and Next.js, to build extremely robust and functional applications.





Architecture Building



If you need a powerful, scalable, and extensible foundation, rely on SoftTeco. With React's component-based architecture, state management libraries such as Redux, MobX, and advanced tools, we will create a well-designed architecture based on your requirements.





Migration



If you need assistance with the loading speed and high bounce rates of your existing web solution, let SoftTeco's migration service help you. Our developers will migrate your current solution to ReactJS to provide a more feature-rich, interactive, and secure UI with no performance impact.





Maintenance and Support



You can keep your ReactJS web app updated and running flawlessly with our post-launch maintenance and support. We perform bug fixes, security updates, compatibility upgrades, and feature enhancements in order to maintain high performance and security.



 





 

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Advantages of ReactJS Development











 



 




01 / 07



Component-Based Architecture




The library follows a component-based architecture, allowing developers to reuse code parts. It reduces duplication, encourages code reuse, and simplifies application support and expansion.






02 / 07



Virtual DOM and Fast Rendering




There is a built-in virtual DOM, which only updates the relevant elements of the actual DOM as needed. It improves performance and speeds up rendering, resulting in a more satisfactory user experience.






03 / 07



Exceptional Performance




With ReactJS' virtual DOM, quick rendering, and built-in performance tools, developers can improve software performance and deliver a great user experience.






04 / 07



Seamless Integration




It is easy to integrate ReactJS with different technologies and frameworks. Hence, developers are able to gradually add elements to a project, integrating it into other projects.






05 / 07



Cost-Efficient




The library is an affordable solution due to its architecture and open-source capabilities. It promotes code reusability, decreasing the time and effort needed to build UI components from scratch. It streamlines design, reducing costs and speeding up project delivery.






06 / 07



Optimized for SEO




Engineers can build more visible and well-ranked websites by using the library, ensuring their high visibility and growing traffic.






07 / 07



Large Community and Ecosystem




Supported by Facebook and a large community of developers, ReactJS offers continuous updates, improvements, and many reliable libraries and tools available to use. It speeds up and streamlines software design.



 





 

Tech Stack That We Use in ReactJS Services





Single Page Apps




React Router



React Router DOM



Single-spa-react






Tools




Styled-components



Webpack



Module Federation






Server-side Rendering




Next.js



Remix



Gatsby






State Management




Redux Redux Toolkit



Redux-observable



Redux Thunk



Redux-Saga



Effector



MobX



Apollo GraphQL



RxJS






UI Components




Material UI



Chakra UI



Ant Design



Blueprint



Bootstrap



KendoReact



Reactstrap



React Hook Form



Formik






Data Visualization




D3JS



ThreeJS



Recharts



Nivo



Google Charts



AG Grid



Highcharts






Testing




React Test Library



Jasmine



Karma



Jest



Enzym



Spectator



Protractor



Cypress



Mocha



Puppeteer






Cross-platform




PWA



Ionic



Framework7




 





 

Hire Our ReactJS Developers



As a well-recognized ReactJS development company, SoftTeco is well-versed in top-notch web solutions. We have a diverse pool of qualified developers proficient in cutting-edge ReactJS tools and best practices. So far, we have successfully completed many projects across the globe and delivered a wide range of web products for diverse industries.Through our skilled team of developers, you will get dynamic, highly secure, and customizable web solutions on time and according to your outlined business needs. Whether it is building custom UI components or optimizing existing projects, we guarantee high-quality outcomes.



Hire our ReactJS developers



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your ReactJS Development Company?



Over 15 years of experience in developmentHave gained 200+ partners’ trustManagement quality with ISO 9001 certificationHigh level of security with ISO 27001 certificationOver 500 professional developersProject delivery on-time

 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									Working with SoftTeco was an enjoyable experience as we had zero communication issues and everything was delivered right on time and exactly as I envisioned.
								
								
									
										Co-Founder and CTO, Visionary.ai
									
									
										Yoav Taieb
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Featured Projects







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MomenZ



A personal assistant in finding nearby restaurants with discount




  




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FAQ



 





 

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        Next.js vs React: Which to Choose for Modern Web Development
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        Tech Review Series: React
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
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All about React Development Service

 




 


Svelte vs. React







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+ Show more

 





 


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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Frontend Development Services

Frontend Development Services





Being an experienced frontend development company, SoftTeco can help you create memorable user experiences via a captivating and user-centered frontend. First impression matters – let us create one for your clients and augment your software products.



Calculate Team Cost



 

















































 

SoftTeco’s Frontend Services





Custom Frontend Development Services



SoftTeco has rich experience in frontend development and can create a custom solution tailored specifically for your business needs.





UX/UI Development



Our team of UX/UI experts provides extensive frontend services and can create rich user interfaces with captivating design and powerful visual elements to attract users and reflect the nature of your brand.





Single Page Application Development



For better user experience and higher usability, SoftTeco offers the creation of Single Page Applications that are highly user-centric and powerful at the same time.





Progressive Web Application Development



One more frontend service that SoftTeco offers is the creation of a high-performing PWA solution for your business to bring the ultimate user experience to your customers.



 





 

Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!





Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Technologies that We Use




React Frontend Development




A perfect choice for feature-rich, customizable apps with interactive and complex user interfaces.




Great performance: due to the use of virtual DOM and server-side rendering, React shows a high level of performance, thus speeding up even the most complex apps.



Scalability and customization: React has a number of features (i.e., a component-based library) that allow a high level of customization and great scalability.



Fast delivery: React has an extensive set of efficient and user-friendly tools that facilitate the development process and significantly speed it up.




Read More
















Angular Frontend Development




A solution for when you need a high-performing app of any complexity level, from a startup app to an enterprise-grade one.




High security: Angular has built-in protections against the most common threats and thus provides a higher level of security when developing an app.



Rich functionality: Angular comes with a vast set of tools that greatly facilitate the development process and eliminate the need for third-party resources.



Opinionated structure: the Angular framework guides developers through how the app’s architecture should look like and in this way, development becomes much easier.



Easy debugging and maintenance: since Angular is Typescript-based, it allows detecting any bugs at an early stage and thus facilitates overall maintenance.




Read More













 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Frontend Development Company?



Solid securityQuick deliveryRich experience in the IT industryPitch-perfect UX/UIFast response time

 





 

Hire a Frontend Developer



Frontend is a crucial part of any software product and its development should be carried out by experienced software engineers. At SoftTeco, we have over 15 years of experience in creating beautiful and user-focused frontends for all kinds of software products. From enterprise-grade complex apps to lightweight mobile applications, we know our way around frontend development and use the latest technologies to bring your vision to life.



Hire a Frontend Developer



 





 

Featured projects







View all cases

 



 







Gameinsight



An e-learning platform dedicated to European football




  




Web













C2 SmartLight



A system for managing smart outdoor lighting solutions




  




Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 

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Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!



Calculate Team Cost




 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### AngularJS Development Company

AngularJS Development Company





SoftTeco offers highly skilled AngularJS talent to help our clients maintain their codebase or migrate to more modern frameworks. With our AngularJS Development Services, you will get the most out of your web solution.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Our Core AngularJS Development Services













01 / 03



Consulting



SoftTeco offers professional AngularJS consultants who help you identify opportunities, resolve issues or give guidance and support. Our consultants provide a detailed roadmap based on your goals and requirements to scale your apps effectively and meet your needs.





02 / 03



Migration & Porting



Do you plan to migrate to the latest version of Angular or other frameworks painlessly? With SoftTeco, you are on the right track. Our team of skilled developers helps you port or migrate your existing web solution seamlessly to another platform within the shortest turnaround time.





03 / 03



Support, Maintenance & Optimization



SoftTeco provides full-cycle support and maintenance for your existing or new app. Our comprehensive support helps you update the app's functionality, fix bugs, or add additional features to enhance its performance.



 





 

Angular vs AngularJS



When it comes to frontend development, we always strive to deliver high-performance and secure software using cutting-edge technologies. At SoftTeco, we provide AngularJS development services primarily to support, optimize, or migrate legacy software to keep up with industry standards. Moreover, we also offer Angular development services that guarantee flawless performance and unparalleled functionality of web solutions.



More about our services



 





 

AngularJS Web Development Services





Mobile App Development



To avail of cross-platform mobile apps for Android and iOS using AngularJS and related frameworks, rely on SoftTeco. Our developers build high quality both native and cross-platform apps with trendy UI design and run seamlessly across different multiple platforms.





Single Page App Development



If you want to build complex SPAs and improve their performance, trust SoftTeco. Our developers build future-rich, user-friendly single-page applications (SPAs) that perform incredibly well on search engines to help organizations optimize their digital presence.





Custom App Development



If you have a design strategy that differs from others, you might need specific features to make your solution work. As a custom AngularJS development company with much flexibility and versatility, we help businesses achieve their goals by developing custom-made applications.





Enterprise App Development



When it comes to developing large-scale business solutions focused on improving efficiency and productivity, SoftTeco will help you. Our skilled developers create systems like CRM and ERP with a wide range of features to cater to a large customer base and growing business needs.





Ecommerce Development



If you need help to create an easy-to-use and innovative shopping site customized to your needs, let us know. Our developers build extremely feature-rich and user-friendly online solutions that improve user engagement and digital presence.





API Design & Integration



As a trusted AngularJS development company, we understand each business requirement and create customized goal-oriented APIs. Our extensive in-house expertise ensures seamless integration between an app's client-side and scalable API for better performance.



 





 

Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!





Calculate Team Cost



 





 

AngularJS Benefits of Web Development Services



AngularJS is an open-source JavaScript framework leveraged by Google. Due to the frameworks' powerful features, it is one of the preferred choices to simplify design and testing. Here are more reasons why companies should pay attention to this framework.











 



 




01 / 07



Data Binding




It offers auto-synchronization capabilities between models and view (UI) components. It allows developers to code less and spend less time updating the DOM, thus boosting performance.






02 / 07



Cross-Platform




As flexibility is one of the core AngularJS features, web applications based on the framework flawlessly run on multiple platforms and devices, making it highly versatile.






03 / 07



MVC Support




The Model-view-controller development pattern provides an efficient and parallel development workflow. It supports MVC design and thus speeds up the creation process.






04 / 07



Code Reusability




Through this framework, developers can reuse their previous codes or parts of their codes, thus speeding up design processes and reducing costs.






05 / 07



High Performance & Speed




Due to its capabilities, it is a fast and high-performance framework for frontend design, allowing you to speed up development and reduce time-to-market.






06 / 07



Support Dependency Injection (DI)




It has a built-in dependency injection mechanism, which allows developers to develop, test, and maintain complex applications more effectively.






07 / 07



Efficient Testing




It supports end-to-end and unit-testing features that guarantee bug-free, well-documented, and high-quality code and, as a result, high-quality products.



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your AngularJS Development Company?



Over 15 years of experience in developing softwareCost effective and award-winning web solutionsIn-depth QA testing prior to go-liveA transparent and personalized approach+ 500 professional developersPitch-perfect UX/UIProject delivery on-time

 





 

Hire an AngularJS Developer



As SoftTeco has been working with AngularJS since 2013, we are well-versed in top-notch web solutions. Our highly skilled developers are proficient in AngularJS tools, IDEs, data libraries, UI, components and best practices. So far, we have successfully completed many projects worldwide and delivered apps across a wide range of industries.By combining our customer-focused approach with an experienced development team, we develop a web solution that meets business needs and is up to industry standards. To get customized web apps with user-friendly functionality and support for multiple operating systems and platforms, hire AngularJS developers from SoftTeco.



Hire our experts



 







 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									The experts from the SoftTeco team have fulfilled the high bar that we have set for our development partners. Slpendid job!
								
								
									
										CTO, Upcoming Health
									
									
										Vytis Valentinavičius
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Featured Projects







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COVR



Advanced cybersecurity platform for banking and retail




  




iOS



Android



Web













Blueprint



A SaaS-based business intelligence solution




  




Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 

All about AngularJS Development Service

 




 


​​Firebase with Angular


















 



  




 

+ Show more

 





 


Calculate Team Cost



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Calculate Team Cost




 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Angular Development Services

Angular Development Services





Take your front-end development to the next level with SoftTeco - a well-recognized Angular development company! We use the power of Angular to create interactive and dynamic apps that follow the highest industry standards and run perfectly on both web and mobile.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Choose Your Angular Development Service





Custom Software Development



If you need a custom Angular solution, our team is ready to help you with its development, starting from consulting and going through the full development cycle in order to deliver the requested software product.





Web Application Development



SoftTeco develops high-performing and user-centric web applications that bring ultimate value to end-users and serve as a helpful asset for businesses.





Progressive Web Applications Development



We use Angular to build effective PWAs that can effortlessly run on all needed devices from a single codebase thus cutting down your development time and costs.





Single Page Application Development



SoftTeco designs powerful and dynamic SPAs to bring end users the ultimate user experience while retaining high performance of the app.





Ecommerce Development



Take your ecommerce business to the next level with an interactive and user-friendly application powered by Angular.





Plugin Development



If you need a specific plugin for your software, SoftTeco can offer you Angular plugin development for maximal efficiency and performance.



 





 

Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!





Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Why Choose Angular For Your Software Project?













01 / 05



Cross-platform



With flexibility being one of the core Angular features, this language works perfectly across various platforms, thus making Angular apps highly versatile.





02 / 05



MEAN tech stack



The MEAN stack includes MongoDB (database), Express (backend), Angular (frontend) and Node.js. and is known for its high flexibility and efficiency.





03 / 05



Performance & Speed



AngularJS is known to be one of the fastest and top-performing languages for front-end development, thus being the top choice among software engineers. 





04 / 05



MVC Design



The Model-view-controller development pattern is one of the most common choices when one needs an efficient and parallel development workflow. The Angular architecture supports the MVC design and thus contributes to faster development.





05 / 05



Short-Term Support



Angular boasts a very strong support and a high frequency of updates. Thus, this language is very stable and is perfect for both short-term and long-term projects.



 





 

Angular vs AngularJS



At SoftTeco, we always strive to use the latest technologies in order to deliver high-performing and secure software. When it comes to frontend development, Angular is one of our preferred choices due to its speed and performance. Hence, we offer various Angular development services to cover all your possible business needs. However, we understand that sometimes you need to optimize your legacy software written in AngularJS - and we have just the right skills and knowledge to work with this language.



More about our services



 





 

Choose Your Perfect Angular Engagement Model




 

Staff Augmentation





Dedicated Team





Complete IT Outsourcing

 



 

Cover any existing skill gaps with our staff augmentation services and enjoy an addition of all needed resources to your team.




SA




Extensive scope





Flexible budget





Pay-as-you-go







Resolve your business challenge with a full-fledged team of experts managed by a SoftTeco’s project manager and delegate all project-related tasks to us.




DT




Large pool of talent





Cost savings





Transparentpricing model







Fully delegate your project implementation to our Angular development company and let SoftTeco calculate the risks and come up with both delivery and risk management plans.




CIO




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support



 


 





 

Why SoftTeco?



Solid securityQuick deliveryRich experience in the IT industryPitch-perfect UX/UIFast response time

 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco continues to be a true partner. Responsive account management providing highly skilled engineers. Highly recommended.
								
								
									
										Owner, Neptune Consulting
									
									
										John McNair
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Blueprint



A SaaS-based business intelligence solution




  




Web













C2 SmartLight



A system for managing smart outdoor lighting solutions




  




Web



 





 


Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!



Calculate Team Cost




 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Fitness App Development Services

Fitness App Development Services





Turn your idea into a powerful fitness app that will bring users the ultimate online fitness experience while contributing to your brand recognition. Partner with SoftTeco for fitness app development services and enjoy quick and seamless delivery precisely on time and budget!



Build my fitness app



 





 

SoftTeco’s Fitness Mobile App Development Services





Full-Cycle Development



As an experienced fitness app development company, SoftTeco offers full-cycle development of your app from scratch. We will take care of requirements collection and definition, coding, testing, and app’s design. All that brought to you in a transparent and efficient manner.





Mobile App Optimization



If you already have a fitness app but feel like it needs redesign or optimization, we got you covered. SoftTeco can optimize your legacy application by boosting its performance, refreshing design, or adding new features to it, thus improving user experience.





Migration and Integration



SoftTeco helps businesses migrate their apps to different platforms or integrate them with needed third-party services. Whatever business need you have, we will make sure to place focus on data integrity and security without disrupting the app’s performance.





UX/UI Design



Communicate your brand and its values through appealing design of your fitness application - and our UX/UI design team will gladly help you. We offer creation of brand identity, design optimization, and creation of intuitive user flows - all to keep your users happy.



 





 

Fitness Apps that We Deliver

 






















Fitness and Workout



Engage users with interactive workouts, enable them to share their progress, and allow them to set challenges and engage with various forms of content, like workout videos.











Personal Trainer App



Connect coaches with clients through a feature-rich application and allow them to seamlessly communicate, set goals, create nutrition plans, and monitor progress.











Diet and Nutrition



Allow your clients to create personalized nutrition plans while providing them with useful tips and recommendations, as well as connecting them with nutrition professionals.











Meditation and Mindfulness



Help users soothe their mind and improve their emotional well-being through a variety of meditation and mindfulness exercises, as well as useful tips and suggestions.















Activity Tracking



Integrate your app with fitness wearables or simply make the app a single point of tracking various activity, including exercising, dieting, or even drinking enough water.






 

1 / 5









 







Fitness App Core Features

































01



Personalized workouts





02



Training videos





03



Push notifications





04



Social media integrations





05



Activity tracking





06



Wearables integration





07



Goal settings





08



Workout timers





09



Geolocation





10



Challenges and progress







 

Build a powerful fitness mobile app with SoftTeco and bring tangible value to your customers while benefiting from high user engagement and ROI.





Let’s start the sprint



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Fitness App Development Company?





Rich Experience



Being in the IT industry since 2008, SoftTeco knows all ins and outs of mobile app development and brings its vast knowledge and skills to every mobile project. We know how to engage users from the first tap, and we understand how to deliver ultimate performance for both native and cross-platform applications.





Industry Knowledge



Our company has participated in many projects within the healthcare industry so we know how to create apps that will comply to needed regulations (GDPR, HIPAA) while bringing real value to users. By performing thorough market analysis, we propose a set of unique features guaranteed to make your product stand out.





Security



SoftTeco is an ISO 27001 certified company, which means we place utmost importance on security of our software products. We follow rigorous security policies and comply to industry best practices to ensure that your data is safeguarded and protected from possible threats. During the development stage, we always perform code review and continuous testing.





Consulting and Support



If you are not sure how to market your app or have any other questions, we will gladly help you out. Our team will assist you at every step of the fitness mobile app development process, from providing extensive consultations to post-launch product support. We will work together as a team and will make sure that the final results matches your vision.



 





 

Hire Fitness App Developers



Success of a fitness application lies in the expertise of fitness app developers that work on it. If you need a reliable software provider capable of delivering excellent results within specified deadlines, SoftTeco is here to help. With over 15 years of experience in the IT industry, we know how to create apps that tell compelling stories and engage users through stunning design. 



We offer various engagement models and our fitness app development process is always highly thought-out and flexible. With SoftTeco, you can rest assured that your app will pass the quality test and will take your business to the next level.



Hire a developer



 





 

Tech stack

 







 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Supersapiens



Energy Management System for Athletes




  




iOS



Android



Web













Gameinsight



An e-learning platform dedicated to European football




  




Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Healthcare Mobile Application Development

Healthcare Mobile Application Development





Tap into the world of mobile healthcare with SoftTeco - one of the leading software development providers. 



Request a consultation



 





 

Types of Healthcare Applications That We Develop



A high-performing mobile healthcare application can become an invaluable asset for both patients and medical professionals. Automate, optimize, monitor, and manage any healthcare-related processes via a single application. Being a well-recognized healthcare app development company, SoftTeco designs applications that are fully compliant with international data processing standards and place a primary focus on data security and integrity.



FitnessNetworkingInventory and BillingNutritionDisease MonitoringCloud managementTelemedicineRisk Assessment 

 





 

We Develop Healthcare Applications For:




Patients




Users can install a healthcare application on their mobile device of choice and take full control of their well-being as well as facilitate communication with doctors and health centers.




Appointment scheduling



Fitness and wellness



Symptoms checker and monitoring



Aggregation of real-time data



Virtual assistants



Communication with medics 







Medical Professionals




Healthcare applications add transparency and automation to everyday processes as well as help providing personalized care to patients.




Appointment management



Remote patient monitoring



Medical networking and knowledge exchange



Access to EHRs and databases



Drug inventory tracking



Online consultations




 





 

HIPAA-Compliant Healthcare App Development Company



SoftTeco offers mobile app development for healthcare in full compliance with the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). With a strong focus placed on security and integrity of the data that our apps store and process, we can guarantee that all protected health information (PHI) is safeguarded against internal and external threats. 



Contact us



 





 

Healthcare Apps Development Services





Native and Cross-Platform Mobile Development



To deliver seamless user experience and maximal value across various platforms and devices and to satisfy the intended user group with exceptional performance of the application.





IoT



To efficiently collect real-time patients’ data (i.e. monitoring of vital indicators) and securely store it in a network of smart devices for further analysis and processing.





Machine Learning & Data Science



To make more accurate and smarter medical decisions, such as diagnosing or treatment prescription, with the help of advanced ML-powered medical apps development and Big Data.





Computer Vision



To deliver accurate insights and assist medical professionals in a variety of tasks (i.e. inspection of X-rays, CT scans, and MRI scans, detection of disease symptoms, monitoring of treatment results) in a faster and more efficient manner.





Wearable Devices



To efficiently collect patients’ data in real time and effectively sync the wearable device of choice with the mobile application for further data processing and analysis.



 





 

SoftTeco develops healthcare applications that elevate patient care and assist medical professionals in their day-to-day operations and tasks. With data security being our core priority, we make sure that our products bring tangible value to healthcare organizations.





Request a quote



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									The experts from the SoftTeco team have fulfilled the high bar that we have set for our development partners. Slpendid job!
								
								
									
										CTO, Upcoming Health
									
									
										Vytis Valentinavičius
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

FAQ



 





 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        EHR vs. EMR: Which One is Right for Your Healthcare Practice?
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        Inside ERP for Healthcare: Streamlining Processes for Success
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
		
		
	
	

		
				
					
		
					
		
				
		

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Medical Web Design & Development Services

Medical Web Design & Development Services





SoftTeco bridges the gap between patients and medical professionals through extensive healthcare web development services. Our solutions grant instant access to needed information, facilitate communication, and bring transparency to healthcare processes by serving as a single point of contact for both medics and patients.



Request a quote



 





 

SoftTeco’s Healthcare Website Development Services

 



 



Website and Web App Development



SoftTeco develops websites and web applications for healthcare organizations and medical software providers to optimize processes, increase efficiency, and bring patients closer. We design our medical web solutions in full correspondence with the industry’s best standards to ensure high quality and unparalleled security.













Performance Optimization



If your web solution is underperforming, does not correspond to your quality standards, or has low user engagement, SoftTeco is always ready to help. We offer performance optimization services that include the analysis of your current software, redesign of its architecture, code optimization, and implementation of new features.













Design and Redesign



SoftTeco’s UX/UI design team offers the creation of your web solution design from scratch, as well as its redesign. We will make sure that your product attracts and retains users through engaging visuals and user-friendly navigation, while translating the values of your brand and ensuring the look of the product equals its performance.













API Integration



We understand that your digital ecosystem consists of multiple applications, and we can help you connect them in a frictionless manner. With our API integration services, you can rest assured that all your systems and applications in use are securely connected in an optimized and effective workflow.













01 / 04











 





 

SoftTeco’s Medical Web Solutions



Our healthcare website design company designs an array of web solutions for the healthcare industry, from complex web portals to fast and user-friendly apps. We aim to help medical organizations embrace digitization and serve patients in a more effective manner, while also facilitating the work of medical personnel. 

 








 

Websites




SoftTeco offers healthcare website development for various purposes and diverse user groups. With scalability and security in mind, our websites serve as a valuable digital asset to any healthcare organization.




Business websites: contain all information about your organization and allow users to easily get in touch.



Catalogs: display your products and/or services and allow easy purchasing in one click.



Educational websites: provide educational and training materials to medical students, doctors in training.



 









 

Web Portals




Our web portals serve as a single point of connection for all intended users and not only provide needed information but allow to easily share and manage it.




Patient portals: allow patients to access their health information, schedule and manage appointments, and receive virtual care.



Portals for medics: allow users to automate their work processes, communicate across departments, and access patients’ information.



Vendor portals: allow vendors to streamline supply chain operations, submit documents, and foster better communication, collaboration, and transactions between businesses and their suppliers.



 









 

Web Applications




We develop powerful and user-friendly web applications that deliver ultimate user experience, helping users streamline daily processes and elevating patient care.




Virtual care apps: provide remote health monitoring services, including disease management, telemedicine, and communication with medics.



Automation of processes: automate internal processes of healthcare organizations, thus increasing speed and efficiency.



Information storage apps: serve as a centralized information storage, allowing access to authorized users.



 






 

Our Engagement Models




 

Staff Augmentation





Dedicated Team





Complete IT Outsourcing

 



 

With our staff augmentation services, you are able to quickly fill in the existing skill gaps by hiring a specialist from SoftTeco. Augment your team with extra professionals and address all your tech needs in a few easy steps.




SA




Extensive scope





Flexible budget





Pay-as-you-go







SoftTeco offers a full team of experts managed by our Project Manager to take full care of your project. We will work in full correspondence with defined goals, timeline, and budget and will independently manage the project, so you can focus on other critical tasks.




DT




Large pool of talent





Cost savings





Transparentpricing model







Get an expert team of professionals who will manage all aspects of your project, including risk management and quality assurance. We will take full responsibility for the final product and its outcome and will develop a solid risk management strategy to mitigate possible issues.




SIO




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support



 


 





 

Tap into digitization with SoftTeco’s medical website design and development services. Optimize your workflows, eliminate mundane processes, and improve efficiency and speed of services with state-of-art web solutions.





Tell me more



 





 

SoftTeco’s Medical Web Development Process

 




 

01



Discovery



The discovery phase is a crucial foundation for future development. It aims to understand the end-user, clarify project goals, and identify risks. At this phase we will conduct comprehensive client interviews to gain deep insights into your needs, objectives, and expectations from the end product.





02



Planning and Analysis



The next stage of our healthcare website development process is project analysis. Our team will carefully define and analyze your requirements and, based on them, will propose the most suitable solution in terms of budget, deadline, and team composition. 





03



Design and Architecture



Once we collect project requirements and define the deliverables, we will start working on the design and architecture of your solution. We will ensure the scalability and high performance of your app and will create user-friendly visuals to promote engagement. 

 



 

04



Development and Integration



SoftTeco will write robust and secure code in full correspondence with software development best practices. We will also take care of integrating your solution with all needed applications and systems to create a holistic digital environment.





05



Quality Assurance



We test the software throughout the whole medical web development process to ensure its highest quality and minimize a chance for a bug to occur. We combine both automated and manual testing to achieve the best results and safeguard the product from possible threats.





06



Post-launch Support



Once your web product is released, we won’t stop here. SoftTeco offers support and maintenance services aimed at eliminating occurring issues, optimizing the product, and expanding (or shortening) its functionality based on user needs.

 





 

01



Discovery



First, we conduct interviews with all stakeholders with an aim to collect functional and business requirements and understand your vision and expectations. This stage is crucial as it grants us the overall understanding of the project and what is to be delivered.





02



Planning and Analysis



The next stage of our healthcare website development process is project analysis. Our team will carefully define and analyze your requirements and, based on them, will propose the most suitable solution in terms of budget, deadline, and team composition. 

 



 

03



Design and Architecture



Once we collect project requirements and define the deliverables, we will start working on the design and architecture of your solution. We will ensure the scalability and high performance of your app and will create user-friendly visuals to promote engagement. 





04



Development and Integration



SoftTeco will write robust and secure code in full correspondence with software development best practices. We will also take care of integrating your solution with all needed applications and systems to create a holistic digital environment.

 



 

05



Quality Assurance



We test the software throughout the whole medical web development process to ensure its highest quality and minimize a chance for a bug to occur. We combine both automated and manual testing to achieve the best results and safeguard the product from possible threats.





06



Post-launch Support



Once your web product is released, we won’t stop here. SoftTeco offers support and maintenance services aimed at eliminating occurring issues, optimizing the product, and expanding (or shortening) its functionality based on user needs.

 










 

Core Features of SoftTeco’s Medical Web Solutions



When working on software for the healthcare industry, it is vital to combine usability, security, and performance. We always augment our web solutions with powerful features to make them stand out from the competition and bring tangible benefits to users.













01 / 03



User Engagement




If healthcare organizations want to expand their digital presence, their online services have to be engaging and interactive. To achieve that, we add the following features to our web solutions:




Real-time chat and messaging options



Progress and milestones tracking



Self-registration and appointment scheduling 



Gamification elements







02 / 03



Personalization




Personalization plays a big role in the success of any software product, and healthcare web solutions are no exception. We offer extensive customization capabilities such as:




Loyalty programs and bonuses



Creation of personalized treatment plans



Personalized nutrition planning



Geolocation for relevant offers







03 / 03



Analytics




In order for medical establishments to provide high-quality services, it is vital to accurately analyze available data sets. Our web solutions offer advanced analytical options:




Data visualization in multiple formats



User segmentation



Interactive and intuitive dashboards



Machine Learning for forecasting





 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Smart Mirror



Innovative dental exam solution




  




iOS



Android



Web













VisitorAccess



Visitors management system for medical facilities




  




Web



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco for Healthcare Web Development?





Industry Knowledge



As a well-recognized medical website design company, SoftTeco has a great number of successful healthcare projects in its portfolio, and our company demonstrates a solid knowledge of the industry requirements and best practices. Such deep expertise allows us to create reliable and effective healthcare software solutions.





Rich Experience



Being in the IT industry since 2008, SoftTeco has extensive experience in software development and especially in the development of high-performing web applications and products. We use the latest medical web technologies to create software solutions that will stand the test of time.





Efficiency and Transparency



Working by the Agile methodology, we ensure high efficiency and speed without sacrificing the quality of our products. All our processes are also highly transparent, so you always know the project status and progress.





Unparalleled Security



Being ISO 27001 certified, our company places utmost importance on cybersecurity and ensure that our software is safeguarded against possible threats. By partnering with SoftTeco, you can rest assured that your data is safe and protected.



 





 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Magento Development Services

Magento Development Services





SoftTeco offers extensive Magento development services to power up your ecommerce store and deliver superior user experience that will result in a stable and high ROI.



Request a quote



 





 

With endless customization possibilities and support for B2C and B2B businesses, Magento is one of the most powerful and popular ecommerce platforms, and SoftTeco knows its way around it. Our Magento developers can not only set up your store but fine-tune it precisely for your business and add all needed extensions and integrations. And the best thing about it: the store will grow together with your business due to the high scalability of the platform.



Magento Development Services by SoftTeco





Customization



Magento offers numerous customization possibilities, so every business can fine-tune it in accordance with their brand, vision, and preferences. SoftTeco provides Magento development and customization services to make the platform meet your specific requirements. 





Implementation



From Magento setup to integration, SoftTeco can take full care of managing your store and bringing it to life. We will launch a full-featured solution that will attract your customers and bring you tangible financial results in a short period of time.





Migration



Whether you are using another ecommerce platform or want to migrate from your outdated Magento 1, we got you covered. Our Magento development agency will seamlessly migrate your store, keeping all the data perfectly save and minimizing the downtimes so your store keeps functioning.





UX/UI Design



The UX/UI design of an ecommerce store is a significant factor in attracting and retaining customers and promoting conversions. At SoftTeco, we know how to design user flows that will lead to conversion completion and how to make your store stand out.





Performance Optimization



Due to Magento’s rich functionality, the platform may provide insufficient performance if not configured correctly. Our team can analyze your store, identify existing issues, and implement needed optimizations to boost the performance of your platform.





Troubleshooting



If you feel like your store does not perform to its fullest or something is in the way of conversions, let us do the work. We offer troubleshooting services aimed at eliminating bottlenecks and making Magento great again.



 





 

Your ecommerce business deserves rich functionality and stunning presentation, and Magento offers a perfect combination of both. Let SoftTeco handle the store setup and help your business bloom.





Let’s get started



 





 

Benefits of Magento Marketplace Development





01



Great Customization



Magento services include near-endless customization opportunities, thus enabling businesses to configure the store exactly as they need it. This contributes to better brand visibility and improved user experience.





02



Reliable Performance



Magento is a highly reliable platform with built-in security features aimed at minimizing possible security risks. As well, Magento offers a highly stable performance, thus ensuring consistent functioning of your store.





03



Support for B2C and B2B



Whether you work with B2C or B2B clients (or both), Magento provides all needed functionality. With an array of specialized B2B features, the platform offers great versatility and is perfect for businesses of any type.





04



High Scalability



This platform will grow together with business, so you won’t have to worry about the increasing workload and its impact on the store performance. Magento will guarantee stability and quality while adjusting to the changing conditions. 



 





 

Hire Magento Developers



SoftTeco offers you an experienced team of developers ready to work on projects of any size and complexity. We offer Magento development services for both B2C and B2B businesses across the industries, and we know all ins and outs of Magento and how to make it work to its full potential.



Learn more



 





 

Why SoftTeco?



Solid securityQuick deliveryRich experience in the IT industryPitch-perfect UX/UIFast response time

 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco knows how to provide a good match of candidates to our professional and personal/cultural requirements. I highly recommend SoftTeco for anyone who is looking for a good partner to grow their organization with.
								
								
									
										СTO, Be the Bank
									
									
										Koby Ben Yechiel
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        AI in Ecommerce: Effective Use Cases and Step-by-Step Integration
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        Last-Mile Optimization: Effective Strategies for Better Delivery
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
		
		
	
	

		
				
					
		
					
		
				
		

 





 

All about Magento Development Service

 




 


​​Magento vs. WooCommerce







Magento PWA Development







Magento vs Shopify


 






 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### IT Consulting Services

IT Consulting Services





Embrace innovation with SoftTeco’s IT consulting services and bring the power of tech into your business. From planning to implementation, our team will guide you through digital transformation, leaving no unresolved issues behind.



Request a quote



 





 




450




  





Projects delivered






17




  





Years of experience






500




  





In-house developers






75




  





Client locations



 





 

SoftTeco’s IT Consulting Services



We understand how challenging it can be to adopt digitization and implement new technologies into your existing ecosystem. This is why we are here - to help businesses navigate the process and maximize the value that digital transformation will bring through advanced IT business consulting.





IT strategy consulting




SoftTeco will analyze your current digital assets to see how they align with your goals and will propose a detailed IT strategy on IT resource allocation. SoftTeco will do the following:




Map your short-term and long-term business goals and ways to achieve them



Understand what resources you need and how to allocate them



Calculate the expected investment return and accurately plan your budget



Evaluate the effectiveness of your current IT infrastructure







IT project management




SoftTeco helps companies better manage their IT projects by offering various engagement models that fit any business need and budget. By delegating project management to us, you can rest assured that we will deliver the results in strict correspondence with requirements. SoftTeco will do the following:




Estimation of the project budget and timeline



Definition of milestones and deliverables



Monitoring of the project performance



Optimization of project workflow and increased efficiency







Application implementation




SoftTeco will help you define which software solution best meets your needs and will help to smoothly implement it into your organization. We will take care of integrating it with any third-party applications and systems and will provide monitoring and support. SoftTeco will do the following:




Analysis of your needs and requirements collection



Definition of the tech stack and development team composition



Design of the architecture and UX/UI design



Training for employees and end users







IT assessment




If you suspect that certain components of your IT infrastructure are underperforming or need optimization, we are ready to help you out. SoftTeco will perform a thorough assessment of your infrastructure with an aim to identify the biggest bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement. SoftTeco will do the following:




Assessment of your current IT policies and procedures



Discovery of cost reduction opportunities



Evaluation of your server and network infrastructure



Recommendations on improving your IT environment







Security consulting




Any company that works with digital products need to perform thorough security audits and establishes security policies to protect own and customer data. SoftTeco can help you augment your cybersecurity through rigorous assessment of your current environment. SoftTeco will do the following:




Assessment of your cybersecurity environment 



Identification of vulnerabilities and areas for improvement



Recommendations for security policies



Creation of a risk management strategy







Application optimization




If you suspect that your existing software solution is underperforming, SoftTeco can fine-tune it in accordance with the industry standards to ensure maximal security and quality. We will ensure robust performance and will secure your app from potential risks. SoftTeco will do the following:




Code refactoring



Architecture redesign



Performance optimization



Application redesign







Technology consulting




Not sure what technologies will bring the most value to your business? Don’t worry - our IT consulting agency will propose the most suitable options, based on your business needs and current processes. We can also take care of technology implementation upon the request. SoftTeco will do the following:




Planning of the roadmap of technology implementation



Evaluation of expected value that new technologies will bring



Implementation of needed technologies



Integration of new technologies with your existing applications







Governance & compliance consulting




Many companies that work with digital products and process customer sensitive information are bound to such regulations as GDPR, HIPAA, or FINRA. It might be challenging to achieve full compliance and this is where SoftTeco steps in to help you adhere to the industry standards. SoftTeco will do the following:




Assessment of readiness for compliance



Remediation planning



Creation of a well-documented framework 



Implementation of needed policies and processes







Support and maintenance




At SoftTeco, we care about seamless functioning of your software product after its launch and hence, we offer support and maintenance services to keep everything running. These services include not only monitoring but immediate resolution of any occurring issues and risk mitigation. SoftTeco will do the following:




Monitoring of the performance of your application



Regular updating of the application



Incident management and risk mitigation



Auditing and patching







Digital transformation consulting




If you are planning to tap into digital transformation but are not sure where to start, let SoftTeco guide you through. With our extensive experience, we help companies optimize and streamline their processes, benefiting from increased efficiency and ROI. SoftTeco will do the following:




Automation of processes, including ML-powered automation



Digitization of customer experience and customer service



Elimination of mundane processes and paperwork



Reduction of operational costs and increased accuracy







Cloud migration consulting




Migration to the cloud brings companies multiple benefits, but how do you ensure data integrity and retention of all processes during the migration? Partner with SoftTeco to tap into near-endless opportunities that cloud brings and access enhanced security and scalability. SoftTeco will do the following:




A well-defined cloud migration strategy



Analysis of available cloud providers



Calculated costs of cloud migration



A detailed migration strategy







Disaster recovery consulting




Cybersecurity is an absolute must for any organization, and an important part of it is disaster recovery and incident response. SoftTeco can help you define a robust disaster recovery strategy to ensure your organization will maintain its performance under any conditions. SoftTeco will do the following:




Definition of the disaster recover plan



Establishment of behavior and communication policies 



Analysis of the company’s readiness for business continuity



Definition of needed tools and procedures









IT strategy consulting



SoftTeco will analyze your current digital assets to see how they align with your goals and will propose a detailed IT strategy on IT resource allocation. Our IT consulting services will:




Map your short-term and long-term business goals and ways to achieve them



Understand what resources you need and how to allocate them



Calculate the expected investment return and accurately plan your budget



Evaluate the effectiveness of your current IT infrastructure






IT project management



SoftTeco helps companies better manage their IT projects by offering various engagement models that fit any business need and budget. By delegating project management to us, you can rest assured that we will deliver the results in strict correspondence with requirements. Our IT consultancy will do:




Estimation of the project budget and timeline



Definition of milestones and deliverables



Monitoring of the project performance



Optimization of project workflow and increased efficiency






Application implementation



SoftTeco will help you define which software solution best meets your needs and will help to smoothly implement it into your organization. We will take care of integrating it with any third-party applications and systems and will provide monitoring and support. Our IT consulting services will cover:




Analysis of your needs and requirements collection



Definition of the tech stack and development team composition



Design of the architecture and UX/UI design



Training for employees and end users






IT assessment



If you suspect that certain components of your IT infrastructure are underperforming or need optimization, we are ready to help you out. SoftTeco will perform a thorough assessment of your infrastructure with an aim to identify the biggest bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement. SoftTeco’s IT consulting services will focus on:




Assessment of your current IT policies and procedures



Discovery of cost reduction opportunities



Evaluation of your server and network infrastructure



Recommendations on improving your IT environment






Security consulting



Any company that works with digital products need to perform thorough security audits and establishes security policies to protect own and customer data. SoftTeco can help you augment your cybersecurity through rigorous assessment of your current environment. SoftTeco’s IT consultancy will cover:




Assessment of your cybersecurity environment 



Identification of vulnerabilities and areas for improvement



Recommendations for security policies



Creation of a risk management strategy






Application optimization



If you suspect that your existing software solution is underperforming, SoftTeco can fine-tune it in accordance with the industry standards to ensure maximal security and quality. We will ensure robust performance and will secure your app from potential risks. SoftTeco’s IT consulting services will include:




Code refactoring



Architecture redesign



Performance optimization



Application redesign






Technology consulting



Not sure what technologies will bring the most value to your business? Don’t worry - our IT consulting agency will propose the most suitable options, based on your business needs and current processes. We can also take care of technology implementation upon the request. Our IT consulting services will achieve:




Planning of the roadmap of technology implementation



Evaluation of expected value that new technologies will bring



Implementation of needed technologies



Integration of new technologies with your existing applications






Governance & compliance consulting



Many companies that work with digital products and process customer sensitive information are bound to such regulations as GDPR, HIPAA, or FINRA. It might be challenging to achieve full compliance and this is where SoftTeco steps in to help you adhere to the industry standards. Our IT consultancy services will perform:




Assessment of readiness for compliance



Remediation planning



Creation of a well-documented framework 



Implementation of needed policies and processes






Support and maintenance



At SoftTeco, we care about seamless functioning of your software product after its launch and hence, we offer support and maintenance services to keep everything running. These services include not only monitoring but immediate resolution of any occurring issues and risk mitigation. Our IT consultancy services will take care of:




Monitoring of the performance of your application



Regular updating of the application



Incident management and risk mitigation



Auditing and patching






Digital transformation consulting



If you are planning to tap into digital transformation but are not sure where to start, let SoftTeco guide you through. With our extensive experience, we help companies optimize and streamline their processes, benefiting from increased efficiency and ROI. SoftTeco’s IT consulting services will do:




Automation of processes, including ML-powered automation



Digitization of customer experience and customer service



Elimination of mundane processes and paperwork



Reduction of operational costs and increased accuracy






Cloud migration consulting



Migration to the cloud brings companies multiple benefits, but how do you ensure data integrity and retention of all processes during the migration? Partner with SoftTeco to tap into near-endless opportunities that cloud brings and access enhanced security and scalability. SoftTeco’s IT consulting service will do:




A well-defined cloud migration strategy



Analysis of available cloud providers



Calculated costs of cloud migration



A detailed migration strategy






Disaster recovery consulting



Cybersecurity is an absolute must for any organization, and an important part of it is disaster recovery and incident response. SoftTeco can help you define a robust disaster recovery strategy to ensure your organization will maintain its performance under any conditions. SoftTeco’s IT consulting services will perform:




Definition of the disaster recover plan



Establishment of behavior and communication policies 



Analysis of the company’s readiness for business continuity



Definition of needed tools and procedures




 





 

Meet SoftTeco - Your Perfect IT Consulting Firm
































01 / 04



Innovation



In everything we do, we always strive for innovation, as we believe it fuels growth. So when you partner with SoftTeco, you get a truly unique software product, fine-tuned to all your needs.





02 / 04



Experience



Being in the IT industry for over 15 years, SoftTeco has rich experience in software development and uses the most advanced technologies to serve the needs of our international clients.





03 / 04



Security



SoftTeco is an ISO 27001 certified company, which serves as a proof of our thorough approach towards information security and indicates that we treat customer data with great care.





04 / 04



Responsibility



At SoftTeco, we take full responsibility for the quality and results of our work, and all our employees know how to work independently and be responsible for their part of the project.




 






 

Industries That We Transform Through Technological Innovation



With over 15 years of experience, SoftTeco has worked with the most various companies and now has a solid understanding of each industry’s requirements and unique needs. We will consult you not only on what will be best for your company, but also what exact solution will help you stand out from your biggest competitors in the industry.

 








 

Not sure where to start your digital transformation journey? It’s easy - let’s start talking.





Resolve my tech need



 





 

Business Processes That We Amplify



We help businesses speed up and improve their daily operations through automation and use of advanced technology. As a result - a reduced number of human errors, higher accuracy, and increased efficiency paired with unparalleled quality.

 



 



Supply chain management





CRM





Asset management





HRmanagement





ERP





Financial management



 



 



Supply chain management



Resolve the biggest challenges of your supply chain management processes by implementing a powerful technology and redesign your workflows to make them more efficient.




Improve resource planning



Decrease transportation costs



Reduce technical downtimes 



Improve customer satisfaction






CRM



Take your customer relationship management to the next level by analyzing customer data more deeply and gaining valuable insights that you can base your marketing efforts on.




Increase ROI with predictive analytics



Provide better personalization



Create omnichannel experiences



Make data-driven decisions






Asset management



Manage your enterprise assets in a more effective manner and maximize ROI through accurate data-based decisions and better asset planning.




Improve asset tracking



Reduce asset maintenance costs



Reduce asset downtime



Improve asset planning






HR management



Take your human resources management to the next level and hire top talents more effectively while increasing the retention rate and employee satisfaction.




Facilitate and speed up hiring process



Improve applicant tracking and screening



Optimize daily administrative tasks



Provide smoother onboarding






ERP



Enterprise resource planning can be significantly improved with the implementation of a powerful technology that will enable you to create an integrated system.




Improve customer service



Implement sales automation



Facilitate communication between departments



Benefit from advanced analytics






Financial management



Add security and efficiency to your financial management process, resolve your existing challenges, and automate mundane processes.




Minimize human errors



Eliminate bias



Improve data processing



Increase prediction accuracy




 





 

SoftTeco’s IT Consulting Process



An effective digital product can greatly augment your business but the challenge lies in finding out which one will fit you best. At SoftTeco, we follow a well-organized approach to IT consulting and services that allows us to precisely identify your unique business needs and propose the most suitable software solution.

 




 

01



Analysis



The first step in our IT consulting process is analyzing your current software solutions and identifying areas for improvement as well as bottlenecks and weaknesses.





02



Strategy definition



Next, SoftTeco creates a roadmap for defined deliverables and outlines how exactly the results will be achieved and what methods will be the most effective.





03



Performance evaluation



When the proposed changes are implemented, SoftTeco will closely monitor the performance of the workflows to timely adjust processes and discover any pain points.





04



Optimization



Our IT consulting firm will provide recommendations on further improvements as well as optimization services to eliminate any issues and ensure smooth functioning of your software.

 





 

01



Analysis



The first step in our IT consulting process is analyzing your current software solutions and identifying areas for improvement as well as bottlenecks and weaknesses.





02



Strategy definition



Next, SoftTeco creates a roadmap for defined deliverables and outlines how exactly the results will be achieved and what methods will be the most effective.

 



 

03



Performance evaluation



When the proposed changes are implemented, SoftTeco will closely monitor the performance of the workflows to timely adjust processes and discover any pain points.





04



Optimization



Our IT consulting firm will provide recommendations on further improvements as well as optimization services to eliminate any issues and ensure smooth functioning of your software.

 










 

Benefits of Information Technology Consulting



Information technology consulting services bring several tangible benefits to companies, with the core one being the opportunity to reduce operational costs while increasing efficiency and productivity. When providing our IT consulting services, we use all our expertise and knowledge to bring true value to the clients. And we are delighted to see the companies grow after partnering with our IT consulting services company. Here are the top benefits you get access to when requesting our IT consulting services:





Access to expertise and top talent



Even if you have an in-house IT department, it’s always better to request a second-hand opinion from an external professional. SoftTeco’s IT consultants are not generalists, but are very well-versed in specific technologies and tools. This allows us to provide in-depth information technology consulting services, drilling down to the very root of your technical challenge.





Reduction of costs



By requesting our IT consultation services, you will gain expert advice on how to optimize your current workflows, eliminate bottlenecks, and engage more customers with powerful software solutions. We will help you get rid of underperforming apps while augmenting the ones that can bring real value to your business.





Better security



Our IT consulting company performs thorough security audits and helps companies better understand how to enhance their cybersecurity and what potential sources of threats to look out for. In addition to consulting, we can also help you implement security policies and provide security training for your employees.





Optimized processes



Our main goal is to help you unlock the full potential of your software and to propose additional technologies that will strengthen your business even more. We help our clients with optimization and automation of their processes, which results in higher revenue and reduced number of errors and bottlenecks.  



 





 

Need help with your technical challenges or want to augment your business with a state-of-art software solution? SoftTeco is here to help.





Let’s talk!



 





 

Data Driven Business Transformation With SoftTeco



SoftTeco adds a competitive edge to your projects by incorporating powerful technologies that can drastically boost your process, increase their accuracy, and drive customer satisfaction. We believe in the power of technology as one of the core driving forces behind innovation and we are ready to share our expertise and skills with you.

 



 



Internet of Things




Use IoT to collect real-time data, create smart digital ecosystems and streamline all your workflows.




Equipment monitoring



Reduced energy consumption 



Remote medical treatment



24/7 data collection















Artificial Intelligence




Deploy the power of Artificial Intelligence to tackle the most complex tech challenges and benefit from improved user experience.




Increased personalization



Speech and face recognition



Predictive analytics



Robotic process automation















Machine learning




Implement Machine Learning to accurately process your data, make forecasts, and automate mundane tasks.




Natural language processing



Big Data analysis



Automation of processes



Enhanced cybersecurity















Cloud




Take your business to the cloud and enjoy increased security and scalability paired with great flexibility of services.




Optimized infrastructure costs



Quick app deployment



Easy resource scalability



Access to valuable services















Big Data




Unleash the value that your data holds and use the most advanced technologies to effective store and analyze Big Data.




Valuable insights and reporting



Intuitive data visualization



Effective data storing and processing



Increased forecasting accuracy















Augmented and Virtual reality




With AR and VR technologies, you will be able to bring the ultimate user experience to your customers and partners.




Simulated virtual environment



Enhanced PR and marketing



Effective e-learning 



Virtual tours















01 / 06











 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your IT Consulting Services Company?



Solid securityQuick deliveryRich experience in the IT industryPitch-perfect UX/UIFast response time

 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									I would like to thank SoftTeco for the exceptional quality of services and for their impressive dedication to work. The product perfectly matches our vision and I would definitely work with them again.
								
								
									
										Co-Founder & CTO, Supersapiens
									
									
										Gagan Chaudhari
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

FAQ



 





 

All about IT Consulting Service

 




 


​​Software Development Consulting



Salesforce Consulting Services



UX Consulting Services



Fractional CTO Services







Big Data Consulting



Web Development Consulting



Odoo Consulting



What Does An IT Consultant Do?







Cloud Migration Consulting



Machine Learning Consulting



Digital Transformation Consulting



Business Intelligence Consulting


 



  




 

+ Show more

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Salesforce Consulting Services

Salesforce Consulting Services



SoftTeco’s Salesforce consulting services help businesses worldwide elevate their current processes through Salesforce adoption. Boost your conversion rates, improve customer experience, get all your data in one place, and put little to no effort in managing your digital ecosystem.



Tell me more



 





 




17




  





Years of experience






450




  





Projects






300




  





Customers worldwide






500




  





Employees



 





 

SoftTeco’s Salesforce Consulting Services



Whether you need help in selecting the right solution or require a few optimization tips, SoftTeco will gladly help you. With extensive experience in the field, we help businesses implement, fine-tune, customize, and migrate their solutions - effortlessly and effectively. 





Implementation Consulting



We analyze your business and suggest the most suitable Salesforce product that will bring the most value to your company. As well, we can design an implementation plan upon the request.





Optimization Consulting



SoftTeco offers a comprehensive strategy on enhancing and optimizing your Salesforce solution to improve its performance and to cover your business needs in a more effective manner.





Migration Consulting



Our team can help you migrate your business while retaining the smooth functioning of all processes and full data integrity so nothing disrupts your workflow.



 





 

Start your business transformation



Learn how exactly Salesforce can help you reach your business goals with SoftTeco’s Salesforce consulting services. Whether it's marketing, sales, or services automation, we can propose a solution for every unique need.



Contact Us



 





 

Our Salesforce Consulting Process



To provide you with the best Salesforce experience, we follow an elaborate Salesforce CRM consulting process, aimed at identifying your core business needs and ways of achieving them. 

 




 

01



Define BusinessObjectives



To propose you the best solution, we need to understand the way your business operates, and what prevents it from functioning as expected. SoftTeco’s consultants will perform a 360-degree assessment of your current digital environment to define your biggest challenges and needs.





02



Align ObjectivesWith Functionality



Salesforce offers its users an array of products, and it's our responsibility to align your business objectives with the available functionality. We will propose you those clouds that will best meet your needs and will explain how exactly these products will elevate your business.





03



Selectionof the Right Edition



Each Salesforce edition comes with a different set of features, and we don’t want you to overpay for unnecessary functionality. Based on defined objectives and needs, we will select the edition that will meet all your needs without bringing extra charges.

 



 

04



Planning and Setupof Processes



At this stage, we map out all processes that are to be optimized and/or automated, such as customer service workflows, marketing campaigns, or user journeys. We use Salesforce to leverage your existing processes and help you increase ROI while cutting down on costs. 





05



Design of User Onboarding Process



We understand that Salesforce might be overwhelming for new users, so we provide effective user training and onboarding for your employees. You can choose a suitable training format, and we will make sure to make it as user-friendly as possible.





 





 

01



Define BusinessObjectives



To propose you the best solution, we need to understand the way your business operates, and what prevents it from functioning as expected. SoftTeco’s consultants will perform a 360-degree assessment of your current digital environment to define your biggest challenges and needs.





02



Align ObjectivesWith Functionality



Salesforce offers its users an array of products, and it's our responsibility to align your business objectives with the available functionality. We will propose you those clouds that will best meet your needs and will explain how exactly these products will elevate your business.

 



 

03



Selectionof the Right Edition



Each Salesforce edition comes with a different set of features, and we don’t want you to overpay for unnecessary functionality. Based on defined objectives and needs, we will select the edition that will meet all your needs without bringing extra charges.





04



Planning and Setupof Processes



At this stage, we map out all processes that are to be optimized and/or automated, such as customer service workflows, marketing campaigns, or user journeys. We use Salesforce to leverage your existing processes and help you increase ROI while cutting down on costs. 

 



 

05



Design of User Onboarding Process



We understand that Salesforce might be overwhelming for new users, so we provide effective user training and onboarding for your employees. You can choose a suitable training format, and we will make sure to make it as user-friendly as possible.

 










 

Salesforce Products That SoftTeco Works With

 



 



Sales Cloud





Marketing Cloud





Service Cloud





Commerce Cloud





Experience Cloud



 





 

Extra Services That SoftTeco Provides













01 / 05



Configuration and Setup



Our Salesforce implementation company will take full care of configuration and setup of your solution, from its implementation to post-launch support. We will help you select the needed product, integrate it with all needed systems, and ensure its smooth functioning.





02 / 05



App Development



SoftTeco designs highly functional applications that can be downloaded and installed from the Salesforce App Market. We design applications upon the request and make sure that all our apps are customizable to better meet the needs of every user.





03 / 05



Migration



We will design a solid migration strategy and will migrate your business with minimal disruptions of work. During and after migration, we will pay special attention to the security and integrity of your data, and we will ensure that the user adoption goes as smoothly as possible.





04 / 05



Customization



SoftTeco’s engineers will tailor your Salesforce product in full correspondence with your unique business needs. In this way, you will receive maximal value while eliminating the need to pay for unnecessary features and add-ons.





05 / 05



Support and Maintenance



If you want to ensure that your solution functions properly after its setup and launch, SoftTeco offers extensive support and maintenance services. We will closely monitor the performance of your solution and will timely resolve any occurring issues and downtimes.



 





 

Benefits of Partnering With SoftTeco 





Increased ROI



By eliminating bottlenecks and finding the most effective ways to elevate your processes, SoftTeco helps businesses significantly grow their ROI in a short time period.





Better Customer Service



Our experts can advise on the best ways to improve your customer service and deliver better user experience through Salesforce’s extensive functionality and automation. 





Increased Conversion Rates



SoftTeco can help you increase your conversion rates by creating omnichannel marketing campaigns and automating digital advertising and CRM, thus helping you expand the reach. 





Customization



To gain maximal benefit from Salesforce deployment, you will need to customize the platform to the exact needs of your business, and our Salesforce consulting company will gladly help you out.



 





 

Hire Our Salesforce Integration Consultants



Salesforce's configuration and setup calls for solid experience and skills, since the platform has many complex features and requires expert fine-tuning. We can confidently state that SoftTeco’s engineers are among the best in the field, and we can guarantee tangible results that our partnership will bring.

 





 

Hire our certified Salesforce integration consultants and transform your business by unlocking its full potential.





Tell me more



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Salesforce Consulting Company?



Rich experienceQuick deliveryPitch-perfect UX/UIFast response time

 





 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Code Review Services

Code Review Services





Rest assured in high quality of your software with SoftTeco’s all-round code review services. Let our experts bring your software to perfection and never doubt in the quality of shipped product.





Let’s get started








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 






 

Why Do You Need Code Review?



Code review as a service is a process aimed at detecting bugs, finding vulnerabilities, and increasing the quality of the final product. 



When independent IT experts analyze your code, they not only help you find issues, but also provide valuable suggestions on further improvements. This, in turn, can help you improve the quality of your software as you will know what exactly calls for optimization. 

 





 

SoftTeco’s Code Review Services



SoftTeco’s developers have rich experience in conducting reviews of various levels of complexity. We also support the most used programming languages and always adjust our services to your budget, deadline, and needs.

 



 



Static Application Security Testing





Helps identify:




Issues with encryption



Cross-site scripting vulnerabilities



Input validations



Buffer overflows



Code injection vulnerabilities




 



 



Manual Code Review





Helps check:




Session management



Auditing and logging mechanisms



Connection strings security



Obfuscation



Serialization filtering




 



 



Comprehensive Review





We offer all-round review that checks code scalability, quality, and supportability:




Vital metrics



Analysis of the architecture



Performance, memory usage



Tests coverage 



Maintainability analysis and recommendations




 




  








 



Architecture Review





To keep your project maintainable, reliable, and secure, we review its architecture:




Creation of a review template



Definition of objectives and goals



Definition of metrics



In-depth tech review



Performance of risk storming




 



 



Test Coverage Review





Ensures that your code is thoroughly tested:




Use of various test coverage techniques



Definition and monitoring of test coverage metrics



Creation of test coverage matrix



Implementation of requirements traceability



Removal of redundant code




 



 



Code Smell Screening





For better code efficiency and readability, we perform code smell screening:




Detection and elimination of the most common code smell types



Refactoring



Actionable recommendations on code optimization



Review of consistency of naming conventions



Creation of documentation




 



 



Technical Debt Review





Helps reduce the amount of extra work help and cuts down the costs:




Evaluation of technical debt and its severity



Choice of the most suitable method to eliminate the debt



Assistance with sprints balancing



Implementation of CI/CD upon the request



Debugging and refactoring




 





 

Get an expert code review to enhance security and quality of your software and use our recommendations to establish robust coding standards.





Request a consultation



 





 

Metrics That Help Us Measure Code Quality



To ensure that your code meets quality and security standards and provides needed scalability and maintainability, we use specialized metrics. They help us understand the efficiency of our code review services and indicate what areas of your code call for optimization.





Maintainability Index



Ease of code maintenance















Cyclomatic Complexity



Structural complexity of the code















Class Coupling



Efficiency of code design















Depth of Inheritance



Ease of modification













 





 

Benefits of Code Review





Increased Consistency



When the code is consistent, it directly impacts the product performance and user experience. As for the internal benefits, consistent code means that all team members can easily catch up with the project, if needed, which will have a positive impact on the speed of delivery.





Better Security



Due to early detection of issues and vulnerabilities, you are able to timely fix the issues and to not let a single error slip into the production. This greatly impacts the security of the final product. 





Unbiased Opinion



It might be hard to accurately analyze a code that one has been working on for a long time. Thus, partnering with independent developers is an excellent way to receive unbiased opinion. External software engineers might be able to spot the tiniest issues that you might have missed.





Quality Maintenance



Code review is not only about fixing current issues but also about providing recommendations on further improvements. Thus, you will be able to adjust your strategy, establish or update your coding policies, and produce and maintain better software in the future.



 





 

Why SoftTeco?





01



Speed of Services



SoftTeco always adjusts code review services to your needs and can deliver the results precisely in needed time. In case of an urgency, we can perform the review in approximately 4 hours, so you can start immediately working on the improvements - or delegate the work to our developers.





02



Flexibility of Pricing



If you need an expert review but are not sure about its cost, leave your worries behind! SoftTeco offers various options suitable for any budget, so every client receives professional services aligned with their budget.





03



Various Degrees of Detail



Our company can always scale the process in terms of complexity. In this way, you can request a more detailed analysis and receive a holistic view of the quality of your software and potential issues.



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									They work not only for the benefits, but genuinely invested in delivering the best possible results.
								
								
									
										CEO, Eläinklinikka Linnunmäki Oy
									
									
										Gisle Sjöberg
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

All about Code Review

 




 


​​Code Review – a Brief Guide











What Is Code Smell?







Code Review – How to Improve the Process


 




 

+ Show more

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### MERN Stack Development Services

MERN Stack Development Services





With over 15 years in software development, SoftTeco offers a comprehensive range of MERN Stack Development Services - MongoDB,‌ ‌Express.js,‌ ‌React ‌and‌ ‌Node.js. Regardless of the complexity of your web project, SoftTeco builds customized and future-rich web solutions with intuitive UI within a timeline.





Request a consultation








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 






 

Our MERN Stack Development Services 





Consulting



SoftTeco MERN stack development company can help enterprises achieve their business goals more quickly. Our consultants will help you select the right tools, technologies, and strategies or resolve any problems associated with the MERN stack to ensure the success of your web solution.





MERN Web Services & API Development



If you're struggling with creating high-quality web services that integrate seamlessly with your mobile, web, or cloud systems, trust SoftTeco. Our experienced MERN stack developers create web solutions with high performance and smooth integration with different systems.





MERN Enterprise Development 



When it comes to enterprise development, rely on SoftTeco, which considers the development's reliability, security, and scalability. With our highly experienced developers, you will get advanced and custom enterprise-grade solutions for high-intensive workloads.





MERN Custom App Development



With custom MERN Stack application development services, companies can expand their capabilities, and SoftTeco will help them here. Our experienced engineers can build bespoke and business-specific apps based on advanced JavaScript technologies and client feedback.





MERN ERP Development



If businesses are looking for a way to streamline workflows, reduce costs, and improve decision-making, SoftTeco can help. With our skilled developers, you will get efficient, highly flexible, and scalable ERP solutions based on the MERN stack that aligns with your specific  needs.





MERN Ecommerce Development



If you need a company to develop extremely scalable ecommerce solutions or transform an existing one based on the MERN stack, you can trust SoftTeco. Our engineers create intuitive web stores that provide an exceptional user experience and strengthen your online presence.





MERN CMS Development



You can empower your business with custom CMS that offers seamless support, easy content management, and a hassle-free user interface. Our developers use in-depth expertise in the MERN stack to create feature-rich, stunning, and robust CMS solutions for any business.





MERN Migration & Porting



SoftTeco offers secure migration and porting MERN services with minimal downtime and optimum performance. Our professional developers can seamlessly migrate your business apps to MERN Stack-based frameworks without affecting product quality or data integrity.





MERN Support & Maintenance



SoftTeco's support and maintenance services help you avoid deployment bugs and ensure seamless performance after delivery. Our dedicated support team will assist you in resolving any system issues and provide continuous improvement to keep your solution running smoothly.







Consulting



SoftTeco MERN stack development company can help enterprises achieve their business goals more quickly. Our consultants will help you select the right tools, technologies, and strategies or resolve any problems associated with the MERN stack to ensure the success of your web solution.





MERN Web Services & API Development



If you're struggling with creating high-quality web services that integrate seamlessly with your mobile, web, or cloud systems, trust SoftTeco. Our experienced MERN stack developers create web solutions with high performance and smooth integration with different systems.





MERN Enterprise Development 



When it comes to enterprise development, rely on SoftTeco, which considers the development's reliability, security, and scalability. With our highly experienced developers, you will get advanced and custom enterprise-grade solutions for high-intensive workloads.





MERN Custom App Development



With custom MERN Stack application development services, companies can expand their capabilities, and SoftTeco will help them here. Our experienced engineers can build bespoke and business-specific apps based on advanced JavaScript technologies and client feedback.





MERN ERP Development



If businesses are looking for a way to streamline workflows, reduce costs, and improve decision-making, SoftTeco can help. With our skilled developers, you will get efficient, highly flexible, and scalable ERP solutions based on the MERN stack that aligns with your specific  needs.





MERN Ecommerce Development



If you need a company to develop extremely scalable ecommerce solutions or transform an existing one based on the MERN stack, you can trust SoftTeco. Our engineers create intuitive web stores that provide an exceptional user experience and strengthen your online presence.





MERN CMS Development



You can empower your business with custom CMS that offers seamless support, easy content management, and a hassle-free user interface. Our developers use in-depth expertise in the MERN stack to create feature-rich, stunning, and robust CMS solutions for any business.





MERN Migration & Porting



SoftTeco offers secure migration and porting MERN services with minimal downtime and optimum performance. Our professional developers can seamlessly migrate your business apps to MERN Stack-based frameworks without affecting product quality or data integrity.





MERN Support & Maintenance



SoftTeco's support and maintenance services help you avoid deployment bugs and ensure seamless performance after delivery. Our dedicated support team will assist you in resolving any system issues and provide continuous improvement to keep your solution running smoothly.



 





 

MERN Stack Technologies



MERN tech stack is widely used for delivering high-performance, flexible, and single-page applications (SPAs) due to the combination of four open-source technologies: MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, and Node.js with its powerful features.

 



 


MongoDB



MongoDB is a NoSQL document-oriented, cross-platform database that makes web development easy. The document-based data model allows us to handle diverse data types, quickly change them if needed, and easily manage Big Data in real-time. With auto-sharding, we can handle much data across multiple servers with low latency and high throughput.





Express.js



We use Express.js as a lightweight backed web app framework to develop single-page or multipage web and mobile apps in Node.js. The framework effectively manages the database and frontend interaction, ensuring a smooth data transfer. With excellent error handling and templating functionality, we can handle processes efficiently without cluttering an app. 





React.js



React.js is an open-source frontend JavaScript library. We use it to build interactive and highly dynamic web app user interfaces. Reusing UI components allows us to develop complex UIs rapidly and efficiently. Using a virtual DOM (Document Object Model), our developers update only the necessary UI parts when data changes instead of re-rendering it.





Node.js



As an asynchronous event-driven JavaScript runtime environment, we use Node.js to build infinitely scalable server-side apps. Scalability allows us to handle many simultaneous connections and spikes in usage quickly. Node.js connects to Angular to serve data rapidly and integrates seamlessly with MongoDB, making it easy to deploy an app and the database to the cloud.


 





 

Hire MERN Stack Developers



As a software development company since 2008, SoftTeco has a wealth of experience developing robust and high-quality web solutions. We collaborate closely with our clients to meet their specific business needs and requirements. Thus, we provide MERN-based web applications for a wide range of industries and niches.



Our full-stack developers have rich experience in MERN development and are proficient in cutting-edge technologies, tools, frameworks, and libraries. Regardless of complexity, our engineers aim to build high-performance, flexible, and scalable web apps with outstanding UI under your guidance.



Request a quote



 





 

Benefits of MERN Stack Development Company



Global enterprises such as PayPal, Airbnb, Walmart, and Instagram hire MERN Stack developers to build the parts of their platforms, and here is why.













01 / 05



Cost-effective



By hiring full-stack developers who use open-source technologies, companies can cut web development costs and accelerate time-to-market.





02 / 05



Top-notch web solutions



MERN combines powerful and flexible technologies, allowing developers to create high-quality web applications with outstanding user interface UI.





03 / 05



MVC Architecture



Supported by the MVC (Model View Controller) architecture, the MERN stack provides businesses with a seamless and smooth development process.





04 / 05



Open-Source



Open-source technologies do not require licensing fees and vendor lock-in. It provides developers with robust tools for building full-stack web apps and allows businesses to switch vendors easily.





05 / 05



Blazing Speed



Due to its lightweight structure, rendering capabilities, and modular architecture, businesses can build web platforms to handle large amounts of traffic and data at blazing speeds.



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as the MERN Stack Development Company?



+15 years of software development experienceHighly experienced full-stack developersA transparent and personalized approachIn-depth QA testing prior to go-liveOn-time project deliveryConfidentiality on NDA 

 





 

To achieve better efficiency and faster delivery via MERN technology, trust in SoftTeco. Under your guidance, we will create customized web solutions of any complexity.





Request a consultation



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco has been our go-to software partner for several projects. We don't have to worry about deadlines since all projects are completed on time and exceed our expectations. The results are unmatched - huge respect for SoftTeco!
								
								
									
										CTO & Co Founder, Workiz
									
									
										Saar Kohanovitch
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







EasyRegister



A platform for assembling a talent pool in one secure place




  




Mobile



Web













VisitorAccess



Developing the next-generation ride sharing solution




  




iOS



Android



Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 

Related Articles



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Outsourcing Software Development Services

Outsourcing Software Development Services





At SoftTeco, we offer a wide range of software development services that can help you achieve your business goals. Our team of experienced developers, designers, and project managers will work with you to create a custom solution that will meet your unique needs and requirements.





Request a consultation








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 






 

Main Benefits Of Software Development Outsourcing

 



 



Cost Efficiency





Faster Time to Market





Access to Top Talent





Focus on Core Competencies





Reduce Risks 



 



 



Cost Efficiency



By outsourcing, you can eliminate the need to invest in expensive infrastructure and software licenses and to hire additional in-house developers. This cost-saving approach enables you to allocate your resources more effectively, maximizing your return on investment.





Faster Time to Market



With a dedicated team working on your projects, you can accelerate the development process and meet your deadlines with ease. Outsourcing companies usually follow well-established workflows, processes, and tools that enable faster development cycles.





Access to Top Talent



By partnering with an outsourcing company, you can tap into a vast network of professionals with specialized skills and expertise. With access to top talent, you can ensure that your projects are executed with precision, efficiency, and high quality.





Focus on Core Competencies



By delegating software development to experts, you can free up the time and energy of your in-house team to let them concentrate on strategic initiatives and core business functions. This can lead to improved productivity, better customer service, and increased competitive advantage.





Reduced Risks



Outsourcing software development can help mitigate risks associated with project execution. Professional outsourcing companies have well-defined processes and quality control measures in place to ensure that projects are delivered on time and within budget.



 





 

Our Software Development Outsourcing Services 

 



 



Custom Software Development



The SoftTeco team is fully committed to delivering top-notch software development services that address our client’s business challenges. From designing user-friendly interfaces to developing robust web and mobile applications, our specialists will create a specialized custom solution to help you achieve your goals.













Web Development



SoftTeco’s web application development services empower businesses with stunning, responsive, and feature-rich web applications. Whether you need an e-commerce platform, a content management system, or a corporate website, our experts will design and develop a product that will showcase your brand and engage your target audience.













Mobile App Development



SoftTeco specialists are highly qualified in developing functional and intuitive native and cross-platform mobile applications. Our team provides full-cycle support from ideation to launch and post-delivery maintenance. SoftTeco ensures that your mobile app meets the highest standards of usability, security, and performance.













Project Management



By using SoftTeco’s expertise in project management, you will have peace of mind knowing that your project will be handled with the highest level of care and efficiency. Our dedicated project managers will oversee every aspect of your project, ensuring it stays on track, within budget, and meets your specific requirements.













Business Analysis 



SoftTeco’s experienced business analysts will work closely with you to identify your goals, challenges, and opportunities. Our specialists will dig deep into your processes, gather data, and analyze it to provide valuable insights that can help you make informed decisions. Uncover hidden opportunities, streamline your operations, and optimize your business processes with SoftTeco.













AI & Machine Learning Development



Our team of AI and machine learning experts can help you build intelligent software solutions that automate repetitive tasks, analyze large data sets, and make predictions based on patterns and trends. Whether you need a chatbot, a recommendation engine, or a predictive analytics tool, we have the expertise to turn your ideas into reality and revolutionize your business processes.













UX\UI Design 



Our dedicated UX/UI designers understand the importance of creating visually appealing and intuitive interfaces that enhance user engagement and drive conversions. Whether you need a complete redesign of your application or simply want to improve certain elements, SoftTeco will help you with that.













Quality Assurance



SoftTeco’s experienced QA team will meticulously test your software across various platforms and devices, identifying and resolving any issues before they impact your users. With our quality assurance services, you can be certain that your software will perform flawlessly and exceed your users' expectations.













Salesforce Services



As a certified Salesforce partner, we offer a wide range of services to help you streamline your sales and customer relationship management processes. From Salesforce implementation and customization to integration and support, our team of certified Salesforce specialists can help you leverage the full potential of this powerful CRM platform.













DevOps Services



With our expert team of certified DevOps professionals, we offer a comprehensive suite of services tailored to your specific needs. From continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline setup to infrastructure automation and monitoring, SoftTeco ensures your software development processes are efficient, agile, and scalable. 













Support Services



Benefit from SoftTeco's guidance and proactive troubleshooting support to enhance productivity. Our experts are available round the clock, swiftly addressing technical challenges and preventing potential disruptions to your operations. Count on SoftTeco's dedicated support team to maintain the seamless work of your business.














  
  







01 / 11











 






 

Industries that We Work With

 








 

Our Pricing Models




 

Team Augmentation





Dedicated Team





Full Process Outsourcing

 



 

SoftTeco's team of skilled software engineers collaborates with your internal team to ensure the success of your projects. Whether working on-site or remotely, our outsourcing team integrates seamlessly with your existing staff until the project is complete. SoftTeco can provide as many professionals as necessary to achieve the optimal team size for executing your project. 




TA




Extensive scope





Flexible budget





Pay-as-you-go







With the dedicated team model, you will have the opportunity to work with an external software development team that will take the responsibility for the entire development process from start to finish. SoftTeco’s team has enough expertise to handle a specific part of your project while providing regular progress reports.




DT




Large pool of talent





Cost savings





Transparentpricing model







SoftTeco brings an entire team on board and oversees the full development process. As an outsourced software development company, we take full responsibility for all project risks, including timelines, budget, and final software quality.




FPO




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support



 


 





 

Looking to outsource your software development needs? SoftTeco team offers comprehensive outsourcing services that can be tailored to meet your specific project requirements. Learn more about our outsourcing software development services





Learn more



 





 

Tech stack

 







 

Benefits of Choosing SoftTeco as Your Outsourcing Software Development Company





17+ years on the market

Cost-efficient solutions

Qualified IT specialists

High quality and security

Scalable teams

Transparency



Request a consultation



 







 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									I’m glad that I was able to make the working process of my employees easier and more efficient thanks to SoftTeco’s software development abilities.
								
								
									
										CEO, Eläinklinikka Linnunmäki Oy
									
									
										Gisle Sjöberg
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Our Portfolio







View all cases

 



 







Blueprint



A SaaS-based business intelligence solution




  




Web













Evoz



Advanced solution for baby monitoringand activity tracking




  




iOS



Android



Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### IT Outstaffing Services

IT Outstaffing Services





Looking for a reliable and experienced team of professionals to augment your software project? SoftTeco is an international IT outstaffing company that provides software development services since 2008. We perform elaborate screening to make sure we match your project with top talents and we offer various engagement models for you to choose from.





Calculate Team Cost








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 






 

Services That Our Outstaffing Teams Provide

 



 

Web and Mobile App DevelopmentQuality AssuranceUX/UI DesignDevOps Services Machine Learning & Data ScienceSalesforce Services

 



      
  
  
    
      
    
  




If you need to solidify your digital presence and bring your clients closer, we can design a web or a mobile application that will fully cover your business needs. From simple applications to complex enterprise-grade solutions, we know how to add value to a business from any domain.


 





 



      
  
  
    
      
    
  




SoftTeco provides manual and automated testing services to ensure your software does not contain any vulnerabilities or issues and is secured against internal and external threats. We perform continuous testing throughout the whole development cycle to ensure maximal security.


 





 



      
  
  
    
      
    
  




Our UX/UI design team provides a variety of services, from creation of brand identity from scratch to redesign of your current software product. We always follow a highly user-centric approach which helps us create memorable and intuitive software products.


 





 



      
  
  
    
      
    
  




SoftTeco offers DevOps services to speed up your delivery and eliminate the silos between the operations and the development teams. Evolve your business in a scalable manner and enjoy all the advantages that automation and optimization of processes brings.


 





 



      
  
  
    
      
    
  




Whether you need a sophisticated machine learning solution or a tool for your big data analysis, we are here to help. SoftTeco has solid experience in machine learning and data science and uses it to provide you with innovative and powerful data-driven solutions. 


 





 



      
  
  
    
      
    
  




SoftTeco offers extensive Salesforce services precisely tailored to your business needs. From consulting to Salesforce customization, we will make sure that you receive the maximal benefit from your Salesforce solution of choice. 


 



 





 

Select Your Engagement Model




 

Staff Augmentation





Dedicated Team





Complete IT Outsourcing

 



 

SoftTeco can help you effectively cover specific skill gaps or add extra resources to the project with our software outsourcing and outstaffing services. By strengthening your team with our specialists, you will be able to quickly respond to your business requirements while retaining the speed and quality of delivery as well as full control over the project.




SA




Extensive scope





Flexible budget





Pay-as-you-go







SoftTeco can assemble a full team of professionals managed by our Project Manager to take care of your technical challenge. Our dedicated team includes various specialists: software developers, business analysts, QA engineers, and designers. Just tell us what you need and we will manage all aspects of the project throughout the development cycle. 




DT




Large pool of talent





Cost savings





Transparentpricing model







Delegate risk management and mitigation of potential bottlenecks to SoftTeco and receive full IT outsourcing. Our team will fully manage the development of your project, including quality management, and will develop a risk management strategy to safeguard your software solution from potential risks and vulnerabilities.




CIO




Predefined scope





Fixedbudget





Warranty & Support



 


 





 

Benefits of Software Outsourcing and Outstaffing





Saving of time and costs 

Effective and fast hiring process

Variety of technologies and expertise 

Transparent and clear communication

Access to a large pool of international talents

100% control over the development process



Request a consultation



 





 

SoftTeco’s IT Outstaffing Process

 




 

01



Collection of requirements



The first step towards assembling your perfect team is analyzing your project and technical requirements. In this way, we will define the needed tech stack and as a result, the needed talents.





02



Team selection



Based on the gathered requirements, we will analyze our employees and will select the most suitable candidates for the project. When selecting team members, we always pay attention to the employees’ experience, level of seniority, and skills.





03



Interview



We will conduct an introductory interview where you can meet the candidates and a technical interview where you can evaluate their skills and knowledge. You can also provide them with a technical test task, if needed.

 



 

04



Agreement



Once you confirm the selected candidates, we will work on the needed documents where we will describe the terms and conditions of our work. In parallel, we will provide the working offer to the candidates. 





05



Project kick off



The last stage of the hiring process is the actual project kick-off when developers and other specialists start working on your project. We usually start projects in a few days after the contract is signed.





 





 

01



Collection of requirements



The first step towards assembling your perfect team is analyzing your project and technical requirements. In this way, we will define the needed tech stack and as a result, the needed talents.





02



Team selection



Based on the gathered requirements, we will analyze our employees and will select the most suitable candidates for the project. When selecting team members, we always pay attention to the employees’ experience, level of seniority, and skills.

 



 

03



Interview



We will conduct an introductory interview where you can meet the candidates and a technical interview where you can evaluate their skills and knowledge. You can also provide them with a technical test task, if needed.





04



Agreement



Once you confirm the selected candidates, we will work on the needed documents where we will describe the terms and conditions of our work. In parallel, we will provide the working offer to the candidates.

 



 

05



Project kick off



The last stage of the hiring process is the actual project kick-off when developers and other specialists start working on your project. We usually start projects in a few days after the contract is signed.

 










 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your IT Outstaffing Company?





01



Certified developers



SoftTeco’s developers frequently undergo internationally recognized certifications. In this way, we ensure the high quality of our IT outstaffing services. 





02



Security and reliability



SoftTeco is an ISO 27001 certified company and pays great attention to security of our software. We always follow security best practices to ensure safety of all processed data.





03



Transparency



We have established effective communication processes with a high level of transparency. Thus, our clients always know the state and the progress of their projects.





04



Global IT vendor



SoftTeco is an IT outstaffing company that is recognized by many consultancy agencies worldwide. We are trusted by clients from over 75 countries and counting.



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco has been our go-to software partner for several projects. We don't have to worry about deadlines since all projects are completed on time and exceed our expectations. The results are unmatched - huge respect for SoftTeco!
								
								
									
										CTO & Co Founder, Workiz
									
									
										Saar Kohanovitch
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Supersapiens



Energy Management System for Athletes




  




iOS



Android



Web













C2 SmartLight



A system for managing smart outdoor lighting solutions




  




Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 

All about IT Outstaffing Service

 




 


​​Pros and Cons of Outstaffing



How to Do an Efficient Project Kick Off







What Is It Staff Augmentation







Group Interview: the Importance of Soft Skills in IT


 




 

+ Show more

 





 


Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!



Calculate Team Cost




 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
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### UX Consulting Services

UX Consulting Services



Deliver memorable user experiences and boost usability of your products with SoftTeco’s UX consulting services. You create great products - we help them stand out.



Let’s get started



 





 

SoftTeco’s UX Consulting Services



At SoftTeco, we understand how important well-crafted UX design is. Hence, we offer a range of services aimed at not only improving your current design, but also enhancing the skills of your team and helping you establish smooth and effective design processes.
































01 / 04



UX Review



Our team will carefully review your current design and will analyze the main pain points, bottlenecks, and issues, preventing your users from completing conversions. We will also identify opportunities for growth and will suggest how to highlight your UVPs through design. 





02 / 04



Custom Training



Our UX consulting company offers training for your employees in order to increase their UX maturity and improve their skills. Our design experts will share their experience and knowledge, identify strengths of each member of your team, and provide a comfortable learning environment.





03 / 04



UX Workshops



We can conduct UX workshops aimed at specific goals in order to see the magic of great UX on practice. You can select the goal that you want to achieve yourself, or we can help you define one (or several, if needed). Elevate your team’s skills with our help!





04 / 04



User Journey Evaluation



A well-planned user journey is a surefire way to naturally lead users to conversions. But a poorly designed user journey will cause users to stumble and may even result in them leaving. Our team will not only review your user journeys, but will also suggest improvements.




 





 

The Benefits of UX Consultancy





01



Stellar User Experiences



UX design is centered around user experience, and with the help of professional UX consultants and designers, you can make your software products more user-centric and converting. Make your customers happier by catering to their needs in terms of product design.





02



Optimize Resources



Speed up your research and design processes while also boosting product delivery with the help of our consultants. SoftTeco’s professionals will help you set up an effective design process while pointing out the areas for improvement.





03



Increase Conversions



Great UX design equals happy customers, and satisfied customers tend to complete their conversions. Hence, you can greatly boost your conversion rates through optimized and improved design - note that even the smallest details make a big difference! 





04



Boost Reliability 



You want your brand to be perceived as reliable and consistent and for that, all your products need to adhere to the highest quality standards. Let SoftTeco help you polish your design in correspondence with users’ expectations and watch your brand reliability grow.



 






 

Revamp your UX design with the help of our experts and make your product shine





Request a quote



 






 

When Do You Need UX Consultants?



Even if you already have a solid design in place, there is always room for improvement. Especially, if you observe low conversions or wish to attract more users. With SoftTeco’s UX consulting services, you can easily identify new opportunities for growth, make user journeys more intuitive and natural, and deliver the exact level of quality that your brand represents.

 





 

Learn about the main benefits of professional user experience consulting:





High Bounce Rates



A bounce rate implies that a user briefly leaves the page after landing on it and one of the core reasons for that is poor page navigation and poor design. If your analytics displays high bounce rate, it might be time to review your design and see whether it can be improved.





Low Conversions



Same as bounce rates, low conversions serve as indicators that something might be wrong with the website navigation, layout, or design. In this case, we not only analyze your product but suggest A/B testing to see what can be improved and how exactly.





Slow Delivery



When your design process is not optimized, it may prolong product delivery since you will be getting back to the same issues again and again. With consulting, you will be able to redesign your delivery strategy in the most efficient manner.



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your UX Consulting Company?






  





Experience



Our UX consulting firm has been in the IT industry for 17+ years and all this time, we’ve been striving to deliver not only high-functioning but also appealing and user-centric solutions. Our design team carefully monitors the latest design trends and best practices and applies them to our projects.







  





Creativity and Enthusiasm



We believe that bold and unique ideas come from passionate and enthusiastic talents, and that’s whom our design team comprises. Our designers combine creativity and analytics to create memorable products that cater to specific expectations and needs of users while also perfectly reflecting your brand.







  





Transparency



At SoftTeco, we believe it’s important that everyone stays on the same page, including the client. Hence, all our processes are built around transparency. In this way, you always know the status of your project, what changes were applied to it, and what the next steps are.







  





Range of Services



In addition to consulting, SoftTeco offers a variety of related, such as UX/UI design, branding, redesign, and many more. Being a one-stop software development company, we understand that our clients may request other services, and we are ready to provide them.




 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									We were looking for a partner who would not only develop our product but would also share our passion for innovation and technology and SoftTeco turned out to be the perfect fit.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, BrandShield
									
									
										Elad Falckovitch
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Featured projects







View all cases

 



 







Gameinsight



An e-learning platform dedicated to European football




  




Industry




Web














Caajoo



A freelance marketplace to connect clients & local service providers




  




iOS



Android



 





 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
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### C2 SmartLight

C2 SmartLight



A system for managing smart outdoor lighting solutions







Type



Web





Industry



IoT





Country



Finland





Website



c2smartlight.com




 





 

Highlights




Remote control of lighting in public spaces



An informative dashboard with detailed analytics



Different modes for lightning management



Management of motion, weather, and lightning




Challenge



The client is a Finnish company that offers smart lighting control solutions to its customers, including city councils, stadium owners, etc. The main goal of the client is to provide convenient solutions for remote lightning management that would allow to monitor and manage lighting devices anytime and anywhere.



The client has launched its company over 10 years ago and since then, no changes were made to the existing system. Hence, the client approached SoftTeco with a request not only to update the system but also to introduce new features that were requested by the customers.





 





 

Have a project in mind?



Let us know what kind of software solution you need, and our specialists will provide an estimate cost and deadline. 





Request a consultation



 





 

Solution



C2 Smart Light is an IoT product that allows its users to remotely control needed lightning devices. With the help of the product, users can not only turn the devices on and off but also manage the dimming level, make lightning adjustments, monitor the status of the devices, and many other options.



One of the greatest advantages of the solution is that it creates control programs for lighting networks. These programs include automatic adjustment of the light intensity based on the time of the year, time of the day, natural light level, etc. In this way, the intensity of lighting depends on the external environment and the lighting devices do not have to run at full power all the time. This leads to significant energy saving (up to 20%) and reduces CO2 emissions.



The product is a web application that provides an intuitive and informative interface to the user. With the help of the integrated map, a user can instantly see all their connected devices on the map and manage them with a few clicks only. In this way, the solution significantly facilitates device monitoring and management and provides accurate data to the users.





 





  









 

Tech Stack





Backend




Spring



PostgreSQL



Maven



Java



Google Cloud storage



Tomcat






Frontend




Angular 10 (further upgrade to Angular 11)






Libraries




Lodash



Gridster 2



Moment



Leaflet



Markercluster



Lasso






How it works



The frontend is a web application that presents a comprehensive dashboard to the users. The dashboard contains all sorts of useful information, from analytics on the connected devices to proximate lightning management. The dashboard was among the new features that we introduced since the old product version did not have one. We also completely redesigned the user interface with the aim to make it more intuitive and convenient to use. For that, the development team had to analyze the existing controls, optimize, and regroup them. This led to a modern and user-friendly interface that significantly facilitates the light control process and reduces the training costs for new users.



The biggest issue with the existing system was the lack of scalability. It was also very outdated and the client wanted us to fix that. What SoftTeco did was creating a new backend that serves as an intermediary between the old backend and the frontend part of the application. We opted for this solution because it would take too much time and resources to redesign the existing backend. Plus, it was already efficiently communicating with the relays so it was a better option to keep it the way it was.





 





  









 

The development of a new backend allowed us to achieve the needed scalability. The implementation of the new functionality was done through the new backend as well. Among the features that we added were the dimming index management and the motion sensors management.



The client also requested to make the existing system TALQ-compatible. This turned out to be a real challenge since the SoftTeco team did not have access to real TALQ devices during our work. Nevertheless, we managed to successfully resolve the issue by working with the integration protocol and TALQ test tool only. Now the system is fully compatible with TALQ and can be used to manage TALQ devices.



Results



SoftTeco has successfully updated and scaled the existing smart lighting system and delivered all necessary implementations on time and in full correspondence with the requirements. We are glad that we were able to work on a challenging IoT project and contribute to smart city development.





 







 



 




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### Waycare

Waycare



A comprehensive platform for real-time management of maintenance and emergency urban services 







Type



Web





Industry



Transportation & Logistics





Country



USA





Website



waycaretech.com




 





 

Highlights




Data-science powered forecasts on possible incidents



Integration with public cameras for real-time monitoring



Multiple user interfaces for different user types



Integration with third-party services for incident announcements






 





  









 

Challenge



The client based in the US approached SoftTeco with a request to assist in the development and maintenance of a complex web application aimed at automating and facilitating the work of emergency and urban services.



Since the application includes multiple user types and two different dashboards for different users, the client needed assistance from experienced developers to fine-tune the product and add new functionality.



Solution



Right after launch, the product catered for maintenance services only (i.e. road construction works notification). After successful implementation of the product with several urban services, the client expanded the functionality and made the product applicable for emergency services as well, including 911, police and fire departments.



The app enables emergency and maintenance urban services to timely react to incidentsand provides a clear view of both open and resolved incidents in the area. The integration with public cameras and maps enables 24/7 real-time monitoring of the events that happen in the area.





 





 

Tech Stack




Backend




RabbitMQ



MongoDB



Firebase



Python



Pyramid



TensorFlow



FCM






Frontend




Angular



OpenLayer Maps



Firebase



GoogleMaps



FCM







 





  









 

How it works



The application is adapted to different devices and can be used both on the PC and the tablet. There are two different interfaces available: for operators and service representatives. The operators can enter the incident in the system and it becomes available for resolution. Service representatives, in turn, can see all the open incidents and start their resolution. Once the person starts the incident resolution, he can change the report status in the system and enter all the activities and additional information. In this way, the users can always have access to all the input reports and see the responsible person and the actions that were taken.



The application uses the Data Science technology to forecast possible future incidents based on historical data. This allows services to prevent certain incidents and enhance monitoring in the areas of high risk.





 





 

Need a high-performing solution to augment your business?



Let SoftTeco handle your tech challenges and design a software solution tailored precisely to your unique requirements. 





Request a quote



 





 

Results



The SoftTeco team contributed to expanding the product’s functionality and now Waycare is a full-fledged web application that caters to multiple urban services. Currently, the team is involved in developing additional features like in-app notifications on the incidents, more accurate Data Science forecasts, performance in the offline mode.



At the moment, the application is used in the USA only but the client is planning to introduce it to other countries as well and that would require additional support and maintenance from our side.





 







 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Blueprint

Blueprint



A SaaS-based business intelligence solution







Type



Web





Industry



Business & Finance





Country



Canada





Website



blueprintsys.com




 





 

Highlights




SaaS-based business intelligence solution, which provides a platform and tools to drive intelligent business automation and IT alignment



Automates manual tasks and removing process bottlenecks



Reduces the risks by automatically tracing relationships



Improves efficiency by enabling artifact repository



Maintains a reliable system of record



Integrates with external Agile and DevOps tools




Challenge



Blueprint’s CTO contacted SoftTeco with a request to help them with Storyteller admins’ panel development. A team of 2 backend developers, 2 frontend developers, 1 QA, 1 PM was assigned to meet the initial customer’s requirements. A trial version was provided quickly. Relying on this experience, a few enhancements were brought in the development process.



A new methodology implemented allowed to reach higher level in the development. Due to the success in task completion, the customer had decided to expand the teamand it became three times larger. SoftTeco was responsible for the full development cycle:




Requirements clarification



Technical Design



Quality Assurance



Business Analysis



Implementation



Technical Support






 





  









 

Solution



Storyteller was created to help enterprises scale to Agile and enjoy the clear alignment between the business goals and IT deliverables. Storyteller is a feature-packed solution that provides visual modeling, automation and standardization of numerous manual processes, an option to reuse artifacts and many others. The main benefit of the solution is seamless task management and easy assignment tracking alongside the convenient creation of the requirements. Advanced functionality and intuitive design make Storyteller the leading product on the market.





 





 

Tech Stack





Backend




MS SQL



NUnit



ASP.NET Web API






Frontend




Angular



RxJS



Jasmine



TypeScript



SCSS



Karma



GoJS



Webpack






How it works



Backend details



ASP.NET Web API was used as a backend platform. The application uses the basic protocols and formats - HTTP, WebSockets, SSL, JSON, and XML. The application architecture is organized on the three-level basis (Controller-Service-Repository). All application modules are complied with the principles of SOLID which maintains good flexibility and scalability. MS SQL Server DBMS is used for databases management. The application code has high test coverage. We handled the unit and integration tests and, due to their simultaneous use, achieved the maximum level of components’ reliability. The basic technology used for tests is NUnit. This tool is an open testing environment for .NET applications which is convenient for creating automated tests.



Frontend details



The project consisted of two modules: administration portal and a separate module. The portal is the main product for creating business process artifacts, when the module is responsible for reviewing business processes. The library of common angular-shared components was created to ensure the appropriate behavior of shared components in all modules and helped to reduce the development time afterwards. The technology stack was as follows:




Angular: 6. *



Typescript: 2.8.2



RxJS: 5. *






 





  









 

Ngx-formly library was used for forms creation. The canvas-based gojs library was used to build the complex interactive diagrams. The code was covered with unit tests via jasmine and karma. The angular-shared code coverage was 80% for the common components, and at least 60% - for the rest of сode base. The project was built using webpack version 3. Code minifiers and obfuscators, postcss, rollup were configured. Linters were implemented to make work easier for both teams involved in the project:




tslint - for typescript code



stylelint - for scss styles



htmlhint - for html markup




That allows to keep the code in the same style, alongside with code readability improvement and members entering process simplification.





 





 

Have a project in mind?



Let us know what kind of software solution you need, and our specialists will provide an estimate cost and deadline. 





Request a consultation



 





 

Results



The successful collaboration of BluePrint and SoftTeco resulted in a unique product management system - Storyteller. A well-coordinated team of 18 people met all customer’s requirements on the frontend and backend parts. In September 2018, the collaboration with SoftTeco was temporarily stopped.





 







 



 




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### Golf Club

Golf Club



The AI-powered analyzer of golf players







Type



Web, ML





Industry



Sports & Lifestyle





Country



New Zealand




 





 

Highlights




Detection of positions of player’s hands and golf club with computer vision technology



Two AI models for detecting and segmenting the images for metrics collection



Collection of advanced metrics for further analysis and processing



Robust pose estimation achieved by measuring angles of the given body joints with computer vision




Challenge



The client is a manufacturer of custom golf clubs from New Zealand. When he approached SoftTeco, he had the idea of developing an AI-based product for analyzing the players’ positions and strokes in order to design individually fitting golf clubs.



At that time, the client was already using computer analysis software for analyzing the players’ movements and consistency of strokes. But the work was semi-manual and the client wanted to fully automate the process. Therefore, he contacted SoftTeco as a trusted software provider.





 





  









 

Solution



The product is an AI-powered solution that is capable of recognizing the golf club in a player’s hand and correctly estimating the angles of his joints (the posture) with an aim to collect and process these metrics and transform them into final technical requirements for club manufacturing.



The metrics are captured either via a mobile device camera or via a pre-installed kiosk with a camera. By using the collected data, the client can manufacture individual golf clubs that are adjusted to one’s level of impact, playing posture, and strokes.





 





 

Tech Stack





Components




Keras



Python



Matplotlib



Mediapipe



MLFlow



NumPy



TensorFlow



OpenCV



LabelMe



Colab






How it works



The first challenge that the SoftTeco team faced was a lack of data for ML model training. In order to create a suitable dataset, we had to collect videos from available sources and transform them into suitable images. These images were formed in a dataset and later labeled by two categories: images for detection and images for segmentation.





 





  









 

Two AI models were designed correspondingly. One model is responsible for detection: it detects the position of a player’s hand and the position of a club. The second model performs segmentation: it recognizes the club on the given image and differentiates it from the surroundings and the player. These two models work in conjunction and collect all the metrics needed to create an individual and perfectly fitting golf club. The collected metrics include angles of body joints during the movement, position of a player’s body, and their golf club during the stroke. Computer vision technology can recognize a golf club from its surroundings and can differentiate between a player’s arm and a club.



Results



The product was developed as an MVP and performs all the intended functions with the help of computer vision and artificial intelligence technologies. The client remained highly content with the quality and speed of SoftTeco’s work and we hope to continue working on this project in the future.





 





 

Need a high-performing solution to augment your business?



Let SoftTeco handle your tech challenges and design a software solution tailored precisely to your unique requirements. 





Request a quote



 







 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Gameinsight

Gameinsight



An e-learning platform dedicated to European football







Type



Web, Tablet





Industry



E-learning & Education





Country



Sweden





Website



gameinsight.sport




 





 

Highlights




Advanced management of educational resources



An informative dashboard with analytics of one’s learning path



A built-in engine for creating game schemes



An in-app share function and an in-app chat






 





  









 

Challenge



The client is a Swedish company that launched an e-learning platform dedicated to European football. The platform is intended for everyone involved with this sport: players, coaches, clubs, directors. The main goal of the platform is to promote educational content in the sphere of football through mutual collaboration and contribution of coaches to the educational process. Throughout the years, the existing platform became outdated to administrate and use. Hence, the client requested SoftTeco’s team to revamp it as well as to work on its redesign.





 





 

Do you have a similar challenge?



Contact us and let’s discuss how SoftTeco can help your business grow through the power of innovation and digitization.





Let's get started



 





 

Solution



Gameinsight is a comprehensive e-learning platform that offers an array of educational materials and useful features. The platform has two separate interfaces: for coaches and for football players. Coaches can create and manage educational materials while players get full access to them. The platform includes such valuable features as session planners, exercise planners, squad management worksheets, training and periodization scheduler, scouting worksheets, downloadable player, coach resumes and recruitment planners. As well, the platform offers an option to create game schemes to visualize the intended game strategy. The game schemes are written in Paper.js so there are multiple ways to draw them. Schemes can later be exported to PDF for further printout.



A client who was interested in science and sports came up with an idea to create a professional application for athletes to track their glucose levels. Hence, the client team up with the in-house development team and to create a website and a mobile application from scratch. This is how the client approached SoftTeco and our company gladly accepted the challenge.





 





  









 

Tech Stack





Backend




Java






Frontend




HTML



CSS



React.js



Paper.js



SCSS



XSLT



JavaScript






Cloud




Google Cloud Platform






How it works



The first thing that SoftTeco’s team did when starting work on the project was researching available custom design options and selecting the programming resources suitable for the client's needs. We used OpenOlat as a base for administration processes (tests, courses integrations, user interactions) and selected the most suitable database structure. During the development process, our team fully adopted the selected solution to Google Cloud Platform.



For efficient platform management, the team created a file control system from scratch. The system contains the main folders required by the users: documents, videos, pictures, exercises and sessions. The file control system was later connected with Google Cloud Storage for easier use. SoftTeco also added several new features. They include the share function, an in-app chat, and export of files to the PDF format. The share function enables coaches to share playing schemes and other materials with players in order to enhance the educational process. The export to PDF allows to print created schemes so they can be used on a pitch where all coaching processes take place.





 





 

Results



SoftTeco successfully updated and redesigned the digital platform aimed at the worldwide football community in full correspondence with the client’s requirements. Our team continues to support the platform and will gladly assist the client in the expansion of its functionality in the future.





 







 



 




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### Cheetah

Cheetah



Food Delivery Service for small business







Type



Mobile, Tablet





Industry



Tourism & Hospitality





Country



USA, Israel






 


  
  
  
  


 



 





 

Highlights




Redesign and optimization of the architecture



Simplified UI testing



A full update of the code



Implementation of a new order flowsensors




Challenge



The client launched the Cheetah startup in Israel in 2015 and since then, the startup has grown immensely and now serves thousands of US restaurants. Throughout these years, the product’s codebase has become outdated and was not able to keep up with the business requirements, especially the iOS part. Hence, the client needed a reliable and experienced iOS development team to handle the iOS part of the product and optimize it.





 





  









 

Solution



Cheetah is a mobile application that allows owners of small restaurants to easily order food delivery at an affordable price if compared to the existing competitors. Cheetah offers its users monthly subscription plans and can deliver the requested items either to a stated address or to a pickup location of choice.



One of the most notable features of the Cheetah application is its advanced analytics realized through the Amplitude system. With the help of the system, the Cheetah team can easily monitor every action that a user made, be it a scroll or a button click. This provides the team with informative and detailed reports and helps increase the number of conversions significantly.



The SoftTeco team was fully responsible for updating and optimizing the iOS part of the Cheetah application. We did a full redesign of the existing architecture and made it suitable for unit testing performed by developers themselves. The SoftTeco team also simplified the UI testing process significantly.





 





 

Tech Stack





Mobile




Swift



RxSwift



Maya






Backend& Frontend




GraphQL



Realm



Sourcery






How it works



In order for the app to work smoothly and in correspondence with the set requirements, we had to update its architecture first. The main issue with the architecture was that it featured code written both in Objective-C and in Swift. Before the SoftTeco team joined the project, the architecture was very inconsistent since each developer introduced his own approach. We made the architecture consistent by rewriting it in Swift and we also made it suitable for unit testing since the project has a 100% unit test coverage.



We also significantly facilitated the UI testing process by adding the iOSSnapshotTestCase library for taking screenshots of the tested area. Before that, the developers had to manually create a UI test for every feature and now the process of test writing became more automated and streamlined.





 





  









 

One more important area that we worked on is app analytics. The client uses Amplitude for analytics and event reporting. Hence, when the team started implementing new functionality, we made sure to add all needed events to a new feature. In this way, we made sure all user activity will be tracked and reported. Amplitude also allows us to track user’s activity and this feature is especially useful when we need to quickly find the reported bugs or errors.



The reports on bugs and errors can be seen in tickets in the ZenDesk interface. Users communicate with the support team via ZenDesk and their requests are then generated into tickets for the development team.



The SoftTeco iOS team was also responsible for adding new functionality to the application and the user flow redesign. Among the new features added is a B2C part of the application (before only the B2B version was available) and the introduction of GraphQL for the server API. As for the user flow redesign, our team worked closely with the analytics team to define the main points of interaction and ways to promote user engagement.





 





 

Need a high-performing solution to augment your business?



Let SoftTeco handle your tech challenges and design a software solution tailored precisely to your unique requirements. 





Request a quote



 





 

Results



The client was satisfied with the quality and speed of our services and the way the SoftTeco iOS developers fit in with the rest of the product team. We continue providing support and maintenance for the Cheetah application and will gladly work on the app expansion in the future.





 





 

Our work







View all cases

 



 







Gameinsight



An e-learning platform dedicated to European football




  




Web













Evoz



Advanced solution for baby monitoringand activity tracking




  




iOS



Android



Web



 





 



 




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### Movado

Movado



A web portal for international watchmaking conglomerate







Type



Web





Industry



Retail





Country



USA




 





 

Highlights




Development of a new system from scratch



Unique design in correspondence to the parent website



Improved performance and responsiveness



Integration with third-party services for better functionality




Challenge



Our client, Movado Group, is a watchmaking conglomerate that manufactures both the watches under its own label and watches for such brands as Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Concord. In addition to the website with the watch catalog, Movado had a system where the company’s clients could leave an online application for watch repair and maintenance.



The client approached SoftTeco with a request to update the system as it was too slow, lacked responsiveness and had an outdated design. The primary goal was to create a user-friendly web portal that would facilitate the process of leaving the request on the site and would provide the users with all the needed assistance and information.





 





  









 

Solution



SoftTeco team worked on the system together with the client’s team. Everything was developed from scratch: the team from the client’s side took responsibility for the backend and SoftTeco worked on frontend and design.



As a result, the renewed system completely corresponds to the Movado website in terms of design and functionality. The portal helps clients to place a request for watch repair and maintenance in an easy and quick manner and use advanced filtering to find the exact watch model.





 





 

Tech Stack





Components




Java EE



SAP BAPI



Angular



MySQL






How it works



The main goal of the project was to make the system faster and more user-friendly. To achieve that, the SoftTeco team developed a single-page application that enabled faster loading. The Ajax queries through Restful API also contributed to better performance.



To make the system more user-friendly, we implemented several changes. The team integrated a library that searches through addresses and provides automated suggestions when the user fills in the billing address information. As well, we integrated the third-party payment system so the user can pay for the repair/maintenance services right on the spot. Other integrated third-party services include the order tracking system so the user can always see the state of the placed order.





 





  









 

Another important feature that adds to the portal’s usability is the built-in calculator. When the user places a request for the watch repair or maintenance, the system automatically calculates both the service cost and the additional fees (i.e. discounts, shipping, taxes) and displays the total price to the user.





 





 

Results



Working in close collaboration with the development team from the client’s side, SoftTeco helped the client renovate the system and significantly optimize its performance to correspond to the high-quality standards of the company. SoftTeco is proud to take part in creating such a complex and sophisticated product thus helping the brand enhance its online presence and provide clients with an efficient way of interaction with the company.





 





 

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### Evoz

Evoz



An advanced solution for baby monitoring and activity tracking







Type



Mobile





Industry



Smart Home Apps





Country



United Kingdom







  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  





  
  
  
  




 





 

Highlights




Advanced analytics and reporting



Real-time notifications



Real-time video and audio monitoring



Automatic tracking of certain activities






 





  









 

Challenge



SoftTeco was requested to develop a mobile application that could be connected to the Evoz baby monitoring device. The main goal was to create a product that would allow usersto remotely manage the Evoz device and always be able to access Evoz video camera and microphone via mobile. As well, the client wanted the application to gather all information collected by Evoz and present it to users in a clear manner.





 





 

Solution



SoftTeco created a mobile application that serves as a bridge between a user and the Evoz device. With the help of the application, users can access Evoz video camera and microphone at any time and check the baby’s state and activity. As well, SoftTeco enriched the initial functionality of the application with additional features that added more value to the product and transformed a simple monitoring solution into a wholesome virtual assistant.



In order for the parents to always be aware of the baby’s state and timely react to any unwanted events, the application sends real-time notifications as soon as Evoz recognizes whether the baby is crying. By using the application, parents can communicate with their baby at any time and from any place.





 





  









 

Tech Stack





Components




WebRTC



MediaPlayer



iOS



Core Audio



AudioToolbox



Core Data



HTTP



AWSCore



Core Image



Address book



AVFoundation



Core Graphics



Security



Bonjour






How it works



In order to use the app, a user has to set up the Evoz device first and connect it to the downloaded application. For that, a user has to open the app and create a profile. Once this is done, a user will receive a verification code via an email. After verifying the code, the user will need to enter their Wi-Fi password in the app, receive a unique QR-code, and scan it with the Evoz device. After that, both the device and the application are ready for use.



A user needs to create a profile for a baby (several profiles can be created) and upload the baby’s photo so the device can recognize their face. Once Evoz “remembers” the baby, the device can recognize whether the baby is crying and immediately notify the parents about it. Users can configure which form of notifications they want to receive: push notifications, emails, or text messages.





 





  









 

The main screen of the application displays either a live video stream or an image thatis generated by the camera every 30 seconds. From the dashboard, a user can also play lullabies, talk to a baby via the device’s microphone, and manage the settings(volume, lights).



The application automatically tracks the times when a baby cries and adds it to reports. A user can manually add such data as eating habits, height and weight, temperature, nursing, etc. All collected data is presented in the form of clear charts and lists.



For efficient and smooth communication between the mobile application and the Evoz device, we used WebRTC (for audio), Bonjour (for device discovery), RabbitMQ (as a message broker). By choosing these technologies, we ensured that the mobile application always displays real-time data and there are no lags in communication between the applicationand the device.





 





 

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Results



SoftTeco developed a high-performing mobile application that supports the Evoz device with its rich functionality and helps parents always stay aware of the state and activity of their babies. We were glad to participate in such an interesting project and are looking forward to more collaborations of such kind in the future.





 







 



 




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### Smart Mirror

Smart Mirror



Medical survey solution







Type



Mobile, Tablet





Industry



Healthcare





Country



Israel















 





 

Highlights




Built-in Wi-Fi module



Audio and video streaming rendering



Audio and video recording



Integrated mirror management: LEDs, mirror software update




Challenge



SmartMirror is a startup that strives to change the face of modern dental care with its innovative product. Smart Mirror is a smart and LED-equipped dental mirror that significantly facilitates the dentists’ job and transforms customer experience due to the videostreaming option.



A client requested SoftTeco to develop a mobile application that would connect with the smart dental mirror. The challenge was that the device was still under developmentso SoftTeco’s team had to work with a simulator instead of a real device and therewas no guarantee that the real device would work the same as the simulator.





 





  









 

Solution



SmartMirror mobile application connects to the smart mirror dental device through Wi-Fi, receives the transmitted data, and displays it in video format. With the help of the application, a dentist can manage the intensity and kind of lighting of the mirror, adjusting the tool as needed.



Since the mirror has a built-in HD intraoral camera, the application transmits real-time videos and allows taking photos and recording videos to later be sent to patients or kept in the database. As well, the application allows sharing the data and connecting via the QR code.





 





  









 

Tech Stack





Components




Swift



Metal



AssetWriter



Sockets



RTP video streaming BLE



Audio streaming BLE






How it works



Since the smart mirror device is equipped with LEDs, the mobile application provides multiple options to manage them. We implemented such features as the adjustable intensityof lightning and dimming management. As well, the application allows checking the battery life of the mirror and installing updates for its firmware.



In order for the mirror to seamlessly communicate with the application, our team implemented an option of connecting the mirror to the app via the QR code. The mirror has an integrated Wi-Fi module and the application’s interface has a “connect to the mirror” feature and it is also possible to connect to another mirror if needed.





 





 

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Results



SoftTeco was fully responsible for the iOS development and we delivered the application in time and in correspondence with the requirements. The client is currently considering developing an application for Android and we will be happy to assist in further product expansion.





 







 



 




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### Brokerstar

Brokerstar



A comprehensive broker web-platform







Type



Web





Industry



Insurance





Country



Switzerland





Website



wmc.ch/brokerstar




 





 

Highlights




Integrated email module and synchronization with Outlook



Facilitated and optimized document management



In-app time and performance tracker



File manager plugin for easy document upload and sharing



Advanced permission system




Challenge



A Swiss-based company came up with an idea to present an efficient digital solution to insurance brokers. Since the insurance market is very mature in the country, the client decided to fill the niche and design a convenient and comprehensive product that would comprise the key brokerage procedures such as document management and management of the clients’ database.



Due to rich functionality and a big number of the platform’s users, the initial product was underperforming and did not correspond to the client’s requirements. Therefore, the client requested SoftTeco to optimize the platform, make it more user-friendly, and add new features to it as well.





 





  









 

Solution



BrokerStar is a web application that facilitates and optimizes the brokers’ work processes with the help of integrated tools. The platform includes an email module, a built-in CRM system, a time and performance tracker, a marketing module for managing leads and campaigns, document storage, and file manager. Once the users pay for the annual subscription, they get full access to all the product’s features, existing and future ones. The provider offers online tutorials so users can better understand the platform and the best ways to work with it.



By using the platform, a broker can keep all the contacts, tasks and documents in one place and can immediately access any needed information with a few clicks. Emails can be synchronized with the user’s Outlook account for easier management of all the correspondence (both email and SMS messages).



One of the most important parts of the BrokerStar solution is the Policies module. In this module, users can store, manage, edit and share all the needed documents, such as agent’s commissions, claims, tenders, deviation messages, etc. Due to the great importance and sensitivity of these documents, the SoftTeco team ensured high security and reliability of the platform in order to protect the sensitive data that is shared across the users. Other modules include policy administration, damage management, brokerage/commission, bookkeeping, electronic data exchange.





 





  









 

Tech Stack





Components




PHP7



SAML SSO



Symfony 4



LESS



Gulp



MySQL






How it works



As mentioned above, when the client approached us with the existing product, it was underperforming and did not correspond to the client’s needs and requirements. One of the first tasks that the team started with was updating the Symphony framework version with an aim to optimize the performance and speed it up. The team has also performed 360-degree testing that identified certain critical bugs that negatively affected the platform’s performance. Thus, the development team took care of debugging, alongside the database optimization and indexing as well as caching setup.



In order to fully satisfy the requirements of the client and the needs of the platform users, the team proposed adding new functionality to make the platform more user-friendly and comprehensive. Among the newly added features are integrated email module, the ability to create reports that are immediately generated to PDF format, a calendar and an advanced permissions management system. All these features are aimed at facilitating the broker’s work and keeping a massive amount of tasks and documents in one place in a well-organized and secure manner.





 





  









 

The user can easily navigate the product through an intuitive and user-friendly navigation bar on the left side of the application. The navigation bar contains all the mentioned modules and it can be either hidden or expanded in accordance with the user’s needs. The dashboard itself is similar to popular CRMs or task management systems in terms of layout and the operational principle so new users who are not familiar with the system will have no problem with understanding its functioning.





 





 

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Results



SoftTeco significantly improved the performance of the existing platform and expanded its functionality so it better corresponds to the essential needs of the brokers. As an outcome, the users received a high-performing product that allows them better management of the contacts and tasks and hence, significantly improves the quality of their work.





 





 

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					Aniware clinic
					A comprehensive CRM solution for veterinary business management
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					Animal Health
					Web
				
			
		
			
				
					
				
					Brokerstar
					A comprehensive broker web-platform
				
				
				
					
							
						
				
				
					Insurance
					Web
				
			
		







 



 




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### Meek-a-moo

Meek-a-moo



Language-focused educational game for toddlers







Type



Mobile, Tablet





Industry



Education





Country



Germany







  
  
  
  




 





 

Highlights




A cross-platform app that runs on all iOS and Android devices



An option to download a premium app version with a QR code



English and Spanish languages available



Smooth intuitive navigation and high responsiveness




Challenge



The client asked SoftTeco to develop an interactive educational game for children of 4+ years old. The game had to be highly enjoyable and colorful and bring value in terms of education. As well, the product had to have a highly responsive design as it was intended for the use on multiple devices and iOS and Android platforms.





 





  









 

Solution



Our team took a well-known and beloved concept of a peek-a-boo game and turned it into an educational app that engages children and motivates them to explore all the game sections.



The app consists of two sections, “Learn” and “Play”. The “Learn” section is the Beginner’s mode and helps the children learn the names of the different animals. The “Play” sectionis an Expert mode and challenges the player with more advanced tasks like connectingthe animal with its preferred habitat or food.



Every interaction with the game is supported by bright visuals and realistic animal sounds that help children better comprehend the process and learn faster. The QR code with access to the premium version of the game adds an element of gamification that can be used in marketing activities.





 





  









 

Tech Stack





Components




C++



Cocos2dx



Flash MX



Branch.io






How it works



To make the application a cross-platform one, the SoftTeco development team used about 80% of the common code and used Cocos2dx as a framework of choice. These technologies significantly accelerated and facilitated the development process.



The team used the Branch.io framework to realize access to the premium version of the app via the QR code. The addition of a QR code lets the product owners take full advantage of gamification and serves as an additional way to discover and install the app.



Due to responsive design, the application performs equally well on both iOS and Android platforms on different devices. This helps cater to the broad audience and ensures seamless quality and great user experience. An interesting fact is that the 3D artist worked on the sketches for the game and this served as a base for the unique design.





 





 

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Results



The app turned out to be a new fresh look at the popular peek-a-boo type of games. Due to innovative design, rich catalog of animals, and sound accompaniment, the gaming process guarantees education with a high level of interest which many parents already appreciated.



The app was successfully released and gained very positive feedback from the users. SoftTeco, in turn, is proud to be part of the team behind this game and we are looking forward to similar challenging projects in the future.





 







 



 




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### Bubcon

Bubcon



A next generation mass-market messenger app







Type



Mobile





Industry



Communication





Country



Germany




 





 

Highlights




New generation messenger with increased security level and state-of-the-art interactive design



End-to-end encryption ensures data reliability and private data safety



Engaging and user-friendly design



Data storage allows to securely track history of file exchange and access files whenever you need




Challenge



The customer turned to SoftTeco with an MVP of application for Android. The prototype was made as a test of the functional theory. SoftTeco’s tasks were to provide a review of the existing codebase and develop an iOS application from scratch along with a widget and smartwatch application. The iOS application architecture was completely built by our team in order to meet all the customer requirements in terms of increased security, end-to-end encryption, stable group chats and calls.



Considering a serious technical base implementation for iOS version, the Android app was timely enhanced with technical improvements on the client’s side. Overall, while developing this messenger we solved a number of challenges:




Presented an optimal messenger suitable for professional corporate use, combining secured video calls and conferences.



Provided a new communication tool that complies with European legislation on personal data protection. Now it’s possible to communicate with banking and insurance services, contractors and other service providers having the secured and GDPR-complied solution at hand.






 





  









 

Solution



BubCon is a flexible messenger application, giving its users the right tools to easily communicate across multiple groups and topics. The solution combines custom design, advanced functionality and high–level security.



One of the biggest BubCon advantages is the option to create secured chats and conferences that are guarded by end-to-end encryption. As well, the users can call and share files with one person or the whole group. To provide convenient and interactive user experience, the chats were designed in the form of bubbles. Users can move the chats around the app’s interface and arrange them as needed. As well, there are numerous sticker packs available in the AppStore to make the communication more engaging and fun.



The collaboration with external SMS providers - Twilio and Plivo allows doing prompt user verification and password recovery in case it’s forgotten. The application supports c3 standard for storing encrypted media content. SMTP channel encryption is done via TLS 1.2.





 





 

Tech Stack





Mobile




iOS



XMPP



WebRTC



Ejabberd








 





  









 

How it works



Backend details



The project’s backend is represented by 2 interconnected units: messenger’s backend and storage space’s backend. The storage space backend API was made in Java 8 and it uses Spring4 framework. It also works with PostgreSQL 9.4 database. The admin panel frontend was written in TypeScript 2.3 with Angular 4 framework. It was created mainly for adding stickers and scaling the application characteristics. The messenger’s backend was created with the help of Ejabberd tool, written in Erlang. The PostgreSQL database was used for data storage. Database management was performed through Mnesia service. Xmpp protocol was used to ensure the proper and timely data exchange and Grafana service – for monitoring and diagnostics. Clustering was implemented to maintain a continuous connection and it also allows the system to distribute the load evenly, ensuring good scalability. Now the system supports 20 000 connections simultaneously.



iOS details



iOS app was developed from scratch. SoftTeco took up the responsibility for all the stages, from architecture design to the final release. During the development process, we triedto meet all the customer requirements, including innovative design and enhanced encryption potential.





 





  









 

The overall application performance and its high speed are worth being proud of. The encryption function of the application, aimed at processing all the incoming and outcoming data is usually time and resource consuming and the initial Bubсon’s architecture of the app didn’t meet the speed requirements, which consequently led to losing messages. In this connection, the architecture was completely redesigned by SoftTeco in order to reduce the load on the client’s servers, which in its turn considerably improved the entire system efficiency and facilitated the scalability of the solution. The latest Swift version was used in the development process (April 2018). Among tools, which were used while development, are the following:




Web RTC for audio and video VoIP calls implementation.



Alamofire for Rest requests.



XMPP Framework for XMPP protocol.



GOOGLE Phone Numberkit provided telephone numbers parsing and formatting.



Swiftgen library was used for arranging constants and performing translations.




Overall, the application enables users to make secured audio and video calls, share files, create group chats and conferences, buy sticker packs from AppStore and much more.





 





 

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Results



The most innovative and creative ideas accumulated from the other projects were implemented and enforced while SoftTeco team worked on the application. The final product boasts perfection and enhanced functionality.





 







 



 




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### VisitorAccess

VisitorAccess



Visitors management system for medical facilities







Type



Web, Mobile





Industry



Healthcare





Country



USA




 





 

Highlights




Suitable for several platforms



In-app questionnaire



Easy integration with third-party services



Can be integrated with LDAP, SAML




Challenge



In the light of COVID-19 pandemic, SoftTeco and Kandasoft have undertaken a project to develop software for managing patient visitors across hospitals in the United States. The main idea was to prevent the spread of the disease among patients and employees of healthcare establishments by timely identifying symptoms among visitors.



We had to develop a system that would allow immediate assessment of a visitor’s state and would also allow keeping records of all the visits that occurred.





 





 

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Solution



VisitorAccess is an easy yet efficient system for monitoring all visits to patients and keeping records of them. The system can be used by hospital security personnel and administrators and helps them detect whether a visitor has any of the warning symptoms that would prevent them from a visit.



The solution has an in-built questionnaire for the visitors. Based on the answers, the hospital’s personnel either grants the permission for a visit or declines it. The procedure of checking visitors includes the following steps: asking for the patient’s name and floor and then asking the visitor to go through the questionnaire. If the visitor is allowed to visit, the system will display the exact time of the visit and the person responsible for granting access.





 





 

Tech Stack





Backend




Express



Sequelize



MySQL



Swagger






Frontend and Mobile




React /React Native



React Navigation



Redux



Redux-Persist








 





  









 

How it works



When a hospital security guard or an administrator launches the app, they see a dashboard with a list of patients in the medical facility. The user can search for the patient by name or by the floor where the patient stays. Upon finding the patient, a user can see whether the limit of people per hospital room is reached or whether a patient has another visitor. This allows to constantly manage the number of people currently being at the hospital and prevent overcrowding.



In order to mitigate the risk of disease spread, the visitor can be asked to fill out a survey regarding their health condition and possible symptoms. The questions can be easily changed in accordance with the specific needs of a medical facility. Once the visitor answers the questions asked by the app’s user, the system will display the results and will either grant or decline a visit.





 





  









 

To ensure authentication security, our team integrated the application with the SAML protocol to minimize the risks of external and internal threats. While authentication through SAML is more user-friendly, it also provides better security for data stored within the app. The app’s security is enhanced further by having the database encrypted through the LDAP integration.



Because the application is intended for use by different establishments and in different countries, it has to be easily scaled to fit the needs of every client. We have achieved a high level of scalability thanks to the simplicity of the app’s architecture and the option to quickly change all the needed information (i.e. patients’ data, questions in the survey, etc.) in the backend. In order to tailor the app for the needs of an individual client in terms of UI, we used React and React Native.





 





 

Results



Together with Kandasoft, SoftTeco developed a user-friendly and efficient solution that is fully compliant with HIPPA and can be easily scaled and applied to any medical facility. We are glad that we can support the healthcare sector during the crisis and we will continue expanding the application’s functionality and providing further support and maintenance services.





 







 



 




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### Caajoo

Caajoo



A freelance marketplace to connect clients & local service providers







Type



Mobile





Industry



Communication





Country



Saudi Arabia




 





 

Highlights




Built-in notifications and live chat



Location identification to see requests from service seekers nearby



Request ranking system based on urgency



System of verified ratings



Instantly switching between user roles






 





  









 

Challenge



Our client, based in Saudi Arabia, was looking for an efficient way to connect customers with service providers. Taking into account the demand for various services in the area, the client needed an efficient and user-friendly solution that would allow finding the necessary service provider with a few taps only.



SoftTeco was requested to develop a product that would connect customers with local service providers, ensure smooth communication between them without any extra commission, and guarantee security of data and transactions. Thus, our team had to pay special attention not only to the functionality of the app but also to its security and data storage.





 





 

Solution



Using Swift and Kotlin, we developed a smart application with comprehensive functionality for both platforms. A customer can post a request and get price quotes from different service providers. To help the customer with making the right choice, profiles of service providers and reviews are available for revision. GPS function helps to find a freelancer in the adjacent area and allows to choose a prospect based on the placed preferences. The application is a handy tool for freelancers too, as it quickly allows finding a job along with receiving interesting requests without paying a fee.





 





 

Tech Stack





Android & iOS app




Swift



Kotlin



Java








 





  









 

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Results



The application was released on time, following the initial agreement with a client. SoftTeco is still working on the application’s modification and adding new features.





 







 



 




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### Beeguard

Beeguard



An AI-based beehive tracking system







Type



Mobile, ML





Industry



Agriculture




 





 

Highlights




A mobile application with a clear and intuitive user interface



Smart beehive inspection powered by Machine Learning



Advanced data processing in the cloud



File manager pluginObject recognition technology for calculating the bees population in the hive for easy document upload and sharing




Challenge



At SoftTeco, we constantly strive to keep up with the newest technologies in order to remain competitive and offer our clients top-notch solutions. With this in mind, we decided to independently grow expertise in Machine Learning and came up with an ML-powered app for calculating the number of bees in the beehive and building forecasts of the bee population growth and its overall well-being. The biggest challenge was to get the right expertise in object recognition, object detection and correct object classification. At the same time, we were learning how to properly collect the data, process it and create valid datasets for the model.



We chose beehive management due to a number of reasons. First, SoftTeco is a member of the UN Global Compact organization and has a strong focus on sustainability and the monitoring of bee populations has a big impact on our environment. Second, we have experienced beekeepers in our team that would undoubtedly benefit from our solution. After defining the project and its goal, the working canvas for SoftTeco team looked as following:




Definition of project objectives and goals



Data processing



Implementation of the model



Development of the app



Selection of right tools



ML model development



Testing and monitoring






 





  









 

Solution



BeeTrack is an AI-powered application that uses computer vision to accurately count the number of bees in the hive. As well, the solution can build intuitive and clear charts and graphs so the user can easily track the dynamics of the hive’s growth and its well-being. SoftTeco solved many ML-related issues before developing the application. The team was responsible for every process involved in the project: from defining the product’s architecture to data labeling and neural network training. This helped us significantly grow expertise in Machine Learning and deliver a fully functioning product as the end result.



Tech Stack





Backend




PyTorch



Google Cloud Platform



YOLOv3



DigitalOcean



Python






Mobile




iOS



Swift








 





  









 

How it works



Neural Model Training



Before starting to work with the data and neural networks, the SoftTeco team designed a robust product architecture. The architecture consists of three parts: an application, a server and a cloud. When building the architecture, we made sure all of its components interact with each other in a frictionless manner and that the system is scalable and suitable for future app growth.



For successful model training, SoftTeco developers worked with the data closely. The team took care of all data-related tasks: data mining (including data search and labeling) and data processing. It also took 2000 epochs to train the neural network and receive accurate results upon testing



Application Development



SoftTeco developed a user-friendly iOS application for beekeepers to keep track of their bees and monitor the hive well-being based on the data.



One of the biggest advantages of using the SoftTeco application is the amount of time saved for every inspection. The traditional manual inspection can take up to 1 hour for a single beehive. By using the BeeWell app, a beekeeper can perform an inspection of a hive in 10 minutes or less.



This was achieved due to the automation of the photo-taking process. The application is capable of independently identifying the frame and taking the picture with the best focus to optimize the image recognition results.



The team used Swift5 to build the iOS mobile application. As well, Swift5 was used to develop analytics that visualizes the beehive inspection results in the form of clear charts and graphs.



The app allows users to take photos of their beehives, then sends them directly to the server and returns the inspection results. In the near future, the SoftTeco team plans to add extra functionality to the application to make inspections more advanced and comprehensive.





 





 

Results



SoftTeco successfully developed an AI-powered mobile application for the iOS platform to help beekeepers take better care of their beehives. Our team continues to work on the app and optimize it in order to grow own skills and introduce the product to the international market.





 





 

Need a high-performing solution to augment your business?



Let SoftTeco handle your tech challenges and design a software solution tailored precisely to your unique requirements. 





Request a quote



 







 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### MomenZ

MomenZ



A personal assistant in finding nearby restaurants with discounts







Type



Web, Mobile





Industry



HoReCa





Country



Germany




 





 

Highlights




Integrated map with advanced filtering



Secure protection of the MomenZ card



Smart recommendations based on the users’ past visits



Configurable push notifications




Challenge



Many eateries in Europe experience downtime at certain hours. Our client decided to resolve this issue and help the restaurants generate more profit by connecting the restaurants that are in an idle state with the customers who are ready to visit them for a discount.



The main idea was to create a physical card that would grant customers access to available discounts across different establishments. In order to get this card and find suitable restaurants nearby, a customer would need to use a website or a mobile application. This is where SoftTeco stepped in and helped the client realize his idea.





 





  









 

Do you have a similar challenge?



Contact us and let’s discuss how SoftTeco can help your business grow through the power of innovation and digitization.





Let's get started



 





 

Solution



MomenZ is a platform that connects restaurants that offer special discounts with the MomenZ cardholders. A MomenZ card can be purchased either on a website or via a mobile application and is valid for one user and on one mobile device only. In order to prove that he is a MomenZ user, a customer should demonstrate either a physical card or the digital one to an employee in a restaurant.



There are different purchase plans available: one month free trial, monthly subscription (for the annual membership) or a one-time payment for the annual membership. As well, there is an option of gifting a MomenZ card to a person - in this case, the sender can choose a period to pay for a gift card (one month only or annual subscription).



Both the website and the mobile application have an integrated map and an option of advanced filtering to help the customers quickly find a restaurant of choice in the nearby area. As well, the service uses the customers’ history data to automatically provide the most relevant recommendations and display them on a map.





 





 

Tech Stack





iOS app




Swift



Alamofire



Stripe



Google Maps






Android app




Kotlin



Retrofit 2



Dagger 2



RxJava 2



Glide



Room database



Google Maps






Frontend




React JS



CSS module



Sass



Webpack



Yarn



Reselect



Intl



Google Maps



Ant Design



Moment






Backend




Spring



PostgreSQL



Java



Stripe and DaoPay



AWS



Digital Ocean








 





  









 

How it works



SoftTeco developed a platform that consists of two parts: the admin panel and the user interface. The system runs on both desktop and mobile (iOS and Android) platforms.



In the admin panel, the admin can configure discounts, set up push notifications, activate and deactivate users’ cards, publish and edit the information about the restaurants and the users’ reviews. The user panel allows MomenZ users to search the map for the eateries, see available discounts, leave reviews, and purchase a MomenZ card.



One of the interesting features of the platform is its enhanced security and strict validation of the MomenZ cards. The client wanted each card to be valid for one user only, without an option to share it with other customers. To do this, our team implemented a feature of adding one card to one mobile device only. In case the user attempts to log in to his account from the second device, the app will not display their MomenZ digital card while all the other features will still be available.





 





  









 

The system can analyze the users’ past visits and, based on this analysis, provide relevant recommendations and display them on the map. Another great feature that the SoftTeco team implemented is configurable push notifications. For example, if there is a suitable restaurant nearby that corresponds to the user’s interests, the system will notify the user and suggest visiting it. The admin can also configure notifications to be sent at certain hours or on other conditions. To realize this feature, the team used geolocation technology.



Considering that the majority of the application users are based in Europe, we made sure to integrate multiple payment methods that are familiar to the European customers: Visa, Mastercard, SEPA, PayPal, Klarna, Sofort Überweisung. As well, the application supports both German and English languages.



Results



SoftTeco developed a user-friendly platform that connects eateries with the customers in an efficient manner and clear manner. The solution brings benefits both to the customers by allowing them to enjoy the discounts and to the restaurants that start seeing a higher number of customers and hence, bigger revenue.



SoftTeco team was grateful for being able to participate in such a robust and ambitious project and is currently working on the functionality expansion and adaptation of the product for new markets.





 







 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Impressum

Impressum




JSC "SoftTeco LT"




Trade Mark Registration Certificate № 018677728



82 Laisves al., Kaunas, 44250, Lithuania



Company code: 305913947



VAT code: LT100014600714




+370 633 12233



info@softteco.com



softteco.com




Managing Director



Tauras Justinas Janickas



 





 

		
						
						
					
			
						
				
					

 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Healthcare Software Development Services

Healthcare Software Development Services





Tap into better patient care and optimization of your daily processes with SoftTeco - a trusted custom healthcare software development company. We design state-of-art solutions for healthcare organizations and end users and always keep focus on security and performance.





Estimate my project








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 






 

Our Custom Healthcare Software Development Services 





Consulting



SoftTeco can help you determine the most optimal software solution for your medical organization by conducting a thorough analysis of available resources and of your business goals.





Healthcare Software Development



We develop high-performing and secure software solutions in full correspondence with the industry best practices, so you bring maximum value to your organization and your patients.





Legacy Healthcare Software Optimization



SoftTeco can revamp your legacy software to boost its performance and security. If needed, we offer cloud migration and will take care of all needed integrations.





Healthcare Software Integration



Augment your existing software with innovative technologies and let SoftTeco take care of the integration process. We will ensure that all your systems work smoothly and in unison.



 





 

We Provide Healthcare Software Development Services For:

 










Healthcare Organizations



Our medical software development company offers a variety of healthcare software development services to help healthcare providers optimize their processes and implement better patient care.











Pharmaceutical Companies



SoftTeco’s use of innovative technologies allows pharmaceutical companies to better manage their drug development, clinical trials, and production processes.  











Medical Device Manufacturers



We can augment your patient and hospital-grade medical devices by deploying innovative technologies and introducing embedded systems to your existing software.











Biotech Companies



SoftTeco offers its experience and knowledge to biotechnology companies to empower their current processes and software and benefit from cutting-edge solutions.






 

1 / 4









 





 

Your next-gen healthcare software is waiting for you. Let us know what you need and we will take care of putting your idea into action.





Request a quote



 





 

Healthcare Software Solutions That We Offer



SoftTeco offers a variety of healthcare software solutions for both medical professionals and patients. We design every solution with great care and always focus on security being our top priority during the development process.













01 / 06



EMR/EHR Software



SoftTeco designs EMR and EHR software to help healthcare facilities manage patient records in a more efficient manner and increase transparency and interoperability across the departments. 



Full patient history, including prescriptionsPatient data collection from various sourcesAutomatic reminders and appointment schedulingSmooth data transfer between EHR systems





02 / 06



mHealth



We develop mobile healthcare applications and mobile versions of your existing software to bring your patients closer and assist your personnel with their daily operations.



Remote patient monitoring and consultingAppointments management and schedulingIntegration with needed third-party systemsCustomizable reminders and alerts





03 / 06



Healthcare CRM Platforms



SoftTeco designs high-performing CRM systems to help you better manage your interactions with patients, vendors, suppliers, and employees.



Automation of sales and marketing processesImproved task management and collaborationAdvanced reporting and analyticsBetter document management





04 / 06



Patient-Centered Software



We create user-centric software solutions to bring your patients closer and enable them to receive needed medical services in a user-centric and reliable manner.



Telemedicine applicationsPatient portals with real-time communicationWellness and lifestyle applicationsDisease management and monitoring





05 / 06



Medical Imaging and Laboratory Software



We use advanced technologies such as computer vision and Artificial Intelligence to augment your processes and bring more accuracy and clarity to them.



Medical image analysisIn Vitro diagnosticsManagement of lab processesManagement of medical images





06 / 06



Hospital Management Software



SoftTeco helps hospitals create a robust IT ecosystem by incorporating advanced technologies into existing software and updating legacy systems for better performance and security.



Advanced supply chain managementInventory, asset, and medication managementBilling and document managementSmart resource planning



 






 

Innovative Technologies That SoftTeco Deploys

 































 

Machine Learning Artificial IntelligenceRobotic Process AutomationComputer VisionInternet of ThingsAugmented Reality




1 / 6 










 






 

Our Healthcare Software Development Process




01
Discovery



The discovery phase is a crucial foundation in software development. It aims to understand the end-user, clarify project goals, and identify risks. At SoftTeco, we prioritize this phase by conducting comprehensive client interviews to gain deep insights into their needs, objectives, and expectations.




02
Planning and Requirements Collection



Our next step towards creating great healthcare software is careful planning and analysis of your project requirements. At this stage, we will define the project scope, analyze potential risk and develop a corresponding risk management strategy, and analyze the market to present you with the most competitive solution.




03
Architecture and Design



When working on the architecture of your solution, we always remain focused on scalability and reliability, as we want to ensure the product will be able to scale. As for design, our UX/UI team will create strong and attractive visuals to make your product appealing for target users.




04
Prototyping



Our design team can create low and high fidelity prototypes, so you can better understand how a product will look and function. We also offer MVP development that will allow you to test your idea with real users and collect their feedback for further improvements.




05
Development



The development stage implies project delivery in full accordance with defined milestones and time estimates. During this stage, we can also perform all needed integrations, so the product works smoothly in conjunction with your existing software.




06
Testing



SoftTeco always performs continuous testing throughout the whole development process by using both automated and manual testing methods. In this way, we are able to detect any issues and vulnerabilities at an early stage and minimize errors during the product release. 




07
Support and Maintenance



SoftTeco offers support and maintenance as part of our medical software development services to help you manage the product after its launch. We offer employee training, end-user training, and product maintenance to make sure everything functions as intended.













 





 

Compliances

 



 

HIPAA



SoftTeco designs its healthcare software solutions in full compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA. This act aims at protecting sensitive patient information and requires obligatory compliance from all software products used and distributed in the US. To ensure HIPAA compliance, we follow security best practices that help us maintain the needed level of security of our software products.





GDPR



The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the toughest privacy and security law worldwide and is aimed at data protection and privacy. To be GDPR-compliant, software companies need to ensure maximal security of the data that they process and store. SoftTeco effectively follows the needed security policies to maintain compliance with the act.





HITECH



Since the HITECH Act promotes the meaningful use and deployment of health information technologies, SoftTeco follows the lead and assists healthcare facilities in effective and smooth adoption of digital innovations.

 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Healthcare Software Development Company?





01



High Level of Security



As an ISO 27001-certified company, SoftTeco prioritizes the security of our clients’ information and of all software products that we deliver. By following security best practices required by the industry, we make sure that our solutions meet all needed regulations.





02



Rich Experience



Being in the IT industry since 2008, our custom healthcare software development company has gained rich experience in delivering high-performing and scalable healthcare software. We offer unparalleled skills and expertise and always explore new technologies that we can use for our clients’ benefit.





03



Speed of Delivery



At SoftTeco, we set up all our processes in a highly organized manner to avoid downtime and to meet all defined deadlines. As a result, we combine high quality of our software development services for healthcare with high speed of delivery, thus always meeting and exceeding client expectations.





04



Flexibility



We offer various engagement and pricing models so our clients can select the most suitable option in accordance with their technical needs and budget. We also work by different development methodologies that we select based on your project needs.



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									Working with SoftTeco was an enjoyable experience as we had zero communication issues and everything was delivered right on time and exactly as I envisioned.
								
								
									
										Co-Founder and CTO, Visionary.ai
									
									
										Yoav Taieb
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Smart mirror



Innovative dental exam solution




  




iOS



Android



Web













VisitorAccess



Visitors management system for medical facilities




  




iOS



Android



Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### IoT Development Services

IoT Development Services





With over 15 years of experience in software development, SoftTeco offers full-fledged IoT development services across a wide range of industries and domains. Take full advantage of our 360-degree Internet of Things expertise to optimize your business workflows and deliver highly customized products.





Request a consultation








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 






 

SoftTeco's IoT Software Development Services




Consulting




We offer a consulting service to evaluate business needs and requirements of the IoT system or to resolve problems associated with the Internet of Things solutions. To fulfill this, our consultants are ready to undertake the following activities:




Project planning: time, cost, and ROI estimation



Software planning



Outlining solution architecture



Selecting a tech stack



Developing a data security strategy







Solution Implementation




SoftTeco offers a successful Internet of Things solution implementation tailored to the client's requirements and needs. Our software, system, and circuit engineers create a detailed IoT implementation plan that includes:




Designing architecture



Selecting the right software



Integration and configuration of software



Quality assurance and security testing



After-launch support and evolution




 





 

Industry-Specific IoT Solutions That We Deliver



We provide custom Internet of Things development services to businesses from a broad range of industries of varying complexity. Our specialists analyze each industry's current requirements to deliver an IoT solution to help your business succeed.

 




 

Healthcare





Remote patient monitoring apps 



Glucose monitoring 



Automated medical climate control



Smart home care 



Optimization of hospital operations



 



 

Smart Homes & Cities





Automated adjusting of street lighting 



Video surveillance 



Automated control of energy usage



Fire alarm systems



Smart heating



 



 

Automotive





Remote vehicle diagnostics



Fleet management & monitoring



Real-time vehicle tracking



Planning of transportation routes



Connected vehicles 



 



 

Manufacturing





Track inventory status in real time



Equipment management



Overall equipment effectiveness tracking



Employee health and safety monitoring



Product quality management



 



 

Retail





Smart shelves tracking product stock 



Delivery operations with sensors



Warehouse automation 



In-store traffic control 



Traffic analysis and mapping of mall shoppers



 



 

Sports





Smartwatch and fitness tracker apps 



Monitoring football training apps



Facility and venue management apps



Health tracking apps for athletes



Tracking connected sport equipment 



 



 

Education





Student attendance management 



Tracking learning progress



Monitoring students’ activities 



Temperature control in premises



E-learning 



 













1 / 7 






 

Harness the power of our experience in full-fledged IoT development services to leverage the benefits of IoT technology and stand out from your competitors.





Get in touch



 





 

Our Internet of Things Development Services

 



 

IoT App DevelopmentWearable App DevelopmentEdge Computing SetupData Center ImplementationIoT Device Management and Network CreationData AnalyticsQA and TestingIoT Device Management and Support

 

IoT App Development



SoftTeco offers IoT application development services to help companies remotely control their IoT devices from anywhere. Our developers build top-notch mobile apps with great user experience, high-speed load, and an ability to handle huge amounts of user data. We also provide the following services:




Remote control of application configuration



Integration of applications with devices



Mobile and web app development



Cross-platform compatibility


 





 

Wearable App Development



SoftTeco offers end-to-end app development for wearable devices across various platforms. Right from the creation of a robust backend infrastructure to API integration, we build wearable apps that fulfill your product vision with seamless user experiences. Our expertise involves:




Smartwatch app development



Fitness tracking app development



Android or iOS-based wearable app development



Maintenance and support of existing applications


 





 

Edge Computing Setup



SoftTeco offers an edge computing setup service for devices to ensure low latency and rapid data offload times. With it, businesses can manage multiple access points and save data storage by processing data in real time. Our expertise includes:




Creating an edge infrastructure 



Grouping devices through an edge device



Setting up analytics and reporting tools



Handling edge runtimes and modules


 





 

Data Center Implementation



With SoftTeco's data center implementation service, companies can manage massive data volumes generated by their devices. Our experts ensure that your data center continues to meet your organization's needs as your IoT infrastructure expands. Our service provides:




Implementing an IoT data center plan



Data center design and architecture



Software installation and configuration



Data center integration and testing


 





 

IoT Device Management and Network Creation



SoftTeco offers a device network creation and management service to build and maintain the network and connect devices to the cloud and other devices. It allows companies to collect, process, and analyze data in real-time more efficiently. This service focuses on:




Choosing of suitable Internet of Things devices



Designing network architecture



Setting up devices and networking them



IoT devices monitoring and diagnostics


 





 

Data Analytics



To help companies capitalize on valuable data on multiple devices, SoftTeco offers a data analytics service. Our specialists collect, structure, and contextualize the devices' data in real-time to analyze and transform it into business insights. We also provide:




Data visualization web and mobile apps



Various visualization methods



Customized reports for data by user role



Customizable data visualization


 





 

QA and Testing



Testing is crucial for ensuring the quality and reliability of connected devices. At SoftTeco, we perform tests on devices, software solutions, and the entire ecosystem to ensure your IoT solution's security, functionality, and performance. Also, we offer:




Validation of protocols, platforms and their interoperability



Verification of IoT requirements and architecture



Performing regular code reviews and unit testing



Automate testing


 





 

IoT Device Management and Support



To ensure that IoT devices work properly, the network performs well, and the data processing is performed accurately, rely on SoftTeco. Our device management and support service ensures your devices operate efficiently and securely, maximizing ROI. It includes:




Fixing data quality issues



App availability and usage issues



Identifying and fixing network, server, and app vulnerabilities



Adding new features to applications


 



 



 



IoT App Development








SoftTeco offers IoT application development services to help companies remotely control their IoT devices from anywhere. Our developers build top-notch mobile apps with great user experience, high-speed load, and an ability to handle huge amounts of user data. We also provide the following services:




Remote control of application configuration



Integration of applications with devices



Mobile and web app development



Cross-platform compatibility







Wearable App Development 








SoftTeco offers end-to-end app development for wearable devices across various platforms. Right from the creation of a robust backend infrastructure to API integration, we build wearable apps that fulfill your product vision with seamless user experiences. Our expertise involves:




Smartwatch app development



Fitness tracking app development



Android or iOS-based wearable app development



Maintenance and support of existing applications







Edge Computing Setup








SoftTeco offers an edge computing setup service for devices to ensure low latency and rapid data offload times. With it, businesses can manage multiple access points and save data storage by processing data in real time. Our expertise includes:




Creating an edge infrastructure 



Grouping devices through an edge device



Setting up analytics and reporting tools



Handling edge runtimes and modules







Data Center Implementation








With SoftTeco's data center implementation service, companies can manage massive data volumes generated by their devices. Our experts ensure that your data center continues to meet your organization's needs as your IoT infrastructure expands. Our service provides:




Implementing an IoT data center plan



Data center design and architecture



Software installation and configuration



Data center integration and testing







IoT Device Management and Network Creation








SoftTeco offers a device network creation and management service to build and maintain the network and connect devices to the cloud and other devices. It allows companies to collect, process, and analyze data in real-time more efficiently. This service focuses on:




Choosing of suitable Internet of Things devices



Designing network architecture



Setting up devices and networking them



IoT devices monitoring and diagnostics







Data Analytics 








To help companies capitalize on valuable data on multiple devices, SoftTeco offers a data analytics service. Our specialists collect, structure, and contextualize the devices' data in real-time to analyze and transform it into business insights. We also provide:




Data visualization web and mobile apps



Various visualization methods



Customized reports for data by user role



Customizable data visualization







QA and Testing








Testing is crucial for ensuring the quality and reliability of connected devices. At SoftTeco, we perform tests on devices, software solutions, and the entire ecosystem to ensure your IoT solution's security, functionality, and performance. Also, we offer:




Validation of protocols, platforms and their interoperability



Verification of IoT requirements and architecture



Performing regular code reviews and unit testing



Automate testing







IoT Device Management and Support








To ensure that IoT devices work properly, the network performs well, and the data processing is performed accurately, rely on SoftTeco. Our device management and support service ensures your devices operate efficiently and securely, maximizing ROI. It includes:




Fixing data quality issues



App availability and usage issues



Identifying and fixing network, server, and app vulnerabilities



Adding new features to applications



 






Our Tech Stack & Verified Expertise



As an IoT software development company, our engineers use the most proven technologies and have rich expertise in them to align with business goals and successfully complete the project. Our Internet of Things tech stack consists of:




Languages




C/C++



Python



Ruby



JavaScript



Java






Platforms




Google Cloud 



Microsoft Azure 



Amazon Web Services (AWS)






Sensors 




Analog



ADC



1-Wire



RF433






Protocols




Bluetooth



HTTP/HTTPS



MQTT



AMQP



BLE



NFC



DALI



Wi-Fi



ZigBee




2G/3G/4G/LTE/5G







 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your IoT Software Development Company?



Over 15 years of experience in IoT software development servicesISO 27001 certification for solid data security and managementISO 9001 certification for quality management systemCertified software developers and BIsCompliance with HIPAA, GDPR, etc.In-depth QA testing prior to go-liveFast time-to-marketA transparent and personalized approach

 





 

Features Projects







View all cases

 



 







C2 SmartLight



A system for managing smart outdoor lighting solutions




  




Web













Evoz



Advanced solution for baby monitoringand activity tracking




  




iOS



Android



Web



 





 

Client Testimonials




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco knows how to provide a good match of candidates to our professional and personal/cultural requirements. I highly recommend SoftTeco for anyone who is looking for a good partner to grow their organization with.
								
								
									
										СTO, Be the Bank
									
									
										Koby Ben Yechiel
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

FAQ



 





 

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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Software Maintenance and Support

Software Maintenance and Support



At SoftTeco, we understand the importance of reliable and efficient software support services for ensuring the smooth operation of your applications. Our team of experienced professionals is dedicated to providing comprehensive support throughout the entire software lifecycle.



Request a consultation



 





 




300




  





Customers worldwide






17




  





Years on the market






500




  





Employees






450




  





Successful projects



 





 

Software Maintenance and Support Services That SoftTeco Offers













01 / 06



SLA Driven Software Support



SoftTeco offers infrastructure maintenance and support, all supported by a comprehensive SLA. Trust us to meet your business needs, thus ensuring network uptime, speed, and exceptional customer service availability. Our commitment is to provide the necessary support to ensure the seamless and efficient operation of your business.





02 / 06



App Maintenance & Support



SoftTeco will proactively monitor and manage your web or mobile applications, identifying and resolving issues before they impact your business. Our dedicated team of professionals is available round-the-clock to provide timely support and assistance, ensuring minimal disruption to your operations. 





03 / 06



Errors & Glitch Removal



Our experienced team is well-versed in handling a wide range of issues, from logical and coding errors to design flaws. We at SoftTeco understand that every error and glitch can have a significant impact on your business, which is why we prioritize fast and efficient solutions.





04 / 06



Security Compliance Review



Our specialists conduct regular and scheduled checks on application functionalities and compliance standards to ensure a seamless process and help you maintain the highest level of security and regulatory compliance. SoftTeco will implement necessary measures to keep your information safe from potential threats. 





05 / 06



Performance Monitoring



Leverage the expertise of SoftTeco to conduct a thorough analysis of your processes. Our team of expert quality analysts will provide valuable insights and recommendations for any necessary modifications to meet your technical requirements.





06 / 06



Modification & Reconfiguration



At SoftTeco, we examine your existing software and implement necessary modifications to ensure smooth operating functions. Our team will make necessary adjustments to data formats, utility modifications, hardware configurations, and operating system integrations to ensure a stable operating process. 



 





 

Are you tired of dealing with software issues that disrupt your business operations? SoftTeco is here to assist you in resolving any software-related problems you may encounter! With our 24/7 software maintenance and support services, you can rest assured that your software will be taken care of.





Learn more



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Software Maintenance Company



With SoftTeco’s software maintenance and support services, you can expect:





01



Prompt Response and Resolution of Issues



Our software support services are available 24/7. SoftTeco is dedicated to providing prompt responses to any issues you may encounter. With our quick turnaround time, you can minimize downtime and keep your business running smoothly.





02



Proactive Monitoring and Regular Maintenance



As an experienced software maintenance company, SoftTeco ensures that any potential issues are identified and resolved before they impact your business. Our regular maintenance schedule guarantees that your software is always up-to-date and optimized for peak performance.





03



Expert Troubleshooting and Technical Support



Our team of experienced professionals is ready to assist you with any troubleshooting or technical support you may need. With more than 15 years in the IT industry, SoftTeco has extensive knowledge and expertise, so we can quickly identify and resolve any issues, saving you time and resources.





04



Regular Software Updates and Enhancements



SoftTeco is committed to providing you with the latest software updates and enhancements to ensure that your software is always up-to-date and secured. Our team conducts regular code reviews and performance audits to identify areas for optimization and enhancement. 





05



Adherence to Industry Best Practices 



Working with various industries throughout the years, our specialists can easily adhere to the best practices and standards of your field. SoftTeco will make sure that your software meets the highest quality and security standards. 



 





 

Our Software Maintenance And Support Approach



SoftTeco offers a comprehensive and efficient software maintenance and support approach to ensure the smooth operation and longevity of your software applications.

 



 



Requirements Collection





ProgramAnalysis





Maintenance Proposal





Infrastructural Stability Evaluation





Testing





Release and Reporting



 



 



Requirements Collection



We start by understanding your specific requirements and goals to tailor our maintenance and support services accordingly. This helps us provide targeted solutions and address your unique needs.





Program Analysis



Our experts thoroughly analyze your software application to identify any vulnerabilities, errors, or performance issues. We then develop a plan to optimize your software and enhance its overall performance.





Maintenance Proposal



Based on the analysis, SoftTeco provides you with a detailed maintenance proposal that outlines the necessary steps to improve your software's stability, security, and functionality. This proposal includes estimated timelines and costs, ensuring transparency and effective planning.





Infrastructural Stability Evaluation



SoftTeco evaluates the infrastructure supporting your software to ensure its stability and scalability. This evaluation helps us identify any potential risks or limitations and implement necessary measures to enhance the overall infrastructure.





Testing



Our team conducts rigorous testing to identify and fix any errors or issues that may affect the performance or user experience of your software. This ensures that your software is reliable, secure, and fully functional.





Release and Reporting



Once the necessary improvements and fixes have been implemented, SoftTeco releases the updated version of your software. Additionally, we provide regular reports to keep you informed about the progress, performance, and any ongoing maintenance activities.



 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Blueprint



A SaaS-based business intelligence solution




  




Web













RoadLab



Autonomous Road Roughness Measuring app for World Bank




  




iOS



Android



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									Despite the challenges that arise in any collaborative project, SoftTeco’s team has consistently been solution-oriented, agile in their response to change, and steadfast in their commitment to service excellence. Their customer service and client support have also been outstanding. We have always felt valued as a partner and any concerns are addressed promptly. In conclusion, our experience with SoftTeco has been highly positive, and I confidently recommend them as a reliable and proficient resourcing company. They have been an integral partner in our business operations, and I am looking forward to our continued collaboration.
								
								
									
										CIO, Communications International Group
									
									
										Pete Robbins
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Tech stack

 







 

Related Articles



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
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FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Supersapiens

Supersapiens



An energy management system for athletes







Type



Web, Mobile





Industry



Sports & Lifestyle





Country



USA




 





 

Highlights




Real-time glucose data monitoring and processing



Immediate detection of glucose level changes and push notifications



Integration with biometric sensors via Bluetooth



Integration with external devices






 





  









 

Challenge



A client who was interested in science and sports came up with an idea to create a professional application for athletes to track their glucose levels. Hence, the client team up with the in-house development team to create a website and a mobile application from scratch. This is how the client approached SoftTeco and our company gladly accepted the challenge.



Solution



Supersapiens is a mobile application (both on iOS and Android) that is linked to a biometric sensor. While the biosensor collects real-time data on one’s glucose levels, the application helps athletes measure and maintain the effectiveness of their nutrition during training and competition by monitoring their glucose. The app is also integrated with external systems such as Garmin, TrainingPeaks, and Apple Health. The product also has a user-friendly website that provides full information on the product to users.





 





  









 

Tech Stack





Backend




Java



Spring






Frontend




React






Mobile




Kotlin



Swift






Cloud Solutions




AWS






How it works



The SoftTeco and the client’s teams created a multifunctional website and high-performance iOS and Android mobile applications from scratch. We began with the Android development and soon started working on the iOS application. The application connects to the Abbott Libre Sense sports as well.



The application connects to the Abbott Libre Sense sports glucose biosensor via Bluetooth. The biosensor collects real-time measurements of one’s glucose levels and then displays them in the Supersapiens mobile app. With the help of the application, athletes can easily track and understand their glucose levels to avoid fatigue and know when to replenish their glucose to maintain peak performance.





 





  










 

Users can create and modify workout events in the app by using Event Analytics. They can also compare their workouts to the past results and monitor a zone of glucose efficiency over time. The application allows users to take a snapshot of glucose levels by scanning the biosensor. A Supersapiens Dashboard average glucose report helps users plan their meals based on the collected data, and use in-app messaging to share the data and reports with other users.



Together with the client’s team, SoftTeco also created a user-friendly Supersapiens website, which securely stores user data in accordance with global security standards. The website contains useful information about the integration of the app with external devices and offers an overview of the supported wearable devices. Users can select various monthly subscription plans that vary in the number of biosensors and performance patches (while the application can be downloaded for free).





 






 

Need a high-performing solution to augment your business?



Let SoftTeco handle your tech challenges and design a software solution tailored precisely to your unique requirements. 





Request a quote



 





 

Results



By working in close collaboration with the in-house team, SoftTeco delivered a highly functional mobile application and a web platform in full correspondence to the customer's requirements. Our company continues working on extending the functionality of the application, website improvements, and the addition of new integrations.





 







 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Penetration Testing Services

Penetration Testing Services





Discover vulnerabilities at an early stage with SoftTeco’s penetration testing services and prevent cyberattacks by knowing your weak areas and timely securing them.



Get started



 





 

Penetration testing, also known as pen testing, can be defined as a set of ethical hacking methods aimed at assessing the security of an organization and identifying existing vulnerabilities and their severity. It is important to state that ethical hacking is performed with an aim to learn about the system - not to steal the data or perform other malicious activities.By requesting pen testing services, you can identify risk areas in your system and assess the potential harm that they might bring. At SoftTeco, we use three penetration testing methods:

 



 

Black Box Testing





White Box Testing





Grey Box Testing





We have zero knowledge of your internal system and explore what vulnerabilities can be exploited from outside your network. This is the fastest and cheapest method, great for simulating real-life attacks.









We get full access to your IT infrastructure and all of its elements with an aim to perform a thorough testing and analysis of all components. This method is the most time-consuming but allows digging deep into your system. 









We have some knowledge of your system and will perform a more detailed testing than in the black box scenario. This method combines black box and white box testing approaches and is a perfect happy medium.





 





 

Types of Penetration Testing Services That SoftTeco Provides





External Tests



Our team will simulate an attack on the assets that are visible to people outside your organization: apps, websites, etc. The main goal of an external pen attack is to test how prone your external assets are to a cyberattack.





Internal Tests



This pen testing type simulates an attack performed by someone within an organization - by a person who has access to internal assets. In this way, SoftTeco assesses the resilience of your system to internal threats and detects vulnerabilities within.



 





 

Discover what vulnerabilities might compromise your system and timely eliminate them with SoftTeco’s penetration testing services.





Make my system secure



 





 

Discover the Range of Our Pen Test Services



To precisely pinpoint the existing vulnerabilities and accurately prioritize them, we target our pen testing services at specific parts of your system:













01 / 04



Application Pen Testing



SoftTeco performs advanced pen testing for your web and mobile applications (i.e. website pen testing) that includes code review and thorough vulnerability scanning. Once we detect vulnerabilities, we analyze how exploitable they are and what harm they might bring.





02 / 04



API Pen Testing



To ensure high security of your APIs, we apply pen testing to them and see how susceptible your APIs are to such vulnerabilities as disclosure of sensitive data, bypass of access controls, and API Mass Assignment.





03 / 04



Wireless Pen Testing



SoftTeco tests your connections (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, WLAN) to see how easily a threat agent can perform a malicious activity (like wireless sniffing or an evil twin attack) and what areas of your connections need to be secured.





04 / 04



Remote Access Pen Testing



Our team will analyze the security of your remote work by performing pen testing for your cloud, firewalls, and VPN. In this way, we will be able to identify any security flaws and provide suggestions on augmenting the system against remote attackers.



 





 

SoftTeco’s Penetration Testing Process



To achieve maximal results and help you improve the state of your cybersecurity, we follow a rigorous pen testing process that consists of several steps:




01
Preparation



Our team prepares for the upcoming pen testing by defining its scope and learning about the goals that you wish to achieve. We also discuss if you want to keep any areas of your system out of the testing scope.




02
Intelligence Gathering



During the reconnaissance stage, we gather information about the target system. Note that the gathered data will depend on the pen testing type (black box, white box, or gray box testing). We can also use either active or passive intelligence gathering.




03
Discovery



Next, SoftTeco will model potential threats and the way they will be used on a target system. This stage also involves a scan for known vulnerabilities, which can be either automated or manual (note that the latter is more suitable for discovering new vulnerabilities).




04
Analysis of Vulnerabilities



After the discovery stage, we will analyze the detected vulnerabilities and the level of their severity. Note that the team will also perform modeled attacks that might uncover more hidden vulnerabilities that were not identified by the scan.




05
Performance of an Attack



SoftTeco will simulate an attack on your system according to the previously defined plan and will try to identify entry points and the assets that these entry points provide access to. In this way, we will be able to identify the weak areas that need improvement.




06
Reporting



Once the pen testing is complete, our team will provide you with detailed reporting on the process and will list down discovered vulnerabilities and their levels of severity. We will also provide guidance on how to improve your security.













 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Penetration Testing Company?





01



Detailed Reporting



By partnering with SoftTeco, you will have all your security-related questions answered. We follow a reliable cybersecurity audit checklist and will provide detailed reports on performed penetration tests that will include information on all existing vulnerabilities, their impact on your system, and best ways to eliminate them.





02



Actionable Suggestions



Being in the IT industry since 2008, our penetration testing company is well-versed in cybersecurity and provides valuable and actionable recommendations on improving the state of your cybersecurity and eliminating the chances of attacks.





03



Saving of Costs



By timely identifying flaws in your system, you will be able to take preventive measures and prevent the possibility of an attack - which most often results in massive financial losses. In this way, you safeguard your organization and increase its reliability.



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco's exceptional service that provided seamless onboarding and top-quality engineers showing dedication to our company's goals, is an important part of our secret sauce.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, Kumba
									
									
										Amit Kadosh
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Security Testing Services

Security TestingServices





Keep your business secure with SoftTeco’s security testing services. Rely on our QA engineers and rest assured that your app and your data are safeguarded against potential attacks and threats.



Protect my software



 





 




17




  





Years in The IT Industry






500




  





Employees






300




  





Customers Worldwide






450




  





Successful Projects



 





 

Security testing is aimed at discovering vulnerabilities, risks, and threats of a software product and how prone the product is to attacks. By performing security testing, companies can eliminate the risks of unauthorized access to their IT infrastructure and sensitive data and ensure the reliability of the system and its components.The performance of security testing requires extensive skills and knowledge, so you need to delegate the process to experienced professionals. With over 15 years in the IT industry and in QA, SoftTeco offers extensive security testing services that cover all aspects of your software and help you adhere to the standards of your industry.



Software Testing Services That SoftTeco Offers

 



 



Penetration Testing





By imitating real-life cyberattacks, SoftTeco identifies flaws in your infrastructure and evaluates how malicious agents can access your apps and how much damage they might cause. We perform all-round penetration testing and provide actionable recommendations on how to make your system better protected. 



 



 



Vulnerability Assessment





As part of our cybersecurity audit checklist, we perform thorough vulnerability assessment to scan through all existing vulnerabilities in your system and categorize them by criticality. This allows our QA team to understand the state of your target system and how to manage these vulnerabilities in the most effective manner. For maximal efficiency, SoftTeco uses a combo of automated and manual tools.



 



 



Compliance Assessment





Achieving full compliance with requested regulations (such as HIPAA, GDPR, and other standards) might be challenging. SoftTeco provides compliance assessment services aimed at reviewing your policies, processes, and infrastructure and identifying any gaps and issues that need to be addressed. 



 



 



Social Engineering Testing





Security awareness of your employees is one of the core factors that impact the security state of your organization, and SoftTeco can help you test it. By imitating manipulation techniques of cyber criminals, we identify how easily your employees can be tricked into malicious actions and what aspects of security training you need to focus on.



 



 



Application Security Testing





SoftTeco will perform all-round testing of your software application, checking each of its components and ensuring the app does not provide unauthorized access and does not have critical vulnerabilities. In case we detect any, SoftTeco will provide guidelines on their management and elimination.



 



 



API Security Testing





APIs are often overlooked as a point of attack but at SoftTeco, we pay due attention to their security. We provide API security testing services to safeguard your APIs against the most common cyberattacks, including MITM (man in the middle), DDoS, or API injections. In this way, you can rest assured that your sensitive data is not compromised by weak APIs.



 



 



Red Teaming





We perform a systematical real-life cyberattack on your organization while your employees are not aware of it. The main idea behind red teaming is to achieve a specific goal (i.e., access a system) and in this way, we provide you with information about how well your organization is secured against such attacks.



 



 



Configuration Scanning





SoftTeco performs configuration scanning to identify any possible misconfigurations of your networks, software, or systems. We usually perform the scanning against the list of security best practices to timely detect any issues and recommend on the best ways of resolving them. This procedure allows to significantly improve your compliance with needed regulations.



 





 

Increase the resilience of your software and your IT infrastructure and don’t let a single vulnerability slip with SoftTeco’s security testing as a service.





Start protecting my system



 






 

Industries That We Safeguard



SoftTeco works with clients from a diverse range of industries. Discover them below:

 








 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Security Testing Company?





Reduction of Costs



By performing our security testing service, we can help you optimize operational and maintenance costs that will otherwise be spent on fixing the undiscovered bugs and issues. Our company will help you detect any vulnerabilities before the damage is done, and thus save you major financial losses that might occur from a data breach or similar issues.





Actionable Reporting



All our activities are followed by detailed reporting and actionable recommendations and guidelines. In this way, we help you not only learn about the state of your system and its existing flaws, but also understand what kind of action is required from your side to mitigate and eliminate the risks.





Swift Elimination of Risks



Security testing is usually performed before any damage is done. This approach allows early detection of risks and vulnerabilities and their timely elimination. Upon the request, SoftTeco can assist your in-house quality assurance team with vulnerability management and risk mitigation, so all threats are managed in a timely and effective manner.



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									It was refreshing to see such level of engagement from a third-party vendor and I was seriously impressed with the results of their work.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, BrandShield
									
									
										Elad Falckovitch
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Cyber Security Services

Cyber Security Services





Manage risks and safeguard your business with advanced cyber security services provided by an international IT vendor. With over 15 years of experience, SoftTeco helps businesses create trusted environments with high resilience to potential threats. 





Get started now








      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    

 






 

IT Security Servicesby SoftTeco



Any conscious organization should strive to protect not only its own assets, but also its customers and their sensitive data. Even the smallest flaw in a digital environment can lead to dire consequences, such as a data breach. 



SoftTeco offers extensive cyber security services to safeguard your organization from potential threats and to help it comply with all needed regulations (HIPAA, SOC 2, CMMC). From 360-degree analysis to threat remediation and prevention, SoftTeco will manage all aspects of cybersecurity for your company without disrupting its performance.

 





 

Cyber Security Services That SoftTeco Offers




Managed Security Services




SoftTeco can fully safeguard your business by providing an outsourced team of experts. Our managed cyber security services can help you establish a continuous improvement process while also resolving existing issues. 




Managed threat detection and response



Managed cloud security



Vulnerability management



Design of security infrastructure







Application Protection




Web and mobile applications process massive amounts of sensitive data on a regular basis. To safeguard your company and your clients, SoftTeco offers multiple services aimed at establishing effective protection against possible threats.




Continuous code review



Mobile device management



Management of cloud applications



Data encryption







Network Protection




SoftTeco offers corporate network security services to minimize the possibility of a threat and to keep your organization well-protected against malicious agents. We know how to minimize intrusion risks and augment your internal line of defense.




Firewall protection



DDoS protection



Email management



Security controls implementation







Security Assessment




We provide consulting and assessment services to better understand your cybersecurity landscape and offer a corresponding strategy. We will thoroughly test your system and network to identify areas of improvement.




Infrastructure audit



Penetration testing



Stress testing



Environment assessment 




 





 

Safeguard your business



Do not leave a single issue unattended when it comes to cybersecurity. Partner with SoftTeco to create a safe environment for your employees and clients through an elaborate security strategy. 



Safeguard my business



 









 

Engagement models





01



Managed Security Services



SoftTeco offers the design of a comprehensive security and risk management strategy that you will be able to use in the long run. With managed cyber security services, you get 24/7 monitoring and immediate response to any detected threat or vulnerability.





02



On-demand Security Services



If you have an urgent issue or simply need an assistance from a third-party provider, SoftTeco is ready to help. You can request one-time IT security services from our team, that will quickly analyze your IT environment and will propose the best-fitting solution. 



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Cyber Security Solutions Provider?



Solid securityQuick deliveryRich experience in the IT industryPitch-perfect UX/UIFast response time

 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									Working with SoftTeco was an enjoyable experience as we had zero communication issues and everything was delivered right on time and exactly as I envisioned.
								
								
									
										Co-Founder and CTO, Visionary.ai
									
									
										Yoav Taieb
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        Path to AWS Certified Security – Specialty Certification
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        What Is Threat Hunting: Understanding Proactive Cybersecurity
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
		
		
	
	

		
				
					
		
					
		
				
		

 





 

Featured projects







View all cases

 



 







COVR



Advanced cybersecurity platform for banking and retail




  




iOS



Android



Web













EasyRegister



A platform for assembling a talent pool in one secure place




  




Mobile



Web



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Mobile App Design Services

Mobile App Design Services





Attract users’ attention and increase your engagement rate with SoftTeco’s mobile app design services aimed at making your app stand out. We know that user experience starts with the first impression, and we can help you create an unforgettable one.



Request a quote



 





 

SoftTeco’s Custom App Design Services

 



 



UX Design



SoftTeco will create an intuitive and user-centric app navigation and layout to provide the ultimate user experience and frictionless user journey. For that, we follow UX best practices and always perform usability testing during the design process.













UI Design 



Our team will help your mobile app stand out by pairing creative and bold ideas with a thought-out selection of fonts, colors, and visual elements. We will help you communicate your brand identity and reach the right audience through a seamless user interface.













Logo and Icon Design



If you need to create a brand identity from scratch or feel like your product is in need of rebranding, SoftTeco will gladly help you with our app design services. Our team will carefully study your brand and your mobile solution to present you with the corresponding logo and icon design.













App Redesign



SoftTeco offers redesign services to augment your app with the latest trends and to make it adhere to users’ expectations. When performing app redesign, we retain the identity of your brand and make sure to emphasize it through captivating visuals.













01 / 04











 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									It was refreshing to see such level of engagement from a third-party vendor and I was seriously impressed with the results of their work.
								
								
									
										VP R&D, BrandShield
									
									
										Elad Falckovitch
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Make the first impression unforgettable with state-of-art mobile app design delivered by SoftTeco.



Make my app shine









 





 

Our Mobile App Design Process



To create a truly memorable experience for your users, we follow a well-crafted UX/UI design approach so every tiny aspect is taken care of.  Discover SoftTeco’s design process step by step. 




01
Discovery



The first thing we do is collecting functional and business requirements through interviews with stakeholders. At this stage, we learn about your vision and expectations, research your mobile solution, and analyze the competition.




02
Detailed Analysis



Once we collect the project requirements, we proceed to analyzing user behavior and crafting user journeys. In this way, we ensure that your app provides seamless navigation and brings value to users. At this stage, we also create user personas and storyboards.




03
Information Architecture



Our mobile application design company will create an information architecture to structure all content of your app in an organized manner and to create a product map. The information architecture will allow us to enhance user experience and avoid content cluttering.




04
Wireframe Creation



Our UX/UI team will create low and high fidelity wireframes to visualize the future look of the app and the way its elements will interact with each other. The creation of wireframes on early stages will help us make adjustments in a timely manner.




05
Prototyping



We create prototypes of your mobile application to see the product in action and identify whether it needs any changes. A prototype is an obligatory stage, either for a full-fledged mobile app or with an MVP.




06
Usability Testing



SoftTeco performs extensive usability testing to see how the app functions and looks and whether there are any bottlenecks in the user journey. We always test the app with real users to use their feedback as a base for further improvements.













 





 

Platforms That We Work With



We create captivating experiences for both native and cross-platform applications. Discover the scope of our mobile application design services:





Native App Development




iOS



Android






Cross-platform App Development




Ionic



Flutter



Xamarin



React Native




 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your Mobile Application Design Company?





Unparalleled Quality



At SoftTeco, we always follow UX/UI best practices to ensure your software product looks and performs in an excellent way regardless of the platform and the device. To achieve such results, we perform usability and A/B testing and use innovative tools to deliver truly unique experiences.





Transparent Approach



We understand how important it is to keep everyone on the same page during the project development. This is why at SoftTeco, all our processes are highly transparent, so you always know the state and progress of your project.





Rich Expertise



With 17+ years of experience, SoftTeco knows the ins and outs of good mobile design and puts all skills and knowledge into practice. We know what it takes to create a reliable and user-friendly software product, and we are highly proficient in it.





User-centric Approach



At SoftTeco, the end user is always at the center of everything. Before performing any activities, we conduct thorough research and analysis to gain deep understanding of user’s behavior and preferences.



 





 

Our Portfolio







View all cases

 



 







MomenZ



Energy Management System for Athletes




  




iOS



Android



Web













Caajoo



A system for managing smart outdoor lighting solutions




  




Web



 





 

FAQ



 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### Salesforce Professional Services

Salesforce Professional Services





SoftTeco provides comprehensive Salesforce Professional Services tailored to your CRM strategy. Our powerful cloud-based services will help you optimize all inner workflows in one place to drive sales, automate campaign activities, and provide unparalleled customer service.



Calculate Team Cost



 





 




17




  





Years of experience






450




  





Projects






300




  





Customers worldwide






500




  





Employees



 






Official Partnership With Salesforce



Due to SoftTeco's commitment to excellence in software development and IT services, it has become a Salesforce Consulting Partner. This status demonstrates SoftTeco's high level of expertise in delivering high-quality Salesforce services and solutions professionally. 



 

By earning this status, our company was approved by Salesforce as a reliable partner capable of providing secure and customized Salesforce solutions for each client. As a Salesforce Consulting Partner, we have access to advanced tools and resources, enabling us to provide more extensive Salesforce services to help businesses adopt innovative technologies and meet their far-reaching goals. 





Our certified Salesforce experts provide you with the best practices, professional guidance for Salesforce implementation, and access to its capabilities to maximize the value of the investment in Salesforce. We ensure that our clients receive tailored solutions based on their unique needs and are underpinned by exceptional customer service.

 






 

Salesforce Development Services That We Offer





Consulting



As part of our Salesforce services, we provide consulting to assist organizations in achieving their strategic goals. For this, our consultants determine the company's goals, choose the right functionality, find the best-suited solution, design a user adoption strategy, or resolve existing CRM challenges.





Integration



SoftTeco's integration service aims to efficiently connect the Salesforce platform to your business-critical systems, such as ERP, ECM, BI, and processes. Our specialists ensure smooth data flow, process automation, and unified experiences, enabling you to use Salesforce's capabilities to their fullest potential.





Implementation



We follow a structured approach to implement your organization's processes into Salesforce successfully. Our experienced team collaborates with you to analyze your business needs, set up the Salesforce platform and ensure that it is successfully deployed and integrated with all needed systems.





Customization



Each company has unique needs to improve its growth, and SoftTeco keeps this in mind. Our qualified Salesforce developers help companies fine-tune data, operations, and integrations in order to extend the platform's operational capabilities in full according to the needs of each customer.





Migration



If you need a reliable company to migrate your existing program database to the cloud, SoftTeco can help you. Our experts provide flawless and effective Salesforce legacy data migration processes to minimize disruptions and ensure high performance and maximum value from Salesforce.





Upgrade



Extending the Salesforce platform's functionality may be necessary when your organization continues to grow. SoftTeco will assist with all of these. Our upgrade service offers custom add-ons that integrate with your existing CRM and integrate technical enhancements, making it more efficient.





Custom App Development



We consider our customers' specified business, functional and system specifications to provide fully customized app development. With the help of our certified developers, we develop powerful CRM apps, allowing you to integrate them with Salesforce for a streamlined inner process flawlessly.





Support & Maintenance



We can ensure that your current Salesforce solution provides maximum value to your organization; let SoftTeco know. As a Salesforce development company, we provide ongoing support, including monitoring, feature upgrades, and resolving any operational issues.





AppExchange Development



SoftTeco provides AppExchange development customized to your business needs. Our developers build apps that include rich features, functionalities, and advanced UI design. It allows businesses to extend their customer 360 experience across any industry, department, or product promotion.







Consulting



As part of our Salesforce services, we provide consulting to assist organizations in achieving their strategic goals. For this, our consultants determine the company's goals, choose the right functionality, find the best-suited solution, design a user adoption strategy, or resolve existing CRM challenges.





Integration



SoftTeco's integration service aims to efficiently connect the Salesforce platform to your business-critical systems, such as ERP, ECM, BI, and processes. Our specialists ensure smooth data flow, process automation, and unified experiences, enabling you to use Salesforce's capabilities to their fullest potential.





Implementation



We follow a structured approach to implement your organization's processes into Salesforce successfully. Our experienced team collaborates with you to analyze your business needs, set up the Salesforce platform and ensure that it is successfully deployed and integrated with all needed systems.





Customization



Each company has unique needs to improve its growth, and SoftTeco keeps this in mind. Our qualified Salesforce developers help companies fine-tune data, operations, and integrations in order to extend the platform's operational capabilities in full according to the needs of each customer.





Migration



If you need a reliable company to migrate your existing program database to the cloud, SoftTeco can help you. Our experts provide flawless and effective Salesforce legacy data migration processes to minimize disruptions and ensure high performance and maximum value from Salesforce.





Upgrade



Extending the Salesforce platform's functionality may be necessary when your organization continues to grow. SoftTeco will assist with all of these. Our upgrade service offers custom add-ons that integrate with your existing CRM and integrate technical enhancements, making it more efficient.





Custom App Development



We consider our customers' specified business, functional and system specifications to provide fully customized app development. With the help of our certified developers, we develop powerful CRM apps, allowing you to integrate them with Salesforce for a streamlined inner process flawlessly.





Support & Maintenance



We can ensure that your current Salesforce solution provides maximum value to your organization; let SoftTeco know. As a Salesforce development company, we provide ongoing support, including monitoring, feature upgrades, and resolving any operational issues.





AppExchange Development



SoftTeco provides AppExchange development customized to your business needs. Our developers build apps that include rich features, functionalities, and advanced UI design. It allows businesses to extend their customer 360 experience across any industry, department, or product promotion.



 





 

Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!





Calculate Team Cost



 





 

Our AppExchange Development Process



At SoftTeco, we provide tailored AppExchange applications designed to help businesses gain the most from Salesforce. To ensure your solutions provides value to the targeted users and meets Salesforce's guidelines and security requirements, we offer a clear AppExchange development process: 

 





 

01



Consulting



Firstly, we define the idea of your application to ensure it will meet any enterprise objectives and requirements.





02



Planning



We conduct research on the existing AppExchange marketplace to understand competition and user needs. On this basis, we define your application's tech stack, functionalities, features, and other technical requirements.





03



Development and Integration



Our qualified developers craft the app's functionality using Salesforce's Apex programming language and Lightning Web Components (LWC) and configure its business logic. Also, we integrate your app with external systems utilizing Salesforce APIs like REST and SOAP. 





04



Testing



Next, we conduct thorough testing of the app's functionality, including unit, integration, and user acceptance testing, to ensure its quality and compatibility.

 



 

05



Security Review



To ensure your application meets Salesforce's security standards, we provide it for review.





06



AppExchange Listings



We help you publish your app on the Salesforce AppExchange platform and provide a detailed description and documentation to demonstrate your app's features and capabilities.





07



Support and Updates



We continuously monitor and address user feedback and tech issues to ensure your app runs perfectly. We also release updates and enhancements to improve your app's functionality.





 





 

01



Consulting



Firstly, we define the idea of your application to ensure it will meet any enterprise objectives and requirements.





02



Planning



We conduct research on the existing AppExchange marketplace to understand competition and user needs. On this basis, we define your application's tech stack, functionalities, features, and other technical requirements.

 



 

03



Development and Integration



Our qualified developers craft the app's functionality using Salesforce's Apex programming language and Lightning Web Components (LWC) and configure its business logic. Also, we integrate your app with external systems utilizing Salesforce APIs like REST and SOAP. 





04



Testing



Next, we conduct thorough testing of the app's functionality, including unit, integration, and user acceptance testing, to ensure its quality and compatibility.

 



 

05



Security Review



To ensure your application meets Salesforce's security standards, we provide it for review.





06



AppExchange Listings



We help you publish your app on the Salesforce AppExchange platform and provide a detailed description and documentation to demonstrate your app's features and capabilities.

 



 

07



Support and Updates



We continuously monitor and address user feedback and tech issues to ensure your app runs perfectly. We also release updates and enhancements to improve your app's functionality.

 









 

Request a project



 





 

Salesforce Domains We Hold Expertise In













01 / 07



Marketing Cloud



SoftTeco offers Marketing Cloud experience with powerful tools to create, manage, and analyze marketing campaigns across a wide variety of channels. Thus, businesses can target specific audiences with a 360˚ view of customers, create more personalized experiences, and automate and develop more profitable marketing campaigns from a single place.





02 / 07



Sales Cloud



With Sales Cloud, businesses can optimize all aspects of their sales process, such as generation of leads, prediction, and customer data management. Moreover, the cloud offers customizable graphs and reports to track sales results and identify areas for improvement, thus monitoring ROI campaigns.





03 / 07



Service Cloud



SoftTeco offers Service Cloud expertise as a CRM platform for customer service and support. Through it, agents can collaborate with customers via different channels and address their issues quickly. As a result, Service Cloud improves operations and fosters marketing relationships, leading to better customer satisfaction.





04 / 07



Community Cloud



As part of our Salesforce professional services, we have expertise with Community Cloud as a centralized platform to facilitate communication between employees, clients, and customers. Businesses can monitor and examine customer behavior to identify their needs better and develop more effective marketing and sales strategies.





05 / 07



Analytics Cloud



SoftTeco provides analytics cloud as a business intelligence (BI) platform with mobile access and data visualization features. By collecting data from diverse systems, businesses can carry out real-time analysis quickly and efficiently. As s result, businesses will be able to make smart marketing and sales decisions.





06 / 07



FSL



Our Salesforce Field Service Lightning (FSL) gives businesses a unified view of the management workforce in one place, such as customers, workforce, and products, to deliver exceptional in-house service. As a result of Field Service, it is easy to automate various processes, thus reducing the execution time and reducing human error.





07 / 07



Automotive Cloud



Our Automotive Cloud platform offers manufacturers, suppliers, and dealerships the ability to manage customer and vehicle interactions effectively. It contains an out-of-the-box data model and functionalities customized for the automotive industry, reducing overhead costs. With it, companies can manage business operations more efficiently and build customer loyalty.



 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as a Salesforce Development Company?



Certified development team: Salesforce Platform Developers I & II, Salesforce Administrator, and Salesforce Platform App Builder Over 15 years in software developmentGet end-to-end Salesforce development services Maintain Oversight & ControlFlexibility & quick time-to-marketISO 9001 Certified ProcessesA client-centered and transparent approach

 





 

Benefits of Partnering With SoftTeco's Salesforce Services











 



 




01 / 05



Excellent Customer Service




With Salesforce's extensive capabilities and features, you can deliver superior customer service, resulting in a better user experience.






02 / 05



Increased ROI




By eliminating obstacles and finding the most effective ways to elevate your processes, SoftTeco helps companies significantly grow their ROI in a short amount of time.






03 / 05



Trusted Reporting




With Salesforce, you can collect, organize, and analyze the data your business collects from analytics, social media, apps, and business software in order to make informed decisions.






04 / 05



Customized Solutions




Every business has different needs and workflows, and SoftTeco understands that. So, according to your needs, our developers create custom Salesforce solutions and integrate them with other systems that may be necessary.






05 / 05



Boosted Conversion Rates




Through omnichannel marketing campaigns, digital advertising, and CRM automation, SoftTeco will be able to assist you in increasing your conversion rates.



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco has demonstrated an exceptional level of expertise, commitment, and professionalism. Their approach to understanding our unique business needs has been meticulous, ensuring that the solutions they provide are not only tailored to our requirements but also consistently exceed our expectations. Their teams have displayed a remarkable proficiency in SDLC, providing us with top- notch talent and resources that have been pivotal to our success. SoftTeco’s staff members are not just technically skilled, but they also bring a level of enthusiasm and dedication that has greatly contributed to a positive and productive working environment.
								
								
									
										CIO, Communications International Group
									
									
										Pete Robbins
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

FAQ



 





 

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All about Salesforce Service

 




 


Salesforce Implementation​​Salesforce vs HubSpot



Salesforce automotive cloud







Salesforce Development 



SoftTeco Becomes a Salesforce Consulting Partner



How Much Does Salesforce Cost?







Salesforce Customization



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+ Show more

 





 


Calculate Team Cost



Get a free and instant team cost estimate in just 4 easy steps. Answer a few quick questions to see an approximate sum based on hourly rates and time required. Try it now!



Calculate Team Cost




 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
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### Web Development Services

Web Development Services





With +15 years of web experience, SoftTeco offers a full range of Web Development Services aimed at meeting the clients’ and global audience needs. Our developers build top-notch web solutions that are feature-rich, speedy, scalable, and compatible with a wide range of browsers and devices. You will reinforce your business' digital presence with our solutions. 



Request a consultation



 





 




450




  





Projects






17








  





Years of experience






160




  





Frontend developers






70




  





Backend developers



 





 

Web Development Services That We Offer





Web Development Consulting 



If you need to build a web solution or improve your current web presence, rely on SoftTeco. We offer consulting services ranging from detailed analysis of your product or idea, competitors and the market to building and maintaining a strong digital strategy for your business.





Website Development



Whether you're looking to revamp an existing site or build a brand new one, SoftTeco has the expertise to make in happen. With the help of our experienced developers, businesses can establish long-term relationships through visually appealing, easy-to-navigate, and fast-loading websites.





Custom Web Development



Companies can achieve their goals faster using a custom web solution, and SoftTeco can do it for you. Our custom web development service focuses on creating high-quality software to ensure that design, functionality, and features meet your needs.





Full-stack Web Development



Instead of hiring backend and frontend developers separately, companies can effectively work with both client and server sides by using SoftTeco's expertise. With our skilled full-stack developers, you will get robust web solutions as fast as possible while reducing your costs and time-to-market.





Java Web Development



If you need a trustworthy Java web development company, pay attention to SoftTeco's service. Our experienced developers create enterprise-compatible apps with high performance and scalability, making them the ideal choice for businesses with high growth prospects.





Magento Development



Use SoftTeco's expertise to create a website for any business size with unlimited functionality on the Magento platform. Our website development agency helps you build visually engaging websites with advanced customization and multiple integration capabilities to boost your business.





WordPress Development 



SoftTeco offers comprehensive WordPress development catering to unique clients' needs. Our developers use all WordPress capabilities to create an advanced and feature-rich website, making content management easy.





Drupal Development 



Are you looking for a complete suite of services that fully leverage and adapt Drupal to suit your exact requirements? With SoftTeco, you can stay one step ahead of your competitors with secure, highly customized Drupal-based web solutions.





Sitecore Web Development



Using Sitecore's .Net-based CMS with marketing automation capabilities, SoftTeco's service offers enterprise-scale web solutions. Our developers create highly customized and personalized web experiences that meet the unique demands of clients, and help them reach their digital goals faster.





Headless Web Development



Whether you're trying to streamline your web development while managing a lot of content across multiple platforms and devices, let SoftTeco help you. Our developers build flexible, highly customized websites and web apps using different frontend frameworks without affecting the content or functionality.





Frontend Development



If your purpose is to craft a stunning interface and smooth user experience without hiccups, SoftTeco can fulfill your needs. Our qualified frontend developers use React, Vue.js and Angular to implement your design web idea and ensure all interface elements work correctly.





Backend Development



With a detailed understanding of databases, backend logic, APIs, and servers, SoftTeco's development team ensures your website performs correctly. Our developers use proven technologies - Java, .Net, Node.js, PHP - and work closely with a frontend team to build well-functioning software.





Web UI/UX Design & Redesign



Whether you need to update an existing web design to keep up with industry standards, you can trust SoftTeco. Our web design and development services provide outstanding UI/UX design with consistent user experience to facilitate interaction and boost conversions.





QA and Testing



Take advantage of our QA services and testing to ensure your software runs smoothly before it goes live. Our skilled QA experts identify potential risk areas, find opportunities for improvement, and ensure that your system will function flawlessly over time.





Launch & Maintenance



After building your web app, you will need help with a successful launch and updating it as required. SoftTeco offers a painless launch and careful maintenance to address upcoming issues and keep software performance high.







Web Development Consulting



If you need to build a web solution or improve your current web presence, rely on SoftTeco. We offer consulting services ranging from detailed analysis of your product or idea, competitors and the market to building and maintaining a strong digital strategy for your business.





Website Development



Whether you're looking to revamp an existing site or build a brand new one, SoftTeco has the expertise to make in happen. With the help of our experienced developers, businesses can establish long-term relationships through visually appealing, easy-to-navigate, and fast-loading websites.





Custom Web Development



Companies can achieve their goals faster using a custom web solution, and SoftTeco can do it for you. Our custom web development service focuses on creating high-quality software to ensure that design, functionality, and features meet your needs.





Full-Stack Web Development



Instead of hiring backend and frontend developers separately, companies can effectively work with both client and server sides by using SoftTeco's expertise. With our skilled full-stack developers, you will get robust web solutions as fast as possible while reducing your costs and time-to-market.





Java Web Development



If you need a trustworthy Java web development company, pay attention to SoftTeco's service. Our experienced developers create enterprise-compatible apps with high performance and scalability, making them the ideal choice for businesses with high growth prospects.





Magento Development



Use SoftTeco's expertise to create a website for any business size with unlimited functionality on the Magento platform. Our website development agency helps you build visually engaging websites with advanced customization and multiple integration capabilities to boost your business.





WordPress Development



SoftTeco offers comprehensive WordPress development catering to unique clients' needs. Our developers use all WordPress capabilities to create an advanced and feature-rich website, making content management easy.





Drupal Development 



Are you looking for a complete suite of services that fully leverage and adapt Drupal to suit your exact requirements? With SoftTeco, you can stay one step ahead of your competitors with secure, highly customized Drupal-based web solutions.





Sitecore Web Development



Using Sitecore's .Net-based CMS with marketing automation capabilities, SoftTeco's service offers enterprise-scale web solutions. Our developers create highly customized and personalized web experiences that meet the unique demands of clients, and help them reach their digital goals faster.





Headless Web Development



Whether you're trying to streamline your web development while managing a lot of content across multiple platforms and devices, let SoftTeco help you. Our developers build flexible, highly customized websites and web apps using different frontend frameworks without affecting the content or functionality.





Frontend Development



If your purpose is to craft a stunning interface and smooth user experience without hiccups, SoftTeco can fulfill your needs. Our qualified frontend developers use React, Vue.js and Angular to implement your design web idea and ensure all interface elements work correctly.





Backend Development



With a detailed understanding of databases, backend logic, APIs, and servers, SoftTeco's development team ensures your website performs correctly. Our developers use proven technologies - Java, .Net, Node.js, PHP - and work closely with a frontend team to build well-functioning software.





Web UI/UX Design & Redesign



Whether you need to update an existing web design to keep up with industry standards, you can trust SoftTeco. Our web design and development services provide outstanding UI/UX design with consistent user experience to facilitate interaction and boost conversions.





QA and Testing



Take advantage of our QA services and testing to ensure your software runs smoothly before it goes live. Our skilled QA experts identify potential risk areas, find opportunities for improvement, and ensure that your system will function flawlessly over time.





Launch & Maintenance



After building your web app, you will need help with a successful launch and updating it as required. SoftTeco offers a painless launch and careful maintenance to address upcoming issues and keep software performance high.



 





 

Web Solutions SoftTeco Designs



As a web development firm that strives for maximal security and quality, SoftTeco adheres to ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 international standards to deliver high-quality software. Our web solutions meet clients' specific needs by providing tangible results.









Websites



We provide well-designed websites for various businesses including but not limited to ecommerce, online stories, shopping, or blogs. Our websites are visually appealing, easy to navigate, functional, and optimized for mobile and search to help companies to build trust.









Progressive Web Apps



Companies can reach a global audience with our progressive apps. We offer scalable web apps with an intuitive and consistent user experience across all devices and screen sizes to easily hold users' attention.









E-commerce



We develop e-commerce solutions for B2B and B2C businesses. With its focus on reliability and customer satisfaction, SoftTeco uses advanced tools to streamline workflows and help businesses succeed in the digital industry.









Web Portals



SoftTeco builds web portals for different audiences: customers, business partners, and employees. Our web portals provide seamless user experiences, enabling businesses to extend functionality and efficiently manage internal workflows.









CMS



We develop a dedicated CMS for the unique needs of all businesses.  It allows enterprises to expand content management capabilities, customize them for business needs, and integrate with needed systems. 







E-commerce






Progressive Web Apps





CMS







Web Portals





Websites




 





 

Rely on SoftTeco's in-depth expertise, and let us build high-quality, customer-centric, and fully functional web software to grow your business's online presence and satisfy global users.





Request services



 





 

Our Web Development Process



We offer an end-to-end web development process that is clear, efficient, and on time.

 




 

01



Discovery



SoftTeco conducts comprehensive client interviews to gain deep insights into their needs, objectives, and expectations from the final product.





02



Project Requirements



Our business analysts carefully analyze the current market, business requirements, and the targeted audience's needs to determine the website's goals and align all parties.





03



Information Architecture & Wireframing



Our designers create journey maps to visualize the user interface and create wireframes and mock-ups to determine your website's structure, content, and functionality.





04



Prototyping & UI/UX Design



Our designers create prototypes and perform early-stage UI/UX testing to show stakeholders how the final website will look and function. Then, our team focuses on creating an easy-to-use, compatible, and consistent user experience.

 



 

05



Frontend & Backend Development



Our frontend developers provide all interface elements that work correctly. In close collaboration with backend developers, we fully realize the business logic of the final solution.





06



Testing and QA



Our skilled testing QA engineers undertake comprehensive testing - cross-compatibility, performance, and usability - to ensure that software works flawlessly and will meet user requirements.





07



Launch & Maintenance



Our DevOps and engineers ensure a painless launch and provide ongoing support for efficient operation to ensure your software is bug-free and updated over time.





 





 

01



Discovery



SoftTeco conducts interviews with all stakeholders to understand your vision and business needs and performs research to understand the deliverables and objectives.





02



Project Requirements



Our business analysts carefully analyze the current market, business requirements, and the targeted audience's needs to determine the website's goals and align all parties.

 



 

03



Information Architecture & Wireframing



Our designers create journey maps to visualize the user interface and create wireframes and mock-ups to determine your website's structure, content, and functionality.





04



Prototyping & UI/UX Design



Our designers create prototypes and perform early-stage UI/UX testing to show stakeholders how the final website will look and function. Then, our team focuses on creating an easy-to-use, compatible, and consistent user experience.

 



 

05



Frontend & Backend Development



Our frontend developers provide all interface elements that work correctly. In close collaboration with backend developers, we fully realize the business logic of the final solution.





06



Testing and QA



Our skilled testing QA engineers undertake comprehensive testing - cross-compatibility, performance, and usability - to ensure that software works flawlessly and will meet user requirements.

 



 

07



Launch & Maintenance



Our DevOps and engineers ensure a painless launch and provide ongoing support for efficient operation to ensure your software is bug-free and updated over time.

 






 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







VisitorAccess



Visitors management system for medical facilities




  




iOS



Android



Web













C2 SmartLight



A system for managing smart outdoor lighting solutions




  




Web



 





 

Why Choose SoftTecoas a Web Development Services Company?





+15 years of end-to-end Web Development Services

A client-centered, transparent, and collaborative approach

Certified frontend and backend developers

An in-depth quality assurance (QA) testing prior to go-live

Ensure high quality of management and security (ISO 9001 and 27001)

Award-winning web solutions



Request a consultation



 





 

Tech stack

 







 

FAQ



 





 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
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​​    


 




 

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	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### UI Design Services

UI Design Services



With 17+ years of design experience, SoftTeco delivers high-quality UI design services to create visually appealing, engaging, and user-focused interfaces. Working with different industries and niches, we undertake projects of any complexity and help businesses attract users and turn them into loyal customers.



Request a consultation



 





 




17




  





Years on The Market






500




  





Employees






300




  





Customers Globally






450




  





Successful Projects



 





 

Why Does UI Matter So Much?



The user interface is responsible for a product's appearance, interactivity, behavior, and overall feel. It focuses on visual elements such as buttons, icons, color palettes, and visual and interactive elements that let users interact with a product. The goal of UI is to make the user's experience as easy and pleasant as possible, requiring minimal effort from the user to accomplish a desired task. An effective user interface includes the following elements:
































01 / 04



Visual Design



Refers to the overall look and feel of an interface, including colors, typography, icons, images, and layout









02 / 04



Interaction



It determines how users interact with an interface, including the design of buttons, forms, drop-down menus, sliders, and other interactive features









03 / 04



Navigation



Navigation implies how the user moves between sections or pages using an interface by designing menus and breadcrumbs









04 / 04



Responsiveness



Implies that an interface adapts to different screen sizes, including layouts, flexible grids, and touch-friendly interactions










The user interface is extremely important because users pay close attention to the visual elements of a product first. Users will stay with your product if an interface meets their expectations. Otherwise, they will move on to competitors. In the long term, a well-crafted UI will be a powerful tool to attract and convert users and establish trust among existing customers.

 





 

Our UI Design Services





Consulting



As a part of our UI design services, we provide extensive consulting and assistance. Our experts offer in-depth analysis of interface solutions, strategic recommendations, best practices, and innovative ideas to enhance usability, aesthetics, and ensure the success of your user interface.





Mobile Application Design



At SoftTeco, we understand how essential it is to capture the attention of the audience across multiple mobile devices and strive to deliver a compelling interface. We use the latest tools and guidelines to create stunning and engaging user interfaces across various devices and screen sizes.





Website Design



A visually appealing and intuitive user interface can encourage visitors to spend more time on a website and increase dwell time, and SoftTeco can help. Our experienced designers create intuitive, conversion-focused interfaces that boost user engagement and drive website traffic.





UI Redesign



If your product has an outdated or a complex user interface, and, as a result, has low conversion and retention rates, SoftTeco resolves it all. Our highly experienced designers will improve your existing visual appeal, usability, and overall user experience, resulting in a lower bounce rate.





Graphic Design



If you need a striking new logo that will make a lasting impact on your target audience, with SoftTeco's UI services, you are on track. Our graphic design services bring your ideas to life, allowing you to optimize user experience and elevate your brand presence.



 






 

Industries That We Work With

 








 

Unlock the power of our user interface design services. We blend creativity, usability, and the latest UI trends to ensure brands reflect their value and foster long-term relationships with users.





Request a solution



 





 

Our UI Design Process



At SoftTeco, we adhere to a transparent and personalized approach with each client, and UI steps may vary based on a project. We also regularly collect feedback to be on the same page with our clients to make needed changes and ultimately deliver high-quality results. Here is our typical UI workflow:




01
Review of UI Design Concepts



We start our UI process by reviewing previously created wireframes and UI concepts. It helps us understand a product's layout, structure, and functionality.




02
Comprehensive Research



We explore user needs, market trends, and competitors to build a strong foundation for design decisions. This ensures that each UI concept is data-driven and aligns with user expectations.




03
User Behavior Analysis



To better shape user-centered solutions, we examine behavior patterns and interaction habits. This process includes building detailed user profiles, mapping customer journeys, and visualizing usage scenarios to support intuitive and effective design.




04
Define Visual Style



We identify and analyze the project's requirements and stakeholders' desires to ensure a design meets their needs. We create a product's visual style based on brand identity, design standards, and the targeted audience. 




05
High-Fidelity Mockups



Once the initial design concepts are refined, we create high-fidelity mockups and wireframes to present a final vision of a product to stakeholders.




06
Interactive Prototyping



We create interactive prototypes to demonstrate visual design and user interactions. Users test a product's visual flow, transitions, and interactions to provide feedback before it is finalized.




07
Development Collaboration



Our UI designers work closely with the client's team members to collect feedback and incorporate it into design iterations. It allows us to ensure that UI aligns with user needs and project objectives.




08
Ongoing UI Maintenance



After the product is launched, we provide ongoing UI maintenance. This includes addressing design issues, updating visual assets, and constantly improving user experience.













 





 

Benefits of UI Design





01



Improved User Satisfaction



A well-executed, intuitive, and visually appealing interface ensures users have a positive experience when using a product or service. Therefore, it leads to increased user satisfaction, engagement, and conversions.





02



Boosted Conversion Rates



By paying attention to creating visual and interactive elements, companies can offer engaging and enjoyable experiences that keep users focused and ultimately increase conversions.





03



Strong Brand Identity



UI design plays a vital role in reflecting a brand identity. Consistent branding elements, color schemes, typography, and visual elements create a cohesive and recognizable brand image, making a long-lasting impression on users.





04



Competitive Edge



By prioritizing UI development, companies are more likely to stay ahead of competitors by providing a superior user experience. In turn, they will attract more users, encourage them to keep using the brand, and build long-term relationships.





05



Superior Usability



Usability is crucial for retention, satisfaction, and overall product success, and intuitive navigation with stunning user interface design elements can contribute to that success.





06



Reduced Development Costs



A well-planned user interface process can help identify potential design issues early on, reducing the need for costly and time-consuming development changes in the future.



 





 

Our Portfolio







View all cases

 



 







Gameinsight



An e-learning platform dedicated to European football




  




iOS



Android



Web













MomenZ



A personal assistant in finding nearby restaurants with discounts




  




Web



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									SoftTeco continues to be a true partner. Responsive account management providing highly skilled engineers. Highly recommended.
								
								
									
										Owner, Neptune Consulting
									
									
										John McNair
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

Why Choose SoftTeco as Your UI/UX Design Services Company?





+15 years of experience in UI design

Project delivery on-time

Have gained the trust of +200 partners

Work with brands across industries of all sizes

Cost-effective and award-winning solutions

A transparent and personalized approach

In-depth QA and usability testing prior to go-live

Use metrics to measure UI/UX success: NPS, SUS, CSAT

 





 

FAQ



 





 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
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        How To Reduce Cart Abandonment: Top UX Tips
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
		
		
	
	

		
				
					
		
					
		
				
		

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### UX Design Services

UX Design Services



SoftTeco specializes in creating a user-centered UX design to draw users at every stage of a meaningful customer journey.



Request a consultation



 





 

SoftTeco’s UX Services



With over 15 years of experience, SoftTeco offers a wide range of UX Design Services tailored to each client's individual needs. Our dedicated UX professionals constantly keep an eye on the most in-demand UX trends and put users at the center of processes to create memorable experiences. Get a tailored solution that your users will love with SoftTeco’s UX design experts.

 



 

Design from scratchRedesignUX ConsultingMobile UX DesignCross-platform UX designWeb UX DesignUX CRM Design

 

Design from scratch



During the design process from scratch, SoftTeco's designers follow a user-centric approach to create an intuitive, useful, and memorable experience. Through our expertise, we provide extensive research and analysis, rely on the most effective practices and tools, and communicate closely with stakeholders to ensure the long-term success of a project.

 





 

Redesign



If your product is underperforming, has low conversion and retention rates, or does not attract a sufficient number of users, it might be time for a redesign. With SoftTeco's Redesign Service, you can update or modify the existing design to fulfill your requirements. Our approach enables businesses to optimize user experience and eliminate issues such as bounce rates and page dwell times.

 





 

UX Consulting



SoftTeco’s UX consulting services will help you uncover hidden issues in a product to improve overall usability and reduce current costs. Our rich expertise in software usability design allows us to offer effective methods, tools, and in-depth analysis in order for businesses to make data-driven decisions for various types of designs.

 





 

Mobile UX Design



When creating user experience for a mobile app, it is essential to balance standards with individuality. Mobile design must be extremely easy to use and eye-catching at the same time. Our professional designers combine the creation of spot-on designs compatible with iOS and Android style guides to keep users coming back.

 





 

Cross-platform UX design



Focusing on the core principles of UX design and functionality, our service delivers a responsive design that runs smoothly on multiple platforms, devices, and operating systems. We adapt elements to different screen sizes, use consistent design structure and ensure accessibility for a seamless experience.

 





 

Web UX Design



An organized and coherent website can generate more leads. With SoftTeco's Web UX Design Service, you will obtain interactive web pages with easy navigation and adaptability to any browser, size, and device. Moreover, we provide rich SEO expertise for qualified traffic growth. Whatever the purpose of your website is, with SoftTeco, you'll build customer trust and increase sales.

 





 

UX CRM Design



CRM systems that are slow and difficult to use lead to low user adoption. Our designers deliver seamless and responsive online experiences that enable businesses to gain a 360-degree view of their clients and optimize sales. With a UX-focused CRM solution, you will boost revenue and have an even more significant impact on customer purchase decisions in the future.

 



 






 

Industries that We Work With

 








 

SoftTeco’s UX Design Process



We aim to create an appropriate design step-by-step to ensure client satisfaction and to match your brand style. Here is our UX design workflow:

 



 

 

Requirements collection  



Our team determines the project's goal with stakeholders based on their business, design, and technical requirements

 



 

Research



We conduct extensive research to achieve the best analytics outcomes: user research, market research, competitive research, and product research

 



 

Detailed Analysis



We collect, analyze, and determine potential user behavior patterns. Our in-depth analysis of the UX process includes creating user personas, user stories, and storyboards

 



 

Information Architecture



Our UX team provides Information Architecture (IA) to create website maps and structure content elements. Thus, you get smooth navigation through a product and enhance user experience

 



 

Sketching & Wireframing



SoftTeco’s UX designers create sketches and wireframes to visualize the basic structure of a product page: the main elements and how they fit together. Our UX experts use them to build mockups and prototypes to present a final product to clients

 



 

Prototyping



Our UX design team converts wireframes and mockups into low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes that allow stakeholders to visualize how a final product will look and function

 



 

Usability Testing



During usability testing, our UX professionals determine a system's existing and potential usability issues and obtain qualitative and quantitative data on the user experience. Designer teams test ideas internally and share prototypes with stakeholders for feedback

 






    
      
      
      
      
    
    
      
      
    
  

 





 

Enjoy bringing your idea to life with our professional UX design team, motivated to do exceptional user experience for your business.





Contact Us



 





 

What makes SoftTeco's User Experience Design Services stand out?





+15 years of experience in UX Design 





2X less time spent on UI design development





Use UX design metrics to measure design success





Work with diverse brands across different industries





Unlimited revisions and a full-fledged market launch



 





 

Featured Projects







View all cases

 



 







Supersapiens



Energy Management System for Athletes




  




iOS



Android



Web













Meek-a-moo



Interactive educational game for children




  




iOS



Android



 





 

What our clients say




						
							
								
								
							
							
								
									Their great programming skills and effective communication processes are what sets them apart from other companies. Highly motivated engineers who learn fast and deliver.
								
								
									
										Co-founder & CTO, Boutiq
									
									
										Shai Ben-Tovim
									
								
							
						
					

 





 

FAQ



 





 

Read More in Our Blog



		
						
						
					
			
						
				
			

	 
	
			
			 
    
        Product Designer vs UX Designer: Are They the Same?
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
			
			 
    
        How To Reduce Cart Abandonment: Top UX Tips
        
             
    
        
         
        
                                   
    
    
        
            					
				
											
																												
									
			
					 
         
          
            
                        						
		 
				    	    									  		 READ MORE
			  			  	    			
	                                    
        
        

                                         
		
		
	
	

		
				
					
		
					
		
				
		

 





 



 




	Start your digital transformation journey today
	
	Drop us a line via the form below or contact us at info@softteco.com and our representative will get back to you within one business day.
	
	
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
				
				
			
			
				
				
			
		
		
			
			
		
	
	
		
			
			
		
	
	
		 I agree with the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Services

### UI & UX Design Services

UI & UX Design Services



With SoftTeco’s top-notch UI/ UX design services, you will effortlessly bring your idea to life from scratch or rebuild your existing design. With 17+ years of experience, we communicate your brand’s value through engaging, intuitive, and user-centric UI/UX solutions that help businesses grow and stand out in the global marketplace.



Request a consultation



 





 

Why Is UI/UX Design So Important?



The UI/UX design of a product makes the first impression on users and influences their further behavior. UI development makes a product visually appealing and easy to use, while UX development optimizes user interaction and satisfaction. UX and UI go hand-in-hand to help businesses build long-term relationships with users, attract targeted audiences, increase conversions and sales, and ultimately boost brand awareness.



If you struggle to build long-term interactions between your business objectives and users' needs that lead to sustained revenue, rely on SoftTeco. We have a highly qualified design team with a well-established design process, enabling us to meet set deadlines and deliver engaging products on time across various industries and niches.

 





 

UI & UX Design Services That SoftTeco Offers

 



 



Consulting



Whenever you need to improve your design or seek professional advice for your idea, SoftTeco's UI/UX design services can help you. Our consultants conduct an in-depth analysis of the market and the latest trends to deliver the best solution and meet your business requirements.













Design from scratch



If you need to build an exceptional UI and UX design from scratch, SoftTeco is ready to assist you. Our skilled designers will guide you through each step of the UI and UX process while keeping clients' feedback in mind to ensure high-quality results.













Creation of a brand identity



An exclusive visual design can emphasize your brand's uniqueness and highlight its identity for your targeted audience, and this is where SoftTeco comes in. We build a comprehensive brand identity package that includes color palettes, guidelines, and graphics that make your brand stand out.













Redesign



You might need to redesign your product if it is underperforming or has low conversion and retention rates, and SoftTeco's service is here to help you. Our top-notch designers will update or modify your existing design to optimize user experience and reduce bounce rates.













Mobile app design



When it comes to creating an intuitive mobile design that works seamlessly on iOS, Android devices and tablets, SoftTeco is ready to assist. Our professional designers use the latest tools and industry best practices to create user-friendly and highly functional mobile designs.













Web design



Regardless of your web solution’s purpose, with SoftTeco, you will reinforce your digital presence. We create interactive web solutions that work seamlessly across browsers, platforms, and devices to ensure they work perfectly across the globe. 













Cross-platform design



If you