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8 Popular SaaS Apps for Business

Posted on 25/10/202113/11/2021 by Tushar

There is an increasing shift within the business world from self-hosted apps to cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) applications. Using a SaaS provider offers a wealth of advantages: guaranteed availability, scalability, provider-based software management and all the benefits of web-based accessibility. These kinds of applications are ideal solutions for CRM, ERP, HR, productivity and collaboration. In this post, we‘ll look at some of the most popular apps in use today.

1. Office 365

Microsoft Office has long been the most popular productivity suite with Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint providing the essential tools needed in industry and many other types of organisation. Today, Office 365 is the cloud-based version of that suite and, with over 120 million users, it is one of the most used cloud-based SaaS solutions.

Available in various editions, its applications work on PCs, tablets and smartphones and sync instantly across the internet. Itâ€™s ideal for working anywhere and collaborating with anyone.

2. Google G Suite

Google has had years to perfect its G Suite tools, offering free versions to millions of users worldwide. As a result, every part of the suite is familiar to users and the company has been able to make sure it works perfectly. G Suite for Business is the coming together of these well-known apps for business purposes: Google Docs, Sheets, Calendar, Hangouts and Gmail, where you can use your business email address instead of @gmail.com. The other differences for businesses are the increased storage capacity, improved security and data protection capabilities.

3. Slack

Slack is a next-generation collaboration app which has become very popular with businesses. It provides enterprises with a central communication hub which can be divided into separate channels for discrete teams, projects or clients. Each channel provides a single location where people can communicate and share tools and files.

One of the benefits of Slack is that it is searchable, enabling everything thatâ€™s been posted to be found. In this way, someone seeking a solution to something can quickly discover if somebody else has already found it. Perhaps the biggest advantage is that Slack has over 1,500 compatible apps in its directory which can be integrated into a channel. You can even build and use your own.

4. Box

Box is like an enterprise equivalent of Dropbox, providing businesses with cloud-based file sharing and content management facilities. What differentiates it from a standard file sharing site is its help with compliance, for example, it features GDPR auditing, key management and data residency.

One of its biggest benefits is its compatibility with many other cloud-based apps such as Office 365, G Suite, Slack and Salesforce.

5. NetSuite

NetSuite is a cloud app that enables businesses to manage their key processes within a single platform. It has functionality for ERP, CRM, PSA, eCommerce, retail and manufacturing. It can be used for resource planning, inventory tracking, financial monitoring, eCommerce hosting and customer management.

6. Salesforce Cloud

Salesforce Cloud is a customer relationship management (CRM) suite that enables enterprises to manage customer accounts, track sales leads, monitor marketing performance, manage tasks and deliver after-sales service.

Not only is it a global leader in CRM, Salesforce now offers solutions for eCommerce, customer service and marketing. And with the implementation of machine learning technology in its SaaS applications, this is an extremely powerful tool to use.

7. SAP S/4HANA Cloud

SAP S/4HANA Cloud is a SaaS version of the companyâ€™s existing ERP system that is accessible via mobile, tablet and desktop. It has management capabilities for finance, procurement, inventory and maintenance, contract processing, time and cost, HR and big data analytics.

The system provides more efficient financial accounting and liquidity management, helps reduce procurement spending and write-offs, and increases user productivity and organisational agility.

8. Microsoft Dynamics 365

Dynamics 365 is Microsoftâ€™s all-in-one cloud-based ERM and CRM solution. The software is divided into seven discrete modules: sales, marketing, field service, project service, customer service, operations and finance. These modules provide enterprises with an all-inclusive suite of apps under a single umbrella, enabling them to be managed from a central hub.

For improved security, a logical access control is built in, so that each user only has access to the particular modules that they need. At the same time, the full suite ensures that there are no errors, duplications or time wasting on the customer journey.

Conclusion

Cloud-based SaaS apps have a lot of benefits. They are easier to set up and configure than installing on your own hardware, there is guaranteed uptime, updates happen automatically, they are available anywhere there is an internet connection and on virtually all devices. There is no major investment needed as the software is leased on a subscription basis and there is the potential to scale up quickly if demand needs it. Indeed, with such a high demand for cloud apps, it is likely that traditional â€˜buy and installâ€™ software will become something of a rarity in the future.

10 Essential Features of a Cloud Backup Service

Posted on 23/10/202113/11/2021 by Tushar

What would happen to your company if it lost all its data? If your critical apps, website, database and all the essential information you need to run your business suddenly vanished. You may be tempted to say that it doesn’t bear thinking about. But it does, because it happens. Hard drive failure, acts of God, human error, hacking, all these things and more can result in data death and without a backup, there’s no chance of a quick recovery.

Backups should be non-negotiable. Without them, there’s a significant risk of business failure. With them, disasters can be overcome quickly, enabling your company to get back on its feet.

That said, not all backup solutions are the same. Today, many companies have shifted their backups to the cloud as a way speed up recovery, save money and benefit from improved services. In this post, we’ll explain why cloud backups are so popular and what to look for in a provider.

Cloud backups explained

Cloud backup is third-party service that enables customers to store data, remotely, on the internet. Businesses using the cloud can backup, manage and recover data much more easily than with traditional methods that require additional, on-site storage.

The cloud offers flexibility to cope with varying storage requirements, provides affordable pay as you go pricing and gives complete control over what data is saved and how frequently you choose to back it up.

10 features you should look for in a good backup service

1. Storage space

Cloud providers charge customers based on the amount of data storage they use. Whilst this works out less expensive than buying your own storage servers, you still need to consider what your likely requirements are. This will entail looking at the size of a single backup and then multiplying this by the number of backups you want to preserve at any point in time. This will help you compare the rates of individual providers.

2. Look for scalable storage

The amount of data you need backing up can vary. As your company grows, your storage requirements are likely to increase and, if you occasionally carry out large-scale projects, you might want a temporary backup of the data you are using.

A good service provider will let customers increase their storage capacity on a flexible â€˜as needed basis, enabling you to scale up with growth or to cover short-term needs.

3. High availability

What could be worse than suffering a data loss and then finding out that your backup server was offline when you need to do a disaster recovery? One thing can: discovering the server is regularly offline, so your scheduled backups didn’t take place and your critical data didn’t get saved.

It is crucial that your cloud backup provider offers a high availability service that is guaranteed to stay online. If it doesn’t provide 99.95% or higher, go somewhere else.

4. Vendor disaster recovery

You use a backup service to protect you in the case of data loss. But what would happen if the vendors backup server went down? Before choosing a backup service, make sure that it has its own disaster recovery plan in operation too.

Most service providers have multilocation backups which store several copies of your backups at different data centres. So, even if a fire takes out a complete data centre, one of the copies stored elsewhere can be brought online immediately. Make sure your service provider has this solution in place.

5. Backup frequency as required

Some businesses need to back up their data far more frequently than others. If you have a busy eCommerce business, for example, you may need constant backups so that you do not lose any very recent transactions if data is lost.

Some backup services give customers total control over the frequency of their backups and enable them to be scheduled at times which are most convenient. Others only offer a limited number of backups and at times scheduled by the vendor. Make sure you choose the option which best suits your company’s needs.

6. Backup security

The security of your cloud backups is highly important when you consider the number cyber attacks that take place. If you are passing that security to a third-party, make sure they have robust measures in place to keep your data out of the hands of hackers.

Ideally, they should have intrusion prevention, 256-bit encryption for storage and data transfer, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Protection (TLS) and use multilocation data storage. In addition, the physical data centres should also be well-guarded with security staff, CCTV and access control in place.

7. Data compliance

Data regulation is getting stricter all the time. If you hold personal information you are required to comply with the Data Protection Act and the new GDPR regulation. Even if your data is backed up by a third-party cloud provider, you are still responsible for it. Make sure, therefore, that your provider meets industry standards and follows best practice to help you stay compliant.

8. 24/7 technical support

Backups are essential if you need to recover from a data loss. However, if a disaster does happen, the technical difficulties in getting back online quickly can be challenging. It’s times like these when you need a service provider that does more than simply provide a backup server.

To give yourself the best chance of meeting your Recovery Time Objective, you need a provider that can assist with the technical issues no matter what time of day. To ensure this happens, choose a cloud backup provider that offers expert, 24/7 technical support.

Ideally, support should be available via telephone, online chat and email. This way, should one communication channel be unavailable, there are others you can still use to get the problem solved.

9. Read the T & Cs

Check any terms and conditions carefully before signing up to a backup service. A good cloud backup provider will give guarantees and SLAs to ensure you receive an effective service. Also, check if there are any limitations that might prevent your company carrying out backup operations in the way it needs.

10. What customers think

The quality of the backup service and how well it suits the needs of your company should always be your main priority. If you are unsure about a cloud backup provider, we always recommend looking at customer reviews as these often provide a useful insight into the quality of the company, the services it provides and the support it gives its clients.

Conclusion

From reading this post you should have a clear understanding of how critical it is to back up your data. You should also see how cloud backups provide a quick, flexible and cost-efficient way to back up, store and recover data in the event of a disaster. Hopefully, the 10 points we have raised will help you find the right provider to look after your data.

10 Benefits of Cloud Computing for Businesses

Posted on 22/10/202113/11/2021 by Tushar

Cloud computing is where data is stored, managed and processed on a network of servers hosted remotely on the internet. It has become highly popular with businesses because it offers considerable savings together with high security, enormous capacity and a host of managed services. Cloud hosting provides businesses with many advantages and in this post, we’ll take a look at ten of the most important ones.

1. Cloud hosting saves you money

The bottom line for any business looking to adopt a new technology is whether it offers value for money and a good return on investment. What’s great about cloud computing is that you don’t need your own hardware as everything is hosted on your providers’ servers. This means savings can be made on the cost of hardware and, in addition, you can dispense with the costs of running your own data centre. You won’t need to pay for space, power, physical security, insurance and air-conditioning or need to cover the costs of ongoing maintenance.

2. Instantly scalable resources and pay as you go pricing

If you have your own data centre and need to increase computing resources, you’ll need to buy, install and configure an expensive new server. If you only need that capacity to cover a short-term demand, it leaves you with two problems. Firstly, you’re buying something that may lay redundant for most of the time and, secondly, if that demand comes unexpectedly, you might not get the server up and running in time to deal with it.

With cloud computing, scalability comes built in. If you need extra resources because of an unexpected peak in website traffic, you can increase your computing capacity instantly. If that peak only lasts for a day or two you can scale down as demand decreases. And, as you are charged on a pay as you go basis, you only pay for the extra resources you have used. There is no need to upgrade permanently to a bigger package or hire a new server. In this way, cloud provides increased agility and cost-effective resourcing.

3. Strategic competitive advantage

Deployment time in cloud computing is virtually zero and applications that are critical for growth and success can be online almost instantly, giving you a strategic competitive advantage over competitors who have not yet adopted cloud technology.

In addition, the scalability mentioned above means that smaller companies who would normally be at a disadvantage against larger companies with greater in-house capacity, now find themselves on a level playing field without the need to invest heavily in their own data centres.

4. High Availability

As businesses become reliant on applications to run their critical operations, downtime can be disastrous. Server failure can result in companies coming to a complete standstill and getting back online can be a challenging and sometimes long-winded process. Losses can be significant.

Cloud hosting, however, removes the possibility of server failure causing downtime. A cloud environment is engineered to deliver predictable and consistent performance with guaranteed 100% up-time. This is because clients are hosted on virtual machines that, in the event of an issue, can be migrated between the clustered server. The cloudâ€™s hyper-converged design guards against everything from hard disk failure to an entire server failure, enabling mission-critical applications to be available all the time.

5. Lightning fast performance

In order to stay competitive, cloud service providers need to continually update their technology to meet the demands of their customers. As a result, cloud computing offers high-performance servers with technology such as powerful CPUs and super fast SSD drives.

In addition, load balancing is used to route client requests in a way that maximises speed and capacity utilisation. In this way, when servers are busy, the load is distributed so that no single server suffers from performance problems â€“ and with so many servers at their disposal, a cloud provider can always ensure that performance is consistently optimised.

6. Get new apps running quicker

Before the advent of cloud computing, it could take a long time to get new applications running smoothly. Cloud-based applications, however, have significantly reduced the time required for successful execution. Most cloud-based applications can be used instantly after signup.

This offers many advantages to businesses. One, in particular, is that businesses who migrate to the cloud can be benefiting from AI and machine learning applications within hours of signing up.

7. Increased security

With cloud hosting, your business is protected against hacking, infection and internal data theft. Cloud providers are required to comply with a range of stringent security regulations in order to protect their customersâ€™ data. This includes the use of robust firewall technology that features intrusion prevention systems and in-flow virus protection. These detect and isolate threats before they reach your server. You can even extend your office into the cloud with extensive VPN features.

8. More flexible working

Cloud computing provides greater flexibility in how employees work. As it is internet based, staff can access files both in and out of the workplace, enabling them to work remotely or in the office. Many companies are using this to give employees more flexible working conditions and to cut down on the amount of office space they need. In order to cut costs, many local councils have massively reduced office space expenditure by allowing staff to work from home and by using a hot-desking system on the days they come into the office.

Staff can access the companyâ€™s system using web-enabled devices such as smartphones and laptops and can collaborate in real-time with others by sharing synchronised files and using online conferencing. Many businesses now have a â€˜bring your own device (BYOD)â€™ policy which is backed up by the use of a logical access authentication protocol to ensure security.

9. Environmental friendly

Moving your system to the cloud means that you won’t need your own data centre and can reduce your own carbon footprint significantly. You wonâ€™t need to power the servers or keep them cool. You wonâ€™t even need data centre space which needs to be lit.

However, there are more environmental benefits than simply offloading your carbon footprint to your provider. Once you have migrated to the cloud, youâ€™ll find that economies of scale mean that your provider can use energy in a much more efficient way and that the energy needed to run your systems is much less than it would be on-site. In this way, cloud computing reduces the overall impact on the environment.

10. The cloud is future enabled

We’ve already mentioned that cloudâ€™s scalability puts smaller companies on a level playing field with bigger ones. In the future, this is going to be even more important. With the growth of the Internet of Things, the amount of big data that businesses are collecting and processing is going to increase exponentially.

Big data analytics provides vital information for driving business development and those companies who have the resources to carry it out are the ones who will gain most. Cloud computing is by far the most cost-effective option for storing and processing enormous quantities of data. In addition, it provides the easy deployment of the applications needed to carry out this processing.

Conclusion

As you can see from this post, cloud hosting provides many benefits to businesses. It’s cost-effective, can save you money, itâ€™s highly reliable and it provides the scalability, flexibility, agility, high performance and security businesses need from their IT systems.

How To Find Best Custom Web Development Services?

Posted on 19/10/202113/11/2021 by Anteelo Master

A website is a need for today business owners who have not website are losing their valuable leads because at the same time your competitor is fetching all your leads or sales using website. Maybe you are now aware of website benefits that’s why you are here. Here we’ve talked about how you can find best custom web development services.We know picking the best custom web development services is not an easy task but with this post, we help you to decide to choose the best one. Make sure you read the full article and then apply the points while looking for custom web development services. It will really help you to find what you are looking for so best of luck.

1. Experience

You need to look for a company who has a decent year of experience. In this age of competition, many companies open and shut down every day. Now the company which stands for years means they have good knowledge and knows every in and out in the industry. They obviously stay up to date with latest technologies and latest trends. If you choose a company which has years of experience in custom web development services then it is sure that you will get an awesome output.

2. Previous Work

Now if the company has years of experience then it really doesn’t mean that the particular company will give you the best result. Actually, you need to check the company’s previous work and if possible contact the client which they mentioned on their website. Company’s previous work will tell you more about the company without even contacting them. Check their previous websites or work and check the functionality, design etc. If they are creative in their work then no doubt you will also get something out of the box.

3. Dedicated Team

There are many processes involved in custom web development services. It is not a one-man task, it requires a full dedicated team. Generally, web development starts with a plan, after that how it will look, what functionality needs, framework, testing, finding bugs and more. Each single task needs to be handled by professionals so he/she can eliminate all errors or flaws.

4.Content and SEO

If you want to up in the game then you need fresh and unique content anyhow. Content is king and you can’t ignore it. Apart from that second most important thing is SEO. If you neglect the SEO of your website then you will be out of the game and your competitor will overtake you. Well writing fresh content and keep an eagle eye on your website SEO can be a pain for you, so if you have a budget then it is a good idea to outsource the task to the company. You can ask the same company which is providing the custom web development services definitely they have professionals for it if not then you can look for other company but it is better if you pick the same company for all task.

5. Budget

This is obviously the first thing pops up in mind when you start reading about Custom web development services in india. Well, all companies have a different price. Some may provide the same service at a lower price or vice versa. Here you need to be very careful because when you see services with low price obviously you will prefer it first but you will get good service it is not a guarantee. Actually, you need to consider all the factors mentioned here to before taking any decision. At the end, if you decide you pick the custom web development services which charge bit high then feel free to go with it.

6. Maintenance and Support

When your website grows definitely it need be updated time to time because you need to update your website according to your visitors, add new achievements, functions and more. Moreover, you also need some security features in future so you need to be prepared for it. Many custom web development services offer full support which means whenever you face any problem in your website they help you to resolve it free of cost. Now it really doesn’t count any website update but yes you can expect some small favors.
Hope you find this article useful. Here at RichestSoft you will find the best custom web development services and apart from it, we are into mobile app development, SEO, SMO, content writing, SalesFOrce and other IT solutions. Feel free to contact us and get a quote on your website.

SharePoint vs OneDrive for Business

Posted on 11/10/202113/11/2021 by Anteelo Master

Most organisations today have numerous choices close by for saving their documents. Generally, you’d store your documents on an external pen drive, HDD, or other media. Obviously, the drawback to utilising these strategies is that you have to keep the storage device handy all the time to access your documents. This isn’t always possible, as they can without much of a stretch get lost. In addition, it turns out to be practically difficult to share these documents with your associates or companions, except if you plan on mailing those copies each and every time without fail.

These days, virtual storage arrangements permit us to store our records on shared servers and access them from a large number of gadgets, any time, anywhere. Two cloud-based stages that allow you to spare, share, and match up documents across devices are Microsoft’s SharePoint and OneDrive for Business. One of the most common questions that pops up in the various organisation is ”SharePoint vs OneDrive, which one is better?” Right now, assess the fundamental contrasts between these two to find the answer to this question and see which is better for your business.

Lets first begin with understanding each one of them:

What is SharePoint?

SharePoint is a web-based collaborative platform expected to improve the working procedure in large associations and is proposed for a better joint effort of clients, record work process, and automation of operations. You can make a SharePoint portal, including wiki destinations, web journals, and dashboards where you can distribute archives and remarks. The principle highlights of SharePoint are:

The capacity to make a straightforward organisation structure in the digital arrangement.
Improvement of correspondence among department and employees. You can make dashboards to examine ventures and undertakings.
Control of settling errands and control of assignments that are being taken a shot at.
Clients can team up and alter a record shared on the server at the same time, just as trade archives, news, joins and different assets.
Automation of business forms – you don’t have to play out a noteworthy rundown of activities physically, permitting your you team to spare time.
A SharePoint portal permits you to make a corporate site.

The interface of a SharePoint portal permits you to produce reports, inform teams about significant occasions, distribute news, tune business forms with structures, and make client profiles. SharePoint has extensive utility and can be incorporated with other Microsoft Office applications and messengers

What is OneDrive?

Microsoft OneDrive is a cloud stockpiling administration that permits clients to store records in the Microsoft Cloud. OneDrive was previously known as SkyDrive, FolderShare, Windows Live Office, and LiveMesh. You can access OneDrive with or without an internet browser by introducing the OneDrive application. There are two kinds of OneDrive – OneDrive and OneDrive for Business.

OneDrive for Business (previously known as SkyDrive Pro) is similar to OneDrive yet contains additional highlights planned for business purposes. An association manager oversees OneDrive for business for users in your team to collaborate on records and different documents. The overseer can confine sharing alternatives for users. Users should sign in by utilising a work account, not an individual record so as to utilise OneDrive for Business. Unique maintenance arrangements that are accessible for OneDrive for Business permit executives to recoup documents erased by users. Different users can alter a report at the same time, and record forming is likewise accessible.

OneDrive for Business can be utilised independently (Office 365 Business plan) and with SharePoint Online (Office 365 Business Premium Plan). An organisation’s SharePoint libraries can be synchronized to the nearby PC of a user by utilising OneDrive. OneDrive for Business and SharePoint Online can be incorporated with one another. You can consider OneDrive as backend stockpiling and SharePoint can be considered the frontend interface to all the more likely envision how the mix of these two stages is actualised. A connect to documents partook in OneDrive can be utilised as a connection for SharePoint Online.

SharePoint vs OneDrive for Business

The following table compares the features of SharePoint vs OneDrive:

OneDrive for Business	SharePoint Online
Available in business as well as consumer variant.	Available only for business use with no specific consumer variant.
Referred to as a storage location	Referred to as a team site
Can be perceived as a cloud version of my documents	Is more or less like a website
Al files are set to private permissions unless specified.	Uses default permissions as set by user
No shared interface	Users access through organisations domain
Appropriate for uploading private documents which are not intended to be shared	Suitable for public documents which need to be shared frequently.
OneDrive cannot include the additional security of a standalone server.	SharePoint can include the supplementary security of a standalone server.
Content In OneDrive can not be published to a webpage	Allows publishing of documents directly to the website
Evolved from SharePoint workspace 2010, which was previously called Groove 2007.	Cloud-based adaptation of the SharePoint service which belongs to the era of Office XP

Similarities between SharePoint and OneDrive for Business

Both of them are a part of Office 365 Business plans
Both are available as a stand-alone service.
The core architecture of both platforms is built on SharePoint.
Both of them manage files/data with versioning and metadata.
Both of them can be accessed by a browser as well as the local folder

CONCLUSION

So the reality, when looking at SharePoint versus OneDrive, is actually about how you intend to utilise it. Picking an answer relies upon the requirements of your organisation. In the event that you have to store records in the virtual storage, or offer documents and at times, alter records together with different users at the same time, you can utilise Microsoft OneDrive for Business. In the event that you have to make a corporate web-based interface for a coordinated effort of a high number of users in your organisation, consider utilising SharePoint Online, which is a discretionary segment of Microsoft Office 365. OneDrive for Business can be incorporated with SharePoint and can be utilised as storage for content transferred to a site dependent on the SharePoint stage. Both OneDrive and SharePoint Online work with the inalienable security of Microsoft items.

Effort Estimation in Agile

Posted on 07/10/202113/11/2021 by Anteelo Master

I believe that this quote can perfectly relate to the thought that I would like to express in this blog post about estimation in Agile. To some extent I feel that Agile nature also reflects the same behavior that you should be at-least at the edge of right instead of totally wrong, with respect to either decision making or estimation.

Here I would like to focus on Estimation, which is a very crucial part in every project. Agile has changed the concept of estimation. In traditional software development methodology, management used to estimate the project whereas in Agile, team together does the estimation of a project. Agile has introduced simple techniques for estimation – Planning poker and T-shirt sizing.

Planning poker technique has made estimations more simpler and less pressurized. Team generally uses
Fibonacci series as story points. Agile promotes standard Fibonacci series like 0 1/2 1 2 3 5 8 13 20… Fibonacci series looks like a progress bar growing from lower to higher range in terms of three factors:

Risk, Effort(not in terms of hours or days- it should be relative comparison of efforts with every user story) and Complexity.

While estimating user stories on the basis of these three factors, team makes sure to consider development, QA, Research and all other dependent tasks. All this estimation activity is done during the backlog refinement meeting.

From the bunch of user stories provided by the product owner (PO) for estimation, team first selects the easiest user story to start with and assign story points to it. Every person in the team show his/her story points for that user story. In case of differing opinions for story points between team members, they come up for discussion and present their view points for selecting that particular story point number. After discussing that user story from all the aspects team re-votes for that user story and keeps repeating the same process until all the team members converge on the same story point number, effectively agreeing on the scope and impact. And this way it becomes the benchmark for other user stories.

After analyzing the easiest user story team starts picking up the user stories from top to bottom
considering they were arranged priority wise by the Product Owner. And team finishes discussion on all those bunch of user stories given by PO. This way team ends up allocating the story points to all the user stories.

Velocity- After the team is done with estimation, during sprint planning the team decides how many story points they can pick during this sprint. Like wise team increases or decreases the story points in further sprints till they come up with the number of story points team is comfortable in picking up for the sprint. And from the experience, team keeps on improving their estimates. After two or three sprints average of story points can be considered as the velocity of the team which can be directly related to the performance of the team.

T-Shirt sizing – This is almost similar to planning poker but the only difference is instead of Fibonacci series team take sizes of t-shirts for estimation like XS, S, M, L,XL. Rest of the method of picking-up the sizes is same as in planning poker.

Team discussion on every user stories and PO presence in backlog refinement tremendously helps the team in understanding the requirements much better. Each individual’s input is important to make the estimation better and help in understanding the requirement correctly.

P.S- You can install the free “Scrum Poker” application from application stores for Android, iOS and windows smart phone which provides virtual story point cards for estimations.

Growth of Small Business Using Snapchat

Posted on 02/10/202113/11/2021 by Tushar

When it comes to business, every social media platform is a potential new marketing channel. The problem, however, is that there are so many channels out there that it is impossible to concentrate on them all. That said, there are some you shouldn’t ignore and one of these, that continues to go from strength to strength, is Snapchat.

Today, Snapchat has more active daily users than Twitter with over 178 million people viewing an incredible 10 billion posts each day. And with a focus on visual media, it’s a great opportunity for businesses to use a range of creative marketing techniques to engage new customers, build their brand and sell products.

In this guide, we’ll tell you all you need to know about Snapchat and how you can use it to market your business.

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat is a quirky camera app that lets users send â€˜Snapsâ€™ to each other. A Snap is an image or a video of 10 seconds or less. Whatâ€™s quirky about Snapchat is that anything you post only has a limited lifespan. Once all recipients have seen it, it disappears permanently. Besides individual Snaps, you can create an â€˜Storyâ€™ comprised of individual Snaps but even these only last for 24 hours. In addition, you can also send short-lived, real-time, text messages to friends – these are called â€˜Chatsâ€™.

Snapchat facts

Here are some interesting facts that show how Snapchat can be an attractive prospect for small businesses.

In terms of users, Snapchat is more popular than Twitter, LinkedIn or Pinterest
It has high user engagement – over 60% of users post a Snap every day
Three-quarters of users make a purchase through Snapchat every month
It’s ideal for companies targeting millennials. Over 70% of users are under 35.
It’s still an emerging channel. Despite its popularity, 99% of companies have yet to take advantage of Snapchat, meaning there’s plenty of opportunities for those who get in first.

Realistic branding opportunities

Because of the short-lived nature of Snapchat posts, it’s not a platform where businesses are going to spend thousands of pounds creating lots of professional videos. Instead, it’s an ideal place for quick, entertaining posts that offer an insight into the life of your brand. It’s for showing what happens behind the scenes or taking snaps of people, places and events and highlighting your values. By doing this, you can show the human side of your business to create connections and build relationships.

Snapchat can also be used for posting Snaps about new products or services, for promoting events and even for offering discounts or running competitions. If you send out a discount voucher, for example, users can save it to their phone for later use.

Setting up Snapchat

Setting up Snapchat is easy. Just download the app from your app store (Google or Apple, etc.) and sign up for a new Snapchat account. To keep things consistent, have the same username as you do on your other social media accounts. This will help followers find you when they search across different platforms.

Once you have registered your account, the first thing you need to do is to make sure the â€˜Storiesâ€™ feature, which keeps your posts live for 24 hours, is set to public so that all your followers can see them. To do this, tap the ghost icon to navigate to Settings, select View My Story and set it to â€˜Everyoneâ€™.

Adding friends

You can only share your Snaps and Stories with your friends, so it is important that you begin to add friends as soon as possible. If you already have other social media accounts, use these to get the message out that you are now posting on Snapchat. What youâ€™ll find is that those who prefer using Snapchat will be the ones to add you.

You can add friends by searching for their username, from your address book, by posting your Snapcode (like a QR code) or your username to other social media platforms, or by inviting contacts who are non-Snapchat users to sign up and make friends.

One great feature of Snapchat is its â€˜Add Nearby Usersâ€™ feature which lets you invite anyone in your immediate vicinity. This is ideal for organisations that have bricks and mortar stores or which run events. If you have a shop, for example, you can send an invite to every Snapchat user that enters your store.

Creating and sharing content

Creating content on Snapchat is very easy. When you open the app, you open your camera. All you have to do is take a picture or a short video. Once youâ€™ve finished, youâ€™ll then be taken to the editing screen where youâ€™ll be given a range of editing options to embellish your Snap. These include:

Stickers â€“ like sticky notes
Captions
Doodles
Tint brush (currently still image only)
Filters â€“ these let you add a wide range of text and graphic overlays and photo effects to your Snaps. (Youâ€™ll need to turn filters on in the settings first.)

Once youâ€™ve finished editing and are happy with your Snap, you can decide which contacts you’d like to send it to. This is very helpful if you are marketing to different groups of Snapchat users as you can send out different Snaps to different people. To post your Snap, simply click the blue arrow icon at the bottom of your screen. Following this, the app then changes to the feed screen.

Analytics

User engagement data is important for any business looking at the impact of its social media strategy. Luckily, Snapchat has this built-in. If you tap on the dots to the right of your Story, youâ€™ll be shown your Story analytics. These show you which users have viewed your Story and who has saved your Snaps to their phones. There is also a host of third-party applications you can use to give even greater insight into your user engagement.

Conclusion

As you can see, Snapchat is one of the easiest social media platforms to set up and get running. It’s perfect for marketing to young, millennial audiences who love this kind of highly visual, fast-paced interaction and it’s a fun and exciting way to promote your brand, products and events. Hopefully, this guide will have shown you all the basic things you need to get your Snapchat account off the ground and start posting.

All About Managed Hosting That You Must Know

Posted on 01/10/202113/11/2021 by Tushar

Businesses that need to expand or upgrade their IT infrastructure have a range of possible choices. One of the most popular is managed hosting. In this post, we’ll explain what managed hosting is, the benefits it can bring and what to look for in a managed services provider.

What is managed hosting?

Managed hosting is a type of service in which a business hires IT hardware from a service provider, such as Anteelo. All managed hardware, i.e. servers, storage and network, has single tenant occupancy, in other words, no other customer will be using the same hardware. This provides the company with all the computing resources that the hardware provides: bandwidth, performance, RAM, storage, etc., and gives the customer complete control of the hardware, OS, software and system security.

With managed hosting, the hardware is securely housed in the service providersâ€™ datacentre and the service provider takes care of its management, admin and technical support. The alternative is unmanaged hosting, where companies still hire hardware and datacentre space but choose to manage it themselves. Whilst some companies still opt for this, most find it easier and more economical to let the service provider undertake management on their behalf.

What is included in a managed hosting service?

The range of services included in a managed hosting package will depend on the individual service provider. Most hosts will provide and manage the datacentre (space, power, building maintenance, physical security, IT engineers, etc.), hardware, networking, operating system (Windows, Linux, etc.) and application infrastructure. It is also possible to extend services even more by adding application management, too. At Anteelo, we even offer bespoke IT solutions.

The list above covers a wide range of management and administrative tasks which are done on your behalf. These can include real-time server monitoring, performance optimisation, server patching, backups, intrusion prevention, application installation and so forth. Using these services means companies do not need to worry about hardware or other issues and can let their IT teams focus on more business-related projects.

Which IT uses are best suited to managed hosting?

Managed hosting is suitable for a wide range of IT uses. This includes hosting websites, as a means for extending in-house architecture and for running custom or legacy apps. Single tenancy hosting is also ideal for those who require exceptional computing performance, large-scale storage and Big Data analytics. It is also being increasingly used for backing up data and for disaster recovery.

With increasing regulation, such as the implementation of GDPR, managed hosting also offers compliance benefits for those companies that require tight data security. If you are an organisation that has a statutory requirement to have a Data Protection Officer (DPO), for example, if you process or store sensitive information or large amounts of personal data, single tenant hosting can offer increased security and help ensure compliance.

What to look for in a managed hosting service provider

It is not only the range of services mentioned above that you would need to consider if you were looking for a managed hosting service provider. Here are a range of other factors you would need to look at:

1. Technical support: Make sure your service provider offers 24/7, 365 days a year technical support. That way, if you have any issue, youâ€™ll know there is an IT expert there to help.

2. Firewall security: All managed hosting should provide strong firewall protection. Look for technology, such as Fortinetâ€™s Fortigate firewalls, which protect against a wide range of security risks.

3. Port speed: Network performance is crucial for todayâ€™s websites. Look for a 1Gbit port speed.

4. High–availability: If you are paying for a managed service, you want it to be available all the time. Make sure your service provider guarantees 100% uptime.

5. High–performance hardware: You should be provided with exceptional hardware such as Intel Xeon CPUs and SSD hard drives.

6. Full root access: If you are leasing a server, you should have full control over it. Ensure the provider you choose enables full root SSH / RDP access.

7. Control panel: the quality of the control panel you are provided with can make a huge difference in taking care of the tasks which are not part of the managed service. The best available is Pleskâ€™s Web Pro.

Is managed hosting the right choice for you?

There is a number of important questions that companies will need to ask before making the decision to opt for a managed hosting package. These include:

1) In what ways will using managed services improve your IT capabilities?

2) What are the financial implications of using a managed service?

3) If you are migrating to a managed service, how can you best manage the move to have the least impact on your business? Will your service provider help you migrate?

4) If you were to opt for unmanaged services, does your company have the in-house expertise needed to manage its own infrastructure?

Conclusion

Managed hosting isnâ€™t the cheapest hosting option available, however, it can bring enormous benefits. It can cut down significantly on the in-house IT resources you dedicate to server management, freeing up your staff for more profitable tasks. It can enhance your security and compliance and, with the right infrastructure, can improve your systemâ€™s performance and IT capabilities.

Top 5 eCommerce Predictions For 2018 that you must know

Posted on 28/09/202113/11/2021 by Tushar

2018 is with us already and itâ€™s important in the current competitive market that eCommerce businesses donâ€™t standstill. In this post, we are going to take a close look at five eCommerce predictions for 2018 and explain why online businesses need to take heed of these shifting trends in order to stay ahead of their competitors.

1. Mobile sales will begin to dominate

Weâ€™ve been talking a lot about the shift towards mobile shopping over the last few years. In the UK, we already spend twice as much time surfing on a mobile as we do on computers and now we are set to see mobile sales forging ahead too. It is predicted that mobile purchases will massively increase during 2018, accounting for almost 50% of all e-commerce revenue by the end of the year.

There are several reasons which have contributed towards this shift. Mobile technology continues to improve: we have better phones and better networks, both of which make it easier to shop whilst weâ€™re out and about. For many, itâ€™s also more convenient to use a phone at home than it is to use a laptop.

In addition to phone technology, we have also seen an increasing effort by online businesses to give customers a better mobile shopping experience. Businesses are creating websites and apps which make it far easier to search for, find, look at and order products on the small screen. Improved website design and navigation have removed many of the barriers that used to make us switch to a computer when making a purchase.

Improved payment options also make mobile more attractive. Mobile phones are seen as very secure; with apps such as Apple Pay, we can even use them to pay for goods instead of a bankcard. This means customers now trust mobile payments much more than they once did.

To take advantage of the shift towards mobile, try to do the following:

Use a website theme that makes it simple and easy for customers to find your products when using a mobile phone.
Make sure your site loads quickly. You can do this by optimising your site and ensuring your web host provides the performance you need.
Start using accelerated mobile pages so even those with older phones or poor connections can access your shop quickly.
Offer a wider range of payment options that make online purchasing simpler for customers.

2. Sites that offer personalised shopping will grow more

Online retailers have realised that they make a lot more money when they are able to offer customers a personalised shopping experience. Indeed, sites which use personalisation techniques typically see a 5-10% resulting growth in sales.

These stores use a range of ways to give a customer-centric shopping experience. By employing data analysis and automation, they can provide suggested items based on a shopperâ€™s wish lists, recent searches or purchase histories. These suggestions can be provided on screen during browsing, as upsells during checkout or be remarketed using emails.

The technology needed to provide these services to customers can often be acquired through simple plugins and extensions.

3. Augmented reality shopping is the future

One of the major problems with online shopping is that customers only get to view a picture of a product before buying. This means a significant proportion of products sold online get sent back because, once opened, the customer doesnâ€™t like them. This is frustrating for the customer and costly for the retailer.

Over the years, online stores have done their utmost to provide the best shopping experience they can: image galleries, large images, videos, customer reviews, etc, have all been helpful. Now, however, retailers are beginning to use augmented reality to give users a much better understanding of how their products will look.

Augmented reality apps can be used to show customers what clothes will look like when worn or how furniture or decorations will appear in their homes. This year will see augmented reality becoming an integral element of many online stores.

4. Packaging to have increased impact on purchasing

Packaging has a number of effects on eCommerce customers. Firstly, it needs to protect your product as it is shipped to the customer. This is important as over half of all customers who receive a product damaged because of poor packaging would be reluctant to use that store again.

The way you package your goods also has an effect on your brand. Those selling â€˜high-endâ€™ goods need to make sure that the presentation of their packages meets the high standards that customers expect. Even with less valuable products, a well-presented package shows you have a respect for your customers.

The other consideration you need to think about is the eco-friendliness of your packaging. Do you use recycled and recyclable materials? Do you use overlarge containers when smaller ones will do? Do you overfill your packages with protective materials (bubble-wrap, polystyrene, tissue paper, etc)?Â Many customers are increasingly concerned with the environmental waste produced in eCommerce shipping and are also annoyed at the amount of recycling it forces them to do.

Getting your packaging right can lead to increased customer satisfaction and this can help with developing long-term relationships with customers.

5. 2018 will see a need to improve shipping

Shipping is a big deal in eCommerce and can often be the reason why a customer chooses one retailer over another. Thanks to the lead taken by Amazon and eBay, online buyers have much higher expectations about how they want their products delivered and now expect other eCommerce sites to provide similar levels of service.

In general, customers want their products delivered for free, to arrive quickly and at a time and place which is convenient for them. This means companies need to provide a range of different shipping options, for example, you could offer a free delivery within two days or a charged for, next day delivery. For customers who work, you may need to offer convenient delivery times or enable them to collect the package from another location, such as a post office.

Whilst customers like to be able to track delivery of their products, they also hate signing for them. If they are not in when the delivery arrives, they often have to go through the hassle of rearranging the delivery themselves or having to collect it from a depot â€“ all of which can put them off using your services again.

In 2018, delivery options will continue to impact upon your business. The more options you can offer, the better placed you will be to serve the differing needs of your customers.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are some surprising predictions for eCommerce in 2018 and not in the areas that most online retailers would expect. Whilst increased mobile shopping and personalisation have been promising to have an impact for some time, the effects of packaging, the way we ship our products and the rise of augmented reality are, perhaps, less expected.

List of creative agencies in Delhi

Posted on 27/09/202113/11/2021 by Anteelo Master

“Creative without strategy is called art, creative with strategy is called advertising.”

Prof. Jef I. Richards.

Building a creative user base has become like a powerhouse for the survival of a business. And to increase the face value of your website and become a magnet for your users and clients you need to hire a creative agency today and we have exactly what you’ll need, a list of top creative agencies of Gurgaon:

Iris Delhi

Starting with, we have Iris Delhi, a promising creative agency in Gurgaon. They provide their expertise across Brand Strategy, Advertising and Content as well. They have worked with renowned brands and agencies like Pizza Hut Delivery, Samsung, Adidas with a long list that follows. They help their clients outstand the others in the industry by hitching them to some of the most creatively set up interfaces.

Link: https://www.iris-worldwide.com/

Anteelo

Working with creative young minds Anteelo has never failed to stun their clients with ideas that stand out. They provide their clients with some of the most unique ideas to build up their business. Brownie points for their cost effectivity and their expertise must be added. They help their clients reach the correct audience within the best time frames.

Link: https://anteelo.com/

Lopamudra Creative Agency

Next, we have Lopamudra Creative agency, with amazing reviews from their customers and a promise of novel designs, originality and a maintenance of ethical standards, they have the best of bests to serve their users. Some of their most pleasing works include Virat FanBox and Sona commercials along with others.

Link: https://lopamudracreative.com/

Publicis India

Having worked with brands like Nescafe, Balaji wafers, ZeeTv along with others, Publicis, has formed a firm client base in the creative development industry. Their vast experience in the field adds up to the quality of the work they provide to their customers. They believe in giving digital transformation to their client’ work.

Link: http://www.publicis.in/

Blackgoat

Blackgoat, known for its creativity, novelty, and strategic visual solutions, have been working in the industry with great zeal and passion. Their goal is to create a compelling advertising campaign to make their content go viral. They are a firm believer of ‘WHAT LOOKS GOOD SELLS GOOD’.

Link: https://blackgoatcreative.com/

Design Answers.

Design Answers is a creative agency, helping businesses in achieving a stable market for themselves. They provide creative solutions that are extremely unique in their approach. Having worked with multiple renowned names: Wingreens, Sanfe, Huggies along with others, they are well versed in the field and promise their clients the best service.

Link: https://www.designanswers.in/en/

iBrandOx

iBrandOx is a full-time advertising company and a marketing agency. They promise their clients fine quality work or the clients may also avail the “money back” option. Their team carries out in-depth research which greatly helps them to deliver unique and reliable services at all times. They consider the clients pre-determined budget and excel on the lines directed.

Link: https://www.ibrandox.com/

1. Office 365

2. Google G Suite

3. Slack

4. Box

5. NetSuite

6. Salesforce Cloud

7. SAP S/4HANA Cloud

8. Microsoft Dynamics 365

Conclusion

Cloud backups explained

10 features you should look for in a good backup service

1. Storage space

2. Look for scalable storage

3. High availability

4. Vendor disaster recovery

5. Backup frequency as required

6. Backup security

7. Data compliance

8. 24/7 technical support

9. Read the T & Cs

10. What customers think

Conclusion

1. Cloud hosting saves you money

2. Instantly scalable resources and pay as you go pricing

3. Strategic competitive advantage

4. High Availability

5. Lightning fast performance

6. Get new apps running quicker

7. Increased security

8. More flexible working

9. Environmental friendly

10. The cloud is future enabled

Conclusion

1. Experience

2. Previous Work

3. Dedicated Team

4.Content and SEO

5. Budget

6. Maintenance and Support

What is SharePoint?

What is OneDrive?

SharePoint vs OneDrive for Business

Similarities between SharePoint and OneDrive for Business

CONCLUSION

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat facts

Realistic branding opportunities

Setting up Snapchat

Adding friends

Creating and sharing content

Analytics

Conclusion

What is managed hosting?

What is included in a managed hosting service?

Which IT uses are best suited to managed hosting?

What to look for in a managed hosting service provider

Is managed hosting the right choice for you?

Conclusion

1. Mobile sales will begin to dominate

2. Sites that offer personalised shopping will grow more

3. Augmented reality shopping is the future

4. Packaging to have increased impact on purchasing

5. 2018 will see a need to improve shipping

Conclusion

Delivering excellence, collaborating across time zones.

Take a look at our global hideouts.​

Contact

India (HQ)

Atlanta, USA

London, UK

Dubai, UAE

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India (HQ)

Atlanta

London

Dubai

Australia

Indonesia

Take a look at our global hideouts.