May 2020 - anteelo

IoT in Manufacturing: Enhancing Operational Efficiency

Posted on 21/05/202008/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

Smart factories are now a reality. IoT is building a new manufacturing landscape by connecting automated production technologies and smart manufacturing processes.

With every passing year, advanced methods and equipment enter the manufacturing space to take production capabilities to the next level. This year-on-year maturing of technological advancement is what has brought us from the first industrial revolution to the 4th industrial revolution.

The current revolution that industries are operating in, comes with its own unique set of methodologies and technologies. It is redefining operational efficiency.

While the previous revolutions worked around the specific areas of the industrial sector, the fourth industrial revolution comes powered by the ability of connectivity. In this article, we are going to look into the many aspects of how is IoT transforming manufacturing and the many challenges the sector will have to overcome to become a part of the future of IoT in manufacturing.

Welcoming the Fourth Industrial Revolution

In order to understand the true Internet of Things applications in manufacturing industry, it is necessary to look back at the industrial revolutions. Ever since the 1700s, there have been 4 revolutionary shifts in the manufacturing sector.

The first – water power was introduced for increasing efficiency of steam engine based machinery like cotton gins, loom, and conveyor, etc.

The second – emerging in the 1870s, the second industrial revolution brought us electricity. The invention of the power stations and bulbs powered factories’ automation and gave birth to the concept of mass production.

The third – emerging somewhere around the 1960s, the third revolution introduced digital technology and computers, replacing analog technologies. The phase opened the world to globalization and increased trade.

The fourth – this is the era of cognitive manufacturing. In the ongoing phase, big data, IoT sensors, robotics, and predictive analytics will merge to form a brand new definition of IoT in industrial manufacturing operations.

The fourth industrial revolution presents a glorious age for manufacturing and industrial space. Businesses are beginning to understand the massive impact of IoT in the production process, they have started initiating talks with every sound IoT development company to figure out the way to harness the IoT use cases in manufacturing. As a result of their interest, the technology is reciprocating with a number of use cases of IoT solutions in manufacturing.

How is IoT in Manufacturing Changing the Sector’s Landscape?

With IoT implementations in manufacturing becoming a new norm, there are a number of benefits manufacturers are looking to derive from the combination. Let us list down some of the most promising benefits of IoT for manufacturers.

1. Inventory management

Through the linking of equipment like smart totes, smart shelves, forklifts, etc with wireless communication and RFID, sensors, manufacturers would be able to maintain a real-time view of an inventory. On the production level, sensors linked to bins and machines will be able to provide real-time data on inventory consumption and notify the need for re-ordering or automatic refill.

2. Predictive maintenance of assets

Another impact of IoT in manufacturing industry can be seen through the role of technology in asset maintenance. With the help of sensors and RFID, IoT can monitor tools, smart machines, and vehicles, etc for equipment health and then schedule their maintenance on the basis of usage.

There are a number of IoT-based alerts driven systems that provide insight into mechanical problems that could warrant replacement or repair. It doesn’t just improve asset utilization but also helps avoid expensive downtime maintenance expenses.

3. Field Service

IoT enables manufacturers to better their capabilities as a service provider. Through sensors and connected devices, businesses can perform proactive servicing of appliances, equipment, and devices while planning field service in a more cost-effective manner. IoT solutions in manufacturing also offer visibility in the supply chain for monitoring locations, the state of products in transit, and the delivery schedules.

4. Workforce management

Information from assets, machines, and mobile devices can help businesses measure the employees’ productivity. Managers will no longer have to walk the factory floor and see how their workers are performing, they will be able to get a dashboard view of productivity measures created automatically and updated in real-time.

An example of the workforce management specific manufacturing IoT use cases can be seen in the COREIoT Workforce Management solution. It’s a turnkey project which comes with a 4G IoT gateway, wireless sensors, and a web portal that includes data analytics. The platform offers an advanced tracking facility with dwell time detection offering complete workforce visibility.

5. Quality assurance

An active role of IoT in manufacturing can be seen in the ways quality initiatives get added to the operational processes. The technology can help highlight variation in product flow and in the pre-decided guidelines set for measuring product specifications.

The result lies in improved efficiency on an overall level since products are developed according to specifications, defective production is stopped in real-time, and repairs are conducted to prevent system and equipment downtime.

6. Cognitive operations and processes

The idea of cognitive operations lies in the ability to take present data and analyze it for driving decisions around better operations, safety, and quality. A system linking technology like IoT can help analyze both structured and unstructured data like video or photos, bringing greater certainty to business operations and decision-making. Here are the different ways that help –

Better productivity of production line
Speedy repair and service call which lowers warranty costs
Improved quality.

7. Optimization and smarter resources

The last point in our list of benefits of IoT in manufacturing revolves around optimizing resources – energy, people, knowledge, and equipment. It is essential to follow the best optimization practices for keeping the cost low and bettering the overall productivity and engagement levels. With the combination of cognitive insights and IoT, it becomes possible to use data like usage, geolocation, environmental conditions, etc. for:

Better worker safety and effective workforce management
Improved worker productivity and expertise
Reduction of energy consumption by equipment and buildings.

Even amidst the growing use of IoT in manufacturing, there are some challenges that manufacturers face when it comes to the adoption of IoT solutions in their processes.

Let us look into some of those challenges that every IoT application development company has to overcome.

The Barriers to IoT Adoption in Manufacturing Sector

Interoperability of data

One of the biggest barriers that IoT app developers face is in terms of data interoperability. In the traditional manufacturing setup, the environment data are siloed according to functional or department areas. This makes it difficult for production, scheduling, engineering, and quality to be linked or be compatible for analysis. Noting the situation which nullifies the essence of IoT, it becomes very important for IoT application development services to take care of the migration of legacy systems.

Lack of IoT Skillsets

IoT is still at a developing stage, meaning employing someone with the expertise in leveraging IoT and performing its successful deployment remains a challenge. What makes the matters worse is that when we look into IoT adoption in the manufacturing space, it is not just the technology’s skillset which is required but also experience in analytics, big data, embedded software development, and electronics, and IT security, etc.

Instances of data breach

With IoT devices and software becoming common across a range of different industries and manufacturing there are growing concerns around their security proofing. Noting how IoT in manufacturing case studies works around business-crucial data and equipment, it is essential that every IoT app development company follows a security-first approach and abides by all the app security best practices to ensure a breach-proof service.

Initiate Your IoT in Manufacturing Journey With Us

Entering the sector which still has one leg dug deep in the traditional methodologies can be a challenge. As a tech-forward entrepreneur, you would need help from IoT developers who have worked with manufacturing industry stakeholders. We are here to help you.

We can help you identify the use cases that apply to your reformative idea, the process you will have to follow to counter migration issues, and how to find the best product-market fit. If you are a manufacturer struggling with similar issues or something new, reach out to us.

The 10 Steps to a Painless Website Migration

Posted on 18/05/202016/06/2021 by Tushar

Migrating your website can be a technically challenging process and not without risk. Here, we’ll look at the potential risks involved and explain the process you need to go through to make sure everything goes smoothly.

Why migrate a website?

There are several reasons for migrating a website, the main ones being that you are upgrading to a better form of hosting, for example from shared hosting to VPS, or that you are moving to a new web host. Regardless of the reason, it will mean moving your website from one server to another and this is where the challenges and risks are to be found.

What are the risks of website migration?

The biggest risk is that the migration will not be carried out properly and that the website won’t function correctly after the move. There’s also the risk of losing data during the move so that elements of the website are missing. Moving to a different server can also affect your performance on search engines if not handled correctly and there’s the potential for your site to be offline while you fix any issues.

Here are the steps to ensure your migration goes smoothly.

1. Do not take down your existing website

Until you are 100% sure your new site is working, keep your existing site online. This way, if there are any issues, they won’t affect your users.

2. Make a copy of your website

The first stage of the migration is to copy your existing website and upload it to your new server. This will enable you to test how well it performs in its new hosting environment and give you an indication of any changes you will need to make.

As you will want to keep your existing website in operation during this time, you’ll need to do this on a different domain or subdomain.

3. Block search engines from indexing your test site

You don’t want the test site to be accessed by users until its finished and this means preventing it from appearing in search engine results. You can block search engine crawlers in a number of ways, for example, using a robots.txt file, password protecting your site or by using a no-indexing tag.

4. Test the new site

Once you have reached this stage, you are in a position to test your website on the new server to make sure it does not have any technical errors and performs as expected. Testing should make sure that users can carry out all the interactions offered by the site, including searches, navigation, signing into user areas and making purchases. You should also make sure that all pages, posts, links, etc., display and perform properly. These tests should be carried out on both desktop and mobile versions of the website and on different types of browser.

5. Test if your new site can be crawled by Google

Although you blocked access to search engines earlier on in the process, you will need to give it temporary access just to make sure that once the new site goes live, it can still be indexed. If it can’t, then post-migration, you will lose your website ranking. To do this, temporarily add the test site to Google Search Console and check the site can be found. Once this has been successfully achieved, you can block the access once again.

6. Check site speed

It’s a good job to test the speed of the new site in comparison with the existing site before launch. You want your new site to be crawled and indexed quickly by Google and this will happen swifter if the server is performing well. It will also enable you to implement other speed enhancements, such as compression, CDN, minification and image optimisation. All of these can accelerate site speed, giving a better user experience and improving overall website ranking. You can check the speed of both the mobile and desktop versions of your site using Google’s PageSpeed Insight’s tool.

7. Update DNS settings

Once you are happy with the performance of your new website, it will be time to start sending users to it. To do this, you will need to change your DNS settings so that they point to your new IP address. You will need to contact your hosting company to ask for this change.

8. Unblock search engines

As soon as the DNS settings have been changed, it is important that you remove the blocks that prevent search engine crawlers accessing your site. This will enable search engines to continue to crawl and index all your pages and ensure that they don’t go missing in search queries. Double-check this is working by using the Google Search Console Coverage report.

9. Test redirects

If you have any redirects enabled on your website, test they are still working on the new server and that there are no 404 errors.

10. Retest

Finally, carry out all the steps in point 4 above, once again. This will ensure that now the site is live, it is still working as expected.

Conclusion

Migration from one server to another can be a daunting experience for many. Hopefully, the steps discussed here will make it less traumatic and help ensure that things go smoothly.

Why is CX important for websites, and how can it be improved?

Posted on 17/05/202016/06/2021 by Tushar

According to a recent survey from SuperOffice, customer experience (CX) is the biggest priority of businesses over the next five years, more important than finding better products or selling them at the right price. Why? Because customers are flocking to brands that provide them with better CX and 86% of consumers said they would pay more for it. Whether you just sell online or have both a website and a bricks and mortar store, improving CX could transform your business. Here are some of the things that customers are looking for from brands today.

Personalisation

What makes Amazon the world’s most successful online retailer? The key ingredient in its success is personalisation. Its collection of user data ensures it knows its customers exceptionally well and this means that whenever they sign into the website, use its app or open an email, every product or offer provided for them is tailored around their wants and needs. It knows their shopping and browsing histories, the things on their wish lists, when they shop, what they shop for and how much they are likely to spend.

This level of insight means that Amazon’s product recommendations are much more likely to be a match for what the customer wants. This not only results in higher sales for Amazon; it also makes it highly attractive to customers who want to find the right products quickly and simply. This is why Amazon has become, for millions of shoppers, the default search engine for products.

The success of Amazon has led personalisation to become commonplace on the internet. Businesses everywhere are collecting user data to provide similar customer experiences (CX). For small businesses to remain attractive to modern shoppers, they too will need to start collecting user data to make personalised recommendations to customers. Today, it is easier than ever to implement. There are numerous specialist companies offering recommendation engines as a service and if that is out of your budget, try the AI-enabled, PRZ Recommendation Engine plugin for WordPress and WooCommerce.

Simple shopping

While product recommendation engines are beneficial, they can’t predict everything that a shopper wants to buy and they are not much use at all for new visitors for whom you have no historical data. Customers in these situations seek websites that offer simpler ways to shop. They want to be able to find products quickly, have all the essential product data given clearly (description, images, price, specifications, etc.) without ‘information overload’ and they want to be able to pay and leave without a fuss.

This starts with simple site navigation and the ability to search for products. Product search has evolved and customers expect to be able to easily narrow down searches by applying numerous filters: price, customer ratings, size, shape, colour, brand, etc. This can easily be implemented using plugins, indeed many store building platforms come with the functionality built-in.

Providing the right information can be a balancing act. Customers will want to know everything essential about a product, including other purchasers’ ratings, but without being overloaded. They may want to compare products side by side before making a decision, save the product in a wish list if they can’t make up their minds and be shown similar products that they might not yet have come across.

Once a decision is made, they’ll want to buy and go as quickly as possible. This means providing a streamlined checkout process, including guest checkouts for non-members and one-click checkouts for those who have saved payment details with you.

Omnichannel shopping

Though the growth in online shopping has led most bricks and mortar stores to build an online store, many retailers keep those two elements of their business distinct. Technology, however, has blurred the lines between online and on-premises shopping and this has provided yet another experience that customers want – omnichannel shopping.

The modern customer likes the flexibility of click and collect. They want to be able to purchase online and pick the product up from the store. Indeed, this business model stopped many bricks and mortar stores going bust during the pandemic as it enabled them to offer drive-through shopping. While shops were compulsorily closed, customers could order items from their phones in the car park and staff would take them to the car.

For single store businesses that have all their inventory under one roof, putting this system into place is easy to do on your website as it just means linking your store software to your inventory data, a feature available in plugins like WooCommerce. It is more complicated for businesses with multiple stores and separate warehouses as they will need to unify inventory data from across all their stores and warehouses. However, once in place, a customer can remotely buy from a physical store using the website or app.

Omnichannel communications

Modern technology has hugely expanded the number of ways that customers and companies communicate. The difficulty for brands is that consumers have their own preferences for how they like to stay in touch. Indeed, they have different preferences for different purposes. If communication is important, they may want the company to send a printed letter or email, if it’s a special offer they may prefer an SMS or WhatsApp message. When consumers want to get in touch, they usually want a quick response and may use phone, chatbot or, increasingly, a voice assistant or smart speaker.

Providing a great customer experience (CX) means communicating via the channels that consumers prefer. The advantage for businesses is that it enables them to send the right messages at the right time with a greater chance that they will be seen and acted upon.

The challenge here is, again, one of data. Not only does the company need to know which channel each customer prefers but it also needs to unify data to provide a complete overview of the customer journey. This way, whoever is communicating with the customer (human or AI) will have access to all the information needed to send out the right correspondence or deal with enquiries seamlessly when customers move from one channel to another.

This is the level of sophistication that many businesses have managed to achieve and which customers now expect from retailers. If they send a message on social media and phone up later, they’ll expect whoever is answering the call to have access to the social media message. Just as importantly, if they have used a smartphone app to add a product to their shopping cart, they’ll expect to see it still there if they visit your website on a laptop or try to order it using a voice assistant. Everything has to link up.

Conclusion

As you can see, customer experience (CX) is essential to staying relevant in an ever more competitive market and this is forcing brands to adopt new business models and the advanced technologies needed to implement them. For websites, the collection of data needed for personalisation, omnichannel shopping and omnichannel communications often require much more disk space and processing power than shared hosting packages provide. Upgrading to VPS or the cloud provides far more capacity to deploy the new technologies that CX relies on and is your first step to transforming your site.

Mac OS- Using Protractor

Posted on 14/05/202015/05/2021 by Anteelo Master

If you are a QA Engineer then somewhere down the road you will come across Protractor/selenium and face limitations that come with automation. I faced a similar limitation when I had to copy a 7-page google document and paste it in my application to verify whether the formatting of the document is affected or not. So the problem here arises when we are working with mac OS.

macOS + Selenium/Protractor doesn’t allow native functions to be called, which in simple words means that you cannot perform either command +a, command + C, or command +v in mac.

OSX does not support native key events, so the Driver simulates all key presses. This means that the keypress is contained within the “content” window, so the browser probably never sees the COMMAND as it would from a native event.

So I had to find a workaround in order to conquer the wild elephants and I would be talking about the same in this blog

Cut: Shift+Delete
Copy: Ctrl+Insert
Paste: Shift+Insert
Select: SHIFT + Arrow_down

Select-All

`browser.actions().sendKeys(protractor.Key.chord(protractor.Key.SHIFT, protractor.Key.ARROW_DOWN)).perform();

Paste

`browser.actions().sendKeys(protractor.Key.chord(protractor.Key.SHIFT, protractor.Key.INSERT)).perform();}

Copy

`browser.actions().sendKeys(protractor.Key.chord(protractor.Key.CONTROL, protractor.Key.INSERT)).perform();

Best Practices To Ensure a Hack-Proof App: Mobile App Security

Posted on 13/05/202016/06/2021 by Tushar

Building a revolutionary mobile application is only the first step in mobile app development. Once you’ve built an app, there are thousands of mandatory processes that follow app development. One of those many crucial steps in mobile app security.

In this article, we will explore what are the essential mobile app security practices that you ought to implement after the development is finalized.

Over the last decade, we all have witnessed how the mobile app development industry has grown but so have cybercrimes. And these crimes have led us to a stage where it is not possible to submit an app to Play Store or App Store without taking certain measures to secure it.

However, getting towards what the security measures entail, we first need to understand why there is a need for taking these actions and what are the potential app security issues that plague the mobile app development industry. For a real-life estimate, let us look at the facts:

There is still more to mobile app security than safeguarding them against malware and threats. Let us first identify some of the OWASP mobile app security threats to understand the security measures better.

Why do we need Mobile App Security: Potential Threats & Their Solutions

The threats that present themselves in the app development world although are malicious, can be solved with simple steps to securing a mobile application. Let us take a look at what are the major mobile app security issues.

1. Faulty server controls:

The communications that take place between the app and user outside the mobile phone device happen via servers. And such servers are primary targets of hackers throughout the world. The main reason behind the vulnerability of a server is because sometimes developers overlook the necessary server-side security into account. This may happen due to a lack of knowledge about security considerations for mobile applications, small budgets for security purposes, or the vulnerabilities caused due to cross-platform development.

Solution:

The most crucial step in safeguarding your servers is to scan your apps with the help of automated scanners. These scanners can, otherwise, be used by hackers to dig out vulnerabilities in your apps and exploit them. Automated scanners will surface the common issues and bugs which are easy to resolve.

2. The absence of Binary protection:

This is also one of the prime OWASP app security issues to address because if there is a lack of Binary protection for a mobile app, any hacker or an adversary can easily reverse engineer the app code to introduce malware. They can also redistribute a pirated application of the same and inject it with a threat also. All of this can lead to critical issues such as data theft and damage to brand image and resultantly revenue loss.

Solution:

To safeguard Binary files, it is important to deploy binary hardening procedures. As a part of this procedure, binary files are analyzed and accordingly modified to protect them against common mobile app security threats. This procedure fixes the legacy code without involving the source code at all. It is crucial to ensure security coding for the detection of jailbreaks, checksum controls, debugger detection control, and certificate pinning while working on mobile app security processes.

3. Data Storage Insecurity:

Another big loophole that is common in Mobile app security is the absence of a safe data storage system. In fact, it is common for mobile app developers to rely upon client storage for internal data. However, during the possession of a mobile device by a rival, this internal data can be very easily accessed and used or manipulated. This can lead to several crimes like identity theft or PCI (external policy violation).

Solution:

One of the app security measures to consider here is to build an additional encryption layer over the OS’s base-level encryption. This gives a tremendous boost to data security.

4. Inadequate protection for Transport layer:

The transport layer is the pathway through which data transfer takes place between the client and the server. If the right mobile app security standards are not introduced at this point, any hacker can gain access to internal data to steal or modify it. This leads to severe crimes like identity thefts and frauds.

Solution:

To reinforce transport layer security, you should incorporate SSL Pinning in iOS and Android apps. Along with this, you can use industry-standard cipher suites instead of regular ones. Additionally, avoiding the exposure of user’s session ID because of mixed SSL sessions, alerting the user in case of an invalid certificate, using SSL versions of third-party analytics are common practices that can savethe users from a dangerous breach of security.

5. Unintended Leakage of data:

Unintended data leakage happens when critical mobile applications are stored in vulnerable locations on the mobile device. For example, an app is stored where it can easily get accessed by other apps or devices which ultimately results in the data breach of your app and unauthorized data usage.

Solution:

Monitoring common data leakage points such as logging, app background, caching, Browser cookie objects, and HTML5 data storage.

Besides these 5 mobile development security threats, there are some other commonly occurring roadblocks in the way of building secure mobile apps. Here they are:

Absence of multi-factor authentication – The process provides multiple layers of security before letting a person inside the application. It could be answering a personal question, OTP, SMS configuration, or other measures. The absence of multifactor authentication can lead to several issues which makes it a crucial part of answering how to make an app secure.
Inability to encrypt properly – A important element of mobile application security best practices is ensuring proper encryption. The inability of it can lead to code theft, intellectual property theft, privacy violation, among multiple other issues.
Malicious code Injection – User-generated content such as forms is often overlooked as a threat. Suppose a user adds in their id and password, the app then communicated with the server-side data to authenticate the information. Now the apps which do not restrict the character a user inputs open themselves to the risk of injecting code to access the server.
Reverse engineering – It is every secure mobile application development nightmare. The approach can be used to show how an app works in the backend and reveal the encryption algorithms while modifying the source code, etc.
Insecure data storage – insecure data storage can happen in multiple places inside an app – cookies, binary data store, SQL database, etc. If a hacker gets access to the database or device, they can alter legitimate apps to take out information to the machines.

After seeing the general threats which plague all the mobile applications and some of the Best mobile app security practices to follow for avoiding these issues, let us move on to the specifics about the Android and iOS mobile application security.

How to Make Android Apps Secure?

Some of the effective Android app security best practices to opt are:-

Encryption of data on External Storage –

Generally, the internal storage capacity of a device is limited. And this drawback often coerces users to use external devices such as hard disk and flash drives for safekeeping of the data. And this data, at times, consists of sensitive and confidential data as well. Since the data stored on the external storage device is easily accessible by all the apps of the device, it is very important to save the data in an encrypted format. One of the most widely used encryption algorithms by mobile app developers is AES or Advanced Encryption Standard.

Using Internal Storage for Sensitive Data –

All the Android Applications have an internal storage directory. And the files stored in this directory are extremely secure because they use MODE_PRIVATE mode for file creation. Simply put, this mode ensures that the files of one particular app cannot be accessed by other applications saved on the device. Thus, it is one of the mobile app authentication best practices to focus upon.

Using HTTPS –

The communications that take place between the app and the server ought to be over an HTTPS connection. Numerous Android Users often are connected to several open WiFi networks in public areas and using HTTP instead of HTTPS can leave the device vulnerable to many malicious hotspots which can easily alter the contents of HTTP traffic and make the device’s apps behave unexpectedly.

Using GCM instead of SMS –

In the time when Google Cloud Messaging or GCM did not exist, SMS was used in order to push data from servers to apps but today, GCM is used largely. But if you still have not made the switch from SMS to GCM, you must. This is because SMS protocol is neither safe nor encrypted. On top of it, SMS can be accessed and read by any other app on the user’s device. GCM communications are authenticated by registration tokens which are regularly refreshed on the client-side and they are authenticated using a unique API key on the server-side.

Other major mobile app development security best practices can include, Validation of User input, Avoiding the need for personal data, and usage of ProGuard before publishing the app. The Idea is to secure app users from as much malware as possible.

How to Make iOS Apps Secure?

Some of the iOS app security best practices to follow are:-

Storage of Data –

To greatly simplify your app’s architecture and improve its security, the best way is to store app data in memory instead of writing it on a disk or sending it to a remote server. Although if storing the data locally is your sole option, there are multiple ways to go:-

Keychain:

The best place to store small amounts of sensitive data which doesn’t need frequent access is Keychain. Data that is stored in keychains is managed by the OS but is not accessible by any other application. – Caches: If your data does not need to be backed up on iCloud or iTunes then you can store the data in the Caches directory of the application sandbox. – Defaults system: The defaults system is a convenient method for storing large amounts of data.

Networking security :

Apple is known for its security and privacy policies and for years, it has worked to reach this level. A few years ago, Apple had introduced App Transport Security which enforces third-party mobile apps to send network requests over a more secure connection, i.e., HTTPS.

Security of Sensitive Information –

The majority of mobile apps use sensitive user data such as address book, location, etc. But as a developer, you need to make sure that all the information that you’re asking the user for is, in fact, necessary to access and more importantly, to store. So, if the information you require can be accessed through a native framework, then it is redundant to duplicate and store that information.

We have now seen both Android and iOS mobile app security Practices for a Hack-Proof App. But no development can be so easy as it is written about. There are always certain challenges that are faced during a process. Let’s move forward and learn about the challenges which are faced and solved by almost every top app development companies in USA.

Challenges Associated With Mobile App Security

There is a proven record of how vulnerable mobile apps can be if not enough measures are taken for their security from external malware. Following are the challenges that can arise anytime if the mobile app security testing is not completed as per the requirement.

Device Fragmentation –

There are essential processes to be followed before the release of an application on the app stores. It is necessary to diversity of devices that cover different resolutions, functionalities, features, and limitations into your mobile app testing strategies. Detection of Device specific vulnerabilities can put the app developers one step ahead in app security measures. Not only devices but different versions of popular OS’s is an important step to cover before the app release to cover all the possible loopholes.

Weak Encryptions –

In the case of weak encryption, a mobile device is vulnerable to accepting data from any available device. Attackers with malware are in constant search for an open-end in public mobile devices and your app can be that open end if you do not follow a strong suit of the encryption process. So, investing your efforts into strong encryption is also one of the finest ways to make a hack-proof mobile app.

Weaker hosting controls –

It happens mostly during the development of a business’s first mobile app, which usually leaves the data exposed to the server-side systems. Therefore, the servers which are being used to host your app must have enough app security measures to avoid any unauthorized users from accessing important data.

Checklist for Mobile Application Security Guidelines

There are a number of things that every mobile app development company follows when they build secure applications. Here is a checklist that we commonly follow –

Use server-side authentication
Use cryptographic algorithms
Ensure user inputs meet check standards
Create threat algorithms to back data
Obsfucation to stop reverse engineering

There are many ways to make a hack proof mobile app, through a mobile app security audit, against the attacks from unknown sources and no amount of security measures can ever be enough. Looking into mobile app development security best practices is one way to go about it. Today, the digital world is out in the open for everyone’s use and no user is ever safe enough from malware and security breaches but these measures ensure that your personal data is safe in your digital devices.

Mobile App Development mistakes to avoid

Posted on 12/05/202016/06/2021 by Tushar

Every time there is a post written about the optimistic numbers of successful mobile apps in the whole wide world that inspire one developer with divinity, there are at least five other developers and business owners cursing that same post for their failed app ideas. If you are one of those developers or their clients and project owners then you have found the right post to help you identify the mobile app development mistakes to avoid and what is it that you need to make right in your apps.We understand that it hurts to see your brainchild die in a brutally competitive market of mobile apps. There’s an app for EVERYTHING and no matter how much you do for your app to survive, something always seems to go wrong. Mobile app development mistakes make you pay ten times over for your efforts.

Well, you’re not alone, we’ve been there too but, a good thing, we learned from our mistakes and we’re here to tell you what those were.

After losing our blood, sweat, tears and a lot of money by making our share of mistakes, we have identified the scariest mistakes and how not to make them.

And if you don’t want to fail with your app idea or want to know the reasons for failure for your last app start-up idea, you can begin to correct yourself and your team.

After all, there are over 5 million total apps in major app stores but only a little over 32K apps make over the mark of 1M downloads. For covering this steep difference in the numbers of total apps and the number of successful applications, it is crucial to not make the mistakes mentioned below.

1. Not Identifying the need

This is a big one. Not doing a need analysis before starting the development is like serving Ham to vegans – Nobody is going to eat it.

You have a great app idea and you go and put your money into it without doing market research is not the best way to go. Whenever there is a big investment required, it is favorable to take things slow.

It is necessary to test the market and conduct surveys about what features do the users need in the app if they need it. That would validate your idea and give you confidence about a considerable user base.

There is always a roadmap to successful app development, and it is cardinal to follow that route for making an app that users like.

Surveying your target audience if they’re ready for an app or not is better for customer acquisition and more importantly, user retention.

2. Picking up a mobile app development company/Freelance app developer without enough research

Just like there are several categories of mobile apps – Financial app, educational apps, eCommerce, On-demand, etc; there are categories of mobile app developers also.

And similarly, all the mobile app development companies are also different.

Firstly, before deciding upon a mobile app development team, you need to fix the budget, the platforms, the complexity, the domain of your app.

Then, secondly, you should research and find out about the app development companies who fit the criteria of your mobile app.

Then finally, you should make a list of questions to ask the mobile app development companies before reaching a decision.

Some of these questions can:-

Can I see your portfolio?
Can I get some of your client references?
What is your app development approach?

These kinds of questions can give you a detailed insight into the company itself, the kind of projects they can handle, what is the size of one project they’re capable of taking, etc.

Later, you can easily cross out the companies which do not fulfill the criteria for your app’s development.

3. Underestimating the total cost

You cannot have a dream one day about a rocket ship and start building it the next day. Especially when you know it is going to eat up a lot of money.

What is needed before the building process is the detailed scope of all the resources it would take to build that rocket ship.

And resources not just consist of money but development hours, material, space, overheads, a special marketing or operations team, etc. Each one of these things directly translates into capital investment and all of it needs to be taken into consideration before the commencement of the app development project.

Even before starting upon with an MVP for one platform, it is crucial to consider training, hiring, and overheads costs if you want to avoid a big mobile app development mistake. Remember, it is paramount to know how much does app development cost?

Only then you can correctly define what your MVP will look like.

4. Not considering making an MVP

Making an MVP can be the last step where you can save your app from being a disaster.

An MVP or Minimum Viable Product presents you with a chance to test your product in real market conditions and with daily users to evaluate your app’s performance.

An MVP is the stage when your app consists of only the necessary features thereby, allowing you to launch the app in the market before going through with the entire development process at an advanced level.

Realising an MVP as a preliminary product reduces the actual product/app’s time and cost. You can speed the development process to release the basic version of your application, get feedback from the market, make the required changes to your app’s model and improvise the final product.

5. Building a poor UI

One of the biggest mistakes to avoid when developing an app is to not paying close attention to the UI of your app. UI or User interface is the face of your app which is responsible for the very first impression.

Since there are numerous apps available on the online app stores, users are highly impatient while making a decision about keeping an app in their mobile devices.

In other words, a good UI can become the user retention key to your mobile app which cannot be ignored.

The mobile design process is a crucial step to building an app that the users will love to use. Following are some of the points to take care of while designing the app UI:

Never start designing without an App flowchart
Always pay attention to the Resolution – Avoid design for low resolutions
Avoid making an animation for into because users are impatient and an unskippable into will make them uninstall the app
Take extra care for the animations used to indicate loading time. Use things that will keep the users engaged.
One of the advanced features to add to the UI is the Gesture-based interface.

6. Adding too many features

One of the biggest mobile app development mistakes to rectify is thinking that adding a number of features will make the users appreciate your app more.

In fact, the epithet “feature-rich” has become a positive quality for many app developers and businesses and it is used more than often by app marketers. Needless to say, it is one of the most common mistakes that app developers make.

Although, if we go by the user feedbacks, having too many features in an app makes it cumbersome and bulky in size without adding much value to the overall user experience.

Contrastingly, having fewer and targeted features makes a mobile app purposeful and easy to understand.

Additionally, having too many features makes the app slower and adds to the load time. And not to mention the time, efforts and resources that go into making those extra features.

The best thing to have is the main feature and other supporting features that make the purpose of the app complete.

For instance, in the case of an on-demand food delivery app, the necessary features would be,

Browsing through restaurants and menus
Adding food to the Cart
Location detection for addresses
Payment
Order tracking
Help and support

These features will perfectly help the user in tackling any problem that they face with food delivery.

7. Adding too many mobile platforms initially

It goes without saying that among the biggest mistakes to avoid when developing an app, resisting the temptation for building the app for all the possible platforms is a huge one.

Adding too many features and adding too many platforms work in the same way – they prove to be highly counter-productive for your vision As they skyrocket your initial costs of app development.

The best way to go is, doing market research, then deciding upon one platform out of Android, iOS or Windows, launching the app on that platform and recording customer feedback.

Once you are absolutely sure about the success of your app on one platform, then you can plan the development for the next platform. It is very important to decide upon a single platform for your app in the beginning.

Otherwise, you should plan the app development strategies well in advance if you want to release the app on multiple platforms at once.

8. Not doing enough testing of the app

Being a user, having an app with a glitch-free performance means everything. Especially, in the initial days of the app release, it is very important to have an app that retains users by its flawless performance.

Apart from simple testing of an app, it is crucial to test it over a range of devices to ensure a good first impression. In fact, it is better to know beforehand what are the testing strategies your app development company follows.

Also, it is important to remember the when it comes to testing of an app, it should be done by a third-party or professional app-testing team. Only then, you will be able to release a perfect version of your app.

9. Not taking feedback

From the starting of this article, we have established the importance of feedback multiple times. But still, mobile app developers let this one slip.

In the end, this app is being developed for the general users. Therefore, it is highly important that they get a say in what would want to see in the app that they want to use. Otherwise, they simply would not use it.

“Multiple iterations” of user feedback is the only way out of this scary situation. The important changes to be made in the app should be based on what the users want.

10. The Unplanned market launch of the App

One of the most common mistakes in mobile app development is made during the Market launch of an application.

It starts with generalizing your entire market and not narrowing down the target audience while planning the app release. Remember – Everybody cannot be your target market.

Following are the important steps to follow before launching your mobile in the app stores:

Validate your MVP before investing in a launch. You will get an idea about the changes to be made and the redundancies to be removed from the app before launching.
Use professional help for App store optimization
Never neglect a good UX or User experience
Pay extra attention to a well-devised onboarding process because it is very important from the user perspective to gain the first impression of your mobile app

These steps are crucial to dip your toes to test the waters before diving in. Once you know your market, you can alter your mobile application as per the need of the hour.

The common mistakes in mobile app development and the lessons at the end of them can be used to study and build up a new standard process.

Right from need Identification and customer validation to testing and launch the app on the right platform after a thorough customer survey and feedback is the key to securing your hard-earned resources.

Typography Comprehensive Guide For App UI Design

Posted on 11/05/202016/06/2021 by Tushar

“The text is too big.” “The words are placed too distantly.” “The words are not going with the image” Such comments have been passed continuously ever since the day user experience established itself as a crucial element of the mobile app design industry. With users spending a major portion of their day on applications, consuming information, and interacting with words, the importance of carefully crafted typography has come to the forefront.

Let’s walk you through the concept that holds the power to lower app abandonment and play a crucial role in increasing the app revenue – Typography.

A Basic Introduction to Typography

Typography, in simple words, is an art of organizing written text, point sizes, line-spacing, and other elements in a way that offer a pleasant and readable user experience. It is a craft that enables designers to transform human interactions into durable visual form.

Now, when talking about what is typography, it is good to have a familiarity with elements it comprises of – something we will discuss in the next section of this article.

6 Typography Elements You Must Know About

1. Typeface

Typeface refers to a set of symbols, numbers, letters, and characters that share similar features. For example, Garamond, Helvetica, and Baskerville is a typeface.

2. Font

Often used as a synonym of typeface, Font is basically a typeface that is set in a particular style, size, and height.

3. Line Length

Another typography design element you should be familiar with is line length. It refers to the area covered by a block of text positioned between the left and right margins.

It is usually calculated as the total number of words or characters in a particular line.

4. Line Spacing

Also termed as Leading, line spacing is the distance between two baselines, i.e, imaginary lines where the text resides.

5. Kerning

Kerning is defined as the spacing between two particular characters or letters.

6. Tracking

Tracking is another typography element used by UI designers for crafting a better experience. It is termed as the spacing between two individual blocks of texts and is also known as letter spacing.

Now as you know the definition and typography elements to consider for user interface design, it’s good to look into why is it necessary to focus on this UI design method.

So, let’s go through the advantages of focusing on Typography in UI design.

Reasons Why It Is Important to Consider Typography

1. It Sets a Mood/Tone

The foremost reason why typography is important in UI design is that it helps in setting the tone of the message. While plain and simple typography shows that content needs to be considered with seriousness, innovative typography adds fun and excitement to the screen.

2. It Helps Deliver Better Visual Experience’

Typography also boosts the visual appearance of a mobile app. When chosen wisely, it infuses positive vibes and helps to deliver a delightful experience to your target audience. Whereas, wrong typography ruins the user experience and compels them to exit the platform soon.

So, it is profitable to consider typography as a key element of your mobile app design process.

3. It Enhances Readability

Another reason why focusing on typography is one of the proven tips to enhance mobile app UI design is that it eases the process of reading content. It simplifies how users comprehend every single detail you mentioned in your app while helping in building better connections.

4. It Shows Professionalism

Typography also adds a tint of professionalism in your mobile app UI design. When you pick a typography which goes with your brand vision, customer behavior, and market standards, it brings a positive impression on the audience. It encourages them to trust in your brand and thus, support you in achieving expected goals in stipulated time and effort.

5. It Boosts Sales Conversion

Typography encourages users to spend more time on your application and understand the context more effectively. This increases the chances of motivating them to perform the desired actions and ultimately, boosts sales.

6. It Creates Brand Recognition

When you use a particular set of typography and use the same pattern throughout your content, users start relating it to your brand. They begin to remember your work via the typography you have used.

With this attended to, it is likely that you would be interested to know how to use typography in UI design, next.

While hiring a reputed mobile application design and development services provider is a good idea, having information about popular apps to get inspiration from can be really significant.

So, let’s look at the list of apps that have over time, amazed users through their mobile design system typography.

5 Mobile Apps to Take Inspiration From

1. Hotel Tonight

Hotel Tonight has used different fonts and styles on both platforms. While the brand implemented various weights of Google’s Roboto for its Android application, it used Gothan for its iOS platform.

2. FIFA

FIFA mobile application has used Miso for typography in UI design, though in different font sizes and weights to bring better emphasis on particular content elements.

3. Fancred

Fancred has also focused on using different typography elements in their app UI design. Besides, they have also experimented with the idea of adding text to pictures and did UX reviews to give a seamless user experience.

4. Citroen Lifestyle

Citroen Lifestyle is another impressive iOS application that has worked with the idea of using font pairing, text-in-picture, and other ways of implementing typography in their app design.

5. UltraVisual

Another mobile application that has inspired users with its typography is UltraVisual. The application, in its iOS version, has used different fonts and added content on photos to deliver better information with minimal space.

Now, as we have seen what Android and iOS applications you can consider for getting an understanding of the rightful implementation of typography UI design, let’s take a look at what UI typography style guide to follow while creating a design strategy for your app.

8 Typography Principles to Focus Upon While Creating Your App

1. Complement Mood to the Message

As per the best mobile design experts, every typeface comes with a unique vibe. While some are fancy and friendly, others are simple and yet professional. In such a scenario, picking the one that goes with your brand message is a must.

So, do not overlook this fact while pondering upon how to improve your UI design through better typography.

2. Pick the Font’s Point Size as per Design Context

Choosing too small or too bigger fonts altogether makes it difficult for users to continue reading with the same flow. It affects the readability of the app content.

In such a scenario, it is important for mobile app designers to select the right font point size for their app’s UI design.

Now when talking about picking the right font point size, it is profitable to invest your time and effort in the general thumb rule-keeping body text between 10 and 12 points for print projects and 15 to 20 pixels for the web.

3. Stick to a Limited Number of Fonts

Adding too many fonts on the same page can be a barrier to readability. So, it is again vital to keep yourself limited to a certain number of fonts – usually those who are not drastically different in look and feel.

4. Build a Hierarchy

Another rule to follow when talking about typography in UI design is to create a good hierarchy. This will help in easier navigation, better organization of every element as well as simplifying the process of finding information.

Now, when focusing on creating a hierarchy, the basic things a UI designer must know are:-

Employing text size to prioritize information by importance.
Adding appropriate spacing to make content scannable.
Arranging related items together.
Introducing headings, subheadings, etc. in the content.

5. Focus on Grammar

Since a wrong spelling can break the flow and make it difficult for the audience to comprehend the whole meaning, it is again imperative to focus on the grammar aspect as well.

6. Don’t Overlook Spacing and Alignment

Spacing and alignment also make a huge difference in the overall app UI experience. When you introduce the right amount of spacing and alignment in your app content, users find it easier and faster to grasp the information and respond effectively.

For example, when you use center or justified alignment, users have to struggle with maintaining a continuous communication flow. Whereas, this is not so in the case of left-aligned content.

Likewise, when the letters in your app content are too tightly hugged or at significant distance, users fail to continue reading with the same pace and often exit the platform. But, this does not happen when you pay attention to proper spacing between all the words and letters.

So, do not forget to focus on this principle when considering how to use typography in UI design.

7. Prevent using Design Fads

Another thing you should focus upon is to prevent employing design fads. This is because the fads do not prevail in the market for longer. They have a shorter time span, implying you might have to change your app’s UI design with some other typography later.

So, do not prefer going with any such design fad.

8. Observe and Practice

Last but not the least, invest your time and effort into practicing different typography and evaluate their success rate. This will help you in receiving better user experience outcomes.

Now while these principles of typography will help you with crafting a perfect UI design plan, it is incredibly important to keep a watch on the typography trends as they were one of the crucial mobile app UI design trends for 2018.

So, taking the same thought into consideration, let’s end this article with a focus upon top typography trends to watch out for in 2019.

Typography Trends You Should Stick to in 2019

1. Hand-Drawn Fonts are Popular

The foremost typography trend to follow in 2019 is using hand-drawn fonts, i.e, the fonts resembling with our handwriting.

Such fonts are highly preferred by brands like Etsy and Fiverr because of the fact that they add a human touch to the app design and encourages users to connect more easily.

2. Glyphs are Gaining a Huge Momentum

Not only text fonts, but designers are also focusing on a varied set of symbols and non-alphanumeric characters like dividers and icons in their app UI design to enhance the user experience.

3. Font Pairing Will Go Trendy

Another answer to what are the typography trends to focus upon in 2019 is font pairing.

As the name depicts, it’s the practice of using a combination of two or more different font types in a particular design in order to add a surprising element in the content.

4. Variable is the New Responsive

Another typography UI design trend for designers to focus upon this year is to introduce variable fonts.

Unlike the traditional fonts that are static, these fonts showcase content in different smooth yet non-discrete transitions. This makes content more appealing and engaging.

5. Variant Sizes Will Create a Perfect Match

UI designers will also experiment with contrasting fonts this year and for some time to come. They will use the same font in varying sizes to create a ‘hierarchy like impression.

And in this way, direct users to focus more on particular texts instead of giving equal attention to all.

6. Photos Will Go Expressive

In 2019, UI designers are taking another route to deliver visual storytelling experience to their audience. They are adding text and other elements to photos. And in this way, delivering more information in minimal space and that too without making it unpleasant to eyes.

7. Geometric Typefaces Will Take a Lead

Last but not the least, Geometric typefaces will also take a lead in the marketplace this year. The typeface, created with the help of straight lines and round forms, will add a futuristic vibe to your content and make it easy to scan and readable.

It will be highly used in the process of creating branding and logo designs, especially in the field of Science, Technology, and Engineering.

Frequently Asked Questions About Typography in UI Design

1. What is good typography?

Good typography is defined as the one that complements the tone of the design while helping spread the desired message. When talking about picking good typography for any design, there can be more than one option available.

2. What are the principles of typography?

While there are various principles related to typography, the prime ones are:-

Pick typography that enhances the tone of the message.
Pick the Font’s point size according to the design’s perspective.
Set up a Hierarchy.
Pay attention to Spacing and Alignment.
Observe, Get Inspired, and Practice.

3. Is typography an element of design?

Yes, typography is a part of the design. The technique enables designers to present their app content in an engaging and knowledgeable manner – resulting in a better user experience.

4. Why is typography important in graphic design?

Typography is important in graphic design because it:-

Sets a tone/mood to the message,
Encourages visual experience,
Shows professionalism,
Enhances readability,
Boosts sales conversion,
Creates brand recognition.

Android Issues Affecting Websites Using Let’s Encrypt

Posted on 10/05/202016/06/2021 by Tushar

Site owners that use the free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate have been warned that, from next September, their websites will no longer work on older Android operating systems. The issue, which will affect a third of all Android devices, including smartphones, could prevent over 220 million websites working properly.

Launched by the Internet Safety Research Group, ISRG, in 2016, Let’s Encrypt has played a crucial role in making the internet more secure by providing millions of free SSL certificates to websites across the globe. By encrypting data as it travels between a user’s browser and a website’s server, an SSL ensures that personal information and payment details are kept out of the hands of cybercriminals. At Anteelo, we recognise the important contribution Let’s Encrypt is making and are proud to be a sponsor of its parent organisation, ISRG.

Another of its sponsors is Chrome, the Google-owned browser, while Google itself encourages the uptake of SSL certificates by including SSL installation in its ranking criteria and rewarding those websites that have them with higher rankings. This makes it a little ironic that the problem Let’s Encrypt faces is with Android, Google’s own operating system.

Though unintentional on Google’s behalf, the issue is that, from September next year, devices with older versions of the Android operating system (versions 7.1.1 or earlier) won’t be able to connect securely with websites using Let’s Encrypt. Anyone with one of these devices that attempts to visit a website with a Let’s Encrypt SSL will, instead, be shown a warning sign telling them that the website is not safe.

The cause of the problem is that, when ISRG launched Let’s Encrypt in 2016, its own root certificate had not been in existence long enough to have become trusted by operating systems. To overcome this challenge, it used an existing certificate authority, IdenTrust, as a cross-signature. IdenTrust’s root certificate had been firmly established for some time and was trusted and accepted by operating systems such as Windows, iOS, macOS and Android.

The use of IdenTrust’s root certificate was always seen as a short term solution, with Let’s Encrypt knowing its own certificate would be trusted by all operating systems by the time the IdenTrust certificate expired.

That expiration is set to take place in September next year and Let’s Encrypt’s SSL certificate is now trusted by the major operating systems. There is, however, a technical snag that affects older versions of Android. That snag is that these operating systems have not been updated since 2016 and, as a result, have not been configured to accept Let’s Encrypt’s root certificate; nor will they, after 1 September 2021, continue to accept the expired IdenTrust root certificate.

This means that devices running Android versions 7.1.1 or earlier will, from next September, no longer trust websites with the Let’s Encrypt certificates installed. This problem can also impact apps that gather data from websites using a Let’s Encrypt certificate.

Unfortunately, if you are a website owner using Let’s Encrypt, a third of all Android devices still in use fall into this category. That means that from September 2021, around 850 million devices, mainly smartphones, will start seeing certificate warning errors when their users visit your site. According to Let’s Encrypt, that works out at between 1 per cent and 5 per cent of the traffic that visits the websites they serve.

A temporary solution

For anyone with an affected Android device, there are three potential solutions: if possible, upgrade the OS to version 7.1.1 or later; if not, install the Firefox Mobile web browser app which accepts the Let’s Encrypt root certificate and works with Android versions 5 and later; or, alternatively, buy a newer device.

Let’s Encrypt is working hard to find a solution that will let websites using their certificates work with these older devices; however, with time running out, those concerned about losing traffic may need to replace their Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate, at least for the time being, with one that will be recognised by all Android devices as well as by other OS.

If you are considering installing an alternative SSL certificate on your website, Anteelo offers a range of SSLs to suit the needs of different organisations. What’s more, we’ll take away the hassle and install and test it for you. For more details, visit our SSL Certificates page.

The Hospitality Industry and Information Technology

Posted on 09/05/202016/06/2021 by Tushar

Though it’s been a difficult year for hospitality, an increasing number of businesses are making use of the latest technologies to help them adapt to the changing landscape. It is being used to cut costs, improve the customer experience, comply with COVID regulations and to provide insights for development and revenue opportunities. Here, we’ll look at the ways IT is transforming the hospitality industry.

Cutting costs

Hospitality venues are making increased use of the internet of Things to save on energy costs. Devices, such as temperature sensors and smart thermostats, are being installed to control intelligent HVAC systems so that the costs of heating and cooling are kept to a minimum. Similarly, smart LED lighting systems that use sensors to adapt to natural daylight levels or gauge occupancy can cut lighting costs by 80%.

Beyond this, today’s energy management systems make use of AI and machine learning to analyse energy consumption, weather patterns, peak demands and even thermodynamics to optimise energy use. Additionally, the IoT can also be used to monitor the health of systems, ensuring that faulty machinery or appliances are detected and mended before the cost spirals or they break down and affect amenities for guests.

As these systems are cloud-based, they can be managed centrally, so that businesses with multiple hospitality venues can have unified control of their operations. The systems can even be managed remotely over the internet

Improving the customer experience

Technology is beginning to have a significant impact on enhancing the customer experience, with guests being able to use websites and smartphone apps for a wide range of purposes. Today, these include remote booking and checkouts, making reservations in restaurants and spas, accessing services such as room service, reserving parking spaces, unlocking hotel rooms, controlling smart room appliances, communicating with staff, paying for products and services and so forth.

Web based apps and smart devices are also being deployed to improve how staff work, speeding up service, automating processes and eradicating human error – all of which improves customer satisfaction.

Providing insights

Website and app interactions, together with monitoring from IoT devices, produce vast quantities of data which can be analysed to provide detailed business insights. They help hospitality businesses predict peak occupancy, understand how demand for different services changes over time and give a clearer picture of which guests are making use of which services. This can help them better deploy staff, improve inventory, implement more effective marketing strategies and develop new and existing services in line with customer expectations: all of which can help improve efficiency, cut costs and increase revenue.

Storing all that data in the cloud provides hospitality businesses with numerous advantages. The data is secure, helping businesses achieve compliance; there is easy scalability, so that as data grows and demand increases, the company won’t get caught out by a lack of IT resources; cloud-native apps make it easy to undertake data analytics and make use of AI and machine learning; and, perhaps most importantly, as websites, apps and IoT devices all need the public cloud for connectivity, its makes sense to store the data they collect there too.

Helping with the pandemic

Technology is increasingly important for the hospitality industry during the pandemic. By using the internet to offer takeaways and deliveries, for example, restaurants and cafés have been able to stay working during the lockdown and have supplemented reduced capacity once reopened. From a safety perspective, the use of smartphone apps has enabled customers to order prior to arrival, cutting down the amount of time they spend in the restaurant and the number of interactions needed with staff.

For all hospitality venues, there’s an obligation to help the NHS Track and Trace Service by collecting customers’ personal information as they enter. This information needs to be kept for a period of 21 days so that, should there be an outbreak of coronavirus or an infected person being on the premises, all other customers can be contacted. Collecting this information online, either via the website or app means the data is more manageable and secure and can be more easily passed on if required by the Track and Trace Service. It also removes the unhygienic practice of asking guests to fill in paper registers where they often handle the same piece of paper and pen as other guests.

Conclusion

Although hospitality is not a sector most people usually associate with cloud-based technology, many businesses within the industry have begun to see the advantages of its adoption. Advanced websites, smartphone apps, smart lighting and HVAC systems, etc, have reduced costs, improved customer experiences, provided valuable insights, helped businesses survive the pandemic and comply with COVID regulations.

The Impact of Cloud Hosting on Retail

Posted on 06/05/202016/06/2021 by Tushar

Technology is changing the retail landscape at a dramatic rate. The proportion of online sales continues to grow (from 2.8% in 2006 to 32.8% in 2020 – source: ONS), there are more ways to sell than ever before and the lines between online and in-store shopping are becoming increasingly blurred. To stay competitive, many retail are now adopting the cloud to free them from the constraints of in-house IT systems, enable them to be more agile and let them take advantage of the latest technologies. Here, we’ll look at how cloud is transforming retail.

Operational integration

One of the major advantages of cloud over legacy in-house IT systems is that it enables data to be easily unified and systems like communications, marketing, inventory and shipping to be integrated. This provides businesses with a greater understanding of their business and more control over their operations. Instead of separate, disjointed systems, they are provided with a business-wide IT infrastructure that provides operational seamlessness.

As a result, companies are able to make operational savings, teams can collaborate better, new approaches can be developed and customer experiences can be improved.

Better visibility of supply chain and inventory

With all parts of the business connected to the cloud, retailers can have company-wide visibility of their supply chain and inventory. The cloud-based technology, blockchain, for example, offers retailers a clearer overview of the supply chain, giving them the ability to track the origin and movement of goods and create financial audit trails.

With inventory, businesses can have stock information in real-time, ensuring they have up to date information of what’s in stock and where it is. This can help them maintain stock levels, offer customers click and collect from individual stores and give the company a better understanding of what is and isn’t selling.

Seamless supplier integration

From the procurement of stock to shipping and aftersales, retailers collaborate with numerous partners to provide services to their customers. Cloud technology enables retail and their suppliers to integrate systems, providing real-time status information. Retailers can know where their incoming consignments and outgoing deliveries are, access data from outsourced communications partners or loyalty programs and share documents with suppliers.

What’s more, some of this information can be used to enhance the customer experience, for example, sharing delivery tracking information and enabling customers to modify delivery instructions en-route, in real-time.

Personalised customer experience

Not only are customers attracted to retailers that offer personalisation; many are willing to pay more for the experience. Personalisation means the shopping experience is tailored to individual customers; they are given product recommendations and offers that are relevant to their wants and needs and this saves them a great deal of time finding the right items. This convenience makes them loyal shoppers and increases LTV.

The essential ingredient for personalisation is customer data, ideally a complete map of the customer journey. It is here where cloud plays an important role, providing real-time data on browsing and purchasing histories and linking it to all the other information the business holds on a customer to provide product recommendations and other services that are personalised for the individual.

Business intel

While retailers gather a lot of valuable data, making use of it has, historically, been hampered because it was stored in different departmental silos, sometimes on separate IT systems. Cloud enables data to be unified, stored centrally and accessed by anyone who is permitted to use it.

As a result, datasets that had previously been kept isolated can be brought together to provide a far more detailed analysis. With cloud’s ability to offer big data analytics, together with advanced technologies like AI and machine learning, the capacity to gain new insights has never been greater. Retail that use the cloud have benefitted from finding ways to save money, improve and automate operations and deliver new and better services for their customers. What’s more, the cloud enables them to do this quicker than ever before, giving the ability to react swiftly to changes in the marketplace.

A cost-effective IT solution

As retailers become increasingly reliant on IT, many have struggled with the cost. Cloud has enabled these businesses to shrink IT costs considerably. With cloud vendors providing the IT infrastructure, retailers no longer need to purchase and maintain expensive in-house datacentres of their own. The cloud’s pay-as-you-go payment structure is also beneficial, enabling retailers to scale up or down as demand requires, while only paying for the resources they use. And there’s no limit to the resources that are at a retailer’s disposal, should it need them.

Additionally, there are no hardware maintenance costs to pay and the service is managed, freeing up time for IT staff to work on business oriented projects. Even software is less expensive, with many cloud-based apps being open-source and vendors able to offer the most popular proprietary apps at lower costs.

Conclusion

Cloud has become the go-to solution for retails, with migration accelerating significantly since the pandemic. Its ability to unify and integrate systems and data and make use of modern technologies like data analytics, AI and machine learning has provided retailers with better intelligence to improve all aspects of their businesses, cut costs and enhance user experience.