Are you using the correct cyber security measures for your small business? If not, find out why working with a cybersecurity consulting team is crucial for your business’s security.

More than ever, cyber crimes are aggressively rising and no business is protected from these harmful attacks. Businesses must think one step ahead and be prepared for the dangers. One can start by restricting access, updating software and operating systems, building firewalls, and working with an independent cybersecurity consulting agency

Why do you need a cybersecurity consulting firm?

In the digital era, cyber security for businesses is important as the internet is connecting people across the globe. Any cyber attack on your firm can have a serious impact on the industry, resulting in financial losses, reputational damage, and much more. A handful of companies ended up winding up their business because of the losses from cyberattacks.

To keep your company protected and safe from malicious practices, a cyber security consultant helps you in multiple ways. They thoroughly analyze your business, identify the loopholes in your existing system, and provide you with solutions to strengthen security. Further, they help you implement a security system to detect potential threats and build strategies to keep your business secured from future attacks.

Hiring a Security Consulting Firm is a good option to consider as they have the required expertise and can minimize your cost and risk. It is essential to take all necessary steps to protect your business from cybercrime. Some key measures to take include making sure you are up to date on the latest security protocols, regularly checking for suspicious activity, and implementing safety protocols such as two-factor authentication.

Let us see, what are the necessary attributes a consultant must possess to benefit a company? What can they do for you and why is it beneficial?

What are the benefits of a cybersecurity consultant for businesses?

Organizations can gain many advantages from hiring an outside cybersecurity consulting firm, such as improved security measures, up-to-date risk assessment, and increased awareness of cyber threats.

A cybersecurity consultant provides essential services to companies that require them. They can help create a plan of action to protect IT systems, networks, data, and information systems from cyber threats. Companies in a variety of industries use these consultants to save costs that would otherwise go to a full-time IT employee.

Strategic implementation

A cybersecurity consulting firm can create a tailored plan to meet an organization’s needs after assessing its critical assets and identifying potential risks. This plan can involve short-term and long-term goals for security, compliance, and management to ensure the company is prepared for any changes in the future. The firm can provide unbiased advice since they don’t sell any cyber tools or represent any vendors.

Make sure that your data is completely secure and can be restored

Today, businesses are using a range of security measures to protect their organization from attacks, such as firewalls, encryption, antivirus software, password protection, and monitoring. However, one of the most vital steps a business can take to ensure its data is safeguarded is to implement a system of backup and recovery. This involves making copies of data and storing them in a separate location so that in the event of data loss, it can be restored to its original place. This can minimize disruption and allow workers to resume their operations as soon as possible. Cybersecurity firms typically offer backup and recovery services as part of their services, which can be beneficial for businesses of any size.

Reduce the probability of future attacks

A cyber security consultant can help you identify vulnerabilities in your systems, processes, and even human error. They can assess whether your cloud storage is secure; if your encryptions are strong enough; and if data can be intercepted. As cyber security is critical and human error can never be entirely prevented, the consultant can help you mitigate the risks of potential attacks. To reduce the chances of this happening, businesses should consult with a cybersecurity expert who can provide advice and resources to protect against these scams.

Access to new technologies

As cyber-attacks become more and more common place and hackers become increasingly skilled, new security measures are being implemented to better protect businesses from these threats. Unfortunately, these technologies won’t be used if they can’t be utilized. It is a common error for companies to pay little attention to cybersecurity when selecting which technologies to invest in, and this can lead to serious issues later on. Putting resources into the right people, be it a cybersecurity specialist or educating existing staff, is one of the smartest financial decisions you can make. Don’t know where to begin? Working with a managed cybersecurity consultant can help to ensure that you are utilizing the most up-to-date technologies as well as making optimal use of the existing technology.

Cut down on the cost

Cutting down expenses is yet another advantage of using a cybersecurity consultant. A lot of firms make decisions based on their budget. Though bringing on a full-time cybersecurity staff member may seem like the more cost-effective option, it can actually cost the business more in the long run. Besides paying a sizable salary, companies also have to furnish these workers with benefits such as health insurance, pensions, allowances, and much more.
Engaging a third-party cybersecurity consultant can be a great way to save money. Not only do these professionals provide assistance and resources when a company needs it the most, but they also have experts with an extensive understanding of IT. Many cybersecurity consulting companies offer competitive packages and prices, making their services a worthwhile investment.

Educating staff and employees

By employing an external cybersecurity consulting team, your employees will be able to gain knowledge on the latest advancements, how to apply more secure methods in the workplace, and improve their understanding. Once the consultant team has completed their duties, your staff will be able to keep using the tools and safety protocols that were established during the consultation.

Consult with the Cyber Security Consultant

The urgency for companies to shield themselves from malicious cyberattacks has never been greater. To learn how cybersecurity consulting services can benefit a business or have a conversation with a knowledgeable managed IT service provider, reach out to our Cyber Security Consultants. 

Ransomware is a complex type of virus that holds data hostage until a ransom is paid. It can be extremely dangerous for businesses because failure to comply can result in the disclosure or permanent loss of sensitive corporate information. If technology advances, so should the cybersecurity policies that protect it. Every individual or business should prioritize ransomware protection. Without it, poorly secured consumers and businesses risk losing sensitive and confidential information.

Ransomware can inflict significant harm to your business and reputation. It’s essential to be proactive with the finest ransomware protection practices before possible threats take advantage. Continue reading the article to learn what ransomware is and what preventive measures you can take to safeguard your business from any attacks or threats.

What is Ransomware

Ransomware is sophisticated malware that can infect a computer and keep sensitive data or personally identifiable information (PII) hostage until a charge, or “ransom,” is paid. To extort money from victims, cybercriminals frequently use an encryption key to restrict data access.

Ransomware attacks can be extremely harmful to businesses, hospitals, and other organizations that rely on such data on a regular basis. Failure to pay the ransom might result in the irreversible loss or disclosure of personal data in most circumstances.

Some of the most common ways for people to become infected with ransomware are as follows:

1. Phishing emails
2. Visiting corrupted websites (drive-by downloading)
3. Downloading infected file extensions or malicious attachments
4. System and network vulnerabilities
5. Remote desktop protocol (RDP) attacks

Types of Ransomware:

Individual users as well as large corporations can be affected by ransomware attacks. This sort of malware can encrypt individual files, such as documents or images, as well as entire databases, resulting in massive data breaches or the disclosure of sensitive, personal information. There are 4 categories of ransomware:

1. Encryption – This is the most common type of ransomware. This type encrypts files and data within a system, rendering the content inaccessible without a decryption key.
2. Lockers – Lockers lock users out of their system completely, preventing them from accessing files and applications until a ransom is paid.
3. Scareware – Scareware tries to scare users into purchasing unnecessary software by locking up their computer or, in some cases, flooding the screen with pop-ups that force the user to pay to remove them.
4. Leakware/Doxware – Leakware threatens to disclose sensitive and confidential information online until the ransom is paid.

There are many ways in which you can protect your business from these malicious ransomware attacks. Follow these guidelines to prevent ransomware and lessen the damage if you are attacked.

1. Backup your data – If you don’t want to be locked out of your important files and system, the best protection method is to back up your data on a cloud server or an external hard drive. The user has the option of wiping the system clean and reinstalling the backup files in the case of a ransomware attack.
   The 3-2-1 backup rule is also the most effective and widely used method for dealing with ransomware attacks: keep three separate versions of data on two different storage types, with at least one offsite.
2. Secure your backups – Ransomware will look for backup data and encrypt or delete it, making it unrecoverable, so use backup systems that do not allow direct access to backup files.
3. Always keep your systems and software updated – Ensure that all of your software—including your operating system, web browser, antivirus, and other software updated to the most recent version. You should make sure everything is upgraded and up to date because malware, viruses, and ransomware are constantly evolving with new variants that can get beyond your outdated security features.
4. Use the best Antivirus software – The most popular defenses against attacks include ransomware protection software and comprehensive antivirus software. They are able to scan, detect, and respond to online threats. One thing to remember is to configure the firewall because the software only functions internally and can only identify an attack once it has already gotten into the system.
5. Email Protection – Block malicious executables, spam, and other methods that are known to ransomware. Malware infections are typically spread through email phishing. Avoid clicking on unknown files or links from unauthorized sources.
6. Limit User Access privileges – Reduce the number of access points via which malware might reach your business by using comprehensive access management to prohibit unauthorized access. By doing this, you can stop ransomware from spreading among the company’s systems.
7. Separate networks – To stop ransomware from reaching the target data, each department should have its own security measures, firewalls, and exclusive access. Segmented network access will not only stop the threat from spreading to the main network, but it will also give the security team more time to locate, control, and get rid of the threat.
8. Security Awareness Training – Every employee of a company should receive regular security awareness training so they can protect themselves from social engineering and phishing scams. Having a basic understanding of cybersecurity can strongly impact and even help to stop these attacks.

Effective ransomware preventative measures begin before any attacks take place. Protection against ransomware is important if any unforeseen incident or circumstance takes place and this you can prevent by performing backups of your files, installing powerful antivirus software and firewalls, and taking cybersecurity awareness training.

To know the future of cloud services, you first need to understand the differences between AWS and Azure. Both cloud providers provide powerful and robust infrastructures to help organizations manage

and scale their IT environments. However, they serve different needs and have different business models.

So if you’re looking for software solutions that can adapt easily to both environments, this post will help you decide which cloud service provider is the perfect choice for your business.

AWS and Azure are two of the most popular cloud services in the world. Both have advantages, but they also have some key differences that may affect your choice. This article will explain those differences and how they can impact your business.

1. Simplicity of Use

Both AWS and AZURE are user-friendly, but they also come with a lot of complexities and complications. AWS becomes simpler once you get used to it. The platform gives a lot of flexibility and freedom to the user when it comes to customization and the integration of third-party extensions, so developers and IT professionals will appreciate working with it.

On the contrary, AZURE is easier, especially for those experienced with using the Windows platform. It is less difficult to create hybrid environments, integrate additional servers, and run cloud instances. Users who are familiar with working with technologies like Active Directory and the SQL database will prefer using AZURE.

2. Flexibility

Amazon Web Services and the Azure Cloud platform offer various services that can be used independently or combined to meet your business needs. For example, if you’re a small business looking for a solution that will allow you to scale as you grow, then AWS may be the most suitable solution for you because it offers a host of different cloud services like EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) and S3 (Simple Storage Service).

On the other hand, if your company requires more advanced features like automatic scaling and elasticity, then the Azure cloud platform may be the best solution for you because it has many more advanced features such as storage options such as RDS (Relational Database Service), SQL Database, LocalDB, and so on. With these two platforms, there’s no need to choose between one solution over another!

3. Licensing

Customers are not required to deal with license issues while using Azure or AWS. Customers only need to pay for the services they use because both have a pay-as-you-go pricing structure and if they’ve already paid for the service, they’re eligible for license mobility in Microsoft Azure.

Although Azure is simpler for Windows administrators to set up, AWS is more flexible and feature-rich. AWS offers software as a service (SaaS), making it more flexible and generating more revenue than Azure.

4. Security

The security offered by AWS and Azure is very similar (both companies have excellent security features). AWS is doing a great job of choosing secure options and settings by default, ensuring increased privacy. Azure employs Microsoft’s Cloud Defender service for security and data privacy, an AI-powered solution that guards against new and existing threats. By analyzing this, AWS is demonstrably more dependable and secure than Azure’s AI service.

5. Pricing Models

As previously mentioned, AWS and Azure both have pay-as-you-go pricing models and offer affordable pricing schemes for all businesses. Azure is charged per minute, whereas AWS is charged on an hourly basis. AWS pricing is based on use, while Azure pricing has a fixed monthly cost. Therefore, if you often use cloud services, AWS may be a slightly more expensive alternative.

6. Networking

A Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) from Amazon allows users to build private networks inside the cloud, while Azure uses the Virtual Network (VNET) feature. Both of the features allow customers to build isolated networks, subnets, route tables, private IP address ranges, and network gateways.

7. Storage Space

AWS and Azure both provide adequate cloud storage. AWS provides services such as Amazon Basic storage service (S3), elastic block store (EBS), and Glacier, whilst Azure Storage Services provides blob storage, disc storage, and the standard archive but it also gives temporary storage via the D drive and block storage capabilities.

8. Developer Tools

AWS and Azure both offer a wide range of developer tools that can be used to build and run your applications.

AWS offers several tools for creating applications, including the AWS CloudFormation template language and the AWS SDKs for Java, Python, JavaScript, PHP, and Ruby. These tools allow you to create highly customizable infrastructure using declarative templates that specify where resources are located and how they should be configured.

Azure also provides various developer tools that help developers build their applications quickly without writing code themselves. These include Visual Studio Code (VSCode), which allows you to edit code directly within VSCode without downloading additional files or installing additional software on your computer.

Conclusion

When considering which cloud service to use, developers and IT professionals should look beyond price and feature comparisons. They should also analyze the systems, software, and tools’ end-to-end experience, performance, and scalability. With so many services at each company, it’s difficult to benchmark each in a meaningful way across all categories. Instead, we recommend using guides like this one as a starting point for making your decision but remember that the real proof is in how you plan to use AWS or Azure over the long term.

Location intelligence in marketing is changing the way organizations engage with existing and potential clients. Businesses use data from several sources to make the best, most informed decisions. Location-based marketing allows you to tailor the information based on the context of the particular user, linking the real and digital worlds to give relevant material when it is needed. GIS software development has become increasingly popular, making it easier for businesses to strategically plan their marketing campaigns. By utilizing this technology, organizations have a better chance of achieving their marketing objectives and gaining a competitive advantage.

What is location intelligence marketing?

Location intelligence marketing uses geospatial data to gain insights that help businesses identify and target their ideal audience. By analyzing data related to specific locations, marketers can create more effective campaigns that deliver the right message to their target audience at the right time and in the right place. Geotagging combines geospatial data with customer, store, or local demographic information to provide precise location targeting for businesses. Through location intelligence marketing, businesses can improve their marketing effectiveness and gain better results.

Location-based marketing provides a personalized approach to business outreach and allows businesses to gain valuable insights into their customers’ needs and purchasing behaviors. With real-time monitoring of prospective customers’ locations, businesses can tailor their marketing efforts for better targeting and improved sales. This is how location intelligence can help you with your marketing needs:

1. Enhancing the general pricing strategy
2. Identifying failing sales territories
3. Improving direct marketing and advertising efforts
4. Assisting in the definition of new trade regions for forthcoming stores
5. Locating prospective markets
6. Evaluating the overall marketing and business outcomes

Here are the benefits of utilizing location intelligence for marketing:

1. Higher ROI – Using location intelligence data for marketing can boost ROI by as much as 30%. Your cost per sale will go down if you laser-target your market using demographic and geographic factors. It provides you with the chance to alter your service and product offerings as well as your marketing message in order to improve response rates and cut costs for your marketing efforts.
2. Customer loyalty and satisfaction – Location-based marketing can help businesses both retain existing customers and attract new ones. By leveraging location intelligence, marketers can create targeted offers for specific customer segments, which can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Consumers are more likely to respond positively to targeted marketing, as it provides them with quick gratification and meets their specific needs.
3. Get maximum exposure and visibility – There are 3 types of location-based marketing that is geotargeting, geofencing, and geo-conquesting. All these three tools combined, give you maximum market exposure and visibility. You can get recognition in the market and boost sales by using tools like geographic information systems (GIS) to graphically analyze target markets and trends among your customers and prospects.

Businesses use location intelligence for the TGC model in their marketing strategy. TGC stands for targeting, growth, and competition. The model is used to target their intended audience, growth, and expansion of their products and services lastly, and to keep a significant competitive advantage, it is important to remain aware of your competitors and their strategies.

A fun fact is that even the competitors collect and store location information about their customers, implying that location intelligence is critical to the success of medium-to-large size companies, and it plays an important role in their growth and recognition.

A Geographic Information System (GIS Software) is a software program that is used to store, retrieve, manage, display, and analyze various types of geographic and geospatial data. There are many location intelligence companies or software which can help you with your marketing needs.

TM Systems provides one of the best location intelligence and GIS application development services in India as well as in the Netherlands. Location intelligence can help marketers allocate their expenses more effectively by analyzing data from various channels and targeting specific periods.

With the help of TM Systems, businesses can use location intelligence to expand their marketing reach, resulting in increased revenue and sales.

Introduction About SEO And How It Will Help Your Company:

Having an SEO-friendly website is one of the most important factors to consider these days for any small or big business owner. Strategizing SEO can be one of the most time-consuming processes, particularly for those who do not have the luxury of time and want work to be completed effectively and quickly. The major concern of the business is to first create a website, then either be in the top three of the reach or appear on the first page of the Search Engine Results Page (SERPs). Considering the competition, market, and niche, as well as not wanting to waste time, money, and resources, hiring a good professional SEO company comes in handy. It can be done more efficiently and on time with their team of experts.

Outsourcing an SEO company is usually the best option. Did you know that the Netherlands is the hub for it? There are some of the best SEO companies in the Netherlands that are not only reliable but also work and cost-efficient.

Here is how hiring a professional SEO company can help you:

1. It saves you time – SEO is a constant process that involves many hours of research, optimization, and maintenance. For something as time-intensive as SEO, an agency could save a significant amount of time and generate results rapidly. An agency can handle all of the time-consuming SEO activities, such as:

• a. Keyword research and an SEO plan that is coordinated and focused on your company’s key performance indicators (KPIs).
• b. Metadata optimizations suited to your specific requirements
• c. Content optimization and keyword density
• d. Strategic-level internal linking optimization
• e. Building backlinks and guest posting.
• f. Analysis of campaign data, reporting, and data-driven adjustments
• g. Monitoring for indexing problems and SEO performance concerns
• h. Making modifications to your website

2. It saves you money – The costs of employing a full staff of in-house SEO experts, including their salaries, software, and tools, are expensive. One of the benefits of hiring an SEO agency is that they can provide their skilled team and resources for less money than it would cost to have an in-house team running.

Hiring an external SEO company might be more expensive than doing it in-house, but due to the significance of SEO for business growth and the high ROI they provide, they are difficult to overlook. For instance, according to the data provided by Statista, SEO is one of the single most successful ROI-driving marketing strategies accessible, with 32% of marketers globally claiming the greatest ROI and 41% claiming a medium ROI. It means that one of the main benefits of hiring an SEO firm in the Netherlands is that any costs are offset by the valuable revenue generated. SEO also promotes brand recognition and consumer loyalty through the use of methods such as search PPC, paid advertisements, and commercials.

3. Increase efficiency – Because they have a team of SEO experts, website techs, and content writers on staff, agencies have the resources and staff to implement changes effortlessly. They have a full crew that can work on the business’ SEO strategy at once. Updates can be done considerably more quickly because they are continually working on your website, and any necessary adjustments may be made right away.

4. Security – It is much simpler to hire a professional SEO company since they are aware of what to watch out for to prevent any negative effects and to keep your website (and rankings) secure. If you are not careful, you run the danger of penalties, spam, and hacking.

A professional team at agencies monitors tools like Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics, and others for major difficulties. If you don’t know what to check for, errors like black hat attacks, faulty backlinks, manual activities, security flaws, and so on can create serious problems. Another benefit of employing an SEO agency is that it may assist you in protecting your brand from negative media, competition, popular SEO myths, and other threats. And always remember to do complete research before seeking the help of any SEO agency.

5. Take advantage of industry knowledge – Agencies have a whole team of experts ready to handle any situation Hiring an SEO firm in the Netherlands means receiving guidance from SEO specialists who have years of expertise and can help with your SEO strategy.

These are the ways in which SEO assists you in the most efficient and professional way:

• a. Agency professionals can monitor industry news channels, forums, and competitors for information on algorithm updates and their influence on SEO rankings.
• b. Monitor the health of your website for indexing difficulties, traffic drops, ranking loss, manual actions, and other concerns.
• c. Capable of detecting issues and discovering the fundamental reasons for algorithmic penalties and declines.
• d. Provide direction and growth recommendations for problem resolution.
• e. Experts have access to cutting-edge technology and major industry platforms, and they know how to make the most of them and they distribute it to your brand.

6. Increase your sales and revenue – According to BrightEdge’s study, search engines produce 40% of all online revenue and more than 53% of all internet traffic! SEO leads have a closure rate of greater than 14%. They are eight times more likely to convert than outbound marketing leads. Businesses that appear on the first page of search results can expect to receive more than one-third of all clicks! These data emphasize the significance of search optimization in producing real sales and revenue.

Conclusion:

TM Systems has been a leading Information Technology consulting firm and the best SEO service provider in the Netherlands as well as in India. With three decades of expertise, TM Systems has established itself as the industry leader and is now widely regarded as the best business in its sector.

And to avail of our services, you can visit our website right away and get the services one of the best digital marketing company in the Netherlands. Our assistance and outsourcing services can help your company grow by increasing its revenue and sales.

For many businesses, the benefits of employing an SEO company have become too significant to ignore. The immense importance of SEO is the foundation of business growth and should not be overlooked or viewed as the most important component, thus employing an efficient SEO company like TM System should be considered for the long-term growth and development of the company.

In today’s tech world, blockchain technology is gaining much popularity and often compared with database technology as they are similar. However, while both cater to a similar system of storing data – the design and the purpose of both of these technologies sets them quite apart. Before we jump in to compare the two, let’s look at what both are in their own right.

Blockchain technology uses a decentralized network system to create a distributed ledger technology that lets a number of people share data and work together. The data is stored and shared in the form of blocks. Comparatively much newer, it uses cryptography to form an evolving list of blocks, each of which are marked by a timestamp to make sure it can be verified by all users later on. Database technology is a centralized database system that stores information and allows access to existing ones. A central authority manages the server and can also modify the data, allowing for different data structures that can be useful for certain kinds of data storage and hierarchical environments.

Both systems are clearly similar in the sense that they store data in one way or the other. However, the difference is in the design of both and their overall purpose. Here is a comparison of both side by side:

Handling Data

Blockchain technology uses straightforward operations like read and write to manage the data that comes through. Database systems use more operations – create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) to handle the data that is being stored. These operations are managed by the central administrator.

Architecture

Perhaps one of the biggest and obvious differences in both the systems is that of architecture. Blockchain uses a distributed ledger network that works very well for a peer system. In contrast, database technology serves a client-server architecture making it very useful for systems that require a central authority.

Authority

The blockchain technology is famous for its decentralized system that allows for easy peer sharing and increased security whereas the database system has a central administrator that manages a whole data structure and can also delegate certain functions in a hierarchy if required. This is where the difference between the two should be analysed as it is not about whether one is better or the other but what one’s requirement is and which one caters better to their work and goals.

Price

Blockchain technology, comparatively new as it is, is financially  harder to access and maintain. Database technology is easy to execute and to maintain as it is older and hence, tried and tested which also makes it easier to access.

Transparency and Security

Blockchain technology, catering to a peer network, is more transparent as all users get access to similar features and functions. In addition, users of blockchain technology cannot modify stored data. All of this lower security risks making blockchain technology a favourite for people looking for more security. Although this is only for public blockchains. In contrast, a database system has one central authority who assigns and delegates functions and features to different levels of users. The central administrator also has access to modifying data and is responsible for taking backups – all of this increasing security risks and decreasing transparency.

Performance

In terms of the speed and how fast and efficiently a system performs, database technology comes out as a clear winner as its system is straightforward which makes it extremely scalable. Blockchain technology is slower in comparison as it needs to engage in consensus and verification methods.

Now that the difference is evident, the ultimate choice for you lies in which purpose and design is better suited for your company and its projects.

Since the last two decades, the urban sector of the world has seen much growth fuelled in some way or the other by technology. While some businesses are marketing online and building a presence – there is a new path for ones who seek to make their inner workings efficient and productive. On an average, employees of any business put in much more time and effort in their work than the result that is yielded. Hence, there tends to be a large gap between the input and output.

In such scenarios, businesses often make the mistake of putting in more effort at the input stage – increasing the number of employees, more machines/hardware so as to increase the output. However, the process between the two is often neglected. To bridge this gap between the input and output, one has to look at the process between the two. There are many ways to go from one or the other but the question is – which is the more efficient way?

In recent times, digitalisation is a popular and effective solution to bridge this gap as it focuses on making the process less time consuming, cost-effective and more sustainable in the long run. Digitalisation focuses on integrating digital technologies into a business and its various processes in terms of how it works internally. People often confuse it but this is part of a 3-step process: the first is digitization (converting analog data into digital), then digitalization (incorporating digital processes into the business process), and lastly a digital transformation (a complete conversion to digital, often using intelligent technologies).

Digitalisation is the incorporation of digital technologies into business/social processes, with the goal of improving them. The most obvious benefits are: efficient workflow, optimised deliveries and new services.

More specific benefits include things like:

• new ways to acquire customers,
• faster and better decision-making through detailed data analysis,
• better working environment for employees and hence more chances of retaining them,
• Reduction in operational costs.

How do you achieve this? Here are a few steps that will help you digitalize your business:

Customer Relationship Management software

Integration of CRM software into a business process can boost customer interaction and employee communication making communication and hence execution of tasks faster and more efficient. It also helps to analyse the needs of customers so that your business can provide targeted services.

Use a cloud computing system

An integral part of any digitalization initiative, cloud computing helps a business to reduce their cost of maintaining IT systems and upgrades of the same.

Marketing Automation

This works as a digital tool to minimize time and effort and maximise efficiency by looking for customers and subscribers and emailing them individually along with an automated email campaign.

Cloud Storage Solutions

With cloud storage solutions, employees have round the clock accessibility to stored information and makes documentation and organising of data easier.

Communication tools

Collaborative communication platforms allow employees to communicate with each other while editing, storing, and managing data.

Security

Confidential information is shared and stored in various forms and protecting them is a part of the process of digitalization. Some of the tools include: encrypted VPN to allow remote access, multi-factor authentication, a set standard for password strength standards, and more.

In 2021, even further accelerated by the Covid pandemic, we are a part of a technological revolution and digitalizing your business is the need of the hour as customer demands are ever changing, and efficiency is integral to the stability and growth of every business.

The online presence of any brand has an inner working system that they are relying on for efficiency in managing the content they are creating. The online platform you choose is vital for your website to flourish and is dependent on many factors – your goals, what you want to convey, and more.

The top two contenders for making your behind-the-scenes perfect are Shopify and WordPress – if you’ve been browsing around to set up your online platform, you must have heard of these giants in the e-commerce industry.

Shopify was made to be an e-commerce platform, dedicated to just that and helps build an online storefront. It provides all the tools you need to keep that store functioning and also hosts it. Shopify stands out because of how easy it is to use, especially for people who are looking to create their own website / store, without any technical background.

WordPress, an open-source platform and a content management system at its core, offers many customizations and flexibility. It requires you to host your own site while it functions with e-commerce tools that can be used as plug-ins along with it.

Both platforms are giant players in the e-commerce industry. To aid you further in making the right choice, we have listed some differences of the two here:

User Interface : Shopify is popular for its great user interface as a platform and how easy it is to use even for people who have no technical knowledge. WordPress requires some technical support so base your decision on which kind you’d be able to operate on.

Budget and Pricing : Shopify has set up pricing plans for its customers while WordPress is free to use. However, WordPress does require you to pay for your own hosting service and domain name to set up shop.

Plug-in services and extensions : One of the biggest differences between Shopify and WordPress is that the latter is an open source platform and hence allows access to millions of other plug-in apps, a lot of which are free. Whereas, Shopify has about 2500 (paid and free) available in its all inclusive Shopify App Store.

E-commerce capabilities : Since Shopify is an e-commerce platform by default, it houses its own e-commerce system complete with mobile friendly versions, domain registration, store management, integration with social media sites, and an intuitive web builder. However, in contrast, WordPress is not an e-commerce platform so there is one more step it takes to adopt e-commerce capabilities. WooCommerce, an app to integrate e-commerce features to the platform. While this way seems like a roundabout way of going about it – it does offer more customization.

SEO features : Shopify offers a range of options to integrate SEO into your web activity – which allows many extensions, custom meta fields which enhance the data you put forth for your products/service. WordPress offers a variety of third party extensions and plug-ins for integrating SEO into your website.

Maintenance and Security : Perhaps the most important but overlooked part of building an online presence is the security solutions you need along with maintaining the website. Shopify handles this with ease on its own while you only needs to set up a strong password and take care of the fundamentals. As WordPress is a platform you host yourself, you will need to install security systems for your website and maintain it accordingly.

If convenience and tracking your budget are your top priority, Shopify is a great start for you. It is a one-stop solution for many. If your requirement is control and customisation and you have some technical knowledge or the ability to get some tech support on board, WordPress is a sound choice!

A famous web developer, Dain Miller, puts it succinctly:

“UI is the saddle, the stirrups, and the reins. UX is the feeling you get being able to ride the horse.”

In the digital age, terms like UX and UI design have become increasingly popular. Now that businesses are going digital or at least using some form of digital services — these terms are used on an everyday basis in the field of entrepreneurship.

What is UI and UX design, really?

Both, User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX), design are processes or ways of designing user interactions with machines, software, applications, and more. Let’s get into the details of both.

User Interface (UI) Design and its Significance

User Interface refers to the design that makes the interaction between users and machines seamless and efficient. Literally, it is our point of contact — us, the user, “facing” the machine/product. UI design involves designing that point of contact — the interface.

More specifically, designing a UI includes designing an intuitive interface with every visual and interactive element detailed out. For example, a UI designer would design the icons, buttons, the color palette, placement, typography, and how responsive the process is. Some part of it is designing the aesthetics — the look and feel of the product. The design process balances the technical functions behind the interface with its visual and interactive elements so that the product is not only functioning, but it is functioning in a way that is usable and intuitive to the user.

A successful UI design is one which guides the user’s movement through the interface intuitively, along with conveying the brand’s messaging with the aesthetic elements.

User Experience (UX) Design and its Significance

We are all familiar with “user experience” as a term — it is widely used in all kinds of fields that offer a product, service, or experience. For example, the user experience of a furniture or a coffee machine, or an app.

User Experience (UX) Design then refers to designing that user experience by taking into account all the different elements that create a certain experience. They consider how an experience makes users feel, how easy or difficult it is for a user to finish a task using the service or product. All of this is done by conducting user research, which involves observing and analyzing user’s interaction with the flow of the service or product. The goal is to create a fulfilling experience for the user in terms of quality of the experience.

While user experience as a concept is not exclusively digital and is used in all fields, in the context of the digital world, a UX designer focuses on improving the quality of user interaction with the product.

The difference between

UI and UX design are altogether two stages of the process of designing a product or service. The ultimate goal for both is the same — to design a seamless interaction and experience for the user. Because of this common ultimate goal, the two terms are often used interchangeably. However, the two serve different purposes in that ultimate goal – one being that of interaction (UI) and the other of experience (UX).

The design process is not truly complete and user-ready without both these types of design processes. So, what do they do differently?

UI design is all about the interaction of the user with the product and hence the aesthetics and intuitive functioning, whereas UX design is all about designing based on determining how the user will feel during this experience.

In the whole process, UX design is the first stage, where the designer lays out the user journey and determines the experience by identifying the user’s problems and the solutions to those. UI design is the second stage, where the journey and experience is made possible by building an interface which is aesthetically pleasing and intuitive — with visual and interactive elements.

TM Systems can help with every stage of the design process to help you develop a top-notch product and service. Check out our website for more information.

Good design is a powerful way of communicating ideas and subtly guiding one’s thinking and behaviour. It is an integral part of any product, application, or process system – how they are designed affects how the end user interacts with them and uses them optimally. There are many ways to design these products, applications, or process systems – and one of the most recent ones is design that is data driven.

However, one may ask the role of data in design and the answer is age-old: “Knowledge is power”

Data driven design is all about incorporating feedback data of the user’s habits and behaviours into the design process to match the user’s needs and hence make it more effective. It is an iterative process that is a part of the UX design approach. The data is collected in different ways, like: page analytics, demographic data, analyzing behaviour patterns, and more direct ways like customer surveys.

Feedback data from users about how they use a certain product or service helps the designer to know how to design or in cases where it is already designed it helps to know whether the design is being used in the way it was intended. The data used is quantitative as well as qualitative so as to get a wholesome idea of the users’ likes/dislikes, preferences, and the way in which they interact with products or the service.

The importance of data-driven design:

In a world which runs on data, feedback data is extremely valuable as it helps the designer actually know their audience and come up with custom solutions. It makes the target audience real and their behaviours and patterns quantifiable and customised rather than an abstract homogenous entity. This offers the designer a great platform to start with – not only do they know “who” they are designing for but also details of who they are and what they prefer and how they use the products.

Designing or redesigning as per the data from users can give a high return on investment as the efforts you will put in are more focused and based on research rather than arbitrary. Studies also show that data-driven design leads to more business conversions as it is targeted at specific users and hence, it is more likely to appeal to them.

How to know when to use a data-driven approach

Since there are multiple ways to design something it can get confusing to know when to use a data-driven design approach. The other data-related ways of designing are data-aware and data-informed and they are softer in the way they incorporate data into their design workflow.

However, data driven design involves a hard-core approach that uses data as its foundation to base all its design decisions on. While it works for almost any kind of design, it is most useful when one wants to optimize the performance of their product or process. Here, quantitative figures from the users will help the designer create an optimal flow – things like where in the design flow is the user getting stuck, or where certain features could be added or subtracted to increase efficiency.

Overall, data-related design has multifold benefits and it can help your company grow to its maximum potential. Contact us at TM Systems to incorporate it into your business workflow.