When investing time and money into a software system, it’s important to put a measurement strategy in place. While this may sound obvious, many teams, after months of building the software, tend to overlook the necessity of tracking its performance post-launch. Teams that are failing to set and evaluate measurable outcomes are often:
Enamored by features, constantly discussing the next “excitingly cool thing” they want to build.
Conducting large re-factoring projects, trying to ensure their code is written properly.
Struggling to recall the last time they gathered feedback, looked at that feedback and actually did something with it.
Establishing plans to measure outcomes before launching a new software system will ensure that your team collects the data it needs to make informed decisions. Not only will measurable outcomes give insights into your current project, but they’ll also offer valuable feedback and data that can be leveraged when embarking on subsequent projects.
Why Do Measurable Outcomes Matter?
When starting a new project, it’s easy to envision new features while neglecting to build what you’ve truly gained insight into. While the project may originate from great ideas, it’s crucial to direct long-term focus towards achieving desired business outcomes, such as increased revenue or a larger user base. Before introducing new software, it’s important to identify the metrics you need to demonstrate success. By thinking through the data your team needs to collect, you can justify further expansion into new features, and critically evaluate whether the investment is worthwhile.
Throughout the process, teams should continually ask themselves what decisions they need to make now based on insights from previous data. This ongoing feedback loop facilitates testing and iteration, driven by the crucial learnings uncovered at each stage. In some cases, the data may prompt a pivot, leading your team to reconsider the project, conduct additional user research or prioritize digital marketing and sales over the pursuit of the next groundbreaking productivity feature.
Failing to establish these measurement strategies prior to launching your product is akin to steering a car while blindfolded. While you may get lucky once in a while and manage not to crash your car, the odds are not in your favor. Without measurable outcomes, there’s a high risk of squandering time, effort and resources, impeding your team’s progress and hindering the collection of feedback that will help strengthen your product going forward.
Which Metrics Matters Most?
Teams often consider a project successful if it delivers all designated features on time and within budget. However, the true measure of success goes beyond feature completion; it lies in the delivery of substantial business value. Merely ticking off feature checkboxes doesn’t guarantee success if the project falls short in providing meaningful impact.
If you’re unsure whether or not your product is delivering business value, you may need to change your notion of “done.” Teams should shift their focus from rigid adherence to deadlines and time sheets to prioritizing customer satisfaction and fostering usage growth. Implementing a robust measurement strategy empowers your team to evaluate the product’s success and establish goals that yield meaningful outcomes. Successful software projects are those that measure the actual business impact achieved, going beyond conventional measures of schedule, scope and budget.
Software teams should consider a project incomplete until the product is measured and validated. When determining the most relevant metrics for your team and business, ask key questions such as:
Are you increasing revenue?
Are you attracting new users and receiving positive reviews?
Are you driving down support needs?
What is your customer retention rate?
Are your acquisition costs justifiable in comparison to revenue?
Addressing these questions allows you to identify pain points and devise a plan to enhance product results. Establishing a measurement strategy from the start equips your team for a successful launch and validates the product’s value against broader business objectives.
Whether you’re already implementing measurable outcomes or are new to the concept of a measurement strategy, Augusto can seamlessly collaborate with product teams to achieve true business success. Contact Augusto to explore how we can help add value to your business.
One of the greatest challenges in product management is team alignment. With a plethora of tasks, priorities and goals, maintaining a unified front and steering everyone towards a shared objective becomes a difficult task. The struggle to meet deadlines and goals often stems from team members immersing themselves too deeply in the intricacies of the project, losing sight of the overarching vision. A remedy for this disconnect lies in embracing the sprints and cycles model. This framework serves as an effective means to realign your team and establish clear objectives, offering a pathway toward reinvigorating collaboration and focusing on broader business objectives. By implementing sprints and cycles into your workflow, your team can maximize its budget efficiency, maintain a predictable rhythm of value production and adjust for flexibility and scalability.
What are Sprints and Cycles?
A six-week cycle consists of three two-week sprints. Sprints, characterized by their short-term nature, are focused activities and goals that collectively contribute to achieving the broader goal of a cycle. While developers are drawn to the sprint format due to its emphasis on specific and manageable deliverables, an exclusive focus on short-term tasks has the potential to divert the team from their long-term objectives. Integrating sprints into cycles is crucial to maintaining alignment with overarching objectives, ensuring that short-term projects align with broader business goals.
To plan sprints and cycles for your team, consider a multi-year perspective to identify a specific outcome for each calendar year. Then, use this overarching goal to establish a smaller set of objectives. Breaking down goals into yearly and quarterly intervals helps set more manageable expectations and outcomes for teams, ensuring better alignment with your business’s rhythm and providing a roadmap of actionable steps toward long-term goals.
Leveraging Sprints and Cycles to Maximize Your Budget
When starting a large project, one of the first things you’ll likely consider is the budget you’ll allocate for the development of the desired software or digital product. While this kind of endeavor can pose a significant financial commitment, you don’t need to front a substantial budget right from the start. By organizing your timelines and priorities into sprints and cycles, you can maximize results within your budget and secure more budget as you demonstrate proven value.
The natural rhythm of business breaks time into quarters, with two six-week cycles in a quarter. Product management becomes more streamlined when thinking in these clearly-defined and manageable chunks of time, ensuring the delivery of high value every six weeks.
Getting to a place where all parties buy into this method of working takes time, but delivering results within a set timeframe will allow you to build trust and earn increased financial investment in the project, if needed. The reality is that the full scope of a project is uncertain at the outset, but prioritizing the delivery of immediate value enables you and your team to iterate toward success.
Adjusting for Flexibility and Scalability
Flexibility and scalability are crucial elements in product management, as each product is variable. The sprints and cycles model works well because it can accommodate the natural evolution of product development and problems that may arise. Sprints and cycles provide a versatile approach, allowing for intermittent slowdowns between cycles for milestones, demos, discovery and feedback discussions to ensure alignment with business goals. While you may need to pause between cycles or make adjustments to your timeline, sticking to sprints and cycles will help your team fall into a predictable rhythm of producing value.
The primary advantage of operating within six-week cycles is the ability to tailor the system to suit your team. As your team undergoes growth and evolves, your sprints and cycles can adapt accordingly. Similarly, when faced with roadblocks, you have the flexibility to adjust your timeline without losing focus on your overarching goals.
If your team is tackling a large project or facing challenges in meeting deadlines and attaining objectives, contact Augusto. Let’s explore how we can assist in setting up your team with effective sprints and cycles to achieve your business goals.
https://augusto.digital/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/D2u45DtrjlqosJSkpIwxNPKbc4.png10241536Brian Andersonhttps://augusto.digital/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Augusto-logo.svgBrian Anderson2024-01-18 00:00:002026-01-30 14:44:54Optimizing Sprints and Cycles to Achieve Your Business Goals
In the fast-paced world of mobile app development, choosing the right technology stack is a crucial decision for startups and established companies alike. Two popular options often come up: React Native and React with WebView Wrappers. Both have their strengths and limitations, and making the right choice depends on your project’s specific requirements and goals. In this article, we’ll explore the pros and cons of these two approaches to help you make an informed decision.
Understanding the Basics
Before diving into the comparison, let’s start with a brief overview of the two options:
React Native: React Native is a framework for building mobile apps using JavaScript and React. It allows developers to create mobile apps with a native-like performance and appearance, offering access to device features and a single codebase for both iOS and Android.
React with WebView Wrappers: On the other hand, React with WebView Wrappers involves building a web app using React and rendering it within a mobile app using WebView components. This approach leverages web development skills and potentially allows for cross-platform compatibility.
Pros and Cons of React Native for Mobile App Development
Pros
Native-Like Performance: React Native apps provide a user experience similar to that of fully native apps. This is crucial for applications that require high performance and a smooth interface.
Access to Device Features: React Native offers direct access to native device capabilities and APIs through modules, making it a suitable choice for apps that rely on hardware functionality.
Single Codebase: You can write one codebase and deploy it to both iOS and Android platforms, saving development time and resources.
App Store Presence: Apps developed with React Native can be published on app stores like the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, giving them broad exposure.
Cons
Potentially Higher Development Cost: Developing a native app with React Native may require more specialized skills and, in some cases, more development effort compared to a web-based solution.
Learning Curve: If your team is not already familiar with React Native, there may be a learning curve to overcome.
Pros and Cons of React with WebView Wrappers
Pros
Reusing Web Development Skills: If your team is experienced with web development, building a web app and wrapping it in WebViews may be a more straightforward approach, as it allows you to utilize existing skills.
Cross-Platform Compatibility: The same web app can potentially run on both mobile and desktop web browsers, reaching a broader audience with minimal additional development effort.
Cons
Limited Native Features: Web pages in a WebView component will have limited access to native device features. Certain functionalities that require native capabilities may not be available.
Performance Considerations: WebViews may not provide the same level of performance as a fully native React Native app, especially for graphics-intensive applications.
App Store Limitations: App stores have specific guidelines, and apps utilizing WebViews may be subject to more restrictions and scrutiny during the app submission process.
Direct Comparison
To help you compare these two approaches more directly, here’s a side-by-side comparison:
Additional Considerations
Apart from the pros and cons, you should consider other factors when making this decision:
Development Speed: React Native may provide a quicker route to mobile app development compared to creating a web app and wrapping it in a WebViews. On the other hand, if you already have a mobile-friendly web app, wrapping it in WebViews may be faster.
Scalability: Consider the long-term scalability of your project, as React Native may offer better native performance and scaling potential.
Updates and Maintenance: Think about how updates and maintenance will be handled for your chosen approach.
Appropriate Target Audience: The nature of your app and its primary target audience will play a significant role in your decision.
Making the Decision
The choice between React Native and React with WebView Wrappers depends on your specific project’s needs, development capabilities, and target audience. If you prioritize a high-quality, native-like user experience with full access to device features and you have the necessary resources and expertise, building a native mobile app with React Native is a solid choice. On the other hand, if your app’s functionality can be effectively delivered through a web app and you want to minimize development effort while reusing web skills, the web app wrapped in a viewport approach may be more suitable. It’s essential to carefully evaluate your app’s requirements before making a decision.
Conclusion
When it comes to mobile app development, the choice between React Native and React with WebView Wrappers is a pivotal decision. Both approaches possess distinct strengths and limitations, making it essential to align your choice with your unique project requirements. By carefully considering factors such as performance, access to device features, development cost, and target audience, you can make an informed decision that aligns with your startup’s goals.
Related Articles
Additional Resources
For further information and resources, check out the following links:
https://augusto.digital/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/dQylVsHCMLcwFiuvD04HTw8khQ.webp15001500Aaron Branderhttps://augusto.digital/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Augusto-logo.svgAaron Brander2023-11-10 00:00:002026-01-30 16:31:51React Native vs. React with WebView Wrappers: Pros and Cons
In the world of Infrastructure as Code (IaC), tools like Amazon CDK and Terraform have gained significant popularity. Both offer powerful capabilities for defining and provisioning infrastructure resources. While each tool has its own strengths and considerations, understanding their key differences can help you make an informed choice for your infrastructure needs.
Before we dive in, let’s discuss why you might need an IaC solution. Being able to treat your infrastructure as code is beneficial if you have a cloud-based solution because you can automate its deployment and scaling. It can also ensure you meet certain compliance requirements, such as HIPAA, HITRUST or NIST.
When using an Infrastructure as Code solution, you will realize other benefits as well:
Cost Optimization
IaC tools can help to reduce the costs of your infrastructure by optimizing the use of your resources. This can be done by automatically scaling your resources up or down based on demand, or by using spot instances to get discounted pricing.
Auditing and Compliance
IaC tools provide a clear representation of the infrastructure setup in code. This makes it easier to perform audits and ensure compliance with organizational or regulatory policies.
Reduction in Human Errors
By using code to define infrastructure, the chances of human errors in manual setups are minimized. This increases the reliability and stability of the infrastructure.
Scalability
Businesses can easily scale their infrastructure up or down using IaC tools. As the demands on the application increase, Amazon CDK and Terraform allow for the automatic provisioning of additional resources to handle the load.
Consistency
With IaC tools, you can create consistent environments across different stages of development, such as development, testing, staging, and production. This reduces the chances of errors caused by configuration discrepancies between environments.
Reliability
IaC tools can help to ensure that your infrastructure is reliable by providing a consistent way to define and deploy your resources. This can help to reduce the risk of human error and make it easier to identify and fix issues.
Choosing the right tool
Amazon CDK and Terraform are the two predominant choices when it comes to Infrastructure as Code tools, but how do you choose? Consider the following factors:
Developer Skill Set
If your team is already proficient in a specific programming language, Amazon CDK’s language-based approach might be more appealing.
Conversely, if your team prefers a declarative approach or needs multi-cloud support, Terraform could be a better fit.
Infrastructure Requirements
Evaluate the specific infrastructure requirements of your project.
Consider the level of native integration and AWS-specific features needed to determine if Amazon CDK aligns well with your infrastructure goals.
Community and Ecosystem
Assess the available community support, modules, and ecosystem surrounding each tool.
Determine which tool has a more active and compatible community for your desired cloud provider(s).
Amazon CDK
Familiarity for Developers
Amazon CDK allows developers to define infrastructure using popular programming languages like TypeScript, Python, Java, and C#.
Developers can leverage their existing programming skills and use standard development tools, libraries, and IDEs.
Higher-Level Abstractions
Amazon CDK provides higher-level abstractions known as “constructs” that represent AWS resources and services.
These constructs simplify the provisioning and configuration of infrastructure components, making it easier to define and manage them.
Direct Integration with AWS
Amazon CDK is specifically designed to work seamlessly with AWS services and APIs.
It provides native support for AWS constructs, allowing developers to take full advantage of AWS resources, features, and updates.
Type Safety and IDE Support
Leveraging programming languages, Amazon CDK benefits from type safety and IDE support.
Developers can enjoy features like autocompletion, code navigation, and refactoring within their preferred IDEs.
AWS Best Practices
Amazon CDK includes the AWS Construct Library, which provides pre-built, well-architected patterns and best practices for provisioning AWS resources.
Developers can create infrastructure that adheres to AWS’s recommended architectural guidelines using these constructs.
While it has a learning curve, it offers a consistent syntax for defining resources across different cloud providers.
Multi-Cloud Support
Terraform is a versatile tool that supports multiple cloud providers, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
It allows for managing infrastructure across different cloud environments using a unified workflow.
Large Community and Module Ecosystem
Terraform has a thriving community and a vast number of community-contributed modules.
Users can leverage these modules to easily provision and configure various infrastructure components.
Infrastructure State Management
Terraform keeps track of infrastructure state, allowing it to plan and apply changes incrementally.
This state management feature helps ensure consistent and reproducible infrastructure deployments.
Both Amazon CDK and Terraform are powerful Infrastructure as Code tools, each with its own strengths and considerations. Amazon CDK’s developer-friendliness, AWS-native integration, and best practices support make it a compelling choice for AWS-centric projects. On the other hand, Terraform’s declarative language, multi-cloud capabilities, and large community make it an attractive option for managing infrastructure across various cloud providers. Ultimately, the choice depends on your team’s skills, project requirements, and personal preferences.
At Augusto, we build cloud-native software applications that take advantage of the distributed computing power of the cloud. This gives you more versatility, unparalleled survivability, and elasticity. Cloud-native applications offer greater agility and more deployment options across the different networks.
https://augusto.digital/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/pF75ysA3cqJJ8pKJPt2igwa4pI.webp15001500Jim Becherhttps://augusto.digital/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Augusto-logo.svgJim Becher2023-07-31 00:00:002026-01-27 22:30:36Infrastructure as Code: Choosing the Right Tool
Being able to effectively work with health data is key to care coordination, relationship analysis, predictive analysis, and outbreak detection and response. But health data is complex and relational in ways that can be difficult to capture in a traditional SQL database. Physicians, patients, payers, and care facilities interact in complex and varied ways. We often simplify these rich interactions in order to fit them nicely into our limited data models. By using Graph databases, we can keep much of the data’s natural richness and complexity. In this article, we will explore how graph databases can revolutionize the analysis of population health outcomes and unlock valuable insights. Let’s dive in!
Understanding Graph Databases
Graph databases store and analyze data differently from traditional relational databases. They represent entities as nodes and define relationships through connected edges. Nodes and edges include labels and attributes that describe what they represent. Teams query these labels and attributes to extract information from the graph.
This richer representation offers power but also introduces risk. As databases grow, added complexity can quickly escalate, making thoughtful data structure essential. The way teams structure graph data directly affects database performance and determines how they construct queries.
In graph databases, queries take the form of traversals. A traversal moves from node to node along connected edges. For example, to list physicians who treated a patient, the traversal starts at the patient node and follows edges to connected physician nodes.
Advantages of Graph Databases in Population Health Analysis
Relationship Mapping
Graph databases excel at capturing relationships from data, making them ideal for modeling the interconnected nature of healthcare data. By representing patients, care team members, medical conditions, treatments, and outcomes as nodes, and the relationships between them as edges, we are building up a descriptive model of a population’s health care usage.
Complex Queries
Queries in a graph database are called “traversals”. Traversals describe how to move through the graph from some starting point to an end point. The nodes or edges at the endpoint are the result of the query. As an example, say we want to look at the incidence of diabetes by zip code. We could use a graph traversal to start at the node representing the disease of diabetes, follow edges from that node to the patients who have been treated for diabetes, and then obtain the zip code of each of those patients.
By connecting patient data with their corresponding locations, you can identify hotspots or areas with higher rates of diabetes. This information can guide public health initiatives and resource allocation.
Predictive Analytics
Leveraging the relationships and patterns within a graph database, predictive models can be developed to forecast population health outcomes. Machine learning algorithms can be applied to identify risk factors, predict disease progression, and estimate the effectiveness of different interventions. For example, using a graph database, you can develop a predictive model to identify individuals at high risk of developing diabetes based on factors such as age, family history, socioeconomic status, and comorbidities.
Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing
Graph databases facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing among healthcare professionals and researchers. Multiple stakeholders can contribute their expertise and insights to a shared graph, leading to a collective understanding of population health outcomes. This collaborative approach fosters interdisciplinary research, accelerates discoveries, and improves healthcare delivery.
Examples of Population Health Queries
Incidence of Diabetes by Geographic Area
By querying a graph database, you can analyze the incidence of diabetes in different geographic areas. This can help identify regions with higher rates of diabetes and focus efforts on preventive measures, targeted interventions, and healthcare resource allocation.
Number of Care Team Members as a Function of Median Income of the Zip Code They Live In
Another example is querying the number of care team members in relation to the median income of the zip code in which individuals reside. Physicians that the patient is actively seeing constitute a patient’s care team. The US government provides a dataset of median income levels per zip code. Combining the information in this dataset with our graph database allows us to generate maps of patients based on median income. Specifically, we can compare median sizes of care team members across different geographic and socioeconomic regions. This query can reveal insights into healthcare utilization patterns and access to care based on socioeconomic factors. It helps identify potential disparities and informs strategies to improve equitable healthcare delivery.
Graph databases offer a powerful and flexible framework for analyzing population health outcomes. They capture intricate relationships in healthcare data, enabling teams to run complex queries, build predictive models, and foster collaboration. Teams can analyze diabetes incidence by geographic area or evaluate care team size against median income to reveal practical insights. By leveraging graph databases, healthcare leaders inform decisions, improve patient outcomes, and address disparities in care availability and delivery. Using graph databases moves healthcare toward a more data-driven and healthier future.
https://augusto.digital/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/RyTHCCLjhQVMp1FfMrFhipgI.png10241536Jesse Lingemanhttps://augusto.digital/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Augusto-logo.svgJesse Lingeman2023-06-24 00:00:002026-01-30 16:53:05Why You Need a Graph Database To Analyze Population Health
Your project manager just called and told you that the application you’re developing is delayed; just yesterday, you were assured everything was on track, and you’ve already been talking to funders about the product’s potential.
What do you do? Do you sit back in a show of blind faith in your team and trust that the software will get back on track? How do you assess if the team can deliver the application you are looking for or if more delays follow?
Many companies start with the concepts in “The Flow’s” four-phase cycle approach to quickly assess the situation. The flow is described in this video by Steven Kotler.
The flow breaks the development work into four phases:
1. The Struggle
This stage is where tasks are challenging and confusing, requiring extra concentration.
2. Release
The release phase is when you move out of the struggle phase. You let go of the complexity and try to get tasks done. We notice this phase when we have identified a path, and we’re just starting to work down it. The inner critic settles, and your focus switches to trying to accomplish tasks.
3. Flow
Once you realize the prerequisites to flow, you’ll find yourself here more often! Time starts to disappear, and your focus, solution understanding, and productivity are at their highest. This is the flow state.
4. Recovery
Recovery comes when you slip out of the flow. Your ability to solve problems slows down, and you become less productive. Things like bugs or other complexities begin to show up more often. Unfortunately, it won’t be long until struggle arrives again, and the cycle continues.
Together, these processes foster the rhythms that help you and your teams spend more time in the flow.
Once you have assessed where the team currently is you need to develop appropriate processes to get the project back on track and ensure the appropriate early warning systems are in place to achieve your plan by your due date.
The five steps to be able to sleep at night:
Assess The Team
Based on the reason for missing the deadline, assess your team. Do you have enough developers and programmers? Do you have the skill sets you require?
Contingency Planning
Team assessments are complex, and we usually want to err on the side of our team. We want to believe that things will get better, even when we have our doubts. If you proceed with your current team intact, now is the time to determine your options and create a backup plan. This can include hiring more people, hiring contractors, or a hybrid.
Shorter Development Cycles
We have found the best results with the two-week sprint format because it hones the team in on specific, nitty-gritty, manageable deliverables. Sprints are where the development work actually happens.
Connect the Sprint Cycles
We connect three sprints linked by a theme and set of goals. You can see how much easier product management becomes when we think in clearly-defined and manageable chunks of time. This strategy offers the incredible benefit of delivering high value every six weeks.
Build Trust and Confidence Through Transparency
Project management tools are available to team members and stakeholders, plus “check-ins” at the end of every sprint or cycle keeps everyone on the same page.
No one plans for project delays; sound systems and processes will help entrepreneurs achieve their desired results by utilizing progress reports at short intervals to confirm expected results or offer early detection of potential problems. With good processes and good contingency planning up front, you have the best chance for success.
About Augusto Digital
At Augusto, we help clients succeed with digital transformation and custom software solutions. We offer consulting, software development, UX design & application management. We specialize in AI, mobile, web, IoT, data, analytics & dashboards. In addition, we are experts in Healthcare and Health Tech.
https://augusto.digital/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/ErwkLV6DpuwCYUdouDTi2qsr5J8.png7201280Joel Rosshttps://augusto.digital/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Augusto-logo.svgJoel Ross2022-10-04 00:00:002026-01-27 23:00:11How to Lead a Software Development Team
Your application’s performance directly impacts your business’s performance, which is why proper application support is so important. So, is your custom software application being properly supported? Let us pose a few questions:
Do you know what your tech stack looks like?
Do you have an updated IT architecture diagram?
Do you have a ticket system implemented to manage applications?
Do you understand the critical pathways of data across business segments?
Do you understand the interdependencies between your API ecosystem?
If you’ve contracted out your app development, what is the after-deployment warranty period?
Most businesses today are powered by an entire ecosystem of applications. Some of them are third party software as a system (SaaS) platforms, some are custom built, and many are a combination of both. Having a comprehensive understanding of how these applications operate and are connected will save you time and money.
Don’t let your hard work developing a custom software application go to waste.
It’s hard to tell if your app is being supported properly, when you may not understand the system fully yourself. We don’t blame you at all! Apps can be highly technical and challenging to grasp.
But we’re here to help. Call Augusto for fast, convenient, and seamless application support. Our expert team is willing and ready to ensure your application is properly supported.
Once your custom software application is running, you surely want to keep it that way. With a partner like Augusto, you benefit from both app support and tech support teams.
What is the difference between app support and tech support?
App support teams are proactive. They ensure systems and applications run smoothly by identifying problems and deploying smart solutions. Technicians actively monitor your software and databases. They’re highly skilled in SQL, Java, front-end development, and .NET languages.
On the other hand, tech support teams are reactive. Think of it as the help desk. Their strengths lie in networks, systems, and other infrastructure.
How does Augusto ensure I have the correct technician handling each job?
Augusto support service representatives are available via ticketing, email, or chat. And you can trust that your support issues are triaged to ensure the correct technician handles each job.
At Augusto, we offer level 1, 2, and 3 technical support, which means you don’t have to diagnose your problems. We have the experts to help. When an issue arises, contact the Augusto helpdesk.
Level 1: A trained operator helps diagnose your problem, using handbook solutions to resolve the issue. Most issues are easily resolved this way. However, if a solution cannot be found, the issue is elevated to the next level.
Level 2: A technical expert with deep knowledge of the application assesses the issue and works to identify a solution. If a solution cannot be found, the issue is elevated to the next level.
Level 3: An engineer or programmer is called upon to recreate the issue and develop a solution. All new fixes are documented in the handbook for future use by Level 1 and 2 operators.
Don’t let your hard work developing a custom software application go to waste.
https://augusto.digital/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/3B2Hv71wKSTOQlEloQz648GBdA.png12801920Jim Becherhttps://augusto.digital/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Augusto-logo.svgJim Becher2021-12-06 00:00:002026-01-30 15:54:42What is the Difference Between App Support and Tech Support?
But then you quickly learned about the concept of application support: the teams that monitor, correct, and improve your custom software applications.
You might be thinking that you can get away without a custom software application support team, but that would be a mistake. Read on to uncover the benefits of application support and the risks of an unsupported app.
What are the benefits of custom software application support?
When an application is properly supported, it becomes highly agile and adaptive—driving maximum revenue for your business.
Here are six clear benefits for adding application support services—especially when you can outsource it to an expert:
Reduces ownership and labor costs
Frees up capital
Increases your technical expertise, regardless of staff turnover or absences
Allows your team’s focus to shift to more important things
Identifies outdated and unstable programs still in use
Integrates into your existing Helpdesk
What are the risks of an unsupported custom software application?
Without application support, your dear app could wreak havoc on your business and your users.
These are six fatal flaws you can avoid by adding application support:
Low productivity, disrupting business processes and functionality
Missed deadlines
Lost revenue
A negative brand experience
Reduced engagement—frustrated users will move onto a competing application
A lack of ransomware protection
Don’t let your hard work developing a custom software application go to waste.
Make sure you have app support to meet and exceed your business objectives. Call Augusto for fast, convenient, and seamless application support.
Our expert team is willing and ready to ensure your application is properly supported. Give us a call today.
What are the advantages of cloud computing? How do I know if cloud hosting is right for my company? Does the cloud keep my information safe and secure? Who are the most common cloud hosting providers?
In this blog, we dive into all these questions and more. Specifically, we explore how cloud computing enables faster innovation, lower costs, and scalable, reliable infrastructure for modern organizations.
Defining cloud computing
Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of a global network of remote servers over the internet to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale. They’re hooked together and meant to operate as a single ecosystem.
You typically pay only for cloud services you use; a concept known as pay-as-you-go pricing. This helps organizations lower their operating costs, run their infrastructure more efficiently, and scale as their business needs change.
The cloud is secure, flexible, reliable, cost effective, elastic, and easy to use. It allows businesses to expand their services and computing beyond their data center.
For example, it’s very challenging to use machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI), but the cloud allows companies to use these services in a cost-effective way.
Comparing the 3 major cloud providers: Amazon AWS, Google GCP, and Microsoft Azure
There are three major cloud computing platforms: Amazon AWS, Google GCP, and Microsoft Azure. In their own ways, they offer accessibility, reduce network and hardware costs, and provide businesses with access to a range of applications.
There also are a handful of solution-specific players, including Alibaba Cloud, IBM Cloud, Oracle, and Salesforce.
Here we detail the three most commonly used platforms:
Amazon AWS is one of the longest-operating cloud computing platforms. It has been an industry leader for more than ten years and is most suitable for businesses that want to work on the public cloud.
Gartner has listed AWS as a leader in the Magic Quadrant for Infrastructure and Platform services for multiple years in a row.
Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform that integrates seamlessly with Windows, making it a smooth process for businesses that use the Windows platform on-premise. It allows for an easy transition for moving on-premises software to the cloud.While it has been criticized for not being as well-developed as some of its competitors, is a great hybrid cloud service solution.
Later to the game, Google GCP applies its technical experience to create a large number of tools that incorporate deep learning, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and data analytics. As a newer player, Google GCP has fewer data centers and offers a smaller range of tools.
Comparing the three types of clouds: Public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid cloud
Some of the confusion around cloud computing stems from the fact that there are multiple types of services that fall under the large umbrella. These are the three types of clouds.
The Public Cloud
Public clouds are the most common form and the version we at Augusto use most often.
In this type of platform, the cloud resources are owned and operated by a third-party cloud service provider and delivered over the internet. You share the same hardware, storage, and network devices with other cloud tenants.
Advantages of public clouds:
Lower costs: no need to purchase hardware or software; pay only for the service you use.
No maintenance: your service provider offers the maintenance
Near-unlimited scalability: on-demand resources meet your business needs
High reliability: a vast network of servers decreases risk
The Private Cloud
A private cloud is used exclusively by one organization. While the cloud can be located in your onsite datacenter or hosted by a third-party provider, the services are always maintained on a network dedicated solely to your organization.
Advantages of a private cloud:
More flexibility: customize your cloud environment to meet specific business needs
More control: higher levels of privacy are possible
More scalability: compared to on-premises infrastructure
The Hybrid Cloud
A hybrid cloud combines on-premises infrastructure (a private cloud) with a public cloud, allowing data and applications to move between the two environments.
This type of platform offers greater flexibility and more deployment, security, and compliance options. Organizations receive the flexibility and innovation of a public cloud while keeping highly sensitive data within their own datacenter.
Advantages of the hybrid cloud:
Control: your organization maintains a private infrastructure for sensitive assets
Flexibility: take advantage of additional resources in the public cloud when needed
Cost-effectiveness: pay for extra computing power only when needed
Ease: you can migrate to the cloud gradually—phasing in workloads over time
The four types of cloud services that make up the cloud computing stack
Although there are many types of cloud computing services, they all have a few basic features and advantages in common and can be categorized into four basic cloud service offerings.
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
The most basic category is infrastructure as a service (IaaS). In this case, organizations rent IT infrastructure (including servers, storage, networks, and operating systems) and pay as they go. Many organizations start with this model as a way to move physical servers from their data center to a virtual server in the cloud; called lift and shift in the industry.
IaaS is helpful for customers who want to create cost-effective IT solutions while outsourcing most of the complexities to a service provider. This type of cloud service provides scalability, security, and performance increases over the traditional datacenter.
IaaS allows a business to migrate the cost and responsibility of maintaining the underlying hardware, network, infrastructure, and security to the cloud service provider.
Additional benefits of IaaS include:
Cost savings: You’ll no longer need to maintain hardware and software or pay for any capacity beyond what you need.
Scalability and flexibility: Companies can scale up and down as needed, only paying for the services they need. This provides the ability to expand as you grow.
Support for disaster recovery and business continuity: Companies can use the cloud service providers’ solutions for a highly redundant disaster recovery plan outside of the traditional datacenter.
Examples of IaaS include virtual machines and hypervisors.
PaaS (Platform as a Service)
In addition to providing IT infrastructure, platform as a service options add in the computing platform and solution stack as a service.
PaaS allows software developers to build custom applications without worrying about data storage and management. It’s easier for non-experts to develop an application through single click functionality.
Advantages:
Speed to market: PaaS allows developers to build, configure, secure, and deploy applications quickly. It removes the typical barriers of hardware, software, and infrastructure.
Pre-configured: Developers can take advantage of pre-build and pre-configured components.
Scalability: PaaS environments can handle large workloads.
Future proof: They also automatically receive bug fixes, updates, and features. This allows developers to focus on creating; not on the environment.
One common use for PaaS is databases. Augusto often uses Amazon RDS in our client solutions.
SaaS (Software as a Service)
SaaS incorporates both IaaS and PaaS service offerings, providing application-level services tailored to diverse business needs on-demand. It provides cross-device compatibility and no initial setup cost.
It’s the most familiar cloud computing service, as users are accustomed to interacting directly with SaaS applications like Gmail, Dropbox, or Netflix. Augusto integrates with these services, helping people to use productivity tools like these.
FaaSFunctions as a service/serverless computing
FaaS is a young cloud computing service that’s becoming a game-changer. It’s a serverless computing concept that allows software developers to build applications and deploy actions without maintaining a server.
This type of cloud service increases efficiency by eliminating server logistics. At Augusto, we use this type of cloud service very often. For example, we use Lambda from AWS.
“Cloud development allows Augusto to quickly turn your ideas into solutions. Using Infrastructure as Code (IAC) and serverless (SaaS) architecture, we can quickly create secure, scalable, and flexible applications,” said Jim Becher, Augusto solution architect and technical lead.
Benefits of cloud computing and why Augusto Digital uses it
At Augusto, we help a variety of people and organizations take full advantage of cloud computing. From the CEO to the Vice President of IT to the product owner, everyone has unique preferences and priorities for cloud usage.
Here, we outline five ways Augusto uses cloud computing to help our clients succeed in their business objectives.
1. Speed to market innovation
Cloud platforms are typically self-service, meaning, provided on demand. This gives businesses great flexibility when bringing an idea to market.
We can use the cloud to test new ideas, allowing a cost-effective, self-service model. If an idea works, you can scale it fast. If it doesn’t, they can shut it down without waiting or relying on IT.
Most cloud computing services are “pay as you go,” meaning you can start and stop services (and payments) as often as you’d like. You’ll get exactly as much storage space and as many features as your organization or project needs.
For example, businesses can limit what they spend in the cloud by turning servers or services off when not used, such as on the weekends.
3. Scalability
Different companies have different needs, and using the cloud enables organizations to efficiently scale their IT infrastructure and services up or down according to business demands. And it’s scaleable both horizontally and vertically, meaning it can deliver the perfect amount of IT resources, right when you need them.
4. Reliable method of data security and disaster recovery
Cloud platforms significantly decrease disaster recovery risks because data and services can be mirrored at multiple sites on the cloud provider’s network.
5. Continuous new features and updates
Cloud providers continually add new technology features and products, so take advantage of this benefit. PaaS and SaaS services and applications can automatically refresh and update themselves, saving valuable IT staff time.
This is hugely helpful because, in a traditional data center, you’re responsible for updating hardware and software occasionally. In the cloud, the systems can be updated for you.
Augusto’s three cloud computing services
Whether you’re just making the leap into cloud computing or need more advanced solutions, Augusto Digital is here to help.
“With cloud computing, we can give our customers the ability to quickly innovate on new solutions and applications. Cloud based development allows for speed, agility, and flexibility when creating new software applications,” said Jim Becher.
Cloud Strategy, Architecture, and Migration
You know that moving to the cloud offers greater business agility. You also know you likely need a team to implement a migration plan that defines what to migrate, where, and when. So when it’s time to move your data and workloads to the cloud, we’re here to help. Cloud hosting and managed services. We have the flexibility you need to develop and design cloud solutions that meet — and exceed — your expectations. We offer DevOps collaboration for all our cloud services, including Serverless backend, containers, database development and analytics, security, and identity access management (IAM).Cloud data analytics & insights. The cloud is an ideal place to store critical data used in day-to-day operations. We understand the concepts behind quality data analytics. And we can help deploy your cloud computing with powerful analytic software to identify patterns in your data and extract new insights.
We’ve explored the history and present state of cloud computing. But what’s next? What should we each be prepared for? And how can you begin implementing these tactics?
Here are six trends we’re seeing in 2021.
92% of enterprises have a multi-cloud strategy: IT departments are realizing that the platforms they’re using require it, and are making the work happen.
There’s currently a higher than expected cloud usage due to COVID-19 restrictions throughout 2020: Remote workers needed to be outside of physical buildings and data centers.
There’s a higher cloud spend than ever: But organizations are struggling to optimize their existing cloud usage and spend.
The adoption of Azure draws the platform closer to leader, AWS: Specifically with companies that have a Microsoft platform.
There’s greater adoption of data reporting and analytics inside the cloud: With so much data contained, it’s easier for companies to report via the cloud. Machine learning and forecasting also use large quantities of data.
There’s a higher adoption of low-code or no-code solutions: Developers and business users are able to assemble code rather than develop code into applications.
We’ll continue to monitor other trends and keep this updated as we enter 2022. What additional trends would you add to this list?
Security is the base component of the cloud. The graph then moves into the various activities people can do in the cloud. As you move up the stack, you can see which services are available with each of the different types of cloud service.
Final Thoughts
Cloud computing helps organizations move faster, scale on demand, and reduce infrastructure overhead by using the right mix of public, private, or hybrid models and services. However, the goal isn’t to use everything. Instead, it’s to choose the cloud approach that best supports your security needs, budget, and speed to market.
https://augusto.digital/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/jmpXbG4lwsx8mIqspnECfHqg.png5761024Jim Becherhttps://augusto.digital/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Augusto-logo.svgJim Becher2021-11-03 00:00:002026-02-06 16:28:22Benefits of Cloud Computing: Why You Should Use It
