Agile Methodology Tools in Business

Timely delivering projects under a defined deadline and a set budget is a priority for those companies who wish to maintain their credibility, reputation, and prestige. Projects that get delayed give a hard time to the enterprises throughout their hierarchy because late project delivery has a significant impact on the morale, level of productivity and focus as well. To make matters worse, incorrect implementation of agile methodology might force the employees to leave the company due to excessive stress.

In such a stressful situation, the single best thing an employer can do is to take a step in the right direction at agile methodology, which is where the real tools of project management enter to play. The tools help in the identification of the actual status of a project, the expected tenure of a project and all its practical applications.

Entering into the world of project management, one is a witness of the importance of flexible working methods while also ensuring the implementation of futuristic and latest techniques for gathering the results quickly. There are some project management tools which come in handy to assist in the implementation of Agile project methodology of management.

The eight best tools which we have for you to choose from are:

1. Trello

One of the most widely utilized tools of project management, Trello is renowned for its straightforward user interface (UI) and easy usability. The functioning of Trello can be figured out even by a beginner who does not have too much knowledge in the field of project management.

Trello gives you cards along with dragged columns. The primary columns are three of them that include To Do, Doing, Done. Pulling the map to the appropriate box involves the rest of the tool to plot and create new columns, a rapid and simple procedure.

The cards are objects which can be assigned to resources that are relevant and include the estimation, completion process as well as delivery dates of the projects underway. The reputation of Trello is evident from the fact that even Twitter makes the use of Trello.

2. Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) 

If you love using Microsoft Stack, VSTS is the perfect tool for your needs. The device facilitates easy integration with Visual Studio, helping manage a technical project with maximum ease. Until five users, the option of using VSTS is free and some premium features that can be purchased. The best feature of VSTS is the mechanism to trace any changes in the code which is the best thing a developer can ever hope for.

3. JIRA 

When you talk about authenticity, Jira is that tool which lives up to your expectation in project management and is known for being the best tool for tracking the records of jobs done through Agile management. Be it small businesses, enterprises or big organizations, Jira is ideal for business of all sizes.

Just like Trello, columns and tickets are there for you to display the different phases of your work. These tickets can be made and then be attached to a resource. When you complete a sprint, the performance of each can be measured through pie charts and graphics representations too.

4. AXOSOFT 

It is a software for an Agile project which is helpful in the identification of bugs in the project and then taking up an accurate Scrum framework to plan these projects. Axosoft has many tools which make the developers work conveniently and create features which are under the budget, on the right schedule and free of bugs.  

Agile followers are in love with Axosoft because of the way this software helps business through the creation of an Agile workflow. The progress report of each is very transparent, and Axosoft also keeps it centralized which ultimately results in practicing Agile methodology to a maximum extent in any team.

5. ASANA 

Asana is one among the best task managing software, and facilitates a team for planning, sharing and tracking the advancement of a project with the mapping of every resource’s performance within the organization.

The interface is pretty easy. You need to create a workplace, add the projects required for completion. It is easy to allot, track and organize the tasks thereafter. You can also add up notes, comments, and tags to be clear and expressive with the motto.

6. Zoho Sprints 

Zoho Sprints assigns you the authority for creating backlogs through a drag and drop feature. You can also stretch the stories of individual users with priorities, which is an added feature other than allotting tasks to a team.

Every work item can be noted duly in a time sheet that has budget control measures like the billable and non-billable hours for a particular piece of the project.

7. WRIKE 

Wrike tool has dashboards, customizable workloads, and charts which boost a project in flowing freely. There are a lot of updating options where all kinds of scattered information that rests on your mail, images, and documents can be easily accessed. Simply put, WRIKE helps in streamlining the workflow that is relevant to the timely completion of a project.

WRIKE also features the collection of necessary information from the cloud, sending of emails and also seamlessly merges with applications like JIRA and Salesforce.

8. Velocity Chart 

This tool helps to have an idea about the value that is generated in every single sprint, helping you to estimate the amount of work which will be completed in subsequent runs. In other words, you can easily measure the velocity of your team’s work.

The Velocity Chart adds up the estimates for every complete and incomplete story. These estimates can be on factors like hours, business value and any other factors that can be assigned to a numerical value.

If you wish to include Agile methodology in your project management practice, the eight tools that we listed above can prove to be crucial to have quick and efficient project management. If you would like to implement agile methodologies to your project, you can contact us here.

The importance of choosing the right technology stack

The use of the right technology stack is the essence of a successful digital product. But choosing the right blend of technology is always tricky. 

At GoodWorkLabs, we offer an expert tech consultation that is unique for every digital product in question. In this post, we have given a more generalized road to help you choose the right tech stack for your application. We are laying down all the possible options for your reference so that you can manifest the right blend for your brand.

Technology stack: Definition & Popular Technology

In layman’s language, web app development requires a database, a server, HTML+CSS, and programming language. All these layers put together, form a tech stack for web development.

Technically, a technology stack is a combination of components which satisfies all the layers of mobile or web application and can directly affect the app functionality. The anatomy here is very simple with two major layers:

• the client-side (frontend; the presentation, what the user sees)
• server-side (backend; the website’s functionality, processes)

Frontend frameworks and libraries:

1) Bootstrap:

• Customizable, saves time, easy to use with a bunch of other helpful components.
• Recommended when you are opting for a ‘mobile first’ application.

2) Angular:

• JS-based framework, good for projects with easy code integration
• New Angular 5 makes it easy to reduce the runtime with the built-in code optimizer
• It is recommended for developing single-page web applications, cross-platform mobile apps, landing pages, and common websites.
• Already used by Google, PayPal, and Upwork

3) Vue.js:

• JS framework which easily integrates with JS libraries
• It is recommended for large-scale and single-page projects.
• Already used by Alibaba, WizzAir, Grammarly

4) React:

• JS library for making user interfaces (UI)
• Active community with numerous ready-made components
• Quick development
• It is recommended for web applications or platforms which require a very responsive UI.
• Already used by Facebook, Reddit, Netflix

5) JQuery:

• JS library that is used for code optimization

Programming Languages:

• PHP:

PHP is particularly designed for web development and creating dynamic web pages. Though it had certain vulnerabilities, it is considered to be the most popular language. Also, as PHP based apps are easy to code, it means that you can cut greatly on expenses by saving time.

• JavaScript (JS):

JavaScript is a convenient, versatile and effective high-level programming language which can be used for both server-side and client-side code. It is recommended for dynamic, agile and modern websites.

• Java:

Java is well-documented and supports numerous libraries. It is used widely for both complex website and dynamic mobile apps. The popular frameworks are Hibernate, Grails, Spring, Dropwizard, and Apache Wicket.

• C#:

With the capability of processing heavy data flow and the flexibility to create all kinds of application, C# is a popular cross-platform technology among developers.

Backend frameworks:

1) Ruby on Rails:

• One of the popular tech stack among startups, ROR is perfect for all kinds of apps from basic web pages to high-traffic web portals. 
• For developers, ROR is very easy to learn and use
• It is fast and scalable
• It uses DRY (“don’t repeat yourself”) design pattern and MVC concept (“model-view-controller”)
• RoR is already used by Airbnb, Basecamp, Twitch, Shopify,  and Zendesk.

2) Django:

• Django is versatile and can be used for startups, medium-sized projects, and high-loaded websites. It is a clean, secure, fast, and scalable framework for rapid development. Along with being well-documented,  it comes with its own lightweight server.
• Already used by Discus, Mozilla, Instagram, and National Geographic.

3) .NET:

• .NET allows developing any type of web app faster and making it scalable. It is very easy to add APIs and live communication features. It has an active community and is extensively documented.
• Already used by Xbox.com, Microsoft, Stack Overflow

4) Node.js:

• Node.js allows optimizing code on complex, high-performance, and data-intensive real-time apps. It is simple, fast, and expressive. It is recommended for apps that involve real-time streaming, collaboration tools, and chatting.

5) Express.js:

• As the name suggests Express.js is a minimalist, flexible, and resource-efficient framework which uses templates and requires minimum efforts. It is recommended for APIs and simple web and mobile services.

6) Flask:

• Flask is another well-documented framework with a highly active community. It is recommended when the client requires to build a service on a resource-constrained system. Also, it is good for serious websites and RESTful APIs.

Databases

1) MongoDB:

• MongoDB is a NoSQL, document-based database which can be used for storing large volumes of unstructured data. It can also be used in a cloud-based environment.

2) PostgreSQL:

• PostgreSQL has multi-version control and supports custom data types. Basically, it is an object-relational database with NoSQL features and is used for storing a gigantic volume of data (up to 32 TB per table).

3) MySql:

• The plus points of this most popular relational database are that MySql is highly scalable, easy to set up, cloud-reafy and is platform independent.

Popular technology stacks

You can also pick from already designed popular web stack. They have a solid foundation and you can easily customize them as per your requirements. The major tech stacks that have been used are LAMP(Linux-Apache-MySql-PHP), MEAN (MongoDB-Express.js-Angular-Node.js) and .NET.

LAMP alternatives:

• WAMP: Windows, Apache, MySql, PHP
• LAPP: Linux, Apache, PostgreSQL, PHP
• WISA: Windows, IIS, SQL, ASP.NET
• XAMPP: Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, Apache, MySql, PHP, Perl
• MAMP: Mac OS X, Apache, MySql, PHP

MEAN alternative:

• MEEN: MongoDB, Ember.js, Express.js, Node.js

Conclusions

The success of your project majorly depends on the tech stack that you choose in the beginning. With so many fishes in the pond, it is difficult to say which one will work best for you. But GoodWorkLabs can help!

Let’s discuss your requirements and compile the perfect tech stack for your next project. Drop us a quick message with your requirements and we will have our tech expert get in touch with you soon

Star Wars Technologies That Have Come to Be or Have They?

Its that time of the year and I for one am not going to make that age-old pun, instead, I’ll just say ‘a Happy May the 4th, wish I everyone’. Indeed it was 41 years ago this day when a seemingly young and assumingly tall George Lucas’s five-year penance in his basement studio bore fruit. The result, of course, a generation of fans to rival the Tolkien universe. Some often refer to Star Wars as a religion, and they are probably right. Of course as old as the franchise is today, so are its original fans. Most of them are probably in their mid-50s. And I think it would be safe to assume that quite a few of them are software developers probably in various fields of technology.

For many in the 70s, Star Wars would have served as a reference point as to how the future would appear. So, after more than four decades, how much of the Star Wars Universe has come to life? Let’s spend some time contemplating on that.

Image source: flavorwire.com

These are not the Droids You’re Looking For

When R2D2 and C3-PO were first introduced, they are trying to escape from Tantive V and by chance meet Luke Skywalker and the story begins. And then we are introduced to the iconic Jedi Mind Trick by Master Obi-Wan. From the beginning, both automatons’ cognitive abilities are quite laudable considering that both of them have the ability to understand and respond in an almost human manner. Of course, R2D2 can only respond with bleeps and buzzing sounds. So fast forward to today, do we have robots that are capable of doing that? Surprisingly the answer is yes. While they are not as refined as the duo, we are getting there. Robotics has seen a lot of star wars style movement as well as designs based on the little dustbin shaped robot. The Robear and several such robots have been designed to perform similar functions as R2D2. Not to mention the AI robots that are eerily close to becoming reflections of ours.

Help Us Obi-Wan Kenobi! You’re Our Only Hope

One of the most replicated scenes of all times in science fiction is Princess Leia’s message projected by R2D2 as a hologram. Once considered a farfetched idea that could never be realized, holograms have become quite a common sight today at conventions and mass gatherings. They are still quite expensive, but the result far outweighs the cost.

Watch the Thrust. We’re getting Out of here at Light Speed

One of the most humble and surprisingly effective modes of transportation in fiction after the Delorean, the Millennium Falcon is indeed a force to be reckoned with. Capable of blasting off into hyperspace, Han Solo’s priced smuggling ship has been an inspiration to many an inventor. Besides the very idea of blasting off at the speed of light with a tall furry humanoid bear assistant pilot is quite enough for most of us to get to the drawing boards and pour in the hours to come up with something very close. While the speed of light is something that is physically impossible, the idea of large space crafts capable of carrying a huge cargo has inspired some good designs in recent years particularly with the likes of SpaceX trying to achieve largely impossible feats at zero gravity.

That’s no Moon, It’s a Space Station!

The Death Star is arguably one of the most impressive pieces of technology ever conceived, albeit in fiction. Imagine the idea of a giant moon-sized battle station with a force field, and a billion LASERs ready to shoot down anything and everything that approaches. In today’s context, this makes more sense, considering all the threats and dangers we live in. But God forbid it should fall into the wrong hands as it did in the movies. With the amount of effort that is being put into the space programs for extraplanetary bases, it is quite possible that such a structure could be built in the distant if not the near future. Yet again this is something Elon Musk could consider as part of his SpaceX research efforts. Who knows, he probably already has and they are already building one at their secret base.

This is the Weapon of a Jedi Knight

Probably the most iconic item ever seen in the history of entertainment, the LightSaber is as impressive a weapon as the sound it makes as it cuts through even the toughest of substances in the Alderaan system or the universe even. Every child’s fantasy till the prequel series and the latest sequel series started coming out, this is a weapon that as grown-ups we still feel the urge to fantasize about from time to time. Yet again this is a piece of technology that we have slowly started to develop over the past couple of decades. Directed Energy Weapons (DEVs) as they are called are in the works as you read this article. However, as easy as George Lucas made it seem in the back in the 70s, making DEVs is far from anything resembling any degree of ease. It is estimated that by mid-2020s these weapons will be available on a large scale and could redefine the art of war as we know it today. From short range LASERs to weapons capable of mass damage we have a lot of firepower or rather joules coming our way.

Difficult to See. Always in Motion, the Future is

All in all Star Wars has been quite influential both in entertainment as well as in real life. There are several instances where the franchise has brought about change on various levels. Technology in particularly is in a way indebted to George Lucas and his franchise, if not as a source of ideas at least as a source of inspiration to dream big and beyond the stars. Many from the generation ‘x’ probably moved out of their mother’s basement after feeling the force and pursued their dreams. Although it is more likely that most of them got confined to their basements in the first place because of Star Wars. The impact nonetheless has been quite monumental.

Ofcourse all the new movies have taken a huge step back from the amazing atmosphere of imagination and mystery and delivered us to an era of Computer Generated Diarrhea. But Star Wars still takes us all back to the days of our childish wonders where our dreams had no bounds or as Yoda would put it ‘Truly Wonderful the mind of a child is’. So Dream on and May the Force be With You.

Blockchain Technology in Life Sciences

In the medical sector, new and innovative therapies keep improving life sciences. However, the same innovation challenges the supply chain. Life science is in a desperate need for authenticated and secure drugs that can become available whenever required.

Why is blockchain a solution?

Blockchain technology has gained an immense level of growth in terms of investment. Experts project that this growth can reach up to a $3 billion market level as we all reach 2025.

Blockchain technology is applicable in almost every step of the supply chain of life science. And at each of those steps, this technology offers a unique benefit.

1. Provenance

Verifying product’s origin point becomes immutable with this technology. Tamper-proof blocks allow the use of digital markers. This way, all the chances of counterfeit product get diminished. Plus, life science supply chain meets every regulatory requirement.

2. Record management

The industry faces a need for extensive documentation. Highly complex records are created and managed, which increases the costs and administrative activities. All these processes can become automatic with this technology. Businesses need smart contracts that include regulations and logic of processing. Hence, all business data can get verified without wasting any time or money.

3. Sensitive data security

Access control is also possible with this technology. Networks act according to incorporated rules and restrict access to critical medical information. Hence, authorities know who accesses certain information and when. This can become a great advantage for healthcare consumers as well, who want to keep their health records confidential.

4. Managing internal process

There is a huge list of internal processes that life science companies have to manage. Tracking products, transactions, and factory operations are a few major internal processes. All in all, companies have to concentrate on their products in different steps such as raw material collection, packaging as well as labeling.

Choosing this technology can integrate each and every process spread across systems. Companies can skip multiple reconciliations and track everything with the help of a single ledger. This ledger will be available to every authoritative body. So, no need to hassle.

5. Multi-party collaboration

Collaboration is the most valuable property of this technology. Hence, clinical trial officers, trial sponsors, and multiple regulators can access and share data at the same time. A secure and shareable network brings transparency to the supply chain. Hence, every considerable party receives trustworthy collaborative network to rely on.

With speed and trust in life science, this technology offers the ability to transform the industry for good. Complications can go away and sensitive data can become more secure.

Happier patients

Soon blockchain is going to enable companies to present more relevant data for patients. Accurate information, continuous product availability, and other features can improve patients’ satisfaction. However, it all comes down to the manageability of health care and drug companies.

Life science sector requires a technology boost to attain much-needed goals in terms of security, speed, and quality. Hopefully, companies will understand this requirement and move forward in this direction as soon as possible. Only time will tell!

Machine Learning enhances User Experience for Music

When creativity meets technology, you get incredible outcomes. And that is what the music streaming industry is investing in these days to improve user experience amidst brutal competition. They push new boundaries with technology and diversify the music genre so that everyone can appreciate it.

The era of personalized music with machine learning

In the latest news, the music discovery process is getting personalized results with revolutionary machine learning. Nowadays, almost every big name of the industry is leveraging AI to create better and more personalized music lists.

So, you should not get surprised if the suggested music from Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music seems exactly what you want to hear. All these music-streaming providers implement complex algorithms to pick subtle cues and create personalized music list for you.

• Pandora combines the same technology with data analytics to make suggested playlists for listeners. The algorithms used by Pandora evaluate the songs or artists selected by a user. With that, it creates a playlist that has similar attributes, matching the personal preferences of that user.

• Spotify is probably the most enthusiastic player when it comes to using algorithm technology in music streaming. The company uses a collaborative filtering approach. The algorithms collect music streaming data from multiple users and compares it together. This comparison is conducted with Echo Nest, which is considered best in this technology for music search. Apart from collaborative filtering, Spotify also includes NLP and audio models in its method of providing personalized music.

How Machine learning is evolving music streaming personalization

As mentioned earlier, music-streaming companies are using a variety of AI technologies to make song discovery advanced and personalized.

Here are three major technologies revolutionizing the music-streaming industry.

1. NLP or Natural Language Processing

NLP enables algorithms to understand human language. APIs are used for sentiment analysis, which harnesses the meaning behind spoken and written words. The model of NLP allows music streaming providers to collect data from a variety of resources all over the internet. Algorithms collect data from articles, news, blogs and other resources available on the internet. Using the written text regarding a music, the machines understand the characteristics and provide them with the right playlists.

2. Collaborative filtering

Collaborative filtering is a comparative study of the users’ music listening behavior. The technology helps in understanding the popularity and characteristics of songs. Algorithms collect data from a wide range of users. These datasets include information regarding stream counts, saved tracks, page visits and many others.

By incorporating all kinds of streaming data together, algorithms create a personalized list of tracks for the listeners.

3. AI audio models

Companies like Spotify understand that NLP and collaborative filtering cannot offer justice for new songs. That is why they use another form of AI-Integrated audio model. This technology works just like the face recognition technology. However, the algorithms inspect the audio models instead of pixels. With raw audio evaluation, companies provide new songs to the users in their playlist.

Thus, it would not be wrong to say that machine learning has found a strong place in the large ecosystem of music discovery. With proven phenomenal outcomes, the justification of marrying AI with music does make total business sense!

Natural Language Processing tools for Chatbots

Language understanding tools have the capacity to make chatbots smarter. These tools are designed to enhance the communication capabilities of the chatbots. The ability to understand the sentiment, create an automatic summary and find a relationship between the topics. All these abilities can make your chatbot much more effective for the users.

Here are 5 NLP tool choices that can help your chatbot deliver high impact performance in customer servicing.

1. LUIS

Microsoft offers cognitive services to provide language intelligence and other capabilities. The LUIS or Language Understanding Intelligence Service offers high-quality models that help chatbots understand various entities and intents. The availability of the models related to times, places and others enhance the performance of chatbot. The users can get much better experience, as an active understanding of the language is used.

The tool is compatible with various platforms such as KiK, Slack, Facebook Messenger, Skype, SMS, and others. You can get both free as well as paid versions of the tool.

2. RASA NLU

When you are looking for an open source method of classifying the intent, RASA NLU is your answer. The tool offers a complete set of APIs that make entity extraction highly convenient for the chatbot.The libraries come along with the tool that enhances the capacity of any bot. The corporate sectors like health, insurance, travels, telecoms and banks get the maximum advantage of this tool.

The tool is available for free and works on platforms such as Facebook Messenger, Telegram, SMS, Skype, Line, and others. This is why the tool has gained an incredible level of popularity in multiple sectors.

3. Amazon Lex

The tool can provide high-quality language capabilities to your mobile applications. The specific properties include natural language recognition and speech recognition too. Hence, the chatbot can provide both text and voice experience to the users.

This will improve the ability of the bot to assist and help the users conducting various tasks such as placing orders, opening an account, making bookings, and others. The tool offers a simple console, which makes the processes much more convenient for the chatbot.

4. API AI

Known as one of the most trustworthy language understanding tools, API AI makes brand specific interactions easier. The businesses can leverage this tool to create bots that can provide multiple services to the users.

The conversational interface with this tool takes not much effort. Plus, the powerful features of the tool allow the bots to answer highly complex questions asked by the users. The bots get to leverage the stored knowledge along with the machine learning. Hence, the bot learns and gets better.

Some other valuable features include multilingual interactions, cross-platform support, easy integrations and others.

5. ChatScript

ChatScript allows you to create a script for the dialog conducted by the chatbot. The tool uses the scripting rules to create extensive texts. Plus, it scans documents, memorizes old interactions and manages a large volume of users.

All the mentioned tools have their own set of properties. You can add these tools and enhance the capabilities of your chatbot.

Blockchain Technology in Investment Banking

Data storage is one of the prime requirements to manage an investment bank. Banks create multiple databases to store valuable information regarding the customers, transactions, and others. These databases play a critical role while completing any task. Banks are required to offer and obtain the needed data to facilitate a smooth transaction. All the counterparties require informational pieces on a regular basis. Managing huge databases becomes a troubling and expensive task for investment banks.

It is here that Blockchain can display immense potential for investment banks.

It can become a viable answer to all the database related issues faced by the banks. Blockchain database systems provide one platform for all the counterparties to access the required data. The highly secured access system keeps the databases protected too.

According to a report, Blockchain has been able to reduce the banking costs and increase savings up to 30%. Also, it is reported that investments in Blockchain efforts in capital markets will rise from $75 million in 2015 to a staggering $400 million by 2020.

The banks can integrate all the fragments of databases together and make their office processes much more cost-effective.

1. Lower reporting costs with transparent data optimization

The blockchain provides a single source for the data. The source offers a highly optimized quality of the data for the banks, which brings an incredible level of transparency in the financial reporting.

The verification of the data becomes much easier as the authorities, clients, and customers share the data at the same time. This way, the banks get to create financial reports without investing a huge amount on gathering and verifying the data.

2. Lower processing costs with efficient operations

Blockchain centralizes the whole operation of investment banks. The operations related to finding details of customers, connecting with clients and others take much lesser effort with the continuous availability of the required data. A single source provides all information about every function.

With that, banks get to manage the digital identities efficiently. Multiple branches can use the same source to understand customers and provide quick and easy services. By doing this, the banks get to save a lot of operational costs too.

3. Lower compliance costs with transparency

With traditional database systems, banks have to spend a huge amount of money in communicating information with all the counterparties. Banks need to gather data and audit them again and again to ensure the compliance in the functions.

These costs can also be reduced with blockchain. A single database system becomes a perfect solution to bring transparency and audit transactions conveniently. The whole process becomes visible to all the authorities. As a result, the costs of compliance reduce by 30 to 50 percent.

Other benefits

There are various other functions that an investment bank needs to manage. Some of the functions include middle office work, trade support, settlement, investigations, and clearance. It is obvious that all the mentioned functions require the availability of the right data at the right time.

Banks are required to gather, analyze and confirm the data before taking any action. Hence, the availability of a blockchain database system makes these functions much more cost-effective.

Recent reports have presented positive outcomes of the blockchain technology and thus, more investment banks are exploring to implement this database technology in their work.