Since the past 40 years, the number of technology innovations both within and around medical devices have increased dramatically. Especially, the past 20 years have witnessed an acceleration in the sector, thanks to the Internet of Things and rise of its other corresponding parts like wireless connectivity, cloud computing, and AI, etc. These advancements have transformed the healthcare processes.
Even after 20 years, these leading-edge technologies are continuing to source a seismic shift in the process of healthcare administration and delivery.
And now, mobile applications have also seeped in and have become an important part of these highly demanded, technology-based medical and non-medical purposes.
These Apps or Software which are a medical device on their own – Software as a Medical Device – have grown to become an inherent part of the users’ life. The applications of SaMD are not just limited to diagnosis but have also made their place in the monitoring and treatment process. In fact it is SaMD that has led to the evolution of healthcare 1.0 to healthcare 3.0.
Seeing the growing inclusion of SaMD in the everyday healthcare, The International Medical Device Regulators Forum have described the concept and SaMD risk categories in detail for the medical app development industry to follow.
* SaMD is not the only compliance that healthcare industry stakeholders – mHealth applications entrepreneurs and device manufacturers should follow. There are other compliances as well, such as FDA, HIPAA, HL7, and FCPA. We have touched upon these compliances in much detail in our mHealthcare App Development Guide.
In this article, we are going to throw some light on what is SaMD, the regulations that it entails, and what mHealth app types which are categorized as Software as a Medical Device.
What is Software as A Medical Device?
The terminology – Software as a Medical Device stands for any software that is intended for use for one or multiple medical purposes and which performs these purposes without being integrated into a hardware medical device.
Here’s how IMDRAF defines SaMD –
‘The term “Software as a Medical Device” (SaMD) is defined as software intended to be used for one or more medical purposes that perform these purposes without being part of a hardware medical device.’
How to know if your mobile app is a SaMD
SaMD is a medical device and includes some in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) medical device.
SaMD is able to run on general purpose (non-medical) computing platforms.
Software does not meet the definition of SaMD if its intended purpose is to drive hardware medical device.
SaMD may be used with other products such as medical devices.
SaMD may be interfaced with other medical devices, including hardware medical devices and other SaMD software, as well as general purpose software.
Factors to Consider for SaMD Characterization
There are two ways through which SaMDs are characterized:
A. Information provided by SaMD
To diagnose or treat patients
To inform clinical management
To drive clinical management
B. Healthcare Condition
Critical condition
Serious condition
Non-serious condition
On the basis of these characterizations, SaMDs are divided into four categories.
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Category Wise Examples of SaMD
Category IV:
SaMDs which perform diagnostic image analysis for enabling treatment decisions when patients suffer an acute stroke
SaMDs which calculate the fractal dimension of a lesion and builds a structural map which reveals different growth patterns for providing diagnosis or identification if the lesion is benign or malignant.
SaMDs combining data from the immunoassays to the screen for mutable pathogens outbreak that can be highly communicable.
Category III:
SaMD which makes use of phone’s microphone for detecting interrupted breathing during sleep.
SaMD used for providing information by clicking pictures, monitoring growth or other data to supplement other information that a healthcare provider uses for diagnosing if a skin lesion is benign or malignant.
Category II:
SaMDs that analyzes heart rate
SaMD which use individuals’ health record data for predicting the risks of heart disease or stroke and create prevention strategies.
SaMD which integrate and analyze multiple tests to offer recommendations for diagnosis in certain clinical indications.
Category I:
SaMD which gather data from symptom diaries for providing information to gauge occurrence of an asthma episode.
SaMD analyzing images, movement of the eye for guiding next diagnostic action for astigmatism.
SaMD which store historic blood pressure information for health care providers to review.
SaMD using data of hearing sensitivity, speech in noise, and asking users to answer questionnaires about common listening situations for self-assessing hearing loss.
What Can SaMD Manufacturers do to Ensure Regulations?
SaMD companies should have a good Quality Management System incorporated into the development process to ensure compliance with any regulation. The chosen QMS platform should be capable of compliance with regulatory requirements like the FDA 21 CFR Part 820 and ISO 13485:2016.
Any misstep in the direction can lead to severe consequences with your application getting banned being only the tipping point. Noting the cruciality, it is advised that you should partner with a custom healthcare software development company who works alongside medical practitioners who understand these regulations and compliances to their entirety.
FAQs About SaMD
Q. What are examples of software that are not Software as a Medical Device?
Apps that hardware medical devices need for performing its role.
Apps which are dependent on the medical device data.
Apps that enable communication and streamlining of clinical workflow, like ones for scheduling visits, video or voice calling, etc
The app examples are not limited to these. There are a number of other app types which do not fall under the definition of SaMDs.
Q. What can Software as a Medical Device actually do?
SaMD applications are those which act as a stand-alone health application that gives users the insight into their physical health by making diagnosis, doing X-ray processing, or calculating insulin doses.
Q. What is IEC 62304?
IEC 62304 is a standard that specifies the life cycle requirements needed for the creation of Software as a Medical Device and Software within medical devices. When used along with ISO 13485, it offers a framework that is important for safe designing and maintenance of medical device software.
Q. Describe your QMS process for medical device software development
We have our own internal QMS for working with medical device and pharmaceutical clients, to ensure our own quality. We do not get audited by clients, third parties, or regulators.
Stage 1 : Initiate Project: Conduct a kick-off teleconference with Client to:
Review the project plan and timeline
Finalize key sources of information
Define the project team
Stage 2 : Review Documentation: Evaluate and examine all relevant documents including existing product information, nonclinical data/plans, and regulatory documentation. The sources of this information are:
Non-clinical data, regulatory correspondence, product technical specifications, references to predicate devices, proposed product claims and intended/indications for use, etc.
Stage 3: Determine Regulatory Pathway Using information from above section, Develop an FDA regulatory path determining whether 510(k) or de novo is most appropriate (a PMA regulatory strategy is more complex and will require a higher budget). The goal will be to advise Client on the optimal approach to FDA.
The choice of the right software development company is tough. Will the vendor you choose just bash out some code and disappear in the steppes of Asia, or will they become your greatest ally in an uncertain market? How to make sure the reality is closer to the latter option than former?
The main goal is to search for a partner, not a vendor. Outsourcing is not about getting the cheapest quote on your order, but about building a useful relationship that will serve you in the future.
How to find the right partner then? Here are 4 tips for making the fateful choice:
Define your needs and goals
Proper initiation can make or break a project.
Once you have a breakthrough idea, it is easy to zero in on a few features, technologies, solutions. If everybody else is doing a simple blockchain in Java, or, god forbid, Python or Ruby, you might think you need one as well.
Furthermore, if you get unlucky with your software development team, they will just nod their heads in unison and agree.
We believe it is important to look at the big picture and question the job-to-be-done of your solution. If you communicate your high-level needs to partners, you enable them to research and find individual solutions in their fields of expertise that fit your needs better than “the next best thing”.
Once you have agreed with your future software team, make sure to work with them to draft comprehensive requirements that will help you both to understand each other better and communicate the work that should be done.
Choose quality over price
The cheapest option in the market usually isn’t the best choice. If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly. In software, these costs usually come as bugs, crashes, and a mismatch between your (and your customer’s) needs and the solution.
Of course, you need to choose the quality level that is suitable for your project, but every software development company you hire should use proper processes, have a dedicated QA team, and, preferably, use DevOps and guarantee maintenance. Modern business environment and users demand that things don’t break, and if they do, they should be fixed instantly.
If your project concerns handling large amounts of money (fintech, cryptocurrencies) or health of others (biotech), it is worthy to look into additional quality assurance for your software – look for software companies that use functional programming (benefits: reliable, more secure and easier maintainable code) and formal verification.
Keep up to date with technology
The winds of the future are uncertain, and the technologies change with every breeze. Still, it is important to sense where the tech is going and choose the correct solutions ahead of the market. Otherwise, you risk being outdated in the fast-moving, cutthroat markets of today.
For example, Rust has been voted as the most loved programming language between developers in 2016 and 2019. If you want to get the best new talent in the market, having your project in Rust is a wonderful way to attract them. (In addition to other benefits.)
If you choose the correct development partner, they should be able to communicate their programming language and solution choices to you, explain the reasons underneath and make sure the choices match your individual needs.
Choose a reliable developer
Choose a partner that can support your long-term growth and help you with infrastructure and maintenance of the code.
Once your project takes hold, it is most likely that it will need to scale. For this reason, you need to select a software development company that can provide for a diverse set of needs, prevent any bottlenecks, and, if necessary, extend their operations to offer personal service just for you.
Furthermore, software projects are always in a state of continuous improvement. Pick the company that won’t disappear after finishing the project because your software will need maintenance, improvements to accustom your shifting needs and those of the market.
From a time when only 5% of the employees in the USA were working remotely to now when millions across the world have been locked down in a remote working condition, the time and era of workspace is witnessing a drastic shift. While the freelancers and gig economy patrons are already extremely used to the idea of remote working, there are teams that have been working in collaboration with each other since the inception of their job roles. One of which are software developers. The software development work process has always required designers, developers, and QA experts to work in close collaboration, one that mainly has been running on a face to face since the beginning of the time.
Although coronavirus has made it a mandate for the IT employees and software developers to get confined in their homes or respective locations and adapt to the remote workspace lifestyle whether or not they are willing to, the shift has been gradually moving for much longer.
According to a report by TechRebulic where they interviewed several developers, where 43% of the developers cited the option to work remotely as a must-have when looking for a company’s offer, and 53% of respondents said they would think less of a company if they didn’t offer any remote work options.
Remote work has drastically improved work life balance for the employees, as the report highlighted. It was also one of the biggest reasons behind the trend becoming a massive norm. Remote employees said this working style reduces stress of commuting (77%), provides the ability to work from wherever they want to live (75%), and allows them to care for children or family members (56%).
The next event besides comfort that has fueled digital workforce and remote work lifestyle is the onset of outsourcing. In the search for low cost of developer acquisition, entrepreneurs generally take the remote work and outsourcing route.
The impact of remote workforce on app development and delivery ecosystem
Although the adoption of remote workforce in the IT industry has been slow, the software development industry is slowly and steadily coming at par with the digital shift. There are some mobile app development companies which are operating as a torchbearer for others who are struggling with the shift.
The direct impact of this workspace shift is visible in the greater adoption of digital solutions and collaboration platforms. With the right network conditions and the presence of platforms to enable real-time collaboration, it can be extremely easy to streamline the processes and that too in a real-time mode.
While the presence of tools and collaborative platforms are doing a great job at resisting the shock, the problems are mainly surrounding the managerial front – something that companies are able to solve when they partner with the companies with remote workforce. These companies are not just used to the remote work setup but their teams also have the ability to work independently.
We have shared both: the list of tools and the issues that the challenges that PMs face when managing remote software developers face, a little after a few scrolls.
Benefits of remote job for developers
1. Higher Inter-Team Collaboration
In digital workspaces, the individuals work in collaboration with other teams which helps in supporting the key organizational priorities. A high exposure to other experts and thinkers inside an organization tends to enhance mobility by enabling the employees to develop new skills and try newer roles, which ultimately increases engagement and productivity. This is the reason why remote work developers tend to be more connected with their organization, across levels compared to their centrally located counterparts.
2. Greater Flexibility
The employees who are given the freedom to choose their work timings and work locations are a lot more engaged. Additionally, the flexible schedule helps in closing the gender gaps prevalent in the corporate world thus improving diversity and success in the organization. This high flexibility is what acts as a backbone of the statement that happy employees are more productive.
3. Greater returns on the IT investments
There are several decentralized platforms which are very simple to use and enable the employees to access the cloud-based data and tools. It also frees up the company’s IT teams to focus on high-level priorities like integration of tools enabling seamless workflows and troubleshooting the clunky legacy software.
4. Higher efficiency
A remote team is able to streamline the administrative tasks, remove the barriers when it comes to accessing resources and data, and increase critical information flow across businesses. This streamlining of tasks enables the employees to make several data-centric decisions effectively and much more swiftly than before.
The benefits of remote workforce for the software developers can only stand true as long as they have the necessary toolset to drive the application towards success.
The toolset that are devised to enable smooth remote workflow for the software designers and developers are usually are divided into two parts – one which takes care of the remote dev work and another which looks into managing remote workers:
Collaboration & Resources.
For Collaboration:
Team collaboration:
Trello
Sketchboard
Zeplin
InVision
SpaceTime
Screenhero
TipHive
Bit.ai
Task management
Taskworld
Fusioo
Jira
Trello
Eylean Board
Communication
Slack
Skype
Telegram
UberConference.
For Resources:
Type Anything
Frontify
Challenges that project managers might encounter when working with the remote software developers
Even though remote software development has become a common practice, it still comes with some obstacles and unique challenges which should be overcomed for attaining success. In a remote development setup, you will find that everything from project management to communication and technical aspects of the software development tasks call for a different mindset. Translation: Managing remote employees is very different from managing a centrally located team of developers.
Having developed more than 700 applications for global clients, we have gained several insights into the dos and don’ts of remote app development work and what managing remote employees entails.
1. Onboarding of new team members
Introducing new developers to a large codebase calls for a lot of effort and time. When we say codebase, we mean a collection of source codes that are used to develop a specific software component and system. When the codes are poorly documented or messy, the new remote developers will find it extremely time-taking to know how the code pieces are working in sync. This becomes all the more difficult when they are working with a remote manager who is evry new to them.
The solution to this lies in writing clean codes that follow the industry standards. A detailed and clear documentation should also be followed at every stage of the app development process.
2. Communication related issues
One of the biggest challenges of remote development teams is communication. Collection of daily updates, discussion of urgent issues, and explaining objectives, new tasks become overly difficult when you work in different locations and even time zones.
In order to make sure that everyone in the team is on the same page, at Anteelo, we schedule frequent online meetings with both development teams and clients. Additionally, we also hold longer weekly meetings and app demonstrations at the end of every development sprint.
3. Tracking the progress
In the absence of issue tracking systems and version control, working with remote developers becomes a complete nightmare. They also make projects a lot easier to implement and manage. Version tracking enables team members to work on the file anytime, without worrying about the instances like overwriting of current versions or time it takes to locate where the latest file iteration is stored.
The issue tracking tools have proven to be extremely useful for the product owners and project managers to oversee the complex development process. Everybody can see the scheduled work task and what the developers are working on. At Anteelo, we also invite our clients to view the issue trackers that help them see where the project has reached.
With the ever-evolving computer technologies, numerous things that once appeared to be outlandish turned into reality, for instance, online payments, internet shopping, and cryptographic forms of money. Secure online exchanges with no extra charges extraordinarily impact all the money related industry, and all this has been realised by virtue of Blockchain technology. Today, trendsetters in different fields understand the advantages of the innovation behind Blockchain. From the health industry to the stock market, numerous sectors are searching for approaches to coordinate Blockchain into their business.
Blockchain, with its decentralised and trustless nature, can prompt new chances and assist organisations through more prominent straightforwardness, upgraded security, and simpler detectability. In a Blockchain network, various modules/blocks contain information about business proceedings, exchanges, and agreements inside the framework in cryptographic structure. For instance, blocks may provide insights concerning a budgetary exchange, medicinal records, or in any event, even ballot results. All blocks are arranged in a chain and are interconnected, so as to make another block, the data of old blocks ought to be successively understood first.
In the event that you are working in the market, at that point, you should know the upsides of Blockchain innovation, i.e., its advantages. It will assist you with finding out about the up and coming changes if your business is as of now getting Blockchain or plan to actualise Blockchain later on. Let’s take a dive and explore the benefits of Blockchain:
1.“Trustless” System
In most conventional payment frameworks, exchanges are reliant on the two entities along with a mediator -, for example, a bank, Credit/Debit card provider, or payment gateway provider. Utilising Blockchain removes this compulsion on the grounds that the circulated system of nodes perform the exchanges through a procedure known as mining. Consequently, Blockchain is often alluded to as a ‘trustless’ framework. Thus, a Blockchain framework nullifies the danger of depending on a solitary association and decreases the general expenses and charges by removing mediators and outsiders.
2. Amplified Efficiency
Because of its decentralised nature, Blockchain evacuates the requirement for agents in numerous procedures for fields like payment gateways and properties. In contrast with customary budgetary services, Blockchain encourages quicker transactions by permitting P2P cross-border transactions with cryptocurrency. Real Estate Management procedures are made increasingly proficient with a merged arrangement of possession records, and keen agreements that would mechanize tenant-landlord agreements.
3. Dispersed Storage
As Blockchain technology stacks the information in various platforms on a dispersed network of nodes, the framework and the information are exceptionally impervious to errors and malware. Every single system node can copy and store a replica of the database, and consequently, there is no single probability of data loss: failure of a single node does not influence the accessibility or security of the system. Conversely, numerous traditional databases depend on one or a few servers and are highly defenceless against tech-failures and cyber-attacks.
4. Efficient Traceability
With the Blockchain record, each time trade of products is recorded on a Blockchain, a review trail is available to follow where the merchandise originated from. This not just assists in improve security and forestall misrepresentation in exchange-related organisations, yet it can likewise help confirm the genuineness of the exchanged resources. In markets such as drugs and pharmaceuticals, it tends to be utilized to follow the inventory network from maker to distributer, or in the handicrafts industry, to give an indisputable proof of possession.
5. Highly Stable
Affirmed blocked are highly improbable to be turned around, implying that once information has been enrolled into the Blockchain, it is extremely hard to expel or transform it. This makes Blockchain an extraordinary innovation for storing money related records or whatever information where a review trail is required on the grounds that each change is recorded and tracked. For instance, a business could utilise Blockchain innovation to avert fraud from its workers. In this situation, the Blockchain could give a protected and stable record of every single money related exchange that happens inside the organisation. This would make it a lot harder for a for anyone to make fraud in the records
6. Immense Transparency
The most prominent advantage of Blockchain is that it makes the transaction records immensely transparent. As Blockchain can be classified as a distributed ledger, every individual included in the network has access of the same record contrasting to individual copies. That common variant must be refreshed through accord, which implies everybody must concur on it. To change a solitary exchange record would require the modification of every single subsequent record and the plot of the whole system. Therefore, information on a Blockchain is progressively exact, steady and straightforward than when it is pushed through paper-substantial procedures. It is likewise accessible to all members who have permission for the same
7.Reduced Costs
For most organizations, cost-cutting is a crucial need. With Blockchain, you don’t require the same number of third-parties or go-betweens to safeguard processes because it doesn’t make a difference whether you believe on your exchanging accomplice or not. Rather, you simply need to confide in the information on the Blockchain. You likewise won’t need to audit such a great amount of documentation to finish an exchange since everybody will have permissioned access to a solitary, changeless variant.
8.Robust Security
Blockchain is unquestionably more secure than other record-keeping frameworks in light of the fact that each new exchange is encoded and connected to the past exchange. Blockchain, as the name proposes, is shaped by a system of computers meeting up to affirm a ‘block’ which is then added to a record or ledger, which frames a ‘chain’. Blockchain is shaped by a muddled string of scientific numbers and is cannot be changed once framed. This changeless and morally sound nature of Blockchain makes it safe from distorted data and hacks. It’s decentralised nature likewise gives it a one of a kind nature of being ‘trustless’ – implying that gatherings needn’t bother with trust to execute securely.
CONCLUSION
Blockchain innovation exhibits some remarkable focal points, and it is unquestionably digging in for the long haul. Blockchain is a progressive innovation with a tremendous effect on each industry out there. Our emphasis was uniquely on the primary divisions so you can relate and comprehend its points of interest. Permitting advanced data to be distributed, but not be duplicated, the Blockchain innovation made the establishment of a novel Internet. The system was initially created for digital money — Bitcoin — however, the specialised network is at present searching for other potential utilisation of this innovation. We, despite everything, have a long way to go for standard reception, yet numerous ventures are finding a good pace with the Blockchain frameworks. The following few years will probably observe organisations and governments exploring different avenues regarding new applications to discover where Blockchain innovation can be the most beneficial. We trust that at this point, you have comprehended the significance of the Blockchain.
Picking the right technology stack can be overwhelming for any founder of the company, especially for someone who does not have a tech background. One can have a hard time finding the right set of tools and frameworks used in software development that can ensure the best performance of the product. Every application has different needs, hence the initial choice is important to ensure that the final product will deliver the best user experience. This article will help anyone with a non-coding background understand how to choose the best tech stack for a startup.
What is the tech stack?
A tech stack is a combination of tools and frameworks used in software development. Simply put, it’s a set of programming languages, frameworks, and tools used in developing web and mobile applications.
The two primary pieces of a technology stack are front-end and back-end software frameworks.;
The front-end runs on the user’s client, which in the case of the web application is a web browser, while the back-end runs on the server that delivers data or web pages to the client. While back-end interacts with the database and creates web pages, front-end provides interactive web pages using JavaScript.
The Front-end
Front-end development incorporates everything a user sees on-screen, a website or a mobile app. There are three vital frontend tech stack components available:
Google’s AngularJS and Facebook’s React.js are the most popular web front-end stacks used by developers.
AngularJS
Google’s AngularJS is an open-source MVC framework majorly used for the development of single-page applications. It is a developing structure that gives better approaches to creating web applications by changing the static HTML to dynamic HTML. Striking attributes like dynamic binding, POJO model, MVC Architecture, and dependency injection wipe out the requirement for code that was initially crucial. AngularJS is growing exponentially with the recent advancements in its latest versions.
There are several reasons to use AngularJS, some of them being:
Can effortlessly create Rich Internet Applications
Open-source
Cross-browser
Enables developers to make front end apps utilizing JavaScript in a clean MVC approach.
Unit-testable code
Reusability of code
Facilitates data-binding in HTML
Dependency Injection (DI)
ReactJS
Facebook’s ReactJS is an efficient, flexible, and declarative JavaScript library for building user interfaces. It is a component-based, open-source front-end library responsible for only the view layer of an application. It uses a declarative paradigm and aims at being efficient and flexible. React designs simple views for each state in your application, and will update the right component when the data changes. Additionally, the declarative view makes the code more predictable and more comfortable to debug. ReactJS is a warehouse of features, and there’s no way you cannot like it. Its benefits include:
Simple: ReactJS is simple to learn and build a web or mobile application. React uses a syntax called JSX, which allows developers to mix HTML with JavaScript but this is not a requirement. The developer can write in plain JavaScript also.
Reusability: In React, extensive code reusability is supported. By building components, most of the code repetition can be eliminated.
Mobile Apps: React Native allows the developer to create cross-platform native apps. React native can be easily picked by React developer, and with the use of proper data management tools (like redux), a lot of React website code can be used in Apps.
Testability: ReactJS applications are very easy to test.
The Back-end
The backend, which is likewise called server-side, stays undetectable and not open to clients. It gives a spine to the application. The most widely recognized parts of the backend are programming languages, for example, Ruby and Python; libraries and systems, for example, Ruby on Rails and Django; and a JavaScript runtime env, for example, Node.js. Choosing the right backend technology can be a daunting task, yet it can be simplified by considering the following factors:
1. Size and complexity of the project
Simple applications on tight deadlines, particularly MVPs, require a distinct methodology in comparison to big projects with heaps of capacities. In any case, in the event that you figure you may need to upscale, later on, pick an adaptable stack that permits you to develop.
2. The kind of project
Data-intensive applications, booking frameworks, person to person communication applications, streaming applications, CMS, IoT, FinTech applications, and straightforward MVPs will probably require diverse stacks.
3. The expense
Remember that a few technologies are open-source and free for business use, which is just one point on the endless rundown of the favourable pointers that open-source gives to both the developers and stakeholders. Others are authorized and paid. Likewise, developers’ rates vary according to the technology they specialize in. The stacks that are considered as a speciality can be expensive. Also, remember that the release doesn’t mark the end of work on the application – you have to look after, update, and conceivably upscale it.
The Top Back-End Technologies Available:
It remains a staggeringly hard task to express the contrasts between programming languages since all programming languages have their military of backers who will decline any analysis about their language of decision. Thereby it is vital not just to comprehend the contrasts between programming languages but to know what a wrong decision while choosing a backend technology has on a project. Below listed are the top-performing backend languages which will help you stay within the circle of success.
PHP
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is an open-source back-end scripting language used by developers to build web apps and sites. It is a cross-platform scripting language that can be utilized to create apps that seamlessly run on all the Operating Systems. It is one of the fastest programming languages and facilitates the creation of websites that load quickly. PHP also has a huge assortment of utilitarian modules and a couple of the modules accessible in PHP incorporate Graphics and PDF, among others. One of the greatest advantages of PHP is that it is very easy to learn and use because of its simple syntax. Anyone who is familiar with C language can easily grasp PHP without any difficulty.
Python
Curated by Guido van Rossum and rolled-out in 1991, Python is an interpreted, cutting-edge, general-purpose programming language. It reduces the need of coding to a very significant level and has high utility because of the presence of third-party modules. Not just that, but the high extensibility of python enables you to write a few pieces of code in other languages like C++ and C#. The ease of use and extensive libraries offer back-end developers more productivity as compared to other programming languages. Not just for building basic applications like desktop apps, Oss, Business Apps, and web frameworks, but Python is also the best fit for AI and ML-based web development.
Ruby
Ruby is the programming language that is utilized accompanied by Rails. Ruby is to Rails as PHP is to Zend, or as Python is to Django. The sheer class and finesse of the language are what attract the back-end developers towards this language and make it a must-have in your tech stack. The most exceptional feature of Ruby is that it prioritizes conventions rather than configuration, which helps the back-end developers as they don’t have to waste their precious development time in configuring the files to start the development process. It comes pre-configured, which saves a lot of time and speeds up the development process.
Java
Java is an object-oriented, platform-independent, general-purpose programming language that is designed to have negligible implementation reliance. As a result of Java’s power, convenience, cross-stage capacities, and security highlights, it has become the most preferred language among developers. y. Java Virtual Machine has a remarkable identifier that distinguishes the bytecode and confirms it before running it. It has the component of the Stack designation framework. It follows LIFO (Last in First Out) which causes the information to be put away and recovered effectively. Java is one of the programming languages that support Multithreading which is the capacity for a program to play out multiple errands at the same time inside a program.
C# / Visual Basic
C# is a platform-independent, Java Based programming language whose syntax is similar to C++. It is an object-oriented language and does not support multiple inheritances, just like Java. It takes great advantage of the design of the .Net. Microsoft has built a pair of flexible business back-end solutions called Asp.Net and Core that are written in C# or Visual Basic.
JavaScript
Node.js is a back-end solution written in JavaScript that has been trending for several years. Being written in JavaScript gives it an edge over others because with this developers can work in the same language for both the front-end and back-end of a project. Moreover, it has also been proven efficient at scaling up applications to handle large user bases.
Factors to consider while choosing the right tech stack
Availability of resources
The accessibility of human resources who can work on your project is one of the most characterizing variables that will impact your organization’s tech stack. Assure if your developers will be able to work efficiently with the tech stack that you have chosen. Assume you select a tech stack that isn’t based on a common programming language. In such a case the process of finding a developer who can work on the language can be a daunting task in itself.
Budget
Budget is undoubtedly a deciding factor for your tech stack. If you choose a technology which does not have abundant specialists in the market, you might have to pay them extra. Moreover, choosing a paid technology over open-source technology can also be a concern while working on your project. Therefore, draft your budget and plan your tech stack accordingly.
Phase
The requirements of the tech stack for your business might change as your business scales up or a new issue arises. Therefore it is vital to comprehend what phase you are at and choose the stack accordingly. If you are a start-up, you would be looking at technology that is open-source and easy to utilize along with easy accessibility of human resources. On the other hand, if you are an established business, you might require enterprise-grade technology which can handle more complex issues.
Requirements
While framing a tech stack for your company, it is crucial to comprehend the needs of your project. You must understand what does your audience expect from you and what are their major requirements. If your project requires complex numerical analysis, you might want to go for Python, however, if you are more concerned with the aesthetics of your project and it does not have to do much, you must work with some other technology.
Robustness
New technologies come every day and the old ones perish. Therefore it is very important to choose a technology for your tech stack that is time tested and has a big community that can help you in case you get stuck.
Safety
Ensure that the application is created remembering the prescribed procedures of security. It is vital to run security tests on both customer and server to kill the regular security dangers. Toward the end, settle on a decision that works best for your business. You can pick the innovation to go with, in light of your business objectives, necessities and the assets you can bear.
What are the benefits of choosing the right stack?
The technology utilized in your task can highly affect how it functions and how it will act later on. For instance, some server frameworks are made for high-read activities, however, are less proficient with regards to high-write traffic. That is something essential to know whether you’re changing your application from local file storage to cloud file storage. Your tech stack can likewise impact the versatility of your item. Certain stacks will better serve various activities. Since such a large number of various mixes are feasible for your tech stack, it’s troublesome (if not difficult) to sum up. Be that as it may, getting acquainted with the qualities and shortcomings of your tech stack before you begin assembling your item will assist you with taking advantage of the qualities and moderate the shortcomings.
Once you have settled on the right tech stack, it will ease the whole documentation process and all the future bugs and errors will be easier to rectify for the same reason.
Choosing the right tech stack and working on it for a long time will establish your team’s expertise on it which will amplify your brand image
Settling on the right tech stack has an added benefit that you can work with the same team for multiple projects.
Having the right tech stack minimises errors and increases efficiency.
What are the drawbacks of choosing the wrong stack?
If you end up settling for a wrong tech stack, it can be a huge mistake for your company as well as for your clients:
Choosing a wrong tech stack may lead to incompatible and unnecessary dependencies.
It can result in Dry-schema and Dry-validation misunderstandings
Problems with ROM.rb and Sequel (Database) might occur.
A wrong tech stack might hinder your testing process.
You might face difficulty in hiring the right professionals if the technology chosen by you is not widely used. Your tech stack may become unsustainable or unscalable.
Hence, it is very important that you find a company that knows what they are doing, and Anteelois one such company.;
The services we specialise in:
1. Frontend Development
We provide services for “client-side programming,” i.e., frontend development. We believe in creating user-friendly experiences for all our clients. Our list of tools cover Angular, React, Vue, Jquery, SASS, Bootstrap, HTML 5 and CSS 3. Our team ensures that your customer’s experience is delightful and easy to use.
2. Backend Growth
We prioritize web backend & development services and the services we deliver are comprehensive. The backend tools that we use to make your website proficient and interactive are Laravel, NodeJS, PHP, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, AWS, Redis, Firebase and Elasticsearch. Our key quality is our attention to each detail that our clients provide.
The Various Services Anteelo Provides:
1. App Development Services
In this age of digitalization, every business needs to make an online dent. And for you to achieve that we ensure that our team of professional app developers build a mobile app that suits your business needs and demands. For a successful business app it is important that you develop your mobile application for all crucial platforms like iOS and Android and our team can help you with that
2. Web Development Services
We firmly believe that a great website has the potential to convert visitors into customers. A good website can do wonders for your business. Therefore, we help companies create websites and web applications that help them take their business online. We understand that each of our clients has a different business goal so we customize our services accordingly to meet all the expectations.;
3. DevOps Services
At Anteelo our team of AWS experts can manage anything from a new to existing cloud infrastructure for you. We will provide you with the right architecture, organized management and regular optimization and improvements on services. Moreover, with our use of high-quality tools and the latest technology, we promise to deliver the best overall experience to you and your users.
CONCLUSION
At the end of the day, it is up to you to make a choice that works best for your startup. You should choose the best technology stack after thoroughly analyzing your requirements, business goals, and resources. What suits someone might not always suit you and vice versa. The choice of a technology stack is very personal and varies from organization to organization. Having a clear view of your requirements would ease the entire process of choosing the right tech stack for your company. Discuss your goals and requirements with your team and choose a tech stack that compliments your company and its business procedures.
DevOps (Development & Operations), a design and operations system, is an approach that works closely with software developers and operations. DevOps was developed in 2009 with the aim of improving communication and integration development and operations in order to benefit fully from modern software development approaches.
The entire range of application management operations has become considerably more complex in this complex environment. At the same time, software applications must be designed, developed, deployed, architected, and monitored via an ongoing, never-ending lifecycle. DevOps is an agent of change in the current business environment, which supports such complex applications.
The clear answer to the frequently asked question, “What is DevOps” is DevOps is a collaborative, team-based approach to technology delivery that leverages experts with cross-functional development and organizational expertise to address issues relevant to applications.
Characteristics of a good DevOps
Corporations and companies have varying degrees of success in introducing and implementing a DevOps system for their IT departments, these are the common characteristics they show:
1. Short, iterative development cycles
DevOps allows an organization to develop and launch new products and services more efficiently through a build-measure-learn process, beginning with minimally viable products (MVPs) running on the production infrastructure.
2. Driven by Metrics
Use lean startup methodologies, evaluating ideas, and designing of MVPs offers immediate feedback to product or service creators and backers, providing valuable data to decision-makers on the continued feasibility of the current process.
If a pivot is required to align the plan more closely with the organizational and strategic priorities, the indicators will support that decision.
3. Focused on People
Even in library systems with a single member, the DevOps team of a library must always concentrate on the people being served. Professional resources and technology departments of the library need to guide research and decision-making based on the actual use of members of the library system and the interest of library leadership in looking for the edges of their populations.
DevOps working Lifecycle
DevOps principles are not only applied throughout the lifecycle, but they include growth, operations, and business stakeholders at all times. The DevOps framework explores the challenges of serving the dynamically changing and business-critical architectures of today’s technology.
In this model, the DevOps interactions at each stage are as follows:
1. Assess
Business stakeholder feedback (for new services) and service-level agreement reviews, (for existing services) are used to define goals for new business offerings and to modify existing ones.
2. Design
At this stage design and development are given importance. The primary responsibility of design is to incorporate requirements into a software design. Business is responsible for educating production on specific requirements, as well as evaluating the project and signing it off.
3. Develop
Development is ultimately responsible for building software that meets the needs of the business. Operations are introduced when necessary to support development teams in building and testing environments and/or to advise on network requirements and expected delivery times.
4. Test
While Development and QA teams perform unit and integration testing, Operations participates in integration and load testing to assess operational readiness.
5. Release
This is the traditional handoff stage of DevOps, but the handoff in this scenario is a change in leadership roles versus a shift in responsibility. Development and Operations (or DevOps) teams lead this stage, while end-user acceptance processes are conducted by business stakeholders.
6. Manage
Infrastructure, systems and application management tools track manufacturing environments and applications during this phase. Service level management (SLM), quality and availability management, troubleshooting/root cause analysis and resource management solutions all track and assess the output of applications as part of ongoing assessments.
AWS DevOps
AWS DevOps with Amazon security & Amazon cloudwatch provides flexible and speedy DevOps services for companies.
Features
1. Monitoring
Enables monitoring and logs to see how the quality of software and infrastructure affects the end-user experience of their service.
2. ChatOps (AWS Chatbot)
It is the latest feature which easier to review the notification and execute commands in Slack channels and Amazon Chime chat rooms. Chatbot supports:
Amazon CloudWatch
AWS Health
AWS Budgets
AWS Security Hub
Amazon GuardDuty
AWS CloudFormation
3. Microservices
Microservices turn the task of building an application into several microservices. Each system operates independently and communicates with other services via a well-defined interface using a lightweight mechanism.
4. Infrastructure as Code
The cloud-driven API model allows developers and system administrators to communicate programmatically and on a scale with infrastructure, rather than setting up and configuring resources manually.
5. Continuous delivery
DevOps have become essential elements contributing to the rise of continuous delivery. Continuous delivery is a software development practice, the term describes an iterative and continuous process of software development, evaluation, and distribution to the desired endpoint. The destination may be a manufacturing setting, a staging environment or a set of software products.
Advantages of DevOps
Speed: The developers and operation team is able to get their results faster
Scale: Operate and manage infrastructure and growth processes at scale. Automation and reliability allow you to handle complex and evolving processes effectively and with reduced risk.
Reliability: Devops highly reliable because of the quality of application updates
Security: You can use automatic enforcement protocols, fine-grained processes, and configuration management tools to implement a DevOps framework without compromising security.
Collaboration: Collaboration of developer and operation using DevOps team increases efficiency and save time
In this journal, we have discussed the enhanced definition of and vividly taken a deep dive in what is DevOps. We can now understand that DevOps provides software development teams with the ability to control and accountability to deliver software efficiently and often especially for small to medium-sized enterprises in the production environment.
In this case, the capability comes from their ability to acquire new skills from operations-related tasks while operating under pressure at the same time. I also established that DevOps in companies is a long-term endeavor that, in addition to technological methods, requires a supportive culture and a mindset. Such cross-functional collaboration is most effective when supported by senior management and customers.
There are various parameters to judge a developer but for me the number one criteria is efficiency. Ahem…I don’t mean efficiency of writing bad code or providing sub optimal solutions. Far from it.I mean the efficiency to write good code. Readable Code. Extremely Flexible Code. A highly maintainable code.It’s the efficiency with which they passionately latch on problems and solve them. They are efficient because they understand the underpinnings of the programming framework and the toolset they use every day. So, how does one become efficient at developing software or be “The Good Developer”?
I’m not sure if you loved Physics or if you ever understood Einstein’s famous mass-energy equivalence. Well, the one where he proved that mass of a body is a measure of its energy and they are connected by a constant.
E
=
mc2
I hope Einstein forgives me for this. But, in our little software development world, it means
E
= Efficiency
m
= (intrinsically) motivated
c
= Cluefulness
Thus, efficiency of a developer can be defined as their level of motivation to excel times the square of their cluefulness.
True. Seriously. Don’t believe me? Ask Einstein. Can you? You can’t, can you? Then, you really have to trust me on it
What is Cluefulness? It can be defined as one’s expertise and capabilities in developing software. Please read this extremely insightful post by Eric Sink if you want to learn about Cluefulness and how to increase it.
If you one of the developers who are extrinsically motivated by rewards, all-the-things-money-can-buy-kind-of-salary, free beer to write code – tough luck in this life. On the other hand, if you are intrinsically motivated to learn new frameworks, delve into complexities of algorithms and data structures, write code for fun then all you have to worry about it is how to increase your cluefulness.
I won’t repeat what Eric mentioned in his great post but I would mention few things to increase your cluefulness.
Read Code – It’s surprising how less time developers really spend reading other people’s code for learning patterns and anti-patterns. Some developers would keep on writing the code in same style that they learned in school. For real. One can either learn by working with really good developers or reading code of open source frameworks/products. I can’t emphasize enough the value of reading code – Can one become really good writer if they haven’t ever read a good book in their life?
Focus – How can one become good at their art if the first thing they were to do every morning was check their friend stream on Facebook, chat with their long lost friends on their favorite IM, check their emails, any-other-unproductive-activity-except-programming. Shouldn’t the first thing really be to focus on building great software? I doubt if Einstein would have come up with general theory of relativity if he was checking his friend feed on facebook all the time or was being bugged by other Physicists on Skype.
BeInquisitive – One has to be curious and hungry to learn new things, ruminate on hard problems, figure out ways of doing old things in a new way. One would never learn better ways of doing things if one is happy with the status quo.
Tools are your best friend – I’m not sure if a developer could really be productive in writing ASP.NET applications using Notepad. One has to be good at Visual Studio.NET or an equivalent IDE to be really productive at building websites using the ASP.NET framework. Thus, it’s not only enough that one spends the time in learning and polishing their programming skills but also picking up tricks to use the development environment to their advantage. Learn the Shortcuts, write loads of reusable code snippets, know how to use Nuget etc. They are an aide to being efficient and solving problems faster.
An emerging way to program, known as low-code application development, is transforming the way we create software. With this new approach, we’re creating applications faster and more flexibly than ever before. What’s more, this work is being done by teams where up to three-quarters of the team members can have no prior experience in developing software.
Low-code development is one of the tools we deploy for our application services and solutions, which is a key component of our Enterprise Technology Stack. The approach is gaining traction. Research firm Gartner recently predicted that the worldwide market for low-code development technology will this year hit $13.8 billion, an increase over last year of nearly 23%. This rising demand for low-code technology is being driven by several factors, including the surge in remote development we have seen over the last year, digital disruption, hyper-automation and the rise of so-called composable businesses.
Low-code platforms are especially valuable to the public sector. Government IT groups need to be innovative and agile, yet they often struggle to be sufficiently responsive. Traditionally, they’ve developed applications using hard coding. While this approach offers a great deal of customization, it typically comes at the cost of long development times and high budgets. By comparison, low-code development is far faster, more agile and less costly.
With low-code platforms, public-sector developers no longer write all software code manually. Instead, they use visual “point-and-click” modeling tools — typically offered as a service in the cloud — to assemble web and mobile applications used by citizens. “Citizen developers” are a new breed of low-code programmers, who are potentially themselves public-sector end users, often with no prior development experience. The technology is relatively easy to learn and use.
Low-code tools are not appropriate for all projects. They’re best for developing software that involves limited volumes, simple workflows, straightforward processes and a predictable number of users. For these kinds of projects, we estimate that up to 80% of the development work can be done by citizen developers.
Experienced developers can benefit from using low-code tools, too. Over my own career of more than 30 years, I used traditional development methods three times to laboriously and methodically develop a mobile app. Now that I’ve adopted speedy low-code tools, I’ve already developed nine try-out mobile apps in just the last year.
Apps in a snap
To get a sense of just how quick working with low-code tools can be, consider a project we recently completed for the Government of Flanders. The project involves 96 vaccination centers the government is opening across Flanders. To track the centers’ inventories of vaccine doses and associated supplies, the government demanded a custom software application.
After a classical logistic software vendor passed on the project. We held our official kick-off meeting on Feb. 1, and just 18 days later, not only was our low-code inventory application up and running (with only a few open issues resolved in the subsequent days), but also the government’s first vaccination center was open for service. There’s no way we could have developed the application that quickly using traditional hard coding.
Low-code development can also be done with minimal staffing because all the ‘heavy lifting’ is done by the low-code environment. However, this is not an excuse to put new employees in charge of critical applications. Experienced staff are still needed to solve the classical issues of design, change management, planning, licenses, support, scoping and contracting.
We developed the Belgian vaccine inventory application with a code developer team of just two junior developers — one with the company for four months, the other for eight — working full time on the application. They were steered and supported by staff with more classical roles: a seasoned analyst, representative from the government, project manager, low-code (Microsoft) expert and solution architect. For these staff members, the low-code approach consumed only about 40% of their time.
Of course, we also leveraged agreements the government already had around Office 365 and Azure. But that’s yet another advantage of low-code software: It can exploit existing IT investments.
Finding flexibility
Flexibility is another big advantage of low-code development. In the context of software development, this means being able to make quick mid-course corrections. With traditional development tools, responding quickly to surprises that inevitably arise can be difficult if not impossible. But with low-code tools, making mid-course corrections is actually part of the original plan.
We had to make a mid-course correction when using low-code tools to develop an application to translate official government documents into all 18 languages spoken within Belgium.
Our first version of the software, despite using a reputable cognitive translation service, was missing three languages and providing sub-standard quality for another two. To fix this, our citizen developer — another new hire with no previous technical background — essentially clicked his way through the software’s workflows, integrated a second cognitive service from another supplier, and then created a dashboard indicating which of the two services the software should use when translating to a particular language.
Low-code development tools, when used in the right context, are fast, flexible and accessible to even first-time developers. And while these tools have their limitations and pitfalls, that’s seldom an excuse for not using them. Low-code tools are transforming how the public sector develops software, and we expect to see a lot more of it soon.
The first time I heard of lean manufacturing was in the context of Toyota in my business operation class. Everyone, like me, who read into lean principle, was completely fascinated by the concept of reducing waste and increasing productivity through an intentional design.
Over time, the lean manufacturing method worked and the lean principles of product development flow was adopted by a number of industries, even outside manufacturing, which included software development.
Lean development principle is an agile approach which was developed on lean manufacturing principles. The same, that is being used by Toyota as a lean development methodology for managing and optimizing the process of vehicle production for minimizing waste and increasing customer value.
I know what you must be thinking. If the lean principles originated around vehicle manufacturing, how does software development fit in?
The connection between lean agile methodology and software development was first introduced in 2003 in a book named “Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit” by Tom and Mary Poppendieck.
In the book, Poppendiecks interpreted how the lean principles could be applied into the software development process. Both software development and manufacturing processes follow repeatable structures and rely on high quality standards. They also depend heavily on teamwork to get things done.
The question, however, is how it can be done. In this article, we are going to look into how we align our software development process with lean software principles.
Table Of Content
What are the Strengths and Weakness of Lean Agile Software Development?
The 7 Principles Of Lean Software Development
Tools Used in Software Development Process
Aligning The 7 Lean Principles Into Our Software Development Projects:
Phase Wise Application of the 2 Principles
Overcoming The Challenges of Using Lean Principles
Conclusion
If you still are not sure about what are the lean principles in the software development process, then let me help you out with the meaning. Lean software development is a collection of principles that is used for software development to reduce the programming effort. Lean principles got their start in manufacturing, as a way to optimize the production line to minimize waste and maximize value to the customer.
Repeatable processes
Team collaboration
Uniform standards
What are the Strengths and Weakness of Lean Agile Software Development?
The strengths of lean product development principles include:
A streamlined approach allowing functionalities to be delivered in a limited time
Elimination of unnecessary activities which can lower the cost
Empowerment of the development team, helping them make decisions that can boost their morale.
The flexibility of the project to frequently adapt the project and customize it according to the customer’s requirement.
The weaknesses of lean software development methodology include:
It depends greatly on the involved team, making it less scalable compared to other frameworks
It relies on stringent documentation. Failure on this part can lead to heavy development mistakes.
Planning is necessary before the project is started. Before kicking off the project, you should be aware of the project vision, roadmap, release plan, and iteration plan.
Professional teams are required to maintain workflow coordination and make quick decisions while working.
The 7 Principles Of Lean Software Development
There are seven key principles of the lean software development approach working with the aim of fastening delivery and bringing high value to the end-users:
Eliminate Waste
Create Knowledge
Build Quality In
Fast Delivery
Empower Your Team
Delay in Making Decisions
Optimize the whole
To fulfill these objectives cum principles, we make use of tools such as:
Tools Used in Software Development Process
5s System – It is designed to improve efficiency and productivity through a systematic approach and following its five S’s that stands for Sort, Set, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain.
Inventory management – We follow the practice where we lower the number of operations that are in progress in one go through the application of theory or constraints or queuing theory.
Kaizen – This lean development tool helps in promoting improvement in quality, technology, processes, productivity, and safety. It is most helpful in developing a safe and tech culture.
Kanban – It is a pull project management system, where we limit tasks that are getting completed simultaneously. This helps us in preventing the overload of the development process.
Value stream mapping – It is a visualization method, where we visualize the development cycle – from client request to deployment. This helps us in demonstrating and helping optimize the time spent on holding and on actual processing.
Let us now look at how we align the seven principles of lean manufacturing with our software development cycle in our role as a leading lean software development company.
Aligning The 7 Lean Principles Into Our Software Development Projects:
1. Eliminate Waste
The foremost principle of lean product development that we adopt is elimination of everything which does not bring any value to the end-users. We start by identifying value of the product we have to build.
It makes it easy to identify the waste like unnecessary code, unclear goals, additional features, and extra processes, etc.
Wastes is one of the biggest digital transformation challenges. In our experience, can be found in a number of domains:
Waste of work-in-progress i.e. the partial work. This can be lowered by putting limitations in work-in-progress, through the mode of Kanban.
Waste of overproduction waste. These emerge when the feedback cycles get too lengthy and a series of extra features are demanded.
Processes waste. These are eliminated by our software development company through pair programming approaches and better collaborations.
Handsoff waste. We solve the issue by not keeping our team functioning as silos. We work as a close knit cross-functioning team which helps in enhancing efficiency.
Software defects. Waste tends to seep in when the quality is not made a part of the software development firm process with different balance and checks.
2. Create Knowledge
Software development process, in itself, is one that is heavily knowledge generating one. Anteelo from the beginning has been an extremely knowledge focused company. This is one of the main reasons how we have been able to incorporate blockchain and AI technology in the projects before any other software application development company in the industry.
We align the principle with our development process by implementing some key methods like: code reviews, performing training, code comments, project documentation, pair programming, and sharing sessions, etc.
3. Build Quality In
Our software development team ensures that the focus is always on delivering high-quality products. We always keep enhancing our development process to eliminate the project from the first step to the end product.
There are various lean agile software development approaches that we apply to better the product quality:
Pair programming – to lower the miscommunication waste and maximum output.
Testing criteria – offering the engineers a system ensuring that it meets the requirement.
Incremental development – bettering the quality through timely, consistent feedback.
Lesser wait states – to protect the quality and streamline efficiency while lowering the gap in knowledge.
Automation – using assets like AI and machine learning to lower and eventually eliminate the errors in development processes.
4. Fast Delivery
The agile development basics focuses heavily on the fast delivery of software processes. Lean agile principles, being a part of the approach also put focus on fast delivery. It simply means that the project team would have to deliver the modules according to the milestone plans.
Achieving fast app development time becomes easier when there is a stable workflow that helps teams in understanding the value of the process and thus facilitate fast results.
5. Empower Your Team
This one lean principle is what we follow regardless of the team and project. Our team that focuses on software development for startups understands that when you work together you have to respect each other. And when things go south or not according to plan, the focus should be kept on checking for gaps in the work process that might have led to conflicts and challenges.
Ever since our inception, we have been focusing on the creation of a favorable work environment where we lead by example. To better the morale, we also enable creative freedom to our teams giving them the choice to identify the best approach for any task.
6. Delay in Making Decisions
We know what you are thinking – delay in decision-making has to be a bad idea.
But when we follow the lean-agile principles, we believe that deciding late is not equal to becoming irresponsible. In fact, it encourages the team to keep their options open for a long period of time so that they can gather data which can help in taking important decisions.
The result of this is that our project never suffers from negative impacts which emerges because of bad decision making.
7. Optimize the Whole
We go for the optimization of the complete development process, which is not just limited to the sub-processes. We work with the understanding that if we add value to a specific set of processes, the end product will end up getting affected, and the end-results would be sub-optimized.
To handle sub-optimization, we encourage operating with good work capacities. We optimize the entire process which enables identification of value flows for the entire team that, in turn, promises valuable and timely delivery.
Overcoming The Challenges of Using Lean Principles
Although the article, up until this point, has been inclined towards how lean software methodology makes it beneficial for a smooth software development process, there are some challenges that are prevalent which have to be solved.
The team members have to be self-directed and be able to work as a cohesive unit.
There can be instances where the requirements might keep increasing without a finalization in sight. These have to be managed with delicacy upon talking to the clients.
Lean method is heavily focused on continuous improvement. The timelines for implementations are also generally long. This, in turn, can increase the timeline when you are able to reap the benefits.
Conclusion
Since lean agile methodology presents a customer oriented, adaptable, and flexible system, there is no hard and fast rule to follow the procedures or methodologies. But one can always take note of the given information so that there is no problem while developing a software.
It is always advisable to search for an expert, (who are focused on improving and enhancing their skills) while employing a team to build your application. The best way to do that is to either partner with software developers that are well-adapted with the technology and client’s needs, or you can opt for top companies in your area like top software development companies in USA or software development company in California, if you live in the US. But make sure you choose the best to get quality results.
Understanding a clever and cost reducing way that businesses adopt to scale and solve problems in direct ways using custom software development. To be or not to be, that is the question businesses face when it comes to choosing between customized software and standard software. In some respects, the question could be the difference between the haves and have nots. Being a successful custom software development company ourselves and pushed to innovate cutting edge solutions on a habitual basis, we know first-hand what to do when.
If organizations are to transform digitally, then the installed software would have to compliment the needs equally. If you are in the middle of such a dilemma, by the end of this article you would gain clarity on the subject. Hence, we begin by answering the question, what is custom software?
What is a Customized Software?
The software that comes pre-packaged with features is referred to as Commercial Off The Shelf or COTS. The vendor that develops it owns the responsibility of updating its versions. Enterprises slash users subscribe to it by paying a licensing fee. It is designed keeping in mind the most universal needs of the mass market. Microsoft Windows is an example of COTS. It offers the apparatus for each user to carry daily-life computational tasks without having to think twice.
On the other hand, a software that you develop, or ask a third-party to customize for you is called customized software. Since it is created unique to the needs of a particular user, it is also termed as bespoke software. Made on order, it weighs high on features that are relevant to the organization. Custom software applications are cut to fit the ongoing and upcoming business requirements.
Tasks that a standard software will take ages to complete can be accomplished in a whisker of time with custom software apps. Think of it this way, COTS is a public utility vehicle that takes the combined choices of travelers’ into consideration and drives at a speed fast enough to pacify those onboard. While custom software is that private car that you can modify as per wish and break the speed limits with.
Now that you understand what is custom software, let’s find out about its development procedure followed by a full cycle app development company.
Does Custom Software Development Process Differ from Standard?
Not at all. The software development life cycle is almost identical in each case. You traverse the same stages of basic information collection, coding, testing out the software for inconsistencies, finally moving over to deployment.
There is an unprecedented urgency in enterprises to transform digitally for sustenance. Each is looking to differentiate itself and be seen and as an innovator. Be it an in-house project, or one that is outsourced to a company like Anteelo, custom development of software involves the following stages:
Application customization
You would either purchase a COTS software and re-program it to requirements or build a bespoke solution. No matter what you choose, it will begin at this stage of code creation.
Application modernization
Maturing with time, stakeholders realize that their value chains must improve and be just as impressive as their product suite. The deployed custom software will have to be modernized with features as new technologies emerge.
Application management
It is similar to after-sales support but one that you either do internally or let the third-party that designed the software for you do it. These envelope everything from installing the software to ensuring its 24/7 availability.
Why Choose Custom Software Development?
The reason why custom software is preferred is due to the changing market trends that makes the business transformation either costly or time consuming. Custom software application development helps businesses in building an intuitive and user-friendly software product tailored to their business requirements. It also handles various types of organizational challenges like process complexities, employee struggles, and meet the preference of customers.
Some points are discussed below for opting custom made software:-
Flexibility
One of the crucial benefits of custom software companies is its flexibility. Any change required might be easily acknowledged so your platform is always updated with the ongoing patterns. A significant degree of flexibility offers effectiveness in the working process. Competitive processes are simple to automate so that the framework automatically leads the users and there is no requirement for human intervention.
Better integration
Custom programming application improvement organizations give a scope of choices to incorporating various sorts of APIs. The vast majority of the bundled programming are not viable with different programs thus incorporating another product to improve its capacities are impractical. It is this explanation; numerous organizations lean towards custom software applications over canned programming.
Future innovation
Having your own types of custom software will empower you to explore and welcome on board creative ideas quicker and without relying upon other innovation merchants to do it for you. This can help in more noteworthy market ability as your brand would be perceived as a forerunner instead of a late adopter for innovations that user’s long for.
App security
The internet has an intricate dangerous environment and application security is a grave concern for modern organizations, regardless of the size. An application on the Internet is exposed to security breaches. Each organization takes measures to shield their customized software application development products against exploitation by hackers, the current circumstance is still the worst. By engaging in a presumed custom application advancement organization, organizations can take added measures to keep their information from hackers and displeased workers.
Cost reduction
At times the business do not need all the functions offered by a format yet they had to pay. On account to create custom software, you pick what you need and pay just for it. Additionally, there is something intriguing and that is off-the-shelf solutions ordinarily require monthly or yearly licensing expenses. There are already many payments in the process that if you calculate, then it will be much more costly. If you pick a custom solution, you’ll pay more at first but later on you do not have to put much effort. You can say that custom software development cost is a one-time investment.
What are the Benefits of Custom Software Development?
It is not a good rationale to buy an inferior product, and subsequently, modify it for installation. Why wouldn’t you just create the whole thing on your own! The following advantages of custom software will help you make up your mind. The benefits can also be read as ways how custom app development can increase app development:
Vendor independent
Custom design software and you shall be free from the clutches of vendors who upgrade their product based on user reception and trends than your needs. In doing so, your business circumvents fee surges caused in the name of licensing and maintenance. Then there is the possibility of the vendor ceasing operations leaving your IT department to shreds and affecting business continuity.
You would although need to hire subject matter experts to cope with a proprietary solution. But again, there is no saying how much indirect benefit you would derive from them such as mentioned in the next point.
Create white-label products
The resources you devote to creating a bespoke internal solution could be monetized by licensing it to similar businesses or allowing them to use it as a White Label product by making a one-time payment. A White Label product is one that you build and sell to a second organization, conferring them the right to use it under their brand name. The only catch here is to define the terms of use. Although white label solutions are not always deemed to be effective for long-term, they can be a good option, nonetheless for entrepreneurs who are just starting their journey.
High-End integration
Investment in COTS software becomes a catch-22 situation when you discover you have to program extensions into the system to make it worth your while. Diverting the same expenditure towards custom software applications that integrate effortlessly with other software (because you made it so) saves you much-needed energy.
Performance
Custom software development provides for more stable and efficient IT operations as the software does all (perhaps more) that is asked of it to deliver value-adding results.
Scalability
Nobody knows better than you the future of your venture. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that you would, during the course of customized software application development, come up with something that is scalable and relatable to the needs of your company.
Optimized business process
Every association has its own plan of action and in-house processes. It is hard for businesses to change their process to suit a specific application, no matter how effective and powerful it could be. Software should be planned and developed in a way to such an extent that it can align with the business model. Custom development assists with improving your business processes instead of replacing them.
Compatibility
Most organizations have a design model in which the output generated by a specific process (software application or module) works as an input for another process. A smooth flow of data is essential while streamlining business. Utilizing different packaged programming for various processes can disrupt data flow. Building custom software can resolve numerous kinds of issues concerning the flow of data between progressive processes.
Data security
A significant concern for some B2B and B2C organizations, data access, and security concerns influence many end-users in the market today. Supporting costly security protocols can make you pass added expenses to the services you offer to your customers. With custom development you have the ability to choose which data security technology or protocol is appropriate for your business and coordinate that in your software.
Cost effectiveness
With custom development you can plan and stage the development process. You’re not needed to contribute an enormous amount of money first on to receive the rewards of automation. Based on your financial plan and funds accessibility, you can begin automating single processes flows in a coordinated and planned way over the long run to make development affordable software development services.
Adaptability
Organizational processes change with time, and as the market dynamics change, it gets important to adjust to new processes and innovations to maintain your marketing stronghold. Customized software can be effortlessly changed – New cycles and innovations can be incorporated into your current programming as and when showcasing patterns change, so you can stay side by side of your rivals.
How to Decide Whether You Need a Bespoke Solution or Not?
By tradition, companies prefer to purchase COTS software provided it helps them meet up to 80% of the following business requirements.
Either allow the functioning of or automate entirely B2B transactions and processes unique to the business
Take care of proprietary information and safeguard confidential data
Suffice for ad-hoc privacy issues that might arise
Enable integration with software already deployed by the company
Reduce the cost of operations and increase return on investment
Accord a certain level of competitive advantage to the brand
There are companies that may be fine if the software delivers 60% efficiency than 80%. The vacuum that exists they fill on their own. But that is a risky proposition, leaving things up to chance and making superficial efforts to transform digitally.
A big reason startups cover ground on legacy businesses faster than others, is because they do not hesitate to innovate. And if that means bringing in new digital solutions, so be it.
[Further Read: How We Solve the Digital Transformation Challenges Pulling Your Business Down]
Get The Requirements Ready
Once you set your mind for custom development of software the next step is identifying collaborators to help you with project development internally. These include program sponsors, high-level stakeholders, sometimes your customers, and other miscellaneous partners.
This step is all about conveying the workforce your plans to transform digitally post which a detailed draft must be prepared listing down your Key Performance Indicators (KPI). KPIs must bear in mind:
To flatten out any statutory and or theoretically unachievable targets and be realistic
Define the role the proposed software will play in business development
Not to leave room for assumptions in that the end-to-end capabilities of the software are discussed with project stakeholders
The introduction of the software must not intervene with pre-existing COTS software
There must be ample proof of concept in the market to base and validate your theory on
The source-code used should not violate intellectual property rights and must be either open-sourced or written from scratch
The allocated limit of budget and time should be respected
If needed there can be partial diversions/pivots from the originally agreed course of action
Development Methodologies You Can Use
You can pick any of the following software development methodologies:
Waterfall model
Envisaged in the 1970s, the Waterfall Model is rigid in its implementation and benefits those with a crystal clear understanding of requirements. The expectation setting is followed by rigorous project documentation. It is sequential in nature meaning one stage of the project must be finished before beginning the next. It includes the following phases:
Define scope
Re-assess the scope
Design
Implement
Test
Deploy
Maintain
Not that this model is out of fashion, but development teams that want to mix things up and be prepared for last-hour changes to plans, don’t like the Waterfall Model much. It is built for those who like working under ironclad rules.
Agile development
Agile is the exact opposite of waterfall, in fact it was introduced to do away with the rigid, inflexible redundancies of the waterfall model. It prioritizes business unit collaboration over documentation. Teams that go Agile, do so to wrap up coding in design sprints that are time bound mini-projects to accomplish software development faster. Customer satisfaction is the priority here, everything else takes the backseat. Here at Anteelo, we trust Agile more than other methodologies as a custom software development company. Based on experience, we can help you decide between Agile and Waterfall models easily.
Scrum
This is a nuanced approach between older models like the Waterfall and newer ones like Agile. It facilitates regular team interaction but with a relative degree of self-discipline.that team members must impose on themselves. Sprint retrospectives in scrum development last an average of two weeks during which the primary objective of software development is fragmented into smaller, more achievable goals. Developers stick to the daily briefs that are a product of demo feedback. The development is quick and results steady.
Lean
A philosophy, methodology, or a mindset, call it what you will, it brings out tremendous productivity from teams in custom software companies. Whereas other entries in this list were specifically meant to bolster software development practices, Lean methodology was adopted from the manufacturing sector.
Agile is accomodative of flexibility, but it offers no actionable course to extend the same ideology towards business wings outside of Information Technology. Lean proposes the no-nonsense approach, nullifying wasteful practices, encouraging knowledge sharing, experimentation, innovation and faster turn-around times.
Feature driven development (FDD)
Custom software design and development can be taken up via Feature Driven Development as well. FDD has been a precursor to the now omnipresent, Agile and Lean approaches. It follows a five-step development model. In the first step you take your plans to the whiteboard and lay out an overall strategy. The next step is defining the specifications of the software followed by planning around each feature holistically. Designing and building each feature make up for the last two stages respectively.
Make up Your Mind
We hope this clears the air around custom development of software. Be it on-demand, or standard solutions, Anteelo has a track record of achievements in both categories. Our report card in the subject boasts nothing short of an ‘A’ with top industry review journals giving us a 10/10 on numerous occasions. Signing off with a saying dear to all at Anteelo.
If you are looking to develop an app that would be up to date with all the latest technologies of the current time, you should partner with a software app development company that is well-adept with the changing market needs, or you can opt for developers in your area like software development company in USA or Florida if you live in US. But make sure you choose the best to get quality results.
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