Top Three Approaches To Mobile Application Development

Every business wants to make the next best mobile application to bring in traffic. Nowadays, businesses are continually developing and are moving in the direction of developing themselves. They are attempting to coordinate the most recent trends and technologies with the help of the best mobile app development companies, which can be helpful for their clients and can generate higher incomes. These three approaches to technology will give you further insight on mobile development applications that your company can choose from.

Native Applications

As the title suggests, it is the most time-honoured approach to mobile application development. Based on mobile platforms, operating systems or even specific devices, this particular technology approach is illustrated by different source codes and development. For instance, there are applications with different versions for Apple iPhone and iPad. 

Leading-edge performance and its ability to perfectly exploit the hardware features of the device are some of the many perks of this approach. However, as with most technological functions, it comes with its flaws; lots of resources, the need to maintain numerous projects to support each platform and certain requirements for development tools for each platform.

Cross-platform Applications

The most prominent alternative to the traditional approach is cross-platform mobile application. The principle on which it operates is its ability to maintain a single project for the application, by writing the code once and adapting it to each environment. All of this is done with the help of many available frameworks on the market. The primary edge of this approach is that it's easy to maintain and new features can be added faster, keeping different device versions consistent with each other.

Now, it is considered as a realistic solution because of considerable advancement in the frameworks used to develop mobile cross-platform. Be that as it may, certain applications can face trouble with this particular approach if they require high performance or really advanced utilization of specific device characteristics.

HTML5 Applications

There is no better technology to use than HTML5 if your business is looking at developing web-frontend applications for mobile devices. And these applications, completely based out of HTML 5, are referred to as “mobile web”.

This technology approach operates on the fact that you would use the same tools used in developing a web app or creating a website. Talking about its advantages, it wins a trophy for its affordability. Mainly because all the tools are easily available and mobile development can be integrated with web development.

In spite of the impressive sites and applications that HTML 5 can be used for, there is a risk of lower performance. As well, any discrepancy between user experience and typical user expectations is not taken into consideration by websites. Hence, it is suggested to intensively strategize user acceptance testing with actual end users of your mobile application.

To make your mobile application it is very important to choose the right technology for your business and this decision is based on the needs and requirements of your company. 

For expert advice on software that can help improve your business, feel free to reach out and we will get back to you shortly.

11 Best Practices for a Successful Client-Provider Relationship

A valuable concept to trust for every B2B or service-related business is developing relationships between the company and the clients. At ISU corp, we stress the importance of building, developing, and nurturing relationships between our company and our clients. We have been able to distinguish ourselves from the competition through strong relationships, and one of the very reasons clients continue to work with us is because we always go the extra mile to ensure their satisfaction with our work. 

To nurture this relationship, both parties should follow these eleven simple commandments:

1. Be patient in building new relationships. 

Relationships take time. Take time to get to know your client, instead of indulging in hypocritical networking, as it can be a severe put-off. It is prominent to note that your work for your client is paramount in building a relationship, as no amount of personal connection can substitute for a great job.

2. Do your research (Due diligence)

An online presence which includes the website, reviews, and social media, is the simplest way to learn who you are forming a relationship with and learn their company culture. It’s crucial for the service provider to learn what their clients do, to be familiar with their industry, and learn about their target market. Reading up on the service provider’s industry will help the clients to learn about the average prices and the service providers’ reputation.  

3. Ask questions

When an individual needs more understanding or information on a subject, all he or she has to do is ask. This is why the saying "you won't know unless you ask" is relevant in this context. In order to know the worth of anything, understanding it is key

4. Answer questions

The partnership consists of two or more parties, which means it is a two-way relationship. Now that there are questions asked, it is essential to make sure that they get answered on time and efficiently.

5. Read the documents you are given, they are essential

Clients often provide information to the service providers about the project or services they need (RFPs, Requirements, Project Plans, etc.). These documents include essential information service providers require to fulfill the project demands. Hence the service providers need to read and understand these documents and act accordingly.

Then again, service providers provide their clients with several documents that explain the requirements, process, and terms and conditions of the project. These documents are written for a purpose, trust us when we say Technical Documents are NOT fun to write. These documents are used as the groundwork for your software and are used in the whole development process after. If you don’t get anything, be sure to ask for them.

6. Walk in the other party’s shoes

Both parties should be understanding in identifying each other’s needs and requirements. Not every glitch, hitch, and delay are the fault of the service provider. And the service provider should regard the client’s issues and projects as if it were their own. 

7. Give reasonable pricing/estimation

Both service providers and clients need to be practical when it comes to cost, time estimation, and budgeting. As a service provider, you must break down estimates for the client to help them understand where the pricing is coming from. 

8. Be open to suggestions

As a client, you are outsourcing by hiring service providers to help with processes you cannot do yourselves. Therefore, you need to be open to new ideas, new opinions, and take the time to listen to the suggestions from the experts in the field.

On the other hand, the clients are the professionals in their company and industry. Since they are well informed of their target audience and the preferences that will be best suitable for their business, it is essential to listen to their suggestions as well.

9. Be more than an email address

Communication is the key to growing a great and prosperous relationship. Clear, abundant, effective, and direct communication helps both parties. Although emails are convenient, it is not always the most effective. A phone call, an in-person or Skype meeting will help to put a face or voice to a name. These are great ways to build a better relationship with your client.

10. Adhere to the appropriate communication protocol

It is essential to stick to the contact information and communication process you were given to ensure communication lines are clean and clear. The team member or group of people were appointed to be the point of contact to avoid confusion and broken communication.

11. Follow up and stay in touch

The completion of the project does not mean the partnership is over. Most service providers have maintenance and support packages. There will always be maintenance and new revisions to be done in the future. And the learning curve will be much shorter if another project comes in.

Here at ISU corp we strive to provide the best possible partnership. If you are interested in working together, please contact us!

Data Visualization vs. Data Analytics

As data is becoming more of the central focus point for competitive advantage, many enterprises are seeking new ways to identify and analyze the data being generated. These enterprises use pie-charts, intuitive graphs, and various forms of visualizations to form a deeper analysis for their sales, revenue and other factors of company operations. 

Although, a balanced approach with both data analytics and data visualization is necessary when formulating an effective data strategy. The reason being, the use of the data visualizations listed above, completely depends on how effective the data is or how the data is used to form conclusive decisions. 

If you thought data visualization and analytics was one in the same- don’t worry, that’s a common mistake many enterprises make. The confusion stems from both aspects allowing users to understand the data and acquire the metrics, which assist in decision making. 

As each year passes, more and more data is generated; causing information overload. The data being generated multiplies EVERY 3 years! So, you can understand why it is crucial to have the necessary resources to interpret all of that information.

On the other hand, this information overload isn’t so bad…

There’s quite a few projections showing an almost certain exponential growth in revenue for big data within the software market. 

Are you still unclear on the difference between data visualization and data analytics? 

Don’t worry, this confusion is common as we mentioned because both forms represent data in visual interfaces. 

However, regardless of the similarities between the two, data analytics dives in deeper with data comprehension than data visualization. The pretty picture at the end is significant, but is definitely not the backbone - the tools and algorithms used to produce the final product is just as important (if not more)! 

Confusion No More: Difference Between Data Visualization and Data Analytics 

Let’s start with data visualization: 

This is the representation of the data in visual form - making the trends and patterns essential in the data the central factor. If you’re using text-based data, such visualizations may not be possible or explicit to the data. As the traditional forms of visualizations are falling off the grid, such as line graphs, charts, and so on, 3D visualizations are taking their place. With 3D visualizations, users are able to manipulate the data with tools available through the application of filters. 

Now let’s dive further into the world of big data. What does data analytics look like? 

This aspect identifies and discovers new trends and patterns throughout the data. Although data visualizations allows users to understand the data, it doesn’t show everything. Visual representations can only be effective if the data being used to create the visualization is effective. So, what does that really mean?

If you’re inputting incomplete data into your visualization machine, then you can only expect a half complete representation of your data. What makes this EVEN more complex is the fact that enterprises are receiving data from multiple sources and storing this data into varying archives. This makes it more difficult to gather comprehensive data for data visualizations. 

Visualization tools handle the fresh, raw, unformatted data, while analytics tools use data mining algorithms to properly clean and evaluate the data by using different evaluations and software resources. With the completion of this, you’re able to subject the data to algorithms and proceed with your decision on how to display your results. 

First Step: Data Integration 

In order to produce an effective analysis, it is required that you consolidate all the data into one space. There are of course analytical engines that collect data from multiple sources, however, by consolidating the data into one space; it provides you with one single version of “the truth”. This prevents the risk of duplication and contradicting information from distorting the visualizations. 

With the continuous increase in data production, manual aggregation has become nearly impossible. Which is why, there are more and more releases of software tools and platforms available on the market - to provide you with an effective automated solution. These automated solutions clean your messy data, which would otherwise be inevitable with disparate sources and users. 

Second Step: Data Analysis 

After the cleaning process, the data is subjected to analysis and/or performance calculations on the data. With a growing business environment, data analysis is becoming more complex. With speed being the #1 necessity, multi-stage formulas have been integrated into the process which allow for multiple calculations to be done all at once. Data visualization involves reporting data rather than analyzing it and because of that, most tools are restricted when it comes to aggregations per formula. 

This is why we have data analysis! It allows for users to create complex formulas, even while working in separate sources. The software proves to be useful as it takes the required pre-calculations automatically - saving you time. 

Are you a business seeking success in today’s speedy world? 

Consider analytics tools that update your data and facilitate collaboration. An analytical tool such as IBM Cognos takes your data and uses a plug-and-play structure to create colourful interfaces. 

Many businesses within the retail sector are using data analytics to advance their processes and in turn, maximize their revenue. Data visualizations and analytics have assisted them in not only discovering new trends, but also have shown insights into customer behaviour, which help companies develop initiatives to achieve success. 

Moreover, advanced analytics such as comprehensive business intelligence analytics suites, offer a predictive projection which is based on complex algorithms using languages like R and Python. Some of the key technologies used by business intelligence platforms are: dashboards, data warehousing, and advanced data visualization. 

Always make sure that the solution provides you as the user, flexibility and ability to combine data in whichever way you need. 

It’s also important you’re staying up to date and keeping up with the trends. The latest analytical platforms are using natural language processing along with chatbots to ensure users are easily able to perform calculations and input their inquiries without trouble. Some of the current advancements in the technology include location-based intelligence, which increases your chances of revenue through the use of analytics and customer insights. 

The Last Step

Keep in mind that although the most effective visualization is based on analytics, the representation doesn’t always need to be the end of the process. It is common to take data analytics and visualization and throw them into a cycle. 

If we look at machine learning and predictive modeling applications for example, the success of targeted emails depend on the cyclical process. Data visualization can start us off, followed by analysts putting specific variables into a graph in order to identify patterns or metrics, such as median averages, standard deviation metrics, and data spread. This helps you gain an understanding of your data. 

Thus, it’s obvious that both analytics and visualization handle data. Data visualization creates a user-friendly guide to understand the report, but without cleaning the messy data and applying it to advanced algorithms, you will end up with more confusion than comprehension. This is where data analytics comes into play, while data visualization provides a summary of the data, the analytics provides the necessary tools for the correct portrayal of the data. 

Incorporate both and you will receive the best possible software solution!

Are you struggling to keep up with the fast-paced growing exponential rates?

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