General Archives - Page 19 of 37

Digital Technologies: Transforming pharma’s customer value chain

Posted on 14/06/202005/06/2021 by Blogs

Pharmaceutical companies struggle with a complex and, often, poorly managed partner, customer and distribution network. It’s not surprising, given the makeup of most large pharma companies. Large, often disconnected product portfolios are built through discovery — both internally and externally with academia and biotech partners — and global clinical trials, using a network of clinical research organizations, investigators, other experts and patients. Suppliers, distributors and often contract manufacturers are all integral to making and supplying products. And at the customer level, companies work with healthcare practitioners, pharmacists, payers and patients.

This web of partners and customers is growing in complexity — both logistically and from a compliance point of view. Yet this way of doing business remains the same. Communication and requests are conducted via email and through call centers without a connected and intelligent way of routing work and queries. Service level agreements are often poorly developed, and governance processes are often inconsistent across the distribution and customer ecosystem.

While different parts of the pharmaceutical business are deploying digital technologies, an opportunity exists to transform the customer and partner value chain with progressive digital tools and platforms. Customer service and support centers are now implementing artificial intelligence (AI) by analyzing both structured and unstructured data and also leveraging natural language processing (NLP) for omnichannel engagement models with the customers. But how is this actually achieved?

A single source of truth

Synchronizing systems around the customer for a customer-centric approach begins with bringing together data from disparate sources and creating a single view of the truth through a common data model. In this way, companies have a big-picture view of every customer service request, including the distribution chain.

Once the data is in place, the next step to improving customer engagement and ensuring regulatory compliance is to embed the common platform with digital tools and technologies. Combining NLP with AI, machine learning and workflow automation enables increased customer engagement with sound governance and improved compliance.

How do these digital technologies improve engagement and compliance?

Customer service support and the operations space have evolved over the years from a manual, labor-intensive and software-centered business model to a more dynamic multichannel customer engagement business model. This new model facilitates omnichannel engagement with the customer using multiple devices. AI- and machine learning-powered chatbots are being leveraged for quick response management, and digital capabilities are tightly integrated with intelligent workflow management tools.

For example, today a customer can raise a service request through an email, phone call or a text message, or even talk to a live chat agent. Digitally enabled customer service engagement centers can now seamlessly bring in the request from different channels into one homogenous customer engagement platform for action. From there, the request is processed using digital tools to identify the intent of the case or request — who it is aimed at, what the objective is – and to create groups in which to classify the case based on importance. This is achieved by using NLP to create an entity score, match this score with a subgroup and route it to the right place to ensure proper follow-up.

The customer may then choose to follow up with a phone call or through a chatbot or online feedback form. This is where an AI capability (or the more traditional customer service agent) should be able to view all of the various communication forms and frame the response accordingly.

To achieve this, AI and ML tools learn from previous interactions, continuously improving on the quality of responses. The AI learning also needs to extend to compliance, adherence to SLA guidelines, as well as any regulatory restrictions on what can and cannot be shared. For example, if a customer asks for the available stock of a particular drug, the pharma company is not allowed to address that question according to U.S. government regulations. So, the response needs to be framed appropriately. The rules will be different in each country, so the AI/ML-enabled automated response app should be able to learn and adapt accordingly.

Preconfigured responses based on the type of the request are then configured using data science and AI/ML techniques. AI and ML capabilities also help to determine the urgency or sensitivity of a case, and how best to ensure that compliance requirements are met within the timelines and SLA metrics.

In addition, analytics will play a key role in verifying, validating and improving customer service. Predictive models can be used to strengthen the human response team by understanding peak cycles, such as a new drug launch, natural disaster areas and so on.

By taking a progressive digital approach to managing the communication network with partners and customers, companies can mitigate many problems while improving customer engagement. This is enabled by having a single view of the customer, using robust data analytics capabilities thanks to AI and ML — to predict risk and compliance needs, and ensuring that the company is always ready for regulatory inspections and has the necessary information at hand. With the emergence of AI and ML techniques, it has become easier to achieve customer engagement needs with more enriched analytics and insights, thus allowing enterprises to not only automate customer engagements but also excel in customer experience.

Ways to better data processing in Self-Driving Cars

Posted on 13/06/202007/06/2021 by Blogs

Autonomous cars promise to change the face of transportation, offering many more mobility options for individual motorists and companies alike. In moving forward with this new technology, our automotive clients have a very important challenge to overcome: processing the petabytes of data that gets collected during the development and testing of autonomous driving systems.

KPIs have always been important to car makers. They are necessary to attain road approvals and to track key competitive differentiators. With autonomous cars, however, car makers are accumulating – and must find ways to process and manage – 10, 20, sometimes 30 times the data as before.

As a result, they need much more efficient data analysis tools that can help them analyze the data for the specific autonomous car KPIs they are looking for. To make this happen, they need to take the following four steps:

Make sure the car’s sensors are working. There are typically eight to 12 sensor systems in an autonomous vehicle test car. It’s important to look at the data at the very beginning of the workflow by checking the KPIs to ensure that the system works properly. Some of the KPIs car testers evaluate include the following: vehicle operations, safety, environmental impact and in-car network efficiency.
Scale the workflow to process the data. Traditional architectures of automotive frameworks are not suited for the large-scale data processing workloads required for testing the algorithms used in autonomous car tests. In using traditional data storage methods, vehicle test data gets stored in NAS-based storage and gets then transferred to workstations, where engineers test algorithms under development. This process has two downsides:
- Large amounts of data must be moved, requiring considerable time and network bandwidth.
- Individual workstations do not offer the massive computing power required to return test results fast enough.
Today, testers are extracting each frame of video data with its associated Radar, Lidar and sensor data by using open source Hadoop. The major benefit of Hadoop is that it scales processing and storage to hundreds of petabytes. This makes it a perfect environment for testing autonomous driving systems.
Make the most of data analytics. In processing petabytes of automotive data, we have to look at how we present the data to higher level services. New data analysis tools can read different automotive formats to give us proper levels of access to the metadata and data. For example, say we have 700 video recordings, we now have tools that can pinpoint footage from the front-right camera alone to show how the car performed making right-hand turns. We can also use the footage to determine the accuracy of a model depicting the autonomous car’s perception of its ambient physical surroundings .
Run the data analysis. In the end, we want to use data analysis tools to give R&D engineers a complete view of how the car has performed in the field. We want to generate information on how the systems will react under normal driving conditions.

Overcoming these data analysis challenges is critical. Manufacturers can’t obtain permits for releasing their cars until they can show that the cars performed up to certain standards in road tests. And when autonomous cars do start to hit the roadways in the next few years, auto manufacturers might need the KPIs they generated in testing. A few accidents are inevitable and, when questions arise, car makers can use KPIs to show the authorities, insurance companies and the general public how the cars were tested and that proper due diligence was performed.

Right now, there’s some distrust among the driving public of autonomous cars. It will take a massive public relations effort to convince consumers that autonomous cars are safer than traditional manually-driven cars. But proving that case all starts with the ability to process the data more efficiently

Make sure the car’s sensors are working. There are typically eight to 12 sensor systems in an autonomous vehicle test car. It’s important to look at the data at the very beginning of the workflow by checking the KPIs to ensure that the system works properly. Some of the KPIs car testers evaluate include the following: vehicle operations, safety, environmental impact and in-car network efficiency.
Scale the workflow to process the data. Traditional architectures of automotive frameworks are not suited for the large-scale data processing workloads required for testing the algorithms used in autonomous car tests. In using traditional data storage methods, vehicle test data gets stored in NAS-based storage and gets then transferred to workstations, where engineers test algorithms under development. This process has two downsides:
- Large amounts of data must be moved, requiring considerable time and network bandwidth.
- Individual workstations do not offer the massive computing power required to return test results fast enough.
Today, testers are extracting each frame of video data with its associated Radar, Lidar and sensor data by using open source Hadoop. The major benefit of Hadoop is that it scales processing and storage to hundreds of petabytes. This makes it a perfect environment for testing autonomous driving systems.
Make the most of data analytics. In processing petabytes of automotive data, we have to look at how we present the data to higher level services. New data analysis tools can read different automotive formats to give us proper levels of access to the metadata and data. For example, say we have 700 video recordings, we now have tools that can pinpoint footage from the front-right camera alone to show how the car performed making right-hand turns. We can also use the footage to determine the accuracy of a model depicting the autonomous car’s perception of its ambient physical surroundings .
Run the data analysis. In the end, we want to use data analysis tools to give R&D engineers a complete view of how the car has performed in the field. We want to generate information on how the systems will react under normal driving conditions.

Significance of “design for operations” approach for service-based IT

Posted on 13/06/202005/06/2021 by Blogs

To deliver on digital transformation and improve business performance, enterprises are adopting a “design for operations” approach to software development and delivery. By “design for operations” we mean that software is designed to run continuously, with frequent incremental updates that can be made at scale. The approach takes into consideration the end-to-end costs of delivering and servicing the software, not just the initial development costs. It is based on applying intelligent automation at scale and connecting ever-changing customer needs to automated IT infrastructure. DevOps is the set of practices that do this, enabled by software pipelines that support Continuous Delivery.

The challenge: Design for operations

Products and services pass through various stages of design evolution:

design for purpose (the product performs a specific function)
design for manufacture (the product can be mass produced)
design for operations (the product encompasses ongoing use and the full product life cycle)

Automobiles are a good example: from Daimler’s horseless carriage, to Ford’s Model T and finally to Toyota’s Prius (or anything else that’s sold with a service plan). Including the service plan means the auto maker incurs the costs of servicing the car after it’s purchased, so the auto maker is now responsible for the end-to-end life cycle of the car. Information technology is no different — from early code-breaking computers like Colossus, to packaged software such as Oracle, and then to software-based services like Netflix.

The key point is that software-based services companies like Netflix have figured out that they own the end-to-end cost of delivering their software, and have optimized accordingly, using practices we now call DevOps.

There are efficiencies that can be achieved only with software designed for operations. This means that companies running bespoke software (designed for purpose) and packaged software (designed for manufacture) have a maturity gap, where the liability is greater than the value. If that gap can be closed, delivery can be better, faster and cheaper (no need to pick just two).

It’s essential to close that gap, because if competitors can deliver better, faster and cheaper, that puts them at an advantage. This even includes the public sector, since government departments, agencies and local authorities are all under pressure to deliver higher quality services to citizens with lower impact on taxation.

The reason we “shift left”

A typical outcome of the design-for-purpose approach is that functional requirements (what the software should do) are pursued over nonfunctional requirements (security, compliance, usability, maintainability). As a result, things like security get bolted on later. In many cases, this lack of functionality starts to accrue as technical debt — that is, decisions that may seem expedient in the short term become costly in the longer term.

The concept of “shifting left” is about ensuring that all requirements are included in the design process from the beginning. Think of a project timeline and “shifting left” the items in the timeline, such as security and testing, so they happen sooner. In practice, that doesn’t have to mean lots of extra development work, as careful choices of platforms and frameworks can ensure that aspects such as security are baked in from the beginning.

A good example of contemporary development practices that support this is manifested when we ask, “How do we know that this application is performing to expectations in the production environment?” This moves way past “Does it work?” and starts asking “How might it not work, and how will we know?”

Enterprises need to adopt a “design for operations” model that includes a comprehensive approach to intelligent automation that combines analytics, lean techniques and automation capabilities. This approach produces greater insights, speed and efficiency and enables service-based solutions that are operational on Day 1.

All about Operationalized Analytics

Posted on 12/06/202005/06/2021 by Blogs

Organizations with a high “Analytics IQ” have strategy, culture and continuous-improvement processes that help them identify and develop new digital business models. Powering these capabilities is the organization’s move from ad hoc to operationalized analytics.

Seamless data flow

Operationalized analytics is the interoperation of multiple disciplines to support the seamless flow of data, from initial analytic discovery to embedding predictive and prescriptive analytics into organizational operations, applications and machines. The impact of the embedded analytics is then measured, monitored and further analyzed to circle back to new analytics discoveries in a continuous improvement loop, much like a fully matured industrial process.

An example of operationalized analytics is the industrialized AI utility depicted below. It enables automatic access and collection of data, ingesting and cleaning of the data, agile experimentation through automated execution of algorithms, and generation of insights.

Operationalized analytics builds on hybrid data management (HDM), an HDM reference architecture (HDM-RA), and an industrialized analytics and AI platform to enable organizations to implement industrial-strength analytics as a foundation of their digital transformation.

Operationalized analytics encompasses the following:

Data discovery includes the data discovery environment, methods, technologies and processes to support rapid self-service data sharing, analytics experimentation, model building, and generation of information insights.
Analytics production and management focuses on the processes required to support rigorous treatment and ongoing management of analytics models and analytics intellectual property as competitive assets.
Decision management provides a clear understanding of, and access to, the information needed to augment decision making at the right time, in the right place and in the right format.
Application integration incorporates analytics models into enterprise applications, including customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), marketing automation, financial systems and more.
Information delivery of relevant and timely analytics information to the right users, at the right time and in the right format is enabled by self-service analytics and data preparation. This improves the ease and speed with which organizations can visualize and uncover insights for better decision making.
Analytics governance is the set of multidisciplinary structures, policies, procedures, processes and controls for managing information and analytics models at an enterprise level to support an organization’s regulatory, legal, risk, environmental and operational requirements.
Analytics culture is key, as crossing the chasm from ad hoc analytics projects to analytics models integrated into front-line operations requires a cultural shift. Merely having a strong team of data scientists and a great technology platform will not make an impact unless the overall organization also understands the benefits of analytics and embraces the change management required to implement analytically driven decisions.
DataOps is an emerging practice that brings together specialists in data science, data engineering software development, and operations to align development of data-intensive applications with business objectives and to shorten development cycles. DataOps is a new people, process and tools paradigm that promotes repeatability, productivity, agility and self-service while achieving continuous analytics model and solutions deployments. DataOps further raises Analytics IQ by enabling faster delivery of analytics solutions with predictable business outcomes

Opening spend analytics data to decision makers reducing costs? Here’s Why!

Posted on 11/06/202005/06/2021 by Blogs

Spend analytics information has traditionally been closely guarded by procurement. But this approach is arguably a lost opportunity for both procurement and the wider business.

Spending decisions are regularly made by other functions, so for a business to derive the best value and outcome from those decisions, spend analytics information must be used — not just viewed — by all stakeholders.

Before that data can be used effectively, there has to be cohesion and agreement about several key issues. The first issue: There must be a single version of the truth, with everyone working from the same data and analytics. Without a unified approach, different functions will make different decisions based on their own information, and the objective of improving value in spend decisions will be lost.

The second key point: There must be agreement on what is “good enough” for the purposes of the organization. That will vary from company to company. While some might want close to 100 percent accuracy of their spend analytics data, it’s important to understand that achieving close to perfect data will be costly, and it’s unlikely the company will get adequate return on investment. A “good enough” estimate of 80 percent data accuracy will give you enough insight to enable your people to make good spending decisions. It should also be noted that to achieve a single version of the truth and the required level of data accuracy, an organization should work with a specialist that has the data skills to create reliable spend analytics information.

Simple access

Other key considerations: ensuring that the data is easy for everyone to access and easy to interpret so the right spend decisions can be made. The level of access and the depth of information must also be adjusted for the individual. For example, the chief executive will have a different requirement compared to a category manager or a buyer in a department. Equally, the information must be targeted to the skill level of the individual. Those with high-level analytical skills should have access to more in-depth spend analytics data, while others might simply want an-easy-to-understand dashboard or application.

The tools users can access are also important. For example, a voice recognition tool that allows users to ask the application a simple question such as, “How much do I spend with suppliers in manufacturing?” might be most useful for some individuals. If the tool is designed properly, it can provide the user with a chart or report with the required information.

If everyone involved in spend decisions has the ability to freely and easily access spend analytics data, companies can start to drive cost savings and achieve greater efficiencies.

Lowering costs and increasing value can be crucial for life sciences organizations where indirect spend is widely distributed across different functions. Without access to information that’s accurate and trustworthy, they can’t make the right buying decisions and won’t adhere to corporate procurement standards or processes.

In fact, most procurement managers are all too accustomed to different departments spending with suppliers that are not part of a purchase order agreement. The procurement managers can save themselves — and their organizations — a lot of pain by making information easily accessible, reliable and user friendly.

Startup or Mobile App Idea In Pandemic- Is It The Right Time?

Posted on 07/06/202005/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

These are really desperate times if nothing more. The COVID-19 pandemic was as unanticipated for the world as a bolt of lightning striking the earth. Since most of the influential countries are on complete lockdown while others are preparing for the possibility of the worst, its domino effect is putting the world economy in absolute shambles and welcoming the recession which was already due. Amid all this chaos and unforeseen, lies the future of many existing startup businesses paranoid to the core they might not see the sun of the booming economy.The conundrum that most entrepreneurs must be in right now has to be – whether this precarious Coronavirus winter is the best time to start a business or similarly, invest in developing a idea for a mobile app.

Multiple sources may state the obvious speculation that the economy is on a downfall leading to a mass loss on a global level; nevertheless, there is always a silver lining for some and we are going to bring it to you.

So, without any further ado, let’s embark on the road to the startup advantages of startup app development or starting a startup ideas during pandemic.

Why should entrepreneurs build a mobile app or go ahead with their post pandemic startup ideas?

1. You may just be the only fish in the pond

The ambivalence of the current situations has believed to scare-off the wantrepreneurs from the market. They only initiate when the situations are in favor of the possibility of earning money readily. This gives enough space to the entrepreneurs like you who are ahead of the curve and believe in running opposite from the crowd (pun intended).

Like Salmon fish, it is the ones who swim the opposing current towards upstream, jump waterfalls and do not stray from their goal irrespective of exogenous conditions, that would come out stronger once the pandemic is over and the economy starts to become stable.

2. An MVP now can make your business stable for future

A true entrepreneur knows that the best income source for any startup is the pocket of customers and not capital ventures. Since Sequoia Venture Capital has announced COVID-19 to be the ‘Black Swan’ of 2020, companies who were expecting to fundraise are in a pickle now. This is one of the obstacles or rather effects of recession on startups and markets in general.

Ipso facto, it is not ideal for startups to be utterly dependent on these fundings in a recessionary economy. This is what answers the question of “why do we need MVP” . Developing an MVP at this point is your best bet to generate revenue and ensure self-sustainability.

{To know how do you develop an MVP, refer to this extensive article}

Since an MVP is not an over-engineered solution, it takes less development time on top of the cost of development that’s easy on the pocket.

3. If these apps are bagging big, so can you

Let’s look at some niches and their applications that are the most in-demand right now and are truly capturing the business opportunities during recession as they come.

Entertainment and Streaming apps

Recent events have limelight that people are now more willing to spend on streaming subscriptions. Since the world is on lockdown, people are reaching out to these entertainment mobile applications to pass the time.

Although, things might not be as smooth for Netflix on the production front, according to Yahoo reports, applications like Netflix in this niche are really profiting since the app downloads and subscriptions are on the peak. Meanwhile, people are spending more average hours of streaming.

Not that more hours spent, in any way, will benefit the company anymore; it is something startups like you can benefit from if you plan to develop an app like Netflix.

This popularity has not left entertainment apps like Tiktok from the picture. You can see many celebrities using the application for various purposes be it for educating people and spreading awareness or the subtle joy of doing everything and nothing on the app. If you unleash an MVP of the app like these in the market now, you’ll be one step ahead of the competitors.

Video conferencing apps

Since most of the organizations have implemented work from home, the app stores have seen a huge surge in the downloads of video conferencing apps like Zoom. It is currently number one free application in the App Store

Mental Health and meditation apps

According to Adweek, Breethe a meditation app has secured 41st spots in the health and fitness category ranking by skipping 31 spots over the last week itself and BetterMe, another meditation app, jumped 70 spots up to 26th position.

Moreover, the Ginger app and other mental health platforms that are offered by employers to their employees have witnessed a surge in usage since employees have turned to online tools to manage their anxiety. Moreover, in stressful times like this, people are reaching towards such mental health and meditation applications to maintain their calm.

Food delivery app segment

Due to the on-going social distancing and lockdown, people have turned towards the food delivery applications. In fact, on comparing the average daily downloads from February to March 15, it was noted that apps like Instacart, Walmart Grocery, and Shipt have witnessed their daily downloads surge by 218%, 160%, and 124%, respectively. This surge might be owed to the “contactless delivery” initiative which was first implemented in China.

There are many pandemic proof business ideas like these that are taking the most advantage.

4. Can get a hold of brimming talent for less value

This is one of the many positive effects of recession on start-ups. Once the lockdown situation has passed and recession finally hits the world economy, the high unemployment rate will prevail – something you can, fortunately, benefit from as a startup.

Instead of professionals, you can hire fresh talent with a lot of potential to offer. As dismal as it is, in recessionary times, people are more willing to do the work for below-market salaries in return for benefits and equity-based recompense.

Moreover, a market headed towards the downfall also produces many refugees from big companies. They can really help startups with their expertise and experience.

5. Chance to mold value proposition as per market demand

Unlike established organizations, you can easily modify your startup’s value proposition to make it more suited to the market slowdown and minimize any adverse impact of recession on business. After all, ‘a bend in the road is not an end of the road as long as you take the turn’.

To make this scenario clearer, let’s say the product you developed enhances productivity. Then, when the times are good you can market it as a ‘revenue generator’ whereas, in situations like these when the market is down, it can be portrayed as a ‘cost-saver’ – something which is more promising.

For instance, meditation applications were used by people to get away from work stress and get a little detached from it; however, now it’s working as a great tool to increase mindfulness and productivity.

6. More time to measure your steps

The saying “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” is apt when it comes to initiating any mobile app startup ideas.

Because of the slow pace of the market economy, you have an upper hand to plan out everything related to your startup and the mobile app you are planning to develop. This would not only give you a chance to point out any mistakes or scope of improvement, but also innovate ways for cost-cutting, something which you cannot afford to do in the time of economic frenzy.

7. You can get resources in cheap

This is certainly not a brainer that the prices of resources will significantly drop in the coming recession. So, you can easily hire experienced and fresher personnel. Moreover, everything you need to fuel your business startup will cost you less in times like these.

As an entrepreneur, the two most valuable resources are time and money. During the down market, companies are made to negotiate below the list prices and in fact, even barter for in-kind services. Such situations enable you to make deals reducing the costs and conserve the cash.

8. Endure now for prosperous future

If you wait for the tides to mellow down, you may not reach the heights of success you can reach by riding these perilous tides. The point is – do not remain on the sidelines and wait for the uncertainties to perish. Business is all about taking the risk. The bigger the risk, the bigger the success.

If you can manage to survive this COVID-19 and recession winter, you will definitely emerge as a successful startup as opposed to those businesses starting at an economic turnaround.

Apart from these genuine and incredible advantages of starting a startup or developing an app during COVID-19 and recession, there are other things that may play in the favor of tech startups and also validate the fact that recessions are the perfect time to start a business.

The fact that the U.S. government has decided to spend $8 billion to fight the outbreak. This would include not only the states, hospitals, and other medical providers but also the tech startups and companies in the healthcare space, like those innovating mHealth med and self-diagnosis apps, among many other things. So, if you are a startup interested in targeting this industry, you can surely benefit to a great extent.

Although this is not the world’s first recession and neither the last and the same goes for the pandemic (unfortunately), these might be just a great time to start a business and help it flourish. If you have left a scope of confusion, reach out to our team of android app developer to get the answer.

Apple Benefitting Small Businesses-How?

Posted on 07/06/202005/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

From barter systems and centralized banks to digital banking institutions; there are still many marvels of technology the Fintech domain is yet to behold. Since the inception of digital wallets and digital transactions in general, many curious startups and companies have come forward to contribute their innovative share of amazingness, including the financial domain. And Apple, being a pioneer and the epitome of inventions, has yet again swept the world off its feet.

From the first touchscreen iPhones to Macs, they have been killing every game it enters. And to the dismay of traditional financial providers, it has now unleashed its financial products “Apple Pay” and “Apple Card” to capture this market as well.

It seems like they had it planned long ago – to offer all the services to the users at one place – their iPhone.

Apple Pay released back in 2014, is now followed by Apple Card that was released only in August 2019.

So, while the debate of how these products benefit users has been doing the rounds, it will be interesting to speculate its positive effects on businesses around the world. More specifically, what will businesses gain by integrating Apple Card and Apple Pay into their mobility solutions?

The fact that experts believe 90% of the smartphone users will land on mobile payment method by the end of this year, is enough for startups and businesses that have invested in mobile app development to rethink about more payment gateways, Apple Credit Card integrated into Apple Pay being one of them.

Since they have not officially shared its views in this direction, we take it upon ourselves to unravel the truth.

Let’s cover the whole ground starting from the basics and then work our way up to the crux of the discussion – How is Apple Credit Card/Apple Pay for small businesses an asset to cherish. After all, one must have crucial information about the product before taking dynamic decisions.

What is an Apple Card and how it works?

“There’s never been a credit card this smart” – Apple

Apple Credit Card, or simply Apple Card is like any other credit card (digital and physical) only better. This product is a result of the collaboration between Apple and Goldman Sachs.

For users, they first need to apply for an Apple Credit Card via the Wallet app. It only takes a few days in approval. This digital card can be used to make payments across multiple platforms. To apply for this Credit Card’s physical version, the process remains the same.

Apple Card “practically lives on your iPhone” and “lets you do things you simply couldn’t do before” – What does this mean? You must be wondering.

Well, the reason why this product has bagged such hype in many such Credit Card reviews, is all due to its brilliant money management feature of the whole experience. Although most of the credit cards now show transactions and other important numbers, Apple Cards exceeds those common expectations.

The card can be managed with the help of the Wallet app, which is also used for applying for the card. It gives users updated data on their spending patterns and helps them track. The Apple team yet again did it differently. The app color-codes recurring items you spend on and can track your weekly or monthly transactions with respect to locations they were transacted at.

What are Apple Credit Card benefits?

These benefits will give a clear idea of why users are using Apple Cards to such a great extent and why many small businesses are integrating it into their products.

Security

If there is one thing that they hailed for is, you know, security. Be it the security of its hardware devices or software. This is something that also stands true for the Apple Card and Pay. Apple Pay purchases are highly secure.

When signing up for an Apple Credit Card for your small business, you will be provided with a unique number in real-time which gets stored in the secure element of your iPhone. So, that code is needed whenever a purchase takes place along with a dynamically generated transaction ID. Further things that may require are Face ID.

Moreover, one of the best Apple Credit Card benefits is that the company keeps all the data private by prohibiting Goldman Sachs from sharing or selling the data.

Apple says “No fees”

The reason why Apple Card poses as an ideal choice for small business financing and personal use, of course, is it’s free. Yes, there are no Apple credit card fees whatsoever. No foreign transaction, annual, late, etc. charges are imposed on cardholders – something that your business can benefit from since users would be more inclined to use this option.

And one more fact that may skyrocket the popularity of their card after the COVID-19 pandemic is that the company had offered temporary relief for payments for March and April to its users.

Apple Card Cash-back rewards

It is not a new concept. Nevertheless, Apple has still managed to leave its watermark. Their Card rewards users 1% cashback on everything to users on Apple Card payment and 2% if they use Apple Pay.

Maps of purchased made

Pretty much the most interesting Apple Credit Card benefit is it allows users to see on the map where they made the purchase, no merchant codes, only the store name on the map. This eliminates the problem that credit cards often showed minimal location information, up until now. Something that banks can learn a lot from.

How does Apple Card help businesses?

Online transaction is the new black

If you own an E-commerce/M-Commerce business, then your business model relies on online sales. Here, Apple Pay for small businesses is a must-grab deal. Users can easily pay for their purchases with their Apple Card using Apple Pay -something that can help avoid the abandoned cart situation.

Without restricting to the commerce domain, thier card as a payment option will work wonders for gaming applications, subscription-based applications such as entertainment and music, and of course on-demand mobility solutions, just to name a few.

Security that sprouts user trust

As we have discussed above, Apple Pay is a trusted and highly secure medium to perform online transactions. Allowing users to use Apple Card for your business will terminate any trust issues or any unfavorable preconceived notions they might have.

And to be forward, this is not just a one-time thing, rather it has the potential to turn your one-time user/customer into a loyal one. The security promise is not just a point of relief to users but also the businesses, imparting assurance of protected transactions.

Must-have to target younger demographics

As we are rolling towards the concept of a cashless economy, a majority of the participants in this notion are believed to be the millennials and younger demographic.

Since the iPhone is indisputably the most popular smartphone among younger audiences, integrating Apple Card via Apple Pay into your mobile app might just be the push towards the success you were lacking. Moreover, offering multiple online payment gateway options will only add to your benefit. If you skip on this opportunity, there is a high probability of your probable customers going to your alternatives.

Cashback rewards = increased sales

One of the benefits of Apple Card for businesses (indirectly) is the cashback rewards to the users. Since it offers a fair percentage of cashback on transactions made through Apple Card (via Apple Pay), this will encourage users to purchase from your mobile application or business if you have this option to offer.

Conversion boost

The advantages of streamlined and easy transactions ripple down to many deeper levels. One of them being increased conversion rates. Consequently, as your sales graphs rise upwards, your short and long-term profits will definitely take off too.

After all, the mantra for businesses is to offer what’s in demand, and this is, without a doubt, something of a need of the hour. In fact, according to a few industry experts, we might move on from cash and physical cards completely by 2030. Better start catching up, right?

Mobile applications using Apple Card via Apple pay

I have figured that having examples always helps in making an informed decision. So, here are a few renowned companies that identified the opportunities Apple Card has to offer and integrated it into their mobile applications.

Nike

The company has integrated the Apple Card as a payment method in its Nike app, Nike.com, SNKRS, Nike Training Club, and so on. The move is the brand’s another step towards bettering customer experience – one that was strengthened with Nike’s acquisition of Celect for predicting users’ shopping behaviour.

T-mobile

T-mobile is a mobile communication subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG. The company has enabled Apple Pay and payment through their card on its mobile app as well as website.

Uber

Uber is a company that placed the on-demand model on the map. From ride-sharing to rental helicopter services to establishing JUMP, a rental e-scooter service, Uber has captured various domains. It has also incorporated Apple Card into its Uber mobile application and web apps

UberEats

Another extended effort of Uber to capture the on-demand food delivery market, UberEats was invented. And guess what? This application is also using an Apply Card as a medium of payments.

{Also read: How Much Does it Cost to Build a Food-Delivery App like UberEats or GrubHub?}

Walgreens

Walgreens is one of the largest US-based pharmacy chains. To cater better services to its users via its mobile app and website, the company offers the option to pay via their card using the their Pay app.

Let us help you integrate Apple Card into your app

This section is creative to give you a brief overview of Anteelo’s process for integrating payment gateways like Apple Pay and Card into existing applications.

To offer excellent mobile payment experience in iOS apps, we use Stripe iOS SDK. It is a great tool known for its impeccable features like rich UI elements, powerful, protected interface, and customization.

The process is as follows –

We start by installing and configuring the SDK. The tools that we employ and are supported by Stripe are CocoaPods, Carthage, Fabric, Dynamic Framework, and Static Framework.
The next step involves configuring Stripe integration in the App Delegate. To configure our Stripe API keys, we use programming languages like Swift (which is the official language for iOS) and Objective, which is considered the next best.

Although this was just a sneak peek into the diligent efforts our team invests in the process. We test rigorously to make sure the application is performing its best with the new integrations.

If you want to know the cost of integrating this Card into your app, I suggest you browse through our detailed article – Payment Gateway Integration: The Process and What’s Next.

After discussing everything, it is pretty clear to see the opportunities that any business can grab for the long term just by adding this simple service into their business model. As we are leaning towards a cashless world, it’s better to at least keep up with the pace, if not staying ahead of the curve.

Augmented Reality is Transforming the Retail Industry

Posted on 05/06/202005/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

The Augmented Reality market has grown so colossal that predictions estimate its value to reach $61.4 billion by 2023. AR has permeated into (almost) every field which includes healthcare, gaming, entertainment, retail, digital marketing, education, utilities, et al.

When we narrow it down to Augmented Reality in retail, Wikitude approximates that 32% of shoppers are regular users of AR and 73% of smartphone AR users are highly contented with the experiences. Such Augmented Reality retail statistics prove how the market has accepted the technology and is exponentially growing with its help.

But before we move on to that, let’s have a basic understanding of what the disruptive technology constitutes.

A quick explanation of what AR is
The problem with traditional retail marketing
How augmented retail solutions changed the game
Brands that are innovating with AR
What is the future of AR in Retail

Explanation of what AR is

If you haven’t heard of Augmented Reality or AR by now, then this article should help you to creep out of the rock you’ve been resting under. Keeping aside technical nerd talks, the best way to understand AR and what are its benefits by examples.

You might have seen people picking up their phones and walking in search of funny li’l creatures via the Pokemon Go app or making themselves dogs, ghouls, fairies, superheroes and whatnot with TikTok? Yes, that’s AR. It’s basically a superimposition of CGI (Augment) on your phone screens which appear lifelike hence, the term Reality is used.

The problem with traditional retail marketing

Earlier marketing forms needed a makeover with time as so many technological developments and demand and supply for goods were increasing. Retail shops grew bigger, more people flogged in and the system became more organized. Here are some points that highlight the overall issue:

1. Travelling- The latest impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the retail is a ubiquitous example. While in this lockdown phase, people have to stay put and only go out to buy necessary items, there is always a threat of coming in contact with an affected person.

2. Compartmentalization- Although, this isn’t a problem but it can pose as one. Continuing with the above example, the more time you spend going through various compartments for production, time is wasted and the risk of contracting the disease increases.

3. Insufficient items- One recurring limitation of traditional retail business that you constantly face is items not in stock and you don’t find that out unless you visit it. In times like these with limited resources and mass hoarding, the problem has become fourfold.

4. Money to setup- A brick and mortar retail store is always a costly investment. For SMEs, it may mean risking everything that they have. Therefore, no consumer means loss in businesses which results in winding up of the business.

5. Limited working hours– Unlike online shopping, shops have fixed business hours. And during stressful times like these, policies have become stricter. There may be times when you have to search (properly) and choose which item(s) should be on your cart but you don’t get that much time always.

How augmented retail solutions changed the game

The impact of Augmented Reality on retail has been monumental and has added a lot of benefits to the industry. From streamlining the process to making shopping easier for people (both online and offline), AR in retail is a different ball game altogether. Below are the major advantages of augmented reality in shopping that have been commonly observed by consumers.

Benefits of augmented reality in retail

Personalization of user content

Retailers often customize content to meet the best expectations of the customer. You might’ve seen retailing stores filtering out content for you so that you look for relatable items without wasting time. This has been done in numerous ways. Another technology called VR or Virtual Reality is also rendered for enhancement. Together they provide comprehensive AR VR retail solutions.

Ease of trials/tryouts

Waiting for your turn outside the trial rooms can be highly boring and time-consuming. Therefore, there are virtual mirrors where you can simply find out the size of the dresses you like and in a digital screen in front of you, you can see how that apparel is looking and fitting your body.

This is an amazing role of augmented reality in retail. You can also do this in online shopping too. Suppose while shopping for a pair of glasses, the app will scan your face to place the pair on your digital reflection. These types of gamification techniques play a huge role in driving retail sales.

Combines traditional retailing and online shopping

Shopping is considered a fun activity. Now with so many retail stores and a huge population, it becomes jarring at times to shop for the right things. One of the key benefits of AR in Ecommerce is that it replicates the same ‘fun’ feeling of traditional shopping methods minus inventory costs and never ending lines.

Connecting shoppers with printed content

Printed products will not disappear in the future as they comprise a big chunk in marketing. It’s one of the masterstrokes of augmented reality marketing strategy. Have you ever observed how just by holding your phone over a particular picture you get all the information related to it and also similar items of interest? The augmented reality in retail applications helps you do it. Many companies have adopted this. The New Yorker provides quirky animations on the front and back covers of its magazines.

Increasing brand presence and awareness

AR is an amazing tool to enhance a company’s brand awareness to wider audiences. Mobile apps with state-of-the-art AR features will help a brand provide unique experiences to users. The use of AR for retailer marketing strategies gives a lot of leverage to brands to find ingenious ways for interactions creating a tunnel for instant feedback.

Dissipates barriers of language

Although with so many languages around the world, there are still certain barriers but that’s just momentary. With Google Translate AR mode, you can see any of the 40 foreign languages as your native one. Features of AR based shopping apps channelize language(s) in such a manner that it either is region-specific or, with the help of AR and AI tools, helps you understand its services. Even if you use printed catalogues, the AR content in it will guide you to choose the language of your convenience.

Earn better ROI

AR is modern-day technology which undergoes changes frequently, therefore an e-commerce or m-commerce retailer which provides such facilities will definitely earn much higher than the ones who aren’t using it. Integration of AR in the retail sector has become a mandatory trend these days. And nowadays making an AR app is easy and cost-effective.

Improve the shopping experience

This is like the summation of all advantages and one of the biggest AR/VR trends of modern retail. Whether you’re shopping online or offline, a retailer should provide the most interactive means so that you have worthy experience of shopping and would prefer to visit the shop/store/portal/app again and again. Advanced In-Store Experience with digital/virtual mirrors is an important addition which is improving with the passage of time.

Brands that are innovating with AR

Big names in the corporate world are doing pretty impressive work when it comes to business transformation with the help of AR. Augmented Reality benefits for shopping online and offline have been devised quite convincingly by brands to suit the fancies of a user. Below you’ll find a few companies that have etched their names in AR-based applications.

IKEA

When it comes to shopping for furniture and electricals, IKEA is probably the most synonymous name to reckon with. Its AR technology in retail is really helpful for users as it allows them to take their phones and scan a particular furniture piece and then superimpose that into your room’s image. You can do it for your bedroom, kitchen, lavatory, hall, foyer, lawn, etc. This helps you save a lot of time and energy.

Vespa

After downloading the app, you just need to hover your phone over the magazine as shown in the video and a scooter will automatically pop-up. You can customise the vehicle as per your choice. You can change the colours, add/remove accessories, look for different styles, etc. Isn’t this a quirky use of AR marketing?

Topshop

The clothing giant Topshop is a spitting example of creativity with AR. The company in its retail stores has set up kiosks where shoppers will see a digital reflection of themselves and can try out each individual clothing through the reflective image. Via hand gestures, the dresses can be changed one after the other. The whole process uplifts not just an individual shopper’s mood but also people nearby.

Adidas

Since technology is all about innovation, Adidas testifies the statement with its use case of AR in ecommerce. A while ago, it changed the game with the launch of a new pair of sneakers. At ComplexCon CA 2018, the new AR feature made its debut. Users had to download the ComplexCon app on their smartphones, where it would guide them to head towards a destination in order to buy him/herself new kicks. In certain locations there were AR powered signs and the users needed to just point their phone towards it and follow the instructions. This helped them to buy shoes even without contacting any Adidas Originals employee in person.

What is the future of AR in Retail

Augmented Reality is often termed as a futuristic technology, but it is not true. AR has already made its way into all sectors of the retail market. The time is not too far when you will be sitting in the comfort of your sofa or sipping a cup of coffee in the kitchen, wearing AR-enabled glasses or browsing through the Augmented Reality Mobile Apps, shopping for everything you need. Yes, all this without even stepping out from your home!

The challenges in Augmented Reality Ecommerce also need to be worked upon to reach out to a wider range of audiences and retain existing ones. And whether it’s AR in online shopping or offline, there are certain things that need special attention. Aspects such as advertising, localization, incentives and discounts, personal approach, interaction, discoverability, privacy and UX.

An interesting fact about retail is that despite online shopping and M-commerce getting more precedence day by day, 71% of the consumers (buyers in this case) would like to experience VR in a store than in their smart devices. That’s what Augmented Reality does, keep people of both worlds happy.

Continue reading “Augmented Reality is Transforming the Retail Industry”

Threats and Opportunities in Travel and Transportation from Digital Transformation

Posted on 01/06/202004/06/2021 by Blogs

In travel and transportation most companies today don’t look at customer journeys as a collaborative exercise. They consider their job done when passengers are delivered safely to their appointed destination for their segment. A railway, for example, may only care that it has moved passengers safely from station A to station B. It ignores the fact station B is an airport, and the passengers it dropped off are actually headed to dozens of different destinations.

To deliver real value to customers, companies need to surmount the cultural and technical obstacles to data sharing to create a true transportation ecosystem. The idea of bridging systems, breaking down silos and sharing data with others raises the fear of companies losing their individual value propositions. The reality, however, is that being part of a connected transportation platform will generate more value than it destroys and will create entirely new opportunities for companies that never before existed. What’s needed is a digital enablement strategy.

Looking across a chain of events

Digital transformation is built around an information architecture that enables companies to look across a chain of travel events for an individual customer or package to identify problems, predict the impact, and automatically develop and execute solutions that keep passengers and freight moving.

New services can be built around a platform like this that help companies differentiate their offerings or add value in new ways, through mobile tracking solutions, or by using analytics to improve warehousing fulfillment and distribution. For examples, sensors in a refrigerated freight car that can sense an elevation in temperature could trigger a maintenance request to repair a problem or move cargo to another car before it spoils.

Passenger transportation companies can tap into these same tools to find ways to extend their brands and expand into the multiple modes of transportation available to passengers. Digital enablement helps companies understand the full passenger journey and allows for a seamless approach, even if the company is not part of the entire chain of events. A hotel notified that incoming guests are experiencing delays could offer weary travelers an added comfort or convenience as a way to differentiate their customer service.

Capabilities like this don’t require wholesale integration. They can be developed and delivered through loosely connected systems that share selected data, understand the most important attributes of a customer’s journey, and have the awareness to detect issues, the context to recognize the impact and the intelligence to take action.

IoT in Manufacturing: Enhancing Operational Efficiency

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

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

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

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

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

Welcoming the Fourth Industrial Revolution

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Inventory management

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

2. Predictive maintenance of assets

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

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

3. Field Service

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

4. Workforce management

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

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

5. Quality assurance

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

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

6. Cognitive operations and processes

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

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

7. Optimization and smarter resources

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

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

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

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

The Barriers to IoT Adoption in Manufacturing Sector

Interoperability of data

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

Lack of IoT Skillsets

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

Instances of data breach

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

Initiate Your IoT in Manufacturing Journey With Us

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

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