Friday, February 28, 2020

Look Out for These 7 Trends in the Internet of Things (IoT) | Charter Global


The internet has become a beastly enterprise, with the past ten years seeing more technological advancements than perhaps any other industry. The Internet of Things (IOT), for example, is one such advancement gaining immense traction in the marketplace. Here are 7 IoT trends to look out for this year.

1. Big Data Convergence:

IoT is changing the way we live and conduct business exponentially, generating a huge amount of data in the process. Big data platforms, for example, are usually made for supporting the demands of large-scale storage and for performing investigative work.


Interestingly, IoT and big data have a lot in common. Smart devices, for example, are now being designed specifically for the purpose of digesting massive amounts of system and user generated data. The cloud has proven instrumental in meeting analytic and storage requirements in the realm of big data. Moving forward, the junction between IoT and big data will definitely be a trend on the rise.


2. Data Processing with Edge Computing:

Albeit a powerful force, weaker elements in IoT are evident in the addition of devices behind the firewall of the network. While Securing the devices may be easy, securing the IoT itself proves a trickier phenomenon. Thus, security measures must exist between the network connection and the software applications linking to the devices.


Perhaps the most notable benefits of IoT are it’s cost-effectiveness and efficiency, especially in data processing. Rapid-fire data processing is prominent in most smart devices, re: self-driving vehicles and intelligent traffic-lights (aptly coined, “smart lights”). Edge computing has been proposed as a potential solution, gaining immense popularity.


Edge computing usually outperforms the cloud when it comes to speed and cost. Faster processing translates to lower latency, which is one of the premium benefits of edge computing. Data processing with edge computing will see an uptake in IoT trends in the near future, for certain.


3. Auto-ML (Machine Learning) for Data Security:

In present days, developers are tasked with finding newer methods in which people can share data securely by the use of block-chain-like technologies. Many industrial companies are learning how to trust and accept the forecast of machine learning models (otherwise known as “predictive analytics”), and will acclimatize their operations for preventing the downtime by model outputs.


Machine learning model training will likely become a highly automated process. Industrial companies in particular will increase the large capital assets, particularly in cloud computing, in the near future.


4. IoT – Massive Growth Coming:

When it comes to data analytics, IoT is perhaps the most promising technology to date. Smart devices ingest more data and information about the devices and users, and by 2020, it is expected that IoT devices will exceed 31 billion. Today, we see IoT devices as the major part for reporting and tracking.


IoT is capable of the extraction, storage, and analysis of massive data stores. When coupled with other ground-breaking technologies, like Artificial Intelligence (AI), for example, the essential data can be appropriately measured, filtered and categorized. IoT trends will most definitely see an increase in the amount of “work” smart devices are doing. What’s more, they will serve to assist data scientists and technicians in providing powerful, insightful suggestions.


5. Better Data Analytics:

Chances are, you’ve heard some of the hype and clamor surrounding artificial intelligence in modern business practices. The merger of IoT and AI has seen many recent developments, as the two can be used interdependently to provide e a centralized decision-making tool for all types and sizes of businesses.


AI and Machine Learning Development Services that can easily identify trends, patterns, and unique behaviors otherwise invisible to the naked human eye. Better data analytics and the need to safeguard this said data are two major reasons for the rise of this trend. By collecting insights from this data, we could even suggest it be rendered to help us make better decisions in our personal lives. The sheer intelligence, thoughtfulness and self-learning capabilities make this a hugely popular trend to look out for in the near future.


6. Smart Cities to Become Mainstream:

When it comes to data collection, many states have adopted a more technological approach – replacing or improving upon antiquated infrastructure; integrating sensors to reap data that proves invaluable for the purpose of urban planning and development. Prepare yourself for the integration of IoT into just about every sidewalk, crosswalk, highway, and byway, as data collection becomes less of a convenience and more of an evolutionary imperative for American progress.
Cities both nationwide and globally will become pioneers for the great data exchanges affording accessibility and empowering evidence for better decision-making. Ultimately, the digestion and dissemination of this unique, all-telling data will provide a fundamental platform for both private and public organizations, and the citizens under their watch.

7. Personalization of the Retail Experience:

With IoT, the efficiency of supply chain and information systems management has grown by leaps and bounds with respect to retail. Sensors and other smart beacon technologies are being used to tailor shopping experiences with ease, speed, and accuracy like never before.

In the not-so-distant future, IoT can be used to monitor, gauge, track, and personalize your investment portfolio – making unique, custom trade recommendations based on your data insights. Or, imagine getting notified immediately when a highly-sought after product from your favorite shop is discounted via push notification which when expanded, offers an indoor map of your favorite shop – leading you to the exact product you desire.


The value of this trend ensures the better integration of personalized retail experiences which ultimately can bring upon a new era of shopping as we know it.


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Google Launches Flutter 1.0 | Charter Global


Google has launched its portable UI Toolkit Flutter 1.0 during its Flutter Live conference in London. Flutter 1.0 is a mobile app development platform allowing its user to write apps that share a single code base across iOS and Android with a Native User Interface.

During the launch, many compared Flutter to React Native by Facebook. React Native relies on JavaScript while Flutter relies on Dart, Google’s in-house programming language, to avoid the need for JavaScript bridge to initiate interactions with the native services by the OS platform. Dart is easy to write codes in and therefore comes with a shorter learning curve compared to JavaScript.

According to a Google post, Flutter enables the “ultimate realization” of Material Design, Google’s own design language for Android, to create a foundation for user interfaces; thus “enables users to build beautiful apps.” The platform is powered by hardware-accelerated Skia 2D that allows lightning speed transitions.

Flutter is free and an open source solutions with a BSD-style license, and includes the contributions of hundreds of developers from around the world. It also develops a new capability for developers and designers to iterate on their apps in real time.
Flutter 1.0 is the first stable release of the platform. The new version focused on stabilization and bug fixes. It also added new features such as Dart 2.1, Add to App, and Platform Views.


Dart 2.1 is an update to Dart which provides smaller code sizes, faster type checks, and better usability for type errors. According to an announcement by Google, Dart 2.1 version reduced minified output size by 17% and improved compilation time by 15%.

Add to App is a feature that will let users add Flutter easily to an existing app. Currently, the feature is in preview since the APIs and tooling are still in development.

Platform Views enables the inclusion of an Android or iPhone platform control in a Flutter app. For this to work, Google developed two platform view widgets, Android-view and UiKitView. Android support is still in preview and will soon support iOS as well.

Flutter can be used for both UI and back-end instead of using one technology stack for UI and one stack for business logic. It is also aimed to reduce a lot of code as there are customization and pre-defined libraries available in the Flutter SDK.

Google also announced Hummingbird, a web-based implementation of the Flutter runtime which enables Flutter code to run on the standards-based web without change.


Charter Global has the experience in developing mobile app development in multiple platforms. We have expert developers for Android, iOS, Xamarin, React, SAP Fiori, Wearable, and Gaming. Get in contact with us today.


E-Commerce Trends on the Rise | Charter Global

Trends in eCommerce technology include mobility, digitization, customization, speed optimization, chat-bots, and more


According to research conducted by Big Commerce, 80% of people in the U.S. make purchases online at least once a month. While the majority of people shop on large marketplace websites like Amazon, roughly 30 to 40% also purchase from online retailers like web stores, independent boutiques, and category-specific e-retailers. This year we’ll see several e-commerce trends emerge with the potential to transform how we shop and communicate with online stores. 

1) Mobile first


In 2016, mobile eCommerce services accounted for over $25 billion in sales, an increase of more than 25%. This figure is predicted to continue to increase, reaching over $30 billion in 2017, and $42 billion by 2020. Mobile traffic has overtaken the desktop. Google is working on a new, mobile-first web index and marketing strategy. According to these trends, it’s critical to business to put mobile first, rather than simply optimizing for mobile.

2) Digital payments


Mobile payments are on the rise as smartphone users adjust to the convenience of contactless payments. Starbucks was an innovator in mobile payments, becoming one of the first to offer products based on an online payment model. In 2016, an increasing number of customers adopted digital payment methods, using their phones, cards and even watches to complete contactless payments. PureNet predicts that every customer will expect to be able to complete their transaction using a digital wallet in real-time.

3) Personalization and Customization


The amount of data available increasingly allows content, ads, and products to be shown to the right people at the right time, across the web and social networks. The continuing sophistication of personalized recommendations will be trending for eCommerce this year. Retailers will embrace personalized experiences – even using e-mail marketing to cater personalized emails to consumers, rendering unique customer experiences. and Artificial Intelligence by starting to collect behavioral data like browsing history, geo-location, and social media from website visitors and developing highly targeted campaigns based on customer segments and previous online experiences.

4) Fast delivery


Ecommerce delivery timescales have reduced drastically and become much faster, boosting customer relationships with eCommerce sites. Delivery and returns have always been one of the pain points of the online shopping experience, but improvements in eCommerce technology have improved delivery significantly. PureNet predicts same-day delivery will continue to rise in 2017, and more eCommerce integration with drop-off point providers such as Doddle.

5) Competitive Platforms 


eCommerce Technology will continue to play a greater role in automating the retail experience. With the help of the latest technology, salespeople will be able to focus on building relationships with customers to increase sales. In order to stay competitive, businesses must invest in high-performing eCommerce solutions. Providers such as Charter Global, apply leading technology tools to deliver customized eCommerce solutions to mid-size and Fortune 1000 companies. Experienced providers offer expertise across multiple, proven Cloud-based eCommerce platforms such as SAP HANA, SAP Business One, Magento, PCI DSS, Spring MVC (Framework ), Magnolia CMS/ Blossom module, HTML5, CSS3, JQuery, and Struts.

6) Chatbots


Chat-bots are AI-led automated messenger services that allow your customers to engage with your brand via instant messenger via machine learning. Over the last few years messaging apps have exploded in popularity, and thanks to eCommerce personalization, artificial intelligence technology has been adopted by many large retailers. This year will see these two trends combine to deliver a new way of shopping and communicating.

Charter Global offers SAP Hybris


SAP Hybris products are created for easy implementation to most businesses preexisting systems. The intergradation process is straightforward therefore fast to market. Each SAP Hybris applications is linked to one another. So, as a company grows and is in need for additional support in SAP Ecommerce Solutions, marketing, sales, billing, service or customer data, there is a SAP Hybris product for that. Its components are designed to work together in all settings and systems. This feature makes a company’s transition process to a full SAP Hybris system hassle free. Therefore, businesses do not need to completely change their current systems in one instance. The change can be done over time, which is cost effective and allows for a smooth transition.


Businesses that implemented SAP Hybris saw tremendous increase in their Return on Investment (ROI). The increase of the ratio between their net profit and cost of investment resulted from their integration of SAP Hybris systems. In a study commissioned by SAP these businesses saw a 307% increase. The study, “The Economic Impact of SAP Hybris Ecommerce Solutions for B2B,” focused on both qualitative and quantitative information from a number of businesses who run their website using Hybris.


SAP Hybris continues to be the first choice for many businesses due to its stability, large global implementation partner network, and vertical industry solution focus. The numerous applications for business problem solving and quick integration process makes SAP Hybris an industry favorite. There is also an application connector that can work with JDE applications providing easy implementation. Due to its enhanced functionality and seamless shopping experience, SAP Hybris is ultimately improved the buyers’ journey and overall experience.


According to the study, a composite organization using SAP Hybris ECommerce Cloud solutions over three years was able to:

  1. Drive an additional 50% of revenue digitally.
  2. Enhance customer experience.
  3. Reduce order processing costs by 70%.
  4. Improve productivity across teams.
  5. Experience a 5% increase in average order value.
Marcus Ruebsam, senior vice president and head of strategy and solution management of SAP Hybris, stated: “As evidenced by this latest study, SAP Hybris ECommerce Cloud empowers organizations to make the buying process not only easier but more profitable.”


Read the full study at SAP Hybris.


Vendors, such as Charter Global, who understand the business value of SAP Hybris ecommerce solutions, have developed innovative pre-configured SAP Hybris, which can also be customized. Clients such as PPG have experienced rapid ROI from the solution.


According to Phil Bauer, VP Information Technology, PPG: “Charter Global enabled us to achieve our goal of deploying a full featured ecommerce solution that will help us to improve our online customer experience and allow us to stay competitive in our market.”


If you would like more information on pre-configured SAP Hybris ecommerce solutions, visit Charter Global.

4 Tips for Mobile Recruiting | Charter Global


Using mobile technology, an HR unit can engage mobile recruiting to attract, engage as well as convert candidates. Typical examples of mobile recruiting methods include mobile recruiting apps, mobile career sites, social recruiting, and recruiting by text.

Mobile Recruiting offers an evolving opportunity for employers to connect with candidates in a more efficient manner. A research study showed that more than 89 percent of job candidates confirmed that their mobile devices are going to be an essential tool as well as resource for job search.


No doubts, the use of traditional methods such as phone calls and emails have helped in time past in employment processes. However, the rise in mobile usage among people searching for job has made mobile hiring strategy a more viable tool for recruitment in 2019 and beyond.


What Research Results are Saying about Mobile Recruiting?

According to the outcome of the research carried out by Human Capital Institute; “While 70% of job seekers use their smartphones or tablets to search for job positions, only slightly above 30 percent of employers are leveraging mobile to recruit online — this set of employers call themselves ‘talent-centric.’”


What bell does this ring? Whether you want to attract candidates who are actively engaged in smartphone usage, or engage candidates in the course of hiring, you need to upgrade to mobile recruitment. But how? Keep reading to learn how.


Tip #1: Don’t Ignore Mobile or You will be Ignoring the Best Candidates

If you ignore mobile in your recruitment process, you may end up ignoring the top candidates for those positions you wish to fill. So, why is it quite important to feature your recruitment strategy on handy devices such as smartphones and tablets? The answer is simple…


By not integrating mobile hiring strategy in recruitment, companies are giving up skillful and qualified candidates. This is because a good number of highly-talented people are changing the way they search for job, both the entry-level candidates and the senior executives”, says a recruitment expert. And, it’s a pity that a lot of companies are hesitating to swing into mobile recruiting.


Tip #2: Imbibe a Strategic Mobile Hiring Strategy

Wondering where to start when it comes to mobile hiring strategy? For now, don’t focus much on smartphone apps. The first step is to focus on making your company’s career website mobile-friendly. Be the judge of whether or not your career site would enable mobile users to apply for your positions by browsing the site on a mobile device – iPhone, Android phone or tablets. This will help you determine how best to repackage your site to suit the present day job seekers.

Tip #3: Take a Cue from Your Rivals

Another great way to do mobile recruiting is to take a cue on how your competitors are doing it. There’s no need reinventing the wheel — be smart and do less work by taking a cue from your rivals who are already taking advantage of mobile for recruiting. Take a long and insightful look at a well-structured mobile career site.

Tip #4: Find out and Implement Mobile Users’ Needs

You should also research on the needs of mobile users. The message is simple; learn about your target audience. Locate a group of persons/candidates critical to your recruiting. Subsequently, you should sit back and find out their needs in terms of what your company has to offer better than the other rival company.

Finally, get to the essentials of mobile recruiting by developing robust mobile devices’ landing pages.


Thursday, February 20, 2020

Usability Guidelines and Website Design Standards | Charter Global

Usability is a crucial part of the application development process: So what exactly is “usability” with respect to software and application development services? Usability means making products, systems, websites and web applications easier to use, matching them more closely to user needs and requirements. A website very often serves as the first impression to your customers – and you need to ensure it is a good one to keep them coming back. Good usability and user experience should capture the best possible human-computer interaction.
 
The primary benefits to users are that they can achieve their tasks easily and efficiently. This sounds simple, but the feeling of achievement that people get when they use a computer system without frustration should not be unpredictability is a crucial part of the application development process.
 
Usability means making products, systems, websites and End-to-End Application Development Services easier to use, matching them more closely to user needs and requirements. A website very often serves as the first impression to your customers – and you need to ensure it is a good one to keep them coming back. Good usability and user experience should capture the best possible human-computer interaction.
 
A highly usable system doesn’t just offer benefits to the users, but to your business as well.
 
Components of Usability:
 
  1. Effective – Effectiveness is the completeness and accuracy with which users achieve specified goals.
  2. Efficient – Efficiency can be described as the speed in which users can complete the tasks for which they use the product.
  3. Error – The ultimate goal is a system which has no errors.
  4. Easy to Learn – How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design?
  5. Satisfaction – How pleasant is it to use the design?
     
How to Improve Usability:
 
There are many methods for usability, but the most basic and useful is user testing.
 
User testing is different from focus groups, which are a poor way of evaluating design usability. Focus groups have a place in market research, but to evaluate interaction designs you must closely observe individual users as they perform tasks with the user interface. Listening to what people say is misleading: you have to watch what they actually do.
 
Usability’s Role in the Design Process:
 
Usability plays a role in each stage of the design process.
 
  1. Before starting the new design, test the old design to identify the good parts that you should keep or emphasize and the bad parts that give users trouble.
  2. Conduct a field study to see how users behave in their natural habitat.
  3. Make paper prototypes of one or more new design ideas and test them. The less time you invest in these design ideas the better because you’ll need to change them all based on the test results.
  4. Refine the design ideas that test best through multiple iterations, gradually moving from low-fidelity prototyping to high-fidelity representations that run on the computer. Test each iteration.
  5. Once you decide on and implement the final design, test it again. Subtle usability problems always creep in during implementation.
 
Usability Guidelines and Standards:
 
Usability guidelines and standards can be useful to provide ideas about usability issues, but they must be assessed to determine whether they are relevant to the users and context. Read More
 
Software development continues to develop and change each year. By researching the latest trends and keeping your process relevant, your business has a greater chance at success. If you are looking to build a scalable digital solution for your business, you should approach a software development company that works on the latest technology trends and implements the above technology stack. 
 
Get in touch with our team to discuss IT staffing and software development solutions that can supersede your existing solutions on mobile and web applications.

Three Types of Mobile Apps: Native, Hybrid, and Web - Charter Global

A breakdown of the 3 types of apps and a list of the best cross platforms to use in mobile app development -
 
Smartphones have become an inseparable part of our daily lives. Activities like waking up with a morning alarm, checking Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter; listening to music, reading news, watching YouTube videos; adjusting the thermostat and lighting, updating project status; and the list goes on. All of these mutually exclusive applications run independently on main operating platforms; seamlessly bringing our smartphones to life – all in real time.
 
We see hundreds of new apps in the market every year, and the demand for mobile application development continues to increase. Although we’re familiar with operating systems (i.e. iOS and Android), chances are, we’re not clued-in on the specific technology platforms software developers use throughout the design and development process in building apps. We hope that after reading this blog, you will better different types of mobile applications and cross platforms, including a few you’ve never heard of – in your journey to understand progressive web development. 
 
Native mobile apps:
 
Native mobile apps are designed to be “native” to one platform, whether it’s Apple iOS, Google’s Android, or Windows Phone. The native platform can be advantageous because it tends to optimize the user experience. Because it was developed specifically for the platform, it can operate more quickly and intuitively.
 
  Hybrid mobile apps:
 
These apps can be installed on devices just like native apps, but they run through web browsers. All hybrid apps are developed through the HTML5 programming language. Though hybrid apps are not as fast or reliable as native apps, they have a greater capacity for streamlining the development process. Because you don’t have to build and maintain mobile apps for separate platforms, your business can save on time and resources. It’s ideal for apps that primarily deliver content.
 
Web apps:
 
Responsive websites switch to a different design when they are accessed from a mobile device. Adaptive web application, on the other hand, scale to fit the different screen sizes of mobile devices. For these apps, the design doesn’t change. Web apps are built using the most popular programming languages, but they can’t use hardware on mobile devices or be sold in any app stores.
 
 
Xamarin: 
 
Xamarin delivers native Android, iOS, and Windows apps, using existing skills, teams, and code.
 
Adobe PhoneGap:
 
PhoneGap is a mobile application development framework based on an open source project (Apache Cordova).
 
Appcelerator: 
 
Appcelerator is an enterprise-focused development platform that lets developers write JavaScript with its Alloy MVC framework.
 
Kony: 
 
Kony offers a range of tools as part of its enterprise Mobility Platform to help business create apps from a single codebase.
 
Sencha Touch: 
 
Sencha Touch is the leading cross-platform mobile web application framework based on HTML5 and JavaScript for creating universal mobile apps.
 
 
 
Appery.io: 
 
Appery.io is the best cloud-based mobile app builder platform that the mobile phone application developer can use to create best apps for Android, iOS, and Windows phone, and includes Apache Cordova with access to its built-in components.
 
Charter Global leverages its experience across multiple, proven application development services and ecommerce cloud-based platforms:  SAP Fiori, SAP HANA, SAP Business One, Magento, PCI DSS, Spring MVC (Framework), Magnolia CMS/ Blossom module, HTML5, CSS3, JQuery, Struts. Charter Global is also the only Oracle partner that offers native pre-configured customizable mobile apps for JD Edwards users.
 
 
Software development continues to develop and change each year. By researching the latest trends and keeping your process relevant, your business has a greater chance at success. If you are looking to build a scalable digital solution for your business, you should approach a software development company that works on the latest technology trends and implements the above technology stack. 
 
Get in touch with our team to discuss IT staffing and software development solutions that can supersede your existing solutions on mobile and web applications.