The six Rs of cloud migration is a good place to start. It refers to six different approaches to getting an application to the cloud, and while it won’t necessarily be the case that you should treat the list as a menu to pick and choose from, it’s good practice to keep them in mind. 

You should look first at the current status of your business and your objectives. The best cloud-migration approach for you will be the one that not only solves a problem but prepares you for the future. 

 At Isotoma, two of the six (replatforming and rearchitecting) form the foundation for our approach to cloud migration and deliver the outcomes we want to achieve for our clients.

 To provide a clear context for these two approaches, first, we’ll explain what the other four Rs of replatforming mean.

Rehost

Rehosting is basically a ‘lift and shift’ approach. You’re moving your application from an on-premise environment to the cloud without making any modifications to it.

Repurchase

Rather than moving your application to the cloud, here you’re looking for an existing cloud-based or SaaS equivalent. Repurchasing means you decommission your on-premises application and replace it with a cloud-based version.

Retire

In the context of your ongoing application development, you may decide that your current on-premise application is no longer fit for purpose. Either it’s too clunky or inefficient for cloud migration or it’s doing things you no longer need.

Therefore you could decide to decommission these applications or consolidate their functions with others.

Retain

If you’re heavily invested in your on-premise application and you’re in the middle of working on a project, it may make sense to retain your current application rather than migrate it.

Replatforming and rearchitecting: The Isotoma approach

We mentioned earlier that the Isotoma approach focuses on two of the six Rs: replatforming and rearchitecting. These two categories are closely related and make the most of Isotoma’s unique mix of development and operational experience.

In replatforming, we move an application from a data centre or on-premise to the cloud and incorporate subtle changes along the way. This optimises the application for its new cloud-based environment, irons out any kinks and makes it more stable and scalable.

This highlights a frequently misunderstood aspect of cloud migration. It isn’t primarily about saving money but about adding value. By optimising your application as part of its migration, you get more bang for your buck.

An example of this is AWS’s Aurora system. This is a relational database built specifically for the cloud. It’s significantly faster than both standard MySQL and PostgreSQL databases. At a much cheaper cost, you get the security and reliability of a commercial database readily available. Similarly, the Amazon S3 simple cloud storage system provides advanced functionality at 11 9s of data durability. This translates as 99.99966% of stored data being defect-free.

But if replatforming won’t provide the complete solution you’re looking for, then there’s always rearchitecting.

 How rearchitecting works

 A business can find itself so heavily dependent on an application that jettisoning it isn’t an option.

But what if this application is getting creaky, with certain characteristics that will be problematic for cloud migration?

The answer is rearchitecting. This approach to cloud migration is also known as refactoring or restructuring. Essentially, it’s a reimagining of the application, like a snake shedding its skin. The objective is to transform it into something fully cloud-native that still achieves what it did before.

This may mean retaining some of its current coding (perhaps using containers) but future-proofing it for the cloud. It represents a complete overhaul of the application to transition its architecture to something that’s fully cloud-functional.

Rearchitecting is especially valuable and beneficial for businesses with existing applications at the core of their operations and even their entire brand purpose. What it offers is an approach to cloud migration that can encompass highly customised and dedicated applications.

How to choose your migration methodology

It’s critical in cloud migration to understand which approach will best enable you to achieve your business objectives.

This is about looking at things in the longer term. Will a relatively simple fix now stand you in good stead for expanding your customer base, for example?

How dependent are you on your applications? To what degree does this tether you to an on-premises arrangement? Is this hampering your scalability and putting a ceiling on your ambitions?

Our replatforming and rearchitecting migration strategies have worked across a far-reaching spectrum of industries, from  music streaming to pensions, the voluntary sector and point-of-sale marketing software. 

For more information about cloud migration and exploring your options, please contact the Isotoma team.

The first is focused on the user experience. The second is arguably not as well known and concerns what goes on behind the scenes. This considers how the landscape moved from being a polarised place for developers, to today’s world where a range of accessible tools put high-level development within easy reach. 

For most people, the digital experience is about how they interact with devices, apps and services, and how these things have become increasingly integrated into daily life. But without the right development tools, this would never have existed.

Performance vs accessibility 

Ironically, at one time digital developers were faced with a binary choice; performance or accessibility. 

By the early 2000s, Java was the most prominent sophisticated development tool when compared to the entry-level PHP at the other end of the scale. Serious developers were more likely to favour the former over the latter, but it could result in an expensive and over-engineered solution to what should, in theory, be a simple problem.

The middle ground was sparsely populated by a group of developers, who were doing something different — building applications with little-known but effective tools.

Upon launching in 2005, Isotoma joined this rather exclusive group of specialist developers responsible for creating solutions that worked well for their customers. However, there was an unexpected catch. 

Customers have always tended to focus on outcomes and just want apps that function in a way that meets their individual expectations. But what happens when these same customers want to change their provider or platform? Specialist development tools have smaller communities of practitioners and are therefore more likely to tie customers in to a particular supplier. And this lack of community can be a massive hurdle when hoping to move to a new supplier. 

This meant that companies seeking cost-effective solutions for consumers and users were finding themselves with fewer options of their own when it came to switching providers.

This specialist middle ground needed to grow if it was to become more effective.

Occupying the middle ground

Isotoma’s approach has always been to focus on ‘best-in-breed’ tech for development purposes. But it hasn’t always been easy. 

The original problem stemmed from the fact that these development tools, like Python, were in the minority, squeezed between the more popular choices at each end (Java, .NET and PHP).

Challenging the polarised nature of digital development became easier with the arrival of Ruby on Rails in 2004. This was an application framework that offered default structures for databases and web development.

Two significant aspects of Ruby on Rails were that: 

• It offered a realistic alternative to Java, and
• It provided a ladder for developers to climb up the tech stack hierarchy.

 It was also a catalyst for middle-ground developers using languages and frameworks like Python and Django to refine their own tools and provide viable, accessible alternatives to developers.

As early adopters of the middle-ground approach to development, Isotoma now found our instincts confirmed by a significant industry shift in the same direction.

The big players move in

Inevitably, over time, the bigger developers have begun to create alternatives that have this middle-ground appeal. 

Examples include:

• Facebook’s open-source JavaScript library, React
• Microsoft VS Cpde, a free, integrated development environment (IDE), and 
• Amazon Web Services (AWS), an on-demand cloud-computing development platform.

With the advent of these powerful, accessible, often open-source solutions, the tech giants have created better developer mindshare and moved away from the inflexible and restricted days of the past.  

TypeScript vs JavaScript

Another major legacy of this move into the middle-ground is the development of TypeScript.

Microsoft created Typescript as an alternative to JavaScript, in response to the growing frustration of developers working with a language many thought was not fit for purpose.  Technically, Typescript is a variant (specifically a “superset”) of JavaScript but with a particular focus on building larger, more complex applications, allowing developers to take a modular approach to development.

There are various advantages to TypeScript, including its robust static typing, which helps eliminate type-related mistakes in coding. Code is also less error-prone in TypeScript with improved performance during execution.

The result? Developers have become more productive. And with JavaScript virtual machines universally available on almost every device, they’ve been able to do so in the knowledge that their tools will work without compatibility issues.  

A better development landscape for all 

Ultimately, the growth of the middle ground over the last 15-20 years has delivered real benefits for both developers and their customers:

• Developers have better tools and platforms that enhance and support performance
• Customers have greater transparency, more choice and cost-effective solutions.

For Isotoma, the use of TypeScript, React and AWS has allowed us to offer customers a flexible, adaptable range of solutions for developing dedicated digital products and services.

It’s taken a while, but we’re pleased that the rest of the development industry has joined Isotoma in recognising the need for quality tools that are in the sweet spot between performance and accessibility.

Got a project you think Isotoma could help you with? Please get in touch.

In the following, we’ll explain what a DPIA is, and why it’s so critical in helping you stay on the right side of GDPR.

GDPR and the fear factor

Compliance isn’t easy. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was designed to standardise data protection law and protect people’s privacy, but many organisations have been struggling to meet its requirements.

A major area of difficulty is in implementing the necessary measures to be GDPR compliant. Nevertheless, this is something organisations must overcome if they wish to avoid facing the consequences of non-compliance.

The key tool to help them do this is the data protection impact assessment or DPIA. The DPIA hasn’t made the headlines in the same way as GDPR, but it is central to good data control and risk management.

There’s a certain fear factor that comes with GDPR. This is because its most publicised aspect is the fines non-compliance attracts, which can be up to 5% of an an organisation’s global turnover!:

• Google was fined £43 million in 2019
• H&M faced a £32 million fine in 2020
• Telecom Italia was fined £24 million in 2020
• As was British Airways in the same year, for £20 million, and
• Marriott Hotels, for £18 million.

Obviously, these are the big-hitting headlines, but the fines for non-GDPR compliance can be significant whatever size your company is. 

While these fines are a necessary part of the compliance regime, they add to the pressure organisations face in controlling their data, and gaining the necessary confidence to manage it knowing that they’re complying with requirements.

Does GDPR still apply post-Brexit?

Brexit has added to uncertainties over GDPR. You might be uncertain whether it still applies, for example. 

The answer is complex: it doesn’t, but it does. Legally, GDPR no longer applies to the UK, because it’s an EU regulation. However, if you operate inside the UK, you will still need to comply with data protection law, which currently matches GDPR word for word.  

Therefore, in practice, you must still be GDPR-compliant.

What does GDPR say about data?

 The type of data at the heart of GDPR is personal data. Some of this is obvious, such as a person’s name, location, or username. But it can also include things such as IP addresses and cookie identifiers.

Personal data is data that allows someone to be identified. The key issues that GDPR, and UK data protection law, address are: 

• Using personal data, and
• Storing it.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the independent organisation authority that upholds information rights in the public interest. It says:

You should identify the minimum amount of personal data you need to fulfil your purpose.

 Therefore, an organisation should only hold this amount of information and no more.

Organisations shouldn’t overreach when it comes to collecting data about people, and they must protect this data from unauthorised or unlawful processing.

This is where the crux of much GDPR enforcement and non-compliance lies, that is how securely organisations store personal data. Therefore, they need a way to assess and demonstrate their approaches, processes, and methods for this.

This is where a DPIA comes in.

What is a DPIA?

A data protection impact assessment (DPIA) is a process that systematically analyses, identifies, and minimises your data protection risk.

Whilst it doesn’t eliminate or minimise it, a DPIA helps you understand your risk. 

Under GDPR, undertaking a DPIA is therefore a key part of your accountability.

 ICO sets nine criteria, and if you trigger any two of them, you should then carry out a DPIA. These criteria apply to what ICO calls high-risk processing.

The nine criteria are:

1. Evaluation or scoring of data
2. Automated decision making, with legal or similar effects
3. Systematic monitoring
4. Data that is sensitive or of a highly personal nature
5. Large-scale data processing
6. Matching or combining datasets
7. Data on vulnerable data subjects
8. Innovative applications or applying new technological or organisational solutions
9. Preventing data subjects from exercising a right, or using a contract or service.

Generally, a combination of any two of these criteria applied to your data collection, processing and storage activities, will mean that you need to undertake a DPIA.

What does a DPIA involve?

 Managing data is complex, and consequently carrying out a DPIA can be complex too. 

The key elements in the DPIA process are:

• Describing the processing operation and its purpose
• Assessing the necessity and proportionality of the processing – whether it meets the minimum amount that ICO recommends
• Assessing the risks to the rights of your data subjects, including risks to both privacy and data protection rights
• Deciding what measures you can implement to mitigate these risks.

There isn’t a prescribed way of carrying out a DPIA, but it will need to be both diligent and comprehensive to meet ICO requirements.

What are the benefits of a DPIA? 

The DPIA is a practical tool to help you understand the personal data you hold, a way to understand the risks of holding and processing that data, and a way of ensuring that you have thought about all aspects of that data. 

If the worst were to happen and you suffered a breach, you would have to disclose it to ICO. You’ll need to show a clear decision-making trail regarding your data management. By having the results of a DPIA to hand, you can demonstrate this to ICO. 

More than this, however, the DPIA is a valuable discovery process for all companies involved in collecting, processing and storing personal data. It should be a fundamental pillar of your business, because, ultimately, it can better protect your interests and those of your customers. 

The Isotoma approach to DPIAs

With our ISO 27001 certification for information security management, we will routinely but diligently conduct DPIAs for all our clients, providing you with a systematic framework to help ensure your data compliance. 

For more details, please contact the Isotoma team today.

We know that data breaches can be costly for companies in both financial and reputational terms, but did you know that many of these breaches are due to developers introducing risks into their own code?

There’s plenty of guidance about best practice in data security for businesses and organisations, but much of this tends to focus on anti-malware, user privileges and system monitoring.

The issue with dependencies is that when they expose businesses to greater risk this is all happening at a more technical level. The impact can be significant and extremely damaging, but can be all but invisible to senior management.

Effective dependency management is, therefore, an essential component in protecting yourself from data breaches.

Dependencies and Data Breaches 

In the month of March 2021 alone there were breaches to 21 million records around the world.

Closer to home, the UK is experiencing a fraud epidemic according to a report from The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Much of this fraud is opportunistic and, in many cases, the applications that organisations use are enabling it. 

OWASP (the Open Web Application Security Project) publishes a regular top 10 index of web app security vulnerabilities. These are the vulnerabilities hackers exploit to breach organisations, and many of them are introduced through software dependencies.

Using components with known vulnerabilities was the root cause of the infamous Panama Papers breach in 2016. This involved 11.5 million leaked documents.

 In the same year, Canadian company VerticalScope suffered a breach where over 45 million passwords were leaked from 1,000 sites. The root cause was the same.

Another high-profile breach involved the American credit bureau Equifax in 2017. Here the breach exposed the data of 147 million people. The company had to agree on a settlement of $425 million with the Federal Trade Commission to help those affected. Here, the main cause of the breach was through third-party software for which the company had not updated a crucial security patch.

The CloudBleed bug of 2017 caused 1.2 million leaks of memory from web servers, from the introduction of a vulnerable code. And the Marriott data breach of 2018 exposed around 339 million global guest records. The ICO fined the hotel company £99 million.

In April 2021, security researchers at SonarSource identified a vulnerability in the source code of Composer, a PHP tool used to manage and install software dependencies. The vulnerability allowed the researchers to execute commands in Packagist, an online service which Composer uses to determine the correct supply chain for package downloads. The vulnerability was identified and patched without being exploited (to Packagist’s knowledge), but the fact that this was a major tool used to manage dependencies highlights the inherent risks in software supply chains. 

What Happens When Developers Introduce Risk? 

Software development is a high-pressure business, and to keep up with demand it’s common for developers to reuse software written by other people.

 This reuse takes the form of software dependencies — additional code that the programmer includes to help avoid repeating key processes such as designing, writing, testing and debugging specific units of code.

 These units are known as packages, libraries or modules.

The practice of taking on these external dependencies is well-established. But it has a built-in weakness. By bringing in this external code the developer has no guarantee of its history, the work that may or may not have gone into it, or the extent to which it has been tested.

In many areas of business, such as food and fashion, the concept of provenance plays a hugely significant part. Where a product or material comes from is important in determining its intrinsic value or reliability. 

Provenance is what’s missing in the use of dependencies. The software supply chain can become quite obscure when developers build apps.

A developer may link an app to a specific version of underlying software they’ve used, but because this is hidden it fails to get updated in the same way the app itself does. Any vulnerabilities remain unaddressed, leaving potential gaps for cybercriminals to exploit. 

How Should You Manage Dependencies?

 The government publishes guidance for managing software dependencies. It emphasises the importance of keeping code up to date, your system secure and making sure your software is working the way you expect it to.

Essentially, this is a management task, and it can be an extensive one. You should track dependencies and their different versions and be systematic about ensuring you protect them from vulnerabilities.

The main ways for applying this dependency management are through code, firewall apps and containerisation.

 But you can also take advantage of specialist tools. At Isotoma, we’ve developed a dedicated security and compliance product that works to control the risk of data breaches.

This takes the pain out of dependency management while giving you peace of mind about what’s going on behind the scenes with your software.

Want to find out more? Contact the Isotoma team today.

As the higher education sector began to grow into a commercialised field, the government introduced the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) in 2017, following a recommendation from the Competition & Markets Authority. A key aim of the TEF is to act as a resource for students to judge the teaching quality of the universities they are interested in applying for. The TEF therefore requires universities to actively demonstrate the quality of their teaching, learning environment, and student outcomes in order to attain a ‘gold’ rating.

This has left universities in desperate need of a system that shows assessors they deliver a comprehensive curriculum that provides students with the breadth and depth of knowledge they need to succeed in their chosen feed. They need traceability, proveability, and evidence of well-thought-out curricula.

They need a purpose-built solution.

Demonstrating Comprehensive Curricula

Over the course of multiple years, universities must deliver diverse, all-encompassing curricula that give students the depth of knowledge they need to succeed in their future careers. And now, to reach the ‘gold’ TEF rating, they also need to prove it.

People outside the education sphere may not understand what truly goes into establishing each university programme of study. Here’s a list of some of the things they have to consider:

• Is everything students need to know covered?
• How do we adjust the curriculum for each year group?
• How do we make changes to refine the curriculum in future?
• Can students understand how different facets of their learning link together?
• Does the curriculum allow for students to study and build their knowledge in their own time?
• Can we demonstrate to external bodies that the curriculum is all-encompassing?

These are just some of the questions that universities must get to grips with when designing, constructing, and offering a programme of study. They pose a challenge faced by universities for many years; one that results in senior leaders investing a wealth of time, effort, and resources. With the additional pressure of demonstrating that the curriculum represents an excellent learning experience for students in order to impress TEF assessors, the task has become even more difficult.

Rather than adapting old processes, or addressing each requirement separately, establishing a bespoke solution that satisfies both challenges would be invaluable for universities.

That’s where Isotoma stepped in.

Sofia: A Modern Solution to a Challenging Problem

Working with Imperial College London’s School of Medicine, Isotoma embarked on an ambitious project that would change the education of aspiring doctors at one of the UK’s most reputable universities.

The Imperial College School of Medicine medical degree, like any delivered in the UK, is regulated by the General Medical Council (GMC). They require medical schools to demonstrate that their graduates are fit to practise. To do this, Imperial College has to prove every aspect of their curriculum is taught in line with the national medical curriculum. You can imagine the difficulty of showcasing that proof using an endless series of files and paper documents.

The solution Isotoma delivered was an interactive curriculum mapping tool that spanned the length and breadth of Imperial College’s medical curriculum. It provides staff, students, and the GMC with a clear, comprehensive visualisation of the curriculum. Sofia demonstrates how lectures, practicals, tutorials, and homework link together, how each skill learned relates to another, and how studying the entire curriculum makes students fit to practise.

Following the success of Sofia’s application to Imperial College School of Medicine’s requirements, a number of other universities have decided that Sofia is right for them. In fact, we’re already in the process of rolling Sofia out to the medical schools of Swansea University and University of East Anglia, and to the veterinary school of University College Dublin.

Find Out How Sofia Can Work for You

Although the first version of Sofia was designed for a medical curriculum, it has been comprehensively updated so that it can be tailored to accommodate any curriculum — no matter how simple or complex.

So, whether you are faced with regular inspection from an external body, or you want to achieve the ‘gold’ TEF rating, Sofia provides the platform you need to demonstrate the quality and diversity of your curriculum.

If you’d like to find out how a bespoke curriculum mapping tool can make your life easier, visit the Sofia website now.

Building Education Solutions

At Isotoma, we were delighted to take on this challenge and expand upon our extensive experience and expertise in the education sector.

Through our previous work, we have seen first-hand the benefits tailored solutions such as Sofia provide to people and organisations in the world of education, and we are passionate about continuing to design and build them.

Since this blog was written in January 2020 we’ve successfully rolled out Sofia at Swansea University Medical School, University of East Anglia Norwich Medical School, and University College Dublin School of Veterinary Medicine. But the impact of COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of effective digital solutions to educational organisations across the board. This has led to conversations with organisations in both the UK and Australia focusing on primary and secondary education, as well as other areas of higher education with complex curriculum mapping needs such as dentistry.

If you’re in the education sector and think a bespoke solution would resolve your biggest problems, we’d love to help, so get in touch with the Isotoma team today.

Most migration partners will demonstrate their experience with great case studies to convince you they’re the team to choose. And there’s no reason why an agency with a strong resumé and considerable cloud experience wouldn’t be able to do the job. In fact, there’s a good change that they’d do a great job. But that’s not how we look at things.

Unlike many cloud migration experts and AWS Consulting Partners we have a background in software, not IT operations. Whereas many organisations approach migrations as an ops challenge we think they’re software projects.

And that gives us a few advantages.

Better Understand Your Requirements

Because we’re developers at heart we’re able to intimately understand the requirements of your applications. We’re also well aware that you may, at first, be hesitant to transition from a traditional server infrastructure to a cloud-based solution. 

With this understanding we’re able to explain the exact benefits you’ll experience by moving to the cloud, and can create an infrastructure that meets the specific needs of your software.

Creating Bespoke Solutions

With our software-first approach to migrations we’re going to build the cloud architecture and migration tooling that satisfies your requirements and allows you to get the best from AWS. If you need an unusual infrastructure or your data migrations are a bit hairy, our developers are the right team to create, test, and implement a bespoke solution.

Identifying and Mitigating Potential Issues

Unlike companies with a background in IT operations we approach cloud migration services as a software-based challenge. This perspective allows us to identify and mitigate potential issues before they materialise. So rather than discovering problems after the migration is complete we’re able to counteract them during the process.

Using Software Expertise to Help Ecrebo

In 2018, Ecrebo, a provider of point-of-sale marketing software for major retailers, faced a considerable challenge: moving a huge amount of data from their co-located servers to the cloud. As an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner, Isotoma was one of a number of partners that Amazon recommended to Ecrebo and, because of our collaborative, consultative approach, we were their first choice.

Not many AWS Consulting Partners have a background in software; they’re usually involved in IT operations. As software experts we understood exactly what Ecrebo’s unique case needed — a bespoke solution. The Isotoma team had the expertise to develop the migration tooling that supported their mountain of data and the architecture that could strengthen their application.

Choose Software Specialists

With our experience and expertise in cloud computing and our knowledge and background in software development we’re able to take on migrations of all sizes and deliver bespoke solutions.

If you want to find out how our software-first approach will help your company get the most from its migration to the cloud, get in touch with the Isotoma team today.

High levels of efficiency increase productivity, reduce costs, and maximise revenue. And hopefully keeps the day interesting too.

Of course, every company strives to be efficient. Whether it’s streamlining processes, cutting costs, or standardising documents, there are many strategies to choose from. One that’s becoming increasingly popular is automation, and the use of software to facilitate it.

With the introduction of software tools you can speed up or even eliminate tasks that your staff carry out every day, freeing them up to be even more productive. Here’s how.

What Is Automation?

Automation is the use of technology to complete a task, process, or procedure with minimal human involvement. It’s a strategy that’s been used on production lines for many years, and one which has proven to be effective in improving efficiency.

You might think your industry isn’t suited to automation or you’re not sure if parts of your process can be automated. But, with bespoke software, even the most complicated processes can be simplified or taken off your plate completely.

The Use of Bespoke Software

The design, development, and implementation of bespoke software may sound like an arduous process, but it doesn’t have to be. Here’s how the process could look for your company:

• Identify the need

You’ll know that some of your workflows and parts of your processes are regularly repeated or consume a lot of your team’s time. Pinpointing the most troublesome area will result in the biggest improvements.

• Find the right agency

The development of a custom application is a big project for your company, so make sure you find the right agency for the job. Look for developers with a wealth of experience in software development and examples of previous bespoke applications.

• Consult with the agency

After choosing the agency you’ll work with their team to develop a shared understanding of the problem, your requirements, and how the problem will be solved.

• Be part of the build

Your input is important throughout the build process, so taking a collaborative approach ensures that happens. If you only get a chance to provide feedback at the end of the build, it could take a lot more time and money to fix.

• Implement the Software

With the software built you’ll be itching to see the results. First, however, you need to implement it in your processes, introduce your staff to the application, and explain how it works and how it will benefit them.

• Experience the Results

As the software becomes an integrated part of your process, you’ll start to see your team’s efficiency and productivity improve.

Making Quantum’s Users Even More Efficient

The original version of Quantum, Class Legal’s vital family law application, was the perfect demonstration of software improving efficiency. It allowed solicitors to complete time-consuming, court-approved legal forms in a fraction of the time it used to. When Quantum needed to be modernised Class Legal contacted Isotoma.

While building the new version of Quantum we added a feature that empowers its users to be even more efficient. By including version control in the new Quantum, we made it possible for solicitors to work collaboratively on forms at the same time, meaning it’s even easier for forms to be completed and submitted.

Improve Your Company’s Efficiency with Software

If you’re burdened by the same repetitive, time-consuming tasks, let the Isotoma team build your company a bespoke software solution. We’ll work with you to identify how a new application can remove the repetition from your processes and boost your efficiency.

Start your journey to a more efficient workflow — contact Isotoma today.

If you’re working with cloud computing experts on the migration but still have an in-house team of developers it’s important to choose a partner that understands the value of collaboration

The Problems with Resisting Collaboration

The success of your migration relies on your in-house team and the partner having the same motivation — doing what’s best for you and your software. That means working together before, during, and after the migration.

Many agencies are used to working alone and some see the involvement of an in-house dev team as a nuisance. As a result they may be reluctant to collaborate with your team; instead preferring to get the migration done fast and hand the cloud infrastructure over to you.

Where does that leave you? Well, it could cause a number of problems:

• Your new cloud infrastructure is not suitable for your software.
• Your developers may be unfamiliar with cloud architecture and thus unable to develop the software as planned.
• You are now in the cloud but don’t know how to make use of its many features and benefits.
• Your developers no longer feel in control of the software.

The Power of Collaboration

With that in mind, finding a partner that’s committed to collaborating with your in-house developers is worth its weight in gold. Here’s why.

• They’ll begin by consulting with your in-house team during the planning process; working together to decide how best to migrate the software and host it in the cloud. After all your developers know the software better than anyone so their input in the migration is an important step to achieving a smooth and successful move.
• During the process of building the cloud infrastructure a collaborative partner will provide regular updates on progress and keep in touch with your developers.
• Then, once the migration is complete, they’ll complete a handover with your team, walking them through their new architecture and explaining to you about the benefits of being in the cloud.

If you’re looking for a hassle-free life in the cloud make sure the partner you choose can provide a 24/7 managed service. That way you’ll have the peace of mind that they’re always available when you need them.

Collaborating with Sony Music

When Sony Music needed an improved cloud infrastructure for their music streaming service, NOW Music Plus, they got in touch with Isotoma. From the beginning of the process we worked closely with NOW’s development team, including hosting daily consultations, to identify the best approach to migrating and hosting the app.

We provided support to the NOW team throughout the project and launch, and continue to provide a 24/7 managed service that gives NOW ongoing support.

A Partner Committed to Your Success

Migrating to the cloud can be a simple process, when you choose the right partner, or a complicated one if you don’t. A partner that collaborates with your team and is committed to helping you achieve your goals will guide you through a smooth migration.

If you’re looking to move to the cloud and you don’t want it to be a headache for you or your developers we’d love to work with you so get in touch with the Isotoma team today.

That balancing act is never more evident than in the design and build of software that serves multiple audiences.

Is it possible to develop an application that caters for the various needs of different people? The answer is yes; it’s not easy, but it’s definitely possible.

Identify Your Goals

Before you concern yourself with the different needs of your software’s audiences you must first consider your own needs. At the outset of the project decide exactly what your company wants to achieve with the software.

Are you looking to better service existing customers? Increase your usership? Generate more revenue?

Once you’ve decided exactly what your goals are you can start to take your audiences into consideration.

Do Your Research

You’re probably already familiar with your company’s different audiences but there’s no room for error, so research is vital.

First, categorise your audiences. You can do this based on many factors but here are a few examples:

• Customers or trade clients.
• How many times they’ve purchased your product.
• Which industry they work in.
• How much money, on average, they commit to your company.
• Demographics, such as their age, gender, or location.

Then, with your audiences defined, carry out the necessary research to understand what they want and need from your software, and how they differ from one another. You can do this through interviews, surveys, or even real user monitoring.

Prioritise the Audiences

It’s not always possible to be all things to all people and you may have to make sacrifices in some areas. To ensure they’re concessions worth making, you should prioritise your audiences and their needs.

The aim is to make it possible for all your audiences to accomplish their goals. Yet, by focusing first on the most important needs of your primary audience you can cover the essentials before widening the scope of the application to provide solutions for everyone.

Sofia: Built for Staff and Students

Recently, the Isotoma team worked with Imperial College School of Medicine on the design and build of a bespoke curriculum mapping tool called Sofia. While the need for Sofia arose from a need for Imperial to demonstrate that their curriculum met the General Medical Council standards we saw an opportunity.

Sofia would not just be used by staff at Imperial, but also the university’s medical students. During the build we made Sofia into a two-way street, providing staff and students with different access points and functionality.

Now Sofia has been rolled out across all six years of Imperial’s medical course and has proved popular with staff and students alike; the payoff for taking the time to understand the needs of Sofia’s two audiences.

Satisfy Your Audiences

Pleasing everyone is not easy but it can be done. If you need a new application that has to satisfy the needs of multiple audiences we’d like to help you build it.

To discover how the Isotoma team will bring your vision to life, get in touch with us today.

One moment your program is the fastest and most suitable on the market. The next your users are abandoning you for the latest big thing, which is making your software seem slow and cumbersome.

Central to ensuring the longevity and long-lasting success of your software is future proofing it. But what exactly does that mean? And how do you do it?

What Is Future Proofing?

In the simplest terms the phrase “future proofing” means to minimise the negative impact that future events have on something — in this case, your software. 

The aim of future proofing an application is to maintain its relevance, usefulness, and financial viability even as developments are made and rival products are released.

Why Is It Important?

If your software is built with solely the present in mind it will soon become outdated and, eventually, obsolete. It may start life as a huge success, but an inability to adapt will cause users to adopt newer, more relevant systems instead.

In contrast, however, if your application is future proofed you have the ability to make adjustments and keep up with your competitors.

In ever-changing industries future proofing is often the difference between a short-term success and long-term market dominance.

Is Future Proofing Viable?

Absolutely!

It would be easy to think future proofing means predicting the future, and you’d be right to say that’s not an entirely viable strategy. While there is an element of prediction involved, that’s not all there is to it.

In fact future proofing is just as much about what you don’t do as what you do do.

How Do I Future Proof My Software?

Make It Modifiable

At the centre of the plans for your software should be the ability to make regular, sometimes significant changes in a relatively short period of time.

As the landscape of your industry evolves, it’s essential that your software is able to keep up. If it’s not, you’ll soon be surpassed by new software, or your existing competitors whose applications are able to adapt. Periodic changes will enable your software to move with the times.

Analyse Industry Trends

You’ll know better than most the direction your industry is taking and you’ve probably already identified areas which you believe will change.

Bear them in mind when working with developers. This level of insight will be invaluable in helping them prepare your software for what’s up ahead.

Minimise Feature Overlap

When the features of an application are heavily reliant upon one another it makes changes extremely difficult; even a small alteration can cause another feature to fail, meaning every adjustment requires considerable development work.

By siloing as many features as possible you maintain the freedom to update and adapt your software with minimum cost and effort.

Protecting Quantum for Years to Come

Few industries are quite as changeable as the legal sector. Quantum, Class Legal’s vital industry tool, found itself under pressure as regular changes to legal forms meant it was often outdated. So, to modernise and future proof Quantum, Class Legal got in touch with the Isotoma team.

While adding new features to Quantum, and converting it from a desktop app into a web-based program, we increased the software’s ability to be modified quickly. As a result, it was protected against the damage caused by constant changes.

Improve Your Software’s Longevity

Whether your existing software is starting to become outdated, or you’re building a new application and want to preserve its relevance for years to come, we’d love to be involved.

To start future proofing your software, get in touch with the Isotoma team today.