Inside Cygnet Infotech

Cygnet Announces Participation in CeBIT 2012

2012-01-24T11:50:00.000+05:30

CeBIT is considered the ICT industry’s biggest and most international event. Cygnet was one of the 4200 exhibitors in CeBIT 2011 and now it has announced its participation in CeBIT 2012 which will be held during 6th to 10th March in Hanover, Germany.

At CeBIT 2012, Cygnet will be showcasing its strengths in implementation and customization of Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Being a Microsoft Partner with several Gold and Silver competencies, Cygnet has been providing professional services to clients in over 20 countries in 5 continents.

Cygnet will also present its services in developing mobility solutions including development of mobile apps on iPhone, Android and mobile websites.

Cygnet Infotech is an ISO 9001, ISO 27001 and CMMi Level 3 certified company which has always delivered high quality development and testing services via a mature and proven global delivery model.

Cygnet invites professionals from IT Companies and ISVs from Germany and other European countries who are visiting CeBIT 2012 to visit our stall at D 44, Hall 6, India Pavilion and meet our senior representatives to know more about our services and how we can assist you.

Please write to us at cebit@cygnet-infotech.com to schedule an appointment during 6th and 10th March at CeBIT, Hanover, Germany.

Cygnet Achieves Gold Competency in Portals and Collaboration

2012-01-19T13:34:00.000+05:30

Cygnet Infotech is proud to announce that it has achieved the Microsoft Partner GOLD competency for Portals and Collaboration.

A gold competency demonstrates Cygnet’s best-in-class expertise within Microsoft's marketplace. Earning a gold competency is evidence of the deepest, most consistent commitment to a specific, in-demand, business solution area, along with the distinction of being among only 1 per cent of Microsoft partners worldwide that have attained this outstanding degree of proficiency.

To achieve the gold competency in Portals and Collaboration, Cygnet completed the rigorous requirements including number of Microsoft Certified Professionals, passing the relevant sales and marketing exams, and customer references.

Earning this competency proves that Cygnet has the technical capability and resources to design and develop portals on internet, intranet and extranet along with the ability to deploy collaboration solutions using SharePoint.

Cygnet now has earned 2 Gold competencies and 6 Silver competencies which continue to show its commitment to Microsoft technologies.

Software Developed by Cygnet Promises to Reduce Food Wastage at NFL Games

2012-01-18T14:57:00.000+05:30

Did you know that approximately 15-20% of food items are wasted during NFL games at the stadium food counters? Assuming 50,000 consumers with an average spending of $8, that amounts to $60,000 to $80,000 worth of sandwiches, nachos and bratwurst getting wasted. That’s a lot of money!

In order to reduce this wastage and at the same time not have a shortfall of food items, Cygnet was assigned the task of developing a predictive model of food orders placed during the games. The model is supposed to analyze the past history of food orders during NFL games and then develop an algorithm to predict orders in the next game.

Cygnet’s client is a provider of analytical services to point of sale solutions in the sports and entertainment industry. These services aim to provide real time insight and automated decision making to game and event organizers in order to strengthen their logistics and operations planning.

Essentially, the task is to predict the inventory based on historical sales figures. In the POC stage, Cygnet is working with limited number of outlet locations and limited number of food items. However, once the algorithm is tested, the full-fledged analytics solution will be developed. The technology used is AI (Artificial Intelligence) algorithms such as ID3 (Iterative Dichotomizer 3) along with CAIM and feedback based statistical forecasting built on Microsoft .NET and SQL server.

Cygnet’s team has been up to the challenge so far with client showing appreciation in the following words - “You, and your team, are definitely headed in the right direction as far as development is concerned, and I am very pleased with the progress up to this point”

Cygnet has always assisted its clients with innovative solutions to business challenges and is always ready to accept the next challenge. Read some of our case studies on the Microsoft .NET technology.

SharePoint Trends and Predictions for 2012

2012-01-18T12:19:00.000+05:30

Microsoft SharePoint has seen tremendous changes in its appearance, functionalities and ease of accessibility over the last year. Following this, we have listed out some expert predictions and general trends that SharePoint users can expect over the year 2012.

Social Networking with SharePoint may not take off
When it comes to social networking, the universal adoption of this feature embedded within SharePoint does not seem to be in the cards, according to the industry watchdogs. The reason is, as many experts express, the lack of maturity in the SharePoint application, which otherwise exists in Twitter and Facebook. Also, the more advanced social tools within the market possess features such as hash tagging and targeting which give them a clear upper hand.

Personalization will drive SharePoint adoption
The ability to personalize the content through SharePoint will be welcomed so that the users can add personal content to wide range of channels and sites, the SharePoint experts say. More number of users will adopt Personal Content Management (PCM) in order to classify and aggregate their personal information.

Awareness about Cloud solutions will increase
According to the SharePoint watchdogs, Microsoft has discussed a lot about the SharePoint solution over the last year thus increasing the awareness about the cloud services. This may not lead to complete replacement of customized on-premise SharePoint solutions with cloud solutions. But companies may try to adopt the cloud services through Microsoft 365 or other third party tools, experts predict.

Authentication will be a challenge for SharePoint administrators
Administrators will need to be more proficient when it comes to security and authentication skills in SharePoint, as per the specialists. No longer will the traditional Active Directory with LDAP for outside users suffice since extranets and client hybrids have increased in number.

SharePoint Governance will remain a key focus area
The how and why of SharePoint management is what governance is all about. In order to sustain and grow, governance of SharePoint needs to be adopted widely, as per the industry experts. The number of users of SharePoint is growing and so they need to be guided and channeled.

Custom Solutions around SharePoint will increase
Application developers will need to work on developing applications that integrate solutions to improve manageability, portability and governance that are the most common challenges in custom solutions.

Data handling capability of SharePoint will be tested
The SharePoint experts say that as SharePoint 2010 has proven that it can handle extremely large content pools and terabytes of data, users can be expected to move away from ECM platforms and open platforms towards SharePoint, which is scalable and provides better cost of ownership. Further, users will test SharePoint capabilities on the mobile and tablet platform.

To summarize, SharePoint analysts are predicting more adoption of SharePoint and are quite positive about its prospects in 2012.

Cygnet Infotech is geared to address any challenges that come up during implementation and customization of SharePoint. Cygnet has expertise in developing portals, custom webparts and also migration from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010. Read more about our SharePoint services and SharePoint Case Studies.

JOSH 2012 – Sports Day @ Cygnet Infotech

2012-01-11T19:03:00.000+05:30

Cygnet celebrated the spirit of sportsmanship, competitiveness and team work through its full day sports festival – JOSH 2012.

JOSH was conceptualized and implemented by Cygnet’s HRD team. The tag line “No Games, Just Sports“ was realized by all the participants who made an enthusiastic contribution of energy, competition, fun, and battle.

The event was organized on Saturday 7th January 2012 at Veer Savarkar Sports Complex where Cygnetians participated in multiple sporting events during the entire day. There were different competitions running across the venue starting from 10 am. The energy levels were running high right till evening 7 pm.

The event which had the maximum participation and fun was Cricket. 6 teams played against each other creating euphoria - Cygnet Warriors, Cygnet Royals, Cygnet Trumps, Cygnet Chargers, Cygnet Starz and Cygnet Musketeers. In the end, beating all teams Cygnet Musketeers won the cricket championship.

Another game which held the audience’s attention was Badminton both male and females participants.

The other matches were equally interesting with a tough fight seen in Volleyball, best brain winning in Chess, strategic moves in Carrom, and balancing act in table tennis.

The day was perfect with morning tea / coffee, lunch and evening snacks. The icing on the cake was the medals, trophies and the certification which was given to the winners & runner’s up in all the events.

Some comments from Cygnetians
“Thank you so much for organizing “Sports Day”. We really enjoy lot and had a great time. We got a chance to play the sports which we are almost forgotten. We wish we can have such event every quarter or a month. Cheers!”

“Josh 2012 was an awesome experience for all of us. Everything from the facilities to management to food was top notch. Personally, I hardly knew two or three people from my cricket team. But at the end of the day, I made some really good friends and that was the biggest trophy. Thank you so much again for hosting such a event. Looking forward to many more”

“Thanks for such a great sports event. We all had a wonderful day and enjoyed all sports events. I hardly know 2 or 3 persons from my team but at the end of the day I found new friends. This kind of event increases team work and I’m so happy because I’m part of Cygnet family.”

Optifocus is Now Ready for USA Opticians

2011-12-27T15:32:00.000+05:30

Till the previous version, Optifocus catered only to the UK market. However, with the release of Optifocus version 9.0 in Nov 2011, Optifocus is now ready to assist USA opticians in their practice.

Optifocus is a comprehensive practice management and marketing software for an optician that assists in managing patients, appointments, inventory, communication and point of sale. With its multi-branch functionality, an optician can manage operations and employees at different branch locations.

Some of the changes done in Optifocus for USA release are

Support for state and federal taxes
Currency shows in $
Address records as per USA requirements including street, suite, and zip code
Name of Insurer and Member Group can be recorded
National Provider Identification (NPI Number)
Fully updated USA Help module

To know more visit, www.optifocus.com

Optifocus 9.0 Released

2011-12-26T16:18:00.000+05:30

Optifocus released its new version 9.0 in Nov 2011 with a number of enhancements and new features. Optifocus is an Optician’s practice management and marketing software which facilitates the management of day to day sales, inventory and patient appointments and communication.

Whats New in Optifocus 9.0

Till now, Optifocus was designed specifically for managing optician practices in the United Kingdom. However, with Optifocus 9.0, support for US optician’s requirements has also been included. So Optifocus 9.0 is now available as both Optifocus UK version and Optifocus USA version.

Some of the new features and upgrades in Optifocus 9.0 are

Better Patient Management

Ability to generate report card for patients in case of revisit / recall.
Possibility to send SMS alerts to patients
Ability to record the GP details

Better Cash monitoring

Ability to view daily / previous cash transactions

Stronger support for multi-branch operations

Chat module to facilitate instant messaging between employees in different branches. This module includes ability to view online users and maintain chat history.
Email module to facilitate communication between employees in same or other branches

New Accounts module to facilitate basic accounting for sales, income and purchases. Report generation facility has also been provided.
New Email module for communicating with patients and suppliers. This promises to be a great tool for sending reminders / promotional offers to patients and for following up with suppliers. The email module can be configured with your Gmail account if required.
New utility to generate bar codes for different products.
Better security and administration

Utility to back-up your Optifocus database for safety against loss

Better monitoring of employees

Maintenance of daily attendance and in-out records
Ability to manage employee schedules
Ability to calculate salary automatically using attendance records

New module Stock Take to search & update physical inventory of products
Ability to record NHS payments (for UK) and print GOS forms (for UK)
Facility to define brand group and other product groups and other products
Facility to search for old transactions
Fully updated Help module

Optifocus 9.0 brings in more transparency to transactions. New features for branch and headquarters make operations more efficient for optician’s practice.

Visit Optifocus to read more.

Cygnet Assists Client in Developing Traffic Signal Update System for Poole Harbor Bridge, UK

2011-12-22T12:45:00.001+05:30

Poole is a large town and seaport on the southern coast of United Kingdom. It is famous as being the birth place of the noted author John le Carre and television producer and actor David Croft. Poole was also the residence for 4 years of J R R Tolkien the author of the Lord of the Rings.

The A350 is the main road cutting through Poole from the north to the south. On this road is the Poole harbor bridge which is lowered down to allow vehicles and pedestrians to cross the creek and which is raised up to allow boats and ships to pass through. However, this bridge is now too congested and another bridge, the Long Sails Bridge is under construction to connect Poole to Hamworthy.

Traffic Signal Update System

Poole is using an advanced traffic control and management system developed by Cygnet’s client, a specialist provider of traffic management software in the United Kingdom. Cygnet has a dedicated offshore team working for the client to develop or update some parts of the functionality of this software.

As a specific requirement for the Poole Harbor Bridge, Cygnet’s team assisted in developing a prototype of the system which would provide traffic updates on the A350 further up the road to warn the vehicles and pedestrians about the status of the bridge.

The variable message signs placed on the A350 would indicate whether the Poole Harbor Bridge and the Long Sails Bridge were closed or open for vehicle and pedestrian traffic thus allowing people to make changes to their travel routes. Cygnet was able to develop the system such that the signal would be available in all major variable message sign boards in less than 5 seconds after the bridge was closed or opened.

The client’s project manager was exuberant on this achievement and said, ”Just a quick email to say thanks for today and your support… Personally I consider today to be a Success!”

The technology used was ASP.NET 3.5 and Windows Communication Framework.

Cygnet’s team continues to understand and solve any technical challenge given by our clients and never fails to deliver.

Cygnet Training Center at the ACMA Exhibition

2011-12-19T16:32:00.002+05:30

Cygnet Training Center gave off a fabulous performance at the recently concluded 3-day ACMA Exhibition in Ahmedabad. The whole of Cygnet Training Center team enjoyed their experience of talking to students, working professionals and other visitors at the stall.

Cygnet Training Center had promoted its flagship Microsoft Certification courses at the exhibition including MCTS in ASP.NET, Silverlight, WPF, WCF, SharePoint and SQL Server. Courses in Mobile application development in Android, iPhone and Windows phone were also on display apart from courses in Java, PHP and software testing.

Over 3000 brochures and course catalogs were distributed at the event which generated a great response from the visitors. See the rest of the story in the following pictures.

A big thanks to all those who made the event a great success aka THE RED TEAM – TPSO, Niraj, Radhika, Anuja, Aarti, Kush, Darshit, Ashish, Yogesh, Jay, Varun, Ankush, Manali, Rutva, Keval, Amit and Devender.

Cygnet’s Java Team Develops Cookie De-bugging Tool for Client

2011-12-19T14:27:00.002+05:30

Browser cookies are invaluable in the world of internet and online services. They help in keeping the session alive in your online banking transaction. They help in storing state information, user preferences and authentication information on your favorite website.

Cookies also store your online shopping cart information till the time you proceed for check-out. Essentially, cookies are text files which are stored on the computer and used through the browser. To prevent cookie theft by malicious agent, programmers usually encrypt the information in the cookie.

Cookie De-bugging Tool

Since more than 2 years, Cygnet Infotech has been providing offshore software development services to a large USA based organization. The company is in the business of providing online communication solutions such as online fax, email campaigns and online backups.

The project requires a heavy usage of cookies and programming had included highly complex encryption algorithms for enabling security of transactions. As a part of customer service, there were many situations which required the knowledge of the information getting stored in the cookie in order to provide a solution. However, the trouble-shooting process was very time-consuming since it was not easy to see what information the cookie was storing because of the heavy algorithm implementation.

To solve this problem, Cygnet’s team developed a cookie de-bugging tool which takes the cookie as input and displays the value of the cookie. The tool is extremely fast and shows the value within seconds. This has helped the client’s team to provide better customer service to their clients by resolving their problems fast.

“The Cookie Checker worked great! I was able to decrypt the cookie and immediately saw the problem with the account. Many thanks” – Web Manager at the client.

The cookie de-bugging tool was developed in Java and Cygnet is proud to provide such services to its clients which help solve challenging real world problems.

3 cheers to the team that made this possible!

Windows Store is here!

2011-12-13T11:58:00.000+05:30

With the new Windows store, Microsoft has made yet another attempt to please its users. As per the official blog, below areas have been of major focus in the Windows store

Ease of app discovery

The new Windows store is designed with functionalities that ensures better visibility of apps because of which discovering apps is now more efficient. Some features that are implemented in order to help developers and customers discover apps of their interests as quickly as possible are Search, Category browse, Ranking lists and Editorial Curation.

To the users browsing through IE 10 on Windows 8, developers can now promote their apps by displaying a metro style app rather than plain text.

Wider market

Windows store is now available in 231 countries and supports multiple languages. The payment for Windows store is accepted in the local currencies of more than 50 countries. PayPal is another payment method that is acceptable by Windows store in most nations. With this, the reachability and usability of Windows store is certainly on a rise.

Designed for Enterprise as well

Now it is possible for enterprise users to market and offer their apps in form of metro style app through the Windows store.

Enterprise can restrict the access to Windows store catalog to specific employees.
Direct deployment of apps to PCs is possible.
IT admins can install enterprise apps on the Windows 8 machines that they manage.
Group policy can be used by IT admins to allow metro style app installation on Windows 8 Beta PCs.

New Business models

Now, developers have a wide range of flexible options when it comes to choosing a business model to build the metro style apps on. Giving developers choices with respect to developing business models helps them evolve new ideas and approaches as conditions and needs change.

Better ways to engage customers/developers

Windows store presents customers with trials and in-app purchase facilities that provide them with consistent firsthand experience of all the applications. Developers also have chance to control their advertising thus enabling them to fund their business. Also, Microsoft has made way for open source apps in the new Windows store.

App Certification Kit

Along with the SDK, Microsoft will be providing the developers with app certification kit and app acceptance guidance so that the developers can develop and publish apps that have minimal chance of rejection due to compliance issues.

Store economics

In the new Windows store, individual registration fee is $49 USD. For companies, it is $99 USD. Microsoft will share up to 80% of the revenue generated from app sale.

On a side note, Microsoft has announced that all the apps during Beta period will be free of cost; paid apps are unsupported.

Cygnet Training Center Announces Participation in 8th ACMA ICT Exhibition

2011-12-12T11:51:00.001+05:30

Cygnet Training Center, the training division of Cygnet Infotech and a premier IT education provider in Ahmedabad has announced its participation in the 8th ACMA ICT exhibition to be held between 16th and 18th December 2011 at the Gujarat University Convention Center, Ahmedabad.

Visit us at stand #104-105 in the IT Education Section.

ACMA (Ahmedabad Computer Merchants Association) has been organizing the ICT show for the past 7 years with tremendous success.

Cygnet Training Center will promote its IT training programs for students, IT professionals and corporates at the exhibition. Cygnet flagship courses include ASP.NET and .NET 4.0. Being a Microsoft certified Silver Partner for Learning Solutions, Cygnet offers a number of courses in Microsoft technologies including SharePoint and Dynamics CRM. Cygnet also offers training programs in Java and iPhone / Android application development. These programs assist trainees to prepare for certification exams like MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist), MCPD (Microsoft Certified Professional Developer), MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional) and SCWCD (Sun Certified Web Component Developer)

Through its training programs Cygnet aims to bridge the gap between college education and IT industry requirements to make students even more job-ready. IT professionals can gain by enhancing their technical skillsets through CTC training programs.

Cygnet Training Center also offers short term 2-day certificate courses for college students who want to make a career in IT. Corporates can avail of custom training programs for their employees in MS Office and MS Project which are conducted by CTC on premise.

At the exhibition, you can interact with our experienced counselors and discuss in person what kind of training program would benefit you the most in your career plans.

Visit us at stand #104-105 in the IT education section

Windows Phone 7 Demo on Android or iPhone

2011-12-09T13:58:00.001+05:30

Are you one of those curious Android or iPhone mobile phone users who are itching to try out the new Windows 7 release? Well, worry not! Microsoft has released a cool demo that can be run on iPhone and Android phone without any issues.

With a tap or a swipe, you will be presented with a start up screen with the most commonly used services such as Messaging, Outlook, and Calendar etc. Once you have tested any one of the service’s demo, you can go back to the main screen to test another one. It is simple, interactive and certainly very user-friendly.

Some of the features that take Windows 7 mobile to the next level of communication are:

Touch-Friendly user interface that is slick and elegant.
With a tap and a drag, move the apps around.
Easy synchronization of documents between your phone and PC.
Access to Outlook mail application giving way to important features such as flagging important e-mails etc.
Large and colorful live tiles can be used as shortcuts to frequently used apps and websites.
Adding apps to Quick launch is as easy as it can get.
A single people hub to show the ‘Recent’, ‘New’ and ‘What’s New’ happenings with your friends across social networking sites.
The interface is elegant and extremely impressive. Usage of bold colors and clear font has made the overall display quality very high.

Though a lot of focus has been about the cool interface and its impressive look, the functionality aspect of Window 7 mobile is to be appreciated as well. With live tiles and several useful apps, Windows 7 mobile sure seems to be gaining the edge in the mobile market.

Look at the Windows 7 screenshots and demo

Office 365 gets its First Upgrade

2011-12-07T18:52:00.001+05:30

Microsoft has announced the first major upgrade for Office 365 to help users gain more leverage from the whole package that consists of Microsoft Office, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and Lync Online. In order to help customers and employees work together in the cloud, Office 365 is being preferred more than other services in the same genre by several organizations.

In lieu of its wide usage and coverage, more than 30 new features have been incorporated into this upgrade of Office 365 for professionals, small businesses and enterprises. The most talked about features are:

Office 365 support is now enabled for OS X Lion.
Support for Windows Phone 7.5 Mango release is provided.
Several improvements in the client access control area have been added.
Windows Live ID can be used to connect to SharePoint Online for external users.
SharePoint Online is now supported on Chrome and Internet Explorer 9.
Administrators can reset their own passwords through a text message (SMS) or an additional email address. See video
SharePoint Online now has Business Connectivity Services (BCS) as well.
A Do It Yourself (DIY) troubleshooting tool is now available to help customers solve any problems or issues themselves.
MAC users can now use Lync in order to share instant messages and to perform video conferencing.

One of the most noticeable update is the release of Office 365 to 22 new countries including Argentina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Egypt, Estonia, Iceland, Indonesia, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine and UAE. With this, Microsoft Office 365 has been taken to the next level of customers thereby increasing its accessibility and popularity.

Based on several feedbacks that it obtained from clients, Microsoft has also released an update for SkyDrive, Online-hosting service. As per Windowsteamblog, previously the way users shared data was primarily ruled by the way they organized data. With this update, however, an app-centric approach has been adapted. From now on, users can share from whatever application they are currently working in, without having to worry about structure of folders or sub folders. Thus, with this update, sharing of data or collaborating with friends and colleagues across the organization is easy, simple and definitely faster.

With these two major updates, Microsoft has once again strived hard to please its users and make its applications friendlier. It certainly seems to be good news for all those Office 365 and SkyDrive users out there!

Cygnet offers professional services using Office 365 and Windows Azure to assist clients in developing cloud based applications.

How to use and configure Dynamics CRM Mobile App

2011-12-05T10:57:00.000+05:30

The Windows Marketplace has released Dynamics CRM Mobile App that can help users receive latest notifications on their mobile phones.

Below are the steps to be followed to configure and start using this app from your mobile phone:

Download Dynamics CRM App from the Windows Marketplace. Install the application and launch it.
Specify user name and password to connect to your CRM Online instance. This is same as the one that you use to connect from web client or outlook client to the CRM Online instance.
Once the configuration is done, a window with ‘Success’ message is displayed.
To enable connection to IFD (Internet Facing Domain) environment, toggle the switch “Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online” which then becomes “Custom”.
Enter your server URL and home realm URL (if any). Contact your administrator for these details, if you are unsure. Ensure you choose the right organization if there is more than one.
The administrator must enable Activity Feeds for your organization to get the real time posts. In order to take advantage of this app, your mobile needs to run UR5 or greater version.

Apart from getting real time notifications, the below activities can be done from the mobile phone once the configuration is complete:

User can view both auto and user posts
User can make or refresh a post or comment
User can delete a post or comment if they have proper permissions
User can move from one post to another by using right and left arrows
By tapping on blue text on the form, user can navigate between entities
User can view CRM entities such as accounts, contacts, leads etc.
User can search and view a record
User can also reconfigure the app for a different organization
User can launch email, phone and Bing maps tasks from record form

Apart from the above, with the help of system administrator, user can enable specific entities for mobile and choose the right columns for every entity’s view.

Also, when you set up personal views on your web or outlook client, it will automatically get downloaded to your phone after 24 hours. Additionally, if you make any metadata changes to the server, they will be reflected on your phone as well. Read more.

Cygnet Infotech offers professional services in developing mobility solutions for business applications.

Windows Mobile 7 bags OS of the year 2011

2011-12-02T16:48:00.001+05:30

The news is certainly all over the place - Know Your Mobile Awards of 2011 has recognized and rewarded the Windows Mobile phone with Operating System of the year 2011 award. Despite the fact that Windows phone is still not as popular as the iOS of Apple or Google’s Android, this award sure seems to have given Microsoft some leverage with respect to mobile phones.

The metro user interface incorporated by Microsoft was the main focus during the presentation of the award. The fact that the interface does not look like any of its competitor’s interfaces has worked in its favor. Below are the three highlights with respect to Metro interface.

Smart updating tiles
Tablet optimized interface
Flexible apps

The completely customizable startup screen has scored among the customers leading to the success of this phone. Some other highlighted features were:

XBOX Live
Bing
Windows Live
Office Integration
Zune

The judge panel seemed to have well-justified reason for choosing the Windows Phone OS. Below are some of the comments given by the judges with respect to the winner this year.

“It has the most potential, with a unique interface and a rapidly growing apps selection. It has a great looking UI and doesn’t look like Android or iOS.”

“A massive move from the previous OS. Huge growth in apps and the system looks heaps better than the competition.”

“Innovative interface, with more success to come.”

“A refreshing OS that doesn’t try and copy other operating systems. Has attracted a large number of developers too.”

Thus, the OS has concentrated on the user needs first by getting rid of useless uninformative icons and providing them with rich Internet experiences and useful as well as smarter apps on the mobile phone. However, whether the same can be said of the interface when implemented on desktop is still under speculation.

For those of you who are curious to know - Blackberry 7 and Samsung Bada were awarded with runner up prizes in this category.

Cygnet offers mobile application development services to assist companies to introduce mobility solutions for their business.

OptEyeCheck – an iPhone App for Checking Your Vision

2011-12-01T15:16:00.001+05:30

OptEyeCheck is an iPhone application which offers a convenient way for checking your vision. By placing your iPhone one foot away from your eyes, you are able to complete four tests: Near Vision (for Myopia), Color Vision Deficiency, Amsler Grid Test and Contrast Sensitivity Test. The results of the tests are stored on your iPhone so that you may share them with your eye doctor.

Near Vision Check (Myopia)
Myopia may be the cause of blurred vision. This check provides you with alphabets in the upper panel to select from the options given below the panel. The size of the letters becomes smaller with each level you pass, and the test continues until your answer does not match the required answer. Your result is then displayed for you.

Color Vision Deficiency Check (Ishihara Color Test)
Color Vision Deficiency is the lack of perceptual sensitivity to certain colors. A series of pictures of colored spots with an embedded number is presented. When you identify the number and select the correct answer from the options presented, a result card is generated showing how your answer compares to a person with normal vision. If you experience “color-blindness” this is an excellent way to check for sure.

Amsler Grid Check
Designed to detect any kind of visual disturbance which may be caused by changes in the retina, optic nerve or the visual pathway to the brain, this test has you look at the grid with each eye concentrating on the small dot at the center of the grid. If you see any wavy lines or if some lines are missing, you mark the grid. The result of each eye is stored in your iPhone and can be used by your doctor to diagnose the actual location of a problem. The Amsler Grid Check helps diagnose macular disease in your eyes. If macular degeneration is in your family, this will be an important check for you.

Contrast Sensitivity Check
The Contrast Sensitivity test will determine how well your eyes adjust to low light and how well you can distinguish objects when they are in similarly colored or shaded backgrounds. This is a special way to measure your visual acuity. You are presented with a high contrast eye chart which has a black letter slowly merging into the white background on each level of the test. The check continues until you give two consecutive wrong answers. A chart showing how far you completed the test successfully and where exactly the answer went wrong is then stored.

Consult Your Doctor
Once you have completed all four of the tests, your iPhone will have four test results to share with your doctor.

Rated 4+, the app is available from iTunes for $0.99. Developed by Cygnet Infotech LLC and released in 2011, this app is also compatible with iPod touch and iPad; it requires iOS 3.0 or later. If your eyes are “bothering” you, perhaps you might find the reason in one of these tests. Check it out OptEyeCheck

Delivering Business Critical Solutions with SharePoint 2010

2011-11-30T10:58:00.001+05:30

Access of business critical data and management of processes across an organization is no longer time consuming and inefficient.

With SharePoint 2010 delivering business critical solutions, the storage of business data is secured at the same time access to this data has been made easier. Be it customer related information or business critical data, business connectivity services of SharePoint 2010 makes is possible for the employees to view this data with no/minimal support from the IT resources.

The simple fact that not all the employees are trained to interact with the back end systems has so far hindered operational efficiency during critical times. With SharePoint 2010 however, the backend data can be brought forth and displayed to the users without having to rely on IT support personnel.

The user-friendly interface enables the employees of an organization to operate quickly and effectively when it comes to looking for important information. According to the permissions granted, business processes and critical data can thus be accessed more efficiently by employees of the organization.

Download the whitepaper - Delivering Business-Critical Solutions with SharePoint 2010

How does SharePoint help in information access?

By connecting the Line Of Business (LOB) applications to SharePoint 2010, the information buried within the LOB systems can now easily be presented to users through the familiar Microsoft Office or SharePoint user interface. This has been made possible through business connectivity services present in SharePoint 2010. The business data is thus displayed to users on more familiar user interfaces such as Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel thus making it easier for them to read or edit LOB information.

Also, by connecting external systems with SharePoint 2010, business critical solutions including IT managed solutions and advanced user and information worker solutions that are crucial to an organization can be built on SharePoint itself.

Cygnet Infotech assists IT companies and independent software vendors to develop portals, sites and business information access solutions using SharePoint 2010. Having earned a Microsoft silver competency in portals and collaboration, Cygnet has the experience and expertise to develop and implement solutions on SharePoint. Read more about Cygnet’s SharePoint Case Studies.

Developer Tools and SaaS Capabilities introduced for Dynamics CRM

2011-11-28T12:50:00.001+05:30

In order to provide more advanced features with respect to development of custom components in Dynamics CRM, Microsoft has released new tools. Till now, the developers have had difficulties in developing code-based solutions such as plug-ins, custom workflows as well as UI web resources like JavaScript. The developers have had to update such solutions with latest available version of these components from time to time.

With the new developer toolkit, developers have been granted an easier mechanism to code the additional components such as a new form or an extension to an existing schema. The recently released toolkit for Microsoft Dynamics CRM:

Provides integration of Dynamics CRM with Visual Studio
Accelerates development of custom code components
Enables developers to write the code from within Visual Studio
Enables developers to use Visual Studio 2010 templates to develop custom component projects in Dynamics CRM
Supports automatic deployment of code to CRM service in the cloud
Supports automatic deployment of code to in-premise environment
Supports complete development, editing and deletion of CRM Plugins and workflows
Supports both XAML and customer workflow activities
Installs browser module that can be used to browse various artifacts present within Dynamics CRM instance

Download the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Developer Toolkit

The package can be embedded with Visual Studio 2010 development environment that enables to streamline the development of custom solution components. A familiar development studio is provided to those who are already well acquainted with Dynamics CRM development. Also, this toolkit can guide the developers who are naïve to the CRM extensibility but are well versed with VS and .NET to start coding within ten minutes. With this toolkit, the Silverlight applications can also be created, updated, deployed and deleted.

Apart from this toolkit, the below tools have also been released by Microsoft to aid developers:

Plug-in profiler which can make troubleshooting plug-ins an easier and quicker job for the developers
Entity Metadata Browser which can be used by developers to view the entities and their properties in the system

More information on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM developer toolkit

Testing Whiz Blog Launched

2011-11-25T13:21:00.001+05:30

Cygnet is glad to announce the launch of its public blog on software testing. You can visit it at http://blog.testing-whiz.com

The purpose of the blog is to share concepts and trends in the area of software testing - types of testing, testing methodology, automated testing, testing frameworks, and other topics.

RAD Studio XE2 – A Game Changer

2011-11-23T11:45:00.001+05:30

The fact that applications developed for Mac OS cannot be run on Windows and vice versa has created a big divide in the operating systems arena. Although, it has been possible to run Windows applications on Mac computers through various workarounds, it has never been easy for people to run applications on both Windows and Mac.

Here is one company that is trying to change that. Embarcadero has released in Sept 2011, a new development platform RAD Studio XE2 which will allow developers to build applications for Windows, Mac and iPhone / iPad at the same time. That news is definitely worth raising your eyebrows for.

RAD Studio XE2 from Embarcadero

RAD Studio XE2 is an application development suite for building applications for Windows, Mac, mobile, .NET, PHP and the Web. It will enable developers to build cross platform native applications up to 5 times faster. Applications are 100% CPU and GPU native and developers can build GPU-powered HD and 3D UIs using the new FireMonkey™ platform. RAD

RAD Studio XE2 comprises of Delphi XE2, C++ Builder XE2, Prism XE2 and RADPHP XE2. For a PHP developer, RADPHP XE2 enables development of applications for iPhone, iPad and Android with just PHP knowledge. RADPHP XE2 also provides a visual PHP IDE for rapidly developing web applications using drag and drop components. Delphi XE2 also supports development of 64-bit Windows applications.

With RAD Studio XE2, rapid application development will become even more rapid.

Cygnet has already started offering services on this new platform. Since it has several years’ experience in development with Delphi technology, Cygnet is in a good position to extend its expertise to RAD Studio XE2 based development and offer its clients even faster development times and ability to develop cross platform native applications.

Windows Azure updated SDK has been made available

2011-11-22T11:07:00.001+05:30

The development experience on Windows Azure has just been made better with the below three updates that have been made available this November:

A new version of Windows Azure SDK with multiple updates to the Windows Azure tools for Visual Studio 2010. With this enhancement, the development, deployment and management on Windows Azure has become easier and simpler.
A new Windows Azure HPC Scheduler SDK, which assists with developing high performance computing (HPC) applications.
An updated Windows Azure Platform Training Kit to help the users get familiar with building applications using Windows Azure. Demos, hand-on exercises and manuals are a part of this training kit.

The following new features have been included in the November 2011 release of Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio 2010:

Easier for your environment to connect to Windows Azure because the publish settings file are available for your account.
Easy configuration and publication/update of applications. The new publishing wizard enriches the overall experience of publishing right from sign in to review.
Multiple profiles are available thus enabling you to store and change the environmental settings easily and quickly.
MSBuild command in-line support enables team building and packaging of your applications.
In-place updates to deployed services can be made.
Credentials can be automatically managed thus eliminating the need of manual intervention.
Easier to select one amongst the many Windows Azure subscriptions while publishing within Visual Studio.
New hosted service can be created within Visual Studio itself. Windows Azure portal need not be used.
Easy and automatic creation and configuration of storage accounts within Visual Studio.
Easier to manage multiple deployment environment configurations.
Detailed information available about virtual machine initialization status.
Remote desktop workflow can be enabled by a simple click of a checkbox.

Click here to know more details about the updates

With respect to Windows Azure Libraries for .NET 1.6, below are the updates:

In order to simplify the development experience, service bus and caching from the last Windows Azure AppFabric SDK has been incorporated into this release of Windows Azure Libraries for .NET.
Support for invisibility timeout
Support for update message method
The new size limit for message is 64KB
A message can be made invisible until a future time
Analytic service settings can be made available through Get/Set Service Settings
Also, Windows Azure Emulator has been incorporated with performance enhancements.

The below enhancements are now present in Windows Azure HPC Scheduler SDK which will enable developers to include the below in a Windows Azure deployment:

Resource Management
Job Scheduling
Persistent State Management of job queues
Persistent State Management of resource configuration
Web-based submission

With these updates, the developers are empowered to develop compute intensive applications that are scalable in Windows Azure. Click here for more information

Cygnet Infotech provides software development services on the Windows Azure platform. It assists ISVs and IT service providers with resource augmentation and technical expertise while developing applications on cloud using Azure. Read more about Cygnet’s services on Windows Azure.

Blood Donation Camp held at Cygnet

2011-11-19T17:32:00.001+05:30

The second consecutive year of blood donation camp organized at Cygnet Infotech Pvt Ltd on 18th November 2011 was a grand success where we had 34 donors in all. Leading from the front was the Managing Director Mr. Niraj Hutheesing.

The camp, organized by Prathama Blood Center, was held at Cygnet's development center “Manikyam” where employees voluntary donated the blood for a good cause.

Prathama Blood Centre is an endeavor of Advanced Transfusion Medicine Research Foundation (ATMRF) established for modernizing blood banking in India. As a not-for-profit organization Prathama (in Sanskrit means 'First and the Foremost') revolutionized blood banking in India with three fundamental principles.

Encourage voluntary Blood donors and discourage replacement donor practice.
Execute 100% component preparation and distribution.
Enhance scale of operations to provide safe blood on cost recovery model.

As a result of its unique approach and commitment to provide safe blood products, Prathama is now one of the finest blood establishments in South Asia. NABH accredited and ISO 9000:2009 certified, Prathama meets 50% of Ahmedabad city's blood requirement. Ahmedabad is now leading the country in blood donation ratio to population at 3.5%.

At the camp, Cygnet adopted the tagline of Prathama “Donate blood and stay healthy” - blood donation reduces chances of heart attack as it thins out your blood and trusted the organization. Cygnet has always been ahead in all CSR (Corporate social responsibilities) activities and take this kind of initiative to benefit society at large.

A BIG THANKS to all the volunteers. They must have made somebody's day!

Microsoft's Silverlight 5 Could Be The Last Version

2011-11-18T16:45:00.001+05:30

Despite the fact that Microsoft Silverlight has been one of the most sought after cross platform browser plug-in and is being widely used for writing and running rich Internet applications, reports reveal that the latest version 5 of Silverlight could actually be the last one.

There are also some reports, which claim that Microsoft may not even release any service packs for Silverlight 5 once it has been released. Also, some sources claim that Microsoft’s support for Silverlight 5 after its release in last week of November 2011 may not last long.

Another noteworthy information is that - The current versions of Silverlight run on both Windows and Mac OS, as well as on Google Chrome and Safari. However sources seem to convey that this may not be the case with Silverlight 5. It is quite probable that Silverlight 5 will run only on Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer.

This news of Silverlight’s end of life has not been confirmed by Microsoft yet. But the Silverlight site has announced the final release of Silverlight 5 in 2011.

For those of you who are interested to know what’s new with Silverlight 5, here is a glimpse:

Enhanced media support including support for HD video
Rich user interface features including video playing at different speeds
Some performance enhancements such as support for 64 bit OS
Graphics upgrades including 3D API

On her blog, ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley clearly states that, “Silverlight is no longer Microsoft’s cross-platform runtime solution. Instead, Microsoft currently positions Silverlight as a tool for creating rich media, line-of-business and smartphone apps.” She has also said that despite her continuous questioning about the Silverlight’s future to Microsoft officials, she has not got any proper response from them.

This apparent silence could also be attributed to Microsoft’s reluctance to share information regarding its roadmaps and future plans. Following these reports, the future of XBOX 360 and Windows Phone that rely on Silverlight is under wild speculation.

To summarize - neither is the news confirmed, nor is it denied. But for all we know, Silverlight has probably reached the end of its journey!

Cygnet Infotech is a specialist service provider of IT services in Microsoft platforms. It has several projects experience in developing applications using Silverlight. Know more about Cygnet’s Silverlight expertise.

Integration of SharePoint Online with Dynamics CRM is Here

2011-11-14T11:13:00.001+05:30

Several new and enhanced features are being introduced to SharePoint Online service by the SharePoint team in order to provide its customers with more useful functionalities. These features of SharePoint online service are expected to be rolled out to all the data centers by end of November.

One of the most notable features in this release is the integration of SharePoint online with Dynamics CRM application. With introduction of this feature, creating, editing and managing documents with Microsoft Dynamics CRM has just been made easy. SharePoint Online document management facility is accessible from the Dynamics CRM application that enables quick creation of document libraries as and when needed by the Dynamics CRM users.

The document management capabilities can be added to all the entities including the following (the below list is not exhaustive) within the Dynamics CRM application:

Accounts
Opportunities
Cases
Custom entities

However, before one can take full advantage of this functionality, the below steps need to be taken:

Login to the SharePoint server as SharePoint site collection administrator.
Install Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 List Component. Click on the below links for the detailed steps and more information.

Open an account as the Microsoft Dynamics CRM user.
On the left hand side panel, click on Documents.
A document library is automatically created in SharePoint Online, if there is none. Click Ok on the dialog box displayed.
Once the SharePoint Online document library is created, it is directly rendered with Dynamics CRM.
User can then start uploading of contents to the SharePoint online library from within the Dynamics CRM application.

While configuring data management system in Microsoft Dynamics Online, the user can select the entities that need to have document management capabilities. The user can also specify either Account - B2B or Contact – B2C mode of organizing document libraries in SharePoint Online.

Learn more about configuring data management in Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online

Thus, with the aid of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 List Component for SharePoint, all your documents that are stored on SharePoint can now be accessed from Dynamics CRM in a format that is consistent with Dynamics CRM display properties. Dynamic creation of document libraries or folders is possible from the Dynamics CRM application as well.

Cygnet Infotech is a specialist services provider on Dynamics CRM and SharePoint Implementations. Read more about our Dynamics CRM services and SharePoint services

Windows 8 Will Include Push Notification Services

2011-11-11T11:58:00.001+05:30

Windows 8 has been touted by Microsoft as the next generation OS for tablet computers. No wonder Microsoft has been taking tips from mobile technology for building Windows 8 services.

The Windows 8 interface which comprises of tiles includes various updates like news, weather, sports, etc. To get such updates, traditionally the client application was supposed to be in constant touch with the server. For a PC, this is not a problem but for a mobile, this will be a big drain on the battery. Therefore, mobile devices have implemented a push notification service on the server so that updates are sent when available.

Windows 8 Tile Interface

Microsoft is now introducing the same push notification service for its Windows 8 operating system. The earlier power consuming Windows Gadgets will be eliminated. In addition, Microsoft has been able to separate the text from images for notifications so as to save on bandwidth usage.

With the data driven model used for the push notification services, application developers need not bother about writing complex code for connecting to the server, retry the connection during failures, authenticating the user, caching the information etc. This will bring about better user experience and device performance.

This seems to be good news for those who are waiting for Windows 8 and those who are developing applications for Windows 8. Read more on Building Windows 8 Blog

On a larger scale, this seems to be the signs of the things to come. More and more features of applications and computing will be driven by the user experience on the mobile devices.

“Your App Here” Microsoft’s Invitation to Windows Phone App Developers

2011-11-07T15:04:00.000+05:30

Here is your chance to promote your Windows Phone application development skills. Microsoft has announced a new campaign called “Your App Here” to encourage application development on the Windows Phone.

Microsoft will select maximum of seven best phone apps for each of the months of December 2011, January 2012 and February 2012.

These applications will be promoted using online banners on MSN sites network
Each application will be featured exclusively for a day on Windows phone marketplace
The application can be considered for other PR and publicity campaigns

Windows Phone application developers, gear up for this golden opportunity!

You can develop applications in any category such as casual games, kids and family, health and fitness, shopping, social, travel and utilities. However, your app must be published in windows phone marketplace before you can apply, it must be made for Windows Phone 7.5 and must include Fast App Switching and some innovative use of tiles.

Read more about the selection criteria and publishing your app for “Your App Here”

Innovation and distinctiveness of idea, attractive and user-friendly user interface, appropriate display properties and ease of app integration (as and when necessary) will play an important role.

In order to build and publish the app on Windows Marketplace, follow these steps

Install Windows Phone SDK 7.1
Register on App Hub to publish the app
Develop the App using the available resources/tools

Once the application is ready-for-use, you will need to publish it on the Windows Marketplace. An online form needs to be submitted after the publication in order for the app to be considered for the ‘Your App here’ contest. It is mandatory to fill up the form and complete the necessary formalities before the declared deadline for each month’s campaign consideration, failing which the app will go unnoticed.

Sadly, this contest is open for developers in the United States only. Although Microsoft assures that steps are being taken to extend ‘Your App Here’ to worldwide app developers, no program has been defined as of yet to make it happen.

Read more about Cygnet's Services for Mobility

Nov Release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Introduces Social Collaboration

2011-11-07T14:28:00.000+05:30

A good news to all the organizations which rely on Microsoft Dynamics CRM to carry out their customer relationship management activities - Microsoft has announced the release of its latest November 2011 Microsoft Dynamics CRM service update, the main feature of which is social productivity.

The two most important functionalities that have been incorporated into this release are:

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Activity Feeds solution
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile

The Dynamics Activity Feed aims to provide real time updates in form of notifications to its customers about people, accounts, contacts, leads and opportunities. The activity feeds include:

Facebook status updates
Twitter micro blogs
The New Facebook Ticker

These updates can either be displayed manually or can be automated based on pre-defined rules. The already available API of Microsoft Dynamics CRM enables posting of these status feeds to external applications as well.

As another add-on - this Dynamics activity feed support is also being incorporated into the Windows 7 phones thus promising a better and continuous collaboration amongst the customers and sales executives. However, the Microsoft Dynamics CRM mobile application needs to be installed on a per phone basis to enjoy the benefits of this new functionality.

Apart from these two major add-ons, several valuable enhancements have also been provisioned into this latest service update:

Multiple data series is supported in charts
Sub grids and notes have been included to the reading pane in Outlook
Dialogs and workflows support hyperlinks
Additional CRM data types have been included

Also, improved disaster recovery mechanism has been offered as a part of this service update to help protect data and ensure uninterrupted business flow during a disaster.

Through these enhancements, the ability of Microsoft Dynamics CRM to help agents satisfy the customers has been taken to the next level. The lack of a proper technical document or an implementation guide may come across as a downside to some users of Dynamics CRM. Despite this drawback, the November 2011 Microsoft Dynamics CRM service update promises some exciting and extremely useful functionalities.

This update has been made available through Microsoft Download Center from October 25, 2011 onwards and as a separate Microsoft Update from November 8, 2011 onwards. All the CRM online data centers have already been updated with this latest version.

Read more about the professional services on Dynamics CRM offered by Cygnet

Review of Cygnet's Participation in GITEX 2011

2011-10-17T16:23:00.000+05:30

Cygnet had a great event at GITEX Technology Week 2011 at DUbai. The 5 day event attracted thousands of visitors from the ICT sector. Profiles included CEOs, CTOs, IT administrators, programmers and business development managers from various countries in UAE including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, RAK and also from nearby countries like Egypt, Iran and Oman.

Cygnet collected a significant number of inquiries for its SharePoint and Dynamics CRM service offerings. Since Cygnet was participating for the first time in this premier Middle East event, the response was very encouraging. Representing Cygnet at GITEX were Mr. Niraj, Mr. Oberoi and Mr. Yogesh.

Cygnet's stand decorated with balloons attracted many visitors. Our banner talking about SharePoint, CRM and other Microsoft related services also pulled in a lot of prospects. The Gulf region has many companies running projects in SharePoint and CRM, which formed the bulk of the inquiries. We also received interest in mobile programming and our lms-portal offering.

Dubai Calling - Cygnet @ GITEX Technology Week 2011

2011-09-15T19:27:00.000+05:30

Cygnet Infotech is participating in the Gulf InformationTechnology Exhibition (GITEX 2011), one of the world’s premier ICT exhibitions.

Stand No. SME-1 inSME Pavillion at Sheikh Saeed Hall

The GITEX Technology Week is going to be held between 9^thand 13^th October 2011 at the Dubai International Convention andExhibition Centre in Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. GITEX 2011 is expected toattract over 136,000 ICT professionals. Cygnet Infotech is one of the 3500exhibitors at GITEX this year.

Cygnet Infotech is a Microsoft Partner with several Gold andSilver competencies providing offshore services to clients in over 20 countriesand 5 continents. At GITEX 2011, Cygnet will showcase its vast expertise andexperience in Microsoft Technologies including .NET, SharePoint, Dynamics, CRM,Windows Mobile, BizTalk and SilverLight.

Cygnet Infotech is an ISO 9001, ISO 27001 and CMMi Level 3certified company which has always delivered high quality development andtesting services via a mature and proven global delivery model.

Cygnet invites professionals from IT Companies and ISVs inthe Middle East who are visiting GITEX Technology Week to visit our stall at SME-1Stand in the SME Pavillion in Sheikh Saeed Hall and meet our seniorrepresentatives to know more about our services and how we can assist you.

Please write to us at inquiry@cygnet-infotech.com toschedule an appointment during 9^th and 13^th October atGITEX, Dubai.

Cygnet launches its brand new Microsoft services website

2011-07-09T16:08:00.000+05:30

Cygnet is proud to announce the launch of http://microsoft.cygnet-infotech.com - a new website highlighting all of Cygnet’s professional services offerings in Microsoft technologies.

The development of this site is part of a larger re-look at Cygnet’s overall website strategy. In due course, we will be developing different sites for each of our service offerings which will all come under the banner of the main corporate website.

To reiterate, Cygnet has earned a Microsoft Partner Gold competency in web development and Microsoft Partner Silver competencies in software development, portals and collaboration, search, data platform, mid-market solutions provider and content management.

The main service offerings are related to software development in Microsoft .NET, collaboration and document management solutions using Microsoft SharePoint, CRM with Microsoft Dynamics, web applications with SilverLight, legacy application integration with BizTalk, cloud solutions with Office 365 and mobility solutions.

Get a taste of Cygnet’s expertise in delivering solutions in Microsoft technologies by reading the case studies section.

Speaking on the launch of the site, Cygnet’s Executive Director Tejinder Oberoi said, “The purpose of creating this exclusive website is to reiterate our commitment to Microsoft technologies. In the entire Microsoft stack, we have everything that is required for building best of breed technology solutions that translate to better returns on investment for our clients.”

Mr. Oberoi is attending the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Los Angeles, USA from 10^th to 14^th July and this was planned in advance as an appropriate event to introduce the site to other Microsoft partners and potential customers.

A special vote of thanks to the entire team which has made this site possible under extremely tight deadlines – from concept to live in just a month! Just goes to prove that if Cygnetians decide to do something, take it for granted that it shall be done.

Three Cheers to http://microsoft.cygnet-infotech.com.

SharePoint – An Operating System for Collaboration!

2011-07-07T15:15:00.000+05:30

AIIM, the Association of Information and Image Management (www.aiim.org) recently released a report titled “Using SharePoint for ECM: How well is it meeting expectations?”

The report has some interesting findings on SharePoint usage in over 600 organizations which participated in the survey.

29% of the organizations are live on SharePoint 2007 and 28% are upgrading from 2007 to 2010 and an additional 8% have completed the upgrade.

This implies that more than half of all SharePoint 2007 users are upgrading or have already upgraded to 2010 for whatever reasons. An additional 21% of the user base is first time user of SharePoint 2010. This data is clearly in line with the fact that SharePoint is the best-selling Microsoft product till date.

55% of organizations are expected within a year to rollout SharePoint to 90-100% (almost all) of their employees.

This implies that these organizations very clearly understand that the real benefits of collaboration will come to fruition only if all employees are on the same platform, use the same interface and talk the same language.

In terms of adoption, IT department of organizations is the highest (72%), followed by the line of business departments (41%) and then followed by Marketing and HR.

This is not surprising since IT departments would be instrumental in rolling out SharePoint to other departments. But it also raises a flag that unless other departments are equal if not more adopters of this platform, the technology will remain under-utilized.

Although, SharePoint has functionality to support conventional ECM activities like scanning, capture, records management and document workflow, most users are using SharePoint as a digital storage for office files and PDF documents, and do not yet trust it with confidential information or large size videos.

Is SharePoint the final answer?

SharePoint 2010 does claim to be a one stop solution for all collaboration and document management needs of an organization. However, the fine print is seen through some of the AIIM survey findings

50% or more organizations believe that they still need third party add-ons because SharePoint is not enough

20%-40% of the organizations feel that SharePoint functionality in records management, scanning and document capture, and social business are not up to the mark

Microsoft itself is encouraging independent application developers to develop add-on functionality around SharePoint. This implies that Microsoft probably intends to make SharePoint as an “operating system” for collaboration, as a platform on which other applications can be built. It is also possible that Microsoft wants to learn how people use these add-on applications for collaboration so that it can build some of these features into the next version of SharePoint.

Some of the most popular add-on functionality organizations are adding is workflow/BPM, security and rights management, search and analytics, archiving of content and records, taxonomy management, security management, interface to email, digital signatures and case management.

53% of organizations consider SharePoint to be their primary system for Enterprise Content Management going forward.

So currently, the scales are evenly balanced with a little more than half of the organizations believing that SharePoint is the final answer to their requirements.

Using iPhones to deliver Healthcare e-learning

2010-12-20T19:31:00.000+05:30

The moment our customer, healthcare educationist, saw students (healthcare professionals) spending significant time on their iPhone and reaching out for their laptops less and less, he decided to add iPhone to deliver e-learning in addition to its web based delivery platform. We analyzed the requirements and utilized our iPhone application development expertise to create this M-learning experience.

The design team worked to create a User Interface to ensure maximum synergy in its web based delivery model and iPhone experience. E learning content, notebooks and AVI were moved onto the iPhone interface and necessary changes were made for iPhone compatibility of content. Dry test runs were done to ensure error free user experience.

This M-learning application allowed professionals to upgrade their skills, access online notebook, attempt test & surveys, download documents, etc. on the iPhone, saving time and making the information available on the go.

The application allowed our client to stay ahead with technology while offering services to its clients. His clients paid back by subscribing to M learning in large numbers.

Read more about this revolutionary iPhone application, here.

If you wish to reach your clients on their iPhones, talk to our subject matter experts.

Developed an Android based educational games for children

2010-12-07T20:21:00.000+05:30

If you want an interactive tool for training children, than mobile games must be there in your list. Easy access and quick learning has made it one of the fastest growing educational tools. Have you adopted it for education delivery?

We recently built an android based game on mobile phones for an educational institute which can develop intuition, decision making and motor skills in kindergarten children. The interface design used lot of flash, giving playful appeal and making kids involved. Our Android developers followed rigorous testing cycles to test the application and enhance to improve the usability of the application.

In today’s mobile learning revolution this fresh idea of teaching through a game could gather overwhelming response from the parents and kids. The application was available on online app store adding to revenues of our customer and encouraging him to plan more games for M-learning.

Allow us to develop games for your concepts, contact us.

To read more please click here.

Designed an Mobile add-on for an Inventory management application

2010-12-03T18:43:00.000+05:30

When this client of ours discussed with us how he was bogged by the management of large inventories in remote ware house locations and its cost and the prohibitive cost of implementing an inventory management system, we recommended building an application for him on the mobile phones with a bar code scanner attachment at a small fraction of the total cost that he could use for inventory management.

The client couldn’t believe this is feasible until we charted it out and explained how the system will work and even update the inventory on his existing inventory system at a central location.
The system design enabled the team to read inventory bar codes with the scanners attached to mobile phones and keep the records in the application which updates the inventory on the central server.

The mobile application was developed as an add-on feature of the existing system saving substantial costs. It improved inventory handling and reduced cost and effort for managing the inventory manually.

The application was easy to operate, accessible round the clock and can be integrated with SAP applications. To know more please click here.

For further consultation you can contact us now.

This Cricket game churns money

2010-12-02T15:55:00.000+05:30

This iPhone cricket game churns money for my client each time someone downloads it from the appstore. My iPhone application development team designed this exciting application filled with rich features and simple navigation. The most involving task was to develop the game more challenging and unpredictable to the player.

Game offered functions such as selection of country, team or players, quick match to play ODI, 20:20 or tournaments, statistical chart at game end, flexibility to pause or resume the game, etc. Our work exceeded our customer expectations.

The application has caught the fancy of the iPhone users for its innovative and fresh approach and is a popular download on appstore, generating decent revenues for the client.

If you are looking to get such an application which is loaded with fun and fills your pocket too, contact us now.

To read more about this application click here.

Cygnet Infotech organizes a Blood Donation Camp at its premises.

2010-12-02T09:58:00.000+05:30

We organized a blood donation camp at the office in association with the Lioness Club and Prathma Blood Bank.

And what an overwhelming response we received from our team. 51 units were collected surprising even the organizers and the blood bank. We were quite excited to see how closely our team connects with the social cause and respond to such donation requests with this level of Zeal. Those who could not donate due to health reasons promised themselves to return for a blood donation next time with better health.

The blood donation was spearheaded from the front by our Managing Director who contributed his unit of blood.

We have now decided to make it an annual event at Cygnet Infotech.

Shopping cart on iPhone

2010-12-01T20:48:00.000+05:30

When my client realized that his customers are going to use their phone to recharge his card and not his desktop, he rushed to develop an application to help clients recharge their calling cards from their mobile. Our iPhone application development team worked in coordination with our customer to bring this concept to life.

This application serves as shopping cart accessible 24*7 to iPhone users. End users can purchase calling cards using online secure payment gateway and can view or recharge their balance anytime / anywhere. It facilitates the users to keep track on their account history, number of cards purchase, active cards, etc.

This iPhone application became very popular amongst end users as it was simple to use and complete database is stored on iPhone itself which allows user to keep monitoring and updating the information.

Have insights into the details of this application here.

If you are interested to get your ideas converted to life, contact us now.

Are you reaching out to your customers on their iPhone?

2010-11-22T13:05:00.000+05:30

While competitors were waiting for the customers to come on their websites, this financial services client of ours decided to reach out to his prospective customers by offering them a mobile financial calculator. Cygnet’s iPhone development team designed this financial calculator as an iPhone application that was available for a free download from the appstore.

The financial calculator helped users calculate EMI’s and down payments on loans for different interest rates, see the principal/interest repayment breakups and call up the finance company for more details.

This has increased inquiries for the company as many people using the calculator tend to call up the company for loans.
The customer service spent less time explaining EMI amounts and principal/interest repayment breakup
It gave him inexpensive advertising with his banner on the financial calculator.

If you are looking for reaching out to your customers on their mobile phones, contact us now.

Want to know more about this application click here.

Cygnet Infotech earns Web Development Competency from Microsoft.

2010-10-11T16:09:00.000+05:30

Now you can ensure that your Web development partner is a competent web developer with demonstrable skills in delivering scalable, reliable and secure web solutions using reliable technologies when you choose Cygnet Infotech.

Cygnet Infotech’s Web Development Competency awarded by Microsoft certifies that we have demonstrated skills, experience, qualified manpower and verified customer referrals in delivering, developing and deploying custom web development solutions on Microsoft Technologies.

Our qualified resources and demonstrated technical skills for web development competency covers the following spectrum of Microsoft technologies: Microsoft Visual Studio development system, Microsoft Expression design software, Windows Server operating system, Windows Azure platform, and Microsoft SharePoint Server and Microsoft SQL Server data management software

The competency is earned by a Microsoft Partner on demonstrating a Microsoft Certified team of web application development professionals with expertise on following technologies: Ado.Net, MOSS 2007, ASP.Net. and Microsoft verified client referrals

Now you get Microsoft Assurance when you choose Cygnet Infotech as your web development partner for your Web based solutions

Cygnet Infotech now showcases its Mobile Technology Portfolio

2010-09-28T11:33:00.000+05:30

When you moved your Inbox to your mobile phone, your stock market and your social networking followed you on your mobile, could we be far behind. Actually we had joined you, quietly followed you, building and polishing skills for developing mobile applications and we are now ready to showcase our portfolio of work on Mobile Phones we have done. We take this opportunity to announce our readiness to deliver World class Mobile applications for I-phone, Windows Mobile, Blackberry & Android.
Our mobile application development team has worked in the background to create this portfolio, which are client projects from clients who have trusted us to build for them. They have developed native mobile applications, add-on for existing web based applications, mobile compatible versions for existing business solutions, entertaining games and much more that keeps end users interested at the same time improves our customers revenues. Our mobile technology specialists came up with many innovative applications though they still needed a wall where they could showcase their work. The Mobile application team earned a place on the website quickly as the number of successful deliveries kept on piling and client appreciation kept pouring in. Case studies of some of these projects are now available on the website.We now have a dedicated Mobile application department and a section of marketing is also focused on Mobile business. The team can boast of client referrals and many innovative solutions.

The new page sets a stage for the Mobile technology at Cygnet Infotech highlighting the typical client requirements & challenges that were delivered by Cygnet Infotech’s Mobile team with innovative approach.Check out the new page to know more about what we have achieved and what more we are capable of.

We Welcome New Joinees

2010-08-26T15:27:00.000+05:30

Cygnet went from campus to campus to recruit and induct some fresh blood and groom them to future IT managers.

Post Independence Day celebrations, the campus recruits were inducted into the Organization. They will now have to go through the induction program designed specially to groom them into their new roles.

You can feel the vibrancy, the rawness and excitement of the youth, and the burning fire that always hungry for more information.

The transition from campus to career can be quite exciting. The curiosity of an individual who goes through this experience is something to observe.

As a part of their induction, a session has been arranged with each department to share their experiences with the new joinee’s. Technical sessions have been arranged to train them on processes and practices followed in the organization. While they move to their respective teams to get a real time experience after 15 days, the technical trainings are expected to continue for 4months and we expect to have them ready as subject matter expert in their fields.

We look forward to a great inning from them and with wish them all the best.

Welcome to our new office……

2010-08-12T15:51:00.000+05:30

The day started early, we reached office to a flower decked entry instead of the usual hammering, cutting and grinding we had got used to over last couple of months.

As we entered we could hear the chanting of mantras of the Satyanarayan puja in progress. (Satyanarayan puja is an auspicious Indian ritual. The whole office gathered to attend the rituals and took active interest in the whole proceedings that continued for almost 3 hours.

This was followed by ritual of placing a Kalasha ( an earthen pot filled with water covered with mango leaves and a coconut placed over it, covered with a piece of cloth and a red and white thread. As per the tradition the ceremony was facilitated by 4 little girls. The kalasha symbolizes immortality, joy, love, respect and greatness.

This was followed by prasad & feasting

With the blessing of the Gods, purified by the rituals, brimming with a lot of positive energy, our new office is now ready to be occupied.

I could hear a lot of eager murmurs as to who gets to sit in the new offices.

More about the new offices and who managed to get there in the next story

PHP @ Cygnet website has a new turf

2010-08-10T12:45:00.000+05:30

After working extensively in the background the PHP technology has its very own turf on cygnet website. A new PHP section in the technology area has been added to the Cygnet website that highlights case study of some interesting projects done by the PHP team.

The PHP team has been working in the background for quite some time now. The very first project PHP team was asked to develop was Cygnet Infotech’s own website. The site was given a new structure, shape, look & feel and new content. The site received a lot of compliments from many clients and visitors. Though the PHP team came up with a beautiful website, they did not get a place on the main site for their work as they did not have a show case or a set of case studies to present. The PHP team earned a place on the website quickly completing many projects and earning much client appreciation. Case studies of some of these projects are now available on the website.

We now have a dedicated PHP department and a section of marketing is also focused on PHP business. The team already boosts of excellent client referrals. It also deserves mention that this is the first dedicated team we have created to work on an open source technology and we expect this team to contribute a significant share of overall Cygnet business in this financial year.

Introducing PHP technology in the organization has helped us add new clients and service requirements of our existing clients that we were earlier not able to address. PHP is a platform of choice for E-commerce, business websites, corporate websites, personal and family pages, church and school websites online reservations systems, Small business Web sites, Community-based portals etc to name a few.

This new section provides a center stage to the PHP technology at Cygnet Infotech highlighting the typical client requirements & challenges that were delivered by Cygnet Infotech’s PHP team with innovative solutions.
Check out the new page to know more about what we have achieved and what more we are capable of.

Something fresh is brewing!!!

2010-08-04T15:43:00.000+05:30

Oh you bet something fresh is brewing at Cygnet HO. Behind closed shutters the aroma of fresh paints, fresh décor is trying to give away the secrets of a new office space.

Though Cygnet had announced the opening of its new premises on the ten year celebrations in June this year, but the grapevine has been abreast with how the new office will look like.

There are speculations, speculations and more speculations but no concrete answers.

I am wondering myself how will it be; taking a look at all the colorful laminations lying outside the site I guess we are in for something funkier and livelier.

I am just dying to know what will be the layout, the color schemes. I cannot contain the curiosity but all is going behind the shutters so guess will have to wait till final unveiling of the masterpiece.

Till then it’s just the whiffs of fresh paints and varnishes and a dash of lively orange yellow laminates winking.

Delivered effective Help Desk software yet again

2010-07-20T11:56:00.000+05:30

Business had grown with it came customer support issues. Lack of system led to delayed customer support that was highly individual dependent and expensive.

The customer was on a lookout fro a system that could reduce individual dependence at the same time maintain customer contact and history information. The customer wanted a one stop support system that could reduce costs.

The peculiar business intricacies and client business model required us to design a tailor made solution for him with anywhere anytime access allowing the sales and support team access anytime.

We proposed and designed a web based solution on MOSS 2007 to take the benefits of its sound architecture, enterprise search, document management functionality and workflow implementation.

Some of the benefits that the solution were:

A single point ticket booking and customer response for status of ticket.
Dashboard and escalation mechanism implementation
Department wise segregation of tickets at help desk level and quick resolution.
Document Management System & Knowledge Base ensured help desk was well equipped to answer queries.
Help desk spent more quality time with customers and call duration were much shorter
Quick turnaround to customer queries led to happy customers
Efficient reporting tool provided status reports to management aiding them to plan better and further improve customer services.

The client also saw huge productivity and cost improvements. Click here to know more about this solution.

Trouble Ticket Tracker ensuring customer smiles

2010-07-07T12:28:00.000+05:30

The client wanted to implement more efficient system to improve his customer service standards

The business had grown and existing support system was unable to take the loads and required additional manpower, provided less accountability and longer time to support the customer. Inefficient customer service was eating into the profits and had a risk of loosing customers too.

The solution desired was to have a single point of contact with the customers, quick resolution of queries, a central repository of knowledge base conveniently available to all involved, and workflow for escalating the issues that need additional support or are delayed beyond agreed service levels.

We developed a solution for the client using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. The system was developed in a manner that anybody on the help desk could easily refer history records of the client, book trouble tickets, suggest solutions. The help desk staff could select a workflow for the ticket so that it is automatically forwarded to the respective department for further actions.

The tickets are updated on respective department dashboards and follow the workflow with defined service levels.

Reporting tools provided the management with system updates. As a result of the system implemented the help desk spent much more quality time with the customers, there was a faster turnaround of customer complaints. The number of calls managed per help desk increased significantly and with growing knowledge repository the skill set required to manage the help desk reduced significantly.
The system improved customer service and reduced the cost of managing customer complaints adding to the bottom line.

Click here to know more about this solution

Launched e-Learning platform for a developer of interactive learning solutions for the medical device industry

2010-06-11T16:38:00.000+05:30

When professional spine community was considering improving access to new information to its members, conventional means were quite ineffective. The community decided to employ more innovative methods to reach out to its members when they could spare little time from their busy schedules for these initiatives. We were shortlisted for this initiative to develop an innovative e-learning tool that was high tech, yet functioned as close as possible to traditional learning methods. The scope was extended to help spine surgeons earn their CME points through approved evaluation methods.

We used our tech and domain expertise to develop this exhaustive e-learning solution for these healthcare professionals. The solution is designed in Microsoft .net and enhances learning experience, supports existing teaching methods and provides a learning medium that can be accessed anytime, anywhere.

The community extended enhanced learning through this medium by attaching CME credits and CME-certified courses. We created a Knowledge Check Management system that provides evaluation sections with the Topics and Products/Surgical techniques as necessary. A tracking and reporting tool helped keeping tabs on the knowledge checks attempted by the learners. The reward points system allowed access to next levels.

The solution implemented template based LCMS that allowed SME (noted surgeons) to create updated reference material and create dynamic content complete with version control.

The solution offered multiple features that enhanced the learner experience such as web-based Notebook. This online notebook allowed the readers to access their personal notes and materials anywhere any time. This online notebook allowed the surgeons to upload the surgery notes; images and videos directly into their private online Notebook. In addition the system also provided Calendar of Events, Industry News feed and a Forum.

We are currently working on a enabling the solutions on mobile phones and I-pads.

Click here to learn more about this solution.

Deployed a Sophisticated Document Management System for world class engineering and construction contracting company

2010-06-03T14:11:00.000+05:30

When this large company was looking for an effective enterprise wide document management system to ease regulation compliance and improve collaboration among its employees across locations, we designed and implemented a DMS based on Microsoft Sharepoint Server 2007.

The most important benefits that they were looking for were more effective collaboration among employees, improved compliance to rules and regulations and improved and controlled access to documents.

Cygnet Infotech chose to implement a solution based on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 equipping the company’s employees with the necessary tools and resources that allowed effective collaboration and compliance with company rules and regulations easily.

The company had presence across multiple locations, the employees constantly produced documents and contracts that were subject to approval processes and input from colleagues spread across locations. The client worked with our IT team to deploy the new document management solution.

By deploying Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 we helped the client to provide advanced document sharing capabilities and a more effective and easily searchable interface to its employees saving time and boosting productivity. The information was stored in a single centralized repository, using the search function to find related material.

The employees could collaborate on documents securely, track changes easily, and include version information. The employees could easily work together on the same documents and share them with other employees without any location hindrance. The solution offered Active Directory based authentication. The solution was accepted readily by the employees due to familiar Microsoft Office 2007 interface.

Workflow Implementation and email notifications allowed automatic routing of documents to relevant stakeholders. Automatic escalation and email notifications ensured task completion and less chaos.

The platform reduced the consulting costs and development time on key projects from months to weeks.

Click here to know more about the solution.

Making cnc machines, Bogged down by expensive software that goes with your machine

2010-06-01T15:46:00.000+05:30

It is time to think if your inexpensive cnc machine does not sell your desired nos. due to expensive software requirements. It is time to invest in customized software that you can package with your machine cost and ensure you sell larger nos.

We recently designed a customized software for a sheet metal cutting machine manufacturer that’s is simple to use, does nesting to optimize sheet usage, generates G-code instructions for the machine. The machine manufacturer decided it package it with the machine cost avoiding expensive software cost for his customers. He is already booked for deliveries for the rest of the year.

If you are looking at a customized solution to work for your CNC machine, do contact us

Innovative software designed specifically for Sheet Cutting Industry/ Windows based CAD Cam CNC Software

2010-05-31T12:00:00.000+05:30

This business solution has been designed for a CNC Machine manufacturer to address the need of his shoppers (sheet cutters, lathe manufacturers) who need minimize material wastage.

This windows based platform helped the shoppers to create their own designs and convert CAD DXF and graphics designs into GCode / CNC Toolpaths for machines parts and components.

The solution uses Shape Nesting algorithm that automatically arranges the vector shapes to get optimal material usage and minimum wastage. The algorithm works in a manner that it arranges the vector shapes / parts as close to each other as possible at the same time making sure a sufficient gap allow easy part cutting.

The solution combines two steps in single software. The solution provides design module that allows you to define your own shapes or use existing shapes from the shape library. The second module generated GCODE that links with machine process immediately using a simple mouse click.

The solution offers multiple features such as allowing operators to create orders using existing assemblies, allowing shape importing from other applications, Exporting cutting layouts to CNC machines.

The above mentioned features make the tool extremely powerful yet the solution’s ease of usage is awesome.

Click here to know more about the solution.

Innovative ECM that boosted Collaboration, Document Management as well as Enterprise Search

2010-05-28T17:01:00.000+05:30

Our client world class engineering and construction contracting company had setups across multiple locations and faced a need for effective collaboration and information sharing.

The company zeroed in on Cygnet Infotech a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, to setup an enterprise wide document management system.

We chose Microsoft Office Share point for its collaboration and enterprise search facility to implement this enterprise wide DMS. We worked to best exploit the functionalities of Sharepoint for document publishing, content management capabilities and workflow to design and implement the DMS giving due respect to document management practices already prevalent in the organization. We extended the organization active Directory for roles and rights management across locations. We designed multiple workflows for document approvals leveraging the workflow functionality of Office SharePoint Server 2007

Ease of Use through effective use of enterprise search based on keyword searches( based on metadata properties, content etc) made documents search quick and accurate

The implementation allows the users to collaborate on documents securely among different locations, track changes easily, and include version information. They are also now better equipped to comply with regulations on document retention.

The solution offered benefits that were visible in short span such as increased collaboration among employees, efficient publishing and information sharing, and relevant search results.

Click here for more details

On a new high……

2010-05-26T16:10:00.001+05:30

I am on a new high each time I receive a client appreciation.

Can’t describe the feeling.

And if it happens twice in a single day there are no words that can describe it.

Today was a great day, when I received appreciation on my work from 2 clients.

These 2 are the quite type; interact little except business and quite difficult to please.

We have been working with them for quite some time and the current projects are near completion in both the cases.

In the 1st case the demo of the web portal was made to the board and they appreciated the way the project had shaped up.

In the 2nd case, an e-learning web application there was a typical design requirement and the client was quite worried about it. The designer got it right in the first attempt and really impressed the client.

They were happy about the way the projects had been managed, the designer’s good work, and good combination of domain and technology skills presented by the development team and esp. by getting it right within the time lines.

You know – How it feels to be appreciated by a client – great, just great, on cloud 9

Document Management System helping you get the right Information at the right time

2010-05-18T19:56:00.000+05:30

All of us struggle from time to time, just to extract the right information causing delay in servicing clients and meeting deadlines.

Add to this the risk of passing right information in wrong hands or the risk of losing valuable information

We at Cygnet understood the exact nature of the problem when this client of our approached us for a solution and built for him a document management system that has ease of accessibility yet needed security.

A web based solution was built to support multi-location offices and travelling staff and the system was integrated with the organizations active directory for privilege based access and document management workflows.

This allowed an easy transition from existing manual documentation to an e-document environment, privilege based access to data and ease in sharing information across locations.

The centralized repository allowed access to the latest set of documents across all offices and immediate reference to historical data.

The system resulted in cost and time saving in delivering documents, ease of document management, and having the right information at the right time.

Click here to learn more about this solution.

Shaping Ideas - you dream it, we will build it for you.

2010-05-04T15:48:00.000+05:30

While discussing with my client how we could have an e-commerce solution that is unique, adds value and brings business to the website we came out with this brilliant idea where we can allow the visitor on the website to design his own jewelry. Expanding on this idea we discussed how we can use technology to give price quotes considering latest metal prices, limit designing with available stone inventory, link to a payment gateway and shipping and you have a unique business model that stands apart from those out of box ecommerce solutions.

Shaping the idea into a feasible design and ecommerce tool was now the challenge that we passed to our development team. This was new to us, the design tool and work flow methods that we and our jeweler customer designed was not like any we had done earlier nor did we find another similar solution being used. The excitement and the challenge it generated in the team was quite evident in the chats in the pantry. They discussed options, possibilities, technology, user convenience, practicality. E-commerce was the easy part but the design tool was challenging. We saw the plan, discussed feasibilities, suggested changes, felt that slip between the cup and the lip until we were ready to demonstrate the first cut to the client.

The client could not believe his eyes that he was seeing his dream project come true. It was so close to his thoughts that we were signaled to complete the application with very minor changes and deliver it at the earliest.

The complete application is a complete virtual office……. right from the design lab, order processing, billing, and shipping, thru to online payment processing. The system maintains a real-time inventory of diamonds and other gemstones and provides a price calculator which considers latest pricelists for stones and dynamic metal prices from the metal exchange.

Read complete case study here

We admire these stones and metals and work with jewelry manufacturers to reach out to their admirers who cannot reach them through the internet.
My team loves to work on such challenges which pushes their adrenalin levels up.

Cygnet on Campus - Finals

2010-04-22T11:54:00.000+05:30

It was exciting......................

The enthusiasm among the finalists for our campus recruitment drive had me nostalgic.
We had the 40 shortlisted candidates taking their seats well before time for a session which took more than 5 hours to complete.

The patience of all - The students, The HR team, The Admin team and other involved was commendable.

The toughest job was to reach to a list of 20 candidates from the shortlisted 40( these 40 were shortlisted from over 500 candidates in various campuses who went through are selection criterias).

When the final lists were announced the list had 28 selections (8 more than planned) and their was little reason we could offer the 15 candidates who were not selected. All of them had done so well in their group discussions, aptitude tests, techinal tests, techincal & HR interviews that screening was really a difficult task. The management happily accepted the additional 8 candidates shortlisted by the HR team.

We expect these candidates to join us in July 2010 after they complete their final year exams and we eagerly await them in Cygnet Infotech. We are expanding our development labs to welcome them.

Cygnet Infotech gifted each of the finalist a token gift - a good luck charm.

We look forward to this group of fresh, young, enthusiastic and dynamic team to join us soon and to great heights in their careers with Cygnet Infotech.

Thank you everybody
(the students, the faculty, the placement officers, the college management and Cygnet Campus recruitment team)

"Inside Cygnet Infotech" will keep bringing out inside information about Cygnet's ambitious plans for the new joinees.

A revolutionary software for CNC machines

2010-04-21T14:18:00.000+05:30

Bringing for you a very interesting software development story from Inside Cygnet Infotech development labs

Our client, a sheet metal machine manufacturer, wanted to offer a competitive cost effective sheet metal cutting machine to his customers, the challenge faced was that the cost of the CAD-CAM software kept the machine out of reach of smaller workshops. If he could offer the software free or for a small cost, it opened for him a very large market of small and medium buyers who could not afford the machine earlier.

Working to create a solution that would change the market dynamics and empower small and medium sized workshops with quality tools excited us enough to take up the challenge. We studied the CNC machines and its workings. We understood metal and various shapes in which it gets cut. We developed engineering shapes specific for this solutions which industry leader engineering software were unable to provide. The biggest challenge was to provide a automated nesting algorithm by which the shapes on a metal plate will be optimized. This optimization process can save tremendous amount of money as every centimeter of metal saved or used better is direct benefit to the user. The product had to be easy to use and need minimal infrastructure as foremen at workshops were expected to use the software.

The solution delivered was very well excepted by the client and his customers. It was easy to use, and could be run on a standard PC. Shape library added convenience and nesting saved a lot of money for the machine operators.

As an appreciation of the work done, the client invited and hosted the development team at his manufacturing facilities.
We are already working on some new path breaking software developments on similar lines with this client for his new models.

Want to read this case study "Click here"

Cygnet on Campus

2010-04-14T15:30:00.000+05:30

This is absolutely inside information, reporting right in the middle of the act.

Cygnet is visiting engineering campuses in and around Ahmedabad to recruit and add bright young talent to its team. The HR team has been to two colleges (LD & Vishwakarma) and plans to do two more this week, so this news comes exactly in the middle of the act.

Yes, we are adding new development labs also.

What happened at these colleges?
If you happen to be shortlisted you would have qualified the following rounds: Aptitude tests, technical test, group discussion, personal technical interview, personal HR interview. So we can expect some real good talent joining us soon. Get some cool guidance and warm welcome for these young guys & gals when they come over to accept your seniority.

Check out this space to get a campus recruitment update from me.

What's Cygnet got to do with Jewelry?

2010-04-13T13:28:00.000+05:30

What has an IT company got to do with jewelry?

This question has been bogging me for long and has been at the top of my recall since we uploaded the last 2 case studies on the website

1. E-commerce with custom jewelry design
2. E-commerce for distributors

There appears to be an eternal connection, an advantage that Cygnet Infotech enjoys when working with jewelers. I do not know if i should relate it to our being based in Ahmedabad, a major center for gold trading and located very close to Surat, the world largest center for diamond polishing as it does not reflect this way when I review our client profiles.

I distinctly remember that the first ever customer Cygnet booked (year 2000)was a jeweler, and we created a website for him which was a source of envy for jewelers across the town.

The first e-commerce store we did was again for a jeweler. I remember the team slogging it out to include real time pricing of gold and working with jewelry images for the shopping cart that were light to carry on the web and did not lose the details of the jewelry.

The just released case study "e-commerce with a Custom jewelry designing tool" is again a novel concept where customers can design their own stone jewelry, explore new settings, unique designs, preview the final design, get costs and place orders. (check out the case study to find out more)

And the last release "e-commerce tool for distributors that involves retailers" empowers jewelry distributors and retailers to compete and protect their business from large format online stores that are eating away a significant part of their business (check out the case study to find out more)

These 2 unique applications, the first customer, the first e-commerce customer and other shopping carts and custom web applications we built for other jewelers clearly show some eternal connection Cygnet has with jewelers.

We have a significant share of jewelers as our customers and we bond really well with them. What could be the reasons - creativity, innovative solutions, better understanding of their products or just chance.

I look forward to your comments on the new case studies and on this interesting mystery I brought out for "Inside Cygnet Infotech"

Check this out - http://www.cygnet-infotech.com/Ecommerce-for-Distributors.html

2010-04-12T19:36:00.000+05:30

An Innovative tool for distributors
When small retail businesses are struggling to compete with large format online stores, Cygnet has designed an innovative solution for its client that offers retailers an advantage. Check out this case study to see how we shaped an innovative idea from the client into a very practical solution that empowers retailers to take the onslaught of large format online stores - for details check out this case study.

Happy Republic Day 2010

2010-01-22T17:22:00.000+05:30

Hi,
India completes 60 years as a Republic.
In 60 years we have moved from Republic day parades in prade grounds to Republic day sales in shopping malls. The sales have brought in the spirit of festivity and celebrations into otherwise a dull holiday.

All were not enjoying the sale. The website team was trying to test the deliveries and do last minute fixes. Last few days have gone into fixing server issues delaying the release which i was expecting they will do on the Republic day. Actually I walked into office expecting the release today, found them working hard to get things going but was clearly told - no relase today.

Lets wait for the launch.

I caught a head line on one page which read - "Business Process Management - stream lining workflows, optimizing business processes" and found it quite impressive. Could not catch the contents and now I will do google search to find out more about this and than compare notes with the site once it comes up.

and I am going home now as my wife wants to catch up with a republic day sale. I tell you, I am not entering those crowded malls and stand in billing queues for the discounts. I will rather save some money by not shopping at all. (this is my thought, but on this account my wife decides)

will be back with more soon, Bye.................

Yessssssss, I will be there on the new site

2010-01-21T16:10:00.000+05:30

Yes, I convinced them to include me on the new website.
I am now there on the website as "Inside Cygnet Infotech" and you all will be able to access me from the website.
It was very difficult to convince them that "Inside Cygnet Infotech" is a great concept and it will add value to the website. I had to promise them that I will be good and write value adding things only.
I will look forward to you giving me new ideas to write, now that we will be on the website, we will have to regularly write here and your inputs will be valuable.

thank you all for following me on my blog. I am sure we will be a big gang soon

last minute rushes

2010-01-20T17:41:00.000+05:30

linking this to that
copying from here to there
proof reading
reviewing punch lines - I caught this on one of the pages
(Building .net applications for web, devices & services)
checking ...............................rechecking, editing, rechecking

Must me real close to delivery
I can't wait to have a complete look at it, but can't get hold of it

will be back with inside information soon

A New Web Look

2010-01-19T22:36:00.000+05:30

A new web look is on the cards, I have seen some good work happening on it.

Is it ready ?

Well I don't know; from what I hear they are almost there and may be releasing it soon.

What's new?

It appears that they want to be secretive about it and a lot of hush-hush around it

from the glimpses I had, I can share, it is still the same blue, but looks better. I will steal a few glances and share them with you to keep you updated.

Did I not name my Blog "Inside Cygnet Infotech"
I will bring you inside information here.