The Arduino platform, introduced in the year 2005, provides an inexpensive way for hobbyists, students and professionals to create applications that can be played in the human interface world using sensors, actuators, motors, and other basic products.

Arduino is a single board microcontroller that can be designed to make applications, interactive controls, and at the same time is environment friendly. The hardware consists of a board designed with an 8-bit microcontroller or a 32-bit ARM. Nowadays, the current model has features like USB interface, analog inputs, and GPIO pins which usually allows the user to attach additional boards.

Common applications include making of simple robots or motion detectors. It also offers a simple integrated IDE or Integrated Development Environment that runs on our personal computers and allows the users to write programs for Arduino using C or C++. Arduino boards can be purchased pre-assembled or as do-it-yourself kits.

 The five major benefits of using Arduino starter kits are:

 1.       Inexpensive – Arduino boards are cheap as compared to other micro controller platforms and Arduino modules
       can be assembled by hand, and even can be pre-assembled.

2.       Cross-platform – The software can run on Windows, Macintosh OSX, and Linux operating systems.

3.      Simple programming environment – It is easy to use for beginners, and also flexible for advanced users.

4.  Open source software - The Arduino software is published as open source tools, available for extension
    by experienced programmers. The language can be expanded through C++ libraries.

5. Open source  hardware – The Arduino platform is based on Atmel's ATMEGA8 and ATMEGA168 microcontrollers.

Interested in getting started with Arduino?  visit: www.gosigmaway.com/events

In any business, investment in social media marketing is necessary. Now, you have to make the right decision when you choose social media marketing tools as one million new active social media users added every single day. But, whatever tool you choose must have a positive impact on business growth. This article explores some key aspects when looking at social media tool. They are:

·         Easy to use

·         Up-to Date

·         Effective

·         Genuine business value

·         Customer service

Read more at: http://www.business2community.com/social-media/criteria-matter-choosing-social-media-marketing-tools-01911735#K3WJrtLzW6IBfQF1.97

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is important and at the same time very tuff for small businesses. They have to compete with the industry leaders and to make the things worse, organic results are pushed further down. These challenges can help the business to get ahead of the competitors. This article explores ten things that every small business should do with their SEO strategy. They are:

·         Local SEO

·         Tactical link building

·         Reach out to local or relevant publications

·         Exploit your competitors’ weaknesses

·         Get a head start with AdWords

·         Target high-intent users with your SEO strategy

·         Target lower-intent leads as your SEO strategy matures

·         Website speed, bounce rate, etc.

·         Automate everything you can

·         Build an in-house team or hire an agency

Read more at: http://www.business2community.com/small-business/seo-10-things-every-small-business-01911704#Fewu3GAamjmmfWog.97

Nowadays, CRM is surrounding marketing, customer service, business intelligence and several other functions. Some CRM systems can also be transformed into enterprise resource planning solutions with the use of apps and third-party add-ons. CRM has come a long way and now can include artificial intelligence, automation, data enrichment through aggregation of contact information from other sources. This article explores some tips for getting more from CRM. They are:

1.       Automate processes and data entry

2.       Clear the clutter of unnecessary data fields

3.       Integrate customer behavior

4.       Use activity management within the CRM

5.       Revisit integrations frequently

6.       Implement automation

Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/6-tips-for-getting-the-most-from-your-crm-78266

In today’s business, buzzwords such as artificial intelligence and IoT are common. But, these technologies will soon invade CRM as most businesses won’t be mixing their customer data with such technologies in the next few months. These technologies are certainly on the way, but today’s CRM evolution is the result of the delivery of good customer experience. Today’s, better customer experience is where CRM is heading right now. CRM is now embracing CX in a variety of ways. They are: Managing CX through CRM, The Reemergence of Social Data, Deeper Data Intelligence, Reduced Data Silos and More Third Party Data. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/where-crm-is-heading-in-2018-78364

Nowadays, business is moving faster and getting more demanding due to the increased competition and consumer expectations that come from online and mobile-centred economy. Now, meeting these demands requires managing customer experience at every touch point, and that is in turn putting added importance on automation, artificial intelligence, big data and analytics. CRM is also coming up with some innovations. Here are five of the CRM innovations which are coming up and will help your business to handle today’s market demands. They are:

1.       Automatic Workflow Adjustment

2.       Chatbots and Conversational Interfaces

3.       Automatic Data Entry

4.       IoT Integration

5.       Customization

Read more at: : http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/five-crm-innovations-youll-see-in-2018-78395

Earlier, CRM solutions have focused only on sales operations and management. It is found that users reluctantly turn to CRM, since these platforms represent added work for the typical rep and are not easy to use. This is where good sales automation can play an important role and would use CRM automation.  

In CRM automation, instead of CRM serving as a management reporting tool and system of record for contact details, automation can make CRM more useful for sales department by streamlining contact management, reducing workload and creating more opportunities for closing sales. Read more at:  http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/six-tips-for-better-crm-sales-automation-78365

Marketing is needed in every business. But, before you start a successful marketing campaign, it is important to get inside the customer's mind.  There is an important acronym AIDA in today’s business world which stands for attention, interest, desire and action. This model is like a purchasing pipe that basically identifies the cognitive stages a prospect goes through before making a purchase. If you like to develop a better understanding of how the customer thinks, then you can use AIDA which was first developed by Elias St. Elmo Lewis, an American advertising and sale pioneer. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/how-to-market-more-effectively-78331

In today’s business world, robotic process automation or RPA is everywhere. Nowadays, you can automate any business function with a software robot you wish to. It is found that the emergence of RPA in the enterprise is like an arbitrage of software i.e.  you can use the price differences between business process outsourcing and RPA as an advantage in a business. It is also predicted that the RPA market would grow to $2.9 billion by 2021 from a base of $250 million in 2016. The basic advantage of  RPA is that it can unite with existing business process management (BPM) and workflow tools. Read more at: http://www.cmswire.com/digital-workplace/robotic-process-automations-reach-expands-in-the-enterprise/?utm_source=cmswire.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cm&utm_content=nl-daily-170823&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTW1SbE16ZzRPVE0wT1dZeCIsInQiOiJ5WXd3XC9Ybm45d3FvUnRwZjIxcGdzcENSK0ZPNCtjNlAraTZ2c2NZMjUyMythMlwvbjJ5dXpVSDJtVXFDWnNVYnRKM2ZcLzB4eGxhbTNia0hwaWlmRWxIMmlJWlhDclhYMTl5bVlVZUdBVklZVFwvQUxTM1NYNVdEamIzTmV5Tmk2YVgifQ%3D%3D

According to a report, it was found that the global CRM market is expected to reach $81.9 billion by 2025, and in turn attributes this growth to the ability of today’s CRM solutions. This makes it easier for companies to understand and connect with their customers and so deliver a better customer experience. Nowadays, the in-store shopping experience is enhanced by leveraging cloud-based point-of-sale with store operations management systems and further, the new Commerce Cloud Store will deliver a mobile-first point-of-sale (POS) system for brick and mortar venues that will help store associates to engage with their customers and make predictive product recommendations that are based on a customer’s online and in-store shopping histories and interests. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/real-time-customer-view-for-best-cx-76707

Automation in business can help to predict key challenges such as customer churn, sales forecast variances, real-time marketing ROI or P&L anomalies, and it can also recommend new revenue streams, product innovation, better marketing approaches and many other things besides. Another vital advantage of automation is that it also makes it more available for analysis. In this article, the author explores six ways to improve your big data automation. Read more about it at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/itmanagement/six-keys-for-automating-big-data-76670

In today’s business world, the CRM market is becoming specialized. It’s important for CRM developers or administrators to know the CRM vertical market because they will be able to work more efficiently with business users to implement needs changes, updates, maintenance, and security. The second advantage is that they will understand the business concerns quickly and know how to implement the emerging CRM features and tools to market specific use cases. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/the-case-for-vertical-market-crm-skill-sets-76611

According to Nielson, today 65% of Americans use social networking sites on a regular basis and 66% of people trust online views of different people across the world. Social networking is generally used to do shopping and browsing about things. This article explores the three things that are used by the sales team for taking marketing decisions. They are: 1. To understand your audience: It helps us to know what is being preferred by the people in the market and what to be produced to increase the sales. Using social media gives us a picture in real time of the audiences you are reaching. 2. To spot Trends within Target Segments: It helps to analyze the market grip and strategies of the competing firms and products. 3. To determine the success of marketing campaigns: The data gathered by the social media and social networking sites can be used to analyze the success and failure rate of any of the marketing campaigns. Read more at: https://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2017/32108/three-ways-your-marketing-team-needs-to-use-social-insights

These days ancient cities are being modernized by transforming the old technologies and introducing new techniques in an efficient way. This is not only limited to introducing new technologies, but using the old systems in a systematic and organized way, which makes the development and transition cheaper. For example, in Barcelona the old lamp posts are being used as the access points for Wi-Fi signals. Another instance is that previously the city of Barcelona had 108 bus routes which made the traffic and peoples' movement slow and to make it efficient now it has been divided into 28 different lines. So, ancient cities can be modernized just by incorporating the organized and redesigned framework. Read more at: https://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/can-ancient-cities-become-smart

Nowadays, social media is a part of marketing strategy. But, before planning for a social media campaign, we need to think whether this type of campaign is needed or not. We must think about six points before going for a social media campaign. They are: 1. What are we trying to accomplish? 2. Who are we trying to Reach? 3. What channels can we use? 4. Is There a realistic potential to establish two-way communication? 5. What channels Can we use? And 6. What is the cost? Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/do-you-need-a-social-media-program-76621

Segmentation in a CRM system is one of the basic management tools. Dividing the database helps to focus on the markets as well as spot trends and in turn helps sales people to become effective. It can also speed up the prospect of zeroing in on prospects, seek out new opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling and more importantly make your efforts more productive. The advantage of segmenting with CRM is that the system gives many ways to divide up your database. Read more about segmentation at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/slicing-and-dicing-with-crm-76197

Interactions that happen generally in normal retail business are important, but are seldom recorded. Online business has the advantage of recording information like how long a customer spent looking at different items, which items or words they searched, even what items they put into their shopping cart and later removed. But, nowadays, with the help of IoT and advanced analytics, the offline business can track the sentiments of customers and automate the process. This article discusses how IoT can feed customer data into the retail CRM system. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/4-ways-the-iot-can-feed-customer-data-into-retail-crm-databases-76111

Nowadays, agile customer relationship management systems are gaining importance. Today's business professionals must take full advantage of every possible revenue stream and with the right CRM system, leveraging big data to gain a better understanding of your clients and maintaining customer relationships has become easier now. This article discusses the five most important CRM trends for the year 2017. They are: Mobile CRM and Telecommuting, Mass Cloud Migration, Scalability, CRM Integration, and Artificial Intelligence. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/5-important-crm-trends-for-2017-75959

Nowadays, social media has become a central part of CRM. So, good posts in social media have gained its importance. An organization must be active on social media to recognition, which will in turn help them in selling their product. It also creates value for your followers. This article article link discusses about some important guidelines for posting on the social media. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/ten-rules-for-social-media-posts-75929

According to a research, it was found that the Human Capital Management market will grow by 10% annually through 2020. Another research found that 1. Real-time feedback and analytics will boom, and it will improve employee productivity. 2. A new generation of performance management tools will emerge to improve feedback-based approach. 3. A focus on human performance and well being will become a more critical part of HR, as it will emphasize employee wellness and engagement, and a healthy work-life balance, and 4. The employee experience will become a primary focus of HR to provide integrated, high-value experiences that excite, engage, and inspire employees. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/mobilefirst-cloudfirst-crm-75930