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Digitalization fosters the development of all sectors of the economy, making them simpler and more responsive to people's needs. If previously customers and services interacted mostly in person, spending a significant amount of time on each side, now it is possible to shorten the distance to effective solutions. AI developments make it possible to solve typical problems quickly and effectively. In fact, only complicated and non-standard issues are left for a support department.

Many users and business owners are still a bit skeptical about AI developments. In this overview, we will cover the widespread and effectual AI instruments that can strengthen engagement shortly, provided that they are arranged properly. Let's take a deeper look at how two of the most popular AI instruments function. In addition, we will also cover why the apps fit nearly any commercial enterprise. It is definitely now already – the future belongs to them as well.

What is a Chatbot?

This is a specialized software app designated with the purpose of ascertaining the intent of a person's message and picking the most relevant answer in return. Thanks to the conversational interface, chatbot analyzes any input provided by a visitor and highlights the core phrases that mark the user's intent. If you have doubts about whether this is possible to make accurately, there is a simple point here. Statistics and analytics help to shortlist the most common requests and elaborate on the responses to the point. This is the basic original approach. 

The further tech development enabled the creation of a separate AI enabled chatbot system. It is trained on extensive volumes of data and implements machine learning (ML). The latter allows these apps to “brainstorm” an extended range of non-scripted, organic replies to the requests that visitors input. This advancement is coherent with other hardware and apps that a company utilizes.

What Is Conversational AI?

A conversational AI is actually a comprehensive development that includes chatbots too. This means that it covers text and voice altogether. A conversational bot is frequently treated as an upgraded version of a classical textbot.

In addition to ML, conversational AI has implemented natural language processing (NLP). It helps the tools to figure out the viewer's intent correctly and proceed with a deep interaction, respectively. The core advantage of integrating conversational AI is the possibility to emphasize and expand maximally the essence of the message conveyed. That is a point that classical chatbots fail to deliver under any terms. If a company devotes extra resources to enhancing its AI instruments, the latter operates maximally close to human behavior.

Overall, the classification of types of conversational AI fully illustrates the highlighted points:

• AI textbots – handle a textual conversation with the visitors;
• Voice assistants – more intelligent dialog that stands on a spoken language procession;
• Virtual assistants – all-inclusive support with resolving multiple assignments, with an emphasis on textual and voice inputs jointly.

Chatbots (CB) vs Conversational AI (CAI): Brief Comparison

While exploring the nature of the said technological upgrades, it is worth noting that there are far more differences between them that do not lie on the surface.

A classical chatbot and a conversational bot pursue the common aim of optimization and, therefore, guarantee a positive effect on dealing with the website viewers. However, an AI voice bot upgrades the overall communication with the visitors since it adds a voice in addition to the textual support. Therefore, the second one guarantees extra positive outcomes, unlike typical chatbot apps.

Why Choose Conversational AI Over Traditional Chatbots

On balance, a conversational AI-based bot obviously can guarantee extra positive outcomes compared to classical tools, including:

• Better engagement in the communication with the visitors – classical textbots will fail to show the answers outside the scope of the databases of replies; CAI will proceed and succeed with addressing all the inquiries; in other words – CB is rigid while CAI possesses more flexible algorithms.
• Contextual analysis – CB will fail to do this again limiting its effort to the intent only, CAI will cover both equally well. The latter tool delivers customized replies.
• Multitasking – typically, users input several issues to solve and want to know everything at once. Under such terms, CB will recognize one intent only, typically, the first one, but it fails to do so with the rest of the issues. On the other side, CAI will analyze and reply to all the intents that a user indicated in one's message, attributed to the essence of what has been communicated. 
• Scalability – CB is not integrated with the remainder of the tools that a company uses, therefore, they may operate a bit haphazardly. On the other side, CAI is more integrated into the entire IT architecture that a company has built. In addition, it is possible to assess CAI's performance results more precisely.

There is also one scalable and impressive outcome – it is estimated that chatbot conversation apps have facilitated getting the retail sector extra $12 billion in 2023.

Which Solution Suits Your Business Best

It is not likely possible to craft a one-fits-all conversational chatbot solution since, in this case, we survey a very flexible technology. Indeed, it can be modified, highlighting the goals and tastes that a business communicates. This tool can truly address effectively all the challenges that a service provider may face while interacting with its customers. 

Overall, there are several filters to apply when building an AI solution tailored to your actual needs:

• Commercial plans – typically, AI solutions are requested when it is necessary to (i) upgrade the current level of user happiness, or (ii) enter a new level of operation. AI developers address each case individually to make the tech solutions 100% workable as owners think this fits best. 
• Nature of dealings with the visitors and clients – pre-evaluation of the client database and preceding dealings are always made before integrating tech solutions. To this end, it is worth noting that for standard requests and straightforward dialogs with visitors, textbots may suffice. Variable and compound dialogs will demand conversational AI, of course. 
• Viewer's profile – a target audience should be assessed precisely in this course. Nuanced and contextual dialog is very important for better user satisfaction. 
• Budget – it is crucial to find a balance between the funds needed and the earnings AI tech solutions promise to bring.
• Measurable outputs – textbots are rough to measure the effect of their performance on a business. Conversational AI solutions succeed in turning the statistics into gains, which are scalable, of course.

Closing Line

Almost any instrument can be both helpful and irritating. The way the work is arranged always affects the AI's performance and results. If this is done well, AI chatbots and conversational AI can work wonders and make your visitors love you.

Merely brainstorm ideas; perhaps they may even inspire the next developments within the IT sector, ensuring the next upgrade of user engagement. We are ready to ease your life if you find that a bit complicated. Our vast expertise and impressive portfolio enable us to elaborate on and bring to life even the most extraordinary solutions that perfectly align with a business's nature and purpose. Contact us, and we will offer some truly fitting ideas for your business to help it grow further.

The healthcare industry is an area that strongly needs innovations at all times. Diseases constantly evolve, and the care methods should go one step ahead. Infrastructure in healthcare and streamlined communication are not the last points in fostering positive swifts in this industry. These two elements, in conjunction, create favorable conditions for bringing innovations or merely positive changes. The more automation and advancements are introduced, the more effort can be devoted to curing and preventing diseases. That is why the Medical Internet of Things is so emphasized nowadays. Its role is impossible to overestimate, indeed.

Essence and Aim of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)

IoMT stands for a tech advancement that envisages the mutual coordination of various elements inside the health system, such as medtools, apps, and other arrays that facilitate steady and ongoing data circulation. The pillar objective of the IoMT is to foster and ease the non-stop collection, handling, transmitting, and sharing of the medinfo among the interested subjects. Most typically the latter ones are state authorities, hospitals, and other members of the healthcare industry. 

Among the main deliverables that IoMT ensures are multiple options to track and manage the state of patients on a real-time basis. It also makes possible timely cure and disease prevention. Variable IoMT devices are already utilized for these purposes – health monitors, intelligent implants, remote diagnostic tools, and patient tracking systems, to mention a few.

How IoMT Works at a Glance

This tech approach is aimed at connecting multiple physical devices, including sensors and implants, through the Internet networks, most typically Wi-Fi. This endeavor is accomplished in order to grasp and transfer the most up-to-date info regarding the patient’s state. 

IoMT also makes it feasible to collect a large scope of data and ascertain the outcomes of treatment as well as the tendencies of disease evolution. At a glance, the said technology is about multiple devices, software, informational systems, algorithms, and storage facilities. All of these elements are related to each other instantaneously and deliver error-free info about the things that fall under the survey. 

Based on that info, medical personnel and other interested subjects highlight measures that have to be taken for the effectual care of the patients. IoMT is also in charge of elaborating on the list of actions that are needed to be accomplished to prevent similar cases from appearing in the future. Any information obtained during such an operation is extremely valuable and derives numerous benefits. 

Benefits of IoMT

This tech advancement is definitely under the stage of its next development and upgrade. Therefore, the number of benefits may be higher in the short-term perspective. As of now, it is proven that IoMT guarantees these positive swifts across the industry:

• Bolstered efficacy of performance within a healthcare institution – the work of the medical personnel becomes more effective and coherent enabling quick decision-making which is especially crucial in emergency cases. 
• Better and easier identification, including across multiple institutions – people don't need to input the same data many times. Once they have done that, it is transmitted through the internal channels of communication between the medinstitutions.
• Enhanced surveyance – IoMT software ensures timely and correct treatment as well as further post-medical support. The info is collected and processed steadily allowing the interested parties to make relevant conclusions regarding the efficacy of the chosen methods.
• Tackling diseases – collecting the info regarding the reasons why patients suffer from certain diseases enables scientists to elaborate on findings that are very precious for disease prevention. Most typically this is made by eliminating the conditions for such diseases to occur. 

IoMT issues and challenges

On balance, the adoption of the considered tech advancement is associated with specific threats and risks:

• Coherent interaction of various medsystems – frequently, such medsystems have multiple peculiarities of operation since different independent producers develop them. Making all the integrated systems not only joint but also coherent may be quite challenging sometimes.
• Effective information management – this covers clinical data monitoring, storage, and processing. The outputs have to be accurate, relevant, and up-to-date.
• Secure data handling – since the info processed is very sensitive in nature, it requires more advanced measures to be implemented. Fairly saying, this type of data is very nourishing for cybercriminals. Still, encryption and specialized IoMT security software can substantially decrease, even eliminate at all, the risk of data leaks. The goal of ensuring robust data protection is required not from the ethical perspective solely – this is also a compulsory rule among the norms applicable within the industry.
• Alignment with the regulatory standards – the applicable legal rules are quite strict, taking into account the essence of services. To this end, a failure to comply with such often leads to severe fines and other sanctions, up to the liquidation of a medical institution. In addition, the applicable regulatory framework is frequently updated, resulting in the need to take other measures allowing to remain compliant.

What Prospects Does the IoMT Have?

IoMT in healthcare definitely opens wider perspectives, among others, thanks to the following tech advancements:

• AI&ML implementation – these two elements are equally good at bolstering analytics and personal care approaches. This can be achieved through automation in decision-making. Most common cases will not require excessive time to ensure correct treatment – these technological advancements, like AI platform for clinical diagnostics, will handle them quickly, efficiently, and at lower costs.
• Bolstering the quality of wearables and implants – upgraded serviceability and preciseness will deliver more faultless data regarding the patient’s state, particularly one’s life parameters. The advancement will also enable quick and more productive feedback in response to possible changes, especially adverse ones.
• Automated internal arrangements – monitoring the inventory and machines plays a pivotal role in ensuring the straightforward operation of any medinstitution. The less time medical personnel devote to routine assignments, the more time caregivers have for their visitors. Even more, optimized internal flows reduce associated costs drastically as well. The quality of medservices is not sacrificed but boosted under such terms.
• Utilizing big data benefits – IoMT ensures the effective and timely handling of large volumes of medical information for multiple purposes: tendencies, patterns, typical treatment outcomes, opportunities for innovations, etc.
• Quality and upgraded involvement methods – future IoMT will facilitate far more effectual involvement of patients and their awareness of the medcare applied. Informing, consent giving, and providing the updates will be made automatically and faultlessly, preventing any unreasonable delays or discrepancies.
• Effectual dealing across the healthcare sector and the remainder of the sectors concerned – IoMT architecture opens another room for diverse independent service providers, financial institutions, and state authorities to interact and exchange data with each other swiftly and straightforwardly. As a consequence, the interested subjects can drastically bolster their performance and the speed of decision-making.

Conclusion

The Internet of Things medical application is a powerful tool on the way to ensuring top-rated services within the industry and effective disease prevention in the future. It already offers multiple benefits, such as on-time and effective performance, multifunctional diagnostics, disease treatment and prevention, cost-effective operation, and, finally, more accurate forecasts. This tech advancement will undoubtedly bring even more opportunities in the short term since it is evolving steadily. 

So, it was definitely a wise decision to incorporate such tech upgrades in a business yesterday. Now, they have already become compulsory things to have in possession. Our company is a reliable service provider experienced in custom medical software development. We will facilitate you to take the next step ahead by rendering top-notch services swiftly and at a reasonable cost. Enjoy the condensed expertise gained through the years.

In recent years, healthcare IT outsourcing has become a top solution for healthcare organizations in the United States, and even in 2024, it still holds positions. Actually, the U.S. healthcare IT services market was worth $11.44 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to $52.59 billion by 2033. This occurrence continues to grow because of the huge demand for solutions like Electronic Health Records (EHRs), telemedicine, healthcare data analytics, cloud computing solutions, AI-driven diagnostic tools, etc. It is essential for healthcare organizations of different sizes and types, like clinics, labs, fresh startups, and medtech companies that develop hardware. 

Outsourcing helps organizations to allocate their resources more efficiently and enables them to invest in other critical areas such as patient care and service expansion. It also helps them avoid any issues connected with strict regulations, because outsourcing companies have expertise in building secure systems for data protection and privacy, so they stay updated with upcoming changes, and implement necessary updates to maintain compliance. 

Generally, healthcare organizations in the USA often rely on IT outsourcing for solutions such as:

• secure hospital management systems;
• telemedicine platforms;
• medical billing software;
• data analytics tools;
• remote patient monitoring;
• mHealth apps;
• system integrations;
• secure cloud storage for sensitive data.

As the healthcare industry evolves, the necessity for improvement and expansion of IT services grows. This is where web and mobile app development, quality assurance testing, software development, and UI/UX design help meet this demand and improve patient care. 

Moreover, AI is being integrated into healthcare technologies, providing advanced predictive analytics and automation. This means providers can streamline administrative tasks and improve patient outcomes. 

It is more effective to combine the integration of technology and design simultaneously, so when a company handles both development and UI/UX design, it ensures smooth collaboration between teams, helps to detect early issues and reduce the risk of rework or delays. This approach keeps the project on track, improves cost efficiency by minimizing operational expenses, and provides flexibility for adjustments based on client needs. Plus, it helps to match the final product with the original design vision.

If you are looking for outsourcing companies, we suggest you take a look at the top 10 IT outsourcing companies in the USA, with a wide selection of services that focus on healthcare organizations.

Top 10 healthcare IT outsourcing companies in the USA

1. Darly Solutions

Darly Solutions stands out in healthcare IT outsourcing because our full-cycle approach covers everything from UI/UX design to software development and quality assurance. Darly Solutions supports a wide range of healthcare providers, from medical startups to SMEs, including clinics, labs, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and diagnostic centers. Additionally, we provide software for medical hardware, such as CT scanners, mammography machines and other diagnostic equipment. 

Our company ensures smooth communication between teams and fast project delivery. We can create reliable healthcare solutions such as EHR/EMR, telemedicine platforms, mHealth apps, SaMD, medical billing software, custom MVP solutions, AI-powered healthcare tools, patient portals, hospital management systems, and more. 

Our ability to combine development and UI/UX design reduces project costs and speeds up delivery timelines. We also offer mobile app development for both medical professionals and patients so that you can enjoy your experience across iOS and Android platforms, too. 

Moreover, we provide project management services such as managing remote teams, overseeing software development, and more to help healthcare providers maintain a seamless development process. 

We guarantee high quality, innovative IT solutions, and reliable cooperation by providing a full range of services for the healthcare sector.‍

2. Lifepoint

With years of experience in the industry, Lifepoint offers healthcare software development services that improve the efficiency of medical operations. Their expertise covers areas like cloud-based systems, data management, and healthcare compliance solutions, which help healthcare organizations monitor processes while maintaining high standards of patient care. Lifepoint's technology ensures seamless integration across multiple platforms, which can help clients boost outreach and guarantee regulatory compliance.

3. Bitcot

Bitcot offers a range of healthcare software development services. They specialize in AI and automation to streamline data management and predictive analytics. Moreover, the company provides consulting and strategy services, they guide clients through technology choices and implementation plans ensuring compliance and security of all healthcare needs. Their system integration services unify disparate systems, while legacy software modernization improves performance and security. 

4. Binariks

Binariks provides healthcare software development services and offers custom solutions like telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and cloud-based infrastructure. They focus on developing SaMD and hospital management systems, as well as EHR/EMR and CDMS software. Binariks also builds healthcare insurance solutions, automating interactions between insurers, healthcare providers, and governments.

5. Ntiva

Ntiva offers healthcare IT services that help healthcare providers meet regulatory requirements like HIPAA compliance. They ensure secure, compliant IT solutions and thoroughly understand best healthcare industry practices. Ntiva also improves multi-location workflows by consolidating systems for secure, centralized access across multiple offices. Additionally, they offer data backup and recovery services to protect patient information and maintain business continuity.

6. Scopic

Scopic is a healthcare software development company that has over 16 years of experience. They offer custom solutions for the healthcare industry and use an 8-step workflow to deliver their projects. The process starts with gathering project requirements through a free consultation, then they analyze, make a detailed planning, and go through execution, testing, deployment, and ongoing support. They also offer digital marketing services to improve outreach in the healthcare sector.

7. Glorium Technologies

Glorium Technologies suggests healthcare software development services and focuses on mHealth applications, mental health and meditation app development, medical device software, and IoT healthcare solutions. Their expertise supports healthcare providers in creating digital health tools to improve wellness and streamline medical device functionality. 

8. Interexy

Interexy develops healthcare mobile apps for medical professionals and patients. Their solutions integrate seamlessly into the broader healthcare ecosystem and work with pharmacies, prescription systems, and EHR mechanisms. Interexy delivers custom app development to improve homecare and medical services.

9. Velvetech

Velvetech supports a huge list of healthcare organizations, including hospitals, clinics, and pharmaceutical companies. Also, they help medical device manufacturers, biotech, and life science companies accelerate product delivery through innovative software and hardware solutions. For diagnostic centers and medical research, Velvetech offers tools to streamline data management and research efforts. They also provide IT solutions for dental providers and medical education centers. 

10. Enterbridge

EnterBridge offers solutions for custom healthcare software development, like Robotic Process Automation (RPA), to automate manual tasks and reduce human error. They also provide tools for mobile workforces, particularly for in-home care, and enable seamless connectivity and centralized data access for better patient care.

Conclusion

When you choose an IT company for outsourcing, we recommend to focus on service providers that offer flexibility, quick delivery, seamless integration, and full-cycle development.

If you need a reliable IT partner for healthcare software development, contact Darly Solutions and get solutions that meet your business needs.

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IT outsourcing has established itself as a usual part of operation for many companies worldwide. It delivers multiple benefits. These are optimization, cost-effectiveness, scalability, and, of course, access to special-purpose knowledge and skills. At the same time, choosing a service provider is far from easy, even if you resort to the help of outsourcing management software. That’s why we decided to shortlist the best IT outsourcing countries and cover the possible pros and cons of each option.

Key Industries That Outsource IT Processes in 2024

Nowadays, a business that drives innovations or simply wants to grow faster opts for external IT services. They help to reach the goals set faster. In this context, outsourcing software development for startups is worthy to highlight since proficient IT services facilitate bringing innovative ideas into reality. Overall, in 2024, IT services were widely requested by the entities operating in the following sectors:

• Fintech – fintech software outsourcing helps to elaborate on effective solutions for users’ payments and transaction monitoring. Professional IT services enable many existing entities and startups to be well-informed about the latest developments. 
• Healthcare – bolstering the remote interaction between hospitals and patients benefits the industry a lot. For example, healthcare software outsourcing can contribute to remote patient monitoring, predictive analysis, diagnostics, nanomedicine, and so on.
• Telecommunications – the primary point for applying IT advancements is to boost the speed of connection, ensure the network's resilience, facilitate data processing and storage, as well as implement effective billing.
• Cybersecurity – third-party experts can respond to emerging threats and help to smoothly address the existing ones. Advanced IT algorithms they implement help to detect fraudulent transactions and prevent customers from losing their money.
• Education – advanced IT algorithms are now widespread across many universities worldwide. The latter can arrange steady and effective remote interaction with their students. 

Checklist on How to Choose a Country to Outsource Software Development 

Having plenty of IT outsourcing services offers to choose from is surely good. Where competition is intense, the quality is always good. At the same, the prices are balanced under such conditions. On the other side, choosing among multiple offers is a bit time-consuming. The below criteria will help you to sort all the available options out faster:

• Quality is a primary aspect to take into account. Cheaper never means better. In fact, it may turn out that low-quality products may take even more funds, especially, when it comes to corrections. However, the complexity of the task should be kept in focus as well. For more complicated assignments, the quality of outputs has to be superb.
• Tech education – the specialist you would like to assign should have sufficient tech background and skills. Emphasize whether a provider draws attention to the ongoing training. In addition, true IT experts should be ready to address the specifics of your projects effectively as well. Therefore, take time to discuss this aspect in advance.
• Cultural aspects – this nuance is often underestimated, however, it plays a great role. There are jurisdictions that are closer to the Western standards. However, some states are more keen on preserving their local specifics. Make sure you understand it well while being on the shore.
• Timezone – the perfect option in this case is nearshore software outsourcing. When your state is adjacent to the neighboring one where you decide to hire developers, it is always possible to arrange a closer collaboration. If you consider developers from the other part of the globe, make sure you have at least 3-4 hours of overlap.
• English proficiency – price and quality can mean nothing if there is a significant language barrier. While choosing your service provider, ensure developers have sufficient English level. Upper-Intermediate will work well for projects that do not require your constant supervision. However, more complicated ventures, especially innovative ones, will definitely require a more advanced level. 

10 Best Countries to Outsource Software Development

There is a list of 10 top technology countries where you will be able to find the best IT experts:

1. Ukraine

This country is a worthy place to hire developers. The reason is simple. It ensures price-quality balance without sacrificing the latter by any means. The state has a truly impressive pool of skillful workforce. Even more, lots of local talents are spread across the globe. 

The rates are much lower than in the vast majority of the European jurisdictions. Such prices are determined by the affordable costs of living in Ukraine. At the same time, the local talents improve their level of education regularly. Also, they fully immerse themselves in the Western approaches. That's why the quality of their products is bolstered steadily. These endeavors make Ukraine probably the best option for software development outsourcing in Eastern Europe. 

Although there is a huge time gap with the USA and Canada, local developers are also flexible at this point. Many of them are often ready to tighten their work to another time zone. The level of English is well here, both written and spoken.

If you need to hire someone who can elaborate on innovative tech solutions, you can find the right professional here as well – Ukrainians are capable of thinking outside the box. 

Ukraine fosters advancements and investments in this industry. There is even a separate Ministry of Digital Transformation in charge of ensuring a favorable landscape. Ukrainian specialists are also aware of and apply Western and European standards, including GDPR.

Hourly rates: $20-55

2. Poland

This is the EU location that ensures optimal price-quality balance. The rates are slightly higher compared to Ukraine since living in Poland is much more expensive. 

In this country, the greater emphasis has been placed not on state regulation but on market self-regulation. Here, you can find probably the largest software outsourcing companies in Europe. The scope of available services is comprehensive. English proficiency is very decent here, both written and spoken. This country also facilitates tech education. 

Poland is a definitely great option for bringing large IT projects to life, where a level of complexity is above the average. On the contrary, this country is not too keen on promoting innovations. It adopts those that come from other European or North American states. However, the culture and approaches to doing business in Poland are Western overall.

Hourly rates: $35-55

3. Bulgaria

This is another European country that is a good destination for IT outsourcing. Bulgaria has gained a reputation as a reliable IT hub with a highly skilled workforce. In this jurisdiction, a special emphasis is placed on robust IT education and ongoing training. 

The local professionals provide a comprehensive set of IT services. Bulgarian IT professionals can ensure the quality of the products at a good level. The prices of their services are even a bit higher than in Poland. 

The level of English is sufficient for communicating with foreign partners. Bulgarian IT specialists have a mindset focused on Western standards and problem-solving. The local timezone greatly overlaps with the USA and Canada, for instance.

Hourly rates: $40-90

4. Switzerland 

This country is famous for its professionalism. Local specialists excel in most spheres, including IT. Due the standards of living are more than high here, this determines the high costs of outsourcing software development, including high salaries for developers.

Switzerland has an extremely favorable legal and regulatory landscape. It greatly fosters innovations and high-performance standards.  Switzerland may also be characterized as a calm place with political stability and democracy.

The English level is extremely high, both written and spoken. Ensuring worldwide collaboration is easy here since the time zones with the USA and Canada greatly overlap.

Hourly rates: $100+

5. China 

Dealing with Chinese developers is both an opportunity and a challenge. On the one hand, this country ensures a high level of tech education and training. At some points, this education is considered to be among the best ones in the world. Following the Confucian lifestyle, local people are very hardworking and dedicated. Hiring Chinese developers is a good option from the point of pricing. 

On the other side, there are too severe cultural differences. This makes it difficult to deal with the Chinese developers at many points. Another drawback is the time difference. Arranging real-time collaboration with local specialists can be challenging. Finally, the level of English is a bit below the average level. This is probably the main obstacle on the way to the sufficient integration of Western standards in the Chinese IT industry.

Hourly rates: $35-75 

6. Philippines

This is probably one of the fastest-growing IT outsourcing markets. The IT sector is one of the most developed in this country. However, the rates for the IT services are reasonable. That is mostly because of the affordable living costs that characterize this jurisdiction. The scope of services is diverse here.

Speaking about the collaboration, it is generally easy to implement. English is the official language in the Philippines. Local IT specialists have excellent knowledge of IT terminology common to the Western world. This country also had a long history of dealing with the USA. This enabled it to absorb American business standards immersively. Finally, time zone differences are slight. 

Hourly rates: $20-60

7. Colombia

If you are interested in outsourcing to low cost countries, Columbia may be the right choice. In general, this is a growing market. The rates are below the average ones in the market. But it happens that the quality of services can be decent. 

At many points, it implements and shares the standards common for the North American states. It is also convenient to work with locals since the time zones of the USA and Canada are very close. Still, the level of English should be better for more effective communication.

Hourly rates: $30-50

8. Mexico 

Mexico is not a widely known option, but it is still a good destination for IT outsourcing. First of all, it has lots of skilled professionals who are dedicated and flexible. The level of IT education in this country is high. Even more, close proximity to the USA makes it possible to share common business standards. Mexicans are keen on agile software development. The level of English among the Mexican developers is Upper Intermediate and higher. 

The prices for IT outsourcing services vary depending on the complexity of the project. However, the local rates are a bit below the average in the global market. 

In terms of cooperation, there are some cultural aspects to consider. Mexicans prefer close face-to-face communication. Given that this country is in the same time zone approximately as the USA and Canada, establishing communication has no difficulties.

Hourly rates: $30-100

9.  India

This is one of the top tech countries which remains a global leader in this context. It has a vast pool of skillful tech professionals. Moreover, this state ensures balanced, even say, low prices for the IT assignments done. The level of English is high. In fact, India is among the states with the highest ratio of people speaking English. 

Having a population of around 1.5 billion people, it is possible to bring to life large projects here (even more, this means that in India, you can find the cheapest developers in the world). As for the prospects, this country invests a lot in tech education. Overall, the Indian business framework is mature given its historical bounds with the West. 

Speaking about the drawbacks, a variable quality should be mentioned in this first turn. Cost optimization in this case can be made by sacrificing the quality of the final product. Another downside is the time difference. It may greatly impact real-time interaction in certain cases. Unfortunately, there may be only several hours of overlap with the USA and Canada.

Hourly rates: $15-50.

10. USA

This is probably one of the best countries for software engineers. It is open and encourages innovations and advancements in all terms. The level of technical expertise among developers here is very well. 

The USA not only follows the strictest standards for software development. It also upgrades them and introduces new ones. The USA gave to this world plenty of advanced technologies, AI is the latest one. Also, it is worth highlighting UX design outsourcing, as the USA has the biggest talent pool of designers in the world. Therefore, this country can be considered the right place to implement complex ideas.

Still, the prices for the services are pretty high. However, depending on the complexity of the tasks you want to assign, it may be worthwhile to outsource them exactly in the USA.

Hourly rates: $40-80

Final Words

Summing up the above, the complexity of the project determines the choice of the service provider. Of course, for the high profitability of a project, it is reasonable to save as much as possible. Still, this should be made without sacrificing the quality by any means. Attempting to save a lot may have a reverse effect – you may have to pay more than intended initially. Correcting a poor-quality product is always a far more expensive endeavor. 

If you want to find the perfect ratio between the quality of services provided and their cost, you can consider our company. We will implement your ideas in the most cost-efficient way without compromising its viability and competitiveness, just contact us.

With the never-ending evolution of digital technologies we can see in the last years, businesses can discover more opportunities and options to make a profit, reduce the cost of their operations, and attract/retain customers than ever before. Specifically, this thesis can be applied to the financial industry, one of the leading areas of which is lending.

For example, the independent source Global Data claims that the global digital lending services market will grow at a CAGR of 22.1% until 2030. At the same time, one of the most effective ways of providing such services is by using the Lending as a Service format. Below, we will explain what it is, how such solutions work, what their advantages are, and what impact they can have on the financial sector in the future.

What Is Lending as a Service (LaaS)?

In a nutshell, Lending as a Service is the delegation of all operations related to providing loans to its customers to a third-party provider.

The convenience of SaaS lending technology is obvious even at first glance: instead of independently learning how to manage risks and generally studying how the financial sector and related legislation work, businesses get the opportunity to remain focused on their key operations while expanding their range of services and making them more convenient and accessible to consumers. This approach also reduces the costs associated with the implementation of financial lending services without reducing their effectiveness.

How Lending as a Service Works

From a practical point of view, LaaS is usually presented in the form of cloud solutions that can be adapted to the individual needs of a particular business. Their functionality is available in real time, which means that businesses that have chosen this format of cooperation do not experience any inconveniences associated with delays and downtime.

At the same time, such solutions take on much more than just issuing loans according to the rules and restrictions pre-established by a particular company – they allow these companies to fully automate credit lending services and even speed them up compared to how it could be if they did it personally. 

Benefits of Lending as a Service

So, let's formalize the advantages of fintech lending solutions for businesses.

• Less time and overhead expenses. Companies that do not have the opportunity to pay attention to the implementation of lending can significantly benefit from outsourcing loan management. They will also not be forced to deal with tasks related to maintaining their credit platforms since all this will be the responsibility of their suppliers.
• More information about customers. Any average Lending as a Service platform provides businesses with analytical data about their consumers, which can give them valuable insights into their income level, preferences, and other characteristics important for attracting and retaining them. In this way, businesses can significantly boost their efficiency.
• Fewer risks associated with unreliable customers. Typically, the implementation of a lending service is accompanied by the development and deployment of internal Know-Your-Customer (KYC) policies, which may require businesses to become more familiar with how the lending industry works in general and what laws and rules govern it. Conversely, by entrusting all this to a third-party provider, businesses can gain time to solve more pressing problems.
• Wider coverage of the target audience. The rapid implementation of lending services, which LaaS platforms can provide, allows companies to enter new markets and do this much earlier than their competitors. Thus, they gain an increased competitive advantage without the need for a radical modernization of their internal digital infrastructures.
• Accelerated access to advanced IT achievements in the financial sector. Sometimes such a fintech innovation becomes a starting point for more serious updates in the IT infrastructure of a particular business. Indeed, by regularly interacting with LaaS solutions, companies learn more about new digital technologies and the possibilities of their application in a specific business niche, which, in the long term, can give them new ideas for automation and increase the efficiency of their other business operations.

Impact of LaaS on the Financial Industry

It is worth noting that LaaS has an impact not only on individual businesses that have decided to implement such solutions but also on the financial industry as a whole.

Since they actually connect financial institutions (banks), fintech companies, businesses engaged in sale of services/products, and consumers themselves, this interaction chain opens up colossal potential for benefit for each of its links. Indeed: banks get even more clients, companies involved in the development of fintech startups get useful knowledge that allows them to implement standard-compliant solutions, businesses get increased efficiency and adaptability, and consumers themselves get the opportunity to purchase previously unavailable goods and services.

In the long term, all this can lead to the obsolescence of traditional lending models and the opening of new opportunities for cooperation between all the above-described participants in the lending procedure.

Conclusion

If you are considering the digitalization of financial operations in your business and are looking for a reliable service provider providing fintech development services, feel free to contact us. We will create a custom digital banking solution adapted to the standards and generally accepted regulations of your business niche to ensure your company’s sustainability for many years to come.

In terms of IT, design means much more than just creating visuals for a digital solution. Specifically, while the concepts of UX and UI design have long been familiar to anyone who is at least a little involved in software product development, the "product design" term is a relatively new one. Based on its name, we can already make a preliminary conclusion that the work of product designers involves something more than creating a visual for a product, but what exactly? Let's figure it out right now.

What Is UX Design?

UX design is everything that is aimed at the end user getting a certain experience/impression from interacting with the interface of your solution. Its quality can be measured by whether the user manages to achieve the specific goal, and how easy and pleasant it is for him/her.

Usually, the UX design process includes the following stages:

• End-user research;
• Building information architecture;
• User flow creation;
• Creating visuals;
• Ensuring the convenience and accessibility of the created solution.

Let's dwell on these stages in more detail.

Key Elements of UX Design

So, below we will consider the above stages (elements).

• End-user research. It all starts with a survey of the target audience representatives to understand their needs, desires, and pain points. Then they are provided with raw prototypes for testing so that specialists can identify typical problems and imperfections in their concepts.
• Building information architecture. The next step of UX product development is to build low-fidelity wireframes that demonstrate the hierarchy of the product’s elements and functions. After that, designers build an information architecture, which implies dividing the content into categories that simplify the search for information.
• User flow creation. Now, everything is ready to recreate the sequence of steps that the user must take to achieve the goal with the help of a specific product. After the main steps are reproduced, microinteractions have to be implemented – we mean system feedback that improves the quality of the user experience. Additionally, the product is analyzed in accordance with the WCAG 2.0 guidelines – this is necessary for its accessibility for people with disabilities.
• Creating visuals. At this stage, specialists create the visual part of the user interface including the color palette, icons, typography, etc., and also ensure consistency with the previously created templates.
• Ensuring the convenience and accessibility of the created solution. To assess the convenience of the created solution, designers usually use a heuristic approach. Also, they check compliance with the required WCAF 2.0 level. If significant deficiencies are detected, the product is returned for optimization.

Why Is UX Design Important?

UX design services are primarily focused on ensuring end-user satisfaction with the product – that is, it means that the product is comfortable to use and intuitive, and, in general, allows users to quickly complete the tasks assigned to it. In the long term, a properly created UX design can provide a boost in business revenue, an expansion of its consumer base, an increase in competitive advantage, a reduction in the expenses on regular business operations, and many other things. Ultimately, it is important to understand that all this is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the product success.

UX vs. UI Design

Many people don’t understand the user experience vs design difference. However, while UX product design is aimed at creating a positive user experience when interacting with a product, the UI design is about creating a certain, aesthetically attractive appearance and conveying specific feelings to the end user through it.

What Is Product Design?

Now, let's talk about product design: it is a much more comprehensive term than UX and UI design. It ensures that users do not just enjoy dealing with a specific software solution – instead, they should help the owner of this solution achieve specific business goals through this interaction.

Key Elements of Product Design

To better understand the product design vs UX design difference, we suggest, as in the previous case, to consider the key stages of the first term.

• Planning. It starts with comprehensive market research: analyzing its trends, identifying competitors’ advantages and disadvantages, defining the target audience, etc. After that, specialists must align the client's business goals with the collected information and develop a product roadmap (this is performed in collaboration with other project team members).
• Ensuring end-user focus. Now, having information about the target audience at hand, specialists can create user personas by using their demographics, behavioral patterns, pain points, needs, etc. After that, they begin to build user flows and optimize them through testing.
• Interface design. This stage of the product design process involves creating medium-fidelity prototypes that not only describe user interactions with individual interface components but also contain microinteractions and visual detailing.
• Interaction with the project team. Typically, product designers work in teams that work according to the cross-functional methodology – here, they are encouraged to work closely with specialists from other areas. This allows them to reach alignment on goals and their achievement. At this stage, they use prototypes, which, as their details are agreed upon, specialists optimize into a full-fledged product design.
• User feedback analysis and optimization. Finally, the completed solution is presented to end users (depending on the stage of development, these can be representatives of a focus group or real users) to obtain and process their feedback. After that, the obtained insights are gradually implemented through optimization of the presented version.

Why Is Product Design Important?

Its importance is hard to overestimate: product designers collaborate with other members of the project team throughout its life cycle, thereby ensuring the joint achievement of the goals set by its owner. Even though, as in UX design, the convenience of the user’s interaction with the product also plays an important role, it is perceived as something more global – something that is aimed at solving specific problems within one business.

UX Design vs. Product Design: the Differences

From all of the above, we can conclude that the main goal of product design services is to create a comprehensively successful product: that is, one that surpasses its competitors in some way and satisfies the client's business needs, the specifics of their business niche, the needs of the target audience, market trends, etc. This, in turn, imposes on product designers the need to participate in all stages of product development.

As for UX design, its task is to make the product user-oriented, without covering or only partially covering the business aspects declared by the product owner. Thus, without thinking about the need for product design and implementing the UX design stage only, you can lose sight of the factors that hinder the long-term product’s viability on the market (in particular, this often happens with startups and projects with a non-standard approach to solving ordinary problems). 

Conclusion

Now, knowing the difference between the two above concepts, you can understand who exactly your team needs – a UX/UI service provider or a product designer. Whichever option is closer to you, you can always contact us, and we will select a specialist according to your project requirements or assemble a team that will accompany you from collecting project requirements to its launch and optimization.

If you have ever used ChatGPT to find answers to your text queries or DALL-E to generate images, you are already familiar with generative AI. In a nutshell, this type of artificial intelligence is capable of creating unique text, images, and other media as a response to a user query, using training datasets. Despite the advancement of such solutions, they are not without their drawbacks. In particular, one of the key problems with using such solutions is, unsurprisingly, the privacy of user data, which we will actually discuss below.

What Are Some Challenges of Generative AI

So, what are the challenges of generative AI? Let's find out right now.

• Ethics of generative AI models. The ethics of models used by generative artificial intelligence means, first of all, the absence of bias in their responses, as well as ensuring their objectivity and transparency. In practice, providing the first two properties can be difficult – mainly because a service provider developing an AI model usually has limited data samples. As for transparency, it also indirectly depends on the size of the data samples – the more limited and narrowly specialized they are, the greater the risk that the generated solution to the user problem will not consider generally accepted provisions and axioms.
• Using someone else's intellectual property. Generative AI always uses some sample of data for training. This data, in turn, may be protected by copyright – therefore, there may be a difficulty in transferring ownership of the generated content. Actually, this highlights a larger issue that questions the integrity of the use of AI, especially for commercial purposes. If we add to this the blurring of the geographical boundaries of laws related to the generative AI applications, it becomes clear that the solution to this problem must be taken at the international level.
• Potential harm from generated responses. Some organizations in the healthcare, financial, legal, and other sectors, using generative AI, expose their consumers to certain risks – the fact is that the answers it produces may contain potentially dangerous recommendations. Moreover, due to the possible differences in the context of user queries, identifying those answers that can cause harm to users can be quite difficult. That is why, along with the careful development of generative AI models, it is also important for these organizations to pay attention to the implementation of other mechanisms that would set delimitations for the generated answers.
• Compliance with generally accepted user data privacy policies. Finally, if you plan to gradually expand the geographic reach of your AI solution, you will need to ensure that it meets the user data security and privacy standards in the region where the specific user is located. Specifically, these may include the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and so on. But that’s not all: currently, due to the popularization of AI in various fields, a lot of new legislative provisions are being developed, such as the UK’s AI and Data Protection Risk Toolkit, the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, China’s Generative AI Measures, India’s Ethical Guidelines for AI in Healthcare and Biomedical Research, and so on. That’s why long-term fixing user privacy issues in generative AI solutions may be quite challenging.

Solutions for Data Security in Generative AI

In this section, we propose to understand how you can overcome the above-described obstacles in AI data security or, at least, mitigate the consequences of encountering them.

• Creating ethical AI solutions. Data for training models is collected from people who may introduce their own biases. Moreover, AI itself can create biases according to its own algorithms for interpreting the data used for training. Thus, to ensure the transparency of the answers produced by a solution based on generative AI, it is important to additionally implement algorithms for comparing this data with third-party reliable sources of information. 
• Introduction of comprehensive data security AI mechanisms. Any data considered to be someone else's intellectual property and used by generative AI for learning may cause harm or loss to its owners who provide it. To prevent this, you should take care in advance of non-disclosure of your users' information and, as an option, provide them with clear and understandable notifications about for what purpose, by whom, and how their data may be used by your software in the future.
• Eliminating harm from generated responses. To ensure that the responses made by your AI-powered solution are safe for end users, you need to pre-define the rules and parameters that the AI ​​must follow when generating them, as well as implement checking and verification mechanisms to make the generated content safe. And, of course, do not forget to introduce an AI and data security system for monitoring your solution’s operation, which would allow you to fix situations with potentially harmful responses – this will give you a direction for further optimizing your training model. 
• Compliance with AI regulations. The first thing to start with is to ensure reliable user data access control and compliance with the most strict encryption and privacy standards. However, due to the constant discovery of new vulnerabilities even in the most reliable generative AI security mechanisms, you will need to conduct regular checks and audits of the operation of your AI driver solution. Finally, you will need to train the team working on your project on generally accepted rules for using AI and data for its training.

Conclusion

Now, being aware of the most common generative AI security risks, you can start working on your project, keeping it with all necessary policies and standards in time. Also, if you are looking for a service provider to delegate secure AI development without unnecessary doubts, feel free to contact us.

If you have an idea for implementing a digital solution, but its business model is not yet clear, you may need a lot of resources to find the right one. But how can you test the effectiveness of this idea in practice when each of the potential target audience’s representatives may perceive it differently? The answer is simple: you should consider minimum viable product or MVP development for startups. Below, we will explain its peculiarity and analyze the advantages of this approach.

What Is an MVP for a Startup?

An MVP for startups is a software solution with a basic set of functions and a simplified visual that clearly demonstrates its unique selling proposition (USP) and does not have any additional features (that is, if you remove something from its functionality, it will lose this USP).

The Importance of MVP Development for Startups

The main purpose of MVP development for startup is simple: since early-stage startups do not have clear, verified business models, it is important to make sure that they will be accepted by their target audiences. Otherwise, their owners risk losing a lot of financial and time resources on something that “does not work” for the end consumers. So, to avoid this, it is better to implement such projects gradually, optimizing and expanding them, taking into account feedback obtained from real users.

MVP Development Process

Here are the main stages of the MVP development startups process:

• Defining the problem or goal of the target audience that you are going to help them solve/achieve with your product;
• Conducting market demand analysis, which consists of a detailed study of the target audience, market trends, similar software solutions, etc.;
• Rapid prototyping of the future solution and defining its key features that form the USP;
• Agile development of an MVP;
• Collecting feedback from real users;
• Continuous product iteration after the MVP launch aimed at tailoring the product to the needs of its target audience.

Top 9 Benefits of Building an MVP for Startups

In this paragraph, we would like to introduce MVP benefits that are valuable for each startup owner.

Cost Efficiency

Creating a minimum valuable solution is, first of all, much cheaper than in the case of a full-fledged one. This means that the initial budget for your project will be moderate, and you will not have to sacrifice anything important – for example, the budget for marketing, the salaries of your full-time specialists, and so on.

Faster Time to Market

No matter how unique your idea is, there is always a risk that someone will follow your example before you. In turn, the implementation of the MVP will allow you to reduce the time-to-market and, thus, gain an additional competitive advantage.

Market Validation

A quick launch of the MVP will help you validate it in real market conditions as fast as possible. In the future, you will be able to optimize it based on real feedback from its users and then improve it with each iteration and make it more and more valuable to them.

Risk Mitigation

Getting a working solution up and running quickly will help you identify its hidden issues early on, all thanks to the fact that it will be accessible to users from all over the world. In fact, no other type of testing, no matter how many resources are involved, can provide the same thoroughness in identifying errors and inconsistencies.

Investor Attraction

By launching a “raw” but functioning product to market early, it will be available to potential investors, too. Agree that this approach to demonstrating your idea looks much more viable and capable of achieving your goals than presenting a business plan only.

Customer-Centric Development

Generally speaking, creating a minimum viable solution is one of the key startup success factors since its entire development cycle is tailored to “please” its target audience. Indeed, since user feedback has to be taken into account long before the solution is released (first, it is tested by the project team and then – by representatives of focus groups), it turns out to be truly focused on the needs of the end users.

Enhanced Learning

MVP in startups helps to conduct an end-to-end assessment of market needs and make decisions based on the data obtained. This way, you can use the obtained insights in the further evolution of your product, turning it into a full-fledged software solution step by step.

Flexibility and Scalability

MVP development for tech startup involves creating an initially scalable, flexible foundation that is easy to modify and to which you can quickly add new/remove unnecessary functionality without much risk (primarily, associated with the appearance of hard-to-fix bugs).

Building a User Base

Finally, when you launch a full-fledged solution, it will already have some audience interested in using it. Thus, you will be able to reduce your budget for early adopter engagement and, in particular, the time and money needed to research and create a portrait of a potential client.

Conclusion

Now, knowing all the advantages and goals of startup MVP development, you can understand whether this option is right for you. In particular, if you are inclined in its favor, you can contact us, a service provider with many years of experience creating MVP solutions for startups in different industries. We will accompany you throughout the entire lifecycle of your project – from the ideation stage to the release and support of its full-fledged version.

If you are looking for a suitable platform to implement your mobile solution in the most cost-efficient way and, thus, make it cross-platform, it can be a rather challenging task given the variety of different frameworks, libraries, and SDKs.

For example, according to Statista, Flutter and React Native (RN) were the world's two most popular frameworks for cross-platform development by the end of 2023. However, they cannot be called universal, and each is better suited to solving specific problems. Below, we will cover the difference between them in more detail and also conduct a comparative analysis of these two solutions.

What Is Flutter?

Flutter is an open-source framework from Google that first saw the light of day in 2018. It is designed for both front-end and full-stack development of cross-platform solutions with a single code base for iOS, Android, Web, Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Flutter uses the open-source Dart language, which is also a brainchild of Google. Now, it has 162k stars on GitHub.

One of the most significant benefits of Flutter is the ability to accelerate time-to-market: this is ensured by hot reload (which provides the ability to change the program code and check the results in real time), the built-in increased performance provided by direct compilation to native code, as well as the presence of a C++ engine for rendering elements and optimization. In general, according to the unspoken opinion of developers, about 95% of all development tasks can be covered by Flutter libraries and tools.

Benefits of Flutter

Flutter popularity is absolutely justified – it is loved by developers around the world for the following advantages:

• Native-like performance. Due to the use of the Dart programming language, which is immediately compiled into machine code, applications created with this framework are unlikely to be inferior in performance to native analogs.
• Uniformity of visual components. Flutter does not use platform-dependent visualization tools – instead, this framework refers to the Google Skia graphics library, which allows developers to provide a uniform look for UI components regardless of the platform.
• Low entry threshold and a wide variety of available tools and libraries. Flutter is considered an easy-to-learn framework, and such built-in features as hot reloading, widget inspector, and a rich arsenal of tools for solving graphic problems (now, this framework already has graphics rendering at 120 fps) make the process of working on the frontend even more enjoyable and fast.

What Is React Native?

React Native is a cross-platform JavaScript-based framework created by the Facebook team in 2015 and introduced to the public as a solution for reusing the same code. Today, this platform can boast 116k stars on GitHub and the fact that it is at the heart of such world-famous services as Instagram, Facebook, and Skype. 

An interesting feature of this framework is its basis on the Flux architecture, which is based on unidirectional flows. This approach allows data to be passed from one parent component to its child components, making it easier for developers to manage data flows in the application. Also, like in Flutter, there is the Hot Reload feature that simplifies the testing and debugging processes, as well as a rich set of built-in components to boost the development speed of high-performance and visually attractive mobile solutions.

Benefits of React Native

The main benefits of React Native are:

• Ability to reuse code by up to 90% and reduced time to market. The reusability of code written in this framework can be up to 90%. In addition, the created assembly, for example, for Android, will require only minimal configurations in order to function properly on iOS. All these features of this framework speed up the launch of projects.
• Fast update in app stores. Thanks to the CodePush function, applications can be updated within the repeated deployment process without an intermediate step involving uploading updates to the app store. In particular, when the update is ready, its version that has already been presented on the store uploads it itself, without the need for re-communication with Google Play or the App Store.
• A wide variety of libraries and access to native components. While it provides access to native platform components, there are also internal libraries with well-developed documentation and, in some cases, even entire application templates, including Native Base, React Native Elements, and React Native Starter Kit.

Key Differences Between Flutter and React Native

Now it's time to start a more detailed comparison of React vs Flutter.

Entry threshold

Even though both mobile app frameworks are considered to be quite easy to learn, Flutter, due to its abundance of internal development tools, practically eliminates the need for developers to use third-party tools and libraries (unlike RN). This means that its entry threshold can formally be considered lower.

Performance

As for React Native vs Flutter performance, the second one has a lot of widgets based on its own high-performance rendering engine, which makes it suitable for developing applications with complex graphics. At the same time, despite the claims of RN creators, this solution can impose certain problems with the speed of work of resource-intensive projects.

Time ​​to market

In our Flutter vs React Native comparison, RN gives Flutter a head start when it comes to developing applications with different designs for each of the platforms since the latter is aimed at building uniform interfaces.

Specifics for creating user interfaces

While Flutter offers developers a variety of ready-to-use widgets based on the Material (Android) and Cupertino (iOS) designs, React Native refers to the native components of the platforms.

Full list of supported platforms

Flutter supports development for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, Google Fuchsia, Web, Tizen for Samsung Smart TV, LG webOS, as well as for embedded devices. As for RN, this framework is compatible with Android, iOS, Windows, MacOS, as well as Android and iOS TV platforms.

Conclusion

We hope that we have answered the essential question: “Flutter or React Native?” and it will be easier for you to choose the best of these two options. At the same time, we would like to note that the future of Flutter is uncertain, as Google has suspended its active development and significantly reduced its team. Therefore, we will keep our finger on the pulse and inform you about all upcoming changes.

Anyway, whichever framework you settled on, an equally important aspect will be the choice of an experienced team of developers. In particular, you can contact us for a consultation and also to find out the cost of development of your project.

No matter how ambitious your goals are when you first think of creating a custom software solution, strict budget and deadline constraints can easily dash them. So, what should you do in this case?

Specifically, before your tech team starts implementing a healthtech solution, you can choose two different paths for them: native and cross-platform mobile app development. In the vast majority of cases, in this area, the second option can cover all the needs and requirements for the project without harming its critical aspects, such as usability, performance, reliability, etc. At the same time, you will be able to launch your product on the market faster and save your financial resources. 

However, such a development process is somewhat different from the one that precedes the launch of several native applications. Below, we'll cover how these differences can impact critical aspects of your project and share insights that help you fix them.

Best Practices for Cross-Platform Development in Healthcare

Since cross-platform app development involves adapting a healthcare solution to multiple platforms at once, it is important for the team to adhere to the following best practices to ensure the proper quality of the resulting solution.

Compliance and Security

The first thing you should probably start the development process for the healthcare industry is to ensure compliance with generally accepted standards and policies. The most common among them are HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and GDPR (EU regulation aimed at giving citizens control over their personal data). Along with that, software engineers must use standard security mechanisms such as encryption, integration of secure connection certificates, etc. Ultimately, it is better to check the requirements for medical software development according to the legislation in force in a particular region – this way, you will not face any fines and bans.

User Experience (UX) Design

Now, let's talk about user experience in health apps – it should be smooth regardless of the platform they are running on. Since many healthcare mobile applications are positioned as an alternative to offline services from legally operating medical institutions, they must comply with accessibility rules that are described in detail in WCAG 2.0. These guidelines allow developers to implement seamless interaction with medtech solutions for people with all kinds of disabilities. Depending on the type of medical tasks assigned, you will need to ensure that your healthcare app UI/UX design meets WCAG 2.0 requirements to the appropriate level.

Performance Optimization

Nowadays, high performance is considered one of the key aspects ensuring the app’s survival in the market; however, in the healthcare sector, this parameter is much more critical since someone's life may depend on it. Indeed, if your digital solution involves an urgent call to a doctor, lags in its functioning may end tragically for some of the users. At the same time, it is believed that native applications work faster than those created in the process of cross-platform or hybrid app development. This is not true – such modern development tools as React Native, Flutter, Ionic, and many others allow teams to build software with complex business logic without reducing its speed. Of course, these frameworks will not handle resource-intensive gaming applications, but, most likely, this is not the original task. Whatever approach and technology stack you choose, your team involved in software development for healthcare will need to spend some time testing the application before launching and ensuring that it works equally effectively on all platforms.

Testing and Quality Assurance

Yes, we have already outlined the importance of this process above, but we will repeat it once again: no application can be launched for public access before it has passed a series of tests, both with the participation of the team itself and involving focus groups assembled from representatives of the target audience of your software. The most common types of testing are modular, integration, functional, acceptance, system, smoke, and so on. Each of these types takes place at a certain stage of development (and has to be performed on each platform separately), but the amount of code covered by test cases and the number of iterations will directly depend on the established deadlines. 

Integration

Finally, it is worth saying a few words about integrating your app with existing third-party products and services that your organization already uses. This is usually necessary to expand the functionality of the former and, in particular, to ensure seamless data transfer between applications. However, while the vast majority of modern custom healthcare solutions integrate via API, it is quite predictable that your team will face some issues if you use legacy software. For this, an additional middleware will have to be developed – it will take responsibility for converting data to the required format and back.

Conclusion

In general, as you may know, cross-platform development is cheaper than native development, because most of the code is reused between platforms, and you do not need to hire two separate teams to create native software for each of them (in particular iOS and Android). Moreover, with the right approach, frameworks such as Ionic allow you to build both mobile cross-platform and web applications, reusing most of the code, which, in turn, speeds up and reduces the cost of development for mobile and web platforms, respectively.

So, now, knowing the specifics of developing solutions using cross-platform app development tools, you will be better informed about how to ensure their proper quality and control each stage of their creation. However, if you would like to outsource this complex task without unnecessary doubts so as not to spend too much time on supervising, feel free to contact us.

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.