BlueSoft Pulse: Where Business Meets Technology — 4/2024

Welcome, tech innovators and enthusiasts! You've landed on the fourth edition of BlueSoft Pulse, your premier destination for everything IT. We're here to enrich your LinkedIn feed bi-weekly, ensuring you're always at the forefront of the technology curve.?

Our mission? To serve as your indispensable bridge in navigating the vast tech landscape. We demystify the complex, transforming it into a navigable map to guide your daily tech explorations.?

And there's even more to BlueSoft Pulse than just insights. This community thrives on your involvement. Participate in lively discussions, pose your most pressing tech queries, and forge connections with like-minded peers and our expert panel. Together, we create a dynamic ecosystem where ideas prosper.?

Are you ready to amplify your tech knowledge? Strap in for a bi-weekly journey of discovery and innovation with BlueSoft Pulse. Let the exploration begin!?

Dive deep into the world of digital transformation and discover how it can revolutionize your organization's processes, enhance customer experiences, and drive growth. We'll also share case studies to illustrate real-world success stories.?

Why The World’s Most Valuable Firms Are So Agile?

Effective software delivery ranks among the top priorities for both small and large IT companies. The Agile approach and Agile transformations have gained significant popularity in recent years. However, they often fall short because the chosen Agile method or framework is only introduced and implemented at the team level. Unfortunately, there's typically a lack of consideration for the customer, organizational goals, mindset, and culture. Additionally, there's limited interaction between business and programming teams. The product vision tends to focus on short-term goals rather than long-term strategies or gets lost in long-term initiatives.?

So, what enables the biggest players in the market to deliver products using Agile successfully? What sets them apart??

Agile methodologies alone are not enough. The key lies in embracing the principles outlined in the Agile Manifesto (https://agilemanifesto.org/) and adopting an Agile mindset at all levels of management.?

Our Expert's Voice:??

At BlueSoft, we integrate the principles of the Agile Manifesto into our daily operations. When working with clients, we prioritize building partnerships based on transparency. Customer satisfaction is paramount, which is why we emphasize agile product delivery. Agile methods allow us to see results quickly. Our teams are carefully chosen not only for their technical expertise but also for their commitment and motivation to deliver products effectively. Through years of experience, we've developed the Minimum Awesome Product (https://bit.ly/MAP_by_BlueSoft) framework for rapid time-to-market for applications that boost business value.?

— Marzena Nizio? (Janiszewska) , Agile Transition Advisor at BlueSoft ?

Feeling inspired? Read the full article “Why The World's Most Valuable Firms Are So Agile” which advocates for a wider adoption of Agile mindsets and values across organizations to drive sustained growth and innovation.?

Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing industries across the board. Discover how AI solutions can be integrated into your organization to enhance decision-making, automate processes, and drive business efficiency.?

Transforming the Realm of Generative AI: From Theory to Practice

In the face of rapid generative AI (GenAI) technology development, companies are challenged not just with the deployment of innovations but also with scaling them in a way that yields tangible value. As McKinsey notes in the mentioned article, unlocking the full potential of these technologies requires a profound organizational overhaul. Initiating pilot projects may be straightforward but scaling them to create significant value demands extensive changes in the workflow.?

The distinction between being a "taker" (a user of available tools), a "shaper" (an integrator of available models with one's own data), and a "creator" (a builder of large language models) defines a company's competitive capabilities. It becomes essential to refine the skills of the existing workforce, forms central teams for establishing standards that enable responsible scaling, and develop technological architectures that support this expansion.?

Expert’s voice:?

At BlueSoft, taking on the role of a "shaper", we focus on creating an environment that streamlines the AI-based product development process, allowing engineers to concentrate on AI-related key tasks. We've developed a platform that facilitates rapid prototyping, conducting experiments, evaluating outcomes, and team collaboration. The ability to configure the appropriate large language models (LLMs) or to utilize code written by other team members enables us to address the core of the problem.?

The foundation of success in GenAI implementation is not only technology but also the organization of work and a culture of collaboration. Through our platform, we ensure an infrastructure that enables efficient use of AI while emphasizing data quality and credibility. Such an approach allows us not only to accelerate the process of creating valuable solutions but also to build lasting trust and optimize costs at every project stage.?

We recognize that while Generative AI is filled with potential, it brings challenges, including data credibility. To address these issues in our Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) solutions, we ensure the provision of dependable reference data in conjunction with AI-generated responses. This approach bolsters trust and broadens the scope of our solutions' applications.

— Artur Mirończuk , AI Project Manager at BlueSoft ?

Integrating BlueSoft's experience with recommendations from AI industry leaders illustrates that transitioning from the theoretical potential to practical implementation of GenAI requires not just advanced technology but also a thoughtful organizational strategy and collaboration culture. Such a holistic approach is key to harnessing the full potential of innovations in the GenAI field.

Dive into the world of Platform Engineering, where we discuss the importance of a solid foundation for IT solutions. Gain insights into designing and building robust, scalable platforms that can drive your business forward.?

Developer Productivity Engineering: Insights from Netflix?

Netflix's approach to enhancing developer productivity serves as a compelling case study in the realm of platform engineering. As a dedicated subdomain, it favors not just individual metrics, but team-based metrics, extending evaluations to departments and divisions to gain a comprehensive view of productivity. A standout statistic reveals that Netflix's platform team constitutes about 15% of its engineering workforce, significantly higher than the global average of less than 10%.

Treating internal developer platforms as products necessitates planning for product support directly within the platform team, an important factor to consider. Netflix also explores various frameworks for measuring developer productivity, notably the 'SPACE developer productivity framework'. This method extends beyond the classic DORA metrics to include dimensions such as 'Satisfaction and well-being', 'Performance', 'Activity', 'Communication and collaboration', and 'Efficiency and flow', with a particular focus on sentiment analysis.?

Expert’s Voice:?

Netflix's candid sharing of both triumphs and challenges in platform initiatives and developer productivity is insightful. One such challenge is documentation. Our internal developer platform, supporting AI Delivery teams, leverages solutions and achievements from our teams. Documentation is available in traditional formats and through a chat application implementing the RAG architecture, using the documentation as a knowledge base. An upcoming feature in our pipeline to further address DevEx challenges is a chat interface for platform services. This natural language interface will complement our portal layer, allowing developers to request resources in a conversational manner, such as deploying new environments for specific applications and addressing other typical platform service use cases. We are excited to see how this impacts DevEx. Stay tuned!

— Patryk B?k , Solution Architect of BlueSoft ’s “StarBoost for AI” Platform?

Embrace the cloud era with insights on cloud migration, security, and the benefits of adopting cloud services. Learn how BlueSoft's cloud solutions can help you stay agile and secure in an ever-changing landscape.?

Cloud Repatriation: Why companies are leaving the cloud??

Have you come across the term “cloud repatriation”? It describes all activities needed to move workloads and data from the cloud back to the on-premise. Surprisingly, in a survey of 350 IT leaders, 93% reported involvement in such repatriation projects.?

The article highlights the primary reasons for this trend: security concerns and unmet expectations, notably regarding costs and performance. It rightly emphasizes that a simple lift & shift from on-premises to serverless models doesn't automatically result in cost savings. If this occurs, organizations must pivot their operating models and strategies accordingly. Additionally, adopting recent technology trends should be justified by the business value they bring, measured using business-oriented metrics.?

Expert’s Voice:?

At Bluesoft, we offer more than guidance through cloud adoption or migration journeys; our skilled teams can also assist with FinOps practices to optimize cloud usage and establish cost predictability, resulting in real savings.?While the cloud is ideal for modern applications like AI-based, containerized, or serverless ones, maximizing profit from it requires careful planning. Reach out to us to make the most of your cloud journey!

— Bartosz Pietroń , IT Architect at BlueSoft?

Discover firsthand accounts of how BlueSoft's solutions have empowered organizations to overcome challenges and achieve their business goals. Real-world success stories that demonstrate the impact of our services.?

BlueSoft Successfully Navigates Global Data Migration for Life Sciences Companies?

In the competitive Life Sciences landscape, data integration is pivotal in driving business success. We recently embarked on a two-year global data migration journey for two renowned Life Sciences companies.??

The project aimed to unify data from disparate systems and platforms, ensuring compliance and enhancing decision-making across global operations.?

Read how a team of 14 knowledgeable and certified engineers in Talend successfully migrated more than 6 TB of data and how they carefully analyzed and transferred over 1 billion records using Talend without any disruptions.?

Read the full Success Story here:

Stay tuned for our next issue, where we'll delve into the exciting world of Digital Transformation.