Category: Business

With proven expertise across 25 industries and an end-to-end suite of intelligent enterprise solutions, SAP has triumphantly cemented its position in the enterprise application software market. According to the World Economic Forum, SAP customers constitute 87% of total global commerce. Right from the R/2 commercial mainframe applications designed in the 1970s to the latest SAP S/4 HANA and its enormous suite of intelligent software products, SAP solutions have enhanced the competency of organizations with deep business insights and improved enterprise collaboration. SAP solutions include both technical and functional modules. While SAP ABAP, SAP Basis, SAP Security, SAP Solution Manager, CRM, etc. are technical modules, components such as Material Management (MM), Production Planning (PP), Financial Accounting and Controlling (FICO), etc. are examples of functional modules. All these modules of SAP closely integrate with each other to provide the best functionalities and solutions for businesses.
Read more: 8 ways SAP ERP software implementation helps your business 

This post analyzes ABAP, one of the core technical modules of SAP, to understand how the platform enables businesses to run better.

What is SAP ABAP?

Advanced Business Application Programming or SAP ABAP is the principal programming language supported on the SAP NetWeaver ABAP server and the applications that run on it. Typical examples of ABAP-based applications include SAP ERP (previously known as R/3) and the present SAP S/4HANA.
SAP ABAP is the oldest and the most popular of SAP’s four key application platforms, together with SAP NetWeaver Java, SAP HANA, and SAP Cloud Platform. ABAP is used by SAP to deploy its applications on the NetWeaver ABAP platform. It’s different from the universal programming languages like Java because all ABAP programs and compiled code reside only in the SAP system. ABAP is renowned as the proprietary fourth-generation programming language (4GL) of SAP, developed to process massive volumes of data in SAP business applications.
ABAP enables businesses to customize their workflows related to material management, production management, supply chain management, financial accounting, and all other modules of SAP. This helps businesses reduce the time-consuming manual processes involved in data processing, particularly when they have more data to process.
Though some of the popular SAP applications such as SuccessFactors, SAP Ariba, SAP Business One etc. run on other programming languages, the role of ABAP is crucial, especially when these applications integrate with ABAP-based applications such as SAP ERP and SAP S/4HANA. As of 2021, there are five million registered ABAP developers worldwide, which indicates the robustness and credibility of the ABAP foundation for a wide range of SAP business applications.
Read more: SAP for Business-Making SAP support available at your hand

How does SAP ABAP accelerate business transformation?

ABAP was developed by SAP to enhance and expand the functionality of SAP systems. Here’s how ABAP is adding value to SAP users across the globe.
1. Aids mission-critical business processes
Since the 1980s, ABAP technology has been serving as the rock-solid foundation of SAP’s application portfolio. Several mission-critical business functions rely on ABAP for its scalability, robustness, and extensibility. ABAP is the underlying technology that steers SAP’s celebrated platforms and flagship suites such as SAP S/4HANA, SAP ERP (R3), and the next-generation data warehouse – SAP BW4/HANA. Thus, ABAP helps monitor and improve strategic business measures.
2. Enables customization of SAP business applications
Due to its availability as an independent platform, ABAP is primarily used to develop cutting-edge, bespoke SAP business applications. Custom ABAP development allows users to configure and tailor SAP modules based on their business requirements. Since the initial days of ABAP, SAP customers and partners have established a tradition of creating custom codes and add-ons that function effectively on the ABAP platform.
3. A holistic development platform
ABAP combines the innovative capabilities of SAP HANA (SAP’s in-memory database), the power and consistency of the ABAP server, and the digital UX potential of SAP Fiori (SAP’s UI technology). All these features make it a holistic development and runtime platform. Continuous developments by SAP make ABAP capable of addressing new business scenarios.
4. Reduces the development cost
ABAP offers a centralized, shared, and integrated development environment that allows multiple developers to work on the same development objects simultaneously. Hence, it’s easy to track the changes to development objects and push them to QA or production environments, without losing version control. The integrated, self-compiling nature of ABAP helps reduce the development cost.
5. Offers excellent development environment and tools
The key highlight of ABAP Platform 2021 (the underlying technology of SAP S/4HANA), is the ABAP Development Tools (ADT) that support the entire development lifecycle in Eclipse IDE. It improves the efficiency of developers and offers enhanced SAP HANA capabilities. ABAP Platform 2021 facilitates the seamless transformation of your existing SAP business suite to SAP S/4HANA (cloud or on-premise) and SAP BTP (Business Technology Platform).
6. Improved focus on user experience
ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model promotes the development of SAP HANA-optimized Web APIs, SAP UI5, and Fiori applications. ABAP development tools support browser-based, device-responsive, and role-based development of application functions. It enables users to switch to different devices and collaborate effortlessly.
Read more: Top 3 UI offerings from SAP: Fiori, Screen Personas, and Lumira

7. Extensible to the cloud
ABAP Platform 2021 has been improvised to create customized extensions in the cloud. The growing number of SAP customers who’re adopting SAP S/4HANA Cloud will benefit from ABAP’s tailored extensibility. The users will get access to more innovative features developed by SAP and can keep their software up-to-date with regular patches and upgrades.
8. Change and transport management
ABAP offers comprehensive change and transport management for the development projects organized in the ABAP Workbench and also helps in customizing those projects. It also facilitates to transport the changes between the SAP systems in your environment.

How can Fingent help your businesses unlock the potential of SAP ABAP? 

ABAP is primarily a developer-friendly language. However, associating with the right SAP partner can help even the non-technical SAP users to master the technology. We’ve helped several businesses in identifying, customizing, implementing, and maintaining ABAP within their SAP systems. As a Silver Partner of SAP, we help customers cut their development efforts and costs, reduce technical complexities, and bridge skill gaps. Our SAP application development practice enables businesses and aces IT professionals to collaborate effectively and deliver cutting-edge enterprise applications across any platform, device, and tech stack in the shortest span.

Everyone uses software products. From toddlers to grandparents, in one way or the other, almost everyone has used a software product. The number of mobile devices operating worldwide stood at almost 15 million in 2021! Today, software development permeates the entire world. You are reading this blog on a device whose lifeblood is software. It is no surprise that businesses invest in software development. But what is the cost? That is probably the single most important question to businesses intent on making wise business decisions. This article discusses everything that may affect the cost of app development in 2024 to help you estimate the cost of your app development.

Is App Development Necessary for Your Business?

Adding to the Statista report that put the 15 million number on the number of mobile devices, did you know that the number of mobile app downloads surpassed 200 billion in 2019? And there is no slowing down.
Along with mobile devices, there are other devices like tabs, laptops, and desktops. And we know that all of these function by the operating system. The operating system is a piece of software with lots of integrated functions known as software.
Individuals and businesses across the world depend heavily on software and enjoy many benefits. In this digital age, the software is essential to run different operations in transportation, electrical grids, and many other functions that offer the basics of life.
To the question “Is App Development Important?”, the answer is a resounding YES. Now to the costs involved.

App Development Cost Estimates For 2024

It is important to remember that app development cost depends on various factors. Mobile app development costs will be different than web app costs. The cost could also depend on the complexity of the app.
A small app with core features can be developed at lower rates. However, a complex app with intricate features will be expensive. Building a minimum viable product may cost less than $10,000. On the other hand, if you want an app that is compatible with both android and iOS platforms you will need a bigger budget.
App development cost also depend on whether you develop the app in-house or outsource it. Before you choose to develop it in-house you must ask yourself if your team has the necessary experience to take an app from design to delivery.
If you do not have the expertise on your team, it may ultimately end up costing you more in terms of lost work and demoralized teams. Otherwise, the best option is to seek out an external partner who can develop an app for you.
Read more: Top Technologies Used to Develop Mobile App

Keeping all this in mind, is there a formula to calculate app development costs?

Top Factors That Drive App Development Costs

1. Based on the complexity of the app

A simple app might take hundreds of hours while a complex app might take thousands. These hours also depend on how efficient the developing team is.
A simple app includes basic features like a login screen, user account, admin tools, and so on. It may have limited integration with other apps. Thus, it may take about 3 to 6 months to develop.
Along with all the features of a simple app, a complex app includes features such as integrations, profile feeds, enhanced admin tools, media streaming, and more. Such an app would take 6 to 12 months.
The most complex of all is an advanced app. This includes multi-language support, versioning, lots of user customization options, AI and AR, and more. This could take somewhere between 12 to 24 months.

2. Based on region

You will find potential developers around the world, over various time zones such as the US, India, and Europe. Each of these areas has expert developers but their rates vary depending on their location.

3. Based on development stages 

The budget of the project starts to become clearer during the research stage. In this stage, you will be able to clarify your requirements and finalize goals and deliverables. You will also be able to assess risks and threats.
The next stage would be designed where the development team needs a clearer idea of what the app should look like. This stage will take longer and will be more expensive depending on the complexity of the user interface and so on.
During the development stage, each feature will add to the cost. The next stage of testing may require human users to ensure the correct functionality, and this will add to the cost. The final stage is maintenance and support. Bugs and unexpected behavior will need to be addressed; hence, it is important to budget in the final phase.
Watch now: How To Choose The Right Mobile App Development Approach

Top Ways In Which One Can Initiate Cost-Effective App Development

Are you wondering how you can get the app that you wanted in your limited budget? Here are a few tips that help you initiate a cost-effect app development.
1. Use software development kits wherever you can: Software development kits could trim weeks or months off your development schedule. Thus, reducing thousands off your development budget.
2. Find a vendor that can design and develop: Finding a vendor that does both designing and development can help you deal with communication problems and optimize workflow.
3. Get the MVP made: Getting the MVP made and testing on your users will help you identify what needs to be added. Eventually, your full-featured app will be ready. Besides, you will also learn how to optimize your budget.
4. Cross-platform development: Opting for cross-platform development can heighten your potential to reach a wider audience.
5. Do not rely on older operating systems: Just a couple of years older can make a huge difference. It is worth the effort to focus on consumers who keep up to date.

How Can Fingent Help Develop Top-Notch Apps On A Budget?

We at Fingent custom software development experts understand considering how much it costs to develop an app can be an overwhelming experience. How about a consultation with our expert to get a quote?
We assure you that we have the specialized skill and experience to build a successful and budget-friendly app. Don’t take our word for it. Have a look at some of our case studies.
As your technology partner, Fingent can bring your brilliant ideas into digital reality!
We have helped many businesses grow their business with our innovative, modern mobile app solutions. Take a look at our most success stories here!
We can help you too. Connect with our experts today!

One of the oldest known professions and also considered one of the most dangerous, Mining is now nothing like it used to be. The face of the mining industry has changed drastically. We no longer rely on physical hand and animal labor. Artificial Intelligence has stepped in. There is a lot going on.
Modern mines are sophisticated and machine-intensive environments. Whether we are extracting minerals and ores or gas, we need machines to extract, transport, refine, and move them to their destinations. AI is enabling the mining industry to be a safer and more profitable industry.

How AI Is Transforming The Mining Industry

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is driving innovation in the mining industry by transforming the way mines operate today. The mining industry is constantly looking out for ways to improve safety, productivity, and sustainability.
AI helps achieve these key factors by collecting data and using relevant information to optimize processes and improve equipment development. AI proves particularly useful when it comes to cumbersome and operations-heavy processes.
The use of AI can make operations and machinery even more sustainable in the long run.
Watch now: 5 Steps to Prepare Your Organization for an AI-enabled Future!

Benefits Of AI In Mining

Mining companies must become more efficient and innovative. This will help them keep their workers safe, mitigate their environmental footprint and remain competitive. AI plays a vital role in this. Here are some advantages of AI integration in the mining industry:

1. Improve resource discovery and planning 

The initial investment in mining can be very costly. The company must know precisely where and how to dig. A wrong location can cost millions of dollars. AI can help learn about the terrain they are working with and precisely map out and predict terrain better than any humans can do, effectively preventing those errors.
Artificial Intelligence can analyze vast amounts of data to find better resources. Better predictions will contribute to better planning and a better return on investment.

2. Cost optimization

Cost optimization is the primary motivation for mining companies to use AI. AI can analyze big data to help diggers conduct their operations more cost-effectively. It can also help them develop efficiency along these lines.
Mining companies can use the data collected to teach their machinery and prevent damage. AI can help automate different operational processes. It can also enable remotization that can substantially reduce labor, increase productivity and safety of workers. This can greatly reduce costs and increase productivity gains.

3. Preventive maintenance

Reactive maintenance can cost six to ten times more than predictive maintenance. On the other hand, predictive maintenance eliminates the risk of production halts ensuring operational continuity.
Furthermore, preventive maintenance makes it easier to maintain security protocol.  It helps in the early detection of wear and tear of important pieces of equipment. This can help workers to predict and plan repairs and maintenance.

4. Reduces environmental footprint

Mining by nature has a negative environmental impact. While it is not possible to completely eliminate the impact of mining, AI-monitored devices are capable of instantly analyzing and interpreting enormous amounts of sensor data. These systems can help you locate patterns that may be of concern.
AI can provide greater value and reliability to the industry while increasing safety and reducing negative environmental impact. It can optimize dust control measures for haul roads by helping workers to apply the right doses of dust control additives at the right time in the right way.
This will also reduce associated water, additives, energy, and other factors by 50%. This is in addition to preventing road maintenance frequency, avoiding accidents, and loss of productivity.

5. Enhanced decision-making process

In the mining industry every second counts. When there is a breakdown, administrators cannot afford to lose time waiting for an engineer to arrive. Thankfully, AI enables administrators to obtain valuable insight in real-time and automate part of the decision-making process. These insights allow them to respond promptly and appropriately.

Why Do Mining Companies Still Hesitate To Adopt AI?

There is no doubt that AI holds immense promise for the future of the mining industry. However, some mining companies still hesitate in adopting AI. As with the adoption of any technology, if not implemented properly, AI adoption can be difficult, time-consuming, and costlier than anticipated. Here are some AI adoption challenges and solutions:
Resources: Every business is concerned with budget and return on investment (ROI). As legacy technology does not support AI, companies need to invest in compatible infrastructure that is agile, flexible, and scalable. Opting for cloud-based services can negate the huge costs of investing in newer servers and processors.  Plus, it is a good idea to start small and scale up. It is also important to avoid unnecessary AI tools.
Industry culture: Leadership and culture that promotes experimentation and strategies will result in a more dynamic and scalable environment.
Lack of talent: AI technology is complex. Companies must thus look for people with the right mindset to help facilitate changes and capitalize on opportunities.
Governance: Only when leaders understand how AI fits into their business model can they encourage AI adoption.
Read more: Answering The Top Burning Questions On AI Implementation for Businesses!

How Can Fingent Help Resolve These Challenges And Transit To AI Capabilities At Ease?

Fingent has been at the forefront of leveraging the power of AI to empower leaders with the benefits of root-cause analysis and predictive insights. Our AI is built with the core philosophy of congruence between humans and machine capabilities.
Fingent can help deploy user-centric designs to enhance operational and machine reliability. We consider technology as an ally to enhance human intelligence and capabilities. Hence, our AI models can help solve many challenges that the mining industry faces.
Our AI solutions enable businesses to analyze voluminous, real-time data. Additionally, these solutions can also diagnose bottlenecks with the help of real-time monitoring and AI-powered predictive insights.
Fingent’s AI solutions can increase your productivity, reduce industrial waste, and enhance machine reliability. We can also help minimize the ecological impact of the mining industry while ensuring the safety of mineworkers.
We know that in the mining industry, each rock crushed is money saved or lost. We at Fingent understand that the mining industry needs to open up to modern operational practices that promote efficiency.  Our AI solutions are powerful enablers to help your get there. Let’s discuss how we can assist you.

As the world deals with the short and long-term effects of Coronavirus, the manufacturing industry has suffered significant challenges during 2021. This knock-on effect is likely to be felt into 2022 as consumer demand and spending habits have transformed during the pandemic.
The pandemic demonstrated that major events can have a profound impact on manufacturing operations.  Fluctuations between local and national lockdowns have directly impacted the manufacturing industry. Among various other things, it has led to delaying tax bills, postponed mortgage payments.
Knowing what challenges await manufacturing industries will help you and your team come up with the best strategy to achieve success in 2022. So, this article will cover some of the biggest challenges manufacturing industries will face in 2022. We will also look into how these industries can approach the challenges with the help of technologies.

Top challenges prevailing in the manufacturing industry-2022

1. Need to increase sales and revenue

The pandemic made businesses lose several thousands of dollars pushing manufacturing industries to put extra effort into recouping financial losses. Some companies chose to double up on their marketing efforts.
However, the right step would be to create a strategy to start building the business’s pricing power. Building a price power is the surest way to enjoy sustainable earnings.

2. Labor retention

The pandemic era has made it challenging to tackle labor retention issues among the workforce. As the pandemic continues, it is become increasingly hard to find experienced and motivated workers.
To complicate matters, with a fair portion of workers are nearing retirement manufacturing industries are facing a looming shortage of skilled labor. The newer technologies require a workforce with top-tech skills.

3. Customer self-service capabilities

Manufacturers are ever concerned about delivering their products to customers on time. Though the technology makes it possible for customer self-service capabilities, it is not commonly used.
Customers find it frustrating to constantly contact manufacturers for updates on their orders, requests for new proposals, and so on. Customers prefer immediate access to information.
You can address this issue by simply keeping the needed data for customers in a self-service portal. This will allow your customers to retrieve a solution. Plus it can enable the sub-contractor to track and accept tasks assigned to him without bothering anyone.

4. Maximizing work with minimum staff

The social distancing protocol due to the pandemic has forced manufacturing companies to run the factories with lesser staff. This is the time to explore the implementation of more automation technologies.
Read more: Top 10 Technologies That Will Transform Manufacturing!

Most-followed technologies that enable manufacturers to stay on top of the challenges

As Industry 4.0 is still in progress, most manufacturing industries are shifting gears in an effort to automate their manual processes. And the challenges are accelerating this shift now more than ever. Take a look at the top opportunities new technologies bring to the manufacturing industry.

1. Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence capabilities

The biggest asset of any company is its data. It is vital to use algorithms to use this enormous amount of data effectively. Humans cannot do this task as efficiently, quickly, and accurately as by AI-led technologies. This ensures your manufacturing is more productive and less wasteful.
According to a global survey conducted by McKinsey & Company, 44% of respondents report cost saving from AI adoption.

2. 3D printing

Manufacturing companies can greatly benefit from 3D printing technology as it can enable manufacturers to make faster and cheaper prototypes.
It can double the performance while lowering the cost by half. It is a cost-effective way to troubleshoot or test the products. It also enables manufacturers to produce products that are in high demand.

3. Smart factories with 5G

The fourth industrial revolution is ushering in an era of smart manufacturing that is enabled with connected devices over 5G networking.
These can make decentralized decisions as the 5G mobile network is faster and more powerful. It is capable of handling full integration of all the devices in a smart factory making it a default choice of manufacturers.

4. Internet of Things

Industrial IoT makes it possible to interconnect sensors and electronic devices that collect and exchange data.  It drives AI and performs predictive analytics. IoT is changing the way products are made and delivered.
A study conducted by MPI Group revealed that roughly 63% of manufacturers believe that applying the IoT to products will increase profitability over the next five years.

5. Predictive maintenance

The manufacturing industry depends heavily on predictive maintenance technology. In the past, routine maintenance checks were scheduled to detect unnoticed malfunctions. But that would halt the production and cost money.
Today’s digital technology has enabled machines to send messages to notify workers if or when maintenance is required. These real-time alerts equip the maintenance team to identify and correct mechanical failures without downtime.

6. Shift in the scope of the job 

As technology takes over repetitive tasks, employees will need new skills. These skills would include data analysis, software engineering, programming, customer service. R&D and product development, and so on.

7. Agility and responsiveness

Changing customer demands and market conditions require manufacturers to focus on improving responsiveness and agility. Responsiveness and agility are achieved when the time to create, receive, schedule, and process a customers’ order is reduced.
This will enable manufactures to match production cycles and product demand levels. Matching these two aspects can help manufactures pump their operations with greater agility.
Read more: ERP Systems for Manufacturing: How it Improves Business Process!

Fingent can help revolutionize your manufacturing company

Identifying improvement opportunities can help your manufacturing industry enjoy significant benefits. Fingent can help you improve your business process and facilitate growth toward building an incredibly smart manufacturing plant.
Fingent is a custom software development company with vast experience in crafting remarkable digital success stories for diverse manufacturing companies across continents.
We will help you to stay abreast with what may affect your business and provide you with potential solutions available. To help plan for 2023 contact Fingent!

Building a successful business is a marathon. But determination and a business growth mindset can make it happen. If you are a business owner looking for a consistent approach to growing your business, you must realize that the essence of your company is the ability to establish trust with your customers.

True, building customer trust and loyalty takes time, effort, and persistence. But when you build trust, you are turning the key to rich dividends as your customer evangelists gear up to advocate your business. In turn, it increases brand visibility, attracts more consumers, and increases revenue.

In this article, you will learn the importance of building customer trust and loyalty in the growth of your business. You will also learn how emerging technologies can help boost customer trust in 2024.

Why Building Customer Trust And Loyalty Will Matter The Most Going Ahead?

As the world battles to contain the current pandemic crisis, customer trust and loyalty are being put to the test. However, it is good to remember that this is just one of the many crises we will face in the future. Now is the time to let your customers know how important they are to you.

Customer trust and loyalty are not just important where competition is fierce. It is a brand differentiator that could make or break a business. In a way, customer trust is an “insurance policy” against any future upheavals. It can ensure your survival if you face problems in the future. It will also ensure that your business thrives when others struggle to find a foothold.

Customer trust and loyalty are also important because they are constantly bombarded with various options. And for obvious reasons, this will only increase in the future. The need to build customer trust and loyalty has heightened, thanks to the immediate effect of emerging technologies.

How Can Emerging Technologies Help Boost Customer Trust?

Technologies are continually evolving and will always impact customer trust and loyalty. The speed of this change is faster than ever now. With emerging technologies, companies must prepare by identifying those trends now and capitalizing on them before it is too late.

The influence of technology can be a powerful catalyst to build customer trust and loyalty. Businesses that do not choose to move with emerging technologies will be left behind and may have to face business disruption.

Today, customers are becoming more tech-smart. To boost customer loyalty and trust, businesses must stay up-to-date with emerging technologies. Here is how you can boost customer trust:

1. Technologies can help you keep your lines of communication open, fostering relationships
2. Converse where and when you need
3. Create a high level of personalization to promote brand loyalty
4. Create an experience both online and in real-time

Read more: Customer Retail Software Solution: Everything you need to know!

Technologies That Help Drive Customer Loyalty Through Unique Experiences

There are many opportunities to engage your customers and build their trust and loyalty. But that is only possible if your business is equipped with the right tools to capitalize on it. Consider some:

1. Chatbots

The influence of technology offers companies solutions to meet higher expectations. AI-powered chatbots enable businesses to better communicate with their customers. It helps you to be there with relevant messaging and information whenever the customers choose to reach out.

This has a significant impact on customer trust. It is noted that customers are increasingly willing to buy a product through chatbots.

Additionally, chatbots provide detailed records of conversations with your customers. This provides you with data that can be analyzed to gain insights on customer pain points. This data can also be used to improve your products and services.

2. Voice capabilities

Voice capabilities can be relied on to engage customer loyalty and facilitate actions. These capabilities can serve as a useful tool to the customer as it leverages data to make customers’ task simpler and more seamless.

Voice-enabled technology enables your company to do all these more efficiently.  Besides, it appeals to busy customers as it indulges them in a quick shopping experience. This builds customer trust and loyalty and encourages repeat business.

3. Virtual and Augmented Reality

Virtual and Augmented Reality (AR and VR) technologies are game-changers in the way businesses communicate and interact with their customers. They enable customers to educate themselves and solve their issues better than ever before.

Additionally, these technologies will provide your sales reps better understanding of what the customer is going through. Thus, it increases their empathy and enables them to come up with better solutions for your customers’ issues.

Virtual and Augmented Reality are enabling the visual journey of the customer allowing them to search by looking at an object. This can open to new experiences. The resulting data can be used for innovative engagement in the future.

Read more: 7 Ways Augmented Reality will Transform Experiential Marketing!

4. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a tool for tracking and managing a customers’ journey. It makes communication between marketing teams more efficient.

A CRM tool allows retailers to analyze huge amounts of customer information including the feelings that drive customer behavior. This enables your company to establish a deeper connection with your customers. Using this technology will help you craft more highly personalized messaging and new features to your services and products.

5. Virtual showrooms 

Many shoppers still prefer the in-store experience. Virtual reality allows customers to see a 3D rendering of a kitchen or other renovations. It also allows customers to pick and choose the items they would like in their virtual room.

This technology can also be useful in purchasing clothing from the comfort of their homes as it allows them to mix and match.

6. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help your business stay a cut above the rest. It is a great tool to build customer loyalty and trust.

AI can provide you with needed information to understand the purchase behavior and interaction patterns of your customers. This information can be leveraged to design products that suit your customers.

Natural Language Processing (NLP), computer vision, and deep learning can be used to analyze a vast database of visuals and text. You can use this information to identify the main themes in colors, patterns, styles, and so on of your products. These findings can be implemented while designing future products.

Gear Up for Exciting Opportunities

Emerging technologies uncover exciting opportunities for businesses and are poised to increase economic growth by building customer loyalty and trust. Are you in on it? Give us a call and let’s get talking.

Software as a service (SaaS) is a fast-growing IT segment that commands the highest adoption rate among public cloud services, such as PaaS, IaaS, BPaaS, and others. In 2020, the worldwide end-user spending on Cloud Application Services (SaaS) accounted for USD 102,798, which shot up to a massive USD 122,633 at the end of 2021. Gartner examines that the adoption of scalable, on-demand cloud models enabled businesses to achieve cost efficiency and business continuity in a pandemic-afflicted economy. The rise in the adoption of public cloud services is giving an impetus for organizations to accelerate their digital transformation plans.

Understanding more about SaaS app development is significant because it:

• Helps optimize IT costs and conserve cash,
• Aids and secures remote work, and
• Ensures business resiliency.

Watch video: Advantages of moving your key workloads to cloud

SaaS solutions are inevitable in building and sustaining a collaborative, agile, mobile, and hybrid work environment. This post sums up the nitty-gritty you need to know about SaaS application development.

What is SaaS application development?

Ever since the launch of the internet, Application Service Providers (ASPs) that deliver software to users over the internet on a subscription basis have been popular. ASPs allowed users to subscribe to the applications and associated functionalities by following a usage-based transaction pricing model. While it was a major breakthrough, ASPs weren’t fully successful in reducing IT costs and simplifying deployments and upgrades. Thanks to cloud computing; the rise of SaaS applications has lowered the development time, cost, and effort for enterprises. Businesses of all sizes are now expanding their investments in SaaS development.

Software as a service (SaaS) is a software licensing and distribution model in which the application is centrally hosted on the cloud and is maintained and updated by the SaaS developer. Along with Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and Platform as a service (PaaS), SaaS is one of the key cloud computing models that’s widely marketed to both business (B2B) and individual (B2C) users. Netflix, Office 365 suite, Google Workspace, Cisco WebEx, etc. are the common SaaS products that we use every day.

Read more: Top business drivers that power legacy cloud migration

Why are businesses investing in SaaS app development?

SaaS was an extremely profitable business segment in 2020. According to a 2018-2023 forecast, companies running on SaaS will rise from 51% to 86% in a span of five years. SaaS-based solutions have enabled several business sectors, including virtual collaboration, e-commerce, FinTech, supply chain automation, and healthcare to thrive despite the large-scale disruptions inflicted by the global pandemic. Here are a few factors that make SaaS a hot choice in the investor’s market.

1. Manage costs

SaaS applications require minimal upfront investments. The Pay-as-you-go model allows you to start with a small capital and expand later when you anticipate better business growth and profitability. SaaS application deployment takes less time and money when compared to a traditional on-premise system setup. Most SaaS providers offer dedicated application maintenance and support which saves you from hiring and managing expensive in-house IT teams.

2. Reduce IT dependencies

Your SaaS application development services provider will take care of hardware maintenance, system failures, and downtimes, software updates, routine maintenance, and backups, etc. Based on your business requirements and the services subscribed to, the SaaS provider will help you customize the application, upgrade the software to its latest version, and offer training to your staff. This helps you focus on the core business activities.

3. Seamless integration with other systems

SaaS-based applications can be integrated easily with your legacy systems or any other third-party software that you use. By developing custom APIs and plugins, SaaS providers like Fingent will help integrate your CRM with ERP or HRM with Payroll software. The SaaS application can work as an extension of your current software, adding value to your daily operations. Cloud infrastructure and on-demand computing model empower you to scale up and meet the surging demands.

4. Mitigate security risks

SaaS software providers are responsible for securing the application, operating system, platform, network, and physical infrastructure. Along with these security options, the SaaS provider will help secure your customer data and user access by applying a few techniques such as Identity and Access Management (IAM), cloud data encryption, Data Loss Prevention Software (DLP), compliance solutions, real-time threat intelligence, behavioral analytics, Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) solutions, etc.

Read more: Why is cloud security important? What are the best practices to ensure cloud security? 

Points to consider before starting your SaaS app development project 

There are a few technical and business factors to consider while developing a SaaS product.

Technical considerations in SaaS development

• Database design: Choose a flexible and secure database(s) based on the data type, scalability, anticipated load, budget, programming languages used, read-to-write actions involved, and other specific business purposes.
• Technology stack: Right technology stack helps build the right SaaS product. By partnering with a SaaS provider like Fingent, you can leverage the latest and the best tech stack to incorporate all the required features into your SaaS application.
• Third-party services integration: Businesses that use SaaS products may want to integrate their applications with third-party services such as payment providers, chat and email service providers, customer-answering bots, etc. Ensure that the chosen third-party services are budget-friendly, scalable with your growth plans, credible, and offer excellent community support.
• Regular patches and updates: Your SaaS application should be up-to-date and scalable to match your clients’ growing demands. Software updates must be scheduled, and new functionalities and changes to existing features (feature enhancements) should be tested thoroughly.

Non-technical considerations in SaaS development

• Conduct market research: Prior to starting your SaaS project, it’s important to analyze the market, understand what users are looking for, study competitors, and then visualize your SaaS solution. The market analysis leads to better project planning with realistic goals in mind.
• Make the software user-friendly: The end-user of your SaaS product is not necessarily a techie. The software should appeal to the audience for which it’s built. Market it to the right audience by applying a fair pricing and subscription policy. Devise marketing strategies to improve client adoption.
• Ensure software compliance: Security risk is a major barrier to SaaS adoption. Before publishing your SaaS software, ensure that it has robust data protection and sharing policies, user access policies, regular software maintenance, and 100% compliance with standards such as GDPR, HIPAA, etc.
• SaaS pricing model: SaaS software market offers a variety of pricing models such as usage-based pricing, per-feature pricing, flat-rate pricing, tiered pricing, and so on. Determining the right pricing model depends on factors such as how much your customers are willing to pay, how far your product is capable of solving their problems, and how your competitors are charging for a similar suite of products. Ensure that the pricing model doesn’t stagnate your product.

SaaS app development best practices

Here are a few best practices to ensure the performance, productivity, and acceptance of your SaaS application.

1. Focus on MVP creation as the first step

Many SaaS developers use MVP (Minimum Viable Product) as the initial step for building a successful SaaS application. An MVP is a fully functional and quickly developed miniature version of an application built to test the SaaS product’s viability. Developing an MVP will help you understand the feasibility of your business idea and the changes to be accommodated based on user feedback. It helps reduce your development cost and effort.

2. Multi-tenancy architecture

A SaaS application isn’t made for a single user. It should be flexible enough to serve thousands or even millions of customers. Multi-tenancy is crucial in cloud computing as it allows multiple tenants (users) with different roles and access privileges to be hosted in the same environment. Each user will have a separate and secured space within the server to store their data. Multi-tenant architecture improves your ROI and helps update and maintain your SaaS application.

3. Personalize your SaaS product

As remote and hybrid workspaces go mainstream, and BYOD becomes common, users seek personalized SaaS products that don’t require extensive admin support. Users demand high-level personalization with your SaaS app. For example, changing the UI’s appearance, integration of Single Sign On (SSO) feature, configuring the dashboard to track the metrics quickly, and so on. They may want the SaaS app to be available in both web and mobile and any other portable devices that they use. Make your SaaS app safe and compatible to address such personalization requirements.

4. Prioritize and optimize features

Adding too many features as well as avoiding important features are equally wrong. Consider the reach and impact of a feature addition, such as how many users will be affected or how many customers are looking for the new feature. Track the SaaS app’s usage patterns by leveraging analytics or run a survey to understand user preferences. If more than 50% of them like an existing feature, optimize it. If only 5% of your users are interested in a new feature, eschew it.

Read more: A comprehensive guide to modern cloud application development

How Fingent helps develop exceptional SaaS applications within your budget 

With Fingent, you are just a few steps away from building and managing your own SaaS application development team. Right from developing an MVP to actual product launch and post-launch support, our team handholds customers through every stage of development.

InfinCE, the world’s first digital workplace orchestration platform, stands as a testament to our SaaS development capabilities. So are ReachOut Suite FSM and Skill Lake LMS. Our goal is to help businesses solve challenges through technology. We help legacy companies migrate their software solutions to the cloud as well as develop cutting-edge SaaS solutions that empower them to thrive in the new normal.

Read more: What makes Fingent your best technology partner 

If you have an idea or a requirement, discuss it with us asap. We will set up a discovery call with you and get back with a ballpark estimate. This is followed by a detailed proposal, including mockups, demo videos, and visualizations. Our communication method is simple enough to answer your queries related to software app development. We do business with organizations of all sizes – small and large – to help them transform lives through technology. Ready to watch us in action? Talk to our SaaS expert now.

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The pandemic put business challenges on an amplifier and made it look insurmountable. Here we all are though, crossing that barrier and making things work. Some challenges persist though. One area is the acceleration of the remote working scenario. Besides, sectors like manufacturing and Life Science have the challenge of accomplishing more tasks efficiently in less time.

This intimidating scenario drives the need for an intelligent enterprise. That’s exactly what SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) empowers enterprises in all sectors. But what is SAP BTP?

This article describes what SAP BTP is. It also explains all that you must know about SAP BTP and how you can leverage it to grow your business and remain resilient.

Read more: It’s time to transform your business for the new digital age: Rise with SAP!

What is SAP BTP?

SAP BTP is an open platform as a service. It can integrate SAP and third-party applications and extend application capabilities. It can empower an organization to exploit data to solve its business problems.

SAP BTP can provide in-memory capabilities, core platform services, and unique microservices. It can help develop the exact application needed quickly, easily, and economically. All this without investing in local infrastructure.

It is a business-oriented technology platform for your SAP and third-party applications. It can unlock value and drive growth for its clients. SAP BTP unifies a plethora of technology stacks.

SAP BTP covers a wide range of functionalities. These range from document management to globalization, to blockchain and ML. Organizations can leverage SAP BTP services to automate business processes, manage decision logic. It also allows them to gain end-to-end process visibility.

But what is SAP BTP made of?

SAP BTP consists of four building blocks:

• Database and data management: This includes SAP HANA and SAP HANA cloud.
• Analytics: Including SAP Data Warehouse Cloud, SAC, and Business Objects BI.
• Application Development and Integration: Includes SAP Integration and Extension suites and SAP Process Orchestration.
• Intelligent Technologies: Including AI, ML, and IoT.

How Is SAP BTP Revolutionizing Business Operations? 

SAP BTP can be used to build and extend SAP applications quickly. Here are the top three scenarios:

1. Integration

Most organizations prefer best-of-breed applications. With the journey to the cloud, the system landscapes are increasingly complex and business processes remain disconnected.

Today, most businesses have processes spanning from on-premise to cloud, and across multiple vendors. Plus, to complicate matters, some organizations continue to support their legacy applications along with various platforms and open-source technologies.  SAP BTP allows seamless integration by simplifying development and quickening deployment.

Read more: Improve business planning with SAP Analytics Cloud!

These complex environments can only be managed with proper integration. While the value of these landscapes is decreasing, the complexity and cost of such integration are increasing.

SAP BTP can help organizations to refine and enhance their business operations along the entire value chain. It can do this by connecting applications, data, and experiences across SAP and beyond.

SAP Integration Suite uses a set of connectors and APIs to securely connect and integrate business processes. This can accelerate an organization’s time to value in a secure, sustainable, repeatable, and cloud-centric capability.

2. Data management

Today, we live in the age of data. But most organizations fail to get value from it. They gather the data and store it in disparate mediums. This only leads to a disrupted flow of information.

Your business success depends on how you analyze your data and what you do with the results. SAP BTP allows you to transform your data into value quickly and efficiently.

Data management is all about creating value from the data. If a business wants to exceed in today’s global economy, it must act on real-time business data. However, both the structured and unstructured data volumes create challenges for organizations.

Instead of accelerating digital transformation, data has become the anchor that is holding businesses in the old way of working. This has led to data swamps putting them in a worse position than they were ten years ago.

SAP BTP solutions are designed to provide flexible and user-first data management. It allows organizations to discover, connect, orchestrate data with internal and external data flows. This enables business leaders to access near real-time data and drive insight and value back into their businesses.

3. Extensibility

Businesses must continue to innovate rapidly if they want to stay relevant. During the pandemic, most businesses had to innovate their business models to adapt to changed circumstances such as local lockdowns and shortage of distribution chains.

As new businesses emerged with their reduced innovation cycles, they posed a serious threat to established businesses. Organizations must thus be empowered to build, extend, and enhance their application landscape so they can stay relevant while rapidly realizing new opportunities.

SAP Extension Suite allows organizations to access prebuilt extensions through an integrated digital marketplace. SAP BTP empowers businesses to speed up integration, find real business value from data, and extend SAP landscapes to innovate.

For example, let’s discuss the SAP Workflow Service. The SAP Workflow Service is part of the SAP BTP portfolio. This service allows businesses to extend their business processes. These extensions allow organizations to adopt business process changes quickly and in a non-disruptive way.

It provides unique monitoring applications that help monitor deployed workflows and their instances. Additionally, it also allows REST APIs to read, create, modify, or cancel workflow and task instances.

Integrating SAP Workflow Management with SAP Conversational AI allows organizations to leverage digital support for their workflows, process cycle times, recommendations. Plus, it allows them to reconcile both structured and unstructured workflows.

This can increase the level of automation enabling businesses to better manage overall complexity, reduce manual effort, and associated errors.

Read more:Top 7 benefits of adopting SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation

How can Fingent help leverage SAP BTP being SAP Silver Partner?

As SAP Silver partner, Fingent can apply design thinking and agile methods to develop industry apps on SAP BTP. We can help deliver innovative solutions with speed and agility.

When we combine our expertise at Fingent with SAP BTP, we can leverage disruptive technologies such as AI and predictive analytics and innovate across industries and business functions. This can help our clients extend capabilities, integrate intelligent technologies, generate actionable insights, and amplify results.

We can help our clients gain the flexibility of public or private cloud infrastructure to create an intelligent enterprise experience. Along with SAP BTP, Fingent can help your intelligent enterprise take a big step forward. Give us a call and let’s discuss how best we can help you.

Why AI? What Can AI do for me? When? How?

So many questions about AI! Considering that AI has become a revolution that has taken today’s business world by storm, it isn’t surprising that there are so many questions.

Most businesses can testify to the fact that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has improved the way their business operates. Businesses implement AI to increase efficiency, grow their revenue, and improve customer experience. Let’s explore the benefits of AI and get to some of the top questions about AI.

Read more: Artificial Intelligence: Taking the buzz out of the buzz word!

Importance Of AI Implementation in Business Today

According to the 2020 Global AI survey conducted by McKinsey & Co, 44% of the companies reported cost savings from AI adoption in their business. They also reported that AI adoption has decreased business units cost by at least 10% on average.  Is this the only benefit of AI implementation? Not in the least. Here is why AI is so important.

1. Efficiency 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) handles manual tasks at a pace and scale that is beyond human ability. This allows workers to move to higher-value tasks that AI technology cannot handle.

Such a well-calculated balance helps businesses minimize the costs associated with mundane tasks while maximizing the talent of human capital.

2. Shorter business timeline

Businesses are moving faster in this digital age. However, AI empowers businesses to move faster as it enables shorter development cycles and reduces the time taken to move design to production output. In turn, this shortened timeline delivers better and more immediate ROI.

Read more: How AI Integration Helps Maximize Your Business ROI

3. Improved customer service

Delivering a positive customer experience has become a determining factor between a successful and an unsuccessful way of doing business. Best customer service includes knowing the customer, their needs, and presenting customers what they need when they need it. That is exactly what AI can do constantly.

4. Near-instantaneous monitoring capabilities

AI’s capacity to process massive amounts of data can help businesses stay alert to issues, recommend action, and initiate a response. This prevents costly and disruptive breakdowns and thereby eliminates the cost of maintenance work. AI’s monitoring capabilities can also be effective in enterprise cybersecurity operations.

5. Error-free results

Human employees are prone to mistakes. By adding AI technologies businesses can ensure that errors are minimized as it can automate repetitive, rule-based tasks. This speeds up and enhances the entire process. Plus, it can be trained to improve and take on broader tasks.

Though AI has proven to be important for business success, some hesitate. Why? Let’s find out.

Read more: The future of Artificial Intelligence: A game-changer for industries

Why Do Businesses Still Hesitate?

Some decision-makers remain hesitant because they feel they are venturing into the unknown. Here are some additional reasons:

• Limited AI talent: Larger organizations are more likely to have the necessary technical skillset to understand the business case for AI investment. Some lag behind because they do not understand AI’s value proposition.
• Data issues: Insufficient quantity or quality of data is a common barrier to AI implementation.
• Concerns about responsible AI: Some have concerns about ethical breaches with AI.
• Concerns about AI investment: Many companies are concerned about moonshot investment.

Answering Top Burning Questions On AI Business Application

The rise of the popularity of AI welcomes several questions that must be answered to help businesses make informed decisions.

1. How does my business benefit from AI implementation?

AI cannot do everything. However, it can give your organization the ability to run automated tasks, pull reports and analyze data at the touch of a button. This can give you a strong competitive advantage. AI is capable of processing enormous amounts of data to unlock actionable insights.

2. When should I consider building an in-house AI-powered solution?

• When you are building something that differentiates your core product. If the project is not central to your business mission it probably isn’t the best use of your team’s time and resources.

• When you have a sizeable engineering infrastructure because you will need dedicated resources to build, maintain, train, and improve your solution.

• When no vendors can meet all your requirements. Here’s a tip: when evaluating a vendor, ensure to ask for customer references and case studies of companies where they successfully implemented their AI solutions. Using a vendor can often be faster, cheaper, and provide better results than what a company can build on its own.

3. How to evaluate if a company’s AI is “good?”

Here, “good” depends on human talent, data, algorithms, and computing power. In other words, it depends on the company’s ability to gather the best data and the best skill set to solve the problem at hand. So, it can be helpful to ask companies what is the quantity of data, compare the relevance of their data with yours, and how the system was built.

4. Why is AI relevant to customer service?

The businesses that skillfully weathered the storm caused by the pandemic provided their customers and employees with reassurance, stability, and easily accessible information whenever needed. Deploying bots on websites will increase the use of self-service and provide relief to phone or chat queues.

Read more: 9 Examples of Artificial Intelligence transforming Business Today!

5. How can AI be used for a quick win?

AI bots can handle high volume repetitive tasks as we have already discussed. These tasks include answering questions, scheduling appointments resetting passwords, and more. Automating these tasks can provide quick and economically substantial wins.

6. What are the pitfalls to avoid?

There have been designs that left customers adrift in a sea of endless menu options. To avoid repeating this pitfall, design your bot thoughtfully and within the context of the end-to-end customer journey. This must include a seamless path to agents where customers do not have to repeat the information.

7. How can Fingent help leverage the best of AI?

AI systems require training and Fingent understands that. We are here not just to implement AI solutions. We will train, monitor, and make sure that it works. We have an excellent track record with business cases showing the financial value of implementing AI.

Our experts at Fingent custom software development experts can develop solutions that quickly show financial benefits. We have invested in extensive training, which is why Fingent’s AI specialists can strategically plan data warehousing and cloud computing in their sleep!

We can build on a foundation of open-source software and develop an AI solution that fits your needs on commodity hardware. We can also choose a platform that is simple to deploy and manage. We assure you that Fingent can understand and support the complete lifecycle. Fingent can provide AI applications to solve the previously unsolvable. Let’s discuss your project.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software helps keep track of your product, sales, marketing, and other metrics and boosts organizational efficiency. However, finding the right one for your business can be a daunting task. While some are better suited for small companies or large companies, others may not even offer the services you are looking for. In this post, we compare two big-name ERPs- Odoo and Sage so you can decide which one is best suited for your business.

Read more: How Can Odoo Augment Your Company’s Project Management!

All About Sage?

Sage is one of the leading vendors of ERP software with clients across 160 countries. It offers solutions in Accounting, Human Resource Management, and Payments and Payroll. Its solutions include Sage 100, Sage 300, Sage X3, and Sage Intacct.

Sage’s top features include;

•   Sage X3 offers a sales, purchasing, inventory, CRM, finance, and manufacturing module
•   Sage 300 offers sales order management, finance, and inventory tools and integrated payments.
•   Sage Intacct offers six modules such as billing, core financial, dashboard, and reporting, budgeting and planning, and platform to choose from. The sixth module is advanced functionality that you need to discuss with a representative.
•   For business insights, paperless card processing, CRM, budgeting, and planning, opt for Sage 100 Essentials. It also offers several add-ons and third-party apps.

Who can use Sage?

Sage offers different programs depending on your business needs.

•   Sage 100 can be used by small to medium-sized businesses.
•   Medium to large businesses such as process manufacturing, food, and beverage industries can use Sage X3.
•   Sage Intacct can be used by companies of all sizes especially healthcare, entertainment, non-profits, and more.

 Sage Pricing

Sage offers customized pricing based on your specific business needs and so is subscription-based.

Challenges associated with Sage

While Sage 100 and 300 are not cloud services, Sage X3 and Sage Intacct both offer cloud services. However, Sage X3 uses on-premise hosting while Sage Intacct is browser-based. For Sage 100 and 300 cloud integration is available through Sage Partner Cloud.

Read more: 4 Ways Legacy Application Migration to Odoo ERP Benefits Your Business!

All About Odoo?

Odoo is a popular open-source ERP that boasts over seven million users. It is a newer ERP software system that is freely available for the management of business processes. Odoo is available in two versions- the Odoo community edition that has limited features and the ability to customize. The other one is the Odoo Enterprise which comes packed with features and customization ability.

Top Features of Odoo are;

• CRM
• Accounting
• Point of Sale (POS)
• Sales Management
• Warehouse Management
• Manufacturing
• Purchase Management
• Project Management

Odoo Pricing

The cost of Odoo depends on the number of users and the apps selected for your business requirements. Also, it is available with SaaS subscription pricing as the Enterprise edition or as the Odoo free Community version. While the Odoo community edition is free of charge, the Odoo Enterprise edition has a license fee.

Who can use Odoo?

Every company, small or big can leverage Odoo as you can choose among its 20 main modules to suit your business needs. It also allows you to add modules as your company and requirements grow. That said, there is no minimum number of users for the cloud base and can be used by both freelancers and solo operators easily.

The main highlight of Odoo is that it does not specialize in any particular industry. So, any company regardless of the industry can use Odoo for their management needs.

Challenges with Odoo ERP Implementation

• You may need to revamp your server and workstation to make sure they are compatible with the Odoo ERP app.
• Another big challenge is that the information formed through the traditional framework may not be compatible with the new Odoo ERP. However, this struggle can be prevented by careful project planning.
• With Odoo, there could be major changes in the business directs, models, and practices. The data entered by a user can be accessed by others in real-time.
• For successful Odoo implementation, you may have to implement new administrative practices and standards or update existing practices.

Which is Better: Sage or Odoo?

As mentioned above, Sage offers an impressive number of products but it is difficult to choose the right one for your needs. Also, as the pricing is quote-based, it becomes difficult to know how much you’ll be paying. That said, Sage is optimized for specific industries such as real estate and construction.

Odoo, on the other hand, is a great option for users looking to personalize the software themselves and want a more hands-on experience.

Read more: Odoo Migration: Why is it crucial and how to do it seamlessly!

Conclusion

Traditional practices are becoming obsolete as newer and more powerful solutions become available. So, selecting an adaptable software solution that can help in the long-term development and growth of your business is crucial.

If you’re looking to find the right ERP for your business or need help with optimization, we’re here to help. We provide the best ERP implementation services to improve your business efficiency. Connect with our experts today!