February 2021 – iView Labs

How to Secure your Products with DevSecOps and Beyond in 2021?

IT Security was always a significant concern in the tech environment. Security breaches during the pandemic have brought securing tech products to the top of the priority list.

What are the top trends defining Software Product Security?

Building Security into the Development Ecosystem from the Beginning

This ensures that during the entire development process, security remains a core concern. Integration of data protection mechanisms from the initial stages is made mandatory by the Data Protection Regulation in Europe. Experts are considering similar measures for Asia and North America as well.

DevOps is now DevSecOps.

DevSecOps is the term given to the attitude, processes, technology, and operations during the development of an app, tool, or software. It aims at building security into the development from the very beginning. So the Development, Security, and Operations teams work in tandem all through the product development cycle.

What’s the DevSecOps Workflow?

The code written by one developer is checked for possible security-related weaknesses and issues by another coder.

The application is brought into play with Infrastructure-as-Code tools.

Security configurations are activated into the Control Management System.

The application is tested through the Testing Automation. This includes all aspects such as UI, Back-end, separate security tests, API, and overall integration.

If the application clears all the testing procedures, it is progressed to the production stage.

Intense monitoring comes into play to check operational security risks.

Tools for DevSecOps

The top tools for managing DevSecOps during the CI/CD are the following:

Static Application Security Testing Tools
These tools check the code for problems that may lead to security risks in the future. They are used up to the development phase.

Examples: GitLab, HCL AppScan, Coverity, CodeScan, etc.

Software Composition Analysis Tools

They are employed for finding weaknesses in the third-party and open-source components. Covering the license risks as well for timely identification and solution is essential for them. Accelerating the DevSecOps process is their concern.

Examples: WhiteSource, FlexNet Code Insight, Black Duck, JFrog Xray, etc.

Interactive Application Security Testing Tools

They are deployed to monitor and analyze the behavior of the application during the run-time. By identifying the run-time level susceptibilities, it allows the developers to find the flaws in the code. The coders can then address the issues in the code to strengthen the security.

Examples: Parasoft, Veracode, Checkmarx, SonarQube, etc.

Dynamic Application Security Testing Tools

They are designed to carry out simulation exercises to protect the product from hackers. They work through the network and do not require code access.

Examples: Appknox, Netsparker, GitLab, HCL AppScan, etc.

Security Reassessment at each Stage

The strong beginning requires sustenance. At each stage of development, the risks are weighed for the necessary immediate steps. Each stage of development is often broken into smaller stages for denser, more in-depth, and detailed checks.

Innovation and Improvements in the Secure Development Lifecycle (SDL)

The SDL is now emphasizing on:

Continuous upgrading of the skills of coders with the protection of code in the center.
Ensuring that all teams and each member are at the same level of security training and awareness.
Regulatory requirements are no more considered frictional to development but as a firm foundation for smoother progress.

What are the crucial Product Security Practices for 2021?

Segmentation

Segmentation has to do with data, storage, and capabilities. By clearly segmenting, the team can ensure that the data is managed appropriately. In case of unwanted access, it would be easier to carry out security checks and measures. For storage, determining the right choices between physical or cloud storage is essential. Finally, segmentation in capabilities ensures a faster development pace and easier optimization. Overall, it’s about the better organization of the most fundamental aspects.

Automation

Automation can tackle many of the expected threats. So can the various probable ones. Automation can be attached to the auto-remedy tasks. It requires analysis of firewalls and security configurations. It saves the experts’ energy and time, which they can devote to novel security threats and strategic measures.

Ensuring Security from Design and Architecture Perspective

Threat modeling at the initial stage of designing will save a lot of time and effort in the later stages. It will alert the team to attacks. When they know about such threats in the back of their minds, the alertness will improve. Design documents will draw the boundaries for development level updates to avoid errors mid-way on the development course. Third-party component tracking is crucial in figuring out weaker components and fixing them promptly.

Sustained Patching

Continuous patching ensures that your product does not suffer because of old software. With about 80% of the components being open-source, security and licensing risks increase. Maintaining elaborate version details and not missing the latest patches enhances product security.

Least Privilege Principle

This means granting only the necessary and minimum privileges to systems and users. Conscious or inadvertent compromises to security are thwarted by ensuring the least privilege. Timely canceling the accesses no longer needed and changing the access level according to the duty change is essential.

Mapping the Data Processing

Data processing map helps in determining the types of data the product will deal with. It also outlines the use of each type of data and the processes it will involve into. When an elaborate data plan is created in advance, the security team can prepare security controls in advance. It also helps allocate data to appropriate systems, define privileges, and control and process sensitive and personal data.

Greater Encryption

Well, there’s a lot of talk about the end of encryption with the coming of Quantum Computing. However, the Tech giants investing billions into Quantum Computing have already ensured that its uses will be constructive. So there’s no reason for losing interest in encryption. No point in taking FIPS 140-2 lightly. It would be better to take the Application-level encryption a notch higher.

Securing All Storage Systems

Keep all the bases covered. There’s no point in believing that if strong security measures are implemented for the internal storage, then networks and OS can be ignored. Strengthening critical storage is the key to securing the product.

Dynamic Testing

Dynamic testing does not just have to do with continuous and variegated testing to check risks. It’s also about constructing scenarios and conducting simulation exercises. Companies have hired expert hackers to help their teams with the process. They can find ever ingenious ways of causing trouble and breaching the security of the product. This is an innovative way of testing the team’s imagination and intelligence. Mature teams can rely upon the updates of latest forms and modes of threats and test the product more often and from different angles.

Quicker Incident Response Planning

Incident response is rooted in threat modeling. However, it has to look beyond that too. It cannot be caught in a frozen mold. Prompt action against potential breaches can be laid out in steps. What’s more important is the right anticipation of the threat that’s not been planned for or remains unseen.

Swift planning and execution at the moment of attack is the challenge that tech product security experts will have to take up. These are the ten effective practices that will remain central to securing products in their development and performance phases. However, securing products is not just about putting the right systems, procedures, and practices in place. Do you have any more questions? Leave them in the comments below. We will get back to you with the answers soon.

To know more about iView Labs, kindly log on to our website www.iviewlabs.com and to get in touch with us with your queries and needs just write us an email on info@iviewlabs.com and sales@iviewlabs.com. Download the latest portfolio to see our work.

10 Steps for Managing Your Software Product after its Launch

A product is an embodiment of your brand values and your customers’ faith. Launching a software product is not enough to make it successful. Tracking its performance, understanding user behavior, their needs, and channeling the changes through an iterative cycle with the right strategies to create engagement and drive value for the customer is critical. Re-strategizing product features as per the evolving user behavior must ensure your software product’s stickiness. A software product should be seen as a continuous process of improvement.

It cannot end at a product launch. Product lifecycle management, user behavior & user engagement with exemplary marketing efforts to find the right product-market fit for your software product is key that needs to be unlocked post-launch.

Why is Post-Launch Software Product Management Important?

Post-launch product management is crucial for many reasons.

Digital users have near to zero tolerance. Imperfections, bugs, clumsiness, lags could dishearten the users of your software product.
Setting the ship on the sail is not enough. Knowing its coordinates and directions is more important. Meaning you need to understand and track your user’s journey and behaviour of users using your software product.
Post-launch, monitoring your software product’s performance is very important to see that there are no lags, performance issues created due to an increase in daily active users.
The various parameters that define user behavior are tracked and studied, for example, the click rate, the acquisition rate, bounce rate, and conversion rate. This improves your understanding of users and can redefine strategies around it.
Depending upon the overall user metrics, adjustments in marketing strategies improve product performance in the market.

How to Manage a Product Post-launch & find out whether you have a market for your product?

Step 1: Understand the importance of data analysis

World-class marketing strategies are not enough to make a product successful in the digital space. One should also have an analytical mindset required to track the customers’ end-to-end experience. If you have all your tracking mechanisms in place, the parameters which will help you to gauge if the product is a perfect market fit or not are:

– Click rate

– Acquisition rate

– Engagement rate

– Retention rate

Step 2: Take proper customer feedback

We’ll see that ensuring customer satisfaction with the new product is more than a mere formality. Send messages, call, shoot emails …

– Check with them how they feel about the product?

– Ask them if the product met their expectations?

– Try to gauge if they are feeling under-rewarded for their excitement and confidence in your brand.

– Emphasize the features and benefits of the products they may be missing putting to use. Train them for product use if required.

– Keep a measure of Customer Support Ticket issued for future analysis. Encourage them to post reviews, testimonials, and feedback

Step 3: Checking for imperfections, bugs, problems, shortcomings, etc.

This is where serious work begins. You may receive some less positive news while checking customer satisfaction. However, checking for lags, bugs, defects, and reasons for dissatisfaction should be a separate managerial exercise as well. QA testing should be continued even after the product is launched because there is always a scope for improvement. Gathering positive and negative feedback should be done separately, if not from different sets of buyers. The sooner you begin gathering negative feedback, the better as you improve faster.

Step 4: Planning to address the shortcomings

It has to be a quick, competent, and prompt process; else your product might lose the fizz. It can be done in the following ways.

– Making strategies for minimizing the harm to the customer relationship.

– Sending the details of severe flaws to the senior management so that timely steps can be taken to address the issues. This will minimize the harm.

– Pre-determining the possible market underperformance of the product and making adjustments.

– Even if the customers are satisfied with the product, try to push them to get fruitful feedback for attaining perfection in the next model or version.

Step 5: Find out your Product-Market Fit

Preparing a Product-Market Fit report can also give actionable insights to optimize the post-launch strategies. To check the product-market fit, you will need the following:

Customer satisfaction data
Customers’ understanding of the unique value proposition of your product in the market. How many of them understand why your product is unique and different from your competitors?
How likely are the customers of your competitors to try your product after learning about its benefits?
How likely is the user-generated content to influence those who are yet to make their mind for buying your product?
How many new users have your product won by building the positive image with the initial buyers and through their feedback and testimonials?

Besides these, you’ll need many other metrics for correct decision-making.

Comparative data around the cost of acquisition, adoption, and conversion of leads into customers.
Customer lifetime value: CLV the most important calculation you can make if you are into SaaS. It helps in re-orienting marketing and development tasks according to the broader strategy of the organization. Keeping a smaller set of loyal customers happy could be more profitable than acquiring new ones and losing them in a short time.
Churn Rate: This gives you an idea of the proportion of customers you are losing. To reduce it, you’ll have to keep a wider variety of users happy. You would not want to do it if acquiring and trying new users is cheaper than keeping everyone satisfied.
Promoter Score: It’s about the number or proportion of users recommending your product to others. This can be measured either from the total or against the number of users making no contribution to expanding your market.

Step 6: Gathering User Generated Content

Positive reviews, testimonials, and feedback are a dividend for the hard-work gone into product design and launch. These can be in the form of raw data, videos, audio or text. These dividends have to be re-invested. Pump them into your marketing strategy. Let the world know how your product is performing in the initial stages.

There’s nothing better than the prospective customers getting to know about it in the words of those who have already fallen in love with it. User-generated content is amongst the top digital marketing content strategies for 2021. It’s original, diverse, carries passion, honesty, and impeccable power to attract.

Step 7: Strike the Right Balance between In-bound and Out-bound Marketing Efforts

Many managers ignore balancing the in-bound and outbound marketing if the product is doing well. They don’t realize that post-launch product management is not just about the current product. It’s equally as much about the future coming model/version of the similar product, other products, and the brand overall. Here are a few examples of adjustments you can make:

Case 1- There are serious issues worth addressing: They may be hindering the market performance. Buyers could be getting doubtful about your product. Push the positive reviews and feedback into the outbound channels. Try to divert or slow the purchase path from in-bound channels until the next batch arrives.
Case 2 – Huge inflow of positive feedback, and inbound traffic. Use this opportunity to build relationships. Start planning for the future without losing sight of the present. Try to build a strategy to promote the brand overall. Announce schemes to clear underperforming products.
Case 3 – Everything seems in balance. This situation can be used to focus on the competitors and the external market. With timely improvisations and adjustments in emphasis on inbound/outbound efforts, you can try to gain a competitive advantage by eating into the rival product’s market.

Step 8: Customer Retention Strategy

After a few rounds of Product Performance Reports, you will have a fair idea of how the product is performing. Before planning ahead, make sure to draw a strategy to ensure customer retention.

If the product carries the scope of the repeated purchase, inaugurate offers.

Lay emphasis on converting the first-time buyers into loyal customers through loyalty marketing efforts. Design discount offers, reward-points schemes, etc.

Step 9: Drawing the In-market Product Life Cycle for Better Decision Making

In-market Product Life Cycle curve is graphed around:

Profit and revenue
Percentage of sales from the existing stock
Bookings and orders placed

A freshly launched product would give a rising curve. The declining curve means that the product is losing popularity. A flat curve calls for extra marketing efforts. It allows a dynamic picture of how the product is actually doing in the market.Sometimes it can provide seasonal insights as well, besides the quarterly performance reviews. Overall, it hastens smart post-launch product management decision making.

Step 10: Create the Financial Scorecard

For whatever actions and improvements the post-launch campaigns call for, funds are needed. Every company allocates funds for R&D, Marketing, Sales, and Management, etc. much before the launch. However, as the actual performance of the product unfolds, these funds have to be relocated. It depends upon the immediate measures decided and the adjustments in the long-term strategy in the product life cycle.

The post-launch Financial Scorecard should include weekly, monthly, and quarterly analysis of gross profit, profit percentage, sales figures, post-launch marketing campaign related statistics etc. Variance from planned outcomes, performance insights, customer data, and key business indicators, allow extracting the future opportunity plans.

We are sure that with these steps you will not be in dark, and drive your products towards great in-market performance. Do you have any more questions? Leave them in the comments below. We will get back to you with the answers soon.

Download the latest portfolio to see our work.

Why, When & How should You Migrate a Native App to a Cross-Platform App?

One of the leading markets right now is mobile app development. According to a Business of Apps, it is estimated that the global number of smartphone users will increase to 3.5 billion by 2020. There are more than 4 million apps on both the Apple store and Android Playstore, which targets an audience of more than 2 billion. However, App development is not what it used to be. It has become more challenging to develop a functioning application these days.

The options that are available for app developers are myriad these days. App developers face the dilemma as to which is the platform they shall use for app development. Either they can choose to make a native app or a cross-platform app. This blog will explore more about how and when an app developer can transform a native app into a cross platform app. What is the benefit of such transformation? Before answering these crucial questions, let us have a quick look at what are these types of applications and what are the differences that exist between them.

Native App

A native application is specifically designed to run on a single platform. It will not run on other platforms. For instance , if an application is developed to run on an android, it would run on other platforms like Windows or IoS. You can use app development tools like Java or Kotlin to develop apps exclusively for android and applications like Swift and Objective C for IoS apps.

While developing a native application certainly has its pros, it is not without its shortcomings. Let us dig a little deeper into these-

Pros
- Wider Functionality

Developing a native app offers seamless options to app developers to access all API and tools provided by the platform.

Better Support

You will get support from the app store if you have a native app. Additionally, it has more possibility for being rated as a top application in the app store as it also offers faster and much more efficient performance.

Better Performance

A native app may offer better performance as there is a direct interaction between the code and underlying resources. It also offers device-specific features and a consistent UI.

Cons
- Costly

Developing a native application can prove too much costlier than a cross platform application. You will have to constitute two different teams who will work on app development on two different platforms.

Less value for time

Time devoted to development of native apps can prove to be of lesser value, as it will only run on a single platform. ‘

Less Opportunity for growth

A native application can prove to give lesser returns for your time and money as it is bound to run on a single platform. It has much lesser Opportunity for growth as it will be available only on a single platform.

Lower Reach

Native apps can only reach out to a lesser number of people, as their usage is limited to only one single platform.

Cross-Platform Application

These applications are designed to run on multiple platforms like IOS and android. Various tools like ReactNative, Xamarin, and Flutter are used to achieve this. While the Cross-Platform application certainly has its shortcomings, like it compromises performance, its benefits outweigh them. It saves a lot of your precious time while offering a better return for your investment. So, if you have developed a native application, you would want to transform it to a cross-platform.

Why should you migrate your native app to the Cross-platform?

Reusable Code: A cross-platform apps code is used to develop a single application on multiple platforms. This helps to save up time and effort for the development team
Broader Reach: Your cross-platform application will reach out to a larger audience, which will in turn, prove to be a better return for your investment.
Customization: A cross-platform application is customizable according to each platform. You do not need to devote extra time to customize the application separately for each application.
Easier Maintenance: It is easier to maintain a cross-platform application as errors are rectifiable through a single code rather than working on the application on different platforms.
Cloud Integration – Cross Platform apps come equipped with plugins and extensions, facilitating their integration with the cloud system.

When should you migrate your native app to a cross-platform app?

Well, it depends upon a lot of factors. As mentioned above, there are various shortcomings for a native application. There are various advantages associated with a cross-platform application. However, making the final decision lies squarely upon your shoulders; there are various factors that you must consider before making the final decision. Let us have a look at a few of them –

Nature of the Application: If you want to develop an application that involves complex tools and functions, you should probably stick to a native application. Some of these complexities in a native mobile application includes certain advanced features like real-time sync, media processing and custom animation. However, if your app uses basic features, then you could look for a cross-platform application.
Cost: As mentioned above, developing a native application could prove to be a costly affair, As you will have to develop two different teams working on app development for different platforms making a cross-platform is undoubtedly cost-effective.
UI/UX – If you are making an application that wishes to deliver breathtaking visuals and a much more enhanced application, you should opt for a native application as it would allow you to exploit UI/UX to deliver optimum experience fully.

How should you migrate your native app to a cross-platform app?

STEP 1

Selecting tool: The first step towards migrating your app to a cross-platform requires selecting an app development tool. There are various tools which you can use for this. A few of these are React Native, Flutter and Ionic. React Native is an open source programming language which supports both iOS and Android with a seamless UI/UX interface whereas Ionic is an open-source SDK for cross-platform mobile app development. Flutter on the other hand is the latest technology by Google which enables app developers to use a single codebase.

STEP 2

UI/UX Design – App developers must abide by UI guidelines while simultaneously addressing the design needs for different platforms. Before, the proceeding must ensure that the app developer knows these design needs for different platforms.

STEP 3

Selecting App Modules – Another crucial aspect of cross-platform application development is selecting an app module for cross-platform app development. It significantly reduces the time for app development and helps give adequate exposure to native SDKs.

STEP 4

Choosing a dedicated library for both Android and iOS – When you are migrating your native mobile app to a cross-platform mobile application, you should have a dedicated library which is compatible in both Android and iOS. There are also several issues related to deployment and packing too. To avoid these, you should incrementally test your mobile application in both Android and iOS so that there no bugs are present during deployment.

STEP 5

Accommodating features for different platforms – So, when you develop a cross-platform application the difference between different platforms is not limited to the programming language or operating system. There are numerous features in different platforms that might differ significantly from each other, like camera, geolocation, gyroscope, compass, Twitter, etc. Besides these, certain attributes could be specific to a device like a screen layout, keyboard layout, push notifications, touch, and gestures, etc.

STEP 6

App testing and App Store Approval –The last part of migrating your application to a cross-platform is perhaps the most critical one. It would help if you aimed for a rigorous process review for your application, as there is some margin for error after your app development. Make sure you thoroughly test your app before the final launch date.

In a nutshell, you should keep the factors in mind while you are migrating a native application to a cross-platform application. Do you have any more questions? Leave them in the comments below. We will get back to you with the answers soon.

To know more about iView Labs, kindly log on to our website www.iviewlabs.com and to get in touch with us with your queries and needs just write us an email at info@iviewlabs.com and sales@iviewlabs.com.

Download the latest portfolio to see our work.