Category: IT Infrastructure

The strategic significance of advanced technologies as a critical business component is recognized by enterprises like never before. Besides business modernization and cost reduction, advanced technologies allow you to compensate for labor shortages, improve brand value and competency, and expedite research and innovation processes. However, several companies jump onto the bandwagon without properly understanding the practical applications and benefits of advanced technology in their business. Only 23% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide can invest in and grow with new digital tools, indicates the World Economic Forum. This data proves why companies should analyze advanced business technology examples before adopting digital tools.

Read more: Using technology to build customer trust: Your business plan for 2022

To simplify your understanding, here’s a quick rundown of five advanced business technologies we believe will help you cope with the new business and economic environment. 

• Simplifying Workflows With Cloud
• Low-code Applications
• Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
• Document Data Extraction
• AI Assistants

As these business technologies become more affordable and handy, businesses are ardently pursuing them to automate customer service, streamline workflows, differentiate products and services, and reach new markets. Depending on your budget, implementation timeline, priorities, and unique business requirements, our team at Fingent helps you build the roadmap for technology adoption. 

Let’s take a closer look at the five inevitable technologies for business transformation today:

Read more: How to gain maximum value from your technology investments?

1. Simplifying Workflows with Cloud

Workflow management is a highly overlooked enterprise strategy that directly impacts productivity. Managing different stakeholders, heaps of confidential data, and a series of preset and conditional tasks manually can lead to several errors such as employees missing key steps, policy violations, compliance issues, and monetary losses. By taking your workflows online, cloud-based workflow management applications increase your productivity. 

Cloud-powered workflows or workflow management tools:

• Are scalable, centralized, customizable to your needs, easy to integrate, secure, reliable, and hassle-free. 
• Offer a seamless and unified collaboration interface by preventing users from toggling between different messaging apps or communication channels.
• Reduce your dependency on in-house IT team by passing on the software maintenance responsibilities to the third-party software vendor. 
• Can be accessed via any authorized network (with approved access credentials), on any device, from anywhere, 24/7. This has been a huge game-changer for several companies that switched to remote operations during the pandemic. 

Example of a Cloud-based Workflow Tool

Finding a cloud workflow management tool that can be customized to your company’s requirements is daunting. The platform should integrate well with your organizational processes without disrupting your existing workflow. This is where digital workplace applications like InfinCE make the difference. 

With InfinCE Digital Workplace, Fingent has improved its productivity by 20% through real-time, effective, and easy collaboration. Data-powered dashboards, dedicated servers, collaboration apps, productivity tools, virtual desktops, private mobile apps, and a host of exceptional business management features enabled us to achieve a significant operational breakthrough in streamlining workflows. 

Read the full case study here.   

2. Low-code Applications

Gartner estimates that by 2025, 70% of enterprise applications will use low-code or no-code technologies. Digital business transformation requires pushing custom software solutions to the market at lightning speed. This demand has given rise to low-code applications that will break the technological and organizational silos of application development, automation, integration, and governance. Low-code development enables business users to bring innovative ideas to life by just dragging and dropping low-code elements through a graphical user interface. 

In simple words, low-code development enables “citizen” developers or non-tech users (such as business analysts or marketers) to build dashboards and survey or contact forms faster. Professional developers, on the other hand, can leverage low-code techniques to perform more efficient tasks such as legacy application modernization or back-end integrations with improved agility and velocity.

Use Cases for Low-code Applications

• Customer engagement applications and portals
• Mission-critical applications such as ERP software, payments manager, etc.
• Data analysis applications, BI dashboards, and data management software
• Mobile apps for customer engagement
• Order processing, inventory, order fulfillment, supply chain, and accounting apps

Salesforce Lightning, Microsoft Power Apps, and Zoho Creator are some of the leading low-code applications today. SAP users can leverage the unified low-code/no-code (LCNC) solutions on SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) to rapidly build and extend applications, and automate tasks and processes.

3. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Robotic Process Automation (RPA), often referred to as software robotics, is an easy-to-use software technology that allows anyone to automate digital tasks within their business processes. RPA allows users to create software robots or “bots” that can learn, emulate, and then execute rules-based business processes. According to Forrester Research, RPA software revenue is expected to reach $6.5 billion by 2025, while RPA-related services revenue could hit $16 billion in the same year. 

Potential Use Cases for RPA 

We offer free proof of concepts to help you understand how RPA can improve your business efficiency and customer experience. Some of our top use cases include:

• Automating discharge protocols and data management to increase HR productivity in healthcare.
• Daily retail process automation such as order processing, inventory and warehouse management, etc. to save time and resources.
• Reducing customer wait times through RPA-enabled chatbots that answer customer queries in real-time. 
• Error-free, automated billing and invoices to keep your financial systems and reports up-to-date.
• HR teams can automate the maintenance of personnel data and records, streamline onboarding, and manage payroll seamlessly. 

Download our white paper to learn more about how Robotic Process Automation can simplify your business operations

4. Document Data Extraction

Extracting quality data out of unstructured or poorly structured data sources and documents for further processing, migration, and storing has been a biggest obstacle in automating back office operations. If you are entering structured invoices to a robust ERP tool like SAP, your payments can be automated and system records can be generated automatically. Due to the high costs of data extraction, several businesses extract only critical information fields, for example, the payment field within an invoice. Businesses are compelled to manually extract data from other important fields, such as validating the invoice’s compliance with VAT.  

AI-integrated OCR Software for Document Extraction

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is an affordable, game-changing technology that automatically extracts data from the digital images (photos) of large files, scanned documents, and sub-titles or captions superimposed on an image. It reduces the time spent in manual data entry and extraction by automatically converting typed, handwritten or printed text into machine-readable text. AI-powered automated data extraction tools like DocuSign, Docsumo, Kofax Capture, and Amazon Textract leverage OCR technology to reduce the chaos involved in document data extraction and enable businesses to create an efficient workplace. 

Our team helps customize document data extraction software that can save your time and money by eliminating transcription and transposing mistakes.

5. AI Assistants

One of the most common examples of small business automation today is the use of AI-powered virtual assistants. They can save your employees’ productivity by automating the most repeatable customer interactions, such as technical support, appointment scheduling, lead qualification, and order management. AI virtual assistants like Google Assistant and Alexa can understand and act according to your voice commands and customize responses to your queries. Understanding customer intent through natural language processing and recognition allows AI assistants to maintain a human-like conversation.

Chatbots are a popular category of AI assistants that are designed specifically for text-based channels like SMS, email, and live chat. Recent years have witnessed a rise in chatbot adoption among several business verticals, product and service lines, websites, mobile apps, customer portals, and so on. Data shows that 58% of B2B companies and 42% of B2C websites are using chatbots to make their websites and mobile apps more interactive. More than 56% of businesses believe chatbots to be driving digital disruption in their industry. 

Case Study: AI Virtual Assistant for HR     

Fingent’s HR team was pressed to transform their service delivery model as routine, transactional tasks affected their performance and efficiency. To solve their struggle, Fingent developed MUSA, an AI-powered virtual assistant (a chatbot) and integrated it with Fingent Hub, Fingent’s internal employee management system. MUSA is short for Multi Utility Assistant. Employees can ask MUSA any queries related to HR and IT DevOps processes at Fingent, and they’ll get answered instantly. MUSA has improved our HR team’s response time by minimizing their workload and allowing them to focus on areas requiring more attention.     

Read the full case study here.

Business and Technology Are Inseparable

Gartner writes that businesses leading with technology employ advanced tech to boost their customer experience and revenue growth, have a clear understanding of their priorities, goals, and strategies, and invest in solutions tailored to their needs. Technology allows businesses to lower the walls within and between their organizations, customers, providers, suppliers, and so on. Organizations perceiving technology as a key business consideration will be able to match the pace of business change and stay relevant and competitive. 

How can your company embrace growth in a new era of transformation and business technology trends? If you feel you’re getting caught in the technology maze, take a quick break to contact us.

Our consultants can simplify your technology adoption strategy based on your priorities, customer needs, financial resources, and technical requirements. 

Better businesses need better cyber security.
Regrettably, threats to cyber security have become the new norm across public and private sectors. The pandemic affected all types of businesses. If anything, uncertainties around remote working amplified cybercrime. As a result, cyber security’s importance has become more clear now than ever before.
As cyberattacks become more sophisticated, businesses will have to stay one step ahead. Security professionals need strong support from advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) to protect their companies from cyber threats.
AI can enable security teams to handle greater and more complex threats than ever before. More specifically, it has proven to identify and prioritize threats. In some cases, AI has even taken automated action to quickly remediate security issues. This article considers how AI can redefine the cyber security needs of an organization.
Before we discuss further, let’s find out the impact cyberattacks can have on businesses.

How Cyberattacks Affect a Company’s Performance and Value 

Protecting a company against cyber threats is costly. It can impact the relationship between your company and your customers.
Unfortunately, cyber threats are never static. Millions are created each year and are becoming more and more potent.
In a survey conducted by Hiscox-Cyber Readiness Report, 28% of the businesses that suffered attacks were targeted on more than five occasions in 2020. Companies have lost millions to such cyber security breaches. Companies like financial services, technology, and energy were hit the hardest.
That is not all. Cyber security breaches have caused several other damages including:

• Outlays such as insurance premiums and public relations support.
• Operational disruption.
• Altered business practices.
• Business’s standing and customer trust.
• Stolen intellectual property including product designs, technologies, and go-to-market strategies.
• Legal consequences.

Read more: Quantum Vs Neuromorphic Computing – What Will the Future of AI Look Like!

How AI Contributes to Cyber Security 

Cyber threats are real and certainly worrisome to businesses. It is important to protect critical digital assets.
However, it takes planning and commitment of resources. With good security operations, you can stay on top of most of the most serious cyber threats. True, there may be smart thieves, but Artificial Intelligence can provide smarter security.
Here are 5 specific ways AI can contribute to cyber security:

1. Robust Zero-Day Malware Detection

Malware is unpredictable. And signature-based tools will not detect attacks that have never occurred before. Given that, is it possible to defend against something unpredictable? Yes!
AI is cable of grasping all the possibilities and finding relationships that traditional security tools would miss. While traditional security strategies have their place in cyber security, they are insufficient to detect and prevent zero-day attacks.
Zero-day attacks are best detected by automatically identifying aberrant behavior and alerting administrators immediately. AI can enable organizations to be more proactive and predictive with their security strategies.
Artificial Intelligence provides visibility and security for an organization’s entire data flow. AI helps organizations gain such visibility by dismantling each incoming file to search for any malicious elements. Simultaneously, it also looks at the user and network behavior and anomalies from expected activities.
Together with ML, AI adapts its behavior to new network conditions, constantly adapting to evolving security conditions. Even those hackers who use modern ML penetration methods cannot be fool AI-enabled cyber security.
We cannot stop security breaches from happening. But Artificial Intelligence helps organizations avoid potential disruptions before attackers wreak havoc.

2. AI Can Safeguard Large Amounts of Data

Whether a company is small or mid-sized, there is a lot of data exchanged between customers and the company every day. This information must be safeguarded from potential cyber threats. Cyber security experts cannot always inspect all the data for potential threats.
AI is the best option to detect threats to routine activities. Because of its automated nature, AI can sift through large amounts of data in real-time and identify any hazards lurking amid the chaos.
Read more: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning – The Cyber Security Heroes Of FinTech!

3. AI Takes Care of Redundant Cyber Security Operations

Hackers constantly modify their methods but the fundamental security practices do not change. Plus, they may weary your cyber security worker.
Artificial Intelligence takes care of redundant cyber security operations while imitating the best of human traits. It also does a thorough analysis of the network to locate security flaws that may harm your network.

4. AI can boost response time 

Ideal security is the one that can detect security threats in real-time. The principle of ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ applies here.
Integrating AI with cyber security measures is a sure way to detect and respond to attacks immediately. Unlike humans, AI does not miss a spot when examining your system for risks. Besides, it can detect risks early, thereby boosting response time.

5. Authenticity Protection

Most websites allow users to log in and access services or make purchases. You will need greater protection as such a site contains private information and sensitive material. To maintain customer trust, it is important to ensure all data about your guests remains safe while accessing your site.
Artificial Intelligence can provide an enhanced security layer. AI can secure authentication when a user wishes to connect their account. Login measures like CAPTCHA, fingerprint, and facial recognition are used to determine if the attempt is legitimate or not.
Read more: Safeguarding IT Infrastructure from Cyber Attacks – Best  Practices

Do Not Be Afraid!

Fingent is your reliable security partner. We provide professional security with reliable service. As a proactive security partner, we look ahead to ensure your business is successful far into the future.
Using AI’s real-time monitoring capabilities, we can spot potential issues before they become a major problem. Security experts Fingent are aware that cyber security threats are not limited to work hours. Our professionals at Fingent software development experts will be there for your business whenever you need us.
We are in business today because of the reputation we built with our customers. We offer a unique level of enterprise IT support, and our clients can rest easy knowing that their business is always protected.
Give us a call and let’s discuss your security needs.

Everyone in the manufacturing world faces the fear of going bust if they do not adopt digital transformation. That is a given and yet we can all agree that digital transformation doesn’t happen overnight.

Currently, enterprises encounter several challenges on their digital transformation journey. One among them is to learn to create and use data through a product life cycle that creates flexible manufacturing processes. Such processes can respond instantly to changes in demand at a low cost to the firm without damage to the environment.

Are you a manufacturer with global aspirations? Do you need to accelerate lead times and product customization? If so, then you may encounter these common business challenges:

• Need for critical infrastructure in remote locations.
• Need for tailored and full-custom design with high quality and ruggedness that fit your specific requirements.
• Need for a simplified supply chain that enables you to get to market quicker and realize faster time to revenue.
• Need to maximize efficiency in the supply chain and ultimately reduce lead time.
• Need to ensure product longevity by providing the same time-zone technical support. And to provide personal support services with the ability to decrease lead times.

Technologies such as 5G, edge computing, and cloud have been pushed further into the limelight especially over the past year, in the wake of the pandemic. As enterprises react to the changing world, these technologies are now emerging at the forefront as a necessary component of network infrastructure.

Read more: Take a Look at How 5G is Reinventing the Way We Work

How Do 5G, Cloud, And Edge Computing Unlock Enterprise Opportunities?

5G, cloud, and edge computing have become major areas of interest and investment at the enterprise level. They provide real-time insights, analytics, and business benefits that can be used once mission-critical latency issues are resolved.

5G, Edge Compute, and Cloud technologies are an emerging set of solutions. When orchestrated together these can enable a spectrum of benefits that are contingent on industry, maturity, and technology. These are complementary technologies that work together for most use cases.

What unlocks the enterprise opportunities is to marry new and existing technologies to create machinery that is as proactive and predictive as the best workers. Edge computing, cloud, and 5G connectivity can be combined to supercharge real-time decision-making and improve quality assurance throughout the supply line.

How would you like it if you can predict the future? Or if you could see the possible problems and correct them before they happen? 5G, edge computing, and cloud promise to give you that ability! These technologies are in a symbiotic relationship.

Cloud contains unlimited resources. Powered by 5G, AI models can continuously update and adapt to situations within the enterprise. This virtuous feedback loop delivers real-time results. Plus, it delivers ongoing improvements over time, as the entire system across the enterprise learns and improves from prior experiences.

This can greatly improve the productivity of your employees. Also, it can save costs tremendously as it can reduce downtime. Here are some specific ways in which 5G, edge computing, and the cloud can benefit the industry.

Read more: How 5G Will Boost Enterprise Investment In Cloud

Cloud For Responsive Resilience 

In the past when enterprises needed to deploy applications using their equipment, they had to ensure that their server, memory, and processing power were equipped to run the application efficiently. Any misjudgment could have a cascading effect throughout the enterprise. However, the cloud provides infinite opportunities.

What enterprise opportunities does this provide? It provides what all enterprises need more than ever: increased speed, resilience, and flexibility.

Bringing cloud intelligence to their IT networks can be very beneficial in performing preventive maintenance, making decisions in real-time, and keeping data more secure. It allows for automated decision-making while saving bandwidth costs.

By leveraging cloud capabilities, enterprises can reduce overall costs. They can benefit from automated one-click deployment and realize higher value from data. This contributes to resilience. Resilience is more important to enterprises that are struggling during major disruptions like the pandemic.

Read more: Why It’s Time to Embrace Cloud and Mobility Trends To Recession-Proof Your Business?

5G Can Help Process Information Across The Enterprise

5G technology enables enterprise connectivity, remains powerful, and is constantly updated. 5G enables all the machines and modules to function at the same speed, reliability, and security as we expect from our phones. In other words, it prevents loss of time due to hanging or buffering associated with the mobile networks.

5G will deliver multiple benefits to those who adopt it:

• Provides ultra-reliability and security. It is far more efficient than any wireless mechanism.
• Since 5G eliminates the need for wired connectivity, it enables a high-speed environment with higher flexibility and lower latency.
• Provides the ability to handle mass customization and personalization.
• 5G augments IoT capacity to support device density and data volume
• Improves productivity as it reduces failure rates.

Read more: Top Business Drivers that Boost Legacy Cloud Migration

Edge Computing Can Help Deploy Technology With Unhindered Network Performance

Edge computing can reduce pressure on data centers and service provider networks. Plus, it preserves bandwidth and brings real-time processing close to users and their devices. Here are specific ways in which edge computing can prove advantageous:

• Maintain competitive edge: Edge computing can provide the ability to use data from various machines, processes, and systems to adapt the manufacturing processes in real-time. It can support precision monitoring of the production line. This enables swift operational responsiveness to unforeseen events. Additionally, it can gather data from connected systems and devices in real-time. Hence, manufactures can now analyze data at the point of creation leading to faster and more informed decision-making within the enterprise.

• Helps seize the opportunities that data and performance-intensive technologies present: Edge computing can empower employees and streamline workflows. It can enable smarter supply chains and improve employee safety and productivity.

• Documents at fingertips: Edge computing can provide workers easy access to documents, new workflow instructions, real-time videos and images, and new product updates. This can increase greater efficiency despite social distancing protocols in the current scenario.

Gain a Competitive Edge with Next-Gen Technologies

With IoT deployment on the rise, enterprises are increasingly adopting 5G, cloud, and edge computing. These technologies provide a competitive advantage by reducing unexpected downtime issues. Hence, the enterprises enjoy improved overall efficiency.

The convergence of these technologies can increase agility and resilience. These technologies can be leveraged to establish enhanced productivity, customer satisfaction, and increased ROI. Hence, 5G, cloud, and edge computing technologies must form an important part of any post-pandemic strategies. You must be eager to get started on gaining that competitive edge. Let’s get talking and make that happen!

The cloud approach is gaining immense popularity amongst businesses due to its scalability, enhanced productivity, and cost-effectiveness. According to Cisco, in 2021, over 94% of workload and computing processes will be hosted on the cloud. While many firms are already implementing and thriving with the Cloud, a few still remain to deploy this technology. This blog is a simple guide to help you understand every aspect of the Cloud, and how your business can drive success with Cloud Application Development!

What’s Ahead?

• Knowing the Cloud!
• What is a ‘Cloud-based Application’?
• Benefits of a Cloud App
• Types of Cloud Application
• Key Features to Consider When Developing a Cloud Application
• Some Examples Of Cloud Application
• Developing a Cloud Application
• A Look at the Tools to Build Cloud-based Apps
• Challenges of Cloud-based Application Development
• A Few Common FAQs
• Conclusion

How does legacy cloud migration ensure business continuity in FinTech? Explore in this article. 

Did everyone have Business Continuity Plans in place and protocols to follow during the pandemic? Yes, definitely. Did anyone expect a disaster of magnitude like this? Not in their wildest dreams or gloomiest forecasts! The pandemic forced hundreds of millions of employees to shelter in place, essentially moving all operations online. Not all organizations were equipped with the needed technological tools, and most businesses were caught off-guard. FinTech companies were not immune to the aftermath. 

For example, pre-COVID-19, it is true that a few FinTech organizations began migrating to Cloud. But, conversely, there were many who hesitated to embrace the cloud migration strategy because of legitimate concerns over critical factors such as rising costs, managing complex business data and workloads, re-training existing IT staff, and more. 

The pandemic was a wake-up call that helped businesses identify legacy cloud migration as a relevant and vital choice. Though most companies have realized that modernizing old, outdated business applications can boost productivity and increase efficiency; some are still hesitant about their cloud migration strategy.

Read more: 11 Practices Followed by Leaders to Build Resilience and Ensure Rapid Business Recovery

This blog explains why FinTech organizations must consider legacy cloud migration seriously and what are some specific benefits of cloud migration strategy.

What is legacy cloud migration?

Legacy cloud migration involves moving on-premise applications, outdated software, or programs that a company has relied upon for years. These applications may include everything from sales or CRM applications to industry-specific applications. Some FinTech organizations may be reluctant to migrate to cloud just because legacy cloud migration is a daunting project. However, maintaining a status quo can be detrimental to your business growth. 

Read more: Why modernize your legacy systems? What’s the best approach to legacy systems modernization?

Legacy cloud migration is the only light at the end of the tunnel 

The pandemic has triggered a significant reexamination of FinTech businesses and their IT priorities. Gartner predicts that “by 2022 cloud shift across key enterprises IT markets will increase to 28%.” This era of economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic affected all businesses, especially, FinTech organizations. A report from Yellowbrick showed that 84.3% say cloud computing is more important than workplace disruption.

Thankfully, cloud migration strategy was available when it was most needed – a phase when maintaining business continuity has become a priority. Consider the most important reasons for legacy cloud migration.

Why FinTech Companies Should Embrace Legacy Cloud Migration

1. People matter more than premises

As the pandemic hit the world with one wave after another with no time to catch a breath, there was a dire need for remote self-service technology. The massive role played by people working from home is a clear indication that people matter more than premises. A year ago, cloud migration strategy was considered discretionary. Today, work from home has made cloud migration mandatory.

Read more: Why It’s Time to Embrace Cloud and Mobility Trends To Recession-Proof Your Business?

Hence, now is the time for FinTech organizations to plan for their business continuity to remain adept for future upheavals, disruptions, or even disasters. When your organization migrates to cloud, you ensure your teams’ effectiveness while working remotely.

2. Prepare for the next 

Though the pandemic is wreaking havoc, it will recede in due time. However, what remains is a possibility of a similar recurrence of disruption in the future. Hence, FinTech organizations must prepare for future disruption by recognizing that the calamity to come may not be another pandemic but its functional equivalent. Legacy cloud migration will equip you to face any future disruptions and remain resilient. 

3. Facilitate real-time payments

Banks are well aware of the advantages of real-time payments. The race is on for upgrades and integrations that allow organizations to leverage real-time payments. A survey of over 500 executives indicated that 71.9% are ‘extremely interested’ in such payment capabilities. Above all, cloud brings in scalability and agility to real-time payments. Cloud migration strategy can improve the speed and consistency of transactions. Besides, it can enable fast and frictionless transactions.

Legacy cloud migration allows banks to adopt digital payments. Banks can address many of their traditional payment pain points, such as spikes in demand. 

Collaborating between payment players and cloud service providers can help your organization provide a more secure digital experience for your customers. This is of paramount importance in a world where contactless interaction is the key. According to a McKinsey survey, banks that adopt digital transformation were able to increase customer satisfaction by 15-20%, reduce cost by 20-40%, and boost conversion rates and growth by 20%.

While consumer expectations and payment preferences continue to evolve rapidly, cloud migration strategy will help FinTech industries to stay relevant and continue to grow.

Read more: Safeguarding IT Infrastructure From Cyber Attacks – Best Practices

4. Scalability and flexibility for an uncertain future

FinTech firms need an infrastructure that can grow with them and protect their business from future disruptions. Migrating to a cloud platform equips FinTech firms to adapt to branch closures while extending banking services to as many people as possible. Legacy cloud migration provides the agility to scale with speed while saving on on-premise infrastructure that is comparatively expensive to maintain and upgrade. Moreover, it can provide your organization the needed accessibility, flexibility, and scalability during economic downturns. 

5. Manage risks and compliance

Efficiency, automation, and cloud-based delivery will be critical for compliance operations. It is vital to use next-generation technology and emerging digital approaches to optimize risk modeling. Since legacy cloud migration is agile, flexible, and low cost, it can solve many challenges in operational risk and financial crime compliance activities. Additionally, solutions deployed in the cloud can assist with operational challenges. 

6. Data management 

Acquiring large quantities of accurate data is a top priority for all FinTech firms. Their success depends on all the information they must collect, from onboarding to analyzing their spending habits. Cloud migration strategy enables your firm to gather and store data securely while allowing your designated employees to access it from anywhere when required.

Read more: Cloud Migration Strategy: 7 Steps to Accomplish a Flawless Transition

The FinTech industry is at a crossroads now. How it responds to the current crisis will determine its future. The key to the survival of FinTech companies will be the rapid digitization of their business and the adoption of cloud migration strategy. Migrating to the cloud is as important as the historic move from typewriter to computer. Cloud migration has become a global force for business growth. It can reduce overhead costs and help your team focus on increasing productivity and performance.

Cloud migration strategy will become inevitable as the FinTech industry builds a more accessible financial world. By partnering with a cloud migration services provider like Fingent, you will be able to quickly and seamlessly migrate to the cloud without disrupting your business. We also help you build FinTech applications and platforms leveraging the latest technology in the market. So, give us a call, and let’s get talking. 

How Business Intelligence in SAP Helps You Become a Data-driven Organization

Business Intelligence is the data powerhouse essential for the survival of your business. BI can help organizations evaluate and transform complex data into meaningful, actionable information. This information allows organizations to generate operational insights and supports effective, strategic, and tactical decision-making. Business Intelligence in SAP makes data-driven decision-making better, faster, and more effective. This article helps you understand all you need to know about Business Intelligence in SAP.

Read more: SAP for Business: 9 Ways to Maximize Business Performance

Business Intelligence in SAP

Business Intelligence in SAP is a centralized suite for data analysis and reporting. It allows you to gain data from multiple data sources and distribute it to different Business Intelligent systems. In essence, Business Intelligence in SAP can work as a target system for data transfer or a source system for data distribution.

Business Intelligence in SAP allows an organization to share information in real-time with all involved, from the CEO to lower-level employees. It offers a panoramic view of data to all those with appropriate credentials. Business Intelligence in SAP can be customized easily to your specific needs. This would also mean that you can access the information much faster. 

Read more: How SAP Supports Effective Business Continuity Planning 

Advantages of Business Intelligence in SAP

According to Statista, the global market size for business intelligence (BI) and analytics software applications is forecast to touch USD 17.6 billion by 2024. Such an increase is a clear indication of the wide range of benefits Business Intelligence in SAP can offer organizations. 

Here are a few advantages of Business Intelligence in SAP:

1. An entire range of BI-related products

SAP offers all the BI tools necessary for your company to leverage a data platform. Business Intelligence in SAP allows you to deploy these tools according to your requirement. The BI tools can be used for querying, analyzing, and reporting. You can also use them to identify trends in the data and discover any underlying issue that adversely affects the business. 

SAP Analytics Cloud allows you to centralize your BI tools. From this central point, you can provide permission-based data access to the employees according to their job requirements. Additionally, ad hoc reporting tools enable you to formulate questions and find instant answers. You can gather these answers and data into valuable insight, which can be shared with the rest of the relevant employees.

Read more: 7 Crucial Business Challenges Solved by SAP Analytics Cloud 

2. Information at your fingertips

Business Intelligence in SAP comes with an enterprise-wide sharing functionality. It simplifies the data to be understood easily in common business terms rather than complex semantic language. Simplifying data makes it easy to search for critical information and gain valuable insights. 

Moreover, data simplification and insights generation allow you to share your findings and insights with other users across your organization. For good decision-making, businesses need valuable insights into various business modules such as finance, sales, operations, and human resources. Business intelligence combines all the views from these modules to provide more accurate information. Now, each decision-maker is armed with relevant information to make critical decisions that affect your organization.

3. Self-service visualization capabilities

Dragging data from vast storage and introducing it to a user is a gigantic task that requires data-specific knowledge and engineering skills. SAP offers several self-service tools for BI users. The self-service visualization capabilities of Business Intelligence in SAP allow its users to view and analyze data more efficiently. With this capability, you can aggregate data, conduct trend analysis, and uncover valuable insights. This can reduce maintenance costs while considerably shrinking the time spent on reporting-related tasks.

Read more: How Fingent Helps CFOs Gain New Insights and Reliably Enable Key Decisions

4. Ability to create interactive BI dashboards 

Business Intelligence in SAP enables you to create interactive BI dashboards that can be customized for each user. Additionally, decision-makers can access and view these dashboards from anywhere and at any given time. 

You can access the dashboards via smartphones. The dashboards are also accessible through browsers, applications, or desktop widgets, even when you are offline. It means that all users can remain connected to the company’s server at all times. 

5. Integration with MS Office application

You can realize the true value of the data you possess if only you share those insights and reports with other users. Since most reporting and dashboard modules are integrated with sharing capabilities, your employees can easily share valuable insights. Integration with the MS Office application allows users to perform data analysis in multiple dimensions. It enables them to manipulate and filter data dynamically. 

Business Intelligence in SAP allows you to import large amounts of data to MS Excel, enabling you to analyze and forecast effectively. You can also embed information into MS PowerPoint. This feature is helpful when you need to present business insights to stakeholders and colleagues. 

6. Easy to use interface

Business Intelligence tools can be very complicated, with a complex interface designed mainly for skilled programmers or data analysts. However, Business Intelligence in SAP comes with a good instrument that allows for an intuitive user interface. With a bit of time and skill, it is easy to master the interface. Onboarding a new business user becomes more convenient as they can access all the instruments from a single web-based interface.

7. Greater flexibility and scalability

Business Intelligence in SAP is easy to integrate as it offers deployment options for most of its products. As Business Intelligence in SAP is service-oriented, it is easily scalable. Based on the need of the hour, businesses can either increase or decrease. Though you begin using business intelligence for a single project, later, you can expand to the rest of the organization. It means that both large enterprises and small businesses can benefit from Business Intelligence in SAP.

8. Allows your IT department to engage in more meaningful work 

Business Intelligence in SAP can automate mundane and time-consuming tasks. It also ensures that the employees in your organization have all the resources they need to perform their tasks. It reduces the dependency on your IT department and helps your IT professionals focus their time on more productive and relevant jobs. 

Read more: Top 7 Business Benefits of Adopting SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation 

Bottom line

Easier access to data, smarter insights, better business – you can’t go wrong with Business Intelligence in SAP. It helps you run complex queries and provides you with a highly scalable solution. What more can you ask for? 

Fingent is an SAP Silver Partner and is well-placed to help you get started with your BI journey. Get in touch with us and transform your business into a data-driven organization. 

The Significance of Odoo Migration and How to Do It?

Odoo is an open-source ERP software that comprises an integrated suite of business modules such as eCommerce, accounting, warehouse management, project management, financial management, customer relationship management (CRM), manufacturing, and purchasing. These modules ensure seamless and efficient communication with each other to exchange information.

Read more: 5 Salient Features of Odoo that Make it a Reliable ERP for Enterprises

Odoo ERP can be used by businesses of all sizes and is available in both cloud or on-premise versions. Odoo is open source and highly customizable, allowing developers to access the code and make changes in the module based on their business needs. Odoo ERP can be easily integrated with payment processors and external shipping systems such as UPS, eBay, FedEx, Amazon, and QuickBooks.

Read more: 5 Reasons to Integrate Your E-commerce Application with Odoo ERP

So, if you are new and planning to implement Odoo ERP for your business, you should consider the most recent and latest version of Odoo, that is, Odoo 14.0. 

However, if you are already leveraging Odoo and thinking of migrating to Odoo 14, you need to assimilate the situation before migrating.

Odoo migration involves two parts:

• Data migration 
• Odoo apps migration 

You can migrate both your company data and the apps used in the older version of your ERP. This migration process requires expertise and an experienced Odoo ERP partner to achieve it. Your older data must be optimized for the newer version smoothly and is best done by a professional Odoo ERP implementation partner like Fingent.

Why migrate to the latest version of Odoo ERP?

Undeniably, the latest versions of Odoo include improved features such as security, speed, and stability. Migrating to the latest version indicates that you are ready to update your system and move forward. Moving forward does not mean that you lose your old data and turn to new data. Migration ensures that all the previous data is kept intact while stepping into the new one.

The latest version, Odoo 14 got released in October 2020. As businesses are ever-changing, the new version comes with many added or deleted features as found optimal by Odoo. This is needed to ensure the ERP keeps running at its best performance and also delivers high performance. It is considered to be four times faster than Odoo 13. So, if you are looking for speed, then you can switch to Odoo 14.

Top features of Odoo 14

Some of the features of Odoo 14 are:

1. Improved user experience

Odoo is a great competitor to big names like Oracle, Dynamics, and SAP. Odoo 14 has added more shortcut keys to control the system faster, improving the system speed and more on-click features to help you save time. There are more widgets in the list view that allows you to send messages directly to your colleagues within a single click.

2. Automated CRM

CRM is a powerful tool that provides your company with a better insight and focuses more on clients and not on the data input. The insight helps you forecast sales or find information about the clients easily. In the absence of a CRM, the salespeople can randomly fill the customer’s information, making it difficult for other team members to follow up or get complete sales information.

As Odoo 14 CRM is automated, you can add and search for customer’s data accurately and quickly.

3. Outlook plugins

This feature automates the communication logging and allows you to communicate with the clients automatically in the CRM. It also helps sales managers track the communication of their subordinates.

4. To-do activities list

Odoo 14 helps salespeople focus on selling instead of data input. The to-do activities feature allows the salespeople to quickly check the to-do list, the next activity, and its priority with its impact every day. This feature comes with an improved follow-up section that helps salespeople send an email or SMS to the potential client directly from the CRM.

Points to consider before Odoo migration

1. Performance

Odoo 14 is designed to deliver more both in terms of performance and features. It includes additional features that can benefit new businesses. The new features ensure the business processes are carried out as smoothly as possible. However, you must make sure to understand the purposes and needs of your business before you avail of the updated version. 

2. Deleting a few features 

While the new version includes new features, some of the old features have been revoked by Odoo. So, it would help if you had an idea about what features will be lost in the newer update. This is where an Odoo ERP implementation partner like Fingent can help you. Our Odoo consultants can help you migrate to the latest version of Odoo without losing your crucial company data. 

Read more: 6 Ways Odoo ERP Customization Can Benefit Your Business

3. Downtime

An update would mean that your business operations would be affected in the meantime. So, you must be prepared to overcome this downtime if you opt for migration. You can use the pilot version to run the platform with updates in the background. However, it is not possible in the live environment. You can discuss this in detail with the migration expert at Fingent.

4. Cost

The cost of the migration process may vary depending on your customized business requirements. Understanding the need for the latest update and knowing if the expense is the right investment for your company is essential. You can consult software development experts at Fingent to get an estimate of the Odoo migration expenses for your business.

While migrating your old Odoo versions to newer and better ones is essential, it is a complex and tedious task. So, it is vital to have a good Odoo migration partner, which is why most businesses entrust us with Odoo ERP migration.

Read more: Why Choose Fingent as Your Odoo ERP Partner

Odoo migration: How to migrate to the newer version?

The Odoo migration process is done in two parts:

Part 1: Data migration

The company data present in the Odoo platform is of utmost importance and cannot be lost under any circumstances. This data requires some adaptation to work in sync with the new version. To make sure your data is suited for migration formulation, your information, such as charts, tables, contacts, etc., will be carried out.

Part 2: Odoo apps migration

The Odoo apps functional in the older version are used for specific needs and cannot be lost or compromised in the process of updating. Necessary changes to the existing applications or developing new ones will need to be done to meet the needs of your business.

The migration of applications and data will enhance the platform’s functionality without losing your company data.

To know more about Odoo migration and how we can help achieve it successfully, please contact us.

Why and when does an enterprise require hyperconverged infrastructure?

Enterprises and businesses in all sectors strive for the most efficient infrastructure. The explosion of business data poses additional challenges to IT decision-makers. Weak storage solutions could be disastrous for a business. Organizations need to invest in a reliable IT solution that will bring together all IT infrastructure components. They need a solution that will increase overall workplace productivity and reduce cost.

Hyperconverged infrastructure can be the perfect solution for enterprises. It provides uniform scaling along with the simplicity of deployment and ease of management. These features of HCI translate into operational efficiency and reduced costs. As businesses slowly emerge from the fragile economy caused by the coronavirus impact, hyperconverged infrastructure can help them come back strongly.   

Let’s have a look at what hyperconverged infrastructure is and how you can benefit from it.

What is hyperconverged infrastructure?

Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) is an IT framework. It combines computing, networking, and storage into a single turnkey platform to increase scalability and reduce data center complexity. Hyperconverged platforms usually run on standard, off-the-shelf servers and include a hypervisor for virtualized computing and networking and software-defined storage. Hyperconverged platforms are designed for scalability. For example, it allows you to cluster multiple nodes for creating pools of shared storage and compute resources.

Compared to traditional enterprise storage infrastructure, you can customize hyperconverged infrastructure to make it flexible and easy to manage. It can provide the agility of infrastructure without relinquishing control of your hardware. 

Why and when does an enterprise need hyperconverged infrastructure?

Hyperconverged infrastructure offers scalability, reliability, data protection, and more. However, it does not mean HCI is for everyone. It is not recommended for applications that need low latency and contend with high I/O rates. For applications with the right workload, it proves useful in addition to the data center reducing costs and simplifying IT.

Initially, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure and other general-purpose workloads with fairly predictable resource requirements started using hyperconverged infrastructure systems. However, it has become a suitable platform for enterprise applications, private cloud, edge computing deployments, and databases. In other words, a hyperconverged infrastructure system can be used by smaller enterprises that need faster and more reliable storage solutions.

With the landscape of technology evolving faster than ever before, enterprises are increasingly moving to the cloud. As workload requirements grow, organizations realize the need to add nodes to their system. To achieve this, they need a 100% software-defined storage solution that aggregates the storage and compute performance between servers and nodes. 

That is why enterprises need a hyperconverged infrastructure system. It can provide such necessary solutions, replace silos of servers, storage, and virtualization, and avoid the need for separate management tools and processes. 

As technology begins to settle down, the rate of HCI adoption is expected to increase soon. So, it is crucial to know its benefits and make an informed decision.

Read more: 11 Tech Trends That Will Disrupt Businesses in The Next 2 Years 

12 benefits of hyperconverged infrastructure

1. Simpler design

Though hyperconverged infrastructure is not cloud-based, it is ideal for the cloud era. It comes with a framework that has a flexible and simple design. Hyperconverged infrastructure eliminates silos and other barriers that slow down development. In this way, it helps the organization to accomplish most tasks more swiftly. In the current fast-paced world, having the ability to act quickly is vital. 

2. Scalability

Scalability has been the top reason for many enterprises to choose HCI. Each hyperconverged infrastructure appliance is a self-contained unit that is designed from the ground up that maximizes compatibility. It allows expansion of data center capacity by simply attaching an additional unit. 

An HCI cluster is made up of preconfigured, and self-contained building blocks called nodes. Since nodes can be pre-optimized, admins can easily add them without having to contend with integration issues. 

3. Ease of implementing hybrid systems

Hyperconverged infrastructure combines virtualized computing and networking with software-defined storage. This facilitates identical software deployment, whether hosted on the cloud or at the data center, meaning that a team can quickly deploy applications on-premise and combine them with a public cloud. That makes it perfect for any enterprise that plans to build a hybrid infrastructure. 

Read more: Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure: How It Benefits Your Business 

4. Simplified management

With a traditional system, an organization would require specialists to manage each of the different elements: storage, compute, and networking. Thankfully, a hyperconverged infrastructure simplifies this management issue. It allows consultants or even general tech staff to oversee the entire setup.

Administrators can work from a single management platform that consolidates administrative tasks. It helps them eliminate management silos that come with traditional infrastructure. Additionally, it frees up IT personnel for other critical tasks such as focusing on new initiatives.

5. Reliability  

The inbuilt multi-node architecture of hyperconverged infrastructure offers a highly reliable system. Since fault tolerance and disaster recovery are built into an HCI platform, other nodes can compensate for one node’s failure. This aspect also includes self-healing capabilities that automatically identify and address issues. Admins can add or replace nodes without workload disruptions. 

Read more: How Kubernetes benefits your IT infrastructure?

6. Improved performance

Hyperconverged infrastructure is capable of improving workload performance, even when running multiple application types. It can meet the performance demand of varying workloads, including virtual desktop infrastructure. It can also accommodate changing performance requirements without the need to reconfigure the entire hardware.

7. Efficient data storage and protection

Since data storage and protection are a part of its infrastructure, hyperconverged infrastructure can make these processes more straightforward and efficient. It can provide data protection functionalities such as data duplication or snapshots. Disaster recovery and prevention is also made easy with hyperconverged infrastructure.

Being software-centered, HCI gives an enterprise the opportunity for regular backups using public cloud storage. Scattering data across multiple nodes, HCI ensures that the entire business is not affected when just one piece of hardware goes down. 

8. Automated infrastructure 

Automation has been impossible for most complex IT infrastructures. However, in HCI storage, servers and infrastructure support services are virtualized, making automation of routine operations achievable when centralized management tools are implemented. It enables administrators to quickly deploy cloud infrastructure, automate complex processes, and eliminate time-consuming manual tasks. 

9. Workload consolidation

Over the years, HCI products have been supporting workloads beyond back-office applications and virtualized desktop infrastructure. Hyperconverged infrastructure’s ability to consolidate multiple IT functions into the same platform is most beneficial for an organization. It makes it easier to migrate virtual machines between different appliances or even between data centers. 

10. Easy upgrades 

Hyperconverged infrastructure provides a unified environment that makes upgrading hardware and software much faster and easier. It can streamline and simplify upgrades, eliminating the need to balance independent systems. It provides a flexible and adaptable environment for restructuring systems or hardware. Besides, it does not have risks that come with other systems. Hyperconverged infrastructure offers a unified platform that uses integrated technologies and standard protocols. It makes it easier to implement performance upgrades. 

11. Software-defined infrastructure 

Software-defined capabilities help in driving operations and maintaining the overall health of the environment. These capabilities make automation more comfortable to implement than with legacy systems. Software-defined infrastructure can quickly and easily accommodate upgrades, multi-storage types, and new components. It can thus simplify IT, handle diverse and changing workloads while improving overall efficiency. 

12. Lower costs 

Most enterprises adopt hyperconverged infrastructure because it reduces the running cost of workloads throughout their life cycles. It can consolidate hardware resources and maximize their use. Moreover, it will tremendously reduce the need for more servers and minimize power and cooling requirements. 

Since you can build hyperconverged infrastructure with commodity hardware, organizations can avoid expenses that come with deploying specialized servers, storage, or network components. 

Hyperconverged infrastructure uses direct-attached storage. It helps enterprises avoid the high cost that comes with deploying and managing a SAN. With the help of a reference architecture, they can buy HCI software and build their HCI platforms. 

How can organizations adopt hyperconverged infrastructure?

Organizations must adopt hyperconverged infrastructure to reduce the complexity associated with network management across servers and storage. The best approach is to make a trial with a small project and then scale up as the need arises. 

If you want to adopt HCI, you can start by surveying your existing infrastructure and figure out what you want to achieve by moving to HCI. It will help you refine your needs and identify what features you will require so that you get to focus on the right vendor offerings. 

To tackle the toughest challenges, organizations need to adopt solutions that deliver. Consider these factors when adopting a hyperconverged infrastructure:

• Adequate support: The right HCI solution must support a broad set of application deployment models. It needs to be fast and consistent to run your mission-critical apps.
• Scalability: The right solution should complement your current IT needs and adapt as those needs evolve. 
• Seamless integration: The HCI solution should be flexible enough to support multiple hypervisors, whichever cloud environment most appropriate for them.

Learn more: Take a look at how InfinCE, an infinite cloud platform, ensures secured work-collaboration within an organization and helps enhance company efficiency & growth!

Over to you

Organizations need reliable and faster storage performance now more than ever before. Hyperconverged infrastructure provides a path to secure and modern infrastructure. Most organizations consider the solution critical to their strategic IT priorities. What about you? 

Chat with us and get the answers to all your questions on hyperconverged infrastructure. 

All That You Need to Know about Managed Services for IT!

IT requirements evolve continually as the technology undergoes rapid changes. This has led to increased security threats to data and downtimes which can disarm any business. Before you panic however, let’s begin by saying that many companies have been able to successfully handle these challenges. The solution – a good partnership with the right managed IT services provider.

Managed services for IT play an integral role in the modern business field as it is nearly impossible to venture into contemporary services without some form of IT support. Managed IT services can help you smoothen different processes on the cloud while managing security and finance challenges efficiently in a continuous manner. That isn’t all. This article will help you see why managed services for IT is important and how you can implement it to improve your business operations. 

Read more: What Is IT Consulting? How Can It Revitalize Your Business? 

What do you mean by Managed Services for IT?

Managed services for IT are services that are outsourced to an external IT service provider. That service provider is completely responsible for the day-to-day operations of your specialized applications and business equipment. This allows your in-house IT team to focus on more strategic IT programs and frees up your team to focus on your business’s core competencies. 

What is the importance of Managed Services for IT?

Traditionally, IT-related maintenance was done only through the “break-fix” methodology. This meant that a business would call a maintenance expert only when something broke down. This would completely halt all business operations until the problem is fixed. The more your system stays down, the more will be your organization’s money drain. Unresolved IT issues such as security breaches that compromise your data could prove to be costlier than you think. Such data security breaches are devastating for your business. 

Thankfully, as the name suggests, Managed services for IT allows smooth management of a business without disrupting the flow of business operations. On your behalf, your IT service provider will manage, monitor, and resolve the problems of your IT systems and functions. Such a partnership allows you to focus on your core business process without any hindrance caused by IT issues. 

Read more: Software Development Outsourcing –  Why software development outsourcing is a smart move now?

The most important advantages of Managed IT Services

1. Get the expertise you need

New technology might bring in new problems that your IT team may not have the knowledge or experience to solve. Then there is the issue of management. Fortunately, both these problems can be resolved by your managed service provider. A key advantage of the managed service model is that it allows you to either hire an entire team of IT professionals or choose specialists depending on the demands of each project. 

2. Cost-effective

Managed services for IT lowers labor costs. Also, it can completely eliminate the cost of hiring and training new IT staff. The best upside is that you won’t ever have to worry about unexpected service costs. This means your organization can now shift from a capital expense model to an operating expense model. 

3. Scale your system as needed

Your technology decides whether you need to scale up or down. Managed IT service providers can respond to such changes in real-time.

4. Downtime reduction and recovery

Managed services for IT provide backup solutions to protect critical information. In the event of a disaster, they can also provide avenues for service continuations. For smaller businesses, this can be a lifesaver. 

How can you leverage Managed IT Services to improve your business? 

Leveraging managed services for IT cannot be done in a one-size-fits-all way because most companies use different options to meet their overall goal. Though the services offered by each provider may vary, they can still be useful when handled properly. There are businesses that use three or more types of IT functions. If yours is one of those businesses these tips below will help you take the most advantage of managed services. 

1. Choose your provider wisely

Each business has its own specific requirements. Identifying that requirement will make it easier to choose the right managed services provider. Often, most businesses need a minimum of three IT services (eg: cloud, IT consulting, and data and network security). But you will need to assess your business needs and come to the exact number. Once you have your requirements down, you can go about researching the credentials of the IT partner. Previous clients and case studies is the best place to start. The best way to find a capable managed service provider is through referrals, work colleagues, and reviews on online platforms.

2. Develop a business relationship

The best collaboration is when your managed IT services provider partners with your existing IT team in a seamless way. With that in mind, it is important to build a good working relationship with your provider. This will ensure that your skills complement each other, and resources are effectively used leading to better business outcomes. It will also give your team the opportunity to learn as much as possible from them.

3. Device a reliable data backup and recovery strategy

The most important objective of hiring managed services for IT is to protect data. Your data is under tremendous risk during a virus attack, machine error, unexpected hacking, or improper handling. During such instances, it is critical to have a good back-up strategy. Such a strategy will ensure that your business does not grind to a halt due to lost data. Fortunately, hiring good managed services for IT makes it easier for your company to develop a strategy that can protect existing data and retrieve lost data. 

Read more: Digital Innovation – 10 Services Offered by Fingent to Prepare Your Business for the Future of Digital Innovation

What does the future hold for Managed IT Services?

According to Gartner, 56% of business leaders engage with service providers for long-term development and maintenance. This will result in 63% of global managed service providers gaining their revenue through digital business infrastructure operations by 2023. Managed services for IT have kept the business world running and will continue to do so in the future. Are you keeping pace with it?

Survive and thrive 

In our current state of extraordinary upheaval brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, managed services for IT may be your company’s greatest hope for surviving and thriving during and after these unprecedented times. Partner with us and see for yourself! First though, take a look at our case studies and feel free to check our credentials. We want you to be sure we are the right fit for you. 

What is healthcare information technology and what are its benefits?

From transportation to manufacturing to education, information technology is influencing virtually every industry today. The healthcare industry has experienced a significant transformation brought in by information technology. From electronically checking in patients and updating their medical records to digitally forwarding blood test results to patients, information technology is transforming the healthcare industry by leaps and bounds. Experts estimate that by the end of 2024, the healthcare information technology market could reach USD 390.7 bn.

This post looks at how information technology and healthcare go hand-in-hand to benefit both medical professionals as well as patients.

Read more: 7 Major Impacts of Technology in Healthcare 

What is Healthcare Information Technology (HIT)?

While information technology refers to the usage of computers and telecommunications and other systems to store, retrieve and share information, HIT, refers to the secure use of technology to manage health-related information.

The most common examples of healthcare information technology are e-prescriptions, electronic health records (EHRs), and other tech tools that help patients meet health goals such as managing blood sugar levels or quitting smoking. Information technology has paved the way for more accurate EHRs/ EMRs that help patients gain quick and easy access to various healthcare facilities. Additionally, it has given patients more control over their health through various mobile apps and information platforms.

Healthcare information technology’s primary purpose is to maintain privacy while improving patient care. HIT enables medical professionals to not only take better care of patients but also improve their communication with patients.

A few examples of Health IT are: 

• Computerized disease registries
• Consumer health IT applications
• Electronic prescribing
• Electronic medical record systems such as EMRs, EHRs, and PHRs
• Telehealth 

What is the significance of healthcare information technology?

The goal of using information technology in healthcare is to enhance the overall health of the people by improving the quality of care provided to the patients. 

Healthcare information technology is significant because it: 

• Helps in delivering more accurate, actionable, and accessible information related to a patient’s health that can be customized to meet the individual’s needs.
• Allows better and faster decisions related to health risks that affect an individual as well as the public.
• Supports communication between patients and healthcare professionals and helps in decision-making.
• Helps build networks of social support for both patients as well as healthcare professionals.
• Improves awareness among patients as well as the general public about health-related matters that can lead to positive outcomes.

Uses of information technology in healthcare

Information technology is being used in numerous ways to improve patient safety, healthcare delivery, and communication between healthcare providers and patients. One of the most remarkable applications of HIT is patient records and data management.

Previously, paper charts were used to maintain patients’ records that were easily lost, misinterpreted, or damaged. IT has helped healthcare professionals track patient’s records easily and securely. A medical professional can add pharmacy records, X-rays, test results, and even vital signs to the virtual chart that is easy to read, share, and check against other records.

Also, an entirely new discipline known as nursing informatics has been formed by combining IT and clinical care. This discipline combines the practice of nursing with IT management and helping people with a passion for science and data in the service of medical patients and improving healthcare. With increased demand in technology, this field is gaining more popularity day by day.

According to a survey by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, it was found that nurses who use IT are more likely to spot medical errors. As less time is spent on documenting patient care, nurses can get more time to spend on patient care. Also, as more and more people are getting insured and seeking quality care, the demand for information technology that can help track patients’ records accurately and improve healthcare is only going to grow.

As the HIT field expands, it will create more jobs for IT professionals in hospital settings. From medical transcriptionists, medical coding specialists, clinical IT consultants, and healthcare system analysts, roles in the field of healthcare are growing every year. Apart from creating jobs, IT will stay relevant for hospital administrators and policymakers to increase their volume, speed, and quality of service in the care centers. 

Read more: How digital tools are reshaping healthcare 

4 future trends in healthcare to watch out for!

1. Telehealth will gain more popularity

As more and more doctors, specialists, and health systems are providing telehealth services, it will gain more prominence in near future. For example, a senior citizen recovering from post-acute care could avail of on-camera consultation without the need for traveling. Regardless of the user’s condition or age or familiarity with the concept, telehealth will gain wider adoption soon.

2. Virtual Reality (VR) will be widely used in patient care

• Virtual Reality can help memory care patients visit vacation spots, access street views of their childhood homes and parks virtually.
• VR is already helping surgeons visualize potential issues before complex surgeries. With more advancements in VR coming up, it could improve procedural intervention by overlaying imaging data and relevant information.
• Vivid imagery using VR is being used in hospitals to distract patients undergoing treatments or those experiencing discomfort.
• VR can be used to educate or explain treatment to a patient.
• VR can help people gain a new perspective on illness. For instance, VR headsets with special software can help people understand what it’s like for people with Alzheimer’s and build empathy.

Read more: Is Mixed Reality the Future of the Healthcare Industry? 

3. Artificial Intelligence will improve diagnosis and other processes

AI tools such as chatbots and wearables are helping patients take better control of their own care. Artificial Intelligence is being used to maximize hospital efficiency, develop personalized drugs, create treatment protocols, to perform patient monitoring, and care administration. Using complex machine learning algorithms, AI helps emulate human intelligence in analyzing and comprehending complex medical data. 

Leading healthcare institutions such as the Mayo Clinic and the UK’s NHS have developed their own AI algorithms to analyze vast amounts of healthcare information that can lead to far-reaching changes in the fields of disease prevention and early diagnosis.  

4. 5G will boost network speeds

5G has the potential to significantly improve healthcare delivery by boosting network speed and capacity while reducing latency. This will be crucial for transmitting large medical images, supporting telehealth initiatives and remote patient monitoring tools, and facilitating the complex uses of AI, AR, and VR technologies. 5G technology will also facilitate faster downloads and communication on tablets and other mobile devices used in healthcare that allows the growth and adoption of mobility in healthcare. 

Read more: From Remote Work to Virtual Work, 5G is Reinventing the Way We Work 

How Fingent can help you

At Fingent, we offer healthcare information technology consulting that will help identify your organization’s specific needs and provide apt solutions for improving patient care delivery and enhancing the productivity of healthcare professionals. We also develop technology solutions for healthcare payer organizations and insurance carriers that help them make better decisions and improve their visibility in the competitive market.

We aim to deliver value through our healthcare application platforms and customize solutions according to your business objective. Contact us to know more about how your business can benefit from our healthcare IT consulting services.