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If you happen to know how many hearts does an octopus has or what is the name of the phobia that designates fear of cooking - you are certainly among the winning teams in Scalefocus’ quiz night last week. The epic battle of wits commenced at all of our locations and the teams battled heroically, tackling questions like “What is the name of John Snow’s wolf?” and “What is Yoda’s last name?” Here’s how the night went at our Capital Fort office. First Round The evening started out at 5 PM with the gathering of the teams around some chips and beer. We can’t say we were surprised at the interest in the event - ScaleFocusarians are known for their fast thinking and strong competitiveness. The first round of the night gave to our thinking warriors 20 questions with multiple choice answers. The topics included biology, geography, mythology, popular culture, history, and others. We were pleasantly surprised to see how many of our colleagues were aware that the rock band AC/DC is formed in Austalia and that Mercury and Venice are the planets within our Solar System without moons. Second Round In the second round, it already became clear that the competition was fierce. Several teams were really close to one another in points, battling for first place. The second round of questions was not multiple choice and thus harder for the brave thinkers of ScaleFocus. And yet, they still managed to say that ergasiophobia means fear of work and that the only bird that can fly backward is the Colibri! After finishing the second round, there had to be a lightning round at Capital Fort. This round commenced between teams Quiz Dev and СухиндолХ and had to be answered for time. It included such questions as to where is the only ATM in the world that lets you perform operations in Latin and what is the translation of the High Valyrian term “valar dohaeris” in Game of Thrones. After several more minutes of battle, and the final question asking “What is the distance in kilometers between Paris and Karlovo?”, it was clear who the winner was - Quiz Dev! ScaleFocus’ Quiz Night was another great proof that our teams have awesome brains and neverending thirst for knowledge - and fun. Stay tuned for more fun events in the upcoming months!

We always say Scalefocusarians are extraordinary. And we never leave statements like this empty. Mario Yordanov, a Scalefocus Software Engineer from the Salesforce team is one more proof of what we’re talking about. Why? Read below. From Business Economy to Software Development “I don’t believe there is one thing in a person’s life that defines him for a lifetime, not a profession or anything else,” says Mario. As a kid, he wanted to become a soccer player. He trained seriously up to the 10th grade until realizing it would certainly not turn into a career. Before entering the IT field, he studied something completely different. “In university, I majored in Business Economy and studied things like marketing, finance… Later, I became interested in software engineering and after taking courses, I started my first job.” At Scalefocus, Mario steps in the shoes of a Software Engineer, working in the Salesforce team. “I joined ScaleFocus because I immediately felt a great atmosphere here and liked my future managers right away. My team right now is composed of people I know well and that makes the teamwork and workflow really easy. With them, the challenges don’t seem overwhelming. In our work, you often come across things we don’t know and need to adapt quickly. And that’s what we always do.” My favorite DJ headphones, Master & Dynamic x The Rolling Stones. This edition is limited to 1962 pieces (1962 is the year Rollings Stones is formed). Mario works mostly with Apex (the language of Salesforce), VBA, and Java. As far as mentors go, he says he always feels the support and push for excellence from his two managers - Aleksander Stoimenov and Vladimir Kamenov. “We believe in unity, teamwork and I always depend on them and my colleagues. There is a saying by Michael Jordan that “talent wins the game but teamwork wins the championship.” That is exactly the spirit of our team. Last thing I wrote in my notepad was notes for a complex functionality of a data migration application. Last thing I wrote not related to work was a quote by Anthony Hopkins - the so-called “prayer of release”. Look it up. Mario, born and raised in Varna, has other passions outside of work. Besides Mario Yordanov, the software engineer, he is also DJ Gent o’Funk. “Growing up, I often hung around a bar in Varna that played disco and funk - the music I grew to love and became interested in. I became a DJ to try out something new for myself and I’ve been doing it for about a year now.” Mario says the energy the music gives him is the “recharge” he needs. Music, he says, goes through people like a feeling of happiness and love. “When you see them dancing to the music you put on, that energy does back to you immediately and that’s amazing.” The stickers are related to the Gentleman's Ride initiative I am proud participant in. There are three songs he says can be assigned to the soundtrack of his life. First is Al Green’s “I’m a Ram”. “Al Green’s music always helps when you struggle in life. This track motivates me.” Cerrone - “Give me love” is a song that he “would always dance to” and that encompasses everything most important: love, magic, inspiration. The third one is William de Vaughn - “Be thankful for what you got”. “This track helps me remember to always be thankful for the here and now.” Another thing Mario strongly believes in is change and trying new things. Besides DJ-ing, two years ago he became a bike rider. He’s a proud owner of а Triumph Bonneville and participates in an annual cause - Gentleman’s Ride, an initiative in which bike riders bring awareness to men’s health. Being open to the world and searching for new things for yourself is a big part of Mario’s self-growth. “In work, as well as in life, I am inspired by creativity, artistry, and attention to detail. These are the things to be appreciated, to be thankful for.” And this ScaleFocusarian knows that life needs to be appreciated for each turn. By working on large-scale projects for Salesforce, Mario says he learns to be adaptive and depend on other people even when it’s hard. And when asked if he gets inspired by different perspectives, the answer is that he even seeks them deliberately. “It’s always great to see different points of view. To take something for yourself. To bring out the good.” If you want to work with awesome people like Mario, check out Scalefocus' current openings here.

ПУБЛИЧНА ПОКАНА „Доставка на специализирано оборудване за нуждите на проект “FNS-Cloud”, финансиран от Рамкова програма на ЕС за научни изследвания и иновации „Хоризонт 2020“. Описание на предмета на процедурата: Скейл Фокус АД обявява публична покана за доставка на специализирано оборудване за нуждите на спечелен проект “Food Nutrition Security Cloud”, финансиран по процедура: Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy; Тема: Food Cloud demonstrators. Проектът е финансиран от Рамкова програма на ЕС за научни изследвания и иновации „Хоризонт 2020“ - Споразумение за безвъзмездна помощ № 863059. Количество или обем на обекта на процедурата: 1. Високопроизводителен сървър, с резервирано токово захранване и съвместим за монтаж в рак – 2 бр. 2. Дисков масив – 1 бр. 3. Суич – 1 бр. 4. Защитна стена – 1 бр. Обща стойност на процедурата (в цифри): Очаквано до 62 000.00 лв.(шестдесет и две хиляди), без вкл. ДДС. Срок за изпълнение: Срок за изпълнение в календарни дни - до 30 календарни дни от подписване на договора за доставка. Условия и начин на финансиране и плащане: Плащането се извършва в размер на 100% от стойността, в срок до 30 календарни дни и след: · Подписване на приемо-предавателен протокол; · Издаване на разходно-оправдателен документ – оригинал на фактура за стойността на дължимото плащане. Изискуеми документи: 1. Декларация с посочване на ЕИК/Удостоверение за актуално състояние, а когато е физическо лице - документ за самоличност; Документите, представени на чужд език, следва да бъдат придружени с превод на български език. 2. Декларация на кандидата за липса на обстоятелствата по чл.12, ал.1, т.1 от ПМС 160/01.07.2016 г. във връзка с чл. 53, ал.2 от ЗУСЕСИФ / по образец /; 3. Други документи (ако е приложимо): · В случай, че офертите за тръжната процедура/документация и/или приложенията към тях се подписват от лице, различно от лицето/та с право да представлява/т кандидата, се изисква: - Нотариално заверено пълномощно или нотариален заверен препис на пълномощното, в което задължително трябва да бъде посочено оправомощаването на лицето да представя и подписва оферта/и от името на законния представител на кандидата, както и за какъв период от време са в сила тези негови правомощия. Бенефициентът изисква периода на правомощията да бъде с валидност - минимум – 6 месеца след датата на обявения краен срок за представяне на офертите по процедурата. Икономически, финансови и технически възможности на кандидата: Изискуеми документи и информация: 1. Заверено копие на отчетите за приходите и разходите за последните 3 (три) приключили финансови години, в зависимост от датата, на която кандидатът е учреден или е започнал дейността си - най-малко равен на 1.5 пъти общата прогнозна стойност в лева без ДДС / ПМС 118 чл.14.7 ал.6./ Обща прогнозна стойност: 62 000.00 лв.(шестдесет и две хиляди), без вкл. ДДС. 2. Списък с 3 (три) броя препоръки за добро изпълнение и/или копия от изпълнени договори и/или представени приемо – предавателни протоколи без забележки, които се отнасят към доставки със сходен предмет, посочени в Техническите изисквания на Възложителя, съдържащи положителна оценка за изпълнението. Под доставки със сходен предмет се счита доставка на оборудване с подобна функционалност / приложение като това на съответната процедура или от сходни класове съгласно общия терминологичен речник CPV 2007, като доставка на специализирано хардуерно оборудване и/или компютърно оборудване и/или хардуерни платформи. 3. Декларация, че в случай, че бъде избран за изпълнител към момента на сключване на договор, фирмата ще осигури собствено сервизно обслужване и поддръжка на оборудването или ще осигури външно такова чрез сключване на договор със сервиз, оторизиран от производителя на оборудването или упълномощен негов представител, за срока на сервизното обслужване. 4. Заверено копие на сертификати за внедрени системи за управление както следва: a. за внедрена система за управление на качеството по стандарт БДС EN ISO 9001:2008 и/или еквивалент, с обхват Продажби и/или услуги свързани със софтуерни продукти, бази данни на софтуерни решения в областта на информационните технологии и/или еквивалент. b. за внедрена система за управление на ИТ услуги БДС EN ISO 20000-2011 и/или еквивалент с обхват Продажби и/или услуги свързани със софтуерни продукти, бази данни на софтуерни решения в областта на информационните технологии и/или еквивалент. Други особени условия: Всички документи трябва да бъдат представени в оригинал, ясно сканирани, с видими подпис и печат на лицата, където е приложимо. Офертата на кандидата трябва да съдържа данни за кандидата; техническо предложение за изпълнение на поръчката с включени: модели на оборудването, срок на валидност, Време на доставка и инсталиране на оборудването, Срок на гаранционен сервиз, подизпълнителите, които ще участват при изпълнението на поръчката, и дела на тяхното участие, ако кандидатът предвижда подизпълнители; ценово предложение, декларация по чл. 22, ал. 2, т. 1, описаните допълнителни изискуеми документи, предвидени в обявата. Офертата се подава електронно по ел. поща на следния адрес: nadezhda.trapkova@scalefocus.com или на адрес: гр. София, бул. Цариградско шосе 90, Капитал Форт, Сграда А, етаж 24. Участникът в процедурата има право да представи само една оферта. Лице, което е дало съгласие и фигурира като подизпълнител в офертата на друг кандидат, не може да представи самостоятелна оферта. Кандидатът трябва да покрива всички определени в документацията минимални технически и функционални изисквания към доставката, както и изискванията към изпълнението на доставката и дейностите, които се възлагат с настоящата публична покана. Непокриването на тези изисквания е основание за недопускане на кандидата от по-нататъшна оценка, поради несъответствие с поставените изисквания на възлагащия за изпълнение на обекта на процедурата. Критерии за оценка на офертите Най-ниска цена · Крайно класиране на участниците: Офертата с получена най-ниска цена, се класира на първо място. Срок за подаване на оферти: До дата: 01/02/2021г. Час: 17.00 ч. Срок на валидност на офертите: 6 календарни месеца Условия при отваряне на офертите: Дата: 03/02/2021г. Час: 10.00 ч. ТЕХНИЧЕСКА СПЕЦИФИКАЦИЯ 1. Сървър, с резервирано токово захранване и съвместим за монтаж в рак със следната техническа спецификация (2 бр.): a. Форм фактор 1U, с два процесорни сокета; b. Да позволява монтирането на два процесора, всеки от които да поддържа до 24 процесорни ядра, до 16,5 MB кеш, до 2400 MHz скорост на паметта и до 9.6 GT/s; c. Да поддържа капацитет на RAM до 512GB RDIMM или 1TB LRDIMM, или еквивалент; d. Да бъде окомплектован с 2 Процесора, всеки от които да бъде с 12 процесорни ядра и 2.4GHz скорост; e. Да бъде окомплектован с 10 x 16GB RDIMM; f. Да бъде окомплектован с три диска с капацитет и параметри 960GB SAS Disk, 6Gps; g. Да бъде окомплектован с резервно токово захранване; h. Да бъде окомплектован с всички необходими кабели за функционирането на сървъра. 2. Дисков масив, (1 бр.): a) Да бъде окомплектован с две токови захранвания; b) Да поддържа до 24 диска с форм фактор 2.5"; c) Да бъде окомплектован с 24 хард диска, с капацитет 1.2TB, форм фактор 2.5", 10K оборота; d) Да поддържа интерфейс от тип SAS 12Gb/s или еквивалент; e) Ще бъде окомплектован с всички необходими кабели за пускане в експлоатация. 3. Суич (1 бр.): a) Да поддържа брой портове: 24 x SFP+, LAN: 4x10/100/1000Base-T Gigabit b) Да поддържа RJ-45 console port; c) Да поддържа комуникационен стандарт: 802.3u, 802.3ab, 802.3az, 802.3an, 802.3ae, 802.3z. 4. Защитна стена (1 бр.): a) Пропусквателна способност на защитната стена, Mbps: 650 Mbps; b) IPS Пропусквателна способност, Mbps: 650 Mbps; c) VPN Пропусквателна способност, Mbps: 300 Mbps; d) Максимален брой връзки: 100 000; e) Да поддържа интерфейси и портове: 1 x USB 3.0; LAN 8x10/100Base-TX; 1 x Console Port; 1x10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Port. Други условия: Техниката да бъде предложена с минимален срок на гаранция 36 (тридесет и шест) месеца.

Giving different perspectives and food for thought is something every leader strives to do. That is exactly what Viktor Bilyanski, Scalefocus' CTO did last week. On the 23rd of January, Viktor took part in Leader Talks - a popular format in which а leader gets on stage to answer questions tell his or her own story. At Carrusel club, over 250 visitors gathered to hear what Scalefocus’ CTO had to say. Leading the event was none other than Alexander Kadiev - he was the one to ask Viktor the sent-in advance questions that covered business, entrepreneurial, strategic, team-oriented, and personal topics. Viktor and Alexander had immediate chemistry. That was one of the things that captured the attention of the audience throughout the evening. Nobody was surprised by the fact that humor accented the talk between the two no matter how serious were the questions asked. Viktor answered questions about leadership, motivating the people within the organization, strategy in a company’s growth, and what is the most important part of evolving at such rapid speed. In a 90 minute event, Alexander managed to ask Viktor 38 questions. 7 “live” questions were asked by people in the audience, who were interested in advice in entrepreneurship. Viktor himself had some surprises throughout the evening. That included a video address from Scalefocus’ CEO, Plamen Tsekov, and several more from friends and colleagues in the company. In a memorable moment, Viktor was challenged to do 10 pushups on stage… which he did. The inspirational talk finished with a traditional for Leader Talks raffle in which the central guest draws people to receive a special gift. This time, it was a book by Daniel Penev - “People who change Bulgaria”. Another Leader Talks tradition included the voting for three charity causes, to donate the money gathered from the event. Viktor went one step further - he pledged to double the collected ticket funds himself. The audience gave the most votes to two sick children from Smilyan, who need expensive treatments. Stay tuned for the full video from Viktor’s participation in Leader Talks and follow our Facebook page to join Scalefocus for more events in 2020!

In the cold breath of January, let’s take a quick look back at the warmer days of December. Warmer mostly because of the fun initiatives and events we held company-wide in all of Scalefocus’ locations. Let’s take a look at the memories! Holiday Emotions & Charity Scalefocus’ Christmas party took place on Friday, the 13th of December at Planet Club. Let’s just say, the date was not a coincidence and the theme of the party was Fatal - but in a very positive and fun way. We didn’t forget the little ones, as well. The children of our colleagues had a wonderful time at the Kids Christmas Party. The epic fun included many presents, a visit from Santa, of course, and many laughs and surprises. In December, we also held a Christmas Charity Brunch. The traditional event had many delicious dishes prepared by our great cooks and bakers at ScaleFocus. We can honestly say – we have so many talented kitchen gurus, we feel proud to walk among them! Тhere was also a special auction for the decorated gingerbread house. The winner was Maxim Dilovski, who donated 200 BGN and took it home! In all of ScaleFocus’ offices, the teams gathered to exchange their Secret Santa gifts and decorate the office together. We also conducted a Christmas Jumper Contest in which many colleagues took part to show off their style. At Sofia South and Varna, we had a Jumper Contest Wall. Аnd our team in Plovdiv went to а organized Secret Santa event for the children in Olga Skobeleva Center for Children with Special Needs. A New Home for ScaleFocus & Other News In December, it was announced that ScaleFocus is proudly stepping into North Macedonia and investing in the opening of a development center in the capital, Skopje. Over the next few years, we are planning to create more than 300 jobs for software professionals. In our Sofia South office, the FED, iOS, and Android teams had mini team-buildings together. They solved puzzles, played game quests with team-work motives, and had a blast at separate, individually organized events at the office. A good ScaleFocus knowledge-sharing moment happened in Burgas Free University with a lecture by our colleague Milena Georgieva. Milena spoke to students on the topic of "As you may think XML is far more complex" and had a bunch of eager and listening attendees. Again in Burgas, after the great success of our colleague Zvezda’s DISC training (for Effective Communication), there was bound to be a second round. In Plovdiv, for our already traditional gathering Lunch & Learn, we conducted training in Java. The topic we focused on was “Reactive programming in Java” and of course – we always think better with pizza, so there was plenty of it. Let’s not forget that the first children’s IT team “ScaleFocus Wizards” is a fact! Several of our colleagues’ kids are part of the initiative in which they attend IT classes every Sunday led by Milena Georgieva. The goal is to have our great ScaleFocus Wizards attend hackathons in no time! In December, our Plovdiv team visited and supported the first Street WHISKEY Festival in Kapana Creative District. We enjoyed a great selection of rare old drinks! Тhe team also bonded in an old-fashioned Gentleman’s Night. That entailed an old-school classics party and a workshop on how to make a whiskey sour (a mixed drink with whiskey, lemon juice, sugar, and optionally, a dash of egg white) at the office. That was December at ScaleFocus - keep an eye out for many other fun events and happenings in January! Here is one of the fresh upcoming events: on the 23rd of January, our CTO Viktor Bilyanski will take part in the popular format Leader Talks. Everyone is welcome to join and listen. If you want to join the ScaleFocus team, check out our current openings here.

As the biggest software company, ScaleFocus, is proudly stepping in North Macedonia and investing in the opening of a development center in the capital, Skopje. Over the next few years, we are planning to create more than 300 jobs for software professionals, seeking challenging work in international projects for clients worldwide. The company aims to offer an excellent environment for talent development as well as competitive pay. One of the long-term goals of ScaleFocus is the sustainable growth and development of teams of professionals across Eastern Europe. “The decision to invest in a new development center in Skopje was dictated by our successful collaboration with IT experts from Northern Macedonia, which has been going on for several years now.” said Plamen Tsekov, CEO of ScaleFocus. Mr. Tsekov signed a formal state aid agreement with Zorica Apostolska, the Minister for Foreign Investment in Northern Macedonia. The planned investment for the next 5 years is 45 mill EUR, with 2 million planned for the training and development of young talents. “Our goal is to enable motivated IT professionals to work on exciting and challenging projects, in a dynamic environment and in an international team, without having to emigrate.” elaborated Mr. Tsekov. The company will partner with local organizations, universities and companies, with the primary aim of developing and improving the entire IT ecosystem in Northern Macedonia. ScaleFocus successfully managed to develop offices in the largest Bulgarian cities: Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas and to help the development of IT communities. Stepping into northern Macedonia is the logical next step in our evolution. The Government of Northern Macedonia and the Economic Trade Office of Bulgaria were actively involved and assisted in the whole process. In 2019, we also started our ScaleFocus Academy, which already trains future IT and software experts in several Bulgarian cities. As a company, we also plan to continue and develop the initiative in Northern Macedonia. ScaleFocus is the largest Bulgarian software company, with nearly 1000 employees and over 200 international clients on the Fortune 500 list worldwide. The company has a well-developed expertise in the field of digital transformations, e-governance and security and data protection, as well as building and maintaining the complete lifecycle of innovative software solutions. The company has sales offices in the USA, London, Munich and development centers in the major cities in Bulgaria: Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas. ScaleFocus has the ambition to become the leading company in Eastern Europe in the field of digital transformation and innovation

Friday the 13th of December turned out to be a very eventful and lucky date for ScaleFocusarians. Our Christmas party dubbed “Fatal” was a memorable and pretty epic event that gathered our awesome colleagues for an evening out in Planet Club. Let’s recap the events of that great night! IT Beards & The Fatal Awards For the thematic Christmas party, we couldn’t help but create an atmosphere that responded to the day. There was a myriad and mix of superstitions around and at the same time - their antipodes in the form of lucky charms. Тhe guests were welcomed by a black cat (known for bringing bad luck) and a chimney sweeper (for good luck) and received red threads for their wrists for protection. They also drew straws - and the short straw meant… drinking a shot! Тhe program of the evening opened with the giving of the IT Beards awards - the winners in each category (Already Stylish - Ivo Markov and Fresh Start - Delyan Zafirov) were invited on stage to receive their certificates. The benefactor who had donated most votes for the cause - Geno Shishkov - also received a certificate. Тhe Fatal Awards - those that had our colleagues vote for their favorite peers in ScaleFocus - were presented afterward. Here are the winners: Lucky Charm Sofia - Iva Kaltcheva Lucky Charm Plovdiv - Nikolay Taskov Lucky Charm Varna - Monika Meteva Lucky Charm Burgas - Vladimira Kyuchukova The Amazing Morticia (Favorite Female Colleague) - Katerina Georgieva Gomez the Great (Favorite Male Colleague) - Plamen Nedev Our Wednesday (The one who always keeps calm in the storm.) - Georgi Kushev Our Pugsley (Most hilarious colleague) - Viktor Bilyanski Favorite Thing (Best multitasker) - Anton Lelios The Addams Team (Favorite ScaleFocus Team) - The Java Team Music Is The Lucky Antidote After our CEO, Plamen Tsekov, went on stage for а short recap of 2019, it was time for… Spens! The hip-hop artist we know well and love sang some of his top hits and made ScaleFocusarians dance and sing with an epic performance. The party was then left in the capable hands of the DJ who continued to rock our world and make everyone enjoy themselves until the small hours of the day. The Christmas Fatal party made Friday the 13th a favorite memory for ScaleFocusarians and showed us we can level up the score for partying! Well… until the next time…

Tell us who you are. I’m Hristina Bogdanova. I’ve been working in Scalefocus for three and a half years. I started as a Talent Trainer and after the company grew, my position also grew - and now I am a Learning and Development Manager. Or a Human manager, as I like to call it. I am also a Mom and a chaos-manager in a household with a 1-year old and a dog. What I do is pretty diverse - I am mostly concentrated on organizing and conducting external and internal trainings in ScaleFocus, coordinating certification exams, and focusing on developing people. I love finding out what are the current learning needs inside the company and fulfilling those needs with new processes. Notes from a colleague on my desk. The "spoon" note has to do with a secret, involving a gift that wasn't supposed to be given... So you work with people. What is the thing they seek you most about? Mostly training, of course, but also a lot of other things. I was leading the induction process for a while and people seemed to remember me as the one to ask about… whatever. But I love communicating with people. This is strange because in school I was one of the quiet kids, I was introverted, I hated speaking in front of people. But the universe had interesting plans for this kid. This is the car I usually keep my daughter occupied with in the mornings. How did your career develop? The interesting thing is that I didn’t choose my career but in a way, my career chose me. My first job was the opposite of what I felt comfortable about - I was an animator for children in a kindergarten. Then I became а teacher to one of the groups, teaching them English. This was my start as a trainer. Later I continued again with trainings, in an organization where I was organizing and co-training a lot of people. Later I went on to work as an accountant for a while, but again, I was needed as a trainer and I started to do the two things in parallel. It was then I knew I had to choose one. My heart chose trainings. Pretty soon after, I applied in ScaleFocus and started working here. No caption needed. Besides a professional, you are also a mother and you’ve just recently gone back to working full time. How is that for you? The year I got pregnant was really important for me professionally because I had just taken on to lead a huge and important project internally, that had to do with leadership trainings. The program had just started when I learned I was pregnant. To be completely honest, I have to admit at that moment I was astonished. I had wanted a baby but it was a really important moment for me professionally. Fortunately, I quickly found out that I was able to finish the project and I had the support of my team and managers. When I had a difficult moment at one point, our CEO unequivocally told me: “Look, this is really important to us and your part in the project is key. But your life and health are the most important thing. So take some days and take care of yourself.” Luckily, I was able to finish the project but it was really cool to have such support. How was going back to work for you? My decision to come back after the first year was a combination of love for work and the desire to be a fully-rounded individual again. It was hard on the first day, but, as one of my dear colleagues who is also a mother told me: “You will forget you have a kid on the second day.” And it was true. I dove back into the processes, the work, and things got a lot easier. What things in your childhood helped you be the professional you are today? My parents were strict, but they were also the first people to instill in the principles I am using to this day in business etiquette. I think my upbringing to be polite and respectful turned out to be super important in my career. What in Scalefocus was completely new to you? For the first time in my life, I am working in the HR department. I have learned since then that it is the department that is often the buffer between the people and the company. This can be a negative as well as a positive thing. It’s a good thing I like people though! The human element is super important in companies like ours and we give a lot of attention to it. Why do you like your team? Because it’s unique. People are open, patient, and funny. Which is a quality you use daily in your work and as a Mom? The ability to explain and talk, until everything is clear. And patience - which I use with my dog, as well. What will your best friends tell me about you? That I tend to make everything complicated because I always ask everybody for their opinion. That I am the one responsible for the photos they have in the last 10 years of themselves. And that I can’t drink.

We are thrilled to announce that Scalefocus has formed another strategic partnership with an industry-leading company. We join forces with Fadata, one of the major providers of advanced insurance software. Together we will deliver end-to-end insurance offerings that combine the full spectrum needed for the modern digital transformation in the segment. As a result, the clients have even greater possibilities to utilize Fadata’s INSIS, the most advanced insurance process platform, through our extensive experience in creating flawless custom-made solutions. “Fadata is one of the most innovative companies in developing insurance software. At the same time, Scalefocus is the leading value-added IT service firm in Southeast Europe with a strong focus on innovation and excellence in service delivery. This makes both companies a perfect match. We are excited to leverage the vast experience and the impressive insurance solutions that Fadata offers to bring increased, tangible results to customers from the industry”. Nikolay Shekerov | Director InsurTech | Scalefocus Scalefocus was selected as a preferred partner based on our solid technical expertise, the value-added industry knowledge, and our outstanding professional reputation. For us, partnering the cutting-edge Fadata solutions with our more than 1000 software engineers is yet another opportunity to keep up with our constant goal to offer the best and most innovative services and consultancy to our clients. Insurance Industry Defying Partnership This is another logical step for us on the road to our goal to be the most innovative software company from Eastern Europe. We have developed our expertise in the insurance industry by working with several of the leading companies in the segment. Our specialists have in-depth knowledge of core and critical systems from the insurance domain and the integration of insurance products, implementing new distribution channels and web services, including Fadata’s INSIS. With this next-level strategic partnership, Scalefocus and Fadata will be able to provide highly customized and innovative insurance solutions across the business. Solutions, that will help our clients stay in front of the competition with cutting-edge services in one of the fastest-changing industries out there – insurance. “We are happy to announce our partnership with Scalefocus – a top-quality custom technology solutions provider. This is a combination of technical brilliance and delivery expertise that will result in a flawless end-to-end customer transformation.” Radi Palazov | Chief Delivery Officer | Fadata According to a report from PWC on Insurance Trends 2019, more than 90% of insurance CEOs highlight the importance of data in understanding customer preferences. One of the conclusions in the report is that the digital transformation is revealing new opportunities for insurance companies to develop deeper customer relationships and insights. The business must seek innovations. Our partnership with Fadata allows the insurance companies to find these innovations and to leverage them to build a model of holistic, scalable and secure customers’ journeys. End-to-End Offerings for the Insurance Industry Scalefocus is entering the partnership as an experienced project implementation partner and a complementary solution developer. What does this mean? Scalefocus’ insurance experts will implement the INSIS platform. They will configure it and build upon it with custom solutions, including mobile applications, integration with legacy systems, additional modules, and functionalities, just to name a few. As a service and complementary solutions provider, Scalefocus offers full lifecycle delivery to ensure a successful and safe customer journey. About Fadata Fadata Group is a leading provider of software solutions for insurance companies worldwide. Recognized as an advanced solution provider by analysts at Gartner and Celent, Fadata has clients in over 30 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. About INSIS INSIS is an insurance process platform, crated by Fadata. INSIS helps the insurance companies to release products faster, to drive engagement with their customers and partners, make processes faster and more efficient, and strengthen operational control and compliance. It’s a highly flexible platform. About Scalefocus Scalefocus is a global IT solutions delivery center. Enabling our global customer base through technology excellence, R&D and innovation, we are focusing on advanced engineering services and bespoke consultancy in the domains of Digital, Data, and Cloud. Through team care and customer success obsession, we are engaged in fulfilling partnership journeys of open communication, respect, trust and drive for tangible business outcomes.

We’ve already entered the last month of the year and are looking forward to the holidays. But first, let’s take a stroll down memory lane and look back at November, one of the most eventful months at ScaleFocus in 2019. Read below! IT Beards & Foosball Tournaments In November, Scalefocus launched IT Beards - an initiative that came as a continuation of last year’s No Shave. This time though, it was open for all bearded gentlemen from the IT field and not only Scalefocusarians. The donations from the voting went directly to the Association "Children with Oncohematologic Diseases". We are proud of the 41 participants who grew beards all of November and thankful to all the benefactors! Last month we also had a ScaleFocus edition of a Foosball Tournament at all of our locations. It entailed a lot of fun, tricky moments, and positive emotions for our colleagues in Sofia, Burgas, Varna, and Plovdiv. You guys rock! Parties, Knowledge-Sharing and More Let’s take a look at several of the individual events that Scalefocus’ locations had in November. Our team at Sofia South paid a visit to a dog shelter and hugs and walks were given all around – and as you can see in the picture, happy smiles too! The Java practice in Sofa South celebrated its birthday in November, gathering many guests for an awesome party. The colleagues enjoyed a chocolate fountain, a photo booth and many fun moments. Аt our Capital Fort office, we had students from the High School of Computer Programming and Innovation in Burgas visit. Тhose awesome kids are always fun to have around. Also, for the atypical working Thursday, our .NET specialists gathered in Puzl Coworking in Sofia. The team worked together in a different environment and enjoyed the view from Puzl CoCafé. The change of scenery felt great and the creative juices flowed! Scalefocus’ Quality Engineering teams from all locations gathered in November for their regular “QE Catch-up” – a traditional event that brings forward new ways to learn and get to know each other. That is especially valuable for the newly joined colleagues – during those events, everyone is actively speaking to each other and bonding as people and professionals. In Burgas, we had interesting training by our colleague Zvezda. She spoke about DISC – a personal assessment tool that can help people cope better in their daily professional and personal lives. The presentation included information on the four types of personalities – Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness. Again in Burgas, Our Photo Game opened doors on creativity for our colleagues in Burgas, too! They had to take a photo around the office and enter a contest with the hashtag #insideScaleFocus and #ScaleFocusBurgas. The winner was our colleague Ivo Mironov! New office For ScaleFocus Varna & Tech Moments At the beginning of November, Scalefocus Varna moved to a new and modern office in the BlackSea Capital building. The new address of our Varna office is Tsar Simeon I Str., 29, 2nd Floor. Moreover, the Scalefocus team in Varna visited the Technical University to challenge the students there with a puzzle. There was a pleasant meet-and-greet and also a pretty impressive knowledge among the visitors. Our colleagues Ivanka Ivanova and Dimitar Ivanov from our Java practice in Varna took part in a lecture event at the University of Economics. In the IT Master Class, they presented in front of the students the concept of test-driven development with an interactive demo. In a special event, in Bar Diagonal, Varna we invited tech enthusiasts to speak to Scalefocus’ specialists. Everyone had a chance to discuss different tech topics and meet old and new friends. In our Plovdiv office, we started a new tradition: Lunch & Learn session that will happen every two weeks. For the first session in January, we had the Java Team in Plovdiv on the presenters’ spot in Lunch & Learn. The topics they covered for our attending colleagues were: “ What is JVM?” and “Docker and Containerization”. Those were the highlights of November. And now - let’s make the December ones even more epic!

To think out of the box sometimes means you need to step outside of it. Yes, literally. For ScaleFocus’ .NET Practice, this happened last week in our Practice on Focus series, they gathered to work, talk and play together in several locations different from our usual office space. Here’s the gist! Environment Change For the atypical working Thursday, our .NET specialists gathered in Puzl Coworking in Sofia. The team worked together in a different environment and enjoyed the view from Puzl CoCafé for the whole day. The change of scenery felt great and the creative juices flowed! The practice also participated in knowledge-sharing moments: two sessions, prepared by Ivan Stefanov and Evgeni Dyulgerov. Ivan drew the audience's attention towards the RPC framework gRPC and Evgeni discussed Cloud Design Patterns in his lecture. Fun Times Rolling On After the end of the not-so-common workday for ScaleFocus’ .NET practice, it was time for the important balancing act of having fun. Our colleagues gathered in Playground Paradise Center and did their best to shine playing pool, foosball, bowling, arcade games and, of course… on the laser arena! ScaleFocusarians proved once again - and pretty untraditionally, at that - that they can be everywhere, doing everything at the same time! Everyone ended up in Delvite where they delicious food after the games, a lot of laughs and team-bonding - the perfect finish to a perfect day! If you want to join any of our superstar teams - be sure to check out our open positions here.

Creating an informal, but still useful connection between IT enthusiasts from different fields can be a challenge. For an informal knowledge-sharing event in Varna, Scalefocus managed to fulfill it with success - we brought together tech minds to meet and speak with our specialists on different subjects in IT. Оnce again, we learned that tech minds think alike - especially when it comes to technology and beer. Focus on Connection People often think that environments that nourish knowledge have to be built around lecturing. It usually shows, however, that people learn better when there is a good connection. For the Tech Geeks & Beer event, ScaleFocus organized the event around just that. We invited all kinds of tech enthusiasts to Bar Diagonal, Varna, where our colleagues were waiting for them. Variety & Beer For the around 60 people who came to Diagonal, the gathering was a way to talk about interesting tech topics by going around the different tables. We had set up the bar with thematic tables - people could go and discuss different technologies. All they had to do was look at the labels we’d prepared with different topics - like ”Java Dreamers in the Cloud”, “Pasta .NET”, “Developers”, “Beer.JS Developers”, “DevBeerOps” and others. Among the technologies everyone had the chance to discuss were Java, Spring Boot, Maven, Docker, Apache Camel, AWS, Blazor, .Net Core, Azure, Jenkins, Node.JS, React, Android, Vue.JS, Angular, Swift, Go, Webworkers, Kotlin, Python. Best of all - the visitors really made a connection - with old and new friends in their field. If you want to join any of our superstar teams - be sure to check out our open positions here.