Here, we look at what it takes to become part of the APN and ultimately what it means for our clients and any prospective clients that want to get to know Ardent.

What is an Amazon Partner Network?

The Amazon Partner Network is a network of organisations that have demonstrated skills and expertise in AWS technologies. There are three tiers for the APN and they are as follows:

• Select Tier – The first tier is for organisations that have individuals that are trained and certified with AWS technologies and deliver customer service.
• Advanced Tier – The advanced tier is for an organisation with a team of trained and certified technical professionals that have a proven track record of excellent customer service.
• Premier Tier – The highest tier of the three is for the organisations with the most experience that demonstrate leadership in their market. These organisations have expert skills, several partner program validations and have fulfilled multiple projects with a large scale of customers.

Amazon Partner Network requirements

To become part of the Amazon Partner Network, an organisation must fulfil the set requirements by Amazon. The requirements vary for each type of tier that an organisation wants to achieve. We will focus on the Select Tier, as that is the tier Ardent has secured, building a long term relationship with AWS. These are the current requirements for the Select Tier:

• Have 4 accredited individuals in the organisation. Two in technical and two business professionals.
• Two AWS Foundational Certified Individuals
• Two AWS Technical Certified Individuals
• Three launched opportunities
• Pay an annual fee of $2,500 a year

AWS expertise for our clients

Ardent’s highly skilled data and software engineers have been utilising the full range of powerful technologies from AWS. We have worked on a wide variety of projects to deliver excellence to our clients. Here are some of our client success stories highlighting our work with AWS to help customers face challenges and grow their organisations.

Providing insights for businesses to thrive with a 10TB Survey Data Lake  

Saving the bugs, saving the world by digitising bug detection with Cognito AI

Optimising big data queries for a multinational broadcasting company

Ardents AWS services

Whether you have preferred AWS technologies or want our data and software engineers to make the recommendation, we can accommodate that. Our rich experience and in-depth technical expertise in AWS has empowered us to bring innovation to our clients. We work primarily within these three main categories with leading AWS technologies.

AWS Data Solutions

Our engineers have excellent expertise in schema design, data optimisation, handling large scale data lakes with leading technologies such as Redshift, Athena, Lamba, EC2 and more to deliver data solutions which are secure, scalable tailored to your data and organisation.

Explore our data engineering services

AWS Application Solution

We build robust applications employing a range of AWS technologies that are future-proof and scalable.

Explore our software development service

AWS Operational Monitoring and Support

Ardent can provide around-the-clock operational monitoring and support whether that is for your apps or your database to ensure you are consistently operational.

Explore our managed services

If you are looking to employ innovative, world-leading technologies on offer by AWS for your next software or data project, get in touch to find out how we can help.

The post Ardent, a certified AWS partner – what does that mean for you appeared first on Ardent.

There are a wide variety of market research organisations including agencies, client-facing insight teams, suppliers to the industry and much more. They all face unique challenges that may cause a hindrance, however, the market research industry challenges highlighted in this article are common for organisations across the industry. Find out if these challenges are relevant to your organisation and how technology can help you overcome them.

Rapidly changing landscape

Opinions are constantly evolving and changing and new products and services are released, therefore market research companies need to adapt quickly to the rapidly changing landscape. The end client cannot afford to wait for weeks or months to get insights in today’s instant access environment. For businesses to remain competitive they need to adapt and change their strategies in line with the opinions, feedback and reactions and market research companies need to deliver those quickly.

With the right software market researchers can quickly identify trends, reactions and responses. The software can scour the various websites and social channels as the reactions start coming in for a quick turnaround time on analysis in reporting.

At Ardent, we have collated near-real-time social media data for a market research client in a data lake which looks at the trending topics, brand presence and marketing reach. Read the full success story here.

Need for automation

A lot of market research companies have still not adopted process automation which can provide many benefits including improving efficiency, boosting productivity, higher employee satisfaction and saving time and resources.

Although the use of multiple apps to automate processes may save you some time, a comprehensive software platform solution can help fulfil your needs. Every market research company will have a unique way of carrying out their processes, therefore customised software platform could help significantly reduce costs and enhance productivity.

Ardent built an information security platform for a global market research company with automated processes. Read the full story here.

Making big data manageable

Organisations across industries are drowning in big data, including those in market research. Making big data manageable is no easy feat which is why you will require expert assistance in managing your market research data. More than likely, as a market research company you will be collecting data from a variety of sources, processing, storing and gaining meaningful insights from these huge volumes of data is challenging.

Data engineering experts can help you effectively manage your big data to gain powerful insights to deliver to your end customers. At Ardent, our engineers have helped a leading broadcasting company easily search the huge mass of data they collect. Read the full story here.

Robust data security

Data security is essential for all market research companies, however, especially for those that are dealing with confidential consumer data. With hefty fines for negligence in line with regulations such as GDPR, companies simply can not afford to ignore data security. Following industry best practices can help you mitigate these risks, for example, Ardent is an ISO accredited company therefore, we follow through with data practices in order to keep our data and our client’s data safe.

Investing in technology that is built with security at its core can help you avoid data leaks and improve your data security. At Ardent, we implement multi-level data security measures to ensure all application data and any data that is being processed is safe.

Staying ahead of the competition

The market research industry is one of the most competitive, so companies need to look at ways to stay ahead of the competition. In order to stand out from the crowded market, market research companies should look to invest in platforms and technologies which can provide a quick turnaround time, that operate across devices and systems to collate data and have automated features to the reduced workload on your team.

At Ardent, we have delivered a fully integrated mobile app and web solution for a market research company to automate its footfall collection process. Read the full story here.

Investing in the right technologies

Software and data solutions built with your unique needs in mind can help you take your market research company to the next level. Technology can empower you to provide quick turnaround on analysis and insights, automate processes, enable you to effectively manage big data, ensure data security practices, and stay ahead of the competition.

Ardent Market Research solutions

We have delivered a wide variety of both software and data solutions to a range of market research organisations fit for their unique needs. We build secure, scalable and agile software and data solutions customised to your specific needs and requirements. Get in touch to find out more or explore our software development and data engineering services.

The post Market research industry challenges and how technology can help appeared first on Ardent.

Here we look at how a managed software development company can bring your vision to life and the benefits on offer.

Avoid the lengthy recruitment process

Recruiting the right talent can be a lengthy and costly process especially when there is a skills shortage. According to a poll carried out by CodinGame with over 14,000 respondents, nearly half of employers are struggling to fill roles due to the high demand for developers. Therefore, it’s predicted that employers will find recruiting skilled developers one of the biggest challenges in 2022. When it comes to building software, you may find that working with a software managed service partner is the ideal approach for you.

Reduce costs

According to Deloitte, 70% of the company choose to outsource their software development project to reduce costs. Having a managed service company provides either project or ongoing software development and can save businesses cost both short and long term. Other key driving factors for outsourcing include flexibility, speed to market, access to tools and processes and agility.

Access expert skills

Working with a third-party provider, you can be selective with the skills you need access to. Additionally, when working with a managed services provider you can expect to work with experienced engineers with expert skills. If you are looking to build a new piece of software and need a particular, in-demand skill set then working with a managed services company may be the ideal solution.

Read our client success story on how we worked together with a client as a managed software service providers and evolved their software product.

Access to the latest technologies

In line with access to expert skills, you can access the most latest, innovative technologies. A technology services provider such as Ardent that provide software development services should be working with the latest technologies. At Ardent, as part of our engineering teams, our software developers engage in ongoing training and development working to expand their skillsets and evolve with the fast-paced evolution of technologies.

Read our client success story on digitising object detection using innovative technologies.  

Industry knowledge

Working with a managed software provider you may be able to benefit from the industry knowledge they have built working with a variety of other clients. At Ardent, our developers are happy to make recommendations and suggestions on a number of factors such as design, approach to development, the technologies and platforms and much more to help the client get the best possible outcome.

Peace of mind

One of the most significant benefits of working with an experienced managed software services company is having peace of mind knowing your software is developed by experienced, expert developers. This can save you time and cost both in the interim and long term. However, it is crucial that you carry out due diligence and sure you are choosing the right software provider for the project to succeed.

As highlighted, there are many benefits to hiring a managed service company for software development. If you are looking to take the next step with a new software development project or need help with an existing project, the Ardent team of software developers can come on board with expertise and experience to bring your vision to life.

Find out more about managed software development teams or explore our software services.

The post Bring your vision to life with a managed software development company appeared first on Ardent.

Difficulty finding talent

Finding those exceptionally skilled software engineers has always been an ongoing challenge. Just take a look at almost any agency or tech company in and around the capital and you would notice what seems to be an endless round of vacancies for developers, testers, analysts etc. This shortage has been escalated by Brexit and COVID, with the surge in job vacancies and a significant decrease in applications per job compared to pre-pandemic. According to Reuters, there were 1 million job vacancies in August of 2021, which was at an all-time high.

With a very limited local talent pool, some companies have been recruiting and sponsoring talented engineers from abroad. In addition; Google, Facebook and makers of Snapchat, Snap Inc. have recently announced the expansion of their UK (London) operations with the creation of 3,500 new jobs. We would have to assume a fair few of those would be tech jobs, further increasing competition in an already crowded space. 

This could all be a major boon for contractors, freelancers and off-shoring, all of which have their positives and negatives. 

Outsourcing certainly does present the greater rewards through bigger returns on investment, more stability and the greater potential to scale up based on needs in the longer term. It also has the biggest challenge, especially if you are a start-up or SME who may not be in a position to work with the larger (and potentially safer) managed services providers of this world.

What to look out for when outsourcing a software development provider
Quality

How much control do you have over the skills and experience of the developers? Are you involved in the recruitment process? Will you retain the same resource and skill level throughout the contract? What allowances are made for training and continuous professional development?

Security

With GDPR in place, fines up to €20 million or 4% of a company’s global annual turnover, if you are not compliant, data security needs to be a priority. You must be particularly vigilant of processes in place to support quality and always look to companies who have accreditation such as ISO 27001 to credit claims about data security.

Communication

How easy is it to communicate directly with your developer? Software development is usually an iterative process with changes and refinements made throughout the project delivery process. The ability to communicate directly with your development team is vitally important. What processes are in place for feedback and meetings? Are you able to (remotely) join stand-ups?

Timezone

Dependent on your requirements, you will definitely need to have as much of your working day crossed over with your chosen supplier. There are obvious advantages to working with companies in a different timezone. For example, batch tests can be done on a daily bases and reports will be ready and waiting when your local team arrives. On the other hand, support technicians can come online when your local team clock off. 

Legal recourse

If things go catastrophically wrong, what are your options? We recommend where possible, choosing a supplier with an established local presence.

Talk to us

Ardent are an ISO 27001 accredited data and software solutions company, headquartered and established in the UK since 2008. We have the flexibility to deliver a full service or complement and support your internal resources with a full-time extended team. We serve a range of clients from well-funded start-ups to large enterprises.

If you are looking to resolve your data engineering or software development challenges, please get in touch.

The post Finding skilled, experienced software developers appeared first on Ardent.

Most organisations will not have the expertise in-house to build and develop their software. It can be difficult to find a partner that can provide you with the right people, the right experience and the right skills and expertise. However, taking into consideration key factors and asking the right questions will help you choose the right software development provider.

Technical skills

You need to make sure that you work with a software development provider that has the right technical skills to bring your vision to life. You need to get a good understanding of the technical expertise the company has to offer. For example, you may require technical skills in a specific programming language such as C# or Python, or a combination of other technologies. Does the company you may potentially partner with have a variety of skills and expertise on offer? For example, at Ardent, our team of software development engineers are trained and experienced in using world-leading, innovative technologies such as AWS, Microsoft and more.  

More on our technology partners.

Communication

Communication is vital for the success of a project. You need to work with a software development provider that has set up communication channels that will enable you to get in touch as and when needed and get a quick response. It’s also important to have various contact points, for example, at Ardent we have two contact points for all projects, a dedicated business manager and a technical account manager. The business manager ensures that client requirements are been fulfilled and the technical account manager makes sure that the day to day functionalities and delivery of services are in line with agreed terms. Another thing to take into consideration is language barriers, are the contact points fluent in your language? Some questions to ask potential software development providers if you are looking to work with them are: 

• What is the best mode of communication?
• Who are the contact points throughout the project?
• How quick is the response time?
• Is there any time differences that we need to take into consideration? 
• What are the escalation points if things go wrong

You may also want to consider if you require local contact points when working with a technology partner. For example, Ardent have offices based in the UK, US and India, offering clients local contact points to give them peace of mind.

Business culture

The business culture of the company you are looking to work with is also key. Do they have a culture and teams that match yours, are your views and ethos along the same lines? If a company inhabits a similar sort of culture, it will enable and facilitate a collaborative environment between your team and the software developers. As technology is always evolving and new technologies emerge all the time, you may want to find out how the software development company is keeping up with the changes. Do they ensure regular training for their developers? Do they invest in accreditations? At Ardent, ongoing training and development are at the core of our company culture, we provide a learning environment that enables our developers to improve and increase their skills.

Get to know Ardent.

Experience in successful projects

If you are working with a new partner, it’s important to note the experience they have and how many successful projects they have delivered. If a software development provider has experience dealing with a wide variety of clients, then they will likely be able to cater to your needs. Experience in projects and years in the industry will provide peace of mind and reassurance when it comes to choosing the right software development provider. For example, you may want to ask about client success stories to find out about the type of clients the company has worked with.

Read our client success stories.

Certifications and accreditations

A company will invest with a software development provider so they should validate any claims made on skills and experience. You may want to ask the software development company for any certifications and accreditation they have acquired. For example, Ardent has certifications in Microsoft and AWS. This solidifies any claims made by software development companies and developers because to acquire industry level certifications and accreditations the developers have to pass rigorous exams to earn their certifications.  

Security

Security is a concern for organisations across the globe and you will need to work with an organisation that places security as a priority. Your software needs to be built with robust security measures in place to prevent any data leaks that could occur. It is worth asking the software company about any experience working with sensitive data or the type of technologies they used to build secure software. Also, ask about any security certifications, for example at Ardent is an ISO 27001 certified company as well as acquiring and certification in Cyber Essentials.

Support and maintenance

You got a great piece of software, now what? Does the company offer post-project support? Will they be able to add any features or expand the software in the future if you require it? Companies that value your relationship and offer long term partnership opportunities are more likely to be able to provide you with any additional support required.

Ardent software development services

At Ardent we have worked with a wide variety of organisations across the globe, from local start-ups to internationally established companies. We have been providing bespoke, tailored solutions to help business face their challenges and achieve their objectives for over a decade. If you are looking for a trusted, credible and reliable software development provider, then get in touch to set up a discovery call. 

The post How to choose the right software development provider appeared first on Ardent.

If your company works with big data and you are looking to outsource your data management, whether you lack the expertise and infrastructure in house, are dealing with high management costs or need around the clock support, here are the key factors you should consider when outsourcing data management.

Data management expertise

One of the key reasons organisations will look to outsource is because they do not have the resources in-house and it can be incredibly time-consuming and costly to hire a team of data engineers. When looking to outsource you need to ensure that your data management service provider has the right talent with the right skillset and expertise to effectively manage your data. At Ardent, our engineers have skills in various leading data technologies and have a proven track record of successful data projects, from moving different data sets from databases to the cloud to building robust data pipelines.

Data platform technologies

One of the greatest benefits of outsourcing data management will be the access you will have to experienced data engineers that have worked with a variety of data platform technologies. Therefore, the key consideration points should be whether the data management provider has worked with and has access to major data platform technologies such as AWS Redshift or Microsoft Azure. If you are data is stored on AWS, then you will require platform-specific skill sets. At Ardent, we use technologies best suited to the client, their business and data and ensure that our clients are not limited to just one technology.

Data Storage

Where your data is stored will impact your decision on the type of data management provider you work with. Whether your data is stored on-premise, on the cloud, in a hybrid environment, or in a multi-cloud environment, you will have to find the right type of provider with data engineers that have the experience to manage your data effectively. For example, at Ardent our data engineers have managed data on behalf of clients that is stored on various storage solutions, from hybrid private and public cloud solutions to those stored in a multi-cloud environment.

Data security

Data security is key when handling any type of data. You will need to find a data management partner that takes data security seriously. What measures do they have in place to deal with data risks? Have they invested in acquiring any data security certifications? For example, Ardent is an ISO 27001 certified company and follows industry best practices when handling data whether that is in house or client data.

Benefits of outsourcing data management

There are a great number of benefits of outsourcing data management, and they include:

• Industry knowledge – if a company has a significant amount of experience working with similar scale and types of data, they can make recommendations and provide industry knowledge to help you improve and streamline your data further.
• Cost-effective – organisations will save both time and resources in recruitment when outsourcing data management.
• Visibility and accessibility – a good data management company will ensure that the end-user has visibility and accessibility to data quickly and efficiently. For example, Ardent has worked with a client to optimise data queries with Amazon Athena on large sets of data and has reduced the search time by a considerable amount. 
• Scalability – Ensure that you work with a company that can manage your data with scalability in mind. With data continuously growing, scalability needs to be the top priority. At Ardent, we work with leading data technologies that enable scalability for our clients. 
• Organised data – The majority of data you deal with will be unstructured, making it complex and unhelpful. A good data management partner can ensure that your data is structured and organised for ease of access and to gain useful insights.

Mitigating risks of outsourcing data management 

There are some risks to take into consideration when it comes to outsourcing:

• Loss of control – this is the biggest factor to consider. Some organisations may be hesitant to give up the control they have over their data. However, the key solution to this is to find a credible, trusted and reliable partner. For example, at Ardent we pride ourselves on being the partner that clients can rely on and have trust in. This is through experience in the industry, providing client testimonials, acquiring industry accreditations and much more.
• Data security risks – There can be huge repercussions for organisations that do not do their utmost to ensure data safety. Therefore, when it comes to outsourcing your data management partner will need to have robust data security measures in place to mitigate the risks.

Ardent data management services

Ardent’s highly skilled and experienced data engineers have worked with a wide variety of clients to deliver secure, scalable and streamlined data services. We invest in our people and world-leading data technologies to deliver excellence. If you are looking to outsource your data management, then get in touch to find out how we can help.

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