Category: Blog

What is Application Migration? Complete Guide with Cost Factors!

Post author By admin
Post date December 5, 2023

The process of moving applications among different computing environments is termed application migration. Now these computing environments can include servers, laptops, clouds, scanners, data centers, etc. Compared to migrating applications run on hardware, it is easy to move the ones based on virtual architecture. However, the migration team can face new challenges when moving an application to a new environment.

It is a tough job and requires cross-functional collaboration, communication and patience. Here in this article, we have explained the whole application migration process step by step.

Stages for Application Migration

To manage the process efficiently, it is important to have effective application migration strategies in place. Based on the needs of businesses, different app migration plans will be created by each organization. However, it is important to take care of a few basic things and they are:

Analyzing the background

When you plan to get ahead with the application migration, you need to start by reviewing the toolset you have at hand. You need to conduct a change impact analysis and know the technology stack that you have at hand. The information needs to be collected in terms of migration impact on:

Infrastructure
Integrations & plugins
Performance & scalability
Compliance & security
The application
Business

The bigger the project, the more time will be required to collect such information. The effort and time required to gather this information will affect the overall migration cost.

Before you get any further, there are a few things that you can ask, and they are:

How big is the planned migration?
What value will the whole process add to the business?
How much time and money will it require?
How much data needs to be moved?
How can this data be secured?
What tools and resources do we need to ensure a successful application migration?
Should we keep the process flow by moving all the apps to the same hosting option?
How can different systems be integrated?

The next thing you need to do is to convince your stakeholders about the purpose of application migration. You should also explain to all stakeholders what the positive outcome of the process will be. Also try to give some rough estimate of the migration in terms of budget, timelines, dependencies, etc. as it can be important.

Assessment and Planning

Once you have the approval, it is time to collect needed requirements from all stakeholders and end-users, to get a clear picture regarding the involved processes about app performance. Come up with a final document that is acceptable to all parties. Gathering all documents will help the team to know how, what and when of the migration process. Also concentrate on the cost factor to let them know about money they will have to spend on the process.

Coming up with a Migration Project Plan

Now that we have everything, it is time to map the existing functionalities with the collected requirements. You need to be clear about everything before the migration process starts. Moreover, it will help you identify any potential issues and resolve them before things get started.

For successful application migration, you will need a dedicated team, and a cross-functional one would be better. The kind of team you need to set up for your application migration process depends on the complexity of the infrastructure and architecture you have in place. Having skilled people on board is key to ensure that the migration completes as per the expectations.

Based on the required migration goals, you can choose from different types of application migration strategies. Now this can be a full migration, a partial one or a phased one.

Once you are clear about what you want to migrate and who will be doing it, you will be able to come up with a rough timeframe and budget. Keep in mind that the time and cost estimation will depend on your selected migration strategy, the level of customization required, number of users involved, time.

Once all the migration changes are planned, the same can be communicated to the stakeholders and the company. You should also plan the post-migration training before getting ahead.

The Migration Process

The migration process should start by documenting all the features, plugins, and configurations that need to be migrated. At this stage, the focus should be more on ensuring data integrity by getting rid of unnecessary configurations. It is good to create file directories and app backup databases. This should be followed with each migration phase, so that if anything goes wrong, migration can be stopped, and the app can be rolled back.

Once the application is migrated, we should test it to get familiar with its process. We should also consider any downtime and potential issues and fix them as they come up. The application migration should be tested within the test environment to ensure everything works as expected. The migration should be tested for integration, performance and functional perspectives.

Application Launch

Once everything is tested, then it is time to launch the product. The right date should be selected by communicating with all stakeholders. It is always recommended to avoid peak hours as well as any important software updates.

Post-Migration Activities

Migrating the application is not the end. There are a few things that you need to care of once the application is migrated:

Keep collecting the data to ensure everything works well after the migration.
Disable the previous application that is no longer in use.
Keep the test environment created for the migration process as it may be later required for testing changes and customizations.

Conclusion

Application migration is a complex task, and many things can go wrong. To ensure everything goes well, it is important to have a proper plan and a good execution strategy in place. Based on different projects, these things can change. To ensure the migration process is completed on time and within budget, it is important to have clear communication with everyone involved.

At Shaligram Infotech, we have been helping businesses worldwide improve their presence by offering technology-driven solutions. Whether it is about application migration or building a solution from scratch, we offer you the best solution that matches your IT needs by analyzing your business well.

Tags Application Migration

Blog Software Development

What are the Software Development Trends in 2024?

Post author By admin
Post date December 4, 2023

Software development trends for 2024 overview

Every year, the software development industry expands to new limits with new and revolutionizing technological advancements. As per a report of Statista, it is said that between 2022-2027 the global software market is expected to see a CAGR of 5.78% which means the market revenue will reach around $ 806 billion by 2027.

Latest technology trends play a key role in confirming growth and expansion of businesses over the digital platform. Apart from helping them build a strong hold on the digital arena, it helps businesses easily connect with their customers.

Let’s check out some of the Software Development Trends in 2024 that will be driving business success.

Low-code/no-code development will gain popularity

One of the top software development trends in 2024 is low-code/no-code development. The popularity of low-code and no-code development has increased tremendously fast for developing software applications. The platforms for low-code and no-code let developers to easily create mobile and web applications even with complex features without having to go through the pain of writing codes. For businesses, this means they can have their product developed in exceptionally low time with reduced costs. This helps them to improve their products to the taste of their customers quickly through multiple iterations.

More businesses to move to Cloud Services

Soon, more software development companies will be seen moving towards cloud services. It helps developers with efficient development, communication and team management. Again, it simplifies remote work for developers and serves as an effective tool for software industry growth. Moreover, distributed cloud services let businesses host their backed services on different cloud providers rather than keeping them all on one single cloud server. This helps the team ensure zero downtime error.

DevSecOps Model will Resolve Security Concerns

For the last few years, DevOps has improved the software development process by manifolds. It created a platform that combines development and testing teams and allows them to together build quality products. Right from the beginning, developers and testers can take up the responsibility to build quality products by following best practices.

However, even with everything in place, something these products missed was the focus on security features. It made them easily vulnerable to cyberattacks. By adopting DevSecOps model for development, developers were able to bring security to the core area of development. It helped developers easily implement security practices into their development work. This way, the security team will be able to be part of the development process right from the beginning. Thus, helping developers and testers to improve their processes right from the beginning.

Rise of the Internet of Things

The rise of Internet of Things (IoT) will be one of crucial software development trends that will be witnessed in 2024. The way people live have greatly changed by connected gadgets, cars and appliances. For businesses, IoT plays a major role in preventing malfunctioning of equipment, collecting large volumes of data, managing inventory efficiently, carrying out different operations, and helping with cost-savings.

Blockchain no more Limited to Cryptocurrency

Though cryptocurrency made blockchain popular in the market, its demand is said to increase in the software development field in the coming years. With blockchain, it will become possible for developers to create more transparent and secure software systems. Blockchain helps them integrate high-end security features into business solutions that involve monetary transactions.

To ensure secure transactions, blockchain comes with key features like decentralized systems, data replication, and public-key cryptography. It helps developers build new revenue streams and business models. As this technology is growing, we can expect developers to explore more possibilities to incorporate it into the arena of software development.

Growing demand for Progressive Web Apps

Progressive Web Applications helps you offer native-like web experience to your mobile application. PWAs can be quickly downloaded on the smartphone directly from the website, thus saving users from the pain of downloading the app from the app store.

PWAs come with small size, advanced features, offline functionality, and push notifications. PWAs are the best option for startups and small businesses that want to create a digital presence on web and mobile platforms without spending much. In the coming future, several startups and small businesses will be seen investing in Progressive Web Apps.

Software outsourcing demand will increase

Outsourcing software development is also part of the latest technology trends followed by businesses. Companies that want to control their spending on the development team go for outsourcing software development first. Apart from the headache of maintaining an expensive in-house team, it is not always convenient for companies to find IT professionals with the desired expertise for the selected sectors.

Moreover, with outsourcing, companies can easily meet their changing tech stack needs without having to go through the hiring process. Such outsourcing companies work with businesses from different niches, which helps them get better insights into the technology needs of their clients easily.

Mixed Reality Adoption to increase

Mixed Reality is one of the software development trends that will be visible in 2024. Mixed Reality is formed by the combination of virtual and reality worlds like VR and AR. It creates an immersive environment with interactive digital and physical objects for the users. The gaming and entertainment industry is already using augmented and virtual reality for building different applications. In the coming years, the use of these technologies in software development is going to increase as developers are looking for different ways to explore their unique skills and capabilities.

These technologies have the power of transforming software solutions by offering excellent immersive user experiences. So, whether it is about conducting training to enabling remote collaboration, establishing better shopping experience to engaging buyers, these mixed technologies have the power of improving the way in which people interact with software.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Currently, the use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is high across the IT sector. These technologies provide businesses with an upper hand to stay competitive in the highly volatile digital marketplace. It has been fueling applications like data filtering, chatbots, text/image recognition software and machine learning algorithms.

AI applications help businesses to offer customized user experiences by making informed decisions. That is the reason why many of the tech giants as well as small startups are investing in this technology and reaping huge profits.

Conclusion

Blog Software Development

A Complete Guide For Custom Healthcare Software Development

Post author By admin
Post date November 27, 2023

Custom healthcare software development complete guide

With every industry transforming by leveraging cutting-edge technologies, it is time for the healthcare niche to make the call. Investing in the right healthcare software solution can help healthcare practitioners easily reach out to their patients, monitor their vitals, and deliver efficient healthcare services. For patients, this means ease of getting the healthcare service they need.

What is Healthcare Software Development?

Today, software development for healthcare has turned out to be an important element in the success and smooth running of the healthcare industry. It helps doctors to deliver effective treatment to their patients. Right from tracking the clinical records of the patients to making them available to the doctors, the healthcare software solutions simplify the healthcare field largely to the doctors. Moreover, such software solutions let doctors provide better treatments to their patients by letting them track their medical history.

Such software solutions will also help medical professionals to easily share patient details within the organization as well as communicate efficiently with other departments. Custom healthcare software will help manage and access patient data, get reports & records, and share information with other healthcare professionals. Such a solution will make it easier to access patient data from anywhere and check the progress of treatment with ease.

What are the different types of healthcare software?

Tailored healthcare management system development is carried out for a number of purposes. The different types of healthcare software development carried out in the market are:

Telemedicine software

Telemedicine software has been developed with the aim of connecting healthcare professionals with patients while completely eliminating the need for travelling. Here patients are consulted over voice calls, video calls and chat.

Electronic Health Records software

Electronic Health Records or EHR software work as repositories for all kinds of information on patients. It works as a common platform where medical history and records of patients can be accessed from. Such information allows medical practitioners to provide the right treatment for the health issue.

Appointment scheduling software

This software lets the patient to quickly and efficiently manage their appointments. It also sends reminders for appointments over email or SMS.

Hospital management software

This software solution helps the hospital administration to seamlessly manage their daily operations like staff management, inventory management, patient engagement, accounting, etc.

Medical inventory management software

Such a software solution helps in the efficient management of medical inventory. Offering complete inventory visibility makes it easier to manage everything efficiently and quickly at low expense.

E-Prescription software

It becomes easier for health professionals to generate and send prescriptions using the E-Prescription software. The prescriptions can be sent directly to pharmacies and patients can get them delivered without any hassle.

Remote monitoring software

These software solutions help in monitoring the key vital metrics of the patients remotely. Getting updated information of the patient’s health help in early diagnosis of the problem.

Process of healthcare software development

Based on the requirement of the hospital management software, the steps involved in it can vary too. However, some of the basic steps involved in the process are as follows:

Know the problem you wish to solve

Simply coming up with an app is not enough. As the needs of medical professionals and patients are changing, their expectations from healthcare apps are changing too.

So, the best way to come up with a healthcare app is by precisely focusing on an issue and then coming up with an appropriate solution. You need to start by conducting some market research thereby learning more about your target audience, existing marketing gaps, and competitors.

You can also introduce your idea to a small target user group and then try to get their thoughts on your idea. This will help you to be sure that you are moving in the right direction.

Define your target audience base

The success of any software solution completely depends on a strong target audience base. You will be able to build an effective solution by understanding the needs of your target group and their priorities.

You will be able to plan your whole development process properly by understanding your target audience base. Once you are clear about your requirements, you can then go ahead by choosing the right development company.

Come up with a scalable design

You should start by coming up with software or an application with minimum features or functionalities. It is important that the app resolves the problem of the audience and adds value to the users.

It is important to develop a scalable solution right from the beginning and keep adding new updates and functionalities to boost its performance. This will save you from spending more money and time on the app unnecessarily.

Decide the tech stack and build your team

Once you have decided the design of the app and its core functionalities then it is time to build your development team. It is important that you build a team that consists of a project manager, UI/UX designers, senior & junior developers, QA engineers and business analysts. Once you have selected your team then it is time to choose the right technology stack for the project.

Build an MVP

You may feel the urge to develop a full-fledged software or application right at the beginning. However, we would suggest always going for an MVP first. Building an MVP will help you validate your app idea among your users. You can then collect feedback from them and make improvements in your app. This way you will be able to quickly make changes into the app in case something is not working.

Test and release

Software testing lets you know the issues with the app as well as identify features that need enhanced experience. You also get to check the compatibility of your app through testing. Healthcare software development needs to carry out testing identify and fix bugs, include security patches and make updates as needed. Once testing process is completed then the software or app can be released.

Carry out maintenance as required

The released app or software should go through continuous support and maintenance. Doing so your app will stay updated with the market and you will be able to protect it from cyber threats. Neglecting app maintenance can cause your business significant financial losses and may lead to some serious consequences.

Features of Custom Healthcare Software Development

It is important for your healthcare app to have much needed features to become successful in the industry. Some of the key features which are required by the healthcare software are:

Sign-in and registration
Health tracking
Appointment scheduling
Follow-up reminders
Practice information
Patient information
Online chat facility
Voice and video call consultation
Payment gateway
Reviews & ratings

Why choose Shaligram Infotech for your Advanced Custom Medical Application Development needs?

Building an ideal software for healthcare involves a lot of things from designing to coding to final maintenance. This means you need the right team of experts who can handle this tricky process and deliver you a top-notch solution. However, most of the developers are not skilled enough for the job.

Shaligram Infotech has the right blend of designers, developers, QA engineers, and business analysts experienced enough to deliver you the ideal solution after analyzing your custom healthcare software development needs.

If you have not yet invested in hospital management software, then it is high time that you do that by partnering with an experienced development team like ours. We can help you get established in the market with the best healthcare software solution.

Conclusion

Today, the success of the healthcare industry greatly depends on healthcare software development. For developing a successful software solution, it is important to have a clear understanding of your target audience. You need to build a solution that meets their needs well. Such a software solution provides all needed services required to run a clinic or hospital.

Tags custom healthcare software development, custom software development, healtcare software development, healthcare software development guide, software development

Awards Blog

Shaligram Infotech recognized as the Winner of 2023 Clutch Champion Awards

Post author By admin
Post date November 23, 2023

Team discussion and project collaboration image

Shaligram Infotech, a leading IT services provider based in India, has been honored with the Clutch Champion Award for Fall 2023. This esteemed award is presented to the top 10% of Clutch Global winners as a part of recognizing the business service providers for their outstanding ability to deliver exceptional solutions and industry expertise in leading their competitors in the market.

Clutch is the best online platform for finding B2B service providers that suit your business needs. By reading authentic client reviews on Clutch, you can make smarter business decisions and choose the right agency partners for your projects. Clutch is a fast-growing company that has been featured on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies for six consecutive years and on the Washington Business Journal’s list of the 50 fastest growing private companies in the DC metro area for 2023.

To become a Clutch Champion, it is important that businesses receive verified client reviews within the last 6 months. Such reviews set them apart from their competitors and serve as the symbol of their commitment to high-quality service delivery and complete client satisfaction.

Shaligram Infotech has been serving clients from different industries and geographies since 2015, with a focus on innovation, quality, and customer satisfaction. We are one of the few IT services providers in India that have achieved this honor for demonstrating our excellence in various domains such as web development, mobile app development, software testing, cloud computing, data analytics, and more.

Over time, we have received some glowing feedback from our clients on Clutch, highlighting our professionalism, expertise, communication, and timeliness. In addition to this highly regarded Clutch Champion Award 2023, Shaligram Infotech has received several awards from Clutch for outstanding service delivery and market dominance.

Shaligram Infotech is today proud to be recognized as a Clutch Champion for Fall 2023 and is grateful to our clients for their trust and support in us. We are committed to continuing to deliver high-quality IT services that meet and exceed our clients’ expectations and to maintain our position as one of the finest IT services providers in India and the world.

Tags awards, clutch, shalihram infotech awards, winner of 2023 clutch champion awards

Blog Mobile App Development

A sneak peek into Swift’s Async/Await Concurrency Model

Post author By admin
Post date November 17, 2023

Async and await programming in Swift 5.5 illustration

When the Swift 5.5 version was released in 2021, Apple introduced the async function with it. Similar to JavaScript type other programming languages, the async function makes it easy for developers to run complex tasks. This means there is no need to wait for the execution of the first code to start the second one.

With the help of async/await we can call more than one function at the same time. It lets you have a better code structure, less pressure on the main thread, and less waiting for the user to load the data on the screen.

Async/Await

Async says any function with asynchronous words provides independent execution and does not disturb any other program.

Await says that async does not listen to anyone except me. This means we have to request await to call an async method. We do that by adding the “await” keyword before calling an async method.

Async Keyword

Now we know what an async keyword means and how async methods work. So now let’s see an example with code.

func method1() async { //Do Something. } func method2() async { //Do Something. }

This is how the “async” keyword is used to create an Asynchronous method.

Await Keyword

So now that we have created asynchronous methods, we will have to call them from where we want to execute that method. Here we will be using the “await” keyword to call an asynchronous method.

await method1() await method2()

However, calling the asynchronous method this way is not going to be easy. We will need an asynchronous environment to call them.

let’s see how it’s done.

From the Swift 5.6 version, support for async was given to TaskGroup operations. This means from now on, we have to use Task. init to call asynchronous methods instead of using async(operations:).

To start using asynchronous methods in non async environment, code something like shown below:

Task.init { await method1() await method2() }

Now the methods created with an async keyword as shown above will be called from the body of TaskInit with awaiting.

Async/Await v/s Trailing closure

Let’s say we need some value from method one to execute the second one.

Before having the async/await feature, we used to pass the value in trailing closure and send it to the second one through the parameter as shown below:

//Declaration func method1(_ completion: @escaping (String) -> Void) { //Do Something. completion(“value”) } func method2(_ name: String) { //Do Something. } //Execution method1 { name in self.method2(name) }

Now with the help of async/await, we can directly get the value from the first method, await for that value, and then continue the execution.

//Declaration func method1() async -> String { //Do Something. return “Value” } func method2() async { let name = await method1() print(name) } //Execution await method2()

Conclusion

In this blog, we saw, what the async/await feature is, why it should be used, and what we used to do before having it.

Async/await is good for our processing chips. Here every asynchronous method separates its thread. So, the main thread does not get so much pressure. Moreover, it saves time for users that was otherwise spent waiting for any method to complete its execution.

Tags async and await, async and await in swift 5.5, mobile app development

Blog Microsoft

ERP vs CRM: Which One Is Right For You?

Post author By admin
Post date August 22, 2023

ERP vs CRM comparison for business decision making

The rising trends in technology have paved the way for two automation tools that can help businesses achieve efficiency. They are CRM and ERP systems. At first glance, both may seem to be more or less similar to the general audience. However, if you try to know them better, you will understand that there are some deep differences in their functionalities.

Here in this article, we will try to understand both these systems and their features in detail.

What is ERP?

ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning is a powerful system that is used to streamline business operations. It centralizes business data thereby managing and optimizing the everyday processes. For businesses, it can also help with a reduction in overhead and labor costs.

A typical ERP solution is composed of different modules which take care of different operational areas of the business. An ERP system will come with a module for inventory management while another module will manage employees. There are modules to manage financial transactions and another one to manage transportation.

Together all these modules work in sync with each other to provide a comprehensive view of all departments at the organizational level. This helps in achieving better communication and data sharing among the departments.

ERP system is either deployed on the cloud or on-premises. Such a solution can be beneficial for both small businesses and large enterprises and help them boost their efficiency and profitability. It helps businesses make quick decisions while reducing the chances of errors.

Features of ERP

Supply chain management

The main reason why manufacturers prefer ERP system is because of the support it offers in inventory management, production plans, and data analysis. All these together help the business use resources wisely and enhance the responsiveness of the supply chain.

Financial management

This module helps in the management of general ledger and financial accounts. It tracks all the costs linked with the business, like salaries and benefits provided to employees, office rent, utility bills, the budget set for procuring raw materials, etc. Such comprehensive financial data helps businesses streamline their spending and reduce any bottlenecks by forecasting spending accurately.

Customer relationship management

Some of the ERP solutions in the market offer CRM functionalities that help in monitoring customer interactions and data. It helps to make better marketing and sales efforts by having a better understanding of the preferences and needs of customers.

Human resource management

The ERP system helps human resource teams to automate different time-consuming repetitive tasks. Most ERP systems manage the data of employees, develop training programs, evaluate performance, monitor benefits, and post job listings.

Project management

This module in the ERP system makes resource allocation, handling task assignments, and tracking projects simple and easy. It is also possible to find and avoid bottlenecks in the project workflows using this system.

What is CRM?

ERP has been developed in a way to focuses on business and its activities while CRM is focused on achieving customer satisfaction. CRM or Customer Relationship Management system automates and improves interactions of an organization with its existing customers and potential prospects. CRM system is designed in a way that it can serve any kind of business to improve its core performance keeping customers in mind.

An ideal CRM system improves the performance and efficiency of your sales and marketing team by saving their time and resources. CRM collects different data related to customer interactions, purchase history, demographics, etc. to draw conclusions. The collected information is analyzed, and it is used to plan out tailored marketing efforts, boost customer service, and find sales opportunities.

CRM helps businesses to track and follow customer communications and respond to their requests and queries at the earliest. It automates different sales processes in a business, like generating and nurturing leads, and forecasting sales which eventually help in boosting profits and team productivity.

Features of CRM

Lead/opportunity tracking

This feature helps in managing and tracking any of your potential sales opportunities. Your sales team can prioritize the potential leads and plan follow-ups right from initial contact to final conversion.

Contact management

This feature tracks communications and interactions of clients to come up with a segmented database. To personalize messages sent to individuals based on their specific position on the sales funnel, sales and marketing teams make use of the customer data.

Sales forecasting

This feature helps you know whether your sales efforts are effective or not. It will indicate if it is time for you to try out a new approach. With it, it will become possible to analyze past performance and predict revenue based on that and also to plan out future sales activities.

Marketing automation

With this feature, it becomes possible for marketers to target their potential customers strategically at the beginning of their buying journey. Based on their position in the sales funnel, the marketing team can trigger different messages and keep analyzing their results to enhance the effect of the campaign.

Integration

CRM allows integration with third-party tools like accounting software, email, and project management systems. Moreover, to chat with customers and to track visitors’ activities on the website, it provides integration of chat and web analytical tools.

Analytics and reporting tools

This feature tracks important metrics like sales performance, customer acquisition and retention, and the effect of marketing efforts. Access to the tool can be given to multiple users.

To what extent are CRM and ERP similar?

CRM and ERP – both are business applications that are used to store and analyze data. Such data is present in a relational database. Both of these solutions are either delivered on the cloud as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or on-premises the traditional way.

When do you need a CRM?

When you plan to invest in a software system like CRM, it is important to be clear about whether you need it for your business or not. A CRM system can be suitable when: –

You are planning to take your business to the next level, and you want to have a system in place that can boost your revenue.

When your sales baseline is low. It requires you to have more information on the goods or services offered by your business. Departments that are facing customers need to have more data on existing customers and prospects.
You have a disorganized sales process. Your leaders are not able to come up with an effective strategy targeting positive accounts or regions.
You are not able to retain your existing customers. Apart from keeping your current customer loyal, it becomes expensive for the company to acquire new customers.

When do you need an ERP?

Sometimes, your above-mentioned answers may not get resolved by a CRM system and you may have to think about ERP. An ERP system can be suitable when: –

You are spending more on your business operations than is required.
Your business is not able to respond to customer demands and market trends accurately and quickly because of data silos.
Your business needs help to stay compliant with the industry-specific regulations or to manage risks.
You want to expand your business in new industry domains or regions.

You want to find out about the efficient workflows and industry-level best practices to save time and money.

What to choose – CRM or ERP?

Both ERP and CRM are exceptional business solutions and come with their own set of strengths and weaknesses. Whether you need a CRM or ERP completely depends on the requirements of your business. CRM helps you improve your front-end processes while ERP helps you strengthen your backend. CRM can help you make more profits while ERP helps you reduce your overhead costs. So, depending on your business size, its requirements and future growth plans, choose CRM or ERP as suits.

Blog Mobile App Development

Android Vs iOS App Development – Which is Right for Your Business?

Post author By admin
Post date August 21, 2023

Android vs iOS app development comparison for businesses

For ages, it has been always difficult for businesses to choose between Android or iOS platforms for their mobile app development needs. If iOS is said to bring in more revenue, then Android is said to enjoy the largest market share. Both platforms are unique in their own sense.

Android vs iOS – Understanding the Mobile Technologies

Over the last few years, the mobile app development arena has grown significantly. For businesses, this means there are many opportunities to consider. However, the most common dilemma that businesses face is choosing the right mobile app development platform between Android and iOS. Now this can be hard as both of them come with their own set of pros and cons.

With more businesses turning mobile-centric, it would be good for them to know which mobile platform can benefit them more as compared to another one.

Here, in this post, we will see both Android vs iOS platforms in detail and then decide which can offer you more benefits as compared to the other one.

What is iOS app development?

iOS is a mobile app development platform that has been developed and maintained by Apple. This operating system had been specifically developed for Apple’s devices like iPhones and iPods. To develop applications using iOS, developers used C, C++, Swift, and Objective C programming languages. Of all these, Swift was used the most.

What is Android app development?

Android platform is used to create applications that run on Android-powered devices. Android applications are developed for various purposes and for different industries. These applications are developed using programming languages like Kotlin or Java.

User Demographics and Market Share

It would be wise to know about user demographics and market share of Android and iOS apps. A better understanding of these things will help app developers and marketers to pinpoint and reach their target audience effectively. Here, we will see how market share and user demographics impact the success of an iOS and Android app.

User demographics of Android and iOS apps

There is a significant difference in the user demographics of Android and iOS users. In the general case, the users of iOS devices are wealthy, young, and more educated while Android users cover larger demographics and usually belong to lower income groups as compared to iOS device users.

Market share of Android and iOS apps

As per statistics from Statista, Android is the leading mobile app platform even in 2023’s second quarter and it enjoys a market share of 70.8%. Now if we look at iOS, it enjoys a 28.4% market share for the same quarter. However, if we look at the market share region-wise, iOS enjoys a higher rate in regions like the United States.

How is an app success influenced by user demographics and market share?

It is crucial for app developers and marketers to have a clear idea of the user demographics and market share when they are trying to reach their target audience base. If you are looking for an app that targets a larger mass with low-income groups, then you should consider Android app development and plan out your marketing efforts accordingly. Now, on the other hand, if your app is targeting a wealthier, young crowd that believes in easy spending, you should invest in iOS app development and plan out your marketing strategy accordingly.

Languages Vs. Tools Used App Development

Android and iOS are different mobile operating systems that make use of different languages and tools for carrying out app development. So, to help you out in selecting the right app platform for your business, let’s compare the tools and languages used for Android and iOS app development.

Languages used for Android app development

Java is the most common language used for Android app development. Apart from that, Kotlin is used in the modern-day to build Android apps. Compared to Java, Kotlin is more expressive and concise.

Tools used for Android app development

Android development is majorly carried out using Android Studio. It is an IDE and is built on IntelliJ IDEA and comes with debugging tools, a code editor, and an Android emulator. To design user interfaces, Android Studio comes with a graphical layout editor.

Languages used for iOS app development

Swift, which has been developed by Apple, is specifically used for carrying out iOS app development. As compared to Objective-C, which was previously used for iOS app development, Swift is faster, safer, and easy to learn and apply.

Tools used for iOS app development

Majorly, iOS app development is carried out using Xcode. It is an IDE that comes with debugging tools, a code editor, and an iOS simulator. To design user interfaces, Xcode comes with a graphical tool named Interface Builder.

Security And Privacy Features

Whether to choose Android or iOS has always been a point of debate. The selection of platforms also depends on the security and privacy features they offer.

iOS security and privacy features

iOS comes with robust security features. Apple follows a strict review policy when it comes to publishing the apps on their App Store. Moreover, iOS ensures that the apps follow secure connections for data transmission by having a feature called “App Transport Security”. Apart from that, the “Sandboxing” feature of iOS limits apps from accessing the resources present on the device.

Just like security, Apple gives equal importance to privacy. For the same reason, Apple implemented a feature called “App Tracking Transparency”. This feature made the apps request the permission of users to track their data over websites or apps. Moreover, developers were made to disclose the kind of data they collected and used from the users by introducing a feature called “Privacy Labels”.

Android security and privacy features

Over the years, the security features of Android have been updated multiple times. Similar to that of Apple, Google has also implemented an app review process before publishing one on the Google Play Store. Again, to check apps for security threats and malware, Google has introduced the “Google Play Protect” feature. Furthermore, Google also restricts the kind of information that is accessed from the devices by introducing “Application Sandboxing.”

To scan apps for privacy threats, Google has implemented the “Google Play Protect” feature. The “Permissions” feature of Android lets users control what amount of data can be accessed by the apps.

Integration With Third-party Devices

Different approaches

When it comes to integration with third-party devices, Android and iOS have different approaches. iOS lets you build applications for a limited number of devices as it has a closed ecosystem. On the other hand, Android lets you build applications for many devices with variations as it is an open ecosystem.

Device compatibility

Before going ahead with development, investigate the third-party devices into which you want to integrate your app. Check whether developers have access to the API or SDK of the devices or not. Knowing that will help to know whether it will be easy or difficult to integrate the app into the device.

Framework selection

Whether it will be easy or tough to integrate an app with third-party devices can be known by the framework you choose. For iOS, mostly Apple’s Core Bluetooth framework is used as it let applications seamlessly communicate with Bluetooth-enabled devices. In the case of Android, Android Open Accessory Development Kit is used as it helps have easy communication with Bluetooth and USB devices.

Stay up to date with changes

Android and iOS go through constant changes and upgrades. Such changes will affect the integration with third-party devices. This means it is important to regularly look for updates and check for APIs or SDKs if they are available.

Pros & Cons of Android and iOS App Platforms

In a nutshell of Android vs iOS App Development

Currently in the market, Android and iOS are considered to be the two major mobile operating systems. Android is an open-source platform and so is available on a variety of devices coming from manufacturers like Google, Samsung, etc. While iOS developed by Apple is limited to its iPhones and iPads.

When choosing a platform between Android and iOS, you need to consider a few things. Android offers many customization options and is more flexible as compared to iOS. The devices with Android are available at different prices. As compared to iOS devices, Android devices have more battery life too.

iOS devices, on the other end, have strong hardware, are more secure, and offer unmatched user experience. It is used by many businesses as it easily integrates with a number of productivity apps like Keynote, Pages, and Numbers.

Ultimately, whether to choose iOS or Android completely depends on the preferences and requirements of the business.

Tags Android App Development, android vs ios, android vs ios app, android vs ios app development, mobile app development

Blog Cloud Computing

Why Should Businesses Adopt Cloud Computing?

Post author By admin
Post date August 17, 2023

Cloud computing is no longer a buzzword in the market as it has now been present here for almost the last two decades. Whether it is about the competitive advantages it offers or its cost-effectiveness, many businesses out there are still operating without implementing cloud computing services.

Industry leaders and tech-savvy businesses have understood the benefits offered by cloud computing. Apart from keeping up with this trend, they are using it to run their organizations efficiently, boost profit margins, and serve customers better. Here are the reasons for the growth of cloud computing companies.

Reasons for the Growing Popularity of Cloud Computing Services among Businesses

In a nutshell, cloud computing offers some distinctive benefits to businesses, and they are:

Cloud Computing Services help in Cost savings

One of the main reasons why businesses go for cloud computing is the cost-effectiveness that it offers. It is true that cloud migration can be expensive. However, when you are focusing on saving costs, you should not be stressing much about migration. Rather, you should be considering and comparing the expenses that your company is spending on IT services right now and how much you will be putting into cloud services.

It will not be possible to calculate the cost of your cloud services as it will depend on the solution/project required by your business. For the same reason, it is recommended to go for a cloud partner to get an estimation of cloud service cost.

Scalability

Cloud computing comes with scalability, and it is one of the main reasons to go for it. For any business, it would be nice to have an IT solution in place that can scale immediately as needed.

It was not possible for businesses to easily scale in the past as it was much restricted to the hardware setup and its processing power. Earlier there was no possibility of an on-demand scaling environment. Things have changed now with Cloud as it has revolutionized the way IT resources are utilized by businesses.

Increased Collaboration

The work processes within the organization can be made efficient with cloud computing. Organizations will be able to boost collaboration among employees to a greater extent by leveraging cloud technology. This way users get to access required information even when they belong to different departments.

Users get to overcome geographic restrictions and set up an infrastructure using cloud technology that can be accessed from anywhere. This helps the teams working from different locations to collaborate efficiently and contribute towards the growth of the business.

Additionally, when such cloud technology is combined by businesses with managed services, information-sharing efficiency increases. It also reduces the chances of human errors. Moreover, it also helps in boosting the decision-making process and improves the productivity of the team focusing on core matters.

Innovation

When we talk about business growth, innovation comes into the picture. An organization will not get a chance to try new solutions or deploy any of the new solutions for scalability experience if they keep hanging to legacy systems.

For web applications, handling backend bad performance can be a main issue. When you implement cloud infrastructure, your business will be able to witness reduced costs, improved performance, and enhanced agility. Cloud computing helps companies to innovate, create and launch world-changing products at a faster pace.

Improved Security & Compliance

Enterprises that are cloud service providers make it a point to focus on compliance, security, and data protection standards. Moving important apps safely to the cloud is the main concern of businesses around the world. Keeping that in mind, cloud service providers around the world invest a major part of their resources into creating high-level security protocols and keeping up with compliance/regulatory needs. To keep up with data integrity, many of the critical industry niches like defense, healthcare, government, etc. stress the need to come up with applications that are compliant with their industry.

Flexibility

One of the main reasons why businesses go for cloud computing is the flexibility it offers. Cloud provides a flexible infrastructure for businesses by helping them build future-proof models.

The technology field is ever-evolving. For businesses, this means adapting itself to the change is no longer an option but a compulsion. Earlier, business expansion was considered a costly affair as it involved investing a lot of money and resources.

Things have changed rapidly, and now organizations can easily scale their business as per the changing market demands. It is through cloud computing that businesses get to enjoy such capabilities of on-demand flexibility.

Disaster recovery

The way businesses store and retrieve data has greatly changed with the cloud. This becomes more important when businesses have to recover from any disaster quickly. Many studies have pointed out the fact that a big chunk of businesses fail to survive even for a year because of the non-retrieval of data after a disaster.

With the increased threat of physical damage and ransomware attacks, businesses need to be ready with a solution in case of any disaster. Businesses can save themselves from any downtime and quickly recover their data with cloud backups.

Conclusion

Cloud computing has turned out to be one of the fastest-implemented digital solutions around the world. It has helped businesses to have a flexible and scalable IT infrastructure at affordable costs. By partnering with custom cloud computing solution providers like Shaligram Infotech, you won’t have to go through the complexity of implementing and managing the company’s IT infrastructure and can focus completely on core business areas.

Tags cloud computing, cloud computing companies, cloud computing services

Blog Software Development

What Is Low Code And No Code Development and Why is it important?

Post author By admin
Post date August 16, 2023

Low code and no code development concept overview

Businesses around the globe are under immense pressure to design and develop software applications in the shortest time possible to meet the dynamic expectations of end-users. Things get tougher for them as they need skilled and talented resources to cover up the backlog as fast as they could. It is where low-code and no-code platforms have come to their rescue. Low code and no code platforms have enabled businesses to easily create applications and workflows without requiring any in-depth technical knowledge.

It has caused a great stir in the IT industry as non-technical people can easily work on these platforms and achieve digital transformation for their businesses without having to depend on skilled developers.

What is Low Code and No Code Development?

Low-code and no-code development lets citizen developers create applications or complex business solutions without having to follow traditional programming languages or write many lines of code. It lets developers do this by providing low-code no-code platforms.

Citizen developers are categorized as people who have minimum knowledge of coding and software development. They go for such platforms to develop solutions by using visual elements.

Low-code and no-code platforms offer developers drag-and-drop options which let them build business solutions quickly without writing any codes. These options also have some limitations when it comes to developing and implementing advanced features. Moreover, implementing customizations into the project is not always possible. However, experienced developers can modify the codes to an extent, but things get tougher when working on complex projects.

Low code Vs. No code

If we look at the difference between low-code and no-code, the main difference lies in its target user groups. The amount of coding knowledge the users will require to use the platform is what differentiates them. The rest of the differences are as below:

Factor	Low-code	No-code
Usage	Used to build complex solutions.	Used to build simple solutions.
Coding knowledge	Require some coding knowledge	No coding knowledge required
Maintenance	Requires more maintenance	Requires less maintenance
Customization	Allows some level of customization	Allows very limited customization
Security	Provides better security	Provides minimum security
Flexibility	It is more flexible	It is very rigid

Benefits of Low Code No Code Platforms

Easy-to-use

Developers are not required to learn to code, just like traditional software development platforms. Moreover, low-code and no-code platforms let you work smarter rather than harder to achieve your development goals.

Speedy development

The main idea behind using low-code and no-code platforms is to reduce the time to market for product release by writing codes faster. Low-code and no-code platforms reduce the overall development time for the project by making use of UI tools and RAD designers. Businesses can save more by getting software developed quickly with fewer resources.

Cost savings

With low-code no-code platforms, the requirement to have a bigger development team gets nullified. Smaller, more efficient teams mean businesses will be able to save a lot on development costs.

Security

The increase in the number of software solutions has also increased the instances of cyberattacks. Every day several websites around the world are hacked. Low/no code platforms follow industry standards when developing applications and this ensures data security and integrity along with code security.

Code quality

Businesses can confirm the quality of the developed software as these platforms offer automated testing. Moreover, it comes with quality assurance features that help developers test the solution for issues.

Enhanced productivity

It improves the productivity of developers and lets them focus on other important tasks by bringing down the effort and time required for development.

Flexible and scalable

Low code and no code development offer developers the ease of building modules. Such modules can be easily shared and used on projects to enhance their functionality.

Third-party API integrations

Most of the low-code and no-code platforms let developers easily integrate and configure third-party API in the project through the user interface without having to write any codes.

Role of Low Code and No Code platforms in filling the digital skills gap

There has been a tremendous increase in the use of smartphones around the world. It is said that by 2026 there will be more than 7 billion smartphone users. Additionally, now more people who are not even tech-savvy are also inclined towards using their PCs to carry out a number of activities. This has led to an increasing demand for developing software solutions among businesses. However, development companies around the world are not yet ready to meet such growing demand and so it is going to add more gaps to digital skills.

Highly skilled developers are required to carry out traditional software development. They need to have good coding skills and should have knowledge of different programming languages. With the demand for software development increasing among businesses, the lookout for developers with high skills will be at an all-time high.

Low-code no-code platforms let people with no or limited knowledge build applications for different business needs. Such platforms are easy-to-follow and understand, and developers with no knowledge of coding can also start using them for building simple to complex app solutions.

How do the platforms for low-code and no-code work?

Generally, a user needs to register on a platform and log in to start using a low-code no-code development platform. Businesses can get the application designed through designers and by using tools. Business logic and required functionalities can be added then. Once the application has been developed, QA can be done. Once everything works fine, the application can be deployed in a few clicks.

Microsoft Power Platform: Pioneering Low-Code/No-Code Development

Microsoft Power Platform is a suite of tools for low-code and no-code that let users create customized business applications, carry out data analysis and automate workflows without requiring any deep programming knowledge. It is made up of four parts. They are Power BI, Power Apps, Power Virtual Agents, and Power Automate.

What makes Microsoft Power Platform an exceptional solution is the ease it offers users with no coding background to build custom solutions for businesses by meeting their unique requirements. Microsoft Power Platform has made it easily accessible to a wider user base by providing a simple visual approach to develop applications and implement automation. This user base includes non-technical users, citizen developers, and business analysts.

Build model-driven applications with Power Apps

Power Apps make it easy to build model-driven applications which have a standard look and feel. Users can easily switch from one model-driven application to another without having any deep technical knowledge. Based on business needs, these applications can be customized. Here user interface elements and automations already defined in Dataverse entities can be reused making it easy to build model driven applications.

Build Canvas applications with Power Apps

Canvas applications run on tablets and mobile devices. It can source data from different sources, and this has been made possible with the custom built-in connectors that Microsoft power platform comes with. These data sources include databases, Excel sheets and social media. Based on the sourced data, the platform creates default applications. Later it can be used as a ground for carrying out customizations.

Power Automate to automate tasks

Power Automate is an automation engine that comes with an intuitive GUI. It helps create and trigger workflows for:

-> Pressing a physical button or the one on the web browser.

-> When onboarding a partner or an employee.

-> For tasks that need to be triggered every day or on a day of the week at a specific time.

Some of the situations where we can use Power Automate are:

-> Generating reports.

-> Sending a welcome email during the onboarding process.

-> Sending email reminders.

-> Creating leave approval workflows

Power Virtual Agents

Power Virtual Agents are used to design and build intelligent chatbots that can be used on websites to interact with users and answer their basic queries. It follows a no code approach and makes use of graphical interface. It can be implemented on the company website or on Facebook, Slack, Skype, Teams, and mobile apps. Some of its uses are:

-> Take care of direct sales.

-> Take care of complaints.

-> Provide information on products and services.

-> Forward queries to right representative.

Power BI

Power BI is an excellent tool to build dashboards, charts and reports. It can source data from more than 200 data sources. It makes use of query editor to manipulate the data sourced from different places.

Power Apps

Power Pages is the new name for Power Apps. The role of Power Apps is to develop websites which will provide data to end users that includes customers or employees or partners. It helps with:

-> Registering for events.

-> Getting FAQ information.

-> Getting and viewing information

-> Creating support tickets

Shaligram Infotech – A Partnership For Brighter Future

We have been able to turn ourselves into a reliable provider of low-code and no-code development services through the years of experience and expertise gained from working on the Microsoft Power Platform. We help businesses stay competitive in the market by fulfilling the needs of their IT systems.

Interested in exploring the business opportunities that it brings to you? Talk to our expert today.

Tags Low code and no code development, low code development, no code development, software development

Blog Microsoft

How Much Does It Cost To Implement Microsoft Dynamics CRM?

Post author By admin
Post date August 4, 2023

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM is a powerful tool from Microsoft that helps businesses to manage their sales, marketing, customers, and other services effectively. How organizations improve sales processes, manage customer relationships, and enhance customer service can be transformed by implement Microsoft Dynamics CRM. However, it is essential for businesses to consider the cost factor before taking such an important step.

Some of the factors that may influence the implementation cost for Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM are:

Implement Microsoft Dynamics CRM type and number of applications that need to be developed

Different applications are offered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM to help businesses to look into various aspects of customer relationship management. They are:

Sales: To manage your sales pipeline, automate sales processes, track leads, and improve sales performance.
Marketing: Generate leads, nurture prospects, create and execute campaigns, check results, and improve ROI with marketing.
Customer service: Boost customer satisfaction, automate service workflows, offer omnichannel support, and resolve issues quickly.
Field service: Optimize service scheduling & dispatching, offer proactive assistance, manage field workforce, and boost the rate of first-time fixes.

Here you can select applications as per your business needs. You can either choose a single application or go for a package. The cost of each application or the package will affect the implementation expense as it depends on the licensing model you choose.

Users and their roles by Implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM

The next thing that affects the cost of implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM is the number of users who will have access to the system and their roles. Based on the roles, the level of access and functionality will be set. Microsoft Dynamics 365 provides two types of user licenses to be used in the implementation and they are team member licenses and full user licenses.

As compared to a team member license, a full user license is expensive as it offers complete access to the features and functionalities of an application.

Level of customization and integration needed

The flexibility of Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM helps you implement it into your business process as per your need. However, it is possible to implement more customization to it if your business requires it. Such a level of customization and integration can be expensive.

Moreover, if your customization and integration requirements are complex then you cannot simply achieve it with the features and built-in tools offered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM. You will have to hire a developer or a consultant for the job. So based on the resources included and the time required, the cost of customization and integration will increase too.

The deployment models

You can deploy your solution in two ways i.e., on-premises and on the cloud.

With the on-premises option, your system will be hosted on your servers or on a third-party hosting provider. This means you will have to install and maintain your set of software and hardware. You will have to bear the license fee for the applications you use and also pay an annual fee to maintain your system.

When you go for cloud deployment, your business solution will be hosted by Microsoft on its servers, and you just have to pay a monthly or annual fee for the applications based on the number of users accessing it.

Support and maintenance

For the optimal performance of your business solution, it is important to go for support & maintenance service. The kind of contract you have with Microsoft and the level of service you need for your business will help you know the expense of support & maintenance services you require for your business solution.

Conclusion

This clearly means that there is no single answer to how much it will cost to go ahead with Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM implementation. The cost of implementation depends on the requirements of your business and your preferences. However, understanding the factors that may affect the whole expense of Dynamics 365 CRM implementation will help you make the right decision that best suits your business needs.