Technologies Digital Insights

When you are going to create a new web solution from scratch or optimize an existing one, one of the key indicators of top high quality will most likely be a high response rate (to user actions) and SEO-friendliness. 

Unfortunately, client-side rendering, which is done by default in many modern web frameworks and libraries, can become an antagonist for developers pursuing these two goals. In this case, it makes sense to consider the possibility of implementing server-side rendering. Below, we will explain to you what it is, what its features are, with the help of which software tools it can be implemented, and also for which projects it is best suited. 

Definition of Server-Side Rendering

Generally speaking, server-side rendering (SSR), as is probably clear from the name, occurs on the backend side. First, the browser sends a request from the client side to the server, after which the SSR server returns an HTML page with all the necessary meta tags, styles, markup, and other attributes. Then, in the browser, the rendering itself happens, the results of which immediately become visible to the end user.

Why is all this necessary if you can use the default option, client-side rendering (CSR)?—you may ask. In fact, everything is simple: search engine crawlers do not recognize the SEO text contained on the pages (or the page, if it is the only one) of the CSR solution. Thus, if the CEO occupies a significant part of the promotion strategy of your project, you can achieve better results only by implementing SSR. Let us add that projects with sophisticated business logic may “suffer” from CSR in the context of performance since the increased load in the form of several synchronous requests will lead to delays in the interface’s response to user actions. And this is exactly the case where server-side rendering can also become a win-win solution.

Currently, SSR technology is actively used in such world-famous solutions as Airbnb, Upwork, YouTube, Netflix, Uber, etc.

What Are the Benefits of Server-Side Rendering?

Now, based on the above, let's look at the key benefits of SSR.

• SEO and social media friendliness. The server side render approach ensures improved SEO ranking through the correct indexing of pages – now, search robots can recognize SEO text and other attributes important for good ranking. First of all, this is due to the fact that now, search robots do not need to read SSR JavaScript code. As for friendliness for social platforms, it is explained by the ability to display colorful previews when sharing SSR-rendered pages – all due to the correct recognition of meta tags. 
• Better app/website performance. SSR rendering provides a faster initial page load as the JS to HTML conversion is done on the backend. Thus, users see refreshed content faster than with CSR, in particular when it comes to dynamically updated pages. In the long term, this can ensure a reduced bounce rate for websites and web applications. 
• Lower load on the user's device and better user experience (UX). Due to the fact that user requests are now processed on the server side, the user device will experience minimal load. All that remains for it is to interpret the HTML code returned by the server.

What Are the Risks of Server-Side Rendering?

To ensure the objectivity of our review, let's also analyze the disadvantages of server-side rendering.

• Higher TTFB. TTFB or time to the first byte is one of the highest priority indicators of good (or, vice versa, insufficient) performance of web pages. This parameter indicates the time it takes for the browser to receive the first byte of page data processed on the server side. Typically, compared to CSR, the TTFB value is higher because instead of returning a file with links to JS, the server spends some time converting JS to HTML code.
• Limits on the number of requests simultaneously processed on the server side. Due to the increased load on the server, the number of requests processed synchronously will be less than in the case of client-side rendering. Thus, the server throughput will be reduced.
• Need to wait for all the HTML code to load. While the page is loading HTML code under SSR, the user will not be able to perform any new actions on it.

If we add to the above disadvantages a fairly high entry threshold into SSR, as well as an increase in the budget of such projects (due to frequent requests to the server), it becomes clear that this approach is not suitable for everyone.

Server-Side Rendering Frameworks and Tools

As for the server side rendering frameworks and libraries that can be used to process client-side requests on the backend, these include React, Next.js, Nuxt.js, Angular (v7 and newer), and Svelte/Sapper. They use one of the most universal server-side templating languages—JavaScript.

Below we propose to consider server-side rendering React concepts only since React is one of the main tools that we use in web development.

Server-Side Rendering vs Client-Side Rendering

Server-side rendering is not a one-size-fits-all solution since there are situations where its alternative, client-side rendering, is the best choice. In particular, if the content on web pages is updated dynamically – that is, it requires the rendering of some components only (i.e., those with whom the user interacted) while the whole page doesn’t need to be updated, CSR is better suited since part of the content with which the user did not interact will be already loaded.

However, considering that during initial initialization, the content is not displayed until the page is fully loaded into the browser (this can take 2 or 3 seconds, which is critical for a modern consumer of Internet content), when implementing CSR, the site may have poor SEO regardless from the professionalism of SEO specialists (note that this is not a default situation, because with the right approach, lightweight projects with CSR are still ranked well). And this is where the SSR React approach can come to the rescue as usually, React server side components are well-recognized by search crawlers. Thus, by resorting to it, you will be able to ensure enhanced content visibility for search engines.

Server-Side Rendering: SEO vs. Performance

As you can already understand, server-side rendering is capable of providing the best SEO performance for solutions that really need it. In particular, thanks to this approach, search engines will not need to interpret JavaScript. At the same time, if you decide to render in React applying CSR by default, for the React server side rendering implementation, you will have to use additional tools to indicate metadata (for example, React Helmet).

As for performance, in the case of high-load projects, with the server side React rendering, this indicator will be better than with CSR since the SSR website or application will not be limited by the resources of the user device and browser. Also, the user device itself will be less loaded since its only task in the context of updating content will be its output (without rendering).

Conclusion

To sum up, we would like to emphasize that with the correct use of JavaScript frameworks for SSR, you can solve the problem of poor ranking of single-page applications (SPAs) as well as content-heavy websites where SEO and bootstrap performance are critical. On the other hand, CSR is suitable for software with dynamically updated content, that is, content that should change without completely refreshing the page.

However, you should not limit yourself to just these two rendering approaches. In particular, there are also hybrid rendering approaches that combine the best characteristics of SSR and CSR. For example, you can consider the static site generation (SSG) vs SSR couple—perhaps the first option will be the best choice for your project.

Hey, are you here to find a solution for a consolidated and easy-to-access “home” for your business information, which is usually transferred from different places, often unrelated to each other? Then, you probably need to think about creating a digital space where it will be integrated, cleaned, structured, and stored accordingly, for further use in your regular business operations. But what is this space? Let’s find it out right now.

What Is Data Warehousing?

In a nutshell, it is a repository where your business data comes from disparate sources, where it is brought to the proper quality, and where it is stored, providing individuals with the appropriate rights with easy and fast access to it. Typically, such repositories serve as one of the central components in automated analytical solutions, but, as practice shows, the range of their application can be much wider.

Key Components of a Data Warehouse

In general, its main components are considered to be the following:

• Sources, from which structured and unstructured information comes—these can be third-party databases, tables, systems, applications, etc.;
• Data Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL) tools, which define scenarios for extracting, transforming, and loading the information;
• Data warehouse database, which is the main repository (usually in the form of a database management system, DBMS) with already prepared, i.e., cleaned and structured data, that can be used for analytics, reporting, and other business tasks without additional manipulation;
• Metadata repository, which includes the permissible data types and the rules according to which this data will be used;
• Query and reporting tools, which define algorithms for fast and unified access to data, as well as its analysis;
• Data mart, a subset of the data warehouse that is used for individual business tasks (this can imply, for example, marketing data warehouse design) which formation occurs either directly through the collection from disparate sources or pre-preparing within a consolidated space.

Core Principles of Data Warehouse Design

Now, let's talk about the main data warehouse design principles:

• A clear definition of business requirements and goals, as well as metrics that allow you to objectively assess the degree of their achievement;
• Understanding how information is integrated from multiple sources and what should be the unified format after its transformation;
• Choosing the right type of data modeling—these can be star schemas, snowflake schemas, fact tables, and so on;
• Choosing the right methods and data warehouse software to ensure the quality and consistency of information, in particular, the methods of cleansing, validation, and supplementing of data;
• Planning, scaling, and managing the performance through various methods of indexing, partitioning, compression, etc.;
• Choosing the right tools for metadata management to simplify and improve access to the information;
• Ensuring security and access based on policies and rules (usually, this is achieved through the implementation of advanced encryption algorithms, the introduction of access policies for different user groups, as well as providing reliable authentication and authorization methods);
• Implementing end-to-end monitoring for ensuring data quality and security, performance of processes occurring within the data warehouse, and so on.

Steps in Data Warehouse Design

In this section, we invite you to consider the key steps leading to a successful and agile data warehouse design.

Requirement Gathering

According to the principles to design a data warehouse we defined above, the key to effective data warehouse design is to gather business requirements and clear business goals that it should fulfill. It is also important to identify the requirements for security, scalability, and performance of the repository.

Data Modeling

This is not yet a practical stage, but it still requires the participation of specialists—in particular, it implies the identification of entities, their attributes, as well as possible relationships between them. After this, the most suitable type of DBMS implementation needs to be selected—for example, in the form of tables, columns, indexing, etc. After this, you have to make sure that the selected type performs all the tasks assigned to it according to the predetermined requirements.

ETL Process Design

We have already explained above what the ETL process means, and this stage actually involves choosing the right tools and scenarios for their use.

In particular, you will need to define methods for extracting information from disparate sources (these can be database queries, API calls, file transfers, etc.), methods for bringing data to a single format and ensuring its proper quality (since you will most likely have to deal with big data, there may be many inconsistencies), methods for aggregating data to create complex information structures, automation methods for bulk loading of data (this can be full or incremental loading, and so on) with the usage of temporary storage areas, methods for detecting and eliminating data errors, as well as methods for checking data for completeness and accuracy.

Database Schema Design

There are several well-known data warehouse design patterns, such as:

• Star, which has a fact table at its center and dimension tables associated with it around it;
• Snowflake, which is a more complex Star and also implies additional dimension tables that surround each base dimension table;
• Galaxy, which contains two fact tables and the dimension tables between them.

Data Integration

Now, you can start integrating the data using the previously defined ETL tools and technologies. At this step, you need to make sure that everything works as intended, and the data is transformed into the required unified format.

Data Storage Solutions

At this stage, you need to choose specific data storage solutions according to your requirements for the expected data volume, performance, scalability, and cost. Usually, the choice is made between relational databases, columnar databases, data lakes, and cloud data warehouse solutions.

Data Presentation Layer

Finally, to design data warehouse, you will need to understand what your data presentation layer will be – the layer at which end users will be able to seamlessly access the data and use it to solve specific business problems. This includes developing interfaces, dashboards, reports, and various data visualization tools.

Conclusion

Now that you have a clear guide to data warehouse design, you can begin implementing it with a full understanding of the principles and stages on which it is based. If you would like to delegate this comprehensive task to seasoned data warehouse development specialists, just contact us.

The first question that you should ask yourself before contacting the IT outsourcing company is “what billing model is the best fit for my project?”. If you are confused about choosing an outsourcing model from the Dedicated team vs. Fixed price vs. Time and Materials for your business idea, then welcome aboard!

In this article, we will compare these business models for your project. Let’s analyze each in detail and describe the advantages and disadvantages of 3 main IT outsourcing models.

Fixed price

The fixed-price agreement is a single-sum contract where the software development team must deliver the project within a predefined sum which is agreed by both parties. A client should be able to share his clear vision of the product with developers to ensure appropriate final results. This model requires the client to provide a detailed list of requirements for the project and all required developer documentation.

Pros of fixed price model:

• Clarity. Project requirements are agreed upon before signing the software development contract, as well as all the required developer documentation is specified beforehand.
• Accuracy. The project scope and time frames are known and discussed in advance, so the team can set the deadlines, and it is convenient to monitor the project progress.
• Autonomy. The development process is coordinated by a project manager, so the client’s participation isn’t necessary.

Cons of fixed price model:

• Preparation. The period is needed as all requirements for implementation and deadlines must be documented.
• Inflexibility. Any change in the scope of work would cause a change in the total cost of the project and this change would be compensated by the service provider’s end.
• Risks. If you don’t provide your requirements correctly, then the delivered product won’t be the same as expected.

When is recommended to use a fixed price model:

• Clear requirements and determined deadlines.
• Limited or fixed budget.
• MVP.
• Small and medium projects with limited project scope of work.

Time and Materials

Time and materials contract is absolutely different. This model is great suited for long-term projects with changing requirements, where the final requirements are not known in advance and can be changed on the go. This is a flexible approach to IT outsourcing, as the customer pays in smaller chunks for work accomplished during the billable hours. To say more, this pay-as-you-go model allows you to pay only for the work actually done. For example, for features delivered, milestones, etc.

Pros of Time and Materials model:

• A flexible approach. The customer can change the scope of work, requirements or add/drop features on the go to meet his business aims without thinking about the budget. This model perfectly combines with modern agile methodologies, for example with Scrum.
• Transparency. This model allows the customer to control the cost and concentrate on important elements of the project. The client pays only for the results actually delivered.
• Involvement. The client can monitor the process of the development of a certain work schedule in accordance with the expected results.

Cons of Time and Materials model:

• Budget and time. It is not always possible to estimate the budget in advance. It’s hard to predict when the product will be delivered or how much it will cost. This depends on the accuracy of the specifications or its changes in the process of work;
• Communications. To achieve a high-quality product, continuous communication with the team is necessary. It requires full-fledged involvement from your side, which includes spending much time in communication with the development team.

When is recommended to use Time and Materials model:

• Long and middle term projects with dynamic requirements;
• Project scope is not fully known;
• The customer wants the flexibility to modify the project scope.

Dedicated team

The Dedicated Team model is used to compensate for the lack of in-house IT expertise on mid-to-long-term projects. The billing is based on hourly rates of the developers, and they become a part of a team that is only concerned with the project and not engaged in any other tasks. The developers report directly to the client. However, the client is responsible for team management and control.

As an example, let’s say the client wants to develop software that is not in his team’s expertise, he can hire a developer or team who can do this. In this case, the client can outsource to an experienced team that can help him fulfill his customer’s needs by creating rich quality projects. This will enable the client to maintain stability between your team and the dedicated team.

Pros of Dedicated Team model:

• Control. The customer is provided full control and management of the team. Cooperation between the client and the team is very important because it allows for effective planning and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the work process.
• Development. When a team is focused on one project, it ensures the best results. The team has a full understanding of all project features and is dedicated to running the project smoothly.
• Progress. The ability to optimize the product is important for product growth. With the dedicated team, it is much easier.
• Reduced costs. The remote team solves many problems with the recruitment and hiring of staff. Plus, you always know the next month’s payments and taxes.

Cons of Dedicated Team model:

• Thoroughness. The client must consider process planning and task distribution for every member of the team.
• Engagement. You might have to invest more time in communication, discussion and software development.
• Graduality. Looking for the perfect candidate takes a lot of time and the client has to be involved in hiring team members.

When is recommended to use Dedicated Team model:

• For long-term IT projects with rapidly changing scopes.
• Adding more workforce to set up a strong development team.
• When you want to access cross-border expertise and knowledge sharing.

Conclusion

To sum up, every project provides the best results when it is managed according to the most suitable IT outsourcing model. Each software product development pricing model has its pros and cons. Choosing the best possible approach fully depends on the specifics of your project and expected results.

According to this, the first step is understanding your business model’s requirements. After determining your project’s needs, you can select the right outsourcing model and start with it.

In web development, selecting the right platform is key. Webflow and WordPress each offer unique advantages tailored to different needs. This article compares these platforms to help you make an informed decision for your project.

Webflow

Webflow is an innovative platform that allows designers and developers to create impressive and responsive websites without the need for extensive coding knowledge. Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface offers a refreshing approach to web design, allowing users to visually craft layouts and interactions.

Advantages and Key Features of Webflow

Webflow is designed to empower designers and developers with its comprehensive suite of tools. From crafting visually stunning layouts to managing content and e-commerce effortlessly, Webflow simplifies every aspect of web creation:

• Visual Design Capabilities: Offers a user-friendly interface for creating pixel-perfect layouts and custom styling without extensive coding.
• Responsive and Interactive Design: Creates designs that automatically adjust to different devices and allow adding customized interactive elements and animations.
• Integrated CMS and E-commerce: Offers comprehensive tools for managing content and building online stores, supporting dynamic, content-rich websites.
• Clean Code Generation: Produces clean, efficient HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, enhancing site performance and SEO.
• Simplified Hosting and Publishing: Makes website deployment quick and efficient, directly from the platform.

Drawbacks of Webflow

While Webflow is a powerful tool for website design, it comes with certain limitations that might affect its suitability for some projects:

• Pricing: Webflow may be costlier than alternatives like WordPress, especially for hosting and advanced features, which could strain the budgets of smaller projects or independent creators.
• Learning Curve: Despite its user-friendly design interface, Webflow can be challenging to master for those new to design principles or who need to use its more advanced functionalities.
• Limited Extensions: Webflow has fewer third-party integrations and plugins compared to WordPress, potentially restricting its ability to meet specific customization needs or add unique functionalities.
• Scalability: While suitable for medium-sized projects, Webflow may not offer the same level of flexibility for hosting or scaling up large websites as some other platforms.

Webflow Websites Examples

Webflow's powerful design tools are used by a diverse range of businesses to improve their online presence and make digital interactions more efficient. Here are some examples of big companies from different areas using the power of Webflow:

• Dell Design System—An online resource for designers and developers, providing Dell-branded design assets, patterns, and guidelines to ensure consistent and high-quality user experiences across Dell's products.
• DropboxSign—An electronic signature platform that offers intuitive signing, sending, and managing documents online. Integrates with tools like Google Drive and Salesforce, maintaining high security and compliance standards.
• Michael Kors—A luxury fashion brand utilizing Webflow for the presentation of their seasonal collection. Features include Runway videos, a detailed Lookbook, and a direct link to their e-commerce site.

WordPress

WordPress is a long-standing leader in the web development landscape. It offers a dynamic ecosystem of themes, plugins, and customization options, addressing a wide range of website requirements, spanning from blogs to corporate portals.

Advantages and Key Features of WordPress:

WordPress stands out for its flexibility and wide range of functionalities that cater to diverse website requirements. Here we highlight the platform’s main features that enable users to effectively tailor, manage, and enhance their websites:

• Flexibility: WordPress's extensive library of themes and plugins provides incredible flexibility, enabling users to tailor their websites to specific needs.
• Content Management: WordPress excels as a content management system, making it ideal for bloggers and content creators.
• E-commerce: With the WooCommerce plugin, WordPress can handle e-commerce needs effectively, and its vast plugin directory allows for various functionalities.
• SEO Optimization: WordPress offers plugins and features that facilitate search engine optimization, helping websites rank better in search results.
• Large Community: WordPress boasts a massive community of developers, designers, and users, ensuring ongoing support, updates, and resources.

Drawbacks of WordPress

While WordPress is a flexible and powerful platform, managing it effectively comes with certain challenges. These drawbacks can affect the efficiency and security of websites, especially if not properly addressed:

• Security Issues: WordPress sites can be vulnerable to security threats if not properly maintained, especially due to outdated plugins or themes.
• Performance: Without proper optimization, WordPress sites can suffer from slow loading times, particularly as the number of plugins and customizations increases.
• Maintenance: Keeping a WordPress site updated with all the latest plugin and theme updates can be time-consuming and requires regular attention.
• Plugin Overload: While the vast number of available plugins allows for extensive customization, relying too heavily on them can lead to compatibility issues, potential security vulnerabilities, and a decrease in site performance.

WordPress Websites Examples

WordPress empowers a wide variety of businesses and organizations to manage their online content effectively. Here are some standout examples of how leading organizations use WordPress to manage and enhance their digital presence:

• TechCrunch is a leading technology news site that uses WordPress to manage and publish extensive content efficiently.
• Sony Music represents how major corporations use WordPress for content-heavy websites with a need for robust content management systems.
• The TED Blog uses WordPress to manage its rich content, including articles and TED Talk summaries, effectively integrating multimedia elements to engage a global audience.

Summary

In conclusion, when considering Webflow or WordPress, your choice depends on your specific needs. If you're a designer seeking a seamless blend of creativity and functionality, Webflow stands out. Its responsive capabilities, dynamic interactions, clean code generation, and user-friendly hosting make it a prime choice for creating websites that captivate and engage visitors. While WordPress's content management system versatility and vast ecosystem are valuable, Webflow's focus on elevating the design process and simplifying development workflow make it the preferred platform for those aiming to craft visually stunning and interactive websites without diving deeply into coding intricacies. Whether you're an experienced designer or a novice, Webflow empowers you to bring your web design visions to life.

Interesting fact: there are approximately 8,462 project management methodologies to choose from. Every project manager understands that selecting the right methodology is crucial to getting the job right.

So, how to understand which one is right for your project?

There are many various ways to deliver projects. Generally speaking, these ways are our project management models—applying different principles, themes, frameworks, processes and standards to help provide structure to the way we deliver projects.

Agile is one of the more recognizable project management methodologies. This methodology is best suited for projects that are iterative and incremental. It’s a type of process where demands and solutions evolve through the collaborative effort of self-organizing and cross-functional teams and their customers.

Agile is a methodology that has methodologies within itself, such as Scrum and Kanban. Scrum methodology is one of the most popular and simple frameworks to put the principles of Agile into practice.

Let’s talk about the Scrum and how it works

Scrum is a subset of Agile. It is a framework for agile development that helps teams work together with the customers. Much like a sports team training for the big game, Scrum encourages teams to learn through experiences, self-organize while working on a problem, and reflect on their wins and losses to continuously improve. Its goal is to develop, deliver, and sustain complex products through collaboration, accountability, and iterative progress. According to this, it is not surprising that Scrum is the most widely-used one among the teams.

Scrum team roles

• Product owner: The product owner represents stakeholders, which are typically customers.
• Development team: Group of professionals that consists of three to nine individuals who have the business, design, analytical and development skills to carry out the actual work, solve problems and produce deliverable products.
• Project manager: Manager who ensures the understanding and execution of Scrum is followed. The manager’s responsibilities include coaching and motivating the team, removing impediments during the development, and ensuring that the team has the best possible conditions to meet its goals and produce deliverable products.

Phases of Scrum Model

Now, let’s take a look at the main steps of the development process that Scrum consists of.

Step 1. Product Backlog Creation

A product backlog is a list that contains features to be implemented during the development process. It’s ordered by priority and every item is called a User story. A user story is an informal, general explanation of a software feature written from the perspective of the end user or customer. It helps development teams capture simplified, high-level descriptions of a user’s requirements written from that end user’s perspective. The examples below show how these stories can look like:

• As an internet banking customer, I want to see a rolling balance for my everyday accounts, so that I can keep track of my spending after each transaction is applied

• As a manager, I want to be able to understand my colleagues’ progress, so I can better report our success and failures.
• As a customer, I want to receive an SMS when the item arrives, so that I can go pick it up right away.
• As Max, I want to organize my work, so I can feel more in control.

This structure is not required, but it is helpful for defining done.“Why can’t we just write features or tasks instead?”

Step 2. Sprint Planning and Sprint Backlog Creation

The sprint duration is very important so that the user stories are as small as possible. The typical average sprint duration lasts about 2 weeks. If the sprint duration is small, then the advantage is that more customer feedback can be received and most of the errors and bugs can be addressed earlier. If the sprint duration is long, then it allows the developer to work thoroughly.

The next stage is to do the sprint backlog creation. It consists of user stories that will be completed during the current sprint. The scrum team must select the important user stories and make them into smaller tasks. They need to plan on how to get the task completed. The Scrum team should be capable of finishing all these stories on time. Also, one important thing is to prioritize the necessary tasks.

For example, the goal for Sprint: “A website visitor can order a product”. We discuss with the team and product owner how to implement this. Roughly, customers have to go through three steps to order something: 1) select a product, 2) enter address and billing information, 3) perform the payment. We discover several exception paths. After the discussion about what technology we will use for this goal and how the team will implement this functionality, we start creating the Sprint Backlog.

Below are some of the items that can end up on the Sprint Backlog:

• When an order is placed, send an email to the sales department;
• Allow customers to pay for their order by credit card;
• Encrypt user information in order (e.g. email, address);

Step 3: Working On Sprint and Scrum Meetings

The actual user stories are moved as small tasks in the sprint backlog, where the actual work starts. This is where the implementation of a software application, such as website development, begins.

To begin with, a task board is made with a lot of cards is used. The cards specify the details about the tasks such as assignee, work details, due date or the time duration, etc. The cards can be arranged according to their importance. When work on a task has been started, the corresponding sticker is moved from the “To do” field to the “In progress” one. When work is completed, the sticker can be moved to the “Testing” field, and after the task is successfully tested, the sticker goes to the “Done” field.

For this activity, we use specialized software JIRA and Trello for this task.

In this step the scrum meetings are important as it is done to track the progress status and who is doing what status. The burndown chart is the output of this meeting, as it provides the details about how many tasks are completed and if there are any issues or problems in completing the tasks in the “Work In Progress” columns.

It is also important to notice one more Scrum feature is Daily Scrum meetings. These meetings’ main purpose is to get full information about the current project status and make sure that all team members are on the same stage. During Scrum meetings, every single team member should tell what he has done for the day, which tasks will be the next, and what problems team members faced during the work.

Day by day Scrum meetings help increase the flexibility of the development process. They also allow understanding of what changes should be made.

Step 4. Testing, Product Increment and Sprint Review

The result of every sprint in Scrum is a potentially shippable product increment that can be presented to the customer. After each iteration, the development team creates a new version of a software product and adds new features with increased value. In the end part of every sprint, there is Sprint Review where the overall results can be demonstrated and analyzed. According to this info, the stakeholders can make a decision about further project changes and plan the next sprint.

Step 5. Retrospective and Next Sprint Planning

Retrospective’s main goal is to consider the results and the ways how to improve the development process on the next step. The team should talk about the lessons learned and the pitfalls that were during the development part. An important feature is to improve the work of the Scrum team as a whole. The team should conclude what went well during the working process and what can be done better during future iteration. When the ways of improvement are defined, the team can start and concentrate on the next sprint planning.

Project Closure

The project closure phase represents the final phase of the project management. Around this time, the final product is ready for delivery. Here, the main focus of the project manager and the team should be on product release and product delivery. In this stage, all the activities related to the project are wrapped up.

Once the product is handed to the customers, the documentation is finalized and the project is closed.

Conclusion

The main differential features of Scrum are flexibility and constant progress. It’s provided mostly by regular communication and close cooperation between the stakeholders at each step.

When the sprint is done, the customer can assess the working product functionality at the current iteration and make decisions about how the project should evolve during the next sprints.

Use Case: Web Development

Problem Statement: Important changes need to be implemented on an existing company website.

Scrum team roles:

1. Product Owner: Team Lead
2. Development Team: Developers
3. Scrum Master: Project Manager

Basic Flow of Events:

1. The website needs to be updated.

Using Scrum:

1. Product Owner creates a backlog, i.e. the prioritized changes to make.
2. The development team and the QA team is created.
3. Sprint of 7 days is decided.
4. Project manager is assigned to set up the meetings and help with issues.
5. Tasks are assigned to the team
6. A daily 15-minute Scrum is set up for holding team meetings
7. The website is updated each day with the work done
8. QA notifies issues on the same day
9. Each week, the Sprint Review meeting is held with the CEO for an update on progress

Scrum is best suited for projects that consist of teams of less than seven people who need a flexible approach to deliver a product or service.

As the practice shows, no idea, even the most brilliant one, when embodied in a digital product or service, will become successful without quality assurance. It, in turn, always includes two non-intersecting procedures that occur before software is launched: the first of them is aimed at obtaining a clear understanding of whether development is moving in the right direction, and the second of them clarifies whether the solution being created meets end user needs. So, how are they called and performed? Let’s find it out right now.

What Is Verification Testing?

In a nutshell, it is a procedure aimed at checking whether the solution being created meets its predefined specifications and generally accepted design and development standards. Software verification testing is performed throughout the entire creation process and involves the use of various automation testing tools and verification methods, such as modular, integrational, and system testing.

What Is Validation Testing?

Unlike the previous type of testing, this one involves planning real-world scenarios that allow the development team to make sure that the solution being created meets its audience’s needs (for this, you can apply, for example, the alpha- and beta-testing validation methods). After that, the solution has to be compared with its specifications. If any discrepancies are found, they need to be eliminated before this solution is released to the public. Actually, that’s why validation testing is repeated until the team achieves full compliance.

Purpose of Verification and Validation

The main goals of verification and validation testing are to fully satisfy the needs of the software solution owner and the audience as well. As soon as these procedures are successfully completed, the project can be launched.

Difference Between Verification vs Validation Testing

So, what about the verification and validation difference? Generally speaking, while verification is aimed at checking the compliance of a product or service with its list of requirements agreed upon between the development team and the owner, validation allows teams to make sure that this service or product will be positively accepted by its end users. 

In this regard, the first procedure starts from the very beginning of the development process and lasts until the final testing stage and the second—only after the product/service is completed. This also imposes certain differences on the test data used: during verification in software testing, QA engineers use sample data (in this regard, automation methods are often applied), and during the software validation—real data (usually, manual methods do a great job here).

How Are Verification and Validation Testing Performed?

Now, let's look at the four most popular approaches used for validation and verification in software testing:

• Peer reviews, which involve providing a software solution to focus group representatives for a certain period of time in order to obtain feedback on their experience of interacting with it;
• Assessments, which are left by focus group representatives after checking the solution for functionality and identifying errors and inconsistencies in it;
• Walkthrough, which implies a preliminary explanation to focus group representatives of how exactly to interact with the software solution, after which the latter leave their feedback on how well everything was clear and whether they think some areas need to be optimized;
• Desktop-checking, which includes reviewing the software code by specialists (in particular, software engineers).

Tips for Successful Verification and Validation

To ensure these two procedures go smoothly, follow these guidelines:

1. Define the tasks and goals you are pursuing through these procedures and what the results should be upon their completion;
2. Choose the specific tools and approaches you are going to use—they should cover all possible scenarios of user interaction with your software solution, as well as generally accepted software development standards;
3. Create a testing plan, where you will specify deadlines, available resources, and evaluation criteria (along with the acceptable minimum compliance);
4. Proceed directly to testing in order to identify bugs and inconsistencies that will need to be fixed before the project is released;
5. Involve representatives of the potential target audience and stakeholders in the testing procedure to get the most objective assessment of the quality of your team's work;
6. Don't forget to document and monitor the testing results from one bug fixing to another to understand the dynamics of improvements.

Popular Test Automation Tools For Verification and Validation

Although automated testing is considered a standard approach for verification testing only, sometimes, it also brings benefits when implementing validation testing. In this regard, we have compiled a small selection of popular tools that you can use for quality control in software:

• Selenium, an open-source web solution that supports a lot of programming languages, such as Java, Python, C#, and so on, as well as integrates with different frameworks;
• Appium, an open-source service for automated testing of mobile apps on iOS, Android, and Windows (both native, cross-platform, and hybrid ones);
• Robot Framework, an automation framework aiming at implementing acceptance testing and acceptance test-driven development;
• Jenkins, an automation server used for continuous integration and continuous delivery that streamlines the build, test, and deployment stages;
• TestNG, a popular testing framework that is actively used for testing Java-based software solutions;
• Cucumber, an environment for running automated acceptance tests written in Java, Ruby, etc.;
• JMeter, a perfect solution for performance testing of web apps.

Conclusion

We hope that we have helped you understand the difference between validation and verification testing, and now, you can also assess their importance in creating high-quality and competitive software solutions. You can also check out our blog to learn more about software development and design.

Venture companies face a large volume of tasks and the need to make decisions quickly daily, which is due to the specifics of such companies. Some tasks require a quick response with only employees. For others, it is necessary to select a tool from the technology field that can significantly improve the company's efficiency and avoid possible risks. Conventionally, they can be divided into websites and mobile applications, which equally solve the tasks set by the company. There can be many such problems because there is the factor of unpredictability, which a company must take into account when organizing the workflow of the whole team.

As a technology service provider, we have experience working with venture capital companies and know their challenges. We have compiled a list of the main ones that can be solved with a mobile app:

• Lack of information 

Venture capital funds often need more information about potential projects, industries, and trends. Finding potential projects is a responsible task that takes a lot of time. And knowing industries and trends will help a company stay one step ahead of its competitors and run its business more efficiently. Therefore, developing a mobile application can help collect and process a large amount of data quickly and efficiently, allowing the fund to make informed investment decisions. 

• Slow decision-making process

The decision-making process in venture capital funds can be slow and time-consuming. That is due to the slow pace of information gathering, analysis, and drawing conclusions based on the data. Venture capital funds have a tremendous amount of internal information. Analyzing it manually requires a considerable amount of time and people, which slows down the overall pace of the company. In this case, developing a mobile application will help automate the process of collecting and processing information, speeding up the decision-making process and helping reduce the time and money spent on this work. 

• Ineffective portfolio management

Venture capital firms have a lot of investments, and managing a portfolio can be a daunting task. You need to consider the total number of projects, their dynamics, and all changes to react quickly if necessary. Automating these processes will make it easier for a company to manage its business and take on new projects. In this case, you need an application that will track and analyze the effectiveness of each project in the portfolio and track its dynamics to help the company manage it more efficiently.

• Limited access to investors

Venture capital funds may need more access to potential investors and partners. Each new project requires significant investments. Therefore, venture capital funds must attract reliable funding sources. But this process also requires time and labor to analyze and select investors interested in a long-term cooperation. The app's development will help funds reach more potential investors, and partners will expand their circle of contacts.

The latest trends in mobile apps for investors and venture capitalists

Ventures are directly related to investing in promising startups and, accordingly, in cutting-edge technology. To keep up with the times, tech-savvy investors are integrating mobile apps into the workflow of VCs. 

Typically, these applications include functionality to manage and track portfolio financials, manage business contacts and communications, analyze data, and predict investment success. Moreover, they can provide access to experts and industry leaders for advice and mentorship, which can help accelerate the development of startups and increase their chances of future success.

Here are examples of mobile apps used by VCs mostly:

• Mobile applications for productivity & collaboration

Business is only complete with communication with colleagues and partners. Many applications help to establish and maintain communication between all participants in business processes. They improve communication within the team, help receive timely information, and also help to strengthen business relationships with partners and clients. And that can increase efficiency and lead to new opportunities for venture-backed businesses. They can also help companies solve problems such as a lack of information about potential projects and investment news. 

The main objectives of such applications are to simplify the workflow as much as possible, to significantly reduce the number of emails for more critical issues, to automate the processes of searching and analyzing potential startups, and to create an environment for interaction between investors and entrepreneurs.

Usually, such applications include essential functions such as messaging, video conferencing systems, and social networks for professional communication.

• Networking mobile applications

These apps typically serve as a platform to connect entrepreneurs, investors, and other stakeholders in the startup ecosystem. The main problem they solve is expanding the circle of investors and partners for the long term.

The main tasks of such applications are to provide users with a platform to communicate with others involved in the investment process, facilitate funding opportunities, and support the growth of innovative companies.

Talking about the specific functionality of such applications, we can include the basic set, such as profile and networking creation, according to users' business needs, event management by investment interests, content sharing, tracking investment portfolio progress with analytics and metrics, and protecting confidential user information.

• CRM & Automation mobile applications

This type of application is designed to optimize and automate sales, marketing, and customer service processes. They are of great help to companies when there is a problem with the automation of internal processes, such as investment portfolio management or information collection and processing. 

The main tasks of such applications are to optimize and automate sales, marketing, and customer service processes, improve efficiency and productivity, and provide information for data-driven decision-making.

From the general functionality, we can highlight the following: the ability to manage leads and information about them, automation of such tasks as sending emails and scheduling meetings, automation of marketing tasks, automation of customer service tasks (case management, chatbot support), the ability to track sales performance, the ability to integrate with other tools and platforms that are used by venture capital companies.

• Contacts Management mobile applications

These applications help users organize and manage their contacts, including customers, investors, partners, and other stakeholders. They will help companies that have certain problems with collecting and processing information about potential investors, as well as do not have an established automated process for working with partners.

The main tasks here are to help users organize and manage their contacts more effectively, improve communication and collaboration, and build stronger relationships with their network of stakeholders.

The functionality of such applications includes the ability to create and store contact information; segment their contacts based on various criteria; import and export contact lists from other tools and platforms; track communication with each contact, including emails, phone calls, and meetings; set reminders and receive notifications about follow-up tasks and collaborate with other team members in contact management.

• Company Research mobile applications

Venture research applications are designed to help users research and analyze potential investment opportunities. In other words, to help find new investment sources and opportunities for promising projects. If a company needs to invest in current projects or has the plan to expand investment capital in the future, an app to find such potential opportunities will be an urgent need.

The main tasks are to help users make informed investment decisions by providing access to detailed information and insights into potential investment opportunities.

The functionality of such applications covers the following list: the ability to access a database of companies that meet their investment criteria; select companies by various measures, such as stage of funding, revenue, and market size; conduct market research on specific industries and trends to help inform their investment decisions; and analyze the competitive landscape for each company; manage their investment portfolio, including tracking performance, monitoring news and events, and analyzing trends; users also can collaborate with other team members when researching companies, such as sharing notes and opinions.

Summary

Each venture capital firm is unique and has different goals, so venture capital software reflects the additional functionality built into it from the beginning. The key takeaway is that mobile apps and their customized functionality help automate the collection of investment market information, attracting funding sources through new partners, creating financial reports, and displaying them conveniently for the company. 

As the investing world becomes increasingly digital, apps can help venture capitalists do their day-to-day work optimally. There is also a high demand for mobile apps and other digital tools to minimize repetitive tasks, increase productivity and streamline the deal-making process.

All this is the basis for the company's effective functioning, and the data collected by the program is the basis for making investment decisions.

Nowadays, AI technology is significantly changing the different industries and the healthcare industry isn’t an exception. One of the additions—chatbots—has the potential to save time and money.

But should the healthcare industry use a bot service, it is a question many medical workers ask. However, we can define healthcare as a service that happens when patients visit the doctors, we will strictly limit our potential productivity gains. Chatbots can help healthcare providers with customer service and interact with healthcare consumers through text conversationally. So it is one of the most effective solutions to increase patient satisfaction.

According to surveys and researches published by IBM, up to 80% of routine questions could be answered by a chatbot. And it isn’t a surprise that the big part of these questions are asked by the patients and a simple chatbot can help with that.

For being in a win-win situation in healthcare, the providers should think about how to give patients, prospective patients, and other site visitors a way to answer questions, find the important information, and even book appointments as soon as possible without calling in. It’s easier and more convenient for people. It’s more efficient and successful for providers. And it can save a tremendous amount of money and time. That’s the dream, right? In the healthcare sector, the patient’s experience and satisfaction continue to be the top priority.

Chatbots in healthcare can offer the best health care service.

So the real question for clinics, hospitals and other private practices looking to improve the patient experience: Is it worth it?

Will chatbots really help and make a difference for your staff and patients?

At the end of the article you will find the answers to all your questions, so let’s have a look at how healthcare chatbots actually work, their benefits, and potential use cases.

We can divide chatbots into three categories:

Rules-based: Rule-based chatbots can also be named decision-tree bots. This type of chatbot uses a series of defined rules. These rules are the basis for the types of problems the chatbot is familiar with and can deliver solutions for. Usually, there are very simple or complicated rules. They can’t, however, answer any questions outside of the defined rules. These chatbots do not learn through interactions. They only perform and work with the scenarios you train them for. They follow pre-defined, if-this-then-that “playbooks” that automatically respond to a list of pre-populated queries and questions. These chatbots might answer common questions with simple and canned responses. They might also lead people to dead-ends like “I’m having trouble understanding” due to their limited technical capacity.

Adaptive: Using machine learning (ML), adaptive chatbots can learn patterns the more requests they receive.

AI-powered: An AI-powered chatbot is a smarter version that uses natural language processing (NLP) and ML to better understand the intent of the human and provide a more natural, near-human-level communication. An AI chatbot can quickly determine intent and context, move through more complex and nuanced conversations, and deliver the look and feel of chatting with an actual human being.

Chatbots are created to mimic human conversation. Using chatbots, patients can ask health-related questions, check on their appointments, or explore treatment options without calling in.

Why chatbots are perfectly suitable for healthcare

The chatbot is useful for any type of business. But for the healthcare field, they are especially valuable, because chatbots can provide the required information and actions to patients.

24/7 Service

Anytime chatbots can provide patients service and support. According to this, patients can get immediate engagement and answers.

Follow-up medical care

Quality and results are the most important goals for the patient experience. In many cases, it is difficult for doctors to provide quality care once a patient leaves the hospital. Chatbots could be a good solution for this challenge, and they can give follow-up care by prompting patients to record their symptoms or track their progress.

At-home care

Chatbots can be used anywhere, especially at home. The patient can use the range of actions that include not only looking up symptoms and scheduling appointments, it could also use chatbots for the patients after they are discharged from the hospital. The chatbot could help patients take their medications in time and connect with their doctors.

Keep patient update

This is a new way to address any patient. This will keep the patient and family to remain updated till the last moment. Do you need to go to the appointment? The chatbot will remind you via text message or email. Will the surgery for which you need to be prepared? A chatbot can help patients prepare for any size of surgery or operation beforehand.

Better Patient Experiences

In the end, chatbots no doubt can enhance patient satisfaction. They help improve patient satisfaction scores by providing the convenience of care and reducing wait time. The providers have the opportunity to offer services to the patients and make it convenient for patients to receive medical attention. Chatbots can also facilitate surveys and other patient feedback mechanisms to record and track sentiment.

Use cases in the healthcare industry

• Let’s imagine the patient needs urgent help and information on what to do? The chatbot could quickly quiz users on the health problem they’re facing and recommend a sequence of actions until the ambulance arrives.

• It can be used as a mass email by local or national health organizations. Nowadays, it is especially relevant to people to get to know important details about vaccinations or epidemics.

• It can help patients track their moods or feelings that can be discussed with the psychiatrist or therapist at the next appointment. It could offer tips, notifications and advice between therapy sessions. Furthermore, it even can act more like a personal assistant. It can remind patients to take their medication, help them stay motivated to stick to their schedules and provide other relevant medical information.

• The hospitals and clinics can use the chatbot to allow patients to learn more about their health by asking questions, check symptoms or conditions, and find relevant specialists if they need them.

• The E-commerce industry that sells medical equipment or supplies could build a bot to recommend products to undecided customers. It is one of the ways to increase the visitors on the websites, directing the users to buy the products from it.

• A doctor could set up a chatbot to let users schedule their next appointment easily.

• The bot can be built to help users find in-network providers near them based on city or zip code.

• A medical spa can increase lead generation and user satisfaction using the bot. It is a great idea to ask what users expressly request. Based on the feedback from the users, and add only those services and products which your users have expressly requested. Finally, it could help the best matches schedule a consultation.

Final Thoughts

The chatbots can significantly replace the great part of live chatting with medical personnel. The main advantage that chatbot can provide is improvement in the patient experience. These chatbots are created to be conversational, so they are more responsive and personal than search engines. Chatbots can pull more specific and relevant information for patients rather than search engines. But they can not completely replace a human medical professional’s expertise, but they can reduce the time and money and make it easier for hospital staff to perform their jobs.

Telehealth, simply put, is some type of delivery. It helps to provide health care services when patients and health professionals are separated by distance via remote technologies. Telehealth uses technologies for the exchange of information for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injuries for the patients. Live video conferencing, mobile health apps and remote patient monitoring (RPM) are examples of technologies used in telehealth.

It’s Healthtech time

Telehealth is improving the healthcare industry in many ways, the first of which is increasing its accessibility. Telehealth allows specialists to visit patients virtually from any place in the world by improving access as well as making a wider range of healthcare services available via telemedicine.

Today’s Telehealth environment consists of a global ecosystem of myriad digital solutions.  There are two alarming end-users trends that you should pay attention to when considering Telehealth design and solutions.

1. What doctors struggle the most with
2. What people looking for when they choose the healthcare providers

Providing virtualized healthcare to any place in the world is one of the best-known applications of telehealth. But the medical industry is using it in several other ways, including:

• Urgent help in distance. It can be a headache or sore throat. There are many medical complaints that aren’t life-threatening, but they need some professional attention. Virtual care services allow skilled health personnel to treat minor complaints, including providing appropriate prescriptions.
• Stay in contact. Qualified medical personnel can use messages, phone and video calls to follow up the patients after they are discharged from the hospital. This way, improves worker productivity from not having to take time off and travel to appointments and ensures each patient understands the importance and carries out recovery and treatment plans. Also, telehealth platforms can automate much of the communication process, including sending reminders to the patients.
• Updating online prescription. Telehealth provides the possibility to update online prescriptions even If you’ve been unable to get to your own doctor to refill a current prescription.
• Monitoring of patients with chronic conditions. For these patients, it is one of the best benefits of telehealth. Virtual care helps those who have mobility issues, mental illness, and other conditions that may prevent them from going to in person medical appointments.
• Facilitating care to rural areas. Telehealth is a great way to provide patients in places that are outside the current health delivery system with access to quality care. In the event of a medical emergency, telemedicine makes it possible to coordinate with specialists in other regions without wasting time to provide patients with effective treatment.
• Increased patient satisfaction. In addition to referrals, many patients assess and choose healthcare providers through online reviews. As such, you must have positive reviews that will attract new patients. Telemedicine helps improve patient satisfaction scores by providing convenience of care and reducing wait time. The providers have the opportunity to offer remote services to the patients and make it convenient for them to receive medical attention. Also, this process reduces in-hospital visits.
  

All right, let’s move on to the design

Telehealth platforms require a unique approach to service design. As you can imagine, it isn’t the same way, say, for a food delivery service.

Telehealth is not about technology, it’s about people

That’s a good reminder that you need to create space for telehealth that provides human connections and assistance. The healthcare industry is unique and complex, and it can be challenging to set up. Establishing fundamental principles to guide telehealth design will help us keep sight of the user experience and user journey throughout different healthcare systems.

In this article, we’ll highlight the important and unique challenges in the design faced by digital health companies and startups.

1. Research. To begin, you need a shared understanding of how you usually provide face to face care. You will need a solid understanding of the patient’s journey through your service.
2. Construction. Based on our research findings, you need to discuss them with your client. There is the moment when you draft innovative solutions and delve into user journeys. We identify the most promising ideas based on jointly developed options. Service design can be quite abstract. The main idea is to find key service touchpoints.
3. Strategize and develop Next, it is necessary to work with your clients to co-create a product roadmap and business strategy. Together with medical professionals, you develop an extensive plan of the envisioned telehealth design, listing interactions between users, new processes, and workflows. Also, don’t forget to define the physical and digital things that will be used. By the end of this step, you’ve created visual content and material to start the development process.
4. Taking it live. From our experience, we recommend turning digital and physical artifacts into minimum viable products (MVP).  MVP is essential to clinical trials. There is a product that has basic features and can be used to get feedback from the users.

After the main last modifications, it’s time for launch! At this stage, it’s important to provide testing to ensure that the envisioned workflow and interactions are happening as intended.

That’s it

To sum up, telemedicine is full of benefits for patients and healthcare providers. When people have had a taste of telehealth, they’re willing to continue using this convenient care option.

Telehealth’s future looks very bright, doesn’t it?

Also, it’s obvious to see continued strong growth and upgrade around devices, communication channels, telemedicine services, and telehealth platforms. Look for them to become increasingly user-friendly and convenient. As this happens, we can expect to see a resulting increase in users. After all, good design is the right way to improve engagement.

Designers will need to imagine themselves in both the patients’ and providers’ roles during the preparation for the start to create the design for telehealth. Every detail of a visit, from the method of scheduling appointments to the distribution of follow-up procedures, should be carefully planned to ensure the best outcomes and clear understanding.

We can expect to see digital pharmacies, virtual appointments, online triage tools, and remote monitoring gain in popularity. It may well become the new normal in healthcare.

Developing a web or mobile app gives a business great opportunities and provides benefits in the form of additional dividends and audience loyalty. Having a clear understanding of the end goals, it is essential to define the main functionality of the future application to achieve the business goals and effectively perform setting tasks.

How to identify core functionalities for your web/mobile application?

Before developing an application, businesses must understand what features should be included in the finished product. The efficiency of the application itself and the speed of achieving the set KPIs depend on this. What may work for one company does not resonate with the business goals of other companies. In this list, we cover what you should consider when compiling a feature list:

1. Define your business goals 

What goals do you want to achieve with the app? Make a clear list of the problems your app will solve, what target audience will use it, and what preliminary results you expect.

2. Research the market and competitors

Analyze the market in your niche to understand what functionality your competitors already offer. Research and analyze their applications to understand what advantages they offer and disadvantages their products have. That will help you determine relevant features for your app to stand out in the market.

3. Make a preliminary list of features

Before development, list those features that will help you achieve your goals. Divide them into core and optional features. In the core features, list the ones without which your app won't be able to function efficiently and solve the users' problem. In the optional ones, list the ones which are not essential to the basic functionality but can add value and competitive advantage.

4. Prioritize features

Determine which features in the application are most important to achieve your initial goal. Prioritize and determine which features can be added later in later app versions. That will help you focus on developing the more essential components. 

5. Conduct user research

The research will help you understand the needs and preferences of your target audience. Conduct surveys, interviews, focus groups, or analysis of user behavior in your niche. Use this data to refine and tailor your feature list to your users' needs.

6. Create user scenarios

Develop different user scenarios to better understand how users will interact with your app and what features they need to achieve their goals. For example, define how users will sign in, log in, perform specific tasks, make purchases, or interact with other users.

Top-9 Core functionalities for every web/mobile application

Multi-Device Synchronization

It is a process in which different devices work together and exchange information so that the data and settings on all devices are the same or consistent.

When devices synchronize, they usually use the Internet to exchange data. For example, you might sync your smartphone with your laptop to update contacts, calendars, and photos on both devices. When you make changes on one device, those changes are automatically transferred to other devices so that all appliances have up-to-date information. 

This makes working on multiple devices as easy as possible, gives you a significant advantage in the app market, and guarantees more users.‍

A User-Friendly and Responsive Interface

In addition to a functional set, it is vital to think about a pleasant design and clear navigation for the user's enjoyable and convenient use of the application. In this way, interaction with the application is easy and effortless. 

The user-friendly interface has clear and easily accessible buttons and menus, well-organized information, and clear instructions. This allows you to perform the necessary tasks without unnecessary complications.

The responsive interface ensures that the system responds quickly to user actions. When you press a button or perform an action, the responsive interface responds instantly and without delay. Or when you scroll through a web page or type on the keyboard, the responsive interface displays changes instantly and smoothly, with no visible delays.

The success of an application is directly related to its loading speed and the attractiveness of the interface. This is what users look for when choosing a user-friendly app.

A Search Option

This feature allows you to find the information you want in the app or on a website. When you enter keywords or phrases related to what the user is looking for, the app scans its database or content to find relevant results.

The search option saves time and effort by helping to search for specific items or information the user is looking for instead of having to browse everything manually. This option is handy on significant marketplaces to search for a particular item.

Push notifications

Push notifications typically appear on the screen of any user's device in the form of small messages or icons, including text, images, or sounds. They are designed to get your attention and notify you of updates or social media activity.

They are convenient and essential because they help you stay informed and ensure you get all the important information. However, if the user receives too many notifications, they can become intrusive or distracting. Therefore, it is crucial to provide the ability to customize their settings, which the user will set independently according to their preferences.

Offline Capabilities

With offline access, users can browse the app's content even when the device is not connected to Wi-Fi or a mobile network. For example, you can view and edit documents, listen to music, or watch videos without the Internet.

It is often the case that you cannot connect to the Internet or have no network, for example, when traveling in regions with poor coverage or when saving data traffic. Therefore, this feature will be a great advantage for those users who want to use the application offline.

Analytics Tools

Analytics tools in a web or mobile app can track various user actions, such as app launches, page views, button clicks, interaction with interface elements, and other events.

Using this data, you can make informed decisions, make changes, optimize your app, and improve its functionality to meet user needs and increase the effectiveness of your app.

Security

Security refers to the measures and mechanisms built into the application to protect data and keep users safe. This process includes data encryption, protection against unauthorized access, and user information storage in secure locations.

This is a basic but important feature that will not only keep each user's data secure and protected but will also increase trust and loyalty to your app.

Online Payments

Online payments allow you to purchase in online stores, pay bills for services, send money to others, and much more. It is convenient because the user can make payments at any time and from any place with Internet access. To do this, it is necessary to connect an electronic payment system through which the payment will take place. 

Due to the growing number of online stores, stores, and food delivery companies—the need to implement this function is increasing.

Integrations

Integration refers to the creation of links and interactions between different software components. This allows them to exchange data, transfer information, and use each other's functionality. 

For example, suppose you have a hotel booking site. In that case, you can integrate it with maps and geolocation systems to offer users the nearest available hotels and show them on a map. Integrating various features and services into web and mobile apps makes the user experience easier and better. 

Integrations help create more useful and powerful apps, extend functionality, and enable easy data exchange with other systems or services.

Summary

Mobile and web apps allow users to access information, interact with others, shop, automate workflows, simplify daily activities, and more through a user—friendly interface and unique features. 

Which features you choose depends on your business, its needs, and the app's purpose. Everything is tailored individually. Combining all of the above features can be the perfect modern app to meet the needs of your customers. But if, for some reason, one of the items doesn't work for you, use something that will definitely increase the efficiency of your product.

The modern financial world dictates its own rules. By including the critical success factors in this area, one can distinguish effective management of relations with the client. Reliable CRM solutions guarantee this goal because they contribute to optimizing many processes, thereby increasing productivity and taking customer interaction to a new level. In this article, we would like to share with you the best CRM systems that have been created, taking into account the characteristics and needs of modern financial companies.

What Is CRM for Financial Services?

CRM for financial services is software designed to manage customer contacts and improve comprehensive business performance. The main goals of financial CRM software are to automate processes, provide detailed analysis of client data to understand customer requirements better, reduce financial costs, and increase the effectiveness of strategic planning. Thus, all of the above in the complex helps to boost profits and strengthen the company's and brand's positions in the market.

How to Choose a CRM for Financial Services

Let's not argue that choosing CRM software for banking industry is difficult. However, we are ready to help you with this task by providing detailed tips.

First, you should clearly define the specific goals and the needs you intend to achieve/satisfy using CRM in financial services. Do you need only a system to manage customer relationships, optimize marketing campaigns, or increase sales? Or do you want it all together? Once you decide on your own goals, you can automatically narrow down the range of potential options. 

Regarding security, you have to be sure that the CRM system fully complies with modern data protection standards and is designed considering all reliable encryption mechanisms. This not only reduces the risk of data duplication but also maximizes the efficiency of your work processes.

It is also worth checking the CRM provider's support and training. Reliable support and the opportunity to receive professional training guarantee rapid business growth without downtimes and human-made errors. That’s why you should research reviews about your chosen service provider to see how comprehensive their support is.

In the end, the cost of the CRM system should not be devalued. Conduct a comparative analysis of various CRM systems, taking into account both initial costs and, accordingly, future costs, including further maintenance and updating.

Therefore, the main recommendation is to choose a system that offers the best balance between its cost and the quality of possible results for your company in finance.

Top 5 CRM solutions for Financial Services Businesses

It's time to share the top-5 CRM solutions for financial services known for their versatility, reliability, and power to manage customer relationships. However, note that each CRM for fintech from our list has its own features, which you should pay attention to while choosing the best option for your business.

Salesforce CRM

Salesforce is one of the leading CRM solutions, and its development team is confident in bringing its expertise to the financial services industry. This system includes tools that have been designed to meet the needs of many private equity firms, as well as the needs of companies working in related fields (banking, mortgage insurance). Within its core is a vast database to better understand customers' needs, habits, and behavior patterns. Other distinctive feature of this software solution is the ability to create custom modules adapted to the individual tasks and goals of a specific business (however, it is important to understand that the cost of deploying and supporting such a customized system will increase significantly). Moreover, it is equipped with AI-based analytics, helping consultants obtain even more valuable customer insights in no time. Among its other benefits are the ability to consolidate disparate data and optimize lead management, as well as almost unlimited scalability and flexibility.

Its disadvantages include that its work fully depends on the stability of the Internet connection and that its price may be too high for growing businesses. In addition, this CRM has a lot of modules, and the initial setup of the system often requires the participation of a narrow-focused specialist.

Envestnet Tamarac CRM

This fintech CRM focuses on helping independent financial advisers provide more personalized investment expertise to individual clients. Envestnet Tamarac CRM offers intelligent real-time reporting to help track customer progress toward their financial goals. The presence of optimized business adaptation processes for new customers is worth noting, as it allows you to quickly and easily create new accounts through Salesforce. This system is built entirely on the Microsoft Dynamics platform with a familiar Microsoft Outlook interface. Also, in the mobile version, consultants can enter the system «as a client», which enables them to see the dashboard exactly as their client would see it.

The cons of this solution include poor collaboration functionality because, as we mentioned above, it was designed initially for individual consultants.

Wealthbox CRM

This platform is flexible enough to be suitable for a wide range of users—from financial consultants to custodians and large firms combining the functions of broker and dealer. CRM data management, multi-channel client communication, and integration with social networking platforms like Twitter. With it, you can customize «under yourself» business processes or rely on business process templates using conditional logic to automate routine tasks. Also, it provides the ability to use Kanban dashboards to track potential financial transactions and keep abreast of how to work with potential clients. Wealthbox CRM is popular because of its low entry threshold.

However, along with all these benefits, this solution has several drawbacks, too. For instance, some users are dissatisfied with the poor householding functionality. In addition, Wealthbox may not be suitable for people who need to sync with Outlook calendar.

Zoho CRM

Zoho financial CRM software helps collect and organize all customer data, including basic CRM-related information, financial documents, financial policy information, and insurance records. This fintech CRM software offers tools for working with so-called «assets under management» to track all your transactions with financial institutions and other companies (here, we mean AUM tools where AUM is Assets Under Management). With built-in support modules (case modules), you can match your customers' needs with more financial data to provide efficient support. It is worth mentioning «Zia» – the Zoho assistant based on artificial intelligence, which adds a thoughtful layer of forecasts and suggestions for customers and helps you know when and how best to contact them.

At the same time, some Zoho users complain about limited customization features, poor reporting capabilities, and inconvenient dashboards.

NexJ CRM

NexJ is an intelligent financial services CRM with highly specialized modules for financial and banking consultants (specifically, they can use the private equity management module). This CRM system focuses on the specifics of the regional market with experience in more than 60 countries, and all this is thanks to the active use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics. These technologies, properly implemented in this solution, allow consultants to concretize their financial recommendations. 

In general, NexJ looks and feels like a highly professional system, but some users note that they feel confused when they have to leave their requests on its pricing. 

Conclusion

The range of financial services available today requires the integration of automated software solutions that are practical, flexible, and more affordable than traditional consultants, whose services were only affordable for some.

CRM for financial services, private capital management, debt resolution, and pension planning are sophisticated tools that go beyond conventional databases. They are designed to foster trust and build long-term relationships with your clients. As all financial services are future-oriented, financial CRM systems help you provide brighter and more profitable prospects for your customers, your company, and, of course, your personal and professional success as a consultant. Thus, the financial CRM system allows you to achieve the best financial results for your customers and provide them with the best service.