7 Actionable Tactics To Get Into The App Store

App Store Duopoly is breaking down, it means, this is high time to learn app marketing again. | by Nihar Pachpande | Fifth P | Medium

Today’s smartphone market resembles a lot to someone who is ready to be a part of any workforce. To be very particular about the apps, it’s the dream of everyone to get their app noticed by Apple or Android. It’s the same scenario as in the case of any job aspirant looking forward to submit his or her resume to a potential organization whom he or she have never met but aspire to work with. You have to follow the standard guidelines laid out by Apple or Android and if you successfully beat the first round and your apps gets featured on their panels, then you would be flooded with revenues. Below we have mentioned few of the basic tips how to achieve the success in the above mentioned respect.

1. Be Prepared for the Big Leagues

While targeting Apple or Android, ensure you follow each and every guidelines. You may face rejection in the beginning, but be ready for the improvisations that would come upon you. In order to avoid app store rejection,be very particular about labeling your app beta.

2. Give your App a Unique Name

It is extremely important to choose a unique name for your app because afterwards you won’t be able to change the name as to change the name you need to resubmit your app, which in turn will result, into waste of time, money and effort.

3. High Loading Speed

The smartphone industry lives and swears by the speed and today there is a tug of war between the app makers. The users should get the blazing speed when they use your app. For this, you need to test your app on various instruments and devices.

4. Loyalty is the key

Expressing even the slightest kindness for the rivals can cost you a great amount. You should never and never mention the other apps and brands you support during your showcase. It would result in weakening your position and hence it is a big no no.

5. Ensure Proper Attribution

Use the logo of Apple very carefully and make sure it is there for embedded property like maps. The rules of the Google, too are quite detailed and it is very obvious that the Logo of Apple and Google should be used in a proper way and should not be abused in any manner.

6. Use Standard User Interface

Please abide by the UI guidelines of your app store as this avoids user frustration and helps you keep away from being rejected by the marketplace.

7. Abide by Appstore Guidelines

AppStores have detailed submission guidelines and hence it is advisable to collect all the vital information associated to you related AppStore because having the detailed information about app guidelines can help you in achieving your goals. Once you are through with gathering of all the data and done with the drafting phase, go for – test, test and test.

Launching your App in the marketplace is one of the key factors in success of any app. And, it requires the same dedication and hard work as the other tasks require. Though, the initial steps are always the toughest one in any venture, but as the time passes things keep smoothening once you spend a considerable time and effort. Regardless of the fact, what app you develop, your app needs to leave a deep impact on your users and the above mentioned facts would help you greatly.

AppInventiv Technologies is the top-notch mobile app development company that has expertise in building marvellous mobile apps related to various domains like enterprise apps, travel, hyperlocal, logistics and many more. AppInventiv is also a mcommerce app development company that a great expertise in building m-commerce apps.

Advantages Of Custom Mobile Apps Development

10 Benefits of Custom Mobile Application Development - O2I

Making a website is half the work on the internet, making apps is the other half.  The apps make the site extensible and improve its functionality. It means the website can now do more things than it could before.

Adjust Scalability To Suit Your Business

Scalability 101 - How to Run a Scalable Business

This is important since you need to adjust your business to the growing customer base. By keeping your website hidden, you will not grow your business in its entirety but will only achieve partial growth. This means, there will remain some aspects of the business that has not come to light and so you will not achieve full profit though you are increasing your turnover.

Keep Control Of Your Apps

Protect your bank account and keep control of your phone; delete these Android apps now! - PhoneArena

If the third party app developer of a sudden decides to stop the app, you feel left out on a limb. You need to find an alternate solution. By designing your own apps, you gain control over how the site behaves. This helps you to control the responses which are the main aspect of interaction with the customer base. The customer develops a perspective of your site by the responses you make and if you trust a third-party, then the responses will not be adequate and the customer will take his business elsewhere.

Maintain Personalized Contact

The Importance of Personalization in Customer Service | by Kritagya Pandey | Becoming Human: Artificial Intelligence Magazine

When you develop your own apps, you can keep up the personalized contact with your customers. This means you are able to make promotions and give discounts as per your discretion. If you want you can give discounts to people who buy from you for $200 and if you see this is working you may want to make further improvements.

Easy To Maintain The Project Cycle

The 4 Project Life Cycle Phases (With Templates For Each Stage) - Venngage

Since you develop the apps to suit the present condition, you are able to maintain strict control over the deadlines and project progress.  Since all the apps are your own, you can set the limits and the parameters so they are always functioning in the best way.

Your Own App Will Help You Harness The Mobile Market

How To Make An App - Create An App In 12 Easy Steps

The growing mobile base users’ numbers is reflective of the expanding customer base. now days many of Top App Development Companies increase customer view ratio By designing the app to be compliant to the mobile segment, you can tap into the market with ease. If you use a third-party app, you cannot tweak it to respond in the way you like. You may need specific controls to keep the interest of the customer focused on your product.

Keep Your Product Competitive

Mobile search UX: Best practices for in app search design | Algolia Blog

By getting a feel of the market, you get to know what is lacking and where you have to concentrate to beat the competition. You can add these features so that your product is always much sought after.

Make the apps that help you in your business by studying the market. The best way forward is to make apps as versatile as possible and then tweak them as you go along.

Designing An On-Demand App For Food Ordering Business?

A Step by Step Guide for On-demand App Development - SoftwareSuggest

Reasons To Implement Food Ordering App

On-Demand Food Delivery App Development Company

Today, in the digital era, smart-phone has become an integral part of our life and it is really fascinating to know that business in every industrial domain is looking to have its online presence. People love to browse their phone at every second for checking out general information, latest news, book cabs, movie tickets and much more. Hence, because of such scenario strong mobile app presence has become necessity! And when it comes to food business, then unique food ordering app becomes the ultimate platform to generate the leads.

What Characterizes On-Demand Delivery Marketplaces?

  • mobile-first user experience
  • fast delivery of products or services
  • cheaper prices than traditional service providers or sellers
  • independent contractors working part-time
  • friction-less payment
  • actionable rating systems

List of Top On-Demand Food Delivery Startups Across the Globe

With the food delivery app, customers no longer have to yell their orders on the phone and explain their orders to the restaurants. No more worries about missed orders due to busy phone lines or lack of resources to monitor the phone. Additionally, the local searches via mobile app results into higher conversion rates which brings ROI for your business. With the help of GPS Tracker, end users can search nearby restaurants to order food from the single mobile app; without providing their address or any other information. Application can automatically trace the address and food delivery becomes easy.

So, you must take the advantage of this mobile trend to boost customer engagement and improve dining experience.

To solve the purpose, offering them smarter features like:-

  • Get niche and clear Menu display (along with prices)
  • Easy navigation to click and order- within a minute
  • Display picture that depicts what your customer may expect

But, are mobile apps really worth to develop or restaurants can deliver same experience without them?

Let’s zero down in detail….

How content marketing drives more revenue for your brand - DailyClicks

  • Drives more revenue: When a person is looking for the good place to dine-in, you obviously wish to provide an effortless way to cater them apart from yummy food. In such scenario, mobile application serves as the best engine to increase the sales and your customers will always appreciate the convenient opportunity to deliver the order through the app and get their favourite food in just matter of seconds. Apart from this, you will enjoy your hike in sales with the enlarged orders like sides, salads, add-ons, desserts etc. which always goes well through mobile ordering. Additionally, ordering online is convenient option as customers love to explore all the menu options and may spend more than they would when ordering over phone or in-person.

Finding Your Target Audience through Social Media Marketing

  • Wide customer base: Having higher mass of target audience is just another reason to succeed! Anyone who owns a smart-phone can be your customer… Students who looks to order pizza, burgers, chips; Employees who forgot their lunch or loves to order from good restaurant; Millennial who hang out with their gang at night and craves for midnight food; Family get-together who wish Chinese, Mexican etc. during party and the list goes on.. Today, idea of driving for restaurant no longer seems to be interesting for folks and they would love to opt for mobile ordering options over other options especially for the restaurants offering quicker service. Mobile app promotes social sharing which can help to grow your customers and when they share positive reviews on social media, it ultimately boosts the reputation leading to the business profits. This could be an amazing way to stay in the customer’s mind as they check social media accounts each day and you can keep them updated through their social media profiles.

 Order Accuracy Improves And Easy To Use:

Sorry, please can you repeat?

I didn’t understand… Pardon please?

Ohh!! you just said tacos?

These surprised expressions are generally very familiar for anyone who takes order over phone. Misunderstandings are likely to occur and these results in the angry customers, waste of food, money and efforts which ultimately results into negative feedback. With online orders there are fewer chances of mistakes as customer makes everything clear from their end.

Implementing new technology may sound BIG but it is very simple than you think and it always offer win-win approach for both owner and customer. Easy to use food ordering apps are shaped to give customers quick turnaround time and minimal stress which in-turn enables the restaurants to welcome a flood of orders in less time.

  • Cultivates loyal customers: Brand loyalty is always important and with the food delivery mobile app, you can always have repeat business. If you treat each customer by providing them personalized experience they are sure to take visit of your mobile app again and again. Encouraging customer to comment, share and refer by providing some reward points enables the higher reach and strong visibility of your brand. Having an easy way to pre-order, pay and collect goes a long way of building long-term relationship. Providing push notifications regarding offer like 30% on Tuesday for dinner encourages to use your food ordering mobile app repetitively which ultimately creates the pillar of loyal customers.

Do You Think You Can Attract Customers Like That Ever, Through Phone Calls? Of Course Not!!!

Reach a wide customer base for you via email by Devpreetbatabya | Fiverr

Example: Skip The Dishes connects foodaholics with restaurants and local Food Couriers through proprietary algorithm-based dispatch system. With this app, restaurants receive orders electronically via mobile or tablet application, provide an estimated completion time and algorithmically-manages restaurant delivery fleet. This delivery system enables real-time monitoring and management of the customer order, delivery status and ultimately provides customer satisfaction. This service provide them an opportunity to partner with the good restaurants for ordering, and more rapidly advance its business volumes by being able to focus on delivery  both from an online ordering portal, and also orders directly from the mobile app.

Conclusion

Food ordering apps are gaining momentum in recent times and if you have not yet integrated your business with the food delivery app, it’s time to do so…

Any ideas whirling in your mind or looking to develop the next mobile app with us? Connect with us today! We will make your idea into reality…

10 Benefits of VPS Hosting for SMBs

VPS Hosting: Is it the best hosting for WordPress blogs? - iDeal BlogHub

Over the last few years, VPS has become the hosting solution of choice for SMBs. Offering all the benefits of a small, dedicated server but at a fraction of the cost, its features far outstrip those of shared hosting and give small and medium-sized companies an affordable way to expand their capabilities. In this post, we‘ll look at the benefits of VPS and why you should consider it.

What is a VPS?

A VPS is a virtual private server which has been created using virtualisation software. Sort of a ‘ghost in the machine’, it is housed on a physical server but remains completely independent from it. Unlike shared hosting, it is also completely independent of any other VPS which may be housed on the same physical server.

Benefit 1: Improved reliability

Understanding MTBF and Reliability – An Introduction

The independence of the VPS from other virtual servers on the physical hardware means it does not share its resources. Compared with shared hosting, this makes VPS far more reliable. On shared hosting servers, the traffic and computing activities of other customers can impact on all the others – if two or three customers are experiencing heavy traffic, for example, everyone else might be affected. This can’t happen with a VPS.

Benefit 2: Dedicated resources

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Just like with a dedicated server, all the resources of your VPS are dedicated entirely to you. What’s more, the amount of disk space, CPU and RAM available for a VPS is significantly more than you get with a shared hosting account, meaning you can handle more traffic and run more apps.

Benefit 3: Increased performance

How to Increase the Performance of Your Motorcycle | BikeAdvice.in

With more resources dedicated entirely to your business needs, you get far better server performance. Improved processing power and capacity means your website can load quicker on users’ browsers which has been shown to improve user engagement, increase conversion rates and boost your search engine ranking.

In addition, it will mean any processes you run on your server will also run quicker and have less impact on other operations taking place. Your website won’t run slowly, for example, while you back up your files or send out bulk emails.

Benefit 4: Software freedom

When you use shared hosting, you have no choice over the type of operating system you can run, everyone on the shared server has to use the same one. With a VPS, you are free to choose the operating system which best suits your needs.

At the same time, some shared hosting accounts limit the types of software you can use. Some apps are not acceptable because they may be resource heavy or because they may cause conflicts with other applications. With VPS you are free to run any applications you choose.

Benefit 5: Root access

Rooting for Newbies: How to gain root access - Android Community

Opting for VPS will enable you to have root access to your server. This gives users full access to your VPS account giving you greater control over how your server is configured and over any application installations. These actions can be undertaken via your control panel.

Benefit 6: Fully managed service

What is a 'Fully Managed Service'? | Dimensions

If you thought updating to a VPS meant having to manage your own server, you’ll be pleased to know that most hosting companies offer managed VPS hosting where they undertake this responsibility on your behalf. A good provider will maintain and update your hardware, the virtualisation software and your operating system. They will also apply any security patches on your behalf.

Benefit 7: Comprehensive technical support

We offer comprehensive technical support for all products we install

One of the main advantages of some VPS hosting is that it comes with 24/7 technical support, this means that should you have an issue with your server or require assistance with some of the more technical aspects of hosting, a technical expert will always be on hand to deal with the issue. At eUKhost, our support team also provides security and application performance consultancy to help keep your VPS running optimally.

Benefit 8: Server monitoring

Best Server Monitoring Tools: Software Review

With the increased need for security against cyberattacks, it’s good to know that some VPS providers will actively monitor your server and associated hardware for any threats. Server monitoring ensures that threats such as hacking, malware and DDoS attacks are dealt with swiftly before they can do any damage.

Benefit 9: Multiple domain hosting

Many companies run more than one website and although this can be achieved on shared hosting accounts, it often means that already limited resources are stretched even further. The more websites you run on a shared hosting account, the less reliable each will be.

The much greater resources available on VPS means that multiple domain hosting can take place without any performance issues arising.

Benefit 10: Cloud data backups

Cloud Storage - How is the Data stored on the Cloud?

Backups should be an essential part of your disaster recovery plan, so it is important that any VPS hosting provider offers a backup solution that lets you configure automated, scheduled backups to meet your business needs. Solutions such as R1Soft enable you to safely back up your entire VPS server in the cloud meaning that in the case of a disaster, you’ll be able to recover in no time at all.

Conclusion

VPS hosting provides an affordable way to upgrade from shared hosting to a solution that offers many of the features of a dedicated server: more resources, increased control and greater flexibility. Add to this the managed services and technical support that comes with a VPS and it’s the ideal solution for small and medium-sized businesses looking to improve their IT capabilities.

5 Affordable Ways To Improve Network Security

Exploring Network Security (+8 Ways to Protect Your Network)

Cyberattacks are a real and dangerous threat to businesses of all sizes. Criminals don’t care whether you’re a one-person outfit or a multinational, if you have vulnerabilities, they will seek to exploit them. So, how do you improve security and do it inexpensively? In this post, we‘ll look at a range of ways to make your business more secure without having to spend a small fortune in the process.

1. Keep informed about security issues

52 Key Cybersecurity Tips: Your Playbook for Unrivaled Security - Varonis

Security intelligence is essential if you are going to stay one step ahead of the criminals. If there are new and emerging threats out there, you want to know about them early so that you can put measures in place to protect your systems.

For this reason, you should make sure you subscribe to security updates from your hardware and application vendors and make sure that you read them. This costs you nothing but time but can give you vital information about vulnerabilities you may have and how to protect your company against them, such as patching or reconfiguration.

2. Keep software up to date

Keep Your Software Up-to-date! - MailStore

Vulnerabilities are found in software all the time. Hackers constantly look for new ways to break in and, in response, app developers release updates to close the security holes. If any of the apps you use have an update, therefore, it is absolutely crucial from a security aspect, that they are updated as soon as possible. The longer you leave them, the greater chance you have of becoming a victim.

Luckily, many applications can be configured to update automatically. From operating systems on your employees’ laptops to website plugins, setting up automatic updates means you’ll never have to manually manage the process and your system will be secured as soon as the updates are released. If you have a managed IT solution, such as with shared, VPS, dedicated and cloud hosting, your hosting provider will take care of your OS updating and patching for you.

3. Manage wireless networks securely

Three Ways to Secure Wireless Networks - JumpCloud

Many companies use wireless connectivity and it is particularly important for those who have customers who want Wi-Fi connections whilst on their premises, for example, hotels and shopping malls.

One of the first security measures you should put in place is to set up different Wi-Fi networks for business use and customer use. You cannot guarantee that all your customers are going to use the internet in a secure way; keeping the separate networks means if a customer downloads a virus, it can’t spread to your business operations.

The other key factor in securing wireless networks is password protection. Ideally, business networks, whether wireless or not, should be protected by multifactor authentication, using things like smart card access control technology. You should also have robust password policies in force for all staff.

For separate customer networks. Make sure strong passwords are used. Ideally, you should change these passwords regularly, but many customers prefer it if their smartphones connect automatically every time they visit and this has advantageous uses for marketing and data gathering for the venues. For this reason, you need to enforce strong passwords.

For those offering remote access to the business’ network, One of the most secure things you can do is set up a VPN and to ensure that, where possible, data is encrypted.

4. Keep employees trained

Top 60 Employee Engagement Ideas from the Experts - PageUp

The most fundamental staff training is induction training for new staff who need to learn about the way IT is managed and kept secure within your enterprise. They need to know about the threats you face, the measures you have in place and their obligations in maintaining a secure environment. This includes everything from spotting dodgy looking emails, stopping the kids playing games on a company laptop, to more serious matters about handling personal data. As new threats appear, update sessions should be provided to keep them informed of developments.

Further up the chain, IT staff and managers need to be aware of what their roles are and what procedures need to be followed in order to comply with security regulation and what to do in case of a breach.

5. Use the best tools

18 Best Kanban Tools To Use In 2021 - nTask

Using the right tools is one of the most important aspects of keeping your network safe. This includes using correctly configured firewalls, malware and vulnerability scanning, remote backups, SSL certificates, email encryption, and email spam and virus filtering. If you accept online payments, you should also be PCI compliant or use a service provider with a PCI compliant hosting service. If your network is hosted by a service provider, the majority of these tools should be available as part of their service, either as part of your package or as an add-on.

Conclusion

The need for security is more important than ever. The selling of hacking tools on the dark web means that the number of criminal gangs getting hold of them has grown significantly over the last few years and new threats are discovered every day. Hopefully, the measures we have shown you here will enable you to keep your systems more secure without you needing to spend a fortune in the process.

5 Reasons Your Business Needs Social Media

A Chronological History of Social Media
From multinationals to people selling their second-hand gear, every type of business is taking advantage of social media – and benefiting from it. So, why aren’t you? If you’ve not seen the value in running a social media campaign for your business, perhaps the points we discuss in this post will convince you to think again.

1. Grow your audience

Five Tips To Grow Your Audience For Your Digital Business

The more people who know about your business, the more chance you have of getting new customers. Setting up social media accounts and publishing posts enables you to promote your business, for free, to a wide range of people.

While it does take time to build up a following, posting content that people will like, share and comment on is the best way to start growing an audience. When people do these things, their friends and followers will see your posts too and, in turn, they can like and share with others, enabling you to reach a much wider audience.

An important general rule when posting on social media is not to focus entirely on your products and services. Social media is about being social – so, to garner the most interest and get the most engagement, make sure you post about other things, too. You can even share engaging posts from others. Besides promoting yourself, the aim should be to increase other people’s enjoyment of social media or add value to their use of it. If you do this, more users will take note of you, follow you and like you.

2. Making new connections

Making New Connections | FaskenTech.com

Once you have begun to develop an audience of followers, you are in the position to connect with them. You can share posts inviting them to comment on your products and services, offer them deals, invite them to events and so forth.

Just as importantly, when people make comments on your posts, you should reply. This can really help you build new and potentially promising relationships that increase interest in your company, not just with those who you reply to but with others who read your comments.

3. Develop your brand

Building a brand strategy: Essentials for long-term success

Your brand is what makes you unique. It’s not just the products you sell or the services you offer, it’s how you conduct your business, the values that underpin your operations, the quality of the products and services you provide and the image you project to the public.

Social media enables you to promote all these branding elements so that your followers begin to get a thorough understanding of the kind of company you are and why they should become customers. So, while it is important to get people familiar with your branding (logo, etc.), it is equally important to get your values across. If you believe in great service, only use organic products, make everything by hand, or sell only the coolest gear, get the message out there.

4. Grow your influence

3 Ways to Use Your Influence to Help Others

Social media influencers, those with millions of followers, are very powerful people. A single tweet from these individuals can turn an unheard of product into new fashion or condemn a fashionable product into the annals of history.

While businesses don’t quite muster the same leverage as these mega influencers, they are able to influence their followers, their industry and their market niches. And one way businesses can achieve this is through establishing themselves as experts in their fields.

How do you do this? There are two important elements. The first is sharing your success. If you are an expert at something, people will expect you to be successful, so promoting your successes makes people believe that what you have to say is valid. At the same time, you need to share your expertise with others. Posting ‘how to’ blog posts and videos on social media is the best way to do this as your expertise is being used to help people solve problems. People who need those problems solving quickly become followers. If solving those problems sometimes involves buying your products or using your services, then even better.

If you need convincing, then ask why celebrity chefs make so much money from their own branded products and restaurants? It is because they have been sharing their cooking expertise for years on TV. Those who liked the TV recipes will presume that the food they sell in supermarkets and restaurants will be just as good and go out and buy it.

5. Send customers to your website

6 Email Marketing Tactics Your Customers Will Love | Unbounce

At the end of the day, the principal aim of social media is to generate new business and for most companies, the key place to do this is on their website. This is where you will have created the landing pages, product descriptions and calls to action to encourage the user to buy.

It is important, therefore, that you put links on your social media posts that send consumers to the relevant pages on your site. You don’t need to do this for all your posts, but for those for which it is pertinent, such as posts about products, you should.

Conclusion

Whether you are big or small, local or national, creating a social media profile and developing a posting strategy can have a positive effect on your business. It helps people know you exist, lets you build relationships, develops brand awareness, establishes you as an expert and drives new customers to your website.

5 Key Elements of Managing Cloud Data

 

To help you manage data effectively, here are the five key elements of cloud data management.

The collection of data is essential for today’s businesses, it is what enables them to be innovative and helps them stay agile. There is an increasing amount of data being used, too: customer data, product data, competitor data, employee records, system logs, supply chain data, bespoke applications and so forth. And all this data needs to be easily accessible while, at the same time, remaining highly secure.

Problems with data

The growing volume of data being collected and its importance for business growth can cause problems for enterprises. Companies are now becoming data hoarders, storing every piece of information they can glean with the hope that one day it will have value for them. The nature of that data is also becoming increasingly complex as companies add new systems, software and devices.

At the same time, it is important to recognize the need to control how data is used by employees to prevent them from unwittingly deleting that which is not essential for them but which is critical for the business – or to stop those with a grudge from wiping data deliberately.

To help you manage data effectively so that you can get the right balance between security and ease of access, here are the five key elements of cloud data management.

1. Managing unused data

Leveraging Data Management Techniques to make use of Data Assets

A lot of the data that a company collects won’t be needed all the time. For most of its existence is will be held in storage doing nothing. However, for compliance and other business purposes, it will need protecting. For this reason, it should be behind a firewall and, importantly, be encrypted.

Encrypting unused data ensures that if it is stolen, the perpetrators, or anyone they sell it too, won’t be able to decipher it. This helps protect you not only against hackers but also from employees who make blunders or those with more devious objectives. Often, the weak spots in any system are the devices used by employees. Hackers use these to worm their way into the more valuable part of a company’s network. Encryption helps prevent this from happening to stored data – especially when there is limited access to the decryption key.

2. Controlling access to data

What is access control? A key component of data security | CSO Online

Whilst it is crucial that staff are able to access all the data they need to carry out their roles, it is also vital that you have control over how that data is accessed. The starting point here should be to determine precisely who needs access to what data to carry out their work. From there, you can implement individual access rights that prevent unauthorised users from accessing data they are not entitled to see.

Using logical access control will ensure that anyone trying to access data will be prevented from doing so unless their ID is authenticated. At the same time, such systems will log every data transaction, enabling you to trace issues to their source should problems arise. Indeed, such systems can even check the security of the devices being used to access the data to make sure they are free from malware. With the use of AI, it is now even possible to analyse the behaviour of users and their devices to identify if suspicious activity is taking place.

3. Protecting data during transfer

What Are The Top Secure Data Transmission Methods? | Penta Security Systems Inc.

Another weakness is data in transit. Just as websites need to use SSL to protect payment details during online purchases, businesses need to implement a secure, encrypted and authenticated channel between a user’s device and the data that is being requested. It is important here to make sure that the data remains encrypted while it is being transferred so that if it is intercepted on route, it cannot be read. A key factor in protecting data in transit is your choice of firewall. At the same time, you should also consider using a VPN.

4. Checking data as it arrives

Are You Sure You Have Good Data?. Best practices for detecting bad data… | by Brad Caffey | HomeAway Tech Blog | Medium

One often overlooked area of security is incoming data. Businesses need to know that when any data arrives, it is what it purports to be. You need to ensure that it is authentic and that it hasn’t been maliciously modified on route. Putting measures in place to guarantee data integrity is important to negate the risk of infection or data breach. This includes email, where phishing attacks are a major problem, fooling employees into thinking they are the genuine article so that when they are opened or links are clicked on, the company’s security is compromised.

5. Secure backups

For secure data backup, here's how to do the 3-2-1 rule right | Network World

In the event of a disaster, a data backup can be the only thing which will get your company up and running quickly enough to stop it going out of business. Remote, secure backups are critical for disaster recovery operations and should be a key element of any business’ data management strategy.

To protect yourself more thoroughly in the cloud, it is best not to store your backup data in the same place as you store the active data. If a hacker gets access to one, they’ll also have access to the other. Keeping them in separate accounts creates another layer of security. To do this, simply create a separate backup account with your provider. Ensure that backup schedules are made as frequently as is needed.

Conclusion

With businesses becoming increasingly reliant on data to carry out their day to day operations and build for long-term success, it is crucial that data is managed effectively. In this post, we‘ve looked at the five key areas for data management in the cloud: storing unused data, controlling access, protecting data during transfer, checking incoming data and creating backups. Hopefully, the points we’ve raised will help you manage your cloud data more effectively and securely.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Multi Cloud Computing

Every Little Thing You Need to Know About Cloud Computing

Multi cloud computing, where multiple cloud services are put to use to create a single overarching infrastructure, is becoming increasingly popular amongst larger enterprises. Many companies already use more than one cloud provider and over 30% of them use upwards of four. By the end of the decade, it is believed nearly all enterprises will have adopted a multi cloud strategy of some kind, as it gives them greater flexibility and even more potential for rapid innovation and deployment.

However, with other possible options available, such as developing a hybrid cloud infrastructure, it is important that those who make the decisions are fully aware of the advantages and disadvantages of adopting a multi cloud strategy and in this post, we seek to highlight what these are.

The advantages of multi cloud

6 Ways Kubernetes Simplifies Multi-Cloud Management

By far the main benefit of creating a multi-cloud infrastructure is that it provides enterprises with the flexibility needed to innovate at speed. The reason for this is that it doesn’t tie them to the specific set of services provided by individual cloud providers. As a result, the way an enterprise chooses to innovate its own applications and services is not restricted by the limitations of a single host.

If a company relies on a single host, it may find it is adequate for the vast majority of its needs. However, if using that host means the company needs to make compromises on development then its innovations may end up being curtailed. Rather than go through the trauma of migrating all its services to another host that can help it innovate in the way it wants to, multi cloud enables it to run different services with different providers, each one offering the most advantageous platform for its specific workload. In this way, a multi cloud infrastructure is the best solution for developers looking for platforms that meet the specific needs of individual applications or services.

One example of this could be with GDPR compliance. An enterprise that uses cloud services based outside of the EU might find it easier to comply with GDPR if it used an EU based provider for the storage and processing of data pertaining to EU citizens.  Another example is with performance. Using a cloud provider with a datacentre in a particular geographical location could improve performance within that region simply because of its proximity to users.

Another advantage of multi cloud is its ability to cut storage costs. Despite the price of data storage coming down, the ever-increasing volumes of data being collected means enterprises are still spending significant amounts on storage. However, the competition between providers that forces prices down means that those with multi cloud infrastructures can easily shift their data to the cheapest provider whenever prices change.

The final benefit of a multi cloud strategy is that it reduces the potential for vendor lock-in. The main risk here is that an enterprise can become dependent on the technology employed by a particular provider. However, by making the appropriate choices when developing an infrastructure and finding another provider where a compatible, redundant platform can be created, this can be overcome.

The disadvantages of multi cloud

The Use of Multi-Cloud: Pros and Cons

The obvious disadvantage of using a multi cloud infrastructure is that the wider the range of cloud services an enterprise uses, the more complex it gets to manage. Failure to manage the system adequately can increase the costs of using such a system and could affect business agility.

One critical area which needs to be managed effectively is security and a multi cloud strategy can make this more challenging. By using a variety of public cloud services, the line of defence runs across more than one single provider, so it is essential that robustly secure networking and security measures are put in place. Areas which need close scrutiny include finding ways to monitor across different cloud platforms and ensuring that governance is comprehensive and robust.

A final issue with multi cloud is how to manage redundancy and high availability effectively and efficiently when using more than one provider. In instances where this is not efficiently managed, there can be the potential for financial wastage.

Conclusion

While multi cloud infrastructures are more complex and provide a bigger challenge for management, they do offer significant benefits. In a market where everyone is utilising technology to outpace their competitors, the need to innovate and deploy quickly can be the difference between survival and going under. A multi cloud infrastructure enables enterprises to remain a force to be reckoned with, providing the essential flexibility that is so crucial for rapid innovation.

3 Technologies That Are Driving IoT Development

How to Develop An App for the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is beginning to take the world by storm, but it is three other technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and fog computing, which are helping to drive its development and make it even more useful. When these technologies are combined, they are able to radically transform what IoT is capable of. Here, we’ll look at each of these technologies to show their importance for IoT development.

AI and the IoT

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Internet of things (IoT) for a Better Future

IoT devices are often referred to as smart devices. But actually, on their own, they are not that smart. They can take sensory readings, share that information through their internet connection and follow preprogrammed instructions or carry out tasks that are sent to them.

To make them truly smart, AI is needed to analyse all the data that IoT devices collect. And they can be made even smarter when machine learning is used as it gives them the ‘intelligence’ to make informed decisions based on previous learning. In this sense, IoT devices are like primitive animals which can sense and act, however, when AI technology is added, it is like giving them a brain.

Combining IoT and AI offers enormous potential. In the NHS, for example, it will enable patients at home to use IoT devices to monitor a range of important health factors, such as blood pleasure, heart rate and blood sugar levels which can enable IoT-AI systems to remotely diagnose issues and advise the patient about any changes they need to make with regard to lifestyle or medication. They can also be used to trigger emergency call outs or community nurse visits if needed.

In industry, the use of IoT devices to monitor the health of critical equipment enables AI to predict when maintenance issues will arise. This means enterprises can undertake preventative measures to stop breakdowns happening before they occur and this ensures that operations can carry on without interruption. This can be applied in places such as data centres, manufacturing plants and nuclear power plants. It’s already being used by both Boeing and Rolls Royce to monitor aircraft engines during flight.

Blockchain and IoT

Why Blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) Belong Together | Symmetry Blog

By combining blockchain technology with IoT, enterprises and their customers are able to guarantee that data is authentic and that products and their components are genuine. For example, when using IoT devices to track goods through the manufacturing process, each component can be given a unique digital ID enabling its history and movements to be stored in indelible, tamper-proof blockchain repositories. As a result, businesses and consumers can be assured the product is as described. For example, someone buying a computer could be confident that the components inside were not counterfeits or someone buying oranges could ensure that they were organically grown.

Fog computing and IoT

What is fog computing? Connecting the cloud to things | Network World

A key factor in the success of IoT is cloud technology which enables vast quantities of data to be transmitted, stored and analysed. However, as the IoT grows, the volume of data being collected is expanding exponentially. As a result, the cloud on its own is becoming less able to deal with the real-time requirements of bandwidth-heavy applications. For example, imagine all the sensors needed to fully operate an IoT, self-driving car. These vehicles need to process data exceptionally quickly, yet with so many sensors and so much data being created it would be impossible to get the reaction times needed using a satellite for connectivity.

The solution comes in the form of fog computing, a technology that uses distributed cloud capabilities. Essentially, fog computing extends the cloud architecture to the device itself, so that data can be processed and analysed in real time at the actual location. In this way, only the processed data needs to be transmitted to the cloud, reducing bandwidth usage and cutting down the amount of centralised storage needed.

The AI, blockchain and fog combination

The Blockchain-Enabled Intelligent IoT Economy

While these technologies provide powerful outcomes for the IoT, using them in conjunction multiplies the benefits. If we look at the drones that retailers like Amazon are experimenting with at the moment, AI, blockchain and fog computing would enable them to be far more effective. They could ensure that their components do not fail, that they take the most effective routes, and that they are able to manoeuvre around obstacles in their path, even at night. Fog computing ensures the data is processed on the drone, AI can make decisions regarding obstacle avoidance and blockchain makes sure that that data being used to make these decisions is authentic (i.e. preventing it being hacked and remotely controlled).

Conclusion

Together, AI, blockchain and fog computing are three technologies that are expanding the potential of the IoT. Individually, each one adds new and exciting capabilities, however, when they are working together they provide a synergy which is driving the development of the IoT in ways that make it more useful and powerful than ever before.

Here Is how Brexit is affecting your Web Hosting

Brexit and your web hosting - what's next? - 34SP.com Blog

As the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit increases, businesses throughout the UK will be taking stock of what they need to do come October 31. One area that many businesses might have overlooked is how a no-deal Brexit may affect their hosting. In this post, we’ll look at what the potential problems are and what plans you might need to put in place.

Do you have an EU based web host?

Best EU web hosting services of 2021 | TechRadar

Quite a few web hosts that operate in the UK are based in the EU and have their data centres located in European countries. This could cause several issues for UK customers in the case of a no-deal. As trade agreements with the UK would come to an end on October 31, it may mean that prices for hosting packages change as EU based hosts supplying the UK could be subject to tariffs.

This is by no means a certainty and even if tariffs are imposed, EU based hosts could adjust prices to counteract them. However, it is an issue which needs to be considered, especially as pound to euro currency values are likely to fluctuate considerably in the withdrawal aftermath.

Implications for data protection

What is GDPR? Everything you need to know about the new general data protection regulations | ZDNet

The EU has the world’s most stringent data protection laws – something the UK is currently signed up to. Part of its legislation requires that any data held on EU citizens that is stored on servers outside of the EU must have the same level of protection as that which is stored inside the EU.

In 2000, for example, the EU and USA implemented the Safe Harbour Agreement that enabled American companies to transfer personal data from European servers to those in the USA, on the proviso that the US provided privacy protection in line with EU directives. When in 2016, the US government announced that, for reasons of national security, it retained the right to access any EU citizens’ data stored on US servers, the European Court of Justice ruled that the Safe Harbour Agreement no longer offered adequate protection and was thus invalid. Businesses that used service providers which transferred their data to US servers found themselves at risk of substantial fines from the EU.

From October 2019, the UK finds itself in a similar position as the US. As it will no longer be part of the EU, it will have to prove that EU citizens’ data, held on UK servers, maintain the same level of protection as it currently does. This should not be an issue if the UK government keeps the existing laws in place, though it may need to implement a similar Safe Harbour Agreement as part of the process.

The potential problem, however, is that once the UK has left the EU, it is free to make its own data protection laws which may not satisfy the demands of the EU. That said, there are already big differences in attitudes to data protection within the EU and these are pushing some members to consider adopting their own data protection legislation. Such complexity makes it increasingly likely that the safest place for UK companies to store personal data is on servers based within the UK. This is especially so if the UK strengthens its data protection laws even further and considers UK citizens’ data held on EU servers to be inadequately protected.

.eu domain names

How to register a .EU domain from anywhere (or keep it after Brexit) | by Adam Rang | E-Residency Blog, E-residentsuse blogi | Medium

Earlier this year, the EU announced that following Brexit, .eu domains could only be registered to individuals or organizations which were geographically located within one of the remaining EU states. Consequently, UK citizens and UK-based organizations would no longer be allowed to register or renew a .eu domain. The only way for a UK company to have a .eu domain would be if it had a subsidiary located within the EU where it could transfer registration to. Any .eu domain which is currently registered to a UK citizen or UK-based business cannot be transferred to another UK-based organisation or be renewed. Eventually, all formerly UK-registered .eu domains will be revoked and made available for registration in the EU. This does not, however, apply to EU citizens living in the UK.

Should a no-deal Brexit takes place, the EU plans to withdraw .eu domains registered to UK organisations or individuals after two months, at which point they will cease to operate and will not be useable to host websites. Full revocation will take place 12 months following the UK withdrawal.

Conclusion

The uncertainty over Brexit is seeping into all areas of business, including your hosting. It can affect the price you pay for EU-based services, the places you store personal data, and even the right to the .eu top-level domain. With less than six months to go before the UK’s scheduled withdrawal, it may be time to take stock of your current hosting provider.

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