Video livestreaming is streaming multimedia content in real time over the Internet. Using the technology, users can create, share & view live videos through the support of an internet enabled platform. There is also non-live media stream which technically streams but do not broadcast in real time. Live streaming has phenomenal ability to connect with audience with real time across the globe in cost efficient way which earlier was possible only through TV broadcasts.

Live streaming contributes to over 30% of the total video content that is being watched globally.  Post Covid-19, it is estimated that there is a 300% increase in live streaming and it has become the most important forms of communication opening doors for multiple opportunities like students attending live classes, online doctor consultation, artists performing virtual concerts, live commerce shopping, retail customers shopping online, video conferencing, etc.

Live streaming in social media

Even though the concept of live streaming prevailed earlier, it was the social media with its incredible power of connecting peoples across started using it in a much larger scale along with numerous other features like live chatting, closed caption with multi language support, play back speed controls, multi resolution, video replay, controlling audience, applying effects, etc. Statistics mentions that around 23% of social media users are using live streaming to connect with others

However, the platform capability to engage a live audience is challenging as even a minor glitch for a few seconds during the live stream could impact the interest of the audience. The most important aspect of live streaming is to provide high quality end user experience without any imperfections. Is there an efficient way to validate the quality of live streaming? Here are some notable testing points to ensure quality live streaming.

Live stream Test Process

The digital assurance of the live stream testing is a necessity and partnering with an efficient digital assurance services partner is equally important. The following are the process steps for live stream testing.

• ● User feedback

Planning and preparation play a vital role in validating live streaming. The test team should be aware of the items that could potentially cause issues. It is best to maintain a checklist that is created through analysing patterns. One way to create this is through carefully looking into user feedback of similar application and understand what the users are concerned about. A collection of these items will indicate the areas of additional focus.

• ● QA Tools

There are multiple cross platform screen casting and streaming tools available to test different dimensions of live stream. Using various broadcasting, video and audio controls, live streams can be setup and tested.

• ● Standards & Protocols

Each live streaming uses different protocols based on their business needs. However, the efficiency of the video stream depends on the multiple factors. All individual factors contribute to the overall quality and thus be carefully taken care during development and testing. There are various protocol like HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), WebRTC, Secure Reliable Transport (SRT), etc. Each protocol has its own advantages/disadvantages and knowing it would really understand the scope and expectations. 

• ● Beyond the reach

When a match is broadcasted in television, it is very much live that there is no delay in the telecast even for a few seconds. This is also applicable to live streaming. Latency is the time difference between the video sent from host to the receiver. The ultra low latency ensures video is streaming without any delays and reaches wider audience.

• ● Widest possibility

The compatibility factor in live streaming is responsible for delivering the video content to a larger audience. The technology should make sure that live streaming is possible across multiple devices, platforms and browsers. It would be helpful to understand the audience location and have trending list of popular devices, platforms & browsers based on statistics. These primary platforms should be at least covered during the tests.

• ● Subjective Video quality

Bitrate, video resolution & image sharpness contributes larger part of the video quality. Bitrate is associated with delivering best video quality dynamically to users based on different network capabilities. The video resolution adaptiveness is to be validated with different internet speed to check whether the   system automatically adapts to the best quality video under various conditions. 

• ● User Experience

Whatever technology or features that is developed, it really matters only when audience is convenient in using it. UX/UI and UI/UX testing play a major role in engaging the users with the application. Usability tests should be performed to understand the application usage and issues.

• ● Security & Privacy

The scale of security and privacy related issues in live stream are much higher than other technologies. As the content is targeted to a wider audience across the globe, there should be much responsibility involved to avoid problems. There are content management systems and other security features which restrict text, image, video using AI programmed filters to keep the content safe. The security and privacy aspect of live stream should be extensively tested.

In addition to the above points discussed that are other areas to focus which depends on individual business. There is much scope for live streaming in the coming years as new players and domains have started to use this technology to are Overall 99.999% availability, stability & premium quality are three key customer success metrics that a tester should look for ensure the purpose of the technology is fulfilled.

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However, this transition necessitates the creation of a detailed migration plan. What method will a corporation use to transfer data? How will the information be organised? How will a business be able to track data?

Setting goals and expectations for what the firm wants to achieve is the first step in migrating data to the cloud. For instance, how much data does the organisation intend to transfer, and at what point will the amount of data to be moved be reduced? Who will take over the project’s duties and responsibilities? What is the budget for the company, and what cloud platform will be used? The planning phase also includes code development and effective cloud migration strategies. The smoother the relocation process, the more well-planned it is.

Today’s organizations rely heavily on data for decision-making. These new-age data users, who aren’t only business intelligence experts, might make up the majority of an organization’s workforce, which is only growing. Considering this, the automated metadata management platform must be user-friendly in order to modernise data. As a result, the user interface must be so basic that users, regardless of their professional expertise, can readily access data.

Having discussed about the importance of data migration to the cloud for BI, let’s look at some of the data modernization trends.

Data Modernization Trends to look out for

Trend #1 – Uniform Implementation

When migrating to the cloud, the entire organisation must approach data in the same way. Business intelligence teams must teach data concepts, such as how to categorise, insert, and access data, so that the entire organisation can communicate in a common language. The analytics created from the data will be inconsistent if two departments use different categories for the same data. It’s also critical for data teams to teach the rest of the firm how to use and analyse data so that it may be put to the best possible use.

Effective data managers, on the other hand, strive to move the correct data to the right place as they transition their data. Rather than merely scaling up their existing data storage solution, data managers are increasingly attempting to turn the data into more valuable configurations. This shift does more than just storage. Data managers strive to improve analysis, interaction with other systems, and other aspects of data management. Instead of replicating local storage for 20 subsidiary offices, a company might construct global repositories based on data classification, such as worldwide marketing, operations records, logistic records etc

Trend #2 – Multi-functional adoption / Wider adoption

Markets that have previously recognised the value of data migration, such as banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), are expected to continue to employ it heavily. Similarly, marketing departments across sectors are expected to maintain their market leadership in data migration adoption and use to strengthen their data analysis capabilities.

However, as the benefits of data migration become more widely recognised, new businesses and professions are seeing the most rapid growth. Human resources is expected to be a fast-growing industry, according to Markets and Markets, as HR professionals seek data migration to integrate multiple data sources for improved data analysis.

Similarly, retail and consumer products are expected to expand the most, as companies strive to better understand customers throughout the product and customer life cycle. As the benefits of data migration and data analysis become more widely acknowledged, we can expect this shifting demand between industries and job functions to continue. While we may not be able to forecast which segments will expand the fastest next year, we can surely expect change to continue.

Trend #3 – Automated storage and storage scaling

Large organisations quickly exhaust the capacity of local hard drive arrays due to the general increase in data volume. Data managers must juggle frequent requests for more capacity while also staying ahead of hardware obsolescence and failure. Migrating data to the cloud will not totally solve these problems, but it will alleviate the urgency and complexity.

The hours of installation, configuration, testing, and troubleshooting necessary to install physical hard drives are readily replaced by mouse clicks on the cloud interface. Scaling storage is simple and perhaps automated, which appeals to data managers and drives the trend of moving more data to the cloud.

The largest corporations continue to exceed their current capacity. Markets & Markets predicts that demand for data migration in total dollars will continue to be dominated by these huge enterprises. However, as the cloud’s flexibility becomes more generally acknowledged in 2022, small and medium-sized businesses are likely to drive the fastest-growing section of the data migration market.

Trend #4 – Capitalizing on Integrational features

Companies that are using cloud for their applications are paying close attention to the integration offerings of cloud vendors. For example, Azure’s integration capabilities are becoming increasingly popular among Azure platform customers, and some organisations have begun to build lightweight integration frameworks on top of AWS’ offerings.

Rapid change will always have an impact on technology; it’s the essence of the business. Still, there’s no disputing that we’re in the midst of a generational transformation, with businesses pivoting faster than ever to stay ahead of the pack. Although digital integration is not new, its impact on a company’s long-term performance and importance has never been greater.

Trend #5 – Data restructuring and refined data transfer

Previous data migrations may have merely shifted data from one repository to another, but with AI, data migration cycles are more optimized. As such, data analysis becomes more efficient and effective. Data modernization, which entails migrating data from legacy databases to modern databases, is driven by this need. Unstructured data is categorised and structured, and old databases are restructured and refined, thanks to data modernization. According to a recent Deloitte poll, 84 percent of respondents have begun data transformation initiatives, with the financial services industry leading the way.

Companies who were among the first to migrate data to the cloud are now actively involved in data migration for data modernization. This contributes to the established industries’ status as market leaders in data migration. Marketing departments, for example, may have been the first to migrate data to the cloud for data analysis, but they are now also leading the way in data transfer from one database to another. Thus they are seeking the benefits of scalability, cost savings, flexibility, performance, and extended capability.

This might interest you: 5 Tips For Successful Data Modernization

Wind-up

We recognise that adopting modern technologies may help firms remain competitive and nimble as they seek out flexible, scalable data infrastructure solutions. Those who have yet to modernise, on the other hand, will face an uphill battle in extracting insights from their data. According to a recent IDG poll, more than 90% of data professionals claimed it is difficult to make data available in a format that can be used for analytics.

Companies should continue to improve their data architecture and keep an eye on industry trends and cutting-edge technology to help them compete with data insights. On-premises and legacy tools, on the other hand, were never designed to handle enormous amounts of data in a flexible and scalable manner. As new trends drive significant changes in data management strategy, businesses must prioritise modernization.

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Since their advent, smartphone apps have become intrinsically linked to our everyday lives. They have become part of our lifestyle, transport and even our healthcare. With millions of apps coming out on various platforms every year, the process of app development is much more democratized in 2021 than it ever has been.

Instead of spending hours perfecting every miniscule feature on an application, coders today can work on pre-set developing tools where many functions have already been coded and pre-made. These tools make it easier for laymen with little to no experience in coding to make simple apps that serve their purpose. This makes it so that the whole process of application engineering is brought to the fingertips of an individual to make use of.

Low-code and no-code software development are also sometimes termed citizens’ development owing to how the agile methodologies help enterprises deliver applications in an expedited manner.

A World Where Anyone Can Code

The democratization of app development brings along with it a number of beneficial factors for small businesses and start-ups who are constantly struggling to keep up with bigger corporates and conglomerates.

• Bridge gaps in Skill Sets: Low-code development help enterprises to eliminate the skill gaps between the existing IT staff who code and non-developers who might have valuable inputs to build applications across the board easily.

• Reduce Time to Market by Speeding up Development: Application development for custom app or mobile apps is a very long and repetitive process that can drag the development cycle for months, if not years. Internal staff can identify business requirements as the application is being developed to reach the desired customers in very little time.

• Cut back on Costs and Training: Companies do not require to hire external application development teams as the tools are designed for existing internal teams. The tools are designed so that existing teams can easily work on the same while saving money on both resources and additional training costs.

What Exactly Is the Difference Between Low Code and No Code?

No-code platforms are very simple in the way they work. They allow one to create basic functional applications through a visual-based drag-and-drop interface. There will not be any major upgrades from legacy systems; hence, teams use the app for particular needs within a specific scope. The biggest advantage with no-code is that they can be used by people with no prior coding knowledge and can be used to create prototypes by non-technical teams before sending it for development by the IT team.

A low-code development medium usually uses visual interfaces with simple drag-and-drop features instead of elaborate coding languages that make it intuitive to use for the general user with no formal knowledge. It is the half-way point between no code and fully-fledged coding. Low-code also has a visual-based interface but can also be used for scalable environments with flexibility in the cloud or on-premise deployments along with APIs for reusability.

Low-code allows for manual coding and scripting, which gives developers the best of both worlds. The platform empowers developers to build advanced apps with their code while using existing platform’s capabilities. A pre-existing set of tools help them bridge the gaps that otherwise would have required specialized skillsets or an extra team altogether.

A platform like no code/low code is ideal for small businessmen and service providers, reducing the cost and time to market. Low-code makes it easier to go digital. Making the internet and smart services easily accessible across the spectrum.

Is it No-Code or Low-Code?

The right route for any business when it comes to choosing between no-code and low-code is to look at the use cases and patterns of the enterprise across a period of time and seeing which development platform would be the most optimum for their unique business type.

A large number of apps and interlinks between them may lead to them being as integrated as websites on the internet itself. Tik Tok tops Google or Facebook the previous top contenders) as the most visited website on the internet. This is owing purely to the accessibility of the application and how it ties into a number of tropes, including acting, music, and short-form viral clips.

How will low-code apps affect the future?

The need of the hour is to identify players in the field of application development, which can skyrocket the efficiency of newer technologies in the pipeline such, as Web 3.0. With crypto/digital currency taking over the world by storm, transactions are being handled by e-wallets and QR-based payment services more and more. Autonomous healthcare, transport, & retail services are also slowly being integrated into an ecosystem conducive to faster and more efficient living. Applications are becoming integral to our lives these days, more than ever, and the emergence of more no-code and low-code app developers will only stimulate this very process in the long run.

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