The Significance of Application Integration in Business

What is Application Integration?

Modern organizations use multiple applications to fulfill dedicated needs and roles within their business. However, handling several applications and the data within them can be challenging. This is where application integration steps in as a middleware to connect individual applications, so they can work together and share information among themselves, often in real time or near-real time.
Application integration refers to the process of connecting and combining different software applications—each designed for its own specific purpose—to work cohesively with each other.
Application integration enables seamless communication and collaboration between diverse software applications, often within an organization’s technology infrastructure or across multiple organizations. This is achieved by merging and optimizing data and workflows between the applications that are being integrated.

Growth of Global Application Integration Market (2023-2030)

In 2022
$12.1 Billion
In 2023
$58.78 Billion

Key Market Drivers for Application Integration

The market for application integration is being driven by the rising need to:

Types of Application Integration

There are five standard levels of application integration.

1. Presentation-Level Integration

A middleware is created to store and process data, and thereafter distribute it to all other business applications.

2. Business Process integration

Employing cloud and automation to enhance business processes and data efficiencies by coordinating tasks across multiple systems, eliminating manual handoffs, and reducing delays.

3. Data Integration

Syncs data from various sources and formats to ensure that data flows accurately and consistently between different applications. Eliminates data silos to provide a unified view of information across the enterprise.

4. Communications-Level Integration

This level of integration ensures that each application receives only the right amount of information it needs to function properly.

5. User Interface Integration

Presents data and functionality from multiple applications through a unified user interface. Simplifies user experience for employees and customers to interact with various applications seamlessly.
Choosing the right type of application integration will largely depend on your challenges as well as business goals and objectives.

How Can Application Integration Help Your Business?

By integrating multiple applications used by your business, you can:

Application Integration Use Cases

Application integration can be applied in almost any domain where multiple software systems must interact and collaborate to achieve organizational goals more efficiently and effectively.

Industry-specific examples of application integration

Healthcare

Integrating electronic health records (EHRs), medical billing & laboratory systems to deliver better patient care, streamline administrative tasks, and comply with regulations.

Education

Integrating educational platforms with student information systems and LMS software to streamline administrative tasks and enhance learning experience.

Financial Services

Integrating banking systems, trading platforms, and risk management tools to enable real-time data sharing, seamless transactions, and enhanced security.

E-commerce

Integrating e-commerce platforms with inventory management, order processing, and payment systems to enable seamless online transactions, real-time inventory updates, and efficient order fulfillment.

Travel & Hospitality

Integrating hotel reservation systems, restaurant management apps, customer loyalty programs, and payment gateways to enhance booking processes and customer satisfaction.

Government

In the government and administration domain, integrating systems used by various departments can improve service delivery, data sharing, and citizen engagement.

Integration of common business apps

CRM Platforms

Integrating CRM systems with marketing automation, customer support, and sales tools enables a comprehensive view of customer interactions, improving customer service and targeted marketing efforts.

Supply Chain Management Systems

Connecting the modules for handling suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, will enable real-time visibility of inventory, demand forecasting, and efficient order processing.

ERP Software

Integrating ERP systems with finance, human resources, manufacturing, procurement, etc. will streamline data flow, automate processes, and improve decision-making across the organization.

HRM Platforms

Integrating HR and people management tools with payroll, time tracking, compensation, and benefits will streamline employee data management, payroll processing, and compliance.

Marketing Automation Tools

Integrating marketing automation tools with customer databases, email marketing platforms, and content management systems will enhance lead generation, nurturing, and personalized marketing campaigns.

Social Media

Integrating social media platforms with customer support and marketing tools helps businesses engage with customers, gather feedback, and analyze trends.

Examples of integrating technology-based applications:

Internet of Things

Integrating IoT devices with business data analytics platforms allows organizations to harness the power of real-time data from connected devices for better decision-making and predictive maintenance.

Mobile Apps

Integrating business mobile applications with backend systems enables seamless data synchronization, user authentication, and personalized user experiences.

Cloud Applications

Connecting cloud-based enterprise applications and services with on-premise or other cloud platforms enables data synchronization and accessibility from anywhere.
A custom web application designed to facilitate smart lead generation and engagement for moving companies. Such applications are tailored to the unique needs of the moving industry, helping companies identify potential customers efficiently. By leveraging technology and data-driven solutions, these applications streamline the lead generation process, improve customer engagement, and enhance overall operational efficiency. This likely includes features such as online quoting, appointment scheduling, and customer relationship management to help moving companies optimize their services and grow their businesses in a competitive market.

How to Approach Application Integration?

There are several approaches to application integration, each catering to different integration requirements and scenarios.
Integration Approach
How It Works?
Remarks
Point-to-Point Integration
Individual connections are established between each application pair that needs communication.
Becomes complex and challenging when the number of connections increases.
Hub and Spoke Integration
A central integration hub (middleware or Enterprise Service Bus) is used as an intermediary between applications (the spokes). All communications between applications occur through the hub.
This approach simplifies the integration landscape and reduces the number of direct connections.
Data Integration
Synchronizes and consolidates data across various applications and databases.
Creates a single source of truth for critical information by ensuring that data is consistent and up-to-date across the organization.
API-Based Integration
APIs are used to expose the functionalities and data of an application in a standardized way, allowing other applications to interact with it.
APIs enable controlled and secure application integration, making it a popular choice for modern integration needs.
Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM)
Applications exchange messages through a messaging system – a middleware- which routes them to their intended recipients.
Asynchronous messaging allows decoupling between applications and supports reliable communication.
Event-Driven Integration
Focuses on responding to events and triggers that occur in various applications. Events can notify other applications to take specific actions or update data.
Event-driven integration is helpful for real-time or near real-time data synchronization and system coordination.
Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)
An architectural approach in which applications are designed as a collection of loosely coupled services that can be accessed and combined to perform various tasks.
Services are exposed through standardized interfaces, often using web services or APIs, promoting reusability and flexibility in integration.
Cloud-Based Integration
Leverages cloud platforms and services to facilitate data exchange and communication between on-premises and cloud-based applications.
Cloud-based integration solutions often provide pre-built connectors and APIs to streamline integration.
Hybrid Integration
Combines on-premises and cloud-based integration approaches to connect applications and systems in diverse environments.
Allows organizations to utilize the cloud’s scalability and flexibility while integrating with their existing on-premises infrastructure.
Data Virtualization
Data virtualization tools create a virtual layer over disparate data sources, enabling applications to access and use data as if coming from a single source.
This approach abstracts the physical location and format of data from the applications.
Each integration approach has its own strengths and weaknesses, and the choice depends on factors such as the complexity of integration, budget, scalability requirements, existing infrastructure, and future business needs.

How to Choose The Right Application Integration Solution?

Selecting the right application integration solution is important for ensuring seamless data flow and functionality across your organization’s software systems. It’s important to identify an integration solution that aligns with your organization’s requirements and goals, and supports future growth and innovation.
Consider the following factors when evaluating different application integration solutions:
Scalability of the integration solution to accommodate your organization’s future growth and increasing data volumes.
Anticipate your future integration requirements and ensure the selected solution can accommodate new technologies, data sources, and evolving business needs.
Customization and flexibility to meet your unique business needs by supporting various integration patterns and adapting to different data formats and protocols.
Ease of use with an intuitive interface that enables developers and business users to set up integrations without extensive coding or technical expertise.
Check whether the solution supports different integration types you require, such as data integration, application integration, cloud integration, or mobile app integration.
Support for various connectivity options such as API-based integrations, message queues, and file-based integrations. The solution should work with both on-premise and cloud-based applications.
Look for an integration solution that offers robust security, authentication, encryption, and access controls to protect your sensitive data during transit and at rest.
Built-in mechanisms for handling errors and ensuring fault tolerance. Ability to retry failed integrations and recover gracefully from errors.
Comprehensive monitoring and logging capabilities to track the performance and health of integrations. This helps with troubleshooting and performance optimization.
Ensure that the integration solution can easily connect with your established business systems and extend their capabilities.
If your organization relies on third-party applications or services, ensure that the integration solution can seamlessly integrate with the external systems.
Choose a reputable vendor with a proven track record in application integration. Consider their level of support, reliability, and responsiveness to customer needs.
Evaluate the total cost of ownership for the integration solution, including upfront costs, ongoing maintenance, and any additional fees for usage or scaling.
Check if the integration solution has an active user community and a wealth of online resources, documentation, and tutorials. This can be valuable for learning and troubleshooting.
Integrated private jet charter management solutions streamline and enhance the operations of private jet charter companies. They typically include features like booking and reservation management, flight scheduling, crew and passenger management, and financial tracking. These solutions aim to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance the overall customer experience in the luxury jet charter industry. By integrating various aspects of charter operations into a single, cohesive platform, private jet companies can better manage their resources and provide a seamless and top-notch service to their clientele.

How Can Fingent Help Your Business with Application Integration?

Application integration is a powerful tech strategy that can positively impact your business across multiple dimensions. It optimizes processes, workflows, data management, and decision-making to improve your team’s productivity, customer satisfaction, and competitive advantage. By choosing the right application integration services provider and the right integration solution, your business can attain success, growth, and profitability in today’s interconnected digital landscape.
Being a top custom software development company, Fingent’s application integration services offer numerous benefits to your organization, including and not limited to the following:
The growing demand for enhanced customer experiences and the rising number of applications in business and IT operations are making application integration a crucial aspect of your enterprise’s transformation journey. Working with Fingent will enable your organization to act on all information—no matter where it’s located—with a complete, flexible approach to integration.
Get in touch with our experts to learn more about Fingent’s application integration services.

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    Vedavyas Shenoy

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      A strong technological backbone – that is what is required of businesses today. From simple record-keeping tasks to complex future planning tasks, advanced technology can support a business and allow it to function smoothly. ERP solutions were designed exactly for this purpose: to boost the capabilities of businesses. To understand this better, let us take a short tour into the world of cloud-based ERP solutions and see how they benefit companies. 

      What Is Cloud-Based ERP and How Does It Work?

      Cloud ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning Software is a modular software system designed to integrate all the core processes in an organization. It acts as the IT backbone of a company and is accessible over the Internet. The demand for cloud-based ERP systems has consistently grown because of their ability to access and analyze massive amounts of data in near real-time. This means that as new data is added to the system, the ERP system analyzes this data consequently and produces results spontaneously. 

      Cloud ERP systems are built with vast combinations of technologies connected by high-speed internet networks. They are always online, and the ERP vendor takes care of any security updates. These systems have a wide range of business applications to help workflow efficiency with exclusive attention to a positive customer experience and boosted profits. Businesses can choose from different deployment modules and settings according to their needs. This keeps the business team focused on its core operations and will help streamline workflow to meet the company’s goals.

      Pros And Cons Of Cloud-Based ERP Solution

      As with any solution, it is wise to consider both the pros and cons of Cloud-Based ERP before investing in it.

      Pros –

      • Scalability: This is perhaps Cloud ERP’s most impressive feature. Its ability to seamlessly scale as a company’s needs progress is spectacular. 
      • Mobility And Access of Information: Cloud-based ERP software permits smooth access and control of information and company data through ERP-enabled mobile devices, making it easier to access important data from wherever and whenever necessary.
      • Real-time Analysis: This is a priceless tool for businesses today, and with cloud ERP, companies have the power to access information as it becomes available allowing them to make faster and more efficient decisions.  

      Cons – 

      • Long-Term Costs: Cloud ERP works best for businesses with a clear long-term vision. If you expect your business to grow rapidly over time, then the cost of the cloud-based system will be worth it. On the contrary, if you expect your business to remain static, then a regular traditional ERP service is best suited for you. 
      • Absence Of Customization: A cloud-based ERP system may have a rigid template, and when you implement your ERP system in the cloud, your ability to customize it will be stunted. This system is extremely beneficial for smaller businesses, while larger ones might benefit from having an ERP expert to deal with this. 
      • Connectivity Issues: Uploading all your data to the cloud will mean that you need to have a strong internet provider. Without a smooth connection to the cloud, your workflow cannot run easily, and this will ultimately lead to significant issues. 

      What Are The Top Benefits Of Implementing Cloud ERP?

      There are innumerable perks to implementing Cloud ERP and listed below are five of the most beneficial:

      1. Quick And Painless Upgrades And Updates: Every ERP software requires periodic updates, and this process can be tedious when it falls under your responsibility. With cloud ERP, the service provider takes on the duty of upgrading your software regularly, making it hassle-free for you. 

      2. Real-Time Analysis: As we saw earlier, cloud ERP’s real-time data analysis feature is its strongest suit. It helps employees access important information as it becomes available and keeps them up-to-date with business decisions. 

      3. Simplification And Automation: With the implementation of cloud ERP, companies can consolidate previous legacy applications, integrate all existing and new applications, simplify workflows, and intelligently automate processes. 

      4. More Security And Less Data Loss: Data security is a growing concern for most businesses nowadays. To tackle this issue, cloud-based ERP vendors can deliver enterprise-level security and compliance to safeguard your data. Cloud-based ERP systems also have a robust backup and recovery plan that ensures that no data is lost during upgrades or security breaches. 

      5. Free Up Internal IT Teams: While Cloud ERP software vendors do all the mundane technical tasks, internal IT teams have more time to focus on other, more important responsibilities such as hardware maintenance and product support. They will be able to concentrate on higher-value activities and spend only a fraction of their time on troubleshooting and routine ERP check-ins.

      Read more: A Complete Guide On Enterprise Resource Planning!

      How To Know If Your Company Needs Cloud ERP 

      Identifying your company’s needs and recognizing when to accept help is crucial for your business’ survival and growth. Seeing how vital Cloud ERP can be to a company’s progress, let’s look at a few signs that might indicate that your company needs Cloud ERP software. 

      1. If you use different solutions for different processes: When you notice that different departments in your company use different solutions to perform their tasks, it can be a clear sign that you need to find a unified solution that all these departments can access together. Cloud ERP can unify multiple processes and integrate every business function into a single database. 

      2. When every task is manual and not streamlined: When a company heavily relies on traditional and ancient legacy systems, its speed of growth can diminish. Manual tasks are extremely time-consuming and are at greater risk for human error. To help with this, ERP systems can automate or streamline these everyday tasks to save money and boost efficiency.

      3. If the retrieval of information takes forever: Time flows faster today, and if your business fails to function at lightning speed, you’re bound to miss out on profits. Your staff members should be able to retrieve key data immediately, without any delays or the need to search for it in multiple places. A cloud ERP system offers a full-blown, all-inclusive view of the entire business operation no matter when you need it, making it effortless to access the correct data at the right time. 

      4. When sales and customer service are suffering: Your customer is the top priority of your business. If customer experience is deteriorating, then you have to do everything in your power to rectify it.  As your company grows, managing inventory becomes more challenging. This is where Cloud ERP can help you. Due to its unified processing, staff in every department will have access to the same, up-to-the-minute information about the company. This makes it easier for customer-facing reps to pull up customer information quickly. To do one better, customers can even check their account status information, while warehouse managers can check if stock is getting low and can reorder. 

      Investing in Cloud ERP can be a costly affair at the start, so analyzing your business needs thoroughly before making any decision is very important, including your goals for the next few years. 

      Cloud ERP

      Cost Factors With Regard To Cloud ERP

      Profits are what it all boils down to in business. If you find yourself spending more and more money on business maintenance, you need to stop and take a good look at your expenditures. Investing less and making more is the right way to run a business, and Cloud ERP can help you reach that goal. This software has a great capacity for streamlining and optimizing your operations and business processes without the need to spend heavy amounts of money on data security.

      Of course, Cloud ERP integration costs money, too. Some factors that will affect the cost are:

      • licensing costs
      • number of integrations required
      • complexity of the ERP system
      • volume and quality of data
      • extent of customization required
      • integration tools and technologies 
      • IT manpower

      It would be best to speak with an experienced ERP integration specialist who understands your needs and can provide the best solution for your budget. 

      Choosing The Right ERP Vendor 

      Once you have analyzed your business needs, the next step is to look for your ERP vendor. The single most important criterion for selecting the right ERP vendor is to check if they are the most functional fit for your organization. 

      Ensure to partner with someone with a good track record in ERP implementations. Check their references, ask for case studies, and get to know how well they understand the needs of your industry. A good vendor will communicate with you and offer post-implementation support. 

      Choosing the right ERP Software for your company can be a daunting task!

      How Fingent Can Help 

      As an exclusively client-centered service, Fingent brings you a team of qualified and brilliant professionals to make your ERP solution implementation process simple and perfect. Our specialists use top-notch and advanced technological tools to help our clients. We also offer great post-implementation assistance by keeping track of performance and staying in contact with clients through user comments to make any necessary fixes.

      Give us a call, and let’s discuss your needs. 

       

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        Ashok Kumar

        Ashok leads Fingent’s SAP Consulting practice for ANZ, SE Asia, The Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and other global clients. More specifically, he helps companies improve operational efficiency by enhancing their digital cores and improving their application integration. Ashok has amassed over 20 years of leadership and consulting experience having worked with Global giants like SAP, IBM Consulting, Capgemini, & Oracle in his previous assignments. Connect with Ashok via LinkedIn and learn how your business can excel with recent SAP trends.

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          In today’s ever-evolving business landscape, the concept of “Digital-First” isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a strategic necessity. For CIOs, CTOs, and IT Managers, embracing digital transformation isn’t just a choice; it’s a critical strategic move. It’s the pathway to gaining a competitive advantage, exceeding customer expectations, leveraging data for success, accessing global markets, and fortifying your digital defenses.

          In this blog, we’ll explore why launching your business with cutting-edge technology is of paramount importance.

          Why Starting with Cutting-Edge Technology Matters

          Here are some key aspects and applications of Digital first:

          1. Online Presence: Your Digital Storefront

          In an increasingly online world, your digital presence is your storefront, and its impact is profound.

          If your business lacks a robust online presence, you’re missing out on a significant slice of this digital pie. Your online presence is your digital storefront and first impressions matter. It’s the place where your customers interact with your brand. Think of it as the front window of a physical store – it needs to be inviting and informative.

          Applications: E-commerce, Social Media, Content Marketing

          2. Customer-Centricity Rules

          PwC’s Global Consumer Insights Survey reveals that 43% of consumers plan to increase online shopping in the next six months. The study further said,  “Consumers are seeking less friction…they’re continuing to experiment with the next generation of digital platforms, including the metaverse.” Starting with cutting-edge technology allows you to provide those seamless, personalized experiences that customers crave while they shop online.

          3. Mobile-First Design: Meeting Customers Where They Are

          With the proliferation of smartphones, being mobile-friendly isn’t just a choice; it’s a necessity. Oberlo reports that mobile devices account for 55.5% of web traffic globally, surpassing desktop usage. Ignoring mobile users means missing out on more than half of your potential audience. Consider mobile devices as the primary means through which customers engage with your brand – like a shop accessible anytime, anywhere.

          Applications: Responsive Websites, Mobile Apps, SMS Marketing

          4. Competitive Imperative

          Jorge Lopez, a distinguished VP analyst at Gartner, says, “Boards of directors (BoDs) have reached a point where digital business strategy and overall business strategy are one and the same.” It’s clear that being “Digital-First” is no longer a choice; it’s a competitive imperative.

          5. Security and Privacy: The Digital Trust Factor

          As digital interactions increase, so does the importance of security and privacy. Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that cybercrime will cost the world $6 trillion annually by 2021. Neglecting security is a gamble on your business’s survival. Cyber threats are rising! The worldwide expense of a data breach in 2023 stood at $4.45 million, reflecting a 15% rise over a three-year period. Cyberattacks are a growing concern for businesses and consumers alike.

          Applications: Encryption, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Regular Audits

          6. Data-Driven Success

          McKinsey’s research shows that data-driven organizations are 23 times more likely to acquire customers, six times more likely to retain customers, and 19 times more likely to be profitable. Beginning your business with cutting-edge technology means you’re setting up to be data-driven from the get-go.

          Read more: A Quick Guide To A Successful Digital Transformation Journey!

          Key Technologies Commonly Implemented to Enhance Digital-First Initiatives

          To thrive in the digital environment, it’s crucial to understand the core technologies that underpin digital-first initiatives. Here, we’ll delve into some of the key technologies providing a clear overview of their significance.

          1. Cloud Computing: The Foundation of Scalability

          Cloud computing is the engine powering the scalability and flexibility of modern digital solutions. Services like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud provide businesses with the ability to store data, run applications, and access resources remotely. This technology not only reduces infrastructure costs but also enables rapid scalability, making it essential for digital-first operations.

          2. Artificial Intelligence (AI): The Catalyst for Data-Driven Insights

          AI encompasses a range of technologies, including machine learning and natural language processing. It enables businesses to analyze vast datasets, make predictions, automate processes, and gain valuable insights. AI is the driving force behind personalized recommendations, predictive analytics, and automation that enhance the efficiency and decision-making capabilities of digital-first organizations.

          3. Internet of Things (IoT): The Network of Connected Devices

          IoT has far-reaching applications, from smart manufacturing and asset tracking to environmental monitoring and healthcare devices. IoT enables businesses to gather real-time information, improve operational efficiency, and create new services and experiences.

          4. Blockchain: The Trustworthy Digital Ledger

          Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that offers transparency, security, and trust in digital transactions. It’s the foundation of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and is increasingly used in supply chain management, voting systems, and more. Blockchain ensures the integrity and immutability of data, reducing the need for intermediaries and enhancing security.

          5. 5G Technology: The Accelerator of Connectivity

          5G, the fifth generation of wireless technology, brings unprecedented speed and connectivity. It enables near-instantaneous data transfer, low latency, and support for a massive number of connected devices. Businesses leverage 5G for applications like augmented reality, autonomous vehicles, and real-time communication, enhancing customer experiences and expanding possibilities. These technologies and others form the backbone of digital-first initiatives, offering businesses the tools to adapt, innovate, and thrive in the digital age.

          Digital transformation

          Use Cases Across Different Sectors

          The digital-first revolution isn’t confined to a single industry; it’s a tide sweeping across sectors, reshaping the way businesses operate, interact with customers, and innovate. Let’s explore some use cases in a variety of sectors, showcasing how digital-first strategies are driving transformation and success.

          1. Retail and E-commerce

          • Personalized Shopping Experiences: In the retail and e-commerce realm, digital-first initiatives are all about creating personalized shopping journeys. AI-driven recommendation engines analyze customer behavior and preferences to suggest products tailored to individual tastes. This drives sales and elevates customer satisfaction to unprecedented levels.
          • Seamless Checkout Processes: Digital-first technologies streamline the checkout process with one-click payments, reducing cart abandonment rates. Amazon’s “Buy Now with 1-Click” is a prime example of simplifying the purchasing journey for customers.

          2. Manufacturing

          • Predictive Maintenance: In manufacturing, IoT sensors are deployed on machinery to monitor performance and detect anomalies. These sensors provide real-time data, enabling predictive maintenance. Machines are serviced before they break down, minimizing downtime and optimizing production.
          • Quality Control and Automation: Machine learning models can be employed to analyze images and identify defects in real-time thus ensuring products meet stringent quality standards. Automation and robotics further enhance manufacturing efficiency, reducing errors and labor costs.

          3. Financial Services (Fintech)

          • Digital Banking: Fintech companies are revolutionizing the financial sector with digital banking services. Mobile apps provide customers with access to their accounts, transactions, and even investment opportunities, all in the palm of their hands.
          • Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain: Blockchain technology is reshaping the way financial transactions occur. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin offer secure, borderless, and decentralized digital currencies, challenging traditional banking systems.

          4. Education (EdTech)

          • Online Learning Platforms: EdTech platforms provide access to a vast array of educational resources, from interactive courses to video lectures. These platforms enable flexible, personalized learning experiences for students of all ages.
          • AI-Powered Tutors: AI-driven virtual tutors assist students in their studies by providing immediate feedback and tailored learning paths. They adapt to individual learning styles and paces, enhancing educational outcomes.

          5. Transportation and Logistics

          • Route Optimization: Transportation companies use IoT and GPS technology to optimize routes, reducing fuel consumption and delivery times. Real-time tracking and predictive analytics ensure goods are delivered efficiently.
          • Autonomous Vehicles: The transportation sector is at the forefront of autonomous vehicle development. These vehicles promise increased safety, reduced labor costs, and improved transportation efficiency.

          6. Smart Cities

          • Traffic Management: Smart cities employ IoT sensors and real-time data analysis to manage traffic flow dynamically. This reduces congestion, minimizes travel times, and improves air quality.
          • Sustainable Energy: Smart grids and renewable energy sources enable cities to reduce their carbon footprint. IoT technology monitors energy consumption and production, optimizing energy use and promoting sustainability.

          In each of these sectors, digital-first initiatives are not just about adopting technology; they’re about harnessing it to drive innovation, improve efficiency, and meet evolving customer expectations. The possibilities are vast, and the results are transformative, making the digital-first approach a crucial strategy for organizations in every industry.

          How Can Fingent Help?

          In a digital-first world, success hinges on leveraging technology effectively. Fingent is your trusted partner on this journey, helping you harness the power of digital to drive innovation, growth, and competitive advantage. Together, we can navigate the complex digital landscape and turn challenges into opportunities. The future is digital, and Fingent is here to ensure you’re always one step ahead.

          With our expertise in software development, AI, IoT, and more, we can tailor solutions to your specific needs. Whether you’re in retail, manufacturing, finance, education, transportation, or any other sector, we’ve got you covered. Give us a call.

           

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            About the Author

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            Tony Joseph

            Tony believes in building technology around processes, rather than building processes around technology. He specializes in custom software development, especially in analyzing processes, refining it and then building technology around it.He works with clients on a daily basis to understand and analyze their operational structure, discover (and not invent) key improvement areas and come up with technology solutions to deliver an efficient process.

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              Augmented Reality In Business

              “Technology, like art, is a soaring exercise of human imagination.”

              – Daniel Bell

              Human beings consistently find new ways to make life more exciting and awe-inspiring. One of these grand inventions is Augmented Reality. It is one of the fastest-growing technologies by far and has found a permanent place in many areas of daily life. Businesses, industries, institutions, and companies all around the world are adopting this brilliant innovation. Why? Let’s find out …

              Did
              You
              Know

              According to, approximately 1.07 billion AR device users existed by the end of 2022, and by the end of 2023 the numbers are predicted to go up to 1.4 billion. This gradually progressing train will only move further along so it would be smart to hop on as soon as possible.

              – a report by Statista

              In this article we will discuss what Augmented Reality is, how it benefits a business, how to imply it to a business plan, all the top industries utilizing it to their benefit, and much more.

              What Is Augmented Reality?

              Augmented Reality essentially is a highly enhanced, interactive version of a real-world environment created with advanced digital audio and visual elements, and other sensory stimuli via holographic technology. It combines real-world and computer-generated content to give the user a more dynamic experience. Think Pokémon Go – the famous game where users are tasked to search for Pokémon in their real-life neighborhoods while animated characters pop up on their phone or tablet.
              Augmented reality has innumerable applications in the business world, from marketing and manufacturing to training and logistics, and with such a wide range of applications, it has enormous untapped potential that almost any business can apply and benefit from.

              Difference Between Augmented Reality And Virtual Reality

              Virtual Reality is widely famous as it has held the crown for a very long time, which could explain the common misconception that Augmented Reality is the same as Virtual Reality. There is one major difference between the two that sets the record straight – with virtual reality people can place themselves in virtual settings using their electronic gadgets but with augmented reality people can enhance real life with technologically created elements.
              A few of the other notable differences between the two are that Augmented Reality users can control their presence in the real world while Virtual Reality users are controlled by the system. Augmented Reality enhances both the virtual and real world while Virtual Reality only focuses on fictional reality.

              Examples of How Augmented Reality Is Making a Difference in Businesses

              The expectation that AR will overtake the market in no time is based on the fact the hardware required for this technology already exists and is widespread in its own way. Almost everyone has a mobile phone in their hands these days which is not only used for entertainment but also training, work, and business. People simply have to install an AR application or a standard Augmented Reality Browser to enable them to become part of the mixed reality.
              Listed below are a few of the many business areas in which AR has flourished:
              With AR, employees can undergo advanced-level training where they don’t just read about the situation they may encounter but actually experience them. AR in education allows companies to develop training that’s customized for individual employees and boosts the employee’s competence and confidence in their roles.
              A working application of this is seen in the medical field. CAE Healthcare is already working on a way to implement Microsoft’s HoloLens into training programs thus allowing physicians to practice complex medical procedures in a 3D environment before the actual surgery. This could quite literally change the way the world works.
              Businesses invested in designing and modeling will most likely benefit the most from AR. It can proffer companies with the ability to lay over 3D models into physical spaces thus allowing them to deliver stronger presentations and sales and marketing material. AR can also be used by designers to view a precise model of the product in the early stages of product design and development ensuring their plans are foolproof.
              Very often we find ourselves disappointed with a purchase we make and have to deal with the hassle of returning the product. AR is a brilliant fix for that. AR in retail offers a way for customers to try products before they buy. This boosts the brand or company’s customer satisfaction and ultimately raises sales.
              Sephora exemplifies this application with its app that allows customers to see how their makeup products will look before they can purchase them.
              Discover the future of shopping in smart malls with hyper-personalized experiences powered by Augmented Reality (AR). Immerse yourself in virtual try-on sessions, where you can visualize how clothing, accessories, and cosmetics look on you. Explore product visualization, allowing you to preview furniture and decor in your own space. Receive personalized recommendations based on your preferences and behavior, making your shopping journey truly tailored. Navigate effortlessly with AR-powered wayfinding, ensuring you easily find stores and amenities. Engage with interactive promotions and augmented displays, creating memorable and interactive moments. Experience the next level of shopping innovation.
              With the aid of AR, even inexperienced people can identify problems and perform repairs by following simple step-by-step instructions using AR overlays. This ultimately improves customer satisfaction by reducing downtime and the associated costs.
              Hyundai was the first mainstream automaker to launch an AR owner’s manual in 2015. The app contains how-to-videos, 3D images that appear when customers scan defective areas of their vehicle, and a number of informational guides.
              AR in industrial markets radically transforms the performance of many jobs. Technicians in the field will be able to communicate with remote staff and garner live support. It eradicates the grunt and guesswork from manual work and impressively streamlines processes.
              An inspiring example of this is NASA’s approach to removing the need for manuals and complex instructions by using Microsoft’s HoloLens while constructing new spacecraft.
              Similar to employee training, recruiting people can also be enhanced with AR. It will give the company a more detailed look into candidates’ skills, and potential and immerse them in a real work simulation to analyze them.

              Top Benefits Of Implementing Augmented Reality

              There are 9 major benefits of AR that cannot be undermined in any way. They are integral and have attracted innumerable brands because of their tangible and measurable results.
              This is perhaps the biggest benefit of AR as it creates unique digital experiences that combine the best of the digital and physical worlds. In addition to this, no special hardware or software is needed to luxuriate in the experience.
              Any brand’s biggest goal is excellent customer service, which will inevitably lead to better sales rates. AR takes this to the next level by giving customers an opportunity to experience the product more intimately and build better relationships with the brand.
              It’s hard to deny that machines help us manage processes and create new products and with this assistance, humans can make smart decisions and yield good results. When the mundane tasks of data processing and calculations are removed from an employee’s desk, there is more room for them to be creative and innovative. AR can handle all manual processes and data calculations with ease and hence enhances human work making it more productive and efficient.
              Time, being our most valuable asset, should not be wasted. A major aspect of work done depends solely on how much time is being spent and how much is efficiently used. AR aids in every stage of product production and allows businesses to work faster and earn more money. A faster resolution time saves money in the long run because the sooner a problem is fixed, the better and less costly it is.
              User engagement is like the stairway to many other benefits. In recent years, businesses have taken user engagement very seriously because it amplifies brand loyalty and can yield countless profits. From easy-to-scan product labels and interactive ads to catalogs and store signage, there are ample ways in which AR can be used to better user engagement.
              A real-life example of this is Pepsi’s most recent bus stop advertisement in London which caught a great amount of attention. It was created with Augmented Reality and is one of the best campaigns to showcase the advantage of AR.
              AR makes room for improvement in areas of production quality and drastically accelerates productivity safely. It also significantly reduces errors and guarantees greater compliance with company standards.
              Remote collaboration connects different departments in the organization and helps streamline and simplify inspections and accurately identify errors. It also provides the option to store any information gathered to be used as a basis for future analysis and training.
              AR has the biggest impact on marketing. Its attractive interface and exciting functions encourage more purchases. Companies that utilize AR have reported a drastic drop in product return rates. Businesses that use AR provide a better brand experience, let customers test products before purchasing them, and generate excitement in customers.
              Organizations spend a fortune on employee training sessions and programs to improve productivity. Practical training is a whole other issue, especially in manufacturing companies. AR helps with this process by creating immersive training modules that visualize and stimulate various scenarios for the training process. It can also evaluate the trainee and due to its specialty in customization, can help the trainee work on specific aspects that require improvement.
              Data becomes pivotal whether companies desire employee productivity evaluation or operational efficiency evaluation. Once again Augmented Reality comes to the rescue by creating engaging data analytics.
              Augmented reality can integrate analytics in real-time on-site for company operators and employees. Operators can easily monitor system performance in real-time and make necessary adjustments to improve efficiency.
              AR fabricates a visual representation of data with overviews that enables organizations to improve processes in real time. It also aligns the business goals with the data analytics system and effectively conducts critical in-depth analysis.
              It is important to stand out in a market where all competitors offer similar products at the same prices. Augmented Reality will push a business further with creative campaigns that will magnify them in a crowded market. AR is still fresh and it will definitely fascinate customers and make them want to try products that evoke joyful emotions in them.
              A splendid example of this is Nike. Although Nike plays in a largely populated market it was able to cement its position as a global brand and a pioneer in marketing with the help of its AR app. The app helps customers find their sizes easier by using the Augmented Reality tool. The tool utilizes a smartphone camera to scan the customers’ feet and displays the exact size of the customer. This avoids any sort of hassle and makes the entire shopping experience more exciting and easy.

              Top Industries Utilising Augmented Reality To Their Benefit

              The world does not stop for anyone. It is fast growing and even industries that once seemed like they would have no use for AR have found benefits from the technology.
              Listed below are a few of those industries and why they believe they immensely benefit from these innovative AR technologies.
              1. Manufacturing and Construction
              AR has deep potential in the construction industry and in its operations because manufacturing industries require immense attention to detail and great expertise. Augmented reality can help with intricate designs, making alterations, preventing rework, saving building costs and effective training. It can also improve safety and make sure that projects are complying with the right standards.
              Embark on the journey of designing your dream cabin with a 3D web configurator. Customize layouts, materials, colors, and fixtures to bring your vision to life. Experience the power of real-time updates and interactive exploration, allowing you to make informed decisions about your cabin’s design. Estimate material costs and align them with your budget, ensuring a well-planned project. Collaborate effortlessly by sharing your cabin design with family, architects, or contractors, fostering effective communication.
              2. Education
              For the longest time in history, we have used the same methods and regulations in education. Students and teachers are looking into different ways to make the tedious process of learning more engaging and beneficial. Students have started adopting AR/VR applications for a more interactive learning experience from the comfort of their own homes.
              Augmented Reality makes it possible to augment graphics generated by computers into the real environment on screen, meaning it does not necessarily replace the complete physical environment with a virtual environment. Instead, it simply integrates virtual objects into the real world.
              Students studying geometry can use AR applications to manipulate 3D geometric diagrams. Students can also use AR to learn global perspectives through virtual field trips. This enables them to interact more actively with other cultures. AR can be used in many levels of education, starting from schools where complex sciences such as biology, anatomy, physics, and even math can be made more interactive and engaging.
              At the college level, students studying medicine can learn anatomy and practice on virtual bodies with an AR app representation of the human body, universities providing courses in engineering, math, design, astronomy, and many more use augmented reality for a more engaging educational process. Additionally, AR also helps with distance learning and work training.
              3. Healthcare
              The field of Healthcare is brilliantly exploiting the advantages of AR technology as it possesses vast potential when applied correctly. Healthcare professionals, especially surgeons often find their attention divided between surgery and patient vitals. AR tools such as head-mounted displays, allow surgeons to concentrate on the surgery while having all the information they need about patient vitals right in front of their eyes.
              Medical students can also gain a more realistic hands-on experience with anatomy using holograms of bodies thus broadening their learning experience. AR-based medical applications assist people in learning about basic anatomy and first aid for unprofessional individuals and even professionals ranging from dentists to surgeons use these applications.
              In a more practical sense, AR in healthcare can be used in the field of medicine while; training residents, preparing surgeries, medical diagnosis and imaging, innovative drug information, and many more. There is great scope for AR in the field of medicine and every day it seems to be transforming the traditional medical process into more liberal processes.
              4. Real Estate
              The entire process of real estate hunting is ludicrous and tiring, AR has a way of making even this process easy and quick. Essentially everything from virtual property staging and property showcasing to 3D architectural visualization, AR is swiftly taking over the entire spectrum of transactions within the real estate market. People prefer to look for properties using a mobile website or app because of their busy schedules and as a result, there is great potential in taking advantage of innovative AR technologies to boost the consumer experience.
              AR gives clients the option to explore several properties with just a few clicks and enables them to tour all these properties virtually. This teleportation ability of AR saves valuable resources of time, energy, and money.
              People prefer to look for properties using a mobile website or app because of their busy schedule and as a result, there is great potential in taking advantage of innovative AR technologies to boost the consumer experience.
              5. E-Commerce
              The current world population of 7.9 billion and according to statistics over 2.14 billion shoppers now buy items online, which means that 27% of all people that are alive are digital buyers.
              The utilization of AR in online shopping heaved during the Covid-19 pandemic, due to restrictions on opening retail shops and lockdowns. Consumers had nowhere to go except resort to online shopping. Once customers were exposed to the immersive experiences of online shopping, they were dramatically attracted to the real-time interaction of products while staying at home on the couch.
              For most customers, the inability to try the products tends to block them from proceeding with the online purchase. Here AR can help brands and companies design software or apps that will give customers the chance to try the product before they enter their debit card number.
              Ikea, Nike and Sephora are leading examples of brands that use Augmented Reality to make their customer experience better and more effective.
              6. Automobiles
              Just like any other industry, the automobile industry has found ways to adapt AR into its plan. AR applications created for automobile manufacturing can improve training, throughput, and quality while also giving modern manufacturers a competitive edge.
              There is a rising demand for enhanced driving experience and safety concerns; AR is benevolent here with its AR Heads Up Displays (HUDs) and AR applications on smartphones for basic repairs and safe driving guidance. Companies can allow customers to customize and choose the car of their dreams without the necessity of physically going to the dealership.
              7. Food And Beverages Industry
              AR has surprisingly empowered restaurants, delivery services, and other vendors in the food and beverage service industry. It is involved in a variety of aspects, from streamlining staff training, enhanced information and inventory, all through visualizing dishes, live food packaging, and attractive menus ultimately enhancing the customer experience and making marketing campaigns viral.
              8. Travel Industry
              Traveling fundamentally is all about exploring new places, sightseeing, and basking in whatever beauty the destination has to offer. Here AR can enhance or even replace these experiences in various ways. From storytelling to GPS and navigation, AR can assist a user throughout their travel.
              AR plays a very crucial role in managing the tourism landscape and enhancing travel experiences for tourists. In today’s world, tourists and frequent travelers and everyone in the middle would love to be relieved of searching and booking tours with poor or mediocre assistance.
              The progression of AR in tourism looks rather promising and it has immense potential to transform innumerable aspects of traveling.
              9. Retail Sector
              Very often we find ourselves disappointed with a purchase we make and have to deal with the hassle of returning the product. AR is a brilliant fix for that. AR offers a way for customers to try products before they buy. This boosts the brand or company’s customer satisfaction and ultimately raises sales.
              Augmented Reality moves along sales by allowing customers to virtually wear or try the products before purchase. This is usually applicable in the world of clothes and makeup. It has many other applications too. For example, AR drastically helps with purchasing new furniture for your house. It assists in fitting rooms, detail product information, and builds brand awareness as well.

              Examples of AR in Action

              Augmented Reality has become a game changer in virtually every sector. Businesses have made creative use of this technology to design products that are helping them improve the customer experience, streamline their operations, accelerate growth and up their innovation factor. Here are some great examples.
              Zaubar facilitates city tours that are powered by AR to immerse users in 3D-based learning experiences. One of their noteworthy projects is a self-guided tour through the Dachau memorial site, as a tribute to the Liberation Day 75 years ago.

              The American Museum of Natural History in New York has launched its own Explorer app with AR functionality. It is a great tool to help students immerse themselves in the experience and become part of the story as their physical movements affect the projections around them.
              The GAMMA App is a tool used to make visual and interactive content easy to fabricate from raw data. It is powered by AI-designed tools that generate on-brand slides and beautiful presentations with a simple one-click template and zero code editing. It spots errors in construction before finishing the project, prevents reworking, tracks the construction process, and improves construction plans in the early stages.
              Bareburger, the successful east-coast burger chain replaced its paper menus with digital versions using AR. This version displays virtual images through the camera of a smartphone. Customers can simply scan a Snapcode, which is Snapchat’s version of a QR code, and place virtual meals on the table in front of them. They can see any dish they are ordering and even go through the list of ingredients. In response to the fascinating and surprisingly realistic presentations of food, many dishes and top-shelf cocktails are upsold.

              Another very intriguing and innovative use of AR by the food and beverage industry is seen in the new wine menu at 19 Crimes. When customers download the free app and hold it up to the label on the wine, it features an image of a former convict from the 18th century who was ostracized to Australia by the British, each for committing one of the 19 infamous crimes of the era. The animation explains what exactly happened and gives a richer experience to the wine. It piques both the taste buds and the minds of the customers.
              Toyota released a custom AR Solution to stimulate the driving environment to promote safe driving practices. When users scan the QR code, a 3D image of the new car is displayed on their electronic gadgets. They can then interact with this virtual display of the car by maneuvering the image as they please, adjusting its features and even taking the wheel for a test drive. The deftly integrated AR feature takes the experience to another level allowing users to view the car in their own surroundings, for example, they can simply point their phone at the driveway and the car can be viewed in that setting.
              The Tesco Discover app gamifies the in-store shopping experience of customers. With this app, the UK brand Tesco has been able to greatly increase customer engagement and sales. Customers can initially interact with 40 selected products by holding the Tesco product label, magazine or printed product information to a computer webcam in-store or online. This enables customers to make well informed purchases and saves the retailer from investing in floor-space
              RealAR is a program that combines Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence, which converts floor plans into walkthroughs. This gives the user an immersive experience of what it will be like to live in the house. RealAR easily integrates two-dimensional floor plans and three-dimensional models into full-blown life-size run through so you can skim through floor-plans and building designs thoroughly. This feature is immensely helpful to realtors who manage properties that are still under construction.
              A technology by Sync AR gives surgeons “X-ray vision.” According to an article, “The surgeon then uses this technology to shift back and forth between real human biological tissue and the augmented scan, which serves much like a map: highlighting crucial areas of a patient’s anatomy so a surgeon can consider the most efficient path to target a problem area, such as a brain tumor, and visualize its surroundings.”

              Sync AR overlay 360 degree rendering of live image and enable vision of anatomy from all angels, without adjusting any operative methods. This allows surgeons to view structures in the brain clearer, test new surgical tools and organize surgeries beforehand. All of these ultimately lead to improved precision and efficiency during complicated surgeries.
              Google Arts & Culture, for example, is working to unite AR/VR content with schools by diversifying learning beyond the classroom walls. While students focus on learning about a specific region, Google Arts & Culture has the ability to take the students on virtual field trips and display interesting facts about specific landmarks they experience in their virtual travels.

              Its built-in ARexhibits essentially lets users walk around museums without leaving their homes. They can riffle through the various categories of AR content, including Animals, Space, History, Art, Time travel, Museums and Architecture.

              Implementing Augmented Reality For Your Business [Step-by-step Process]

              Diving into a new technology may seem intimidating and daunting at first. But when you divide the process into simple executable chunks and take small basic steps, mastering a new technology becomes easy.
              Augmented Reality is an extremely futuristic technology and it gets us closer to the realization that it is bound to change every human interaction and every business process. While implementing AR, it is important to keep your teams, their mindset and knowledge, business goals, and strategies aiming toward the future.
              Here is a 5 step process that a business can effectively follow to successfully implement Augmented Reality in their Business Plan.

              1. Start With Small Pilot Projects

              Technology has the inevitable tendency to change every few years. Understandably, your teams may not be well-versed or up to date with AR and VR implementation, business impact, and consequences. It is unfair to expect teams to come up with a lucrative business plan using augmented and virtual reality overnight. Hence it is exceptionally important to implement small projects with small consequences to study and understand AR’s complete potential and to equip your teams with the technology.

              2. Build A Potent Team

              Augmented Reality will require a fully hands-on team but with a diligent and dedicated team almost anything is possible, so scout out and build your invincible team. Taking into consideration that the nature of the technology is rather new, you can either choose to create teams from inside your business’ technology team or hire new people who have a good understanding of the technology and are ready to explore it further.

              3. Educate And Train

              When the technology is as new as AR, it is imperative to adequately educate and train your team as the technology progresses. Training and skill development should not only be reserved for the employees who are working on implementing augmented reality but also across all business functions and operators for proper assimilation and seamless functioning.

              4. Strategize a Business Plan

              Having a solid business strategy is always important, especially when planning on implementing AR. Research well about the technology and how companies around the globe are utilizing and benefiting from it. While making this strategy, it is also vital to understand your customer’s needs, how they are using AR, and what business impact it would indent. Initially, you may not see a return on your AR and VR projects. Regardless of this, create strategies around conditioning your customer base and keeping them engaged, and look for small victories before advancing to bigger projects.

              5. Communications Plan

              Last but certainly not least, talk about it! Inform all internal and external stakeholders that your company is a technology-focused company and it is investing in augmented reality to create business value and enhance customer satisfaction. Maintain a continuous flow of information to ensure they are consistently informed about the pivot projects and the future outlook for both the company and the industry in relation to augmented reality services.

              Choosing The Right Augmented Reality Technology Partner

              If you plan on implementing AR into your business it is vital to know who to trust with your project. Something as important as this should not be taken lightly, any mishap could cost your business a fortune to fix. Any partner can hamper your hard work if they do not hold the same values for their products as you do.
              Here are 5 important things to consider when choosing a technology partner.

              How Fingent Can Help

              Fingent top custom software development company has a proven track record of enabling clients to deliver seamless experiences to their customers by leveraging technology to its fullest. Their AR Solutions effortlessly bridge the gap between consumers and sellers.
              Fingent provides in-store advanced experiences, AR product visualization, and interactive user manuals. With our expertise around ARTKit for IOS Platforms, Spark AR, Lens Studio, Vuforia, Web AR Solutions, and AR core for Android Platforms we create powerful user experiences that give clients a sharp competitive edge. Call us today and let’s discuss how AR can be used to revolutionize your business.

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                About the Author

                ...
                Vedavyas Shenoy

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                  “In the digital era, privacy must be a priority. Is it just me, or is secret blanket surveillance obscenely outrageous?” – Al Gore

                  The internet is a great big place with infinite doorways. It continuously upgrades, and with these upgrades come a lot of benefits, although sometimes risks may need to be taken. Open Source is one of the many great developments in computer technology.

                  Open source is quite literally everywhere. It surges with immense power and serves as a strong foundation for most commercial codebases. It is intricately intertwined with modern developments to such an extent that code owners are often ignorant of the open-source components in their own software.

                  In this article, we will briefly examine what Open Source is, its potential problems, how to solve these problems, and some best practices to follow when developing open-source software.

                  So buckle up; it’s quite a journey!

                  What Is Open Source?

                  Open Source software, in simple words, is software that is developed and maintained through open collaboration, transparency, and public updates. It is made available, usually at no cost, for anyone to access, examine, edit, and redistribute however they like.

                  Open source is widely exploited by many developers and software creators worldwide for its numerous benefits. An entire generation of open-source tools is said to have been developed and used today by software developers. They use open source to enhance their creation and troubleshoot issues with a comfortable sense of security and at a very low cost.

                  Although open source is famous for sparing companies the extravagant licensing cost, it can inflict other slightly less jarring costs such as network integration, end-user support, and IT support. These services are generally included with proprietary software.

                  Despite this minor shortcoming, most companies prefer open-source software as they consider it as reliable and secure as proprietary software and feel more at home with open-source solutions. This sense of control and belonging could be because, with open source solutions, developers can inspect the program code and understand exactly what they are affixing to their computing infrastructure.

                  Read more: Is Open Source The Crucial Catalyst For Your Digital Transformation?

                  Open Source

                  Potential Problems With Open-Source Software

                  As we’ve already seen above, Open Source can be a highly useful tool in software development, but due to its easily accessible nature, it tends to incur a few risks. Two of these risks are discussed in short below:

                  1. Long-term Sustainability

                  Sustainability in terms of software refers to the ability of a software program to be designed, developed, and implemented with a limited energy consumption rate and have the least amount of impact on the environment.

                  A recent article by Taylor & Francis Online stated that there are three distinct types of sustainability: Resource-based, interactional, and infrastructural. Resource-based sustainability refers to the ability of Open Source components to lure resources such as developers and high-value assets such as knowledge. Interactional sustainability deals with relationships that are created and sustained in open source. Finally, infrastructural sustainability, as the name suggests, deals with the infrastructure that is required for any work to be carried out.

                  2. Software Security

                  It is evident from all we have seen so far that security risks are prevalent in Open Source Software, and collaborating with these solutions can pose certain risks that require the company to be mindful. The use of open source software libraries has taken the world by storm and significantly impacted software security across various industries.

                  The 2023 report on Open Source Security and Risk Analysis (OSSRA), published by Synopsys, stated that the fraction of open source codebases with security vulnerabilities has consistently stayed relatively stable over the past two years.

                  The report also warned that considering how open source software is available as-is without any warranties, any risk that may occur solely falls on the shoulders of the user. This in turn makes the selection, security, and maintenance of Open Source Libraries the top priority in the software supply chain’s security.

                  Risk Management

                  Every form of growth in a company inevitably comes with its fair share of risks. These risks should not faze a business owner. Facing them head-on is the best solution; taking as many preventive steps as possible beforehand will help. Listed below are a few ways through which you can protect your organization and keep it locked and loaded:

                  1. Rely On Reputable Sources:

                  It is of the utmost importance that you use reputable sources when trying to download and access open-source software. This simple step will help ensure that the software you use is of good quality and has been appropriately examined and tested.

                  2. Ensure To Track The Licenses:

                  Keep a consistent track of the licenses associated with the open-source software you download and use. Doing so will ensure that you are not breaking any laws without your knowledge and are complying with the terms of the license.

                  3. Create An Open Source Policy:

                  Draft a crystal clear Open Source Policy to ensure that your company or organization is using the downloaded Open Source Software with diligence and is mindful of its sustainability.

                  4. Compatibility With Your Company:

                  This is a surprisingly underestimated risk management strategy. Always ensure that the Open Source Software you choose to implement meets your company’s needs and is aligned with your use case. This step involves examining the source code, software testing, and all relevant documentation.

                  5. Consider Using Assistant Tools To Help With The Process:

                  It is always wise to know when to ask for and when to accept help. There are many tools across the internet that can make the daunting process of tracking and managing open-source licenses easy. Use them. These tools can help decrease the chances of risk and can even foolproof your software.

                  6. Keep Up With The Trends:

                  In a world that is as fast-moving as ours, it would be foolish not to stay up-to-date with any new trends in the field of Open Source Software. Actively seek out these latest advancements in the open-source software world and how to implement them in your organization. Subscribing to relevant newsletters, following related blogs and social media accounts, and attending industry events can help you here.

                  7. Use Effective Integration Tools:

                  As mentioned earlier, using tools to help guide you through the process is solid advice, but the tools you use should also be effective. DevSec teams offer products and services that foster collaboration between DevOps and SecOps teams. These teams are highly reputable and widely used across the world. These teams can help you integrate security in your open-source software deftly from the very start.

                  Read more: How to ensure safe use of open source libraries.

                  Mitigate Risks and Leverage Strengths with the Right Partner

                  As is the case with many technological developments, Open Source has its fair share of benefits and risks too. It is cardinal to carefully analyze the security of Open Source Software before implementing it. Security should be the top priority of any company, and it should not be compromised at any cost.

                  Although Open Source Software may not be subjected to the same level of security testing as proprietary software, the entire process must not be neglected. Always remember that whatever risk is posed by these programs, careful planning and management can help you sail smoothly in heavy storms. Make a note to understand the risks and take wise precautions properly. This will help you incorporate and maintain strong security.

                  Fingent has worked with clients worldwide to build custom software solutions for them by leveraging several open source software development kits. Our experts know how to mitigate the risks and use the strengths of these software to create solutions that will catapult your business way ahead of the competition.

                  Give us a call, and let’s get to the details.

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                    About the Author

                    ...
                    Tony Joseph

                    Tony believes in building technology around processes, rather than building processes around technology. He specializes in custom software development, especially in analyzing processes, refining it and then building technology around it.He works with clients on a daily basis to understand and analyze their operational structure, discover (and not invent) key improvement areas and come up with technology solutions to deliver an efficient process.

                    Talk To Our Experts

                      SAP software, as most of us know, is a tool used to control all aspects of critical business functions specifically. It integrates and automates key processes, ultimately helping organizations run smoothly and effectively. It has improved and streamlined Transportation Management for many businesses as well. This article will discuss how it has done so and how you can implement it for your business.

                      Before we explore SAP Transportation Management, let us familiarize ourselves with what is involved in Transportation Management.

                      Understanding Transportation Management 

                      Transportation management is a vital aspect of a business’s supply chain. As the name suggests, at its core, transportation management involves the transport of goods in an efficient manner. This would include a host of tasks, which include ensuring that the right suppliers are selected, planning the logistical networks, analyzing the flow of goods, knowing what needs to be replenished and when, route and location planning, invoice processing, and much more.

                      Throughout these processes, the goal of transportation management must be cost optimization and ensuring a streamlined supply chain.

                      Read more: SAP Customer Experience: Creating Omni-channel Experiences.

                      SAP Customer Experience

                      Challenges In Transportation And Logistics Management

                      Throughout the supply chain, the goal of transportation management must be cost optimization and ensuring a streamlined supply chain. This is easier said than done, however. Here are a few challenges to efficient transportation management and logistics:

                      1. Cost Control

                      According to the 2019 Annual State of Logistics report, transportation alone costs US businesses over $1.04 trillion (or 10.4% of total revenue). Skyrocketing fuel prices, costs of raw materials and labor, and shipping and freight charges make it imperative for businesses to explore and employ strategies that will ensure cost efficiencies.

                      2. Data Management

                      Global supply chains have multiple data points. It is essential that data is synced accurately and collaboration across the data points is streamlined.

                      3. Higher expectations from customers

                      Customer expectations have shifted in this competitive market. They demand better service quality, delivery times, access to tracking information on their shipment, real-time updates, options to expedite delivery, and easy returns.

                      4. Demand Forecasting

                      Changing market trends, unexpected world events, and growing competition have made it difficult to predict demand and supply, which affects inventory management and logistics.

                      Overcoming Challenges with a Transportation Management System 

                      As the name suggests, a transportation management system is specialized software that plays an integral part in the supply chain in industries. It is used to plan, execute, and optimize the transportation of goods. Users mainly perform three tasks with the help of TMS:

                      • Explore and compare the prices of carriers available for shipment,
                      • book the desired shipment,
                      • and track its movement until delivery.

                      Transportation Management Software is also often used by logistics and supply chain management professionals serving manufacturers, distributors, and other industries.

                      Key Objectives and Benefits of Transportation Management Software 

                      TMS’s fundamental and foundational objectives are to transport goods with maximum efficiency. Its developing objective, however, is the overall improvement in visibility and security in transit. Some of the benefits of TMS are –

                      1. Reduce Freight Expenses

                      Expense is one of the top considerations when running a business. Cutting costs wherever possible is an intelligent decision and would greatly benefit your organization. An appropriate transportation management system will be able to analyze the financial aspects of the consignment by obtaining user-based suggestions for reducing charges in specific areas. Sometimes, these areas include fuel consumption, driver overtime, analytics, and optimization.

                      2. Track Deliveries In Real Time

                      A Transportation Management System allows tracking of where drives and shipments are in real-time. This informs the company about the amount of time a specific route takes and, in turn, creates more efficient route schedules. With this system, you can easily keep a tab on all your shipments at any time you wish.

                      3. Improve Warehouse Efficiency And Productivity

                      An efficient warehouse is key in any goods provider’s business, especially considering the constant flow of incoming and outgoing inventory. In this particular area, Transportation Management Software has gained exceptional functionality. When using this software, you do not have to worry about extensive expenses, which ultimately means that you can focus more time and energy on other tasks around the warehouse. TMS, when integrated into your other systems, will automate the data entry process and thus completely eradicate human error.

                      4. Increase Supply Chain Efficiency

                      Client satisfaction is the biggest priority in any organization. With the help of Transportation Management Software, logistical managers can detect and act on issues more efficiently. Transparency across the whole supply chain will greatly benefit the overall productivity of your employees. In addition to this, being able to access and incorporate real-time data analysis makes even mundane tasks exciting.

                      SAP Transportation Management: An Overview 

                      A SAP ERP module called SAP Transportation Management integrates fleet and logistics management across a user’s network to lessen the complexity of transportation. Essentially, SAP Transportation Management is an easy tool that utilizes analytical logistics to carry out a variety of tasks associated with the actual transfer of commodities from one area to another.

                      Core Components Of SAP Transportation Management

                      1. Freight order management

                      With SAP TM, you can use the forwarding order management tool to create, edit, and verify orders from your incoming parties. You can also create forwarding quotations, transportation routes, and transportation charges.

                      2. Transportation Planning And Optimization

                      Planning is the first step in any successful organization. A transportation plan can be created based on previous orders. This task can either be performed manually or automated with the help of advanced planning algorithms to boost optimization.

                      3. Carrier Selection And Booking

                      With SAP TM, the user can use the carrier selection tool to pick an appropriate carrier for their business documents manually or automatically. The general aim here is to choose the carrier with the lowest costs under constraints.

                      4. Freight Cost Management

                      With SAP TM, the cost of transportation management is top-notch. It moderates all processes involved in storage and transportation seamlessly. It uses standardized monitoring and active control to curb processing costs incurred during transit.

                      5. Track And Trace

                      A very alluring aspect of SAP TM is its ability to track and trace the movement of goods in real-time, whether they are shipped by land, sea, or air. TMS software also improves the client experience through this process and simplifies the billing and payment processes.

                      Implementation And Deployment Options 

                      The SAP S/4HANA solution, which houses the SAP Transportation Management Module, has options for deployment in a public cloud, a private cloud, or on-premise to cater to customer needs. The vast ocean of pre-delivered business applications and processes helps clients organize supply chains, networks, customers, employees, and core processes.

                      Fundamentally, there is only one major difference between cloud-based deployment and on-premise deployment: where they reside. Cloud software is housed on the vendor’s server and accessed through a web browser, while on-premise software is downloaded locally on business computers and servers.

                      Read more: How Transportation Management Systems Benefit Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Service Providers.

                      logistics management solutions

                      Best Practices When Implementing The SAP Transportation Management Module 

                      . Listed below are some best practices that can improve your implementation process and the user experience while implementing the SAP S/4HANA solution:

                      1. Analysis of Business Processes For Various Industries

                      Do considerable research and try to analyze how other businesses with the same solution have progressed and how they utilize the solution.

                      2. Configuring S/4HANA

                      This step takes immense precision, so it is best to trust a professional with this task. Make sure that whoever you partner with is experienced and compatible with you.

                      3. Data Migration

                      It is very important to ensure that all of your important company data is safely migrated into the new solution and that none of that delicate information is lost in the process. This is another reason why hiring professional help during implantation is vital.

                      4. Integration With Cloud Solutions Like SAP Ariba Or Successfactors

                      Alongside SAP TM module implementation, include the integration of other modules to help your company move further along at a faster pace.

                      5. Calculate The Total Cost Of Ownership

                      This simply refers to summing the overall purchase price of your SAP module with the cost of operating or managing it. TCO helps you take a bigger picture of your asset and how its value will differ over time while considering the cost implications of such modules.

                      Industry Use Cases of SAP Transportation Management 

                      It is not surprising that nearly every industry has already found ways to integrate SAP TM into their business plans, from construction to life sciences, using a transportation management system. Listed below are some of the industries that are most impacted by this module of SAP:

                      1. Retail And Consumer Goods

                      In retail businesses, SAP TM streamlines business processes, enhances data analysis and reporting capabilities and centralizes data from different sources to avoid scattered data storage.

                      2. Manufacturing And Distribution

                      SAP TM helps synchronize data across the company, allows everyone involved in the project to access data quickly, and reduces the time taken to market the product.

                      3. Automotive And Transportation Services

                      Here, the SAP solution consistently updates the employees about any engineering changes, optimizes resources, minimizes downtime, and addresses process inadequacies.

                      4. Pharmaceuticals And Healthcare

                      In this industry, SAP TM can assist with tracking unique products across the globe, managing the supply chain, and providing various product serial number data to verify regulatory reporting.

                      How Fingent Can Help

                      Fingent is one of the world’s leading technology solution providers, with clients from over four different continents.

                      As a client-centered service with open lines of contact, Fingent offers qualified professionals. To make your SAP S/4HANA deployment process simple and perfect, our specialists use the most recent and rapidly developing innovative technology. We are readily available at every stage of the implementation process and also offer top-notch post-implementation assistance by keeping track of performance, responding to user comments, and making any necessary fixes.

                      Reach out to us, and let’s discuss what we can do for your business.

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                        About the Author

                        ...
                        Ashok Kumar

                        Ashok leads Fingent’s SAP Consulting practice for ANZ, SE Asia, The Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and other global clients. More specifically, he helps companies improve operational efficiency by enhancing their digital cores and improving their application integration. Ashok has amassed over 20 years of leadership and consulting experience having worked with Global giants like SAP, IBM Consulting, Capgemini, & Oracle in his previous assignments. Connect with Ashok via LinkedIn and learn how your business can excel with recent SAP trends.

                        Talk To Our Experts

                          Today’s businesses aren’t content with revolving orbits; they’re reaching out for galaxies. Are you one of them? AI can get you there. By equipping your enterprise software with a powerhouse of resources, AI can help your business reach heights never explored before. This article will show you how.

                          Reaching Heights With AI

                          Imagine for a moment you’re standing at the launching pad with a rocket-fueled and ready. In this case, the rocket is your enterprise software – a powerhouse of technology, promise, and potential. But just having a rocket won’t send you hurtling toward the stars. There’s a cosmic force waiting to be harnessed – Artificial Intelligence (AI).

                          Think of AI as the navigation system that charts a course beyond the atmosphere of conventional operations, taking your enterprise to breathtaking heights. While software handles routine tasks, AI extends your reach, guiding your decisions with insights. Just as astronauts trust their instruments in uncharted space, your business relies on AI to navigate complexities, foresee trends, and make informed choices.

                          AI isn’t merely a tool; it’s a decoder that reveals patterns, predicts possibilities, and equips your organization to make strategic leaps forward. Just as a rocket maneuvers through space, AI-enhanced software propels your enterprise through a dynamic market, automating complexities and boosting growth.

                          Read more: How AI-based Code Generation Tools are Revolutionizing Industries.

                          AI-based code generation tools

                          Elevating Business Excellence Beyond Software Implementation

                          Building a thriving business is not merely assembling a puzzle; you need to build a dynamic masterpiece that can adapt, grow, and stay ahead of the game. That’s why thinking beyond simply implementing software is like adding a dash of genius to your strategy.

                          Your customers deserve a seamless and delightful experience. AI will help you go beyond implementation. You’re not just giving them a product; you’re crafting an adventure they’ll want to return to with updates and features that improve their journey.

                          When implementing AI, you are not just wielding a single power but exploring new abilities. By watching for the latest tech trends, you’re adding new tools to your utility belt, ensuring you can face any challenge head-on. And turn your challenges into triumphs.

                          So, let’s blast off into a future by considering specific realms where thinking beyond software is the norm, and AI is the rocket fuel of progress.

                          AI Empowers Enterprise Efficiency: Elevating Operations Across Diverse Realms

                          Incorporating AI intelligence into enterprise software can transform various aspects of business operations, boosting functional efficiency across different realms. Just as a rocket reaches new heights with precision and power, AI-infused enterprise software takes your efficiency to unparalleled realms across diverse domains.

                          Let’s break down how AI can enhance efficiency in the following scenarios:

                          1. Flawless Dispatch and Scheduling: The AI Thrust

                          Visualize AI as your mission control center, ensuring dispatches and schedules operate with pinpoint accuracy. AI can optimize dispatching and scheduling by analyzing real-time data, such as traffic conditions, weather, and job priorities.

                          Like a mission planner, AI optimizes routes and timing, minimizing downtimes and maximizing resource utility. Your operations glide seamlessly, guaranteeing on-time arrivals and delighted customers. It can automatically assign tasks to the right resources, minimizing travel time and maximizing productivity. This results in faster response times, reduced operational costs, and improved customer satisfaction.

                          2. HR Onboarding, Rocketed by AI Prowess

                          AI can be compared to a co-pilot for HR, navigating through onboarding with finesse. With AI’s assistance, paperwork is streamlined, training needs are anticipated, and personalized experiences await your new crew members. Your team steps into their roles with confidence, accelerating productivity.

                          AI-powered tools can streamline onboarding by automating administrative tasks, providing personalized training plans, and offering interactive modules for new hires. This accelerates the time it takes for new employees to become productive and minimizes manual intervention by HR staff.

                          3. Claims Management: AI’s Turbo Boost 

                          Consider AI your claims turbocharger, rocketing through paperwork at lightning speed. Just as a turbocharger enhances engine performance, AI can quickly review and process claims documents, extracting relevant information and identifying patterns to detect fraudulent claims. This speeds up the claims management process, reduces errors, and improves claims processing accuracy.

                          4. Supplier Audits: AI’s Navigator

                          Think of AI as your supplier audit navigator, equipped with advanced radar for data scrutiny. With AI’s precision, audits become comprehensive and insightful. AI can analyze supplier data, performance metrics, and historical trends to prioritize supplier audits based on risk and importance. It can provide actionable insights and recommendations to auditors, enabling them to focus on critical areas and make informed decisions efficiently.

                          5. Instant Work Instructions: AI’s Inflight Guidance

                          Like a co-pilot giving live directions, AI ensures your team has immediate, accurate guidance. AI-powered systems can provide real-time, context-aware work instructions to employees on the shop floor. Since it can deliver step-by-step guidance and troubleshooting assistance, efficiency soars as your workforce executes tasks precisely.

                          6. Revolutionizing Asset Trading: AI-Driven Trajectory

                          With AI’s guidance, asset trading becomes strategic and informed. Your decisions are empowered by AI’s data-driven analytics, allowing you to navigate market fluctuations with confidence. AI can analyze market trends, historical data, and customer preferences to provide valuable insights for asset trading decisions. This helps businesses make informed choices, optimize pricing strategies, and seize trading opportunities, improving profitability.

                          7. AI’s Galactic Odyssey: Efficiency Beyond Boundaries 

                          Today’s enterprises are embarking on an AI-powered odyssey, rewriting efficiency. By infusing AI intelligence into your enterprise software, you’re not merely embracing technology but launching your efficiency into the stratosphere of possibility. AI becomes the booster rocket that propels your operations into a new era.

                          As the architect of this transformative mission, AI ensures that each operational phase is executed with precision, guiding your enterprise to excel in once unimaginable ways.

                          Read more: Boosting customer experience with AI.

                          customer experience

                          Fingent Can Help You Unleash AI-driven Brilliance in Your Software

                          In a world where business success hinges on innovation, Fingent emerges as the guiding light, igniting a transformative spark in your enterprise. Imagine if your software could perform tasks, think, learn, and evolve. That’s the power of infusing artificial intelligence, and Fingent, as an esteemed enterprise software development company, is your key to unlocking this potential.

                          At Fingent, we don’t just develop software; we cultivate digital minds that enhance your business’s cognitive capabilities. We’re not just developers; we’re architects of intelligence. Our experts at Fingent wield the brush of advanced algorithms, crafting solutions that empower your software to analyze data, make informed decisions, and continuously enhance its own performance.

                          Reach out to us and allow us to transform your software.

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                            About the Author

                            ...
                            Tony Joseph

                            Tony believes in building technology around processes, rather than building processes around technology. He specializes in custom software development, especially in analyzing processes, refining it and then building technology around it.He works with clients on a daily basis to understand and analyze their operational structure, discover (and not invent) key improvement areas and come up with technology solutions to deliver an efficient process.

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                              Regardless of its size, every business needs to work seamlessly with perfect efficiency to stand out and be noticed. Among the many different essentialities that course through the veins of a business, data allocation and decision-making are two important ones. Although it may seem like just a part of the nitty gritty, it plays a paramount role.

                              In this article, we will understand what data allocation is all about, and we will familiarise ourselves with how SAP Analytics Cloud can help with data allocation.

                              Understanding Data Allocation 

                              Before we move any further, let us first thoroughly understand data allocation. Data Allocation is essentially an intelligent distribution system that places your data fragments into sets to improve overall database performance. It also drastically reduces the costs of transaction processing and enables owners to distribute revenue, expense, and statistical amounts across multiple business units, departments, and even other businesses.

                              Traditional data systems such as data warehouses and relational databases have existed for nearly 30 years. Although “old is gold,” it does not apply in this case. These traditional, or quite frankly outdated, systems have many challenges that cannot always be overlooked. A few of these key challenges faced by traditional data allocation methods that lead to the creation of modern systems are –

                              • Large data is too big for traditional storage
                              • Data can be of higher complexity
                              • Data quality tends to drop during allocation

                              There are many reasons why data allocation is beneficial to a business in terms of its performance and decision-making; listed below are some of those benefits:

                              • Employees’ relief data allocation removes a lot of unnecessary strain from accountants or employees as it eradicates the mundane nature of this task.
                              • Client satisfaction An optimal resource allocation system identifies the most appropriate team with complementing skills that cross-section to deliver perfect results for the project.
                              • Increased decision-making accuracy With the correct data and analytics tools, businesses can make accurate and appropriate decisions in real time, ultimately leading to an increase in accuracy and efficiency.
                              • Boosts risk management and mitigation By allocating data, businesses have a better insight into any potential risks and can take proactive measures to mitigate them deftly. This can help your business avoid costly mistakes and prepare you for the impact of unforeseen attacks.

                              Introduction To SAP Analytics Cloud 

                              SAP, short for Systems, Applications, and Products, is a leading software company founded in 1972. It is essentially a software supplier, and ERP software systems are created and supervised by SAP. SAP Analytics Cloud was released in 2015 and is a cloud product that offers services (SaaS) for business intelligence (BI), planning, and predictive analytics. Its united and highly secure cloud maximizes data-driven decision-making for businesses.

                              The three fundamental components of SAP are:

                              • Business Planning – for data collection and analysis
                              • Business Intelligence – for reporting, data discovery, and visualization
                              • Predictive Analytics – for future-proofing and compliance

                              The SAP Analytics Cloud comes with several benefits, including enterprise planning tools and tools to align your company’s expenses and cost strategies. These are helpful in fields like HR, Sales, IT, and Marketing.

                              The SAP Analytics Cloud’s allocations feature is a widely famous and useful tool for businesses to analyze and designate values on objects on the driver. Regardless of whether you are a seasoned SAP Analytics Cloud user or a novice to the platform, the cloud has a solution to almost any problem a user may face. With its seamless integration, enticing design, and advanced capabilities, this Cloud offers a compactable solution for large and small businesses with customizable dashboards, enhanced reporting features, and easy-to-use tools.

                              Read more: SAP Customer Experience: Creating Seamless Omni-Channel Experiences.

                              SAP Customer Experience

                              Optimizing Data Allocation With SAP Analytics Cloud 

                              Optimization of data is the process of extracting, analyzing, and storing data for maximum efficiency. There are innumerable optimization tools on the internet, and although they each have their own unique features, SAP Analytics Cloud is known to be the best. With this solution, there is a wide array of optimization under-structures. A few of them are Browser/Client Optimization, Analytical Application Optimization, Story Optimization, Planning and Data Action Optimization, Network Optimization, and Backend Optimization.

                              SAP Analytics Cloud fulfills the needs of data visualization, budget planning, and predictive analytics perfectly. SAP developed it as an unabridged SaaS-based product that would have no shortcomings. It holds up this reputation by covering a wide range of needs, from data visualization, budget planning, and predictive analytics to automated data allocation, collaborative planning and budgeting, centralized data repository, and real-time integration.

                              Use Case: Successful Implementation Of SAP Analytics Cloud For Data Allocation 

                              It must already be clear by now that SAP Analytics Cloud is a brilliant tool that can benefit any organization that uses it. Digressing from it will weaken your business’s reputation and functioning. This cloud system is put to extensive use in many sectors of society; three of the major sectors are:

                              • Financial Sector – It is used for large-scale budget streamlining and forecasting analytics processes.
                              • Manufacturing Industry – In this industry, the cloud allocates resources and optimizes production planning.
                              • Retail Sector – The retail sector has recently tapped into the potential of SAP Analytics, and they enjoy it completely by using it for managing inventory and demand chain predictions.

                              Best Practices For Implementing SAP 

                              Similar to the implementation processes of many advanced technologies, even SAP Analytics Cloud has a set pattern to follow for maximum efficiency.

                              1. Define Clear Data Allocation Objectives And KPIs

                              Starting with a crystal clear vision always helps. Keep your Business Intelligence and Business planning locked and loaded before the implementation begins.

                              2. Collaborative Planning And Involving Stakeholders

                              This step is usually overlooked, but that would be a mistake. It is imperative to keep your business stakeholders in the loop for any implementation as it will cost the organization money, and stakeholders need to be able to organize a budget for it. Collaborative planning within the company will also boost the process and make it more secure.

                              3. Ensuring Data Accuracy And Integrity

                              This can be achieved through proper validation and cleansing. Running through multiple models before the final implementation is vital. Business data is highly confidential; therefore, ensuring its accurate integration and clear integrity is a top priority.

                              4. Continuous Monitoring And Optimization Of Data Allocation Processes

                              The last practice would be to complete maintenance after implementation. Aftercare is important. Keep an active eye on the cloud’s allocation processes and optimization habits.

                              Future Trends And Innovations In SAP Analytics Cloud  

                              The SaaS service is an ever-evolving and continuously progressing service with new features consistently popping up. The future of SAP Analytics Cloud is bright, and investing in it at the earliest is a great way to be a part of this future. Three of the biggest trends and innovations in SAP Analytics Cloud are:

                              1. Integration With Emerging Technologies

                              The involvement of any form of advanced emerging technology already promises a skyrocketing rate of progress. These technologies will enable SAP Analytics Cloud with real-time integration and processing, among many other things.

                              2. Embedded Analytics And Real-Time Insights For Faster Decision Making

                              Alongside data allocation, SAP Analytics Cloud thrives in efficient decision-making. With its embedded analytics and consistent real-time insights, the whole daunting decision-making process will be overtaken by this cloud.

                              3. Predictive Analytics For Proactive Resource Allocation And Forecasting

                              Lastly, this cloud service is bound to enhance its predictive analytics for more appropriate resource allocation and demand predictions. This is probably the most impactful trend that can emerge in SAP Analytics Cloud as it can make your business future-proof and ready.

                              Read more: A Simple Guide To Handling Common SAP Errors & Troubleshoots.

                              SAP Errors

                              How Fingent Can Help

                              Fingent provides certified experts for a client-centered service with transparency and good communication. These experts utilize the latest and fast-emerging advanced technology to make your SAP S/4HANA implementation process easy and flawless. We assist our clients through every step of the implementation process and even provide excellent post-implementation support by monitoring performance, addressing user feedback, and providing any necessary fixes.

                              Give us a call, and let’s talk about how we can make SAP Analytics Cloud work for you.

                              Stay up to date on what's new

                                About the Author

                                ...
                                Ashok Kumar

                                Ashok leads Fingent’s SAP Consulting practice for ANZ, SE Asia, The Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and other global clients. More specifically, he helps companies improve operational efficiency by enhancing their digital cores and improving their application integration. Ashok has amassed over 20 years of leadership and consulting experience having worked with Global giants like SAP, IBM Consulting, Capgemini, & Oracle in his previous assignments. Connect with Ashok via LinkedIn and learn how your business can excel with recent SAP trends.

                                Talk To Our Experts

                                  In the fast-paced world of business, where attention spans are shrinking and competition is fierce, a successful product launch can make all the difference.

                                  You’ve invested countless hours refining your product, and now, armed with enthusiasm, you unleash it onto the world with a dazzling demo. But wait – the anticipated traction is not materializing as expected. Why aren’t those product demos generating the buzz they deserve?

                                  The answer is: The Experience Factor!

                                  A demo isn’t just a monologue; it’s an experience. Engage your audience, invite them to interact, and make them a part of the journey. Show, don’t just tell. Create an environment where they can visualize how your product will seamlessly integrate into their lives or businesses. An immersive experience can leave a lasting impression, making your demo unforgettable.

                                  Enter Augmented Reality (AR), a groundbreaking technology that has the potential to reshape the way we approach product demonstrations in the modern era.

                                  What is a Product Demo? 

                                  A product demo is a captivating showcase that goes beyond bullet points, offering a firsthand experience of a product’s capabilities. It’s your chance to bridge the gap between specs and reality, transforming mere potential into tangible value.

                                  In the not-so-distant past, product demos took place in boardrooms, where physical prototypes and eloquent speeches reigned supreme. Today’s successful demos are about more than just features – they’re about engaging narratives, relatable experiences, and real-world solutions that resonate with a global audience.

                                  Read more: 7 Ways Augmented Reality Will Transform Experiential Marketing in 2023 and Beyond!

                                  experiential marketing

                                  Is AR Key to Successful Product Demos?

                                  While AR isn’t the only ingredient in the recipe for a successful product demo, its charismatic allure undeniably transforms the way we showcase products. By harnessing AR’s capacity to blend reality with the extraordinary, you open doors to unparalleled engagement, experiential storytelling, and a sense of wonder that captivates audiences like never before.

                                  As the lines between virtual and physical continue to blur, one thing remains certain: AR holds the key to unlocking a new era of captivating, compelling, and unforgettable product demos.

                                  AR lets you add virtual layers to the world around you, all through the lens of a device like a smartphone or AR glasses. It’s as if your reality gains an extra dimension – a dimension where products come alive to showcase their features and capabilities.

                                  AR Redefines Product Demos: Use Cases

                                  With AR, your customer need not be guessing and hoping – they get to see exactly how the product fits into your world. But AR doesn’t stop there. It’s not just about seeing products in your space – it’s about interacting with them too. Let’s now consider a few use cases.

                                  1. Interactive product demos

                                  AR lets you do all this and more. It’s like having a futuristic playground where you can experiment with products before making a decision.

                                  Case Study: Captivating 385 Million

                                  Challenge: Pepsi Max aimed to share their “Live For Now” brand message through an interactive digital OOH campaign that would resonate with its audience.

                                  Solution: The interactive product demo with AR transformed a mundane bus shelter display into a captivating window to augmented reality. Using bespoke 2D and 3D elements merged seamlessly with the live street view through depth mapping; they orchestrated scenes beyond imagination. These unbelievable moments were captured on day one and spun into a captivating social film for online sharing.

                                  Results: The campaign’s impact was nothing short of remarkable. The YouTube views surged to an astonishing 8 million, with 3 million views achieved within a mere 5 days. The campaign sparked a global PR frenzy, engaging a massive audience of 385 million. Renowned media outlets like ITN, CNN, and BBC Click couldn’t resist the allure and featured the viral video, also spotlighting the underlying technology. Sales of Pepsi Max soared by an impressive 35% YoY during the campaign’s month. The campaign’s brilliance and ingenuity were recognized with over 20 awards, including the prestigious Bronze Outdoor Lion.

                                  2. 360 Product demo

                                  The prowess of a well-crafted 3D product demo not only slashes redundant explanations but also conserves precious time and resources for your team.

                                  Empower your clientele with the ability to explore your offerings from every perspective, delve into intricate details up close, and actively engage with your product. The future of showcasing is here – make it yours.

                                  Case study: Converting curiosity into confident purchases

                                  Problem: Heals recognized a common challenge faced by customers – the quest for the perfect furniture piece transcending the expertise of interior designers. Its customers needed a way to envision how each piece would fit into their spaces before making a decision. This lack of visualization often posed a hurdle in the purchasing process.

                                  Solution: Heals ingeniously integrated 360-degree spin product views into their offerings. While others offer zoom features and color options, Heals takes it a step further. They allow shoppers to envision how each piece seamlessly fits into their living rooms, bedrooms, or dens. This transformative touch helps shoppers convert their browsing curiosity into confident purchases.

                                  Result: Furniture shopping is a natural ally in 360-degree product viewers, especially because these pieces often get shipped to customers’ homes. The tactile experience is absent in this scenario, but Heals bridges the gap. By offering this immersive experience, they empower customers to finalize their decisions and confidently click “buy now.” Heals doesn’t just sell furniture; they sell confidence and certainty in each purchase.

                                  4. 3D AR product catalog

                                  A 3D catalog is a digital collection of products showcased in three-dimensional space, enabling users to interactively explore and view items from different angles, providing a lifelike experience for better understanding and decision-making. It offers a dynamic alternative to traditional static catalogs, allowing customers to engage more deeply with products before purchasing.

                                  Case study: Matching Evolving Market Demands

                                  Problem: Cisco, a frontrunner in technology, faced the challenge of enhancing its 3D interactive catalog, developed back in 2006, to match evolving market demands.

                                  Solution: In 2017, Cisco elevated its game by transforming its extensive inventory of 800+ 3D products into immersive 360-degree photo-realistic AR designs. These designs could be activated across multiple devices, transcending the realm of mobile phones.

                                  Results: Cisco’s investment reaped rapid rewards. The AR catalog triggered a remarkable 9% surge in booth traffic YoY at trade shows. Attendees spent more time at the booth, fueling heightened engagement levels. Moreover, the catalog slashed product shipping costs by an impressive 65% and armed salespeople with an expanded array of accessible products. Cisco’s strategic move didn’t just address their challenge – it revolutionized their engagement and operational efficiency.

                                  Read more: Augmented Reality In Retail Reimagining the Future Of Shopping

                                  Utilize AR for Your Product Launch and Product Demo with Fingent!

                                  We at Fingent top software development company know the secret recipe: we blend your product’s essence with AR magic. Imagine your audience entering a world where your product isn’t just shown but comes alive. Fingent crafts AR experiences that let customers interact, explore, and feel your product – like they’re part of a captivating story.

                                  But it doesn’t stop at the launch – we transform product demos where customers don’t just watch a demo; they experience it. Your product becomes more than a concept; it’s a tangible adventure they can touch, see, and believe in.

                                  Fingent’s expertise isn’t just about the technology but your success. We tailor augmented reality solutions to your brand, ensuring your message resonates with customers. We guide you through the process, making the seemingly complex delightfully doable. Fingent doesn’t just help you implement AR; we create an immersion, a connection, and a memory etched in minds.

                                  Give us a call, and let us turn your business dreams into reality.

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                                    About the Author

                                    ...
                                    Tony Joseph

                                    Tony believes in building technology around processes, rather than building processes around technology. He specializes in custom software development, especially in analyzing processes, refining it and then building technology around it.He works with clients on a daily basis to understand and analyze their operational structure, discover (and not invent) key improvement areas and come up with technology solutions to deliver an efficient process.

                                    Talk To Our Experts

                                      Businesses find themselves at a critical juncture as customer expectations soar and their loyalty hangs by a thread. The key to captivating and retaining customers lies in mastering the art of seamless omni-channel experiences—an unparalleled approach that fuels growth, builds unbreakable bonds, and sets organizations apart in the digital era. 

                                      Embracing this transformative strategy is no longer a choice but a necessity. Thankfully, at the forefront stands SAP Customer Experience, empowering businesses to redefine the very essence of customer engagement.

                                      In this blog, we dive into the crucial significance of delivering seamless omni-channel experiences in the digital era and explore the pivotal role played by SAP Customer Experience in achieving omni-channel excellence. We will also take a look at the success stories of industry-leading companies that benefited from SAP customer experience. 

                                      Meaning and Significance of Omni-Channel Customer Experiences

                                      Today, customers’ journey has become complex and dynamic. It spans various touchpoints such as websites, mobile apps, social media platforms, physical stores, and more. 

                                      Omni-channel experiences refer to the seamless integration and synchronization of these channels, providing customers with a consistent and cohesive journey regardless of the device or platform they choose to engage with. 

                                      It involves delivering a unified and personalized experience that transcends individual touchpoints. To achieve success most businesses have adopted SAP customer experience. Let’s delve into it to understand how it can enhance omni-channel experience.

                                      SAP Customer Experience – Where the Boundaries Between Channels Dissolve

                                      SAP Customer Experience stands as a transformative force, reshaping how businesses engage with their customers across the entire journey. From capturing initial interest to post-purchase satisfaction, SAP Customer Experience covers every aspect of the customer lifecycle, enabling organizations to forge lasting relationships and foster brand loyalty.

                                      By leveraging the power of integrated data, intelligent insights, and personalized content, SAP Customer Experience empowers organizations to deliver consistent, contextual, and captivating experiences across every touchpoint. 

                                      With SAP Customer Experience, businesses can unlock the true potential of omni-channel excellence, creating a symphony of interactions that resonate with customers on a profound level. By seamlessly connecting commerce, marketing, sales, service, and customer data, SAP Customer Experience sets the stage for organizations to thrive in the digital era, building lasting customer relationships and achieving unparalleled success.

                                      SAP Customer Experience- Where Extraordinary Customer Experiences Take Center Stage

                                      SAP customer experience strategies not only meet customers’ rising expectations but also provide valuable insights into their preferences and behaviors, enabling organizations to make data-driven decisions and tailor their offerings more effectively. Consider a few key elements of a successful omni-channel strategy:

                                      • Weaving the Threads of Connection: Like the threads woven meticulously into the fabric, a successful omni-channel strategy integrates various channels, ensuring they work harmoniously to deliver a consistent and unified brand experience.
                                      • Insights as Your North Star: By leveraging data from various channels, you gain a deep understanding of your customers’ preferences, behaviors, and needs. These insights fuel your strategy, allowing you to create highly personalized experiences that resonate with each individual.
                                      • Personalization: Just as a perfectly tailored suit enhances confidence, personalization in the omni-channel realm enhances customer satisfaction. By tailoring content, recommendations, and promotions to individual preferences, you create meaningful connections that build loyalty and trust.
                                      • Orchestrating Symphony of Consistency: Consistency across channels is the melodic backbone of your strategy. From the visual identity to the tone of voice, maintaining a consistent brand presence reinforces recognition and cultivates a sense of trust among customers.
                                      • Real-Time Responsiveness: Being able to engage with customers in real-time enables you to provide immediate support, address concerns, and deliver personalized offers. This responsiveness creates a delightful experience that makes customers feel heard and valued.
                                      • Seamlessness: Customers should effortlessly move between channels, with their journey continuing seamlessly, preserving their progress, preferences, and context.

                                      Read more: Optimizing SAP Systems for Better Performance.

                                      SAP system

                                      Real-World Success Stories of SAP Customer Experience Implementation

                                      SAP Customer Experience presents compelling use cases for different industries and challenges. By leveraging the suite’s capabilities, organizations can overcome the challenges they face, be it in retail, e-commerce, or B2B sectors. From creating a unified shopping experience, and driving personalization, to streamlining sales processes and enhancing customer service, SAP Customer Experience provides the solutions needed to achieve omni-channel excellence and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

                                      1. Retail industry: Creating a unified shopping experience across online and offline channels

                                      Challenge: The retail industry faces the challenge of bridging the gap between online and offline channels to deliver a seamless shopping experience. Customers expect consistent product information, pricing, and promotions regardless of whether they interact with a brand online or in a physical store. Aligning inventory, customer data, and processes across these channels becomes crucial for success.

                                      Solution: SAP Customer Experience offers a comprehensive solution for retailers to overcome this challenge. By integrating SAP Commerce Cloud with their existing systems, retailers can synchronize product catalogs, pricing, and inventory in real-time. This ensures that customers receive accurate and consistent information, whether they browse online or visit a store. Additionally, features like click-and-collect and endless aisle empower retailers to offer flexible shopping options, creating a unified experience that seamlessly blends online and offline channels.

                                      2. E-commerce sector: Driving personalized recommendations and targeted marketing campaigns

                                      Challenge: E-commerce businesses strive to deliver personalized experiences that resonate with customers, driving engagement and conversions. However, understanding customer preferences, delivering relevant recommendations, and executing targeted marketing campaigns at scale can be a significant challenge.

                                      Solution: SAP Marketing Cloud, a component of SAP Customer Experience, equips e-commerce businesses with the tools to address this challenge. By leveraging customer data, machine learning, and predictive analytics, SAP Marketing Cloud enables businesses to understand individual customer preferences and behavior. This valuable insight fuels personalized product recommendations, tailored content, and targeted marketing campaigns across various channels. The result is a highly engaging and relevant experience that resonates with customers, increasing conversions and fostering brand loyalty.

                                      3. B2B organizations: Streamlining sales processes and enhancing customer service through omni-channel support

                                      Challenge: B2B organizations often have complex sales cycles and multiple touchpoints for customer interactions. The challenge lies in streamlining these processes and providing consistent support across channels while maintaining personalized and high-quality customer service.

                                      Solution: SAP Sales Cloud and SAP Service Cloud, components of SAP Customer Experience, are tailored to address the unique needs of B2B organizations. SAP Sales Cloud offers comprehensive sales management tools, empowering sales teams with real-time insights, streamlined processes, and collaborative capabilities. This allows for efficient management of complex sales cycles and ensures a consistent experience for customers, regardless of the channel they engage through.

                                      Watch now: Why Businesses Should Opt for SAP to Fuel Their Growth & Success?

                                      Best Practices for Crafting Seamless Omni-Channel Journeys through SAP Customer Experience

                                      Following best practices like these mentioned below will help in successfully implementing SAP Customer Experience:

                                      • Conduct a comprehensive analysis of existing customer touchpoints: Conducting a comprehensive analysis involves examining all the channels through which customers interact with your brand, including websites, mobile apps, social media platforms, physical stores, and call centers. This will help you can identify areas of improvement and uncover opportunities for delivering a seamless omni-channel experience.
                                      • Define clear omni-channel objectives and KPIs: Well-defined objectives and KPIs can help you can track progress, measure success, and make data-driven decisions throughout the implementation process.
                                      • Establishing seamless integration between SAP Customer Experience modules and existing systems: By integrating SAP Customer Experience with existing systems such as CRM or ERP, you can leverage existing data and workflows, streamline operations, and maximize the value of the solution.
                                      • Continuous monitoring and optimization of omni-channel experiences: Implementing SAP Customer Experience is not a one-time task but an ongoing journey of continuous improvement. Identifying areas for optimization can enable you to make informed decisions to refine and enhance the omni-channel experiences you deliver, ensuring they remain relevant, engaging, and effective.

                                      How Fingent Can Help Leverage SAP Customer Experience

                                      Partnering with Fingent can unlock the full potential of SAP Customer Experience for your business. With our expertise in SAP implementation and customization, we can guide you through the journey of leveraging emerging technologies, integrating IoT devices, and harnessing predictive analytics. 

                                      Our deep understanding of customer experience trends and innovative solutions enables us to tailor SAP Customer Experience to your specific needs, ensuring that you stay ahead of the curve in this rapidly evolving landscape.

                                      Reach out to us, and let’s discuss your needs. 

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                                        About the Author

                                        ...
                                        Ashok Kumar

                                        Ashok leads Fingent’s SAP Consulting practice for ANZ, SE Asia, The Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and other global clients. More specifically, he helps companies improve operational efficiency by enhancing their digital cores and improving their application integration. Ashok has amassed over 20 years of leadership and consulting experience having worked with Global giants like SAP, IBM Consulting, Capgemini, & Oracle in his previous assignments. Connect with Ashok via LinkedIn and learn how your business can excel with recent SAP trends.

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