Android Apps Vs iOS Apps – Comparing the mobile applications developed on the two biggest mobile operating systems

In today's world, people are smartphone obsessed to an extent that they remain stick to their devices round the clock. Even while eating, working or socialising with friends, our eyes are always gazing at the giant screen to check out new notifications from networking apps like facebook or messaging apps like whatsapp. With passing time, people are becoming more dependent on their mobile devices and as a result, mobile application development companies are seeing an exponential growth from recent years due to the unprecedented demand of having an app for every product/service. For almost everything from shopping to studying, gaming, finding a restaurant or planning a trip; we have multiple apps installed in our smartphones to make our day-to-day life easier and comfortable.

Sneak peek into Global Statistics and Industry Insights

While there are many types of mobile applications including Android Apps, iOS apps, Blackberry Apps and Windows Phone Apps, the two biggest players dominating the Mobile OS market are Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS, regarded as the most desirable platforms for developing mobile apps all around the world. If we peep into the app download statistics 2010-2013: Apple VS Android as recorded from Whatech.com and some relevant data collected from different market research firms like Gartner, you’ll be surprised to know that during 2010-2011, the no. of iOS apps downloaded were high(~ 1.45 billion) as compared to Android apps(0.64 billion) while in June 2012, both Android and Apple recorded equal no. of application downloads(~ 3.3 billion). And after that point of time, the no. of Android application downloads kept on increasing exponentially leading Apple by the end of 2013 and now the current scenario is - more than 80% smartphones all over the world are running on Android OS. Also, out of 102 billion apps downloaded in 2013, close to 91% apps were free but still mobile apps development company across the globe, collectively managed to pull US $26 billion revenue amounting to a 44.4% increase on 2012’s US $18 billion.

iOS App Development Vs Android App Development

• Also Read: How to Choose the Best Ecommerce Website Design & Development Company 

Creating & Publishing Apps on the App Store – Android Vs iOS 

While Android apps are programmed using technologies like C, C++, Java etc; iOS apps are programmed using Objective-C. Also, Android is an open source platform which means that anyone can tweak the Android SDK by downloading the Android source code for free but on the contrary, iOS is not an open source platform. Not just android apps developers are free to create, deploy and distribute android apps for free but mobile phone users are also free to download Android apps from outside the official Google play store too. However, Google charges a very nominal onetime fee of $25 for developers to publish their apps on the official Play Store, the Android open source SDK is available for all popular platforms like Linux, Mac and PC. However, in case of iOS apps developers, one has to pay $99 per year to get access to the iOS SDK and the right to publish their created iOS apps in the Apple’s App Store. Moreover, the iOS SDK is only available for the Mac platform.

However, if you use app development platforms like Titanium, Appcelerator and PhoneGap that offer “code once run everywhere” feature, you'll be able to easily create apps on a platform and convert it into “native” code for both Android and iOS platforms.

The Bottomline: iOS App Development Vs Android App Development – Which one is the right platform to choose

Apart from overseas, Mobile apps development company in India also offer effective services in both Android App Development and iPhone App Development while producing the best technical outcomes within stipulated timeframes. While most of the mobile application developers prefer to develop apps for iOS before they develop for Android due to technical feasibilities, the bottomline is mobile app developers often get confused as to which platform will suit client’s business better. So, as an experienced mobile app developer from a reputed mobile apps development company, I decided to conclude this write up with a quick comparison while throwing light on the most important aspects that should be taken care of by android apps developers and iOS apps development company while creating mobile apps for any of the platforms.

• Also Read: 8 Best PHP Frameworks for Developing Agile Applications Faster

Android Growth Rate

1. Stability of the Apps and the mobile OS  As an experienced mobile apps development company, if we take into account the stability criteria in mobile app development; Android version 2.3, popularly known as Gingerbread reveals the highest total crash rate ~ 1.7% while other Android versions like KitKat, Jelly Bean and Ice Cream Sandwich have a crash rate of about 0.7%. Some other insights are listed below.

• If we compare Phone versions and Tablet versions of both Android and iOS, tablet versions are less stable than the phone versions.

• Crash rates for mobile apps vary according to the category of the app being created like — Gaming mobile apps are most likely to crash (~4.4% crash rate) while e-commerce carts and shopping apps have the lowest crash rate (~0.4%) as compared to other categories.

• iOS version 7.1 has a crash rate of 1.6% while crash rates for iOS 7.0 and iOS 5 are nearly 2.1% and 2.5% respectively.

• If we look at tablets, many apps are specifically designed for the iPad while Android tablet apps are scaled up versions of Android smartphone apps.

As an example, let me share the example of the popular Instagram app. You might not be aware of the fact that this app started with iOS while its Android counterpart (Android App) was created and launched much later.

2. Massive app ecosystem  While popular smartphone apps are usually available for both the platforms, iOS apps have a distinct advantage when it comes to creating tablet apps as compared to the Android apps.

3. Facebook and Twitter Integration – Winner iOS  For apps using iOS platform, it is much easier to post updates and share on social networks because these platforms are deeply integrated with iOS as compared to Android.

4. Interface Customization – Winner iOS  As an iOS apps development company, we know that iOS apps offer limited customization options for the home screens while allowing only the row icons on the apps

5. User Experience – Winner Android  Android apps are highly customizable when it comes to user experience. From home screen icons to widgets, everything can be easily customized in Android as compared to iOS. Apps that can emulate older apps or apps like SwiftKey that can modify the whole Android smartphone keyboard signify that if you’re taking user experience into account, Android Apps would me more feasible technically. Also, Apple offers many restrictions as compared to minimal restrictions by Google when it comes to launching apps on the app store. Moreover, one can also choose to install Android apps apart from the official Google Play store while that’s not the case with iOS apps.

With all these factors in mind, one can easily decide which platform is right according to the type of business their clients are involved in. After all, it’s the work of mobile apps development company to suggest the best platform to their clients like we do here at Dean Infotech – the best iOS apps development company that clients prefer when it comes to mobile app development. Besides iphone app developers, we also have experienced team of skilled Android apps developers who’ve created numerous Android apps successfully.   

• Also Read: No need to carry cash after Android Pay

Latest Algorithm update by Google - Panda 4.1

Google, the biggest search engine giant across the globe has already started rolling out the latest Panda Algorithm Update – Panda 4.1- a filter that aims at penalizing poor or low quality content in an endeavour to restrict it from getting higher rankings in the search engine results. As per various sources, Google claimed that depending on the locations, nearly 3-5% of the search queries are going to be affected by this update shortly. Launched on September 25, 2014; Panda 4.1 will be a “slow rollout” expected to fluctuate rankings to a great extent.

Why are we calling it Panda 4.1?

Panda 4.1 is the 27^th update introduced by Google ever since it launched its algorithm update by the name of Panda. But, you might be wondering why this new update is introduced with the number 4.1 only. Well, this is because the earlier Panda update that launched in May 2014, just a few months ago was Panda 4.0 and that was a major update by Google. In fact, it affected close to 7.5% of the search queries, the biggest till now. And, since it is very difficult to remember random names, Google decided to number the updates sequentially, just like a nomenclature is used for naming upgraded versions of software. Good, isn't it?

How many Sites are going to be affected by this update?

The big Panda update 4.1 is expected to impact many websites across the web. Nearly 3-5% of the search queries are going to be touched down by the revised algorithm. As per various sources, some sites including yellow.com, exactarget.com, theepochtimes.com, healthcentral.com, office365.com and ehow.com etc have lost considerable amount of traffic(>60%) due to this update. In all, there are more than 100 websites revealed by Searchmetrics who’re seeing a significant loss in their organic SEO visibility making them big time losers. However, there are some websites that are benefitted by this update and have gained a lot of traffic. Some of the biggest lucky winners include hongkiat.com, babble.com, comdotgame.com, mediamass.net, hotelguides.com and yourtango.com. 

• Also Read: Ways in which you can Increase Traffic to your Website

So, how different is Panda 4.1 from the earlier Panda 4.0?

Yes, we all know that Panda 4.1 is just a continuation of the previous update Panda 4.0, which was released about 4 months ago in May 2014. But, most of you might be unaware about the fact that Google has completely re-written the Panda algorithm in its previous version- Panda 4.0 and this latest update (Panda 4.1) is just a refreshed version of the same algorithm to filter the thin content from the organic search rankings. One more interesting thing to know is that this newest update will be pulling out some websites from the grey zone (sites hit by the earlier Panda) who have taken serious steps and have corrected the issues with their websites. 

List of Previous Panda Updates

Previously, 26 Panda Updates were introduced by Google before it announced Panda 4.1. Here I have compiled a complete list of all previous Panda Updates -

Previous Panda Update

• Also Read: Top 6 Most Popular Search Engines

How to recover from the Panda Effect?

If you’re hit by Panda 4.1 & are seeing a huge traffic drop & low search engine rankings, you must take quick action to recover your website as soon as possible. Here I’m giving some instructions that you can follow to pull out your website from this Google Penalty.

1. Enhance the user experience of your website. This includes improving the navigation to make it easy enough for visitors & search engine crawlers to find relevant information fast. Remove the unnecessary clutter and create a user-friendly layout that pleases search engines as well. 

2. Generate high quality content for your website. Hire professional writers and update all your website content. Also, keep posting relevant content in the form of blogs and make a content calendar to improve the content quality of your website

3. Integrate social media accounts and promote your content within the targeted audience. Allow people to comment, share, like and tweet on what you post by integrating social media icons like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Google+ etc. 

4. Reduce the bounce rate of your website. Try to retain visitors for maximum time by engaging them wisely. Make sure people don't leave immediately when they land up on your website. 

After you follow necessary actions, don’t forget to submit a reconsideration request to Google. Ideally, you should get a reply within 1-2 weeks from Google else submit the request again. If Google thinks your website is good enough, you’ll be able to rank even higher amongst your competitors on the search results. 

• Also Read: Top 4 SEO Strategies to Optimize your Website for Greater Traffic

After you follow necessary actions, don’t forget to submit a reconsideration request to Google. Ideally, you should get a reply within 1-2 weeks from Google else submit the request again. If Google thinks your website is good enough, you’ll be able to rank even higher amongst your competitors on the search results. 

8 BEST PHP FRAMEWORKS FOR DEVELOPING AGILE APPLICATIONS FASTER

Undoubtedly, PHP is one of the programming languages which is rocking the development world since the last few years due to its inherent flexibility and comparatively easier learning curve. But, developing perfect agile software applications in PHP has always been a challenging and time consuming task. 

However, if you consider using a framework, things will get much easier and faster. Building complex applications on PHP frameworks will allow you to reuse generic components and also add modules while creating things on a unified structural foundation. 

This not only ensures high-end scalability but keeps your code much organized and allows your software application to evolve with time while facilitating long-term maintenance by complying with latest application development standards. This way, you will be able to look upon the other important aspects of application development, like maintaining consistent functionality and focusing on sustainable high-quality code.

Also Read:  How to Choose the Best Ecommerce Website Design & Development Company

So, here I go with the 8 best PHP frameworks that will help you build agile applications with high-end interoperability, flexibility and robustness. 

1.     Laravel

Perfectly suited for all types of projects and even huge enterprise level applications, Laravel provides a solid foundation of well tested reliable code that works well on MySQL, Postgres, SQL Server and SQLite.

Basically, Laravel is a PHP web application framework that is built on top of several Symfony components and aims to facilitate complex web development by making tasks like authentication, routing, sessions and caching much easier with its expressive & elegant syntax. Besides providing easily accessible and most powerful tools to build large and robust applications, Laravel also comes with an inherently expressive migration system along with an inversion control container and integrated unit testing support. 

2.     Codeigniter

CodeIgniter is a powerful framework which is best suited to develop fully featured web applications in PHP. The best thing about this PHP framework is that it doesn’t require any configuration set up and also doesn’t impose any restrictive coding rules on the developer. Featuring a rich set of libraries, elegant toolkit, an extremely simple user interface and a logical structure; Codeigniter offers simplest solutions to the most complex application development requirements while being exceptionally fast. 

Being a designer, if you’re working on template files, Codeigniter is the one and only framework that can prove much more useful as it is based on MVC controller approach and thus allows for great separation between logic and presentation.

3.    CakePHP

CakePHP is a dynamic web application framework that comes packed with powerful features to let you to build sophisticated applications and prototypes rapidly using code generation features. From complex translations to database access; caching to validation and configuration to authentication; CakePHP has many features that are all built-in into the framework itself. 

So, you don’t need to break your head with complicated configurations. Just sync your database with the application framework and you're ready to go. To guide you through the application, CakePHP handles every aspect till the end. From providing a basic organizational structure to dealing with the user’s initial requests, filenames, database tables & final rendering of the webpage; the clean MVC architecture of this framework and built-in tools for validation and protection keeps your application absolutely safe and secure. 

4.     Symfony

Symfony is an all-powerful PHP application framework that significantly speeds up the development and maintenance work of your web application projects. The amazing thing about Symfony is that it doesn’t restrict you to the Symfony application development environment (naming conventions, classes, libraries and PHPUnit) and rather allows you to choose the software components that you want to use in your application. 

This makes Symfony the most flexible framework in terms of usability, scalability, maintainability and upgradability. Not just this, the framework also provides a set of prefabricated components that can be rapidly integrated into your web application so as to ensure you can work effectively to meet the complex requirements of even the most challenging projects.

Besides this, Symfony also gives you the freedom to choose between three versions based on the complexity of your application and project requirements – the complete version (Full Stack) in case you want a complex application; the Brick by Brick version to let you build your own framework according to the functionality needed, or the Microframework if you want to have a specific functionality in your projects.

             5.  Zend Framework 2

Zend Framework 2 is an open-source PHP application framework that constitutes powerful components in the form of a standard library that can be used for developing web applications using the object-oriented code. 

The framework also offers a highly robust supreme performance MVC implementation with an ability to extend easily and adapt to the needs of the complex project requirements through a modular base. Also, Zend Framework doesn’t bind you with any predefined constraints and you can implement anything the way you want to. 

6.     Phalcon

Phalcon is a fully-featured application development framework based on PHP 5 but implemented as a C extension. This is to ensure lower resource consumption and save processor time while delivering high performance. However, to build applications on this framework, you don’t need to learn and use the C programming Language unless you want to contribute to the Phalcon framework extensively and support it. 

Since Phalcon is loosely coupled and all the functionalities are exposed as PHP classes, you're free to use the full application framework or even specific modules as per your requirements. The best thing about Phalcon is - you can download and install it as a PHP module rather than extracting it to a separate directory unlike all other PHP frameworks which makes it a more flexible application framework. 

7.     Yii

Known for its powerful caching support and exclusively designed architecture that work efficiently even with Ajax, Yii is an all-powerful high-performance PHP application framework. From input validation to output filtering and SQL injection to Cross-site scripting prevention; Yii offers high-end security at its best. Based on the solid MVC architecture, the framework helps you develop clean code and model databases more efficiently.  

The framework also packages a set of validators that ensure safe collection of form inputs along with numerous other helper methods and cool widgets. Plus, there is extensive support for writing and running unit and functionality tests to offer efficient error handling. Since Yii is architecture in a way that it can work pretty well with third party code also, you can integrate the external data (data from other frameworks) also into your Yii powered application. 

8.     Aura

Aura is a PHP application framework that constitutes high quality code along with fully decoupled, standards-compliant and independent libraries. The framework takes full advantage of PHP5.4+. Each library is self-contained and is hence independently downloadable & can be integrated to use for application development. There are enough libraries to form a full framework and be used for application development. Featuring namespaces, well-tested functions, late static binding and short array syntax; Aura offers cutting edge functionalities that were not available in the older versions of PHP. 

Also Read: Android Apps Vs iOS Apps – Comparing the mobile applications developed on the two biggest mobile operating systems

Top 4 SEO Strategies to Optimize your Website for Greater Traffic

The web is growing more than ever, with more & more businesses launching a website to target customers online. Today, there is hardly any business owner who doesn’t have an online identity. But unfortunately, for a large number of business owners, getting a great website is just more than enough to fetch revenue online. However, what they fail to understand is the importance of getting their business discoverable on search engines, without which their online presence is worthless. That’s where the role of SEO comes in.  

What exactly is SEO??

Search Engine Optimization is basically a technique used by webmasters to optimize their website in order to gain organic search rankings on popular search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo for search queries made by people who want to avail any service, buy any product or simply seek some information on the web. 

The concept of search engine optimization is not new. In fact, it has been around since mid-1990s, when the first search engines were introduced. But earlier, since there were less no. of people opting to take their business online, the competition was considerably less and all webmasters had to do was to submit the address of a page, or URL to get their website indexed by search engines. But now the scenario is altogether different. With tonnes of websites flooding the web & competing for topmost rankings, the traditional SEO tactics don’t just work. To stand out amongst your competitors, you need to strategise a plan that proves successful in fetching good traffic for your website & eventually helps in raising money for your business.

If you’re still wondering what I’m talking about, let’s take an example, say, from the perspective of a person who searches the web to buy food online via Google. Probably, he or she will end up entering “buy food online” in a search query, or “buy food online in [some place]”. What exactly, Google return is only 10 organic results or some paid advertisements on the top & right of the page. But is there only 10-15 websites offering food online?? No, there are numerous. But do you think a person would really care to look past the first

 

page of Google?? 99% of the people won’t and make an order on the first page itself. Look, how important it is to be visible on the first page itself or else your investment in getting a beautiful website is just a sheer wastage of your hard earned money, valuable time & efforts. This is why everyone owning a business online must take SEO in account parallel to the website development. Again, one should completely avoid outsourcing the project to a digital marketing agency that still practices traditional SEO tactics that are outdated. Today SEO is more than just incorporating keywords & adding Meta tag information. Everyone does that. But intelligent SEO tactics is what that will distinguish you from the rest and make you stand out in the crowd of so many people having their online presence on the web.

While there are already some very well-know SEO strategies out there on the web, I tried to put forth some out-of-the-box SEO tactics that most of you might be missing while optimizing your website. Here we go with the top 4 techniques that can help bring more traffic to your website & eventually skyrocket your ROI. 

Strategy 1 – Use long-tail specific key-phrases instead of keywords

To target more impressions on your site & eventually avoid cut-throat competition, you need to research right keywords relating to your business. Incorporate key-phrases instead of keywords that people are likely to search for when they query something on the web.

For e.g If you own a clothing business that sells dresses for kids, the first keywords that pop up in your mind are “clothes” or “dresses”, which are too easy to have thought by your other competitors. Instead, you should opt for something which is very specific by putting yourself in the place of your customers who are likely to look for a product online. From the perspective of a potential customer, you will figure out that key-phrases like “buy clothes for kids” & “buy dresses for kids” will be more appropriate. Remember, keyword optimization is the first step & if you go wrong here itself, your online business will be dead. 

BONUS TIP - Research key-phrases relevant to your business & rightly to boost your visibility in search results

• Also Read: Latest Algorithm update by Google - Panda 4.1

Strategy 2- Periodically update fresh content on your website

Pleasing search engines is not that easy. You need to get fresh content for your website with appropriate placement of right & relevant keywords in perfect density. This is because website content is the most important thing that stands your chances of ranking higher in search engine results. Google values informative content that it feels can leave a good impact on people. Additionally, you can also set up a blog that brings traffic directly to your website by making a content calendar & regularly post informative content via engaging write-ups.

 Bonus Tip – Always get engaging content for your website that explains your offerings clearly & precisely keeping in mind the target audience.

Strategy 3 – Create a Sitemap for your online presence.

A sitemap is basically an HTML/XML webpage that lists all the pages on your site and is necessary to provide search engines with detailed information about the content of your website. Search engines crawl & index websites via programs called spiders to deliver content in response to search queries made by people on the web. Without a sitemap, indexation will be delayed & you’ll be invisible to the audience out there looking for you. So, all your SEO efforts will go in vain.

Bonus Tip – If you have a website on the most popular CMS – Wordpress, you can automatically get a sitemap created by installing a plug-in called Wordpress SEO by Yoast. 

• Also Read: Top 6 Most Popular Search Engines 

Strategy 4 – Include Social Media Signals to pull more traffic

Yes, you heard that right. Incorporation of social media signals via introducing widgets of popular networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin etc will earn you traffic on your website. This is what we usually call as – off page SEO , wherein you are using social networks to gain traffic via earned media.

 Benefits of social media integration are numerous. Some of which include – increased visibility, increased traffic, improved search engine ranking & the most important one is online reputation that will establish your niche amongst your prospective leads & customers.

Bonus Tip – Get beautiful social media widgets designed for your business & integrate them at appropriate positions in your website. Also, encourage people to share your content & build strong online relationships to educate them about your brand

To summarise, SEO is not a piece of cake that one can have so easily & gain top rankings overnight. It needs constant & considerable amount of effort to stick to the ethical SEO techniques and implement them intelligently. If your online presence is also invisible to your target audience, you can get professional services from Dean Infotech & drain all your worries on us. We have a panel of expert SEO professionals who’ll take care of your online business at competitive pricing.  

• Also Read: Ways in which you can Increase Traffic to your Website

Importance of Cloud Services for Small & Mid-sized Businesses

Cloud computing, since its inception, has brought about a sea change throughout the globe by proving a boon to SMBs (Small & Mid-sized businesses, for which it hits the sweet spot of entrepreneurs. However, the concept is still alien to many business owners because of their lack of attention towards newly-emerging technologies & latest industry know-how.

What is Cloud Computing??

For those of us who’re ignorant about this fantastic technology, let’s understand what exactly is cloud computing.

Cloud computing is a sophisticated technology where one is not required to deploy physical infrastructure like web servers, file & email servers, storage systems or software, on their technology set-up and everything is available on the web anywhere & anytime.

Cloud Computing

 Types of Cloud Technology Platforms

Software as a Service (SAAS)

The software-as-a-service – SAAS is a cloud based delivery model that involves the installation, deployment & maintenance of the software in the cloud and connects clients via Internet or Intranet. Software applications run on the server that resides on the web cloud. A good example of SAAS models are hosted shopping cart solutions that are popular among ecommerce online business owners wherein companies like Shopify, Bigcommerce & Volusion etc host the shopping carts on their servers and provide a complete ecommerce solution to its clients. Online Shop owners need to pay a monthly subscription fee to avail the service or can choose from low-cost annual plans & sell their products on the web. 

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Platform as a service (PAAS)

This model offers its users the application platforms, solution stacks & databases as a service serving as a middleware platform through which a customer can create an application or service using ready-made tools/libraries from the provider while controlling the software deployment & configuration settings. A good example of this is the Open Source Platforms that allow users throughout the globe to develop applications on the platform by providing an already made software under public license.

Platform as a service (PAAS)

Infrastructure as a Service (IAAS)

This cloud-based delivery model takes the whole physical hardware completely virtual including all servers, networks, and storage & system management, everything on the cloud. Put simply, this platform is more or less like a data centres that mitigate the risk & maintain all hardware at the local level. 

Development as a Service(DAAS)

Development as a service is a web based platform that involves community shared development tools which are equivalent to locally installed tools in the traditional cloud delivery model. They are usually least opted by any kind of business. 

Importance of Cloud Services for businesses

With cloud services, entrepreneurs & consultants of small and mid-sized businesses can reap the benefits of high performance solutions within a low-cost investment. This is because cloud services save a lot of expenditure that otherwise goes into infrastructure set-ups & software maintenance. Plus, these solutions are available whenever you need them as everything gets stored online & one can access the software and use it without actually downloading them & installing. Also, storing the information on the cloud makes it accessible from anywhere around the world that means you’ll have hassle-free collaboration using the ubiquitous browser or otherwise, you might have to take your IT infrastructure with you wherever you move, which is extremely cumbersome.

To add further, cloud services enable entrepreneurs to get access sophisticated technology & run their business without the need of employing an IT consultant or tech worker on the payroll, thus your human resource also gets saved.

Today, apart from a locally installed desktop operating system & browser, the needs of a lot of small businesses can be easily fulfilled almost completely with the cloud-based offerings. In fact, different surveys on cloud computing reveal that the adoption of this technology is steadily increasing since the year 2009. But what also came to light was cloud computing also comes with a lot of concerns about security, stability & data ownership. Probably, this is the reason that many businesses are still apprehensive of availing cloud based services ignoring the vast advantages the technology has to offer.

Some widely popular Cloud Computing Applications

There are numerous applications, platforms & technologies concerning cloud technology. However, some of them which are widely popular are discussed below -

1.     Google Apps for Business  

This is a service offered by Google that uses a domain name provided by the customer to provide several customizable versions of Google products by featuring web applications with similar functionality. This includes traditional office suits & other Google services like Gmail, Hangouts, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Google News, Google Play etc. For the first 3 days, it is free, however if you continue using the service, you need to pay $5 per month for a single user account, or alternatively, $50 per user-account per year. Also, you can use Google APPs Marketplace provided by Google which is an app store that contains various free & paid apps that can be installed by users to customize their business experience.

2.     Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services is a collection of remote computing services that combine together to make up a cloud computing platform offered over the internet by the largest online company Amazon.

Through Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud), the application platform provides scalable virtual private servers using Xen.

3.     Appscale

Appscale is an open-source cloud computing platform, modelled on APP Engine API that deploys Google App Engine applications automatically & also scales it over popular public & private cloud systems & clusters. Appscale provides developers with a rapid, API-driven development platform that can run applications on any cloud infrastructure.

4.     Salesforce

Salesforce is a global cloud application platform that is most popular for its CRM(Customer Relationship Management) solutions & related products. It is basically a SAAS cloud based delivery model that houses the sales automation software.

5.     HP Converged Cloud

HP Cloud is the set of cloud solutions available from Hewlett- Packard that offers 4 clouds – public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud and managed private cloud.