Category: Product Development

The Future of Healthcare Software Development

Posted on by mkoftielieva

The future of healthcare software development is bright, that’s for sure. Among all the horrors of the COVID pandemic, we’ve seen how the current healthcare system, even in highly developed countries, is far from perfect. In fact, it’s very far from being truly efficient. Moreover, we’ve seen that implementing technology in various healthcare processes can increase that efficiency. In the context of medicine, this means literally saving lives.

According to research published in the International Journal of Health Services, the most common problems highlighted by the pandemic crisis were:

  • Access barriers
  • Lack of control over prices and costs
  • Unsatisfactory quality of services
  • Widespread disparities and marginalization of public health

This research only covered the US. However, these issues are similar for all Western countries. Meanwhile, the situation in developing countries is much worse as people cannot access good healthcare services. It’s because such services do not exist at all or are too poorly developed. Furthermore, the level of digitalization in these parts of the world is also low. Therefore, few residents can make use of technologically-augmented medical services.

In light of this, custom medical software development is an industry that’s growing rapidly. With so many weaknesses exposed, businesses are competing to create solutions that will solve these problems. Meanwhile, other technological projects are also improving medical services in every area.

In this article, we’ll talk about the most remarkable ways of implementing tech in healthcare today.

Telemedicine in healthcare software development.

Leading Trends in Tech and Healthcare Software Development

Telemedicine and remote healthcare services

One of the leading areas of healthcare software development is now focused on telemedicine. The main task is to make medical services accessible to people living in remote and rural areas. Moreover, this type of healthcare became a must-have service under COVID restrictions. People can’t effectively access medical facilities during lockdowns, even if they live in the city. So, it’s imperative to provide everyone with access to healthcare professionals.

Of course, video conferencing solutions, like Zoom or Skype, make it possible for patients to communicate with their doctors remotely. However, a skilled healthcare software development company can take this further, making it possible to bring medical aid where there are no high-speed internet connections and multiple medical professionals available to consult online. In addition, implementing AI in healthcare software development allows for automating preliminary consultations. Therefore, more people can get the help they need.

Personal medical devices

Custom medical software development is also used to create various personal devices that help monitor and assess the patient’s physical condition. The majority of such tools available now are wearable trackers that can measure heart rate, oxygen saturation level, blood pressure, and temperature.

However, more devices are in the works. Currently, several companies are working to create tools that will measure all vitals and other important parameters for patients with chronic diseases. In the future, such monitoring devices will also be able to send a request for help to a medical professional. Also, data collected by them can be used for more efficient diagnostics.

Using AI for healthcare software development.

Healthcare software development based on AI

AI’s data processing, analysis, and automation powers are immense. Therefore, AI-based healthcare solutions can have many applications, for example:

  • Developing personalized treatment plans based on the analysis of multiple data sources.
  • Automation or repetitive, monotonous jobs, like filing and paperwork management, to free up the time of medical personnel.
  • Conducting more in-depth diagnostics using technologies like automated image analysis and classification.
  • Collecting, processing, and managing medical records. It would also be a great help to organize these records into a global network to ensure a traveling person can get the best medical help no matter where they are.
  • Using AI in healthcare software development allows for improving epidemic prevention and management. However, it’s essential to note that such practices as facial recognition, using smart devices to measure body temperature, etc., can be interpreted as widespread surveillance. Therefore, developers and governments need to work closely together to ensure that such measures remain effective without violating the human right to privacy.

Virtual and augmented reality technologies

Combining healthcare software development with VR and AR technologies can produce incredible results. These solutions help with the treatment of severe disorders like PTSD, anxiety, and pain therapy.

There are also some innovative treatments that use this tech in the process of rehabilitation. In particular, they aid in restoring motor skills and even in the treatment of memory loss.

Moreover, surgeons and hospital staff also use various VR solutions to improve their work. For example, ImmersiveTouch and Osso VR tech used for surgical training and education.

Using robotics in healthcare software development

Nanotech and robotics

Technologies that used to exist only on the pages of science fiction novels are reality now. These areas of tech are only starting to develop, but already we can see some incredible robotic prosthetics that change disabled people’s life.

The nanotech industry is slower to develop. However, it has a tremendous potential that researchers recognize. There are already some miniature tools for non-invasive diagnostics and a few basic biosensors.

Meanwhile, robotic healthcare solutions are not restricted to prosthetics only. Today some labs are developing different types of robots that can help disabled people and even become companions for them.

Both nanotech and robotic solutions require extremely careful and innovative healthcare software development. Integrating these tools with AI can truly revolutionize the world as we know it.

The future of healthcare software development is promising.

Healthcare Software Development: Industry Growth

You can be sure that the custom medical software development industry will keep developing rapidly. The pandemic crisis brought some extremely dark revelations regarding our capacity to face medical challenges. Therefore, this field will grow further and attract a stream of funding worldwide.

Healthcare software development offers versatile opportunities for investment. So, if you are interested in a project that’s sure to succeed, this is something to consider. Contact our team to discuss your ideas!

Why Invest in Fintech Software Development

Posted on by mkoftielieva

Investing in fintech software development may be your shortest way to becoming a millionaire, as this market is growing by roughly 20% a year.

Are you wondering whether the global economic crisis will affect this growth? Or what type of fintech products is the best to invest in?

Today we are answering these and other questions regarding custom fintech solutions.

Fintech Software Development Benefits: Based on Industry Overview

According to data from Adroit Research, the size of the global fintech market has already exceeded $110 billion. It’s expected to be almost $700 billion by 2030 at the rate it’s growing. For business-minded people, that’s all the motivation needed to get into that market as soon as possible.

Of course, not all predictions turn out to be true. Moreover, some skeptics might notice (rightly so!) that the global economy is falling into a recession and that financial markets are volatile. In light of this, such a growth prediction seems too good to be true, right?

You are right. All these factors will definitely affect fintech, as well as every other market. However, some undeniable facts explain why fintech is necessary and will keep growing in demand. Therefore, even if the industry might not extend to $700 billion in a decade, it has an excellent chance of making it to $600 billion. Here’s why:

  • Fintech solutions help businesses reduce costs.
    It’s no secret that cost reduction is a priority for businesses in the current economic circumstances. Some types of fintech software can help manage funds more efficiently and cut costs in different areas of the company’s work. In fact, this specific direction of fintech software development is the most promising for investors.
  • Fintech software can improve risk management.
    Another way to save and safeguard funds for businesses and investors is through specialized fintech products that rely on data and predictive analytics. These custom fintech solutions can advise on the best decisions in volatile currency, crypto, and stock markets.
  • Fintech can facilitate and speed up many business processes.
    Fintech applications development for in-house use can produce solutions that will improve operational efficiency and promote automation.

Types of fintech software development you can invest in.

Fintech Software Development: Types and Ideas

To better understand whether fintech software development is worth investing your money in, you should know what exactly you can create. Below is a list of popular technologies that exist right now. However, if you have an original idea, it might turn into a goldmine.

  • Digital banking.
    Regular banks are trustworthy, but most of their transactions take too long. Digital banking uses various fintech approaches to solve this problem and make transactions secure, instantaneous, and affordable. Note that this type of fintech applications development includes not only digital banks but different variations of payment processing systems.
  • Cryptocurrency.
    Crypto is all the rage now, so custom fintech solutions that make use of this payment technology are getting more popular.
  • Accounting solutions.
    Small businesses and private entrepreneurs are the primary consumers of accounting apps. However, some high-level solutions can be attractive for enterprises as well. This type of fintech covers billing, payroll, invoicing, and other accounting software. In some ways, ERP solutions can also fall into this category, but their functionality is wider.
  • InsureTech.
    Fintech solutions that deal with insurance policies, pensions, and other similar payments are used to process applications and data. This software can make such services more personalized, fair, and reliable. Service providers can also use it for more effective data and document management. For example, insuretech can match doctors with patients, etc.
  • Lending and debt management apps.
    This type of fintech can help find the best loans. However, another idea for such fintech software development is to help people become more financially savvy and manage their personal or business debt.

If you are looking for more inspiration about apps you can invest in, check out our post about AI-powered app ideas.

In Conclusion: Who Should Invest in Fintech Software Development

Even with an untrained eye, it’s easy to see that fintech software development has a lot of investment potential right now. These solutions are versatile, and the demand for high-quality multifunctional cross-platform products is growing.

The niche is filling up with solutions fast, but there is still room for higher-quality specialized products. So if this is the kind of software you want to invest in, set up a free consultation with our developers and let’s talk!

It’s not All Devs: How PMs Keep Software Product Development on Track

Posted on by mkoftielieva

There’s a common misconception that devs are the only people involved in the software product development process. However, that’s far from the truth. Creating and launching a product requires input from a wide range of specialists. Project Managers should take the place of pride among them. But they are downright criminally undervalued.

In our humble opinion, Project Managers, or PMs as we call them, are magicians. They often hold the entire project together and ensure everything stays on track. They are the ones who settle all the miscommunication issues and even battles of wills between clients and devs. But above all, PMs articulate the client’s requirements in a way that developers can understand.

Devtorium has an extensive Project Management department comprised of extraordinary people. Today we talked to them about their profession so you could learn what it’s like to be a PM from PMs’ own words.

What PM does for outsourced software product development.

Victor Savinov, Senior PM/Delivery Manager: What Does a PM Do During Software Product Development?

We decided to start our interviews with Victor, a senior PM with years of experience in outsourced software product development. Victor can find humor in everything and can bring under control even the most difficult situations.

What does a PM do during software development?

Nothing 😁 Well, at least, it may look like that at first glance. Especially when you, as a PM, are utterly exhausted after another work day during which you have resolved dozens of issues. However, you have nothing to show as a result of all that work. There’s nothing tangible, at least.

Nowadays, PM’s work is not about paperwork, reports, or following a well-prepared plan. It’s more about interactions with people, quick response to changes, coaching, and maintaining a healthy, happy, and highly motivated team. Meanwhile, you also keep the customer satisfied by delivering a high-quality, valuable product.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

To maintain a high level of quality while balancing the budget, time, and scope (see PM Triangle). At the same time, I also need to keep up a healthy pace and save my team from burnout and exhaustion.

How do you handle troublesome clients who can’t explain what they want?

It’s an absolutely normal situation when a client isn’t a professional Product Owner. It can be challenging for them sometimes to express what they really need in terms of software product development. We can use quite a few techniques that can help gather product requirements. I usually suggest starting with visualization and using analogies to explain one’s concept or idea. A piece of paper and pencil are extremely useful when you’re not sure where to start😉

What do you do when a developer fails?

Well, first off, no finger-pointing! Instead, we should embrace a culture of collective commitment to improvement as a team and measure our successes and failures. Then we look at what went wrong and how we can do better next time. The whole point is to focus not on the failure but on what can help you move forward.

Can an IT project survive without a PM?

Sure! The only question is how successful the project will be. What will be the quality of that survival? How well-informed will the key stakeholders be? Who will manage risks and deadlines? What about budget and costs?

We can actually eliminate any role in a project. First, however, we must ensure all essential responsibilities and activities that the ‘role’ manages are reassigned to other people.

How can a PM impact the overall software product development process?

A PM/SM/Agile Coach is often a bridge between the business and engineering, stakeholders and developers or operations, or customers and providers facilitating their interaction. Although a PM is a composite role, it can sometimes coordinate the majority of the vital aspects of the organization. This includes budget, resources, staffing, costs, deadlines, risks, and quality. Taking that into account, it’s pretty difficult to overestimate a PM’s impact, whether positive or negative.

What is project manager's role in software product development.

Diana Novytska, Strong Junior Project Coordinator: PM’s Role in the Software Creation Process

Diana is only growing into her role as a Project Coordinator, but she is doing so with style and success. Her gentle nature might make it both easier and more challenging for her to manage complex communications within teams. However, no one can argue her reliability and dedication to making every project run smoothly to completion.

What does a PM do during software development?

A PM is the person who organizes the whole process by starting from the idea of the future project/product to its realization and support. It means that communications between customers and the team, development planning, and solving various problems are all PM’s duties. In reality, it’s only a small list of a PM’s responsibilities.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

For me personally, it’s being a good leader and having strong ‘soft skills’.

How do you handle troublesome clients who can’t explain what they want?

The secret here is asking the right questions related to his/her idea, time limits, and expectations.

What do you do when a developer fails?

We are all only people, not robots. So, we will discuss the cause of this failure and how to resolve it. Then, I just wait to check the fixed result.

Can an IT project survive without a PM?

This is a good question. Every role in the development team is very important, including a PM’s role. Without a PM, other team members should cover his/her responsibilities. Therefore, their workload increases above their individual responsibilities. As a result, the lack of a PM impacts the overall quality of work.

How can a PM impact the overall project?

A well-organized workflow, easy communication scheme, and quick resolution of unexpected issues are markers of a PM’s positive impact.

How a project manager impacts software product development process.

Artem Levenko, Middle Project Manager: What a PM Does for Outsourced Software Product Development

Artem is new to Devtorium but not new to being a Project Manager. He is highly efficient in his approach and makes every project run like clockwork.

What does a PM do during software development?

The role of a Project Manager in the software product development process encompasses a lot of different activities. The responsibilities may vary depending on a particular project. However, to put it simply, PM’s work includes:

  • Managing stakeholders
  • Collecting and analyzing requirements
  • Setting tasks for the team
  • Coordinating work processes
  • Monitoring progress
  • Ensuring that the project stays within time, budget, quality requirements, and according to scope

What is the most challenging part of your job?

For me, the hardest part of the job is to keep everything in focus and not miss anything. Also, it can be hard to make sure that neither stakeholders nor the team’s (company’s) interests are neglected.

How do you handle troublesome clients who can’t explain what they want?

I always try to get to the bottom of the situation by asking them pointed and specific questions about their requirements and needs. I do everything possible to make sure there is no room for misunderstanding and misinterpretation.

What do you do when a developer fails?

When a developer fails, I usually try to discuss the situation with them directly so that we can find the reason. Then, together, we work out steps of action to improve the situation.

Can an IT project survive without a PM?

I believe an IT project can literally “survive”. However, it will be at a high risk of failure on all parts of the PM triangle. In addition, it likely won’t meet the stakeholders’ expectations.

How can a PM impact the overall software product development project?

A PM can constantly work with the team so that the team stays productive and motivated. Also, we keep up transparent communication with clients to make sure their needs are satisfied. Also, we constantly try to find bottlenecks and improve processes, which will benefit the project’s success.

What project manager does as part of software development.

Anton Shpak, Junior Project Manager: PM’s Outlook on the Software Product Development Process

Anton is a PM who is not afraid of challenges. He is full of energy to resolve any issue and always strives to get to the button of it. He works closely with clients to help create products that meet their exact requirements.

What does a PM do during software development?

He must ensure that the customer is satisfied. In my opinion, it’s the most important thing. More specifically, the PM makes sure that everything is done as promised.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

Doing tasks that you don’t believe in when you don’t understand why you have to do them at all. However, that issue probably isn’t exclusive to PMs. Speaking of PM’s duties, the biggest challenge is not having complete information about the project. The less information PMs have, the less effective they are.

How do you handle troublesome clients who can’t explain what they want?

This is where you have to make assumptions and clarify whether you’re assuming correctly. Then, step by step, we’ll find out what the exact requirements are.

What do you do when a developer fails?

It depends on the situation. First, you can determine whether or not some extra time will help and how much is needed. If a little more time solves everything, then the developer continues to work on the problem. If the developer feels that it won’t work, we ask colleagues with more experience for assistance or brainstorm how to solve the problem with the team.

Can an IT project survive without a PM?

Of course, it can. However, the project manager’s role must still be performed by someone. In many cases, it falls to the main developer in the team. Sadly, in these situations, the person might get frustrated because they are doing so much extra work. Sometimes they might get angry and leave the project entirely.

How can a PM impact the software project development process?

I feel it’s important to note that a bad PM might ruin a project. However, we can help developers solve problems faster. Being the main contact point for the client, we can protect the project and the team. We do it by communicating to clients what’s happening now, why it is needed, and when it will be over. We do it in a language that a non-developer person can understand, which is key to avoiding conflicts and miscommunications.

What it's like to be a project manager for IT.

Kateryna Mazur, Middle Project Manager: Being a PM Can Be Like Herding Cats

Kateryna is a very experienced Project Manager. She worked with a versatile selection of projects and aced many different challenges. Due to this experience, she can handle any task and bring the software product development process in order in any circumstances.

What does a PM do during software development?

Sometimes our work is similar to kindergarten teachers who need to corral a group of unruly kids. It’s because clients and developers often suffer from miscommunication issues. The PM’s duty is to be the bridge between them to ensure that everyone is satisfied and the development process runs smoothly.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

Personally, the hardest part of my job is to stop working. You get used to working with time differences in the outsourced software product development industry. However, I find it hard to stick to my schedule and NOT answer emails at all times of day and night. It’s critical to draw a firm line between work and personal life.

How do you handle troublesome clients who can’t explain what they want?

When working with clients, I document absolutely everything. We discuss their ideas in detail, and I ask as many questions as needed. I also explain risks and maintain clear lines of communication to ensure all requests, risks, and adjustments are well-documented.

What do you do when a developer fails?

I’ve had my share of issues caused by irresponsible devs in my career. In this case, I believe that the most important thing is to warn the client as early as possible that something is going wrong. It’s imperative to be absolutely transparent and explain the situation, as well as offer several solutions. All in all, I do my best to smooth out the situation while being completely honest.

On the developer’s side, I talk to them to find out what caused the issue and how we can resolve it. I analyze the entire case in detail to prevent this from repeating.

Can an IT project survive without a PM?

Yes, it can. But it’s only if the whole software product development process and team-client communications are set.

How can a PM impact the software project development process?

A PM connects every person involved in the project and manages all processes to ensure everything runs smoothly. It’s a critical role because no project can succeed without efficient organization.

Project Manager’s Role Is Crucial for Outsourced Software Product Development

Being a Project Manager can be hard, but all PMs we interviewed agree that it’s extremely rewarding. Most importantly, it’s a non-developer role that has a huge impact on the success of the software product.

Software development is a complex process, and communication is key to it. So, Project Managers’ role is huge, and we value our PMs greatly. An efficient PM department with high quality standards is definitely one of the important elements of our and, therefore, our clients’ success.

Your Intelligent Assistant: AI-Powered Platform Marquètte

Posted on by mkoftielieva

Devtorium is a software development company that not only outsources its services but also creates proprietary software. One of our products is Marquètte, an AI-powered platform used for content generation. We’ve worked on this product for over a year and released the MVP in April 2022.

We are proud to share that an enhanced version of Marquètte is available to users! Moreover, it still comes with a 7-Day Free Trial that enables anyone to sign up and test the full power of AI content generation.

The purpose of Marquètte is to become an intelligent assistant for content writers, marketing specialists, and small business owners who want to improve theory content marketing. As your personal assistant in this quest, Marquètte does not only generate content. This AI-powered platform also offers a broad view of the industry trends and provides insights that can inspire you.

One of the biggest challenges of content creation is that you just don’t know what to write about. With Marquètte, you’ll get multiple ideas just by seeing your Account home page.

Using the product is extremely simple:

  1. Sign up.
    You don’t have to provide your credit card information. Just sign up anytime and test the SaaS platform for free.
  2. Ask your questions.
    You can ask the AI about anything and it will generate an answer using its massive databases.
  3. Use the answer!
    You can use Marquètte answers as blog posts, as answers on forums, as posts on your social media accounts, and even as part of general topic research.

Ne on the Marquette AI-powered platform.

Latest Marquètte AI-Powered Platform Updates

The part of the Devtorium Team working on Marquètte keeps improving it. Here’s what they came up with during the last update.

  • Improved design.
    Our AI-powered platform looks even prettier now. Seriously, just check it out. Our designers are incredible, and they improve user experience as well as aesthetics.
  • ‘Ask a question’ page.
    Users have a dedicated form to ask the engine a question. It has easy prompts that will guide you.
  • Interactive question validation.
    Note that some questions might be rejected. For example, if your question concerns politics, contains swearwords, or can be interpreted as extremist, the AI will block it. We have a preliminary validation system that will alert you if you need to do some editing.
  • Easy feedback.
    More freedom to the users! We love that you can help us make Marquètte better. Do it by clicking the emoji to express what you think about the quality of the answer.
  • Updated notifications.
    Our AI-powered platform communicates with users via emails, which we recently updated to ensure they serve a broader range of scenarios.
  • Contact Us page.
    We added a separate Contact Us page that contains a form you can fill out and a way to schedule a meeting with a team expert.
  • New video.
    Check out a new video introduction of Marquètte!
  • Buy Credits.
    After your first set of credits expires, you can buy more to keep using Marquètte without the need to re-subscribe.
  • Subscription auto-renewal.
    Using Marquètte is even easier now because you can automate the subscription and it will renew every month. Furthermore, you can disable this feature in a few clicks if needed.
  • Popular Questions.
    More inspiration for Marquètte users! There is now a Popular Questions section showing the most trending question topics.

Marquètte updates

Marquètte Applications as an AI Content Generation Platform

Marquètte is the first SaaS platform developed by Devtorium. Driven by machine learning, it keeps getting better with every use. Moreover, people appreciate the answers it gives, which we can see from Quora, where Marquètte already has hundreds of upvotes and authority as a trusted source of information.

Check out yourself by evaluating a Marquètte-generated answer:

What are the top ten pitfalls in doing business in China?

  • Lack of understanding of the Chinese market: Many foreign companies enter the Chinese market without a clear understanding of the consumer landscape and preferences. As a result, they are unable to tailor their products and services to meet the needs of Chinese consumers, leading to poor sales and ultimately, failure.
  • Lack of local partnerships: In China, it is essential to have local partners who can help you navigate the often-complex business landscape. Without these partnerships, foreign companies are at a significant disadvantage.
  • Poorly executed market entry strategy: Many foreign companies make the mistake of trying to enter the Chinese market without a well-thought-out plan. This often leads to wasted resources and ultimately, failure.
  • Lack of understanding of the Chinese legal system: The Chinese legal system is vastly different from that of the West and many foreign companies are not familiar with it. This lack of understanding can lead to problems such as intellectual property theft and contract disputes.
  • Lack of understanding of the Chinese culture: The Chinese culture is very different from that of the West and many foreign companies are not familiar with it. This lack of understanding can lead to problems such as miscommunication and cultural misunderstandings.
  • Lack of a dedicated China team: Many foreign companies try to enter the Chinese market without setting up a dedicated team to manage their operations there. This often leads to problems such as poor coordination and communication.
  • Over-reliance on expatriates: Many foreign companies entering the Chinese market rely too heavily on expatriates to manage their operations. This often leads to problems such as high turnover and difficulty adapting to the local culture.
  • Inadequate preparation.

Use of Marquètte AI-powered platform on Quora.

Future Plans for the AI-Powered Platform Marquètte

We are all futurists at Devtorium, so we have many ideas for the future of Marquètte. Right now, we are working on enhancements that will diversify the AI content generation and ‘teach’ AI to create texts based on different templates.

The next version of the product will become even more useful for content writers, marketers, and SMBs. You can follow the track of Marquètte’s development and growth through our social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram!

Energy Management Software Development Uses in Real Life

Posted on by mkoftielieva

A global energy crisis is upon us, so energy management software development is fast becoming an indispensable solution for everyone. It might surprise many, but these products can be extremely versatile. Their applications vary from enabling smart energy management to minimizing losses to finding the best energy plans in your region. As a result, many businesses could benefit greatly from investing in this niche of custom software products.

Here at Devtorium, we have first-hand experience in energy management software development that we’d like to share today.

Energy Management Software Types and Uses

First of all, it’s crucial to note that no matter its exact functionality, the primary purpose of energy management software development is to make our world cleaner. That’s why most of these solutions work with clean energy or smart home products.

The most basic application of this software literally is energy management. Therefore, such solutions are integrated into the IoT and help users ensure that no appliance in their home uses more power than absolutely necessary. Considering current power price rates for enterprises, developing such custom solutions is essential for manufacturers and other power-consuming businesses.

In this case, energy management software can be used to:

  • Collect all data on energy use and emissions.
  • Apply various data analytics techniques to analyze energy use efficiency and predict waste and power use changes depending on multiple factors.
  • Generate an optimization plan and other helpful suggestions based on data analytics.
  • Measure the results of implemented optimizations.
  • Monitor the overall energy use and waste performance of a business/building constantly.

This type of energy management software development application is straightforward to understand. However, there are applications for custom software products in the power business. For example, solutions that run power plants and energy distribution also fall into this software category.

In addition, there is a type of consumer-oriented energy management software that is often overlooked. Flexible utility rates that change with the season and other factors make it challenging for people to handle their energy bills. Solutions that enable residential power users to pick the best plans also fall into the category of energy management software.

How one company used energy management software development.

One Interesting Case of Energy Management Software Development

Devtorium has an interesting energy management case for consumer-oriented use in our portfolio. It was (and is) a fascinating custom software product development project.

The client is one of the leading energy management companies in the US. It helps customers choose clean energy plans that help them save money and reduce their household carbon footprint. Currently, the company reports that its efforts managed to help the Earth avoid 344,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, they also planted 354,768 trees as a contribution to restoring the planet’s ecology.

The solution provided by Devtorium enables the company to interact with customers and help those find the best energy plan for them. To create such energy management software, we used:

  • Angular JS
  • Angular 7
  • WordPress
  • PHP
  • .NET Framework 4.6.1
  • ASP.NET Web API
  • ASP.NET MVC
  • MS SQL
  • EntityFramework 6.4.4
  • IdentityServer4

The resulting solution included:

  • A stylish website that offers both excellent user experience and aesthetic enjoyment. We were aiming for a site that people would actually like and enjoy browsing. In addition, the visuals focus on clean energy and its importance to our planet’s health.
  • My Account functionality website visitors can use to enroll, perform payments, etc. In essence, the system is used to interact with the user in everything the company needs, including email notifications, payment processing, and plan management.
  • CyberSource payment system that enables customers to make secure, regular, and automated payments. Our priorities were security and ease of use. CyberSource payment platform guarantees both. 
  • SendGrid email system to provide easy and efficient interaction with customers. Email remains the most efficient way of communication and marketing in the digital world. So, the client company needed a great email platform integration, which we provided.

Bottom Line: Who Should Invest in Custom Energy Management Solutions?

Custom energy management software development isn’t for everyone. However, some types of businesses can save a lot of money through such solutions. For example, big companies and enterprises that manage vast production/storage/etc. facilities. They will require efficient power management to reduce waste and cut costs.

Other types of businesses that require such software are energy companies and providers. They can use a wide range of solutions that help manufacture, distribute, and manage power flows.

Finally, businesses that work with regular energy consumers can benefit from efficient management solutions. They can use software to search for plans and otherwise help optimize the power costs directly for the consumer.

Does your business fall into one of these categories? Contact Devtorium, an expert in energy management software development. We’ll be happy to help bring your project to life!

Have an Idea for an App: Use Custom Mobile App Development Services to Start Your Business

Posted on by oleshchenko

If you have an excellent idea for an app, hiring a custom mobile app development services provider is the next logical step you should take, right? Well, it turns out there are quite a few things you’ll need to do to create a successful product.

The following guide will take you through every step of this process and offer all the resources you’ll need. Then, armed with a plan of action, you’ll create an app that will turn in profit while helping people.

Now is a great time to get into custom enterprise application development. The industry is piping hot, and the number of app users is growing fast. In addition, smartphone users today spend close to three hours daily using different apps. With the smartphone penetration rate growing rapidly, you shouldn’t miss out on the chance to launch an app that will become the next big sensation. Mobile app development is the future, so act on your ideas fast.

Introduction to custom mobile app development services.

Custom Mobile App Development Services: Going Above and Beyond

Why having a great idea for an app is not enough

Mobile and web apps are popular, everyone knows this. But have you ever thought about exactly how popular they are?

In the last quarter of 2020, over 3.14 million apps were in Google Play Store and over 2 million in App Store. However, bear in mind that those aren’t the only app stores on the Web. Also, there are specialized custom apps that only work within enterprises or businesses. Therefore, the actual number of unique applications is enormous.

It shouldn’t be a surprise as the mobile app revenues are projected to reach over $935 billion by 2023. So naturally, everyone wants a piece of that pie.

All things considered, even if your idea is unique and lucrative, getting noticed will be tough. That’s why you need to think well beyond end-to-end application development. You’ll have to finance, market, and support your product to give it a chance at success. Moreover, you’ll require assistance from experts in various fields. It can make the difference between launching a breakthrough product and failure.

Follow the steps below if you are hyped up and sure that your idea has a fighting chance.

Before You Get to Custom Mobile App Development Services

Conduct a thorough market research

When you get an idea for an app, the first thing you should do is research the market. Questions you need to answer:

  • Who is your target audience?
    Decide who will use your app. First, you need to understand these people’s age, gender, and education level. Also, research the apps they are using already. Finally, find out what devices they prefer.
  • How is your app going to benefit people?
  • Are there already apps similar to the one you have in mind?
    If yes, how is yours going to be different?
  • What are the current trends in custom mobile app development services?
  • What apps are most popular now?
    What’s unique about their design or functionality?
  • Who are your future competitors going to be?
  • What do those companies and their products offer to customers?
  • How can your app be better?
  • Should you look for end-to-end application development or a different type of development service?

Quality market research takes a lot of time and effort. However, any business that wants to succeed today must be built on relevant Big Data analysis. You can’t create a project using only conjectures, rumors, or subjective opinions. Therefore, you’ll have to do dozens of searches and study multiple industry reports.

Custom mobile app development services: where to start?

Develop your USP by studying future competitors

As an aspiring app creator, the primary source of information on mobile application development solutions should be your competitors. As Mark Twain said, “there is no such thing as a new idea.” Therefore, there’s a high chance that a product similar to the one you want to launch already exists. You’ll need to study all these solutions to make sure that your own stands out. That’s how you’re going to develop a unique selling proposition (USP).

In case you have the incredible luck of being the first, study the apps most popular with your target audience. Then, install those yourself and analyze them thoroughly.

Analyze the following:

  • What kind of UI/UX design do they have?
  • What features do they offer?
  • How do they benefit the user?
  • Why do you think people like them?

If you have direct competitors, you’ll need to do your best to find out everything about their products. 

  • What programming languages did they use?
  • How do they market their products?
  • What kind of monetization strategy do they use?
  • What are the exact features of their apps?

Also, you should take the time to go through reviews of your competitors’ products on AppStore and Google Play. Take notes of the features users like and their most common complaints.

Finally, analyze all this data and highlight the weaknesses and holes in the strategies of your competitors. Then, start building your own plan by turning those issues into your product’s strengths. Again, the enterprise mobile app development company you choose should help you with this.

Create an app monetization plan

Obviously, the app you are building should bring profit. And to do that, you need to decide precisely how you are going to monetize it. This decision will be an essential part of the business plan you’ll use to obtain financing. Therefore, be sure to think about this carefully and compare the pros and cons of every method. In addition, take a look at how your competitors monetize their products. 

The most common mobile app monetization strategies are:

  • In-app purchases.
    The number of purchases made through mobile apps keeps growing steadily. So, this can be an excellent option for many industries. However, if you plan to use this method, you’ll need to discuss it closely with your end-to-end application development team. They will need to create this type of functionality for your product or integrate a third-party payment provider.
  • Data monetization.
    You might not require any additional custom mobile app development services if you choose monetization through selling data. Of course, you’ll have to be upfront about this and ensure complete confidentiality. If you can do this, selling some types of user data to third parties can be highly lucrative. For example, this information can be used in market studies, like the ones you used to develop your business plan.
  • Subscription plan.
    Use the freemium model if you want to go with a subscription plan. You should either offer a free trial of the app or make some of its basic functionality free to use. So people will be motivated to try it and see if they want to buy the product.
  • In-app advertising.
    Remember, if you use in-app ads, make sure they aren’t annoying.

Develop an app wireframe

After settling with your idea and developing a business plan, it’s time to create an app wireframe. It’s a task for your custom mobile app development services provider.

Think of a wireframe as a blueprint for your product. Many people mistakenly believe that a wireframe must include application design. However, it’s not true. The purpose of a wireframe is to show what exactly your product will do. Therefore it must consist of:

  • Page elements
  • Possible actions
  • Object categories
  • Conversion and navigation areas
  • Content prioritization

You will present this wireframe to possible investors. In addition, you’ll use it within the team to ensure everyone is on the same page about the product.

When developing the wireframe, keep in mind that it has to show every step of the user’s journey. It will also help you see whether you need to cut some of the steps. Do not forget that users prioritize convenience above all in mobile apps. Therefore, every additional click or page load might bring down your revenue.

It doesn’t really matter what the wireframe looks like. So, you don’t have to invest in designer services before making it. However, you can provide some concept art for possible designs to add to your business plan presentation.

You don’t even need to have a logo at this stage of the project. Therefore, you can use your resources efficiently to maximize app functionality while looking for financing.

How to get financing for a mobile application development project.

Where to Get Financing for Mobile Application Development Solutions

The cost of custom mobile app development services varies depending on multiple factors. Sadly, many great application ideas never make it past that stage because people cannot secure financing.

The good news is that today, you can explore many avenues to get money for your app. So, even if you don’t have a starting capital and banks refuse you a loan, you still have options.

  • Crowdfunding.
    Crowdfunding is a great financing option nowadays. It’s a very effective way to fund custom mobile app development services. However, you’ll need to launch a good marketing campaign early for your crowdfunding efforts to be effective. Otherwise, people won’t know much about your idea, and they won’t have the motivation to fund it. Today’s best crowdfunding platforms are Indiegogo, Gofundme, Mightycause (for non-profits), and StartEngine.
  • Angel investors or venture capitalists.
    Both angel investors and venture capitalists are businesses or individuals who can fund your app if they consider it promising. Angel investors usually offer funds at the beginning stages of development. On the other hand, venture capitalists are more likely to join when the app creation process is already in the works.
  • Startup finance programs.
    A wide range of small business grants and financing programs are available in the US and worldwide. These financing options are highly versatile, and often entrepreneurs don’t know that there might be government-backed help open to them. Therefore, be sure to research these options and look up any programs available in your community. But remember that such programs and grants usually have rather specific requirements. So, you might need to adjust your product plan to make it compliant.

How to choose a provider of custom mobile app development services.

Custom Mobile App Development Services: How to Find the Right Developers for You

After you secure financing, you should start looking for a reliable provider of custom mobile app development services. Your development company should be trustworthy and consist of people you can connect with on a personal level. These professionals will translate your vision into a real-life product. Therefore, they must be able to assume your perspective and understand exactly what you want to accomplish.

The search for such professionals should start with studying their portfolios and case studies. It’s usually best to hire developers who have experience with the type of apps you want to create. It means that to get a fantastic online store, you should hire an experienced eCommerce application development company. This way, you can ensure that developers understand the niche and know how to overcome its challenges.

However, you shouldn’t discard the idea of hiring an enterprise mobile app development company that’s new to the niche. If the company’s case studies are impressive and versatile, they prove that these developers are skilled and creative no matter the challenge.

Overall, the qualities you should look for in an end-to-end application development provider include:

  • Impressive portfolio and customer testimonials
  • Willingness to sign an NDA from the start to ensure the security of your idea
  • Effective project management skills
  • Good communication with the customer to keep you updated about the progress
  • High development and testing standards
  • Wide range of QA testing measures to make sure your app performs well when it’s launched
  • Putting the client’s needs and vision first

Remember, you should hire an app development team that will work with you to bring your idea to life.

Next Level of Custom Mobile App Development Services: Launch an MVP

One of the best ways to start your mobile app business is to launch an MVP to start attracting people as soon as possible. MVP stands for a minimum viable product. Basically, it’s a ‘barebones’ version of your application. However, it’s good enough for people to actually use.

An MVP of a mobile application must have all the essential features so customers can use it. Those users then can provide truly invaluable feedback. It can help you understand what works and what doesn’t. But most importantly, you will be able to see the right direction for moving forward.

Releasing an MVP is essential not only to start making money sooner. The main goal of this business model is to avoid wasting your money on developing unnecessary features. In this case, the whole process of future development is based on the feedback loop you can build with your users.

Note that your MVP can validate the very idea of your product at the starting level. After that, you will get to see the market response to it. Unfortunately, some apps never make it past an MVP. But many more undergo complete transformations as the owners adapt them to real-life user responses.

In addition, you get a chance to find some new business opportunities. The feedback you get will be much more informative than impersonal market studies. So, you’ll be able to exploit other potential business avenues in the niche.

In essence, launching an MVP can be considered a large-scale type of A/B testing. Therefore, use this opportunity carefully to refine your idea into a product that will truly rock the market.

How to market your new mobile app.

Marketing: Must-Have Step for Custom Mobile App Development Services

It’s essential to understand that no matter how good your idea is or how well the custom mobile app development services company does its job, no one will know about your product without marketing. Nowadays, a good marketing strategy is not some kind of luxury for big corporations. On the contrary, it’s a must-have feature for any business, no matter how small.

Also, if you want to launch a successful app, you’ll need to think about marketing even before looking for an end-to-end application development company. It’ll be necessary to attract investors, as well as to generate some hype for the launch.

Start by creating a marketing plan for your app. You can find free templates like this one from HubSpot. While building your project, keep in mind that a marketing campaign for a mobile app should include the following stages:

Awareness generation stage: pre-custom enterprise application development

At this stage, you need to focus on raising product visibility. Therefore, it will be best to launch a social media campaign. You’ll need to establish your brand online and build up a following. Use advertisements and, if possible, influencer endorsements.

It’s also imperative to get involved in a variety of industry-specific groups. Bear in mind that you’ll need to post not only self-promotional content. To attract attention through social media groups, you’ll have to become an active member and build a reputation as an expert. Then, you can start sharing information about your upcoming product launch.

Note that these groups might help you attract not only future app users but also investors and business partners.

User acquisition stage

At this stage, your priority is to get people to download your app as much as possible. You also need to track all downloads to see which of your channels perform best. Then, focus on them to grow your user base.

Using paid ads will be very effective at this stage. However, you will also need to work on your app’s page optimization in the app store. It’s very similar to SEO, as you’ll also need to optimize the app description for searchable keywords. Your goal here is to increase app visibility on the platform.

In addition, you should try pitching your app to the app store’s editorial team to get it featured. It will boost visibility and increase your authority as a creator.

User retention stage

Having people download your app will be of little help if they don’t use it. Therefore, it’s imperative to establish communication with your users and keep them involved. You can do this through push notifications, email marketing, and organizing various in-app events and contests.

Also, be active with your social media marketing. Remember that you should communicate with users outside the app as well.

Finally, publish regular updates and request feedback. In addition, be sure to reply to all user comments.

How to Get More Downloads: App Store Optimization Tips

When uploading your app to any app store, you need to remember that these stores use an inner search protocol. It means that you need to apply SEO principles to your app page as you do for websites. This way, the chance of your app appearing in the store users’ search results will be higher. Therefore, your download rate should go up as well.

The most important thing for app store optimization is to use relevant keywords in your product description. Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Google Keyword Planner to find the right keywords for your niche.

Bear in mind that you’ll also need to use these keywords in the title. The title must be compelling and stand out. After uploading it, search for your app yourself to see how easy it is to find using keywords. Compare with the other titles in your niche and think of what you can do better.

Another important part of app store optimization is choosing the images to include in the app description. From the app icon to screenshots, every image must be top quality. You also need to select the most compelling pictures to show off your product in the best possible way.

Finally, be sure to add a video as this is the most popular type of content today. Internet users prefer watching videos to get info quickly. Therefore, you need to give them a chance to see your app in action through a short clip. You can’t make it too long, so show the app’s most valuable feature first.

End-to-End Application Development Isn’t Really “The End”: Monitoring Your App Post Launch

Now that you’ve successfully built and launched your app, you need to decide what to do with it. There are two routes before you. One is to sell the project, thus entrusting its future to someone else. Or, you can keep working on it yourself.

If you choose the latter option, you’ll be in for a great ride.

In this case, you’ll need to determine KPIs to track the project’s progress. Then, perform detailed assessments, monthly or weekly, to see whether the app lives up to your expectations.

In the meantime, you’ll need to keep your iOS/Android app development company involved to monitor technical app performance. Also, a team of engineers will have to keep working on updates and improvements for the solution.

Finally, you’ll need to provide your product with maintenance and customer support teams. Luckily, these services can be largely automated and entrusted to AI-powered solutions.

It’s crucial to understand that your work as the product owner doesn’t stop at end-to-end application development. If you want people to keep using your app and spend money, you need to keep improving it. Adding new exciting features, organizing events, and tracking product performance will keep your product profitable for years to come.

Bottom Line: Using Custom Mobile App Development Services to Make Your App Idea a Reality

If you have a fantastic idea for an app, you should treat it as a full-scale business project, from creating a business plan and attracting investors to end-to-end application development. Launching your app and making sure it succeeds will take a lot of work. However, seeing the results is sure to be highly fulfilling, not to mention the product’s profit.

To bring your idea to life, you’ll need to study the market, make a great business plan, obtain funding, find a reliable enterprise mobile app development company, engage a marketing team, and ensure that your product has continuous support. The Devtorium team is ready to do all that and more! Contact us, and we’ll be happy to assist in bringing your vision to reality.

Ultimate ECommerce Website Development Guide

Posted on by mkoftielieva

The world of online shopping is insanely competitive now. So, eCommerce website development has become true art. You need to hire outstanding experts in multiple areas to create a site that will stand out and give your business a chance at success.

Bear in mind that creating an excellent eCommerce site is complicated, despite 500-word step-by-step guides that tell you otherwise. An online store that can attract people and nurture customer loyalty is a complex machine produced and maintained by highly-skilled professionals. This guide explains how to build one for a business with any budget.

How to Choose an ECommerce Website Development Company

Decide whether you need an end-to-end eCommerce solution

First of all, you need to decide whether you need an end-to-end eCommerce solution development or if you are going to build a website based on an open-source eCommerce platform. Of course, the main deciding factor here is the scale of the project you plan. If you want to launch a versatile marketplace for multiple businesses, you should look into eCommerce platform development from the start.

However, launching on an existing platform like Shopify or Magento can be the best choice for the majority of businesses. Even if you plan to offer thousands of products from the get-go, these platforms can support it.

Basically, it would be best to discuss your business plan with expert developers. Then, they can advise which is the better route for eCommerce website development based on your business plan.

There are three most common ways to go about creating an eCommerce website:

  • Build an eCommerce solution from scratch or using open-source software.
  • Customize a SaaS eCommerce platform to suit your needs.
  • MACH architecture.
    MACH stands for Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless. This architecture is the best option for businesses planning to scale and grow fast. Compared to monolithic solutions, they are much more flexible. Moreover, this type of eCommerce business will be able to add and remove various features as needed without bringing down the whole system.

Understand and compare eCommerce developers’ strengths

Every developer, no matter how great their skill, has a specialization. The same goes for a custom software development company. It means that when choosing a development team, you need to do a lot of research. Take a look at the developers’ case studies and make your own assessment. Study customer reviews if they are available. Also, take a look at the company’s ranking on websites like Clutch.

However, you should also remember that many software development projects are under NDAs. Therefore, the developers might not be able to show off their complete portfolio. That’s why you should also arrange an interview to make your assessment.

When doing your research, make a list of every developer’s strengths. Then, think about what you want from your website and see whether they can deliver the results you want.

Must-have features for eCommerce website development

Must-Have Features for an End-to-End ECommerce Solution

When planning the eCommerce website development process, you need to outline your customer lifecycle in detail. Use the data to determine what features your online store should have. Consider the following guidelines to make these decisions:

  • Make a generalized list of eCommerce store features. Doing some competitor research will be a great help here.
  • Make a list of your personal must-have features for the store. For example, this can be business-specific features like tax or international shipping rates calculators.
  • Prioritize every feature in those lists from 1 to 5.
  • Discuss the costs of adding each feature with your eCommerce application development company.
  • Make your final decision and build plans for upgrades and expansion.

Bear in mind that some features might heavily affect eCommerce website development costs. Therefore, your budget will be a deciding factor in your plans. However, some features are absolute must-haves for any modern eCommerce business.

Responsive web design

In 2022 if you aren’t doing it mobile-first, you are doing it wrong. The number of people who prefer mobile shopping is growing exponentially every year. In addition, today, you can’t really have a high Google ranking if your website isn’t mobile-friendly.

Therefore, the responsive design must be the basis of any eCommerce website development in 2022 and beyond. But you also need to understand that nowadays you have many options to be mobile-friendly.

The good news is that all leading eCommerce platforms offer responsive design capabilities. Therefore, your developer shouldn’t have any issues optimizing your shop for multiple devices if you are using them. 

However, your approach can be different if you plan to launch an enterprise-level business and want to do your eCommerce platform development from scratch. In this case, you should talk with your development team about making a mobile eCommerce app. It can be a more cost-efficient idea in the long run.

SEO capabilities (+CMS)

Any eCommerce business must attract organic traffic in droves. Therefore, you need to consider SEO at the early stages of eCommerce website development. Your site must be designed for the highest level of optimization. Moreover, it must have specialized SEO capabilities that will allow you to improve the site with time.

For example, you need to think about how you will add content to the website. Better SEO requires renewing product pages and adding new pages, like blog articles or informative pages about the business. In addition, these new pages must have optimized templates to make it easier for you to boost the website fast.

Speaking of content, an eCommerce website should have a CMS (content management system) to make working with it more manageable. It allows you to handle and store all dynamic content with ease. Most importantly, a CMS allows you to make quick changes that will be immediately and automatically implemented across the website.

Loading speed

The bounce rate grows with every extra second your website takes to load. So nearly 100% of people who come to your website will leave it if it takes as little as six seconds to load. That’s how much speed matters.

Since online shops must offer rich visual content to increase conversion, clever eCommerce website development is essential. The team working on your site must have the experience and skills to optimize it to the max. This kind of optimization might require quite a bit of back-end work. So, make sure that the developers have expertise in this area.

Moreover, website loading speed is a Google ranking factor. Therefore, it is a part of the website SEO that must be integrated at the level of design.

Product management system

What can be worse than placing an order for an item you want, marked ‘in stock’, and then getting an email that the product isn’t really in stock? Everyone has undoubtedly experienced this kind of frustration. Did you return to that store after such an experience?

In the age of extreme competition that we live in, such mistakes are deadly for an eCommerce business. Therefore, it’s imperative to build an effective product management system while developing your store. It must make it easy for you to:

  • Add new products
  • Automatically update and manage the inventory
  • Edit product pages
  • Realize promotions and discount codes

Payments and checkout

It’s essential for eCommerce website development to integrate multiple payment gateways from the start. Nowadays, diversity is critical for global businesses. Every buyer seeks convenience. If you aren’t offering all the popular payment types in your region, you’ll lose clients.

ECommerce website development for businesses that target multiple countries will be more complex. It’s because the payment gateways must support multiple currencies and have a converter feature.

Moreover, the entire checkout process must be streamlined to the max. It’s essential because a quick and efficient payment process often motivates people to buy more. Therefore, you must make your payment and checkout as short as possible so people can complete a purchase in a few clicks.

Meanwhile, your eCommerce application development company must ensure the security remains top-notch. It means facilitating the checkout process must not affect the security measures of the payment processing provider. Trusted providers would have a set of requirements for integrating them into an eCommerce shop. Your developers will have to study them carefully to ensure full compliance.

Integrations

Even if you are doing an eCommerce platform development from scratch, it will require some integrations with third-party software. Therefore, your website must have capabilities for integrating solutions and plugins you might require. Bear in mind that you need to think ahead when planning this. Your need for integrations might increase as your business grows.

When using an existing eCommerce platform, your developers must ensure that integrations with various solutions are possible. Unfortunately, not all platforms are equal in this, so you have to pick the one that will work with every solution you want to use.

Moreover, maintaining the cohesiveness of all integrations is an essential task for the developers who will manage your website. Remember that every plugin update risks adding vulnerabilities or even crashing the entire system.

Security

PCI compliance, as well as top-notch cybersecurity, are essential requirements during eCommerce website development. These sites handle a lot of sensitive information, including credit card details. Therefore, they have to be above reproach. Moreover, meeting various specialized compliance criteria is a must to be allowed to process payments.

Your development team must understand that and know how to make your store safe. Breaking any of these requirements might result in not only in loss of trust from your customers, but also in hefty penalties. You might even lose the right to accept payments.

Moreover, you need to understand that threats evolve rapidly in the digital space. Therefore, your development team must be able to provide you with a dynamic information security system that will help keep up the safety of your business.

eCommerce website development process step-by-step

ECommerce Website Development Step by Step

Define your product offering range

The first thing to do when planning an online store is to decide what you will sell. How you make this decision is up to you. It can be a passion-driven choice, or you can study the market to find the most promising niches. However, you must outline at least the initial product offering range.

Once you do this, you will be able to decide on product categories and make a draft of your future website map. It will also be helpful to study your prospective competitors’ sites and find issues they have. Your own website must fill in those holes, thus offering customers a better shopping experience.

Set business goals

Your eCommerce website development should be preceded by creating a clear business plan. It means that you must start by setting exact goals and metrics for your business.

First of all, outline the goals:

  • Is your primary goal to build a direct-to-consumer online-only business?
  • Do you want to expand your B2C business with B2B capabilities, or vice versa, using eCommerce?
  • Do you need to grow your existing brick-and-mortar business by bringing it online?

The metrics you should consider during eCommerce website development include

  • Business growth.
    Decide how exactly you will measure it, for example, through weekly/monthly/quarterly sales and revenues, ROI, etc.
  • Local and international sales.
    Decide from the start whether you plan on selling globally, as this will affect the features your eCommerce website must have.
  • Customer Lifetime Value.
    Decide how you will measure and plan to grow CLV at the business planning stage.
  • Sales.
    Think about how many products you need to sell to turn in a profit and how you expect these sales to grow over time.

Define your target audience for eCommerce website development

Whether your business plan is B2B or B2C will help define the website structure and design. However, you also need to research your target audience in-depth. You need to know what these people like and dislike in everyday lives, not only concerning your specific niche. This way, you’ll be able to provide them with a better shopping experience.

Never forget that you can find inspiration in the most unlikely of places. Also, if you target a specific generation, like Gen-Z, you need to understand their preferences in tech. This will help you decide on website functionality and various features that must be included at launch.

Outline the desired shopping experience

You need to plan the exact shopping experience step by step. First, take note of every action your customers will take to make a purchase. Then, think about how to make the process as smooth as possible.

Remember that every extra action reduces the chance of a conversion. Therefore, you must aim to make the user experience straightforward and smooth.

Some ideas to consider:

  • What filters do you need to include in the website search?
  • Can you provide a one-page checkout?
  • Do you need to integrate a product comparison feature?
  • How will you realize the function of discounts, coupons,  and promo codes?

Consider eCommerce platform development options

If you plan to build an end-to-end eCommerce solution, you must make a considerable investment. However, today you don’t have to do this from the start. There are dozens of eCommerce platforms that allow you to set up any kind of shop. This will reduce the workload on developers. Therefore, you will be able to use your budget more efficiently.

Many of the top-grade platforms allow for scalability. So, you will be able to scale up your shop with ease. Meanwhile, as your business progresses to the next level, you can start the development of an end-to-end eCommerce solution.

Many of the top platforms have multiple plugins that make it easy to add any features you need. However, not all these platforms are the same. Therefore, you should research their capabilities carefully. Talk to your developers, as they should be able to offer advice on which platform is best suited to your business goals. Today’s most popular options are Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce. Each of them has some important pros and cons. Therefore, you should choose what meets your specific needs best.

Define the procedure to add new products

The process of adding and editing products must be supremely easy for you. Therefore, discuss this with developers in detail and make sure you resolve any issues regarding:

  • Syncing the inventory across all sales channels you have.
  • Adding high-res product images and videos without bringing down the website loading speed.
  • Ease of adding and editing structured product descriptions with SEO elements.

Most importantly, the process has to be set up in such a way that you can add products without involving developers. It means that not only does the process need to be simple. It’s also crucial to set it up so that it won’t bring down the website if you make a simple mistake.

Integrate payment and shipping

It’s a vitally important step in eCommerce website development. Even if you are using an eCommerce platform to build your shop, using the services of an experienced developer is a must. The expert will be able to set up the payment gateways and checkout, so everything runs smoothly.

You will need to offer multiple payment options. So, the developer will have to ensure that they are secure and reliable. The task will be more complicated for businesses that target an international audience. In this case, you will need more diverse payment gateways. Also, consider integrating a specialized bookkeeping solution to help you keep track of your finances and generate reports.

When dealing with international payments, you also need to research the regions carefully. Despite what some providers claim, some e-wallets and digital payment services are banned in specific regions. So, you need to make sure that the payment gateways you choose are actually supported by the areas where your audience resides. Moreover, make sure that the transaction fees they offer are reasonable.

Develop and implement a content strategy

You must have a content strategy ready before getting to actual eCommerce website development. It’s because the site will be much better when it’s built with actual content instead of fillers.

Note that the content strategy is vital for eCommerce. It’s because the content is a parge part of SEO. In turn, SEO is key to attracting organic traffic, which is the primary source of income for online stores.

Your content strategy must cover the following:

  • Establishing a consistent brand voice
  • Creating a structure for informative, captivating, and search engine optimized product descriptions
  • Creating additional information pages about your brand’s history, products, materials, mission, vision, etc.
  • Adding a blog for continuous SEO improvements
  • Integrating social media into the website

Remember that content is not only text. All the images, videos, GIFs, and graphics on the site also count as content. Therefore, you need to keep all of them in the same style and quality.

Moreover, all content must be fresh and relevant. So, you must make sure that there is a way for you to update and add new pages easily. Whether you are building an end-to-end eCommerce solution or a small website, you must make it so that content can be updated without involving a developer.

Final stage of eCommerce website development

Test and launch the website

Finally, you are ready to take the most important final steps with all that done. First, your eCommerce website must undergo thorough QA testing. There are different types of quality assurance testing that will be used. Your developers should be able to perform it or advise how to best go about it.

You can use this simple checklist for testing your website personally:

  • Check all CTAs and other buttons
  • Check all the forms
  • Test the checkout process in every possible way
  • Double-check every payment processing option you offer
  • Go over product categories and descriptions to make sure everything is in its proper place
  • Check every image and video to ensure their quality matches
  • Check every link
  • Go over the inventory to make sure everything is right
  • Test the coupons/promo codes feature
  • Test the shipping settings

When every test is complete, and you are sure that the website runs smoothly, you can launch!

But remember that you’ll need to do quite a bit of marketing pre-launch to make sure that people come to the Big Day. In fact, you should start marketing your business and building your brand while your eCommerce website is still in development.

Bottom Line: The Long Road to ECommerce Website Development

Creating an eCommerce website that is sure to rock is a task that takes a special kind of skill. It also requires a team that’s expert not only in development but also in business analysis, project management, cybersecurity, and marketing.

When you have all these experts working together, your online shop is guaranteed to be successful. Contact us if you want to see how it works!

What Is AI-Driven Software Development?

Posted on by mkoftielieva

Making things better, faster, and leaner, that’s what AI-driven software development is all about. Integrating AI into software products can help any business achieve incredible results. So, investing in an artificial intelligence software development company has become a trend among business leaders of today. If you consider taking your business to the next level, keep reading to learn how AI can boost your profits.

What Is AI-Driven Software Development?

Simply put, AI-driven software development is a method of adding AI to the software. The result creates an AI-powered platform or app that can be extremely efficient. AI-based tools are highly versatile as there are multiple applications for this technology.

Most often, these solutions are used for automation or to speed up research and analysis. In essence, an AI can do many of the things that a human data analyst can do. However, it processes data at extremely high speeds. In addition, it reduces the risk of human error.

The human expert is needed to make conclusions from the analysis. However, the bulk of gathering, processing, and sorting data can be done by a machine. And this type of AI-powered platform can be used in a great number of ways.

In addition, the machine learning technology that powers AI enables it to improve with every use. Therefore, all AI-based tools continuously grow more efficient, bringing more and more benefits to the user.

An artificial intelligence software development company can do both: use AI technology in the development process and create tools that use this tech.

During software development, AI can be applied at nearly every level:

  • Understanding and refining requirements.
    Outlining and defining requirements for a project is a part of a business analyst’s work in the IT industry. AI can be applied at this stage for automating manual tasks as well as gathering and processing information. The analyst can use this data to come up with a better list of requirements for the project.
  • Design of the app.
    AI can assist with ensuring the accuracy of the app design. A specialized AI-powered platform can facilitate the work of designers and enable them to work faster.
  • Development of the application.
    The actual development is long and hard work that requires a lot of effort from human experts. However, there are some coding tasks that can be automated. It’s a great way to reduce redundancy and speed up the development process.
  • QA testing.
    QA software testing automation powered by AI can achieve outstanding results. AI can catch a greater number of mistakes and test the solution much faster. Human intervention is necessary but assisted by AI the overall productivity of a QA expert increases greatly.

Examples of AI-Driven Software Development in 2022

Personal Assistants

The majority of people now use AI without even thinking about how it’s actually an AI. We mean the use of personal assistants integrated into almost all smartphones and smart-tech. Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa are the most popular among them. With every update, they offer a better and broader scope of services.

These assistants are versatile and can do everything from being your personal butler to running a smart home.

AI-powered platform Marquette as an example of AI-driven software development services

AI Content Generation Software

Content is becoming an ever more prevalent ‘currency’ in the modern world powered by information. Therefore, businesses that want to succeed in the digital space must consistently produce tons of fresh content. It’s hard and expensive work. However, AI-driven software development is offering ways to facilitate it.

Today, you can use an AI content generator, like Rytr or WriteSonic, that will produce texts of varying lengths. Depending on the solution and your subscription level, the levels of the texts will differ. They can range from average blog posts to short targeted messages that can be used as ads, for example.

Another type of an AI-powered platform that can be used for content marketing is Marquètte. Unlike a simple content generator, this product provides the user with information on any topic. Basically, you ask a question and Marquètte delivers an opinion on the matter drawn from the vast database of knowledge that AI can access.

This information can be used as inspiration for content writing or even as a social media post. It can provide you with answers to use on Quora and various forums as a part of your marketing strategy. Moreover, it can simply provide valuable insights that will help you understand a topic or make better business decisions.

Healthcare Apps

AI-driven software development is extremely valuable for the healthcare industry. Variations of the same personal assistants we use daily can literally save people’s lives. There are monitoring apps powered by AI that keep track of a patient’s vitals.

There are apps like Covera Health that reduce the instances of misdiagnosis by combining databases and offering a more detailed list of symptoms. Apps like Well by Chapel Hill, NC, provide people with medical guidance to improve their quality of life. There are also multiple chatbot assistants that help people access healthcare services from remote places.

Healthcare institutions, like the Massachusetts General Hospital, are investing in research and AI-driven software development to come up with unique diagnostic and treatment opportunities.

There are also apps that help manage one’s mental health. For example, Youper offers guidance in meditation and a chatbot to help relieve emotional stress.

Study Apps

An AI-powered platform can become a great learning aid as it itself learns while you are using it. This advantage has been realized in many AI-augmented study apps. For example, there is Socratic, which aids students who learn math, literature, science, and a few other subjects. The app processes images and provides explanations. So, a student only needs to take a picture to learn more about any subject.

AI-driven software development is also useful for language learners. There are apps like Elsa that help understand and learn languages dynamically. Some of them also offer translations in real-time. So, they help travelers as well.

In Conclusion: What Is the Future of AI-Driven Software Development?

The future of AI-powered apps is certainly bright. It’s crucial to understand that the list above is only a drop in the ocean of AI applications. Today you can find an AI-powered platform for marketing, self-driving cars, robotized factories, and many other tech made with the help of AI. Moreover, the number of these products is growing daily.

As it stands, a business that really wants to get the most out of technology today should be using the power of AI. But the question is how do you do this most efficiently?

The answer is simple, you talk to an artificial intelligence software development company about your business. From there on, our experts will be able to help you create a product that will bring the greatest value to your company. There is always a way to boost cost-efficiency and productivity for any business. We are here to help you achieve this!

Monolithic Vs. Microservices Architecture: Guide to Custom Web Development Company Services

Posted on by mkoftielieva

Today we are introducing Oleksandr Volynets, who will help you understand some of the custom web development company services a little better. Oleksandr made a brilliant presentation on modern web application design during our IT Crowd event in Vinnytsia. However, we couldn’t hope to put such a vast amount of information into a single article. So, today you’ll learn about the differences between monolithic and microservices server architectures.

Oleksandr is a true expert in the field of application design. He has been a developer for about a decade and during that time he managed to become a Solution Architect and now the Head of the Back-End Development Department at Devtorium. He holds MS: Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 and MCPS: Microsoft Certified Professional certifications.

Throughout his career, Oleksandr worked on numerous projects ranging from eCommerce to messaging and travel apps. However, for all of his extensive experience in development, he says that his dream is to colonize Mars as a first step to Multiverse domination. We wish him luck at that and hope that Devtorium solutions will be the first apps launched on our neighbor planet. 

We also hope that Oleksandr will share more of his developer experience and insights through articles and guides in the future.

Monolithic Vs. Microservices Architecture: What to Choose When Hiring a Custom Web Development Company

Monolithic and Microservices architecture: guide to custom web development company services

As the name implies, a monolithic application is a single app. This architecture is solid and straightforward, just like a monolith. It’s also an excellent choice for specific types of applications. So, you shouldn’t think that microservices are better than monolithic apps by default.

The monolithic architecture consists of a database, client-side UI, and server-side app. All of it is a single logical unit that can run with extreme efficiency and be very secure. Most importantly, these apps are easy to develop. So the cost of such an application will be lower. With this system, you also get a chance to minimize network latency issues.

Monolithic Architecture from a Professional Web Development Company: Pros & Cons

  • Simple to develop.
    Due to its single-unit design, monolithic architecture is simpler to develop and manage. So, creating this kind of app won’t require a big team of experts. All developer tools and IDEs are completely focused on creating one app.
  • Easy to change the app radically.
    If you need to revamp a monolithic application, it would be easier because you can change the code and the database schema, build and deploy.
  • Straightforward to test.
    Due to the straightforward layout of the architecture, the apps are easier to test. So, the entire QA process becomes easier and therefore, more effective.
  • Straightforward to deploy.
    Like building and testing, deploying a monolithic app is also easier because fewer things could go wrong. A developer just needs to install a single file on a server.
  • Simple flow to scale.
    The flow itself is simple to scale because it’s so straightforward. However, it must be noted that scaling an existing monolithic architecture can be difficult if you want to expand its functionality while doing so.

A major problem with a monolith application is that it’s too complex. It’s too large for any developer to understand fully. While it’s easy to make bigger, you don’t get much flexibility in changing it over time. Also, when it grows too extensive, it becomes hard to manage. The deployment time will grow exponentially when the application is big. There is also a risk that one bug or issue will bring down the whole construct in a unified system like this.

Monolith architecture example: guide to custom web development company services

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Microservices Architecture: Flexibility and Scalability

On the other hand, microservices architectures tend to grow highly complex but also extremely flexible. This type of system consists of multiple microservices that work together and communicate using protocols like HTTP, gRPC, async queues, etc. Therefore, the layout of microservices architectures can differ greatly, and more services can be added or removed quickly if needed.

Also, note that each service has its own database in a microservices architecture. That’s part of the reason why these apps can be extremely complex. If you hire a custom web development company to create a microservices-based app, you’ll need to choose wisely. Such systems require a team of professionals to design, build and maintain over time. Also, don’t forget testers who must continuously make sure that every piece runs smoothly with all the others.

Microservices Architecture from a Professional Web Development Company: Pros & Cons

    • Enables continuous delivery and deployment.
      Microservices architecture is particularly well-suited for large and complex applications because it makes it easier to upgrade them. Such a system minimizes deployment time and resources.
    • Services are small and easily maintained.
      While an extensive system of services requires skill and time to manage, single services are effortless to maintain. It facilitates overall system maintenance.
    • Services are independently deployable and scalable.
      Each of the microservices can be deployed individually. Therefore, it can also be improved and scaled to help scale up the system as needed.
    • Enables team autonomy.
      Teams that build and manage microservices architectures can be autonomous. It’s essential for enterprise-level businesses who prefer to outsource custom web development company services at least in part.
    • Allows easy experimentation and adoption of new technologies.
      New technologies are easy to integrate into the system to see how they perform. Therefore, you can continuously test and improve the system once the new tech is released. Most importantly, the process is fast, so you’ll be able to integrate results without disrupting business workflow.
    • Better fault isolation.
      Once a bug or a problem is spotted, it can be effectively isolated. So, your systems as a whole can continue running while the problem is solved. However, it might run at a reduced capacity.
    • Easier to understand and maintain.
      Microservices architecture appears a lot more complex. But it’s actually relatively easy to understand if you look at services individually. From this point of view, maintaining such a system can also be somewhat easier as you don’t have to take down and deploy the entire thing every time.

That said, in a distributed microservices system, communication issues can cause a significant breakdown. Moreover, these apps are more expensive and less secure due to the inherent vulnerabilities of complex design.

Microservices architecture example: guide to custom web development company services

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What Architecture Is Best When Hiring a Custom Web Development Company?

To answer that question, you must clearly see the customer’s goals. It would be incorrect for a custom web development company to proclaim one type of architecture as superior. The choice of what to use best in what situation is determined by the situation.

And remember, you shouldn’t create a microservices app just because it’s trendy now. As Oleksandr likes to remind us, one must first make sure there is an actual need to choose this architecture type before designing a project.

So, anyone looking to launch an app should first look for a professional web development company that can understand their needs and come up with the best solution tailored to the business plan, like us 😉

For more posts from Devtorium experts, see:

We are a team of 200+ qualified software engineers, business analysts, data scientists, project managers, and UI/UX designers. All our professionals hold specialized certifications in their niches and have expertise in complex projects for a variety of industries.

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