Articles

Quality Sense Podcast: Ashley Hunsberger – Leading Agile Transformation at Blackboard

Actualités, Méthodes et organisation des process IT

This week’s Quality Sense guest has been at her company now for 16 years, but in that time she has had the chance to assume several different roles that allowed her to explore her interests, lead others, and help the company grow. Ashley Hunsberger started as a manual tester and today, she’s the Director of DevOps Engineering, creating their Developer and Agile Advocacy program. She focuses on the ways they can advance the work their teams are doing, as well as the way in which they do it.

Listen to this fascinating conversation or read below to learn how she managed to evolve her career while staying with Blackboard over the years and ultimately came to leading agile transformation there. She offers eye-opening, real world insights on leadership that anyone can apply in their own organization.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

13 avril 2021/par Service comm.

The Most Comprehensive Grammarly Review Ever

Actualités, Actualités

Who is Grammarly for? Can a grammar checking tool like Grammarly replace a human editor and proofreader? Is the Grammarly checker worth it? Are the Grammarly free checks sufficient for me, or should I upgrade to Grammarly Premium? Should I install Grammarly on Chrome? How effective is Grammarly for Word? Is downloading the Grammarly desktop app worth it? You have questions…all of which we’re going to answer.

I have been using Grammarly regularly for proofreading my documents and emails since 2015 and have witnessed its evolution as a product firsthand. After checking over three million words during this period, I can confidently say that Grammarly has come a long way. Raising $200M in total funding at a valuation of $1B+ so far, and with more than a million downloads per month, Grammarly is now a top-1000 website by traffic worldwide.

I write a lot, so Grammarly has been my go-to writing assistant for correcting passages and enhancing my writing. I first tried the Free version, and in May 2020, I upgraded to the Premium version, finally! Grammarly Premium is a great tool that takes care of most of your writing, proofreading, and plagiarism-checking needs for intensive work.

In this article, I’ll explain what Grammarly is, its features, what it does (functions of all versions and products), the pros and cons of using Grammarly, my rating of Grammarly, who should use the Free version, and who should use the Premium version and the difference between the two. I’ll also explain how to use Grammarly properly. I’ll then compare it with other popular tools and suggest which ones suit your needs. In the end, I’ll leave you with my final assessment and FAQs.

What is Grammarly?

Grammarly is an online digital writing assistant that checks for a range of English grammar and spelling mistakes. It also helps enhance the writing through its excellent context-based clarity suggestions (Premium version).

Grammarly is a writing aid that checks not only for spelling slights, grammar rules, and clarity issues but also identifies the tone of the writing to provide relevant instructions through its Error Cards. It also has a plagiarism checking tool, which is available with the Premium version.

Grammarly employs AI (Artificial Intelligence) and NLP (Natural Language Processing) to check the content for all possible syntactic and semantic issues. Although it has an extensive database, it is still incomparable to human proofreading and professional editing, especially when it comes to understanding the context of the writing.

Grammarly Overview For Beginners – Compatible, Accessible

Grammarly is astonishingly easy to use, primarily due to its compatibility via the Browser Extension/Add-on, from which you can use it on millions of websites. Moreover, its other product forms, i.e., the Online Editor (Web App), Desktop Application, MS Word/Outlook Add-in, and the Grammarly Keyboard for iOS/Android, make it accessible everywhere.

How Does Grammarly Work?

It automatically detects issues in the content in the Desktop App, the Online Editor, and the browser (even in Google Docs, which is in Beta at this time) via its add-on. Yet, for the MS Word Add-in, you have to click the Grammarly button to activate the app. Grammarly explains all detected issues via an Error Card that contains relevant information for each item. You can implement it by clicking the suggestion, ‘Ignore’ the problem, or ‘Add to Dictionary’ (in case of a spelling issue). You can also provide feedback (if you think that the suggestion is wrong). The Free version checks only for spelling and critical grammar mistakes. The Premium version also reveals a ton of advanced ‘Clarity Issues.’

The Tone Detector helps you estimate the entire document’s tone, which can be valuable for many writers who target a particular audience, e.g., formal writing for the business audience.

Limitations of Grammarly (For Beginners)

Grammarly, overall, excels at almost all the things it does, and therefore the free version is recommended for everyone. Grammarly provides a generic readability score. Advanced grammar checks like the clarity checker, the plagiarism checker, and many other features are not available for the free version.

Grammarly is dominant amongst its competition, but it doesn’t solve all English language problems. It is useful at picking syntactic mistakes but still misses significant semantic errors, which can be a problem for people who are not particularly adept at English — as they won’t notice these slips.

The Good	The Bad	& The Ugly
Ease of use – simple, intuitive, and efficient interface	English language only	Tad expensive (notably the monthly subscription at $29.95 per month)
Context-based grammar checking	Not 100% accurate (primarily misses linguistic bloopers)	No free trial for the premium version.
Fantastic grammar checker	Business account starts at three users and charges per number of users (can be a bit expensive for small businesses)	Only one account (license) for the premium version. You can use it on up to five devices.
Convenient tone detector	Insufficient as a standalone tool (doesn’t do everything)	Incomplete sentences can sometimes go undetected
The insightful error cards are instructional and productive (they help you to improve your writing)	Unlike ProWritingAid and Hemmingway Editor, it doesn’t provide much information about the whole passage, Grammarly’s scoring is generic right now	No substitutes are suggested in many cases. Example: synonyms, rephrasing suggestions for the intricate text, etc.
Integrates well with MS Word, Outlook, WordPress, emails, social media, and millions of websites	The free version is limited to fundamental grammar and spelling mistakes	Cannot determine contextually incorrect sentences (it cannot perceive the meaning of the written document)
Knowledge-base	The premium version identifies repeated words but sometimes doesn’t provide a suitable alternative to use	Short on vocabulary suggestions (not as competent as the free thesaurus writing tool)
The Grammarly keyboard is available for Android & iOS for FREE	Free version shows the number of advanced clarity mistakes but doesn’t tell you what those mistakes are and where they are	The formatting tool is rudimentary. You have to write in another text editor and then import it to the Grammarly Editor to format your writing accurately
Personal dictionary	Google Docs is not supported yet (in Beta).	Restricted to English only, and it also doesn’t translate other languages as Ginger does.
The adjust goal option allows you to customize Grammarly’s feedback.	It can miss simple semantic issues, which sometimes can be caught by text editors like Google Docs and MS Word.
Formatting remains the same if you import/upload a document, but it changes if you copy/paste.	Plagiarism Detector is not available for the free version.
Weekly writing stats (sent to user email) can help you identify your problem areas	The browser extension can malfunction, i.e., opening and closing the Grammarly editor within a website (sometimes) duplicates the content
Option to download the detailed performance statistics as a PDF	Sometimes Grammarly doesn’t catch all mistakes on the first try. You have to refresh or scroll to let it run again and see if it finds new issues
Grammarly blog teaches English grammar rules, writing techniques, and more
Context-based checker is more accurate than competitors
Provides rephrasing suggestions for complicated sentences
The premium version excels at catching inconsistencies

Who Should Use Grammarly?

Free:

Everyone

Despite being limited, Grammarly (free version) is a phenomenal tool. Therefore, I would heartily recommend it to everyone. It’s free, and it’s convenient.

The free version should be everyone’s go-to tool for proofreading social media statuses, tweets, and comments. It is also crucial for editing all sorts of short-form writing, such as emails. Professional writers can also use the free version to catch typos and basic grammar mistakes.

Premium:

Professional Writers
Authors
Bloggers
Students
Businesses that require extensive writing
Marketers/Advertisers
Content Creators
Editors and Proofreaders

Apart from all the necessary features offered in the Grammarly free version, Grammarly Premium provides several other valuable elements such as an advanced clarity checker and a robust plagiarism checker. All these help you enhance your writing effectively.

Grammarly Premium is a helpful tool for people who are already adept at English as it still requires plenty of work on catching semantic errors. Businesses and Professional writers who do intensive writing should give the Premium version a go. From writing, editing, and proofreading to plagiarism checking, it is almost an All-in-One solution (though not a substitute for a human proofreader – at least yet).

Who Shouldn’t Use Grammarly?

Free:

Students
English Learners

People, especially students who cannot learn from their mistakes, should avoid relying on Grammarly as it can hinder their learning process.

Granted, Instructional Error Cards and Weekly Writing Stats (emailed to the user) can pinpoint your weak points, but educating yourself from there on is entirely up to you.

Just like ‘Auto-correct’ hinders people’s ability to learn proper spellings, Grammarly can do that for learning grammar rules.

Premium:

Amateur Writers
Infrequent Users

Grammarly is an excellent tool, but it still makes slips, which can be misleading for amateurs who don’t have a solid grip on the English language. Therefore, if you are not proficient enough in English, you should only subscribe to Grammarly Premium if you can remember that it is not a replacement for a human teacher or a proofreader. Or, you can continue using the Free version, which is competent enough to check fundamental grammar and spelling oversights.

Furthermore, businesses and professionals who are infrequent users can stick to the Free version if they feel they will not be making the most of the Premium version.

Grammarly vs. Basic Text Editors

A comparison with basic text editors will illustrate Grammarly’s true potential:

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is the most popular and feature-packed text editor. It includes a basic grammar and spelling checker that catches typos in real-time. However, MS Word is very limited in its grammar checking capabilities.

I’ve written many articles using Microsoft Word, which were considered error-free by the text editor. However, when I put the same documents in Grammarly’s Editor, there’d always be some critical mistakes caught by the Free version and some clarity or consistency mistakes pointed out by the Premium version.

Grammarly finds inconsistent punctuation that MS Word missed.

Google Docs

Google Docs is another mighty text editor, which is free to use. It also has numerous features, including spelling and grammar checking. Google Docs’ grammar and spelling check software only flag issues with an alternative in its database; otherwise, it ignores them. It auto-corrects the obvious spelling blunders. It can also pick missing determiners (articles) better than Microsoft Word. However, once again, when compared to Grammarly, Google Docs falls far behind in exposing slip-ups.

Grammarly in Google Docs.

Google Docs performs a little better than MS Word when it comes to punctuation, yet it is incomparable to Grammarly, which is in Beta for Google Docs.

How to Write Better With Grammarly

Grammarly proofreads content written in English (American, British, Australian, and Canadian) and gives detailed performance statistics. Weekly Writing Statistics are emailed to the user account, and you can download a complete PDF that extensively illustrates your performance.

From scoring to pointing out all mistakes and amendments, Grammarly doles out a comprehensive document that you can use to improve your weak areas. Grammarly can function as your teacher in this regard if you learn from these mistakes and try to improve your performance, especially in areas pointed out by the software.

Try Grammarly for yourself.

All Grammarly Products

Grammarly is available in the following product versions:

Grammarly for Business (3 or more users)
Grammarly @edu (for Educational Organizations/Institutes)
Grammarly Premium
Grammarly Free

All these versions are usable in the following product forms:

1. Online Editor

Grammarly’s web application acts as an online editor to upload a document, copy/paste content, or write directly. It has a 4MB size-limit and a 100,000 characters-limit (about 60 pages). When you upload a file, a pop-up tells you that your document formatting will restore when downloaded.

Grammarly’s interface for the online version and the desktop app is identical, and it is outstandingly intuitive and accessible. A dedicated writing assistant panel on the right side contains valuable information and choosable options. It also lists and categorizes all the errors found.

A bar at the bottom contains a few formatting options and some length-related info about the passage.

2. Browser Extension

Typing in any online text editor activates the ’Grammar and Spelling Checker’ when the extension is on. It underlines (in red) all the issues in real-time. Hovering over the problem pops up an Error Card that contains corrections and more information about the mistake.

You can use the Grammarly icon at the bottom-right of online text editors to activate or deactivate the tool. This option is beneficial because sometimes you want to check your content but don’t want distractions while writing. I recommend turning on the extension after you have completed your draft and now want to begin the editing phase. You can also open the Grammarly editor within a website for added convenience.

The Grammarly add-on is available on all popular browsers – Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge Chromium, etc. And it is compatible with millions of websites and the web versions of many desktop applications, including WordPress, emails, social media, work platforms, and many more. Grammarly for Google Docs is in Beta right now. The Grammarly extension also gives you the option to ’Show Definitions and Synonyms via Double Click,’ which works like a dictionary within any website.

The Grammarly icon within your text editors tells you the total number of issues found on the Grammarly pop-up. However, you have to scroll through the document and find those problems yourself. It is not as efficient as the online Editor. The extension only shows the critical issues inside your online editor. It gives you the option to open the online Grammarly Editor to see the errors pointed out by the Premium version. The browser extension also works slower for lengthy content. It is convenient but only for short-form writing.

3. Desktop Application

The desktop application, like all other products, is online only and doesn’t work offline. An internet connection is necessary as Grammarly uses its database to process the document. The desktop app is identical to the online editor.

4. Microsoft Word/Outlook Add-in

You can integrate Grammarly into Microsoft Word and Outlook through their Add-in. Unlike other Grammarly product forms, the MS Word Add-in activates when clicked — otherwise, it stays dormant. When enabled, a right panel appears with suggestions, Error Cards, and statistics, just like the Online Editor and the Desktop App. Grammarly has no character limit for the MS Word Add-in.

5. The Grammarly Keyboard App

You can download Grammarly Keyboard for both Android and iOS through their respective stores. Now available for iPad as well, it is easy to use as it works like the auto-correct feature available in the smart devices. It gives suggestions when Grammarly encounters any grammar or spelling lapses.

Grammarly Pricing Plans

Grammarly is a tad expensive when purchased as a monthly subscription, which costs $29.95 per month. The quarterly ($59.95) and annual ($139.95) subscriptions offer better value for money. Through its weekly newsletter and other channels, Grammarly presents discount offers to its free users from time to time, which you can avail yourself of to get an even cheaper deal for the Grammarly Premium subscription.

Grammarly Pricing Plans for Premium Version – Monthly, Quarterly, Annual

Free

Grammarly Free is limited but still adequate for many as it gives you critical grammar and spelling checking capabilities. It is usable in all product forms.

Premium

Grammarly Premium, along with Spelling and Grammar Checker, offers an advanced Clarity Checker, Plagiarism Checker, and experimental Tone Detector. All Grammarly features are available for the Premium version.

Business

Grammarly for Business offers all the Premium features for three or more users. It also gives you an admin panel to customize your experience. You can add a personal dictionary, among other things, which will be accessible to all users. Grammarly for Business includes:

Individual accounts
Admin panel
Centralized billing
Team usage stats
Priority email support
Single sign-on

Grammarly Business Pricing Example

Grammarly @Edu

Grammarly @Edu is also an available option, of which educational institutes and organizations can avail themselves. It caters to a large number of accounts, as it targets students.

Grammarly Features

UI

Grammarly has hands-down the best interface among all the writing assistants. It is incredibly intuitive and user-friendly.

Compatibility

Grammarly integrates with millions of sites and text editors. It is also compatible with MS Word (both for Windows and Mac) and Outlook via an Add-in. It is still in Beta for Google Docs.

Grammarly is incompatible with some desktop apps, but you can use Grammarly in their web versions.

Supported Document Formats

For products where you can upload text documents, the supported document formats are: .docx, .rtf, .odt, .txt.

Languages

Grammarly is restricted to English only, including American, British, Canadian, and Australian English. Grammarly doesn’t support foreign language phrases, translation, etc., at the moment.

Grammarly Functions

Spelling Checker

Grammarly checks for spelling mistakes based on context. It is excellent at differentiating between commonly misspelled words. It can also tell Common and Proper Nouns apart (in most cases).

Grammar Checker

All Grammarly products on all plans help you check for grammatical errors and syntax issues in the provided document in real-time.

Plagiarism Checker

The Plagiarism Checker is not available for the free version. When I inquired about plagiarism in hard copy, patch plagiarism, and ProQuest, here’s what Grammarly Support had to say:

“We teamed up with ProQuest to provide even more accurate plagiarism checks: currently, Grammarly’s plagiarism checker searches major proprietary databases along with over 16 billion web pages. You can check ProQuest libraries here http://www.proquest.com/libraries/academic/databases/.

Please note that Grammarly catches verbatim plagiarism and slightly modified text that can be classified as unoriginal. As comprehensive as our algorithms are, significantly rephrased text oftentimes can’t be traced back to its source.”

Note: I checked this document with both; Grammarly Plagiarism Checker is not as robust as Copyscape, but it’s catching up fast.

Tone Detector

It detects a variety of tones based on the context of the given passage.

Grammarly Tone Detector

Clarity Checker

Grammarly checks for advanced issues for the Premium, Education, and Business versions. The Free version checks for limited conciseness; the rest is available on the Premium version only.

Grammarly Support

Grammarly offers support via its extensive, well-written, and user-oriented knowledge-base. Grammarly also provides support via email (24/7 for the Business version) if you can’t find a relevant answer in the knowledge-base.

Moreover, the Grammarly Blog teaches, among other useful things, the proper use of grammar in English.

Grammarly Blog

The Grammarly Blog teaches the rules of English grammar and gives tips on writing. It also specializes in teaching about the most common blunders, which are also a strong suit of the application.

Detailed Performance Statistics

You can view the ‘Statistics Summary Card’ by clicking the ‘See Performance’ button. Or you can download the detailed statistics via the Download PDF Report option. These statistics are in-depth and contain exhaustive information regarding the whole document, including your score, errors, reading time, speaking time, and more.

Grammarly Performance Stats

Adjust Goals

You can customize Grammarly’s feedback according to your needs. This option gives you an adjustable chart where you can set your preferences according to your needs. It helps with the document’s tone, the difficulty level depending on the target audience, and more.

Grammarly Adjust Goals

Get Expert Writing Help

Grammarly gives you the option to get your work checked by experts. It’s a particularly convenient option for those who cannot or do not want to rely on their proofreading skills better than finding and hiring someone yourself.

Grammarly Expert Writing Help

Is Grammarly Really Free to Use?

Grammarly has a free version with a powerful-enough spelling and grammar checker. It is available in all product forms – Online Editor, Browser Extension, Desktop Application, and Word Add-in. The Free version checks for up to 150 grammar rules.

It is superb at uncovering elementary grammar fallacies due to its context-based checking, powered by its robust AI and NLP software.

The Free version doesn’t show clarity issues. It reveals the number of clarity issues in the content, but it doesn’t tell you what and where those issues are.

Is Grammarly Premium Worth The Cost?

The Premium version shows advanced grammar issues such as clarity, conciseness, dangling modifiers, squinting modifiers, monotonous sentences, intricate text, split infinitives, and many more. It checks for over 400 rules of English grammar, far more than the Free version. Grammarly Premium also has a plagiarism checker within the interface, which is mighty-enough for online plagiarism checking.

Grammar Checks

When you run some text through any version and product form of the app, Grammarly will process the document for the following:

Sensitivity
Determiners
Voice
Conciseness
Conjunctions
References
Nouns
Fluency
Word order
Spelling
Conventions
Syntax
Variety
Formality
Pronouns
Prepositions
Verbs
Numerals
Punctuation
Modifiers
Consistency
Correctness
Clarity
Delivery
Readability
Engagement

However, Grammarly will not point out many of these mistakes for the Free version. It will only tell you the number of such problems in your content.

Grammarly Checklist

Grammarly Free in Action:

Let’s see some examples.

Verbs

Grammarly detecting the wrong form of a verb.

Context-Based Checking

Grammarly Context-Based Checking

Capitalized Words

Grammarly detects unknown words, and if you capitalize them, it considers them proper nouns. It can also miss the incorrect use of a term if you spell it correctly and put it within commas.

Grammarly while dealing with proper nouns, capitalization, and unknown words

Phrases vs. Sentences

Grammarly can differentiate between phrases and sentences. Therefore, you can write headings and subheadings in the form of expression.

Grammarly differentiating between sentences and phrases

Multiple Mistakes in One Sentence

Grammarly catching multiple mistakes in one sentence

Determiners

Grammarly pointing out the wrong determiner-article use

Incomplete Sentences

The Grammarly algorithm is not good enough yet at recognizing incomplete sentences. Grammarly is far from perfect, as evident from these examples. Google Docs suggested ’was because’ for the last line instead of ’is because,’ but Grammarly missed that.

Grammarly can miss incomplete sentences.

Grammarly is only making one suggestion that the article use may be incorrect here in the below image.

Cannot detect incomplete sentences (sometimes) if other issues exist

Grammarly suggests you change the first line in the below image because it believes it’s caught a sentence fragment. You accept the suggestion, and it becomes the second line, which is, again, a sentence fragment, according to Grammarly.

Grammarly ‘sentence fragment’ suggestions

Sometimes, the suggestions are right as well.

Grammarly recognizes sentence fragments in some cases

Punctuation

Comma

Grammarly is a sniffing-hound-on-steroids when it comes to commas — both missing and wrong ones. It pinpoints the exact location where you should place a comma in a sentence. Whether it is between clauses, a list of items, or something else, Grammarly knows if you have missed a comma or placed a wrong one. It also exposes the famous “Oxford Comma.” Grammarly now points out any inconsistent punctuation (curly vs. straight commas, for example) in your articles.

Grammarly pointing out the missing Oxford Comma

Hyphen

First, it points out the missing hyphen. Once you rectify the error, it points out the wrong capitalization. Grammarly works in steps for multiple errors in a sentence.

Grammarly catching a missing hyphen.

Semi-colon & Colon

Grammarly catches the incorrect use of the semi-colon & colon.

Period

Grammarly points out a missing period

Missing Apostrophes

Grammarly can catch missing apostrophes

Grammarly Premium in Action:

Apart from correctness that checks for critical grammar mistakes, the Premium version has options to check for clarity, delivery, and engagement, along with many more correctness checks.

Clarity

Clarity check is not available for the Free version; all other versions of the app have it. It catches linguistic issues that a fundamental grammar checker cannot reveal. These include dangling modifiers, split infinitives, misuse of passive voice, intricate text, inappropriate colloquialisms, etc.

Text Inconsistencies

Grammarly Premium can detect inconsistencies and gives you the option to select one form if a word has been used inconsistently in the same document. It can also detect inconsistent punctuation, for example, curly and straight commas.

Grammarly Premium identifies text inconsistencies.

Rephrasing Suggestions

For unclear or complicated sentences where there might be an issue of a dangling modifier or something else, Grammarly suggests an alternative way to write the same sentence.

Grammarly Premium giving rephrasing suggestions

Wordy Sentences

Grammarly can also note if you have used many unnecessary words in a sentence. If there are more words and less content in a sentence, then it suggests you rephrase it. This option can help you make your content non-fluff.

Passive Voice Misuse

Grammarly is so-so at deciphering when the passive voice is right to use and when you should avoid it in a sentence. My experience is that, more often than not, it will recommend that you rewrite a sentence if it detects passive voice use anywhere.

Grammarly – always – detects passive voice use.

Intricate Text

Grammarly exposes unclear and hard-to-follow sentences in the written piece. Sometimes it gives alternatives (if one is available in its database), but usually, it only tells you to rephrase the sentence to make it more understandable.

Monotonous Sentences

If you continuously write similar sentences in a passage, Grammarly will detect these sentences’ monotonous nature and advise you to rephrase them.

Grammarly detecting a monotonous passage

Sound Confident Suggestion

Grammarly suggesting alternatives to sound confident

Politeness Suggestion

Sound more diplomatic with Grammarly!

Delivery

Grammarly Premium catches informal sentence structure like a preposition at the end of a sentence. Some other informalities include inappropriate colloquialisms, split infinitives, etc.

Grammarly points out informality.

Engagement

Grammarly Premium points out overused words and suggests using an alternative here, but sometimes it doesn’t provide suitable options like the Thesaurus Writing Tool.

Grammarly suggesting engaging alternatives

Most of the time, the suggestions are worth considering, though.

Grammarly is suggesting more engaging alternatives

Grammarly Free vs. Grammarly Premium

The Grammarly Free version catches all critical issues as it checks for 150 Grammar Rules to determine errors in a document. The Premium version looks for over 400 Grammar Rules and detects far more problems than the Free version.

I wrote an article and checked it through both the Free and the Premium versions. Here is the difference between how the stats of both look like before making the suggested changes:

Original Stats (before checking with Grammarly Free)

Original Stats (before checking with Grammarly Premium)

After editing another article and making the suggested changes, here’s how the Free version stats look like:

Grammarly Free Stats

After editing the same article using the Premium version, the stats look like the following:

Grammarly Premium Stats

Grammarly vs. Human Proofreader

Grammarly is a marvelous tool, but it is incomparable to human proofreading. Grammarly cannot detect the sense and meaning of the written text. It catches blunders using English language and grammar rules as efficiently as a machine can. However, some mistakes can slip through Grammarly if there is no syntax error, but just a linguistic or semantic misuse.

Grammarly didn’t suggest anything for a nonsense sentence

Grammarly is not an alternative to human proofreading

Pros of using Grammarly in 2021

Context-Based Grammar Checker

Grammarly is evolving with time and has gotten pretty accurate in identifying common mistakes. Its extensive database helps Grammarly recognize errors based on the context.

Real-Time Grammar and Spelling Checker

Grammarly scours the whole text for errors when you provide it a written document. Thankfully, it also checks for blunders as you write or edit your text in any product form – Chrome Extension, Online Editor, Word Add-in, Desktop App (Windows and Mac), and the Grammarly Keyboard for iOS and Android.

Accessible Interface and Robust Editing

With Grammarly, you get a highly-efficient software, which is not only a phenomenal editor but also incredibly easy to use.

Customizations – Set Goals and Personal Dictionary

You can customize your Set Goals and your Personal Dictionary with the ‘Add to Dictionary’ feature in the Error Cards. This element is convenient for proper nouns and personal vocabulary (even words from a different language).

Tone Detector

Based on your Goals, Grammarly, through its tone detector emojis, cautions you of your tone – the vocabulary and phrasing you are using. You can adjust goals keeping in mind your target audience and choose the most appropriate words to use.

Clarity Checker

Apart from basic grammatical mistakes, Grammarly helps you fix linguistic oversights. It tracks down a wide range of slip-ups, including dangling modifiers, intricate text, split infinitives, passive voice misuse, redundancies, and many other slips. In essence, the Clarity Checker elevates the level of your writing.

Plagiarism Checker

It is a bonus in all senses of the word. It might not be essential to the app, but it certainly assists users. Grammarly plagiarism checker is not the absolute best in the industry, but it does the job swiftly. It checks plagiarism across 16 billion pages on the internet and ProQuest’s database.

Error Cards

Error cards are compact, simple, and instructional. They serve their purpose elegantly. Any shortcoming that you experience in Grammarly’s usage so far is due to its still-not-so-extensive database. Error cards also fall short when it comes to giving suggestions due to this very reason. Otherwise, they are usually handy.

Free Version

You can proofread, remove typos, and analyze the content quickly via the app’s free version. You can also use it before buying the Grammarly Premium subscription.

The Grammarly Keyboard

Supported on both Android and iOS, The Grammarly Keyboard App functions like the auto-correct feature. It gives real-time suggestions about the proper use of grammar and spellings in the written text. Grammarly is now available for iPad and supports hardware keyboards as well.

Grammarly Support

Grammarly provides customer support via its extensive database and email. By now, almost all popular queries have a database entry. Furthermore, the Grammarly Blog assists with learning English grammar rules.

Knowledge-base

Grammarly has amassed a plethora of information in its database, which helps run the application smoothly. This knowledge allows the app to identify problems based on the context. You will find accurate solutions for most common issues, thanks to its extensive database growing with time.

Grammarly Blog

The Grammarly Blog focuses on teaching people English grammar rules and common mistakes in their writing. There are dedicated articles for each item; separate sections cover different punctuation like Commas, Hyphens, etc.

Writing Stats

The weekly writing stats sent via email and the downloadable detailed performance stats PDF give you comprehensive feedback on your writing. This feature helps you pinpoint your mistakes better than anything else available in the market.

Insights

Grammarly Insights are the real-time feedback that the application provides regarding your writing. It bases it on your Set Goals. You can customize this feedback according to your needs, which can be amazingly valuable if you cover different audiences. Insights also include the reading time and speaking time, which is particularly useful to Vloggers, YouTubers, etc., who can quickly determine how much time their script will take on the video.

Reliability

Grammarly is the most popular and best-in-class digital writing assistant tool, growing exponentially both in features and number of users, indicating that it will provide the best services to its customer base.

Grammarly is notably popular among professional writers, bloggers, publishers, marketers, and businesses, showing that Grammarly has a demanding clientele to please. Therefore, their standards are supposed to be (and they are) higher than the competition.

Product Investment

Having more than a million downloads per month and being a top-1000 website by traffic globally, Grammarly has raised $200M in total funding at a valuation of $1B+ so far, which speaks volumes of its success, investors’ trust in the product, and its projections.

Cons of using Grammarly in 2021

Free Version is Limited

The Free version identifies only critical grammatical errors, typos, and limited ‘conciseness.’ Moreover, it only lists the number of total advanced clarity issues in the text with an ‘Ad’ that keeps asking you to buy a Premium subscription for these issues. It also doesn’t support plagiarism checking.

Premium Version is a Tad Expensive

The biggest drawback of Grammarly is that it is a tad expensive for many. Grammarly Premium can be a costly subscription at $30 per month if you don’t have much writing to proofread.

Semantic Issues

Grammarly is good at picking fundamental grammar mistakes – even context-based grammar issues, but it still cannot understand what you have written. If you write a nonsense sentence with no grammatical fault, Grammarly will consider it a correct sentence. It can also happen with incomplete sentences.

Insufficient

Grammarly is a mighty grammar checker but lags behind when it comes to rating the whole document. Its scoring is based on mistakes and length of words and sentences only, unlike some other tools that provide a more comprehensive text scoring. Grammarly is also not an alternative to human proofreading as it can’t understand the meaning of the written content.

Limited Vocabulary

Grammarly has a limited vocabulary in its database so far, which leads to inaccurate synonym suggestions at times. The Thesaurus Writing Tool, another free digital writing assistant, has an extensive vocabulary due to its vast Thesaurus.com database and offers far more vocabulary suggestions and alternatives.

Alternatives Not Provided for Every Issue

For many suggestions like Intricate Text, Split Infinitives, etc., Grammarly doesn’t provide an alternative. You have to rephrase the sentence yourself. Grammarly only points out bloopers sometimes, which can be a little frustrating for amateur writers.

Not Supported Everywhere

Grammarly is not supported everywhere yet. The most prominent places are Google Docs (in Beta at the moment – which doesn’t include Grammarly Premium corrections and the Pop-up Grammarly Editor) and desktop applications. However, it works on the web versions of these desktop applications via its browser extension.

Insufficient Formatting Options in the Editor

Grammarly Editor is imperfect for writing purposes. It is incomparable to authoritative text editors like Microsoft Word and Google Docs. So you have to write your text in another editor and import it in Grammarly for proofreading if you want proper formatting of your document.

Irritating and Aggressive Advertising

Grammarly wants you to upgrade all the time. When using the Free version, you’ll get constant notifications to upgrade to Premium to check for issues that are not available in the Free version.

Only One Language Supported

Grammarly doesn’t offer support for languages other than English. There is also no option available for translation like Ginger.

Only One Account for Premium

The Grammarly Premium account gives you only one license for use on up to five devices. It is an obstacle for people with multiple accounts for different purposes. Grammarly Premium is already expensive, so buying two licenses is not feasible for the majority.

Top 5 Free Grammarly Alternatives 2021

Grammarly stands out as the most prominent and well-received tool when you compare all popular digital writing assistants. It has been endorsed and appreciated by countless publishers and writers. Grammarly has become a top product in the digital writing industry with its robust marketing and significant NLP and AI improvements.

Grammarly Inc. has secured enough funding as of late 2019 to improve its natural language learning database to enhance its AI-based application further. Keeping all this in mind, it is evident that Grammarly is dominating the market. Still, there are a few products that come close for one reason or the other. Here are the top 5 Grammarly alternatives in 2021:

ProWritingAid

Pros: Long-Form Writing (Books, etc.), Writing Insights, Separate Checking of Issues, MS Word Add-in, Efficient Browser Extension

Cons: Short-Form Writing, Fewer Errors Detected, Not for Amateurs, No Free Version

ProWritingAid is considered a worthy alternative to Grammarly (notably for long-form writing – books, etc.), but it falls far behind Grammarly for short-form writing.

ProWritingAid is accurate, feature-rich, and integrates well with apps and websites, but the interface is not as user-friendly as Grammarly’s. It also reveals fewer issues as Grammarly has advanced context-based grammar checking capabilities.

ProWritingAid offers better pricing and value for money (Premium is $60 per year, $70 with Plagiarism Checker), and it also has a Lifetime Plan. However, it doesn’t have a free plan like Grammarly. The Online Editor has no word limit, unlike Grammarly’s 60-pages or 100,000 character limit.

ProWritingAid provides many options/tabs to check for each issue separately, handy for longer articles or books. However, it is not as user-friendly for short writing pieces.

It also presents a better analysis of the whole document and provides a lot of information regarding your writing, which you can use to improve your writing style.

ProWritingAid has an easy-to-scroll-through panel at the right-side that contains corrections and suggestions, which you can use to see all issues without scrolling the entire document.

ProWritingAid has the following tabs to check for each issue separately:

Grammar
Spelling
Overused
Readability
Cliche
Sticky
Diction
All Repeats
Echoes
Thesaurus
Dialogue
Consistency
Pacing
Pronouns
Alliterations
Homonyms
Transition
Acronym

Ginger

Pros: Keeps Formatting, 60 Languages & Translation, Built-in Dictionary, Browser Extension, Free Version

Cons: Fewer Issues Detected, Fewer Insights, Interface is just OK, no MS Word plugin

Ginger is also a notable competitor of Grammarly. It has a free version, and it integrates well with different websites. However, it doesn’t have an MS Word plugin. It is also not as accessible due to its clunky interface.

Ginger is not as powerful as Grammarly, but it is still a decent alternative. Ginger’s annual subscription is $89.88 (cheaper than Grammarly’s).

Ginger keeps the original formatting of the text document, which is pleasant. It also has a Translator within the app that supports 60 languages. Also, there’s a built-in dictionary, which you can use to find alternatives to overused words.

WhiteSmoke

Pros: Cheap, Integrates with Platforms, Gimmicks – i.e., Templates, etc.

Cons: Interface is awful, Fewer Mistakes Caught

WhiteSmoke is cheap to use, but it has a horrible interface. It integrates with many platforms, but it is incomparable to an advanced tool like Grammarly. It has some useful gimmicks like templates for specific writing purposes, i.e., Sorry, Thank You, Condolences, etc.

The annual subscription of WhiteSmoke costs $79.99. However, it is not advanced enough to be considered better value for money.

Thesaurus Writing Tool

Pros: Free, Vocabulary suggestions on hovering the cursor over a word, Blog

Cons: Editor is dreadful to use, Ruins Formatting

Thesaurus Writing Tool is a free-to-use online text editor powered by Thesaurus.com. You can copy/paste or write directly in the Editor. It doesn’t retain the original formatting, which makes it a bit uncomfortable to use. Just click on the ‘Check for Grammar’ button, and it will work its magic. It also has a dedicated blog that teaches you how to write better.

The Thesaurus Writing Tool is unimpressive when checking grammatical errors, but it is highly potent in vocabulary suggestions. Its interface is simple but insufficient. Hover over any word, and it will show you a vocabulary card with a lot of synonyms. Clicking on any suggestion will replace the original term with the selected item. The replaced word gets a yellow underline. An undo option is available if you are not happy with your word selection.

Hemingway App

Pros: Free, Information about Text, Text Readability Score

Cons: Ruins Formatting, Fewer Mistakes Caught

Hemingway App is yet another incredible tool that is quite capable and straight-forward. It is convenient for analyzing your document as it scores the content based on its readability. It has a free web app and a paid desktop app. You can copy/paste into the online Editor or write directly, but it messes up the formatting.

Hemingway App identifies the use of passive voice, adverbs, and difficulty of reading. It recognizes long sentences – even the easy-to-read ones – as complex, which affects the document’s grade.

Final Verdict: Grammarly Review 2021

Using advanced NLP and AI, Grammarly free is hands-down the best and must-have writing, editing, and proofreading tool for everyone that checks for spelling and critical grammar mistakes. Easy to use, compatible with most popular products, and trusted by millions of users, Grammarly instantly elevates your writing everywhere; statuses, comments, emails, documents, tweets, you name it! Trying out the free version before upgrading to a premium plan also makes sense.

Grammarly Premium is a more robust and advanced tool with numerous amazing features like an advanced clarity checker, tone detector, and plagiarism checker. The Premium version is unparalleled when complemented with knowledge of the English language and some other tools. However, it is insufficient as a standalone tool because it can make slips (especially semantic ones).

I highly recommend Grammarly Premium to professionals (freelancers, writers, bloggers, authors, publishers, and editors) who require intensive use of the app. Similarly, Grammarly for Business is a good investment if your team does intensive writing. Non-intensive users should stick to the Free version as it suffices.

Aa one user said, “Grammarly Premium helps you sound like a pro, or at least helps you avoid looking like a fool!”

FAQs About Grammarly

Is Grammarly a good app?

Yes, Grammarly stands out among its competitors as it has advanced context-based grammar checking capabilities, thanks to its up-to-date natural language processing and artificial intelligence.

Is Grammarly Premium worth it?

Yes, for the most part. However, it is a tad expensive for many. It is suitable for professionals and businesses that have lots of writing needs. It identifies several advanced grammar issues that the Free version only counts. However, it is not a substitute for human proofreading as it can make linguistic mistakes that a human can easily find.

Is Grammarly supported in Google Docs?

It is in Beta at the moment. So, it should be available shortly. At the moment, it is imperfect as it only specifies the number of errors. You have to scroll the document to find those mistakes (underlined red) on your own. It has already started working in the comments, though.

Is Grammarly supported in Quora?

Yes, Grammarly works with Quora.

Is Grammarly supported in Medium?

Yes, Grammarly is available for Medium.

Can Grammarly replace a professional editor?

No, it can’t. Grammarly can make simple semantic mistakes because it doesn’t know the meaning of the written text, so it cannot replace a professional editor. It is only suitable for catching syntactic issues.

Is Grammarly supported in Microsoft Word?

Yes, a plugin is available. It is an efficient plugin as it gives similar options in Microsoft Word as it does in its online editor and desktop application. Grammarly is now available for both Windows and macOS versions of MS Word.

Is Grammarly available for Mac?

Yes, Grammarly’s desktop app is available for macOS. Grammarly is available for both Windows and macOS. Grammarly for MS Word is also available for Mac now.

Is Grammarly supported in WordPress?

Yes, it is supported. You can use Grammarly in WordPress via its browser extension.

Is Grammarly supported in Gmail?

Yes, it is. You can edit your email using the Grammarly browser extension within Gmail. However, it is not the best solution for lengthy content. For extended text, the Online Editor, the Desktop App, and the MS Word Add-in are better options.

Does Grammarly work offline?

No, it doesn’t. Grammarly uses its database to run the app, so an internet connection is necessary.

Does Grammarly help you improve your writing?

Yes. If you read the weekly stats, detailed performance stats PDF, and Grammarly Blog for grammar rules and writing tips and try to implement them in your writing, Grammarly can significantly improve your writing capabilities.

Is Grammarly Safe and Secure?

Yes, Grammarly is quite safe, as Google verifies it. Moreover, Grammarly is as secure as any other site that uses SSL/TLS encryption. It is also reliable for plagiarism checking as it doesn’t violate your privacy.

What is the Grammarly cancellation refund policy?

You can get your money back if you are not satisfied with the Premium subscription by contacting Grammarly support within ten days.

Is Grammarly a reliable checker?

Yes, Grammarly outperforms its competitors. Yet, it cannot surpass a professional human editor.

Is Grammarly available for Android/iOS?

Yes, it is. You can use the Grammarly Keyboard to edit your text for grammar and spelling errors by installing the Grammarly Keyboard app from the Play Store or the App Store. It works like the auto-correct feature. Grammarly is now available on iPad as well.

Check out Grammarly for yourself.

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The post The Most Comprehensive Grammarly Review Ever first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

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29 mars 2021/par Service comm.

Réinventez votre clôture financière au niveau entité et groupe

Actualités, ERP & Applications, SAP

Clôture provisoire, clôture définitive, clôture légale, clôture de gestion ou clôture de groupe : pour répondre aux multiples attentes en matière de clôture comptable, dans le respect des délais, les services financiers du monde entier utilisent des outils logiciels. Afin d’optimiser la clôture financière, il faut une stratégie cohérente et bien menée pour la gestion des systèmes, individus et processus : des processus de comptabilité transactionnelle à la clôture d’entité, en passant par le reporting d’entreprise, financier et de gestion, ou encore les déclarations. Cela requiert une gouvernance robuste, de la centralisation des processus et contrôles de conformité jusqu’à la gestion des données de base. Et tout cela se fait maintenant à distance.

La transformation de la clôture financière ne se résume pas à un projet ponctuel : il s’agit d’un parcours continu et incrémental, et les gains perçus dès les premières étapes de ce processus d’amélioration peuvent être considérables. Cela se traduit par une réduction de la durée du cycle de clôture, des risques et des frais d’audit, mais aussi par un moindre recours aux ressources financières et comptables internes pour les activités de clôture.

En limitant les heures supplémentaires, l’amplitude des journées et le travail répétitif liés aux activités de clôture, les entreprises aux opérations de clôture financière optimisées seront mieux positionnées pour retenir et attirer des talents comptables hautement performants ou à fort potentiel, et ce dans un environnement où le service financier est amené à jouer un rôle de plus en plus stratégique.

Le processus de clôture financière comporte de nombreuses étapes et les domaines à améliorer ne manquent pas. Rejoignez-nous le 16 février pour le sommet virtuel Finance and Risk pour obtenir plus d’insights de la part de pairs et d’experts SAP.

Max Koebler, SAP, concernant l’amélioration du processus de clôture d’entité

Pour réaliser rapidement une clôture financière, il faut exécuter de multiples étapes de processus correctement, dans les délais et dans le bon ordre. Des lacunes en matière de communication peuvent entraîner des retards qui compromettent le respect des délais de clôture.

De nombreuses entreprises gèrent le processus à l’aide d’une liste de contrôle, généralement dans Excel. Chaque entité de l’entreprise doit clôturer ses comptes et cela implique de nombreuses étapes et souvent différentes personnes. Souvent, différentes parties de l’entreprise gèrent différents sous-ensembles de la clôture (partage par division ou par localisation géographique par exemple). Ainsi, de nombreuses listes de contrôle Excel sont utilisées pour gérer le processus. Comme pour la plupart des étapes du processus de clôture financière, ces activités manuelles sont propices aux erreurs et particulièrement chronophages. La gestion du processus de clôture d’entité peut clairement bénéficier d’une standardisation, d’une centralisation et d’une automatisation accrues.

Philip Aliband, SAP, concernant la rationalisation du reporting de groupe et du processus de consolidation

Les entreprises doivent effectuer une consolidation d’entreprise et un reporting de groupe précis et dans les temps. La consolidation financière au niveau groupe constitue une tâche critique, hautement complexe et risquée. Avec les multiples entités d’entreprise, systèmes ERP, réglementations comptables, devises et personnes impliqués, la consolidation peut constituer un véritable défi. De nombreuses entreprises travaillent dans un monde fait de silos de données, sources d’inefficacités, de temps perdu et de frustration. Par exemple, des systèmes isolés conduisent souvent à des enregistrements comptables incomplets, à des processus de rapprochement particulièrement longs et même à différentes versions de la réalité.

Une consolidation unifiée offre une solution efficace pour relever ces défis. Cette nouvelle approche combine clôture locale et clôture de groupe, pour offrir bien plus de rapidité, de précision et de transparence à l’échelle du groupe. L’accès direct aux données financières des entités du groupe élimine le besoin de recourir à différents outils de clôture indépendants. Les données de clôture locale et les ajustements requis se reflètent immédiatement dans les résultats du reporting de groupe, sans avoir à les transférer manuellement. Ainsi, le processus de clôture est considérablement accéléré, libérant par conséquent les membres des équipes comptables et financières, qui pourront mener des activités à plus forte valeur ajoutée et devenir de véritables conseillers de confiance dans l’entreprise.

Krzysztof Noster, de Stanley Black & Decker, concernant la centralisation du processus de clôture et l’automatisation des rapprochements de comptes

Stanley Black & Decker renforce l’efficacité et l’automatisation de ses processus de comptabilité, de conformité, de reporting et de traitement des transactions grâce à SAP S/4HANA pour une gestion financière centralisée. Non seulement l’entreprise gagne du temps pour des activités à plus forte valeur, mais elle réduit aussi le nombre d’erreurs. Elle centralise non seulement son reporting, mais aussi ses processus comptables. Avec SAP Account Substantiation and Automation par BlackLine, Stanley Black & Decker a pu standardiser et rationaliser ses processus de clôture, complétant et étendant ainsi les solutions financières SAP. Cette application cloud optimise les étapes essentielles tout au long du parcours et soutient des pratiques de comptabilité continue afin d’améliorer l’efficacité, la productivité et l’intégrité des données.

Pour toutes ces raisons, je vous encourage pleinement à participer au sommet virtuel SAP Finance and Risk 2021 !

The post Réinventez votre clôture financière au niveau entité et groupe appeared first on SAP France News.

Source de l’article sur sap.com

17 mars 2021/par Service comm.

Qu’est-ce que l’ERP Cloud ?

Actualités, ERP & Applications, SAP

Avant d’aborder le sujet de l’ERP Cloud, rappelons ce qu’est un ERP. Introduit dans les années 90, le progiciel de gestion intégré (ERP) est un logiciel qui automatise les processus, que ces derniers relèvent de la finance, distribution, production, etc. Initialement, les systèmes ERP étaient souvent implémentés chez les clients, dans leurs centres de données. Ils étaient alors axés sur l’automatisation et l’orchestration des activités et des ressources internes. Au fil du temps, ils ont évolué pour s’adapter aux nouveaux besoins.

Plus récemment, la technologie cloud computing est arrivée et les logiciels ont été davantage distribués sous forme de services, via internet. L’ERP, comme beaucoup d’autres applications, a migré dans le cloud. Logiciel en tant que service (SaaS), l’ERP Cloud est disponible par abonnement plutôt qu’à l’achat. Mais l’ERP Cloud ne se limite pas à un nouveau modèle de distribution et de tarification. S’il rencontre aujourd’hui un tel succès, c’est parce qu’il aide les entreprises à prospérer à l’ère du numérique.

Pourquoi l’ERP Cloud ?

Pendant plus de 25 ans, les systèmes ERP ont apporté de la valeur aux entreprises, en les aidant à augmenter leur productivité et à obtenir une visibilité accrue. Mais le monde (et la concurrence) a changé.

La façon dont les entreprises fonctionnent et créent de la valeur est différente aujourd’hui. Elles sont d’abord sous pression pour automatiser leurs opérations. Quand elles ont déjà une certaine maturité numérique, comme beaucoup de grandes entreprises, elles cherchent à optimiser et changer leurs processus. Ainsi que des opportunités pour continuer à croître et à s’étendre. Les entreprises travaillent également davantage en réseau. Elles s’appuient sur des partenaires pour la production, distribution, gestion des ventes, le service, le support… et même pour leurs activités principales.

Ce monde globalisé et connecté exige de nouvelles technologies et systèmes, capables de gérer les opérations internes et externes, ainsi que les réseaux d’entreprises dans le monde entier. Et l’ERP Cloud rend tout cela possible, permettant aux entreprises de tirer parti des changements et d’être plus agiles.

En parallèle, les clients, de plus en plus férus de numérique, sont plus exigeants. Ils veulent des livraisons plus rapides, des offres continuellement améliorées, une fiabilité accrue et des coûts réduits.

Les anciens ERP ne peuvent plus suivre le rythme. Pourquoi ? Parce qu’ils ne s’adaptent pas facilement au changement, reposent sur une technologie à la maintenance coûteuse. Et aussi parce qu’il est peu probable qu’ils aident les entreprises à se conformer aux nouvelles réglementations.

Résultat : la plupart des anciens systèmes ERP peinent à fournir la vitesse, la flexibilité et la business intelligence nécessaires à la transformation, croissance et compétitivité des entreprises.

Comment l’ERP SaaS a-t-il évolué ?

Au début des années 2000, les applications cloud étaient surtout des solutions autonomes. Des outils de gestion de la relation client (CRM), de marketing automation, de gestion des notes de frais et des déplacements, etc.

Au milieu des années 2000, les principaux éditeurs de logiciels ont lancé leurs solutions d’ERP Cloud. Beaucoup avaient des fonctionnalités limitées et n’avaient pas été fondamentalement conçues pour le « cloud ». Une grande partie de ces solutions ont été adoptées lentement. Parce qu’elles étaient trop rigides, ne pouvaient suivre la rapidité du changement ni apporter la profondeur de fonction requise. Elles ne pouvaient pas non plus s’intégrer ou se connecter à différents systèmes ou données, limitant de fait la portée du changement et la croissance des entreprises.

Les systèmes ERP d’aujourd’hui ont considérablement changé la donne. Tout comme la courbe d’acceptation et d’adoption de l’ERP Cloud. Pourtant, il reste important de distinguer les systèmes ERP conçus pour le cloud de ceux qui simplement opèrent sur le cloud.

Pourquoi l’ERP Cloud est-il aujourd’hui si important ?

Les entreprises à forte croissance se sont souvent imposées comme des spécialistes dans leurs secteurs, grâce à des relations étroites avec leurs clients et fournisseurs, davantage de processus automatisés, et un besoin constant d’optimiser l’efficacité de leurs ressources et de passer à l’étape suivante de leur croissance. Les nouveaux environnements ont également entraîné un besoin d’innovation plus rapide. Ce qui a souvent créé un créneau pour ces entreprises, qui deviennent des spécialistes travaillant dans un petit ensemble de marchés verticaux, tels que la production de métaux pour l’aérospatiale ou les services de distribution aux restaurants.

Pour croître plus rapidement, ces entreprises doivent se développer dans de nouveaux marchés, lancer de nouveaux produits et services, faire des acquisitions et réagir aux échecs de leurs concurrents. Répondre à ces changements et saisir les opportunités au moment opportun est crucial. Un ancien système ERP rigide et difficilement extensible limitera la croissance et les changements positifs.

De même, la coopération entre les services est essentielle. Mais les systèmes de reporting indépendants – souvent basés sur des fichiers Excel, extraits de données ou systèmes cloisonnés – compliquent l’échange d’informations. Ils entraînent aussi des retards et des erreurs dans les opérations. Or, le partage efficace d’informations est vital pour prendre rapidement de bonnes décisions.

Aussi, les dirigeants sont souvent très soucieux des coûts. Et la constitution de réserves au bilan pour développer l’entreprise exige un examen du fonds de roulement, des dépenses d’exploitation et des investissements. Pourtant, de nombreux systèmes comptables hérités peinent à gérer ces détails. Et peinent aussi à se connecter au système comptable élargi ou à l’ERP. Les anciens outils et systèmes ne répondent pas aux besoins actuels, ne contribuent pas à l’efficacité opérationnelle et ne sont pas structurés ou maintenus pour répondre aux nouvelles exigences.

Enfin, si les entreprises sont promptes à adopter des solutions technologiques qui améliorent leurs opérations, beaucoup ont investi dans des solutions déconnectées pour résoudre des problèmes spécifiques à un service ou à un secteur. Ils ont par exemple investi dans des systèmes de gestion de la production (MES), de gestion des services de terrain, ou des logiciels de centre d’appels. Cette approche peut conduire à des dépenses importantes. Mais aussi à une grande complexité, lorsque ces solutions se connectent difficilement au système ERP. L’ERP Cloud, avec ses nouvelles technologies et ses avantages, change tout cela et offre une intégration harmonieuse.

Les systèmes modernes d’ERP Cloud améliorent le flux de travail grâce à des processus rationalisés, ce qui aide les entreprises à fournir un meilleur service à la clientèle, à identifier les opportunités d’upselling et à améliorer le cycle « order to cash ».

Quels sont les 10 principaux avantages de l’ERP Cloud ?

Les entreprises qui sont passées à l’ERP Cloud l’ont fait pour les avantages suivants :

Réduction des coûts: en tant que service par abonnement, il n’y a pas de frais initiaux pour l’achat et l’installation du matériel et des logiciels. De plus, vous réduisez les coûts informatiques et les frais de personnel. En effet, les mises à niveau et la maintenance sont prises en charge par le fournisseur. Selon le modèle de déploiement de l’ERP Cloud que vous choisissez – cloud privé ou public – les économies peuvent être significatives. Le cloud public, en particulier, permet d’importantes économies financières et de temps dans la gestion de la maintenance.
Implémentation rapide et flexible : la mise en place d’un ERP Cloud est très rapide. Votre fournisseur SaaS s’occupe des installations de matériel et de logiciels et met à disposition un personnel spécialisé dans la gestion des centres de données. Tout comme les applications mobiles que nous connaissons tous, la même interface utilisateur intuitive et la même expérience sont disponibles dans les applications d’ERP Cloud. Cela vous permet de saisir les opportunités en gagnant rapidement en productivité. La maîtrise des applications est rapide, l’automatisation prévaut, et le lancement de nouveaux produits dans de nouveaux secteurs et environnements devient facile.
Amélioration des opérations : les fournisseurs d’ERP en mode SaaS gèrent et fournissent des mises à jour continues du système. Ils améliorent les opérations, changent les processus obsolètes, introduisent des innovations, technologies et fonctionnalités qui soutiennent les meilleures pratiques. L’ERP Cloud améliore et accélère, non seulement les pratiques financières et comptables, mais les opérations dans toute l’entreprise. Et peut même s’étendre aux partenaires et aux réseaux.
Simplicité et automatisation : les entreprises peuvent consolider d’anciennes applications autonomes, standardiser et intégrer toutes les applications existantes et nouvelles. Elles peuvent aussi éliminer l’utilisation de systèmes déconnectés et les solutions de contournement qui existent sur les feuilles de calcul Excel. Cette synchronisation aide à réduire la complexité.
Nouvelles fonctionnalités : les fournisseurs de SaaS gèrent le logiciel qui est partagé par toutes les entreprises qui l’utilisent. Cela permet aux fournisseurs de développer rapidement de nouvelles fonctions, améliorations. Et de les fournir à toutes les entreprises par le biais de mises à jour continues, ainsi que plusieurs nouvelles versions plus importantes par an. Comme les mises à jour sont livrées à tout le monde en même temps, vous ne manquez jamais une opportunité comme par le passé. Lorsque vous attendiez que votre fournisseur mette à jour votre système ERP personnalisé.
Visibilité accrue : obtenir des insights nécessite des données et des outils d’entreprise fiables pour extraire les informations pertinentes. Les ERP Cloud modernes ont été conçus pour déverrouiller le big data. Afin que vous puissiez accéder aux informations cachées dans des ensembles de données vastes et complexes. Les bons systèmes d’ERP Cloud sont construits sur des modèles de données plus récents qui permettent un traitement en mémoire à grande vitesse, avec une architecture de données simplifiée. Et si les anciens systèmes ERP fournissent des outils de reporting, les analyses approfondies et intégrées disponibles via le cloud améliorent la prise de décision et les bénéfices dans toute l’organisation. Voir les tendances, prévoir les changements et automatiser les processus améliorent l’utilisation des ressources et, finalement, le service à la clientèle.
Prise en charge de l’ERP mobile : Les produits ERP en mode SaaS garantissent que l’accès aux informations pour les collaborateurs, les sous-traitants, les fournisseurs et les clients est disponible et sécurisé sur les appareils mobiles, partout et à tout moment. La mobilité ne peut pas être pensée après coup. Accéder à des interfaces modernes, conçues pour s’adapter aux écrans mobiles, est important pour les utilisateurs.
Accès aux nouvelles technologies : Des technologies avancées et intelligentes sont intégrées dans les solutions ERP SaaS modernes pour améliorer la productivité. Ces technologies comprennent l’Intelligence Artificielle (IA), le Machine Learning, et l’Internet des Objets (IoT). Ce dernier permet notamment à des dispositifs (machines ou capteurs) d’envoyer des données à des applications via le cloud.
Une sécurité renforcée : Avec les systèmes ERP Cloud, la sécurité et les sauvegardes de données sont assurées par des experts en sécurité à plein temps. Les fournisseurs de cloud computing disposent généralement de la meilleure sécurité de données qui existe. Les failles de sécurité dans les grandes et moyennes entreprises se produisent généralement avec des systèmes sur site. Cependant, une chaîne n’est pas plus solide que son maillon le plus faible. Pour éviter la vulnérabilité aux points d’intégration, les systèmes ERP Cloud doivent être complets, connectés et collaboratifs.
Scalabilité : Comme la croissance peut être difficile à prévoir, la scalabilité est importante. Avec une solution SaaS, vous pouvez simplement ajouter une puissance de calcul ou une capacité de stockage de données supplémentaire. Ce qui vous évite d’engager des dépenses d’investissement importantes.

BONUS : avec l’ERP Cloud, si les entreprises utilisatrices identifient des problèmes communs ou des besoins non satisfaits, elles peuvent pousser le fournisseur à apporter des changements. La volonté de la foule prévaut souvent. En conséquence, l’innovation est plus réactive et plus rapide.

L’ERP Cloud est-il sûr ?

Avec toutes les actualités concernant les violations de données et les virus, on peut se demander si l’ERP Cloud est sécurisé. De fait, aucun système n’est inviolable. Mais le degré de sécurité de votre système dépend de la manière dont il a été déployé et de qui le gère.

Voici quelques points clés à prendre en compte :

Vol de données : C’est probablement l’un des sujets les plus brûlants de l’actualité. De grandes entreprises ont vu leurs données volées et les informations privées de leurs clients compromises. Toutefois, l’examen des cas de violations de données montre que ces dernières étaient, le plus souvent, stockées dans les locaux de l’entreprise, et non dans le cloud.
Perte de données : Perdre des fichiers est une chose terrible. Mais cela peut arriver lors d’une catastrophe naturelle, d’un effacement de données par erreur ou d’une panne informatique. L’unique solution pour s’en prémunir est de faire des sauvegardes régulières. Avec l’ERP Cloud, les fournisseurs d’infrastructures effectuent des sauvegardes hors site régulières et de manière redondante. En cas de perte de données, il est facile de les restaurer pour que le système soit rapidement remis en marche.
Sécurité : il est de la plus haute importance d’avoir le bon niveau de sécurité. Les ETI disposent généralement d’un personnel informatique limité. Ce personnel s’occupe généralement de l’infrastructure, des mises à jour du système et des problèmes des utilisateurs. Les PME, quant à elles, disposent très rarement d’un personnel de sécurité informatique à plein temps. Avec un fournisseur d’ERP Cloud réputé, les PME/ETI ont automatiquement des experts en sécurité à plein temps. Disponibles 24 /24 et 7/7, ils s’assurent que toutes les mises à jour et procédures de sécurité sont réalisées.

Compte tenu de ce qui précède, l’ERP Cloud constitue une option plus sûre qu’un déploiement sur site.

Ne remettez pas à demain ce que vous pouvez faire aujourd’hui

L’ERP Cloud est une solution éprouvée et mature. Aujourd’hui utilisée par des milliers d’entreprises dans le monde, et probablement par bon nombre de vos concurrents.

Pour la majorité des ETI et grandes entreprises, la migration vers le « cloud » est une étape inévitable pour passer au niveau supérieur. Les avantages de processus accélérés, d’une visibilité accrue et d’un retour sur investissement plus rapide peuvent être vérifiés par des rapports d’analystes (de Gartner, Aberdeen, Forrester, etc.) et par des exemples de réussite de clients de votre secteur.

Publié en anglais sur SAP Insights

The post Qu’est-ce que l’ERP Cloud ? appeared first on SAP France News.

Source de l’article sur sap.com

5 mars 2021/par Service comm.

12 Tips to Improve Your Web Design Skills in 2021

Actualités, Actualités

There are many reasons you might be wanting to improve your design skills this year. Perhaps you have extra time on your hands and want to put it to good use. Or maybe you’re new to web design and finding that there’s a lot you still don’t know how to do. It could also be that you recognize that the web is changing, and your skills could use some refreshing to keep up.

Whatever the reason, there are many ways to level up your web design skills in 2021. Here are 12 ideas to get you started:

Tip 1: Niche Down If You Haven’t Already

Jack-of-all-trades designers might be able to say “yes” to everyone. However, they’re going to be stretched very thin as they attempt to strengthen every skill needed to keep up with demand.

It’s much easier to become a trusted designer and to improve your skills if you have a smaller and more specific skill set to develop.

Just keep in mind that niching down doesn’t necessarily mean focusing on a particular industry. For instance, you might choose to be a UX designer instead of a web designer. Or you might specialize in designing ecommerce websites instead of monetized blogs. Just find something that you’re passionate about and will be good at doing, and zero-in on the skills needed for it.

Tip 2: Play Around in the Sandbox

Local development environments are useful for staging websites, doing redesigns, and testing updates safely away from live sites. But you can also use them for experimenting with new design techniques, trends, templates, plugins, and more.

Local by Flywheel is the one I prefer to use:

Here’s a good exercise to start with:

Take a website you like — something you’ve looked at in awe and couldn’t imagine ever building on your own. Then, put yourself to the test. See if you can recreate it in your sandbox.

Don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t figure it out right away. Consult your resources and give yourself time to make sense of what’s going on and implement it with the available skills and tools.

Tip 3: Redesign One of Your First Projects

There’s always a clear evolution in a designer’s skill set, from the day they begin designing to the present day. And that’s a good thing. If your work doesn’t improve or change with time, then you’re going to have a lot of catching up to do when the stagnation begins to hurt your business.

Want to see how much progress you’ve made so far? Revisit one of your first projects and look at it with fresh eyes. I bet you’ll see a big change in how you design today from how you designed that site then.

Now, ask yourself what you would do differently. And then, go to your sandbox and do the redesign.

Tip 4: Work on a Passion Project

A friend of mine is taking a UX design course and needed some users to run through a prototype he created for the class. He could create anything he wanted, so he designed an app related to his other love: Music.

While he could’ve easily thrown together some carbon copy of Spotify or SoundCloud, he came up with a completely new concept. And it was really impressive, to the point where I urged him to put it into production and see if he could list it in the app stores.

I think it’s when we’re really passionate about something that we’re willing to push past our limits. So, carve out some time to tackle that passion project you’ve been toying around with and see where it takes you.

Tip 5: Share Your Designs on Dribbble and Ask for Feedback

One of the reasons UX designers do user testing is how valuable users’ raw input is. While it would be nice to think that design is a completely subjective matter, that isn’t really the case when usability becomes compromised due to design choices.

Understanding what users like and dislike is an important part of taking your design skills to the next level. And a good way to do that is to share your designs on Dribbble.

Here’s an example of UI8 asking for feedback:

Tip 6: Create a Design Toolbox

I’m a huge fan of automation and shortcuts powering things behind the scenes in business.

After all, one of the reasons you become a web designer is so you can design, right? When you’re bogged down with administrative and logistical tasks, that’s time spent away from doing what you enjoy.

One way in which you can streamline your backend processes is by putting together a design toolbox. Your preferred CMS. Flexible templates or apps you use from project to project. Website testing tools. And so on.

As you do this, it’ll force you to examine how you build websites. Are you really working as efficiently as possible? Are there newer apps or systems that’ll help you design better sites? And as you improve your design toolbox, you’ll improve your design skills.

Tip 7: Subscribe to Your Favorite Blogs

I have a hard time recommending this one, only because I’m reluctant to sign up for yet another newsletter. That said, I do see the value in subscribing to some blog newsletters as I don’t always remember to revisit their websites and check out the latest content.

What I’d suggest you do is pick one or two design blogs that have a good variety of content and publish regularly. And then pick one small business or freelance blog.

WebdesignerDepot, of course, is a good one to start with as it comes at a good frequency, recommends great reads from all around the web, and is fluff-free:

I’d also recommend signing up for one that’s focused on your niche as well as one for business.

As a freelancer, I’d vote for the Freelancers’ Union newsletter. There’s always something timely and useful in there.

Tip 8: Listen to a Podcast

I just adopted a second dog, so I’ve spent a lot more time on walks while house-training her. At first, I was stressed about it because it was time spent away from work. However, I started to fill that time with podcasts and found that it helped me work better for the rest of the day.

One reason is that I’ve been listening to work-related podcasts, which are always chock full of helpful tips. Another reason is that it gives my eyes a rest from looking at the screen so that when I come back 15 or so minutes later, I feel refreshed and ready to go.

Rebekah Carter has a good set of web design podcast recommendations to get you started.

Tip 9: Take a Free Online Design Course

There’s an overabundance of information online. If you want to brush up on CSS, there are hundreds of YouTube courses that cover it. If you want to learn how to use a new WordPress plugin, you’ll find dozens of great tutorials across various online course platforms, YouTube channels, and even people’s blogs.

There’s no need to go back to school to become a better designer. Here are five places where you’re bound to find free courses for web designers.

Tip 10: Read a Book on Design Principles or Theory

It’s easy to lose sight of design principles when your clients are clamoring for a website that will make them a lot of money, get them a lot of readers, and so on. Sure, you can design a UI and UX that works, but do you remember why the design choices you made are effective?

Choose a book — just one to start — that’ll help you reconnect with the roots of good web design. Not only will you get a good refresher on web design principles or design theory, but you might learn something brand new.

Here are some of my favorite books for web designers:

Tip 11: Find Your People

Now more than ever, finding a community of like-minded web designers, developers, or freelancers is important. It’s not just about having a group of people to vent to when clients drive you nuts (though that’s great, too).

It’s about finding a group that brings something new to the table and enriches your understanding of web design and what it means to be a web designer.

If you’re on Facebook or LinkedIn, start there. There are tons of web design and freelance groups that have productive discussions every day. If you prefer to meet up with local designers and developers, check out Meetup.

You may be surprised by how many groups there are and the kinds of meetups they have planned.

Tip 12: Attend a Virtual Conference

Did any of you attend a design conference last year? I did. I virtually attended Adobe MAX — from the comfort of my home, in my pajamas, for three days.

I scheduled my assignments around the sessions I wanted to attend and didn’t have to pick one over the other (i.e., “Do I make money or do I learn something new?”).

Some of the sessions showed us how to do more with Adobe’s tools, while some of them featured design and business leaders who shared personal insights on how to work more effectively. It was a great way to shake up my normal routine and to get a ton of information about the future of web design in a short period of time.

Which of These Tips Will You Use to Improve Your Design Skills?

Like I said before, there’s a lot you can do to improve your design skills. Just be careful not to overdo it.

Pick one or two things on this list to start with. If you have more time in your schedule and you’re excited about what you’ve learned so far, add a couple more.

Just take it slowly. Your brain will only be able to absorb so much at once. Plus, the last thing you want is to burn yourself out on skills training and not have the energy to complete your work.

Featured image via Unsplash.

Source

The post 12 Tips to Improve Your Web Design Skills in 2021 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

24 février 2021/par Service comm.

Running an IT Company During the Pandemic: 5 Key Insights From the CEO of Erbis.

Actualités, Méthodes et organisation des process IT

2020 was a transformative year for many industries, and IT and software development was no exception. Customer demands and behavior have changed in many ways, causing companies to quickly react and adjust to these shifts.

Aside from the unpleasant side of the pandemic, such a dynamic environment has led to new solutions and better business models.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

15 février 2021/par Service comm.

10 Best Alternatives to Google Analytics in 2021

Actualités, Actualités

When you think of installing analytics, you probably reach for Google Analytics. And you wouldn’t be alone. The platform’s tight integration with SEO and the implication that using Google products is beneficial to ranking means that Google Analytics is the most commonly installed analytics solution globally.

Google Analytics isn’t a bad choice: it’s free, it’s fairly comprehensive, and it does indeed tie most SEO efforts up with a nice bow.

But Google Analytics is also slow, extremely bad for privacy — both yours and your users’ — and for many people, it’s too unwieldy, having grown organically over the years into a relatively complex UI.

Some alternatives are fast, privacy-friendly, and geared towards different specialisms. Today we’re rounding up the best…

1. Heap

Heap is an event-based analytics platform. That means you can tell not just how many people visited your site but what actions they took when they were there. This isn’t a unique proposition, but Heap is one of the best implementations.

Heap offers an auto-track tool, which is ideal for new installations because you can get up and running immediately and fine-tune the details later. That makes it great for startups, although it’s also the choice of major corporations like Microsoft.

Heap’s free plan includes 60k sessions per year and 12 months of data history, but when you outgrow that, the business plans start at $12,000/year.

2 ChartMogul

ChartMogul is geared towards SaaS that offer subscription plans, staking a claim as the world’s first subscription data platform.

Services like Buffer and Webflow use ChartMogul to monitor their revenue and analyze the ROI of changes to their features, design, and user experience.

Ideally suited for startups, ChartMogul pricing is based on monthly recurring revenue; it has a free plan for up to $10,000 MMR; after that, pricing starts at $100/month.

3. Fathom

Fathom is an awesome, privacy-first analytics solution. It offers a simple dashboard and is ideal for anyone looking for simple analytics information to verify business decisions.

Fathom is ideally suited to freelancers, or entrepreneurs with multiple projects, as it allows you to run multiple domains from a single account. Fathom is entirely cookieless, meaning you can ditch that annoying cookie notice. It’s GDPR, ePrivacy, PECR, CCPA, and COPPA compliant.

There’s a seven-day free trial; after that, Fathom starts at $14/month.

4. FullStory

FullStory is designed to help you develop engaging online products with an emphasis on user experience.

FullStory is a set of tools, making it ideal for large in-house teams or in-house teams working with outside agencies or freelancers. It pitches itself as a single source of truth from which everyone from the marketing department to the database engineers can draw their insights, helping digital teams rapidly iterate by keeping everyone in the same loop.

FullStory uses AI to track and interpret unexpected events, from rage clicks to traffic spikes, and breaks those events down to a dollar-cost, so you can instantly see where your interventions will have the most impact.

There’s a free plan for up to 1k sessions per month; once you outgrow that, you need to talk to the sales team for a quote.

5. Amplitude

Amplitude has one of the most user-friendly dashboards on this list, with tons of power behind it. For project managers trying to make science-based decisions about future development, it’s a godsend.

The downside with Amplitude is that to make the most of its powerful data connections, you need to pump a lot of data in. For that reason, Amplitude is best suited to sites that already have a substantial volume of traffic — among those customers are Cisco and PayPal.

Amplitude provides a free plan, with its core analytics and up to 10m tracked actions per month. For premium plans, you have to contact their sales team for a quote.

6. Mixpanel

Mixpanel is a little bit more than an analytics program, aiming to be a whole suite of web tools it has ventured into split testing and notifications.

Mixpanel is laser-focused on maximizing your sales funnel. One look at the dashboard, and you can see that Mixpanel, while very well designed, has too many features to present them simply; Mixpanel is ideally suited to agencies and in-house development teams with time to invest — you probably want to keep the CEO away from this one.

Mixpanel has a generous free plan for up to 100k monthly users, with its business plans starting at $25/month.

7. Mode

Mode is a serious enterprise-level solution for product intelligence and decision making.

Ideally suited to in-house teams, Mode allows you to monitor financial flow and output the results in investor-friendly reports. You can monitor your entire tech stack and, of course, understand how users are interacting with your product. Wondering who handles the analytics for Shopify? That would be Mode.

Mode has a free plan aimed at individuals, but this tool’s scope is really beyond freelancers, and the free plan’s only likely to appeal to high-price consultants and tech trouble-shooters. For the full business plan, you need to contact Mode’s sales team for a quote.

8. Microanalytics

Microanalytics is a relatively new analytics program with a lightweight, privacy-focused approach.

Microanalytics provides a simple dashboard with acquisitions, user location, technology, and the all-important event tracking to monitor user behavior. Microanalytics is compliant with the web’s most stringent privacy laws, including GDPR, PECR, and CCPA. The tracking code is just 1kb in size, meaning that you’ll hardly notice its footprint in your stats.

Microanalytics is free for up to 10k pageviews/month; after that, the monthly plan starts at $9.

9. GoSquared

GoSquared is another suite of tools, this time aimed at SaaS. Its primary product is its analytics, but it also includes live chat, marketing tools, and a team inbox.

If you’re tired of comparing multiple tools to help make the most of your startup, GoSquared kills several birds with one stone. Perhaps most importantly, if you’re beginning to build a team and don’t have any engineers onboard yet, GoSquared has an award-winning support team and an idiot-proof setup process.

GoSquared has a free plan that’s fine for evaluating the suite and integrating data from day one. As you begin to grow, paid plans start at $40/month.

10. Segment

Segment is a little different from the other analytics tools on this list; Segment is a layer that sits between your site and your analytics. It integrates with many of the tools on this list.

There are several benefits to this approach. The main one is that different teams within your enterprise can access analytics data in a form that suits them — designers can access complex data, and management can stick to revenue flow. It also means that you can switch analytics programs with a single setting in Segment and even migrate historical data into new apps. If you’re an enterprise that wants to future-proof its customer intelligence gathering, Segment is worth considering.

Segment is trusted by some of the web’s best-known names, from IBM to Levis, and…ahem…Google.

Segment is free for up to 1k visitors per month, and after that, the team plan starts at $120/month.

Source

The post 10 Best Alternatives to Google Analytics in 2021 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

10 février 2021/par Service comm.

Upskilling de vos effectifs : de la stratégie à l’action

Actualités, ERP & Applications, Ressources Humaines, SAP

Un personnel polyvalent est essentiel pour surmonter les défis, notamment ceux liés au COVID-19. Les entreprises reconnaissent désormais l’importance de l’upskilling et du reskilling. Mais elles ne savent pas toujours comment procéder à grande échelle. Ou comment exploiter efficacement des technologies comme les learning management systems (LMS). Si les collaborateurs peuvent accéder à une pléthore de formations, certifications et badges, de nombreux dirigeants peinent encore à discerner ce qui aura le plus d’impact.

Beaucoup d’organisations ont démontré leur capacité à faire basculer leurs salariés en télétravail presque du jour au lendemain. Alors que les entreprises commencent à s’adapter à cette nouvelle réalité, on peut se demander comment progresser sur d’autres problématiques. Comme celle de l’apprentissage sur le lieu de travail. Avec des solutions et des technologies innovantes les dirigeants étudient la meilleure façon d’y parvenir, en évaluant comment communiquer de manière authentique, recueillir des insights et mettre en œuvre des formations plus efficaces.

Parallèlement à une stratégie des effectifs, les entreprises peuvent suivre les étapes suivantes pour soutenir la formation et le développement de leurs collaborateurs.

1. Déterminer les déficits de compétences et anticiper les besoins à long terme

Après avoir déterminé leurs objectifs et évalué plusieurs scénarios, les entreprises élaborent une stratégie des effectifs adaptée. Pour la déployer, une étape clé est de combler l’écart entre les compétences que vos collaborateurs ont déjà et celles qu’ils doivent acquérir. De nombreuses entreprises, lorsqu’elles s’adaptent à l’incertitude économique, évaluent ces écarts tout en déterminant s’il faut réduire les effectifs. Aussi important soit-il de réfléchir aux besoins d’aujourd’hui, considérer les besoins en effectifs et compétences pour les 5 à 10 prochaines années est tout aussi central, si ce n’est plus. Si certaines compétences techniques deviennent rapidement caduques, d’autres, comme le leadership, représentent un investissement pour l’avenir. Il a également été démontré qu’un programme de formation solide aide à attirer et retenir les meilleurs talents.

La première étape dans l’élaboration d’une stratégie de gestion des talents est l’identification des emplois et des carrières qui nécessiteront l’upskilling des collaborateurs. Par exemple, de nombreux emplois seront reconfigurés avec des technologies telles que l’intelligence artificielle (IA). Les organisations devraient commencer par identifier les tâches essentielles à la croissance et à l’amélioration de l’expérience client. Ensuite, elles devraient identifier les ressources nécessaires pour les accomplir. Ressources qui incluent notamment les machines intelligentes et salariés requalifiés. Les nouvelles descriptions de poste devraient refléter le besoin de ces collaborateurs plus stratégiques et créatifs. Dans le cadre du recrutement, les technologies RH peuvent aujourd’hui aider les entreprises à prédire la réussite en évaluant la personnalité et les capacités cognitives des candidats.

De plus, pour évaluer en continu les compétences des collaborateurs, il faut envisager de développer une bibliothèque des compétences. Une base de données de ce que les salariés doivent savoir et des compétences qu’ils doivent posséder pour performer dans leurs fonctions. Dans un sens, il s’agit de descriptions de postes basées sur les compétences.

2. Interroger les collaborateurs

Les plates-formes technologiques RH peuvent recueillir des données en temps réel sur l’expérience des collaborateurs et les objectifs business, afin d’aider les entreprises à bien prioriser en matière d’upskilling. En interrogeant les collaborateurs, elles peuvent diagnostiquer les compétences actuelles d’une personne et recueillir des informations sur les compétences adjacentes.

Comprendre les besoins d’un collaborateur est essentiel, non seulement pour la stratégie d’upskilling, mais aussi pour améliorer l’expérience employé et la fidélisation. Pour de meilleurs résultats à long terme, les entreprises devraient aligner leurs efforts d’upskilling sur les plans de carrière des collaborateurs et leur développement. Un personnel heureux est souvent un personnel productif. Des recherches ont montré que les collaborateurs sont souvent « au mieux de leur carrière » lorsque leurs talents, leurs passions et les besoins de l’entreprise sont alignés.

3. Tenir compte des compétences, des connaissances et de l’expérience

Dans certains domaines, l’acquisition et le transfert des connaissances sont tout aussi importants que les compétences. Bien que les data scientists puissent être très demandés pour intégrer les technologies d’IA dans une entreprise, il n’est pas toujours suffisant qu’un collaborateur cherche à obtenir une certification en data science pour assurer la fonction. Les candidats devront avoir une connaissance approfondie des mathématiques ou de l’informatique pour comprendre le fonctionnement des algorithmes. Lorsque les entreprises n’ont pas la taille, la crédibilité ou l’expertise nécessaires dans certains domaines, elles peuvent s’associer à des institutions, organisations académiques ou professionnelles, pour une formation personnalisée.

Un cadre d’apprentissage largement référencé, le modèle « 70-20-10 », encourage les entreprises à promouvoir 70 % de l’apprentissage par l’expérience, 20 % par autrui (mentorat, coaching), et 10 % par la formation formelle. Mais le modèle peut être pondéré selon les domaines et compétences. Par exemple, les pilotes de ligne ont des exigences différentes selon la licence qu’ils souhaitent obtenir, notamment privée ou commerciale. Beaucoup estiment qu’une formation rigoureuse et formelle devrait peser plus de 10 % dans de nombreux domaines.

4. Repenser, remodeler et rééquiper les RH pour soutenir un processus d’apprentissage continu

L’une des clés d’une stratégie des effectifs réussie consiste à diffuser une culture de l’apprentissage. Les collaborateurs peuvent manquer de temps pour suivre une formation de deux heures. Heureusement la technologie, des applications aux systèmes de gestion de la formation (LMS), permet aux collaborateurs d’acquérir des compétences et de partager des connaissances entre eux par le biais d’un upskilling itératif. Ces capsules de formation peuvent prendre la forme de vidéos d’apprentissage de 10 minutes, au format « snacking », qu’ils peuvent visionner aussi bien hors ligne et sur smartphone qu’à la maison.

L’époque où les entreprises donnaient la priorité aux compétences de base et assignaient des sessions de formation à leurs collaborateurs est révolue. Aujourd’hui, les dirigeants peuvent tirer parti des technologies et des écosystèmes pour permettre aux collaborateurs de piloter leur propre apprentissage. Des outils personnalisables qui utilisent l’IA et le machine learning peuvent par exemple fournir une formation, un coaching et des feedbacks personnalisés.

5. Motiver les collaborateurs en les aidant à suivre leurs progrès

Il n’y a pas de modèle unique pour l’upskilling. Au lieu de proposer des plans de formation normatifs, les dirigeants devraient, pour une formation et un développement professionnel réussis, lire les signaux émis par leurs employés.

Grâce à des plans de développement des collaborateurs personnalisés et à l’apprentissage social, les collaborateurs peuvent rester engagés et concentrés grâce à la mise en réseau virtuelle et au mentorat, tandis que les managers les motivent pour atteindre les objectifs. Pour soutenir un personnel en distanciel, les messageries instantanées et les social boards peuvent être très utiles pour retrouver la dynamique collective. Parmi les autres techniques de motivation, on peut citer la gamification associée à des récompenses financières ou des cartes-cadeaux. Et les derniers learning management systems (LMS) permettent aux entreprises de délivrer, de suivre et de gérer le contenu, les certifications et les données des collaborateurs comme une source unique d’enregistrement de l’apprentissage.

Suivant la tendance croissante au partage et à la consommation d’information sur les médias sociaux, de nombreuses personnes s’attendent à avoir la maîtrise du moment et de la façon dont elles apprennent. Et encourager les collaborateurs à créer et à contribuer à leur propre contenu d’apprentissage en créant leurs propres « playlists d’apprentissage» leur permet de devenir, en matière de formation, leur propre patron. Et cela ouvre les portes du progrès individuel.

Grâce à une stratégie des effectifs qui s’aligne sur les objectifs stratégiques, les entreprises peuvent appliquer ces mesures pratiques pour identifier les opportunités de reskilling et les déficits à combler. Grâce à une amélioration de l’expérience et des résultats relatifs au reskilling, les entreprises peuvent soutenir un personnel à l’épreuve du temps.

L’évolution des réalités dans le monde entier – de la modification des chaînes d’approvisionnement aux business models – a un impact sur toutes les entreprises. Celles qui peuvent réorienter leur personnel pourront relever les défis de l’avenir.

Publié en anglais sur insights.sap.com

The post Upskilling de vos effectifs : de la stratégie à l’action appeared first on SAP France News.

Source de l’article sur sap.com

4 février 2021/par Service comm.

Top 9 Tips For Optimizing Images in 2021

Actualités, Actualités

The ‘need for speed’ is an essential item on every website’s bucket list these days. And why not? Enhanced speed is directly responsible for converting traffic into paying clients.

Anyone in any industry wishes to boost their website’s loading speed, providing an improved user experience. Plus, don’t forget that escalated site speeds also escalates the website’s ranking to more competitive spots on the search engine result pages and improves core web vitals. So, how can this need for speed be achieved? The answer is image optimization.

What is Image Optimization?

Image optimization is a process of delivering superior-quality images in the appropriate format, size, and resolution while keeping them at a compressed size. Image optimization, if done right, improves not only a website’s performance but also certain other metrics like:

Page loading speed;
SEO ranking;
Conversion rate;
User engagement;
User experience;
Resource download time.

However, the image optimization process can be accelerated for better efficiency if some modern tips are followed. ImageEngine, with its years of experience in the image optimization industry, has cherry-picked some tips that can help businesses in the year 2021 and beyond.

Tips for Perfect Image Optimization in 2021

In this article, the top five tips to optimize images have been outlined to help you maximize business opportunities. All the tips included are backed by comprehensive research and years of experience in the image optimization industry.

The Right Format Matters

Selecting the right image format matters a lot in the optimization process because every format is meant to serve a specific requirement.

JPEG: Best for still images, real-world images, and complex coloring;
PNG: Best for web images like logos and flat images;
GIF: Best for low-resolution images, animated graphics, small icons, and simple images — however, it is not advisable to go with GIF format but rather use mp4 or a webp instead;
TIFF: Best for high-quality and large-size print graphics;
WebP: A modern image format that offers superior compression while maintaining great quality.

Choosing the right format reduces bandwidth consumption for an improved webpage loading speed. However, a new format has joined the club: AVIF, that covers all the above image formats’ good qualities and surpasses even WebP while maintaining an excellent compression ratio. AVIF provides almost 50% savings in size when compared to JPEG format.

Serving images in the next generation formats like WebP and AVIF is a trending practice these days.

Go for Image Compression

Once the correct format has been selected, it becomes important to reduce the images’ size through a compression method. There are two methods of compressing images:

Lossless compression: In this compression method, all the unnecessary metadata linked with the images is removed without degrading the quality. The metadata can be erased safely while exhibiting the images on a website or application.

Lossy compression: In this compression method, the quality of the image is slightly reduced to accomplish a smaller size. The file size obtained in lossy conversion is lower than lossless compression, however, a naked human eye cannot highlight the difference between the original image and the lossy compressed image.

Never Skip the CDN

Image optimization and image CDNs are a match made in heaven. Website images not only need to be optimized but have to be delivered fast and easily as well. An optimized image is of no use if it cannot be transported quickly. An image CDN (Content Delivery Network) takes care of this need. It makes the rapid delivery of optimized images possible by reducing the distance between the online visitors and the servers.

The global image CDN also serves a ton of other benefits like:

Enabling fast global reach via cloud acceleration;
Audience segmentation (based on device viewport) becomes easy;
It saves many costs by eliminating the need to invest in separate server providers in different parts of the world;
Pulls down the load on the server to achieve reduced delivery cost;
Secure storage capacity.

The carefully engineered image CDN from ImageEngine distinguishes itself from the rest with its unique features listed below:

The images are optimized to be delivered 30% faster than other CDNs in the market;
It is easy to integrate and configure ImageEngine CDN;
The images are automatically optimized to the relevant format as per the user’s viewport size;
The images can be delivered in next-generation formats such as AVIF and WebP;
The images delivered have reduced size (irrespective of the format) and outstanding quality at the same time;
ImageEngine’s extensive global CDN network provides support for HTTP, HTTP/2, WAF, and DDoS protection.

Set-up Browser Caching

The “Leverage Browser Caching” warning displays on the Google PageSpeed Insights tool when there is no caching rule in the place, or the expiration time has been set too low. In simple terms, the warning is a suggestion to improve website speed.

Browser caching instructs the visitor’s browser to save some specific files on the visitor’s local system instead of downloading them repeatedly. For example, a visitor needs to download the logo image of a website on the first visit. However, after every subsequent visit, such a visitor would load the logo file from the website’s local cache, provided that the browser caching has been enabled. The result? Faster loading because the visitor is no longer required to get everything from the website’s server directly. Browser caching can be used for images and many other types of files like statistical resources and object data.

There are many ways to leverage browser caching but simply adding the following lines of code to the .htaccess file is the most effective one:

Browser caching stores the images for a decided interval of time for easy and quick accessibility. A custom timeline or industry standards can be followed for this purpose. The timeline in the above-shared code snippet is one year.

The .htaccess file can be found with the help of an FTP program for connecting to the root directory of the website’s server.

Disable Hotlinking

Hotlinking means when an individual or business copies the URL of an image, which belongs to another website, and embeds it on their website. This results in the image being displayed as if it was an owned content. Hotlinking is a next-door neighbor of copyright infringement, but despite this fact, the practice is widespread. In many cases, hotlinking is unintentional, but it can cost the original owner of the image some money. It can even affect the website’s performance if a drain of the server’s resources happens.

Optimize for Flaky Connections

If a website has a lot of content and rich images to offer, but a portion of the users visiting the website doesn’t have a reliable internet connection, then this portion of visitors would not convert. This situation is no different than any lost business opportunity. Not all website visitors have access to fast and reliable internet facilities; therefore, it is recommended to optimize image content for spotty connections.

One trusted way of optimizing the images for slow connections is compressing the images appropriately in real-time. However, even before compressing the images, it is important to determine the network speed of users visiting the page and then categorizing them into buckets based on connection types like 4G, 3G, 2G, or slow 2G.

But ImageEngine simplifies the whole compression process. It fetches and optimizes the images in the right format, dimension, and quality directly from the URL and then delivers such images on the website’s front-end via global image CDN.

Handling Responsive Images

A lot of traffic arrives from mobile devices, and as such, it is important to have the perfect strategy for responsive images.

If vector-based images are being used, then using SVG format would be a great way to optimize them for any viewport without worrying about sizes because SVG images are resolution-independent.
Using media queries for background images or images that have been produced via CSS is the best way to display smaller images to mobile devices.
For inline images, techniques like the srcset attribute or the picture element can be used.

srcset attribute: This attribute can be implemented on the img element for defining the images at different sizes so that the browser can select the best option based on the device characteristics like width.

picture element: This is best to be used if different images are required to be displayed based on the device’s display size.

All the aforesaid discussed options offer different ways of displaying the optimized images to visitors depending on how they view the website. MDN’s responsive image guide and Google developer’s image guide can be referred to for learning more about responsive images and using picture elements or srcset attributes.

Responsive Images

Images are required to be responsive to deliver the right optimal image for every screen size. It enhances the user experience and reduces load time. According to the browser or device in which images are viewed, images of different sizes are displayed, such as full-size, thumbnail, or featured images. To create a responsive image, you need to have different versions of the image.

The problem is to optimize a high-resolution image that looks great with details while displaying it on mobile devices; details can be missed, so instead of shrinking the image details, consider cropping or scaling down the image for mobile devices.

Advantages of responsive images:

Improve the page loading speed;
Increase your reach through smartphone responsive design;
Increase conversion and sales rate with consistent user experience;
Reduce load over the server and server memory;
Boost conversations.

Client Hints

The fundamental of Client Hints is simple — the client through a device sends the server some hints regarding the requirement. The server with responsibility serves them with the right resource according to the hint. For example, with hints, browsers ask the server for 600px images for the device layout — the image to be served based on the requested parameter. Even if the client informs that data saver mode is enabled, the server delivers identical images of a lighter version. The browser and server interact through Client Hints, the job becomes readable, shorter with the same functionality.

Client Hints with ImageEngine

ImageEngine delivers images with the required – width, DPR, and Data Saver. The responsive images are created based on client hints about width and DPR and later cover the Data Saver client hint.

Optimize Images For Retina Displays

Apple coined the term “retina displays,” which display clear and densely packed pixels to provide perfect vision from an appropriate viewing distance. Now, most smartphones and desktops deliver users a high crispy viewing experience. Apple with Retina squeezed four times the pixels into the same space to create a density of 326 pixels per inch (PPI), making the displays smooth.

Why Optimize Images for Retina?

The average screen pixel density is quite low, so the web-based standard images need to include 72 PPI to cover a certain height and width.

We need to maintain the appropriate density of pixels. Otherwise, the image will cram or get stretched. As a result, a fuzzy image is created with jagged edges that distract the viewer from your brand. To solve the problem, Retina class displays came into the role. They increased image resolution, optimized high pixel density in small space, and even displayed images decently over large screens.

People these days browse from a different device; most users access images from smartphones rather than desktops. So you need to optimize the image for Retina displays.

Wrapping it up

There are many tips and tricks to optimize images, but of all these tips, using a CDN has proven to be the most effective and long-term solution for many businesses all across the globe. Image CDNs automate the optimization process for a business to focus on its core activities properly. The good thing is that it is not all expensive to integrate image CDN. It is easy to get started with and generates the results in a short space of time.

[– This is a sponsored post on behalf of ImageEngine –]

Source

The post Top 9 Tips For Optimizing Images in 2021 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

4 février 2021/par Service comm.

Streaming Data From Files Into Multi-Broker Kafka Clusters

Actualités, Méthodes et organisation des process IT

There are multiple ways to ingest data streams into the Apache Kafka topic and subsequently deliver to various types of consumers who are hooked to the topic. The stream of data that collects continuously from the topic by consumers, passes through multiple data pipelines and then stream processing engines like Apache Spark, Apache Flink, Amazon Kinesis, etc and eventually landed upon the real-time applications to deliver a final data-driven decision. From finances, manufacturing, insurance, telecom, healthcare, commerce, and more, real-time applications are becoming the best solution for organizations to take immediate action, gain insights from the updated data. In the present day, Apache Kafka shapes the central nervous system that brings data from all aspects of the business to the large information operational hubs where choices are made.

The text files contain unformatted ASCII text and are commonly used for the storage of information. Each line of the file represents a data record and can be updated continuously to store. Every insert of a new line or lines on the text file can be considered as new data insertion on the file. Henceforth, every addition of a new line or lines on the text file continuously either by humans or applications (no modification on the already inserted line)and subsequently moves or sends to a different location can be considered as data streaming from the file. Every addition of a new line or row in the text file can be analyzed continuously by exporting the new line/lines to the Kafka topic and importing them by consumers that hooks up with the topic.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

16 janvier 2021/par Service comm.