5 Common DevOps Practices You Can Streamline

DevOps has progressed from a trendy buzzword to an industry standard thanks to the capable ways it streamlines tech operations. More importantly, DevOps delivers observable and significant improvements in workflows. One study discovered that organizations which successfully implement DevOps practices release software versions 46 times more frequently than competitors and recover from failures 96 times faster, all while reporting higher levels of operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Still, simply implementing DevOps practices alone isn’t enough to reap these benefits. Ensuring success begins by adjusting your company’s culture and continuously uncovering ways to improve your structures. To get the most from your DevOps implementations, try out these proven strategies that can help you effectively deploy your new paradigm:

1. Embrace NoOps

One of the core tenets of DevOps is streamlining operations that are repetitive and time-consuming. In an ecosystem where more and more operations can be removed from developers and ops specialists’ plates, there’s little reason not to automate as much as you possibly can. One of the newer and more popular concepts in DevOps is NoOps, which takes automation to the point of abstracting a large part of a company’s development stack.

NoOps focuses on automating your operations to the extent at which they don’t require a dedicated team to manage certain processes. NoOps lowers your costs by removing the need to allocate staff to manage aspects like basic testing, updating repositories, pushing change logs, and more. Additionally, it increases your operational scalability by focusing more on creating compact and fast software releases.

Concentrate on building up your automation tools to free your workers for more important tasks. Tap into tools like Buddy. Works, which help build the NoOps pipelines you need to automate repetitive tasks, improve your workflow, and keep your devs and operations team more productive.

2. Measure Everything

The big data revolution has helped bring new clarity to DevOps by producing tangible, measurable results for every process. Instead of focusing on the bigger picture, companies can easily drill down to the most granular level and understand operations on a much deeper level than ever before. This is positive but is only useful if you have a way of measuring how effectively you’re meeting your goals.

DevOps is all about improving, so it’s vital to pick the right KPIs and metrics to demonstrate how well you’re actually doing. The first step is to define exactly what DevOps does for your company, deciding what challenges you’re trying to solve, and then choosing the right metrics to measure progress. The right KPI may include performance metrics like deployment frequency, deployment time, automated test pass percentage, or error rates. On the other hand, it can include front-end measures like customer tickets completed, response time, and post-failure recovery.

What matters is understanding your workflow, and crafting KPIs that identify where the problems are, and how you can resolve them.

3. Containerize Your Apps

A major emphasis in DevOps is creating serverless systems that focus on scalability and speed over physical infrastructure. Containers offer a more effective way to manage applications and codebases by creating neat packages of ready-to-execute code. Instead of having to use physical test servers or even virtual machines to manage different versions and runtime environments, containers give you everything you need to run an app in a single place.

Most development and IT firms operate not one, but multiple codebases simultaneously, and require multiple users to access the code at different points. While servers make sense to a degree (it’s always useful to have a physical repository) they’re significantly less cost-effective than creating units that take up less space and are more agile.
To improve your DevOps, containers are not simply an option, but a necessity. Focus on creating containers that speed up your deployment and keep it consistent, regardless of if you’re implementing apps on virtual machines, cloud servers, or on-premise machines. More importantly, build a development model that prioritizes containerizing your applications.

4. Chase Down Bottlenecks
The ultimate goal of DevOps and NoOps is to reduce the reliance on humans to a bare minimum. Even so, both models will always require some degree of oversight, especially if you expect them to continue progressing. DevOps is about building operations chains that can simplify workflows and speed up your delivery time, but chains can and do have weak links.

Once you’ve set up your measurables and are tracking your DevOps’ efficiency, you’ll start to notice that some areas flow smoother than others. This is normal, but you shouldn’t let it rest. Instead, track down these weak spots in your production chain aggressively. These points can have a bigger impact on your overall flow than just not working properly. They can create bottlenecks that slow down your delivery time and production cycles while adding stress for your team. Your biggest job should be identifying ways to remove these choke points to constantly improve output.

5. Mine Data Extensively
At the end of the day, one of the biggest benefits of embracing DevOps is the treasure trove of data it collects. Every process, delivery, and implementation produce a variety of data about the development and release cycle that can be invaluable for promoting overall efficiency. Using this data gives you a comprehensive view of your operations, effectiveness, and efficiency. More importantly, it tells you exactly what needs to be done, and when.

In the past, decisions relied on some data, but largely instinct. While you should still trust your intuition, it’s smart to take every data point available to you when making a decision. When it comes to DevOps processes, the data is usually right, and the information arrives almost instantly. This enables you to make the right call every time, backed by the facts.

Get The Most Out Of DevOps

DevOps is a no-brainer when it comes to improving your company’s operations, but it’s not a panacea or a magic wand. To get the most out of it, you must implement it with a long-term plan, and a willingness to constantly improve upon it. Consistently perfecting your standards and automating tools will help you maximize your efficiency while keeping your teams both happy and productive.

The post 5 Common DevOps Practices You Can Streamline appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/technology/technology-trends/5-common-devops-practices-you-can-streamline

How to Get an App Like a Big Basket? The Startup Raised Fund by 150 Million From Alibaba.

We all know grocery shopping is not so fun thing to do, going to the supermarket with the item checklist, roaming around the place, find your needy things, put them on your bags and carry those big bags with you to home. This whole process is quite complicated and frustrating. But if you know we can buy all our daily groceries through the mobile application. Surprised? Yes, Bigbasket is the name of the application. This is currently the number one online grocery application in India.

According to recent research, 60% of the people around the globe are now shopping their needed groceries online in 2019 which is creating a way for e-commerce and m-commerce to meet the even more new big opportunities.

Get Familiar with Bigbasket

Bigbasket is India’s biggest online supermarket and allows customers to relax and do shopping online. Bigbasket currently operates from 3 major cities. 1) Bangalore 2) Mumbai 3) Hyderabad. Let’s get familiar with the big basket from the beginning.

So, Bigbasket was not called as a big basket from its starting. In 1999 Mr. V S Sudhakar, Mr. Hari Menon, Mr. Vipul Parekh, Mr. Abhinay Choudhari and Mr. V S Ramesh were started online business platform called Fabmart. Then in 2001, they started an online grocery store as part of the Fabmart.com. Fabmart performs exceedingly well so that success of Fabmart they started physical retail chain call Fabmall. Fabmall is the chain of grocery supermarket. Being a successful chain of the supermarket then it was sold in 2006 and renamed by the buyer The Aditya Birla Group. After selling their Fabmart, the love for the online grocery of founders are not decreased even 1%. In 2011 the same team comes with the brand called Bigbasket.com.

Business Model

1. Bigbasket is currently on the top compared to other grocery websites. The Company mainly focusing on their 3 pillars the one is exceptional customer focus,  to attract new customers and also to handle old customers big basket continually update new things. like big basket offers same day delivery around the city. Like 99% on-time delivery, 99% order fill rate, and also no questions asked on the customer return policy. Through these, all company can earn customer trust and loyalty. Also, Bigbasket compensates a customer when they not able to deliver on its given time. They always try to overcome their mistakes and consistently focusing on raising the quality bar higher.

Another one is a Wide range of products. Bigbasket has more than 40% of the sales coming through their own products or brands. They take 25% of margin on other products and 35% of margin on their own products. Bigbasket also provides the products like cut fruits and vegetables, also a recipe mixes. Recently they have started their own bakery in Bangalore that delivers the bakery items.

the third one they are continuously updating themselves with the help of the technology. Bigbasket has both types of applications android and ios which allow the customers to order their groceries any time and from anywhere.

Company Growth

From 2011 to till now big basket already crossed millions of orders delivered. Bigbasket is currently available and operates in over 35 cities. The big thing is they deliver approximately 35000 orders per day and their avg. value of one order is around 1500. In starting phase around 2014 they were just serving in 3 cities and processing around 5000 orders a day. They also significantly updating and expanding their product ranges.

Bigbasket crossed around 30+ million marks in delivered customer orders. it also delivered more than 3 million orders monthly approximately. With their focus on faster delivery times across the board and innovations online and on mobile to make grocery shopping a breeze, the company had delivered a lot to the customers on top of groceries.

The fund raises to $150 million

Yes, The title is right big basket raised $150 million from South Korea’s  Mirae Asset, UK’s CDC group, and Alibaba. Bigbasket already raised a fund of $300 million in last February from Alibaba and other companies. Mirae has invested around $60 million, while Alibaba and CDC have put $50 million and $40 Million.

The grocery segment accounts a noteworthy portion of the unorganized retail portion in the nation. With people becoming comfortable buying even milk and bread online, the online grocery market is anticipated to observe a solid development throughout the following couple of years in India.

The competitors of big basket include Softbank -backed growers, Walmart – backed Flipkart, Amazon and a host of smaller players.

Bigbasket recently mentioned that it aims to garner $2.5 billion around 17,500 crores in revenue nearly by 2020, from revenue average of over about 2500 crore currently.

Conclusion

The online grocery store is currently in trend or with a lower amount of competitors. Bigbasket has already taken advantage and currently becoming a $300 million dollar company. We at YouBrainz Infotech provides the mobile app development services so that you can drive your business online and generate good revenue. Because the best time to jump into business is when it’s in looming demand and the app like big basket are now in trend to set the new benchmark. If you think of having an app like BigBasket come to a free 30 minutes technical/idea consultation, YoungBrainz will assist you.

App Like a Big Basket

The post How to Get an App Like a Big Basket? The Startup Raised Fund by 150 Million From Alibaba. appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/small-business-competition/how-to-get-an-app

6 Breakthrough Strategies for Getting Work Done!

Stop wasting your time! – 6 Breakthrough strategies to getting your work done!

One thing we know is…..time flies!

And…..we are the captain steering the wheel. This is our ride.

We are all busy working long hours in our business. Trying to make a better more successful like than maybe we lived growing up.

Times are much different now. Small online businesses are blooming left and right like the dandelions are in your backyard.

Most often talking with other entrepreneurs, you will hear in the chatter; “I wish I had more time.”

We all wish we had Just a little more time. Because then, we could get that project done by summer. Or, launch the new course in time for the holidays. See Why Beginners Fail 

The truth is, we all have the same 24 hours in a day. How effective we are during the day, determines how to use and manage our time.

Without further do, let’s break through the 6 strategies that prove to be the most effective in getting your work done!

#1 Decide what you want

Write a list of what you want or need to get done. Without knowing exactly what it is you need; you’ll find yourself wasting valuable time.

Read- HOW TO CHOOSE ONE GOAL TO FOCUS ON

For instance; when I go to the store without a written list of what I need to get, I find myself wondering all over the store trying to remember the most important things and before I know it, what should have been a 10 min quick in/out trip to the store turns into a 30 min anxiety driven drag.

Follow these rules when deciding what you want:

• Determine what you want
• Work your goal backward
• Break down your goal into action steps
• Choose 3-5 action steps for the day

#2 Use a calendar system

There are so many calendar systems now that can keep your business organized.

 A few examples are:

• Monday.com
• Trello
• Google Calendar
• Calendar

My personal favorite is Trello. Trello has things called boards where you can write like the main idea for a category. In each board, you add a card, and to each card a list. I like to create a workflow type calendar where I can move a task from: to do-in development-pending-complete.

If your preference is in written format, rather then digital, try these workflow tips:

• Whiteboard
• The sticky note strategy
• Business planner
• Notebook

When using a calendar system or workflow just remember to stay consistent. Check your calendar daily and determine your to-do list accordingly.

When using consistently and kept updated regularly, a calendar system can save you loads of time and keep you from sliding off the grid.

#3 Find your time zone

What is a time zone, and how do I find my time zone?

Basically, this the time of the day where you work the best. While some people find early mornings their most productive time of the day, others are more efficient in the evening.

Determine what time zone you get the most done in by noticing when you are the most productive during your day.

Some things to think about when finding your time zone:

• Least distractions
• The time you can work steadily for 1-3 hours
• Energy levels during that time

Schedule your most important tasks during your zone.

See 20 Powerful Time Management Tips For Your Small Business

#4 Use time frames for tasks

In a traditional workplace where regularly scheduled meetings are common, an agenda will be present of topics to cover. On the agenda, each topic will have a time next to it. This is the amount of time dedicated to spending on that topic.

We will do this using our to-do list, because if it works great in a traditional workplace environment that why not use it at home!

Next to each task, write down how much time you will spend working on it.

For instance;

-Write and send emails (20 min)

-Make phone calls to prospects (30 min)

-Design layout for your project (15 min)

Once you have times for each task, you’ll be ready to tackles these to-dos with ease!

#5 Crush Hour

I love this strategy so much!

Read the comments in my blog post –TIME HACKS FOR BUSY ENTREPRENEURS and see what others have to say about crush hour! 

Honestly, when I’m not using crush hour, I don’t get everything done on my to-do list. This whole process comes together and each one is important to do before getting to crush hour for the most effective time breakthrough!

Follow these steps for crush hour breakthrough:

1. Schedule your time zone out in your planner
2. Remove any distractions (silencing phone, notifications, etc.)
3. Get out your completed to-do list with time frames
4. Start with your biggest/longest task
5. Set your timer
6. Work non-stop until your timer goes off
7. Continue to keep your focused moving along through your tasks

You know how you work best. I noticed for me; two crush hours work best for me. There are people like Alex Becker who can work multiple hours in the morning without getting up and eating or needing a break. Others may need shorter time sprouts.

When you use this strategy, you’ll discover how effective and efficient it can be to produce the most productive work.

#6 Set Deadlines and Follow-up

“A goal without a deadline is just a wish”

Be held accountable for your business goals by setting deadlines. When you create deadlines, you create a sense of urgency. This also turns your goal into an actionable step.

There may be some finished projects or tasks that you will need to follow up on.

When completing a bigger goal. Use a checklist, marking each task until they are all complete for that goal. Then follow up with that goal once all steps are complete to see what the next thing to do is (if needed).

Maybe this goal full of tasks will lead to another bigger goal. Connecting the two. If this is the case, continue the same steps in this article applying the exact same strategies. Before you know it, everything will be done, and your goal will be complete!

Yay! Congratulation, once you apply these steps to your online business, you too will be a master of your time!

 

The post 6 Breakthrough Strategies for Getting Work Done! appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/global/strategy/strategies-for-getting-work-done

Top Instagram Tools for Your Business

It’s often difficult to stand out from the competition, especially if your business industry is a popular one. With so many ways to design and build a social media marketing campaign and with so many options for tools that purport to assist you in a meaningful meaningful manner, some business owners and advertising teams may find themselves spending more time evaluating tools than actually using them to target their audience, expand their reach, and grow their brand.

Instagram has become one of the most powerful and popular social media platforms with over 800 million users active on a monthly basis. Thanks to its growing popularity, your business may find that Instagram is one social media channel your business cannot live without. Instagram also enjoys many tools. If you’re looking to improve your marketing strategy, we’ve listed some of our favorite Instagram tools to save you time and effort in evaluating them. Assess your current approach, analyze your target audience, and create posts you can be proud of with the help of these tools.

SocialSteeze.

You can’t market to an absent audience, so if you find yourself concerned with getting followers, try Social Steeze. Users find that SocialSteeze is one of the most robust growth services on the market. It is highly effective because it obtains real followers with proven results over time, making it one of the most reputable sources of real Instagram followers available to businesses. Grow your following organically by using real followers who can create the type of interaction and user-generated content that will allow you to be an industry influencer in a competitive market. Your dedicated growth expert will contact you and works with you every step of the way. Modifying your marketing plan, growing your business, and increasing your numbers within your targeted demographic will be made easy. Use detailed reports of your progress as you move forward!

Instagram Feed WD.

The Instagram Feed WD is a plugin that allows you to bring user and hashtag-based feeds to your website. If you’re looking for ways to get users where you want them to be with a minimum number of clicks, simply use the plugin to arrange composite feeds of hashtags, incorporate image metadata with user feeds, and add custom styling that fits your brand and helps you generate posts that your users will want to engage with. The features of this app allow you to create impressive layouts that can be easily uploaded, and all of the layout displays feed username with its accompanying metadata. Enable showing likes, comments, descriptions, and add a “Follow on Instagram” button to displayed feeds. A front end filter is available for multiple feeds. The WordPress Instagram feed WD plugin is the most advanced and user-friendly Instagram plugin available.

Boomerang.

Boomerang from Instagram can make even the most mundane moments fun. You can create mini-videos that loop back and forth, and use them as a visually captivating part of your business’ Instagram marketing plan.  Your company can connect with your loyal consumers regularly by finding and capturing something interesting. Post one-second long videos that are both interesting and quick, and do it with ease. Create a video with just one button. Tap it once, and Boomerang shoots a burst of ten photos and turns them into a mini-video that can be shared directly to Instagram from the app. If you prefer, save the video and share it later. The lack of audio within the context of the video makes it easier to capture behind-the-scenes moments in your company, develop how-to tutorials for your product, or find other ways to generate interest in your brand. There is no account information or sign up needed to get started right away.

Jungle Scout.

If you are looking to gain a competitive advantage over other businesses in your industry and improve your own business site, you may want to try Jungle Scout. This tool helps you conduct research that identifies the top products in your industry and track how well or how poorly they are performing on Amazon. The data tracker essentially allows you to spy on your competition. It offers real-time bid costs, volumes, and puts your competitors’ products to the test. This research tool has a Chrome extension that you can use to find and evaluate details about item trends, profit margins, and monthly revenues. The information found by Jungle Scout can be an indicator of your product’s potential performance.

Brand 24

Brand 24 is one social media monitoring tool that enables you to keep your ear to the ground for the conversation about your company. You can discover what people are saying about your brand in real time. Brand 24 gives you instant access to social media mentions about your brand across the social media landscape, from networks to influential publishers. With valuable data on who is saying what and where, you can troubleshoot if consumers are dissatisfied and strategize your marketing plan moving forward. You will also gain valuable insight into what corners of the internet your audience congregates, allowing you to modify your marketing campaign in a way that connects with your audience’s interests, habits, and attitudes.

Final Thoughts: Instagram Tools You Need For Your Business

These are the tools that you need to help take your business Instagram account to the next level. They all have different characteristics that make them stand out, however, together they are a force to be reckoned with. Do your own research and see which of these tools stand out the most to you and will meet the needs of what you are expecting to get from them.

Are there certain Instagram tools you’re looking at? Feel free to share your thoughts below.

The post Top Instagram Tools for Your Business appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/marketing/top-instagram-tools

4 Reasons Why Data Marketing Is King in 2019

With the growth of big data, will data marketing be even more popular in 2019? What are the reasons why you should incorporate it into your overall marketing strategies?

To know more about the advantages and how it can help your business grow, here are the top reasons why data marketing is “king” in 2019.

Introduction of Marketing Automation

Marketing automation is one of the game-changers for digital marketing today. With the use of big data, businesses will be able to introduce and incorporate marketing automation in their overall business strategies. In fact, a lot of big companies utilize various marketing automation platforms such as Hootsuite, Net-Results, and Hatchback.

According to Susan Tormellen, Vice President of Marketing at Balihoo, a popular advertising software company, marketing automation has immense benefits. She said, “By using marketing automation,” said Tormollen, “You are able to better understand your customer’s preferences and desires. This translates into both a stronger relationship with the contact when they are in the early prospect stage of the relationship, all the way through to when they become a customer.”

Basic Marketing Processes

Significantly, marketing automation uses the software in automating these basic marketing processes:

• Customer Segmentation – By using marketing automation, it will be easier for businesses to access CRM (customer relationship management) data and keep track of their target customers. Also, companies can target potential customers based on what they look at on the company website, what they actually buy and how much they spend on it.
• Customer Data Integration – Marketing automation tools help bring customer data together anywhere. It fast tracks not only the development of customer data integration but also its deployment and adaptation. By tracking prospects and customer activity, business owners will find it much easier to grow their companies.
• Campaign Management – Marketing automation makes planning, implementing, tracking and analyzing direct campaigns easier and faster. One of the most common tools that businesses use to improve their campaign management is email automation. Here, businesses can customize their email marketing campaigns and reach a lot of customers at a time, making email processes quicker and more effective.

Drew McLellan of The McLellan also swears by the effectiveness and efficiency of marketing automation. He said in his blog, “Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, how and when they want it. But every potential customer isn’t necessarily going to want exactly the same information.  With automation, you can also create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests.”

Greater Customer Engagement and Customer Loyalty with Data Marketing

According to a recent Spencer Stuart survey, a lot of marketers have completely embraced data marketing and are confident in the use of big data and analytics tools. 58% of chief marketing officers said that big data had the most impact on mobile and email marketing as well as search engine optimization, making them believe that data marketing is an essential part of their long-term marketing strategy.

In another survey conducted by Forbes Insides, they found out that market leaders in ten industries are increasing customer engagement and customer loyalty with the help of Big data and data analytics. According to these market leaders, data-driven marketing is sufficient to accomplish positive customer relationships.

But how exactly does data marketing help businesses drive and engage customers? Basically, its tools and approaches help marketers create and deliver timely and personalized messages to their customers and prospects. Because marketing automation tools provide businesses with the data they need to analyze the needs, activities and buying behaviors of their customers, they are able to create strategies to engage them and gain their loyalty.

Also, with enhanced data analytics, businesses can develop buyer personas and deliver specific messages they want to hear. One-to-one conversations and other personalized marketing tools can help companies build loyal customers without the use of hard selling or other traditional, annoying marketing strategies.

Greater Insights on the Key Drivers of the Business

Apart from customer engagement and customer loyalty, data marketing also allows the business to gain

greater insights on what drives their business to growth and success. Apparently, a business gains more

value when run using advanced data analytics and data marketing. Today, there are three core areas where data-driven marketing is delivering great value to businesses.

• Reducing Costs – Data can tell a lot about a company’s marketing campaign. This is why analyzing data and metrics regularly is very important for every company. Data can help reveal trends on customers and prospects such as their demands and spending capabilities. Because data-driven marketing makes usual business processes quicker, it can help companies reduce unnecessary costs.
• Reducing Working Capital – Because marketing automation tools provide fast, efficient and reliable data, businesses can easily analyze these data and improve their business strategies. If a business uses marketing strategies that are based on data and automated tools such as email marketing automation, they no longer need to hire more workers because a task which used to be complicated can now be done by a single person, helping the business reduce working capital.
• Generating Revenue – When certain business costs are reduced, businesses can gain more revenue. Also, data marketing is proven to be an effective marketing strategy which can help business drive more customers and generate more revenues.

Data-Driven Marketing Delivers Quick Results

Another thing that makes data marketing a king in 2019 is its ability to produce quick results. Instead of waiting for a few months, businesses can now see results in just a matter of weeks. This is because data enables marketers to boost their marketing campaigns much faster. According to CMO, 67% of business owners and marketers believe that speed is one of the main advantages of this kind of marketing strategy. The use of Big Data and data analytics tools helps businesses gain expedited results that they cannot achieve from utilizing common traditional marketing strategies.

If you haven’t tried utilizing marketing data for your business, it’s probably time to think about it and become one of the leading marketers in your industry.

Data Marketing

The post 4 Reasons Why Data Marketing Is King in 2019 appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/marketing-strategy/reasons-why-data-marketing-is-king

7 Best Instagram Growth Tools

If you are new to marketing on Instagram, you have probably discovered that building your brand’s presence is more complicated than it seems. Growing an audience requires much more than simply posting content and hoping it attracts people like a magnet; instead, you need to follow and unfollow the right people, like and comment on their posts, publish content at strategic times, engage with your followers, and much more. It is tiresome, isn’t it?

Fortunately, Instagram growth tools exist to help you achieve your marketing goals without draining you creatively or consuming more of your time that would be better spent on other aspects of your business.

From increasing your follower base to better understanding your audience’s preferences, there is a tool out there for you. That being said, here are seven of the best Instagram growth resources:

1) Magic Social

Not only is liking other people’s posts time-consuming, it’s also tedious. Your fingers will be exhausted if you attempt to do everything manually. Not just that, but you are wasting your time if you like posts from every account you come across—it is far more strategic to focus on users who are likely to find your brand interesting. So how can you narrow down Instagram’s vast user base to find these people quickly? And how do you target the right niche audience?

This is where Magic Social comes in. Partnering with Magic Social connects you with an Instagram growth expert that employs smart filters that let you select people based on geographic location, username, etc., to pinpoint the audience you want to target. For instance, let’s say you want to run a fitness brand; Magic Social will help you skip over the people concerned with topics that are irrelevant to you, and bring you straight to the crowd that expresses interest in health.

2) Social Steeze

Similar to Magic Social, Social Steeze partners you with a growth expert that handles aspects of your Instagram strategy on your behalf. It’s likely that you have far more important things to do than like other people’s posts. Therefore, you should let a third-party like Social Steeze grow your audience while you focus on the more critical parts of your Instagram strategy, like creating engaging content.

3) Hashtags for Likes

Hashtags are vital to Instagram; they are what categorizes content and makes it discoverable for both creators and potential audience members. However, you can only use 30 hashtags per post–and some social media marketers say using all 30 is not optimal. Trending hashtags change all the time, and the relatively popular tags might even bury your material in a pool of popular posts; other hashtags are used so little, that very few people will see it to begin with. Hashtags for Likes can update you on the best hashtags to use in real time; this helps you stay on top of your hashtag game and makes your content as visible as possible.

4) Sprout Social

You do not want—and can not—grow your audience if you do not understand them. With Sprout Social, you can learn more about what your followers are interested in, where they are located, when they are active online, and more. The more you know about your followers, the better you can create content that appeals to them, down to the publishing times where they are most likely to see your content.

Stumbling around Instagram blindfolded will not help you achieve your goals, so Sprout Social can provide you with actionable insights into how well your campaigns are performing.

5) Iconosquare

Iconosquare is similar to Sprout Social in that it can tell you more about your engagement rates and how you should amend your strategy to make it more effective. You can manage multiple social media accounts from one dashboard, schedule content ahead of time (which saves you the trouble of having to post manually), and compare how your campaign measures against your competitors’. Instagram requires a significant amount of work, so while you can certainly work harder, Iconosquare helps you work smarter. Overall, with this platform, you can get more done without having to put in more effort.

6) Magisto

Magisto is not exclusively for Instagram, but it can help you create well-produced videos even if you are not an experienced videographer—and videos are an essential medium on Instagram. With Magisto, you can quickly create videos for your posts or Instagram Stories that inform people about your business, make them laugh, and educate them about your industry. Video drives a significant amount of traffic on social media, so it helps to have a resource that can keep you up to speed.

7) Repost

Unlike Tumblr, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook, you cannot easily re-share content on Instagram. However, with the app Repost, you can—and it’s an excellent way to post unoriginal content while still crediting the original creators. You can share articles, photography, videos, and other material that your followers would be interested in, and it firmly integrates your brand into your industry’s corner of Instagram. Repost is also an excellent way to re-share user-generated content, so you can acknowledge material that your audience creates and appreciate them for it.

It takes work to build your presence on Instagram, but hopefully, we have laid out a few tools that can smooth out the process for you!

Which growth tools do you plan on using? Are you using any of the Instagram growth tools that with mentioned in the article? What are some ones that we should be aware of to add to our list? Let us know in the comments! Your feedback can help other Instagram marketers out.

 

The post 7 Best Instagram Growth Tools appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/marketing/instagram-growth-tools

How to Grow Your Instagram Followers For Less than $100 Month

When it comes to modern advertising and marketing, there’s no tool quite as powerful as social media. And as Instagram’s user base continues to grow and rival powerhouses like Facebook and Youtube, the app is proving itself to be one of the top platforms around.

But if you want to use Instagram to share your message, build a fanbase, or sell your products, the first thing you need to do is gain followers. This will ensure your posts are seen by as many people as possible, and that these people care about the content you share. However, followers won’t just appear on their own.

So where does that leave you?

Fortunately, building an Instagram following for your personal brand or business is both easy and affordable. That is if you do it right.

Building Your Social Media Presence

Creating a profile and posting content isn’t enough to gain influence or brand recognition. Instead, you need to develop a semi-captive audience — in the form of followers — to get the most out of your social media usage.

To create your semi-captive audience, you need to attract users to your profile and convince them to follow you for future content. While you’ll get a few followers without much effort, you probably won’t break the thousands (or even hundreds) without a little work.

Yes, Instagram users can easily unfollow your account at any time. But keeping a follower is much easier than gaining one in the first place.

Why does an Instagram account’s follower count matter?

The importance of gaining Instagram followers depends on how you choose to use the platform.

For instance, if you’re an influencer, then your number of followers is essential to landing sponsorships and other brand deals. As your content reaches more eyes, you gain more inherent influence.

If you’re a business, then your number of followers adds credibility to your brand and shows new customers that you’re a popular choice within your industry. After all, why would someone trust a company with only a few measly followers on their official page?

Because the number of followers is one of the first things you see on an Instagram profile, many individuals and businesses pay a pretty penny to keep their follower count high. However, this practice often does more harm than good.

Is buying Instagram followers really worth the price?

With an account’s follower account being so important, it’s no surprise that some users have turned to buying followers. Just do a quick search and you’ll find countless services offering to increase your follower count for a small fee.

While using one of these services might seem like a quick way to boost your followers, they aren’t as effective as they seem.

Yes, they’ll add to the number of followers on your profile. But usually, these new followers aren’t actually real people.

Purchasing followers can actually hurt your engagement — or the number of users who like and comment on your posts versus those who follow you — because these fake accounts aren’t actively looking at and consuming your social media content.

Plus, Instagram has grown wise to these fake follower services. If you ever notice a popular account lose thousands of followers in a single day, it’s probably Instagram clearing out fake profiles.

Worst case scenario? If Instagram catches you buying followers repeatedly, you’re at risk of losing your account completely.

How to Grow Your (Real) Instagram Followers

Since buying followers isn’t an effective strategy for growth, how do you increase your Instagram follower count? It might actually be simpler than you think.

Of course, gaining an organic Instagram following does take some time and effort. But by following one or all of the methods outlined below, you can fill your follower list with real people instead of automated bots.

While some of these methods utilize paid services, they aren’t required. Either way, we promise you’ll see an increase in followers and engagement without breaking $100 per month:

Post quality content

The most straightforward method for gaining Instagram followers is to post content that users want to see. This might seem obvious, but it’s true.

Not only does this content need to be interesting on its own, but it also needs to appeal to your target audience as a whole. You can’t post anything and everything, without any cohesive theme, and expect to see an increase in engagement.

However, posting quality content doesn’t need to mean creating quality content. Plenty of popular Instagram accounts repost content from photographers, artists, and other creators that matches their own brand or aesthetic.

Just make sure you credit the original creator, and you’re all good.

Scope out the competition

Keeping an eye on the competition is essential to success, no matter what you’re trying to achieve. In the Instagram world, this is especially true.

By following, liking, and commenting on content from accounts similar to your own, you can actually draw followers to your own content.

Followers of the account you interact with will see your profile in the list of likes and comments. If your account looks interesting, they’re likely to click over and follow your profile as well.

The more engagement a competitor has, the more chances you have of sniping some of their followers. So it’s a good idea to stay up-to-date on popular accounts and hashtags.

Too busy to keep an eye on the competition yourself?

With a service like SocialSteeze, you can actually hire an account manager to access your account remotely and like, comment, and interact with other Instagram users and content.

Depending on your budget and how quickly you want results, you can choose from packages for as low as $38/month and put your Instagram follower growth on auto-pilot.

Unlike other services that automate your Instagram profile with generic comments, SocialSteeze is always handled by a real person.

So if you’re on a budget and want to grow your Instagram followers (instead of buying fake bots), this can be a great option for time-strapped businesses and entrepreneurs.

Research your hashtags

Speaking of hashtags, an effective Instagram post wouldn’t be complete without one (or several). But there are good and bad ways to utilize hashtags in your content.

For a hashtag to be effective, it must be both popular and relevant. Putting #graphicdesign on a vacation photo of someone skiing won’t draw in interested followers.

Instead, think of hashtags like keywords. What would your intended audience search for to find the content you post?

Choosing hashtags is just half the battle, though. If you really want to see the impact and develop an effective hashtag strategy for your content, you can invest in a monthly management service like Buffer for just $10 per month.

On the other hand, hashtags can actually hurt your content. Instagram routinely monitors and bans seemingly harmless hashtags that are being used to post offensive content, such as #easter or #womancrushwednesday.

If you inadvertently use one of these hashtags on your own content, you might find your posts aren’t reaching the audience you expect.

Host giveaways or promos

Creating a giveaway or promotion is an excellent way to increase both your follower count and engagement.

If your Instagram profile represents a business, products or gift cards are great giveaway items that won’t break the bank.

If your profile is focused on social media influencing, you can reach out to some of your favorite brands for a cross-promotion or purchase goods to giveaway using your own money.

Either way, you’ll be surprised by how many people will follow and share your profile for a chance at a $20 gift card or small gift basket.

Using Instagram as a Marketing Tool

After Facebook acquired the image-sharing mobile app in 2012, Instagram quickly became one of the leading marketing platforms on the Internet. From sponsored influencer posts to official brand profiles, Instagram users are constantly inundated with advertisements.

In many cases, they don’t even realize it.

But that doesn’t mean that Instagram users are mindlessly scrolling through the mobile app or website, unaware that marketers are trying to target them. In fact, 53% of users reported following brands and using the social media platform to find new products.

Who uses Instagram?

When deciding to launch an Instagram marketing campaign for your business or personal brand, you first need to ask yourself:

Is my target audience using Instagram?

In most cases, the answer will be yes. After all, Instagram has racked up over 1 billion monthly users (500 million of which log on almost daily).

By breaking up Instagram’s current users by age, it’s pretty clear that 18 to 34-year-olds make up the vast majority of accounts:

Age Range	% of Instagram Users
13 – 17	7%
18 – 24	32%
25 – 34	32%
35 – 44	15%
45 – 54	9%
55+	5%

And by looking at Instagram’s users by their reported annual income, we can see that many users make at or above the national average:

Annual Income	% of Instagram Users
<$20k	5%
$20k – $49k	32%
$50k – $75k	32%
$75k+	31%

What does this mean for influencers or marketers?

It means that Instagram is an easy way to gain direct access to consumers within these demographics. And with targeted posts, you can ensure your content reaches the exact demographic of users for which you intend it.

The post How to Grow Your Instagram Followers For Less than $100 Month appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/instagram-followers

How to Put Your Business on Autopilot With DIY Branding Tools

The dream of every business owner is to see their business grow — and grow — and grow.

Sometimes that dream seems unattainable. At least, not without a lot of work!

Building a business is not for the faint of heart. It requires time, money, and effort, and sometimes demands blood, sweat, and tears. There isn’t really a way to avoid the requirements of setting up a business. And it’s true that anything worth doing is worth doing well.

But!

Throughout your setup and initial branding, there are also available tools that can help to build your business — even when you’re not actively working on marketing and branding.

Using these tools puts your branding, and growth, on autopilot so you have enough time to focus on your products too.

For do it yourself branding tools that keep working for you, keep reading!

·       DIY Logo Design

Logo design is a signature part of overall branding. In fact, logos are most commonly what people think of as a brand.

Your brand is much more than that, of course. Your brand is, put simply, everything about your business and how it interacts with consumers. It encapsulates the customer experience, public opinion, follow-up, and overall customer satisfaction.

But your logo is a very important, very visible part of your brand. It’s usually what people see first when they come into contact with your brand, whether it’s the first time ever or they have an established relationship with your company.

So if you’re just starting up, or if you’re rebranding, an effective, enduring logo is a must.

Not everyone has the creative chops for creating a logo from scratch, of course, which is why online logo maker services exist, to help you create your ideal logo.

How does your choice of logo contribute to the growth of your brand?

An effective logo is:

• It helps your brand to stand out in the minds of those who see it.
• Effective logos can actually motivate consumers to seek out a brand, using appealing aesthetics and color psychology.
• On message. Your logo contributes to the overall message and personality of your brand, sending a clear signal to everyone who sees it about who you are and what you do.

·       DIY Social Media Accounts

Social media platforms are increasingly being used to promote brand identity and businesses of all shapes and sizes — over 77 percent of small businesses use these platforms for marketing.

This only makes sense, since more than one in every three users on the internet report that they turn to social media in order to find out more about a particular brand.

So using social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram is a pretty surefire way of spreading awareness of your brand.

But doesn’t it seem like managing and maintaining social media accounts will require extra time for marketing? That’s like the opposite of “autopilot,” isn’t it?

Your business social media accounts will definitely require some maintenance. One suggestion is to set aside time, maybe half an hour, twice each week to post content.

But aside from that, your existing social media accounts will help to grow your brand, even when you’re not actively posting content.

How so?

Social media accounts do the following:

• Make your business more searchable. When someone searches for your business name, it lends legitimacy and user-friendliness to your company if there’s more than one official result.
• Make your business more accessible. Social media excels at fostering sociability. Using platforms like Facebook and Instagram gives your customers a place to leave comments and questions.
• Create conversation. It’s easy to respond to questions or concerns via social media. And your viewers can look through conversations to find out if their questions have already been answered.
• Build your popularity. People do pay attention to follows and likes on social media platforms. It’s a way of legitimizing and popularizing your business that’s relatively easy to attain.

·       DIY Website Design

Websites may seem overwhelming, but in fact, there’s no better time than now to look into building one. Sites like Wix offer a simple walkthrough to help you put together a functional, attractive site to market your business.

But that’s not all there is to it.

Websites may be perceived as “static,” or not frequently changing. But creating a rotating roster of content, such as featured articles or blog posts — about which more next — keeps interested in your website high, even if you aren’t actively adding new content all the time.

Your website is like the home of your business, so its appearance says a lot about your brand. Design a site that is in keeping with your company’s personality, and don’t forget about including the relevant information: contact info, company history and mission statement, products, and services.

How does your website keep growing your business?

• Featured content keeps the interest of your audience.
• Inclusion of the necessary information makes your company accessible.
• The site itself contributes to the tone of the brand.

 

·       DIY Blog Posts

In terms of branding tools that will almost certainly guarantee the growth of a brand, blogging is just about number one. Tools like WordPress are famous for facilitating the creation and management of blogs.

That “almost” is there because blogging does have to be done right. Just slapping some generic content up on your blog each week won’t make the blog work for you.

But for content that is well researched, helpful, and full of SEO keywords, blogging can make an incredible return on your investment of time.

According to statistics, companies which have blogs attached to their websites receive up to 97 percent more links back to their official sites.

And because of how search algorithms work, sites with frequently updated content are more likely to rank higher than others — so including a blog actually gives you a staggering 434 percent better chance of a boost in search rankings. It also renders it more likely that people will share your posts with others.

As an added bonus, content can be adapted and repurposed for use on your business social media accounts.

Again, blogging obviously does require some time and effort. But once the content is there, it continues to contribute to the growth of your brand. How?

Effective blogging:

• Gives you “featured” content for your main website.
• Increases your SEO keyword usage.
• Is more likely to be shared and linked back to.
• Gives you a very significant boost in search rankings.
• Helps you to add to the reputation and personality of your brand with helpful, fun, informative content.

 

·       DIY Automated Responses

This may not be the first thing you think of when it comes to branding — in fact, it may not even make the list.

But setting up an automated response to contacts and inquiries can actually establish your brand as being customer-centric and service oriented.

Automated responses are often used via email, but can also be set up for comments on blogs or website posts. While a generic “Your comment has been received,” probably won’t do a lot to promote your brand, automated responses are another point of contact between you and the consumer — so they are another opportunity to grow your brand.

And since automated responses are generally sent out when you’re out of the office or on vacation, they’ll definitely be working for you on “autopilot.”

Add extras to your responses — a tip, a joke, a personalized acknowledgment — and make sure to include a projected timeline for a personal response.

Automated responses:

• Promote conversation.
• Assure the customer that their contact has been received and will be addressed.
• Should focus on customer service.
• Are another opportunity to grow your brand?

GROWING AND BRANDING ON AUTOPILOT

If your dream really is to grow your brand while focusing on products and services, using the tools above can definitely be a help to you.

But remember, your brand is more than just your logo, your name, or any other single aspect of your business. Your brand is all of that and more — your brand is every point of contact between you and the consumer.

 

So although each of the points above do require a certain amount of time invested, the return on the investment is definitely worth it.

Each of the tools mentioned can be used together to create “autopilot” growth for your business — a constantly improving enhancement of your brand, even when you’re busy with other aspects of running a company.

Marketing concept– stock image

The post How to Put Your Business on Autopilot With DIY Branding Tools appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/branding/business-diy-branding

Sell Your Products and Services With a Strategy

We live in a competitive world. Individuals alone do not face competition but companies selling their product and services also face competition in the market. We can rarely see a monopoly in the market and in a way it is good for the customers because they can get goods and services with affordable rates. Earlier when a company used to enter into a market, it used to only focus on the sales of their products or services because there were fewer competitors in the market for the same product or service but as the years go, we can see that the company focuses more on the marketing of the product instead of the quality of the product.

Companies outsource their sales and marketing work to other companies to get good and effective results. The first step in the marketing strategy is to set an appointment with other clients. The appointment setting is important because it is after that the main deal is fixed. After many cold calls and taking follow-ups with the client, finally, an appointment is set to discuss the deal along with mutually agreed terms and conditions. Today, if the company wants to outsource the sales and marketing work then it has to find the best appointment setting companies for their appointment setting with the important clients. You can try www.manageyourleads.com for the same. 

Sales Strategy

A strategy which focuses on the sales of the product and services with a good profit margin is called sales strategy. The strategy should be such that the consumer would relate to the product which will make them buy the product if they can relate to it. Sometimes if the company does not want to outsource such works then they hire their own sales team. It is accepted from the sales team to have good knowledge of the product or services and also good knowledge of the market in which the product or services are sold. The sales team after analyzing the consumer demand should make a sales strategy which will benefit the consumer as well as the company manufacturing it.

Sales strategy usually comes after marketing strategy but it is equally important. The sales strategy is made keeping in mind the competition the product or the service faces in the market. The sales team should look into detail the strategies used by their competitors even if it is success or failure. After considering the same, if needed changes should be made in their own sales strategy. The sales team should be updated with the new trends and the old trends which are no longer in the market. The product or service should not go out of style. The important factor in developing a sales strategy is to understand such trends. It is necessary to be prepared if the product becomes less popular and how to bring it in the new trends.

Marketing Strategy

Building a marketing strategy is very important when you produce a product or service. The marketing mix is the center of a marketing strategy. The 4Ps- product, price, promotion and place of the marketing mix should be kept in mind while creating a market strategy. The company should keep in mind the strength and weaknesses of the product while making the marketing strategy. The marketing strategy should focus on their target market.

A target market is something on which the company focuses to sell their product or services where they know that sales will be good. The customers of the target market are most likely to buy the product. So it is necessary to do research on the customers and their needs. Research can be done by the product testing where the company will know how to sell its product or service better to the customers. The next step is to decide ways to promote or advertise the product or services. There are different mediums where you can contact the customers like through phone, mail or through emails. Some companies also try the face-to-face method but it depends on the salesperson as to how it presents the product or service to the customer.

Types of Sales Strategies

The forward-thinking sales team has to develop an endless number of sales strategies in order to keep the company on the top in the competition. There are types of sales strategies that we can discuss in which most of the sales strategies fall into like focusing on a new target market, launch new products or services, a rise in up-sells and cross-sells and enhancing the repeat business.

 

Business analytics– stock image

The post Sell Your Products and Services With a Strategy appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/marketing-strategy/products-services-strategy

The Benefits of Classroom Training

Many business owners are already aware that training is an essential part of their business strategy. Choosing the right type of training for your company, however, may not be an easy decision. Whether your decision comes down to cost, the size of your business or the type of industry you work in, choosing the right training methods for your staff can significantly affect how successful they are as a team.

Of all the different training methods available to you, classroom-based training is one of the most traditional options. While it is true that many companies, especially those with high staff turnover, are opting for e-Learning as their main training platform, it may be worth considering the old-school methods. With a greater emphasis placed upon teamwork, group learning, and social interaction, classroom training doesn’t only help to teach valuable skills and information – it can also improve working relations amongst your staff.

Social Interaction

The biggest difference between classroom training and e-Learning is the benefit of social interaction. For some of us, the first thing that comes to mind when we think of group learning is the countless days of group work that were inflicted upon us while at school or university. However, it turns out that there’s a method to the madness: group work is, in fact, an extremely effective way of learning.

At its core, group learning enables us to think more creatively and improves our problem-solving abilities. When it comes to employee training, the practicalities of problem-solving with your colleagues also allows you to see firsthand how your fellow employees learn, what methods they use to problem solve and how they perform under pressure. These sorts of sessions can also allow management a chance to observe how fellow staff members work together and foresee any problems that may translate into the workplace.

On a social level, group learning can help to foster stronger relationships between employees that can translate to the workplace, as well as improvements to their general wellbeing. For businesses that often hire people in larger groups rather than on an individual basis, this sort of arrangement can also help to break the ice for any newcomers and make their transition into the company as smooth as possible.

For many people, especially younger generations, creating meaningful relationships in the workplace is more important than chasing a higher salary. Classroom training can be a great opportunity to foster this sort of interaction and can help to create a happier workplace.

Personalization

E-Learning may have the benefit of being completely mobile and available to employees in their own homes, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are getting the most out of their training. Everyone learns differently, and while a computer-based system may be just fine for some, others may need a more personalized approach to their training. Perhaps understandably, this is much easier to provide in a classroom environment, where an instructor is able to change their approach and teaching method based on the group of people in front of them.

In a classroom environment, employees are able to ask questions and interact with the instructor, or even ask their fellow employees if they do not understand something. Employees using digital platforms may be able to learn at their own “pace”, but they cannot easily ask further questions or clarify the phrasing of a question or resource.

With a classroom-based programme, both employees and managers can rest assured that all their questions can be answered. With expert tuition and the help of their peers,  nobody should be left in the dark about important information that might make them feel stressed later on, or compromise their ability to do their job

Lack of Procrastination

The other downside to an e-Learning programme is the possibility of procrastination. Though there will be many diligent employees willing to complete online lessons straight away, this will not always be the case.

E-Learning often takes place at home and some employees may simply forget, or will not have the time to complete courses outside of work hours. This will often lead to specific courses not being completed, or management having to use their valuable time chasing up individual employees in order to ensure that their training is completed.

Classroom-based training eliminates this problem, as all (or a select number of)  employees are invited to complete the same training course, outside of both the home and the workplace. This separation between work and home can make employees feel more encouraged and motivated, rather than asking them to sacrifice their personal time to complete a work-related task.

A Welcome Break

Separating training programmes from the home and workplace has the added benefit of allowing your staff a break from their day-to-day work duties. Many training rooms and conference centers feature comfortable facilities and offer refreshments and catering, which should be a pleasant treat for your staff.

For larger companies or industries that operate under shift work, it may also be a welcome opportunity to interact with staff members that they may not see due to their busy schedules. This can further help to foster healthy working relationships between employees, and even shed light on fruitful new partnerships.

Taking the extra effort to invest in a classroom-based programme like this, rather than getting your staff to take a 30-minute online class after work, sends a message that you are invested in their workplace wellbeing. Employees are far more likely to feel taken care of when they know that their employer has put this kind of effort into their training programme.

___

Through classroom-based training may be more expensive and more logistically challenging than an e-Learning programme, the benefits should speak for themselves. This investment can not only help your employees receive the best training possible but also encourage healthier communication and improve teamwork.

For employers hoping to get the most out of their employees – and to assess which individuals work well together – classroom-based training can be a great way of showing them that their training is a priority for your business. This investment should them motivated, and ensure they are learning the skills they need to thrive in the workplace

Presentation– stock image

The post The Benefits of Classroom Training appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/training/benefits-classroom-training

The Cloud vs. In-House Server: What’s Best for Your Business?

In today’s digital world, the server setup you work on can be considered as the lifeline of your business process as all the data and application are installed on it.

However, whether to have a cloud-based or in-house server infrastructure is a big decision to make. While the selection may sound like black-or-white, many factors should be considered before making the selection.

Below are some pros and cons of both that can help you guide through this tricky decision.

Cloud-Based Servers

A cloud server is a virtual server that is created, hosted in a cloud computing environment and can be accessed remotely via the Internet.

The pros of cloud servers include:

• Security: Cloud service providers have the expertise to make sure that your data is secure. Provided you keep the credentials confidential, only you have access to the data.
• Scalability: With the help of cloud technology, you can easily and quickly add more memory, storage, and computing power without the hassles of hardware replacement.
• Low Capital Expense: While you still need to purchase software licenses, there is no need to invest in hardware with cloud technology. This particularly benefits small companies and allows them to get up and running quickly with significant cash outlay. Moreover, most cloud providers charging you only for what you need.
• Automatic Backup: With cloud servers, you get peace of mind that, no matter what happens, you would not lose the data or files as the cloud providers deploy automatic backup.
• Accessibility: Cloud gives you the flexibility to work from anywhere and at any time as long as you have an internet connection.
• Eco-friendly: Cloud benefits not only your business but also the environment. To minimize their carbon footprint, data centers are now going green. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, data centers in the US now account for 1.5% of the electricity consumption and by the year 2020, carbon emissions will be quadrupled to 680 million tons in a year.

The cons of cloud servers include:

• Time-consuming data recovery: While the cloud makes data backup easy, restoring large amounts of data can take a lot of time even with a fast internet connection.
• No access without Internet: If yours or your cloud provider’ Internet goes down, you won’t have access to the data or files. However, as soon as the Internet is restored, all the data is synced automatically.
• Services outages: All cloud service providers have them, even Amazon or Facebook. And when they go down, you can’t access your applications and data which aren’t stored. Although the major cloud providers guarantee an uptime of as high as 99.999 percent, for most cloud providers, the downtime value is significant.

In-House Servers

As the name suggests, an in-house server is installed on the premises (usually the office, studio, etc.). It provides all employees access to the stored data and applications using the local systems.

The pros of in-house servers

• Total control: With an in-house server, you have the complete physical control of updates, backup and of, well everything, which means that you can tailor it to fit your business’ requirements.
• Compliance: In-house servers allow you to keep all the critical data and information in-house – no third party has access to it. This is highly beneficial for businesses dealing with strict regulations or has highly sensitive data.
• No dependency on the Internet: You don’t need to be dependent on the Internet to access your data. Even if your Internet is inaccessible, you can perform operations on your server, thus no loss of productivity.

The cons of in-house servers include:

• Disaster Recovery: One of the main concerns with in-house servers is that it won’t survive in worst-case scenarios like natural disasters and is more susceptible to data loss.
• Space Considerations: Servers take up space, need a lot of power and generate heat. To run efficiently, they need a safe location, power, and cooling system in place.
• Cost: Cost of an in-house server isn’t as low as one may think. Companies need to pay for dedicated IT staff, hardware, maintenance, upgrades, and renewing licenses. Moreover, when things aren’t done automatically, you need to spend time. We all know, time is money.
• Downtime: There is no up-time or recovery guarantee with in-house servers, making your business more susceptible to downtime.

Striking the Right Balance Between the Cloud and In-House Servers

To decide whether to store your data on the cloud or in-house doesn’t have to be a strict matter of selecting among the two. In some cases, a combination of both (hybrid) works well. For companies having budget constraints, the cloud can be a good option. Other companies may want to run in-house servers to take care of usual tasks and move to the cloud for additional capacity.

The adoption of hybrid cloud is also increasing. According to Markets & Markets, by 2023 the hybrid cloud market would be worth almost $100 billion.

However, companies should consider their needs and type of business process before making a choice. This includes prioritizing their requirements for computing, security, performance, storage, data transfers and, of course, the amount they are willing and able to spend.

Final Recommendations

An important factor while considering whether to use a cloud-based or in-house server is the extent to which the security and privacy of critical data are maintained. Here are some of the options for maintaining the highest level of confidentiality and control over your data.

Option 1: Go with a cloud provider that can effectively minimize the unintended disclosure of critical and confidential information.

Option 2: Go with an in-house server and have policies, and infrastructure in place to minimize unintended disclosure of critical and confidential information.

Option 3: Use in-house servers for sensitive and confidential data and cloud-servers for data which is not frequently accessed or need the lowest level of latency.

Breaking It Down

It would be great if we could say that one is better/faster/cheaper than the other, but there are many factors to consider. The type of application, business requirements, and many other features come into play.

Regardless of what you choose, it’s important to equip and train your staff with the information and security tool to help them keep their systems, accounts, and your business secure in this digital era.

 

cloud computing diagram– stock image

The post The Cloud vs. In-House Server: What’s Best for Your Business? appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/cloud-computing/cloud-vs-in-house

Your Guide to the Top Big Data Certifications Today

The need for expert professionals in big data and data analytics is growing more impressive by the day. With big data being cutting edge technology, companies are now being open to big data and its usage. However, finding the right set of technologies can be daunting. But finding the right candidate with the relevant set of skills can be more daunting.

Candidates with specialized skills in big data are often proclaimed to be a secret weapon for organizations to help identify business concerns and draw positive insights out of it. The demand for big data professionals is said to increase by 40% in the year 2020. Although the demand for big data professionals keeps soaring, there is still a limited supply of skilled candidates in big data technologies. No doubt why these professionals are high in demand. Organizations are now in a hunt for professionals skilled in data science and analytics with an expertise in new age technologies and experts who can analyze data.

If you’re looking to stay ahead of others and become job ready, a certification in big data is a great option. Having a certification demonstrates your skills and knowledge against the industry. It keeps you align with the happenings in the technology world. Nonetheless, these certifications are the best benchmark to prove to the employers that you have the right set of skills.

Below is a guide to the best big data certifications for you to choose from:

• Certified Analytics Professional (CAP)

This certification (Certified Analytics Professional) offers an end to end understanding of the analytics process. This includes framing business, analytic problems, model building, deployment, and methodology. The CAP is basically for professionals starting their early career in analytics.

• Data Science Council of America (DASCA)

The Data Science Council of America (DASCA) credential provides one of the best certifications to candidates who get certified from this platform. The initiatives and programs offered here help build a credible portfolio that most employers are seeking today. Whether you’re an early bird learner or a professional, getting yourself certified from DASCA can be a good career choice.

• Cloudera Certified Associate (CCA)

Cloudera Certified Associate is targeted for professionals who are good with coding, maintaining and optimizing Hadoop projects. Candidates looking to take up this certification should have skills in transferring data between external and internal systems, usage of Spark SQL to interact with data-sets, and configure applications from the command line.

• Cloudera Certified Professional (CCP)

This certification (Cloudera Certified Professional) CCP aims at candidates looking to prove their data engineering skills. This program tests technical skills and recognizes a candidate’s mastery and only professionals with prior skills in big data will be benefited from this program.

• Certified Big Data Professional, SAS

This Certified Big Data Professional certification program is meant for professionals seeking to build their basic programming skills by learning how to gather and analyze data in SAS. This program focuses on SAS programming skills, transforming, assessing and manipulating data.

• Certified Data Engineer, IBM

The IBM Certified Data Engineer certification is generally intended for expert professionals such as big data engineers looking for a bigger vision. A professional looking to work directly with big data architects and converting the big data vision into reality must take up this certification.

The future data professionals can be specialized in tackling the most business-critical and complex challenges that will revolutionize businesses. Most certainly, as technology advances and businesses evolve, big data and analytics associated career will continue to rise. This causes a surge in demand for big data professionals and the only desirable way today is to gain certification and stay in sync with the IT market.

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