‘There is success through many advisers.’ This ancient proverb has proved not just true but very effective and powerful in this digital age. This is precisely what Open-Source Software (OSS) accomplishes. It allows for collaborative development where the community can modify and enhance the source code.

Open-source systems can help businesses adapt quickly to changing circumstances and facilitates controlled upgrades. Integration and maintenance become less of a hurdle. With the wide range of OSS possibilities, businesses are wise to tap into this huge potential for building a robust, secure, and yet, cost-effective infrastructure.

This blog will help you gain an in-depth understanding of how open-source can power your digital transformation journey!

How Open-Source Software Powers Digital Transformation

Vendors today provide various software solutions indispensable to a business’s software strategy. But finding the right software solution that caters closely to an organization’s needs has always been challenging! Meanwhile, OSS helps businesses build and maintain their IT ecosystem and enables sourcing highly creative developers with hard-to-locate skills. Engaging with domain experts and making their contribution to the OSS bank helps developers find satisfaction and boosts creativity. Judicious use of OSS can be of great benefit to any business.

Most IT leaders believe that OSS is either “very important” or “extremely important” to the enterprise software strategy. How do we know that? In 2021, developers downloaded over 2.2 trillion open-source packages. That is a 73% increase.

Read more: How to Ensure Safe Use of Open Source Libraries

Here are more reasons to justify this statement!

1. OSS Can Serve as A Ramp to The Future

Irrespective of whether you are a small business with limited resources or an established enterprise with an established IT ecosystem, open-source software’s ability to supply code that can be easily changed and customized to your specific needs is invaluable. Many businesses are turning to AI and blockchain to better understand customer needs and work towards fulfilling them. Open-source code can not only hasten the process but also ensure efficiency.

AI, ML, and AR/VR could feel like the proverbial butterfly always out of reach, and more so if your business does not have a well-established IT team. OSS can then serve as your ramp to the future. Your vendor or coder could build on the resources available to ramp up your IT capabilities and reach your desired situation.

2. OSS Can Be a Beacon for Talent

OSS provides coders and developers with access to code written by experts or extremely creative pioneers. This would be an immersive learning exercise. At the same time, experienced engineers could interact with others in their community, freshening their skills while keeping up with the latest in the IT industry. This exposure would, in turn, influence their recruiting and training activities.

The OSS is also a repository of “glueware.” It allows software engineers to create things outside their immediate area of expertise. While it requires ingenuity and skill to glue parts together to make a whole system, OSS provides not just the individual parts and the “glue” required to fix them. It is a new method of looking at the design, resulting in greater satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.

3. OSS Can Build Engineering Discipline

Open-source projects have very clear frameworks. There is structure and good practices such as separation of concerns, abstraction, and isolation. A business of any size would benefit from following the same discipline in setting up its systems.

Maintaining clear standards of operability ad interoperability is another advantage. Using OSS ensures that the same standards are followed. Businesses do not have to invent standards and frameworks but can build on the foundation provided by OSS.

4. OSS Can Improve Your “Ilities”

Scalability, availability, and reliability – are just a few of the many aspects that OSS can help improve. Utility to ensure efficiency and avoid duplicating work can also be added to the list. Developers or vendors would likely prefer importing sections from a tried and tested OSS repository than building from scratch.

Read more: Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning For Faster and Accurate Project Cost Estimation

project cost estimation

Dimensions of Open-Source Software 

OSS boosts the digital transformation of businesses. It is good for businesses that lack the resources to meet the needs of IT development. OSS can yield different variations by its modularity. Consider a few pros and cons of OSS:

  • Price: The price is very low to zero. However, one must consider the need for support, customization, and hosting while considering the cost of using OSS.
  • Source Code: Full access to the source code helps developers evaluate the quality of the software and customize it to the needs of the business.
  • Functionality: While individual systems from the OSS may be limited, they can be easily ramped up to serve all business needs.
  • Modularity: OSS is modular. Hence it prompts the engagement of several experts in building a specific IT system.
  • Development: OSS code is developed worldwide by motivated developers from a wide range of roles and functions.
  • Distribution: OSS code is distributed over the internet, which is fast, efficient, and cost-effective.
  • Licensing: A range of OSS licenses specify how the code can be used, modified, or redistributed. However, certain restrictive licenses only support the limited use of the OSS code.
  • Monetization: Offering support services to help integrate the system, train users, and fix bugs is one way to monetize OSS. Offering to work out the deployment of OSS systems and taking care of backups, upgrades, and downtime is another way to monetize OSS.

Is Customization A Smarter Choice With Open Source?

Remember that OSS is another tool best suited for certain tasks and not so well suited for others. OSS might not be the best choice for your strategic activities or initiatives contrary to your cultural norms. Certain projects on OSS might have too high a level of uncertainty or too little support.

This does not mean that OSS should be put out of the picture. Do you need to adapt quickly to the fast-paced development in certain domains? Do you need greater effectiveness in attracting and retaining talent? Do you need a solution that requires utility, quality, and speed? OSS can help you in all these scenarios.

Read more: Odoo Migration: Why Is It Crucial and How to Do It Seamlessly!

Odoo Migration

How Can Fingent Help?

Fingent can leverage open-source technology to quickly develop your customized, dynamic business application. Our experts use PHP, AngularJS, jQuery, Magento, and several other open-source technologies to develop, implement and support a wide range of open-source technologies and resources. Our extensive experience working with open-source tools helps ensure that we can provide our clients with customized, innovative solutions quickly and efficiently without compromising on quality.

Intrigued to learn more about how we can help you develop and leverage the best business software solutions with open source. Connect with our experts now!

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    About the Author

    ...
    Vinod Saratchandran

    Vinod has conceptualized and delivered niche mobility products that cater to various domains including logistics, media & non-profits. He leads, mentors & coaches a team of Project Coordinators & Analysts at Fingent.

    Talk To Our Experts

      Machine learning is changing the face of everyday life, science, and business. It is revolutionizing all industries, from advancing medicine to powering various cutting-edge technologies. Though Machine learning (ML) was a part of AI’s evolution until the 1970s, it evolved independently. It has become a chief response tool for cloud computing and eCommerce.

      The goal of machine learning in business is to adapt to new data independently and make decisions and recommendations based on thousands of analyses. Machine learning enables systems to learn, identify patterns and make informed decisions with minimal human intervention.

      Today, ML is a necessary aspect of modern business. It uses algorithms and neural network models to improve the performance of computer systems. Machine learning in business and manufacturing is enabling organizations to achieve notable strides. These strides include increased performance and efficiencies, improved processes, and enhanced security.

      This article will discuss the benefits of machine learning in business and its use cases.

      Remarkable Benefits of Machine Learning for Businesses 

      According to Fortune Business Insights, the global market size for machine learning in business is expected to grow to USD 209.91 billion by 2029, exhibiting a CAGR of 38.8% during the forecast period. ML has been and continues to scale operations tremendously. Across industries, ML has led to a boom in affordable data storage and faster and more reliable computational processing.

      Here are six remarkable benefits of machine learning in business:

      1. Automation for better decision-making 

      Most businesses find themselves wasting precious time sorting through duplicate and inaccurate data. Such businesses benefit from using the predictive modeling algorithms of ML in their processes. Such a process will understand duplicate inaccurate data and distinguish the anomalies. It enables the organization to avoid inaccurate reporting that can result in poor customer retention.

      Instead, this will allow businesses to use their accurate database to detect wasted costs, missed opportunities for sales, and revenue capital. In addition, organizations can overcome challenges and risks that arise due to miscommunication or poor performance metrics. Thus, businesses can streamline their operations and improve decision-making which could be translated into better ROI.

      2. Increased scalability with minimum expense

      Semi-supervised machine learning algorithms can help organizations leverage useful insights from customer profiles and enable them to view their brands from customers’ perspectives. Doing so will equip organizations with relevant insights to build their brand by improving their products and services.

      3. Predictive maintenance

      Predictive maintenance that ML aids manufacturing firms’ power to follow best practices that lead to efficient and cost-effective operations. The historical and real-time data predict problems and stipulate strategies to solve those problems. Plus, workflow visualization tools can eliminate issues and unwanted expenses incurred due to those issues.

      4. Financial analysis

      ML can greatly assist as it gathers and analyzes large volumes of quantitative and accurate historical data. It is used for portfolio management, loan underwriting, fraud detection, and more.

      5. Personalization 

      Using machine learning in business will allow organizations to know their customers better and provide them with a more personalized customer experience. Organizations no longer need to rely on guesswork because ML models can process different types of information collected from numerous sources and provide relevant data about their customers.

      6. Cybersecurity

      ML technologies can improve cybersecurity to solve cyberattacks once and for all. Empowered by ML, intelligent security programs can gather and process data about cyber threats and respond to them in real time. ML models can detect the slightest deviations in patterns and flag them. Or destroy an attack in its nascent stage.

      Read more: Can Machine Learning Predict And Prevent Fraudsters?

      Machine Learning

      Top Use Cases

      Machine Language has made its mark across industries and found a place in many different applications. Here are some top use cases:

      1. Enhanced social media features 

      Businesses can use machine learning algorithms to create attractive and effective social media features. For example, ML algorithms in Facebook enable it to identify and record a person’s activities. These activities include records of chats and the amount of time that person spends on each post. It uses this data to determine what kind of friends and topics may interest that person and accordingly make suggestions.

      Read more: Why Time Series Forecasting Is A Crucial Part Of Machine Learning

      2. Product recommendation

      Product recommendation is an advanced application of machine learning techniques. It has been the most popular application of almost every eCommerce website today. This technique allows websites to track a consumer’s behavior based on their previous purchases, search patterns, and cart history. It enables the website to make apt product recommendations to that consumer.

      3. Recognition

      Image recognition is one of the most significant and notable ML and AI techniques. It is adopted further for pattern recognition, face detection, and face recognition.

      4. Sentiment analysis

      Sentiment analysis is a real-time ML application. It determines the emotion or opinion of the speaker or the writer. For example, a sentiment analyzer can detect the thought and tone of a written review or an email. It can analyze the review-based website, decision-making applications, and more.

      5. Access control

      Most large businesses are actively implementing ML models to determine the level of access an employee should be granted. This application of machine learning can ensure the security of the organization.

      6. Bank Domain

      Banks are using ML to prevent fraud and protect accounts from hackers. Machine learning algorithms determine what factors to consider in creating a filter to prevent an attack.

      Read more: Machine Learning – Deciphering the most Disruptive Innovation

      Machine Learning

      How Fingent Can Help with Deploying the Best of ML

      Leveraging the capabilities of machine learning in business can open the door to many opportunities. It is wise for any organization to take advantage of ML rather than lag behind competitors. However, we understand if you have questions. That’s why Fingent software development experts are here to help you. We can deploy the best machine-learning models efficiently and smoothly.

      As a partner, Fingent can work with your team as you take on digital initiatives for sustainable business growth. We enable our clients to make data-driven decisions by efficiently deploying machine learning in business. Our cost-effective services will save you a considerable amount of time and money.

      Furthermore, we do not follow a one-size-fits-all strategy. We provide custom software development services that cater to your needs. Therefore, look no further if you are looking for a reliable, efficient IT partner to deploy the best machine-learning models.

      Contact our experts today!

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        About the Author

        ...
        Vinod Saratchandran

        Vinod has conceptualized and delivered niche mobility products that cater to various domains including logistics, media & non-profits. He leads, mentors & coaches a team of Project Coordinators & Analysts at Fingent.

        Talk To Our Experts

          From the mundane to breathtaking, AI is disrupting virtually every business process in all sectors. People are ceasing to associate Artificial Intelligence with science-fiction dystopias as Artificial Intelligence (AI) is taking more commonplace in our daily lives.  While such acceptance in mainstream society is a new phenomenon, it is not a new concept in business. Today, AI has become imperative to maintain a competitive edge.

          This guide will help business owners who are serious about maintaining a competitive edge in their business sector by adopting AI.

          Rising Need for Adopting AI In Business

          Did you know that 52% of companies accelerated their AI adoption plans after the pandemic? Why?

          Artificial Intelligence in business is seen as a supporting tool. It is adept at processing and analyzing a trove of data much faster and more efficiently than a human brain can. Since AI can synthesize courses of action and present them to the human user, businesses can use AI to help investigate the probable consequences of each action. That way, businesses can streamline the decision-making process. This is what makes AI valuable throughout many industries.

          Artificial Intelligence is a form of software that can make decisions independently. It can act even in situations not foreseen by programmers. AI has a wider latitude of decision-making capabilities than traditional software – whether it is simply helping visitors or performing a task as complex as monitoring a wind turbine to predict its maintenance.

          Read more: Conversational AI: Reimagining Customer Experiences

          Conversational AI

          How To Identify If Your Business Needs AI?

          AI software and tools can make business processes much simpler and more effective. Besides, implementing AI in business ensures cybersecurity defense, powers customer service, and more. But how do you know when you must adopt AI in business? Here are a few scenarios:

          Scenario 1: Do you need to enhance your customer experience? 

          Are you struggling to provide your consumers with quick, easy, and personalized solutions? AI-powered digital assistants can help your business resolve customer queries by imitating human conversation. Chatbots are among the most promising trends in customer engagement and customer experience. Perhaps most business owners realize how imperative this AI technology is to their business. Perhaps that is why the chatbot market is set to reach 1.25 billion USD by 2025.

          Scenario 2: You know the value of sentimental analysis but do not know how to leverage it.

          Businesses use sentimental analysis to monitor and analyze customers’ opinions and emotions from various texts on a website, social media, and product or service comments. Skimming through large amounts of data to churn out customers’ sentiments can be daunting. All thanks to AI-assisted sentiment analysis, you can now quickly understand how your customers feel about your services or products.

          Scenario 3: Your business has suffered due to inaccurate forecasting.

          Accurate sales forecasting helps businesses predict future sales for long-term business growth. It can also enable the detection of potential problems to avoid them. Implementing AI-based CRM software can help detect how each data element relates to sales performance.

          Scenario 4: You have a great online presence but an awful in-store experience.

          If that describes your business, it is time to adopt AI to provide the next level of a personalized in-store experience. AI can enable instant access to products or services and contribute to smarter buying decisions.

          A Quick Guide to Implementing AI For Your Business

          AI applications can be used in many ways depending on organizational needs and the business intelligence (BI) insights derived from the data collected. Here are some tips to explain the steps businesses can take to ensure their implementation is a success:

          1. Know your options.

          Find out your options and what AI can and cannot do. This will help you decide if you want to add specific AI technology or change the entire app.

          2. What is your business goal?

          Working on an ‘end-first’ process will help refine the list to select specific features or capabilities that best suit your business goals.

          3. Find out how AI can benefit the end-users

          This is crucial as it gives you the two main objectives for a successful implementation. Then, choose the software and hardware you need to make this process a reality.

          4. Evaluate your internal capabilities

          You need to consider if you have enough skilled employees in-house who can manage the process and if you have the budget to outsource it.

          5. Choose between building or integrating the system

          Remember building an AI system from scratch can take several months. On the other hand, if you choose to use a premade system, your AI partner will help install the software app, train your staff, and fulfill your business needs.

          6. Test system

          Testing the system for a predetermined time will help you understand if the clients are more satisfied, and if the employees work more efficiently.

          7. Choose the right partner 

          A good AI partner will be clear about the offer, value, and terms of cooperation.

          8. Make refinements

          After you gather a reasonable amount of data evidencing the success of an AI solution, you can start making refinement changes to the solution.

          Watch more: How Artificial Intelligence Can Enhance Your Customer Experience!

          Avoid 4 Common Mistakes While Implementing AI

          A well-considered plan can lead to success, but a mistake can cost you considerably in terms of time and resources. Here are four common mistakes to watch out for when implementing AI:

          • Not applying AI to the right use cases: If AI is incongruous with your business goals, your time and resources will be wasted
          • Not diligent in hiring the right talent: Hiring the right AI team is like putting together the right football team that can win. Hire candidates with specialized skill sets and experience that match your business needs.
          • Ignoring data: Ensure all teams are responsible for organizing, vetting, and maintaining data.
          • Inadequate intervention: Inadequate intervention could result in AI recommendations that hinder business objectives. Hence, ensure interventions are scalable and repeatable.

          How Fingent Can Help You With Personalized AI Software Development 

          Artificial Intelligence is for every future-oriented business. How exactly you will use AI depends on your business goal and how well it was implemented. At Fingent top custom software development company, the AI developers are equipped to design intelligent solutions to help solve your business problems, automate tasks, and improve customer experience.

          Our suite of AI solutions includes data capture and processing. Our AI developers are also proficient in analytics, multi-platform integration, and ML solutions.

          Let us help you reach your business goal with intelligent AI-driven solutions. Give us a call today.

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            About the Author

            ...
            Vinod Saratchandran

            Vinod has conceptualized and delivered niche mobility products that cater to various domains including logistics, media & non-profits. He leads, mentors & coaches a team of Project Coordinators & Analysts at Fingent.

            Talk To Our Experts

              Historically, SAP solutions have required abundant resources and time to implement. However, this investment of time and resources pays dividends, as organizations that successfully implement the latest SAP solutions gain a distinct advantage within their industry. This is particularly true when discussing the latest SAP solution, SAP S/4HANA. The evolution of cloud technologies fueled the rise of this next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.

              This definitive guide explores SAP S/4HANA, so business leaders can determine whether this ERP solution is the wisest investment for their organizations.

              Why Modern Businesses are Considering SAP S/4HANA

              SAP S/4HANA is the culmination of decades of product development innovation. This expertly designed ERP incorporates simplified architecture and a robust digital core. Additionally, it is equipped with artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to provide clients with access to truly revolutionary tools and functionalities.

              Deploying SAP S/4HANA maintains the unparalleled level of business process coverage that SAP products are known for, while simultaneously allowing users to tap into the rapidly scalable computing power available via cloud services.

              In simple terms, SAP S/4HANA eliminates the most commonly cited pain points associated with ERP implementation. Specifically, SAP S/4HANA can be implemented faster than legacy options and at a less cost-prohibitive price point, especially when users leverage the platform’s “best practices activations.”

              Clients no longer have to invest in an abundance of on-premises computing resources but instead can leverage cloud-based alternatives.

              Read more: It’s Time To Transform Your Business For The New Digital Age – Rise With SAP

              Rise with SAP

              Top Benefits of Implementing SAP S/4HANA

              By transitioning to SAP S/4HANA, organizations can experience benefits such as:

              1. Enhanced Ability to Adapt

              With SAP S/4HANA, businesses will be better prepared to adapt to rapidly changing conditions within their sector. Additionally, the platform will help companies adopt the latest business models. Cumulatively, these benefits will make businesses more agile and resilient.

              2. Improved UI/UX with Fiori

              When SAP S/4HANA is paired with Fiori Innovation, the user experience is significantly enhanced. Fiori is the standard created by SAP for the use of design conventions and rich software elements.

              3. Faster Deployment

              In the past, deployments of legacy SAP ERP solutions could take years. Now, SAP S/4HANA migrations can be performed in mere months or weeks. Conversions from the ECC platform to SAP S/4HANA can also be performed in record times.

              This reality allows clients to decrease their time to value and begin using their new software faster than ever.

              4. Optimal Scalability

              Transitioning from on-premises solutions to cloud-based options maximizes the scalability of ERP technologies. As businesses grow and expand, their SAP S/4HANA ERP software can evolve with them.

              Before the release of S/4HANA, expanding ERP capabilities required businesses to invest in incredibly costly on-premises equipment. SAP S/4HANA makes this scalability challenge a distant memory.

              5. Decreased Time to Market

              One major hurdle to digital transformation was lead times. When businesses explore digital transformation investment opportunities, options that take years to go live are naturally not all that appealing to decision-makers.

              As a result, some businesses settle on lesser solutions or rush through the deployment process, only to experience lackluster results with their new investment.

              SAP S/4HANA addresses these recurring challenges by offering an expediting deployment process. While the efficiency and efficacy of the deployment depend primarily on the skill of the team overseeing the transition, capable SAP partners can implement S/4HANA far faster than its predecessors.

              This rapid deployment is a significant selling point for businesses that need to achieve a condensed time to market and a fast time to value.

              6. Advanced Analytics Capabilities

              SAP S/4HANA’s dynamic array of reporting and analytics tools can provide organizational leaders with the insights they need to make data-driven decisions.

              Decision-makers can view these data points through their preferred lens by customizing their reporting dashboard. SAP S/4HANA provides real-time updates, so business leaders can access the most accurate information possible.

              In addition to its advanced analytics capabilities, SAP S/4HANA facilitates process automation via artificial intelligence software. Businesses can implement end-to-end automation, which reduces the workload on staff while simultaneously enhancing organizational efficiency.

              Signs It’s Time to Transition to SAP S/4HANA

              Waiting too long to upgrade ERP technology can turn a solution that should make businesses more efficient into a financial burden. If businesses are unsure whether it is time to transition to a leading-edge solution like SAP S/4HANA, they should look for indicators such as:

              1. Lack of Standardization

              When developing SAP S/4HANA Cloud, the company took the time to listen to its client base. What SAP found was that many clients were clamoring for product standardization. SAP’s clients are most often established companies that are facing very complex problems. They were early adopters of the Cloud ERP, but now these entities need to scale quickly to continue to innovate within their respective industries.

              Antiquated options offered little or no standardization, making implementing and maintaining ERP software tedious, especially for those businesses with on-premise systems. SAP S/4HANA offers the level of standardization that clients were seeking while still providing them with the opportunity to customize their solutions.

              2. Out of Compliance

              Organizations that operate in closely regulated sectors must always be mindful of compliance requirements. The consequences can be serious if an organization clings to a legacy solution long after it has exceeded its optimal service lifecycle.

              When compliance is a concern, businesses should promptly look to upgrade their legacy system with a modern alternative like SAP S/4HANA.

              3. No Vendor Support

              While product vendors support their technology products, they cannot support everything perpetually. As new products roll out, vendors will need to eventually discontinue offering support for previous iterations of software and ERP solutions.

              You have two options when the vendor no longer supports your company’s preferred software suite.

              The first involves maintaining the product in-house via cobbled-together solutions. This approach can quickly lead to diminishing performance and increasing maintenance expenses. The second, more pragmatic option is to upgrade to the latest available solution.

              4. Costly to Maintain

              All business moves, including replacing a legacy ERP solution, are boiled down to a risk vs. reward assessment. Much of this assessment focuses on the potential value benefits of making the switch versus the transition cost.

              When legacy software becomes excessively costly to maintain, making this decision is that much easier. Antiquated technologies not only deliver less value over time, but they are also costly to keep up and running. If your organization has encountered this conundrum, it is a sure sign that it is time to upgrade.

              Learn how Fingent can help transform your business with SAP

              S/4HANA Conversion vs. S/4HANA Implementation

              There is an important distinction between migration or conversion and implementation for S/4HANA. Conversion involves transitioning all data and files from your existing SAP ERP solution (like ECC) to S/4HANA. Put simply, you are transforming your existing ERP solution into a variant of SAP S/4HANA.

              During a system conversion, businesses will need to migrate their databases to SAP HANA 2.0. From there, they will need to convert their data to the new SAP S/4HANA model. In addition, the company must upgrade its software, which will involve replacing legacy application code with the code for SAP S/4HANA.

              On the other hand, a new implementation involves building out SAP S/4HANA and then transitioning to the new system. The implementation process can be performed via a phased rollout, an incremental transition from legacy ERP to the new solution. Alternatively, businesses have the option to take all business units to SAP S/4HANA during a single massive rollout.

              Both processes can be incredibly involved. Therefore, you should carefully analyze each approach’s benefits and choose the best method that best aligns with the needs and goals of your organization.

              S/4HANA Conversion

              Businesses that select a conversion strategy will see less significant downtime as the conversion is a one-step process. Choosing a conversion or new implementation is determined by your business type (if you are based in IT or finance, for instance), your long-term strategy and how many other systems are connected to your influencing system.

              Prepare for Your Conversion

              Before any new implementation or conversion projects, preparing your team and system for the changes is essential. Poor preparation can increase downtime, which decreases the effectiveness of the conversion.

              Caring for your financial data includes preparing your team for new parallel accounting and document split capabilities via conversion. Also, verify the compatibility of your add-ons to ensure that they can handle the transition.

              Ready your team for test cycles and have a plan in place so that each member knows their role to follow the guidelines.

              Qualify a Baseline Plan

              Your conversion and migration partner will assess your system to help determine the baseline plan for your system landscape. They will walk you through optimizations as well as the quality assurance systems and processes and which development system is best for you. They’ll also conduct a dress rehearsal to minimize the downtime and optimize the time your system has.

              Consider Your Add-Ons

              Most SAP systems have third-party add-ons as some were used to enhance the existing SAP architecture. Before starting a conversion, locate the vendor of each add-on and verify its compatibility with the SAP S/4HANA system. You’ll also want to check that you’ll still need each add-on. The vitality of the SAP S/4HANA product may eliminate the need for some third-party enhancements.

              Read more: Low Code/No Code Development with SAP BTP: How It Is Turning the Future of Enterprise Resilience

              Low code/No code

              Tips for Choosing the Best S/4HANA Migration Partner

              When searching for the right S/4HANA migration partner, organizations like yours should consider factors such as:

              • Scope of services offers
              • Level of experience
              • Industry reputation
              • Whether the organization offers ongoing support

              Of the above factors, industry reputation is of particular concern. While virtually any SAP 4/SHANA migrations partner can claim to be “top-notch,” not all of them are. Feedback from past clients serves as a valuable form of social proof that can help you determine whether a provider is right for your organization.

              Fingent is Your SAP Partner

              Whether you need assistance with SAP S/4HANA implementation or migration, Fingent is the ideal partner to oversee this complex process. Since 2003, Fingent has been delivering exceptional value to our clients while helping them gain distinct advantages in their respective industries.

              Past clients have praised us for our quality of service, ability to expedite time to market, cost-effectiveness, and tailored approach. To learn more about our SAP S/4HANA solutions, contact Fingent today.

              Stay up to date on what's new

                About the Author

                ...
                Ashok Kumar

                Ashok leads Fingent’s SAP Consulting practice for ANZ, SE Asia, The Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and other global clients. More specifically, he helps companies improve operational efficiency by enhancing their digital cores and improving their application integration. Ashok has amassed over 20 years of leadership and consulting experience having worked with Global giants like SAP, IBM Consulting, Capgemini, & Oracle in his previous assignments. Connect with Ashok via LinkedIn and learn how your business can excel with recent SAP trends.

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                  Customer Experience – Two words that could make or break your business.

                  Today, customers expect businesses to provide nothing short of an excellent customer experience whenever and however they shop. This is going to be the main differentiator between you and your competitors. The race to own customer experience is on!

                  Some businesses are learning this the hard way, but you don’t have to. The solution is right here – Technology. Through this article, we want to help you understand how technology can improve customer experience. We will also discuss top technology trends to help your brand beat the competition.

                  But first, let us explain why customer experience matters.

                  Does Customer Experience Matter?

                  Did you know that 66% of customers expect companies to understand their needs and expectations?

                  Gone are the days when an unhappy customer used to complain directly to the brand. Today, they choose to complain to the rest of the world through social channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and more. Creating a powerful and memorable customer experience is more complicated than ever in such a scenario.

                  While that is true, it is also true that these customers share positive customer experiences on these platforms as well. 71% of customers recommend a product or service just because they received a “great” customer experience.

                  As a brand, you may define your brand’s promises. However, the customer decides whether or not your brand delivers on its promises. According to market research by Gartner, customer experience drives over 60% of brand loyalty.

                  To satisfy customers, most businesses hire and train good people. But that is not sufficient. They need tools that will help them deliver a top-notch customer experience and make them want to come back to you. Using technology for customer experience can build your brand through satisfied customers.

                  That takes us to the next intriguing question: How does technology improve customer experience?

                  How Does Technology Improve Customer Experience?

                  Technology for customer experience gives customers unlimited access to information, allowing them to demand products and services whenever they want. As the speed of technology to enhance customer experience accelerates, businesses must evolve quickly. Brands that use technology to enhance customer experience will thrive, but you can be sure that those that are slow to react will not survive.

                  Here are three key ways in which technology enhances customer experience:

                  1. Increased opportunities 

                  Using smartphones, customers can research products, raise queries, and purchase products or services no matter where they are and what they are doing. A study revealed that consumers in the UK spend over 22.8 billion pounds per year on online shopping while using public transport.

                  With consumers becoming hyper-connected, businesses need to leverage increasing opportunities to engage new and existing customers. Technology can help companies integrate all marketing channels to deliver a cohesive customer experience irrespective of their channel. Technology can help you use customer data effectively to deliver seamless experiences.

                  2. Reach every audience segment

                  According to a Google report, 90% of online shoppers use more than one device to shop. A shopper may use one device to search for a product and another to check the pricing and complete the purchase.

                  Businesses need to be available with the right messaging at the right time. Technology for customer experience will help you reach your customers on any device. Technology can enable you to provide contextually relevant experiences that engage customers in the right place, at the right time, and with the right message.

                  3. Communicate better

                  Most customers switch brands because the purchasing process is too difficult. Technology offers solutions to reach customer demands. AI-powered chatbots enable your brand to communicate better with your customers.

                  Since chatbots provide detailed records of conversations with customers, you can use that data to analyze to reveal insights on consumer pain points. You can use these insights to improve products and services.

                  Top Technology Trends That Improve Customer Experience

                  1. AI chatbot

                  AI chatbot is restructuring the way brands communicate with their customers. These conversational AI chatbots are responsible for creating a personalized customer experience, making sentiment analyses, and more. Consider a use case:

                  Fingent helped one of the oldest state universities to develop an AI-driven ecosystem that allows students to interact with an AI chatbot (teaching assistant). These are built to be trained and allow instructors to upload the content that students need. These chatbots can manage student queries and allow for keyword and tag searches of teaching material.

                  2. Virtual reality

                  Virtual reality is a game-changer enabling customers to educate themselves about your company. Plus, VR redefines how your sales reps understand customers, increasing their empathy and enabling them to suggest better solutions to their issues.

                  Fingent recently built a highly interactive visual medium to enable medical students to quickly gain efficiency in stand medical procedures.

                  3. Augmented reality and 3D configuration

                  Augmented reality is considered a boon to improving the digital customer experience. It gives customers a clear picture of your product, helping in quicker purchasing decisions.

                  Fingent helps build interactive mobile apps that enable 3D purchase decisions. It also develops agnostic web solutions for eCommerce to better use AR capabilities.

                  Watch more: Take a look at how Fingent helps leading businesses thrive with 3d Web Configurator and other AR/VR capabilities.

                  Fingent- A Perfect Partner to Create Custom Technology Solutions To Enhance Customer Experience.

                  The impact of technology is a powerful catalyst for change, and the speed of that change is getting faster and faster. Fingent can help you identify technology trends and capitalize before it is too late.

                  You must acknowledge and meet consumer demands for your business to increase market share and stay relevant. Marrying customer service and technology can drive customer delight.

                  Fingent brings you deep expertise in experience strategy and design, harnessing best-in-class solutions. We can help you drive transformation across the customer lifecycle, sales, marketing, and more.

                  Fingent top custom software development company is equipped to provide support across channels. Our quick and easy setup allows you to cut time and lower costs. With the help of AI and automation, we can route your tickets to the right agent and boost customer satisfaction. Find out more about us and chat with our experts to see how this can be done.

                  Stay up to date on what's new

                    About the Author

                    ...
                    Tony Joseph

                    Tony believes in building technology around processes, rather than building processes around technology. He specializes in custom software development, especially in analyzing processes, refining it and then building technology around it.He works with clients on a daily basis to understand and analyze their operational structure, discover (and not invent) key improvement areas and come up with technology solutions to deliver an efficient process.

                    Talk To Our Experts

                      Manufacturing has long been a driver of global prosperity and economic growth. We all see astounding growth as the manufacturing industry evolves and keeps up with changing consumer needs.

                      This has led industry leaders to shift their focus from traditional to smart factory technology. A smart factory offers many benefits to operators, managers, and executives of companies in this industry. And yet, a few companies hesitate to start their journey the ‘smart way.’ If you are one of those companies, this article will help you with details and show you how a smart factory can bring its business operations and customer satisfaction to a new level.

                      Let us begin by understanding what a smart factory is.

                      What Is a Smart Factory?

                      Take a manufacturing facility and completely digitize it – that is what a smart factory is. The smart factory is a digitized manufacturing facility that uses digitized manufacturing methods, devices, and systems to continuously collect and share data. This data is used to make informed decisions that improve processes and address manufacturing challenges. The smart factory is a new industrial revolution phase focusing on real-time data, connectivity, automation, and Machine Language.

                      A smart factory uses the best digital and physical worlds to monitor the entire production line, from supply chain management to manufacturing tools. It can even monitor the work of an individual operator on the factory floor.

                      Why Is It Smart to Embrace the Smart Factory Movement?

                      According to a press release by Marketsandmarket, the smart manufacturing market was projected to reach USD 228.2 billion by 2027. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18.5% from 2022 to 2027. Then, most businesses consider smart factories highly beneficial and crucial across industries and sectors. Here are some of those significant benefits:

                      • Measure key performance indicators: A smart factory provides managers with automated data that is accurate. This data gives them the ability to measure key performance indicators more efficiently.
                      • Think ahead better and faster: Smarter predictive maintenance allows managers to predict and resolve maintenance issues better and faster.
                      • Efficient demand management: It can forecast more accurately and thus reduce waste enabling efficient demand management.
                      • Boosted productivity:  Managers boost productivity as it can provide seamless data on machine maintenance and potential bottlenecks.

                      Read more: A Look Into The Future Of Manufacturing Industry: The Challenges, The Opportunities, and The Technologies That Will Help Revolutionize

                      Key Elements of a Smart Factory

                      There are a few elements that make the smart factory what it is. Understanding these elements will help you see how it fits into your business.

                      1. Robotics

                      Robotics is a crucial element of a smart factory. Robotics enables smart material handling and adaptive operations. Besides, robots come with flexible infrastructure that can scale depending on business needs.

                      2. Big data and IoT

                      The Smart factory provides augmented access to large amounts of data obtained through the cloud and connected devices. This can empower manufacturers to identify patterns and insights, thus enabling them to make more informed decisions to optimize operations and improve productivity in the long run.

                      3. Cloud-based management

                      Cloud-based management includes a suite of professional software architecture that can be developed to empower highly efficient business operations. This can offer market reactivity and scalability. It can also provide real-time visibility into a business’s inventory and manage supply chain operations from the manufacturing to the end customer.

                      4. Virtual reality

                      Manufacturers have been using virtual reality for some time now. It uses computer-generated visuals that help improve the experience of the user. It trains engineers to handle complex virtual processes, maintenance systems, and troubleshooting.

                      5. Cybersecurity

                      Smart factories tend to increase cyber security threats. Thankfully, smart factory technologies are equipped to streamline cyber threats. For example, AI-powered bots act as guards 24/7, ensuring data security.

                      6. Additive manufacturing

                      Additive manufacturing is used for rapid prototyping, on-site manufacturing, and more. It saves time and costs spent on production and tool replacements. Quick reproduction, reconfiguration, and validation can also enable reverse engineering.

                      Read more: ERP Systems for Manufacturing: How it Improves Business Process

                      ERP Systems for Manufacturing

                      A Look into The Future of Smart Factories

                      Manufacturers that leverage smart factory technologies will unlock game-changing flexibility and agility. Emerging imperatives for the manufacturing industry include supply chain resilience, enhanced productivity, flexibility, and sustainability. In simple terms, only those manufacturing systems that enable a demand-driven and dynamically optimized value chain will survive and thrive.

                      1. Increasing demands

                      In the coming years, factories will face more stringent regulatory and compliance requirements ever. Such demands also merge with global trends toward adopting digitization. Given their ability to drive exponential productivity and sustainability benefits, digital technologies are at the heart of these changes.

                      2. Automation and beyond

                      Across the world, manufacturers began their digital transformation with automation to minimize manual operations and maximize output. But technological advances are enabling manufacturers to empower operators to understand operational data. Furthermore, newer platforms and integration technologies are driving down the cost of digital transformation.

                      3. Transformational gains

                      By implementing an integrated automation system, manufacturers can accelerate their sustainable manufacturing vision. Driven by the unrelenting need for agility and resilience, manufacturers can empower their workforce by adopting smart factories. By building future smart factories, they can unlock value benefits for all stakeholders along the way.

                      Creating a Smarter Future for Manufacturing with Fingent!

                      A smart factory is a direct way for manufacturers to excel in a competitive and dynamic marketplace. Partnering with the right app development company could mean make or break for you. Manufacturers need the right partner to help them implement solutions correctly. Fingent has been a consulting partner to several manufacturing companies and proved its mettle. Have a look at our Case Studies:

                      With the right partner, upgrading a traditional factory to a smart factory is much simpler than most imagine. Fingent builds custom solutions to integrate factories with smart solutions. Through our experience, we have already helped many businesses transform their traditional factories into smart factories.

                      Our experts at Fingent can help retrofit most existing manufacturing equipment and set up a centralized hub that can receive data from all the sensors. A cloud service could be set up to monitor and analyze from offsite. What is more, these solutions are upgradeable.

                      This allows established factories to upgrade at their own pace while keeping the upgrade cost low. Do you have a traditional factory that needs to become smart? Contact Fingent today!

                      Stay up to date on what's new

                        About the Author

                        ...
                        Vinod Saratchandran

                        Vinod has conceptualized and delivered niche mobility products that cater to various domains including logistics, media & non-profits. He leads, mentors & coaches a team of Project Coordinators & Analysts at Fingent.

                        Talk To Our Experts

                          The ongoing digital revolution is forever reshaping how businesses interact with their customers.

                          Modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, chatbots, machine learning software, and other solutions have allowed businesses to break away from traditional phone-based support models in favor of an omnichannel approach.

                          Countless businesses now allow customers to connect with support agents across multiple mediums, such as email, messenger applications, SMS, and on-site chat apps. However, far too many are still neglecting a core component of the service experience — self-service.

                          Whether your organization operates within the business-to-consumer (B2C) space or the business-to-business (B2B) space, you must offer customers self-service

                          options. We explore the role that self-service plays in the modern support experience.

                          When businesses understand the benefits of offering self-service, which technologies enable them to provide this type of support, and how to leverage ambitious custom software development services, it is easy to transform the high-value customer support vision into a reality.

                          Read more: Why Your Business Needs a Customized Order Management System

                          Order Management System

                          Why Customer Self-Service Experiences are Invaluable in the Digital Age

                          Consumer expectations are evolving as technology becomes increasingly ingrained in our daily lives. Smartphones allow consumers to access virtually limitless information on a whim.

                          When most individuals encounter a problem or want to acquire new information, they typically break out their smartphones, conduct a quick internet search, and select the most relevant results.

                          “How does this apply to customer service?” you ask. Simply, consumers have become much more self-reliant when encountering an issue with a product or service. The majority of your customers would much rather troubleshoot a product independently without having to

                          connect with a service agent. It’s also true when they want to purchase products or services.

                          Therefore, your organization must offer self-service support options if you want to meet the expectations of current consumers. By doing so, you can mitigate consumer frustration, expedite the resolution process, and demonstrate that your company is responsive to the needs and wants of your target audience.

                          That said, creating a self-service experience on your website can be a challenging and tedious process. That is why many companies turn to experienced digital transformation companies when they need a custom technology solution.

                          What Technologies Facilitate Self-Service?

                          When businesses partner with a software development team to provide custom services, a broad range of technologies is available that provide clients with a competitive advantage. Some of these technologies include:

                          1. Artificial Intelligence

                          Artificial Intelligence technologies are essential for creating dynamic self-service experiences. Without these technologies, self-service tools would be rigid and provide minimal assistance to your clients. Fortunately, AI allows developers to create innovative solutions unlike any off-the-shelf option.

                          2. Machine Learning

                          When used in conjunction with AI, machine learning software offers an immersive self-service experience. Over time, machine learning technologies can provide curated assistance based on past interactions with customers.

                          3. Chatbots

                          While chatbot technology is often used for lead generation, it can also be deployed to enhance the self-service experience. For instance, a consumer could provide information about their problem to a chatbot, and the program could connect them with resources to resolve the issue.

                          This approach will prevent the consumer from searching through your support page or reading your entire FAQs section to find the necessary information.

                          Read more: Prepare for the Future of Digital Innovation with these 10 Services From Fingent!

                          digital innovation

                          Top Ways Self-Service Enhances Customer Experiences

                          Self-service is rapidly becoming one of the most popular methods of customer support, and for a good reason. Reliable self-service enhances great customer experience in several distinct ways.

                          1. Reduces the Workload on Staff

                          If service tools handled even 20% of your customer support requests, then your staff would experience a significant decrease in their daily workload. Naturally, a lighter workload would improve morale and employee retention. Ultimately, this will reduce your hiring and recruiting costs.

                          In addition, reducing the workload on your staff directly impacts the quality of service they can provide your customers. Your team will have more time to devote to your customers because they will not be in a rush to handle the next service call.

                          2. Empowers Customers

                          They feel empowered when you provide customers and clients with user-friendly self-service options. They are no longer at the mercy of your support staff and can freely take matters into their own hands to resolve frustrating product issues.

                          Self-service can also minimize any product issue’s negative impact on brand loyalty. If a consumer experience only minor inconveniences when a problem occurs, they will be more willing to continue doing business with your company.

                          3. Reduces Costs

                          Performing support tasks manually is labor-intensive and time-consuming. As a result, you must maintain a fully-staffed support center to handle incoming customer service requests. The overhead associated with this can be excessive.

                          While self-service solutions will not eliminate the need to employ support staff, you can reduce the size of your support department. Each team member can work more efficiently and focus on handling complex product issues. Self-service will address the majority of minor problems.

                          4. Expedites the Delivery of Service

                          Few things negatively impact a customer’s brand perception than excessive hold times. By partnering with software development experts to deploy self-service solutions, you can significantly reduce wait times and expedite support delivery to your clients.

                          This approach will boost customer satisfaction and optimize the average lifetime value of each client.

                          How a Software Development Partner Can Help

                          When you partner with an innovative team of cloud-native software development professionals, you can expect cutting-edge solutions that leverage the latest self-service technologies.

                          In addition to custom software development services, your partner should offer business technology consulting. With proper consultation, you can refine your vision with timely advice that will improve your approach, incorporate more suitable technology, or align with your budgetary constraints.

                          If you would like to work with a passionate software development company dedicated to helping you shatter growth barriers with dynamic tech, let’s chat today.

                          Stay up to date on what's new

                            About the Author

                            ...
                            Tony Joseph

                            Tony believes in building technology around processes, rather than building processes around technology. He specializes in custom software development, especially in analyzing processes, refining it and then building technology around it.He works with clients on a daily basis to understand and analyze their operational structure, discover (and not invent) key improvement areas and come up with technology solutions to deliver an efficient process.

                            Talk To Our Experts

                              The strategic significance of advanced technologies as a critical business component is recognized by enterprises like never before. Besides business modernization and cost reduction, advanced technologies allow you to compensate for labor shortages, improve brand value and competency, and expedite research and innovation processes. However, several companies jump onto the bandwagon without properly understanding the practical applications and benefits of advanced technology in their business. Only 23% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide can invest in and grow with new digital tools, indicates the World Economic Forum. This data proves why companies should analyze advanced business technology examples before adopting digital tools.

                              Read more: Using technology to build customer trust: Your business plan for 2022

                              To simplify your understanding, here’s a quick rundown of five advanced business technologies we believe will help you cope with the new business and economic environment. 

                              • Simplifying Workflows With Cloud
                              • Low-code Applications
                              • Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
                              • Document Data Extraction
                              • AI Assistants

                              As these business technologies become more affordable and handy, businesses are ardently pursuing them to automate customer service, streamline workflows, differentiate products and services, and reach new markets. Depending on your budget, implementation timeline, priorities, and unique business requirements, our team at Fingent helps you build the roadmap for technology adoption. 

                              Let’s take a closer look at the five inevitable technologies for business transformation today:

                              Read more: How to gain maximum value from your technology investments?

                              1. Simplifying Workflows with Cloud

                              Workflow management is a highly overlooked enterprise strategy that directly impacts productivity. Managing different stakeholders, heaps of confidential data, and a series of preset and conditional tasks manually can lead to several errors such as employees missing key steps, policy violations, compliance issues, and monetary losses. By taking your workflows online, cloud-based workflow management applications increase your productivity. 

                              Cloud-powered workflows or workflow management tools:

                              • Are scalable, centralized, customizable to your needs, easy to integrate, secure, reliable, and hassle-free. 
                              • Offer a seamless and unified collaboration interface by preventing users from toggling between different messaging apps or communication channels.
                              • Reduce your dependency on in-house IT team by passing on the software maintenance responsibilities to the third-party software vendor
                              • Can be accessed via any authorized network (with approved access credentials), on any device, from anywhere, 24/7. This has been a huge game-changer for several companies that switched to remote operations during the pandemic. 

                              Example of a Cloud-based Workflow Tool

                              Finding a cloud workflow management tool that can be customized to your company’s requirements is daunting. The platform should integrate well with your organizational processes without disrupting your existing workflow. This is where digital workplace applications like InfinCE make the difference. 

                              InfinCE

                              With InfinCE Digital Workplace, Fingent has improved its productivity by 20% through real-time, effective, and easy collaboration. Data-powered dashboards, dedicated servers, collaboration apps, productivity tools, virtual desktops, private mobile apps, and a host of exceptional business management features enabled us to achieve a significant operational breakthrough in streamlining workflows. 

                              Read the full case study here.   

                              2. Low-code Applications

                              Gartner estimates that by 2025, 70% of enterprise applications will use low-code or no-code technologies. Digital business transformation requires pushing custom software solutions to the market at lightning speed. This demand has given rise to low-code applications that will break the technological and organizational silos of application development, automation, integration, and governance. Low-code development enables business users to bring innovative ideas to life by just dragging and dropping low-code elements through a graphical user interface. 

                              In simple words, low-code development enables “citizen” developers or non-tech users (such as business analysts or marketers) to build dashboards and survey or contact forms faster. Professional developers, on the other hand, can leverage low-code techniques to perform more efficient tasks such as legacy application modernization or back-end integrations with improved agility and velocity.

                              Use Cases for Low-code Applications

                              • Customer engagement applications and portals
                              • Mission-critical applications such as ERP software, payments manager, etc.
                              • Data analysis applications, BI dashboards, and data management software
                              • Mobile apps for customer engagement
                              • Order processing, inventory, order fulfillment, supply chain, and accounting apps

                              Salesforce Lightning, Microsoft Power Apps, and Zoho Creator are some of the leading low-code applications today. SAP users can leverage the unified low-code/no-code (LCNC) solutions on SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) to rapidly build and extend applications, and automate tasks and processes.

                              3. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

                              Robotic Process Automation (RPA), often referred to as software robotics, is an easy-to-use software technology that allows anyone to automate digital tasks within their business processes. RPA allows users to create software robots or “bots” that can learn, emulate, and then execute rules-based business processes. According to Forrester Research, RPA software revenue is expected to reach $6.5 billion by 2025, while RPA-related services revenue could hit $16 billion in the same year. 

                              Potential Use Cases for RPA 

                              We offer free proof of concepts to help you understand how RPA can improve your business efficiency and customer experience. Some of our top use cases include:

                              • Automating discharge protocols and data management to increase HR productivity in healthcare.
                              • Daily retail process automation such as order processing, inventory and warehouse management, etc. to save time and resources.
                              • Reducing customer wait times through RPA-enabled chatbots that answer customer queries in real-time. 
                              • Error-free, automated billing and invoices to keep your financial systems and reports up-to-date.
                              • HR teams can automate the maintenance of personnel data and records, streamline onboarding, and manage payroll seamlessly. 

                              Download our white paper to learn more about how Robotic Process Automation can simplify your business operations

                              4. Document Data Extraction

                              Extracting quality data out of unstructured or poorly structured data sources and documents for further processing, migration, and storing has been a biggest obstacle in automating back office operations. If you are entering structured invoices to a robust ERP tool like SAP, your payments can be automated and system records can be generated automatically. Due to the high costs of data extraction, several businesses extract only critical information fields, for example, the payment field within an invoice. Businesses are compelled to manually extract data from other important fields, such as validating the invoice’s compliance with VAT.  

                              AI-integrated OCR Software for Document Extraction

                              Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is an affordable, game-changing technology that automatically extracts data from the digital images (photos) of large files, scanned documents, and sub-titles or captions superimposed on an image. It reduces the time spent in manual data entry and extraction by automatically converting typed, handwritten or printed text into machine-readable text. AI-powered automated data extraction tools like DocuSign, Docsumo, Kofax Capture, and Amazon Textract leverage OCR technology to reduce the chaos involved in document data extraction and enable businesses to create an efficient workplace. 

                              Our team helps customize document data extraction software that can save your time and money by eliminating transcription and transposing mistakes.

                              5. AI Assistants

                              One of the most common examples of small business automation today is the use of AI-powered virtual assistants. They can save your employees’ productivity by automating the most repeatable customer interactions, such as technical support, appointment scheduling, lead qualification, and order management. AI virtual assistants like Google Assistant and Alexa can understand and act according to your voice commands and customize responses to your queries. Understanding customer intent through natural language processing and recognition allows AI assistants to maintain a human-like conversation.

                              Chatbots are a popular category of AI assistants that are designed specifically for text-based channels like SMS, email, and live chat. Recent years have witnessed a rise in chatbot adoption among several business verticals, product and service lines, websites, mobile apps, customer portals, and so on. Data shows that 58% of B2B companies and 42% of B2C websites are using chatbots to make their websites and mobile apps more interactive. More than 56% of businesses believe chatbots to be driving digital disruption in their industry. 

                              Case Study: AI Virtual Assistant for HR     

                              Fingent’s HR team was pressed to transform their service delivery model as routine, transactional tasks affected their performance and efficiency. To solve their struggle, Fingent developed MUSA, an AI-powered virtual assistant (a chatbot) and integrated it with Fingent Hub, Fingent’s internal employee management system. MUSA is short for Multi Utility Assistant. Employees can ask MUSA any queries related to HR and IT DevOps processes at Fingent, and they’ll get answered instantly. MUSA has improved our HR team’s response time by minimizing their workload and allowing them to focus on areas requiring more attention.     

                               

                              Read the full case study here.

                              Business and Technology Are Inseparable

                              Gartner writes that businesses leading with technology employ advanced tech to boost their customer experience and revenue growth, have a clear understanding of their priorities, goals, and strategies, and invest in solutions tailored to their needs. Technology allows businesses to lower the walls within and between their organizations, customers, providers, suppliers, and so on. Organizations perceiving technology as a key business consideration will be able to match the pace of business change and stay relevant and competitive. 

                              How can your company embrace growth in a new era of transformation and business technology trends? If you feel you’re getting caught in the technology maze, take a quick break to contact us.

                              Our consultants can simplify your technology adoption strategy based on your priorities, customer needs, financial resources, and technical requirements. 

                              Stay up to date on what's new

                                About the Author

                                ...
                                Vinod Saratchandran

                                Vinod has conceptualized and delivered niche mobility products that cater to various domains including logistics, media & non-profits. He leads, mentors & coaches a team of Project Coordinators & Analysts at Fingent.

                                Talk To Our Experts

                                  Web Application Development:
                                  A Detailed Guide for 2022

                                  Web Application is the first line of contact between your customers and business.

                                  What is a Web Application?

                                  A decade ago, web pages were mostly static, with a few images and videos scattered around. In 2005, thanks to Ajax, it made it possible to create better, faster, and more interactive web applications.

                                  A web application, also known as a web app, is nothing but a computer program that uses a web browser to perform a specific function. A web application is a client-server program that comprises a client-side and a server-side. The user enters data through the client-side (front-end), while the server-side (back-end) of the application stores and processes the information. For example, shopping carts, content management systems, and online forms are typical web applications.

                                  Both enterprises and individuals develop web applications to fulfill different purposes. Web apps help integrate the tailored experience of native apps with easy access on a website browser from any device. For example, LinkedIn, Basecamp, MailChimp, or even Facebook, have web apps that provide immersive and tailored experiences like the native apps directly from the browser. Hence, web application development is gaining a lot of popularity in almost all industries, including banking, eCommerce, education, healthcare, and more.

                                  How does a Web Application Work?

                                  Web applications are accessed over a network and need not be downloaded. Instead, users can access web applications through browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, or Safari.
                                  A web application is built around three components- a Web Server, an Application Server, and a Database. The web server manages requests from the client, the application server processes requests, and the database stores the information.

                                  A typical web application workflow looks like this:

                                  Web apps are generally coded using JavaScript, HTML5, or Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for the client-side programming (front-end). ASP.NET, PHP, Java, and Ruby are commonly used for server-side programming.

                                  What is Web Application Development?

                                  Web application development refers to the process of using client-side and server-side programming to develop an application that is accessible over the web browser.
                                  The web application development process begins by; first, the developer trying to find a solution to a specific problem, then designing the web app by choosing the appropriate development framework. Next, the developer tests the solution and finally deploys the web app.

                                  Types of Web Applications

                                  Now that we’ve covered the various aspects of web applications let’s deep dive into the different categories of web applications. Web apps are classified based on their functionalities, tools, and technologies.

                                  Web App vs. Websites

                                  Web applications are indeed websites. Users can access both via web browsers, and both require access to the internet. It may seem that there’s no difference between them. However, the lines between a website and a web app are blurred. Web application development differs substantially from website development. Here’s a simplified rundown on the differences between a website and a web application.

                                  Web Application

                                  • A web application is dynamic and is designed for user engagement.
                                  • A web application is interactive and responds to user input.
                                  • Web applications mostly require authentication.
                                  • The functions in a web application are quite higher and more complex.
                                  • The web application needs precompilation before deployment.
                                  • Integration with other software for web applications is complex.

                                  Website

                                  • A website basically contains static content.
                                  • A website is a one-way informational feed and does not allow user interaction.
                                  • Authentication is not obligatory for informational websites.
                                  • The functions of a website are relatively simple.
                                  • A website does not need not be pre-compiled.
                                  • Integration is hassle-free for websites.

                                  Web Apps vs. Mobile Apps

                                  While web apps and mobile apps are similar in many ways, both are different in many ways. Mobile apps are made exclusively for mobile gadgets and are suitable for Android, iOS, and cross-platform operating systems. Usually, mobile apps are mobile-first, meaning they work effectively on smartphones, tablets, or other handheld mobile devices. Most mobile apps work offline too. Examples include Google Maps, Amazon Kindle, Uber, etc.
                                  On the other hand, web apps function only with internet connectivity. A web app functions in real-time in a web browser with CPU resources. With adequate internal storage, mobile apps can be downloaded from the app store or play store.

                                  Benefits of Web Application Development

                                  Web application comes along with an array of benefits for businesses and users.

                                  Speed and cost

                                  Web application development is faster and more economical than building native apps. Therefore, if the primary goal is to accelerate time-to-market, web application development is the best choice for businesses.

                                  Cross-platform capabilities

                                  Web applications are programmed to run on any operating system. Due to their cross-platform capabilities, web applications can adapt well to Android, iOS, Mac OS, and Windows phones. In addition, the device responsiveness of web applications helps to get rid of OS dependencies.

                                  Browser compatibility

                                  A web application runs on the device’s browser using an accessible URL. Modern web applications are compatible with all browsers, such as Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Bing. Hence, software compatibility challenges are never roadblocks.

                                  Reduced operating costs

                                  Web application development is a great way to cut down operating costs. It drives to eliminate unnecessary expenses such as hardware purchases, frequent device updates, and maintenance of numerous systems.

                                  Easy to update

                                  Updating web applications is easy, as only the server(s) would require upgrades.

                                  Customization

                                  Custom web application development offers several benefits, such as tailored features for the users. These applications are easily accessible via browsers with a stable internet connection. Custom web apps help cut unnecessary expenses and save time as only required features need to be developed. A custom web app can significantly improve your business traction brand awareness, communicate your brand ideology and help you gain a competitive edge in the chosen target market.

                                  Expanded Security

                                  Web applications are typically deployed on dedicated servers, constantly monitored, and managed by experienced server administrators. This is more effective than monitoring hundreds or even thousands of client computers, as with desktop applications. In addition, it ensures tighter security and identifies any potential breaches that could slip off.

                                  Zero downloads

                                  Web apps don’t need to be downloaded from app stores such as Apple’s App Store or Google Play. This helps save money since having a direct link through a web app is free.

                                  Technology Stack for Web Application Development

                                  The following web development technologies enable the creation of high-performing, fast, and advanced web applications.

                                  Web Application Development Process

                                  Whether you decide to develop your web application in-house team or outsource to a company like Fingent, your project will be more successful if you understand the process involved in web application development in advance.

                                  The number of steps in the web application development process can vary.

                                  Conceptualize

                                  The first step is to define the problem you want to solve with a web application and collect all the relevant information needed for app development. A well-defined problem will give an excellent head-start to the project and help you identify the best solution. Next, clarify the purpose and the end goals of the application.

                                  During the planning phase, the developers will take a run to answer the following questions.

                                  • What app do you want to build?
                                  • What features and functions should it include?
                                  • What is the audience of your product?
                                  Prototype & Development

                                  The development phase involves creating a wireframe or prototype to communicate the solution to target users.

                                  First, the developers will lay out the design elements to provide a delightful user experience to the target audience. The wireframe is then presented to potential users, considers their feedback, and iterates until they're satisfied.

                                  Post-design, the next step is to build the application. The following steps will happen in this phase.

                                  • To create a database for storage, the developers need to determine what data and data types are required for the application to perform well.
                                  • Based on the elements approved by the users during the wireframing process, developers will create the front-end application. The developers need to identify the best frameworks for front-end development.
                                  • Developers will create interaction between the user and the server.
                                  • Developers either code from scratch or use front-end and back-end frameworks to develop the web app.
                                  • Based on the application type, that is, client-side/ server-side/ single-page, programming is done.
                                  Test and Implement

                                  Whether an automated or manual web application, testing for the web application is an ongoing process throughout the software development lifecycle. Testing is an inevitable part of the software development process.

                                  The Testing (QA) team will test the app for usability, compatibility, functionality, security, and performance to eliminate bugs and ensure that the application works without any glitches.Testing also helps identify any possible improvements and upgrades to make in the future.Once the testing is complete, you can finally implement the application in your company or your customer's side.

                                  When using it for your company, you will have to train your employees to use the app productively (if the app requires training). In addition, you will have to create a communication strategy for customers and decide on the appropriate timing to launch the application in the market.

                                  At Fingent, we help you perform all the mandatory software and usability testing to ensure that your web app functions seamlessly. We also provide training and support to use the apps effectively.

                                  Hosting and Maintenance

                                  You must buy a domain and choose a hosting provider to create a server location for the app. We help you choose shared hosting, dedicated hosting, or cloud hosting based on your requirements. Be it a simple website or complex web application, and every digital product needs routine checks and enhancements. Maintenance of the application or website includes:

                                  • Ongoing QA testing
                                  • Bug fixes and improvements
                                  • Addressing changes and adding features based on user feedback
                                  • Providing regular updates and technical support

                                  Web Application Development Validation And Deployment

                                  Once your web app is developed and ready to be launched, it is critical to perform testing to ensure that the application functions correctly before its deployment. Bug fixing alone is not sufficient. Therefore, testing is vital to web application development.
                                  A standard web application undergoes the following testing,
                                  After completing the quality assurance process, your web app is ready for launch. You can use GitHub, Beanstalk App, and Bitbucket App to deploy the web app to your servers. Any new features, changes, and improvements to the deployed application are implemented according to the user’s feedback.

                                  Web Development Trends for 2022

                                  Web development has progressed over the years and is progressing with the emergence of newer technologies. A website is the face of a business rather than mere codes. More than one-third of visitors prefer to hold on to websites with attractive content and a clean layout. In 2022, companies are more than ready to apply the latest web development trends to improve conversions and develop engaging websites without having to code. If you want to stay ahead, it is vital to focus on the latest trends, updates, techniques, and web development approaches. Why developers should bring out more innovative web development approaches- the fact is it boosts business growth rather exponentially and globally.

                                  Apps For Multiple Domains With .NET Core

                                  .NET Core gives you consistency across all architectures by running your code with the same behavior. Be it gaming, IoT, mobile, or AI – we can help you develop high-performing, secure, cost-effective, and flexible applications in any domain with .NET Core. Let’s Discuss Your Project

                                  Building Exceptional Apps With C#

                                  C# is a highly versatile programming language commonly used for developing websites, Windows applications, and games. With its foundation deep-rooted in the Microsoft platform, C# is one of the most-cherished and reliable languages to build robust applications. Let’s Discuss Your Project

                                  Enterprise Web Applications With ASP.NET

                                  ASP.NET is a framework for building web apps and services with .NET and C#. ASP.NET allows you to build large and complex applications by reducing the amount of code required. This, in turn, reduces the application development time and costs involved. Let’s Discuss Your Project

                                  Microsoft Azure Cloud Services

                                  Take advantage of the cloud through hybrid cloud-based solutions with Microsoft Azure. We can help you migrate your solution to the cloud, enabling you with on-demand and secure resources of Azure. Scale according to your needs and improve your business agility. Let’s Discuss Your Project

                                  Enhance Collaboration With SharePoint Development

                                  Fingent’s Microsoft team can help you develop robust SharePoint solutions that empower your organization with efficient collaboration and communication. We can help you build intuitive interfaces and simple navigation features for effective document management. Let’s Discuss Your Project

                                  Streamline Processes With PowerApps

                                  Microsoft Power Apps enables you to build low-code, professional-grade apps that can modernize your business processes and drive innovation across your organization. Infuse your enterprise apps with AI and automation, powered by PowerApps. Let’s Discuss Your Project

                                  Business Analytics Service Using Power BI

                                  Leveraging Microsoft Power BI, we enable businesses to develop interactive visualizations and business intelligence capabilities through simple and intuitive interfaces. Enrich your business as well as end-users with custom reports and dashboards powered by insightful data. Let’s Discuss Your Project

                                  Universal Windows Platform (UWP)

                                  By leveraging UWP API, we help you create universal apps that run on Windows 10 compatible devices without the need to be re-written for each. As the name suggests, the Universal Windows Platform allows you to create apps that run on multiple types of devices. Let’s Discuss Your Project

                                  Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)

                                  Using WPF, we incorporate visually stunning user experiences into your Windows desktop applications that include features like rich user interface, media, complex business models, animation, effects, styles, templates, controls, data binding, and so on. Let’s Discuss Your Project

                                  Business Intelligence With SQL Server

                                  Our expertise with Microsoft data platforms can empower you with real-time data for improved decision-making. Our Microsoft capabilities can help in uniting several disparate information sources and create reports from across varied systems and databases. Let’s Discuss Your Project

                                  Highly Responsive Applications With Cosmos DB

                                  We help you develop highly responsive and highly available applications on Cosmos DB using the popular open source software APIs. Experience low latency, high throughput, real-time responses, and tunable consistency with this multi-model, NoSQL database service. Let’s Discuss Your Project

                                  The Future of Web Application Development

                                  The web development industry is in flux and is constantly evolving. Therefore, it is paramount for us always to look ahead and learn about what's coming up or any risk being left in the web development dust. Web development is defined through the upcoming trends and changes in the digital world. Businesses around the globe are in a quest to build outstanding websites to up their online presence with all-new frameworks, tools, and advancements. If you want your business to stay ahead of the race, the smartest thing u can do is to try out innovative and experimental things like Augmented Reality (AR) or Artificial Intelligence. Here's a quick glance at some of the exciting developments likely to happen in the near future.

                                  Smarter Apps with Data Science

                                  Data Science is impacting web development positively. Data science helps extract significant user information on a large scale using statistics, analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. Using the extraction of meaningful information, web development is now guided into a more fruitful system to impact the business's bottom line. With data science and machine learning, you can target the right customers with personalized content at the right time within your application.

                                  Augmented Reality

                                  Product visualization is the most sought-after requirement among today's customers. Augmented reality has the potential to change the shopping game. Most online shoppers prefer shopping sites to integrate some form of augmented reality for a personalized experience. AR experiences in different ways are the key for customers to become more engaged in various platforms and the digital world overall. The future is not too far, where AR experiences will move into the mainstream and cease to be viewed as a niche technology.

                                  Pageless Websites

                                  Pageless website is a new-age concept that takes an alternative choice on web design. The entire contents of a website are displayed on a single page with an endless scroll instead of having multiple pages. With responsive elements, guided narrative, and intuitive scrolling, users can surf the entire contents of the website with ease.

                                  Metaverse

                                  The Metaverse is the new kid on the block that seeks to bring together many different technologies to offer users a new web experience. Today, users view content on the web. But on the Metaverse, users will be immersed in the content. Thanks to technologies like Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Machine Learning, and other forms of Artificial Intelligence. Metaverse is the next iteration of the internet where users can navigate through a virtual space instead of the current two-dimensional screen.

                                  Cost of Web Application Development

                                  The cost of a complicated and custom web application development process would again differ from pre-defined, packaged, and general-purpose applications. For example, suppose the app requires developing APIs and plugins or complex technical stacks, separate UX/UI elements, brand identity development, etc. In that case, the pricing will go up as the advantages are humongous.

                                  Numerous factors influences the cost of web application development. As no two apps are the same, the price will vary, based on:
                                  • Features and functionality of the web application
                                  • Complexity of the application
                                  • Phase-wise development plan
                                  • Development team size
                                  • Platforms selected to develop the app
                                  • Technology stacks selected
                                  • Estimated project timelines
                                  Features
                                  Functionality
                                  Team Size
                                  Technology
                                  Level of complexity
                                  Time

                                  Top 5 Web Apps that Revolutionized the World

                                  A polished web app is almost a mandate for successful digital businesses today. Many apps have changed the public's perception of what they can expect and what is possible. It includes everything a typical user might look for in an app regarding design, usability, reliability, and security. Here's a rundown on five apps that has made a difference to the world.

                                  Facebook

                                  Facebook is a free social networking website that allows people to connect with others online. It lets users share photographs, post comments, post links to interesting content on the web, live chat, and watch videos. Facebook's success is attributed to its ability to appeal to both people and businesses and its ability to interact with websites around the web by providing a single login that works across multiple sites.

                                  Whatsapp

                                  WhatsApp is a free, multi-platform messaging app that lets users make video and voice calls, send text messages, share their status, and make payments, all with just an internet connection. The most appealing feature of this app is that it works on various phones and computer operating systems, which bestows uninterrupted conversations anytime, anywhere. WhatsApp serves more than 2 billion people in over 180 countries, with over a billion daily active users.

                                  Uber

                                  Uber is a transportation company that has developed an app to allow passengers to hail a ride, and drivers get paid. The app integrates with Google maps for tracking locations, routes and directing people to their destination. Uber uses smartphone app technology to connect passengers and drivers via a car-for-hire method. Most people love the simplicity of opening the app, telling where they want to go, and then seeing an Uber driver show up in a matter of minutes.

                                  Instagram

                                  Instagram is a free, popular photo-sharing app that Facebook acquired in 2012. It allows users to edit and upload photos and short videos through a mobile app. Like other social networking platforms, Instagram users can like, comment, share and bookmark others' posts. It also includes a feature of private chats and video conferencing with friends.

                                  Tiktok

                                  TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to create and share short videos. A young crowd commonly uses the app as an outlet to express themselves through singing, dancing, comics, and lip-syncing, making fun videos and sharing them across a community. In addition, users can follow other users, like, and comment on other users' videos. TikTok app quickly soared to popularity and amassed over 500 million monthly active users, the US being the most popular country where it is downloaded over 80 million times.

                                  What Can A Web Application Do for Your Business?

                                  With the internet being commonplace for most modern-day businesses, web applications are a quintessential tool for better growth in their market share. If you need to bring your company or business before the right users, the secret is to be found online with a creative and engaging web application. Web applications are of paramount importance than official websites when it comes to winning business goals and generating profits. Let’s explain the different areas a web application can help your business.
                                  First Point of Engagement

                                  A web application is the first point of access to your business and brand for your customers. Your app is the place that reflects what you do, your services, products, and your reputation. You can stand out from your competitors by having a web application that looks interesting and clearly communicates quality information to your customers. Therefore, hiring a professional web application development company is judicious to understand your vision and shape the application accordingly.

                                  A company or business without a web app or website may question the legitimacy of the business. So, having an app is an opportunity to build a great first impression and give people assurance that you’re a genuine business.

                                  Boost Online Brand Visibility

                                  Web applications play a crucial role in the branding process of a business. Showcasing your brand to your prospective customers is the key to positioning your business in the market. A web application is an underlying framework for branding your products or services because branding acts as the bridge to maintain a proper communication channel between potential customers and your business.

                                  Clearly conveying to the customers who you are, what you provide, and what your brand represents raises your business popularity coupled with building a customer base. A web application is your brand's voice that reaches out to the world through multiple social media platforms.

                                  Improve Customer Loyalty

                                  Your app is one of the most powerful assets for helping business owners improve customer relationships and increase efficiency. In addition to showcasing your offering or describing who you are, your application is one of the key tools for connecting with your existing customers and keeping them engaged. In order to create customer loyalty, you need to give your customers a reason to return.

                                  Web applications come in handy with a lot of scopes to build customer loyalty programs to win customers’ hearts. Even simple changes to your app can go a long way toward building your brand and encouraging more customers to use your app frequently. Your application can be the key to increasing customer loyalty, a critical piece of the puzzle.

                                  Easily Customizable and Scalable

                                  As your business expands, your web applications need upgrades. Off-the-shelf applications are neither flexible nor scalable, limiting their capabilities. Custom web applications are developed specifically to suit your business requirements. It is completely scalable and flexible, harmonizing with your business growth and demands. Custom applications grow with your business without any hassles of switching to new applications or extra license purchases. Moreover, the advent of cloud-native apps further enhances the flexibility and scalability of applications by adding more value to the business.

                                  Enhanced Customer Support

                                  The prompt and user-friendly customer support offered by web applications becomes more approachable and less intimidating for customers. So, the users of the app feel more comfortable with the company and are likely to stick on for a long time.

                                  Web apps help to create an engaging space for customers to interact with brands and provide a dedicated space to track and manage all the customer support queries. The beauty of web applications is that they can be accessed at any time from any location. Hence, providing any customer assistance is never an obstacle.

                                  Why develop your Web Application with Fingent?

                                  Web application development is a mandate for your organization to lead the digital space and reach out to more customers in the future. Fingent provides a wide array of software development services from software customization to building Web, Mobile, Enterprise, and Cloud applications across various industries.

                                  Fingent is a high-end custom software development company that has been helping businesses -small and large- across the globe with innovative solutions. We help build your brand, increase your brand identity, promote your products and services to help you gain a competitive advantage.

                                  Explore our range of services.

                                  Our web application development services are specifically designed to help you meet your goals, considering your business infrastructure and key facets of your industry.

                                  18+

                                  Years of Experience

                                  8

                                  Centers of Excellence (CoE)

                                  800+

                                  Completed Projects

                                  Transparent Project Management

                                  500+

                                  Qualified Professionals

                                  Dedicated QA Practices

                                  Most Common Q&As on Web Development

                                  What is better: Multi-page Website or Single-page Website?

                                  While both are good at their place, most people prefer the single-page website. This is because a single-page website offers ease of interaction and access compared to a Multi-page website.

                                  If your business has a lot to do with queries and solutions or customer interactions, it is recommended you get a chat window.

                                  For quality web application development, you should include both to help you avail more benefits. A combination of frameworks and pure codes will work as it will take less time and ensure quality development.

                                  Some of the renowned web app development technologies are:

                                  • Models:
                                      HTML, XSL, XML
                                  • Animation:   AJAX, Flash, jQuery UI, ActionScript, JavaScript
                                  • Databases:   MS SQL, MySQL, Microsoft Access, SQLite, Oracle, PostgreSQL
                                  • CMS:   WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Kentico, Sitecore, Sitefinity, Sanity
                                  • Programming:   C#, PHP, ASP, ASP.NET, ASP.NET+MVC, Python, Ruby, Django, Go
                                  • Payment Systems:   PayPal, Assist, MoneyBookers, SMS, OSMP

                                  The choice to outsource or hire in-house solely depends on your specific business situation.

                                  Hiring an in-house developer will ensure that you have complete control over the entire development process, which is definitely great for some businesses. But it also calls for long preparation time and extra expenses. On the contrary, outsourcing cuts down costs and avoids hiring new employees altogether – which can be very useful if you are short of time or money.

                                  If your outsourcing partner is a reputable and experienced agency, you can rest assured that they will care for all your web development needs without sacrificing quality.

                                  Get Latest Insights on Web Application Development



                                  Top Technologies Used to Develop Mobile App



                                  Progressive Web App Development: 10 Benefits – Fingent



                                  How Mobile and Web Apps Increase Customer Engagement

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                                    About the Author

                                    ...
                                    Vedavyas Shenoy

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                                      If you’re a business with an expanding online retail footprint, your hard work actually begins once a customer places an order. Each new order triggers a multifarious chain reaction, right from confirming the order through payment acceptance to picking, packing, and finally shipping the consignment to the right location. As digital shopping becomes the primary buying method today, it’s important for brands to simplify online ordering for their customers.

                                      How can you make your order processing and fulfillment smooth enough for both your customers and employees? 

                                      If you’re a small business, you might be able to handle your orders with basic pre-packaged software. But as your business grows, you need a customized order management system to fulfill the orders gushing in. With a custom order processing software, your business can bring the best of both worlds, that is, streamline your order processing and fulfillment and simplify order placement for your customers.   

                                      View Infographic: Custom Software vs. Commercial Off-the-shelf Solutions

                                      What is an Order Management Software?

                                      Order management refers to the set of processes used by an organization to track, manage, and fulfill an order, right from the time when it (order) is placed by a customer to when it is safely delivered at the right destination. 

                                      Order management systems are software tools used to monitor the end-to-end customer order journey. With order management software, you can organize and automate processes, keep track of your merchandise, control the delivery process, and ensure that your customer receives the right order at the right time in a good condition. 

                                      Say you’re running an online medical procurement store. A clinic places an order with you for disposable saliva ejectors. Your order management software checks if the payment was successful, send the order details to your warehouse, tracks the order form when it is being picked, packed, and shipped, and finally ensures that the saliva ejectors were delivered properly. 

                                      Modern order management systems are capable of going beyond delivery and order fulfillment. They can record customer service actions, track returns or exchanges, prevent shipping errors and processing delays, and save profits by reducing refunds and reshipping costs. By collecting vital metrics that define your success and efficiency, your business can identify what’s working and what needs to be improved.  

                                      Why Do You Need a Customized Order Processing Software?

                                      Investing in an off-the-shelf order processing system is enough if you’re content with your business’s status quo. But it wouldn’t suffice if you’re thinking of expanding your business. Offering personalization is the only way to make yourself stand out from the competition and attract more customers. That means, making some serious changes to your existing workflow. When you try to alter your current workflow to incorporate personalization, your canned software offers limited ways to do it successfully. This is where a custom software solution comes to your rescue. 

                                      Watch Video: Why Your Business Requires Custom Software

                                      Custom order management software allows you to configure the workflows required to meet your specific business needs. If off-the-shelf software provides you with 80% of the functionality, custom software allows you to tailor the remaining 20% (or even more) to enhance your workflows and make your business future-proof. 

                                      Some Inspiring Stories 

                                      We’ve done it in the past and we’re doing it now as well! 

                                      We’ve simplified what was once considered complex order processing, with custom-built ordering software that lets customers place orders quickly and allows businesses to track every order with improved efficiency and sophistication. Here’re a few inspiring stories.

                                      1. Cheetah Transportation Systems

                                      Texas-based Cheetah Transportation Systems leveraged Fingent’s custom software development services to implement a personalized transportation management system. The new system allows Cheetah’s customers to view their order status in real-time and access up-to-date shipping data. With a customized software solution, Cheetah re-imagined their logistics and supply chain operations:

                                      • Streamlined and accelerated ordering, tracking, and delivery processes
                                      • Cut licensing and subscription costs by eliminating complex third-party software integrations
                                      • 30% improvement in Turn Around Time (TAT)
                                      • 40% time-saving attained through automated tasks and real-time reporting 

                                      2. AEC Advisors

                                      Another pretty interesting digital transformation story is that of AEC Advisors. The New York-based investment banking and corporate finance advisory firm experienced a business transformation with a customized survey management cum analytics and reporting software developed by Fingent.  

                                      • Ability to create and circulate customized surveys prior to the yearly conference held by AEC Advisors
                                      • Quickly generate KPI reports based on survey responses
                                      • Secure, scalable, and flexible IT architecture to address AEC’s specific needs
                                      • Make it convenient for AEC’s clients to securely share complex financial information

                                      3. Lakeside Cabins

                                      A custom order management application for a manufacturer who builds customized sheds for growing families needing more space! That’s the story of Lakeside Cabins, headquartered in Ohio. The manufacturer wanted us to build an in-house software customized to support the different stages of their building processes. Fingent created a personalized, flexible, easy-to-maintain, and scalable order management software with the following features:

                                      • Custom-built 3D configurator that allows customers to configure building designs, generate floor plans and invoices, and reduce human errors
                                      • Integrated modules to manage CRM, dealers, orders, purchase orders, work orders, and route-optimized delivery schedules

                                      Interested to explore similar success stories? Click here to read our top case studies. 

                                      Business Benefits of Custom Order Management Software

                                      1. Features that fit your business needs

                                      A customized order management software offers the best features your business would actually require. Collaborate with the right software development partner to identify your unique business needs. Avoiding unwanted features helps you get cost-effective custom software within a shorter development cycle. 

                                      2. Flexibility 

                                      Your customers may want to split orders and deliver them to multiple addresses. Using an off-the-shelf software to split your shipments will increase your fulfillment costs due to longer development cycles. A customized order processing software offers the flexibility to split consignments, choose multiple payment modes for a single order, and a horde of other capabilities that will enable you to deliver an Amazon-like experience to your customers. 

                                      Read more: Custom software solutions – the ideal way to build business apps

                                      Custom software

                                      3. Easy to integrate with other tools

                                      Most off-the-shelf software don’t offer flexibility in integration, making you spend more on missing software integrations. In contrast, custom order processing software offers makes it easy to integrate with necessary third-party ware that can improve the accuracy of your order fulfillment process. Fingent develops powerful APIs and plugins that support seamless integration of third-party tools with your custom software.  

                                      4. Automation of mundane tasks

                                      When your custom order management software does the heavy-lifting by automating invoicing, billing, banking integration, payment, and stock management, you can focus on improving your customer service. Automating mind-numbing operations will allow you to keep your order processing tasks much more organized and easier. 

                                      5. Flexible pricing

                                      Most pre-packaged order management solutions offer functionalities that your business doesn’t require and demand you to pay extra for useful features. A custom software solution is designed and developed after defining your objectives clearly. So you end up paying only for the features you use.   

                                      Read more: Know What’s Driving Custom Software Development Costs in 2022

                                      Develop Your Custom Software Application with Fingent

                                      When you’re in complete control of your order management system, you will attain better visibility, productivity, and cost control. Custom software befits businesses of any size- small or large, as it can save your costs and support your long-term growth plans. Whether your requirement is to develop a custom inventory/ order/ warehouse/ transportation management software, our developers have considerable experience in handling anything that comes our way.

                                      Read more: How to Choose the Right Custom Software Development Firm

                                      Our core experience in developing B2B e-commerce applications, customized product ordering systems, tailored self-service payment portals, and an array of bespoke software solutions makes us a trusted software development partner to hundreds of organizations worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies.

                                      If you want to learn more about custom software or would like to know how it can improve your bottom line, get in touch with us.     

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                                        About the Author

                                        ...
                                        Tony Joseph

                                        Tony believes in building technology around processes, rather than building processes around technology. He specializes in custom software development, especially in analyzing processes, refining it and then building technology around it.He works with clients on a daily basis to understand and analyze their operational structure, discover (and not invent) key improvement areas and come up with technology solutions to deliver an efficient process.

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