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Mummified fetus with elongated skull found in Colombia could be 'alien' or 'tiny cave-dwelling humanoid' that lived over 800 years ago, researcher claims | Daily Mail Online

CHILLING video has shown the world’s fastest humanoid robot sprinting at full pelt. The terrifying reality comes from Unitree Robotics, whose H1 V3.0 Evolution faceless droid will never tire …

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Latest enhancements to the Chinese firm&#x27;s first humanoid allow it to sprint at 7.38 mph on level ground. Unitree Robotics&#x27; H1 sets Guinness World Record as fastest full-sized humanoid robot, marking advancements in robotic technology.

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Fast Company is the world&#x27;s leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, leadership, and design.

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24-Hour vs Detailed Project Development Estimation

24-ঘন্টা বনাম বিশদ প্রকল্প উন্নয়ন অনুমান

24-Stunden-Schätzung vs. detaillierte Projektentwicklungsschätzung

Estimación del desarrollo del proyecto en 24 horas frente a una estimación detallada

Estimation de développement de projet sur 24 heures ou détaillée

24 घंटे बनाम विस्तृत परियोजना विकास अनुमान

24時間対詳細なプロジェクト開発見積

24시간 vs 상세한 프로젝트 개발 추정

Estimativa de desenvolvimento de projeto detalhada em 24 horas

24-часовая или детальная оценка разработки проекта

24 Saatlik ve Ayrıntılı Proje Geliştirme Tahmini

Ước tính phát triển dự án chi tiết và 24 giờ

24 小时与详细项目开发估算

Our life today is comfortable to a large extent due to smart devices. These are smartphones, smartwatches and fitness trackers, smart home appliances, and much, much more. These things are the world of the (IoT). Internet of things Literally and figuratively, they all connect with the Internet. Smart gadgets collect and analyze information, exchange it with other devices, and perform actions. All this happens almost autonomously, with minimal human intervention. IoT things are present only in our daily household needs but also in all areas of human activity - banking and finance, agriculture, industry, and tourism. Internet technologies gave rise to IoT development, and it, in turn, expands the capabilities of the Internet itself. IoT development companies offer various services in this area. They create IoT devices and fully integrated software for them. We offer you a list of IoT developers having an excellent reputation who can become your reliable partners. Integra Sources A custom hardware and software development company has vast expertise in providing mobile application development services for IoT projects. Integra Sources ensures a high level of security and reliability for all tailor-made IoT solutions. In the view of and , the team is among the top IoT developers in 2022. techreviewer GoodFirms IoT-related services provided by the company: App security consulting; Backend & API development; Data analytics application development; Voice-enabled IoT application development; Beacon & iBeacon app development; Bluetooth app development; IPS development. Sumatosoft The company is a reliable partner for businesses of all sizes. Since 2012, Sumatosoft has been applying the best IT innovations, including IoT. Using IoT software development technologies, the company focuses on product usability. IoT software is designed for building and increasing customer satisfaction. mentioned Sumatosoft in the rating of best 70+ IoT development companies in 2022. techreviewer IoT-related services provided by the company: Data analytics and development of custom IoT data visualization solutions; Consulting; Custom devices and sensor prototypes development; Building IoT ecosystem architectures to ensure efficient H2M/M2M communications; Setup of scalable cloud applications to aggregate IoT data and process it. HQSoftware A company is among the top IoT developers in 2022, according to . The HQSoftware has expertise in IoT development that can help enterprises to make informed choices based on actual analysis, to automate processes, to disclose new product or service potential. Connected devices, created by HQSoftware, are used in agriculture, healthcare, the urban environment, and many other spheres. GoodFirms IoT-related services provided by the company: UX/UI design; Web and mobile application development; Custom middleware for gateways development; Embedded software for the low-level control of devices development; Product prototyping. Alhena Technologies added Alhena Technologies to the list of 2022 trustworthy IoT developers. Alhena is an IoT division of Vates established to support companies in the deployment of their IoT platforms. The company provides innovative software solutions for the Internet of Things, helping organizations choose the right IoT technology stack to create data-rich software solutions for business development. Clutch IoT-related services provided by the company: Full-cycle development, from consulting to post-implementation assistance; UI and data visualization; Big data analytics; Web and mobile application development; Testing, support, and continual software maintenance. iQLance This -approved fast-growing software and mobile application development company has a crew of developers, designers, product testers who follow a flexible and effective Scrum development approach. iQlance is recognized as one of the best IoT application development companies that develop customized and unique IT solutions that meet the expectations of companies across the globe. GoodFirms IoT-related services provided by the company: Gateway development; Support, maintenance, and implementation procedures; Voice-enabled services; API integration and backend development; Application design and development. 10 Pearls A company with almost 20 years of experience in the IT industry and more than 5 years of experience in IoT offers a comprehensive set of application and software development services. Having a 5-star rating, 10 Pearls creates intuitive, user-friendly IoT applications to help enterprises and startups solve their business challenges. techreviewer IoT-related services provided by the company: Consulting; A full-cycle development from research to testing; Analytics and implementation of analytics solutions. TechAhead Top-rated by , this full-cycle development company has been creating new benchmarks for service efficiency for 13 years by developing mobile and web applications, as well as other digital products. A team of talented designers and programmers creates IoT solutions for a variety of industries: real estate, smart home, lighting, healthcare, logistics, and factories. Clutch IoT-related services provided by the company: Research and analysis; Design and prototype; Product strategy and process optimization development; Application development; Testing and debugging. Biz4Group With more than 15 years of experience, and combining technologies such as IoT, AI, and Blockchain, the company provides innovative mobile and web application development services, as well as other exclusive solutions for organizations of any size. IoT-related services provided by the company: Product consulting and design; Data ingestion and analysis; IoT cross-platform app development; Network and notification management; Application development for wearable devices. Yalantis The software development and IT consulting company is a trusted partner helping clients innovate, strengthen their teams, and improve existing systems to achieve maximum business value and sustainable growth. In addition to IoT, Yalantis has technical expertise in UI/UX design, cybersecurity, high load systems,  Cloud, and DevOps. IoT-related services provided by the company: Data analytics; Cloud IoT migration; Platform development for managing infostructures and handling data; Software development for powering the wearable devices; Smart home solution development; Industrial IoT development. Trigma Trigma is a leading IT company with a full-cycle development. Appreciated by Clutch, Upwork, and GoodFirms, the company provides custom software development and consultancy services to startups, small businesses, government agencies, and big enterprises. Trigma solutions are applied in healthcare, gaming and leisure, finance and insurance, education, real estate, and some other spheres. IoT-related services provided by the company: Providing solutions for Automotive; Smart home automation; Smart energy management- predictive energy optimization, remote energy equipment monitoring, etc.; Industrial IoT development; Home automation system development and more. Today, many companies offer services in the field of IoT. When choosing an IoT vendor partner, you need to give preference to organizations that provide solid web security and development. A good choice for partnership can be full-stack companies that may create a solution that manages hardware, mobile interface, and web interface in one project. IoT development companies that have proven themselves to be reliable partners and have high ratings from independent agencies and the media will surely benefit your business by creating high-quality products.

10 Companies Building IoT Devices in 2022

“Everything is related to everything else.” Speaking about any ecosystem, we speak about a complex system of interconnected components and the environment in which they exist and with which they interact. All components are linked together through energy flow, some cycles (for example, nutrient cycles in biology), and their environment. The point of interconnection between all elements and the environment is of the highest importance in an ecosystem and this is the thing that distinguishes a from an . system ecosystem A system itself forms a complex and unified whole, while an ecosystem is closely linked to its environment. We can use the term IoT ecosystem instead of IoT system because IoT devices have no value without the environment they exist in. . The main benefit IoT devices bring to people is the data This data is related to the environmental conditions or external phenomena as well as to something within the system. Apart from the relationship with the environment, all devices are connected with each other. The final destination of the data is people who use it.
‍ These three facts bring us to the definition of - a network of interconnected devices that exists in some environment gathers the data and delivers it to people who process and analyze it using modern technologies to achieve a definite goal like building a smart home. an Internet of Things ecosystem Since different groups of people build different IoT applications for their purposes, IoT software development creates numerous IoT ecosystems. These ecosystems can be a simple network with 20 connected devices like smart home or a multi-level structure with a complicated and broad network of devices that requires a sophisticated platform to manage all layers. If we decompose the most complex IoT ecosystem with middle layer into its building blocks, we get the next scheme: s gather the data and transfer it through the to a connected to the Internet that compresses the information and passes it to for further analyses to be later displayed in the to provide with meaningful insights. IoT device securely network gateway the cloud application users ‍ : Thus, we listed 7 components of an IoT ecosystem IoT devices Security Network Gateway Cloud Application Users ‍ ‍These components are sufficient to describe the most complex IoT ecosystem, although most ecosystems don’t need them all. The next step that is expected to be taken is to dive deep into the meanings of these components and describe them in detail. However, we have a better idea. For those readers who want to get a common understanding of these components, we prepare a shortlist with a brief description of them. Those who are looking for detailed information can move to the second chapter where we reveal technical details and additional insights about some of the components. In the final section, we prepared a for you! Bonus abstract Whatever intention you have, Enjoy reading! 7 Components of an IoT Ecosystem Chart Components Details IoT devices Physical devices that interact with the environment. There are two types of them: - are devices that are supposed to gather information about the environment and measure its physical parameters like temperature, motion, people flow, etc. In other words, sensors convert physical phenomena into a digital form. - are devices that perform a physical action on things after they get such a command. actuators turn on the lights when sensors detect a movement within its operating radius. Important notes: as we have mentioned, the main benefit the Internet of Things provides is the data. That means that sensors must transfer the information (about detected movement in our case) to the cloud through the Internet. So when you enter the house and the lights turn on, you most likely don’t become a participant of the Internet of Things ecosystem since the information about you entering the house is not transferred further to the cloud. Sensors Actuators An example: Network is responsible for the communication within an IoT ecosystem between smart things, gateway, and the cloud. : a smart fitness bracelet tracks your heart rate and waits until you connect your smartphone with to transfer the data. After your smartphone gets your heart rate, it stores the data in some installed health apps. The app then will sync with the cloud by transferring your heart rate to cloud servers. The network makes sure that the data will not be corrupted during the transfer via Bluetooth and through the Internet. The network An example Bluetooth through the Internet Security is responsible for access control to the IoT network, the security of data transfers, data leakage prevention, and scanning for malicious software. The security component is presented by firmware and software from security providers, such as Azure Sphere. : many IoT devices have non-existent or very simple passwords for authentication. That led to the emergence of botnets that are also known as “zombie armies”. An army is a group of hacked devices that are connected to the Internet and participate in DDoS attacks on websites. The security component An example Gateway is a physical device that allows for data streams from sensors to the cloud and in the opposite direction. It also performs data preprocessing before the information will be transferred to the cloud. A gateway is not a necessary element since IoT devices can set connections to the Internet by themselves without a gateway as an intermediary. : You probably have a router at your home via which you connect to the Internet. You can consider the gateway as some sort of router (it even may look like a router as a fanless plastic box with buttons), but a bit complicated since it integrates data from thousands of devices, preprocesses it, and has some more responsibilities. A Gateway An example The Cloud is a cloud-based computer resource that is responsible for data storage, deep analysis, and management. In other words, it is a group of computers people get access to through the internet to use their compute capacity for some purpose. The cloud is enhanced by powerful analytic and visualization tools, Big Data algorithms, and Machine learning technology. : imagine you building the Internet of Things ecosystem with 10 000 connected devices that measure the physical parameters of the environment on your field crops. They collect the raw data and send it to your home computer to store it. The computer would get terabytes of information every day. Is its storage capacity enough? Probably not. Furthermore, the raw information is useless until you have an army of humans who can analyze it. Or you can use cloud technologies and get as much storage capacity as you need as well as get all the necessary tools to process and analyze the information. An example of the cloud in the Internet of Things is Cloud IOT core from google. The cloud An example Application s the graphical user interface that provides remote control and management of devices connected to the Internet of Things ecosystem. : you left your smart home and you have doubts whether you locked the door. It’s not a problem! Open the application on your phone and check. If the door is not locked, one click in the app is enough to lock the door. An Application i An example Users are all the people who affect the Internet of Things ecosystem and use it for their purposes. Users comprise people with personal IoT gadgets, researchers who use analytics from the IoT cloud, staff who use the Internet of Things in their operational processes, stakeholders who reap the benefits from huge industrial IoT solutions. IoT ecosystems are supposed to serve people's needs, boost efficiency, improve the standards of living, and quality of life. Users are those who declare business goals and vital postulates that will become the basis for the Internet of Things ecosystem. : You are with a high probability. If there is a fitness bracelet/smartwatch on your wrist, you are a user in the IoT ecosystem. Users Example That’s all you need about the Internet of Things ecosystem. If the information above is sufficient for you, jump to the bottom of the article to from our team! Otherwise, keep reading since we have more information on the components see the Bonus 7 Components of an IoT Ecosystem: Detailed Before we start, it’s worth mentioning that there is no single, officially recognized structure of the Internet of Things ecosystem. Some components are mandatory like IoT devices, some are optional like gateways. The more components the ecosystem includes the more focus it has on finer aspects of the Internet of Things. #1 Component: IoT devices are the layer of sensors, actuators, and smart objects that gather information about the environment and measure physical parameters. ‍IoT devices As we have already mentioned, the basic elements of the Internet of Things ecosystem are sensors and actuators (or just “things”). Sensors are the perception of the IoT system whose main function is to get information from the environment and transform it into data. It’s a rare case when the Internet of Things ecosystem features only one type of sensor or actuator. There are numerous types of sensors where every type has its sub-categories of sensors. We want to mention two of the most common sensors and two of the most essential for improving the ecological state on Earth: - One of the most common and popular. Different industries benefit from these sensors since they can measure the temperature of an industrial machine to check its health, constantly track the temperature of a sick human, or monitor the soil conditions for farmers. Sub-categories: thermocouples, resistor temperature detectors, infrared sensors, etc. Temperature Sensor - A well-known type of device since there are thousands of homes with such types of sensors to save energy of lighting when no one is around. Sub-categories: inductive sensors, photoelectric sensors, ultrasonic sensors. Proximity Sensors - Especially important due to the pollution of the oceans. These sensors can help to monitor the condition of water and detect sources of pollution in real-time. Sub-categories: chlorine residual sensor, turbidity sensor, pH sensor. Water Quality Sensor - They monitor the chemical changes in the air, which is extremely important in big cities where the issues of air pollution continue to worsen. These sensors are also helpful in industrial environmental monitoring, harmful chemical detection, and radioactive detection. Sub-categories: chemical field-effect transistor, hydrogen sulfide sensor, potentiometric sensor. Chemical Sensors #2 Component: Security ‍ - it is the component that encompasses all other components, provides security of data transfer, and prevents unauthorized connections outside the Internet of Things ecosystem. Security In recent years the number of IoT-based DDoS attacks grew dramatically. That is why any IoT system needs a strong security level that protects at least from the most common vulnerabilities. The security level has a wide array of responsibilities, like: . IoT devices may trust the local network to such a level that no further authentication is required. Anyone who connects to the network gains access to all devices within it, making broken authentication issues especially acute. Access control to IoT network while transferring data across the network. The data must be encrypted across the IoT system with protocols, like AES, DES, DSA, and others. Preventing data breaches . In some cases, software bugs can result in the attackers running their own code on the IoT device. It’s necessary to patch software versions when any vulnerability is detected. Scanning for malicious software There are various firmware and embedded security providers to secure the Internet of Things ecosystem, such as Azure Sphere, LynxOS, Mocana, Spartan, Forescout, Symantec, etc. Unfortunately, most Internet of Things providers and IoT device manufacturers overlook even the basic security guidelines. They are: The device boot process must be secured from running inappropriate code pieces. Cryptographic keys must be used to run any command on the devices. It’s especially important in IoT update management. All control commands and information should go through a gateway to avoid direct access to the device outside the network. Whenever a new security breach is detected all IoT devices should install security patches from it. ‍ #3 Component: Network ‍ is the core logistics part of the Internet of Things ecosystem. The network is also called a connectivity layer. It is responsible for all communication within the IoT system: the interconnection of smart things, transferring data and commands between IoT stages, and connection to the cloud. The network There are two ways of communication: takes place locally within a Local Area Network (LAN) between IoT devices and smart gateways through short-range wireless communication protocols. The first way of communication This way of communication is optional because sensors can connect to the cloud directly through the Internet using TCP/IP protocol. However, the connection through non-IP protocols consumes less power since devices connect to local smart gateways instead of trying to access the main server in the cloud. The most popular short-range protocols for the Internet of Things architecture are as follows: WiFi. Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy (or Bluetooth LE for lower-powered devices that generate less data). ZigBee - a universal solutions interlacing all smart devices Near Field Communication (NFC). Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Sigfox. LoRaWAN. If the system needs to cover long distances in the range of kilometers, it can use Low Power Wide Area Network (or LPWAN) that is designed for wireless data transmission across long distances. occurs when the data is transferred from things to the cloud in cases where there is no smart gateway or in the case of communication between smart gateways and the cloud. The second way of communication The network layer establishes a link between the Local Area Network and the Internet. The basic protocol here is the IPv6 protocol. #4 Component: Gateway is a physical device or virtual platform that serves as an intermediary between IoT devices and the cloud. There are several main functions of the IoT gateways: IoT gateway in the Internet of Things ecosystem. The data flow goes through the gateway from devices to the cloud and in the opposite direction. Control the Data Flow of the transfer of the information in both directions. Ensure the Safety from the cloud to IoT devices. Pass Commands before sending it to the cloud. Gateways filter, aggregate, summarise, and cluster traffic from different devices. Preprocess the Data of the IoT devices since communication through the internet consumes a lot of power, while low energy technologies like Bluetooth low energy don’t. Save the Power of responses to IoT devices. Some devices need a real-time response from the system. Communication with the cloud can take a while, while gateways can be programmed to handle some typical issues and provide instant responses to devices. Reduce Latency #5 Component: The Cloud ‍ is a cloud-based computer resource responsible for data storage, deep analysis, and management. In other words, it is a group of computers people get access to through the internet to use their compute capacity for some purpose. The cloud The cloud is the place where a big pile of raw data from sensors is transformed into neat small piles of valuable information. The most popular vendors of cloud computing are Microsoft Azure and AWS IoT. The cloud can be powered with analytics software, visualization tools, AI, and machine learning for in-depth analyzing and processing of the data. One of the main advantages of the cloud solution is that they are easily scalable which is a vital requirement for building an effective IoT system. #6 Component: Application When software development companies build software for the whole Internet of Things ecosystem they deal with all 7 components and build a system that covers the requirements on all levels. However, IoT application is the tip of the iceberg in IoT software development. is a place where users can interact with the Internet of Things ecosystem. The interaction becomes possible thanks to the graphical user interface where users can look through analytics and reports, control the system, and manage devices.
‍ An application The list of technologies used in the development includes: : C/C++, Python, Ruby, JavaScript Programming languages : Node.Js (Node-Red for rapid prototyping), Ot, IoT.js, Device.js, Eclipse IoT (Kura, SmartHome), AngularJS Development frameworks : Google Assistant, Google Home (Actions on Google), Google Vision, Apple HomeKit, MI Light, Cortana, Alexa Voice Service, Philips Hue, Android Things 3d-party APIs #7 Component: Users ‍ are perhaps the most essential component among all 7 components of the Internet of Things ecosystem. Users have two roles: Users They . The opportunities the Internet of Things ecosystem brings become a basis for valuable insights for all types of users. IoT has a great impact on businesses and the world economy, it changes the existing business models and leads to the emergence of new ones. use an IoT ecosystem for their purposes IoT sensors and applications can become a professional health assistant that measures biometric data of the patient and helps to make a more accurate diagnosis. The Internet of Things transforms all 6 stages in the supply chain management while businesses experience growth thanks to machine downtime reduction and automatization. The impact of the Internet of Things ecosystem is enormous. Users . The Internet of Things ecosystem is supposed to serve people, satisfy their needs, and provide particular information which helps to achieve users’ goals. The IoT ecosystem is built by people, for people, and with a focus on people's needs. define what the IoT ecosystem will do Who can be users: People who use IoT gadgets for personal use Researchers Staff (doctors, warehouse workers, carriers, engineers, etc.) Stakeholders and top managers That is all you need to know about the 7 components of an IoT ecosystem. If you would like to learn more or build the Internet of Things ecosystem for your business, feel free to contact a Sumatosoft team. is a software development company that follows the principle of transparent cooperation and excellence of work. SumatoSoft We're a team of skilled and creative people who specialize in the development of top-quality software for our clients. Bonus! The power of IoT ecosystem or how to cheer up 150 000 people: Source: imgix.ranker Back in 2017, one security expert connected to Internet printers and sent out a message for printing as soon as the printer was turned on. hijacked more than 150 000 The message was a prank and it contained the test: “stack overflow in has returned to his glory, your printer is part of a flaming botnet, the hacker god has returned from the dead. -> YOUR PRINTER HAS BEEN OWNED < - - -” ‍ Under the message, there was an art of a small robot to add extra humor. The prank was supposed to show how certain printers keep ports open by default allowing access to the device through the Internet for everyone. The expert was a good guy and he just wanted to inform users that they need to close this port. He didn’t have evil intentions, so nobody got hurt. However, this case is proof that manufacturers and IoT providers should pay attention to the security of smart devices. Thanks for reading! Co-published here.

Everything You Will Ever Need to Know About the IoT Ecosystem in One Blog Post

It’s great to implement IoT technology in your business. It’s commendable if you are a vendor of IoT devices. It’s challenging to be an IoT software development company (we know that from experience). The number of IoT devices (or so-called IoT things) in one system can count thousands of devices. Smart home includes dozens of things (tv, speakers, light switches, kitchen staff), while enterprises tend to have hundreds and thousands of devices in their fleet, especially when enterprises use small low-power sensors. Fast IoT technology development makes the replacement of existing devices whenever a new version appears nearly impossible and uneconomical. Moreover, it’s not enough to build and implement an IoT system, companies need to manage and maintain it. An essential part of maintenance is the updating process. Updates add new software features, improve the performance, fix bugs, and patch security issues. However, deploying a new update on all IoT devices in a system is a complex task that requires a properly set update process to ensure the integrity and resilience of the system during and after the deployment. In other words, it requires good IoT update management. In the article, we discuss IoT device management and describe one of its parts: IoT update management. We also provide guidelines and best practices for update management that you can implement in your update process or use to build an update process from scratch. Whatever purposes you have, enjoy reading! IoT update management as a part of the IoT device management Let’s start with a simple question: What is IoT device management? is the process of managing all devices within an IoT system. The management includes: IoT device management monitoring and tracking IoT devices and their states configuration of IoT devices using remote access diagnosis of the health of devices within an IoT system remote troubleshooting and error handling updating the firmware of parts of the devices (like a processor) and the installed applications and software patch security holes monitoring of usage and performance metrics Every new device in an IoT system entails a procedure of its registration and requires additional efforts to manage and troubleshoot. The number of connected IoT devices worldwide is about to reach devices in 2021, and an average industrial IoT system can count thousands of devices. So it became very apparent that IoT device management requires a separate tailored platform to maintain a huge IoT fleet. IoT device management platforms vary in their functionality: some only offer the option to track and monitor IoT devices within a system, while others give a whole spectrum of tools for IoT device management. 12.3 billion active And although IoT update management is a part of IoT device management, it remains a separate complex process with a unique process flow and best practices. About IoT update management ‍ is the process of managing the IoT fleet by deploying updates to smart devices in order to keep their firmware updated, fix bugs, add new software features, and increase the security level of the entire system. IoT update management ‍ Before we continue to discuss the IoT update management details, it’s good to define two terms: . firmware and software is the low-level software for different parts of the device, like a processor. It enables components within one device to interact with each other and allows the device to work as one system rather than a set of microcontrollers. The same firmware usually doesn’t suit microprocessors from different manufacturers, which means your system will depend on the IoT devices manufacturer’s support. Firmware Simple gadgets like environmental sensors may have only firmware, while other devices like smart TV also have some installed applications. These applications are called . software ‍ Now let’s jump back to the IoT update process. : It consists of two parts a device the update package downloads a device updates installs Usually, updates are transferred to things in the IoT fleet using . The main benefit of OTA methods is that you can send updates from one central platform to every IoT device with no need to have physical access to it. over-the-air (OTA) methods ‍ One way for devices to get updates is to download them directly from the main distribution center: the cloud. Another approach of IoT update management is to build locally placed gateways that are responsible for a certain group of devices in the area and control the traffic that goes to and out of that group, including the updates control. The choice depends on the security requirements, types of smart assets in the system, and the IoT system infrastructure. For example, a large set of low-powered sensors without strong embedded protection from unauthorized access requires a presence of a gateway with strong security software. Speaking about the security programs it’s good to mention that IoT update management should cover the updates of such type of software too. ‍ Why you should pay attention to IoT update management Go back to 2017. Airbnb used smart locks on apartment doors for flats on Airbnb’s platform. Smart locks were paired with a mobile app, providing remote access to lock control. No keys were required, and guests could unlock the front door through the app. However, some doors when the lock firmware got new updates. Guests lost the opportunity to open doors from their smartphones and had to use special emergency keys. The lock vendor couldn't fix the problem remotely. It was necessary either to return the locks to the vendor or ship a replacement of the lock. Either way, the total time for the vendor to solve this issue was 5-7 days in the first scenario while shipping a replacement required 14-18 days. stopped responding to any commands That happened because the vendor accidentally had included in the update group the subset of locks from the first generation, which were not compatible with new updates. Fortunately, the vendor managed to handle this critical issue. Effective IoT update management helps to avoid such unpleasant situations. So let’s discuss the meaning of the term effective IoT update management and how you can improve your current IoT update process. IoT update management best practices ‍ The main challenge for IoT update management lies in building the update process since it’s unique for every system. However, we can provide you with common workflows in that field and best practices that will make your IoT update process more robust. 1. Analyze your IoT fleet and adopt your update process to its specificity At that stage, you should form a clear vision of the devices in your fleet. You need: To count the number of devices in the fleet. Use IoT management platforms for that purpose. To choose the method of OTA update: you are going to use a gateway, or devices download updates directly from the server. The first method is preferable when IoT devices are placed in a certain area, while the second is widespread in consumer markets. Consider all versions of devices. Planning an update deployment, pay attention to the compatibility of old versions of devices. Define update processes for different types of updates. You can deploy small updates that fix bugs, or make a new release of the software and firmware - these two cases require different update processes. Some updates can be critical, like major security issues. You must establish an emergency update process for such cases. Decide whether users can manually choose the time when their IoT devices will get updates, or the downloading and installation of updates will be automatic. The manual option is preferable for personal IoT devices, while the automatic option works better for industrial IoT fleets. 2. Create a backup and integrate a recovery process A backup allows restoring configuration files to an earlier point in time in case of firmware or software failure after the installation of the update. The software and firmware can fail for various reasons, like data corruption, software incompatibility, virus, or a banal human error during update deployment. The recovery procedure should be embedded into the firmware so the IoT device can deploy the previous trusted configuration even if it fails. 3. Use a test group of devices before the deployment All patches and updates should be tested before the deployment - it’s a crucial step in IoT update management! Define a test group of IoT devices. Their system configuration, bandwidth, and software should be identical to those in your IoT fleet. Then deploy updates and check whether devices successfully installed them without errors. Run tests to understand the impact on device performance. Test the correctness of the work of installed applications and programs if any. Then delete the patches and check whether the system works stable. 4. Test the case when update installation is interrupted There will always be cases of interruptions during the updates deployment. Reasons are various: unstable internet connection, the device can run out of battery during the installation, low bandwidth that may interrupt the download process. To test the resilience in such cases, deploy the updates to a test group, but then interrupt the update process during the downloading and installation by powering off the test devices or aborting the internet connection. The devices should handle these cases and either load an older image of the system or rollback the update process. 5. Schedule and plan the fleet update deployment IoT devices have their pick and low weak workload, so you should consider deploying the updates when devices are not working or have a minimum load. Also, take into account the bandwidth of the network during the day since heavy patches can lead to device failure if the network load is high. Small size packages are always better than heavy images. If your IoT system fleet consists of personal devices it would be better to allow users to choose the time when they are ready to update a system of their devices. Dealing with industrial IoT systems, automatic updates are preferable. Assess the impact of the device downtown during the update deployment and alert all interested parties that the IoT fleet will be out of use for some time. It’s necessary for people who interact and use the IoT fleet to understand the period during which IoT devices will be out of use and sensors will stop collecting the data from the environment. Specific situations like deploying updates on medical equipment during surgery are unacceptable. 6. Split the fleet into groups In case when the fleet consists of a large number of IoT devices that differ in their version, software, firmware, or hardware, the update should be deployed to every group of devices with similar characteristics separately. By adhering to that practice, bug fixing becomes a much easier task compared to the situation when all devices in the fleet get updates at once. Gradual deployment is a vital step towards better risk management. 7. Deploy the updates Once all preparations are done, it’s time to actually start the deployment process. After updates are successfully installed to one group of devices, check their health. If the system works properly and updates don’t cause errors you can go to another group of devices. 8. Log errors and collect feedback Even if everything worked out great, IoT update management doesn’t end here. The devices should continuously log all errors, and there must be a way for people who work with IoT devices to contact support or issue a ticket if something goes wrong. Best practices of IoT update management: ‍ Make a long-term support agreement with manufacturers IoT devices consist of different parts that might break. The option to replace a broken part quickly is necessary to build a robust IoT system. ‍ Block the option of direct firmware updates from manufacturers Since manufacturers also provide updates for microcontrollers and embedded sensors, they can send updates directly to the IoT components they made. However, uncentralized update deployment may lead to errors and conflicts in IoT devices. Therefore, IoT update management should also include the management of updates from third parties. Use cryptographic validation Security patches help devices to stay protected from malicious software. All system images of IoT devices should be protected with a cryptographic key, and any software and firmware installation shall be permitted only after the validation procedure. Each firmware update must be digitally signed. ‍ Provide a stable secure end-to-end connection during the update process This step helps to secure your IoT network from man-in-the-middle attacks. ‍ Small packages of updates are better than one big update image It’s much easier to manage IoT updates when they are split into small pieces. Pros and cons of IoT updates Pros Cons Devices become less vulnerable to security threats Poorly tested updates may lead to device failure Improved user experience for users of personal smart devices IoT update management platform is a complex costly system Fewer bugs and errors Update management is a resource-intensive process IoT fleet gets new features and possibilities The new update may badly affect the devices performance or the correctness of work The latest update may result in the better performance Low network bandwidth can become a serious challenge for deploying a huge update package Additional tools for IoT update management ‍IoT update management can be tricky and complicated, so it would be nice to have a list of programs that can help. Fortunately, developers took care of a lot of possible issues and made software to handle various cases. 1. Full-fledged IoT management platforms Full-fledged platforms cover all issues related to IoT management. The platform can register new IoT devices, monitor their health, and manage the whole IoT fleet. You get an opportunity to set permissions for devices, group them, organize a hierarchy and set inheritance rules of policies and configurations. The platform also facilitates device troubleshot and the management of the fleet. Using full-fledged platforms, you can reboot devices, restore to the factory default configuration, manage their state (power off/on), or perform other actions. Examples of full-fledged IoT management platforms: AWS IoT Device Management Azure IoT Central from Microsoft Upswift 2. Monitoring and predictive maintenance platform Another big group of IoT management tools is monitoring platforms. Monitoring platforms cover machine health management issues, which is especially helpful for manufacturing organizations with a large IoT device fleet. It results in better downtime forecasting accuracy, reduction in unplanned downtime, and reduction in maintenance costs. Great machine health and monitoring tools are: AWS IoT Device Management Senseye PdM Datadog IoT Monitoring 3. Backup and recovery platforms We are familiar with the term “personal computer backup” when the operating system creates an image of core system files and personal user’s files so they can be restored in case of a computer failure. IoT devices are the same computers that support the backup and recovery option of their system files and configuration. Among useful services you can find: Thing Shadows from AWS Device twins from Microsoft Azure IoT Hub
Besides, device vendors often integrate backup solutions into their products.
‍ Conclusion We believe that by implementing all best practices from the article you manage to build a robust IoT system without any security holes thanks to an effective IoT update management process. Thanks for reading! Original post at SumatoSoft

The Complete Guide to IoT Update Management

Have you heard about the Internet of Things and Big Data? They are two very trending technologies that have evolved independently for a long time but become interrelated over time. Nowadays, people use both these terms together while discussing IoT software solutions or applications. Technologies have already exceeded human imagination. A usual online graphic calculator available for use from any part of the world is many times more powerful than most computers in the 20th century. In 1976 there was a delivery of the first supercomputer system with more than 5 tons of the total weight of the mainframe! A modern game platform Sony PlayStation 5 that weighs 0,004 tons is more powerful. Cray The relationship between the Internet of Things and Big Data will impact all spheres of our lives no matter whether you are going to use them during the development of your next software project  or as a daily app. We agree with Shawn DuBravac, who wrote in his book about the new age of data: “ ” This is what will happen regardless of which road we take. In the article, we consider the Internet of Things and Big Data technologies and discuss how they are interrelated. Enjoy reading! Internet of Things and Big Data. Real-life Use Cases Let us start with real-life examples of IoT systems, where Big Data plays a significant role. The media focuses people's attention on the mass market side of the Internet of Things development, for example, wearable devices like smartwatches and fitness trackers. However, IoT possibilities are much wider than the functionality of these products, and IoT has a big thing to offer to businesses. Empowered by Big Data and other modern technologies, like cloud computing, nanotech, IoT systems can be implemented on all levels of business operations in existing companies and even lead to the emergence of new types of businesses that have never existed before. Below there are 3 awesome examples of the Internet of Things and Big Data technologies implementation in one system. Do you believe in miracles? Disney does believe. Source: wired.com Disney decided to use Big Data and the Internet of Things technologies to improve the personal experience of Disney parks. Disney developed , a colorful, silicone, waterproof wristband that can be used to unlock hotel rooms, enter theme parks, charge food and merchandise purchases. It also collects all sorts of data from visitors and uses it to reduce the waiting time in lines and prepare personalized surprises. Disney’s MagicBand Disney spent more than to develop a Magical Wristband, and nowadays, it is an indispensable element in the Disney Park magical experience. $1 billion Can Global Logistics be smart? With Big Data and the Internet of Things, definitely yes What if a company puts smart sensors in the transportation fleet and calibrates them to record all possible information during the delivery? Will that information be meaningful? The transportation and logistics company made it and then developed a smart logistics system called ORION based on Big Data collected from sensors. ORION uses advanced algorithms to create optimal routes for delivery drivers from the data supplied by customers, drivers, and vehicles. It also can alter the routes on the fly based on changing weather conditions or accidents. UPS How can the Internet of Things and Big Data Help Agriculture? The crops are vulnerable to damage from insects, disease, and other factors, while agricultural fields are too big for accurate monitoring by humans. Using drones, 3D video sensors, big data, and machine learning, the company enables proactive deep real-time crop observation to mitigate yield loss. Aker The system is set in two steps: first, drones place video sensors all over the fields. Second, sensors take pictures of crops and make accurate crop health and pest maps of the agricultural fields, allowing farmers to identify crop damage early and make necessary decisions quickly. Sensors continue to work and update maps in real-time. Aker platform supports more than 50 crop types, the downloading of scouting data offline, and allows sharing scouting reports. Big Data and the Internet of Things help farmers to decrease damage from pests and pathogens - it’s awesome! ‍ What are IoT and Big Data? is a system of interrelated physical devices that can collect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet. A sensor that measures the temperature of the air at home and transfers that information to your smartphone is an element of an IoT system (we have a comprehensive article about ). The Internet of Things (or IoT) IoT architecture There are that IoT systems can achieve. 2 main goals is to provide data from sensors for further analysis by people to help them make the right decision later. For example, fitness trackers collect data regarding your physical activity during the day and advise whether you need to take a little walk in the evening. The first one is to provide data to the whole IoT system so the system can make real-time decisions. An example is a driverless car that is outfitted with sensors that collect information about the environment and pass it to the central processor. The system transfers information without any delay allowing the car to make a split-second decision on the road. Another goal Despite the COVID-19’s impact on the global supply chain, the Internet of Things continues to grow, expecting the number of connected IoT devices worldwide to reach 12.3 billion active devices in 2021. IoT showed the world what a fully interconnected world is. We are impressed! Source: Global IoT market forecast ‍ works with a very large set of structured and unstructured data of different types that is too massive to process using traditional techniques. Big Data Big Data comprises technologies that help to store, organize, and analyze massive volumes of information. of big data is to find patterns in large and unstructured data sets so people can make better decisions and strategic business moves. The main goal We found out what lies behind the terms Big Data and Internet of Things. But still, the way these two technologies work together is an open question. Let's clarify it. What is the Relationship between Big Data and Internet of Things? The amount of connected IoT devices has already exceeded the world population, and it continues to grow. To complicate things further, IoT today is more about machine-to-machine communication, rather than machine-to-human. That leads to a situation when IoT applications deal with an incredible amount of data that cannot be processed or even stored using traditional methods. “ ” - Dr. Patrick Wolfe, data scientist at the University College of London. The rate at which we are generating data is rapidly outpacing our ability to analyze it, “The trick here is to turn these massive data streams from a liability into a strength.” In other words, data from IoT devices is only useful when the analysis goes after data collection. So we should concern ourselves with a new question: “How can we learn from data?” And that question led to a tsunami of Big Data growth that features large-scale applications, an increased amount of machine-to-machine traffic, NoSQL solutions, geographically distributed server nodes and a large volume of collected data. Let’s find out how Big Data changes IoT systems. IoT systems include 4 main stages in the architecture that perform varied data manipulations: collection, transferring, filtering and pre-processing, analyzing. The synergy of Big Data and the Internet of Things impacted 3 out of the 4 stages. a massive amount of data within a massive IoT system developers use LPWA technology and MQTT, HTTP, and CoAP protocols. To transfer the data the only viable option is NoSQL solutions. Big Data processes a vast amount of unstructured data of different origins, content, and formats, which is an almost impossible task for a standard relational database. To store the data Big Data analytic software comes into play. Leveraging Big Data technology, businesses get an opportunity to uncover hidden patterns, correlations, market trends, etc. The analysis is what allows farmers to identify places with damaged corps, transportation companies to find effective delivery routes, and Disney to provide an unforgettable experience in Disney Park!
‍ To analyze At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is how we learn from data to build future-ready solutions. Conclusion IoT and Big Data synergy can lead us to new technological applications and complex industrial IoT systems. We are about to see innovations we can only dream of. As new applications enter the mainstream of our daily lives, and technology matures, even more ways to leverage the IoT and Big Data are bound to appear. FAQ Is it necessary to use Big Data while building an IoT system? No. IoT and Big Data technologies are interconnected but still independent of each other. If you have a smart TV, fridge, doorbell, or any other connected device they are a part of an IoT system. However, you don’t need Big Data to realize that you forgot to turn off the light in the bedroom or that your refrigerator is out of milk. Big Data is only needed when it comes to a large number of sensors and massive volumes of unstructured data. How big is the data in IoT? According to , the data volume of Internet of Things connections worldwide reached 13.6 zettabytes point in 2021. It's also expected to reach 79.4 zettabytes by 2025. Even assuming these predictions are half wrong, the numbers are still overwhelming! 1 zettabyte is equivalent to1021bytes (a terabyte is equivalent to 1012bytes). We have entered the new Age of data volume. Welcome to the . Statista Zettabyte Era Original post: SumatoSoft.com

IoT, Big Data and the Era of the Zettabyte

Most clients want their applications to be developed fast, cost-effectively, and reliably. However, in chase of time and money-saving, quality is often put aside, and some quality-improving activities are laid upon a shelf. Refactoring is in a row of such activities and seems to be less tangible as testing, for instance. There goes a reasonable question from the client "if it works, why do we need to refactor it?" Still, the necessity of code cleaning up may not always be evident. In the article, we cover the topic of code refactoring and discuss the value of this process. ‍ Contents: What is code refactoring? Why your application needs refactoring Consequences of Technical Debt When refactoring should be considered Tips and Tricks The bottom line What is Code Refactoring? Code refactoring is a process of application code's editing and cleaning up behind the scenes, which optimize its internal structure, but without changing its external behavior and functionalities. Still, this is an inherent part of any project development. However, the necessity of code refactoring may not be really obvious for external observers. Why Your Application Needs Refactoring Still curious why code refactoring is so important? There are some main reasons to include this activity in your project. Maintainability and Extensibility The main goal of code refactoring is to make code more maintainable and extendable. Updates and upgrades added to the application are a continuous and essential process. So the existing code should make this process possible. For instance, integration of some functionalities may not be taken into account when designing initial architecture, so new features may require these changes in the overall development approach and code as well. In general, looking back and organizing the current code before adding new functionalities will not only improve the quality of the application itself, but it will make it easier for future developers to build on the source code. Moreover, when the codebase is unstructured and built inefficiently, developers doubt about making any changes. On the contrary, well-organized and clean code motivates developers to keep order and add improvements. The metaphor of broken windows suits well to this case. A building with broken windows looks like nobody cares about it. So other people stop caring. They allow more windows to become broken. Eventually, they actively break them. They despoil the facade with graffiti and allow garbage to collect. One broken window starts the process toward decay. So it is better to prevent any "broken windows" from the very beginning. Readability This benefit is tightly connected with the previous one. The code that is easy to read reduces the developer's efforts for its understanding. Moreover, such code refactoring makes and bugs identification processes smoother. It doesn’t remove bugs indeed, but this helps to prevent them in the future. Quality Assurance Performance Another potential purpose of code refactoring is performance improvement. So refactoring may enable an application to perform faster or use fewer server capacities. This is the benefit that might be really tangible for end users right after code refactoring. Cost Saving In a long perspective, refactoring activities should lead to cost reduction according to the benefits noticed above. Refactoring contributes to the occurrence of reusable design elements that may be simply used for new features in the future. Well-structured and organized code doesn't require much time for knowledge transfer if proceeding with development or support by another developer. Moreover, code refactoring favors bugs' prevention which implies time and cost saving. ‍ Consequences of Technical Debt Lack of refactoring can result in accumulating technical debt  (also known as tech or code dept) - the results when development teams take actions to expedite the delivery of a piece of functionality or a project which later needs to be refactored. In other words, it's the result of prioritizing speedy delivery over perfect code. The longer you don’t care about the minor issues along the way, the more likely they will grow into major complexities. There are a few main high-level consequences caused by accumulated technical debt, which keeps building up in the system with time being: new features developed and delivered much slower; knowledge transfer to new developers joining the project is more inefficient; estimates are inaccurate, which result in missed deadlines; the client is locked with a , which may hardly be changed. software development provider So sooner or later, the debt should be paid off in order for an application to proceed to work and to improve. ‍ When Refactoring Should be Considered Although the benefits of refactoring may appear only in a long perspective, this should be considered as soon as possible in order not to increase technical debt. Since the application's functionalities do not depend on refactoring and only code changes, a developer himself or a tech lead reviewing the code should define when and what refactoring is necessary. Refactoring is usually irreplaceable if noticing a so-called "code smell," which means disregard of fundamental design principles, weaknesses in code design, duct tape using that all lead to development slowing down, and the risk of bugs or failures growth in the future. The following points may trigger refactoring activities: The code is hard to read and too bulky after is finished; the software development Duplication of code portions is frequently used in an application; The opportunities of existing applications should be increased; Lots of featuring conditional operators used in a code. In opposition to "smelling code," experts use the definition of "clean code," which is the final goal of any quality improvement, including refactoring. Thinking from this perspective, refactoring may be considered if there occur missing features of a "clean code" as the following: The logic of code is straightforward, which makes it hard for bugs to hide; The dependencies are minimal, which simplifies maintenance; Performance is close to optimal without unnecessary optimizations; Clean code contains no duplication and minimizes the number of entities such as classes, methods, functions, and so on. In general, refactoring may be considered each time, adding any improvements or new features to the developed portion of the application. This may sound weird, but another appropriate time to consider refactoring is right after deployment on production and testing an application on real users when it becomes clear if the performance and productivity of the application are sufficient. Moreover, after the product delivery to the market, finally, there are no strict deadlines, and a development team may take a deep breath and dedicate some time for "housekeeping." When Refactoring is Unnecessary There may occur cases when an application needs to be completely rewritten from the start, and it is much more cost- and time-efficient to simply start from scratch so that refactoring is not necessary. This may happen when , impossible to maintain or extend with new features, . In other words refactoring was not performed on time, which caused these crucial issues, and now, it seems like efforts dedicated to the correction of failures and further refactoring outweighs the effort dedicated to the application’s full redevelopment. In such cases, code refactoring meaning is hard to overestimate. code is completely unreadable too outdated Another case in which it would be wise to postpone refactoring for some time is if development has and market delivery timeframes. Refactoring can be like going down the proverbial rabbit hole: Once you start, it might demand more time than expected. Still, the possibility of code refactoring should be reconsidered as soon as the deadline passes. some strict deadlines It’s probably not worth refactoring if your . On the other hand, if the code is for further usage, there will always be functionalities to be added or updated later, so it makes sense to put the investment into refactoring. application is not going to extend ‍ Tips and Tricks There are some best practices that can help to make refactoring reasonable and effective: As soon as there occurs a requirement to add new functionality or update, it is a good idea to refactor existing code. Of course, this will extend the project's timeline, but this will also reduce the amount of technical debt that you have to deal with in the future. 1) Refactoring should be considered before adding new features. It is important to assess the scope of work needed and to give reasonable estimates of this work in order to stick to the project's deadlines. Code refactoring may still reveal some unpredictable issues which will demand a longer time than expected, so it is better to put an extra cushion of time into estimates so as to not ruin expectations regarding the application delivery plan. 2) Refactoring should be planned and estimated carefully. The purpose of refactoring is not only to clean up code but to maintain the system working well. So in order to check up, if nothing is broken, unit tests are imperative. As the writing of unit tests demands time as well, it is better to introduce them from the very beginning of the project. 3) Refactoring should be accompanied by unit tests. As refactoring shouldn't but still may affect the external behavior of the application, this is relevant to involve the testing team to perform the regression testing of the modified application's portion and connected parts. 4) QA team should be involved in the refactoring process. Both unit testing and regression testing should be performed as a part of refactoring efforts. This will ensure that the functionality of the solution is not affected in any way. ‍ The bottom line Refactoring is an essential part of each project. In order to understand its necessity easier, one can think of code refactoring as keeping an office desk clean and organized. When you keep order, you’re less stressed because everything is just easier to find and operate. On the other hand, a desk with odd stuff can lead to a chaotic and stressful environment. That is the code refactoring meaning. The same is true for written code. Keep in mind the necessity of regular cleaning up of your code, and you’ll get a higher quality application and a more peaceful and effective work environment. Original post at sumatosoft.com

The Meaning, Purpose and Benefits of Code Refactoring

Top 30 Ecommerce Development Companies in 2020

“A user interface is like a joke. If you have to explain it, it’s not that good.” — Martin LeBlanc, Iconfinder It is an open secret that product design today is primarily about convenience and benefits for users. The best, most successful products embody flawless user experience. We at strive to incorporate best practices in software we build for clients — and user experience design (UX) is one of them. SumatoSoft So what is exactly user experience design? User experience design is the process of creating products that provide relevant and significant experiences to users based on their behaviour analysis. By analyzing the behavior of users, UX design identifies their motives and creates optimum digital experiences for them. The main objective of UX design is to improve the way users interact with devices, apps and websites, provide value to them and thus enhance overall user satisfaction. Below we will talk about UX design in terms of software development. In essence, UX design applied to a software solution results in a user-friendly product tailored to specific needs of customers. User experience design embraces a variety of aspects that can affect the quality of user interaction with a software product. That is why user experience design involves branding, usability, functionality and even content, and UX designers have diverse experience in visual design, programming, psychology and copywriting. The main criterion for being a good user experience designer is being the users’ advocate that defends their interests and clearly conveys their needs to design and development teams. According to the inventor of the term “ ” and concurrently co-founder of (UI and UX consulting firm), Don Norman, “ .” user experience Nielsen Norman Group user experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products In a nutshell, what is the difference between UX and UI design? You can often meet these notions side by side, however, UX design goes beyond UI design — as you may have already realized, user experience design is the concept that is much broader than any other kind of design. In fact, user interface design is the subfield of user experience design. Both UX and UI are critical for building a top-notch software product and interact with each other. But their roles are substantially different. UX Design is more about analytical and technical aspects that take root deep in the software product’s functionality, while UI Design is more about how the application looks like. UX design is like designing a building. UI design is like interior decoration. Why do I need user experience design? UX saves resources Effort invested in UX design may save you hours and days (and consequently money) that your development team would most likely spend on making changes and redesigning the product. According to a study by , the involvement of UX designers can reduce time spent by developers on remaking the software by up to 50%. What is more, overall development time can be reduced by 33–50% through clear prioritization of development tasks and improved decision-making (thanks to UX). Experience Dynamics 2. UX boosts sales UX design not only reduces costs but also brings you profit through increased sales. The revealed that companies that invested in UX design managed to boost sales up to 75%. Survey 3. UX brings high ROI UX design engagement provides quite impressive return on investment (ROI). has found that every dollar invested in UX design brings 100 dollars in return. Forrester study Forrester reports also show that focus on user experience encourages customers to pay by 14.4 % more and increases their eagerness to recommend your product to other people by 16.6 %. 4. UX improves customer satisfaction Keeping the importance of user experience in mind will enable your product to fulfil its potential and hit the bull’s eye by responding to customer needs. Efforts will not go unrewarded and you will earn customer loyalty. “No product is an island. A product is more than the product. It is a cohesive, integrated set of experiences. Think through all of the stages of a product or service — from initial intentions through final reflections, from first usage to help, service, and maintenance. Make them all work together seamlessly.” — Don Norman What are the key steps of UX design process? Here is the mini-guide: Research At the initial stage, you should gather information about market requirements, try to understand who your customers are, collect ideas from the web, target audience’s environment and other sources. In addition, you will need to conduct сlient surveys, monitor what your competitors do and how users interact with their products. 2. Analysis This step is about digging deeper and structuring the data you gathered at the previous stage. At this point you will learn more about users, explore their behavior, find out their pains and what they need (through creating and ), prioritize and decide what to design based on all these data. user personas user flows 3. UX Design It is time you put into practice everything you learned before. Here you will leverage user flows you have created to build product structure. Start working on wireframes and prototypes, explore best practices in UX design, discuss with team and sketch. 4. UI Design Bring UX and UI together. Work on visual presentation of UX for the product. Create a well-thought-out UI style guide and stick to it. The goal is to make sure that users will get the functionality of each element right. 5. Development Here software developers come into play. Pass everything you have done to them but note this is not the end: you will be involved in close cooperation with developers and consult them. 6. Evaluation Perform usability testing, find out if the product is the solution users have always wanted and needed and whether it fully addresses their issues. Remember that there is no limit to perfection and find out what can be improved on the basis of user feedback. Anything else? Just a couple of tips: Tip 1: Trust in data, not in opinions Many men, many minds, they say. Keep in mind end users and stick to data, figures and facts when making decisions. Remember that your goal is to build a product that would meet the needs of users, not executives. If you are an executive, read the previous sentence. Tip 2: To improve UX of the existing application, website or other product, check how users interact with it Start with observing users’ interaction with the product, talk to them and then evaluate the usability of the solution. Analyze results and find issues that hamper your product from becoming top of the line. Fix them, improve usability, make necessary adjustments and the result will not be long in coming! I work for SumatoSoft an app design company with extensive experience in UX design. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to , talk to our experts and move toward boosting your business. — reach us out

Why UX Design Must Be the Foundation of Your Software Product

Top Ecommerce Development Companies

Someday you’ll come along with an idea to create the next big app which will bring your name into repute or make you rich. First of all, you can start googling “who can I hire to build an app”. Because Google knows everyone and everything. Or, if you have a similar experience, you’ll search “outsourcing software development company”. But of course, choosing might take a few weeks to a few months before picking that one for all your development requirements. Here is the list of trusted IT Outsourcing Companies based on Quora and Appfutura research. VironIT VironIT is a custom software development company with a primary focus on delivering end-to-end software development services. Company’s core areas of expertise are development of mobile applications, web-oriented software products, business software solutions, software integration, updating, support and maintenance of developed applications. VironIT has successfully carried out over 500 successful projects to over 300 high-profile companies in eHealth, Sports, Banking, Retail, Marketing, Gaming and other industries. The company’s clients range from SMEs to Fortune 500 corporations based in Western Europe and North America. VironIT’s team consists of 100+ seasoned specialists: software developers, engineers, and scientists with expertise in different technical domains. All of the company’s members have bachelor’s or master’s degrees in sciences and rich experience in the software development field. Most of VironIT’s employees are senior or mid-level developers. Ciklum Ciklum is a software solutions company headquartered in Kyiv, Ukraine, with offices in the UK, Denmark, Spain, Belarus, and the U.S., and more. With about 3,000 employees, Ciklum not only specializes in software engineering but also provides e-commerce and mobile app development, application testing, IT strategy consulting, and staff augmentation. Their clients range from large multinational companies to fast-growing startups working toward an IPO. Ciklum was hired by an enterprise IT firm as the main development resource: backend and frontend developers, quality assurance specialists, and business analysts. Operating as part of the team on an ongoing basis, Ciklum developed an e-commerce platform for the IT firm’s client that resulted in $50,000,000 per year in sales. Eight Bit Studios Founded in 2008, Eight Bit Studios is based in Chicago, IL. They focus on mobile apps, customer software development, and UX/UI design. The team of 35+ employees helps key industries, including education and gaming burst business. Eight Bit Studios redeveloped a product for an augmented-reality gaming platform. They had to review the platform to learn how as operating and then piece the platform back together. They were able to ensure all code worked properly. PSL Corp. PSL Corp. is a software engineering company that was founded in 1986. With locations in New York; Medellín, Colombia; and Mexico City, PSL Corp. has more than 650 employees. They specialize in custom software development, big data consulting, cloud consulting, system integration, and web development. PSL Corp. supports mid-sized and enterprise clients across a range of industries. PSL Corp. built a marketing web application for a sales software firm. The client valued PSL Corp.’s ability to program flawless, bug-free code thanks to their high level of expertise in development. To support the client and maintain quality assurance, PSL Corp. continues to provide ongoing maintenance and support. Table XI Table XI is a mobile app and custom software developer based in Chicago, IL. Founded in 2004, they are 35 dedicated app and website builders with a flair for bespoke design and digital strategy. Table XI recreated the website of a global events company, building a video player and an iOS app to deliver content, all with no site downtime. After the migration, the app and site functioned seamlessly. The client recommended Table XI for their cost, clarity, and adherence to deadlines. Intellectsoft Founded in 2007, Intellectsoft is a full-service software partner, focusing on app development for web, mobile, and emerging technologies. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, their 200+ business strategists and tech specialists collaborate across seven global offices to create digital solutions for startups and enterprises alike. Intellectsoft created an e-commerce app with matching backend infrastructure, then integrated it into the client’s blockchain technology. Transforming the given creative demands into a satisfactory product under a strenuous deadline was deemed impressive, as were their communication skills and determination. iTechArt iTechArt is a top-tier, one-stop custom software development company. 73% of its clients come from referrals. With over 800 experienced engineers, iTechArt works with startups and other fast-growing companies to create the coolest, most innovative, and successful mobile and web applications. It also provides custom software development and QA & testing services in the industry. Itransition Founded in 1998 outside Denver, CO, Itransition now has an office in Austin, TX, as well as the UK and Belarus. They bring their 20 years experience and 1500+ person team to the table for custom software development, web development, and e-commerce development. Itransition was hired by another development firm to collaborate on a project for a tourism company. They migrated 44 websites into one e-commerce platform, Magento. 10Pearls Based in Vienna, VA, 10Pearls designs and maintains apps for various companies. The company and its nearly 350 employees have experience in cybersecurity, product development, and UX/UI design. A telemedicine company needed assistance with platform development and maintenance. 10Pearls helped the telemedicine company with all aspects of platform development, creating a website and mobile app and ensuring the website’s backend was admin-friendly. LOVATA LOVATA is an IT company headquartered in Minsk, Belarus. Founded in 2008, they provide services for web development and custom software development. They have about 24 employees that serve a range of clients in the healthcare, e-commerce, retail, and financial services sectors. LOVATA designed a website to increase a publishing company’s brand awareness. Revenue rose 400% as a result of more paid subscriptions and increased audience size. RubyGarage Development agency RubyGarage is located in Dnipro, Ukraine. Since it was founded in 2011, their team has evolved to about 100 employees. RubyGarages partners primarily with small businesses. Their services are centered on custom software, mobile app, and web development. RubyGarage provides digital marketing and development services for a software company. The client noted that the team’s development services were high quality. The marketing campaigns they executed improved traction and visibility during the entire length of the engagement. Belatrix Software Belatrix Software is an app development company headquartered in Argentina. The large team also has offices in Latin America, Florida, New York, and California. Founded in 2003, the agency is known as one of the top providers for software engineering services. Belatrix Software offered front-end development services to a financial group, helping the client’s existing development team build productivity-related tools. The client lacked the necessary development resources to process a backlog of work, so Belatrix Software’s development expertise complimented their in-house development team. The project is ongoing, and the client praised Belatrix Software’s work. Wizeline Headquartered in San Francisco, Wizeline is a product development company with offices in Guadalajara and Mexico City, Mexico, and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. Since its founding in 2014, the team has grown to over 390 employees. Wizeline specializes in custom software, web, and mobile app development and UX/UI design. An entertainment company hired Wizeline to improve their website’s CMS. Based on the team’s initial success, they fostered a partnership that’s still ongoing. The agency’s skills made them stand out from comparable firms throughout the process. The client appreciates Wizeline’s collaborative spirit and excellent communication skills. Fingent Technologies Founded in 2003, Fingent is a web and mobile development company which has offices in the United States, India and the United Arab Emirates. Its global team of 230 employees has helped hundreds of mid and large size organizations implement software solutions that increase productivity and profits. Oxagile Oxagile provides end-to-end custom software development services to SMBs and enterprises, focusing on online video management, advertising, real-time communication, and data solutions. The company’s headquarters are located in New York, with an EMEA office in London and the development center in Belarus. Oxagile offers both Scrum and Waterfall methodologies. With Vodafone among their clients and Microsoft among the partners, Oxagile is one of the top custom software development companies for video solutions for SMBs and enterprises. SumatoSoft SumatoSoft offers full-cycle app development, starting from the zero, through consulting, developing and finishing custom software. They work for large enterprises, startup companies, create B2B and B2C e-commerce, automated chatbot and more. SumatoSoft’s collaboration with Toyota was one of the biggest projects of the company. Here, they introduced new and optimized existing processes of the business, supported their marketing system, ensured an effective functioning of their offices across the world, rearranged and recreated the entire Toyota’s IT system. Praxent Praxent is not a simple custom software IT company. They have the role of an IT assistant to businesses of all sizes. By introducing custom cloud solutions to a ticket broker TicketCity, Praxent liberated 98% of their inventory, resulting in expansion of the system capacity by the whole 6800%. Moreover, Praxent gained 12,000 subscribers for Plumb’s veterinary drugs within a short time period, making the veterinary handbook easily accessible online for veterinarians across the world. Orases Orases is a modern agency from the US with standard services on their menu, including mobile and web applications development, custom software services and flexible IT solutions. They list SMBs and Fortune 500 companies as only some of the businesses they work with it. This company was involved in two industries that not many custom software IT outsource companies cover — sports and farming. Namely, they created websites for Dairy Farmers of America, Homegrown Frederick and Prince George’s County, as well as MLB Pitch Hit & Run, and several apps for NFL. FrogSlayer FrogSlayer provides growing companies with the custom software tools they need to accelerate growth and become the technology or data leader in their industry. Since 2011, its team has helped over 60 clients become technology leaders in a variety of industries. It has made commercial buildings smarter, oil rigs safer, financial crime harder, education more accessible, healthcare more efficient, and much more. FrogSlayer’s clients have generated over $350M in ROI — an average of 23x payback in 2 years or less. N-iX N-iX is an Eastern European IT company with over 16 years of excellence as a reliable technology partner for innovative companies across North America, UK, and Europe. N-iX has over 800 experienced software engineers working within development centers in Lviv, Kyiv (Ukraine), Kraków (Poland), Minsk (Belarus) and representative offices in Malmö (Sweden) and St. Petersburg, FL (USA). Hope this list of notable outsourcing companies will help you to burst your business to the next level. If you have seen any company that should be added to this list, then leave a note in comments.

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