Pros and Cons of Software Outsourcing

When saving outsourcing software development costs meets the risk of entrusting an outsider with your business, you feel like you’re wading through muddy waters. 

Resorting to the services of software outsourcing can seem like a great idea. And it usually is, provided you’re aware of the advantages of outsourcing in general.

But if you’re informed about the process, then you’re prepared for it. Whether you are the owner of a business, a responsible top manager or a dedicated employee — you want the business to thrive.

Pros of Software Outsourcing

1. Saving time

Which makes your business processes easier to handle. One of the main advantages of hiring an outsourcing company is that, unlike most of the in-house teams, it usually meets deadlines.

2. Cutting costs

Software development outsourcing is not necessarily cheap, but it is usually cheaper than buying your own equipment, hiring additional staff, and getting an office for them to work in. Fulfilling your business goals and reducing financial input at the same time sounds like a dream come true.

3. Getting a fresh perspective

The ability to get a fresh pair of eyes is always a great idea — and what about a dozen pairs of fresh eyes? Letting someone from the outside overview your business may expose you to unexpected messages, innovation, and talent.

4. Reevaluating the in-house staff

Even if the nature of the project in no way correlates with the nature of your in-house employees’ work, the fact that you seek help from the outside usually boosts your staff’s morale. It makes them work better and giving them the time to dedicate their effort to the things that matter most.

5. Targetting what matters

Once you try outsourcing, you may decide to downsize your business or reconfigure it, for instance. Or you can dedicate yourself entirely to the future, namely, to developing strategic core tasks. Letting someone else carry the “burden” of developing your software means you can focus on other things — content, marketing, distribution, service, etc.

Cons of Software Outsourcing

1. Issues of communication

Outsourcing lets you hire the developer from any country on the planet. It sounds exciting, and does have lots of benefits of outsourcing, but, if handled incorrectly, can bring along mixed messages, cross-cultural misunderstandings, deadline shifts, and other circumstances you’d rather avoid.

2. Issues of adaptation

This interaction involves a lot of new, unknown things for both of you. You have to realize that the moment the outsourcing developer starts working on your project, there will be a period of adjustment. Be realistic and get yourself ready for the adaptation phase – then there won’t be a reason to panic. There may even be a time when you’d think that going outsourcing was a bad idea and the project is in danger.

3. Issues of risk

The fact that your control options are in a way limited, and you are never quite sure about the result, may seem like the software outsourcing may put your business in jeopardy. The core values and principles, the strategy, the database — there is a lot of information you share with the outsourcing developer. However, finding an ISO certified outsourcing team can alleviate nearly all of these concerns.

Avoiding Risks

The key here is to find a qualified and customer-obsessed outsourcing company. Although the “cons” of software outsourcing may seem like a dealbreaker, there are real ways to avoid the risks and pitfalls.

1. Choose from many – pick a few

What you’re looking for, obviously, are the companies with good reviews, with cases and projects similar to yours. Make a list of companies you liked or companies that at least look like trustworthy and experienced.

Take a look at company ratings like Clutch.co, SoftwareWorld, and the Better Business Bureau. Start spreading the news among everybody you know in IT. Get as many recommendations as possible.

2. Target the one you like

Whatever the outsourcing developer you choose, you should get all the information about it you can find. If possible – get to know about its current agenda. Also, get feedback from its previous clients. Check its portfolio – usually, it’s all presented on the company’s site.

• Get to know the cultural aspects that predetermine your future cooperation: though nowadays it seems like there are no borders left in the business world, there are still some sensitive spots you should be aware of.
• If possible, meet the representatives of the company in person, at least once.
• Make sure the company is financially stable – one way to judge that is to watch how the company promotes itself.
• Make sure that the company has a good reputation on the market – take some reviews from people you really trust.

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Top 5 technological breakthroughs 2020

Looking back at the passing year, we wanted to highlight some of the emerging innovations we think will lead to an exponential increase in the velocity of change and bring humanity the most value in the near future. From previously unimaginable wireless connection speeds to metamaterial miracles in the world of optics, this is our list of the top five technological breakthroughs of 2020.

The technologies scientists could only theorize about a decade ago are finally coming to fruition, bringing new possibilities for today and setting new ambitions for tomorrow.

1. A step forward in wireless connection (5G)

The United States and the European Union have already freed up vast amounts of bandwidth in the underused high-band spectrum for 5G. The industry’s response to the ever-increasing needs of businesses and consumers was the introduction of 5G internet. 5G stands for “the fifth generation of cellular network technology.”

The speed of such networks mostly depends on the spectrum you can use for it. It is expected that the new technology will be able to provide a wireless connection at the speed of up to 2 Gbit/s. In the digital world of today, the colossal demand for high-speed internet connection with quicker response times, better accessibility, and cheaper data plans are driving the technology forward.

2. Improvements in natural language processing

The new advancements in capturing semantic relationships between words are making AI assistants better at understanding humans. OpenAI developed a technique that enables artificial intelligence to learn using unlabeled data, saving scientists time, money, and effort they would otherwise spend on categorizing and tagging it manually. To improve the capabilities of these easily confused AI-powered helpers and broaden the range of directives they can recognize, computer scientists around the world are working on improving natural language processing.

Google Assistant was upgraded with Google Duplex, a system that got disturbingly close to simulating human voice and behavior. The system can literally call and schedule salon appointments or make restaurant reservations for you, in addition to being able to protect you from spammers and telemarketers. There is still a long way to go from AI assistants executing simple commands to humans being able to discuss their favorite topics with them.

AI assistants, such as the renowned Alexa from Amazon and Apple’s Siri, have made our everyday lives a little bit easier over the last couple of years. However, even though they are capable of recognizing and executing simple commands like setting alarms and playing music in our living room, it doesn’t mean they couldn’t bring even more simplicity to our daily routines.

3. Robots get even more dexterous

One of the most famous and successful projects in dexterity robotics is Boston Dynamics. Each time those guys release new footage of their machines—like the recent one, where Atlas shows some next-level robot gymnastics—seriously makes us wonder what kind of cinematic dystopian robot-controlled future we will end up in. From assembly machines on automotive factories to medical or social robots, today these machines handle rather poorly in the physical world.

The latest developments in robotics, however, enabled machines to finally get a grasp of how to manipulate objects and interact with environments on their own through virtual trial and error, a machine learning paradigm known as reinforcement learning. Even the amazing precision of assembly-line robots is challenged when they are faced with the slightest deviations from their logic and routines.

4. ECG-enabled wearables improve quality of life

Today there are numerous smartwatches, fitness trackers, and various other wearable devices that enable people to continuously monitor their vitals and gather statistics. While these wearables may not provide the utmost precision of professional medical devices, they can definitely help you minimize potential health risks and give you the incentive to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Over the passing year, these innovations, as well as new regulations on their use, have given a significant boost to preventative care, real-time alerting, and overall people engagement in taking care of their health. The company was the first to receive FDA clearance for a medical-device accessory. Their wearable can detect atrial fibrillation, which is the most common cause of blood clots and stroke.

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The latest developments in the Internet of Things are making it significantly easier for people to take better care of their health. These contemporary smartwatches and fitness trackers gather and analyze electrocardiogram sensor data in real-time to diagnose any abnormalities that could cause lethal outcomes.

5. Metalenses enable new optical techniques

Metalenses will have a huge impact on the technological world in the coming years as they open the way to new designs and optical techniques that offer new capabilities and a wide range of uses. However, the recent advances in physics enabled the development of lighter, less complex alternatives that can be used to make the production of microchips and such devices as smartphone cameras a lot less complicated and way cheaper.

Metalens is one of the most amazing recent scientific and fabrication breakthroughs in the world of microdevices. VR, AR, and other cross-reality systems, which today feature unwieldy, exhausting headsets and other awkward devices, can use the metalens technology to produce significantly less hefty, high-performing hardware.

Chip manufacturing can really benefit from using metalenses to carve specific patterns onto the surface of a silicon slab, which decreases the risk of defects and makes production more efficient. The technology will enable doctors to find previously unnoticed details way easier.

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Everything you need to know about design system

In this article, you'll find a deep dive into the history of the web to find out where design systems came from. Anyone working within a digital design is bound to have heard the term 'design systems' by now; you might not be sure what it means, though.

We'll define exactly what a design system is, the reasons for using one, how to create one and what tools you'll find useful. In which case, we're here to help.

What is the design system?

It’s essentially a living organism made of elements that evolve from fulfilling pre-existing requirements to newly defined ones as the product grows in complexity. A design system is a single source of truth that designers and developers create, reference and develop together.

These elements are translated into development-ready components that can be picked up and used immediately in a live environment. It’s a matrix of rules comprised of a library of symbols – fonts, icons, colors, shapes, grids, animations, tone of voice or more – that carry different meanings, determined by their function and hierarchical relevance.

Who defines a design system?

Designers define all aspects of visual communication – UI, branding and user experience – while working with developers to transform those properties into coded components. Designers and developers work closely together with an agile approach to establish the rules of a design system. By iterating them consistently until they perform technically and stylistically in a self-contained manner.

1. Establish a clear product vision

First, you need to have a clear idea of the product you are developing. Here are a few essential questions to consider:

• Who is it for?
• What does it do?
• What is the purpose of your product?
• Who is the audience for this product?
• What are the requirements for this product?
• What sort of functionality will the product need in order to perform?
• Does the user have any quirks that might affect how the product is received?
• Why will the user engage with this product? What makes it unique?
• Is the product responding to an identified need or creating a new one?
• Does it address accessibility?
• Is it device agnostic?
• Is this product a website? A web app? An app? Something else?
• Is the user familiar with similar products?
• Where will it live?
• Should it deliver the same experience cross-platform or focus on particular micro-experiences within specific contexts?

The purpose of a design system is to reduce complexity in development, by addressing known concerns as well as identifying new ones during the conception stage.

2. Work out your plan of attack

In those cases, it makes sense to use existing UI kits from established platforms, such as Google’s Material UI or Apple’s UI kit. By addressing each element’s properties by hierarchical functionality, you’ll be able to lay solid foundations for progressive UI releases, thus building a consistently reliable system. Secondly, you’ll need to assess the best approach.

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If you’re working on a new product, you’ll likely start with an MVP, where the attention will be on validating functionality and learning users’ feedback. If you’re past the MVP stage or creating a whole design system from scratch, your product mapping – which should include key aspects such as information architecture, a sitemap and user journeys – will inform you which basic functionality needs to be addressed first.

3. Choose the right tools

Thirdly, developing a product should always be an inclusive process that depends on all parties involved: designers, developers, product owners, clients, and users. As progress needs to be shared and, sometimes, worked on in real-time, it’s important to choose the tools that best fit your workflow.

Thankfully, we’re fairly spoilt for choice when it comes to design and prototyping tools. Together, these individuals create an ecosystem, a testing ground that will shape the design system throughout the journey to the end product delivery.

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Web design news roundup in 2019

To say 2019 was exciting for web design may seem like an understatement, with things moving forwards so constantly and quickly. While it seems incredible that another 12 months has flown by, it’s a perfect chance to take stock and reflect on the year on the website. But an opportunity to highlight some may be less obvious stories that point to where we’re going next.

In no particular order, here are eight of the biggest web design updates, movements and announcements worth repeating.

1. GSAP 3 arrived

If your favorite dynamic websites of 2019 did some fancy SVG-based motion work with speed and grace, its highly likely GSAP was behind it. For those who don’t already know, the Greensock Animation API is rapidly becoming a standard for scripted web animations. The library boasts faster execution than jQuery and CSS3 transitions with 60fps performance, so little wonder it’s becoming an ever-present.

Other highlights to watch for include a simplified API, backward syntax compatibility and parent/child inheritance for shortening repetitive calls. In addition, a new MotionPathPlugin allows any element to be animated along editable SVG motion paths.

2. Dart took flight

As part of its annual State of the October report, GitHub crowned Dart as the year’s fastest-growing language within its repository, showing a 532 percent increase. The platform also released its version 2.6 in November with the news that dart2native would join Dart’s existing set of compilers.

Created for cross-platform app building and able to be compiled as JavaScript, the language seemingly enjoyed a notable adoption boom in 2019. 

With Flutter, Google’s popular UI toolkit, also based on Dart, there has never been a better moment to discover what all the fuss is about. This allows developers to compile Dart code to self-contained executable programs, irrespective of whether the target system has the Dart SDK installed.

3. CSS Grid Layout came of age

Considered the most powerful layout system CSS has to offer, its two-dimensional definition of columns and rows provides a palpable edge over Flexbox. If you did much peeking under the bonnet of web layouts in 2019, you would know that Grid is the word.

CSS Grid Layout, to be precise, really came into its own this year, with more designers adopting it as a standard since popular browser support materialized back in 2017. 

Starting from a container or 'parent' element, set using the display: grid attribute, the comprising columns, and rows are then sized before 'child' elements are added. Given the importance of layout flexibility across devices, it’s unsurprising this elegance and reusability of responsive templates are finding favor.

4. We got experimental with navigation

The whole process of reaching your desired destination only becomes an issue when it's bad or it loses you. However, 2019 saw a new school of thought takes hold and a concerted effort to make navigation the focal point in itself. 

There was always a purist way of thinking that said good web navigation should largely go unnoticed. Suddenly there were large menus and big compass-like splash screens, with Your Majesty’s effort for FILA Explore being a case in point.

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5. Typography got BIG

Fonts were huge online this year, with oversized text and integral use of typography as an aesthetic device becoming increasingly evident. Lauded websites such as Symbols of the Thaw and Rogue Studio are recent examples, with others reveling in a greater variety of styles.

“Oversized fonts, calligraphic and humanist fonts have become popular, making an interesting shift from geometric fonts.”

In October too, it was announced that HGCC had successfully acquired MonoType after an $825m buyout, which might have a further market impact.

“For me, there has been quite a big shift in how fonts are used this year, as font licensing has become more universally available, and affordable,” says Steve Scott, Creative Director & Founder, Another Colour.

6. Adobe Dreamweaver 2020 arrived

In November we welcomed the latest 2020 release, and these days the app comes packaged into Adobe’s online Creative Cloud experience. Not so long ago you only had one viable choice, with Adobe’s Dreamweaver being an essential tool for web designers and developers alike. While now it may seem like a new markup editor releases every hour, this wasn’t always the case.

Code hinting gets enhancements with better filtering logic for PHP and more hints made available for not just PHP but JavaScript also. Dreamweaver 2020 can be purchased as a single app. The new features are far from revolutionary, but significantly live editing has been made more seamless. Users here are able to edit semantic tags such as <aside> and <section> and so on, while 'auto-sync' technology keeps live and code view changes synchronized.

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Top 6 most disruptive Apps of all time

Below are 6 of the most disruptive apps yet. These apps all turned their industries upside down and spawned myriad imitators. The act of creating an app itself is clearly no longer the challenge it once was. 

There are plenty of frameworks providing streamlined developing, more developers than ever, and the channels are there to promote new offerings. But while the process of how to make an app has got simpler, it’s harder than ever to find the idea that makes for a real game-changer.

1. Instagram

With its myriad filters and styling options, the photo-sharing app suddenly allowed us to transform the most mundane shot from our everyday routine – everything from breakfast to the bus journey home from work – into something beautiful and share-worthy. 

Most of us were already taking photos on our phones before Instagram came along. What Instagram did was make us feel like talented photography professionals.

With more than a billion users now, Instagram has provided an easily accessible method of promotion for small businesses, and in the process has created an entirely new industry of online influencers promoting products, trips, and experiences. 

It changed the way we take photos and share them with friends, but it also changed the way we interact and experience everything from eating out to exercise classes. Making businesses need to think more than ever about presentation.

2. Uber

Uber is now responsible for 14 million trips a day and is the single most expensed vendor on business expense sheets in the US according to Certify. The taxi industry was ripe for disruption and Uber got there first with a solution that was easier and more convenient. In this case, the idea for a ride-hailing app reportedly occurred to Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp after they struggled to get a taxi in Paris while attending the LeWeb tech conference in 2009.

It also had some controversial redesigns over the years, the latest of which was in 2018 – read about it here. As proof of its disruptiveness, Uber has led to protests from taxi drivers and legal challenges in many cities. But its success despite this has spawned many imitators and forced other taxi and ride services to react and modernize.

It provided an estimated final fare and accepted virtual payments – all from a sleek black and white UI that was initially as simple as “push a button, get a ride,” and which later evolved to start at the end of the process by asking “Where to?”.

3. Twitter

We no longer need a TV anchorman or embedded reporter to tell us what is happening in the furthest corner of the world; news can be delivered by anyone with a Twitter handle and be found and explored thanks to the trusty hashtag. The platform transformed the way news is broken and turned members of the public into citizen journalists, commentators, and opinion formers.

While the internet had already pushed the speed at which news could be communicated, Twitter took things even further by cutting out the middleman – the media.

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4. GrubHub

GrubHub was founded in 2004 and changed all this with an app that allowed users to browse menus, see photos, enter discount codes and pay for delivery in a few taps. These apps offered comparable UX and left GrubHub struggling to find a unique selling point. Restaurants have not always been very good at marketing their food online, often offering unwieldy multi-page pdf menus, while placing orders over the phone used to often involve frustrating calls with rushed workers.

GrubHub is another example of an app that saw a chance to make life a little easier – and tidier, since it well and truly rendered obsolete the piles of takeaway menus piled up beside the landline. The problem for GrubHub has been that a host of competitors was hot on its tail, from Deliveroo in London to Glovo in Barcelona.

5. Google Maps

Its integration with other Google products makes it something of a panacea, as it incorporates Google calls, reviews, questions, photos and personal contacts into one map-based interface. But Google Maps disrupted more than just the cartographic and GPS industries; it’s also had a huge impact on marketing, revolutionizing how businesses can be found by enabling people to discover businesses on their own doorsteps that they might previously have never known existed.

There are many maps applications out there including Waze and Apple Maps, but with 1 billion downloads, Google’s is by far the most used.

The main use for physical maps and atlases now seems to be as vintage decor, while top-of-the-line GPS sat nav devices such as TomTom and Garmin have been rendered all but obsolete now that free apps such as Google Maps have turned our phones into personal navigators.

6. Spotify

Spotify didn’t invent the wheel, but sometimes a great app comes from improving, simplifying or streamlining what has already been started. The incorporation of some of the best features from other services, like jointly created playlists and tailored suggestions, makes for personalized access to a treasure trove of music at a scale not seen before. 

With millions of tracks and a free version for those who don’t mind ads, it’s become the go-to music service for 248 million active users, convincing even inveterate pirates that streaming was the way forward.

Spotify took the post-Napster iTunes Store concept and perfected it, introducing a pay-per-month subscription service for music streaming that could be used across devices to save physical storage space. The latest redesign put more of an emphasis on podcasts, tapping into yet another blooming market.

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11 Best data science Blogs and Websites

The proliferation of big data and the need to make sense of it all has created a vortex where all of these things exist together. As a result, new techniques, technologies, and theories are continually being developed to run advanced analysis, and they all require development and programming to ensure a path forward. Data science is one of the fastest-growing fields in America.

That entails a lot of reading, and keeping up with the deluge of content is no easy task, nor is figuring out which sources to read and which to skip past. With that in mind, Solutions Review has compiled this collection of the best data science blogs, researchers, and news sites we’re reading to keep tabs on the marketplace.

These outlets cover a wide range of topics, from opinion to best practices, and include some of the top minds in the field. There’s a seemingly endless torrent of new research, white papers, and analyst reports for data analytics leaders and data scientists.

1. DataCamp

The DataCamp blog provides information on virtually every data science-centric topic with advice on everything from how to get your first data science job to more thought-provoking articles like critical thinking in data science.

DataCamp is an online resource center that allows users to learn data science at your own pace. There’s even an accompanying podcast called DataFramed, as well as a cool chat feature that allows readers to query the authors. It features video tutorials and coding challenges on R, Python and more.

2. insideBIGDATA

Their editorial focuses on big data, data science, AI, machine learning and deep learning. insideBIGDATA is a news outlet that offers news, strategies, products, and services in the world of big data for data scientists and IT and business professionals. 

Its team of content producers features some of the brightest minds in the field, and really caters to the technical industry professionals looking to keep tabs on the most cutting-edge facets of machine learning and AI.

3. Data Science Central

Data Science Central also offers webinars and a unique membership package that provides access to everything on the site for free. Designed for big data practitioners, the site provides a community experience that includes an expansive editorial platform, social interaction, forum-based technical support.

And the latest in technology, tools, and trends, along with a classifieds section for industry job opportunities. Data Science Central is perhaps the best independent data science blog on the web.

4. Codementor

The site offers insight from senior developers, customized reading lists, and the ability to connect with developers from all over the world. The blog even allows readers to subscribe to a personalized, curated newsletter.

Those that need data science help will find the Connect with an expert tab especially helpful. The Codementor blog features tutorials and insights, allowing readers to learn about the latest trends in data science. Hot topics included here are Angular, JavaScript, Node.js, Ruby ad Python.

5. Data Science Dojo

The Dojo blog provides a wide range of content spanning data science basics all the way up to more advanced topics like ethics and security and access control. 

Data Science Dojo offers five-day public and private data science bootcamps. It features a community of mentors, students, and professionals committed to the field, and more than 3,600 users from 700 countries have graduated from the program.

6. DATAVERSITY

Technology professionals on the uses and management of data. DATAVERSITY Education is a publisher of educational content for business and Information.

Their team provides content to its worldwide community of practitioners, experts and developers who benefit from face-to-face hosted conferences, live webinars, white papers, online training daily news and articles, and blogs. They also offer a free weekly newsletter.

7. Data Science 101

Data Science 101 includes an active user community as well, and there are even an open Facebook group readers can join if they want to continue the conversation. Run by Ryan Swanstrom, the blog provides a constant stream of content, with topics ranging from the top companies to work for if you are a data scientist to job interview tips. Data Science 101 provides all the resources aspiring data scientists will need while learning the tricks of the trade.

8. Datafloq

The site’s goal is to become a hub for reading high-quality posts, finding big data and technology vendors, connecting with talent, and publishing events. Datafloq offers online training as well. 

Datafloq offers information, insights, and opportunities to drive innovation with big data, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies. This blog isn’t just for data science practitioners either, also featuring sections on security and the Internet of Things.

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