SUBMIT TICKET

Author: pumex_admin

Drupal 10 Migration: Here’s What You Need to Know 

Posted on by pumex_admin

Just how popular is Drupal these days? According to one recent study, Drupal provides the foundation for at least 14% of the top 10,000 most popular websites around the world. This is in addition to powering 1.2% of the top 10 million sites globally. When you also consider that it had a community of nearly 1.4 million people as of 2022, with over 120,000 of them actively contributing to its open-source framework, it is easy to see how Drupal has become something of a force to be reckoned with over the years. 

That is also part of the reason it is so exciting that Drupal 10 has finally arrived. Released on December 15, 2022, it supplants the last major release of 8.9.20 that was released in December 2021 and will replace Drupal 9, which will meet its end-of-life in November 2023. But why is Drupal 10 so notable and is it worth the effort to upgrade your own system? The answers to questions like these and more require you to keep a few key things in mind. 

 

What’s New in Drupal 10? 


To say that Drupal 10 represents a major upgrade compared to what had come before it is, at this point, a bit of an understatement. All told, Drupal 10 offers several key features, including but not limited to ones like: 

  • A new Claro administration theme has been made available, replacing the previous Seven theme. 
  • There is a new Olivero default theme, replacing the previous Bartik theme. 
  • Drupal 10 also introduces CKEditor 5, which promises to yield a better authoring experience across the board thanks to an interface that is optimized with modern editing techniques in mind. Note that this replaces CKEditor 4 entirely. 
  • Modern JavaScript components are now being used across Drupal, in large part to replace some uses of jQuery. 
  • Theme Starterkit tools were added to help facilitate effective theme creation for as many people as possible. 
  • Symfony 6 has been added under the hood, which replaces the previous Symfony 4 release. 
  • PHP version 8.1 is now required to keep your Drupal system and anything you create with it as secure as possible. 

In addition to new features, there have been many removals with this latest version of Drupal, although developers say much of this will not impact development. In terms of frontend dependency changes, for example, the public Backbone and Underscore core libraries have been eliminated. They are only for internal use moving forward. 

There have also been a wide range of PHP dependencies removed, including certain versions of Diactoros, Laminas Feed, EasyRDF, and others. 

To find out more about absolutely everything that has changed in this version of Drupal 10 (and to stay up to date with what will be added to minor releases in the coming weeks and months), view the Drupal.org release notes here. 

 

Drupal 10 Migration Instructions 


One of the most important things to understand about the Drupal 10 migration process is that, once deployed, you must keep up with minor core releases. Developers have stated that this is the best way to prepare for any major upgrade, but especially true which Drupal 10. 

According to Drupal’s own website, upgrades to Drupal 10 are possible from Drupal 9.4 or later. To get started, you will want to use one of the available deprecations checking and correction tools to prepare for moving from one version of Drupal to the next. These will help you identify and address any deprecations that have occurred in your code base over time. 

Then, if you are not currently running Drupal 9.4, you will need to follow that upgrade path first. There are several ways to go about this depending on which version you are coming from: 

Again, all of this is essential to help make sure that your site or project is already compatible with Drupal 9. At that point, little effort is required to move from Drupal 9 to Drupal 10. 

Thankfully, the actual upgrade process is simple. To get to the latest version from an existing deployment, simply open the Composer and use the following command: 

  • composer update “Drupal/core-*” –with-all-dependencies 

Then, all you must do is wait for the process to complete, and you will be ready to take advantage of all the new features and functionality that Drupal 10 brings with it. 

Note that if you want to start a new project using Drupal 10 as your foundation, you will open the Composer and use the following command: 

  • Composer create-project Drupal/recommended-project:10.0.0 “install-dir” 

This, too, is a viable solution.  

While it is recommended that you use the Composer to perform this migration, you can also do so manually if you so choose. This is for people who are unfamiliar with or uncomfortable with command lines and who are not interested in learning the finer workings of the Composer. This is also a way for someone without shell access to perform the upgrade. 

 

Additional Considerations About Drupal 10 


It is important to note that Drupal 10 was released at the same time as Drupal 9.5.0. While the latter release has most of the changes and features that the former does, it also maintains true backwards compatibility with certain previous versions. As a Drupal development company, we recommend that you always pick Drupal 10 if you have the option. It will help make sure that any new project you create today will always be compatible with future versions. However, there may be certain scenarios where this is impossible and if that is the case, Drupal 9.5.0 still represents a significant upgrade over its previous versions.  

In the end, Drupal 10 continues its long tradition of delivering state-of-the-art capabilities including account registration and maintenance, RSS feeds, the ability to customize page layouts, system administration and much, much more. When you consider what a major leap forward Drupal 10 represents to what originally began as a straightforward open-source project all the way back in 2001, it truly is exciting to think about the possibilities that future releases will bring to us all. 

What is Dev Sec Ops?

Posted on by pumex_admin

As the world of Cybersecurity starts to become more complex and dynamic to levels never seen before, there is now paramount pressure that is placed upon the IT Security teams across Corporate America to increase their vigilance. It is not just from the standpoint of thwarting off the bad guys that are trying to break in, but it is also trying to predict what future variants could potentially look like down the horizon, so that lines of defenses can be beefed up accordingly.

But now, everybody has a stake in this proposition – all the way from the C-Suite to the administrative assistant. There was one group that has stayed relatively immune from falling under the microscopic eyes of Cybersecurity, but this is now no longer the case.

This group is the software development teams. Since folks started developing software their job has been to develop and compile the source code for the Web application that they have been tasked to create, and ship it off to the customer, under budget and on time.

Because of this, implementing security testing solutions has long been an issue which has remain largely ignored. As a result, Cyber-attackers are finding ways to covertly sneak into the backdoors that are left behind, and stay in for extended periods of time, very often going unnoticed.

Then once they feel comfortable in the environment they have infiltrated, they move in a lateral fashion, deploying malicious payloads along the way which even the traditional antivirus and antimalware packages cannot capture.

Or they could start a data exfiltration process, in which small bits of the PII (Personally Identifying Information) datasets are slowly extracted, once again going unnoticed. Because of recent attacks (most notably that of the Solar Winds hack), software developers are now feeling the heat to make sure that the source code they compile is secure in every aspect possible.

Thus, this is where the acronym “DevSecOps” is starting to come into play. It stands for “Development, Security, & Operations.” The primary goal of this is to introduce and deploy automated security mechanisms into the entire lifecycle of the software development process.

If security was ever a concern in the past, it was done at the very end, in a very haphazard fashion. One of the primary goals of DevSecOps is to introduce it at every level of development, so that each software module is thoroughly tested before moving onto the next one. Thus, the cascading effect of un-remediated vulnerabilities and gaps is greatly mitigated.

Another key strength of DevSecOps is that it integrates not only the software development teams, but also the IT Security and Operations teams as well into one cohesive unit. This brings an extra set of eyes to help make sure that the nothing in the security process gets overlooked.

In other words, the siloed approach is now fully eradicated, and it has now become a shared responsibility, which leads credence to the DevSecOps motto: “Software, Sooner, Safer.”

This allows for robust and secure code to be delivered without slowing down the software development cycle. Put another way: “DevSecOps helps enterprises to innovate securely at speed and scale.”


How To Implement Security into DevSecOps


It is important to note that implementing a Cybersecurity mindset into your software development process is not something that can be deployed anywhere at any time. It must start early on, preferably even before the application project has even started.

But most importantly, this kind of thinking must be adopted by all the departments in your business. It is not just the IT Security team that has to believe in this framework, every employee must, because everybody has a key stake in keeping your business safe and secure.

But as it relates to DevSecOps, this proactive mindset must be formally acknowledged and embraced in the planning stages of the software development cycle. From there, it then transcends in a lateral fashion until the coding is all done, and the project is ready to hand off to the client. For purposes of this article, a hypothetical software development process can be represented as follows:


  1. Planning
  2. Defining the Requirements
  3. Designing & Prototyping
  4. Development
  5. Testing
  6. Deployment


The above can formally be called the “Secure Software Development Lifecycle,” or “S-SDLC” for short. Each step is reviewed as follows:


Planning


In this step, you have been assigned a project, and are in the process of assembling your software development together. This phase of the S-SDLC can be viewed as a macro one, as you are taking a holistic view of the kind of application that will be required and defining the overall objectives of what needs to get done.

But most importantly, you are acknowledging the fact that security is going to be a top issue here, and you are laying down the foundations as to how the system of checks and controls will evolve. But also, you are also figuring the roles that the Operations and IT Security team will play in the S-SDLC.


Defining the Requirements


Obviously in this phase, you are formally defining the needs and wants of the client in the project and mapping out the various software modules that will be needed to meet this objective. But also remember that this is the key stage in which you will formally address the types of security issues that you think could evolve as the development process evolves. It is particularly important that you take your time in this crucial phase, and this is one of the biggest areas in which you will need to involve the IT Security and Ops teams for their input.

This can also be referred to as the security forecasting stage. There will be issues of course that will come up of which your teams did not anticipate here. The goal here is to map out every what-if scenario that you can, so that any items of concern can be addressed quickly and efficiently. To help you in this process, there are various methodologies that are available, and the one that is most widely used is the Open Web Application Security Project, also known as “OWASP.” As its name implies, this is an open-source platform in which the public can get access to the latest Cyber threat variants that are out there, and which are also ranked according to their degree of severity.

The bottom line is that before you can move forward, all the teams must come to a common consensus of the potential vulnerabilities and threats that they need to be on the lookout for as the source code is being developed and compiled.


Design & Prototype


It at this phase that you will start to implement the security controls into the various software modules, paying attention to these top three design philosophies:


1) The Principle of Least Privilege:

This is the minimum rights, privileges, and permissions are established. In other words, end users will gain access to whatever they need to perform their daily job tasks, and nothing more than that. It is important that the source code be flexible and dynamic in this regard, as roles and titles do change among employees.


2) The Principle of Separation of Duties:

With this concept, you are never giving away total, 100% control to just any one employee. Rather, it takes a few individuals to complete one large task, in a sequential fashion, based upon the rights, permissions, and privileges that they have granted. The source code that is being developed needs to have this kind of functionality implemented.


3) The Principle of Minimizing the Attack Surface Area:

This simply means that that the source code which is being designed is clean and robust in nature, and most importantly it is not bloated in nature. For example, software developers like to use APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to keep up with the timelines that have been established in the Planning phase. But there can become an over-dependence on using more APIs than are necessary in this regard, which will make the overall application larger than what is necessary. What this translates into is that the Cyber-attacker now has a much larger attack surface to penetrate to spread their malicious payloads. But by having the source as “lean and mean” as possible, the attack surface greatly reduces in proportion.


Development


As its name implies, this is the part of the S-SDLC in which the actual source code is compiled. The actual development process does not occur in just one huge chunk, but rather, it is done at the modular level, which was pre-established back in the Planning phase. As technology is rapid advancing at a rapid pace, so are the tools which are used to create the source code. In this regard, automation has become important, not only to keep the project moving along, but also to reduce the number of errors that could occur.

Automation can replace many of the mundane and repetitive tasks that are involved, even when it comes to the security perspective. Some examples of this include the following:


  • Continuous Integration: This is where the software developers submit each iteration of the source code that they have worked on into a central server and is combined into one unit. It is not just a one-time deal, it can occur several times a day, depending upon the scope and magnitude of the development project. From here, automated builds and testing can then take place, to track down any errors and vulnerabilities that exist in a very quick manner.


  • Automated Security Testing: This is where Penetration Testing comes into play. With this, the primary objective is to find and locate any hard-to-find gaps and remediate them quickly. There are many tools out there that can do this, such as Kali Linux or GitLab.


  • Secure Code Repositories: This is especially useful for the storing of API Libraries, as reviewed earlier. Here, automated testing tools can double check that any APIs to be used in the S-SDLC are free from any bugs and are updated with the latest patches and upgrades.

 

Testing


To ensure the greatest level security in a software development project, each software module should be tested thoroughly tested, both from the standpoint of Penetration Testing and Threat Hunting. However, this does not each module should be tested one at a time. This would simply take too much time to accomplish. Rather, the automated tools as described in the last subsection can be used to test these modules simultaneously, or in parallel. In the world of DevSecOps, this is technically known as “shifting left,” because you are starting the testing process at the very beginning stages, rather than waiting until the end.

This is illustrated in the diagram below:

(Source: https://www.testim.io/blog/shift-left-testing/)


Deployment


This phase where the hand-off of the project to client actually occurs. In an ideal setting, the client should also test their new Web application for any weaknesses or backdoors that could have still been overlooked in the S-SDLC phases. But many times, they will not, because they simply assume all is good and fine. Therefore, a critical aspect of DevSecOps is to conduct one last Penetration Test before the application is released into the production environment. There really is no need to involve any Blue or Purple teams at this stage, simply the Red Team will suffice. Of course, anything out of the ordinary should be fixed on the spot.


Conclusions


Overall, this article has examined what DevSecOps is from a holistic point of view. But keep in mind, as it was reviewed before, there are three distinct groups involved, which to summarize are as follows:

The goal here is to bring in all the assets of these three groups so they work in one harmonious fashion to further enhance the overall Cyber posture of your organization. This in turn will lay the groundwork for creating the mindset security is everybody’s concern, all the way from the C-Suite down to the overnight cleaning crew.

There are many other aspects of DevSecOps, one of which is compliance control implementation. This will be examined in a future article.

Pumex Receives Award

Posted on by pumex_admin

Pumex Receives Award for One of Most Recognized Software Development Companies in Washington DC

 

At Pumex Computing, LLC, we provide our clients with the development solutions they need to build customized, process-driven, and end-to-end software solutions. We value our customers’ needs and prioritize the delivery of cost-effective and scalable solutions for their maximum benefit. Today, we’re happy to announce that we were recently recognized among the most reviewed developers on The Manifest!

 


 

For context, let’s revisit the beginning moments of Pumex Computing, LLC:
 

In 2015 

 

Our founders saw an opportunity to share their expertise and bring core values that the software development space was lacking. Antony Marceles, our CEO, and Christopher Scirpoli, our President, work together to fuse the mastery of their respective fields to bring better, more affordable, and scalable software solutions to our clients. Since then, we’ve always put an emphasis on strong communication and collaboration to craft high-quality products for our partners
 

In 2020 

A nonprofit organization engaged with us for a custom software development project. The purpose of our collaboration was to build a new networking portal that the client labeled as a “community connector” to improve networking efficiency during the pandemic. We developed the product using Salesforce and delivered the final build in June 2021. Upon launch, the client saw a 30% increase in user logins to utilize the new feature sets of the portal.
 

“Their involvement by leadership, consistent, thorough communications and the quality of development set Pumex apart.”
 

— Senior Director, Nonprofit Organization 

 

In 2022

The Manifest releases its newest lists of top companies, and we’re proud to be named among the most reviewed software developers in Washington DC! We would like to thank all of our partners, especially those who left their honest feedback about our work!
 

Build distinctive yet functional digital products today. Get in touch and schedule a free consultation with us today! 

 

.NET: How to scale your nonprofit dramatically with .NET development 

Posted on by pumex_admin

More and more philanthropic organizations are turning to .NET development for its ease in creating apps which can manage donor engagement campaigns, promotional activities, and other nonprofit fundraising opportunities. Many charities are taking advantage of this technology by leveraging custom .NET tools and techniques, which provide multiple hidden benefits.  

With this remarkable platform, nonprofits are streamlining traditionally manual processes regarding communications and interactions with the charity’s donor lists. And the organizations are also coordinating more efficiently between different groups of vendors, volunteer staff, and prospective donors that may or may not be involved in various fundraising efforts. 

 

Benefits of .NET development for nonprofits 

Thanks to its impressive ability to scale, the .NET platform is becoming increasingly popular for website development. If you’re a nonprofit organization looking to take your website to the next level, .NET development is a great option. Here are some of the benefits of using this extraordinary platform for your nonprofit website design: 

 

Increased Efficiency 

Organizations utilizing .NET development strategies can expect to see a tremendous increase in overall administrative efficiency. .NET provides several features and tools that make website development more economical and user-friendly, including a well-designed, object-oriented programming model and a robust set of libraries. In addition, professional .NET developers take advantage of automatic memory management and Just-In-Time (JIT) compilation, which will further improve efficiency. 

Improved Scalability 

Another significant advantage of the .NET platform is its improved scalability. .NET websites can be easily scaled up or down to meet the constantly evolving needs of any organization. Furthermore, .NET technology makes it easy to add new features and functions to an existing website without affecting its overall stability. 

 

Enhanced Security 

Security is always a primary concern for nonprofit organizations. The most proficient consultants construct .NET websites using numerous security features often unavailable on other platforms, including built-in encryption, authentication, and authorization capabilities. Meanwhile, their .NET developers also take advantage of bonus security features built directly into the .NET Framework, such as the Code Access Security model. 

  

Reduced Costs 

Another benefit of .NET development is its reduced start-up and maintenance costs. .NET websites can be developed using free and open-source tools, which decreases development costs and helps the project stay on budget. In addition, developers can often reuse code and components, which reduces expenses even more. 

 

Increased Flexibility 

The .Net platform also provides increased flexibility. .NET websites can be easily customized and tailored to the unique and specific requirements of any organization. Developers can also take advantage of several advanced features, such as master pages and user controls, which further improves the website’s flexibility. 

For nonprofit organizations looking to take their websites to the next level, .NET technology is perhaps the best option on the market today. This innovative platform provides any number of benefits to improve your website’s efficiency, scalability, security, and flexibility. It also gives nonprofits significant cost savings over the short- and long-term. 

  

.NET technology: 10 steps to successful nonprofit website design 

The key to making a successful nonprofit website design is different than that of their commercial counterparts. The site’s visual aesthetic and included content must promote the organization’s mission statement while encouraging visitors to participate in this world-changing work. 

Nonprofits that regularly engage in fundraising activities, like running marathons and hosting gala dinners, often have very different goals for their website than those providing direct services or campaigning for policy change. Regardless of the organization’s specific mission, these ten tips for optimal .NET development will help take the nonprofit website to the next level. 

 

1. Keep Your Site’s Purpose Top-Of-Mind

When potential donors visit a not-for-profit site, they should be able to understand quickly and easily what the organization is trying to achieve. Keep the language on the website clear, concise, and free of unnecessary jargon. Include prominently placed calls-to-action (CTAs) that encourage visitors to “take action now,” whether it’s donating money, signing up for a newsletter, or attending an event. 

 

2. Make It Easy to Donate

For many nonprofits, generating donations is a critical component of their website’s purpose. Include a prominently placed “donate” button on your site and make sure the donation process is quick, easy, and optimally secure. Our .NET developers can also create custom donation forms and integrations that make it even easier for visitors to donate. 

 

3. Use Engaging Images and Videos

People are visual creatures. Make sure the website includes plenty of engaging images and videos that encourage emotional reactions from your prospective donors. These visuals should also promote the organization’s backstory and convey the impact of their work. Our .NET developers can even change or update these images and videos with just a few clicks of the mouse. 

 

4. Optimize Your Site for Search Engines

Make sure your nonprofit website is optimized for search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. This strategy helps prospective donors locate the site online when searching for pertinent keywords related to the organization. For those nonprofits whose staff may lack expertise in Search Engine Optimization or SEO, partnering with a reputable .NET consultant with a proven track record of success will help you achieve results quickly and cost-effectively. 

 

5. Hire professional .NET developers to create a custom CRM system

A custom CRM system will help you keep track of your donors, their contact information, and donation histories. These technologies allow you to better manage your professional relationships with donors while maximizing their financial contributions. Our .NET consultants create CRM systems or integrate your website with your existing CRM system. You can then create particular types of content to target different demographics of donors. 

 

6. Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly

More and more people are using their smartphones and tablets to browse the internet—which is why it’s so important to make sure your site is mobile-friendly. .NET developers create responsive websites that look great on all devices, regardless of the varying sizes of their tiny screens. 

 

7. Keep Your Site Fresh with Regular Updates++

Your website should be a living, breathing entity that regularly updates with fresh content. This strategy will keep visitors coming back to your site, and it will also help you rank higher in the search engines. Our .Net consultants can leverage industry leading CMS solutions like DNN or Kentico to make it easy to add and update your site’s content. This content could include blog posts, news articles, photos, videos, or anything else that helps tell your organization’s story. 

 

8. Hire a professional nonprofit website design consultant 

Working with a professional nonprofit website design consultant is essential when creating a charitable website. The most reputable .Net consultants have the experience and expertise necessary to build websites that are both user-friendly and visually appealing. They will also ensure that the site is optimally secure to protect the personal information of your donors. 

 

9. Use .NET data analytics to create personalized donor profiles – and use these profiles for social selling.   

.NET data analytics allows organizations to create personalized donor profiles and use these profiles for social selling. Keep track of your donors’ interactions with your brand on social media, their interests, and their donation histories. This strategy helps you better understand each donor and which content best appeals to them. You can then use this information to create targeted content and marketing campaigns to encourage them to donate. 

 

10. Design an integrated website that tells your nonprofit’s story

Your website should be more than just a place for people to donate money. It should be an integrated platform that tells your nonprofit’s story and showcases the impact of your work. Our .NET developers will help you create a beautiful and practical website that will engage potential donors and convince them to support your cause. 

  

What professional .NET developers offer nonprofits 

 

Successful nonprofit fundraising requires a mix of strategy, creativity, and professionalism. To be maximally successful in charitable enterprises, you still need the ability to think like an entrepreneur while acting with compassion towards those who need help. Remember, there’s no limit on how much money can flow into your organization. Think Big! 

.NET development is about as close to a silver bullet for contemporary nonprofits as one can get. Partner with a reputable .Net consultant that takes great pride in helping nonprofits increase their fundraising efforts by offering the following areas of expertise. 

 

Comprehensive solutions: The most reputable .NET consultants build solutions, not just websites. When you partner with a professional .NET development team, you’re getting more than just a pretty website. These expert .NET developers work alongside you, step by step, to understand your goals and objectives—and then build a custom website solution that allows you to achieve them. 

 

Forward-thinking scalability proficiency: Nonprofits often have limited resources. It’s essential to choose a development platform that will grow and expand along with your organization. Nonprofits using .NET technology can start small and add features and functionalities as their needs change. Compared to their competitors, the .NET platform is highly scalable. 

 

A team of experts: The most sought-after .NET consultants are the most experienced and knowledgeable professionals in the industry. They are well-versed in standard business practices—and the ever-changing world of web development—while ensuring that your site always looks and functions at its best. 

If you’re ready to take your charity’s website to the next level, professional nonprofit website design services by Pumex are the way to do it. For more information on how we can help you achieve your fundraising goals through expert .NET development, contact Pumex today. 

Native and Hybrid Apps

Posted on by pumex_admin

Pumex often comes across clients who wish to leverage a mobile experience for their applications. Where the end user can download an app from their phones respective application store; like Google Play or the Apple App Store. These clients have two options at their disposal – a native application, or a hybrid application – both of which have their own set of pros and cons. Native applications are applications that are built specifically for use on a singular platform – such as; Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, etc. Hybrid applications, on the other hand, include a web application (HTML5/JavaScript) wrapped within a native “container” that allows access to platform specific functionalities.

 

Native Apps

Each mobile platform (Android, iOS, Windows Mobile) provides developers with their own development tools, customized SDK’s and design guidelines. iOS – Objective-C or Swift/iOS SDK Android – Java/Android SDK The main advantage of building a native application is the faster and more reliable performance that comes as a result of developing the application within a well-defined ecosystem. It also allows the developer to leverage all the functionality that physical devices within a platform offer – like the GPS, camera, accelerometer, etc. Native applications also do not mandate an internet connect to be present at all times (although specific functionality within the application could require an internet connection to function properly). On the other hand, building a native app is relatively time consuming and costs more since there needs to be separate development efforts to build the app for each platform you want the app to be available on. A native application is best recommended when developing applications that are performance and graphics heavy (games), or in the fairly unique situation where there is a need for heavy use of the phones native capabilities and the absolute highest level of performance is required, irrespective of the cost of development.

 

Hybrid Apps

Hybrid apps can be visualized as “web apps” that are built using common front-end languages like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, and targets a WebView (rather than a mobile browser) that is hosted within a native container. The most common hybrid application development framework is Apache Cordova, that enables applications to execute across different platforms by relying on standards-compliant API bindings that provides access to the different native device capabilities such as, camera, GPS, accessibility, etc. Developers can also access plugins (both core and third-party) that allows Cordova and the devices native components to communicate with each other, while even providing additional bindings that are not available across every platforms. The main advantage with taking a hybrid approach to mobile application development is the reduced development effort needed since you can reuse one code base of the application across the different platforms. This reduced development effort, combined with the relative ease of hiring individuals with web development skills, results in cheaper origination costs as compared to a native application that must be built across multiple platforms. Pumex Computing has extensive experience helping clients build both native and hybrid applications across a number of domains for both internal and external use. While deciding on developing a mobile application is the easy part, determining whether to build a native or hybrid application is a much harder task. Our elite team of analysts and developers never forces a client to choose either a native or hybrid application, but we rather encourage our clients to answer the below questions:

 

  1. What functionality do you intend to include as part of the application? 
  2. What is the timeframe for developing the application? 
  3. What is the budget allocated for developing the application? 

 

Answering these questions helps our clients work hand-in-hand with Pumex to determine whether to move towards a native or hybrid platform and get their mobile concept developed, packaged, and ready for marketing.

7 Ways Salesforce Development Will Boost Your Nonprofit Fundraising

Posted on by pumex_admin

As their reliance on social media for promotional campaigns and donor engagement steadily increases with each passing year, more and more philanthropic organizations are turning to the Salesforce platform to bolster their nonprofit fundraising. Custom Salesforce development helps charities take advantage of the latest marketing trends by providing tools to help track information and communicate more efficiently with charity members, coordinating organizations, and prospective donors. The ability to simplify traditionally manual processes through Salesforce applications and other custom solutions allows nonprofits to focus more on their core missions and less on tedious, time-consuming administrative tasks. 

How Salesforce improves the efficiency of your nonprofit fundraising

 

Nonprofits who regularly engage in fundraising activities, like running marathons and hosting gala dinners, find the Salesforce platform especially beneficial. Salesforce provides tools to track donor information, record financial transactions, and automate workflows—all of which are integral to the success of any charity event. The platform’s ability to manage databases and create custom processes for marketing campaigns helps streamline records management and encourages better record-keeping overall. 

Custom Salesforce solutions also allow organizations to simplify donor records further by integrating data from third-party sources, like legacy software platforms or nonprofit portals—effectively providing users access to more comprehensive information at their fingertips. These capabilities streamline workflows and provide staff members with the data they need to be more effective advocates for prospective donors and existing supporters. Here are seven easy ways that Salesforce development will optimize online fundraising for any nonprofit. 

1. When asking for an email address, offer something of value in exchange. 

It’s essential to make sure you are offering donors something of value when they are providing their contact information for your donation portal. Give them something that they will find appealing—whether it is an eBook, a toolkit, or even some kind of coupon. By providing valuable content in exchange for the email address, you create an incentive, which ensures that the person receiving the content will be more likely to donate by better understanding your mission. 

2. Use Salesforce appointment scheduling to manage meetings with donors for nonprofit fundraising. 

At a certain point, your organization will need to hold meetings with donors to garner support for specific projects or initiatives. Salesforce appointment scheduling is the perfect solution because it streamlines the entire process from start to finish. You can use Salesforce to collaborate with staff members who are involved in any aspect of project management, such as: 

Maintenance

We discussed in our blog post, “5 things to Consider When Developing a Mobile App” how important it is to consistently update your Mobile App. Once your app is developed, you’re going to need to perform regular upkeep to make sure your app is keeping up with new trends in mobile apps and therefore an enhanced user experience. Just like your business, your mobile app should always be evolving and growing. Discuss a maintenance plan with the development team. Be sure to incorporate this into your agreement before choosing a development team to work with. Maintenance and upkeep are almost as important as the initial build of your mobile app.  

  • Arranging meeting times and locations that work best for everyone involved.  
  • Establishing specific objectives for discussion in the upcoming meeting. 
  • Assigning future tasks to specific members or staffers once the meeting is over. 
  • Documenting what transpired during each meeting. 

3. Use Salesforce management software capabilities in tandem with a CRM tool. 

When managing a large donor community, many organizations improve overall efficiency by integrating CRM with certain Salesforce management tools used for nonprofit fundraising. In doing so, this enhanced functionality – which often includes Salesforce automation capabilities – ensures a seamless and consistent collection of information. Your staffers essentially only need to enter the data once instead of multiple times in numerous databases. Meanwhile, CRM software allows you to create forms from predefined templates, so staff members don’t need to waste valuable time creating custom questionnaires and surveys from scratch. 

4. Use Salesforce automation workflows to track donor engagement levels on social media. 

Social media is a great way to share information, but it’s also a great way to gauge which types of posts resonate most with your audience. With Salesforce marketing cloud features, nonprofits can easily track new “likes” and “shares” of social media posts made by the organization on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms. The organization then adjusts its social media marketing campaigns, accordingly, based on which types of posts receive the most positive feedback from their followers. 

5. Use Salesforce data analytics to create personalized donor profiles – and use these profiles for social selling.  

The Salesforce platform allows for the creation of unique and customized donor profiles, which are especially useful for large organizations that have many donors or prospective donors on their marketing lists. Salesforce generates a complete profile from all the information you have on file for each member of your donor community, including contact details, donation history, favorite charity events, and more. By using this data, you then target your nonprofit fundraising efforts more effectively by creating custom lists for email blasts or newsletters based on specific criteria, such as: 

  • Industry 
  • Location 
  • Income levels 
  • Favorite charity events 
  • Age, occupation, or other socioeconomic factors 

You can then use these customized lists to implement specific social selling tactics, like contests or giveaways, that are more likely to attract that special kind of donor. The more personalized you can make your donor interactions, the more money you will raise. 

6. Use Salesforce development solutions to build a brand-specific website for your organization.  

With custom Salesforce development solutions in play, nonprofits make it easier for their staff members to build and maintain a branded website. It’s also easier to integrate the site with their CRM data on new donors, donation history, and contact information. Successful organizations then use this information, which often includes login credentials from any fundraising portal account, to tailor their marketing message further, based on each member’s profile. These state-of-the-art capabilities are invaluable when establishing authority within your industry while also boosting credibility among potential supporters or clients. 

7. Salesforce builds donor-facing portals with personalized fundraising requests.

Whether it’s an annual pledge drive, a matching campaign, or a crowdfunding effort, your organization will need to communicate directly with your major donors about specific fundraising efforts that are either underway or in the works. By using Salesforce as a central platform for this type of communication, your organization will ensure the consistent collection and tracking of data across all channels – including email marketing campaigns – so that you always have a complete record of everything happening on your end.  

Salesforce development: Even nonprofit fundraising can be highly competitive 

Even in the world of philanthropic enterprises, the competition for those donation dollars can be brutal. To be successful in charitable fundraising, you still need to think, act, and execute like a business professional. 

Salesforce provides a wealth of features and functionalities to improve the efficiency of your fundraising operations. By using the tips outlined above, you’ll save time and resources while simultaneously increasing in-house productivity. And before you know it, your newly implemented Salesforce nonprofit fundraising efforts will result in lots more donations coming your way in 2022 and beyond! 

How To Manage Multiple IT Vendors

Posted on by pumex_admin

Within every company, there is an ecosystem of vendors which add value to the supply chain and provide services outside of the organization’s area of expertise or as an adjunct to their internal staff. This vendor supply chain is often invaluable and helps move the objectives of the organization forward. If you live in a vendor heavy organization, where outsourced projects cross paths, you’ve probably run into the headache of finger-pointing.   When you are up against deadlines and you are managing multiple vendors with distinct project responsibilities that have dependencies on one another, it seems like an impossibility to avoid sometimes. Vendor finger pointing can be “tear your hair out” frustrating because at the end of the day, the project still needs to be completed and if timelines or budgets are being blown, the natural position for many is to try and deflect the blame.

What can be done?

The best way to manage vendor finger pointing is to handle it from the beginning before the project starts. Making sure you have well defined contractual engagements, a clear scope of work, and specific deliverables for each portion of the project, this will go a long way to solving these issues up front. Being able to go back to a document where someone signed on the dotted line is invaluable when disputes arise and trust me, disputes will arise in any project where there is a reliance across vendors.   In circumstances where you were not able to accomplish the above, it becomes imperative to move onto Plan B. Which is to assess the gaps in your vendor management process to alleviate friction. The “just get it done” while easy to say, probably isn’t going to solve the root issue and often only ratchets up the pressure, which often just increases the deflective capacity of the vendors that are failing on their commitments.

Plan B

Our experience tells us that there are a few places you can immediately look and solve issues:

Proper Vendor and Project Management

For large projects with multiple moving pieces that contain dependencies on one another, having a tactical, boots on the ground, Project Manager with the capability to make decisions is absolutely key. Your PM should have cross-project assignments and the authority, responsibility, and accountability for each project segment. If your PM doesn’t have the authority to make decisions, be held accountable for their decisions, and the responsibility for overall project success, then you are hamstringing them and hurting their ability to effectively manage the project.

For the very large projects, either having a PMO or following some kind of defined project management framework like SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework for the Enterprise) will be key to ensure your vendors are staying on track and managing those relationships.

In line with a good Project Manager, having a proper Business Analyst, whether provided by one of the vendors or internal to your staff will go a long way in ensuring project requirements and user stories are properly documented and communicated to the appropriate teams. But this is a function that can be handled by multiple roles and is a nice to have in comparison to the right project management.

Choosing a Lead Vendor

Usually, when the project isn’t going quite as planned, there will be a vendor that distinguishes themselves and continues to earn your trust. Don’t be afraid to rely heavily on that vendor, consolidate work, or give them a lead role in the production. These types of vendors have one goal, which is project completion. You will recognize them because they will take on leadership roles without being asked, they will attempt to help you manage the project more efficiently and try to help you deliver project areas that may be outside of their scope. When something goes wrong, these vendors come to you with facts and solutions, they don’t point fingers or allow emotions to cloud their judgment.

The best possible situation for a vendor you wish to take the lead would be to consolidate work to them. If they are succeeding, it’s because their internal processes and are sound, they have the right people in place on the team, and they are success oriented. If consolidating work isn’t a possibility, then consider placing them as the prime and arrange other vendors as subs on the contract. Finally, the last resort would be to hand them the project management responsibility and make them the gatekeeper for vendor activity. Put this vendor in a leadership role in the eyes of your other vendors and it will go a long way towards helping them, help you manage the overall project.

Unless the vendor knows the larger project is doomed to fail, they will be excited to take on this additional role. Often times, as an outsourced provider ourselves, we know that if the client handed more responsibility off to us, we could fix a lot of the issues they are facing in a project. The best vendors want to make their client happy, do good work, and deliver. Trust their track record and you will get the results you are looking for.

Machine Learning Vs Predictive Analytics: What’s The Difference

Posted on by pumex_admin

As Artificial Intelligence becomes more involved in business operations, the terms “machine learning” and “predictive analytics” are often confused to be the same thing. Though the two are basically under the same umbrella, they are completely different concepts. We decided to break down each concept and explain what they do and why they tend to get mixed up in conversation.

Machine Learning

Machine learning is an artificial intelligence technique where algorithms are used to process massive amounts of data without predetermined rules. Machine learning is growing in popularity for businesses because it allows for them to process massive amounts of data in real time. What makes them so powerful is that ML algorithms learn from their mistakes on past datasets to process future data more efficiently. An example would be feeding a company’s e-mail data to a machine learning algorithm, that would then use specific patterns to determine the difference between spam and important e-mails.

 

Predictive Analytics

Predictive Analytics is an area of study that has been around long before artificial intelligence. Predictive Analytics is the process of analyzing historical data and current data to find patterns. Businesses use these patterns to make informed predictions of the future and make better business decisions. Businesses that use predictive analytics usually have an upper hand on those who don’t. Predicative analytics allow businesses to as an example, make smarter marketing decisions by implementing specific marketing efforts based on past consumer data. If a company sees that a specific type of customer is more likely to make a purchase after receiving a 10% off coupon, businesses will target those customers.

 

Where They Collide

Because the two operations piggyback on each other, people tend to assume they’re the same thing when they’re really two separate operations; where predictive analytics can be a subset of the data garnered from Machine Learning. This relationship has made predictive analytics one of the more favorable applications for businesses trying to gain insight on their customers’ buying habits.

Whereas, the organization’s that implement Machine Learning allows the businesses to process their data faster and more efficiently. After machine learning has processed the data, businesses are able to take this data, implement a predictive analytics strategy, and are then able to make educated predictions to support their business efforts moving forward.

 

Looking to implement a machine learning solution to help process your organization’s data sets? Contact us at Pumex Computing and we can start the discuss what the best solution would be for your specific needs. https://www.pumex.com

Why Your Job Ad Is Terrible

Posted on by pumex_admin

We can all agree that job ads aren’t the most exciting thing to read. Companies will type up a summary about themselves, a list of technical skills that are required for the position and throw it on the internet expecting to have high-quality talent begging to be hired. That is simply not the case. We’ve seen a lot of job ads that fall flat and to be blunt, are just terrible. You spend all this time working on selling your services and products to customers, so why would you not do the same to sell yourself to quality candidates? We’re here to help. We put together this article that breaks down three major things you can do to start creating better job ads to attract high-quality talent.

We can all agree that job ads aren’t the most exciting thing to read. Companies will type up a summary about themselves, a list of technical skills that are required for the position and throw it on the internet expecting to have high-quality talent begging to be hired. That is simply not the case. We’ve seen a lot of job ads that fall flat and to be blunt, are just terrible. You spend all this time working on selling your services and products to customers, so why would you not do the same to sell yourself to quality candidates? We’re here to help. We put together this article that breaks down three major things you can do to start creating better job ads to attract high-quality talent.

 

Not Enough Information

The majority of talented candidates are happily employed. A lot of companies don’t take into consideration that they need to excite these candidates and show them that it is worth the jump. You need to sell your company to candidates the same way you’d sell your company to potential customers. Exciting a candidate to make the jump is going to take a lot more than a generic blurb about your company. A lot of Hiring Managers will say it’s on the candidate to do their due diligence to learn more about their company. Frankly, we disagree, just like candidates have to capture your attention with their resumes, your company should strive to do the same in the short period of time someone is looking at the position. A candidate that is worth their salt will do their homework to learn more about a company IF it sparks their interest. You need to create a job ad that will grab a candidate’s attention and make them want to learn more about your company. Provide more information than your company’s generic pitch. Put in details about what makes working for your company special.

 

Show Them They Can Grow & How

Good employees want to know that they can grow in a company. They also want to know how their performance will be tracked. Creating a value proposition will explain the potential for growth that comes with the position. Also, layout how they’ll be tracked over x amount of time, so candidates can see what they’re being judged on and what is needed for potential growth opportunity. This shows candidates it’s not just another lateral move in their career.

 

Your Company’s Culture

Detailing your company’s culture and values on the job ad is extremely valuable for attracting quality candidates. One of the biggest concerns for people changing their job is being uncertain if they’ll fit in at the company. Describing what makes your company unique and the type of employee/employer relationship which you are striving for will attract candidates that feel they would mesh with your company. This increases the chance that your hire will fit in and stay at your company because they knew the culture before accepting the position.

 

Conclusion

Your job ad is the first contact someone has with your company. If you’re looking to attract high-quality talent to your company, you need to excite them with your ad. Show them the value in working for your company and how they will benefit from it. If you implement the changes we mentioned above, you’ll see a big change for the better in applicants.

How Your Development Team Benefits From Agile

Posted on by pumex_admin

Agile Software Development has become the dominant methodology for software development teams. Essentially, Agile development divides a project into a series of sprints that rely on careful planning and feedback from the client. The development team works to complete each task during these 1-to-4 week sprints. Each ending with a tangible piece of software that is as market ready as possible. Client’s stakeholders are heavily involved during the development process. They are a part of the planning, software planning, software demo, functionality reviews, and assist with testing the software (UAT) after each sprint. Because the client is involved in each iterative release of the project, adjustments can be made during development so when the final software is completed it is exactly what the client wants.

Higher business values

The goal of this article is to give you a basic understanding of the Agile process and why it is hands down the recommended method for most software projects.  The Agile Disciplines go into great detail from a process perspective and have many different flavors like Scrum, Kanban, or SAFE.  While we aren’t going to tackle Agile from a process perspective, we do want to help you understand why it works so well from a business perspective.

 

Business Value

The client and development team create a list of features or user stories which are then broken down into a set of development tasks and ranked by priority. This allows the development team to know what is most important for the client’s organization. The development team will start to build features in order of importance. Agile requires a feature is market ready before labeling it completed. As these features are completed, clients can begin beta testing parts of their software, providing them with business value through the entire life cycle of the development project.

 

Flexibility

With other software development methodologies, like Waterfall, a fixed scope of work is developed up front and the project is delivered based on that scope with little room for change or modification. This makes implementing changes to the software lifecycle often difficult and expensive.  In Agile, the flexibility to make changes during development makes it extremely popular. The client and development team can add, upgrade or even eliminate specific features during development to adjust processes or business rules that weren’t addressed at the start of the project.

 

Better Quality

Each feature has its own identity in the product backlog (the user stories broken down into their individual tasks). The development team adds a feature to the sprint and develops it until it’s market ready. Because of this cycle, code quality tends to be higher than with other software development methods. After each iteration, the software is tested and reviewed for bugs before being checked off as completed. In the end, Agile developed software tends to have fewer bugs and overall higher code quality because it is developed in segments to be market ready.

 

Staying On Time

With other software development methods, the client and development team meet to define the scope of the project before the building begins. After this initial meeting there will be little contact between the client and development team, so if the scope has not accurately defined the project goals then budget, and deadlines can be at risk.

Because of Agile’s unique process of segmenting each feature and including the client every step along the process, the client and development team can redefine the scope to meet deadlines and budget. Most of the issues that development teams experience are not expected, being able to adapt and react makes Agile extremely efficient and allows for a higher success rate of completing the project to the organizational vision and on time.

 

Conclusion

Our goal is to create a piece of software that provides value for our customers. Our experience with Agile Software Development has proved to us that Agile’s process helps achieve that goal and makes the entire development process smoother for our clients. Agile allows us to have open communication with our clients, stay in budget, and deliver on time.