Best Time Tracking Apps for Small Businesses

All kinds of businesses whether it is small or big, at some point of time require the time tracking app as it offers so many benefits. First, it helps increase the team productivity and keep the business profitable and second, it saves lots of people’s time and money and allows for better organization and more streamlined workflow. Other than these benefits, a time tracking app also helps small businesses to make more accurate billing of clients and payment to employees.

Companies needs to go for Custom Software Development if they want to develop time tracking app or they can use the existing ones in the market. Time is very precious for small businesses. But in order to get properly compensated for your time, you and your employees need to track how all spend it. These time tracking apps can be a great alternative to manual time sheets. Hence for small businesses, time tracking app can make huge difference. 
But the catch is, all time tracking apps are not same and you need to do thorough research while choosing the one for your business as it should fulfill all of your business requirements. Then only it will be useful. That’s why in this article we are telling you about some options for time tracking apps which you may find suitable for your small business.


Toggl - The All in One SolutionTo develop Toggl like app one can go for Offshore Software Development as it will be cost effective. Talking about Toggl, it is a time tracking application which is designed by keeping small businesses in mind. It is very simple and easy to use. It is also well designed and integrated smoothly with many third party apps and services which is a plus. Toggl can monitor your program and website activity, detect your idle time, use keywords to auto track the time and also can send you reminders.

Now Toggl comes as web based and also has apps for both desktop and mobile devices. You can create an account and connect the Toggl timer to more than 100 web apps. Toggls’s reports are well detailed and accurate and are easy to understand. You can export these reports as PDF, CSV or Excel formats. Toggl easily integrates with other popular project management apps like Asana, GitHub, Basecamp etc. It can work whether it is one person business or a large team. It comes with free as well as paid version.


TimeSheets
You have to hire highly talented Software Developer to develop such an app. Timesheets.com is perfect for both hourly employees or salaried ones who need to track billable hours or the time spent on different projects. It can also track the employee time, expenses on the road, mileage by using its mobile app. Timesheets.com work perfectly with the popular payroll companies like QuickBooks, SurePayroll etc and you can export various kinds of data into many formats. It also has HR tools like standardized documents and It also has the ability to store documents if you have both hourly and salaried employees. 


Harvest
Harvest is one of the best time tracking app for small businesses and also for freelancers. This app came into existence in 2006 and since then became highly popular primarily because of its beautiful interface, ease of use and options of many integrations. Harvest is feature rich and its project dashboard is easy to use and to comprehend. It has a dashboard from where project managers can easily see the status of their projects in full-detail and using reports, they can see the summary and details in an easy to understand manner. Although Harvest is web based but its mobile and desktop apps are also available for more functionality. It comes with free as well as paid plans.


TSheets 
Even if you are a Software Development Company still it will not be easy for you to develop such an app. TSheets is a time tracking and scheduling application which focuses on mobility although it also has a desktop app. TSheets can easily track time on any device to streamline payroll, send accurate invoices, and save thousands each year for the small businesses. Employees can clock in on their smartphones via text, email, voice call or even Twitter. It let you send an entire crew alerts at once or clock them all in and out at the same time. It allows easy scheduling of employees for shifts, such as in retail and restaurants. Employees can use the app to request time off or ask to trade shifts. Managers can make or approve schedule changes or alert employees. TSheets is best for businesses with hourly workers or mobile employees such as field services. Also it can be integrated with popular accounting and payroll software easily.


Conclusion
We have just discussed the top and the best time tracking apps for small businesses which can immensely enhance the productivity and efficiency within an organization. Hence if you are a small or even large scale business and want to increase your profitability then go for any of these time tracking app and enjoy the success of your business.

What is 64 bit software in Custom Software Development

What is native 64bit software? 
Native in the computing world is a term used to describe true compatibility. When something is native as in this case software, it means it’s meant to work completely in a specific environment without any compatibility patching. So native 64-bit software means it will work only if it’s installed on 64-bit operating system version. When going with a custom software development for your business or company, it is important you understand the benefits and drawbacks of native 64-bit software.

64-bit vs 32-bit Basics
In computer world, 64-bit and 32-bit refer to the type of central processing unit or CPU, operating system and drivers/applications. You have probable seen the option to download as piece of software as a 32-bit version or a 64-bit version. While the software is essentially the same, the major difference lies in the face that two are programmed for different systems.

32-bit systems utilize data in 32-pieces while 64-bit systems utilize data in 64-pieces. This means data can be processed at more faster rate with 64-bit systems giving increasing performance of the application. In addition, 64-bit systems come with ability to use significantly use greater amounts of physical memory.

Most new processors today are based on 64-bit architecture and support 64-bit operating systems. Yet operating systems and software are still come in 32-bit versions. All 64-bit processors can support 32-bit OS and applications though it is not true of the opposite. A 32-bit processor cannot run a 64-bit operating system and also a 32-bit operating system cannot run a 64-bit application.

However, remember that 32-bit versions of programs can run just fine on a 64-bit operating system. You don’t necessarily need 64-bit applications just because you are using a 64-bit operating system.


Understanding the importance of native 64-bit software 
The benefits of 64-bit hardware can be fully obtained only if you use native 64-bit software that is designed to use all features of the 64-bit hardware. You would need a whole 64-bit environment consisting of both hardware and software components to get optimum benefits, though conversion to 64-bit hardware can alone improve the performance somewhat. 

The primary benefit of using native 64-bit software application on 64-bit operating system is its ability to allocate and use more memory and speed. A 32-bit software version can only address/use at most only 2GB of system memory though it may have as high as 16GB RAM installed. A native 64-bit application, on the other hand, can access/allocate at least 8TB (terabytes) of memory.


How do you know if a program is natively 64-bit? 
The native 64-bit version of software is usually labeled as x64 version though rarely it is also mentioned as x86-64 version.

If any software doesn’t mention about being 64-bit, it is almost guaranteed to be 32-bit software. Most software is 32-bit, though it isn’t always explicitly mentioned. Also 32-bit software can run as well enough on both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.


Summary
While most of the processors today we buy are 64-bit, the software still continues to come as 32-bit. The software migration to native 64-bit has been happening though somewhat slowly lately over the past few years. Digital content creation, CAD/CAM, software development and visualization and gaming industry are some of the markets that have embraced the 64-bit with open arms. 

If your software only supports 32-bit operating systems, you are constraining the ability of your software. We are a custom software development company that provides you with complete solution to build high quality software as per your requirements. 

How to Keep Yourself Up to Date as a Software Developer

How to Keep Yourself Up to Date as a Software Developer

Software Development is a very dynamic industry and we can’t compare it with other industries. If you are a developer then you can sign up to a GitHub account and start doing whatever you want after obviously understanding the basics of how computers and programming works. Most of the tools you need are free and lots of knowledge is available online. There are already 7.8 million public GitHub repositories available today.

As a software developer working in some technology, we generally give this a lot of thought how to stay up to date. For a software developer it is very important to keep learning and this learning is not just about working with a new technology but it is also about learning  the concepts behind these technologies and what problems they are trying to solve. The time you can spend on these things depends on your own situation. You can spend time with your family but you should also be passionate about software development. Hence maintaining a balance is the key.

As you have to spend a large part of your day time at work hence it is important to have an employer that encourages you to spend time to stay up to date and grow yourself. At work, there can be some developer conferences, seminars or presentation days to share experiences and learning new concepts and ideas. As knowledge and skills are biggest assets of a software developer hence standing still is not a right choice.

Software Development industry is rapidly evolving hence it might now always be easy to keep up with all the changes and newly introduced technologies, practices and concepts. In this article, I will share some of the ways, resources and tools which you can use to stay up to date. I hope this will be helpful to you. Some of these tools and resources are:-

Community Membership :
As a software developer one of the best thing you can do to stay up to date is by joining some tech communities as a member. For example if you are a WordPress developer then after joining the WordPress community you can expand your plugin and theme development. You can also contribute to the WordPress core, organize meetups and WordCamps etc. By this way you can meet thousands of WordPress community members in different roles which can also teach you a lot about best practice in WordPress, PHP, JS, MySQL and also about other areas like Cloud Hosting.

Doing Self Projects and R&D:
You must be hearing a lot about new technologies and concepts but it is also important to try it out. Working on self projects or spending some time doing R&D is a great way to give a platform/tool or library a chance and understand how it relates to your present work. You can build many internal tools which are platform independent to test something. After building these tools you can offer these to other developers for free to use.

Blogs :
You can search and find the most popular blogs for your particular technical skill and the tools you use. Go through the latest posts and see if there is something which reflects the innovation in that tech space. Some of the best popular blogs to follow are:- Hacker News, Slashdot, Recode, DZone, diginomica and more. You can also find some updates and press releases published on Techcrunch or Mashable and know about latest tools and concepts. Product Hunt is one of the useful option for recent releases. You have to dig into what they have launched.

Podcasts :
If you travel a lot daily, do running in the morning or like to listen to something while doing something then podcasts are a great way to keep yourself up to date. There are so many web and software development podcasts like The Bug Web Show, Modern Web, FiveJS, Sitepoint podcast, HTTP 203, The Changelog, Herding Code and many more which discuss technologies. You can find some podcast expert covering indepth about your favorite technology. You can browse iTunes or your favorite podcast client/app or search online.

Local and Virtual Events :
In order to stay up to date, attending conferences and meetups is very helpful. If you can visit the best ones internationally then it would be great. Some developers have attended more than hundred conferences and meetups to learn new things. Attending something related to what you do may be very beneficial and in some case enlightening. Just think of events discussing security, hosting, open source technologies or even usability and design. Other then the regular sessions, meeting people during the breaks or at lunch/dinner could be awesome. So many developers have become friends by meeting like minded individuals at these events moreover they have also learned about the latest trends in the market.

Books:
Some people may like to follow some blogs to learn something instead of reading books but actually books can be more beneficial for exploring a technical topic in depth. One thing about development is that the industry evolves very fast and writing a book may take years. But there are many books about software development which are evergreen and you must read them anyway. Now even the independent book publishing is possible and someone can publish a PDF in few hours. This leads to the large collection of titles which are latest and up to date. You can even learn a lot from other related topics which are not directly related to your day to day work.

Social Media :
Twitter steam is an unlimited source of ideas, opinions and links to interesting topics. It is almost instant and the amount of content during a day can be amazing. You should be selective in which accounts you follow. You can follow subject experts on topics that interest you. A subject expert can be an individual but could also be a company or organization. If you commute daily in a public transport then you can go through your twitter stream during this travel time or you can check it when you reach home after office.
Alongwith Twitter, LinkedIn is also an easy and great way to follow industry peers, blogs, magazines and communities online. They post regularly and you can read one in which you are interested.
So many people also hang out in Facebook Groups. If you join some local tech groups or international communities for your interest of technology then it could feed you with news and updates and connect you with other people interested in the same technology and it can even lead to your professional development and career growth.

Quora
At Quora you can easily find several prominent engineers and tech leads openly discussing important industry issues. You can follow numerous topics for all technical things like machine learning, blockchain technology, about many programming languages and frameworks, and also about general topics like web development, software engineering, software developers and learning how to program. You can also came to know about useful tools, best books about certain language and threads that cover the pros and cons of certain technology.

Summary
I hope you must have got some inspiration and motivation now to follow the above tips to stay up to date in the software development  market. You can select the topics that interest you or even try to explore new areas. To start with you should join some online communities and active forums related to your area of work and technology. In the meanwhile select some good books to read and listen to the podcasts whenever you get time. This will save your time and lead you to the right path.

What is Custom Software Development and How It is Beneficial?

In the current market scenario, most of the businesses and people understand the importance of software. Now most of the critical business processes run on software and also mobile apps and other digital software solutions are increasingly being used to enhance the efficiency and productivity in the organizations. Using software, work in these companies become easier and it also improves the customer and employee satisfaction.

Nowadays so many businesses prefer Custom Software Development over readymade software as it offers several benefits. Before we go much deeper into custom software application development, let’s understand what is the meaning of off-the-shelf software and bespoke custom software.


Off-the-Shelf Software
Many IT companies nowadays offer off-the-shelf software to automate common processes and functions. You must have seen these type of software solutions like many ERP and CRM software or E-commerce portals. Some companies also offers cloud based off-the-shelf solutions. User just need to go through a setup wizard and can start using these software. These software often offer ease of use but they lack in flexibility, uniqueness and functionality.


Bespoke Custom Software
Bespoke or Custom Software is an application specially designed and developed for your business or organization to fit its specific requirements. This type of software is created for a single customer or a group of customers who decide what functions it should have and what solutions it should offer. It offers many advantages over off-the-shelf ready to use software. As it is specially developed for the enterprise hence it contains not just the specific functionalities but also it also has additional preferences and expectations required in the software. These custom software are highly flexible, customizable and scalable. Off-the-shelf software approach to fit everywhere doesn’t work for many enterprises as each business is organized and managed in its own unique way hence custom tailor made software is best way to handle such uniqueness.


Important Points Regarding Custom Software Development 

• Streamlining and Optimization of Business Processes: Most of the organizations go for bespoke software development in order to streamline and optimize the in-house processes. Whether it is a simple database at a small company or a complex solution at a large enterprises, custom tailor made software can solve all of the issues related to customers, employees and day today operations in the company easily.

• Custom Solution is Your Invention: Although whether a custom software or readymade software, both can organize the in-house processes but it is still the half work done. When the custom software development company designs a special solution for your business, you can also participate in the process by suggesting the necessary options and features. Hence a tailor made software application is actually partially or entirely your own invention and shows your creative approach to solve old business problems.

• Increases Status and Brand Value of your Company: As a tailor made custom software is your invention hence it will always be a thing to be highlighted at all places. Thus custom software development increases your status and brand value of your company among your customers and competitors and stresses the fact that you take your business seriously.

• Custom Software Supports Uniqueness of your Business: Each business is different and unique in some way or the other. You cannot stand out of the crowd unless you offer something unique to your customers. If a company offers and copies the same things as others then sooner or later it will disappear from the scene. Custom Software supports your uniqueness in the market and provides you a software which follows different approach to win in the market which will be well appreciated and liked by your customers as well. 

• Easy to Customize, Flexible Enough and Scalable: Technology and economics are changing very fast. Custom software is easy to customize whenever there is such a need arises in future. It is also very flexible to meet any custom requirement and scalable to meet the growing needs of any business or company in future.

• Custom Software Provides More Security: The off-the-shelf software becomes so common in the market that all of its vulnerabilities are open and known to the general public and hackers. Hence anyone can target it and try to gain access over it. On the other hand, a custom software is designed specially for your custom needs and hackers don’t have easy access to it to try the mischief. Also you can implement more security features in your application as per your choice.

Conclusion
We have just shown you how and why a bespoke custom software is different than off-the-shelf ready made software and what are the unique advantages it offers to the underline business. In short, we can say that custom software development brings uniqueness, reliability, flexibility, brand value, cost effectiveness, efficiency and security to your business. Hence now you can take a better and well informed decision whenever you will have a need to implement a software application in your business. Readily you can go for bespoke custom software without any doubt in your mind.