The traditional security operations model is rapidly succumbing to the challenges and dynamics inherent in today’s cybersecurity market. Over the last few years, organizations have deployed a myriad of security technologies to combat specific threats, and as a result have inherited a collection of point product solutions with very little interoperability. This has made it difficult for operation teams to leverage these technologies as a common fabric for threat identification, correlation, detection and remediation activities.
This has also increased the amount of time it takes to detect and remediate a security breach. On average, it takes organizations nearly 6 months to detect a breach and another 2 months to remediate it. While organizations continue to operate in a reactive mode to security threats, the goal is to move to a model that is much more proactive and predictive in nature.
Compromising this goal is the lack of skilled security expertise needed to perform identification, detection and remediation activities. The talent shortage is most pronounced for Level 1 analysts in the security operations center (SOC), the “first responders” that must sift through volumes of data and determine which alerts require immediate action.
Attackers are using sophisticated approaches to exploit vulnerabilities, and the volume and velocity of known and unknown attacks continue to rise. Organizations still demand “eyes on glass” to detect and respond to security threats, but the volume of attacks originating from multiple threat vectors, and the skills challenge they face has created a scale issue where level 1 SOC analysts are overwhelmed with the amount of data that must be analyzed. In some cases, SOC analysts are dealing with petabytes of data. In addition to the scale problem, the incoming data lacks context, which makes the task of prioritizing suspicious behavior for further investigation another challenge for SOC analysts.
The Business Benefits of AIRO
To effectively address these challenges, organizations must adopt a new approach for SOC operations that addresses the need to handle the volume of data and alerts more effectively. A move toward an intelligent SOC that utilizes AI, Automation, Incident Response and Orchestration (AIRO) to increase productivity and efficiency of SOC analysts and accelerate the time to detect and contain a security breach is directionally where the market is headed. AIRO consists of the following components:
Analytics: Driving contextual insight into threat dynamics
Intelligence: Collecting and indexing sources of information
Response: Initiating the proper response based on the nature of the security threat
Orchestration: Coordinating multiple toolsets to mitigate a threat and harden the network
Using AIRO tools, organizations can better leverage existing investments in security technologies by utilizing APIs to interconnect various platforms and correlate data from firewalls, IDS sensors, endpoint devices, and external threat intelligence feeds. AIRO tools complement an existing security information and event management (SIEM) tool by acting as middleware to integrate with existing tools and provide greater visibility into indicators of compromise. This becomes increasingly important as corporate data moves from endpoint devices to on-premise infrastructure and multi-cloud environments.
AIRO tools ingest alerts from the SIEM and automate the responses to repetitive alerts, freeing up security analysts for the more challenging alerts that require human intervention. The tool should also provide valuable contextual information — such as asset information and threat enrichment data — to effectively improve the security analyst’s decision-making ability by prioritizing threats that represent the most risk to the organization.
In today’s complex environment AIRO tools can make security analysts’ work more efficient, less burdensome and more accurate by leveraging automation, analytics and orchestration. By ensuring proper integration and interoperability with existing security technologies and centralizing visibility on a security platform, security operations teams can gain greater insight and move from a reactive security posture to a more predictive and preventative approach.
Enterprise clients have looked to automate IT support for several years. With millions of employees across the globe now working from home, support needs have increased dramatically, with many unprepared enterprises suffering from long service desk wait times and unhappy employees.
Many companies may have already been on a gradual pace to exploit digital solutions and enhance service desk operations, but automating IT support is now a greater priority. Companies can’t afford downtime or the lost productivity caused by inefficient support systems, especially when remote workers need more support now than ever before.
Digital technologies offer companies innovative and cost-effective ways to manage increased support loads in the immediate term, and free up valuable time and resources over the long-term. The latter benefit is critical, as enterprises increasingly look to their support systems to resolve more sophisticated and complex issues. Instead of derailing them, new automated support systems can empower workers by freeing them up to focus more on high-value work.
Businesses can start their journey toward digital support by using chatbots to manage common support tasks such as resetting passwords, answering ‘how to’ questions, and processing new laptop requests. Once basic support functions are under digital management, companies can then transition to layering in technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence and analytics among others.
An IT support automation ecosystem built on these capabilities can enable even greater positive outcomes – like intelligently (and invisibly) discovering and resolving issues before they have an opportunity to disrupt employees. In one recent example, Anteelo deployed digital support agents to help manage a spike of questions coming in from remote workers. The digital agents seamlessly handled a 20% spike in volume, eliminated wait times, and drove positive employee experiences.
Innovative IT support
IT support automation helps companies become more proactive in serving their employees better with more innovative support experiences. Here are three examples:
Remote access
In a remote workforce, employees will undoubtedly face issues with new tools they need to use or with connections to the corporate network. An automated system that notifies employees via email or text about detected problems and personalized instructions on how to fix them is a new way to care for the remote worker. If an employee still has trouble, an on-demand virtual chat or voice assistant can easily walk them through the fix or, better yet, execute it for them.
Proactive response
The ability to proactively monitor and resolve the employee’s endpoint — to ensure security compliance, set up effective collaboration, and maintain high-performance levels for key applications and networking – has emerged as a significant driver of success when managing the remote workplace.
For example, with more reliance on the home internet as the path into private work networks, there’s a greater opportunity for bad actors to attack. A proactive support system can continuously monitor for threat events and automatically ensure all employee endpoints are security compliant.
Leveraging proactive analytics capabilities, IT support can set up monitoring parameters to match their enterprise needs, identify when events are triggered, and take action to resolve. This digital support system could then execute automated fixes or send friendly messages to the employee with instructions on how to fix an issue. These things can go a long way toward eliminating support disruptions and leave the employee with a sense of being cared for – the best kind of support.
More value beyond IT
Companies are also having employees leverage automated assistance outside of IT support functions. These capabilities could be leveraged in HR, for example, to help employees correctly and promptly fill out time sheets or remind them to select a beneficiary for corporate benefits after a major life event like getting married or having a baby.
Remote support can also help organizations automate business tasks. This could include checking on sales performance, getting recent market research reports sent to any device or booking meetings through a voice-controlled device at home.
More engaged employees
With the power to provide amazing experiences, automated IT support can drive new levels of employee productivity and engagement, which are outcomes any enterprise should embrace.
Technology experts will often talk about the benefits of mobility in healthcare, but to understand why mobility matters and how it might improve both workflow and clinical benefits for patients, it’s vital to get a user’s perspective.
As a clinician, my view of mobility is influenced by my own experiences in different medical settings. Clinicians — by which I mean doctors, nurses and other allied health professionals — work across multiple hospital wards, often across several hospitals or medical facilities, with multiple parties involved in the care of the patient. For example, a cardiologist might review a patient in the hospital’s outpatient department, in the emergency department or in the cardiology ward. As a result, the cardiologist may need access to medical records across various locations, which potentially could be sourced from multiple systems of record.
The key is being able to access those records in real-time and on the go. If clinicians are required to interrupt a patient evaluation to access information from a file or computer, valuable time can be lost, affecting the care of the patient. If clinicians can access the right information at the right time and in the right place — at the patient’s bedside, on the go, or in various locations — they are better equipped to make informed and accurate clinical decisions, enabling them to spend more time with the patient and ultimately improving patient care.
Furthermore, clinicians don’t work in isolation. Mobile access to clinical data and the ability to share information with other health professionals — for example accessing blood results from pathology or rehabilitation progress notes from a physiotherapist — give everyone involved in the patient’s care the right information as and when needed. These also ensure that clinicians make good use of their time. For example, if a doctor can see that the patient is scheduled for an X-ray at 11:45 a.m., he or she knows a midday appointment is not feasible.
Taking a holistic approach to Healthcare
We also need to realize that healthcare doesn’t happen in isolation from the rest of our lives. Most people now access information through their mobile devices. It makes sense, therefore, that clinicians would want to access clinical data in the same way.
And patients are also more connected in every way. They expect to be included in decisions driving their own healthcare. They want to understand their diagnosis and what it means. If the clinician can access the patient’s data on a mobile device, it’s much easier to have an informative bedside discussion with the patient. For example, the clinician can pull up the patient’s X-ray or blood test results on a mobile device and show the patient areas of concern or trends in the results.
The clinician might want to go further and share information about a procedure — for example, videos of a procedure or hyperlinks to information that might be helpful to the patient. Or the clinician and patient can watch the video together on the mobile device, giving the patient an opportunity to ask questions and be properly informed.
A truly mobile, integrated solution will also be able to aggregate information from multiple sources — the patient’s medical record, pharmacy record, nurses’ notes — and have it all in one place.
In an age where data security, patient privacy, and accountability are under the microscope, mobility gives healthcare systems the ability to track information. The system will show that a certain clinician has seen the results. It’s possible to also require that clinician acknowledge receipt of the information as he or she receives it.
There’s no doubt that challenges exist — technical, logistical, user-specific, and more — but the benefits are worth the pursuit of a solution. Healthcare organizations have the information required to ensure quality patient care, increase patient satisfaction and reduce the rate of mortality and morbidity. But, they want to be able to get that information about their patients in real-time and on the go. Ultimately, clinicians want mobility. After all, it’s how most people — clinicians included — interact with the world in their daily lives. Why should healthcare be any different?
Today’s high performing organizations know that the world of learning has undergone tremendous change, and they need to put employees at the center. Employees require a lifetime of continuous learning to keep pace with change.
An innovative approach to learning can help tackle the workforce skills gap, retain talent, increase performance and improve productivity.
Organizations need to create a learning culture and environment that welcomes knowledge seeking and employee self-improvement. The next generation of learning technology expands access, personalizes experiences, offers actionable insight and helps track how learning affects business outcomes.
Learning leaders must work together and share the same vision to successfully engage and prepare their employees for the future of work. Here are five best practices we view as critical for successfully overcoming the challenges and complexity within learning today:
Take advantage of new learning platforms. Standardizing on a single LMS is not the only option to address learning complexity. Having multiple systems is fine, even preferable, provided they can be accessed through a single platform. What’s important is to implement a multi-platform, agile methodology where the learner’s experience is the focus.
Meet learners where they are at. Employees do not have as much time as they would like for formal learning, informal “in-the-flow” work learning is necessary for training and development.
Embrace evolving workforce demographics. To address learning diversity, investing in next-generation learning technology and fresh approaches includes mobile learning tools and personalize learning paths needed to improve performance and retain talent.
Up-skill for the future of work. Closing the skills gap requires prioritizing learning development programs that empower employees to seek new skills that meet evolving business needs.
Ensure employees remain relevant in the digital workplace. Employees need to build comprehensive skill sets that are applicable to a variety of roles that will eventually be in high demand with the adoption of automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence.
In today’s changing world of work, employees need access to anytime, anywhere learning that’s relevant and meaningful to their development. An active learning community encourages employees to become insight experts and share actionable knowledge that enhances organizational intelligence.
It is time to pursue an innovative approach to learning and to take full advantage of next generation learning technology that prepares employees for change, aligns with business goals and connects a global workforce to deliver performance that accelerates growth.
Suppose you are going for a meeting to a nearby town. While traveling, a message popped on your device screen informing that the volume of petrol is going low. You were confused about what’s happening, when another message sharing the details of a nearby petrol station popped up on your smartphone device. Wondering how is that possible? Well, it’s nothing but a real-life example of IoT.
Confused about what is Internet of Things (IoT)? How does it work?
Let’s talk about it in detail in this article – starting with some exciting statistics.
Statistics Proving the Uprising Market for Internet of Things (IoT)
By 2019, the global IoT market will generate a revenue of $1.7T.
By 2022, 100% of the population is predicted to have LPWAN coverage.
By 2025, there will be more than 75.4B Internet of Things devices worldwide.
In 2018, there were around 7B IoT devices. However, more than 10B devices are expected to join Internet of Things ecosystem.
As of 2018, nearly half of all IoT (Internet of Things) devices were connected to WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Networks), including Zigbee, Bluetooth, and Z-wave.
54% of Enterprises invested in IoT app development because of its cost saving factor.
Now as we have taken a glimpse of IoT Trends 2020, let’s begin right from the basics.
A Brief Introduction of What is Internet of Things
IoT, also referred to as the Internet of Everything (IoE), is an ecosystem of interrelated computer devices, digital machines and objects that has the ability to transfer data to each other in real-time, with minimum human intervention.
These devices include coffee makers, washing machines, music system, TVs, wearables and other electronic devices that can communicate with each other using what is called Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication.
While this is all about what is IoT technology, let’s turn towards its working mechanism.
Working of IoT Technology
When talking about how does IoT work, the process begins with devices that have built-in sensors. These devices are connected to IoT platforms which stores data from all the connected devices. The important data is then used to perform tasks that fulfil the needs of people.
When we say the data is stored in the IoT platforms, it doesn’t mean that all the data is useful. Devices carefully select only particular data that is relevant to execute an action. These pieces of information can detect patterns, recommendations and problems before they occur.
In this way, IoT application works with smart systems that automate tasks to address specific needs.
However, if you still have any doubts regarding how does it work, check out this video:-
With this attended to, let’s dive deeper into IoT market and see what are the prime components of Internet of Things technology.
4 Major Components of IoT Ecosystem
1. Sensors/ Devices
The foremost component to consider in Internet of Things technology is sensor/devices. A sensor picks up all the minute details from an environment. The environment can have many complexities. What makes IoT security so great is these sensors that pick up even the most sensitive changes. These sensors are built in the devices which collects all the data to be used later. For instance, our phone is a device with built-in sensors like GPS, camera, etc.
2. Connectivity
Once the data is collected it is transferred to the cloud infrastructure (also known as IoT platforms). But to transfer the data, the devices will need a medium. That’s when connections like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WAN, cellular networks, etc come into play. These mediums are all different and must be chosen wisely for best results.
The effectiveness IoT security highly depends on the speed and availability of these mediums.
3. Data Processing
After reaching the cloud infrastructure the data has to be analysed so that the right action can be taken. This process is however considered one of the most crucial obstacles in front of IoT app development. The analysis can be as simple as checking the temperature of the AC or a complex one such as a situation where an intruder comes in and the device has to identify it through cameras. The IoT application is made such that it can process all the data at a fast rate to take immediate actions.
4. User Interface
The last step is when the user is notified about the action with the help of a notification or an alert sound sent to the IoT mobile apps. This way the user will know that his command has been run through the systems.
However, this isn’t as easy as it seems. It all depends on what is IoT platform and how the technology has been developed. It becomes crucial for Internet of Things (IoT) app development companies to develop a system that can also be manually adjusted. In a situation where the temperature of the fridge is not cold enough to freeze ice cubes, users should be able to do that manually without the system backfiring.
Now as you have gained an insight of what this technology is, let’s take a look at what are the uses of Internet of Things in the present world – besides backing the concept of Smart Homes and cars.
What IoT Means to the Business World
1. Healthcare
IoT in Healthcare has opened new doors of opportunity for medical specialists and patients. The technology enables doctors to get a real-time access to patient medical data, store them on cloud, and share with others. It also cut down the waiting time, helps to check for the availability of hardware and equipment, and simplifies the process to identify chronic diseases and take the right actions to mitigate the risk.
2. Education
Internet of Things technology is also revolutionizing the education sector. It is connecting people worldwide to ease the process of sharing knowledge, reduce the barrier in gaining access to any data, introduce security in education system, and more – a glimpse of which you can take from the video shared below:-
3. Retail
Another domain that is enjoying a myriad of opportunities and facilities after getting an understanding of what is Internet of Things and how to incorporate it in their processes is Retail.
The industry, with the help of what we call as Internet of Things applications, is finding it easier to deliver personalized experience to their user base, automate checkout processes, perform maintenance effortlessly, and more.
4. Sharing Economy
The combination of IoT and Blockchain, i.e, (Blockchain of Things) is reshaping the Sharing economy. The dual technologies are helping to build an online marketplace where data from all the companies and stores can be stored and shared securely and effectively using the concept of Smart Contracts. And eventually, used by others with the motive to cut down the efforts required from the user end.
5. Real Estate
IoT technology is also reshaping the real estate economy by speeding up decision making process, offering more energy-efficient options, making space smart, and more.
6. Travel
Here, IoT is empowering travel agencies to deliver real-time information, automate most of the processes, and send electronic key cards on guests’ smartphone. And in this way, adding convenience, ease and security to their experience.
So, as we have covered so far in this article upon what is Internet of Things, the technology has a wider scope in almost every business vertical. But, if you still have any doubt or wish to design an IoT-based solution for your business, connect our IoT mobility experts today.
Connecting the power of the web with mobile has always been one of the most challenging tasks for the development community. While the purpose saw a number of tools and frameworks trying out to develop the perfect blend of performance and wide reachability, the result had always been sub-par. But in 2015, everything changed. Designer Frances Berriman and a Google Chrome Engineer, Alex Russell denoted the term Progressive Web Apps.
Although it took some years for the concept to come into the mainstream, but the moment Google started popularizing PWAs, the industry noticed.
And it was not just the developers who were now looking for tutorials to migrate websites in PWAs.
Both SMEs and industry’s hot-shots like Facebook and Twitter now started singing the tune of the many benefits that the concept came packaged with. All leading to a very high popularity rate of the concept when it comes to combining the best of convenience and mass reach.
The popularity graph that the mobile app type is on has given birth to a number of PWA frameworks and tools that are being prepared to strengthen the debate of Native vs PWA in favor of the latter.
The rise in PWA frameworks and tools list, however, has made it all the more difficult for businesses to choose the best frameworks for PWA development.
But let us make it easy for you today.
Here’s the list of tools and frameworks for PWA that businesses can choose from. These PWA development frameworks have been chosen by our team of PWA builders on the basis of the ease of development and scope of mass adoption.
Without further delay, here’s the list. The one we rely on in our role as the Leading PWA Development Company.
Top PWA Tools and Frameworks
Ionic
Established in 2013 as an open-source SDK, Ionic is based on Apache Cordova and Angular framework. And since then, it has been a part of over 5 million hybrid app development. What makes Ionic ideal for PWA development is that it comes with a massive library of components for both Android and iOS, which are used by developers to develop web pages which run inside the device browser with the help of WebView.
There are quite a few benefits that come tagged with using Ionic, making it one of the best PWA framework of 2019 such as –
Reduces the cost of app development for its open-source and free
One of the tools to develop PWA that come with the shortest learning curve
Easy maintenance with the help of a built-in browser instrument
Large plug-in library for accessing APIs
Polymer
It is an open-source progressive web app framework developed in-house by Google.
It consists of a wide range of templates, Progressive Web App tools, and web components which simplifies the whole PWA development process. It makes use of HTML/JSS/JS making it a complete PWA framework on its own.
The pros that Polymer comes with include –
A full web app stack support which includes routing, data tier, and responsive layouts
Great documentation
It is one of those PWA development tools that come with easily understandable APIs
The range of wide base of components across browsers
AngularJS
The third most used PWA frameworks and tools are the set of AngularJS offerings
Introduced first by Google in 2009, AngularJS is one of the most popular methods of PWA development. It makes use of the JavaScript ecosystem to build responsive applications which are both reliable and robust.
The benefits that AngularJS come attached with include –
Large community support
Well-defined method for implementation
MVC framework
Presence of IntelliSense and Typescript
Newer versions being launched with minimal learnability curve
Vue.js
Vue is presently one of the fastest evolving libraries because of its ease in coding and high-speed rendering. It allows for scaling of the project with an added advantage of extra packages.
The pros of Vue.js which makes it one of the most reliable frameworks to build PWA includes –
Supported by Laravel and Alibaba
The simplicity of code lowers the learnability curve
Simple structures and features inspired by Angular1 and React
Fast rendering with Virtual DOM
Flexible to set up with the help of TypeScript and JSX
React
Supported by Facebook, React is often one of the top choices of Progressive Web App builders because of its wide JavaScript library and a large community.
Although Pure JavaScript lies in the base of React, it makes use of JSX to employ render functions for connecting HTML structures. This gives developers ease which in return makes React one of the top PWA frameworks and tools.
The pros list of React looks something like this –
Large community support
An extensive ecosystem
A greater degree of scalability and flexibility
Speedy rendering with Virtual-DOM.
Lighthouse
Developed by Google to improve the quality of web apps, the tool measures your website in multiple criteria and enlists the factors that you have to keep into consideration to ensure your site is ready to become a PWA.
It analyzes your digital offerings and gives you the areas to implement in your PWA development process.
So here were the six frameworks and Progressive Web App tools that have been relied upon by the industry and by our team of in-house PWA builders for converting your idea into an app that merges the best of mobile and web.
FAQs About PWA Development and Frameworks to build PWA
Q. How does a Progressive Web App work?
A PWA is a web application that is installed on a system.
It works on an offline network state, making use of the data cached during the users’ last interaction with the application.
Q. How do you know if a website is PWA?
To check if a website is working as PWA, you will have to make use of Chrome’s Lighthouse extension. It will tell you if the site is PWA in addition to giving you ways to convert it into one.
Q. How do you create a PWA?
There is very extensive documentation prepared by Google devs explaining the process of creating a PWA to the t. Here’s the link – https://codelabs.developers.google.com/codelabs/your-first-pwapp/#0. You can visit the page if you are planning to fly solo and if not, you can get in touch with our team of PWA developers who will hand-hold you through the entire process.
Q. What are the PWA frameworks and tools?
There are a number of PWA frameworks and tools presently operating in the market. But the ones that we rely on most are –
There was a time when investors had to call up the stock exchange who would then put them on hold as they were connected to a stockbroker who would in return charge money to buy stocks for the investors. The time is now gone. For good. Today, brokerage firms and other investment platforms have brought the whole process of stock buying and selling on mobile. This has given the investors the opportunity to trade in their own time, without any unnecessary guidance, right on the move. In this article, we are going to walk you through the process of how to get started with stock trading application development – giving you the reasons why it should be done and the process of how to make a stock market app.
Understanding the User Demographics of a Stock Trading App
Why Should You Invest in Stock Trading App Development?
Best Share Trading Apps
Features That Make Up For a Successful Stock Trading App
Key Points to Consider When Building a Stock Trading App
Understanding the User Demographics of a Stock Trading App
There are four categories of users that you will be majorly focusing your design, development, and promotion efforts on –
Young people who are still trying to figure out whether the stock investment game is for them
First-time investors who have very little skills but wish to start their trade journey right away.
Professionals who value their time and want to have a quick in and out experience
Tech-savvy users who want to have all of their information and statistics in one place.
Countries wise interest in best stock investment apps –
Let’s move on to the investors’ age range now.
According to statistics shared by Statista, the online stock trading industry has found a very strong user base in the Millennials age group in 2018.
Now that we have looked into the users’ age group and their geography, let us move on to the next part of the business – The need to invest in stock trading app development.
Why Should You Invest in Stock Trading App Development?
Aside from the obvious factor that there is a massive user base for the app category, across age groups, the ease that they offer is too big to overlook when listing down the benefits of developing the stock trading app.
Stock trading apps make it possible for busy investors to be updated on how their portfolios are moving. And in return for this ease, they easily agree to become the paid members of the app.
All in all, the scope to benefit both in terms of money and fame is high when you think of stock trading app development.
With the reason why you should build a stock trading app like Robinhood and E-Trade now known, let us move on to the next step that you will have to consider when thinking of starting your own stock trading app business – The competitors you will soon be leveling the grounds with.
Best Share Trading Apps
Robinhood Stock Trading App
By offering free stock trades, Robinhood has become one of the best stock trading apps present today. The primary features of the app revolve around tracking the stocks that you own, searching, and trading stocks, etc.
The free version of the application gives you access to stocks, ETFs, and Bitcoin but if you wish to invest in and out of Mutual Funds, you will have to take up the paid version.
The fact that Robinhood offers a wide set of supreme features in its free version has made it a classic reference point for fintech app development companies on how to develop a free stock trading app that sticks.
Stash Stock Trading App
This app, which is also one of the best stock trading apps of 2019 is primarily for newbies who wish to make their own investment decision by playing safe along the way. It lets you invest as little as $5, while constantly educating you on how the investment world moves.
The apps come loaded with a series of tips and articles to make the whole investment journey all the easier.
E-Trade
E-Trade used to be a pioneer in the online investing world. Based out of Silicon Valley, the brokerage started offering online trade with the help of America Online (AOL) and Compuserve. And soon they launched one of the best stock trading apps – the E-Trade app.
The app lets you view investments or enter trades for ETFs, stocks, and mutual funds, etc.
These are only the cream of the stock market business apps that you will be aiming to reach once you enter the space. The actual list of operative apps is much extensive.
Let us now look at the features set of fintech application development that would help you take the journey and reach the stage where the top stock trading apps are at. These features are your answer to how to develop a stock trading app similar to Robinhood and E-Trade.
Features That Make Up For a Successful Stock Trading App
1. The check-in process
The authorization process has to be extremely easy and non-burdening for the users. It is at this stage when you should offer users multiple check-in options – use of pin code, biometrics, etc. This way, you will be able to ensure that their experience is safe.
2. User profile
Users should be given the option to save their personal information and preferences related to notifications or simply the frequency in which they want their account to get debited.
3. Putting trades on stocks
The one obvious feature that should be added to your stock trading app development process is giving the users the functionality to execute orders and monitor their flow of funds.
4. Real-Time portfolios
Irrespective of which fintech application development company you ask, they will unanimously tell you that nothing is deemed more beneficial than real-time updates when your users invest in a stock trading app, through their time and money. Users should be given the ease to view their portfolios in real-time and they should be timely updated to give them a very clear idea of where they stand investment-wise.
5. Deposits
Using this feature investors will be able to see the status of their deposits in real-time with minimal effort.
6. Search
In your stock trading app for investors, your users should be given the option to search for active stocks and their present rate in the market.
7. Analytics
The stock market participants would appreciate the opportunity to look at the statistics and analyze the end result of their trades, transactions, etc.
8. Push Notifications
Another must-have part of your online trading app development process would be to integrate push notifications. You should give your users notification of how their stocks have moved, but they should be timed in a way that they are not bothersome for busy investors.
9. Newsfeed
Although the feature gets the least attention, the newsfeed is one of the most crucial features of a stock trading application. For a new trader who belongs to the amateur category of stock market app development user study, a newsfeed that informs them of recent happenings in the stock industry – the winners and losers, latest M&As, IPO details, etc.
With the feature-sets for trading-based fintech software development services addressed, at this stage, you are all set to take that next move and start planning the technicalities of how your stock trading app would run. Here are some key points to consider which we believe will make you confident to take the step towards stock-centric finance mobile app development.
Key Points to Consider When Building a Stock Trading App
1. Have a plan to secure your application
One of he high-priority considerations in terms of stock trading app development is having control over the process where the app will gather and use sensitive information. Here are some steps that we follow to ensure complete security of your application –
Incorporation of multi-factor authentication system, bank-grade encryption, and next-gen firewalls
Implementation of real-time threat intelligence to remain on top of the threats.
Embracing ‘compliance as code’ for the incorporation of compliance testing and security in the CI/CD timeline.
Safeguarding of application programming interfaces.
Finalize APIs that are appropriate for a high-frequency trading software
The development of a stock trading application comes loaded with several technical challenges. The answer to these issues generally lies with the integration of third-party APIs. However, it is very important to know which APIs to use in your app on the ground of security and scalability.
The ones that we generally use are – E*TRADE API, Intrinio, and Marketstack.
2. Create a user-friendly interface
A stock trading app is, by nature, filled with data of multiple nature – text, image, statistics, numbers, etc. It becomes extremely important to not let your application become a case of information overload – one that turns off users who are not as enthused about stock trading as their heavily invested counterparts.
What we recommend is having a UI/UX design that is fit for a quick in and out time (at least on the first few screens) and then keep the detailed pages for after the second or third click.
FAQs About Online Share Trading App Development
Q. Which is the best stock trading mobile app?
There are a number of different options when you are looking to invest in a stock trading app. Depending on your experience level, you can either go with the Robinhood app – if you are an experienced investor or with Stash, if you are a newbie.
Q. How to use stock trading apps?
This is the process that stock trading apps normally work on –
Link your bank account
Set up a one-time transfer or periodic deposits into your Robinhood account
For trading a specific stock or for keeping it in the Watchlist, you will have to click on the Search option.
Once the stock and its current trade come up on the screen, you can choose to buy it which takes you to the page you actually have to buy the stock off of.
The selling option works almost the same as the Buying option.
UI design has proven to play a crucial role in mobile app success. It has positioned itself as a ladder to reach the hearts and minds of the users and customers by displaying engaging visual content and more.
But, is everyone able to relish its benefits? Do all the designers and entrepreneurs know about the best mobile app UI design tips that work in the customer-centric world?
Sadly, no.
So, with the intention to simplify their journey of figuring out what the UI of future apps look like, we have prepared a list of tips and trends that will be popular in the mobile world in 2021.
But first, let’s take a recap of the benefits of UI design.
Now that we have taken a visual walkthrough of the importance of good user interface design during app development, let’s peep into a few mobile apps that are giving serious UI designing goals to others in the industry.
Best Apps That You Can Get Inspiration From
1. Netflix
Netflix app – the one that has changed the landscape of the movie streaming industry – tops the list with its breathtaking UI design.
The application introduced incredible layout and color options to the mobile domain. It has not just worked on simplifying the navigation process but also ensured that all the reported bugs are solved in real-time. In this way, it has increased the chances of offering a positive experience to their audience.
2. Splitwise
The UI design of the application is simple, sophisticated, and pleasant. The color scheme is chosen in a way that it complements app elements as well as employs the center of the device effectively.
3. Spring
Spring, the popular shopping app, is also a good option to consider while looking for design tips for mobile apps.
The mobile application offers a simple and interactive experience – using icons to give a hint of the functionality of each element. The app uses different font styles and sizes along with a card layout to deliver an enhanced UI experience.
4. Trello
Trello is yet another application you can consider for deciding the type of UI design to create.
This productivity app is easy to use and gives the facility of creating boards for managing their tasks. It comes with a clean and sophisticated look and feels along with its tactics of arranging all the pins in a ‘pipeline’ manner. Also, it offers tons of cool backgrounds and labels colors to amp users’ experience.
5. Shine
Another application that has enhanced its customer experience via the user interface is Shine.
The mobile app uses custom and abstract aesthetics to match the mood of users. It also relies on soft shapes and calm colors to make them experience some peaceful moments.
6. Coursera
Coursera is yet another mobile application whose User interface offers some real goals in the design world.
The app design is simple and smooth, offering the ease to navigate from a well-organized syllabus. It uses different font styles and colors to give users an idea of what they have covered, what they are interacting with, and what’s next.
Now that we have taken inspiration from different mobile applications, let’s turn towards the main part of the article, i.e, best mobile app UI design tips to follow in 2021.
Mobile app UI Design Tips To Follow While Designing Your App
Keep It Simple
The foremost tip for designing a better mobile app is to keep the UI simple.
When you restrict the number of app UI elements, users do not get drifted by unnecessary details. They find it easier to focus on the prime elements of the application, which eventually improves the user retention rate.
Make it Responsive
Concentrating on responsiveness is also one of the proven tips to enhance mobile app design by improving its UI.
This is because when you design elements that fit the screens, regardless of the device users are using, they find ease in performing actions. This, in turn, encourages them to spend more time on your platform and add higher value.
Use Popular Icons
Users, when interacting with various mobile apps on a daily basis, become familiar with certain icons. They can easily relate those icons to particular functionalities without even reading the label.
In such a scenario, using those icons can cut down the hassle of making users understand what an app element is for. This eventually enhances customer engagement and delivers higher ROI. So, introduce popular and similar icons in your UI designing strategy.
Maintain Consistency
Another best practice for app designing that UI mobility experts follow is showing consistency. That implies using the same font style, color, design, and icons throughout the app screens – and that too in the same order.
This simplifies the user journey and helps them make an action without getting a feel of being on some other platform. So, keep it into consideration while planning the app UI design.
Follow Platform-Based Rules
Both Apple and Google have set guidelines for mobile app design for iOS and Android platforms
. Following those guidelines improves the look and feel of your application on the respective platform.
So, do not overlook these Google and Apple UI design guidelines while crafting your app design.
Do not Forget about Loading Speed
Focusing on speed is also one of the best design tips for enhancing user interaction. This is because when UI elements take too much time to load, users get frustrated. They decide to exit the platform soon, because of which all of your efforts could go in vain.
So, think about optimizing your app speed frequently.
Invest in Testing
Many times, the elements you introduce in your app UI design do not work effectively. In such cases, they ruin the user experience instead of adding value to it.
So, it is good to invest your efforts into mobile app UI testing. For when you test your app icons and other elements for different conditions, it ultimately helps bring a positive impact on the users.
When talking about app testing, one thing that UI/UX designers must consider is the depth to which they should test their UI screens.
While educational and commercial apps require thorough UI testing across all the devices and OS versions, business apps can skip investing in extensive testing. This is because their audience, in most cases, is trained to employ the application.
In a nutshell, the depth of UI testing depends on the app’s purpose and the market it will target. However, it is a must to test your app UI on at least three different OS versions.
Iterate Regularly
Since user behavior and market trends keep on changing with time, it is again effective to upgrade your app UI design timely. And eventually, gain higher conversions.
As previously mentioned when talking about the latest mobile UI design trends 2021, changing market trends also influence the success of the user interface you design. So, let’s uncover what are the future mobile design trends 2021 to pay attention to.
The State of UI in 2021: Technologies and Trends That Will Dominate the Industry
1. Conversational Interface
Conversational Interface is one of the leading UI design trends for the future.
Just like Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, various startups, and established brands will invest in Chatbot development to deliver the next level of conversational experience to their user base.
2. The Overlapping Effect
In 2021, UI/UX designers for a mobile app will embrace the idea of overlapping different elements, like text, image, and colors in a single screen.
The concept will help in creating a well-organized interface and create an illusion of space. This will eventually enhance the user experience to a great extent.
3. Typography
Just like last year, considering typography in-app UI design will be one of the best mobile app design trends in 2021.
While brands have been applying bold San-Serif fonts and strong typography for some time now, they will now focus more on typography that reflects motion-based and three-dimensional effects.
4. Voice-Powered Interfaces
By 2021, 50% of the search engine queries will be performed via voice. Because of this, voice-governed interfaces will also become one of the popular mobile application design techniques which are poised to deliver higher output.
5. Simple Curves and Geometry
Another UI design trend that will transform our future is the use of simple curves and geometry.
These curves and geometry will lower down confusion that might arise when multiple illustrations, pictures, catches, and animations are present in the design
6. Custom Illustration Interfaces
Illustrations will also be one of the popular mobile application design techniques to follow in the future.
Both brands and designers will turn towards introducing custom illustrations into their application – just like how Uber did.
7. White space
White space will also continue to be one of the core elements of mobile app design strategies.
With white space, designers will be able to deliver an uncomplicated experience to their target user base. They will find ease in making them focus upon the main part of the application over others. And ultimately, add value to their business.
8. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Another technology that will bring a major impact in the field of UI design is Artificial Intelligence.
AI will not just help designers with creating multiple versions of any particular landing page or screen, but would also introduce personalized elements backed by thousands of studies and visual analysis. This, as a whole, will encourage them to look into how to use AI for better user interface design.
9. Contrasting Font Color/Shapes
Using contrasting font colors/shapes for mobile UI design will increase its popularity in 2021.
Mobility experts will infuse contrasting colors and shapes into their design to break the regular flow and add a tint of surprise into user interactions.
10. Animation
Animation, which was one of the key app UI design trends for 2018 and 2021, will also continue to enjoy the same momentum in the future.
Brands will embrace the technique to introduce micro-interactions in their design process. And, in this way, prompts users to spend more time on their platforms.
11. Opacity
Setting the opacity of different UI elements will be considered among the top key app design trends 2021. The technique will be used to bring more emphasis on certain elements while maintaining smoothness and seamlessness.
12. Augmented Reality (AR)
In 2021, UI/UX design experts will turn towards Augmented Reality (AR) for creating real-world interactions. They will embrace the technology to add immersion effects to their apps and products and help users comprehend the information more efficiently.
Besides, the technology will also be considered for building 3D brand impressions in the coming years.
13. Storytelling
Storytelling, i.e. the art of engaging users by narrating a story, will also be seen as one of the best UI/UX mobile design trends in 2021.
Mobile app designers will put more effort into crafting a story that highlights the purpose of the app and make users feel like a part of it. They will turn towards the best visual storytelling guides, tools, and techniques to make a story that keeps their audience hooked to their platform.
14. 3D Graphics
3D graphics will also land on the list of top UI/UX trends to consider in 2021.
Mobile app designers will incorporate sophisticated textures and 3D images into their designs to add a realistic feel. Also, users will demand more 3D designs and marketing content to enjoy a vivid, fresh, and engaging experience.
15. Placement of Navigational Elements
Another trend that will change the future of the mobile app design world is the placement of navigational elements.
As we have already seen in our blog upon the impact of Phone X’s new design on mobile apps, the absence of a home screen button will influence the navigation process. This will urge mobility UI experts to discover new ways to deliver a seamless navigational experience to their users.
16. Virtual Reality (VR)
Last but not least, the incorporation of Virtual Reality (VR) in UI design will also be in trend in the coming years.
The technology, after redefining the healthcare, marketing, and gaming industry, is expected to boost interaction levels in-app UI design. It is expected to emerge out as the ‘Internet of experiences’ by spilling out the app elements in the real world and prompting users to feel them.
While these were some of the mobile app design tips and trends that are predicted to revolutionize user interface in 2021, many more are hoping
Upgrade workplace technology: check. Modernize infrastructure: check. Adjust to new workforce: check. Overcome resistance to new ways of working: check. Adjusting to digital transformation’s impact on the workplace and workers is, well, a lot of work. A lot of change. And it’s essential to understand that workplace transformation will only deliver expected business benefits when organizations develop effective ways to cope with change along many dimensions. These include:
Workforce. For the last few years, we have focused on the generational shift taking place as millennials become the bulk of the workforce. However, there is a second shift that will impact how we operate. Organizations are adopting more gig workers for specific tasks or projects, which puts pressure on IT to streamline gig workers’ experience and optimize processes to maximize gig workers’ productivity. Capitalizing on automation, intelligence, and integration to optimize business flows and processes will become fundamental to IT operations.
Human resources. This blended workforce, and the recognition that organizations are already adopting a task or gig-like approach internally, impacts the way we run our Human Resources processes. The line manager might continue as a custodian, but the management chain becomes flatter, tied to activities and projects. The old reporting model breaks by having so many stakeholders and managers. We need to automate and collate information for the relevant project and stakeholder, distill it succinctly, and publish it to those who are invested, as well as archive it as input to the performance review process.
Project management. That information will enable project managers and stakeholders to better manage the individual and the team, optimizing for performance and cost. As they see near-real-time information about productivity and performance (on their specific project), they can flex, coach, and change the team as needed. It is a much more hands-on world, although some of the tasks can be automated. Project resource managers can learn from just-in-time manufacturing techniques, bringing in the right folks at the time they are needed.
Relevant information. In this environment, relevant information — not more information — is the key. Luckily, the platforms citizen developers are experimenting with also provide some of the components needed. They can capture tasks done, documents touched and discussions held, giving us a raw feed of activity. Post-process this information, in the context of each stakeholder, can be used to produce concise, relevant reports grounded in system data, not flawed memories.
Embrace employee-driven innovation. Organizations must become better at matching the pace of change, using techniques like employee-driven innovation to quickly identify new workplace trends and opportunities. Formalizing informal support networks can help manage change more effectively and capture the benefits of disruption. And when companies understand how productivity and morale are boosted by ongoing workplace investments, the cost of change is less daunting and easier to justify.
Connection and collaboration. Companies must continue to develop policies that give workers flexibility in the devices they chose to use. How people connect and collaborate is changing as well; companies will need to foster collaboration on, and set policies for, social media in the enterprise.
Automation. Software agents, bots and intelligent machines will make tasks easier. Companies will need to consider how these new devices and applications can learn and apply user preferences, and how they can use real-time information in context to automate more tasks and decisions.
Enterprises can truly change the way employees work by providing a flexible, expansive workplace with the right technologies and policies. Those who come to grips with the new definition of the workplace and its enabling technologies will be the digital leaders of tomorrow.
Companies in every industry are facing the challenge of evolving digital capabilities given their current operating models, resources, talent and culture. These elements are so intrinsic that any digital transformation not addressing them will ultimately fail because the legacy organization will inevitably exert a gravitational pull back to established practices, while agile competitors forge ahead. Some enterprises may be further along than others, but in most industries there are only a few companies that have made significant progress.
Becoming a digital enterprise is a complex and lengthy journey. It is much more than implementing predictive analytics or intuitive eCommerce experiences. Beyond product/service innovation, the journey demands attitude change in agility, experimentation, openness and transparency. However, for now let us focus on the digital core levers that CIOs and their teams can use to accelerate transformation –and how industries’ different use of digital enablers leads to different routes to digitilization.
Digital core enablers – technologies that realize digital transformation
As I explained in the first blog of this series, a digital core represents a set of loosely coupled cloud-enabled and SaaS business applications integrated with analytics and big data, on top of an elastic, yet resilient, data platform. A digitalized enterprise core enables a scalable, enterprise-wide digital strategy with the intent to accelerate business innovation through insight-based customer, partner and employee engagement. This transparency and automation drives optimization of business process and asset utilization, as well as employee productivity, and allows forays into new business models beyond the industry.
The digital core components accelerate the benefits of digital transformation by:
Enabling creation of engaging and effective customer, employee and partner “experiences,” leading to adaptable, collaborative transactions
Optimizing end-to-end business processes, even extending them beyond the enterprise to improve business efficiency and effectiveness
Innovating current business models that open potential for net-new revenue from products and/or services in unexplored market segments or via cross-industry collaboration and/or digital business platforms.
Digital core demands a hybrid transactional and analytics data platform
So, where should most enterprises start? While the hype about cloud-native, loosely coupled microservice applications is raging, there is a quiet revolution taking place enabling the sensible modernization of a business operational core. SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, IBM, Workday, Salesforce and other vendors are increasingly offering “in-process,” hybrid transactional and analytical business applications based on optimized, ACID-compliant, columnar databases sharing one data platform. These merged platforms support data harmonization and application consolidation from a value stream perspective into one data store — with significant impact on TCO. In-process applications leveraging translytical data platforms or hybrid transaction/analytical processing (HTAP) accelerated by in-memory computing are disruptive. Companies can optimize business process execution by meshing many of the digital core enablers like real-time analytics (for example, planning, forecasting, outcome simulations and what-if analysis) in transactional execution, rather than performing them as separate activities after the fact.
Beyond this potential transition route to a digital core by consolidating applications into transanalytical data platforms, big data (Apache Hadoop) repositories can complement the reach of core applications by infusing additional external or sensor-based data to transition from manual to sense-and-respond, event-driven processes. As shown in the graphic below, these digital enablers may even “blur” the boundaries between industries, therefore enabling cross-sector collaboration.
Digital enablers disrupt industries and break down boundaries
Recent disruptive competitive moves by Amazon into transportation and financial services reinforced the importance of establishing a hybrid data platform that drives internal optimization and allows competitive moves into new services and products.
While different industrial sectors have a natural proximity to some of the digital enablers shown below, there is a rising consensus that the transparency and insight provided by richer data in analytical and big data repositories are the “fuel” of automation. Most of the technologies highlighted as disruptive in the graph below revolve around the utilities of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Becoming digital – a maturity and context-based approach per industry
Recently, researchers from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) looked at the state of digitization in sectors across the United States and Europe and found significant gaps between many of them. Most digital companies see outsized growth in productivity and profit margins. But what are the key attributes of these digital leaders, and how can companies benchmark themselves against competitors? MGI’s digitization index encompasses (a) digitization of assets, including infrastructure, connected machines, data, and data platforms, (b) digitization of business operations, including processes, payment and business models, customer and supply chain interactions and (c) digitization of the workforce, including worker use of digital tools, digitally skilled workers and new digital jobs and roles.
The industry digitization dashboard below shows the digitization maturity scores. The IT technology sector comes out on top. Media, finance and professional services are right behind. Not surprisingly, these are some of the industries that currently invest in cognitive AI for operations and services, which in many ways demand a rapid modernization of their business operational cores.
No doubt the extent to which companies are digitizing their physical assets and supply chains and enabling their knowledge workers — that is, if they have smart buildings, connected vehicle fleets, big data or IoT systems and information at their employees’ fingertips – determines the performance they get out of equipment, systems, and business networks. However, different states of maturity with such enablers demand a varied approach by industry. For example:
A consumer-products company will benefit from focusing its data and automation efforts on establishing a synchronized supply network able to respond to events from their customers. The fourth recommendation above shows that digitization of the B2B channel through “intelligent shelves” will improve forecast accuracy and trade promotion efficiency and evolve from a make-to-stock model into a make-to-order product flow. That in return will demand a transition from forecasting to response planning and big data repositories that sense, categorize and act upon on-shelf shortages. Product and packaging fragmentation will further demand digitization of the heart of manufacturing.
Asset-intensive industries like utilities can leverage AI to drive improved matching of supply and demand, which needs to be done, literally, in real time. With the addition of smart metering sensors, utilities have been able to progress from forecasted to actual consumption billing, but more importantly, to increase accuracy of their short-term load forecasts in order to adjust supply to meet anticipated demand. This delivers substantial savings, reduces waste and emissions and adds further system resilience via predictive and preventive maintenance.
Service- and labor-intensive industries like retail need to improve their interactions with consumers by improving the omni-channel experience and empowering their employees towards higher productivity via mobile-enabled tools, while collecting and bargaining using the wealth of information on behavior and assortment. Efficient logistics, goods tagging and placement can be automated.
In summary, by understanding their digital maturity vis-à-vis their peers and even related industries, companies can streamline the deployment of a digital core, focusing on business model optimization or innovation while enhancing their business network experience. Easier deployment of digital enablers is one of the benefits of a modernized digital core. Advanced analytics, IoT, AI/ML, robotics, algorithmic operations and blockchain can transform how companies create and manage digital assets, accelerate supply-to-demand, facilitate digital experiences and empower digital workers towards higher productivity.
In my next blog post, I’ll write about how a digital business platform extends an enterprise’s digital core into the broader business network and allows for end-to-end value stream optimization of current operations.
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