Arul Karuppannan | Digital Marketing Strategist at W2S Solutions

The New Age: Cloud Computing in Agriculture Sectors

Posted by: Arul karuppannan Posted on: August 10, 2020 cloud adoption in agriculture , cloud computing in agriculture , features of cloud in agriculture , importance of clouds in agriculture

Agriculture, one of the primary occupations known to man, has been stuck with traditional methods and ideas for the longest time. But, the season of change is here, and it’s time for agriculture to embrace the latest technological innovations sweeping varied sectors around the world. And, one of the foremost changes we are about to see is cloud adoption in agriculture.

Now, you might be wondering, what does the cloud tech and the agricultural sector have in common for them to go hand in hand? The truth is that they have more things in common than what has been explored so far.

Cloud computing in agriculture offers multiple avenues for the sector to prosper and grow. Right from Agriculture App Development that offers crop information to monitoring and comparing yearly growth patterns, the new-age cloud tech can change the face of agriculture in more ways than one. It not only has the potential to enhance productivity but also has the ability to make farming more efficient and easier for the cultivators.

With that being said, here’s taking a look at the impact of the modern era of cloud computing in agriculture sector to get a clear picture of the matter.

A glimpse into the new era of cloud computing

The new age of cloud computing represents an information tech paradigm that enables users to gain access to shared pools of customizable system resources through the internet. Sharing of the features of cloud in agriculture enables economies of scale and coherence, which make it function like a public utility. The service providers can quickly enable cloud adoption in agriculture, with little to no managerial effort.

When business organizations outsource their IT infrastructure and management to a cloud service provider, it lets the company focus on the core areas of their business, instead of the need to invest in additional computer infrastructure. In fact, cloud computing in agriculture also runs along similar lines.

As the cloud computing enterprises are experts in their sector, the work is better managed and gets completed faster. They are also more adaptable towards meeting unpredictable and fluctuating demand. Cloud service providers usually work on a pay-as-you-use basis.

Leaving that aside, the users can also choose options like IAAS (Infrastructure as a service), PAAS (Platform as a service), and SAAS (Software as a service). In today’s times, IAAS is the one that is the most commonly used by businesses because it aids organizations in dealing with infrastructural costs. Agriculture App Development also takes these options into account.

Amazon was the first company to come out with a cloud computing product called the Elastic Compute Cloud. This was way back in the year 2006, and the features of cloud in agriculture available now give a clear indication that the technology has come a long way. Though it took quite some time for the potential clients to adopt this technology, it started picking up after it was tested. And, once it started spreading in this sector, there was no stopping it.

At present, the cloud has almost become a metaphor for the internet. The standard cloud-shape has long been used for denoting the networks of telephony schematics. So, in the new age, cloud computing is a crucial application in the wide group of ICT (Information Communication Technologies).

The application of cloud computing in agriculture

The role of cloud computing extends way beyond Agriculture App Development. It can be of immense help to users in real-time data access, computation, and storage. The best part is that the users do not need to worry or know about the configuration and physical location of the systems that deliver the service.

On that note, here’s outlining some of the uses and features of cloud in agriculture:

Capturing crop information

It is able to capture all the information related to crops grown in recent years. Thus, cloud adoption in agriculture can help the farmers decide on what they should grow next on particular farmland. Cloud technology can be used to store regional weather data and weather forecasts for a particular duration. Even this is crucial in helping farmers make sound decisions about crops.

Gathering soil information

Agriculture App Development also focuses on collecting soil information. Apart from data about soil profile, it also provides an idea of the soil trends in the past, which is instrumental in predicting future trends. For instance, is the soil getting acidic, or what are the other noticeable changes in soil composition?

Capturing cultivators’ data

Authorities can capture, monitor, and study the activities and involvement of the local cultivators. This is one of the features of cloud in agriculture that helps in the identification of the core agricultural areas that are useful for policymakers trying to frame the strategies.

Availability of expert consultation

Agriculture App Development has ensured that solutions are readily available for common problems frequently faced by the farmers. In fact, some apps also help them in getting experts’ opinions on specific problems, within a short time.

Offering eCommerce access

Farmers are usually unable to bring their produce to the market directly. The middlemen come up in between them and the retail, which ultimately leads to the exploitation of the cultivators. Using the cloud technologies, farmers can now bring their produce directly to the retailers or end-users.

Effective information sharing

Scientists involved in agricultural research can use the cloud to directly share their suggestions and discoveries related to using modern techniques for cultivation and fertilizer usage.

The challenges to cloud adoption in the agricultural sector

Despite the long list of helpful applications, cloud adoption in agriculture can run into bottlenecks because of multiple reasons. Firstly, cloud services are free from political boundaries, which means that different cyber laws from various countries can cause problems.

Other challenges also exist in the form of security of services and data, though this can be tackled by choosing a reputed cloud service provider in the market.

A prerequisite for making the best use of cloud computing abilities is the high-speed internet connection. A slow-running internet or when the cloud servers are backed up for the moment, the instant access to cloud functionalities might not be possible.

The position of countries in agricultural cloud adoption

Though the spread of cloud computing in agriculture took some time to catch on, Japan has emerged as the leader in cloud migration, even in this sector. Japan is closely followed by China and the U.S.A. The good news is that even parts of Eastern Africa have tapped into cloud capabilities, though the practice is yet to take off completely.

Among the Asian countries, Korea is in the eighth position, Singapore at the tenth, Malaysia at the thirteenth, and India in the nineteenth. A surprising entry to the list is Bhutan, which is a country that has been pretty late in joining the cloud party. However, at present, it has adopted features of cloud in agriculture and other important sectors.

Read Also – Agri Data Collection Tool – Use Case

Endnote

The agriculture industry is becoming increasingly reliant on data, and the growing rate of cloud adoption in agriculture is clear evidence of that. As enormous amounts of crucial agricultural data is stored in the clouds, it becomes easier to process the data and take timely actions to address problems before they turn detrimental to productivity.

Prediction: 80% of Enterprise IT Will Move To the Cloud By 2025

Posted by: Arul karuppannan Posted on: July 31, 2020 Cloud Computing , cloud computing predictions 2025 , cloud computing services , enterprise IT solutions , future cloud technology predictions

How are the information technology systems going to look like in a major business organization by 2025? Many predictions have been made in that regard, but the one that has really become the talk of the town is the idea that 80 percent of the enterprise workloads will shift to cloud by 2025. That’s a pretty big statement to make about enterprise IT solutions.

It also naturally raises a major question. Why haven’t cloud computing already started to be embraced by those crucial, enterprise workloads? After all, if an inevitable shift in the cloud is due by 2025, according to future cloud technology predictions, then the changes should start showing in a big way.

So, what exactly is at stake for the companies working with high-performance and high-value applications? Is the prediction really going to come true or are we not ready for it yet? Let’s found out!

Need to look beyond the capabilities of early cloud infrastructure

It would be wrong to assume that big business has anything against cloud computing services. In fact, there are companies that run business processes worth billions of dollars in annual revenue on the cloud. So, what’s the glitch?

As you can easily guess, the flow of revenue is a crucial thing, and it has to be maintained under all circumstances. Even tech problems should not affect the revenue flow, and neither should the tech-related issues like a data breach, an outage, or a sudden increase in demand.

Moreover, for the future cloud technology predictions to come true, there is also a demand to deliver the fastest response time for even the most complicated account activation processes. The company will not be ready to make decisions that threaten their performance.

This does not mean that the IT teams do not need enterprise IT solutions to reduce costs. Of course, they want to cut costs. In fact, the IT teams have a prime responsibility to provide three important things at all times: efficiency, effectiveness, and risk mitigation. There are three questions asked in every decision made by the IT teams:

Does it get the job done like it’s supposed to?
Is it affordable enough for buying and maintaining?
Is it able to avoid risks and contribute to viable business continuity?

Each attribute of the solutions they find has to include the answers to all of these three questions.

So, it is a rare expectation when businesses are ready to put the mission-based workloads on the first-generation cloud. The first-generation cloud computing services are simply not made for it. In fact, they were made to enable the tenants of the cloud to share the commodity storage and servers for maximizing their profits. And, there is no problem with that approach as far as low-risk workload and disposable environments are concerned.

But, what about almost real-time processing involving millions and billions of dollars’ worth of revenue? Well, then it doesn’t really feel like a great solution.

So, if the cloud providers continue with this first-generation cloud architecture, with its shared hardware, then the future cloud technology predictions will never be fulfilled.

The good news is that things are evolving for the better with the second-generation cloud architects. The second-generation cloud is all about a fundamental reshaping of the traditional public cloud. It aims to offer the security, reliability, and computing power needed to run even the highly demanding business applications. And, the best part is that they go beyond the limited capabilities of the first-generation cloud infrastructure.

Considering the efficiency of the second-generation cloud solutions

When it comes to running a portfolio of the enterprise applications in the first-generation cloud architecture, or even in an on-premise data center, you have highly skilled teams to handle estates or large pools of IT resources, which includes databases, storage, networks, and computing systems. The teams will manage your security threats, perform necessary upgrades, patch software, and manage all kinds of operational hurdles.

For instance, any conventional database estate can have hundreds of developers. Each of these developers will have many database subscriptions to use for app testing and development across multiple projects, and not forget, countless production databases. And, of course, this depicts a big estate. But, it’s certainly not the biggest estate by any measure.

Being a tenant of first-generation cloud computing services means asking some pretty hard questions about estate management:

Who is responsible for applying upgrades and patches?
Who handles responding to and mitigating security threats?
Who manages the storage and database when the limits are hit?
How many people do you need to hire, according to your cloud computing services, for taking care of their services?

This is where the second-generation cloud services win and get closer to fulfilling future cloud technology predictions. The premier cloud solutions are able to handle all of the above factors for the tenants. The modern cloud solutions have autonomous and self-driving database. These are made to secure, update, patch, tune, and provision itself without the need for human intervention. All of these administrative tasks are handled by the skilled in-house staff of the first-generation cloud’s tenants.

Freedom from these responsibilities enables the employees to pay attention to the areas where it’s needed, such as making the best use of the company’s data and working with the app developers in creating better apps for the employees and customers.

The modern enterprise IT solutions believe that this newfound efficiency and freedom for the IT teams will enable the businesses to shift their most critical and demanding projects to the cloud.

Taking care of business continuity and predictable performance

It is important to reduce the ongoing ownership costs, but the cost is not the only area of concern for mission-critical processes. In fact, the cost is secondary to business continuity and predictable performance. The performance levels have been built into the on-premise operations of the companies, and they can’t shift to the cloud by neglecting them.

The need of the hour is a powerful software and hardware system made to offer extreme performances for the database workloads. There should be cloud-based and on-premise versions of the enterprise IT solutions that must be popular with large institutions like telecoms and banks.

When the IT organizations in these large institutions are comfortable with this on-premise enterprise IT solutions, they will have no problem in migrating that to the cloud. It matches up to the present record system that has been made to deliver the exact business needs.

Though the second-generation cloud architecture is made to provide advanced enterprise apps in the cloud, it has to look beyond it. They need to lend the security and performance to the cloud-native applications for meeting real-world demands and integrating with the rest of the on-premise applications.

Summing up

So, the future cloud technology predictions can come true because of the enterprise-grade, second-generation cloud architectures that will not only ensure cost savings, but also meet the IT organization’s criteria of business continuity, efficiency, and effectiveness.

Moreover, it will also show the way to continued innovation, which is not possible through on-premise software and data centers. But, that’s a whole new subject altogether. For now, the fact is that the prediction is not too far off the mark if the right path is followed.

Top Technology Trends that will redefine a Post-Corona Pandemic world

Posted by: Arul karuppannan Posted on: July 23, 2020 coronavirus business trends , coronavirus technology trends , covid technology trends , Post Corona Technology Trends , Technology Trends 2021

With the global onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, our lives and lifestyles have been disrupted like never before. Governments have shuttered non-essential services to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, educational institutes have resorted to online classes, and work from home has become the new normal for most businesses.

The advancement of technology and our dependence on it was already on a rise before the lockdown. And, this was simply accelerated further in the new reality brought in by the COVID-19 situation.

In this scenario, where the focus is on mitigating the challenges brought up by the pandemic, modern technology has offered several solutions to make life a lot easier for everyone.

Having said that, here are the top trends in technology that have emerged in the pandemic world, which will continue to reign even after the global crisis is averted.

The multiple avenues of online education

Due to the lockdown, schools and colleges have had to resort to online classes to get things done. Video conferencing has become commonplace and increased demand has been noted for e-learning resources.

A major spurt in growth has also been noted in the learning apps as the students are more reliant on their mobile phones now to understand the concepts taught in class. Even tests and assessments are being conducted online.

These trends of online education are expected to continue in the post-pandemic world, as well. After all, both the learners and the educators understand that it’s still some time before things become completely normal, and so, they will have to complete a major chunk of their curriculum online.

Virtual meetings over face-to-face sessions

Discussing post corona technology trends remains incomplete without mentioning the remote meetings. After all, the travel restrictions due to lockdowns have meant replacing conference rooms and face-to-face meetings with the virtual meetings.

Applications like Google Meet and Zoom have seen a sudden surge in user base. In fact, Zoom already has over 300 million daily users, with new users joining the platform every single day.

From small meetings with four to five participants to huge seminars with thousands of members, everything has moved online already. And, the trend will continue even in the post-pandemic world not only because maintaining social distance will still be important, but also because of the huge cost-savings it ensures.

Embracing the next generation network of 5G

As the demand rises for networks with speed and higher bandwidth because of remote working, 5G will see faster adoption. It is the next step in network evolution that has been designed keeping in mind the service architecture.

5G service is based on the Slice network that caters to a specific type of service, such as low latency apps and IoT. So, in remote use cases where latency is an important parameter, current network solutions can never perform as well as 5G.

Communication companies to rely on shared spectrum

Be it catching up on Netflix, joining a virtual meeting, or participating in online classes, more content will be consumed on mobile devices. Though mobile networks were the major content transmitters even before COVID-19, the dependence on it will increase tremendously in the post-corona world. The problem is that the mobile networks will get overburdened under the pressure of such load.

So, communication companies have resorted to a shared spectrum for improving user experience and preventing network congestion. It refers to the optimum utilization of airwaves to enable multiple user categories to share the same frequency bands safely.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning-based communications

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) will continue to dominate technology trends 2021. Communications carried out using the shared spectrum of AI/ML systems are able to constantly monitor the load on different networks.

Depending on the network load, data type, and a number of users, the AI/ML system will help networks to select the right parameters for delivering content. For instance, networks will improve user experience considerably by switching from one spectrum to the other in real-time.

Investments in virtualization over physical infrastructure

Mobile operators will need to improve their network infrastructure to support the huge volumes of data. Since improving physical infrastructure is quite expensive, most operators will go for virtualization for reducing capital expenditure and operational expenses.

Virtualization would also mean open network architecture and dis-aggregation. It gives way for newer players and innovation to offer cutting-edge technology leading to better management of the network.

Better internet connectivity in rural areas

The lockdown led to a sudden case of reverse migration from the urban to rural areas. Keeping aside the question of when they will choose to return, there is no denying the fact that some of the urban amenities will follow them back to their hometown. And, the availability of 24-hour internet is one of those amenities.

As the demand for high-speed internet increases in rural areas, it will open up a world of opportunities for service providers and users. Greater access to e-commerce, telemedicine, and tele-education is beneficial for all.

Multiple innovative and efficient wireless technologies have come up on the forefront to provide cost-effective and fast alternatives to the network solutions for the rapid deployment of nationwide connectivity.

Increased proliferation of smart devices

Smart devices with an internet connection have already rapidly proliferated in the market. With the social distancing regulations, the post-pandemic world will see a growth in the use of such devices. In fact, we are not too far from seeing smart devices being used in smart homes.

The smart devices will need regular software updates that will get transmitted through the internet. Companies can use 5G for broadcasting software upgrade patches to all the branded devices. The best part is that this will reduce the load on mobile networks while being a cost-effective solution.

Monitoring solutions and remote sensors at the forefront

The restrictions on commuting will lead to a rise in the use of monitoring solutions and remote sensors. Improved monitors and sensors will be installed in remote areas, such as mines, warehouses, remote factories, remote factories, oil rigs, and agricultural fields.

These locations will be monitored and controlled from one central point. Fixed wireless access will be ensured for providing connecting between the remote locations and the central point of control.

Asset tracking solutions to become satellite-based

In the areas where mobile network is not smooth or fast enough, an increase in the use of remote asset tracking will be noted. After all, movable assets like fishing boats, trucks, and trains will move consistently in such areas, even when the mobile signal is not great.

Due to the lack of proper mobile network connectivity, the best alternative available is satellite connectivity. Satellite connectivity will help in sending and receiving data from the central control point.

Takeaway

The trends show a clear indication that technology is going to play a major role in reshaping the post-pandemic world. And, as per the forecast of the top technology companies, it is also pretty evident that the businesses failing to keep up with these developments are going to fall behind in conversions and customer retention.

So, it’s time to buckle up, arm ourselves with the latest technology, and face the challenges of the pandemic head-on.

What will be the new Application ideas that would rule the World during COVID-19?

Posted by: Arul karuppannan Posted on: July 13, 2020 Grocery delivery applications , Healthcare consultation applications , new app ideas amid COVID-19 , New Application ideas , Online education applications , Pickup and delivery applications , Steaming applications , web app development , Web App Ideas

The outbreak of the pandemic has not only changed our lives like never before but also brought in unforeseen circumstances for our businesses.

With international trade and supply chains being majorly affected and consumer behavior patterns significantly altered, companies are looking for better avenues to earn the profits and stay afloat in this atmosphere of uncertainty. And, one of the surest ways for the companies to ensure that is by developing a better understanding of the app environment.

From healthcare to beauty and cosmetics, the app dependency of modern customers is nothing new. Not only has this dependence increased in the past few months, but what has changed is the increasing popularity of several new app ideas amid COVID-19. This is natural because the customers being confined to their homes, relied more on apps to make their lives a bit easier in every aspect.

On that note, let’s take a look at the app ideas that ruled the world during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online education applications

As the educational institutions all over the world shut down and exams were postponed for an indefinite time, the pandemic led to an increased emphasis on online education apps.

Be it conducting online classes or downloading learning apps, parents and institutions are looking for ways to ensure that there is minimal loss of this valuable time for the students.

The good news is that several apps have stepped up to the sudden spurt in demands, and they are presenting varied avenues to keep the journey of the learners uninterrupted. And, we are not only talking about virtual classrooms on Zoom. The web app development companies have heavily worked on creating apps for e-resources, educational games, assessments, and more.

These apps are enabling students to continue their hard work in tough times, and also shaping the future of the education industry.

Grocery delivery applications

Groceries have been flying off the racks like anything with people being confined to their homes, and the online apps are making it happen.

The popularity of the grocery delivery apps is well-evident in the reports suggesting that Walmart Grocery and Instacart daily downloads surged by 160% and 218% respectively, during this time.

For some people, going to the stores to buy groceries is not a feasible option given the critical condition of the area. On the other hand, most people are avoiding it as a protective measure. Thus, ordering online is the chosen option for a majority of customers.

However, there aren’t enough grocery apps to cater to the surging demand. So, this is a viable sector for the entrepreneurs to come up with app ideas that haven’t been made.

Healthcare consultation applications

As the COVID-19 situation goes from bad to worse, the healthcare industry is facing new challenges.

What about the patients who need regular checkups or health consultations?

They can’t visit the hospitals for the fear of being infected and they can’t get the doctors to their homes for the same reason. So, what alternative do they have to rely on?

As a result, people are looking for remote healthcare solutions to navigate the consequences and impact of the outbreak without letting it affect their health condition. Healthcare apps have seen a 70% increase in weekly usage ever since lockdown was imposed all over the world.

These are the times when there is a serious need for apps that let patients reach their healthcare professionals remotely. As digital healthcare is here to stay, looking into mobile app solutions for it can be profitable for the entrepreneurs.

Fitness and wellness applications

In the past couple of years, the awareness about having a healthy lifestyle with special focus on overall wellness and fitness has increased. But, the fitness centers and gyms have been closed for an indefinite time due to the pandemic.

This has increased the shift towards digital workout programs and fitness apps that helps people maintain their workout routine from home. Social distancing has increased the usage of fitness apps, which has helped the health and fitness industry to deal with the ongoing uncertainties.

Right from online workout apps, meditation guides, calorie counters, to yoga apps, the potential for growth is undeniably high in this sector. Several new apps in this sector have already been launched, and many more are on the way for sure.

Pickup and delivery applications

Pickup and delivery services have been a lifesaver for people stuck to their homes in the lockdown. In fact, delivery services have registered a major spike in demand amidst the outbreak of the virus.

Many companies who did not have such services of their own also started relying on thirty parties to come to their aid. And, the delivery apps have to help both the customers and those companies.

The businesses that solely have brick and mortar existence have found it hard to maintain sustainability in this market. It is important for them to realize the role played by digital media and plan a more diversified revenue stream. These are dark times, and the only way out for businesses is to turn this situation into an opportunity to look for a better alternative. Reaching out to the customers online is the alternative they need to get sales to boost.

People are still keen on buying your products and availing of your services. You will just have to find a way to let them get it through the apps. You can hire mobile app developers to create a medicine or food delivery app to ensure a more profitable presence for your offline store. Rising above the pandemic slump of your business will not seem too hard in that case.

Steaming applications

Not being able to venture out of their homes and with the movie theatres being closed for an indefinite time, people turned to online streaming to spend the extra time they had on their hands.

The major streaming apps, such as Netflix and Amazon have had record viewership during this time. In fact, the streaming giant Netflix has added 15 million new subscribers amid COVID-19, making it edge past its competition. New streaming platforms, like HBO Max, were also launched during this time.

Cable TVs are becoming increasingly obsolete, streaming is the future of online content. And, the faster you jump on the bandwagon, the better it is for your brand.

However, there is a small catch to overcome when it comes to streaming apps. The competition is stiff in the field, with heavyweights like Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, and more in the ring. For any new entrant to stand out, it will have to bring something extra to the plate.

Wrapping up

COVID-19 was like a major jolt for the global business world as it completely changed the rules of the game. While no one has any tried and tested practices to deal with such an unprecedented situation resulting from the pandemic, the app ideas mentioned above have certainly shown signs of hope for many entrepreneurs.

The customers are going online with an increased reliance on mobile technology, and that is where your business needs to be, as well. So, regardless of whether

The Symbiosis of Business and Technology: How Not To Lose In This Race To Competitors

Posted by: Arul karuppannan Posted on: June 23, 2020 big data analytics tool , Business and Technology , Business Technology , cloud computing solution , mobile marketing

Technology has been around for decades. However, it is now at a point where our existence is almost entirely dependent on technology — in our personal lives and business, especially the latter. Tech-dependent businesses have normalized the symbiosis between business and technology. A company that does not engage technology to help with daily operations, marketing, sales, customer service, and more is leaving all of their money on the table.

According to Nicole Garrison, marketing director at custom writing service review platform, Pick The Writer, “a business without tech infusion is like riding a moped on the expressway when everyone else is zipping past you in their race cars.” The point is that you’re not going to make it anywhere at the right time, and by the time you get to your destination, there will be no good parking spots left.

Leveraging tech in every aspect of a business is so common-sense today. Eight out of every ten business owners believe tech helps them uncover and create more revenue opportunities. It’s no longer a question of whether tech can boost business, it’s about which technologies to use and the best way to integrate them seamlessly.

In this tech era, there’s a lot you can gain by embracing technology: smaller operation costs, more streamlined business processes, improved productivity, automation, ease of scaling, and more. Stop sticking to the technology myth that you can successfully start and grow a business without technology.

If you are not using tech, you are already playing catch up. Here are a few steps you can take today to ensure that the rest of the world and your competitors do not leave you behind in this tech race.

Go Mobile:

This is one of the most common sense tech trends to leverage today. From Baby Boomers down to Gen Z, most people access the internet and make purchases via mobile devices. It’s just the way things are now, and Google has since responded by prioritizing their search algorithm for mobile traffic. This positioning is vital for the way you rank on SERPs.

To make your website mobile-friendly, you have to consider a lot of things:

Ensure that you’re using a responsive theme
Optimize for site speed
Utilize a viewport meta tag
Leverage high-res images
Use the right font size
Use a simple interface and navigation menu

There’s a lot more to consider here to ensure that your visitors experience your information, services, and products in the best possible way. Beyond the browser environment, your mobile product should ideally come in the form of a mobile app as well.

This mobile-first focus also makes it easy for you to leverage tons of available mobile marketing and sales strategies out there, like chatbot and SMS marketing, integrating a mobile payment feature on your app, and much more.

Market on social media:

Social media today is less about interacting with friends and more about businesses and marketing. In the last decade, social media has continued to play an increasingly massive role in the way businesses market their products/services and engage with their audience.

Facebook alone has over 2.6 billion active monthly visitors and 1.73 billion active daily visitors. And then there’s Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, Pinterest, and many others. That’s a lot of people just waiting to engage with your business, so if you don’t have a robust social media marketing strategy, you’re at a considerable disadvantage.

The first thing you need to maximize the benefits of social media is to build a robust social media presence on all the channels where your audience hangs out. Target them with valuable content, blog posts, Q&As, polls, hashtags challenges, and so on. Next, you can now kickstart marketing campaigns on these platforms via:

Ads to promote your products/services
Influencer collaborations
Contests and giveaways
Free actionable information
Extensive customer service

Social media marketing is already a proven ROI generator in this business tech race. Just stick to the significant channels your audience uses and be sure you are taking all the right steps.

Use cloud computing to secure your business data:

Every business accrues a lot of sensitive customer info and business data every day. It is wise to pull out all the stops to protect this data from data breaches and hackers. If you think your business’s information is safe on your computer, server, and a backup drive, think again.

Leveraging cloud computing is a no-brainer to optimize data security. Thousands of huge brands are already leading the pack in this regard: Facebook, Dropbox, Google Drive, Zoho, and more.

Using tech solutions like Zoho, you can free yourself from the 9 to 5 desk. You can work from anywhere and handle all your marketing, invoicing, team interactions, payroll, collaborations, and more. With a cloud computing solution, your company’s data won’t be at risk even if you lose all your work devices. You’ll still be able to access all your files and data from anywhere and with any device.

With cloud computing, you have improved productivity, reduced operating costs, and seamless daily operations. And all these while maintaining your mobility and a flexible work schedule.

Read Also – Strategies with Hybrid cloud in 2020

Use Big Data analytics tools:

For that extra laser focus on your marketing efforts, you need to leverage a big data analytics tool. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools fall under this as well. Thankfully, there are hundreds of such tools in the market today. Every day, netizens are generating petabytes of data that is being monitored and collected by huge data companies like Google.

Utilizing big data tech tools will help you to:

Understand your audience’s preferences, market conditions, and competitor’s moves
Enhance your performance and productivity
Reduce your level of risk as a result of actionable insights
Tweak your product and services the right way
Assess and enhance your online reputation

To put it simply, having access to big data helps you better understand your customer’s behavior and experience, boost performance, and better your products/services.

Track and monitor your progress:

After using all the tech above, you need a way to track all your marketing efforts, analyze their results, and check them against your campaign objectives. You can do these manually. This assessment is what tracking and monitoring tools help you to handle.

With these tools, you can monitor so many growth metrics to ensure you’re heading in the direction of your growth objectives. Metrics like customer retention, cost per customer acquisition, sales from revenue, operating productivity, monthly profit or loss, size of inventory, and so on.

These evaluation tools will help you know what you’re doing right and what needs to be tweaked or thrown out. After all, you don’t want to be spending your marketing budget on campaigns that do not help your productivity or growth.

Final Words:

A big reason some business owners and entrepreneurs still believe in the technology myth is that they do not take the time to understand their company’s internal processes and needs thoroughly. This is how you discover the right tech tools for you and how best to deploy them. And with time, testing, and tweaking, you will have yourself a robust and efficient technology-powered business.

There are a lot more tools and areas of tech integration not covered in this post. But utilizing the tools above is a great place to start, so your competitors do not take all the choice parking spots before you.

Managing the Commercial Impact of the Coronavirus: Implications for the Technology Industry

Posted by: Arul karuppannan Posted on: June 17, 2020 COVID-19 pandemic , Impacts of Corona in Tech Industry , IT solutions , tech companies

With the COVID-19 pandemic being spread over a hundred countries, the world is facing a never seen before crisis of epic proportions. As the outbreak wreaks havoc on the industries and markets all over the world, business organizations are facing unique challenges. Navigating these challenges successfully will need comprehensive and thoughtful planning.

The epicenter of the CoVID-19 outbreak was the Wuhan region of China, which is a significant manufacturing hub worldwide. It has further spread to all other manufacturing hotspots of the world, hitting the global economy in a way that was last seen in 2003 during the SARS outbreak.

As the situation continues to get graver by the day, the time has come for the tech industry to figure out appropriate response actions for mitigating the risk and preparing for ways to deal with the effects of the pandemic. In this situation, the IT Consulting Service industry needs to focus on the establishment of an interdisciplinary response team for identifying, assessing, and managing the risks.

The tech companies have already closed their offices and stores, warned the employees, and restricted them from traveling. While these are all necessary steps for preventing the virus from spreading further, the worries about disrupted supply chains and dwindling profits loom large.

With that in mind, let’s delve deeper today about the implications of the pandemic on the tech industry and the ways to manage its commercial impact.

Establishing communication with critical suppliers

Companies need to assess the impact of the disruptions or delays in the delivery of critical parts and materials. It is important to contact the suppliers to understand the condition of inventories they have and the actions that are being taken by them to make sure that there is the least disruption to deliveries of components and parts.

It is more crucial more the tech companies that have their major suppliers in the hardest-hit nations of the world, like China. Moreover, companies also need to think about the redeployment of resources for building added reserves of parts and bringing alternative suppliers onboard for mitigating the impact of delays in the deliveries from major suppliers.

Reviewing contracts for determining Force Majeure rights

Force majeure is a legal principle under which a party is not held liable for being unable to fulfill its contractual obligations as the circumstances that are beyond the control of the party. Most of the force majeure requirements list out epidemics, diseases, or social distancing, but many of these have general provisions that cover things like natural calamity, acts of government, acts of God, and the likes.

The COVID -19 pandemic is also presenting such a unique situation that has both a natural component, in the form of the virus outbreak, and a government component, in the form of the announced lockdowns. Parties need to review the provisions of force majeure in the contracts and determine whether the clauses apply to the situation.

Conserving the government decrees and location

The Chinese finance ministry has issued the declaration that CoVID-19 is an event that can be termed as force majeure, as it is something similar to a natural calamity.

In the same way, the National Solar Energy Federation of India has issued requests to the respected Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to declare coronavirus as a force majeure event. But, besides checking the rules of force majeure and other decrees by the ministries, manufacturers will still require to prove that they are not being able to perform because of the event.

Reviewing contracts for determining material adverse changes

A material adverse change (MAC) is the clause that offers a way for both sides of transactions to allocate risks between closing and signing, and it is used in many areas of the agreement. The examples of such areas are in the warranties and representation parts that specify a lack of MAC taking place after a certain date.

It can be defined as the condition, development, circumstance, or event that, can either in aggregate or individually, be expected to levy an adverse impact on the financial conditions, the result of operations, or any other aspects of the business of the main organization and its subsidiaries.

A tech company can resort to MAC depending upon:

The way the provision gets authored
The way the provision is interpreted under the governing law of the contract
The real impact on the business in question

As the complete impact of this outbreak is still not very clear, whether or not a MAC provision has been invoked or not still remains unclear. Thus, the companies will have to evaluate the constant effects of the outbreak on the businesses facing the issue as per the dictates of the agreement.

Monitoring customer demands

Companies need to monitor customers to make sure that they comply with the contractual obligations, which includes timely payments for the parts sent to the customers. Keeping the present disruptions in mind, the tech companies need to come up with a plan to manage communications with their counterparties, even though detailed strategic considerations come into play when taking such steps.

The customers who have a higher risk of non-payment can be put into contractual terms of payment by the company. However, the companies need to assess if the applicable law and the circumstances allow the parties to assert the basis for pausing or avoiding performance under the contracts and figure out the consequences of such defaults and breaches.

Considering the aspects of cybersecurity

It is natural for many companies to go for ‘work from home’ programs because of the nationwide lockdowns. Though it lets the businesses continue their work, it also leads to an increased cybersecurity risk by enabling multiple avenues for unauthorized access to the information and systems of the company. Thus, companies need to review the present cybersecurity controls and decide if these need any upgrading or enhancements.

For instance, the best practices need to implement two-factor authentication for getting through to the company’s webmail and networks and the encryptions on mobiles and laptops. Companies need to make sure that there is sufficient physical security and secured information control to prepare for such long-term office closures.

The employees also need to be warned beforehand that there is an increased risk for phishing attacks, and it can even extend to those innocent emails that come with subjects like ‘importance notice.’

Moreover, there have to be stricter policies for governing the right usage of company devices and systems and storing and transferring company information. Employees working from home might forward the information on their own emails or keep those on their unprotected laptops. Thus, reminding them about strict company policies is important.

Lastly, companies need to keep in mind the privacy laws at the time of collecting such information about clients and employees that they have not collected previously, like travel details and health information.

Summing up

The tech industry needs to take important steps now to mitigate the risks that are bound to come to the forefront because of the coronavirus. The crisis is bound to hit hard, but the important thing is the effective management of the situation.

By taking the right steps, and more importantly, taking those steps in time, some of the negative impacts of the pandemic on the industry can be mitigated.

How Wearable Devices Influencing Personal Health?

Posted by: Arul karuppannan Posted on: June 8, 2020 Healthcare Medical Apps , wearable devices in healthcare , wearable healthcare devices , Wearable Healthcare Solutions , Wearable Healthcare Trends

In this busy modern world, taking care of your health in a traditional way is a time-consuming affair. Making regular appointments with your doctor to monitor your health, undergoing tests, waiting for results, and so on: it’s a long process for sure.

Wouldn’t it have been so amazing if you just had a device that can constantly monitor your health to let you know the moment anything goes wrong? Oh, wait! There are devices like that! And, they are the wearable devices that act as your constant health observers.

So, how do these Wearable Healthcare Solutions influence your personal health and wellness? Let’s find out!

Role of wearable devices on health and wellness

Wearable devices these days are unobtrusive and user-friendly and can be worn not just as accessories but even as implants. The application field of wearable technology has expanded, and now, both the patients and the doctors are vouching highly for it.

An increasing number of people are relying on fitness trackers and smartwatches, loaded with Healthcare Medical Apps, to track their well-being and level of activity. In fact, doctors are providing patients with monitoring devices for controlling diseases and taking proactive steps for mitigating all possible consequences.

Research suggests that the global market of wearable healthcare devices hit fourteen billion dollars by the year 2022: a major leap from the six billion dollars in 2017. This rapid rate of growth is due to technological advancements in medical equipment, the wide-reaching smartphone expansion, and the creation of high-end apps by the Healthcare Mobile App Development Companies. In fact, people are also more health-conscious now and they are more acceptable towards wearable technology in their daily lives.

The fact that wearable healthcare tech lets the doctors and patients be constantly connected is another major plus. Patients get to take charge of their health situation at all times of the day, without the need to leave their work or home, and they can even get feedback from their doctors in real-time. Patients get to avoid frequent doctor appointments and hospital visits, which also helps in better management of their expenses and stress.

Wearable healthcare devices let the doctors devote all their attention to their patients without even spending too much time. Features like alerting mechanisms and wireless data transfers notify your healthcare practitioner or hospital. So, there is always the option to take proactive measures if the situation demands.

Wearable personal healthcare devices

Wearable healthcare technology includes a wide range of devices, which can be put into three major categories.

In terms of application, three subcategories exist, that is, uses for home healthcare, remote patient monitoring, and fitness, and sports. Considering the types of wearable devices, there are smart clothing, patches, activity trackers, and smartwatches.

Based on the purpose of use, two subcategories exist, namely, diagnostic and monitoring devices, and therapeutic devices. The former measures your glucose level, pulse, heart rate, blood pressure, and so on, and the latter provides respiratory relief, pump insulin, manages pain, and so on.

Wearable healthcare devices represent a fast-growing area of the market, and many new entrants are coming up every year. However, the top three market players in wearables are FitBit, Xiaomi, and Apple.

Factors leading to the popularity of healthcare wearables

The growing number of smartphone users
Smart sensor integration in consumer devices
An accessible way of getting medical support
Greater control in personal health management
Increased health awareness
Introduction of better devices by top companies

The issues with greater implementation of wearable tech

The devices are still pretty expensive
No common standard
Data security troubles
Interoperability concerns

Leading trends in wearable healthcare devices

The ways in which wearable devices influence personal health are changing, and so is the technology used in these devices. Keeping all that in mind, these Wearable Healthcare Trends come to the forefront.

Expanding the range of wearable devices

Wearable developers are giving the most attention to wearable glasses, trackers, and smartwatches. In fact, smart implants are also rising in their popularity. Though other wearable devices are seeing lesser development than these, the potential for improvement is immense there also.

The present trend is to come up with more devices for different body parts, so there is an expansion in the range of healthcare wearables. It’s not an exaggeration to say that a time will come when people will be able to monitor their entire body through wearable devices.

Wearable devices are getting smaller

Wearables were clunky and big initially, and that discouraged most customers from buying them. The biggest trend now is to bring down the size of the device and make it either imperceptible or fashionable. Many devices are made in a way that they can be worn as accessories on different body parts, and others are so small that they aren’t even visible on the body or under the clothes.

The aim of the trend is to deliver devices that are lightweight and compact and at the same time, affordable and agile for every user out there. The companies have understood that smaller devices drive greater user engagement.

Wearable apps becoming smarter with AI and VR

Wearable healthcare application development has been keeping up with the progress of modern technologies. An increasing number of applications are being created using machine learning, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality.

The apps are becoming smarter and performing more work. For example, doctors get reports where results are already there as delivered by the algorithms of machine learning, so there is no need to spend extra time reading papers and researching. It lets them focus on the treatment of patients. Surgeons can now wear VR glasses at the time of operating for seeing X-rays with going anywhere or getting their attention diverted from the work.

Patient-doctor model personalization

The individuals today do not have the time to miss out on work and stay sick, and they need the fastest possible treatment, which a wearable device can make possible. Huge bulks of data that body sensors collect facilitate personalization of healthcare experiences. In the near future, every patient will get the treatment not just in keeping with the clinical standards and based on average results but rather based on personal conditions and health data.

So, the way of communication for the healthcare practitioners with the patients is changing from generalized to personalize. Patient information is all set to become easily accessible and that will let the practitioners get proper treatment ideas faster.

Going from a reactive approach to a proactive one

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and so said the famous Benjamin Franklin. The statement holds a special value when it comes to healthcare. Wearable devices are shifting the paradigm significantly and changing medicine from reactive to preventive.

Medicine is no longer something that waits for a person to be sick and then delivers treatment, but rather thanks to the wearables, it is now becoming something that is preventing a healthy person from falling sick due to measures taken in time. This shift enabled by wearable devices has reduced healthcare costs for the patients, increased their duration and quality of life, and helped the healthcare professionals to do their job better.

Data Analytics vs. Big Data vs. Data Science – A detailed comparison

Posted by: Arul karuppannan Posted on: June 2, 2020 Big Data vs. Data Science , Data Analytics Solutions , Data Analytics vs Data Science , Data Analytics vs. Big Data

In the digital world, the volume of unstructured data is rising every day. With this elephantine data, various avenues have been developed in the Big Data landscape, including Data Analytics and Data Science. Although people generally use the terms interchangeably, all of them perform varying but significant jobs. Also, there is a huge difference between these concepts.

To know the difference between these three jargon, let us first understand data. The collection of facts, as well as bits of information, is known as data. There are two types of data – structured and unstructured data.

Structured data is the one that has a well-defined structure and order. Because it is well-defined and consistent, it is easy to store as well as access it.
Unstructured data is the inconsistent type of data that does not have any format, sequence, and structure. It is error-prone when indexing is performed on it. This is why it is not easy to operate and understand unstructured data.

Data is amongst the biggest assets a company possesses in the current time. Consider bank payments. When you shop online, merchants collect your data related to your transactions, as well as of other shoppers, like –

Mode of payment
Time of transaction
Date of payment
Amount
Frequency

Then, the merchants analyze this data and make data products based on these parameters, which exclude customers’ personal information. These data products are then sold to banks that use this information to target potential customers by offering exciting offers to them based on these data products. As a result, they are able to increase their customer base.

Understanding Big Data

Big Data refers to a significant amount of data and deals with complex and large sets of data that conventional data processing systems cannot handle. Big Data has techniques and tools that extract structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data, store this data systematically, and then produce useful information from it. There are six characteristics of Big Data, which are mentioned below.

Variety – There is a wide range of data collected from various sources, which can be videos, images, audio files, unstructured data, or documents. Big Data tolls help in processing all types of data.

Volume – The volume of data generated each day from various sources is immense. Using Big Data tools, storing huge amounts of data has become easier.

Veracity – This relates to the quality of data collected. Businesses should take care of data quality while gathering it so that information is relevant.

Velocity – The number of users of the internet is growing aggressively in the digital era. Because of this, the velocity of data generation gets enhanced. Velocity here means how fast data generation along with its processing is occurring. Velocity is used to comprehend trends in data as well as meet market demands.

Variability – Market trends keep on changing, and how often they change implies variability. Big Data aids in managing it that benefits businesses to design and offer the latest products.

Value – The aim of Big Data is to collect data that is valuable for the business. This helps them increase their profits and compete in the market.

Understanding Data Analytics

The aim of Data Analytics is to give operational insight into complicated business situations. The primary concern of data analyst is to look into historical data from a contemporary perspective and then, find challenging and new business scenarios to develop the data analytics solutions. After doing so, they apply powerful methodologies to search for better solutions.

A data analyst predicts upcoming opportunities that can be exploited by the company. So, the duties of a data scientist and a data analyst are similar to one another. But they vary in the way they are implemented. This is how a data analyst functions –

A data analyst collects data for their company from different sources.
They perform the exploratory Data Analytics for visualizing the data.
The data analyst then cleans and filters the data by checking reports made with the help of Data Analytics tools.
Then, the data is examined with a data visualization tool.
They also build useful strategies for optimizing the data’s statistical analysis.
This helps businesses note down the market trend or growth.

Understanding Data Science

You can understand Data Science as the dicing and slicing of huge chunks of data. Data Science uses techniques for obtaining insightful trends and patterns from the data. It is the responsibility of a data scientist to uncover hidden facts in the complicated web of unstructured data. This is important because it helps in making crucial business decisions as per the market trends.

Data Science involves making of Machine Learning models as well. To understand Data Science deeply, let us understand how its life cycle.

Knowing business needs – Data scientists perform a structural analysis of a business model. They understand customer needs and market trends. This allows them to understand business requirements.

Gathering data – On the basis of business requirements, Data Science involves the collection of relevant data.

Data comprehension – After collecting data, understanding it using visualization techniques and tools is the next step.

Preparation of data – The data functions as a basis for creating an effective model and strategy. So, it needs to be prepared accordingly.

Creation of system – Using Machine Learning, Data Science helps in building models and systems on the basis of the prepared dataset. These models are used to fulfill their business needs.

Evaluation of system – Making the system is not sufficient, assessing its accuracy is also important.

Implementation of the system – After checking the system’s performance, it is placed for implementation. After that, the system is implemented.

How Are Data Analytics, Big Data, And Data Science Different?

The three concepts are contrastingly different from one another but they work together closely and deal with the same thing i.e. data. Big Data refers to gigantic and complex data sets, and deals in the types of data formed (unstructured or structured), volumes of data created, and the rate at which data is generated. Its application areas are communication, retail, financial services, and education industries.

Data Analytics refers to the procedure of analyzing data sets to draw meaningful conclusions and information from it by using specialized software and systems. The techniques and technologies of Data Analytics are broadly utilized in the commercial industries to allow businesses to make better business decisions. Data Analytics can also be understood as the process of comprehending and devising effective trends from recorded data utilizing statistics, predictive modeling, mathematics, and machine learning techniques.

Data Science refers to the interdisciplinary field about scientific processes, systems, and methods to extract insights and knowledge from raw data in different forms. In simpler terms, it is a combination of programming, statistics, problem-solving skills, and mathematics for looking at things differently, deriving trends from data, cleaning it, preparing it, and aligning the data in order to retrieve valuable information and insights from the raw data.

Conversational AI: The Next Frontier of Digital Transformation in Healthcare

Posted by: Arul karuppannan Posted on: May 22, 2020 AI Chatbots , Artificial Intelligence in healthcare , Conversational AI in healthcare , Digital Transformation in Healthcare , Healthcare App Development

In Healthcare Industry the AI-powered conversation Chatbot is offering patients a convenient way for remediating from personalized care and improved medication experiences. The present-day AI Chatbots are built to be user-friendly and can easily track the personal health data of a user participant based on the conversation itself. With the prompt level of answers and information accrued from AI Chatbots it should be only a matter of time when most people would become health conscious and dependent upon chatbot interactions. This should achieve the healthcare digital transformation trends with certainty accompanied by ‘n’ number of AI-based voice assistants and chatbots.

Moreover a lot of savvy healthcare organizations are making plans strategically to deploy conversational AI chatbots for providing customer support and also towards extending their patient engagement services. Early adopters get one real advantage by using conversational Artificial Intelligence in healthcare is that they can access to clinical engagement and better know their patient’s wellbeing in advance.

Essentially the benefits of digital transformation in healthcare is a prolonged journey where the level of trustworthiness has to be raised through removing the wide presence of legacy systems and start moving towards a modern healthcare infrastructure.

Some of the mentioned below AI Chatbot Assistants and Utilities are the upcoming new frontiers of digital transformation in the healthcare industry:

1. AI Chatbot Administration

The use of AI Chatbot is aplenty and utilizing them for guiding visitors on healthcare websites is simply tremendous. It should enable users to easily access to all healthcare services quite efficiently. Things would get more convenient for patients when it comes to scheduling appointments, reminders, and reordering medical prescriptions.

Typically chatbots are imposed with only a fewer level of privacy along with HIPAA restrictions which will leave every user to confidently ask for all kinds of health-related issues without any hesitation. This kind of chatbot application will soon provide the patients with a strict level of administration and customer support facility that can be expected anytime in the near horizon.

2. Patient Engagement

Normally chatbots were used actively in capturing customers and now with the integration of AI in healthcare this tool might be well utilized for captivating patient’s interest all through sending precise answers and extending the tech support for the wellbeing of homecare patients. The virtual connection between the chatbot and patient is strengthened literally with the presence of artificial intelligence technology along with symptom-based treatments. On the contrary when visiting a doctor for diagnosing a patient more often than not the end result is likely to be a follow-up journal without any imparted knowledge on the infectious disease thus making things even worse.

Therefore conversational AI for healthcare is forecasted to be a reliable solution for the infected patient earning them the immediate sigh of relief instantaneously. In this highly demanding world, the healthcare industries are in a helpless state and enforced to progress with digital transformation trends and meet up to consumer’s healthcare expectations through deploying Conversational AI bots.

3. Mental Health

The good purpose of developing an AI chatbot for healthcare is to essentially bring the humanized experience for patients. These levels of mutual interactions result in solving the anxiety of a patient and then build better mental health. The patient also gets the freedom to share their personnel experiences with the chatbot and then progress ahead to lead a healthy way of existence.

In addition, the patient can also request for a more medical experience that relates to the prior discussion with AI chatbot and then join in a call conversation with a healthcare professional and resolve painstaking issues at great clarity.

4. Research Treatments

Conversational AI is built-in with an ability to machine learn and then utilize the power of data remarkably well to produce the IT Solutions for Healthcare Industry. While a patient is seeking help it will be literally difficult for doctors to furnish the bearer with all the experimental solutions at once without the use of AI & ML technologies. It is also true for the healthcare researcher who engages in finding the right solution.

Beyond these technical complexities all the data presentations will become readily available in automated forms that having incredible AI outreach and support. No wonder this automation process will have compatibility freely across AI voice assistance and deliver information regarding treatment solutions in a more personalized way.

5. Claims and Billing

Basically doing with the claim procedures of medical bills or even an insurance policy is rather a cumbersome task. With the presence of Conversational AI these tasks can be easily done. The significance of using an AI chatbot is that you can effortlessly know the detailed coverage of insurance fund that is on offer and help patients to make easier claims with a status tracking facility. It will speed up the treatment procedures for a patient with Conversational AI promptly updating their medical claims to doctors prior in hand for making excellent service.

Conclusion

The integration of conversational AI into healthcare will definitely see a phenomenal change in the way every patient is getting treated along with the efficacy of doctors and nurses attending patients. However the AI chatbots are much more powerful with HIPAA compliance and can get the intuitiveness for offering to be a potential diagnostic tool in the healthcare industry.

Despite these medical advancements the present-day AI chatbots are still offering a reduced staff load with the low overhead cost for hospitals and thus serving patient’s disease clinically with greater transparency to other fellow staff members and visitors. It should urge hospitals to go for a Healthcare App development company and build the most demanding IT Solutions for their patients and consumers all the while endlessly.

All You Need To Know About Automation Testing Life Cycle

Posted by: Arul karuppannan Posted on: May 15, 2020 Automation testing , Automation Testing as a Services , Automation Testing Life Cycle , Software Testing Life Cycle , Test Automation

One of the biggest challenges that the project developers and managers face these days is the challenge of creating applications with the least possible resources and on a tight schedule. Regardless of that, the organizations still have to make sure that the applications are tested thoroughly and adequately. And, automation testing is the one thing that is letting the organizations to successfully do this.

The common notion is that Automation Testing is just another part of the Software Development Life Cycle, but getting the best possible results with it is only possible when the entire cycle of testing is followed to the T. This entire cycle of automation testing is called the Automation Testing Life Cycle.

So, if you are trying to know more about the ways of implementing the automation test life cycle to improve the quality of your products, you have come to the right place. Read on to know more about the automation testing life cycle.

The stages involved in automation testing life cycle

Automation testing life cycle runs almost parallel with the life cycle process of software development. The completely structured automation testing process involves a multi-stage procedure that includes activities needed for utilizing and introducing an automated testing tool, developing the design, and handling the environment and data.

The test design, in this case, is meant to showcase the test efforts and to offer the test team a blueprint on the capability of the test.

Here are the stages involved in automation testing life cycle:

Determination of the scope of the test automation
Choosing the proper tools for automation
Test planning, designing and strategizing
Setting the test environment
Developing and executing the test script
Analyzing and generating the test reports

Determination of the scope of the test automation

This is where the automation testing life cycle starts and the aim of this step is the identification of the viability of automation. Each aspect has to be taken into consideration to analyze this viability. Moreover, it is important to run a viability analysis on the manual testing pack, which lets the automation test in designing the testing scripts.

Given below are the things to be considered in this stage:

The modules of the product to be automated and not automated
The tests to be automated and the ways of doing that
Expertise, team size, and costs

Here are the viability checks to run before beginning the tests:

Test Case Automation Viability
AUT Automation Viability

It is important to go through the application screen under this test to mention all the UI aspects of an application for performing viability analysis effectively. Use the automation testing tool for identifying the percentage of the UI components.

Choosing the proper tools for automation

The tests are highly dependent on the tools. Thus, finding proper testing tools is one of the most important aspects of the automation testing life cycle. While searching for automation tools, you will have to consider the technologies available for the project, budget, and acquaintance of the tool with your resources, flexibility, and intuitiveness. Go for the tool that offers you an alert support team for answering your doubts.

For instance, when you are searching for an automated browser compatibility tester tool, you will have to consider the variety of browsers that are on offer, the ability to capture video journals, metadata of the automation scripts among various devices and browsers, and the mechanism for tracking bugs.

Test planning, designing and strategizing

This is another one of the vital phases in the automation testing life cycle. It deals with the ways of approaching and accomplishing the goals of test automation. Choosing the test automation blueprint is the first thing to do for the strategy phase of the cycle.

Choosing the tool depends a lot on the technologies utilized in an application. You need to understand the product before beginning the automation test.

For instance, when it comes to desktop applications, figure out the language it uses. In terms of a web application, understand the deprecated feature you need, which has to be compatible with different browsers.

At the planning phase, the team takes the decision regarding the procedure by creating guidelines and standards, software, hardware, the network for supporting the test environment, test data needs, defects in the tracking procedure, and so on.

Setting the test environment

The test cases now have to get executed using a remote machine. But, why are remote machines needed? The simple reason is that it is not an ideal world where every user uses the same machine for accessing the web-app or website you have developed.

Of course, you need to keep an eye out for the various devices, but you will also have to consider the different browsers and their versions. Your website might look different in one browser compared to another. Cross-browser testing is the process that you use for testing the web-app or website across different versions of browsers to ensure that you are able to offer an equally great user experience to all the users.

Developing and executing the test script

It is time now to execute the test scripts since the test environment has already been set. The testing team, at this stage, gets unit-tested and signed-off test scripts for performing script execution.

The test scripts need to run properly, and thus, the things given below has to be taken care of before creating the test script:

Keeping the actual needs in mind to create the test scripts
Creating a common functional method to be utilized all through the testing procedure
Ensure that you create a structured, reusable, and simple script which is not hard to understand for a third person.
Code reviews of the scripts for improved quality assurance
Making use 0f enhanced reporting

After the test script gets developed, there comes the execution part, where the given things have to be kept in mind:

Inclusion of the functional aspects of the test case
Running the test script in different platforms and environments
Batch execution for saving efforts and time, if possible
Writing a bug report when there is a failure in some functionality

The test team has to go by the pre-decided schedule for proper execution. Evaluating the test outcomes and documenting the test results care a part of this phase.

Analyzing and generating the test reports

After performing all the tests, the team starts its analysis for identifying the specific components or functionality that has shown signs of potential problems. The results of this analysis show whether it needs added test procedures and efforts or not. The test results gathered from this analysis confirms if the executed test procedures and scripts are able to find the errors.

This is the final stage of the process, and at this stage, the test reports get shared with all the stakeholders involved. The test reports are important for analyzing the performance of a web-app or website in the face of adversities.

The Endnote

Automation testing offers the most effective way of meeting the testing goals while keeping within the deadlines and taking care of the available resources. But, in order to get the expected results, you will need to go through the entire cycle, and that too, in the right environment with the right tools.