Small Business Software Blog
Delivering More With Digital Product Development
A digital product is online software that delivers a product or service via a web browser or smartphone app. Sol Minion Development’s Digital Product Development service offers our clients the ability to generate new revenue streams with these products. While the revenue models for digital products vary, the most common model is the subscription-based plan. Your company may be sitting on this opportunity right now with its existing products and software.
Connecting Services
When an existing software solution needs to integrate with another application, we call that a ‘Connected Service.’ The goal is to pull in the power of existing processes to create more efficient business operations. While this might be part of your existing business logic, it is most often an add-on to enhance your processes through outside platforms. For example, an eCommerce system might tie into a supplier’s inventory management software to make order fulfillment faster and keep inventory costs down, thereby benefiting both sides of the equation.
Customized Business Logic
Take the unique and complex way your business operates, and simplify that with custom software. Now make that solution available to your entire workforce and even vendors, suppliers and customers. That is Customized Business Logic, a technical term we use to describe how we develop software to help your business run more efficiently and your employees get more done.
When and Why to Build a Client Portal for your Application
A client portal provides your customers secure access to information about their account or service. The aim is to streamline interactions with your customers, from support to sales. A great example of a client portal is the insurance industry, where their clients can access ID cards, claim information, and order or change coverage. Imagine what a good client portal could do for your business. A well designed client portal will help your business create operational efficiency, a better customer experience, and even grow your revenue.
Why It's Important to Update Software Regularly
At Sol Minion Development, we offer Customer Support and Software Maintenance plans as part of our services. Businesses need to view software maintenance in the same way they view maintaining their vehicles and machinery. Lack of a good maintenance plan for software can lead to reduced efficiency, down time, and even security breaches. Keeping software updated will save money and lot of headaches, in the short term and long term.
How NOT to Hire the WRONG Developer
Choosing the right software developer for your project can be a daunting, stressful process. This decision will likely have financial and operational impacts on your business for five to ten years to come. In previous posts we’ve covered choosing the right partner and reviewed when to fire a developer when things go awry. Now, we’ll review some of the early signs that the developer you’re evaluating might not be the right choice for your project. Too many times, we’ve seen clients make the wrong decision, only to end up spending more time and money cleaning up a mess.
Application Management: Staying Up to Date
From our previous blogs, you now know how involved the entire process is in developing custom software for your business, from gathering information to hiring the right developer. But what happens after the application goes live? There is always maintenance to be done, and a good software maintenance plan is key to ongoing success, not to mention keeping all of the components updated, secure, and running smoothly.
When Was Your Last Technology Strategy Session?
An information technology audit evaluates a business' technical infrastructure and operations in order to identify technologies that are aging and need to be upgraded or replaced. As technology ages, it can start to create unnecessary costs, security vulnerabilities, and prevent continued progress and efficiencies within the business. That is why we recommend periodic technology audits for our clients. These audits can be done internally by a qualified employee our outsourced to an IT auditor.
What is GDPR?
You’ve probably been hearing a lot about GDPR -- or have been flooded by privacy policy update emails -- and you might wonder what it means for your business and website. GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) was also a common topic at the recent Cybersecurity Summit. So, what is GDPR? The European Union (EU) started data protection with its first law in 1995, the Data Protection Directive. GDPR replaces that law in what the EU sees as their being at the forefront of privacy and data protection. The GDPR became enforceable on May 28th, 2018.
Software Development Planning: What to Consider
In our recent blog, Web Design versus Web Development: Information Design, we touched on things you need to consider when developing a new application for your business. In this article, we expand on that. If you’re thinking to yourself, “I’m still not sure exactly what solution I need,” we’ll help you focus in on the answer by looking at types of users and the desired outcomes. We’ll look at internal versus external users, and we’ll dive into outcomes such as marketing, revenue, and operations.
Why is Cybersecurity Important?
We recently attended the Arizona Technology Council’s 2018 Cybersecurity Summit in Scottsdale. As usual, this summit was packed with great information and exciting presenters and panels. We had two key takeaways from this. First, there will always be threats, so you need to be prepared. Second, you need to have a plan for when (when, not if) you get attacked.
Understand What Your Business Needs
The primary goal of creating and investing in a custom software application for your business is to improve your business -- profitability, efficiency, customer experience, revenues, etc. You know that much. Now, you need to identify what your business really needs so that you can develop the right custom software solution for your users.