<p>The Dedicated Team Model is a model of cooperation with a digital service provider in which the client is provided with software development specialists on a long-term basis. A team of specialists is selected in accordance with the requirements of the project, based on their experience and skills.</p>

The Dedicated Team Model is a model of cooperation with a digital service provider in which the client is provided with software development specialists on a long-term basis. A team of specialists is selected in accordance with the requirements of the project, based on their experience and skills.

Dedicated team model | Agilie

<p dir="ltr">The project management life cycle is the complete process of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing a project. Knowing these key project lifecycle stages can help organize it and focus on your projects. Each phase of the project management life cycle has specific goals, allowing you to track each step in detail throughout the cycle. In this blog post, we will look at what the project life cycle is, explore the five phases of the project management life cycle, and why the Discovery phase is helpful for production.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Project management phases: Brief Overview</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Project production is a set of activities that must be performed in a particular order within a given period. A project requires a system of processes and talented people to get the job done. All in all, it's not an easy feat!</p>
<p dir="ltr">Any project requires a comprehensive study of its life cycle. Knowing how each phase functions provides valuable insight into how to approach it.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The standard project management life cycle consists of five phases:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Project Concept &amp; Initiation</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Project Planning</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Project Launch or Execution</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Project Performance &amp; Control</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Project Close&nbsp;</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/v7uapRuJzVivXY6Oyrm52T85yRE2fcIHqvN02hytRFEXAF-hH1D7j-eNx0nZrlOtl1a1SpNDX8_Qs3IcvssSK0mGUcQ98nQV05h-NpnG5pavLPgIQvdb9x6o58PzF8V7d6DhE9zWGKdTq-dj8Tc6h9kr9nh1Sl4IT3OZJuC8TmSOZQswkC9Qp7ZIqg" width="602" height="812" /></p>
<p dir="ltr">Usually, when a new project is started, these five phases follow each other in order, but this is not always the case. For example, if there are any changes during the course of the project, you can return to the planning phase to accommodate the changes, but do not repeat the entire cycle again from the initiation phase.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This level of flexibility simplifies change management processes throughout the project life cycle.</p>
<p dir="ltr">What is the importance of the project management life cycle? This sequence of phases may seem like a formality to you, but it actually helps a lot with the implementation of a project plan. It allows you to apply an organized approach to project management. This means that you will have more obvious roles and responsibilities, improved communication, and stable results (and there will be many fewer omissions and forgotten tasks!).</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">What are the different phases of a project?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">The life cycle of each project includes several stages. Although there are different models of project life cycles, almost all of them include the following five phases:</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Phase 1: Project Concept &amp; Initiation</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The first stage of the life cycle, initiation, requires a kickoff meeting that loops around the client and investor. Goals, objectives, doubts, fears, and any initial thoughts and ideas are discussed here. When decision-makers are not in the same place, you can look forward to organizing an online meeting for video chat or conference call to discuss the following topics for discussion:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Who are the investors and stakeholders?</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">What is the vision and mission of the business?</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">What are the expected timelines?</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">What are the risks?</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">What budget and resources are available?</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">This phase includes the description of the project, the creation of a business case, the identification of key stakeholders, and the approval of the project by the relevant parties.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Start by drafting a project charter that outlines your initial ideas as well as the project scope and constraints.</p>
<p dir="ltr">When you get busy with tasks and deadlines, it will be very easy to forget the importance of the project. In fact, only 55% of the participants clearly understand the business goals of the project, mainly team leaders and project managers.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The project charter must include specific business benefits associated with your project. This will help you and your team members not only focus on achieving goals, but also ensure that time is not wasted in advance.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Drafting a project charter will help you provide leaders with specific facts and get their approval.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Phase 2: Project Planning</h3>
<p dir="ltr">During the planning phase of the project, the project manager establishes the purpose and scope of the project. In addition, project managers use this stage to determine the project budget, determine the required resources, and begin to organize a team to complete the tasks associated with the project. A feasibility analysis is testing the viability of an idea, for example, to ensure the project is legally and technically feasible as well as for economic profit.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Depending on the nature of the project, the project manager may create a report detailing the plan.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/FgNGiMZJlmBo0pc4r2rM7wwABHhnFvUBPoDIbuwYIQxH6CX5tWHB1452AtflH_epYJkpHNuhT5zMry9ja4Zz4wV3vA70F1zfYwNlVcwRM0bnvyKu9pXGkQq5yEhtXFSmKJ0liM9XcsGFwrG-vvu_RMeBxcvv6uRHFexwA00LOdv3zkZwl5MYrQ-lIQ" width="602" height="301" /></p>
<p dir="ltr">The planning phase requires careful consideration of the many elements associated with your project. Among other things, these may include the following information:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Key roles and responsibilities</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Success rates</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Possible risks and obstacles that reduce efficiency</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Expectations for intra-team communication</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Project Schedule</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">All of these elements should be described in a detailed project plan that you will present to the team at the kick-off meeting and then refer to throughout the project.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Phase 3: Project Launch or Execution</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Team leaders and project managers are involved in creating results, facilitating clients, completing tasks, implementing processes, and more. Direct communication at all stages of a project is essential and vital to the successful implementation of an idea.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Important at the execution stage:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Frequent meetings</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">Keeping teams up to date with scheduled online meetings helps keep the project on track and on schedule. Timely and crystal-clear communication via video conferencing reduces blind spots, improves collaboration, and speeds up the movement of items in the pipeline.</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Conflict Management</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">Problems are inevitable. Reduce the likelihood of incidents by inviting the development team to speak up and voice issues or anything that could potentially become a weak point in the chain.</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Progress reports</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">Regular updates shared during a meeting session, or video chat help you stay ahead of the curve and catch issues before they happen.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Phase 4: Project Performance &amp; Control</h3>
<p dir="ltr">This phase requires a review to make sure everything is in line with what was previously agreed upon. What are the key performance indicators? What needs to be implemented in order to meet the deadlines and financial parameters?</p>
<p dir="ltr">Hold online meetings with key players for regular audits, reviews, and performance reports. You can give presentations remotely via video conferencing, including workflows, important documents and files, and anything else that needs to be shared.</p>
<p dir="ltr">During the monitoring and control phase of the project, the project manager oversees the execution of the project. They provide feedback to team members, make sure all project elements are on schedule, and remove roadblocks. By monitoring the progress of the project, managers can ensure that the scope does not increase and the project stays within acceptable time limits.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Phase 5: Project Close</h3>
<p dir="ltr">After completion of all work required at the implementation stage, the project moves to the final stage. Closeout starts when the user accepts the project deliverables and the project authority concludes that the project has met the goal. During the project closure phase, the project manager communicates the completion of the project to project stakeholders. By this stage, the stakeholders have all the results. Many project managers evaluate the success of a project at this stage in order to improve the lifecycle management process for future projects. Commissioning builds trust with stakeholders and has to be integrated into all stages of the project with a project management approach to ensure that each step of testing is successful.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Decommissioning means the termination phase of a project that is carried out in an orderly manner. It requires fulfilling standards to preserve important data, information, and documentation. If required, the data retained can be easily retrieved and utilized in the future.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">How the Discovery Phase contributes to efficient project management</h2>
<p dir="ltr">The discovery phase helps to assess whether the company will be able to complete the client's project and how much it will cost. During the discovery phase, business problems are identified, the domain is explored, requirements are identified, and solution design is done.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/J-93zqvC7X36xNp1wR0zCt4L4OqjFrvqJvEcZSJQm9wvhIEqrgsYG30rEjoeDDYDseRZ6CRA7ELOOw0WBEgJqyENPeCshQMz_FMKM7hJEdxNvF7pZJ2Zi5Ey5AmAUGIuoGmiSNLdUoiwalT3Yv1fLsysDGz90mFjbqoRfY7uTCZ8kv5uGGIQ-3dMQg" width="602" height="361" /></p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Project schedule</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Inception is carried out as a preparatory phase before starting work on the current project. The main goal is to detail the requirements, especially for the first iterations, so that the team does not have delays at the start. As a result of this research, you and your team should create a detailed backlog for the first few sprints of the project, at least basically decide on the architecture and approve the project schedule.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Project team composition</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Project team composition includes those who can help to lead the discovery work and who can make it feasible (developer), usable (UX-person who meets the users), and sellable (PO who knows the business).</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Project milestones</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Discovery is a phased work. We go from global business goals and objectives to specific user actions in the system. After each stage, it provides a separate artifact with fixed requirements. Artifacts are conditionally divided into mandatory and optional, and the final set depends on the goals of the customer.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Project budget</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The discovery phase allows you to determine the project timeline and budget, specify the requirements for the final product, identify the needs of the end user and get feedback from them about the product.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Project risks and challenges</h3>
<p dir="ltr">In order to estimate the cost of the project and make a commercial offer to the client, it is necessary to conduct a Discovery phase or a complete analysis of all operations of the project implementation, risks, and challenges - from the emergence of an idea and business concept to the technical implementation of the expected product. This approach allows you to protect the client from unplanned costs and facilitate and clearly define the working conditions of the team that will develop the product.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">FAQs</h2>
<h3 dir="ltr">What are the objectives of each phase?</h3>
<p dir="ltr">In the process of implementing a conceptual idea regarding the production process or other activities at the enterprise, several successive moments can be distinguished. So, it is customary to distinguish the following stages of the project life cycle:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Initiation - the idea is put forward, as well as the preparation of project documents. A detailed justification is being made, as well as marketing research, which will serve as an aid to the implementation of the subsequent stages.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Planning - determining the timing of the implementation of the plan, dividing these processes into specific stages, as well as appointing performers and responsible persons.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Execution - begins immediately after the plans have been approved. It implies the implementation in full of all planned actions.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Controlling or monitoring - In this phase of the life cycle, the manager controls resources, quality of work and timely completion of tasks, coordinates team members, and promptly makes changes to the project plan in case of unforeseen circumstances.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Completion - analysis of the received data and control for their compliance with the planned ones. In most cases, this responsibility rests with management.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3 dir="ltr">What is the scope of each phase?</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The costs of the project are directly dependent on its scope. Large projects require full-time workers, while relatively small projects with the same life cycle may only require part-time workers. Therefore, one person can be responsible for many projects in different life cycle phases. The management of the enterprise is responsible for periodic review of the most important stages of the project, which should occur at least at the end of each phase of the life cycle or after critical technological stages of the project.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">What are the deliverables of each phase?</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The project deliverables include defining the product or services that are needed. The planning phase helps to set the budget and deliver project deliverables without exceeding it.&nbsp; In the Project Execution phase, the team will start creating project deliverables and achieve project goals and objectives as outlined in the project plan. In the Project Closure phase, the product is delivered to clients, the project manager will highlight strengths, list the takeaways of the project, and identify the unclearness.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">What is the timeline for each phase?</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Regardless of which methodology is chosen for project management, each of them will always have a beginning, a middle, and an end. This is the life cycle of a project.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Project management can seem overwhelming at times. However, dividing a project into five distinct phases, called the project life cycle, will help the team manage time and resources wisely, which increases the chances of success for projects of any size or complexity.</p>

<p>The project management life cycle is the complete process of initiating, planning, executing,&nbsp;controlling, and&nbsp;closing&nbsp;a project. Knowing these key project lifecycle stages can help organize it and focus on your projects.&nbsp;</p>

The project management life cycle is the complete process of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing a project. Knowing these key project lifecycle stages can help organize it and focus on your projects.

Phases of Project Management Life Cycle | Agilie

<p dir="ltr">Worldwide digitalization makes entrepreneurs launch online stores. But how to do that? If you wish to save your money and time, you had better pay attention to the list of the best online selling platforms that would help you create your own website. It&rsquo;s a cheaper and faster option than developing from scratch. We hope you&rsquo;ll find an appropriate solution.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">What Is an eCommerce Website Builder?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">This concept means special software, which allows companies to develop commercial web resources, usually without coding. Such systems often contain the necessary marketing and sales features. Moreover, third-party tools may be integrated to expand the functionality of your online store and, thus, simplify the employees&rsquo; work.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There are several types of store builders:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">SaaS eCommerce platforms (a cloud solution, which requires minimum skills to launch a website. They cannot be significantly modified);</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Open-source developments (you have to hire a specialist who would be able to work with the chosen CMS (content management system). Open-source solutions allow changing most of the things on the site).</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">To learn more about these software types, please, follow the link &ldquo;<a href="https://agilie.com/blog/development-from-scratch-vs-ready-made-and-out-of-the-box-solutions">Development from Scratch vs Ready-made &amp; Out-of-the-Box Solutions</a>&rdquo;.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A small remark: in this article, we have considered launching your own web resource, not a marketplace where you compete with other market players on the same platform.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Choose Your Platform Wisely</h2>
<p dir="ltr">An inconvenient platform causes significant problems related to keeping the user on the site. As a result, sales fail. However, if a specific solution offers a wonderful user interface and provides clients with a great user experience, it&rsquo;s not a guarantee of your success. Another important thing is the functionality of the admin panel: you won&rsquo;t be able to work effectively if the chosen solution doesn&rsquo;t have the features you need or they cost a lot.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Main Features of eCommerce Platforms</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Most popular eCommerce platforms have a similar list of features related to marketing, sales, and technical maintenance of your website.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Thus, a good eCommerce platform must have the following business tools:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Pricing (the opportunity to set product variations by color/size and different discounts to them);</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Merchandising (receiving payments online);</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Search and filtering capabilities;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">A product management suite;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Promotions (integrations with ad systems, SEO tools, and so on);</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Interacting with clients to personalize sales and offer new goods/services;</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 dir="ltr">Top 7 eCommerce Platforms</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Below, we have reviewed ones of the best platforms to sell online. In our list, you&rsquo;ll find free and paid solutions for small and large businesses.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Magento</h3>
<p dir="ltr">In 2020, this market player was recognized as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce report. The reasons were flexibility, scalability, and robust features.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The main pros are:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Two versions (Magento Open Source, which you are able to download, and Magento Commerce. The second solution has much more features and is suitable for middle companies. They can use their own hosting or choose a cloud-hosted edition of Magento Commerce);</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Limitless customization. It doesn&rsquo;t matter what you sell: you are able to completely modify your site by using templates and integrating third-party services;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Intuitive admin panel with all the necessary features (multi-language, multi-currency, powerful SEO, one-page checkout, and so on);</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Large community;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Mobile-friendliness.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">Cons are as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">The high cost (the prices on the cloud-based version start from $40 000 per year);</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">The need to hire a developer if you plan to use the open-source system.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3 dir="ltr">3Dcart</h3>
<p dir="ltr">It&rsquo;s a fully hosted platform, which allows you to create an effective online store by the drag-and-drop method. Mainly, 3Dcart is used by small and middle businesses. The solution can be scaled depending on your company&rsquo;s growth.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Pros of the SaaS eCommerce platform:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Feature-rich and scalable digital product with an intuitive dashboard, checkout process, built-in blog, API access, and 24/7 support;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Great marketing tools (a useful thing if you don&rsquo;t have a marketing team);</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Free, responsive, and mobile-friendly platform (there are free templates and wonderful paid ones);</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Unlimited storage;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">No transaction fees;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Cheap subscription (from $19.99/month).</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">The main cons are:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Limitations on sales volume and bandwidth usage;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Disappointing free themes.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">Thus, we can include 3Dcart in the list of the best platforms for online stores. It will take some time to learn all its features.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Shopware</h3>
<p dir="ltr">It&rsquo;s a popular solution that is scalable enough to be used by different market players (from small to large). Shopware contains all the necessary features to make your online project successful.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The features and particularities that users love:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Robust set of tools. Shopware is a modular solution, so it&rsquo;s extended by downloading and installing plugins;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Strong product management. Create variants along with their different prices and images. Add certain rules according to some criteria;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Customer stream. It&rsquo;s a feature, which allows you to filter your customers by age, the amount spent, and other things;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Shopping world. It&rsquo;s an innovative solution for promoting products. You can create landing pages using the drag-and-drop function.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Scalability and flexibility. Shopware has been proven to be efficient in handling heavy loads of traffic.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">Shopware is deservedly among the top eCommerce platforms. However, some users may not like the interface or the work of certain features. An example is the inventory system. There are entrepreneurs who strongly dislike it due to the lack of division into internal and external inventory.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Shopify Plus</h3>
<p dir="ltr">It doesn&rsquo;t matter how big your company is: Shopify Plus is a perfect solution even if you own a whole enterprise.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The main advantages are:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Scalability. You can count on unlimited bandwidth and sales capabilities;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Affordable pricing. The SaaS eCommerce platform costs from $2,000 a month. And the price stays constant from the moment you sign up;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Built-in tools. Shopify Plus has tons of pre-packed features to customize your website. Also, it offers APIs for plenty of external apps;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Smooth and fast work in order to avoid losing money due to technical troubles.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">The disadvantages are as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Limited backend customization. You have to work with APIs that pose some risks and difficulties;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Content management limitation. If you are moving from WordPress or another CMS for blogs, don&rsquo;t expect the same functionality in Shopify Plus;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Payment gateways. Embedded Shopify payments aren&rsquo;t available in every country.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3 dir="ltr">Oracle</h3>
<p dir="ltr">It&rsquo;s also one of the best software-as-a-service platforms to sell online. Its main pros are:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">User-friendly interface with great-working features such as search tools, customizable dashboard, and so on;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">International capabilities. The platform supports multilanguage and multicurrency;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Marketing tools. Conduct A/B tests and learn customers&rsquo; behavior;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Easy transition. Move to Oracle easily and fast.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">Cons we would like to highlight:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">No IDE (integrated development environment). Changes made in your IDE don&rsquo;t save in the cloud. It means you have to duplicate them manually;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Insufficient performance. Big businesses can sometimes encounter standard problems when the cloud doesn&rsquo;t cope with all requests due to inadequate memory, the slow Internet, or something else;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Pricing. Small companies would be able to pay for Oracle&rsquo;s solution despite the availability of flexible subscription models.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3 dir="ltr">Prestashop</h3>
<p dir="ltr">This is an extremely popular CMS, which allows you to develop a site and customize it the way you want.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Pros:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Unlimited opportunities. PrestaShop is an open-source platform, so you are able to change its code freely;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Plenty of modules (ready-made ones or you can develop your own plugins);</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Easy interaction and development process if, of course, you aren&rsquo;t planning to launch a complicated website;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Convenient admin panel.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">Cons:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Some important modules have to be purchased, certain ones require a subscription;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">You need the training to work with PrestaShop or hire a developer;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Your own hosting is mandatory.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3 dir="ltr">OpenCart</h3>
<p dir="ltr">It&rsquo;s another free eCommerce website builder, which is an open-source CMS as well. It means your site will belong to you, not to the SaaS provider.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Pros:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">All the necessary reports and metrics are included;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Free themes and modules. Also, there are piles of payable solutions to cover all your needs;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Big community, which would help to sort out plugins;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Numerous video tutorials.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">Cons:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">As in PrestaShop, you need a developer and hosting;</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">We can&rsquo;t say Opentcart is the best eCommerce CMS: you should choose an appropriate solution by yourself because the choice is highly dependent on your requirements and purposes.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Conclusion</h2>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a6325bd5-7fff-1c7b-0536-2476270cf81e"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr">There are different types of eCommerce platforms. Spear some time to find an ideal one with excellent usability and a great set of features. If the ready-made solutions aren&rsquo;t good for your business, please, fill out the form below. Our team will implement all your ideas by developing a wonderful online store from scratch.</p>

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-2546fed7-7fff-ba5b-5d1e-d289a4ffc29b">TOP-7 eCommerce platforms to start selling online</span></p>

Looking for a convenient and functional platform to sell online?  We have gathered the best eCommerce CMS and online builders to facilitate your choice.

Most popular eCommerce platforms 2022: their pros and cons

<p dir="ltr">User Experience (UX) is a buzzword related to web design. It is about convenience while using a website or application. So, don&rsquo;t underestimate it!</p>
<p dir="ltr">Another common buzzword is Artificial Intelligence (AI). We decided to combine these two concepts to find out the main benefits of AI in UX design: how does AI help in developing a top-notch product with excellent UX?</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Why Pay Attention to the User Experience?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">User experience is about the feelings, which arise when interacting with a specific system. This concept includes usability, accessibility, interactivity, and, of course, aesthetic design. Customer experience is an essential thing because it tends to fulfill the user&rsquo;s needs with a thoughtful UI. Thus, the arrangement of different elements in design largely defines the UX.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The main benefits of a good user experience are:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Reducing the need for additional support and training;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Creating an efficient work environment;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Increasing loyalty;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Contributing sales;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Increasing the interaction time with your web resource;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Focusing clients on specific content.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">If customers find the design complicated or incomprehensive, a redesign is necessary. But what to improve to satisfy your audience? Keep reading to find out how AI for UX can be helpful In this case.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">What Are Artificial Intelligence Technologies?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">AI is a technology designed to simulate human intelligence. Computer systems are able to make difficult decisions and analyze big amounts of data. In addition, they can self-study to improve their calculations.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Thus, AI is about thinking and acting humanly and rationally. In order to learn more about Artificial Intelligence, please, follow the link &ldquo;<a href="https://agilie.com/blog/ml-ai-and-fintech-how-maching-learning-and-artificial-intelligence-help-you-benefit">AI and ML solutions in Fintech: Benefits and Challenges</a>&rdquo;.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">What AI Means For UX</h2>
<p dir="ltr">AI has been created to help people cope with hard and time-consuming tasks. And UI/UX designers as well as accountants, scientists, and other specialists find the technology very useful.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Data Analysis</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Let&rsquo;s assume you have conducted large-scale research on what your clients wish to see on your website. How to process hundreds or thousands of questionnaires? AI will help designers determine the main and secondary things.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The volume of data is limited only by the machine's performance. The more information is processed, the better UX will be created. Specialists can rely on their experience while determining users' needs. But researching with AI is a more appropriate option because in this case, you&rsquo;ll get accurate and relevant data. It&rsquo;s the only way to develop convenient navigation, structure, HCI (human-computer interaction), usability, and other things.&nbsp;</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Making right decisions</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Collecting and processing information is followed by a difficult stage: you have to decide on which features to implement and which to abandon. And here the human factor often interferes: some things may not be taken into account. A smart computer studies different scenarios and chooses the most optimal ones. It guarantees the best user experience and reduces the time for testing solutions.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Personalized UX</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Sometimes Artificial Intelligence and User Experience are closely related. For example, AI learns the behavior of an individual user and changes some content according to his preferences and expectations. It can be videos, text, pictures, and so on.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">AI as a part of IoT to enhance UX</h3>
<p dir="ltr">When AI takes the form of IoT, countless possibilities are open for users. They can receive the necessary information from their gadgets in one place which definitely impacts the user experience. It&rsquo;s one of the benefits of artificial intelligence.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Designing</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Have you heard about AI and UX design? Designing is a creative process but there are some template things. AI is able to generate flow diagrams and other similar elements based on the pre-fed patterns and data.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In addition, a designer can use AI for improving UX when working on a data-heavy application. In this case, AI becomes a very effective tool. It takes seconds to create the most complex dashboard with certain wireframes, flowcharts, and guidelines.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Predicting user needs</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Each market changes sooner or later. AI for UX is crucial because it allows analyzing customer needs regularly and adapting your product to them on time. Obviously, manual processing is impossible and inappropriate.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Future For AI In UX Design</h2>
<p dir="ltr">When most businesses start operating online in the modern world, user experience has become an extremely important thing, which affects sales and, as a result, income. Without a good UX, it&rsquo;s impossible to stay competitive.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Today, systems generate a lot of general information about users and businesses, so specialists need appropriate tools to analyze the data. The tool, namely, Artificial Intelligence was invented in the 1950s. However, it has only recently become mainstream because of advancements in technology.</p>
<p dir="ltr">According to some statistics, 20% of marketers admitted that AI had the greatest positive impact on them over the past year compared to other technologies.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Artificial Intelligence and user experience are going to be intertwined even more. AI can be applied at every stage of product development: from conceptualizing an idea to the final tweaks that make a product feel just right.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There are a few ways in which AI will impact UX design.</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Improving usability</strong>. AI will help to find out the true clients&rsquo; requirements. However, a good UX is about taking into consideration the interests of both users and business parties.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Standing out with intuitive and efficient solutions</strong>. Make sure that users navigate and perform the necessary actions easily.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Developing personalized interactions</strong>. This trend is going to continue and develop thanks to machine learning as a part of AI.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Spreading chatbots</strong>. Smart robots are able to provide users with fast answers to popular questions. In this case, there is no need to involve employees from the support team. In addition, customers with the help of chatbots can solve some of their tasks (booking flights or apartments, for example). Such solutions improve the UX a lot.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">In the near future, AI will definitely play a role in creating complex user interfaces. It&rsquo;ll help designers to create up-to-date digital products, which would meet most users&rsquo; requirements.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Summary</h2>
<p dir="ltr">The future of Artificial Intelligence is promising. The capabilities of AI haven&rsquo;t reached their maximum, so UX designers and other specialists will get more useful features to expedite their work and make it more accurate. As a result, they will move away from template solutions and start tailoring the user experience for each customer or user.</p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-90ad709e-7fff-4d09-94f3-578e6f05f524">The impact of Artificial Intelligence is obvious. And our team would like to make your business more efficient by improving the UX of your product with the help of modern technologies. Our company includes high-experienced designers and developers: they&rsquo;ll find weaknesses in your website or app and fix them to increase your sales in the shortest possible time. Just fill out the form below. </span></p>

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-67585426-7fff-e084-3f6c-8b33961d5a67">Find out how AI is applied in UX design</span></p>

In order to provide clients with a great user experience, it’s sometimes necessary to process a lot of information. Artificial Intelligence is a useful tool for that. Find out how AI is used for improving UX.

The effect of AI on UX design: the benefits of the modern technology

<p id="docs-internal-guid-8357fa14-7fff-5992-cf6a-611c0aa3d29e" dir="ltr">What is a minimum lovable product (MLP) and how can it benefit your business? You've come to the right place for the answers to these questions, as we're ready to provide them in our piece.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Let's start with the fact that technologies are rapidly evolving, and new software items appear every day. As a result, users are harder to please than before.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Under such conditions, MLP can be the key to success. When building lovable products, we kind of test the waters. The task is to better understand what to offer our target audience and how to delight our users.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Of course, these are just generalities. They aren&rsquo;t enough to build MLP. That's why we've prepared a complete guide; hopefully, it'll help you figure this issue out properly.&nbsp;</p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>What Is A Minimum Lovable Product?</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">Just like MVP, a minimum loveable product provides users with a basic set of features: those without which the app or website won&rsquo;t work properly. And the main difference is that MLP pays great attention to the UI/UX factor. The goal is to spend a minimum of resources to create a product, capable of attracting the users even in its simplified version.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The author of the concept is Brian Haaff. He proposed a minimum loveable product definition in 2013 when he realized the MVP approach no longer worked as it should.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr"><strong>Why Make A Product Lovable?</strong></h3>
<p dir="ltr">Every year the markets become more competitive, which makes consumers especially capricious and demanding. They won&rsquo;t be satisfied with just a useful product, they need the emotions and impressions it provides them with.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Here is a basic example, just to make things clear. Visitors to the only coffee shop in the city would be happy with any interior and menu (they have nothing to choose from!). However, the situation will change radically as soon as several more similar establishments appear. That's when you have to think about beautiful serving, tasty dishes, and other ways to attract customers.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In other words, today it's important to create an emotional connection with consumers and give them the best experience of interacting with your product. And you can't achieve this goal with the help of useful features alone.</p>
<p dir="ltr">If you still don&rsquo;t see the relationship between the minimum loveable product definition and all of the above, pay attention to the picture below. It'll put things into perspective.</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/images/f9e66e179b6747ae54108f82f8ade8b3c25d76fd30afde6c395822c530196169-1656580113622.png" alt="what is a minimum lovable product" width="1000" height="800" /></p>
<p dir="ltr">On the left, we see regular coffee without milk, cream, and other additives. It's a good option to brighten yourself up early in the morning, but nothing more. Another thing is a cappuccino with thick milk foam. Such a drink is tastier and looks prettier, it gives more emotions and impressions.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">As you may have guessed, the coffee on the left is the MVP. The cappuccino on the right is the MLP.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a class="incut--wrap" href="https://agilie.com/blog/how-your-startup-can-reduce-development-costs-with-an-mvp" aria-label="incut"> <img src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/images/f9e66e179b6747ae54108f82f8ade8b3c25d76fd30afde6c395822c530196169-1656580077647.png" width="100%" height="100%" /> <span class="incut--text">To better understand what MVP is, read our other article.</span> </a></p>
<p dir="ltr">And now let's take a closer look at the main differences between these concepts.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr"><strong>The Difference Between MVP and MLP</strong></h3>
<p dir="ltr">MVP is a simplified software version helping businesses bring the product to market at a low cost and in a short time. After the MVP launch, the company collects and analyzes the feedback and considers further steps.</p>
<p dir="ltr">For a long time, MVP was more than enough to get things done&hellip; however, the high level of competition presented new demands, which resulted in the emergence of MLP.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">A minimum lovable product delights consumers beyond solving their problems. That's its main essence... but the differences don't end there. Let's look at some of them:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Primary goal.</strong> MVP is designed to confirm or refute the software idea, collect feedback on the product, and think about the further development strategy. MLP, on the other hand, needs to win over early adopters, so to say.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Time and financial costs.</strong> Building lovable products takes more time and effort than developing an easier-to-implement MVP.&nbsp;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>UI/UX</strong>. When creating an MVP, little attention is paid to UX, because it's not a key task. But if you intend to build MLP, you have to take care of the product usability and work on the interface design. After all, MLP should appeal to users.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Relationships with users.</strong> After testing the MVP, users simply express their opinion about the software and say if everything works as it should. But interaction with MLP must hook and interest them; ideally, it causes the word-of-mouth effect.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">The difference between MVP and MLP is clear, but let's not forget one more concept, namely, MMP.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr"><strong>What About MMP?</strong></h3>
<p dir="ltr">MMP stands for Minimum Marketable Product. The name eloquently reflects the concept idea and shows that we're dealing with the minimum set of features for which people don't mind paying. Of course, it's still a simplified software version, but it's monetizable. Simply put, this is a polished MVP or MLP.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">There is even a special formula to illustrate the MMP meaning:</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><em>MVP/MLP v01 + MVP/MLP v02 + MVP/MLP v03 + &hellip; MVP/MLP v0N = MMP</em></p>
<p dir="ltr">By testing and improving MVP or MLP, we gradually make it a commercially interesting product.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/images/f9e66e179b6747ae54108f82f8ade8b3c25d76fd30afde6c395822c530196169-1656580172251.png" alt="difference between mvp and mlp" width="1000" height="900" /></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>The Benefits Of Creating Your MLP Product</strong></h2>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Increasing competitiveness. </strong>As you've already understood, the concept of MLP appeared due to a new problem, which is the crowded markets. Lovable products have more chances to appeal to the customers and make them loyal. As a result, you increase the competitiveness of your company.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Loveable product with low effort.</strong> You can test the product in its simplified version and understand how to perfect it without big financial outlays at the start. And it's not just about offering the user what he needs: you offer him something that pleases him and brings him positive emotions.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Reduced time to market.</strong> By creating your MLP product, you reduce your time to market many times over. Also, you're making the user fall in love with your software (even in its stripped-down form), which is an additional bonus. Minimum launch time with maximum user loyalty sounds pretty good, right?</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Marketing at the start. </strong>If you make a product lovable, you initiate a viral effect. Users, admiring your software, begin to discuss it with each other and thus contribute to its promotion.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Early Branding.</strong> And one more benefit is the opportunity to work on the recognition of your product at the very first development stages. You can do this by incorporating branding elements into the interface design.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr"><a class="incut--wrap" href="https://agilie.com/blog/what-are-the-next-steps-after-creating-an-mvp" aria-label="incut"> <img src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/images/f9e66e179b6747ae54108f82f8ade8b3c25d76fd30afde6c395822c530196169-1656580228583.png" width="100%" height="100%" /> <span class="incut--text">What if you&rsquo;ve already created MVP? Your next steps are described in the piece at the link.</span> </a></p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>How To Build A Minimum Loveable Product</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">Since MLP is a simplified version of the software, there is no point in trying to bring a flawless product to market. It might take too much time, money, and effort, which will devalue the MLP concept. In addition, you're unlikely to 100% guess the tastes of your audience on the first try, even with preliminary research. So you had better take it slow and act wisely.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr"><strong>Let&rsquo;s Build MLP From Scratch</strong></h3>
<p dir="ltr">We&rsquo;ll start with a more complicated option when you don&rsquo;t have anything ready.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/images/f9e66e179b6747ae54108f82f8ade8b3c25d76fd30afde6c395822c530196169-1656580310230.png" alt="how to build a minimum loveable product" width="1000" height="550" /></p>
<h4 dir="ltr"><strong>Setting the MLP Goal</strong></h4>
<p dir="ltr">Surely, your product must be visually appealing, but it's not enough! The MLP must still solve the user's problem. Define this problem and make it the goal of your project. Among other things, knowing your tasks will help you later come up with the functionality ideas.</p>
<h4 dir="ltr"><strong>Market Analysis</strong></h4>
<p dir="ltr">To understand how to build a minimum loveable product, you need to explore the current market situation. What kind of competitors will you have? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What do your potential users choose and why?</p>
<p dir="ltr">Until you answer these and other similar questions, it is pointless to continue.</p>
<h4 dir="ltr"><strong>Selection Of Must-Have Features</strong></h4>
<p dir="ltr">As we said, in addition to trying to impress customers, you must solve their problem. And the only way to solve it is to provide them with some basic functionality. Therefore, choose the minimum set of features, which will allow users to get what they want, whether it's an online order on a website or booking a hotel room through an app (or whatever!).</p>
<h4 dir="ltr"><strong>Working on UI/UX</strong></h4>
<p dir="ltr">Pay special attention to the next step when creating your MLP product. It&rsquo;s really crucial, as now is the time when you make your software not only useful but also loveable.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Work properly on the interface design. Remember, the process of using your product should be pleasant, easy, and exciting: in short, your app or website must be user-friendly. Only in this case, the first interaction of customers with the software will give them the most positive experience.</p>
<p dir="ltr">And one more piece of advice: don't try to design based on UI/UX trends alone. Consider the data you&rsquo;ve collected during your market analysis.</p>
<h4 dir="ltr"><strong>Community Gathering</strong></h4>
<p dir="ltr">Also, it doesn't hurt to create a community loyal to your product. Find those users among the target audience who believe in your project and are ready to help you finish it. Communicate with them on an ongoing basis and get their opinion on your MLP.&nbsp;</p>
<h4 dir="ltr"><strong>MLP Launch &amp; Testing</strong></h4>
<p dir="ltr">If you think your work will soon come to an end, then you're going to be disappointed. Alas, it's just begun.</p>
<p dir="ltr">After launching MLP, you need to test it on end-users and collect their feedback. The task is to draw conclusions and decide on the next development steps.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">You&rsquo;ll act in this way cyclically, in iterations, until MLP becomes MMP: a minimized product, which brings you profit.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr"><strong>Turning an MVP Into a Minimum Lovable Product</strong></h3>
<p dir="ltr">Another minimum lovable product example is the case when MLP is based on an already existing MVP.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Suppose, you've already built a minimum viable product... why abandon it entirely? A much smarter step is to remake your MVP into what you actually need. And if you're not sure where to start, take a look at our tips, they might help you.</p>
<h4 dir="ltr"><strong>Clarifying The Goal</strong></h4>
<p dir="ltr">First, you need to clarify the purpose of your project. Discuss the situation with the team and let them know that you have another task now, an updated one. All of you should work together, knowing what goal your company is aiming at and what you should get in the end.</p>
<h4 dir="ltr"><strong>Analyzing User Preferences</strong></h4>
<p dir="ltr">You already have the basic functionality, which is a good start. All you have to do now is to add some appealing elements to your product and thus make it loveable.</p>
<p dir="ltr">If you haven't conducted your customer preference research yet, it&rsquo;s the best time to finally do so. You can use the received data to develop a further strategy. Your task is to work on software design, provide an innovative user experience, and think about integration with other tools.</p>
<h4 dir="ltr"><strong>Looking For Balance</strong></h4>
<p dir="ltr">As you understand, there is a difference between MVP and MLP, but these concepts have something in common too. Namely, we&rsquo;re talking about the opportunity to launch the product without any extra effort. Therefore, one must keep in mind the balance between under-investing and over-investing in MLP.</p>
<p dir="ltr">If you under-invest in a project, you'll achieve nothing. If you overdo it out of a desire to implement too many features or UI elements, you'll waste extra resources.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>Summary</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">Creating an MVP only makes sense if you don't have any idea about your target audience yet, which is typical in the early project stages. Once you have the right information, turn your MVP into an MLP.</p>
<p dir="ltr">And remember! MLP development is an iterative process. It'll continue until you see you've achieved what you want, which means customers enjoy using your product.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr"><strong>BTW!</strong></h3>
<p>Our experts know how to build a minimum loveable product and have relevant development experience. And we would be happy to help you with your software project.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-4741a6ec-7fff-c7ec-4162-822f8db63584">MVP is no longer working! To successfully compete in the market, you need to start by </span>creating your MLP product ⚡️ It's harder, but the result is better. But what is a minimum lovable product? And how to create one? We're happy to share with you our expertise in this regard. 💥</p>

MVP is no longer working! To successfully compete in the market, you need to start by creating your MLP product ⚡️ It's harder, but the result is better. But what is a minimum lovable product? And how to create one? We're happy to share with you our expertise in this regard. 💥

What is a minimum lovable product? | The difference between MVP and MLP

<p dir="ltr">During the pandemic, entrepreneurs have realized the importance of the omnichannel strategy in sales and service provision. It prompted them to start developing internal IT systems, websites, and applications. And the first arisen question usually concerns the necessary project team members. So, let&rsquo;s find out what experts you need to implement your ideas and improve your competitiveness.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">A small remark: in the article, we are talking only about outsourcing.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">What Is a Project Team?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">The decision to create a website or application is just an intent. In order to bring your wishes to life, you need the help of professionals. Any software development team consists of a project manager and individual specialists. And it doesn&rsquo;t matter what approach (Waterfall or Agile) will be used. By the way, we recommend you read <a href="https://agilie.com/blog/waterfall-vs-agile-approaches-to-the-discovery-process">the article</a> to find out more about the approaches.</p>
<p dir="ltr">We can divide the development process into several stages. And completely different specialists are required for each implementation step.</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">First engagement (the preparation phase): business analyst, sales and account managers, marketers.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Second engagement (the development process): CTO, project manager, QA engineers, UX/UI designers, and developers.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Maintenance after launching: mainly developers and QA engineers. However, other team members may be involved as well (marketers are just an example).</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">Not all specialists can be helpful in your project: it depends on the type of your solution. So, let&rsquo;s clarify project team roles to help you determine which experts you need.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Software Development Experts: Roles and Responsibilities</h2>
<h3 dir="ltr">Project Manager</h3>
<p dir="ltr">This is a kind of a chief, which unites all experts. Without the team member, it&rsquo;s impossible to get a software product on time with the required features and within the established budget. The project manager&rsquo;s responsibilities are as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Leading and managing the entire team;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Breaking down the development process into stages to make a step-by-step plan;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Establishing dates and schedules;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Assigning tasks for other team members;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Preparing deliverables based on the plan developed.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3 dir="ltr">Business Analyst</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The specialist figures out the needs of your business and give recommendations on how to make your company better and more competitive. A business analyst estimates your project&rsquo;s objectives to make sure the existing business problems are going to be solved. This member of a team for a project also tries to add value to your organization.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Thus, the list of the work responsibilities looks as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Finding out the project goals;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Gathering requirements from users and business representatives;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Documenting all requirements;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Learning deliverables drown by the project manager to make sure they meet the requirements;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Validating solutions by testing them.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3 dir="ltr">CTO</h3>
<p dir="ltr">A chief technology officer (CTO) is often a senior developer who is able to decide on the best tech stack, which is going to be used in your project. CTO ensures that your solution is scalable and can be built as soon as possible.</p>
<p dir="ltr">CTO doesn&rsquo;t usually code: the expert mainly conducts technical research to implement your ideas in the best way. It makes the chief technology officer one of the mandatory team members.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In addition, CTO often holds the position of the team lead. This person helps his subordinates stay productive and inspired. It&rsquo;s extremely important that specialists support the project objectives and are willing to work together towards the common goal.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Developers</h3>
<p dir="ltr">There are different types of such specialists depending on the technologies/tools used and the development area covered (front-end or back-end).</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Front-end developers are project team members responsible for interfaces (a part of a website or application that users can see and interact with).</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Back-end development refers to server-side development. Specialists focus on databases, scripts, solution architecture, and so on.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">In order to create a website or application, you must have both front-end and back-end developers.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Jack of all trades is an appropriate option only for small projects because such experts don&rsquo;t usually have sufficient qualifications.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The duties of software developers:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Researching, implementing, and managing programs;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Writing efficient code;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Deploying software tools/metrics;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Supporting and updating the created solutions;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Training users;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Working closely with UX/UI designers;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Looking for areas in the existing programs to modify them.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3 dir="ltr">QA Engineer</h3>
<p dir="ltr">This is a specialist who tries to find bugs and different problems in the created software. A good expert spends hours using several test environments, devices, and tools to provide the client with an excellent-working website or application.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">UX/UI designer</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The task of a designer is to create a modern design and make it appealing and eye-catching. The specialist also worries about the user experience because he knows the impact of customer satisfaction on the conversion rate.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The main responsibilities of a UX/UI designer are:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Developing usage scenarios;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Running usability tests;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Creating screen flows and product prototypes;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Assisting with content creators;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Developing final layouts.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">We should mention that a team for a project can also include a graphic designer if you don&rsquo;t have appropriate photos/icons or cannot find them on stock sites.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Thus, we have considered the responsibilities of the project manager and other crucial experts. The next question that may arise is how to choose a good team.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">How to Choose The Right Team?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">We would like to distinguish several key steps:</p>
<ol>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Make a detailed description of the project. It&rsquo;s required to estimate the scope of work and the necessary resources.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Check the expertise of each company you have chosen.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Study portfolios. Try to find projects similar to yours.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Observe reviews. It&rsquo;s great if they are posted on independent sources. However, keep in mind that some negative feedback may be ordered by competitors.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Get in touch with the most suitable company to figure out an approximate budget. At this stage, the description created before is going to be very helpful.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p dir="ltr">You can find more useful tips in the article &ldquo;<a href="https://agilie.com/blog/how-to-find-and-hire-the-best-mobile-development-team">How to Find and Hire The Best Mobile Development Team</a>&rdquo;.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In the end, we just want to note: don&rsquo;t try to mix in-house and outsourcing executors because it&rsquo;s often so hard to achieve coordinated work, especially when in-house employees don&rsquo;t have the needed qualification. An outsourcing company will create a working team that would include experts with the required experience.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Conclusion</h2>
<p dir="ltr">There are numerous project team roles, which actually you shouldn&rsquo;t sort out. Agilie has been operating since 2010, so you just need to voice your wishes: we&rsquo;ll gather the necessary specialists and make sure that you receive your solution on time.</p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-fb85cc4d-7fff-aac1-2c04-3bc5dc032ef0"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr">We are ready to help you in implementing all your plans! Follow the link to get acquainted with our portfolio. In order to contact us, just fill out the form below.</p>

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-72208748-7fff-5b4f-6f99-3c4e3c582be6">See which team members are required for your project</span></p>

In order to launch any digital product, you need a development team 👨‍💻 In this article, we have considered the main project team roles to help you delve deeper into the development process ⚙

Project team members and their roles

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-7cde081d-7fff-e553-d45c-46ec224e81e5">The traditional approach to </span>real estate transactions no longer works, the whole industry is developing in leaps and bounds 🏬 Today blockchain real estate applications are gaining popularity! It's time to innovate your processes to stay relevant.</p>

The traditional approach to real estate transactions no longer works, the whole industry is developing in leaps and bounds 🏬 Today blockchain real estate applications are gaining popularity! It's time to innovate your processes to stay relevant.

What is a blockchain real estate application? | Main benefits of blockchain in real estate

<p dir="ltr">Every company thinks about digitalization from time to time. And when it happens, some questions arise: is it better to create an in-house team or address an IT outsourcing company? The second option has numerous pros but it seems a little bit risky. In this article, we are going to debunk popular outsourcing myths and, thanks to it, save your money, time, and efforts.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">What is Outsourcing?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Outsourcing product development is an approach to the work when third parties are involved in solving your company&rsquo;s tasks. Simply put, you address another company with a request to perform your specific work. The cooperation method allows delegating the entirety of your functions or some of them.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Outsourcing is a perfect option if you stumble upon tasks, with which you haven&rsquo;t dealt before. Let&rsquo;s imagine you own a bakery and need a high-quality website. It&rsquo;s not your specialization, so you cannot launch a web resource independently. So, the best solution is to hire a development team.</p>
<p dir="ltr">You shouldn&rsquo;t mess up IT outsourcing with freelance because the second option doesn&rsquo;t imply the conclusion of a contract. It means freelancers can disappear anytime or you&rsquo;ll receive inappropriate work.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There are different types of outsourcing. You can choose a specific one, which will make your cooperation with a third party more convenient:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Onshore when you hire a team from your country.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Nearshore when you collaborate with a company from a neighboring country.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Offshore when your partners may be from any point in the world.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">Outsourcing has numerous pros. The main of them is the opportunity to hand off your task to high-experienced specialists. However, some entrepreneurs fear involving third parties in their work. This is why we decided to dispel popular outsourcing myths.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Myth #1: Language and Cultural Barriers Discourage the Work</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Perhaps, this is one of the main problems related to offshore IT outsourcing. You shouldn&rsquo;t worry if you are going to cooperate with a team, which understands and speaks English. Usually, such executors have adequate experience in working with foreign clients from the West. A good example is outsourcing product development in Ukraine: developers there freely collaborate with the USA, UK, Germany, Australia, and other countries, so any misunderstandings are excluded.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Specialists from Eastern Europe, India, the Middle East, and other similar regions value politeness and honor during collaboration with clients. In these cultures, people try to avoid surprises, reduce confrontation, and build long-term business relationships because they know the importance of a good reputation. Moreover, experts from the mentioned countries understand the mentality, true goals and wishes of their western clients. So, you&rsquo;ll be on the same page during the development.</p>
<p dir="ltr">At Agilie, we are always in touch with our foreign clients, so there is no cultural misunderstanding.&nbsp; Don&rsquo;t worry that the cultural barrier would interfere with our communication and rapport. In the Internet era, the world has become cosmopolitan: different cultures are intertwined, so we easily understand each other.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Myth #2: Time Zones Make It Impossible to Cooperate Productively</h2>
<p dir="ltr">There are 24 time zones, so the difference in the time may be significant. However, each side usually has overlap hours when both parties are available.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Actually, the time-zone differences can play into the hands. For example, you give tasks during the day according to your usual schedule, and your executors perform them within their working hours when it&rsquo;s night in your country. Thus, you get the finished work on the next business day.</p>
<p dir="ltr">So, time zones are nothing more than one of the myths about outsourcing.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Myth #3: You Can Lose Control Over Your Project</h2>
<p dir="ltr">It&rsquo;s the last thing you should worry about. Every IT outsourcing company needs certain consultations during the entire development time. It&rsquo;s impossible to create a product that would meet all your requirements without your involvement.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The development process is divided into certain sprints within the Agile approach (learn about it in the article &ldquo;<a href="https://agilie.com/blog/waterfall-vs-agile-approaches-to-the-discovery-process">Waterfall vs Agile Approaches to the Discovery Process</a>&rdquo;). And you will definitely be involved in almost every stage.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Myth #4: Outsourcing Is About the Poor Quality</h2>
<p dir="ltr">The reality is the opposite. Outsourcing companies are constantly &ldquo;headhunting&rdquo; talents and they do their best to retain skilled people. The lower cost of services isn&rsquo;t related to their quality. The reason lies in the cost of living. So, hiring a team from Eastern Europe or Asia will allow you to develop a high-quality solution on time with minimum investments. By the way, since 2010, we have been operating in Ukraine. It&rsquo;s one of the countries with the best IT specialists.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Myth #5: Outsourcing Companies Serve Only Big Businesses</h2>
<p dir="ltr">It&rsquo;s true that companies usually endeavor to collaborate with big businesses. However, they don&rsquo;t also ignore small and middle-market players, especially startups if they see the prospect of a product and the possibility of long-term cooperation.</p>
<p dir="ltr">If you&rsquo;re a very small business and you need specialists for one-time help, you should consider hiring freelancers.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Thus, we have just dispelled one of the popular myths about outsourcing.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Myth #6: There Is a Significant Risk of Compromising Privacy</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Trust is the basis of any business relationship. Outsourcing companies understand it, so they work hard to avoid conscious and unconscious data leaks. They do their best to maintain a high level of reputation.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Moreover, you should remember that you conclude a contract (non-disclosure agreement) before cooperating. And the cases of compromising your company&rsquo;s privacy, security, and intellectual property rights can be mentioned in it. Possible consequences will stop any service provider from revealing private data.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Myth #7: Outsourcing Product Development Is Much Slower Than the In-house Option</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Such arguments are completely wrong. Most trusted outsourcing companies hire experts in their fields, so it&rsquo;s easy for them to implement your ideas and wishes.</p>
<p dir="ltr">When it comes to the in-house approach, first of all, you have to find well-experienced employees. This task alone can take a lot of time, not to mention other possible problems. And there is no guarantee that the specialists you found have enough qualifications to successfully accomplish your project on time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Thus, in-house development costs higher and often requires more time.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Myth #8: Outsourcing Isn&rsquo;t Suitable for Long-term Work</h2>
<p dir="ltr">This thought of some entrepreneurs is actually one of the outsourcing myths. In order to come to the truth, it&rsquo;s enough to recall outsourcing companies that offer strategic services such as financial consultancy, enterprise resources planning, supply chain services, and so on. They prove the fact that it&rsquo;s possible to work with third parties as long as needed.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Myth #9: Outsourcing Is a Good Option Only for Established Businesses</h2>
<p dir="ltr">This fact has no connection with reality. You shouldn&rsquo;t be a &ldquo;big guy&rdquo; to start collaborating with an IT outsourcing company. Most service providers are open to clients who are only planning to run a business. And specialists are ready to help them avoid pitfalls.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A good example is our <a href="https://agilie.com/blog/discovery-stage-or-what-to-do-if-you-need-an-agile-project-analysis">Discovery service</a> within which our experts conduct research to find out the necessary features of your future solution, the requirements of your audience, and other marketing things.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Myth #10: It&rsquo;s Impossible to Use Agile and DevOps While Outsourcing</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Numerous service providers practice Agile and DevOps methodologies to deliver the best solutions with the highest quality. Thus, you can count on quick development and getting a product, which meets all your needs.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Conclusion</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Thus, there are two options to create a product: to hire an in-house team or find an IT outsourcing company. If you choose the second option, you will save your budget and time (you start cooperating with a skilled and high-experienced team without the need to look for specialists and solve personnel issues).</p>
<p dir="ltr">Collaborating with outsourced developers may last as long as required. You pay for the working hours of specific specialists, which eliminates redundant costs. Thus, outsourcing is a perfect practice if you aim to get a real result as soon as possible without high expenses.</p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-9a64b00d-7fff-f400-020b-c930eb5ce677"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr">Since 2010, we have cooperated with numerous different businesses on an outsourcing basis. So, be sure you have found an appropriate and advantageous method of collaboration. Feel free to contact us to discuss your project and start implementing your ideas.&nbsp;</p>

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-5feea5ed-7fff-7b8a-5d26-6fe5bbb8fded">10 popular outsourcing myths, which we have debunked</span></p>

Are you scared of cooperating with an IT outsourcing company? 👀 We have gathered 10 popular myths about outsourcing, which will make you calm down and, maybe, change your mind 🤝 All details are in our latest piece

TOP-10 outsourcing myths in the IT-sphere

<p dir="ltr">Today, the financial industry can&rsquo;t do without the stack of modern technologies namely Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). The systems help to estimate different risks, understand clients&rsquo; habits, and reduce costs by automating processes. In this article, we are going to consider the main benefits of applying AI and ML solutions in the financial sphere.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">What is Meant by ML, AI and Fintech?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Fintech is a collective concept, which includes all the existing technologies that are used by banks and other financial establishments. AI and ML are an important part of fintech. Learn more information about them from the article &ldquo;<a href="https://agilie.com/blog/what-is-financial-technology-fintech-definition-evolution-examples">What is Financial Technology? FinTech Definition, Evolution, Examples</a>&rdquo;.</p>
<p dir="ltr">AI is a separate section of computer science dedicated to building smart machines. Such systems are able to perform work that typically requires human intelligence. The best examples of AI are Siri, Alexa, email spam filters, self-driving cars, and the like.</p>
<p dir="ltr">ML is a special approach, which allows specialists to &ldquo;teach&rdquo; computers without programming. Machine Learning is a subtype of Artificial Intelligence. Its work is based on Big Data: a computer uses historical data as input to predict new output values. This process resembles a baby who learns to classify objects and events independently and determine the relationships between them.</p>
<p dir="ltr">So, let&rsquo;s find out more about the AI Transformation in fintech.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">How does Fintech Benefit from AI &amp; ML?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">The significance of AI/ML solutions is difficult to overestimate because they open numerous opportunities to improve and expedite service provision. We would like to mention the following benefits:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Saving time</strong>. Employees can be not involved in most processes because operations are performed by the computer.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Reducing costs</strong>. It&rsquo;s impossible to imagine how many people you need to serve all clients manually. Moreover, it&rsquo;s worth mentioning complex tasks, the execution of which without modern AI and ML solutions may take a decent amount of time and cost an arm and a leg.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Uninterrupted working process</strong>. Human resources are limited while machines work as long as needed and round the clock.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Augmenting the capabilities of individuals</strong>. For example, specialists operate faster when having modern tools such as AI software. Thus, the crucial decisions in the company are made in the shortest possible time.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Improving customer experience</strong>. The AI Transformation in FinTech is obvious: users are able to operate online and make payments in no time. Furthermore, financial companies have begun to better understand the customers&rsquo; requirements thanks to AI and ML.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><strong>Fraud elimination</strong>. The computer monitors each account and internal system 24/7. If it notices something suspicious, it blocks transactions immediately.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 dir="ltr">AI &amp; ML in Fintech: Real-Life Cases</h2>
<p dir="ltr">It&rsquo;s impossible to mention all existing use cases so we have cited below the most vivid ones.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Chatbots</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Bots with Artificial Intelligence are able to provide users with certain links and forms that they request. A good example is users who wish to find out details about commissions. They just need to enter their request and then get a link with a comprehensive description. Thus, consultants can focus on solving other non-standard problems instead of wasting their time on the simplest tasks.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A well-known fact: each client asks the robot differently. Machine Learning in Fintech helps to gather the data about user requests and improve language recognition.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Security</h3>
<p dir="ltr">In the bank field, market players usually apply two-factor logins (password and biometrics). So, AI and ML solutions are crucial technologies, which speed up the authorization process and enhance the level of its accuracy. Moreover, some banks have implemented facial recognition thanks to the advanced versions of AI and ML.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Big Data &amp; Analytics</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The main task of any enterprise is to increase income. And it may be achieved by analyzing customer needs in order to offer exactly what they wish. Today, it&rsquo;s easy to force smart computers to learn the behavior of users, their habits and expenses.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Knowing user habits and frequent transactions is also a key to cyber security and early fraud detection. If the system sees some unusual and suspicious actions, it immediately blocks the account.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Better Risk management</h3>
<p dir="ltr">With a set of AI tools, businesses have another competitive advantage: they can make predictions of future changes in the financial market. As a result, it allows increasing sales, maximizing resource utilization, and augmenting operational efficiency by removing different risks.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Reducing paperwork</h3>
<p dir="ltr">You can&rsquo;t deny that finance is a highly confusing topic. It usually includes a lot of paperwork and processes to go through. AI/ML solutions simplify numerous things and even provide some assistance. Accountants and economists start doing their work faster and more accurately.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Other potential gains from AI applications in Fintech are:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Improved Credit Quality Assessment;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Advancement of financial inclusion;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Stronger capital optimization;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Better stress testing;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Improved market impact analysis;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Improved trading and investment strategies;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Advanced compliance and risk mitigation.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 dir="ltr">The main cons related to AI Transformation in FinTech</h2>
<p dir="ltr">There are no ideal systems: even Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have certain cons despite a whole list of advantages. And the presence of cons doesn&rsquo;t mean you should abandon modern technologies.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The first thing you ought to know is that even AI and ML solutions make mistakes, so you shouldn&rsquo;t count on infallible work without any control from employees. Alternatively, you can discuss a developer of the technology to provide you with a guardrail software, which would switch off the AI solution when it begins to produce incorrect outputs.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Another crucial risk has to do with the integration and implementation. AI providers must understand the IT estate, processes and data sets in your company to roll out a proof-of-concept model. The desire to adopt AI/ML solutions may become a protracted thing when there is a lack of discussion.</p>
<p dir="ltr">And the last common snag is the transparency of data. Machine Learning requires clear and accurate information arrays. Otherwise, the level of errors in outputs is likely to be significantly higher. Thus, if a business isn&rsquo;t able to trace the quality of data, first of all, it must develop internal tools for that. Also, such a company should have a manual on how to act in certain circumstances.</p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e86f0f58-7fff-b9c3-48d2-491a36a966f7"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr">Agilie has been implementing fintech solutions since 2010. Contact us in any convenient way to discuss your project and find the most appropriate systems for you. Our tasks are simple: to help you increase your company&rsquo;s income by boosting your work and improving the quality of your services.</p>

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-ade5761c-7fff-73d5-6c5d-6161ab55084b"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AI and ML solutions as the main tool in the financial sphere</span></span></p>

In this article, we are going to consider the AI Transformation in Fintech 🤖 Find out how modern systems help entrepreneurs do business and increase income 📈 Also, learn about common use cases of AI and ML solutions.

AI and ML solutions in Fintech: Benefits and Challenges

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-eaafea18-7fff-519b-f0fa-36e7b26b602d">What is the</span> discovery phase, and why do you need it? Read our article to find out the answers!</p>

You’re planning to create a website or application and want it to make you profit as soon as possible, right? In this case, you cannot do without the discovery phase in software development ⚡ But what is the discovery phase of a project, and how to implement it in practice? Read our article to find out the answers ✅

Why You Need to Start Your Project with the Discovery Phase

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;">On-demand app development has become very popular. Even now every fifth person in the UK orders food delivery at least once a week.</p>

Do you want to build an on-demand app like Postmates and Zomato? Then our article will be useful for you ☝ Read it to find out how to create a food delivery app and make it profitable. Click here ➽

How to build a food delivery on-demand app like Postmates and Zomato

<p dir="ltr">SDLC is a process that consists of a detailed plan that describes all the details regarding the development, maintenance, and replacement/change of specific software. It is a methodology used to improve the quality of software as well as improve the overall development process.</p>
<p dir="ltr">System/Software Development Life Cycle, SDLC - represents several stages (or phases) that any software goes through. In essence, it is a detailed plan showing how to develop software, maintain it, change it, and improve it.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>What Is the Software Development Life Cycle?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">To quote the author of the book Managing Information Technology Projects, James Taylor, "the life cycle of a project covers all the activities of a project." The task of software development is to fulfill the requirements of the product. If you want to learn how to create and release a high-quality software project, you have to follow a plan. According to Taylor, your goal should be a comprehensive analysis of the activities of the project and control of each stage of its development. The right framework will help direct your workflow in the right direction.&nbsp;</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Common Phases of the SDLC</h2>
<p dir="ltr">In general, SDLC is such a closed loop, in which each stage affects the actions in the subsequent ones and provides promising indications for the future. To answer specific questions and ensure consistency in your development process, there are 7 steps to trying to influence each other effectively and consistently.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/8e8GssUmmj8ZCnv3BRVJHt_FSGKiNRaPk2owJ4XPWhvIQkc4xVql5vTKafhxi-jf7UbuygqPECWKQUyUdtR_xdZ_JcS2G_dBJxcrCd6zWGhpl5kyyWCm3DxK_ezx7IC9nBmty2TUMr8VGIrUxwGxPWU" width="602" height="512" /></p>
<h3 dir="ltr">1. Planning phase</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Planning includes the question "What do we want?". At this stage, the team determines the requirements for the new software and also analyzes the costs.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Also, it details risks and provides sub-plans to mitigate those risks. In this step, a software requirements specification document is created. Planning related to quality assurance and related risks is also carried out in the early stages. Various technical approaches are explored and used for the successful implementation of the project.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">2. Requirement definition</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The next step is to define the requirements for the product clearly. Approval is taken from the client or by market analysis. All of this is usually done through the SRS (Software Requirements Specification) document, which contains all the requirements of the project and is designed and developed during the life cycle of the project.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">The definition phase of the SDLC is the point where you take all the approved requirements and document them. (Documentation will be a constant, iterative phase of the SDLC. You must document everything you do so you know what you did, how you did it, and when you did it.) This helps your team make sure they are on the right track before they start working on a project.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">3. Design and Prototyping</h3>
<p dir="ltr">By this stage, you should already know the product requirements and generally understand what you want, and before you start writing code, this understanding should be enough to answer the following question: &ldquo;How will we achieve our goals?&rdquo; In other words, you need to understand what you are optimizing and design accordingly. Operation, training, and maintenance plans will all be drawn up so that developers know what they need to do throughout the next stages.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Let's say you want to create a secure, high-performance, efficient, and load-bearing application. Which of these four principles is most important to you? Why? Do the stakeholders from the first stage agree with this? It is important to ensure the approval of all participants.</p>
<p dir="ltr">After the design phase, you can make changes in terms of time, resources spent will steadily increase, as well as all sorts of small factors will gradually accumulate. In this phase, it is recommended to consider several key design elements to make final design decisions: operational excellence, safety, reliability, performance efficiency, and cost optimization.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">4. Rapid Software Development</h3>
<p dir="ltr">During the Rapid Software Development phase, you want to produce results, or more specifically, you need to be prone to action and create a prototype or system that others can test. At this stage, your task is to gain the trust of stakeholders by embodying the developer's mindset. It is critical to follow the first three steps when starting development to meet expectations.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">5. Testing and quality assurance</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The next step in the software development lifecycle is to check "have we got what we want?" or the testing phase. At this stage, you check for defects and deficiencies. The systems integration test function is to ensure that the developed systems meet all the technical requirements. Later, after discovery, you try to resolve all issues until the product meets current specifications.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">6. Deployment</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Take your product and use it. Invite stakeholders from the first stage to use your product in natural conditions, and start tracking sales engagement. You have to listen to your user because feedback through surveys and recommendations will help you return to the first phase and start collecting new requirements. During this phase, training is conducted and the software app is deployed at pilot websites, initially followed by a complete rollout.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">7. Operations and Maintenance</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The maintenance phase of the SDLC starts after the product is in full operation. Maintenance can include software upgrades, repairs, and fixing of the software if it breaks.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Applications often need to be upgraded or integrated with new systems the customer deploys. It is necessary to provide additional testing of the software or version upgrades. During the maintenance phase, errors or defects may occur, so it would require repairs during additional testing of the software. The performance of the software is also included during the maintenance phase.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">SDLC Models &amp; Methodologies</h2>
<p dir="ltr">SDLC is often associated with development methodologies in the production environment. There are many of them. The appropriate one is selected based on the scale of the project, the nature of the requirements for the finished product, the stability of the technologies used, and the availability of the necessary resources, taking into account a number of other factors.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/8Ygfdo1YyPPY3oet8CZRLq8rYjGKr75exPm92Q1j42UU2TaCgY6HBtiakn8IqZY3oUnW4X3yALiOxQCathaIbRfeZrIOaXKuPI_hGXH4d4F75zpXcuijzT3GCD3VnzvKrDth-lrustVBE7_PD5KeH7M" width="602" height="391" /></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Waterfall</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The waterfall model is about the phenomenon of how to complete one phase before the start of a new phase of development so that there is no overlap of phases. In the field of software development, the waterfall model was first used as an SDLC approach. This model means that every phase is designed to perform certain actions in the SDLC.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Agile</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Agile software development is an agile approach to software development that is often used in small teams and large organizations. Agile work process is divided into iterations - short cycles of two to three weeks. Each cycle solves a series of tasks. At the end of each iteration, the team analyzes the results and reprioritizes for the next iteration. As a result, for each cycle, a mini-product or a separate part is created, ready for independent launch.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Iterative</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The iterative model is the epitome of repetition. Instead of starting with fully known requirements, project teams implement a set of software requirements, then test, evaluate, and define further requirements. At each stage or iteration, a new version of the software is created. Rinse and repeat until the entire system is ready.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The advantages of the iterative model over other common SDLC methodologies are that it creates a working version of the project early in the process and reduces the cost of implementing changes. One downside: repetitive processes can quickly consume resources.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">DevOps</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The DevOps methodology is a relative newcomer to the SDLC scene. It emerged from two trends: the application of Agile and Lean practices to operations and a general shift in business towards understanding the value of collaboration between developers and operations personnel at all stages of the SDLC process. In the DevOps model, development and management teams work closely together, and sometimes as a team, to accelerate innovation and roll out better, more reliable software products and features. Product updates are small but frequent. Discipline, continuous feedback and process improvement, and manual automation of development processes are all hallmarks of the DevOps model.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Other Models</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The following models are currently in use:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">V-model. Based on the Waterfall. This SDLC model implies quality control at each stage. Suitable for projects where errors can be fatal, where accuracy in meeting requirements is critical.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/tWzf9Artu_h2JMAV7TSawlJkdjwwMjqBOZj5WImu9pRd3zHHhevGgS0MPTPeWPZcBSe-D65OKFq9sR1DdCjwkroAJVvYl42CXzYgg-g6wCpiyauECTSj50YqM_fPaWBpKqLnZ85XVmV6xPpth9g8jN0" width="602" height="512" /></p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">The evolutionary prototyping model. Again, the basis is a Waterfall. The necessary improvements to the project are immediately made based on the feedback of the client (customer). Several prototypes are created, one of which is eventually finalized and sent into production.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Spiral. Includes the features of the previous ones. Used for complex, large projects with frequent releases, suitable for software with unclear requirements.<br /><br /><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_fLd-nxQtD_qoqMyjfsnbRn-S10kFhzPNRXdq7rvmVksvoz9hUJOhIlFTk1Dm36sso-yWNaKSYEPF2OYARgev3MMjdGjVtk8C9M6nGi_XN7tvEUyMN-tZ1fjZbrRT_BFZElChbK4rwuXqJ5z2UX4svQ" width="602" height="512" /></p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Flexible methodologies. There are more than 50 of them. And many, again, may include the features discussed above.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">Considering that many models used in the development life cycle contain elements of the Waterfall model, it is advisable to take it as a basis when considering security issues.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Benefits of SDLC</h2>
<p dir="ltr">In the first, second, and third stages, business requirements for the product are formed, the wishes and needs of users are taken into account, and the boundaries of the project are determined. Specialists from various fields are involved in the work (marketing, sales, support, and so on). As a result of all these efforts, answers to the questions should appear: &ldquo;What problems should the software solve?&rdquo;, &ldquo;What exactly (what product) needs to be done?&rdquo;</p>
<p dir="ltr">At the same time, security issues should also be considered at this stage, in particular with regard to identification, authentication, registration of information security events, protection of IS incidents, and control of the completeness, accuracy, and correctness of the processed data. This is done through threat assessment, attack surface analysis, security requirements definition, and risk analysis.</p>
<p dir="ltr">From the SDLC development stage to application testing, security is ensured by:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">applying secure programming practices,</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">conducting autotests,</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">dynamic code analysis,</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">organization of pentests,</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">functional testing,</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">protocol testing,</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">monitoring, and incident response (after deployment, during operations).</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/41enuW74xkOcyjyPu6ZFgsTSwV3O3dKo_gTsGhlPLoRI-zKX1iDMDPZIc2WQ_886BORxKkS0idNxmUReQwQnAYi1QJ9KL8BnqlBQARNbwNhmB4UZkpRxTzYi3CcsQ6B8hpNOBlfiGOB0UNAF7JcJVjs" width="602" height="601" /></p>
<p dir="ltr">Also, a fairly common tool for ensuring secure software development, which can be used at all stages (starting from the fourth in this case), is static application analysis (SAST). It comes down to code analysis without the need to run the program, which means it is guaranteed to be suitable for development, testing, deployment, and operations.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Static code analysis is implemented using a special tool - SAST analyzer. This technology allows:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Detect vulnerabilities. And not only in the "own" files of the app but also in libraries and third-party components that are used during development.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Find undeclared capabilities (NDV) in software.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">Software Configuration Management (SCM) is a process to systematically manage, organize, and control the changes in documents, code, and other entities during the Software Development Life Cycle. The primary goal is to increase productivity with minimal mistakes.</p>
<p dir="ltr">With the addition of security measures to each stage, we can talk about the transformation of SDLC into SSDLC. This is the Secure Software development lifecycle. This approach is becoming more and more popular because implementing security measures throughout all stages of the life cycle is good practice that saves a lot of time.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">FAQs</h2>
<h3 dir="ltr">What is Agile SDLC?</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The Agile SDLC model is a combination of iterative and incremental process models with a focus on process agility and customer satisfaction through the rapid delivery of a working software product. Agile Methods breaks down a product into small incremental builds. These builds are provided in iterations. Each iteration typically lasts one to three weeks. Each iteration includes cross-functional teams working simultaneously in different areas, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">planning</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">requirements analysis</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">design</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">coding</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">unit testing and</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">acceptance testing.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">At the end of the iteration, the work product is displayed to the client and important stakeholders.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Why is the Discovery stage an important phase of SDLC?&nbsp;</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Discovery occurs at the pre-sale stage when the project has not yet been taken into work. Emphasis on analysis, evaluation, project planning, and preparation of a technical and commercial proposal to the client. According to the results of this type, it is possible that the client will refuse the project altogether (since the received terms and cost will not satisfy him) or decide to compare your estimate with the cost estimates of other contractors.</p>
<h4 dir="ltr">1. How does it affect the planning of SDLC?&nbsp;</h4>
<p dir="ltr">It can help overcome the lack of understanding of the target audience, inability to beat the competition, and product mistiming, increasing the degree of the product&rsquo;s success.&nbsp; Mistakes made at the initial stage of the development process are the most difficult to correct in the future. That&rsquo;s why the goal of the Discovery phase is to prevent fatal errors.&nbsp;</p>
<h4 dir="ltr">2. Does it help to define the requirements?&nbsp;</h4>
<p dir="ltr">The Discovery phase is the stage in which the process of collecting and analyzing data is carried out to determine the goals, potential, and limitations of the project. This stage focuses on planning, launching new products, or improving existing solutions. The role of the Discovery phase is to eliminate unforeseen circumstances so that projects are implemented on time and within budget, and customers receive the expected financial result.</p>
<h4 dir="ltr">3. Could UX wireframes confirm the business idea?&nbsp;</h4>
<p dir="ltr">A wireframe is the first-phase version of a site that helps to adjust design plans and confirm the business ideas, so changing your plans becomes easier.</p>
<h4 dir="ltr">4. Does technical research save development time in the future?</h4>
<p dir="ltr">Technical research is important for businesses, as it provides knowledge and insights that leads to improvements to existing processes where efficiency can be increased and costs reduced.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Instruments for effective work in SDLC</h3>
<ol>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Atlassian products like Jira &amp; Confluence</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Meeting &amp; notes&nbsp;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Delivery reporting &amp; planning&nbsp;</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p dir="ltr">These tools are very flexible and can be used by teams that are involved both in Agile and Waterfall methodologies. They are customizable and can track all sorts of work in the SDDL, including initiatives, epics, stories, and tasks, as well as other issues specific to the team.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Why is SDLC important?</h3>
<p dir="ltr">SDLC provides an effective framework and method to develop software apps. It involves effectively planning before starting the actual development. Developers with the help of SDLC can analyze the requirements. Unnecessary costs during development are reduced.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Who is involved in SDLC?</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The three main roles in the SDLC are product owner, project manager, who is team representative, and team lead, who focuses on technical implementation. And, of course, developers, testers, designers, and management team</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">What is the most important phase of SDLC?</h3>
<p dir="ltr">All SDLC phases are valued equally. But, many software developers suggest that the requirement definition and analysis stage is the most important aspect of SDLC. This is when the team begins to understand what the stakeholders expect from the project.</p>

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-80c61be6-7fff-5e69-7424-6932e7a55521">SDLC is a process that consists of a detailed plan that describes all the details regarding the development, maintenance, and replacement/change of specific software. It is a methodology used to improve the quality of software as well as improve the overall development process.</span></p>

SDLC, or Software Development Life Cycle, are the steps to create software applications. The development process is divided into tasks that then are assigned, completed, and measured.

What is SDLC? Phases of Software Development & Models

<p dir="ltr">If you own an IT business, you probably know how difficult it is and how long it takes to recruit in-house IT specialists. Especially those with a Middle or Senior level of expertise or some with very rare tech skills. This could become a real nightmare if your project needs experts just right now.</p>
<p dir="ltr">What to do in such a case?&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">The smartest move you can take is to opt for a staff augmentation model that helps expand your team for a specific project extremely fast. Still don&rsquo;t know what this helpful model is? In this article, we will explain to you what staff augmentation really is, when it is best to use it, as well as give you all the cons of this model.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">But let&rsquo;s start with some basics.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">What is Staff Augmentation?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">When you first hear about IT staff augmentation services, many people would immediately think of an augmented human from a modern cyberpunk movie. Are you one of them? That is understandable.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">In reality, IT staff augmentation is not about it at all. The word augment itself means to make something larger &mdash; in size, number, strength, etc. Augmented in the IT sphere means a bigger team. But having bigger teams doesn&rsquo;t mean becoming more effective. It can sometimes be quite the opposite, as bigger teams are quite difficult to manage. Staff augmentation can help you enlarge your team while ensuring that this staffing remains efficient.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">To put it simply, staff augmentation is an outsourcing hiring strategy where a business temporarily hires one or several outsourcing IT experts for a certain project.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_g_TsURmUp9KT3LHEsPPSSAq5VjLNC9oQ3XknlsRBwzPEU0Q3P7vkGq2AdZwN-HmOqQ6qZX1ya2RxKE3ds1iD2_VSKkAOFjkPyw-JTm8LM0x6Tmrb7muXFf_q6MxQcz9udtaFkyAv6CRrd6tqvjKaxydBZqGCbW0SL14P0cXy9UMXYSxSpz4X9s0BQ" width="602" height="421" /></p>
<p dir="ltr">Wait, so is it that simple? And you won&rsquo;t need to pay for time-consuming recruiting or consulting services?&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Yep, you can find numerous staff augmentation providers that will do the job instead of you and hire excellent temporary engineers for your project very fast. Besides, skilled talent is hired to cover only the necessary positions temporarily, permanently, or on-demand. The hires are added to the in-house team and collaborate with them on a specific project which enhances the capacity of your team and organization.&nbsp;</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Why is staff augmentation so popular?&nbsp;</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Staff augmentation has become a widely used practice worldwide with <a href="https://www2.staffingindustry.com/site/Research/Research-Reports/Americas/Global-Staffing-Forecast-May-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$490 billion</a> of revenue annually. One of the main sources for staff augmentation is freelancing, which has become very popular recently due to the rise of numerous freelance platforms. Just imagine, in the US solely, about <a href="https://www2.staffingindustry.com/site_member/Research/Research-Reports/Americas/The-US-Gig-Economy-2019-Edition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">34% of workers</a> are freelancers, and this number grows each year.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">But why has staff augmentation become so popular?&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">It is obvious. Many companies today choose IT staff augmentation for a bunch of situations, including talent shortage, high cost of IT professionals, and many more. This model helps businesses minimize operational costs while skyrocketing their efficiency. It also helps quickly scale your IT department once you need it and add more employees to keep up with the demand.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Staff augmentation can, undoubtedly, help you enhance both the quality and speed of your projects, because by hiring professionals in various fields, you get the expertise that your in-house developers may lack. This could be extremely helpful if you have complex IT projects and you need a senior level of expertise.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Last but not least, staff augmentation service can present your workers with excellent training opportunities. Your in-house staff can share the experience with your in-house team, allowing them to learn and grow throughout the whole development process.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Types of staff augmentation</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Today, IT staff augmentation can be divided into three main types, each with its own peculiarities:</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/8JHJnWD4bOURoRPVHFu5zWM-T94Pg8SirjEMrbLLwiisg5ZlKAYglstEAMOntIGk7P4qpiHs62JWYsYgRPeDimWpcBQRSU3JgrwD1uDaGsAwLkj0a7oHDeXexlAB4cWnZThnUu8zPkidm_MDN8smihwwIZZQqGhpE9_y2xzCgmqujU2Lolh37r960g" width="602" height="301" /></p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Core augmentation</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">This type of augmentation is long-term with a full-time contract. All the resources of the business are shared with another company and the core team works full-time at the hired company while paralelly working in their own company. The roles and responsibilities of the core team are stated in the contract.</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Temporary augmentation</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">This type of augmentation is short-term with temporary staff for a specific project. Usually, companies prefer the temporary augmentation model if they lack the resources for covering all their projects. Temporary augs can increase the number of people to handle multiple projects.</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Functional augmentation&nbsp;</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">This type of augmentation involves contracted employees working temporarily on a specific project. The main difference between core and functional augmentation is that the latter doesn&rsquo;t have an indefinite duration.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Use cases of staff augmentation</h3>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/OgesyNY3LXp1myGfxn2xiu0uL6HeSvfh4Lwx0OpwJ7oyhIKXSg1_LLnY5PDG8fXfNgO-kOaCdI328Ln4KpcH_fRQy6IlQ8mtJJk5QmYSFoW7paFVDcxjVsK6durNTRgoAgpZXI8xDqrE3Cr9NgfQJN-V65jc0cQgZce3TEsA5JrAJhvxmmJxqjvmeA" width="602" height="361" /></p>
<p dir="ltr">Before applying this cooperation strategy, it is crucial to know its best use cases. Here are some of the most common uses when you should consider opting for staff augmentation:</p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Reinforcing your in-house team: yes, you may already have a developer team that works in-house. However, when you launch new projects or release new products or services, it is better to improve your expertise by augmenting your existing IT team with temporary personnel. This way, you will get a better outcome.</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">When you have short deadlines: the process of recruiting new employees is a complex process with lots of stages. But if you don&rsquo;t have time and patience for it, you can take advantage of staff augmentation. You can get programmers from any part of the world very fast and meet the needs of your project, no matter if it is short- or long-term.&nbsp;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">If you need specific expertise: if you need to get a specialist with a certain skill set over a short period of time, this cooperation method will help you out.&nbsp;</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">If you need to bridge a gap: you can always hire temporary workers for short-term projects while looking for permanent candidates.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 dir="ltr">The Difference between Staff Augmentation and Delivery Teams</h2>
<p dir="ltr">When learning about staff augmentation, you may also come across the term delivery teams. These two terms can even be misused sometimes.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">But what is the difference? And is there any?&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">As we already found out, staff augmentation is the process of hiring one or more temporary tech specialists. So, when you have more demanding projects that need constant support through all their stages of development, staff augmentation might not be a good fit for you.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">In this case, you need a delivery team that usually consists of a skilled project manager, several software developers, and quality assurance specialists. Such teams work on projects autonomously and need little or no supervision from your side.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Benefits of IT Staff Augmentation</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Just like with any other cooperation strategy, staff augmentation comes with a bunch of pros and cons. Here is the list of some of the benefits you can get when opting for this model:</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/i4TCV4NeTTWw0-EVsargr5Rlef9RPfhuD8eqSMCid2WvIGZDir8GnbELbxDA6LOzfFwU3AGkQDbnUEjY-qkbbvfDgcVGZZLWsW7CB0D9PDogB9Q2e1QbLxhPsQUtuIgMdvJWPfP9ph0VOOm0v9gFxyh_TACS53LzYG0HS_8eTJrXpSE3GfSI3B5fOA" width="602" height="331" /></p>
<h3 dir="ltr">1. Reduction of the time for recruiting</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Organizing a well-functioning recruiting process takes time and energy. You need to create job descriptions, place them on the job portals, interview candidates, and do many other necessary steps. And even all of them do not guarantee fast and successful hiring.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">But what if we say that staff augmentation will eliminate all these stages, especially if you get help from a staff augmentation company? It will do everything instead of you and staff your business very fast with new full members of your team.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Besides, having temporary workers will help you fight another issue called overstaffing. When you have already delivered the project, you may not need the same number of workers anymore. And with staff augmentation, you won&rsquo;t face the problem of firing gifted tech talent.&nbsp;</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">2. Access to a talented pool of experts</h3>
<p dir="ltr">When you need a candidate with a certain technical skill set, the staff augmentation company will offer you good fits without wasting your time. Besides, you can select experts from any part of the world to meet your business goals if you do not have matches in your region.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">With staff augmentation, you can use both internal and external resources while saving your time on onboarding and training of the new employees.&nbsp;</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">3. Enhanced flexibility and scalability</h3>
<p dir="ltr">This model is extremely flexible and scalable. With IT staff augmentation, you can easily both upscale or downscale your development team, which is more comfortable than hiring full-time employees. What is more, when the project ends, you can end the partnership with temporary staff or revive it in the future if you need help again. This won&rsquo;t ruin your brand image like firing your employees.&nbsp;</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">4. Quality on a budget</h3>
<p dir="ltr">If your business has a limited budget and payroll, staff augmentation is just for you. You don&rsquo;t need to pay any extra costs as you do with full-time staff. However, you can always add some bonuses to improve their happiness and performance.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Moreover, small businesses benefit a lot from temporary placement on a short-term basis with no long-term commitment as you do not need to pay taxes or insurance.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">But does this mean that the quality is lower, too? Of course, not. Staff augs deliver the same quality and quantity of work just like your full-time employees.&nbsp;</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">How to Succeed with Team Augmentation</h2>
<p dir="ltr">If done the right way, staff augmentation can significantly improve your bottom line and enhance productivity. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to successfully implement this strategy in your business:&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/0oGAHpiybiOmgjxvQWXQx1t_jEkf5baIZ5Vwp_3cRD1TCma8GUFM8RjC58mhyAqKwMix0MlCQ5fBuzK7c1MKsw7V6ZEJMP0Hf3266a-u1ipdqdLq3bgCqZeHeciS4aCC_Iy-VHx8Qklt90GXvmZOodVmz0M5jAYXE-X6bYDTmbZp2oYZdY5CgoCtsQ" width="602" height="512" /></p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Identify which skill or expertise your company needs</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The first step of staff augmentation adoption is identifying which tech expertise you currently need by conducting a detailed analysis of your business operation. You can also assess your projects requirements and your personnel audit outcome and find out which gap you have and whether the acquisition of the temporary employees will help you out.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Search for staff augmentation provider</h3>
<p dir="ltr">When you are looking for a staff augmentation vendor, you should always keep in mind your requirements as different staff augmentation companies have different approaches to recruiting. Conduct the research, assess their credentials and offers, and track records. Make sure to find someone who aligns with both your corporate and operational cultures.&nbsp;</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Compare and choose one</h3>
<p dir="ltr">You don&rsquo;t need to choose only one staff augmentation provider as each of them has unique offers to consider. Try to multisource, select several of the most suitable vendors, compare them, and select the one that is the best fit for long-term cooperation.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Foster a healthy relationship between in-house and remote teams</h3>
<p dir="ltr">No matter if you work with in-house or remote teams, you need to force a healthy environment in which everyone is happy to work. How? You need to communicate with everyone and ensure that each of the teams is in sync. For example, when you are holding a meeting, ask about your team&rsquo;s interests or hobbies to figure out what they have in common. This will also help in building a healthy relationship in the team.&nbsp;</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Make sure the communication is clear</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Did you know that your bottom line can be improved with the help of clear communication? How so? It is obvious. Your entire team needs to understand your business vision and mission as well as all project requirements. It is also very important to ensure clear communication so that everyone who takes part in the development and administration process can contribute to it and buy into decisions.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Master useful technologies</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Always master technologies and tools that might be helpful for you. Such team collaboration tools like CRM system, Slack, JIRA, task management system, or Basecamp help to share comments from team members as well as project statuses. Be careful as the lack of communication may result in miscommunication. And this can affect your entire project negatively. Many modern tools can do the contrary; they enhance the communication and collaboration within your team.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Conclusion&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Undoubtedly, a staff augmentation strategy allows you to focus on your core business objectives and stay competitive in this fast-paced world. By adopting this cooperation solution, you get several benefits, like decreasing time and cost for recruiting and employment, improved efficiency of your team, and extreme flexibility and scalability.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;">If you often need employees for short-term projects, then IT staff augmentation is surely a must for your firm. And the abundance of staff augmentation providers on the market will ensure that you hire only skilled developers whenever you need them and won&rsquo;t spend too much time and money on recruiting. <span id="docs-internal-guid-38677343-7fff-dfcf-7319-998567c0d35d"></span></p>

<p>Staff augmentation is an outsourcing hiring strategy where a business temporarily hires one or several outsourcing IT experts for a certain project.</p>

Staff augmentation is an outsourcing hiring strategy where a business temporarily hires one or several outsourcing IT experts for a certain project.