In today’s competitive world, businesses want to be careful when deciding whether a large software development project should be done in-house or done by outsourcing the work. Some companies have an in-house software development setup (captive centre subsidiary), but they are so flexible that they outsource work to reliable vendor partners. Other organisations no longer outsource major software development work, because of their captive centre setup which has long-term goals. You can select the best one that suits your business’s purpose in the short-term and in the long-term, by comparing the two setups. So let’s take a look at a comparison of the key drivers and challenges for a captive centre set up with those for a vendor partner set up. Key Drivers for the Captive Centre Setup Does your business have a captive centre in a low-cost area? Do you want to benefit from the cost-savings of offshore resources? Then this model is the one for you. You can choose to set up your own captive centre to make the most out of its large-scale offshore plans. Does your business deal with sensitive information? Do you want to prevent the potential risk of data leaks to third parties? Then you may prefer this model. For example, if your business is based on banking, insurance or the stock market, you deal with a lot of monetary transactions and sensitive customer data. Do you want complete control over your sensitive operational activities, like product costing and new product launches? Then this setup is suitable for you. Does your business handle a complex software development project? Then the knowledge gained by...
Application maintenance outsourcing (AMO) is an important part of application outsourcing. With AMO, you can outsource all the maintenance activities, such as enhancements, corrections and patch developments. Image credit: Flickr You can get the resources that you need for the maintenance phase of your project on a contract basis. These resources include the manpower with the required technical skills, technology and other required resources. Application development and maintenance form about 80% of the total work that is outsourced. The number of outsourcing companies is also increasing due to the huge demand. Thus, let’s take a look at the several pros and cons it comes with. Pros of AMO AMO is a cost-effective solution and improves your operations and technology well. Here are some benefits of AMO: Cost and time saving It lets you have more time to develop the app and for other operations. It lets you concentrate on the core business. It makes use of external expertise. Gives you access to industry experts without paying a big compensation as you would for a normal employee. Allows your work to be flexible. Gives you access to talented IT professionals, better tools, equipment, and technology. Improves the performance, productivity, and customer satisfaction. It allows work to be continued in different time zones. Enables you to go without a payroll system. Nullifies the worry about losing key employees. Cons of...
Have you been keeping track of the leading eCommerce platforms that have emerged in recent years for businesses? If yes, then Magento is sure to figure in that list of popular eCommerce solutions that have made lives easier for businesses to go online with their products or services. Magento has been known to help businesses seamlessly build an online store across any category, customise it as per their changing needs, attract more customers and generate better sales. This open source Content Management System (CMS) has been constantly evolving with new solutions and tools, due to which it has been trusted and utilised by more than 240,000 businesses across the globe. This number is estimated to rise by leaps and bounds in the coming years as the demand for eCommerce increases. So let’s check out the advantages offered by Magento, especially for small businesses, and compare it to other eCommerce platforms or CMSs. 1. A Customisable Open Source Solution Magento (Community Edition) is open source and can be downloaded for free. Once installed, you are not restricted to the standard templates, but you can customise it as per the dynamic requirements of your business. Image credit: Flickr You can boost your eCommerce store with several new features and functionalities by installing Magento extensions that are available at the Magento Connect marketplace. For small businesses, this customising option is pretty handy since the eCommerce needs of these businesses may be pretty specific. 2. Strong Community Support To enjoy a smooth experience with any new tool or CMS, like Magento, that you haven’t used before, you will always feel the need to have...
Business leaders are often highly reliant on every single piece of their business information to make profitable business decisions and further refine corporate strategy. This is where business intelligence comes into the picture. Image credit: Flickr Designed to help people make better business decisions and turn the business into a profitable establishment, business intelligence (BI) is a technology-driven process that involves the collection, integration, analysis, and presentation of business information through historical, current, and predictive views of business operations. While, there are many industries have started embracing BI, let’s see where does it stand in the healthcare industry. Business Intelligence and Healthcare As the amount of information being generated is increasing exponentially, big data revolution has left many industries with repositories of information that they earlier had limited or no access to. Industries are now looking into the prospects of moving to a data-driven establishment. The healthcare industry is also on the brink of transformation and according to a report by KLAS, over half of all health organisations are planning to buy a new and more advanced business intelligence system over the next three years. Gartner reported that one of nine deadly mistakes in business operations improvement (BOI) in healthcare is the lack of BI strategy. “Most vendors working in healthcare and other industries observe that healthcare has the most complex data of any industry (possibly excluding government intelligence efforts),” the report states. The report also cited that organisations are not yet fully handling their data the way it should be tackled. The total absence of a well-documented BI strategy, Gartner added, is the biggest folly of the healthcare industry. Forward thinking...
Are you looking for a CRM interface for your website? If yes, then it is possible to manage the CRM of your website with a simple open source relationship management system software like CiviCRM. The best part is that CiviCRM is available for installation as a standalone software or as a component along with content management systems like Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress. It may also be installed as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Let’s take a detailed look at the benefits offered by CiviCRM, its features and how it can work seamlessly with a Content Management System (CMS) like Drupal. Web-Based Synchronisation CiviCRM is a web-based application which is a great advantage, as it can be easily installed and utilised by you with the help of an internet-enabled computer system. It synchronises seamlessly with various CMSs for effective web-based relationship management, especially for school, church and other charitable or non-profit organisations. As CiviCRM is developed by the community Hive Mind, you may not get instant direct support for any related issues. However, there are plenty of help forums that provide solutions for various CiviCRM based problems. Key Features Online Fundraising and Donor Management It can manage and keep track of all the contributions or donations to your organisation from your constituents from a single screen within the application. You are empowered to create customised web pages quickly in order to accept online donations. You also get access to updated details of every donation and relevant contact with no chance of data entry errors. Online Membership Management With CiviCRM, you can easily manage the online sign ups, renewals and membership summaries for your organisation....
First launched in 2008, Magento is arguably one of the most popular and widely used eCommerce platforms that powers hundreds of thousands of online stores, and can be downloaded for free. Tailored according to your specific eCommerce needs, this open source platform offers maximum performance and scalability, with advanced out-of-the-box capabilities, packed in a bundle of multiple editions two of which are Magento Enterprise and Magento Community. Aside from the fact that one is free and the other is not, both Magento editions seem equally beneficial. Some businesses, however, prefer one to the other. So, what is the difference between the two, what features does one have, that the other doesn’t, and how they perform against each other on different parameters is what we’ll discuss in detail today. The purpose of this comparison is to ascertain which version is suitable for your organisation depending on what stage it is in, and future requirements. Size of the Business The first and perhaps the most important differentiator between the two Magento editions are the size and scale of the business. Consider the amount of sales you make every month, the size of the inventory, the number of SKUs, and the market growth your business is experiencing. With faster indexing process, speedy checkout feature, ability to handle large number of products, flexibility and better support for international business, Magento Enterprise is a real game changer in this scenario if you have lots of products or inventory. Modular Code Base On a core, technical level, though, those of you who are not afraid to get their hands dirty building and maintaining a website,...
The decisions you make today have a strong bearing on the operations of your business in the future. In order to make sound decisions, your enterprise needs to have the latest operational intelligence information. This is where ‘Business Intelligence’ (BI) comes in and a qualified BI consultant will be able to track your company’s status and operational data very quickly and efficiently. The global market for BI platforms is witnessing a constant rise that has made it rank among the fastest growing enterprise software industries. As per Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for BI and Analytics platform from earlier this year, this growth is expected to take place at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 8.7% through to 2018. Source: Gartner (February 2015) Martin Butler, an industry expert, commented on the importance of BI by saying that “an organisation without Business Intelligence bears a striking resemblance to a ship without a rudder” in his latest report. So in this article, we will look at the reasons your organisation needs a Business Intelligence consultant, along with some tips to find the right BI consultants and hire them at the right time. Tasks Performed by BI Consultants An ideal BI consultant for your business will have sound knowledge of the underlying data system, along with programs and tools that create the data. The primary job involves carrying out constant monitoring of the business data and generates timely reports that can be shared with your company’s management on a frequent basis. One of the most important yet ignored tasks performed by any BI consultant is finding and listing down requirements. The consultant can devise relevant strategies...
Any guesses as to what has been named as the ‘sexiest job of the twenty-first century’? According to the Harvard Business Review, it is the job of a data scientist. Surprised? With the amount of data we are generating coupled with the rapid increase in technology, it is no surprise that we need an expert to make sense of all this data and do much more. A data scientist is soon going to become a basic need for most companies. So what exactly does a data scientist do? Who is a Data Scientist? The basic job of a data scientist is to analyse data. He does this himself, but he also builds automated systems that do so. Statistics and machines play a big part in the process. A data scientist needs to needs to be good with numbers, but also needs to have a scientific bent of mind. The job of a data scientist is required today than ever before. Think of the Internet – think how much data is generated there. The number of YouTube videos uploaded each minute, the number of Facebook posts liked every minute, the number of products bought online every minute; and this does not even cover a tenth of the activity that is conducted on the Internet. This kind of data can give invaluable insight and information to a company, depending on what they are looking for. But how do you look for what you want in such a complicated maze and so much sheer volume? This is what a data scientist does. Data scientists can also make predictions. These predictions are based...
There was a time when people used to run applications and software downloaded to their own devices or servers. This meant increased threats of data loss and less flexible systems – you actually needed data to be in the system to be able to complete the work. With cloud hosting, people can now access all the application through the internet, no matter what the location is. The solution has become popular over the years, especially among small and medium enterprises, that run on a modest budget. Companies can look at increased collaboration with cloud, enabling employees to share and work on data seamlessly, and individuals to pick up their work from any machine that has access to the cloud. Cloud services have also opened a world for businesses and users to interact. You can save your word files in cloud or just use a cloud invoicing system. There are different cloud host providers offering you space to store data online and collaborate easily but the development of SaaS has been the most significant. According to the latest statistics issued by Cloud Industry Forum (CIF), 84 percent of all the companies in the United Kingdom have adopted at least one cloud service. The research also shows that about 78 percent companies in the country adopt two or more cloud services. In fact, this technology has evolved in phases, starting from utility and grid computing, application service provision (ASP) and the latest Software as a Service (SaaS). Why Cloud Hosting? There are different reasons that have owed to the remarkable success of cloud hosting: Flexibility: Need more bandwidth or storage space...
While building a multifaceted and interactive web application, architects and developers are usually met with the challenge of performance, maintainability and modularity and are in constant need of a set of frameworks that can act like a backbone to their project and help them knock-out all the glitches in the process. JavaScript, a programming language that was designed to give easy access to pre-built components that serve as building blocks for a webpage, thus entered the field. Gone are the days when web development was all about uploading static HTML, CSS and JavaScript files to an HTTP server. Modern web applications are much larger and more complex than earlier and require a framework of language that provides structure, quality and maintainability all at the same time. JavaScript frameworks were created to address the need of building a stable foundation for a web application. What are JavaScript Frameworks? JavaScript frameworks are libraries of pre-written JavaScript that allow easier development of JS-based applications by providing a layer of abstraction on top of the core language. These frameworks provide a multitude of functions and help make it easier and more achievable for developers to create responsive, fluid and maintainable interfaces for web apps. JavaScript frameworks are open-sourced, released under the permissive MIT license and aim to resolve the problem of single page web apps using an MVC or MV* design pattern. Top JavaScript Frameworks There has been a great surge in MV* frameworks over the past few years and the list of new and stable frameworks continues to grow each year. Developers usually find themselves lost in choice as to which framework...
