Why developing our products in multiple places makes sense

A brief overview of our international product development team?

Digitec Galaxus’ network is international, and our collaboration brings a breadth of knowledge and skillset to each development process. Since the dawn of the internet, different cultures were brought together, and people have started to experience the benefits of exchanging thoughts and ideas with people they would have never met in person. The recent global pandemic events have brought us closer talking and collaborating with each other virtually. Yet, this is a different story – a story about a team developing the heart of our company, namely its software, from two locations and their hybrid collaboration model. How exactly do Zurich and Belgrade operate together we have asked our product developers Daniel and Nikola.

Before we begin, we’d like to introduce you and find out more about your development path. Programmers are often generalized and mystified, so here’s a chance to tell us more about yourself and your way of getting into coding and maybe motivate some of our readers to dive into software engineering themselves. Simply put – why did you learn how to write code and what made you stick with this profession? ???

Daniel:?Computers have interested me from an early age. I got a sorted-out computer to tinker with as a child and created my first website soon after. Going into computer science seemed like the logical next step. Even though I am interested in other engineering disciplines, I particularly like coding because you don't need anything other than a laptop to create something and, in the best case, make life easier for countless people.?

Nikola: I've been playing video games since I was a kid, from the Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo to finally getting a desktop PC. At first, I was mainly interested in how the hardware worked, but I quickly realized that software was the brain of the whole operation. Meddling with it is constantly raising my interest in programming, and that drive has made me a software engineer.?Frankly, I've always wanted to be an astrophysicist, but coding is also great. ??

Behind the curtain, the mood in Belgrade’s office was very enthusiastic once the quest of finding the perfect first team for software engineering was announced. Now that the scene is set and you guys have started working together, we would like to know more about the collaboration between Zurich and Belgrade. Could you first tell us how you have adapted to an international and mostly virtual work environment??

Daniel: The starting position for this team is exciting. Since the customer service already works distributed, our team can benefit from the proximity to stakeholders in Switzerland and Serbia. Most of the time, we see each other only through a webcam. However, we meet regularly in Serbia or Switzerland. That contact is valuable to get to know each other personally, particularly at the beginning.?

Nikola:?I'm surprised how well the collaboration is working out. Of course, we had great help from the team, especially in the beginning, when we had to integrate into the product development area. Almost everything is going smoothly, even though we are around one thousand kilometers apart. Regular visits are playing a significant role in our building of a brand-new team. Nothing like a few beers to better understand each other.

In our post-pandemic world having virtual conversations and worldwide collaboration became sort of a norm. Do you have any challenges or obstacles that come your way due to working remotely?

Nikola: Remote work has globally become a standard by a series of unfortunate events. I don't see many obstacles in terms of working remotely, since we just need a laptop and some electricity. With that said, I still think it's important to get to know each other in person in order to build a healthy and productive work environment, and that's the greatest challenge of them all.

Daniel: When it comes to remote work, the opinions diverge strongly. While Tesla ordered its employees back to the office, Spotify allows them to work wherever they want. Consequently, I can't provide a universal answer. I appreciate the benefits of distributed working and like to take advantage of them. However, I also find it valuable to regularly meet the people I work with to foster mutual understanding and create space for innovation through low-threshold communication. So, the chosen cooperation model with colleagues in Belgrade and Zurich and regular visits suits me very well.

Regarding that you are not freelancers and that you are working on the heart of both digitec and Galaxus, namely our internally developed software, we’d like to talk more about your perception of a company’s culture. How do the company’s values influence your team’s work? Do you have a specific value that helps you build the product that you are working on or even boost up the team spirit?

Daniel:?Despite the rapid growth, the company is very successful in maintaining its start-up character. Of course, that spirit cannot be obtained everywhere. But I appreciate the open error culture, the helpful co-workers, and that criticism and inputs are always welcome across all hierarchical levels. It is crucial that this spirit also exists in our distributed team. And I think that works quite well.

Nikola:?Given that I have experienced a corporate culture, digitec spirit feels unique and refreshing. It puts personalities on display and allows people to have fun together and work in ways that best suit them. I can't pick a specific value because each one of them combined is what makes work such a pleasure. Like a Voltron.

Enough talk about the present, we are sure that readers would be interested in your thoughts about the future of this international collaboration. Could you tell us about your vision for the future of our software engineering teams here at digitec Galaxus??

Daniel:?We have several departments in Belgrade, an office in Hamburg, a warehouse in Krefeld, deliver to Austria, and operate numerous warehouses and stores in Switzerland. Even though Zurich is our primary location, the course is clearly set towards further distribution. Due to the growth and to counteract the shortage of skilled workers, developing our products in multiple places makes sense. As the first internationally positioned team, we are laying the foundation for successful distributed cooperation within software development and reducing the perceived distance between the individual sites.?

Nikola:?Everything I've experienced in digitec so far set a path for an exciting future. With continuous growth, new teams are on their way, and I can't wait to see new faces in the Belgrade office. I'm looking forward to new challenges, especially difficult ones because they bring the opportunity to learn from other colleagues, who are more than willing to help. Many parties are waiting for us as well. ??

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