Trade shows can be a wonderful way to grow your business, whether you are hosting a stand or visiting as an attendee. They are a great way to make connections with clients, customers and suppliers, show off your business, find ways to save money and to learn about the latest developments and tools that might be available to you.
But, they can also be hectic. Trade shows tend to be busy. There are often many different stands offering similar things, and it can be hard to get noticed, or to remember the people that you have spoken to. Trade shows can be overwhelming, and we often don’t get as much out of them as we perhaps should.
If you want to host a stand at a show, here are some of the things that you can do to make sure you get the most out of it, instead of wasting your time.
Send the Right Staff
If you are hosting a stand at a trade show, you might spend a long time planning your displays, the marketing materials that you want to take, and any freebies that you might want to offer your visitors. But, the staff manning your stand are just as important. These are the people that make you businesses first impression and that really sell it to potential customers and clients.
You’ll probably want to attend yourself, but you’ll also want to send enthusiastic and experienced team members who can speak confidently and answer questions easily. Take enough staff that you can spend some time wandering around and meeting other businesses, instead of being stuck to your stand all day.
Attend the Right Shows
There are trade shows for different kinds of businesses, niches and industries. Some will be close to home, others further away. Some will be large, others small. Hiring a stand at every single one is a mistake, a waste of time and a waste of money. Take some time to research up and coming shows, find out more about them, and choose those that you want to attend carefully. If you are hosting a stand, this will give you the chance to condense your budget, and spend more time and money on your stand.
Make a Great First Impression
It can be hard to get noticed at a busy show where many companies are bidding for attention. that’s why your first impression is so important. Plan your area carefully. Add banners and signs, and use color to stand out. Consider props and use of your logo, and think about wearing uniforms, or bright clothing.
Get Some Free Advertising
Trade shows are a fantastic place to advertise your business. Some advertisements, like displays with a fabric tension frame system, can be eye-catching and effective. But these come with a cost. Others are free. Create a buzz for your attendance on social media, and encourage visitors to take your business in their posts.
Make Connections in Advance
When you do your homework, you might get an idea of who else is going to be in attendance. If not, reach out and ask on social media. Take the time to introduce yourself to other businesses before the event to give yourself a head start.
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Is your small business expanding? Do you wish to cut down on your costs without compromising your services? Then outsourcing is likely the answer you are looking for.
Regardless if you’re a small firm or an established one, outsourcing can help you in many ways. A key survey revealed that 59% of companies invest in outsourcing to cut down their expenses.
Though this is encouraging to hear, it is not enough for you to simply outsource on the fly. You must also look at the latest outsourcing trends that will shape the industry this year.
So what are these trends to look out for? Continue reading below as we discuss seven trends that businesses must be aware of.
The Outsourcing Industry: A Brief Overview
Before we discuss the latest outsourcing trends, let us first get a glimpse of the outsourcing industry today. Apart from its cost-cutting benefits, outsourcing helps companies focus on their core business. This helped the industry nearly double its growth over the past two decades.
From $46 billion in 2000, spending on outsourcing grew to $85.6 billion in 2018. Furthermore, the United States outsources around 300,000 jobs annually.
Companies are also starting to embrace cloud services to improve their outsourcing. This is despite the concerns on data security surrounding cloud technology.
Furthermore, 70% of transportation and retail firms outsource portions of their services. The same thing goes for 71% of financial service executives in the country.
Outsourcing Trends
With 2020 already underway, there are outsourcing trends that will make an impact this year. Let’s take a look at seven of the most important ones:
1. More Flexible Contracts
If it is your first time to outsource, you will encounter a contract that comes with stipulations. But unlike before, companies can expect more custom outsourcing agreements this year.
You will see more contracts that come with room for flexibility. This is important considering the different limitations and cost pressures that businesses face in regard to their outsourcing needs.
This flexibility covers service, delivery, and pricing.
2. More VAs and Chatbots
You can also expect to see more virtual assistants (VA) and chatbots doing the job for companies. Businesses will incorporate these technologies to interact with their customers.
This new form of outsourcing is evident in the chat boxes that you see on various websites. These chat boxes address customer inquiries without sounding too robotic.
The good thing about chatbots and Vas is that they offer consistency. Though real people can show emotional knowledge, there is a tendency for them to lose their cool. Moreover, chatbots can handle different tasks that don’t require human emotions.
These tasks include arranging schedules, finalizing meetings, and qualifying clients, among others.
3. The Cloud Effect
As we mentioned earlier, more companies are opening up to cloud services. Cloud-based technology increases connectivity. In turn, this makes offshoring more efficient.
Furthermore, the media and information industries will continue to invest in telecommunications outsourcing. They will continue to incorporate cloud-based systems to expand their reach without physically going out in the field.
Also, the cloud computing industry will likely continue to grow. In 2020, the market grew to $180 billion. By the end of 2020, observers believe the industry will reach the $411 billion mark.
This is because tech leaders like Google, IBM, Intel, and Microsoft will pour in more money to create a quantum computer. Experts also believe that the quantum computing market will reach a value of $8 billion globally by 2027.
4. Telehealth Market to Make Waves
The healthcare and medical technology industries will continue to outsource reduce their costs while improving their processes. The telehealth market will offer more online video calls in lieu of physical hospital visits to the doctor. You can expect to see more hospitals attending to patients living in faraway places through online services.
Moreover, hospitals will outsource wearables to improve their diagnostics. Examples of these wearables include smart eyewear, wearable patches, trackers, and heart bands. Observers project the medical industry will spend over $27 billion over the next six years.
Additionally, more doctors will outsource virtual reality tools featuring artificial intelligence. They will use these gadgets to diagnose more complex diseases like Alzheimer’s.
5. Small Businesses to Outsource Heavily
More start-ups and small businesses will outsource this year. These companies will increase their spending on software development from 6% last year to 9% this year. Moreover, small companies will look to use new technologies and approaches to improve their services.
Instead of building in-house teams to cover non-key operations and other excess workloads, they will opt to outsource since it’s the more cost-effective way to go.
Outsourcing offers financial respite for smaller companies that are working on a tight budget. It also solves problems concerning a lack of manpower.
6. New Outsourcing Destinations
You can expect to see new players for software development outsourcing. Though China and India will continue to serve as havens for IT and business process outsourcing companies, Eastern Europe will rise as the emerging provider for small to medium-sized firms. For example, Ukraine is one of the top outsourcing providers in Central and Eastern Europe. IT services in Ukraine are growing rapidly, and the opening of R&D centers of tech giants is proof of that.
Also, medium-sized companies in the US and Western Europe will continue to experience a talent shortage. This will prompt them to outsource employees who are technologically-skilled.
7. The Emerging Experience Economy
Last but not least, there is the emerging experience economy that will play a bigger role this year. This pertains to the companies’ needs concerning experiences affecting the overall client experience.
This involves outsourcing services that focus on intangibles and immaterial attributes. These include aesthetics, values, culture, and design.
Examples are services that improve the health and wellness of employees. Companies will look to outsource wellness solutions to increase employee retention and satisfaction. More businesses will hire coaches, trainers, doctors, and therapists who can provide these services.
Outsourcing and Beyond
By following these outsourcing trends, you can make better decisions about your outsourcing needs. You can invest in the right services that will improve your company’s overall efficiency.
But outsourcing is only one of the many tools worth considering. Check out our other articles to learn more about other solutions. We discuss topics that will help grow your business.
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By the end of 2020, industry watchers expect businesses to spend $51.8 billion on colocation services.
Data is the new oil, and as such, you will not achieve much if you do not develop a robust plan for your information technology (IT). If you invest in a weak IT infrastructure, it will invariably come back to bite you.
For many firms, though, the issue is whether they should bring their IT infrastructure in-house or outsource the task to a colocation center.
Here is an analysis of some crucial benefits the latter can deliver, to aid your decision making.
What Is Colocation?
Colocation is when an organization houses it’s privately owned servers in a third party storage space. Essentially, you rent the area where your servers will stand outside of your premises.
When you’re setting up a colocation arrangement, you physically transport your servers to the center. The service provider’s team then sets them up for you and will remain in constant contact in case you need to upgrade or down and for any other needs you may have.
You still retain ownership of the servers even as they sit in the rented space.
In return, you pay a monthly fee for the maintenance service and storage space the colocation facility provides you.
Advantages of Relying on a Colocation Center
If maintaining your IT infrastructure in-house is not suitable, then colocation might offer you a compelling alternative. Here’s a look at some of the reasons to consider it:
1. Cost Efficiency
Affordability is one of the primary benefits of colocation that makes many businesses go down this route.
When you take server hosting in-house, you invest in more than just the server. You have to account for a resilient cooling system, power supply, robust network connectivity, just to name a few.
These costs can quickly run up a significant bill, especially if you are not running a large number of servers that can bring the unit cost down.
Furthermore, to make the necessary equipment upgrades to keep up with technology means that you should forecast for significant capital expenses regularly.
In stark contrast to such a scenario, colocation gives you access to all aspects of the infrastructure necessary to keep your servers running. However, since a colocation service hosts several customers, the costs of supporting the infrastructure are spread across all the customers.
That makes the overall cost to you notably cheaper than bringing it in-house.
2. Access to Top-Tier Expertise
Running a data center calls for you to stay on the bleeding edge of new technology regularly. Unless you have a full scale IT unit in-house, keeping up with the latest developments can take away significant time from your core operations.
Additionally, you would need to frequently train an in-house IT team for their skills to match emerging tech breakthroughs.
A colocation service provider, on the other hand, deals with technology as their core competency. Meaning that every day such a firm digs into new technologies and trains its staff to acquire top-tier talent.
Simply put, a colocation service provider makes it their primary business to learn all there is to know about data center technology and perfect that service.
When you partner with such a provider, you get to tap into their exceptional talent pool. For a fixed fee per month, the headache of continually training your team on new technology goes out the window.
All the expertise you need now becomes a call away, which lets you focus on your core business.
3. More Robust Redundancy
Every time your IT infrastructure is down means your business can’t operate optimally. In turn, that means that you lose money. Thus, ensuring that your server hits maximum uptime is critical to your top line.
Outsourcing your server hosting to a colocation service company ensures that you keep downtime incidents to a minimum.
Colocation firms run a more efficient power and cooling infrastructure that enables your server to avoid unnecessary breakdowns.
A reputable colocation facility will also leverage sophisticated analytics that helps it achieve energy efficiency. The better these facilities utilize their energy, the more optimally the equipment will operate.
Therefore, when you are shopping around for a colocation partner to outsource to, inspect their downtime record.
An ideal mark is a proven record of 99.99999% uptime at the least. That’s essential to you as it means you can expect to experience downtimes that don’t last beyond 3.15 seconds any time one occurs during the year.
4. Scalability
When technology becomes a critical component of your operations, you need it to be flexible when it comes to scaling.
At a lower level, you can manage to run a server in a dedicated area on your premises. But when your business grows, you quickly run into the challenge that is needing to scale your server and hosting.
But isn’t building out a data center an option? If your organization has a significant budget that can accommodate substantial capital expenses, then such a choice might work.
However, just because you can does not mean that constructing a data center is wise.
In case of a decline in your business, you will have to scale back your IT. When you own the data center, it means you let the facility run idle.
Renting the space out to other firms might be an option, but then it means you will need to manage it as the landlord. Investing the time to do so inevitably takes precious time away from your core competency.
Working with a colocation provider takes such burdens off your shoulders. If your strategy bears fruit and your operations grow, your data center capacity can expand with you. In the event you need to scale down, all you need to do is place the call, and it’s done.
Reinforce Your IT Operations by Outsourcing It
Technology now sits atop every industry, and leveraging it to gain a competitive edge is critical. Your IT infrastructure plays a significant part in how well you deliver on your objectives. Thus, relying on a colocation center affords you the benefits of an optimal data center operation with a minimal downside to keep your activities running optimally.
Is your organization in need of more efficient operations? Checkout more of our content for tools, advice, and practices that can help your firm deliver superior results.
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Options trading isn’t just for anyone; it’s got high-risk involved because everything is dependent on fluctuations in the market prices, how much you can afford to pay for the option and whether you should make the call to either sell or buy certain securities at its set price based on future dates — you’ve got to be experienced and knowledgeable about how brokerage systems work or you’ll end up with losses. If you’re looking for a particular online options broker to start or continue your investment journey, we highly recommend you to check out this article about the best options brokers on business24-7. We’ve compiled some of the best online platforms for Options trading, just read on to find out which is the perfect one for you!
1. TD Ameritrade
Across all the trading platforms, this is the best one overall; it has got a fair pricing system, a very resourceful database for beginners and an efficient trading platform for all veterans and experts alike. It doesn’t matter how experienced you are because you’ll be sure to benefit trading on this platform that provides for all users.
Each contract costs $0.75 cents while the trade is priced at $6.95 each; the good thing is that there is no minimum for your account and the site even offers a promotion of commission-free equity, option trades, and ETF for 60 days with just a deposit of at least $3,000. You’ll also get additional bonuses if you’ve got opening deposits of a larger amount.
2. Robinhood
Even though some expert traders aren’t too pleased with the way Robinhood processes and handle their trades, Robinhood nevertheless stands at the top of the list for having no commission price. Investors get to sell and buy options without having to risk anything above their initial investments — they really mean it when they say that there’s no trading fee.
If you’re looking at Robinhood solely as a platform, it would be a great trading avenue. It’s especially for traders who’ve already read up enough on trading, so beginners won’t find many educational materials here. Aside from that, traders trade with ETFs, stock trades, some cryptocurrencies and American Depository Receipts on both the website and the mobile application — all at zero commission fee.
3. TradeStation
Initially starting up as a software trading company, it grew to become an advanced options trading platform. They’ve got rapid-speed trading and exclusive data suited for professionals, making it the ideal platform for the more experienced group of traders.
You’ll be charged $5 each trade and $0.50 cents each contract, but they’ve also got some unbundled and per-contract prices up for offer; for the more veteran and active traders, a common choice is to opt for the flat-rate pricing of $1 each contact rather than the usual base price and individual contract fee. The tools here are so superb that you can find them being sold at other brokers, so if you’re keen on joining TradeStation as a member, you’re in for a good time.
4. Gatsby
Gatsby is most suited for the retail investors, the traders who are new to options trading, social traders and the millennial bunch — if either of these sounds like you, this might be the platform that best suits your needs. Gatsby is an all-inclusive trading platform that ensures you, as a beginner, would be informed of the most common trade lingo and the most up-to-date trade news — they’re all for making sure you get the resources and expertise you’ll need to optimize your trading strategies. Once you’ve signed up, you can begin trading instantly and earn your passive income when you trade for ETFs and companies — or, you can even trade against companies if that’s what interests you.
5. IQ Option
IQ Option is reputable for being a low-costing brokerage, offering low trade prices at $0.95 each, $0.65 for each contract and no minimum account amount. As of now, depending on the amount you’re willing to deposit, they’ve got a promotion that allows you to earn up to $3,500 bonus cash. This would be quintessential for traders who like to start with low investment amounts; with IQ Option, you can start small while reaping the other benefits of using its powerful online trading platform, informative charts and analytics to help you build your trading strategy — at no minimums and low costs, here’s a great place to begin your investment journey. You can find a more detailed review of IQ Option here.
6. Interactive Brokers
Should you be a more active trader that prefers small and quick trades, this may be the platform that fits the bill. When you trade at Interactive Brokers, you won’t need to worry about pre-trade fees and every option commission is priced at $0.70 each. The high-volume traders can enjoy the lower pricing of just $0.15 each contract with the qualification criteria of at least 100,000 contracts every month. There’s also the requirement of having a minimum account balance of $100,00 per month or risk incurring a $10 commission fee, if not you’ll need to deal with an activity fee — this definitely isn’t for those with a smaller trade appetite, but if you’re up for a thriving and excitable trading experience, don’t hesitate to give Interactive Brokers a try.
7. Lightspeed
Like Interactive brokers, Lightspeed also caters to the experienced and active trading community. They charge $0 each trade and $0.60 cents per contract with a minimum of $1 per trade. Their tiered pricing system starts at 500 contracts every month; it depends on your trading volume, but the discounted rates can range from $0.50 cents from 500 to 2,000 contracts each month or even go as low as $0.20 cents with 100,000 contracts a month. Not to mention that they’ve also got the most professional trading tools you need, such as analysis tools, an integrated order executor, personalized layouts and older data analytics that you might find useful for predictions — whatever you want, they’ve got it all.
8. ETrade
Last but not least, ETrade is one of the oldest online trading platforms that boasts of a rich trader history. They’ve got a multitude of research tools and data available, even including the ones you’ll need to build your very own advanced trading options chain and ladders. The only downside is that the commissions aren’t the cheapest you’ll find around; the trades and contracts cost $6.95 and $0.75 respectively. However, you will find some discounts available if you would like to trade in high volumes. The Index and Equity options will be as affordable as $4.95 and the contracts will be priced at just $0.50 each. For new accounts that manage to have a balance of $10,000 and more, these users can get an outstanding $600 in free trades plus 60 days of trades that are commission-free — ETrade gives you the epic premium trading experience you never knew you needed.
That’s all we have for the best options trading platforms for 2019, but we promise you won’t be disappointed with any of these. Before you start investing in any of these platforms, ensure to do sufficient additional research just to be sure that you’ve found just the right online trading platform that best suits your needs; options trading may be a high-risk investment but it definitely is worth the effort, all you need is to understand how it all works and you’ll have the relevant expertise to make the right call.
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Dealing with money issues is something most American adults are quite familiar with. While most people are adamant about living on a budget and spending within their means, there are financial situations that can derail these good financial habits. Having a bad credit score is something nearly 68 million Americans have to deal with.
Your credit score is a way for lenders to see how much risk is associated with lending you money or approving you for a line of credit. The lower your credit score is, the harder it will be to get the financial tools needed to prosper. Read below to find out more about how bad credit can affect your life.
Getting Car or Home Loans Can Be Difficult With Bad Credit
For most adults, buying a home or car is something they view as a priority. Getting approved for the loans needed to make these purchases can be difficult if you have less than stellar credit. While you may be able to get approved for a loan to purchase a home or car with bad credit, these loans will have a higher interest rate. This means you will be paying back a lot more to the lender due to your high credit risk.
Taking the time to look at your credit report before applying for a loan is a great idea. By doing this, you can see if there are inaccuracies that need to be addressed. If you see errors on your credit report, using a tool such as DisputeBee is vital. With the help of this program, you can automate the credit report dispute process. Having errors removed from your credit report allows you to improve your score. The better your credit score is, the easier it will be to get a great loan to use for the purchase of a home or vehicle.
People With Bad Credit May Pay Higher Car Insurance Premiums
Some people think that bad credit only affects their ability to get approved for loans or credit cards, but this is far from the truth. When you go out in search of insurance for your home or car, companies that provide these policies will consider a number of factors before providing you with a quote. Often times, an insurance company will check your credit score.
If your credit score is on the low-end of the spectrum, you may have to pay a higher premium as a result. Instead of having to pay more for credit and insurance, you need to find a way to fix the problems on your credit report. Doing things like paying down your credit card/loan balances and remove inaccuracies can help to improve your credit score in a relatively short amount of time. Seeking out the help of a credit repair professional can help you develop a plan of attack. These professionals will be able to give you sound advice on what needs to be done to get your credit score back on track.
Problems Renting a Home or Apartment
Another problem that you may face if you have a low credit score is renting a nice home or apartment. Most landlords will put a potential tenant through the paces before approving their application. This process generally involves checking your credit score. If your credit score is low, it may give a landlord the impression that you will not pay your rent on time. This is why fixing the issues on your credit report is so important.
Now is the Time to Take Action
As you can see, having a low credit score can affect various parts of your life. Instead of waiting to take action, you need to find and fix the issues on your credit report immediately. The time and effort invested in improving your credit score will be worth it in the long run.
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Making the Most Out of Trade Show Attendance
/in Marketing & Sales/by StrategyDrivenTrade shows can be a wonderful way to grow your business, whether you are hosting a stand or visiting as an attendee. They are a great way to make connections with clients, customers and suppliers, show off your business, find ways to save money and to learn about the latest developments and tools that might be available to you.
But, they can also be hectic. Trade shows tend to be busy. There are often many different stands offering similar things, and it can be hard to get noticed, or to remember the people that you have spoken to. Trade shows can be overwhelming, and we often don’t get as much out of them as we perhaps should.
If you want to host a stand at a show, here are some of the things that you can do to make sure you get the most out of it, instead of wasting your time.
Send the Right Staff
If you are hosting a stand at a trade show, you might spend a long time planning your displays, the marketing materials that you want to take, and any freebies that you might want to offer your visitors. But, the staff manning your stand are just as important. These are the people that make you businesses first impression and that really sell it to potential customers and clients.
You’ll probably want to attend yourself, but you’ll also want to send enthusiastic and experienced team members who can speak confidently and answer questions easily. Take enough staff that you can spend some time wandering around and meeting other businesses, instead of being stuck to your stand all day.
Attend the Right Shows
There are trade shows for different kinds of businesses, niches and industries. Some will be close to home, others further away. Some will be large, others small. Hiring a stand at every single one is a mistake, a waste of time and a waste of money. Take some time to research up and coming shows, find out more about them, and choose those that you want to attend carefully. If you are hosting a stand, this will give you the chance to condense your budget, and spend more time and money on your stand.
Make a Great First Impression
It can be hard to get noticed at a busy show where many companies are bidding for attention. that’s why your first impression is so important. Plan your area carefully. Add banners and signs, and use color to stand out. Consider props and use of your logo, and think about wearing uniforms, or bright clothing.
Get Some Free Advertising
Trade shows are a fantastic place to advertise your business. Some advertisements, like displays with a fabric tension frame system, can be eye-catching and effective. But these come with a cost. Others are free. Create a buzz for your attendance on social media, and encourage visitors to take your business in their posts.
Make Connections in Advance
When you do your homework, you might get an idea of who else is going to be in attendance. If not, reach out and ask on social media. Take the time to introduce yourself to other businesses before the event to give yourself a head start.
7 Outsourcing Trends You Should Keep an Eye on in 2020
/in StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective/by StrategyDrivenRegardless if you’re a small firm or an established one, outsourcing can help you in many ways. A key survey revealed that 59% of companies invest in outsourcing to cut down their expenses.
Though this is encouraging to hear, it is not enough for you to simply outsource on the fly. You must also look at the latest outsourcing trends that will shape the industry this year.
So what are these trends to look out for? Continue reading below as we discuss seven trends that businesses must be aware of.
The Outsourcing Industry: A Brief Overview
Before we discuss the latest outsourcing trends, let us first get a glimpse of the outsourcing industry today. Apart from its cost-cutting benefits, outsourcing helps companies focus on their core business. This helped the industry nearly double its growth over the past two decades.
From $46 billion in 2000, spending on outsourcing grew to $85.6 billion in 2018. Furthermore, the United States outsources around 300,000 jobs annually.
Companies are also starting to embrace cloud services to improve their outsourcing. This is despite the concerns on data security surrounding cloud technology.
Furthermore, 70% of transportation and retail firms outsource portions of their services. The same thing goes for 71% of financial service executives in the country.
Outsourcing Trends
With 2020 already underway, there are outsourcing trends that will make an impact this year. Let’s take a look at seven of the most important ones:
1. More Flexible Contracts
If it is your first time to outsource, you will encounter a contract that comes with stipulations. But unlike before, companies can expect more custom outsourcing agreements this year.
You will see more contracts that come with room for flexibility. This is important considering the different limitations and cost pressures that businesses face in regard to their outsourcing needs.
This flexibility covers service, delivery, and pricing.
2. More VAs and Chatbots
You can also expect to see more virtual assistants (VA) and chatbots doing the job for companies. Businesses will incorporate these technologies to interact with their customers.
This new form of outsourcing is evident in the chat boxes that you see on various websites. These chat boxes address customer inquiries without sounding too robotic.
The good thing about chatbots and Vas is that they offer consistency. Though real people can show emotional knowledge, there is a tendency for them to lose their cool. Moreover, chatbots can handle different tasks that don’t require human emotions.
These tasks include arranging schedules, finalizing meetings, and qualifying clients, among others.
3. The Cloud Effect
As we mentioned earlier, more companies are opening up to cloud services. Cloud-based technology increases connectivity. In turn, this makes offshoring more efficient.
Furthermore, the media and information industries will continue to invest in telecommunications outsourcing. They will continue to incorporate cloud-based systems to expand their reach without physically going out in the field.
Also, the cloud computing industry will likely continue to grow. In 2020, the market grew to $180 billion. By the end of 2020, observers believe the industry will reach the $411 billion mark.
This is because tech leaders like Google, IBM, Intel, and Microsoft will pour in more money to create a quantum computer. Experts also believe that the quantum computing market will reach a value of $8 billion globally by 2027.
4. Telehealth Market to Make Waves
The healthcare and medical technology industries will continue to outsource reduce their costs while improving their processes. The telehealth market will offer more online video calls in lieu of physical hospital visits to the doctor. You can expect to see more hospitals attending to patients living in faraway places through online services.
Moreover, hospitals will outsource wearables to improve their diagnostics. Examples of these wearables include smart eyewear, wearable patches, trackers, and heart bands. Observers project the medical industry will spend over $27 billion over the next six years.
Additionally, more doctors will outsource virtual reality tools featuring artificial intelligence. They will use these gadgets to diagnose more complex diseases like Alzheimer’s.
5. Small Businesses to Outsource Heavily
More start-ups and small businesses will outsource this year. These companies will increase their spending on software development from 6% last year to 9% this year. Moreover, small companies will look to use new technologies and approaches to improve their services.
Instead of building in-house teams to cover non-key operations and other excess workloads, they will opt to outsource since it’s the more cost-effective way to go.
Outsourcing offers financial respite for smaller companies that are working on a tight budget. It also solves problems concerning a lack of manpower.
6. New Outsourcing Destinations
You can expect to see new players for software development outsourcing. Though China and India will continue to serve as havens for IT and business process outsourcing companies, Eastern Europe will rise as the emerging provider for small to medium-sized firms. For example, Ukraine is one of the top outsourcing providers in Central and Eastern Europe. IT services in Ukraine are growing rapidly, and the opening of R&D centers of tech giants is proof of that.
Also, medium-sized companies in the US and Western Europe will continue to experience a talent shortage. This will prompt them to outsource employees who are technologically-skilled.
7. The Emerging Experience Economy
Last but not least, there is the emerging experience economy that will play a bigger role this year. This pertains to the companies’ needs concerning experiences affecting the overall client experience.
This involves outsourcing services that focus on intangibles and immaterial attributes. These include aesthetics, values, culture, and design.
Examples are services that improve the health and wellness of employees. Companies will look to outsource wellness solutions to increase employee retention and satisfaction. More businesses will hire coaches, trainers, doctors, and therapists who can provide these services.
Outsourcing and Beyond
By following these outsourcing trends, you can make better decisions about your outsourcing needs. You can invest in the right services that will improve your company’s overall efficiency.
But outsourcing is only one of the many tools worth considering. Check out our other articles to learn more about other solutions. We discuss topics that will help grow your business.
Why Outsourcing to a Colocation Center is Beneficial For a Growing Business
/in Managing Your Business/by StrategyDrivenData is the new oil, and as such, you will not achieve much if you do not develop a robust plan for your information technology (IT). If you invest in a weak IT infrastructure, it will invariably come back to bite you.
For many firms, though, the issue is whether they should bring their IT infrastructure in-house or outsource the task to a colocation center.
Here is an analysis of some crucial benefits the latter can deliver, to aid your decision making.
What Is Colocation?
Colocation is when an organization houses it’s privately owned servers in a third party storage space. Essentially, you rent the area where your servers will stand outside of your premises.
When you’re setting up a colocation arrangement, you physically transport your servers to the center. The service provider’s team then sets them up for you and will remain in constant contact in case you need to upgrade or down and for any other needs you may have.
You still retain ownership of the servers even as they sit in the rented space.
In return, you pay a monthly fee for the maintenance service and storage space the colocation facility provides you.
Advantages of Relying on a Colocation Center
If maintaining your IT infrastructure in-house is not suitable, then colocation might offer you a compelling alternative. Here’s a look at some of the reasons to consider it:
1. Cost Efficiency
Affordability is one of the primary benefits of colocation that makes many businesses go down this route.
When you take server hosting in-house, you invest in more than just the server. You have to account for a resilient cooling system, power supply, robust network connectivity, just to name a few.
These costs can quickly run up a significant bill, especially if you are not running a large number of servers that can bring the unit cost down.
Furthermore, to make the necessary equipment upgrades to keep up with technology means that you should forecast for significant capital expenses regularly.
In stark contrast to such a scenario, colocation gives you access to all aspects of the infrastructure necessary to keep your servers running. However, since a colocation service hosts several customers, the costs of supporting the infrastructure are spread across all the customers.
That makes the overall cost to you notably cheaper than bringing it in-house.
2. Access to Top-Tier Expertise
Running a data center calls for you to stay on the bleeding edge of new technology regularly. Unless you have a full scale IT unit in-house, keeping up with the latest developments can take away significant time from your core operations.
Additionally, you would need to frequently train an in-house IT team for their skills to match emerging tech breakthroughs.
A colocation service provider, on the other hand, deals with technology as their core competency. Meaning that every day such a firm digs into new technologies and trains its staff to acquire top-tier talent.
Simply put, a colocation service provider makes it their primary business to learn all there is to know about data center technology and perfect that service.
When you partner with such a provider, you get to tap into their exceptional talent pool. For a fixed fee per month, the headache of continually training your team on new technology goes out the window.
All the expertise you need now becomes a call away, which lets you focus on your core business.
3. More Robust Redundancy
Every time your IT infrastructure is down means your business can’t operate optimally. In turn, that means that you lose money. Thus, ensuring that your server hits maximum uptime is critical to your top line.
Outsourcing your server hosting to a colocation service company ensures that you keep downtime incidents to a minimum.
Colocation firms run a more efficient power and cooling infrastructure that enables your server to avoid unnecessary breakdowns.
A reputable colocation facility will also leverage sophisticated analytics that helps it achieve energy efficiency. The better these facilities utilize their energy, the more optimally the equipment will operate.
Therefore, when you are shopping around for a colocation partner to outsource to, inspect their downtime record.
An ideal mark is a proven record of 99.99999% uptime at the least. That’s essential to you as it means you can expect to experience downtimes that don’t last beyond 3.15 seconds any time one occurs during the year.
4. Scalability
When technology becomes a critical component of your operations, you need it to be flexible when it comes to scaling.
At a lower level, you can manage to run a server in a dedicated area on your premises. But when your business grows, you quickly run into the challenge that is needing to scale your server and hosting.
But isn’t building out a data center an option? If your organization has a significant budget that can accommodate substantial capital expenses, then such a choice might work.
However, just because you can does not mean that constructing a data center is wise.
In case of a decline in your business, you will have to scale back your IT. When you own the data center, it means you let the facility run idle.
Renting the space out to other firms might be an option, but then it means you will need to manage it as the landlord. Investing the time to do so inevitably takes precious time away from your core competency.
Working with a colocation provider takes such burdens off your shoulders. If your strategy bears fruit and your operations grow, your data center capacity can expand with you. In the event you need to scale down, all you need to do is place the call, and it’s done.
Reinforce Your IT Operations by Outsourcing It
Technology now sits atop every industry, and leveraging it to gain a competitive edge is critical. Your IT infrastructure plays a significant part in how well you deliver on your objectives. Thus, relying on a colocation center affords you the benefits of an optimal data center operation with a minimal downside to keep your activities running optimally.
Is your organization in need of more efficient operations? Checkout more of our content for tools, advice, and practices that can help your firm deliver superior results.
Best Online Trading Platforms for Option Trading
/in Entrepreneurship/by StrategyDrivenOptions trading isn’t just for anyone; it’s got high-risk involved because everything is dependent on fluctuations in the market prices, how much you can afford to pay for the option and whether you should make the call to either sell or buy certain securities at its set price based on future dates — you’ve got to be experienced and knowledgeable about how brokerage systems work or you’ll end up with losses. If you’re looking for a particular online options broker to start or continue your investment journey, we highly recommend you to check out this article about the best options brokers on business24-7. We’ve compiled some of the best online platforms for Options trading, just read on to find out which is the perfect one for you!
1. TD Ameritrade
Across all the trading platforms, this is the best one overall; it has got a fair pricing system, a very resourceful database for beginners and an efficient trading platform for all veterans and experts alike. It doesn’t matter how experienced you are because you’ll be sure to benefit trading on this platform that provides for all users.
Each contract costs $0.75 cents while the trade is priced at $6.95 each; the good thing is that there is no minimum for your account and the site even offers a promotion of commission-free equity, option trades, and ETF for 60 days with just a deposit of at least $3,000. You’ll also get additional bonuses if you’ve got opening deposits of a larger amount.
2. Robinhood
Even though some expert traders aren’t too pleased with the way Robinhood processes and handle their trades, Robinhood nevertheless stands at the top of the list for having no commission price. Investors get to sell and buy options without having to risk anything above their initial investments — they really mean it when they say that there’s no trading fee.
If you’re looking at Robinhood solely as a platform, it would be a great trading avenue. It’s especially for traders who’ve already read up enough on trading, so beginners won’t find many educational materials here. Aside from that, traders trade with ETFs, stock trades, some cryptocurrencies and American Depository Receipts on both the website and the mobile application — all at zero commission fee.
3. TradeStation
Initially starting up as a software trading company, it grew to become an advanced options trading platform. They’ve got rapid-speed trading and exclusive data suited for professionals, making it the ideal platform for the more experienced group of traders.
You’ll be charged $5 each trade and $0.50 cents each contract, but they’ve also got some unbundled and per-contract prices up for offer; for the more veteran and active traders, a common choice is to opt for the flat-rate pricing of $1 each contact rather than the usual base price and individual contract fee. The tools here are so superb that you can find them being sold at other brokers, so if you’re keen on joining TradeStation as a member, you’re in for a good time.
4. Gatsby
Gatsby is most suited for the retail investors, the traders who are new to options trading, social traders and the millennial bunch — if either of these sounds like you, this might be the platform that best suits your needs. Gatsby is an all-inclusive trading platform that ensures you, as a beginner, would be informed of the most common trade lingo and the most up-to-date trade news — they’re all for making sure you get the resources and expertise you’ll need to optimize your trading strategies. Once you’ve signed up, you can begin trading instantly and earn your passive income when you trade for ETFs and companies — or, you can even trade against companies if that’s what interests you.
5. IQ Option
IQ Option is reputable for being a low-costing brokerage, offering low trade prices at $0.95 each, $0.65 for each contract and no minimum account amount. As of now, depending on the amount you’re willing to deposit, they’ve got a promotion that allows you to earn up to $3,500 bonus cash. This would be quintessential for traders who like to start with low investment amounts; with IQ Option, you can start small while reaping the other benefits of using its powerful online trading platform, informative charts and analytics to help you build your trading strategy — at no minimums and low costs, here’s a great place to begin your investment journey. You can find a more detailed review of IQ Option here.
6. Interactive Brokers
Should you be a more active trader that prefers small and quick trades, this may be the platform that fits the bill. When you trade at Interactive Brokers, you won’t need to worry about pre-trade fees and every option commission is priced at $0.70 each. The high-volume traders can enjoy the lower pricing of just $0.15 each contract with the qualification criteria of at least 100,000 contracts every month. There’s also the requirement of having a minimum account balance of $100,00 per month or risk incurring a $10 commission fee, if not you’ll need to deal with an activity fee — this definitely isn’t for those with a smaller trade appetite, but if you’re up for a thriving and excitable trading experience, don’t hesitate to give Interactive Brokers a try.
7. Lightspeed
Like Interactive brokers, Lightspeed also caters to the experienced and active trading community. They charge $0 each trade and $0.60 cents per contract with a minimum of $1 per trade. Their tiered pricing system starts at 500 contracts every month; it depends on your trading volume, but the discounted rates can range from $0.50 cents from 500 to 2,000 contracts each month or even go as low as $0.20 cents with 100,000 contracts a month. Not to mention that they’ve also got the most professional trading tools you need, such as analysis tools, an integrated order executor, personalized layouts and older data analytics that you might find useful for predictions — whatever you want, they’ve got it all.
8. ETrade
Last but not least, ETrade is one of the oldest online trading platforms that boasts of a rich trader history. They’ve got a multitude of research tools and data available, even including the ones you’ll need to build your very own advanced trading options chain and ladders. The only downside is that the commissions aren’t the cheapest you’ll find around; the trades and contracts cost $6.95 and $0.75 respectively. However, you will find some discounts available if you would like to trade in high volumes. The Index and Equity options will be as affordable as $4.95 and the contracts will be priced at just $0.50 each. For new accounts that manage to have a balance of $10,000 and more, these users can get an outstanding $600 in free trades plus 60 days of trades that are commission-free — ETrade gives you the epic premium trading experience you never knew you needed.
That’s all we have for the best options trading platforms for 2019, but we promise you won’t be disappointed with any of these. Before you start investing in any of these platforms, ensure to do sufficient additional research just to be sure that you’ve found just the right online trading platform that best suits your needs; options trading may be a high-risk investment but it definitely is worth the effort, all you need is to understand how it all works and you’ll have the relevant expertise to make the right call.
What Is Bad Credit and How Can It Affect You?
/in Practices for Professionals/by StrategyDrivenDealing with money issues is something most American adults are quite familiar with. While most people are adamant about living on a budget and spending within their means, there are financial situations that can derail these good financial habits. Having a bad credit score is something nearly 68 million Americans have to deal with.
Your credit score is a way for lenders to see how much risk is associated with lending you money or approving you for a line of credit. The lower your credit score is, the harder it will be to get the financial tools needed to prosper. Read below to find out more about how bad credit can affect your life.
Getting Car or Home Loans Can Be Difficult With Bad Credit
For most adults, buying a home or car is something they view as a priority. Getting approved for the loans needed to make these purchases can be difficult if you have less than stellar credit. While you may be able to get approved for a loan to purchase a home or car with bad credit, these loans will have a higher interest rate. This means you will be paying back a lot more to the lender due to your high credit risk.
Taking the time to look at your credit report before applying for a loan is a great idea. By doing this, you can see if there are inaccuracies that need to be addressed. If you see errors on your credit report, using a tool such as DisputeBee is vital. With the help of this program, you can automate the credit report dispute process. Having errors removed from your credit report allows you to improve your score. The better your credit score is, the easier it will be to get a great loan to use for the purchase of a home or vehicle.
People With Bad Credit May Pay Higher Car Insurance Premiums
Some people think that bad credit only affects their ability to get approved for loans or credit cards, but this is far from the truth. When you go out in search of insurance for your home or car, companies that provide these policies will consider a number of factors before providing you with a quote. Often times, an insurance company will check your credit score.
If your credit score is on the low-end of the spectrum, you may have to pay a higher premium as a result. Instead of having to pay more for credit and insurance, you need to find a way to fix the problems on your credit report. Doing things like paying down your credit card/loan balances and remove inaccuracies can help to improve your credit score in a relatively short amount of time. Seeking out the help of a credit repair professional can help you develop a plan of attack. These professionals will be able to give you sound advice on what needs to be done to get your credit score back on track.
Problems Renting a Home or Apartment
Another problem that you may face if you have a low credit score is renting a nice home or apartment. Most landlords will put a potential tenant through the paces before approving their application. This process generally involves checking your credit score. If your credit score is low, it may give a landlord the impression that you will not pay your rent on time. This is why fixing the issues on your credit report is so important.
Now is the Time to Take Action
As you can see, having a low credit score can affect various parts of your life. Instead of waiting to take action, you need to find and fix the issues on your credit report immediately. The time and effort invested in improving your credit score will be worth it in the long run.