Scrum myths: we have no risks, we are flexible!

“Scrum is about speed and flexibility, not about any risk registers!” – some may say. Let’s figure it out: Is there risk management in Scrum?

Spoiler: Yes. It doesn’t appear to be the case in the classics, and it’s not written in all caps in the manifesto.

TOP-3 Scrum Myths

Let’s separate fact from fiction: here are the top Scrum myths—and what’s really true.

Myth #1: There are No Risks in Scrum—Iterations are a Magic Pill

Reality: There are always risks. Iterations only reduce the damage from encountering them.

Is the CI broken? Is the developer sick? Is the client suddenly “changing his mind”?

Even the most flexible process won’t save you if the team doesn’t think about what could go wrong.

Myth #2: Scrum Magically Handles Risks on Its Own

Reality: Scrum gives you tools, but it doesn’t do the work for you.

• Planning — to discuss potential problems before they hit you.
• Daily checks — to catch warning signs: “We can’t launch a feature for the second day.”
• Retrospective — to understand why a bug popped up 2 hours before the release, and what to do about it.

But if you’re going through the motions and not talking about the matter, there won’t be any magic.

Myth #3: Talking About Risks is Not Agile

Reality: Talking about risks is a sign of maturity.

If you know that:

• Two people are going on vacation
• The new library is an experiment
• The client changes requirements every 3 days

… it’s better not to hide your head in the Scrum guide, but to say out loud: “We have a risk here.”

And then ask: what can be done about it?

Real Scrum is Not Naivety, but Awareness

Scrum does not require you to start a 500-line spreadsheet with probability assessment. But it does imply that the team thinks, observes, and acts.

Risk management in Scrum is a built-in behavior: to notice a problem before it explodes.

Summary

✔ Scrum does not cancel risks – it teaches you to live with them

✔ Iterations, dailies, planning, and retrospectives are built-in risk management mechanisms

✔ The main thing is not to ignore, but to discuss and act

Because if you don’t manage risk, it manages you. Even if you call it “flexibility.”

Big data – you would have probably heard of the term – is the new and the incredibly powerful hype these days. It’s everywhere, impacting industry after industry, including the residential and commercial real estate sectors. What has the reaction been like? Right now, it’s kind of muted, but industry experts are already beginning to see bubbles erupting. Soon enough, if real estate agents and companies don’t utilize big data for their businesses, they’ll be left far behind.

A recent study claims that technological developments and increased mobility will demand employers, employees, and consumers to adapt to new ways of living, working, servicing and availing. Cruel competition and price pressure will act as catalysts for change, forcing new innovations to be introduced. All these drivers, when combined with data, will completely transform business models and even encourage new market players to emerge. Considering real estate service providers, two questions are of key importance:

• Which particular trends and drivers will impact the future of commercial real estate, especially the decision making aspect?
• How can business models and service channels be modified to ensure future success?

A little tip—you can stay ahead of the competition by working with clients on a one-to-one basis, developing and implementing effective strategies that are designed to meet tomorrow’s needs. The real estate software development services will help you create a custom solution for attaining business goals.

Now let’s try and understand big data in more detail, its impact on the commercial real estate sectors, future scenarios to expect and the best way to respond to the new and powerful changes that are bound to take place soon.

What Is Big Data?

Big data is something that is exciting, complex and comes with its own set of faults. However, when tackled effectively, it provides valuable insights that can drive revenues in the commercial real estate sector. In research conducted by Maden in 2012, big data was defined as data that is too huge, too fast or too difficult for processing if existing tools are used. With volumes reaching terabytes and petabytes, applications processing big data must be powerful and speedy enough to delve instantaneous results. In fact, in a broader context, big data doesn’t refer to huge chunks of data, but also to the required changes in computations tools with which the data can be analyzed. After all, the massive volume is meaningless if proper tools aren’t available for storing, analyzing and managing big data.

Technical Characteristics

The basic features of big data are volume, velocity, variety, and veracity. However, many researchers often add other Vs to the four basic ones, such as validity, volatility, and value. Generally, any discussion of big data begins with explaining its volume. Big data isn’t just big; it really is massive. Over 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day. Come 2020, and the total amount of data will roughly be equal to 40 zettabytes, and in 2025, this would have reached 163 zettabytes. Generally, data is captured through different devices like mobile phones, plastic cards, social media websites, and search engines. US companies store around 100 terabytes of data, and some boast of even greater volumes.

The velocity characteristic refers to the constant creation of data; the terms, streaming data and event processing are often used for the purpose. This leads to two major challenges: the first is analyzing the data in real-time and processing it for immediate use, and the second is storing the data for later use.  

Variety refers to the many data types that are collected, spanning over structured and unstructured data, in various formats like audio, text, video and so on. Structured data conforms to a specific rule set or pattern, like a bank statement or sales price, expressed in different currencies.  Unstructured data doesn’t conform to any kind of rules. As an example, Twitter does limit the total character length of a tweet, but since this tweet can include links, photos, and videos, it is regarded as unstructured. Each data type or format has different requirements in terms of storage, scaling, and analytics, complicating things further.

Veracity refers to uncertainty; in other words, it can be described as the accuracy and the extent to which we can depend upon big data.

Like with traditional datasets, biases, noises, and abnormalities must be dealt with, but obviously, all this is more complex, considering the large scale. Still, data cleaning methods must be reliable and efficient enough to make the data meaningful and valuable.

Understanding Big Data in the Real Estate Sector

Residential and commercial real estate transactions are often based on emotions. But nonetheless, the industry does make use of numeric data like lot sizes, home prices, interest rates, and returns. Combined together, all this information creates massive datasets that must be managed and analyzed.

Real estate data can be divided into the following broad types: physical, financial and transactional. Physical data contains information related to the structure of the land such as locational data and structural characteristics. Financial data encompasses information related to stocks and prices, whereas transactional data includes mortgages, taxes, and leases. A newer and fourth data type is that of extra locational data, which includes information on the neighborhood, such as proximity to amenities and accessibility metrics.

So How Will Big Data Shape the Future?

A growing number of commercial real estate deals depend on data analysis. Appraisals are faster, forecasts are more accurate and smarter and more effective investment decisions can now be made on the go. But behind all of this are strong data analytics techniques.

All the users generate data in incredible quantities, which is collected, processed and made available for use by data companies. While there are certainly a few players in the market, most of the smaller and let’s say, more affordable data companies, haven’t really been able to break grounds in the commercial real estate sector yet. But these companies are now forming alliances and will soon be offering affordable services that even small and medium real estate firms can avail. Building automation systems are a keen interest these days, with many popular versions already flushing the market, such as Samsung’s SmartThings and Amazon’s Alexa. Initially, most of these projects and tools were for the residential sector, but now progress can be seen in the commercial real estate sector as well.

If big data companies take in the technological development work, property and asset managers may lose some of the market shares. Going forward, they should expect to change their business model and work environment. Customer relationships will be key here. Moreover, real estate service providers should also look into reevaluating and reinventing their value proposition, ensuring that their current and potential customers understand the new changes.

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What New Technological Innovations Can Be Expected?

The commercial estate sector is bound to witness many interesting and appealing technological innovations in the days to come. But for the purpose of this blog, we’ll only limit ourselves to the most significant ones that will affect construction use and management in the commercial real estate sector.

Robotics

Robots are an attractive alternative to services that require labor, especially when you factor in the rising wages, ever-decreasing workforce and improved automation technologies. Robotics can be utilized for a variety of applications, such as surface cleaning, facade painting/cleaning, and security. Current applications are designed to perform simple, but large scale tasks. Moving forward, these applications will become capable of performing more complex work – work that requires social skills as well, such as sales or reception. This will change the way commercial real estate firms are structured.

What’s concerning is the fact that robot manufacturers may not be content with just being suppliers to real estate service companies. Some of them would even offer their own services, and thus, increase market competition.

Augmented and Virtual Reality

Wearable devices are a key driver in facilities management, especially in areas where the workforce is mobile. Augmented and Virtual reality (AR/VR) helps with visualizing technical components, locating defective components and displaying relevant information in view. Also, these technologies can provide location-specific data when buildings are toured.

How to develop Virtual Reality app

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In the next few years, augmented reality will not only reduce the need for labor, but it will also reduce the demand for hard copies of documents and plans. Instead of the current 2-D architectural drawings of buildings, the new era will see complete 3D structures being erupted out of thin air.  These structures will also be capable of showing or concealing ducts, false ceilings, pipes, underground construction, and similar building components, as per our needs. It would be like wearing X-Ray glasses— put them on and you’ll be able to see the concealed parts; take them off to view construction as the naked eye would see.

How can Augmented Reality create value for your business?

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AR/VR will also impact administrative functions like order plans and processing. When used in conjunction with geoinformatics, it would be possible to track employees in real time, optimize routes and plan resources based on their live availability and needs. Also, fewer onsite expertise might become the new requirement because remote technicians would be able to supervise via teleguidance. Lastly, AR/VR can also enhance supply chains, transforming product management, logistics, and other aspects through the use of sophisticated enterprise resource planning systems. 

Real estate providers will have to indulge themselves in all these new technologies for retaining their share in the commercial real estate sector.

Sensor Technology

Sensors lie at the very foundation of data-driven services in the commercial real estate sectors. Enjoying a rapid decline in prices, they are available at 50% of the rates compared to the ones offered five years ago.  Sensors can put an end to rigid processes, allowing service providers to work only on a per-need basis.

For instance, a bridge can be equipped with sensors that monitor its conditions. Should certain visual aspects or other parameters fall or exceed specific thresholds, an alarm or notification would be triggered. Once the event is recorded, a crew of technicians can be dispatched off immediately. Similarly, sensors can also be used for identifying trouble areas or locations, determining root causes and making repairs a whole lot easier. Upon analyzing the data collected by sensors, such as the date of previous maintenance, current efficiency levels, and daily consumptions, service providers would be in a position to work more closely with users, ensuring that they meet their requirements in a timely manner and thus, enjoy higher satisfaction levels.

Sensors can also be utilized in other areas. For instance, a climate control system can adjust the temperature on its own. Lighting controls can detect whether its daytime or nighttime and even figure out the amount of light that individual users may require. Sensors can also provide floor plans, instructions for operational staff, and display the total number of people inside a room or building.

Internet of Things

Internet of Things (IoT) features everyday objects that are equipped with sensors and advanced technology, allowing the devices to pick up relevant data and pass onto other services. For instance, the climate control system, which we discussed in the previous session, might also determine the amount of debris in a room, and accordingly, signal housekeeping robots to conduct cleaning sessions. Similarly, potted plants can be expected to communicate with an automated water system. So, in other words, IoT is what forms that basis of an intelligent building.

According to research, IoT has the potential of decreasing energy consumption in both the residential and commercial real estate sectors by as much as 10% between the years 2017 and 2030. In the future, we can definitely expect to see mobile vehicles transform into workshops that can deal with any contingency, optimized route planning and an increase in the use of the 3D printer that could produce any replacement part or component instantly.

Digital innovation will bring significant changes in the years to come— changes that shift expertise, risks, and even the margins. Real estate firms must learn to adapt if they want to hold onto their market share.

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The only reliable way to succeed is to develop a product of impeccable quality. They should work correctly and help solve all the clients’ problems. Finding a reliable and tech-strong partner is required to build a digital product that will work ideally. It is where the SuperbCompanies website comes in handy. 

What is SuperbCompanies?

It is a popular website focused on analyzing different companies that deliver digital products and services in the IT niche. The company analyzes various firms meticulously and forms ratings to help business owners pick the top partners without wasting time. 

How does SuperbCompanies work?

According to the information provided by the SuperbCompanies service, they have a thorough selection process. Their experts dive deep and explore all the details about every company they list on their website. In order to allocate niche leaders, the SuperbCompanies team analyzes the following:

• projects completed
• customers reviews
• overall experience
• market presence
• previous awards

It is not the final list of factors taken into account by their specialists when it comes to ranking companies. The SuperbCompanies platform doesn’t reveal the complete assessment process. Meanwhile, it is a trusted source of information about the best companies that many business owners refer to when looking for a tech partner. 

CodeIT is an Industry-Acclaimed leader

We are thrilled to announce that our company has been selected as one of the “Top Automation Testing Companies” on the global market. Trusted experts have recognized our expertise in the niche. According to the SuperbCompany rating, CodeIT is one of the best companies to hire if you want to ensure that your product works as designed and matches the highest quality standards. 

SuperbCompanies states that CodeIT is a reliable company that has great expertise in the IT domain. Also, they state that the company uses the latest technologies to provide outstanding products and services.

“The company is an early technology adopter and rockstar innovator in providing the best quality services and making a team contributing to the development of world technologies.”

We were more than happy to receive this award. Our company will keep growing at a high pace to build new products and make our clients satisfied.

As SuperbCompanies stated, CodeIT excels in different niches. We can build fully-functional digital products from scratch. Our team can build top-tier custom solutions for web, mobile, and desktops. Also, we provide business analysis, team augmentation, custom development, and other services that help businesses achieve their goals. 

It is worth noting that CodeIT has a lot of other awards. For instance, our company is recognized as a “Top-500 Clutch Member”, the “Best Upwork Agency,” and a “Top Custom Software Development Company USA 2022”. Feel free to explore the about us page to learn more about all the awards received by CodeIT.  

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The digital transformation process is not been something new for a long time, no matter what industry we are talking about. In truth, the rapid technological development, as well as the incredible pace of the Internet adoption as the main means of communication and trade in the early 2000s, created conditions in which any business simply needs to go digital if they want to maintain their presence in the market, continue to compete and provide its users with a quality service.

Of course, today even a medium-sized business having its own website or even a mobile application isn’t coming as a surprise. This is not surprising if you look at the pace at which the digital transformation process is developing today. According to some studies, the expected growth of the digital transformation market will reach $1,009.8 billion by 2025 at a CAGR of 16.5%. If these figures are not enough, then it is worth looking at others in order to make sure that the lack of digital banking innovation process will be disastrous for the vast majority of businesses – 65% of the world’s GDP is predicted to be digitized by 2022. In addition, 70% of organizations are applying or developing a digitalization strategy today, while over 55% of startups are entering the market already digitalized.

These figures are extremely convincing, but there are still rare niche products, the issue of digitalization of which is not yet on the agenda as urgently as with other industries such as the financial sector, services industry, and healthcare. We will talk about the state of the digital transformation in banking in this article.

What is digital transformation in banking?

First things first. We start by defining what the digital transformation process in banking is. Many people, hearing the phrase “digital transformation” immediately imagine a conventional bank that develops its website and mobile applications, switching to providing its services remotely via smartphones, minimizing paperwork and bureaucracy. It is important to understand that in the banking industry, digital transformation implies not just a transition to newer equipment and the creation of digital products for the bank, but a complete revision of the entire corporate culture, customer service, and all related approaches.

As with many other industries, digital innovation in banking sector began around the second half of the 2000s. The economic crisis of 2008 hit hard on the digital opportunities of the banking sector. On the other hand, the same crisis made it clear to the representatives of the industry that the transition to digital space can become the key to the more successful handling of such crises. Further development of mobile services and technologies, as well as global interest in the Internet of Things approach, have dotted the I’s, making the digitalization of the banking sector and the emergence of the FinTech industry inevitable.

So, in addition to the obvious investment in creating new digital banking innovation ideas for placing your bank in a digital space, such as a mobile application or website, the digital transformation process in banking also includes a complete rethinking of the strategy of doing business and providing fintech solutions. The transition to digital implies the creation and implementation of a complete customer-oriented strategy in the bank. The task of the bank is to minimize the difficulties for the customer, including automating most of the processes, simplifying the receipt of various services, eliminating paperwork, and minimizing the touch of the customer to the bureaucracy. In the end, what is the point for a customer from the fact that the bank has gone digital if his personal User Experience with such a bank did not benefit from this, right?

Ultimately, the same good old customer retention strategies remain the goals of digital innovation in banking. An increase in the percentage of customer retention allows banks to achieve an almost 30% reduction in the cost of attracting new customers and increase their profit by more than 80% in a two-year period.

Now, let’s talk about the key points of the digital transformation process in banking.

YOUR GUIDE TO STARTING A FINTECH COMPANY

Crucial points of digital transformation in banking

Of course, the digital transformation process in banking does not happen suddenly and overnight. This is a fairly long-term strategy that should be well thought out, since digital transformation affects all processes of the bank, from operational activities to new problems related to the correct storage of data and security. In general, the most important elements of digital transformation in banking are:

• Customer experience. Improving customer experience and custom interaction are the main goals of digital transformation in banking. Automation of routine processes and maximum limitation of the user from bureaucracy has a positive effect on the customer experience and allows you to build new and longer-term relationships. The bank becomes open in order to provide its services 24/7, on a completely remote basis, while undertaking to securely store the personal data of customers. A deeper understanding of user needs, which is also the impact of digital transformation in banking, allows you to build better marketing strategies and provide more customized services.

  
  



• Organizational activity. The transition to digital space means fundamental changes in the bank’s operations. Thus, significant changes are being made to the organizational structure regarding the means of communication with customers, the creation of a system for electronic storage of data and the exchange of information, and the creation of means of protecting this data.

  
  




All parties benefit from such a transition: the bank gets new opportunities in communicating with customers and providing its services; customers get a more custom service and get rid of paperwork. Digitalization also means creating an effective mitigation strategy that will generally improve the design process and budget allocation for various tasks. Virtualization of the bank’s workflow allows for a convenient process of interaction between clients and the bank, with the collection of digital data available to all parties for study and analysis.

• Top management readiness. More than 70% of digital transformation processes fail, according to a 2020 study by the Boston Consulting Group. This is primarily due to the lack of faith in the final result of this event on the part of the top management and the lack of a clear understanding of why and for what the digital transformation is being carried out. Often, the decision to start a digital transformation is made in view of the objective numbers and trends that we talked about above. At the same time, little attention is paid to a specific case with a specific bank and what metrics should be taken into account when launching such a process in this case.

  
  

The will of the bank’s top management in such a situation can save the digital transformation from failure. Agreeing to the understandable risk and understanding the importance of rethinking all processes in favor of a more custom-tailored approach is a key factor in the success of digital innovation in banking.

Advantages and disadvantages of digital transformation in banking

Obviously, any process has the opposite effect. An unsuccessful digital transformation can lead to serious losses and complete bank closure in the worst scenario. Despite the many advantages that digital transformation offers, this process has its drawbacks and risks.

Digital transformation drawbacks, risks & challenges

We start with the risks, challenges, and disadvantages of digital transformation in the banking sector.

• Investments. It all depends on specific cases, but most often digital transformation requires significant investments, both monetary and time. Choosing the right digital transformation services provider, the discovery phase, analyzing competitors and their strategies, working out your own strategy, not to mention the development, design, testing, and support of the whole ecosystem of new digital products. When embarking on a digital transformation, a bank must be ready to invest large resources.

  
  



• Security issues. Going into the digital space, the bank must be ready to allocate resources to create a separate team that will ensure that user data is stored in accordance with all the conditions of the regulator, whether it be the GDPR or something else, and their protection is reliable. In any business where money and its storage are concerned, the attention of users grows in geometric progression, as does the attention from scammers. A bank that is going to be digitalized must take this factor into account and spare no resources to provide reliable security measures.

  
  



• Lack of a well-thought-out digitalization strategy. We have already touched on this issue above: the bank risks losing a lot of money and never achieving the set result and any advantages if the digitalization strategy was not carefully thought out and planned. Ideally, this process should be overseen by a separately hired experienced manager, most often represented by the genus Digital Transformation Director. This person will be responsible for ensuring that the digitalization process proceeds according to the plan, the risks will be handled on time, and the process itself will take place step by step with a predictable result.

  
  



• Digitization, not digitalization. Yes, these are two different concepts that are often confused. This is due to the fact that digitization is the process of creating some kind of digital product with the absence of fundamental changes in the corporate culture and organizational structure, which we talked about above. Digitalization, in turn, implies just that. Lack of understanding that digital product creation is not enough to complete a successful digital transformation process can also lead to unsatisfactory results.

  
  



• Lack of understanding between the bank and the software vendor. For a successful digital transformation process, a bank needs to achieve full interaction between its IT team and representatives of the IT software vendor, who will be directly involved in the development of innovative digital banking solutions. Lack of mutual understanding can lead to serious consequences in the form of a final product that will not meet the initial requirements and will be incomprehensible to the bank’s IT team. In addition, there is a risk of choosing not a high-quality software vendor, and the process of selecting the necessary specialists can take months and entail additional costs and risks.

  
  

Digital transformation advantages

Despite the obvious challenges and risks associated with digital transformation in banking, the benefits that can be obtained in the end overcome any doubts of stakeholders.

• More efficient operating activities. In the digital space, it is easy to ensure more efficient operational activities, thanks to the automation of some processes, simplification of communication between specialists and customizers, and the creation of an understandable workflow.

  
  



• Readiness for volatile customer demands. One of the essential traits that any modern business, including banks, must possess, is readiness and flexibility in relation to the changing and increasing demands of the customers. The very fact of bringing benefit from any business in modern conditions is no longer enough. What is now also important is the speed and convenience with which benefits are provided, as well as the bank’s willingness to quickly adapt to the introduction of new technologies, be it new means of authentication using biometrics or anything else. Digital transformation is a big step towards preparing the bank for such challenges.

  
  



• Higher quality of services. Of course, offline services are not going anywhere in the banking industry, and some clients, especially elite representatives of big business, will still prefer offline meetings at some points. Nevertheless, the digitalization of the processes can significantly improve the overall quality of the services provided by the bank, from simplifications for the customers to the provision of a complete no-human service.

  
  



• Reduced operational expenses. Automation and digitization of workflows allow reducing operating costs and reduce overall costs for internal processes.

  
  



• Income diversification. Moving into the digital space, the bank is faced not only with new opportunities to spend money but also with new opportunities to earn it. So, the bank can start earning from new digital contracts and partnership agreements, as well as in the mobile application.

  
  



• Enhanced customer satisfaction rates. Successful completion of the digital transformation process will inevitably entail higher customer satisfaction rates, thanks to all the benefits they will receive.

  
  



• Improved security. In the offline space, the security of data storage is limited by the physical safety of the hard drive and servers. Moving to the digital space, many banks give preference to remote and reliable cloud providers, which allows them to qualitatively improve the security of their users’ data storage.

  
  



• Enhanced risk management strategy. As we said above, one of the important factors in the development of a digital transformation process is the creation of a risk management strategy, the task of which will be to minimize the possible risks associated with the transformation. The same approach will be carried out after the completion of the transformation since the digital ecosphere of any bank implies a risk mitigation strategy associated with the preservation of user data.

  
  



• Automation. Everything is simple here – automating routine tasks is always good. This frees up time for professionals to perform more complex and creative tasks and to give more attention to customer care activities.

  
  



• Organizational flexibility. Digitalization implies the creation of such conditions for the bank when the entire organizational structure can become more flexible and scalable.

  
  

Examples of digital transformation in banking

It’s time to talk about specific examples of solutions that result from the process of digital transformation in banking.

Fraud detection system

As a result of the digital transformation process, a bank can gather a Data Scientist team to create a machine learning-based fraud detection system. The key task of such a system will be to track possible fraud, which means that it is worth training the system on the largest possible number of different data input streams. Thanks to the subsurface fraud detection system, representatives of the banking sector can significantly increase the quality of fraudulent actions detecting.

KYC software

Know your customer software is one of the key factors in attracting banks to the digital transformation process. Such software helps to identify customers and stay within the framework of current legislation, for example, the Patriot Act. This law requires banks to verify the identities of their customers in order to combat money laundering and counter-terrorism. In countries such as the United States, Know Your Customer initiative is a must, but in the digital space, such software is the most convenient mean of customer identification.

Big Data analytics platform

Without a doubt, due to their importance, banking institutions are the place where a huge amount of data is collected. The next stage in the development of a banking service can be reached by those banks that can quickly and efficiently analyze all this data for a better understanding of the pains of their customers and create more custom offers. In addition, Big Data analysis also improves the overall bank security and marketing activity.

Chatbots

Yes, you won’t surprise anyone with chatbots today, but if you doubt that they are the future, think again. One of the main problems of offline banking is a long wait for a response from bank representatives and a long exchange of information even in the most simple questions. After all, there is a fixed working day. Moving to digital, every bank should definitely think about how to create a convenient and learning chatbot for its online audience. Ideally, a chatbot should handle 80% of user requests, and in the remaining 20% send their requests to a customer care specialist.

Predictive analytics software

Predictive analytics in banking derives from Big Data opportunities. Thanks to machine learning-powered analysis of large amounts of data, it becomes possible to predict future events and avoid the associated risks. So, predictive analytics in banking is associated with such frequent activities as Cross-Sell and Upsell, customer retention, account transaction management, fraud detection, cash & liquidity planning, and others.

Mobile banking

One of the main opportunities that digital transformation gives. Mobile banking is the most convenient way to receive and provide banking services today. By using hardware on custom devices, you can increase the number of innovative banking features provided, as well as introduce biometric authentication through a camera or fingerprint. Finally, everyone uses banking applications today and this is simply a must for any bank that goes digital. The banking app is definitely one of the current trends in mobile app development segment.

Blockchain

Cryptocurrencies can come and go, but the blockchain technology behind them will stay with us for a long time. This technology is the quintessence of crypto-encryption and distributed data storage, which is becoming more and more popular. Cryptocurrencies are accepted for payment in more and more places and even the largest banks are giving up and starting to provide services in the sector. Digital transformation does not oblige the bank to also touch the blockchain segment, but this can be a good investment for the future.

Cloud solutions

Someone goes to the cloud for the sake of increasing security, someone for the sake of freeing up time for their IT teams, and someone for the speed and flexibility that the transition to Cloud gives. In any case, banks today are facing enormous pressure and competition, and only those banks that will work quickly and smoothly will acquire their new customers. Cloud solutions are available for digital banking representatives in the form of a large number of cloud vendors.

APIs

Another important factor, which is often forgotten, but which helps a modern bank to squeeze out in a competitive digital environment, is the bank’s ability to work with a variety of third-party programs. In order for this to be possible, the digital bank must have its own API (Application Programming Interfaces). The API allows the bank’s software to interact with third-party software. Thanks to this, banks can accept requests from the mobile wallets of their customers, from third-party financial systems (PayPal and others), payment switches, etc.

Biometric technology

We have already mentioned this above, but it is worth highlighting this factor separately. Biometrical authentication is perhaps the most trusted way of custom identification and authentication. The introduction of biometric authentication into the work of the bank significantly increases the security of all transactions both on the part of the bank and on the part of the customer and helps to identify and avoid fraud.

Basic principles of digital transformation implementation in banking

The digital transformation process itself is not an easy task. This process includes a huge number of actions, tasks, specialists and tools, and you should prepare yourself for the fact that it will take enough time and resources.

The basic principles of digital transformation implementation in banking are careful planning, creation of a risk management strategy, step-by-step movement to the digital space and constant monitoring of all activities.

Speaking in more detail, it is worth starting with the fact that in negotiations with all stakeholders to create the most detailed step-by-step plan for the future digital transformation. Particular attention should be paid to the selection of the correct set of databases that will provide back-end bank operations. It is a good idea to separate or create a separate team within the bank (if you did not have one before) that will monitor the digital transformation of the process.

Do not be afraid of problems and possible risks, as they are inevitable. Prepare for the fact that the bank will no longer be an exclusively financial enterprise, but will become a real digital business platform with wide functionality, capabilities, and corresponding responsibility.

Regardless of who will turn innovative digital banking ideas into software reality, it is necessary to initially ensure the creation of an IT team that will support the digital products of the bank after the successful completion of the digital transformation process.

To Sum Up

Digital transformation is a unique and exciting journey that any business, and even more so a bank, will have to go through in one way or another. Modern trends do not leave any room for maneuver, therefore, all representatives of the top management of banking institutions should now begin to work out a digital transformation strategy, if for some reason they have not yet done so. Lack of digitalization in banking services negates any attempts to stay afloat in this highly competitive segment.

FAQ

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of Quality Assurance (QA) measures in the modern digital industry. Walking hand in hand with software development from the earliest days of the industry, QA has been an integral part of the successful development cycle. However, in recent years, the importance of software testing has gone beyond simple product performance checks and bug fixing. Modern trends are changing the digital industry and changing QA, turning this process into a universal tool for delivering quality for customers. Let’s see if the future of software testing is bright.

Why software testing importance is on the rise?

Speaking about modern trends, one cannot fail to say that the software itself has become the main factor that adds the importance of quality assurance. The fact is that software is becoming more and more complex day after day. Technological development and the mainstreaming appliance of machine learning, artificial intelligence, deep learning, and big data technologies turn conventional programs into complex tools that need full scale & continuous testing. This is one of the main factors making quality assurance a must.

In addition to the increasing software complexity, the cost of development is also growing. In such a situation, it becomes obvious that putting a poorly tested product on the market will cost much more than several rounds of full-cycle testing. This trend is part of the overall desire of businesses to optimize costs as much as possible. Therefore, companies are increasingly giving preference to the additional expenditures for full-scale quality assurance, instead of paying for the risks associated with a lack of sufficient testing.

Security is another factor driving the growing importance of software testing. The issue of cybersecurity has long gone beyond negotiations in a close circle of system administrators. Today, problems related to cybersecurity are discussed at the highest level. In the context of global digitalization, when most of the usual services go into the digital space, the safety of such tools & services, as well as the proper storage of user data, becomes a key factor. In order to prevent and mitigate possible security risks, the business is increasingly turning to large-scale security testing, checking software for readiness to meet all modern requirements. Again, the costs of such testing are not comparable to the losses incurred by a business in the event of a data leak or massive breaches in the security system.

Finally, the increasing business competition and the pressure on digital companies force product owners to invest more resources in software testing. We want to discuss current trends in software testing in our today’s material, in order to predict the near future of the quality assurance industry.

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Automation

Test automation is one of the main software testing market trends. A developers survey from GitHub showed that more than 30% of companies are switching to test automation in one way or another, while 12% have already fully automated all their QA processes. This is not surprising, since, in the face of the challenge of providing continuous delivery and the use of techniques such as Agile and DevOps, it is necessary to provide continuous testing. Automated tests are the core of the continuous testing process. In such a situation, many businesses prefer to look for a test resource on the side, contacting the QA and software testing services company.

Continuous testing is a process that allows testers to quickly respond to any new risks and make changes and bug fixes before these risks harm the product and the customer. This allows testing professionals to release tests consistently at every stage of the development cycle.

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However, for all the usefulness of continuous automated tests, it is too early to write off manual testing. The unique manual combinations created by the software testing engineer allow testing the product in non-standard situations. To achieve maximum results, companies should combine manual and automated tests, with a greater preference for the latter.

Internet of Things (IoT)

Internet of Things is one of the trends that affect all components of the digital industry. The growing number and complexity of connected products and devices make it increasingly important to properly test all of these products and the connections between them. The process of IoT testing can simultaneously include several types of testing at once, from security to performance and unit testing. This is due to the fact that many products can have different operating systems and protocols, while all this functionality should work as a single organism.

So far, it cannot be said with certainty that organizations everywhere are introducing new testing mechanisms in the IoT industry. Nevertheless, this trend will definitely gain momentum in the coming years, and therefore it is not difficult to predict the growing need for software testing services of that kind.

Another thing that is associated with the growth of the IoT industry is the growing need for Big Data Testing. The presence of a large number of devices and systems leads to the appearance of a large amount of data of all shapes. In such a situation, Big Data Testing helps companies better process these volumes of data and make data-driven decisions. In addition, you shouldn’t forget that Big Data is the main source of information for marketing campaigns.

Agile & DevOps implementation

Being an integral part of the development process, software testing must be included in all methodologies that are used by modern businesses in the process of digital transformation. First of all, we are talking about Agile and DevOps approaches, which are gaining momentum and requires continuous delivery of services and software, with continuous testing as a key component. To ensure such compliance, a large number of automated testing tools are used, which in turn determines the first trend, which we talked about above.

The very essence of
DevOps implementation is to combine the best of development, operations, and testing to achieve maximum value and ROI. On the testing side, the QAOps approach is gaining more and more popularity, since it improves the interaction between software engineers and the development side to continuously deliver tests in continuous integration and continuous development pipeline.

Security testing

Security aim is not an innovation in software testing matter. With the rapidly developing software, as it becomes faster and more complex, digital businesses have to deal with an ever-increasing amount of data, and therefore, with their correct storage and protection. As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, the gaps in cybersecurity have long gone beyond the narrow circle of tech companies and today it is a topic that rises at the highest level. In such a situation, the trend towards strengthening security testing measures is absolutely obvious. Some studies show that there is a direct correlation between how early security testing is applied and how much the company will suffer in the future. Security risk mitigation is a process that should be applied from the earliest stages of development.

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Various studies show that more than 80 percent of companies admit that the attitude of their customers towards security directly influences the way decisions are made within the company. This is an absolutely obvious trend since early security test cycles allow a business to see weaknesses in the security system before competitors or scammers do it. In addition, preparing for possible downfalls helps to reduce the expected losses from such misfortune. Finally, constant penetration testing allows businesses to identify places most attractive for cyberattacks and increases the prestige of the enterprise in the eyes of all stakeholders.

Blockchain

One of the upcoming technologies in software testing industry. The rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies is not news, as over the past couple of years it has become truly global in scale, with the constant support of these payment methods from opinion leaders like Elon Musk or Richard Branson. However, if the very existence of cryptocurrencies as an alternative payment method is still a matter of concern among businesses, then blockchain technology that allows cryptocurrencies to exist is undoubtedly a promising avenue. Financial services companies (and others) are concerned about secure data storage, and in such a situation, blockchain-powered solutions are one of the popular choices.

The growing popularity of blockchain is supported by research figures. Thus, global spending on the development of blockchain technologies and solutions will grow to $11.7 billion in 2022. Nevertheless, the implementation of blockchain solutions is a rather expensive process, since decentralized data storage is not a cheap pleasure. In the process of entering and storing data in the blockchain, there are a huge number of different complex processes such as encryption, decryption, cryptography, and distribution to nodes. In such a situation, the cost of a mistake increases several times, making proper testing of all these processes at the earliest stages one of the latest trends in software testing.

Exploratory Testing

From the above, we can conclude that total automation, the introduction of high technologies, and an emphasis on protection are the main trends that will prevail in the future of software testing. Nevertheless, the beauty and danger of such work stem from the fact that there is always a risk of facing an unexpected, undocumented and unique scenario that your security system cannot cope with. In order to reduce the risks of losses from such situations, Exploratory testing is used.

At its core, this process looks like this: testers create non-scripted and unspecific processes and situations and run them through software, instead of using scripted tests. This really allows QA specialists to better prepare the application for unexpected scenarios. Although for the proper Exploratory testing you need a specialist who is well versed in particular software and can use it as an advanced user, subjecting it to various non-scripted tests.

The future is bright?

Definitely. Long gone are the days when the value of a product was enough to attract customers. Today, the market is so competitive that users are moving value down the priority list, focusing more on usability and safety. Therefore, proper testing of the product before it is released to the market is a must.

Summarizing the above, we can say with confidence that we still do not fully understand the potential that software testing has. Total automation due to the need to comply with DevOps and Agile methods, as well as an emphasis on security, are obvious directions for software testing evolution in the near future. Nevertheless, as in the case of blockchain and Exploratory testing, new technologies and the constant need for a non-standard manual approach to testing make us think that we will see some new trends in software testing in the future.

FAQ

The human brain is an amazing part of our organism. From the very first days, the brain was accustomed to memorizing visual and sound images, actions and patterns, in order to build logical chains in the future. On a subconscious level, our brain helps us classify visual images, tag and retrieve data from them, recognize context, and so on. We have acquired all these skills evolutionally for hundreds of years of our existence.

However, even a system as powerful as our brain is limited. And although there are disputes about whether we are using it to the fullest or not, the fact is: when working with large amounts of data, our computing power, and recognition capabilities are relatively weak. That is why, with technological development, we decided to assign this task at the mercy of computer power. This is how the Image Recognition industry was born. Image recognition software and applications use AI and Machine Learning algorithms to fulfill Mark Zuckerberg’s dream someday and begin to recognize images better than humans do.

We invite you to plunge deeper into this topic and reflect on how useful the Image Recognition app can be and at what stage of its development this industry is at the moment.

What is Image Recognition software?

At its core, Image Recognition software performs the same functions as our brain. Thanks to sophisticated algorithms, a large amount of data, and machine learning technology, mobile picture recognition apps remember visual images and patterns in order to eventually capture the context, classify images, determine what is depicted on them and what actions are taking place.

In the technology of image recognition, both classical deep learning applications and AI-powered solutions are used. The latter win in the speed and quality of pattern recognition, since they are able to learn independently and memorize and classify a larger amount of data, while deep learning-powered solutions often compare the image with the internal data set.

In everyday life, Image Recognition applications are used in industries such as retail and healthcare software development, but the range of their appliance is much wider. In fact, any business can use such applications in order to provide more targeted content to their customers and increase User Experience in general.

Let’s look at the algorithm of the Image Recognition App in more detail.

Image Recognition process

In general, the process of Image Recognition begins with defining and categorizing an image and ends with defining the objects that are present in that image. In order to better understand how this happens, we have broken down the algorithm into several main stages.

Image detection

At this stage, the application determines the type of image and checks whether it is in a certain category or not. In case the image is in a certain category, the application proceeds to the next stage. Otherwise, the application compares this image with other images in order to determine the most accurate category.

Data classification

Having figured out which category the image is in, the application proceeds to classify depictured data. The application determines the size, color, aspect ratio, as well as objects that are depicted on it. Images in the application are categorized by tags, and therefore the new image is also assigned a corresponding tag after the comparison process. This will help to accurately determine the essence and type of the image in the future.

Important characteristic detection

The next step is to define the main feature of the image. It can be anything and can be used both for more accurate recognition and for a more improved customer UX. Depending on the task, the application either determines whether the image contains a feature that may be of interest to the user or not. Or it independently determines the main feature based on the previously defined main features in images with this tag or from this category.

Image information extraction

The penultimate stage at which the application must understand the essence of the image. To do this, based on all the data obtained in the previous stages, the application determines all the objects in the image. The data used must be clearly defined, labeled, and distributed so that the application can recognize it in a new image, such as a “red bike” or “fire engine”. All these data are extracted in order to complete the Image Recognition process at the last stage.

Image classification

Finally, after extracting and processing all available information and comparing it with existing images and categories, the application can classify the image, assign it the appropriate tag and category, and also classify all those objects and actions that are depicted in the image.

This is a slightly superficial description of the Image Recognition process, and it can vary depending on the specific application, but the basic essence remains the same.

Image Recognition software benefits

It is logical to assume that since this technology is invested, it means that it is beneficial. It’s time to talk about exactly what benefits the Image Recognition applications give to the business and what are the prospects for this technology in the designated markets.

Enhanced product tagging & visual search

A good Photo Recognition App usually has an internal catalog of images, which are distributed according to some criteria. After that, each image is assigned a corresponding tag. With that, the application will be able to quickly find matches between new and existing images in the future. Ultimately, this feature will allow both to quickly identify and tag images, and to speed up the visual search process for customers.

Greater UX and audience engagement on social platforms

Social platforms are an excellent testing ground for new Image Recognition technologies. Social platforms attract users to personally place tags on uploaded photos and designate their friends on them. Thanks to the analysis of hundreds of thousands of such photos and attached tags, the AI algorithms of social platforms are constantly being trained and are now ready to independently designate tags for uploaded photos and determine those emotions or actions that are depicted on them.

Enhanced targeting in marketing activities

Mobile app marketing is a challenge faced by any business, one way or another existing in the industry. Image Recognition technology is, in fact, another tool in this activity, allowing to create more relevant and targeted marketing algorithms. So, one of the most popular directions is the ability for the user to take a photo of something and, using the application, go directly to the purchase of this product (or get additional information about the product). Big companies like Amazon and Macy’s are already using these technologies to boost their sales.

Better analysis of customer needs

Text content is gradually, but very confidently, giving its position to video and graphic content in the context of marketing promotion. In such a situation, it is absolutely logical to strive to get more insights from what graphic and video content is published and shared by customers. That is why Visual Listening becomes a key factor in understanding the needs of customers, and picture recognition software is the key to collecting, analyzing, and prioritizing visual content.

Which Image Recognition API should you choose?

There are no trifles in the Image Recognition app development. While you can invest in the creation of a full-fledged team of engineers and AI specialists who will develop an engine that will allow your picture recognition software to become a truly high-quality app, it is much faster and smarter to turn to existing solutions.

Large companies (and not only) have been investing in this trend for a long time, and therefore the choice of the existing API will significantly speed up the process of picture identification app development. We offer you some of the most famous and quality options to choose from.

• Google Cloud Vision. Using powerful Google AI algorithms and extensive data, Cloud Vision is one of the most popular APIs on the market. The functionality that this API offers is capable of performing the most popular actions of the Image Recognition application, such as analyzing objects, identifying explicit content, etc. One of the most interesting features of this API is the recognition of text, both typed and handwritten. This allows you to upload text directly from the photo and instantly process it digitally. The capabilities of Cloud Vision are truly amazing, but the price for using this API is appropriate.

  
  



• Amazon Rekognition. Like the previous solution, Amazon Rekognition has all the necessary set of functions to create a full-fledged photo identifier app. This API is in no way inferior to the previous one, and the choice between them must be made based on the specifics of the tasks set. Speaking of them, one of the features worth highlighting is the ability to analyze text and objects in motion. Thus, with Amazon Rekognition, you can reach a new level of video analysis. As for payment, the API can be tried for free, and the payment system is extremely flexible, which can also be marked as a benefit.

  
  



• IBM Watson. Unlike the previous API, the IBM solution is a little more difficult to install and add on, but it offers much more extensive customization. The engineers who bought this solution will be able to build or train the system on their own, while in the previous two cases, these processes are rather automated and more versatile. But if you need sophisticated customization, then IBM Watson is exactly your choice between the three. Despite this, the API has several pre-installed algorithms for basic image analysis for the presence of prohibited content, some objects, and their specifics.

  
  



• Imagga. Imagga was created primarily to process and tag a huge number of images. The functionality of this API is slightly less than that of other APIs from this list. This is due to the fact that Imagga is a relatively new image recognition technology and is a much more budgetary option than the three other APIs that we talked about earlier. Working with tags and data inside Imagga is simple, as the API provides a simple intuitive UI and easy search and filtering functions.

  
  

These are far from all the options available in the Image Recognition API matter, but we have chosen a few basic ones in order to shape your direction in your search.

Image Recognition Apps to consider

If you are not eager to start developing a custom solution, you can always turn to the market for off-the-shelf applications. Fortunately, as in the case of the API, both well-known industry giants and smaller companies have created their picture recognition apps, and therefore you will have a wide choice.

Google Lens

How can a Google app work? Well, of course, everything is geared towards Google search, only now the process is going the other way around. With this application, you can take a photo of anything, after which the Image Recognition algorithms of the application recognize the information and objects in the photo and give you a list of search results for everything that was found in the image. Google’s image recognition app is one of the leading choices among the other apps in the industry.

Vivino

This application has a narrower and more industry-related range of appliances, but that does not negate its greatness. Due to the fact that the Image Recognition algorithm is able to provide users of the application with a similar wine to the one that was photographed, this application is the leader among the segment of wine applications. In addition, inside you will find all the standard set of functions, such as providing all available information about the photographed wine, including the price.

PictureThis

Like the previous example, this app is highly targeted and focused on plants. Thanks to it, you can now take a picture of any plant and get all the available information on it, including the rules of care. This becomes possible thanks to the vast database of the most diverse and rare plants, which is stored inside the application.

Zebra Medical Vision

Zebra Vision is one of the best medicine apps, as it helps to evaluate X-rays and other medical data for possible oncology and other pathologies. Of course, all this data is rechecked many times, but already at the first stages, the application can significantly speed up and simplify the work of doctors.

TapTapSee

TapTapSee was conceived as an assistant for visually and hearing-impaired people. All you need to do is take a picture of any object and the application identifies the picture and in text or voice form will explain to you what exactly you photographed.

Amazon Flow

How often have you come across the fact that you saw a thing and dreamed of finding it on Amazon? This is no longer a problem, thanks to Amazon Flow. Take a photo of the product you like and the application will find it for you on the site if it is there. And yes, this is the only problem with the app: if the product or thing you photographed is not on Amazon, then the app will not be able to help you. On the other hand, what might not be on Amazon nowadays, right?

CamFind

CamFind is another example of one of the best image recognition app ideas. It takes Google Lens principles and skyrockets them to the next level. It’s literally a search thanks via your camera. Just take a photo of anything and the application will give you results in the form of links, text, image, and video content corresponding to what you photographed. Save the results you like to your profile and find them later in Google or offline stores.

ScreenShop

The dream of all fashionistas, you can finally find the things that the actors in your favorite movie wear. Just take a screenshot or a photo of the clothes you like and the application will analyze the picture in order to tell you the best ways where you can buy those jeans, long sleeves, and jackets that you like so much.

Bottom Line

You might think that at the moment the Image Recognition technology is used mainly in the retail, eCommerce, and healthcare industries. This is partly true, but only because this technology was adopted there in the first place. In the future, we can expect the emergence of Image Recognition solutions even in industries such as FinTech, because in fact, the development of this technology is limited exclusively by technical frames. We will undoubtedly see new solutions emerge soon.

FAQ

Software development goes through multiple stages of design, documentation, programming, and testing, which means that it requires a high level of technical and management expertise. Ignoring risks associated with software development may result in unforeseen challenges for your business. The complex nature of software development as a process implies the proactive approach to software risk management in software engineering as it can greatly assist not only in preventing the possible pitfalls but in reducing the negative impact of the occurred events as well. 


While success is the main objective of any project, the risk comes as its inevitable part. Risks in software development are identified as the probable occurrence of loss in the future. To prevent the consequences linked to software development risks, one must know how to identify and manage them. So in case you’re wondering what is risk in software development, then here it is. Types of Risks in Software Development1. Schedule Risks There are different types of risk in software engineering and we wish to start with the most popular one. The wrong schedule affects development almost immediately. If project tasks and schedules are not addressed properly, the likelihood of project failure is high. Hence, it is important to keep in mind the areas where schedule risk is highly probable:

Time is not estimated properly for the project

Staff, skills, and systems are not tracked properly

Functionalities for the software are not identified in a timely manner that results in affecting the time required for developing these functionalities

Project scope expansions come up unexpectedly

2. Budget Risks One of the most dangerous types of risk in software development. The finance distribution when done properly leads to reasonable use of finances and creates the grounds for project success. If the financial aspect of software development is mismanaged, there will be budget concerns. Fortunately, this is an easily avoidable risk once you know where it’s rooted:

Budget estimation is incorrect

Cost overruns occur without realizing the need for reserved funds

Project scope expansion

3. Operational or Management Risks Management risks mostly occur when team structure is not clear, and the work environment prone to be toxic. Operational risk in software development leads to a situation when a team member will not be able to pursue the project or achieve software development goals. Aside from that, the surfacing of external risks in software development such as the improper process of implementation of the failed system can also affect the project. In particular, these factors include:

Failure in addressing priority conflicts

Failure in resolving the responsibilities of each member of the team

Insufficient resources for project or software development

Skills for subject training are not aligned

Resource planning is overlooked

Lack of communication among team members

4. Technical Risks Technical risks arise when only a part of the developers’ team is familiar with the software. Technical risks in software development often root from the following:

Endless changes of requirements for the software

Existing technology required for the development is only in its initial stage with no advanced technology being available

The project is too complex to implement

Integration of modules turns out to be too much of a challenge within the project performance

5. External Risks External risks are dangerous due to their unpredictability. Therefore, it is crucial that developers had the best business analyst in the area of their market to back up ideas and eliminate business risk in software engineering created by such external factors as:

Limited funds for continuous development of the project

Market’s rapid development

Inevitable changes in customer product strategy and priority

Government rule changes

How to Identify and Manage Software Development Risks?

After inspecting categories of risk in software engineering, we glad to proceed with how to identify risks in software project issue. In every project, risks are always present. It’s just a matter of how you manage them through risk analysis in software development by containment and mitigation so when a need arises, the software development team can minimize the impact of software project risks. Here are some helpful ways to manage common risks in software development:

• Identify and classify the risks: project developers must be able to identify risks with precision, point them out and describe the possible threats in project development. The main requirement at this stage is to be accurate and efficient; then, risks can be prevented or their impact can be lessened. That is why risk assessment in software engineering is so important.
• Have a risk management plan: if risks are included in the comprehensive project plan, risk management actively responds to challenges once they arise. When you preempt an impending risk, it is more likely to reduce the impact on project development.
• Monitor and mitigate: keeping risks monitored and mitigated and mitigated is essential for successful project development.

Through Monitoring, risks can be found and dealt with immediately by making sure project status reports are updated and aligned with risk management issues. 

Apart from it, a feasible and flexibly designed risk plan helps to make sure that risks do not compromise the entire project through huge changes if a risk actually surfaces. Another thing that is crucial at the stage of monitoring risks implies categorizing and prioritizing risks according to their urgency: there are risks that are to be addressed in the first place as they impose impactful threats. 

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Overall, gathering sample information creates a massive difference in combating future risks of all types.

✔Mitigation allows for an effective process in keeping the project development void of catastrophic threats. 

Speaking of mitigation, there are several strategies that must be mentioned:

✔Avoidance: risks can be avoided by changing the parameters of the project. With this mitigation process, some risks threat impact may be reduced. However, it is important to note that avoidance should be taken with care as its overuse may lead to risks with greater repercussions.

✔Control: with a grasp on the development of a project, control refers to preempting a possible risk and creating formulated steps in removing certain risks from the agenda.

✔Transfer: knowing who exactly would handle various risks helps in keeping the project development fail-proof. 

✔Continuous Monitoring: potential risks are avoidable through continuously checking the progress of project development and monitoring how the mitigation process affected surfacing risks.

Communication is key: ensuring effective communication and comprehension amongst all parties involved is crucial in eliminating the risks of miscommunication. By sharing knowledge and getting feedback, a software development project is most likely to be successful.

Concluding thought

The proper analysis, assessment, and application of risk management can prevent whatever impact it may cause in project development, most especially in custom software development.

It can also significantly improve the quality of a product and have it developed at moderate cost-minimizing risk factors within the development process. Apparently, with high regard to knowledge and orientation to detail, project development software danger can be avoided.

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FAQ

Virtual Reality is a three-dimensional setting generated by technology, which allows users to immerse in a certain environment by making it look completely real.  With the use of computer simulation, physical presence can easily be mimicked through the use of electronic equipment with sensors such as gloves, helmets with the inside screens usually looking like typical goggles. This equipment helps implement virtual reality in different types of applications within medical, industrial, aerospace, commercial, retail, and entertainment sectors.

The continuous technological advancement led to broadening the scope of the Virtual Reality Market as everyone is starting to realize the dramatic improvement it can give on daily life basis. This explains its continuous growth rate: according to Verified Marketing Intelligence, the Global Virtual Reality Market is projected to reach $33.08 billion by 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 55.3% from 2018 to 2025.

VR in Gaming, Entertainment and Media Industries

Mobile Virtual Reality gives a different kind of experience in such trends as selfie filters and games. Even though there is still a lot to improve, people show great interest to such apps, which is confirmed by figures that keep increasing for companies supporting VR. In 2017, Google announced that it had shipped over 10 million of its cheap Google Cardboard virtual reality headsets since their debut in 2014, which means that virtual reality and what it offers continuously piques the curiosity in the gaming, entertainment and media industries.

An immersive gaming and entertainment process with just the use of a VR headset not only provides excitement but also bring a different level of digital graphics.

VR headsets in the market benefit the gaming, entertainment and media industries as well as shopping, healthcare, education, and industrial sectors by prototyping for further use of Virtual Reality headsets and, thus, bettering user experience.

What are the industries that have already adopted Virtual Reality technology?

Healthcare. One of the most important industries that responds to advancement in technology is healthcare. With the continuous development of technology and software, the healthcare industry then continuously flourishes and benefits every person in the world, including all those working in the medical field. The increase of healthcare expenditure along with focusing on efficient healthcare services with significance in training healthcare professionals are a few of the key factors driving the adoption and usage of Virtual Reality. VR helps revolutionize virtual training of surgeons and medical practitioners for complex surgeries, three-dimensional simulations, phobia busting mental health treatments, and chronic pain management. Diagnosis and treatment can be remotely possible, training can be less risky, medical lab and equipment design can also be improved. Virtual Reality has allowed medical schools and institutions to transform anatomy studies. VR in the diagnostic segment is expected to emerge as the fastest-growing application segment in the healthcare industry.

Education. Educational materials have always impacted students’ knowledge retainment compared to just reading it on their own, which explains why practical lessons, experiments, and experience have always made it easier for students to remember certain lessons taught this way. With the use of VR in education, students not only remember what they learn but also develop another level of interest in learning. Three-dimensional animation and simulation in Science can provide easier understanding while remaining educational and fun at the same time. Having access to these kinds of educational material is also useful and cost-effective in the long run for education institutions and facilities.

Construction and Architecture. Virtual Reality allows a different kind of visualization that works well for the designer-client relationship. Architects can easily provide not only the look of construction but also let the client immerse in it. VR provides easy and fast demonstrations while enhancing collaboration amongst concerned parties which assists in decision making. Aside from that, replacing physical mockups with virtual mockups to improve efficiency and productivity benefit all the parties involved in the project.

Retail. Shopping has already started to evolve with the emergence of e-commerce. However, VR placed it on a new level since V-commerce was born. With e-commerce, a handful of the tasks and a bunch of people are still pressured with the demands of a colorful photo, grandiose videos, and detailed product descriptions to enhance buyers but with V-commerce, customers can easily immerse themselves and visualize exactly what they’re buying without having to go in a physical store. Aside from that, VR in retail will help in the reduction of marketing costs for campaigns, reduction of product returns and offer efficient analytics and data. With VR, maintenance is easier and budget-friendly than having to maintain a physical store.

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The effects and benefits of Virtual Reality are not limited with usage within the above-mentioned industries. Other industries such as banking, insurance, securities, and investment services, manufacturing, wholesale, transportation, federal/central government, state/local government, telecommunications, and media are a few that use VR and will provide an improved experience to all.

What You Need to Create a Virtual Reality Application

Choose your VR device

There are various types of VR hardware you can choose from but Google Cardboard is one of the easiest and most affordable VR devices to acquire. 

Use a special 3D engine – Unity

A three-dimensional or 3D engine helps in the development process of creating a virtual reality application and Unity is the best engine for building 3D environments especially in game development with an option to choose Plus or Pro for a more advanced feature.

Use an app-building studio

You can easily choose an app-building studio that works for you, for example, we are using Android Studio for Android devices.

Google Cardboard SDK for Unity

This allows you to create an immersive environment featuring motion tracking, stereoscope rendering and user interaction with options for both Android and iOS users.

Autowalk script for Google Cardboard

Available for both Android and iOS users, script provides an auto walk function to the Google Cardboard Unity SDK.

The Challenges Your Business May Face with VR

Virtual Reality has become popular in the technology industry. However, there are still a lot of developments and research to do to conquer the different industries and markets. Here are several challenges you may face with VR in your business:

High Price

Building or incorporating virtual reality in your business is expensive. The development could cost anywhere between $8,000 to $100,000 depending on the requirements of your business. Another thing is that the VR device such as headsets are expensive (except  Google Cardboard, price from $15), and not many people would prioritize buying it for a business however much they might like the products being sold.

Health Issues

There is still very limited research and study with regards to the effects on the health of VR gears, which makes it even more challenging since advice and caution for usage is inconclusive and, overall, lacks evidence. Like any other technological materials, VR gears pose physical and mental effects on users with longer than usual usage. Physical effects include headache, queasiness and blurred vision. Mental health effects may include behavioral and perception problems but those are still just conclusions without enough data and research to back it up.

Limits on Monetization Model Patterns

Since VR is still trying to penetrate the mainstream market, monetizing the technology and generating revenue can be a little challenging in the beginning. This calls for an extra hardworking marketing input, especially in the current situation of the VR industry.

Challenges of Fixing Clear Business Strategy 

There are no known cost-effective development plans and vision for VR-oriented companies as the industry is fairly young despite flourishing in the gaming industry. The market segment is a bit small despite the tendency of steady growth. This poses a difficult and challenging state especially with the lack of successful business strategies to be taken as a role model or example in the future for businesses. A big corporation can go for a trial and error strategy, but this may not be practical for small development companies.

Engaging Content

Despite the popularity and rise of virtual reality in different business industries, there are only a few and very limited compelling content that uses VR to its full potential as of the moment. Considering the endless possibilities, this challenge may be easier to resolve in the future.

With these challenges, it can look like a huge leap to become successful in the VR industry but once established, it can also bloom and become a huge success.

In a nutshell, there is still a lot to learn and develop in creating a virtual reality application but in the never stopping development of technology, it can be a real game-changer.

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Future and trends of mobile apps development

The simplest way to reach out millions of potential users is to know how to put an app on the App Store or Google Play Market!

Certainly, the two major and fundamental mobile platforms in today’s market are Android and iOS. Both of the platforms work differently and have their own advantages and disadvantages, thereby many business and developers prefer publishing their app on both of these platforms.

While the debate on the best mobile OS is never-ending, the question is – how to put an app on the App Store or Google Play Market?

Well, this is exactly what we will discuss in this post!

Let’s just imagine for a minute that your dream of developing an app has come true. The developed app is ready to be launched. The development period is now left behind just like sleepless nights, gallons of coffee, everyday work, and piles of cigarettes. In other words, the dream of developing an app that was only the part of your imagination is now in front of you.

It works perfectly and is well-designed. You are happy and satisfied with what you have developed and how purposeful it is. So what’s next? Well, it’s time to introduce your great creation to the entire world and to publish your app on App Store or Google Play officially! 

Remember when you put an app on the App Store or Google Play you bring your creation in front of millions of people using iOS or Android, on more than 180 territories and countries, all around the globe.

The publishing of an app is not that hard but by following a few tips you can make your app ready to download in just no time. For instance, your app might get rejected by the App Store or Google Play again and again. Not to mention the rejection figure might go beyond 12 times if you fail to follow the right steps. So what are the steps involved in submitting an app to the App Store or Google Play?

Let’s find out!

Publishing an App on the App Store

The foremost step in publishing an app on the Apple Store is to thoroughly go through the Apple review guidelines. These are official guidelines and this will help you ensure that your app is not rejected by the review board of Apple. This step is strongly recommended before you proceed with the publishing process as all the relevant points that can possibly lead to rejection are explicitly mentioned there.

The same goes for Google Play. It also explicitly tells what a publisher can or cannot do. Once you go through these guidelines and you these rules, you can easily increase the likelihood of your app to be submitted successfully to the store.

The process of placing an application in AppStore includes the following steps:

1. Collecting information about store requirements

2. Final testing of the application

3. Acquisition\creation of App ID, Distribution Certificate, and Provisioning Profile

4. Creating assets

5. Creating an archive before submitting your app

6. Uploading the App Binary

7. Waiting

Submitting the App on the App Store

Here we will be discussing the steps as bullet points to keep the information relevant and to the point. If you need any detail information about any of the discussed steps below, you can go to the official site to get a better and detailed understanding of it.

The foremost thing is to get yourself registered with a developer account. This means that you are enrolled in an iOS Developer Program by Apple and are allowed to put apps in the App Store.

Testing

The application is not ready when the last line of code is written or when the final feature of your app is implemented. Testing means; checking the app on different physical devices, profiling it for possible memory leaks or performance issues or checking its crash report.

Since there are tons of iOS devices test your app on as many devices as you can. The review process of Apple is highly capable of recognizing issues that can affect the user experience. So it’s better to check your app for any possible problem before actually putting up for submission.

Rules and Guidelines

As discussed above, Apple offers a number of documents to developers to help them create and develop an app. The most important documents you need to be aware of include App Store Review Guidelines and Human Interface Guidelines. Here are some of the important rules mentioned in these documents.

Your application:

• Must not use private API’s
• Shouldn’t crash
• Must use In-App Purchase in terms of in-app transactions
• Must not replicate the native applications’ functionality
• Shouldn’t use a microphone or camera without user’s permission
• Must only use the artwork which you are authorized to use or is your copyright

Remember all of these are a just a tiny subset of all the guidelines present in the documents. Most of the guidelines are trivial but not all of them so there is a chance that you might violate a few of them inadvertently.

Pre-Requisites

Before you can submit your app to the App Store, you need to have a valid distribution certificate, an App ID, and a valid provisioning profile. Let see what all of these entails are.

App ID

All apps require an app identifier or ID. It can be an explicit App ID or wildcard App ID. An explicit App ID is needed if your app uses iOS features or iCloud. A Wildcard App ID is used for installing and building multiple apps.

Distribution Certificate

This is required to submit your app to the App Store. It is an iOS provisioning profile used for distribution. The process of creating a distribution certificate is very much similar to creating a development certificate.

Provisioning Profile

After creating a distribution certificate and App ID, create an iOS provisioning profile in order to distribute the app using the App Store. This provisioning profile should be different from the one you used for ad hoc distribution.

Build Settings

Next is to organize the build settings of the target in Xcode. This means choosing the target from the targets’ list in Xcode Project Navigator and setting the Code Signing to Automatic. In addition to this, think of deployment target. Every target in the Xcode project needs a deployment target that would indicate the minimum version of any operating system on which an app can run.

Assets

This step is more specific to your app info and appearance.

Icons

Obviously, your app icon is a crucial component of your iOS application. Make sure to use the right size of artwork.

Screenshots and Metadata

Enhance your app with screenshots and previews. There could be up to five screenshots and around three previews. Be very careful in choosing the screenshots as sometimes it is the only factor that a consumer use to decide if the app should be purchased/downloaded or not.

It is also good to have the metadata of the app at hand. Keep it short and exciting, containing all the essential info about your app.

Uploading the App Binary

Create an archive before submitting your app. The only way to create an archive is to build the app on some generic device. During this process, the app also gets validated. However, an error in the validation process makes your submission process to fail. The validation process also tells you if there is some problem with the app binary that may otherwise cause a rejection by the review team of the App Store.

Waiting

Once the process of submission is completed, Apple takes some time to review the app and the app status changes from Waiting for Review.

Publishing the App on the Google Play Store

Here is the brief introduction to submitting an app to the Google Play Store. To get more information or if you have any query, you can get address Google Play for Developers Help.

The process of placing an application in the Play Store includes the following steps:

1. Google Play Registration

2. Adding a New App

3. Uploading APK

4. Store Listing

5. Setting the pricing information for your app

6. Publishing the App

7. Editing the Listing

Google Play Registration

The foremost step in publishing the app is to get registered with Google Play. This step will take only a few minutes but you might require paying some charge for the registration.

Prepare to Publish

The process of publishing is a lot quicker if the store listing content is available and complete before the start. Make sure you have the following fundamentals ready before you publish the app.

• The final APK file that needs to be uploaded. It should be less than 50MB to get accepted.
• Your app title that should be a maximum of 30 characters
• Your app description should be 4000 characters max
• High-resolution app icon
• Minimum of two screenshots are needed overall or max 8 screenshots/type

Adding a New App

If you are not signing your app on your own, you must not enroll the app in Google Play App signing. Once you are registered, simply log in to your Google Play developer account and publish the app using ‘+Add new application’ button. Here you will be asked for the default language and your app title. You get two options ‘prepare store listing’ and ‘upload APK’.

Upload APK

In this step, you upload the APK file of the app. The link to this file is usually emailed to you when you build the app and the link is downloadable. From there download and upload the APK by clicking ‘Upload APK’ button. Once completed, you will notice a checkmark listed next to ‘APK’ on the left-hand side of the screen. Now it’s time to prepare store listing.

Store Listing

This helps in deciding what the end user will see when they open your app in the Google Play. In this process, you submit content like description, title, screenshots, icon, contact details, categorization, and privacy policy. Some of these things are mandatory but others are optional. Once you are done with the store listing step, next is to decide the pricing and distribution of your app.

Pricing and Distribution

Here you set the pricing information for your app. You define if the app is available for download as free or paid. Where you want the app to be available and consent features. Once you entered all the needed information, save the changes.

Publishing the App

Since now you have given all the needed information, a button ‘publish this app’ will appear on the page. The app usually appears in the store after some hours or maybe longer. If you have added AdMob in the app, just don’t miss out on ‘link your app’ that you may normally do almost 24 hours after the publishing.

Edit the Listing

You can also go back to edit the lighting or re-upload the newer version of the app. Once the changes are done your app will be live in just 20 minutes. However, you must stay patient as this may take a bit longer than expected.

That is all you need to publish an app on the App Store or Google Play Store!

The Final Words

Once you decide to put up an app on the App Store or Google Play, you can start building your own customer base while raising a successful business using the app. Before you publish the app on the market, make sure it is designed in a way to offer value to the users.

Any business that publishes an app in the marketplace, stand a good chance of getting promoted through multiple channels like being featured in App of the Week or Popular App category etc.

While publishing an application might cost you a reasonable price, the returns are way higher. It is more like an investment in your business and a great way to access the large audience using the most feasibly accessed platforms. Not to mention, when the app gets popular among the masses, it ends up giving out a substantial amount of profits to the business.

While some developers would take rejection process of App Store and Google Play Store as a hurdle in the publishing of the app, it is rather an opportunity to fix the problematic areas of your app before they get highlighted by the users. Remember a good app is the one that provides valuable experience to the user so before your app is published on the App Store or Google Play, get the professional service to develop an efficient and user-friendly app, taking your business to new heights.