Introduction:

Logo design software can be a lifesaver when you need to quickly create a professional-looking logo for your business. But with so many different options available, it can be hard to know which one is the best for you. That’s why we’ve put together this list of the 10 best logo design software options on the market today.

 

Designhill

Designhill Logo Maker is the best free online logo maker software that provides you with several tools, such as colour picker, font selection tool, etc. This Logo Maker is a design tool that can help you design your logo and other graphics.

This logo design software is compatible with almost as many operating systems, like Windows, MacOS X, Linux, etc. You can also use this design software to create different logos and graphics. It has a very high success rate and will create your logo for you, no matter what type of logo design you are looking for.

They can create many logos with this tool, from simple to more complex designs. That incorporates colour gradients and text elements into their designs.

 

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is one of the most popular logo design software options on the market. It offers a wide range of capabilities for both crafting and editing logos. Photoshop is a desktop software that you can buy and download. It’s popular with professional logo designers for its wide range of editing features and ability to create precise graphics.

 

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is one of the most popular software options for logo design. It offers a wide range of tools and features that allow you to create vector illustrations and graphics. What does that mean for your logo design? Its scalability means that your logo will look great on any size, from a business card to a billboard.

Additionally, the software’s vector format allows you to easily modify your logo design without losing any image quality. If you’re looking for a versatile and powerful software option for your logo design, Adobe Illustrator is an excellent choice.

 

CorelDraw

CorelDRAW is one of the most popular logo design software options on the market today. It offers a wide variety of features and allows you to create stunning graphics and logos with ease. With its intuitive interface, you’ll be able to create professional-quality logos in no time at all. CorelDRAW is perfect for both beginners and experienced designers alike. If you’re looking for a powerful and versatile logo design software option, CorelDRAW is definitely worth considering.

 

Inkscape

Inkscape is a vector graphic design software that’s free and open source and gives a good logo design. It can be used to create or edit vector illustrations, logos, icons, and complex graphics. Inkscape is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, making it a great option for designers with multiple devices.

The software is fairly user-friendly and offers a range of features for advanced design. One of Inkscape’s best features is the ability to create or import SVG files. This makes it a great option for designing logos and illustrations that need to be print-ready.

 

Logo Maker

If you’re looking for a quality logo design but don’t want to spend a fortune, LogoMaker is a great option. It offers a wide range of templates and tools to help you create a logo that’s perfect for your business or brand.

The software is easy to use, and you can export your logo in a variety of formats so you can use it wherever you need it.

 

Paint Shop Pro

PaintShop Pro is a great logo design software for creating high-quality logos. It offers a wide variety of features and tools to help you create professional designs. In addition to logos, you can also use PaintShop Pro to create text effects, photo collages and more.

 

Pixelmator

Pixelmator is a fairly popular image editor that is used by a number of people for logo design. The software is available on the Mac App Store and offers a wide range of features for users. However, it can be a little difficult to use for novice users, so keep that in mind if you decide to go with this option.

Pixelmator is a pixel-based image editor. It has many advanced features and comes with a wide range of tools that are very useful for the editing purpose. The tool is available on Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows operating systems. It has been developed by the Macromedia, Inc., which was acquired by Adobe Systems in 2005.

Pixelmator can be used to create pixel art, textures and illustrations for web design or logo design as an illustration tool. The app allows users to work with layers of colour individually or together as one layer on the screen at once.

 

Sketch

A lot of logo designers start their design process by sketching out their ideas. It’s a great way to get your thoughts down on paper (or screen) and to explore different directions. If you’re not confident in your drawing skills, don’t worry—there are plenty of great software options that can help you create amazing sketches.

Our top pick for sketching is Sketch, which offers a wide variety of features and tools to help you create pixel-perfect designs. With its vector-based illustrations and simple interface, Sketch is perfect for creating logos, wireframes and other designs.

 

Vector Studio

If you’re looking for a powerful vector studio, then Adobe Illustrator is a great option. It’s one of the most popular graphic design software packages out there, and with good reason. It offers a wide range of features that can help you create detailed, intricate designs.

Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, Illustrator has something to offer. If you’re just starting out, there are plenty of tutorials and online resources to help you get started.

 

Conclusion:

A well-designed logo is an important part of any successful business. It can be the difference between customers remembering your company and forgetting it. That’s why it’s important to have the best logo design software options on the market today and an excellent logo maker. With so many different software programs to choose from, it can be hard to know which one is right for you. But don’t worry, Designhill is here to help.

There is more to delivery than just a transfer of possession. There are a number of ways through which a business can fulfill its promises to its customers. It is becoming increasingly imperative to capture and allocate orders, organize, manage, and supervise your product or services. This is because delivery management begins to gain prominence and importance in today’s world.

 

Significance Of An Effective Delivery Management Process

Businesses must ensure their delivery processes are efficient and smooth in order to maintain an ever-increasing demand for delivery performance. The innovative Delivery Management Software can play a vital role here by providing reliable and efficient delivery to the customers and by ensuring customer satisfaction at the same time

It’s no wonder that delivery management software plays a crucial role in the modern business since prompt and scheduled deliveries are the hallmarks of any successful enterprise. It is the core of every business to make scheduled and instant deliveries. Having a comprehensive delivery management system in place to deal with those situations is an essential requirement for the company to thrive.

 

Delivery Management Software And Businesses:

As the on-demand delivery culture becomes more prevalent, companies will need to use a variety of strategies to improve their operations. Fast-paced lifestyles require clients to be able to respond to demands faster, smarter, and more efficiently. Investment in an effective and reliable delivery management software system is one of the most effective ways to redesign operations and eliminate redundant processes.

Improved Delivery Management Software enables faster deliveries, enhanced customer satisfaction, and improved operational management. Managing last-mile delivery success is a challenge for any company tracking fleets, employees, and delivery agents. State-of-the-art delivery management software improves the efficiency of delivering products by identifying the optimal delivery route and tracking the deliveries in real-time. When you use delivery management software, your overall delivery process is expedited and your productivity is increased.

 

Benefits of Delivery Management Software

Same-day delivery, free returns, and zero shipping fees are rapidly becoming a norm for businesses, and savvy brands are adopting modern eCommerce logistics solutions to provide an exceptional customer experience and make deliveries more profitable. Listed below are some benefits eCommerce logistics companies can receive from modern logistics tools.

• Providing end-to-end visibility into the delivery process in real-time
• Productivity enhancements in the delivery process
• Route planning that is highly efficient
• Multi-drop deliveries that are seamless
• Deliveries and curbside pickups that are efficient and contactless
• Increasing the profitability of delivery per order
• Increasing the number of deliveries that are on-time and in-full (OTIF)
• A flexible delivery process and improved customer experience
• Scaling up deliveries during the busiest periods of the business cycle

The growth in e-commerce has brought about an increase in the number of deliveries to homes. It is becoming more and more difficult to deliver final mile delivery in e-commerce logistics and retail logistics since the end consumer may not be available to receive their packages. Even if delivery automation software were to be used, it would still be impossible to predict whether deliveries will be received or not. In some cases, it will not be possible to fulfill the customer’s delivery request. Consequently, eCommerce delivery management software will need to keep up with the solutions that e-commerce companies will find to solve this problem in order to ensure that they are incorporated into their automation software.

Benefits of Delivery Management Software:

Variety Of Delivery Options:

You should make sure that you add a variety of delivery options for your customers to choose from if you don’t already do so. Having said that, next-day delivery has become the norm for most businesses, and any business that does not provide this will suffer from a decline in sales. If you provide as many options as you can, your customers will be happier.

Choose The Right Logistics Company:

Choosing the wrong courier is one of the most costly mistakes you can make with your delivery service. When choosing a courier, don’t just look at the cost. To keep your customers happy, you should use an affordable yet reliable courier service. A business may run its own delivery service. If orders increase, however, a courier is necessary to remove this stress. As a result, you can focus on more significant matters.

 

Tracking Parcels:

Tracking parcels is recommended when there are many orders, which can create confusion. Businesses can track every parcel they send. The last location of the parcel allows for quick resolution in the event of a problem.

 

Delivery Price:

Free or discounted delivery options are particularly appreciated by customers. A lot of companies offer free delivery to customers who spend a certain amount. Your business can attract more customers by offering special delivery offers. A customer may decide to shop elsewhere for the same product if this is the case. Reducing delivery prices, however, could increase sales, despite it seeming like you are losing money.

 

Customer Satisfaction:

E-commerce businesses are highly dependent on customers, so customer satisfaction should be your top priority. Providing delivery services is no different. Customers want to know what to expect right from the start. We do this by offering clear delivery options on our website and acknowledging orders on-screen and via e-mail after they have been placed. They rely on updates and this shows them that a company cares about their delivery. Deliveries can cause customers to plan their schedules around them. In order to ensure customer satisfaction and return business, provide an estimated delivery time.

 

Scope Of e-Logistics:

By implementing e-logistics, e-commerce undergoes a change that allows them to optimize the delivery of their products and to also generate and improve the customer experience. Depending on the type of product and the geographical area, the online company must use various logistics strategies to meet customer demand. e-Logistics technologies have made it possible to outsource logistics services in unfamiliar areas. Today, AI and delivery software make it possible to manage your own fleet. Information can be managed and controlled in real-time with e-logistics. Visualizing everything that occurs in the supply chain is made easier. The result is that e-commerce can reach more people and offer more services without worrying about being inefficient. e-Logistics technologies can also improve business revenue by analyzing customer behavior and predicting it.

 

Conclusion:

Nowadays the competition in every business is so high and it’s so difficult to deliver satisfaction to your customers. If you have not optimized your business to the needs of your customers you are destined to fail. eCommerce delivery management software is the tool that can save you from collapsing and facing bad water. So, ensure customer satisfaction and make sure that you are delivering seamlessly.

As there are a lot of software that can perform different tasks of delivery management software. But OnTrack is that one software that is purposely built to cater to your delivery management needs. Not just the delivery management services can be furnished using this software but also you can perform the eCommerce operations. This software can be linked to all third-party software and websites. Just download the application in the mobiles of the delivery riders and link the API of OnTrack with your website. This will get you set for the delivery management operations embedded with the business intelligent dashboard.

Software development services companies assist many businesses to grow through mobile and web applications. These companies make all sizes of apps from small businesses to large enterprises. They provide users with all kinds of software according to their needs and requirements. This software includes custom software or package software.

Moreover, software development services companies help enterprises in staying ahead of the competition by providing them with fresh and innovative software solutions. They help businesses solve problems that otherwise seem daunting to deal with. However, it all depends on what company a business is choosing to solve their software related problems. Since, one wrong decision can make or break a business’s reputation forever.

I have seen many companies over the internet that provide the best software development services. But in this article, I have chosen the most important ones. So, let’s begin with the first one.

 

Best Software Development Services Companies

1. ScienceSoft

In 1989, this company was established in Texas. It was started as an Artificial Intelligence-based company. In 2002, it became one of the top software consulting companies in the world. It has more than 700 employees and about 60 clients from different countries. It has a variety of developers from all over the world. ScienceSoft provides its clients with the following services:

• Healthcare
• Finance
• Retail
• Telecommunication
• Education
• Transportation
• Logistics Industries
• Banking

ScienceSoft assists giant and mid-size companies to develop their software projects. It is also known as the best company in AI, ML, Internet of Things (IoT), computer vision, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Reality.

It has made some great projects such as Viber and messaging apps such as VoIP. This app has over 900 million users in the world. They provide different pricing models such as fixed price, subscription model, and Time and Material Model.

 

2. Intellectsoft

The company was founded in 2007 and specializes in custom software engineering. It has more than 350 employees and different offices in the world. The company provides the following services:

• UI/UX designing
• DevOps
• Mobile application development
• Dedicated Teams
• Consulting Services

It comes on the number 2 because it has a wide range of developers having expertise in their domain and exceptional experiences. It has some special clients from its exceptional quality of service:

• Universal Studios
• Guinness
• Eurostar
• Harley Davidson
• Land Rover

The company has made long-term partnerships with its clients. It covers the full lifecycle of applications such as design, integration, development, and management. It has a roadmap that offers top-level engineers of the company.

Intellectsoft also offers Quality Assurance (QA) services that have tested hundreds of high-quality ERP systems.

 

3. Oxagile

It is founded in 2005 and is based on the following domains:

• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Business Intelligence
• Custom Software development
• Web development
• Consulting Services

It has over 540 clients in more than 30 countries. It has been working for the media and entertainment, healthcare, finance, e-learning, and banking sectors. Usually, it controls big data management more than business requirements. That’s why it comes on number 3 in this list.

Oxagile uses agile methodology to fulfill its clients’ needs and requirements. It also uses engagement models to complete the user needs. It follows a clear roadmap that controls all the project budgets and handles all the fixed bids. Another efficient model is the time and material model that is used by Oxagile. The companies just pay for the resources used in the project.

 

4. DockYard

DockYard is a digital product organization founded in 2010. It offers:

•  Custom software development
•   Mobile app development
•   Web application development

It is a purely remote company that hires employees from all over the world in the USA and gathers an ocean of expertise. It comes fourth because it is a remote organization and a bit young rather than other tech industries. Its specialties are:

•  Design
• Engineering
• Quality Assurance
•  Project Management
• Training and Support

It serves many industries such as

•  Information technology
• Finance
• Retail
•  Healthcare
•  Manufacturing
• Entertainment

Its best client comprises Netflix, Apple, Fidelity, Constant, and Harvard University.

 

 5. OpenXcell

OpenXcell is an open-source company that purely focuses on Drupal and WordPress. It has over 400 employees and 500 potential clients. It has a 4.8 rating and 21 reviews on Clutch.co. It falls in the 5^th number because it has transparent prices.

It has a specialty in the following domains:

•  Mobile app development
• UI/UX designing
• Full stack development
• Quality Assurance
•  Maintenance and Support

The DevOps team also assists in a team collaboration that results in fast delivery of the product in a limited time and budget. It has clear pricing on its website and also offers 45 minutes of free consulting services to its employees. It also signs a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with its potential clients.

 

6. SumatoSoft

SumatoSoft is based on custom software and offers deliverable projects to SMB’s. It was founded in 2012. The company has its specialty in:

• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Web development
• Mobile app development
• Marketing
• Education
• Information Technology
• eCommerce
• Logistics

It is a relatively small company having 50 members in 27 countries. But it has completed all its projects with 98% client satisfaction. It has not listed its pricing on its website. The company offers free consultation and signs NDA for the projects.

 

7. InvoZone

InvoZone provides web design and development services to various businesses and enterprises. It was founded in 2014. It provides services in the following niche:

•  Web Design and Development
• Mobile App Development Services
• Enterprise App Development
• Software Quality Assurance
• Dev Ops
• Data Scraping
• Big Data
• IoT Development
• Software Project Management
• Technical Support Services
• UI/UX Design

This company offers its services in various industries including:

• E-commerce
• Food and Grocery
• Education
• On Demand Services
• Healthcare
• Fintech
• Travel and Tourism

This company has managed to successfully complete more than 400 projects up until now. Their customer satisfaction rate is a solid 97 percent. Their team comprises more than 500 developers and engineers.

InvoZone sets itself apart from other companies due to various reasons. Some of those characteristics include:

• Cybersecurity
• Expert Development Team
• Seamless Communication
• Standardized and Collaborative Workflow
• 100% Project Success Rate
• Customized Solutions
• Client Centric Approaches
• Cost and Time Efficient Solutions
• Strategic Partners

It uses quality tools to ensure providing quality solutions to its clients. For instance:

• Amazon AWS
• Elixir
• Erlang
• Phoenix-Framework
• NodeJS
• React
• Redux
• Angular
• VueJS
• ExpressJS
• Meteor
• Python
• Django
• PHP
• Laravel

 

Conclusion

There are hundreds of giant tech industries in the world but why are some of them the most prominent? All you have to do is just look at the client satisfaction rate. Client satisfaction is the most prominent factor in the business. If you are delivering 100% quality products within a limited time, you will be one of the top companies in the world in no time. In this blog, ScienceSoft is one of the best software development services companies because it satisfies its clients. Its reviews on Clutch.co are very amazing from the client.

How does a visitor behave on your site?

We know where they arrived, where they left the page, how much time they spent, but we didn’t know, for a long time, exactly what they were doing, where they clicked, what they were reading. Yet this information is needed to improve the user experience on a website, which has become the most important driver of web development in recent years.

 

Heatmapping software and session replay have been developed for this problem.

 

What are heat maps?

A heatmap is a two-dimensional representation of data in which we try to display a visitor’s activity on a web page in color. The heatmap shows a page on the web page with different colors indicating the activity itself and its strength. Heatmaps are created based on the visitor’s mouse movement and clicks. This data is converted into color images, which are then projected onto individual pages of the website to see where what kind of activity has taken place.

 

There are different types of heat maps:

 

Click Tracking Heat Map

This is one of the most commonly used types. The click tracking heatmap shows where and at which points the visitor clicked on the website. Based on the number of clicks, the heat map ranges from a lighter green to red.

Google Analytics only knows which pages a visitor has visited, while the click tracking heatmap shows exactly where they clicked within the page.

 

Mouse tracking heat map

This type of heatmap shows the visitor’s navigation on the page by color-coding the routes the visitor traversed with their mouse. The heatmap following the movement of the mouse shows which parts of the website attracted the visitor’s attention and which parts it did not reach at all.

 

Scrolling heat map

This heat map type represents where the visitor scrolled on the page and where they left it. The scroll tracking heatmap helps you optimize the length of your webpage content and place Call to Action buttons (CTAs) to increase your conversion rate.

 

Heat map after eye movement

Creating a heat map after eye movement usually requires a special technique, but it can be used to capture and analyze where a visitor’s attention is focused while browsing a website.

 

Why is it important to use heat map analysis?

With the help of heat maps, online marketing professionals get a lot of help to improve the user experience of a website and increase the conversion rate. The information provided by the heatmaps helps to identify that…

• What are the parts of the website that the visitor wants to click on but can’t click (So what to link to, because the visitor feels they need it.)
• Where we should place key information on the website.
• What “works” on the website (in terms of content and functionality) and what does not.
• Which CTA visitors click on and which do not.
• Whether or not conversion paths direct the visitor.
• What are the annoying, unnecessary elements on the website that can be removed.
• Whether the visitor can use the navigation properly and understands how the website works.

With heatmap analysis, you don’t have to think about whether or not the navigation, CTAs, functionality, wording designed for the website work well, because you will get a definite answer to these questions.

Heatmap descriptions say relatively little about the fact that only with a sufficient amount of data can conclusions be drawn from the data provided by heat maps.

In the case of a low-traffic website, this means waiting up to several weeks or months after commissioning for a large amount of data (clicks, scrolling, etc.) to be collected that excludes the behavioral characteristics of each visitor and allows conclusions to be drawn on average.

 

How does heatmap analysis improve your website conversions?

With heatmap analysis, you can optimize the form, wording, and placement of CTAs on your website.

If you see a visitor avoiding CTAs by not clicking on them, you need to change their form to make them more noticeable. If they still don’t work, you can change their placement, the size of the margin around them, or their wording.

 

With heatmap analysis, you can improve the wording and readability of your website

If the visitor reads only a small amount of the text on the website, the structure of the content may be improved or the font size may be suspected to be too small. If the problem persists, the wording above the fold should be changed to be more eye-catching.

• With the help of heatmap analysis, you can rule out structural and design errors in your website.
• If visitors don’t pay attention to certain content on the page at all, such as sidebars, you should consider leaving those parts of the page.

• With heatmap analysis, you can maximize the efficiency of your images on your website
• A properly chosen image on the page can direct the visitor’s attention to the CTA. Statistics have shown that conversions improve by several percent if the person in the image is looking in the direction of the CTA rather than somewhere else.

• With heat map analysis, you can reduce the number of page breaks on your website.

A misplaced cart button can greatly reduce conversions. Heatmap analysis can be used to detect when a certain percentage of visitors click through to your site because your attention is distracting, making it unclear to them where and how to throw a product into your cart.

Heat mapping analysis is now essential in areas where a significant increase in sales can be achieved with even a minimal increase in conversion. For webshops that generate many millions of dollars in traffic in a year, even the tiniest conversion increase of just 1% means a large revenue surplus on an annual basis. And from this surplus, it is easy to pay off an analytics team that constantly monitors the information provided by the heat maps and strives to achieve higher conversion and user experience by making minor adjustments.

If you run a small business, you don’t have to give up the data provided by heatmaps, because there are many tools available on the market, even with a free trial, so after a few clicks, you can get the information that big companies use every day.

 

Let’s talk about the session replay tool

A session replay is a map of a visitor’s journey on a site. It is also known as session recording, session playback, and user playback.

Session replays are an essential part of the optimization process, improving conversion rates and CRO activities, that is, conversion rate optimization. They help you display the experiences and impressions of anonymous visitors about your site or app. With session replays, you can record the movement of your visitors in real-time, such as clicks, keystrokes, taps, and scrolls. In addition, they can effectively improve the customer experience.

 

Why are session replays useful and why do you need them?

Session repetitions are more than just a part of the optimization path. They provide accurate and in-depth insight into the behavior of page visitors to give them the best digital experience. They also complement the work of heatmaps and scroll maps by providing detailed information based on customer interactions within a website.

Traditional web analytics tools, like Google Analytics, track user metrics. Google Analytics uses cookies to determine the number of bounce rates, user sessions, exit times, and other things to ensure. While this is a piece of valuable information that needs to be understood, this feature does not provide information about the user experience or user engagement. A good illustration of this can be when Google Analytics writes that a particular visitor has spent 10 minutes on your page, but it doesn’t explain why. Let’s say you didn’t find what you were looking for, so in the end, you just simply left the page and probably won’t come back next time. Or, on the contrary, you found everything you needed. Session replays will help with this.

So in addition to looking at the time spent on the page, this tool also provides information about the overall user experience. By this, we mean customer behavior, taps, scrolling patterns, and the weak points on the page that need to be improved for a better customer experience.

 

Where and in what cases should you use this tool?

There are different ways to use session replays. It can be used primarily to produce better products, improve website conversion rates, and build appropriate customer service.

Increase conversion rate

To get the most out of your traffic, you have to use certain CRO techniques. For example, A / B testing or analyzing site heat maps. Session replays provide input to conversion research as they help you understand what to focus on in your tests based on visitor interaction. They also highlight where visitors are experiencing issues that are preventing or failing to convert. By modifying or paying more attention to these areas, you can improve your conversion rates while also getting your visitors to your liking, creating a win-win situation.

 

Improving a bad user experience

Poor user experiences can make websites extremely difficult to operate or navigate. As a result, visitors leave your site, leading to high bounce rates and poor conversion funnels.

• With session replays, you can learn how each item works best for different audiences, on different devices and resolutions, and in browsers.
• You can also identify bad navigation elements or other distractions to improve the visitor’s experience. Eliminate parts that may seem complicated, difficult to understand at first, or unclear, as customers won’t waste a lot of time on one page, but will rather go to the next one that gives them a better experience.
• With replays, you can also track problems with your website, as you need to optimize it and rule out mistakes to create the perfect website.
• They also monitor page load time, broken links, hidden CTA buttons, form issues, and more. Session recordings, therefore, provide a clear picture of the areas where visitor interest in your website is declining.

 

Accepting new features

With session replays, you can see how well a particular audience responds to new features on your page. If you can segment them, you’ll know which layer you can access or not with these new features later.

 

Focus on customer service too

With this tool, reassuring dissatisfied customers is also much easier, as it collects problematic parts and questions sooner than you would ask them. This allows you to find a solution to a specific customer’s problem easily, efficiently, and quickly.

After reading through these pieces of information we hope that you get a better picture of these tools and you will try them out. Stay tuned for our next blog.

The advances in the world of computing and software development cannot be ignored at any rate! And to serve every possible niche, it becomes very important for businesses to adapt to the current marketing trends. After the COVID- 19 massive hit, offshore software development has been considered as one of the most profit-spinning trends across the globe. I am pretty sure that the concept of software development has gained so much popularity that new buzzwords rise and fall through the news feed daily.

The following post focuses on what is offshore software development, how it is beneficial in the modern era, and what are practices to consider for offshore software development. So without any further ado, let’s begin! 

 

The Offshore Software Development Industry then and now!

Initially, when we began, there was no such thing as methodologies, offshore development but today, these terms are no longer just a mere concept. They have become a beautiful reality. Over the years, offshore software development has risen from the ashes today considered as one of the best approaches to enhance production and efficiency.

Offshore software development, outsourcing software development company, are some common words that have been pretty much in the hype, especially after the COVID-19 hit. As the name implies, when you hire an offshore software development company, you get to outsource work to a third-party software developer who can reside overseas. Now, what kind of services you can outsource? Well, it can be merely anything ranging from web development to mobile application development, support and maintenance and so forth.

It doesn’t matter that your chosen offshore software development company is far away in a different location, following different cultures and customs. What matters the most is that do they offer an appropriate amount of services with a cost advantage or not? Now when you hire an offshore software development company, you hire an entire group to do the project. So the chances of succeeding increase to a great extent as you are bound to receive a diverse skill set.

When we talk about outsourcing a software development project, it means

• You want to conduct a full-fledged offshore software development cycle. I mean right from building implementation testing, and sustenance of the application.
• You wish to outsource only a specific bunch of components and fragments
• Lastly, employ a keen crew of developers and manage wisely.

 

Benefits of Hiring an Offshore Software Development Company?

With the increasing demand for remote work, conducting a software development project in-house has become pretty much of a challenge. Fortunately, the concept of offshore software development, i.e. delegating your software development project to another specialized company has risen to the next level. All you need to do is establish a solid, long-lasting relationship with your offshore software partner. Plus, the perks you can gain are very much worth all the budget and effort you will take in creating and growing.

#1 Cost-effectiveness

One of the best advantages offered by offshore software development is the cost advantage. You can save a sheer amount of money. Plus, you don’t have to take stress upon setting up business facilities, equipment, utilities, and developing a communications team. All this will be taken care of by your chosen offshore software development service provider.

Philippines, India, Vietnam, are some of the best places to outsource your upcoming project instead of owning an in-house development team. You see due to the lower cost of living, the rates outsourcing developers are usually much lower than their American and Western European counterparts.

#2 Access to a wider pool of Talent

Now can you tell me approx how much time do you take in finding a reliable team of software developers within your town? 10-12 weeks approx, correct? But what happens if you can get access to even a wider talent pool of software developers and programmers within the same time or maybe less? You see finding local talent is a complex task of its own. With offshore software development, you are no longer restricted in regards to location and have access to world-class offshore software development services at your fingertips.

#3 Focus on your core tasks

By outsourcing the software development team, you no longer have to worry about technicalities. After all, these are professionals we are dealing with. So, you can save yourself and your company lots of time. It has been observed that businesses owners always have to look back and forth when dealing with technology and core business functions at the same time but don’t have the manpower to do so. In such cases, outsourcing or offshore software development turnouts to be a pure blessing in disguise.

 

Where Can You Look for Offshore Developers?

First and foremost, I would suggest you must begin looking for offshore software developers within your country. I mean it will be quite a win-win situation as you no longer require to adjust in regards to time and culture. Also, you won’t encounter any differences in your mentality, and, therefore, communicating with the developers will be at its most efficient. The same thing goes about the time zone differences – if there are none or they are insignificant, your cooperation will be smooth.

The next option to take into account, expand your search territory to the limits of your continent. The cultural differences may turn out to be more noticeable than in the previous case. On the other hand, you have more chances of finding the particular software development specialists you are looking for.

Lastly, find an offshore software development service provider in a country based on another continent. Usually, product owners opt for Eastern Europe countries such as Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and Romania, India, or China. The main reason for choosing this option and looking for developers in such far-away lands is the price tag of their offshore software services. However, not all developers in these countries show a low level of qualification. Also, they are proficient not only in programming languages but English as well.

 

How to Conduct a Successful Offshore Software Development Venture?

Even after being so popular, offshore development or outsourcing software development companies is not an easy venture to conduct especially for everyone. Before getting into the industry, I’d heard plenty of times about colleagues who outsourced some type of work to a company on the other side of the world, only to receive barely acceptable or disappointing results.

So yes outsourcing a custom software development team could be a risky endeavour if not done precisely. A warning in advance, do not make business with anyone without a reputation. Further below I would like to mention certain tips and tricks, best practices you can follow while seeking around for a reliable offshore development team.

#1 Cost-effectiveness could be a pitfall

For any core business budget planning always remains at its paramount. Now here’s the thing, covering all the underlying costs with the initial budget can be tricky. So you need to have backup resources just in case things get worse. Also at the same time, you have to be prepared for any unexpected spikes to rise.

#2 Get through all the things

The very first time when hiring an offshore development team just make sure that you need to take a very close look at the projects they have already worked upon before. If you get a chance try getting in touch with former clients who have already tried offshore development services offered by the company. It is not uncommon to see some development agencies add projects they haven’t worked on to their portfolio (yes, it happens).

Apart from that, the internet is flooded with honest reviews and responses on the short-listed offshore development company, so don’t forget to check them out! Here’s the key! Don’t rush into signing the agreement with it right away. Take your own sweet time! It will all be worth doing.

#3 Are you sure which Technology Stack would you like to go with?

It is very much recommended for businesses to choose a technology stack before even you start looking for offshore developers. You must be well-aware regarding the entire development process ranging from how your product should be developed, ask the company representatives whether their employees can use the technology stack of your choice.

I have come across many instances where offshore development teams perform cheap tricks like offering low-level expertise and replacing new technologies with expensive and inefficient ones. Not all development companies are driven exclusively by their interests and try to retain the client in such a way but there are a few. So beware of these gimmicks and choose your development partner wisely.

#4 A Well-established Communication is a Must!

Effective communication is very important and offshore outsourcing is such a field that this aspect cannot be ignored! The first and foremost thing here is the language. However, recently, this issue has become much less pronounced as the software development world mostly speaks English. However, try to ensure that you choose to work with such outsourcing companies featuring remote teams who do speak English at an acceptable level so that you avoid possible misunderstandings.

Also, try holding project management meetings regularly. By doing this, you can identify any issues or miscommunications early on.

#5 Collaboration comes before commitment

One of the best practices to consider when dealing with an offshore company is to try collaborating your current team with remote colleagues, start with small tasks that can help you see the quality and performance of your chosen partners. Try assigning a non-critical task to your new colleagues and, if you are satisfied with their work, move on to larger and more critical assignments.

In addition, do not underestimate the power of offline meetings, visit them on-site, meet people face-to-face, talk to them and see them in their usual environment.

It is one of the finest ways to get a better idea of their working style and processes.

Conclusion

Conducting offshore software projects can be extremely tricky but if you know the drill well nothing can stop you from enjoying the perks gained in the long run such as:-

• An efficient cost-effective development team
• 24*7 services
• Adhered to software environments and Quality Assessment parameters
• Best possible outcomes with minimal risks
• Access to Top Software Engineers

So that’s all for now! I hope the following post was helpful. In case, if you still have any issues feel free to mention them in the comment section below.

A QUICK OVERVIEW OF AGILE MANIFESTO

The major goal of the Agile Manifesto is to identify new ways to carry out the normal software development process. For some firms, the usual process might become overly cumbersome and unresponsive. The entire goal of their work is to provide more value to individuals while improving interactions with processes and tools.

Its authors’ intention is not to promote anti-methodology. Instead, they wished to “bring legitimacy to the term methodology.” As a result, they attempted to balance established methods of software agile development and some novel options. For example, they will accept modelling and documentation only if it is relevant to the project.

The inventors of this system think that planning is essential as well. However, because the strategy is intended to evolve and alter, flexibility should be built in for future changes.

 

FOUR VALUES OF AGILE

The following are the four basic values expressed by the Agile Manifesto or principles of agile methodology:

VALUE #1: INDIVIDUALS AND INTERACTIONS

Not long ago, the great majority of software teams were primarily concerned with using the finest methods and technologies to create their software. However, the tech industry is continuing to improve. Although the technical aspects of the process are crucial, the Agile Manifesto indicates that the people who support the process are more vital.

This value contends that successful software development would be impossible without collaborating with a team of software developers. And, with that in mind, team collaboration should be prioritized. Members that communicate well with one another and work toward a single objective can solve difficulties more successfully. In this instance, good communication means the best software.
 

VALUE #2: WORKING SOFTWARE

It was not uncommon for software developers to spend years developing thorough documentation in the past. All of this was happening before they had even written a single line of code. Although documentation isn’t bad, teams should ultimately focus on the process and provide high-quality, functional software to clients. In this key concept, the Agile Manifesto emphasizes the significance of being customer-centric. Expect some adjustments and revisions after you’ve delivered the finished work to the client and use them to improve.
 

VALUE #3: CUSTOMER COLLABORATION

Historically, the contract was the most significant part of project development. You would draught a detailed contract with your customer, outlining all of the ultimate product’s specifications. However, as you might expect, there was a significant disparity between what the developers developed, what the contract stated, and what the customer truly required.
 

Instead of using this outmoded strategy, you should concentrate on the continuous improvement of your product. This is why it is critical to collaborate with your customer to offer their desired end product.
 

VALUE #4: RESPONDING TO CHANGE

Although not all changes will be helpful, like in software development, maintaining the status quo does not encourage advancement. It also does not force you to leave your comfort zone. Clients will continue to seek modifications and revisions until you have created the product they want. This is why, according to the Agile Manifesto, software teams should always be able to modify the course of their work as needed.
 

THE 12 PRINCIPLES OF AGILE MANIFESTO

Aside from the core principles, there are 12 principles of agile methodology:

1. Deliver your working software frequently.
2. One of the highest priorities for you as a developer is ensuring customer satisfaction through early and continuous delivery.
3. Clients and developers must collaborate on a daily basis, if necessary, throughout the project.
4. Even in the late stages of development, changes are usually beneficial.
5. Build your projects with people who are passionate about what they are doing. Ascertain that they have the resources necessary to manage their time and productivity.
6. Reducing the volume of work every day is essential.
7. The best possible method for conveying information within a development team is through face-to-face conversation.
8. The true measure of progress is how good your software works.
9. Agile processes are focused on sustainable development.
10. The team’s effectiveness depends exclusively on them.
11. Paying continuous attention to technical excellence and design improves agility.
12. The best designs, requirements, and architects come from self-organized teams.

 

Conclusion:

The primary aim of the Agile approach is the commitment to develop software incrementally, in a step-by-step procedure. Although many businesses have already adopted Agile, following the trend is unlikely to benefit you until you completely understand how it operates.

Before transitioning from one development process to Agile, be sure you understand the fundamentals. Consider the ramifications and how you intend to incorporate it into your team’s broader strategy. Reading the Agile Manifesto, which covers four basic ideals and twelve additional principles, is a wonderful place to start.

With the severe limitations brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, enterprises have widely adopted virtualization across various domains and operations. By going virtual, businesses were able to empower resource sharing through multiple operating systems and reduce the costs, increase the flexibility of IT assets as well as reduce maintenance and management costs, increase scalability and load balancing for IT infrastructure.

This potential of virtualization promoted the idea of implementing cloud computing technology and resource sharing for software test automation services. Cloud computing has developed over years and is encouraged by the growth and expansion of technology which promotes the fundamentals of communication and information. In particular, cloud computing presents an online resilient ecosystem that encourages companies and individuals to control the enormous size of the data that has an impact on the framework execution.

Cloud computing means leveraging the internet and distributed servers by utilizing software applications to obtain data, maintain it and collect resources. Cloud enables the users, enterprises and businesses to handle these distributed services and applications without a need to install software and without internet access.

 

Cloud Based Software Testing

Cloud testing as TaaS can validate different products for individuals or organizations. Based on that, many IT organizations are using the licensing model of cloud to test software solutions and services for customers online instead of installing tests. For example, if an enterprise is looking to perform load testing then it can be leveraged from the cloud technology provider as service. Based on this ideology,we can split the testing into three main types, such as:

• Testing the infrastructures and competence: this type of testing is performed from the security side.

• Testing of a cloud: this type of testing can be done by the customers of the cloud. It will show the validation and the quality of the cloud from the external side.

• Testing over clouds: this type testing is performed by cloud based application providers. It will test the service application based on the system requirements and its specifications, here the testing is done through different types of cloud such as public, private and hybrid clouds.

 

The Different types of Cloud Services

1. Software as a Service (SaaS): it provides the cloud infrastructure specifications for users. The applications available on this infrastructure can be reached by an interface that can be accessed from different platforms and is available to any user via the internet. Users can access and use such applications without installing them. The application user interface is a web browser (Google doc, Photoshop). 
2. Platform as a Service (PaaS): this model gives users the potential for deploying their own solutions by using the platforms of the cloud providers (ex: services of databases and application server) and enable the user to develop, use and manage some web applications (Google apps). 
3. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): where users obtain the services provided by computing plus that they can deploy systems of their own configurations. They can rent the infrastructures they need as building blocks of the cloud; it mainly deals with physical resources like storage, network devices. All these resources can be used on demand (i.e.,the user pay per use (Microsoft azure). 
4. Hardware as a service:: buying IT hardware or maybe hardware virtualization. Cloud can have three main models.

 

The models as described in:

1. Public clouds: this type means that the services of the cloud are available to everyone and the cloud is owned by the organization that provides the services. 
2. Private clouds: usually this type is used by government agencies or some companies that require a huge amount of security and data integrity, so they build their cloud or leverage a publicly available cloud that is secured by a firewall. This cloud is allocated to each enterprise and can be accessed only by authorized users or resources within the companies. 
3. Hybrid clouds: this type is a mix between public and private clouds. Some cloud services are available to any one (public) but some others are only available to authorized users.

 

The Need For Cloud In Software Testing

Enterprises need to perform different software testing tasks to guarantee that the quality of the application or software is absolutely perfect before deploying the application. QA teams must not only ensure that the software is error free but it should also be able to efficiently integrate cloud-based solutions, end-to-end system function testing, software performance and scalability over multiple platforms.

 

Cloud based software testing are as mentioned below:

A cloud-based business test environment, analysts can deploy the application on cloud infrastructure to validate the software quality. They will not have to spend huge amounts on buying these infrastructures as they are allocated based on “pay as you use” policy.

Cloud/SaaS-oriented testing – This kind of software testing is preferably conducted inside a cloud by QA analysts of cloud/SaaS vendors. The fundamental purpose is to ensure the quality of the presented service functions administered in a cloud (or a SaaS program). These QA analysts must go through system testing, application integration, system capacity validation and regression testing. The cloud also provides tools and resources to conduct performance as well as scalability evaluation.

Since clouds and Software as a Service (SaaS) normally present reliable service APIs and connectivity interfaces to users, it is expected responsibility for analysts to verify these APIs and connectivity in a cloud environment. Also, the applications security services, privacy features and functional features must be tested in the cloud environment by leveraging test generators and test labs. Moreover, performance testing and scalability testing of a software is critical to cloud/SaaS vendors because this guarantees the quality of cloud elasticity to sustain SaaS and cloud services within a cloud.

Online-based application testing on a cloud – This variety of testing is usually conducted to check the online software solution on a cloud by leveraging cloud-based traffic generators and realtime user conditions. This is a typical usage of cloud technology to improve existing online applications or software. It helps in conducting online-based system capacity testing and functionality evaluation on a cloud by taking the support of cloud computing resources without using any in-house test infrastructure. When newer apps are updated based on a legacy system, the condition of the attachment between the legacy systems and the under-test application deployed on a cloud must be verified.

Cloud-based application testing over clouds – This testing applies to the quality analysis activities implemented to guarantee the condition of a cloud-based application across multiple clouds. When a software is created to be deployed and administered over various clouds, new testing measures are implemented to assure its quality. Unlike the last two types, the principal testing purpose in this case is to guarantee the quality of the  application over clouds. This implies that the test automation services, function validation, execution validation, and scalability measurement must get along with various cloud technologies. This definitely obscures the responsibilities for checking system adaptability, interoperability, and connectivity between multiple clouds.

Conclusion

Software testing is one of the crucial activities in the software engineering or product life cycle. With the current work from home situation, performing a complete software test has been a challenge for various enterprises. The cloud based software testing has created a huge transformation in the traditional testing strategy and has helped several enterprises deploy efficient applications on time. Therefore, it is imperative that enterprises focus on more cloud based strategies and revolutionize their existing development/testing phase with more innovative solutions.

 What is Patch Management – A Guide

• Patch management is an integral part of IT operations management. It safeguards an organization’s IT infrastructure from ever-increasing security threats.
• Patch management is, in some ways, a “best practice” for maintaining the quality and stability of software components of an IT infrastructure.
• Patching is a non-discretionary response to a vulnerability or to minimize the negative impact of a security breach.
•  

Why do we need patch management?

• We need patch management because it is essential to protect the computers and devices of an organization from cybercriminals who exploit vulnerabilities.
• When a vulnerability is exploited, cybercriminals could gain access to confidential information, destroy our data, or use our computer system with administrator privileges.
• With a patch management system, we can constantly update every system in an organization, making it a lot harder for a cybercriminal to exploit vulnerabilities. Patches can also be delivered by an intelligent download program to make sure we are protected.
• The world is also getting more and more threats, with over 600 new malware items detected every day. We need to make sure we are protecting ourselves from these major threats.
•  

What are some best practices for patch management?

• Patch management is implemented to ensure that critical operating system and application updates are installed on systems. It is a process of evaluating, testing, and installing software updates to fix any bugs or vulnerabilities discovered since the last update.
• There are many different types of patches. Some patches fix bugs in an application, while others might add new features. Security patches are one type of patch that is usually very important because they fix security vulnerabilities that can be used by hackers to invade your system and steal data.
• Patch management practices depend on the type of organization or individual doing the managing; some people will use patch management tools while others will follow manual practices.
• Organizations such as Microsoft have a set of guidelines for how their products should be patched, which includes how often they should be updated and if they require certain criteria before updating.

Here are some best practices around patch management:

1. Create a proper patch management strategy.
2. Verify the integrity of the patches before applying them.
3. Keep your company up to date with the latest patches and updates for operating systems and applications.
4. Set a standard for your company that everyone should follow.
5. Make sure your employees know how to find and apply updates or patches.
6. Encourage the use of patch management software.

What is patch management software?

• Patch management software is an application that helps IT departments keep up to date with the latest security and software updates.
• One of the most common issues IT departments face today is keeping track of all the patches and software updates their system needs. This can be a very time-consuming process, as there are usually many different types of systems that need various updates.

How to choose the right patch management software for your organization?

• There are several factors that an organization needs to consider when choosing a patch management solution for their IT infrastructure.
• Firstly, the organization must identify its patch management requirements. This will require a survey of the organization’s assets and vulnerabilities. It will also need to be communicated to the IT infrastructure, and therefore any vendor of the chosen solution.
• Secondly, the costs of the solution need to be assessed. This includes the capital expense of the solution, as well as the ongoing OPEX to manage it.
• Thirdly, the compatibility needs to be analyzed. The organization needs to ensure that the chosen solution is compatible with all of its assets, as well as any vendor software in use.

Top free patch management software

Here is some popular patch management software that organizations can use to safeguard their endpoints.

• Motadata ServiceOps Patch Manager
• SentinelOne
• GFI LanGuard
• ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus
• JetPatch
•  Atera
• PDQ Deploy

Different companies have varying needs for an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. With ERP solutions, they can streamline various processes like human resource management, sales, inventory, marketing, finance and resources. ERP is also important to promote communication and transparency between various departments and exchange information more efficiently.

Despite all aforementioned benefits of using an ERP software, not every company can afford it. Not to mention, the cost of an ERP software depends on the requirements of a company, which means that a business owner can go for a cheaper software but he might have to compromise on some functionality.

In this blog, we will be focusing on who needs an ERP software and what are its different types available in the market. By the end, you will have a more precise idea about how much the software is going to cost you and why you need it.

Who Needs an ERP Software?

The requirement for an ERP software cannot be decided by the size of a company. In various scenarios, the software would be more beneficial for a startup than a large-scale business and vice-versa. The following factors will help you decide whether you are in need of an ERP software or are good without it.

1. You Value Business Data

From human resources to sales, all important information can be stored and accessed from an ERP software. The business owner can access this data at will and use it for processes like performance evaluation, resource planning and team management.

2. Organizational Problems Reflect in your Customer Experience

Slow communication, inefficient transfer of files and poor coordination amongst departments slows down the overall workflow of a company. To keep the business on track, it is essential to improve this coordination. ERP software performs various functions to smoothen the intra business discrepancies and ensure business problems have the minimum impact on the customer experience.

3. You Want to Reduce the Overhead Costs

Centralizing and integrating various functions on a single software reduces the overhead costs. Different software requires a different and long overboarding process, some might even be really expensive. By using ERP software, you can keep all your employees on the same pace and reduce overhead training costs.

4. You Want to Eliminate Human Error

Manual execution of important processes like inventory tracking and preparing purchase orders leaves scope for human error, which is often only detected after the damage has been done. When automated with an ERP software, the chances for human error decrease significantly.

Different Types of ERP Software

If you fall under the category who finds itself requiring an ERP software, you’d also like to know which ERP serves your purpose the best. While the ERP software types that we are going to discuss below do differ in price and deployment time, they both have their specific benefits:

Readymade ERP Software

Readymade ERP software is the off-the-shelf software that comes with all essential features. Some ready-made software are also customizable, however, their scope of customization often depends on the terms and conditions of the vendor. They are more recommended to the entrepreneurs who require minimum to no customizations. A strong downside to ready-made ERP software is that they may fail to resolve your certain problems.

Pros of Readymade ERP Software

• Fastest to deployment
• Come with all necessary features
• Available as both one-time software and SaaS
• Save time on planning and development
• Come with proper guides and documentation
• Software updates are available in future
• Available at a fixed price

Cons of Readymade ERP Software

• Are developed to meet the general requirements of all entrepreneur
• Less scope of customization
• Can be only integrated with selected third party software
• Can fail to meet resolve certain problems
• Updates can be expensive
• Give no competitive advantage to the business. They are an ERP software used by thousands of brands

Custom ERP Software

Custom ERP software is tailored to meet the unique requirements of a business. Sometimes, the custom ERP solution is developed from a minimum viable product (MVP) or scratch developed. Custom ERP gives business owners the choice to select the technology stack and set of features. The cost of custom ERP software mainly depends on these features and the level of customization you require.

Pros of Custom ERP Software

• Tailored as per your business requirements
• Made to resolve specific and unique business problems
• Basic functions, such as accounting and inventory are enhanced to suit your business
• Are more secure than readymade ERP software
• On-boarding becomes easy as the business owner is often an active participant of the development
• Price depends on the selected set of features
• Can be integrated with a wide range of software

Cons of Custom ERP Software

• Development requires proper planning and is also time consuming
• There are no software updates
• Isn’t available as SaaS
• Help and support options are limited to the software developer

Determining the Cost of ERP Software

Readymade  ERP Software Cost Estimation

The cost of readymade solutions is fixed. This means you can easily browse the internet to find a solution that fits under your budget. The average cost of readymade ERP software ranges between $1,000 – $10,000. SaaS readymade solutions are cheaper but as they come with recurrent costs, they are not so cost effective.

Some SaaS ERP providers also charge business owners as per the number of employees. For example, $50 per month per employee. If you have 20 employees, this means your ERP software will cost you $1000 per month. For this reason, readymade solutions are mostly used by small and mid-size businesses.

Custom ERP Software Cost Estimation

The cost for custom ERP development depends on the selected technology and features. This is because difficult programming languages and complex features require expert developers, who cost more to the software development company. However, you can either get a fixed ballwork for the custom ERP solution or pay at hourly rates. The price formula for the later is (hourly rate * number of developers) + taxes.

Via the quotation based pricing, custom ERP solution should cost you around $3,000-15,000. By hourly development, a junior developer will cost you $25-40 per hour, a senior will cost $40-80 and a dedicated project manager will be approx $50-$100 per hour.

Note: The aforementioned figures are fair estimates based on current market rates and the actual development cost may vary.

How to Build a Custom ERP?

There are two methods to build a custom ERP. One is waterfall development and the other is agile development.

In waterfall development, all requirements are gathered before the actual development process and any changes during the development process require the team to begin the entire development process from square one. On the other hand, agile development focuses on iterative development. It includes various development sprints that allow for regathering of requirements and leave scope for mid-development changes.

For ERP development, we advise you to opt  for agile methodologies, which resolve the problem of feature selection. The development team can begin the development process with base requirements and add on features at a later stage.

Each sprint of agile development process includes the following stages:

Preparation of the Scope of Work

Scope of work is the initial planning of every sprint. It defines the problem and features required to solve them. The scope of work developed by the development team after gathering requirements from the business owner and thoroughly analysing them.

Planning

The planning stage involves the preparation of the backlog and distribution of responsibilities. The turnaround time for the completion of the first sprint is also decided in this stage. A proper timeline and chart showing every member’s workload and bandwidth is made.

Development

In the development stage, the programming of the source code takes place according to the accepted terms. In the first iteration, only the bare minimum features are developed and tested. In later stages, incremental progress takes place till the software becomes fully functional to meet the business owner’s requirements.

Testing and QA

Final testing and quality assurance rounds ensure that all bugs and defects that were undetected in the previous testing stages are removed from the software. There can be multiple rounds of testing and QA depending on required changes.

Documentation

The documentation of the software and other handovers are prepared once the end-product is ready for deployment. 

Deployment

In the deployment stage, the end-product is finally deployed on the company’s server and initial support is provided to help the company keep the software useful.

What are the Key Features of an ERP Software?

Entrepreneurs interested in custom ERP software are required to select a feature set. Below is the list of most demanded features in an ERP software:

Accounting: Accurate and detailed accounting via ERP software provides greater control to companies over their resources. It helps them track expenditure and execute processes like invoicing, general ledger, accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR). Some ERP software are also integrated with budgeting and forecasting features.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – Features like a common contact center, lead management, contact management and campaign management assist in CRM. With ERP software, businesses can also keep a track on order history and send important reminders.

Project Management: Project management features that are common in most ERP software are risk management, project reporting, project budgeting, task allocation, correspondence tracking and design.

Asset Management: Features like asset planning, realization, maintenance scheduling, contracting, GIS location tracking and more help a company monitor their assets’ performance.

Supply Chain Management: (SCM): ERP software can also keep tabs on the company’s inventory, demands, distributors, suppliers and purchase orders.  It can also automate several of these processes for enhanced supply chain management.

Reporting: Employee reporting is required to update the stakeholders of their respective projects. They help in decision making and evaluating work performance.

Manufacturing: Features like sourcing of raw materials, visual planning, production monitoring, workload scheduling, product configuration and quality management assist companies in streamlining their manufacturing process.

Human Resource Management: HR tools and features like attendance, payroll, expense management, policy management, compensation management and timekeeping are also in high-demand in ERPs.

Sales and Marketing: An ERP software can have different marketing modules and integrations. To reach more customers, businesses can also schedule and execute campaigns on ERP software. They can also keep an account of all customers, automate monthly sales reports, send sales invoices, management return requests and track expenses on every lead.

Data Analysis: For business growth, ERP software can convert real-time collected data into actionable insights, such as sales reports, marketing reports, expenses reports,  performance reports, comparison reports and more.

How to Choose the Right ERP Company for Your Business?

For getting a quality ERP software, you will need to hire experts who can understand your requirements and execute them efficiently. Without understanding and carrying out strategic development, a company is highly unlikely to meet your expectations or even deliver the software within the turnaround time.

To find an ERP company who can actually develop a reliable software for your company, check out the following points:

1.  Search on Critic Websites

Several entrepreneurs do the mistake of finding experts on freelancing marketplaces. Those marketplaces are so easy to enter that inexperienced firms can also portray them as industrial experts. However, if you do want an affordable ERP software development company, then begin your search on websites like Clutch and GoodFirms. These websites regularly evaluate software development companies to save you the job.

2.  Discuss your Requirements with the Company

You may like several companies while conducting your search. To sort them out, contact their sales experts one by one and discuss your business requirements. Ask for a ballpark estimate and clear your doubts. If they can provide you with a case study or portfolio, you can evaluate their work quality more efficiently.

3.  Compare your Options

After receiving price quotations, you can compare different ERP development companies with each other. Consider their work experience, turnaround times, number of allocated developers and payment options for an objective comparison. Feel free to reach back to a company to ask a question or clear any doubts.

4.  Customer Support

Lastly, if you get stuck between two or more companies, review their available customer support options to make a trustworthy decision. Some companies provide free technical support for a limited time of period and also offer omni-channel customer support options. These are the companies you’d want to select for the development of your ERP software.

Conclusion

ERP software has become a backbone powering various functions in hundreds of companies. They help you reduce costs and track resources. If you truly require ERP software for your business, evaluate quality with the price. Otherwise, custom ERP software is always a more reliable option than readymade. With the information provided above, you can confidently opt for custom ERP development.

Cloud computing is a revolutionary technology that is transforming every aspect of business in each industry. The retail sector also can make the most out of implementing cloud technology in their process; to make operations efficient and increase productivity. Not only the business is embracing technology, but the customers are also becoming more tech-savvy. As a result, it is crucial to embrace the latest in your business process to adapt to the market trends and demands. All the giant corporations in the retail industry are using cloud-based software in their process and making the most out of it. The small and medium enterprises in the retail sector are still planning or reluctant to embrace this technology. 

The market size of the cloud-based software in the retail sector.

The global market size of the cloud retail software globally was approximately $11.9 billion in 2018. Also, the experts predict that the size will expand to reach around $39 billion by the end of 2026. The market size of this technology in the retail sector will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.3% during these years. This technology has a strong base in the retail businesses in North America and is growing exponentially in the Asian Pacific market. Let’s discuss the future of cloud-based software in the retail sector in this blog.

Reduce operational cost:

Retail businesses have a stricter profit margin that they have to work on because the retail business sells the products on a fewer profit margin. As a result, they sell more quantities to make more money and keep the business running. Finance is a crucial asset for any industry, size, and type of business that they need to spend efficiently. The retail business has enough of the operational cost already which needs to be addressed on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Adding the cost of IT infrastructure and the team will drain their profits and possibly bankrupt. The cloud-based software will reduce the operational cost because you do not have to invest in the infrastructure or teams. Because The Point of Salesoftware vendors allow you to pay on a subscription basis and also increase and decrease the number of users according to business needs. Furthermore, they also provide excellent customer service that is friendly, knowledgeable, and ready to help when a client has queries or grievances. The cloud vendors also take care of the upgradation and the maintenance; of the system so that your teams are working; on updated systems. 

Enrich and enhance collaboration:

Retail businesses have to manage multiple aspects of the organization to make a successful organization. Because they have various products, outlets, teams, departments, vendors, and suppliers. It will be a challenge for your team to manage, collaborate and communicate between the retail teams. The retails businesses that do not have transparent and efficient communication; will result in mistakes and increase team frustration. The cloud-based software will help to centralize the entire operations on a single platform. As a result, all the teams and resources can have real-time access to the data so they can efficiently manage. As everything is on a single platform, they can communicate; with all the teams, departments, vendors, and manufacturers easily. Increased transparency and easy communication help enhance the customer experience and make more profits.

Delivers reliability, scalability, and flexibility:

Cloud-based software is a perfect tool for small and medium-sized retail businesses that have a great potential for expansion. As a result, they need a software solution that is reliable, scalable, and flexible because it should adapt to your business needs and demands. This technology will help to make a higher return on investment that will help in business expansion. Additionally, it enables your team to complete the operations from anywhere and at any time. 

Minimize operational time:

Operations cost your business time, money, and effort that is why it is crucial to use them efficiently. Additionally, the less time you use to complete the operations, it will positively impact the customers and create a brand image. As a result, your retail business will get more referrals and repeat business from your existing customers. As discussed above, the cloud-based software will centralize the operation, which will help your retail team to navigate easily. Furthermore, the online POS system will help your team to have a real-time update about your stock availability and merchandising policy so that your customers do not have to wait for a long time. 

Efficient data handling:

The retail team generates a large volume of data which is impossible to manage manually. Needless to say, that inaccuracies in data management will impact your business in all aspects of retail. Additionally, it will increase customer and team dissatisfaction because nothing will be in its place. The cloud-based software will provide real-time, accurate, and detailed analysis of your data; which will be tracked automatically. As a result, organizations will make lesser mistakes and better strategic decisions that are data-driven.

Contactless shopping experience:

The recent pandemic that shook the world and its population has transformed businesses drastically. The retailers can use cloud-based POS solutions with mobile deployment so that the customers can shop; through their phones. This software will help the customer check; the product availability, explore the options, and pay for them; through the phone. Additionally, they can also track the real-time status of the delivery and process easy exchange and returns. As a result of convenience shopping, cloud-based retail software is going to be the future of the industry. This software will help the retail team members and their customers safe from contracting the deadly virus and continue to make revenue. 

Conclusion:

Cloud-based software has numerous benefits for retail organizations; that is the reason behind this technology gaining popularity. More retail businesses will adapt to cloud computing because of the cost savings, real-time updates, and contactless deliveries.