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How PropTech Changed the Real Estate Industry?

Let’s start with the most obvious question – What is PropTech?

The name PropTech is an amalgamation of the words “property” and “technology”, and is also commonly referred to as real estate technology. The term encompasses mobile apps, websites, proptech software, and other digital products whose aim is to facilitate and modernize how people manage, buy, sell, or rent real estate. What started out as a niche corner of the tech world, has transformed into a multi-billion dollar industry – and it’s just getting started! So let’s talk a bit about proptech development – how it started, what’s the current situation, and where it’s going?

The rise of the PropTech Industry

The first PropTech companies popped up during the late 90’s and early 2000’s “dot-com boom” – although those companies were few in number and not many continued to exist for long. The real estate business was slower in adopting process digitalization, which is evidenced by the lack of funding in the industry. Instead, we saw FinTech (Financial technology) companies explode in this era. In the 2010’s however, all of that changed.

The development and advancements of new technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning have driven the growth of all digital industries, including PropTech. Indeed, PropTech developments have echoed those of the bigger FinTech and ConTech (Construction Technology – home building) industries. In fact, PropTech in large parts also overlaps with these industries, so its rapid expansion really should come as no surprise! 

Today, PropTech funding is at an all-time high, despite the hit real estate took during the COVID crisis. The pandemic spurred the growth of other PropTech startup ideas such as: smart space planning solutions, touchless asset control, occupancy level monitoring solutions, etc. There is no dearth of ideas waiting to propel PropTech development further than ever before! The increasing customer demand for innovative tech solutions and services in the real estate industry will be the driving force in the PropTech market in the coming years.

PropTech Categories

It may seem to you at this point that the PropTech concept is very vague and maybe you’re not sure exactly what type of companies would fall under the category. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular PropTech types and specific businesses that fall within those categories.

Property Management PropTech

Property management software is used by landlords and real estate professionals to track and handle operations surrounding residential building management. This involves managing activities like:

  • Tenant and lease tracking: helps manage the leasing process which includes tenant screening, move-in and move-out management, as well as rent and utility payment collections.
  • Managing finances and accounting: for collecting rent, cost management, operation streamlining, generating financial reports, etc. 
  • Building maintenance: to issue and track work orders and assign tasks to maintenance workers.
  • Tenant portal: to allow tenants to communicate amongst each other or with staff, to submit maintenance requests, to pay rents and fees, etc. 

Elevated Living is one such property management company in the Chicago area. Elevated Living offers digital property management solutions for luxury residential buildings and building complexes. They create branded digital platforms where each building/apartment complex is able to have its own application and own logo. The software includes functionalities such as:

  • Property manager role for managing building service and events, resident notifications, payment management, etc. 
  • Listing of restaurants and services in the surrounding area, as well as options to order service in-app.
  • “Front desk” feature – the property manager and lobby employees can check guest permissions based on pre-approval from residents.
  • Package management – lobby employees collect, scan parcels for residents, and send arrival notifications to them via the app.

Rentals and Sale PropTech

This category encompasses digital tools that enable the search and discovery of properties for rent or for sale. This is one of the oldest and most common types of PropTech technology. Some of the services that rental and sale Proptech offers are: 

  • Facilitate communication between tenants and property owners or rental managers
  • Pull together available listings of residential or commercial real estates and filter according to search requirements
  • Provide a market overview

Zillow is one of the most famous PropTech platforms ever, as well as one of the first in the industry. Founded in 2004 in the United States, Zillow has a market cap of 14.63 billion dollars and millions of users on a monthly basis. It is an ever-expanding Proptech platform used for searching or offering properties for rent and/or for sale. Some of the functionalities Zillow offers are:

  • safe and efficient communication between renters/buyers and listing agents 
  • advanced visualization tools such as 3D map view, online video and VR touring, and neighborhood mapping functionalities
  • full feature property details
  • estimated market value for individual properties – termed a “Zestimate

Property Valuation & Predictive Analytics  

Real estate valuation is a multi-step process aimed at determining the fair market value of a property. The standard way until now has involved in-person contact, manual data entries and checks, which in the end is a very long and inefficient way of going about it. This is where real estate appraising software comes in – allowing brokers to work remotely and increase the efficiency and productivity of the valuation process! By using AI and cloud technology this software can analyze various databases and help homeowners appraise their own properties without the need to hire an appraiser.

Reanomy is a very interesting company in this category whose goal is to provide PropTech Big Data and Machine Learning-based insights for Commercial Real Estate agencies, brokers, and other professionals. The software uses Big Data Network and Artificial Intelligence algorithms to analyze millions of real estate deals to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information to real estate professionals. Some of the solutions provided by Reanomy are:

  • Ownership and tenant data
  • Property details with full transaction histories
  • AI and predictive analysis

IOT and Smart Home PropTech

First smartphones, then smart watches, smart medical devices, and now – smart houses. Like other smart devices, smart home appliances and smart homes collect data through various sensors which is then uploaded to the cloud and is analyzed using AI and machine learning. You are probably already using your smartphone to control things like music, lighting, air conditioning, etc. in your home. Technological developments have taken this to the next step. 

New IoT systems are capable of handling routine maintenance tasks, detecting malfunctions and defects, optimizing environmental performance by adjusting operating systems based on actual or predicted use, automated property controls, and much much more. The result is lower energy consumption, a decrease in maintenance costs, a healthier indoor climate, etc. 

SmartHab is a French IoT startup that offers energy management solutions for residential properties. Their PropTech software analyzes data gathered from various sensors to automate different processes like building surveillance and energy utilization management. For example, when a resident leaves their home, the smart system can automatically turn off lights and reduce the temperature in order to save energy. Residents can use the app to monitor their energy consumption and act to reduce their energy costs as well as their carbon footprint. The app can also suggest actions for more efficient energy uses. 

Benefits of PropTech development

Traditional real estate is a headache for everyone involved – it’s expensive, takes a long time to finalize a deal, the payment processes are tedious, and it can be very high risk. Technological innovations have transformed many other industries, so it was just a matter of time when it would be real estate’s turn. PropTech technologies aim to address the seen and unseen problems of traditional real estate and streamline every step of the process, as well as create an overall better consumer experience. Let’s take a look at some of the advantages of PropTech software:

  • Digital platforms make it easier to create a single space for interaction of all parties thus allowing for better communication.
  • Data is available in real time, allowing for faster processing and hence boosting performance and profitability.
  • Potential buyers/tenants can choose from hundreds of different options in a single place providing them higher flexibility and value.
  • Higher transparency through the incorporation of new technologies such as big data or blockchains.
  • Technologies like AR and VR make remote viewing of real estate properties possible, so landlords or prospective buyers/tenants do not need to be on location. 

Are there any challenges?

The benefits of PropTech development are many and we could write a whole article just on that topic. However, the industry is not without its challenges! 

The COVID crisis affected many industries and sadly, real estate was no exception. The pandemic created a huge hurdle for PropTech startups – large numbers of commercial real estate stood completely empty, there was a significant decrease in available homes for sale, many people lost their income and were forced to leave their homes, while the entire time prices continued to rise. There is light at the end of the tunnel however, and we can already see the real estate industry starting to rebound, and along with it PropTech development!

Another even bigger challenge for this industry is and will continue to be legislation. Regulatory and legal challenges will have to be addressed in order to be able to grow PropTech on a global scale. For one, given the amount of data collected and shared by PropTech technology as well as its nature (private/confidential), the industry faces issues around Data Protection and Intellectual property laws. Furthermore, new technologies like IoT and AI will probably prompt the writing of new forms of contracts requiring legal aid to ensure legislative compliance.

PropTech is the future of real estate

While PropTech is still relatively a new trend, you can be sure that its scope will continue to grow. The very basic reason for this is that the problems that PropTech development solves are very real – the demand is simply there!. The continuous developments in digitalization and cloud technology will further fuel the progress of the PropTech industry. Even though the industry will face various challenges like corporate liability, high implementation costs, technology service and performance issues, etc. that could restrain its growth in the short term – PropTech is definitely playing the long game! One thing is sure, the real estate industry will never be the same again. 

We are definitely excited to see where PropTech development will go – are you?

If the answer is YES, and you have an idea for a PropTech platform you would like to develop – contact Redvike now! We have the experience and enthusiasm that you need to create a truly unique and performance-improving product! 

E-learning has become a very popular topic these past couple of years, and it’s not tough to see why. While many industries were ravaged by COVID, the edtech industry prevailed and experienced unprecedented growth and technological advancement. We saw a huge number of different products and ideas in such a short amount of time – it’s exciting to think what the future of elearning might hold! 

Companies, educational institutions, organizations, and even many individuals – all are increasingly choosing to adopt online education. Naturally, with such interest, the industry will keep coming up with new technological developments and concepts. So, let’s take this opportunity to talk about our expectations for this year and what we believe the elearning trends for 2022 will be!

The Metaverse

The term “metaverse” represents an online, virtual reality network focused on social connection. It’s a very broad term in the sense that it doesn’t refer to any one specific kind of technology or use! The concept has had significant traction in the last few months since Facebook revealed their change of name to Meta and since the announcements of their own metaverse project. 

Facebook envisions their metaverse as a newer, more immersive internet where people will use virtual and augmented reality devices to interact or engage in new online experiences and spaces. To give a specific example, Meta’s new virtual reality social platform Horizon Worlds is a virtual space which users can access through a VR set. Individuals are represented with their avatars through which they communicate with other users, attend events, play games, etc. 

But how does all this translate to elearning? 

The classroom is a space like any other and can also be translated into the virtual world! Metaverse in education opens up a world of possibilities for learning and development. By creating an online space in which educators and learners can interact in real time, we can replicate the feeling of interactive learning while also incorporating a more immersive study approach!

By using virtual and augmented reality as well as other immersive technologies, students can learn faster, retain more information, and have a more hands-on learning experience. For example, school children can study biology through simulations of the human body, or history by virtually visiting places like Ancient Egypt or digitized museums. In fact, some schools such as The Optima Classical Academy (a charter school in Florida in the US) or the Metaverse School are already offering a metaverse educational experience. 

Metaverse in the business sector

The use cases for the metaverse aren’t limited to educational integration – businesses can also use the metaverse to train employees by immersing them in realistic simulations. Thus, employees would be able to practice new skills and technical procedures in an entirely risk-free environment! 

This kind of training is getting more and more attractive for employers, given the current global pandemic which has seen a large number of the workforce shifting to home office. Additionally, the amount of people choosing to work online is growing exponentially, thus opening up the global talent pool for businesses. A metaverse training environment is ideal for recruits who could be halfway across the world! 

Microlearning

Remember sitting for hours with your nose buried inside your textbook, but not actually remembering much of it later on? How is anyone supposed to retain so much information in one sitting?! Besides, neither school children nor adults can effectively focus their attention for so long and for so hard on one single thing! This is where the concept of microlearning comes in – bite-sized content intended to facilitate knowledge consumption and retention. 

Educational facilities who understand this will start implementing microlearning practices in their teaching. For 2022 we foresee shorter learning videos, mini tutoring sessions, and more frequent check-ins. After all, quality over quantity, right? 

Corporate microlearning is the next big thing!

There is an even bigger argument for implementing microlearning in the corporate environment. Employees generally have a pretty busy workday and don’t have too much time to dedicate to in-depth professional development. In fact, gaining new skills on top of working full-time can be incredibly stressful! On the other hand, foregoing additional training is a non-option for many if they want to get ahead in their career.

By using microlearning, employees only need to take a few minutes of time out of their workday and go through small, focused, and individually-tailored assignments. What’s great about it is that the learning material can be accessed on any device and at any time that suits the employee best! Furthermore, microlearning has shown to maximize productivity and improve performance, making it a win-win for both the employer and the employee! 

The final case we have to make is that – creating microlearning content and publishing it is just so easy! It’s cost-effective and its performance can be easily tracked, making adjustments much easier to execute! That’s why we have no doubts that microlearning will be a big part of the elearning trends for 2022.

Learning analytics

Everything today is about big data and analytics – and edtech is no exception. The more information we have, the better the insights which drive the changes. Data analytics and data visualization techniques are already being used in every field conceivable with the aim of more efficient and higher quality decision-making. In that way, the edtech trends too go where the data analysis takes them! And where is that?

Administrators can track data such as:

  • Course completion rates and course popularity
  • Learner progress, strengths, and weaknesses
  • Surveys and other feedback forms
  • Learner engagement 

Subsequently, companies or schools can then use this kind of information to create customized learning paths for individual students and trainees! Personalized learning has proven to be one of the greatest benefits of edtech, and we have already seen how data analysis has been a big driver behind it. In 2022 we will see an even larger dependence on big data analytics in the edtech sector!

Artificial Intelligence

We’ve already talked about how Artificial Intelligence is already impacting the edtech sector, as well as the benefits and challenges associated with it. As mentioned, we have barely scratched the surface of what is possible versus what is currently the state of the art of AI in education. But this just means that research will keep going into edtech AI development, and we are absolutely going to be seeing new tech as well as increased implementation of AI in elearning in 2022!

The biggest advantage AI can offer is – again – personalized education. In combination with data analysis, AI and machine learning tools can analyze information about learners strengths, weaknesses, proficiency, and interests. Subsequently, AI can design courses specifically tailored to learners’ needs and levels, making learning more fun and effective. We are also seeing more and more sophisticated AI tutors, which in addition to answering questions, can also direct learners to resources or suggest content based on the individual’s progress!

Yet another use for AI is in creating intelligent assistants and voice-enabled bots to simplify content search or receive suggestions about learning events, online courses, or webinars. This application is relatively simple to implement and use, and will be increasingly used by corporations and educational institutions in 2022.

Gamification

Games are addictive, as we all very well know. Years ago, edtech researchers found a way to combine this fun activity with learning – and thus gamification was born! Since then, the concept has grown into a phenomenon! Game-based learning is massively popular – according to reports, the gamification industry will exceed 32 billion US dollars by 2025

Gamification in the context of learning simply means making educational activities more like games in order to make studying more interesting and captivating. Users can engage in friendly competitions with classmates or coworkers, and can even earn points, badges, and rewards! This edtech trend has been proven to make it easier for learners to acquire and practice new skills and knowledge and hence improve training outcomes, increase motivation, and help with knowledge retention.

Based on the upward trajectory gamification has taken since its nascence, you can be sure that it’s not a passing fad. Organizations will definitely be spending more and more on creating a gamified learning experience for their learners in 2022!

Elearning trends 2022 – A Recap

Elearning IS the future of education, there’s no doubt about that! Just think about all the ways the technologies mentioned have already had an impact on our lives! As technology evolves and becomes more sophisticated and accessible, we will see ever more engaging, personalized, and effective edtech products. All the elearning trends for 2022 discussed here – the metaverse, microlearning, big data, AI, gamification – are here to stay in the long run. If you or your organization want to get with the times – do it now. Online learning is evolving quicker than ever, and you don’t want to be left behind!

Our in-house developers have lots of experience developing elearning products for our clients, and we are deeply passionate about the subject! Contact Redvike today if you need help designing your own edtech app or software product! 

What is a Product Owner?

The Product Owner role within the SCRUM framework designates a person in charge of defining the scope of the project. It is a demanding role that requires an in-depth understanding of customer needs, knowledge of software engineering and UX design, stakeholder management abilities, as well as leadership and communication skills. While originating in the SCRUM methodology, many agile teams now incorporate someone who handles the associated tasks. Part of the product owner responsibilities include:

  • Setting product vision and strategy
  • Creating a product roadmap
  • Specifying the product requirements
  • Defining and prioritizing the product features
  • Outlining product backlog

If you’d like to get a more extensive overview of the importance of the product owner, or more details about how the SCRUM methodology works, check out our articles on these topics! 

It can be tough to decide on what methodology to use when developing a product, or if to name a Product Owner role at all. Therefore, in this article, we will be focusing on the circumstances which necessitate the establishment of a product owner role in the agile context. 

Why does your project need a product owner?

Choosing the development team members is a key aspect of any software development project. Some roles and their value are clear from the start – such as those of developers, designers, testers, etc. However, a role such as Product Owner is not so straightforward. Let’s take a look at some scenarios which should prompt you to start searching for your own PO!

1. Your team needs a communication buffer between all stakeholders

There are two areas where a PO will help the project.

A Product Owner will exchange information between all the relevant teams

One of the most important Product Owner skills is the ability to communicate. POs are the ones in continuous contact with all stakeholders as well as the development team and are in charge of making sure the communication between all parties goes smoothly. They are responsible for providing both the developers and the stakeholders with the knowledge necessary to make executive decisions or to understand and develop the product. 

A big part of this is relaying information through presentations and meetings. A PO will most probably be in meetings every day, and in most of these, the PO will moderate the interaction. These meetings will cover all the aspects of development including: refining the product backlog and planning the sprints with the development team, brainstorming sessions with all included parties, user story mapping sessions, etc. 

A Product Owner is ready to take on conflict

Another part of the POs job in the context of communication is successfully handling conflicts with any of the concerned parties. Conflicts are natural and are bound to happen when opinions are expressed openly, as different people normally have differing opinions. The answer is not to avoid conflict, because conflict brings opportunities – as the Product Owner well knows! However, not letting that conflict turn a relationship sour is one of the toughest parts of a PO’s job. Negotiation is a big part of the Product Owner role!

The Product Owner decides which features matter most to customers and evaluates which of those are crucial to the business. If the stakeholders or the tech leads are not challenged on their ideas, the end product might not be what is best for the company. A balance needs to be attained, and it falls to the PO to do it – like the ones with the product vision and those who can maximize the product’s value. After all, this is why we set up the Product Owner role in the first place – to see the things we may be missing or are too biased about!

2. The product vision is not adequately defined

Product Owners can see a product with a fresh pair of eyes and make suggestions for improving the product idea creation process. By achieving a consistent product vision, POs can help with team efficiency and motivation which highly benefit the project. The PO achieves this through various techniques for determining new product areas of functionalities such as: data analysis, user journeys, story mapping, competitor analysis, etc. 

Above all else, the Product Owner needs to make sure that the team understands the product well, and this includes the end-user perspective. At times, the team can lose focus, but it’s the PO’s responsibility to reign them in and lead them back on track. One, this means explaining the business needs in order for the team to develop a product that meets the business acceptance criteria. And second, this means breaking down the work to a level best suited for the team to devise the most desirable solutions. Once the team can truly understand the vision and have a clear understanding of the product they are working on, they can work more effectively towards creating that product, rather than just jumping from task to task. 

All in all, a product owner can bring new product ideas or structure, as well as an improved product approach that directly benefits the business and its goals. For the development team, bringing a product owner on board translates to a clearer vision of product goals, and improved focus and team morale!

3. The project requires the creation of a product backlog

One of the chief responsibilities of a Product Owner role is creating a clear and organized product backlog. The Product Backlog is an account of all the work that needs to be done, which includes the product requirements, features, improvements, bug fixes, etc. It’s a planning tool that gives the development team a clear and concise idea of the work that needs to be completed in the short term, as well as the big-picture long-term tasks that need to be done. An additional thing to note is that the product backlog is not static. Rather, it should be continually updated based on evolving project needs throughout development.

A properly arranged product backlog makes it easier for the development team what the next tasks for them are at every point of the project and to resolve the possible relations between the various tasks. Thus, a highly efficient product backlog facilitates a smooth development process, and more importantly, also reduces risk and other limiting risk factors. Some of the PO’s functions concerning product backlog management include:

  • Determining the content of the backlog as well as types of entries
  • Clearly and accurately documenting all entries
  • Sorting the product backlog entries for optimal progress of the goals and objectives
  • Preparing cost estimates
  • Prioritizing entries and making decisions about timing and requirements
  • Ensuring that the product backlog entries are visible, transparent, and understandable for the development team and other stakeholders.

4. You need someone to step in and make decisions

A good Product Owner is great at making decisions, although it is probably the most challenging aspect of the job. A PO must be ready to make decisions daily – some will be small and simple, some will be very difficult and stressful. Indecision means inaction – and action is the basis of success! If the PO is not able to (quickly) come to a decision, they will become a bottleneck in the development process and significantly hamper progress.

Here are some decisions Product Owners need to make:

  • which features to implement
  • which direction to take on feature implementation
  • when should the product go live
  • which items in the product backlog are priority
  • when is a feature ready to be released

The above is only a small sample of the decisions a Product Owner would be faced with. Generally, a PO will have to make well-balanced decisions, taking into account the perspectives of the customer, the business, and the technology. Another important thing is to avoid consensus! Not everybody needs to agree with the PO’s decision, and the PO shouldn’t try to appease everyone at the cost of the product! If necessary, the PO can choose to delegate certain decisions to other members of the team who may be more knowledgeable in a certain area, leaving the PO to focus on other important issues. 

5. You need someone who can listen as much as they can talk 

At this point, you may be under the impression that the Product Owner never stops talking. Actually, and even more crucially, a PO needs to have the ability to listen. Of course, we are talking beyond the listening required to understand crucial information in order to accurately pass it on where it is needed. It also means learning not to jump to premature conclusions and instead gain insight by asking the right questions. 

For example, if someone on the team insists that something is “impossible to do” or is “urgent” (which can create panic and stress in the work environment), the PO should not simply accept these statements to be true. Rather, they should try to determine the reasons behind those assertions. By listening to the explanations they will be able to gain a more thorough understanding of the situation and offer better solutions.

Finally, it is critical that a Product Owner can truly listen to the customers and determine their real needs. This goes beyond simply asking customers and reading customer reviews, but analyzing user behavior and patterns that can uncover product performance issues. 

To summarize

A good product owner can make a valuable contribution to a project and consequently to a company’s success in the market. Take the time to evaluate your team and what the project requires to be successful? Have you recognized your shortcomings throughout this article? Then it just may be time for you to introduce a product owner role in your product development! If you decided to add one to the team – let us know, we can support the delivery of your invention! 

A business analyst’s job is to evaluate a business’s processes and systems, understand how those evolve over time, and present technological solutions to improve the organization. To do this, business analyst’s need to possess knowledge of both the specific business as well as the industry trends and practices. A key role of a business analyst is to communicate plans between the company teams and the external stakeholders. In this way, a business analyst is frequently considered the link between the business and IT departments.

In essence, business analysts are the people who provide the insights that drive change in a company. That change can be of a higher magnitude, such as large scale organizational or policy changes. However, the changes can also be more narrow and focus on relatively smaller advancements such as finding opportunities for cutting costs. Whatever the scope of the change, they should help increase efficiency, productivity, and profitability, as well as help the company find further opportunities for growth. 

What does a business analyst do?

A business analyst needs to possess both soft skills and hard skills. For one, they must have an analytical thinking and problem-solving mindset! it is not a cookie-cutter job as each project needs a different approach and a different solution. It’s not just about how much you know, but how well you can implement and use what you know. The job requires a nuanced and resourceful approach to work through challenging situations. On the other hand, people skills matter just as much – a large chunk of an analyst’s time is spent gathering and delivering information to and from all the stakeholders. 

Here are some of the duties a business analyst would have:

  • Gaining a deep understanding of the business’s workings and goals. A business analyst needs to know exactly what a business does and how it does it in order to get onto the path of improving the business. 
  • Creating data-driven development. This means a business analyst will enforce change based on insights gleaned from a detailed business analysis that outlines the problems, opportunities, and solutions for business improvement. 
  • Tracking and validating solutions through the help of user acceptance testing. This is done to ensure that the solutions are in line with the client’s requirements. 

This is an oversimplified description of the functions and responsibilities a business analyst would have. In reality, a business analyst’s day-to-day would look different depending on the company, the industry, or even a specific product. Therefore, every company will have a unique set of requirements for hiring a business analyst. Click here to find out what those are for Redvike!

Becoming a great IT business analyst

We talked about the basic skills and competencies a business analyst should have, now let’s talk about how to get there. What do you have to do to become a great business analyst?

Learn business analysis fundamentals

Very often, the people who go into business analysis have a Bachelor degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, etc. However, in actuality, graduates from any field can go into Business Analysis, and it can even prove to be an advantage. For example, if you work as a Business Analyst at a software company, it would be immensely helpful if you had a degree in Software Engineering or other related fields which give you a good grasp of the technical side of the business.

That being said, no amount of technical knowledge can make up for the lack of business acumen and know-how of business-analysis-specific subject matter. Therefore, if you want to be a business analyst, you need to first get to know the basics. As we mentioned, every business analysis job is different, requiring a wide variety of different skills. In the software development business, some of them would be:

  • Business analysis tools like Microsoft Excel, Powerpoint, Visio, Project etc.
  • Visual modelling concepts and methods for graphic representation of systems in order to analyze, improve, and automate business processes.
  • Documentation and writing skills to create clear and concise documentation of functional requirements, business cases, wireframes, and more.
  • Elicitation techniques and skills for communicating project requirements to stakeholders.
  • Requirements specification process and prioritizing requirements.
  • Software Development Life Cycle knowledge
  • Knowledge and proficiency in agile project management

If some of the above-listed skills are missing from your resume, it is advisable to further your education, either through a Business Analytics Master’s programme, online business analysis courses, or courses on specific subjects you might be lacking in (for example, insufficient Microsoft Excel proficiency). A business analysis course of study will cover a wide range of critical job functions, and ideally also provide some practical experience.

Learn data analysis

Data is the holy grail of business analytics. Although data analysis is not the only thing a business analyst does, it is certainly the key to effective and positive business development. The entire concept around business analysis rests on the ability to analyze data – so it is certainly an area that a business analyst should be proficient in. Data analysis is especially important in today’s day and age – we collect so much information every single second, and without data analysis, it would be nigh on useless.

By using data analytics tools and methods it is possible to measure and assess metrics that indicate a business’s operating costs, traffic, performance, sales, etc. Subsequently, a business analyst’s job is interpreting those assessments and making recommendations for strategic development. While sometimes in-depth data analysis know-how may not be required if there is also a dedicated Data Analyst at the company, very often the business analyst will be the one doing their own data analysis. If you would also like to get more acquainted with Data Analysis, some of the things you would have to master are:

  • SQL and relational databases – to access, retrieve, manipulate, and analyze data. You would require a working knowledge of software like Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL database, Oracle DB, etc.
  • Programming languages – most often Python or similar. Programming skills are helpful for solving complex problems and performing faster data analysis.
  • Data visualization tools like Tableau, PowerBI, QlikView, etc. – to help create reports and dashboards, as well as forecast data and make crucial business decisions.

Master good communication practices

Every business analyst needs to have excellent communication skills: they need to be able to engage in open and clear communication with both clients and colleagues. We know that inadequate communication practices can significantly slow down or even impede a project, so business analysts absolutely must be good communicators in order to be able to understand what a client wants or needs or what a colleague could be trying to explain. Along those lines, – don’t be afraid of asking questions! Even if you are intimidated by a superior or a client, never be afraid to ask for clarifications. A simple misunderstanding can create delays and costs to your project.

Significant points to also include here are good public speaking and presentation skills in order to convey the necessary information in an unambiguous and coherent way. While some people are born fearless public speakers and communicators, many are not as comfortable. Communicating on a daily basis is part of the job, as are a myriad of presentations for clients and colleagues alike, so you would have to work on improving those practices. If communication does not come easy to you, you will have to push yourself to get that valuable experience:

  • At university, don’t shy away from projects which require you to present your findings in front of your whole class.
  • Join Toastmasters – a communication and public speaking club!
  • Practice active listening – yes, listening is just as important as speaking.
  • Don’t avoid talking on the phone.

Work on projects and work-cases

A business analyst without experience is not really a business analyst. Only having an education isn’t going to cut it. But no worries, there are many ways in which you can get relevant experience that will help hone your skills and land you the job you want! Some of the things you can do are:

  • University course projects and use-cases
  • Internship during/right after your studies 
  • Internship/Part-time job with a startup 
  • Business Analysis training programs 
  • Ask to be included on relevant projects at the company you work at currently

Never stop learning

Even after landing your Business Analyst position, the learning shouldn’t stop. You should always be thinking about how to improve what you are doing. After all, if you don’t improve over time, how can your stakeholders expect you to improve their business in the long-term? So how can you “upgrade” yourself? 

  • Read books on relevant topics
  • Take courses in the areas you may be lacking
  • Learn new tools
  • Educate yourself on new industry developments 
  • Purspue a business analysis certification

Looking for a business analyst position?

Becoming a great business analyst takes years of hard work and a lot of determination and enthusiasm. If that’s the career path that you want to take, then we’ve got an offer for you!

Redvike is a boutique software development company that specializes in web and mobile development for startups and enterprises. We are looking for a new Junior Business Analyst to support the process of collecting and verifying business requirements in close cooperation with our development team. 

If you are someone who knows the basics of business analysis, is ambitious, and willing to learn new things – well then you’re exactly the type of candidate we are looking for! Check out our Junior Business Analyst position to see if it is in line with your capabilities and your interests. We are looking forward to your application!

While the most difficult parts of app development are definitely coming up with the idea itself and then executing it, it’s still far from over once you actually make the prototype. A finished prototype doesn’t equal a good prototype. Performance is key, and a genius app idea is worth nothing if the application is not usable or functional. That’s why in the software development world we dedicate a significant amount of time and resources to mobile app testing.

Let’s say we have two applications with the exact same purpose. What would make you choose one over the other? Probably not the one that’s lagging or that keeps crashing. You’ll probably delete the app five minutes after you installed it if it took that long to load a single page. What if a large number of people suddenly start using the app – can it deal with the influx? That’s what mobile native app performance testing is for – so those issues can be detected and fixed before the app is launched. 

Correcting such mistakes after an app has already been launched may be too late – potential users will have already found alternatives or may not want to bother downloading your app again. Since it’s such a paramount part of app development, we decided to go a bit more in-depth about the process of app performance testing, what approaches to take, and what are the best mobile app testing tools. Let’s get into it!

How to get started with mobile app testing?

Let’s begin with the types of testing: automatic and manual. With an automatic system, the software does all the work, thus saving developers a lot of time. However, for some tests which are usually not repetitive or not that frequent – developing a complicated automated testing process might be unnecessary and often take more time than just performing a manual test. This is why developers use a combined mobile app testing approach of manual plus automated testing depending on the type of tests required. 

Based on the type of testing requirements, there are dozens of mobile app testing tools to choose from to help you with the process. Choosing the right tools can make your job much easier. The most popular ones include TestComplete, Espresso, Katalon Studio, Quantum, etc. Another thing to decide at this stage is whether to use simulators and emulators or real devices for conducting the tests. A mixed approach is ideal because simulators are usually faster, but may not be able to catch all the bugs that a real device would. We recommend you start the testing process with simulator software and then use real devices later on in the test cycle.

Mobile App Testing Checklist

There are three types of mobile apps: native, hybrid, and web apps, and each type has its own set of testing requirements. However, there exists a lot of overlap, so rest assured that you can use the following checklist regardless of the type of your app! Another important thing to know is that there are different types, or strategies, of testing requirements, which we will be covering with this checklist!

Functional testing

Mobile functional testing ensures that the app, and all the features in it, work as they are supposed to in order to meet user requirements. It is a vital component of mobile app testing as it will determine an app’s readiness for release to end-users. The following aspects all fall under functional testing:

  • Installing and running the app: are there any significant lags or app crashes?
  • Handling incoming and outgoing calls and messages with the app running.
  • Battery management: how does your app affect a device’s battery?
  • Checking memory consumption of the app or certain functionalities which may increase memory use.
  • Biometrics like fingerprint or face ID.
  • Resuming the app after an interruption: does the app remain in the previous state or is the data gone?
  • Responding to push notifications while using the app.

Performance testing

Performance testing is meant to check the performance and reaction of an application under certain conditions. Some scenarios where performance testing is usually conducted are:

  • Checking the app’s behaviour under typical and extreme traffic/loads.
  • Time it takes to launch the app
  • The time it takes to install or uninstall an app
  • Stability testing to check if the application can work prolonged periods of time under normal loads.
  • Volume testing to analyze app performance when subjected to a large volume of data and traffic.
  • App performance when charging and during low battery conditions.
  • App performance under changing network conditions: poor connectivity, switch in networks, dead zones, airplane mode, etc. 

Usability testing

Usability testing is performed to evaluate the user experience, i.e. how user-friendly or intuitive an app is. As we said in the very beginning, usability is one of the most important qualities of an app which will ultimately decide how well the app does once it’s launched. Usability testing should include:

  • Testing screen orientation: does the app have the ability to adjust the application layout upon screen rotation?
  • Testing the navigation of the app.
  • Testing responsiveness of the mobile menu.

Compatibility testing

Compatibility testing is concerned with how your mobile app works across various devices and platforms. Some testing points to keep in mind are:

  • How your app works across different operating systems.
  • Changes in the user interface.
  • Changes across different internet browsers.
  • Testing screen resolution: is the app adaptable to various screen sizes without losing image quality?
  • Testing compatibility across different database configurations.
  • Testing compatibility on different devices (mobiles, tablets, laptops, etc.) based on processor type, battery capacity, RAM, etc. 

Accessibility testing

Accessibility mobile app testing is used to see if your app is used by as many people as possible. Accessibility is not just a nice asset but is also required by law in many countries, so this stage is often mandatory in order to comply with accessibility regulations. This type of testing ensures that your app is accessible to people with disabilities such as hearing and vision impairment, or cognitive issues. Be sure to test for:

  • App readability.
  • Screen magnification. 
  • Verification of the color ratios between text and background and text color contrast.
  • Speech recognition capability.
  • Dynamic font size.
  • Voice-over and talk-back features. 
  • Logical and consistent structure and navigation within the app.

Security testing

Security testing is administered to validate the security features of your app, i.e. making sure the sensitive personal data remains safe. During this stage you should test for:

  • Two-factor authentication.
  • Proper storage and encryption of private data.
  • Vulnerability to hackers and viruses.
  • Authentication of app permissions and certificates.
  • Error reporting and reactions to breaches in the app’s security.

Challenges of mobile app testing

As you can see, there is A LOT to think about when planning for the mobile app testing stage. Testing across different devices, features, operating systems, etc. is not going to go smoothly all the time, and you need to be mentally prepared to deal with the roadblocks. Some of the challenges you may come across while testing your app are: 

  • The sheer variety and number of different devices, device sizes, and screen resolutions mean a large number of use cases that really can’t all be tested.
  • Testing for different browsers given that browsers such a Chrome or Firefox are updated very frequently, necessitating more frequent apps for the app as well.
  • UX issues as well as issues with app performance.
  • Mobile network bandwidth is challenging as a balance must be struck between how fast an app works and how it performs in terms of data communication.
  • Dynamic user requirements, the solution for which is to adopt an agile development method capable of coping with the changing demands.
  • Battery consumption and the variety of battery capacity – the more complex the app, the more it drains the device’s energy and requires feature optimization.
  • Security concerns – mobile phones are much more prone to breaches since it’s simpler to access the cache. When paired with poor encryption, this can spell disaster.
  • Time to market – testers might be working on tight schedules and deadlines which don’t allow for proper or extensive testing.
  • Too many testing tools to choose from – instead of making the job easier, they might cause confusion and delays if the team can not find the best tool for their app.

Final words

Application testing is not something you should do as an afterthought – it requires a methodical approach that takes time to develop and execute! The testing stage doesn’t even have to wait until the prototype has even been finished – in fact it’s better to already start the tests at an earlier stage of the application lifecycle. Furthermore, all the different strategies of testing we mentioned in this article are important. Skip one, and you risk dropping the ball. You may be swayed into focusing more of your attention on the user experience side of the app, but that doesn’t make performance or security any less significant or necessary! 

Mobile app testing is not a simple undertaking and it’s certainly not something anyone could attempt on their own. We have experience developing launch-ready apps across various industries – that’s why we are always updated on the current trends and practices. If you need help developing and testing a new mobile application – contact Redvike now!

Communication is the cornerstone for every great relationship! We take it for granted and think it’s something easy and intuitive, but it actually takes a lot of conscious will and effort to do right. That being said, we can not overstate the importance of communication for effective teamwork and successful project conclusions. It can quite literally make or break a project! Good communication practices are something we here at Redvike take quite seriously, and we constantly work on improving them, both with clients and each other.  

We’ve already talked about how important effective communication between a team and a client is, and how to improve communication practices between customers and companies. However, that’s only a part of the equation. Without great inter-team communication, no amount of client-supplier conversation can make up for that. What’s more, the situation gets even trickier when even one of the team members is working remotely! So let’s talk about remote work culture, what it involves, and how to improve it!

Why does remote team culture matter?

Work-from-home has become ubiquitous. The current pandemic pushed a lot of companies into transitioning from a common workspace to working off-site. Gone are the days for quick informal work chats, going for a coffee break together, huddling around the conference table – and all those things that make a team and a work environment. Now, many are at home sitting at their computer, maybe even in a different country than the rest of their colleagues! The spontaneity and closeness can be easily lost, and it’s very logical and natural that the level of teamwork could decrease at this time, jeopardizing work effectiveness and efficiency. 

With things returning back to normal, however, many companies and employees aren’t really too enthusiastic about getting back to the office! For a whole host of reasons, many prefer to continue working from home, so the remote team culture trend isn’t anywhere close to dying! But that doesn’t deny the fact that communication – both professional and casual – is negatively affected, how important that communication is. The situation has presented a great challenge for teams trying to communicate only through online tools. Hence, many companies, including ours, started looking into ways they could improve and sustain communication between their employees. 

Read on for 5 remote team communication tips!

How to build culture in a remote team?

Everything is possible with a little effort.

Prioritize video meetings – but don’t overdo it

Things can get lost in translation when they’re written down and miscommunications can cause huge problems. Talking on the phone helps, but it can still never replace face-to-face conversation. Not only can information be relayed much more quickly in video calls, but it makes space for personal connections, thus simulating a real office environment. It makes employees feel more connected to each other, to their company, and consequently to their work. It is also a great opportunity for newcomers to get acquainted with the team members and integrate into the team much more quickly.

Be warned, however, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Constant communication can be overwhelming and counterproductive. It’s been more than once that we’ve all sat in that video call and thought – “This could have been an email.” After all, people need their quiet time to actually get the work done! Some ways in which unnecessary or overly long video meetings can be avoided are:

  • Setting an agenda: in this case, the participants can prepare beforehand, and it will help keep the meeting on track.
  • Reviewing whether a video call is really needed: if the meeting is called only to relay information, then that would better be conveyed in an email. 
  • Limit the number of people on a conference call: too many people all trying to speak at once can end up with nobody being able to get their points across leading to frustration and time wasted. 

Choose and use the right tools

Finding a tool that suits the needs of a remote team is not difficult, but making the choice of which and how to use them can be. Managers of remote teams need to carefully select a few communication and work tools which all members would be able to use. Furthermore, it’s important to establish guidelines about how to communicate and what tools are appropriate for which purpose. For example, a company can divide the types of communication channels they wish to have, as well as how to organize their work in the following manner:

  • Use either Zoom or Microsoft Teams or Skype for video meetings. 
  • Use Slack for group messaging, short updates or urgent memos. 
  • Use Whatsapp for non-work-related messages.
  • Use email for longer and more information-packed messages/reports. 
  • Use Notion for streamlining all tasks and work-related communication.
  • Use Google Docs and Google Sheets for sharing/editing drafts.

Depending on the type of work a company does, a remote team can use numerous other tools for sharing their work and communicating with their colleagues. As long as the team members follow the set guidelines, information exchanges should go smoothly. If an issue arises, team leaders should reassess their choice of software/app and revise the communication strategy. 

Establish virtual team hangouts

We mentioned how hard it is for remote work colleagues to establish meaningful personal connections outside of the office, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try! The main point is that spontaneity is difficult, so we need to plan time and activities to allow for team bonding. Companies have come up with all sorts of creative and fun solutions! Some have a virtual coffee space – a short time slot daily or a few times a week where team members have coffee together without any work agenda. Some plan informal video meetings outside of office hours, for example, a virtual Happy Hour or a virtual game night once a week! With a little imagination and a good wifi connection, there’s no shortage of fun virtual activities a remote team can partake in!

Team leaders should support their team members!

Employees want to know that their concerns are being heard and that someone is working on resolving their issues – both regarding work as well as regarding their personal state of being due to the remote work situation. For one, this means not micromanaging the team – the urge to monitor progress more diligently is actually counterproductive. For one, constant calls and check-ups will definitely cut into the actual working time and can be very distracting for everyone on the team. On the other hand, people like to feel trusted and wanted, and being continually supervised will lead to weariness and frustration.

One way to combat this, and to help illuminate other issues with a remote team culture is to set up a feedback system where team members can evaluate the current remote work environment. By determining which elements of the remote team culture are successful and which are hindering, management can work towards resolving the problems and setting up new, better protocols. This will increase efficiency and productivity, as well as make team members feel valued and understood. 

Finally, it’s important for managers to create space for and actively encourage one-on-one communication with each team member. Consequently, employees are not apprehensive about contacting their superiors for whatever reason, whether to discuss their work, their mental health, or any other problem they may have. Team leaders should always remember to prioritize empathy in their interactions with the team members, earnestly hear their concerns, and support them with whatever means necessary. 

Organize in-person team-building events

Regardless of how many hours people can spend texting or video chatting, nothing beats that personal connection you feel when meeting someone face-to-face. Even though the work is online, companies can and should organize team-building events for their employees. Naturally, if all the team members live in the same city, the planning and execution are easy. Things get difficult when teams are dispersed across a country, or even across one or more continents. But, companies who value their remote team culture and aim towards creating a tight-knit community of friends and coworkers will always find the resources to make that happen. For example, they can organize yearly outdoor team-building events, combine team training with relaxing activities like spa and meditation, hold fun sports competitions, etc.

Redvike’s remote team culture

What we do at Redvike to stay close together

We have our internal coffee chat

every Monday and Wednesday at 12 p.m. We talk about everything! Our vacation plans, hobbies, thoughts on recent Apple event 😀

We organize multiple trips and events!

Last time we spent the whole day kayaking on the Dunajec River. We also like to go out together and drink a good beer at a local bar in Krakow – we love our city!

Office days

From time to time we organize an office day to gather everyone in our office space, drink coffee and have a chit-chat offline.

Sports activities after hours

There are a lot of sports maniacs around us. We often work out together and even organize sports competitions to have fun.

We pay attention to how projects are managed

For example, how the project requirements are collected and how the project is planned in general. We do everything to make sure all of us feel safe and comfortable at work but also in our private lives.

Assess your remote work culture and work from there!

In the end, each team is unique and therefore requires a tailored approach. If you’re a team leader looking for ways to manage your remote work team, don’t blindly implement every single tip you read in this article or anywhere else. It’s important to primarily judge the current state of your team’s remote work culture, as well as what your team really needs, in order to gauge what is truly missing and where improvements can be made.

The backend (in other words the server-side) of an application or a website is something invisible to the eye of the user. It’s a tech layer responsible for storing and organizing data that controls all functionalities and ensures everything on the client-side works without errors. The backend also communicates with the frontend (the layer visible to users) sending and receiving information to be displayed as a web page.

The server-side can be built using many different technologies that will provide the necessary performance and security of the product. The important part is to choose a backend technology that will correspond well with the chosen frontend. In our case that would be React.js, one of the most popular JavaScript-based technologies.  

A few words about React.js

The Javascript library was originally developed and used by Facebook developers until in 2013 the tech giant decided to make it open-source. Soon it was used by the biggest companies worldwide like Google, Facebook, or Netflix. React.js revolutionized the way developers build apps and allows them to create remarkable UI components. You can read more about why we base our work on React.js here. 

React.js is a part of the tech stack in multiple projects of different sizes. Let’s see what backend technologies are usually chosen by developers having React.js as frontend technology.

React Native – a cross-platform framework twin 

React Native was released in 2015 and is a JavaScript framework – a platform for native mobile application development. As the name suggests, it’s related to React.js as it was actually based on it. The combination of these two technologies gives an application a boost in the form of great performance but also a great user experience for mobile device users. 

React Native offers a range of innovative features such as hot reloading of which you can read here

The famous JavaScript duo: React.js and Node.js

PHP, Java, Python – these three are solid backend technologies we all know about. But what about JavaScript? It’s a programming language known as full-stack technology. JavaScript may be used for developing both – the frontend and the backend of an application. Sounds good right? 

Node.js is a server-side runtime environment based on JavaScript. Which means it’s not a programming language nor a framework. It’s an environment that’s built on a JavaScript V8 engine that adapts JS functionality and syntax to backend development. Combining React.js with Node.js allows developers to build applications that are isomorphic; the communication between the client-side and server-side of the application is fast and efficient. 

What are the benefits of using this framework duo? 

  • Node.js offers a lot of modules that enable developers to bundle the React application into a single file.
  • React.js code can be executed directly in the Node.js environment, as they are both JavaScript-based. 
  • Some components of the React DOM have been designed specifically to work with Node which accelerates server-side rendering. 

Find out which famous apps were built with Node.js 

React and Django

React can be often seen paired with Django – a high-level Python-based framework for backend development that is also open-source. The main advantage of Django is scalability – it can be used for building both simple projects and complex solutions capable of handling heavy traffic and large volumes of data. 

There are voices that say the two have nothing in common, however, both technologies are used by Instagram. What’s more, many developers state that if a web framework can respond to HTTP requests with JSON and HTML, it can be used with anything.

So what can you get from this combination?

  • React or any front-end framework requires a RESTful API to interact to. Creating the backend RESTful API with Django is really easy. 
  • Django and React are both supported by a large dev community
  • Django may be applied for mobile as well as for web development regardless of the size of the project. 

Why is it important to choose the right tech stack?

There are enough reliable backend technologies available for you to choose one for your React application. Choosing the right backend and frontend technology will help you save your resources and work more efficiently. As there are so many options, you should carefully consider your needs and expectations regarding your product. 

Our Redvike team will be happy to advise you on the appropriate tech stack for your application. Contact us to learn more about what we can do for your business. 

If you’ve been living under a rock you may be wondering – what is NFT? NFT stands for non-fungible token and is a digital object, or rather, a unit of data stored in the digital ledger (blockchain). The term “non-fungible” means non-interchangeable – essentially saying that an NFT is unique and it can not be exchanged with a similar one. This is the opposite of digital currency where for example one Bitcoin can be exchanged with any other. 

NFTs use blockchain technology to convey ownership of anything in digital form. Think of it as a type of certificate you would use in real life to show that you own a physical asset – for example, the deed to your house. The same concept applies here except the items are digital. Recently, you may have heard about this in context with memes and with digital works of art, but NFTs have also been used by musicians, in the gaming industry, in virtual reality environments, sports, and other areas. 

So, if an NFT is something that can be owned, then how to buy NFT? The owner of the NFT can choose to sell the NFT for any currency including, and most likely, digital currency (or cryptocurrency). NFTs are sold on digital marketplaces, and to trade there you would need to open and fund an NFT crypto wallet. A crypto wallet stores cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ether needed to purchase an NFT. 

Now that we have the basics out of the way, let’s turn to the main topic of this article – NFT gaming!

NFT Gaming explained

NFT gaming is also called crypto gaming and it refers to video games that use cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to provide players verifiable ownership over the virtual products contained in the games. Let me explain what that means. 

Say, a video game uses in-game coins with which you can purchase cosmetic items for your in-game character, gameplay advantages (like weapons or clues), or whatever extra features the game has to offer. Quite often, the in-game coins or items will have to be purchased with real money, and are then worthless outside of the game. It may be that the items are not technically ownership of the gamer, but rather the game developers. Or even if they do own the assets, the gamers are not able to sell or trade them. Finally, traditional online games exist on centralized servers with proprietary ownership over in-game assets, meaning they are not communicable with other games. So, how is that solved? By using blockchain in gaming! 

In-game products can be stored as NFTs on a blockchain atop a crypto network in crypto games. Therefore, on a crypto gaming platform, in-app purchases can be carried out when players buy items using cryptocurrency or buy the crypto itself. Due to the decentralized nature of nft gaming platforms, a multitude of games can have their framework on the same blockchain. As a result, NFT game assets can be interoperable across different games. For instance, two games built on the same blockchain network can feasibly support the same in-game assets like vehicles, armor, or even entire characters. Aside from being able to move their assets between games, gamers can also choose to sell or trade them as they desire.

nft gaming

NFT Gaming today

If you think digital currency games came out of nowhere, your impression is not entirely wrong. A concept that had limited use cases only a couple of years ago is becoming more and more mainstream. Why is that? One reason is that blockchain technology has become more diverse and scalable in the last few years. Another is the current pandemic, which forced millions of people to stay at home for inordinate amounts of time. Both online gaming and interest in cryptocurrency and digital assets skyrocketed, so it’s no wonder that NFT gaming is becoming increasingly more popular!

By claiming actual ownership of in-game items, they even become a form of investment instead of simply a one-way purchase. The ability to resell the items on secondary markets, loan them out, take them off-platform, etc. give players the opportunity to make money, not just spend it during gaming. Hence the old concept of “pay-to-play” in traditional online games transforms to “play to earn” and even “win to earn”! Yes, I mean you can earn money just by unlocking experiences and achievement badges in the game! A lot of today’s NFT games award small amounts of the in-game cryptocurrency when winning which can then be used to buy more in-game items. Alternatively, you can even cash them out and convert them into local currency!

Examples of crypto gaming and accessory platforms

  • Von Coin is an online auctioning platform where users earn digital Von Coins through Xbox achievements, which they then redeem for rewards. The currency on this platform does not have monetary value outside of the platform, but is only used for auction bidding. 
  • Axie Infinity is an nft crypto game that allows players to collect, breed, raise, battle, and trade creatures known as “axies”. Players first invest a certain amount to obtain in-game assets, and then earn money as you play. The more you play, the more you earn (a percentage of the earnings always goes to the developers, making it lucrative for both parties). Players can earn hundreds of dollars per month, and the game has become very popular worldwide, especially in East Asia.
  • Terra Virtua is an immersive blockchain-powered virtual and augmented reality entertainment collectible platform. Ethereum powered – it is a platform where you can buy digital art, VR game assets, and many other items – even virtual movie characters!
  • Sorare is a blockchain-powered fantasy football game, where users can trade players, enter tournaments & compete for prizes. The cards are represented by NFTs , and you need to carefully search and collect the cards you want because they are limited in supply! This means that owning the best players is rewarding, both when playing and when trading!

How we helped Von Coin create an auctioning platform for NFT gaming

Von Coin’s mission is to reward hardcore gamers for their achievements on Xbox. Von Coin approached Redvike with an idea for creating a comprehensive auctioning platform for e-gamers in Ireland, USA, Canada, and UK, in collaboration with gaming industry partners. The platform needed to be supported by a fully-functional CRM for auction management and a new digital currency had to be created.

To that end, we created an Admin panel that allows the Von Coin team to manage the auction process – covering creation, sequencing, timing, T&Cs, available products, regions and time zones. Furthermore, we created a digital currency as a unique rewards mechanism, using timed releases and industry partnerships to determine the correct supply of coins to reward in-game achievements. The end result led to a successful product launch and strong positive feedback from auction participants!

Are there any drawbacks?

While NFT gaming has indeed been becoming increasingly more well-known, the integration of the technology into video games has been slow. There are a few very popular platforms, however they are more often frequented by tech-savvy participants. In order to become more widespread, NFT gaming needs to be made more appealing and intuitive for consumers who do possess little to no technical knowledge about blockchain, NFTs, etc. And that’s far from the only obstacle surrounding NFT gaming. Some issues that could or do pose a problem are:

  • Money transmission risks: gaps in regulation can lead to misuse and mismanagement; can a digital currency be “cashed out”?
  • What happens if an NFT platform ceases to exist? How does that affect the assets and the asset owners, and will they be monetarily compensated for any losses?
  • Could NFTs in gaming be used as speculative assets (bought as an investment and kept until increase in monetary value), and not in the gaming environment as intended? 
  • Environmental concerns due to the high energy consumption of blockchain technologies.
  • Games center too much on the money-making aspect rather than the playing aspect, making the concept unsustainable. A proportional combination of play and earn is what will allow nft games to break into the mainstream. 

NFT Gaming trends for 2022

Despite all the above-mentioned challenges and more, there is no question that nft gaming is where the future is headed. The potential for profit is huge! While many in the gaming industry are not yet sold on the concept or are actively rejecting adopting nft gaming, that attitude won’t last forever. After all, all new technologies are eyed suspiciously at first, and it will take some time for digital currency games to become as common as the traditional online games today. One way gaming industry players can overcome their lack of technical expertise is to partner with few blockchain-oriented companies which have the necessary know-how.

The fact of the matter is – progress is slow and it doesn’t seem likely there will be an enormous boom in the industry anytime soon. However, the whole world has been shocked by the progress of blockchain and related technologies, that quite frankly nothing would surprise us too much. What we can definitively say right now is that there is an interest for nft gaming, and more new games have been announced for 2022, among which are: Illuvium, Sipher, Star Atlas, Guild of Guardians, and others. Some have already started circulating in-world NFTs and digital currencies! If you’re interested in playing, go check them out before the games release and the digital assets become more expensive on the marketplace!

​​The NFT market shows opportunities not only for the gaming sector. If you have an idea of how to apply NFT to your business – you’ve just found your team. Contact Redvike now so we can help you create something truly amazing!

If you plan to build an application expecting to process huge amounts of data, Node.js will soon become your best friend. It’s an excellent framework for the development of server-side applications using JavaScript. Yes, framework. Nodel.js is not a programming language but an open-source, cross-platform framework based on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript runtime engine. Node.js converts JavaScript code into low-level machine code and is included in the tech stack of some of the most famous worldwide apps. 

Find out which of the most well-known, global companies use Node.js in their applications and learn why they chose this specific technology. 

PayPal

Why did PayPal, the largest worldwide system for online payments decide on Node.js? As known, the company supports international transactions in more than 100 currencies and it’s generally seen as one of the most trustworthy.

Before it became popular, the application was not developed in an efficient manner. Development teams were divided into those who coded for the browser in HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, and server-side developers who coded in JAVA. Due to this division, the application developed more slowly and did not achieve the level of performance it could. 

[…] the primary blocker at PayPal has always been the artificial boundary we established between the browser and server – said Jeff Harrell, director of Engineer at Paypal

Thanks to Node.js, both the browser and server applications could be written in JavaScript. It unified PayPal’s engineering specialties into one team and provided the needed speed of development. Here are the results obtained when building the PayPal application using Node.js. The app was: 

  • built almost twice as fast with fewer people
  • written in 33% fewer lines of code
  • was constructed with 40% fewer files

What’s more, the company doubled the number of requests served per second, at the same time decreasing the average response time by 35%! 

Netflix

Netflix is the world’s leading subscription-based streaming service that allows members to watch TV shows and movies without commercials on an internet-connected device. It is currently present in over 190 countries and has about 130 million memberships.

Netflix chose Node because they wanted to achieve a lightweight, modular, and fast application. Thanks to Node, which builds the company’s server-side rendering, the startup time of the application was reduced by 70%. In fact, the solution turned out to be efficient to the extent the company’s now moving data access layers to Node.js runtime as well. 

According to Yunong Xiao, Principal Software Engineer at Netflix, there are three main reasons why they decided to include Node.js in the tech stack: 

  • Prior knowledge and usage of JavaScript among software developers of the organization.
  • The performance which in case of such a huge infrastructure like Netflix, is crucial.
  • Node.js has a lot of modules offering a lot of built-in tools that can optimize the development time and make it easier.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social network that focuses on professional networking and career development. It allows users to create their professional profiles, document their experience, find career opportunities, and build a network of contacts. 

Currently, Node.js is the foundation of LinkedIn’s mobile software stack. 

Here’s why they chose it according to Kiran Prasad, VP of Product at LinkedIn:

One reason was scale. The second is, if you look at Node, the thing it’s best at doing is talking to other services. The mobile app has to talk to our platform API and database. We’re not doing massive data analytics. Node showed us huge performance gains compared to what we were using before, which was Ruby on Rails.

Choosing to base the platform on Node.js resulted in several major benefits for the company: 

  • Significant savings on resources (reduction of most of the servers)
  • Doubled traffic capacity 
  • 10x faster performance of the app on the client-side
  • The frontend and backend mobile teams could be combined into a single unit 

Twitter

Twitter is an online news and social networking site where people communicate in short messages – tweets. As of the second quarter of 2021, Twitter had 206 million monetizable daily active users worldwide. 

The company used Node.js during the development of Twitter Lite in 2017. It was a complete rewrite of the mobile website optimized for interface speed and network efficiency. The app is designed to load quickly even on slower Internet connections and is optimized for a 30% faster launch time.

“We’re using that as sort of a way to compete in markets where native apps are less able to compete, where people don’t want to download a 200-megabyte iOS app. They want something that fits under 600 kilobytes. said James Bellenger, Senior Software Engineer at Twitter Inc. 

What about you?

If you’re reading this article you probably wonder if Node.js is a good fit for your app’s tech stack. As you can see, the framework meets the expectations of some of the most famous apps in the worldwide market, including the most demanding infrastructures handling huge amounts of data every day. Will it be a good choice for your product? Let’s find out! Contact our team and our backend specialists will help you define the tech stack for your app! 

While the term “digital transformation” essentially means to integrate digital technology into all areas of a business, the truth is – it’s so much more than that! Let’s be real, the whole world has been online for a while now. A decade ago it still might have been new for businesses to digitize their processes or move to the cloud. Today, that’s the bare minimum that every company aiming for success needs to do! A more appropriate interpretation of the phrase “digital transformation” would be – the utilization of digital technology to fundamentally change how a business operates and how it delivers value to its customers.

Basically, it’s how you use technology to change, adjust, and improve your business processes to reposition yourself on the market in today’s digital economy. If you’re still not sure exactly what that means, that’s okay, many many business owners don’t either. Because it can mean a lot of things. Because each company will use a unique digital transformation strategy suited to its own needs and goals for the future. And more than simply what kind of new technology is being implemented, it’s the approach – the game plan – that matters most. So, let’s take a deeper dive into how to build a digital transformation strategy – the why, the what, and the how?

How to build a digital transformation strategy?

Where to start?

To know where you want to go, you first need to recognize where you’re at right now. So before starting work on your digital transformation roadmap, you need to analyze the current state of your business, which involves:

  • mapping out your business processes/operations/resources and your organizational structure,
  • assessing your company work culture,
  • evaluating your employees’ skillsets.

Once you have everything laid out and inspected, you can pinpoint the problem areas as well as the opportunities for growth. 

Many businesses mistakenly skip this step thinking they know exactly what needs to be done. Some might find such an undertaking overwhelming and decide to take a stab in the dark and hope something works out. Others can simply choose to implement new technology because “everybody else is doing it”. The best outcome would then be improved operational efficiency. On the other hand, the worst and often more probable outcome of such unplanned business development is frustration, complication, and wasted resources.

Identify your goals

Conducting a thorough analysis as outlined above will give you the clarity you need to make strategic decisions about your digital processes and resources, as well as make sure you stay on track with your new business development plan! In essence, now its’s time to define your end goals. What do you hope to achieve with your digital transformation strategy? Remember, this is a long-term decision you are making, so it’s more than okay to think big! But, there’s a catch! 

Don’t let your ambitions wander off too much that you are left with only vague initiatives. It’s important to set a very clear set of objectives and stick to them. Setting up too many priorities at the same time will make it difficult to assess the progress of the digital transformation strategy and therefore make it harder to hit the target objectives. 

Create a plan of action

Now that you know your goals, you need to draft a roadmap of how to reach them. Outline how you will get from the current to the desired situation. This might include reframing infrastructure, training employees or recruiting new talent, transitioning to a new development process, etc. Your plan should plot the most important points such as main priorities, intermediate objectives, key players, and a timeline with milestones and benchmarks. Your digital transformation strategy roadmap should be adaptable and evolve with your business and the changing priorities. 

Without a coherent operational course, not much can be achieved. The staff may end up over-working without producing any significant results, only leading to burned out and demotivated employees. Ultimately, without a project program, the whole thing will end up being a waste of time, effort, and investment.

Advantages of digital transformation

So, at this point, you may be thinking that a lot of work goes into finding the purpose for digital transformation and designing a strategy for it. Is it actually worth the time, money, and effort? Well, let’s take a look at some of the benefits of digital transformation!

Improved efficiency

A digital transformation strategy usually involves streamlining processes through automation. A number of tasks such as customer data collection, invoicing, payroll, procurement, etc. could easily be shifted from manual to automated, thus saving a company lots of time and therefore money. Furthermore, this will boost employee satisfaction and productivity as they no longer need to spend so much of their work time on monotonous tasks, but rather find a more meaningful use for their skills. Thus, team members are empowered to work more efficiently, as well as the company as a whole. 

Data-driven insights

One of the greatest benefits of digital transformation is the ability to track metrics such as process effectiveness, funnel conversion rates, customer lifetime value, customer satisfaction and many others. Not only is the data nicely organized and easily accessible, but it also lets businesses base their decisions on data. The insights gained through analyzing that data during digital marketing efforts allows businesses to optimize their strategies and processes. With the right management and decision-makers, companies can have a strategic plan and an easier road to a higher ROI.

Enhanced customer experience

Providing a positive customer experience is one of the most important things you can do as a company. While you wouldn’t have a company without your product, you also wouldn’t get far without good customer service which is guaranteed to retain your clients and gain new ones. Digitized companies can offer customers a much clearer view of available services and products, remaining inventory, and the purchasing process itself. A digitized system means a connected system – information on the product life cycle is easy to follow, so employees (and therefore customers) can find out the status of an order at any given time. 

Another meaningful concept for improving customer experience is personalization. This can not be achieved on a large scale without digital transformation. Digital technology provides valuable insight into customer historical data such as purchases, interactions, interests, etc. Using this information companies can personalize the customer experience thus, in turn, increasing profitability.

New skill development

Introducing new technologies inherently involves the need to acquire new skills and knowledge to master them. Digital transformation promotes skills like improved digital literacy, data analytics, continuous improvement through lean and agile methods, and many others. When you invest in employee development, they are likely to feel more motivated and valued by the business, leading to higher employee retention rates. By creating or attracting such a skilled workforce, your company can gain a better competitive advantage in the market. 

What can go wrong?

Even the best-laid plans can run into problems. Some common risks when developing and implementing a digital transformation strategy are:

  • Resistance to change – it can come from the leadership, staff, or customers, and can quickly derail your whole strategy. Collaborate with stakeholders early in the process on ways to make the transitions easier. 
  • Lack of expertise. Make sure to seek out partners with the relevant skills and experience for executing your digital transformation strategy. Remember that digital transformation is a cross-functional endeavour involving multiple departments, so all teams should have all the necessary information at all times. 
  • Failure to apply data. Compiling data without actually using it is a pointless endeavour. Make sure to put in place processes that will take full advantage of the collected data to pull ahead of the competition. 

Technologies that drive digital transformation

So far, we’ve discussed the process of creating a digital transformation strategy, the advantages to it, as well as the potential pitfalls. But what are the technologies that drive digital transformation?

  • Artificial Intelligence can be utilized to anaylze business data and create personalized experiences, predictive maintenance, process automation, and more.
  • Internet of Things devices connect people and equipment, gathering and processing huge amounts of data which enable process automation (examples: voice assistants, fitness watches, household appliances, etc.)
  • Cloud Computing systems like Google Drive, Office 365, Slack, and others offer flexibility and scalability for businesses who want to grow.
  • Virtual and Augmented Reality offer more immersive opportunities to businesses and their customers such as: remote assistance, training simulations, 360 walkthrough, etc.
  • Mobile Applications are being utilized more and more by businesses across all industries in order to offer their products and services to a wider audience.
  • Automation and Robotics are increasingly being implemented for automatizing everything from administrative work, all the way to production creating highly connected Industry 4.0 factories.
  • Blockchain can give companies across industry sectors the ability to use a secure distributed ledger that can record transactions between multiple parties securely and transparently. 

How do I know if I need a digital transformation strategy?

Some of the signs that your business is in need of a digital transformation strategy are:

  • Your current technical processes are inefficient or insufficient.
  • You can’t find the data you need.
  • You want to scale your business.
  • You need to boost interest in your product/service.
  • Rising operational costs.
  • Poor customer support

If you have only one of these issues, it is worth considering doing something “radical”. For many, digital transformation can be scary, but if you take the leap, I assure you it will be worth it!

And if you need help, our team at Redvike is here to support you and cooperate with you on creating a successful digital transformation strategy!