Outsourcing refers to hiring an outside, independent firm to perform a business function that internal employees might otherwise perform. Many organizations outsource jobs to specialized service companies, which frequently operate abroad. The outsourcing trend stands to continue and the latest wave of outsourcing impacts the information technology field. IT outsourcing includes data center operations, desktop and help desk support, software development, e-commerce outsourcing, software applications services, network operations and disaster recovery. As with many new technology companies, Speed and Function works with freelancers as well. The key factors which have led to a growing trend of outsourcing in our company are: Read more

Once in awhile you get shown the light,  in the strangest of places if you look at it right. Grateful Dead, “Scarlet Begonias” There are a handful of valuable insights and practices I first encountered studying Art Education at the undergraduate level that have proven relevant across other disciplines I have waded in since that time. One such nugget is the routine of carefully observing what has happened and what is happening within your field. Put simply: the habit of looking. In this particular class—The History and Practice of Art Education—the instructor split our time 50/50 between studying the nuts and bolts of the title content and looking at and Read more

Programming and software engineering attract introverted, introspective types of people. This work doesn’t require much social interaction, so it’s natural that it would attract those who aren’t comfortable communicating. Why? Let’s lay out a few reasons: Read more

A current trend among Java developers is to move the user interface entirely to the browser. Using Angular framework on the front end is one of the most popular ways to achieve this. This post will help Java developers integrate their Spring boot applications with Angular 4. Let’s create a bootstrapped application using Spring Initializr. Read more

This month I attended a DrupalCamp in Lutsk in western Ukraine. I would like to share my impressions of the conference. Typically, the common way to hold Drupal Camps in Ukraine is a bit boring.  I presented there myself and noticed there was little interaction with the audience and not much feedback. But Slava Merezhko had a great idea, turning his presentation “Let’s resolve a SOW” into a practical seminar. First, the audience was split in several different teams. Read more

You’ve probably heard this before. Perhaps it was just after you graduated from university with a degree in an ever-changing field. Or perhaps it was the first line of someone’s speech right before he introduced something innovative. In the world today, especially in the tech world, the worker must never stop building out his/her skillset. Every day innovations in technology make our lives easier and reduce the need for previously well-paid skilled labor. Think about it: when’s the last time you talked to a travel agent? What about a telephone operator? A crop farmer? A coal miner? Sure, these positions still exist, but they are in steep decline. So what Read more

The retrospective meeting is one of the most important scrum events. A team can understand their strengths and weaknesses, discuss their relationships between each other, and set goals for improvement beginning with the next sprint. You can find tons of different information on how to conduct retrospective meeting: who should participate, what’s the order of discussions, what to do with conclusions made during the meeting, etc. But the event itself can remain uninformative and boring if not done well. So I’d like to share 5 ways to spend this couple of hours with your team. These activities and others can be found on a great site called Fun Retrospectives and Read more

There is an Eastern European folk tale that is called Axe Porridge1. The story begins: Once upon a time, an old soldier was returning home from the wars. He had been walking all day. He was tired and hungry. Night was drawing close. He needed a meal, and somewhere to spend the night. Soon he came to a little village. He knocked on the door of the first hut. A little old woman opened the door. ‘What do you want?’ she asked him. ‘I am looking for a place to stay the night,’ replied the soldier. ‘Come in then,’ said the old woman. She opened the door wide, and stepped Read more

When you work a lot of hours, even favorite movies remind you of your job. That often happens with me. Recently I was watching those good old episodes of Star Wars and got frustrated with how Darth Vader treated his staff and wondered about the destiny of the Death Star. Moff Jerjerrod: Lord Vader, this is an unexpected pleasure. We are honored by your presence… Darth Vader: You may dispense with the pleasantries, Commander. I’m here to put you back on schedule. Moff Jerjerrod: I assure you, Lord Vader. My men are working as fast as they can. Darth Vader: Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate them. Moff Read more

Digital agencies play a critical role with their clients in developing outstanding user experience, branding and marketing. This article will focus on those that deliver user experience. The most creative firms are phenomenal at designing effortless, inspiring interfaces to amaze and engage their clients’ customers. Wired Magazine said of one agency Work & Co. regarding their work for Virgin America: “Beyond the cutesy gloss is the first radical rethinking of the flight booking experience in a decade.” Agencies typically use a collaborative process with clients to research, define and apply creative and analytical methods to improve consumer experiences and increase engagement. Many times the work for their clients will require Read more