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Apple Watch Digital Personalization

Apple Watch has become to many, a business partner, a communications partner, a fitness partner and sometimes, a lifeline accessory, that is worn on your wrist. 

The latest Apple Watch 7 has made its way to become a top high-tech gift due to its beautiful design and cutting-edge capabilities. 

FUSION OF IDEAS takes this gifting opportunity to the next level by making Apple Watch truly unique with hardware customization and digital personalization. 

Hardware customization 

An immersive brand experience starts with permanent branding using laser etching on the Watch band and/or casing, and direct color print on the Watch charger.

Digital personalization

The digital personalization experience allows for businesses to showcase their brand and messaging using the recipient’s phone and watch.

Click on the video below to see how the digital wallpaper works.

Creating an immersive brand experience with MTV’s iconic Moonman

Recently, Best Buy for Business and FUSION OF IDEAS helped media conglomerate, Viacom, create a memorable gifting experience for its MTV team.

The solution was a fully immersive gift experience using Apple Watch that included:

  • Customized Watch band using the station’s iconic logo
  • Digital experience with a welcome video and invitation to download customized digital wallpaper for the Watch

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5 Ways to Future-Proof Your Business With Technology

The way we work has significantly changed in the past decade due to workplace trends and technology advancements. Most would agree that the most significant changes occurred in 2020 when the COVID-19 crisis brought about years of change in the way companies in all sectors and regions do business. Employers were caught off guard by the pandemic and scrambled to shift their workforce efficiently to a remote environment.

COVID-19 presented an opportunity – and a need – for many companies to build digital competencies. According to McKinsey Global, the impacts of the global crisis on businesses have led executives to recognize the strategic importance of technology as a critical component of an organization, and not just a source of cost efficiencies. 

Many employers are looking at digital transformation to future-proof their businesses. They are implementing technologies to make their organizations agile, so when unforeseen changes occur in the future, the business will be ready to adapt. 

Here are 5 ways to future-proof your business using modern technology:

1. Go paperless

Moving from hard copies to digital ones enables your employees to easily access everything at their fingertips. With a remote workforce, digital collaboration tools make it easier to conduct teamwork, plan and transfer information faster. Paperless accounting is huge and allows companies to send and receive invoices, payments, and handle general accounting functions without the risk of losing, misfiling, or mislabeling financial paperwork. Going paperless puts all of your content online, instead of having the bulk of documents in your workplace.  Plus, it’s good for the environment.

2. Reimagine the day-to-day work process

Nothing compares to having work processes that save time and increase efficiency. Business functions like onboarding new employees or resolving everyday customer-service issues are made up of hundreds of smaller processes, such as opening a service ticket or submitting a laptop request for approval. By identifying which existing processes would benefit from a digital overhaul, your employees will have an easier time keeping track of things and working more efficiently.

3. Leverage automation

Running a business in today’s competitive world requires gaining an advantage and operating efficiently. To support your growing business and unique process, businesses need the ability to integrate and automate critical applications whether they’re in the cloud, on-premise, or on-device. By leveraging an integration platform – such as Claris Connect – businesses can orchestrate tasks and create highly efficient, streamlined workflows. 

4. Invest in customized software for scalability

According to research by Accenture, one of the main reasons digital initiatives don’t succeed is that they don’t scale adequately beyond initial pilot projects. It’s important to plan how the technology you use will grow with your business. Customized software solutions can scale to account for the current and future requirements of your company.

5. Make cybersecurity a priority

The threat of cyber attacks against modern businesses is increasingly relevant both inside and outside of the office. Particularly in today’s work-from-home environment, employees are working in a variety of unsecured locations, presenting business-sensitive data to a plethora of potential cyber threats. Cybersecurity strategies should include antivirus, encryption, software updates, and vulnerability scanning on mobile devices as well as mobile-specific security awareness training for relevant employees. 

 

Even when you know future-proofing your business is essential, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the options offered on the market or get caught up in pursuing “the next big thing,” Before investing in or upgrading your business technology, it’s helpful to assess your current operations and identify the needs that most impact your organization.

FUSION OF IDEAS’ Solutions Mapping Services does just that. Whether you have a full technology plan but need help refining the strategy, or you need step-by-step guidance on how to begin your digital transformation journey, we can help. For a free initial consultation, contact us at 949.453.0740.

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FUSION OF IDEAS is a Claris Partner!

We are thrilled to share that FUSION OF IDEAS is now a Claris Partner. For 25 years, Claris – formerly known as FileMaker – has been at the forefront of software development and offers a suite of services that drive digital transformation in businesses of all sizes.  

We are bringing more ways to create successful solutions for your business through software-powered innovation. Claris’ platform complements our App Development Mapping Service to bring you extended options for your software integration and solutions development needs. 

Click on the video below to hear what Claris Vice President of Sales
Ryan McCann has to say about FUSION OF IDEAS.

FUSION OF IDEAS is invested now more than ever to be your go-to solutions provider to meet your business challenges. We strive to create meaningful brand experiences with our branding and customization, innovate with new software solutions and help your business deploy devices to your remote workforce.

Read the full announcement here..

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From Concept to Code: How These Entrepreneurs Turned a Business Idea Into a Mobile App

Sue-Ellen is a healthcare professional, who has worked with patients in a variety of settings. With 15-plus years of experience under her belt, she recognizes a common industry problem and has an idea to solve for it through a software solution. 

After being introduced to FUSION OF IDEAS, Sue-Ellen and her husband and business partner, Michael, signed up for the App Development Mapping program and shared their app idea with the FUSION OF IDEAS team.  

This began their journey to explore and plan out their software solution, which is now in the development stage.

Together with FUSION OF IDEAS, entrepreneurs Michael and Sue-Ellen are bringing their business idea to life with a custom software solution.
Together with FUSION OF IDEAS, entrepreneurs Michael and Sue-Ellen are bringing their business idea to life with a custom software solution.

“FUSION OF IDEAS guided us as we worked through the key components of our app in detail, drawing out decision points and required functionality in the context of an intuitive user experience,” said Michael. “They helped us flesh out our ideas and offered other innovative ideas.”

The teams met multiple times, which allowed both parties to have a mutual understanding of the software solution needed. Through these crucial planning sessions, considerations were brought up that would have otherwise been overlooked or not considered until the app was deep in the development process.

Sue-Ellen and Michael participated in the design meetings with FUSION OF IDEAS to understand current app design trends, functionality and best practices. 

At the end of the mapping process, FUSION OF IDEAS presented Sue-Ellen and Michael with tools that would help them make an informed decision on next steps and reduce their time to market. These tools included:

  • Empathy mapping to help understand what drives user behavior
  • Application flowchart that represents the anatomy and high-level functionality of the app
  • Wireframe models that show basic content
  • App prototype to represent the end product.

They chose to continue working with FUSION OF IDEAS for the development of their application.

“The entire process gave structure to work we would have had to complete on our own anyway,” added Michael. “We enjoyed the personal interaction and engagement of the FUSION OF IDEAS team members. [They] were professional and demonstrated a genuine interest in the success of our ideas. We look forward to working with them to make it a reality.”

To find out more about how our App Development Mapping services can help solve your business challenges, visit www.fusionofideas.com/mapping or contact us at 949-453-0740.

Application flowchart
An application flowchart offers visual clarity by showing multiple workflows and their sequence into a single document.
Wireframe model
Much like a flowchart, a wireframe model helps with the visualization of the app. A wireframe incorporates the designs of individual pages in the app.
As the precursor to development, an app prototype portrays the final design, functionality, and user flow of an app.
As the precursor to development, an app prototype portrays the final design, functionality, and user flow of the app.
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How to Increase Workplace Productivity Without Increasing Headcount

Staying competitive in the age of digital transformation means doing more with less. Your organization may not have the available budget for new hires to cover business growth, or you may be dealing with a talent shortage in the areas that you need help with. The good news is that you can increase workplace productivity without increasing your headcount. 

Identify and Address Your Processes

One of the major culprits that slow down productivity may be your workplace processes.

While processes are supposed to help organizations scale up, they are often complex with layers, workplace politics, and interface structures.

When employers can address that pain point by developing streamlined processes, not only can the business dramatically improve the customer experience, it can also increase job satisfaction for its employees. Additionally, you free up time for your employees by creating efficiencies, giving them more room to innovate. A little automation goes a long way. 

Utilize technology

The truth is, staying abreast of technology is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but is vital to compete with the early adopters in your niche.

Go through a complete audit process on your current technology and look for the areas that are most productive as well as the least productive. Get feedback from the users on exactly what would make their jobs easier to do and start looking for platforms that match these requirements. 

Once you have a good sense of your technology needs, have a strategy in place before making software or hardware purchases. Every off-the-shelf software solution does something specific to solve a specific task or process. And it can get complicated quickly when you have multiple software solutions that need to integrate together.

Consider working with an IT consultant to see if developing a custom software solution from the ground up makes better business sense.

Prepare and position for success

You’re making that technology investment to help your employees work smarter. And you’ll be giving them the tools. The third step in the process is making sure they have the know-how to use them.

Make sure you offer the proper training across the company to ensure your employees understand the new processes. Some companies have found that peer-to-peer training keeps employees more engaged and ambitious. Every company will train differently based on its workplace culture. Find that method resonates best with your employees.

To consult with FUSION OF IDEAS’ software development experts on your technology needs, call us at 949-453-0740 or visit https://fusionofideas.com/dev.php.