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Building a Successful Email Marketing Funnel with Email Marketing System

Businesses in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all across UAE have witnessed huge rise in conversion by implementing successful email marketing funnels with advanced email marketing system. There is a common misconception about the email marketing and email marketing systems, that there is a universal or standard framework which every business can follow to get the desired results. However, that mindset is the biggest cause of failure of email marketing strategies. According to several global studies, the CTR (click through rate), Open Rate and the conversion are consistently increasing since past 5 years. Here it is also important to understand that not all emails are intended to make a sale, most of the email that businesses send to their customers are to build and nurture relationships or for communication. When we talk specifically about the email marketing, it is considered the most cost-efficient marketing channel with almost $40 USD generated against every $1 USD spent on email marketing. That is staggering, but for different industries the benchmarks are different. Furthermore each business have a different personality, a different audience and a completely different preferences and goals. That is why an email marketing system is essential for managing building modern email marketing funnels.

Building a Successful Email Marketing Funnel with Email Marketing System
Building a Successful Email Marketing Funnel with Email Marketing System

What is an Email Marketing Funnel?

The email marketing funnel is basically an email campaign consists of a series of different emails designed specifically to mature a lead into conversion by nurturing it and communication the right message according to the targeted audience throughout the entire customer journey. In fact it is a tactics to effectively manage customer journey. The funnels are designed not only to convert but to retain and make them loyal customers. That is why it is a long-term strategy consisting of following stages:

  1. Brand Awareness – Present your products/services and the value you offer
  2. Consideration/Engagement – Identify the problems and position your products/services as the right solution
  3. Conversion – Nurturing relationship and facilitating onboarding
  4. Loyalty – Ensuring your customers are satisfied with your brand
  5. Retention/Advocacy – Strengthen relationship, make improvements, offer new solutions

The email marketing funnel is not a standard framework with a set of rules and standard practices. It is in fact different from each business, based on the targeted audience, business type, and even brand personality, the email marketing funnel could be built to maximize the outcome. Every business need to set their goals and acquire insight to understand their targeted audience before setting up their email marketing funnel. Furthermore there is always a room for the improvements. That is why an exclusive email marketing system is essential for designing a successful email marketing funnel. The email marketing system will help businesses quickly set up and execute their campaigns, it also help automating several repetitive tasks and can automatically handle different audience segments. The email marketing system is a great tool to quickly tweak and fine-tune your email marketing funnel to maximize the results.

What is an Email Marketing Funnel?
What is an Email Marketing Funnel?

How to Build a Successful Email Marketing Funnel with Email Marketing System?

The email marketing funnels can be built easily with an effective email marketing system. The email marketing software help businesses to easily laydown and execute their plans and derive strategies which returns maximum ROI. Furthermore the email marketing systems are based on a powerful software which can be integrated with various internal systems and process. The integration allow management to easily execute their strategies and measure the effects. Without a proper email marketing system it is extremely difficult to build an effective email marketing funnel. Here are a few simple steps to build a successful email marketing funnel while using an effective email marketing software:

Email Marketing Funnel: Research and Planning

For any successful strategy the planning is a must, and for planning you need proper research. For email marketing funnel the very first step is acquiring insights, doing research and understanding your needs. The research and planning should include:

  • Acquiring Insight: Starting with acquiring insight, gathering data and understanding customer needs and expectations. It is important to build a comprehensive record of changing customer preferences over the time and then plan your communication accordingly.
  • Customer Segmentation: You cannot simply send a single email to all of your customers. You should segment them on the bases of their demographics, product/service preferences and also geographical data. Segmentation will help you catering to the needs of your targeted audience.
  • Customer Journey Mapping: The customer journey mapping is extremely important. Usually businesses doesn’t pay much attention on building customer journey maps. The customer journey map is simply a visual and simplified representation of the steps that your customers had to take form the very first interaction or brand awareness stage to converting into a sale. Different customer segments usually have different needs and also take different route to convert.
  • Building Email Lists: For any successful email marketing campaign the absolute essential is the right email list. Every business should build an email list. For that you can build opt-in forms, subscription forms, and lead capturing forms. This will help you with segmentation too.
  • Setting up Goals: It is extremely important that your goals align with the high-level organizational goals and objectives. If your goal is to generate more sales your emails should communicate the value proposition, if you want to build loyalty, your email marketing funnel should be able to engage with customers to increase their satisfaction and gain trust.

Building a successful email marketing funnel requires targeting different customer segments and catering them a variety of different products, services and communication materials as per their needs. Which is only possible if you have an effective email marketing system in place.

How to Build a Successful Email Marketing Funnel with Email Marketing System?
How to Build a Successful Email Marketing Funnel with Email Marketing System?

Email Marketing Funnel: Chose the Right Email Marketing Tool

The success of any email marketing funnel depends on how you target the audience, what message you send to them and the right message at the right time is the key to success. This is nearly impossible without using a fully or semi-automated email marketing system. When it comes to email marketing tools there are tons of options available in UAE. Businesses often rely on cloud based services as well, however, there are several factors that you should consider while choosing a right email marketing tool for your business. It is extremely important that you use a very effective email marketing tool to build you email marketing funnel. Here are the most important factors that you should consider while choosing a right email marketing tool for your marketing funnel:

  • Features
  • Price (Initial and Operational Cost)
  • Integration
  • Customization
  • Security and Privacy

When it comes to the features of an email marketing tool, the most important features are the tools to create the email template and the automation tools. Usually all email marketing systems comes with two basic content creation tools, a text editor, and an HTML customizer. Some email marketing tools also comes with a drag-and-drop type content customizer. It all depends on your needs, the HTML editor is the most preferred and commonly used template creation tool.

The success of any email marketing funnel depends on how you target the audience
The success of any email marketing funnel depends on how you target the audience

The integration is one of the most important features, which could have different challenges with different off-the-shelf email marketing tools. The integration helps automating the email campaigns. For example if you are planning to send post-sale emails with follow up surveys or any content, you can integrate your email marketing system with your ERP, or customer database and sales management system which will send a trigger when a new sales is made and the email marketing tool will automatically sends a pre-set email template to the customer. You can personalize emails for customers and automate the entire funnel, you can send occasional greetings, newsletters and follow up emails, automatically. The customization is another important factor which allow you to keep up with the market trends and enables you to adopt to new practices and add features that suits your needs down the road. Most of the off-the-shelf solutions doesn’t allow any customization and the ones who allow it, offer very little and very expensive customization. If you are using a third-party email marketing tool or a cloud-based solution your data and content is hosted with service provider, you will have limited control and authority over it.

The integration is one of the most important features, which could have different challenges with different off-the-shelf email marketing tools
The integration is one of the most important features, which could have different challenges with different off-the-shelf email marketing tools

However, if you are using a customized email marketing system you can avoid all these problems, you can customize is as per you needs, you don’t have to pay hefty fees for upgrades or customization. You are not bound to a single service provider, you can host your data and content with yourself and as you may please. The custom email marketing system is a software which is exclusively designed for your business needs. You can acquire the services of a custom software development agency in Dubai like RSI Concepts or you can have in-house team to develop the custom email marketing tool as per your needs. The ownership rights belongs to you your business, you are not bound to service provider for anything, you can have another team to maintain, manage and customize your bespoke email marketing system. The final and most important thing is the cost. The cost of a ready-made email marketing system is usually higher, as they are providing you the platform and also the email server which you are using to send email. If you are a small business, you might not require a separate email server. If you are a mid-sized or large enterprise you can easily acquire a third-party email server to utilize with your custom email marketing tool. Altogether the ROI of a custom email marketing system is much higher than a commercial off-the-shelf or cloud-based email marketing tool.

A custom email marketing system is a software which is exclusively designed for your business needs
A custom email marketing system is a software which is exclusively designed for your business needs

Email Marketing Funnel: Brand Awareness and Building Lists

Now that you have a clear goal and right tech in place, it is time to start implementing your strategy and plans. The very first step of any email marketing funnel starts with brand awareness stage. At this stage you communicate your brand message, acquire subscribers and build lists. The prime objective of brand awareness campaign is to get as much contacts of your prospects as possible. If you communicate your brand values and produce enough appeal in your content, you will get higher conversion rate at this stage. There are different tools and channels which can be used for brand awareness campaign. You can embed email subscription in your website and mobile apps. You can set up pop-up forms to collect lead data and you can run adverts on digital platforms to collect as many leads as possible. Because on later stages you will be nurturing these leads to generate sales. You should use lead magnets in your digital campaigns, whether it is a landing page, YouTube display ad, Google search ad, Facebook Ad or Instagram Reel, the lead magnet strategy will help you to collect more leads. A lead magnet is simple an incentive or appeal to attract prospects and to compel them to take time to fill in the lead form or to provide you their email address. Once you got that start with the welcome series emails where you introduce your brand, different solutions you are offering and present the value your products and services can provide.

The very first step of any email marketing funnel starts with brand awareness stage
The very first step of any email marketing funnel starts with brand awareness stage

Email Marketing Funnel: Consideration – Nurturing Your Leads

With a successful brand awareness campaign now is the time when your prospects are seriously considering your brand and comparing it with their existing brands and any other available solutions they can avail. This is a very crucial stage. At this stage you should build trust by positioning your products, services and solutions as the ideal solution for your prospects’ problems and needs. This is the time when your emails will tell your prospects the true value of your products, services and solutions and what made your brand and your solutions unique and better from other competitors. Your emails should communicate your value proposition, unique selling point and ROI of your solutions. At this stage your communication should build a sense of urgency to encourage your leads to quickly convert, and also address the most obvious concerns they could have. Ensure your prospects you will provide them good support and service. Studies have revealed that more than 80% of the prospects genuinely consider the rating and reviews of the other customers and this can greatly influence their decision. That is why it is important to include user-generated content, testimonials, customer rating, case-studies and even some free resources which will help you building gaining their trust. You should also include comparisons of your products and services with your leading competitors to give confidence to your prospects.

At this stage you should build trust by positioning your products, services and solutions as the ideal solution for your prospects’ problems and needs
At this stage you should build trust by positioning your products, services and solutions as the ideal solution for your prospects’ problems and needs

Email Marketing Funnel: Conversion and Onboarding

The most important stage in customer journey is the conversion and onboarding, because that can also be counted as the first comprehensive experience your customers will have with your brand. This is where you should be able to utilize the advance customization and template creation tools of your email marketing system. It is extremely important to make your onboarding simpler and quicker. You should also design a series of emails which share promotions, offers and you can bundle them with freebies and special discounts to encourage your prospects to convert. Here an important thing to consider is that if your emails are too much pushy then it will repel your customers. It is better to use professional language, eye-catchy graphics with an adequate topping of urgency. Creating urgency is crucial, it will help you keeping your customers focused and not leaving them enough room to do comprehensive research which might change their mind. The onboarding process should be simpler, do not include long forms and complex steps in the onboarding process. Your email should be able to provide a clear and easy-to-follow path to conversion with adequate information and resources which can help your customers to convert conveniently. Any obstacle or complication at this stage will cost you a potential customer.

It is extremely important to make your onboarding simpler and quicker
It is extremely important to make your onboarding simpler and quicker

Email Marketing Funnel: Building Loyalty

The customer journey doesn’t end at conversion, in fact a marketing funnel must include a comprehensive series of emails which are designed to keep your customers engaged. It is important to have a proper loyalty program in place. Your email marketing funnel will help you to achieve more customer loyalty with your loyalty program. You can share regular promotions, exclusive offers for customers, personalized communication, and loyalty rewards to obtain your customers’ loyalty. At this stage your communication should keep your customers engaged for example, you can create and share content which help your customers to effectively utilize the features of your products, services or solutions. At this stage collecting customer feedback, encouraging them to participate in polls contests and draws will increase their engagement. The customer engagement drives customer loyalty and help strengthening the relationship between a brand and its customers. Your emails should convey the message that you value your customers and how important they are for your business, you can do so by appreciating their loyalty, offering discounts or special deals, etc. An email marketing system will help you set-up scheduled campaigns and it will also help you personalizing your emails which are more effective than generic emails.

You can share regular promotions, exclusive offers for customers, personalized communication, and loyalty rewards to obtain your customers’ loyalty
You can share regular promotions, exclusive offers for customers, personalized communication, and loyalty rewards to obtain your customers’ loyalty

Email Marketing Funnel: Increasing Retention

Customer retention is somewhat similar to building loyalty. However, the core difference between the two is that in your customer retention campaigns you include both your new customers and existing customers as well. The customer loyalty is an ongoing process, you will have to keep nurturing your relationship with your customers in order to retain them and get repeated business from them. The customer retention is not only important for getting repeated business, but it will also help you establish a strong and positive brand identity. The customer retention campaigns will help you maximizing the customer lifecycle which will maximize your ROI. The customer retention campaign is also more targeted, you must segment your customers on the bases of their purchases/subscription, their preferences, interests and demographic data. A good email marketing tool will help you setup multiple email templates for multiple customer segments. You should also focus on the active customers rather than each and every contact is your list. When you will focus only on active customers the chances to get another sale are very high. The customer feedback also plays very important role in customer retention. You can integrate your email marketing system with a customer feedback system and execute a closed-loop customer feedback campaign which will further help you strengthening the relationship with your customers. When you increase customer engagement, share useful information, offer them personalized and exclusive deals/discounts, and keep them up to date your customer retention increases.

The customer retention campaigns will help you maximizing the customer lifecycle which will maximize your ROI
The customer retention campaigns will help you maximizing the customer lifecycle which will maximize your ROI

Conclusion

The email marketing is one of the oldest digital marketing method and still it is one of the best digital marketing method. According to studies a business can generate up to $40 USD on each $1 USD spend on email marketing. However, simply just sending emails to your customers or prospects is not enough. The business operating in Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi or anywhere in UAE are actively utilizing emails to communicate with their customers. However, most of the businesses are unaware of the impact of a successful email marketing funnel. In this blog we have discussed what an email marketing funnel is and how businesses can easily build a successful email marketing funnel with the help of an effective email marketing system. The email marketing system is a very powerful software tool, which is used to streamline email communication and marketing for a business. The email marketing tools help automating email campaigns and also enable businesses to send hyper-personalized emails to maximize the impact and ROI.

There are two types of email marketing tools, the commercial off-the-shelf tools and the customized email marketing systems. The custom email marketing tools is much superior as it will be designed exclusively for your business and according to your needs. You can also start with a cloud-based system and build your email marketing funnel. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to design and develop a customized email marketing system for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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How to Develop Custom Performance Appraisal System in UAE?

The custom performance appraisal system in UAE are not very common. Usually businesses rely on cloud-based or commercial off-the-shelf solutions. The biggest problem with ready-made or stock performance appraisal system is that they are standardized for a particular industry, hence they are not as that flexible. However, every business is different and unique, and all businesses develop a completely unique culture and have different goals, needs and preferences for the performance management. Using a stock or commercial off-the-shelf solution can never fulfill such needs. Therefore businesses start looking into the possibilities to develop a custom performance appraisal system. For that businesses have two choices either they get it done by the internal software development team, which is very less obvious, and most of the time businesses doesn’t have IT teams who can deliver that kind of sophisticated application. The other choice is to acquire the services of a professional software development agency in Dubai or anywhere else in UAE who is experienced in HR solutions and performance management systems.

However, even if a business acquires a professional service provider or vendor, they must still have adequate understand of the performance appraisal system. In this blog we will discuss the important factors which will help businesses to get a high-performance and impactful performance appraisal system in UAE.

How to Develop Custom Performance Appraisal System in UAE?
How to Develop Custom Performance Appraisal System in UAE?

What is a Custom Employee Performance Appraisal System?

An employee performance system is a set of methods, techniques, tools and framework used to evaluate employee performance and progress against a pre-defined objective and it helps identifying the weaknesses, strengths and areas of improvement. The prime purpose of the employee appraisal system is to ensure that all the available resources are progressing in the right direction and their efforts are fully aligned with the high-level organizational goals and strategic objectives. The performance appraisal system is a foundation stone for growth and stability. Only by leveraging the full potential of the employees, a business can sustain and grow in the highly competitive and fast-paced markets like UAE. The employee performance appraisal system provides a comprehensive framework to collect employee performance data and feedback and transform this into actionable insight which helps management and HR department to take informed decisions and progress towards their high-level organizational goals and vision. When we say custom employee performance appraisal system the only difference is how the system is developed. A custom employee performance appraisal system is developed exclusively for a particular business as per their exclusive and very unique business needs. That is why it is called a custom employee performance appraisal system.

See Also: What are the Features of a Best Performance Management System?

What is a Custom Employee Performance Appraisal System?
What is a Custom Employee Performance Appraisal System?

What are the Benefits of Using a Custom Performance Appraisal System?

An effective performance appraisal system help businesses drive the productivity, it helps them minimize the problems caused by the lack of technical or behavioral competencies. The employee performance appraisal systems are not a tool to scrutinize the employees, but it is a comprehensive framework which lifts up the performance of the employee, increases employee engagements, and over the time strengthen their technical and behavioral competencies. A good employee performance appraisal system can have massive impact on a business’s growth and success. That is why it is important that the employee performance appraisal system you use is fully aligned with your business needs and resonate with your unique organizational culture and priorities. Here are the key benefits of using a custom performance appraisal system:

  • Elevating and Enhancing Communication: The communication is the backbone of our modern business ecosystems. All business functions should have a fraction-less and instant communication enabled in order to boost the operational efficiency. The lack of communication between employees and managers could devastate the performance and efficiency. It frustrate employees, fuel hopelessness and it kills productivity. The performance appraisal system help managers communicate the goals and objectives, and help employee understand the success criteria. Hence the employee are more motivated to progress in the right direction.
  • Appreciate High Performance and Improvements: One of the biggest concern of employees and managers is with the outdated appraisal practices is their efficacy and accuracy. A modern custom performance appraisal system help building trust and ensures the high performance is well appreciated while the areas of improvements are also noted accurately. Rightful incentive and appreciation not only boost employee morale but also encourage others to do well in the coming performance cycle. The reviews, feedbacks, and evaluation are done with a systematic framework which help employees and managers to understand what has to be improved and how, which also help raising the morale of low-performing employees.
  • Impactful Training and Development: Businesses who are actively offering training and development programs tend to perform well in UAE. A custom performance appraisal system does the heavy lifting and help the HR in many processes, which also enables them to design high-impact employee training and development programs. A well-organized performance data and intuitive reporting provide a better insight and help the HR to identify the training needs. The employee performance data can be analyzed by multiple angles and can be plugged-in into various other systems to ensure the maximum impact of training and development activities. The same can also be used to convince employee to participate in those programs and help businesses make the most impact of their efforts.
  • Guiding the Right Path: Studies have shown that the biggest reason of employee quitting form a jobs in UAE is the lack of clarity of their career path. A custom performance appraisal system provides you a wealth of performance data, when this data is coupled with employee data the HR can easily identify the suitable path for the employees and guide them with their long-term goals and career path. Such guidance is crucial, it help employees boosting their morale and confidence and it gives them a sense of importance and valued. When employees are guided to a right career path with a better scope and success in future, they become more loyal and satisfied. Happy and satisfied employees always tend to give their best.
  • Raise Employee Satisfaction: A modern custom performance appraisal system is a great tool to maximize the employee engagements. The employee appraisal system provides a systematic approach to engage employees at various levels and decision making processes. The digital aspect increase their trust, successful training and development programs raise their loyalty and satisfaction. With transparent evaluation practices, reward and recognition programs and frequent feedbacks and interactions the employees gain more confidence and become more satisfied with their job, knowing they are important and their concerns are addressed and their voice is heard. The employee engagements can greatly reduce the employee turnover too.
  • Help Under-Performers: Here in UAE business leaders and HR specialists are agreed that the under-performers are the employees who can seriously undermine the organization’s overall performance. A custom performance appraisal system helps HR to accurately identify the under-performers, closely monitor their performance and the impact of coaching and training and give them a fair chance to improve. The performance appraisal system is very much capable of identifying the reasons of poor performance which greatly help HR to address the real issues. It also help managers to provide right guidance, coaching and mentorship to encourage under-performers and to boost their morale.

See Also: Performance Management System: Best Practices

A good performance appraisal system not only align employees with the organization goals and objectives, but it also help developing and nurturing a highly productive organizational culture where the employees can improve and grow over the time.

What are the Benefits of Using a Custom Performance Appraisal System?
What are the Benefits of Using a Custom Performance Appraisal System?

How do I design a custom performance appraisal system?

Most of the time when businesses decide to adopt a custom performance management system they think it is a very sophisticated and time-consuming task. However, designing a custom performance appraisal system is not difficult at all. It is a very simple process, all you need is to consider following important aspects of performance appraisal and you can design a high-impact custom performance appraisal system:

  1. Understand Modern Performance Appraisal System: The modern performance management is way too different than the traditional/annual appraisals. More than 80% of the employee, business leaders and HR experts have shown distrust form the annual appraisals, as they majorly focused on the most recent events, and progress. However, the modern performance appraisal system facilitates more frequent and even continuous performance monitoring. Another drawback of traditional appraisals is that it is very time consuming. However, the modern performance appraisal systems leverage digital technologies and software based tools. Which ensures continuous monitoring, more contextual and comprehensive data, and highly accurate reports.
  2. Set Your Goals and Objectives: Whenever a business is acquiring a new system or implementing a solution they have clear goals and objectives, what they want to achieve with that system. Same is applicable here too, if you are designing a custom performance appraisal system you should set goals and objectives for that, it would be simply what you would want to achieve by implementing that system, such as getting better and deeper insight to employee performance, communicating the expectations, increase employee performance, driving efficiency and reducing redundant work, reducing the time, effort and cost of the appraisal process and so on. Setting up clear objectives for the system will help you maximizing the ROI as well.
  3. Define Benchmarks and Setting up Standards: It is important to do some research on industry standards and define benchmarks and set up your standards accordingly. It is very important to include the most effective elements and features in your custom performance appraisal system. In order to understand the impact of different strategies and features the market research is the key. Furthermore the case studies can help you understand different features of the performance appraisal system and accordingly you can vision your custom performance appraisal system. Studying market trends is equally important. That is why it is crucial to do some research and consult experts to define the scope of your system.
  4. Develop Metrics and Establish Success Measures: Since you already have a clear understanding of what you would want to accomplish with your custom performance appraisal system, it is absolutely essential to setup metrics and establish clear success measures. So, you can gauge your performance against your objectives. Furthermore establishing success measure will also help you to evaluate the efficacy and impact of your custom performance appraisal system. It is not as that complicated as it may sound, let us take an example of a goal which is ‘improving employee performance’ for that your custom performance appraisal system should be able to communicate what is expected from the employees, it should have tools to measure employee performance against pre-set goals and it should have features to ensure employee alignment with goals.
  5. Evaluate Your Current Appraisal Processes: It is important to scrutinize your existing performance management and appraisal processes and practices. This will help you identify the areas of improvements and missing tools or features which you can include in your new custom performance appraisal system. It is also important to collect user feedback, in this case the employees, supervisors and managers are your audience. You should conduct interviews with a sample from different audience/user pools and consider their recommendation as well. The next step is to analyze that data and revisit your success measures and ensure your success measures and goals are fully aligned with the benchmarks you are planning to achieve with your new custom performance appraisal system. We are still in the planning phase so any step can be revised and adjustments can be made if needed.
  6. Establish the Scope of the Project: Above all steps are mostly part of the planning. Forming a clear scope of the project is what you will hand over to the development team and get the system done accordingly. It is important to understand that the scope of the project is a high-level technical guideline or in fact a blueprint of your custom performance appraisal system. Make sure you add enough details and also expected outcomes. This will help the development team to build the features and functionalities in your custom performance appraisal system. At this stage you can also engage IT/Technical teams to make this charter more contextual, descriptive and technically understandable for the development team.

See Also: How to Design a Modern Performance Management System?

How do I design a custom performance appraisal system?
How do I design a custom performance appraisal system?

How to Implement a Custom Performance Appraisal System?

Once you have a completed the planning phase and prepare a detailed scope of the project with all the features you need. Now is the time to appoint a custom software development team to execute the project. Remember the employee appraisal system and performance management is not just a method or strategy, but it is actually a very powerful software application which lifts the heavy load and enable the HR to effectively implement their employee appraisal and performance management strategies. This requires a powerful software engine which can collect performance data, analyze it as per your needs, and produce intuitive reports to let the management understand the performance status and provide them administrative dashboard with required features to acquire insight and take informed decisions and then effectively implement their decisions and action plans to course correct and take measures to ensure the set-goals are achieved at the end of the performance cycle. The software development team will follow the scope of the project document, and build that software engine for you. You can hire in-house team to build custom appraisal system for your business or you can outsource it to a well-reputed and experienced vendor who can further help you refine your system and provide required training for the system to ensure maximum impact can be created with it.

See Also: Benefits of Implementing a Modern Performance Management System

How to Implement a Custom Performance Appraisal System?
How to Implement a Custom Performance Appraisal System?

Conclusion

Businesses who are operating in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi or any other emirate of UAE are well aware of the fact that the employee retention is one of the biggest obstacle in growth. The overall UAE market is very competitive and it is relatively easier to switch the job. In such scenario retaining good talent is quite difficult. Furthermore the markets are very competitive and the businesses have to ensure their customers are having a satisfactory experience and excellent service which is nearly impossible with your employee performing with optimum level of productivity and efficiency. Therefore businesses tend to implement various different types of performance management and employee appraisal systems to ensure they achieve their high-level organizational goals. In order to achieve your organizational goals and strategic objectives, the employee must be aligned with your goals, satisfied with their job role, motivated, guided, trained and engaged. This all can be achieved only when you implement a systematic framework to measure and monitor your employee performance and offer them a highly transparent and fair appraisal system.

A business have two choices, either they can acquire a commercial off-the-shelf solution or they can develop a custom performance appraisal system. The bespoke solutions tend to deliver more comparing to standardized off-the-shelf solutions. In this blog we have discussed how a business can develop and highly-effective and most impactful custom performance appraisal system. If you want to learn more or if you need our help to develop a custom performance appraisal system for your business in UAE, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

See Also: Choosing a Performance Management System A Buyer’s Guide

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React Native Apps and Cross Platform Software Development

Every business wants to grow, for that they need a robust information and data structure which can be used by their employees and customers. Businesses need to ensure user satisfaction by offering them a great digital ecosystem which enhances the digital user experience. Businesses use various software and applications to improve their processes, operational efficiency and to drive productivity and performance. That is not all, businesses always have several challenges, the tough competition, the ever increasing customer demands, the low performing teams and employees, and what not. When it comes to custom software development, businesses chose the solution which matches their technical requirements and also fits in their budgetary limitations. Businesses in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and other parts of UAE are well-aware of the impact of digital tools, software and mobile apps. However, most often businesses do not realize that they don’t need to acquire different applications for different platforms (which is very expensive), in fact they can have a completely customized software using the technique of cross-platform software development, which is most cost-effective way of launching your software or app to multiple platforms.

React Native Apps and Cross Platform Software Development
React Native Apps and Cross Platform Software Development

What is React Native?

The React Native is a JavaScript based framework and library to develop the frontend UI for software and applications. It is an open-source platform, which means it is free to use and it is developed by Meta, formally known as Facebook. The reason why it is so popular is that it enable developers to utilize native capabilities of the platform and develop cross-platform software applications while utilizing only React framework. This simplifies the software development process and enable developers to develop excellent applications for multiple platforms with very less time and efforts. Furthermore the software developers can easily utilize their JavaScript skills to work on React Native framework which minuses the learning curve. The React JS and React Native often confused with one another, however, both are different. The React JS is majorly used for developing websites and web-apps however, the React Native is a cross-platform software development framework which is built on top of React JS and it allow developers to develop applications for Android, iOS, MAC OS, Windows and a few other platforms. Furthermore the React Native can also be utilized for both frontend and backend development which make it superior from other counterparts.

See Also: Customer Software Development: Why React JS is The Future of Frontend Development

What is React Native?
What is React Native?

What is Cross-Platform App Development?

The cross-platform app development is simply a method of providing your software, mobile application or web-apps to a diverse range of audience who are using multiple different platforms. This means all users from different platform would be needing same user experience, features, UI, etc. The biggest challenge of cross-platform software development is that a business would be needing multiple different teams to work on different platforms. Here are some cross-platform development tools:

Popular cross-platform development tools:

  1. JavaScript: For website and web-app development
  2. Kotlin: For Android app development
  3. Swift: For Apple iOS app development
  4. .NET: For Windows software and tools development

If you want to make your software and app available for all above platforms, then you will be needing at least 4 different teams to work on your single app/software. This could be very expensive, moreover it is difficult to manage multiple teams working on a same software or app. Furthermore each platform team will have different costing mechanisms, hence it would be difficult to meet release date. Later on, when you will be needing any maintenance, update or upgrade, your efforts and expensive would be multiplied to the number of platforms you are working at. That is where the React Native comes to play, it allow businesses to hire a single team and make cross-platform software development seamless and very cost-effective. The maintenance/updates are also easier and very less expensive.

Lear More: What Is Cross-Platform App Development?

What is Cross-Platform App Development?
What is Cross-Platform App Development?

What are the Benefits of Using React Native Apps for Cross Platform Development?

The React Native is rapidly growing on Stack Overflow and GitHub. It is widely adopted by businesses and organizations not only in UAE but all across the world. This also means that a developer can easily find community support and a huge number of ready-made plugins and scripts all over the internet which help developer speeding up the cross-platform software development projects. Here are some key benefits of using React Native apps and cross-platform software development for your business:

Quicker Development Process

Since you don’t require to have different teams working on your software for different platforms and only a single team can do that, the development cycle becomes shorter which also enables you to launch your apps quickly. Furthermore the React Native offers several features which help the programmers and developers to quickly develop their applications, and also it enables quick debugging and testing which makes development process much quicker than any other available framework. Moreover the code is also useable at several platforms which make development fast, it also reduce efforts to write code for multiple platforms and making changes to it. That is why the react native can effectively reduce the time and efforts of developing cross platform software.

See Also: How to Choose the Right Software Development Vendor for Your Business

React Native: Quicker Development Process
React Native: Quicker Development Process

Reduce the Cost of Cross Platform Software Development

The react native can greatly reduce the cost of your cross platform software development projects. Thanks to its ability to provide a reusable and compatible code for multiple platforms and reducing the efforts the time required to develop such mobile apps, web-apps and software has become very low. This also help reducing the cost. As less time and efforts are needed to develop a cross platform software, the cost is also low and since only one technology stack is required for the entire team, it is easier to find the skilled teams or vendors who can develop such software, apps and tools. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the software development agencies, such as RSI Concepts and many others are offering highly cost-efficient software development services, which also impact the cost of your software development and help business get a highly cost-effective solution.

React Native: Reduce the Cost of Cross Platform Software Development
React Native: Reduce the Cost of Cross Platform Software Development

Support Multiple Platforms

There is a common impression among businesses and non-coders, that the react native is only meant to be used for Android and iOS app development. However, that is not true at all. The react native is a very useful platform with a wider range of compatibility. Businesses can develop applications and software which can be offered on Android, iOS, Windows, MAC OS, Websites and a few more. There is a huge online community support for the React Native platform and above all it is rapidly evolving and growing adding support for newer platforms and technologies. This means businesses and developers both can expect a sharp rise in compatibility and efficacy of the react native and its expansion to various other platforms. That is what makes react native much more superior than other such frameworks.

See Also: The Key Elements of Efficient Software Development Project Management

React Native: Support Multiple Platforms
React Native: Support Multiple Platforms

Native-like Experience and Performance

When it comes to platforms like react native, the biggest concern of the businesses is experience and performance. That was also true, but a few years back, not now. Now a days, there are so many advancements made to the react native core, and furthermore the Meta (Formally known as Facebook) has introduced a new JavaScript engine, Hermes, which enables static optimization and help reducing the app size. Furthermore the React Native can also render components to the GPU which is achieved by eliminating the gap between the JavaScript and the native components and results in high-performing apps. This enables developers to offer a native-like experience and performance by simply using react native and its advanced components.

See Also: Guide to Custom Software Development

React Native: Native-like Experience and Performance
React Native: Native-like Experience and Performance

Quick Debugging and Changes

One of the biggest advantage of the React Native is its features like hot-reloading, live-reloading and fast refresh. When making changes to the application’s source code or debugging it the developers will have to recompile the application, however, with the react native this isn’t require anymore. It means that the developers can see their changes immediately, almost in real-time without the need to recompile the entire application, which is a time consuming tasks. That is why the developers prefer to use react native, as it helps them make changes and refine their work without any extra effort or repeated tasks. Furthermore the new features of the react native framework are extremely useful in debugging typos, syntax and other common errors in the code, which makes it more productive and ideal framework for the agile development teams.

See Also: Common Mistakes to Avoid in Custom Software Development Projects

React Native: Quick Debugging and Changes
React Native: Quick Debugging and Changes

What are the Drawbacks of Using React Native for Cross Platform Software Development?

The React Native is one of the best framework available to this day for cross platform software and apps development. However, same like other technologies, it also has some drawbacks, although these drawbacks usually won’t impact a business, but in certain and very few number of scenarios these drawbacks could become problematic. Here are some drawbacks of using React Native for cross platform apps and software development:

  • Unlike native technologies such as Kotlin or Swift the React Native is based on JavaScript which is a dynamically-typed programming language. This requires developers to follow certain standards and rules in order to avoid bugs form the apps.
  • There are certain native modules which are not available in React Native, especially those are related to interacting with device’s hardware, hence when dealing with such functionalities the developers must have to insert native codes, which could also affect behavior and appearance.
  • When using a framework like react native for cross platform software development, the developers can never achieve the level of performance and integration which can be achieved using the native codes and APIs.
  • The operating systems of different platforms keep updating very frequently. However, the react native or any other cross platform app development framework is slow on adopting to new changes and introducing new features which are instantly available for the native apps.

See Also: Step-by-step Guide to Develop Custom Enterprise Software

There is a clear difference between the native app development and cross platform software development. However, frameworks like React Native are rapidly bridging the gap between these two. The modern versions of react native have already minimized a lot of problems, which makes it ideal for more than 90% of the businesses, there are only a certain sectors or businesses who still need to build native apps because they need sophisticated features and intensive hardware integration with their apps. Otherwise the react native is best for cross platform software development.

What are the Drawbacks of Using React Native for Cross Platform Software Development?
What are the Drawbacks of Using React Native for Cross Platform Software Development?

Conclusion

When it comes to mobile app development or customized software tools, the first thing businesses should consider is their needs. Both react native and the native app development has its own advantages and drawbacks. However, cross platform software development can significantly reduce your cost, efforts and time of development which is why most businesses are preferring it. The react native is also preferred choice of software developers as it is convenient, easy to use, debug, and it offers a variety of features which enable them to add advanced features to their mobile apps, and software tools. Furthermore the react native offers almost native like performance and experience. The developers can reuse the code, they can easily debug it and update it, and the overall efforts and development time can be greatly reduced. The react native framework is rapidly gaining popularity all around the world, the Meta is also introducing new features to make it better and the community support is also growing. All these are signs of a very bright future for React Native and cross platform software development. In this blog we tried to cover everything important about React Native and cross platform software development. This blog will give you a better understanding of cross platform and native apps. If you want to learn more or if you want our help to develop a native or cross platform app, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and someone will get in touch with you soon.

See Also: How to Develop a Custom Software in Dubai?

 

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Maximizing Efficiency: The Benefits of Implementing a Queue Management System

Every business wants efficient operation, whether it is some internal process or a customer facing environment, the efficiency is essential. When a business has efficient work flows, processes and even the teams, they tend to produce more and better outcome with whatever resources they have in hand. That is the reason in order to generate value and drive profits a business needs efficiency in every aspect of the operations. Now when we talk about the customer facing environments, the biggest challenge is to make customer flow efficient and improve customer experience. Whether you are operating in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi or any other part of UAE you must be aware of the fact that every customer have too many choices, you one mistake and you can lose them to your competitor. Furthermore the customers are also very demanding and they tend to switch service provider very quickly. Even just a single bad experience is enough to make customer the switch. Studies and market research have revealed that it is 9 to 25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer comparing to selling to an existing customer. That is why customer experience and customer satisfaction is crucial for a business success.

Maximizing Efficiency: The Benefits of Implementing a Queue Management System
Maximizing Efficiency: The Benefits of Implementing a Queue Management System

What is a Queue Management System?

A queue management system is a tool which consists of software and hardware parts and it is used to manage the customer flow and customer experience. The queue management software is a server application which is connected to an interactive self-service ticket dispensing kiosk or queuing kiosk. It is also connected to digital signage screens and audio announcement system. Some businesses also use dynamic counter plates which can also be managed through the queue management system. Furthermore the hardware part of the queue management system includes a ticket dispensing kiosk which allow your customers and visitors to interact with the system and issue them token numbers. There is a digital signage screen, which displays live queuing details and keep your guests informed about the current activities on each service counter. A business can have multiple signage depends on the premises size. Similarly the audio announcement system is also hardware part powered by in-built multi-lingual audio announcements module. The counter plates are also connected to the queue management system via network and can display the counter number/name along with the current ticket number. These components form a standard queue management system with basic configurations. Businesses can add more software and hardware components to enhance the features of the queue management system.

What is a Queue Management System?
What is a Queue Management System?

What are the Drawbacks of Poorly Organized Customer Flow?

A poorly organized customer flow have many drawbacks, it doesn’t only affect your customers but it will also have a negative impact on your employees and their performance. Which will translate to low productivity, poor growth, bad business reputation, higher customer churn rate, lower conversion rate and in the long run it will damage your brand image. When the queues or waiting lines are not managed properly the very first effect is extended wait time. When the customers will have to wait for longer period of time, they will be frustrated and annoyed. This will cause many other problems such as line jumping, customer complaints and more fraction in customer journey. When the waiting lines are not managed efficiently they employees also suffer, they will have to deal with customer complaints, they will have to manage the queues by themselves and they will have more workload, it will also distract them from their primary tasks which will undermine their performance. The customers will reach to the counter in stress and they will be unhappy, this will result in poor interaction with the service agents, and it will also make it difficult for the service agents to satisfy the customer. Long waiting lines, and extended wait time will result in higher customer churn. When employees will fail to improve their performance despite putting all efforts, they will leave too. Higher employee turnover will cause several other problems, higher customer churn rate will damage your business’s reputation.

What are the Drawbacks of Poorly Organized Customer Flow?
What are the Drawbacks of Poorly Organized Customer Flow?

What are The Benefits of Implementing a Queue Management System?

There are several benefits of implementing a queue management system, but it is important to understand that there are different types of queue management systems available in the market. You must have to choose the right solution that suits your needs and business type. However, one of the best way is to hire a well-reputed queue management system provider such as RSI Concepts and ask them to build a bespoke tailor-made customized queue management system according to your needs. Here are some of the benefits of implementing a queue management system:

Reduction in Customer Waiting Time

When the customer flow is well-organized, they queuing process is automated the customer wait time will automatically reduce. By implementing a queue management system businesses can automate several queuing process. The ticket dispensing is automated, the customer flow is managed by the smart algorithms of the queue management software, and the employee performance is also improved. A queue management system can automatically take decisions, and set customer route according to the historical data and the live queuing data, which is why the customer wait time is optimized. Furthermore the queue management system also help improving customers’ waiting experience by reducing the perceived wait time. It keep customers engaged and distracted from the waiting by frequently making audio-visual announcements and updating the digital signage. Furthermore the queue management system can also play multimedia content, adverts, promotional and marketing content on the digital signage which also help increasing customer engagement and help optimizing the perceived wait time.

Reduction in Customer Waiting Time
Reduction in Customer Waiting Time

Improved Employee Performance

When a business implements a queue management system the employee efficiency and performance is significantly improved. Without a queue management system the employees will have to adhere to several other tasks, most of which are not productive. Manually managing customer flow, especially during the peak-hours can greatly undermine the employee performance and it also have toll on service quality. However, with a proper queue management system in place the employees don’t have to worry about many things and they are free to focus on their primary and more productive tasks. This not only boost employee performance but also greatly reduce their workload. When the employees work under a balanced workload their satisfaction increases and they tend to perform better. The queue management system automate several queuing processes, and it also offers dedicated service agent dashboards, which can also lift up a lot of workload and help service agents in many tasks. Businesses can significantly improve employee performance and service quality by implementing a queue management system.

Improved Employee Performance
Improved Employee Performance

Enhanced Customer Experience

The customer satisfaction depends on customer experience and service quality, better experience results in higher customer satisfaction index. When a business implements a queue management system it automates several queuing processes. When the customers know that their tokens are issued by computer operated system, they have more trust over the system, and it assured them there will no favoritisms, no line-jumping, no intervention from the staff, whatever token is issued to them they will be served accordingly. Furthermore the queue management system keeps customers and visitors engaged and help diluting the effects of waiting and reduce their stress. This will improve their waiting experience. As the service staff is also aided by the queue management system, they are also more welcoming, fresh and prepared for the customers. This all results in a better customer interaction with the service agent and also tend to improve the service quality. Implementing a queue management system greatly improves customer experience and results in higher customer satisfaction which help your business building a strong brand image and reputation.

Enhanced Customer Experience
Enhanced Customer Experience

Real-time Monitoring and Remote Management

One of the best advantage of implementing a queue management system is that it offers real-time monitoring and remote management features. Businesses often have multiple branches where they deploy a queue management system, and even in case of only one office the real-time monitoring dashboard and capabilities to manage the system remotely are some of the most productive features. Usually there is a central location or head office where the top management resides, they want to monitor the queuing activities and stats to take timely decisions. The queue management system is a centralized software system which connects all branches and parts and enable real-time monitoring. The branch manager, or the senior manager at the head office or any other user with adequate access can monitor the live real-time queuing data and stats. Furthermore it is very easy to implement the queuing polices and strategies across the entire business, remotely from the head office. Businesses can also set automated alerts and notifications for the managers and supervisors to enable them to be more reactive towards the customer footfall and help them improve the customer flow by keeping them up-to-date all the time.

Real-time Monitoring and Remote Management
Real-time Monitoring and Remote Management

Collect Business Intelligence Data

The data is the backbone of modern fast-paced markets. Every business who wants to succeed should be able to collect, analyze and utilize the business intelligence data in order to generate value and productive outcomes. A queue management system can provide a wealth of highly accurate and valuable business intelligence data. The queue management system can collect queuing data, system usage stats, waiting time trends, customer footfall trends, employee performance and KPI metrics, and it can also collect direct customer feedback which can be incorporated in several internal decision making process to improve strategies and overall performance of the business. The queue management system can also be integrated with third-party tools and central information center which enables it to collect data from various sources, and it also allow the queue management system to provide business intelligence data for other systems and tools. Businesses can analyze the queue management system data and customer feedback using in-built analytical tools, or they can extract it in form of various intuitive report formats such as summary reports, trend reports and much more which help them utilize the business intelligence data at its full potential and maximize the overall efficiency and performance of the business.

Collect Business Intelligence Data
Collect Business Intelligence Data

Conclusion

In modern fast-paced markets where the markets are subjected to subtle and rapid changes, a business needs a proactive approach to deal with up-coming challenges. Managing customer facing environments and maintain a satisfactory customer experience is one of the most challenging task a service-based business ever faces. Poorly organized waiting lines and long queues can have devastating effects on a business. Pool queuing strategy and manual queue management can results in poor employee performance, low service quality, and unhappy customers. However when a business implements q modern queue management system, they can greatly improve employee performance, customer experience and consequently customer satisfaction. A queue management system offers many features which can help improving the customer flow and minimizing the customer churn rate. In this blog we have discussed what a queue management system is and how businesses can benefits from it. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to build you a tailor-made queue management system for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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Why Custom Performance Management System is more Effective?

In the fast-paced business landscape it is extremely important for a business to utilize its resources at fullest potential. Businesses operating in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and anywhere else in UAE are well aware of the fact that the markets in this country tend to change very quickly, the customer demands are also increasing endlessly. That is why businesses all around the UAE give a lot of attention to performance management frameworks. The performance management is one of the primary task of the HR department and that is the reason HR leaders and businesses are ready to invest a lot in performance management systems and programs. There is another strong reason for investing in performance management system which is the adaptation of agile processes and methods. When businesses adopt agility, a gap is formed naturally between the managers and the employees. Most of the time the business leaders and managers failed to implement proper people management practices which results in dissatisfaction and distrust among the employees and undermine their performance and productivity.

Why Custom Performance Management System is more Effective?
Why Custom Performance Management System is more Effective?

The modern day employees are also more concerned about their personal development and growth, they want more frequent feedback from their managers which help them improve their skills and productivity. There has been several surveys and studies all around the world which suggested more than 80% of the business leaders lost faith on the traditional performance management practices and annual appraisal processes. Almost similar percentage of employees also express their distrust on traditional performance management methods. Therefore a modern, digitalized and technology based performance management system is needed. Basically a performance management system is a software tool, which can provide a continuous performance monitoring tools and analytical data and allow both managers and employees to access valuable performance management data in a very intuitive and interactive manner. Only a modern digital performance management system solution can fulfill the needs of the modern businesses. In this blog we will discuss why a custom performance management system is more effective for your business.

Only a modern digital performance management system solution can fulfill the needs of the modern businesses.
Only a modern digital performance management system solution can fulfill the needs of the modern businesses

What is the Difference between a COTS and Custom Performance Management System?

Before we discuss what is the difference between a custom and COTS performance management system it is important to understand that a performance management system is a software which is used to streamline and improve the performance management processes such as one-on-one meetings, acquiring feedback, appraisal, developing personal development and training programs and other such tasks. For any HR department it is their prime goal to retain and sustain a skilled workforce and ensure other business functions can get the required talent and skillset. The performance management system is built on a powerful analytical and statistical engine, along with smart algorithms and AI software tools which makes it more efficient, impactful and effective. When it comes to acquire a new software tool there are two options, one is hiring a professional software development agency like RSI Concepts and have a tailor-made solution which matches 100% of your business needs. The second option is to quickly implement a cloud-based solution or acquire a ready-made performance management software. Both the ready-made and cloud-based solutions are COTS software, it means Commercial Off-the-shelf Software. The COTS are not designed for a single business or a specific set of users, in fact they are general purpose tools which are designed and available to a mass audience ranging from a few hundred to millions of users.

What is the Difference between a COTSand Custom Performance Management System?
What is the Difference between a COTS and Custom Performance Management System?

What made Custom Performance Management System Superior and a Better Match to your Needs?

Whenever a business needs a software solution and they decide to go with a commercial off-the-shelf software or COTS they usually seek to match as much of their needs as possible, on an average a good COTS solution will meet your 80% of needs. That means you will have to make compromise for the rest of the 20% of your needs. That is one of the major reason business prefer to have a tailor-made custom software solution because a custom software solution is capable of meeting 100% of your needs as it will be exclusively designed for your needs. Another great advantage of a custom performance management system is that it can provide a great competitive advantage. Furthermore the custom performance management system is exclusively designed for your business, so you also hold the ownership rights for the product. This will free your business from vendor-dependency. Businesses can manage, customize and upgrade custom performance management system in-house as well as they can choose any vendor to do so, as the entire software tool and its resources such as source code, databases and integration tools are handed over to the business who will be using it.

What made Custom Performance Management System Superior and a Better Match to your Needs?
What made Custom Performance Management System Superior and a Better Match to your Needs?

Here are some key advantages of choosing a custom performance management system over a COTS solution:

Custom Performance Management System: Effectively Implement Strategy

It is important to understand that the performance management is a very flexible concept. Every business has a unique organizational culture so does the strategy to implement different performance methods. It is due to the preference which every business have different from the other. These preferences are based on the business goals, strategic objectives and their desire to improve certain aspects of the performance. For example, some businesses might prioritize the technical competencies and some might want to focus on behavioral competencies and so on. Along with that for a different set of employees the KPIs are different the desired outcome is different, hence the strategy and focused performance aspects would be different. Furthermore there are different performance management methods and every business would have different choice, on top of that most business leader prefer to use a combination of two or more methods to implement their own unique performance management strategy. That is the reason the commercial off-the-shelf software solutions can never fulfill all of your needs. Furthermore the COTS are built as per industry standards and offers more rigid framework. However, a custom performance management system can offer you more control, flexibility, freedom and customization which enable you to effectively implement your own unique performance management strategy. You can utilize in-built templates and configurations wizards to setup your own customized KPIs, OKRs and performance metrics as per your needs. This allow you to laser focus on your prioritized aspects of the performance management which can greatly improve the impact and outcome.

There are different performance management methods and every business would have different choice
There are different performance management methods and every business would have different choice

Custom Performance Management System: Easy Integration with Data and Third-party Systems

The entire performance management system depends on collecting, flow and analysis of the data. It is extremely important to understand that if data collection would be easier, the outcome would be more accurate. That is why most modern performance management systems have ability to automatically collect data. Businesses can manually upload data too or they can use dedicated dashboards to input the data but it is important that uploading data or integration and automated-data collection is as per the needs of the business. The IT infrastructure of any organization is a very complex eco-system, it develops gradually and evolve as per the needs and changes within the organization or due to the impact of external factors. This means there would be a lot of different system some of which might be integrated already with the central information system. There could be a lot technology platforms and different vendors that a business is using to form their IT infrastructure. When a new software application is deployed in such environment the biggest challenge is integration and communication between different third-party systems and tools. Since the commercial off-the-shelf software are usually standardized tools, hence integration could be a big challenge, it could be very expensive and in some cases it could be impossible. However, the customized performance management system is exclusively built for your needs, so all these problems are already accounted for. All these challenges can be dealt effectively and with convenience when you have full control over the structure of the software that you are building. That is why the customized performance management system are more effective in integrating with third-party tools and databases, which allow them to easily attain automation and built innovative features to minimize the effort and workload of the users. Even in case of manual uploads or dedicated dashboard to input data the customized performance management system is much more effective and far superior to any COTS solution in the market.

Easy Integration with Data and Third-party Systems
Easy Integration with Data and Third-party Systems

Custom Performance Management System: Get Customized Features and UI

Similar to performance strategy implementation, the features of the performance management system also require customization if you want to align the system with your needs. The biggest problem with the commercial off-the-shelf performance management software is that they are built according to the industry standards and only follow standardized procedures and processes. Which is helpful but sometimes it could be a hurdle instead of support. The custom performance management system software is exclusively designed as per your requirements hence there is no such barrier or limitation. You can customize each and every feature, process, SOP, protocol and even the reporting formats and designs. For any performance management system the ultimate goal is to collect performance data, drive reports from the data and then take informed decisions to maximize the probability of the success. There is another most important aspect which is the user interface (UI). Most of the businesses doesn’t focus much on it, however, it is extremely important aspect of any software application. With the custom performance management system you can customize the GUI or UI as per your requirements, you can have your customized branding, and even functionalities can be customized and labeled as per your needs which can greatly enhance the efficiency and efficacy of the performance management system. The stock or off-the-shelf solutions doesn’t offer such customizations.

Get Customized Features and UI
Get Customized Features and UI

Custom Performance Management System: High Scalability and Easy Upgrade

Whenever businesses are acquiring any software solution, the scalability and ability to upgrade it in future are the two most important aspects to consider. The commercial off-the-shelf software comes with several restrictions and limitations. Similarly the commercial off-the-shelf performance management system could be easier and quicker to deploy but down the road it will pose more challenges. Furthermore these software are usually cloud-based and comes in different tiers and plans which are designed to target a specific size or industry. Hence if you need some features which are not available in your plan you might have to subscribe for additional plan, which will be more expensive and at the end of the day most of the features comes with expensive plan might not be useful for your business. The markets evolve very fast, the customer demands could change over the night, and business need to be very vigilant and responsive towards such changes, which is usually not possible with the commercial off-the-shelf solutions. Furthermore these applications take ages to develop and build new features, there are several challenges for the vendor to upgrade them. Businesses keep growing and after sometime scaling up these software would cost you a lot. The custom performance management system is completely free from all those limitations and restrictions. You can customize it whenever you want, you can scale it up or downsize it whenever you need and without paying even a single dime. Furthermore you can also customize your custom performance management system to add new features or to make changes at a nominal cost unlike the COTS which incurs hefty fees and charges for such requirements.

High Scalability and Easy Upgrade
High Scalability and Easy Upgrade

Custom Performance Management System: Cost-effective and High ROI

When we compare the initial cost of the commercial off-the-shelf solutions and the customized software applications, the COTS apparently looks more cost-effective. However, that is not true at all. The COTS can be deployed quickly but won’t be able to fully match your 100% of the requirements, however, the custom performance management systems have higher initial cost but can fully aligned with your requirements and fulfill your 100% of the needs. In order to compare the cost we will have to look at the ROI over a longer period of the time. The stock or commercial off-the-shelf solutions have regular subscription charges which you will have to pay on monthly, quarterly or yearly bases as per your plan. You will have no control over the software vendor, the vendor will own the application and in some cases your data is also stored at vendor’s server which is not as that secure. However, the custom performance management system is exclusively designed for your business, the vendor doesn’t have the ownership of the application, instead you will own the ownership rights of the software and you will also own all the software code, resources and the entire application which will be handed over to you. You can have full control over your custom performance management system, there is no vendor dependency, you can chose any vendor or even in-house team to maintain and upgrade your software. Your data will be hosted with you or at the server/cloud of your choice which offers better security. There will be no subscription fee or hidden charges, the customization will be very cost-efficient and if you calculate the ROI over an extended period of time the custom performance management system will cost you less than half of a reputed commercial off-the-shelf performance management system. The custom performance management system have longer life-cycle which can be further extended by making few changes and iterations, but in case of COTS you might have to acquire a completely new software after a few years.

Cost-effective and High ROI
Cost-effective and High ROI

Conclusion

Businesses operating in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi or any other emirate of UAE knows that very well that the markets here are very competitive. The overall government policies and environment is very investor-friendly hence the competition will keep rising in future too. Furthermore the customer demands are also skyrocketing and the market is subjected to rapid changes. In such environment if a business want to maintain a steady growth it is extremely important for them to have a proactive performance management strategy. The modern day employees need higher engagements and the business leaders also want more productive and effective tools to maximize the performance and productivity of their organization. That is why businesses deploy performance management systems which are mainly a dedicated software application designed to streamline the performance management processes and aid management in performing performance management tasks. When it comes to acquire a performance management system software, businesses have two way, one is finding a suitable commercial off-the-shelf solution and quickly implement it and the other is slightly longer path, which is to develop a tailor-made and fully customized performance management system which is exclusively designed for the business by keeping in mind all the needs, requirements, and existing IT infrastructure.

In this blog we have discussed several aspects of performance management system and tried to highlight the aspects which make custom performance management system more superior, effective and impactful then its counterpart, the commercial off-the-shelf performance management software. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to develop an exclusive tailor-made custom performance management system for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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Why Laravel Framework is gaining popularity in Software Development?

The digital eco-system is evolving at a rapid pace, businesses will have to keep up with the changing trends, customer demands and competition in order to ensure growth and stability. A modern day business needs a variety of software tools and applications in order to maintain required productivity and performance. Business management software and tools not only help improving operations, but they also help minimizing the cost and help businesses drive innovation which gets them a great competitive advantage. Here in Dubai and anywhere else in UAE businesses knows very well that how competitive the markets are and how demanding customers could be. In order to maintain a steady growth in such environment businesses need to level up their game which is impossible without implementing right software tools and digital solutions. This need gives rise to software development industry in the country, especially the customer software development. The customized software are exclusively designed for businesses to fully align with their business needs and vision. Furthermore the upgrading and customization is a fundamental need of any custom software application.

Why Laravel Framework is gaining popularity in Software Development
Why Laravel Framework is gaining popularity in Software Development

What is Laravel Framework and Why is it So Popular?

When we talk about custom software development it is extremely important to choose the right development tools and frameworks. These days with the rise of cloud and in-depth integration of smartphones, the web-based software applications are gaining huge popularity, as they are cost-effective, require less time to develop and offer better customization and scalability. The PHP (general purpose scripting language) is one of the most commonly used programming language. We have witnessed the emergence of hundreds of different PHP frameworks over the period of last two decades. The Laravel Framework is one of the most popular framework of PHP programming language. The Laravel Framework gained this popularity due to its modular development approach, easy scalability, high efficiency and innovative functionalities. The major architectural pattern of the Laravel Framework are based on Symfony, which is an open-source PHP library featuring reusable components. The Laravel Framework is also open-source and free to use which made it best alternate to CodeIgniter, which is another rapid development framework used for web-based software development. The Laravel Framework offers more convenience, easy-to-use tools and components which makes it the most popular PHP Framework.

What is Laravel Framework and Why is it so Popular
What is Laravel Framework and Why is it so Popular

What makes Laravel a Perfect fit for Modern Software Development Needs?

The modern software development industry requires more robust, efficient and scalable applications which extend the lifecycle of the software and enable businesses to keep improving their applications over the time. Here are some key features which makes Laravel Framework a perfect fit for the modern software development needs:

  1. Process Automation with Packaging System: Laravel Framework enable packaging multiple support tools and software along with ability to add pre-built libraries which help developers achieve process automation in their web-based and custom software applications. Laravel uses an advance dependency manager, a composer which manages all the packages and information needed to manage these packages and allow developers to automate processes.
  2. Object-Oriented Approach and MVC Architecture: One of the best advantage of using Laravel Framework is that it uses MVC or model, view and controller architecture along with exceptionally easy object-oriented syntax.
  3. Advance File System and Distributed Environment Support: The Laravel Framework have in-built support for multiple file system and it can support local storage, cloud storage and rack-space storage. On top of that the Laravel Framework offers easy-to-use APIs which remain same for all the systems and also enable developers to use all three file systems as a distributed environment.
  4. In-built Authentication and Authorization System: The Laravel Framework offers in-built configurations for the authentication and authorization system. The developers can implement authentication and authorization to their custom software application by using only a few simple commands which saves time and is very simple-to-use.
  5. Enable Real-time Data with Broadcasting Feature: The modern-day software applications requires a lot of real-time data broadcasting between the server-side and client-side. The Laravel Framework offer an in-built Events and Broadcasting features which enables software developer to implement real-time data and live feeds in their customized applications.
  6. In-built Command Line Interface (Artisans Console): The Laravel Framework offers an exclusive in-built command line interface, named Artisans Console. The Artisans Console allow developers to easily publish packaged assets, migrate databases, seed and generate boilerplate code for controllers and models. The Artisans Console also support custom command which gives developer more control.
  7. Advanced Task Scheduler: The Task Scheduler was introduced along with in-built command line interface, Artisans Console. The Scheduler utilizes Cron Daemon to execute a single Artisans Console job which executes the configured tasks. This enable developers to easily do programmatic scheduling of the periodically executed tasks.
  8. In-built Object Relation Mapper (Eloquent ORM): The Laravel Framework offers one of the best object relation mapper, known as Eloquent ORM and it comes as an in-built utility. The Eloquent ORM allow developers to use expressive syntax to manage database relationships and to interact with database objects.
  9. Blade Template Engine: The Laravel Framework comes with highly effective in-built templating engine, known as Blade Template Engine. Blade Template Engine also offers internally mapped control structure for PHP counterparts such as conditional statements and loops, etc. It also enable combining one or more template to produce resulting views with a data model which can greatly improve the performance of the software application.
  10. Multiple Testing Modes: The Laravel Framework offers in-built unit testing functionality featuring multiple tests to prevent and detect regressions in the framework along with ability to integrate PHP unit testing framework. The Artisans Console, command-line utility can also be used to run unit tests on the application.

Above are some of the most commonly-used features of the Laravel Framework which make it superior to other open-source PHP Frameworks.

What makes Laravel a Perfect fit for Modern Software Development Needs?
What makes Laravel a Perfect fit for Modern Software Development Needs?

Highly Advanced Out-of-the-box Official Laravel Packages

Here is a list of official Laravel Packages which can make integration of different features super-easy with the application built on Laravel Framework:

  • Laravel Passport: The Laravel Passport allow user authentication via API while utilizing the OAuth Server. The API uses token and the Laravel Passport enables full OAuth Server implantation with simple steps which takes only a few minutes.
  • Laravel Socialite: The Laravel Socialite is an excellent package to easily implement login and authentication mechanisms via social media sites such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, GitHub, etc. for your customer software application.
  • Laravel Horizon: The Laravel Horizon is a highly effective intuitive monitoring tool which enables both dashboard and code-driven configurations. It is used to monitor the output of a job along with time required to execute the job and it also tracks job failures.
  • Laravel Cashier: The Laravel Cashier is a great in-built package which is used for e-Commerce and payment-based software applications. The Cashier is used to manage coupons and invoices and offer a full toolkit for managing subscription billing services.
  • Laravel Envoy: The Laravel Envoy simplified the automating the common tasks using minimal and simple syntax. The Envoy utilizes a similar syntax as Blade template and it makes it easier to setup tasks and utilize Artisans Console commands.
  • Laravel Scout: The Laravel Scout is a full-text search engine which utilizes the Eloquent ORM model along with Angola as its default driver which offers excellent service. The Scout also support custom drivers to enable improving the full-text search functionality.

The features and out-of-the-box packages offered by the Laravel Framework are better than any other available open-source PHP framework which is the main reason of its popularity in software development.

Highly Advanced Out-of-the-box Official Laravel Packages
Highly Advanced Out-of-the-box Official Laravel Packages

Top Software Development Trends which will Increase the Demand of Laravel Framework in Coming Years

The Laravel Framework is trusted by millions of businesses and developers all around the world and it is known for developing high-performing and featured-rich custom web-based software applications. Here are the top software development trends which will definitely increase the demand of the Laravel Framework in the coming years:

  • Rising Demand for Multi-device Integration
  • Emerging Trend of IoT Implementation and Integration
  • Rising Demand of Intuitive User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UI)
  • Emerging Trend of Blockchain, Digital Payment and Crypto Currency
  • Security, Encryption and Password Protection
  • AI Enabled Customer Service Chatbots
  • Rapid App Development and Cost-optimization
  • Increasing Popularity of Cloud-based Software Applications

These top trends of software development industry are indicating even higher demand for the Laravel Framework in the coming future which is also sensed by the software development industry and that is why the popularity of the Laravel Framework is rapidly increasing.

Top Software Development Trends which will Increase the Demand of Laravel Framework in Coming Years
Top Software Development Trends which will Increase the Demand of Laravel Framework in Coming Years

Conclusion

It is important to understand that whenever a business decides to develop a customized software application they have certain goals that they want to achieve with it. However, there are certain things which every business wants in their software applications such as the software application should be fast, feature-rich, intuitive, have high compatibility, integrates with existing infrastructure, have low cost, develops quickly, require less maintenance and easy to operate. These are some fundamental requirements every business have in mind when they are planning to develop a custom software application. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE you can find tens of hundreds of software development agencies who can build your customized software applications with the desired features and functionalities. However, it is important to understand that your software application should be have certain capabilities such as easy-integration, low-cost scalability, simple upgrade and customization and should be able to stay relevant for coming years.

The Laravel Framework is the excellent if not only choice to achieve the same. The Laravel Framework is open-source, the skilled developers are available easily, and it packs a tons of modern and highly advanced features which makes it the perfect choice for the customized web-based software application development and that is the reason why the Laravel Framework is rapidly gaining popularity not only in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and other parts of UAE but all over the world. If you are interested in learning more about the subject or if you want our custom software development service for your next game-changing software application development, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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Characteristics of a Good Employee Appraisal System

The employee appraisal is the most important aspect of performance management. Every business wants to increase its performance, with the limited resources in hand every business wants to generate more outcome with limited inputs. That is why business adopt various workforce optimization methods and implement performance management strategies to improve the outcome and minimize the operational cost. This can provide businesses with a great competitive advantage and help them grow and achieve its goals. The employee appraisals are extremely important as it will help businesses identifying any areas of improvement by evaluating employee performance and measuring the effectiveness of the employee. The employee appraisal system is a great tool for workforce optimization and performance management it help businesses implement their performance management strategy and align employees with the mission of the business by leveraging the employee performance data and various techniques that are designed to evaluate employee performance.

Characteristics of a Good Employee Appraisal System
Characteristics of a Good Employee Appraisal System

What is Employee Appraisal System?

The employee appraisal system is a combination of tools, strategies and methodologies which are used to measure the employee performance against a pre-set goal, and employee appraisal help setting up the goals for future and provide guidance for employee development and training programs. The employee performance appraisal provides a framework for the mangers to identify the areas of improvement, highlight the causes of failure and success and from future performance strategy. Businesses and organizations in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and everywhere in UAE are investing heavily in employee performance management solutions such as employee appraisal systems. We have witnessed this trend increasing since past five years. The actual reason of deploying an employee performance appraisal system is to unlock the true potential of the employees, enable them to perform at their best and achieve the highest organizational efficiency which drive growth and long term success.

What is Employee Appraisal System
What is Employee Appraisal System?

Here are the characteristics of a good employee appraisal system:

Employee Appraisal System: Objectives

For any employee performance management strategy the most important point is to clearly define and communicate the objectives to the employees. An employee performance appraisal system does the same. It help management clearly define objectives which aligns with the organizational high-level goals and objectives. The employee performance appraisal system provide specialized tools which help management create objectives that are well-defined, aligned with mission, easy-to-understand, achievable in timely manner, and can be communicated to the employees. The employee can easily understand what success will look like, it help them understand what business/employer is expecting from them and what has to be done from their side to create valuable outcome. The employee appraisal system not only help making objectives quantifiable but also help managers to correlate the objectives with the employee’s skills, experience, capabilities, and resources they have along with a complete historic background of past performances which is a great way to set goals and expectations for future. The systematic approach and specialized tools of employee appraisal system increase the success rate.

Employee Appraisal System: Objectives
Employee Appraisal System: Objectives

Employee Appraisal System: Reliability

The trust and fairness is the main driver of the performance, if the employees think that the appraisal process is not fair or if the think the employee appraisal system is not reliable they will lose morale which can kill the performance and productivity. The employee appraisal system ensures transparency and fairness in the process and help gaining employees’ trust. The reliability is the key component to introduce transparency and gain employees’ trust. The employee appraisal system is a digital tool which offer intuitive features and empower both employees and the managers. It ensures that the performance metrics and data used for appraisal are valid, reliable and accurate. Usually the data is related to the employee’s progress toward the assigned goal, how much time it took them to accomplish the goal, and the status of the goal, all this data is stored in the system along with complete historic accomplishments of the questioned employee. The employee appraisal system can also provide contextual data which also help managers understand employees’ certain behavior and decisions they take during the performance cycle. Employees and managers trust the system when they have access to accurate and reliable data.

Employee Appraisal System: Reliability
Employee Appraisal System: Reliability

Employee Appraisal System: Standardization

Standardization is one of the most important characteristic of employee appraisal system. Obviously every business and organization is different from each other, even two businesses who operate in same domain, have same products and services and same targeted audience could have greatly different internal processes, procedures, strategies and methodologies. However, when it comes to employee appraisal the main difference occurs when the managers took two different employees to assess who belongs to a same employee set/class or category. For example if the assessment is required for two computer programmers who work on Native Application Development within the team, the assessment process, methods and criteria should be exactly the same for both of them. In manual practices and traditional appraisal methods, the managers have too much influence on the process hence the personal bias or emotions can hamper the quality of the assessments made by the same manager. The employee appraisal system completely remove this from equation, it standardize the evaluation criteria, performance metrics. Furthermore it provides a comprehensive framework which make employee fully aware of appraisal standards, process, and decisions hence everyone knows how their success is being evaluated. The standardization can greatly increase employee trust on the appraisal process.

Employee Appraisal System: Standardization
Employee Appraisal System: Standardization

Employee Appraisal System: Communication

The communication is the backbone of any performance optimization or workforce optimization campaign. For the employee appraisal the communication is most crucial component of the process. The employee appraisal system help businesses and organizations to enhance communication between the employees and managers using specialized tools and unconventional methods. The managers must communicate the goals, objectives, mission and vision and the criteria of appraisal to each and every individual employee. If the employee doesn’t know about the system or doesn’t have clear information about any process or step, they will lose trust form the appraisal process which can easily kill productivity. The employee appraisal system help integrating employee feedback at various stages, especially in goal setting process. When the employee and managers have shared vision about a particular goal the employees tend to perform well and their motivations and morale raises. The employee appraisal system strengthen the communication between the managers and the employees with more frequent feedbacks, discussions and interactions which help identifying and rectifying problems that employee might be facing and also help managers to correct course in order to ensure success by the end of the appraisal cycle.

Employee Appraisal System: Communication
Employee Appraisal System: Communication

Employee Appraisal System: Development

The employee development is most important aspect of any employee appraisal system. Businesses and organization always want to minimize the employee turnover rate. This is essential in order to develop a highly skilled and experienced workforce. But if your employee keep leaving the organization, then you must have to bear the additional training costs, onboarding costs, time wasted in integrating a new employee and obviously the delay in the work, sometimes when the employees from key position left they could hinder the performance of the entire team or department, especially in startups, SMEs and very specific businesses. Every employee wants to grow, everyone wants to improve their professional skills and every single employee wants to learn new things which add value and increase their worth as an employee. However, most of the time the employees are confused about selecting a right career path and the managers too rely on guessing while selecting a career path for an employee or designing a personal development plan .However, the employee appraisal system provides in-depth understanding of the employee performance, their capabilities, skills and ability to grow. That is why with the employee appraisal system managers can design more effective and attractive employee development plans which help them raise employee satisfaction and reduce the employee turnover.

Employee Appraisal System: Development
Employee Appraisal System: Development

Employee Appraisal System: Training

When it comes to training, businesses often focus on the employee training. However, the managers’ or evaluators’ training is also very important. The evaluator and managers who are conducting the appraisal should also be well-trained in principles and processes of the appraisal along with the employee appraisal system tools. The evaluators and managers should be trained and provided with sufficient knowledge which enable them to effectively design and conduct appraisals. Conducting appraisal interview is a very crucial part of employee appraisal process, the evaluator or manager must have proper training to be able to conduct those interviews. Apart from that the employee training is the core of the employee appraisal process. Every business or organization have such employees who just need a little training or polishing in order to unlock their true potential. But the question is how to identify those employees and how to design the training programs for them. The employee appraisal system provide insight to employee behavior, it provide highly accurate employee performance data and provide a greater understanding of employee’s skills and capabilities which are essential to design effective training programs. Effective training will help businesses achieve higher productivity and it also help gaining employee trust and loyalty.

Employee Appraisal System: Training
Employee Appraisal System: Training

Conclusion

Performance management, workforce optimization, employee appraisals, training programs and various such activities are a part of any growing organization. Every business wants to generate as much outcome as possible with the limited resources and inputs. High performing teams and employees are a great asset of a business and can provide a much needed competitive advantage as well as help boosting performance, profitability and growth of the business. That is why businesses conduct employee performance appraisals. However, when it comes to employee appraisals, it is a very sophisticated and crucial process. That is why businesses in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all around the UAE uses specialized tools such as employee appraisal system in order to make the appraisal process more effective and efficient. The employee appraisal system helps setting and communicating goals and objectives, it improves communication, it increases transparency and help businesses gain employee trust and satisfaction. In this blog we have listed some key characteristics of employee appraisal system, if you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to design and implement and customized employee appraisal system for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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Custom Software Development Progressive Web Apps – Beginner’s Guide

The technology is transforming our lives, whether it is personal or work, the technology is integrated to everything. For example, the laptop or smartphone you are using right now to read this article is a technology. The software is the epicenter of all modern days’ technologies, whether it is for personal use or for business use. Businesses in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, or any other part of UAE knows the importance of technology, this is the reason why businesses are investing big time in technological solutions and resources. When it comes to software there are two major types, some of the software are installed locally and some are online, for example, you install Microsoft Office in your computer, and you use your ERP or Intranet system via online with help of a web browser. We have also witnessed huge increase in the use of internet over the past decade, and according to studies there are 6.8 Billion people around the globe who have access to the internet and out of that 4.32 Billion people are preferring to use their smartphones to accessing the internet. Those figures are staggering, and that is what compelled businesses to focus on the mobile technologies and solutions even more.

Custom Software Development Progressive Web Apps 1
Custom Software Development Progressive Web Apps

It is this trend of using smartphone for accessing the internet and deeper integration of smartphones in our daily life which results in the rise of progressive web apps (PWAs). The smartphones are getting more powerful and offering more features than ever before. Above all they are more convenient to use and wit the rise of social media and communication apps, the smartphone usage is significantly increased. In UAE almost 99% of population have access to the internet and also uses mobile phones, which is evident of the much deeper penetration of smartphone in our society than one can even imagine. That is why businesses started focusing on building smartphone apps and leveraging them to grow their revenue. Google is a key player in the internet and also in smartphones with its operating system Android used by majority of smartphone manufacturers. Google introduced Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) in 2015 with an aim to combine the features of a webpage and a mobile application to offer a better user experience with more accessibility, user-friendliness and technological superiority. According to Google the progressive web apps (PWAs) are more reliable, engaging and fast than traditional mobile applications. In this blog we will discuss what a progressive web app is and how businesses can leverage its advantages to grow their revenue and improve their customer experience.

Custom Software Development Progressive Web Apps
Custom Software Development Progressive Web Apps

What is a Progressive Web App (PWA)?

By definition a progressive web app or PWA is a software application which is built using traditional web technologies and platforms such as CSS, HTML, and JavaScript but it offers a user experience similar to a native mobile application. The greatest advantage of a progressive web app or PWA is that it is not confined to a specific platform, it means a single codebase can be used for multiple platforms and the custom software or application will behave like the native application for that platform. Similarly like the websites the progressive web apps (PWAs) are compatible with multiple platforms but offers additional features such as it can be installed on local storage, it can run in the background, it works offline and it can be integrated with the software and hardware features of the device as well. In this context it truly surpassed both websites and the native mobile applications and that is also one of the major reason of their popularity all around the world. Furthermore the progressive web apps (PWAs) help empowering businesses and enable them to accelerate their technological adaptation processes and the custom software development using progressive web apps is much more cost effective and scalable than any other traditional application building method.

What is a Progressive Web App
What is a Progressive Web App?

How Progressive Web Apps (WPAs) are Different?

With the rise of internet and digital marketing businesses started investing in their websites. Later on the digital experience and digital services are introduced to offer convenience, freedom and easy accessibility for the customers. This was the time when the websites have started evolving into highly functional web apps offering a wide range of features and functionalities. With the introduction of JavaScript, Ajax and continuous progress in web development technologies and platforms the web apps have become very useful for both customers and businesses. However, in parallel the smartphones and mobile application development platforms were also improving. A stage came when the native mobile applications have proved their superiority over the web apps. However, both the native mobile applications and web apps have certain limitations and there were features that were exclusive to both platforms and were not available at the counterpart. Therefore a new technology have emerged as progressive web apps (PWAs) which enable businesses to leverage the best out of both native and web apps. With the development of advanced web building tools and platforms and progress of mobile web browsers combined with ever increasing power of smartphones paved the way for the progressive web apps. The progressive web apps are websites who behave and work like a mobile apps and that is what made them different.

How Progressive Web Apps (WPAs) are Different
How Progressive Web Apps (WPAs) are Different?

Why Progressive Web Apps are Better than Web Apps and Native Mobile Apps?

The first thing that made progressive web apps (PWAs) better than websites/web apps and native mobile apps are the development method, tools and techniques. For example, here are the Programming Languages that are used to build these customized software, apps or web pages:

  1. Websites/Web Apps: HTML, CSS and JavaScript
  2. Native Apps – Apple iOS: Objective-C and Swift
  3. Native Apps – Google Android: JavaScript
  4. Progressive Web Apps or PWAs: HTML, CSS and JavaScript

That is a major difference between these. Furthermore the development approach is also different. The Websites and Web Apps are intended for web browsers, the Native Apps are developed to run on their exclusive platform. For example the native app which is developed for Apple iOS will not run on Google Android and vice versa. However, the progressive web apps (PWAs) are developed to be run in a browser and doesn’t depend on the platform. In case of native apps you will have to develop two different apps using different programing tools and languages, hence you will develop one app for Android and one for iOS. The biggest advantage of progressive web apps is that only one codebase can effectively run on both iOS and Android and you will have to develop just one application. Furthermore a progressive web app is responsive and it can work on any screen size/form factor without requiring any change or modification in its source code. These are some key advantages which make progressive web apps (PWAs) better than a traditional website/web app or native mobile applications.

Why Progressive Web Apps are Better than Web Apps and Native Mobile Apps
Why Progressive Web Apps are Better than Web Apps and Native Mobile Apps?

Why Businesses Should Chose Progressive Web Apps for Custom Software Development?

Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE knows the importance of digital customer experience, hence businesses keep investing in software solutions and digital experience to ensure they remain ahead of their competition and obtain maximum customer loyalty. The custom software development is far superior than opting for a stock or off-the-shelf software solution. It offers exclusivity, which means your competitors can never have what you have. Custom software development offers high security and totally aligned solutions for your needs which make them more effective. However, when a business needs to offer a digital service or digital interaction via website/web app or mobile app, they tend to prefer native mobile application development. This is majorly due to the fact that the web experience and mobile app experience are two different things. What businesses want to accomplish is a seamless customer experience while offering them great features. The progressive web app development is the ideal solution, it offer the best of both web apps and native mobile apps which make them superior. Here are some key advantages of building a progressive web app:

  1. Fast and Responsive: The progressive web apps are considered very light weight, hence they are fast and react quickly when a user interacts. Furthermore the PWAs are responsive and automatically adjust according to the device, hence the user can use them on any screen size and form factor without compromising on user experience.
  2. Engaging: The progressive web apps are very engaging and for an ordinary user it is hard to tell difference between a native app and PWA. The progressive web apps offer similar experience as that of a native mobile application.
  3. Offer Great Features: A progressive web app not just offer similar user experience but it can also offer similar features which are offered through native apps. Such as adding icon on the home screen, sending push notifications, running in the background, working offline, integration with other systems, etc.
  4. Offer Better Security: In the modern day and age the data protection and security are among the most desired features of any software solution or application. The progressive web apps use HTTPS and SSL protection to ensure high-level data protection and user security.
  5. Very Lightweight: Another great feature of progressive web apps is that they are very lightweight. If we build a progressive web app of a native mobile app with similar design, features and everything it would still be very smaller than the native, in some cases it could be 90% smaller than its native counterpart. This also help boosting the performance and speed by many times.
  6. Easy Management: The progressive web apps are much easier to manage, as they are very lightweight, and need less programming the management and maintenance is relatively easier. The upgrades and updates are also much easier, as the developer will only have to upgrade one codebase.
  7. Better Connectivity: The progressive web apps offer better connectivity than the native mobile apps. PWAs can also work perfectly in low-connectivity areas and with slower networks, as they communicate with the server in a different way which also enables them to work offline.
  8. Uses URI/Linkable: The progressive web apps have another great feature of using URIs to track the current state of the application. It means that when a user close the app and reopen it the app allow them to continue from where they had left.
  9. SEO Friendly: Building native mobile apps and marketing them in itself is a very time and resource consuming task. However, a progressive web app is very SEO friendly and the search engine can easily read their content and index them which help simplifying the digital marketing for it.
  10. Low Cost/Better ROI: The custom software development process is very simple with progressive web apps, the developer will have to work only on one codebase, which reduce their work and cost too. The PWAs can be updated/upgraded easily which also help minimizing the cost. They are progressive in nature hence doesn’t require compatibility/update whenever a new platform arrives, which also lowers the operational cost and increase the lifecycle. These features make progressive web apps one of the best ROI offering custom software development method.
Why Businesses Should Chose Progressive Web Apps for Custom Software Development
Why Businesses Should Chose Progressive Web Apps for Custom Software Development?

These features and advantages of a progressive web app or PWA make them the ideal custom software development method for the modern days’ needs. It is a lot easier to build and launch them, the operational and upgrade cost is also low, which results in better ROI over the long term.

Conclusion

This blog is designed to provide a basic understanding of Progressive Web Apps, with the intent of making it accessible and understandable for beginners. I tried to keep my language simple and avoid complex technical concepts and terminologies. This beginner’s guide can help you understand the difference between PWAs, traditional web apps, and native mobile apps. Custom software development is a very important process for any business, because businesses only goes for customized software solutions when they need to solve a very unique problem or they are trying to gain superiority over their competition. The rapid rise of progressive web apps is indicating that it is the future of custom software development. The progressive web apps are gaining more momentum in MENA, Asia and North American regions as they offer superior functionality, great user experience and excellent ROI. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you need our help in your custom software development project or if you need a progressive web app solution for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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Customer Software Development: Why React JS is The Future of Frontend Development

Customer Software Development Why React JS is The Future of Frontend Development

The React JS is a JavaScript library which is used to build user interfaces (UIs) and it has emerged as one of the most popular platform in past few years. The React JS is an open-source library which is another great reason for using it in the frontend development. It is majorly used in website and mobile application development. The React JS basically offer reusable code snippets which is much make UI and frontend development much easier. When the developers use React JS they require much less code comparing to other JavaScript frameworks such as Vanilla JavaScript. The React JS behave like Lego blocks, and allow programmers to use and reuse independent individual code blocks and elements which are the part of the final UI (user interface). The React JS offers a revolutionary approach of allowing developers to use individual elements to build an entire UI rather treating the full UI as one element or single unit. The frontend developer can easily split complex UIs into several elements which is a much easier approach than the conventional methods. That is why the React JS has emerged as one of the most popular frontend development framework not only in Dubai, UAE but it is equally popular all around the world.

Customer Software Development Why React JS is The Future of Frontend Development
Customer Software Development Why React JS is The Future of Frontend Development

The custom software development is also gaining huge appreciation from all around the world, businesses are opting for custom software solutions rather than acquiring a commercial off-the-shelf solution. The React JS not only improves the development process but it is much more stable and efficient which is what makes it ideal for custom software development, websites and mobile applications. Businesses in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and other parts of UAE are investing huge chunk of their hard-earned profits in digital experience. The websites and mobile applications have also become very complex day by day. Traditionally when the developers and programmers use a framework they will have to write a lot of code, which is time-consuming and it also make troubleshooting difficult. However, with the React JS the developers can easily break the complex UIs into individual components and they can use code from pre-build library which saves a lot of time and efforts. In this blog we will discuss the benefits and advantages of React JS which makes it ideal for frontend development in custom software development, website building and smartphone application development.

React JS is The Future of Frontend Development
React JS is The Future of Frontend Development

React JS is Easy to Use and Learn

If you are a professional frontend developer then using and learning the React JS is very easy. It is built on JavaScript which is essential for every frontend developer so while you already knows JavaScript working with the React JS is very easy. When you have understanding of variable, array, functions, conditional statements and loops it is very easy to learn and use the core concepts of the React JS such as props, stats, JSX, components and lifecycle methods. For example a component in the React JS is a small chunk of UI which can be reused anywhere. There is a root component which contains more components and the overall structure is a tree like hierarchal structure which is easier to use and understand.

React JS Offers High Performance and Efficiency

The React JS uses the state and render method, in which the state part take care of the data that has to be displayed and the render method is taking care of the design and how the data should be presented on the screen. The output represents a JavaScript object which is mapped with the DOM (document object model) element. Instead of DOM the React JS uses another innovative method and it creates virtual DOMs. The virtual DOM is also a JavaScript object but it is a light and it an in-memory representation of a real DOM and when the state of an element get changed, the UI renders itself again in the virtual DOM instead of real DOM. This is the reason the custom software, websites and web apps made using React JS are much faster and efficient.

React JS Offers High Performance and Efficiency
React JS Offers High Performance and Efficiency

React JS Offers Declarative Programing Style

Another great reason why custom software developer, website and mobile application developer likes React JS is its declarative programing style. The programmers can tell what to do (express the logic of computation) without any need to tell how to do it (control flow). Custom software development teams and website/mobile app developer love this because it reduces the possibilities for errors and mistakes by simplifying and shortening the source code. The declarative programing style is simpler than the imperative programing and it also reduce the time and efforts of the developer.

React JS Offers Stability and Simplify Debugging

The React JS was developed by Facebook and they have designed a very impressive debugging mechanism in this framework. It enable the React JS to keep the bugs separate and enable the browser to isolate such errors which makes it easier to trace and rectify them. Furthermore the component creation mechanism also ensures that the unit testing can be executed effectively which minimize the chances of system crash and also results in better efficiency. The reusability of elements and components also reduce the need of frequent testing, save times and brings stability to the system.

React JS Offers Stability and Simplify Debugging
React JS Offers Stability and Simplify Debugging

React JS Offers Cross-Platform Compatibility

Another remarkable feature of React JS is that it offer excellent cross-platform compatibility. Businesses also prefer cross-platform compatible solutions as they are cost-efficient and also offer consistent experience across all compatible platforms such as web, desktop and mobile apps. That also benefits software developers and app developers as their single supplication can offer a seamless user experience across all platforms and they doesn’t have to build different applications for different platforms which also saves a lot of time and efforts. Furthermore the React Native is a specialized component used to build native mobile applications.

React JS Offers Better Migration and Adoptability for Future

For any customized software, website or mobile application the ability to migrate it to an updated technology or platform in future is very important. React JS offers great feature to migrate it to other platforms and technologies. It is very convenient to migrate data, configurations and settings of custom software, websites and mobile apps build using React JS. That is another reason why developer prefer React JS because it requires very less effort and work to migrate it to other platforms. Furthermore the React JS is adopted by large businesses and rapidly adopted by small and medium sized organizations which is why the innovation, creativity and new features are very frequent in React JS.

React JS Offers Better Migration and Adoptability for Future
React JS Offers Better Migration and Adoptability for Future

Conclusion

The information technology evolves at a very fast pace, new technologies, platforms, ideas and creativity is greater than any other industry. Especially the software development industry witnessed a lot of development and progress over the past few years. Furthermore the software development industry is subjected to rapid advancements and monumental changes, which is why new technologies and platforms are appearing every other month. The React JS is one of the best tool for custom software development, website and mobile application building. The easy usability, simple learning curve, less coding, easy troubleshooting, and better adoptability makes it the best tool for frontend development. Large businesses in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and other parts of UAE are adopting React JS which is why its popularity is increasing rapidly and it is safer to say that the React JS is the future of frontend development. In this blog we have discussed the key advantages of using React JS for custom software development, website development and mobile apps. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help for your next project, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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Advantages of a Custom ERP Software Development

Advantages of a Custom ERP Software Development

The ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning Software is an application which streamlines the entire operation and help both employees and the management in effectively performing their day to day tasks. The ERP software can greatly maximize the outcome of the business by enabling them to effectively manage their resources. We have witnessed that most of the businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE thinks that an ERP solution is for large enterprises and production industry, however that is not true at all. In the modern fast-paced digital era the businesses need to effectively manage their resources to maximize their efficiency, which can provide them with the much needed competitive advantage and help them grow over the time. Another strong argument that most of the business leader has is that they are already utilizing a bunch of business tools and software solution, their manual processes and excel spread sheets based management methods or their small size or industry they operates in doesn’t require a sophisticated and advanced ERP software solution. It is true that the implementation of an ERP software solution requires a lot of research, efforts, and also have a cost associated to it, but the benefits and value it offers in unmatched.

Advantages of a Custom ERP Software Development

Why Businesses Need an ERP Software?

The ERP Software is offers a central information management framework which links will all other third-party tools and systems and have ability to provide real-time updates, analysis, reports, performance, stats and much more. The enterprise resource planning software drives efficiency and productivity with automation and innovation which help businesses enhance the quality and quantity of the outcome of their resources and maximize their operational capabilities. Here are the key reasons why business need an ERP Software solution:

  1. Greatly increase performance and efficiency
  2. Reduce operational cost and eliminate waste
  3. Eliminate the inadequacy of the existing digital ecosystem
  4. Get rid of time-taking manual data processing via spreadsheets
  5. Significantly enhance functionality and help employees in day to day tasks
  6. Eliminate errors and problems associated with manual processes
  7. Get real-time updates, centralized information management system
  8. Enable real-time data synchronization and sharing with all internal systems
  9. Enhance and improve management by gaining more visibility into processes
  10. Maximize the growth rate and increase overall profitability

The benefits and advantages of the ERP or enterprise resource planning software solution far outweighs the implementation efforts and cost. However, when it comes to implementing an ERP software solution, businesses leaders often find themselves confused between the off-the-shelf ERP and custom ERP software development.

Why Businesses Need an ERP Software?

What is the Difference between Off-the-shelf ERP and Custom ERP Software Development?

The COTS or commercial off-the-shelf software solution is ready-made software application designed for a larger targeted audience often for masses and it is used to solve complex business problem(s). Every software serves a purpose, the business need a software to perform certain tasks or to support certain processes. The custom software development on the other hand is designed exclusively for a particular business or user group at a business who wants to solve their very unique and exclusive problems or to aid very specific business processes. That doesn’t limit the scope of the custom software development, in fact in terms of efficiency and impact the custom software development is the more beneficial method for businesses. It is the ability to cater to very specific business needs of various business processes or even the entire business which makes custom ERP software development more effective and highly efficient. The COTS ERP have limited adoptability and often require businesses to make changes to their workflows and processes, it is due to the design of the COTS ERPs as they are designed to meet the generic needs of a specific industry. However, the custom ERP software are far superior as they are exclusively designed by keeping in mind the needs, existing workflows and processes of the business.

What is the Difference between Off-the-shelf ERP and Custom ERP Software Development?

What are the Advantages of a Custom ERP Software?

The custom ERP software meets the needs more effectively and are designed to solve the very specific and unique business problems. That is what makes them superior and more effective in the long term. Here are the key benefits of the custom ERP software:

Business Have Full Control over the ERP Features and Functionalities

In case of ERP software the one-fits-all is not applicable at all. The enterprise resource planning software is a core application which can have direct or indirect impact on each and everything a business does. Businesses over the time evolves differently, every business culture is unique and different form the others, even the businesses who operates in similar industries could have completely different organizational culture and business practices. This is why the generic off-the-shelf ERP solution is not enough and businesses need a very specific set of features and functionalities which can meet their exclusive needs. The custom ERP software development gives businesses full control over all features and functionalities, they can design the system according to their internal workflows and business processes which means the system will do exactly what the business needs. Aligning the features and functionalities of a custom ERP software can greatly enhance the productivity and efficiency and also improve the adoptability and integration of the system.

Business Have Full Control over the ERP Features and Functionalities

Businesses can Significantly Improve their Management Processes

Although the management structure and framework could be similar but every business leader have different preferences, priorities and management methodologies. This is why the custom ERP software development is great to improve and enhance the management processes. As it offers exactly what the management and managers needs and help them with their tasks to improve their efficiency. The COTS or commercial off-the-shelf ERP software are designed for generic use that is why they missed this flavor of personalization and couldn’t meet all the needs of the management. The custom ERP software development on the contrary allow management to customize their administration dashboards and everything else. They can have customized features, customized data dashboards, and real-time updates according to their preference and priorities which significantly increase the visibility of the management and provide them a better framework to accomplish their desired objectives through the ERP system. Thus the businesses can apply their personalized methodologies and management structure which enhance their performance and improve the overall management process.

Businesses can Significantly Improve their Management Processes

Flexible Scalability, Updates and Changes According to the Needs of the Business

For any software solution the scalability, future updates and upgrades and on-demand changes are the most important aspects to consider. The commercial off-the-shelf ERP software are designed for masses, there are always fees and charges attributed to scaling and customization. If a business needs some changes, they will have to bear hefty charges and even then the scope of the changes is very limited, as the structural changes, or customization in the application core are never possible, they COTS ERP software provider always limit such changes and customization. The custom ERP software development on the other hand offers more flexibility and control. Businesses can scale up or down whenever they want, they don’t have bear additional fees and in case they want to customize a feature or even the entire ERP software, they can do that. There is no restriction associated to changes and customization. Businesses can also update and upgrade the system whenever they need. That flexibility and control is extremely important for businesses growth and competitiveness.

Flexible Scalability, Updates and Changes According to the Needs of the Business

Businesses will own their Customized ERP Software

The COTS or commercial off-the-shelf ERP software are always designed and developed by a vendor or service provider who holds the ownership rights to the software application. The businesses/users are always bound to an agreement, which in most cases favor the service provider. The service provider can change their policy anytime they want, they can increase the cost, they can drop certain features which you might be using and they might not introduce the features that you may need. This is what limits your control over your ERP system and have various other drawbacks. The custom ERP software development doesn’t have any such limitation or problem, the custom ERP software are exclusively designed for the business, either by an outsourcing partner, vendor or internal software development team. The business/user holds the full ownership rights to the final product, the vendor or outsourcing partner doesn’t own anything, they will have to deliver all the source codes, resources and everything utilized in the software. This also eliminate the dependency on a particular service provider, business can acquire custom software development services and then they can maintain the software in-house or they can acquire another business partner to do that for them. This also have cost benefits and help minimizing the operational and maintenance cost.

Businesses will own their Customized ERP Software

Custom ERP Software Development Offers Better Data Privacy and Protection

The commercial off-the-shelf ERP software are owned by the vendor or service provider hence they have more control over the data storage, protection, privacy, and recovery polices and the business who is using their software must have to comply with those policies. More importantly in case of an off-the-shelf or ready-made ERP software the business’s data will be stored in vendor’s data centers. The data that is stored in an ERP software is of great importance, any data breach or such compromise could permanently damage the business’s reputation and can have dire consequence. The custom ERP software development allow businesses more control over these policies and help them protect their data. Businesses can store their data in their local data centers or they can acquire a trusted cloud service to host their data from them. There is another important factor to consider is that the commercial off-the-shelf ERP software are available to tens of thousands of users all around the world, which means their structure and a lot of other aspects are well-known and this is what makes them more vulnerable. However, a customized ERP software is only available to the one user which means no one else is familiar with its structure which makes it more protected against common internet threats.

Custom ERP Software Development Offers Better Data Privacy and Protection

Custom ERP Software Development Provides a Great Competitive Advantage

As the commercial off-the-shelf ERP software solutions are available for masses and if you are using a popular ERP system the chances are your competitor might also be using the same. If all the tools and features that you are utilizing are available to your competitors too then you can never gain any competitive advantage. For any business the business tools, methodologies, practices and processes determines the outcome, performance and quality of the work. If you are your competitor are using same tools, then the chances are you can never gain a significant competitive advantage over them. There is another important thing to consider is that the commercial off-the-shelf ERP software solutions can never fulfill the 100% needs of a business, in fact when acquiring an off-the-shelf solution businesses often seek 80% compatibility, this means they compromise on the 20% or slightly less of the functionalities and features. However, the custom ERP software development fully aligns with the business needs and offer 100% solution of all you problems. On top of that the features and functionalities you will be using are exclusive to you, no other competitor will have access to those features and tools, which will give you a great competitive advantage.

Custom ERP Software Development Provides a Great Competitive Advantage

Conclusion

The ERP software solutions are a great tool for modern businesses, no matter who large or small you are or which industry you belongs too, every business needs to streamline their processes and workflows. The modern businesses will have to ready to adopt to the highly dynamic market and customer trends and abrupt changes. Businesses need to optimize their productivity, performance and efficiency in order to optimize resources and minimize the expensive without compromising on the outcome and quality of the work. When businesses need to implement an ERP software they have two possibilities, either they can go with a commercial off-the-shelf ERP software or they can take the route of custom ERP software development. The packaged off-the-shelf software are easy and quicker to implement but have limited compatibility which not only prevent businesses to reach to their full potential but could also cause problems down the road. The custom ERP solutions are exclusively designed for the needs and specifications of the business and help businesses achieve the maximum efficiency, performance and productivity.

The custom ERP software development offer great competitive advantage, superior performance, better adoptability, more future readiness, and increase adoptability. In this blog we have listed the key advantages of the custom ERP software solution, if you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to design a customized ERP solution as per your needs, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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