How to Determine Whether You Need Off-The-Shelf Software or a Customized One

When we grow from an individual to a company or from a company to a group our needs change drastically. With the growth and expansion of our business we become more accountable and responsible towards our stakeholders, employees and customers.

All our affairs and processes need to be attended by more dependable systems and accurate practices. Though, most of us, at some point of time, started operating from scratch working manually, but it changes as the time proceeds and our work become vast and complex in nature. All your day-to-day job roles, calculations, record-keeping, monitoring, checking, systematizing, measuring and other operations feel the need of software to ascertain accuracy, diligence and standardization.

Whether you own an export house that deals in garments or a manufacturing firm that produces electronic gadgets, you need to align your entire system of management, manufacturing, warehousing, selling, accounting and CRM with the help of a complete system.

Most of us don’t belong to a technical background where we could know all about the technology and therefore it becomes difficult for us to identify our software needs.

Software is available in two forms, commercial off-the-shelf and customized. Off-the-shelf software is a readymade application that is made to suit general needs. It offers you with all the features and factors in an inclusive manner that would help you run your process on a general automated framework.

Customized software is a tailor-made product for your specific needs. It is made to suit your process exclusively unlike generic software.

Now, how would you identify whether your business needs a customized software or generic application? Well, this can be answered easily by analyzing a few things about your business.

Small or Large Business enterprise– If you have a large set-up and a lot of uniquely placed processes, its better if you go with custom software. You can be benefited largely by having personalized features that directly addresses all your departments and process elements in an all-encompassing manner. If you own a small business it can be a wise decision to have off-the-shelf software, let’s say for accounting, where you would get all the standardized features that are highly prevalent in market, without costing you much.

Purpose- If the software system needs to handle dynamic tasks and do multi-tasking it should be substantiated by thorough research and development. This calls for custom software development for building full-proof system components that comply to all the protocols thoroughly and combines all the proponents in a well-appointed manner. Also if the software needs to connect different offices, departments and work processes it needs to be taken care by full-fledged network policies, security and back-up facilities. This can be better addressed by Custom Software Development Company with large all-round set-up and dedicated professionals.

Nature of Business-Do you come from a business that deals in a unique product and belongs to a niche concept. If yes, it’s always better to go with custom software development for your bespoke project. You will only get the perfect product by getting a thorough research and development done for your process. This would also include features and modules that you need to be implemented in your automated system.

Type of User-The type of user going to use the system is a good way to determine whether to get customized software developed or getting generic software application. If the user class belongs to managerial level or are having very specific needs in terms of accessibility, functionality and technicalities, custom software will only be of help. There may be different off-the-shelf available in market with all those offerings but they would be more or less different in their details and task entities, which could disturb and delay the processes handled by the top officials and cost the company dearly.

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Social Media: Terrible Social Media Advice You Must Ignore

Here are some mistakes that perhaps a social media agency or social media company will have you believe.

You must have a presence on every network

Of course you don’t have to, particularly if you have few resources, and not much time. Educate yourself about the audience on different networks, and focus only on the ones relevant to your company. Explore the new networks that continually keep popping up, but let go if they are not right for you. To start with, use the ones that continue to produce results such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Focus on Twitter

You can choose Facebook or LinkedIn as easily. Keep your focus on the ones that work for you, because there is not one specific media site that can be considered the Holy Grail. Find out where your audiences usually hang out.

You won’t need email

No one has stopped using email, and most people actually prefer emails to communicate with each other instead of social posts. Even to create an account at a social media site, you have to provide your email address.

Social media can be considered equal to SEO

It is good for buzz words and for reaching new customers, but it has not replaced SEO. The two strategies perform better when they work together as social media can be considered to be a supplementary channel.

You have the option to automate your updates

Automation does help, but people on social media can identify auto posting. The reality is that social media is about people interacting with other people. When you automate every update, people get put off.

Including popular hashtags in tweets gets you increased exposure

Hashtags are used to be a good way to categorise tweets, but if you use topic related hashtags, you communicate that you are a newbie at Twitter trying to trick the system and your audience.

Your prospective clients are not on visible

Everyone is on social media, in fact 69% adults use this media according to research by Pew Research Center. Look at the any network’s advertising platform and see which platform is suitable for your potential targeted customers.

More publishing on more sites

Just having an account at every network and using the same content meaninglessly everywhere will not work. You do need more content, but it has to be of good quality.

You should outsource all your needs

The style of conversations, your expertise and the challenges of your industry are things only you know about. If you assign just anyone to talk to your customers, things can go terribly wrong for your organization.

Ban if for staff members

This is quite a futile activity. If you block access to social networking sites on computers, they can use their smartphones, or they can get on these sites from home. They will simply make fake profiles so that you don’t find out. Instead, give your staff specific guidelines for sensible usage.

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Buy And Sell Unique Products From a Mobile App

Smartphones have changed the way things are done and with the proper apps, there is basically nothing you cannot do. One of the areas that have been eased by the great functionality of smartphones and mobile devices for that matter is shopping. You can now get a shopping app to make your selling or buying of items easy and smooth. A well-crafted and designed app will give you an easy time either reaching out to potential buyers if you are a seller and to get unique items easily if you are a buyer. Whether you are buying or selling unique products for men, women, kids and even home décor items, a mobile app can make it very easy for you to do.

Advantages to sellers

· A shopping application comes to the rescue of sellers in the sense that they can open up micro shops where they can list all products they want to sell at no cost at all.

· The sellers also have an easy time uploading images right from their phones. A click is enough for you to have the appropriate image uploaded on the app.

· Orders can also be tracked easily from the mobile apps so that there is effective communication between the seller and the customers. Some offer automated shipping at discounted prices offering more convenience to the seller when shipping products.

· The sellers have the freedom to share items for sale on social platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook for faster sales.

· Through e-wallets, the mobile shopping app gives sellers timely secure payments.

· Some of the apps offer email and SMS notifications to sellers on order fulfillment, new signups and new orders.

Advantages to buyers

· Sellers get the convenience of shopping for what they need from any given place even when on the go thanks to the mobile shopping apps.

· They can compare products from a number of sellers before making the final decision based on what they prefer at individual levels.

· Buyers also get a huge variety of products without having to move. They can find accessories, clothing, footwear and even home décor items to improve their lives. The best apps make it possible for the sellers to also track their products from their smartphones at any given time and place.

· Shopping apps have a higher probability for buyers to find very unique items making them stand out from what is common. It is possible to find quirky products you would not find anywhere else when using a mobile app because it attracts all kinds of sellers and all kinds of items.

· Most of these shopping apps also provide the buyers with options when it comes to making secure payments for products they want. Debit cards and credit cards can be used as well as net banking.

· If you are a buyer, you might be lucky to find an app that gives you the chance to earn credits when you share some of the products on social networks. You can later redeem those points to get your reward for the effort.

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Playing Games Online – Now Enjoy Gaming in a New Way

Earlier there were only two kinds of games only indoor and outdoor games. Indoor games are referred to the games that were played under a roof like chess, carrom board, ludo and many other games. While outdoor games refer to the kind of games which are not played under a roof. These games require a big field or ground to play. Some of the examples of these outdoor games are football, cricket, baseball and many others. Although all the games are categorised into these two types only. But earlier things were not like that. It is because people wanted an all together different kind of gaming . Thus an acute need of it was strongly felt by the game lovers.

But with the advent of television and computer this need became more prominent. Many manufacturers realised this and jumped into this field in order to provide these people with an all together different kind of gaming. Due to their consistent efforts the dream took no time in turning into reality and with it the world saw a different kind of indoor gaming . This type of indoor gaming was restricted only to television and computers. This type of gaming swept the people of their feet and in no time their popularity touched sky. This gaming revolution also at the same time saw the emergence of these kind of gaming lovers. But since these gaming machines were very expensive hence they reached to a certain section of society which was rich and affluent. But as the time progressed so did the technology improved and this version of indoor gaming assumed a whole new shape all together. Now what the world is seeing is entirely different from what it was earlier. Today video games are considered to be a separate field all together.

The credit of giving this makeover to these type of gaming goes mostly to the Internet. Nowadays unlimited number of sites are offering the Net users to play online games. These games allow the users to enjoy the gaming in entirely different mode all together. Playing games online allows the person to not only enjoy himself but at the same time to save himself from any kind of mental tension or stress. Also by playing these games a person can also multi-task i.e. can also chat or work simultaneously.

Playing online games allows the player to get involve into a recreation activity which allows the user to relax and maintain his composure. These online games aim to improvise the overall mood of the player. It is because when a person plays these games online he gets to compete with the other players too. This thing immensely helps a person in invoking the competitive spirit which ultimately benefits the same person only. Also playing these games allows the person to regain confidence and develop a healthy competition spirit. Nowadays many corporate houses encourage their employees to participate in these kinds of online gaming tournaments. It is specifically done to boost the productivity of a certain employee and also at the same time give him break from following a daily hectic schedule.

Nowadays there are many gaming sites that allow the person to participate in different kinds of online games. Some of these games are the online flash games, arcade games and various others. These games aim to satisfy the needs of different kinds of gaming geeks. For e.g. in the gamer wants to play a simple game he will opt for the simplest games available on the site. However those who are interested in hard core gaming or competitive games, they will go for arcade games. Some of the sites that offer the Internet users to play online games are Zapak, Youtring and indiagames.com

All in all online games not only help in improving concentration but also help to break-free from the normal routine.

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