Category: SaaS

SaaS

How Law Practice Software Improves the Lives of Lawyers

Miley on March 16, 2019

Being a lawyer is not an easy profession. It is a demanding job that requires expertise and patience. Among others, one of the best ways to make it easier is through the use of a law practice software, such as what Rocket Matter can provide. How exactly can this benefit your job? Read on and find some compelling reasons to integrate it into your practice.

Improve Billing Management

With a law practice software, you will also essentially have legal billing software. The latter can be beneficial in terms of tracking billables. To add, you can also easily manage your invoices. You can have the latter customized based on the needs of individual clients. This will also allow you to send them in a timely manner, allowing your customers to pay on schedule. It can be effective in the elimination of all your billing headaches.

Get Rid of Repetitive Work

With the use of a top-notch law practice management software, it will be easy to streamline your work and get rid of repetitive tasks. It can help you to manage your workflows and provide an excellent platform for scheduling. You can also integrate it with other applications. This is one of the best ways for lawyers to become more productive. You no longer need to handle administrative tasks.

Take it to the Cloud

The cloud can offer numerous benefits for lawyers, and one of the best ways to take advantage of it is through the use of law practice management software. It allows storage of data without the need for physical space. The best thing is that it improves flexibility. You do not need to be in the office to access important documents relevant to the case you are working on. Even when on vacation and with the use of your mobile phone, you can view files that you need to review. There is no need to worry about security as it typically comes with state-of-the-art technologies to prevent unauthorized access.

Track Your Activities

Time management issues can make lawyers inefficient in their jobs. This is where law practice management software can be beneficial. It makes it easy to stay on top of your schedule and track your activities. Aside from the calendar feature, it also allows lawyers to create milestones. Once you complete a milestone, a new one will be automatically triggered. It lets you prioritize the more important tasks.

Collaborate with Others

Another good thing about using law practice software is the fact that it can improve collaboration with other lawyers, paralegals, clients, and anyone involved in the case. Some of the features that will make this possible include internal messaging, file sharing, and video conferencing. Because of creating a more collaborative environment, this can significantly improve efficiency.

Indeed, the right, law practice software can propel your legal career and take you to greater heights. It can improve billing management, get rid of repetitiveness, and enhance collaboration, among others.

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Which Microsoft Azure Services Should You Pick for Your Next Application?

Miley on March 7, 2019

Microsoft Azure, which started its journey as Windows Azure in 2008, is now a digital force to reckon in the cloud computing space. It is one among the enterprise-grade cloud computing platforms that offer the trinity of cloud services – Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) under one roof. Each service has several offerings within it making Azure a vast sea of cloud-based services.

Image Credit: Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure also supports a number of third-party systems, programming languages, and frameworks under its ambit of offerings. Additionally, there are 600+ Azure services covering mobile, storage, data management, messaging, CDN, media services, computing and much more. Even the Internet of Things and Machine Learning are available under the Microsoft Azure platform.

In other words, it is a one-stop-shop for digital enterprises that want agility, flexibility, and quick scalability. But, the sheer range of services offered by Microsoft Azure makes it difficult to pick the right service for a business. Also, Microsoft being a continuous innovator keeps changing and updating its Azure offerings on a regular basis. So, a choice made based on last month’s study may not prove to be the right one today.

Although it is challenging, it is not impossible to pick the right Microsoft Azure service. Like any decision-making related to IT, the right Azure service can also be selected for your business by seeking answers to a few specific questions.

How much control do you need?

Each Azure service offers a slightly different degree of control over infrastructure, application calling, load balances and so on.

Image Credit: Microsoft Azure

IaaS (infrastructure-as-a-service) offers Azure Container Services and Azure Virtual Machines. They provide maximum control but also require you to take care of the updates and infrastructure maintenance. Even ensuring security for the applications would fall on your shoulders. IaaS would prove to be a good choice if you want to run development and test modules, need high-power computing or run isolated applications.

PaaS (platform-as-a-service) gives you control over the applications, all the data and how it will run. But, you will have no control over the operating system nor do you have the responsibility of controlling it.

The last one, software as a service offers very little control over the infrastructure. But, you will be able to derive maximum business value out of the system using applications built and maintained by someone else.

Where do you want to run your application?

Azure offers an elaborate cloud setup that can accommodate all your application requirements. But, there could be instances when you have to strike a balance of utilizing Azure Cloud as well as public cloud facilities.

If you want the application to run purely on Azure, then you have to opt for services like Azure Stack, Azure Public Cloud, or on-premises.

The extent of application usage

The extent of your application usage is another decisive factor in your choice of Azure service. Your application could be running round the clock (like a website) or could be a serverless application that runs on request. The infrastructure requirements for both scenarios are different.

In the always-on mode, you need to pick the classic model which has to be maintained and paid on a monthly basis. It will prove to be a good fit for applications that need to be up and running round the clock, like an online store or a customer service portal, etc. where customers are expected to check in at any time.

But, if your application is used rarely or during specific times which can be predicted, as a background application, then the serverless model is recommended. It is also charged on a monthly basis, so you won’t have to pay much to use the resources on a random basis.

Match your service functionalities to the app requirements

Apart from the control and usage, you also have to consider the functionalities each service offers to make the right choice. For instance, IaaS offers functionalities like VM ScaleSet, Virtual Machines, and Container Service. Platform as a Service offers App Service, Cloud Service, and Service Fabric. App Service will fit better for CMS like WordPress, Umbraco, Joomla, Drupal, and the likes. If running microservices is your requirement, Service Fabric which offers round the clock availability, containers, multi-cloud support, and scalability should be your choice.

The Final Choice

Making the right choice from the vast spectrum of Azure services is not an easy task. You will have to figure out all your requirements elaborately and in fine detail to find the right fit. In fact, there are several other types of requirement categories that you can explore like, analytics using Azure, securing applications using Azure, running applications using Azure and so on.

What we have explained above should help you get around making a fine choice of Azure services.

Author Bio

Digital Marketing Manager with 7 years of experience. Passionate about the latest trends in Digital Marketing, Technology, Cloud Computing, Healthcare Development, and App Development.

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Applying Automation Testing on Real Devices Vs. Emulators

Miley on March 5, 2019

There are a few differences between automated testing on real devices versus emulators. Majority of the companies consult automation testing companies for this purpose. Let’s do a comparison to evaluate the best way for your company to take with respect to your test automation practices.

Keeping this scenario in mind, we are presenting you the list of pro and cons of automated testing on real devices and emulators.

Benefits of Real Devices

Testing actual world situations (network, location and weather etc.) are very simple and offer a deeper understanding of app functioning in various situations.
Picture brightness in various lighting scenarios, screen resolution etc. can be very easily tested.
Interoperability testing is much simpler with a real device.
Device performance is quicker than conforming virtual frameworks. This means that assessing app performance will produce more accurate outcomes.

Drawbacks of Real Devices

Conducting automated tests on actual devices is a relatively expensive affair, which would hinder projects that are restricted by time and budget
Because of the wide range of platforms and devices, it is difficult to efficiently carry out testing in a limited time period
In the app development phase for unit testing, actual devices are very difficult to link to the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) in comparison with emulators, which would stifle the project.

Benefits of Emulators

In the circumstances with extreme deadline pressure, attaining access to actual devices might be difficult. Therefore, emulators serve as a realistic alternative for testing in such scenarios.
Budget constraints can influence the team’s decision to capitalize on actual devices. Virtual environments help to save time and money by permitting testers to continue with their tasks without spending on devices that may not be completely suitable for the specific tests they want to implement.
Emulators are easily downloadable and open source.
Web app testing can be done conveniently with the emulators.

Drawbacks of Emulators

For protracted periods of evaluation, emulators are not suitable because protracted usage can be evaluated best on an actual device.
The costs perhaps increase when your team notices that their emulator may be unsuited with certain app elements or apps. In such scenarios, they might require to invest in software patches to enable testing to continue.
Perhaps the emulators support just a restricted number of mobile operating systems. This could render them useless in many scenarios.

After summarizing the pros and cons of everything, let us have a quick overview of some testing tools for the Android platform. This is the most famous mobile operating system these days and has an obvious option to consider.

MonkeyRunner: A famous tool where tests are developed in Python, MonkeyRunner can perform tests on both emulators and real devices. However, an important constraint in this tool is that you are required to write scripts for every device. Moreover, the test requires to be changed every time there’s a modification to the UI of the program being tested.

Ranorex: Can offer wide-ranging reports and pictures. However, the element search facility is a little inactive.

Robotium: Robotium is known as “Selenium for Android” which is a free UI testing tool. Nevertheless, you are required to allocate time with program source code to run your test automation suite. This is not completely suitable for interacting with system software.

Appium Automation framework: Utilizes the WebDriver interface to perform tests, and supports numerous programming languages and mobile web browser testing. Nevertheless, its reporting facility is not appropriately implemented.

In the light of the above discussion, QA teams are required to measure their own project necessities and decide what amalgamation of real devices and emulators would best suit their requirements for a given app, and what sacrifices they would be willing to make when selecting a test automation tool.

Author Bio

Ray Parker is a senior marketing consultant with a knack for writing about the latest news in tech, quality assurance, software development, and travel. With a decade of experience working in the tech industry, ray now dabbles out of his New York office.

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The Secret Ingredient In The Online Dating Market With A Tinder Clone App

Miley on March 5, 2019

Modern technology is bringing a record change in the relationship between man and machine which is also impacting our interpersonal relationships. Sending hand-written letters to friends or loved ones has almost gained vintage status. The main reason behind this is the abundance of electronic tools redefining our communication modes.

A similar change can also be seen in our dating life as people are seeking out partners in the virtual space. This is leading to rhetoric popularity of dating apps. If you are thinking of devising a dating app, then you can walk in the footsteps of Tinder – the pioneer of such services.

Tinder gained an edge over its competitor apps with the revolutionary left swipe for dislike and right swipe for like. People previously felt shy while venturing into the world of online dating. The gaming spirit of Tinder is gaining an edge over this stigma. Keeping such a thing in mind, we have come up with a dossier containing the main causes of its success and things you need to keep in mind while building a similar app.

Stand Out Features of Tinder

You can log onto Tinder either through your phone number or Facebook ID. The basic information gathered from Facebook buffers its users from having to undergo a time-taking form-filling process while creating a profile.
Users can add a display picture and some brief information after their profile gets auto-filled. Usually, the Tinder profiles contain information pertaining to age, location, mutual interest, and mutual Facebook friends.
Proximity has an important role to play in applications like Tinder. People have an affinity of connecting with others living in nearby localities. This makes geolocation an extremely critical functionality in a tinder clone script.
Swipe is a unique value proposition of Tinder making the date fixation process an extremely entertaining affair.
Users of Tinder can adjust their discovery settings in accordance with gender, age, and distance. However, the search radius of a user stays limited to 10 miles while using the free version.
App developers cannot coerce users to interact with fellow users unless they share mutual likes. Thus, users can begin chatting with each other only after the match is made. Once the private chat window is opened, users can share messages, GIFs and even emoji to vouch for their feeling.
Tinder keeps on notifying its users about new app updates and matches which might suit their preference. This helps in maintaining user engagement and ensuring frequent returns.
The Snapchat and Instagram profiles of Tinder users can be integrated with their Snapchat and Instagram account for generating more interactions and conversations.

You can stand out in the online dating market by adding in a few more special features in your open source tinder clone like the following:

Implementation of advanced artificial intelligence algorithms which help in understanding the individual preferences of users for better results.

Spam messages can bring down the reputation of an application. Your dating app clone can have a spam detector in place for sending notifications to users whenever the same message is forwarded to multiple users simultaneously.
You can add to the credibility of your app by generating a risk score while signing up. Artificial intelligence helps in delivering a risk score by conducting ID verification. This feature brings down all chances of catfishing to create a safe online dating environment.

Apparently, most of these tinder clone script apps are available for free. In spite of that, there is a big opportunity for monetizing the same:

Freemium – This provides limited access to app users. They have to shell out an extra amount for availing the premium options like sensing GIFs or custom emoji’s in messages. OkCupid is an open source tinder clone which offers its users with paid boosts. This leads to more matches and higher profile matches.

Paid Subscriptions – This highly popular monetization method comes with a time ceiling which could be monthly, quarterly and even yearly. However, it is advisable to adopt a subscription strategy once the app has gained sufficient recognition. Tinder, for example, has launched two highly popular Tinder Gold and Tinder Plus schemes. These plans allow its users to rewind their actions for changing accidental swipes. Some other paid Tinder features are Super likes, unlimited swipes, smart photos, location change, boost, and others.

Advertisements – If your app has a large number of non-paying users, then in-app advertising can serve as a lucrative money-making option. Native advertising can be of great help in such scenarios as it adheres to the app functionality. Such apps shouldn’t meddle with the seamless experience of users as doing otherwise can lead to mass uninstallations.

Gifts – Users can even buy chocolate, teddies and greeting cards as a token of affection for their beloved. This can boost up the revenue meter during special occasions like Valentine’s Day and Women’s Day.

Conclusion

Clone scripts of Tinder have ushered in a revolution in the field of online dating. Users are notified instantly on creating an account in the application. They can even alter the visibility of their profiles from the clone app in accordance with their personal preference. Locational parameter helps in conducting efficient matchmaking. Just a swipe is enough for scanning through the profile of potential dates. There is also a rewind option helping users to alter their last swipe changes. Users can either reject a chat request or engage in a conversation with potential dates.

One of the biggest roadblocks faced by an app owner while marketing his dating app is the lack of adequate trust. Women especially doubt the online dating portal which leads to a problem with user acquisition. But once you get over the same, you can easily climb up the ladder of popularity.

About the author

Hemendra Singh

My name is Hemendra Singh. I am Managing Director and co-founder of The NineHertz, a Mobile App Development Company. I am having a keen interest in the latest trends and technologies that are emerging in different domains. Being an entrepreneur in the field of IT sector, it becomes my responsibility to aid my audience with the knowledge of latest trends in the market.

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Benefits of Using IoT In The Fleet Management System

Miley on March 5, 2019

Fleet management as the term says, adequate management of the company’s vehicle fleet. It helps the fleet owners to properly manage weight monitoring, fleet location tracking, etc. Every transportation business must have an appropriate fleet management system. Proper management of fleet is a daunting task but IoT in transportation helps business owners to easily manage the truck/fleets without any hassle. Here in this post, I will tell you the important advantages of using IoT in the fleet management system.

Let’s check the advantages of using IoT in the fleet management system

#1 Provides real-time road climate data to fleet managers A large number of injuries to fleet drivers take place because of hazardous road climatic conditions that arise time and again. At some cases, the worst road climatic condition also leads to the death of fleet drivers. Irrespective of the fact that fleet managers evaluate climatic predictions to regulate when and how extreme climate will have an effect on operations of the fleet, but wrong climatic forecasts and wrong road climate data are highly injurious to operations. Here, the Internet of things technology comes into the picture. Sensors embedded devices are attached to the axle of the truck or fleet. Real-time road climate data is given to fleet managers with the help of these sensors. In case of bad climatic conditions of the road, fleet managers can immediately contact the drivers to go at slow speed or divert trucks to another route that does not have the worst climate conditions. #2 Helps to know traffic conditions on the road IoT Smart transportation is also useful for fleet managers to contact their drivers whenever there is traffic in a particular area. This helps drivers in saving much of their time for reaching a client’s place faster because fleet managers will help drivers to select the route with less traffic. Internet of things in fleet management can also easily control the movement of traffic as to how fast or slowly traffic is moving. Sensors attached to truck’s axle continuously provides real-time data about road traffic and accordingly fleet owners can help keep their drivers safe by helping them move through clear roads without traffic. This also decreases much of the accidents happening because of traffic conditions. Fleet owners also receive the current traffic data of roads for decreasing unwanted accidents of fleet drivers well in advance. #3 Tracking the real-time location of the fleet Another important advantage of using IoT in fleet management system is to track the exact real-time location of the truck quickly. This feature is best because sometimes the truck driver takes the truck for his personal use to another area and as a result, the truck does not reach on time at client’s place and fleet managers pay for the mistakes of fleet drivers. In such cases, IoT plays a vital role. Fleet owners can easily trace the location of the fleet in the blink of an eye through geo-fencing the area in which your fleet business is operating. #4 Fuel management is carried out effectively One of the best advantages of using IoT fleet management is adequate management of fuel. Therefore, IoT helps fleet managers by keeping a track of fuel utilization in their fleets. Irregularity in fuel consumption of trucks can be easily monitored by fleet owners and accordingly they can take necessary measures to decrease unnecessary fuel consumption to a lot of extents. Moreover, during fuel theft cases, the fleet manager immediately gets alert. As fuel theft is on the rise, it’s going to be a must-have feature for all small, medium, and large fleet operators. Fuel monitoring doesn’t always come cheap so it’s best to run a comparison before committing to a single provider. Such comparison sites, much like iCompario, https://www.icompario.com/, can compare fuel cards and telematics systems to help tackle fuel theft. #5 Smart reporting of fleets IoT in fleet management system has an important role to play regarding fleet reports efficiently. Reports are received in real-time to fleet owners about operating of fleets and clearing all deliveries on regular basis. Efficient reporting enables fleet owners to make the right business decisions to enhance revenue from their fleets. #6 Improving fleet maintenance IoT in fleet management system also enhances the overall condition of fleets to improve their functioning. IoT fleet management system has the potential to gather data from different fleets and later on, this particular data can be put to use for precise and complete maintenance plans of fleets. Also, IoT enabled sensors can effectively monitor wear out of truck parts (example: tires) and fleet owners get a notification on the web or mobile app. For instance, when the tire pressure goes below the dangerous point, fleet managers immediately receive an alert about the problem on the web or mobile app of IoT fleet management. Moreover, fleet owners can also contact their drivers quickly to fix the problem before it worsens.

Smart fleet management into action

Introducing problem To know the true potential of the smart fleet management system, let’s take an example of weight monitoring of truck. What happens in the traditional fleet management system? In this case, fleet managers are not able to get a real-time weight of the truck and it further leads to fines being charged from truck drivers for over-weight of the truck. What happens in a smart fleet management system? In case of a smart fleet management system, IoT devices in transportation enable fleet managers to receive a real-time weight of the truck so that whenever truck has over-weight then fleet owners can immediately contact the truck drivers to unload some goods. In this way, unwanted fine charging can be reduced to a lot of extents. Closing Thoughts In a nutshell, it can be concluded that fleet management has wide-array of advantages for the transportation industry and it further leads to increased profitability of the business. If you are looking forward to getting IoT end-to-end solution for transportation business, then feel free to contact us and we will assist you further.

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Ideas, Formulas and Shortcuts for Audio Manager

Miley on February 28, 2019

Let’s look in the device manager to look at the status of our Realtek audio driver. Generally, a business development manager will carry out tasks like product development, promotion, and distribution. Android Assistant was made to be compatible with different Android brands from various manufacturers. Your property manager should offer you a summary of how he is going to be handling your properties. Only the very best property managers ought to be hired!

Audio Manager has an excellent little profile feature built into the application. Easy Audio Manager is also an extremely fundamental app. Business management is just one of the main areas in every organization. The automated frequency management employs a new algorithm which also evaluates the reliability of available frequencies.

DSP Manager is a great application that may be employed to achieve vibrating bass in spite of your stock headphones. Being a real manager is never simple. Realtek HD audio manager is quite vital for your PC. To make sure that one’s music playlist does not become lost or distorted, it is necessary to employ music file administration.

The majority of the moment, you merely will need to update your audio driver. Before downloading the new Realtek drivers, it is going to be required to uninstall all present drivers.

The Downside Risk of Audio Manager

Audio is among the essential features of any computer. Windows Audio will then be enabled. It’s essential for practically any sound to be made when a program is operating in Windows. In the event the sound is working then the issue is solved and you need read no more. In addition, in addition, it provides a high-quality sound to your system during the audio card.

What is Actually Happening with Audio Manager

There are a lot of audio manager apps, so it’s essential for you to choose from an audio manager for your Android. Whichever it was, click the suitable link for your audio device so you are taken to the right page.

The 30-Second Trick for Audio Manager

Once an item of hardware is not functioning, it’s highlighted for attention. Although the true audio hardware is HD Audio, it is going to allow utilizing the AC’97 front panel like that. In case the computer doesn’t have sound, proceed to the next process to fix the error. You may then register the software to go for automatic Driver Updates. Free software is a good example. Instead, you may use a tool designed particularly for the purpose of managing and searching for samples.

Ok, I Think I Understand Audio Manager, Now Tell Me About Audio Manager!

If there are simple ways on how best to hide your apps in your Android, in addition, there are quick steps on how best to unhide the apps that were hidden in your menu. In the majority of cases, you should install an audio device to acquire your sound working. The very first thing you ought to do is determine which two audio devices you need to change between. Utilizing a system without sound will help it become incomplete.

About the author

Usman Raza is a marketing specialist at PSDtoWPService.com and co-founder of Christian Marketing Experts. He has been writing for magazines and newspapers since 2001, and editing and managing websites since 2006. A generalist, his most covered topics are business and technology. Follow him on Twitter @usmanintrotech.

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The Significance of A Defect Management Tool in The IoT Industry

Miley on February 13, 2019

Detection of bugs is simple and easy. However, organizing, managing and tracking them in one place is extremely difficult. Therefore, the defect management tool has a significant role to play. An effective tool has a rich-information format that clears your line of sight and consolidates and configures your activities at one place. It helps to record, manage and track all your testing efforts in a very productive user interface and provide access to all your projects at your fingertips.

Whereas, internet of things (IoT) is the network of devices such as home appliances and vehicles that encompass connectivity, actuators, sensors, software and electronics which enable these things to connect, exchange data and interact. IoT is of immense significance these days.

Therefore, we are presenting to you with some reasons why defect management tools are important in the IoT Industry.

1. It Provides Information Rich Format

Vector flat concept of process social media business and marketing. Startup, business planning and results – vector illustration

An effective defect tracking tool enables you to report and track defects using its rich information format and the interactive dashboard. The defects are spotted back and forth within the cycles and are also connected to the referenced test cases.

2. It Helps to Create Customized Defect Reports

While creating customized defect reports you can take advantage of the two-way integration with the defect management software such as JIRA. You can also utilize customized fields to make this integration more appropriate within your business context.

3. It Offers Jira Integration

A defect management tool enables you to sync your defects with the simple set up selection in JIRA. It is ideal for the team working in an agile environment. This is where business analysts and testers can coordinate with two different tracking tools. The issues or defects created on one platform can be logged on to another.

4. It Provides Flexible Reporting

It enables you to log your defects independent of test cycles and modules and use them again and again. This can only be done with its decoupled architecture. In this way, the defect is not required to be created again and again in one case or module.

In the End…

A test management tool like Kualitee can offer an in-depth picture of the sort of defects. After being recorded, these bugs can be traced in various ways. It simplifies the process in many ways through different viewing formats. It enables you to monitor the bug history at any time with various information pointers. A test management tool provides more features than any defect management software. Therefore, many companies allocating a huge chunk of invest in purchasing a test management tool.

Author Bio:

Ray Parker is an entrepreneur and internet marketer with over 9 years of experience in Search Engine Optimization, Creative Writer and Digital Marketing Consultant.

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Serverless Computing vs. Containers – Which one to choose?

Miley on January 28, 2019

Over the last couple of years, there has been a significant rise in the adoption of serverless computing. And the adoption of Containers is also growing at a rapid pace. And this probably brings you to the question – should you choose Serverless or Containers. This is because both these technologies have something in common.

The similarities between the two:

Serverless is a good option for microservices. Containers is perfect for microservices as well. They both have a modern architecture that can cater to your requirements in the future as well. And they both possess skills when it comes to leveraging the most strategic innovations in distributed systems, and they let you develop and deploy large-scale applications. But yes, there are slight differences in the way the deployment is made.

What is serverless?

Serverless computing is called so because enterprises do not have to purchase servers for operating their backend code. It is not that there aren’t any servers, the servers are there, but they are managed and handled by the third-party vendors who are fully responsible for the working of the servers. When AWS Lambda and Azure Functions were launched as cloud based services for serverless computing, they instantly became a hot trend.

What are the containers?

Containers are an operating system virtualization method whereby you have everything to run and deploy an application without any hassle. It has all the elements like system settings, system libraries and all other elements to run the application. Therefore, you can use the containers to deploy any type of application. All the Container needs is hosting and they can run anywhere in a single package. It can run consistently and quickly without worrying about the deployment environment.

It is important to conduct an educative assessment between Serverless and Containers. This is because Serverless is not suitable everywhere and a wrong choice can break everything. Hence, it is important to determine what kind of architecture you need, the application it has to host and the steps to be taken for successful deployment.

Image source: Pexels

Here are some situations where you can use serverless computing.

To process real-time data streams and uploads – Serverless functions make it easy to transfer resource intensive real-time processes away from the main applications. So, it is perfectly capable of parsing and filtering incoming data streams, manage input from real-time devices, manage both intermittent and high-throughput data streams and process uploaded files.

It can manage high-volume background processes – Serverless makes it possible to move data at high volume to an analytics service. This could be very beneficial in point of sale services where serverless makes it possible to coordinate inventory, manage different databases including order and transaction databases, and even intermittent tasks like restocking.

It can manage backend tasks of mobile/web applications – Serverless takes a request from the frontend (of the website or application), retrieve the information and then hand it back to the front end. The billing for this kind of tasks will be based on the backend tasks that it does; all other times it is idle.

Containers can fill out the limitations posed by serverless computing

Serverless computing does come with its share of limitations, so you do really need something to counter that.

Earlier, it was mentioned that Azure Functions and AWS Lambda services were hot trends when they were released, but there are limits that inhibit their full functionality. There are restrictions on memory use, size, time available for functions to run and so on. Hence, vendors take care to keep the functions small so they don’t take too much of the system’s resources. Imagine the situation wherein a small number of high demand users block everyone else out or at worst, overload the systems. That could be really bad, right?

Similarly, debugging and performance analysis are also restricted because they are too primitive. It is also difficult to use several of the monitoring tools with serverless functions because of the lack of access to the function’s container management system.

Image source: Pexels

A few areas where serverless computing loses out to containers

(1) Easy for large and complex applications

A container-based application can be large and complex and it is possible to tailor the new architecture as per the redesigned system. If you try to apply the same through a server less application, you may still be able to do it, but you would have to encounter several bottlenecks as there would be size and memory constraints.

(2) The developer gets full control

Another advantage of a container-based application is that the developer gets full power and control of the containers. The developer can debug and test with the complete set of resources at his disposal, perform in-depth monitoring, performance tuning on a microservice by microservice level. Microservices are applications that can be broken into smaller, scalable and deployable components on an independent level.

(3) Makes migration easier

It is easier to migrate your applications in containers, taking the pain out of deployment. It is also easy to move the apps between servers.

Closing Thoughts

Containers would be a good choice if flexibility during installation is more important for you, especially with software that has specific version requirement. It gives the developer control over the installed programming language and runtime version.

However, more of manual intervention is needed with Containers, when you compare this with serverless computing. This makes serverless computing a better option, especially if you want automatic detection and handling of traffic pattern changes. It is also a good option when you don’t want to be bothered about administration of the underlying infrastructure, because all you need to do is worry about the business value and the quality of code.

Choose Containers:

When flexibility is more important to you, and when you need easy migration between legacy services.

Choose Serverless:

When you prefer automatic scaling of apps, want speed of development to be accelerated and would like to lower runtime costs.

Author Bio:

Digital Marketing Manager with 7 years of experience. Passionate about the latest trends in Digital Marketing, Technology and App Development.

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How Robotics Is Improving Businesses

Miley on January 24, 2019

The impact of robotics on modern manufacturing is immeasurable. Though industrial robots have seen use in factories for decades, their capacity for complex tasks have grown by a considerable margin, and they’ve continued to develop at a steady pace. Manufacturing aside, other industries have enjoyed the benefits as well.

In the hospitality, food and customer service industries, robots have proven indispensable in the day-to-day responsibilities of employees and business owners. Additionally, many executives in management positions use today’s technology to delegate their smaller duties, allowing them to focus on more pressing matters.

So how do these changes manifest? What do modern robots look like, and how are they improving businesses across the country? In this article, we’ll explore the subject in greater detail, touching on three different industries and how they’ve implemented robotics in their current practices.

Robotics in Hospitality

Customer service has always been the keystone of the hospitality industry. After all, the definition of “hospitality” is the warm, friendly reception and entertainment of guests. With this in mind, it seems strange and somewhat counterintuitive to replace a hotel’s staff with cold, unfeeling robots.

Yotel has shown this isn’t the case, and their use of robotics doesn’t substitute staff but supplements them. When a guest walks into the lobby at their Times Square location, a team member helps them with a touch-screen kiosk. After checking in, a robot takes and safely stores their luggage.

Robotics in Manufacturing

When most people envision a production line — such as those in automotive factories — they often picture pneumatic robot arms. While these robots have applications in the auto industry, they see use in many different factory settings, making a broad spectrum of everyday items.

While their functionality is impressive, how they function is just as extraordinary. Check out the following infographic.

Infographic source: https://www.quincycompressor.com/how-a-pneumatic-robot-arm-works

Robotics in Food Service

Automation has streamlined the food service industry for business owners and customers alike. Beyond self-serve kiosks, new machines have replaced outdated dishwashers, saving almost 10 hours of labor per week which employees would have to spend cleaning spatulas, bowls, and other food prep utensils.

Fast food chains have also found a use for robot arms, similar to those employed in manufacturing, but repurposed prepare meals. Little Caesar’s recently patently a robotic arm which can spread the dough, add toppings and place a pizza in the oven. It’s safe to speculate even greater changes are on their way.

The Future of Robotics

It’s challenging to grasp the influence of modern robotics on the enterprise. In hospitality, manufacturing, food service, healthcare, agriculture, and even law enforcement, technology has simplified and reshaped the responsibilities of the American workforce. Moving forward, one thing is clear.

The current trajectory of robotics has placed us on a path toward even greater and more inflexible reliance on technology. While it represents an incredible opportunity for growth, small businesses and large corporations should consider the implications of automation. It might have unintended consequences.

That said, it’s important to approach the future with optimism. Technology is evolving in new and exciting ways, and it’ll be exciting to watch what happens.

Insights SaaS

Azure Certification from Microsoft – Benefits and Learning Path

Miley on January 21, 2019

The recent developments in large-scale cloud services have changed the modes of IT service delivery to a large extent. Well, known cloud platforms from the world’s leading providers like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are constantly evolving, which has a big impact on the IT industry as well as the IT professionals.

When it comes to information technology businesses or other sectors dependent on IT, any decision to adopt technology or upgrade it has an immediate impact on the performance, cost, security, delivery, and customer satisfaction. High level of decision making, design, and implementation, and administration skills are required to manage these sophisticated IT-centric industries. The frequent and fast changes in technologies are creating skill gaps in the IT marketplace, which is the major problem enterprises are finding while tapping the opportunities.

Lately, with a large number of organizations across the globe adopting cloud technologies, there is a huge demand for skilled professionals in it. One can enjoy high salaries and a wide range of opportunities in cloud computing if they become experts to manage the fast-changing cloud computing environments. For the cloud career aspirants, MS Azure certification is one great way to achieve this necessary skill-set.

About MS Azure

As admired by the industry, one specific skill which recruiters are looking for while hunting for cloud computing specialists is Azure Certification from Microsoft. Owing to the growth in the cloud sector, job opportunities for MS Azure certified professionals had increased drastically over the last couple of years.

As per a press release by Microsoft, nearly 1000 customers are signing up for Azure suite daily, which can be projected as about 3,65,000 organizations adopting the technology each year.
Considering the Fortune 500 companies, about 57% of them have implemented Azure.
The cloud revenue of Microsoft had increased by 104%.
UK government had given an official accreditation to Microsoft Azure, and US government also backed it for government offering.

All the points towards the future potential of Azure to create a huge number of job opportunities in the coming years. It is easy to learn and adapt, and also a highly efficient tool to handle the traditional tasks like designing, deployment, and management as well as to meet the needs of the future big data environments.

Azure in business IT

As we have seen, Azure is a cloud computing solution and to be more precise, and it offers an advanced cloud platform which helps the organizations to build, deploy, and operate managed services wherever they want to. The major competitors of Azure are AWS (Amazon Web Services), and Google Cloud.

There are two handy models of Azure services as:

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), in which you let the provider (Microsoft) handle your networking and computing needs.
Platform as a service (PaaS), where you add the cloud capabilities as a platform only to your existing network and manage it your own.

With Azure, Microsoft provides the clients with access to the service directory which is constantly building. This now includes:

Virtual machines – You can use the pre-existing templates or create your machine images to prepare Windows or Linux virtual machines and host any apps and services in these virtual machines.
Application services – Deploy new enterprise applications and gain instant and scalable access to it with minimal risk of downtime or data loss.
Active directory – Better manage the authentication, group policy, and security settings, etc., remotely.
Storage – Secure your critical business data with the solid infrastructure by Microsoft, all at an affordable cost.
SQL DB – Enjoy unlimited SQL relational database from Microsoft without the need for any on-premise software or hardware.

Why use Azure?

The primary benefits of hosting critical business solutions using Azure as SAP Business One include:

1. High flexibility

In fast-changing market conditions, you may experience a positive spike in your favor with a demand for more efficient technology solutions at any time. In such situations, Azure has it all covered well. You may design and launch innovative services at any time in lightning speed with the scope of scaling up storage and processing capabilities instantly.

2. Save cost

There is a very limited upfront cost for migration, and when it comes to maintaining hardware and that of energy consumption, you will reduce the overall costs. As the cloud providers offer security administration, the security costs are also covered. With enterprise-grade cloud services, you need to pay only for the availed resources, which can be scaled up or down at any point.

3. Services to meet any needs

Azure offers a huge number of à la carte services. You may search the Azure service list first when you have the need of any service or business app next time. Even on thinking of a customized app, there is no need to start from the very scratch as many of the apps can be integrated into the already existing framework and custom tailor meet specific needs.

Apart from the above, Azure also features fully managed services, quick disaster management, remote access management, etc., which makes it a highly flexible and user-friendly platform for business administrators. As the adoption rate of Azure is going up, the industry requires more skilled and knowledgeable Azure experts to handle the tasks at various types of IT settings.

Azure training

For beginners, Microsoft Official Curriculum could be a good option to start with the basics of Azure. Microsoft directly offers some support to IT professionals with some eBooks etc. through the MVA (Microsoft Virtual Academy). Over time, Azure certification had undergone several improvements too. Now, the certification path of MS Azure is more modular with the need to develop IT infrastructure management skills, especially Windows Server. Some exams aimed at Azure certifications are:

Exam 70-533 – Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions
Exam 70-532 – Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions
Exam 70-534 – Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions

You will also find many other certification exams closely related to it like Exam 70-473, Exam 70-475, Exam 70-744, Exam 70-413, Exam 70-414, Exam 70-246, Exam 70-247 related to public and private cloud administration and Windows server infrastructure administration, etc. to hone your skills.