eCommerce (or electronic commerce) is one of the dominant digital disruptors of the past few decades.

An eCommerce solution/eCommerce platform is a software application that allows businesses to build online stores, manage their website, sales and operations. The advent of a plenty of these platforms has revolutionized the way any business is done.

The convenience of buying things and making payment online makes eCommerce the most comfortable way of shopping. In order to keep up with the shopping aspirations of their customers, lots of businesses are plunging to digital stores or e-stores. But before jumping into this bandwagon, it is beneficial to have a quick snapshot of the popular eCommerce solutions in the market.

1. Shopify

Shopify is a very popular Canada-born eCommerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. It is designed as a complete solution to set up an online store. Shopify App Store features 2,000+ apps (plugins/extensions) to support businesses with marketing, social media, inventory, shipping, accounting, customer service etc.

Here is a quick look at some of the benefits conferred by Shopify:

· Easy accomplishment of product organization and storefront customization.
· Smooth tracking of order and sales trends
· Intuitive design that allows easy back-end management.
· The drag and drop website building functionality ensures hassle-free operation.
· Notable and comprehensive set of (100 plus) eCommerce templates/themes.
· Powerful analytics
· Fully responsive
· Guarantees all software updates and automatically backs up data.

Setting up your existing domain name or buying a new domain are easy tasks in Shopify. Easy-to-use functionalities make Shopify the first choice of small eCommerce businesses.

Some of the notable big brands that host their business in Shopify are: Tesla Motors, Red Bull, Lollapalooza, Budweiser, Packer Shoes, Three Square Feet, etc.

2. Magento

Magento is a self-hosted and open-source eCommerce solution. The higher level of technical sophistication and large enterprise version are a few factors that make Magento stand out. Basic web development knowledge is vital to use this platform.

Magento is appropriate for medium and large size online stores. The high performance and scalability features make it an ideal platform for clients with greater ambitions.

Here are some of the features that make Magento a preferred choice among many businesses:

· Excellent customisation, adaptation and integration options
· Incredible cart customization and security
· Free community version offering to clients
· Impressive array of theme and support extension.
· Enables clients to do unlimited product stock
· Great payment options
· Advanced security features
· Fast- loading web pages
· Impressive hosting options

Magento enjoys support from a massive global network of 300+ solution and technology partners. The feature-rich eCommerce software is a favourite among many popular brands. Some of the reputed brands using Magento are: Coca Cola, Ford, Warby Parker, Nike, Nestle Nespresso, Olympus, Lenovo, etc.

3. BigCommerce

BigCommerce is another leading ecommerce software providers that is a favourite among both big brands and SMEs (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises).

Let’s have a look at some of the characteristic features of this platform.

· Easy and user-friendly. Even merchants with no technical knowledge can start online business in a hassle-free manner.
· Intuitive and user-friendly interface makes the task super-easy
· Zero transaction fee
· Extensive built-in features
· Responsive template-based structure
· Good security that offers no data loss
· Easy connection with shopping feeds and product syndication websites
· User-friendly admin panel enables site owners to handle all administrative tasks

Some of the big names that use BigCommerce for their online stores are: Martha Stewart, Toyota, Design Essentials, BPI Sports etc.

Conclusion
eCommerce companies will continue to evolve with more powerful solutions. It is crucial to choose the apt eCommerce solution that suits your company’s needs and budget. People’s affinity towards online shopping will grow exponentially in the coming years. Pick the right platform that powers your online store to reach soaring heights.

Confused about choosing the right eCommerce solution for your digital store?

Our global team of eCommerce experts has helped enterprises worldwide in achieving their business goals. We have experience in helping a number of global brands in establishing and maintaining their digital presence. Talk to us about your software solution needs.

The recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show, CES 2018, has revealed the latest innovations and tech trends. The world’s largest tech event was held from January 9 – 12 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nevada, US.

The annual tech show witnessed some awesome tech novelties that will become part of our lives in the coming years. Keeping a tab on some of these tech trends will help you stay smart in this super digital world.

Have a look at some of the dominant technology advances that rocked the CES floors.

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Rule the Roost

The CES trade show has revealed a number of highly automated AI-driven products and gadgets. Digital systems with better logical algorithms assuming more and more human-intelligence tasks were on display.

Alexa, Amazon’s intelligent assistant, made its presence felt everywhere at the show. A host of devices ranging from bulb, coffee makers and high-end accessories that work well with the big three—Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit, were stars of the event. They function in an automated, voice-stimulated and app-controlled manner to help you realise a smart home ecosystem.

Haier’s interactive Magic Mirror that displays profile and health-related data on the glass; GE Appliances’ Bluetooth-enabled induction cooker; Samsung’s 8K television with automatic upscaling of screen resolution and other features; etc. were some of the highlights.

Intelligent systems that learn and remember our preferences and give us suggestions are soon to become mainstream.

2. Then Advent of 5G is Closer Than Ever

CES featured the 5th Generation (5G) wireless system as a technology that will shake and shape the coming decade. This greater bandwidth capacity technology will do deeper diffusion into our homes and gadgets. Internet-connected devices around us will do downloads and communication in multi-gigabit speed.

In a panel discussion at CES, executives from Qualcomm, Ericsson, and Nokia discussed how a successful execution of 5G network can fuel a string of smart innovations. Better implementation of the Internet of things (IoT) will become a reality with 5G.

5G will definitely revolutionize the manufacturing, retail, automotive, entertainment and healthcare industries. The technology will also help us to have enhanced VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) systems.

3. IoT in the Limelight

The CES exhibition floors displayed the predominance of IoT (Internet of Things) across industries and verticals. The show underlined the fact that connected devices will be everywhere in the coming years.
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Machine learning-enabled cameras from Bosch; self-driving vehicles from Lyft and Aptiv’s self-driving BMW; Samsung’s SmartThings range of IoT products; etc. were some highlights at the show. The exhibition also displayed promising prospects of digitally-enabled supply chain.

CES Smart Cities presented an all-inclusive connected ecosystem that brought together the technologies, solutions, players and audiences in the smart city sector. It showed a rigorous amount of IoT adoption in utility services, waste management, transportation services, wearables, etc.

4. AR as a Key Trend to Watch in 2018

The CES 2018 revealed some of the greatest AR (Augmented Reality) experiences across an array of verticals. The powerful collision of digital information and the real world offers a dominant potential for brand marketers and technologists.

Owing to the superior real-life use cases of AR, it is more likely to get precedence over VR (Virtual Reality). VR will give revolutionary impact on the gaming and entertainment industries as well as social media platforms.
Vuzix Blade™, the award-winning AR smart glass that enables hands-free, mobile computing requirements; X1 Smart Glasses by ThirdEye; Magic Leap’s Leap One AR glasses, Snaappy’s GEO AR message application etc. were some of the AR innovations that garnered attention at the show.

5. The Rise of Robots

The show revealed innovative real-world applications of robotics.
Ubtech, the AI and humanoid robotic company, unveiled a bi-pedal roaming and voice activated security bot named ‘Walker’. The smart robot is designed as a complete home butler. Walker could prove as a winner as it is a light-weight robot with great stability.

The wheeled robot from Aeolus Robotics is a promising household robot assistant. It has a smart dexterous arm with which it can grab and clutch things. Alexa is a built-in feature in it so that you can talk to it. It is in a working prototype form now.

The Buddy robot from Blue Frog Robotics, Loomo Go from Segway Robotics, the peanut-shaped robotic pillow from Somnox, the entertainment robot dog named Aibo from Sony were other impressive robot revelations at CES 2018.
These cute-looking robots are sure to become the companions of humans in the near future.

Conclusion

The quick snapshot of the dominant advances revealed at CES 2018 will surely help you to keep up with enterprise tech trends. Most of these smart trends are here to stay and revolutionize the world we live in.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the branch of computer science which makes computers behave like humans. In fact, it allows a machine to perceive and respond to the surrounding environment. This is something to watch for in 2018. AI is not something new, it’s not a new field of study. In the 1940s and 50s, a handful of scientists from a variety of fields (mathematics, psychology, engineering, economics and political science) began to discuss the possibility of creating an artificial brain.

In the late 70’s, Artificial Intelligence was subject to critics and financial setbacks. The initial optimism has raised the expectation high, and when results, as expected, could not be materialized, funding started disappearing. Despite these issues, new ideas were explored in logic programming and many other areas. Expert systems, a form of AI program was adopted in 1980 by corporations around the world. During those years the Japanese funded AI with its fifth generation computer project.

AI really needs a large amount of funding because it is a long-term research field that requires an unmeasurable amount of effort, resources and talent. There are many other technological discoveries to watch out for in the upcoming years. AI is most prominent and active discovery being advanced today. AI is not just the hottest trends in discovery, but also a potential threat for certain researchers. Some say it’s a boon to the world but some deny it and are concerned over its potential threat to the mankind. Some famous personalities like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking and top minds are against this and fear about the destructive potential of AI systems.

But the quest for the advancement in AI industry continues. These AI systems have already started helping us out in our daily life. Siri, Alexa are examples of the success in AI field of study and are considered as just the tip of the iceberg. We need to go deep to know what it really does. This lets us compare to the famous Terminator series.

Current Advances in Artificial Intelligence

The field of AI finally started getting acceptance and started achieving old goals. It began to be used successfully throughout the technology industry with most of the success due to the increasing computer power.

In the first decades of the 21st century, access to large amounts of data, Big Data, faster computers and machine learning techniques were successfully applied to many factors. By almost 2016, the market prediction was huge and reached 8 billion for AI-related products, hardware and software. By the year 2016, the AI had become one of the technologies to gain advancement.

There is a growing interest in AI. In 2016, White House had initiated work on preparing for the future of artificial intelligence, in the UK, the House of Commons committee on S&T had looked at robotics and artificial intelligence. In 2017, AI development plan work was started by the State Council of China. The year 2017 was huge for advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

We are now in the age of Big Data, large data sets that may be analysed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations. This age where collecting huge sums of information is unmanageable for a person to process. The application of AI has already been quite fruitful in several industries such as technology, banking, marketing and entertainment. Actually, machines are everywhere around us. We chat with machines, even talk with some.

Machines have started calling us. Car manufacturers have started testing driverless cars on roads. The future of AI looks bright and is all set to revolutionize our daily processes. Numerous start-ups and technology companies have already acquired them; there is a significant increase in investment and adoption. International Data Corporation estimates AI market will grow from $8 billion in 2016 to more than $47 billion in 2020.

Some of the AI technologies include Virtual Agents, Machine Learning, Deep Learning Platforms, AI-optimized hardware, etc. AI has been used to develop and advance numerous fields and industries, including:

• Finance
• Healthcare
• Education
• Transportation
• Heavy Industry
• Human Resource
• Market Analysis and Data Mining
• Music and Entertainment
• Online and telephone customer service
• Telecommunications maintenance
• Toys and games
• Transportation

Various applications of artificial intelligence are being widely deployed in security, speech and text recognition, data mining, and e-mail spam filtering. New applications are on the development stage for gesture recognition, individual voice recognition, facial expression recognition etc. Few other applications include robot navigation, obstacle avoidance, and object recognition.

Perhaps one day in the not-too-distant future is you will have a robot doing everything a human does start from cleaning your house to delivering a package at your home and cloud-connected robots will allow sharing data easily for more learning. We are in the era where AI combines with human intelligence to improve our lives in many ways, some of which are hard to even consider now. But eventually, we know what we have in store.

We are all excited to know what lies ahead in 2018. It will be great if we can forecast things that can have a great potential impact on our lives.

Technology is definitely one such thing as it is subtly interlayered into our daily lives. Keeping an eye on the tech trends is beneficial irrespective of how you feel about technology.

Tech experts are of the opinion that the year 2018 is a prospective year for lots of promising technology developments.

Let’s have a quick look at some of them.

1. Greater Permeation of IoT

IoT is a prospective candidate to influence our lives with deeper impacts. With smart home devices and mobile gadgets, IoT has facilitated smooth integration of technology in our daily lives.

Forrester predicts that IoT is a technology with disruptive potential and it will change the tech world by 2021. Gartner foretells that there will be about 20.4 billion connected devices by 2020. We will see enterprises undertaking integration of IoT technologies in products, processes and workflows on a larger scale. IoT will have a pervading growth across all the major sectors including retail, healthcare, biotechnology and industrial/supply chain. As smartly connected devices have the power to increase customer experience in almost every industry, IoT will receive abundant funds from venture capitalists. The coming years will see the creation of a strong footing for a ‘connected’ journey.

The recently-concluded CES exhibition in Las Vegas demonstrated IoT as a maturing theme. The event showcased many breakthrough IoT ideas and products. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and see how IoT projects are going to spawn real business value in the coming years.

2. Artificial intelligence (AI) To Get Dominance

AI and machine learning created a great buzz around in 2017 itself. The year 2018 will see AI becoming mainstream. AI assistants like Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Microsoft Cortana are already in use. These and more advanced personal assistants will be prevalent in 2018. We will have the technology embedded in an extensive group of devices.

AI can effectively take up repetitive and pattern recognition tasks to help us lead a better life. For instance, AI-powered medical diagnostics is an emerging tech terrain. AI will be able to analyse the medical history, lab reports etc. more accurately. It can suggest possible diagnosis suggestions to the doctors. Doctors can efficiently spend their time in evolving innovative treatment plans. A steep progressive trend in terms of smart homes and self-directed vehicles are also expected.

Let’s look forward to intelligent machine entities that can outdo human performance.

3. Augmented Reality (AR) to Have a Sweeping Influence

The year 2018 will witness a sure surge in the practical application of Augmented Reality (AR). Though the Pokémon Go! frenzy died out, the desire to have enhanced experiences in the real world is growing among the digital savvy consumers. This prompts many tech companies to explore and discover more on AR. The overwhelming welcome received by ARKit and ARCore, the AR frameworks announced by Apple and Google respectively, reveals a bright future for AR.

AR has a definite edge over Virtual Reality (VR) as the latter encompass a pricey digital strategy. There will be a progressive rise in AR apps. The momentum created by IKEA Place app will get a continual lift. There will also be a huge upsurge in the popularity of 360 interactive videos on Social Media. Marketers will be vigorously embracing AR as it is a charming way to reach their prospective clients. Greatly personalised in-store and packaging experience will also be introduced.
Enterprises will be investing more in the AR technology to boost process adeptness and to crack everyday commercial problems.

4. Great Revival for Fintech

The revolutionary growth pattern that Fintech followed in 2017 will continue in 2018 too. An increase in the digitally active population has already changed the payment landscape across the globe considerably.

The Fintech market will witness a rapid surge in non-bank start-ups and businesses. In order to stay strong in the swiftly progressing ecosystem, banks will become strategically focussed, functionally-agile and technologically cutting-edge.

Blockchain, one of the fundamental technologies that enable cryptocurrency transactions, will most likely become a mainstream phenomenon. The secure way in which the Blockchain infrastructure works will inspire many banking legends to invest in this technology.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will greatly empower the Fintech landscape. AI will be greatly deployed to take care of routine human tasks.

This year will see the tip-toeing of technology into wealth management and financial advising domain. Robo guides will be set up to assist investment decisions.

5. Edge Computing to Get Momentous Growth

The year 2018 will register a huge shift from cloud to edge computing. Enterprises across the globe are finding new ways to store the brimming amount of data. The huge influx of data is mainly due to the IoT diffusion.
The IoT data deluge makes it necessary to have a smarter, quicker and economical approach to gathering and analysing data. Storing large amounts of data and sending them through cloud networks will create grave hold
ups causing awful user experience.

Edge Computing is a new computing model that acts as a decentralized system enabling data processing at or near the source of data generation. Server resources that are in close proximity to the data generation sources will help IoT devices to catch data at its origin and process it with more effectiveness. The partnership between IoT and Edge will help enterprises to harness the power of data analytics.

Conclusion

These are some of the disruptive technology trends that will transform our world in 2018. Though no one can do a precise prediction of what’s going to happen, these educated inferences will give you insights on the trends to keep your eyes on.These tech forces that work in harmony across domains are sure to offer promising enhancements in our lives.

Bridge Day was an occasion to rejoice the majestic journey of Bridge Global through diverse struggles and triumphs. It was a perfect time to recollect how far-flung we have come, and how far we have to go. The fun-filled evening was also an awesome reminder to appreciate the power of self-organizing teams. The diligent efforts of responsible Bridgys have been the foundation of our success.

An Exciting Evening that Showcased Assorted Talents

We celebrated the spirit that kept us going all through the past years. The inaugural address by our CEO, Krishna Jothis, gave an introspection of our visions and achievements. He presented a quick review of the year that was packed with lots of achievements. We accomplished new partnerships in the US and Canada. We even started rewarding collaborations in the UAE. He congratulated all the Bridgys for being steadfast in their self-organizing attitude and exhorted us to grow further in the spirit. He also announced the projected goals for the coming year.

The short talk by our COO Lekha Susan, gave a brisk look back into our activities and success path. The event was made precious when our founder, Hugo Messer, came online to wish us all the best.

Our clients from Sweden: Jonas Brauer (for Zmarta), Jonas Törnblad Sandell (for Entrios AB), and Niclas Frid (for SpotOn) made a surprise virtual presence to convey their warm wishes to all the Bridgys. These fond gestures from them deeply touched us and made us proud about how they value our collaboration.

A video presentation during the programme gave us a quick glimpse into the journey of Bridge Global until now. The presentation recapped 12 years of togetherness, trust and triumph. It portrayed our success story and reminded us to accomplish greater things.

The stage witnessed a string of wonderful performances by talented Bridgys. They left the audience spellbound with their fabulous dance moves and vocal harmony. Laughter and giggles resounded the venue when some of the gifted Bridgys performed witty skits.

Finally, we reached the moment when the year’s winning team was announced. The team ‘Chekavas’ kissed the victory trophy. Teams ‘Kadathanaadans’ and ‘Spartans’ secured the second and third places respectively.

The event also witnessed a splendid gesture from all the Bridgys. We congratulated Ashita, daughter of cuisinier at Bridge Global, for winning the second rank in the university exam. We presented her with a laptop and a Kindle.

A Big Salute to the Sanskriti Team

In the end, organizers were the true winners. Yes, the Sanskriti Team, a prominent self-organizing team at Bridge Global, deserved a big salute. The six-member Sanskriti team and the three team captains did a marvellous job in making the year 2017 an awesome one. They executed a perfect blend of sports and cultural activities in a flawless and commendable way. We gave a big salutation to the Sanskriti Team of 2017.

The new members of the Sanskriti Team of 2018 were selected via an online voting system during the event. We wished all the best for the new team.

Food and Merriment

There is no doubt that good food is very much tied to good events. Our Bridge Day celebrations were no exception. There was a delightful spread of food and desserts to lift our mood further.

We had a rocking DJ which boosted the energy and ambience. The perfect mixing and song choices made Bridgys get out of their seats and dance.

There is no doubt that all the Bridgys went back inspired and with a higher sense of belonging. The event will indeed stay afresh in the memory of all us for years. 

Check out some of the snaps from our Bridge Day here.

But having a pretty good web presence and maintaining a mobile-friendly website may not give you the necessary edge over your competitors. The following reasons explain how your business will be missing out greatly if it does not have a dedicated mobile app.

a. Huge mobile phone user penetration

As per a study from Statista, 56.5 percent of the global population used a mobile phone, in 2013. It grew to 64.5% in 2017 with an estimated forecasted growth of 67.1% in 2019.

b. Mobile web usage exceeds that of desktop

Studies show that apps have surpassed web browsers in terms of internet usage. Another study by Flurry as reported by Techcrunch says that daily time spent in mobile apps has also surpassed web consumption.

c. Mobile apps are smarter than web apps

Though both apps and mobile websites can be accessed on handheld devices, former is a smarter option as it offers a diverse range of benefits. Native mobile apps are compatible with the device’s native features. This gives mobile apps superiority over websites.

If you haven’t considered building a mobile app as one of your strategic business moves yet, it’s high time to do so.

Let’s move on to analyse how mobile apps can help your business to flourish.

How Will Mobile Apps Help your Business To Grow?

Creating a mobile strategy centring on a dedicated mobile app can yield massive benefits to your business. Check out how…

1. Your brand stays visible 24/7

Mobile apps do the wonderful job of making your business available to your customers all the time. As they carry your app in their personal gadgets, it is impossible for them not to take notice of it. Your brand stays visible to them 24/7 and can access you just by touching the home screen. Apps help you connect with your prospective clients even if they are away from their computers.

A well-designed app with attractive features and efficient functionality can hook customers for a longer time. Hearing and/or seeing a brand frequently will enhance the chances of becoming its fan. Therefore apps are a sure shot way to build brand recognition and thereby boost sales.

2. Improved personalized experience

Personalised dealing is something that everyone loves to get, and your target audience is not an exception. They will fall in love with your brand if you connect with them in the most personalized manner. Mobile apps have the ability to track and observe user engagement. This helps in offering a personalized experience to your clients.

App users can systematise their preferences after downloading the app. These preferences will help you serve them better by providing only customized content to them. Apps with location-based services can be a real winner as they can give custom suggestions and updates based on users’ location.

3. More value and engagement

App’s ability to offer personalized experiences gives enhanced value and engagement to its users. Timely messages and push notifications of relevant value are of great significance. Digitizing your loyalty program is an amazing way to enhance the value given through app. If your clients can redeem loyalty points through the app, their engagement and brand loyalty will definitely soar.

Clients should also be able to book seats in a restaurant, order items from the cart, register for events, fill up forms etc. as per the nature of the app. Integrating social features into your app is another great way to improve engagement. When app users are engaged with your app for a longer time, chances are high that they will buy your product/service.

4. Direct marketing channel

Apps serve as an excellent direct marketing channel through which your business stands benefitted. Marketing cannot become more direct than this as you can provide all the relevant info at clients’ fingertips. Passing info on deals, stock additions, news feeds, special sales, festival offers, booking forms, purchase reminders etc. becomes super-easy and effective. Adding push notification feature will enhance the results. The ability to directly update your target audience about your business whenever it makes sense will help you convert faster.

5. Enhanced customer loyalty

Loyalty is the most prized quality that every business expects from their clients. A dedicated business app is a great way to build customer loyalty. Huge amounts of advertising material surround our target audience. All the billboards, signage, colourful ads through print and digital media, flyers, attractive websites etc. out there are sufficient to confuse them. In this scenario, a mobile app is the best way to establish a true and honest association with your target audience.

App keeps your clients closer to you. It helps you to retain them through relevant and timely connections. With a super engaging app, you can cultivate customer loyalty excellently.

6. Gives an aura of innovation to your business

Who doesn’t like their business to be viewed as innovative and forward-looking? Adopting a mobile first attitude is a definite way to give an innovative outlook on your business. Think about the problems that you want to solve or the ways in which your business can serve your clients better. Design an app that will satisfy this requirement. There is no doubt that your tech-savvy clients will thank you for building the app. It will also prove to the world that your business is on the cutting edge of technology.

7. Competitive advantage

If you are in an industry where there aren’t any businesses with dedicated mobile apps, you stand a chance to win competitive advantage. Apps are a great way to turn fence-sitting prospects into leads and loyal clients. If you competitor has launched an app, there is no time for you to waste. You can’t just sit and see your competitor getting away with your customers. You need to immediately adopt mobile app as a strategic business move. This will indeed help you to retain existing clients as well as attract new ones.

Conclusion

It is a truth that launching an app is not a panacea for all your business problems. But no one can deny the positive benefits that an app can bring to your business.

If you are planning to have a customized mobile app for your business, start planning in the right direction.

Bridge Global is a Dutch IT solution specialist with presence across the globe. We have been providing customized and successful software solutions to our global clients for more than a decade. We follow a unique strategy of connecting brilliant IT experts with enterprises in need of them. You can choose the right delivery model that suits your business needs. If you have any kind of software solution needs, please Get In Touch With Us.

Having a fabulous mobile application with location-aware services will help you flourish in today’s incredibly dynamic environment.

Location-based marketing is your cup of tea if:

1. You are keen to build a mobile app that takes advantage of the latest technology advancements.

2. You intensely desire to make your app a super-engaging and worthwhile one.

3. You want to have a valuable interaction with your target audience in close proximity.

4. You want to give immediate access of info related to your products and services to the app users. This is done to increase the likelihood of a direct sale.

5. You want to gain exceptional insights on the buying habits and activities of your customers.

6. You want to give targeted sales offering

Apps incorporated with LBS technology have a definite edge over apps without this capability. This is mainly because of the hyperlocal marketing made possible by it.

Industry Domain is Not a Limit for LBS

We are increasingly addicted to apps to meet our myriad needs of day-to-day life. The geo-location service is not a feature in route-finding apps alone. Apps belonging to a variety of categories ask for access to our location when we download it. For instance; apps dealing with social networking, emergency response, information, e-commerce, transportation, geo-tagging, restaurant/venue/entertainment finding, navigation, games, Augmented Reality (AR) etc. leverage the location-aware technology. In other words, any industry domain can stand benefitted with this technology.

How to Choose the Right LBS Technology?

Capability to recognize your customer’s location at any time opens up the golden gate to innovative sales, marketing, and business opportunities. The basic function of LBS technology is providing the most relevant info at the right time. It does this by tracking the movement of a device and reporting it to the server.

If you are determined to integrate geolocation features in your mobile app, choosing the best LBS technology is of utmost importance. There are three major LBS technology systems namely:

1. GPS (Global Positioning System)

2. Beacons

3. Wi-Fi (wireless networking technology)

There is nothing called a perfect single solution. Each of these technologies carry its own benefits and limitations. Depending on your business objectives and budget, you need to combine two or more LBS technologies.

1. GPS

GPS is a major LBS technology that tracks customers’ location based on the precise search criteria. This satellite navigation system offers a wide array of info ranging from location, date, time, driving directions etc.

Approximately 90% of the apps installed in our smartphones have GPS functionality in them. Businesses dealing with transportation, tracking services, travel, weather alert etc. or delivery of information pertaining to location/distance/traffic etc. can greatly benefit from the GPS technology.

GPS geo-fencing helps businesses to send push-notifications to devices installed with their app. When the prospective customers step inside the virtual boundaries; alerts, reminders, coupons, sales offerings, and other marketing tactics can be sent.

Advantages of GPS:

• Highly available and accessible as GPS is an inherent capability in smartphones

• Cost-effective

• Unlimited Range

• Requires user consent

• A good choice for outdoor environment

• Prompts a radius of interested customers to take favorable action

Disadvantages of GPS:

• Huge battery drain, and hence, limited battery life

• Not suitable for indoor

If location-based advertising is a goal of your business, GPS is a simple and great option. In order to enhance the reliability of GPS indoors, you might have to supplement your app with other technologies while indoors.

2. Beacon

Beacons are small wireless transmitters that release Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signals. These signals are recognized by Bluetooth-enabled devices within a specific range.

If you are looking for a great LBS technology for the indoor business environment, Beacon is the answer. Shopping malls, restaurants, retail shops, healthcare, automation, indoor entertainment venues etc. can use Beacons as they offer precise indoor info on positioning. Beacons trigger efficient push notifications when target audience enter within a range of a beacon. Moreover, Beacons do not need any devoted hardware as all smartphones are Bluetooth-supported.

Advantages of Beacon

• Hyper-local and hyper personalized content based on the specific location

• Low cost infrastructure

• High compatibility across devices: about 80% of iPhones and 20% of Android smartphones are Beacon-compatible.

• Less power consumption

• Easy deployment

• Does not intrude privacy as it requires the user to opt-in or opt-out.

Disadvantages of Beacon

• Limited range – it usually has a wireless range of 1m to 70 m

• Accuracy can be hindered due to different factors/objects

• If your prime emphasis is on context-aware messaging for an indoor environment, Beacons can be a lifesaver.

3. Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) technology that allows computers and other devices to communicate over a wireless signal. It enables your device to access the Internet from anywhere within the signal range. It also helps you to access other devices connected to your network.

Advantages of Wi-Fi

• Widely and easily accessible

• Promotional content can reach devices without dedicated apps. You can send push notifications even if the app is not open. Active internet connection is the only requirement.

• Does not incur any additional cost, as Wi-Fi is a vital part of any business setup.

• Greater range than Beacons

Disadvantages of Wi-Fi

• Not great for micro-locationing.

• Less accurate when compared to Beacons

• Wi-Fi devices consume more power than Bluetooth devices

• It requires users to agree to a connection each time they enter a business location

Wi-Fi is a good option for an indoor GPS system. If you are focussing on context-relevant messaging, Wi-Fi is not as good as Beacons.

Wi-Fi and Beacon technologies can be used in tandem to reap beneficial results. The former can offer navigational assistance, while the latter offering personalized interactions once the customers are in proximity. Businesses can create innovative contextually relevant experiences by combining these technologies.

Beacon is considered as the future of LBS technology as it can accomplish a lot when compared to GPS and Wi-Fi.

Are you looking for the right developers to realize this?

It is a proven fact that LBS technology offers an effective proximity-based marketing strategy. You need to choose an ideal location-aware technology for your app depending on the use cases and your business goals.

We (Bridge Global) have a stack of global IT talents. Our specialists have expertise in developing mobile applications with the latest and innovative location-aware technologies embedded in it. Our satisfied clientele is glad about the skill sets and technical proficiency of our extended technical team. Contact us to meet your IT resource and software solution needs.

What Was The Event All About?

TechWhizz ’17 was a one-day tech event to gain insights and practical application learning on “Design Patterns in Object-Oriented Programming”. Abhishek Sivasubramanian, the distinguished Tech Evangelist, was the speaker for the event.

The event was a platform that converged expert talks, interactive workshops and informal discourses. Workshops conducted by the group of tech experts from Bridge Global added the essential practical application value on the topic.

Our CEO, Mr. Krishna Jothis opened the event with a short talk on how Bridge Global functions as a client-focussed and employee-driven organization.

Crisp and effective knowledge sharing

The stick out feature of the event was the effortless way in which Abhishek led the audience through the knowledge voyage. His educative talk on ‘Design Patterns’ was a wonderful experience for the technology community. He explained each concept with simple examples to make learning easy. He gave an excellent coverage on the topic.

Together with the workshop team, he introduced and explained each category of Design Patterns namely:

1. Creational

    a. Singleton

    b. Factory Method

    c. Abstract Factory

2. Structural

    a. Adapter

    b. Facade

    c. Proxy

3. Behavioural

    a. Observer

    b. Strategy

    c. Chain of Responsibility

Impromptu Q&A sessions made the event an interactive and lively one.

Smart Workshops

Engaging workshops led by some of the highly experienced engineers from Bridge Global supplemented each of the knowledge session. The workshop team headed by Sukesh Chand did a marvellous job in making the event a practice-oriented one. They created simple and impressive code examples to illustrate every Design Pattern.

Passionate Participation

At the end of the session, participants had brainstormed on a Mega Scenario in which so many patterns were to be identified & plugged into. The participants grouped into teams made some brilliant explanations on the criteria of selection of Design Patterns with precise justifications. The entire participants proactively cooperated throughout the event. The feedbacks were awesomely positive and there is no doubt that TechWhizz 2017 did achieve the goal.

TechWhizz Takeaways

There is nothing more wonderful than getting like-minded people under one roof and learning and sharing knowledge. TechWhizz ’17 was an excellent opportunity for the tech professionals in the region to come together and gain knowledge.

Applying the right design patterns in the right place is the ideal way to improve a code. Following the design patterns is the best way to achieve this. The event helped the participants to grasp the core concept and implementation strategy of the wide array of Design Patterns. The insights obtained would help them to adopt the best design approaches and the best coding practices. This will indeed result in improved code quality and enhanced software solutions.

The event also offered sufficient ‘happy to mingle time’ during the tea and lunch breaks. The attendees found time to interact with all the other participants, turning it out to be a happy networking time too!

The main sponsors for the event were MVS Glob Soft Solutions, Smartnet Informatics and MGF Hyundai. We are so thankful to have the support of them in running the event snag-free.

The organizers from Bridge Global had been so charismatic and planned the event to be a perfect occasion for learning.

The event had a precise close when our COO, Ms. Lekha Susan, expressed a warm vote of thanks to all and presented a memento the speaker.

TechWhizz ’17 had all the ingredients to become a successful one: an engaging speaker, passionate participants and enthusiastic organizers. It has proved to be a real stimulus for us to come up with more worthwhile events in future. Stay tuned…

About The TechWhizz ’17 Speaker -Abhishek Sivasubramanian, the chief speaker for TechWhizz ’17, is a passionate Salesforce Technology enthusiast. He was a Technology Speaker at Dreamforce 2014, in San Francisco, USA. He loves to experiment new features and help people solve their day to day problems in Salesforce Cloud. He is the founder of Saaspie Cloud Community in India, a platform that brings together all the enthusiasts, MVP’s, architects and newbies to learn and share knowledge on Cloud Computing Technologies. He is also an avid blogger on technology, culture, lifestyle & science.

About Bridge Global – Bridge Global is a 360° IT development service provider with experience spanning over a decade. It offers unique extended IT team models to clients across the globe, helping them to strike profitable IT collaborations. The elaborate network of offshore and onshore IT talents guarantee excellent IT delivery. The organization’s functioning revolves around self-organizing teams on various projects. Each Bridgy wears the leadership hat and proactively contributes to each aspect. CIOReview Magazine recognized Bridge Global as one of the ‘20 most promising IT Services Companies 2017’.

There is an increasing trend among many software companies to avoid the ‘testing’ phase from the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and compromise quality, when any adverse situations come up (For instance: time constraint, client budget issue etc.).

Is it good to do so? Is testing just a phase with low priority which can be easily cut off to meet the timeline and budget?

In my place, here in Kochi, Kerala, the Metro Rail Project is launched recently. It’s really a new experience for the people around here. High-tech Metro Stations with tickets with QR scanning, sensors, Automated Fare Collection (AFC) gates, and so on. It is indeed a wonderful effort from the government which deserves a grand applause.

I have come across several scenarios at the Metro Station where accomplishing varied tasks through these automated systems becomes awry. Though the functionality of each of the system may be flawless, there are lots of flaws when it comes to user experience. I have observed people struggling to make the flap gates open, and other seemingly simple tasks turning difficult for the users. As people are new to this stuff, there should be proper channels to educate them about using the automated systems.

How about doing a UAT (User Acceptance Testing) before providing these to customers. Wouldn’t we have solved all these if we had run UAT at least once? Yes, running a UAT would have made the whole experience a more worthwhile one.

Let’s have a look at the topic in technical aspect as well.

What are the different types of UAT?

Broadly, there are four different types of UAT.

1. Alpha and Beta Testing

2. Contract Acceptance Testing

3. Regulation Acceptance Testing

4. Operational Acceptance Testing

1. Alpha and Beta Testing

Alpha Testing is a form of internal acceptance testing, which takes place in development environment and is mostly done by employees.

Beta Testing, also known as “field testing”, takes place in the customer’s environment and involves some extensive testing by a group of customers, who use the system in their environment. These beta testers then provide feedback, which in turn leads to improvements of the product.

Alpha and Beta Testing are done before the software is released to all customers.

2. Contract Acceptance Testing

Contract Acceptance Testing means that a developed software is tested against certain criteria and specifications which are predefined and agreed upon in a contract. The relevant criteria and specifications for acceptance must be defined when the contract itself is defined and agreed upon.

3. Regulation Acceptance Testing

Regulation Acceptance Testing, also known as Compliance Acceptance Testing ensures that the rules and regulations of the governing body are fulfilled.

4. Operational acceptance testing

Also known as Operational Readiness Testing or Production Acceptance Testing, checks the non-functional aspect of the system. It is used to conduct operational readiness of the system.

Every customer expects a system to work perfectly. We can’t build a 100% perfect and bug-free system on its first release. But we can definitely improve the quality and verify that it serves its purpose well by thoroughly testing the system and introducing improvements.

Hope this was helpful. Happy testing!

But how about implementing agility in a distributed/remote team model? Is it possible to have a cross-functional remote team that is as proactive and synergized as a co-located agile team?

The answer is a definite YES! From our own experience, we can say that remote working and agile software development are perfectly compatible with each other. (Agile can be effectively implemented in non-IT remote teams too).

Stay with us as we set off to justify the answer with our own experience.

Before we analyze agility in a remote working system, let’s have a quick glance at the need for remote teams in an organization.

Why Remote Teams?

Having part of your team on the other side of the world is not something new. Many organizations experiment working with a hybrid mix of onsite and remote employees.

The need for a remote team arises due to the following reasons:

1. Scarcity of right technical talents locally

2. Easy availability of competent talents in offshore markets

3. Effective retention of talents as they can work from their preferred (home) location

4. Boost in productivity thanks to increased engagement and great work-life-balance

5. More creative and innovative solutions owing to the diversity in team

6. Easy scaling up of business

7. Less operational and managerial headache

8. Reduced business operation costs

9. Better service to clients (as the team is spread across multiple time zones, you never stop working!) 

Is Agility Possible in Remote Teams?

Businesses with distributed team model often wonder whether they can reap the benefits of agile methodology. This doubt arises mainly due to the traditional way of looking at agile, where colocation (all employees sitting in the same room/office) is a binding condition.

Traditionally, agile teams were meant to be co-located. As declared in the Agile Manifesto, “The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.”

The manifesto makes face-to-face communication a mandate to nurture agile values among the team members. But in the current scenario, where remote/distributed teams is a de facto condition, the traditional agile outlook has undergone some changes.

Modern businesses with a few or several distributed teams have proved that effective collaboration can thrive in remote teams too. The methodology thrives on a high degree of collaboration between the client and project team. Building and launching amazing, working software is a breeze as a result of the agile attitude that pervades the teams.

Therefore, we can say that colocation is not a prerequisite for implementing the agile methodology. Agility is definitely possible in remote teams.

Now let’s see how it is possible to evolve a consistent agile culture across geographies (and across time zones).

How to Make your Remote Teams Agile?

Agile methodology emphasizes the importance of fostering certain distinctive traits in each team member. These traits are vital even if the teams are remote.

Keep your teams agile by cultivating the following characteristics and practices.

1. Enhanced Self-organizing Attitude

Self-organizing nature is the trademark of agile teams. Even though a single or a bunch of members work physically separated from the rest of the team, self-organizing attitude should prevail in each member. Commitment to achieve the same goal will naturally promote dynamic and self-organizing approach.

Scrum Masters should see to it that the distributed team members collaborate well with the other in-house team members. Team members should take informal, tacit, transient, and voluntary roles. Advanced application lifecycle management tools and communication tools can be of great use.

Team members sitting in different time zones should have sufficient degree of autonomy to take decisions and own responsibilities. They need to collaborate and communicate well with each other to complete pending sprint tasks. They should learn to see the tasks from the team’s point of view rather than from individual perspectives. A sense of urgency should spring up in each member when there is a need to adjust build issues.

Nurturing frequent and quality communication among the members is the best way to banish the ‘us vs them’ feeling in a Scrum Team.

2. Uphold Continuous Integration

Continuous Integration (CI) is a development practice that requires developers to integrate code into a shared repository several times a day. Each check-in is then verified by an automated build, allowing teams to detect problems early.

This practice is essential in an agile setting to deliver stable, high-quality code steadily and quickly. Remote teams can very well adhere to this practice even though distance separates them. Efficient source code management (by keeping source code in a continuously working state) enables developers to test and deploy the software continuously. You can avoid multiple interpretations of the requirement by chopping extensive design specifications into story-sized bits and by distributing them among team members.

We successfully stick to a CI system by keeping our repositories in a cloud-based platform like GitLab. This is integrated to our CI server, Jenkins. We have configured Jenkins in such a way that instant notification comes to our email or Mattermost, in case of any unforeseen event. Our daily night tests ensure that all the builds we make on a daily basis do not affect the existing system.

3. Effective Communication Patterns

Effective communication using proper and effectual channels will help in making your remote teams super agile. Advancements in technology and the advent of cloud technology contribute a lot to make this possible.

Video conferencing is a great way to have the much-admired face-to-face conversation among remote team members. Skype, Google Hangouts, Lync, Zoom etc. help teams to contribute actively during the Sprint meets/daily stand-ups. It is necessary to seek the opinion of remote developers at crucial stages.

Encourage team members to indulge in casual conversation at the beginning of each meeting. These off-hand communications will strengthen their bond and will create lighter moments. Scrum Masters should ensure that knowledge-sharing happens in each daily stand-ups. Whenever team members are at work, they should be using some communication channels to constantly be in touch with other members. Use online tools that are accessible to all team members to store their work.

The meeting times should not be a constant burden to a part of your remote team. It should be continuously rotated to share the burden.

Web communication tools like Skype, Google Hangout, Google Meet, Mattermost, Slack etc. are extremely useful in having constant collaboration with our team members sitting on the opposite sides of the globe.

4. Occasional Face-To-Face Meetings (the real ones!)

Traveling the world once in a while to work together is a great option to keep your remote teams well-aligned and spirited. Remote team members should be taken to the main office location where the entire in-house team sits. This will help in boosting rapport and collaboration. Running boot camps once or twice in a year can be beneficial. An intensive training at the beginning of each project can be really rewarding.

We travel across the globe to meet our extended teammates once or twice in a year. This helps us in understanding their culture, working arrangements etc. in a profound way. These deliberate face-to-face meetings with team members sustain our bonding and help us to remain agile better.

Conclusion – Geographic Split does not Deter Agility!

From our own experience, we can confidently say that geographical divide is not a distraction to follow agile practices. We adhere to the best practices in Agile and DevOps. This has immensely helped us in bridging the gap between the local and remote offices/team members, and in serving our clients in the best manner.

There is no doubt that remote teams can stay agile like co-located teams. Challenges are a definite reality. But all of them are completely solvable by adopting a complete web approach based on efficient strategies. Nurturing high commitment level and collective responsibility is the best way to align and knit the distributed teams together.

If you are running an agile remote team, feel free to share your experience with us.

One of the reasons that I love to work in Bridge Global is the opportunity that I get to interact with my clients on a daily basis. With this visit, I would be seeing each one of the in-house team member face-to-face with whom I talk or chat daily via Skype or Slack.

One of my colleague Shiji was also with me this time. Two of our other colleagues Jino and Haseena joined us during the last week of our visit.

A Rewarding Experience

When I went to Sweden for the first onsite visit, I had spent more time in learning the system and setting up some internal part of our project. That really helped me to get deeper knowledge on my project.

This time, for the second visit, I spent more time interacting with our Product Owners (PO) and understanding more about the business. We followed 8 am-5 pm working time, which is not much different from what we follow in Bridge Global.

I had pleasant surprises this time. I could meet one of my colleagues in the marketing division with whom I only had Skype chats for the last 2.5 years. I had not even seen his pics too. One day when I was talking with one of my colleagues, he came up and addressed me by my name. When he introduced himself, I was shocked and excited. I felt really happy with the meeting.

We also got a chance to meet our sales team, who are also using the systems that we developed. We got a complete walkthrough of the system and were mutually benefited by clearing doubts.

These experiences are indeed delightful as we can see how our clients are using the system we developed and the functionality we implemented and tested. We get an opportunity to explore more into our system and make us realize how happy and easily they use the modules we developed.

Fun Time in Sweden

Most of the evenings, I and Shiji had spent our time walking around the city and cooking some food at our accommodation in Ängelholm. One day, my colleague Jonas invited me to join the gym with him. Jonas and another of my colleague Tom accompanied me to the gym. It was a great place with lots of workout equipment and a swimming area. I got my personal trainer Tom Bro. That evening was one of the best I had.

Well, then came the much-awaited weekend. We spent our first weekend in Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden. We had spent much of our time walking around and exploring the beautiful city. We visited Feskekôrka, an indoor fish market in Gothenburg, which is also a great tourist destination. We also visited Gothenburg University and went for a city tour. On the second day of the weekend, we explored some of the scenic islands. During this trip, I made friends with a tram driver, who visited many countries. He suggested us some of the must-see places in Gothenburg and guided us in his tram too.

We spent our second weekend at the party destination Copenhagen. We went for a city tour enjoying the beauty of the capital city of Denmark. We got a chance to visit the brewery of world-famous beer Carlsberg. On the way back from Copenhagen, we visited the famous 16th century Kronborg Castle. But unfortunately, it was closed by the time we reached. But still, we walked around it and admired the beauty of the majestic construction.

Goodbye Sweden

Our colleagues in Sweden made our last week a memorable one by showering us with warmth and love.

I and Shiji could spend some time with one of our clients, Fredrik. We were invited to his home and had a great time with his family. We relished some nice food and had one of the best soups. We enjoyed spending time there with his kids.

We went to Väla Centrum and IKEA for shopping. Our client Mattias took us there. We got some Swedish cakes from Mattias’ wife. We had real fun time with his little daughter Elsa. During our visit, Elsa was waiting for a new member. When I am writing this, Mattias is blessed with a baby girl and Elsa is a proud sister now.

Our account manager John visited us the next day after he was back from his vacation. We went out for lunch with all the staff of IT department. Though we are used to having spicy dishes back here in India, I really enjoyed the less-spiced Swedish delicacies. I got a chance to taste the less peppery and delicious real meat.

We all went for Ice Hockey on the same day. I was seeing Ice Hockey for the first time. When the game started I understood how dangerous the game was, as players were running over hitting each other. Wow! That was a wonderful experience indeed.

We got an impressive farewell and some wonderful gifts on our last day. The best one was a card autographed by all the colleagues. One of our colleagues Milad wrote a few words in Malayalam, and my bestie Jonas made the card with his signature word ‘Epic’.

Finally, we bid adieu to all our lovely colleagues in ZMARTA with the hope of seeing them all again sometime soon.

Background

Bridge Global is a global IT solutions provider with Dutch origins. It is an expert in tapping the best global talents and in empowering its clients with proficient software solutions.

The company has evolved as an employee-driven entity empowered with self-organizing teams. The organization displays this major attribute in its day-to-day affairs and in the events it conducts. It is at the forefront of organizing various events apart from the regular IT & SCRUM meets.

Objective

Bridge Global has a unique work culture based on self-managed teams handling different projects. The distributed team model helps in evolving each of the Bridgy as a leader.

Bridge is at the forefront of conducting high-quality and high-impact corporate events. Its resourceful teams take the lead and sail these events towards ultimate success.

The case study analyses the role of Bridge Global’s self-organizing teams in conducting the Futsal event in the most versatile manner.

The Event

Futsal: The Sporting Extravaganza for the Kochi IT Crowd

IT Futsal Challenge 2017 by TATA Structura & Durashine, under the banner of Bridge Global was a three day corporate IT Futsal championship. The idea for such an event came from a group of enthusiastic Bridgys.

The target participants were professionals from the IT/ITES companies of Kerala. The event was held from February 10 –12, 2017 at Decathlon Vyttila, one of the largest sports equipment dealers.

The Title Sponsor for the event was TATA Structura & Durashine, reputed brands from TATA Steel, the leading global manufacturers, and suppliers of steel. The other major sponsors were EVM and VW Cochin. The health and food & beverage partners were Welcare Hospital and Angan restaurant respectively. Monolith was the digital partner for the event.

The event witnessed promising participation from 32 companies, who were selected on the basis of early registration. It was tough for the organizers to tell some of the teams that they closed registration due to the fast filling up of slots. The teams that won the first and second places received INR 10,000 and INR 5,000 respectively, along with a trophy. Learn more about the participating teams and winners of IT Futsal Challenge 2017 by Bridge Global here.

The event turned out to be a greatly-anticipated sporting carnival for the sports buffs in the IT field. All the companies we approached were excited to be part of the event. They appreciated the organization for coming out with such a fantastic event idea for the IT crowd.

The event was indeed a remarkable success and helped IT professionals in the region to strengthen their informal bond.

Why Futsal and how it benefitted?

Conducting game events is an excellent corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy for organizations of all genre. Bridge Global has successfully achieved other objectives as well through Futsal.

a. Healthy Employees are always Happy Employees

“Healthy mind truly rests in a healthy body”. Bridge Global is a big supporter of this age-old maxim. It does not just preach about it, but also exhibits how well it can be implemented. It strongly believes that only healthy employees can be happy and will do their work proactively and efficiently.

Homely meals it provides and the cozy mealtime gathering where all Bridgys come together, dine and unwind are prime examples of the organization’s commitment towards employees’ health. It also maintains a gym to boost the physical activity of Bridgys. Various sports and cultural clubs are other avenues through which Bridgys re-energize themselves. All these initiatives have also contributed greatly to enhanced productivity and morale.

Bridge Global envisioned Futsal as a health awareness campaign among IT employees who are typically glued to their chairs engaged in coding and bug-fixing activities. IT professionals from several companies in the region got a big break to showcase their sportsmanship during the event.

b. A boost to the networking skills of Bridgys

A person’s social skills do not get enough nurturing through the virtual world of socializing. What we need is face-to-face mingling and networking avenues. Futsal has helped Bridgys in polishing and promoting their personal contacts, both inside and outside the company. The event proved to be a great learning platform to improve their interpersonal skills by intermingling with like-minded persons. It was indeed a personality-honing podium for its team members.

It also taught them to be more responsible and well-organized. It ignited the enterprising spirit of them in a big way. Futsal has also served as an ideal learning ground to plan perfect corporate events in future.

c. Get value from its own people

Bridge Global has great confidence in its self-managed teams. Futsal was yet another instance to ascertain how deeply Bridge trusts its employees.

Ambitious goals can be achieved only by ambitious people. Highly motivated employees help an organization to pull maximum value from them. The voluntary involvement of all the Bridgys helped in executing the event in the best possible manner. It also helped in bringing value to the company from its own employees.

Verdict

A bunch of go-getter Bridgys planned, organized and conducted the sports event in the most effective manner. Futsal is a shining instance of how employees in an organization can shoulder the complete responsibility of self-driving an event to massive success.

Self-managed teams are one of the most rewarding assets of Bridge Global. The impressive way in which Bridge Global accomplishes its corporate and social goals is indeed an inspiration for other corporate entities to promote self-managed teams in their organizations.

Smart IT solutions capability has always given Bridge Global an edge over its competitors. Our brilliant software competence, the enviable pool of IT talent, unique work culture, fail-proof delivery model and extreme agility are few reasons that make our clients linger with us.

Find out more amazing reasons that drive customers and talents to us. Discover how these reasons can benefit you too.

1. Agile Outlook Amplified by DevOps

For Bridge, Agile is not just a vogue term that escalates our brand. It is the lifeblood that flows through us. We are one of the pioneer IT companies to embrace Agile culture and values. Our self-organizing teams are very much Agile and we affirm the fact that “the best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams”.

We are DevOps too! We have widened the Agile values to include systems and operations also. Our cross-functional Agile teams incorporate operations as well, besides designers, testers and developers. Yes, our teams are truly collaborative and cross-functional!

Bridge maintains an energetic work culture with constant communication across remote as well as onsite teams. Clients are greatly benefitted as our Agile DevOps outlook ensures faster software development and frequent delivery. Our short release cycles help us to integrate changes constantly. The end result of all these is improved ROI for our clients.

2. Dynamic Self-Organizing Team Model

Teams at Bridge are self-organizing and independent. This is a crucial trait of a successful Agile team.

Now, let’s see how these self-organizing teams help our clients to strike a long-term association with us.

Bridge Global encourages a distributed team environment. These teams have the ultimate autonomy when it comes to priority setting and decision making. They don’t wait for any push from managers as they work independently and are free from any external supervision. The accountable member of each team gives adequate mentoring to team members.

Superior and faster decisions that do full justice to the specific requirements is a crucial aspect that keeps our customers devoted to us.

‘6 Reasons Why Self-Organizing Teams at Bridge Stay Unique’ will give you more insights into the uniqueness of our teams.

3. More Creative Solutions

The cross-functional teams at Bridge bring in more creative solutions. Team members with expertise in distinctive areas work together for a common goal. They freely share their knowledge and special skills associated with their area of specialization. The presence of multiple attitudes and perspectives in a team will automatically broaden the approach to tackle the goal. This inevitably inspires innovation and creative solutions.

As self-organizing teams are the decision-making units, the self-actualization of team members increases. This, in turn, leads to enhanced commitment and responsibility resulting in boosted performance and greater customer satisfaction.

4. Customer-Focussed Approach

Bridge has clients from across the globe. Our ability and willingness to organize around their requirements is one of our strongest CVPs (Customer Value Proposition). There is no doubt that this is possible as a result of our self-organizing team model.

Bridgys are not trapped in functional silos. We are well-integrated into self-managed and customer-focused multidisciplinary teams. Clients and team members are in direct contact with each other. As team goals are tied to client satisfaction, each Bridgy is keen on achieving them in the best possible manner.

5. Improved Structure to Offer Improved Customer Experience

There is no doubt that the structure of an organization impacts the quality of customer experience delivered by it. A flatter structure with few layers of hierarchy is proven to be a unique organizational arrangement. This helps in having a great organizational culture. If the culture is set right, great customer service and employee contentment will inevitably set in. With improved independence and accountability, Bridgys stay motivated and deliver their best performance.

Conclusion

All these essential attributes make Bridge Global a distinctive IT company. Our growth as an innovation-friendly organization with a stimulating culture and empowered employees make our clients fall in love with us!

Contact us to have a rewarding partnership with a global pool of IT experts.

If you are excited to be a part of an innovative place to learn and grow, check Bridge Global career page.

It is here in this context that Bridge Global stands unique! The company nourishes our excitement towards work through multiple avenues. It constantly tries to eradicate monotony which causes boredom at work.

Bridge stands apart from other organizations thanks to its self-organized teams and the flat organization structure it takes pride in.

Now let us find out how Bridge Global manages to keep our zeal alive.

Bridge Global Brings Cool to the Workplace through Club Activities

Bringing cool to the workplace is essential to have a motivated work environment. Bridge Global achieves this objective through various clubs that are active here. These cultural and sports clubs help us Bridgys to chase our passion and hobbies.

Sanskriti – The Sports and Cultural Hub

Bridge Global kicked off its cultural and sports activities with the creation of Arts and Sports Committee in 2014. The main objective was to promote the cultural aspects in Bridge by encouraging arts and sports talents of Bridgys.

When we felt the need for an interesting name for the club, creating a distinctive identity was the goal. We unanimously chose the name ‘Sanskriti’, the Sanskrit word for ‘culture’.

Sanskriti is divided into three groups named ‘Kadathanadan Warriors’, ‘Chekavans’ and ‘Spartans’. They plan and conduct various sports and cultural events and competitions at Bridge. These teams compete with ultimate sportsmanship attitude. Badminton, football, chess, carroms, and lots of other tournaments keep the team spirit of Bridgys alive.

The group that earns maximum scores will be declared the winner for the year. The organization is indeed blessed with a host of talents who excel in cultural and sports activities.

We at Bridge, celebrate major regional, national and international festivals with pomp and splendor. These festivities come studded with exciting cultural and game events.

Music Club

Though music and dance form an important part of the cultural sphere, Bridge has a separate club for all the music and dance aficionados. The Music Club spices up events at Bridge with its own music and dance compositions. Music buffs at Bridge hold a weekly gathering to cheer up their passion.

Go Green Club

Bridge Global is a profound promoter of ‘go green’ campaign in its own realm. The Go Green Club takes care of all the green initiatives in making our workplace highly sustainable and green.

We maintain a vegetable garden at the office. The teams take part with the competitive spirit in maintaining these gardens fruitful. We sometimes get sufficient produce from these gardens to make our lunch healthy and wholesome.

Health Club

Bridge is an ardent supporter of the “health is wealth” doctrine. It is true that organizations with healthy employees can be really productive, creative and innovative.

Besides providing nutritious home-made lunch to all Bridgys, it is keen to ensure sufficient physical activity to them. The gym maintained by the Health Club helps Bridgys in boosting their physical fitness. We have recently initiated Zumba session to invigorate our fitness regime through dance and aerobic movements. Health Club plays a major role in molding up fitter, stronger and healthier Bridgys!

CARE – A Charitable Initiative

Bridge Global is a socially responsible organization with sensitivity towards the needs around. We have faith in the practice of charity and consider it as a part of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Our charity initiative named CARE takes care of our goodwill activities.

We conducted a charity drive for Capernaum Charitable Trust, a care home for the mentally weak destitute. We associated with them twice, providing sufficient daily essentials, clothes and stationery items for kids. We could also be a helping hand to Saandhwanam Charitable Society, as part of Bridge’s quarterly social activity.

We hope our humble charity efforts through money and material will empower the recipients to enact positive changes in their lives.

Tour Committee

Who does not like to rekindle their spirit with a tranquil escape to an incredible place? Yes, Bridge Global understands this need and organize bi-annual expeditions to renowned tourist spots.

The Tour Committee takes the lead in deciding the destination and in fixing the convenient date and time for the tour. The committee welcomes suggestions from all Bridgys about different destinations and finalizes one that is the most appropriate and feasible.

We have four events per quarter as part of this initiative. This includes two outings and two fun events. The latest destinations of our outings were Munnar – Kerala’s darling hill station, and Cherai, the beach paradise in Vypeen Island, Kochi. These pleasure journeys boost our bond as Bridgys!

Bridge Improvement Plan (BIP) Team – Our Gang of Sleeve-Rollers!

We have a lot of go-getters among Bridgys. They do not limit their functions to the core professional tasks. Our BIP Team is an excellent example of a self-organizing team of highfliers. They are to the forefront of getting things done to improve the functioning of the organization as a whole. They orchestrate and coordinate many organization initiatives such as the new office building project, Futsal sporting event, technical event, and a host of other initiatives as the need arises. Their attitude has indeed contributed to enhancing the level of responsibility and accountability of other Bridgys.

We can confidently say that all these club activities make our life in Bridge much cooler and colourful!

Be a Part of Happy Bridgys Team!

We, Bridgys, have lots of reasons to go to our office apart from the fulfilment of our core professional responsibilities. These group activities keep us energized and motivated in a big way. We look forward to each day with great hope and excitement. It won’t be an exaggeration if we say that none of us know what ‘Monday Morning Blues’ are!

If you are looking for an innovative professional space with a holistic growth approach, BeABridgy!

Bridge Global believes that all the Bridgys should have a greater sense of purpose and a higher degree of self-actualization. This objective is achieved in the best possible way by promoting self-organizing teams. The empowered team structure has helped Bridge in having the following traits:

• High client satisfaction

• HappierBridgys

• Superior output

• Improved morale

• More socially responsible attitude

• Enhanced collaboration and unity

• Better overall performance

The existence of our self-organizing teams has indeed made the transition towards flat organizational structure a smooth affair for Bridge.

What Makes Our Self-Organizing Teams Unique?

1. Spontaneously-Evolved Teams

The self-organizing teams at Bridge are the result of a gradual evolution. They did not happen through any deliberate decision on a fine morning.

Bridge wants the client-dedicated project teams to keep abreast of client’s requirements in a very precise way. It also wants the clients to fall in love with Bridge by offering early and continuous delivery of valuable software.

It is a known fact that self-directed teams will be highly attentive to client needs. Therefore, these teams have evolved out spontaneously as a means to be client-friendly and customer-oriented.

Our Scrum Masters do an incredible job in educating every Bridgy about the significance of collaboration and self-organization.

2. Independent Teams

“Knowledge workers have to manage themselves. They have to have autonomy”. Bridge ardently endorses this statement by Peter F. Drucker, Father of Modern Management.

The self-organizing teams at Bridge are autonomous/independent teams. These teams facilitate an evenly-distributed decision making process. They stay true to the Agile idea that “self-organising teams choose how best to accomplish their work”.

Team members with the relevant skills and expertise know how to organize themselves to complete the work items in the most effective manner. With adequate exposure to client needs, they are better informed and qualified to find the best software solutions.

3. Need-Based Teams

Besides client-dedicated project teams, Bridge has a variety of teams according to different requirements. After the fulfilment of each mission, the respective teams automatically cease to exist. If the mission is of long-term nature, new interested Brdigys can join the teams voluntarily.

The first self-organizing team known as the BIP Team (Bridge Improvement Plan Team) originated out of the need to make Bridge an employee-friendly and transparent entity. The go-getter Bridgys contribute their ideas, time and energy in making Bridge a highly proactive organization.

4. Flexible Teams

The independent and self-organizing teams at Bridge are highly flexible in nature. Teams are formed around motivated individuals. Team members are nourished with the right environment, support and trust. This enables each of the Bridgy to think and act in terms of the overall benefit of the organization, rather than their personal achievements.

5. Cross-Functional Teams

Being a firm adherent of Agile Scrum practices, the self-organized teams at Bridge are cross-functional in nature. Instead of having teams of testers, teams of developers, teams of analysts etc., our self-organizing teams comprise collective skills or cross-skilled individuals. Each of the team has all the skills required to turn Product Backlog Items into a potentially releasable increment.

Constant collaboration and cross-functional trainings promote formal and informal exchanges between departments and functions. Our teams disrupt typical silos of traditional disciplines.

The cross-functional teams at Bridge are able to deliver working software regularly. They easily fine-tune and improve their process based on client feedback.

6. Teams Equipped with Adequate Mentoring

Our teams are self-organized with the best possible mentoring and support from Bridge. The teams know the best ways to accomplish their work within the set of constraints. They are self-sufficient and are not essentially in need of directions or supervisions by others outside the team. The Scrum Masters give adequate coaching on self-organization and cross-functionality. The organization empowers the teams and removes obstructions standing in the way of self-organization.

Conclusion

Principle 11 of the Agile Manifesto declares, “The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.”

Yes, we at Bridge abide by this golden rule and promote our self-organizing teams to give our clients the best software solutions.

If you are looking for an extended team of global IT experts, who delivers excellent software services in a self-driven, self-organized and Agile way, contact us.

If you are excited to be a part of an innovative place to learn and grow, check Bridge Global career page.

As a fresher, I was supposed to follow a set of priorities that the Marketing Manager assigned. For almost one year I used to do the same thing of executing day to day works, reporting the manager and leave home.

I still remember my first day at Bridge. The person I first met was Binu, our current Technical Manager. He also joined on the same date.

In the beginning, I was part of a team of three. I was involved with the lead generation activities to support the cross-cultural sales team and interns.

Though these routine tasks during that time did not add much value to my growth, I was confident continuing at Bridge. I was excited to see a lot of women leaders in the company, who successfully progressed in their career by grabbing the opportunities they got. I was sure I could also evolve as a good leader by making use of the ample opportunities offered at Bridge. I also remember it as a great experience as a fresher, when I could directly interact with people from Europe.

An year later, there happened some management changes and I could start doing something new rather than what I was doing previously. I have started managing the company social pages which are the prime face of our business. I have tried to incorporate new changes and updations on the company website, blog etc, those I feel would increase the traction. As a result, we started getting more inbound leads and that made me more confident to try out new strategies. Still, I was continuing the lead generation process for the Sweden to support our sales there.

By the end of 2016, I completely got into the online marketing where I was doing all the promotional activities of Bridge Global. I also started doing promotional campaigns for the US region, where we just started expanding our business. Our experts in Magento Development had developed a good number of Magento Extensions and built a marketplace called Bridge Store. I was responsible for its promotional activities, online and got a good number of downloads there.

I started thinking in terms of improving my competency to add value to the company goals. I took up wide reading to enhance my knowledge. My adaptive and observant attitude helped me to progress effectively. I gradually mastered the skill to identify what would be the best option for my company and how effectively I can achieve it.

I took up the responsibilities like planning Bridge’s yearly marketing strategies and re-branding the company from its previous label, along with managing the entire marketing operations. In 2016, the marketing team conducted Bridge’s debut event “I/O: Intelligent Outsourcing”, under Bridge Events in Kochi which was a great success. I am happy that I could also be a part of it.

There were times when I needed to work as a single member of the marketing team. Obviously, the journey has not been easy, but the results have made it worthwhile.

I should mention Krishna, our CEO who always stands like a mentor. I am greatly inspired by his attitude towards everyone regardless of their seniority or title. I believe he is truly a leader in every sense of the word.

When I look back from an individual contributor to the team lead of a growing team, I can see a lot of hard work, perseverance and tremendous support from all the Bridgys. I am very much excited for what lies ahead on my Journey with Bridge. Ultimately the opportunities I got were the stepping stones for my career, preparing me for more challenges ahead.

Now with the improved flat structure and empowered self-organizing teams in place, Bridge Global has become a truly employee-driven entity.

I strongly recommend the young vibrant IT talents to join us here at Bridge Global. From my own experience, I can confidently say that Bridge would be the best option for women who are striving to balance personal and professional life.

As you can see on our website, there are a good number of women leaders who are getting equal opportunities, travelling around the world, building network and taking the company to the next level.

The work culture at Bridge is designed to make everyone comfortable. I am really glad that I am part of such a progressive organization.

Let us take the Information Technology domain. The software development industry mainly relies on taking projects outsourced mainly from the US, Europe, Australia, Middle East and the rest of the world.

As an IT expert who has been working with Bridge Global for the past 5 years, I am fortunate enough to have close-interactions with clients from different parts of the globe. Striking up mutually beneficial communication with your customer holds prime importance in maintaining a healthy relationship.

The experience of having worked with customers from different nationalities and cultures has helped me to be a confident authority in my domain with remarkable remote collaboration skills.

Some of the crucial points that I keep in mind during my dealings with clients of cross-cultural backgrounds are listed below:

Know the customer– Take time to have an open talk with the customer, to know each other. It is very important to follow the right etiquettes while communicating with the customer. For that, it is very important to know briefly about the customer’s country and culture. Also explain about the lifestyle, culture, specialties, and festivals of your country to them. This will be an icebreaker for both sides.

Reply to customer’s messages and email on time– Make it as a practice to reply to customers’ emails and queries as early as possible. If you feel some emails need a bit more time to research and reply, it is always better to acknowledge the receipt of customers email and let them know that you will get back soon with a reply.

Don’t ask too many personal things– It is always advisable not to ask too much about customer’s personal life initially. You can ask them once you gel with the customer and you feel that they will take in the right spirit and reply.

Always keep time difference in mind– Please be aware of the time difference between you and customer. Make the best use of the overlapping time with the customer to get your queries answered. When scheduling an appointment, always ask for his availability by specifying the time in his time zone.

Be proactive– Most customers like people proactively taking responsibility and come up with solutions.

Make a friendly bond with the customer– It is always good to ask questions like how was your weekend/ what are your plans for this weekend to maintain a good rapport with the customer.

Try to have a visit to customer’s office– This will make you understand how they work and how they want you to work for them.

Update about your work to the customer– It is a good practice to send an email to the customer about your work done for the day so that he may well informed about the project development

Always follow the golden rule “CUSTOMER IS THE KING”.

I really hope these points will help my readers to foster better relationships with their customers.

But it is not so in Bridge Global! Our Buddy Program is implemented to make the job on-boarding experience a fun and exciting one.

In Bridge, HR is not the sole holder of the on-boarding process. The organization as a whole participates in the affair, setting the stage for employee development. Besides giving a complete information package on the company and an informal induction ceremony, Bridge welcomes new Bridgys in more notable ways. 

According to a 2013 study by Aberdeen Group on talent onboarding practices at 230 organizations; about 90% of the employees decide to stay or leave a company within their first year. An extended, sociable and effective on-boarding process is the key to drive engagement as suggested by the study.

Bridge follows a rewarding on-boarding process allowing ample time for new joiners to get accustomed to the new systems and practices.

A Peer Buddy for All the New Bridgys

The Buddy Program at Bridge is a great initiative to help new joiners to get off on the right foot and hit the ground running.

Each of the new Bridgys will be assigned a peer Buddy. He/she will act as a comfortable and reliable point-of-contact for the new joiner.

The Buddy will wear a ‘smiley’ badge during the mentoring period.  The badge is just a symbol of the happy-to-handhold attitude that the Buddy displays.

The Buddy will walk the new arrival around, introducing him/her to other colleagues and inducting him/her to the overall work culture. The just-joined Bridgy will get a warm welcome from all the teams at the weekly Bridge gathering.

The Bridge Buddy Program helps us in the following ways:

• It helps Bridge to make orientation as a process, instead of a single learning event.

• New joiners at Bridge will get a friendly mentor until they get used to the new setting.

• A friendly start will enable new Bridgys to have enhanced engagement in the long run.

• It gives a real boost to the confidence of new Bridgys as the on-boarding is no longer a nerve-racking one.

• Besides making the new joiners at ease, the Buddy Program improves the socializing skills and mentoring capabilities of all the Bridgys in general.

Bridge Global readily adopts systems or values that promote innovative working culture. Our self-organizing teams and horizontal organizational setup show of our commitment towards progressive attitude and work ethics.

With the Buddy Program, we are highlighting the need for a smooth job on-boarding process. The program is designed to make every Bridgy an organized and able contributor in a resourceful manner.

The Buddy Program is molding everyone as dedicated Bridgys, whose enthusiasm grows strong day after day!

This is indeed an exciting and progressive time for all the Bridgys. The brand new office is the need of the hour as we are growing fast. The new move will also do justice to our unique flat and fluid organizational structure.

Self-Organizing Teams Orchestrate the Office Relocation Project

Self-organizing teams are the mainstay at Bridge Global. Teams with a great bunch of self-starters have implemented the new office building project with vigor and enthusiasm.

The BIP (Bridge Improvement Plan) Team is a zealous group of go-getter Bridgys. They voluntarily took the responsibility of office location hunting and building finalizing project. They organized themselves into various sub-committees, to oversee numerous aspects of the relocation project.

With guidance and financial support from the company, the teams energetically participated in all the related activities from finding the new office building to making agreements, inviting tenders for contractors, interior designers, etc.

An AutoCAD design of the proposed plan, design and layout of the new building got circulated among all the Bridgys. Everyone has contributed their ideas and improve on it. All the feasible suggestions are being implemented.

A Resourceful Workspace Is Getting Ready!

The new Bridge office space will flaunt innovative working ambiance to suit our fluid hierarchical chart. We will have ample open spaces to intermingle and interact.

Our collaborative teams consisting of cross-functional associates will sit together in ergonomically designed bays. Bridge is an ardent follower of Agile Scrum practices. The new working ambiance will further facilitate our co-operative work culture.

The new building has sufficient meeting areas to promote productive brain-storming sessions and team meets. We will also have prayer rooms and quiet rooms. (Yes, we need our private space to contemplate and relax!)

We will also get spacious dining and self-serving areas to dine together. Lunch time at Bridge is a very special experience. The company provides healthy and home-made lunch to all the Bridgys. All of us dine together and indulge in free-ranging conversation. This is a strong channel through which we build rapport and trust. This feel-good practice at Bridge will get a new boost in the new ambiance.

Our critical thinking, independent work culture, and elevated team spirit are going to get a great boost in the new setting.

Yes, we are ready for a transition! The new physical address will give us a fresh start and will propel our performance to high-flying levels!

Stay tuned to get updates once we relocate to our brand new office. We will come up with more details and photos of our fabulous workspace!

Bridge Global is at the forefront of embracing innovative ideas. At Bridge, we follow the Agile software development methodology in a Scrum framework. The software solution expert is one of the first few IT entities to adopt these developmental practices.

We Are DevOps Too!!!

When the need to converge operations activities into the development practices arose, we applied Agile practices beyond the software team. Yes! We are agile with operations included.

In other words, we are firm enthusiasts of DevOps practices. Our process combines the typically siloed operations and development engineers to work together in the entire service lifecycle.

The innovative approach has helped us in solving the problems of traditional deployment. It has enabled us to make frequent and quick delivery of high-quality software.

The DevOps culture is rapidly spreading throughout the technical community. Bridge adopted DevOps even before it was just starting to be in vogue as an innovative software engineering practice. We have now become a known and established authority on DevOps, and conduct DevOps training sessions that attract enthusiastic participation.

DevOps Webinars: A Helping Hand to Upcoming Adopters

Most of the organizations get excited at the thought of applying DevOps framework in their organization. They all agree that:

• DevOps is the best approach to halt the lethal level of dysfunction that exists between IT operations and software development communities.

• DevOps can effectively eliminate all the disadvantages arising from the traditional software development model.

• DevOps can breed a culture of collective responsibility, transparency, smooth collaboration and faster feedback loop.

• DevOps enables teams to release high-quality software frequently and steadily.

• Automation and standardized tools in DevOps remove glitches that block productivity.

• DevOps teams can manage unplanned work as a breeze.

All these great-to-have benefits do not fall upon by being a DevOps admirer. The seemingly magical approach does not materialize overnight. DevOps is a journey that needs expert handholding.

Early adopters are the best guides in helping others develop the new technical and cultural skills demanded by DevOps. Bridge Global is doing this role through DevOps webinars.

DevOps Webinar to Kickstart Your DevOps Journey

We conducted a free webinar on “Practical DevOps & Continuous Delivery” on September 6, 2017. The second webinar on “A DevOps Journey in the Agile World” was held on September 19, 2017. Both these webinars revealed some of the DevOps best practices and proved to be the real value addition to its attendees.

We designed the webinars as must-attend events for those who are looking for a kick-start moment to lead their organization into the DevOps environment. Both the webinars attracted several attendees from all parts of the world. They all sat back and learned valuable insights on DevOps culture and practices.

People are tired of hearing the countless amount of suggestions and opinions while contemplating to start their DevOps journey. Both the webinars helped its attendees in getting rid of all kinds of apprehensions related to the topic. For instance, to cite a few:

• How would the new DevOps culture naturally evolve?

• How would developers, operations, QA and project management resources collaborate from concept to production?

• How would a fine shift into the DevOps culture bring you closer to the Continuous Delivery mode?

• How could DevOps create an infinite loop of release and feedback for all your code and deployment targets?

The super-engaging audio and visual components surely served its purpose of educating its attendees about what is and what is not DevOps.

Presenters of the Webinar

Two prominent DevOps experts from Bridge Global steered the event. Both of them are noted for their deep knowledge and experience in the DevOps realm.

Anuraj – A passionate DevOps Engineer who is fully hooked onto the world of Agile development and the DevOps platform in his seven years of IT industry career.

Saji Xavier – A well accomplished DevOps specialist with 10+ years of progressive experience in quality assurance (QA) and project management. He finds delight in helping customers make the necessary transition from traditional development practices to DevOps culture, tooling, and processes.

Feeling disheartened for missing out the event?

We don’t want those who missed the live event to lose the value delivered.

You can access the recording of the DevOps webinar here.

The DevOps webinar by Bridge Global served as a credible and valuable source of information from the trusted source. It could teach DevOps best practices and methodologies to its live audience very effectively.

We were delighted to get numerous suggestions/feedbacks from the DevOps participants. It is our pleasure in giving guidance on topics that fall in our realm of expertise. We will surely come up with more webinars on the relevant topic requests received.

Don’t miss out any of our events. Subscribe to our Bridge Events page to stay updated on our forthcoming webinars and events.

Organizations without a DevOps environment often have a rigid team structure including developers, testers, designers and IT operations, working in separate worlds, focusing on their own respective goals. But with DevOps, you could identify time lags in effective inter department communication and work together as a team for delivering faster and better software. The team working in this integrated culture would have the shared visibility on overall development and operational processes, as they are aligned mutually on the goals and business outcomes. Thus it encourages more communication, collaboration, and integration between people in different departments, helping in continuous delivery.

We would love to share our experience and knowledge on this front and have decided to come up with a webinar to accomplish the same. The webinar “Practical DevOps & Continuous Delivery” will be conducted on September 6^th, 2017, 3 PM – 4 PM CET. Anyone who is interested in joining in, please register by following the link :

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-webinar-on-practical-devops-continuous-delivery-tickets-35627992284?aff=eac2

Those who would not be able to attend, please send us a mail at info@bridge-global.com, we would be happy invite you to our upcoming webinar series. 

All well said, but how sure are we that our MVP is both viable and valuable to our users? With the competition now, if your MVP does not appeal enough or stand out with a unique selling point, you might risk having your users lose interest to look forward to the completed version.

I had shared this thought of mine with my co-product owner, as we sat down to define and prioritize the backlog. The first task at hand was to decide on what was our USP (unique selling point) and what we wanted to showcase to our users so that they keep coming back.

Since the concept of our product was quite unique, we had the first half of our problem solved. We also decided that a classy, attractive design coupled with a user interface as easy as possible, would be our “valuable” part of the MVP. However unique your concept is, your product needs to be appealing and user-friendly to get the “wow” factor going.

Once these points were discussed, it was easy to get the priority assigned to the backlog. Once the prioritized backlog was ready, we called in our team for the first sprint planning. As a team, we revisited the MVP that was drawn on a chart in the room (Explained in my previous post- Chapter I- The Product Vision). As a team, we discussed the USP and the importance of a captivating design and user interface for the first release.

Poker cards in hand, we were all set to visit our first epic or user story – “As a user, I would like to have the concept of the product explained in a visual manner when I first visit the website so that I would know what the product is all about”

The above epic pretty much summarizes on the branding and how the homepage should be designed to lock in user interest.  It was interesting to see how this one epic was being split up into numerous user stories and further into executable tasks.

And if anyone has doubts on the poker cards and their relevance, believe me, nothing helps you better in knowing for sure that your whole team understands your product, as well as you do!

Stay tuned for my next chapter where we see the magic of poker cards and also how we figure out the first sprint release and team velocity.

Now to pick off where we stopped last time, I was all geared up to have my first meeting with the Business Analyst. This was the meeting, where I intend to brief him on my product idea and also to appoint him as a co-product owner.

One Product, Two Product Owners

I was prepared for our meeting with the following items ready at hand. The purpose was to convey the product idea in the best possible manner.

a) A hand sketch that I had done on the product idea, mentioned in my 1st chapter. 

b) A couple of websites that portrayed resemblance to the idea.

c) Options of an Agile tool to use, like Orange Scrum or Jira.

I was thankful to have my idea taken in with much enthusiasm. The sketch worked as a base for the explanation and also helped churn out great ideas. As my sketch kept getting more detailed as we proceeded with the meeting, it was also decided that we should revisit the MVP and make sure that all the ideas were stored effectively, until we decide on a tool.

As I briefed my colleague on the co-product idea, he did have his doubts. The doubt that stood out was, on how we could set a process that can discuss different perspectives, yet agree on the same points, before adding them to the visible backlog for the team. 

As I saw it, the two main hurdles of having a co-product owner could be:

a) He/she would need to have the same level of enthusiasm and love for the product.

b) Both product owners should have the same understanding and viewpoints and should have a forum to discuss the same.

Fortunately, the 1st point did not seem like a hurdle at this point, and for the second, we decided to have a backlog refinement meeting together, once a week, which would help us sort out opinions and be on the same plane.

Now you would ask me, why to go to these lengths, and just avoid having an extra product owner. Well, I had my own reasons, as I mentioned in my 1st chapter. Although I was the owner of this product idea and wanted very much to get this transformed to a working product, I was sure that my availability to the team would be compromised.

So as our meeting concluded, we decided on the tool to be used. Jira had won, with all the amazing features it had for an Agile team. We proceeded to set an introductory meeting with the team, where we would present the idea again and also decide on the Agile framework, we would be following as a team.

Product Briefing Meeting with team

Now when you have a team; a hand drawn sketch for a product idea will never work. We decided to have a chart put up in the meeting room, where we could draw out the product vision and basic user flow, right in front of the team.

The team selected was a cross functional one, staying true to the Agile idea of a perfect team. The team strength was five and comprised of a designer, 2 developers, a tester, and a scrum master.

As the meeting commenced, we started out explaining the product and introduced each other with their respective roles in the team. Everyone gathered around the chart as we sketched out the vision again, from a user perspective. I could see that this experiment helped everyone gets involved and also made way for a lot of clarifications within the team.

At the end of the meeting, we had a visible MVP, drawn by the team themselves, and we were ready to schedule our first sprint planning meeting.

As product owners, it was now our responsibility to get together for a backlog creation meeting, before we commence the planning.

Stay tuned to see how we worked through this!

CIO Review magazine has been one of the most talked technology magazines in the IT services business sector. It is considered as one of the best comprehensive platforms for tech experts, IT vendors, and tech heads for knowledge sharing as well as discuss more on emerging tech trends. The magazine in its annual CIO Review list presents 20 companies that provides the best IT services and influence the IT industry. It showcases their skillset, products, services and solutions in solving the obstacles faced  and overcoming market complexities. Bridge Global has been selected as a part of the annual list amongst 20 most promising IT services companies of 2017 companies like – Cognizant, Avnet, Avanade, and Booz Allen Hamilton that delivers best IT services and impact marketplace.

The success story of Bridge Global over the years

Hugo Messer, the founder of Bridge Global started the company in 2005 with a clear vision and prime focus on providing global IT collaboration, consulting, and IT offshore solutions. The company has lived with this vision and has strategically emphasized on bridging the gap between the consistent demands for highly skilled IT professionals and an existing resource pool in other countries. Now with an experience spanning over a decade, Bridge Global has proved that the dedicated working model offers higher success rates, when compared to the traditional project model. The inter-cultural work training is yet another important aspect that keeps Bridge Global as a frontrunner in the global IT collaborations work. Our company has a set of values that foster cross-border collaboration. The optimistic growth patterns seen over last few years consists of hiring competent IT experts and delivering high-quality results for the client constantly, which in turn boost the client confidence and trust in Bridge Global.

Why Bridge Global has been selected by CIO Review magazine among the 20 most promising IT services companies of 2017?

Here at Bridge Global, we strongly believe in adapting new trends and technologies at continuous levels. Our technology trends are always client and market driven. We currently have our focus on SMAC Technologies (social, mobile, analytics and cloud). For instance, the latest IoT (Internet of Things) technology is much in demand and we ensure that a client demand raised for IoT apps is fulfilled with the development team we have.

Our R&D team analyzes and updates resources at regular intervals with in-house trainings, which ensures that our developers are capable to self-start a project using new technology. Yet another event that helps us to adapt to the new trends in technology is the- Bridge Events and Meets (BEAM), an initiative to serve the IT and outsourcing community better. BEAM brings renowned speakers, investors, entrepreneurs, tech companies, incubators, and startups in a single hub to collaborate closely. “Talk About IT” another platform for IT knowledge exchange, where we work together with professionals from the corporate and IT sector to bridge the gap between business strategies and their technical solutions.

At Bridge Global, we believe in giving solutions to our clients based on their requirements rather than focusing on a particular technology. By following a 100% Agile (SCRUM) methodology, with multiple distributed team experts, we ensure that we meet client goals efficiently. We have a good number of certified SCRUM masters and product owners in our company. Our working model is more of a distributed team globally than a project model. We also provide training for Agile, Scrum and distributed Agile.

Bridge Global also provides Scrum training/ coaching under the training wing of Bridge called “Ekipa”. Ekipa Academy is the first online platform educating people on distributed teamwork. Our training programs emphasizes on how to implement Agile and Scrum in a distributed team, how to manage intercultural teamwork, and what tools to use.

Our expertize in various technologies include – .NET + cloud solutions, Hybrid solutions for mobile, web, and e-Commerce solutions. Bridge has also developed a unique method for both finding the right IT staff for you and for ensuring that they become remote colleagues known as the Bridge Method. By following the Bridge method, we ensure that we guarantee a hassle-free and efficient way of remote working and collaborating successfully to achieve the goals for both client and the company. Our strategic and distributed presence spread across 3 continents prove that Bridge Global remain a strong contender in the IT services and solutions sector. 

Finding it difficult to hit the health club, especially due to your hectic work schedule?

Well now, that can’t be an excuse, especially if you are working at Bridge Global. 

We at Bridge Global totally believe that Happy and Healthy employees create Happy Clients..!! Though we have lots of activities throughout the year to maintain a work-life balance, investing in something permanent to retain the health of our employees has always been significant. And to ensure that our team stays healthy, we have started out our own fitness center.

The health club was inaugurated on March 1^st, by Hugo Messer, the Founder & Director of Bridge Global. Being a person, who has always promoted employee well-being, the new facility is equally promoted by him. Definitely, these small group pieces of training at Bridge health club will promote staying fit. It’s also a way to enhance interaction between teams and bring in better collaboration in the work front as well.

We have some good facilities available at the gym that would help Bridgys to get back in shape. There’s already a good number of fitness enthusiasts, who have already registered for the health club facility. We are soon expecting more Bridgys to join in.

So no more excuses Guys.. Get going .. and burn those excess calories…!!

Stay Healthy …Stay Happy..!!

The teams at Bridge Global have been working with various Agile frameworks like – Scrum and Kanban. As for our clients, in most situations, we educate them to move into Agile and coach them on a particular framework. On the other hand, some clients approach us with an existing framework in place and I coach the teams here to adapt to the same. One of our Client came up with Kanban and we are following it.

So fast forward to the present day, I have been assigned a rather interesting responsibility of being the Product Owner for all our in-house products.

This should be interesting, as I would get to know the limits to which I can imbibe different product ideas and own them.

I will explain the first product and then after or in the mean time, I will start with my second product.

Stepping into the role:

Ha! Excited.! First things first, so scheduled a couple of meetings with the people, who actually kicked started this product idea. That really helped me get a fair understanding of the product, we are about to build. I gave a patient listening and didn’t hesitate to put forth my thoughts as well. Now, with a product in my mind and to ensure my understandings are correct, I gave an explanation of my ideas in the next meeting and made sure we both are on the same page. The product idea was novel and innovative, so there has to be some responsible effort to bring in the real value, which is expected out of it.

The next big thing was to get an idea about the team members I am supposed to work with (nothing Agile in it but out of curiosity :-)). I am all set and have started making the product backlog of our MVP with the guidance of the actual product owner. In another brainstorming session, we made our stories whichever fits into our MVP. Now, all set for the sprint planning, a real crucial one. The idea has been conveyed. More on this will come up in the coming episodes.

Why BRIDGE recommends Magento for your e-commerce business

Bridge Global has always been adapting to changes and moving with the times creating solutions for companies to be able to grow and expand their customer base.

Using Magento has enabled us to create incredible e-commerce stores for companies to sell their products and services online. Bridge has the skills, experience, and knowledge to integrate this software with your existing product data and structure, creating a program to cover every aspect of your business, in one easy online commerce solution.

We work with Specialized Single Product Companies, Large Retail Companies, and Multi-Product Multi-Vertical Companies too and keep on winning e-commerce business due to our expertise in building eye-pleasing and easy to navigate websites. We also make responsive mobile friendly e-commerce websites and provide companies with a way to reach more customers, increase their market share and maximize their profits.

Magento is the choice of the biggest companies across the globe and is the fastest growing e-commerce platform in the world. Some of the advantages that make Magento the default choice are:

• Open source nature of the platform 

• Modern set of security features 

• Tried and tested with over 200,000 online web stores

• Unique feature sets like auto website update facility

• Ability to add custom extensions for add-on functional and creative features

• Industry best scalable design and extensive support network

Magento is exceedingly flexible, so whether you are a small, medium or a big multi-national business in a range of vertical such as retail, travel, healthcare, telecom or manufacturing, Magento can help change your business for the best and can address any required functionality you may need due to its highly flexible & well supported PHP structure. Magento offers high ROI for start-ups as well as traditional retailers, who look forward to make their online presence prominent.

If you are looking to discuss the first steps to move your business online or to migrate your existing online business to Magento please feel free to reach out to us for a free consultation: Bridge Global.

“There is an added advantage of being a woman working the HR department of a global company, since women have better EQ (Emotional Quotient) when compared to men and this is huge plus for the HR department as there is a constant need for recruiting and retain the employees” – says Sanitha Jubin, HR Manager Bridge Global. The work life balance is yet another factor that plays a crucial role in every woman’s life. It goes without saying that a great support from family is a blessing that helps us to maintain both our personal and career life at its best.    

Deepthi Shenilkumar, Finance Manager of Bridge Global too has a great experience to share, as she plays one of the crucial roles in the company’s management team. 

“After years of experience in middle level management, it was my first experience being a part of top management. The biggest challenge was to groom myself for the position. From taking and executing orders, I had to delegate and give orders, and check for executed instructions. Today, I see myself far ahead of what I was and have a clear vision of what my growth should be”.  Even when Deepthi heads the Finace team at Bridge Global she confirms that she has never faced any limitation of being a woman while leading this role. She also feels the statement by Indra Nooyi – CEO, PepsiCo – “The biological clock and the career clock are in total conflict with each other” is very true to an extent for every women, be it Indian or anywhere else in the world, as she juggles the daily life challenges and is still open to face more challenges. 

On that note, we Bridgys truly appreciate and honor every woman employee for their effort and dedication, and wishes them “A VERY HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY, NOT JUST TODAY BUT, 365 DAYS..!!”. 

 Baby Steps with Agile in HR

The sessions inspired me enough to get thinking about how I could bring in transparency and self-organizing to the HR department. We are a small team of 2, which challenged the norm of team strength requirements in Scrum. I sought the advice of my colleague, who is a Scrum trainer. In her opinion, we need not be rigid on the rules, and it would be best to see how it suits us on the go.

Assigning responsibility and delegating work is easy, but to have your team feel the real essence of work ownership and to be proactive is an effort, which we cannot bring about by written rules. This would require bringing in transparency,  analyzing short work results, and having regular feedback loops. Agile seemed to be the answer.

As per my colleague, the most important task I had to get done, before going Agile, was to list out all the priorities and mundane tasks of the HR department. Once we have this backlog of sorts, it would help us in figuring out a way to assign work in a sprint. We decided that using Trello (project management tool) was the way to go, as it had a very easy interface.

I created a list named –“HR Backlog” and set about adding cards for all the tasks that we handled in our regular process. As the list kept growing, I did have my doubts as to how these tasks could be accommodated in a sprint, mostly towards the estimating part.

 How could we ever estimate a recruitment cycle?

I shared the Trello board with the Scrum trainer and set up a meeting slot to discuss this further.  As she checked the board and the backlog items, she gave me a quick call on Skype. “Listen, the recruitment cycle is going be a tough one!” she said. Aha, I knew it!

“But I am sure we can crack it. Let me do some thinking, and meanwhile please list out all the different steps involved in a recruitment cycle, right from a CV screening to the induction”.

So now I have my notepad open and I am going to list out all the steps that comes into the picture while recruiting a candidate. I am curious about how we would find a solution here and am looking forward to the meeting.

So stay tuned for the next chapter, where we would have hopefully found the magic formula!

 “IT Futsal Challenge”, a high spirited sporting event hosted by Bridge Global emphasized on creating health awareness and promoting the importance of sports in an IT professional’s hectic life schedule, which is normally filled with codes, reporting bugs and bugs fixing. Compared to the regular hackathons, IT events, Futsal gave a chance for all the IT professionals to showcase their Sportsmanship. Futsal, a football match with a twist, had 4 players (with 1 substitute) in each team and lasting for 20 minutes. The match was open for only companies from IT or ITES sector.  The event was conducted from 10th to 12th of February at Decathlon, Vytilla; one of the largest sports equipment dealers.

The event gained a huge response with many IT companies registering and 32 companies were selected on the basis of early registration. The event was inaugurated and kicked off by honorable MLA Hibi Eden. The nail-biting and power packed matches were a perfect weekend refresher.

The final match was played between GMI Vs Petrolink A, with team GMI winning the Futsal Trophy. Honorable MP K.V Thomas, was the chief guest for the final day and also gave away trophies and cash prize to the winner and runners-up of IT Futsal Challenge. The sponsors for the event were – Volkswagon, Tata Structura, EVM, Prabhu Steels, iKon Tours & Travels, Welcare Hospital, Aangan Restaurant, and Monolith Digital.

And on that note, once again congratulating the Winner, runners–ups, participants, and not to miss the organizers of the event at Bridge Global, who put in all their efforts to make the event a grand success.

Here’s a list of the companies that participated in the IT Futsal challenge and who made it a grand success –

• 2Hats Logic

• Advenser Engineering Services

• Alignminds Technologies

• AppsTeam Technologies 

• Assyst

• Bharathi Information Technologies Pvt. Ltd

• C Square  

• Citrus Informatics 

• Claysys 

• Datamate INfosolutions 

• Empressum Technologies 

• Eous Solutions Delivery Pvt Ltd 

• Fincer & Co 

• Gadgeon Systems 

• Geojith 

• Global Media Insight 

• Linways Technologies

• LiteBreeze Technologies

• Mindcurv 

• Nasscom 

• Petrolink 

• Phases India Technology Solutions Pvt. LTD

• Qburst Infopark Koratty 

• Red Panthers Software Solutions (p) Ltd

• Stallion Systems and Solutions

• TCS 

• Travancore Analytics 

• Wisilica  

•  Zerone Consulting Private Limited