What a year, right? It’s been over ten months since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic. We lived through lockdowns; we learned how to function with social isolation; we disinfected almost anything that could be disinfected; and most important of all, we made the abrupt shift to working from home. We did all that we can to embrace the ‘new normal.’ However, leading an IT outsourcing company through one of the most challenging years in the 21 century was anything but ‘normal.’ This year brought economies worldwide to their knees. Millions of people lost their jobs. And for so many industries, the future still looks uncertain.

So, what did this mean for the successful functioning of Cosmic Development? What did we, as an IT outsourcing provider, achieve despite the new reality? What were the main things that marked 2020 for us? 

Overcoming the challenges imposed by the new reality:

Introducing work from home policy

Since we are an IT outsourcing company with an employees-first policy and offices in three countries across four different locations, we took the prevention measures recommended by the WHO very seriously. After the first cases appeared in Canada, Serbia, and North Macedonia, we immediately shifted to working from home for the foreseeable future. 

As the situation with the virus escalated and it was clear that remote work was here to say, we made sure all our colleagues are safe and have all the essentials to do their work at their best. And having in mind that working from home was available for us even before the pandemic, we adopted this new way of functioning with ease. You can read more about introducing remote work and the useful tools we used here.

However, a huge role in the successful implementation of remote work as a permanent way of functioning had the HR department with representatives in each office location.

Keeping employees engaged during a worldwide pandemic

As we have all witnessed, this whole crisis happened overnight, and it majorly struck our social life. Within a short time-span, the entire world adopted a “new normal” where people practiced social distancing and avoided public gatherings. The bars were shut-down, the restaurants became take-outs, schools and day-care centers were closed, and we forgot what theaters look like. And, to top it all out, there is the global economic crisis and recession.

This harsh reality affected us all. Employers had little time to adapt and provide all the required conditions for successful operation. Whereas employees had to make sure they stay proficient and effective in a whole new scenario. And with the kids staying at home, caring for family members, and psychological pressure from the lockdowns, it became very stressful. 

Being the link between employers and employees, HR teams worldwide had to rethink their role as they had to adjust whole companies to social distancing practices and a new work environment. More than ever, they played a crucial role in keeping their teams productive, motivated, engaged, and connected.

Cosmic Development’s HR manager spoke thoroughly about measures that need to be taken in order to ensure employees’ wellbeing during these, well, let’s say, unprecedented times. She pointed out holistic and agile people management as best practices because every individual is different and unique in their own way. “To do so, our department has been in touch with all employees on a regular basis. Personal coaching in the form of one-on-one sessions were introduced for the most affected employees. While for the outgoing, we organized online contests and events where people could spend time with each other.”

The name we gave to these activities was “Cosmic Beats Isolation”, and we gotta say, it was fun being part of them.

Cosmic Development’s small wins during disruptive 2020:

1. High-quality work has never been at stake

From leadership to newbies, our offices (including the ‘virtual’ ones) have been a place where a bunch of skilled and dedicated professionals work together and achieve tangible results. Having these like-minded people gathered together and adding the nurturing company culture that Cosmic promotes resulted in one compact and very productive team.  

We talked with our team members on their experiences on several subjects, including: how our content editor keeps up with the ever-changing viral video market, overcoming stressful situations from a PHP Developer’s point of view, the technical challenges that video editors face, and how do they overcome them, and how to manage an agile team in these remote times.

Do you want to join our growing Cosmic family? We are hiring! Check out the most recent vacancies here! 

2. Events worth mentioning

In early March, two Rumblers, Marija and Natasha, attended the Digiday Publishing Summit for a good reason. As Business Development representatives and one of the first people to join the Rumble team at Cosmic, they had an excellent opportunity to mingle with the most prominent names in the publishing industry. An event where media leaders talked about the latest trends and useful tools. There were interactive workshops, speed networking sessions, and cocktail hours.   

Another event of no less importance was the Virtual HR Transformation Summit. Cosmic Development’s HR Manager Biljana took the stage and shared her valuable insights on contemporary HR practices and retention strategies. She joined a distinguished list of HR professionals to discuss Human Resources management’s most critical aspects of the new reality.

3. Constant growth has been maintained 

Thanks to our diligent Cosmic crew, we continued to grow even when the whole world stopped. Looking back, we can see incredible growth of some of our loyal clients and on-going scale-up of those who have joined us recently.

This year we have been working with clients worldwide and kept our presence in North America, Western Europe, Western Asia, and Australia. As more and more companies had no other choice but to go remote, our dedicated-team talent solution became an attractive option globally. 

Now let’s get back to our loyal clients. Rumble is winning the battle against Youtube, and here is why it became the obvious choice for video creators. If eager to learn more about Rumble, read how video content brought success to the platform. 

Another platform that saw incredible success this year was the AI-powered website builder Bookmark. What lies behind Bookmark’s success its combination of outstanding leadership and dedicated-team talent solution. Bookmark’s success story is now available, and you can become a part of it, especially if you are a full-stack developer.  

Let us help you scale up with the best IT outsourcing solution. We build dedicated teams for brands! Schedule a free consultation today! 

Watch Video: Cosmic Development 2020 Rewind – A Year in Pictures

With the vaccines rolling out slowly, we can say that we are looking to a brighter future in 2021. Our team is generally thankful for making it to 2021 with all employees being well and sound, bigger in size and experience, and ready for new challenges. What can be more valuable than walking out as a winner from one of the most challenging years in modern times?

The post Cosmic Development, an International IT Outsourcing Provider, is Looking Back at 2020 appeared first on Cosmic Development.

Websites and online forums thrive with numerous opinions on when is the perfect timing for a company to begin outsourcing IT services. If you are considering this option, you probably started an online search for the pros and cons of outsourcing. If that’s what brought you here, you are in the right place. Get ready to get inside information from a company offering outsourcing services for more than 10 years. Read our hands-on experience in addition to an ebook that will guide you on how to get started.

We are a Canadian IT company specializing in providing IT solutions and staff augmentation to other brands, and we discovered the numerous advantages of outsourcing IT services a long time ago. In this article, we’d like to share our practices to help you decide if outsourcing is the right choice for your organization.

First, let’s elaborate on the questions that probably started spinning around in your head from the moment when you began thinking about outsourcing. “Is it safe?”, “Why do companies use outsourcing?” or “Will outsourcing make you more good or harm?”. To help you clarify your ideas and thoughts on outsourcing, we decided to provide you with answers to the questions most often asked. Here we cover some of the fundamental questions that many ask before outsourcing IT services.

Basic Benefits of Outsourcing IT services

There are numerous reasons why you should begin outsourcing IT services today. Companies use outsourcing to cut costs, save on resources, operations, and increase the company revenue without hiring more employees. We have already covered the basic benefits of outsourcing in this blog post. As there are numerous reasons why you should begin outsourcing tech today, here is a summary of what is discussed in our ebook:

• Obtaining a high-quality product for a lower price
• Saving time by avoiding to figure everything out by yourself
• Finding employees that are valuable, trustworthy, and dedicated to growing your business

Outsourcing will not only help you save money and time, but it will also aid you with cutting down the exact amount of expenses on the needed resources. Alongside the overall cost-saving process, companies may also save on salaries, employee benefits, and training costs. Furthermore, outsourcing may prove helpful in terms of company rearrangements by adjusting the business model. Hiring different talents and experts from various industries on a global level might help you bring freshness to the current team and provide new perspectives for the company itself.

Hire a Dedicated Team for Your Brand

When hiring a remote team, note that the process may vary from one software house to another. Therefore, we offer you our simplified approach in five easy-to-use steps:  

1. State your preference in terms of needs, timespan, and budget  
2. Search along with initial selection (pre-vetting) 
3. Decide who will be invited for a final evaluation
4. Pick the right fit 
5. Sign one simple agreement and get started

Discover the three stages for finding a reliable software house and our five simple steps for hiring a dedicated team for your brand by downloading our ebook.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Outsourcing IT Services and Hiring a Dedicated Team for Your Business appeared first on Cosmic Development.

When preparing for an IT project estimation, you need to take into consideration a lot of factors that will help you build a dedicated team for your specific project. Throughout the process of estimating your most significant IT project, you will realize that outsourcing is the best option for profitability by getting the same quality for a lower price. Moreover, IT outsourcing is a great way to find the appropriate employees who are trustworthy and who will help you build your brand.

If you are considering outsourcing an IT development team, one problem you are certainly facing at the beginning is how to prepare your idea for an exact estimation. This article will guide you through the process of preparing and conducting an IT project estimation for your business. Read carefully the step-by-step procedure below:

Define Your Vision

The first thing you will need to do is outline your idea. Illustrate your vision. What kind of problems have you recognized? What is the solution you are offering? Maybe you are rolling out a cutting-edge product. Or to put it broadly – you may have a general vision to change the world. What is your solution, and what does it do?

Whichever this is, it is essential to tell your software development company what this is and to share your way of thinking. 

Provide Accurate Brief

Your software development partners will need some basic information. It is the pitch description of your project, your needs, and your visioned path. Describe the performances of your IT Project in the most manageable formula – as well as your visioned workflow. 

Explain the Specifications

At this point, you need to start getting technical. But remember, there is no need to go very deep into the matter. Things are getting technical here, but there is no need to get too deep into the subject. Your job is to remain on the surface. You can be concise, but leave specifics to the software development team.

Set Collaboration Goals and Expectations

To put it simply, what do you want to accomplish and in what time?

Consider your business goals and the tangible objectives that have been bestowed. This differs from the goals concerning your cause. In this occurrence, you should also keep in mind whether your project fits your determined future concept.

These must be reasonable, in terms verified by both the developers’ team and your company. The best method to do this is by setting universally-agreed metrics. Grant specifics, such as website visits, click-through rates, check out rates, bounce rates. Sometimes goals are driven by impulses, such as trends or a competitor’s product. That, too, can be sufficient to help with your outline as well.

Scope Your IT Project 

We are going to contemplate and look ‘deep within’ for this one. That is because here is where the IT project will do some fundamental soul searching. The scale of the project, what is to be done, where will it feature, how will it feature, who will be involved – this all needs classification.

Here are some inquiries to kick-start the thinking process:

• Is this a mobile application, or is it PC-based? 
• Is it maybe an embedded system?
• What functionalities will it have? For example: (CMS, built-in search engine, navigation)
• Will it need a particular infrastructure?
• What about the Data Security, how rigorous will it need to be?

Go over everything in details, leave no stone unturned.

Set Time Frames 

You must be aware that some projects take more time than others, primarily if you want them to be done right. The deadline has a direct influence on the project’s outcome, how it will be done, and the varieties of features you would like to incorporate in it.

As a rule of thumb, understanding that limited speed means limited quality is essential. This has more dramatic consequences when considering the budget too! But we will get to that in a second.

One thing is for sure: nothing ever takes five minutes, nor does it cost five dollars.

Communicate the State of the IT Project

As we stated earlier, depending on the design and circumstance, you may be building something from scratch. Make sure to let your new developers know the current growth of your project, as any actual information will surely be of some help. Maybe you have already created an entire, or half-finished model? In that case, let them know either way and make sure to share any essential information with them.

Most significant to note is that if you have created something like this already, albeit unsuccessfully, make sure to communicate this as well. Communicating outstanding issues that have occurred in the past is essential.

Get to Know Your Dedicated Team

Meet the crew! And make sure everyone follows you. Precise comprehension equals progress.

Your IT project should be built on excellent communication, succeeding expectations, and navigating among stakeholders. In projects as seasoned as those in IT development, make sure to avoid costly misunderstandings!

Have you communicated and established the parameters? Have you made sure they are understood to the finest detail by the development team?

Remember: to create – you must communicate. 

Estimate the Budget 

We would not like to lie to you. The budget is a big deal.

Do you know how much is your organization ready to spend? Keep this in consideration of your expectations.

Let us put it simply: the higher the budget, the broader the possibilities reach. Functionalities need time to be tested, whereas new features will also require development funding. Finances play a crucial role in the final quality. Bugs and glitches are best approached with room in the resources to deal with this problem.

Mock-ups & Wireframes 

Details are unquestionably helpful – as are the specifics. Sometimes a basic idea is a framework for perfection – make sure to bestow any introductory thoughts and plans with your development team. A reliable software house will provide professional, compact, and non-judgmental feedback to your project.

Make a Checklist

Think of this as a soothing reminder, preferably than a ‘make it or break it’ list. From our experience, it would be an astonishment if you had ready-made answers to all these points. The essential thing is to know what is to be understood and what there is to be asked. By doing so, it will assist you to recognize the competency of your next IT development team.

1. Do you have a concept? Start with identifying a problem, solution on how to overcome that specific problem, and a concept of providing the solution.
2. Be precise, but not too formal. 
3. Explore your idea. Ask yourself lots of questions.  
4. Have confidence. 
5. Set parameters. What metrics will determine your success? 
6. Be realistic. Time and money are substantial circumstances with substantial consequences. 
7. Details. Share as many of them as you can. 
8. Accomplish. Go for it, and be confident. 

As fundamental as these intents are, it is normal not to have answers to all of them. Just make sure to have them in mind. 

To discover more information about how to prepare for an IT project estimation for your business, you may need help from our experts. If that is the situation, please click here for a free consultation with our professionals.

The post How to Prepare for Your IT Project Estimation appeared first on Cosmic Development.

Get a free IT consultation and cut up to 50 percent of your operating expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Business owners who are facing financial problems due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus can now contact us for free IT consultation and get the most suitable IT solution for their businesses.

Many people and companies are trying to find different ways to help others in difficult times like the ones we experience nowadays, as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak. IT companies are constantly offering many benefits to ease the time spent home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the most excellent IT companies in the world, such as Microsoft for instance, offer free online courses that are accessible to every person on the planet. Furthermore, restaurants and fast food places provide food discounts and/or free delivery for their customers. There are also numerous food delivery applications that people use more during this period.

Following the countless examples of other companies throughout the world that have changed their ways of working during this new situation, Cosmic Development has also decided to ease people’s lives as much as possible. As you already know, we are an IT support services company that offers IT solutions and staff augmentation services to worldwide clients. During these hard times caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, we decided to provide free IT consultation and discounts in the vast range of services we offer on a daily basis. Continue reading below to learn more about the free IT consultation and discount of services we offer during COVID-19.

What Cosmic Did to Help People During the Coronavirus Outbreak

We provided our readers with different content in order to help them deal better with the Coronavirus pandemic. As a company that allows its employees to work from home when needed, we created an article with the most important aspects of how to work from home during the Coronavirus period. In it, you will find information about how to protect yourself from COVID-19, the top ten free-to-use tools of our choice and helpful tips on how to manage your time when working remotely. 

After guiding regular employees on how to deal with the new “work from home” situation, we decided to help out our clients who are business owners to learn how to manage their business during the Coronavirus pandemic. To do so, we provided the five most important insights that will teach them how to deal with their business management issues. 

Finally, we made an overview of the current financial situation in the world that happened as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak in every country. We have explained which industries are most affected by the current pandemic and how we can recognize that a recession is happening. Moreover, we have explained what business owners need to do in a time of global financial crisis and recession.  

What Cosmic Offers to Current and Potential Clients

Aside from providing our readers and clients with the essential information that will help them with their business issues in these difficult times, we also decided to provide our current and future clients with something even better. We offer a free IT consultation for business owners who are searching for new employees to hire but are unsure of what exactly they need. Therefore, they can contact us and get a free IT consultation where they can explain what their business needs are so that we can deliver the most appropriate solution to them. In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to offer short-term heavy discounts on our services.

All you need to do is to schedule a free IT consultation by following the link above and completing the form so that we can get back to you with the best IT solution created according to your personal needs. Let our team of professionals build your brand, especially now when we are facing an invisible enemy (the Coronavirus). For those of you who still are unaware of the types of services we offer, these are our three main categories of services:

• Software Development
• Digital Marketing and Sales
• Administration and Virtual Assistance

Software Development

The primary type of services that we offer is the software development services. We have professional developers who have been working with us for many years and have shown to be experts in their fields. The IT solutions we provide to you are not only about web development software but also about building web and mobile applications for your company. Our experts will create the software you need for your business to work during these difficult times we face. They will use specific programming languages and a series of programming code required for the software you want for your companies.

Digital Marketing and Sales

Another type of service we offer to other companies is digital marketing and sales. Although marketing and sales services can be done separately, we believe that nowadays they are so intertwined that they cannot go one without the other. Therefore, we help business owners to get the best professionals on their team and create not only an outstanding digital marketing strategy but also a sales plan of action. That way, companies can build their brands with the help of our experts who know how to compete in the modern world and who follow every change in digital technology. Moreover, they will discover the vulnerabilities of your competitors and help you win battles that will raise you above other companies.

Administration and Virtual Assistance

If you are looking for remote workers and virtual assistants, you are in the right place. We offer administration and virtual assistance services for companies who want to lower their expenses on such teams but get professionals who will complete their work qualitatively and most efficiently. Our team of administrative specialists will deal with your daily administrative tasks and schedules remotely, without the need to be physically present at your office. Moreover, you can outsource your business processes to our team of experts in finance, accounting, human resources, etc. 

Keep on reading our weekly blog articles in order to discover more useful tips and insights that will help you get over the Coronavirus pandemic period. You may even get a better overview of the working atmosphere in our company and implement some of our ideas in your company. Stay tuned.

Sources:

• linkedin.com/feed/news/us-hiring-hit-by-covid-19-5155530/
• nbcbayarea.com/news/coronavirus/list-companies-offering-deals-discount-freebies-coronavirus/2256595/
• barrons.com/articles/cvs-facebook-walmart-target-coronavirus-pandemic-51584479961

The post Free IT Consultation During Coronavirus appeared first on Cosmic Development.

When building a start-up company, owners need to begin considering outsourcing as an option that will help their business grow. Choosing outsourcing services may turn out beneficial for every business that is on the market, regardless of whether it is a start-up or a big corporation. For a long time, business owners thought that outsourcing is a strategy only for big organizations. However, start-ups are also recommended to learn how outsourcing can benefit their business before launching their company on the market. Moreover, they need to know which outsourcing services to choose, in order to save their resources and to focus on their core activities. 

Cosmic Development is an IT support services company that offers outsourcing services to all the countries in the world. Although our company is based in Canada, we have other operation centers in Europe, or to be precise: in Serbia and Macedonia. The basic outsourcing services, that most of our clients require, are covered in these three groups:

• Software Development
• Digital Marketing and Sales
• Administration and Virtual Assistance

Software Development Outsourcing Services

With the growth of digital technologies, web developers are the employees that are most wanted for creating software or web solutions for different types of companies. Both start-ups and big corporations are in the need of software developers who will create websites, mobile and web applications, software, e-commerce solutions, web designs, etc. In most cases, companies want to get outsourcing services for the creation of their websites or their new applications. Furthermore, they also need experts who know how to make good web designs or who have ready templates that the business owners can choose from. 

Cosmic Development as an IT support services company offers software development to business owners who want to get outsourcing services for lower prices but excellent quality. We have experienced professionals in the following:

• Front-end Web Development
• Back-end Web Development
• Mobile and Web Applications
• E-Commerce Solutions
• UI/UX Design
• Quality Assurance

In addition to these basic web development services that can be outsourced, the role of a cybersecurity expert is also trending nowadays. Companies often wonder whether to choose outsourcing as a way of improving their Internet security. Hiring professionals who will resolve potential cybersecurity issues remotely is a good idea when business owners cannot find the appropriate individual for the job or when they realize that they do not have enough resources for a proper in-house employee. Discover more about cybersecurity and why you need to implement it by reading the newest web development trends for 2020.

Digital Marketing and Sales Outsourcing Services

When it comes to outsourcing services that belong to the group of digital marketing and sales, business owners need to decide which services should they have in-house and which can be outsourced. For instance, there are plenty of marketing agencies and sales experts that can cover those job positions from a remote workplace. However, the managers of both marketing and sales teams should work closely together and be present at the office, for better synchronization between the teams. 

When launching a start-up company, owners can consider hiring outsourcing services like digital marketing and sales in order to save their time and to promote their brand successfully. Companies that are found in such a situation can consider hiring digital marketing experts from companies such as ours. We offer digital marketing and sales as outsourcing services from a team of professionals who know how to bring benefits to your business. And instead of paying several separate salaries for each employee, you will want to get a team of experts for one price. Below are further discussed four main areas of the digital marketing and sales services that we offer.

1. Social Media Marketing
2. Content and Technical Writers / Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
3. Sales and Email Management
4. Video and Photo Editing

1. Social Media Marketing

As part of the digital marketing strategy of any company, business owners also need to have experts in the field of social media marketing. Most companies believe that dedicating one hour per day on social media marketing is enough, but this is not right. They need to invest time in their social media strategy if they want to grow the number of their followers. Choosing to outsource social media marketing experts is crucial for businesses that want to be present in online media and on social media platforms such as: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc… We have professionals in our company who can easily monitor your connections on all social media and engage in separate conversations with them. 

2. Content and Technical Writers / Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The outsourcing services also include services such as content or technical writers. Content or technical writing is needed for blog, advertising, social media platforms and all other aspects of the digital marketing strategy. Failing to invest in written content may prove to be wrong for the company’s entire strategy. Content and technical writing takes a lot of time, effort and practice, so companies need to have this in mind when creating their content strategy. 

In a tight correlation with content and technical writing is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Without written content, the company’s website will not be optimized for search engines such as Google. Therefore, start-up owners need to hire SEO experts to handle their content and to make a strategy that will place them higher on the search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO is one of the outsourcing services that companies may get from companies like ours. To learn more about current trends in creating a digital marketing strategy for 2020, read our article by following this link.

3. Sales and Email Management

A very important aspect of the company’s marketing and sales strategy is to pay special attention to the email management. It is definitely not an easy task to know what type of emails to send to which category of people. Therefore, companies are encouraged to contract experts that offer outsourcing services for email management, so that they can avoid being unproductive or inefficient. Nowadays, there are companies that deal with email management technology as a primary focus. Therefore, if the start-up company does not deal with this technology, business owners are encouraged to use outsourcing services for email management and get professionals to do this work. 

4. Video and Photo Editing

In the era of smartphones, photos and videos are the core of each digital marketing strategy. Every company should consider hiring a team of professionals that will know how to bring out the best of the videos and photos they publish on the company’s website or social media. For that reason, outsourcing services such as video and photo editing is the best choice that business owners can make if they want to present their companies as professional ones. On the one hand, taking pictures with a mobile phone, or recording in-house videos may only lower the product’s quality. On the other hand, hiring professionals in your country may be more expensive for your firm than what you can afford. Therefore, companies can hire remotely-working experts who can take photos, record videos and then edit them so you get better quality for a lower price.

Administration and Virtual Assistance Outsourcing Services

One of the most outsourced services are those that cover administrative responsibilities and customer support activities. Start-ups that want to lower their expenses need to consider hiring administrative and virtual assistants from other countries, thus preserving money on hiring, saving up space in their office and lowering their tax payments. In such situations, business owners can make a decision to hire customer service agents abroad for a more affordable cost.

However, prior to making this decision, start-ups need to make an impeccable analysis of the countries that they want to get these outsourcing services from because they will need only remote workers who can speak English fluently. In our company, we have employees who speak English like their second tongue, because in Macedonia the children learn the English language from the beginning of primary school. Therefore, we offer fluent-English speakers who can understand the problem at hand and provide excellent customer support experience. 

As part of the administration and virtual assistance, we also offer outsourcing services from human resources (HR) professionals. Our team of HR experts may take care of your employees, regardless of their location in the world. The HR team we have will recruit and hire the most suitable candidates for the job position at hand. Moreover, it will also conduct employee training, if needed, and will determine the payroll and the employee benefits.

Sources:

• entrepreneur.com/article/204652
• entrepreneur.com/article/288869
• microsourcing.com/learn/blog/outsourcing-research-trends/a-guide-to-outsourcing-tasks-for-startups/
• thenextweb.com/contributors/2018/07/14/3-things-your-startup-should-consider-outsourcing/
• outsourcinginsight.com/outsourced-services/

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