Better. Secure. Effitiant.

MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product. This is an important concept in the software world. What you do is design your software, thinking of all the possible features. You then strip it back to the bare essentials. What’s the 'minimum' product we can build, that has the value we need? The value depends on what you must achieve from the product – for example the minimum might be that it has certain important functionality and allows it to be bought online with a credit card. However you might decide that allowing customers to buy “on account” is not necessary from day one. Therefore if it’s not critical, don’t build it. Then you end up with a leaner product, costing less, and available much sooner. Then you get feedback and really start to understand what people want out of the software. You might find out nobody wanted to buy it on account after all. If you try to think of – and include – every possible feature up front, it takes far longer to build, which costs a lot more of course, and it simply delays getting it live, in use and bringing value to your organisation.

There are numerous advantages to outsourcing software development, the most obvious being you can switch us “on” and “off” as needed to match your projects requirements. Also, by outsourcing to an established and trusted software house you are gaining access to our talented team.

There are three types of outsourcing based on where IT service providers are located:

• Offshore outsourcing is delegating project operations to an external team in a distant location without a heavy focus on remote team management.At first glance, the remoteness of the development team can seem like a problem for the client.Differences in time zones, cultural features, and transparency issues can put off some of them.Luckily, there are numerous collaboration tools and other instruments in the hands of offshore vendors.They also rely heavily on communication and nurture their reputation.All the project development work can be handled efficiently. Moreover, offshoring helps expand the existing talent pool with IT professionals not available locally.It also stands for lower development costs with the same or higher software quality.

• Nearshore outsourcing implies cooperation with an external service provider from a neighboring country. In practice, this type of outsourcing is associated with minimal time zone differences and almost full cultural compatibility between the client and the vendor. When compared to offshoring, nearshoring is associated with higher rates per developer.

• Onshoring, or domestic outsourcing, is delegating tasks to a company located in the same country as your in-house team. This type of service is generally more expensive than nearshore and offshore ones. However, local partnership offers may look unattractive from the point of view of talent shortage and high development costs. Conversely, onshore companies are located in the same time zone and can be easily accessible for a physical meeting. Seamless communication and transparent internal processes are also in place, which is a great benefit.

SaaS is a method of software delivery that allows data to be accessed from any device with an internet connection and a web browser. In this web-based model, software vendors host and maintain the servers, databases, and the code that makes up an application. The cloud-based model is so common now that more than 60% of software seekers who call Software Advice only want web-based products—less than 2% specifically ask for on-premise software.

The traditional on-premise software delivery model differs from SaaS in two key ways:

• SaaS deployments don’t require extensive hardware, which allows buyers to outsource most of the IT responsibilities typically required to troubleshoot and maintain the software in-house.

• SaaS systems are typically paid within a subscription model, whereas on-premise software is usually purchased through a perpetual license, paid upfront.

On-premise users can also pay up to 20% per year in maintenance and support fees. The annual or monthly subscription fee for a SaaS system will typically include the software license, support, and most other fees.

Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, networks, and data from malicious attacks. These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information, extorting money from business/users or interrupting normal business processes.

Types of some cybersecurity threats;

• Ransomware
• Malware
• Social engineering
• Phishing
• ­­­Network security
• Application security
• Information security
• Disaster recovery and business continuity
• End-user education

Implementing effective cybersecurity measures is particularly challenging today because there are more devices than people, and attackers are becoming more innovative.

Malware is a messy virus you never want to cross paths with. In short, it’s a piece of software that hackers attach to a number of different things so it can be inconspicuously delivered to your computer where it wreaks havoc. They can have many purposes, but generally, they will corrupt your files, steal your data, and damage your ability to use your computer.

Businesses need to set out clear cybersecurity policies for their employees. This policy should include where data should be saved, the procedure for downloading new software for work on business devices, backing up data, restricting admin rights, and two-factor authentication. Businesses should also provide their employees with education on best cybersecurity practices while investing in security technology. Consider hiring an IT security expert to support you in this.

In a way, you find them. They may send out hundreds of bogus e-mails posing as someone else or a different site. If you fall for the bait, you get trapped. The damage might not be obvious at first— hackers can lay low in the background and monitor what you’re doing online. You won’t know it’s happened, but you might expose sensitive data or financial information. It won’t be long before you see the results of the crime.

Generally, Open Source software is software that can be freely accessed, used, changed, and shared (in modified or unmodified form) by anyone. Open source software is made by many people, and distributed under licenses that comply with the Open Source Definition.

The internationally recognized Open Source Definition provides ten criteria that must be met for any software license, and the software distributed under that license, to be labeled "Open Source software." Only software licensed under an OSI-approved Open Source license should be labeled "Open Source" software.

In Social Sky™ Global Services we only use the following open source licenses:

• Apache License 2.0 - https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0
• MIT license - https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
• BSD 2-Clause "Simplified" or "FreeBSD" license - https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-2-Clause
• BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" license - https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause

We won't allow:

• GNU General Public License (GPL)

• GNU Library or "Lesser" General Public License (LGPL)

• Mozilla Public License 2.0

• Common Development and Distribution License

• Eclipse Public License version 2.0

• and all the rest