Asides

What Technologies are at the Forefront of Digital Transformation?

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iOT and Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is now a buzzword. And for good reason. There are benefits to reap from it. According to a McKinsey article titled Welcome to the Digital Factory: The answer to how to scale your digital transformation, companies are already reaping its benefits:

  • More effective resource utilization
  • Shipping products faster to market
  • More targeted talent acquisition allowing businesses to pivot for better competition

The question then is no longer which companies or industries should join the digital transformation bandwagon. It is a matter of when.

In this article, we define digital transformation, take a look at what it’s not, its components, and explore technology as one of its key drivers.

What digital transformation means

Digital transformation is in essence, the reimagining or rethinking how businesses or organizations use technology. It can be seen as implementing the ‘result’ of the aforementioned thinking process.

Of interest is the fact that digital transformation is sometimes a response spurred by changes in customer behavior or brand expectations or even competition, or simply market demands.

In order for digital transformation to succeed, there is a need for collaboration across the entire organizations’ departments and the people in them.

What digital transformation is not

Now that we have defined what digital transformation is, let us look at what it isn’t:

It’s not a ‘one size fits all’

Digital transformation is by no means a ‘one size fits all’. If a business or organization decides to use another company’s digital transformation as a blueprint of their own, then they are highly likely to run into problems sooner or later. Each business’s unique set of circumstances must be taken into consideration.

It’s not synonymous to job loss

Some people in the organization may resist digital transformation as they are afraid of losing their jobs. It is important that the team in charge of leading digital transformation in your organization communicate that digital transformation can take care of the mundane tasks, leaving the employees to focus on their core.

It’s not just about technology

A lot of factors need to come into play for digital transformation to succeed. Yes, you need to have the right technologies and tools, and the people to build them. You however also need your employees on board with the whole digital transformation idea. You need to involve the users that you are targeting, and you need to have your business model figured.

For example, if you are building technology to automate your employees’ mundane tasks, you need to involve them. Let them understand the benefits of the technology and hear their pains out. They understand their everyday tasks since they are the ones ‘on the ground’.

Technology as the vehicle of digital transformation

There is undoubtedly no digital transformation without technology. Technology is the tool, the vehicle that allows digital transformation to get to its destination. Once a business or organization has figured the things that need to change, improve, or introduce, then technology comes in to help build the necessary tools and solutions.

Technologies that are leading digital transformation

Let us explore the technologies that are making digital transformation possible.

The cloud

According to a Gartner forecast, the cloud services market will be worth $266 billion in 2020, a 17% increase. This is because companies are opting for cloud as the de facto digital transformation technology.

Cloud comes with several benefits which companies want to take full advantage of:

  • more regular backups
  • automated database updates
  • lesser hardware upgrades, as you can easily scale with the cloud
  • reduced downtime as testing can be done separately from live servers

Data science

Companies are leveraging the data they collect from various sources to use in decision making. Data science allows for the analysis of large data sets that helps businesses get information about customer behavior and expectations, and even insights on risk in the business. It helps businesses see the aspects of the business that need to be transformed and optimized.

Data science also makes it possible to see emerging trends in the business that can help make predictions. For eCommerce stores, for example, it is possible to see trends in the types of items purchased during certain times in a month for example, and to stock more of those products.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The terms AI and ML (Machine Learning) can be confusing. AI is the bracket term for technologies that make machines ‘smart’. In that sense then, ML is a part of AI. ML involves building models that make it possible to make machines, or software ‘smart’. The models are largely predictive and therefore aid in decision making.

In a 2019 Gartner CIO survey, the use of AI by enterprises has increased by a whopping 270% over the last 4 years.

Machine Learning

Machine Learning comes in to aid in decision making and predictions. With Machine Learning, large data sets can be used for example to help personalize customer experiences. Data points about the customer’s purchase behavior can be analyzed, and the customer is only served information that is related to the purchased products, for example via email marketing.

With Machine Learning, a business is able to build models that can be used for predictions and test them over and over. It can also be leveraged to scale up existing processes within your business.

IoT

IoT (Internet of Things) refers to the extended capabilities of other ‘things’ – devices or other environments –  to be able to connect to the internet. Why this is important to digital transformation is because these other ‘things’ are able to collect data points which can further be used in the streamlining of the digital transformation process.

A smartwatch that a consumer uses for tracking fitness can collect data points for a fitness company that even the user themselves may not be able to. This way, the fitness company can fine-tune its product or service offering to better meet customer needs.

Blockchain

Blockchain comes in to help with the efficiency of transactions over a network, for example in tracking cargo as it moves from region to region, or in the creation of the distributed ledger (databases that are accessible by different parties, for example, different companies) for the sake of more efficient tracking of transactions.

In conclusion

We have explored the concept of digital transformation and the technologies that power it. As we have mentioned, technology is only a vehicle, and on its own will not help your business achieve the digital transformation that it needs. You need the right team, mindset and strategy to work in tandem with technology in order to see the success of your digital transformation journey.

Are you looking for a software development company to help you build your digital transformation tools? Contact us today.

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What to look for when looking for a company to build a mobile app

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Mobile App Development: iOS, Android and Hybrid Apps with Flutter

Getting the right team to build your mobile app means not only getting the work done in time but also gets you a great app that will help you achieve your goals. 

While you may have an internal development team to do the job, you may need to outsource for a number of reasons – you need to use new technologies that your team may not be proficient in, or your team is already swamped with other responsibilities. 

Whatever the reason, in this article we delve into what to look for when looking for a company to hire to build a mobile app for your business.

Know what you want 

You, the product owner should know what you want. This is especially true with regard to the features you want and the app category. The more complex the features you need, the longer it will take for your app to be built. You will also need to hire a company with exceptional developers. 

You want to go for a company that has experience building apps in your specific category. If you want to build a gaming app, for example, you want to choose a company that has built gaming apps before. 

Do they have the required experience or expertise?

You need to determine a mobile app company’s expertise or experience. You can do these in several ways: 

  • you could ask to see their portfolio, or apps on the app store that you can download and analyze. 
  • alternatively, you can check for reviews or testimonials from previous customers. The reviews on the apps stores should also help here. 
  • you also need to determine whether they have built apps using the specific technologies that you need. For example, if you want an iOS app built via Swift, you need to inquire whether they have worked on such projects before. 

Check their Software Development Cycle

You need to understand the company’s (Software Development Cycle) – SDLC. There are different approaches to software development, with the more traditional one being waterfall (where software review is done after the entire app is built). The newer approach is Agile, where reviews are done after a certain period, for example, every 2 weeks. 

While the Agile approach is more savored and projects built using the agile approach are said to be more successful, sometimes the waterfall may be the better approach, depending on your project. 

Are they within your budget?

There are several considerations to make when it comes to the budget that you need for your app development. These include:

  • Maintenance costs
  • Number of features
  • Testing and deployment
  • App type (Hybrid, Native or Web)
  • The number of platforms that you want to develop for
  • Development company location (offshore, nearshore, onshore) 

You need to choose a company that can work within your budget. Better still, one that can break down the costs for you so that you actually get to see where your money goes. 

What is your timeline?

You need to have a particular timeline in mind before you begin your research on the best mobile app company to hire. You may, for example, want to go to market in 3 months. This means that your app needs to be ready in 2 months to allow for ample time for bug fixes and testing. 

Your app’s timeline needs to be feasible. Of course, if you have complex features being built, it may take longer than 2 months. It is also important to note that the time it takes to build your app is directly proportional to the cost. 

Go for a company that can break down the timeline for you. This way, you will be able to determine whether it fits within your planned schedule. 

How well do they communicate?

You are able to pick a few things about how well a company communicates from the first time that you meet them. For example, do they ask for clarification if they have not understood? Are they able to communicate highly technical things in a simple way? 

This will come in handy from the early stages of development all the way to the end. Are they able to create the wireframes that bring out your idea? How much do they involve you in the process? How frequently do they communicate? How long does it take for them to respond to any communication that you send? What communication platforms did you agree on? Are they responsive on those platforms?

Communication is important as it will help you build a great working relationship. This will help as the development process may take weeks or months. Sometimes, it may call for late nights. You need to be working with someone with whom you can easily and honestly communicate with. 

User experience

How your users feel when interacting with your app is crucial to whether they will continue to use it or whether they will uninstall it. You need to ensure that you choose a mobile app development company that is familiar with UI (user interface) best practices – how fast the app loads, how easy it is for the user to navigate and use the app, standard elements like buttons, and uniformity with your brand.

Analyzing apps that the company has built before will help you have a feel of their UI practices. You can also determine how much a company is determined to build apps with great UX (user experiences) during wireframing. If they even go ahead to do a mockup, then they are probably a great fit.

In conclusion

Choosing the right company to help you build your app is by no means easy. As you have seen, there are several factors to put into consideration. 

Depending on the companies that you find, you need to know what compromises you may need to make, should one company not fit all the above criteria. For example, you may find that your budget may not allow for all the features that you want. You, therefore, need to focus only on the most important features. 

We are a reputable mobile app development company with over 5 years’ experience building Android and iOS applications. We have also built hybrid apps for use on both iOS and Android. Contact us today for your app development needs.