Custom healthcare Software Development: A Comprehensive Guide!

The advent of healthcare software solutions has been a boon to the healthcare sector! Such intelligent automated software has successfully addressed several operational lapses by medical bodies – erratic decision-making, mixing up of lab test results, medical equipment failures, inadequate employee training, miscommunication, non-adherence to standard safety practices, etc. And, needless to say, modern customers demand accuracy and competence from their healthcare service provider.

The Covid19 pandemic has accelerated the transition to digital technology; as patients, these days avoid visiting medical spaces unless it is absolutely necessary. Today, practices like online doctor consultation, sharing of digital patient records, etc. are becoming the new norm. As such, medical facilities, as well as clinicians, are under tremendous pressure to adopt healthcare IT solutions for digitalizing their functioning and delivering patient-centric services.

Healthcare providers planning to smarten their facility can choose from these two options.

• Pick commercial off-the-shelf medical software solution that suits their requirement
• Hire healthcare app development services to architect a custom-made medical software solution that would cater to the specific needs of their organization.

While off-the-shelf solutions may seem to be a hassle-free option to implement, it comes with endless limitations, and hence, customized solutions are in many ways more productive and beneficial in the long run.

This post throws light on every aspect of custom healthcare software development – Benefits, development expenses, and advice on implementation. A quick read will be beneficial for medical providers looking for game-changing software solutions.

Trending Healthcare Software

• Personal health records software – EHR and EMR – enable patients to manage their current treatment. These are digital files that maintain records of crucial healthcare data like the medical history of procedures and specific conditions, medications, immunizations, allergies, etc. Such personal information is safely consolidated at a single place and can be easily and promptly accessed using any device.
• Telemedicine Software solutions allow patients to avail of online doctor consultation via advanced communication channels like calls, chats, video conferencing, etc. using gadgets like computers/laptops, smartphones, or tablets. This approach helps in treating minor ailments, conducting preliminary diagnoses, renewing prescriptions, and conducting certain therapies, particularly those related to speech.
• IoT (Internet of Things) and IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) facilitate the usage of wearable technology including ECG and EKG monitors, measurement of medical parameters like body temperature, blood pressure/glucose levels, heart rate, etc. This sector is categorized into sub-domains – remote patient monitoring, medication management, connected imaging, fall detection, etc.
• The integration of AI and ML in medical app solutions helps in reducing medication dosage errors, detecting frauds, conducting robot-assisted surgeries, executing preliminary diagnoses, and many more.
• The 3D-Bioprinting technology is capable of printing human organs using special bioprinters and smart cyber-implants that can connect human brains with computer systems. These technologies are the next big thing in the medical sector.

What is meant by Custom Software Development?

The process wherein professional healthcare app developers are hired to design, build, deploy, and maintain bespoke software meant for meeting the requirements of a specific group of end-users, functions, or establishments; is called custom software development. Unlike COTS (commercial off-the-shelf Software), custom software is molded to fulfill a narrowly defined set of prerequisites and personalized based on the hospital’s area of implementation. COTS, a more generalized solution, aims at fulfilling a wider range of requirements and is usually commercially marketed, packaged, and distributed.

Benefits of Custom-made Healthcare IT Solutions over COTS

Advantages: Custom Healthcare Software Development

A Better Fit

Medical bodies differ greatly regarding their business objectives, arenas of operation, approaches, processes, patient care/operational methodologies, and tools/technologies used. Nevertheless, custom solutions are tailored as per the specifications and clients’ requirements concerning the design, functions, interoperability, scalability, integration, etc.  As such, these products cater to the diverse requirements of different organizations and also make room for digital automation. Also, tailor-made products adapt easily to the existing medical processes and equipment, without the need for special adjustments. This saves quite a lot of time and effort for the client as well as the custom healthcare software development company.

Off-the-shelf software, contrarily, is a product with a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Hence, a great deal of time has to be devoted to weeding out the unnecessary features, familiarizing the hospital staff with its functionalities, making it interoperable with the existing set-up, and figuring out how to optimize its generic features for satisfying the basic needs of the medical facility.

Improved Medical Standards

Custom software has been crafted considering the particular purpose and specific outcome expected out of it. So, there exists an additional layer of smooth performance that makes such solutions immensely efficient and user-friendly. Furthermore, Bespoke software digitalizes the existing hospital setup by employing automation, avant-garde technologies, and highly advanced systems. This way, even trivial processes like data storage, management of patients’ appointments, etc. can be revamped, thereby elevating healthcare standards. These result in advanced diagnoses/treatment, effective management of operations, and reduced time.

Higher ROI

Apparently, the development and implementation of custom software solutions may seem costlier and this ideology holds true for short-term goals. But, for organizations with long-term objectives, the custom approach will fetch a higher ROI. Additionally, using customized products, medical bodies need not bother about licensing hassles that are associated with the adoption of commercial end-products.

Enhanced security

Commercial software solutions, being generic in nature, are the soft target of hackers, whereas software solutions designed for a particular organization/brand are far less likely to be targeted by hackers as there is an additional layer of security.

Besides, tailor-made solutions strictly adhere to the regulations and compliances defined by industry standards for ensuring the security and confidentiality of personal healthcare data.

Other Advantages

• A scalable solution can contribute to the long-term sustainability of Medical Bodies.
• A custom software solution provides a competitive edge and enables businesses to stand out amongst competitors.

Downsides: Custom Healthcare Software Development

• The process of defining specific business requirements and figuring out the right approach to healthcare application development based on these needs is a time-consuming process.
• It involves a greater amount of initial investment.
• Choosing an incompetent custom healthcare software development company will result in a wastage of time, effort, and money.

Why is it beneficial to Outsource Custom Healthcare Software Development?

It’s beneficial as well as profitable to outsource custom healthcare software development rather than engage your in-house team for executing this task. Let’s have a look at the reasons.

Access to a Global Talent Pool and Exclusive Skillsets

Outsourcing will allow you to choose from a huge pool of talented and experienced professionals around the globe, as per your project needs. Offshoring will provide you with those specialists who are essential for healthcare app development concerning specific domains and a wider range of skillsets that may not be present within your in-house team.

Cost-effectiveness

Outsourcing healthcare app development projects to an experienced IT agency will enable you to cut down on expenses. This is because you need not spend on the establishment of the necessary development infrastructure, recruitment of workforce, training those recruits, deployment, and pre-installation set-up. The software service providers who already have the required infrastructure, as well as advanced technologies will be in accordance with your budget.

Time to Focus on Core Business Operations

Offshore developers are qualified, proficient, and experienced enough to architect your application without the need for additional briefings and training sessions from your end. As such, you can focus your attention on creating crucial hospital resources and improving the core medical services for better productivity, instead of wasting time and effort in refreshing/developing the skillsets of your in-house employees.

Enhanced Flexibility and Scalability

Medical service providers find it challenging to alter the technology for improving the project scope or scale their entire team whenever the need arises. However, outsourcing development tasks solves this issue by adding more flexibility – you can collaborate with those professionals who fulfill your criteria and select as per your scaling requirements.

Cost of Adopting Bespoke Medical Software

Hiring adept healthcare mobile app development services comes with a price and budget-friendly options often result in compromising on the quality. The developer charges vary as per the country/location; yet, outsourcing can save you approximately 40-70% of the overall expenses incurred in developing and installing tailor-made software.  The average hourly developer charges range between 65$ and 130$ in the U.S.A, and between 20$ and 45$ in Asia and Africa. The favorite outsourcing location for healthcare providers in the Asian countries as this region offers talented professionals at affordable rates.

Hiring Remote Developers for Crafting Custom Apps: Factors to watch out for

Consider the following aspects before finalizing a remote software development team.

• Check the background of the IT firm - their track record, the software end-products delivered in the past, and their client reviews.
• Reject cheap quotes and pick an efficient team as the rewriting of codes will cost you more.
• The workflow of the hired team should go with your administration style.
• Hold a discussion before the project commences for ensuring that you can access all the codes throughout the development cycle as well as post-launch.
• Make sure that effective collaboration tools are used so that you can stay connected and updated with the development team continually.
• Be involved with the development team to track project developments and progress regularly.

Final words:

Custom software development enables one to build versatile, appealing, and highly performant healthcare software that can benefit your medical facility by improving portability, accessibility, scalability, and productivity. All you need to do is hire proficient medical software service providers who are well versed with the latest technologies, regulatory compliances, security needs, interoperability, etc. Biz4Solutions, a distinguished healthcare software development firm, with over 10 years of experience, would be a perfect pick in this regard.

To know more about our core technologies, refer to links below:

Swift App Development

ROR App Development

Sencha Ext JS App Development

An Ideal Inventory Management System: Top Advantages and Noteworthy Features!

Just imagine!

A businessman is trying to run his business without knowing how much the stock in the inventory is, or the workers do not know the where-about of the product when there is a sale or an urgent requirement from any client. Or even worse, the products are being stolen by someone and there isn’t any record of it. What do you think will be the results in the long term? Losing the customers to a competitor? Ruining the relationship with clients? Incurring huge monetary losses? Or maybe all of these! Well, all these inherent issues can be resolved by businesses if they embrace an inventory management system.

The significance of such a system is monumental as it helps the businesses to track the inventory levels, track sales, orders, and distributions smartly thereby reducing the business losses. IoT is one of the key technologies being used widely in such systems - IoT in scanning the inventory using RFID, IoT in Transportation and Logistics, etc. So, in this blog, to get a fair idea, we have outlined the advantages and key features of a technology-smart inventory management system.

Why the Need for an Inventory Management System?

• High transparency and visibility of product levels
• Preventing stock-outs and overstocks
• Minimization of capital investment
• Enhancement in business operations and workflows
• Accurate inventory tracking
• Getting rid of paper-based and spreadsheet tracking
• Appropriate planning of inventory balance
• Better warehouse management and utilization of warehouse space
• Time-saving due to automatic inventory and order management
• Cost-cutting by reducing manual labor intervention
• Increased efficiency of payment/billing details
• Improved relationships with vendors and clients
• Improved employee efficiency
• Enhanced inventory turnover and thus, better revenues

Top-notch Features of a Smart Inventory Management System!

Check out the essential features of an ideal inventory management software.

1. Real-time Visibility of Inventory: A smart inventory management system must ensure that all the items in the inventory are under real-time visibility. Every item entering or leaving the warehouse must be tracked and this data should be stored digitally.
2. Monitoring levels of Inventory: An effective system must allow proper management of orders, raise alarms when inventory drops below a threshold limit or exceeds it. This feature allows decision-makers to take necessary actions like ordering fresh inventory, avoiding excessive stocking, etc.
3. Barcode Scanning: A barcode is a machine-readable code used for stock management and control. Barcode scanning is a must-have feature for easy identification of products, labeling, and sorting into categories.
4. RFID-based Tracking: RFID-based inventory tracking and control allows real-time and automated tracking of the inventory. Hundreds of tags can be read simultaneously making the process much faster and cost-effective. RFID technology is also capable of sending alarms and alerts in case of emergencies.
5. Advanced Reporting: An inventory management system should provide accurate insights on factors like stock management, sales, purchase, suppliers, customers, payments, etc. Reports of transactions, inventory totals, order details, etc. are mandatory for ensuring efficient workflows, and for augmenting efficacy. This feature helps to monitor the progress in sales and understand which product is in high demand and which isn’t.
6. Tracking Transaction History: This is an essential feature. All the inventory-related details right from the receipt to shipment of the inventory must be tracked and stored. Details like the number of products, receipt dates, expiration dates, shipping dates, etc. must be saved and should be easily accessible by the concerned personnel whenever required.
7. Management of Multiple Warehouses: A single system should allow the management of multiple warehouses that may be located at different locations. This feature is especially relevant to companies that operate across multiple locations.
8. Grouping of Inventory: Grouping the material according to its specification, size, components, etc. into predefined categories is another important feature. It enhances the inventory organization.
9. Easily Configurable: A good inventory system should be able to be configurable with different business entities easily and be successfully employed without much customization.
10. Easy Integrations with External Systems: The system should be able to integrate with third-party ERP systems or a Warehouse Management System or Shipping companies with ease. A company may also want to integrate other systems for data analytics, corporate accounting, planning, etc. in the inventory management system which should be easily possible.
11. Forecasting Demand: This feature allows extracting the past data to identify the demand in the future; which in turn helps to make pro-active business decisions, build good relationships with customers, and boosts sales.
12. Security Features and Backups: It isn’t a good idea to invest in an inventory system without knowing about its security measures. To ensure high data security, there should be security features that allow only authorized people or give partial rights to access the data. This would prevent the system from any data misuse or data leakages. Also, there should be daily backups available. So, in case you lose the data to a third-party hack, or any other threat, you will be able to start the operations again without much trouble.
13. Receiving alerts: This inventory management software feature allows the alerts and notifications about the receiving, picking, shipping, of the inventory, or when inventory is running low or there is overstocking of inventory.
14. PDF Printing: The inventory management system must be able to create or print PDF documents related to invoices, packing slips, shipping labels, quality control documents, etc., and such related documents.
15. Import/Export of Data: This is another advantageous feature of this system. It should be able to import data with ease to reduce data entry work and streamline mass changes. The System should be able to export data like shipment lists, inventory item lists, master data of vendors, customers, etc.

Final Words:

When a business relies on traditional ways of inventory management, there are chances that data could be inconsistent or inaccurate. These ways are prone to human errors which could cause huge monetary losses at times and adversely affect business growth. Also, there could be security issues in them. A smart inventory management system embedded with the above features has ample advantages over traditional systems. It has impacted several businesses across the globe.

Would you like to develop such a system for streamlining your business? Contact Biz4Solutions, a prominent offshore software development company in India and U.S.A., for crafting a smart inventory management system customized as per your needs.

I hope this blog was helpful. Please feel free to comment below to let us know your thoughts on this.

For any queries, mail us at sales.enquiry@biz4solutions.com

To know more about our core technologies, refer to links below:

WordPress Web Development Company

Flutter App Development Company

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Noteworthy On-demand Service apps of 2021!

Modern individuals are busier than ever and hence prefer on-demand services for accomplishing their daily activities and tasks. Furthermore, they expect a super-fast response to their service requests and doorstep delivery of products/services. For this reason, on-demand service apps are garnering traction amongst the masses since the last decade. The on-demand platforms offer a wide range of services starting from utility to entertainment, via mobile apps, and most importantly, the users can avail of those services without having to step out from the comfort of their homes or offices. Moreover, such apps can be downloaded for free or in exchange for a minimal price. So, what else can a tech-savvy new-era individual ask for?

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur and planning to tailor a user-centric on-demand app, take a look at some of the success stories of the on-demand business model. A quick read will provide you with an idea about how this approach functions.

On-demand Service Apps: In a Nutshell

The on-demand service model instantly connects consumers with a huge pool of service providers. Such platforms are usually built as a mobile/web application and their operations are managed via the admin dashboard which enables app owners to keep a watch on every ongoing/completed transaction. Click here to gain further insights about on-demand apps and some innovative on-demand app ideas.

Noteworthy on-demand Service Apps: 2021

Category: Healthcare

Doctor-on-demand: Healthcare Services

This US-based telemedicine firm enables patients to schedule appointments with the practitioners of their choice and avail of online doctor consultation facilities from any place, at any time. Users can arrange for scheduled doctor visits with licensed medical service providers across the US. Health systems, health plans, and retail clinics are also covered under this platform.  These services maintain high clinical standards while elevating the convenience quotient of patients and saving their time as well as money.

My Medicash App

This user-friendly on-demand service app has garnered immense attention in the medical industry currently. The users can quickly make an insurance claim request with a few taps on their smartphones. Users can get connected with a qualified specialist and can discuss about insurance claims and the other health plans in a quick conversation. This app isn’t entirely budget-friendly as it charges users for every visit but offers a good value for money for sure owing to its prompt and high-end services.

Category: Self Care

Soothe: Massage Services

Soothe is a California-based multi-national massage service provider. With this on-demand massage app, booking an appointment with a massage therapist is just a finger click away! Soothe connects users with top-notch, certified, and licensed personal care service providers and masseuses. These professionals get their own massage kit including oil, table, linen, music system, etc. The therapists provide services like stress relief, couple massage, etc. at the users’ desired location – home, hotel, or office. Also, it offers different types of massages that users can choose from.

Glamsquad: Beauty Services

This New York-based app was established by Victoria Elsner in 2014. This happens to be one of the most noteworthy beauty services providing platforms and operates through various cities in the U.S.A. This modern-era omnichannel beauty brand offers services like make-up, hairstyling, nail beautifying services, and many more. Users can search and book beauty services as per their preferences and once the booking is done, professionals visit the users’ site for providing their services.

The platform has handpicked trustworthy and proficient beauty practitioners for offering consistent and quality-driven services to consumers. Intelligent, data-driven technology is employed for matching the professionals to the clients based on the customer requirements. This way, Glamsquad delivers an enriching and personalized in-house experience to customers.

Category: Home Services

Handy

This on-demand handyman service company connects users with cleaners, movers, handymen, and furniture makers. This app is extremely helpful for the ones looking for assistance concerning household chores like packing/moving, cleaning, assembling/installing furniture, etc.

The users need to book an appointment with a handyman and provide the personnel with cleaning tools and equipment. The app allows the user to make calls to the same personnel for executing similar tasks.

TaskRabbit

This on-demand service app provides household services like house cleaning, repair, and maintenance of stuff, etc. to registered users. Users can hire services from nearby locations and once the desired task is completed, they can tally with the to-do list provided within the app itself. The quality of the services provided is top-class and secure. And, amongst several payment options, the option of cashless transactions is also included.

Category: Cleaning Services

Rinse: Laundry Services

This app offers laundry services – Users are required to schedule their laundry pick-up – mention a time and date. The laundry professionals clean the clothing as per the kind of services chosen by the user and deliver back the laundry to the users’ desired location within the given time. Rinse provides the facility of “smart scheduling” to simplify things for consumers and add to their convenience. Besides, customized cleaning preferences are taken care of. The platform ensures that the cleaning standards are above average and offers several convenient payment options including cashless transactions.

Wype: Car Washing Services

This Los Angeles-based on-demand car cleaning service offers eco-friendly solutions. It offers on-the-go cleaning services for customers and enables users to book such services at affordable rates.

Category: Pet Care Services

Rover:

This is a popular app offering daycare services for pets and provides house-sitting pet care services as well. Rover helps users to relieve stress by minimizing action items concerning different pet care activities like dog walking, drop-in visits, doggy daycare, pet boarding, etc. Pet owners can register on this platform for finding/booking sitters. Rover is known for more efficiency and speedier processing of requests as compared to other similar apps. Other notable offerings include faster responses through push notifications, round-the-clock customer support facilities, and secured and hassle-free payment options.

Wag

This app helps dog owners in finding dog sitters. The app connects registered users with dog lovers who would like to take care of dogs for a particular timespan and engage in fun activities like sitting, playing, walking, etc. Wag offers GPS tracking so that the owners can track all the outdoor activities with their pets.

Other Notable Categories

Fiverr: Digital Freelance Services Marketplace

This platform is an online marketplace offering digital on-demand freelance services. With Fiverr, entrepreneurs get instant access to a huge pool of talented remote freelancers. And, whether one needs a host of services, long-term services, or just an expert service for one specific business task; Fiverr happens to be the one-stop solution.

Fiverr is equally beneficial for service-providing professionals. Here, the users can invest in their creativity and innovativeness for generating income and can also utilize this platform for adding to their experience. It is an ideal platform for showcasing one’s skills/talents concerning writing, editing, translation, technology, photography, etc.

The major offerings include the facilities of streamlined search, discovering new talents, and formation of inter-global partnerships; round-the-clock communication between the sellers and buyers, and the availability of push notifications.

Drizly: Alcohol Delivery

If you would like to get your favorite wine, beer, or liquor delivered to your footstep, Drizly is the app for you! It offers a wide selection of drinks and whether it’s a large-scale delivery or just a few bottles of drink you can avail of the services. Individuals using this app enjoy the option of selecting from their preferred store after comparing the prices. Moreover, users placing instant orders can choose from pre-arranged sets of booze paired with a host of other party dishes like pizza, based on different occasions. Furthermore, the order is delivered within one hour from the time of booking. Drizly is available for both iOS and Android users and has acquired over 500,000 installs.

This app was launched in the year 2012 and currently operates across 100+ cities in Canada and U.S.A.

Blacklane: Chauffeur Services

This app is the brainchild of Berlin-based start-ups Frank Steuer and Jens Wohltorf and offers chauffeur services to its users. Users are connected to professional chauffeurs and can book as per their preference. Thereafter, the concerned chauffeur picks the user from their location and drops them at the desired location. The riders can even give instructions to the driver on how to reach the destination. This app came into being in 2011, and today, its services can be availed by 300+cities, 60+countries, as well as 600+ airports across the globe.

Bloom That: Gift Services

This on-demand service app allows users to send surprise gifts or flowers to someone for expressing love, gratitude, congratulating, or wishing success, etc. The app offers an easy-going and intuitive interface to add to the convenience of users. Users can pick from a wide variety of seasonal gift items, choose the date, time, and shipping address while ordering gifts. Once ordered the progress of delivery can be tracked through the app. 

Bloom That comes with certain distinct offerings. It enables seamless merging with the calendar of the users’ smartphones, records and sends reminders to users on special occasions, and provides exclusive benefits and offers for app users.

Bottom line:

Today, most individuals resort to on-demand home services apps for making their lives easier. Therefore, this is a golden opportunity for business owners to make the most of this demand by tailoring a user-centric utility app. The success of the aforesaid apps speaks volumes of the potential of such on-demand apps.

So, it’s high time to rope in an experienced and adept On Demand app development company, for architecting your dream app. If you have a phenomenal on-demand app idea, reach out to Biz4Solutions, a prominent On Demand app development company, with 10+ years of experience in serving global clients. Our team of skilled professionals will transform your dream into a fully functional and highly performant app.

We have a track record of crafting some noteworthy on-demand apps like Beach Caddy, Exut, Phlex65, etc.

To know more about our core technologies, refer to links below:

• Java App Development
• Nod.js App Development
• Swift App Developments

The Pivotal Role of HIPAA Compliance in ensuring Data Security in Medical Apps!

The modern era of digitalization has brought about transformative changes in the healthcare sector. Global spending on healthcare services is on the rise, a bright future awaits this industry for sure! Healthcare service providers are hiring Healthcare App Development Companies and freelance Healthcare App Developers and leveraging advanced technologies to deliver premium-quality services to their patients. Advanced healthcare mobility solutions are helping the users to actively track their basic health statistics like tracking their heart rate, checking their blood glucose/ BMI level, availing online doctor consultation services via the app, appointment booking, etc. Moreover, both patients and practitioners can access electronic Health Records/electronic medical records whenever required.

But, despite the convenience quotient of using digital healthcare services via an app, data security happens to be one of the greatest concerns of the healthcare industry. These medical apps are susceptible to data breaches, hacking, cyber-attacks, etc. which can pose a risk to the sensitive medical data of patients, causing massive losses to medical facilities. Therefore, healthcare organizations should be more vigilant of their software and cyber-security practices. For avoiding theft, misuse, and fraud of the patients’ data, healthcare applications that have patient’s sensitive data have to be HIPAA compliant and strictly adhere to the HIPAA rules and regulations in the US

What is HIPAA?

HIPAA refers to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and is issued by federal regulators. This Act mandates a set of safety and privacy standards to protect the confidentiality and availability of medical records and sensitive patient information. Initially, the purpose of introducing this act was to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the medical organizations in the U.S. With time, several rules were added to the Act to protect the individually identifiable health information commonly known as Protected Health Information (PHI). These rules influence the functioning and security protocol of healthcare mobile applications.

The entities covered under the HIPAA Act are health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and healthcare providers that use electronic media for transmitting data such as health claims, coordination of benefits, referral authorizations, etc. These entities may comprise small/large organizations, institutions, research centers, individual practitioners, and even government agencies.

How HIPAA Compliance plays a major role in protecting data privacy in Healthcare Apps?

Adhering to HIPAA for data privacy is federally mandated for healthcare facilities and other Healthcare IT service providers such as healthcare mobile app development services and mHealth development services. So, let’s understand why HIPAA compliance plays a major role in protecting data privacy in Healthcare Applications.

Data Privacy

The importance of capturing data has risen over the years to improve the overall healthcare operations, using advanced technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), RFID technology Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Chatbots, etc. The personal information of patients, their contact details, and medical reports are recorded and saved digitally by several hospital bodies. As such, maintaining data privacy is important to ensure that only the relevant information is shared with the right set of people and at the proper time. This strategy helps providers to build trust amongst the patients.

HIPAA compliant apps abide by strict rules to ensure data security and privacy. These apps are hosted on HIPAA-compliant servers to ensure that all the HIPAA standards are fulfilled correctly. They have to display a link in the privacy policy of the mobile app, while the users download the app. The apps take consent from the patients/users before storing their information. Furthermore, the users are informed about how their data will be used.

Security of the healthcare data

Data breaches can lead to disastrous consequences for patients, hospitals as well as healthcare facilities. Fraudulent insurance claims, extortion, or identity thefts are likely, and once this data is hacked/lost, it can be devastating for both patients and medical providers. So, it is essential to secure patient data stored in electronic medical record systems, data concerning the hospital workforce, or other back-office data.

A HIPAA compliant mobile app solution ensures the safety and privacy of healthcare data. The medical app users can access the data only through a secure login procedure. Additionally, two-factor authentications are applied for more security and all data presented in the app can be only accessed using a secure PHI key. Besides, in case the mobile device is lost or stolen, personal user information cannot be accessed easily owing to the advanced security standards and encryption. Data stored on database servers are also encrypted to prevent easy access to healthcare data.

Secure transmission of data

In many large Healthcare Organizations with multiple branches, the medical data needs to be shared with several doctors or concerned authorities. If such hospitals use a mobile app for data transmission, it must be as per HIPAA rules and regulations. Moreover, hospital bodies should audit data from time to time for ensuring that the user data in the app isn’t accessed inappropriately or modified abruptly. Furthermore, in the case of remote monitoring of patients using wearable technology, like IoT or AI; only the required data will be transferred to ensure the security of data. For this reason, the communication networks of the apps possess integrity control mechanisms.

A HIPAA compliant software solution ensures that the amount of sensitive data stored in them has access limitations when the device is carried outside the hospital premises. Additionally, when users delete these apps, any related health data is deleted completely from their device. Remember that HIPAA laws apply only to the apps using PHI i.e. protected health information. Therefore, the data transferred from an app that does not deal with personally identifiable information need not be protected under HIPAA guidelines.

Notification of healthcare records breaches

Today, there is a high possibility of sensitive Healthcare data getting fraudulently accessed by hackers. However, if the Healthcare app is HIPAA compliant, it needs to notify affected individuals about the breach of data without unreasonable delay and this notification should not be sent later than 60 days. This policy is mandatory for all apps that are adhering to HIPAA Compliance to abide by data breach notification laws. As per these laws, eligible data breaches are obliged to alert the users or relevant parties.

Some of the data breaches may not cause serious repercussions to medical facilities. In case any disclosure of information, unauthorized access to it, or loss of personal information is bound to cause serious damage, then such breaches are known as eligible data breaches. They can cause financial losses or even damage the reputation of the medical organization. So, the mobile app they employ should be HIPAA compliant and should send prompt notifications to users.

Key Takeaways:

Today, data is the biggest asset for any industry vertical, and healthcare bodies are no exception to it. Today, most hospitals implement diverse innovative digital technologies to deliver improved services to their patients. However, the medical data handled by apps are vulnerable to security and privacy threats. In order to protect this data, these digital healthcare apps must follow the HIPAA guidelines. As per HIPAA compliance, the covered entities need to administer physical, technical as well as administrative safeguards for PHI in place for ensuring privacy, integrity, confidentiality, and security of healthcare data. Therefore, while hiring a Healthcare app Development Company for tailoring an outstanding app for your medical facility, you must necessarily follow the standard HIPAA regulations.

To know more about our core technologies, refer to links below:

WordPress App Development

Flutter App Development

PHP App Development

All-inclusive Insights on Beacons: Types, Advantages, and Use Cases!

Beacons happen to be an integral component of IoT technology and are transforming the functioning of diverse industrial domains at a fast pace. The concept of Beacon was launched in 2013 by Apple and has progressed a long way since then. Take a look at these amazing stats concerning beacon technology.

A 2020 report by Statista states: “The market value of Beacons technology was 519.6 million USD in 2016 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 59.8% such that the market value will shoot up to 56.6 Billion USD by 2026.”

This post takes you on an insightful journey into the world of Beacons! So, let’s explore comprehensive aspects of the Beacon technology – types of Beacons, benefits of Beacons, IoT applications using beacons, and many more.

What are Beacons?

A Beacon is a small wireless device that continually transmits a radio signal displaying its presence with its unique ID. This signal is captured by nearby smart devices, mostly smartphones that use BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) technology. The smartphone device detects the signal sent by the beacon by reading its identification number (ID) and then calculates how far away the beacon is located. Based on this information, an action is triggered on a mobile app compatible with a beacon.

Beacons utilize proximity technology for detecting human presence within close vicinity and then trigger pre-set actions for delivering contextual, informational, and personalized experiences. As such, beacons are employed in IoT (Internet of Things) networks as well as outdoor/indoor positioning systems.

Types of Beacons

There exists a wide variety of beacons. Beacons vary as per their size, use cases, battery life, and degree of resistance to exogenous factors. Take a look at the different variants of beacons that emerged to accommodate diverse business requirements!

• Standard beacons are devices sized like a Wi-Fi router or even smaller and are used for indoor tracking and proximity solutions.
• Small-sized portable beacons that are as big as a large sticker or a credit card are utilized for proximity solutions and asset tracking.
• USB beacons are portable, small in size, and can be promptly deployed. These are used for asset tracking and proximity solutions.
• Sticker beacons happen to be the smallest beacons available and are used for asset tracking.
• AI-empowered beacon is a machine learning-empowered device capable of detecting various gestures as well as movements.
• Video beacons refer to the devices that are plugged within the back of a screen for delivering digital signage and providing contextual visual information. For instance, the users of a beacon-enabled app receive personalized offers when they appear near the display screen of an eatery.
• Dedicated beacons are devices that are resistant to exogenous factors like water, dust, shattering, and antistatic/UV. These serve as proximity solutions in harsh eco-systems and are employed for indoor tracking.
• Parent beacons are as big as Wi-Fi routers. They are used for tracking other beacons, gathering data, and then storing it in the cloud, etc.

The Basic Components of a Beacon and their Roles

A beacon consists of a battery-powered small ARM computer with a CPU and a Bluetooth Smart connectivity module. And, for running this module, firmware is installed within beacons. Its computing power is limited as the maximum Bluetooth Smart playout is only 257 bytes – inadequate for inserting media content. Therefore, it can be used to encrypt a beacon’s ID and process sensor data. There exists a small antenna within the CPU which is designed for broadcasting electromagnetic waves with a length and frequency of 2.4 GHz radio waves. On account of the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) estimate, this technology is useful for location and mapping services.

The eco-system of the beacon technology consists of an SDK, beacon devices, and back-end management tools. Also, noise-reduction algorithms are present to smoothen the signals and lead to fairer outcomes. 

How does a Beacon function?

A beacon continuously broadcasts an identifier – a unique ID number. Once, a mobile device picks up the identifier and gets connected; the beacon accomplishes the function that it has been programmed to execute. When a user enters the zone where an IoT network containing beacons or a positioning system is established; they receive a code through a text message on their mobile devices. Such a message can be sent only via a mobile app in the form of a push notification.

Beacon IoT apps are installed within smartphone operating systems following any one of the beacon standards – iBeacon standard for Apple smartphone devices: iOS7 and higher versions; and Eddystone standard for Android mobile devices: Android4 onwards. Lastly, the smartphone user must give permission for enabling beacon-based notifications and using a particular positioning system.

Beacons: Use Cases

Smart Shelves

Beacon-infused smart shelves assist retailers to comprehend consumer preferences, identify customer demands, and enable speedy and effortless tracking as well as stock control.

Such shelves are powered with an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Reader) that can be embedded either into the shelf or placed over/below/behind the shelf. This reader is used for scanning the targeted commodities placed on the shelf and then notifying the backend system of those items.

Indoor Tracking

Google maps, the most commonly used tracking and navigation tool possesses certain limitations: It’s incapable of tracking within concrete areas like buildings and fails to provide point-to-point navigation across short distances. All these shortcomings of Google maps are fulfilled by beacon-powered solutions used for indoor tracking in areas such as malls, exhibitions, hospital spaces, resorts, hotels, huge organizations, airports, etc.

Beacons are installed within the building which sends Bluetooth signals to the users’ smartphones such that the positioning data is directly displayed on the mobile screens. Here, the signal strength measurement is used for localization. Moreover, the device can transfer data to platforms where the collected data is intelligently processed. When the position is determined the accuracy of a client-based process is one to three meters and the range is up to three meters. It detects the present floor too.

Implementation in the Educational Sector

This technology facilitates the functioning of educational institutes such as colleges, universities, training institutes, etc. Beacon devices placed in each class can replace traditional notice boards used for broadcasting important information like administrative posts, time-tables, upcoming activities, etc. to the students via push notifications; conducting automatic attendance using timestamps; and many more.

Healthcare Sector Implementation

Coming to the healthcare sector, beacons embedded within mobile devices of the medical facility enable efficient equipment tracking. Moreover, a beacon can load the patients’ medical records/history into the doctor’s iPad immediately after the practitioner enters the patients’ room and remove those records after the doctor leaves the room. Beacons are also immensely useful in helping patients as well as visitors to navigate through large corridors of hospital spaces by providing them location guidance through maps.

Benefits of Beacons

Collection of advanced Customer Data

The positional accuracy of beacons allows retailers to collect reliable information about consumer in-store behavior. This data plays a crucial role in enhancing your in-store layout and product listings, improving your customer experience, designing effective marketing campaigns, and thereby accelerating in-store conversions.

Enhanced Offline-visibility concerning Google Ads

Business brands that connect their beacon signals to the Google Ads account gain handy insights about the offline activity of the searchers and track their in-store visits. Tracking the interaction points of the visitors who have clicked your digital ad campaigns provides one an idea of the effectiveness of your campaign and helps you to identify the areas of improvement so that they can tailor their marketing strategy accordingly. This is how beacon-empowered online marketing strategies are directly linked to offline attribution.

Advantages for Consumers

Beacons allow consumers a personalized interaction during their shopping experience thereby improving the UX to a great extent. Targeted/customized ads from their preferable brands provide customers the flexibility to choose wisely while offline as well as online purchasing and hence, helps in building familiarity, trust, and security.

Final Verdict

Tech giants like Google and Apple are promoting the Beacon technology in full swing and the outcome is obvious – businesses across various domains are leveraging its promising potential. Would you also like to reap the benefits of this amazing technology? Well, reach out to Biz4Solutions, a prominent offshore software development services in India and U.S.A, for our customized software solutions using this beacon technology.

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Various Business Models of Mobile Event Apps and their Distinct Offerings!

Mobile event apps are becoming universally acclaimed as the most viable solution for the successful planning and execution of events. Here are the top reasons for its popularity.

• A single enterprise branded event app solution serves the foundation for all events conducted by the brand without the need for separate apps for various events.
• It improves the quality of meetings, strengthens communication, and engages the audience effectively.
• Once the attendees download the app, they can utilize its social media tools and integrated networking for interaction as well as relationship building before, during, or after the event.
• Branded mobile apps enable extending the lifespan of a specific event through content sharing and networking all year round.
• Corporate mobile apps keep attendees updated with real-time targeted resources and information.
• Branded event apps open up sponsorship opportunities and new revenue streams.
• Events apps allow organizers to comprehend the reactions of participants during an event and the attendee expectation from future events.

Today, there exists a wide variety of event planning app types, and each type suits a specific niche of event planning and management like trade shows, conferences, corporate gatherings/meetings, entertainment/university events, and many more. Hence, organizers must choose the right kind of event app that complements their event requirements.

This post provides comprehensive insights into event apps. A thorough reading will help you to decide which type of event app solution is best suited for your purpose.

What is a Mobile Event App?

A mobile event app refers to a software solution installed on a mobile device like a smartphone, smartwatch, or tablet. This software is employed to build a customized mobile event app for planning and conducting a physical event and serves without the need for complex coding. With the template-based application programs, event organizers can select the design and functionalities as per their choice and customize the content based on their requirements. Event apps belonging to the mobile category offer a no-code WYSIWYG/drag-and-drop interface that allows the development of event-specific applications without coding.

Such an app is a necessary tool for all the stakeholders like exhibitors, attendees, speakers, sponsors, team members, and sales representatives. A branded event app contains all the prerequisites needed by attendees like attendee information, exhibitor information, maps, schedules, speaker bios, etc.

The Must-have Offerings of a Perfect Event App

 Essential Features:

• General info and information/maps of the venue/facility
• Event registration
• Contact details and attendee list
• Sessions, speakers, and an interactive floor plan
• Exhibitor Catalog, surveys, and slide sharing
• Newsfeed and Social Media Integration

Features: Communication and Customization

• Personal agenda, messaging/inbox, and push notifications
• Profile creation and check-in options and QR code scanner
• Favorites, people around me, my notes, and activity feed

Features: Interaction and Engagement

• Session rating, live polls, and voting
• User accounts and roles
• The option of asking a question
• Matchmaking, sharing of photos, and gamification
• Event analytics and tracking
• Event marketing

Features: Monetization Strategies

• Premium content and sponsored push notifications
• Premium listings and banner ads
• Capturing and generation of leads

Key Categories of Event Apps: Additional Features

Now, take a look at the additional features that need to be included for each of these events categories!

Apps for Corporate Meetings

These apps should be personalized based on the requirements of the company. For instance, apps for small-scale meetings should possess easy-going features with many screens that include functionalities like registration forms, schedule, address of the venue, location-related maps, etc. For large-scale meetings, additional features like subscription forms for gathering contacts or feedback form/chatbots for collecting opinions regarding a specific report are recommended.

Apps for Conference/Business Gatherings

Such apps cater to business events/occasions such as workshops, conferences, profile meetups, etc. The timeline for these events is usually a couple of hours or even a few consecutive days. Besides the key functionalities such as location maps and schedules, such apps need add-ons like a request for a particular report, the disposition of auditorium locations for helping the visitors to navigate, and so on.

Apps for Festivals, Exhibitions, Sports Championships, and Local Events

Apps belonging to this category needs features like booking a table, buying a ticket, etc. For Sports Championship apps you may add a calendar displaying match schedule and other crucial information, stats on different teams/clubs, broadcast of matches in real-time, and the option to view past matches that are present in the records.

Coming to local events, like bar/restaurant/mall performances, a party, etc. the geo-location feature is a must-have apart from the aforesaid functionalities.

Prominent Event Apps: Comparison

Let’s compare the offering of some prominent event apps!

Eventmobi

Eventmobi offers an end-to-end platform for event management that includes all necessities required for building engaging event experiences for online as well as in-person events.

Offerings:

• A storehouse of virtual event information including all-inclusive general info and even FAQs to provide effortless access to attendees
• Support and training for the staff conducting an event – paid onsite support or complementary remote services.
• A sample event for would-be event planners/organizers so that they can peruse/experience the platform on the Eventmobi website before investing in it.

Teem

This app is specifically designed for handling space management, reducing the friction in packed venues, and facilitating networking. It is a perfect pick for events like association or education-based events and conferences. The app enables attendees to speedily and effortlessly find out spaces within the venue where they are supposed to attend the meeting/conference.

Offerings:

• A way-locator within a campus or a building to allow visitors to locate the spot quickly
• The facility of space management and scheduling through the app so that participants can easily locate and book a meeting room for networking purposes.
• The usage of space analytics displaying the spaces that have already been occupied and methods for optimizing this process.

SpotMe

This app leverages cloud technology to provide personalized experiences to each user. It caters to the needs of healthcare/pharmaceutical firms that organize activities pertaining to training, experience-sharing, etc.; business enterprises offering training/development programs via refresher training courses, seminars, etc.; and companies involved in trading operations.

Offerings:

• Content in the form of an easily downloadable format and an animated UI/UX
• Announced notifications, dynamic maps, and full-fledged event analysis
• Support for multiple languages and WCAG 2.0

Eventbase

Eventbase is a smart app that caters to luxury brands and facilitates organizing various kinds of events comfortably and effortlessly. This app is designed for diverse types of events - occasions concerning a company’s internal/external activities such as partner meetings, important conferences, or small-scale events, varying trading events, festivals, premieres, sports events, entertainment events and many more.

Offerings:

• A smart recommendation system activated via AI-powered technology that provides a unique and fulfilling experience to participants.
• An award-winning UI/UX that is highly customizable
• 3D-category maps and gamification options like Activity Stream
• Round-the-clock access through chatbots enables organizers to keep in touch with the attendees throughout the event

Doubledutch

This app assists in conducting a firm’s internal activities such as generic meetings, corporate parties, promotion courses, etc.; external activities like enhancing brand image and strengthening partnerships through conferences, partnership meetups, professional exhibitions, etc.; or public gatherings like local conferences/exhibitions, academic events, educational training sessions, etc.

Offerings:

• An advanced CMS system that enables organizers to manage mobile app content effortlessly
• An intuitive UI that elevates the user experience to the next level
• An iBeacon from Apple that utilizes location data to deliver highly personalized information to users

Concluding Lines:

Events apps are amazing solutions for content absorption, networking, and audience engagement as they are specifically designed for handling every aspect of event planning and execution. These apps not only improve the management efficiency of event organizers but also elevate the convenience quotient of attendees.

If you are on the lookout for a proficient event app development company, contact Biz4Solutions, a leading software firm providing Event App Development Services in India and U.S.A. for 10+years.

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Incredible Healthcare App Development Ideas to consider in 2021!

The Healthcare app industry is ever-evolving owing to a sky-high demand for unique apps that elevate the convenience quotient of users and the competitive healthcare app development market that keeps coming up with fresh novel ideas each year. Therefore, healthcare providers need to think about some workable, futuristic, and highly efficient healthcare app ideas to make their solutions popular amongst consumers.

Here are some highly sought-after healthcare app development ideas that will be apt for 2021! Check them out!

Handy Healthcare App Development Ideas

IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) Applications

IoMT is a host of medical devices, tools, and applications that employ networking technologies including IoT (Internet of Things) for establishing a link with medical IT systems using online computer networks. As such, medical professionals can connect and monitor healthcare devices through the Internet. Sensors are used for gathering patient vitals which are then sent to the IoT apps via the internet. Thereafter, this information flows to the medical experts/staff and a response is sent back to those patients. Such apps link patients to their doctors by transferring healthcare data via a secured network and as such play a crucial role in reducing the pressure on the healthcare system as well as the number of hospital visits for patients.

Use Cases of IoMT Apps

• Remote patient monitoring of patients suffering from chronic/long-term medical conditions
• Tracking of the location of the patients admitted in medical facilities, medication orders,
• Tracking the wearable mHealth devices used by patients and send the collected information to the concerned caregivers.
• Infusion pumps connecting to analytics dashboards
• Hospital beds equipped with sensors for measuring the vital signs of patients

AR-powered Healthcare Apps

Thermal Imaging App

These AR-infused apps contain a medical thermal imaging camera that produces a thermal image indicating the varying amounts of heat energy that a human body emits. Whenever an anomaly is noticed like a rise in the standard temperature, the app alerts the operators, thermographers, or doctors. Moreover, this thermal imaging camera is employed for monitoring a specific portion of the human body usually for detecting diseases, injury, blood circulation disorders, or high temperatures that cause inflammation. Besides, healthcare facilities, thermal imaging apps can be also put to use in public transit hubs, airports, public roadways, retail stores, offices, etc.

Medical Diagnoses App

An AR-powered medical diagnoses app allows patients to convey their symptoms more precisely to their practitioners or the concerned healthcare professionals. Such an application can also be connected to an AR-enabled handheld scanner for assisting nurses in locating the veins of a patient effortlessly.

AI-powered Healthcare Apps

Medical Training App

Such an app eliminates the need to use an actual human body while training healthcare professionals on performing surgeries.

Drug Manufacturing/Discovery App

The manufacturing of pharmaceutical drugs has always been an expensive as well as a time-intensive process. However, the usage of AI-based algorithms has made it possible to execute years-long processes in just a couple of months. Shorter development cycles and a lesser need for the compounds to be used for lab-testing have helped the pharmaceutical firms to resolve the two major challenges they have been facing since long – time-consuming manufacturing and huge expenses involved.

In the near future, AI-infused applications are expected to play a crucial role in medicine discovery as well. This is because the employment of Artificial Intelligence eases out, speeds up, and enhances the processes of pattern recognition, target selection/validation, compound screening /lead optimization, pre-clinical studies, clinical trials, etc. Such healthcare app ideas promise a bright prospect for app owners.

Personal Training App

This app category is quite popular amongst the masses as such apps enable users to access the benefits of gyms as well as personal trainers using their mobile handsets. Employing AI, an app can design fitness and workout sessions without the need for human intervention or interaction. After being digested/passed via several algorithms and paired with anonymized data gathered from individuals across the globe, AI is capable of optimizing regimens concerning nutrition, exercise, fitness, etc. for users as per their personal goals. In fact, personal fitness routines have become more precise with the passage of time owing to ML/AI algorithms.

Wellness Apps

Diet planning Apps

Such apps organize eating regimes as per the wellness objectives and the current bodily requirements of users. Consumers have to just choose their diet type – vegan or non-vegan – and mention their preferences to the app for receiving the diet arrangement. Some of these apps even provide a suggestion as to which nutritionists the user should consult.

Emotional Wellness/Mental Health App

The stress-prone and fast lifestyle of modern-day individuals drive the need for an app that addresses issues pertaining to emotional well-being. Emotional wellness apps prove highly beneficial in fighting depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health woes.

Such an app can even provide the facility of mental health tracking for lonely individuals, elderly people, etc. Usually, chatbots are employed for playing the role of mindfulness coaches, anxiety helpers, mood trackers, and mood-boosting buddies. Some apps use music therapy for uplifting emotional well-being.

Self-testing Apps

Such an application enables users to keep a watch on their body vitals without the help of any external medical consultant/agency. Consumers can conduct certain medical tests at home leveraging the power of robust sensors contained within smartphones. This allows users to regularly monitor their health and act based on the results generated. Such an arrangement not only saves time and expenses but also saves the effort to visit a lab or medical facility for conducting tests. Body vitals like blood sugar, blood pressure, heart/pulse rate, etc. can be monitored through such applications.

Weight Management Apps

Weight management apps come with outstanding features like wearable devices connectivity, calorie/water intake tracker, BMI calculator, customized diet plan from dieticians, workout guidance, interaction with fitness experts through video conferencing, etc.

Addiction Recovery Apps

These apps offer practical help to individuals struggling to get rid of cigarette/alcohol/drug addiction. The users can sign up using nicknames instead of their real names to protect their privacy. The users are provided with a host of meaningful material such as inspirational videos for ditching abusive products, content containing information regarding the health issues caused by various psychotropic and psychoactive drugs, nicotine, alcohol, etc., and information indicating their long-term impact on the health/social life of the addict. The users can also directly connect with experts like psychologists, medical professionals, etc.

Medicine Prices Comparison App

Modern customers are often baffled and perturbed by the fact that the prices of medicines greatly differ based on the pharmacy. So, there are apps that assist customers to compare the prices offered by various pharmacies/sites before making a purchase and enable them to hit the best deal. The real-time drug prices from different providers are consolidated at one single platform to guide the customers for making the correct decision and saving money.

Besides, such a platform can be converted into an eCommerce portal that sells and delivers medication at affordable rates.

Final Words:

Aren’t these incredible ideas for healthcare mobile app development? Well, if you are on the lookout for well-experienced and highly proficient healthcare app developers for crafting an amazing medical app with distinct and attractive functionalities, contact Biz4Solutions, a prominent healthcare app development company.

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Trello vs Jira: Which Agile Project Management Tool to Pick?

Project Management is a herculean task regardless of whether one is working with a small or a huge team and project managers are likely to encounter pitfalls and roadblocks regarding aspects like communication, decision making, task delegation, etc. The scenario becomes more complex if managers need to oversee remote teams working from offshore locations with different time zones. And, today, it has become a trend to hire offshore teams for executing software development projects as this model cuts down the overall project cost.

However, the aforesaid project management woes can be effectively addressed by following an agile project development methodology. This approach improves visibility, automates workflow, and eases out task distribution. For implementing the agile approach one needs to employ robust project management software tools/solutions that support agile functions. And, amongst the host of agile team management solutions available, Trello and Jira are the most popular names. Both these tools have their unique strengths as well as their share of drawbacks and are suitable for specific purposes.

This post provides handy insights on Trello and Jira and also compares their pros and cons. A quick read will help you decide on which of these agile project management tools is most suitable based on your team management requirements.

Jira and Trello: In a Nutshell

Jira:

This agile project management tool was incepted by the Australian firm Atlassian, in the year 2002. It supports a wide range of project management tasks like tracking issues and bugs, general task creation, agile developmental tasks, etc., and is used as a base by several applications. Jira comes in three different flavors – Jira Core, Jira Service Desk, and Jira Software - and caters to the needs of customers from diverse domains.

Trello:

This agile project management tool was launched in the year 2011, by a subsidiary of Atlassian. This is a powerful, lightweight, and Kanban web-based tool that is used for visualizing data and task flows. It is known for simplifying collaboration within projects. It comes with a board and card system that enables one to separate projects from boards and differentiate each task with cards. Moreover, it offers a user-friendly interface that facilitates tracking down individual assignments and identifying progress.

Trello and Jira: Similarities

The following functionalities are offered by both Trello and Jira:

• Can manage flexible teams – Scrum and Kanban
• Provide interfaces that can track the team’s progress for a particular project.
• Offer Android and iOS apps and possess the capacity to integrate with other services
• Enable smooth and convenient communication amongst the team members
• Provide free options for teams that are small-sized and have minimal extensions

Trello and Jira: Differences

Now, let’s take a look at the differences between these two team management tools based on the following parameters.

Ease of Usage

Trello employs Kanban-style dashboards. This eases out the process of visualizing the relationship between the various tasks included within a project.

Jira is meant for professional project managers who have to deal with several complexities concerning an app development project. Such complexities usually arise in projects that have incorporated an agile project management approach and hence, encounter many interdependencies between the components of the applications which requires extensive tracking.

Task Management

Trello employs a hierarchy of Boards, Cards, and Lists to manage tasks. These elements can be designed and organized as per your need - add due dates, assign cards to users, attach files, etc. A Trello board resembles a Kanban board. It is divided into columns reflecting various stages in your workflow and contains cards in which crucial information about tasks is stored. As such, this information is readily available to the whole team, thereby making the workflow more transparent and thereby accelerating the team’s productivity. However, Trello lacks pre-built workflows.

Jira’s task management approach is a bit different. It is capable of creating new-fangled workflows that facilitate software development, and also enables building customized workflows. With the workflows created by Jira, one can build a team, analyse, develop and release software, and understand how to customize workflows as well as implement these in other agile scenarios. The management functionalities of Jira provide abundant flexibility while establishing a process and allow building a board for your team. It also enables creating tasks in the form of issues wherein all necessary information can be added and thereafter assigned to specific users by switching the data between columns which mark the stages of the workflow.

Integrations

An ideal project management tool should facilitate smooth data exchange between the platform and various other systems used by your team like helpdesk software, code repository, time tracker, etc.

Trello supports a host of native apps as well as integration libraries. Some of them are FogBugz, Drive, Slack, GitHub, Salesforce, Google Drive, and Zendesk.

Jira outshines Trello by providing a huge library containing innumerable native integrations for various types of actions like time tracking, test management, reporting, cloud storage, CRM, and code analysis. Some of the integrations include Salesforce, Slack, Gantt, Marker.io, Evernote, Bitbucket, OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. Additionally, customers are offered a free developer API for setting up manual integrations.

Pricing Policy

The pricing policy of Trello:

• Free Plan: It offers up to 10MB storage per file and 10 boards
• Basic Plan: It offers the core project management features, up to 250 MB of storage per file, and an unlimited number of boards
• Premium Plan: This plan costs 10$ / month for each user, offers several additional board views including timeline, map, calendar, etc., and provides access to unlimited automation that saves time.
• Enterprise-level Plan: This enterprise plan costs 17.50$ per month, provides more control over the software, and allows branding on boards, adding custom fields, and grants permissions for attachments.

The pricing policy of Jira:

• Free tier: It offers only 2GB of storage
• Standard Plan (7$ / month): It offers 250 GB of storage and access to 10,000 users
• Premium Tier (14$ / month): Unlimited storage and access to 10,000 users
• Bespoke Tier (customizable pricing policy): Cost is decided based on the number of modules used and the number of users who require access to the app.

Data Storage: On-premises/Cloud Hosting

As far as data storage is concerned, businesses these days either go for cloud hosting or prefer storing data within the private network of their organization.

Trello is available as a cloud-hosted service. Therefore, it works best for enterprises that do not wish to bear the hassles and invest a great deal of time in maintaining an on-premises system.

Contrarily, Jira users can choose between two options – a cloud-hosted version or an on-premises solution. The monthly cost for both versions is the same. However, the enterprises that opt for on-premises hosting have to incur additional expenses: one-time establishment cost that can go up to 4,500$.

Collaboration within Teams

Using Trello, you can invite unlimited users for sharing a board, and more importantly, all users gain similar visibility concerning the tasks and status of the project. Users are offered various means for communicating – commenting directly on cards, sharing attachments, using emojis, mentioning the names of teammates, etc. Furthermore, the users can be assigned to specific cards, and a notification will be sent to them via SMS, email, or push notifications, depending on their preference.

Jira users enjoy a wide range of collaboration features within boards and issues like instant messaging, file sharing, task assignments for team members, custom notifications, etc. Jira provides more agile features as compared to Trello and so, turn out to be immensely useful for the project managers who prefer organizing their work in sprints. Jira supports Kanban, Scrum as well as mixed methodologies and was specifically designed for serving the agile software development approach.

Trello or Jira: Which tool befits your Team Management Model?

Size of your team

It’s important to consider the size of your team and the possibility of future expansion.

If your organization is huge consisting of various departments, Jira would be your ideal selection. There’s no point in choosing Jira if your team is small and is going to use only a fraction of the features offered.

Trello, on the contrary, works better for organizing tasks for smaller-sized teams. However, if your team is small but is likely to expand in the near future, it may outgrow the capabilities of Trello quite soon.

Project Requirements

Opt for Trello if you require an easy-going solution that can be effortlessly and speedily adopted by your team. Besides, Trello offers more flexibility; but it may be unnecessary if your project involves software development only. However, despite an easy learning curve, it offers limited functionalities.

If your project involves an agile methodology, Jira would be your ideal pick. Despite a difficult learning curve, Jira provides more functionalities. However, since Jira is a typically designed agile project management tool, managing other types of projects using it, will be difficult.

The Complexity of the Project

Opt for Trello to execute simple projects involving small teams that do not need reporting and automation as Trello offers a simple interface and service flexibility that enables one to quickly build a transparent workflow.

Jira is an ideal choice for technically complex projects – multiple-role projects that require reporting and automation. However, configuring Jira and comprehending the workflow is not that easy and time-consuming as well.

Key takeaway

Now, you must be well versed with the distinct capabilities of both Trello and Jira and would be able to comprehend which project management software tool suits your team management model. Remember to identify your objective, define your short-term and long-term goals, and then go ahead to select a team management software tool.

In case of any technical assistance regarding project development/management, reach out to Biz4Solutions, a prominent offshore software development company in India. Our exemplary services are worth a try!

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