Category: Business

In today’s digital age, a website is your business’ window to the world, irrespective of whether you are a brick and mortar establishment or an online entity. Similarly, the need for a dedicated website is not just limited to startups but is equally vital for established business. Even if your business is doing exceptionally well, investing in a well-designed and responsive website can help you reach out to a wider cross-section of the audience and increase your sales manifold.

Here is rundown on how custom website development services can turn the tide for your business:

Website Development and Its Advantages

Custom web development is one of the finest things you can do to guarantee the success of your business. In addition to improving your visibility, customized website development can help your business in the following ways:

1. Customized website development boosts your credibility and adds a certain brand authority to your business.
2. A professional-looking website can bring you big gains without an astronomical investment, thus, offering a higher return on investment (ROI) than traditional means of advertising.
3. It does not matter whether you are a newbie or a seasoned market player, there is bound to be competition in your realm of trade. A dedicated website can assist you in leveling playing field and even beating your competitors.
4. It boosts your advertising and marketing endeavors across different channels. Your social media marketing and email marketing campaigns are likely to resonate better with your audience if these lead them to a website.
5. Custom designed websites are cross-browser well-matched.
6. Custom developed websites also costs nearly same as of any template based solution. They may have little higher cost but offer numerous benefits and total control on each part and role of the website.

Specialized, clean, and well-organized online presence is essential for preserving your brand reputation. General designs can create a negative impression of the product or service quality, the reason being customers see you as no dissimilar from thousand other companies. The website represents your business in terms of superiority, quality, and individuality, so you need to have one developed skillfully.

Importance of Multiple-Channel Presence

At a time when smartphones and handheld gadgets rule the roost, the number of people accessing websites through a desktop computer is fast dwindling. Almost everyone likes to browse the internet on the go. Therefore, a website with a responsive design – that ensures your website is displayed correctly and uniformly across platforms, devices and screen sizes – is essential to stay relevant in the dynamic online landscape.

As per statistics, whopping 67 percent users are more likely to use an enlisted service or buy products on a website with a clean, responsive design. In contrast, 61 percent users are likely to exit a website with an unfriendly layout and design. The bottom line is – a potential user may bounce back from your website and move to that of your competitors if you don’t cater to a multiple-channel presence.

How Digital Marketing Can Help

Building a website from scratch is no big deal, given the user-friendly content management systems like WordPress. Even so, if you really want to make an impact with your web presence, it is advisable to use professional custom website development services because you don’t just need to build a carefully-strategized site but also work toward improving your search engine rankings to attract massive traffic. People will know that you exist, only when your website is visible in search engine results. A smart digital marketing campaign can help in bolstering your web presence to clock-in tangible gains.  

Enterprise software solutions are the backbone of an organization. Selecting one for your organization is a great responsibility as it requires detailed analysis at each and every step. The major challenge lies in understanding that every organization’s structure is different and cannot do with the same software that was used in your previous organization or is used at the competitor’s company. To make your task easy, here are 8 challenges to avoid before purchasing an Enterprise Software.

1. Change Management

One of the key understandings that should come with a new Enterprise Software is that there is a need for identifying the changes in the IT infrastructure beforehand and then implementing it. Know how much change is required and if it is possible to handle before purchasing the new software. Also, the employees need proper training for change management and to get them comfortable with the new system before it goes live on an organizational scale.

2. Physical Requirements

Before jumping into a purchase decision, figure out what is the current IT infrastructure landscape, if it fits well or requires changes. For a newer setup, choose the software wisely and then plan the landscape. But remember, the software you choose defines this landscape and should be thoroughly checked to avoid any unwanted changes in the future.

3. The load of migration

Data is the basis for every industry functioning in this day and age. Introducing newer software to the system means adding your current data to it for validation and future operations. Check the requirements of the new system you plan on incorporating and if the required is way too much. Remember data is imperative to the organization and correct migration will minimize errors.

4. What the vendor has to offer

Sometime Enterprise Software vendors are too enthusiastic to sell the product but lack a structure post-purchase. Figure out what are the key support promises that they offer and if they have a track of delivering them. A due diligence of the provider should not be skipped especially if the vendor is not a big company.

5. Readying the team

Internal challenges are one of the key points to consider for the purchase. You will have to understand the requirements of the enterprise software development company well along with the features required. Each department will offer a different list of features they need. The challenge is to create a project scope that encapsulates all these important points and uses it as a foundation to identify the right software.

6. Software scope

Considering any enterprise software, and its capabilities, it is quite hard to find one that has everything that a business needs. As organizations strive to meet individual customer demands, they rely on customization to align their strategic objectives with enterprise solutions. For instance, one of our leading real estate organizations wanted to add a document management function that enabled them to share documents easily with their field agents. However, this posed numerous regulatory constraints considering security and privacy. Our solutions experts realigned the software architecture and build processes to meet the client’s requirement.

7. Taking unwanted risks

The market has opened up for Enterprise Software like never before and every day a new solution surfaces that promises to offer the best of all worlds. New-age technology can be highly enticing but always look under the hood and see if it has been taken for a test drive. Check LinkedIn, job boards, or other forums to find out more about the seller and the software itself. Don’t elevate your risks by getting attracted to high-end technology or pricing.

8. No detailed analysis

One of the issues that hamper the procurement of the right enterprise software is the lack of understanding of your own system. Run the analysis several times and match it with what the software will provide. Keep in mind to not depend on what the next version update will feature, rely only on what the solution provides today.

9. Cutting the influences

Decision making in organizations sometimes doesn’t necessarily stay with the designated employees. It is directly or indirectly influenced by the owners or other people in important positions. No matter how well they know or what better deal is offered through a reference, ensure that the decision, in the end, comes keeping the organization in mind and not the influences.

10. Exploring all opportunities

Do not hesitate to look at third-party support alternatives as they might offer something similar or better than premium vendor support. Look at the maintenance rates that come with the software as it is something that your organization will incur on a regular basis.

Whether you are trying to set up a new system or replace an old one, an expert perspective can help reduce these risks and challenges.

Information Technology (IT) industry is composed of innovations, growth, and a lot many transformations. There are many uncertainties that are associated with the IT industry due to the rapid changes in the technological trends. The preferred skill sets by the employers also change as per the trends and demands of the industry and the IT professionals face the burden of the same. In the coming years technologies, such as cloud computing, mobility, Big Data, Business Intelligence, and networking were on a rise.

The IT industry surpassed $3.4 trillion-mark in 2016 and is set to cross $3.5 trillion milestones by the end of this year. There are three primary components that are associated with this industry viz. hardware, software, and services. These three components make up for 59% of the global total and the rest 41% is covered by the fourth component, that is, telecom services.

The following list covers the most in-demand IT jobs and skills in the coming days: 

• Data Analysts: There are massive clusters of information that an organization processes and manages on a daily basis. The role of a Data Analyst includes the identification of relevant patterns and trends from these data sets to assist the organization in strategic planning and decision-making. There are various automated analytical tools that have also been developed for this purpose. With the increase in the need for data and information, the role of a Data Analyst is high on demand. It is expected to grow by another 25% in the next five years.
• Security Analysts: With the increase in the usage of data and information by the organizations, the likelihood of the security threats and attacks have also gone up. It has led to the increase in demand of Security Analysts, Security Administrators, and Data Security Managers. The year has witnessed some gruesome information security attacks, such as WannaCry ransomware attack. The attack had an adverse impact on the computer systems and network in over 150 countries. The need for a highly efficient data security team has become prominent as a result.
• Health IT: The use of IT in the healthcare sector has increased in the recent years. With the growth of remote health monitoring and telehealth tools, the demand for health IT skills has also enhanced. The much in demand roles in this area include Clinical Informaticist, Clinical Systems Analyst and Revenue Cycle Analyst.
• Web Development & Programming: The involvement of web has become an integral part of the business all across the globe. The latest web development and programming skills, such as the use of lightweight programming and responsive web design & development are being looked upon by the employers. Also, the skills of mobile application development have also grown due to the rise in the usage of mobile applications.
• UI/UX Designers: The primary motive of any web application or a service is to attain maximum customer base and higher levels of customer engagement. One of the most significant aspects to achieve the same is a rich and visually appealing User Interface (UI). The customers are attracted towards the applications that offer them higher usability and good user experience. The demand for this role has therefore increased with the increase in the use of web and mobile applications.
• IT Project Management: One of the most significant resources in any of the IT projects is the Project Manager. There is a lot of responsibility that is put on the shoulders of this resource during the project life cycle. It is, therefore, anticipated that the IT project management skills will continue to remain in demand in the years to come.

With the change in technology, there are also some of the skills that are no longer demanded in the IT industry. There was a time when Mainframe computing was considered as a top skill for an IT professional.  However, the latest technological advancements have eliminated the demand for the same. The use of manual testing processes has been replaced by the automated testing practices which have kept the skills of manual testing on low priority. With the advent of social media, the requirement of SEO specialists has also diminished.

The face of IT is changing at a rapid pace. It has become necessary for the IT professionals to maintain the pace with the changing nature of IT. They should always look for the mechanisms and methods to enhance their skillsets to maintain their value in the market.

A niche business is no longer a term used often these days due to growing competition in every sector. In the world of startups and well-established enterprises, the companies that stand out clearly in front of their customers will only survive and succeed. Smartphones and fast data packs are beneficial to companies in terms of reaching out to their customers via desktop and mobile websites. But having such a front is a norm today and you will have to think of giving a little more to engage them. According to studies, business mobile apps have a higher rate of conversation when compared to desktop or mobile websites. You must be thinking how will a custom mobile application development help boost your business? Here’s how –

1. Better customer relationship

A custom software development offers customers a way to access your services and products directly. Especially, if you are a product-oriented company, you can have your products laid out better over the standard formats of e-retailers. Also, you can send offers, notifications, and even receive feedback from customers in real-time. You can even have a dedicated app team that offers support 24 x 7 and sorts query for customers with in-app emails and chat.

2. Creating and maintaining database

A custom app will give you the opportunity to access existing customer data and acquire new ones. Also, your app will have your own specialized security features that will safeguard your data against potential leaks and threats.

3. Integration with current services

If you are a software provider then a good way to offer more to your clients is by creating a custom app that syncs with your software. There can be reports, updates, and even a way to access information quickly and easily. To further improve client satisfaction, you can even hire a dedicated support team for app management. Such integration will definitely give your software some extra brownie points while marketing it.

4. Generate revenue

Apps are not just a great way to connect with your customers but can also work as a good revenue source for the business. You can charge customers a little extra for app services or an upgrade. Also, you can have in-app advertisements that add income to your kitty whenever your app is accessed by the customers.

5. Increase customer base

An app ensures that a customer is in your space and the only things they can surf around are your products and services. Having a custom app gives you a chance to put your case forward to new customers and even attract them with in-app offers. You can start giving them free trials and additional discounts via app downloads to add to your revenue. A custom app will define your uniqueness as it adds up to a brand identity for your business.

6. Project Management

Apart from seeking and retaining customers, your entire team can benefit from having an app that works for internal purposes only. Custom logins at each hierarchy can give them access to groups, documents, tasks, calendars, and more to run your business smoothly no matter where they are working from. This is beneficial especially if you have several teams working from different locations. Each team can receive updates regarding the project. Also, it helps in sending critical issues to all the personnel quickly.

Building a custom mobile app for your business is vital in this day and age of competition. Once you are clear about what you want, it’s a good idea to approach companies such as ours that build custom apps from the ground up.

There is no information that is not available on the internet today. Digitally, the world has grown into one big continent. Digital presence has become vital for every business, small or large. The times that you only depend on an offline marketing campaign or connection is gone. Today, more than 80 % of users go online and search for things. Even if they zero in on a product, they still will research the product or the brand online. In such a situation, a business that doesn’t have a strong presence online will suffer. Business growth can be directly related to promotions, public relations, advertising, and sales. Let us see how getting a digital presence will boost your business –

1. Provide information

A business with a decent website offering all necessary information that users seek is a good start. Even if you run an offline business, customers will seek online information to know about you even before walking into your office.

2. Get more customers

The digital world is a great place to find potential customers who might be interested in what you are selling. Social Media is a good place to begin campaigns that are not necessarily direct marketing. Spread the word with hashtags and keywords. Your current customers will share your posts and turn into indirect marketers as well. These platforms provide a boost to your visibility and provide the right traffic your business requires.

3. Be visible

When your business has been tuned with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) elements, you will start getting more and more traction. The right type of optimization will ensure that you end up as a top search whenever a customer is looking for a relevant product or service that you are offering. Also, it helps you get an edge over other competitions, both offline and online since your name will come to the front and grab more eyeballs.

4. Market your business

Advertising your business is the sole way to boost your sales and nothing works as good as digital marketing in this day and age. Apart from having a presence on social media websites, targeted marketing campaigns on these sites will spread awareness about your products and services team with great offers to attract customers.

5. Improve Services

Digital presence of your business provides you with an opportunity to directly interact with your customers. Listen to their grievances, feedbacks, and even offer a solution for their problems. This feedback pattern can help you decide on improving your products or services. Companies can consider some of these points as a part of their marketing strategies to bounce back or to adopt what way to go forward. Such a medium works perfectly well for your business as well as your customers. To increase visibility and drive new business, companies create custom business solutions to advertise online.

6. Global Presence

If your business is local and has an aspiration to go global, the digital world is the right place to put your foot forward. It helps in not just connecting with people worldwide but also getting yourself known to everyone. You can add posts on social media websites regarding your services and add a survey to know if they would like these products or services in their locality. It’s a great way to know the potential of a market even before you actually start the ground activity. Businesses that are looking for investments can also leverage on this very presence as one of their key strengths.

A great way to add a digital presence to your business is seeking the help of an experienced digital partner who can provide you with all the necessary tools to get you started and then skyrocket your business ahead.

Big Data refers to a term that describes huge clusters of information that may be structured, non-structured or semi-structured in nature. These varied data sets having high velocity and volumes are processed using the Big Data tools for data analysis. The analytics on these sets reveal significant patterns and trends that prove to be extremely beneficial for the business organizations. There are many innovative and interesting ways in which business organizations implement and use Big Data.

Some of these ways and methods are as listed and described below.

• Prediction of Customer Choices & Preferences

It is important for all the business organizations to understand the customer needs and requirements. Big Data is a mechanism that is being used by the companies to understand the customer behavior and demands using the process of data analytics. There is a lot of customer data and information that is available on the web via the social media channels, company websites, and several other platforms. These datasets are gathered by the organizations and are analyzed using the Big Data tools for understanding user choices, patterns, and preferences.

• Strategy and Decision-Making

Big Data provides cost-effective mechanisms to study the customer-oriented data patterns and trends. The results that are achieved using such processes allow the organizations to form the strategies and organizational decisions as per the customer needs. Such practices provide the organization with a competitive advantage over the similar organizations. Also, the level of customer satisfaction also goes up as their demands and requirements are met.

• Establishment of Data-Driven Culture

With the transformation in the technological practices and digital advancements, the business practices and organizational activities have also witnessed a major shift. The present era is the data-driven era wherein the organizations are required to form their business decisions on the basis of the data that is associated with it. Big Data tools and techniques allow the organizations to form a data-driven culture. The culture enables the organization to enhance the level of customer and employee satisfaction by analyzing their needs and demands.

• Identification of the Required Skill-Set

Human resources are the most significant resources that are associated with any of the business organization. The success or failure of the organizational activities is largely dependent upon the knowledge, experience, and skills of its employees. Big Data tools are being used by the Human Resource (HR) department in its recruitment processes. These tools are applied to understand the skill-sets that are necessary for the projects being executed in the organization and the talent identification is done as per the results achieved.

• Newer Methods of Generating Revenue

Data is the most important asset for the organizations. There is a lot of data that the organizations deal with on a daily basis. This data is being used by the big and small companies to create innovative methods for generation of revenue for the organizations. For instance, some of the datasets are available for the customers for free of cost. However, customers are required to pay for certain data sets. In such a way, the revenue earned by the organization on such data sets increases. Similar value-added services are being created by the companies with the usage of Big Data tools.

• Customer Segmentation

The products and services that are provided by the companies to its customers vary on the basis of the customer type. It is necessary for the companies to form the marketing and advertising strategy on the basis of the customer group for enhancement of the customer base. Big Data tools allow the companies to segregate the customers on the basis of different groups such as age, gender, purchasing power, preferences, the preferred mode of purchase and likewise. The offerings by the company are designed targeting each of these groups that lead to increasing the customer base.

• Fraud Detection

There has been an immense increase in the cloud-based services and solutions that are being offered to the customers by the companies. With the increase in such services, there has been an increase in the cyber-crimes as well. Big Data allows detection and prevention of frauds by using historical data to reveal the common patterns that are used by the malevolent entities.

Technology has allowed the business organizations to make progress by adopting latest advancements and innovative solutions. Big Data is one such contribution of technology that has brought several transformations in the business tasks and activities. These tools are being used by the organizations to improve their brand image and gain a competitive edge in the market.

Mobility is in a boom phase now, with more number of people accessing the internet using mobile devices as opposed to desktops and laptops. While rolling out responsive websites, where the design of the website gel with the screen size of the app has been a time-tested way to cater to mobile users, of late more and more businesses are forsaking their website and launching mobile apps instead.

Mobile Apps are Always Available

Unlike a website that must be accessed through a browser every time and requires an internet connection to load, a mobile app, once installed, remains in the device, and the user can access it anytime with just a click. The performance of the website depends on the strength of the internet connection, whereas an app may be accessed fast even without an internet connection. Many features and functionality of the apps are accessible offline, with the app updating itself in the background automatically whenever the user goes online. Mobile websites which use caching function to load websites without an internet connection offer very limited functions.

Also, since the mobile app is downloaded to the smartphone, users are more likely to open the app than taking the trouble of searching and entering a competitor’s web page. The presence of an app on the device has a strong influence on retaining the brand name and image on the user’s mind. Mobile app icons double up as ad-banners, and users are reminded of the brand associated with the app even when they do not use the app.

Apps are Technically Superior and Give a Better UX

Web designing has come a long way ever since the days of working with tables and flash, yet with all the technological advancements in web designing, mobile websites still are almost wholly dependent on browsers for even the most elementary functions. For instance, without the browser’s address bar, back button, refresh button, it is virtually impossible to open and navigate a web page.

Mobile Apps are free from such dependencies. Developers have a free hand designing apps with elaborate functions and co-opting advanced gestures such as swipe, drag, pinch, and more, which are far more powerful and enhance the user experience compared to the limited browser options.

Apps are inherently faster as well. Mobile websites depend on javascript code to perform most functions. The framework used by mobile apps run about 5X faster than javascript code!

Browsers have been adapted to the mobile space from desktops, and apps are integral to the mobile devices, and the difference in performance is obvious.

Mobile Apps Offer Scope for Deep Personalization

Users pampered with personalized content are more likely to convert, and apps are deeply personal compared to a website. Mobile apps have the capability to offer highly targeted content and utility, to specific users. Mobile websites, in contrast, reach out to a diverse set of audience and are more of a “one-size-fits-all” thing.

Personalization goes much beyond offering tailored communication to users based on interests, location, and usage behavior, though. Personalization also means making the user experience delightful, based on the profile and preferences of the user. Apps store the preferences and settings made by the user and apply the same automatically whenever the user opens the app. With a website, either the user must log in every time, or state their preferences afresh every time they access the website.

A mobile app also offers the freedom of experimenting with new branding style to users, quite distinctly from the branding style of the browser, which is virtually the same for everybody. While microsites work on a similar design personalization concept of apps, it has not yet caught on.

Apps Leverage the Smartphone’s Capabilities

Mobile devices have become popular not just because of its portability, but also because it packs in many intuitive features, such as camera, GPS, Bluetooth, gyroscope, contact list, accelerometer, compass, and other capabilities, many of which are not found in desktops and laptops or are cumbersome add-ons.

However, such functionality is useless unless there is a viable method to use it during the course of work or activity. Websites, no matter how optimized it is for the mobile, are either outright incapable of leveraging such functionality, or the integration is clumsy. Mobile apps, on the other hand, seamlessly integrate such features to offer added functionality and possibilities for users.

The effective and intuitive use of such features enhances the user experience, reducing the effort users would otherwise have to make. For instance, a banking app could easily allow the user to take a selfie, leveraging the smartphone’s camera, whereas a browser would require the user to painstakingly scan and upload an image. The swipe gesture allows users to browse pages faster compared to using the back or forward button of the browser.

Apps Facilitate Push and In-App Notifications

In today’s hyper-competitive world, marketers have no option but to reach out and engage with their prospects and customers on a proactive way.

The much used and abused email, the default way of online communication, has now lost its effectiveness, with users more likely to send promotional emails straight to the junk folder. Businesses now seek to counter the ever-dropping open rates and click rates through mobile app notifications.

Apps have the capability to generate both push notifications and in-app notifications, offering enterprises viable means to reach out to their users in a less intrusive manner. Users receive push notifications on their smartphones regardless of the activity they indulge in on their mobile devices. In-app notifications come when users open and engage their apps. Such notifications are instant and deliver high click-through rates.

Marketers looking to increase conversions find mobile apps a handy tool to acquire both top-of-the-funnel (ToFu) and bottom-of-the-funnel (BoFu) users and push users down the conversion funnel. For instance, many ToFU users are likely to download intuitive utility apps, and once they download, the marketer can leverage notifications to nurture them into BoFu leads. Likewise, many BoFU users are likely to download eCommerce apps, making them prime candidates for conversion.

Businesses with large wallets may continue with both mobile websites and app, catering to all customers. However, in today’s highly competitive environment with wafer thin margins, most companies would have to prioritize on what satiates their customers the best, and here apps take a clear lead over mobile websites. About 85% of customers prefer mobile apps over websites, about 55% of customers see apps as more convenient compared to mobile websites, 48% of them see apps as faster, and 40% of them find apps easier to browse.

The trick is to deliver highly intuitive and well-designed apps that add value to a user. This requires the expertise of specialists focused on the task and who have horned they skilled developing and implementing several cutting-edge mobility projects.

Digital transformation has turned into a ubiquitous concept that businesses can no longer afford to look away. The world is going digital at a lightning speed, making it imperative for business establishments to upgrade their skills, processes and technological know-how to this changing model. The fact that digital transformation emerged as a top concern for CIO Agenda in 2017, according to Wall Street Journal report underlines the imminence of the situation.

Leveraging digital technologies to improve business operations and organizational setups is the focus of businesses right now. If you too are considering a digital transformation initiative for your business, here are five questions to consider for making desired progress in a prioritized and strategic way:

1. Why do you need digital transformation?

‘Just because everyone is doing it’ is not the best reason to undertake a digital transformation process. It is important for an organization to understand why, if at all, they need to go through it. The best approach here is to identify the end goals you want to achieve by going digital – whether it is improving product quality, customer experiences or internal processes – and then work backward. This is particularly important for businesses, where digital processes do not directly tune in with core KPIs. Having your end goals in sight right from the onset will help you determine the outcomes of your digital transformation initiative.

2. How will you substantiate the value of your digital transformation initiative?

Well, this is one of the basic questions that must govern almost every business decision you take but is especially crucial in the case of digital transformation. You must have a clear idea as to how you plan to measure the success of your digitization plan, and for that, knowing how the concept fits into your business strategy is of paramount importance. Once these parameters have been established, the process of monitoring and gauging value of other relevant indicators, not just during the process of digital transformation but also beyond, becomes simpler. This will also save you time, effort and money in layering on technology in areas that don’t really require it.

3. Are your key stakeholders on board?

Digital transformation isn’t a small project but an extensive overhaul that will impact every single department and person associated with your business. As with every other big project, unexpected difficulties may crop up along the way. The project may get delayed or the budget may overshoot. If all your stakeholders aren’t onboard or fully convinced about the need to go digital, they may decide to pull the plug on the project. Working on your buy-in is essential to make sure all leaders and stakeholders – business partners, financiers, and shareholders – fully understand the importance of such an initiative and are committed to taking it to its logical end.

4. Have you found the right people to execute your digital transformation?

Whether you are simply revamping a website, building a new one, working on automated marketing, digitizing customer experiences, or doing it all in one go, you need the right kind of experts to get the job done and done well. Which brings up another poignant question – whether you want to hire people to do this job for you or outsource? The answer to this depends entirely on the kind of digitization you have in mind and the resources available at your disposal. If you are an established business with a long-term digital map in mind, building a core team of digital professionals is better suited. On the other hand, if you are a startup with limited resources, outsourcing may be a more practical option. Whatever your choice, you need to focus on striking that intricate balance between experience, skill and in-demand roles. There are a lot of talented professionals in the marketplace, you just need to pick the ones whose wavelength resonates with your end goals and larger KPIs.

5. Are your employees prepared for the change?

When a business undergoes a digital transformation, a lot of operational aspects are bound to change. This may mean that your employees will need to upgrade their skills and learn new processes. You cannot expect them to throw their existing work habits right out of the window and embrace the change instantaneously. A digital transformation will kick-in in the true sense only when you evolve a strategy to inform, educate and help your employees cope with the change.

Just the way every business has its own distinct identity, each digital transformation initiative is unique too. Be that as it may, these five key questions can prove vital in helping you define and execute a digital transformation that works best for your organization.

The UAE is all set to implement Value Added Taxation (VAT) from January 1, 2018. The expected rate of VAT is 5% on all goods, with exemptions for some basic goods and services such as healthcare, education, and essential food stuff.

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Our VAT experts in GCC regions can help you through key challenges that you will face while implementing VAT.

The push towards VAT is part of a common framework for VAT envisaged by the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, all of whom are expected to follow suit and implement VAT at any time before January 1, 2019. The underlying rationale is an attempt by these states to move away from over-dependence on oil revenues, and diversify their revenue sources.

The finer details of the VAT regime are yet to become explicit, as the legislation governing VAT rules is not yet released. Nevertheless, considering there are only a few months left for the roll-out, businesses would do well if they start preparing now to ensure a smooth rollover.

Businesses need to primarily assess how the introduction of VAT would impact their business. The immediate consideration should be on the following aspects:

1. Coverage: Identify if the products and/or services sold by the business will attract VAT.
2. Strategy: Brainstorm on how VAT will impact the overall business, especially pricing and competitiveness, and formulate effective strategies.
3. Prepare Internal Systems: Identify how VAT will impact financial and other business systems, and assess the capability of the existing systems to co-opt VAT.
4. Evaluate the Ecosystems: Identify contacts and inter-company transactions requiring VAT action, and reach out to them to ensure compliance. Adjust contracts to factor in VAT obligations.
5. Timetable: Get the infrastructure and timetable ready for compliance. Conduct training and awareness sessions on VAT implementation, for the benefit of stakeholders.

1. Get Clarity on VAT Coverage in the UAE

The first task for a business is to identify whether the goods and or service they sell is taxable under VAT.

The list specific items which will attract tax is not yet released. Indications are that, about 100 essential food and grocery items, education, healthcare, and social services will be tax-exempt. However, most products and services, and just about all big-ticket items, including electronic and consumer goods, home appliances, cars, jewelry, watches, and other white goods will attract VAT in the UAE. Likewise, many services, including eating-out and entertainment, will also attract VAT. There is no clarity yet on whether some common items, such as air-tickets, will be taxable. Side-by-side, many GCC countries are also planning to introduce excise duties on “sin goods,” such as beverages with high sugar content, deemed harmful to health.

The second consideration for businesses is the threshold limit. Younis Al Khoury, Undersecretary of the UAE Ministry of Finance, announced companies with annual revenues of over Dh3.75 million will be obliged to be registered under the GCC VAT system. Companies whose revenues fall between Dh1.87 million and Dh3.75 million will have the option to register for VAT during the first phase of the VAT implementation, but eventually, all companies will have to register under the system, regardless of the reported revenues, during the second phase of VAT roll-out.

2. Set a Strategy Upfront

A crucial task before companies is to draw out strategies to tackle the potential disruption caused by VAT implementation.

Companies need to evaluate their strategy on multiple fronts.

VAT implementation is likely to have immediate effects on consumer behavior, considering the end customer is expected to bear the ultimate burden of VAT. Many manufacturers, especially white goods manufacturers, plan to absorb all or some of the 5% VAT, to prevent a price-hike, and ensure their products remain competitive in the market. Companies need to deploy tools that capture customer sentiments in real time and be ready with appropriate marketing tools to reach out to customers in real time, to take advantage of the changing sentiments. Real time marketing monitoring tools are a must.

Another critical consideration is the impact of VAT on internal operations. Companies need to align their business model to comply with the VAT requirements. The UAE Ministry of Finance expects businesses to make changes to their core operations, financial management practices, bookkeeping methods, technology stack, and human resource mix, to cope with the VAT ecosystem. Administrative and compliance requirements of VAT will incur cost and resource allocation. Likewise, the introduction of VAT may result in cost of living going up, forcing an upward adjustment of wages. Businesses need to budget for such costs and factor it into their product pricing and overall business strategy.

Businesses operating in other GCC countries would have to consider and co-opt the GST rules in all states they operate in, considering VAT is introduced as a GCC region-wide system. UAE businesses would need to evaluate the impact of the special rules on intra-GCC supplies and acquisitions and factor in the potential implications for their business models.

3. Tweak or Set-Up Internal Systems for Compliance

At a basic level, businesses need to ensure their billing and invoicing system is set up to calculate and add VAT to applicable products and services, automatically. Several items, especially day-to-day groceries will be exempt from VAT, and will be billed side-by-side with several VAT items. Businesses need to ensure their systems not only support VAT, but can identify and accommodate exempted items. Still better, the system needs to be flexible with the VAT rate, which is not set in stone, and can change in future. Businesses would also need to incorporate VAT into their accounting systems and financial systems, and generate reports as per the compliance requirements.

However, VAT is much more than a financial issue and will impact all departments of a business, including finance, marketing, human resources, information technology, procurement, and other departments. Businesses need to tweak their business processes, and set-up systems to accommodate VAT documentation. Possible areas of changes include process forms, templates, and other documentation. While the specifics on the format of reports, when to file returns and other compliance requirements are yet to be awaited, businesses need to get the basic infrastructure ready as soon as possible. Indications are most businesses would have to file VAT returns every three months.

Establishing a sound trial and documentation will be critical to claim possible VAT refund on input items, or VAT paid by the business on raw-materials, as per the rules. VAT is applied on goods and services at each stage of the supply chain. Unless there is sound documentation in the specified format and mode, it may be difficult to claim a refund for the VAT already paid earlier in the supply chain, forcing a heavy burden on the business.

The extent of resources required would depend on the complexity of the compliance process, which in turn is likely to depend on complexity and scale of the business operations. Many countries have simplified compliance norms for small businesses. While the nature of requirements in the UAE is yet to be spelled out, it is essential to get implementation right and integrate VAT as part of the everyday business process.

4. Make Proactive Reach-Outs Through the Ecosystem

It is not enough for a business operating in a VAT regime to set up their internal system. The VAT ecosystem is interconnected, and businesses need to consider their suppliers also, to determine the impact of VAT in the UAE. For instance, businesses engaging in exempt or partially exempt supplies would still need to evaluate the additional cost impact on their purchases made from businesses falling under the VAT regime. Similarly, all businesses need to ensure the invoices they receive are compatible with the new VAT regulations. Most importantly, businesses signing new trade deals or agreements need to factor in a clause which allows them to pass on the VAT rate to the buyers.

Pro-active remedial measures to address potential deficiencies can ensure a more cost-effective and efficient supply chain.

5. Establish a Timetable to Move to Implementation

Businesses need to register for VAT up front. The registration window will open three months in advance of the VAT implementation date. Assuming there is no change to January 1, 2018, date for VAT roll-out, the window for taking VAT registration will open by 1st October 2017. The specifics are yet to unfold, and businesses need to keep a close watch on the dates. Missing the deadline would result in avoidable hassles and extra costs.

Businesses would do well to keep track of the VAT announcements made by the government, through the following means

1. Keeping up-to-date on the official press releases and notifications issued by the Ministry of Finance
2. Seeking guidance and instructions from the Chamber of Commerce and other institutions
3. Tie up with a strategic consultant who will keep track of the developments on a daily and proactive basis, and inform and help the business prepare as required.

Businesses would obviously need to learn the procedures and policies before they can implement VAT, and be compliant with its provisions. Training employees and other stakeholders on how to apply the levy, how to account for the VAT, and how to submit the regular reports and filings to the government, among other things, are essential for seamless implementation. While businesses would obviously have to wait for the VAT legislation to roll out for clarity on such issues, they would do themselves a favor by setting up the basic training infrastructure in place. They would also do well to allocate training schedules in advance, to ensure minimal disruption to their core operations when implementation sets in.

Businesses take VAT lightly at their own peril. Failure to register for VAT, not applying VAT correctly, not submitting VAT returns, or failure to adhere to any compliance requirement would attract severe penalties. While the government is in the process of defining the fines and other penalties for non-compliance, it is certain non-compliance would be costly for the business. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse, and it makes no difference whether the violations or noncompliance were deliberate or a result of some honest mistake or misunderstanding.

While it may be early days to consider hiring in-house VAT professionals, businesses may require additional hands to handle accounts, IT, and documentary controls for VAT. Businesses would do well to partner with competent consultants and software developers, especially those who have experience with VAT and taxation regimes of other countries, such as India and Europe. Instituting a seamless and automated software would take the load off the requirements, sparing enterprises the need to hire additional hands to do the manual work, and allowing them to focus on their core businesses rather than on compliance headaches.

Planning in advance and striking the right partnerships would allow the business to convert a potential crisis into an opportunity, and a potential cost-center into a profit-center spearheading organizational efficiency.

Decisions regarding selecting and deploying a new software to run a process have far reaching implications, and can even make or break the enterprise. Deploying the wrong software, or even implementing a good software the wrong way, can wreak havoc with company process and systems, put off customers, and at the very least stress out the enterprise into a perennial firefighting mode.

When selecting software vendor partners, most enterprises look primarily at the experience and skill-set of the development team, and the portfolio of completed projects. The usual questions asked to relate to testimonials, experience, costs, and training. While these aspects indeed constitute the basic due-diligence areas for selecting a competent software vendor, the devil lies in the details. Many enterprises make the mistake of conducting a superficial due-diligence, only to regret it later when a half-baked software with messed up implementation stares at their face.

A decision on software vendor selection, to implement new software requires proper planning, a well-defined process, and careful evaluation. Here are the major aspects to consider.

1. Define the Broad Needs

The first step in software vendor selection is to define the needs of the enterprise in a clear-cut manner, without any ambiguity, and match such needs with the features and functionality proposed or offered through the vendor’s software. A related consideration is to seek a fit with the vendor in terms of having the same outlook towards the business, in terms of a proactive attitude, prompt and transparent communications, focus on agility, or any other traits.

When considering logistics software, some of the usual needs include warehouse automation tasks, tracking cargo, automation of various activities related to supply chain management, and more. The need for supply chain visibility is critical for transparency, which in turn would deliver process efficiency and customer satisfaction. Enterprises would, however, do well to be wary of blindly falling for a generic list of functionality, and make sure the vendor is capable of delivering software which fulfills the specific needs of the enterprise. This often translates to custom software or a highly customized variant of generic software.

Many enterprises make the mistake of designing the system rather than defining the business needs. A successful software implementation usually makes work easier and more streamlined, but a new system that does not take into account the specific process flows of the business would only result in making the enterprise dysfunctional. Make sure to clarify the business needs, and ensure the software vendor has the capability not only to fulfill the technical requirements, but also identify the specific requirements of the enterprise, and design the software accordingly.

2. Reconcile Process Conformity with Flexibility

Today’s businesses are caught in the crosshairs of an extremely volatile business environment. In such a scenario, specifying exact requirements for an inherently rigid software system is a challenging task.

Requirements gathering encompass both functional and nonfunctional requirements. The best approach is to keep the requirements gathering simple, at the initial stage, to get the basic structure right, and delve into the details later, with flexibility inbuilt into the structure. A full blown set of system specifications take a significant amount of time, effort and skills to put together, such details are anyway an overkill when initiating a vendor selection exercise. Once it is proven the vendor is capable enough for the task, it is time to delve into the details.

Staying away from detailed system specifications is not an excuse to ignore developing a list of clear and verifiable requirements. Make sure to include the specific business process the software has to support. In the case of the logistics industry, this could be anything from warehouse management to inventory control, from shipment tracking to invoicing, or anything else, including a combination of any number of processes.

Regardless of the initial specifications, the trick is to ensure the software is expandable, with the provision to support other key feature areas, which may be needed in future, especially as IoT is all poised to unleash a big disruption in the logistics space. There is also a need to ensure seamless integration and ability to pull in data from with diverse systems, considering the logistics ecosystem is now marked by strategic alliances and tie-up with different partners, each having their own software and systems. In fact, a single enterprise may run two or more systems, developed by different vendors, and sync or data integration from such other systems is a must in today’s age of big data.

These requirements translate to the vendor being competent not just in the technical front, but also adhere and comply with industry best practices and well-established quality standards.

3. Clarify Expectations on the Feature List

Drawing up the list of essential features the software should have is indispensable, but only part of the story. It is equally essential to define up front in a clear-cut manner, the other essentials. Requirements include anything related to the product offering and go beyond functional and nonfunctional system requirements. The following are some of the most common requirements which require clarity up front.

• The languages the system needs to support, and whether the interface should match the language preference of the users.
• The nature of the user base, as in the number of expected concurrent users, whether the software will supporting remotely dispersed users, whether the software will be accessed by external stakeholders such as channel partners and customers, and more.
• The nature of technology, as in whether the enterprise is willing to be an early adopter of promising yet untested technology, or wants to play it safe with legacy technology which may have some limitations.
• The extent of dependency, as in whether the enterprise prefers dependency with the new vendor or whether the enterprise would eventually want to manage and update the system in-house. In the latter case, it is best to use open-source software rather than proprietary software of the vendor.
• The nature and scope of regulations and standards to be co-opted into the system, mostly as validations and as reports.
• Nature and extent of essential software related services, such as deployment, validation, migration, training and general support, quality maturity level, and more.
• The extent of reconfigurability of the new system, which influences the speed of deployment. The speed of deployment may be just as important as the quality and scope of deployment. For instance, a cloud-based solution with minimum configuration could be up and running a matter of weeks whereas an on-premise deployment could take months.

It is not enough the software vendor has the technical capability to implement all these requirements. There has to be a cultural fit to ensure the vendor approaches the software development process in the way preferred by the enterprise. Success depends on the vendor being flexible in their approach, and communicating or collaborating with the enterprise in a proactive way. A DevOps approach may work best, though there are no one-size-fits all magic pill. Any agile approach which involves the business end users would work well.

4. Do Not Ignore Reporting Capabilities

Many enterprises and software vendors focus extensively on requirements gathering, and in the process ignore the equally critical part of reporting. Several enterprises also make the mistake of straight jacketing reports into a few handpicked options. Today’s dynamic businesses require dynamic reports, deeply integrated with analytical capabilities. One of the essential purposes of the software itself is to gather all relevant data, subject it to analytics, and deliver it to the relevant stakeholders or decision maker, in the form of actionable information, in the format of choice. A dynamic logistics management software would offer intuitive dashboard and live reports, to facilitate easy decision making.

For the successful deployment of logistics software, there is no shortcut or workaround than the vendor being competent in deploying the latest and the most versatile analytical tools and being able to roll out intuitive dashboards, mobile apps, and other front-end digital assets for the enterprise.

5. Undertake a Cost Benefit Analysis

As the saying goes, “if wishes were horses, there would be all cathedrals and no chapels.” The range of possibilities with software is endless, but success lies in prioritizing for the available budget. Not everything, no matter how utilitarian, productivity enhancing, or beneficial, will make sense from a financial point of view. It is very important to have a budget up front and sync the capabilities of the software to the budget. Also, the budget for software is not just the cost to get it developed and running, but also the cost to maintain it, and upgrade it from time to time.

A best practice for the enterprise is to weigh the requirements or functionality on a scale from “essential” to “nice to have” and “dispensable”, and evaluate the vendor in terms of the extent to which they can deliver on such functionality, and the range of functionality available within the available budget. Understand the basic offerings, and what exactly each specific add-ons will cost.

6. Do Not Ignore Support, Training, and Maintenance

The software is never static, more so in today’s dynamic business environment where the only constant is change. The extent of support required, and on offer vis-a-vis the requirements, is a crucial consideration in the vendor selection exercise.

Clarify expectations on the range of support, the documentation accompanying the software, and develop a blueprint on training users for the new system. The value of supporting documentation such as procedural templates, validation documents, and training materials can never be understated, though these considerations are rarely given much importance during the vendor selection exercise.

Many enterprises leave it at this stage, which is a cardinal mistake. Unless the enterprise is a startup with no legacy systems or business data, it becomes imperative to migrate some or all of the existing records to the new system. An action plan to enforce such migration, or sync the new system with the old is just as important as developing the new system. Many enterprises focus solely on the new system, oblivious to the migration issues, such as source and destination data format, and other issues. A sound technical partner offers comprehensive end-to-end support on all the apparently minor issues, but which have far reaching implications.

Last but not the least, sound partners would also be competent to roll out the software within the required deadline

Trying to develop state-of-the-art logistics software using the internal IT team is a disaster in the making, for the roles and focus of a support team and a development team is markedly different. The best option is indeed to tie up with a software development company who doubles up as a strategic partner,ho doubles up as a strategic partner, for whom the software development process is the core competence and the sole focus. The mantra to success is, however, selecting for a fit, or making sure the software vendor ticks the bill for all the aspects above.