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Security Best Practices in Custom Software Development

The cyber security has become one of the biggest concern for both businesses and customers. That is due to the rising sophistication of cyber threats and the following consequences of the data breaches. We have recently witnessed some global levels of data breaches in well-known multinational and some of the world’s largest enterprises. The mainstream news and TV channels are discussing the cyber security threats and attacks in the prime time transmissions. The words hacking, phishing, ransomware, identity theft, computer viruses and other technical terms have become very common. No matter if someone know the meaning of it, but everyone of us have heard and read those terms. This led to the skyrocketed concerns for cyber security.

Businesses operating in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and broader UAE tend to utilize multiple software applications to streamline their operations. When it comes to business operating systems, ERPs, information systems, software applications and management tools, businesses have to routes, the commercial off-the-shelf solutions (COTS) or the custom software development. Businesses have realized the importance and impact of customized software applications. Hence businesses are moving to customized software solutions day by day. In this article we will explore the best practices software development companies and teams should follow to ensure reliable and secure software solution. Businesses should ensure their software development team is following these best practices.

See Also: What is custom software development?

See Also: Why Off-the-Shelf Solutions Fall Short: Advantages of Custom Software Development

Security Best Practices in Custom Software Development
Security Best Practices in Custom Software Development

Custom Software Development Best Practices for Elevated Security

The custom software development and cyber security are two most sophisticated topics. If you are not qualified enough you might not able to comprehend these two subjects. Therefore I will try to explain it in a very simple and less technical manner. When a business decides to build a customized software solutions such as a customer portal, intranet application, customer relationship management tools, mobile applications, payment portals or interactive self-service channels for their customers, the very first step is to understand the basics of the software security. The first and most important step is to draw a security requirement outline.

It doesn’t matter how well you understand software development or cyber security, you just need to understand the basic working of the application and data management. You can engage a professional software developer either form your team or from your outsourcing partner’s team. Just sit with them and ask them what data will be collected from the users, what will be stored within the software application and what data will be transmitted or fetched from other software solutions or databases. This will help you understand the criticality of various data types. For example the personal identification information and the financial information requires the highest security possible.

See Also: Why the Custom Software Development is Good for Your Business?

See Also: Benefits of Investing in Custom Software Development for Your Business in Dubai

Custom Software Development Best Practices for Elevated Security
Custom Software Development Best Practices for Elevated Security

Once you have all these data types you can now begin with the development of the application and at the completion you will have to sit with the team again to see if the following crucial cyber security best practices are followed correctly or not. Early security planning and identification of compliance is crucial. Moreover different industries also have different security compliance, required by relevant government authorities. Identifying these requirements early on will not only help you make your custom software solutions more secure but it will also save you time and cost of redesigning later. Following these best practices will also help you eliminating flaws and vulnerabilities from your tailored software solutions:

Use Secure Coding Techniques

The custom software development is a technique of building software applications and solutions form ground up. Most of the times these software tools are built using various different software stacks and frameworks. This means that the software development team will have to do a lot of coding and programing to achieve the desired functionalities. Writing secure code and following secure coding methods is crucial to ensure the ultimate security of the customized software. When the security best practices are implemented from the very beginning, it results in better and strong security of the application. For example:

  • Input Validation: All inputs should be validated before sending them to the system or database. This practice will help you minimizing the chances of SQL injections and cross-site scripting. These two are most common threats for software applications.
  • Data Sanitization: This one is also relevant to the above point, but it will help you elevating the security. As the name suggest the data sanitization means ensuring any data or command entering to the software is sanitized, hence ensuring no code injection or unauthorized access.

It is crucial to ensure all team members are well-versed with the above best practices and methodologies. Furthermore businesses should also check and review the code at every milestone or at completion of every module. Moreover once your customized application is complete, you should conduct a thorough security analysis.

See Also: Custom Software for Improved Business Efficiency

Use Secure Coding Techniques
Use Secure Coding Techniques

Implement Strict Access Control and User Identification

When businesses opt for custom software development they tend to have requirements from a particular user group or department. This means that there could be so many different users who will be operating your customized software application. The access control is simply a mechanisms to manage who can access which part of your software application. The access control will dictate the policy to grant various accesses to different features and functionalities. You should ask your custom software development team to build control mechanisms and features which allow you to define multiple job roles with ability to give them access to different parts of the software.

The role-based access control features will allow businesses to create multiple job roles with different levels of access. For example, the system administration role is usually designated to IT team and the system administrator has full system access, including ability to create other job roles and configure various different levels of access. For example, some user might only have access to read the data, some might have access to write it and some might have access to certain future. It is crucial to implement the rule of “least privilege” this will ensure everyone will only get access to the features and data they need. Therefore fool proof user identification and authentication mechanisms should also be implemented.

See Also: Leveraging Big Data in Custom Software Development

Implement Strict Access Control and User Identification
Implement Strict Access Control and User Identification

Data Encryption at Both Storage and Transmission

Businesses often doesn’t realize the importance of encryption. Encryption at both storage (at rest) and transmission (while transferred) is extremely important. It can greatly improve the security of the solution as well as it can also prevent people with malicious intent to access or intercept your data. The encryption technologies has become very advanced, now a days if you apply encryption properly, it is nearly impossible to decrypt them without proper access and decryption protocols. Encrypting any data would take very less computer resources, in fact almost none. But when you try to decrypt any data without decryption code and protocols you might be needing some very powerful super computers to be able to find the right pattern to decrypt it. Thus the encryption can greatly improve security.

The encryption ensures that your data will remain protected even if it is accessed by unauthorized means, or intercepted during the transmission. In case if someone even gets access or intercept your encrypted data, they would never be able to decrypt it. This will prevent any unauthorized access to your sensitive data. All important data types should be encrypted, especially the personal information and financial must need strong encryption. You can utilize Advanced Encryption Standards or AES which is international standard for encryption. For data transmission it is absolutely essential to transmit data through a secure connection by utilizing the SSL/TLS (Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security). This will ensure your data will remain secure and protected.

See Also: Custom Software Development for Enhanced User Experience

See Also: Custom Software Development Progressive Web Apps – Beginner’s Guide

Data Encryption at Both Storage and Transmission
Data Encryption at Both Storage and Transmission

Implement Secure Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

The secure software development lifecycle or SDLC is not just a technique but a complete strategy. It states that the security should be implemented and prioritized at each and every stage of the software development lifecycle. Starting from planning to designing and then deployment and even for maintenance, incorporating checks and balances at every stage should remain the top priority of the software development team. Here are some best practices to incorporate security at each and every stage of the software development process:

  • Planning: During the software planning process, two important things need to be prioritized. First the security requirements and compliances should be accounted at very early stage. Then the risk assessment and threat modeling should be conducted to identify potential threats, vulnerabilities and risks to ensure all these threats and vulnerabilities will be neutralized effectively.
  • Designing: The design considerations and security architecture should be embedded at the core of the application. Best practices like, secure coding, encryption and system access should be incorporated in the design of the software. A thorough threat modeling should be conducted for different design choices to ensure maximum security and protection.
  • Development: It is extremely crucial to ensure that your custom software development team should be well-versed with the best security practices and secure development techniques. The secure coding practices can eliminate the chances of some of the most common attacks such as SQL injection, buffer overflow, and cross-site scripting, etc. Furthermore the advanced code analysis tools both static and dynamic should be used to find any potential vulnerability in code.
  • Testing: Businesses should ensure the project managers and relevant personals keep testing the application throughout the development phase. Furthermore a full-on security testing round should be conducted after development completion and before going live. Automated tools should be used to simulate attacks, and other testing methods such as penetration testing, security audits, and vulnerability testing should be conducted before going live.
  • Maintenance: Once your customized software is developed, tested and deployed, then you will be needing maintenance which is a continuous process. Usually software applications require periodic maintenance, however, ongoing monitoring and patching is crucial for security. Businesses should have incident response policy and protocols in place. Furthermore any updates, customization and integration would also require in-depth security testing.

Businesses should strictly incorporate security in their software development lifecycle. This will not only make their application more resilience towards threats and vulnerability but it will also ensure the protection and safety of the data of your customers and employees. A secure development lifecycle also encourage cross-functional collaboration between the security and development team which also help improving the security and resilience of your customized software applications.

See Also: The Cost of Custom Software Development: Factors to Consider

See Also: Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Your Custom Software Development Project

Implement Secure Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
Implement Secure Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

Conclusion

The information technology have advanced so rapidly that it is very difficult for a common person to keep up. With the advancements of computer technology the software has become much more complex and sophisticated. For example, there was a time when 1GB RAM and 40GB storage was more than enough for a common PC user, now a days we have smartphones with 16GB RAM and up to 1TB of storage. This all happened in just two decades. This made technology much more complex, so does the security and safety of the user data. As the technology is evolving rapidly the cyber criminals are also adopting to innovative and very sophisticated techniques to attack on businesses and people. This is what made everyone more concerned about their security and data protection.

This rapid development of technology also compelled businesses to adopt to modern software solutions and tools to keep up with the emerging needs. When it comes to software businesses tend to utilize multiple software application to streamline their entire operations. The custom software development is the ideal route for growing businesses, as it can cater to their exclusive business needs and can offer them a great competitive advantage. The security is one of the most critical aspect of custom software development, as there is a common misconception that the commercial off-the-shelf software solutions are more secured. However, this is not true always, in fact the by adopting to modern and best security practices in your custom software development you can greatly improve security and data protection.

Strictly implementing a secure software development lifecycle strategy can help you elevate security of your bespoke software solutions. Businesses should ensure adopting and implementing secure coding methods, continuous security testing and monitoring, risk assessment and threat modeling and various other best practices discussed in this blog. The software development itself is a very sophisticated subject let alone the cyber security. Therefore I have tried to simplify the security best practices to make them understandable by avoiding technical terminologies and methodologies.

If you still want to learn more about the subject or if you want to explore the possibility of developing a highly secured and tailored software solution for your business of organization, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

See Also: How to Develop a Custom Software in Dubai?

See Also: Emerging Trends in Custom Software Development


The Impact of Queue Management Systems on Government Services

The government entities, offices and service centers plays a crucial role in delivering public services, and their performance directly impact the public’s perception of the government. The UAE has a large number of foreign companies and businesses and the country is also a tourist hotspot in the entire region. In such diverse and vibrant market landscape the government’s image is crucial in both attracting foreign investments as well as the tourists. Therefore adhering to the highest standards of customer service is critical for the government entities, offices and service centers.

If you are living in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi or any other part of UAE you would have at least once interacted with a government service. This also indicates the huge traffic at government service centers. Hence the government services need a digital and efficient queue management system to ensure higher customer satisfaction.

The customer happiness is one of the most critical KPI for any government entity in UAE, whether it is federal government or regional government, all government entities focus a lot on customer satisfaction. A good government perception not only build trust but also attract more investments and tourism. Moreover as the private sector is rapidly advancing and becoming more customer-centric the customer demands and expectation from government services are also rising.

This demand a highly efficient and effective solution that can help government entities, offices and service centers to proactively streamline their customer flow, minimize customer wait time, and make their services more efficient. In this blog we will discuss the impact of a digital queue management system and how it can benefit both the citizens as well as the government service centers.

See Also: What are the Different Types of Queue Management System?

The Impact of Queue Management Systems on Government Services
The Impact of Queue Management Systems on Government Services

What is a Digital Queue Management System?

A digital queue management system is a technological solution which is designed to efficiently manage and streamline customer flow. Whether the customers are in physical queues or virtual queues a digital queue management system guides them, while effectively reducing the wait time, and elevating the overall customer journey and experience. The digital queuing is common in banks, healthcare, telecom, retail, government service centers and various other industries. The government entities, agencies and offices can effectively reduce the congestion, streamline customer flow, expedite the service delivery process and increase customer happiness by implementing a digital queue management system.

The queue management system also help improving the staff performance and overall quality of the service. The queue management system can automatically implement the queuing policy with utmost efficiency. A queue management system consists of two parts, one is the software and the other is the hardware. The queue management software is the brain of the system, it monitor queuing, help implementing queuing policy, manages customer as per their priority level and it also collects in-depth analytical data. The hardware of a standard queue management system consists of an interactive self-service ticket dispensing kiosk, digital signage screens, counter plates, announcement system and in some cases physical queuing management instruments.

Whether it is stepped service, or single-counter-delivery, the queue management system can effectively manages all. It can further be customized as per the business needs. Hence if you want to integrate more IoTs or hardware devices, or if you want to build more creative and innovative features, you can tailor-made a queue management system as per your needs.

See Also: From Chaos to Control: How Queue Management Systems Can Improve Your Business

What is a Digital Queue Management System?
What is a Digital Queue Management System?

Why Government Services Need a Digital Queue Management System?

One of the most crucial aspect of all government services is to ensure the happiness and satisfaction of the citizens. Long wait time, disorganized queues, crowded service centers and poor communication can lead to dissatisfaction of the citizens. The long waiting lines and overcrowded waiting areas can lead to slower service delivery, which also prevent organizations to leverage the full potential of its human resource. That is why the government entities, agencies, offices and service centers need a digital queue management system.

A digital queue management system not only help addressing customer pain points but it also empower management and service agent which results in better performance and efficiency. Here are some key advantages of implementing a digital queue management system at a government office, entity, agency or service center:

See Also: Queue Management System Problems and Solutions in Dubai, UAE

Reduce Customer Wait Time

One of the biggest challenge at government service centers is the management of customer wait time. Customer often complaint about wait time and this cause discomfort and dissatisfaction. A queue management system is a great tool to reduce and optimize the customer wait time. The queue management system monitors customer flow in real-time, take real-time decision, direct citizens to the right counter, and it provides real-time queuing updates which expedite customer flow and help reducing wait time. The queue management system also help service agent in various aspects, effectively reducing the service delivery time, which also reduce customer wait time.

The queue management system also have smart algorithms which enables it to calculate the estimated time to turn, this help minimizing the negative wait time perception. Hence the queue management system not only help reducing the wait time but it also help improving customer experience and happiness.

See Also: Importance of Queue Management System for Government and Public Offices

Reduce Customer Wait Time
Reduce Customer Wait Time

Elevating Reputation and Fostering Public Trust

When citizens went to a government entity, agency or public office they expect the highest level of transparency and equal treatment for all. Poorly managed queues, crowded waiting areas, limited staff, and slow service delivery can cause serious dissatisfaction which overall undermine the reputation of any government entity. Especially when the customer lines are managed manually, the line jumping, confusion and customer complaints are common. All these factors not only annoy your customers but also damage your reputation as a government entity.

However, when a digital queue management system is deployed, everyone knows the tokens and customer flow is managed by a computerized system. This means everyone is treated equally, moreover the customers have clear view of what is happening. The customer flow and entire journey is well-organized and smooth, this help fostering customer trust. The customer happiness and trust help government entities elevate their reputation and public perception.

See Also: What Is Virtual Queuing? A Guide to Virtual Queues

See Also: Queue Management System Features you Need for Modern Queuing

Elevating Reputation and Fostering Public Trust
Elevating Reputation and Fostering Public Trust

Boost Employee Performance and Productivity

At government entities and offices, the front-desk staff is always overloaded because of large footfall. When the staff has higher workload, they tend to perform poorly and their work quality could also decline. This has become a serious problem in various service sectors. A queue management system greatly improve the customer flow, it manages most of the queuing tasks and it also help optimizing customer journey. When the queue management system divide the workload of the staff, the staff can focus more on high-priority and more productive tasks.

Furthermore the queue management system provides real-time queuing data and analytical data which help managers take swift actions and help them in effective human resource management. This also help management and service staff to address issues and avoid bottlenecks before escalation. The queue management system also capture various employee KPIs which further help refining and boosting staff performance and productivity.

See Also: Paperless Queue Management System

See Also: Queue Management in Banking: Enhancing Customer Experience

Boost Employee Performance and Productivity
Boost Employee Performance and Productivity

Increase Accessibility and Inclusivity for All Citizens

The government is responsible to serve all citizens, this means the government services and service channels should be accessible for people from all walks of life. The government service centers should be able to meet the needs of diverse customer base, it could include, elderly people, people with special needs, and citizens from diverse cultural backgrounds. The digital queue management system has interactive self-service ticket dispensing kiosk, which can offer adjustable screen, touchscreen-optimized UIs, multilingual interfaces, voice-activated support and various such features which help people with special needs to utilize the system with ease and comfort.

The queue management systems also have digital signage displays with live queuing details and audio announcement system. These system can have multilingual support to cater to the needs of diverse customer base. Special service counters and channels can be leveraged effectively to increase accessibility and inclusivity.

See Also: How a Queue Management System Can Transform Your Business Operations

Increase Accessibility and Inclusivity for All Citizens
Increase Accessibility and Inclusivity for All Citizens

Virtual Queuing for Elevated Citizen Experience

The advanced queue management systems also support virtual queuing. The virtual queuing offers digital channels which enable citizens to sign-in remotely without requiring to be physically present at the branch. The digital queue management system can integrate with online appointment booking channels, citizen portals, Email, SMS, WhatsApp, and even with mobile applications. This enable citizens to sign-in to a virtual queue even without arriving at the service center. Furthermore the virtual queue management system provides live queuing updates, notifications, and alerts through integrated communication channels.

The virtual queuing help citizens to spend their wait time anywhere they want, even they can plan their visit and arrive when their turn comes. This can literally reduce the wait time to none, elevating customer experience, giving them more freedom and comfort. The virtual queue management system also collects valuable insights which help management elevate citizen experience.

See Also: What are the Basic Components of Queue Management System?

Virtual Queuing for Elevated Citizen Experience
Virtual Queuing for Elevated Citizen Experience

Business Intelligence Data for Improved Service and Efficiency

That queue management software not only capable of collecting a wealth of valuable business intelligence data but it can be integrated with various other government services and digital channels. The government offices and agencies can even integrate the citizen identification system and payment solutions within their queue management system to streamline the payment process. The queue management system collects various types of statistical and analytical data from each and every touch point.

For example, the management can effectively track the service trends, individual and average wait time, peak hours, customer flow, staff KPIs and even citizen’s feedback. The queue management system also offer in-built analytical and reporting tools which help generating actionable reports. The insight and reports can also be relayed to a central system via integration to incorporate it in the decision making process which lead to elevated customer experience and better staff efficiency.

See Also: Pros and Cons of Queue Management System

Business Intelligence Data for Improved Service and Efficiency
Business Intelligence Data for Improved Service and Efficiency

Conclusion

The UAE has large expat populations in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and other emirates. The country is a very attractive business and tourist hub. This results in huge burden on government services and the government is very focused and serious in ensuring great service experience at all its service centers. A queue management system at government service center can have profound impact on the citizen’s experience, service delivery efficiency and overall operational performance. The government agencies, entities, service centers, offices and entities are always keen on fostering citizen’s trust for better reputation and public perception. This is also crucial for overall public perception of the entire government.

With the rapid advancement in self-service channels, and digital technologies the entire world is facing increased demand in efficiency, accuracy, and transparency. A digital queue management system is the ideal solution to deal with these challenges as it can greatly reduce customer wait time while significantly boosting staff performance and service delivery processes. This lead to higher customer happiness and satisfaction which is essential for fostering public trust and building positive government perception. Long waiting lines, disorganized queues, and crowded lobbies can greatly undermine the customer experience, resulting in unhappy and unsatisfied customers.

A modern digital queue management system offer innovative features such as virtual queuing, automated customer routing, and real-time queuing data which help improving the entire queuing process. The queue management system also offer features which help management in improving the performance and also help reducing the workload of the service agents. The integration allow government entities, agencies and service centers to integrate multiple channels, services and databases with their queue management system to streamline various workflows and internal processes.

In this blog we have discussed the impact of queue management system on government services, if you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to develop a bespoke queue management system for your organization, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

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