Cloud in the Mind!
Long distance relationships are hard – or are they just mind over matter? Today’s economy wants to tighten its belt, and within this philosophy lies a fertile ground for cloud computing. Let’s not argue – the cloud has arrived and is here to stay. However, the economies of scale that a cloud provides are both a friend and a foe for the enterprise. As much economic benefit cloud provides, it also extends a proportional sense of ‘loss of control’. If not in reality – this is more of a psychological problem. Ask a CIO who’s yet to get on a cloud – long distance relationships with data are intimidating. But here’s the cool part – the distance from data is dependent on how quickly you can access it and how secure you can make it. If neither of the 2 parameters change, you would never know if the data was moved from your premise to mine. So – why is cloud a big deal? Straight up – cost savings and economies of scale. IT plays a huge role in an enterprise. And IT management is proportionately budgeted for. With cloud, IT services can be offered at a fraction of the cost relieving massive challenges on resources and infrastructure. With unified access, data can be made more reliable, available, and secure. Which is eventually the whole point of IT and its management anyways isn’t it? And that’s what gives the cloud its silver lining. For the ones who still don’t buy it and want numbers, check this out – Gartner predicts that by end of 2013, cloud services market will be worth over $150 billion annually. But I’m sure you’re still wondering – what if… and why not…? Well you can argue all you like and try to convince yourself that the cloud will go away. But with the kind of benefits that the cloud provides today, it’s impossible for the enterprise to ignore its financial implications. In fact a study on cloud risks carried out by European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) recently, names compliance and malicious intent as two of the highest risks through cloud. These risks are anyways high up on a CIO’s risk list, even with an on-premise infrastructure. But the study has also raised high concerns on legal risks for data. The need for standardized jurisdiction coupled with an obsession on information management quality is a must. Sure over time the cloud will mature and service providers will take on more aggressive positions within your IT environment. A lot of bumps will smoothen out and early adopters would explicitly benefit on their balance sheets. It would be like the ERP story all over again. However, the question that you need to answer is – do you really want to manage IT? Do you really need to manage IT? Do you want to commit yourselves to the periodicity of systems, software, and resources? The cloud is here to stay – move in early. There’s no phrase called ‘second mover advantage’ and there’s a good reason for it. Don’t say I didn’t tell you …
Automate. Accelerate. Proliferate.
Test automation has emerged as a buzz word in the last few years and software testing teams are scampering to find high ROI tools that can automate the various levels of test automation. Though manual testing is comparatively straightforward, advanced script-based testing requires experience and skill that are difficult to come-by. So the world moves towards test automation. The idea is to automate testing and reduce costs and time-to-market for software. However, the nuances of test automation are still evolving and most users are overwhelmed by complex tools and long learning curves. Unfortunately this cannot be evaded. After all – quality assurance is all about assuring quality. High license fees, poor access to automation engineers, cost of delivery are preventing testers from providing competitive advantages to their applications. Delayed launches, under-tested products, non-optimized functionalities, etc. can become financially demanding for your business. Add to this a competitive market place and there’s almost no room for error. Thankfully, some of us at Tavant found simple solutions to these complex problems. By creating a unified and platform agnostic solution called Tavant Watir Automation Framework (TWAF), manual testers can now build and execute complex code-based test cases by simply using language based commands. TWAF leverages the open source framework WATIR and follows scripting based on Ruby. Unlike complicated Java scripting, Ruby is less complex and significantly reduces the learning time for a manual tester. Developed over the WATIR framework is Tavant’s customizable engine that allows simplified English based test cases. The layer has a validation engine that prompts users for incorrectly spelled objects. The simple English language based query system allows manual test engineers to build advanced test cases which can then be automated. Current releases can be quickly tested and screened to ensure optimum performance. One of the best aspects of TWAF is that it is platform independent. This means that manual testers can use any operating system and still enjoy flawless test automation – even for the code.
Lending Web Channels
The relevance of the web to today’s business enterprise is now an assumed necessity. Yet, in the context of rapidly evolving technologies, tools and behaviors, Web 2.0 and social media are redefining the web from a purpose-built channel to a core-to-business platform. It is not the dot com of your business that matters, but the capabilities, the depth and breadth of the web-as-business that matters.It is within this rapidly evolving context that businesses are forging not only better incremental gains and saving but also creating a sustainable competitive advantage. Traditional advertising is evolving into full voiced communication, branding into identity, and order taking and sales into relationships. This new definition of web-as-a-channel is cutting right across the firm to build a tighter, firmer, and more aware organization that is tuned to the customers’ needs.Let’s look at the key value propositions of direct channel portals Optimized resources – With a virtual office the need to physically allocate more resources in the branches is reduced significantly. In fact, lending institutions can create easy-to-follow and comprehend walk-throughs on their portal that can enhance usability and provide a rich portal experience without additional overheads on resources and staff. Data integrity – Since data remains collated within a singular location, its integrity is undeniable at all times. Sabotage is out of the question and even a sudden surge in demand will not throw the system off track. Multi-point sale – The portal’s real estate is more effective than the next door branch. Couple this with well planned marketing; multi-point sale doesn’t remain a myth. Visitors can choose what they want, self service their needs through intelligently designed UI, and compare different products. Simplified integration – Be it upstream or downstream systems, direct channel portals can seamlessly integrate with existing systems and thereby provide a singular data stream with zero intrusion. This allows possibility of expansion and segregated products for different types of media without risk to the data’s integrity. Today’s competitive business landscape demands faster time-to-market for a new product. Customers demand seamless servicing and will not accept slow or failed communication.. FAQs – Tavant Solutions What web channel solutions does Tavant provide for lending institutions?Tavant offers omnichannel lending platforms including responsive web portals, mobile applications, social media integration, and API-driven third-party channel support that create seamless customer experiences across all digital touchpoints. How does Tavant optimize web channel performance for lenders?Tavant provides channel analytics, conversion optimization tools, A/B testing frameworks, and performance monitoring that help lenders maximize the effectiveness of their web channels and improve customer acquisition rates. What are lending web channels?Lending web channels include company websites, mobile apps, social media platforms, comparison sites, and third-party marketplaces where customers can discover, apply for, and manage loans through digital interfaces. How do multiple web channels benefit lenders?Multiple web channels increase customer reach, provide more touchpoints for engagement, allow for targeted marketing, improve conversion rates, and enable customers to interact through their preferred digital platforms. What features should lending websites have?Essential features include loan calculators, instant pre-qualification, secure applications, rate comparisons, educational content, customer portals, mobile optimization, and integration with backend lending systems.
Social Networking – connect with your audience!
Popular social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube have demonstrated how much people across the world love to share what’s happening in their lives and share what they’ve created. There are thousands of examples of other companies innovating with this model, but to what extent have you thought about how to use some of these ideas in your own business? Consider this example. Electronic Arts launched The Sims 3 game in June along with a community site: www.TheSims3.com.The Sims 3 game lets players create all kinds of objects for use by their virtual characters called Sims – items such as clothing, accessories, furniture, households, and lots. It lets them create custom Sims too with different personality traits. The Sims franchise has been one of EA’s (and the gaming world’s) most successful businesses. The response to the recent game launch was amazing – EA sold 1.4 million copies in just the first week. The activity on TheSims3.com is equally impressive. Fans have been using all of the new features for expressing their creativity in great numbers. They’ve created hundreds of thousands of items for others to download into their games. They’ve created tens of thousands of videos and stories using recorded clips and images of their gameplay. Furthermore, players have been sharing their work outside of TheSims3.com community on social networking sites like Facebook thanks to the seamless integration the new site offers. This not only helps players scratch their itch to share their work with their friends, but it also helps EA gain greater exposure by leading people who don’t own the game to the game site. TheSims3.com helps EA’s business in another, more direct, way. It offers a store that sells premium, EA-created items through micro-transactions – the pricing is low enough to remove the hesitation to spend. Looking at popular web destinations today, we still see lots of opportunities for businesses to engage their audiences better by adding features similar to those that EA added. Are you running a sports fansite? Why not let fans create videos or comic strips based on game footage, perhaps even mixed with their own personal video clips and images? Yes, I’m sure there are copyright issues that you’ll have to address, but there must be at least some content you’re willing to license to your users as building blocks for their creativity. Do you operate a destination where people can watch movies or TV shows? Fan sites for music groups? The same concept could work there as well.