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Posts for February 2016
Why you should consider using an external software development provider
February 29, 2016
It's hard to imagine the world of business without technology. It drives efficiency and helps us all speed effectively through our daily chores. Depending on your business and the industry within which it operates, it is likely you rely on several software products. As you grow, you'll need that software to grow with you, which is why it pays to have someone tailor it for you.
Who do you call on for such work?
Freelance software developers are often chosen to help with such tasks, but the nature of their own businesses means they're rather 'fly-by-night', offering little longevity for the project or contingency when something goes wrong further down the line. Imagine a vital cog in your business failing and being unable to reach the architect who tightened the screws - the net result can be catastrophic.
Software development teams work coherently and, with varying levels of expertise in different fields occupying the same space, projects can be taken from concept to reality quickly and to spec. By comparison, freelancers usually work alone and therefore struggle to offer the same level of resource for all but the smallest of projects.
So - you need a team. But where do you find one?
You may, of course, recruit. Unfortunately, this can be a costly endeavour and incredibly time-consuming. Equally, if you don't possess a sound level of technical expertise yourself, you'll find job speccing and the evaluation of candidates a frustrating process. There is another option, though, which is to use an external software development company.
Why use an external partner?
Firstly, in just one step, you'll gain a team of competent developers, testers and project managers; a team that is used to working together and which can deliver the product you require. You can tap into years of experience and gain access to skilled professionals who will be able to turn your concept into a reality. Moreover, they'll be used to working as a team, so your investment in their time will pay dividends.
How to make external software development work for you
When choosing an outsourcing partner, you need to bear in mind three things:
- their experience and expertise;
- their ability to listen to your needs;
- the effectiveness of their communication
Finding the right partner is critical. Do they possess the right technical skills and experience you require? If you're not sure what that is, search for partners that offer IT consultancy; they will be able to advise you on the technology and skills required to achieve the results which will push your business forward.
Perhaps most important of all is communication. The right partner is the one which can communicate effectively with you throughout the project. Regular communication means projects will progress as planned and keep you up to speed with progress.
To avoid the risk of failure when developing software, there is one crucial thing to look for; the ability for the team to work in an agile fashion - more specifically, by adopting the Scrum methodology.
Scrum forces the development team to work in sprints by producing quick, regular iterations of the software. Once each sprint is completed, you'll have a releasable version of the product in question and, by breaking work into bite-sized chunks, even the biggest projects can become manageable and deliverable on time.
Using the services of an outsourced software development provider is the perfect solution if you want to boost your business without the benefit of a huge budget or in-house technical expertise. More importantly, there's no requirement for the partner to be local due to the way in which the work can be carried out remotely. Wherever they are, they'll quickly become an extension of your team.
Copyright © 2016 Edyta Szczęśniak of SolDevelo solutions development
A year with a smartwatch: five things I have learned
February 23, 2016
The smartwatch market is still a nascent one, but you may already be asking whether or not you should invest in wearable technology for your business.
"Wearables", as they're commonly known, are computing devices you can wear just like traditional accessories or clothing. They include smart jumpers which keep you warm and intelligent running shoes which connect to your smartphone.
But the most prominent of all wearable tech comes in the form of smartwatches. Having worn a smartwatch for nearly a year, there are five key ways that I have benefited:
1. Meeting notifications
We all attend a lot of meetings. So many, in fact, that it is all too easy to forget where we're supposed to be next. Smartwatches will notify you of forthcoming meetings, so a gentle raise of the wrist is all you'll need to do to avoid being late.
2. Travel
I use my Apple Watch to track mileage and to find my way to meetings in unfamiliar locations with the navigation feature. As a result, it has become an incredibly handy business travel companion.
3. Retaining focus
How many times have you been in the middle of a complex project only to have your attention diverted by your smartphone? Smartwatches deliver notifications in a more subtle fashion and a swift flick of the wrist is all that's required to stay updated and away from the perils of smartphone distraction.
4. Instant communication
Most smartwatches allow you to take calls and respond to texts on your wrist. That means you'll no longer have to rummage in your pocket or bag for your smartphone and risk missing that all-important call.
5. Productivity
There are a growing number of productivity apps available for smartwatches. The most useful are of the to-do list variety that offer quick glances at your current priorities and enable you to easily check off the tasks you've completed. It's intuitive and somewhat addictive – I am definitely more productive because of my smartwatch.
Smartwatches aren't intended to replace computers and laptops. If the time I've spent with the Apple Watch has taught me anything, it's that a device of this kind acts as a brilliant companion to my digital world.
Wearable technology has some way to go before it becomes a permanent fixture in business, but the early benefits are certainly compelling.
Blog written by Mark Ellis of Business Fiction.
How flash data solutions can boost your productivity
February 15, 2016
New technologies, like flash data storage, can help you and your business by:
- Saving the time spent on everyday tasks and activities
- Limiting downtime of your website or file server
- Creating an efficient working environment
- Reducing everyday frustrations caused by slow network response times
- Giving your savings, investments or growth a boost.
Inefficient data storage is causing serious bottlenecks for businesses. Complex workflows, sprawling infrastructure and a growing demand for higher service levels are forcing companies to rethink their data strategy.
Individual business objectives can range from increasing efficiency or reducing costs to improving responsiveness; flash solutions stand out among the alternatives with their ability to meet any and every one of these requirements.
Although flash solutions were once considered as tactical measures for patching up individual application-level pain points, they have become increasingly popular alternatives for servicing entire data centres. With industry experts predicting that flash is here to stay, we wanted to take a moment to outline the ways that small businesses can benefit from deploying this technology.
Before diving deeper into the universal advantages of flash solutions, let’s take a closer look at the technology allowing the fast and reliable performance that has become synonymous with all-flash arrays.
All-flash arrays, or AFAs, are defined as enterprise storage arrays that contain several solid-state disks (SSD) to substitute the spinning hard drives of traditional hard disk drive (HDD) solutions. This type of non-volatile memory can be erased and reprogrammed in an instant – or "in a flash".
Faster, better, cheaper
Compared to conventional hard drive arrays, the ultimate benefit of flash technology is that it enables significantly faster data transfer rates, while improving the access to data and bringing down costs.
As SmartData Collective’s Rick Delgado has said: "Whereas hard drives usually take a while to fully boot up whatever machine they're attached to, flash storage can get equipment up and running in mere seconds. Flash storage can handle larger workloads much more quickly, making them excellent choices for working with complex data sets and operations."
Simplified infrastructure
When it comes to data storage and management, less really is more. With EMC’s XtremIO, businesses can also free up valuable space. Storage Switzerland’s George Crump said: “What formerly occupied eight fully configured cabinets in the data center now occupies a single 42U rack. This is translating into significant floor space and power savings." The savings in facilities and power costs alone are a significant improvement but that’s not all there is to it.
Reliability and simplicity are often among firms' highest data management priorities. Businesses are increasingly looking for solutions that don't require extensive expertise. Intuitive and user-friendly flash solutions help divert critical resources to other tasks, enabling companies to do more with less.
Always on
Immediate access to data and the ability to perform real-time analytics have become core business requirements. On the other hand, strict service level agreements and growing workloads are putting constant pressure on IT departments. All-flash solutions meet the varied demands of businesses with always-on services that enable the provisioning, de-duplication, compression and protection of data in real-time, with no application downtime.
However, the best part of all-flash data solutions is that they are agile, completely future-proof and can handle additional workflows as they occur. This means that new business activities and growth is met with ease, limiting the need for accurate predictions of future requirements.
Costs down, margins up
All-flash arrays' high I/O throughput and low latency can deliver significant savings in hardware costs. Furthermore, the reduced number of required CPU cores is reflected in lower software license expenses, further improving the economical efficiency of all-flash solutions.
Businesses can then use these savings to improve their pricing strategy, offering more competitive deals to customers or investing in long-term product improvement.
Sponsored post: copyright © 2016 Rob Bradburn, Senior Web Operations Manager, Digital Insights & Demand, EMC – EMEA Marketing
The future's dark: understanding the evolving cyber threat
February 11, 2016
Future Crimes by Marc Goodman is a very scary book. Subtitled, "A journey to the dark side of technology and how to survive it", this is a real eye-opener.
Technology is improving so many aspects of the business world but the truth is that criminals are often the most innovative adopters of technology.
Let's start with a few scary statistics from Goodman's book:
- 200,000 new pieces of malware are identified every day;
- 95% of all malware is not detected by most virus checkers;
- 600,000 accounts on Facebook are compromised every day;
- 25% of all reviews on Yelp are bogus;
- 11% of Facebook accounts are fake;
- 100 million phishing messages are sent every day.
Everything is data
You can see where this is going. It's all about data. Goodman suggests that Google and Facebook are free because they are data collectors and aggregators - and yet neither use the word "customers". They know everything you have done online and increasingly everything else as well.
In the USA, online data that is collected by third parties is not considered private. Which means it can be used by anyone, from the Inland Revenue to the police. Some dating sites for instance, share their data with data brokers. It's all there in the small print.
The point is that all that data is stored and hackers can get access to that data. Any data that is collected will invariably leak.
Everything can be hacked
Everything that is connected can be hacked. And now we are at the beginning of the internet of things. Connecting everything. Which means that nothing can be hidden and everything can be hacked, from your car to your TV. Even the video conference system in your board room can be hacked.
What can you do about cyber crime?
Goodman presents a number of tips on how to help you to protect yourself. They include:
- Updating regularly;
- Using sophisticated and different passwords;
- Knowing where you are downloading from;
- Watching your administrator settings;
- Turning off your computer when you are not using it;
- Encrypting;
- Thinking before you share.
The good news, he says, is that by taking these steps you can avoid 85% of all threats.
If you want a book that makes you think about the unintended consequences of technology, this is one to pick. It also screams business opportunity. Cyber security is a hotspot.
Copyright © 2016 Ron Immink, ceo and co-founder of Small Business Can and Book Buzz - the website devoted to business books.
Five reasons why you should upgrade to Windows 10 for business
February 01, 2016
Windows 10 has been available for five months now - which means a lot of the kinks and bugs have been smoothed out. So now's the time for businesses to see what Microsoft's newest OS iteration has to offer.
1: Usability
Microsoft dropped the ball somewhat with Windows 8 but it has redeemed itself with the release of Windows 10. Various features have been improved and have been designed for normal users, not least the return of the classic Start Menu, which many Windows users had missed.
Another feature that has been upgraded is virtual desktops, a feature providing opportunities to manage different projects on the go, without cluttering up the traditional desktop.
2: Security
With Windows 10, Microsoft has introduced multi-factor authentication, based on standards laid out by the FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance. Biometric authentication has also been added in the form of the Windows Hello and Passport features, using facial recognition, iris or fingerprint analysis. Passport relies on similar security measures, but allows you to access some services without using a password, such as email, social networks and ecommerce pages.
3: Consistent experience across devices
Microsoft's software has felt confused since Windows 8, with its focus on tablet usability, reducing efficiency for desktop users dramatically. Windows 10 has remedied this, giving both desktop and mobile users a consistent and enjoyable experience across devices. This is further enhanced by the introduction of universal Windows Apps that work across all devices, including Mail, Calendar, Photos and Videos.
4: Microsoft Edge web browser
We've seen the slow and steady decline of Internet Explorer. Now Microsoft has developed a new browser called Edge that promises minimalistic design with plenty of functionality.
Features such as annotation, saving and sharing of web pages will be a handy tool for companies that share information and resources, as well as being useful for web designers for editing web pages.
There's also a reading mode that eliminates ads, which allows the user to store and save articles for offline reading later on.
In addition, Edge boasts strong security features in comparison to its predecessor. Microsoft has also ensured that each web page loaded is processed in an app container, a client-side sandbox, minimising the risk of malware.
5: Cortana
Cortana has been seen as something of a gimmick. However, business users have welcomed Cortana's ability to help users find documents and to make notes and reminders. Let's face it, finding files can be a chore. Having a voice-assistant on hand to help you locate files is a real bonus.
Cortana isn't difficult to use either; unlike other voice-operated assistants, there's no need to use a robotic voice. Also, Cortana won't prevent you from typing or using the mouse, so you can use it to find files or ask for information without having to stop what you're already doing.
So - should your company upgrade?
If better and more streamlined security, enhanced user features and consistent experiences across devices appeal to you, then Windows 10 is well worth looking at.
It offers several editions, with the Home and Pro editions being suitable for home users and small businesses respectively. Alternatively, Windows 10 Enterprise is aimed at businesses of all sizes.
Author Ben Palmer-Wilson is a freelance copywriter.
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