1. Agile Collaboration, No Strings Attached

Remember the days when teams had to be in the same physical space to work together? Cloud computing changed that. Collaboration tools like GitHub have taken the software engineering world by storm. Over 73 million repositories host projects ranging from tiny utilities to massive applications, proving that the cloud is all about teamwork without borders.

2. Scaling Up and Down, Effortlessly

When a software product gains sudden popularity, it can be overwhelming for traditional infrastructure. But cloud computing lets you scale resources as needed. When Pokémon GO became a global sensation, cloud scalability ensured the game didn’t crash under pressure. That’s agility at its finest.

3. Your Budget’s New Best Friend

In the past, hefty budgets were needed for hardware and maintenance. Cloud computing flips the script. Slack, the messaging app, slashed operational expenses by a whopping 20% after migrating to the cloud. This shift means even startups can afford powerful computing without breaking the bank.

4. DevOps: Bridging the Gap Seamlessly

Software development and IT operations used to be separate islands. Not anymore, thanks to DevOps. And guess what’s the perfect match for DevOps? Cloud computing. High-performing DevOps teams deploy 208 times more frequently, a game-changer in the fast-paced software engineering world.

5. Borders Are So Last Century

Cloud computing has shattered geographical barriers. GitHub’s millions of repositories are a testament to global collaboration, turning software engineering into a worldwide symphony of coding minds. It’s the ultimate proof that great software knows no boundaries.

6. From Data to Insights

The cloud’s ability to handle massive amounts of data is a game-changer. The New York Times leveraged cloud computing to analyze data and deliver personalized recommendations. It’s like turning raw data into gold by understanding reader preferences.

7. Security, No Compromises

Cloud security used to be a concern. Now, cloud providers invest heavily in fortifying their platforms. Microsoft Azure, a major cloud player, complies with over 90 industry standards, proving that the cloud is no longer the Wild West but a secure fortress for software product engineering.

8. Innovation Unleashed

Cloud computing isn’t just about convenience; it’s about sparking innovation. Amazon’s voice-controlled assistant, Alexa, is a prime example. Cloud computing’s power in terms of scalability and real-time analysis allows companies to dream big and innovate even bigger.

In the world of software product engineering, cloud computing isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a disruptive force that’s rewriting the rules. From global collaboration to affordable scalability, from agile development to security reassurances, the cloud’s impact is undeniable. As technology continues to evolve, the cloud will remain a guiding star, leading software product engineering into a future full of possibilities.

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In 2023, technology in software development is reaching new heights, marked by several key trends shaping the industry. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a critical component, revolutionizing the way software is created and optimized. Machine learning (ML) is also gaining momentum, enabling the development of predictive models and data-driven decision-making, resulting in applications like fraud detection and personalized recommendations. Blockchain, the decentralized ledger technology, is obtaining popularity for its capacity to build secure and transparent applications while tracking digital asset ownership. Moreover, the Internet of Things (IoT) is connecting billions of devices, necessitating efficient data storage and processing, along with enhanced security measures. As these trends converge, software development is on an unprecedented path of growth and advancement.

Popular Web Development Stacks

A technology stack is the amalgamation of cutting-edge tools and frameworks used to develop an application. It includes programming languages, frameworks, databases, front-end and back-end tools, and APIs. The following tech stacks will be more in use in 2023 for various reasons, including their scalability, performance, and ease of use. They are also well-supported by the developer community, which means plenty of resources are available to help you get started.

MEAN

MEAN stands for MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js. It is a full-stack JavaScript stack that is known for its ease of use. MEAN’s flexibility, scalability, and performance make it a well-rounded choice for different types of applications beyond its core strengths.

• MongoDB: A document NoSQL database well-suited for storing large amounts of data.
• Express.js: A minimalist web framework that is easy to learn and use.
• Angular.js: A client-side JavaScript framework for building user interfaces.
• Node.js: A JavaScript web server that can be used to build both frontend and backend applications.

If you are developing a JavaScript application, especially in a Node.js environment, it’s highly recommended to seriously consider the MEAN stack.

MERN

MERN is similar to MEAN, but it uses React.js instead of AngularJS. MERN is the acronym for the following open-source components:

• MongoDB
• Express.js
• React.js/ Redux: A JavaScript library that is used for building user interfaces.
• Facilitates the scalability of apps by offering a structured approach to handle state management through a unidirectional data flow model.
• Node.js

The MERN stack is ideal for smaller sample projects, such as single-page applications or mobile apps.

LAMP

LAMP is a well-established tech stack that is known for its reliability and security. It encompasses:

• Linux: A free and open-source operating system
• Apache: A web server that is used to serve web pages.
• MySQL: A relational database management system.
• PHP: A server-side scripting language used for web development. (Can opt for alternatives such as Python and Perl as well.)

Developers are drawn to the LAMP stack due to its seamless deployment and customization capabilities. It is a cost-effective alternative to expensive software packages and enterprise solutions. It can help enable competition with commercial DevOps tools, support backend, and server-side web development, and facilitate the creation of dynamic and static web content.

Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails is a web framework that is known for its simplicity and productivity. It adopts the widely used Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern, which is popular among various web frameworks and is one of the most well-known patterns in software development. Ruby is a versatile, open-source programming language with applications in web development, data processing, automation, and other domains. Its flexibility and portability make it compatible with every operating system, and its demand remains high.

Django

Django is another popular web framework that is based on the Python programming language, that is well-known for its versatility and simplicity. It is capable of creating various websites like CMS, social networks, etc. It seamlessly works with different client-side frameworks and delivers content in diverse formats (HTML, RSS feeds, JSON, XML). Django follows the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principle, promoting efficient and maintainable code. Moreover, it offers plenty of choices for functionality and can be extended with additional components as required.

.NET

.NET is an open-source framework granting unrestricted access for anyone to use, read, and modify it freely. This versatile framework allows .NET code to run on various operating systems like Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, and more. It has three primary implementations: .NET Framework for Windows, .NET Core (renamed .NET) for cross-platform support, and .NET Standard, a specification enabling code reuse across different implementations with specific APIs for each operating system. This flexibility and cross-platform support make .NET a preferred choice for modern application development.

Flutter

Flutter is an open-source framework that lets developers build apps for different platforms with just one set of code. It makes development easy and delivers native-like performance while keeping the app’s look consistent across platforms. Also, using Flutter saves time and money as there’s no need for separate teams to create Android and iOS versions of the app. Flutter’s ‘hot reload’ feature allows real-time code updates, making the development process faster and more efficient. Additionally, its native-like performance ensures smooth user experiences on both Android and iOS devices. With Flutter, businesses can reach a broader audience by launching their apps simultaneously on different platforms.

Serverless Stack

Serverless architectures have gained popularity in mobile app development, eliminating the need for backend server management. It is considered the future of application architecture, offering benefits like reduced operational overhead, streamlined DevOps, and enhanced scalability. Serverless functions, also known as Functions as a Service (FaaS), execute applications based on cloud events without storing data. Organizations only pay for actual resource consumption, not pre-purchased services, resulting in cost savings and increased efficiency. However, challenges exist, including the need for a new approach to development and tools based on a DevOps culture, potential latency and performance issues, and concerns about monitoring, debugging, and security. Despite these challenges, many companies are cautiously adopting serverless in conjunction with traditional code deployment to experiment and find use cases.

The value of a tech stack lies in its efficient data management across various domains. In 2023, AI has become a more crucial element in tech stacks, automating tasks, enhancing decision-making, and creating new products. The typical AI tech stack consists of data collection, storage, processing with machine learning algorithms, and output presentation. Additional components may include MLOps, AI infrastructure, and AI tools. AI  services is being applied in various areas, such as customer service automation, fraud detection, product recommendations, and personalized user experiences. As AI evolves, we can anticipate more innovative applications in tech stacks.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the many tech stacks that are available for web development. The best stack for a project depends on its specific needs and requirements. First and foremost, project requirements play a significant role, including the type of application, expected traffic, and desired functionality. The expertise and skillset of the development team are equally important, as their familiarity with different technologies and frameworks will impact efficiency and code quality. Scalability is another essential consideration, ensuring the chosen stack can handle increasing user loads and future growth. Budget constraints and project timelines also influence the decision-making process. Security concerns may also demand specific technologies for applications dealing with sensitive data. However, the tech stacks mentioned above are all well-supported, and they offer a variety of benefits.

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At the next stage, the business model is devised and fine-tuned, and finally, when you are certain you have a winning product on your hand, you step on the gas pedal and scale production quickly.  

Finding the right team with the desired productivity bandwidth, maintaining cost savings, and having an R&D team with a limited budget and resources are some of the main challenges that startups face. At this point, choosing to collaborate with a technology partner that helps you address those challenges becomes a good option. 

Several start-ups that have done well for themselves, including giants such as Slack and Skype, used outsourced development in their early days. Fab.com, a highly successful eCommerce platform, outsourced its initial development when they started, and continue to work with a development team based out of the city even today. 

If you have a groundbreaking idea that needs to be built ground-up and are contemplating the pros and cons of outsourcing your product development, take a look at this list of advantages 

What are the advantages of outsourcing?

1. Access to multidisciplinary expertise & knowhow

Companies that focus on Software Product Development have a talent pool that is vast and diverse. If you are trying to build an innovative product, it will need to be thought through using different concepts and theories to ensure differentiation and value in the market. A team that has years of experience working in various industries will have the expertise needed to apply the best available technologies to your product concept. 

Leveraging their knowledge and understanding of the business domain can ensure increased productivity, improved efficiency, superior quality, and enhanced customer experience. 

2. Cost-effective resource enhancement 

One of the most obvious advantages of outsourcing is the cost-effectiveness of the operation. Unlike dealing with full-time employees, whose time and expenses you cannot fully control, a development partner will be able to give a phased break-up of costs, enabling you to control how much cash you spend on each stage of development. Since the entire project development will be broken into phases for you, you can identify the areas in which most resources are required and keep a rein on costs spiraling out of control. 

The project might require a sudden scale-up for a short duration, or you might find that you need a highly skilled engineer to complete one specific part of your product idea. At this juncture, hiring a full-time employee would be an under-utilization of your resources, not to mention the difficulties involved in finding a resource with the right set of skills. Hiring temporary help is also time-consuming and can pose confidentiality risks. When you outsource development, you have access to the entire talent pool of the company, ensuring your development will happen quickly and cost-effectively. 

3. Reduced time-to-market

Several startups are victims of missed or extended deadlines  – the product never takes off the ground because there was no accountability for timelines. Sticking to a deadline for completing your software development is not something you will have to worry about when you outsource – your development partner will take up responsibility for time management, allocation, and management of resources. 

Ensure both parties agree to a fixed program time and don’t forget to check the reviews of your development partner from other clients they have worked with. Websites such as Clutch can provide specific scores for criteria such as timeline management and cost-effectiveness of the companies you are looking into.

With the right development partner, you will be provided end-to-end support from conceptualization, to design, build, and deployment with a specific point of contact for each phase, ensuring maximum efficiency. Your development partner will most likely have experience building a wide array of products, further enhancing their problem-solving skills and speed. Their resources don’t have the same steep learning curve or limitations that internal resources will have. 

4. Focus on core functions

When you have the assurance of a reliable team handling the technical side of things, you have the time to focus on the tasks you need to complete to run a profitable business. Ensuring your software product development is in safe hands allows you to focus on branding, marketing, ideating, strategizing, and other all-important functions that are imperative to the success of your business.

Black Rock IT Solutions, an expert in software development services has been empowering start-ups by helping them bring their vision to life for the last 14 years. From concept to design to deployment, we can guide and support you every step of the way. If you have an idea for an innovative product and are looking for the right talent to help you build it, drop a mail to sales@blackrockdxb.com. 

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Farms across the globe have now started embracing digital technologies to improve and automate several of their daily tasks. Various new technologies are being employed by farmers including soil sensors, self-driven farm machines, livestock locators, etc. 

New farming techniques such as Hydroponics, Aquaponics,& Vertical farming are embracing digital technology too. Emerging technologies can improve efficiency and also can generate huge volumes of data of all farming activities. This data can then be analyzed to be used in the future for improving farming techniques and crop yields. 

Aqua Farms: How do they work?

Pisciculture farms or Aquafarms are essentially huge fish tanks with varieties of fish being farmed commercially for food. The main challenge of a pisciculture farm is the difficulty involved in monitoring the fish constantly and maintaining a healthy environment in the fish tanks. Various parameters need to be monitored in real-time to get a healthy harvest. It is almost impossible for a farm to collect and maintain accurate data on a daily basis.  

Feeding, Grading, and Moving are the most vital operations of a fish farm. Fishes are graded every week. As the fishes grow in length and size they are moved to larger tanks. Here in the new tanks, the fish are graded again and the process repeats itself. When they reach their maximum size, they are harvested for food.

How can Digital Technologies help?

As the digital consultant to a leading pisciculture farm in Australia, team blackrock made extensive visits to the farm and held discussions with the client to understand the challenges the farm faced and the opportunities digital technology could bring.

The main challenges the farm faced were in Tank Maintenance and Fish Management.  Even though the farm already has a lot of sensor-based alarms to monitor water quality, water filter status, oxygen rate, etc.,  and a variety of manual data collection methods, it was not able to improve its efficiency to the desired standards. 

Some of the data collected at the Farm included:  

1. Tank Maintenance

• Water Quality check ( Sensor-based alarm)
• Water Filter Status ( Staff updates, after checks at regular intervals)
• Oxygen rate (Sensor-based alarm)

2. Fish Management 

• Fish feeding program ( Created an algorithm using Pisciculture expertise )
• Fish grading program (Staff update) 
• Fish Movement (Staff update)
• Fish Mortality rate (Staff update)
• Fish harvest status (Staff update)

blackrock was able to create a custom solution that would be integrated with a variety of sensors deployed across the farm. The objective of the solution was to systematically collect, monitor, and report tank and fish-related data.

The mobile and web applications that blackrock subsequently built and deployed enabled the farm management team to monitor the maintenance and fish management operations in real-time. The data collected about the fish (growth, length, breadth) along with the tank data was used to improve and standardize the harvest of the farm. 

With the introduction of these new technologies, the client was able to;

• Bring down the early stage mortality of fish 
• Reduce the amount of fish food wasted 
• Improve the grading process
• Improve total fish harvest

By 2050,  there needs to be a 60% increase in food production to meet the rising demands of the world’s growing population.  Innovation and reduced wastage in the agriculture sector are key to being prepared for this eventuality. Digital technologies that fuse sensors & mobile and web technologies will help us improve farming techniques and increase productivity. 

With digital technology complimenting the latest biotech farming techniques, providing healthy, safe nutritious food for our future generations becomes an achievable reality. 

The post Digital Technology Revolutionizes Pisciculture Farming appeared first on Black Rock IT Solutions – Software Product Engineering Services.

The idea that computers will one day code themselves has been around for a while. Indeed, the recent pandemic has accelerated the adoption of low-code platforms by enterprises whose IT departments are short on time, but still need digital solutions to connect with their customers as companies have begun to work from home. 

The rise of no-code software and citizen developers sure does make it seem like this is what the future looks like. But what exactly is no-code? How is it different from low-code? What kind of applications can you build using no code, and how will this digital disruption impact the future of application development? 

Let’s take a deep dive into the world of no-code and understand it better.

What is no code software?

No code platforms allow anyone to build an application, without needing to write a single line of code. It works with a pre-written code that lays a foundation for the visual elements that you then use to build your application. No-code software platforms aren’t new.  Tools like Dreamweaver allowed anyone to build a website using drag and drop tools even two decades ago. So no-code still means coding, just not for the person building the application.

No code platforms typically work using a user interface builder which allows people to drag and drop web pages together, visual modeling to work with data, reusing bits of old applications to build new applications, and allowing for integrations with most web services in the IT landscape.

Low code Vs No code

The terms low code and no code are often mistakenly used interchangeably. Although their functions are similar, they are not the same thing. 

No Code software is for people with absolutely no coding knowledge. It uses declarative coding and is more about what you want your application to do, rather than how you get your application to do it. In traditional software application, the code would tell the system how to implement the functionalities you desire. With no code, you get to say what the app does, and the platform will build it for you.

Low Code Software platforms can also be used by those who don’t know how to code, but at some point, you will need a professional to intervene. Low code platforms typically have pre-built functionalities that allow users to build the application they need up to a certain point, after which a professional coder would have to step into the scene to complete the build. Developers have the skill to tell the application how they want the components to work.

What kind of applications can you build using no code?

No Code tools allow you to build back office, web, and mobile applications. Some examples of fully functional apps you can create using no-code platforms are CMS-driven sites using Webflow, e-commerce shops with Shopify, Facebook Messenger bots for your shop powered by Octane AI, or web apps using Bubble, and many others. 

However, the rigid templates that no-code platforms work with can limit what a person can build with it – the templates and components are configured to meet the needs of a set number of use cases. As soon as a little out-of-the-box solution needs to be implemented, a specific piece of business logic that’s imperative to the application, the inevitable dead end will be hit. These scenarios will force people to find costly and complex workarounds that could have probably been easily avoided. Finally, after making the application work within the constraints of the no-code provider, all that’s left with is a piece of software more rigid and costly than a bespoke solution ever would have been.

How will this cause digital disruption, if it even is one?

At first glance, no code and low code platforms if implemented properly feel too good to be true. The speed at which a new application can be rolled out, along with the cost-effectiveness of being able to do it without a developer seems to be the perfect answer to the software solution needs of enterprises and startups. 

While building a basic website is something you can easily do with no-code tools,  building large, enterprise-scale applications with complex requirements is still something you need professional developers for. Something that seems cost-effective in the short-term has the potential to cost you much more than you bargained for later down the line. Taking the total cost of ownership of any application that’s being built is crucial to the success of a software project.

As the complexity of the requirements increases, the need for a professional developer gets more and more clear. For example, even though a person knows exactly what the house he wants needs to look like, and he has all the building materials ready to start construction, he still needs an architect to draw out the plan and tell him why his idea for a glass wall on the east-facing side of the house is a bad idea.

What does No code mean to my data and information security?

Not knowing your code from the inside out, not knowing the technology stack used to build it, and having no control over the company that provided the no-code platform can lead to several security risks. When a no-code path is chosen, it is often at the cost of the security and reliability of the application being built. 

And finally, using a no-code platform usually means the company doesn’t own its source code. If the decision to move away from no-code is made, problems like vendor lock-ins crop up, leading to the inability to switch providers or huge costs to do so. 

In conclusion, is this the future? Probably not.

Programming as we know it isn’t going away any time soon.

In the words of Amit Zavery, vice president and head of Platform for Google Cloud, “Big, complex applications are just that, big and complex. No amount of abstraction will replace the need to understand how an application functions at the line-of-code level. If I’m building a very sophisticated e-commerce website, if I’m building an Uber or an Airbnb … you are not able to build any of the things using those tools. No-code. Low-code – It doesn’t make any difference. It’s going to be done by professional developers using professional tools.”

The post The Future of Application Development with No-Code Software appeared first on Black Rock IT Solutions – Software Product Engineering Services.

In most of the cases, a plug and play COTS solution looks tempting – a business-ready system with a seemingly lower investment, even if the decision is made with long-term thinking in mind. Some SaaS Solutions require as little as the purchase of a user license. Other vendors quote attractively low prices thanks to their cost-reducing models. All of this does make COTS solutions look like they could be the answer, but industry experts argue that they’re not always the best way to go when it comes to the IT landscape your company needs to have. 

Here are some key factors you need to keep in mind when you are faced with the task of choosing between custom software development and COTS:

• Flexibility & Customizability 

COTS solutions usually come with a fixed list of features that cannot be changed based on your specific requirements. This might work well if you’re from an industry that has rigid processes, where no deviations are tolerated and where supplier solutions need to support the standards of your industry – Pharmaceuticals, for instance. But if you are looking to automate a business process or a customer-facing application, you need to deviate from standard practices, because your needs are unique to your business. Trying to have a COTS solution customized often results in a very buggy application that can have irreparable consequences on your business – the rigidness of a COTS solution makes it almost impossible to comply with what the business wants. 

• The Support Model

Most COTS solutions have fixed support models, and the procurement team will have to evaluate their support structure on many criteria – warranties, SLAs, ownership costs, hidden costs, etc. It is a messy but imperative process to dissect their support model and try and negotiate to make it align with what your business needs. Especially for mission-critical applications, it becomes essential to have support with strict SLAs to ensure the system always works flawlessly. This might mean they need to tweak their support model, which may be something they cannot provide, especially if they outsource the support entirely. 

•  Integrability With Existing Systems

COTS solutions are usually built based on the standards and trends of the industry they want to operate in and the tech stack their potential customer base is using. Their roadmaps are often based on parameters such as customer feedback, industry analysis and trends they hope to monetize on moving forward. This means that the solution doesn’t always have to run in your specific IT landscape.

For example, your business might rely on Software X to complete one task and Software Y to finish a second one. You need to ensure that the system being procured is compatible with this existing ecosystem. If the solution you are using hinders the two from communicating effectively, it will affect the overall efficiency of your operations. If you were to build a solution, however, a wider set of APIs from different software and data partners could be integrated to ensure seamless functioning. Moreover, it’s always a hassle to try and get support from different vendors to develop APIs specifically for a project. 

• Effectivity of Change Management 

Buying a COTS solution often results in your business having to change its internal processes in accordance with the newly procured solution as COTS solutions are built based on standard practices within your industry, which might not be what you follow. This can turn into a costly, time-consuming affair that could have been avoided if you had chosen to improve your efficiency by automating your existing product by building an automated layer around it. 

• Risks To Data Security

Many software development services, especially SaaS providers, follow a shared model to bring down costs – this poses a data security risk for your business. The vendor might not have used the best practices for security vulnerability testing (OWASP top 10 or SAN top 25), and the risk is amplified when you integrate it with other systems, exposing your entire infrastructure to those vulnerabilities. 

• Compliance With Industry Standards

Many industries, especially highly regulated ones like FinTech or Healthcare where even a small deviation from standard procedures can impact whole societies, have strict standards to maintain the quality of their services. If you own a business in these industries, you have to be extra vigilant that the services you buy comply with these strict standards, and that can result in a very complex buying process. 

While COTS solutions made specifically for these industries will most likely adhere to these compliances because they are contractually bound to do so, they usually work out to be extremely expensive. If spending a lot on your operating process isn’t ideal for you, it is much more efficient and budget-friendly to build an application around your existing manual process. 

• Financial Investment

COTS solutions end up being more expensive in the end in the form of customizations, and premiums paid for high-end software upgrades or the hardware investment made for setting up an infrastructure for systems and sometimes the support costs. Though the cost associated with custom build solutions seems high during the initial phase, in the long-term, they are more valuable than a COTS solution.  

The choice between custom software development or a COTS solution varies from case to case. It is a decision that needs to be taken factoring in all the variables that will affect your business. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Custom software development, however, tends to be easier, less risky, and provides the best ROI, if you find the right technology partner like Black Rock IT Solutions. We have built custom software solutions for enterprises of different industry verticals across the globe. Our business customers quickly transformed to be long-term partners, as we delve deep to understand their business, and delivered long-lasting and effective solutions.   

Check out this article – 8 Factors To Consider While Outsourcing Your Custom Software Development Requirements for more inputs on this crucial deliberation.

To know more about Experion’s offerings, drop a mail to sales@blackrockdxb.com

The post Choosing Between Custom Software Development and COTS Solutions appeared first on Black Rock IT Solutions – Software Product Engineering Services.

Ideally, organizations should leverage their own expertise to build high-quality digital products for customers and handle their digital transformation journey. But at times, they may not have the desired knowledge and expertise to grow and thrive in a competitive market. Hence it becomes imperative that they have to collaborate with vendors who have the specific expertise to meet the business requirements. At times the objective behind partnering with another company is to reduce operational costs, to focus on core business, to provide enhanced service quality, to access the latest technology expertise, or to drive the digital transformation journey. Organizations must define a clear objective for selecting a software development company as they may make or break the future of the company.

In this article, we explore different factors that organizations should consider during the selection process of a custom software development company. 

1. Work with a team you trust!

   Reliability, dependability, and sustainability are three significant criteria while evaluating a vendor to partner with. These act as catalysts to meet the requirements in the long run. Assess the vendor’s team to understand their hands-on experience and expertise, their presence in the market, global certifications they hold, and the geographical presence or accessibility will help you find out if they’re the right fit. Having a look at years they have been in the software/web development business, the size of the company, the reputation they hold in the ecosystem, and growth since inception will help to determine whether they are dealing with a reliable partner.
   

2. Ask for client references & recommendations

   Hearing from the clients whom the vendor partnered with will help you assess the credibility & expertise of the company. Platforms such as Clutch, GoodFirms, AppFutura, are some sources that will help you to get some real/unbiased customer feedback, customer testimonials, and reviews. Clutch 1000  listing allows organizations to find answers to questions such as “Will they understand my company’s unique needs? Will the final solution help my company grow? Will they even deliver what I asked for on time?” from a single platform. It is always advisable and essential to request a reference call with their existing clients to get a clear picture of the vendor’s capabilities, their quality, and approach towards each project. An excellent vendor would proactively set up reference calls with their clients to testify their offerings. 
   

3. Evaluate the portfolio of offerings
   

   The vendor’s portfolio is a perfect reference point for organizations to evaluate the depth & breadth of their offerings. A detailed comprehension of services offered by the vendor will give you an idea to get prepared for all possible outcomes from this partnership. A deep dive into the challenges they faced, the solutions they offered will help to understand the in-depth knowledge the vendor possesses. Knowing the anticipated cost during the evaluation phase will help to assess the costs required for the current requirement. Organizations can ask for customer success stories, case studies, white papers to evaluate their exposure across different industry verticals and how they have offered and customized their solutions to best suit each client.

4. Ensure excellent project delivery process

   Quality, cost & time determine the success of any projects. During the evaluation process, the organization should evaluate these dimensions to make sure they have hands-on experience in handling projects like yours. Knowing the cost & time they take to complete similar projects will help to estimate and allocate budget required as well as plan for the delivery of services/products. A detailed look into the vendor’s perspectives and approaches towards project implementation can lead you to make better decisions. A right vendor will always come up with suggestions and advice the organization to adopt and follow specific strategies based on their experience with previous projects.

5. Choose a company that has the upper hand in cutting-edge technologies

   At times, companies easily get caught up in looking at innovative features that a vendor offers and lose sight of the real value additions or solutions to their problems. While evaluating the technology or technical expertise, companies can present the vendor with a real problem and ask them to illustrate how they would solve this problem. During the demonstration, their expertise in handling different tools and techniques, proficiency in using various programming languages can be gauged. The expertise and proficiency in solving the problem gives a glimpse of a vendor company’s culture as well, helps you to see if this culture goes well with your culture or not.

6. Have a look at the company’s industry recognition.

   While choosing an ideal software development partner, companies must have a look at the industry recognitions, awards & certifications of the vendor. In software development, many processes are subject to international certifications & compliances such as ISO, GDPR, HIPAA, FHIR. Organisations should ask prospective partners whether they possess the corresponding certificates. Quality international certifications and compliances will act as justification parameters, w.r.t project management, information handling, process management, & data security management. In short, it is essential to consider vendors who are compliant with industry quality standards and certifications to ensure the best quality services. International rankings & awards such as Clutch listing, Inc 5000 listing, Top Tech companies, Deloitte Top 50, etc. are few reputable ones in this field. An organisation can easily shortlist companies that have high visibility and credibility in the ecosystem from these listings.

7. Gauge the partner’s geographical presence

   Companies must evaluate the outsourcing partner location before signing off the contract. Favorable, convenient, and easily accessible geographical locations play a vital role in choosing software development partners. It is advisable to have a thorough evaluation of the vendor’s geographical presence w.r.t geopolitical stability, business environment & IT business landscape. Prioritise vendors who have a local presence and support systems like engineers, business analysts, implementation experts etc. to meet your business requirements precisely.  Companies with a global presence will have a comprehensive expertise, which will ease the process of software development from business requirement gathering until successful deployment.

8. Are you getting the right software development team on-board?

   Ensuring the vendor team’s qualifications, certifications, and experience is directly proportional to your project’s success. In addition to providing the right mix of talents, companies must keep track of the vendor employee attrition rate. This helps to know if the chosen team is going to be with the project from the start till completion.

Companies must evaluate a vendor’s ability to handle projects of different scale. Having a look at the number of employees will help you understand whether they will provide dedicated support to your business requirements. Choosing the right sized company will give a clear vision of the vendor’s ability to extend the development team bandwidth to meet immediate requirements.

Concluding Remarks

For building a successful partnership, companies must do comprehensive research on the vendor, its services, client portfolio, reviews, and recommendations. Based on these criteria, one can choose a vendor who meets all business requirements to build innovative products.

With over 13 years of experience, blackrock Technologies delivered software development services to more than 500 enterprises and startups across a variety of industries. blackrock is consistently ranked in Clutch listings, bagged industry recognitions such as Inc 5000 list for our relentless customer focus, results-driven approach, and technology innovation. With the help of the right software development partner like Experion, we ensure that your idea gets translated into a market redefining product. Talk to our expert today! 

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We have an app for almost everything today. It has passed beyond the time when there were apps for every action. Today, it is about one’s mood or state of mind, and depending on which state of mind, you have got an app. If you are sad, apps such as Code Blue, Lantern and the likes cheer you up and put you in a better mood. If you are stressed then there is Happify, Headspace and others to make you feel relaxed. There are tens and hundreds of apps for every state of mind and for every age whatsoever. Why this is important again drops down to “user adoption” and how the modern app thrives to get a hold on to the main screen and stay there for some time.

User experience is the lifeline of an app which helps it see that pinch of success to survive the first 10 seconds without hitting the recycle bin. With around 2.2 million apps on the stores now, it has burnt down to a matter of choice whether to use App A or App B to cater to a particular need. Today, it is not about the idea you have, because that idea would have been recognized into multiple apps already. Rather, it is about how you make it get past that first 10 seconds and give the user what he/she needs within this time frame. That decides the fate and life of the app.

When we design an application, there are a few constraints that we take into account. They can be summarized into:

Getting the Story On-board for every App

Before we even start developing the wireframes, we think that it is important to have empirical knowledge about what we are going to implement. Be it an app that helps your coffee shop to function better or help a couple manage their dates, it’s always wise to get the story from the coffee shop owner and from real couple. At our workplace, we follow the concept of interviewing real users and understand what could help their lives tick with our app. This helps our business analysts eliminate assumptions and deal with real world problems and find solutions for them.

The Cognitive Load and Releasing Frustration

Most apps follow a particular navigation to achieve something. For example, applications such as Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter have the option to like or share posts just beneath the messages. It would bring down the cognitive load of the user if a new app we built follows the same or similar logic. Anything other than this would imply a new learning curve and could frustrate the user. Getting inspired from some commonly used design logic into our app, could eventually let the user focus on the actual task.

At Experion, we are way past the myth that UX and user designs are different words with the same meaning. User Experience for us starts from the idea, from inception to all the way up the process ladder. Our designs are just a part of the experience it promised to deliver. After all, it is just the user’s feelings and emotions that matter, and if we cannot cater to this fact in the easiest manner possible, we have not created a great app at all.

The Habitat and the Ecosystem We Create

Just open Google.com.

What do you see?

Just a couple of buttons and a search bar right? That’s it. That’s all Google has been trying to do. It wants to search for you what you need at the time. If you look closely, you would still see a few other options too like setting a language, Gmail, images etc. But did you see how prominent they are compared to the core function of search? That’s how simple and focused an app or website should be.

We often intend to build an app that tries to satisfy everybody. I mean everybody big or small. We pull in a lot of controls and functions and cram the user’s world. The app thus become a maze of search and find for a user who might have opened the app just to order his/her favourite pizza when hungry. To make it worse, we dump all the controls in the home screen with the same dimensions.

See, we get it. We need an app or a website that covers all possible use cases. However, there is a way to achieve it and stuffing the available real estate is the last resort a developer should use. In Instagram for example, it is an array of image tiles from which you can select the image you want to zoom into. So simple, isn’t it?

Often, we tend to forget that most users do not go beyond 2 minutes to do what they would love to get done from apps. Of course, I am not talking about music or video streaming apps here. The habitat that we create should help the user get their things done in a flick so that they can resume to their most important tasks.

Not the last things first if you can help it
Joe got late one day and missed his office cab. He decided to download the app of a local cab service in town. After installing, the first thing the app asked was to login or signup and didn’t allow the user to navigate to the services unless authenticated. Now, being new to the app, the user had to sit and register which took at least 5 minutes to set up.

Now, is this normal?
Why do you need to log in if all you require is to hail a cab and travel from say place A to place B? In the real world, if you need to catch a cab, do you need to fill up a form, submit your documents, and submit a photograph for id?

The apps we use should help us achieve what we need to get with minimal user inputs. While signing up for an app might be seen as something that is not uncomfortable, it might not be so for someone such as Joe who is in a crisis and wants a solution without hurdles. Otherwise, the last thing one would do to an app the first time they use it would be to un-install it. If you get what I mean.

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Analytics in AoT

The advantage of AoT is that you can aggregate data from multiple devices and make comparisons across time and users, leading to better decisions. Big Data Analytics analyzes huge volumes of user-generated data in order to support long-term use cases such as predictive maintenance, capacity planning, customer 360 feedback and revenue protection. AoT meanwhile, points to the collecting and compressing of massive amounts of low latency, short duration, and high volume machine generated data coming from a wide variety of sensors, to support real time use cases such as operational optimization, real-time ad bidding, as well as fraud and security breach detection. (*source: Dell EMC)

Example

The example of the Smart Parking and Smart Routing Services feeding new data to AoT, illustrated how this provides a very different view of parking and traffic activities.

Smart Services not only find a static answer when the question is asked, but will continue to actively maintain a best choice throughout the journey in respect of dynamic changes in parking bay availability. AoT adds entirely new and original data sets, which have not been available from traditional sources, from Smart Service requests and outcomes. Some examples of the data available from the above use case are:

1. Starting and destination geo-location shared by the citizen.
2. The true total demand for parking including requests that were unfulfilled.
3. The routes used.
4. The journeys abandoned due to non-availability of a parking bay.

The example of the Smart Parking and Smart Routing Services feeding new data to AoT, illustrated how this provides a very different view of parking and traffic activities.

The computing capacity of ‘Things’ has grown exponentially over the last few years and this has resulted in a change in the way data is analyzed. Many of the early IoT applications were about collecting data from ‘Things’ and sending them elsewhere for analysis. But now the increased computing capacity of ‘Things’ allows complex computation to run on-site. This new trend is referred as Edge computing, as part of the work happens right at the edge of the network where IoT connects the physical world to the Cloud. Edge computing is not just limited to data processing and computation on IoT devices. The vital part of it is a strong and seamless integration between IoT and cloud. Edge computing preserve privacy, reduce latency and is robust to connectivity issues.

Internet of Things is useful only if the “things” are smart, and this will happen through the Analytics of Things. Companies that have taken a data-driven approach are making a lot more progress when compared to traditional businesses. Many large companies are investing in IoT edge analytics as it is the answer to maintenance and usability of data.

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Traditional Software Development

Earlier methods of software development including waterfall were not focused on agility/speed. These methods lay emphasis on task completion and ignored the need for speed. The development process was separated into phases, testing being the final one. One phase could not overlap the other, or precede it without the other reaching completion. There was plenty of documentation to maintain as well. The result was a slow-paced process that was not user-friendly. Often, requirements had to wait till the next release cycle. The process was by no means an iterative one.

Agile Methodology

Agile methodology was born as a result of the frustrations that arose from the less flexible and cumbersome software development methodologies. A group of disgruntled software leaders who felt short-changed developed the agile methodology as an alternative method that achieved results faster. There are different methods to agile, and scrum is one. In agile, software development process is highly iterative, embracing speed. Then, there are hybrid methods that combined the traditional with agile. Software delivery was slowly undergoing a sea change.

The Birth of DevOps

Agile led to the concept of ‘Continuous Integration,’ ‘Continuous Delivery’ and ‘DevOps’. DevOps is a combination of the two words Development and Operations, indicating a merger between coding & operations. Developers working in tandem with customers are prepared to change ideas and work, based on real-time monitoring from the production environment. Testing is a parallel activity. This creates a paradigm shift in the traditional software development methods, leading to a faster time to market and faster user adoption rates.

Concept of DevOps

DevOps is more focused on outcomes that eliminate siloed working. Collaboration and communication leads to more predictable outcomes. Changes would be accepted and integrated into the product immediately. It brought developers closer to users and other stakeholders. The new method focuses on speed and value add to the user. Quality is enhanced as a result of the enhanced collaboration and communication. As per the 2015 State of DevOps Report, organizations using DevOps implement software 30 times more frequently and with 200 times lower lead times. Their failure rate is 60 times lesser, and they recover 168 times faster.

Success Factors

1. Standardized processes and measurement methods – DevOps will be successful once you have consistent processes and metrics in place. Inconsistency in maintaining records, delivery timelines and processes can cause roadblocks for DevOps outcomes.

2.Metrics Since DevOps is more about outcomes and not about the process itself, we have to ensure that the right outcomes are achieved. Measurement becomes top priority. While speaking about metrics, everything becomes important, right from people, processes, to the technology to user experience.

3. Agility- Another factor important for DevOps is speed. Since speed can only be achieved through automation and minimum levels of human intervention, tools become important. Repetitive tasks that can be minimized need to be deployed using matching tools. All processes, right from development, testing and implementation should have automation integrated for speed.

4. Continuous Feedback- Without a continuous feedback mechanism in place, DevOps is bound to fail. This is because quality enhancement depends directly upon accurate and timely feedback. For DevOps to succeed, it is important that there is a standard feedback mechanism.

Business Benefits

1. Agility- DevOps ensures a greater go to market speed and decides the agility of the enterprise. Faster deployment leads to a faster time to market and possibility of user acceptance. This ensures growth.

2.Customer experience – An obvious outcome of DevOps is enhanced customer experience. This is a combined result of collaboration and communication that eliminates uncertainty. End result is a software product with quality, and this ensures greater customer satisfaction.

3.Alignment with business goals- As DevOps aims at creating value, an alignment with organizational goals is imperative. This means that there is no ambiguity within teams and departments as to what the business wants to achieve. This helps business growth.

4. DevOps is digital transformation – DevOps is an important step in the direction towards digital transformation. By giving businesses the power to be agile, secure and hi-speed, DevOps paves the way for true digital transformation to be achieved.

5. Cultural shift – DevOps in combination with cloud computing can save enterprises millions of dollars in infrastructure and speed.

Conclusion
DevOps seems to be here to stay. It could be a current fad, but we cannot deny the fact that it is something that adds a lot of user value. As per a CapGemini report, 60 percent of the organizations surveyed have implemented DevOps-oriented approach or planning to do so in the next 24 months. It could be sometime before it is adopted on a wider scale by all businesses, but for now, the future seems bright for DevOps.

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