Automation is the key!
If you are familiar with SWDLC (software development lifecycle)âŚin which once the requirements are gathered, IT companies create a high level design document, then the low level design document, then it goes to the development team and through testing, then you have end-to-end environment, then the production front. This is a cycle for an enterprise product which need to be followed because anywhere it goes wrong, the whole business is impacted.
Now, what Intense is trying to do is to build a platform where once you have the requirement, it is all just a matter of few clicks to build your enterprise solution. Basically, there are five core big components â UI, UX, once you compile, create/import UI, and it can run on any device (mobile, tablet, desktop, car dashboards, or going forward IoTs). That is one. The second aspect of it is Data. You might have a great UI but handling data is crucial. So the good old days for digital transformation of data is to be collecting all data at one place, which is a three - four years process. So that is now moving to data one. Virtualization of data connection (they have filed a patent for this). They call the process Data Manager, which taps various data sources in different file formats/structures and normalizes this for the front end. On top of it they have a rules engine. Further, there is workflow⌠because every process has got a workflow. For instance if you are buying something online - you place an order, make the payment, then it goes to shipment, it goes to logistics, the whole lot of things. So, in short, Intense, through their product Uniserve NXT is trying to merge all this exercise of UI, data, workflow by building wizards and wrappers.
Today, the world is transforming and is getting more collaborative i.e. towards the "World of API.â APIs are integration between applications to interface what they are trying to replicate. So this particular thing becomes very critical because if tomorrow Uber is giving car for rental, they would like to sell food on his app, would like to sell hotels on their app, and stuff like that. This is where APIs come to rescue. APIs become an integral part of any enterprise application in order to make the legacy system robust i.e. without tweaking the legacy systemâs code much one can add functionality. So, instead of coding and scripting, they have a very unique application of connecting to systems because they support all the best renowned API interfaces in the industry they operate. So in a nutshell, they are talking about BOTS, that is Artificial Intelligence space, Automated Testing, etc.
They further explained by pointing to the manufacturing industry, which became more efficient once the conveyor belt systems started. In the software industry, it has never happened or even as we speak today where there is a kind of you pick up individual LEGACY box and create whatever shape that you want because with software industry, the convention has always been to identify what the requirement are, then sit down and look at which is the best language to code in which will probably work in multiple environments and then start coding for that requirement. What they have managed to build is this architecture for the first time in the industry where they are treating software like parts; you can pick up components and on the fly, stitch new parts and new solutions as you go. So, where a normal software development life cycle (even when we are talking of automation, to move out say 500 resources from Cognizant and put in an automated system) will take about 6-7-months to a year for that transition to happen, we are seeking to completely break that and say that can be done in a month.