Category: Technology

Why should you choose a CMS and not a custom development partner?

July 26, 2018

Every business has different needs, and this truism is reflected in deciding the kind of website a particular business must have. Each company’s web development requirements are different too and the only factor that’s common among business websites is that they all need a content management system (CMS) to function. A CMS helps you to add, edit, and manage content on your website. While there are already readymade CMS tools available (Joomla!, Drupal, WordPress, etc.), there is also the option of custom development of CMS, right from scratch. While readymade CMS helps businesses to get their websites up and running in no time, custom development of websites has its own advantages. Highly complex projects require custom development, in order to make sure that all the requirements of a client are met. Yet, even many complex projects can be undertaken with just Drupal if your developers are experienced enough. In this article, let us take an objective look at the differences between CMS and custom development, and what you should choose for your web requirements. What is CMS development and who is it for? A Content Management System (CMS) is uncomplicated and comes with all the features you would expect from a fully-functional website. Without the need to start from scratch, you will be able to choose from a template and set up navigation, file management, databases, libraries, etc. in a short period of time. Third-party plug-ins are always available for all the popular CMS platforms such as WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla!. Drupal, in particular, is suitable for extremely complex websites, while being perfect for simple business websites at the same time. An experienced developer can customise Drupal and program it to run better than any custom developed website at a fraction of the cost. Most importantly, it takes very little time to set up a CMS-based website and get it up and running. Multi-user management is easy and complex graphics can be displayed efficiently with no errors or bugs. Most importantly, regular updates keep your websites safe and secure, without you having to worry too much about security risks. CMS-based websites have very few errors and development community is widely accessible if you need any assistance. Of course, customisation can prove to be difficult if you choose the wrong vendor but when you find the right partner, using a CMS is the quickest, simplest, and the most affordable path to setting up even complex websites. CMS websites are great for just about anything. Whether you want to set up a simple website or a complex web portal that runs a number of online processes, a CMS-based website can handle it all. What is custom development and who is it for? If we are discussing custom development, you can expect your developers to code the website right from scratch to finish. It sounds like an attractive process but it is going to cost a lot more than CMS development. There are obvious benefits to custom coding, such as better control with respect to what you can do with a website or a page, and how quickly you can get it to load. However, the same results can be achieved with CMS as well. Developers will need to be proficient in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, ASP.net, etc., and should be able to decide if you really need custom development. Custom development costs significantly higher than regular CMS development because developers need to build a new website right from scratch. Most of the times, custom development is not necessary and is a bit of overkill. It also takes a long time to debug errors. If you ever change your development vendor, you might face issues if the next developer isn’t as proficient to read code written by someone else. While it isn’t hard to find agencies that specialise in all the languages required for custom development, the time and skills that they will need to utilise for building a website for you right from scratch will result in exorbitant bills. Most businesses that need a website for corporate or eCommerce purposes do not need custom development. Instead, they can get an open source CMS such as Drupal or Joomla! customised to suit their needs. In fact, we have engaged in Drupal development for some of the most complex projects pertaining to very large enterprises. Does your business need CMS or custom development? In most cases, you will not require custom development. As discussed, custom development takes a longer time to complete the project and is invariably very expensive and difficult to manage. On the other hand, CMS websites are quick to install, can be customised as per your requirements, and there are umpteen number of third-party plugins available if you need complex features. In fact, there are superior plugins that can do a lot more than you might imagine. Unless the situation calls for it, you only need to consider a good partner to set up a CMS-based website. Use Case 1 eCommerce business needs a website that can handle heavy traffic and payments Requirement: An eCommerce business required a website that would not only handle high web traffic but also to ensure that all payments went through in a safe and secure manner. The business wanted a website that looked unique and placed stress on ease of use. Solution: Indus Net Technologies developed a Drupal-based website that was sturdy and stable. Customizing Drupal code was enough to make the website appear the way the client wanted. As Drupal loads quickly, and is particularly suited for heavy traffic, the website we build for the client was a success. Results: The website was easy to use, could handle high web traffic, and payments went through secure PCI DSS-compliant servers. The business saw more people purchasing products due to an increase in customer trust. Use Case 2 A large financial institution needed a web portal to sell its insurance products and help customers manage their accounts. Requirements: The insurance giant needed a web portal which would

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7 Things to Consider Before Having a Mobile App for Your Business

July 24, 2018

A couple of years ago, if we asked around, every business would have expressed interest in developing a mobile app. Even today, businesses are eager to develop mobile apps, motivated by a number of factors. With more than 3.5 million Android apps and close to 2.5 million iOS apps, it might seem like you are missing out on a lot of things by not offering an application to your users. Yet, more than just getting a mobile app developed, assessing customer needs, your market strategy, and industry scenario are all more important factors to consider. A successful mobile enhances user satisfaction and brings value to your customers. Sometimes, enhancing a website for mobile use may be a better option. Even more important is the task of finding the right agency which will help you to develop a winning mobile app. To make your mobile app a success, spend some time assessing your needs, market situation, and your customer requirements. In this article, we help you do just that by listing 7 important questions you need to ask before getting a mobile app developed. Do you really need a mobile app? What started out as a game-changing development soon became a trend, leading to businesses developing mobile apps whether they needed it or not. Playing catch-up, or doing what everyone else is doing, is not the way to go when it comes to technology adoption. There may be a good reason why your business does not need mobile applications. If your product or service is more likely to be accessed over a website, investing in mobile-optimised responsive web development might be a better solution. Progressive Web Applications (PWA) and Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) may prove to be better solutions for your need than a mobile app developed for iOS and Android platforms. Progressive Web Applications are also great when your users are located in places where the internet connection is unreliable or slow. Flipkart’s Flipkart Lite is a great example of Progressive Web Applications. Hastily developing a mobile app to impress your target audience or your competitors may have just the opposite of the intended effect. What is the purpose of your app? If you think you do need a mobile app, and that is a matter of concern for your profitability, competitiveness, and customer experience, explore what the purpose of the mobile is going to be. The app could serve the purpose of selling a product or service, or it could simply enhance customer experience. The purpose of developing a mobile can greatly vary. Sometimes, a mobile app may serve multiple purposes. Spend time deliberating on why you want the mobile app, which problems it is going to solve, and what its long-term purpose is going to be. Developing a mobile app without a purpose may cause long-term damage to your brand, and may result in the wasteful expenditure of resources. Many studies indicate that people uninstall or stop using a majority of mobile apps after downloading and installing them. Who is your target user? For a mobile app to be successful, it should be developed with the target user in mind. Always try to understand your audience deeply, and use data insight to do so. Data analytics helps you to test and retest your ideas for efficacy so that your investment in mobile development is not wasted. A mobile application should suit the lifestyle of your target users and should be intimately tied to their personal identities. We recently developed a mobile game for a US veteran who lost his eyesight and wanted to launch a mobile game for people who are visually challenged. There was a clear understanding of who the target audience was, and the challenges they may encounter while playing the mobile game. To compete with the millions of mobile apps that are out there, make sure that you understand your target user at an intimate level. Otherwise, your mobile app will risk being ignored. Will your app solve a customer problem? Every mobile app should not only help you make profits, but also solve a customer problem. If not solve a problem, it should enhance the user experience. If your mobile app is not going to add value to your target users, then it risks being ignored after being downloaded. To help develop a mobile app that truly solves your customer problems, understand their pain points and explore how your mobile app could address those pain points. If there are no pain points to be addressed, explore if you can bring a “wow” factor to the table. If your mobile app is going to present a revolutionary experience or concept to the user, then it is going to be successful. Sometimes, reducing the duration of certain processes and making your customers’ lives simpler are reasons enough to develop mobile apps. However, you will need to back up your reasons with deep data insights. What kind of app do you need? Before you decide on developing a mobile app, consider how and where it is going to be used. You will have to choose between native mobile apps and cross-platform mobile apps. Native mobile apps are developed for iOS and Android (usually) using programming languages that are native to the device’s OS, such as Objective C and Swift for iOS devices, and Java for Android devices. Native mobile apps offer a better user interface and excellent user experience. They also make use of all the features a platform has to offer. However, they tend to be more expensive, challenging, and time-consuming projects. Cross-platform mobile apps can be used on both Android and iOS devices, and multiple versions of the code need not be written, leading to reduced expenditure and saved time. However, the user experience will not be as great as that of native apps and your mobile app will not be able to make use of all the features that each platform offers. How do you plan to monetise your app? A successful mobile app needs

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Why Marketing Automation Matters for Your Business

July 19, 2018

If you are late to the party, marketing automation is a force to reckon with and is the fuel that is driving small and medium-sized agencies and businesses to compete with the top players in the industry. Marketing automation helps a small team to put its marketing strategy on steroids, and use Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to automate both basic and complex marketing tasks to achieve stellar heights. There are a number of software tools and cloud solutions that help businesses to automate various marketing functions, right from understanding a target market to capturing lead-related data and nurturing long-term customers. While implementing a thorough marketing strategy used to be expensive and time-consuming, it is now accessible even to the smallest of companies thanks to SaaS subscription models. SaaS solutions provide efficient, affordable, and accessible marketing tools on different subscription models. Both big and small businesses have begun to use these SaaS marketing tools to automate various marketing functions, and have begun to see exemplary results. Regardless of the size and nature of your business, the axiomatic truth is, you need marketing automation. To explain why marketing automation matters so much for your business, we have listed 7 reasons. Let us take a look at each of them briefly. Understand your market better Most businesses fail to achieve traction because their marketing strategy is not in touch with the actual realities of the market they are targeting. This is only possible when campaigns are tied around behavioral and demographic variables that are often easy to miss. Marketing automation tools provide rich insights into the market in question and help businesses to design campaigns that are effective. When you subscribe to a MarTech solution, you will be able to compete with large businesses who probably have better resources to conduct market research. Market research can get quite tedious and expensive for those who do not have the resources to carry out large market research campaigns, Data analytics, combined with marketing automation tools can help you to arrive at marketing predictions that are useful and effective, at a fraction of the cost. MarTech is increasingly being used to conduct market research by a large number of companies and is encouraging a metrics-driven culture. Curate high-quality leads New GDPR rules and privacy-related restrictions have severely curtailed most businesses’ ability to capture high-quality leads. Yet, the new developments are positive in nature when assessed objectively. Marketing automation tools can now quickly detect and predict which of your web visitors are going to be hour leads, and which of them will convert to customers. Data analytics and marketing automation tools can be integrated and programmed in such a way that you automate the curation of high-quality leads. There’re a number of tools already available to help you automate both lead generation, and filtering of those leads. However, partnering with an agency which will help you to integrate data analytics with marketing automation tools will help you curate a list of high-quality leads. After all, communicating with high-quality leads, even if they are fewer in numbers, is a better sales strategy than coming up with a digital marketing strategy that involves targeting an exponentially higher number of users. Shortlist the best distribution channels Once you have the list of leads generated and curated automatically, you will also need to assess how you should communicate with them. This decision was earlier left to managers or staff who used their own methods (both objective and subjective) to list the preferred distribution channels. Unfortunately, this is not an effective strategy and is mired with loopholes. Inbound marketing can easily be automated, and a digital marketing strategy should be built around actual facts and figures related to which platforms, social media tools, and channels your target users prefer to use. As such, a strategy that involves marketing automation and data analytics will reveal the cold hard facts about where to reach your target audience, and how best to communicate with them. Use marketing automation to choose the best distribution and communication channels, and to base this choice on insight derived from data analytics. Understand different buyer personas To engage in successful marketing, you need to understand your target audience at an intimate level. This is only possible when the most minute of their behaviours are statistically analyzed. Automating the process of studying user behavior will help you to group them under various buyer personas. Right from what they tweet to how they respond to certain images or news feeds, you can predict exactly how you should develop your marketing strategy to win them over. As consumers tend to be a diverse group, you can develop different marketing campaigns for different buyer personas. Understanding personas are closely linked to creating winning digital content as well. Automating the process of collecting information and using data analytics to process this information helps you to arrive at useful insights related to different personas. Use this insight to create a successful agile marketing strategy. Take personalization to the next level There is a misconception that automation implies lack of personal touch. Any Chief Marketing Technologist (CMT) will tell you that automation, in fact, enhances more personal communication. Automating content distribution and basing content creation on various buyer personas help you to personalize all communication at the micro-level. For example, MarTech products can help you to target communication individually, based on various tastes, quirks, behavioral patterns, personal details, etc. While content distribution and communication can be automated, you can use your free time and man-hours to enhance customer interactions and build valuable relationships. Creating a more personal approach used to be expensive and required hiring more in-house staff. Automating such a personal approach will reduce the need for hiring more employees, and will help you build more meaningful relationships with your customers. Save time and money For most small and medium businesses, marketing is the single most expensive business process. Not only does it cost money, it also requires time and effort, all of

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Top Trends in Mobile Games Development

July 16, 2018

Be it in terms of download numbers, revenue, and engagement, mobile games are clearly dominating the app stores.  We are not saying this. A data released by Statista says this. In respect of innovation and latest technology, no other app niche is as happening as mobile games. From virtual reality (VR), extraordinary graphics (2D, 3D, and 4D) to augmented reality and cross-platform mobile games, the latest technology is continuously shaping the mobile games arena keeping user engagement in mind. Moreover, a major part of the users are now playing games on mobile phones, so game development companies are more focused on that. Considering all these evolving traits, there’s been a lot of things happening in the gaming arena.  Let’s take a look at some of the key trends that will continue to shape mobile game development. The rise of Mini Games Mini-games are short games that are often embedded within other games. These games usually do not need any additional installation and are usually integrated to promote sharing and competition among gamers. These are going to be a key factor in improving further user engagement and retention. VR and AR Gaming VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) have tremendous scope in the gaming industry. Both are like a bridge between the virtual and the real world. While VR is a computer-generated simulation that recreates any real-life environment; and in AR you will receive additional information digitally but in real-time. AR/VR games give you an immersive gaming experience as both these technologies have been consolidated and now, these have become mainstream in the gaming world. Wearable Technology Now, this is something that might take over the gaming world in the coming days just next to the smartphones. These offer an extended gaming experience. Majority of this includes smart wearables such as wristbands or watches. For instance, Apple has already stepped into gamification of healthcare with it’s Apple Watch. It allows you to play mobile games with your friend (like a game to lose weight) and such games also offer some incentives to the users for joining the health game! While this is just the beginning. With the evolution of these devices, mobile game developers will look towards incorporating them for a greater user experience. Custom Game Features Customisation is a great way of engaging the users. With custom features in mobile games, the user or the player feels important. This is something that everyone prefers. Mobile games with custom features let the audience choose the features they want or enjoy. This may rely on your past likes and dislikes, the time you devote to a certain game or any other demographic detail. This improves the gaming experience and is obviously a reason for the user to stick to that game. Deep and Interactive Social Features Social gaming is already a hot trend but now, mobile game developers are looking forward to implementing deeper and interactive social features in games. Such games will allow the users to share and invite another gaming friend while they play their games. This helps them to stay engaged with the community and this is the reason multi-player games have flourished. This is the reason most of the games come with social features but in the coming days, this will become a must-have feature for every mobile game. Mobile eSport will be Embraced Popularly eSports is becoming popular than ever. According to the Holmes Report, there will be a massive rise in the number of fans of eSports. Even a research group Newzoo reports that about 1.3 million people across the world are already aware of eSports. There are some eSports games such as Clash Royale and Vainglory that are already doing great in the mobile space. This rise in their popularity can be attributed to the extremely versatile environment that modern mobile devices offer. Cloud-based games These games will redefine the way games are been developed and played. This is an intriguing concept where the player runs the game on cloud server but can stream it in their mobile phones without even downloading or installing it. Now players don’t need to worry about their storage space anymore. Mobile Games for Elderly Most of the games are targeted towards the younger audience. However now, people from all age groups have become or are becoming tech savvy with plenty of time at their disposal. And this is a market segment is yet to be tapped. Mobile games for the elderly or the mature audience is going to be the next big thing in the gaming industry. Offline Games Most of the mobile games need an internet connection.  Without the internet, no gaming app holds any value. In such cases, offline games are quite handy. Offline games allow the user to enjoy the gaming session without internet facilities. In the coming days, this is going to be extremely popular. No doubt, even Google has now added a category of offline games in the play store. In 2020, mobile gaming will capture more than half of the total games market and by 2021, it is projected to be a 100-billion-dollar industry. And these trends will inspire the developers to build unique games across different gaming application development platforms. It will be interesting to see what goes up and what comes down the pike for both the game developers and the users who look forward to new and unique experiences.

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How Internet of Things Is Redefining The Retail Experience

June 19, 2018

While most of us have remained busy discussing how quickly online shopping has gone mainstream, a quiet revolution is growing in the retail sector across the world. Internet of Things is breathing life into dying retail spaces while invigorating newer and more creative retail units. IoT-enabled shopping is taking online e-Commerce space by storm too, enhancing logistics, delivery, and even the shopping experience. With more than 30 billion connected devices available by 2020, IoT is leading all technological innovation in the retail sector. From improving products to reducing energy consumption, and from enhancing marketing outcomes to improving customer experience, IoT is practically all over the place. Most importantly, all the accumulation of data is helping companies to gain new insights, and enhance products and customer experience, while witnessing double-digit growth rate. Amazon Go is a great example of this revolution. In this article, let’s take a look at how IoT is helping both offline retailers. Let us also briefly look at some of the top trends in retail with IoT devices in mind. How Internet of Things is helping brick and mortar stores as well Thousands of stores are shutting down, malls are going out of business, and retail stores simply aren’t able to catch up with the speed of digital shopping. In addition, people themselves have begun to prefer ordering products online than making a trip to the nearest mall or supermarket. Retail sector all around the world has much to worry about and resent. Yet, there is a silver lining in every cloud. IoT is helping retailers across the world to not only thrive but also attract more customers than ever to their stores. Vending machines are being revolutionised across malls and public places as customised orders and products can now be placed. Interactive displays and digital signage are helping customers to shop better and reach out right counter or shelf, depending on the in-store choices they make. Few retailers may offer virtual and smart mirrors, which provide information about the clothes they are trying. If the particular shirt a man is trying is green when compared to the one he just tried earlier, why not urge him to buy that automatically? Beacons and RFID tags can be further enhanced with sensors. IoT-enabled beacons can be used to recognize facial expressions, customer behavior across shopping aisles, and other such information. This can be used to enhance customer experience. IoT most importantly hastens the checkout process. Both retailers and customers can bid goodbye to lengthy queues at the billing counter, thanks to self-checkouts. Hottest trends in the retail sector depend on IoT If there is one thing that is going to sustain retail, it is IoT. Let us take a look at few situations where IoT is helping retail to innovate, sustain, and thrive. Marketing is easier than ever IoT is responsible for making marketing easier than ever. It provides the tools required for making both omnichannel and multichannel marketing successful. Sensors are increasingly being used by retailers to help customers. IoT sensors also help stores to engage in in-store marketing. Coordinate with customers quickly One of the factors that set IoT apart is its ability to communicate not just between devices or sensors, but also enhance communication between the retailer/manufacturer and the user. This helps store owners to coordinate with customers quickly in case products need maintenance services, or if there is an update to be installed. Download our case study on Konvergence’s K-Wallet, which revolutionized retail shopping some time ago. Customising customer experience There are sensors for tracking virtually every behaviour of a customer. When done ethically, sensors can provide valuable data that help manufacturers to enhance customer experience. Whether it is about enhancing certain product features or bringing better customer service, IoT can do it all with an ease and pomp. Create better product ecosystems Manufacturers and retailers have begun to tie up to provide better customer experience, using sensors. This is helping create new opportunities for better product ecosystems. Customers have options for maintenance, servicing, updating, or choosing from related products post-sales as well. Automated orders of spare parts when they need to be replaced is just one example of this ecosystem. Optimise logistics and inventory handling IoT’s is creating improved efficiency inventory handling and logistics management. Businesses are literally growing because they can deliver products quickly, and replenish stocks. IoT is helping businesses to ensure retail never faces a hitch due to product unavailability or delayed shipments. Data-derived insights IoT, as we all know, gathers and processes enormous amounts of data. All this data is fodder for analytics and insight deriving, and that’s exactly how businesses are using IoT data. Insights derived from product usage, product malfunctioning, customer behaviour, and other such situations continually help retailers and manufacturers to enhance customer experience and product enhancement. We had written an article a little while ago, describing how data analytics and AI both are going to influence IoT in the coming months and years. Read More about How to Manage Your Online Store in 2019? IoT-enabled retail is here to stay As you can see, IoT is quietly bringing formidable changes to both online and offline retail spaces. It is also changing the way retail manufacturers manage their business. Considering how quickly IoT is taking over retail, and how it is sustaining all the players in the space, it is worth observing the technology more keenly. In the near future, IoT enabled sensors will help retailers improve marketing, bring better customer experience, and enhance product support to users. Security may seem like an issue with all the IoT related data being generated, but we recently wrote about how to handle those issues. While we are at it, do take a look at some of the most valuable programming languages to learn, if you wish to develop for IoT yourself. Last but not the least, IoT will help businesses of all types to derive useful insights which will help improve products and customer experience at the same time.

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Get Your Act Together and Migrate from SSL/Early TLS before the June 30th Deadline

June 11, 2018

SSL/early TSL will need to be disabled by 30th of June, 2018. Every business will need to implement a far more secure encryption protocol if they wish to comply with PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Whether you process your own customers’ or clients’ payments or you work with other businesses and partners who process online payments, migration from SSL/early TLS to TLS 1.1 or 1.2 and above is a crucial necessity. PCI compliance is a necessity if you offer any kind of payment transactions on your website. For instance, if you run an online store and people enter their card details to purchase a product or service, PCI DSS-compliance is an absolute necessity. In this article, let us take a look at what SSL/early TLS are, what you need to do to comply with the new regulations, and how it is going to benefit you in the long term, with a few use cases placed in context. What is the problem with existing PCI DSS compliance protocols? Back in the 1990s, Netscape developed the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to keep information and data confidential and secure, while being shared between two different systems. Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a closely-related cryptographic protocol that adds a layer of security to payment procedures. Using the latest versions of SSL and TSL was an absolute necessity to display the certificate of being PCI DSS-compliant. PCI DSS-compliance certificate assures web shoppers and users that their credit card information will remain safe and that their financial data will not be put at risk. Unfortunately, SSL and early TLS have a number of vulnerabilities that put organizations, users, and customers at risk of various kinds of threats.  Many hackers and malicious entities have used loopholes within SSL and early TLS to compromise security and financial data privacy. Currently, fixes and patches cannot repair or fix these SSL and early TLS vulnerabilities. In addition, hackers and attackers have grown more advanced, leaving all PCI DSS-compliant websites vulnerable and weak. To address and mitigate these vulnerabilities, PCI DSS compliance now requires you to migrate to more advanced and complex encryption protocols. If you can convincingly prove that the payment terminals (POIs) are not vulnerable to any known threats for SSL and early TLS, you may not need to migrate to newer encryption requirements. However, for every other platform and situation, you will have to migrate to the new requirements by 30th June, 2018. Hence, every eCommerce or online business using early TSL or SSL has no option but to adopt the new protocols and enforce them as soon as possible. Note: If you are planning to use RC4, MD5, and other unapproved algorithms to fix security issues, you will need to stop it immediately. These practices aren’t allowed under new regulations. Is this update only for PCI-compliant websites? The short answer is, no. If you allow transactions to go through your website, you will need to update to newer protocols as soon as possible. Even if you have not applied for PCI certification and even if you have other methods to tell your users that you offer secure transaction environments, you will need to update from current SSL/TLS versions. What you need to do immediately If you are not PCI-compliant, and you don’t wish to seek the certification, you still need to upgrade to the latest encryption protocols in order to beat the weaknesses of existing SSL and TLS versions. Conduct a website audit and make sure that existing threats are addressed. To address the vulnerabilities within SSL and early TLS, you have to migrate to at least TLS 1.1. However, TLS 1.2 or above is strongly recommended as other versions simply do not have the ability to thwart threats. If your clients or partners run websites, you will have to urge them to immediately update to TLS 1.2 as well, as directly or indirectly you will be responsible for any security breaches that may occur. Do not forget that GDPR has already rolled out, and financial information comes under personal identification data too. Make sure that there are no implementation vulnerabilities such as the numerous ones we find in OpenSSL. Always ensure that patches are up-to-date and you already with countermeasures to address security threats. It is important to quickly migrate from OpenSSL to TLS 1.2 or more, in order to keep yourself, your customers, and your clients safe from hackers and attackers. If you are configuring TLS yourself, make sure that you do it securely. You will need to make sure that secure TLS cipher suites are supported and that unwanted cipher suites are disabled. In short, whatever is not required for interoperability, disable them. You will also need to make sure that key sizes are supported too. PCI SSC website has a lot of information regarding SSL and early TLS migration. You can visit their website for more guidance. If you do not want to risk migrating from SSL/early TLS to TLS 1.2, consider partnering with an external agency. External vendors not only have the time but also resources and technical expertise to ensure that all your websites migrate to the latest version of TLS without any errors. Most importantly, you can rest assured that during or after migration, your customers will never notice any downtime or inaccessibility to the websites.Tell us if you are struggling. How We Can Help? Stop Unwanted Calls Problem: An eCommerce business noticed that some customers started to receive unwanted calls from suspicious entities. Hackers were able to sneak in through vulnerabilities in SSL during checkout. This helped them to extract personally identifiable information of customers, which they used not only to make calls but also potentially for more malicious purposes. Solution: We helped the business to smoothly migrate to TLS 1.2, without causing any difficulties or downtime for their website operations. Get the ERP Right Problem: A large multi-national company that deals with cloud ERP has several eCommerce clients across the world. It wondered if the payment

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What Did We Learn From This Year’s Apple #WWDC 2018

June 8, 2018

Worldwide Developer Conference or more popularly known as WWDC is Apple’s biggest date on their calendar. It the yearly week-long summer event for developers where Apple makes the biggest announcements about their products and about important updates. Held between 4-8 June in San Jose, software developers from around the world look forward this event and plan to attend this for the entire year. Starting with their keynote speech announcing major updates on iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV and other devices. , the event features workshops, training, networking sessions, and parties. If you were looking forward to this event but was not able to attend it, we have got some of the best tweets for you. Here we go: Control your iPhone with your eyes. Just look at a button to select it and blink to press. Powered by ARKit 2. #ARKit #ARKit2 #WWDC #iOS pic.twitter.com/ow8TwEkC8J — Matt Moss (@thefuturematt) June 7, 2018 #WWDC18 Numbers from the Keynote pic.twitter.com/eihXU1D0MU — Horace Dediu (@asymco) June 7, 2018 Here's how you can make a personalized Animoji of yourself in the new iOS 12. #WWDC18 https://t.co/9668myhlwR pic.twitter.com/bLZ4Vm7t2j — CNBC (@CNBC) June 5, 2018 Tim Cook says he’s more afraid of “people thinking like machines than machines thinking like people” #ai #ArtificialIntelligence #ml #MachineLearning #WWDC18 pic.twitter.com/TSK5mRwJXL — Evan Kirstel #B2B #TechFluencer (@EvanKirstel) June 5, 2018 Apple Watch gets Walkie-Talkie mode https://t.co/JZmFu5SW8H #WWDC18 pic.twitter.com/qnGZ6x6JsM — TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) June 5, 2018 Apple has introduced several new features for iOS 12, including group FaceTime calls and custom "memoji" https://t.co/YIEtfN7WjJ #WWDC18 pic.twitter.com/9Gj1S8Mh06 — CNN (@CNN) June 5, 2018 Also at #WWDC18, a future filled with virtual playgrounds https://t.co/uPc1WgXUxE pic.twitter.com/C2aZS1i86m — WIRED (@WIRED) June 5, 2018 iOS apps will be able to show up in the Siri watch face even if they don't have an Apple Watch app #wwdc18 — Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) June 7, 2018 Oh hey Jenna #Memoji ?? #WWDC18 pic.twitter.com/spKx1WyrtG — Jenna Ezarik (@jennaezarik) June 4, 2018 This is massive! Paid apps can now have a try before you buy! i.e a free trial for paid apps ? #wwdc18 pic.twitter.com/EgnAmWNLAe — Michael Dube (@dubemike) June 5, 2018 The biggest announcements from WWDC and why they matter https://t.co/idR5ZA8c1T #WWDC18 pic.twitter.com/bUI5wHcksi — TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) June 5, 2018 We will bring you more such updates and stories from around the globe. Watch this space to get latest updates on digital and what’s happening in the world of tech.

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Disruptive Innovation in Payments

June 1, 2018

We could have written paeans about FinTech a couple of years ago, but to do so now would be to sing praises about what is already the norm. FinTech, the inevitable result of finance services making use of technology to enhance solutions and services, is the single largest disruptor in the world of finance. In addition to being a disruptive development, FinTech has evolved into becoming almost conventional, replacing legacy methods and making them seem archaic. Yet, a closer observation reveals that there is a lot of disruption taking place even within contemporary FinTech. Technology has driven FinTech to continuously evolve itself, and newer players continue to give a run for their competitors’ money almost every day. In this article, we briefly recap the growth of FinTech and contextually place this growth in a situation that continues to bring disruptive innovation in payments. We shall also take a look at certain trends driving this disruption, and what we can expect from this exciting development in the near future. The growth of FinTech While it may sound like a fancy term, FinTech isn’t actually very new. Using technology to drive financial procedures has been around since the 1900s in various forms. From being able to wire money to someone in a different part of the world to modern peer-to-peer payments, FinTech has come a long way. Barclays opened the first ATM in the world in 1967, and Wells Fargo kick-started the world’s first online checking account in 1995. PayPal came to being in 1998, and online transactions and payments have grown exponentially ever since. Apple Pay, which was announced in 2016, was another watershed moment, as it heralded a new smartphone-based payments solution. Finally, blockchain-based payment technology gave rise not only to cryptocurrency, but also to smarter payments, seamless insurance claims processing, loan disbursals, and contactless payments. We had recently written an article about how Blockchain is bringing winds of change to the insurance sector. Drivers of the change As we can see, FinTech has evolved dramatically in the last few years due to rapidly evolving technology. However, market behavior and changes within finance sector have also been major drivers of change. In this section, let us take a look at three aspects of this disruptive innovation in payments. Technological development It goes without saying that technology is a big reason for disruptive changes in FinTech. In particular, artificial intelligence and blockchain have caused tremendous changes in the finance sector, propelling drastic changes that have taken even FinTech players by surprise. For example, PayPal and other peer-to-peer payments solutions were taken by surprise when cryptocurrency came to being. Blockchain in fintech is the single-most disruptive situation at the moment. Cryptocurrency players like Bitcoin etc. were taken by surprise when Ethereum-based legal peer-to-peer payments application started to be launched. For instance, blockchain-based claims processing, stock purchase, and Ethereum-based P2P payments solutions are quickly taking over traditional smartphone-based payments applications. Smart contracts have enabled seamless and secure transactions, making financial procedures more reliable than they ever were. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call blockchain a cultural phenomenon. For an industry that focuses much of its energy on building and maintaining trust, blockchain and smart contracts-enabled applications are almost a godsend. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state that technology itself is driving change and causing more disruptive innovation in the field of FinTech. Those who aren’t part of this exciting evolution will quickly be left behind. In-store mobile payments are touted to exceed $503 billion by 2020. Just in the US, a whopping 150 million people are expected to use in-store mobile payments. The spending ability of mobile payments users is very high. They spend twice as much as non-users do, and earn at least $70,000 a year. Security-related doubts have been a hurdle for mobile payments adoption. 47% of cybersecurity professionals felt mobile payments weren’t secure enough at the moment, as opposed to just 23% feeling confident. Public Wi-Fi is the greatest vulnerability with respect to mobile payments, with a threat figure of 26%. This is closely followed by stolen devices, a situation whose threat figure is 21%. Market trends Increasingly, users have come to expect a lot more than what technology can offer at the moment. We can describe this as a market that’s so spoiled by choices that even the most disruptive technology no longer feels like disruption. Consumer behavior has shifted from being awestruck by disruption to expecting innovation by default. In other words, services that do not seem innovative enough for consumers simply get ignored. This has forced most industry players to closely study consumer behavior and surpass their expectations. This isn’t usually possible because users have come to expect a lot more than what technology realistically allows us to do. Yet, FinTech companies and solutions providers have to work harder to keep pace with market expectations ad and focus on driving change. Adopting innovation and complex technologies such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, and blockchain will help FinTech companies to surpass market expectations and bring value to the services they launch. Data analytics, in particular, can help FinTech entities to study consumer behavior closely and launch FinTech products that match market expectations. Industry changes There are a number of changes within the industry that are propelling disruptive changes within FinTech sector. Banks are desperate to retain their roles in the finance space, and payments intermediaries may simply vanish, because of smart contracts and distributed ledger technology. The same distributed ledger technology is helping FinTech organizations to make cross-border payments instantaneous, giving rise to new corporate and consumer solutions that will enable instant international payments a reality. Fintech companies have also begun to make use of open APIs, machine learning, and robotic process automation to enhance the experience. Most importantly, a lot of FinTech activity currently is focused on thwarting cyber-attacks, ensuring data privacy and safety, secure financial transactions, and eliminating payment frauds. Blockchain, smart contracts, artificial intelligence and machine learning are currently top

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#DigitalTransformation: What Is Happening Around The World

April 24, 2018

Ask 10 CIO/CTOs how they define digital transformation and it is likely we will get 10 different answers but with one common goal: technology initiatives to foster business transformation. The aim of a digital transformation strategy is to fully leverage the possibilities and opportunities of emerging technologies in a much faster, better and innovative way. Let us see which new innovations and techniques are being discussed by tech influencers and market leaders about #DigitalTransformation. 7 Building Blocks for Success in the #InternetOfThings. @Fisher85M via @antgrasso #IoT #IIoT #Analytics #CRM #business #tech #innovation #DigitalTransformation pic.twitter.com/AwDP5co7qe — Antonio Grasso (@antgrasso) April 17, 2018 How To Create A 2018 #Marketing Plan For Your Real Estate Business #DigitalTransformation #Wordpress #DigitalMarketing #Contentmarketing #Branding #SEO #Startup #Content #Marketing #SocialMedia #Swarnimseo #Defstar5 #Mpgvip #OnlineMarketing #SocialMediaMarketing #SMM pic.twitter.com/IKxLJnttsD — Isabella Jones (@IsabellajonesCl) April 18, 2018 What to consider in #DigitalTransformation #Strategy?#startups #SMM #IoT @Fisher85M #BigData #blockchain #Fintech #DataScience #CIO pic.twitter.com/EytDYkGxOs — Michael Fisher (@Fisher85M) April 17, 2018 #AI vs. Lawyers [Infographic] ?This 40-page study details how AI has overtaken top lawyers for the first time in accurately spotting risks in everyday business contractshttps://t.co/lzrUQ5DUY1 v/ @lawgeex_#MachineLearning #DigitalTransformation Cc @DeepLearn007 @evankirstel pic.twitter.com/ursiKB2DJX — Pinna Pierre (@pierrepinna) April 18, 2018 The #DigitalTransformation of the #materials business moves to the next level: thyssenkrupp opens the world's biggest virtual warehouse, offering 250,000 clients #omnichannel access to over 150,000 products & services worldwide. The details: https://t.co/wdC6pFjEpx #Digitization pic.twitter.com/RSOZya5euP — thyssenkrupp EN (@thyssenkrupp_en) April 18, 2018 Why #DigitalTransformation Won't Succeed Without Cultural Changeby @naullyn | Read more at https://t.co/g54kGNTJzY#Digital #Marketing #BigData #Digitalization #Innovation #IIoT #IndustrialInternetofThings #IoT #InternetOfThings #RT cc: @lombardi_gloria @bigdatagal pic.twitter.com/1Zlr51yQc3 — Ronald van Loon (@Ronald_vanLoon) April 23, 2018 The endpoint of #DigitalTransformation is a #HybridIT platform w/on-premise data centers operating collaboratively across a multi-vendor, multi-cloud estate. This needs proactive enforcement of policies that control business unit IT service consumption. https://t.co/bqGMU7Gilk pic.twitter.com/7tXyAp6aot — Kevin L. Jackson (@Kevin_Jackson) April 24, 2018 Making #digitalTransformation real in #healthcare! #HealthIT @IrmaRaste @eViRaHealth @JohnNosta @ahier #IoT @CiscoHealth @Cisco_IoT @CiscoSecurity #dx pic.twitter.com/kF46awLijj — Evan Kirstel #B2B #TechFluencer (@EvanKirstel) April 23, 2018 South Korea is building a #smartcity where nobody needs a car. #IoT #business #tech #architecture #smartcities #healthcare #digitaltransformation #bigdata pic.twitter.com/Ekob6rrnz9 — Vladimer Botsvadze ???️ (@VladoBotsvadze) April 24, 2018 #Tech Trends That Will Impact Your Business In The Next 4 Years // #Infographic #DigitalTransformation #AI #Marketing #Tech #Business #MarTech #MachineLearning #IoT #NLP #Robotics #IoT #IoE #InfoSec RT @GaryDower pic.twitter.com/22VSryVLxK — Tamara McCleary (@TamaraMcCleary) April 24, 2018 Digital transformation is crucial for all businesses be it an SME or an Enterprise. The digital space is evolving rapidly, at a pace that if you do not take action immediately, you will be left behind and it will be immensely difficult to catch up. Keep watching this space. We are coming up with the latest news and deep insights from industry leaders on #DigitalSuccess

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How Big Data Improves Claims Process

April 19, 2018

For a long time, the insurance industry has struggled with the claims process. Manual verification of claims, processing of claims amount, and segmenting policyholders before claims are made to avert undesirable outcomes have all been cumbersome for insurance companies. Thankfully, data analytics have come to the rescue of insurance companies like the proverbial knight in the shining armor. With all that data available today, it has only become easier for insurers to carefully segment policyholders and provide better products customized for individual needs. This has helped not only to cross-sell and up-sell insurance products but also to enhance customer satisfaction. In addition, Big Data has helped insurance companies to process claims quickly and efficiently. While Big Data is inherently vast and contains extremely useful information, it is also its nature to be superfluous and chaotic. Too much information and data can actually cause difficulties for insurance companies which often seek specific information and data about customers and insurance trends. This is where data analytics comes riding on horses. In this article, let us take a look at how Big Data improves claims process and saves the day for insurers. Why do we need Big Data Analytics in claims process? Because claims is a complicated business. As an insurer can vouch for it, claims processing is no easy business. Most insurance professionals consider the processing of claims the most arduous and difficult part of their professional duties. Yet, it is also the most important and crucial aspect of policy handling and processing. Processing of claims consists of four important steps: Intimation or communication: The policyholder communicates his claims to the insurer Registration: The insurer makes note of this communication, and begins the process of approving or disapproving the claim Handling: In this step, the insurer has to verify and assess the nature of the claim, and its validity Settlement: If the claim is found valid, the settlement is made, and payments are processed While it may seem simple on the outside, it is a gnarly and prickly business for those who are actually involved in the claims process. This is because care needs to be taken that customers do not feel offended at any point and that each sub-step is smooth and transparent. We must also remember that each of these four steps have multiple ramifications for the insurer, intermediaries if any, and the claimant. The claims process and the four sub-steps involve a number of decision points all of which are based on verification of data and analyzing what is already known and predicting certain outcomes. These outcomes involve operations, management of risk, settling the final amount, and ensuring that customers remain loyal to the insurance brand. Claims analytics makes sure that all these steps in claims process are easily handled, and processed quickly and efficiently, without any errors. Claims Analytics to the rescue Claims Analytics is a unique technology that uses Big Data Analytics, Predictive Analytics and programming to make sense of structured and unstructured datasets during all the four steps of claims processing. Predictive analytics helps in recognizing trends and predicting outcomes, while prescriptive analytics helps insurers to take decisions quickly. Claims Analytics as a tool can be customized for each insurer so that their tool is perfectly tailor-made for their unique product and market requirements. Claims Analytics helps pick and choose relevant datasets from a seemingly chaotic Big Data, to arrive at solutions automatically. Claims Analytics helps insurers to : Detect fraud: Insurers no longer have to worry about unpleasant conversations, and wasted man-hours in trying to assess the veracity and authenticity of claims made. Claims Analytics can be programmed to automate the process, the verifications and detecting fraudulent claims. Track renewals: Insurers can quickly renew automatically and track when policies are not being renewed so that reminders can be sent. This step also involved predicting future risks and assessing if a policy is worthy enough of being renewed. Predict outcomes: This has a variety of implications. Predictive analytics helps insurers to predict if a customer is going to be high-risk or a desirable customer. It also helps to predict market trends and claim outcomes. Gain business and market insights: Market and sales forecasting are very important for insurers to gain a competitive edge. Big Data analytics helps insurers to look at the macrocosm of the insurance market and gain business insights, so that they serve their customers better, and also grow profitable. In which areas can analytics enhance insurance claims data? Claims Analytics can help insurance industry in a number of ways when it comes to enhancing insurance claims data. Let us take a look at some of the areas that are currently being supported by Claims Analytics. Fraud: Predictive analysis uses advanced statistics and programming to make use of Big Data and derive analytics. Fraudulent claims can be identified quickly at every step thanks to algorithms, data mining, and other methods. Subrogation: Insurers can initiate subrogation processes to claim losses caused by a third party to the claimant if the situation allows for it. Claims Analytics helps wade through medical and police records, adjuster notes, social conversations, etc. to identify subrogation opportunities. Sooner these opportunities are identified, the lesser the insurer’s losses will be. Predictive analytics helps identify such opportunities quickly. Settlement: Claims Analytics helps in analyzing claim histories effectively and shorten the cycle of processing. This enhances customer satisfaction and reduces insurers’ labor costs. It also has ramifications in claim settlements made. Loss reserve: Claims Analytics can also be used to predict the magnitude of a claim that is made. Similar claims made elsewhere can be compared with current claims, and losses and expenditure can be estimated. Activity: Claims Analytics comes empowered with powerful data mining techniques which help in assigning importance to claims so that each claim can be assigned to an adjuster appropriate for the situation. This helps avoid assigning seemingly complex claims to the most experienced adjusters, only to find out the claim could actually have been processed automatically. Litigation: Litigation

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