Management

CTO: Balancing Leadership and Architecture.

As a CTO, effective leadership goes beyond technical architecture. Conducting regular performance reviews is a crucial part of managing teams.

Note: The performance review schedule may vary depending on the specific
company's policies and guidelines.

For early-stage startups, lacking CTO expertise in conducting performance reviews is common. In my experience, I've tailored grades to encompass all aspects of professional iOS development, keeping project-specific needs in mind. Being the first in the team can offer significant growth opportunities. However, acknowledging any lack of people management skills and compensating through continuous growth is essential.

I've compiled my insights on structuring the iOS development department, conducting performance reviews, and most importantly, emphasizing the significant distinctions between developers' levels based on well-defined criteria.

Against the backdrop of a sharp decline in venture investments in various traditional industries (this is clearly related to the global economic situation), but against the backdrop of certain upheavals in the crypto industry, the question arises of a driver that can become one of the «pillars» of the development of a decentralized industry.

Today, it becomes quite obvious that the situation with web3 technology is becoming similar to the situation with programmatic advertising 10-12 years ago. When programmatic-ads just started, the major market players were not very optimistic - it was much easier for them to follow the well-known paths with chains of publishers and agencies. However, once programmatic got rid of the «childhood diseases» and became simple in use, effective in attracting customers, it has taken a dominant position in the modern advertising market - providing precise targeting and cost reduction. The situation with web3 is similar - all publishers ideally want to have systems for lifetime tracking of customer achievements (that is, Soul Bound tokens in web3), theoretically stable decentralized data storage systems that cannot be broken through a simple server attack, real users’ ownership for his content, as well as simple cross-border payment systems that have built-in algorithms for calculating all duties and taxes. Sounds like a perfect world, but even Amazon doesn't do that yet. Why?

The problem is the web3 entry point, which is difficult for users. As soon as they start talking about opening a crypto wallet, about 12 phrases as a backup, most users interrupt the onboarding process and immediately leave the site. This is obvious - over the decades of the development of the digital market, users have become accustomed to facilitating and simplifying systems for interacting with the site. One-click registration, effective convenient UI, visibility and the «metro principle», where the client is led by the hand – this is modern digital progress. And here some 12 phrases are offered, incomprehensible tokens - and, most importantly, why? So, it turns out that a self-sufficient audience of geeks or really advanced users revolves around web3, which is growing weakly.

When developing functional digital products, especially at the preliminary stages (from MVP to alpha versions) many teams use the «technology first» principle. This means a minimum of user convenience, a maximum of engineering competence. When evaluating the potential of a product, further efforts are already in the direction of creating ergonomic visitor paths, design and more. However, here lies the catch - since not two clients or a prospective investor can evaluate the entire user route, touch it with their hands and make sure that the system works, you can lose both clients and partners.

Avoid duplicate content

Many online merchants face a common challenge with multiple product variations, leading to duplicate content issues. When similar products have slightly different URLs like "?=sortby" or "?p=2", search engines may view them as duplicates, impacting your website's credibility and search rankings. To tackle this:

AI technologies offer unprecedented opportunities for innovation, efficiency, and growth in such industries as advanced machine learning algorithms or intelligent automation systems. However, to harness the power of AI, effective communication becomes paramount.

The growing impact of AI in modern business is undeniable. Organizations leverage AI to automate processes, gain insights from vast amounts of data, personalize customer experiences, and make informed decisions. Yet, the complex nature of AI technology often creates a significant gap between AI capabilities and the understanding of its users.

Here the role of a technical writer becomes crucial. Technical writers act as a bridge between AI technology and its users, ensuring that complex concepts have a clear, concise, and user-friendly manner of speaking. They are the main participants in making AI accessible to a broader audience, facilitating adoption, and maximizing its potential.

Effective communication is essential to reduce the gap between AI technology and its users. While AI systems may be sophisticated and comprehensive, their impact can be weak without proper understanding and utilization. Technical writers contribute to the success of AI implementations by translating complex AI concepts into easily digestible documentation, user manuals, tutorials, and other communication channels.

Furthermore, technical writers understand the importance of tailoring information for different audiences. They communicate with non-technical stakeholders, including executives, decision-makers, and end-users, who may lack extensive technical expertise. Using the AI capabilities, benefits, and potential limitations, technical writers empower these stakeholders to make informed decisions and embrace AI solutions.

Generative AI is creating waves in the way we work, significantly revolutionizing the software development process. AI tools are appearing in various phases of software development, such as design, development, and testing. However, there aren't many tools specifically focused on software business analysis tasks.

But with a little creative thinking, we can put "one-size-fits-all" applications like ChatGPT to good use. It can definitely speed up execution of many typical tasks and free up analysts to focus on the more challenging, strategic aspects of the job.

I have been working in Agile since 2017 in several projects.
And I would like to note here a couple of moments from real experience through the eyes of developer role in project.
Hope it will be helpful for you!

Hello, my reading friends!

My previous post (rus) on Habr was about how the Business Continuity Management function started, as well as about its relations with other corporate functions. In fact, it was quite theoretical.

This time, I’d like to tell you about some practical vectors of procedures and tools implementation as regards to Business Continuity Management, or BCM, along with Operational Resilience, or OpRes. Plus some real initiatives that can follow the BCM & OpRes implementation in a company and the associated with it investigation of the corporate landscape and procedures.

Recently, The BCI, one of the leading institutes working in the field of organizational resilience and business continuity, issued its regular report BCI Operational Resilience Report 2023 in collaboration with Riskonnect, who work with risk management solutions.

One of the questions they asked the respondents was if there was a difference between organizational resilience and operational resilience. As the answers demonstrated, for most respondents (and in most companies) these terms were used as synonyms. Having studied the report, the colleagues brought up another matter – The BCI introduced the new term of "organizational resilience" in addition to "business continuity" and "operational resilience".

If we search Habr for "Business Continuity", "DRP", "BCP", or "BIA", we’ll find quite enough posts by my colleagues (I’ve met some of them face to face and worked with the others) about data system recovery, data system testing, fault-tolerant infrastructure, and some other things. Yet, hardly any of them explain where all of it has come from, how it is changing, where it is heading – and why.

I thought the time has come to change the situation for the better and answer some of the questions like where business continuity provisions and operational resilience has come from, how they are changing, and where this trend is heading and why. To share my thoughts about development of the industry and its current de-facto state in case of a mature (or not too mature) introduction level – some things I’ve stated for my own use.

lsFusion platform is designed for rapid development of business applications. It is distributed under the terms of a Lesser General Public License (LGPLv3). The source code of the platform is available on Github.

lsFusion is best suited for creating complex systems with large numbers of entities and forms, where users need to input and process large amounts of data. However, the platform can also be used to quickly create simple applications instead of spreadsheets when Excel’s functionality is not enough.

At the same time the use of the platform will not give a great advantage when developing applications aimed at interaction with a large number of “external” users or without the need for any complex calculations. You should also take into account that the web interface is a single page application using JavaScript. Therefore, the lsFusion platform is not well-suited for creating websites, for example.

Yes, we need IT

The foundation of our civilization is tools. We didn't just evolve to a state that allowed us to use them, we began to improve them ourselves. The tools are becoming more intricate, more efficient and more perfect. It can be a hammer, an industrial robot, or a monetary relationship. 

Some of our tools are difficult to grasp or comprehend, they are more like an element or a subject of study: the Internet, the media, the transport system. It is even difficult to call them tools, rather it is a reflection of our activities. For simplicity, we will call everything that people do with their own hands a tool, meaning that they speed us up, make our life easier and more comfortable.

Why do we need tools? On the one hand, they help to solve emerging problems, on the other hand, they raise the standard of living. We enjoy creating tools. I would say it's one of our instincts. 

For the functioning of our body, we need some amount of mathematics. The processes in our head reflect this math into our language. We can write the language in the form of symbols. With the help of symbols, we can convey the discovery of one person to another or a thousand others. This allows us to build more and more complex tools. And most importantly, we really like it: the brain encourages us every time we invent or achieve something. Therefore, our tools are developing with us. The mechanisms of their development and improvement are sewn into us.

Migratory birds fly south in autumn, north in spring. It's their instinct. Ants build an anthill — it's their instinct. If people are left in satiety and peace, they begin to encode secret messages in the Bible, create complex etiquette, form mathematics, experiment with materials.

Hi Everyone,

I would like to draw your attention to some key insights from two comprehensive reports, shedding light on the importance of fraud prevention as a burgeoning field with substantial job prospects. The original reports can be accessed through the link provided at the end of this message.

Firstly, let's consider a couple of significant events from the previous year that remain highly relevant. Retail e-commerce sales surged to a staggering $5 trillion, with projections indicating a further increase to $8 trillion by 2026. Furthermore, the percentage of shoppers making cross-border purchases rose from 69% in 2019 to an impressive 76%.

These statistics affirm that online shopping is not a passing trend, as consumers are willing to make purchases from international vendors, even if it means enduring longer delivery times in exchange for lower prices. From a fraud prevention perspective, this highlights the escalating number of non-domestic payments and the rise in the use of lost or stolen cards for purchasing goods that can be resold in the future. Notably, refund fraud is becoming increasingly prevalent. However, many businesses have adapted their protocols to accommodate these emerging challenges. One such positive development is the gradual disappearance of restrictions on using payment methods that do not match the account country.

As cross-border purchases continue to proliferate, alternative payment methods are also on the rise. Current global statistics indicate that an average of four payment options are now available on merchant platforms. Additionally, open banking payment transactions are projected to surpass $330 billion globally by 2027, leading to a greater diversity of alternative payment methods. As companies embrace these methods, they are also becoming more aware of the associated risks. For instance, direct banking payment methods present unique challenges as they lack refund capabilities, while Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) options introduce their own set of risks.

I explain experimental results of Bell’s Theorem by superdeterminism. I follow with insights into how such a universe may arise and be compatible with the subjective experience of free will.

The problem

Unfortunately, when fulfilling their planned business goals, the departments of the organisation rarely take into account such a metric as solution code quality. And usually developers has no time for normal code review process.

Email marketing has emerged as a vital tool for businesses to nurture customer relationships and drive growth. In this article, we will explore the immense potential of email marketing through personal experiences and examples from renowned companies. From personalization to segmentation, retargeting, and building anticipation, discover how these strategies can elevate your email campaigns and deliver remarkable results.

The Art of Personalization in Email Marketing:
Personalization is a key aspect of successful email marketing. Take, for example, Amazon's tailored recommendations and exclusive offers. By delivering personalized content that matches customers' preferences and interests, Amazon creates a sense of exclusivity and fosters customer loyalty. In my own experience, implementing personalization in email campaigns resulted in increased open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. It's clear that customers appreciate the effort put into crafting messages specifically for them.

This article is written in a how-to style. It is based on my personal experience and opinions, so it may omit some steps that are common in BPM practice but that I have not encountered in my work. The topic is broad, and each section deserves a separate article. Therefore, if you are interested in a specific topic, please comment, and I will prepare a more detailed description.

Regardless of how mature the product is, its owner will always be curious about how it performs, what the conversion rates are, and what areas for improvement there are. One of the most important tools that product owners should get access to at some point in time is an event tracking system.

As a product owner, it is common to face the question of whether to proceed with option A or option B. Or, which version of the screen should be implemented to achieve better results? Making such decisions can be challenging, especially when you are under tight deadlines with limited resources. Furthermore, such decisions are made based on personal judgment or copying the approach of a competitor, which can lead to suboptimal results.

The good news is that one can avoid such pitfalls by setting up a simple experiment environment that requires relatively low effort. In this article, we will describe how you can achieve this.

This is a translated and adopted article I wrote for the Aha'22 (30 May 2022) conference. It describes an approach to a marketplace prices optimisation. Here I've outlined some important definitions and tried to define the scopes and roles of ML, algorithms, and humans in optimal pricing. Although the article covers rather basic things, still, you can find out some new formulas and ideas, because these basics are somewhat "well-known only in a very closed clubs", and besides, the real gem found here is the detailed recipe for ML engineers how to build optimal pricing systems.