Questions To Ask Yourself Before Considering A Personal Loan

March 31, 2020

Life can be more expensive than we would like sometimes. Whether your expenses are planned or unplanned, personal loans are a great way to secure extra funds when you need them most. However, not all personal loans are created equally and it is important to be fully aware of your financial situation, and also the details of the loan you are considering, before moving forward.

Finding a reputable loan provider, such as Latitude Financial, is absolutely essential for making the right decision about a personal loan. However, this is only part of the equation. There are many more things to consider before you sign any loan agreement and agree to take on new debt.

Let’s look at some of the specific questions that you need to ask yourself before considering a personal loan.

What Are My Financial Needs?

Personal loans are one of the most straightforward ways of securing financing. However, there are better and worse ways of using the funds you can access through a personal loan. Some of the effective ways that you can use such financing include home renovations, debt consolidation, emergency medical expenses, or purchasing a new or used car. In some circumstances, discretionary spending such as travel expenses can also be justified with personal loan financing.

However, try to avoid relying on personal loans for purely discretionary spending too often. When you are rapidly acquiring debt just to fund your lifestyle, then this is generally an unsustainable practice.

Is A Personal Loan Right For My Needs?

There are many different types of financing out there, including credit cards, for example, and personal loans represent only one of these types. On top of that, there are also different options when it comes to personal loans, including both secured and unsecured loans. Make sure to explore the various options for financing and how your needs are best served by making the right choice.

Will I Be Able To Budget For This Loan?

Taking an honest look at your financial situation is imperative before taking out a personal loan. You will want to be confident that you can pay back the loan within the allotted repayment period so that you do not run into any financial trouble. To this end, make sure to carefully read any loan agreement that you are considering. Look at any fees that might be included, look at the interest rate, and take note of the repayment period.

What Is My Credit Score?

Any borrower needs to be aware of their current credit score. Contact your national credit bureau to find out what yours is before hitting the market for personal loans. This will let you have a sense of what rates you can expect before you contact loan providers.

Who Is The Right Personal Loan Provider?

There are many lenders out there that are highly trustworthy and ready to provide you with credit with reasonable terms and conditions. However, some lenders are predatory and will hide fees and charges in the fine print which will end up costing you more. Be sure to do some research on at least a few different personal loan providers to find the lender who is right for you.

Prepare For A Personal Loan

Taking the time to answer these questions for yourself will help you make an informed decision when considering a personal loan. Although going through these steps may take some time, it will provide you with confidence and context that you need to be sure that you are getting a good deal on your financing.

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How can UK Business Owners Benefit from the Time to Pay Arrangement During CoronaVirus?

March 30, 2020

As the UK is bracing for the worst impact of Coronavirus, a financial crisis seems to be all but inevitable.

According to the Centre for Economics and Business Research, the UK economy is set to face the deepest recession since the financial crisis of 2008. The economy is predicted to shrink to a stumbling 15% in the second quarter as the pandemic, and the consequent lockdown restrictions scourge the businesses.

The continuing spread of Covid-19 is presenting an unprecedented dilemma to many of the business markets concerning their short and long-term futures.

On the upside, Boris Johnson’s government is preparing for the worst and has announced emergency measures to help businesses overcome the financial downturn and provide some relief during these uncertain times.

Among the policies revealed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, HMRC’s Time to Pay arrangement would be immensely helpful for all businesses facing distress.

What is HMRC Time To Pay agreement?

If your company is experiencing cash flow problems, then paying taxes such as VAT is indisputably a primary concern. In a usual scenario, a late payment would flag the HM Revenue & Customs and would have further consequences.

However, amidst the Corona crisis, one of the most effective measures in the 2020 Budget is to implement the Time to Pay arrangement with HMRC. A TTP arrangement allows businesses to pay back the taxes to HMRC in monthly installments. Depending on the business circumstances, the period of payments would differ.

Support for Businesses during Coronavirus

To ease the burden on affected businesses, the government is offering support for companies and self-employed individuals who might not be able to pay their tax. It is important to note that each agreement is negotiated on an individual basis, and the benefits you receive would be tailored to your liabilities and circumstances.

The HMRC’s Time to Pay arrangement applies to three possible scenarios.

If you cannot pay VAT because of Coronavirus, you can postpone any VAT payments due between 20 March and 30 June 2020. You will have an extended time until 31 March 2021 to pay the VAT. There will be no interest or penalties for late payment during the deferral period.
If you cannot meet your Self Assessment tax bill, then you might be able to pay in installments if you have filed your return and owe less than £10,000.
If you cannot pay other taxes, such as a tax bill, contact the Payment Support Service. If you have already received a letter with legal action, contact the HMRC office that sent you the letter.

What to Do?

In case you are facing difficulties to pay the tax bill or foresee yourself struggling to be able to accommodate your future tax obligations, then you should contact HMRC at the earliest opportunity.

HMRC has set up a new dedicated COVID-19 helpline from 11 March 2020 to address your concerns. To guarantee ongoing support, HMRC has 2000 experienced call handles available to advise businesses and individuals when needed.

What to Expect?

The possibility of a Time to Pay arrangement will depend on the ongoing viability of your business. As time has proven, even well-oiled companies can experience cash flow problems amidst a financial turmoil, and currently, one that extends beyond the constraints of finances alone.

The chances of payment outside the period of 12 months are rare, but achievable under exceptional circumstances. It is essential to affirm your arguments with proper documentation and be honest about how much you can afford to pay monthly.

The advisors are more than willing to listen if you are in genuine financial difficulty, and businesses can and should take merit from the assistance offered. Simultaneously, consider other supporting facilities and business rescue packages provided by the government. These include access to emergency loans and lower interest rates for businesses facing fiscal strains.

The historically strengthened levels of government support, as both observed in Budget 2020 and anticipated in the upcoming Spending Review and Autumn Budget, are expected to redeem the country’s economy for the better in the future. Meanwhile, companies should be prepared to make difficult choices to mitigate the impact of Coronavirus on your business.

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How POS Systems Help With Inventory Management

March 30, 2020

One of the best features of modern POS systems is the inventory management feature. Instead of paying for third-party software to manage your inventory, you’ll be paying for just one software that can manage inventory and perform a myriad of other tasks for your business.

So, how exactly does POS software help manage inventory? We’ll cover that and more in the following sections. Keep reading to learn more!

Integration With Your Catalog Software For Easy Orders

A big part of managing inventory is accurately ordering more stock for your shelves. It can be exhausting to use a separate catalog program to create orders, and then try to manually input info into your POS software or count by hand. Some POS software can actually integrate with your catalog software, so your orders will automatically be put into your current stock to ensure accuracy.

No more jumping back and forth between different software; everything will be organized and synced to the POS terminal, and you can manage everything from there. If you’re having trouble with inaccurate counts and messed up orders, you need to start using POS software.

Sync On and Offline Inventory

POS inventory management software has the ability to keep both on and offline inventory accurate and synchronized with one another. This is especially important if you’re having trouble with online orders or buy online/pick up in-store. The last thing you want is for a customer to order something online, only to find out it’s not in stock because someone just pulled it off the shelf and bought it.

Ecommerce stores are making the switch to POS not only for their simplicity and versatility, but also for their security measures. With cybercrimes climbing as our society becomes more and more digitalized, it’s paramount that customer information, especially bank/credit card information, is protected during checkout.

Real-Time Updates

If you’re tired of your inventory software taking anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to update, a POS system can help. If you’ve never had real-time inventory updates, you’re going to love it. Everything from sales to returns to orders updates the inventory immediately, so you’re never in the dark about how much product you have on hand.

Some POS systems even still function offline, syncing to the cloud once a connection is reestablished. No matter where you are, you can access your store terminal from a laptop or mobile device. Many POS systems have apps that you can install on your devices so you’ll always be in connection with your store.

Real-time updates help minimize errors, as well. The more accurate your inventory is, the less chance you’ll have of upsetting a customer or having to spend hours finding and fixing said error.

Customizable Products/Services

POS systems offer plenty of customization for your products and services. You can easily add a description, price, picture, and any other details you’d like to include in the catalog. This makes pulling up the right product for a customer quicker and more accurate and also saves the hassle of trying to match barcodes and product numbers. Everything is as detailed as you want it to be, so customize away!

You can also add a custom tax value to your products, so you can be certain you’re staying in compliance with local and state sales tax requirements. You can also add custom discounts, promotions, and your own store gift cards via your POS software.

Handling Returns

Returns can sometimes wreak havoc on inventory management software, but not so with POS systems. They’ll update your inventory in real-time even when there’s a return, and you’ll get to decide if the product is in good enough shape to put back on the shelf. Since returns are a given in retail and even restaurant industries, you’ll want a system that doesn’t break down whenever a customer returns something.

Accuracy

Above all else, an inventory management system should be accurate. Without accuracy, you wind up ordering too much or too little stock, both of which cost you money and time. Fixing errors also costs both time and money, so your inventory software needs to be able to track your inventory as accurately as possible. With your inventory connected to your payment processor, you won’t have to worry about manual entries; the POS software will handle your inventory.

Conclusion

POS software is both affordable and versatile, making it the perfect tool to manage inventory and improve various other business operations. You’re getting a lot of bang for your buck with this kind of tool, so don’t hesitate. Try a demo today and see just how POS software can help you get back on track with more accurate inventory counts and real-time updates. Don’t let your inventory needs fall by the wayside!

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4 Business Insurance Tips Every Business Needs To Know

March 30, 2020

Every business needs insurance. It doesn’t matter what you do or what industry you work in; you need to have the right insurance to operate legally. Here are four tips that every business owner needs to know when they begin looking at available insurance options.

Make Sure You Meet Your Legal Obligations

When you are buying business insurance, your first priority should always be your legal obligations. Protecting your business financially is one of the primary purposes of buying insurance, but there are some types of insurance that are more important than others.

Before you start purchasing expensive insurance policies, make sure that they are suitable and required for your business. Any insurance policies that are not a legal requirement should be put on the back burner and only purchased if you are in a financial position to do so. It is important for entrepreneurs to understand the value of insurance for their LLC. Click here to learn more about LLC insurance policies and options

Understand The Risks

When you are deciding which types of insurance are a priority for your business and which types you can afford to hold off on, you should always be cognizant of the risks to your business. Every business faces a unique set of risks and challenges, and every industry has its own obstacles to overcome. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to deciding on which type of business insurance to buy; you need to evaluate the individual needs of your business.

The good news is that if you take time to properly identify the risks facing your business, as well as the legal obligations that you have regarding insurance, it should not be at all difficult to identify the right insurance for your needs.

Be Specific

The more you are able to identify the type of insurance that you need, the more time and money you can save. Many businesses who do not take the time beforehand to work out precisely what it is that they need ultimately end up paying far more than they need to.

Don’t rely on an insurance broker or any other third-party to tell you what is best for your business. Instead, be prepared to invest the necessary time and effort beforehand to work out precisely what business insurance you need.

Find The Best Price Possible

No matter how big or small your business is or what it does, you will need to have insurance of some kind. Regardless of the type of insurance that your company needs to buy, you should be making an effort to ensure that you are getting the best price possible.

Before you pull the trigger on purchasing any business insurance, shop around to ensure that you are getting the right insurance for your business at the best rate possible. By opting for a provider like The Hartford, you can be certain of a good deal. The Hartford offers a variety of insurance options that will be useful for businesses and you can get a quote in minutes. You can read The Hartford Business Insurance Reviews online to be sure about your needs and policy reliability.

With the above tips in mind, you can quickly and reliably find the insurance that you need for your business. Don’t rush out and buy the first package you come across. Instead, take the time necessary to work out precisely what it is that you need and who can provide it at the best price.

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How to Backtest an Expert Advisor in Metatrader

March 30, 2020

Forex traders need to improve and adjust their trading strategies every day to earn more profit through buying or selling, and it is a good idea to learn from past experiences. This is the basic idea of backtesting, which is a way of estimating the performance of a strategy or an Expert Advisor as if it had been incorporated in the past. To do this, you need high-quality historical data in detail. Then, you can run the strategy on the financial instrument of your choice. Traders can backtest an Expert Advisor on Metatrader to see if it is one of the best forex expert advisors. As a trader, you must know how to backtest if you want to avoid losses, so, here are the hints of backtesting with Metatrader 4, which is an independent web-based backtesting platform.

Information You Can Obtain From Backtesting

When a trader backtests a Forex Expert Advisor, he can get to see the historical data in the chart, which includes:

Entries for the traders
Exits for the traders
The exact time of the execution of the orders
Trades that were dealt with the strategy

The Importance of Using A Demo Account in The Beginning

It is best to backtest the expert advisors on demo account because there is no guarantee that you will continue the performance. After backtesting, if you like the performance, only then you should try it on the live account. Keep in mind that in forex trading, you need to take risks and own responsibility, so, it is always better to be cautious.

Backtesting on Metatrader 4

Choose an Expert Advisor: To backtest, the first thing you need to do is getting yourself an Expert Advisor. You may learn to code them, or you can also buy one from a trusted provider.

Open Strategy Tester Panel: When the Expert Advisor is ready, click on View, and select Strategy Tester. By doing this, the Strategy Tester panel is opened. The panel appears at the bottom of the Metatrader platform.

Now, you need to follow these seven steps to backtest Forex Expert Advisors on Metatrader 4:

Select the Expert Advisor chosen by you from the list called “Expert Advisor” in the field.
Next, go to the “Symbol” field and choose the financial symbol from there. From the field called “Period”, you can choose the timeframe that you want to backtest your strategy with. Keep in mind to load historical data for your chosen symbol before proceeding.
Now, you need to choose the Model Value. Based on your needs, there are three possibilities:

Every tick: It allows you to have a more accurate backtest. However, it is slow because Metatrader starts from the opening price to the closing one and reads open, high, and low close prices from the historical dataset. Thus, random prices are generated inside each candlestick.
Open close only: If the strategy you follow is a middle term one where you are not concerned about movements within the single candlestick, and you do not need the reading of high and low prices, then it is a good parameter for running backtests. This is a fast method and it is ideal if running multiple tests for optimisation is required.
Control points: It is not a very good method because the nearest less timeframe is the base of it. It would be better not to use it.

According to your broker fees, select the “Spread”. It is wise to backtest with two times bigger spreads than the ones need to be paid to the broker. Always backtest in the worst-case scenario. You can select “Current” from the Spread field to know this information.
Refrain from flagging the field “Use date” as it reduces the backtesting date range. Running “Walk forward analysis” and avoiding “Overfitting” is more useful for optimisations.
The “Optimisation” button must not be flagged either because the backtest is running for the first time. Instead, it is better to optimise the strategy later.
Now that everything is in the right order, click on the “Start” button to run the backtest.

In a few moments, a graph will appear, and you can view the results there to know the past performances of the strategy.

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An Open Letter to Researchers Studying the Coronavirus (COVID-19)

March 27, 2020

I am not a medical doctor, nor specialist in epidemiology, but I consider myself very experienced and conversant with methodologies of scientific research. While we all wait desperately for the research and scientific community to develop a vaccine or treatment for the coronavirus (and other viruses that may arise and in need of a solution), I am putting forward a call for researchers to develop a new stream of inquiry to help our global society. I do realize that making such a call will have polarized reactions so it is important that I articulate my intention to focus on the strengths of our internal human systems during times of epidemics or pandemics. This is critical in that we focus on generating hope rather than unintentionally creating fear and desperation. I believe that through such a steam of work, we can shift from looking at what makes us weak to what makes us resilient during such times where our own need for human interaction is affected negatively. We can then move ever forward to discovering what enduringly connects us.

For many years, the paradigm of conducting research in medicine has been to focus on concentrating and understanding the pathology of diseases. This lens has helped us as a society to eliminate causes of illness and provide a sharp focus on fast recovery. Nonetheless, in the past few years, civilization is experiencing cycles of new types of disease that traditional medical research has not been fast enough to contain. My proposal is to open a stream of medical research that focuses on why, during times of health pandemics, there are always those who are resilient to such causes.

My proposal is to focus on the people who are resilient to health issues related to being in contact with unseen viruses. What protects some humans from the COVID-19 even when they have come into contact with those who are infected? We hear of many who have been infected, those who have recovered and those who did not. Although it is critical to understand the virus and how it affects people who have been tested as positive, it is equally critical to understand why some people are not affected even when they have come into contact with those who were tested positive. The focus on what makes some human beings resilient and healthy will offer another perspective and perhaps another important and interesting stream of research.

I can offer some ideas, but with humility, I admit that I don’t have the knowledge and tools to spearhead such a stream of research thoroughly. Nonetheless, it has taken me 40 years of ongoing research and successful practice that focus on the importance and centrality of values that raise self-awareness when interacting with others. The hierarchy of values is now a concept, a methodology with developed tools to help people become conscious and therefore understand what is really important in their lives. This stream might offer insight to what extent core values are aligned with a definition of life meaning and success. From the perspective of being successful, those who are resilient and not affected by the virus, may be considered successful in our current pandemic. I am not writing this piece to defend my theory and practice of managing and living by values. I am putting out a call to propose a line of research that will be able, perhaps in relative terms, to assist in discovering the ingredients (genetically, or socially) that protect people from contracting COVID-19. Is it possible, that our defense system has some sort of hierarchy (which we do not understand yet) where antibodies that were developed to protect one family of viruses, also protects other types of viruses? Other questions could be: to what extent human beings that overcame one type of virus remain effective for fighting other types of viruses?; or what are some common denominators of people in “risk” areas that enable them not to contract this virus or other diseases?

I am sure that my call for this research will be appealing to those who believe in approaching medicine from a systemic perspective and those who believe in natural remedies diets designed to boost our immune system. But I am not talking about these generic ideas that we all agree might be good and positive. I am calling for a specific and rigorous research that intends to discover why and how people in “risk” areas do not get infected or are also not contagious. This is especially true to the case of the current pandemic of COVID-19.

My apologies for those of you who read this call and have made previously similar proposals, and perhaps with even more rigor and content. I include in this call my belief of the power of collective intelligence and it is my hope that someone who reads it, and who is by far more qualified to comment or have the ability to undertake a rigorous research in this direction.

This is my very humble hope to be able to contribute to the stream of ideas opening new lines of research and perhaps new discoveries to help humanity – something we have dire need of in today’s chaotic environment.

My sincere gratitude to Dr. Tony Lingham and Dr. Bonnie Richley, my dear colleagues and friends from Cleveland (Ohio), who were the first to read this short essay, propose important changes to further the coherence and articulation of this call, and strongly encouraged me to make this document public.

With honesty and humility,

Dr. Simon L. Dolan (www.simondolan.com)
President, The Global Future of Work Foundation (www.globalfutureofwork.com)
Email: [email protected]

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A Guide for Creating a Quality Customer Service Department

March 27, 2020

If you want to run a successful business, you need to possess the ability to keep your customers happy. If they enjoy the products and services you provide, they are much more likely to return and splash additional cash on your company.

This is imperative for any business as returning customers are more important than gaining new ones. Yet there’s one big issue with this: customers are not always satisfied. Sometimes the plan doesn’t go as expected, and a consumer begins to lose trust in your brand.

When this happens, a customer service department is vital for salvaging the situation. This department can help fix whatever issues a buyer may have, and this will ultimately result in you regaining their trust.

At least, that is the case if you have an effective customer service department. For help in that regard, take into account the following quick guide.

What’s the purpose of the customer service department?

It might seem like a redundant question on the surface, but it’s essential you identify how your customer service department will function. This will be different for each business.

For instance, a certain customer service will handle any issues or inquiries with sales. A different business, such as a web hosting one, might use the department to deal with technical problems.

In addition, other departments may already be handling certain jobs relating to customer service. A salesperson could receive product feedback, for example. With this in mind, you need to ensure your entire business is in-sync, and different departments know how to direct troubled consumers to the customer service department.

Streamline with software

Software helps with many different business functions, and customer service is no different. It not only helps with streamlining communication between your company and consumers, but it also keeps your entire customer service department organized, automates tasks, and so much more.

Due to the aforementioned advantages, it’s advised your business utilizes specialist help desk software. If you need assistance picking the right system, software specialists Better Buys spotlight the best help desk software available.

Bring in the right employees

It’s an obvious point, but your customer service department is dependent on the quality of your employees. If they fail to possess the skills required to deal with customers in a helpful manner, the department might as well not exist.

Here are qualities your customer service employees should have:

Adaptability
Patience
Empathy
The ability to communicate clearly
A strong work ethic

Majority of businesses today choose to outsource their customer service. Call centre to the Philippines, for example, provides a team of experts to businesses to deal with customer concerns. These teams consist of agents who possess the right skills in dealing with any type of customers.

Have a plan in place

Ultimately, your customer service department needs to follow a plan. Having structure means the department will benefit from added coherence and confidence.

However, what should this plan feature? Well, you should have a basic outline of how your employees communicate with customers. This could be a simple welcome message or a script to loosely follow. Additionally, a plan needs to place a particular focus on resolving inquiries as soon as possible. Instant responses are expected in this day and age, and your department should be organized to deliver that to customers.

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COVID-19: Protecting Staff, Protecting Patients

March 26, 2020

By Benjamin Kanter, MD

Physicians and nurses contend with infectious diseases on a daily basis. The COVID-19 pandemic is putting a spotlight on this issue in part because this virus is so communicable, and also because so much about the illness it causes is unknown. There is a heightened need to protect the people providing care while at the same time optimizing patient throughput.

Without effective communication, patients cannot be moved through a hospital. And yet with a highly infectious virus, the simple act of communicating using conventional tools can put care providers at risk. If physicians or nurses get sick or exposed and are subsequently quarantined, they’re not going to be available to care for patients.

Vocera can help.

Caregivers Shouldn’t Risk Contamination for Communication

Patients being treated for an infectious disease are subject to various transmission-based precautions: droplet, airborne, contact, etc. As a nurse wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), if you’re with a patient behind closed doors and you have an urgent need to contact someone, you’re in a tough position.

The room might have an intercom – but if your hands are busy with the patient, you have to interrupt your workflow to communicate. If the room doesn’t have an intercom, you need to leave the patient’s bedside, go to the anteroom between the patient room and the hallway, remove your PPE, then go out and ask for help or pick up a phone.

Every time you take on and off your PPE, there’s a chance you’re going to contaminate yourself; the less you have to do that, the better off you are.

If you have access to a clear, secure communication channel hands-free underneath the PPE, then you are truly safer; and in turn, the quality of patient care is enhanced. That’s where a Vocera Smartbadge or Badge worn under PPE becomes so valuable, whether you’re working in a triage tent, in the ICU, or in an isolation room in any other part of the hospital.

Whenever you’re in a situation where your hands are occupied or you’ve donned protective gear and you need to communicate, our wearable devices are ideal. You can reach people instantly without needing to know names, numbers, or who’s on call.

Optimizing Throughput and Capacity

Effective communication is essential for optimizing throughput and capacity, which are key to managing the patient surges anticipated from a pandemic of this scale. A hospital must be able to move patients through the continuum of care.

The number of isolation rooms is limited, and when those rooms are occupied, a bottleneck forms. That’s why, whether a patient tests positive or negative for COVID-19, it’s equally important that the assigned nurse and the infection prevention specialist are notified immediately. A patient who tests negative can be moved out of isolation to make the room available for another patient.

A hospital that doesn’t have its communication and clinical systems integrated faces the challenge of test results being routed to the electronic health record (EHR) and stagnating there. The nurse and the infection prevention specialist must repeatedly pour over the electronic records or query the lab to see if results are available. This is a barrier to throughput and it creates an unnecessary burden for care team members.

With the Vocera Platform, filtered, prioritized notifications such as an alert about a patient’s COVID-19 test results can be pushed from the EHR to the right care team member’s mobile device – whether it’s a hands-free wearable, or a smartphone running the Vocera app. Intelligently pushing notifications is another way Vocera technology helps reduce the toil and stress for care teams.

We’re Here for You

Our Vocera support teams are located around the globe and working 24×7 to help our customers through this crisis by providing remote and onsite services. We are here to take care of you as you continue to take care of your staff and patients; find contact information at our support portal. I encourage you to visit our COVID-19 resource page for resources and information such as guidance for cleaning the Badge and Smartbadge to avoid damaging the devices while following infection control best practices.

As a hospital IT or clinical leader, what are you experiencing? How can we help you prepare for and manage through this pandemic, and protect and empower your teams? I welcome you to reach out to me on LinkedIn.

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About the Author

Benjamin Kanter, MD, FCCP, joined Vocera as Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) in January 2017. Prior to joining Vocera, Dr. Kanter worked as an industry consultant and thought leader with innovative healthcare IT companies, including Extension Healthcare, where he was most recently the CMIO. He previously served as Chief Medical Officer of Sotera® Wireless. Prior to that, he was the CMIO at Palomar Health in San Diego, where he spent seven years on the executive management team.

He is a published author and frequent speaker on how to seamlessly and securely integrate technology with medical practice.

Vocera (NYSE: VCRA) is publicly traded with the resources and fortitude to help ensure your success with our solutions over the long term.

This article by Dr. Ben Kanter was first published on the Vocera View blog.

How to Benefit from Nearshore Software Development in 2020

March 26, 2020

Over the last two decades, nearshore software development companies have been providing sustained, end-to-end value for countless U.S. organizations, resulting in strong partnerships that support innovation and technological excellence.

Now, with the 2010s in the rear-view mirror and a global pandemic on our hands, the opportunity to benefit from nearshore partnerships is greater than ever, presenting the best chance to capitalize on the solid foundations the industry has been building for years.

What is Nearshore Software Development?

The term ‘software development outsourcing’ has long been associated with large-scale offshore markets like India and China, which traditionally offer low-cost development services at scale. Still, these destinations are not without their drawbacks.

Countries on that side of the world lack a vital cultural alignment with the U.S. market, leading to misunderstandings, communication difficulties, and delays — the disparate time zones are not ideal either, especially when projects demand an agile, collaborative approach.

For organizations in the United States, nearshore software development is about avoiding those drawbacks by working with partners in Latin America and the Caribbean. The region boasts convenient geographical proximity to the U.S. and has deep cultural ties with North America, while also offering cost-effective services in comparison to domestic providers.

So that explains what nearshoring is, but what makes 2020 the right time for organizations to work with nearshore partners?

The Changing Landscape in 2020

In North America, software developers are expensive to hire and difficult to retain, often jumping between tech companies in pursuit of higher salaries and attractive perks. Simultaneously, organizations are under increasing pressure to deliver on customer demands, which include better experiences, better software, and instantaneous results.

Nearshore partnerships are a viable answer, both to this sense of urgency and the challenges associated with domestic talent. Nearshore companies hire and train the best graduates from top regional universities, which provide world-class computer science and software development programs — Colombia alone graduates over 13,000 IT specialists every year.

With the right provider, nearshore software outsourcing can help mitigate risks associated with compliance, security, and cost overruns. Long-established companies are always up-to-date with global regulatory standards and build risk management considerations into their contracts, protecting their partners’ projects in the event of a crisis.

In short, as businesses deal with increasing uncertainty, nearshore software development providers are there to support, enhance, and grow an organization’s technology ambitions and help them reach business objectives.

Choosing the Right Nearshore Partner

Today’s nearshore software developers are champions of innovation and bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and cultural perspective to the table. When exploring nearshore for these benefits, organizations should seek partners that can align with their business objectives and collaborate seamlessly with internal teams.

While many nearshore partners have the capacity to oversee entire software development projects, others simply provide qualified engineers to augment and support existing teams, so it’s best to understand those needs upfront to prevent choosing the wrong provider. Additionally, look for companies with the right balance of long-term market presence, experience in several industries, sufficient human talent, and existing nearshore clients.

Nothing beats getting to know your potential partner face-to-face, so, if possible, take a visit to their premises, tour their facilities, and meet the engineers. At the very least, schedule some video meetings and video tours so you can visualize how the company operates (with the current pandemic crisis sweeping the planet, this is perhaps the only approach right now). When you find a prospective partner, go deep and ask technical questions. Find out what they learned from past projects and how they can apply that knowledge to yours.

Don’t go for price alone when selecting a partner. The long-term value associated with high-quality software should be a higher priority than the asking price. If price is important, factor in the company’s technical capabilities along with its ability to overcome roadblocks, which will result in savings later down the line.

Finally, ask to speak with the company’s existing nearshore clients to learn about their experiences. You can ask third parties about the results and issues they’ve experienced so far, along with the partner’s ability to overcome challenges. It’s also a chance to learn from their decision-making process and why they ultimately settled on the partner in question.

Final Thoughts

As the year 2020 brings new challenges to the business world, U.S. organizations should not overlook the skills, talent, and experience available in the nearshore software outsourcing industry. With its cost-competitive, high-value, and culturally aligned benefits, the market has been steadily emerging as the first choice for hundreds of North American companies looking to accelerate their digital innovation and technology initiatives. What’s stopping your business from joining their ranks?

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About the Author

PSL Corp, a nearshore software development organization, operates at the intersection of drive, quality and innovation. Our goal is to help you achieve your technology vision by embodying a delivery-focused mindset supported by over 30 years of proven experience and nearshore proximity. Contact us at www.pslcorp.com.

What Makes You an Effective Leader in Crisis Situations?

March 25, 2020

By David De Cremer

For many organizational leaders and entrepreneurs, the coronavirus crisis represents a very challenging environment to lead and motivate their teams.

What do you tell them to ensure the company keeps going and that there can be light seen at the end of the tunnel? What should your people be doing while the health crisis paralyses society and the business world?

I list four principles leaders should stick to in leading their team members to keep their company relevant to the outside world.

1. Stay in touch with your customers

Relationships, like humans, need to be fed else they cease to exist. Even though you cannot deliver tangible value to them, it is worthwhile to keep your customers and other stakeholders informed about where your company is at. Crisis situations can bond people, so, in a similar vein, staying connected with your primary stakeholders can strengthen relationships.

2. Look for creative ways to reflect the values and quality of your organisation and keep your stakeholders involved in this movement

How you act under situations of crisis says something about who you are. And, indeed, when the pressure is on, people believe that your real personality reveals itself. A crisis situation therefore in a sense helps to come to grips of what you really care about and what can be improved if needed. If there is a time that it is important to walk the talk, then it is now. How you act now will decide the credentials that you will receive from others.

3. It’s time to experiment and fail (!) and learn (!), because if not now, then when?

Crisis situations are extraordinary times and therefore standardized ways of working will usually not be effective anymore. With a crisis comes the challenge to get the creative juices going. It will be of essence to explore how to adapt to a changing context and be able to create value. Unfortunately, because a crisis situation increases uncertainty, the default of most leaders will be to shy away from the unknown. Hence, most companies will stick to the status quo and wait until the crisis is over. Such a response is always a missed opportunity. Indeed, when a crisis is over, many things will not be the same as before. As such, the old ways of working may not be sufficient anymore. If you have not experimented and learned from failures when the crisis was in place, you are not prepared to meet new demands from your stakeholders (induced by the mere fact there was a crisis) and miss out on new growth opportunities.

During the crisis situations, most customers will not spend, and, hence, you will not be able to make hard deals. Second, if you then not explore and experiment to prepare for business after the crisis is over, you run the risk to be an outdated and inflexible company.

4. Don’t make any hard deals as nothing can be guaranteed today (what worked in the past may not be the case anymore in the near future)

Because many leaders prefer to stick to the status quo when the crisis is at its peak, their focus remains on how to get deals. And, if that’s not possible, at least not change anything. Both ways of working are in a way a loss of time and effort. During the crisis situations, most customers will not spend, and, hence, you will not be able to make hard deals. Second, if you then not explore and experiment to prepare for business after the crisis is over, you run the risk to be an outdated and inflexible company that has not learned and moved on since the crisis happened. And, be aware, your customers will know.

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About the Author

David De Cremer is the Provost chair and professor in management and organizations at NUS Business School, National University of Singapore. He is the founder and director of the Center on AI Technology for Humankind at NUS Business school; which is a platform developing research and education promoting a human-centered approach to AI development. Before moving to NUS, he was the KPMG endowed chaired professor in management studies at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. He is named one of the World’s top 30 management gurus and speakers in 2020 by the organization GlobalGurus and has published over more than 250 articles and book chapters. He is also a best-selling author with his book Huawei: Leadership, culture and connectivity” having sold more than one million copies. His newest book “Leadership by algorithm: Who leads and who follows in the AI era?” will be out in print in May 2020.

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