Categories
Development

Offshoring and its benefits

Benefits of offshoring

Offshoring is not a new concept; in fact companies around the world have been using it for many years. However, the growth of the Internet and the advancement in technology has made offshoring a more accessible and suitable option for business owners.

Offshoring helps increase a business’s output, improving the technical expertise, without any stress, hassle, or added cost.

What are the real business benefits of offshoring? And why are companies using offshoring you wonder? Well… here are some of the major benefits of offshoring:

Access to Skilled resources in a Cost Effective way

Finding highly skilled resources can be quite a task especially in developed countries, given the increasing cost of living. With offshoring you can recruit skilled resources in a cost effective manner. 

Reduced Risk

Having teams in different countries helps reduce your risk, provide a better marketing opportunity and also allows you to support your clients when they need it.

Continuous Business Operations

Your company can work around the clock, regardless of time zone differences if you have an offshoring partner or service provider. This in turn will help you deliver better service to your customers and also increase your client satisfaction.

Control

If you are someone who does not want to relinquish control of your operations to an external party, then offshoring is what you should be going for. It allows you to have dedicated and skilled resources that work for your company. You can get everything done the way you want it to.

Reach New Overseas Markets

When you have an offshore team in another country, you can explore new markets in different locations.

Your offshore resource can offer a better understanding of their markets, trends, and risks that you may not be aware of and help you identify profitable destinations where you can carry out your business.

Offshoring provides several benefits that can drive your business growth, and by taking advantage of all the benefits that offshoring has to offer, you can successfully build your business into a profitable one. Now that you’re aware of the key offshoring benefits, take that much needed step towards it.

Categories
Mobile App Development

iOS Mobile Application Development Process

mobile application development

Mobile applications are transforming the digital world. There is an exponential rise in the number of apps being developed and deployed.  Mobile apps are developed primarily for two dominant players – iOS and Android. 

iOS is the second most popular mobile operating system. The iOS platform is used across iOS devices such as iPhone and iPad. Developing applications for iOS involves using an iOS SDK and a different set of tools. The apps are uploaded to an apple store for customers to download.

iOS Mobile Application Development Cycle

The different phases of Mobile application development include Planning, Design, Development, Testing, and Release.

Planning

Planning is an important phase. Before developing the application, it is necessary to ascertain the time required to develop the product. A suitable project development approach has to be selected. Due to frequent changes in the mobile platform, developers prefer agile methodology for mobile app development.

Research and Analysis

There are millions of Apps available in the market. To make your app unique and downloadable it is necessary to do market research. Identify the purpose of the mobile app and the target audience. Analyzing your competitor app can help figure out what are the features to be added or removed in your application.

Design

Design involves creating a prototype or wireframe which helps to picture the flow of the app and helps to develop the application in a structured manner. The wireframe includes all possible screens and the complete functionality is captured as part of the design. Apple provides a style guide for the UI. Designers can adopt these guidelines to develop great apps that integrate seamlessly with Apple platforms.

Coding

The coding phase is the actual mobile application development phase. This phase involves choosing the right technology to build the application. iOS application development tools include:

  • iOS SDK – It is a software development kit used to build native iOS applications.  It includes tools like XCode IDE, iPhone simulator and compiler for developing applications.
  • XCode – XCode is Apple’s IDE and it includes everything to create amazing apps. Although there are other IDEs for iPhone app development like Coderunner and AppCode, XCode is preferred by developers as it is provided by Apple.
  • Programming language – iOS developers can choose either Objective C or Swift to develop an iOS app.  Swift launched by Apple is the primary language for developing iOS apps. Prior to Swift, Objective C is used to develop iOS mobile apps. It is still preferred to build robust and secure applications.
  • TestFlight – online service for testing mobile applications. It is used by developers to test the beta version of their app and get users feedback before launching the app in the App store.

Other factors to consider while developing the application:

  • Mobile app with heavy visual elements like animations is more complex to develop
  • APIs that need to be integrated with the app like push notification API
  • The App should be developed to use minimum memory while functioning

Testing

It is crucial to test the application before the launch.  Bugs and errors should be fixed prior to the launch of the application. The developers must test the application for performance and security issues. The app should be tested by actual users on different devices (iPhone versions). The more you test your app for bugs and device compatibility the better the chances of app store approval. Beta Testing is also mandatory. TestFlight provides an online testing environment to test your app.

Compliance with App store guidelines

Apple has laid out clear guidelines on their site about creating an app. All iOS app has to meet the requirements for the design, technical, content, security and privacy aspects. Developers should adhere to the guidelines while developing the app. Make sure to review the guidelines before submitting the app for review.

Submitting to the app store

To submit to the app store, register for the Apple developer program account and submit your app version for review. Mostly the app will be reviewed in 1 to 3 days and you will be notified about the status. While submitting the app the following information has to be provided – website URL, privacy policy and company name. Publishing the app in the app store involves annual charges (approx. USD 99)

Avoid common mistakes

The App will be reviewed for content, performance, and technical aspects. Apple follows stringent review guidelines. Over 40% of the app is rejected due to common mistakes mentioned below:

  • Crashes and bugs
  • Broken Links
  • Placeholder content
  • Offensive / Objectionable Content
  • Requesting permission to access data
  • Incomplete information
  • Misleading users

Releasing your app

After review and approval, the app will be released in the App Store. You can opt for either manual or automatic release. Automatic refers to a phased release where the app is released in phases to a percentage of random users. In a manual release, the app is made available to potential users within a day after releasing the app.

iOS Mobile application development is less complicated provided the development team follows the app store guidelines. iOS mobile apps generate high revenue per user and also the cost of development is less.

Hire an experienced iOS mobile application development company to kick start iOS mobile app development. Contact us to get a free quote.

Categories
Web App Development

What Makes an Effective e-Commerce Website

effective eCommerce website

Over the years, there is a steady increase in online selling. More and more businesses are adding an e-commerce website to their physical store to sell products online.  An effective e-commerce website should have certain features and functionalities for better user experience and to increase sales. Here are some things to keep in mind prior to designing an online store.

Identify your customers

Understanding the Demographics of the target customer is an important aspect of site design. Numerous variables like age gender, education qualification, location are analyzed to know the shopper and learn their behavior. This data plays a paramount role in designing the product pages, structuring the layout and defining the check out process.

Mobile friendly

There is an increasing number of online shoppers from mobile devices rather than from desktop or laptop. The e-commerce site should be a responsive website keeping mobile users in mind. All functionalities of the e-commerce site should be tested on mobile devices to ensure they are functioning properly.

Every second count

A site that loads faster is the most preferred by end-users. A delay of more than two seconds in loading time increases the bounce rate. The site should be optimized to reduce the loading time. Site speed is directly proportional to the conversion rate.

Easy to navigate

The site should be designed and structured well to facilitate easy navigation around the products and categories. The design should be in line with end-user searches. The design team and the client should discuss how the products should be categorized.  The site layout should be based on product categories.  The categories should be clickable and there should be filters to allow advance searches.

Policies

Utmost importance should be given to list policy information about product return and exchange at a prominent place on the website. The policy should be easy to find and listed in layman terms for easy understanding.

Secure

To gain customer trust, an e-commerce website needs to be secure. Keeping customer information and their shopping preferences confidential and providing secure payment gateway are some ways to gain trust.

Seamless checkout

Customers tend to leave the site if they face hurdles during a checkout. The site should provide all functionalities for a seamless checkout experience. The checkout screen should clearly show the items in the cart and should allow editing till the last minute of checkout. The site should remember customer information and prefill information wherever required. For the first time quick shoppers, the site should allow check out as a guest.

Design matters

It is incredibly important that an e-commerce website design should be visually appealing and engaging to the users. Simple design elements and clutter-free design is essential to make a first impression.

Product images

The product images should be good enough to make an impression on the buyer. A gallery of images can be added for each product. The image size should be optimized without compromising on quality to reduce the load time. Some products are best explained through a video.

Product descriptions

Clear product description and specification helps to avoid return due to incorrect purchase.

Payment

The e-commerce website should provide secure payment options and make it seamless for customers to complete a transaction. Customers expect all possible payment options like credit cards, debit cards, internet banking, and digital payment platform.

Testing

Do ample user testing to ensure that the site functions as required. Test the site across all devices and all browsers.

Each business is unique. We listen to your needs and understand your business.  Our developers have experience in various e-commerce platforms like Magento and Shopify. We have expertise in designing exceptional e-commerce websites for different markets.

If you are looking for e-commerce website design services get in touch with us today.

Categories
Mobile App Development

Give your business that extra edge through mobile apps

mobile application development

The number of smartphone users (2.7 billion) across the world is growing rapidly. You can grow your business by taking advantage of mobile users. 

The increasing number of smartphone users has made it mandatory to consider having a mobile app for your business. 

A study on smartphone usage reveals that Mobile apps are expected to generate 188.9 billion US dollars in revenues in 2020.

What are mobile apps?

Mobile apps are software applications designed to run on a mobile device. They are different from a mobile website that runs on a mobile browser. 

Mobile apps need to be downloaded and installed on a mobile device. A mobile application doesn’t need a browser to run. 

The app pulls data from the internet. Some apps are designed to run offline. A mobile app has a touch interface for better interactivity.

Everything you need to know about mobile apps

The first step to building a mobile app is to familiarize yourself with the latest technologies that are being used.

Basically, there are three types of apps:

  • Native apps: Native apps are built for a specific platform, say iOS or Android. Since they are native to a particular operating system, they cannot be used on other platforms. For instance, an Android app cannot run on an iPhone device. Native apps have to be downloaded and installed from the app store. The advantage of native apps is high performance, the downside is higher cost as we need to create multiple apps for different platforms.
  • Hybrid apps: Hybrid apps use technologies such as HTML, javascript. They possess the features of both native and web-based apps. They run on multiple platforms (Windows, iOS, Android). They can be installed from the app store. The advantage is single code can be used for all platforms, the downside is they lack speed and performance.
  • Web-based apps: Web applications are basically mobile responsive websites written in HTML or javascript. They run on a web server. They need not be downloaded or installed on a mobile device. As they are available on the web, there is no additional cost to be spent for an app store. The drawback is that they may have design issues and can be accessed only through the internet.

Each of the above apps has its own pros and cons. Get expert advice to know which of these will work best for your business.

How does your business benefit through mobile applications?

If your business is ignoring mobile users, then you don’t have a clue about what you are missing out on. It is a myth that only large businesses need a mobile application. But in reality, small and mid-size businesses see tremendous benefits through the mobile app. A mobile app for your business can help you stand out from your competitors. Here are some of the advantages of having a mobile app.

Better visibility

Gone are the days when people used their PCs to connect to the Internet. Now, People spend more time on their smartphones rather than on a desktop computer.

Target young customers

More than 92% of Millennials own a smartphone. They get connected to the internet only through a mobile device. If your business is targeting young consumers, don’t have a second thought in building a mobile app. Millennials prefer using an app instead of calling to buy a product or a service.

Increase customer engagement

Pamphlets, advertisements and billboards can reach only a limited number of people. With the mobile app,  your customers are just one click away. You get a chance to be connected with the customer 24/7. You can engage your customers with info about new products, offers and deals thereby increasing sales.

Brand outreach

Users get to see your app icon whenever they see the apps installed on their mobile. It is also easy to share the app among users. This creates brand awareness and gives free marketing for your business.

Personalized notifications

It is easy to send a notification to users who have installed the app on their mobile. You get to know your customer’s geographic location and demographics. The notifications can be customized based on this info which will result in enhanced customer experience.

Better analytics

You get better insights into how users interact with the app. You can take advantage of this data and get to know your customer’s likes and preferences.

What are you waiting for? Having a mobile app can never be a wrong decision. Contact us now to make an informed decision about building a mobile app for your business.

Categories
Marketing

How social media can help your business?

social media marketing

Social media provides an easy way to market your business to potential customers. It is estimated that there are 3.2 billion users on social media across the world and this number is expected to grow in the coming years. Social media sites help generate leads and drive sales, engage directly with the audience and interact and respond to customers by replying to their queries.

For businesses, social media provides ample opportunities to promote their brand. Businesses can start their own social media pages and create a marketing plan on how to promote their product or service locally, regionally, or across the globe.

Benefits

Similar to interacting with friends and family on social media sites, users can now interact with a brand and get to know a product better. Businesses can engage the audience with new updates about the product, informational videos, promotions, and offers. Apart from connecting with people, there are other benefits offered by social media platforms.

  • Brand visibility – People log in to their social media account at least once a day. Social media offers the opportunity to increase brand visibility whenever fans and followers log in.
  • Generate leads – Lead generation is an important aspect of social media marketing. Social media platforms allow you to get direct leads who can be potential customers.
  • Boost traffic to websites – One of the simplest ways to drive users to your website is by promoting content on social media.
  • Engage customers – Social networking helps to create brand awareness and engage customers with one to one interaction.
  • Grow sales – Social media presence is a cost-effective advertising strategy that can significantly increase conversion.
  • Target advertising – It helps you to target customers based on demographic information. The advertising can be targeted to the right audience.

Social media adverts allow you to target the right audience who are interested in your product or service and make the most of your marketing budget.

Social Media Sites

Top Social media platform for business include:

  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Whatsapp
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Pinterest

SMM trends

To have successful social media marketing, the business should have a clear vision of their business goal. Here are some strategies for businesses to have an effective social media presence.

Right platform

There are a multitude of social media pages. Analyze and choose the right social media platforms that will work well for you to reach potential customers. Facebook is a popular social media platform with a large number of users. It also offers features like groups, ads, analytics, and insights to make it easy for marketers.

Analyze your competitor

If you are new to marketing, look around, and observe your competitors. For instance, analyze the Facebook page of your competitor to understand how they engage the audience.

Target audience

Identify the target audience and understand their requirement. Engage them with useful information and respond to their feedback and queries.

Content

Create relevant and compelling content. Do research on what kind of content will attract your audience, it can be images, videos of product demo, animations, or text. Use a professional tone and voice, analyze the reach of your content, and modify your approach if necessary.

Marketing Campaigns

Take marketing to the next level through social media marketing campaigns. Paid campaigns are another option but come with a budget. Paid advertising helps you target ads to users based on their preferences and interests.

If your business is not listed on the social media platform, consider having your profile now as it is free and can be beneficial in the long run. Select the social media platform for your unique business need and list your business profile.

Categories
Mobile App Development

How to optimize your mobile app and improve downloads?

How to improve mobile app downloads

There are thousands of mobile apps added to the app store every day.  As of 2019, 2.5 million apps were available for download in the Google Play Store and 1.8 million apps in the Apple App Store. A statistical study shows that 204 billion mobile apps were downloaded by users in 2019.

A mobile app is successful if it reaches more users. This article briefs about how to optimize your app to boost visibility in the app store and increase the downloads.

What is Mobile App Store Optimization?

App Store Optimization (ASO) is the process of optimizing your mobile apps to rank higher in app store search results such as the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.  ASO aims to increase the visibility of your app for more users to download it.  Improving ASO can help you to get more downloads for your app.

App Marketing strategies have to be adopted to optimize your app to the app store. Here are some tips to improve your app rating and make your mobile app discoverable among millions of apps.

How users find mobile apps?

Before we get into how to optimize an app for the app store it is important to understand how users find and download a mobile app. Most users search for an app using keywords in popular app stores such as the Apple store and Google Play store.The app that ranks higher in search results gets a greater number of downloads as users don’t scroll down to look at the entire list. If users don’t find your app on search results for keywords related to your app, the probability of download is zero. So, it is important to do ASO for your mobile app.

Choose the right app name and title

Enough time should be spent to arrive at the right app name. When searching for an app, the user first gets to see the app name and icon and it is important to create the best impression. Do enough research on the search keyword by analyzing your competitors. Optimize your app for the app store by including relevant keywords on the title. Brainstorm with your team and ensure that the app name and URL have the core keyword describing your app and the service you are offering. The titles should adhere to various app store restrictions like 30 characters for Apple and 50 characters for Google.

Description

Describe your app in simple and plain language easy for a novice user to understand what your app is offering. The description should be updated with every new update.

Why Ratings matter?

Apps with high ratings are ranked higher, trusted by users and downloaded more. 50% of the users check the ratings before installing an app. The ratings are crucial as they have a positive influence on how your app ranks in the app store.

Reviews

Reviews give detailed customer insight about your app. Apps with Positive reviews gain user trust. Negative reviews can be taken as feedback for product improvement. Though reviews and ratings have a similar impact, ratings are the first thing that grabs the user attention.

More number of reviews and how recent they are can give better visibility of your app in search results. Getting reviews from users might require some effort. Prompt the user to leave a review after a successful booking or a transaction. Never interrupt a task and prompt for a review.

Thumbnail images

Icons used for the app should attract the attention of the users and improve the click-through rate.Use impressive icons to create the best impression among users. Screenshots can be added to description as Images are powerful than descriptive text. Add different screenshots and do A/B testing to figure out which screenshot is attracting more downloads.

Regular updates

Get your app updated regularly based on customer feedback. Users are looking for apps that are constantly evolving and such apps are ranked higher in the app store. Improved app versions attract more reviews and higher ratings.

The challenge with updates is persuading users to download the updated version, which can be achieved through user notification and adding what’s new field on the product page.

App Localization

Now that you have the correct app name, title, perfect description all in English, but some of your target users might benon-English speaking audience.  If you’d like to promote your app to a specific market, you can have the metadata in a local language. This can improve your app visibility among native speakers.

Social Media Promotion

Market your app through social media to create awareness and improve brand recognition. Present your app features in your marketing content and encourage users to download the app.

All the above strategies can boost your app download. The volume of download is directly proportional to the app store ranking.

There are millions of app in the mobile world if you want to stay ahead of the curve implement some of the techniques above.

Categories
Technology

Continuous inspection of Code Quality using SonarQube

Continuous inspection of Code Quality using SonarQube

SonarQube is an open-source software introduced by Sonar Source for continuous inspection of code quality. Continuous inspection of code refers to constant checking of code for defects.

In software development, it is necessary to evaluate the code to measure software quality. Software quality is measured by checking for duplicate code, whether the code follows good practices and specific principles. Static code analysis is done as a part of the code review to analyze the code for errors and potential vulnerabilities. Static code analysis is done using algorithms and techniques to examine the code without executing the program.  Static code analysis takes time but there are many code analysis tools available that can identify errors and save time.

SonarQube

SonarQube is a widely used tool for performing automated code reviews by analyzing source code, inspecting the code quality and providing reports. It uses static code analysis to detect bugs, code smells, styling errors, code duplication, security vulnerabilities, lack of test coverage and design errors. It provides clear guidance for developers at each level with metrics and identifies the problematic areas enabling them to understand and fix issues. It enables developers to own the quality and security standards through clean as they code.

Advantages of using SonarQube

  • Increases maintainability of the software
  • Increases the lifetime of the application by reducing complexities, bugs and security vulnerabilities
  • Empowers the developers to write cleaner and maintainable code.
  • Implements continuous code quality management
  • Automatically detects bugs and alerts before moving into production thereby reducing the project risk.

Features of SonarQube

  • SonarQube is an open-source platform available for use by developers to monitor code quality
  • It provides support for 27 programming languages including C, C++, Java, TSQL, TypeScript, JavaScript, .NET, Python and COBOL
  • Quality Gate provides the ability to enforce code practices and standards and tells whether the project is ready for production.
  • It comes with additional plugins to enhance the experience of the user. More than 60 plugins are available to provide features including extra languages, metrics, and pages.
  • SonarQube easily integrates with existing tools like Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitLab, eclipse, bitbucket, maven, etc.
  • Provides software quality metrics with drill-down capabilities.

Functionalities

SonarQube helps to manage code quality through several functionalities that include code analyzers, reporting tools, activity page, defect hunting, time machine and dashboard.

Dashboards

SonarQube comes with a global dashboard and project dashboard. Dashboards are made up of widgets and are customizable. The project dashboard provides project-specific metrics. The dashboard provides a consolidated view of bugs, vulnerabilities, code smells and duplications.

Dashboard Sonar Qube

Source Code Analysis

A set of source code analyzers are stored in a plugin. The analysis begins by triggering the plugin and performs a full analysis of the code and saves the results to the database. It is necessary to download and install SonarQube Runner to run the analysis.

Quality Gate

This feature allows enforcing a quality policy to ensure that standards are met across the projects.  Quality gate can be accessed by any user of the project.  It allows to define a set of Boolean conditions against which the project is measured. SonarQube will ascertain if the code meets all the quality thresholds set for the project. The project should pass the quality gate to move on to the next phase.

Quality Gate

Duplication of Code

It is important to have clean code without duplications in a project. Code duplication occurs in every project due to reusing code from other projects. SonarQube helps to identify repeated code blocks by scanning the code and reports duplication metrics as an absolute number of lines, blocks and files. 

Manage Project history

Project Activity Page maintains a history of project data from all previous analyzes.  It provides a comprehensive list of code analyzes performed on the project since it was created in SonarQube.  This helps to analyze the project’s health and measures taken over time.

Hunting Tools

Sonar provides hunting toolset to drill down the issues. Drill down every measure using filters, option to narrow down which modules, packages, and files are poorly covered and duplication drill down.

Time Machine

This functionality helps to analyze history in a graphical format which is easy to understand.  It helps to analyze the evolution of metrics and helps to compare the version of the project.

Managing source code quality gives better visibility into your project and optimizes ROI. SonarQube helps to manage source code quality with lesser effort. Implementing the SonarQube platform enables organizations to get insights on application quality and reduces the time required for code reviews.

Categories
Mobile App Development

Mobile App for Business Continuity

Mobile App for Business Continuity

Businesses worldwide have taken a hit due to the global pandemic. This article talks about the impact of the COVID 19 crisis on small brick and mortar retail businesses and how technology can help to combat the challenges. Small and medium retail businesses like clothing, book or department stores have run out of business and are facing an extinction-level situation. The future looks bleak for traditional offline stores as a crowded shopping experience is unlikely for some time. Post the pandemic, many shoppers will still be reluctant to visit stores to avoid the crowd.

To ensure business continuity the world has adopted mobile technology. Mobile apps have helped to keep the situation normal and have changed the routine drastically. Earlier, people visited offices to pay the electricity bill or book tickets or to buy things. During this lockdown, there is a huge spike in mobile app downloads. Statistics show that App Store and Google Play have 33 billion app downloads in Q1, 2020. Due to the pandemic, mobile app download, usage and consumer spending hit a record high in 2020. The downloads include gaming app, social media app, health and fitness app, banking app, medical, eLearning app, video conferencing app like zoom, Google meet, Microsoft Team, etc.

As the mobile app industry is thriving and consumers are spending more time on their smartphones, consider having a mobile app for your business or service. Allow your customers to order online through the app and pick up in-store. Customer preferences, shopping history gets stored on the app allowing personalized shopping experience. This blend of online and offline models will be convenient and super-fast. A mobile app will be beneficial for any business, it can be a grocery store, medical clinic, pet clinic or a fitness centre. Leverage technology to provide a personalized experience for your customers through virtual sessions, virtual tours, virtual showroom, chat sessions with experts, etc.

The pandemic has created an unprecedented impact on the global economy. Businesses should not hesitate to try new approaches, new commercial models and new technologies to engage their customers and meet the demand. This switch over to technology is a difficult situation for retailers but some of them have already started implementing and thriving back in business.

Find a mobile app development company that helps you reinforce your business with the right technologies. Techcedence has been delivering excellent mobility services for various domains. Contact us with your requirements to transform your business into the digital world.

Categories
Mobile App Development

Telehealth Applications – A step towards virtual healthcare

Telehealth applications

The term Telehealth is defined as health services provided using telecommunication technology.  Telehealth refers to remote healthcare services through telephone, video conferencing, fax, emails and computers. Telehealth services primarily aim to provide access to doctors, physicians from anywhere, anytime.

Telehealth overcomes geographical boundaries and provides accessible, convenient healthcare for patients remotely.

Telehealth is not new to the medical field and has been in practice for decades, Patients have been consulting with their family physician through telephone. Due to the global pandemic, Telehealth has been at the forefront encouraging people to avoid personal visits and consult doctors through healthcare portals.

Telehealth Portal

A Telehealth portal is ideally an online platform that offers telehealth services by connecting doctors and patients. Telehealth services are offered through online video conferencing platforms or mobile app. These platforms offer patients 24/7 access to healthcare through online appointments and virtual visits. There are many healthcare platforms available that connect patients to doctors. The platforms are flexible and come with numerous features like uploading a lab report, and inviting a member of the family to be present during the consultation.

Availing telehealth services is simpler than it sounds. Patients have to register themselves on the online portal and request a visit.

If patients don’t want to have face-to-face interaction, they can opt for consultation over the phone using a toll-free number.

Advantages of telehealth over the traditional system

  • Easy access to specialty care from rural or remote areas.
  • Diagnose common health problems without visiting a doctor
  • Public holidays, late night, weekends don’t hinder consultation with a physician
  • Telehealth is preferred during the patient’s inability to commute due to health conditions or bad weather or a pandemic.
  • Prevent spreading of contagious illness
  • Avoid long hours of commute to visit the doctor and spending waiting time

While telehealth platforms offer numerous advantages there are some limitations:

  • Doctors have to rely on patients for temperature or sugar level
  • Checking blood pressure or access to the lab is possible only through a physical visit
  • Difficult to determine the cause of the problem without a doctor’s physical examination.
  • Poor internet connectivity might delay or affect your virtual consultation

How the Telehealth Applications Works?

Telehealth applications are based on video chat technology so ideally a patient would need a smartphone or iPad or laptop for a virtual consultation.

  • Patients have to register themselves with a telehealth application
  • Submit basic information about their medical condition and symptoms
  • Patients can schedule an appointment from listed doctors and seek consultation. They can also reach doctors for emergency needs without an appointment.
  • Pay for consultation through the payment gateway
  • Once the appointment is accepted, virtually consult with a doctor over video conferencing
  • The consultation happens through video chat or telephone calls.
  • The application allows the sharing of prescriptions, lab reports, and pictures online to aid diagnosis or treatment.
  • Patient records and doctor’s prescriptions are saved for follow up consultation.
  • Patients can provide a review of their virtual consultation experience.

The telemedicine applications are HIPAA compliant and ensure to keep the patient information secure from data theft.

Apart from consultation, some telehealth applications also assist with disease management. Patients can get a second opinion from specialists across the world to make an informed decision about their health.

To summarize, Telemedicine applications is a win-win for both doctors and patients and is undeniably an alternative to a physical doctor visit. The technology has saved time and money for patients and reduced the overhead for hospitals and clinics.

If you are looking to set up a digital healthcare platform, consult an experienced software development company to evaluate your idea. Based on your requirement and audience, they can develop a telemedicine website or a telemedicine mobile app.  

Categories
Technology

Serverless Computing

Serverless solutions

Serverless Computing allows building applications without managing the infrastructure. Serverless doesn’t mean there are not any servers involved in application development. Servers are involved but they are provided as a back end service by a cloud vendor. A Serverless architecture enables software organizations to focus only on writing and deploying the code without worrying about the servers or underlying infrastructure. A cloud provider provides the complete back end services that include setting up the server, maintaining the server, managing the load balance, etc. The cloud provider allocates resources dynamically and charges based on consumption. The provider takes care of all hardware, virtual machine and container management.

Harnessing serverless infrastructure has revolutionized the way companies build software applications. It allows organizations to focus only on building the application without spending hours on implementing, maintaining and monitoring the infrastructure. In the cloud execution model, the provider allows dynamic scaling based on the organization’s requirement. The cloud provider holds the responsibility of allocation and provisioning of servers based on demand. The cloud execution model is also cost-effective as the pricing is based on time and memory allocated to run the code.

There are many serverless computing providers. Some of them include:

  • AWS Lambda
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Google Cloud
  • IBM Cloud

Serverless computing Models

Serverless computing services offered by cloud providers can be classified into the below platforms:

Function as a Service

Function as a Service is a serverless architecture that allows executing code in response to events. In this model, the cloud service provider enables the customer to deploy a piece of code and pay for the length of the time the code executes. This new model of cloud computing is mostly used to build microservices.  Many cloud vendors are offering FaaS. Some of them include Microsoft Azure Functions, Google Cloud Functions, AWS Lambda, IBM cloud functions.

Backend as a Service

In Backend as a Service (Baas), the cloud service provider offers all back end services for a web or mobile application.  The developer writes the code for the application frontend and outsources all back end activities to the BaaS vendor. The vendor provides cloud storage and manages activities that include database management, authentication and remote updating. 

Advantages

Serverless architecture offers numerous benefits to an enterprise. Some of them are listed below:

  • Cost-Effective than renting or purchasing dedicated servers
  • Scaling on demand
  • Efficient use of resources
  • Fewer maintenance tasks in managing infrastructure
  • Rapid and Easy Deployment
  • Eliminates hiring backend engineers
  • Event-Driven and executed on demand
  • Quick turnaround
  • Ready to use third party  services
  • Reduced operational costs

Disadvantages

There are some challenges with serverless architecture:

  • Security vulnerabilities compared to traditional architecture
  • Privacy issues as the application are shared  with external resources
  • Difficult to break contract and switch vendor
  • Dependent on the vendor for debugging

In a nutshell,  serverless computing is a new approach to application development. Organizations choose serverless computing to build flexible, scalable applications and to reduce the time to market. It increases the productivity of the developers as they focus only on the application code and business logic.