What does the end-user expect in an LMS platform? This is a valid question, every Learning organization should ask before intending to either create their own LMS or refurbish what they already have. The eLearning market has grown at a whopping rate of 900% since 2000 and since then there is no looking back. The pandemic has fuelled the pace of LMS growth even further and it is expected that the global markets touch $300 billion by 2025 in a report by Global Insights. Schools and universities have embraced the idea but even corporates have turned to LMS for employee training. Over the years the meaning of LMS has changed with newer features becoming an important part of the application. Not just that, it is not only about learning, but also the holistic experience that counts and this is where trending technologies come into play. The above graph clearly shows that Asian countries are ruling the charts with the highest adoption rates. This could be because the developed countries have already established systems of Learning web applications along with the traditional course as a part of their pedagogy. To build one requires having the most important features which your eLearning portal must-have and through this feature, we also will provide a cost estimation to get started with your Learning ePortal development. Must-have features of ePortall development Online admission process Having an online admission process is the first key step towards establishing sound economics of eLearning. When the students enroll in the course, they will be routed towards logging into an LMS enabling their admission process and making online admission an essential feature in the eLearning portal website. By logging in students gain access to materials, audio and video lectures, etc. Students can also take part in discussions, send emails or even messages to instructors and classmates. Having an online admission process implies
Assessment and feedback Having tests, assignments and quizzes will go a long way in ensuring that the student completes the course and the instructors can evaluate the progress of students individually. With planned assessments, a student can also revise and get extra practice which will help them score better in actual exams. Instructors and management will understand the learning path of students and with analytics in the picture, they will also understand if the students need a revision of a tough course module. Although learning in a virtual environment may disconnect a student from others, features like live feedback and video sessions will go a long way in filling the gap and help in the success of the course. Gradebooks will help in feedback management. Instructors, with the help of performance metrics and the following data, will help them to provide the necessary help whenever needed. Digital backpack will allow teachers to learn more about the students right from the start of the course. SIS management Student Information Management Systems (SIMS) is one of the most important features that is responsible for record upkeep. It helps in completing several functions like record-keeping of regular work and tests, performance appraisal, and attendance. SIMS enables you to access the student record and is important in many ways:
M-learning or mobile learning has become an essential element in eLearning applications because for a student, flexibility counts. They prefer to study from anywhere which is why mobility has to be a part. 57% of the users believe that a business that has a poorly designed mobile site is less likely to succeed in the long-run. This trend has sure been on the rise because learners believe that learning enhances mobile learning devices. Mobile App-based learning also has found many takers making the entire process customized and easily accessible. Community and social engagement Online education focuses on individual learning which can be detrimental to students because they could feel a sense of disconnect with fellow students. When the student learning web application is connected with a community, it will help students engage with each other, expand their learning territory, and also provide them with the necessary exposure. Several social engagement tools can help students to get instant feedback. Social media offers an important spot for peer connection, discussion enabling students to discuss their courses, questions, and even collaborate for any assignment. Reporting and data analytics Elearning is much more than learning and teaching. It should result in better performance of students with every passing day and the reporting and analytics feature will go a long way in ensuring that. Analytics helps the instructors in understanding how each student is performing module wise. When data tracking has been schematically designed the reporting process will help in monitoring every student’s performance allowing tutors to change the course of teaching for better results. For future course planning, such data will help eLearning organizations to get information related to popular courses, student flagging, and less popular courses. So, all-in-all, this feature will help teachers understand the productivity of the course and can keep track of student progress on an ongoing basis. Some of the crucial metrics to be considered are:
To restrict the cost of eLearning portal development in one go would not be possible because the costs would ultimately depend on the features that you want to include. Directly proportional to content elements The higher the content quantity in your website, the greater will be the cost. But since this is a portal for learning, the cost has to go high. We are an experienced eLearning development solutions provider which recommends mixing different types of costs to balance costs. Learning styles have also undergone huge transformations because students need visual engagement to remain hooked on the content improving retention and interest in the content. Hence to decide the content element, it has to be first decided which style you are looking at: Narrative style - content in the story-telling method with self-assessment questions Procedural style - Mainly for training systems and calls for breakage of content into several logical steps. Experiential style - More of multimedia because this style of content and self-discovery Costs of the three styles LEVEL OF INTERACTIVITY AND INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN Once the content design has been decided on then the next step is to understand the level of interaction and instructional design. The list is given below:
Conclusion To build your eLearning portal, it is essential to plan your features and ring in an Elearning solutions provider because mid-way if the project is called-off it will increase your costs and could possibly reduce quality. Remember it is always important to go with experts because you have invested in it and every penny counts.
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Across many nations, where the newest strain of COVID-19 has made an impact, social distancing norms and isolation have been the suggested measures. Workers have been asked to work from home, cities have been placed under lockdowns and schools have been shit. People are avoiding crowded places and the degree varies based on the severity of the outbreak in the respective nation.
While the entire situation may create havoc it is also true that it sure has an invisible hand in corrections. Retailers and customers are clueless but it is a fact that the pandemic is activating solutions that might just usher in a new revolution in retail technology. The article sheds light on some of the technologies that need to be adopted to sell while the social distancing norms are on! Technology that embraces the ‘New Normal’ A survey conducted by YouGov indicated that 85% of internet users in China and a sizable 83% in Hong Kong will avoid crowded places. More than 25% of those in the US and 14% in the UK also said the same thing. If businesses are not pulling insights from such data then it can be too late for them to surpass competition let alone tackle it. Business continuity is the key to survive and the pandemic has forced the retail industry to adopt the new normal and innovate with investment in technologies. These organizations can find viable ways with which they can continue conducting their businesses while maintaining social distancing. Integrated inventory management Being in the retail industry for long and if you have not invested in an inventory management software, then it is a grave error. To remove inefficiencies and glitches in inventory management, a sound and long-term investment in inventory management software will go a long way in knowing your warehouse in and out. But if the software is not centralized, that is if it is not integrated with back-office systems and operations, then the software alone will not streamline the inventory. The valid point to note is that shoppers might not have the intention of purchasing everything in their cart. They do it because they fear that the stock will run out. Retailers then face the challenge to regulate and maintain inventory during the crisis. But amid all this, retailers should focus on investing in a digitally-led omnichannel retail strategy that has a centralized inventory management system to be profitable. The retail organization can provide aa unified experience across the entire customer lifecycle. Real-time solutions will ensure data is at the disposal and will accelerate innovation and automation. Valuable insights can be drawn from how the inventory has to be charged to fulfill demands. With a centralized integrated software, reports can be generated which will provide a sneak peek into what is and what needs to be done. Digital transformation Digital Metamorphosis It was always known that the retail sector would embrace digitalization but the pandemic has accelerated the process. With digitalization, there is a sure shot chance of adding incremental value to the technology solution. These disruptive technologies will help retail enterprises to get a pragmatic perspective of the marketplace. Data will be gathered, filtered, and analyzed to make sense of it. Customers are taking social distancing extremely seriously and are looking at a safe shopping experience with accessibility, uncomplicated interface, and a wide range of products. Retail organizations are also exploring social media to understand the customer psyche. With our Retail technology solutions, organizations can automate their marketing activities and promote their products through the digital medium. Retail analytics also has a large role to play to provide personalized customer engagement strategies across digital marketing channels. The supply chain will be the important connect meaning that visibility across different digital channels is a must. But with effectively planned solutions, accurate and on-time refilling of stock will happen. Rapid delivery Contactless delivery Even when the customers have ordered they would still be anxious about receiving parcels from delivery persons for the risk it imposes. The need for a contactless delivery program has become a rather urgent scenario for the retail industry. The global e-commerce sales were predicted to reach $4.2 billion by 2020 but this was before we knew pandemic would happen. But these numbers are an indication of the potential which the retailers should take advantage of. This is where the role of online sales comes in. API makes it convenient to interlock existing businesses with dynamic task-oriented platforms. Software designed will encompass transport management including data such as order number, customer data, and delivery address. With future-ready technology solutions available, users will be able to understand the tasks left to do and what needs to be done. Mobile applications also will allow retailers to track driver locations. They can watch the driver’s location in real-time to ensure that the right package is delivered on time. It is hence important that retailers invest in reliable logistics partners, automate their supply chains, and think innovatively. Self-service technology Shoppers can easily scan the items they wish to purchase and pack them too. The self-serve technologies are in the form of a mobile application that can be downloaded onto the personal device of the customer. Customers can avoid any kind of contact by shopping what they need, put the items in their bag, and pay with the online wallets. Point of Sale If a customer stands in line waiting to pay the bill, there is a great chance that he or she leaves the line and decides to forgo the purchase. But PoS technology can lead to better waiting line management and therefore will go a long way in reducing resentment. With the help of handheld computers, scanners, and printers with integrated card readers, the point of sale can become fully mobile-application-oriented. Mobile POS terminals can be used throughout the store for contactless payment and faster settling of bills. It may seem like a forced scenario but when retail organizations will embrace such retail technologies, only then will they be able to tackle competition in its finest forms. It is better to consult retail technology solutions providers to unlock the potential and give a major boost to its sales. Challenges don’t come knocking doors, they come when you least expected. Who would have known that a day before the lockdown was declared across different nations, you would be working on a remote basis due to the pandemic? But now that the unlocking process has begun all over and pandemic or not, business continuity has become the key driving force that is leading businesses.
It is true that companies have become quite vigilant and alert and have been quick to adapt to the changes. But these are all short term measures and changes based on what is thrown their way. But what we need to understand is that these responses won’t be enough in the long run or even the medium term. It is true that the changes made to the organizational culture and value build have to reflect even post-pandemic. A response system that is swift to the transitions in business will stay relevant even after the pandemic. The point is, do you have a strategy in place to counter the future, if not we recommend you to embrace the concept of outsourcing as the whole sole savior to take you along the journey of business continuity. How must your business be prepared? Remote working has become the new life-saving working strategy. In many companies, the workforce had access to systems and tools from the office itself, while others believed that this might not last long and have asked them to work with their own set of tools. The journey is no less than chaotic because initially, it was coming to terms with what has happened, and now that working patterns have been settled in the remote working, what would happen when work resumes. Some of the things you need to be prepared with are:
Benefits of outsourcing post-pandemic Robust digital infrastructure A robust digital infrastructure is the best result that comes out of all this. When you hire the services of a custom software development company you will not just have platforms and tools to counter business pressures, but also have tailor-made applications built to reinforce the internal processes and ensure you keep up with customer demands. Formation of a new strategy When you avail of the services of a software development company, it is not a mere collaboration on a single thing, it is also gaining access to a great talent pool who has a great affinity with trending technologies. Having such an agile team by your side would mean that you can get great insights about the digital world which will help you deal with the world after the pandemic. Every sector we can think of has already accelerated the pace of technology implementation, it is high time you do too. Remote working the ‘new cool’ concept of working Now that your workforce has been working remotely, organizations must think about adopting this policy wherever required. There are many organizations that have decided to work remotely while others still are not comfortable with the idea. Outsourcing is a good way to go because when you hire outside help, you tend to unburden many tasks that are important yet not your core tasks. You can scale up and down based on your requirements and cut down on costs. A disposable cash flow When you outsource you also convert a fixed cost into a variable one which is fixed salary versus Pay-what-you-need service. This will free up your cash flow for investment in other parts of the business. The cash flow can be funneled into running marketing campaigns or improving your product reach. This kind of cash flow especially is useful in the early stages of new projects. Any organization that is not saddled by cumbersome fixed costs will always be flexible and adaptive to new ideas or market conditions. The core business process will be back as your key job With outsourcing comes this very important benefit especially when in the post-pandemic you have to give a lot of time trying to build the core basics of your business. It is then better to spend more time and resources trying to do things you are good at and that which will be fruitful for you. But there are many tasks to be done which might not justify your skills and doing them means dedicating time to them. There are a lot of opportunity costs involved here but routine tasks are necessary too. Hence to get your focus back on the core of your business, you can easily outsource other works to save time and resources. Conclusion The article draws attention to something most businesses might not even have thought about. Outsourcing has become a popular concept and businesses need to make decisions now and quickly. Your digital transformation will form the first step to your ladder of success. We are here to assist you to form the strategy, provide solutions catering to your organization, and finally making you future-ready. Web applications have evolved and how!
Every company is now placing immense importance on getting their web application built. Since web applications call quite a lot of resources, businesses do everything to ensure that the one they make for starters talks about what their company is all about. We see an increasing number of people who have switched to the internet and compared to 2016, 1 billion users have been added to the circle of active internet users. People have started embracing technology which is why customized web applications are much demanded in the market. Web application development companies enable the transformation of a set of processes that are innovative but the company that wants the web application to be made, sometimes loses its way. But web application companies help you identify these problems and come up with solutions then and there so that future problems will be eliminated. Reasons why web applications fail and solutions Companies want to load their web application with features Every company desirous of building a web application might get carried away. While they may have a different set of scope and requirements, but on their way to building the application, they may get carried away. This way they might want to infuse the web application with several features and load it with a lot of jingle-jangle which is not even required. When a company loses sight of what their users need and packs it with features then, they are losing the battle right from the beginning. Smaller companies cannot afford to get into the unresearched idea of a web application and stick to what the users need the most. The only solution to this is to first go with MVP. As a much-celebrated MVP company, we always advise our clients to first go with an MVP and then introduce additions to the features. So, first, develop an MVP, test it on the audience, and strengthen it based on the reaction. Choose to add extra features little by little instead of stuffing it on the users who might get irked away from it. Putting design first Web application designing forms a major part of it all, but it is not the only one. To not find the right balance between design and functionality means cooking a sure shot recipe for disaster and this is why web apps fail. Designing without a sound purpose and functionality and the vice versa can harm the future prospects of your application. Imagine a situation when the customer’s eye meets a beautiful web application but is not able to find what they want. This can take the customer away to a rival site. Hence we believe the best way to go about it is to wireframe the functionalities. It is strongly advisable that the developer and the designer sit together to discuss how they can balance between aesthetics and functionality. Picking the wrong web application development company Picking out a web application development company for cheaper solutions is not something a successful company should do. Before choosing a web application company ensure you take a look at its portfolio and client reviews on noted platforms. Often we see that going for nondescript web application companies results in the project getting derailed. They do not follow the benchmark software methodology and update the clients on the progress. It is when later the clients see the end-product they recommend changes. These changes are then infused and then tested again. This exercise is futile because ideally these changes should have been made at the beginning. Choose those web application development companies which have a good track record and those which follow benchmark software development methodology. Don't compromise cost with quality. The rigidity to not change So a few years ago you had invested in a web application solution for your company. But now novel technologies have taken over yet you remain stuck with the same old web application. Technology is anything but stable, and to neglect the new benefits it brings to customers, is to assume that customers will stick with you no matter what. This is a falsified approach that needs to be put in check. Immediately hire a custom software development company and discuss how new technologies can be integrated to enhance communication with the customers and keep up with their latest demands. Poor scalability Wrong budgeting might lead you to compromise certain important features like application scalability. If you forgo this and decide to act on it later, then it is a huge mistake you are about to make. What if your application has met with unprecedented user visits but your application does not support it? This is perhaps the worst customer experience you can ever give - not be available when the users needed you! Our recommendation is to consider scalability as a must-include feature irrespective of what your user acceptance tests have outlaid. Our recommendation is to build application architectures that can scale reliably and rapidly. Thanks to cloud computing solutions, many design patterns for applications are available for horizontal scaling to meet demands. Conclusion Our recommendations stand strong amidst our ideas to solve them when they come. Do not wait for the problem to get bigger. Contact an established web application development company to build solutions that would stand the test of time. The pandemic has posed newer challenges in the retail sector. The sector for the past 2-3 years has already been undergoing massive restructuring because an increasing number of companies are going on the digitalization path. But with many countries already under lockdown and some stern regulatory measures, conducting retail businesses with ancient software will no longer give you the strategic advantage over your competition. The need for Legacy software modernization Business dynamics are changing every day making it difficult to get your software capabilities to keep up with the change. But it is often your software systems that can make or break your ability to adapt, grow, and most importantly remain competitive. As customer behavior and enterprise norms have changed, business applications do not remain constant. Retailers now have to fulfill orders in a multichannel, multitouch E-commerce environment. All of these changes point out only in one direction which is legacy system modernization. Gartner has predicted that every dollar invested in innovating in the year 2020 will require organizations to spend at least 3 times that to continuously modernize the legacy application portfolio. In order to ensure that the value you spend on legacy software modernization brings the maximum benefit, then you have to carefully consider which is the right approach for you. Let us see what these approaches are: Complete transformation - If you are a retail organization that is looking at a complete transformation then the rebuild and replace model is best suited. The decision to choose this model comes with a thorough analysis of what has worked and what has not in the legacy system. Gradual replacement - As the name implies, the goal is not to replace everything at once but gradually. The legacy system can be replaced component by component as the need arises. If your E-commerce site needs a facelift with new functionality for better user experience, then do so at the priority because that is what will drive your retail business. It should be prioritized based on what matters first to the customer. Quick Fix - Quick fix also means that the retail organization has to make an assessment of the legacy system first, but the goal is to undertake patchwork with new code, processes, or applications. The biggest begins with an assessment of the biggest problems identified during the initial assessment and prioritized accordingly. According to research, the modernized legacy software also successfully reduces the overall cost of business operations by more than 13%. Businesses with modern legacy systems could also enhance their annual revenue by at least 14% which is truly substantial. Despite such encouraging penetrations, there are many retail organizations who are still stuck in the legacy systems. Over time, such systems throw errors, bugs, and critical issues in the way of successful organizations. In such times, when retail organizations are accelerating their pace to bring in technological transformations, the success of your retail business could take a back seat if you do not evolve. Retail industry in dire need of legacy software modernization Retail businesses are highly competitive because of the tremendous dynamicity of the industry. We are talking about not just the pandemic which is triggering change at a faster rate but also factors such as globalization, competition, and innovation. CBinsights has reported that 40 bankruptcies had been declared in retail from 2015 till March 2018. The biggest challenge by far has been the reducing traditional physical retail scenario because of the shift to digital commerce. During and after the pandemic fewer people will shop in traditional ways. Those retail businesses that do not understand the change will find it difficult to compete. It is high time retailers modernize their software to optimize their operations and offer end-to-end customer experiences at faster speeds to increase customer retention.
Innovation as a strategy - Meaning of innovation varies from person to person, but some things are stable like great leadership, risk-taking culture, a tech-driven workforce which always strides to map innovation to business value. Innovation also has to be meaningful and should be made if it solves any problems. Retailers who are progressive are already rethinking and rekindling their business systems and shifting their overall mindset by making the right moves. More responsiveness More and more burden is now being placed on digital systems to support critical customer needs. This puts excessive pressure on present digital systems and since you have not upgraded them, it puts undue pressure on them leading to poor customer response, longer customer buying cycles. But replacing this with modernized systems will make the processes more flexible. It will make your retail business more agile and the response system to customer queries only keeps getting better. Enhanced security One of the topmost reasons to consider modernizing legacy systems. Outdated systems make them highly vulnerable to malware attacks and data breaches. On top of that, if there is no support from the vendors then the matters become worse. You can’t seem to rely on systems that seemed secure 5 years ago. Modernization of legacy systems provides better security and protection to critical business operations like inventory management and customer support. Better inventory Consumers buy your products from channels that appeal to them the most. They can go to the store and buy the products which are mostly unlikely in the pandemic, or buy from online-pick-up-in-store, and mobile platforms. If your business is diversified enough to have your products being purchased and distributed through multiple channels, you’re already doing great. However, when these channels are managed in silos things can get complicated. If your online inventory stocks don’t communicate with your brick-and-mortar inventory stock, then fulfilling orders can get tricky. Adding forecasting to strengthen business decisions With software, upgradations come newer tools that lead to better forecasting with real-time information on stores, inventories, and a lot more. Insights can be derived from customer purchase behavior and product patterns can be used to determine the buying habits and current popularity of products. The next step Organizations should first focus on business capabilities, then their goals, and then the strokes of what modernization will do on both ends. If you are rebuilding only parts of the entire system, then layout a roadmap of how you plan to take apart the IT stack bit by bit. But whatever you decide, it will be best if you link up with a collaborative partner, a custom software development company that has already helped businesses to modernize their software. |
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November 2021
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