Explore IdeasThat Shape the Future.

Business enterprises are always keen to make the best out of what they have and this obsession is getting even stronger. Entrepreneurs are trying everything including 6 am meditation to reading hundreds of books to trying make through it. Improving the performance can have massive impact over the organization. Let me make you aware about some exceptional tool which can have severe impact over your productivity.

1. Automation

Sometimes, when you’re running a small business, it can feel like you have a lot on your plate. There is always so much to do with very few people and resources. But every single time you avoid writing same email, or manually completing same task, there you save some of your little time and information as well. Creativity requires time and space to grow and implementing automation can offer what you need. It doesn’t only save your time and money but also offers you room for grow your creativity. Automation can handle cash flow inconsistency, can eliminate the hassle of sorting through hundreds of emails every week.

2. Conditional Logic

Remembers if-else conditions from computer classes. We got deeper into that but it becomes complex for us when there are a lot of variables to take care of. This head scratching complexity often triggers down the sales staff. Then let me aware you what can we do about this particular situation right here! We can have a web form that supports conditional logic to solve this problem. It keeps the variable sorted and updates the team about the information they need and customers appreciate the streamlined information.

3. Customization

When you have a small business, it can be difficult to represent a consistent and recognizable image of the company. When customer interacts with your company, they sure consider every single touch-point. You might think it as only marketing trick but there is more to that, which is building trust. No customer would want to think that their financial information is at risk just because they are doing business with you. To solve this issue, you can use “white label” functionality which represent a unified brand experience to customers by removing the logos from the forms. Also, it’s the quickest customization process which is capable of cloning the previous version and adapt it newer events.

4. Payment Integration

Let me remind you about the most time-consuming process, and that is payments. You know it involve multiple procedures including requesting, receiving and distributing payments. And besides there are numerous online systems available for making payments but there can be less sophisticated clients who don’t digital payment system for making financial transaction. Let me propose you a solution to this issue, i.e. integrating payment module. A simply designed payment integration system will make your customer happier and your firm is playing productive in the meanwhile.

With the trends changing traditions, we can see major changes in the customer acquisition. Take the instance of Netflix, the way it changed the way we watch TV. With the digitization, abundance of services and products are made available to the users. Video and audio files are streamed online and CDs are something used in the past. Readers now don’t have to buy books and can have access to eBooks in instant. Remote access allows users to hop on to any device, network setting or access service, regardless of the time. Companies can now interact with their customers regularly using Chatbots and can acquire real-time data. Based on real-time data, now their decisions are data-driven and helpful in acquiring lifelong relation with customers.

Utilizing abundant data

Take the instance of companies like Netflix, Amazon, Spotify etc which uses data as an asset to personalize their content and building lifelong relations with their consumers. Netflix, in fact, was the first ever platform to utilize the recommendation engine. Whereas, Amazon generates enormous amount of data every minute and uses it to create adaptive and personalized customer journeys. Moreover, Amazon has a most genuine customer-base which trust Amazon. But to earn this loyalty from their consumers, there are genuine efforts and services offered. They deliver the product we want, intact and on time, safely packaged and offer after-delivery consumer-assistant with easy exchange and return policy.

Long Term Subscription: New Trend

In this era, consumer want to feel connected, recognized and treated as individuals. To seek this, consumers are highly reliable over service providers and digital retailers . As a result they seek consistency, value and convenience from them. Selling of the product is a past thing, now consumers trust subscription and memberships. They want to make commitment only if they are happy with the services. If you’re offering quality services, then you just got number of loyal customers lined up for a long time. Subscription and membership model is highly acquired business model which is said be to be the disruptive model. However, it also allows companies too establish direct relations with consumers. Nonetheless, it's possible with the help of disrupting technologies which makes this business model trustworthy.

Building brand image in the industry is not a one-time transaction but rather a continuous procedure which takes a lot of efforts and dedication. A brand is never just about talent or personality but rather is strategically laid perception within the consumers. It’s up to you, how you let your client perceive your company. If you want let yourself known to people in a good manner, try offering great and quality services with full satisfaction.

Building a brand reputation can be overwhelming and you might not be sure about where to start. Here I am about to spill some beans about building a great brand reputation from my personal experience-

1. Add value to your products/services

When it comes to building a reputation, who do think is on the receiving end? If you’re thinking about audience then you’re absolutely right! You are ultimately targeting your audience to attract maximum of them to engage with you for business transaction. Make certain that the services, products and content you are delivering to your audience provide them a unique value. It will not only set you apart but will also keep them begging for more.

2. Establish a strong online presence

Build a dedicated website and create a profile on every social media platform. Try every possible way to communicate with your clients so that they can have variety of communication mediums and can reach out to you easily when needed. Just make sure your clients are aware how to reach you out when they need your products or services. And there is nothing better than having a strong online presence to communicate with your end-users.

3. Remain engaged with your audience

Respond to every feedback, message, comment or anything your consumers leaves. Try to blend with them as much as possible. Create Facebook events and other forums to let your clients that to value their opinion and respond to them quickly.

4. Stand with your words, not the size of audience

As mentioned above, building your brand is a long-term process; so, you don’t need to worry if there are not much audience. No doubt having a small audience size seems daunting but still you need to continue your efforts as results will take time. So, instead of worrying about the small number of followers, focus on your words. Utilize this opportunity to establish one-to-one connections with your audience. Talk to them as you are talking to thousands because the post can be shared by them and can go beyond your existing circles.

5. Be yourself

While building your brand, keep it in mind what is it which makes your business unique and attracts customers. If everything is generic and you offer nothing unique then its not long that your business will come to halt. Be yourself, and make sure your brand reputation reflects your personality and your mission & vision and makes your business unique.

 

PHP language is the most preferred language by developers when they need to develop a dynamic application with amazing features and outstanding support. Not only this, PHP is known to power about 20 million web domains across the globe. Plus it’s solid framework allows great product delivery in terms of web application. Laravel framework is one such technology which is revolutionizing the PHP web app development. It is fully packed up with standardized approach and flexible features for both small as well as large business enterprizes with high-end functioning web application. Let me tell you about some unique features it offers-

Security

When you go live, security is the main concern because yours and your end-users’ data security is at stake. But Laravel framework take great care of security standards. For instance, when any password is saved into the database, it is encrypted by salting and hashing it. It increases the security of the data as it eliminates the issue of passwords being saved as plain text.

Unit Testing

Unit testing feature in Laravel allows pre-existing line for testing of the code prior to its release. It is another exciting feature which makes it  popular. Technically, it allows stable releases of new websites running web apps based on Laravel framework.

Architectural support to MVC

The MVC in the framework is architecturally brilliant with a clear logic and is presented fairly clearly. This, in turn, improves performance and allows documentation to be easily done.

Interactive ORM

Laravel makes Object-relational mapping or ORM easier by allowing developers to write database queries using PHP syntax rather than writing independent SQL queries. Tables in database is used for making it happen which corresponding to the PHP syntax to generate even more expressive ORM.

Wide Range of Template Availability

Best part about Laravel is developers can find high relevant and useful ready to use template. There is a wide range of templates available which makes it easier for the developers to seed content within the beautiful layout without having to create it from scratch. Moreover, it also contains widgets that easily incorporate with JS and CSS codes.

With the aforementioned features, you get the idea that it is perfectly fine to develop website using Laravel Framework.

Node.js is a runtime JavaScript specifically built over Chrome’s version 8 JavaScript engine using an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model. It’s highlights are efficient and lightweight package ecosystem, NPM, delivers the largest available ecosystem of open source libraries in the world. With the never ending efforts from  open source community there are many excellent modules enhancing capabilities to Node.js application. Socket.io is one such module to manage connections between client and server, allowing the server to retrieve and push real-time updates to clients.

Apart from open source community and sockets, there are several prominent names associated with Node.js corporate users including Microsoft, Netflix, GoDaddy, IBM, Walmart, Cisco, Groupon, Yahoo! etc with the intent of evolving and integrating diverse services in same UI. Due to the advanced option to solve almost everything, Node.js is preferred by most of the developers. Here are some Node.js best practices for you to make most out of it-

Code Organization

You can organize code into smaller pieces to stay from the the complications. Developers use this approach to understand the code as it is modularized into small parts. The key to keep things simple by envisioning how things will function not just at the given point of time, but also future.

Embrace Style Guide

Developers need to consider deciphering codebase as it is easier if you stick to a specific pattern or consistent pattern. If helps the developers to keep the code manageable and less time consuming by eliminating the need of reworking and reformatting. However, there is no standard form defined to follow. Therefore, developers or team members have to enforce standardization on their own.

Do Not Reinvent the Wheel

Node Package Manager is an online repository for publishing of open source Node.js projects. There are wide number of packages already available and try looking for the existing solutions first before developing solutions from scratch. It will save you from trouble of whole process developing a solution from scratch which is already available.

Always Use Asynchronous Methods

It’s asynchronous runtime and non0blocking IO are the most critical features. It offers extreme flexibility and speed to serve requests much faster compared to other language. In order to leverage the maximum use of it you are recommended to use asynchronous methods in code.

Recognize Errors and Downtime

Monitoring and performance products can be helpful in gaining insight regarding codebase and API used. In return, you can transcend above monitoring and measure user experiences. APM products are capable of indicating a slow loading transaction on the end-user side while suggesting the main issue.

Wrapping Up

You need to Implement and analyse the best practices of Node.js before you dive into Node.js development. Node.js is perfect fit for developing real-time web applications which its robust performance. Also excellent APIs can be create and implemented to handle the requests that are IO based and demands scalability using Node.js.

Entrepreneurs are very  influenced by the advanced features offered by WordPress and it is the first preferred choice for developing business website for them. But ever wonder what makes it so popular? There are numerous features associated with WordPress and it also offers remarkable security plugins. Here I am discussing top five most popular WordPress security plugins-

1. WordPress Security and Firewall

You know what they say about anything which is online is not safe. You can never guarantee 100% security to anything when it’s over the network. This WordPress security plugin help you keep the score of your dashboard about how secured your website is. The security scanner of this plugin is capable of recognising the changes in WordPress website to keep you aware of any potential security threat. And as a bonus it is extremely easy user interface, this plugin protects website by detecting possible threats and implementing largest security threats.

2. iThemes Security

This particular plugin offers more than 30 potential ways to secure your website against hacker attacks and other potential threats. It is available to you in two versions,free and premium as well. It very well tightens the security of the website to protect against attack. Also, for added security, it uses two-factor authentication for login and recording action logs, specifically during some certain actions.

3. BulletProof Security

It offers instant security with single click bullet security solution, as goes with the name. It strong features allows this plugin to record the number of Login attempts, checks for uploaded files and also look out for other malicious actions. Best part is it is capable of sending instant alert right away to the registered email or other contact detail in case it detects threat. It offers effective security against RFI, XSS, CRLF and SQL injection.

4. WordFence

It is another great WordPress security plugin which can protect your website from security threats. It offers various security options including IP blocking, scanning, firewall protection and activity monitoring. Best part about this security plugin is that it scans the website from scratch to locate whether it is infected or not. Premium version offers high-end security features of predefined country blocking and scheduled scan.

5. Sucuri Security

This is another security plugin which offers effective features like all sorts of tracking of various activities over the website. Users can review their activity log and locate the problem area in case your website is malfunctioning. Additional features like auditing and blacklist tracking are quite helpful for admins.

Almost every industry or IT firm is deploying chatbots to bring unprecedented operational efficiency powered by artificial intelligence. Several IT firms are deploying texting efficiencies to enable faster purchases and other CTAs (call to actions). They are said to be a driving paradigm shift towards how information about services and products would be served, delivered and consumed. You should be aware about the what platform to choose to reach your targeted consumers while planning chatbot design.

1. Google Assitant/Cortane/Amazon Echo: Best suitable for audience for voice-enabled services.
2. Slack: Considered a best suite for startups and developers
3. Facebook Messenger/kiko/telegram/line: Best suitable for serving large audience.

Although it might sound like a new term but it’s been in existence for quite a long time. But, currently they are making it in the mainstream. Chatbots are used extensively by companies as they are expected to perform under circumstances like unexpected scenarios, tricky questions, interruptions and other situations. Hence, it is necessary to design and develop conversational chatbot using the best practices. Some of the Chatbot designing practices are discussed below-

Keep it simple

Just keep in mind that you’re designing and deploying chatbots for the ease of your end-users. Which means chatbot design should be simple and hassle free. Keep a significant distance from complexity by reducing the interaction to a simple chat UI. Completing an action through chatbot require input from the user such as tapping over a certain menu option on the website or application. It is important to understand the technology stack first before moving to the designing part. And the most important thing to consider is to design the most efficient yet simple working chat UI for the end user.

Conversation flow selection

Chatbot  are deployed to tackle different situations which makes selection of conversation to make it look natural and seamless as most challenging part of designing. Moreover, human interaction is comparatively short.

Optimized according to End-user

While designing bots, it must be considered that they don’t revolve around making jobs easy for the customer support but rather to elevate end user experience. Bots are not designed to replace human but rather to offer rich user experience to the customer end.

Custom mobile application is gaining huge momentum with it’s ability to make the business routine smoother and less time consuming. As the report suggests, about 7.5 hours are saved by an employees on an average week by utilizing customized mobile applications. They can be partially or fully personalized, depending upon the core requirements of the business and employees as well. These applications are modified accordingly to address a group of specified audience with similar requirements and work agenda. It can be the most attractive option for business and is the main reason behind gaining traction. Apart from smoothing out the business operations, it has endless benefits as mentioned below-

1. Secure App Data.

General application might not have the specific security features which can  put your data and ultimately your business on security risk. Whereas, building custom apps are built specifically to meet the specific requirements of your business including the security to your app data. It can be said that it has the potential to keep your business data secure.

2. Improved Efficiency.

While developing a custom mobile app, sole purpose is to keep the core requirements of your business in your mind and build the application accordingly. Also, custom application is like a comprehensive app performing the diverse operations to negate the requirements of a specific business. They’re tailored to enhance your efficiency by cutting the overhead of time consuming work and offering flexibility to operate from mobile devices.

3. Collaboration with existing software.

Generic business applications might not be able to function smooth with your existing system resources. But while building custom software, existing systems are kept in mind and are developed with efficient compatibility between the new application and the existing one.

4. Scalability opportunities.

General applications are usually developed to handle the increasing users or load of the application but eventually they will also fall short on fulfilling the requirements. Custom apps are made to handle the increase in users fro time to time. They have the ability to scale their features accordingly which make them even suitable.

5. Easy maintenance

Suppose you’re using a generic app distributed by some third party and your whole business operations depend upon the generic app. What if they decide to discontinue the app? What will you do? It’s better to go for a custom application with full ownership to prevent such issues completely.

Latest Custom Mobile Application Trends

Ever heard of BYOD (Bring your own device) policy which allows IT professionals to  make use of their personal devices for their professional jobs. It cuts down the costs and also increases the efficiency of the employees. Build your own app (BYOA) is the extension to the BYOD policy. While BYOA gives employees the freedom to use better apps for the job, it can be perceived as a major security threat. Moreover, employees will use mobile or cloud apps without any kind of control over how their data is stored, accessed and used. Nonetheless, to avoid such issues, custom mobile application development can be considered. Some of the most trending types of custom applications are:

Responsive Designs:

They are highly attractive and flexible type of applications suitable for various devices with different screen sizes. It is the latest trend and very much appreciated by the app users and experts as well.

Social media integration:

Basically offers easy integration with various social media platforms for better engagement. It is a must for most of the app these days.

Wearable Technology:

With the spreading roots of technology in field of healthcare, it is becoming very popular. It is fast catching up with the increased awareness for health and fitness issues nowadays

Cloud based apps:

They are the most preferred application trending now due to the wide range of features and capabilities it offers. With this application, there is no or very less need of storing data over the local storage of phone.

NFC (near field communication) app:

It enable users with easy and cashless payments. They can make online payments over eCommerce websites with mobile app payment apps.

Automation, smart control, inter-operability etc is all cool what are you aware of the dark side of Internet of things? Lets explore the dark side of the IoT, which no one tells you about! With the so much convenience offered by IoT, it is hard to not to pose any risks. But there are way too many risks which you’re might not be aware of.

“Dark things hide in dark places”

Botnets

Just like majority of malware, botnets are also found on the dark side of the marketplace. They can also be rented, borrowed, leaked or purchased. Prices range between tens to hundreds of dollars, depending upon the type of damage it can do. With the competitive nature of dark market, botnets also varies in nature. For instance, there is one botnet is infecting the IoT while other one replacing that infection by placing its own code. In some cases also “repair” the security vulnerability used by the previous botnet to prevent re-infection and persist its position on the vulnerable device.

Medical sectors

IoT is used in field of healthcare but it also carries great threat to the medical records of the patients. There are instance available for the recent ransomware attacks carried out on healthcare IT systems. As predicted by Gartner, more than one-fourth of attacks in the health-care sector will target the IoT. It is a latest technology and some of its aspects are still hidden which make the traditional “walk the talk” doesn’t always work. Also some of the medical equipments located in the remote area lacks proper security features and are vulnerable to security risks. Those security vulnerabilities can leak medical record of patients. It is actually sold in black market to the organizations for generating fake profiles and seek advantages.

Cyber-security Challenges

With the increasing popularity, cybersecurity challenges are also increasing, there are several interested trends observed, such as an uptick in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks with unparalleled data traffic. According to the prediction of experts, data breaches will cause damages of up to $2.1 trillion globally by 2019. and the cost of breaches are likely to exceed about $150 million as more industries and business are getting connected.